Champion of the Gods Box Set

by Andrew Q. Gordon

  “That was unworthy of you,” Nerti said. “As the only other wizard, if she doesn’t understand what you plan, she is right to question you.”

  “She could ask without acting like I’m some incompetent student.” He met her stare but didn’t back down. “I know what I’m doing even if she doesn’t.”

  “Grenda is letting her know that she was rude and disrespectful. Her poor treatment of you, however, doesn’t permit you to be equally ill- mannered.” She didn’t continue until he blinked. “If it matters, I trust your word.”

  “It does. I’ll take care of it.” Farrell smiled and thought she winked at him. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  He waited until Penelope turned her attention back to him. “Let me try that again.”

  It took almost twenty minutes to convince Penelope he could do as he’d suggested, but in the end, she agreed with him. Finding a way to deal with Grohl and Takala, however, took much longer. With no way to completely conceal or shield the peregrines, Farrell and Penelope created a set of charms that surrounded the brothers in a cocoon of energy similar to what Farrell used when he and Takala fought the harpies.

  “Force and resistance,” Penelope reminded Farrell when he expressed concern for their safety.

  The two wizards worked together to enchant two small golden amulets Farrell found in his endless pocket. Farrell added a spell that made his brothers appear to be crows. It wouldn’t hold up if someone focused on them, but it would hide them from a cursory scan. After lengthening the chains, he carefully placed the pendants one at a time over his brothers’ heads and activated the spells. They agreed to recharge the power at every break.

  When their protection was in place, Grohl and Takala took off and quickly flew in separate directions. The riders waited a few minutes before they mounted and left the protection of the trees.

  Keeping them concealed required several layers of magic. Farrell needed to make them invisible to anyone who could see them, from someone seeking them with a basic spell, and from anyone scrying specifically for them. The last part was the most difficult. Not only did he have to block the spell, he needed to mask the magic he used to hide them. Once in place, the spell had to be active for as long as they rode.

  In order to reduce the strain on Farrell, the unicorns kept in a tight formation. They maintained the close configuration for hours, riding until the light became too faint to safely continue. By then Takala found them a sheltered space by the side of a small hill.

  Farrell slid off Nerti’s back, drained. The fight with the harpies would have left him tired, but hiding everyone all afternoon left him exhausted. He anchored the spells, made sure they had enough energy to last the night, and allowed Nerti to push him toward a set of rocks, where he took a seat. When he tried to get up, Nerti all but stuck her horn in his chest to keep him still.

  “Others will handle the camp. You will rest until the food is ready. Then you will eat and go to sleep.” Nerti moved back a pace, but she kept her gaze on him.

  She guarded him until Miceral arrived with their meal. They ate quietly, and Miceral watched every bite he took. Still he enjoyed just the two of them sitting together and eating.

  “This reminds me a bit of when we first met.” Farrell shifted his empty plate to his left hand and used his right one to rub Miceral’s thigh. “Sitting on a rocky bench, just the two of us, eating soldier food.”

  “You left out one more similarity—you exhausting yourself by doing too much.” Miceral slid another piece of bread and cheese onto his plate. “Yes, it’s quite a bit like when we first met.”

  Farrell was too tired to protest the extra food, so he ate it rather than fight. After they finished, he insisted he be allowed to recharge the spells that protected his brothers. Better to do it before he went to sleep so he’d have one less bit of magic to do in the morning.

  As he sat checking his brothers’ charms, Farrell noticed that every time something needed to be done, Peter quickly volunteered to take care of it. When he finished reenergizing the spells, Farrell reached out to stop Peter as he rushed by.

  “Relax.” He forced Peter to sit on the stone next to him. “You don’t need to take on every chore to prove you belong on this trip. Seritia wants you here. That’s all that matters.”

  Peter shook his head, refusing to look at Farrell. “Seritia wanted a follower of Arritisa. I was just convenient.”

  “You think we couldn’t find someone else?” Peter’s shoulders sagged a fraction. “Arritisa has many followers in Dumbarten, especially in cities like Dreth. I’m not sure why we had to bring a follower of each god or why we had to travel by land, but everyone, Nerti and Rothdin included, is sure She wanted you.”

  Farrell put his arm around Peter’s shoulders and gave him a brief hug. That earned him a small grin, and Farrell knew he’d convinced his friend to believe what the others already accepted. When he tried to smile, he yawned instead, and Miceral chose that moment to say, “Time for you to get some sleep, Mr. Indestructible Wizard.” Miceral held out his hand.

  Farrell yawned again before he could object, and accepted the help up. He’d need all the rest he could get and more before they reached Agloth. Unless the others required his help, he planned to let them handle things and go to his sleeping blanket.

  Sometime later, when he’d been asleep for a while, Farrell woke when Miceral lay down next to him. Wrapped in his life partner’s arms, Farrell drifted back to sleep.

  The dawn was still an hour off when Farrell woke up anxious. Letting himself go to sleep without finding out more about their enemy weighed on him to the point he couldn’t go back to sleep. When he realized how stupid he’d been, he gently raised Miceral’s arm and exited the tent.

  Standing in the clearing in front of their tent, he removed the purple velvet pouch from his pocket. The cool blue gem slid out and onto his palm.

  As tired as he’d been, he still should have thought to try.

  “Farrell?” Miceral sounded only half-awake.

  “Out here, Ral.” He moved the stone back and forth between his hands as he waited for Miceral to respond. As Farrell expected, Miceral joined him a few seconds later.

  “What are you doing up at this hour?”

  “Something I should have tried before I went to sleep last night.” Farrell held up the Eye of Honorus. “I can’t believe I forgot to use it right after we defeated the harpies.”

  “You need to go back to sleep for a bit. Nerti told me how much of an effort it is to shield us all. The more rest you get, the better.” Miceral walked behind Farrell and massaged his neck and shoulders.

  “Hmm, as good as that feels, I need to do this first. Riding blindly forward isn’t a wise course of action. I’ll feel better if I know what we’re facing.”

  Farrell held the blue stone up to eye level and peered intently into the gem before Miceral could try to talk him into going back to sleep. “Show me who sent the harpies to attack us.”

  Directing the Eye to show him what he wanted required all his concentration. He was aware that someone joined Miceral, but he didn’t want to lose his focus and have to start over, so he did his best to ignore their conversation. After several requests and redirections, Farrell had his answers. Or as close to answers as he was going to get from Honorus’s Gift.

  “Maybe we should wake Penelope,” he heard Miceral say.

  “I do not believe that is necessary,” Nerti replied. “He is in no danger.”

  “Actually . . .” Farrell didn’t like intruding on their conversation, but he only wanted to repeat what he saw once. He opened his eyes and saw the four unicorns and his adopted brothers standing around Miceral. “It would be best if you wake her. She might know something about the person the Eye revealed was behind the attack. I’ve never seen him before.”

  “The Eye showed you something useful?” Nerti asked.

  “Hard to say if it’s useful. That’s why I want to show Penelope. But I did
learn the wizard is located in a small fortress on the northwest central coast of Lourdria.” Farrell stepped down, rubbed his temples, and squeezed his eyes shut tightly. “Using the Eye for any length of time is difficult. The more details you want, the harder it is to make it show you something. Pinpointing the location of the citadel in relation to the rest of Lourdria took some effort, especially since I don’t know the geography of the continent. Coaxing the Eye to let me hear what they said was even more difficult.”

  “It is the Eye of Honorus, not the Eye and Ear,” Grenda said, and the other unicorns nodded.

  Farrell laughed. Penelope arrived, half-asleep. The way she glared at him made him wish he hadn’t woken her.

  “Of all the people I expected to be awake before me, you would not make the list.”

  “My apologies, Princess, but my good sense returned and I realized I might be able to learn more about who attacked us by using the Eye.”

  Penelope’s angry, sleepy stare disappeared. “I assume since you woke me, you learned something.”

  “I did. Let me go wake Peter, and I’ll show you all what I learned.”

  “Why do we need him?” Takala asked. “He’s not a wizard.”

  “Neither are you, brother.” Farrell met his brother’s gaze. “Peter is part of this mission. He deserves to hear what is said.”

  He didn’t wait for a reply before he crossed the few paces to the tent, tossed back the canvas flap, and found Peter sitting on his blankets.

  “Thanks,” Peter said quietly.

  “Anytime.” Farrell winked and nodded toward the exit. “Let’s go.” The rest of the group stood around the tent when they walked out. Farrell left Peter with Miceral and walked to a small, open space where everyone could see him. “I prefer to show you what I found rather than tell you.”

  Farrell floated over the ground. He slowly cast the spell he’d prepared, and the area in front of them flared to life. The light quickly coalesced into a detailed image of what he’d seen using the Eye. The scene shimmered with an eerie, hazy effect that illuminated the predawn darkness.

  Two male figures, one young, the other middle-aged, stood in a sparsely furnished room. Long, jet-black hair framed the younger man’s pale skin. Thin and wiry, he wore a loose-fitting black tunic, black pants, and boots. Scowling, he paced the small room, ignoring the other occupant.

  The older man watched his companion warily. The light from the globes of wizard’s fire accentuated the graying temples as he turned to follow the other man’s pacing. He wore the black-and-scarlet robe that announced his status as one of Meglar’s inner circle. Despite that, he deferred to the younger man.

  “How could this happen?” The younger man spat out the words. “You assured me this would work. What went wrong that you bumbled this so badly?”

  “Me? You released the attack, not me. I’m merely here to assist you.” He looked up at the younger man and quickly added, “Your Highness.”

  Squinting, the younger man twitched his jaw. He took a deep breath and shook his head. “If you think you’ll pass the blame to me, you’re wrong. You said the harpies would prove enough of a distraction that my attack would take them unaware. Instead all our harpies are dead and whoever leads that group has concealed themselves.”

  The man licked his lips slowly, and his eyes darted toward a door in the far corner of the room. “But your attack killed the peregrine and wizard fighting the harpies, Your Highness. Surely that will be welcome news to report.”

  “There is that, I suppose.” The younger man nodded. “Unfortunately, our weapon is spent, and we only managed to kill a fraction of our intended targets. He will see this as a failure.”

  “But Your Highness . . .” The man sounded more confident. “How could we know there were two wizards in the group? Our intelligence only spoke of Grand Master Penelope. There was no sign of a second wizard capable of the attack on the harpies. The decision to attack was correct, given the information we had available. If we killed the wizard, we would be able to easily kill the others.”

  “And yet . . .” The young man walked toward a window. “We’ve tipped our hand, spent our long-range weapon, and our quarry is now hidden beyond our means to find.”

  “We’ll find them soon enough, Prince Vedric.”

  Vedric tapped his fists on the windowsill. “You know this how?”

  “They make for Agloth. Given their path, they’ve decided to avoid the Burning Sands. Even if they alter course and ride through the desert, the area we must search is small. They can’t hide forever. Sooner or later they will set out again.” He smiled at Vedric’s back. “The remaining wizard can’t conceal four unicorns and a peregrine for hours on end. When they move again, we’ll find them.”

  “I could mask a much larger group if needed,” Vedric said dismissively. “Honorus and Lenore are up to something. They would not have sent Their most trusted servants on this mission if this wasn’t important. Forgive me, Petres, if I don’t share your assessment of what’s possible and what’s not.”

  “Bah!” Petres shook his head. “Penelope is an incompetent fool. She can’t hide them all the way to Agloth.”

  “She is an experienced grand master wizard. You are just master.” He raised an eyebrow. “Why should I accept your assessment of her talents?”

  The older man jerked himself upright. “In seventy years, there hasn’t been a single report of anything of consequence from that woman-loving whore. I tell you she’s not capable of such magic.”

  Vedric crossed his arms and stared over Petres’s head. “You may be right, but I’m not going to act on an assumption. Our information hasn’t been accurate so far, and I’d not want to find out they’ve snuck off to Agloth while we focused our attention on their last hiding place.”

  Neither spoke for a time. Finally, Petres shuffled his feet. “That is a wise decision, my lord. What do we do next?”

  “We must tell him what we’ve learned and what happened with our attack.”

  “You think that will appease him?” Petres’s doubt oozed from his words.

  “No, but that is not all I intend to tell him.” Vedric’s evil smile sent a chill up Farrell’s spine despite this being the second time he’d seen it. “They make for Seritia’s city. I intend to take an army and pursue them. If we can’t stop them before they get to Agloth, then we will march on the city and demand the priestess turn her over to us. If they don’t . . . The first war between Holy Neldin and the others began with the destruction of Seritia’s temple. There’s no reason the second one can’t start that way, too.”

  Petres opened his eyes wider and swallowed visibly. “My lord. You can’t be serious about attacking the Goddess’s holy city.”

  “I can and I am. Our god, Neldin, is at war with the Six. The followers of the Six spent centuries destroying and defiling Neldin’s holy houses.” The anger in his voice sounded personal. “Just as Most Holy Neldin could not prevent the desecration of His temples, neither can Seritia stop us. If She interferes, She’ll hand Neldin an opening into this world. She’ll watch Her city be destroyed before She takes an active hand. Count on that.”

  Petres considered Vedric’s words and then smiled. “Your point is well made. Destroying Seritia’s city is something the master will appreciate. And if it results in the death or capture of a princess of the house of Hevnor, so much the better.”

  “I’m glad we agree.” Vedric pointed toward the door. “Leave me while I compose myself before I give him our news.”

  The image winked out of existence. Farrell stowed the Eye in his pocket and turned toward Penelope. “They seemed to know you. Do either of them look familiar?”

  She shook her head but didn’t speak. Shifting his attention to the others, Farrell noticed everyone looking at him. When no one spoke, he checked to see he had his clothes on and then looked behind him. Seeing nothing, he turned back. “What?”

  “You really didn’t see it?” Miceral asked.

  “
See what? That Meglar is behind this? Sure. But what kingdom has he subverted that this prince is bowing to him?”

  “Didn’t the younger one look familiar?” Takala asked.

  Farrell searched his memory and considered Vedric again. “No. Why?”

  Miceral moved a step closer. “He looks a lot like you.”

  “Me?” His eyes darted from person to person, looking for someone to laugh. “Are you joking?”

  “No, Farrell,” Penelope said. She came closer and stood next to him. “He looked like he could be your brother.”

  It felt like someone hit him in the face with the flat of a sword. His mind refused to focus on anything other than Vedric’s image. He didn’t see the resemblance, but if they were right, it made sense. All of it. “If that’s true, that would make him—”

  “Meglar’s son,” Nerti added, nodding several times for emphasis.

  Chapter Six

  They decided not to wait for the sunrise to resume their trip. No one wanted to go back to sleep, and any extra time they could squeeze out of a day, they’d take. In light of the new information, Penelope and Farrell reviewed the spells they used to conceal their movement. The original plan for the unicorns and riders was sound, but they both had concerns about the peregrines.

  The magic it would take to hide the pair completely required days of spell casting and a shielded place to work. Without either of those, any protection would be imperfect. Hiding them in plain view by making them look like crows made sense but wouldn’t hold up to a determined scan. They debated several other ideas before they decided to stick to their initial idea. Grohl and Takala still would appear to be crows, but they’d wait for a bit after the unicorns left and then fly off in different directions.

  With just a hint of dawn’s arrival on the horizon, Klissmor and Nerti set the pace as the four unicorns ran across the open space. The unicorns stayed in perfect step, and Farrell suspected they communicated in a way similar to how he and Takala had during their fight with the harpies.