The Choice of Magic

by Michael G. Manning

  Not sure which is the better legacy, leaving the world with a great wizard or a great chef. It certainly doesn’t lack for shitty food and mediocre magic these days.

  Will had to stop for a minute to wipe his eyes. The most the old man had ever said about his food was that it was edible. “I’m on to you now,” he mumbled to himself. Closing the book, he glanced up at his mother, who was still watching him. “I’ll read more next time.” It was getting late and he needed to write his note and return before lights out.

  “Read the last entry before you put it away,” advised his mother.

  He looked askance at her, but Erisa didn’t say anything. Opening the book again, he leafed to the end but discovered that the last quarter of the book was blank. He turned the pages back until he found the last one with writing on it.

  Y771 Geimhreadh, Sauin 5

  He’s making progress. Not the fastest I’ve seen, but certainly respectable. Will has a good head on his shoulders. If he can survive the ravages of stupidity that come with youth he’ll be someone worth talking to someday. He’s finished learning the runes, but his form is still rough. There are rumors of war and it seems that Darrow may invade in the spring. I should be able to start the boy on Clerides’, Foundations of Spellcraft, this winter. Just learning the source-link spell would be enough to give him a powerful means of protecting himself should the need arise, especially since his staff-work is still a little clumsy. It won’t help if he meets a skilled mage, but he’s probably more at risk from ordinary soldiers at this point.

  His grandfather’s handwriting stopped there. Source-link? Was that the evil green line his grandfather had so often used to paralyze him? He’d witnessed Arrogan using it against soldiers of Darrow right before he died.

  Erisa tapped him on the shoulder. When he looked up, Will saw that she was holding a thin book. “I spent a few days looking for it after I read that,” she said. The cover of the book was embossed with dark letters, Foundations of Spellcraft. “You should take it back with you.”

  Will shook his head. “I don’t have anywhere to keep it. A book like this could probably get me in a lot of trouble if someone saw it.” He took it from her hands and turned through the first few pages, which seemed to be an overly wordy introduction. Will’s fingers stopped in the middle of the second chapter when he saw a diagram. The title above it read, ‘A Simple Spell for Linking Turyn.’

  “Lun, sarcat, kolbet,” said Will, reading to himself. It’s just three runes. The diagram showed them linked in what appeared to be an acute triangle. That was inevitable, of course, if they were drawn in that order and were all created from the caster’s perspective. Arrogan had been insistent that runes should always be drawn in particular directions. He read the paragraph beneath the diagram:

  An acceptable spell for beginner instruction, although care should be given to ensure students are not allowed to use it on one another in unsupervised circumstances. The structure is simple and only a small expression of turyn is required to activate. Dismissal occurs with cessation of concentration. Students should be cautioned against separating the target’s will from their source as this is not only painful for the target, but the caster as well, due to the linkage. In extreme cases death can result. In general, the caster must have a far greater discipline of will than the target or the spell will fail.

  He shut the book with regret. Will wanted to study it in detail, but there simply wasn’t time. Perhaps on his next free day he could come back. He was fairly confident he could remember enough to try that one spell, however, if he had some time alone. Focusing on the task at hand, he wrote out a letter that he hoped would be sufficient to warn the army of what was happening in Barrowden.

  Isabel,

  Darrow has moved large numbers of men into Barrowden, which I have seen with my own eyes. I don’t have an accurate count, but their camp is many times the size of this one. I would guess that there are at least several thousand soldiers there. They have also been busy during their occupation of the area, primarily in building a fortified base to operate from and in widening and improving the road that leads to Darrow. I will let you draw your own conclusions on what this means for the spring, but it seems fairly obvious what they plan to do.

  Please forgive me for hiding my identity as well as the means with which I obtained this information, but do not discount this letter because of that.

  Sincerely,

  A friend of Terabinia

  With that accomplished he said goodbye to his mother, uncle, and cousin, and set out for Branscombe again.

  Chapter 41

  Will made it back with half an hour to spare before lights out. Sven was already asleep, snoring loudly, and his nose informed him that the man had had quite a bit to drink. Dave was still awake, though the ex-thief was lying down as well. Dave’s eyes tracked him blearily as Will sat down on his bedroll.

  “Where’ve you been?” asked Dave.

  “Out and about,” said Will. “I did some hiking.”

  Dave stared at him incredulously. “Hiking? You’ve been cooped up in this stupid camp for two months and the first thing you wanted to do was go hiking? Don’t we get enough exercise every damn day?”

  “I just wanted to be alone. Being around people all the time feels oppressive,” responded Will, hoping the other man would buy his explanation.

  “You missed a good time,” said Dave, smiling with his eyes closed.

  Tiny entered then, giving Dave a conspicuous glare as he found his seat. When Dave started to speak again, Tiny growled. “Go to sleep.”

  “Fine, fine,” mumbled Dave.

  Will raised his brows. “Did you have fun, Tiny?”

  The big man shook his head, then pointed first at Dave then Sven. “That one needs a leash, and this one had to be carried.”

  “Did you drink any?”

  “I don’t drink,” Tiny said flatly.

  “Why not?”

  “People always want to fight. I have enough trouble already.”

  Will had wondered about Tiny’s reluctance to fight before. “Why don’t you like to fight? You seem like you’re built for it.”

  Tiny shrugged. “Small men are always looking for someone big to fight, but for me, there’s no winning.”

  “Huh?”

  “If I fight and win, everyone hates me. ‘Look, the big man is picking on everyone,’ is what they say. If I fight and lose, I’m bruised and humiliated,” said Tiny. “Usually I just refuse to hit back, but then people think I’m dumb.”

  Will remembered what had happened with Dave when they were all locked up together, and again during the first few days of their training with the army. He wondered how many times Tiny had been singled out for a fight simply because he was large. It was a perspective he had never considered. “I never thought about it like that.” Remembering the past, he added, “I’m sorry. Because of me, you got dragged into two fights.”

  Tiny shrugged. “Don’t apologize. Just think about it. You have a similar problem.”

  Frowning, Will asked, “What do you mean? I’m not big, I’m average at best.”

  The giant poked his arm. “Not out here.” He shifted his finger and pointed at Will’s chest. “In here. You have a big heart. Too big. It gets you into fights your body isn’t big enough for.”

  “Like when they took Dave.”

  Tiny held a finger in front of his lips. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. That was just me.” Then he smiled. “I worry about you. You aren’t always where I can see you.”

  “It’s not your job to take care of me,” Will replied.

  “You’re my first friend.”

  Embarrassed, Will gestured at Sven and Dave.

  “Squad mates, maybe brothers even,” said Tiny. “But just like family, I don’t necessarily like them.” His eyes turned serious as he stared at Will. “Think about what you do. If that big heart of yours gets you into a fight, you might not be the only one bleeding at the end. Your frie
nds might wind up bleeding for you.” The big man lay back and closed his eyes.

  Damn, thought Will. I never realized he was a deep thinker. Tiny’s speech had made him feel bad on several different levels. The big man had been whipped because of Will not once, but twice, and on top of that, Will had been one of the people thinking that Tiny wasn’t especially bright. I’m a shitty friend, he thought, but he promised himself he would do better.

  Will stayed awake after the lanterns were put out. It was something of a struggle since his sleep habits had gotten quite rigid over the past few months. Hard labor, a fixed bedtime, and rising at dawn had set the pattern in his bones. He wished he could take a nap and wake in the middle of the night, but he knew if he let sleep set in he would be dead to the world until the sun rose. That was a simple statement of fact since he had joined the army.

  Fortunately, that also applied to pretty much everyone else, aside from the men on night watch duty. Just an hour after lights out he could be pretty certain that the vast majority of the camp was asleep.

  Easing up to a sitting position, he studied the dark interior of the tent. His eyes had had plenty of time to adjust to the dark, and though the only light was what filtered in from the gap in the tent flaps at the front, he could see well enough to navigate. Once again he had Tailtiu to thank for his better vision.

  Slipping on his boots, he took the note he had written from his satchel. It was contained within a hand-folded envelope that he had sealed with wax. On the exterior was written one word: ‘Isabel.’ He hoped that would be enough to ensure that whoever found it first would give it to her rather than open it themselves. Given Isabel’s poorly concealed status, Will suspected that anyone that worked near her would deliver it to her rather than risk reading a letter meant for such an important person.

  He crept carefully to the entrance and looked outside. A pole in the center of Company B’s tents held a lantern that provided some illumination, but the camp sentries weren’t there. Each company had two men that walked the darker perimeter outside the circle of tents. Aside from the company sentries, Will knew there were also nighttime guards set in important places to guard the supplies, officers, and livestock. There were also general patrols that patrolled the perimeter of the entire cohort as well as sentries in fixed positions.

  Will only had to worry about the sentries inside the general camp, meaning Company B’s patrol and a few that might be positioned close to the medic tent. He waited patiently until he heard footsteps on the dark side of his platoon’s tent. That meant the patroller was now at his closest, while his partner was presumably on the opposite side of Company B’s perimeter. Will counted slowly to ten and then eased through the tent flaps before following the outside of his tent to the side hidden from the light.

  He stopped again there, until his ears confirmed which direction the patroller had gone, then he followed the man. In the distance he could see light from the other companies’ positions, and he used his memory of the layout to keep track of how far he had gone. Once he had moved a quarter of the way around the Company B camp, he set off at a right angle that should take him directly toward the medic tent.

  After he had gone fifty yards, he knelt and waited again. He was in a nearly pitch-black pool of shadows that existed in the gaps between the various lantern poles. Though his night vision was good, the light from the lanterns regularly spoiled it and consequently he was nearly blind to what might be within the darkened area around him.

  The various patrollers stayed primarily within the shadowed regions for an important reason. In the dark areas they preserved their night vision and could easily see anyone crossing through the lighted portions of the camp. Will did the same, but he would have to rely on his ears to warn him if one of the patrollers got close to his position.

  Will’s only advantages were his keener eyesight, better hearing, and the fact that he wasn’t following a strict pattern with his movement. It also helped that he knew the patrollers were there, while they didn’t know about him.

  There were also the ever-present flows of turyn, and while they didn’t provide much illumination, they helped slightly. At one point he was saved from walking straight into a guard holding a fixed position simply because he spotted the strange movement of turyn where the guard was standing.

  He was almost to the medic tent when he heard approaching footsteps in the darkness to his rear. Glancing back, he saw two dark shapes faintly highlighted by a distant lantern behind them. Will froze, then got down on all fours. There was nothing close enough for him to use to hide, but if he stayed still and made no noise…

  After several tense minutes they passed by after having come almost within ten feet of where he crouched. Will took a moment to let his heart calm down before continuing. He also took note of how cold his hands were. Though spring was almost upon them, it was still quite cold, and he hadn’t worn his gambeson for fear it would make noise. At least I’m not sweating, he thought wryly.

  Will was relieved to see that no guard stood outside the medic tent. Creeping close, he glanced within and saw a man and woman sleeping on two field cots. Seeing the cots made him jealous, for they seemed like an immense luxury after sleeping on a bedroll that was directly on the ground for months.

  A sudden noise made him freeze in his tracks. It was the sound of metal and leather rubbing together. There was a guard nearby. It was a while before he heard it again, and his ears helped him gauge the direction. The noise came from somewhere behind the medic tent. Will debated whether he should leave his note and leave immediately or whether he should confirm the guard’s position first.

  It wasn’t a patroller, or there would have been more noise. The sound had to be from someone standing guard in a fixed position. I should see where he’s at so I don’t run into him by accident when I leave, Will decided.

  Moving slowly and carefully, he eased around the medic tent, stopping to wait and listen after every few feet. He could see something lighter than the darkness around him in the direction he was facing. Another tent, hidden by the shadow of the medic tent.

  Will waited another ten minutes, until his eyes had adjusted enough that he could make out the dark form of the guard standing in front of the other tent. Why would that tent have its own guard? Will wondered. A guard meant something important. Or someone important.

  Surely it wasn’t possible. A noble lady should be housed in a room in the nearby town, or at the very least have her own tent near the camp commander and other officers. Why would she stay here next to the medic tent? It made no sense to him, since it wasn’t necessary for her disguise, unless Lady Isabel really cared that much about treating the wounded.

  Unable to contain his curiosity, Will began working his way in small increments around the tent, making sure to keep his distance from the guard. Once he was on the opposite side from the entrance, he crept up to the back wall. It was a relatively small tent compared to most of the others in the area, being only ten feet wide on each side. He listened patiently until his ears discerned what he thought might be the sound of someone breathing. It was such a soft sound that he wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or not.

  Imagined or not, there definitely wasn’t anyone moving within the tent or he would have heard them. Will began feeling around for the bottom edge of the tent and discovered that it had been well secured, with stakes every four feet, keeping it tightly against the ground. He spent considerable time gently wiggling and pulling at two of them until the entire back side was free.

  The corners still held it down, but there was enough give in the canvas that he could lift the bottom far enough to slip under. Easing the canvas up, he saw something that froze the breath in his lungs. A pattern of glowing lines covered the ground inside, snaking around the edges of the interior. Some sort of protection or alarm?

  If an alarm went up, Will could probably run back to his tent in less than six or seven minutes. The odds were pretty good that as long as no one saw his face he wou
ldn’t be caught. He considered simply sliding the letter across the ground toward the middle of the tent. She would definitely see it there in the morning.

  Making up his mind, he whipped the envelope in a sideways motion, but as he did his hand brushed across the edge of one of the glowing lines. Magic rushed into him, and he felt a split-second of pain as a spell began to take hold, then it began to fade as his body absorbed the turyn, transforming it into his own. Once his panic subsided, Will smiled faintly. He might not be able to cast spells himself, but he had at least learned something useful from his grandfather’s training.

  His heart tried to jump into his throat when he looked at the ground once more and realized that the glowing lines were gone. He hadn’t just nullified the spell’s effect on himself, he had completely erased it. She’ll notice that in the morning for sure, he observed.

  Lying on the ground, he looked under the edge of the tent to see where his letter had gone. He had been in almost complete darkness long enough that his eyes were about as sensitive as they could get, but he still couldn’t see it. All he knew for certain was that it hadn’t landed in the middle of the room. If it went under something, she might not find it, he thought.

  Lifting the edge of the tent, he began to slip under it. I’m not doing this, he thought, even as he slid all the way inside. There’s no way I’m stupid enough to do this. Getting to his knees, he looked around.

  The interior was a dark grey mixture of shapes. On one side was something that might be a desk or table, and beside it were several large, square things that might be chests. On the other side was a cot with an irregular shape on it, which he assumed was the occupant of the tent. It occurred to him then that he didn’t know for sure that it was Isabel.

  He needed some light to find the letter. Before he had destroyed the protective spell he had been able to see better, as its glow had helped. I wonder if normal people would have seen that spell, or if it was invisible the way the runes I make are? thought Will. Wait, does that mean I can see better if I make a rune?