Stonecutter's Shadow: A young mage's fight through a fantasy kingdom full of treachery

by James Haddock

  “What of Bodes? Is he a supporter you can trust?” I asked. “I hear he has a defended estate.”

  They looked at each other nodding. “He has always supported the crown,” Gilbert said.

  “Now we just have to get there, without getting killed.” Aric said.

  “That part is easy,” I said. “We travel in the open as mercenaries, hiring more men as we go,” I pointed at the pile of armor and weapons. “We buy a wagon, load the equipment, buy some supplies, hire a few men, and be on our way.”

  Gilbert nodded, “hide in plain sight. Could work.”

  Chapter 5

  “For this to work, you are going to have to look and act the parts of mercenary recruits. You'll be my aides, but as far as any others we hire you'll be the lowest of the low. Expect some hazing, and taunting. Don't take it personally, if you want to live, and achieve our objective, take it, and carry on.

  “May I make a suggestion?” I asked. Gilbert nodded. “Aric is your son, learning the trade to take over the company someday. That way everyone will leave him alone. I'm your scout, and a loner. From what I've been told those two positions are left alone for the most part.

  “Can you scout?” Gilbert asked.

  “Well enough until we get another. Then we'll let him scout during the day I'll scout at night.”

  “Ok. Drone, your armor is fine, and you look your part. Aric, we need to make you the same.” We took the best of the captured armor, and weapons for Aric. Once we were through, he looked good — not too fancy, just capable. “You will both start addressing me as Captain Rosa, or just captain. Get used to it. We will call Aric, Karl. We nodded. “What about you Drone? Do we need to change your name?”

  I shook my head smiling, “I changed it when I told you my name was Drone.”

  He smiled, “well enough then. I'll take two horses to the Abbey and get a wagon. We'll pack up when I get back. Stay alert.”

  “Yes, captain,” we said. He nodded and rode out.

  I watched out the front windows, while Karl watched out the back. “Have you trained, as a soldier?” Karl asked.

  “Some,” I answered. “I would imagine you've had far more than I.”

  “I started training with Master... I mean, Captain Rosa, as soon as I could hold a wooden sword,” he answered. “If I know the captain, he will have us practicing soon enough.”

  “Good, I need it.”

  “I'm sorry for your loss. Your family I mean.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Did my father die well?” He asked.

  “He did. I was in another room when four men rushed in. He killed two, I killed the other two. Before he died, he told me where to find you. He seemed a good man,” I chuckled. Karl looked at me. “When I found him, he was locked in a cell in the dungeon, I got the keys and let him out.

  As we were moving through the passages, he asked me what my talent was. I told him, ‘keeping secrets’. He said, that's not a particularly useful talent.” Karl was smiling listening to the story. “I said, I wasn't the one locked in a cell.”

  “You didn't!”

  “I did.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He stopped and looked at me like I was crazy. Then he burst out laughing. He said, Ok, you've got me there my young friend.” Karl and I both laughed.

  “I loved his laugh, he had a good one,” Karl said.

  “Yes, he did.” I answered, turning back to the window.

  I saw a wagon approaching. “The captain's back, but he's got someone with him.”

  “Wait until he calls us out, that's the ‘all clear’ signal.” We waited.

  “Karl, Drone, we have company,” Captain Rosa called.

  “We're good,” Karl said. We went outside.

  “This is Cookie. As you can probably guess, he's our cook. Load the wagon, we'll leave when you're done. Cookie, take whatever you need from the cabin. We'll buy anything else at the village.”

  “Yes, captain,” We all answered.

  * * *

  We stopped in the village and bought supplies, keeping the two extra horses and all the captured gear.

  Since I was acting a scout, I hung my bow on my saddle. Seeing it, Cookie said, “if you get a chance, bring meat back for the pot.”

  I nodded.

  “Don't venture too far forward. Take it slow and get a feel for it,” Captain Rosa said. I nodded and rode out. I kept my eyes moving and my ears open. I also watched my horse’s ears; figuring he would hear things first. I remembered how I had felt the soldiers before they attacked us at the cabin. I tried to remember how I had done it. I didn't do anything specific, it just happened. But I was touching a shadow when I felt them touching a shadow.

  I rode over to the shade of a tree and stopped deep in their shadow. I didn't feel any different. I closed my eyes concentrating. I didn't want to enter the Shadow, just to feel it, and what other Shadows were touching. It started slow, then spread out. I started feeling birds, squirts, deer, and other animals. Very faintly I felt the wagon and the men coming toward me. It was like trying to hear someone whispering. I opened my eyes, looking in the direction I felt the wagon, but could not see it.

  I'd need to work on it and improve my skill. It might save my life... again. I rode on, stopping in the shade from time to time. All I felt was the forest animals, which was a good thing. Toward the end of the day, I found a camp site, and managed to kill a stag. I had it cleaned, hanging from a tree, and a fire going when they arrived. Cookie nodded, and set up to cook, as we set up the rest of the camp.

  Cookie was a far better cook than I was, and I for one was glad he was with us. I began practicing keeping my senses open to Shadows. Doing so gave me a headache, but I didn't want anyone slipping up on us unawares. I found that the more I practiced the easier it got.

  We reached Dame's Ford after three days of travel. We set up our camp just outside town in the same area the caravans used. We resupplied, and the captain looked around for soldiers to hire. He came back alone.

  “No luck?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “Wounded and rotten fruit was all I saw. I'll look again tomorrow.

  We had finished eating and were sitting at the fire drinking hot tea. No one talked much, each with his own thoughts. I felt people approaching. “We've got company. Three in a group, with one off to the side.”

  The captain nodded, “Watch the one off to the side,” he said sipping his tea. I moved away from the fire and went into Shadow. I moved to the man off to the side. He was a bowman, and already had an arrow notched. I stood right behind him and waited.

  The three stopped short of the campfire. “We hear you are looking for good men to hire.” one said.

  “I am, do you know of any?” The captain asked.

  “Ha! Good one! You shouldn't be so quick to judge. If we wanted too, we'd take you camp right now.”

  “You couldn't take our cook, let alone our camp.”

  “Pity, my bowman’s got an arrow aimed at you right now. One word from me, and you'd be dead.”

  The archer started drawing his bow. I concentrated on his bow string and burned it in two. He cursed, thinking he had broken his string. I hit him in the temple with the butt of my knife. He went down and out. I took my bow from my back and notched and arrow.

  The three men drew their knives. I put the arrow through the leader’s leg. He screamed and went down. The other two ran.

  “Your bowman is a terrible shot,” the captain said. “And it seems your men have deserted you.”

  I picked the unconscious man up, carried him where his leader was, and dropped him beside the wounded man. “Nice shot,” Karl said.

  “Not really, I was aiming at his chest,” I said. Cookie chuckled.

  “Cookie let's get him fixed up before he bleeds out,” The captain said. He was bleeding badly. I remembered reading in the king’s mage book how to stop a bleeding wound. I had never had the opportunity to try it.

  So, while ev
eryone was working on him. I concentrated on the wound. Seeing in my mind blood vessels closing and blood stopping. It worked. Cookie got the arrow out and bandaged him. When the bowman woke up, he helped his wounded friend away.

  “Good job, Drone,” was all the captain said. I nodded.

  “And well done stopping that bleeding,” Cookie said. That surprised me, Cookie was more observant than I credited. I guess we all have our secrets.

  I went with the captain the next morning. We walked through the market area; I didn't even try to listen to the Shadows. I just kept my eyes and ears open.

  “What do you look for when judging soldiers?”

  He kept scanning the crowd, “The condition of their equipment, armor, weapons, and how they carry themselves. If they don't care for their gear, look unkempt and lazy, we don't want them.” I nodded, continuing to look. We stopped at a vendor and bought meat pies. The captain bought three extras. “Don't eat yet.” He said. I put my pie in my bag. We walked on a bit further.

  We approached three soldiers sitting on some steps. When they saw us, one stood up. “Rank?” the captain asked.

  The man braced to attention. “Corporal, sir. Corporal Lotts. My two men are Trooper East, and Trooper Mint. They were sitting up straight. The captain handed Corporal Lotts the three meat pies.

  “Thank you, captain.” he said handing his troopers two of the meat pies.

  “My name is Captain Rosa, this is my scout, Drone.” The captain unwrapped his meat pie and nodded to me. I got my pie out and we all started eating. “How're your wounds healing, troopers?”

  “We'll be ready to ride in a day or so, sir.” one said.

  “They could, sir, if we were under enemy attack. A week would be better,” The Corporal said.

  “In a wagon?” the captain asked.

  “Any time, sir. Light duty for a few days, riding in a week.”

  “I'm putting together a company heading north… you interested in signing on?”

  “We are sir.”

  “Horses?”

  “One, sir.”

  “Any business you need to take care of before we go?”

  “None, sir.”

  The captain nodded, “good, wait here. We’ll be back with a wagon, then move out to our camp.”

  We bought a wagon and a team of horses, then picked up our new troopers and headed to our camp. Introductions made, Cookie fed them, and checked their wounds. They looked through the extra gear and got what they needed to finish out their kits.

  “Corporal?”

  “Yes, captain?”

  “Are there any more troopers around worth having?”

  “There are a few fit for duty, and a few more, walking wounded.”

  “How long before the wounded are ready for duty?”

  “The worst, two weeks. But if you don't mind me saying sir, one in particular would be worth the effort. Best scout and bowman I've ever worked with. No offense to you, scout.”

  “None taken,” I said.

  “Take Drone and the wagon, get the wounded you know. Tell the able bodied that you know to report to me, and I'll look them over.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  We took the wagon and started collecting the wounded and taking them to camp. Corporal Lotts told some duty ready men to report to our camp if they wanted a chance to sign on. We went to get the scout last. Stopping at a shack, Lotts beat on the door.

  “Jimmy? Jimmy, it's Lotts.”

  “I know who it is, you loud oaf!” Came from inside.

  Lotts pushed the door open. A man sat on the floor with his leg in a splint.

  “Why are you on the floor?” Lotts asked.

  “I thought I'd shoe my horse, and I was looking for a hammer,” he answered, giving Lotts the 'look'. I smiled.

  “That's a lie, you don't have a horse,” Lotts retorted.

  Jimmy noticed me at the door and cocked an inquiring eye. “Drone, this darling here is Senior Scout Jimmy Crease. Jimmy, this is Drone, the company scout for Captain Rosa, who is hiring us.”

  “If they have a healthy scout, why hire me?”

  “Because I'm so green I could sprout leaves. I need more training from an experienced scout so I can live to be old and crusty too,” I said, smiling.

  They looked at each other, then burst out laughing, “You’ll do lad, now help me get old crusty up from the floor,” Lotts said.

  By the end of the day, we had ten new troopers. We needed more supplies and four more horses. Cookie made sure everyone was fed and their wounds taken care of. We bought the needed supplies and six more horses. We stayed at Dame's Ford two more days, then moved north.

  We made five miles then stopped for the day. This was the first time the wounded had moved, so we took it easy the first day. I killed a hog, so we had plenty of meat for the men — which is what Cookie said they needed. A few of the men were suffering from the move but said nothing. Cookie fixed them an herb drink that helped them sleep.

  That evening I sat with Jimmy Crease and told him what I saw while scouting. He asked me questions and told me other things I should be looking for. We moved another five miles the next day.

  At dinner, Captain Rosa said “we’ll be staying here a day or two. The wounded will stretch and get used to moving as they can. Don’t re-injure yourselves, just loosen your muscles.”

  Corporal Lotts set roving guards, but I kept my senses open. I wanted to develop the habit until it became second nature, and to do it without thinking. I scouted the road north, then around our position, then our back trail south. So far, we were the only people around.

  Karl and I started practicing together the next morning, under the watchful eye of the captain. Later in the morning he sent out two and three-man patrols to ease the troopers back into their duties. I was sent out to bring in meat to stretch our supplies. 14 men eat a lot.

  The next morning as I hunted, I came across an old road, partially overgrown. I felt nothing from the Shadows, so I followed it deeper into the woods. After a mile I was about to turn back, when I saw the shape of buildings ahead. Riding closer, I saw it was a keep that had seen better days. I still didn't feel anyone from the shadows, only small animals.

  As I rode closer, my horse balked. he stomped his feet and shook his head, like he had a horsefly in his ear. He didn't like the place. I backed him away, dismounted and tied him to brush. I walked back toward the keep. I dropped into Shadow and moved around the outside of the keep. I neither saw nor sensed anything.

  I moved through the keep’s gate and into the main hall. In its day it was a good keep not overly large, but a solid family keep.

  “A visitor?” A deep voice asked from somewhere IN Shadow.

  I froze, trying to see who had spoken. “I'm sorry, I did not mean to intrude. I thought the keep abandoned,” I said.

  “And so it is, there is no one here but me, and hasn't been for some time. You are the first visitor I've had in many years, and the only human capable of walking Shadows I have personally met.”

  “The only human?” I thought. “I understand Shadow Melding is a rare talent,” I said. I still could not see who was talking.

  “Yes, Shadow Melding is rare. A gift to some human by one of my brethren for something or other no doubt.”

  “Your brethren?”

  “Sorry, I mean a dragon, of course.

  “Of course.” I started backing away, “forgive my intrusion into your home, Sir Dragon, I meant no disrespect.”

  “Oh, this is not my home so much as my prison. You see, I'm a thief, and was caught stealing from a powerful old dragon. For my punishment she placed me inside this keep's Shadow. To add insult to injury she let me keep one piece of her treasure to taunt me. Would you like to see my treasure?” A light shown on a necklace, an amulet really.

  “Very nice,” I said, staring at it...

  “It is, isn't it. I love looking at it. Admittedly I have little else to look at. I'll tell you what, if you can steal it, you can hav
e it.” I heard him moving closer to me.

  “I would never steal, from a dragon, that would be foolish. I could probably steal it, but then you would want it back, and one of us would kill the other. And as I can't see you, I don't like the odds.”

  “The amulet doesn't call to you?”

  “Not really, I feel its magic, but I wouldn't say it calls to me.”

  “Interesting,” I heard movement again. “It must be because of the blocking spell on you.”

  I frowned, “what blocking spell?”

  “Someone has placed a blocking spell on you. It seems to be there to stop you from developing your mage talent. You didn't know?”

  “I did not, but it explains some things.”

  “Ah, a mystery. Please sit and tell me. To be honest I have been terribly bored. I mean, I love my amulet, but I can only stare at it for so long.”

  Not wanting to irritate the unseen dragon, I decided to indulge him, hoping that I might even live through this. I sat down, concentrating on the floor, I caused a flame to spring up. not much of one, but enough.

  “My name is Horace Stonecutter. We are, or were, a family of stonecutters.” I sat there at the small fire, telling my story. As my story progressed the dragon came closer to the fire. He was about the size of a horse, which I thought small for a dragon from the old tales. He would ask a question from time to time, enjoying my story.

  Chapter 6

  “What a wondrous tale! So, you are on your way now to help the prince retake his throne.”

  I nodded, “we are.”

  “Would you like me to remove that blocking spell?”

  “Yes, please,” I answered.

  He flicked his talon, “done,” he said.

  I felt a weight lift from me, it felt like I could now breathe easier. “Perhaps I could return the favor and take you out of this Shadow.”

  “I thank you for the offer, but she that put me here was very powerful.”

  “Well, let's try at least.”

  He nodded, “very well, but do not be disappointed, I appreciate the effort.”

  I touched him; his scales were like fine leather. I concentrated and stepped us out of Shadow.