Mage (The Elemental Magic Series Book 2)

by Michael Nowotny

  He got up off the bed they shared and dressed grabbing his cloak as he headed for the door. Robert headed for what he called his railing, having spent so much time there. Even the deck hands moved around him as he made his way there. It was only a matter of time before the mornings bout of seasickness hit him.

  Alec didn't remember falling asleep as he was lightly shaken. Opening his eyes he smiled into Christi's bright green eyes. His smile turned to a look of anguish, pain like nothing he'd ever felt slammed in to his head making him clutch it with both hands as if to hold it together.

  A moan of pain escaped his lips. It felt worse than having broken ribs.

  "Here drink this." Christi said in a whisper and helped him to sit up, pushing a steaming mug into his hand. "It's called Barnick root tea, it will help."

  Alec chugged the drink without ever tasting it. She told him to take deep breathes and let it work.

  A soothing not quite numb feeling clouded his mind numbing the pain. Alec finally opened his eyes and gave her another smile.

  "Thanks. I thought my head was going to explode for a while there."

  "Yeah, mother said it would be pretty bad. Are you feeling better now?" She asked in a soft voice.

  "Yes, it’s manageable at least. I should probably get dressed, huh?"

  "You’re not?" Christi made as too lift the covers off him.

  "Hey!" He slapped the blanket back down. "I have pants on but I do need to get dressed."

  "I'm guessing you want me to leave." She raised an eyebrow at him with a little smirk on her lips. It was eerie how similar her facial expressions were to her mother’s. "I'll wait in the hall for you." She got up from the bed and headed for the door. "Don't take too long, alright."

  Alec quickly changed and opened the door determined to make the best of what he had right now. Christi led him down the hall to where the rest of the family was waiting to eat breakfast.

  "Ah. Alec, I hope you're feeling better now?" Jessica asked with the same smirk on her lips that he'd seen earlier on Christi’s face.

  "Yes mam, much better. Thank you very much." Alec tried to convey his heart felt appreciation.

  They ate a light but filling meal of several different fruits and sweet morning bread. By the end of the meal Alec’s headache was only a memory.

  Apparently, while he had been sleeping the three siblings had been up packing their things and such for the ride back to the school.

  Alec walked out to the stable with the family to wish them a good ride. He shook hands with Bill and Allen while Christi hugged her parents before they mounted up. Christi stepped up in front of him and threw her arms around him tightly and Alec hugged her back, pushing down the embarrassment from the show of affection in front of her parents.

  The hug wasn't enough for her though as she raised herself up on her toes and kissed him. Alec could feel his face heating as his breathe caught in his throat.

  "Come on, it's only a bloody week. You'll see each other this weekend for the Fall Fest." Bill called out with an affectionate laugh.

  Christi mounted her horse and they were off before he knew it. Alec followed the parents back in to the sitting room still embarrassed.

  "Do you have plans for the rest of the week Alec?" George asked after a bit.

  "No sir, none that I can think of."

  "You can call me George in my own home. After all it sounds like we'll be family at some time in the future. Now the reason I ask is that I've agreed to lead a group of people out east, past the plains, and could use another person I trust to help me. We'd be leaving tomorrow morning and be back before Friday evening if all goes well. Are you interested?"

  "I'll go. Sounds like it would be interesting but I don’t really have much in the way of martial skills." Alec said figuring he had little else to do.

  "That’s what Allen told me you would say. I think you’ll be fine. We'll go down to one of the warehouses and make sure to get you outfitted this morning." George told him.

  "Remember, Peter will most likely be here by lunch. Make sure you have him back by then." Jessica told George sternly.

  "Aye, my lady we'll be back on time. If Alec is going to be a guard for this trip then he needs the equipment and attire to look the part." George tried to explain his reasoning.

  "Very well, just make sure you’re back on time!" She told him sternly again.

  Alec followed George out onto the street and George motioned for him to climb up into the front of the small open carriage. It was almost a wagon being stripped of most the interior. He slid across the bench as George climbed up beside him.

  George took them first to Mrs. Tailor’s shop where they stopped to get Alec three used pairs of leather pants that fit reasonably well then over to the cobblers for some boots. Alec was about to purchase a new pair but George told him he wouldn't have enough time to break them in properly so he settled for a pair that fit his feet reasonably good.

  Loading the articles in the back of the carriage George drove them to a warehouse that Jessica had pointed out as one of the ones they owned.

  They went inside where George introduced him to the head foreman. "This is Barry he runs this warehouse for us. Barry, Alec, promised to my Christi."

  "He doesn't sound like he's about to run yeah out of town!" Barry jested holding a hand out to Alec.

  "Actually, I think he is! He just wants to give me a sporting chance, that’s all." Alec looked to George who was sporting a huge grin listening to their banter at his expense.

  "Ha! You picked a good one here George! I like him." Barry clapped George on the back.

  "Come on lad, let’s get you properly equipped." George said leading him into the office off to the side and through a door in the back.

  A small armory was laid out before him. Swords of various lengths and quality hung in racks followed by spears then bows and on and on.

  "Well, what do you know how to use son."

  "Um, I can shoot alright and can use a stave reasonably well. Oh and I can toss a knife and hit the target more times than not." Alec told him.

  "Alright, a knife thrower, the staff and arrows. Let’s see what we can find."

  They walked down the rows of weapons and George had him try out several bows till he found one that felt right. George took the bow and a quiver of arrows and they moved down further. He had Alec test the weight of several knives for throwing and Alec told him he could probably throw them all fairly well.

  George took the entire belt of five knifes. As they came to the back wall, George seemed to be looking for something. After moving several things around he held out a staff with a small but very sharp blade on one end that curved back slightly. It had an edge on both sides of the blade and the other end was capped in studs of bronze and steel.

  "Try this and see what you think." George handed him the wicked looking weapon. "It's called a larp. Very dangerous! The man who had it took out six of my guards before being shot down finally."

  Alec held it in his hand with the end sitting on the ground. It was a good eight inches longer than he was used to and was slightly thicker. He followed George back out into the warehouse proper and began swinging it to get a feel for it. It was heavier than his stave but he didn't have to work at it to make it spin through his fingers. He spun it around bringing it down and across, lunged and jabbed with it.

  I could really like this thing he thought as he went through the exercises he'd learned.

  "What do you think?" George asked from a safe distance.

  "I like it. It spins a lot easier than my stave too." Alec had a large grin on his face.

  "Well let’s make sure you can carry all this once we get back to the house. It shouldn't be too much and I've an idea how you can carry that larp." George told him.

  They headed back to the house where they saddled Alec's horse, rather Eric's horse but he was starting to consider it his.

  Alec drew the brace of knifes over his right shoulder so the belt sat on his left hi
p after a fair amount of readjusting. They had to take one of the sheaths off leaving him with four knifes horizontally across his chest. George told him he had an idea and ran into the house after something while Alec tried to adjust the bow holder on the saddle so it would ride at his knee rather than almost to his ankle.

  George came back and helped him finish then showed him a small buckled cuff that he put the extra sheath on. George strapped it to his ankle so it ran down the inside of his right boot. Alec felt like he was armed to the teeth and told George as much.

  "Not at all, most guards and the like will carry double what you've got and then some. Now let’s try this boot cup out." He pulled out a crude looking cup with straps threaded through a bar going up the side. Hooking it on to the right stirrup then strapping it to the side of his saddle, he stepped back to look at things. "That should work. Climb on." George held out the larp to Alec.

  Alec took it and tried to mount from the right side ending up on his butt. He’d almost smacked himself between the legs with the larp.

  George let out a hearty laugh at his expense. "Sorry son, but that looked like a fair bit of dancing there. Try holding the larp in the same hand that you use to grab the saddle horn so it doesn't end up between your legs."

  Alec switched it to his right and pulled himself up on to the horse and George had him set the end of his larp in the cup and told him he could hold it in his hand or let it ride in the hook he'd attached to the back of the saddle.

  Alec and George went up to Alec's room so he could start packing after grabbing a set of old saddle bags. Alec packed his new clothes leaving out one set for the morning along with his toiletries.

  Chapter 2

  "George, can I ask you a favor?" Alec was somewhat hesitant.

  "If it's mine to give it's yours." George told him with a fondness in his voice.

  "Well with the Fall Fest coming, I'm told there's a dance, see. Um, I uh don't know how to properly do things. Dance that is, never had the chance to learn other than at the farm, you know."

  "Ah, I see. I could probably arrange for a handful of lessons on our way back and I'm sure the boys will have a great time of it. That reminds me. On the road you should refer to me as Mister Morton or just sir. I can't have the others thinking I'm playing favorites. Now when we are on the road don't take it personal if some of them give you a hard time. You’re younger than any man I've ever taken with us before and it's all in good fun, just roll with the jibes and such, you'll do fine." George led him back out of his room and down to the sitting room.

  Jessica was sitting looking through several books scattered about on a low table and motioned for him to sit on the seat beside her as George poured them drinks. Alec was given a glass of sweet apple cider that had a rich smooth taste to it.

  "I went to the family archives today. I'd like you to look at some of these names and see if any of them sound familiar. I have a hard time believing you're a true singular, it just doesn't happen very often. More likely you're from an off shoot of one of the families or from one of the families thought to have died out." She handed him a book with several list of names in it under what Alec assumed was the family name.

  "You can't take having a mystery, can you dear?" George gave her a glass of wine.

  "I know. I just have such a hard time believing it. Besides if he could find a relative with power he might be able to restart his well. It doesn't always work but it's worth a try." Jessica nodded her head toward Alec.

  Alec skimmed through the books with the names swimming before his eyes. Jason, the new butler, showed Peter in to the sitting room as Alec was finishing the first book. George and Jessica got up to greet him with Alec staying back a ways, somewhat embarrassed at the circumstances of his suspension and subsequent loss of power.

  "Master Peter, thank you for coming, I'm sorry you had to make the trip, sir." Alec thought a more formal greeting was called for.

  "Now, now Alec, nothing’s changed. It wasn't your fault you were suspended and we both know it. As for your power, we'll see what can be done. Besides from what I understand that isn't your fault either. As far as I'm concerned we're still friends and that means you should be calling me Peter."

  "Sorry Peter. I meant no disrespect." Alec apologized.

  They headed for the dining room and took seats. Brian brought out a sliced roasted chicken, cooked carrots and cinnamon bread. They held off talking of what had happened to Alec till after lunch. Alec took one of the chairs in the sitting room. He was asked to start at the beginning, when he’d first left the school over a week ago.

  He told them of how Allen and Bill with several others had stopped and helped him out before he'd even gotten a mile from the school. Alec had the attention of all three of them as he continued telling of the burnt shed, the bandits and his practicing of the spells in the book.

  Peter stopped him several times asking for more details on how he experimented with the spells, specificity how he felt when interacting with the elements and how they reacted to him. He went on to explain the party and his cooling spell and Peter agreed that he had at least some affinity to air for him to be able to work that kind of a spell over such a time period.

  The hardest part of the story for him was the ambush, seeing as he was unconscious for most of it. He explained that when he cut the field for cooling he’d had at least a quarter of his power left but when he awoke at the temple there was hardly any.

  Alec had a hard time believing it took that much of his power to heal the arrow wound.

  "It's as I suspected. Most magic users won't allow a temple priest to work on them, other than in extreme emergency. We’ve suspected that most of the gods have mandated that their priest try to stop sorcerers and wizards from using power by draining them, even to the point of burning them out."

  Peter took a drink of wine that George had handed him then drew a deep breathe. "OK, this needs to stay between us. Share it with only the people you trust explicitly. Several hundreds of years ago some sorcerers and mages went crazy and tried to challenge the gods themselves. Yes, I know it sounds absurd but they succeeded in actually killing two of them. It's believed that the remaining gods decided to try to stop strong sorcerers and mages from coming into maturity, thereby stopping any threat to their existence. I think that the priest who you saw realized how strong you were and tried to remove as much of your power as he could but couldn't hold all that you had left. That is why you had any at all to work with.” Peter explained to him.

  “Now, I see Jessica has you trying to go through the list of families that have any power in the hope that you'll recognize the name of some aunt or uncle who may be able to feed your well enough power to restart your power growing again." Peter picked up one of the books.

  "You're right on that, but I only have the current families with magic here. I didn't think to bring the histories of the lost families. Could it be possible that he is from one of them and his branch was thought dead?" Jessica was obviously really getting in to the thought of solving his mystery.

  "Actually, I think that is more likely than him being part of an existing one, though I wouldn't count it as out of the question. I believe your aunt had power too, Alec. She was unable to unlock it if I remember right. She may know more on past relatives then Alec here. That is if you’re going to pursue this Jessica." Peter made it sound like, if she wasn't, then he would.

  "I am, with Alec's permission. However, if you would care to lend any help you can it would be greatly appreciated." She told Peter before turning to Alec.

  "Would that be alright with you? This type of investigating sometimes turns up some nasty skeletons. It might not be very pretty."

  "I think it would be alright. If I do have other family out there it would be nice to at least know of them." Alec said, remembering how all of their family had come together for Teresa’s birthday.

  They decided to take Alec to the palace where the lost family records were kept. They wouldn't be entering the
palace proper but a building on the grounds used for holding the historical records of the realm.

  George decided not to go, saying he had no wish to see how his tax money was wasted and that he needed to make some last minute arrangements for the trip tomorrow.

  With the fall rains starting to drizzle in the afternoon Alec ran and got his cloak from his room and met Peter and Jessica under the front overhang. Jason brought the carriage around and they all climbed in. Jessica commented on the quality of his cloak and he told her it was from Mr. Phillips back home.

  Speaking of his home he felt a bit sad at not being there to help with all the harvesting and such. He was starting to realize how much he missed the farm in general.

  Peter and Jessica mused over the idea of one of the dead families being revived and what that would mean to various people.

  It only took fifteen minutes to get to the palace. After being checked by the guards they were given a pass that allowed them on to the grounds but not in the palace itself. Jason brought them to a stop in front of a long brick building so they could get out. They entered through one of two front doors. Alec held it open for Jessica and Peter before entering himself.

  Inside an older man sat at a desk. It was obvious he didn't get out of the place very often by his pale completion and eyes that squinted at the light coming through the open door.

  "Ah, Duchess Morton, I hadn't thought to see you again so soon. What a treat for me to have such company twice in the same day." He stood and took her hand bending over it with a smile that ran from one side of his face to the other and shown in his eyes. "And you've brought company too! Let's see, house of Stalleen, I'd say?"

  "Yes sir, very good. Peter, Master of the sorcery school." Peter told him.

  "Yes, third son of Duke Stalleen, strongest in power of four children. Now a young man, Hum? Could be a Stalleen? Right color of hair, skins a hair off, same chin, but the cheekbones are way off. Seriously doubt it. What say you?" He asked them for clarification.