Victor Deus (Heritage of the Blood Book 1)

by Brent Lee Markee

  When next Dunnagan opened his eyes he saw the faces of several exceptionally surprised clergymen. No one had actually believed that someone unused to channeling energy could harness so much at one time and survive. All of the things that the clergymen and other healers of the wardens had tried had produced no noticeable effect upon Dunnagan's prone form. It became obvious that if he was going to survive his ordeal it would be by his body's constitution, and his strength of will. Two Eighthdays had gone by, but Dunnagan had aged nearly ten years in that time. Every clergyman can tell you there is a price that must be paid to wield a god's power. If you heal a wound, you feel some of the pain. If you reconnect a spirit with their mortal shell it requires life to complete that process, how much depends on many factors. To gift life to two of his comrades and several villagers Dunnagan was lucky that the cost had been so apparently low in relation to the deep performed.

  As usual in such a situation where there is really no way to express the magnitude of the service Dunnagan performed, he found himself accepting medals and became an official member of the Warders before he was on his feet. Unfortunately for the now slightly less young Dwarf the only thing in more demand than a Warden was a Cleric, and the Wardens had little say when the temple let it be known that Dunnagan would be trained as a Cleric henceforth. No matter what the temple thought however, Dunnagan was a Warden at heart. So it was that after a decade under the thumb of one clergyman or another Dunnagan found himself patrolling the frontier with the wardens once again. No one ever complained at having him along, and over the next three hundred years there was only a handful of Wardens that weren't able to say that Dunnagan had saved their lives at one point or another. They tried promoting him several times, but Dunnagan always felt that there were better men for such jobs than himself, and never let them promote him higher than Sergeant Major. As life tends to do, it was the work he loved that put him in a situation that would cause cause his eventual departure from the Wardens. On the same ground that his connection to Cypheria had been so spectacularly established over three hundred years before Dunnagan's patrol came upon a band of Dracair assassins disguised as a merchant caravan. Once the party had been defeated, which was no easy victory, they found an unfortunate young woman inside the carriage the group had acquired. One of the men in the patrol took a fancy to the young woman, and after it became apparent that the Dracairei had used her poorly he offered to marry her and take her somewhere far away. Soon she would give birth to Nimus Theromvore-Mithriannil, and the world would never be the same.

  Twenty years later Dunnagan would find a young man with Dracairei eyes on his doorstep who went by the name Nim. Dunnagan retired from the Wardens shortly after, at what the brass said was the rank of Lieutenant Commander. None of the things he had experienced in his three hundred and seventy five years of life could have prepared Dunnagan for the adventures that would follow. It was during these adventures that Dunnagan realized the Wardens were only dealing with a small portion of what the enemy could field. The real evils that their enemy could unleash were coming, and it wasn't going to be pretty. He had always thought that Nim would be the one that would lead the battles against the coming storm, but recent events had given him doubts about such thoughts. A part of him knew that Nim would have a hand in the events to come, but he suddenly knew that it was the boy that lay bundled up by the fire and his mysterious friend that would truly shape the war to come.

  Dunnagan looked at Ashur across the fire, meeting his young friend's eyes he realized that their thoughts had been running along the same course.

  “It's gonna be one hell of a fight.” Ashur said quietly

  “We're gonna need to push him to learn all he can, it's gonna be harsh, and he may hate us at times, but if this lad you talk about is anything like Nim he's gonna need it.” Dunnagan said in return.

  “Aye, he's a lot like Nim, but…” Ashur looked down at his hands and then around him as if the words he was trying to find were laying around somewhere nearby. “…he's so much more Dunnagan. I remember when I first met Nim, I knew at that moment that if I wanted to truly live that I should follow him. This boy Victor though, it makes that feeling I got from Nim seem like we had only been playing this whole time. It's a feeling that says every turn has new possibilities, I feel like I'm just a kid seeing things as they are, or could be fore the first time!”

  The look Dunnagan gave him was skeptical, and he chuckled. “Yeah, just wait till you meet him, you'll see what I mean. He has this energy about him, and this look that tells you that every thing you thought you knew is wrong. It's not a condescending look or anything, it's just like he's lived everything a thousand times before... I'm not sure which scares me more, the fact that I feel like an eight year old boy knows more than I do, or the fact that it feels perfectly natural that he should. Nim had that kind of look about him, but he always had the excuse of having Draconic eyes, which lent him that certain something, but this boy his eyes are different. You can see hints of the Draconic in them, but they are sharp, and gray around the iris, like a well covered by a storm cloud. You can see the power crackling in his eyes sometimes, and I'm not ashamed to admit that it's the scariest thing I've ever seen. I've seen older casters work Shapings to get that kind of effect, but this boy has it innately. I think that is what drew Shawnrik to him. Victor is like a magnet for powerful people. He drew Nim and us into it too, I think..”

  “It doesn't really surprise me though, Nim has always naturally drawn those with power to him as well. I never knew how he did it, but from the moment he knocked on my door it just felt right to follow him. I'm just kind of glad that someone can affect Nim in the way he's been effectin' us for all these years. A little bit of divine justice eh?” Both men broke into laughter at that point which caused Shawnrik to stir slightly, so they brought their voices back down to a near whisper.

  Both sets of eyes were on Shawnrik's sleeping form as Dunnagan spoke again. “I think he can take whatever we can dish out though, call it a hunch.”

  Ashur nodded again, “Aye, I think he's already stronger and quicker than I am, or ever was. Victor taught him to read too.” Dunnagan raised an eyebrow and let out a puff of air. “You may not believe it fully yet, but that boy is everything I've said. I think Shawnrik is going to be a willing or unwilling participant in the life of that boy whether he wants to be or not, which I think he does.”

  “Aye.” Dunnagan nodded as he thought about the pledge that Shawnrik had made earlier. “I think that Cypheria wants the lads protected too, I'm pretty sure it was her influence that made me talk to Shawnrik about it today, and he may have a closer connection to her than me'self. Where are we going first?”

  “I thought we'd go up through the fields of gold and stop at the town of Lakeshire. Then continue Northeast along the scarlet road up into the lower foothills and Stalwart.”

  “Alright, that's a good area for the trainin' that needs to be done, if it doesn't kill him first. Either way, we need to get started afore sun up, and that's not too long from now, so rest up, I'll stand watch for a bit.” Dunnagan said, turning away from the fire in order for his vision to adjust to the night, which doesn't take very long for a dwarf.

  “Sounds good, wake me in a few hours, you need some rest too.” With that Ashur checked his bedroll for any unwanted guests, before climbing into it and quickly falling asleep.

  Meanwhile

  City of Safeharbor

  Royal Quarter

  “When you said I was supposed to wear this thing I thought you were joking!”

  Nim looked down at Victor who was wearing his clothes that had even more frills than his own, with a mixture of mirth and mock sympathy. “Now Victor, we're going to a ball at the castle, and you can't look like a street urchin.”

  Victor looked at Nim incredulously while fingering one of the frills that flopped down over his wrists. “You really expect me to believe that? Those clothes you had made for me are mostly silk. What kind of street urchin has silk?
”

  “Your right, you wouldn't look like a street urchin normally, but these people wear silk everyday, they even sleep on it. If you go in just basic silks they may think you're a serving boy, which can be good for hearing conversations and not being seen, but you would still stand out too much for that.”

  Victor didn't understand what Nim meant, he didn't think there was anything special about him really. He then looked at Nim's outfit and scowled again, it wasn't half as frilly as his own. “I think I'm sure to stand out in this outfit, did you ask the tailor to drown me in this stuff? “

  “Well Victor, that's the plan. I figure since you'll stick out like a sore thumb anyway, we might as well make people stand up and pay attention while we are at it. Remember, you need to act like these people are a simple annoyance to your day and not worth your time, except for the royal family of course. You need to look upon them as your equals, or near equals at least. I don't want you gaping, control your body, and keep your mind on track to the task at hand. We are here to gather information, and to acquaint you with this type of people. It's too bad that this ball is the one we have to start you on, but there's no getting around it.”

  Their certainly was not any getting around it. The invitations for the ball had been hand delivered earlier that afternoon to those parties deemed worthy enough to attend. Nim told Victor that those with enough power who lived elsewhere would have been notified with just enough time for them to be able to pack their things and begin traveling. Of course, many of these people had Shapers in their employ that could warp the distance, so it wasn't uncommon for those people to be notified at the same time as everyone else. Victor remembered Shaylyn commenting about the different ways in which such a thing was possible, but he was finding it harder to recall specifics from his time with Shaylyn as time progressed. He had commented on this fact to Nim who had told him that it was something that happened when you got older. Old memories compress and make room for the new ones to come. The important things that you learned will have been ingrained into your mindset whereas the things that seemed trivial tend to end up floating away and become fragmented in order to store all of the new information.

  Victor was trying to recall all the different ways that a person could move a Shaper from one place to another when he realized that they had entered the Royal Quarter. Many of the greater nobility had built manors around the castle so that they could be nearby when conducting business with the Royal Family. Which meant that the entire district was strictly off limits to anyone who didn't possess “noble” blood, or vast sums of money and influence. Victor laughed quietly to himself when he realized he had neither. Because of the fact that this area was so well guarded, Victor had never seen the castle from closer than the rooftops of the stores near the Southern Gate.

  “It's Amazing” Victor quietly stated, in awe of the grandeur that became apparent as the coaches began to enter the courtyard. From the light that the lanterns along the path provided Victor deduced that much of the grounds out in front of the castle were well manicured gardens. Looking closer at the lanterns he realized that they were simply spheres of light, floating in the air of their own accord, giving off a radiant glow. He would have loved to be able to approach one and see how it was made, but today would not be such a day.

  They had to wait on the cobbled path as each coach offloaded guest after guest who were arriving Victor could only call the pace plodding, and Nim assured him that it would be quite improper to “hop” out of the coach to go stare at one of the lights. It seemed like they had been sitting there the entire night to Victor when they had finally pulled up to the path that led to the gigantic front gates of the castle, though it had only really taken about an hour. Between their position and the gates was a beautiful fountain. Positioned some ten paces behind the fountain appeared the statue of a man wearing a simple crown in his hand he held a goblet, and from that goblet emerged a stream of water that shot towards the top of the fountain and trickled down each of the seven tiers of its marbled surface, each tier making the water change to a different color. Victor then noticed there were two other sprays of water coming from either side of the fountain that met with the steam of the crowned man. These other two streams were more difficult to notice at first glance because much of their water was diffused along their path on each side of the fountain. This created a soft mist to rain down for several feet overhead before reaching some sort of barrier that channeled the water towards the fountain in soft waves, leaving the ground, and guests completely dry.

  Nim noticed Victor watching the fountain with an expression of awe clearly featured on the boy's face and frowned slightly. “That is the fountain of the Protectorate, the three powers of the Protectorate are represented in it. The gentleman we can see clearly wearing the crown was King Dalton, the first King of Safeharbor whose lineage makes up a large portion of the royal family to this day. The gentleman whom has his back towards us on the right side of the path was Leodric Skyhammer, Tetriarch of the mages at the time of the rebuilding. Last, but certainly not least we can see the profile of the lovely lady on the left side of the path. Marisa Windsbane was King Dalton's cousin and Dalton's second in command of the Knights of Terrazil before he was given the kingship. She then assumed command of the Knights, and rightfully so, it is said that she was twice as deadly as she was beautiful. The King faces east guarding his castle against any enemies that would, and will come, while the other two face their King and their respective academies. The King holds the goblet of peace, while High Commander Windsbane holds the Sword of Justice, and Tetriarch Skyhammer holds the scepter of power, each coming together to symbolize the creation of something wondrous and beautiful. At least that is the general Idea. Now then, we will be entering the castle shortly, so I expect you to control your features as I have taught you to do. Look upon things like this with respect or indifference, no gaping, and keep your mouth closed!”

  It took a moment for the last of Nim's comments to settle into Victor's mind while he was still considering how the fountain had been made, and the deeper meaning behind it's construction. Victor quickly centered his mind into the cool and collected thought process that Shaylyn had taught him years before that Nim had honed to a razor's edge. He silently assumed the role which Nim had lain out for him. A noble born child, whose parents had died, that was now being raised by Nim as his adopted son. He was to ignore the fact that the servants even existed, which was the worst part of the whole affair in Victor's opinion, and he was to effect a pompousness and superiority akin to that which Nim was infamous for. Stepping out of the coach with his head held high, it was difficult for Victor to constrain himself in full view of the awe inspiring beauty of the fountain, but one did not learn to Shape without an impressive amount of control.

  Looking upon the statues with outwardly feigned indifference Victor knew two things. One was that the statues had obviously been made by skilled Shapers with a craftsmanship that would be hard to duplicate today. Secondly that the statues had been made not only to capture the images of their respective persons, but to also draw on everything that had made that person who they were. Victor knew from looking at those statues that each of these people had been powerful, and inspirational leaders. Looking at the faces of the people milling about he quickly realized that not many of them would leave the confines of their own personal issues long enough to achieve that level of understanding. When he looked into Nim's eyes however he knew that at least one other person there understood what he did.

  “Let us move into the interior of the castle without too many interruptions Victor, these people do so bore me.” Nim said this while raising to a level of pompousness that Victor had yet to see him achieve. His statement had been said loud enough so that all of those around the fountain heard it, which brought more than a few glares their direction. Those that had a bit more practice in such things chose to ignore the comment, though Victor could see them standing straighter than they had been moments before.

>   Affecting the same mannerisms that Nim had used Victor looked around and through the people positioned around the fountain, acting as if they weren't even there. “Aren't there any important people here father?” Even those more schooled at keeping their emotions in check visibly shook at this comment from this young unknown boy in front of them. The glided through a flurry of conversations which contained a surprising amount of quiet curses, untouched by the storm.

  They assumed an arrogant stance that said they couldn't be bothered to notice that these people even existed. Victor knew that soon most of the minor nobles, as well as the well-to-do merchants, would hear about the comments that were not usually voiced in public, which would spread to more people, and the rumor mill would inflate what was actually said and it would take on epic proportions. Nim told Victor that when the rumors had increased to where they had killed a noble by the fountain or some such nonsense it would probably continue onto the higher ranked nobles, and probably even the Royal Family.