The King's Sorcerer

by B. T. Narro

  The blow was devastating even considering how well I had been prepared. I was thrown back as if I were weightless, sliding nearly the entire distance of the room.

  Dteria wasn’t as hard as brick. The dark energy was even somewhat cushiony. It felt like a carpeted floor had been turned sideways and slammed into me, but that didn’t make it any easier to overcome.

  Charlie jumped on the back of the axman, but the much larger man threw him off easily. As I was getting up and charging again, the axman was lifting his blade to kill Grufaeragar.

  The dark mage held the krepp against the wall with the invisible energy. Grufaeragar’s arms were spread, trapped, as he spat and kicked, but he couldn’t reach the axman. I wasn’t going to get there in time!

  “No!” I yelled as the axman struck the krepp.

  However, the ax head slipped off the handle. Only the wood hit the creature in his strong chest.

  “The hell?” the axman muttered as he looked at his headless weapon, the metal head partially melted at his feet.

  “Metal mage!” the sorcerer yelled. He aimed his hand in Charlie’s direction.

  Charlie collapsed to the floor under the barrier of invisible dteria. He squirmed but couldn’t get out. The sorcerer was about to drive his dagger down into Charlie’s chest. I assumed the dark mage would have to let the dteria disperse first, but Charlie still had no way of defending himself in time.

  I blasted the sorcerer with a huge force of dvinia against his rear end. He staggered forward, then started to fall. The krepp caught the sorcerer with his blade, the other end of it coming out through the man’s back.

  Grufaeragar kicked the dying man off his weapon and slammed his feet with each step toward the axman, who now only had a stick as a weapon.

  The axman tried to turn and run. I was prepared to stop him. We could detain and question him because he didn’t appear to be a fire mage, but Grufaeragar leapt incredibly far and landed on the man’s back.

  “Wait!” I yelled, as Grufaeragar stepped off him and lifted his blade.

  He ignored me. I had to jump back to make sure I wasn’t hit as the krepp struck, taking off the man’s head by his neck.

  I was stunned by the gruesome sight. Was all this over now?

  “Reuben!” I yelled as I remembered. I darted out of the room.

  I saw him slumped against the wall near the top of the stairs. There was a puddle of blood around him, but he was alive as he held his hands over his leg. Kataleya crouched over him. Scarlett was nowhere in sight.

  I ran to them. “What happened?”

  “She’s running through the courtyard!” Reuben said. “Don’t let her escape!”

  I rushed down the stairs and passed into the courtyard. I could see her climbing the ramp to the battlements. She was far ahead, but I might be able to catch up. I sprinted as fast as I could. I wasn’t even sure I could win a match against her on my own, but I couldn’t let her escape freely.

  She passed by where the ladder had been and kept running. Soon she jumped off the wall and fell out of my view. I was still a ways behind. Where was the damn ladder? I must’ve missed it. I went back.

  Then I realized what had happened. I looked over the edge and could faintly see it against the dark ground in the night. She had pushed it off so that I could not use it.

  She was gone.

  I started back toward the courtyard, but an image was making its way from my memory into my forethoughts. There had been a considerable amount of blood around Reuben.

  I cursed as I sprinted back. “Healer!” I yelled. “We need a healer!” There had to be one in the castle, right? What was protocol for a serious injury on the castle grounds? Why hadn’t any of this been covered? Leon was a terrible instructor! Even the king seemed woefully unprepared. If it was ignorance that led to Reuben’s death, I would…I would...I didn’t know what I would do.

  “Healer!” I yelled again across the empty courtyard.

  Kataleya was yelling to me as I entered the keep.

  “Jon! I can’t stop his bleeding!”

  “Where are the bandages?” I screamed as I ran up the stairs.

  “Oh god,” Reuben was muttering fearfully. “Please, Kat. Don’t let me die.”

  “I don’t know what to do!” Kataleya yelled.

  There was so much blood around Reuben, his pants completely red. Charlie and Grufaeragar were watching, doing absolutely nothing.

  He was going to die unless I did something. Kat was in my damn way.

  “Get back!” I snarled as I pushed her. She fell away from me as I crouched in front of Reuben’s leg.

  Kataleya screamed at Charlie, “Where is the cloth I told you to get, you stupid fool!”

  “I…I…” Charlie seemed to be in complete shock. Kataleya ran off with a curse.

  “Where’s the wound?” I asked Reuben. There was just so much blood.

  “Here.” He pointed at his left thigh.

  I found the deep gash in his leg, blood flowing out.

  I closed my eyes and shut out the world. I found F quickly, and I already had uF at my disposal. I knew I just had to use them at the same time. It was like casting Expel, but with only two notes. F was the tricky one. I had never combined it with anything, but I could use uF so easily that it was like throwing a ball. All I had to do now was manipulate my mana into uF and F at the same time, then cast. It was like throwing two balls at once, and the one with my left hand was the one I actually had to aim.

  I put my hand over Reuben’s wound. I could tell people were talking to me, but I paid no attention. I mentally prepared the spell like preparing to do a flip, something I had never done before, though I knew exactly how it should work. Eventually, I was ready.

  I pushed out F and uF at the same time. I felt something click within my mind, like coming to a realization even though no thoughts were present.

  The spell was an incredible force, a beast that wanted to be released from my grasp as soon as I began to use it. I could feel the healing energy coming out from my mana, directed by my hand over Reuben’s wound. I gasped from the strain. It felt as if someone had just dumped a boulder onto my chest and I was trying to hold it up.

  I gave it everything I had as Reuben screamed in agony right in my ear. I wanted to tell him to shut the hell up, but a single word would break my concentration.

  The strain was too much. I couldn’t breathe. My vision blurred. Why the hell was this spell so demanding? Was I doing it wrong? No, it felt right.

  I knew I would pass out at any moment, but I still kept pushing. The worst pain was somehow in my jaw. My teeth, I realized, and tried to tell myself to relax before I broke a tooth. Everything was dimming.

  I had completely lost control, the spell finally coming to an end. I tried to take a breath, but it seemed that I didn’t even have the strength to breathe.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  I awoke with a startle. It didn’t feel as if much time had passed, but I was not in the same place.

  I was sitting up in the arms of someone with extraordinarily uncomfortable bulging muscles. The balcony slowly came into focus. I realized I was leaning against Grufaeragar’s chest as he sat on the ground. I was still panting for breath. Reuben was about five yards ahead of me, still sitting in a pool of his own blood, but some color had returned to his face.

  Kataleya was crouched over him holding his wrist, checking his pulse. I leaned off the krepp.

  “You good, Jon?” Grufaeragar asked.

  “I am.”

  “I catch you when fall. I bring you here. No blood on nice shirt. Only pants.”

  “Thank you.” I got to my unsteady feet.

  Charlie was where I’d last seen him, standing and staring at Reuben and Kataleya. I doubted he had uttered a word even after I’d passed out.

  I crouched near Reuben. “Are you all right?”

  “I think so. My leg’s not bleeding anymore.”

  “You still lost a lot of blood,” Kataleya said. �
�You should lie down. Can we help you to your bed in the apartments?”

  “Use mine,” Grufaeragar said. “It close.”

  Reuben nodded. We helped him up carefully and supported him as he walked down the hall.

  “I’m sorry,” Charlie said. “I’m sorry, Kataleya. I’m sorry, Reuben. I’m sorry!” He sounded as if he might cry.

  “It’s all right, Spayker,” Reuben said. “I’m going to be fine.”

  Charlie took a few breaths and seemed mostly better.

  I was starting to realize what I had done. I almost couldn’t believe it. The thought of needing to cast that spell again terrified me. I had never felt a strain like that. I didn’t even want to practice it, but I knew I would change my mind eventually.

  I figured that I wouldn’t have been able to heal Reuben if his injury had been anything worse than a cut. I was sure I hadn’t even fully repaired his leg, perhaps just closed the wound. He might still have a slow recovery ahead of him, unless Leon or I helped him heal later, if such a thing was possible. There was still a lot to learn.

  “How does your leg feel?” I asked.

  “Stings somewhat.” His voice was quiet as he held a look of shock.

  “Tell us what happened, Charlie,” I said.

  “The princess allowed me to visit the library, so I was already here in the keep. Then I heard a man’s scream from outside the castle. I became nervous so I looked out the window. I saw three people make their way onto the battlement, presumably from a ladder. That’s when I knew there was going to be an attack. I started calling Jon using the callring.”

  “I felt it. What about Leon or the king? Where are they?”

  “Leon left with the others shortly after the three of you rode out. The princess told me her father was not expected to return today. He and Barrett have been meeting with nobles all day about the replacement of the captain of the guard. When I saw the invaders, I yelled, ‘There’s an attack! There’s an attack!’ However, it was too late for the guard outside the keep. He was asleep during his duty. It was the death of him.

  “He awoke to me shouting and tried to get in the keep. I’m sure he would’ve barred the door, but he was tossed away from it with dteria because the sorcerers were close by then. They killed him quickly. I assumed the princess was upstairs in the most fortified room and her guards are still there now. I wasn’t sure I would make it there in time, and I wasn’t sure they would let me in if I did. So I entered Grufaeragar’s room instead.”

  “Grufaeragar!” the krepp echoed, though I had no idea why. Perhaps he was just excited to hear his name as part of the story.

  “Uh, yes. We barricaded ourselves in the room,” Charlie continued. “I hoped the princess’s guards would take care of the sorcerers, but then they started chopping down our door, and that’s when I realized they had come here for him.” Charlie inclined his head in Grufaeragar’s direction.

  “Why they want kill me?” the krepp asked.

  I answered, “They wanted to start a war between your krepps and us. If you died here in the castle, you would never return to your krepps to tell them we have honor. Your krepps would assume that we were responsible for your death and would attack us.”

  “Karudar! Barshets!” He spit on the floor. I hadn’t understood either word, but I imagined they were pretty bad. “Who are they humans?”

  “You saw they were using dteria, the cursed magic?”

  “Yes, dteria! Cheat magic.” He spat again. “I win with no dteria! Barshets!”

  “I knew one of them,” I told the others.

  “The red-haired woman?” Reuben asked. He was standing weakly with his arm around Kataleya as she supported him.

  “Yeah, when I first visited Tryn I was asking everyone I met if they knew a sorcerer who could help me understand magic. She was the first person who was going to speak with me, but Barrett arrived soon after. He scolded her as if she had done wrong not informing him about a recruit, but I had barely shared a few words before he came. I didn’t know anything about her. To see her here, trying to start a war with the krepps, makes me wonder who exactly she’s loyal to. I hope it’s not the lord of Tryn, who I thought had an idea about all the sorcerers in his town.”

  I didn’t add that the lord of Tryn was the same man who my father was allegiant to for so many years, the same man Scarlett had said she was working for. It had to have been a lie.

  “What happened in the fight between you two?” I asked Reuben.

  “I almost had her, but then her dteria pinned me. She cut my leg while she held me down. Kataleya showed up and struck her with water and knocked her over. By then, we could hear the men dying who had come with her. It was clear she was alone then, and she fled.”

  “Your water is strong enough to knock someone over?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Kataleya said. “I should’ve come earlier.”

  “It’s fine,” Reuben said.

  “No,” she said with a rigid stare into his eyes. “It’s not.”

  Charlie said, “I bet that woman is working with King Frederick of Rohaer. If the krepps went to war against us, then Rohaer would barely have to lift a finger to take the kingdom after the fighting was over.”

  “That would make sense,” I said. “Except that she has been in Tryn for a while, I believe.”

  “Who else could she be loyal to if not Rohaer’s king?” Charlie asked.

  “What about Cason Clay in Koluk? We were supposed to be meeting Leon’s friend. Perhaps she has information about this kind of corrupt betrayal. You know, we could still make it before sunrise if we leave now. I know you can’t, Reuben,” I said as he started to open his mouth. “And I’m just realizing that Kataleya, you should stay with him. I could go alone, though.”

  It was silent.

  “It’s decided then,” I said. “That means I should be leaving now.”

  I hoped our horses were still outside the wall and hadn’t wandered off. That made me realize something.

  “I’m not sure how I can get down off the castle wall, though. I’m not about to go open the drawbridge, even if I knew how.”

  “I know of some rope in the keep,” Charlie said. “I can pull the rope back up after you’re finished.”

  “Let’s do that. Go get the rope.”

  He darted off.

  “Are you sure, Jon?” Kataleya asked. “You’ve never been to the city before.”

  “I saw the map. It won’t be hard to find the tavern.” I paused as I really thought through it. Yes, I could do this. “I don’t want to miss this opportunity.”

  “We go fight enemies?” Grufaeragar asked.

  “No, I go find friend. That friend will help us fight later.”

  “I understand. Need Grufaeragar?”

  “Thank you, but it’s easier alone.” I couldn’t imagine going unnoticed when taking a krepp into the city.

  Charlie ran back with a long rope. “Ready?” he asked.

  I didn’t feel like leaving again so soon, but time was against me. “Yeah.”

  We started jogging down the hall.

  “Jon,” Reuben said weakly.

  I stopped and turned around.

  “Thank you. Really. Thank you.”

  “Of course,” I called back.

  “Wait, Jon,” Kataleya said. “Change your pants and boots. You have blood all over you.”

  Normally I wouldn’t care in a time like this, but I was trying to remain inconspicuous. “I don’t have another pair of boots.”

  “Take one of mine,” Reuben said. “I have a few pairs by the hearth in my room.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, go.”

  Leaving the keep, I grabbed the cloak I’d thrown off earlier. The apartment building was right next door, but the guard’s body was in my path. I felt like apologizing to him even though I knew it was foolish.

  “I’m sorry,” I muttered. “We couldn’t get here any earlier.”

  Soon I found that the door to t
he apartments was locked. “Hey!” I shouted. “The fight’s over. It’s Jon Oklar. I need to get inside.”

  I wasn’t sure if any of them knew me by name, but they should recognize me if they looked.

  A woman opened the curtains of her room near the door. She was someone I had seen many times. She hurried over and opened the door for me.

  “What happened?” she asked. But then she gasped as she saw the guard’s body.

  “Tell everyone to go into the keep. One of my friends will explain. I have to get somewhere.” I took off my boots as I spoke to her. I would be changing them anyway and didn’t see the point in leaving bloody footprints all across the floor.

  Upstairs, I set them down outside my room hoping they would be cleaned. I did the same with my pants, undressing right there in the empty hall without a care of anyone seeing. I could hear voices and movement downstairs as the castle workers were probably leaving to find out what had happened.

  I checked my hands before putting on another pair of pants. There was no blood.

  When I was finished dressing, I entered Reuben’s room. It looked just like mine except his clothing was everywhere.

  “Someone’s used to having a maid.”

  There were two pairs of boots near the hearth. Two were turned over and the other two lay on their sides as if Reuben had a habit of kicking off his boots from his bed. They looked to be about the same size as my shoes. I tried on the brown ones that seemed a little less assuming of wealth, though they were probably worth more than all my clothing combined. They fit a little snugly, but they would suffice.

  I rushed out of Reuben’s room and bumped into Charlie with a startled gasp.

  “Ah! You scared me,” I complained as I found my breath again.

  “Ready?” The heavy rope was looped around his shoulder.

  “Let’s go.”

  I figured someone would tell the princess and the queen, if she was here, that the threat was over and let them know what had happened. Leon and the king would find out when they returned later. I’m sure they would be happy we had saved Grufaeragar, but it would be dampened when they eventually realized the same thing I was just now starting to realize.