Forgotten Mage

by D. W. Jackson

  “What happened to the well boy,” Doren said, pushing past Clair.

  “Father, calm down!” Clair said, grabbing Doren by the arm. “What’s done is done. The well can be rebuilt, I am just glad no one got seriously injured.”

  “We need to know what happened Clair,” Doren said, pulling his arm out of her grasp.

  Doren didn’t ask again, but the look in his eyes left Bren knowing that he expected an answer. “I really don’t know sir,” Bren answered truthfully. “I hurt my hand and then got really mad. Next thing I know everything went fuzzy and I found myself on the ground with my head pounding.”

  “Magic,” Doren said angrily. “I swear nothing good ever came from magic,” Doren added under his breath as he stomped out of Bren’s room.

  Clair gave a slight laugh drawing everyone’s attention. “Mother, it’s not funny,” Faye said giving her mother a stern look.

  “It’s not that dear,” Clair said still smiling. “A long time ago when Mark was here, something happened a lot like this. At the time I thought he was possessed by a demon, but Grandma Joan knew better.”

  At the mention of his father Bren sat up and immediately regretted the action as his whole body began to ache. “My father…what did he do?” Bren asked, as he settled back down with a groan.

  “He made a tree grow in the small grove near the north plot,” Clair said with a smile. “It’s still there today and is twice the size of any of the other trees in the area. I still like to go there sometimes when the day is nice.”

  “A tree,” Bren said with awe. “I have never been able to control my magic,” the young boy said his voice etched with self-contempt. “My sister is two years younger than me and she can already occasionally use hers to do what she wants.”

  “I am sure that in time, you will learn to control your gifts,” Maggie said patting Bren consolingly “I don’t know if you will be up to it, but if you are you are still welcome to come with us to the Fallensday festival.”

  Bren looked around the room and when he saw the look on Faye’s face, he couldn’t help himself. “I wouldn’t miss it,” He said with a strained smile. Bren could see Faye’s face light up as he said the words, but he was unsure how fit he would be to partake in any of the fanfare.

  “Well girls, let us leave the poor boy to sleep,” Maggie said, pushing the other two out of the door and shutting it softly behind her.

  Bren felt the tug to drift back off to sleep, but pushed it aside. Closing his eyes, Bren tried to feel his body. Everything hurt, it was many times worse than what he had felt after his first real day of work. The feeling reminded him of the time his swordsmanship instructor thought he was getting too full of himself.

  After what felt like hours, Bren once again tried to move. His body was stiff and still ached, but not nearly as bad as before. Once he was sitting, Bren took a deep breath and stood. As soon as he was on his feet small dots of blue and red swam in his vision. He felt dizzy and his stomach churned, but after a few seconds the feeling passed.

  Feeling slightly better, Bren made his way down the stairs. As he neared the common room, he could hear the others talking. He didn’t mean to listen in, but after hearing his name it was hard for him to walk through the small doorway.

  Clair and Maggie were talking about how nice of a boy he was while Doren expressed concern about his uncontained magical powers. It had not been the first time Bren had accidently destroyed something, but it was the first time anyone had expressed concern over it. His mother simply pushed it off due to his age and emotions, but Clair and the others were worried.

  “He just needs to learn to control it,” Bren heard Clair say. “Boys his age are all action and little control. As time goes by, he will get a handle on it.”

  “He needs to go to where all the other mages are,” Doren said earnestly. “I’ll admit he is a good boy, but as he is, he’s dangerous.”

  “Faye just adores him though,” Maggie replied softly. “There are so few boys near her age, we shouldn’t send off the first one she has made a connection with.”

  “Faye will find a nice young farmer lad just like Clair did when Mark left,” Doren said gruffly. “He is a prince. Do you really think the queen will allow her son to marry her? No, it is best that we end it now before the two of them end up worse off.”

  “Father I don’t think I am worse off for meeting Mark,” Clair said, the anger in her voice clearly auditable. “We should let the kids make their own choices and not sit here trying to do it for them. In the end it won’t matter what we say, they will do what they want. If we try to push them too hard, then it will only end badly for all of us.”

  “Fine,” Doren said frustrated, “But mark my words, this will not end well.”

  “Things seldom do, but that’s part of life father,” Clair said sternly.

  Bren waited until the room had been quiet for a few moments before walking though the doorway to the common room. Everyone’s eyes focused on him as he entered and Bren felt like some kind of weird creature put on display.

  “Feeling better Hun?” Maggie said flashing him a motherly smile.

  “Much,” Bren said, though he didn’t really mean it. Clair gave him a worried look and Bren smiled at her. “Just a bit sore, it’s nothing to worry about really.”

  “Faye is out behind the house,” Clair said, with a weak smile. “Why don’t you go speak with her, she has been worrying herself all morning.”

  Bren, following Clair’s advice went out back but found no sign of Faye. After a few brief moments, Bren heard light singing off in the distance. The sound was faint, but Bren was still mesmerized by the sweetness in the notes.

  Following the sound, Bren found Faye at the other end. She was sitting in a patch of flowers wearing a dark pink dress and her hair was pulled up instead of hanging wildly around her shoulders as it normally did.

  As soon as Faye caught a glimpse of Bren, she immediately stopped singing and stood. “Bren I didn’t know you were out here,” She said nervously. “How are you feeling? If you don’t feel up to going into town I could stay back with you.”

  Bren could see the worried look in her face, but he could also see the hope. Bren had spent enough time around his mother and sister to know when he a girl wanted to hear a specific answer, even if she wasn’t aware of it. “I am a little stiff, but that’s it,” Bren said spinning a full turn around.”

  Faye gave off a bright smile and jumped to her feet. “You will love the festival,” Clair said nearly jumping up and down. “There are all kinds of things to do.”

  As Bren watched Faye her excitement started to spread and he found himself smiling despite the pain he was in. “I bet it will be great.”

  You shouldn’t let her force you into going. You know you are too sore to even want to move at the moment. You should be back in your bed sleeping until the effects of the massive amount of magic you used wear off.

  “She is not forcing me to do anything,” Bren replied defensively to Thuraman. “Believe it or not I am looking forward to this Fallensday celebration.”

  Say it all you wish, but that will not change the truth. You are only going because this temptress wishes you too. Listen to me now and save yourself a lot of heartache and pain in the future.

  Ignoring Thuraman Bren turned back in the direction of the farm house. “We should get back,” he said, giving Faye a warm smile. “There is no telling what your family thinks were up too.”

  “They probably think we have run off to the town without them,” Faye replied laughing.

  Bren started to respond, but he wasn’t given a choice as Faye grabbed his arm and began pulling him back toward the house. With each tug he felt a sharp pain, but he ignored it and tried to smile as Faye pulled him along.

  Thad continued to walk toward the object. He had walked and slept countless times, but it was as if he hadn’t moved. He could not tell if it was bigger today than it had been before but he still continued to walk.

&
nbsp; “What are you doing here child?” Thad heard a dark husky voice ask.

  Looking around, Thad found no one near him that might have said the words. “Who are you?” Thad asked aloud. “Am I losing my mind?”

  “I am Humanius, protector of your world,” the voice said firmly. “Now, how did you come to be here?”

  At hearing the name of the god who supposedly wanted him dead, the blood in Thad’s veins ran cold. “I am Thaddeus Torin and I was brought here by one of your swords,” Thad said indigently. He knew it was not a great idea to antagonize a god, but he was tired of walking in silence.

  “I know who you are Thaddeus,” The voice replied. “Come sit with me and we shall talk.”

  “Where are you?” Thad asked, looking around but seeing no sign of anything except the small dot in the distance.

  Suddenly the area around him seemed to clear and Thad found himself looking at a six foot tall man who reminded the mage of Killian. “What is this place?” Thad asked, knowing the answer already.

  “It has many names, but in truth it is nowhere. It is just a space between your world and mine. Worlds that would be better served if left apart,” Humanius said, giving Thad a hard stare.

  CHAPTER V

  The town of Tillman was not what Bren had expected. He knew that not every town was the size of the capital, but Tillman was nothing more than a scattering of houses. Doren led them all to a small open spot in the center of town where small tables were being assembled. “Not ready yet?” Doren asked a portly gentlemen who was sweating profusely.

  “Hardly,” the man said laughing. “Sent my boy to pick up some beans from the dwarves down in mage town and he didn’t get back until early this morn. Should have known better to send a lad his age to a place like that. I figure he spent most his time chasing after one of the fae.”

  “Haven’t you warned that boy that the fae ain’t worth dealing with?” Doren asked harshly. “We fight a war for them and all we got was death in return,” Doren said loudly, his eyes focusing on Bren.

  Faye grabbed his arm and tugged him toward one of the small tables that was covered in pastries. “Don’t mind granddad, he gets like that sometimes,” She said with a giggle. “You should have heard the story when my mother gave me my name. She said he turned so red you could use his face as a lantern.”

  Bren put the old man’s words out of his mind and looked at the table of sweets. “I’ll take a tart please,” He said, fishing a gold coin out of his pouch.

  The lady behind the table gave him a surprised look. “Boy, they’re only two coppers each,” she said, looking at the gold coin as if it was poisonous.

  “Oh,” Bren said and dumped the contents of his purse onto the table. Bren heard an audible gasp from both Faye and the stand worker as gold coins clattered onto the wood. Searching through the pile of coins, Bren pulled out a silver coin and handed it to the lady and started placing the other coins back in his pouch.

  Bren took his tart and started to walk off when he felt a light touch on his shoulder. “Your change,” the lady said, holding out a fistful of copper coins.

  “Thank you,” Bren said as he placed the coins in his pouch.

  “I don’t think anyone in town has seen that much gold in one place in their life,” Faye said, suppressing a laugh.

  “Really? My mother gave me and my sister ten gold every season for spending,” Bren said as if it was nothing.

  “Ten gold?” Faye said startled. “What did you do with ten gold?”

  “Nothing really,” Bren said, not understanding the meaning behind the question. “Mother would rarely let me or my sister go into the town so most of the time I just put it in my dresser.”

  “Faye,” a voice said from behind them. Turning around Bren noticed three boys near his own age running toward them.

  “I was hoping I would see you tonight,” one of the boys said, grinning brightly.

  “Friends of yours?” Bren asked walking up to stand next to Faye.

  “You could say that,” Faye said almost sighing. “The short one with the grass stains is Glenn, the one in the middle who looks as if he hasn’t had a proper haircut since in birth is Coliah, and the one who seems as if the world revolves around him is the mayor’s son Wes.” Bren had seen the look Faye was giving the three boys many times when an ambassador visited that she was not fond of.

  “Who is your friend Faye>” Wes asked, his eyes moving over Bren in an uncomfortable way.

  “Wes, I would like you to introduce you to Bren, the Farlan prince,” Faye said as she pulled Bren away from the boys.

  “Faye quit fooling,” Wes said chasing after them. “Who is he really?”

  “I told you,” Faye said, pushing the boy away. “Now please, my friend and I are trying to enjoy ourselves.”

  Wes grabbed Faye’s wrist and pulled her back. “Why don’t you spend some time with us?” Wes asked, pulling Faye toward him.

  Before Bren knew what he was doing, he had grabbed Wes by the wrist and pulled Faye behind him. “I think she asked you to leave us alone,” Bren said in even tones, his eyes locked onto Wes’s.

  Wes pulled his arm free with a strong jerk and moved his face only inches away from Bren’s. “Faye, I think your friend should mind his own business.”

  Wes put both his hands on Bren’s chest, but instead of moving backwards, Bren moved his left foot to the side and slid out of the way as Wes pushed. Wes was easily twice as wide as Bren and looked as if he were used to having his way around the small farming community. Bren cared little for that though. It was true that he had been raised in the luxury of the palace, but that also meant that a large portion of his time was spent with the royal guard as his mother expected him to take a position within once he came of age. Despite his own desires, he had been forced to train with the guard since he had been big enough to hold a practice sword.

  Bren heard Faye laugh as the larger boy fell to the ground without Bren so much as laying a hard on him. Wes was not so amused, and quickly regained his feet before charging at Bren.

  This time Bren stood his ground, bending his knees slightly. As soon as Wes was within striking distance, Bren shot forward like a coiled snake with his palm held out, striking the larger man squarely in the chin. Wes’s head snapped back and his eyes rolled into his head as he fell unconscious to the ground.

  “What is going on here?” A loud voice rumbled from a few feet away as the portly man Doren had been talking to stormed toward them.

  “Wes attacked Bren,” Faye said as she looked down at the boy laying on the ground.

  “What did you do to my boy?” The man asked, grabbing Bren by the upper arm.

  “A lot less than he deserved,” Bren said, pulling his arm free. “If I was not in a good mood, I would have called for the headsman.”

  “Call the headsman, who do you think you are boy?” The portly man asked, his eyes filled with fire.

  “Don’t do anything rash Derek,” Doren said stepping in-between Bren and the portly man. “If he wanted, he really could have your son and all of our heads laying on the headsman block.

  Derek stopped his attempted to get to Bren and looked at the elder farmer. “What nonsense are you talking about Doren?”

  “Shall I introduce Bren Farlane, prince of Farlan,” Doren said, bowing slightly toward the young man.

  “The prince?” The Mayor said looking down at his son as the boy started to move about. With one arm, the mayor reached down and pulled his son to his feet and gave him a hard shake.

  “Father,” Wes said as his mind started to clear. “He attacked me for no reason,” Wes said, pointing his finger at Bren as soon as his senses returned.

  “He doesn’t need a reason you damned fool,” his father said cuffing the boy on the back on the head hard. “Now, bow to your prince and hope that all of us can leave with our heads still firmly attached to our necks.”

  “I don’t plan on having anyone killed today sir,” Bren said, slightly embarrasse
d he had even mentioned the headsman. “He knew the laws of the land and also knew that he could have the boy beheaded for attacking a member of the royal bloodline, but he didn’t see the need for it.

  After giving a short bow and pushing his son to do the same, Derek escorted his troublesome son away from Bren and Faye. “That was marvelous,” Faye said laughing.

  “That it was not young lady,” Doren said sternly. “What if he had hurt the prince? Did you stop and think about that? You might think life is as simple as it seems here, but it’s not. In the blink of an eye, we could all find ourselves a head lighter should something happen to the boy.”

  Faye’s laughter suddenly stopped. His face still red with anger, Doren stomped off muttering to himself. As soon as the old man was gone, Faye grabbed Bren’s hand and pulled him to the next stall. “That was wonderful. Wes has needed someone to knock some sense into him for as long as I’ve known him.”

  “He looks at you fondly,” Bren said, as a small tightness in his chest overtook him.

  “He thinks I will marry him,” Faye said laughing. “I would rather marry a pig than have to spend more than a few minutes with that buffoon.”

  Bren didn’t know why, but when he heard the disgust in her voice, the tightness in his chest disappeared. “What do we do next?” He asked, gripping her hand tightly.

  Faye led Bren all over the small town square where they looked over every stall. Most of them were filled with sweets and food, but a few had trinkets for sale. When they happened across one that had a small silver butterfly on a delicate copper chain, Faye couldn’t help but to pick it up and look at it.

  “How much?” Bren asked as he saw the look on Faye’s face as she spun the necklace between her fingers.

  “Nine silver and three,” the merchant said looking at Bren with a bored expression.

  Bren pulled out a gold coin and placed in on the table. “I’ll take it.”

  The merchant took the coin and started to show the young man his other wares, but the merchant’s voice was drowned out by Faye’s screams of delight. “Really?!?” she exclaimed, bouncing on her toes. “I am afraid to wear it. What if the chain breaks and I lose it?” She asked, her face creased with worry.