Ellyssa shyly walked toward the old mage. “Sorry I hung you upside down and called you a boggleber…and an old beggar even though you do look kind of like an old beggar.”
Allister threw his head back and laughed in genuine amusement. “With Azerick as your master I can hardly blame you for your actions. At least you did not paddle my backside red.”
“I would never do that, Magus Allister. That would not be nice at all!” Ellyssa declared as she covertly motioned to the boy standing behind the magus to hide the stick he held.
“Hey, in all fairness, I have only had her for about nine months, and I do not think I can be entirely to blame for her character,” Azerick said in his defense.
“Which is more than adequate time to corrupt most anyone in your care.”
“Oh yes, Magus,” Ellyssa swore, emphatically nodding her head. “Master Azerick is a good teacher, but he is a bad influence on impressionable young minds. He made me face a ghost and squish rats.”
“I have to steal food from the kitchen or starve,” accused Wolf.
“He cut off my foot!” Roger shouted from the stairs.
Azerick gaped at the slanderous accusations, but his protests were barely audible over the children’s laughter. Allister was laughing so hard tears were flowing from his eyes.
“Oh, you were right, you really are in trouble here,” the magus stated between bouts of laughter.
“I do not want to sound ungrateful, because I am glad you are here, but what are you doing here?” Azerick asked when the din of laughter subsided.
“Franklin got your message and informed me of where you were.”
“It was supposed to be a secret. Are you here to take me back to Southport?” he asked in a tone that left it clear he would not go willingly.
“Put your feathers down, boy, I’m not here to take you back nor would I even try if you were even still wanted. I am here because I have been worried for you, and Franklin said you needed help.”
“I am not wanted anymore?”
Allister shook his bearded head. “No, those other three finally fessed up to Travis’s activities as well as their own involvement. With theirs and Franklin’s testimony, it was decided that you had acted in self-defense and Travis’s use of his wand with lethal intent placed the vast majority of fault on himself. Of course you understand that you are not wanted by The Academy or authorities, but that does not mean you are not sought after,” Allister warned.
“His father…”
“Exactly. The apple does not fall far from the tree as the saying goes, and it is especially true in Travis’s case.”
“Did Rusty say if he was coming?”
“Aye, he’ll be here as soon as he can. Franklin has a few things to wrap up at home first, and traveling is not exactly easy.”
Azerick looked abashed at his lack of hospitality. “You must be tired from making the trip in this weather. Would you like some winter wine and something to eat?”
“I could most definitely use something to warm these old bones and put my feet up, but not so far that they are over my head,” he growled at Ellyssa.
Azerick led the magus to the dining hall and asked Agnes to bring them both some of the warm winter wine, bread, and cheese. They waited a few minutes for the wine before discussing anything of importance. It was not until Allister sipped the wine and smiled gratefully as its warming effects spread through his body that he asked Azerick what had happened to him after he fled The Academy. Azerick settled in and related the tale to his old friend.
***
“So I rode into the city after the first snow fell and invited as many of the homeless children I could find to come stay in the keep until winter passed. Roger had frostbite so bad that the healing potions I made could not restore the worst of the damage to his foot, so Evan and I had to remove part of it.”
“And how many have you found with the gift?”
“Thirty two,” Azerick replied with emphasis.
Allister’s face clearly displayed his shock as the significance of Azerick’s statement registered. “Zounds, lad, you have the makings of another Academy!”
Now it was Azerick’s turn to look shocked. He had not really thought about it in that light. Could he really start his own academy? He would need a lot more space to house the students and faculty. He was already too short on proper living quarters for the students he had now, but that could be remedied as soon as the workers returned. There were plenty of buildings inside the grounds that he could put back in order to suffice, but he would need more if he housed a full staff on the premises.
“Where would I get the instructors to teach that many students properly? I had thought of having some of the workers each take on a few students as apprentices as they worked on rebuilding the keep, that is not too difficult, but I need mages to teach the ones who can access the Source.”
“You have me, Azerick. I put in an indefinite leave of absence at The Academy. They can get along fine without me. Franklin is on his way, and he has really come far in the last couple of years. Your absence really made him focus on his studies.”
That would only be ten students for each of them. Azerick could teach the novices, Rusty could teach the apprentices and journeymen, and Magus Allister could help with the journeymen and those who graduated to study the higher forms of magic.
“How is Rusty doing these days?”
Allister smiled thoughtfully. “Franklin is doing very well. He has been working with his father for the past year but still studies his magic. I always told him he had potential if he would just focus more, and I think he has finally realized that. He’s married now, you know.”
“He got married? To Colleen?”
“Indeed, quite a good head on that lovely young lass too. I think she had as much to do with Franklin getting his head out of the clouds as anyone. She is also pregnant. Franklin is going to be a father in a few months.”
Azerick shook his head and looked down at the table. “I can’t ask him to come here! He has too much going on at home to be worrying about my problems or me. I need to write another letter. I will have to make another bird!”
Allister squeezed the agitated young man’s hand with his own. “Son, I saw the look in Franklin’s eyes when he told me about your letter. Nothing you could do would stop him from coming here now. He is a grown man and able to make his own decisions. Let him make them.”
“I will have to set a room up for them in the tower, no, I will give them the downstairs study. Colleen does not need to be walking up and down the stairs,” Azerick excitedly relayed his plans.
“I am sure they will appreciate your consideration,” Allister assured the sorcerer then took on a more serious tone. “You have been through so much. Most men will never even come close to going through the trials and hardships you have faced at your young age even if they lived to be a hundred.”
“It has made me who I am and made me strong enough to withstand most anything.”
Allister looked deep into Azerick’s eyes. “Aye, it made you strong, but that kind of strength can often make a man rigid and inflexible. Things that cannot bend often break under enough pressure. That strength creates an emotional shield that makes a man bitter and impossible to get close to. In their desire to keep away what may hurt them, they also keep away those that would love them. Watch that it does not happen to you.”
Azerick felt tears welling up inside of him as he thought about all he had lost, especially Delinda. “I try, Magus, but it is hard to do. I fear if I let my guard down those emotions will destroy me.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, son. You suffered the greatest loss that anyone can experience. I cannot tell you the best way to deal with it. That is something you must discover on your own. For now, let us figure out a way to best help these children before they get loose and fall upon some poor unsuspecting town and trample it under their feet!”
Azerick and Magus Allister split up the students. Allister taught Ellyssa, Roger,
and the students who showed the greatest potential for the more advanced levels of magic while Azerick taught the less adept students. All still took basic education classes taught by Simon, Teresa, and the other women.
Possibly the greatest contribution Allister provided was a spell that would duplicate the contents of most any book onto the pages of a blank one, even creating multiple copies by placing several books containing blank pages beneath the original. Azerick was amazed as he watched the old wizard pull dozens of blank books out of a bag that was far too small to have held more than five or six.
“It is a special bag created with magic to have a much larger space inside than out and virtually negates the weight inside it as well,” he explained as he unloaded the books.
“Did you make this?”
“Oh no. It uses a very complex and specific type of magic that few practice and even fewer can master. I suppose I could achieve marginal success if I really wanted to devote several years of study to temporal space manipulation, but I would rather not. More than one ill-prepared or foolish wizard has been lost in the void trying to do such a thing.”
Several of the books were student books of The Academy as well as those containing blank pages.
“The academy has far more student books than students. It has been disproportionate for decades now, so they will not be missed,” Allister explained.
“You are a life saver, Allister.”
They were still a couple dozen books short of each type, so they created a study partner system where two students would share one book until Azerick could talk with the stationers’ guild about getting more. A few were set aside and shelved in the library for general use.
Zeke fashioned some practice swords that were little more than three-foot-long sticks and taught the children basic swordsmanship. All of the lessons were with slow deliberate movements and no real sparring since none of them had the proper protective equipment. Of course, that did not stop several of the students from practicing on their own, which was evident by the number of large bruises Azerick occasionally saw on some of them, but no one had come to him complaining or seeking medical aid so he let it go.
Two weeks passed in which time the snow continued to fall heavily before an unseasonably warm front passed through and the skies cleared up for several days. Azerick called for shortened classes so the children could go outside and get some fresh air and sunlight. They played in the snow for hours before getting too soaked and cold to continue, fled for the warmth of the keep, dried out, and repeated the entire process.
It was on one of the last few clear days that Wolf ran up and said that there were two wagons on long runners being drawn by the biggest horses he had ever seen coming up the road to the keep. Azerick stepped out into the courtyard just in front of the portico leading to the main door of the keep and watched as the sleighs drew near.
They were rather large affairs, looking much like a carriage on wide, wooden runners affixed to iron supports. The lead sleigh was enclosed just like a normal wheeled carriage to protect the occupants from the weather, but the drivers had no such protection and were bundled up in layers of clothing from head to toe. Even their eyes were hidden behind a strange-looking pair of slatted spectacles that Azerick knew protected the wearer from snow blindness. The second sleigh was open like a wagon, but its contents were covered by a large canvas tarp firmly secured by ropes to the sides of the sleigh and was pulled by a team of four.
The horses were magnificent specimens, causing Peck to cease his playing and stare in wonder at the beautiful animals. All six were huge draft horses, each standing at least eighteen hands tall. Their saucer-sized hooves churned up the snow as they cantered up the hill. They were all red or brown in color with long, white fetlocks and white diamonds on their foreheads or broad white stripes running from forehead to nose.
The horses came to a stop a short way from where Azerick stood with huge clouds of fog billowing from their large nostrils. Azerick tensed as the driver of the lead sleigh jumped from the open seat onto the snow-covered ground, nearly falling in the process, and ran toward him. The sorcerer relaxed when the man tore the thick wool hat from his head and the scarf from around his face and Azerick recognized who was hidden behind the concealing layers of clothing.
“Alex, what are you doing here?” Azerick exclaimed as his friend from the Martial Academy ran up and tried to squeeze the air from his lungs.
Alex set the sorcerer back down onto his feet and clapped him on the back. “Rusty told me you were in some kind of trouble and you needed help!”
Azerick shook his head. “I really need to talk to Rusty about the definition of the word secret.”
“Don’t be too hard on him, Az. He meant well, and he only told those he trusted the most, which was Magus Allister, me, and of course Colleen.”
“Azerick!” Rusty shouted as he ran from the sleigh and wrapped his best friend in a hug. “Gods, what happened to you, how are you doing?”
“I am doing fine, Rusty,” Azerick answered then slapped him firmly in the back of his bright orange-haired head. “Now get back there and help your wife before she falls, you idiot!”
“Oh, right! I’m sorry, honey, I’m coming,” he called to Colleen as he raced back to the sleigh.
Colleen was smiling broadly as she stepped carefully through the snow in a wide-footed gait, her extended stomach evident even under all of the clothes. She waved enthusiastically at Azerick and shouted a greeting as Rusty supported her by the other arm.
She shook Rusty loose and hugged Azerick fiercely even though her big stomach created a formidable obstacle. She was even more beautiful than Azerick remembered with her long blond hair, deep blue eyes, and the natural blush that the cold air brought out on her high cheekbones.
“I cannot believe you are all here!” Azerick exclaimed. “I did not think you would be here until spring.”
“You know Rusty when he gets an idea in his head. He found someone who was familiar with sleighs, had our coach and a wagon fitted with rails, bought these giant horses, and told me to pack because we are moving to North Haven,” Colleen explained jovially.
“And you just said yes?”
“Of course not, I asked him if he had lost his mind, but when he told me of your letter I came on board with his insanity.”
“I am glad you are here. As you can see, I am in dire need of help.”
“This is amazing,” Colleen said. “You wrote that you had over a hundred children, but I did not imagine this! How have you done it for even this short a time?”
“I have a few adults here to help me, thankfully.”
Peck ran up at that moment practically bouncing in excitement. “Milord, Milady, may I stable your horses, please?”
“This is Peck, my resident horse expert and stablemaster,” Azerick said in introduction.
Colleen beamed down at the boy. “My, a stablemaster at so young an age. I am impressed.”
“I’m older than I look, Milady, and a good worker. I take good care of the horses, don’t I, Master Azerick!”
“You sure do, Peck.”
“Well I am sure Mister Jansen would appreciate your help with the horses,” Colleen told Peck.
“Jansen is our houseman, driver, and bodyguard,” Rusty explained as Peck raced off to see to the big draft horses. “My father insisted on him a few months back. There are ill tidings in Southport these days. He is a quiet man but sturdy and reliable.”
Azerick observed the man for a moment and saw that he moved with the conservative grace of a highly trained fighter and noticed the hint of armor between the layers of clothing. A sword and several daggers hung from a thick leather belt at his waist, and a short bow and quiver of arrows were secured within easy reach from where he sat in the open sleigh. Peck helped unhitch the two big draft animals and led them to an open stall where he would feed and brush them down.
“So how did you end up getting my message?” Azerick inquired of Rusty.
Rusty laughed as he recalled the incident. “It flew into the dining room through an open kitchen door during dinner and almost gave my father a heart attack! It landed right in the bowl of mashed potatoes, and they just stood there looking at each other waiting to see who was going to move first! After a few minutes of the bird not showing further signs of life, my father pried the message out of it and gave it to me. I figured you might want the bird back, so I brought it with me. It’s in our sleigh.”
Azerick laughed. “Please apologize to your father for me next time you write him or see him.”
Rusty waved it off but said he would.
“Now, what is this business of you cutting off a boy’s foot?” Rusty asked.
“That’s me!” Roger shouted when he heard mention of his foot. “My foot got wet and froze before Master Azerick found us. It got frostbit, and him and Evan had to cut the dead parts off. It was gross, but it didn’t hurt too badly,” the boy said then threw a snowball at his sister before running off with his loping gait.
“Why don’t you kids take a break and help unload the sleighs?” Azerick shouted out to the swarm of children playing in the snow.
The kids shouted and ran toward the sleighs, excited about doing just about anything new even if it resembled work. Azerick led his friends into the keep where he showed them around, introduced them to Simon, Teresa, Agnes, and the other adults. He showed Rusty and Colleen to the downstairs study where he had planned on them staying.
“I’m sorry that I do not have much in here yet. I really did not expect you all this soon. I was going to go into the city and have a carpenter make a bed, bassinet, and crib and everything as soon as the snow cleared and folks started opening up their shops again,” Azerick explained.
“That’s all right, Azerick,” Colleen assured him. “It was sweet of you to think about me and put us on the ground floor. We brought a basinet with us along with a bit of furniture. It is all on the open sled Jansen was driving.”
“I’m afraid I will have to put Jansen on the fifth floor. Either that or move Simon or Teresa to make room on the second,” Azerick postulated. “He will also have to share a room with Alex unless he wants to live in one of the basement rooms, and none of those have fireplaces.”
The Sorcerer's Path Box Set: Book 1-4 Page 86
