Awaken (The Mortal Mage Book 1)

by B. T. Narro

  The group waited a while longer as the three mages tried to prepare the portal. It was quiet save the windy sound of moving bastial energy as Desil continued to observe the parts of the sky he could see. There were still a few rows of trees before the end, all with thick treetops that didn’t allow more than a tiny glimpse through them.

  “The wall is breaking down,” Basen said. “Just a few more clusters of energy should do it.”

  Everyone stopped and looked up at the sound of wings beating right above the treetops. A Marro was flying north, soon fully visible as it headed toward the many groups searching around. A moment of fear made everyone silent.

  “Did it see us?” Adriya asked.

  The Marro looked back right at them from underneath its shoulder.

  “Hurry,” Alabell said.

  “We can’t go any faster!” Basen replied.

  The Marro began to screech, calling the attention of every one of the unholy creatures. Too many to count headed toward the forest, aggression plain on their faces, an Lmar at the lead. Desil figured they were done trying to capture anyone. This was a mission of revenge. They weren’t going to stop until everyone was dead.

  “Adriya, any arrows left?” Kirnich asked.

  “None.”

  They’d lost every weapon during the last battle except for a couple daggers. Desil would be practically useless, as would all but the three mages, who wouldn’t even be able to cast without killing each other once the Marros were on top of them.

  “How long?” Desil asked in panic, wondering if two of the mages would be better shooting fireballs at this massive incoming cloud.

  “I don’t know!” Basen yelled. “It happens when it happens!”

  Desil scanned the forest for anything they might be able to use to defend themselves. He thought he caught movement of someone hiding behind a tree, but he couldn’t be sure.

  “Beatrix, do you sense anyone?”

  “No,” she answered.

  “If you can’t get the portal up,” Alabell told her husband, “we need to run.”

  “It’s ready!” Basen crossed his palms and took in a deep breath. There was a sharp crack as a hole appeared out of nowhere.

  The birds were nearly there, but it was the movement from earlier that captured Desil’s focus. He had a gut feeling he hadn’t imagined it.

  A great gust of wind struck Desil as the portal burst open. The air whooshed back the other way into the portal. Finding no one in the trees, Desil peered into the hazy image and recognized the beige sand and red walls of the mage training area at the Academy, where he’d first met Leida.

  There was a flash of movement to Desil’s side—Kirnich jumping in front of Beatrix and crossing his arms over his chest. Two swords impaled him, but there was no one nearby. Had they been thrown? The momentum of the heavy steel was enough to send him into Beatrix, knocking both of them over as Kirnich screamed in pain.

  A hooded man glided down from the treetops as if he had wings. Kirnich was getting up and yelling for someone to pull the swords out of his arms so he could fight when the intruder’s hood flew back from the wind of the portal. It revealed the bearded face of a man about Kirnich’s age. He sailed right into the portal and appeared inside of it, rolling on the ground.

  Everyone seemed to be too stunned to move, including Desil. He’d heard of mages who could use a special type of energy to lift objects, some powerful enough to carry themselves into the air, but they were so rare it was easy to consider them nothing more than fantasy.

  “That was Micklin!” Beatrix said. Desil had never heard the name before. She grabbed the hilts of both swords and tried to pull them out of Kirnich’s arms.

  He screamed in agony. They weren’t budging. Desil hurried to take over, noticing then how deep they were embedded. He pulled them out of Kirnich’s chest, and then out of the warrior’s arms crossed over his body.

  The screech of Marros spun everyone around. The birds were upon them.

  “Into the portal!” Basen commanded.

  Desil and Adriya helped Kirnich toward the portal as he groaned and bled. “If I live, I’m going to kill Micklin,” he muttered.

  Leida jumped in first, then her mother.

  “I have to be last,” Basen said. “Hurry!”

  Kirnich pulled himself out of Desil and Adriya’s grasp and toppled into the portal, Beatrix jumping in after.

  Desil felt something clawing at his head as he leapt in. He was struck by dizziness as the world spun around him. He couldn’t tell up from down or if he was rolling or flipping as sand filled his ears and mouth. Eventually he was able to sit up, a river of sand falling out of his shirt. He looked around to make sure Basen had made it and found the headmaster swimming in the sand in a fit of confusion.

  Everyone seemed to have the same vertigo, as they held their heads and tried to get up. When everything stopped spinning, Desil checked for signs of this Micklin person, or if any Marro had gotten through, but it was only his group here in the empty training grounds.

  His face devoid of color, Kirnich lay on his back, losing blood fast as he moaned. Desil rushed to him but was instantly at a loss. Two cuts went through Kirnich’s arms and into his chest, but Desil couldn’t see through the pool of blood to tell how deep they were.

  He asked Alabell, “What can we do?”

  “Nothing here. Help me move him. Hurry!”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  All of them but Rhy hoisted Kirnich up. “You promised to take me back to Merejic immediately,” complained the Elf.

  “This man is dying!” Basen shouted in a voice weak from exhaustion. “Give us a hand carrying him to the medical building and I’ll take you back as soon as I can.”

  The Elf begrudgingly joined the rest by grabbing Kirnich’s dangling feet. Desil had his arms underneath Kirnich’s back as Desil’s gaze surveyed every direction. Micklin could still be close and make another attempt on Beatrix’s life. They carried Kirnich down a dirt path between mage training grounds, the tall brick walls preventing them from seeing far. Desil saw no signs of Micklin or Marros.

  “Why would that bastard Micklin be trying to kill you?” Kirnich asked Beatrix between groans.

  “Don’t speak,” Alabell advised. She’d used the last of her bandages to wrap his wounds, but he’d already bled through. “We’re close to the medical building.”

  Beatrix answered anyway. “I don’t know, but thank you. I would be dead by now if it wasn’t for you.”

  “And you, Kirnich, would be dead if you hadn’t protected your chest with your arms,” Alabell told him.

  “I—”

  “Don’t speak,” she repeated, then yelled, “Injured coming in! Need healers now!”

  They came to the last building before one of the main Academy roads. It had regular walls of white instead of red brick. A man in a long white coat opened the door, took one look at Kirnich, then said something to someone behind him out of view.

  Two more healers brought out a bed on wheels. Everyone set Kirnich onto it, and the healers rushed him down a hallway, then turned into a room. Desil started to follow with Beatrix, but someone grabbed his shoulder.

  “We need to speak while we can,” Basen said softly. “Have you decided what you will do now?”

  “I haven’t.” Desil watched Beatrix disappear around the corner.

  “Have you, Father?” Leida asked.

  “The only thing I’m certain of is that I cannot be here while planning to stop the war. Your mother can, though.”

  Alabell nodded. “So long as I don’t know what your father is doing, there’s nothing they can gain from questioning or imprisoning me. Stay here with me, Leida and Adriya. The Wind Knights can keep you from fighting.”

  Neither seemed fond of the idea as they glanced at each other.

  “If I stay at the Academy,” Adriya said, “then I will fight with my friends.”

  “As will I,” Leida agreed. “But I’m coming with you, Father.” Sh
e turned toward Adriya and Desil. “And I’m hoping the two of you will as well.”

  “Definitely,” Adriya said, then stared at Desil.

  He wasn’t ready to go another day without his father, but that decision had already been made for him. Now it was a matter of figuring out the direction he wanted for his life. If he stayed in Kyrro, he would be questioned and harassed by the king’s men, but eventually they would accept he had no information about the headmaster’s whereabouts. He could go back to his life at the tavern, with climbing his only excitement. At least there he would have his mother, a real bed, and food. He missed all three dearly.

  But the very reason he had set out and joined Leida in the first place was because he’d wanted to do more with the one life he had. This was still important to him, but he couldn’t pull those feelings out of his swamp of emotions, so he couldn’t take on such a commitment right then.

  “I have to see my mother before I decide anything.”

  “I hate to have to tell you this, Desil,” Basen said, “but if you don’t go with us now, there might not be another chance. It could be too risky for us to come back for you.”

  It felt more than rude to leave Kirnich fighting for his life in the other room without even thanking him or Beatrix, but Desil understood the headmaster’s issue with remaining here a moment longer than necessary. There were other people loyal to the king looking for him besides Beatrix and Kirnich.

  “I want to go with you and help end this war,” Desil said. “But I’m just not ready to leave Kyrro.”

  It came as a shock to watch a deep sadness come over all of their expressions, except for Rhy, who had walked off to sit against the side of the building and shut his eyes.

  “Are you sure?” Leida asked.

  “I am.”

  She turned to her father, “Can’t we come back for him?”

  “I honestly don’t know yet.”

  “Leida, I still wish you would consider staying under the protection of the Wind Knights,” her mother implored. Desil wanted the same thing for her, but selfishly so. They would be able to see each other again if she did.

  Leida thrust out her chin in a mulish expression, but her eyes pled with her mother to understand.

  “I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to see this through with Father.” Leida put her hand on Adriya’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t want to ask more from you than I already have, but I’m sure you’ve already considered the dangers and have made up your mind too.”

  “I have. I’m with you.”

  “Thank you.”

  “This might be goodbye, then,” Desil said.

  “Thank you, Desil.” Alabell smiled at him in obvious gratitude.

  Leida stepped in for a long hug.

  “I hope we see each other again,” she whispered. “But if we don’t, I will never forget you.”

  He felt as if his heart had been crushed when she let go and turned to say her goodbyes to her mother. Basen shocked Desil by embracing him next. The headmaster’s voice was shaky as he spoke in Desil’s ear.

  “Your father was a friend of mine. Please tell your mother how sorry I am. I fear she will never forgive me.”

  “It’s not your fault,” Desil told him.

  “And neither is it yours, and yet I’m sure both of us will feel guilt over this loss.”

  “At least he didn’t die for nothing, like my mother and I first thought. And for that I am proud of him.”

  Basen pulled back, his smile bittersweet. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to have found you by the lake that one night. There’s no one else I would’ve selected to join my daughter than you and Adriya.”

  His words sounded surprisingly genuine, even though Desil doubted they were true. The headmaster of the Academy surely knew many people with amazing talents.

  “Thank you,” Desil answered nonetheless.

  In another life, he could’ve gotten involved with the headmaster and the Wind Knights long ago. His father could still be alive, joining them and setting an example for Desil to follow. Instead, Desil watched the headmaster, his daughter, and Adriya walk back the way they’d come. Basen called out for Rhy. He would be taking the Elf back to Merejic in a portal at some point, and then Desil could only guess where the three of them would go.

  Alabell was teary-eyed as she and Desil walked into the medical building to check on Kirnich. The warrior wasn’t moving when they arrived in the treatment room, as all three healers cleaned their tools and hands. Beatrix stood at Kirnich’s side with her hand on top of his.

  “Is he…?” Desil couldn’t finish the question.

  Beatrix gazed at the warrior with a fondness Desil had yet to see. “He’s going to live.”

  “I can keep care,” Alabell told the healers, “but first tell me what’s been done.”

  They spoke for a while, but Desil was too numb to follow any of it. Eventually Alabell and the other three healers left the room.

  “Who is Micklin?” Desil asked Beatrix as soon as they were alone with an unconscious Kirnich.

  “He was at the Academy for many years, becoming one of the most powerful pyforial mages. He began to work strictly for my father years ago, though I knew nothing about his tasks because they were kept secret. In the few instances I ran into him in the castle, he seemed trustworthy. So I have no idea why he would try to kill me.”

  She seemed to be ignoring the answer right in front of her. Micklin was her father’s mage for secretive tasks.

  “So couldn’t your father have…?”

  “Absolutely not!” She glared as if wanting to strike Desil. “Obviously, someone else must’ve paid him to follow us to Kanoan in order to kill me.”

  “Well, whoever did would have to know about you going to Kanoan and have the wherewithal to put together a crew to get Micklin there, all in less than a day.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “This isn’t your problem. In fact, why are you still here?”

  “I decided to stay.”

  “Do you know where Basen and his daughter are going?”

  “No.”

  She stared at him silently for a moment. “What are you going to do now?”

  “See my mother, enjoy a nice meal, and sleep for an entire day.”

  “Unexpected, but fine.”

  She seemed even colder than usual, which surprised Desil considering all they’d gone through together. He found it more difficult to thank her but made sure to get the words out anyway.

  “I know you didn’t have to climb to save Leida. Actually, there was a lot you didn’t have to do. I’m sure it wasn’t all just to get to the headmaster.”

  Her response was something between a hum and a grumble.

  “Thank you, Beatrix. And when Kirnich wakes up, thank him for me as well.”

  Desil waited for a real response, but soon it became clear she wasn’t interested in giving one. Only when he started to leave did she call out, “Desil.”

  He turned.

  “I’m truly sorry about your father.”

  He nodded, then left.

  With everything else on his mind during the walk back to his home, it was easy to forget just how exhausted he was. Desil’s fatigue attacked hard about halfway through the four-mile journey.

  By the time he finally made it to the tavern, he couldn’t decide what he needed most: water, food, or sleep. When he walked through the door and into the familiar scene of his mother preparing the dining area for the evening rush, the feeling was unlike anything he’d experienced before. There were so many emotions storming in his chest that he began to tremble. He couldn’t speak. He almost couldn’t breathe. The only thing he felt he could do was cry. It took everything he had to hold it in, not wanting to scare his mother.

  “Bastial hell, Desil!” She ran and threw her arms around him. “I was so worried.”

  The pain of her pressing on his cuts was nothing compared to the comfort of her touch. She leaned away for a look at him. “Are you all right? You look like
you’re about to collapse, and you’re cut all over!”

  It took him a while to form the words. “I could use something to eat and drink.”

  She walked over to close and lock the door, then came right back and kissed his cheek and squeezed him again. “No one will disturb us as you tell me everything while I feed you. Then I demand you rest.”

  Something was about to burst in his chest if he waited a moment longer to tell her the news.

  “Father was alive, but now he really is dead.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  The words poured out of him in no particular order as he tried to explain. She seemed confused throughout most of it as he held back tears.

  He kept waiting for her expression to change, expecting something similar to the sad expression she’d worn for weeks after the news of Wade’s horrible mistake. Instead, she just appeared concerned.

  Eventually he came close to the end of his tale, when everyone arrived at the center of the island. He left out the details of how the explosion occurred. If his mother knew, it might put her in danger. All he could utter without crying was that his father had helped save everyone but was killed in the process.

  With her worried countenance unchanged, he wondered if he’d done a poor job relating the events for her to believe any of it had happened.

  “I assure you I’m not making this up,” he said after a long silence.

  “Bastial hell, of course I don’t think that!”

  “Then why do you seem more worried than sad? Didn’t you grasp what I said about Father?”

  Her eyes glistened with tears. “Because I can’t imagine how it must’ve been to be with him and think you would bring him home, only for him to die. I do worry, for my son.”

  “But I’ve been dreading giving you this news, and you’re only worried about me?”

  “Oh, Desil. I’ve learned to live with the idea of his death. It’s you I always worry about now, not myself. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

  “No, Mother, I’m glad I did. Father had the chance to tell me how much he loves us, and he was able to give his life for a real purpose. Without him, we might’ve never witnessed the explosion and survived. I’m proud of him and of myself. It’s you I was worried about.”