White Hall (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 10)
Page 7
Katya’s group had left close to two hours earlier, but at that point the other two recruits had yet to arrive from their homes. His brother wasn’t starting things out by leaving a good impression. In fact, he thought that the wizards were even more annoyed knowing that the hold up was only for a potential battle mage. A wizard might have been dealt with easier.
When the cart pulled up, Niklaus jumped out with his bag and a wave to his father.
“Cheese’s calf was acting up and dad had to calm things down enough for Owden to take over,” he stated to his twin, though the others could hear easily enough as well.
Qeyr stepped down from the porch and stated loudly, “Now that we are all here, we can finally go. Hopefully, in the future we won’t have to wait on any more cows. At least, I believe it is a cow. What kind of name is Cheese anyway?”
Piotr replied, “Our little sister named her that as a joke, but it stuck.”
Grunting in reply, the wizard led the group towards a stable yard in back of the Traveler’s Rest. Enough horses for each person plus four pack animals for the extra baggage stood saddled and packed for the trip waiting for them.
“If you don’t know how to ride, let us know to help you,” the air wizard continued as Magnus’ wizards found their mounts and held the reins a moment to make sure if there were novice riders among the recruits.
Iris added quietly beside Piotr, “Let us know so that we can help and potentially mock you anyway.”
Smiling at the apprentice, he tried to avoid any laughing to get them in trouble with Qeyr. Niklaus didn’t care in the least about the joke and quickly took the reins of an unclaimed horse swinging up into the saddle while holding his pack in his off hand. He had the pack secured to the back of his saddle quickly having been familiar with the set up from the horses at their farm.
“Well, he doesn’t mess around, does he?” Iris asked in a hushed voice leaning in to speak closer to Piotr. “Can he ride as well as he can mount the thing?”
Nodding as he attached his pack to the saddle before trying to pull himself up onto the horse unlike his brother, Piotr replied, “We have been riding for years. Our farm is large enough and the fields we need to cover warrant riding horseback sometimes. Niklaus helps dad and our brother Owden quite a bit.”
They stopped talking as Job admitted to Qeyr that he couldn’t ride. Since the wizard rolled his eyes at the boy and acted exasperated at having to help him, Briahnna said nothing; but could only hop on one foot trying to get into the saddle.
Iris took the reins and Piotr merely placed a hand on the beast’s flank using his ability to settle animals with a touch to stop the horse’s fidgeting. The boy added a hand to help the girl onto her saddle where she gave the two an appreciative look.
With all but Piotr on his horse from the untrained casters, the rest all mounted as he followed suit easily.
Wizard Qeyr led with the fire wizard, Magnus, at his side. Most of the other wizards took the lead while Niklaus followed closely behind. He had said little to any of the wizards in the group and his brother thought that he was just being sullen. Being drafted to join the battle mages had never even dawned on him as he hadn’t noticed any strangeness in himself that might be magical.
It was always Piotr who had drawn attention for his way with animals. Even before he felt his magic coming on, the boy had a rapport with the animals around their farm, while Niklaus was known more for his physical ability. His twin was slightly smaller and always seemed to be that way, but he was just as active though less physically strong.
Iris rode beside Piotr taking up the rear as they watched the new riders attempt to guide their animals. With the other horses leading the way, their animals knew to follow at least so the apprentice didn’t have to do much as they started out of town.
“So what’s with your brother? You two look alike, but I can tell that there are differences already.
“He certainly isn’t very social and not in the shy way you are,” she added with a smile for him.
Being in the country and somewhat secluded, Iris was the first girl he had danced with or talked to as much as he had in such a short time. They had come into Delanne for school as children, but as they grew older the boys were needed to help with the farm. Spending time away from the farm was rare now and Piotr found that he had liked his life of peace and quiet; but he did like Iris.
“I don’t spend a lot of time with people, I guess,” the boy replied as if he needed to justify his tentative approach with people. “My brothers and little sister are the main people I talk to besides my parents, so I just don’t do a lot of it.”
“The ones from the farms tend to be the ones that have trouble adjusting to the school the most unfortunately. You are so isolated that when you see how many other students are there, you might have a bit of a problem making friends just because you don’t know how to talk to them.”
“Did you come from a town?” he asked thinking the girl was very good at talking to him. She had made him dance as well, which was an accomplishment for the quiet boy.
She nodded. “A town along the river south of White Hall, you probably don’t know any other towns’ names beyond Delanne, I bet.”
“Not any that far away, aside from cities like Hala, Norcrom or White Hall; did being from a town make getting used to the school any easier for you? I would think knowing magic and being with so many others with magic might still be beyond what you were used to in your town.”
Looking at the quiet boy, she could sense his mind turning her words back on her. He was smart and, though Piotr wasn’t being defensive, the boy knew enough to keep her thinking as well.
“The magic is something few are ready for in the school, but I went to a different school in town until I was called away. At least, being a calm one, you have a chance to understand White Hall before anyone will realize that you are uncomfortable there.”
“You are sure that I will be uncomfortable?” he asked surprised that the girl seemed rather negative about his chances in the school.
Wincing as Iris realized that she was making the school sound like some dreadful place to be, the girl tried to be positive. “I didn’t mean it like that. It is just something new and unlike anything you have seen. No one...” The girl stopped making a face as she realized that she was doing it again.
“Well, I will be there for awhile to help you at least,” she finished off with a smile.
They rode for awhile just watching the others or looking at the scenery.
“So what made you decide to try and warn me about the school and about dancing with girls last night?” Piotr finally asked.
The girl’s cheeks were rosy, but the air was cold with the clouds blocking the sun. She took a moment before answering, but tried not to be flustered as she replied, “Well, it wasn’t like there were a lot of boys there last night and you looked a little lost just sitting with Caldeyr and the others. I decided to take pity on you. Can’t I be nice to a new wizard?”
“You can certainly be nice. I was just asking why you were being so nice to me specifically.”
His continued questioning of her interest in him, even though Piotr was three years younger than the apprentice, made her redden more with embarrassment and confusion. It was a question that had made her have trouble sleeping last night. Why did this boy fluster her so? Was it the trick with the dog that had made her curious about a boy from a farm with an impressive amount of control of his magic?
“I guess that I like you,” she nearly made it sound like a question as if the girl couldn’t believe it herself. “Don’t read so much into things. Let a girl be a friend if she wants to be a friend.”
It was probably as good an answer as he was going to get, so Piotr let her off the hook and they spoke of other things for awhile until they lapsed into silence again. With hours of traveling ahead, there would be plenty of time to learn more about each other, the boy thought.
Chapter 5- Glimpse of the Future
While the two from Delanne followed Piotr and Iris into the shade of a grove of trees alongside the road, Niklaus seemed reluctant as he led his horse into the grasses growing on the other side of the path.
Iris noticed him looking to his twin and asked, “Is something wrong between you two?”
Briahnna looked equally curious if only because it was the first conversation held near her in almost an hour, since Job had been nearly as quiet as Niklaus. Even as they found places to sit or stand, the boy seemed more interested in his food than the others around him. Job looked a bit soft to Piotr’s eyes. Perhaps it was just the difference between farmer boys living in the country compared to someone with less to do in a town of that sort.
“As far as I know there is nothing wrong, but I would guess that Nik isn’t very happy to find out that he has to go to White Hall. It has been obvious for awhile that the wizards would come for me, but having magic in him was a surprise,” Piotr replied continuing to look at his twin as he seemed to be moping on the other side of the road.
Iris looked at Briahnna and asked, “Were you surprised to be chosen?”
Brown eyes opened wider as the girl was caught listening and hadn’t expected a question to be thrown her way. “I knew that I was different shortly after my birthday, but nothing strange happened around me that I could call magic. When they said I had magic, I wasn’t completely surprised.”
Feeling for the girl’s aura, Piotr was surprised to feel a mixed aura that he couldn’t say leaned towards any of the wizards he had met so far. Looking at Job, however, he thought that there was a feel of the earth to him; though Piotr had yet to meet an official earth wizard. The boy did know most of the elements had their own schools and, since Job didn’t feel quite like the nature wizards despite feeling more like them than any of the other wizards, he just assumed that meant he was an earth type.
“How about you, Job?” Piotr asked curiously. “Has anything strange happened like the earth moving or something?”
The other boy started and looked scared. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Not bothering to dispute him, though he could tell that the boy was trying to cover up something; Piotr placed his sandwich in his lap and tried something that no one had seen him do around the farm. Cupping his hands around his mouth, the self made wizard closed his eyes mentally shaping a sound in his mind before trying to recreate it with his mouth and hands.
The whistling that emerged drew the attention of the wizards resting about twenty feet away as the call came out sounding like a bird they had all heard before in their travels. Bridging a sound between whistle and the screech of a peregion, a native predator bird, found in Southwall; Piotr could feel the magic in the tone as did the other wizards.
A rustle from the dried leaves in the tree above the other wizards brought their eyes to the branches above them as a hawk like bird dropped to land with a rustle of its brown wings to land on Piotr’s drawn up knees. Gasps from the girls as they feared the bird might scratch the boy, dissolved into holding still and doing nothing.
Opening his eyes, the future nature wizard locked on the peregion’s blue eyes. While the wings and most of its body was brown, the tips of the wings, head and breast of the bird nearly matched the coloring of its eyes. While the peregion looked at him without worry, Piotr opened his hands keeping his thumbs and fingers together to make a triangle. Willing his mind into the bird, the young wizard’s vision turned around to see the boy close his eyes as the head sunk forward against his hands.
With a quick flap of its wings, the peregion launched into the air to circle over the road. The wizards had mostly stood up at the sight and most could feel the boy’s magic at work.
“Put out your hand away from your body, Iris,” he mumbled just clear enough to be understood. The apprentice stood holding her arm out to her side looking unsure of the whole idea.
The peregion glided down flapping its wings to slow enough to properly lock onto her hand. Being careful not to even scratch the girl’s skin as it grabbed with its claws only hard enough to lock in place, the peregion turned to look at the girl. Piotr smiled seeing her worried face looking at the bird.
“I see you,” his mouth said even as the bird’s beak moved in time to his lips. It made only three calm squawks as it couldn’t speak as a human, since it was just a bird after all.
Lifting a way with a rapid thrust of wings, the bird moved clear of the trees as Piotr released the creature completely. It had held most of its consciousness in the shared link, so as the boy’s mind returned to his body; it wasn’t confused and simply flew back to its hiding place on its branch. Knowing that it was there, the others could see the bird though its coloring did well to hide it even on the dormant tree.
As his head lifted to look over at the others, Piotr smiled. His eyes went to Job asking the boy without words.
“Nothing as cool as that,” he said with a shake of his head. Placing his hand over the ground while the other held the remains of his sandwich, Job closed his eyes and lifted mirrored by the ground beneath his hand. Like a shadow to his hand, the area beneath his palm echoed the lifting for five inches before it stopped. The boy’s forehead wrinkled as he tried to pull it further into the air, but that was all his untrained power could accomplish for now.
Piotr judged the other two could become as strong as Iris and most of the other wizards. He didn’t know his own strength, but knew that Katya was more powerful yet. That girl seemed nice enough, but her magic threatened to break away from her as it had on Falther, he thought. Even unskilled in seeing auras, Piotr was pretty sure of his assessments of the others.
“I can fly on the winds,” Iris stated as she moved to sit beside Piotr once more still looking impressed by his display. For someone untrained to have such skill without becoming a wilder type was very remarkable, the girl thought. “You can see from the bird’s eyes, correct?”
He nodded.
“Then you can scout as well as an air wizard on their winds. The only problem with your magic as a scout is if someone guesses that you are using a bird, it isn’t invisible to an enemy’s sight. Of course, there are other creatures that you might use also, so maybe others could be used to be more secretive."
“You mean like that snake behind you?” he asked pointing directly behind the girl making her jump up with a scream.
Raising his hands before him as the girl looked at him angrily seeing no snake, he laughed, “I’m just kidding. It’s still too cold to even use one of them anyway, even if there was one that I could find to control.”
Slapping his shoulder and still looking red at being tricked by the boy, she complained, “That wasn’t very nice. I hope that you aren’t one of those prankster types. You better not be like the boy they said let lose a plague of frogs in the ladies bathhouse.”
Iris suddenly closed her eyes and shook her head ordering, “I am the worst mentor ever. Forget that I said such a thing, especially if you are that good of a nature wizard.”
Job on the other hand had a wicked look in his eyes as he asked, “Can you teach me that trick? Can you imagine sneaking into there as a mouse or something equally small? It would be quite the view, wouldn’t it?” the boy finished with a laugh as both girls looked mortified.
“Don’t you dare!” Iris warned in shock.
Surprised by Job’s sudden burst of humor and coming out of his shell, Piotr couldn’t help laughing with him. He had a feeling getting away with such a piece of magic in a school for wizards and battle mages was less likely than the boy hoped, but it was good to see him exiting his cocoon of silence. N
ow if only he could soften his brother’s demeanor, maybe the day would end fulfilled.
Niklaus still couldn’t believe his bad luck. His brother was supposed to be the one being taken to White Hall, not him, at least not both of them. Barely sleeping the night before, he had been glad when his father put off returning to Delanne to take care of Cheese and her calf first. If they waited long enough, maybe the wizards would get tired of waiting and leave without him.
Such a wish was not to be, however, as he saw Piotr and the others simply waiting for him on the main street of Delanne. Seeing them still waiting for him, had been a disappointment. He hadn’t wanted to talk to his brother after that. He hadn’t wanted to speak to any of them as Niklaus was forced to leave his life and home.
Working the farm, playing in the fields and forests with his brother, and spending time with the other kids in town had been his life. He had always planned to see the world, but not as some soldier owned by Southwall. His future might have been as a farmer with his brother, Owden; but everyone had known that Piotr would be called away by the state as a wizard. Even when they were younger, he had felt a strange difference to his twin. No one else seemed to notice, but they were twins and seemed to know the other’s mind.
Watching Piotr show off at lunch, just made him feel more like they had to be wrong about him. He wasn’t like the other three or any of the wizards leading them either. When one of the wizards in red walked over to him where he stood with his horse watching the others from a distance, Niklaus was surprised.
“Feeling left out?” the blond haired young man asked. He was definitely older than Nik or his brother, but maybe not so old that the young teen would think he was ancient like the much older air wizard, Qeyr.
“I’m still not even sure why I am here. My brother has the power, not me,” he complained wanting to be angry, but not sure where it should be aimed. It was his body that had betrayed him to the point that he had magic to be harvested, but to be just a battle mage was almost humiliating.