Maverick

by Curtis, Greg

  She sounded so sure of herself as she spoke, so polite and respectful yet also clearly the one in command, that Marjan believed her instantly. He just hoped the masters did too. They usually weren’t so easily dissuaded from whatever course they set their wills to. It was even more important that Soren believe her as Marjan saw the fear and alarm growing in her eyes. She had been through too much already to lose the last of her family, and her aunt he noticed was already with her, crouched behind her, arms wrapped tightly around her body as she looked to be intending to physically keep the child away from the gathering flock of wizards by picking her up and running.

  “But the danger.” Of course that was always the justification for their actions, and Marjan knew from personal experience it was a very real concern. A rogue wizard was a dangerous creature, and untrained more so. Fortunately there was an answer though it hadn’t occurred to him until just then.

  “With respect Master Vant I will see to that. I have been remiss in my duties for too long, allowing my expulsion from the Order to become an excuse to ignore them, but no longer. These good people have seen fit to grant me the status of a mage among them, and as such it is my happy duty to serve them.”

  “I will take Soren here under my care. I will teach her of the control of her gift and I will school her in the articles and laws of the Guild so that she may embrace her gift in safety and with wisdom. This is my vow. I will also ask her to study with the other mages, druids and priests of Evensong, so that she may learn all of the magic she is surrounded by, and of the laws and codes of the elves, and then when she is old enough and ready, we will allow her to choose her own path in life.”

  “But you -.” He tailed off there as he didn’t want to say out loud what everyone already knew least it cause offence, but Marjan knew what he meant to say and he was long past being offended.

  “I may have been expelled from the Order, and for reasons that are just, but I am true to my vows and I have the knowledge needed to train a student in the articles. I made a terrible mistake once, I will not do so again, and I will not allow another to make my mistake. Besides who better to teach someone the cost of such terrible errors than one who has already paid the price, and still pays it.” There was silence after that as clearly no one knew what to say, and yet the warmth of Essaline’s hand as she held his and squeezed it tight, was enough to tell him he was doing the right thing. He only hope she could help him when it came to matters of instructing such a young child in the ways of the elves, something he himself was only learning. Then he heard the sound of someone standing up somewhere behind him and clearing his throat.

  “I am Cielver, elder and mage and I will speak for the mages of Evensong on this matter. Marjan has been named as a mage and as is his right has taken an apprentice. This is a sacred trust that must not be broken and we honour that commitment. We fellow mages of Evensong will support him in training Soren, and we will help with her teaching as we do with all our students. We will also teach her of the duties and responsibilities of mage craft.” To say that Marjan was relieved by Cielver’s words would have been an understatement, and it wasn’t just for him. With the backing of the town’s mages and elders, Soren need have no fear of being taken away from her family or home, and that to a young child who had suffered so much already, was everything.

  “Beloved,” he whispered to her as he kept squeezing her hand tight, “Remind me to thank Elder Cielver after this meeting, and then if you could give me some guidance in how to teach a child, I would be very much in your debt.”

  “I will do more than that my husband to be. We will teach this child of all that she needs to learn, as we teach all our children.” But she wasn’t angry as she told him off for his shortsightedness. If anything she was determined, and she stood up straight and faced the assembly with a deep breath.

  “I am Essaline Veral, Priestess of Evensong and teacher and I will take it as my sacred duty to instruct young Soren here in the teachings of the Goddess and the correct use of her gifts.” She was right of course and he kissed her hand by way of apology for his foolish disregard of her station and skills. She was a priestess, a teacher of the way, and this child was her responsibility to teach as much as his.

  “And I am Harvas, druid and member of the Sylvan Council, and it will be my honour to teach this child of the ways of the wilds and if in time she chooses, to introduce her to the realm of wild-casters.” From out of nowhere the druid came to stand beside them, and with his arrival Marjan suddenly realised the girl’s future had been decided, at least for the moment. The wizards knew it too as he could see them looking confused and shocked, and even starting to back down. They weren’t happy about it but they knew when they were beaten.

  “So…?” Soren was naturally enough still not quite sure what was happening and worried about being taken away, but that wouldn’t last. He went down on one knee in front of her and patted her shoulder for comfort.

  “So you will be staying here in Evensong for as long as you and your aunt want to, and learning of your gift. Now go with her back to your home, and know that you’re safe here. And in the morning after breakfast if you can come and visit with myself, Priestess Essaline, Elder Cielver and Druid Harvas, we can begin to discuss your lessons.” For a minute she looked happy instead of confused and fearful and the smile that emerged from under her tear filled eyes was a joy to behold, until the last of what he’d said registered.

  “Lessons? More school!” She didn’t seem so happy all of a sudden, especially when a small titter of good-natured laughter came from all around. It made Marjan smile too.

  “Oh yes, more school, much more school Soren, and homework too. You have been given a gift, a true and wondrous gift, and you have to learn to use it, wisely and well as your father did. And this is only the beginning. You will be studying for the rest of your life, but you will learn to love it.” She didn’t believe him of course, and she glared at him grumpily and disbelieving as any eight or nine year old would at being told they had homework, even when he tousled her hair. He remembered having held that same opinion once himself.

  Before she could say anything more however, her aunt picked her up in her arms, thanked them all briefly and started carrying her away as fast as she could to the tented area and safety among the rest of the people, far away from the Guild wizards who in turn looked none too pleased about the situation but at least were saying nothing. They knew when they were beaten.

  “Perhaps honoured guests, we could return to the meeting.” Elder Lorelli sensing the moment was right, changed the topic and quickly had all the wizards back in their little huddle and preparing to continue with their plan. She was a priestess and not particularly powerful in her magic, but she seemed to have a real ability when it came to organising people. Perhaps it was something that came with age.

  Unfortunately wisdom apparently wasn’t, at least among wizards, and Marjan discovered that when he heard the rest of the wizards’ plan. Many of them were pushing two hundred themselves, the magic keeping them young even as it made them powerful, but their plan seemed little more advanced than that of a child.

  A world spell? Despite all their justifications, many of which he had to agree with, it reeked of overwhelming ambition, self-belief and foolhardiness.

  The fact that they no longer saw the enemy, either across the great chasm with their own eyes, or while scrying, was no guarantee that they had reduced in numbers sufficiently to be beaten. Maybe they had eaten everything and starved to death, as the masters seemed to believe. Ephesus only knew how much he wanted to believe it, but he couldn’t. And even if they had, a few would surely remain, and they he knew in his very core, would be more powerful still than anything they’d yet seen. Meanwhile while the wizards and all the other casters they could persuade to their cause would be making their way north, the southern lands would be left vulnerable, and filled with food, and they still had no idea how the enemy was getting past their wards as he had only three short mo
nths before.

  Of course in such elevated company with so many masters present as well as the elders, it was not his place to speak, but happily others saw the same flaws, the same risks, and the debate raged for many hours. There were other options as they claimed, and for the elves the best of them was to preserve the lands they had left with ever more wards, and seeking allies in the fight ahead. Of course the allies they sought to waken, were the dragons, a dangerous gamble in its own right, and one that sent shivers down Marjan’s spine. Others knew the same fear as they threatened to replace one enemy with another and no wizard in creation could hope to stand against a dragon in combat and survive. Let them sleep.

  ****************

  Chapter Nineteen.

  “Marjan.” Marjan was startled by the woman’s voice coming from just behind him, but then he had been watching his student skipping across the field to her next class with the other children in the make shift school, lost in the sight of a child simply having fun. It was a joyous thing to see after so much pain. Still a man had work to do, and a wizard more so. He turned to face the elder.

  “Elder Lorelli, it is good to see you again.” He bowed as was expected, actually pleased to see her regardless of the fact that she was probably going to give him some more work to do. But at least he had done nothing recently to warrant being told off. In fact in the previous two months since he had acquired Soren as his apprentice, he had been too busy to think of doing anything other then his duties. He had been almost too busy to think, and perhaps that was a good thing.

  The village was finally starting to take shape again, with many trees now shaped to serve the needs of the people and walkways starting to bridge them like an intricate spider web growing larger by the day. More than a thousand people now had homes again, all of them to families with the youngest children and the tents which still covered the glade, had become more elaborate and more comfortable as the amount of canvas and burlap available had increased.

  Much of that was due to trade and Evensong was once more a thriving trading town as caravans arrived almost daily with wares for the people, which were being snapped up. Now that peace had seemed to once more settle on the lands, at least the southern lands, life was returning to normal, and with so many more people now calling them home, business was brisk.

  Marjan was doing his own part in helping with that trade, making potions by the score every evening to sell, and obtaining various sundries to help him in his work. Now that there were fewer wounded for the healers to attend to, his potions were no longer needed by them, and meanwhile with an apprentice and three other students to help train, he needed teaching materials, mostly books and paper. So he bought the basic texts of wizardry, and of course Guild Law, and then enough paper for the various scribes in the town who were also at a loose end, to translate into Elvish. He also had a small covered bookcase to keep them all in, and a number of slates and chalk for the students to practice their lessons on.

  It pleased him being able to teach the children, even as little as he was, and more than that it made him feel complete, as more than just a mage defender or a maverick wizard, and he liked to think he was doing a good job. Certainly Soren was starting to understand her gift on a whole new level, and coming to grips with the joys and responsibilities being a mage or a wizard came with. The other students he had been asked to help train, if only in Guild Law and their ways of doing things were also showing promise as they began to understand the differences between wizards and mages and druids. In time he hoped, that while they might not choose wizardry over mage craft or wild-casting, they would still promote understanding between the human and elven realms, and that, given how many thousands or tens of thousands of humans were now living among the elves, had to be a good thing.

  Of course it was only a beginning when there were also dwarves mixed in with them in dozens of elven towns, and some elves, humans and dwarves living among the gnomish people as well. He had even heard stories that the sylph were making themselves known throughout the southern realms, leaving Stirren as they spread their own knowledge and strength among the people. If there was perhaps one good thing to come out this nightmare it was in the way that people of all the lands were coming together.

  “Young Soren is doing well?”

  “Yes elder, Soren is making good progress. Already she has learned the basics of Guild law and the duties and responsibilities of a mage. Her magic is starting to find its focus with earth magic and healing magic very much to the fore, and she is showing much promise with learning her numbers and recipes. In time I am hopeful that she may well become a healer or an apothecary, and I may well ask the healers to take her under their wing as well.” He couldn’t help but smile as he said it, simply because it was completely true, and he was very pleased to be able to help the daughter of his brother. In some ways it was as if he was atoning for the crime of his other brother, Dimeter, who thankfully he had not seen or heard of since the trial. But then if he had taken up the Guild’s offer, as Marjan was certain he would, they would hopefully have the good sense to keep him away from Calibra. Marjan had asked that of Master Vant in private after the meeting, saying that it was not right that Dimeter should ever walk freely among his victims again, causing more hurt and pain to those who had already suffered so much, and he thought the old wizard had heard him even if he hadn’t acknowledged that Dimeter had returned to the fold.

  “Good. The young child has known too much pain in her short life, it is good that she should find some joy and a sense of purpose to fill her days.”

  “Yes elder.”

  “And yourself?”

  “I am well elder. Busy and tired but also invigorated by using my magic so much and so often in the service of the people. It is as though I am finally living up to my calling, and becoming who I should always have been.” It wasn’t often that Elder Lorelli smiled, especially of late, but that seemed to please her and Marjan was happy in turn to see the faint smile cross her face. Burdened by the tragedy that had befallen their home, she had been too serious for too long, like most of the elders. More than any others they felt the burden of responsibility for what had befallen their home.

  “Good. It pleases me to hear that. Even as I must ask you to aid us in another matter.” Of course he realised, she hadn’t come for a social visit. Elder Lorelli didn’t do that as far as he knew, not with him anyway. They hardly knew one another, and mostly when they’d met outside of the council meetings, it was because he’d done something wrong.

  “I would be pleased to help however I can.” It wasn’t a choice, especially not when an elder came to you and asked, but even if it had been Marjan would have wanted to help. It was his duty and more than that, his nature.

  “You know that the dryads have asked for a convocation?” Actually Marjan hadn’t known though he had heard that with fully six or seven hundred dryads now calling the surrounding forests home they were starting to become a voice to be heard in Council meetings, especially when they were also becoming the head gardeners for the town. Their magic and skill in such matters was undeniable and invaluable. He shook his head.

  “It seems that they have been consulting the Goddess and her teachings.” Of course while both the elves and the dryads served the same Goddess, their interpretation of her teachings varied somewhat, which was probably why the Elder sounded a little strained as she spoke. No doubt they had come up with a different interpretation to her own as a priestess. He decided to be as diplomatic as possible.

  “Her guidance would be welcome in these difficult times.”

  “Always and ever. But the plan they have formed from her teachings is unexpected and worrying. It also requires greater knowledge and ability than we elves possess, even with the dryads aiding us.” The assumption of course was that the elves would be the ones in control and from what little Marjan knew of the dryads, he was certain that was never their intent. They didn’t like control at the best of times.

  “They have
a plan elder?” And that as far as Marjan could be sure was the important thing. That someone had a plan other than the wizard’s foolhardy war that they were still preparing for, or the elves’ equally dangerous plan to awaken the dragons. Any new plan had to be better than the alternatives.

  “They plan to invoke the Goddess’ beneficence in the sacred places. They plan to awaken the ancient ritual sites.”