“Remember the time when you made that vine grow around the whole castle, and the king had to employ men to cut it piece by piece. By the Goddess, the king was furious. No one could enter or leave the castle for days. As soon as one limb was chopped, another grew to take its place. Finally, the king had to employ all the earth mages in the castle, and as they subdued the growth of the vine, others were able to cut it off. Took three whole days to do so.”
The sound of her laughter filled the cabin. “Your power must have pleased your father.”
Aka snorted. “Pleased him so much he banished Kayleb to the highest tower in the castle for a week, and told him to grow his own food there if he wanted to eat.”
Alicia’s hand halted in mid-air, the bread clutched in her fingers. “What? He starved you.”
Aka waved his hand. “Hardly. When I opened the tower seven days later, there was a tall tree growing in the room, and he was happily eating mangoes.”
Kayleb laughed. “I had packets of seeds with me. After collecting all the dust in the room, I managed to grow a mango tree, and survived on the fruit. Although to this day, I can’t eat mangoes.”
Aka laughed. “You should have seen the look on the king’s face. He was dumbfounded. That mango tree had buried its roots room deep inside the tower walls. It stands there to this day, testament to the fact that a mage’s true ability is not the strength of his magic but his own creativity.”
“Still, to lock a boy in a room for a week…”
“Oh, he told me to keep an eye on the lad, and slip him some food from time to time, but the first time I peeked inside, he was already growing a tree. And I thought it best to give him the incentive to work hard to ensure his survival. It was a good lesson.”
Kayleb was surprised. He’d never realized his father had been worried about him. “He told you to slip in some food?”
“Of course! He didn’t want you to starve. Maybe he was hard on you, but your father loved you very much. He wanted you to assume responsibility. The kingdom depended on you.”
Kayleb picked up his empty bowl and carried it over to the washing area. “And look how I failed him,” he whispered. After washing his bowl, he stepped out of the cottage, feeling the sting of tears in his eyes. His father had expected a lot, demanded even more, and coached him in all disciplines. He was supposed to be the savior of his people, and instead he led them to their doom. If his father was alive he might have done things differently. Won the battle, or perhaps manipulated the situation so that there wouldn’t have been a war. Perhaps he was a talented mage, but he was not the strategist or the warrior his father had been. Once again, the burden of guilt weighed Kayleb down.
Kayleb felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to find Aka standing beside him. “You did your best, lad. No need to blame yourself for something that isn’t your fault.”
He wiped his eyes, not wishing for Aka to sense his weakness. “If it wasn’t my fault then whose was it? I told my people to fight. I promised them a victory, and they followed me to their death. Their blood is on my hands.”
Aka grimaced. “You did what you were trained to do, what you were born to do. Vindha started the war. He brought it upon our kingdom. We didn’t ask for it. What could you have done? You had no choice but to fight.”
“I should’ve found another way to defeat him. I should have…”
Aka patted him on his cheek. “There was nothing else you could have done. Vindha had demon mages, and they are invincible. You didn’t know that, and if you had known that, would you have done things differently. Could you have told your people to not fight for their freedom? You tried your best to win, and every man who died that day, died in order to protect his land, his people and his right to live with freedom. They didn’t die in vain. They died with honor.”
All except me, thought Kayleb. He should’ve died with his people. If only death had claimed him. But now he was forced to live a life of shame and dishonor. But he couldn’t say all that to his teacher and add to his misery.
Instead, he put his hand on Aka’s shoulder. “It’s getting late. Let’s go inside.”
Inside, Alicia was grinding something in a cup-sized, stone mortar. She added a little powder from a pouch that hung on her belt, and continued beating it with the pestle.
Kayleb eyed the green mixture in the mortar. “What are you making?”
“It’s a medicine for Aka’s eyes,” she said. Removing the pestle, she wiped the powder than clung to it back in the bowl. “Every day take half a teaspoon of this powder, mix it in a cup of water and wash your eyes with it. The stains in your eyes will disappear gradually, and your vision will return.”
“There is nothing wrong with my eyes,” Aka grumbled as he watched her put the powder in a clear, glass bottle.
She left it next to the stove. “I will just leave it here then.”
Kayleb noticed that the old man placed the bottle carefully on the shelf, behind his pots.
“Thank you,” mouthed Kayleb when Aka wasn’t looking. He had also noticed that his teacher was having problems with his vision but hadn’t wanted to say anything. He knew Alicia was a master mage of healing. Her reputation preceded her. He’d heard tales of her healing prowess in his kingdom. She was known for creating ingenious new medicines, and he’d seen her skill with quilla not too long ago.
Alicia smiled, and turned away. That night they all slept cramped together in Aka’s cabin. The next morning Alicia was up early and took a bath in the outhouse behind the cabin. Aka made omelets, and after a hurried breakfast, Kayleb went outside to saddle the horses.
Aka came out, holding two daggers in his hand. He handed them to Kayleb. “Here lad, you take these.”
These were ordinary daggers, with a short blade and sharpened cutting edges on both sides. Commonly used for butchering small animals, they could be found in almost every house. The hilt was wooden, while the metal was smelted iron. Kayleb took one and eyed it carefully. Remnants of magic clung to the metal.
“What is it?”
Aka offered the other dagger to the princess who was holding the packs in her hands. “This one is yours.”
Alicia held hers. “It’s fire magic,” she said.
Aka smiled. “Smart girl. Yes, I have been working on these daggers for the past many years. Only time will tell if I succeeded, but I have suffused the metal with spells and fire magic to strengthen it. Also, the tips of these daggers have been coated with volcanic ash. I procured some from a trader who had gone in that direction, and he brought back a small quantity of it for me.”
“Lava ash?”
“The demon mages emerge from lava. I read many tomes and old papers, searching for some clues and hints. From what I have gathered, the lava is the cause for their birth and death. Some of the spells I used are written here.” He handed Alicia a papyrus roll. “If it works then you can use it to create more of these weapons.”
Kayleb hefted the weapon in his hand. It was surprisingly light. “Work on what?”
Alicia’s eyes rounded in surprise. “You made these to kill the demon mages?”
“Not kill. But to destroy. You can’t kill someone who isn’t alive. If this dagger hits a demon mage, he should turn into ash. But I’ve never had the occasion to test the theory. My study says it should work…”
“But we will never know until we try.”
“And if it doesn’t work, then that may be the last thing you will ever try,” said Aka.
Alicia thrust the dagger through her belt. She kissed Aka on his cheek. “Thank you. If the occasion arises, we will be glad to have something to try against those demons. And promise me that you will think about what I said, Iram may be the safest place for you just now.”
Aka waved his hand towards his cabin and the garden. “This is my home. How can I desert it?”
Alicia mounted her horse. “You take care.”
Kayleb hugged the old man. Something told him he would never see his teacher again. This would be their last m
eeting. “I shall miss you,” he whispered.
He mounted his horse, and after waving to Aka, they both left the clearing. Their destination was still far off, and time was of the essence.
Chapter Eleven
Jace emerged from under the opening in the rock and surveyed the land ahead. The sun was barely visible on the western horizon, just behind the range of majestic mountains that stood before him. Their gigantic silhouettes were a sharp relief against the sea of sand that spread far and wide. The mountains were still a little distance off, just a night’s ride away if they pushed their horses hard.
Jace tied a piece of square cloth on his head and longed for the wooded forests they had left behind. Here, even at dusk, there was no relief from the oppressive heat and humidity that clung to the air. All was clear; not a man or an animal stirred on the deserted plain. The Apa desert was a bleak, inhospitable land, and hence not many traveled this way.
Xuan ducked out from under the rock outcropping under which they had spent the day, hiding from the harsh sunlight. His clothes were covered in sand, as was his face and hands. He looked miserable from the constant onslaught of the miniscule grains that clung to his body with stubborn tenaciousness.
“Why in the Goddess’s name would someone want to live in this forsaken land?” he complained, dusting his clothes in vain. The sand rose under his fierce attack, and then settled back with equanimity on his body.
Jace laughed. The first few times he traveled through the desert, the sand had bothered him the same. Slowly, he got used to it. “It’s a losing battle, Xuan. Let it go.”
“Where are those bloody ameers?” said Xuan, as he thrust the machete in the belt he wore around his tunic.
Jace pointed with his index finger. “See those mountains. If we ride in a straight line, we will reach the base of a mountain, and just a little way up is the keep.”
Xuan stared at the mountains with awe. Having never traveled so far away from his beloved forests, he had never set eyes on a mountain. “It’s a miracle of the Goddess. They are beautiful and large.”
“Yeah, that they are.” As always amused by Xuan’s observations, Jace smiled at the tall man. “Let’s move. We can’t waste this precious night time. It’s the only safe way to travel through this desert. During the day, the heat is so oppressive that we would collapse within a league. As would the horses.”
“Is there any water in this desert? We are running low.”
“Don’t worry. We should make it to the keep by dawn, and we will get plenty of water in the valley. There are no reservoirs of water or food in the desert.”
“Great! This just becomes better and better.”
Ignoring his friend’s grumbling, Jace gave the horses their fill of the water. He took big gulps of the valuable liquid, and passed the water skin to Xuan. The blacksmith finished the water and hung the dry water skin on the horse’s saddle. Using a scarf, he covered his hair and face, leaving only his eyes visible.
They both mounted the horses and started their miserable trek through the desert. A mere two months ago, Jace had traveled in the opposite direction, away from the keep, after being expelled. He had decided to help King Seve despite the oath he had taken to stay away from the world’s affair when he joined the ameers.
The keep was the sanctuary of those mages who wanted to devote their life to learning through exploration of new magic. The ameers agreed to shun the outside world and dedicate their time to the pursuit of knowledge. Through divination, Jace unearthed Vindha’s plot to kill King Seve. He wanted to share it with Seve, and left the keep, along with two of his fellow ameers. They were banished and asked to never return.
But now he was coming back, and he wasn’t sure about the kind of welcome he would receive.
He looked over at his friend who was hunched over to protect himself from the sand that blew with the wind. Jace was still amazed that Xuan had decided to accompany him in this journey. He wanted to find his wife and eight year old twin sons who were abducted by Vindha’s mages. And yet, he volunteered to accompany Jace. Jace didn’t have the heart to refuse the man. Allowing the man to accompany him was the only thing he could offer right now. Alone, he was in danger of being killed by any scouting party of Vindha who chanced upon him.
Keeping him alive for as long as he could was the least Jace could do.
The heat was oppressively unbearable and the sand itchy. Every breath they took drew sand in their mouth. Sweat trickled down their body in thin rivulets, making their clothes stick. Slowly, the horses plodded on, and somehow they all got through to the end. When the first ray of the sun hit the sandy desert, they found themselves standing under the shade of a tree at the base of the mountains. Jace raised his head, and peered at the stone keep that was pressed against the side of the mountain.
The keep was built more than a hundred years ago by a group of mages who wanted an isolated spot for their work. They wanted to test and learn about the boundaries of magic away from prying eyes. Initially it consisted of a white stone building that was constructed a little way up the mountain on a large rock shelf. Later, through the years, many new buildings and rooms were added as the need arose, and now it was a series of interconnected halls and rooms that stretched high up.
About twenty years ago, the chief of ameers decided to build a wall with just one entrance into the keep, and that was the way it stood now.
Xuan stood in the stream, washing himself with the cool water. He’d taken his tunic and shoes off. Thrusting his head inside the water, he poured it over his hair in an attempt to get rid of the sand.
“Let’s take some rest before climbing up,” said Jace. After the horses had their fill of water, Jace washed them. He allowed the animals to graze while Xuan and he settled against the tree trunk and ate. After tying the animals to a tree, Jace motioned for Xuan to follow. They began the arduous climb. A little way up, they met two mages who blocked the path up to the keep.
“Halt!” said one. “Who are you?”
“It’s I, Jace, brother Zula.” He knew both the mages. Zula and Arya. The keep housed only ninety-seven mages (that was before Jace and his friends left) and it was hard not to know your companions within the cramped quarters. Zula was tall, muscularly build and had mastery over the element of Air. Arya was a fire mage. Both worked closely with the chief to administer the keep.
Zula showed no sign of familiarity. “You’re not allowed back in.”
“Since when has the keep needed a look-out?” Jace frowned.
“You are not welcome here. If your friend is a mage, and requires entrance, he can come in and talk to the chief.”
Jace drew himself to his full height. “He is not a mage, and he hasn’t come with me to take admission into the keep. We were sent by King Seve to deliver a message to the chief and to all the ameers. We will not leave until we have been given an opportunity for an audience.”
Zula glanced at Arya, looking hesitant. “Follow us,” said Arya. “You’ll wait at the gate while we go talk to the chief. Only he can give you permission to enter.”
Jace followed the mages, alarmed by this new development. It was unheard of the ameers to keep a lookout outside the keep. This new development indicated they expected trouble. Had Vindha already contacted them? What kind of trouble were they expecting? Did they fear an attack?
After climbing up to the massive iron gate, Arya knocked and the gate was opened only after someone peeked in from above and identified them. Jace and Xuan waited while the two ameers went inside.
“They don’t seem to like you,” commented Xuan as he picked up a stick and rolled it between his fingers.
“I was banished. They are not supposed to like me anymore.”
“How can they like you and then not like you?” said Xuan. He threw the stick down with a mighty heave of his arm, and they both followed its progress down the mountain. “What’s that?”
A large cloud of dust was gathered a few miles to the east of the keep. “T
hat’s a caravan. Sometimes suppliers visit the keep to sell things,” he said. Although never in this season, he wanted to add.
“That’s too big a company to be mere supply wagons,” added Xuan.
Jace peered hard but he couldn’t tell who the travelers were. It was even harder to tell if they were coming in this direction, although there was no other settlement for miles so where else could these people be going?
“You can come in,” Arya called from the gate.
Jace walked over. He pointed over. “You might want to take a closer look at that.” Without waiting, he made his way inside the courtyard and took the steep staircase that climbed up the side of the building on to the smaller rooms beyond. Xuan bounded along behind him, his eyes alert for any trouble.
There wouldn’t be any trouble. The ameers were non-violent. The keep had strict rules against the use of magic in public areas. You could only practice and explore inside designated buildings.
Jace was dimly aware that while Arya had stayed at the gate to take a closer look at the traveling party, Zula was following them. Although Jace had practiced his speech that he planned to deliver to Chief Wasaba, he was nervous about this meeting. A lot hinged on the ameers. Together, they were a formidable force, and if he won them over to their side, it could possibly change the outcome of the battle that would surely take place in a few months’ time.
At the top of the stairs he stopped at a wooden door and knocked.
“Wasaba isn’t there,” said Zula. “He will meet you in the council room.”
Jace turned. He frowned. The council room was only used during the yearly meeting when all the ameers gathered to plan for supplies. “Why?”
Zula shrugged. A bell began to peal. They all turned and looked at the tower that protruded from the oldest building. It contained a large iron bell that was used to call all ameers for council. Slowly, mages began to appear from the various room and halls. They came from all directions, looking perplexed at this untimely meeting. Everyone wore identical green robes and carried no jewelry or adornments.
The Warrior Mage Page 13
