Tides of Faith: Travail of The Dark Mage Book Two

by Brian S. Pratt

  “If you continue southwest,” Brother Willim explained, “you should reach the heart of the Waste in two days. There you will find the Star.”

  James held out his hand to the priest. “We appreciate all your help.”

  “Always glad to aid those in need.” Taking the hand, Brother Willim shook it firmly.

  Scar handed James his pack. “Be careful,” he said.

  “Don’t plan to be anything else.” Taking the pack, he swung it up onto his back. It was packed lightly, with just enough supplies to sustain them yet still be able to carry it beneath the radiation suit. It would hardly do them any good to protect their bodies while allowing their food and water to become contaminated.

  “And keep an eye on my apprentices.”

  He and Miko had a long discussion with Azhan and Hikai last night before turning in. Basically saying that if they ran away or caused mischief, James would exact harsh retribution. He left the meeting feeling they would hold to their oaths and not jeopardize their positions as his apprentices.

  Jira gave him a hug, and after a long line of good byes and well wishes and a lone see you in Zixtyn, they headed into the Waste.

  The first couple hours were as anticipated; tedious walking in an unchanging landscape. It wasn’t until the sun was midway to its zenith that they encountered the remains of a small predator.

  From the way it rested upon the ground, it had been leaving the Waste. Dark patches around its eye sockets proved to be dried blood and its fur had fallen out in patches.

  “Radiation did this.”

  Miko knelt by the carcass.

  “Don’t touch it,” James warned. “If it is contaminated, just touching it could prove serious.”

  Placing his hand over the dead animal, Miko summoned the power of Morcyth and the glow radiated outward from his hand to envelope the carcass. Several moments passed before the glow faded.

  “I now see why this radiation is so bad.”

  Standing, he glanced to James. “Should we don the suits do you think?”

  Farther along their intended path lay another dead animal. To the east another tell-tale lump could be seen. James nodded. “Yes, that might be a good idea.”

  Keeping their packs on under their suits proved more than a little uncomfortable.

  “Hope no one comes along and mistakes us for some creature,” Miko quipped.

  James laughed. “Can never tell.”

  Once the boots and hand covers were in place, they resumed their trek.

  The cloud bank off to the west looked to be on a more southerly heading and would most likely miss them entirely.

  Carcasses became more common the further they went. Not only those that walked upon the land, but birds as well. At one point they had to make their way through what was virtually a carpet of feathers and mottled birds; looked to have once been an entire flock. Before dying, the birds had flopped about, shedding feathers as an animal would fur due to the toxic levels of radiation.

  James jumped when one lurched forward as he stepped over it.

  Blood welled from all the orifices and the poor bird made pitiful sounds.

  “Probably happened by and just landed for insects when the radiation got them.”

  Miko nodded. “It works that fast?”

  Shrugging, James said, “Could. I really don’t know that much about it. It could also have been that they were exposed to it before and finally succumbed to it here.”

  “I do hope the efforts of the priests of Asran prove successful.”

  “From what Brother Willim said,” James replied, “they have already had some inroads in stabilizing this region. Though I have yet to see any of those so-called radiation eating vines of theirs.”

  Miko searched the land from horizon to horizon. “They are probably further in.”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  Leaving the dead flock of birds behind, they continued on.

  James’ bladder was filling up and his stomach growled as if he hadn’t eaten for two days. He was loath to take care of either problem until reaching a safe area of vines.

  Another three miles and flowering vines appeared on the horizon.

  “Thank goodness.”

  “I sure will.”

  James turned to Miko and laughed.

  His laughter, however, was short lived. The patch of vines totaled less than fifty square feet and looked to be in full health.

  “Damn.”

  The flowers were beautiful and the leaves full and green. “This will not work.”

  “No it will not,” agreed Miko. “Radiation must still be present.”

  Cursing their luck, they continued on.

  Not much further and a larger swath of vines came into view. This time it covered nearly an acre. The outer fringe of healthy vines averaged between twenty and thirty feet in width. It encircled a large expanse of dead foliage.

  They hurried to the center.

  Miko turned to James. “What do you think?”

  “It’s either take the risk or flood my suit.”

  “Brother Willim seemed pretty confident it would be safe.”

  “Does Morcyth have any opinions?”

  Turning inward, Miko thought a moment then shook his head. “No.”

  The urgency of his bladder tilted the scales in favor of trusting Asran’s priest. Undoing the clasps and opening the front, he felt cool air waft inside. It felt good.

  Miko remained suited while James relieved himself. Once the needs of nature had been satisfied, Morcyth’s glow suddenly appeared and surrounded him. James nearly jumped out of his skin before realizing what was going on.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Seeing if what happened to the birds is happening to you.”

  “Warn a person next time,” he scolded. “I thought the radiation had started to make me glow.”

  Miko couldn’t help but grin. A few moments later the glow vanished. He took off his helmet. “It would seem Brother Willim was correct. I sense no change in your physical health.”

  “That’s a relief.”

  Shucking off the entire suit, he reveled in the coolness of the breeze.

  “However, I shall make sure our condition has not altered before we leave.”

  James nodded.

  They took out their food and enjoyed the respite from the suits. A most pleasant fragrance gloated on the breeze.

  “Those blossoms do smell good,” Miko said.

  “That they do. Would make a fortune if it could be made into a perfume.”

  “Indeed.”

  As he ate, James pondered the position of the sun. “We’re in a semi-safe place at the moment,” he began. “While there are still several hours of daylight left, dare we take the chance that we will come upon such a place before nightfall? Once the sun goes down, the chance of finding another of sufficient size would be chancy.”

  On the horizon to the south another of indeterminate size could be seen; to the east naught but desert; and along their intended path, nothing as well.

  He took a drink from his water bottle then glanced to Miko. “I would hate having to spend the night in these suits.”

  “I agree, but my instincts say to push onward, that to stay would not be our wisest course of action.”

  “Oh?”

  Miko nodded. “Such feelings come upon me from time to time.”

  “Are they always correct?”

  “Well, to be honest, no. However, this one has a greater degree of certainty than others.”

  James eyed him. “Part of being a high priest?”

  Miko shrugged. “Could be. Or it is simply that I feel we need to have this done as quickly as possible.”

  “I have to agree with that last.”

  Taking a bite of dried beef, Miko leaned back. “It is good to be traveling again. I missed this.”

  “Being a high priest has its drawbacks.”

  “A few, though I would not alter the direction my life has gone, even i
f I could.”

  James nodded. “I know what you mean. Who would have believed that the lost and confused mage, and the street brat from Bearn from so long ago would be sitting here like this today?”

  “Sometimes it is hard for me to believe.”

  “I really…” James began, then abruptly stood and stared off to the east.

  Miko followed his gaze and came to his feet as well.

  A large creature similar to that which had taken Jira walked the desert not fifty feet beyond the eastern fringe of the vines. It was heading in their general direction.

  “Think it has seen us?”

  James shook his head. “I don’t believe so.”

  It loped along as if its legs were malformed, which if the one that Brother Willim had killed was any indication, they were.

  They stood still as it reached the end of the vines and began moving off to the northeast. Then a gust of wind came from the southwest and carried their scent toward it. “Damn,” James cursed when the creature halted.

  It raised its head and the stalks upon it moved to and fro. Gradually it turned in their direction and moved toward them.

  Miko drew his sword and James readied two slugs.

  “It does not move fast.”

  “No it doesn’t,” James agreed.

  It shambled along as if it hadn’t a care in the world. The creature paused several feet from the fringe of the vines. Moving first right, it walked the perimeter for twenty feet, then stopped. Its stalks shivered for a moment before turning about and walking back along the perimeter, back to where it had begun, then continued in the other direction.

  James and Miko watched and waited while it moved along the outer edge of the vines, always keeping at least three feet away. This time it did not stop. Instead it continued all the way around the perimeter until reaching where it had begun its trek. Without pausing, it set off on a second trip around the vines.

  “Can it not sense us?” Miko asked.

  “I think it can,” James replied. “For some reason it is hesitant about entering the vines.”

  “Afraid of them do you think?”

  “Possibly,” he shrugged.

  He gripped his slug and arched his arm back to throw. “Either way, we need to get out of here.”

  As he had so many times before, he summoned magic and threw. Straight and true, the iron slug struck the creature in the side of the head and exploded out the other side. Stumbling, the creature fell to the ground.

  “Nice to know they die like any animal.”

  Miko nodded. “Let us depart this place before more come.”

  James already had suit in hand and one leg inserted when Morcyth’s aura enveloped him.

  “Going to check you.” First he did James, then himself. “No change.”

  “Excellent.” Both legs now in, he secured the bindings and worked on his boots.

  While they suited, they kept an eye on the surrounding desert for other creatures. When none made an appearance, they departed once they insured the integrity of their suits.

  An hour later they came across a second creature and James put it down with another slug. During the following two hours he dropped a third as well as a malformed surface desert turtle of gigantic proportions and hideous appearance. Far afield along the horizon, other creatures were seen moving yet they managed to avoid attracting their attention.

  Near sunset another field of vines of sufficient size had yet to be encountered and James grew worried. He pulled out his mirror and concentrated on the surrounding countryside.

  “Watch for the shimmering in the sky.”

  “I shall do that,” replied Miko.

  He had hoped to avoid this but circumstances had forced his hand.

  The image in the mirror shifted and he saw himself looking into the mirror. Then the image pulled back and he saw him and Miko as small dots in the surrounding countryside.

  Other dark dots moved about, these had to be the creatures inhabiting the Waste. Scrolling the image southwest, he sought a patch of vines along their intended path. Several were found not far away; unfortunately all were too small to suit their needs. Moving it yet further, he scrolled a ways until coming to a swath of vines over twice the size of the one in which they had taken refuge in earlier.

  “Found one.”

  “How far?”

  “Not sure,” he said. “Give me a minute.”

  Drawing more power, he worked to figure an approximate distance.

  “Better hurry,” Miko said.

  Glancing from the mirror, he followed where Miko pointed off to the south. The shimmering was making straight for them.

  “Damn.”

  “You have a few minutes before it arrives.”

  “Wish I knew what that was.”

  “Stop talking,” Miko chided, “and finish.”

  Magic poured from him and he started to sweat. Memories from Tapu interfered with what he sought to do. Was that shimmering magic? Was it attracted to magic? And most importantly, Was there intelligence behind its appearance?

  Prickling of his skin became noticeable and increased rapidly.

  “Almost here.”

  He glanced up and saw that it was nearly upon them. The mirror went blank as he released the magic. His skin felt as if he were covered in army ants, each nipping at his flesh. Prickling turned painful as the shimmering field came full upon them. It passed overhead and as the trailing edge reached them, the shimmering field dissipated.

  “Well if that doesn’t settle the matter.”

  Miko turned to him. “What does?”

  He gestured to the sky. “I did magic, it appeared. I stopped doing magic, it disappeared.” James held out his hand.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “See if it does it again?”

  “That may not be…”

  James’ orb flashed into being upon his palm. As if on cue, the sky erupted in shimmering and his skin crawled.

  “Cancel it!”

  Panic grew on his face as his efforts to shut off the orb failed to do so.

  “I can’t!” he cried.

  Like Tapu, his spell warped and changed. Instead of a soft yellow the orb flared a deep red and seemed to sink through the protective glove of his suit.

  James screamed. Pain like the flesh was being ripped from his bones sent him to his knees. “My hand!”

  Morcyth’s glow blazed forth and the pain subsided but did not vanish.

  Miko took his hand in both of his as his priestly glow intensified.

  “You’ve got to cancel it!” Miko shouted. He felt the warped orb at work, could sense it eating away at the flesh within the protective glove. Even using everything he had, he could not halt its effects; only slow it down. “Concentrate!”

  Focusing was difficult, yet years of practice overcame the pain. He saw the spell, saw the lines of new power that had changed it, just as in Tapu. The minor conduits of power that structured the orb spell had ruptured. Shoots of altered magic had spread throughout, which had changed the benign orb into something malignant.

  He focused on the spell, fully aware that what he was doing may just as easily become corrupted. Using as little power as he could, he quickly traced the altered flows to where they originated. Finding a primary flow of magic coming from a ruptured conduit, he hoped it would be the one to interrupt. Interrupt the wrong one and it could all go kerblooie. He felt like a member of the bomb squad. Should he cut the blue wire or the red?

  Sending forth a focused beam at where the greatest concentration of magic emerged from the conduit, he felt the power fluctuate. Though the fluctuation lasted less than a heartbeat, he managed to shut down the spell. Immediately, the pain in his hand eased.

  “Okay,” Miko said. “Give me a second to fix you.”

  Like a soothing balm, Miko sent the power of Morcyth into James’ hand to repair the damage.

  While he worked, James watched the shimmering in the sky vanish. “It’s gone.”


  “Yes, it should begin to feel better.”

  The glow stopped and James desperately wanted to take off the glove and inspect his hand but fear of the radiation kept the glove on.

  “No, I mean the shimmering.”

  Miko looked up. “You are right.”

  “Why did it come after me but not you?”

  Eyes widening, the priest realized he might have only exacerbated the situation by using magic to heal James’ hand. He shook his head. “I… I do not know.” Glancing to the sky, he thought a moment. “Morcyth protected me?”

  James looked skeptical. “Perhaps, but that doesn’t sound right.” Motion off to the east drew his attention. One of the creatures rambled quickly their way. James readied a slug but then thought better of it. Prior to manifesting the orb, the shimmering had gone away. Yet it returned the instant he utilized magic and the orb came into being. If he launched the slug with magic, would the use of magic make it reappear yet again to wreak havoc? He kept the slug in hand as they raced off toward the field of vines.

  “How far away is it?”

  “Miles,” he replied. “I doubt we could reach it before being overtaken.”

  The creature had increased its speed when it saw them take off. Its shuffling gait proved quicker than their running.

  “But there is one semi-large patch up ahead,” James explained. “It doesn’t have a safe center, but since the other one did not cross into the vines to get us, this one may not as well.”

  “It better be close.”

  James hoped it would be too.

  “Will Uncle James be okay?”

  Jiron gave his daughter a reassuring nod. “Your uncle is very capable.”

  Scar rode on the other side of her. “That is correct, Little Jira. If anyone can make it through the Waste unscathed, it would be your uncles.”

  “I hope so.”

  “Did we ever tell you about the time your father and uncle were being chased by a monstrous fire demon?”

  Eyes widening, she shook her head.

  “Well, let me tell you, it was pretty scary for a time. They…”

  Jiron caught a wink from Scar and gave a brief nod in gratitude. He wished that Brother Willim had decided to travel with them, but the priest had begged off saying how he still had work to do in the area.