Warriormage: Book Three of the 'Riothamus' trilogy

by Rosemary Fryth

  “The meadows are our grazing lands and grain fields,” answered Oak. “Without them we would starve. No, as long as our population remains the same, we can live here quite comfortably.”

  “So what do you do for timber?” asked Aran.

  “We collect deadwood from the forest floor,” replied Oak. “As you know we are under Oath and Word not to cut down a living tree, besides everything that is made of wood here is sustained by the Node. It has been generations indeed since we have had the need to craft a new piece of furniture, and even then the wood had to be brought in from Outside.”

  He looked up and smiled, “Ah! Here at last is Sage Ash and he looks all ready to go.”

  *

  “Any regrets about leaving this place?” Aran asked Alissa as they at last turned their horse’s heads back out of town.

  “Yes and no,” she replied. “Glade will be the last friendly town we’ll see in a good number of weeks, and despite the oddness of its situation, it is a peaceful and beautiful place.”

  “If we survive this war,” Aran said gently. “We shall come back and visit. We have made friends here, and I certainly know that Bini will be back as soon as he is able.”

  Alissa glanced back to where Bini was doubling Beech on his horse, “I doubt that they have been apart a single moment since we arrived. This parting will be very hard on them both I think.”

  *

  For the rest of the morning the extended group slowly made their way westwards along the banks of the Trident River. Travelling was seldom difficult with so many Sages and Earthmages in the party. The vegetation opened out before them with only a word or a gesture from Sage Oak, who was inexpertly riding an elderly grey, barrel-chested pony whose stout rump gave ample evidence of too many hours in the lush meadows, and not enough exercise back at Glade. The group stopped briefly at midday to lunch on fresh fruit, and to quench their thirst on the excellent berry cider brewed at Glade. Trevan, Darven and Aran meanwhile seized this opportunity to instruct the newest of the Warriormages in the initial exercises that would help them develop their Abilities, and also teach them the first steps to employing the all-important wards and defenses they would need before reaching Thakur. Alissa was refastening the buckles on her saddlebags when Mage Hela drew her aside with an urgent whisper.

  “Lady Alissa, could I ask your advice on a matter of some importance.”

  Alissa nodded then giving the buckle an extra pull to side it into the clasp, finally turned to face the older woman.

  “What is it Hela? Is there a problem?”

  The mage inclined her head, “There could be, I was not certain until I asked Mage Genn to check, but he confirmed it.”

  Alissa was confused, “Confirm what? Are you sick?”

  The mage shook her head, “No, not sick.”

  Then her voice fell to an urgent whisper, “I’m with child.”

  Alissa looked long and hard at the other woman, “Are you certain, I mean can you be so sure?”

  Hela looked around to make certain she could not be overheard, “I think it’s the Reinforcing. I was…aware of a difference in my Ability late last night, and then I felt odd, I mean unusual down there,” and she touched her belly.

  Alissa was even more confused, “Are you trying to tell me the Reinforcing made you pregnant?”

  “No, no,” the mage replied. “I was already with child. I just became aware of it. Master Healermage Genn has confirmed it.”

  Alissa bit her lip, “Do you know who the father is?”

  Hela shrugged helplessly, “It could be any of the six guardsmen, for I was with them all on the night of the primal haunting.”

  Alissa frowned again, “Are you certain the child was conceived then? I mean that was only a few days ago. Isn’t it a bit early to tell?”

  “I did not come a virgin to those men,” Hela admitted scarlet-faced. “However, it has been twelve months or more since I last knew a man in that way. I was raised a peasant in a village, and I know well the cycles and times of pregnancy. Believe me lady Alissa; I was not pregnant before that night.”

  Alissa sighed, “Have you told any others of this?”

  The mage shook her head urgently, “No, I dare not. Genn has been sworn to secrecy, and until I know the identity of the father I cannot tell any of the Guardsmen.”

  “How soon will you know?” asked Alissa.

  “A week, perhaps two” the mage replied. “It seems that the child is still without form. I understand that to determine the father, Mage Genn must have a more advanced child to Scan.”

  “So what are you going to do?” Alissa asked heavily.

  Hela looked up, “I must keep the child, all life is precious, and luckily I will not show my condition for many weeks yet. Do not be afraid that this will turn me from my path or obligations to this group. It is only the distant future I am concerned about.”

  “The Weathermages will not be happy,” said Alissa carefully.

  “That is an understatement,” she replied sourly, “I will be lucky if they don’t kick me off Glaive for such a thing.”

  Alissa rounded on her friend, “It was not your fault! We were all overtaken that night. Surely Mage Trenny will take that into consideration.”

  “I don’t know. He can be a difficult man sometimes,” admitted Hela. “That’s why I don’t wish to tell him until I am further advanced into my pregnancy. He might see my impending motherhood as some kind of imagined treachery to the Weathermage enclave, and force me to abort the child.”

  Alissa was alarmed, “Surely he would not do that? It is the right of the mother alone to determine if she keeps the child or not. Sadly, neither Trevan nor Genn would help you in this matter, since their oaths compel them to keep all life sacred; however I am certain that Mage Theaua would know of certain herbs that would bring on a natural and safe abortion if you wished it so.”

  Hela shook her head, “No, I mean to keep the baby. If this had not happened, and had I stayed on Glaive until I reached my Mastermage or Highmage level, I would have been well beyond my fertile years, and would have had trouble conceiving a child. I only hope now that in some way I can be both a mage and a mother as well.”

  Alissa sighed, “I only hope that I too will one day be a mother. Aran and I have loved each other often enough in the past week or two to conceive a child, but still I feel unchanged. I will need to wait for my cycles to come to see if the Goddess has blessed me with an heir to the Andurian throne.”

  “Why don’t you ask Genn?” Hela said. “He will tell you soon enough if you have conceived.”

  Alissa shook her head, “I think not. My cycles have been regular enough in the past for me to know straightaway if I am bearing a child.” Then she frowned, “At any case, this information ought to be kept to just Genn and the womenfolk alone. If my lord Aran and the others know of it, they will strive to send us back to Glade, or even worse, back to the Legions. If any more of us have conceived then it is something that must be bourn until we are so far into Thakur that our journey cannot be reversed.”

  “Why are you so determined on travelling with lord Aran?” asked Hela.

  Alissa shrugged, “I don’t honestly know,” she admitted, “I know I must be there, but it is not something that is easily explained…yet I know that I must stay with him, aye even into Erie itself.”

  *

  For the rest of that day the group continued their relentless western route, following always the meandering path of the Trident River, and deviating only from that way when the river had made the route impossibly steep, or the vegetation was too dense even for a Sage to break through. Finally at dusk, Sage Oak paused at one of the larger clearings they had come to, and held up a hand to indicate that it was here they would camp for the night.

  “We will soon reach the forest edge,” he explained addressing them all. “I have spoken to lord Aran, and it is agreed that it will be safest to strike out across the plains for the Thakurian border late afternoon tomorrow
. There is a real risk of running into an enemy patrol the closer you ride to Riggeltz, so a night ride will lessen the chances of that happening, and may avoid the possibility of your group being seen.”

  “What is the weather like outside?” asked Aran of Trenny.

  The Weathermage shrugged, “Despite my Reinforcing I cannot tell. This forest and its energies effectively cloud my attuning to the weather outside. We can all see that the sky is obviously clear, but until we are quit of this place I won’t know for certain if the warm spell still holds or not, and what the weather will be like that follows, it I have no idea at all!”

  “I for one will not be looking forward to a return to winter,” muttered Gunthred, tossing back his braided dark red hair. “The damp always works its way into your boots, despite the layers of sheep fleece-oil you put into the leather.”

  “Cold feet will be the least of our problems,” replied Darven dryly, “If we run into a Thakurian patrol. Having damp boots will be of no concern then to the dead.”

  “All the same,” interjected Aran. “We will not be taking our horses into the mountains and we would be fools to neglect our health, and the welfare of our feet.”

  He stared down at his own stout boots, “For it is our feet that will be taking us deep into Thakur and back again.”

  *

  Later that evening, and when the rest of the camp was settling down to sleep, Aran restless and sleepless with the knowledge of what lay on the morrow, paced anxiously the confines of the clearing. He knew that this was the path he ultimately had to follow, but silently he despaired that his own short life might soon be ended somewhere up in the rugged mountains ahead. Already his time back at the keep seemed like a pleasant dream remembered only fleetingly, before once again reluctantly waking into a harsher and more unpleasant reality.

  “You must sleep my lord. We’ve a long and very hard ride ahead of us tomorrow.”

  Darven had noticed his friend’s uneasy pacing, and had roused himself to try and settle the king’s mind.

  Aran paused and turned to face the dark-haired Wolf Leader, “I wish we had another option open to us, Darven,” he said wearily. “I heartily dislike the idea of this quest deep into the enemy’s territory. There are too few things that could go well, and far too many things that could go wrong. My heart shrivels up in my chest, and I feel sick inside every time I think of what we must do, and the lengths we must go to accomplish it.”

  “Yet we have no other choice,” Darven said, unsheathing his sword, and idly checking the blade for rust. “You, as well as I have felt the sickness and corruption of this Warleader’s magepower over her armies. Would you be happy to turn away now and let her influence spread unchecked into the province, overwhelming the minds and lives of our people?” He paused and his face grew hard, “Every time I have uncertain thoughts, I think again of the woman I have left behind in Leigh, and the sort of world our child would be born into if we fail.”

  Aran nodded, “You are walking the hardest path of us all, Darven. You have left everything you most loved to follow me on this mad quest into Thakur. I still don’t understand why you did not follow the easy path, and remain in relative safety with the rest of the Guard and Legions.”

  “You are mistaken Aran,” Darven replied softly, “For even though there does not go by an hour when I do not think of Kiaia and the child she carries, you are wrong if you believe that I chose this path from duty alone. In truth, I have not entirely forsaken everyone I love, for you and Alissa are now like kin to me, and never would I forsake family. The only way I can stand being apart from Kiaia, is knowing that she is safe, and with good people who will help her to bring into this world our son or daughter. I regret every day that I am away from her, and yet I know that every day I am away means that I am one day sooner in returning to her embrace.”

  “I will blame myself entirely if you do not make it back,” replied Aran miserably. “In Andur’s name, Darven,” he suddenly blurted out his voice choked with emotion, “Apart from Alissa you are the greatest friend I have in the world. Please keep yourself safe and do not take unnecessary risks. As much as I would like to spare you from it, you have yet to experience the insanity of the Warriormage rage. If you can, try and keep a clear head in the days to come. I doubt not that we will have to fight again, and I am concerned not only with how I will endure the rage when it comes, but also how you and the other new Warriormages will cope.”

  “We have been warned of it,” replied Darven confidently, “Which is greater foreknowledge than you ever received from Glaive. If you can bear it and overcome it, Aran, I am certain that neither I nor those of the Guard could be any lesser men.”

  *

  “It looks so open and exposed. How will we ever cross without being seen?” worried Theaua as she stared out at the great brown and white expanse of the plains, and the uncertain safety of the distant peaks beyond.

  “We have become too used to the close confines of the forest,” explained Drayden. “Our horses will know well the word ‘speed’ before this night is done.”

  “Yet it is still too soon to cross,” commented Aran as he swung himself down from his horse to land lightly on the ferny undergrowth of the forest edge. “We have a few hours yet to wait, so we may as well take advantage of this time, and get as much rest as we are able.”

  *

  “We have company my lord.”

  Aran opened his eyes to see Bini hovering anxiously over him.

  “Thakur?”

  The plainsman shook his head, “No, wolves. The horses were restless and unsettled, and when I went to check on them, I noticed these grey shapes suddenly appear in the forest.”

  Aran nodded reassuringly, “They are expected Bini. They are part of the Reinforcing.”

  Bini frowned, “Do you mean to say that they are coming with us into Thakur?”

  “Aye and the rest are to remain and aid our armies in the battles that lie ahead.”

  Bini frowned again, “They are going to play havoc with the horses’ nerves. It will be difficult having both predator and prey in the one party.”

  Aran clasped Bini’s shoulder, “I don’t think they mean us or the horses any harm. I’ve been told that they might even be of use up in the mountains.”

  Bini eyed the nearest wolf which had moved out of the heavy undergrowth, “I hope so because it looks as though this one is planning on coming right up to us.”

  “Greetings human,” the wolf half-growled, “We of the Brethren have come in good time.”

  “So I see,” Aran replied, “We will be riding as soon as the sun sets.”

  “Good, your large four-legs seem nervous with us around. We have tried to explain to them that we mean them no injury and will not harm any here.”

  “Horses are your natural prey,” replied Aran. “It will take them a good deal of time to get used to you and your kin.”

  The wolf howled out a sudden laugh, “They are stupid animals without even a rational thought in their minds. They are so much stronger than you humans, yet they are so placid and mild they will willingly bear you upon their backs.” The wolf grinned a toothy grin again, “You would not find a wolf who would willingly lay aside the Law of Freedom to follow the human way.”

  “Yet the dogs have aligned their path to us, and they are of your Brethren,” Aran answered smiling.

  “Kin yes, but Brethren no. In truth they have forgotten much,” replied the wolf. “It grieves me when I see how far they have fallen from the Law of Freedom.”

  Aran hunkered down, “How should I address you wolf? Have you a name you go by?”

  The wolf in turn sat down on his haunches, “Amongst ourselves we are known only as the Brethren, but if you wish to call me by a name you may use ‘Halffang’,” and it opened its mouth, to expose a partly broken lower canine tooth.

  “A run-in with a boar a while back,” it explained, grinning.

  Halffang got to its feet, and shook its fur back into place.


  “We will move over that way a bit and rest with you,” it said. “We will be far enough away from your …uh, horses so you may settle them down.”

  So saying, the wolf gestured to the others of its kind, and they moved a short distance away to settle again downwind of the nervous horses.

  “Talking wolves,” said Bini finally. “Will wonders never cease in this forest?”

  “Only the one,” replied Aran, “And with that one, I believe the Entity has done more than a little tampering.”

  “I will try and explain the situation to the horses,” Bini said finally and obliquely.

  “You do that,” Aran chuckled, “Perhaps you’ll have better luck with them, than the wolves.”

  *

  Whatever Bini had done, or said, seemed to settle the horses down, for when the party finally roused themselves at dusk and prepared to mount, the horses were as quiet and as placid as if they were in their own field.

  “We are all set to go, are you my lord?” asked Drayden, walking his horse up.

  Aran nodded, and swung himself back into the saddle, then turning his horse he faced the group. Quickly the others, including the wolves, gathered before him, their faces set with fierce resolution of the hard night ride ahead, and the unknown dangers that lay before them in Thakur.

  Aran stared at each man and woman in turn, pleased that there seemed to be in their faces no want or wish to back out now.

  All the same he thought, he had to ask…

  “This is our point of no return,” Aran said abruptly. “If any of you harbour deep misgivings of the journey ahead, and wish to be no more committed to this path, then it is now that you should leave our ranks, and return with the Sages to Glade.” He paused and waited for a moment or two but there was no movement from the humans and animals ranged in front of him, so he nodded and with a deep breath continued on.

  “This ride ahead of us must be our swiftest yet. We have to cover the distance between the forest and the foothills of the Trident Range in the space of one night. We will stop briefly only once or twice to enable our horses to regain their wind. Apart from those breaks, we will not complete our ride until we reach the relative cover of the foothills.”