Rogue Magician (The Magician Rebellion)

by Cornett, Curtis

  When Byrn told them Marian wanted to cry, but she managed to hold her composure. Tannys was angry and demanded to see the “sorcerer.” He refused to accept that Byrn was a magician having never seen proof and refused to accept the second-hand word of some man who admitted to posing as a priest. Tannys knew his adopted son since he was a small boy and never saw any hint that the boy, now a man, might be able to wield magic.

  “Show me,” Tannys had demanded, but Byrn was unable to comply. He did not know how to cast a spell- not intentionally. Convinced that Sane was some sort of gypsy intent on stealing his son Tannys wanted to confront the man and prove him a fake.

  That was before the two Lightfoot men rendezvoused with the knight-captain and the pair of Kenzai. The Kenzai were talked about in hushed whispers and looked upon with equal parts fear and admiration. They were the men lurking in the shadows that kept new parents up at night wondering if they would come one day to take their children just as they were the boogeymen used to scare a child into behaving.

  Ever vigilant the Kenzai were said to always be watching and waiting just out of sight and only revealed themselves once a magician had been identified. Then they would take the newfound magician away, often at night as they slept, but always against the magicians' wills. It was rare to see them out and about publicly. To get even one or two of them to reveal themselves would require someone of considerable influence.

  That is why Sane requested the involvement of Knight-Captain Kellen. As the captain of the guard he had some influence over the city's Kenzai and knew how to summon them when needed. The Kenzai were independent of the guard, but the two groups were known to work together to capture rogue magicians when the need arose.

  While the hunters searched the square for magical clues and the Lightfoots sat on a nearby bench watching them Kellen excused himself to collect intelligence from the sentry guards who sounded the alarms earlier. He hoped they saw something or someone unusual prior to the ogre's attack.

  When Kellen returned some time later he was not alone. Sane was with him along with an attractive elf woman dressed in fine leather armor. She looked a few years older than Byrn, but it was difficult to tell her real age.

  “Master Sane, I wish to speak with you about my boy,” Tannys stood up so that they were eye to eye. He tried to maintain an air of politeness although internally he was probably seething with anger, “You do not have the authority to take Byrn from me. He is my son and my apprentice and I refuse to relinquish him.”

  The hunters, Bavra and Tyder, moved cautiously as they positioned themselves between Tannys and his son. Byrn's freedom depended on him being the sorcerer's apprentice. If his father would not allow it, then they would have no choice but to take the young man by force. Their hands were on their weapons, but Sane gestured for them to stand down.

  “I understand your concern, but this is for the best,” Sane told him, “with me he can learn to hone his... natural abilities.” Sane chose his words carefully aware of the number of people within earshot. “He can visit you and in time he could even find himself in a seat of power as an adviser to a nobleman or even the king.”

  The sorcerer leaned in so that only those very close by could hear him. “Without my sponsorship these men,” he waved his hand at Bavra and Tyder, “would be forced to take him to a domain where he would live under the watchful eye of their brothers-in-arms. He would never be allowed to leave and you would never see him again.”

  “So I either let you take him or he gets sent to one of those prisons that you call domains? That is hardly a choice.”

  “No, it is not,” agreed Sane, “If there was another way I would take it, but keep in mind this has already been decided and your approval is not needed. I only seek your approval for Byrn's benefit- nothing more.”

  “I fail to see what all the fuss is,” the elf woman stepped between the two men seeking to avoid a confrontation in a very public place, “with Sane's magic Byrn could travel between Colum and Mollifas almost in the blink of an eye. He can stay with Sane and train most days and visit his family here for a day or two every few weeks.”

  “Magic should not be used simply to make life easier,” said Sane, “It is a gift to be used to help others. By using magic simply to make our lives easier we run the risk of repeating the mistakes of our ancestors.”

  “Do I get no say in my own future?” demanded Byrn. “The elf's idea sounds like the best compromise. In fact it is the only thing I have heard today that does not make being a magician sound like anything other than a prison sentence.” Not wishing to offend his potential savior Byrn quickly added, “I am sorry, miss, to refer to you as such, but I do not know your name.”

  The elf smiled at him. “I do like him,” she told Sane, “He is a smart kid to recognize such good advise and well mannered too.” To Byrn she added, “My name is Sarianna of the Red Tree Clan, but my friends call me Sari.” She gave him a small bow and extended her hand to him palm down in what must have been some strange elf custom.

  Unsure of what he was supposed to do Byrn took her hand in his and awkwardly shook it, which caused the elf to chuckle a bit at his expense. She turned back to Sane and said, “He certainly has your way with women, handsome.”

  Tyder spoke up, “Perhaps this discussion should take place where there are less ears about. If you were rogues, a dozen of my brothers and sisters would have descended upon you by now.” He looked to the sorcerer and his apprentice.

  “Alright that is enough of that,” said Kellen taking command of the situation, “I have some horses awaiting us at the guard stables nearby. Let us be off and secure my city. Then we can continue this discussion at our leisure.” Without another word he turned heading for the stables and the rest followed meekly behind.

  “Sorry, Byrn,” said Tannys as they followed in the rear.

  “For what?”

  “Sarianna. You were supposed to kiss her hand. It's a custom among nobles. I never got around to the finer points of dealing with nobles in your apprenticeship.”

  “She is very attractive,” Byrn whispered to Tannys.

  “I have only seen a few in my travels, but it seems that most elves are,” Tannys agreed. “Do you know why their ears are so big?”

  “The better to hear you with,” Sari said coming up behind Byrn. She goosed the young man and made him jump as she walked by to catch up with Sane and Kellen. “Magicians... they are all alike,” Sari laughed.

  Chapter 8

  The sun was settings as the party approached the crest of a small hill. Sari was able to quite easily follow the ogre's tracks from the point where it entered the city. A depression in the dirt here or a patch of trampled grass meant nothing to Sane or his other companions, but to the elf ranger raised in the forests of the Great Waicossan they might as well have been sign posts pointing to the ogre's home.

  “It's going to be dark soon making tracking more difficult. We may want to head back to the city and pick up from here to-,” Sari was going to say “tomorrow” as she reached the top of the hill, but as she looked at the plains below her she was struck silent. A moment later her companions understood why.

  The plains below were filled with ogres marching towards them and Colum behind. There were easily thirty of the monsters heading their way. Kellen was about to order them to fall back when Sari saw something to the north in the dying light.

  “Look over there,” she told the others. They followed her pointed figure to see a lone rider in the distance not heading toward Colum, but further west towards the magician's prison, Baj.

  In that moment Sane understood everything as the pieces of his vision fell into place. “I was wrong. Gods, I was so wrong,” he whispered. “I was so focused on finding out who had unleashed the beast that I never thought to ask why. Now the answer is plain. This morning’s attack was nothing more than a test. The enchanter was gauging his ability to control an ogre over a long period of time and send it to attack someplace far from its home.
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br />   “Once the test was deemed successful the magician must have begun weaving his spell on each of these ogres one by one so that he could send a full army against the city. With the city under siege from such a force they would undoubtedly request reinforcements from Baj who would send many of their Kenzai guards leaving a much smaller force at the prison.

  “The rogue magician would wait until the prison's forces were at their weakest and then somehow attempt a prison break.” Sane looked to his old ally Kellen and he knew that the knight had reached the same conclusion.

  “I am going back to the city to warn the guardsmen,” Kellen decided. “Maybe we can ready a proper defense before they reach Colum. Sane, you take the rest and stop that magician.”

  “My wife is back in Colum,” said Tannys, “I will not abandon her.”

  Kellen and Tannys rode back towards the city as Byrn watched them. The magician’s apprentice looked torn between staying with his new master and following his father. It took Byrn only a few seconds to make a decision and started his horse in a gallop following after Tannys Lightfoot.

  Sane was not surprised. Tannys was the boy's father after all and he had only just met the sorcerer. “Sari, please keep an eye on my apprentice and Kellen. I have a feeling they are going to need your keen vision.”

  She denied his request as if the thought was ridiculous, “You should know by now that I do as I please. Besides, one more able body would make a much bigger difference to a group of three than to a few battalions of soldiers.”

  “Very well,” Sane said reminded once again why he still felt love for the woman despite their many differences, “and thank you.”

  Along with the Kenzai, Bavra and Tyder, Sane and Sari rode to catch the galloping magician careful not to alert the approaching ogre horde of their presence. They retreated back down the hill out of the horde's sight and rode a northwestern course hoping to cut off the rider before he knew they were there. They had the advantage of the high ground and the element of surprise at least until their query was within earshot of the beating hooves.

  Catching up to and cutting off the rider was a simple feat. After a few minutes in pursuit the rogue magician heard the beating of hooves and darted toward an approaching ridge hoping to get a view of the land to determine where his pursuers were coming from. Unfortunately Sari predicted this would happen and she and Sane were waiting just out of site until the rider was nearly on top of them. The rider pulled up fast to avoid running into the ranger and sorcerer and found herself trapped between the pair and the Kenzai hunters coming up from behind who were gracious enough to drive the magician to this spot.

  “She is a girl!” Sane gasped once he got a look of the rider.

  “And what is wrong with that?” Sari huffed. “I would not have expected that attitude from you.”

  “No, it is just... I was more surprised by her age than her sex. She is probably in her late teen years, but to command so many ogres in such a manner... I have never seen one so young with such skill.”

  The raven-haired young lady pulled her staff from its harness and raised it above her head. “I call upon the spirits of Vailon, god of war, slay my enemies!”

  The wind screeched with the howl of war wraiths. Dark ghostly figures rode to their mistress' aid on phantom mounts. They were like puffs of smoke with small black tendrils of energy wafting off of them. Four of them appeared flanking the young enchantress on either side coming to her aid.

  The hunters drew their swords as they positioned themselves to engage their ethereal foes. Their blades glowed bright blue sensing and draining the energy from all of the magical creatures nearby including the two magicians.

  Seeing their glowing weapons the young enchantress was well aware that she needed to end the battle quickly before all of her strength was drained or she would be at the mercy of these men. The girl cast a spell calling a wave of flame that sprayed forth from her wand across Sane and Sari while the ghostly warriors engaged the Kenzai, but Sane had already pulled his own staff from its harness when the spirits were summoned and countered with an arching shield protecting himself and his elf companion from the flames and their searing heat.

  The girl was surprised for a second, but surprise was quickly replaced with anger and disgust. “Why are you helping them?” she demanded angrily. “We should be on the same side! What the kingdom and the Kenzai do to us is wrong. They lock us away simply for being born different. Having magic in our veins should be a blessing. Instead they act like it is a curse and we are monsters.”

  “So to prove them wrong you unleash a legion of ogres on an innocent city in a misguided attempt to break out some of the most powerful criminals in the kingdom,” Sane retorted. “Baj is not filled with misunderstood magicians. It is filled with criminals and murderers who happen to be magicians.

  “You lie!” the girl shouted in rage.

  To Sari the enchantress said, “Kill the wizard.” Her voice was a rare mix of deadliness and sweetness.

  Sari drew her bow without thinking. She notched an arrow and pointed it at Sane's head. Her left hand holding the bow shook as she aimed and she gripped the arrow too tightly with her right trying to stop herself from releasing it.

  “Sane,” she squeaked. The sorcerer erected a shield between Sari and himself just before she released the arrow preventing it from giving him a new hole in his head.

  The enchantress shot another blast of flame at her rival now that his shield was no longer erected between them. Instead he turned and with a wave of his hand a spray of water sprang from the air dowsing the flames and still possessing enough force to knock her from her steed and drench her in the process.

  Looking to her spirit warriors the enchantress saw they were steadily weakening from the Kenzai's magic absorbing swords and had not managed to kill either of them. As much as she hated to admit it her defeat was inevitable. “I am sorry, father,” she murmured and with that she vanished.

  Once their mistress was gone, the war spirits decided to leave as well fading back into the spirit realm from whence they came. A thin puff of smoke was all that remained as the only indication that they had ever been there.

  “Is she gone?” asked Sari still shaken up over almost killing her friend.

  “I do not know,” said Sane, “She could be gone, but she could have cast another enchantment to hide herself from our sight, biding her time until we lower our guard or leave to pursue the ogres so she can still make a try for the prison.”

  “I sense no hidden energies, but we should head to the prison,” Tyder suggested, “and let them know what has happened here.”

  “They can still send reinforcements to the city, but without weakening the prison's defenses too much,” added Bravec.

  They rode to the castle as fast as their horses would take them. When they made it halfway Sane recalled the part of his vision involving Byrn. He was fighting an ogre at the temple of Ashura trying to protect his mother and the other injured people there. Sane thought it was an omen to be interpreted, but what if it was not? What if it was another warning of an impending disaster and Kellen's battle was merely the precursor?

  Chapter 9

  The door swung open with such force that it slammed into the wall with a thunderous bang. “We are under attack!” Kellen declared as he entered the main room of the guardsmen tower at the city's entrance. “There are ogres coming. Close to three dozen of the ugly beasts are just a few minutes behind me. Alert the other towers and make ready for battle.”

  Half a dozen guardsmen that were present sat around a large table staring at the knight-captain in disbelief as if he was speaking some strange language.

  “Are you deaf, fools?” shouted Rallen coming down the steps from the second floor. “Sound the alarm and send out messengers to the other towers.” The men started as if coming awake and began to do as commanded. Rallen said to the knight-captain, “I am sorry, uncle. I think they were more than a little surprised to see you.”

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sp; Coming in behind Kellen, Byrn noted that Kellen's nephew was the obstinate guard who refused to let him into the keep earlier. He was a little surprised at Kellen's nepotism in making his nephew a guardsman, but thought better of it as his own father and former master came in behind him.

  “Rallen, send word to assemble the militia as well as the guards. We need to form a defensive line at the border and overwhelm them before they can get too far into the city and start slaughtering people like cattle,” ordered his uncle.

  “Yes, sir.” Rallen bowed and made his way towards the entrance of the hall, “Men, to me! We have a city to defend. Sound the horns and mobilize the militia!”

  The guards moved like separate parts of a single body. As one they entered the armory, grabbed swords and shields, and exited the hall hurried but organized preventing a bottleneck as they left.

  “Take whatever you need,” Kellen told the Lightfoots indicating the armory.

  “I'm not one for heavy armor,” said Tannys, “I have a sword at my side and my horse carries a shield. I am ready.”

  “As am I,” answered Byrn. Besides he thought that magicians were only supposed to wear light robes. He wasn't sure why, but it was a comforting thought.

  “Byrn, go back to the house and protect your mother,” Tannys told him. “As a member of the militia, I must aid the guards at the front lines.”

  “What? Why?” Byrn asked, “I can do more good fighting at your side than I can hiding with mother. I could use my magic to kill them. What is the point of having this power thrust upon me if I can not use it to help people?”

  “Do you know how to use it?” Tannys countered. “Can you cast a magic spell right now?”