Sometimes he wondered if his trial before the goddesses of life and death that left him unable to kill had ever really happened. Occasionally he wondered if the whole thing could have been a fevered dream following the calamity in Colum or a side effect of the healing process he had undergone while asleep, but now he knew for sure. Tannys had said as much himself.
In his natural discipline, elementalism, he was unmatched among his peers. Fire was his natural element and he had learned how to project wind and lightning to some extent, but he quickly discovered that none of the others including Avelice had much experience with the elemental forces so he tried to teach himself, and some of the younger students, building upon the lessons of Sane, Fredrik, and Mantellus with some success, believing he was at least the equal of his former cellmates.
At the far side of the clearing the door to the cabin opened and the black robed figure of Avelice Necros emerged. Some of the older students had gone to the festival in the city and she had instructed the rest of the students to stay inside before Byrn began casting the summon, both to give him some quiet privacy from the youngsters and to protect them in case a demon was accidentally released.
The salt and pepper necromancer sat next to her student. “How did it go?” she asked.
Byrn shook his head unsure what to say, then he simply stated, “It was over too quickly.”
“It usually is the first time,” Avelice conceded, “but you can work on that. It will get easier in time and you do get a little stronger with each passing day. I am a little saddened to say that you have learned all I can teach you without touching on death magic. Unfortunately you cannot be considered a master necromancer without that knowledge, but just the speed of your progression speaks wonders for your natural ability.
“I think it is time for us to start a new school... and I would like you to be the head master.”
Avelice’s magic school had grown considerably since Byrn joined them. The trio of Byrn, Turshyn, and Mellani had rescued several young magicians on the run from Kenzai hunters now housing ten of them in total. Avelice brought up the subject of starting a new school before. She feared it was too dangerous to house so many magicians in one place. There were rumors already of a magician living in the forest and the elder students would often have to cast illusions in other areas of the forest to spread false rumors and keep any Kenzai hunters from stumbling upon the school.
However, the choice of Byrn as the new school's headmaster was a bit of a surprise. “I thought you would have chosen Turshyn,” Byrn confessed, knowing that his friend was Avelice's favorite student and a talented necromancer in his own right.
“It was a difficult choice, but you have a more well-rounded understanding of magic and I think in time you will grow into the role of master. Being called a master is more than just a measure one's ability or knowledge. It is a rank given to one who is looked to as a leader and teacher for the next generation.
“Turshyn will become a true master of necromancy, but in the other realms of magic he knows very little. That is more my fault than his since I have been his only teacher and can not teach him magics that I have little knowledge of. For that reason I am going to ask Turshyn to be your second at the new school so he can learn some of what you know of elementalism.”
“What about starting the revolution anew?” asked Byrn remembering his promise to his friends in Baj.
The necromancer shook her head. “It has taken a long time for me to come to this decision, but I fear the cost would be too high if we were to try and fail. There are not that many magicians free in the kingdom and if they were to die, then our knowledge of magic as a people would be lost forever,” Avelice fiddled with her robe nervously as if she doubted her own words or did not want to believe them.
Byrn understood the risk was too great, but could not help feeling like he was betraying the grand necromancer and his companions’ confidences. Avelice's words were wise as always, but deep down Byrn felt a small ember burning in his heart. “Then I will find another way to free our people,” he told Avelice confidently.
Chapter 34
The enchantress Mellani sat helplessly observing her captors as they searched for other magicians. Every fiber of her being willed her body to stand up and run for the exit or cast a spell to turn her captors against one another, but instead she simply sat there and wondered how she was going to get out of this alive. Since her parents died when she was a little girl Mellani found herself in precarious situations from time to time. More than once she, along with her younger sister, Minnie, was nearly caught by the Kenzai, but somehow they always managed to get away. However, this time she feared that her luck had finally been pushed too far.
It started that morning when Minnie and two of the newer teen magicians, Rex and Quevine, wanted to go to the city for the Sunshillah festival. It seemed a harmless request at the time and Mellani knew the courtyard of the school would be off limits while Byrn practiced his summoning so she agreed to take them... under the condition that Turshyn would come along and keep an eye on the boys.
Before long the boys had gone off to find some excitement with the city girls and Turshyn had followed after to make sure they did not find too much excitement. “Do not get into trouble while I am gone!” he had yelled back to the Truthsayer sisters in jest. Now as Mellani sat in a warehouse surrounded by Kenzai she decided the necromancer’s joke was in very poor taste.
When the boys were out of sight Minnie suggested, “We should go see the minstrels in the square,” grabbing at her sister's arm and pulling her along without waiting for an answer. At fifteen years old, Minnie was growing into her womanhood, but she still possessed the same free spirit she had as a child.
They roamed the square listening to the numerous minstrels and bards until they came across a boy about Minnie's age playing a lute and singing a ballad called The Tale of the Undead Isle about the great warrior Targan and his battle against the necromancers of the Winter Bane Isle.
“Do you seriously want to listen to this?” Mellani asked as the bard played the decidedly anti-necromancer story. “If Turshyn were here he would be very disappointed.”
“We would not want to disappoint Turshyn. Would we?” Minnie said slyly elbowing her older sister in the arm. Minnie was convinced that her sister was in love with the admittedly handsome necromancer no matter how much she protested to the contrary.
“If your tongue was as sharp as your elbows, then you would have a great wit,” countered Mellani humorously. “You know Turshyn and I decided to stay as friends years ago.”
“And that burns you up,” Minnie giggled, “You may not admit it, but you hate that he gave up on you and now spends his time with city girls.”
Mellani was about to tell her sister just how wrong she was when they heard a dwarf laugh and say, “...turn all of those wizards into zombies,” to another of his race. The sisters exchanged worried looks and Mellani nodded to her younger sister who placed her hand under her cloak and lightly touched her grimoire hidden in a specially made pouch. Minnie cast a spell with a light whisper and enhanced her hearing so that she could eavesdrop on the dwarf even as they put some distance between themselves and him.
“You really believe that?” asked the other dwarf- a blonde haired fellow who unlike most of his race did not have a beard.
“Yes,” replied the first dwarf, “Gilkame is a genius. He is working on one device that can take control of a magician's mind and another that can fire metal balls faster than the eye can see and what is more some of his prototypes are right here in Lion's Landing for safe keeping.”
“How do you know this?” the blonde dwarf asked skeptically.
“Because Gilkame is my uncle,” declared the first dwarf proudly. He lifted his head a little toward the sky in an attempt to make himself look noble, but only succeeded in getting his face wet as it started to rain. The crowd began to break up and the blonde dwarf managed to convince Gilkame's nephew to show him some of these wo
nders. As they departed the Truthsayer sisters followed from a safe distance behind them.
It quickly became apparent that the dwarves were completely unaware that they were being followed. Not once did they look behind them or take any unnecessary turns down back alleys or side streets. While the girls walked Minney told her sister what the dwarves had been discussing and Mellani wished that Turshyn had not ran off with the boys.
The rain was coming down more heavily threatening to become a serious downpour when the dwarves and their uninvited guests arrived at a warehouse by the docks. The dwarves went inside leaving the girls outside to explore the perimeter. Finding no way to get in besides the door used by the dwarves, Minney decided to sneak in by casting an invisibility spell. It was a difficult spell to cast, but she could maintain the effect for ten or twenty seconds and that would be just long enough for her to sneak in and ensure that there was no one guarding the door.
Minney entered the warehouse unseen and ten seconds later she did not return. Twenty seconds later she was still nowhere to be seen. One minute passed and then another without the return of the teenage magician. With each second that passed Mellani grew more agitated with her sister's failure to return until she had no choice, but to go in after her and find Minney Truthsayer.
The interior of the warehouse was very dark. It took a moment for Mellani’s eyes to adjust to the lack of light and it was in that moment that she felt a knife pressed against her throat.
“Who do we have here?” wondered a grizzled voice to her left who also happened to be the owner of the knife. He reached into her cloak and pulled out her grimoire. “I will hold on to this for a bit if it is all the same to you.” He motioned for her to sit in a chair against the wall to the far right of the entrance. Once she got a good look at him Mellani could still see very little of his features. He wore a brown cloak with a hood casting his face in shadows and had a long sword at his side. His movements were silent and efficient and he carried himself with a calm aloofness. Mellani knew she was in the presence of a powerful Kenzai warrior.
“Answer my questions and you may keep your skin, wizard,” the Kenzai spat the last word as if it were a curse to be loosed from his lips. “Why are you here?”
Mellani looked around the room hoping that it looked like she was taking in her surroundings instead of looking for her sister, but she saw no sign of Minney. She did however count five more of the Kenzai scattered around the room. “Why are any of us here?” Mellani retorted smartly. “Only the gods know why they put us here for sure.”
The enchantress’ head flew back in an instant before she knew what was happening and she felt a stinging pain on her face which was soon followed by a heavy throbbing and the enchantress came to realize that the Kenzai slapped her so fast she never saw his hand move until it was already done.
“Let us try again. Why are you here?” the Kenzai asked once more.
Mellani's mind raced as she tried to figure out what it was safe to tell him and what was not. A little truth could a long way towards corroborating whatever story she made up. His hand rose more purposefully this time and the enchantress blurted out, “I overheard a couple of dwarves talking and wanted to see if what they were saying was true about a way to control magicians.”
“It is true,” said the bearded dwarf followed by the blonde one emerging from the shadows. In one hand he held a simple gold necklace made of two solid half circles connected by a hinge on one end with a clasp on the other. In his other hand was a small rod of similar color and plainness. He handed the necklace to his dwarven friend. “Put this on her.”
The Kenzai warrior put his knife back to Mellani's throat, silently daring her to move, until the blonde dwarf did as he was told and placed the necklace around her neck snapping the clasp shut.
“Let her go,” Gilkame's nephew told the Kenzai and the man backed away a little reluctantly giving the woman some room. To Mellani he said, “Stand up,” and she obeyed without thinking about it. “Jump!” the dwarf commanded and she leapt in the air as high as she could. She wanted to ask how the dwarf was making her do these things, but she could not speak.
The dwarf only laughed, “This is amazing! Do a dance!” Mellani twisted and turned her body to music that was not there. A disconnected part of her noted that she was doing the dance of fertility- a common occurrence during the festival of Sunshillah. The dwarf laughed again and commanded his puppet to sit down which she did without question.
Turning his attention to the warrior and the blonde dwarf, Gilkame's nephew shook the rod and shouted, “You see? It works! Uncle Gilkame will be so happy when he finds out.”
The Kenzai warrior said, “I need to finish the interrogation, Eryk.”
“Of course. Please continue, Sir Blackwing,” Eryk Axebeard told him, nodding to their captive.
“Now, we should start with something simple: what is your name?” the Kenzai Blackwing leaned forward so that he and Mellani were eye to eye.
She sat there silently. Blackwing raised his hand about to slap her again when Eryk stopped him, “Wait! Sorry! She can not speak with the collar on unless I command it.” To Mellani, he said, “Go ahead, girl, and answer any question my friend poses to you... truthfully.”
Blackwing began his line of questioning again and found out many useful things with no trouble. In just a few minutes he learned of the magician's school outside of Lion's Landing, the number of students, and who the most powerful magicians in the school were along with their disciplines.
A loud bang came from the front of the warehouse like a heavy box falling or a door slamming shut grabbing everyone's attention. Blackwing spun back to Mellani, “Was there anyone else with you?”
The ensnared girl did her best not to answer the question, but she heard herself say, “My sister came into the warehouse a few minutes before me.”
“Ashura's ass!” swore the Kenzai. To his men he commanded, “Draw your weapons. Search the warehouse!” Nearly as one the other hunters pulled their swords from their scabbards. If any of their blades began to glow blue they would know Minney was nearby even if she was invisible. It was only a matter of time before they found her.
Chapter 35
Tomlin cursed under his breathe.
The Kenzai were methodically searching the interior of the warehouse looking for some girl that may or may not be there, but they would surely find him. Rumors of a magical collar that could control magicians had been circulating for months. It took some time, but the Collective had managed to track the rumors back to a dwarf named Gilkame Axebeard living in Mollifas. Alia organized a raid on the dwarf’s workshop in less than a week. They were within a day of the raid when someone beat them to it. Some fire user lit Gilkame’s marketplace stall ablaze and scared him into hiding. What is more, the dwarf was so concerned over the attack that he sent his latest inventions out to sea bound for Lion’s Landing, the farthest port from Mollifas in the kingdom.
It was Tomlin who volunteered to find the collar. If he acted swiftly, then he could steal the collar before a strong security network was in place. His plan was to pose as a bard at the festival of Sunshillah and put the dwarf, Eryk Axebeard, who was guarding the collar under a charm called Learion's Gift. Learion’s Gift was a spell that would compel the affected person to reveal whatever thoughts came to mind like the location of the magic collar.
Weaving the spell into the ballad of The Tale of the Undead Isle was a simple enough task even for one of Tomlin's limited magical talents, but the girls were a complication he did not expect. Who could have anticipated a pair of attractive lady magicians getting involved and throwing his plans into chaos? He simply had to find the collar, steal it, and bring it back to the Collective. Now Tomlin had only a few minutes before being discovered and getting killed or worse- collared like the girl sitting in the chair.
Most magicians would probably throw a lightning bolt or summon a specter to do his fighting for him, but Tomlin was an enchanter. Although he was
adept in his own discipline, Tomlin did not have much talent for the other schools of magic. Usually enchantment was a very useful talent, but against active Kenzai patrols their effectiveness would be severely limited if not utterly useless. The hunters' swords would dampen any enchantments he cast before the spell could take full effect and signal to the rest of the hunters his general location.
Tomlin climbed to the top of a rack near the wall, but not to hide from the hunters. He reasoned that if he was going to get himself killed he might as well do it spectacularly. Pushing with his feet against the wall the rack started to tip forward picking up momentum as he scurried to the top and jumped for a beam in the ceiling. His aim was true and the bard pulled himself up with ease. A life living on the streets had trained him to be strong, fast, and agile. Those were skills that no magic sword or Kenzai art could take away.
Tomlin crawled along the beam furiously to the other end of the warehouse as the shelves fell over in a domino effect killing several hunters searching between those racks. Predictably the remaining hunters rushed over to where the shelving first started to fall leaving Tomlin above the magician girl and the two dwarves.
The swashbuckler in him wanted to pull out his knife and jump down from the rafters onto the dwarves, but the saner side convinced him that climbing down the nearby racking quickly but carefully was the option that would not leave him with two broken legs.
Tomlin sprang on Eryk with his knife drawn burying it to the hilt into the side of the rod bearer's neck. The dead dwarf slumped to the side and Tomlin grabbed the control rod with his free hand as he pulled his blade free. Turning to the woman wearing the collar he said, “Take your collar off, my lady, and please hand it to me,” and winked at her.
The prisoner gladly undid the clasp while Tomlin was on the other dwarf before he could alert the hunters that they were about to lose their new toy. A slash of Tomlin’s dirk left the blonde dwarf clutching wildly at his neck for a second before he fell down dead alongside his friend. When Tomlin turned back a grateful woman held the collar in her outstretched hand.
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