Bren sat close to the fire to warm his body. It had been a long day, and Bren found himself fighting to stay awake. The meal was a simple one of cured ham and beans along with a type of flat bread that tasted slightly sour to Bren. Shortly after eating, Bren curled up in his bedroll and quickly drifted off to sleep.
Later that night, Bren was woken by a ringing in his ear. As his mind cleared, Bren heard his name being called, and after looking around, began to understand that it was coming from his father’s earring. “Flynn, what are you shouting about?” Bren asked, his head feeling as if it was being ripped apart.
“Bren. The mages tower is in an uproar,” Flynn said, his voice hinting at the man’s apprehension.
“I need to know more than that,” Bren said with a heavy sigh, thinking that the mages had just got their bonnets in a knot. “What is going on?”
“The other day we received a letter requesting that you appear before the tower to discuss something of importance. When I arrived, they were more than a little put out and demanded to know where you had gone off to. I told them that it was none of their concern, but things quickly took a turn for the worse. The tower is now claiming that in your absence, they have ruling power.”
Bren let out a string of curses loud enough that Cass, who had been sleeping nearby, jumped to his feet. “What’s wrong?” his friend asked, his sword already halfway out of its sheath.
“Nothing that you can deal with,” Bren replied laughing lightly. “Just the tower causing trouble in my absence.”
“Oh,” Cass said, setting his sword back down. “I’m surprised it took them this long to cause problems.”
Bren shook his head and turned his attention back to the problem at hand. “Looks like we don’t have a choice. Send a letter to Rane and Farlan requesting aid and the reason for it. As much as I hate to use such means, it seems that the tower won’t learn unless I do. I can’t have them jumping all over themselves each time they learn that I have been gone for more than a few days.”
“Are you almost done with your little trip?” Flynn asked, his voice showing his displeasure at his current task as regent. “Because if you take too much longer, I might start taking heads off some of these people.”
“I think we are nearing our goal, but it is hard to tell,” Bren replied. “Just do your best not to kill anyone who you don’t have to. If you do end up releasing your sword, just try not to do it in the throne room,” Bren added laughing.
“No promises,” Flynn said before he shut off his end of the enchanted earring.
Bren reached up and touched the small gem that hung at the bottom of the earring. Enchanting had always intrigued him, but he had never felt the drive to make anything of his own. Something inside of him told him that he could, but it wasn’t something Bren really wanted to do. It was like knowing one could swim but not enjoying the cold waters.
As his hand dropped away from the earring, Bren looked around to notice that it was still dark, and he was still very exhausted. Grabbing his blanket, he covered his head, closed his eyes, and tried to drift back off to sleep.
While lying there, Bren could hear every sound that was made in the dark. The worst was Brenda’s snoring. He had told her about it once, and only once, and Bren thought for sure she was going to behead him for even suggesting that she might snore. It was a lesson for Bren; one that he learned well. Never on pain of death, suggest that a woman do anything that she doesn’t admit to herself, especially if she has a sword or any other weapon nearby.
Bren tossed and turned as he tried everything he could to drown out the noises that filled the air. At first he tried positioning his arm so that it covered his ear, but it was incredibly uncomfortable. After more than an hour of twisting and turning, Bren gave up sleep for a lost cause.
Getting up, Bren walked to the fire that was now just hot embers glowing dimly in the night, but it gave off enough heat to chase away the cold night air. “Not going back to sleep?” Cass asked, taking a seat next to him.
“Tried,” Bren said. “I am so tired, I can’t see straight, yet I can’t fall asleep for the life of me.”
“I have been there before,” Cass said laughing. “Wish I could tell you the cure for it, but I don’t have the slightest clue. My mom used to say that I was too tired to sleep, though it never made sense to me.”
Bren and Cass talked for a few hours until it was time to switch guards. Even though Bren was awake, Cass still woke up one of the other guards to take a shift. Bren told him to let them sleep, but Cass just said that Bren was too tired to pay enough attention to be a good guard.
Chapter 13
The next morning, Bren watched the sun rise from horseback as the others gathered their gear. His eyes were heavy, and his body felt tight. He wanted to sleep, but he had lost that chance once the sun came up.
Once everyone was ready, Bren started building the spell again. Unlike the day before, it was much harder to raise them into the air. His head started to spin as he pushed them forward and pain ripped through his head, but Bren ignored the pain and continued to carry the group through the air.
Less than three miles along, the pain in Bren’s head started to feel as if it was being ripped apart. Bren tried to ignore the pain as he had earlier, but it became so intense, everything turned white as if he had been looking directly at the sun.
Thinking it would pass, Bren shook his head and pushed on. Suddenly, everything went blank, and Bren found himself falling from his horse. He barely heard the screams of everyone else as they were dropped out of the air while still moving at a fast pace. Bren felt himself roll across the ground but he stopped after only a few spins. Bren pushed himself up and tried to look around but his eyes were having trouble focusing. Unable to pull himself to his feet, Bren crawled to the sound of the others voices, until he lost what little strength that remained in his arms.
As tired as he was, Bren still couldn’t sleep even though it seemed like the perfect time for a nap. Flipping over onto his back, Bren looked at the sky. It was such a peaceful looking sky, almost like the waters of a still lake. A light voice tickled his ear. As his head turned Bren, looked at Cass’s face. “What happened?” Bren asked weakly.
“I was thinking of asking you the same thing,” Cass said with an air of concern in his voice. “One second we’re scooting along, the next it’s like we hit an invisible wall. No one is hurt but four of the horses are lame and are going to have to be put down.”
“Move aside,” Phena said, pushing Cass away. She pulled back Bren’s eyelids and looked deep into his eyes then placed her hand lightly on his forehead. “He has a bad fever. We need to get him someplace out of the sun.”
Bren tried to move his head, but Phena held it tight. Though he couldn’t see his friend, Bren heard Cass as a map was unrolled. “There is a town a few miles to the east. With luck, they might even have a doctor,” Bren heard Cass say.
The next thing Bren knew, he was being laid on a thick blanket that was strung between two long branches. Soon Bren was being drug across the ground, though not at a fast pace. Every so often they would stop, and Faye would place a cold cloth across Bren’s forehead and wipe off the sweat that had begun to bead on his brow.
As time passed, Bren started having trouble keeping his senses in check. Soon everything was a blur to Bren. He could hear voices, but his mind couldn’t sort through the words. He could tell who the voices belonged to. Faye, Cass, Phena, and even Thuraman talked to him. They were comforting even though he could not understand what they were saying.
When the horse finally stopped, Bren was lifted off the makeshift litter and carried into a building. He was placed onto something soft, and once again, a cold cloth was wiped across his forehead as soft voices whispered in his ear.
As he lay there, the world around him became distorted and unknown, and Bren fell into a deep, fevered sleep.
When Bren opened his eyes, he found himself in his throne room staring at a man, who looked much
like himself, sitting on his throne. “Who are you?” Bren asked as he moved toward the unknown man.
“Do you really need to ask?” the man replied in Bren’s voice, though it was slightly darker sounding. “I am you. A part of you to be more precise.”
“I am just hallucinating,” Bren said as he laughed deeply.
“You may be, but I don’t think it’s something as simple as that,” the man said taunting Bren. “Why do you fight the magic? It is a part of you and unless you learn to embrace it, then it will continue to tear you apart.”
“Are you serious?” Bren asked mockingly.” If I let the magic in, then it will destroy everything that I am.”
His shadow-self jumped from the throne and walked around him as if he were inspecting him. “Is that such a bad thing?” he asked as he peered directly into Bren’s eyes. “You are weak as you are now. If you let the magic in, then you would be strong enough to shape the world however you desired. Do you not think that is worth the price?” the shadow grabbed his arm as it spoke and pulled Bren in close.
Bren pulled free of the man’s grasp and took a step back. “No amount of power is worth losing who I am,” Bren replied adamantly. “I will not be controlled by anyone or anything.”
The other him laughed, it was a deep and throaty sound that stung his ears. “Do you really think you have a choice? Every time you use magic, a small part of you will be washed away until only I remain. All that will happen if you fight it is that you will have to endure that much more pain. Give in and let me take my place.”
“I refuse,” Bren said straightening his back and looking the other man straight in the eyes. “I will not fade away. I will fight against you every step of the way, and in the end, I will be the one left standing.”
“Really,” the other him said with a wicked grin. “You may think so, but I will slowly consume you, and you won’t even notice. It is not as if I have to hurry. We will both live for a long time, so I will just take my place one piece at a time.” The words faded off as the other him slowly disappeared.
Bren was left alone in his throne room with nothing else to do but ponder the shadows words. Had he already lost some of himself? Bren tried to think of anything that might be different about him, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t think of anything. That news gave him little solace as he was not even sure he could detect it even if it was right within his sight.
Bren opened his eyes, and his head rang out with an immense pain as the light from the small window assaulted his eyes. He found himself in a small room with only one bed and Faye asleep as she lightly held his hand. “How long had she sat like that?” Bren asked himself as he tried to move. His whole body ached as soon as he so much as moved a finger. He tried to speak, but his voice was dry and raspy, and his throat felt as if he had been drinking sand.
Even though he had barely moved, Faye’s eyes shot opened. At first she just looked at him but when she noticed that his eyes were open, she jumped to her feet and ran from the room like a startled cat. She reappeared a moment later with Cass and Lillian trailing behind her.
“Nice to have you back,” Cass said in his normal dreary tone. “The lead we had against the Brotherhood has vanished, but everyone did get a good rest.”
“How long have I been out?” Bren asked as he once again futilely tried to sit up.
“A little less than three days,” Lillian said pushing past Cass. “And what he doesn’t need is to be reminded that someone is after us. Forcing him to move before he is ready will only make it worse in the long run.” The look Lillian gave Cass made the man, who stood more than a foot taller than her, take a step back and raise his arms in defense.
Lillian looked at his eyes then checked his head. He could even feel her probing him with magical energy, which surprised him and hurt at the same time. He had known Lillian for some time now, but he could only remember a few times when she actually used magic. “His fever is down, but all his muscles were ripped and torn from putting too much pressure on them.”
“How did that happen?” Cass asked, his face contorted slightly at the news.
“I would guess that when his magic began to fail, Bren tried to force it. It is just like anything else. It can only take so much of a load before it starts to push back, and this is the result. I have seen mages with similar problems before, though never as severe as this. I will make something to speed it a long a bit. In a day or two he should be able to ride though not much more than that.”
“Why didn’t you make it the first day?” Cass asked with a slightly annoyed voice. “Then we would already be back on the road.”
“I didn’t know what was wrong with him then,” Lillian said, her ire starting to peak. “I couldn’t risk checking him with magic. There was too big a possibility that I would do more harm than good. Now that it has been a few days, there was little risk in what I did, so before you question me or my methods, I would suggest you learn more about what I’m doing in the first place.” As Lillian spoke, she marched toward the young warrior who continued to step back until the wall blocked his retreat.
Bren let out a long, solid laugh that ended in a coughing fit. “Would you two take your squabble elsewhere,” Faye said harshly, making both Cass and Lillian look troubled.
Just as she had promised, Lillian brought back a tonic for Bren that tasted like old boot leather mixed with mud from the bottom of a rancid lake, but within a day, he was back to feeling like himself. It was a good thing as well since local travelers started speaking of a large band of men encased in iron coming toward the town.
Once they left the small village, Hayao told them that there was only one more town between them and the Deadlands. Nagoya was a small village, and the one that all travelers from the villages went through on their way to deliver their cargo to the hidden valley.
It was a four-day ride, and it didn’t seem that it was going to be an easy one. The Brotherhood was closing in on them again and even sending in a few parties to attack, though most of them were lightly armored. Bren was guessing that the reduced numbers meant that he was not the only mage that had pushed himself a bit too far.
After two days, Bren picked up the group but only for a few hours out of fear of falling ill again. The worst of it was the lack of sleep. Ever since his fevered dream, Bren had been more than a little hesitant about sleeping. He knew that somewhere deep inside him, the other him waited, and he was in no mood to meet with the man again.
At night when they camped, Bren started using his magic to dig a trench around them and filling it up with spikes made of hardened earth. It was a basic trap, but one that worked well on dark nights and helped ensure that no one could easily sneak up on them. In the morning, he would quickly fill them in before they continued on.
Chapter 14
As they entered the small village of Nagoya, Bren felt more than a small amount of trepidation run through his mind. It was the last village until they reached what Hayao had been calling the Deadlands.
Tired from his extended use of magic over the past few days to keep ahead of the Brotherhood, Bren wanted nothing more than to enjoy a nice stay at anyplace resembling an inn, but as Cass pointed out, it would be far too dangerous to stay the night. Bren wanted to argue, but he knew that anything he said would sound hollow, even to his own ears. During the past fortnight, they had less than a handful of restful nights where the Brotherhood hadn’t tried their luck. To make matters worse, the Brotherhood never sent a large group just small ones spread out.
Bren had tried to use his own magic to increase their pace, giving them a few nights of peace, but he was not skilled in the art, and it had worn on him greatly. It was not just the mental stress; his whole body had been affected. To aggravate the situation, Bren now felt the calling of the magic even more—and he wanted it; he needed it—to keep himself from going insane.
Nagoya was like many of the other villages they had passed through. It was small and had buildings that were more ar
t than house. He had seen so many of the buildings now that the small intricate details, which had been painstakingly put into each one, no longer caught his eye as they had before.
“How far ahead of the Brotherhood do you think we are?” Lillian asked in a drowsy tone.
“It is hard to say without sending someone back to check on them,” Cass said as he pushed forward through the town. “Given how well they were able to keep up with us before, I doubt that we are more than a day or two ahead of them.”
“We have to have gained more ground than that,” Brenda said snidely. “Bren has been pushing us forward for three days straight.”
“And at night I can still see wisps smoke in the distance,” Cass argued. “There is no telling how strong or skilled their mage or mages are. We need to keep pushing forward until we can find a more secure place.”
Bren could tell that none of the ladies liked his decision, with the exception on Phena who was of the same mind. The only real rest any of them got from the road was purchasing new horses and some supplies.
As he mounted, it felt nice to have something else do his walking for him even if it meant that his back would be sore for a day or two. His horse was a little thinner and had less muscle than his last horse, and even as unknowledgeable as Bren was, he knew that the horse was not meant for long rides. With the small selection they had to choose from, it was the best he could hope for.
As soon as they reached the exit to the village, Bren noticed that Hayao was acting was nervous that normal. The man always looked as if he was watching for someone to have a go at his back, but now he looked strung so tight that he might snap at a whisper.
Carefully, Bren nudged his horse to ride alongside the wary man. “Everything okay? You look as if a demon is lurking behind every shadow,” Bren said after the man had acknowledged his presence.
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