God Mage

by D. W. Jackson

  Faye narrowed her eyes then gave him a thin smile. “Well, I guess I can’t fault you for that,” she said after a tense moment. “You might want to see if Phena wants to go with you. She won’t say it, but she is worried about him. I thought that she was going to chew through the bars last night.”

  “I will ask her,” Bren promised.

  “If you ask her, she will refuse,” Faye said seriously. “You just need to tell her you need someone to escort you.”

  “Yes mam,” Bren said, rolling his eyes.

  Bren found Phena in the main room of the house. Unlike the others, Phena didn’t seem bothered by the dusty smell that permeated the building. “Phena,” Bren called, getting her attention. “I need to visit Cass, but he would be furious if he learned that I went unaccompanied in foreign territory. Seeing as how the rest of my guards have been laid to rest, I was hoping you would be so kind.”

  “Cass would be at that,” Phena said, looking Bren over closely. “I will guard you, but don’t expect me to pamper you like a maid,” Phena added, her lip twitching slightly as if she wanted to smile.

  Bren found one of the soldiers that stood outside of the house. “We had another person in our party that was injured,” Bren said, looking the man over closely. “Can you show us where he is being treated?”

  The man didn’t say anything, instead he just bowed and started walking down the street. Bren and Phena quickly followed behind the man and found that his pace was more a light jog than a walk. They ended up at a small white building close to where the elder’s residence was.

  The inside of the building smelled strongly of herbs and alcohol. The smell was so strong that it burned Bren’s nose and stung at his eyes. They found Cass in a small room sitting in a small white bed looking stoically out of the large window at a small tree that grew in the courtyard. The first thing that Bren noticed was that Cass no longer had his left arm, all that was there was a stump that stuck slightly past his shoulder covered in bandages.

  Before Bren could think of anything to say, Phena walked over to the obviously sulking man and slapped him hard in the back of the head. “You only had a small wound like that, and we find you wasting your time in here instead of doing your duty.”

  Cass gave Phena a smile that was somewhat warm yet sad at the same time. “How am I supposed to protect someone with only one arm?” Cass asked bitterly, not even noticing that Bren was even in the room. “How often do you even use your left hand to fight with?” Phena asked, giving Cass another hard smack. “If you lose an arm, just learn to fight twice as well with one.”

  “She’s right,” Bren said, causing Cass to look at him for the first time since he had entered the room. “You fight better with one hand than most could hope with two and twenty extra years of training.”

  “Well you might at least be able to best me now during training,” Cass said with a weak smile. “I know you all mean well, but I will need time, not only that, while they healed the worst of it, there is only so much magic can do. I will need to rest and wait for the skin to grow over the bone before I can do much of anything.”

  “Well just don’t spend too much time sulking here even if the nurses are good looking,” Bren said with a smirk earning him an ugly look from Phena. “When you feel ready, I will be waiting on my friend and guard.” Bren noticed that Phena made no move to leave, and the air in the room had changed dramatically. “I think I will head back to our house. I have a lot to prepare for, and I would bet that I won’t get near as much time for it as I would like.”

  Phena gave him a withering glare. “Phena why don’t you stay and make sure that my master guard doesn’t spend all his time wallowing in self-pity,” Bren added quickly.

  “If you insist,” Phena said quickly, turning back to her new charge.

  Not wanting to stay in the room any longer, Bren ran more than walked out of the medical building. As soon as he was outside, Bren slowed his pace to a meandering walk. The village was much the same as any other with the exception that everyone was dressed in the same dark clothing that covered them from head to toe. Most of the time they left the face covering off, but many of them left it up so that only their eyes showed. There was also the mountain that the village was built against. It was tall, stretching high into the sky, and the very top of the mountain was surrounded by thick dark clouds that even from a distance, Bren could tell were filled with a very strong concentration of magical energy.

  It was odd, the sky above them was filled with more magic than Bren had ever felt in one place, but where they sat had only a small portion of that. The farther the clouds stretched, the closer they got to the ground and the weaker the flow of magic got. It was obvious to Bren the reason that mages of ages past came here to search for the beginning of magic. The longer he looked at the sky, the more he believed that he was in the right place to find the veil. He was so close to his goal, the only thing left was to go through the door. Even if it meant that he would go mad, he had to try.

  All humans are a little mad. If they weren’t, then they would never be able to live in this world.

  “If you say so,” Bren said, shrugging off Thuraman’s words.

  Back at the house, all the windows were open and it looked as if the house had caught on fire with the sheer amount of dust that was filling the air outside. Inside he found everyone cleaning, even Jin who appeared to be skilled at it. “Where is Faye?” Bren asked as he walked into the main room.

  “She and Lillian are out back cleaning the bed mats and sheets,” Jin said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead, leaving a dirty brown streak where it had mixed with the dust.

  Holding back a laugh, Bren walked through the house and out the back door into the courtyard. Three large wooden poles hung between two trees. Each pool supported the bedding, while Lillian and Faye beat the dust out of them with large flat instruments. Large clouds of dust filled the air with each strike. Bren watched the two women for a few moments. He didn’t know why, but he liked the way that Faye grunted slightly each time she struck the bedding. “You look like you’re having fun,” Bren said after a bit.

  Faye turned around and flashed him a warm smile. “It helps take out my frustration. You should try it,” Faye said offering him the stick.

  “I think you’re doing a perfect job,” Bren said not wanting to breathe in such large amounts of dust. “Cass is okay, though he lost the arm. I just thought I would let you know. Phena is staying with him for now.”

  “His arm,” Faye replied gasping. “Such a shame, but at least he will live.”

  Though he didn’t want to, Bren was forced into helping Faye and Lillian beat the bed sheets and coverings, and just as he feared, each strike released enough dust to make its own mini desert. When the sun fell out of view and the sky darkened, everyone gathered in the house, which while much cleaner than it had been, still needed a good scrubbing.

  After a short meal, Bren and the others went to their own rooms. Last night he had slept really well, but that was more to his own fatigue rather than the accommodations. As far as he was concerned, this was his first real sleep in days.

  Chapter 20

  Early the next morning, Bren was shown to the location of the door to the veil. It was large, nearly fifteen feet tall, and looked as if it had been carved out of the very wall itself.

  Bren ran his fingers over the door. It was cold to the touch and sent a shiver down his spine. He didn’t know why, but suddenly the thought of walking through the door didn’t seem like such a good one. Bren shook off the odd feelings that ran through his mind. The complete trip had been ill-advised on so many levels, so it didn’t matter if one more appeared.

  “You can go anytime you wish,” the elder said coming up to stand beside Bren. I would suggest that you make sure that you are completely prepared for the journey. I can offer little advice on what you will need, as I am smart enough not to pass through those doors.”

  “The world needs those without brains who d
o not fear the unknown. Otherwise, there would be little ever discovered,” Bren said with a wry grin.

  “That may be true,” the elder replied, patting Bren on the shoulder. “I think I will leave it to others. Maybe when I have lost what little wits the gods graced me with, I might enter those doors as well.”

  As the elder walked away, Bren never took his eyes off the door. After he had stood there for more than an hour, Bren turned and walked back into the village proper.

  Just like most villages, there were shops and eateries for people to use. When Bren had first heard of the hidden village, he had thought it would be small with only a few dozen guards, but what they had found was completely different. It would seem that over the years the village had grown to house tens of thousands of people.

  Bren bought a new bedroll to replace the one that had been destroyed during the glass tornado. He also bought some new clothes, as well as a few other normal things that he thought might come in handy. Bren also found a store that sold gems. He still had a few others in his pack, but Avalanche and her appetite had eaten most of the ones he had brought with him. The store housed so many different gems that Bren found it amazing. “Where did you get all of these?” Bren asked as he ran his fingers through a pile of rubies.

  “Good sir, they are not hard to find,” the shopkeeper said with a slight bow.

  The news made sense to Bren considering how much magical energy swarmed around the area. In Farlan or Torin, a gem the size of a grape would cost you a fair amount, but here it was cheaper than buying a length of rope. Bren bought enough gems to fill one of the smaller pockets in his dad’s pack. Bren knew that there was little chance that he would ever need so many, but better safe than sorry.

  Bren spent most of the day walking around the village. He tried many different types of food, though most of them didn’t suit his taste. There was a lot of fish which surprised Bren. They were not fresh water fish either, so they had to come from an ocean. That meant that water was close by, though Bren had no idea where it was. If he had known that, he could have taken a ship to the village, though he didn’t want to think of how mad the waters around the mountain were. He didn’t fancy being stuck out at sea with such wild weather. After he had filled his need for adventure as well as his belly, Bren headed back to the manor they were lodged at, which was still being cleaned.

  Bren found Lillian cleaning the small kitchen and asked her to gather everyone in the dining room, which was the only room that was large enough to hold everyone without feeling cramped.

  Once everyone was gathered, Bren looked to each of them and considered how each of them might play their role best. They all waited anxiously for him to speak. Once he had everything worked out in his mind, Bren took a deep breath. “Tomorrow I plan to enter the door to the Valley of the gods,” Bren said with finality. Bren told them what the elder had told him of the dangers, and after the information had time to sink in Bren continued. “As much as I would like to take everyone with me, I believe that only four should go with me.”

  “I hope you included me in that number,” Cass said from the doorway. Unlike the last time he had seen his friend, the look of self-pity was no longer on his face.

  “It is not like I can leave you behind,” Bren said with a smile. “That makes one; as for the others, I believe Phena, Faye, and Brenda will be the best choices.”

  After Bren finished speaking, everyone started talking among each other. Originally, Bren had planned to take Lillian instead of Cass but with his friend back, things had to be changed.

  “You have everything ready?” Cass asked walking up next to Bren, who was now sitting in the corner of the room looking out the window while the others had rushed off to prepare for the journey the next day.

  “As best as I can,” Bren replied, his mind slightly clouded by worry. “How are you?”

  “Doing better,” Cass said. “It is odd though,” Cass added running his good hand over his left shoulder. “I can still feel my arm sometimes. It’s as if it’s still there. Well, I’d better make sure everything is in order for tomorrow. If this is anything like the rest of the trip, then it will not go as planned or anywhere near as planned.”

  Bren laughed and shook his head. “Something is bound to go right sooner or later,” Bren replied as his friend walked away.

  “I will play the odds,” Cass said as he walked out of the room.

  Bren looked for something to throw at his friend, but with nothing handy, he was forced to watch his friend leave. Turning his head, Bren looked back out the window. The sky was almost dark, allowing Bren to see only a few feet into the courtyard beyond. He didn’t know why, but he always enjoyed watching nature…. It was relaxing. He decided that after he returned to Torin, he would build a large garden at the top of his palace, so he could sit and relax undisturbed.

  Shortly after the sun went down, Bren went back to his own room. There was little more he could do to prepare. His sword didn’t need sharpened, and all of his things were neatly packed in his father’s pack. The only thing left now was the waiting as his imagination ran wild with thoughts of what might be behind the door. “Why were things never easy?” Bren asked the empty air.

  Your father asked that same question many times in his life. In truth, the closest answer he ever came to was because the people made it harder than it had to be.

  Bren ignored Thuraman’s words and went back to his own musings. It was late into the night before Bren actually fell to sleep. That night, he dreamed about giant horrors that dwell in the Under Earth, and of creatures far worse than he could ever have begun to describe.

  Bren woke sweating slightly to find that it was still quite dark outside. With nothing else to do, he dressed and gathered his gear. His new clothes caused his skin to itch slightly, but it was still better than the tattered scraps of cloth he had been wearing for the past fortnight.

  Before strapping on his sword, Bren inspected it. Crusher had made it out of a rare black glass that was stronger than steel. It was made out of a single piece of the glass and was razor sharp. The hilt of the sword was made of glass as well, but had been pitted so that it didn’t slip in his grasp.

  Slipping the sword back into its sheath, Bren picked up his staff, slung his pack over his shoulder, and walked out of the room. He found Lillian in the kitchen along with two women from the village cooking. There had been times in his life that Bren wondered if the elf ever slept. In the past year, Bren had never know the elf to be asleep when he was awake; she was always up and busy doing something.

  “Master Torin, would you care for something light to eat?” Lillian asked as soon as he entered, even though she never turned around to look at him. “We don’t have much ready yet, but we do have some bread, cheese, and cold ham if you wish.”

  “That will work fine,” Bren replied, sitting down in a small chair in the corner of the kitchen. Lillian quickly gathered up what she had promised and placed the plate on the small table along with a small cup of water.

  Bren picked at his food, his stomach too twisted to really allow much to go down. After he finished eating, Bren waited in the sitting room for the others to stir. Bren watched as they came through one by one, and after they had all eaten and gathered their gear, the group of five left the small building and their other friends behind and walked toward the eastern edge of the village where the door awaited.

  There was no large fanfare for their leaving just a large stone door and two guards who stood beside it.

  Though Bren hadn’t mentioned his name Hayao escorted them to the door, while constantly asking to go with them. Bren explained to Hayao that he wanted to keep the numbers low, but Hayao was not convinced that Bren was making the right choice. Though he honestly didn’t like it, Hayao let the subject drop once they had reached the doors. “We have come seeking entrance,” was the last thing Hayao said before stepping to the back to the group.

  After Hayao had spoken, the two guards looked to each other than to Br
en and the other four. After a few moments the men each grabbed ahold of the large door handles and tugged hard. Large clouds of dust and rock flew into the air as the doors opened. The smell of must and mold assaulted Bren’s nose as the stale air from the tunnel struck him.

  Bren struck Thuraman against the ground and the diamond on its top lit up. He looked to the others, then took his first step toward the door and into the darkness. As soon as he crossed the threshold of the door, the light on the end of the staff visibly dimmed. Once all five of them were through the door it closed heavily behind them. As soon as the door was completely closed, everything went cold and the light on the end of the staff went out like a candle snuffed out by a strong wind.

  “Thuraman we need light,” Bren told his staff as he struck it against the ground again.

  I can’t…Trying…No magic.

  Thuraman’s words were halting and broken, but he started to understand as he searched around for any magical energy, but quickly found that the whole area was completely void of any magical energy. “Faye can you use your power?” Bren asked the young girl.

  She looked at him oddly then closed her eyes but nothing happened. “No…Something is wrong…I can’t explain but it’s like something is blocking it.”

  “That was unexpected,” Bren said as the area around them was lit up as Cass used a flint to light a torch that he had kept in his pack. “Magic of any kind won’t work in here.”

  “That might bother you lot, but I am well enough with just my sword,” Cass said lifting the torch into the air. “Speaking of that, can someone hold the torch? In case I need to use my sword.”

  Phena gave a short laugh and took the torch from Cass. “I can live without my magic, but I will miss it just like you do your other arm.”

  Cass gave Phena a sharp look but the smile she flashed him stole any words that might have come to his mind before they reached his tongue. Before anything else could be said, Cass took the lead with Brenda, with Phena and the torch following closely behind, and Bren and Faye bring up the rear.