Master Mage

by D. W. Jackson

  It took over an hour for the dwarves to reach their position even though when he had last looked, they were only a few short miles away. Thad knew now why it had taken them so long; their shorter stride reduced their speed immeasurably.

  Thad waited out in front of his army to greet his old friend. It had been more than a season since he had last seen the dwarf. “Crusher, I see you were finally able to find some friends who can stand your stench,” Thad hollered when the dwarves were not more than a dozen yards away.

  “And I see ya found some yerself that can deal with yer incessant whining,” Crusher replied heartily.

  Thad moved to greet his friend when a dwarf he had never met before stepped in between the two. “I am Betal Ironleg, master mage, and I am in charge of tha dwarven forces,” the dwarf declared, almost asking for Thad to argue with him, but he let it go, just happy to see the surly dwarves. “Is this yer entire force, mage?” Betal asked, openly hostile.

  “No, but it is a good portion of it. We have not fared well against Rane and the Brotherhood thus far,” Thad replied honestly.

  “Well then, show us ta the rest of yer army.”

  “They are a little more than a day’s march from here,” Thad replied.

  Thad had wanted to catch up with his old friend, but Betal would have none of it and demanded that they start toward Bailwood immediately.

  You should bring that dwarf down a few notches before I decide to.

  “We need the dwarves, so for now, we will have to play nice,” Thad told Thuraman, hoping the staff didn’t do anything to the headstrong dwarf.

  “Where did you get so many dwarves? I thought the most I could hope for was a couple thousand troops,” Thad asked curiously as they marched.

  “Sent some dwarves ta carry messages ta tha other dwarven villages we knew about. A few of ’em sent us some soldiers ta aid ya, but not near enough for my liking,” Crusher answered gruffly.

  “Right now, I would take anything I could get,” Thad said, nearly laughing.

  “Is it that bad, lad?” Crusher asked, giving him a concerned look.

  “Yes,” Thad replied hesitantly. “Rane has fielded more than forty thousand troops. We have been losing ground every day and men that we cannot replace. Even your number will only slow down our route. Did you happen to get word to Sae-Thae?” Thad asked hopefully.

  “Ah, yer Vathari friend,” Crusher said lightly. “Don’t rightly know to tell ya the truth. We sent a message with one of tha little buggers we caught near our mines but can’t say if it got back ta yer friend or not. Tha same thing with the bleeding dragon. Dang squirrely lot they are. Can never tell what they’re gonna do when ya wake them. Roasted two of me kin as soon as his eyes opened. He let the rest go after hearing our message but can’t rightly say if he will be joining us. Figure if he wanted ta, he’d already be about.”

  “I hope someone comes. Otherwise, we won’t last until the first of summer,” Thad said dourly.

  Thad and Crusher continued to talk well until nightfall when Betal called the formation to a halt to make camp. After the sun had gone down, Thad had started to believe the dwarf would have them march straight through the night until they reached Bailwood.

  As they set up camp, the dwarf general was as commanding as ever, commanding Thad and his men about as if they were his own. More than once, Thad had to calm his soldiers, especially the elves, who the dwarf seemed to have a disconcerting amount of contempt for.

  After calming all the fires the dwarf had started, Thad sought out Crusher once again and found his friend setting up his own bedroll at the edge of the camp. “You might wish to talk with Ironleg. If he keeps pushing all my men like this, he might just find himself a head shorter,” Thad said, barely holding his temper.

  Crusher gave Thad a serious look and shook his head. “Might do the lout a bit of good. Not like he uses his head for more than a place for his helmet.”

  “I am serious, Crusher. I already had to stay a few blades tonight,” Thad said seriously.

  “All right, I’ll have a talk with tha fool, but ya might want ta keep the other idea on tha table. Betal has always been a hard one to deal with. I think it’s because his ma named him after a bug.”

  The next morning, Thad noticed that Betal had a great deal more bruises than he had last time he had seen him. “I see you had a talk with your dwarven general,” Thad said humorously.

  “And a nice long talk at that,” Crusher replied, accenting his words with a sly wink. “Takes some doing, but if ya have a way with yer words, ya can get through ta anyone.”

  “You mean a way with your fists,” Thad corrected his friend.

  Crusher laughed again. “Don’t you know it’s a fine art ta talk with yer hands, and I got awfully good at it when me throat was crushed.”

  Thad couldn’t help but to laugh. It was true that when he and the dwarf had first, met he couldn’t say a word thanks to the damage done to his throat. The two had learned to talk by using their hands and gestures. There were even a few times Thad could simply understand what the dwarf was thinking by the look on his face.

  “Well, I am glad you had a talk with him,” Thad said honestly, giving his friend a thankful look. “Farlan really needs all the swords or axes it can get, even if they are in the hands of someone without the manners the gods gave to a rat.”

  “I see ya been working on yer insults. Keep it up, and we’ll make a dwarf out of ya yet.”

  “The gods forbid,” Thad replied, feigning injury.

  “I know one that wouldn’t mind a bit,” Crusher said, laughing.

  That night, as Thad lay down to sleep, he started to believe they might have a chance to win the war. It was still a small chance, but it was there. If the Katanga arrived as well as the Vathari, then they could push back the Rane army, though it would still be a hard battle.

  That night, as Thad slept, he found himself once again being pulled into the black murkiness of the queen’s dream world. It was always an odd sensation when he visited her dreams or, more accurately, when she forced him to visit them. It was almost as if he was being pulled awake. Everything felt surreal, but even so, sometimes Thad was unsure if what he was seeing was truly her or his own dreams. It made things very awkward at times.

  Thad breathed a sigh of relief when he found himself in the queen’s study instead of her bedchambers. It was always slightly more stressful for him when he found himself in her personal quarters. “I received news that another army had appeared. Have you heard anything about them as of yet?” Maria asked, her face lined with worry.

  Thad tried to put on a dour expression, but he couldn’t help for a smile to creep on his face. “Crusher has returned with a sizable contingent of dwarven warriors,” Thad replied, giving up his failed ruse.

  Maria jumped up and clapped her hands together, reminding him of when she had been a child. She had been so full of life back then and sought anything of interest. Now she seemed colder and seldom seemed to smile, much like her mother had been.

  Catching herself, Maria stopped and smoothed her dress. “That is great news,” she said, trying to regain her composure. “Will they be able to make a great difference in the battle?” she continued after she had calmed down considerably.

  “They will almost double our current number, but we are still outnumbered more than four to one,” Thad said in reply. “But with their strength, we stand a greater chance of holding out until others can arrive.”

  “Did they bring news of your other friends?” Maria asked, her face lit up like a child waiting on a gift. So caught up with how she was acting, Thad didn’t notice that he had stretched out his hand to touch the queen’s cheek until he felt her cover his hand with her own.

  “No, but I still have hopes that Sae-Thae will come to our aid,” Thad replied, pulling his hand back.

  Maria gave him a soft glare as if slightly reprimanding him for removing his hand. “I hope you are right,” she said warmly. “This war needs to
end soon so that I—we—can move on to more important battles.”

  “You have another war planned?” Thad asked, shocked at the queen’s bold statement. Hadn’t she seen enough of war these past few years?

  “Oh yes, but the one I am planning does not require the use of swords, though if you are not prepared, there might be a bit of blood spilled,” she replied, almost laughing.

  Thad’s eyes widened as he caught the meaning of her words. “I wish you well in your personal war, but I think you may find it far harder a battle than you have ever faced before,” Thad said, trying to sound as haughty as possible.

  The stern look she gave him as the darkness enveloped him was almost cute. Thad was starting to think that a peevish queen was the most attractive. When she was slightly agitated, she always puckered his lips slightly and crinkled her nose. Thad didn’t know why, but for some unknown reason, he found that endearing.

  The next morning, when he woke, Thad still had a smile on his face. He hated to admit it, but Maria was starting to get to him. He thought about her often, but he would be damned before he let her know that. It had been over half a year since Brianna’s death, and he still felt the sting of her loss, but not as keenly as before. Part of him feared that he was dishonoring her, but another part of him knew that he couldn’t mourn her for the rest of his days.

  “Ya look refreshed this morning, lad,” Crusher said, walking up beside Thad as he saddled his horse. “Have yerself a restful night, did ya?”

  “I had a very nice dream?” was all Thad said in reply.

  “Well, if it be about one of yer lasses, I don’t want ta be hearing ’bout it,” Crusher said gruffly. “Can’t fer the life of me see what ya got that I don’t, lad, yet all the girls be flocking ta ya like flies ta dung.”

  “I don’t have a lot of girls,” Thad replied defensively. “I can’t even think of more than one lady that I am close with.”

  “Then ya must be daft, boy,” Crusher said, giving him a harsh glare. “Don’t ya be forgetting that I spent a good amount of time in that palace of yers. And I heard my share of stories while I was there fer yer own queen. Seems that ya have always been a bit of a rough where the ladies were concerned. Ya just be lucky I didn’t tell yer lass of a queen what the Vathari like ta do with their magical visitors,” Crusher added with a sly grin.

  Thad blushed a deep crimson as he remembered his visit to the Vathari city. It had been much different than he had thought, and the customs far wilder than he could have imagined. If Maria even had an idea what had transpired during his time among the Vathari, she would have him thrown back in the dungeon.

  “That’s what I thought,” Crusher said when Thad had remained speechless for a long time. “Maybe I should let the lass know more about those gray little vixens.”

  “Crusher, if you value my life at all, you will never utter a word about this to anyone. If the queen so much as got a hint of it, I doubt I would survive the night,” Thad said pleadingly.

  “Then you might want to make sure my mug don’t run dry of ale after this blasted war is over,” Crusher replied, laughing.

  “I will buy you a brewery if it will keep your mouth sealed,” Thad said, joining in his friend’s laughter.

  The cheerfulness Thad had found early in the morning quickly died away. With each passing mile, Thad was reminded of the bloodshed that awaited him. As the weight of the war once again settled on his shoulders, he started to understand why the soldiers always acted so freely when they were not in battle. Nothing makes one forget their worries like a bit of drink and a lot of laughter.

  They reached Bailwood only a few hours before the sun dropped below the horizon. Thad had suspected them to reach it much earlier, but he had forgotten that the dwarves moved at a much slower pace. As they approached where the army was camped, they were greeted by a large show of arms.

  As he looked out and saw the army forming up, Thad remembered that he had forgotten to let them know that the dwarves and not an unfriendly army had arrived. “Tuck, let Bache and Killian know that the army is friendly. I think a hail of arrows might be seen as a poor welcome among the dwarves.”

  Tuck didn’t reply, but the army quickly started to break up and go about their business. After a few moments, Thad spotted Killian and the others coming out to greet them.

  “Thad, you had us scared for a bit,” Bache said, running his hand through his thinning hair. “It would have been nice if you had let us know before now what had happened.”

  “No harm done … this time,” Killian said, giving Thad a harsh glare. “Though next time, you need to think about things more clearly,” the warmaster added, letting Thad know of his disappointment in his actions.

  “I know. I will do my best not to repeat that mistake in the future” was all Thad could think of to say in reply. Thad quickly introduced the dwarven general to the others, hoping that their meeting might take some of the attention away from his mistakes.

  As the men of war talked about the coming battles, Thad decided it was a good time to sneak away. He was normally one of those included within the meeting, but he had seen far too much war as of late and wanted at least a small amount of time to relax.

  Thad knew what he was looking for and was sure he could find it with little trouble. Monique and Jayden had taken up residence outside of the military camp, opting instead for the comforts of the small town.

  Bailwood had never been a lively place when Thad had passed through, but now with everyone gone but soldiers, it seemed eerily bare. It was missing the small things any village or town had such as the yells of playing children.

  Thad found Monique in the inn, cooking, while her husband played at being the bartender for the rest of the soldiers who had come to visit. Thad knew that he shouldn’t be surprised Monique would never pass up a chance to make a quick coin even if she was heavy with a child.

  Upon seeing him, Monique gave Thad a sweet smile and quickly handed him a plate of what he assumed was roast fowl. “I am so glad you’re safe. I had heard that you went off to check on something and that no one had heard from you,” Monique said cheerfully.

  “A bit of a mistake on my part,” Thad admitted. “But the good news is that the dwarves have come to our aid.”

  “That is wondrous news,” Monique exclaimed. She gave Thad a cheerful smile and led him to one of the many empty tables in the common room of the inn. “I have never met a dwarf before. Are they really short and hairy?” she asked, laughing.

  “Short, yes. Hairy, well, that would depend on the dwarf. I think your husband has beaten most of them on his more animalistic days,” Thad replied jokingly.

  Monique slapped Thad playfully on the arm. “There is nothing wrong with a man being a bit of an animal. The way we see it, you men are more animal than anything. He just doesn’t try to hide it,” Monique quipped snidely.

  “The real reason I have come here was to talk about your husband,” Thad said after a few moments of silence.

  “Go on,” Monique said, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

  “Well, you see.” Thad replied nervously. “The next few days are going to be a bit bloody … and I could use someone who can …” Thad stopped, trying to find the right word for what he wanted to convey.

  “Who acts like an animal,” Monique replied, all the playfulness leaving her voice.

  “No,” Thad said quickly. “I need people who know the woods as well as how to fight. The hit-and-run attacks are working, but they have started using horses, and the last time, we lost a great deal of men. Jayden is strong and quick. I am sure that if he is with us, he might be able to keep too many more of my men from dying.”

  “I will gladly accept,” Jayden said, coming up from behind his wife. Thad could tell Monique was not happy with her husband going to the front lines to fight, but she didn’t contradict him. Thad felt bad for his friend, but he hoped that one day he would forgive him.

  CHAPTER XVIII

  Thad stood in the war
room with the others in charge of their respective groups, looking over a map. With the addition of the dwarven troops, they had started to fare much better in battle, but they were still losing ground daily. He was happy things were looking better, but they were far from having the upper hand. Even with the Katanga reinforcements of over three thousand more troops that should arrive within the day, it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Two to one was better odds than they have had before, but it still didn’t ensure victory. What they needed was another ten to twenty thousand troops just to be on even footing.

  Looking around at the tense faces, Thad remembered why they were there. The Rane forces had tired of their game of cat and mouse and had split their forces with the clear intention of making for the capital. Killian had warned them that it would happen, but Thad had hoped that it would have been after the Vathari had arrived or after he had at least received news from them. As it stood, Thad still didn’t know if they would be receiving any further aid at all.

  “We have no choice,” Killian said, slamming his fist down in the center of the map. “If we do not intercept the force moving toward the capital, the war will be lost. Our only option is to leave a small force to guard our rear and move the bulk of our army to intercept.”

  “We wouldn’t stand a chance against them,” Bache replied angrily. “There must be another way.”

  “Ya may wish for there ta be another way, but even a blind beggar could see that they got us in a corner,” Crusher said beside Ironleg, who had said very little during the meetings since his arrival.

  Thad continued to listen to them argue for a short time longer before yelling for silence. “I agree with Warmaster. We must protect the capital,” Thad said strongly. General Bache began to reply, but Thad silenced him. “The queen has left me in charge of the war, and in that case, I speak for her. Your concerns are noted, General, but we will march.” Caring little else for what was to be said, Thad left the command tent and walked outside for some fresh air and a little quiet.