Master Mage

by D. W. Jackson

  As the meal winded down and Thad had eaten well more than his fair share, he tried to excuse himself. “I think after such a long series of days, it is high time I got a good night’s rest.”

  “Wait a moment, Thaddeus Torin. I need to hold a council with you regarding the coming battle. As you are the person I have selected to lead my armies, there are a few things we need to discuss. The rest of you fine gentlemen and ornery dwarf will have rooms awaiting you. When you wish to retire, just find a staff servant and have them show you to your accommodations,” the queen said, standing from her chair. “Now, Master Torin, would you mind following me?”

  Giving out a mental sigh, Thad followed the queen into her study. As soon as the door was closed behind him, she turned on him, quickly letting him know of her displeasure. “It is one thing to be present on the battlefield. I haven’t even ordered that you watch from a distance like most commanders, but it is something else entirely when you rush headfirst. Are you trying to get yourself killed?” she asked, her tiny frame barely holding back the tempest that Thad could see raging inside her.

  “I just thought—” Thad started to say before Maria cut him off with one icy glare.

  “Thought? When was the last time you thought? I don’t care about what objections you have tonight. You will be spending your time with me. It doesn’t matter if you simply sit in a chair and read, but you will be doing it in my company. Am I clear?” Maria demanded, making it obvious that to disagree might just land him chained to a wall.

  Not in the mood to read, Thad decided it was past time him and the little queen had a nice long chat. He wasn’t sure what topic to talk about, so he simply asked her a few questions, thinking she would take the lead in the conversation. He was right. With only a little prompting, the queen started spotting off everything that was on her mind. She went into great detail about anything that seemed to bother her, especially where he was concerned.

  Time seemed to drag on, and for the first time he could remember, Thad started to wish that the Rane army would attack and save him from the endless banter. It wouldn’t be so bad if Maria wished to talk about something relevant, but the only thing on her mind seemed to be his faults.

  “Well, I’m starting to get a bit tired. Should we retire to my bedchambers?” Maria asked offhandedly after one of her tirades about how much one of the countesses had done something to her displeasure.

  “Sounds like good idea to me,” Thad answered, his mind fading in and out of the conversation.

  “Then let’s go, shall we?” Maria said, grabbing Thad by the arm and practically dragging him along.

  “Wait … what?” Thad said, his mind starting to comprehend what he had just agreed to. Maria stopped for a moment and gave him a deep look, her eyes so wide it was as if he could not see the bottom of them. Knowing that he had lost just as Crusher had predicted, Thad looked and gave the queen a defeated smile.

  When Thad awoke the next morning, he found Maria staring at him intently. Thad pulled the covers up around his chest, garnering a laugh from the small queen. “You might want to get used to it,” Maria said with a risqué tone.

  “I best get to checking on the men. No telling what they have been up to in my absence. Not to mention I need to check on Tuck. He has been trying to get back into the fight even after losing his leg,” Thad said, quickly pulling on his clothes.

  “Tuck lost his leg?” Maria exclaimed. “When were you planning on telling me?”

  “Did you want to know every last casualty and injury?” Thad asked. “I think we have a list somewhere, but it will take a few days to go over every last one.”

  “Very funny,” Maria said, throwing a pillow at Thad. “I at least would like to know about the ones that I consider friends.”

  “I will endeavor to do better in the future,” Thad replied, throwing the pillow back at the queen. “Now I really must go before the men find the drink in town too much to their liking.”

  Thad quickly escaped through the door, hearing the pillow slap against the door as it closed. Laughing, Thad ran down the spiral staircase and out the front door of the palace and headed for the stables. If he would be back at the palace, he might as well get some use out of his horse. The stableboy already started saddling Lady before Thad even had a chance to laugh.

  Thad purposely rode by his house. He gave a brief thought of stopping, but he knew that it would be empty. His charge had long since left along with many others for one of the southern towns. Thad had known that the war might come to the palace, and he had not wanted her anywhere near the fighting. She had complained some, but in the end, Shariel had relented to his request.

  As soon as he reached the city wall, Thad climbed on top of it. He could easily see the Rane forces preparing for the battle, though they did so well outside of easy reach. Killian had been right about plenty of warning if they had decided to attack. It would take them an hour just to get within range of their siege weapons.

  Turning around, Thad looked at his own forces. Weary and tired, they still worked, doing everything they could to help ensure victory. Houses were torn down, and siege weapons were built where they had stood. The rubble moved to the thin wall to help reinforce it.

  The elves and dwarves were each using their own unique skills to help as well. The elves were using their nature magic to grow large trees in the place of towers as the dwarves used their earth magic to create stone pillars for every few feet to reinforce the wall.

  Looking at everyone working and preparing, Thad knew that even should they lose the war, they would make sure that Rane didn’t find it an easy win.

  “Even if we lose this war, there will be another,” Thad heard Reeve say from behind him. “Until the Brotherhood is brought down and the magical races and men of magical decent are allowed to live without fear of death, there will always be another war brewing.”

  “I don’t know if I should take that as a comfort or not,” Thad replied honestly. “I don’t want to lose this war, but it is hard to see us winning this fight as badly outnumbered as we are.”

  “Don’t give in too soon,” Reeve said. “There is always hope in battle. All you need is for one small thing to turn to your favor.”

  “And what would that one small thing be?” Thad asked incredulously.

  “Luck,” Reeve answered back with a smile. “The smallest yet most powerful force in the word is luck.”

  “I prefer to believe in more tangible objects than luck or destiny. Ten thousand more swords would suit me much better than a dash of luck,” Thad answered back.

  Reeve gave one of his haunting laughs. “Another ten thousand soldiers arriving would be a kind of luck, wouldn’t you say?” Reeve replied, giving Thad a sly wink. “I think you take things too seriously sometimes and not seriously enough for others. I think believing in something outside of what you know to be true might be good for you.”

  “If believe in it or not, it could still turn my way,” Thad said, turning back to look at the large force amassing outside the walls of the city. “We will find out soon enough if luck, as you say it, will be on our side. This next fight will be the last one, win or lose.”

  CHAPTER XXI

  It wasn’t until four days after their arrival at the capital that Rane had finally decided to attack. To Thad, it was almost a replay of the first time they had attacked Digger’s Fort. Just as before, it started with Rane’s slow march to get their siege weapons within striking distance of the walls.

  Less than half of the enemy’s siege weapons worked as expected thanks to Reeve and his men, but they had had built plenty to spare. It was amazing what the elves and dwarves had been able to do in their short time. Every hundred yards, a new tree had sprouted and now housed no less than two elves. The wall had nearly tripled in thickness thanks to the dwarves. The boulders that rained down hit the stone but did little damage. As Thad watched the bombardment, he started to believe in Reeve and his idea of luck.

  In retaliation, Farla
n’s four siege weapons began to fire. They didn’t have a ready access to boulders as the Rane army, being locked within the confines of the town, so they used whatever they could find, and that included parts of houses, even if they had to be torn down.

  Even though their bombardment seemed to have little effect, the Rane army continued their march toward the walls. Thad knew that they had few men to guard the wall against the massive wave of soldiers that was coming, but he still hoped for a victory. It would be the first time they had one at such odds. At the moment, three to one didn’t seem too badly against their favor.

  As the soldiers neared the walls, the elves and other archers held their shots, only having a handful of arrows each. It wasn’t until the first hands touched the walls that men began to fall with fletching sticking from their chests. Thad had the urge to add his magic to the mix, but under Killian’s advisement, he and the other mages were to hold their spells until the situation seemed dire.

  Thad kept watch, waiting for where he might be of the best use, when a large boulder shot from an enemy catapult came crashing in. Normally, Thad would have been watching the skies in order to push the large rocks from the sky, but today, he had other duties. As the rock struck, Thad’s shield rings deflected most of the damage, and though he was thrown into a nearby house, he sustained little damage.

  That was brilliant. You would think after months of battle, you would remember to keep your eyes peeled for such things.

  Thad wanted to answer back, but little came to mind as he brought himself to his feet. A slight cracking nose came from his hands, and looking down, Thad could see that the gems on his rings were begging to crack and break as if struck by a hammer. Acting quickly, Thad tore the rings from his fingers and tossed them away.

  After waiting a few moments, Thad breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that none of the rings bore enough power left to do any real damage. Looking down now at his mostly bare hands, Thad felt naked. Thus far into the battle, his rings had pushed aside all blows and kept him from harm from all but the soldiers bearing the white swords, and those seemed few in number.

  You have other gifts that you can employ.

  “I don’t fancy having my arm or entire body turned to stone should I make a mistake,” Thad replied to Thuraman weakly. He had practiced with the use of the stone skin, but he knew that once in battle, it would be much more difficult to employ. Was it better to die from a sword stroke or to live the rest of your days as a living statue? Thad asked to himself.

  His mind wandering, Thad almost didn’t notice the soldier who had scaled the wall and was now heading into the city proper. Moving quickly, he cut the man off. He was a brutish-looking sort who looked as if he had not shaved or bathed in a season. The soldier was menacing enough, but with the large double-bladed war axe, he seemed almost ill-omened considering Thad had just lost his magical shielding.

  Short of fleet of foot, Thad moved around the larger soldier, keeping just out of striking range, wanting no part in testing the axe’s blade.

  The soldier, no stranger to battle, stopped in his tracks and gave Thad a warning glance. Reaching into his belt, the large man produced a large dagger that would seem like a sword in some men’s hands and threw it in Thad’s direction.

  Thad lunged to the side, tucking his arms and rolling back to his feet. Reaching up, Thad ran his fingers across his shoulder where the dagger had drawn a small line of blood. Smiling back at the soldier who was now advancing on him, Thad pulled a small metal orb from one of his pouches and launched it at the man. Laughing, the brutish warrior moved to knock the stone from the sky.

  When Thad released the enchantment on the metal slug, he could see the man’s eyes contort into pain and confusion as his arm bent backward, slapping him in the face and throwing him to the ground.

  Thad was amazed when the large man returned to his feet. It seemed as though his hand had deflected the stone enough that it had not done any fatal damage. His arm hanging uselessly at his side and his nose bleeding profusely, the large warrior gave a painful grimace as he hoisted his axe in one hand and ran toward Thad.

  Knowing that he might as well get used to the feeling, Thad let his left arm from the elbow down turn to stone. It was always an odd feeling when the gods’ magic invaded his body. It was always cold, as if he had been doused in the water of a winter spring.

  The soldier seemed to be slowed little with the loss of his arm, his axe screaming in toward Thad with quick succession. Thad blocked the first strike with his sword, and his arm went numb from the strong blow. Dodging the second, Thad moved cautiously, trying to stay out of the path of the berserker.

  Thad waited for his chance, and he saw it when the warrior hoisted the axe above his head from a downward strike. Acting quickly, Thad pouched forward, raising his left arm above his head as he dashed forward with his sword aimed for the man’s heart.

  Thad felt as the haft of the axe struck his stone arm. Though it did no damage, it still sent a jarring feeling throughout his entire body. It did little to steer him from his path, and his sword soon found flesh as it buried deep within the man’s chest. Thad tried to pull his sword free as the soldier tumbled backward, but it was stuck fast.

  Thad nimbly jumped backward as his sword was pulled from his hand. Thad waited to see if the soldier would stir, knowing that many soldiers would fight on even with wounds that should carry them to the gods. When it was clear that the soldier would not stir, Thad retried his blade and returned to his post atop the wall.

  The rest of the battle went well with only a handful making it over the wall and into the city, where Reeve and his men were forced to hunt them down. As the sun began its descent, the Rane forces retreated, leaving Farlan to count their losses.

  From the outside, it would look like Farlan had won the day, and they had, but it had been a costly victory. They had killed the Rane soldiers at a rate of four to one, and the massive force that had once numbered over forty thousand troops had been reduced to a few thousand weary and tired men, most of whom were wounded.

  Farlan, though, was not faring much better. Their few numbers had been reduced, leaving them with less than a thousand to man the large wall around the city. They had fought hard, but many soldiers had still fallen to either blade or stone. Tuck, who had snuck out from the eyes of the healers, numbered among the dead.

  When Thad had learned that Crusher had also been taken to the healers’ tents, he ran toward them at all haste.

  “I don’t need yer bloody foul-tastin’ tonics,” Thad heard Crusher’s voice echo as he entered the small tent that had been set up outside of the palace for the healers. The queen had offered for them to use one of the larger dining halls, but as large as it was, it couldn’t hold the number that had needed care.

  Thad found Crusher sitting on a cot with his leg and head bandaged heavily. Though looking in a sour mood, the dwarf looked as if he would survive his injuries. “Find yourself on the wrong side of a sword?” Thad asked, trying to hold back a laugh as Crusher continued to try and refuse the nurses’ care.

  “Aye, our friend in that blasted armor,” Crusher replied scornfully. “Me hammer nor me axe made a dent in that thing’s metal hide. If it weren’t for your rock mutt and that little fairy, I wouldn’t have been able to get my hide out of there. I gotta say that little flying pain might like to yank on my short hairs, but she comes in handy in a fight. ”

  “Are they all right?” Thad asked worriedly.

  “Aye, they fared a lot better than I did, that’s fer sure. That queen of yers has ’em up in the palace. She’s taken a shine to the little one. I think she has her pulling pranks on some of her more troublesome nobles just fer a few laughs.”

  After assuring himself that his friend was going to make it through the night, Thad made sure to check on the others. It was painstaking to walk through the camp and see the faces of the soldiers and their loved ones. In the other battles, families had been away from the battlefront. Now many of t
hem were close at hand. The cries from the grieving families were nearly enough to make him want to cut his ears from his head.

  “Sir, Master Killian is looking for you,” a young page said, rushing out to greet him as soon as he neared the palace.

  Thad had suspected the warmaster would wish to see him. It was a dire situation, and the warrior had lost nearly his entire force. As he walked toward the war room, Thad thought about Killian and his people. They had come to help on the promise of gold, but he would have thought that they would have left once the battle had turned toward ill tidings. They had not and instead had placed themselves on the forefront of the battle lines. They had earned well any reward Farlan could offer, though not many were left to claim it should they win.

  Thad found the warmaster in his normal routine of tracing lines over a map of the city. “You needed me?” Thad asked, rousing the soldier from his internal thoughts.

  “Thaddeus, it is good to see you made it through the battle. I heard reports that you took a ride on a boulder,” the warmaster said, looking Thad over carefully.

  “That I did,” Thad replied, smiling. “It wasn’t a very pleasant ride and one I wouldn’t suggest for others.”

  “Indeed,” Killian added, shaking his head with a brief smile, breaking his normally stern demeanor. “The reason I called you is that we have received word that two other Katanga forces are moving to aid us, though they are still four days out. They are not an impressive number, but it will help to bolster our strength. The bad news is that the messenger also reported that he passed near a large force carrying the banners of King Tuorman and King Lianster only two days out.”

  Thad slumped into a chair. They had won the day, and it was begging to look as if they might even hold the Rane forces at bay, but not if they received reinforcements. “Can we win?” Thad asked, sure of the answer before it left his lips.