Red Mage Ascending: Book 1 of Tournament of Mages

by Cleave Bourbon

  “Aye, it is getting late. Lord Sarren. I think that is quite enough.” Mistress Holt agreed.

  Lord Sarren took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood off his fingers. “I agree. It is time to retire. Thank you, mistress Sephera for the tea.” He escorted the other two women out all the while keeping his eyes fixed on Hana.

  “I wonder what that was all about?” Hana asked, nursing her finger.

  “I’m sure I don’t know. I thought he merely wanted to talk. Forgive me, Hana, I didn’t realize he was going to draw blood. Let me see your finger.”

  “It’s no matter. He didn’t hurt me that much. I have cut myself with a fillet knife much worse than that. Still, it was very odd. The way he looked at me. Wasn’t it?”

  “Aye, it was. I saw it too. I think he was judging more than merely your worth.”

  It wasn’t exactly what she meant but Hana nodded anyway. “If you don’t mind, mistress, I will pick up the tea tray in the morning. I’m ready to retire to my chambers now.”

  “You go ahead. I will take the tray. No need for you to have to wake up to it tomorrow.”

  Hana genuflected. “Thank you, mistress.” She exited the parlor into the hall still clutching her finger, which she had already healed. She let go of it as soon as she was out of Moira’s sight.

  She went to her room and paced back and forth until Moira was done with the tea tray in the kitchen. It would have been faster if she would have cleared the tray herself, but she foolishly thought she might be able to sneak out the kitchen door; she hadn’t thought mistress Moira would offer to clear it for her.

  Carefully, she stuck her head out from her bedroom door. The house was dark and quiet. Hana tiptoed down the hall, trying to avoid the floorboards that creaked to limited success. She arrived at the kitchen door and unlatched it. Thessa, as if she could sense where Hana was, waited just outside the door.

  “What are you doing? I told you it was dangerous out here.” Thessa said.

  “It’s dangerous for you to be lurking at the kitchen door too. I had to find out where you’ve been and how you avoided the girls discovering you in the cellar.”

  “The only reason the girls thought there was anyone down in the cellar is because they heard the door slam and thought someone entered when, in fact, I had just left it. When they investigated, they assumed someone had run down into the cellar. I decided not to return to it after your mistress brought you out.”

  “Where have you been?” She took the girl’s cheek and turned her face from side to side to see how her cuts and bruises were healing.

  “I went to find the others. After you turned me back, I couldn’t remember much. I wanted to see where they were living and why.”

  “Oh, what did you find out?”

  “That I wasn’t wanted around there anymore. They chased me.”

  “And you decided to lead them here?”

  “No, of course not. That’s why I’ve been gone so long. I lead them north and doubled back. Only, it didn’t take them long to realize my deception and they came after me anyway, showing up just about the time I reached this house.”

  “They must have a way to sense you or a way to tell where you are. Part of you must still be one of them.”

  “What about you? Are you hiding or running from someone?” Thessa asked.

  “Both, I guess,” Hana answered.

  “Are you of royal blood as that man suspects?”

  “You were eavesdropping?”

  “Do you blame me?”

  “No, I suppose not.”

  “Well, are you?”

  “If I say yes, what difference would it make?”

  “I knew it, you are!”

  “It’s complicated. It’s always complicated. There is more to me than you know.” For some reason, she trusted the girl but was not ready to reveal anything about herself yet. “How did you become one of…them?”

  “I told you. I was one of the many homeless in a back alley. The next thing I knew, I was one of them here in Vestia stalking you.”

  “Are they still stalking me?”

  “I assume so. I tried to get close enough to hear what they were saying but again, they ran me off as soon as they sensed my presence. I can show you where they live, but it would be better to go in the daylight while they sleep.”

  “Good, because I’m running low on sleep right now myself.”

  Thessa was silent for a moment. “Hana, I hope I am not too far out of line, but I was wondering, how did you…”

  “How did I turn you from feeding on blood? I don’t know exactly. At first, I couldn’t feel any of you. You and the others were, I don’t know, dead to me. Then, you fed on my blood and suddenly I could see you. Once my blood was in you I could do anything I wanted. It’s difficult to explain.”

  “It’s magic.”

  “Ha, what’s makes you say that?” Hana asked.

  “I’m not like I was before.”

  “I know.”

  “No, I mean before I was a blood feeder. I’m not like I was before I was turned. I can still see in the dark and I can still feel the others when they are close.”

  “That must come in handy.”

  “There’s more. I was weak before I turned. I was always pushed around by the others and worse. Now, I feel like I can do anything. If you did this to me, could you do it to the others? If you can, you might have them on your side instead of them hunting you.”

  “On my side? I’m still unsure of what the sides are and even if there are sides. I hate to say it, but I think you were kind of a fluke. I wasn’t trying to turn you back or anything. I was just trying to survive.” She realized that wasn’t exactly true. “I was trying to heal you like I heal myself.”

  Thessa held her finger up in front of Hana’s face. “Shh! I think I hear something.”

  Hana instinctively ducked, “What is it.” She whispered.

  “They are near again, but I don’t think they know you’re out here yet. Get back inside, quickly.” She began pushing Hana back toward the back door.

  “Stop it. I’m going.”

  “Stay inside,” Thessa said. She took off running so fast Hana had to blink twice to make sure of what she was seeing. “Whoa, that’s fast!” She turned and went back inside the kitchen. She was locking the latch when a strange sense of excitement made her tingle. She opened the door, went outside, and gently closed it behind her. “What the hells! I can’t get any answers hiding frightened under my bed.” She ran for the edge of the woods and hesitated a moment. She took a deep breath and then ran headlong into the woods.

  Chapter 6 – Loss

  At first, she couldn’t see anything. The light of the full moon was almost useless below the canopy of trees. Hana also knew she would not be able to sense the blood feeders, but when she got close enough to Thessa, she should be able to feel the blood flowing through the girl’s body. She made her way through the thick underbrush, almost tripping on some of the live vines stretched across the ground. Up ahead, she could hear some commotion. She stopped and listened. The distinct feeling of Thessa’s beating heart pounded in her ears. There you are, she thought. She pushed her way through to where Thessa was talking with one of the blood feeders. She ducked down, hidden, and listened.

  “You don’t even know who did this to us.” Thessa was saying.

  “I don’t have to.” The other voice was low, rough, and male. “We know who we work for now and he doesn’t like failures such as you.”

  “Who does, really.” Thessa quipped. “Failures tend to, well, fail!”

  “You believe yourself to be funny. If you didn’t taste so foul, I would drain you without remorse.”

  “Don’t let that stop you!” She offered up her arm.

  The blood feeder pushed her arm away and sniffed the air. “She’s near.” He signaled the others. “She is in the woods nearby. Get her!” The others began to move through the trees, combing them for Hana.

  “Hana if you are near, r
un!” Thessa said. The girl nimbly dived into the blood feeder and they both tumbled to the ground after bouncing off a tree.

  What Hana saw next froze her to the spot. Thessa raised up with a growl. Her hands had grown into claws and her face had become animalistic and savage. She bit into the blood feeder ferociously, while using her claws to rip out his innards as if they were made of pillow stuffing. Hana took a step back.

  “Here, she’s here!” Another of the blood feeders said. “I have her.” He took her arms and wrapped them painfully behind her.

  At first, Hana didn’t know what to do. She struggled against his iron grip to no avail. He bit into her neck but he was not sucking in her blood. He was trying to subdue her. Hana thrashed and managed to get him to release her from his bite. In the process, she scraped her shoulder up against a tree. The resulting welt began to bleed in beaded rows. It was at that moment when everything seemed to slow. Hana became aware of everything around her, the smells, the night air, the sound of every branch and every twig crunched underfoot as the others moved to aid the blood feeder. The blood from her shoulder scratch and from the wound on her neck began to rise into the air in globs. Arches of light began to pulse through them like lightning through thick storm clouds. “Burn them!” Hana said forcefully. The blood arched and faded while at the same time her attacker and the others close enough to lend him aid began to combust from the inside out. Time and space resumed to normal speed as the blood feeder and his companions burned and flashed out into piles of ash, which collapsed to the ground in a dusty heap.

  Hana felt for the wound on her neck but it was gone, healed.

  Thessa found her. “I thought I told you to stay inside.”

  “I’m beginning to think I am far from helpless.” She examined Thessa. Her transformation had gone. She appeared as she did when she rested in the cellar. “You look like yourself again, relatively.”

  “I look like how you made me,” She said. “This look I have now is different from before I became a blood feeder.”

  “I know. Wait, I did that? I made you able to turn into that beast?”

  “Aye, it’s the only explanation I have.”

  “Hmm, who knew?”

  “Why didn’t you try it on the others before you turned them to ash?”

  ‘I told you, I wasn’t thinking when I turned you. I was just trying to survive. I have no idea what I did to you. In fact, you probably should be ash too, if I’m being honest.”

  Thessa took a deep breath of relief, “The good news is I think that was all of them. You got rid of everyone turned from the alley, except me of course. The bad news is that I found out the one who turned us is not far. I was never in the know about who did this to us, but the feeder you killed did. It’s likely the fool will do it again with a new group.”

  “If he does, they will not be after me tonight. Do you have a place to sleep? I am exhausted.”

  “I found a place not far from here.”

  “Good, I would offer the cellar again, but I don’t think it’s safe now. I know Thaxa will be watching it closely.”

  “I will be all right. Go get some sleep.”

  Hana avoided stepping on the ash as she left. They were people once and she respected that. If they were still people, she wouldn’t have destroyed them like that. Still, her conscious weighed on her. She gave Thessa a hug and the two went their separate ways. Hana rushed back to the house, locked the kitchen door, and got in bed. Even though she felt bad for dispatching the blood feeders, she told herself they were better off now. Briefly, she wondered if she was being punished for the horrible things she had done before she came to work for mistress Moira, but before she could think too hard on it, she drifted into a deep sleep.

  It was early morning when the knock came at the door. Hana managed to pull herself out of bed to answer it. It was Lord Immoran Sephera.

  “Ah, thank you, Hana. I seem to have misplaced my key.”

  “Are you home for a while, master Immoran? Shall I make you and the mistress breakfast?”

  “Aye, I will be home for a few days and breakfast would be wonderful.”

  “Has the master been up all night?” Hana asked.

  “What? Oh no, I slept in town. I only discovered this morning I could get away from work for a few days.” Hana followed him as he put a stack of parchment and his leather case on the table in the dining room. “If you will forgive me, I will go see my wife and children.”

  “Certainly, Master Immoran. I will just go to the kitchen and get started on breakfast. Did you want me to prepare anything special?”

  “Make whatever you please, Hana. I’m not picky.” He said as he went down the hallway.

  “Not exactly what I meant.” She said when she knew he wouldn’t hear her. Someone who is away for such long periods might want to try a bit harder. She thought. Of course, look at me. I have no room to talk. If I can’t get to the bottom of all this nonsense going on I will endanger this whole family. She opened the flour bin and began to scoop some out. I may have to leave!

  After breakfast, heavy knocking at the door once again sent Hana into anxious hiding. Lucky for her, Thaxa answered the door this time without too much prodding. Hana sneaked a peek to find Lord Sarren and the town warden sitting in the parlor.

  “Yes, it was not far from this house. We thought it might be prudent to warn you and your immediate neighbors to the danger.” Lord Sarren was saying.

  “Do they have any ideas who or what committed this terrible crime?” Lord Immoran asked.

  Hana took a breath and held it a moment when she heard the word crime.

  The warden cleared his throat to speak, “Well, the inspector believes it might have been wolves, the way the boys were attacked indicated several bite and claw marks, to his eye. Other than his speculation, I am afraid we just do not know for certain.”

  “Such a terrible thing to happen,” Moira said.

  “The very reason we are here,” Lord Sarren said. “By the way, where is your pretty maid?”

  “Oh my, where are my manners?” She excused herself.

  Hana pretended she was coming down the hall when Moira came around the corner, “Did you need refreshments?”

  “I was just about to ask you to bring some,” Moira said. “Lord Sarren is back and he’s already asking me about you. I think we were right he has a roving eye for you. Bring the refreshments but don’t linger.”

  “I will at once, mistress.”

  Moira returned to the parlor while Hana rushed to prepare the tea tray. She hoped they would still be talking about what happened when she served them. She didn’t wait for the water to boil, she just let it get very hot before she infused the tea and carried the tray to the parlor.

  “Ah, here is the morning tea,” Moira announced as Hana put the tray on the small wooden table at the center of the room. “You will both need to remind me how you take it.”

  Hana glanced up at Lord Sarren. As she expected, he was watching her with an interested grin. She looked away.

  “Hana, where you out last evening?” Lord Sarren asked in his somewhat condescending tone.

  Hana looked to Moira for permission. It wasn’t proper for her to enter the private conversation without the say so of the matriarch of the house.

  “She most certainly was not!” Moira said. “She was soundly in bed just like the rest of us.”

  Sarren received his tea from Moira, “The question was not accusatory, mistress. I was merely concerned for the girl’s safety.”

  “I bet you were!” Moira said.

  “May I ask what this is all about?” Hana directed the question to Moira, but Lord Sarren felt compelled to answer.

  “Two young men were found near the main road between here and town. They were brutally murdered and left to rot.”

  “Lord Sarren,” Immorran interjected. “I implore you to be more tactful in the presence of my wife and the young lady.”

  Sarren smiled and turned bodily to the lord
of the house, “Of course, you are right. He gulped his tea and put the cup back on the tray. “We were only warning the good people who live near this heinous crime to be on the lookout,” he said. “By the way, where were you last night when the murders occurred, Lord Immoran?”

  “We do not know they were murdered, Lord Sarren.” The warden reminded him.

  “Come now, warden, surely you don’t believe a pack of wolves came out of the woods and attacked those young men.”

  “It’s not unheard of. I have seen stranger things,” the warden said while removing his pocket watch out from under his grey cloak, “look at the time,” he clicked his watch closed, “we have others to warn; we should go.” He stood up and handed his teacup to Hana. “Thank you for the tea, mistress.”

  “You are most welcome, Warden.”

  Hana and Moira escorted the men to the door.

  “Oh, and Hana,” Lord Sarren stopped to address her. “Beware creatures with sharp claws and beastly teeth.” He smiled and walked with the warden down the front walk and into the street.

  “What did he mean by that?” Hana asked, even though she knew.

  “The warden said that the inspector on the scene thought the men appeared to be attacked by wolves.”

  “Oh,” Hana said. He was warning me about Thessa. He is involved with her somehow, I know it. Did she do this? She wondered to herself.

  Chapter 7 – In the Dark

  The day of chores and general care for the family made the day go by fast for Hana. She thought all day about Thessa and the young men. She wanted to talk to Thessa desperately, but she knew the deaths would mean the presence of more of the warden's men patrolling the road for a few days until things returned to normal. Hana would have to be careful if she was out after dark from more than blood feeders now. She also knew that if the nightly excursions were to continue, her life as a maid would get more and more difficult. She was bound to be caught sneaking out.

  It was later than usual before she could get out of the house. The master being home meant extra duties and he did not go to bed as early as the others. When she was able to go outside, she couldn’t find Thessa anywhere near. She decided to venture out into the woods. As she was searching for her friend, she contemplated telling her the truth. She did know why the blood feeders were after her specifically.