“He didn’t have to tell me. I saw it. Answer my question. Why didn’t you just kill him?”
“Because it doesn’t work that way with relatives. I have to inherit it like you just did. You took my birthright!”
“Tharen, It was never going to be you. Gwade loved you, but he would never have given his blood gift to you. Besides, it wouldn’t matter anyway because I was born as the new Red Mage.”
“Lies!” Tharen took the dagger from his uncle’s hand and plunged it into Hana’s chest. She wasn’t expecting him to go that far. “You are not my relative. I can kill you and become the Red Mage.”
“You are mad!” Hana gasped.
Tharen pulled the dagger from her chest and prepared to stab her again. Hana knew the blade would not fall for a second time. A claw came out from behind him and clasped his chin, pulling it around and snapping his neck. A mouth full of fangs and sharp teeth penetrated his exposed skin. Thessa followed him down to the floor in a frenzy of blood-curdling sharp screams.
Hana put her hand over her chest wound and it closed over and healed, part of her new knowledge from Gwade. The dagger belonged to a Red Mage and therefore would not kill one no matter how many times she was stabbed with it. She didn’t even feel any pain from being pierced by the blade. She looked at her right palm where Gwade had penetrated her skin. It was also completely healed. She reached down and picked up the dagger. It had a ruby inlaid into the top of its handle.
Thessa, still in her animalistic, blood feeder form, dragged Tharen out of the cabin with her teeth. Hana felt no remorse and was almost surprised at how unfeeling she had become. She didn’t care about the death of Tharen nearly as much as she should have, or would have before Gwade’s gift. She glanced at the dead Red Mage. “Thank you, old friend. You have given me a great gift indeed.” She strolled out of the small room and into the living space. Tharen’s blood was trailed across the floor. She flicked her wrist and the blood pooled into a straight line and ignited. She grabbed both her things and Thessa’s and then ambled out of the cabin slowly and deliberately. She let the fire spread and engulf the rest of the cabin. A fitting tribute to her mentor.
Thessa returned to her. Other than being coated in blood, she was back to her normal appearance. “You’re burning the cabin? What will we do now?”
Hana handed the girl’s pack to her, “You will get yourself cleaned up and then we will go back to Vestia. I’m through running from Sarren. It’s time we did the hunting.”
Thessa grinned and took her pack, “I will go clean up.”
Hana sat on the ground a few paces from the burning cabin. She watched the flames lick up from under the roof. She didn’t move when she heard the heavy footsteps behind her. She knew who they belonged to. “Are you back to say you tried to warn me?”
“I’m back because I said I would come back,” Asleth said.
“Did you know this was going to happen? Did you know Tharen was abusing Gwade? Did you know he wanted to be the Red Mage?”
“What does it matter to you now? Even if I did know, or suspected, you must know now that I couldn’t say anything one way or the other. What if I foresaw something and it didn’t happen, or worse, what if I foresaw something and by telling you I changed it?”
“So, you did see this happening.”
He sat down on the ground beside her, “The truth is no, I didn’t foresee all of it. I have been gone for three weeks, I can’t see that far ahead. I only knew by the impressions I got from Tharen that he wasn’t a good person and I could see Gwade would soon be dead. It didn’t take any special magic for me to see any of that. It only took the knowledge I have about people.”
“Worldly knowledge?”
“Aye, worldly knowledge.”
“Do me a favor, Asleth,” Hana said.
“Anything, Hana.”
“From now on, tell me everything you see, good or bad.”
“I will do my best, but you have to understand, I don’t foresee everything and the visions I do have only come to pass ever so often. It isn’t exact by any means.”
“So you’ve said.”
“What will you do now?”
“I am going back to Vestia.”
Asleth nodded. “I will accompany you. Vestia is only a day’s travel from here. Talt is two days.” He took a breath as if he wanted to say something else but didn’t.
“What is it?” Hana asked.
“If you are planning on hunting Sarren, and I know you probably are, I also discovered that it’s a good bet he doesn’t work for the Black Mage, but instead he may very well be the Black Mage.”
“So much the better,” Hana said.
Chapter 15 – Renewal
Lightning flashed in the dark, cloudy skies, the moment Hana, Thessa, and Asleth crossed the border from Adendalind into Vestia, like an ominous warning. The winds kicked up an hour later. In the distance, streaks of rain could plainly be seen coming down from a squall line of heavy rain clouds.
“I know there is still day left, but I think we should seek shelter from that coming storm,” Asleth suggested. “Daylight does us no good if we are immobilized by getting caught out in the rain.”
Hana reluctantly agreed.
“I know of an old abandoned stone outpost near here,” Asleth said. “A relic of the border wars. It is mostly intact and it has a roof.”
“That sounds fine,” Hana said.
The cold rain stung Hana’s face as they neared the stone outpost nestled into the side of a natural earthen barrier. Asleth stepped inside and gave the place a thorough look over before he signaled to Hana and Thessa it was safe. Inside, there was a fire pit and firewood stacked against one of the walls.
“I will build a fire,” Asleth said.
“We can use that wood?” Thessa asked.
“Aye, it’s for everyone. I will replenish it the next time I come back this way.” Asleth replied while he gathered some of the wood and stacked it in the fire pit. “It’s a little damp, this may take a while. He rummaged through his pack until he found a tin box containing his steel and flint. He took some kindling from the tin box and arranged it under the wood. He struck the flint and steel several times before it finally caught the kindling on fire. He blew on it but it wouldn’t ignite the wood. He tried two more times until his kindling was depleted. “I guess no fire this evening.”
Hana gazed at Thessa. The younger girl took the blood soaked tunic she had changed out of earlier and tucked it in between the pieces of firewood. Hana clinched her hands, popping several of her fingers in the process. She felt the blood with her senses. It was still just viable enough. She closed her eyes and when she opened them she flicked her fingers out and the tunic burst into flame. It burned long enough to transfer the flames to the formerly damp wood.
“Why didn’t you say something before I used all my kindling?”
“Why didn’t you ask me to light it first?”
“Why is Thessa carrying around a bloody tunic?”
“Hmm, well, what do we have to eat?” She asked.
“The same,” Thessa said. “I think I still have one more jar of peaches from the farm.”
“I have some dried beef and wafers from Gwade’s,” Hana said.
“Sounds like the food I brought,” Asleth said, producing dried meat and a few pieces of flatbread. “What I wouldn’t give for some pemmican right now.”
“What’s pemmican?” Hana asked.
“The people of Tamania make it. I learned the recipe and have made it on occasion. It never goes bad and almost always tastes the same.” Asleth said.
“It’s beef dried in the sun until crisp then it’s crushed and ground with a rock. Once ground up it’s mixed with melted animal fat and dried berries like blueberries or blackberries and put in animal casings. It’s quite tasty. I will make us some soon if you like.” Asleth explained.
“I forget you have been to Tamania. The people there are quite fascinating.” Hana said.
“And scary,” Asleth said. “I was only there a short time, but the tales and legends of witches will keep you up at night. They are a very spiritual people.”
“I bet they are,” Thessa said with a grin.
“How would you know, Thessa? Is that where you were born?” Asleth asked.
Thessa took a bite of her wafer, “I’m not sure. No one ever told me. I guess I was a bit of a problem because I moved from house to house until I was finally abandoned in Ag Caderan.”
Asleth sighed, “You are making me think of home. What I wouldn’t give for some elven wine.” He took a bite of his dried meat and then lit up. “Wait a moment, I think I packed one. I almost forgot.” He rummaged through his pack until he produced a glass bottle with a melted wax top, “Ah, yes!” I had wrapped it in cloth. He opened it and took a drink. “Ah, so sweet!” He handed the bottle to Hana.
“Oh, I really shouldn’t. Wine goes straight to my head.”
Thessa took the bottle, “I will try it.”
“All right.” Thessa took a sip and then guzzled down more.
“Whoa there!” Asleth said taking the bottle away from the girl. “How old did you say you were?” He offered it once again to Hana.
“What the hells, why not!” She took a big pull from the bottle.
The fire was burning brightly as Hana took the final drink from the elven wine. Her face felt warm, almost hot. Asleth took out his long-stemmed pipe and began stuffing it with tobacco.
Thessa climbed over the packs from where she had been tucked away and joined the other two by the fire. “I have been meaning to ask.” She leaned her head on Hana’s shoulder. “All of Talt was full of rumors about you. You never did act like one of the lower classes.”
Hana could feel her face go ashen, “The truth is too terrible to talk about in mixed company.” She didn’t know if it was the wine or the longing to get it off her chest, but she desperately wanted to tell her story all of the sudden.
“I told you what I knew of my story,” Thessa said.
“I would be glad to tell you my story as well,” Asleth said. “Although I think I told you most of it already, it’s rather boring.”
“You lie,” Hana said playfully. “You have as many secrets as I do.”
Asleth tried to appear shocked but his face softened and he nodded, “I surely do.”
Hana looked down at the fire. “My story is shameful and I’m certain if your wine hadn’t loosened my tongue you two would never know it.”
“It can’t be that horrible.’ Thessa said. “Look at my life.”
“I was born in the southernmost point of Vestia at the Craessian border, on the banks of the mighty river Lestra, a place called Sheth’s Cradle. I am the oldest of the most prominent family there. I was raised with music, and art, and a privileged education.”
“What happened?” Thessa asked. “It sounds wonderful.”
“Quiet now, let her talk,” Asleth said.
Hana continued, “Just after my fourteenth birthday I met a boy. He was everything a young girl dreams of, smart, handsome, athletic. His arms were so muscular and strong.”
“All right, continue on,” Asleth said.
“We courted for a year until he asked me to marry him. We told my parents and they forbade it. They said he was a foreigner and not good enough. They said I was far too young.”
“What did you do?” Thessa asked intrigued.
“We got married anyway, or do I thought. We went before a priest of Emia, the goddess of Vestia and my people. I found out I was with child not long afterward. We returned home to the terrible wrath of my father. He disowned me. I delivered a child, a girl, and before I knew what was happening, my supposed husband ran away with her. The priest turned out to be false, we were never married.”
Asleth comforted her as she felt a tear rolling down her cheek, “It wasn’t your fault.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad?” Thessa said.
“Well, in my culture, being impregnated by a demon is punishable by death. My father was convinced that I had been fooled into the service of one of the hells. I ran and hid.” She laughed in spite of her tears, “Funny, I’m not scared of being hunted down by my father at all. It seems so frivolous now.”
“What happened to your daughter? Did you ever find out?”
“No, I looked for her for a while, but her father vanished without a trace.”
“Maybe after all of this is over we can look for her,” Asleth suggested.
Hana nodded, “I would like that.” She sniffed and wiped her tears, “My actual name is Ilhana. I shortened it to Hana when I ran.”
“Thank you for telling your story, Hana,” Asleth said. “You are safe with us.”
“Aye, you are. I will be your friend forever.” Thessa said giving her a big hug.
“Thank you, both. It feels good to finally get all that off my chest.” Hana put another log on the fire. “I think it’s time to sleep. I have the feeling tomorrow will be a big day for all of us.”
When morning came, they cleaned up, ate breakfast, and were on the road just after sunup.
As they ventured further into Vestia, Hana noticed Asleth seemed to be deep in thought. “What is it Asleth? You are concentrating awfully hard.”
“I was thinking about Sarren.”
“What about him?”
“I already told you that I think Sarren is the Black Mage. As we get closer to Talt, I get the feeling he is much more than just the Black Mage. He’s hiding another secret.”
“Do you know what the secret may be?” Hana asked.
“No, not yet, but I think I know what to do. When I was gone before, I found where the Green Mage may be in Craessa. I should split from you and Thessa and go there now. If history holds, sometimes the Green Mage can tell the true nature of a person. You two should hideout until I return; I won’t be long. I may even bring the Green Mage back with me if I can.”
“What about my true nature?” Hana asked. “Will the Green Mage know?”
Asleth kissed her on the forehead. “You have nothing to worry about. Your secrets are safe with me. Besides, if your father does send anyone after you, we will handle it.”
“That’s not exactly what I meant.” She said.
He suddenly stopped and seemed to be looking far off. He rushed to the trunk of a tree close to the side of the road. Hana followed him.
“What is it?”
Asleth yanked a piece of parchment from the tree and held it so Hana could read it. “It seems you and Thessa are wanted for the murders of the Sephera couple.”
Hana took the wanted poster. It was adorned with the likenesses of Thessa and herself.
Chapter 16 – Wanted
Hana handed the parchment to Thessa, “You don’t have to come with me. I can handle finding Sarren from here on.”
“Where you go, I go,” Thessa said, handing the parchment back to Hana.
“We will just have to avoid any warden’s we see,” Hana said.
Asleth heaved his pack over one shoulder to get more comfortable, “I will come back and check on you two as soon as I am able. Stay out of trouble you two!” He scrubbed the top of Thessa’s head and she beamed.
Hana watched as he took the road southwest. He turned once more and she waved at him. he returned the gesture and continued onward.
“Sarren was around the wardens most of the time I was with him, Hana,” Thessa said.
“Let’s hope he broke that particular habit.”
“Will we go to the old Sephera house instead of going directly into Talt?”
Hana began to walk down the edge of the road, “I burned that house down, remember?”
“I have been meaning to ask why you tend to do that, burn houses down.”
“My mother always said that fire purified,” Hana said. “I would rather not talk about it if you don’t mind. We need a plan of attack.”
“I think we should go to the Sephera house, even if it is burned down. Ther
e is still the cellar. Sarren spent a lot of time watching you there. He might have left a clue, or he might return there hoping you will return.”
Hana thought about it for a moment, “You might have a point. I don’t have a clue as to what powers he may have, but if Asleth follows his hunches, maybe Sarren also follows his intuition.”
“It’s a start.” Thessa agreed.
“I recognize this part of the road,” Hana said.
“I do too.”
“We can cut through the woods here and go straight to the house.”
They stepped off into the woods. Hana picked up her pace as the landscape continued to become familiar. Soon they were standing at the burned out ruins of the Sephera house. There wasn’t much left of it. The wardens must have let the fire burn itself out instead of trying to douse it.
“The cellar still has some of the food!” Thessa said as she emerged from the underground chamber.
“Good, did you stuff your pack?”
“Of course I did, but there is still more. You can get some in your pack when you get the chance.”
Hana breathed in. The air was mixed with a slight wood charred smell. She picked back up her pack she had dropped beside her and went into the cellar. Jars of pickled cucumbers, peaches, apricots, and other goods lined the bottom shelves. “Oh, so you leave me the bottom shelves!” She called up to Thessa. She stuffed as many of the jars as she could in her pack and climbed the steps out of the cellar. When she emerged, Sarren and several wardens were standing in a semi-circle. One of them had Thessa with her hands tied behind her back. “So much for hiding out.”
“I knew you would eventually return to the scene of the crime,” Sarren said. His beady eyes curled with the smile on his lips.
“Then why did you chase after me? I know it was you who attacked me in the forests of Adendalind.”
“Adendalind? I have not so much as left the town of Talt, much less Vestia.”
“The children. I saw one of them. I know you turned them! You are a monster!”
Sarren snickered and glanced around at the other wardens who chuckled along with him. “What in the two hells are you talking about? Turn them, how? Turn them into what?” He rubbed his black gloved hands together, “It is true that the younger Sephera girl ran off, but the other two are with a very accommodating family, safe and sound.”
Red Mage Ascending: Book 1 of Tournament of Mages Page 9
