Wild Sorceress

by Margaret L. Carter

  "But the army sorcerer can't do this. You do not want to give away the presence of your sorcerers to the enemy until you have to. Once your sorcerers are encamped and properly protected by support troops, they can use exposed sources. This will still pinpoint their presence to the enemy, but by then they are not as vulnerable to attack when surrounded by friendly troops. By avoiding the use of individual Power sources and drawing our energy from one or two larger sources, the enemy can only guess at the number of sorcerers present. Any further questions?"

  There being none, she dismissed them with a reminder to seek her out after meditation. She returned to her tent and collapsed into her chair. A polite knock on her front tent pole brought her back from the sleep that was closing her eyes, and she called for the visitor to enter. It was Novice Healer Verdilan. He looked very worried.

  "Pardon the intrusion, Sorceress, but I am very concerned about teaching meditations to increase grid Power. I—"

  Aetria stopped him. “Let me remind you we have been given special authorization to conduct this training by the Mage Council. I am fully qualified to do this instruction. Is any of that an issue?"

  The Novice Healer looked even more distressed. “Oh, no, Ma'am. I have the highest regards for your teaching ability. It is just, well—dangerous."

  "I share your concern, Novice. In ten days, I want you to be prepared to give us all a lecture on the dangers of expanding one's Power grid—specifically, grid burnout."

  Verdilan sputtered, “You demand too much, Sorceress! I am far and away not an expert on grid burnout. Perhaps someone with more experience—"

  Staring directly into his eyes, Aetria said, “Are you implying I should be the one to talk about grid burnout?"

  Almost fainting, the Novice clearly wanted to flee this unpleasantness. “No, I'm so sorry. I know you have had problems with it, but—"

  "Relax, Verdilan. I will gladly help you with the lecture. These people need to feel they are hearing from the Healer community what they consider is accepted knowledge, and you are the Healer here. I am the victim and can give that point of view. We will do this as a team. Fair enough?"

  "Yes, Ma'am!"

  "Excellent, now get on with your own meditations. See you in a few hours.” The Healer fled into the night.

  CHAPTER 2

  Dropping off quickly into sleep was never a problem for Aetria, even under the less trying conditions back at Inhestia. Combined with the past seven days’ foot marches and her constant lecturing on the army's culture, rules, and regulations, arms training in the evenings, and the mind-numbing myriad of attention-to-details that she found herself subjected to, she had fallen asleep the moment she had lain down on the sleeping pad. The dreamless sleep that had claimed her was abruptly ended with a rough hand on her shoulder, shaking her awake.

  The low, gravelly voice of the Sorcerer Guard commander repeated her name for the third time. “Sorceress Aetria!"

  "I'm awake, Lieutenant Nemos. Give me a moment to collect my mind. What hour is it?"

  "Start of the second watch, Ma'am."

  Aetria got up and splashed water onto her face from the basin on the camp table. Her senses began to feed information to her numbed brain and she slowly became aware of her surroundings. Rain pattered intermittently on the tent roof and a subdued rumble of thunder to the east warned of an approaching storm.

  "I've been asleep for a whole hour? I must be getting soft, Lieutenant."

  "Not to listen to your charges, Ma'am."

  "I didn't know the Novices were talking to the guard. Isn't it against your orders for guards to converse with sorcerers except in the line of duty?"

  "That's always true, Sorceress. But they are also trained to observe and listen. Young sorcerers often forget we are present and talk amongst themselves, sometimes quite animatedly. You are a favorite subject."

  The lieutenant was difficult to see in the dim light of her night lamp. Dressed in a uniform of black leather armor, under linens, and socks, the guards were virtually invisible at night. To keep light from reflecting off their skin, they donned a face scarf at night and wore black gloves. Invisibility and stealth were the hallmark of the guard. Their ability to move noiselessly equaled a cat's, rivaling her own thief skills.

  "I must be doing my job then."

  "Well enough, Ma'am. Permission to make my report."

  "Of course, Lieutenant."

  "Novice Recanlin is missing from his post."

  "Missing? Meaning he is not standing his duty. Did you check the berthing tent to ensure he is not asleep, or the latrines? Perhaps he is still studying with Adept Pleates. Or do you mean he is gone?"

  The lieutenant's eyes displayed no emotions; the rest of his face she couldn't see. “Would not have bothered you if I wasn't convinced he is gone, Ma'am. He is supposed to be on guard duty by the horses. Novice Fernonia, the sorceress he relieved, said she had turned over the watch to him on time. She said he was alert and prepared to stand his duty. Since there is no sign of a struggle in the area of his post, I assume he took off."

  Aetria decided to take a chance with the guard commander. “I know this is not your concern, but what do you think has happened?"

  Lieutenant Nemos looked casually around, checking to ensure they were not being observed or overheard. “Commander Pleates has been very strict with Novice Recanlin. As you know, the young Aggressor was not one of the original volunteers, and to the guards, it was obvious his heart was not in his studies. I think the Novice has quit the Sorcerer Corps. Where he thinks he can go and not suffer the consequences is beyond me. If he really has deserted, then I will have to go after him. At that point, it becomes my concern, Sorceress."

  "Thank you for your candor, Lieutenant. Before you make a report to the commander, I think I will take a stroll around to see if I can locate him."

  Nemos tilted his head questionably. “You know something about scouting I don't, Ma'am? Perhaps a spell?"

  "Perhaps. If I am not back by the start of the morning watch, report this to Adept Pleates."

  "Yes, Ma'am."

  * * * *

  Aetria made a quick tour of the other Novice guard posts noting, with some pleasure, the alertness of her charges despite the misery of the damp, windy night. Each challenged her correctly with a sincere attempt at professionalism. She did not query anyone about Recanlin, not wanting to get their curiosity or concern aroused. After checking the last post, she made her way to Recanlin's abandoned post. The full moon's light made navigation easy, but the gathering rain clouds blocked the light more often than not. She did not bother to scout the area, knowing her tracking skills were far beneath the guard's. Nemos was experienced enough with Sorcerers to know many of their spells, but he didn't know everything, so she had room for doubt to make him believe she was using magic to find Recanlin.

  She knew she could find the Novice, not because of a spell, but because she could sense his Power essence. This ability of hers to sense stored magical energy was unique, a result of the grid burnout she had suffered earlier in her career. When she had returned to Inhestia after the incident, she had mentioned it to Trelana. Her mentor thought it was a temporary effect that it would fade with time. Aetria was so frightened by the prospect of the Council stripping her of her rights to practice magic she did not tell Trelana, or anyone else, that it was permanent.

  To sense stored energy, she had to expend her own stored energy first. She powered down carefully, trying not to expend energy too quickly or chance being noticed by a camp full of sorcerers. All sorcerers could sense energy once released since that was how they acquired it from the sources. She expended her energy in creating an elaborate illusion of an infantry platoon guarding the horses. She saved enough energy to give herself the glamor of a hunting dog and then “loped” off into the dark, away from the camp.

  Aetria stopped several hundred feet away from the horses and dropped into a light trance, returning to her normal appearance. Ignoring the multiple sources of
stored Power generated by the company of sorcerers in the camp behind her, she scanned the surrounding area and was rewarded with a fairly strong Power source directly north of the camp. As the company had been moving steadily west for the past five days, the source was not heading back to Inhestia, located to the south. Perhaps Recanlin was smart enough to know not to flee the army by running straight home. She dropped out of her trance and looked around, vainly hoping that if Nemos had decided to follow her, she would be able to spot him. Sensing nothing with her normal senses, she strode off quickly in the direction of the Power source.

  She spotted Recanlin within an hour of starting out. During a period of clear sky and bright moon, she saw him ahead of her about fifty feet out. It certainly didn't look as if he was really interested in putting any significant distance between himself and the camp, as he was plodding slowly along, completely unaware of his surroundings, deep in thought.

  "Novice Recanlin."

  The young man leapt away from her voice and stifled a scream. His eyes flew wide open, and from the panicked look on his face, Aetria regretted for a moment not knocking him down first. Recanlin was an Aggressor who could blast her with a fireball. She put up her left hand in a warding pose. “Easy, lad, I am not going to hurt you."

  "By the Power, Sorceress, you scared the life out of me."

  The Novice's hands were shaking, but he did not make any threatening motions towards her. He didn't look as if he was going to flee either, so Aetria lowered her left hand, palming the unseen dagger in her right hand behind her back and returning it to its throwing sheath along her forearm.

  "Do you have an explanation for leaving your guard post, Novice Recanlin?"

  He looked around as if to explain that he had not, then realized he was not where he thought he was. “Why, I—I am obviously not where I should be. Where am I?"

  Astonished by his total lack of awareness, Aetria struggled to keep her face stern and expressionless. “About two hours due north of camp, Novice. Don't you have an idea of the trouble you're in? Desertion from the army in a time of war is punishable by death."

  Recanlin's legs collapsed under him, and he sat down onto the wet ground with a heavy squishing sound. “Desertion? By the Power, I wasn't deserting! You have to believe that."

  Aetria felt a strong desire to shake the confused youth, but crossed her arms across her chest instead. “Lucky for you that I was the one who found you. At least I bothered to talk to you first. If I were a Sorcerer Guard, you would be a corpse draped across my horse right now. Adept Pleates wouldn't even bother to ask me why I killed you, since I was sent out after a very dangerous Aggressor sorcerer who had been declared a deserter. Finding you hours away from camp heading north certainly wouldn't appear innocent. Now, why would anyone have reason to believe you?"

  Recanlin's distress was genuine; he looked like a trapped rabbit. “Umm, because I didn't kill you?"

  Heaving a sigh of exasperation, Aetria raised her voice another notch, “Novice, you were not even aware that I had found you.” With a flick of her right wrist, the dagger appeared in her hand. Recanlin's eyes locked onto the deadly little knife, and he caught his breath. “And I certainly would not have given you a chance to try casting a spell.

  "Recanlin, you are no longer safe in the shelter of Inhestia. You are about to find yourself face to face with people whose entire purpose for existence is to end yours. Haven't you been listening to me at all the past week? I have been telling you what to expect when you go into battle. You can't just wander off the front lines whenever you feel like it. You'd be dead or captured by enemy skirmishers within minutes. I believe you weren't trying to desert, but then why are you out here?"

  Standing uneasily, the young man brushed ineffectively at the wet dirt on his bottom and walked over to a fallen tree to sit before he fell down again. “I started out doing the new meditation, then I begin thinking about the mess I've gotten myself into, and I, well, I tend to wander when I think."

  Aetria could identify with that since she had a habit of pacing when she was doing serious thinking. “What mess?"

  "You know I wasn't one of your original company, Sorceress. I was quite happy to let my fellow Aggressors go off to war because I had bigger plans with my best friend, Belanar. We had quite successfully avoided our fellow Aggressors’ pressure to join the Recruit Company. Ever since we were first introduced at Inhestia, we had the intention to go into the mining trade. We spent many happy hours discussing mining with his father, Engineer Aristes. The engineer was very supportive of our plans. Along with sponsoring his son to the Mine Guild, he offered to sponsor me when I graduated."

  Walking over to the fallen tree, Aetria sat down next to her confused Novice. “Mining is a much needed skill, Recanlin. It even exempts you from military service. Why did you change your mind?"

  A wry smile tugged at Recanlin's lips. “I didn't. It was changed for me. Adept Pleates presented a very persuasive argument, and when I wouldn't change my mind, he convinced Engineer Aristes the army needed my services more than the miners did. Engineer Aristes came to me and told me my services were needed elsewhere. I found myself out of sponsorship which really upset my plans. Engineer Aristes felt sorry for me and promised to sponsor me when I returned. He told me I had a rare chance to improve myself since he had taught Adept Pleates a lot of the mining lore, and I could benefit from his tutelage. I would be helping the Order and myself at the same time."

  "Therefore, you volunteered. And so did Novices Belanar and Elina. Belanar changed his mind because—"

  The smile on Recanlin's face broadened. “His father did not twist his arm as much as he did mine, but Belanar decided if I had to go, so would he. He insisted he wanted to have the same experiences to talk about at night over wine. That way he could stop me from bragging about my accomplishments and hoarding the conversation."

  "Is Belanar having any problems?” From her point of view, she had not seen any problems with the non-volunteers to date, except for this incident with Recanlin.

  Shaking his head, Recanlin said, “None that I know of."

  "What about Elina? She seems moderately shy for an Aggressor. I remember her only for her dance performances during festival time."

  Recanlin had started a little when Aetria spoke Elina's name. She guessed he was romantically attached to the young woman. This was surprising as one of the Aggressor women who volunteered for the Company, Fernonia, was, without question, the most beautiful of all the women at Inhestia. Perhaps he had already gone through the rejection cycle with Fernonia, whose sights were fixed on a much higher level of Aggressor. Elina was pretty in a winsome waif kind of way.

  And much more approachable, she thought.

  "Oh, she was going to take a position with Lord Hestiron, eventually replacing her aunt as Dominion Protector. Adept Pleates convinced her army service would do her reputation a lot of good and provide more credibility to her position as a Protector. When she heard Belanar and I had ‘volunteered,’ she decided to do so also. She is doing just fine, although the marching makes her feet hurt and interferes with her dancing."

  Aetria had seen Elina practicing her dance during the evening exercise sessions. Her defense weapon was the staff. She incorporated it into her dance; not only were her movements graceful, but Aetria would not want to be the recipient of the flying end of the staff.

  "You spoke about being in a mess? What problem do you have?"

  Recanlin took a moment before replying. He had been looking at Aetria, but his eyes shifted off to her left.

  "I am having a hard time adjusting to Adept Pleates. He is not interested in teaching me anything about mining. He is only interested in making us learn the fine art of killing people. My reluctance to use the Power to kill has put me in the position where I'm the focus of his displeasure. The other Aggressor novices are beginning to follow his lead in making my life miserable—and these were my best friends a few weeks ago! I don't know what to do. Everything I've tri
ed seems to get me in more trouble with the Adept. I just can't make my projector weapon work, and—"

  "Projector weapon? What is that?"

  A startled look of fear sprang back into Recanlin's face. “Forget I said that, Sorceress! No one is supposed to know anything about it. Please, Sorceress, don't ask me any more questions about it."

  His pleas heightened Aetria's curiosity, but she could see the young man was terribly frightened of what he had revealed. The bright moon's light was fading as a heavy cloud passed in front of it, moving rapidly from the increasing winds. A gust of wind brought a splash of rain with it, and Aetria stood, pulling Recanlin to his feet. She adjusted her rain cloak around her, wishing that she did not have several hours before she could sleep once again.

  "Calm down, Novice Recanlin, your secret is safe with me. If it eases your mind, no one I know gets along well with Adept Pleates. Now it is time for us to get back to the camp before we get totally soaked. In the morning, pull your fellow Aggressors aside and confide in them that I told you it will be only a matter of time before they all feel his displeasure, and the surest way to survive is to stick together.

  "Do your best to please the Adept, but don't let him think you will fold under the pressure. He needs every Aggressor he has and will back off if you stand up to him a little. He respects strength when he finds it. But don't misunderstand me, Novice! Don't ever defy him. He will crush you if you do. Now, you do have your rain cloak with you, don't you, Novice?"

  * * * *

  Aetria stood in front of the Novice formation, breathing in the fresh air scented with wild flowers from the surrounding trees alongside the road. The air also smelled of rain and was pregnant with the promise of a wet trip ahead of them. She made a detailed visual inspection of the Novices in their now-precise and correct ranks, a process she had instituted after the first day of their journey.