Wild Sorceress

by Margaret L. Carter

  "Answer me, Hermanian. I am a busy woman. I have a source mine to find, or I have a trial to finish—with bothersome twin sisters to bury. One here, one in Inhestia."

  "What guarantee do I have you won't kill me when I find your mine for you?” Coleni asked.

  "Interesting question, Coleni. Killing you would not put me in danger from retaliation from Hermania, for they probably want you dead anyhow. My Order would not condone the death of a wild sorceress unless you threatened them, but they would not move against me either. You have no friends in the world, so killing you would appear not to be a risk to me.

  "Yet there is a risk, Novice, a very big risk. If you can find Pleates’ source mine, then you could find others. Your guarantee is I would not want to lose such a valuable asset. If you don't find it, I lose nothing but valuable time which will be compensated for when I do find it. I'm sure someone in Hermania knows where this mysterious valley is."

  A valuable asset? Me! “And the life of my sister? What is her guarantee?"

  "Your cooperation will guarantee her survival, but you only have my word on that. Why would I risk losing your talents by killing your sister? Only if you tried to cross me. Find that mine."

  Coleni did not see an alternative. Her death would end this nightmare, but she didn't want Aetria to die because of her. At some point on this journey she might be able to escape and get Aetria out of Inhestia, to safety somewhere. Where? She couldn't say.

  "I will find the mine, Magess."

  That had been four days ago. Every evening her hands and feet were tied after the three women had eaten their sparse travel rations. At first light, she was awakened to wash, relieve herself, and eat, always guarded by an alert Fernonia or Magess. The two Delmathian women talked with each other, but after her initial discussion with Corerilla, neither of the women had anything to say to her except for tersely issued orders.

  Coleni noticed the trees beginning to thin out, and she forced herself to focus on what was happening around her. Fernonia had stopped her horse and was turned in her saddle, staring at Coleni, a wicked grin on her face.

  "Remember this place, Novice?"

  The two hills, a dilapidated farm house across the field from where they sat ahorse. Coleni returned Fernonia's stare, saying matter-of-factly, “Oh, yes. The ‘Battle of the Novices’ site where Hermania soundly defeated Delmathia's newest sorcerers. Would you care to see where we buried your dead? Wasn't much to bury, except the arrow-filled body of your lieutenant and a few charred bones."

  Fernonia spurred her horse around and galloped at Coleni's position. Coleni could not escape the swinging butt of the projector in time and she took the blow on her right shoulder. It knocked her off her mount and she crashed into the brush. She slowly got up, conscious of the deadly black hole of the projector pointing at her. She hurt from the blow and the fall but would not give the angry young woman the satisfaction of seeing her in pain. Fernonia would pay for this. Someday she would pay.

  "If you children are through annoying each other, I suggest we continue on. We should be able to make the Logathian Mountains by tonight. Fernonia, please take more care in disciplining our guide. We don't want to incapacitate her now, do we?"

  "No, Magess. I apologize for my over-reaction. Mount up, Novice. You and I will finish this at a later date."

  * * * *

  Aetria jerked awake, for what cause she didn't know. The stab of pain in her head caused stars before her eyes, and she groaned aloud. Her horse turned his head and looked at his rider, then returned his eyes to the road ahead and continued his northerly plod. How long was I asleep this time? Aetria removed her water bottle from its place near her saddlebags and took a long drink.

  The three days’ ride to get around the Hermanian outpost had taught her how far she could drive herself when led by a superb leader like the general. She found she could push herself even more with fear for her family. It was now four days since departing Inhestia, and she had not collapsed as Loreana had predicted. Not that she wasn't ready to, but using her anger at Corerilla, she burned away the utter fatigue that constantly intruded on her mind, and she kept on going.

  The water helped clear the fuzz from her mind, and she took a moment to look around her, trying to guess where she was. Lieutenant Maneles had led her out of Inhestia and around a series of paths that eventually put her on the northern road out of the training lodge. That was the direction Corerilla had been headed when last seen. Aetria told him to tell Loreana and the general when she awoke, that Aetria believed Corerilla was headed for the source mine. Why else would the Counselor kidnap Coleni? She needed a guide to the mine, and there were only two people alive who could track the new energy. Aetria sketched out a map on how to get there and gave it to the lieutenant.

  "I owe you, Lieutenant,” she said as he started back to Inhestia.

  "No, Ma'am, you don't. The debt is on the guard for aligning ourselves with the wrong sorcerers. There is still much to pay before we are free. Be careful, Sorceress."

  She was nearing the place where the company had turned to approach the Hermanian source. She did not sense the new energy, so she knew she was still not very close to Corerilla. Perhaps the Magess was clever enough not to have taken a projector with her, but Aetria doubted it. After all, Fernonia was with her, and the lieutenant would not want to be without her weapon. The red core material that made the projector possible was unshielded by the normal green source. She should be able to sense it within a day's march or more. It was the only advantage she had over the two sorceresses.

  Now, how does an Illusionist defeat two Aggressors? Good question!

  * * * *

  The wind that blew around the campfire was bitterly cold. Coleni sat as close to the fire as she dared. With her hands and feet tied, if a spark flew off the fire and landed on her, the most she could do was roll out of the blankets covering her to avoid being burned.

  This is not the time to be visiting the Logathians.

  She looked at her captors. They were huddled as close as she was, and looking as miserable. Corerilla was not young, and the rapid change in temperature must have caused her joints to ache and burn, for she was rubbing them with annoyance at the pain. Coleni thought to offer Corerilla relief by using the healing skills she had learned in the penal camp, but dismissed the thought as foolish. The kindness would be lost on the witch.

  "I hope Pleates’ valley is warmer than this,” Corerilla complained.

  "It is not. This is the lowest elevation of the Logathians we will cross. It might be wise to stop in the next village to acquire winter clothes and snow equipment."

  "We will not be in Hermania that long, Novice."

  "And how long will that be, Magess?” Coleni asked, pulling her feet closer to her body.

  "Long enough to confirm the mine's existence and location. If it is as rich as Pleates believed, I should be able to mine enough red source material to outfit a hundred projectors very quickly. With that many weapons, I will be invincible to any army close enough to try to stop me. I will take and hold that valley, consolidate my gains, and recruit more troops to be ready to begin a campaign in the spring."

  Coleni was amazed by the brashness of the Magess. “You talk like you have been a general all your life. Is this military wisdom coming from the Novice lieutenant sitting by your side? If so, I might point out some problems with your plan."

  The lieutenant by Corerilla's side glared at Coleni and reached for the staff of the projector. Corerilla stopped the guard's hand movement with a murmured word.

  "Are you telling me you have an interest in your future beyond finding the mine? You would improve my plan for me! Go ahead and point out my problems."

  "For starters, it takes time to mine the material. For that, you need engineers and miners. I don't think there are any among the three of us. From Aetria's description of what she saw, the material is not lying around waiting to be picked up."

  "Your thinking is sound, Coleni, but I
have an answer for that. I will wait to tell you until you are finished."

  Corerilla is actually enjoying this. “Once you have the material, you will have to manufacture the weapons, melt the material into shape and size, and assemble the projectors. This will take a lot of time, engineers, and craftsmen."

  "Go on,” Corerilla said, smiling. Fernonia was smiling as well, as if the two of them shared a joke. Coleni wondered if she was the punch line.

  "Then, assuming you have the weapons, you need weaponeers. There are not a hundred Aggressors in the Hermanian and Delmathian armies combined, let alone that many in either of the two countries. Where are you going to get the Aggressors?"

  "For someone of your limited training and experience, Novice Coleni, you show a very good grasp of the situation. It is somewhat arrogant of you to think I would not have considered these problems and not thought of the solutions already. My plan is more mature than you give it credit for. I find that comforting, Lieutenant Fernonia! If Novice Coleni doesn't believe in it, then it is likely none of her superiors would either."

  "You make a most excellent point, Magess,” Fernonia said.

  "I cannot speak for your superiors, Counselor Corerilla, but if I were you, I would still worry a lot about Magess Chalinee."

  Corerilla laughed, Fernonia joining in quickly. “Magess Chalinee will not be a problem for long, if she is not dead already. You don't think I would allow her to return to Hermania with what she heard at the hearing—a source mine in her own country waiting to be tapped! You are not as clever as I thought, Novice."

  Let her underestimate Chalinee. Who is the one being arrogant here, now?

  "As for your mining concerns, I have a complete cadre of engineers and miners waiting for my call. I won't need them to mine the initial material because Lieutenant Fernonia here will blast away enough of the rock to expose all the core material we will need. The weapons are already made, Novice. Engineer Aristes may have thought he had the only design available, but he was wrong—the way his thinking has been most of his life. My cadre has over a hundred weapons ready for the core material, and thanks to your help, the new weapons are being modified according to Aristes’ latest discoveries."

  The shock of Corerilla's revelations took Coleni's breath away. By the Power, the world is in trouble.

  "So you have the projectors. You don't have the Aggressor operators."

  "That is a true statement. I don't have the Aggressors I need, because I don't need them. Oh, yes, I need Aggressor sorcerers to help me rule my dominion. I will train them, like I have Fernonia and others. But I don't need fully trained Aggressors to work the weapons."

  "What? That is impossible,” Coleni said. “Only an Aggressor can spell in the fireball or lightning bolt to start the process. Only a sorcerer can control the Power to do that."

  Fernonia broke out with a loud laugh. Even with her feet tied, Coleni wanted to lash out and kick Fernonia, but she was across the campfire from her and the young sorceress couldn't reach the sniggering lieutenant.

  "Now, Lieutenant, forgive our ignorant country Novice for believing what her Order teaches her. Many of our own Order still think that way. Only a few of us know the truth."

  "The truth?” Coleni asked.

  "The truth is that all people can control the Power to some extent. It just happens that we sorcerers have a lot more ability than our unfortunate, underdeveloped relatives do. The test we give is to find the few that can control the Power the best, not to find the ones that can control it at all.

  "Haven't you wondered about all the people who don't quite make the cut-off score? I did. I found enough that I have a hundred men and women who can inject enough Power into the projectors to make them work. They don't understand how. They can't do anything more with the Power than the little they can do. They are not sorcerers, but they can make the weapons work. That is all I need them to do. I have my army, Novice. I will succeed."

  * * * *

  Aetria remembered falling. Her training saved her from breaking her neck, for she hooked her arm around the saddle horn, and it pulled her upright enough that she almost landed on her feet. Then her arm slipped, and she hit the rocky ground. It was cold and hard. She didn't want to move, and couldn't, so she didn't. Now she was warm, and she didn't want to move, but she opened her eyes.

  Across a crackling fire from her was a Tierian man, his deep-set eyes watching her. He grunted when he saw her awake, and lifted the lid on the small pot resting in the hot coal bed next to the burning logs, ladling out a thick stew into a bowl. The smell that wafted over to her from the pot made her mouth water; her stomach seemed to jump for joy at the prospect of a hot meal. She watched as the man tore a chunk of bread from a loaf warming by the fire, and as he walked around the fire to hand it to her, she struggled upright.

  "Your head! Is it better?” he said in Tierian.

  Aetria touched the back of her head and surprised herself by not causing the lump there to ache by her touch. In fact, the lump seemed to be smaller. She slowly twisted her head side to side, and up and down, waiting for the stab of pain that always brought. No pain? A sigh of relief escaped her lips.

  She smiled at the man and said in Tierian, “Much better. Thank you. Your work?"

  The man switched to Delmathian. “If you keep your eyes and mind open, you can learn many things in this life. There are many curious things to know. Such as why a Delmathian Captain of Cavalry travels in Hermania almost dead from exhaustion and a serious head wound, and speaks Tierian, albeit poorly."

  The stew was warm, not hot. It seemed to flow through her mouth and into her stomach, and she couldn't stop shoveling it in. Swallowing a large mouthful, she started to speak and belched instead. The man roared with laughter and slapped his leg with his large hand. Aetria giggled, wiping her lips with her right sleeve.

  "Slowly, my Captain, there is plenty more. Some wine to wash it down and give yourself time to breathe?” He pointed to a metal cup warming in the ashes on her side of the fire. She picked it up and drank slowly. The wine was sweet, heavy, and smooth. The fumes of the warm liquid filled her nostrils, and she could smell a slight sharpness over the fruitiness of the wine. Aetria looked up at the man with a question in her eyes. Had he just drugged her?

  "You smell the healing herbs, Captain ‘who wears the Tierian daggers.’ If I wanted you for any purpose other than as you are now, I had plenty enough chances before you awoke. My name is Tierii Delnos Pathla m'Lothur. I am at your service."

  "I am Tierii Aetria Menhala v'Grelnes. I am indebted to you, Delnos."

  "More than you know, daughter of Grelnes. Why are you here in the Logathians, a long way from Torrelon?"

  He knows my father! Why am I so surprised by that? Does every Tieri know my father?

  "I am searching for my sister. Have you heard or seen anything?"

  Delnos reached behind the log he sat on and picked up a piece of firewood, carefully adding it to the fire. He stood up and walked around the fire to retrieve her empty bowl, filling it again from the pot and returning it to her.

  "Late yesterday evening, three women dressed in black purchased several pack animals from a stable I provide veterinary service to. They were less than friendly and did not offer the usual exchange of current news with my customer. One spoke Hermanian flawlessly, the others nary a word. My customer was very curious about them and was eager to find out from me when I arrived this morning if I had heard anything about them in my travels. I had not, until now. The one who spoke Hermanian is your sister?"

  Aetria finished the second bowl, wiping the sauce out of it with a piece of the soft inside of her bread and popping the soggy morsel into her mouth. “Are you guessing or telling me, Delnos of the Clan Pathla?"

  The big man grinned at her. “No guess, Aetria. It is known among my people that the daughter of Grelnes has a Hermanian twin. She and her friends must be north of us on this road, for there is no other way out of this valley but past us. They are probably a
day's ride ahead of us."

  How long have the Tierians known I had a twin? “She is not with friends, Delnos. She is in grave danger. I must leave now to help her."

  "I understand. I will saddle a fresh mount for you, for your horse is in nearly as bad shape as you were. He will take much longer to heal than you, for my skills are not as good with animals as they are with people.” Delnos laughed heartily. “Funny that I cure sick animals for my living and they are my worst customers. But your sorcerers will not abide a Tierian non-sorcerer Healer, so I do what I can do. Now let us get you on the road, Aetria, Captain of Cavalry."

  * * * *

  Aetria had been sensing the presence of the new energy for hours. One source of the new energy was moving; the other, much stronger one was not. Aetria recognized the stronger as the source mine. She had not picked up the weaker one until now because the mine's strength was so great she could barely distinguish the weaker one moving towards the larger. The smaller one must be Fernonia's weapon.

  Coleni is leading Corerilla to the mine. What is driving my sister to do such a rash thing? Is she doing it voluntarily or under duress? Am I up against two Aggressors with support of an Illusionist, or do I count on Coleni for help?

  She had stopped her horse by the river that flowed out of Pleates’ valley when she sensed the moving source. She now had a problem she had not thought of earlier. Is Coleni working with Corerilla?

  Her sister had made the purchase of the pack animals. She could have made some effort to alert the stable owner she was being held against her will, but she didn't. She seemed to be aiding the Aggressors. If she was working with them, Coleni had the ability to sense Aetria's stored Power and could alert Corerilla. If she Powered down to prevent that, she would only have her defensive skills to take on three Powered sorcerers.

  What do I do?

  Darkness was falling fast as it does in the mountains. The high ridges of the mountains blocked the sun's light as it set, and deep shadows developed quickly in valleys. She didn't think Corerilla would attempt the mine until morning. Climbing the steep hill leading to its entrance in the dark was not easy, even for the younger women. That meant they would most likely camp out in the trees below. She was still four to five hours away from them, out of Coleni's sensing range. She had eight hours of darkness to work with. If she waited several hours, maybe Coleni would be asleep and not monitoring for stored Power. Then she might be able to get close enough to strike before discovered. It was a chance.