“The Mage School records say that Stardeon was named at the Bowl of Souls and was even on the High Council at one point,” Coal said. “He was one of the foremost experts in making magical constructs.”
Justan’s brow furrowed. He had learned about magic constructs at the Mage School. It was a means by which wizards could animate non-living things. The golem that Arcon, Pympol, and Piledon had created was a magical construct. They were difficult to make and not many wizards currently alive could manage them.
“What the records don’t say was that Stardeon was also a powerful bonding wizard and an expert in spirit magic,” Coal said. “He was a resident professor at the Mage School for several decades before he left and went into seclusion.”
“We’re not sure why he left but it was several years later that he created his rings,” Samson said. “He was quite proud of them and used to tell me about them all the time. He had come up with the concept of a spirit magic amplifier during his studies at the Mage School. He had never quite figured out how to make it work, but during his seclusion he had a breakthrough. He took his bonded and defeated a creature known as the Great Wyrm.”
“One of the ten monsters of legend!” Justan said with a grin. He had read books about them as a child. His mother had told him the stories were nonsense, but he had been fascinated. The Great Wyrm was a snakelike dragon that lived in caves deep underground. It was said that it could control a person’s body with its eyes and force them to do its bidding.
“Yes,” Coal said. “A rare beast. Stardeon was able to take the spirit of this Great Wyrm and split it into ten parts which he imprisoned in his rings. Somehow this gave him the ability to temporarily bond with the body of another living creature and change the characteristics of its flesh.”
“So that’s how Ewzad Vriil changes his creatures,” Justan surmised.
“It does explain his ability, yes,” Master Coal said. “And that was how Stardeon made the rogue horses.”
“But in making the rings, he made a great sacrifice,” Samson said. “In order to keep the Great Wyrm bound to the rings, he had to tear away part of his bonding magic and leave it in the rings. Two of his bonded died from the shock of it. Only his first bonded, his closest and dearest friend survived. He was never able to bond in the traditional manner again.”
“But why?” Justan asked Samson, “Why would he do that? What could possibly be worth losing his bonded?”
“He didn’t know that the creation of the rings would kill his bonded. It was a tragedy that haunted him the rest of his life and was most likely the reason for his demise. As for why he wanted to make the rogue horses, all I know is that Stardeon had some bad experiences with his bonded in the past,” Samson said. “He had become obsessed with creating the perfect creature to bond with.”
Master Coal nodded. “He thought of every trait that could be useful to a bonding wizard and began collecting creatures that had them. Eventually he had his own menagerie of beasts. He then began to take aspects from each creature and bind them together to form the one perfect bonded.”
“The perfect bonded . . . It sounds like a gruesome process.” Justan said, frowning as he ran a hand down Gwyrtha’s flank. Her body was a hideous patchwork of different creature types, mainly lizard and horse, but he knew there were more. Some of her skin patches were the tawny color of a great cat. Some were slick and shiny like lake beasts. Others were unidentifiable. She had one small patch on the left side of her neck that was covered in scales that were pearlescent white. What did he do to you, sweetie?
To me? Gwyrtha asked in confusion. Father?
“She doesn’t remember,” Samson said. “None of us do. Stardeon wasn’t cruel. He wasn’t unfeeling either. He felt a genuine affection for all of us, I believe. When he created a rogue horse, he would sedate the animals with magic before taking them apart.”
Justan winced.
“Besides he needed the animals to be comfortable,” Samson continued. “Otherwise their spirits wouldn’t have cooperated.”
“Their spirits?”
Master Coal explained, “Bonding is only one form of spirit magic. Just like elemental magic has four aspects, earth, fire, air, and water, spirit magic has four aspects. They are bonding, binding, blessing, and bewitching.
“Back in those days, the most common form of spirit magic was binding. It was a process by which a person killed an animal and bound its spirit to an object, thus giving it various magic properties. For instance, one could bind the spirit of a bird to an arrow to make it fly true or bind the spirit of a horse to his boots to give him more stamina.”
“How horrible,” Justan said. The thought of killing a creature and enslaving its soul seemed evil to him.
The wizard shrugged. “It was a temporary magic. If the item ever broke, the spirit was released. Many people came to see it the way you do, though. It was one of the oldest forms of magic, but binding came to be looked down upon by most of society. Eventually its practitioners were hounded until it was mostly eradicated. Now it is only practiced in more . . . savage cultures.
“At any rate, in Stardeon’s time, binding was the preferred method used by wizards to create a magical construct. But Stardeon tried something new. Instead of binding the spirits of the animals to an object, he bound the spirits of each beast to each other. What he learned was that when multiple spirits were bound to each other, they lost their individuality and melded into something new. They became a single being with a very complex spirit. A being that was so full of spiritual energy it would attract the magic of the first bonding wizard it came across.”
“And a being that was very unstable,” Samson said. “Which is why he had to bring internal magic in to stabilize his creation.”
“Internal magic like elves have?” Justan asked.
Coal nodded. “Yes. Elves, dwarves, gnomes, and dragons.”
“The heart of a dragon, of course.” Justan said. It was the reason why the rogue horses stayed together despite the immense energy that flowed within them. It was also the reason why Deathclaw hadn’t melted into a pool of goo after Ewzad Vriil had left him behind.
“Correct,” Master Coal said. “So now you know how rogue horses came to be. Now let’s talk about the attributes that Stardeon built into them.”
“How many rogue horses did Stardeon make?” Justan asked.
“There were just over two hundred of us at the end,” Samson said sadly.
“We will get to the rest of the story soon,” said Coal. “We need to keep this discussion within a certain framework or you’ll end up missing something.”
“Yes, sir,” Justan said.
“So, back on topic then. Edge, what are the attributes that Stardeon built into the rogue horses?”
“Well, each one was different, right?” Justan said. “Samson said before that the only thing they all have in common was the dragon heart.”
“Physically, yes,” Samson said. “Stardeon was fond of dogs and horses, so he used them when creating most of us, but I believe Coal is talking about other similarities. There are certain things that all of us have in common.”
“Oh, uh, they live long lives. They produce a seemingly endless amount of energy. Um . . . and you just said earlier that all of them have the ability to change size,” Justan said.
“Well, it’s more like a capability than an ability, but we’ll get to that soon. Good,” Coal said. “But there is something else and it was probably the most single important thing in his mind. Stardeon built a trigger into each of the rogue horses that happened as soon as they bonded. He made them unable to disobey.”
“More than that,” Samson said. “He made them eager to serve.”
Justan looked at Gwyrtha in surprise. Now that he thought about it, she readily agreed to his every request, no matter how tired she was, or no matter how uncomfortable it might make her. The only time she disobeyed was when she was being playful, but even then she acquiesced as soon as he got serious.
> “Samson, I noticed you said ‘them’,” Coal said with amusement. “Are you saying that you’re not affected by the same compulsion the others have?”
“The difference is that I was the only rogue horse created with a human mind and therefore I have more willpower,” Samson said. “It was difficult when we were first bonded, but I hardly feel the compulsion to serve anymore.”
“Oh, really?” Coal said with a twinkle in his eye. He looked right at the centaur. “Samson, would you please dance for me? I am asking with all seriousness. Will you dance? Right here, right now?”
Anger flashed across Samson’s face. Then he grimaced and squeezed his eyes shut. His body quivered and he began to sweat. “Damn . . . you . . . Coal!”
“Hmm, I was wrong,” Coal said, looking impressed. “Even though I asked you to dance and still want you to dance, you sit there completely unaffected. You truly are over that compulsion. How about if I were to whistle a tune right now? Would that make it more difficult?”
“P-please don’t.”
Justan was torn between laughing out loud and feeling sorry for the centaur. He swallowed his mirth. “Good for you, Samson,” he said in support. “Don’t you listen to him.”
“I hate it, but I so want to dance right now,” Samson said, his jaw clenched. His rear legs twitched. “I mean, I don’t, but . . . I really do. My mind says not to, but I really want to.” He grimaced.
Master Coal’s mirth faded replaced by a look of concern.
“You can do it, Samson,” Justan said. “You’re better than the spell Stardeon cast.”
The centaur opened his eyes and looked at Justan pleadingly. “I-I-. Tell me, Sir Edge. I can’t quite remember. Why shouldn’t I dance?” Tears began to fall from his face.
Coal reached for his bonded. “Samson, it’s ok. You don’t have to. I don’t really want you to.” The centaur stopped quivering and took a deep breath. Coal patted Samson’s back, looking mortified. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I was simply trying to prove a point and I didn’t realize-.”
“Let’s never try to prove that point again, Coal,” Samson said darkly. “Never.”
Coal swallowed and turned back to Justan. “I-I make it a point to be very careful what I ask him to do and how I ask it. Quite honestly I had forgotten how much he hated that feeling.”
Justan blinked and realized that he was hugging Gwyrtha’s head tightly to him. “W-why did Stardeon do such a thing?”
“As we said, Stardeon had some issues with his bonded in the past. In his mind, the perfect bonded would adore their bonding wizard and do anything he or she asked without question,” Coal said.
“But that isn’t a bonded. That’s a slave,” Justan said. In his mind, a bonded was meant to be a companion, someone that was a part of you. His bonded were family to him as much as his own parents were. Even Deathclaw, whom he didn’t understand and who wasn’t exactly friendly, was someone he valued. “What good is a bonded that won’t tell you when you are wrong? Both Fist and Deathclaw have given me fantastic advice recently and the things they had to say weren’t things I wanted to hear.”
“I agree with you,” Coal said. “Stardeon’s reasoning was wrong. And perhaps that can help you understand his character better.”
“Stardeon wasn’t evil, Sir Edge,” Samson said. “He didn’t take pleasure in subjugation or administering pain. He suffered from the same problem that many wizards have. He thought only about the logic of things. It never occurred to him that he was creating a race of slaves for bonding wizards. It never occurred to him that killing thousands of beasts and destroying their souls was wrong. He simply saw a problem and came up with a way to fix it.”
Justan shook his head, “Somehow that almost seems worse.”
“You aren’t the only one to think so,” Coal said. “Stardeon did all of his work in secret, but somehow the prophet caught wind of what was going on.”
“And he was furious,” Justan said, the vision of the angry prophet from Gwyrtha’s memories flashing through his mind.
Coal nodded. “John came to Stardeon’s secluded laboratory with the intention of destroying the rogue horses. He considered them to be abominations.”
“What prevented him?”
“I asked John that question the day he left me to wait for Coal,” Samson said. “He said that his hand was stayed because however vile the process was that made us, the rogue horses were innocent. Instead of destroying them, he told Stardeon to stop his experiments. He said that if Stardeon continued to create rogue horses, he would end up crossing a line so vile that John would have to return and strip away his bonding magic.”
“But Stardeon wouldn’t stop,” Justan guessed.
“Oh, he was good for a while,” Samson said. “Several years went by where he didn’t make any new ones. He began reaching out to the other bonding wizards, inviting them to his hideaway. Each one walked away bonded to a rogue horse. Soon word got out about their amazing properties and he began receiving letters from bonding wizards everywhere, even in far kingdoms. They wanted rogue horses of their own and some began making requests.
“They wanted theirs custom built. Wizards began to bring him exotic creatures with special properties that they wanted in their own mounts. He turned them away at first, but their suggestions got his mind thinking again and some of their ideas were too hard to resist. He eventually started making rogue horses again.”
“What finally stopped him?” Justan asked.
Coal glanced at Samson and cleared his throat. “His last remaining bonded was attacked by one of the creatures as he brought it to the laboratory. The wound was so severe that Stardeon couldn’t repair his body. All he could do was keep him clinging to life. Finally in desperation, Stardeon decided that there was only one way he could save him.”
“He made him into a rogue horse,” Justan said in understanding. He looked at Samson. “I’m so sorry.”
Samson smiled sadly. “It’s Stardeon you should feel sorry for. His bonded’s name was Sam and they were friends since childhood. On the day Stardeon’s mother died, he was in so much pain that his magic exploded. He ended up bonding to three birds, the family dog, and his friend, who was sitting next to him at the time. Their bond was a fluke. There was no mutual need involved. It was just an awakening.
“It was a strange bond. Stardeon had all the power. Stardeon had the intelligence. Sam was just an average man. He wasn’t even a very good fighter. The only thing he brought to the bond was his friendship. Throughout all the years, throughout all the mistakes Stardeon made, Sam stayed loyal to him. So at the end, Stardeon refused to let his friend die.
“He tried to give Sam all the attributes he lacked in life; strength, speed, stamina, agility . . . he took the spirits of seven beasts and tied them all together with the heart of a dragon. Stardeon thought that by leaving the upper half of his friend’s body intact and letting him keep his brain, Sam’s soul would be dominant and absorb the energy of the others. Unfortunately, he was wrong.
“As with all the other rogue horses, the process blended all the spirits together, destroying their individuality and creating something completely new. Sadly, by trying to save his friend, he destroyed him completely.”
Justan swallowed. “S-so you don’t remember anything about Sam’s life?”
The centaur shook his head sadly. “All his memories and everything that made him who he was were erased. Sam’s soul couldn’t leave this existence to continue on wherever it is that spirits go. Sam was gone and I . . . was created in his place. Stardeon had committed the greatest of sins. He destroyed a man’s soul.”
Samson looked down and Coal took up the tale, “With Sam gone, Stardeon’s last bond was severed. He was alone for the first time since his childhood. The only thing he had left was the temporary bond that came when he used his rings on another creature’s body. And he knew that the prophet would soon come to take that away as well.”
“It’s okay, Coal, I can finish
the story,” Samson said, his voice thick with emotion. “My memories of that day are kind of hazy. I was new then. Fully grown, but completely unaware of what was going on. Rogue horses . . .”
The centaur frowned, trying to put the words together. “We awaken from our creation without any memories, but somehow we retain a basic understanding and awareness from the spirits that were fused together to form us. E-even though my body was much different from the creatures that it was made up of, I-I knew how to walk. I knew how to run. I was basically a child.
“I didn’t know how to speak, but somehow I understood what Stardeon wanted of me. He knew that the prophet was coming for him. The sky darkened and there was this heavy feeling in the air. Stardeon climbed on my back and told me to run. Thunder roared in the sky and lightning crashed all around us. Stardeon’s hideaway was destroyed.”
Father, Gwyrtha whimpered softly. A tear ran down her face and Justan knew that was the last time she had seen Stardeon. Her memories whizzed by in his mind too fast for him to fully grasp. He saw fires raging while rogue horses ran around, terrified. Some fled, while others gathered together and huddled in the pasture.
The War of Stardeon (The Bowl of Souls) Page 16
