His detect all life also had revealed a feral hog a hundred paces upstream. He gave the lion an image of this hog and its location, and then cast a powerful transparency spell and the float spell on himself. The lion clearly knew he was still there, but his actions were so confusing and inconsistent with expectations that she ran off in the direction of the hog.
The whole encounter made Michael realize that his elf-blood was a hope for change, not a sure thing. If he had been one second slower to cast stone armor, he would be dead. It might be another thousand years before another elf-blood, by some accident of birth, could take his place. He needed to pay more attention to his own safety, but how? He couldn’t keep stone armor constantly in place because he could feel nothing through the spell. He doubted he could even keep his seat on a horse without feeling the animal beneath him. How could he use his hands for much if they could feel nothing? Could he even hold a sword? He decided to experiment.
Long into the night, Michael tried various combinations of spells and enchantments. The combination he arrived at was two enchanted rings, detect all life and detect all manna. He found he could enchant his shirt and cap with stone armor, and he decided to enchant special horse-riding pants with the seat and inside of the legs left free of the stone armor spell. The costume would not protect vital areas of his body like hands and face, but it might improve his odds in a fight. He found he walked like a drunkard if the shoes were completely enchanted; he couldn’t even feel the ground. He enchanted only the tops preventing the problem.
While he was experimenting, Michael recalled one of the dwarfish spells he had not previously paid much attention to. It was stone dome. He tried it and found it could protect a large area, twenty paces or more in radius, large enough to protect his camp including the horses. He now had a safe way to sleep while he and his horses were protected from a return of the ambush lion or other predators.
Chapter 25
It was midmorning when Michael finally broke camp. He was sore but glad to be alive. He rode back onto the main road to Northport and decided he liked inns better than camping. That afternoon he reached the village of Appleton where he had shopped on his way north. As he approached, his detect manna ring showed an exceptionally powerful fire mage and three lesser mages were inside the Appleton Inn. He debated traveling on, but he was low on food and wanted a good night’s rest in a comfortable bed. He was also curious.
After entering the wooden palisade that surrounded the village, Michael noticed that few people were in the market compared to his previous visit during the local apple festival. He filled his packs with food that would keep on a long trip, since he expected to be on the road to Briarton for at least a week.
When he entered the Appleton Inn, he saw a table of four clerics, one of whom was High Priest Carson formerly of Snowport. He was the high priest who had allowed his healers to escape and who had sent Michael the Perry’s Hero metal for his part in their rescue. Michael had never met Carson, but the High Priest recognized him and gave him a smile and a nod when he entered. Michael returned the smile and gave him a thumbs-up gesture; he hoped it would let Carson know his project was successful without exchanging words because the other three men at his table were knight protectors. They were probably there to insure that the exiled high priest made it to his new assignment in the worst place in Glastamear, Swamp Ford.
The innkeeper seated him at a small empty table and Michael ordered a meal of apple stuffed chicken and root vegetables in butter. He asked the innkeeper if he had a room available and settled on a large room with a courtyard view. Since he could make his own coins, price wasn’t actually important, but in keeping with his merchant persona, he bartered for fifteen minutes before settling on a price for himself and boarding and grooming for his horses. He also insisted on a hot bath and both dinner and breakfast. After they agreed on a price, he offered to pay the room and food for the High Priest and his escorts as a donation to the church of Perry’s Ascendant.
The innkeeper went over to the High Priest’s table and pointed out that Michael had paid for their stay. The High Priest stood and made the Blessing of Perry toward him. He smiled knowingly. He hoped the High Priest would survive the diseases that were common in Swamp Ford, but he assumed his superiors thought he would not. Michael wondered if there was a way to hide a healer in the area to cure the locals as well as High Priest Carson. He decided to visit the area after his trip to Briarton, Hearthshire Town, and Southport. Maybe he could find a healer willing to take the risk since he could enchant rings with submerge manna and transparency preventing their easy detection by knight protectors. He doubted there were any knight protectors permanently stationed in Swamp Ford in any case, and locals were unlikely to turn in a healer they desperately needed.
The next morning after a four-egg breakfast omelet, Michael rode on toward the intersection with the Briarton High Road. There was another knight protector checkpoint where the Northport and Briarton roads intersected. Again they made Michael strip and checked every piece of his gear for the missing fire mage book. After nearly an hour of delay, Michael rode on toward Briarton, normally a three-day journey. The road was still bounded by primeval, impassable forest, and he rode on looking for a camping spot or inn on the unfamiliar road. Father Moon was only a crescent and Little Brother Moon was racing across the western sky chasing the blue ball of Cousin Moon when he detected a group of six human life signs ahead.
He approached cautiously and found a trader with a wagon of goods and five guards. The merchant was Peter of Southport, and he was taking a wagon of goods to Northport.
Michael asked, “How are things in Southport. Travel in the north is time-consuming because of the roadblocks that soldiers of the crown have set up across every road.”
Peter scowled. “Damn to Perry’s fire whoever stole that cursed book. We’ve been stopped four times, and they make us unload everything in the wagon. It’s a big country; it’s impossible to find something as small as a single book, but I’ve needed a bribe to get through each roadblock because I carry a load of healing herbs. The herbs make the soldiers suspect I’m actually a healer or a supporter of the healers, but without healers, those herbs will be worth their weight in gold this winter, especially up here in the north.”
Michael replied, “You’re right; the lack of healers will have a big impact on the prices in the medicine market. All the hospitals are closed, and there’s no plan to reopen them.”
Peter looked around as if to make sure no one from the church or monarchy could hear and said, “You know as well as I do that not every healer could possibility be involved in the old king’s murder. Something else is going on.”
Michael was not willing to trust a stranger and replied, “I’m dead tired; time for me to turn in.”
Michael moved away from the fire and set up his bedroll near his horses. Before dropping off to sleep, he cast stone armor as a precaution and winter blanket to keep warm.
The attack came with the first traces of dawn. A knife was drawn across his neck, stopped by the armor spell. He reached up and cast surgery sleep and his attacker fell next to his bedroll. Michael jumped up and saw armored figures sneaking up on Peter and his guards. He rushed over to the man standing over Peter and repeated the sleep spell. He dashed toward the other three attackers and did the same.
Michael was too late to save one of the guards; the rapid bleeding from a serious neck wound was beyond his power to repair. As the light improved, Peter and Michael searched the attackers. They were in the armor of the King’s Own Regiment, from which all identifying insignias had been removed. Michael’s spell would keep them asleep for at least an hour. As they examined each soldier Michael cast amnesia release.
After they finished their exam, Peter said, “These are the guards from the last roadblock we cleared. We’ll need to kill and bury them or they’ll come after us. I know you must be a healer to have cast those spells. You’ll not be safe either unless you help us get rid of them
.”
“You’re right; I’m a healer, but we have no need of killing them. When they awake they will have no memories of the past two weeks. They will not even know you came through their roadblock.”
“I will never mention you to anyone Michael Son-of-William. May Perry keep you safe. Thank you for saving our lives. However, these men killed one of my guards; they deserve death,” Peter insisted.
“My friend, five sleeping guards who don’t remember how they got here or why will cause a lot less stir than five missing and dead ones. Let us bury your guard and be on our way as quickly as possible.
They carried the dead guard into the forest. The tangle roots made it impossible to dig a proper grave and a funeral fire was out of the question. They covered the body with rocks from a nearby stream, and rode their separate ways after Michael recast surgery sleep on each soldier to give them more time to get far away. After Peter left, Michael went back to the burial spot and used a dwarfish spell to put the dead guard two paces under the ground and to remove all traces of the burial.
If the incident of memory loss was reported, the knight protectors might figure out a healer was involved from the surgery sleep and amnesia release spells, but Michael planned to be far away before they did. Also, he thought there was an excellent chance the soldiers would never mention that two weeks of their memories were missing because of the question of why they were here would be difficult to answer.
Michael rode as fast as Ebony Honor and his packhorse could sustain the canter toward Briarton. The next checkpoint was unmanned as he had expected, and he made good time toward the town of Forest Clearing. It was mid-afternoon when he reached it.
Autumn fields of mature corn, squash, and beans surrounded the idyllic town of gray stacked-limestone houses. A few dozen sheep were grazing in fields that had already been harvested. The town had about thirty houses, a modest temple, an inn, and a market square. It looked prosperous. It was sunny and cool and lacked the gloom of the deep forest through which Michael had recently traveled.
Michael was in good humor until he reached the temple that took up one side of the market square. In shock, he noticed a metal cage hung from a stout tree in front of the Temple of Perry Ascendant. It contained the remains of a long dead woman in healer robes of light blue, the robes of a highly skilled master healer. There was no manna sign from anywhere in the village. If knight protectors had been involved, they were long gone. Michael had enough provisions to reach Briarton and decided to ride on until dusk. He didn’t want to sleep in a cozy room with that abomination visible across the square.
For the next three nights he slept in the open and avoided the towns along the way. The terrain had changed as the forest receded and open fields predominated. Briarton was the source of most of Glastamear’s wheat, oats, barley, and buckwheat as well as a major source of beef, mutton, and pork products.
Michael was only about three hours’ ride away from the large walled city of Briarton when he noticed the faint glow of manna far from the major road on which he traveled. He wore a detect-all-manna ring, and he cast his most powerful detect all manna spell to reinforce it. Seven healers were hidden in a cave located three thousand paces off the main road. He had found some survivors of the Briarton guild.
Chapter 26
Michael approached cautiously; he didn’t want to alarm the healers and also didn’t want to leave a trail to their cave for a curious church patrol to follow. About a hundred paces before the manna signs, Michael took the saddle from Ebony Honor and the packs from his packhorse so they could graze on the lush grass near a small stream. He cast a powerful stone dome spell to keep them from wandering off or being attacked by wolves or other predators.
When he located the manna from the hidden healers, he didn’t find the mouth of a cave. The healers were thirty paces underground with no trace as to how they got here. Michael searched for two hours making wider and wider circles, but still found no entrance. In frustration, he decided to use dwarfish spells to dig down to the level of the healers’ manna. He started the excavation twenty paces north of the healers, fearing that digging any closer might bring down the cave on top of them. It took three hours using the dwarfish excavate spell to lift enough stone to make the passage.
By the time he was deep enough it was already dark, and he used the fire mage spell of torch to light his way. Remembering the last time he had used a fire mage spell around healers and the blow on the head he’d received, he climbed back up the stairway he had created before removing the final wall of stone. From his pack, Michael retrieved a pair of oil lanterns, lit them, and climbed back down to the location thirty paces below ground. He put lanterns on both sides of the final stone block to be removed. He cast the final spell, transporting the limestone block to the huge pile of stone and dirt that had formed outside the new stairway using only his spells.
It was pitch dark within the cave. He could hear some movement and the sound of running water, but no one spoke.
“Hello fellow healers. I’m Michael of Hearthshire Town, formerly apprentice to William the master healer.” He held one lantern next to his face so that he might be recognized if he had met anyone present.
“Michael, I’m Bradley of Briarton, formerly Business Manager of the Grand Hospital of Briarton. I think that these six healers and I are all that remain of the forty-two healers who once worked at the largest hospital in Glastamear. We escaped to this cave with a patrol of knight protectors fast on our trail. We retreated deep into this cave; they did not follow us inside. They simply brought down the cave roof near the entrance using repeated blasts of fire magic. We had no way of removing those huge boulders. How in Father God’s name did you reach us this deep in the earth? Surely, William of Hearthshire was correct; you are the elf-blood and worked some form of magic from the ancient stories.”
“Master Bradley, I used a spell from an ancient tome left by the dwarfs. I found their ancient lore book far north of Snowport. There are other healers who have survived, Lord Guild Master Hampton among them. I need to lead you to our safe haven where the others are gathering.”
“Do you have food? It’s been thirteen days since we’ve eaten. Most of us are too weak for any travel.”
“I will leave these lanterns for you and go prepare a camp for us at the top of this passage. I have some stores on a packhorse nearby, and I’ll get some wild game for a meal. You will all need to rebuild your strength before we head for Black Sand Beach. Obert, shaman of the naiads, will help us until we reach our safe haven, but getting to him is a trip of twenty days on foot. You’ll need to get stronger before you set out for the coast. Rest here until I have the camp ready, and then I’ll help each of you to climb out of this nightmare cave.”
Michael retrieved his horses and set up the camp using a strong cast of stone dome to cover both the entrance to the cave and the camp. He put his largest pot over a wood fire and added water and a mix of oats and buckwheat and all of his honey and tree spice to make an easy to digest porridge. He set off to look for wild game. He used fire spells to take ten rabbits and two-dozen quail. He cleaned them and put them on sticks around the fire to slowly roast. He could detect a wild hog in the distance. It could be turned into smoked meat for the trip to the coast, but he would need help in carrying an animal that size. He realized that all of the smoke from his cooking fire was filling the top of the dwarfish dome he’d created, and he experimented with other spells until he found excavate could cut a circular opening at the top of the dome and create passages to let the stream flow into and out of the dome. He cast winter blanket on the whole interior of his dome, and turned the small game to cook the other side while he headed back down to the healers.
Slowly Michael helped each healer up the stairway to his camp. Two of them he had to carry. Master Bradley insisted on being the last, but Michael found he was among the weakest. After a short difficult climb, Michael picked him up despite his protests and carried him to a pallet next to the fire.
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Michael went from healer to healer casting every spell he knew to help them regain enough strength to even eat the meal he’d prepared. An hour later everyone else in the camp was asleep. Michael was exhausted, but he still had work to do. He created submerge manna and transparency rings for all seven survivors. For Master Bradley, he also enchanted a gold and ruby amulet with his strongest detect all manna spell. Dawn was just breaking when he finally collapsed in sleep.
For the next three days, Michael collected food for the rescued healers to use on their journey to Black Sand Beach. As each healer got better, they helped with smoking the meat, curing the hides to make knapsacks, and generally preparing for a long walk. On the third day, Michael was far from the camp with Master Bradley. They were dressing a deer when Master Bradley asked, “What of William, was his death hideous, and how did you escape the knight protectors?”
“Our housekeeper told me he cast heart stop when they came for him. He knew too much of the guild’s lore and structure to be taken alive. I was hunting herbs in Hearthshire Forest when they came to the house. The following day, the knight protectors detected my manna and pursued me through the Great Black Thicket until I reached Black Sand Beach where the naiads hid my manna from the knights.”
“Why did the naiads intervene?” Master Bradley asked.
“They have no love for the Church of Perry Ascendant, but they do respect human healers. Through their magic they convinced the knights a great swamp crocodile had eaten me whole. The naiads taught me many spells and explained what an elf-blood human was. They also helped me when I detected healers in a ship being chased by knight protectors. Obert, the shaman of the naiads, led the effort to save them. The rescued included Lord Guild Master Hampton and Bursar Childs.”
“After we took them to a safe place, I headed north toward Northport looking for healers. I managed to get four free from the torture chamber under the Great Temple of Northport. They included Lady Agnes of Ice Castle and my best friend Sir James Neville of the Red Marshes.”
The Pogrom of Mages: The Healers of Glastamear: Volume One Page 11
