Broken Mage (12 page)

Before leaving the capital Thad had
filled it with books of all kinds and many of them had to deal with
heat. It had been a pet project of his to figure out a way to heat
a large area in winter. There were also a large number of history
books. That was his particular passion. Ever since he had found the
magic book in the ruins he had been searching for any information
that might help him learn of the mages from the past. Now he also
wanted to search for any hint that the Fae Races had once lived
alongside his own.

It had been so long since he had last
opened the book Thad couldn’t remember which ones he had already
read. With little motivation to do much else Thad opened it to the
first book and began reading. Like the others he had found it
glossed over the time before and during the Fae War, only
mentioning it vaguely.

In the fifth book he finally found
something with a bit more to it than a simple paragraph saying the
war had been fought. It went into great detail about the order of
knights that the Emperor had created. Thad had read about the
knights before but this was the first time he had seen them given a
name. The Brotherhood of the Fox had been formed with the express
purpose to hunt down anything of magical origin.

Like most of the other books he had
found it didn’t go into great detail about the time before the war
only stating that the mages had grown too strong and arrogant
forcing the emperor to declare them enemies. The knights had been
raised and trained from birth to despise all things magical. They
were the perfect force with weapons and armor impervious to magical
attack.

Thad had more than a small hunch his
own sword had once belonged to one of the Brotherhood. The one that
that really seemed to bother him was that the history of the
Brotherhood didn’t end with the war. The book in front of him
detailed their activities for more than three hundred years
afterward. They had stayed hidden branching out and increasing
their numbers and kept watch throughout history preaching that
magic was born from the use of powers granted from the
abyss.

There were even letters from members of
the Brotherhood in the later chapters detailing some of their
activities. Thad was sure the book itself couldn’t have been
written from one of its members as it painted them as more monster
than human by their activities. He wasn’t sure how the person had
gained such knowledge of the supposed secretive group but he had to
admit it was interesting. As he neared the end of the book one
passage caught his attention, and refused to let it go. He read the
passage then caught himself reading it again and again.

It has been over two hundred
years after the fall of the empire and still we find new mages
being born every year. We have tried to trace back the origin of
their power to find if it was passed down in families but due to
our own success in wiping out all written knowledge of the mages we
have found no success on this end.

It is a bloody job we do,
and every year we lose more support from the people. In some
regions we have to hide the fox emblem on our shields and swords.
The new rulers that have risen in these lands have taken different
stances. Some have welcomed us with open arms while others have
branded us as nothing more than murderers. There is still plenty of
land that is free for the taking and it is the higher command’s
orders that we create our own country in which to work
from.

It has also been decided
that we shall keep our true identity a secret and try to bury the
truth of our existence with that of the mages, so we can work
unseen. I do not agree with their choices but I am bound by my oath
to follow them.

I only hope that one day we
will once again remove our cloaks and reveal to the world that we
are the saviors. We are the ones to cut away the rot of this world.
The souls who are tainted with the magic granted from the unholy
abyss and all creatures it has spawned.

After the fifth time reading though the
passage Thad set down the book. The Brotherhood of the Fox had
survived for at least three hundred years after the fall of the
empire. Could it be possible that they still lived and worked
killing any who showed signs of magic? If that was the case it made
sense why no one had taken up the reins of the mages of the past.
From everything he knew magical talent didn’t manifest until after
the onset of adulthood.

Thinking back to Crusher’s reaction to
his sword, made him wonder if the dwarf knew anything of the
Brotherhood. It would be impossible to have a detailed discussion
with the dwarf but it stood to reason where there was one there
would be more. Shaking the thoughts from his mind Thad went back to
reading. No reason to get his hopes up right now all he should
really concern himself with was making it back to the
surface.

After what he believed to be a couple
of hours Thad grew tired of reading. He tried to keep himself busy
by planning a new enchantment but nothing useful came to mind.
“What should I do?” Thad asked his staff. He didn’t know what
answer he expected as his staff was more prone to mocking him than
giving advice.

His staff sent a picture of him
practicing his sword work passed through his mind. Thad nearly
laughed. It had been too long since he last went through his forms.
Sitting his staff against the wall Thad moved out into the larger
open cavern.

His right arm was still a little stiff
when he began to stretch and hurt slightly when he lifted it above
his head. The bruises from the battle were fading but far too
slowly for his liking. Remembering the battle Thad switched the
sword to his left hand and tried the same form just in
reverse.

The whole process felt weird to him. He
had trained with both hands back in the Slave Academy but even then
it had only been when he was forced to. Now the sword felt heavy
and ungainly in his hands. He had learned firsthand what could
happen in a battle and knew he needed more practice but it was much
like learning all over again. Thad tried not to let frustration get
to him as he bumbled about missing steps and even on occasion
dropping his sword but it wasn’t easy.

By the time Crusher and Avalanche
returned from their outing Thad was sweating profusely. Crusher
watched him work intently while Avalanche thought he was playing
and bounced around nipping and barking at his sword as it dipped
and sliced through the air.

Afraid to nick Avalanche with the sword
Thad sheathed it and headed back to his bed roll. After a few steps
he unconsciously called his staff to his hand. As it popped into
his hand he began to wonder if he had called it or if it had
decided to come to him on its own. It was hard to tell for certain
and where his staff was concerned he wasn’t sure if he wanted to
know. At first it had been a wonder to him when he had learned it
had a consciousness of its own, as more time passed though it
became clear that it wasn’t always a blessing.

Thad noticed that Crusher was pulling a
multitude of items from his pack. The most curious of which was a
block of wood that was as black as night. Thad hadn’t seen the
block before or heard of any tree with wood of such a color. His
curiosity getting the better of him Thad closed his eyes and
examined the wood with his magical sight. The wood looked odd even
to his magical sight. It glowed lightly with two different
elemental auras nature and darkness. It wasn’t a strong flow just a
slight pulse.

Among the other items were; a small
hammer, a chisel, and a small metal club made of the same white
metal that Crusher’s axe was made from. Crusher meticulously
inspected each item before setting them aside. When everything
seemed to be in order Crusher turned to Thad and pointed at one of
the ultra-light metal ingots then at Thad’s left eye. After a few
repeats of the same motion Thad started to understand.

Pulling the other bright red gem from
his pack Thad handed it over to Crusher’s waiting hand. The dwarf
looked over the gem for a few moments then held it up and then
pointed at his chest. It wasn’t hard for Thad to get the idea
Crusher wanted the gem for his own. It was a priceless item for
enchantments but part of him wanted to know what the dwarf was
going to do with it. Shrugging his shoulders Thad smiled and nodded
his head.

Once the gem was put away Crusher
signaled for Thad to follow him. Crusher didn’t take him far just
to the other end of the cavern and pointed at the wall. Thad wasn’t
sure what the dwarf was getting at so he shrugged his shoulders.
Then pulling the stick of coal that Thad had given him he drew a
half circle on the wall then made a motion with his hands like he
was digging it out.

Hoping he was right about what Crusher
wanted Thad focused him mind and started making a cut about four
foot deep into the rock face. After the initial cut was done he
continued to cut in a checkered pattern across the rest of the
rock. When he was finished he motioned for Crusher to move with him
to the other end of the cavern. Once they were a safe distance away
Thad started to build a massive ball of magical energy at the very
back of what he had cut. When Thad thought it was large enough he
released his hold on it.

As soon as Thad let loose of
the magical energy, a loud
humppruh
echoed through the cavern as rock exploded forward
with great force. The force of the explosion was much larger than
Thad had anticipated and even though he knew it was coming, it
still made his knees weak. Crusher laughed at his apparent fright
at his own magic.

Once the raining rock settled down Thad
and Crusher moved over to check out his handy work. The back of the
hole had a large indention where he had released the pent up
magical energy. Crusher still had to dig out some of the left over
rock but Thad’s explosion had done a lot of the work. Once the half
circle was cleaned out Crusher made another mark on the bottom on
the half circle. Thad repeated the same tactic he had used on the
first section this time making the magical ball of energy smaller
to reduce the excess damage.

Though he hadn’t really used much
magical energy Thad felt exhausted. It was already late in the day
and after a full workout topped with using magic in its raw state
he was ready for a good night’s rest but Crusher had other
plans.

Before Thad could lie down Crusher
handed him three large chunks of the white metal that he had seen
Crusher pull from his pack earlier. Thad wasn’t sure what Crusher
wanted him to do with the ore so he pointed at it then held his
hands out questioning.

Crusher rubbed his chin for a few
minutes before using the coal to draw on the stone floor. Thad
waited patiently for Crusher to finish with his drawing. When
Crusher sat back Thad looked down to see a rough drawing of a
blacksmith hammer. A couple of thoughts ran though Thad’s mind when
he saw what Crusher had drawn.

It was obvious he wanted Thad to make
the head of a blacksmith hammer with the metal available. There was
more than enough available for that each one of the pieces of metal
were half the size of his head. What worried Thad is that given
everything he had seen today the Crusher planned to do some
blacksmithing before they left. Thad didn’t know how long it would
take but every day he spent in this cavern was one day more it
would be until he could once again feel the sun on his
face.

From what Thad had seen he didn’t think
it would be worth arguing with the dwarf. So resigning himself to a
few more days in the cavern Thad started on the project for
Crusher. The metal was strong and resisted his urge to make it move
to his will. By the time he had the project finished sweat poured
from every part of his body. Crusher seemed slightly worried when
he collapsed on the ground when he was finished but he gave the
dwarf a reassuring smile before his eyes rolled back and he was
enveloped in darkness.

CHAPTER X

When Thad woke he found Avalanche lying
quietly beside him though there was no sign of Crusher. When he sat
up Avalanche nudged him gently and whined softly as she often did
when she was worried. Thad had begun to understand her little
nuances during their time together.

Patting Avalanche’s head reassuringly
Thad got to his feet. Resigning himself to another day of sitting
idly Thad decided to explore the tunnels surrounding the small
cavern. He knew it wasn’t the ideal solution to the unexpected
delay but it would at least allow him to stretch his legs. There
were eight tunnels leading from the tunnel not counting the one
that led back toward the underground river. For a moment he
considered making metal walls to seal them off so he wouldn’t have
to be crammed in his small room with the dwarf at night, but set
the idea aside for something to work on later if he had the
energy.

Normally Thad would pick the largest of
the tunnels believing it had the largest chance of continuing on
but since he wasn’t interesting in traveling too far Thad thought
that a smaller tunnel might fit his purposes for the
day.

The tunnel he finally chose wasn’t the
smallest but was still narrow enough that he could place his hands
on both walls. At first he tried to walk as quietly as possible but
with Avalanche following rowdily behind him he decided it was a
pointless endeavor. There was an upside to having Avalanche along,
it allowed Thad to use his nightsight without worry.