Davie the Mage (Generations of Eredwynn Book 2) (19 page)

              She nodded, “Yes, Your Highness, there are about fifteen girls out there. All three ranks and a few experts are doing training.”

              “Thank you, young lady.” She curtsied and skipped out the front.

              Mira said, “You didn’t correct her formal behavior.”

              “At Wizard’s the full bowing and deep curtsies aren’t required, but the titles and minor formalities are used to keep the trainees from getting cocky and thinking they are better than others because they have powers.”

              She nodded her understanding and I took her hand. We ported out to the range, twenty yards behind the girls on the firing line.

              Mira smiled. “You brought me out here to see that everyone was wearing clothes just like these, didn’t you.”

              “I thought that if you knew that your clothing wasn’t uncommon, you might be more comfortable wearing them. The idea behind them is that they won’t snag on bushes and trees and will be less cumbersome if you were to ride a horse than a dress would be. I like them because they make for such a lovely view.” I leaned over behind her as if I could see through the cape she had wrapped around her.

              “Oh, Davie, you’re absolutely horrible!” She was blushing so brightly I worried for her health. She hid her face in her hands and turned away from me. Then, realizing that facing away would improve my view, she turned back and buried her face in my chest. I put my arms around her and used her to keep my laughing from knocking me off my feet. Finally she recovered and turned to watch the range, while I explained what she was seeing.

              “Over on the right is where the Novices are. You can see the girls working with them; they are Expert level four instructors. In the middle are the Adepts working on energy bolt and the mid-level spells, then on the far left are the Apprentices working on flamestrike and the higher spells.”

              As I finished the basic description of how the magical ranks were separated, an Expert who was working with the Apprentices amplified her voice and called out “
Meteor Swarm
!” I
shielded
Mira and myself and she said, “What does that mean?” Just then the burning rocks appeared and smashed down-range past the targets. Mira grabbed me and pulled me close. “Oh my stars! I knew that wizards were powerful but I had no idea! Are you telling me that spell was cast by a trainee?”

              “That is a spell that is taught to the level threes. It is probably the most destructive spell that a caster wizard has.”

              “That a caster wizard has? What could possibly be move destructive than the spell that I just saw?”

              I sighed and shrugged. “Me,” I stated matter-of-factly.

              She cocked her head sideways and looked at me. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

              I nodded. “You saw the sky the evening that I learned about your father’s role in Amber’s death. If I hadn’t made it three hundred miles out to sea and two miles into the air, if I’d let that much energy go in the courtyard of Perl, there would be no Perlsea Castle or Seamore.” I stated flatly.

              She gasped, “My stars, Davie. I had no idea you were that far out or the amount of power you possess. It frightens me a bit, but I know you love me. Now when you say you’ll do everything in your power to keep me safe, I know just exactly how safe I am!”

              Several Apprentices saw me standing with Mira and started yelling “Melt the target, melt the target!” And I laughed. We started walking over to where the girls were working on the flamestrike spell and I said quietly, “This is something that I used to do when I’d come flirting with the trainees. It always got Father riled up and that gave me even more incentive to do it.”

              “What are you going to do, Husband of mine?”

              “Just stand back behind me with the girls and I’ll show you.” I called for a couple volunteers to join me on the line. The girls almost knocked each other down in their rush to be beside the Prince. I knew that if I ever wanted to add to my consorts, I wouldn’t have to look far. To the two girls who had joined me on the line I said, “Okay, light up the targets in front of you and give it your best shot. After you cast, then I will. I’m not allowed to use my full power on land anymore, so I don’t know if it will be what you’re hoping for or not.”

              The girl standing closest to me was incredibly cute. She put her hand on my shoulder and said with a little pout, “So you might not be able to melt the top plate off the pole?”

              I glanced back at Mira and was glad she wasn’t a wizard. The look she was giving the Apprentice was enough to melt the plate from the pole! I grinned and winked at her to assure her she had nothing to worry about. I smiled at the girl and said, “I’m just here to let my wife see some magic before we leave on our honeymoon. I’ll do my best to melt the plate for you, though.” The girl looked back at Mira and it was as if someone had hung a dark cloud over her head.

              I watched and was amused to see her turn her disappointment into magic; she cast
flamestrike
at the target down range. It was a pretty impressive hit, too. She caused the top plate and the pole to glow bright red for a few seconds and then fade. The next girl cast and was also impressive, but she didn’t have the emotion of the first behind it. All casting and teaching down the line had stopped, as everyone gathered for the attempt of the ‘melt the target’ game. I stepped up to the line and a Novice yelled, ‘He doesn’t have his wand’. One of the instructors said, “He’s the King’s son. He doesn’t need one!”

              I turned and looked around. “Never try this without your wand in your hand. It would be a good way to lose body parts!” I turned back to the target, took a breath and turned my magic way down. I cast
flamestrike
on the target in front of me. There was a whooshing sound as the air was sucked to the pillar of fire that hit the target. The spell dissipated quickly, since I wasn’t trying to keep it stationary. As it went out, we saw that the target was indeed gone, and so was the pole it had rested on. There was nothing but scorched ground and a puddle of melted metal. There was a gasp from all the wizards present and then cheers, clapping and giggles. I called the two girls who had cast beside me to me and gave them each a hug. They sighed happily and I knew that they wouldn’t hate my wife anymore. I told the girls to work hard and be safe, and then called Mira to me. I put a
levitation
bubble around her, took her hand and lifted off the ground. We waved goodbye and I cleared the canyon wall, headed south.

Chapter Fifteen

            
 
A
s we crossed over the mountain, Mira looked over at me and said, “So, where are we going? I couldn’t get an answer out of anyone, not even Jana!”

              “We are going south. My brother suggested that I take you on a tour of No Man’s Land, so you could see the assortment of creatures that live there and don’t live in Eredwynn. I was told that we’d be sure to see orcs, ettins, giants, and perhaps Cyclops. My mother, father and aunts killed a dragon over here, too. I have no idea how many of those there are, but we’ll avoid them if we can. But I’ll…”

              “I know, you’ll do everything in your incredibly scary power to keep me safe. I think you scared the entire crowd in training and the instructors with your over-powered little game.”

              I chuckled, “Since you’re my wife and I promised to always be honest to you, I’ll tell you this. Before I cast that spell, I’d turned my magic down to where I didn’t even think that I’d be able to melt the plate on top like I used to. My magic has changed drastically over the past year and there are times that it frightens me. I just hope that you’ll keep me in line and let me know if the magic changes me or my personality.”

              She pulled herself over to me and in front of me, causing me to stop and stand in midair. She put her arms around me and kissed me passionately, “My husband, I plan on being the closest person to you and would be the first to see any changes. I’d let you know and you’d fix any problems that you were having, out of love for me.”

              I sighed. “Should we stop here for the night? I know we’re still in snow but we could keep each other warm. Did you notice that you’d forgotten about your clothes? That was my aim when I took you around all the girls dressed the same.”

              She smiled and unclasped the cloak clasp at her waist. She blushed slightly and said. “I might as well allow you to see the wrapping. You’ll see the gift beneath soon enough. We aren’t stopping until dusk, though, so you might as well move on.”

              I sped up and zipped us out of the mountain. There was nothing to see there, anyway. When the landscape leveled off into sparse grass and shrubs, I dropped to five hundred feet and slowed down. I double checked the
shields
on both of us and watched for critters. I pointed below at a village as we approached it. The population was completely made up of orcs and Mira gasped. I knew that her appreciation of seeing things that she had only heard of would make this trip worthwhile.  I found a clearing with no monsters around and landed to eat. The staff had prepared food for several days and I was sure we’d find a town before it ran out. If not, I might be able to locate something worth eating in the forest that was supposed to be three hundred miles further south. That was a rough estimate, but at our present speed I thought we’d get to the center of No Man’s Land by nightfall. We ate and I took a break to kiss my wife, and then kiss her some more. As I started getting a bit breathless, she jumped up and announced it was time to go. I smiled and slung the pack. I knew she was starting to have the same problem that I was and if we didn’t leave soon, this would be our campsite.

              We took to the air and were back to five hundred feet, shielded, of course, when we passed our first giants. They were only two miles from where we’d been igniting fires we couldn’t put out until nightfall. I’m glad my wife had enough sense for both of us and we didn’t camp there! We weren’t even noticed as we flew slowly by the sixteen foot tall monsters. They were amazing things to see. We continued south and saw orcs and more orcs and then even more orcs. It wasn’t hard to guess what the dominate race of No Man’s Land was. In the story of my father’s banishment and the trip around this country, they had stayed near the edges for the most part. Now it was easy to see why!

              I saw a large mesa twenty miles ahead, so I climbed to five thousand feet. I pointed it out to Mira and said that with evening coming on, we should check that place for orcs or other unwanted camp mates and get ready to set up camp. I estimated our location to be smack in the center of the country, by guessing our speed and father’s estimation of the width of the country. My mind wandered off to making camp and the activities I hoped for after dinner.

My distraction was suddenly shattered by a gut-wrenching scream from Mira! I didn’t know what was going on, but my first reaction was to turn the shield power up so high that the visible sparks along the edges were giving off an audible snap and crackle. Suddenly, the world around us disappeared in a sheet of fire! Getting Mira to safety was my only thought. I kicked up the speed and aimed for the top of the mesa. I saw the shadow of huge wings and I knew we were being stalked by a dragon.  I landed us on the northern edge of the mesa and saw the dragon coming from the south. One monster had already taken one wife from me; there was no way that I’d allow this monster to do the same.

              The creature dipped below the southern edge of the mesa and I told Mira to stay where she was. I don’t think I had to tell her that because my wife was almost paralyzed with fear. I walked toward the southern edge a mile away with one thought in my mind. It would not happen again! As I walked, the power built and I started to glow. The dragon swooped over the edge of the mesa and landed a thousand yards away. I walked toward him, closing the half mile distance so I could be sure of my spells. The glow from me was lighting the ground around me in the evening gloom.

              Suddenly there was a voice in my head, “
Hold your spells, Mage. I am the one at fault. I did not know that you were a Mage, but thought you to be a Wizard that had taken dragon hunting as a sport. A little while ago, a group of wizards killed a dragon here. It was a mere decade and a half ago and the hotheaded red started it. I didn’t realize that there was a Mage in Eredwynn until I saw your signal in the sky. If I had realized it was you, and not a wizard with his female companion, I would have welcomed you and not attacked
.”

              I focused back through the part of my mind that I seemed to be ‘hearing’ with, “
I have no quarrel with you, sir dragon. The wizards of Eredwynn won’t ever hunt dragons. My father is the King and the mentor of all wizards there, so I’ll promise that in his stead.”

              “
Very well, my young Mage. Then allow us to call each other friend. My name is Niruth and I have enjoyed the company of human Mages in the past. That was a thousand years ago, or was it two? Time blurs when there are that many years involved. I hope you’ll trust me enough to take some advice. I see that your female companion does not possess magical skills. Ask her to move away from the edge of the mesa and closer to you. That will put her out of the range of the orc plague that we have here
.”