Death Comes To All (Book 1) (32 page)

“
In
any case, it certainly isn't possible for you to use too much energy
and kill yourself. Still, passing out in battle could kill you just
as easily. Once you can no longer protect yourself, your enemies can
hack you to pieces with impunity. So you'll need to learn to control
the energy you expend and how you use it."

"I'm
assuming that you can teach me how to do that?"

"I
can teach you the theory at least. Controlling the energy released in
magic is different for each type of magic being used. Since, as far
as I know, you are the only battle mage alive, there isn't anyone who
can really teach you. You'll just have to learn it yourself. Also
your abilities have already proven to be different from that of most
battle mages in antiquity. The ability to soak an attacking spell
into your blade and redirect it, for instance, has only been spoken
of in legend. If I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't have believed
it."

"Would
it be possible to draw in an opponents magic, like I did with that
fireball, and then use that power to fuel my own magic then?"
Roland asked. While he had almost no knowledge at all about magic, in
theory or in practice, he did recall his mother once telling him that
energy was energy. She had said that it could neither be created or
destroyed, just changed from one form to another. If that was true,
it might be possible to use energy from a source like that, as once
he drew it in he might then be able to control it to a point.

"I
honestly have no idea," Raiste replied. "I've never even
considered such a use of magic before. Of course, I've never
encountered magic that could draw in an attacking spell the way you
did either. I really don't know what you might be capable of."

Wonderful.

"As
interesting as all of this is, I think we need to consider how we are
going to get out of here first," Tara pointed out, breaking into
the discussion. "We have horses, but taking the road seems too
dangerous at the moment, so we don't have much use for them right
now. We can't ride them safely without some sort of a trail for us to
follow."

"Unfortunately
I have to agree," Raiste said after a moment's thought. "We'll
need to lead the horses south on foot." He looked up at the sky
to the west, where the light from the setting sun was already
starting to fade, causing the sky to glow with a faint pink color.

"We
should stay here for tonight. Roland and I will have to change our
appearance before morning, just in case someone along the road
notices us paralleling them. It's unlikely, but it's better to be
prepared, just in case. We'll leave as soon as there's enough light
to lead the horses safely. We can't afford a fire tonight either.
We're far enough from the road, and few people know of this spot, but
we still can't risk drawing attention to ourselves."

Roland
understood what the man meant. A campfire would be noticeable for
quite a distance, and the guards were searching for them on the road.
The last thing they wanted was for a wandering patrol to notice a
campfire in the woods, far from the safety of the guarded road.

"Tara,
you and I will have to split the watch tonight. Roland is going to
need as much rest right now as he can get. He doesn't know how to
control his magic yet, and didn't hold much of his energy back during
that fight. It's only because of his physical power that he was able
to keep going this long. We'll be traveling hard tomorrow, so he'll
need to recuperate. We'll want to put as much distance between us and
the city as possible. I doubt they have a clue which way we might be
heading, but Bloodheart will send patrols in every direction."

Roland
wasn't pleased at the thought of causing his friends any difficulty.
As always, he wanted to be able to do his part. However, he
understood Raiste's thinking as well. If the magic he had used
weakened him as much as Raiste suggested it might have, he would need
to replenish his energy, and quickly.

Hopefully
the group could avoid the patrols and wouldn't have need of it, but
should his companions need him to fight again it would be best if he
could fight at full strength. Otherwise, he would only slow them
down.

Rest
today so I can fight again tomorrow.

Roland
paused to help Raiste unload the horses, putting aside the bag that
carried his clothing from the rest of the pile. He noticed that
Raiste had put aside his personal travel bag containing the makeup,
wigs, and prosthetic pieces he used for his various disguises. Likely
the assassin already had in mind who he was going to become next.

Roland
had no idea what type of change was going to be made to his own
appearance, though he was sure Raiste had already thought of that as
well. He had spent his entire life hiding his identity, if his story
was to be believed. Roland certainly believed him. Now that the
secret of Raiste's true identity was out, there was no longer any
reason not to.

Maybe
I can convince him to allow me to go back to my natural hair color,
he thought.

He quickly discarded the idea of asking Malik to make
him false ears. His own ears were larger than a human’s.
Putting something over them would make them look bigger still. There
were humans with ears even bigger than what his would look, but it
would certainly be unusual. Anything unusual would make him stand out
in a crowd, and was best avoided.

Better to just keep hiding them under a wig for now,
like I have been doing,
he decided.

Tara
took the first watch, sitting with the shallow pond at her back, so
she could see in any direction. The pond was far too shallow to
bother trying to catch any fish. There were a few, as Trick had
already proven, but Roland could see everything the entire length of
the pond, and they were all tiny. Good enough for a hungry dragonling
perhaps, but not nearly worth the effort for a feral or a human.

With
her back to the water Tara could see any stranger who might enter the
clearing, and if anyone tried wading through the pond it would be
easy for the woman to hear them coming. Trick, who had long since
finished the small treat he had caught, waddled over her and curled
up next to her.

Possibly
the small dragonling would do the same with Raiste during his watch,
Roland thought.
Of course it was
just as likely that he would decide to roost in the branches of one
of the trees above them, as he often did.

He
knew that, regardless of how deeply Trick might seem to sleep, he
would wake at the slightest sound that was out of place. Should the
group find themselves in danger, it was likely that the dragonling
would know of it before whoever they had on watch possibly could.

Roland
had noticed that sort of behavior in the dragonling before. While it
was obvious that the small creature belonged to Raiste, and saw him
as his master, he still looked to the others in the group as friends
or family members. Roland had even woke once or twice to find the
creature sleeping next to him, however it was more likely that he
would see the animal sleeping in a tree on its own, taking comfort in
a moment of solitude perhaps.

Roland
found he envied the colorful animal in some ways.

How
free it must feel to be able to soar the skies, to glide through the
air and let the breeze carry you where it may, whenever the whim
might take you,
he thought.

Raiste
loosened the tethers on the horses, giving them a longer reach so
that they might graze a bit while they had the chance. It would be
rather easy going for the animals for the first few miles, but once
they had put enough distance between themselves and the current
patrols that were looking for them, they would be taking the road
again.

There
they would be keeping as fast a pace as they safely could. They would
ride until nightfall if the horses could bear it, and do the same the
following night. It was impossible to know how many patrols
Bloodheart had set along this road to watch for them, but certainly
the further from the city they were the less likely it would be that
they would run into one of them.

Once
satisfied that the horses had enough space to graze to their content,
Raiste pulled out one of his packs, one of the new leather bags,
filled with various articles of clothing. Roland had already put
aside his own clothing bag and was using it as a pillow for himself.
Quietly, he settled himself in for the night.

Tara
would wake him when it was time for him to take his watch, he knew.
Before then he needed to get some rest.

Though
Raiste hadn't used any magic during their battle that day, he was
still quite fatigued from the day's exertions. He hadn't been lying
when he had said that the magic that Roland had used that day should
have left him almost completely drained. How the boy had managed to
keep going all during the day amazed him.

Once
Roland learns how to truly control his power he will be almost
unstoppable,
he thought.

Unfortunately,
he had no idea whatsoever how he could help train Roland in
controlling his magic. He had read books on it as a child, and
several more books on magic theory and practice since then. He had
retained a remarkable amount of that information.

Too
bad I don’t have my sister’s photographic memory. She
never forgot a word from any book she had read,
he recalled.

Still,
the best that those books could have hoped to have done was to give
him a basic idea as to the nature of the magic, and the basic theory
of how it should work. It couldn’t teach a battle mage to
use
his magic. There wasn’t any book that could do that.

In
the end it would be up to Roland to figure out how to use it on his
own. He considered his own magic, but dismissed it out of hand.

No,
showing Roland how my magic works won't do anything to help the boy.
We’re simply too different.

He
heard a loud rumbling sound, and stole a glance in Roland's
direction. The poor boy was already sleeping soundly.

Or
loudly anyway,
he thought.
It's
probably for the best
.

Even
if Roland wasn't able to use his magic at all right now, his blade
might be needed again once they returned to the road. As it was he
would have to wake the young man early, at least an hour before they
had to leave. They would need to change Roland's appearance greatly;
most likely it was being passed around to the guards even more than
his own.

He
set himself down on the hard ground, shifting his weight back and
forth to find a comfortable position. He was glad that he had decided
to go with purchasing regular leather travel bags instead of the
magically enhanced variation. Even as expensive as those bags were
they could have afforded them, and the increased capacity would have
removed the need for purchasing a horse to carry their supplies.

Those
magic packs far exceeded the budget of most traders, however, and
would have been difficult to explain to passing guards, should the
bags be recognized. Both Tara and himself had magically enhanced bags
that they normally wore when traveling, but unlike most magical bags
they had been carefully disguised so that anything but a close,
careful inspection of them would fail to reveal that fact.

Even
if a guard did look closely enough to realize what they were, those
packs were small enough that he felt certain he would be able to
explain them away. Explaining several of the high priced articles,
enough for all of their gear, would not have been so easy.

And
unfortunately, I have yet to find a single one that makes a decent
pillow,
he thought with only a small hint of irritation. Comfort
was not ever something he concerned himself with.

Finally
coming to the conclusion that he was as comfortable as he was likely
to get, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep, the steady sound of
chirping crickets composing a strangely soothing lullaby.

It
seemed to Raiste that he had no more than gotten to sleep when Tara
woke him for his shift. Trick had apparently flown off on his own
again during the night, likely sleeping on a branch nearby, barely
hidden from his view.

It
hardly mattered,
he thought.

He
had several things to take care of before morning, and Trick would
have bored of his company quite quickly when his attention was
elsewhere. Instead of worrying about his friend, h
e considered
what he should do to reinvent himself.

With
the amount of heat that’s on us now, my normal disguises might
not be enough,
he decided.

It
might be wiser to use something new; something that he hadn't used
before, and was drastically different from the way he looked now.

Hm.....wiser,
he thought to himself. Suddenly a thought came to him, and he knew at
once what he was going to do.

He
gathered water from the pond into a small dish he brought out of his
disguise pack, and pulled out various pigments of different liquids
he used sometimes to change hair color. He placed each one on the
ground in front of him, taking pains to be certain of the color and
shade, going by his memory of the results as opposed to the way it
looked to him by the firelight.