Fallen Magician (The Magician Rebellion) (21 page)

Byrn nodded dumbly and put one foot in front of the other as Kellen almost dragged him along. “I pushed too hard for too long,” Byrn stammered, “Never felt so much raw power passing through me before. It was like being washed away in a flash flood.”

“
I’m surprised you were able to cast anything at all. It is rare for a magician to recover so quickly from being drained as you were.”

They walked a dozen more paces at the gruelingly slow pace they could manage when Byrn called for a stop. “We are only delaying the inevitable,” he told the knight, “Leave me behind. Go and find help.”

The big man was silent for a moment and Byrn thought he might not answer, but eventually Kellen said, “You would die,” very matter of factly. Byrn smiled despite himself, but his head was tilted away so the warrior could not see; Kellen never actually said that he would not abandon the magician.

“
Just go,” Byrn pushed the knight away with more strength than he thought he still possessed, “and keep your promise. Find my mother.”

An orc wielding a large battle-axe came around a corner to block the humans’ passage. Then another turned the same corner to stand beside him. They were followed by more orcs in all directions until the humans were surrounded once again. Kellen drew his warhammer. He hesitated for a few seconds, but set down his weapon.

The orc with the battle-axe shouted something and Kellen whispered to Byrn, “Your staff- set it aside.”

“
No,” he said holding onto his staff all the tighter despite the fact that his vision was blurring and the world tilted violently as Byrn struggled to stand.

Kellen ripped the staff from Byrn’s hands with a small amount of effort and tossed it over by the warhammer, clattering as it hit the cobbled street. He put his hands up with palms out to show he was unarmed and said a few words in orcen. Byrn did not need to speak the language to know that Kellen had surrendered on both of their behalves.

The orcs approached them cautiously with weapons drawn.

“
It has been two days since Byrn Firemas left with the prisoner, Kellen Dungeonlord of Baj,” Xander Necros spoke in front of forty magicians with various degrees of talent and experience as he stood atop the dais in the throne room, but it was only the opinions of the Collective’s inner circle that concerned him. They were the masters who directed the group’s goals and objectives and although they were far beneath him in terms of magical aptitude, he still needed them to make this rough association of magic users something that all of Aurelia would fear. “We can only assume the worst. Byrn has either turned against us or he has been taken prisoner and will be tortured until he is forced to betray us.”

“
How can you say such a thing?” Alia countered loudly so that all would hear and climbed the stairs leading to the dais so that she could stand eye to eye with her father, an act that was more for symbolic purposes than actual need. She was glad for her father’s joining of the Collective and even welcomed him taking charge of the group from her as a figurehead, but she would not allow this kind of talk to continue. “Byrn’s loyalty to the Collective has never been in question! If not for him, you would not be here!”

The old necromancer raised his hands in supplication, “Of course, my daughter, you are right. I only meant that with Byrn’s failure to return it could mean disaster for us. We could be exposed.” Xander turned to the assembled magicians, “No matter how you consider it, Byrn’s continued absence means that the Kenzai is still alive and that means that we are in danger. He was the dungeon master of Baj and will have reported our existence to his superiors by now.

“
Even now Aurelia could be mustering its forces preparing to strike at us. I stand here looking upon the largest and most formidable force of magicians I have seen since the Aurels came to power and yet we are still so few in number that a concentrated effort could snuff us out as easily as a candle in the wind.” Xander paused for a few moments while some of the younger magicians filled with ideas of grandeur and motivated by their own fears cheered him. “We must bolster our forces,” concluded Xander, “or we will be wiped out.”

“
Nearly every free magician we know of in the kingdom is here,” answered Levak, “the only ones not here are a handful of children and their masters scattered throughout Aurelia.”

“
But there are others we do not know of,” Xander told them. “Magicians that have not joined us, because they are so adept at hiding that we have no idea who or where they are and likewise they do not know that we exist. So simply put we must make our presence known.”

A murmur passed through the crowd, but Xander raised his hands for silence until they quieted.

“
What do you have in mind?” the old healer Skynryd asked suspiciously.

Xander told them, speaking to the crowd rather than the healer alone, “A two pronged assault- most of our forces will attack one of the domains housing captured magicians.” He paused unsure of the reaction that what he was about to say next would receive. It would seem incredibly foolish to those assembled before him and terribly vicious when it was over, but he held no illusions about what he must do. Xander held back once years ago at the behest of his wife, Avelice, and was thrown in Baj for fifteen years as a reward for his restraint. He would not hold back a second time. “I, alone, will attack Baj and free all of the imprisoned magicians there.”

The assembled magicians began to protest loudly at that. Cries of, “That is suicide!” and, “They are killers!” came from more than one direction. Again Xander raised his hands calling for silence, but the crowd continued.

“
Peace! Peace!” called the grandmaster to no avail. “Alia, if you don’t mind,” he gestured to the crowd.

She nodded, but wore a forbidding expression. It took her a few seconds to put herself in the right state of mind and projected a feeling of calm across those assembled. It was considered unthinkable for one magician to use a spell on another magician for fear that they might inadvertently wipe out what was left of their dwindling kind or their remaining knowledge, but spells that promoted peace and healing were considered acceptable. Slowly, the gathering began to quiet down so that Xander could continue.

“
Killers? You say. Impossible? You wonder.” Xander looked across the crowd resting his eyes on the masters one by one. “Killers are what we need. You have all proven yourselves able and skilled magicians, but we need an army and men who have no qualms about killing when it is necessary. Some of you were in domains, so you know that our brethren there have limited knowledge. We need the magicians in Baj to be our army and train those of us who are not used to fighting and death. We need the ones who have already fought and rebelled against the weak nobility that would have us bow down before them or lock us away so that they do not have to be reminded of how much better than them we truly are.

“
You say it is impossible for a single man especially one as old and decrepit as I,” Xander gestured to his elderly form with a fluid wave of his hand, “to succeed where others have failed; to destroy Baj and free those magicians trapped within… Baj was built to withstand the force of an army of magicians. It has defenses that you would not even guess at, but to me, a grandmaster of magic, it is next to nothing. I make this promise to you all: I will destroy Baj and return with our army. Then Aurelia will remember why they fear us.” Xander grinned like a wolf with a fresh rabbit between his jaws.

Silence answered.

***

“
What in the hells of the wandering dead was that?” Alia burst into the antechamber behind her father, followed closely behind by Levak and Riona. Skynryd, Tomlin, and Ryonus stayed with the rest of the magicians to keep them calm following Xander’s insane announcement. “Don’t you think it might have been a good idea to talk a crazy idea like that over with us before bringing it to the full attention of the Collective? If you think there is any way that I would let you go back to Baj after I just got you out of there-”

“
That is enough, Alia!” Xander barked and his daughter fell silent, though her stare was still defiant, “I am so proud of the woman you have grown into… without me, but I will not allow you to speak to me in such a tone.”

“
Father, I did not mean any disrespect,” Alia said with downcast eyes, “It is just-“

“
Hush, girl,” Xander said calmly. He pulled Alia close and hugged her. “I understand… but you must trust me.”

“
It is too dangerous,” begged Alia, “You must not attempt this. Let us attack one of the domains. We have manpower for that and we have enough able magicians now to train them.”

“
Then we will still incur the wrath of the kingdom, but have little to show for it. Baj is the true prize and I know that the other masters are too afraid to go after that golden apple. That is why I will go alone. If I destroy it utterly, then every magician in hiding will seek us out and rally to our cause,” Xander’s eyes gleamed at the thought, “Today, we are forty strong. A month from now we could have another two hundred battle ready magicians. Five years from now the domain magicians’ training could be complete and we would have an army of over five hundred. No one would dare challenge us then.”

“
That would be a logistic nightmare,” offered Riona, “Where would such a sudden influx of people live? How would we feed them?”

“
There are worse problems to have,” Levak stroked his long red mustache; a clear sign that he was thinking, “I never thought I would be part of a conversation where someone said we had too many magicians.”

“
I am simply saying that there are more…” Riona considered her words, not wishing to sound overly pessimistic, “mundane problems to be solved before expanding our forces. It would do little good to build this army just so we can all starve to death.”

“
Agreed,” Alia added, “we also need to consider how we are going to get all of these escaped prisoners and domain dwellers back here safely…” she paused for a moment, not wanting another rebuke, but Alia would not be denied, “and no matter what you say, father, I will not let you attempt to break into Baj alone.”

“
You ladies are quite persistent,” Xander gave a mock frown that succeeded in worrying no one. There were worse problems to deal with than having a loving child want to protect her aging father. “Very well, let us plan.”

***

It was hours later when their discussion was finished and it seemed that the Collective had a rudimentary framework for their plans. Tired from the ceaseless prattling, Xander took his leave of the group. It was not long after that the necromancer, Riona Necromas, caught up with him outside of his room.

“
Greetings, my lady,” his voice sounded particularly old at the moment. At forty some odd years, Riona was no spring chicken, but compared to Xander who guessed he was nearing seventy by now- it was so hard to remember, after a time the years just ran together in a jumble. “To what do I owe the honor of your visit?”

“
You said something earlier that got me thinking,
grandmaster
,” her emphasis on the title seemed somehow unusual, but Xander was not certain why. He waited patiently for Riona to continue, “Earlier you made reference to the Aurels coming into power as if it was something that you were a witness to, but they have been the ruling family for centuries…”

It was a simple slip of the tongue, but this woman had caught it. Perhaps she knew more of the ancient arts of necromancy than she let on. Xander would have to be more cautious in his future dealings. Perhaps his aged mind really was beginning to fail him. That is a problem that would need to be remedied soon.

“
Exactly how old are you?” Riona asked conspiratorially.

“
To be honest, my dear, I lost track of my age somewhere around the four hundred year mark, but after your second lifetime it becomes more of an academic distinction, really.”

Dawn rose above Everec casting the morning’s light on the hastily built pyre. Soon they would light Byrn aflame with righteous fire and destroy his evil for all to see. The orcs believed him to be a devil, but Sane knew him as something else. He was once a scared boy trying to find his way in the world and not so different from the sorcerer when he was a young man, but Byrn was more than that. He was a prince of the kingdom; tied to that pyre was Sane’s hope for Aurelia and it was about to go up in flames.