Guardians of Magessa (The Birthright Chronicles Book 1) (38 page)

His eyes scanned the cadets one at a time;
and he thought of all of the times over the past several days that he had come
to rely on them. Cirro was the first to come to mind because they had fought
side by side for almost the entirety of the battle or 'war' as it was starting
to be called. Every time that he had turned around, Cirro had been there helping
him or defending him. Their friendship was certainly stronger than it had ever
been.

Besides Cirro, the host of new friends
that he had made was astounding. Timothy and Vladimir, Senndra, Rita, even
Lemin was, in his mind, counted among his friends. These and countless others
had stood with him through thick and thin over the last several days, and what
they had accomplished had been amazing. Being victorious against an army of dwarves
was impressive in and of itself, especially considering the size of their
force, but to defeat them so completely went beyond all expectations. Granted
dragons had played a very important role in the victory, but the actions of the
soldiers could not be discounted. The event had, however, given Josiah a new
respect and appreciation for dragons as assets in a battle.

If there was one thing that Josiah placed
above all else, in this encounter, it was the new appreciation and knowledge
that he had of Elohim. While most people professed to follow Him, Lemin was one
that actually did with all of his being. The elf had been convincing on the
subject to say the least and Josiah knew that he would be pursuing it more
fully in the weeks to come.

Just as Josiah was getting comfortable,
out of nowhere, the questions began again- more stupid questions from people
that didn't know a blasted thing. Oh well, perhaps, contrary to his first
impressions, they were actually trying to understand some of this so that they could
make better decisions in the future. At least, he could only hope. Otherwise
all of this talking would become completely useless. With an internal sigh he
began answering the questions again, seeing the rest of his night disappearing
before his eyes.

******

Timothy was having a great time at the
feast, cramming his mouth with food and swapping stories and jokes with the
soldiers around him. Though he scarcely realized the transition, many of these
people had become his best friends over the past several days. He looked to
where Vladimir was seated on the other side of the table and several seats to
his right. Shared experience and facing death together seemed to bind people
faster than years of training together ever had a chance to do.

Timothy looked down to where Lemin, though
he was a Commander, sat among the rank and file of the army, laughing and
joking with them. That was an instructor that he would have to pay more
attention to and spend more time with in the future. He knew how to take
control of his men in battle and maintained their respect for him, but at the
same time managed to keep a certain familiarity with them. It was a skill that
most officers lacked and yet, one that was almost necessary for a good command
presence. Not to mention that the elf was a master magician and could certainly
teach Timothy a thing or two.

Timothy also realized with a certain
amount of surprise that he considered the elf to be one of his friends. He
would still feel awkward exchanging jokes with him and the feeling of respect
toward the instructor still remained, but something was different now. Lemin
was relatable now, unlike most other instructors at the academy.  Lemin had
stood with Timothy against hordes of enemies and together they had been
victorious. They had watched each other's backs and saved each other's lives on
multiple occasions. And they were both magicians, a connection that few shared
with the elf. It would be a strange friendship Timothy knew, but it was one
that he definitely wanted to continue.

Timothy allowed his eyes to continue to
wander, and they came to rest on Senndra, a girl he had gone to school with for
several years and yet hadn't really paid much attention to until recently.
During the past few weeks, they had become better acquainted, but now, like a
blow to the head instantly reorganizing his thoughts, he saw her differently.
He hadn't realized this before, probably because he always saw Senndra with
Rita, who was admittedly the more attractive of the two, but Senndra
was
quite pretty. Add to that the fact that she had an incredible personality, was
smart and funny, and had a million other traits that Timothy appreciated and
suddenly he had a funny feeling in his chest.

Timothy had never been in love before, nor
did he believe in love at first sight. On the other hand, it wasn't like he was
seeing Senndra for the first time, though in a way it felt like that was the
case. He told himself that he shouldn't feel anything for her, but the feeling
that had appeared only a few moments ago grew stronger as he thought more about
her. He had to admit to himself that he liked Senndra, but that didn't mean
that she had any feelings for him. As far as he knew, she saw him as nothing
more than a friend.

Senndra turned to look in Timothy's
direction, and their eyes met. He was flustered, but was determined to not let
it show on his face. He raised his glass slightly to acknowledge her and was
about to look away when she motioned with her head. The movement was very
slight, but somehow he knew what it meant anyway: Let's get out of here.

Timothy was taken aback for a moment, then
rationalized it. He was just interpreting it like he wanted to interpret it.
But, he didn't even want to see it that way. She was just a friend, he told
himself, a friend and nothing more. The way his heart was pounding in his chest
seemed to disagree. He squinted in a quizzical fashion and shrugged his
shoulders slightly to let her know that he didn't understand what she was
trying to convey.

Senndra’s motion was again slight, but
this time she used her hand. Again the meaning was unmistakable: Let's get out
of here. Timothy actually started to sweat. He, who had held his own against
legions of dwarves, who had personally dispatched scores of the enemy, who was
not frightened in the most dangerous of circumstances,
sweated
at the
thought of being alone with Senndra Felling. He gave a slight nod to indicate
that he understood what she was conveying and stood up from his place at the
table. He had a lame excuse prepared to explain his departure, but no one
noticed.

Senndra met him about twenty yards from
their table, grabbed his hand, and started through the crowd. They moved north
until they had broken out of the drill field and away from the people. Senndra
released Timothy's hand, and they walked in silence toward the northern wall of
the city. Timothy took Senndra’s hand as they climbed a set of newly assembled
stairs that led to the top of the wall. They sat on some boxes that were by the
parapet and looked to the north. By now the sky had darkened considerably, and
the moon was just beginning to rise.

“It’s beautiful,” Senndra said, motioning
to the landscape in front of them. Timothy looked out and saw that the word
beautiful was about the only way to describe the scenery before him. The moon
bathed the plain and mountains in a pale light that made even the foreboding
Mt. Nebal look pretty. Timothy looked at Senndra and said the first thing that
jumped into his head.

“Not as beautiful as you.”

“How long did it take you to come up with
that?” Senndra asked and pulled her hand from his. She gave a small laugh and
added, “I mean, I don’t want to be cruel, but that was a pretty pathetic
attempt at a compliment.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to make my next
one better, won’t I?” Timothy said.

“You’re a smart person, so I’m sure that
you’ll be able to,” Senndra assured him.

“Well, it’s not going to be too hard for
me,” Timothy said. “I mean, it’s actually hard to think of an insult for you.”

“You mean you can’t think of anything that
you don’t like about me?” Senndra asked. When Timothy nodded she laughed. “I
know you must be talking about someone else because there are lots of things
wrong with me.”

“Well, you just point them out to me and
I’ll be sure to insult you with them,” Timothy said.

“I think that I would rather you not know
what they are,” Senndra decided. “You’ll just have to figure them out for
yourself if you want to know.”

“Forget what I just said, I've got one,”
Timothy said. “You like to be hard to get along with.”

“That’s very perceptive of you,” Senndra
laughed. “If I can continue to convince you that that is my worst vice, I’ll be
doing well.”

“I don’t know about that,” Timothy
disagreed. “There are very few things in this world that I hate more than
someone who is hard to get along with. I don’t know why, but I just can’t stand
someone like that.”

“If you hate me so much, why haven’t you
left yet?” Senndra asked coyly.

“I don’t know,” Timothy answered. “I guess
I must think that there's a chance of changing you. Also, you actually put up
with me, so...”

“You know what I think?” Senndra asked. “I
believe that you don’t actually hate people that are hard to get along with. I
think you like it when I am being difficult.”

“Now you are the one who is being very
perceptive," Timothy said. “I don’t know if I can handle a woman with as
much insight as you have.”

Senndra gave a small laugh and leaned her
head on Timothy's shoulder. They sat there together for a long time, talking
about nothing and at the same time talking about everything. The moon was
almost straight above them when they climbed down from the wall and walked
across the city to the south wall. They exchanged a word with the soldiers who
were guarding it and passed through to the area that contained the military
camp. When they reached Senndra’s tent, they said goodnight, and Senndra
entered the cloth dwelling. She quickly prepared for bed and slid between her
blankets, all the while thinking about Timothy. He was not like the other boys
her age; rather he seemed to be more mature and courteous. She fell asleep
thinking about him.

Timothy strolled back to his tent. When he
reached it, he looked one last time at the moon before passing inside. In no
time he was rolled up in his blankets and drifting off to sleep very rapidly.
That night he dreamed about Senndra Felling.

******

Those days were some of the happiest for
the cadets of both academies at Saddun; however, all things must come to an
end, even those that are the best of this life. The dignitaries left Saddun and
were followed shortly by the cadets of the Academy of Belvárd. The ogres stayed
longer to prevent a repeat attack; however, none was forthcoming, and they
returned to their forest in short order. A portion of the elves stayed after
all the others had left, convinced that there would soon be a threat to the
security of Magessa. They waited for half a year and more, but their vigilance
appeared to be unnecessary. Eventually, even they returned to their home in the
forest across the mountains.

Peace had returned to Magessa by all
outward appearances; however, Mt. Nebal, the dwarf fortress, still stood
ominously to the north of Saddun while to the west, the black shadow of Volexa
Temp marred the landscape. At the center of Volexa Temp stood a black tower
that pointed to the heavens before branching off near its summit. In this tower
resided Molkekk, bane of Magessa, who was loath to see any free nation. To be
sure, he wanted nothing more than to cast his shadow over the nation to the
south of him, but he knew full well that the dwarves had been foiled in their
attempt to capture it. Therefore, he determined to wait and watch for the time
when he would be able to complete the task that they had started.

Darkness engulfed the room. The wizard swept across the
only illuminated section of floor toward a large glass orb resting on a
massively ornamented pedestal. Although his face normally boasted a look of
smug satisfaction, it showed only fear now. Sweat stood out on his bald head
and even his expansive robes seemed diminished somehow. News of the “Dwarven
Failure” as it was already being referred to had just arrived and it was the
wizard’s job to deliver it to the dark lord. Given the nature of the news, this
would probably be the last time he brought any news, and he knew it. His hand
shook as he placed it on the orb as if to scry some distant location.

“Why are you here?” a deafening voice boomed from
every corner of the room at once.

“My lord Molkekk, I am afraid I have some bad news,”
the wizard said. His face had gone completely pale now, and he waited for
Molkekk to respond. When there was nothing but silence, he continued. “The
dwarf army that you sent to breach the northern defenses of Magessa has
failed.”

There was a blanket of silence for a moment.

“And what of the magicians?” Molkekk finally asked. “Were
they harmed in the process?”

“No my lord,” the wizard answered. “
He
did an
excellent job of making sure that they were not.”

“I know that he would like nothing more than to run
away from all of this and yet he stays,” Molkekk said. “Apparently the leverage
is working. They are still in good health, are they not?”

“Yes my lord,” the wizard answered.

“With the dwarves’ defeat, our position has become
more tenuous,” Molkekk said. “We will need to remove some of our assets from
this place. You know where to take them?”

“Yes my lord,” the wizard said. After a moment he
added, “Will I be moving
his
family?”

“Yes,” Molkekk said. “Anything that is not a direct
military asset will be moved.”

“Understood, my lord,” the wizard said, bowing. “Is
there anything else that you require?”

“It was your counsel that convinced me to hire the
dwarves,” Molkekk boomed. “You have failed me, but are too great of an asset to
wipe away for one mistake. Nevertheless, I do not wish to see you again. You
will accompany the assets and stay with them to protect them.”

“Yes, my lord,” the wizard said, happy to escape with
his life.

“And wizard,” Molkekk said, stopping his underling in
his tracks.

“Yes, lord Molkekk,” the wizard responded, slowly
turning around.

“I would not kill you for a single failure, but do not
make a habit of it,” Molkekk said. “Fail me again and I will dispose of you.”