Spellscribed: Resurgence (24 page)

"Welcome back." Endrance greeted her, smiling.

Selene's smile faded as she looked him up and down. "Gods, Endrance." she said. "What happened to you? You're so thin!" she asked.

Endrance sighed. "Later." he said, standing. "We need to go back up and get you caught up on events. Then, we can talk about my health."

"Where does this leave us?" Selene asked, rising.

Endrance held out a hand, helping her up. "I've not given up on you yet." he said. "I just need to remember that you are, quite literally, half sex demon."

"That would be nice." she said. "I'm sorry I tried manipulating you."

"And I'm sorry I just ignored you, and everything that came after it." he said. "But we really need to hurry."

"What's at stake now?" Selene asked, following him out the door and down the hall towards the stairs. She hopped over the few still unconscious men strewn about the room before the stairs. "All of Ironsoul?"

"The world, actually." Endrance replied.

"Oh." She said. "That is bad."

The lands of Balator were covered in snow, as was the norm almost any time of year. In the distance, the entire eight bowls of the city could be seen. The mountain of Balator was the largest in the world, and the only one with the size to host such a great city. The first bowl was at ground level, and was the largest. Each subsequent bowl was somewhat smaller than the one below it, giving a visual impression of several stones stacked upon each other.

Each bowl had purpose. The largest were for farming and general housing; markets and specialized crafts were next. Beyond that was military and religious, with a focus on combat training. Every child of Balator went through training and served in the military for at least eight years. After that, most chose to remain in service, though others did break away to fulfill other necessary components of Balatoran life. The military was a violent life, since the barbarians of the mountain were almost always skirmishing with their lowland neighbors, the wolfmen, or the neighboring country of Ironsoul.

Since Endrance's arrival, much had changed about their daily life. No longer were the wolfmen long term enemies. Their neighbors had been worn down by the undead plague that had swept the frozen north in the years before, and Ironsoul was being taken care of. With so many men and women committed to the fight, the city streets of Balator looked almost abandoned, with only the young and elderly walking along the stone roads.

On the seventh bowl, the last one before the king's castle, there was a stone building that stood apart from the others. Set into the back of the bowl's wall, it was over a dozen yards away from any other structure. In fact, there was nothing but bare stone forming a strangely unmarked 'yard.' The building resembled a longhouse, but was constructed using stonemasonry and not wood, since stone was a readily available material, while wood was scarce and impractical for crafting buildings high up in the mountain. Instead, it was used to furnish the twin doors, windowsills, and floors of the longhouse.

It was midday when a tear opened in the air above the yard of the stone longhouse. A black slash in the sky, it glittered with the light of distant stars. It closed without a sound and it was there where Endrance stood, alongside his three Draugnoa. Tanya looked around, wide eyed in surprise, while Bridget took a step to the side and clasped a hand over her mouth to suppress a gag. Selene sank to her knees, her right hand still touching her cheek which bore a hand-shaped red mark.

"There." Endrance said, his voice echoing in the silence. "Now we're somewhere more comfortable. What were you saying?"

"Endrance, is this really…" Tanya asked, shocked.

The mage nodded. "Yep." he replied. "Seventh bowl, Spengur's longhouse." he wobbled on his feet taking his makeshift staff up in both hands to remain standing. He had been recovering steadily, but the change in air hit him harder than it should have. No one was looking in his direction, so he managed to recover before anyone noticed.

"What's wrong with me?" Bridget demanded, gagging. "I feel like I'm going to throw up."

Endrance shook his head. "Some people get teleportation sickness. I think it depends on if you mentally resist the spell." he paused. "Especially from someone who is carrying magic-resistant seeds on them."

"Magic eating." Bridget corrected. "Don't make me slip it in your lunch."

"I was expecting someone to notice us, but there doesn't seem to be anyone around." Endrance observed, changing the subject. " 

Selene rubbed her cheek. "I am sorry I left you both, Tanya." she murmured. She stood, brushing snow off her dress and shivering. "Can we go inside?" she said. "This cold is a bit much, even for me."

Bridget straightened up once the nausea had passed. "Yeah, we were dressed for desert weather, Endrance." she reminded him.

Endrance shrugged. "Sorry, sorry." he muttered. "I was thinking about performing the spell properly and didn't remember to tell you."

"You didn't tell us you'd make me sick either." Bridget griped.

They hurried over to the doors to the longhouse. The wooden doors felt warm to their hands, but they didn't open when they tried the latch.

"The other Spengur should be receiving visitors at this time of day, shouldn't he?" Endrance asked, puzzled. "Perhaps he's out?"

Bridget shook her head. "The man that was sent to replace you has secluded himself in there since you left." she explained. "I think he only comes out when the king threatens to bash down the doors."

"He's been useless." Tanya added. "Hasn't even accepted any of the Ergkinoa, so they cannot even help. The king eventually declared that you were the last true Spengur."

"Then why haven't you fired him or something?" Endrance asked, pounding on the door.

"King Gurn said we'd probably lose more getting rid of him than we would just tolerating him being here. At least, until we got you back, of course." Tanya answered.

"I'm going to knock only once more!" Bridget shouted through the doors. "Let Endrance in, or I swear I will squash you like a bug!"

Endrance sighed. "Here." he said, gesturing for the three to back up. "Let me try picking the lock."

"You learned how to pick locks?" Selene asked, backing away. "Where?"

Endrance shrugged and placed his palm over where the locking bar was. "Bridget taught me." he said, channeling twice the normally required power into his thrusting spell. The spell carved into his palm flared golden, and the amount of sheer force that blasted from him shattered the locking bar and flung both doors open hard enough to partially tear them off their mountings.

Bridget grinned, walking past the mage with the smoking palm. "I taught you well." she admitted.

Inside the main hall of the longhouse, a thin wisp of a man was crouched behind the low-backed chair the Spengur was supposed to sit upon during appointments. Endrance recognized the robes of the Circle of Magi, but not the man inside them.

"So…" Endrance declared aloud. "You are the person they sent to replace me?"

The man stood, still shying away from the three women who walked further into the room than Endrance. He was thin, but not malnourished. His sash marked him as a wizard, but with only three sigils, he was no more qualified for the position than Endrance had been when he'd first arrived. He had sparse black hair on his face, and a mop of thin hair on his head. His eyes were gray and fearful.

The man looked nervously at the three Draugnoa. "You're Endrance?" he asked, terrified. "But you're dead! I was told so!"

Endrance extended his senses while the man talked, feeling out for traps or spells. He discovered only magic on the man himself. "Nobody touch him." Endrance commanded. "Let's talk. Who told you I was dead?"

The scrawny mage gulped air. "My master, Weldom." he answered. "Informed me of that almost a year ago."

"I wasn't dead, just indisposed." Endrance explained. He froze, looking behind him at the door, scratching his chin as something dawned on him.

"What?" Selene asked.

Endrance shook his head, a half-smile on his face. "I just realized that our entrance and dialog here is what I'd expect a villain to say to me if I were in his situation." he sighed. "Let's not do that."

Endrance turned away from the mage. "I'm going to go fix the doors." he said. "Could you three set a table and pour us some drinks? I need to talk to this man and I'm tired of terrifying him."

The other mage watched the four go into action, all but ignoring him. "Wh-what?" he stammered.

Only a couple of minutes passed, and the man was seated at a small table set for him and Endrance. The three Draugnoa excused themselves, slipping into the area of the longhouse with bedrooms. Endrance sat across from him, holding a mug of mead.

"There." he said, shaking his head. "I can't believe how bad that looked. I'm sorry… what was your name?"

"Andrews." The man replied, taking up his mug with both hands. "Perro Andrews."

"Ah, I remember seeing you at my trial." Endrance replied. "You were an apprentice then."

"Master Weldom graduated me shortly after, and sent me here." Andrews replied.  "I know now that he was trying to get rid of me."

"That's horrible." Endrance replied, taking a sip of mead. "But why did you lock yourself in here?"

The man shook his head vigorously. "Have you seen it out there?" he asked. "They're terrifying. And they hate mages! I'm just glad they don't eat people."

Endrance put a hand on the table, giving the man a stern look. "Let's be honest here," he said. "I don't think either of us would be very filling. Now, I'm going to assume you actually earned your three sigils, so you were qualified to do your job here, but your reclusive behavior has done the people of Balator a great disservice. Did you know that they went to war with Ironsoul while you were closeted up in here?"

Perro's face paled. "W-what?"

"Yeah." Endrance answered, nodding his head slightly. "That's what happened. And if you were involved in the community, the King would have kept you involved in the process. You could have helped them plan, and possibly save thousands of lives."

"Could I have talked him out of it?"

Endrance chuckled, taking a sip. "Unlikely." he said. "Barbarians are hard-headed, stubborn warriors to the core. If they decide to do something, the best thing you can do is help guide that energy somewhere useful."

Perro gulped again, his anxiety apparent. "I… I didn't know." he said, taking a sip of the mead. "How many people?"

Endrance shook his head. "I don't know. With Balen spearheading the invasion, Balator will suffer minimal casualties, and I personally took down the capitol myself."

The other mage paled. "You did what?" he asked, his voice squeaking. The man was nervously fidgeting with his robes and seemed uncomfortable in his chair.

Endrance sighed. "I was trapped under the capitol and needed rescuing, so I called some… forces to help. It couldn't be avoided. But by the time I was free, my allies had managed to cow the defending forces."

"Why didn't the Circle of Magi help you?" Perro asked. "Wouldn't they be able to free you?"

Endrance shook his head. "They are gone. The tower is missing, and a great deal of the mages of Ironsoul are now dead. There was some kind of internal struggle." Endrance had a thought. "Have any other mages come to see you since you took this appointment?"

Perro shook his head. "Just Weldom. About a year ago, when he told me that you were dead and that I was stuck here."

Endrance finished off his mead with a grimace. "Ah." he said. "That's good. I was worried that Valeria would've gotten her hands on you."

The mage's face went blank. "Valeria?" he asked. "As in the Archmagus before Talos? She's dead."

Endrance nodded. "Yeah, she is." he said. "But we mages are resourceful, are we not?"

"Yeah, I guess that's true." Perro replied.

Endrance shook his head. "I'm actually looking for Talos, since the tower is up and gone. I was hoping that he had left some instructions with you."

Andrews' face contorted into a brief expression of depression. "No one's come to see me." he said.

"Then I suppose I need to head into the Shatter after all." Endrance realized, looking into the depths of his mug. He didn't see Perro's eyes narrow slightly at the mention of the Shatter.

"Is that where Talos has gone?" Perro asked. Endrance looked up and nodded.

"Yeah, left me a message. Said that he took the tower there; something about finding the ruins of the Mercanian capitol." Endrance summarized. "You don't need to worry about it. I'll find him, and then once that business is taken care of, I can relieve you of your duty."

Perro's eyes widened. "You mean it?" he asked. "I could go home?"

Endrance smiled in assurance. "Of course." he replied. "I actually have come to like this job. No need for you to do it."

Mage Andrews visibly steeled himself and gulped the entirety of his mug's contents at once. "May I have more?" he asked.

Endrance nodded. "Yeah, sure." he looked around, but couldn't find the bottle. "Where did…"

"I think there's more in the kitchen." Perro supplied, pointing to the door opposite the bedrooms. He stood. "I-I'll just go get it."

Endrance waved the man off. "I got it." he said, going over to the door and opening it. "After all, you were k-"

Endrance felt a sudden sharp and burning pain pierce his back, freezing his voice and paralyzing him as something was plunged into his back. Whatever it was had punctured his low level wards with ease, but had not pierced all the way to the hilt. Endrance staggered forward, tasting blood.

The mage, Perro Andrews, stood behind him with his hands on the handle of the dagger embedded into Endrance's back. All semblance of the meek and timid mage was gone, replaced by a harsh and sneering disposition.

"You fool." Perro whispered. "My master knew you'd come back eventually."

Endrance struggled to draw up power, but the burning heat in his back seemed to only get hotter. The power of his body and aura was being drained away.

"Oh keep trying to cast a spell." Perro murmured quietly, giving the blade a twist. Endrance's blood spattered on the wooden floor, forming a small pool. "This Crystalphage blade will eat everything you have."