The First Life of Tanan (11 page)

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Pinter was brought to the King’s chambers and finally released.  He bowed to one knee before the King and muttered the standard, “Your Highness.”

Without waiting for the Abbot to rise, Dannap began his questioning. “How long have the Abbots been working with the Lataki?”

Pinter rose and stared at Dannap, a bewildered look on his face.  “The Lataki, Sire?”

“We’ve discovered your secret base in the northern mountains, Pinter!”  Dannap could barely contain his rage.

Pinter had certainly never expected the King, or any Komisani for that matter, to have knowledge of Jesera.  The surprise on his face gave away more than he would have ever said with words.  He knew he was in trouble.

Dannap stared at the Abbot with malice.  He rose from his throne and moved forward until he was inches from Pinter, glaring into the Abbot’s eyes.

“Remind this man that he should always answer his King truthfully,” he said, still staring the Abbot down.  “When he is ready to be honest, bring him back to me.”

As Pinter was dragged from the room, he heard Dannap say to the Commander, “Arrest them all.  Now.”

Pinter was dragged out of the palace and through the street toward, he presumed, the headquarters of the King’s Legion.  He had no intention of being tortured by these brutes.  Pinter’s expertise was in protective magic and he was very good at deflection spells.  He would be able to protect himself from torture if it came to that, but he’d seen and heard enough.  It was time for him to stop pretending to be helpless.

He summoned up a protective field around his body that gave the men holding him a mild shock.  They immediately let go of him.  He dropped to one knee, expanding his protective field to form a bubble around himself.  One of the Legionnaire escorts tried to kick Pinter in the back.  His foot hit the field and rebounded, throwing the man off balance and causing him to fall, face first, into Pinter’s protective field.  The man rebounded again and went flying back.  The other three soldiers were circling him.  He rapidly expanded his field, and sent them all flying.  Pinter ran.

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

The Abbots were waiting when Pinter sprinted back into the Abbey.

“We must flee Komisan,” he said. “Dannap has ordered to arrest all Abbots.  Go!  Get word to the other Abbeys.  I will take care of the library.”

Each Abbey was home to an extensive library.  The Abbots knew that the information in those libraries could be dangerous in the wrong hands.  King Dannap and the King’s Legion had just become those wrong hands.

In the library of every Abbey in the world, there is a fist sized globe that works perfectly for illuminating a writing desk.  The globes were crafted, long ago, by a group of powerful Abbots at a monastery far to the east of Jesera.  Inside of each globe was a powerful fire spell that was frozen in time and wrapped in a protective shield spell.  It was perfectly safe and unbreakable unless its trigger words were spoken.

Pinter raced into the library and took the Abbey’s globe from the writing desk.  He ran back to the door of the library, turned, and threw the globe in a high arc that would end in the center of the room.  As it left his hand, Pinter grabbed the edge of the door and screamed, “
LEENSECIS KNIMIL FERETIO!
” and then slammed the door and ran as fast as he could.

As the trigger words were said, the shield around the globe disappeared.  When the globe struck the solid surface of the floor, the frozen time spell ended and the fire spell contained within it was released.  A massive ball of fire exploded in the library, incinerating everything in the room and blowing out the windows.  The walls and ceiling were on fire, and within minutes the entire Abbey was consumed in flames.

The Abbots scattered to the wind.  Knowing this day might eventually come, they had prepared escape plans.  There were caches of clothing and supplies hidden in various places throughout the city, and they were all able to escape without being caught or followed.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

The King’s Legion was searching Komisan for Abbots.  Each time they arrived in a town or village, the Abbey was on fire and the Abbots were gone. The Abbots, along with almost the entire population of the island’s cats, had disappeared.

Dannap grew more and more furious as news continued to come in from across the island.  Abbeys were burned and the Abbots gone. The Legionnaires who had been escorting Pinter were executed for incompetence.  Dannap declared the use of magic on Komisan illegal under penalty of death. This sparked a sudden mass retirement among the island’s doctors.

News that the Abbots were working with the Lataki spread across the island.  Every citizen had seen an Abbey burning in their town, which removed any doubt.

Battalions of Legionnaires were dispatched to the mainland to hunt down the Abbots.  Companies of fifty men each scoured the mainland in search of Abbots with orders to kill on sight.

Meanwhile, Dannap and his military leaders planned their assault on the Abbots’ secret village in the north mountains.

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

Figis surprised Tanan by visiting him at home one evening.  Tanan invited Figis in and offered him some tea.  He showed off a little for his mentor by filling the kettle with fresh water and causing it to boil almost immediately without the use of the stove.  Figis laughed and clapped his hands with amusement.

The two of them sat at the kitchen table.

“I wanted to stop by a little early to congratulate you,” said Figis.

Tanan didn’t know what Figis was talking about and said so.

Figis smiled broadly.  “I understand your friends are throwing a party tonight in your honor, Abbot Tanan.”

Tanan’s mouth dropped open.  “Abbot?”

“The vote was unanimous.”  Figis handed Tanan the package he had been carrying.  “This is an early birthday gift.”  Tanan would be nineteen in a week.

Tanan opened the package. It was a blue Abbot’s cassock.  He hadn’t even known he was being considered for entry into the Brotherhood; he was too young.  He looked at Figis with tears in his eyes.  “Thank you.”

“You earned it,” said Figis, patting Tanan on the hand.  “I wanted to talk to you about something else while I was here.”

Tanan looked up at Figis.

“As you know, the library contains limited information about the fifth branch of the magical arts.  It’s been thousands of years since there was an Abbot who was skilled in the art of offensive magic.”

Tanan tilted his head to one side and shrugged.  “I’m not even sure if offensive magic should be considered a branch of its own.  I think Soama is right with this theory that offensive magic might simply be the application of the other four kinds of magic in an offensive way.”

“You are certainly in a unique position to make that argument,” replied Figis.  “This is the task I propose you undertake.  I encourage you to research offensive magic and write a book on the subject.  One day, when you and I are long gone, your research will help to instruct others.  I think it would be a worthwhile undertaking if you chose to do it.”

Tanan considered the idea for a moment.  “I have never thought about writing a book.  Would you be willing help me with it?”

“I believe everyone at Jesera would be happy to help you with it.”

Figis stood and walked to the door, and Tanan hurried to open it for him.  Figis stopped in the doorway, and looked up at Tanan with a serious expression.  “Wear your robes well, Tanan.  Do good things with your gifts.  Contribute to the happiness of others and you will always have meaning in your life.”

Then Figis smiled, “I’ll see you at the party, Abbot.”

Tanan closed the door after Figis and immediately put on his Abbot’s cassock.  He, apparently, had a party to attend.

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

Two months after the night of Tanan’s party,  Abbots from Komisa started arriving from Jesera.  The news that Dannap had ordered the arrest of all Abbots came as a shock to everyone.  They knew Komisan was becoming increasingly unfriendly toward the Abbots, but this was certainly an unexpected turn of events.

Pinter arrived two days after the first group and delivered the news that Dannap knew about Jesera.  A meeting was called in the great hall and Pinter addressed the crowd of Abbots, sharing with them everything he knew and warning them that he believed Dannap would send the Legion to attack Jesera.

As Abbots continued to come in from various parts of Komisan, it was confirmed that all the libraries had been destroyed, and all the Abbots were able to escape the island.  Most of the Abbots had enough warning that they were able to bring provisions for the journey.  The ones who didn’t have time were able to meet up with others who shared what they had.

A hundred and twelve Abbots had been on Komisan, and a hundred and twelve arrived at Jesera.  The monastery didn’t have enough food to sustain the extra Abbots through the winter, so about three quarters of the Abbots left after a few days rest and went west, with the intention of founding a new monastery.

Gowrand tracked down Tanan a few days after the meeting, he was in the great hall and had just finished meditating.

“Hi Gowrand,” said Tanan, when he saw the Abbot.  “How are you today?”

“I’m well, Tanan.”  Gowrand always made it a point to be friendly to Tanan, who was likely the most powerful Abbot in the world.  “I was hoping to speak with you for a few minutes if you have the time.”

“Sure,” said Tanan.  “What’s on your mind?”

“Well,” began Gowrand, “it’s this situation with the Komisani.  Some of us have been talking about it and we are worried about how things might go if they attack us here in the valley.”

“I know we’ll manage to figure something out,” said Tanan.

“But if we don’t,” said Gowrand, “Just… I hope you know that there are many of us who stand behind you.”

“What do you mean, Gowrand?”

“It’s no secret that you’re the most powerful Abbot at Jesera.  Whatever you have to do to protect us from the Komisani, we will support you.  I hope it never comes to that, but if it does… you have the support of many of the Abbots.”

Tanan wasn’t sure what to make of this.  He’d never considered that he might have to defend Jesera.  But Gowrand was right, he was the most powerful Abbot at the monastery.  And he might be called upon to use his power to protect people.

“Uh, thanks Gowrand,” he said.

Gowrand smiled at the young Abbot and patted him on the arm as he walked past him and out of the room.

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

From the time it was first settled, Jesera had been a peaceful place.  There was never any thought that it would be attacked.  The Lataki never came this far north, and the Abbots had good relations with them anyway. The Komisani had never known about Jesera as it was far outside the areas they patrolled or explored.

The idea of a military force coming to Jesera was so foreign that the Abbots had never given any thought to how they would defend it.  There were a dozen or so Abbots that were Masters of protective magic, but that wouldn’t be enough to defend such a large perimeter.  They didn’t even have enough protectors to defend the tower.

Tanan knew his abilities would be the greatest weapon Jesera had available, but one man couldn’t defend an entire valley against an army.  He couldn’t possibly protect everyone.  Besides, Tanan knew what it felt like to kill and he wasn’t eager to do it again.

The idea of abandoning the monastery was considered.  The problem with that was that the library was far too large to move and it would have to be destroyed.  That would be an incalculable loss.  And if they left the valley, the Komisani would hunt them down.  It would be foolish to lead the Komisani to another monastery which would be just as defenseless.

It was decided that they would prepare a contingency to destroy the library as a last resort.  Their best option was to try and negotiate with the Komisani and convince Dannap that the Abbots would never again travel to Komisan.  A truce was not likely, but they had to try.

Winter was upon them.  The mountains surrounding the valley were already covered in snow, and it had snowed a few times in the valley already.  Winters on Komisan were generally mild, so the Komisani wouldn’t be prepared to march on Jesera in the winter.  It was likely that the King’s Legion would come to Jesera in the spring.  They knew it was probably an exercise in futility, but they would use the winter to prepare themselves for a battle.

The winter was spent primarily on two pursuits.  The Abbots selected representatives to act as emissaries to King Dannap.  They were charged with delivering a proposal for peace that would appeal to Dannap and prevent war.  It was decided that the Abbots would offer to send a group of Abbots to assist in the construction of a new, more impressive, royal palace for Dannap and his successors.  Once the proposed palace was built, they would withdraw from Komisani territory and there would be no further contact.  Surely a new, grand palace would placate Dannap.

The other pursuit was a project led by Figis.  The goal was to create fire globes like the ones that had been used to destroy the Abbeys in Komisan. Figis thought that if they could make enough globes, they could be used as weapons in the event that the valley were attacked.

Each globe involved three kinds of magic; elemental, temporal and protective.  Tanan agreed to help create the compressed fireball for the first stage of globe creation.  Figis would create a small ball of frozen time around the fireball, and then Pinter would encase it in a protective bubble with a trigger word.  A second Master of protective magic and several healers would be on hand in case something went wrong.  Everyone involved spent weeks researching and practicing their part of the process.

When everyone was ready, the globe creators went to the middle of a corn field, far from any buildings.  Tanan began by gathering energy from the air around him and compressing just the right amount into a pinpoint of light and heat.  The amount had to be just right.  Too little and the weapon would be ineffective, too much and the Abbot who threw the fire globe could be hurt.

Tanan held the compressed ball several yards off the ground.  Figis then cast a spell that would make it frozen in time until it came into contact with something solid.  The tricky part was that once Figis’ spell had been cast, Tanan could no longer hold on to his spell.  Pinter had to cast his spell a split second after Figis so that the protective shell would encase it before it fell to the ground.

They finished creating the first fire globe and it fell to the mud with a wet thump.  Tanan picked it up and carried it back to the group.  “I suppose we should test it,” he said as he handed it to Pinter, who knew the trigger words.

Pinter was nervous, but there were safeguards in place.  He threw the globe as hard as he could and yelled, “SPETHE ILDRTROW EFERVALT!”  The globe fell into a patch of snow and a twenty foot sphere of flame erupted around it.  Tanan put up a protective bubble, but it hadn’t been necessary.  The globe worked as intended.

Over the following week, the group created one hundred of the globes.  As each was created, Pinter would write the trigger words on a slip of paper.  Each globe, along with its unique trigger words were placed into a small cloth bag.  One hundred Abbots would receive a globe if it looked like an attack were imminent.