The Pogrom of Mages: The Healers of Glastamear: Volume One (4 page)

Chapter 8

After they finished the
Epic of Perry and the Red Dragon
, the shaman led Michael away from the palm grove where the rest of the naiads had resumed their attempts to make baby naiads. They walked north along the black sand in the direction of the city of Northport.

“Elf-Blood, what did you think of our epic-comic song?”

“I believe it’s true, but it left me with lots of unanswered questions. For example what happened to Perry? I’m sure he didn’t really ascend to his heavenly throne where he punishes us for not paying tithes to his church.”

“That sorry story was never made into song. It’s not one naiads would be willing to sing. After returning to his cave, Perry immolated every man who had been on the hunting party. He killed every boy without fire manna because they were not his true sons. He made the rest of his tribesmen slaves in the coalfield except that he took every comely woman as his wife. The following spring he took the nearby village of Min Hollow and again enslaved all the men, killed all the male children, and took every comely woman as his wife. Four years later, he was trying to fornicate with a woman who was nine months with child. He pursued her to the village well where he tripped on a stone and she pushed him in.

“Fire blasted from the well for two days as he struggled to get out. After he finally drowned, the villagers filled in the well and dug a new one. By the time he died, Perry had forty-three sons who became the first priests of Perry Ascendant.”

“You always refer to me as Elf-Blood. What’s behind that? My parents were just farmers in a small village of Riverton in Hearthshire Provence.”

“After Perry was given fire magic, the Red Dragon flew to the Forest of Many Lakes in the far north to see the elf shaman Gripton and explain his actions. They reached an agreement to do nothing.

“The elves knew something the dragon did not. Gripton understood that his human children had twenty generations for each generation of naiads or dwarves. Because of their short lives and the myriad of their offspring, humans would change and develop faster than the other children of the elves. Dragons and elves had not changed much for millions of years. In even one million years, humans might be a completely different race.”

Obert explained, “Gripton realized that someday the seed and egg of two humans would combine in a way that an elf-blood would evolve. This is how the first elves arose on the world of terra before the beginning of their great journey to fill the star cloud. A human would be born with all the manna and power of an elf but the physical form of a human. Of course, the change would occur by chance. Not even Gripton could say if it would be a thousand years or ten thousand, but to the elves and dragons, a thousand years is like a summer afternoon to a short-lived human.

“Gripton knew that a human with elf-blood would have the power to remove the Red Dragon’s curse on mankind. You must begin the great quest; you must produce the next epic song and remove the Perry’s curse from your kind. You’ll destroy the Church of Perry Ascendant and restore healing magic to the place it should have among your kind. We naiads are proud to be part of the beginning of your epic song.”

They walked along the beach without talking for half an hour as Michael thought about what he had heard.

He broke the silence. “Obert, I appreciate the help you’ve already given. Those knight protectors would have killed me without Arianna hiding my manna, but I’m sorry, there’s no new epic song. I’m just a scared apprentice healer hiding from the terrifying power of Perry’s church.”

Obert laughed. “Epic heroes never realize who they are until their story is over. You already have almost everything it will take to end the power of the silly Perry Ascendant religion. Over the next few weeks, we’ll teach you many more water magic spells including
quench fire manna
. You’ll be able to suppress all fire magic within a thousand paces or so, maybe even farther with your huge manna level. You’ll learn
float
that will let you walk on water but also even walk on rain or fog. On a rainy or foggy day, you could walk to the highest tower of the Great Mother Temple of Min Hollow. You can already hide your own manna and make yourself invisible. By the time you leave us you’ll be ready to really shake things up.”

Although Michael was skeptical, it couldn’t hurt to spend a few weeks learning every skill the naiads were willing to teach him, but there was something he hoped to do before beginning his studies.

“I would be honored to study under the great shaman of the Black Sand Pod, but there is something I must do before I begin. Last night I detected the manna of four fleeing healers. I think they were sailing toward Mitchell Island. This morning I saw a schooner with the manna of six knight protectors who seemed to be in pursuit. I must at least try and save my guild brothers. I must find the fastest possible way to follow.”

“I can get you there before the knights catch the healers, and I’ll teach you some important spells along the way.”

Obert led Michael about fifty yards inland from the beach where a metal barge about ten paces by five paces with one end shaped like the prow of a boat. Although it had no mast, tiller, or obvious means of propulsion, there was a chain harness arrangement at the front.”

“We’ll need some protection from the sun, a barrel of fresh water, and some human food. I’ll ask Arianna to organize that while I teach you the first spell you’ll need,
quench fire manna
. Once you cast it no fire mage within the sound of your voice will be able to perform fire magic for the next day or two.”

“I take it you have some manner of propelling this barge fast enough to beat a schooner with her full sails set and a six-hour head start.”

Obert looked at the heavy ungainly barge and nodded. “We sometime use this to haul stuff, but there are faster and more powerful swimmers in the sea than naiads. We’ll use a pod of narwhales who are good friends to the naiads. They can take turns in pairs pulling her and get us to Mitchell Island, probably even before your guild brothers arrive. You’ll be there tomorrow about noon.”

Six naiads pulled the loaded barge through the protective reef until the more powerful narwhales took over. The gray-body whales were about twenty feet long with a twisted ivory tusk extending two feet beyond the nose of each of the males. Two of the streamlined creatures swam into the harness and began to tow the barge. Once they reached their cruising speed, the wind blew through the barge faster than a fast horse at full gallop. Obert and Michael sat under the protection of a jury-rigged cabin, while Obert began to teach the spells Michael would need to help his guild brothers.

Chapter 9

As dawn broke purple through the eastern clouds, it cast silver highlights on a calm sea. Squalls were visible ahead, and Michael wondered how the shallow-drafted barge would behave in high seas. Unlike Obert, he could barely swim and had never been at sea; even these gentle waves were making him slightly nauseous.

When Michael recast the manna detection spell, he realized that they had passed the fire mages during the night and that they were now close to the sloop carrying the healers. He pointed out its single sail on the horizon to Obert who passed the instructions to the narwhales. The barge changed angle and sped up to close the distance, and within an hour, they were approaching the small single-masted craft whose headsail carried her rapidly towards Mitchell Island, now visible as a blue line in the distance just past the line of squalls ahead.

As they neared the sloop, four crewmembers stood at the gunnels with notched arrows in the bows, but when they saw Obert, they lowered them. All sailors regard naiads as friends; there’re hundreds of sailors’ legends of naiads saving sailors from drowning and doing other acts of kindness. Even threatening one with a bow was regarded as risking a lifetime of bad fortune.

When Michael moved to stand next to Obert, he heard a shout. “Is that you Michael?”

“Yes my lord guild master. I’m relieved to see you still alive.”

“And I you Michael, I feared every healer in your province was already dead. What of William?”

“I’m sorry. I know he was your closest friend. I was out in the Hearth Forest gathering herbs when they came for him. I located our housekeeper and she told me he used
heart stop
before they could carry him away.”

“We live in evil times, Michael, evil times not seen for two thousand years. The Church seeks to gather all magic including our healing magic under its domination. They will find children with healing magic potential and make them priests.

“You don’t think it was the king’s death that started this,” Michael said with uncertainty in his tone.

“Of course no healer was involved. No healer in the two thousand year history of our guild has committed cold-blooded mass murder. It’s impossible for a trained guild healer to murder hundreds by poison and commit regicide as King Richard claims. How about you? Will you join us in our flight to Mitchell Island?”

“My friend Obert, shaman of the Black Sand Pod, helped me to reach you in time. A fast schooner with the manna signs of six fire mages follows not far behind. They’re knight protectors on your trail.”

Lord Hampton, master of the healers’ guild, showed shock on his wrinkled brown face. “Michael if you know the spell for detecting manna, you must also know that many priests and all knight protectors are fire mages who can also cast it. There’s no place to hide if they are close behind us. Mitchell Island has no real temples only Perry shrines tended by lay brothers with no magic skills. We thought we could hide there, but we’ll never outrun a schooner.”

“My Lord, I have a plan; may we come aboard?”

Michael introduced Obert to Lord Guild Master Hampton and to Guild Bursar Childes. The guild master introduced the other two mages: Arthur manager of Westport Hospital, and Diana a strikingly beautiful young apprentice from Westport Hospital who Michael had never seen before.

Lord Hampton explained. “Bursar Childes and I were at the hospital when word came that the guild hall had been invaded and our brothers and sisters carried off by knight protectors. Since the hospital is next to the main wharf, we had a chance to flee before they came for us.”

“The naiads taught me the water magic spell
submerge manna
. It can make our manna invisible to the priests.”

The guild master smiled in relief. “If you can work water magic, then you truly are the elf-blood of Gripton’s promise. The guild suspected it since you were discovered as a child, but now I know it. But you must also realize that no other human can learn water magic. I see now how you can escape, and that is most important. I will die happy knowing you’ve come to set thing right.”

“Master, I don’t think I’m really Gripton’s promised one, but I did learn that if someone with water magic takes your hand and casts
submerge manna
, your healing manna will be hidden from any fire mage. One of the naiads used this power to help me avoid the knight protectors who chased me through the Great Black Thicket. When the time is right, Obert and I can hold hands with each of you, and your manna will suddenly disappear to the vision of the mages in the schooner.”

The four healers nodded in understanding. Bursar Childes asked, “How will our little sloop elude them even if they can’t see our manna?”

“You’ve heard the tales of naiads disappearing whenever they wanted to sneak into human settlements. Both Obert and I know
transparency
. If we cast it with our full manna, this whole small sloop will disappear. I suggest that we make for the squall ahead, and once in it, we’ll disappear, apparently sunk in the storm.”

The gorgeous Diana spoke for the first time. “I don’t know anything about the elf-blood or water magic My Lord Hampton, but if we can reach it, my home village of Rock Point should be as safe as anywhere in Glastamear. There’s not even a Perry shrine nearby and all four hundred residents are some kin of mine. They have no love for the Church and its constant demands for money. We’re poor folks in coin, but there will plenty of seafood, sweet potatoes, oats, and peas as well as warm hearts to welcome us to their snug little homes. It’s not like the luxury of your guild house, but much safer. The village of Rock Point is on the western most peninsula of the western most island of Glastamear.”

Lord Hampton replied, “Diana, I too was born in a humble village, not a palace. We’ll enjoy a quiet place by the sea and the time to plan a way to rebuild the guild.

“Michael, we’ll follow your plan. Captain, make all speed to that squall. When the time comes to disappear, push over the side the empty water barrels, extra sails, and anything else that might mark a shipwreck. Bursar Childes will cover your loss with gold.”

Once they had reached the squall line, Michael nausea increase until he had a green tinge to his pale skin. He used healing magic to suppress his sickness, but Diana noticed. “Michael, it must be your first time at sea. Look at the horizon not at the side of the boat, and think of other things.”

When the time came to disappear, Michael took Diana and Bursar Childes by the hand while Obert took Lord Hampton’s and Arthur’s. Michael and Obert repeated the spells to hide their manna and to make their whole ship and everything on it invisible; all sign of the sloop disappeared except for the depression in the sea where she sailed. Flopping around in the high seas with no boat visible was even worse for Michael’s sea sickness, and he cast a more powerful healing spell as he fought the urge the vomit on the most beautiful girl he’d ever met, the woman he already hoped might be his life partner.

For three hours they kept the sloop invisible and hid the manna of the healers as they sailed toward the western shore of Mitchell Island. During that whole period Michael and Diana talked of their fears and their flight from knight protectors. Michael found Diana very easy to talk to about the loss of his parents and the loss of William, who had been like a second father to him. His whole world had been shattered, but he felt excited to hold hands with this beautiful girl and to talk about everything important to him.

Michael used his
detect all manna
to see what happened to the schooner. She had sailed into the squall, tacking back and forth for two hours.

Finally, the knight protectors turned east towards the mainland. The healers were safe for now, and they were very far from the Great Mother Temple of Perry Ascendant in Min Hollow. The enormous temple was the seat of the Most Holy Son of Perry Ascendant. The Holy Son was the leader of the church who had directed the pogrom against them, and Michael hoped that someday he’d pay for the tortures and deaths he caused.