The Ways of Mages: Two Worlds (2 page)

“
When the blood of Kings, Mages and Dragons mix in love and lust will the beginning meet the end. The Alpha and Omega will face and the stronger will prevail
.
”

“
What does it mean
?
”

“
I’
m not sur
e…
the rest of the columns describe an apocalyptic battle that is to occur between the armies of good and evil. Each is to be headed by a child born of the coupling of a King, a mage and a dragon. One will be the product of a loving relationship, the other a bastard son begotten by rape
.
”
–
Excerpt from the diary of a mage

The road west from Vandenburg was a welcome improvement over the Cyprus trails they had traveled from the south, Jewel thought.  Her horse plodded gently alongside that of her new husband, Gawin A
l’
Dap. She smiled at the thought. The smile turned into a yawn. It had been a long night.

The late winter sun was low in the sky at their backs. They had made an early start.  The pair had been married in a simple ceremony led by the Archbishop, DeAnder Papus. That had been late yesterday afternoon; after the plan to rescue her uncle, King Thomas Grimholden had been finalized.  Her brief vision into a possible future had been enough to identify Gri
m’
s whereabouts... or at least his future whereabouts.

He was, or would be, held in Castle Mortia. Mortia was just north of the Persharian capital. That meant they had to travel westward the entire length of the island continent of Pershara yet again.   

The decision had been made to split into two groups; one small and fast. This one would head directly to Mortia.  The second, consisting of the Gri
m’
s mounted knights, Trevor McGil
l’
s irregulars and General Stanto
n’
s regular army, would march on the capital itself.  There was surprisingly little choice in the matter.  There was no way an army was going to be moved in a hurry.  Further, there was no way such an army could march west and not face the Kin
g’
s Guard and remaining forces outside the capital.

This meant Jewe
l’
s party was the best chance Uncle Grim had for rescue; a party for which she was almost not invited! She glanced covertly at Gawin at her side. He saw and smiled warmly back. She blushed but smiled in return.

Theirs had been much like any newlywe
d’
s wedding night; filled with mysteries and pleasures. In the morning, while it was still quite dark out, Gawin had risen to join Tommy Toweltaker, Kindra, Robert Kimbridge and the wizard Bendon in the kitchens. The five had agreed the night before to leave at the crack of dawn. Jewel was to be left in Vandenburg for her own protection. She was, after all, to be the mother of the child of light.

What the group of five had not counted on was Jewe
l’
s determination. She met them at the stables, fully packed and ready to go. When Gawin started to protest, she set her feet, planted her fists on her hips and calmly informed him that one night of pleasure, however nice, did not always a pregnancy make. Further, if he truly wanted to protect her, he would ensure she was with child as soon as possible. That meant she was with him. So, unless he was prepared to wait in Vandenburg; she was going with them.  That effectively settled the matter.

When Gawin started to grumble about Jewe
l’
s look of triumph, Bendon took the engineer aside and sai
d“
Get used to it lad. Yo
u’
re married now
.
”

They rode at a steady pace that spared the horses and yet covered ground quickly. Still, it did not seem fast enough. Everyone felt the pressing need for speed and yet there was a limit to what man and beast could reasonably endure.

Bendon
D’
Armis, also known as Zebendon, was a short, bearded, gray-haired man. He was also quite possibly the most powerful mage in the kingdom.  It galled him that so small a group as theirs could not find a means to expedite their travels. He pondered the problem at length. He and Robert held a series of low volume arguments as they rode along the muddy roads. Robert and the wizard were at odds on how to handle some aspect of theoretical magic. It seeme
d‘
time and spac
e’
were linked. If there were but a means of folding on
e…
the other would come along for the ride. Not surprisingly, the engineer and master craftsman in Robert wanted to build a machine of some type to augment Zebendo
n’
s magic. Bendon felt while there was merit to Rober
t’
s idea, the time invested in building such a machine would offset any gain in getting to their destination faster.

After consulting with Kindra, Bendon settled on a plan that, while not as fast as Rober
t’
s approach, had the benefit of being immediately implemented. With Kindr
a’
s help he folded time around the small party in such a way that their effective speed was more than doubled.

The last several weeks had brought light snows to the mountains of eastern Pershara. Still, the sun was warm and the temperature not yet bitterly cold. The snows had left a virgin path, broken only by the occasional game trail that crossed the road. The trees, lightly dusted with snow, shimmered in the early morning sun.

Jewel removed her deerskin riding gloves and placed them in a pocket of her fur lined riding cloak. 

Gawin choose that moment to extend a hand. She accepted it eagerly as they rode. He squeezed her fingers gently. They shared a smile.

“
A penny for your thought
s”
Jewel said as they rode along.

“
I was thinking of you; of us; of the days ahead
.”
Gawin answered poetically.

“
And the nights
?”
she teased.

“
And the nights
.”
he agreed with a blush.

The road turned south slightly and Gawin was forced to use an arm to push a stray branch out of the way. This meant he had to release Jewe
l’
s hand for a moment. He lamented the loss of this simple pleasure but she offered her hand again as soon as they cleared the obstacle.

They heard Bendon swear as the very same branch caught at his cloak. He called to the two in front
.“
You could have said something about the tree lying across the road
!
”

“
Hush, old man
.”
Kindra said
.“
It was more a twig than a tree. Besides, they have their minds on other things
.”
Tommy and Bendon shared a wolfish grin. Kindra shook her head and looked at Robert
.“
Men
.”
she said with mock disgust.

“
We are what we are
.”
Robert said with a matching grin.

***

Duncan side-stepped his horse around a stump. He was riding at the head of a formation with the other senior staff of the combined armies. He had desperately wanted to travel with Gawin and Jewel to find Grim, but with Grim missing, his place was leading the monastic knights.

The armies traveled overland, taking advantage of fields empty by virtue of the fall harvest.

At the moment, Trevor McGill was having a heated debate with General Stanton, or Reed as his friends called him. It seemed the General favored sending a handful of scouts ahead to reconnoiter while Trevor was in favor of sending his rangers ahead. Frankly, Reed did not trust the training Trevo
r’
s irregulars had received. His men were professionals, Trevo
r’
s were anything but.  Where the Genera
l’
s troops were spit and polish, Trevo
r’
s men were gruff and unshaven. Trevor sagely pointed out that his men could travel freely without drawing undue attention. Reed pointed out that the inside of a tavern was no place to look for an opposing army. Trevor countered that it was exactly the right place.  It was obvious the two were not going to come to an agreement.

Perela, who was riding next to Duncan, looked at the big knight and said in a calm, but threatening, voic
e“I’
m going to throttle those two if they do
n’
t learn to play together nicely
.
”

“
I
t’
s a matter of trust.  Until each can trust the abilities of the other, they are going to have a hard time working together
.”
Duncan explained to her. He hoped that a better understanding would keep her from turning the two men into somethin
g…
unnatural. Perela huffed
.“
Remember
,”
Duncan continued
,“
until just recently they were not even on the same side
.
”

“
I’
m still not sure they
are
.”
Perela admonished
.“I’
m going to put an end to this
.
”

“
Be gentle
.”
Duncan pleaded softly
.“
We need those men
.
”

Duncan saw Perela approach the two men and whisper something into the ear of each.  Their reactions were immediate.  Each flushed beet red and shook the others hand. Perela rode back up to Duncan with a self-satisfied smile.

With a sense of dread Duncan aske
d“
What did you say
?
”

“
Me
?”
Perela blinked innocently at him
.“
Oh nothing, really. I just pointed out that they could send both groups out and then compare notes
.
”

“
Tha
t’
s it? Tha
t’
s all you said
?”
Duncan could
n’
t believe it. He could
n’
t imagine that would be why the men blushed.

Perela smirked slightly
.“
That and a promise to put them both in diapers if they did
n’
t stop acting like children
.
”

Duncan noted that each of the two men was issuing orders to their respective lieutenants. By midday each was receiving a steady flow of intelligence back that for the most part agreed with what the other was receiving.

By evening the scouts and rangers were reporting as teams to both officers at once. Trevor and Reed could not have been more pleased with the synergies. That did not stop them from casting a nervous eye toward Perela each time she smiled at them.

They set up camp that first night in a field surrounded by open country as far as the eye could see. A smaller group might have tried to find cover but there was no way to hide several thousand soldiers. A smaller group might have also covered more territory.  As it was, the eight leagues the army had managed was impressive; especially given that most were un-mounted foot soldiers.

One advantage to traveling with an army was the accommodations available once camp was set up.  Perela appreciated both the spacious office
r’
s tent, with its water proof lining and floor and the fact that she did not need to cook.

Duncan had started moving his gear towards Trevor McGil
l’
s tent out of some sense of courtesy or propriety, but one well-placed kiss and a scolding look from Perela put an early end to
that
foolishness.

Dinner was a hearty beef stew, a small wedge of dry cheese and camp bread. 

Duncan and Perela shared their meal in the genera
l’
s command tent. It was a large affair with three rooms, divided by oil cloth partitions. Duncan knew from earlier visits that the two smaller rooms were reserved for a bed chamber and personal field office. The larger room, where they were seated on cushions now, held a large rolled map on one wall and a small cooking stove used to keep coffee or mulled wine warm.

Duncan chatted idly with retired general
T’
Garon. The former general was ill at ease. This was the first time in his experience where there was not a clear chain-of-command for all the armies involved in a campaign. He said as much to Reed and Duncan.