Victor Deus (Heritage of the Blood Book 1) (31 page)

He was watching the stars and thinking about the previous month when he heard a noise from the garden. There were wards all around the mansion to protect from intruders and to catch harmful spells, and the sound he heard reminded him of a ward being dispelled. He relaxed his mind, probing the different energies in the area like the Arch Magus had taught him, and found that the barriers were missing on the wall directly below him in the garden. It was then that he noticed the energies of the fifteen men coming up the wall where he was standing. With so little warning all that Victor could do was throw his cloak around himself and blend into the shadows in the corner of the roof. Seconds after he made his hiding place men in dark clothing began to come over the top of the wall, he knew it was going to be a long night.

He watched as they made basic communications to one another through hand signals, and could do nothing but watch as eleven of the men crept down into the mansion using the door he had unlocked. Victor silently thanked Nim for his lessons as the four men canvased the roof looking for anything out of the ordinary. Finding nothing the four men took up watch positions around the roof. Victor thought hard about what he might be able to do against them, but he knew that he was no match physically for any of these men yet. He might be able to surprise one or two of them, but then the other two would surely capture or kill him. Thinking it his only options Victor slowly began to pull in energy, hoping that something would draw the men in together. It couldn't have been more than ten minutes, even though it felt like much longer to Victor, when sounds of battle began to be heard from below.

The four men on the roof stood frozen listening to the sounds. After the battle had been going on for a few minutes, moving to different rooms all around the manor, one of the men on the roof motioned for the other three to go downstairs and assist their associates. Victor knew from the pitched battles he could hear below that he couldn't allow them to do that. Focusing the energy he had gathered into a condensed ball of potential energy, he rolled it along the ground as one might a marble. When the ball reached the area where the three men were converging he used a blast of air to toss it into the air. The difficult part of this Shaping was keeping the explosion contained, feeding it with as much energy as you could before it became too much for the shield around it to hold. A skilled Shaper could make a much larger explosion, but he hoped that his skill was sufficient for what he needed to do this night. One of the men saw the bead of energy as it bounced into the air before them, but at that point it was already too late. As the shield released the air itself fed the conflagration turning it into a giant ball of fire. It burned hot enough to melt an inch of the stone roof in a ten foot circle before disappearing. All that was left of the three men were three twitching charred corpses.

Victor didn't have enough time to process what he had just done as he realized that the shadows had slipped as he focused on the explosion, and the leader of the group was now running towards him, preparing to let a dagger fly.

Realizing he didn't have time to do anything but dodge, he put all of his effort into not getting hit. Victor rolled to his left as the dagger came flying through the air and felt the wind from the projectile as it just barely missed his head. As he came out of his roll he unsheathed his daggers, and had them into position to block the man's first attack. A small part of him was thinking Stewart Cantel for his lessons in knife fighting.

Victor put everything he had into thwarting the man's attacks, and avoiding those sharp, surely poisoned, blades. After dueling with the High Commander, this man's movements seemed sloppy and slow, but Victor knew that he would not be able to keep up his defense for very long. Not only was the man much larger than Victor, but he also had much more fighting experience. It was only a matter of time until the man got over his initial surprise and did something Victor could not react fast enough to stop. He made a feint, drawing the man into overextending enough that Victor managed to roll between the man's legs, cutting the mans thigh on his way through. Knowing that he had just made the man angry he began to take in more energy and form it into a barrier around himself. By the time the man turned around it was in place, and it was a lucky thing too, because the man threw another dagger at that moment.

This was a Shaping that Zander Halcyon had taught him, he said that it was the basic spell that any Mage would need to protect himself and his brothers and sisters. After compressing more energy than he had ever used into the explosion that killed three of the attackers Victor knew that he was pushing his mind more than he should. Zander said that once he was stronger he would be able to set the shield so it would absorb a certain amount of damage and then flicker out, but he was no where near that skill level. Victor would have to keep channeling energy to the shield, and each time the man hammered on the shield he felt more and more exhausted.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a movement from the stairwell. He was just about to run away when the man in front of him suddenly stopped attacking his barrier and fell to the ground, a dagger sticking out of his chest. Victor didn't have enough time to even feel relieved before he blacked out, the last thing he saw was Nim running towards him.

*****

Year 3043 AGD

Month of Ragnós

Morning of the First Day

Continent of Terroval

Safeharbor

Nim's Mansion

“Is he going to be ok?”

“Yes, he's just tired. He'll be fine in a couple of hours.”

Victor heard a sigh of relief, but he couldn't open his eyes or move.
Maybe I'm dreaming. Hmm… I wonder where I am.

“What about Megan?” The first voice asked.

“The poison is moving too quickly, and it is aided by magic. The four men who went to Victor's room were the only ones that seemed to have neurotoxin on their blades, the rest all had some kind of poison. I don't think they will be able to do anything for her at the church even. Whoever hired them wanted only the boy alive.” Victor liked the voice that was speaking, but it didn't sound familiar. He was trying to remember who Megan was, but all that he kept seeing was the color green. He gave up trying to remember as the voices started again.

“Jenn maybe you should go talk to Lia, or just be with her, she's going to need a friend it seems.”
I know that voice.
Victor tried hard to bring up an image, but his mind was not cooperating, it was as if his thoughts were covered in a heavy fog.

“Ok Nim.” A female voice said.
That must be Jenn,
a small part of his mind whispered, still unable to put a face to the name
.

“He should be awake by mid-morning I've done all I can, he pushed himself much further than he should have. I gave him something to help with the disconnect.”

Victor heard the door open and the room was silent for a while. A short while later, he heard footsteps coming toward him.
They're back!
His mind cried out, and he tried to move, tried to open his eyes, but found himself unable to do either.
I
won't
let you kill me!
He screamed inside his head, finally getting a response from his body, even if it was just to thrash violently in his bed.

“Calm down Victor it's just a bad dream.” It was that familiar voice again.

Victor stopped trying to move realizing that his mind had overreacted. Feeling safe again Victor fell into a restless sleep, his mind replaying the explosion he had created over and over again.

Chapter 13

Saying Goodbye

Year 3043 AGD

Month of Ragnós

First Day

Continent of Terroval

City of Safeharbor

Victor woke up feeling like a box had been dropped on his head from two stories up. Looking around the room he was in, it took him a moment to realize that it was Nim's room. Nim was pacing by the window overlooking the garden, deep in thought. Victor watched his mentor pace, using the techniques he had learned from this very man to judge what he was thinking. He appeared to be mostly worried, but there was also a look of resolution mingled within. Deciding it was probably less rude to let him know he was awake Victor stretched and gave an overemphasized yawn that wanted to work it's way out anyway. Nim quickly turned towards Victor.

“You're awake!” Nim said. “Well of course you're awake, that was a stupid thing to say.” Victor knew at this point that Nim was really worried, the man was usually much more in control of his thoughts.

“Yes, and my head hurts, and now that I think about it, everything else hurts too.”

“Well, Father Telenroy said that you had exhausted yourself by performing things that were beyond your capacity to handle...” Nim said, admonishment strong in his voice, before taking on a softer tone. “...I however, am glad you managed to do so long enough for help to come.”

“I'm pretty glad about that myself.” Victor replied. “It was the first thing that came to mind. I knew I wasn't good enough to beat him yet.” Then he grinned. “Not from lack of skill just from lack of size. I think I could have whittled away at him slowly, but I didn't have enough energy left to last long enough to find out.” Frowning he said, “I don't think I could have held that shield much longer though. Two more swings and I doubt we would be having this discussion right now.”

“Well my young friend, you killed one more assassin than Jenn did… and she's not happy about that fact.”

“How many did you get?” Victor asked dryly.

“Well… counting the one you wounded. Six. Now, if you count the one that Bartholomew drubbed into unconsciousness, it will be seven around noon.”

“Bartholomew drubbed someone into unconsciousness?”

“Oh yes, he was once one of the head monks of the Order of the Griffon. They are a migrant order that travels throughout Terroval. The head of the order told him that he should find someplace to serve in a humble capacity in order to learn humility. So he came to me asking to be my butler. Having fought with him before and knowing he could handle himself in most any situation, I accepted. Probably not quite what the Grand Master had in mind, but he's humble enough... most of the time.” Nim laughed as he finished his statement, but the laugh sounded forced. Victor knew Nim was avoiding talking about something, but he didn't know why.

“I guess we aren't leaving with the army huh?” Victor asked, trying to lighten the mood.

“Most of them left a couple hours ago, we'll join them at the front as soon as we can.” Nim replied.

“How is everyone else?”

Nim looked out the window again. “Jenn and Lia are fine.”

“But not Megan? They couldn't cure the poison?”

Nim turned his attention back to Victor. “How did you know?”

“I was awake… no not awake, aware sometime in the night. I heard you and an old man talking. I heard you tell Jenn to go be with Lia after he said she probably wasn't going to make it.” He felt his eyes getting heavier as moisture enveloped them.

Nim came over and sat next to Victor. “They say she probably won't live past noon. She is with the priests of Valorious the god of healing and life. If they cannot save her there is no mortal who can. It's in the hands of the gods now. I have a feeling she'll be going to see Thom soon though. May he guide her to a better place.”

“We're going to get them right? We're going to make them pay for this. Whoever sent those assassins needs to pay don't they?” Victor asked through his tears.

“We'll make them pay Victor. I have an acolyte of Thom on his way here who is going to
question
our guest. He will learn what we need to know. I had to take away every means of suicide that assassin had, and he was carrying more than a few nasty surprises. He won't get the satisfaction of a quick death. As soon as Megan dies… his life is forfeit.” Nim's voice was cold.

Victor had pieced together the girls stories over the last several months. Nim had taken Lia and Megan from an abusive household four years ago. Things had happened to them that shouldn't happen to anyone, but especially young girls. Nim had shown them that there were good people in the world, and they didn't need to be afraid anymore. Ashur had made sure the girls were as competent in a fight as any other citizen of Safeharbor, but Nim didn't want him to go beyond that if the girls didn't want to, and they had chosen to forgo that training. Now one of them was dead, killed in the man's own house. Victor knew that Nim was blaming himself for her death, and a small part of him knew that there was some justification in that blame.

“It's not your fault you know. Do you think they would have rather not met you? Do you think they would have rather lived the rest of their lives in that hell hole you took them from? I for one don't think they would trade a single day of the freedom that you gave them for one more second in that place. You may have not taught them all you could have about fighting and killing, but that's because you loved them. You didn't want them to be drawn into a life like that. They aren't like us. They don't have our sardonic attitude towards life.” Nim gave him a look of disbelief and Victor saw the moisture in his eyes. Victor had never imagined Nim crying, and it was a shocking new side of his friend and mentor.

“Don't look at me like that. I may be young still, but Shaylyn had me out hunting when I was five years old. During that time, and my time on the streets, I've seen more death than most soldiers have by their mid twenties. I know what my life is to be. I have no regrets about that. Should I die tomorrow you should know now that I was ready for it. I may not want to die, but it will happen some day. Megan and Lia had their whole lives ahead of them and you didn't want to ruin that. I don't know what Lia will do now that she has lost her twin, but you did what you thought was best at the time. If you regret helping people when they needed it most, you aren't who I thought you were. Quit blaming yourself. It isn't your fault and it isn't mine. The blame rests at the feet of the men who attacked last night, and whoever hired them. Now, get out of my way.” Victor said as he pushed himself off the bed. “I do know one thing though, if I were going to die... I'd want my friends there to see me off.”