The Trinity of Heroes (I Will Protect You Book 1) (18 page)

Lawrence, there’s something about that boy. Kinda like his ol’ man. He’s got potential, but I wonder meself if he’ll end up leaving too? Damn good skills, though.

-
Journal of Sabre Grey, August 25th, 21 P.W.

The Advent of Knighthood was fast approaching, and Lawrence had a very important task to complete. He needed to go see Sabre Grey and ask him one more time for his assistance. He had been training for two years now, and with the ceremony tomorrow, Lawrence needed him in attendance. After all, without Sabre’s proof of his training and completion of tasks, Lawrence wouldn’t be allowed to join the Knight Guard. The skies were covered in an ominous gray as Lawrence traveled the short dirt road from Haile to Alacrecia. In his heart Lawrence knew he was ready, but would Sabre Grey support him? Would Mayor Flint believe his word if not backed by that of a renowned Knight of Haile? Lawrence could feel his stomach churn as he approached the door to the Grey home. He hoped that he would get the answer he was looking for.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Lawrence stood in silence for a long moment, anxiously awaiting his meeting with Sabre. The door was finally opened by a young, beautiful woman who appeared to be half the age of Sabre. She had medium length brunette hair and some of the softest brown eyes Lawrence had ever seen. She was a tall and well-built woman, definitely suited to Sabre Grey.

“May I help you?” Her voice was surprisingly sweet, and it caught Lawrence off guard.

“Excuse me, miss, I am looking for Sabre Grey. Is he in?”

“Sabre…He’s uh…Well, you see, Sabre instructed me not to disturb him until he has come out of his study.”

“Well, when do you imagine he will be coming out, miss?”

“I couldn’t say for sure; he has been in there for nearly three days now. As his wife I am terribly worried about him. It’s not like Sabre to just shut himself out from human contact.”

Three days?!
Lawrence couldn’t believe it; how could anyone isolate themselves from the world, let alone their family, for that long? “Wait a minute; did you say you are Sabre’s wife?”

“Why, yes, dear. I’m Joselyn Grey. I’ve been married to Sabre for ten years now. I love him dearly. And who did you say your name was, again?”

“My name is Lawrence; I am Sabre’s squire.”

“Ah, yes. He’s told me a lot about you. Well, Lawrence, is there anything that I can help you with?”

“Probably not, ma’am, but can you just let him know that I stopped by?”

“I’ll be sure to tell him the moment he comes out, Lawrence.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Good day to you, Lawrence.” Joselyn closed the door softly.

Lawrence began to trudge back to Haile. He seriously doubted that Sabre had ever mentioned him or his training to his wife. After all, he had never really trained with Sabre anyways. He had no way of knowing if Sabre would show up at tomorrow’s Advent of Knighthood or not. Lawrence was queasy just thinking about the embarrassment he would endure if Sabre didn’t show up to the ceremony. All his efforts and training would be for nothing.

No food. Low on water. I’ve been wandering in these woods for days. It doesn’t seem to end. Spirits fading, nights are cold, no flint, I can sense the predators getting closer. If only I had a fire. If only I had a fire. If only…

- Journal of Mason Hex, Undated

The small village of Alacrecia is but a short walk from Haile, its houses taking refuge behind Forme’s rolling hills. Surrounded by a low, wooden, fence-like structure, Alacrecia is home to many workers who make the walk each day to the larger village of Haile. Blades of green grass covered the land and dandelions speckled the hillside as they dotted a path from house to house. A small creek snaked its way behind several houses and a new wooden bridge offered passage to the flower covered meadow on the other side. Galvan sat on a large boulder in the center of the creek, holding a fishing pole.
There has to be more to my life than this…more than the same old same old. I long for something more; something to give meaning to my life. All the power I could possess is meaningless if I cannot use it to fulfill a greater purpose,
he thought to himself. He spit out a blade of grass that he had been holding in his mouth, and watched as it floated to the creek and was absorbed by the frigid waters. Galvan cast a thick juicy earthworm from his tree branch fishing rod, and watched as it floated through the water to a shadowed portion of the stream’s banks. The warm yet cloudy weather made this day perfect for catching the trout in this stream. Suddenly, a brilliant flash under the crystal clear water startled Galvan as he felt a tug on his pole.

“Oh look at the color on this one…I can’t believe how beautiful she is. I have to give her a moment to take the bait,” he said to the audience of birds chirping loudly at his excitement. He stood up on the boulder, planting his feet. “You can try to swim away all you want, my dear, but tonight I dine on trout!” he exclaimed, pulling with all of his might. The beautiful trout soared through the air. He reached out his hand and caught it in midair. The majestic catch flopped and struggled futilely as he looked down at the night’s dinner. “You, my dear…you…” Galvan paused as the trout frolicked in his hand. He opened his hand, allowing the trout to fall to the creek below. “Are … too small.” Galvan frowned as he unwillingly finished his thought.

He reached into a nearby pouch and pulled out an earthworm to replace the one that he had just used. “Let the next be larger than the last.” He pulled a pipe out of his pocket and proceeded to pack it with some twag, his preferred foliage for pipe smoking. Galvan wore brown robes and cloth shoes, and his silver, braided hair swung past his shoulders. He checked his pipe over, and upon satisfaction, proceeded to trace illuminated runes in midair with his hands in front of him. Like many other sorcerers, Galvan used every chance he had to practice his techniques. “I travel the longest road from east to west and then two hops over the trout creek,” he said as he formed distinct symbols with his fingers. A twinkle of light emanated from his hand and proceeded to spawn a small bright flame. He could feel the warmth of the flame as he brought his pipe closer to it. He stopped for a moment and said, “All things in moderation.” He proceeded to use the present flame to light his pipe. He breathed deeply and his pipe began to glow a bright red. Moments later he exhaled a large plume of smoke. He closed his eyes. A large grin crossed his face.

“Tirrius, my friend, you grow a good twag,” he said out loud to himself. He nodded in satisfaction while drawing yet another puff from his pipe. Tirrius was a local merchant with whom Galvan had had many dealings, mostly relating to the purchase of twag and a collection of smoking pipes. He puffed out a smoke ring and proceeded to cast out his bait again. He hoped to catch a fish sufficient in size to be a succulent meal. The bait hit the water, casting a hundred ripples to the edges of the creek. The bait worked its way through the underwater labyrinth of rocks and weeds, dancing and wiggling to attract the attention of a larger trout. The sudden eruption of another fish on the bait startled the young sorcerer.

“Another one already! Today is turning out better than I had hoped!” He dropped the line to the fish, allowing it to enjoy what could be its last meal. The fish gulped the bait ravenously. Galvan set the hook. The fish tore at the line, attempting to break free. Galvan kept his poise and held the pole firmly. The trout finally tired in its attack, and then Galvan pulled as hard as he could and yet again sent the fish flying majestically toward him. He again reached out and caught it midair while slowly taking another drag on his pipe.

He examined the fish and nodded. “Now this is the kind of catch some men wait hours for. And today I am lucky enough to have caught two beautiful trout. However, you sir, are the grander specimen and will make a fine dinner tonight.”

He took the magnificent fish, gathered his effects, and began to work his way back to his home. He leapt from the rock to the shore and then proceeded to make his way across the bridge back toward the center of town. He looked off to his left as he walked down the almost empty street, and saw a familiar face walking on the opposite side of the village. It was Catherine. He had met her when he first came to this village five years ago. Their glances met across the courtyard, and she immediately flashed him an excited smile and playfully skipped toward him at a torrid pace. The sorcerer noticed her long, auburn hair whisking in the wind as she glided about the cobblestone piazza. Her soft, gentle green eyes were locked on his the entire time, and he was ensnared by her presence.

“Galvan, how was your most recent adventure?” she asked excitedly.

“Oh, you know, nothing I’m not used to. Just killed a dragon and defeated some of the relentless undead. All in a day’s work for Galvan Gabrielle, master sorcerer of Alacrecia, protector of the lands.” A huge smile crossed his face and he raised his arms to proclaim his fame to the mostly deserted courtyard.

“You were fishing again, weren’t you?” she asked in a rather sarcastic tone.

“Yes, yes I was. How did you know?” He didn’t even try to deny it. Outside of the occasional big fish, Galvan hadn’t seen a good adventure in a long, long time.

“Well, for one thing, you have been out on that rock since this morning…plus, let’s face it, Galvan, I don’t know if you are really cut out for the fast pace of adventuring,” she said playfully.

Galvan was a little flustered by her words. Since he had come to this village, Galvan felt a need for something more out of life than just bartending every day at the Silver Shield in Haile. Lately that feeling had been exacerbated by a daily repetition void of any real substance.

“Now, Catherine, make no mistake, I can still go.” He forced a smile to cover up the slight damage to his ego from her previous biting comments. “I may not be as flexible as when I was your age, but I can still go the distance with the best of them.”

“What, when you were two years younger?” she questioned with disbelief over the obvious similarity in their ages. Her tone suddenly changed to one of concern and irritation. “Don’t forget, Galvan, you may be twenty-eight years old, and I may not be as old as you, but I can tell you this: if you go looking for danger, eventually you will find it. When that happens, what will you do?”

“When I finally find a danger worthy of my strongest efforts, I will ignite the sky and rain fire down on whatever evil stands before me.”

“What if that isn’t enough, Galvan? What if you find a danger so great that you cannot defeat it? What then?” Her face saddened as the horrible thought of what could happen pervaded her mind.

“Then, I will light my pipe, and at the very least, enjoy one last puff of twag before I draw my final breath.” His smile widened and he chuckled deeply.

“Well, Galvan, just remember that you will always have a home to come back to here in Alacrecia.” A smile returned to her face. “So, any plans for later tonight?”

“Just work,” he replied. “I need to go in a little early tonight, one of the other bartenders cannot make it, and since there is a knighting ceremony tonight, they said I should come in a bit earlier.” He fumbled around in his pocket, pulled out his pipe, and packed it with a fresh load of twag.

“Show me, Galvan,” Catherine pleaded. “You have to show me how you do your magic.”

Her comments piqued his interest; he couldn’t resist a chance to educate her and stroke his ego. “I simply draw on this world’s hidden energies and produce sorcery.” He held up two fingers. “It’s simple really, all it takes is practice and anyone can do it…but it takes a true master to do it like this.” He began to trace runes in midair. “I travel the longest road from east to west and then two hops over the trout creek and…” The runes again responded to his call and a small flame appeared, suspended in front of him. He proceeded to light his pipe off of the hovering blaze.

“That is incredible!” Catherine paused for a moment and then looked at him curiously. “Do you think I could learn to do that?”

“Well, come here for a moment.” He motioned for her to give him her hand. He gently placed his hand on top of hers, and she felt her heart flutter ever so slightly. “Take your pointer finger and middle finger and spread them apart and extend them, keeping your other fingers folded in. Now that you have just those two fingers pointing outwards, draw this symbol.” He took her hand and extended it in front of her and pulled her hand from right to left. “Listen to me very carefully. There aren’t very many sorcerers because it takes so long to harness the hidden powers of this world. Most people give up within a few days. Even though I doubt it will occur, if you would happen to get a faint light to appear, just remember the rest of the spell is ‘two hops over the trout creek’ and you should get a small flame.”

She shot him a puzzled look. “What do you mean ‘two hops over the trout creek?’” she asked, perplexed.

“I describe most of the symbols that I trace so I can remember all of the different combinations…there are so many. In this case you travel down the longest road from east to west and then take two hops over the trout creek in order to cast basic flame sorcery.”

His words finally made sense as he showed her the last symbol in which he made an
n
shape twice with her hand. “Oh I get it now, like this,” she said, tracing the exact symbol he just showed her. “I travel the longest road from east to west and then two hops over the trout creek and…”

Nothing happened. A sad look crossed over her face. “Well, Galvan, we can’t all be as talented as you, right?”

Galvan’s face turned sour. He forced a light chuckle. “Well, I wouldn’t say I’m that talented.”

“Galvan, you know I didn’t mean it that way.”

“I know, but I still think back to that day, and know that if I had truly been strong, I could have won…I could have defeated Kastor.”

“He’s the one who challenged you to that winner-take-all sorcery match, isn’t he?”

“Yes, our match was never stipulated under official sorcerer rules, and because of that, Kastor was able to defeat me using forbidden Dark Sorceries. I didn’t stand a chance against Kastor when he eventually cast the dreaded Dark Arcanus. Dark Sorceries are forbidden because they pervade the very life force that supports the harmony of the Everglen that many sorcerers use to practice their magic. The energies in the Everglen are much stronger than anywhere else in Forme, so as sorcerers we want to train and practice there. But the trees wilt, the grass turns a dark brown, and the Everglen’s life-force is permanently damaged every time Dark Sorceries are cast inside of it.” Galvan paused for a moment and frowned. “My father, Gorbin Gabrielle, stepped in to disperse the Dark Arcanus and he saved my life. However, I couldn’t live with my failure, so I left the Everglen. I didn’t feel that I had the right to live there after such a total defeat. My own father had to step in and help me…I wasn’t strong enough then, and because of my failure, I have almost completely given up practicing more powerful sorceries. After his ‘victory,’ Kastor demanded that Gorbin recognize him publicly as the next great Sorcerer of Forme. When my father wouldn’t do it, stating that the only way for Kastor to become a great Sorcerer of Forme was through years of practice, Kastor threatened to destroy the Everglen. Upon hearing this, my father banished Kastor from ever returning under penalty of death.”

Galvan stopped and then attempted to change the subject. “So, Catherine, are you going to practice?”

“Practice what? Oh, the spell you taught me! Yes of course, I can’t wait to cast my first sorcery, Galvan. Thank you so much…and I’m really sorry that I brought up your past,” she said in a faint, depressed voice.

“Bah, don’t worry about it, I have bigger things to concern myself with now,” he said. He smiled lightly, forcing the images of five years ago out of his head. “Speaking of bigger things, I have to get going to work. I’ll drop by your place when I’m done.”

“Please do, Galvan. I’ll cook the trout and we can have dinner together.” She stuck out her hand and Galvan handed the day’s catch over to her with a smile.

“I look forward to it.”