Branded Mage (23 page)

Stepping
forward and turning on his lead foot, Thad brought up his elbow, smashing it hard into the officer’s nose. He was rewarded with the sound of breaking cartilage and a grunt from the lieutenant as he stumbled backward. Thad didn’t let up, bringing his sword around and down, sweeping the man’s feet out from under him. As the lieutenant tried to pick himself off the hard ground, Thad brought his sword down across his back with a loud thud.

With the battle won
, Thad walked back to his comrades who cheered and patted him on his back. Eloen joined in, but he could tell she was less than pleased with his performance. When Lucas moved up for his chance to fight, Eloen grabbed Thad by the arm, pulling him away from the crowd.

“What was that?” She
asked; her voice and body language clearly showing her displeasure with his show.

“He’s a pompous ass that needed to be taken down a peg or two.” Thad replied defensively.

“Yes Webber is a major ass. But we can’t afford you to start making waves this close to the Ablaian attack.”

Thad was saved from having to respond
, thanks to Lucas losing in a grandiose style. Thad quickly joined his other friends in breaking down the fight for Lucas and helping him find out where he needed work.

After their sparing was finished
, they all headed for a quick breakfast where they talked more about their previous and upcoming fights. Once their meals were devoured, they all headed to their respective posts.

Thad’s first stop was to see Andre
, who was busy working in the smithy, making his steel plates. The blacksmith had already finished three, so Thad grabbed them and headed for his own office. Once inside, Thad went straight to his desk and began working on the magical charging plates.

The first one took a lot of effort to find the best array for the gems as
well as the perfect enchantment links that would allow for the best absorption rate. While he was working on the second, he heard the door to his office open. He didn’t think it was time for the midday meal, but he could be wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time he lost track of the hours as he worked. He was at a good stopping place, having just finished linking two of the gems together.

Turning around
, he found Hunter creeping toward him with a bloody knife held in his hand. Thad had been focusing hard that his brain was still a bit sluggish. He didn’t quite understand what was happing until Hunter lunged at him with the dagger. Thad instinctively threw up his arms trying to protect his vitals. Thad screamed loudly as the dagger bit deep into his forearm.

Thad regained his wits quick enough to activate his shield ring as he kicked hunter off of him.
He didn’t have a weapon, but he didn’t really need one. This was one time when no one was around to get in the way if his magic. Thad touched his rune necklace and cast a thick lightning bolt towards Hunter, hitting him square in the chest and throwing him back hard against the wall. Thad could smell the burning flesh and hair as Hunter’s body slid lifelessly to the floor.

Thad got to his feet and looked down at his arm. A steady flow of blood flowed from
the wound. He tried to stem the flow with one of the blankets he had used to cushion the explosive orbs. The blood quickly started to soaked trough the blanket and Thad knew he was in trouble. He stumbled to his feet and made his way out of the office. Opening the door, he found his young female guard slumped on the floor with her throat cut. Well, now he knew why the dagger was already bloody when Hunter had come into his office.

He used his hand to steady himself as he staggered down the hall
. His head was growing light and his vision was blurring as he reached the door to the blacksmith workshop. Thad fell through the door, barely catching himself on one of the workbenches. He didn’t see Andre, but the other soldier started yelling and rushed towards him.

Thad tried to fight the soldiers off with his one good hand
, but his strength was waning and it was a constant battle to keep his eyes open. It was a losing battle and Thad felt as his knees hit the stone floor hard. He tried to stay upright, but it was hopeless. He began to fall forward. He didn’t feel the impact of the ground as darkness enveloped him.      

CHAPTER XVIII

Thad woke on his soft bed
, surrounded by three of his friends who all wore serious looks on their face. Eloen sat at his bedside while two of her troops Alden and Donnie stood armed for battle on either side of his door.

“Sleeping beauty finally awake?” Eloen said
, smiling though her voice was taut with worry.

“I j
ust needed my beauty sleep.” Thad said, trying to keep his voice light and jovial.

“We found Hunter and Kylee. It was pretty easy to piece together
that Hunter had killed Kylee then attacked you. We searched his belongings and found a few letters indicating that he was working with the Ablaians. Since we don’t know if there are any more, we decided my squad will be reassigned as your new security detail since everyone here has had a chance to kill you numerous times and haven’t done it yet.”

“So the Ablaia
ns are sending spies to kill me? That’s wonderful.” Thad replied sarcastically.

“We don’t think so. None of the letters pointed at you directly
. They just said that he was to do his best to hamper our defensive efforts. We believe he saw you as an obstacle to the Ablaian invasion, but we’re not going to take any chances for now on. You will be guarded even when you go to the latrine.”

Though her voice was serious
, Thad could see the concern in her face. It was nice to know someone cared, but he didn’t like the idea of having an even more intrusive guard than before. Looking up at Eloen, he knew arguing or complaining wouldn’t get him anywhere so he resolved to deal with his new guards as best he could. At least this time they were people he counted among his friends.

He wanted to get back to work
, but Eloen and the military doctor refused to allow him any of his enchanting supplies. While his wound had only been on his arm, he had lost quite a bit of blood so they wanted him to rest for a few days without doing anything that stressed him physically or mentally.

With little to do
, Thad asked for his magical book so that he could get some good reading in while he was stuck in his bed. It wasn’t ideal, but at least he might be able to learn something that would be of help later on. He had learned early that the better he understood the forces of the world, the easier they became to manipulate and copy.

Neither Eloen nor the doctor could see a good reason to keep him from reading
, so they sent a runner to fetch his travel pack from his office. It was annoying not having the thing with him. He decided he was going to start carrying it everywhere. He hated being bored and everything to keep him busy was now on the other side of the fort. In all fairness, he wasn’t in the clearest mindset when he left it behind.

While he waited on the book
, he chatted with Eloen whose worry still showed clearly on her face. He tried to steer the conversation away from talks of war and death, but somehow the conversation kept coming back around to the upcoming battle.

“Seriously Thad
, I don’t want you on the battlements during the battle. If the situation gets that dire, we can call for you. Until then, you are to stay back at the command center.”

“Eloen
, I know you’re only trying to protect me, but it’s my choice. If I decide to be on the battlements, nothing will stop me. If my being up there helps to save so much as one life, it’s worth the risk. By time the battle starts, all the help I can provide with my enchantments will be at its end. If I remember correctly, the queen wanted me to be seen during the battle, not just by our allies but the enemies as well. While I know you outrank a civilian in a war zone, I still don’t think that gives you the authority to override the queen.” Thad said, getting agitated with Eloen stubborn resistance.

“Fine
, have it your way but don’t expect me to cry when you get yourself injured again.” Eloen said before storming out of his room.

Alden and Donnie broke out laughing a short while after Eloen had left the room. “You two lovebirds having a little love spat?” Alden said giving Thad a broad grin.

Thad wanted to throw his pillow at the annoying soldier, but he was too comfortable to bother with it. He opted instead to simple stick out his tongue out at Alden.

Thad was happy the runner returned with his magical tome. He had only had sparse moments on the journey to rea
d so far. He had filled the tome with countless books before leaving the capital. A lot of them had to do with what little history he could find of the time before the Fae wars. The killing of magic had included any written knowledge, so he doubted he would find much about the mages of the past, but any hint he could find about them might aid him in his endeavors to unearth the secrets of the past.

Thad read late into the night
. His guards were shifted every few hours, but he paid little attention to who was in his room at any given time. The first few books he searched were histories, only mentioning the scourge of the mages. They never offered many details about how they lived or their capabilities.

He was currently reading
the diary of a long forgotten baron who had a small holding not far from what was now the capital of Farlan. Thad figured the book was found in the ruins of his estate and sold to the Royal school as an antique. It mostly held the Counts thoughts and day to day events, but it often mentioned a mage he had hired.

The mage had earned the job after creating a richly decorated waterfall
from out of the ground. The baron had to pay dearly to keep the mage around and his main function seemed to be as a status symbol. There was little else written mention the mages power, but Thad continued to drag through the diary, reading every mundane passage in hopes of uncovering even the tiniest tidbit of information.

“Having fun reading through that musty old book?” Darryl asked as he plopped down heavily on the edge of Thad’s bed.

Thad kicked Darryl hard in the back. “I was trying to enjoy it until some loudmouth illiterate buffoon had to interrupt me.”

Darryl freighted ignorance and shock. “Who would do such a thing? Tell me who was so inconsiderate and I shall smite them with my holy wrath.” The two young men sat with serious expressions for a few moments before breaking out into a gall of laughter.

“You really know how to stir up a heap of trouble you know that Thad? Ever since
your little attack, they have been searching every last soldiers personal effects trying to ferret out spies. So far they have found two more soldiers with missives from the Ablaians. It isn’t pretty, but spies are inevitable between countries and with this fort being the only link between Farlan and Abla, you would expect to find a couple. Everyone knows and expects that’s why we all observe each other so closely, but no one took it so seriously until you were attacked. I can understand why. If the Ablaians don’t know about you, then they’re in for a surprise when they launch their little attack.” Darryl said punching him solidly in the arm.

“Well next time I’ll try not to get myself injured so you don’t have to worry about upsetting your little routine.” Thad replied dryly.

“See that you don’t, and if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could you see that you don’t upset the captain like that again. She has been a pain the backside since you got attacked. I don’t know what you said to her today, but she’s been on a rampage ever since she left your room.”

Thad let out a heavy sigh and grabbed the glass of water on the table next to his bed. After taking a hearty drink
, he offered some of it to Darryl who gladly accepted. “We had a little disagreement on if I should be present on the battlements during the battle. She wants me to sit back in the safety of the command center while everyone else is out there in harm’s way.”

“Ah, so the young captain is worried about your safety and your pride forced you to refus
e her generous offer. I’m telling you, the way you are with women, you will be lucky if one doesn’t kill you.” Darryl said laughing.

“You might just be right there my friend.” Thad said laughing along with Darryl.

The two talked until Darryl’s guard shift was over. Once he was gone, Thad went back to reading. The diary was still incredibly boring and he soon drifted off to sleep with the tome still in his hands.

The next two days were a measure of Thad’s patience. It was agonizing
, having to stay in bed, but he had already fought with Eloen more than he wanted to and wasn’t looking forward for another round. The doctor had said that he would be able to get out of the bed today as long as his vitals were still good and his arm was healing normally, and there were no signs of infection. It was still early, but it was hard to wait for him to show.

Shortly after the sun cleared the horizon
, the doctor walked through his door. He was a kind, older man with sandy-brown hair and a bushy mustache that looked as if a caterpillar had crawled on top of his lip.

“How are we felling today Master Torin?” He asked in his gruff voice.