Forgotten Mage (2 page)

Accepted my fate? Who should
decide my fate other than myself? You are too much like your father
in that regard. He always accepted what was placed in front of him
out of fear that he might be wrong. Do not do as he did and go
through life just trying to please others.

“My father was a great man,” Bren said
defensively. “Everyone still talks about how he saved not only
Farlan from the brotherhood, but all of the races.”

Yes your father was a great
man, but an idiot. He spent his last ounce of strength saving you
and I would rather run myself out of magic and let my gems break
then have you turn out to be of no more of importance than a stable
boy. No, I have far greater plan for you.

“So now you would decide my fate?” Bren
replied accusingly. “What is this grand plan that you would have me
follow?”

For starters, I would have
you learn that you are only as great as you decide to be. Your
father fell into his power by chance and look what he did. Starting
out as a slave and becoming one of the most worshiped men in the
realms. The other thing would be finding your father. I think you
owe him that much for what he has given you.

Bren stopped in mid-stride. “My father
is dead.” The words stumbled out of his mouth, drawing both
Sandrea’s and his mother’s attention.

If he was dead, I would know
it. I can still feel him and that means that somewhere he still
exists and I need you to find out where. There is still hope for
your father as long as the link between him and I is not
severed.

Bren followed his mother and sister,
his mind whirling with what he had just learned. If his father was
truly alive then Bren had to find him. If he did so, all the harsh
looks and mumbled words would cease. He would no longer be the
child who killed his father, but the one who saved him.

It looks like I finally have
your attention. That is good, because the first thing you are going
to have to do is assert your position as the leaders of the mage
lands and for god’s sake, give it a better name. Your father and
the other council members have never given it a true name out of
fear that the other kingdoms might see them as more than just a
small piece of land where people of magical origin live.

As soon as they were within the
confines of the study, Maria bolted the door and turned on her son.
“How could you do that to your sister on such an important day?”
she asked, her voice pitched high and her face flaming
red.

“I did nothing mother,” Bren
proclaimed. “The staff refused Sandrea and came to me of its own
will.”

“Why would your father’s staff refuse
his only daughter and heir to my throne?” Maria asked
vehemently.

“I do not know mother, but it has,”
Bren said lying. In truth he knew that Thuraman hated
women.

“Give the staff to your sister this
instant,” Maria ordered.

Bren held out the staff as he was told.
“You can try and take it, but the staff will not follow
you.”

Sandrea stretched out her hand and
sparks of blue energy arced across her fingers, burning her flesh.
“Don’t hurt her,” Bren pleaded with the staff, but it ignored his
voice. The gem on the top of the staff started to hum and glow
brightly and Bren could fell the power building within it. “Stop,”
Bren yelled yanking the staff from his sister’s touch. “I am sorry
sister, but the staff meant to harm you.”

“There is no way something of your
fathers would try and harm his own blood,” Maria
declared.

“Have you ever heard Thuraman’s voice?”
Bren asked, his voice steady. “I have heard it for far longer than
I have heard yours mother. When you left me alone in my youth, it
was Thuraman who kept me company. You might blame me for father’s
death, but it does not,” Bren’s words came out calm, but there was
no hiding the anger that was hidden within them.

“I do not…” Maria began to say, but the
look in her son’s eyes halted her words.

“Tomorrow I will leave the palace as it
is obvious that I am not wanted here,” Bren said turning around and
heading for the door.

“How can you think that Bren,” Maria
said weakly as tears formed in her eyes. “You are my son and you
will always be wanted.”

Bren ignored his mother’s words and
left the study, leaving the door hanging open behind him. It had
been first time in his life he had spoken his mind to his mother
and while his anger was still burning hot inside, his stomach
churned. Bren could feel the regret already entering his mind and
for a brief moment he thought of going back to his
mother.

If you do that, you will
never be able to start your own life. It is past time that some of
those things have been said and much more. I may not like your
mother, but she was always nice to your father and without him she
has turned into her mother.

As soon as he was within his room, Bren
crawled under his bed and pulled his father’s old pack and sword.
Of all the things his father owned, these were the only two that he
had kept from Sandrea’s grasp.

“I knew that you kept them under your
bed, but what would I do with a dusty pack and a sword? There is no
need for a mage to carry a blade into battle,” Sandrea declared
from behind him as if she could read his thoughts.

“I am so gracious that you didn’t wish
to take everything of our fathers from me,” Bren replied
sarcastically.

“Brother, you don’t have to leave,”
Sandrea said lightly. “Where will you go?” She asked when Bren
refused to turn around and look at her.

“To the mages, to start my training,”
Bren replied as he began shoving clothing into the pack. “I should
have gone there years ago. Mother always said you must know and
understand the people whom you rule.”

“Mother thinks I should…” Sandrea began
to say before a sharp glare from Bren cut her off.

“What would you do with two crowns?”
Bren asked. “Father meant for me to hold the title, so I shall.
Now, if you don’t have anything else to whine about, I suggest you
leave.”

“You’re a horse’s rear,” Sandrea
exclaimed from behind him. “Take whatever you want, I don’t care if
I ever see you again,” she continued, throwing the rings on her
fingers at him.

Bren turned around and picked up the
rings. Bren knew them well, having played with them often as a
child. One allowed the wearer to speak to animals and the other
would turn into a sword. Chuckling to himself, he rolled the rings
in his hand. He fondly remember when Sandrea was only a few years
old and he would show her all of the things their father had left
behind. She had never left his side, but as time passed their
mother had spent more time with Sandrea and soon he was no longer
her loving brother but the enemy.

Slipping the two rings on his finger,
Bren pulled a small grass ring off his own. It was his prized
possession over everything else he had owned. His father had given
it to him when he had been three and they were out on a ride. It
was the first time Bren remembered his father doing magic. Setting
the grass ring on his table, Bren scribbled a quick
note.

Dear Sandrea, I shall always
love you as you are my sister, but I can no longer stay within this
house. One day things might change and I can come home, but until
then watch over mother for me.

Wiping the tears from his eyes, Bren
hefted the pack over his shoulder and rushed down the stairs. The
guards paid little attention to him as he slipped out the gate and
into town. He didn’t know if his mother would send soldiers looking
for him, but if she did, he planned to be far away before she had
the chance.

Thad continued his steady walk forward.
He had no clue how long he had been walking. Time felt different
here than in the outside world. There was no huger, no thirst, but
he still got tired. Cursing his missing foot, Thad looked down at
its metal replacement. There was no magic in here so now all the
weight of the metal appendage made it a chore to lift.

Oddly though, he found that his magical
eye still worked and he could see just fine. There was just nothing
to see. Everything was bland and grey in both the normal and
magical spectrum.

When a small dot of color in the
distance caught his attention, Thad forgot about the weight of his
foot and the tiredness in his body. He ran with all his might in
hopes that another being inhabited the void. Thad didn’t care if it
was a monster or human, just as long as it was something. “Better
to de dead than alive another day alone,” Thad thought honestly to
himself.

CHAPTER II

Bren felt a keen sense of being alive
as he made his way out of the city. In all his fourteen years, he
had never been outside the capital alone. Even during his short
visits outside of the palace, he had been heavily guarded. Bren
knew that the road could be dangerous, but he cared little for that
fact at the moment.

The roads were alive with travelers and
merchants as spring was in full bloom. Bren watched the other
families as he walked along the edge of the road. Every time he saw
a mother fussing over her child, he felt a pang of remorse run
through his body. Each time that he began to feel down, a heavy
nudge would hit him from the side and the air was filled with a
loud rumbling bark.

Bren absently reached down and patted
Avalanches head. To Bren, the rock dog had always been a friend,
but he knew that she wasn’t a creature that was seen every day and
drew more than her fair share of looks. Avalanche looked much like
a dog through her skin was made of a slate grey stone that was cold
to the touch and her legs ended more in stumps than paws. It was
her eyes that really grabbed ones attention though, as they were
made of large bright sapphires. Bren cared little for that,
Avalanche had been his only real friend in the castle outside of
Thuraman and had always been there to comfort him.

Bren could feel the eyes of the other
travelers on him, but paid them little heed. He was used to being
watched though not so overtly. He knew that he stood out in his
finery but there was little he could do about it.

“Boy!” Bren heard a voice holler as he
walked down the road. Looking over his shoulder he spotted an older
gentlemen riding on a rickety wagon staring down at him.

“Yes good sir, can I assist you,” Bren
replied hesitantly.

“That you can, by getting in this
wagon,” the man answered sternly.

“Sir?” Thad replied
confused.

“Look boy, I might not be the sharpest
sickle in the field, but I know a young lord when I see one,” The
old man said leaning down giving Thad a firm look. “If something
were to happen to you, we would have soldiers combing the roads
making the lives of us common folk’s hell. Now get in the wagon
before I thump you a good one child.”

Utterly surprised at the man’s attitude
Bren walked to the back of the wagon and pulled back the tarp.
“What about my dog?” Bren asked, looking back at Avalanche who gave
out a loud bark and bounced around him.

“Dog? Are you sure that’s what it is?”
the old man said, looking at Avalanche unconvinced. “I am sure
your…dog… can keep up with these old horses.”

Thad gave Avalanche a pat on the head
and crawled into the back of the wagon. He soon found that he
shared the space with bags of what he was sure were seeds and a
young girl that looked a few years older than him.

“Don’t be too mad at granddad, he
always acts like he has a burr between his toes,” the girl said
with a kind smile. “My names Faye and that’s my granddad Doren. We
live on a small farm a few days ride from the capitol.” The young
lady held out her hand toward Bren in a slightly awkward
manner.

Bren took her offered hand and brushed
her knuckles lightly with his lips as he had been taught to do.
“I’m Bren. I live in the capital, but I am headed for the Mage’s
Tower to train,” he replied with little confidence in his
voice.

“The Mage’s Tower,” Faye said her eyes
lighting up brilliantly. “I have heard stories about it from some
of the people in town. Grandma Mercy and mother said that they knew
the mage who created the Tower when he was just a boy. Though I
think they’re just telling me a few stories, but mom has a ring
that lights up though it’s no very bright.”

“Your mother knew Thad?” Bren asked,
his heart starting to beat incredibly fast.

“That’s what she says,” Faye replied
proudly. “Mom said that he didn’t always go by Thad though. When
she met him, he used the name Mark. He even worked on our
farm.”

“I can’t see my dad ever working on a
farm,” Bren said laughing. When he saw the girl’s eyes go wide, he
knew that he had said something that he shouldn’t have. “I mean I
can’t see the great mage ever working on a farm.”

Think before you speak. If
they learn you are the prince, they might just tie you up and send
you back to your mother. I am sure that by now she has guards
looking for you. Tonight, you should slip away and keep off the
roads until you get closer to the border.

“I want to see the farm,” Bren replied
to the staff. “Mother hardly ever talks about father and I want to
know more about him.”