Master Mage (14 page)

Moving quickly through the woods, Thad
and the others hurried toward the entrance of the hidden tunnels.
Thad could hear the subdued laughter of the other soldiers as they
rushed through the trees, and Thad couldn’t help but join in.
Everything had gone smoothly on their end, and the sense of tension
that been hanging over his head had dissipated.

Once back under the cover of the dark
tunnels, they rushed back toward the intersection where they had
left Killian and his men. Now that the tension was gone, Thad
started to worry about the other half of their group. Picking up
his speed, Thad hoped that he would find his friend and the others
had fared just as well in their nightly endeavor.

When Thad’s group reached the
intersection, Thad waited for any news of the others impatiently,
using his magical eye to peer into the darkness as far as possible.
When he caught the first glimpse of moving bodies, Thad gripped his
staff, his hands sweating profusely as he wrung them across the
smooth wood.

Would you not do that? It
makes my wood chafe.

“Sorry,” Thad replied, steadying his
hands.

“How do you fare?” Thad heard Killian’s
voice echo in the darkness.

“We have fared well this night,” one of
the soldiers on Thad’s side responded. “How has the night treated
you?”

“It has treated us well, though not as
well as I would have liked,” Killian replied, his teeth shining in
the torchlight. “We have one wounded, but it is not
serious.”

Thad could see Killian and another man
helping a third down the passage. With his magical sight, Thad
could see the blood that was pooling on the man’s leg. The cut was
not deep, but Thad could tell that it had severed more than a few
of the man’s muscles.

As soon as Killian grew close, Thad
immediately went to the man and bent down, examining the wound
closer. Thad was tired, but he still had plenty of energy left, at
least enough to ensure the man would not be taken out of the fight
for more than a handful of days.

“Much appreciated,” Killian told Thad
after he had finished his efforts to heal the man. “Fool let one of
the men get to their swords while he was dispatching another. He
needs a bit more training, but it was bound to happen. I just
wished it had been a few nights into our work. Never bodes well
when you get caught on the first encounter. They will be more
prepared for us tomorrow night.”

Once they were back at the camp,
Killian asked Thad to follow him back to his tent. Like always,
Thad was surprised at how nice the inside of the simple tent
looked. While one might not be able to tell the difference of the
leader’s tent from the others from the outside, it was easy to tell
once one was inside.

“How did your venture go?” Killian
asked as soon as they were sitting comfortably inside the tent.
Killian grabbed a copper pot and filled it with water and placed it
over a newly lit fire.

“It took a lot longer than I had
anticipated, but once they pull back the timber to launch, it
should snap like kindling underfoot.”

“That is good to know,” Killian
replied. “I would guess they will spend another day building more
catapults before launching their initial attack upon the fort. Once
they find out that all their siege weapons fail, they will double
their guard, especially around the siege weapons. That gives us one
more night to work before our jobs become nearly impossible without
detection.”

“What are we going to do, then?” Thad
asked, confused.

“That was why I asked you to come with
me to my tent—so that we could discuss what we else we might do to
hinder our foes. Is there any magical assistance that you might be
able to offer?” Killian asked as he poured Thad a steaming mug of
tea. Thad had found that the warmaster stayed away from ale and
other brews and tended to be fond of a slightly tangy tea with a
strong citric aftertaste.

“I wouldn’t even know what kind of
magic could be used,” Thad replied, taking the offered cup. “Traps
would set off too soon. If I can’t get close to the wood, I can’t
weaken it, and anything I try from a distance would leave me open
to counterattack.”

“Then let us think on this together, my
friend,” Killian said, giving Thad a serious look coupled with a
sly smile. “Let us start with some of the things you have used in
the past. We might just find a kernel of insight in what out next
move should be.”

The two talked late into the night. It
wasn’t until nearly first light the next morning when Killian
touched on Thad’s use of the disintegrating orbs back in the Rane
capital when he was fleeing. “Now at Southpass, you used exploding
glass orbs. Is there any way we can use those but make them go off
when we leave, like the way you did in Rane?”

“I believe so,” Thad replied, his mind
working through the different ways he might accomplish the task.
“The Rane forces will have to cut down more trees. Is there any way
we might be able to guess which ones they will choose?”

Killian took a drink of his tea and
tugged at his earlobe. “They will want to use younger trees for the
arm and older growth for the body of the catapults. They won’t want
to have to carry the trees far, so they will use those closest to
where they are working.”

“We could place the explosive orbs
within the trees. As well as under the ground around where they are
currently keeping the siege weapons,” Thad said as he looked
thoughtfully into his cup.

“If we cut into the trees or dig up the
ground, they will be bound to notice,” Killian said, shaking his
head.

“I don’t plan to cut or dig. I will
simply have the trees and ground open for me.”

“Then we both have a lot of work to do.
I will send a rider at first light to head to town and see about
glass orbs. I don’t care if we have to threaten the glassmakers at
sword point. By tomorrow evening, you will have what you need.”
Killian said, patting Thad on the shoulder.

“I will also need crystals or gems as
well as some metal. What kind of metal doesn’t matter, but it would
be better if it was easily malleable. It would make my job a lot
easier,” Thad said, standing from where he sat, swaying slightly
from fatigue.

“I will see to it, my friend,” Killian
said, reaching out, steadying Thad by grabbing his arm. “You should
seek your own bunk. You will need what rest you can get. We have a
busy set of days and nights ahead of us.”

Once he was back in his own tent, Thad
quickly crawled into his own bedroll, settling his head on one of
the soft pillows Killian had given him. He had no time to think
about how imaginative the Katanga were about their nomadic life or
how skilled they had been during the night work. His body and mind
had been pushed past exhaustion, and as soon as his eyelids closed,
he was drifting off into a restful sleep.

Thad was awoken shortly after midday by
Killian, who came bearing two large sacks. One was filled with
small glass orbs, and the other was filled with slightly
yellow-tinged crystals and copper trinkets. “I hope these can be of
use to you,” Killian said, setting the bag carefully at Thad’s
feet.

“Copper is not my favorite metal to
work with, but it will more than suit my purposes,” Thad replied
groggily.

“Good. Now I hate to rush you, but you
might wish to have a few of these ready before we leave tonight. In
the future, you will find it much harder to enter the enemy’s
camp,” Killian said before exiting the tent.

Sighing, Thad stood up and pulled the
sack containing the glass orbs to him. Noticing that the glass orbs
were nearly perfectly round, he cursed to himself. If he was merely
infusing them with magical energy so they would explode, it
wouldn’t matter, but he needed to affix them with metal and a gem
so they could be forced to explode when he wanted.

Thad’s stomach growled slightly as he
started to dig through the bag containing the crystals. He had
almost forgotten he had not had anything to eat since the night
before. Reaching over to his pack, Thad pulled out a couple of
strips of smoked meat and began chewing on them.

You should really go find
something better to eat. If all you do is munch on that old meat,
then you are not going to find yourself with much energy
later.

“It’s not like the food in the mess
hall is much more filling,” Thad replied sarcastically.

Using his magical senses, Thad examined
the glass and found that it had much the same feeling as sand,
though it was more tightly bound. With only a slight amount of
effort, Thad was able to reform the glass, making a small hole in
the bottom of one of the orbs.

After taking a sliver of crystal, Thad
forced the copper to form around the crystal and glass. The glass
and metal intertwined, forming a perfect seal.

Thad worked without rest for hours
until a few more than a dozen of the orbs were finished, only
needing charging. Thad had enchanted the orbs to fill slowly using
the power of the gem. His best guess was that it would take two
full days at most before the orbs were strong enough to do enough
damage to be useful. That would push it close to when they would be
needed, but unless he wanted to push himself dangerously close to
the edge of his power, it was the best he could do.

Setting aside the orb he was working
on, Thad stood and stretched his stiff muscles. The sun assaulted
his eyes as he stepped outside into the waning sunlight. Rubbing
his eyes lightly, Thad headed toward the mess hall with hopes of
quelling his grumbling stomach.

Halfway across the field, Thad heard a
faint rumbling coming from the distance. Thad spread his legs and
braced himself for the coming assault. He had expected the attack
to come from the front, so he was surprised when the heavy blow
came from the side, throwing him to the ground and knocking the
breath from his lungs.

Thad tried to roll to his side to
regain his footing, but the heavy weight bearing down on him
refused to budge and held him firmly in place. Sticking out with
his elbow, Thad cursed as he struck something as hard as rock. “I
give … Avalanche, please get off,” Thad said, laughing.

The large rock hound jumped backward
and gave off another loud bark that sounded like two large boulders
banging against each other. Sitting up, Thad laughed again as he
patted his friend on the head.

“Avalanche said you were near. I tried
to stop her, but she didn’t want to listen. She just ran off like a
wisp of wind. I thought about keeping up, but there were so many
people. Did you know that the men here don’t keep the doors to the
rooms locked? I thought it was terribly lazy, so I decided to tie
all their bedsheets together. It was dreadfully funny until one of
them caught me. He was yelling and screaming and chasing me. I was
able to get away, but I don’t see why he was so mad. If he had
locked his doors, it wouldn’t have happened,” Arianna piped in her
high-pitched voice.

Thad shook his head as he watched the
small fairy. She was a Nadari, a race bound to the wind, who looked
much like small children. They were fond of pulling pranks on
humans. “Has Parson come with you as well?” Thad asked as he got
back to his feet.

“The tall elf. He was with us not long
ago. He might have stopped and talked to someone, or he might have
deiced to talk to the other men about locking their doors. The elf
really is good about watching,” Arianna added, pouting.

Laughing at the Nadari, Thad started on
his way toward the mess hall, sure that his elfin friend would find
him soon enough.

Thad found the food inside the mess
hall as undesirable as ever. It looked like cooked chicken, but it
tasted like overcooked muck. Thad didn’t know how they could ruin
meat so well. The Farlan army must have hired their cooks on their
skill of making food so tasteless.

After his unsatisfying meal, Thad
deiced to go to the command center to talk with the general to
discuss what he had learned. Shortly before reaching the door to
the building, Thad noticed a tall golden-skinned man with silver
hair standing off to the side. Changing his direction, Thad walked
up behind the man. “Parson, it is good to see you again,” Thad said
loudly.

The elf swung around and gave Thad a
large smile. “Thaddeus, it is good to see you as well. I was asking
around about your whereabouts, but the best I could get out of
these men was that you were staying in a tent near the eastern edge
of the fort.”

“I have found it much more relaxing to
sleep on the ground than within the walls of the barracks. The
soldiers tend to spend the nights as if it were their last. Makes
it kind of hard for one to get any real sleep,” Thad replied,
laughing.

“I can understand your desire for
sleep,” Parson replied, joining in Thad’s laughter. “I have brought
news from my brethren. They will be making landfall by the next
full moon. They regret the added delay, but the ice flows are
especially strong this year.”

“That is not good, my friend. We need
their strength,” Thad said despondently. “Will you walk with me to
the command center and relay this news to the general?”

“It would be my pleasure,” Parson
replied. “I just hope he takes the news as well as you
have.”