Mind Forged: Book One of the Enchanters of Xarparion (8 page)

Of course
, she misinterpreted my awe-stricken silence as the fear or hatred that she was accustomed to seeing from normal villagers.

Looking very vulnerable without her helm to hide behind
, she spoke quietly, “I know you won’t trust me anymore seeing that your country is at war with our people, but I hope you will come to see that not all of us are bad.” She looked away from me and Rosa, sadly. “I should probably leave; this wasn’t such a good idea.”

Pain,
shame, and desperation shocked my turncoat tongue back into action. “That’s not what I was thinking at all,” I blurted.

She looked back
at us as we both shook our heads. Rosa stepped closer to her and put a gentle hand on her elbow. “I promise you that is the furthest thing from his mind, my girl.”

She gave Rosa a searching look, and
the old elf nodded reassuringly and smiled.

She looked at me before
allowing herself a shy smile. “Very well, my name is Maya, daughter of Faeron Talmin, leader of my clan,” she said softly, melodiously, with a formal bow. Somehow that name was nagging at the back of my mind, like I’d heard it before somewhere, somewhere important. But I wasn’t going to spend my time on the past; we had a guest to entertain.

The mood lightened and I helped the ladies sit down
, then I readied the roast and brought it to the table.

“
A roast! Alex!” Rosa chortled, “You have never made me a roast before, or any of these side dishes.” I barely got the platter to the table before she was cutting herself a large chunk and dropping it quickly on her plate. Maya seemed to be a bit more dignified with her food, but I could tell she was eager to dig in as well.

“
Teacher, we aren’t all that formal here, so please just dive in. If you don’t, Rosa will eat the entire roast by herself.”

“
Thank you, Alex; I’ll take your advice. And please, call me Maya. I hope we can be friends, when we aren’t on the training field, that is!” Then she attacked the roast with the same enthusiasm as my master. Maya, such a nice name, I like it. I still couldn’t believe the lady in the mask was so beautiful, so perfect. Rosa must have been listening to my thoughts as she nearly choked on a mouthful of potatoes. I resolved to concentrate on my food and perhaps some safe conversation.

“
So what did you two do all afternoon?” I asked nonchalantly, taking extra care in buttering a piece of bread.

Maya was the first to
stop eating and reply. “Rosa wanted her revenge for the other day when I made her help clean up the training grounds that we’re going to be using.”

“
It wasn’t revenge. You said months ago that you were going to clean that storage building out to store your stuff. I just reminded you of your obligation.”

“
Yes, but back then the place was empty, not loaded with all your magic junk! What did you have in those crates anyway, rocks?” Maya grimaced, remembering the weight and pointing a fork at my master.

Rosa huffed
, “If you must know they were just a few magic rocks, and all of Alex’s iron and steel practice rods, and possibly a few fossilized Swernarth teeth in crates, but that’s it.”

“
Hey, don’t drag me into this; I had nothing to do with it!” I started clearing away the plates and empty platters; there were no leftovers to worry about tonight.

“
Well, I don’t care whose fault it is; you both owe me a new back,” Maya interjected archly, apparently enjoying the banter.

Rosa
smiled innocently at me. “Alex, why don’t you make Maya one of the drinks you made for me?”

Maya eyed
me suspiciously. “Yes, why don’t you? Rosa wouldn’t stop talking about how well she felt the next day after drinking one.” Rosa motioned for her to follow her to the reading area where the comfy chairs were located.

I pulled my book out again and
went to work. Seeing that she is a dark elf, I’ll have to use a different recipe. I just hope that she doesn’t see what I was putting in it, most people run away when you tell them it has dried bugs ground into it. While I was working, I could hear them giggling down the hall. In short order, I presented her with an orange version of the drink I had served Rosa.

“
What’s in it?”

“
Nothing you wouldn’t find in your forest.”

She
tilted her head and seemed to be pleased that I knew where her race lived. She drank about half of it in one go. “It’s not too bad.” Then she finished off the rest and set down the empty glass, smiling. “How long until it wo… wor…” She slouched in her chair and began to inhale in soft, slow breaths, sleeping gently. I was struck by how different from the hard-as-nails combat instructor and lethal swordswoman she was as she sat curled in the chair like a cute little girl. Suddenly a wave of self-doubt washed over me.

“
Oops.”

Rosa jumped up and checked on her
. “What do you mean ‘oops’, I don’t like ‘oops’.”

“
I forgot to ask her how long she has been off the normal dark elf diet. Her body has purged the common herbs that she would normally have in almost every meal so that drink hit her harder than I wanted.”

“
That’s not all,” Rosa snickered, examining the last dregs of the glass with mage sight. “I think you were so focused on creating the perfect drink that you inadvertently added a wee bit of enchantment into the mix, giving her what she desires most!” She snorted and looked at the dark elf affectionately. “A good night’s sleep is always a blessing for her!” Rosa stroked Maya’s hair. “Well, help me get her in my bed so she can sleep it off.” I picked her up carefully and was astonished at how light she was. Her hair smelled like the forest near the sea, and I kicked myself mentally for being the cause of the evening ending so abruptly. The inevitable retribution that would fall on me tomorrow in the practice ring would be brutal; still, the thought occurred to me, if I died right now holding her as I was, I would go a happy man.

We got Maya settled in Rosa
’s big bed upstairs, then continued our normal nightly instruction. Rosa was acting squirrely all evening, bursting out in random fits of laughter. As the night got late, Rosa left me with plenty of reading to do and went to bed. After finishing my reading, I stopped by Rosa’s room to check on things and found them both asleep in the big bed. Shaking my head, I went back to my room.

The
next morning, I decided to let the elves have their sleep and went about the work of making a grand breakfast for the two of them, also as a way to apologize. Six eggs, four slices of bacon, and ten griddle cakes each should do it. Even with the noise from the cooking, I could tell both were still fast asleep; looks like the ladies needed breakfast in bed! By some amazing feat of skill (probably granted by the gods only to idiots who stupidly drug their weapons instructor), I somehow got both trays of food upstairs and into the Master’s room without dropping anything.

When I set the trays down and went to wake them, I stopped
. I could barely hold myself together; in the night Maya had somehow thrown her legs around Rosa and the two of them were now a tangled mess. Having pity on what Rosa might do if she was the first one to be woken up, I started with Maya.

“
Maya, it’s time to get up,” I whispered, dark elves have very good hearing. I was careful as I tried to untangle them.

“
Don’t go, Alex. Can’t we stay here a bit longer?” Ok, I might like this dream.

“
…rabbits…fish…unicorn!” Or not.

“
Come on, Maya, I have food!” That did the trick. Her eyes shot open and she was instantly alert but still couldn’t move.

“
What happened, and why am I in bed with Rosa?” Hearing her name, or more likely smelling the food, Rosa snapped out of it as well.

“
Why hello, my dear, sweet Maya! Did we have fun last night? I can tell you’re already feeling better from Alex’s drink!” Then Rosa planted a big, wet kiss on Maya’s cheek.

“
Ack! Old lady slobber!” Maya cried, as she made a show of wiping it off her face. But I couldn’t stop laughing.

Maya looked
at me somewhat embarrassed and a little cross. “So is this how you treat all your female guests? I guess I shouldn’t complain too much, I do feel wonderful! But you are definitely going to pay for this on the training field.” I gulped, but then I caught the merriment in her eyes.

“
Ok, you two, your food is getting cold so sit up and I’ll hand you each a tray.” After giving both of them their trays piled high with food, I sat down with my own breakfast at the small table in the corner.

“
You made the same thing for me our first morning! Maya, you have to try those cake things; I don’t know what they are, but they are to die for!” And as her usual self, she crammed her food in as fast as she could.

“
Thank you, Alex, for the food and for last night. I do feel fantastic. That was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a very long time; you are a man of many talents.” Things got quiet as everyone was eating, but everyone was happy, you could just feel it.

“
Well, ladies, I need to get going to class; you both slept past noon. Just put your trays downstairs and I’ll take care of them when I get back.”

Alex

Maya and I were in her private training circle, one that was not easily viewed from the outside and where she felt comfortable not covering her face. As usual, dawn had just barely broken and the only creatures awake were some night birds that snatched the moths drawn by the lanterns hung on poles. Maya was wearing light leather armor and had a well-worn metal vambrace on her off arm. We faced each other with wooden training swords.

“
Today, we’re going to start training with the sword. To start with, we will be using these wooden practice swords. Your task is simple; all you need to do is hit me and the lesson is done for the day. But every time you fail to hit me, I will hit you. This will go into the night if needed, so don’t hold back if you don’t want something broken. Now begin.”

We started circling in our
arena. I knew this was going to be a long and painful test. I tried two swift cuts to her left and right side that she easily blocked and was quickly rewarded with two painful hits to my legs.

This is not going to be an easy
lesson. I kept on the attack, trying different directions with each awkward attack hoping to get one through, but each time I was met with the sharp pain of her practice blade and a cocky grin from my tormentor.

“
You’re going to have to try harder than that. This isn’t even a warm up yet!”

This
went on for hours. Every now and then, she would call a break claiming that this was a test of skill not endurance. Fortunately, it was an off day and I didn’t need to be at the forge in the afternoon. Finally, she sighed and motioned for me to sit down in the sand which I did gratefully, while she paced a few minutes as if rehearsing a speech before delivering the bad news.

“
Alex, I don’t think I can make you a swordsman,” she said quietly. “A blade is an instrument of elegant precision, quick strikes to your opponent’s vulnerable areas like joints, eyes, or seams in armor. A sword is never used like a club to beat your foe into submission. You, of all people, being a blacksmith, must have had to repair swords used as such; it’s not proper.”

She lost me at
“I don’t think I can make you a swordsman,” and it must have shown on my face as she frowned and moved closer. Sitting down cross-legged in front of me, she lifted my chin and drew my eyes to hers.

“
Alex, with a lot of work, you could probably rise to the level of competency of the city guard with a sword, but that isn’t going to be good enough for you, is it?”

“
No,” I said bitterly, thinking I was doomed to a life of making weapons I couldn’t use.

“
Good!” She smiled brilliantly. “That’s exactly the right answer!”

“
Huh?”

“
I said I couldn’t make you a swordsman, because the sword is all wrong for you.” Maya poked me in the chest playfully. “Look at you, Alex! Those tree trunks you call arms, along with the strong back and legs; you’re more like an elongated dwarf than a sword dancer! Ok, a cute elongated dwarf,” she added with a slight blush.

“
So where does that leave me?” I wondered, confused.

“
Stay here a moment.” And she hopped up and ran off into one of the nearby sheds. I could hear the sounds of her rummaging through things. She came back and pulled me up with her and briskly led me back to the shed. Opening the rickety wooden door revealed racks upon racks of practice weapons, mostly swords; but axes and pole arms were scattered in the mix as well.

Maya started perusing the assorted axes
. “I think something like this may be more your style - less finesse, more ogre bash!” Watching her bend down to examine each weapon from top to bottom was definitely causing a pounding, irregular heartbeat in my chest, the practice leather armor was form fitting and…

And the voice
of reason, not to mention self-preservation, was strongly warning me that it would not be healthy to get caught looking at my weapons instructor in such a manner, but she was just so damn beautiful! Taking a deep breath and feigning nonchalance, I walked over and checked out the items in the farthest corner. My eyes were drawn to a dull steel handle and leather-wrapped grip that was sticking up out of a dusty old wine barrel. I glanced back, satisfied that she was still axe shopping, and reached into the barrel and drew out a war hammer. An old, beat up war hammer to be sure, but it was still a formidable weapon. I took a few practice swings and, somewhere in the back of my mind, there was a sigh of satisfaction…this would do nicely.

“
Hey, what about this one?” Maya and I said simultaneously, she holding up an axe and me my war hammer. I pivoted to look at her and she was standing stock still, had dropped the axe on the floor and was staring at me like she had seen a ghost, her face turning pale to the point of almost matching her tattoos.

“
Where did you get that?” she stammered, wide-eyed.

“
It was in the wine barrel in the corner over there. I kind of like it, it feels right.”

“
That’s impossible! I inventoried this shed myself two days ago and there was no war hammer here!”

“
Well, mistakes happen,” I said, following her back out the door with my new prize. Once outside, she stood facing away from me, and seemed to be hyperventilating slightly, this from a woman who could run five miles without breaking a sweat! Finally, she turned and stood, hands on her hips and watched me curiously as I got the feel of the weapon. She seemed to be having a heated discussion with herself in elfish, but I couldn’t catch what she was saying. Finally, apparently having won or perhaps lost the argument, she smiled faintly, sighed and ventured back into the shed, returning a couple minutes later carrying a buckler.

“So what is the buckler for? Do I have to learn two new things?”

“
Hell no,” she laughed. “The buckler’s for me! You might actually get lucky and hit me with that monster!”

Actually, I did end up using a buckler
too, as it is very difficult to spar with just a one-handed hammer. The weapon doesn’t lend itself to the polite clashing of blades as in a sword duel, and being slower than a blade means the wielder is left slightly vulnerable from the obvious effects of inertia. But when it does connect, the hammer is a nearly unstoppable force that can easily break a blade or knock it out of an opponent’s hand, and the spike end was developed to pierce heavy armor.

We began to spar
; the results were more satisfying but still largely the same. I still couldn’t touch her with my weapon. It was now well after dinner time, and I could sense my master was impatient and hungry.

“
There is magic in a duel as well, remember that.”

“
Thanks, Primus,”

“
Who are you talking to? Now is not the time to daydream,” Maya growled.

I backed away from
Maya and concentrated on trying to visualize the flow of magic between us. And there it was, just as Master had said. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel where she was and where her sword was going to be. I stood there with my eyes still closed taking in all I could from what the magic could tell me.

“
Well, if you’re just going to stand there all night, I’m going to come after you!”

The
flow of magic in her body shifted and contracted like the muscles in your arm. I could see her moving and where she would stop. I could feel the presence of her sword, and I could react to it. I moved my buckler into her path in a decent block.

“
How did you do that? Your damn eyes are closed!”

She started to attack again
, but I could see what she was going to do before she did it, easily blocking most of her half speed probing strikes and even getting close enough with a few hammer swings to cause her some concern.

“
What the hell! You close your eyes and now you can somehow fight? Were you just toying with me?”

She was getting mad;
her speed was getting faster. Even knowing where she was going to strike, I didn’t have the speed or skill to keep up. My defense failed and she knocked me on my ass in the dirt. She then stepped on my chest forcing me further to the ground and held her practice blade to my neck.

“
Ok, start talking, Magic Boy. What did you do?” She was really mad. But you know I kind of liked it; she’s gorgeous when she’s mad.

“
I just closed my eyes and used my mage sight. Doing that, I can see the magic in you and predict what you’re going to do.”

“
You’re full of it! And you just came up with this idea on your own, in the middle of a sparring match?”

“
Well, not really, Master told me to try it.”

“
That’s fine, but Rosa is not here, so I ask again, who told you?”

“
I’m telling the truth, we bonded when I first got here. Now she can listen in on anything I hear and talk to me over any distance.”

“
Prove it. Ask her for something only she would know.

“
Tell her she had a wolf puppy named Fluffball and her favorite color is dark pink.”

“
You had a wolf pup named Fluffball and your favored color is dark pink.”

S
he looked shocked, looking around furtively to make sure Rosa was not hiding nearby, and she let the sword fall away from my throat. “How did you know that?”

“
I told you, she can talk to me.”

“
Oh, I got a good one! Tell her that I’ll tell you what she was dreaming about last night.”

“
What?! No, Master, she would kill me!”

“
What did she say now?” Maya demanded, bringing the blade back up.

“
She said she would tell me what you were dreaming about last night.” Maya gasped and the skin on her neck and cheeks turned three shades darker.

“
If you do, Rosa, I swear I will kill you! Fine, you two have proved your point, but you still didn’t hit me. Then again, there for a bit, I did have to work to hit you, so I’ll be nice and say lesson passed.” A wave of relief washed over me as she helped me to my feet. “With one condition.”

“
What’s that?”

She
smiled and playfully punched me. “That you make me dinner again tonight. The dining hall’s closed and I’m starving! None of that potion shenanigans tonight though, I’d like to keep my virtue intact a bit longer, thank you!” We both were laughing as we started the walk home. Dirty, sweaty, battered and sore, I didn’t care.

“
You know, I already made dinner this morning. We’re lucky Rosa didn’t find it and eat it all without us.”

“
Wait, you mean to say that I didn’t have to starve waiting for you? Why didn’t you tell me? Where did you stash dinner?”

“
Uh-oh, she’s looking for it now; we better pick up the pace.” We were jogging now.

“
With her nose, it won’t take her long to find it either,” Maya ventured.

“
Found you, the delicious bits!”

“
She found it!”

We looked at each other with
mock horror and concern. “RUN!” and stormed off towards home with the hope that Master would at least take the time to heat it up first.

The next day after
breakfast, I set off for the training grounds. But I couldn’t find Maya there; instead, I found a note saying that class was canceled and to practice on my own. How do you practice with a war hammer by yourself? After swinging the weapon aimlessly for over a half hour, and feeling really stupid doing it, I decided to take a different approach. Thinking about the previous evening when I was watching Maya spar with my mage vision, I realized that if I could master this technique, it would enhance both my weapon and enchanting skills, but to be effective, I would have to be able to rely on it in any situation, regardless of distractions.

Thinking the best place to be would be an area with
lots of people, I headed for Central. Finding a nice, vacant bench with lots of foot traffic, I set to work. Bringing up my mage sight had almost the same affect that it did in the practice duel with Maya. But with some concentration, things became very clear. I could focus on things and see them from angles that I shouldn’t be able to see from my bench. I could look behind me without turning my head; my mind was mapping the area around me. After some time, I no longer needed to concentrate; this was soon as natural as my own eyes. Colors were turning to more of what they should be; stone was now grey again instead of the green color of the magic inside of it.

I reopened my real eyes and found that I could see
normally, but now I could also still sense things around me that were out of my eyesight. Like that there was a bumblebee on the flower ten feet behind me, or that there were three students on my left and one on my right, or that there was someone stealthily creeping up behind me.