Spellscribed: Conviction (25 page)

Gullin… you look… different.
Endrance observed after the shock wore off.

The bird fluffed his feathers.
You look smaller.
Gullin replied, a hint of humor in his voice
. But this is entirely due to your improvement. Remember, I get closer to my true size the more powerful you get.

I assume there’s a threshold.
Endrance reasoned.
A point where you reach your maximum, but I can still improve.

Of course.
Gullin replied
. The original reduction in size was part of your circle’s design, so that you did not commit suicide trying to call me.

Endrance thought about the circle on his back and wondered if his father had a similar or the same circle.

Yeah
. He replied.
I don’t think that would be good.

The staff is new.
Gullin observed, nudging it with his beak, which seemed to have developed a slight predatory curve.

Yes. This is the staff Joven had been talking about making. Apparently, he managed to convince an elf to help him make it into a Grandstaff.

I am not familiar with the term.
Gullin replied.
Is that an elven contraption?

Yes.
Endrance responded.
I thought you knew almost everything about magic?

I know what I know.
Gullin said defensively.
The elves come from somewhere outside of my reach. I only know about the magic they have used while on this continent.

So you’re saying this is the first Grandstaff made since the elves came here? How long ago was that?
Endrance asked, boggled.

I do not have the ability to give an exact date, but several thousand years.
Gullin answered.

Endrance surveyed the area. Any residual flames seemed to have died down, and it looked like they had managed to not set the plains on fire.

We should return to camp.
Endrance said.
Though I don’t think you’re going to fit in the bonfire anymore.

He could hear the bird’s mental sigh.
I suppose that is something I am going to have to deal with.
He said, taking wing and soaring up into the night sky, his silhouette framed in flickering fire.

Endrance wondered if other mages had familiars, and if they also got as powerful as Gullin seemed to be.

When he returned to camp, he found everyone was sitting around the campfire waiting for the simple bread to finish heating on the iron pan Joven had set near the fire. They looked up as he approached, Selene gave him a slight smile, then returned her attention back to the food. Giselle looked up at him as her tail wagged once, then resumed staring intently at the bread.

“It’s rising uneven.” Bridget complained.

Joven shrugged, rotating the pan with a gloved hand. “It’s not like the fire’s on both sides.” He said.

“I’m back.” Endrance stated, sitting down next to the circle. He laid the Grandstaff next to him, and after a few seconds it rose up with a faint humming sound under its own power to stand on its tip. He hadn’t triggered that trick, so that was new.

“Welcome back, Endrance.” Selene said cheerfully.

“I had to get Gullin back.” He said. The familiar landed on the ground nearby, a puff of flames from his wings increasing the light.

The group glanced at the now larger bird, and then back to their food. “That’s nice.” Joven said dismissively.

“It looks bigger.” Bridget said. She turned to Joven. “Why didn’t you put it in the fire?”

Joven rolled his eyes. “Then it would be burned on the bottom.” He snapped back. “And ‘it’ is a he, remember?”

“Oh yeah.” Bridget muttered. “Sorry.”

Endrance exchanged a look with Gullin. “Is everything okay?”

Selene yawned. “Yeah.” She said. “Why?”

“Have you all really gotten that used to me?” he asked, thinking through the process.

“Yup.” Joven said. “Pretty much.”

Endrance sat in silence. “I don’t know if I should be happy or sad about that.” He said.

Joven shrugged.

“It’s still doughy on the top.” Bridget complained.

Endrance gestured with a hand. “Ignatius.” He intoned, forming the final hand gesture and extending his palm towards the pan and spending the smallest amount of power he could manage. A small stream of heat radiated from his palm, bathing the bread. Seconds later the loaf had risen and firmed up, and Endrance cut the flow of power to his spell.

Joven pulled it from the fire and cut into it with a knife. The outside had formed a hard crust, but the insides seemed hot and chewy. He started passing pieces out to each person. “Thanks.” He said.

“Yeah.” Endrance said, distracted. “No problem.”

Bridget took a bite of her piece of bread. “You were trying to help cook it, right?” she asked, her mouth partially full.

“Yup.” Endrance responded, nodding. “I’ve been practicing my fine control.”

“Your tattoos on your hands look different.” Joven said.

“Yeah.” Endrance said. “Made some adjustments to my tattoos while I was held captive.”

“So what can you do now?” Joven asked.

“It’s pretty much the same as before.” Endrance explained. “I just added a few extra nuances to the spell form-“

“In barbarian please.” Bridget interrupted.

Endrance paused for a few seconds. “I added more lines so my lightning spell is more powerful and I can aim better.” Endrance said. “My propulsion spell is smoother, and has less backlash. I also made some kind of improvement to pretty much every spell tattooed on my body.”

“Your lightning spell is more powerful?” Selene asked. “It seemed pretty powerful before.”

“It’s better now.” Endrance said. “I now use a tighter, more controlled shot.”

“What about your armor?” Bridget asked.

“You mean my wards?” Endrance asked. “Yeah. I fixed that up too. Should be more efficient, and I have this idea for new ones that I am going to need help doing.”

“Will they help save you from being shot in the back?” Bridget asked.

“Actually, yes.” Endrance replied.

“Good.” Bridget said, handing a piece of bread to him. “I’m starting to get worried about the number of close calls you’ve had in this last year.”

Endrance sighed, nodding. “Gods, you’re not the only one.” He said. “I keep trying to figure out what else I should do for my tattoos, but nothing I can think of would be effective.”

“Well, maybe something you can use to heal.” Selene said. “It would make us feel better if you could not be dying on us constantly.”

Endrance thought about it. “That would be great, but my body is still over-stressed from using my healing spell. Life magic seems to work better, but I don’t know any.”

“Your staff seems to know some.” Joven said. “It healed you.”

“Yeah, but it’s not going to be able to teach me.” Endrance said, shaking his head.

“Maybe when we get to the elven lands one of them could teach you.” Selene said hopefully.

Endrance nodded, taking a bite of bread. It was surprisingly good. Swallowing, he gave her a smile. “Yeah, I think you’re right.” He said. “I may have to work as the High King’s Emissary, but at least I can learn as much as I can of their magic while I’m there.” Endrance stood. “I’m going to bed.” He declared, crawling into his tent. As he lay there, the rest of his orders filtered through his mind.

Weldom locked gazes with him. “While you are there, your support staff will try to make as much free time as they can. You are required to gather as much information on the structure of their ruling body, any weaknesses, and most importantly, if they have any knowledge about the Mercanians. Several of their elders may have been alive during their reign, so it’s possible to learn more if you socialize.”

“So… I’m a spy?”

“No.” Weldom countered. “Now you’re a politician.”

“Is this normally part of a mage’s job?” Endrance asked, confused.

“Depends on what you want out of life.” Weldom replied.

“I want to live?” Endrance supplied.

“Then, yes.” Weldom said smugly. “Don’t look at me like that, you are the one who pissed off the ancient black dragon.”

Endrance sighed, pulled the covers over his head, and tried to get to sleep.

Endrance drove the horse hard, his breath coming fast and shallow, as panic rode the reins of his mind as harshly as he rode his mount. The grassy hills gave way to his horse’s charge, and he homed in on the source of his terror. Giselle clung to his back, too scared to look around.

Before him, smoke billowed up into the sky, the pillars of inky black pouring into the burgeoning storm clouds like some kind of inverted waterfall. The late morning sky was bleak and difficult to see through, but Gullin was a gleaming speck of fire gliding just below the cloud layer.

Can you see anything?
Endrance demanded.
You can see through smoke, right?

I do not know how to describe it.
Gullin replied.
It seems that only chaos lies ahead.

Endrance crested the final hill, and his horse came to a stop as her rider went still with shock.

Wayrest was burning. In five different colors. Amidst the ruins of the village, strange, inhuman figures darted before the light of some fires before disappearing into the shadows again. Endrance felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise and every pulse of light felt etched in his skin. He searched the scene before him for the home of the man who had raised him.

He found the location, near the outer walls of town. Within sight of the meager five foot tall, cobbled stone wall, lay what remained of his childhood home. The stone walls were scattered, as if something huge had hit it in the front and bowled through the whole structure in one blow.

“No…” Endrance murmured, rushing forward down the incline towards the wall. The horse leapt the stones in one bound, and he hardly felt the jarring impact of landing. Giselle nearly got flung from his back. The light of the nearby fire burned crimson as he leapt off his horse and ran into the yard.

At the crest of the hill that Endrance had just passed, Joven surged up on horseback, followed by Selene and Bridget. They looked over the town, their faces solemn.

“Yep.” Joven said, nodding his head. “It’s sacked.”

“Is that magic fire?” Bridget asked.

“Looks like there are monsters in the village too.” Selene added.

They began the approach towards the town at a much more controlled pace than their comrade had set.

“Well, Endrance just ran down there, and I don’t think he noticed.” Joven observed.

“He noticed.” Selene said, urging her horse faster. “He just doesn’t care.”

“Shit.” Bridget growled, pushing her horse to keep up. She held the reins with her human hand and drew the cleaver from its saddle scabbard with her wooden arm. “I get dibs on the first monster.”

Joven’s horse suddenly passed them, the barbarian grinning as he vaulted the wall. “First monster or first kill, you can’t claim that until you do it!” he shouted, charging past Endrance’s horse and into the town proper. Bridget trailed after him, cursing.

Selene slowed, watching the two of them do what barbarians loved doing most, getting into trouble. She looked back to Endrance, who was kneeling in the dirt center of the destroyed home and sighed, dismounting. She pulled her chain dagger from her belt pouch and checked to make sure the weapon hadn’t bunched up. She might need its range and the mage might not have the will for self-defense.

Endrance scrambled over the rubble, and Selene heard an aching cry come from him as he found something that caught his attention. She watched him dig through a particularly large pile of rubble, and Selene could make out what looked like a boot protruding from the wreckage. Had his father been in the house when it had been hit?

He stuck the butt of his staff into the wreckage and strained to lever it out of the way. The staff didn’t even bend under the force, but the rubble didn’t move either. Selene considered interrupting him when Endrance muttered something in the strange, impossible to understand tongue, and touched his chest with his free hand before trying again. This time the rock he was trying to move was flung off the pile hard enough to land it fifteen feet away from him.

Quickly, he then found the boot was not occupied, and breathed a sigh of relief. He turned and finally noticed Selene standing nearby, alert for dangers approaching.

“He’s not here.” He said, relieved. “Maybe he’s somewhere else.”

Selene spotted movement behind him and reacted before answering. A flick of her wrist, and some supernaturally powered strength flung the dagger past Endrance and into the dark shape leaping out of the shadows. The muscular looking creature hit the ground without falling, and took two more steps before finally collapsing face first into the earth. The horses whinnied and bolted, having not been tied down.

The skin of the creature was as black as spilled ink, and sharp spikes of bone protruded from its elbows, forehead, knuckles, knees, and down its spine. If it had eyes, they were almost invisible underneath heavy brows and sickly gray and black hair that sprouted from it in uneven patches. Despite its ancestry to goblins, its musculature seemed to be the same as human, though greatly exaggerated.

“What is that?” Selene asked.

Endrance glanced down, frowning as he backed up. “I think it’s an orc.” He said. “Related to goblins.”

“Are you going to… you know, whoosh it?”

Endrance blinked at her. “Whoosh?”

“You know.” She yanked the thin chain, pulling the embedded dagger from it free and into her hand in one smooth motion. Its blood was bright red, almost pink. “Make the shiny wind come out and take his powers?”

“It’s… an orc.” Endrance said, like that explained everything. “It probably doesn’t have enough power to even trigger the effect.”

“We need to know what happened here.” Selene said, looking around for more trouble.

“I know. It’s too late for this one, but if I see another I’ll be sure to stand next to it.” Endrance replied. “The Librarian tells me that proximity has a direct correlation… I…” he sighed. “My ability works farther away from the body, the more magical they are.”

“So how close-” Selene started to ask.

“For him, touching.” Endrance finished. “Behind you.” He added.

Selene swung her chain dagger even as she turned to face the enemy behind her. The blade caught a second orc in the throat with very little adjustment to her aim.

“Thanks.” She said.

“No problem.” Endrance sighed, walking up to the second orc as it stumbled to its hands and knees, blood pouring copiously from the large gash in its neck. He drew one of his antler-handled daggers and drove it into the creature’s back as it fell, dropping to a knee so he could remain close to it. “Neck wounds take time to kill someone. I would know.”

The orc expired a second later, and a faint glimmer of pale golden light flickered around the body, swirling up his arm and into the bracer. Endrance closed his eyes and tried to gather what information he could from the impression. He frowned.

“What the hells?” Endrance muttered. “This isn’t right.”

“What?” Selene asked.

Endrance stood. “I got only fragments, but the most intact of them were of its childhood.”

“So?” Selene demanded, whipping her chain dagger into a circle above her head. She could hear something heavy approaching. “It had a happy childhood?”

“The memories were of a human child.” Endrance revealed, and turned to face the same direction as a bulky humanoid shape tromped past the nearby burning house and rounded to face them. It was much bigger than the orc, towering at nine feet tall and nearly five feet wide, with earthy brown skin and lumps of rocklike bone protruding from its skin all over the thing’s naked body.

“Giant?” Selene asked.

Endrance nodded. “Yep.” He replied. “Small one. It shouldn’t be very dangerous.”

The giant reached into the burning building, seemingly oblivious to the flames as it grabbed something and yanked. Part of the building collapsed, as it pulled a flaming wooden support beam out of the wreckage. It now had a club that burned with crimson fire.

“Okay… now it is dangerous.” He admitted, empowering his wards.

Selene grinned, charging forward before Endrance could restrain her. The giant hefted the large hunk of wood with one hand, and swung it in a sweeping arc as she got within range. Selene jumped; glad she had elected to wear sensible clothes to fight in during their travels. As she leapt over the flaming club, she released the tension of the chain of the dagger she had been holding tightly between her two hands. The blade shot out of her grasp, hitting just beneath the creature’s collarbone and deflecting off a clump of stone in its hide.

She hit the ground, yanked on the chain, and rolled forward as the giant brought its flaming club around and down at her with surprising speed. Endrance lunged forward with his fore and middle finger extended, empowering the lightning spell tattooed on his hand. He hadn’t used it since he had made the adjustments and he was worried it wouldn’t work right.

The tattoo lit up golden, and lightning rocketed out in a straight beam of thunder and brilliant fury. An explosion of sound erupted, as the bolt seared through the air in an instant. Unlike the other lightning bolts he had fired before, this one was continuous and was almost as straight as a quarter inch thick beam of light. It struck the giant directly at the center of its chest, and it froze up, convulsing as electricity coursed through it. A split second later, the beam erupted out its back, clipping the roof of a building a few yards behind it and shooting off into the sky. Endrance let up on the flow of power, and the lightning ray stopped.

The giant fell to its knees, and then down on its face. Endrance looked from the giant to his hand, and saw there were wisps of smoke coming from his fingertips. He shook his hand until it stopped.

“Well that was more powerful.” Selene said, trotting back to him. “Made me look silly.”

“You kept it busy so I could line up the shot.” Endrance responded. “And yeah, that was a fair cry more powerful. Though, it did eat a bit more power than the original.”

“How much is a bit?” Selene asked, looking around.

Endrance took up his staff and walked towards it. “About three times.” He said. “But it fires for longer, hits harder, and shoots faster. I don’t think anything is going to dodge it, if I have it aimed properly when I fire.”

Selene shrugged. “It was pretty too.” She added.

“Thanks?” Endrance said. “I need to try to find my father.”

“Well, with that shot, pretty much every monster in the area knows you’re here.” She supplied. “So maybe he has a better chance of surviving.”

Endrance nodded grimly. “Let’s go get their attention.” He said, walking towards the town center. They made it there and found several new corpses strewn about the area. Joven and Bridget wheeled their horses around to face him, splattered in too-bright blood.

“Look, Endrance!” Joven shouted excitedly. “Orcs!”

“Yeah.” Endrance said, “Let’s see if we can secure the area.”

“I got seven.” Bridget said happily. “Joven only got five.”

“I got two!” Selene added, “Though Endrance took down a giant.”

The wizard sighed, shaking his head.
Barbarian priorities.
He thought to his familiar soaring up high.

Indeed.
Gullin replied.
Shall I get involved?

Flush them towards us if you can.
Endrance said.
Try to stay out of trouble and don’t destroy any buildings; there may be survivors.

Understood.
Gullin replied, breaking into a dive. His aerial viewpoint would give them an advantage. He opened his beak and, without more than a split second of preparation, fired off a string of several tiny beads of fire that Endrance felt draw on his aura, but not nearly as badly as it had before. A row of explosions rocked the ground under them, as Gullin bombarded the monsters from above.

“So what do we have here?” Joven asked. “Orc strike team? I don’t see any goblins.”

“I don’t see much of anything but bodies.” Bridget declared, she winced, glancing at the mage. “Sorry.”

Endrance shook his head. “I need to concentrate on saving what lives I can.”

“Have we even seen any survivors?” Selene asked.

“… No.” Endrance replied. “I haven’t seen any human bodies either.”

“Maybe they evacuated?” Joven said. “We withdraw from the smaller villages when orcs show up. It’s difficult to defend against them.”

A few orcs, some of them on fire, rushed into the town square where the barbarians made short work of them.

“Joven.” Endrance asked. “Tell me something.”

“Right now?” The barbarian replied, burying his axe into an orc’s chest, dropping it like an overfull bag of potatoes.

“How often do orcs attack?”

Joven grunted as he yanked his axe free. “I dunno.” He said. “Takes a few years between attacks, I guess.”

“And are the goblins more active before then?” Endrance asked.

Joven caught a hand axe thrown at him and returned fire, hitting his assailant in the forehead. “They get seen more often, but they won’t show up in force unless a king has surfaced.”

An orc slipped past Joven and Bridget, charging towards Endrance with a crude iron axe held overhead in both hands. Endrance kept it in his vision, but left it to them. Before it could reach him, the blade of the chain dagger buried itself in one of its calves, yanking the thing’s leg out from under him and dropping him on his face.