Spellscribed: Conviction (3 page)

"And they were there?" his escort asked, disbelieving. "How could such corpses last that long?"

Endrance shrugged. "They lasted longer than that. They were among the first of your kind, and able to use magic."

"We all can use magic." Lucian replied.

"But you have no one who can teach it anymore." Endrance countered. "Maybe it would be better to say that they were true magic users, and because of that, they lived much longer."

"That still doesn't explain how their bodies were still intact."

"Well, consider that they died and were buried in permanently frozen ground. They would be too cold to rot, and that's probably why their bodies were intact."

"This is your word, saying we were allies hundreds of years ago." Lucian replied, resuming his trek towards Gnaeus' tent. "We cannot confirm any of this."

"It's my word, saying not that you were allies." Endrance replied, putting some force into his voice. "But that you were once the same people." he looked to the tent that Lucian had stopped at. "And I think that Gnaeus knows this too."

Lucian snarled, rising to the challenge in Endrance's voice. Endrance let a trickle of power flow through his tattoos, empowering his wards, just in case. Underneath his clothes, the swirling, arcane geometric lines across his shoulders and chest began to glow with an inner light, like an ember. If he willed it, they would flare into a full golden glow as they erected magical barriers to keep him safe from harm.

Different wards would protect him against specific things. One would project a screen that would negate physical objects from hitting him, and another would protect him from fire. He had considered scribing instead, one spell that would protect him from all harm, but in the end, he realized that it wouldn't work out the right way.

While in terms of combat magic, being able to throw up a catch-all defensive spell would be more efficient than casting disparate protection spells. However, with his spells scribed into his skin, he could activate them with a thought, in any order or all at once. He could also make the individual protection spells stronger than if they were part of a broad spectrum ward. It resulted in a more efficient system that would only work for someone in his situation.

"Lucian!" a voice barked out, easily drawing both of their attentions to the tent. Endrance had no doubt it was Gnaeus shouting. "Bring him inside."

Lucian immediately turned and stalked over to the tent entrance. He held up the flap and waited for Endrance to pass through.

"You've said many things that go against what we believe." Lucian growled. "I will not forget this."

Endrance paused, and raised an eyebrow. "I would rather you remember, and think on what I've said." he replied. "I would hope that one of Gnaeus' pack would show the wisdom their Alpha embodies."

He walked through the tent flap, leaving the angry wolfman growling in the cold.

The Alpha's tent was no different from the others, save for perhaps several more trophies from many successful hunts scattered throughout it. Endrance looked around, his eyes adjusting to the change in lighting. Gnaeus sat on the earth, his legs crossed below him. Endrance took a half step forward, but stopped before he put his foot down.

All around Gnaeus, scratched into the dirt floor, were lines. Endrance recognized several forms scratched into the dirt that were of geomantic significance.

"You noticed." Gnaeus said, his voice surprisingly human to be coming from a wolf's lips. "Good. I won't have to remake any lines."

The elder wolfman was one of the most physically fit wolves the mage had ever seen, with strong bones and powerful muscles that weren't obscured much by his fur. His eyes were very human, something that surprised him every time he saw him.

"I try to be diplomatic." Endrance replied. "I am sorry for aggravating your warrior."

Gnaeus' tail flicked. "He is... he still has some of his youthful impulsiveness. Would you forgive me?"

"I understand." Endrance said, sitting outside the edge of the lines. "You wanted to speak to me?"

Gnaeus nodded. "I wish to find out the results of our arrangement."

Endrance nodded. Before, Gnaeus had approached him asking to broker a peace between their peoples. Endrance had left Balator after speaking at length with the newly appointed king and had ensured that there would be no more actions made against the wolfmen in their territory.

"I have made sure the new king has agreed to cease all military action against your pack, and made it clear that there was not to be any retaliation for the undead that attacked us earlier. You have my word." Endrance relayed.

Gnaeus shrugged. "Your word has proven to be good, even when you thought me dead."

Endrance sighed in relief. "And you have no idea how glad I am that you survived."

Gnaeus eyed him for several seconds before blinking. "I believe you mean it." he observed. "I am surprised that there are humans capable of having such empathy for another species."

Endrance smiled. "Well, I'm not exactly fully human anymore."

"I get the feeling that your heritage did not even cross your mind, mage." Gnaeus replied.

"What has been crossing my mind is how you managed to survive." Endrance said, touching his bandaged abdomen. "I only ask because I've been having some similar difficulties, but I am not recovering as fast as you."

Gnaeus looked Endrance over from where he sat. "Tell me." Gnaeus began. "How does your healing spell work?"

"It's a spell that combines earth and time magic." Endrance replied. "I use the earth element to generate the materials and nutrients to fuel the healing process and I combine it with a time spell that accelerates the body's natural healing process. It means that I can heal from an injury in a few seconds, in what would normally take weeks. It's a standard healing magic taught by our Circle of Magi."

Gnaeus was silent, his eyes closed as he thought. After a minute passed, he opened his eyes and looked down at the scratches in the dirt. "This makes sense, but I believe I know your problem." He responded.

"What is it?" Endrance asked.

"Your spell makes the body do what it normally does, but much, much faster. While it may be given enough fuel to work that fast, any body will get overworked having to repair so much damage so quickly. You had just been injured too many times, in too short a span, for your body to be able to recover."

Endrance frowned. "Oh... That... That does make sense." he said. "But wait, how did you heal so completely, and so rapidly?"

Gnaeus smiled a toothless grin. "My body is suffused with the abundance of nature." he replied. "The element that you tried to emulate with earth and time. It doesn't run out, or get overworked like your method does."

"Damn." Endrance muttered. "I really need to study up on that. Why did we humans not learn this?"

"That I do not know." Gnaeus said. "Though I think it might have something to do with where your mages came from. Our histories say we always had life magic."

"Oh." Endrance filed that fact away for later as well. If there was something the Circle's institution of learning was missing, he could make a huge impact by reintroducing it, if he could learn the magic.

"I also believe there may be something else going on though." Gnaeus continued. "And that has to do with your human and inhuman nature."

Endrance remained silent, listening. A faint breeze of cold air drafted through the tent, but it went unnoticed.

"In our ancient times, back during the beginning of our breed, we were tasked with the destruction of an ancient foe." Gnaeus told, keeping Endrance's gaze.

"The Mercanians." Endrance replied. "I believe I got some of those memories from the mages we fought."

Gnaeus nodded. "Then you understand some of what I know. The Mercanians were frighteningly powerful users of magic. It had been believed that they were not of this world, like humans or wolves are, but of magic itself."

Gnaeus took a deep breath as he concentrated on his story. "Those creatures had bodies constructed much like ours, with flesh, but they didn't live the same way we do. When fully grown, they didn't age, nor did their bodies heal with any rhyme or reason. However, since it was our responsibility to slay them, we had to learn why.

"We discovered that, in the same way they could form spells in their bodies, their bodies could only be healed by concentrating some of their power into their wounds. Since they were never human, they stored all their power in their bodies. So it took but a thought to heal all but instantly fatal injuries."

Endrance looked down at his bandaged stomach. He was curious about this, but he was also extremely hesitant. "Wait. I'm only half Mercanian." he reasoned. "And as a mundane creature, my flesh can't handle power for longer than a few seconds."

"If that's true, then how are you managing those spells I can see glowing under your shirt?" Gnaeus asked in reply.

Endrance faltered. "Well... I have the spells tattooed." he reasoned. "They're special inks that were put on me as a babe that let me break that rule."

"Really?" Gnaeus asked. "Do you know anyone else who has those spells?"

"Well, yeah!" Endrance replied. "The Archmagus has them."

"Anyone else?"

"... No. Not that I know of."

"Would the Archmagus be powerful enough to still be mundane?"

Endrance thought about the moment he had shaken the man's hand, how it seemed an infinite ocean of power was so tightly controlled in his aura. Or was it? It was possible he had mistaken the location, since he had been so flustered by how powerful that man was.

"I guess not." Endrance admitted. "But I've burned out before!"

"Well you are only half human." Gnaeus reasoned. "You likely have a threshold of power you're currently able to handle, which will only get better as you practice and get older."

Endrance closed his eyes and started concentrating. He touched his aura, drawing some power down to saturate his injury with, but the energy was quickly wicked away by his tattooed spells. The air around him flickered and popped with golden fragments of light, and the tattoos under his shirt and along his arms pulsed with brighter light. He tried for several minutes, but he finally let out a frustrated breath and opened his eyes.

"I can't." he said, upset. "My spells keep drawing the power out. I can't get a low amount of power to work."

Gnaeus tilted his head. "Why do you still have those spells running?" he asked. "Do you expect me to attack you?"

Endrance realized that like a muscle clenched hard for too long, he had left his wards running. They were the likely the source of his problem. He took a deep breath, willingly relaxed his mental grip on the spells, and let the power drain off.

"Okay." Endrance said after he had cleared his head. "Let me try this one more time."

He concentrated, this time focusing just on the connections through his meridians. His heart, the anchor of his aura, drew in the power, and he guided it through his body to the wound. Along the way, he discovered he was more aware of his meridians than he had ever been before, even the deeper, internal channels that were used for casting spells and allowed the movement of his life force.

He felt the rough edges where the wound he had suffered had cut through his meridians, both on the surface and internally. Tentatively, he trickled power into them, expecting them to start burning.

Instead, the aching in his body stopped. Warmth started spreading through his stomach. He hadn't even realized it, but the strung out, nervous sensation that had run up and down his spine since he left Balator slowly abated.

"It's working." Endrance admitted, smiling broadly. "Thank you."

Gnaeus flicked an ear. "I did nothing but discuss anatomy with you." he said.

Endrance blinked, closing his lips. He had inadvertently flashed his teeth. "Sorry." the mage apologized.

Gnaeus waved it off. "No matter, you've learned more of our language than any man I've ever known. I can forgive an occasional misspoken statement."

"Is there anything more I can do for you, Gnaeus?" Endrance asked. "I owe you for this."

"Like I said," Gnaeus replied. "I only talked anatomy with a guest. Now, if you really mean to help, I have something I wish to ask of you."

"Sure." Endrance responded immediately. "What do you need?"

"Outside, you asked how one of my pack would feel about one of your people raising one of our pups." Gnaeus started. "I believe that, with us raising one of yours, it would be only fair that you do the same."

"W...what?" Endrance stammered. "You want me to raise one of your children?"

"All of my pups have grown and moved to other packs, so it would not be mine." Gnaeus replied. "But there are a few that have been orphaned because of my pack’s sacrifices in the hunt for peace."

Endrance knew what he was referring to. "You mean, the wolves who died protecting me." he said, grimacing. His actions were responsible for their deaths, but he had never even considered that they had children who would miss them.

Gnaeus nodded. "Yes."

"I am journeying out of the northern wastes and into Ironsoul, near where you first met me." Endrance admitted in response. "Are you sure you want me to take one with me now?"