The Mages' Winter of Death: The Healers of Glastamear: Volume Two (10 page)

Chapter 13

That afternoon, the caravan of wagons set out from Broken Arrow for Hearthshire Town. Michael and his friends added their strength to the twenty-soldier guard unit that the Southport garrison had supplied. Michael wanted to get back to William’s house to arrange for the transport to Rock Point of the two hundred books that he thought would be most useful for training apprentice healers. Because deadly storms were common, most ships never got far from land even in southern Glastamear in the middle of winter. He had decided to take the books to the protected refuge he had constructed using dwarfish magic at Black Sand Beach four months earlier. From there they could be transported to Rock Point in the spring.

They were preparing dinner in a camp about half way to Hearthshire Town when six knight protectors rode into their circle of wagons.

One demanded to speak to whoever was in charge, and Michael walked forward after secretly casting
quench fire magic
.

Michael said, “Greetings honorable knight. These goods are sent by High Priest Simon of Southport as aid for the citizens of…”

Before Michael could finish his explanation, the leading knight said, “Worm, you have the count of ten to get yourself and all of these soldiers out of my sight. The drivers must stay with the wagons.” He drew his two-handed sword and guided his warhorse until he was directly next to Michael. The horse and rider were so close, that Michael had no trouble touching the horse with a
surgery sleep
spell. It collapsed immediately trapping the knight under its flank. The other knights tried fireball spells to no effect.

The five knights still on horseback charged directly at Michael in their fury, shouting curses and raising their swords to kill him for the affront, but the Southport soldiers were all trained archers who were expert with longbows. Since knight protectors had been a problem on the previous caravan, these archers had been issued hardened iron-point arrows rather than the normal points used for hunting. At close range they could pierce even steel armor if driven by the two-paces-high longbows.

The knights charged into the first volley of arrows and slowed as Michael rolled away under a nearby wagon dodging the hoofs of their warhorses. After the second volley, only two knights remained on horseback and Michael pulled himself to the far side of the wagon and jumped onto it before he charged toward the two knights still on horseback. He cast
surgery sleep
on their horses as he dodged the knights’ blades. With all the knights unhorsed and surrounded by archers who were now standing on the circle of wagons, the four who could still stand formed a circle in the middle of the camp. It might take scores of hits from arrows to bring down a knight in full armor unless one hit an artery. The battle might be long.

“Rogue knights and deserters, if you surrender now, we will take you to Hearthshire Town for judgment by the High Priest. Otherwise none of you will live through the next quarter hour with three score arrows bleeding you dry.”

“We’ll kill you before we die, sewer rat!” They charged Michael before blood loss from their current wounds could slow them. Michael did not want over forty witnesses to the strength and cutting power of his elf-sword, so he used his blade for defense while the archers continued to loose arrows into the knights. He heard shouts as Jim and the Oxbow brothers charged the unhorsed knights from behind.

After a few minutes of close combat, none of the knights were still standing. Michael and his men removed the helmets from all of the fallen knights and held daggers at their throats. All six were still alive but bleeding badly, except for the first knight who had been trapped under his fallen horse with a broken leg but not hit by arrows. Their armor was forcibly removed, and they were bound hand and foot.

Michael decided to see what he could learn of their origin. He approached the first knight, the one he’d unhorsed assuming he was the leader. “Incompetent knight who can’t even keep his seat on a pony, from whence come you and your buffoonish companions?”

“You diseased swine testicle, how dare you question a knight protector. You should know your place, Michael Son-of-Rodents. Do you think I don’t know you because of a beard? I was with the High Priest of Briarton, Baron Joseph Wheaton, when he came to the Inn of the Unicorn Steed to meet with you last autumn. You bought the ruins of the destroyed hospital building that evening, little good it will do you now with the chaos consuming your investment.”

“So why are knights of Briarton this far south, and why have you turned brigand, goat-faced former knight of the fallen steed.”

“Smelly salesman of horse turds, why should I answer any questions from a mere merchant?”

“If you tell me all you know of Briarton, I will align your broken leg and set it with splints. If you do not, we’ll take you to Hearthshire Town for judgment just as you are. Tied up in a bouncing wagon, that won’t be fun.”

The knight paused for a second to consider the alternatives and replied, “My men and I were out looking for special children when the plague began. By the time we returned to Briarton, the temple precincts were sealed by order of the High Priest. He refused us entrance because we might have been infected. Later, Briarton broke down into riot and murder, and we headed south because the winter was so abnormally cold and snowy in Briarton Province this year. It was not a fit place for camping or living rough. Since then, we’ve taken whatever we needed wherever we found it Michael Son-of-Diseased-Vultures.”

After a pause the knight said, “I don’t think the High Priest of Hearthshire Town will judge us too harshly. I do not fear to go there, but you should. Attacking a patrol of knights will earn you a very slow death, Michael Son-of-Toads-and-Slugs.”

One of Michael’s highest priorities was finding where the church was training the abducted children who showed early signs of healing magic. The church intended to replace the murdered men and women of the Healer Guild with their own order of healer priests. Michael had used mage’s thought-talk to probe the knight’s mind during the interrogation. This knight was James originally from Northport, and he was the senior knight of this unit.

Michael had kept the mental link as they insulted each other, and he now knew the actual training school for healer priests was a castle located in the mountains of the northernmost section of Briarton Province near the small town of Crow Crossroads. He didn’t know the exact location of the school, but he knew these knights had spent several nights at the Crows Nest Inn in that town in the foothills of the Mountains of Min.

Michael said, “Maybe it would be a good idea to go ahead and bury all of you now. Breathing earth will close your foul mouth, unhorsed and incompetent knight. What nonsense claim of escorting children. No knight protector cares a fig for any child, even his own bastards.”

The knight only uttered a foul curse and refused to say more, but Michael had learned what he most hoped to know. Jim, the Oxbow brothers, and he had assigned themselves the task of finding and rescuing the children new grown into their healing magic before the church of Perry Ascendant could pervert their actions to the will of the church hierarchy.

Michael also knew something that these knights did not. A just man would soon be the high priest in Hearthshire Town. An automatic affirmation of their actions would not be likely. He knew these men had killed and stolen food from the most needy and weakest citizens as they rode south, but his knowledge was from a mage’s probe of one of their minds, which he could never admit was even possible.

The actions that he could testify to were the attempt to steal the supplies intended for the starving of Hearthshire Province. They had not killed anyone in their attack or succeeded in the theft. Even the most just verdict would not execute them, and Michael feared their wrath would be dangerous in the future, especially when the
quench fire magic
spell wore off. Michael decided he must act to prevent future trouble.

Michael and his friends told the soldiers and wagon drivers that they would look after the injured for that night, and tomorrow they would be loaded into wagons and taken to be judged for brigandage. Most of the soldiers seemed skeptical because they feared the knights’ ire if they ever got free. Without Michael’s authority as the leader of the caravan as designated by Governor Talton, they would have killed and buried the six men as the only truly safe course of action.

One by one Michael and his friends moved the knights to the part of the camp they were using to guard them; as they did, Michael secretly cast
surgery sleep
on each. Jim, Jacob, and Roger tended their wounds without leaving evidence that healing magic had been used. Michael used his earth magic to fashion six thin golden foils, which he enchanted with
quench fire magic
. This was the same technique he’d used to hide the healers’ manna for those few healers who remained in mainland Glastamear. He used
cancer reach
to wrap the enchanted golden foil around the spleen of each man. They would never cast fire magic again unless a master healer used that same difficult spell to remove the enchanted foil.

Michael was still a healer. He knew these men would be enemies for life, but as a healer, he could choose no other course than presenting them for justice to a high priest he thought would actually render it. He had killed in battle, an extremely rare thing for any Healers’ Guild member, but there was no record of a murder by a guild member in its two thousand year history. He would not be the first.

Chapter 14

The journey to Hearthshire Town took two days with the knights constantly complaining and cursing the caravan’s drivers and guards. Michael and his men had to keep watchful eyes on the knights lest they have their throats slit while unguarded. As they approached the wall, word of the arrival of the supplies reached the city, and a crowd gathered. Before they entered the city gates, Governor Tallfellow rode out with an escort of twenty men to greet them.

“Well met my friend Michael, you have fulfilled your promise. The city can now begin to restore itself. Already hundreds of residents have returned, and when word of your food delivery reaches them, thousands more will come home.”

“Well met Governor. I’m proud to be part of distributing the generosity of Governor Talton and High Priest Simon.”

The leader of the fallen knight protectors shouted, “
Arrest these heretics!
They are in rebellion against the Holy Church of Perry Ascendant. They must suffer the death of seven days for their heinous crimes against Holy Perry.”

Governor Tallfellow asked Michael, “Who is this noisy fool?”

“He and five other rogue knights tried to steal the shipment about two days west of here. They are all knights from the Briarton Temple.”

The governor nodded. “Guards, put these defrocked knights in the dungeon of Government House until they can be judged.” The struggling knights were thrown over the backs of horses and led away, cursing the whole time.

That day was a holiday in town with a feast prepared at the governor’s house and served to everyone who came. High Priest Carson was introduced as the new temporary head of the church in Hearthshire Province. The governor proclaimed that the Great Temple of Hearthshire would be rededicated the following day by its new high priest, with the first cast of the Perry’s Fire Sacrament in the Temple in weeks. The feast gave Michael and the other healers a chance to cast
clear lungs
on anyone who had returned to the city with the disease. The temple dedication would give them another chance to look for the sick.

Michael had made arrangements for a secret healer to move here from Southport and set up another apothecary shop to keep the epidemic under control. Jack of White Plains was an elderly healer who had agreed to return and help the citizens of Glastamear in spite of the threat of execution if discovered. Michael expected him to arrive within a week. He planned to rent a prominent shop in the main market square for the new apothecary before Jack arrived. Michael still ran the risk of being recognized, and he and his men kept the helmets on most of the time when they were not in the house Michael had been given.

The feast went on long into the night, but Michael had something he needed to do before bed. He and his friends went to the house that he would always consider William’s house. They pushed a cartload of supplies to replenish Megan’s pantry and larder.

That night Michael climbed to the roof and transformed into a Giant Ki Eagle. He flew to the Perry’s Hand sculpture above the main entrance of the Hearthshire Temple and removed the enchantment that caused it to stop all fire magic. Next, he flew north toward Briarton and the foothills of the Mountains of Min. He circled Briarton thrice finding all the manna signs in the city concentrated in the temple compound. There were so many that he assumed they had avoided the epidemic within the temple.

When he cast
detect life,
he found that there was still a large population of survivors in the city. The chest deep snow and bitter cold had kept many citizens from fleeing to the countryside, and city services were now so weak that the streets were not being cleared of snow. Many citizens would not even be able to leave their homes. Michael knew that in the far north, everyone had snowshoes or skis to deal with snow two paces deep, but the current conditions had not occurred in centuries in central Briarton Province.

He decided that he must get a food shipment to Briarton. It couldn’t wait for the spring. The coastal cities had access to seafood even in winter, but inland cities were in far greater danger of famine when food could not be delivered from the surrounding farms.

He knew that snow-elk had been trained to pull sleighs in the far north, and he needed a supply of both sleighs and elk before it was too late. He would need to ship food to the small coastal village of Sand Point south of the city of Snowport. Sea ice might form near the shore, but it should be thick enough that far north so that they could transport the supplies ashore across the ice. From there, he could ship it overland to Briarton. In the two northern provinces, he should be able to hire or purchase what he would need for the trek inland, but the whole project would be a major undertaking. He took another pass over Briarton before he headed north toward the town of Crow Crossroads that he had seen in the mind of Jack the rogue knight.

His flight took him along the foothills of the Mountains of Min and along the southern reaches of the White Mountains. He finally detected the manna signs of healers in a deep mountain valley. He saw the weak manna signs of eighteen healers just beginning to come into their powers, and the strong manna signs of forty knight protectors or priests guarding the high-walled castle perched on a crag in the deep snows of winter. It looked impossible to breach; it was as well guarded as any place in Glastamear outside of the city of Min Hollow. He was disheartened because it was not a task he could do alone. It would be late spring or summer before any armed forces strong enough to take this castle could possibly reach it by land. He needed to know more; he flew circles around the structure for an hour without seeing any easy point of entry.

He flew back to Hearthshire Town as quickly as possible but it was late morning when he arrived. He quickly dressed in merchant finery, but used a large blue cape with hood to partly disguise his appearance. He and his men needed to attend the noon ceremony of rededication. He would have a good excuse for the cape and hood, since the heat stones designed to heat the vast space had been cold for weeks. It would have been suspicious to attend the formal ceremony in full armor with a helmet on.

High Priest Carson entered the Grand Temple clad in the formal purple robes and miter of the highest religious authority in a province. Eight priests of various ranks followed in the procession chanting a prayer. Some local priests must have returned to the city while Michael was on the road. There were perhaps a thousand citizens present in that huge space that could easily hold ten times that many without crowding. At the critical time, the cast of Bringing Forth Perry’s Fire illuminated the vast space in a blue light. The remaining citizens of Hearthshire Town cheered. After that critically important cast, High Priest Carson walked to each heat stone and placed his hand on it, bringing forth its warmth. The whole ceremony lasted only a quarter of an hour, but it seemed to cheer the hearts of the participants. It would go a long way toward restoring the city’s population when the word spread.

As Michael walked to a nearby stable, he passed the main market square. He was pleased to see that the snow had been removed and that three stalls had been set up. It was a small start of a return to normalcy. At the stable he purchased a stout transport wagon and two huge draft horses. He also bought waterproof packing material to protect the books they were transporting to Black Sand Beach. He drove the wagon and team home and parked it in the gated courtyard next to William’s house.

While he had been at the ceremony, Jim, Roger, and Jacob had been gathering the books that would be most useful for the study of healing magic. He joined them in the selection. By nightfall they had the wagon packed and ready. Michael knew he always ran the risk of being recognized in this city, especially as more and more residents returned. He wanted to be off at first light, but he needed to speak at the tribunal of the rogue knight protectors. High Priest Carson would hear their case early the following morning.

The next day, Michael and his friends walked to the open courtyard in front of the governor’s house. High Priest Carson was already standing on a balcony overlooking the courtyard. Michael saw that all twenty wagons drivers and all twenty soldiers of the Southport caravan were present. They had delayed their departure for one day in order to be available to testify.

After a few minutes, the six rogue knights were brought out in chains. They were dressed in simple sackcloth prison pants that came down only to their knees, and they were shoeless. It was a cold morning and they were clearly uncomfortable. Their many arrow wounds were visible but bandaged, and their leader limped in his splint.

Michael was asked to explain what happened at their camp the evening the knights entered. He gave a simple straightforward account only omitting the use of magic to bring down the horses.

“Men of this caravan, raise your right hand if you agree with this account of events,” the high priest said. All forty-five men who had been with the caravan raised their right arms.

“James of Northport, give your account of events,” Carson commanded.

James’ rant went on far longer than Michael’s account, and it included so many obscenities that Michael felt he had added to his own vocabulary. Finally, James was too exhausted to continue; he fell silent.

How many men present at the caravan camp agree with James of Northport’s account? Only the other five rogue knights raised their hands.

The high priest spoke to the governor for a few minutes. He stood forward and placed the red cap of judgment on his head. It was the sign of Perry’s condemnation, an indication of guilt of an extremely serious crime. There were gasps from the rogues.

“You former knights are ostracized and struck from the rolls of the holy church. You are condemned to leave the company of the brotherhood of the sons of Holy Perry and the companionship of all upright men. You may never return to Hearthshire Province. All of your worldly goods are forfeited to the church. You will be taken to the eastern gates of this city without food or supplies or even garments to keep you warm. You must leave this province within two weeks or your lives will be forfeited. I condemn you in Holy Perry’s name and cast you out for all time. So let it be done; be gone you vulgar embarrassments to the Holy Church.”

Guards pulled the men out of the courtyard by their chains. The prisoners shouted obscenities at High Priest Carson and Governor Farrier, but their greatest scorn was directed at Michael Son-of-William. They all declared they would revenge themselves, but Michael doubted they would survive even a few cold nights with neither food nor weapons nor fire magic.

Michael and his friends didn’t go to the eastern gates to see the rest of the humiliation ritual. They went directly home. Michael selected five books on warfare from that section of the library. He would read them on his trip to Black Sand Beach. They did not describe how to fight and win battles because that was a skill for professional soldiers. All five books were about the logistics of wars of the past and how great armies were destroyed by lack of hay for their horses or food and warm clothing for their men. He and his friends left for Black Sand Beach by the western gate.