The Sword of Ages: The Mage Breaker Book 1 (15 page)

              “I have Headmaster Zavor in the carriage” Tanner called out.

              “Why are you armed slave?” One of the warriors called back. “It is against the law”.

              “The headmaster is going towards the front lines by order of the king” Tanner explained. “Any who delay him will be drafted into going with us and joining the fight against Ket”.

              The men blanched at this. They were safe here in the city, going to war meant you could die.

              “I am not taking the word of a slave” one of the guards called out. “I am going to check that carriage”.

              “Then make sure you grab your cloak, you will join us on this mission” Tanner replied.

              The warrior threw opened the door and right away looked shocked.

              “If you do not climb in you will be punished” Tanner said, wondering what the impostor would do.

              “I am Zavor, I have urgent business to attend to on the front lines” the impostor said.

              “I say you punish him master, make him a slave like me” Tanner said with an evil laugh.

              “I am sorry, I was just doing my job” the warrior said fearfully.

“I am Zavor, I have urgent business to attend to on the front lines” the impostor repeated.

“If you give me your cloak I can tell the master to forget all about you, now close his door so we can get on” Tanner said as he held out his hand for the cloak. The warrior practically threw it at him as Tanner led the carriage out of whatever city he was in and took off heading south. Tanner had the sword now, though he was worried about the real Zavor. He probably would stay with the King for some time, going over whatever plan they had in store for Caroline. But it wouldn’t take all night, the wizard would probably go home to at least sleep, it was then he would find out what happened. This Whychara lady would probably go to ground while she is being hunted, she probably didn’t work for that Xandear wizard but would most likely seek his aid in hiding her. If the old wizard Tanner had met was him, he definitely looked like the type who would hide the woman if he got a copy of it too. Tanner figured he would have a two day head start on his race to get back into Ket. Tanner rode the horse hard until he found a small farm house. Tanner figured he would try to steal some clothing to get out of his slave clothes, maybe some boots since they left all slaves barefoot. Tanner pulled off the road and looked inside the carriage, the impostor Zavor was staring blankly. Tanner searched the carriage and found what he was looking for, the small bottle of supposed wine that Zavor made him drink at their first meeting. Tanner took off the top of it, grabbed the little man by the collar and poured a little into his mouth. When Tanner could see it was working he smiled, maybe he could get through this.

“You are to ask for a change of horses to any person I introduce you to” Tanner said trying to think. “You also are supposed to ask for food, water and clothing for your slave. You are Zavor, the headmaster of the wizard school and are willing to kill anyone that does not help you get to the front”.

Tanner got back into the driver’s seat and slowly rode the carriage up to the farm house. The farmer was already standing outside holding a small bow.

“What do you want” the farmer said eyeing Tanner, his long hair falling over one eye.

“My master is the wizard Zavor, he is looking for food shelter and to trade horses” Tanner said and held his hands up.

“Why don’t you just hand over that weapon of yours” the man said as he kept his bow on Tanner.

Tanner gripped the hilt of the blade and alarms rang out all throughout his head to move to the right. Tanner did so as the man loosed his arrow. Tanner jumped down from the carriage as the sword told him to swipe downward to his right. Tanner did so as another arrow met his blade and was chopped in two. Tanner then spun around, decapitated the farmer and rolled as another arrow flew past him. Tanner could feel the sword telling him where the archer was. Tanner ran towards the spot, diving when the sword wanted him to or moving to the side. Tanner could see some bushes moving and out darted a man dressed in dark clothing, Tanner caught up to him quickly and ran him through the back. The sword was elated to kill again, it kept wanting Tanner to kill more and more although there was no one left. Tanner hurried into the farm house and was lucky that no one else lived there, it was probably just a father and son he had killed. Tanner hurried and grabbed all the coin he could and packed provisions in a small sack he had found. Then Tanner switched his clothes, the farmer was lot smaller than he was but luckily the man wore his clothes baggy like most farmers back in Ket. Tanner was most grateful for the boots, sure he had to cut the toe out of them but it was a lot better than nothing. Tanner found a leather strap to which he tied the sword of ages to his hip.

Tanner headed outside and could see his horses were lathered up, it was little wonder he didn’t kill them by riding them so hard. Tanner untied them and led them around the farmhouse; h would at least see they were watered in case another horse could not be found. Tanner could see a small stable and led them inside where he saw a small pony that would be useless trying to carry his weight, and a mule.

“Bollocks” Tanner said out loud as he saddled both of the farmer’s horses and let the one he had roam. Tanner wasn’t worried about sleeping, he needed almost four times as less as a normal man thanks to his gift but if the horses couldn’t work as a team he would have to abandon the carriage and his trump card, the impostor Zavor. Tanner walked the saddled horses to the carriage and could see it was of no use, no way could those horses work together.

Tanner opened the carriage door and saw the impostor and let his anti-magic field as he had begun to call it expand. The impostor’s face instantly changed and Tanner could tell the mind sweep or the face changing brew was no longer active.

“Where am I?” the half man wizard said out loud.

“You were made a patsy by Whychara to trick the wizard Zavor” Tanner replied.

“That lying bitch” the half man replied. “We had a deal to steal Zavor’s secrets to sell”.

“Well she left you a patsy and now you are on the run” Tanner replied. “I am not the sharpest sword on the rack but I am guessing there aren’t too many half man wizards running around. Zavor will put the pieces together and come after you like a mother badger protecting her wee ones”.

“Why do you sound like a Ketian?” the impostor replied.

“Because I am a Ketian” Tanner stated. “And you are a magic user without a focus, no wand or staff. Zavor is not the type to let you off easy, there is a pony outside, if I were you I would get the hell out of here”.

“Why are you telling me this, why not let me sit and die?” the impostor asked.

“Because I doubt Whychara can be prosecuted” Tanner explained. “It would be simple for her to say she thought she was with the real Zavor, people have seen them together before. She can lie about how you tricked her or some other such nonsense after she has copied the book, everyone will be searching for you. The longer you stay on the run, the more likely it is that I can reach where I need to go”.

“Take me with you” the small wizard begged. “I know most of Zavor’s recipe by heart, the one that changes faces. I just don’t know what he is doing after he puts them all together but a can find out”.

Tanner thought to himself about the offer. Zavor hadn’t really used any magic of his own, he used the swords. Tanner’s gift had no effect on the sword so in theory he could make his own brew.

“You will right it all down or we split right here” Tanner said with a look of wariness. “I can find you something to use for a wand or staff and I will put in a word for you with the King of Ket. If you try to cross me even once I will kill you”.

The small wizard quickly nodded agreement. Moments later they were both on their horses following the quickness trail towards Ket. The night dragged on a bit, turning into dawn stubbornly as Tanner could tell the half man was ready to fall off of his horse.

“We need to switch horses” Tanner said as he looked at the half man. “You have any money?”

“I keep some in my boots, only one gold and a couple of silvers” the half man replied.

“That should be enough along with these as trades” Tanner replied.

“I still need a staff or a wand” the half man said as he looked at a town coming into view.

“I will get you one soon enough” Tanner said looking around. “Can any old stick do?”

“No it won’t” the half man said. “Anything with bark on it is useless, so is wood with knots in it. The smoother the surface of the wood the easier my magic works. I am not anywhere near as gifted as other wizards, I came in the bottom of my class and was so bad they rejected me for military service. My spells are weak, they can harass but anyone determined can get through them”.

“Great, I’m with the weakest Jinx flinger in all of Tavor” Tanner replied disgusted.

“I still have the knowledge you need” the half man said hurriedly. “I just don’t want you to expect much in a fight, especially if I do not have the right tools”.

“Well then just try to stay out of my way” Tanner said as he eyed the town. “It’s still early so people shouldn’t be on the streets yet. We get some horses and maybe a carving knife or something to make your wand”.

Tanner rode his horse into the city and could see barely anyone was out. He spotted what he thought was the inn and hoped some traveler had well rested horses he was willing to part with. Tanner had gotten four gold off of the farmer and wanted it kept secret from his companion, but if he needed to he would expose his secret treasure in order to get faster horses.

“Let me do the talking” the half man said. “Your accent is a giveaway, I will try to bargain for other horses but I am tired, I need rest”.

“Well let’s see if this inn is even worth stopping at for horses” Tanner replied. “If you are tired you can sleep in the saddle or go your own way after giving me Zavor’s secret”.

“I can carry on” the wizard said defeated as he moved his horse to follow Tanner’s.

Tanner went around the inn to the stable and could see familiar caged wagons. Inside of them looked like more slaves gathered from the Ketian army. Surrounding the carriage was the soldier he had met on his way inside of one those same wagons, currently the man had a staff which he was using to poke the slaves while laughing. Tanner scanned around the area and could see there were at least three more soldiers, who were laughing at the spectacle.

“We don’t need this problem..” the half man began futilely as Tanner had his sword drawn and closed the space in a blink of an eye and rammed his sword through the back of the soldier. A cry went up almost immediately as Tanner turned towards the other soldiers. Before one man could even draw his weapon Tanner dove under the wagon and out the other side and gave the man a wicked slash in the groin area before rolling to his feet and decapitating the other man just as he drew his blade. Tanner looked down at the man he had slashed when he dove under the wagon and made it a quick death, one stroke to the back of the neck and the man moved no more.

“I don’t know who you are but you picked the wrong people to rob” Tanner heard a soft voice say. “You are fast, faster than I have ever seen but in the end you are still just a swordsman”. Tanner turned as the wizard in red that originally sold him into slavery had a wand pointed at him with a spell already on its way. Tanner stopped in his tracks as a bolt of lightning slammed into him, the wizard in red must have had some power to pull off such a spell. The spell fizzled out on Tanner’s skin as he realized he had his anti-magic field drawn in too much. The wizard looked puzzled and fired off another spell, this one a fire spell that died out four feet in front of Tanner.

“MAGE BREAKER!” the wizard cried out as Tanner closed the distance and with a vicious back slash took the man’s head from his shoulders.

“All right you lot, do you wanna sit there like a noble at tea or do you want to get the hell out of here?” Tanner said as he started searching bodies for the keys.

“You’re a Ketian!” said one of the captured, an older man who definitely had the build of someone who was not a soldier.

“You want to say that any louder, I don’t think every man in town heard you yet” Tanner said as he opened the cage.

The soldiers quickly filed out of the cages as Tanner freed them and started looking around for something they could use from their surroundings.

“Nice wand” the half man said as the Ketian soldiers noticed him for the first time.

“The jinx flinger is with me” Tanner said as he started stripping the dead Tavorians of their clothes.

“The half man’s a Tavorian Wizard, we should kill him right here” said a large blond haired soldier who had a sword trained on the man. “I am in charge now, I am a squad leader in the army”.

“You will leave him alone” Tanner said as he smiled at seeing the boots he had just taken would fit him perfectly.

“And why should I listen to you” the soldier replied as he narrowed his green eyes.

“Because the second you off him I will stick you and leave you bleeding like a virgin on her wedding day” Tanner said as he stood up and faced the soldier. “If you want to be Mr. High and Mighty then take whoever is dumb enough to follow you and go your own way. If anyone in you lot would rather follow me, someone who has memorized a map of this land and who freed you single handedly after staring down a wizard, then get ready to leave now”.