A Coursing Passage (A Life of Magic Book 3) (20 page)

Stain smiled, "But the wagon is not one single piece of wood. If I did cast one spell then if the spell failed the entire wagon would be at risk. Also the spell would not be as effective. By casting it on each piece of the puzzle that makes up the wagon, it makes the entire wagon stronger and more resistant to damage. Each piece will be protected, so the entire wagon is protected." He took a deep drink. "Now also, if for some reason a piece needs to be replaced or switched for some reason we do not have to recast every protection, just those on that one piece."

I thought a moment and nodded. "That all makes sense."

Stain grinned, "I am glad you agree." He stood up. "I am tired. My bed is calling my name. Good night." He walked over to his tent and we could hear him settling in for the night.

Raven stood and swayed where she stood. "I am still not used to casting magic like that." She smiled sheepishly, "I am tired to my bones. Good night Ott." She walked slowly to her tent and I hear her drop onto her cot. I grinned, knowing how tired she must be.

I took care to bank the fire for the night and went to my own tent. I laid down and smiled. Tomorrow we would be spending a lot of time loading all of our worldly possessions into our wagon. Not everything, but most of it. With that thought I smiled and went to sleep.

***

"Wake up!" Mophar screamed in my ear.

I jumped from my cot, confused about my surroundings.

"The wagon is on fire!" Mophar was still screaming. His words suddenly made sense and I raced out of my tent.

I stood there, frozen. The wagon was covered with a layer of flames that licked and crawled over the entire surface.

"STAIN! RAVEN!" I screamed for them as I ran towards the wagon, not knowing what to do but knowing I had to do something.

"OTT!" Stain's voice ripped through the night. "STOP!" The command in his voice broke through my panic and I slid to a stop. Looking back, I saw that he stood at the opening of his tent. Anger was obvious on his face. "Ott, come here."

"But Stain! The fire!" I was confused.

"Ott! Come here at once." Stain stood straighter. Raven was standing in her tent opening, looking disheveled

I walked over to Stain and sullenly stood there watching the fire rage out of control. It climbed higher and higher. Tulip came out of her wagon and sat on her steps. Soon Ruth, Amelia, and Robert approached and talked to Tulip. They also sat and watched. As the fire continued to burn more and more people came into the campsite to watch the fire burn out of control. I stood there in shock, knowing that we could stop it at any moment.

"Now Ott. Stop and think. What is the fire burning?" Stain's voice was gentle.

Angerly I answered, "My wagon."

Stain shook his head, "Look closely. Look really close, use your gifts."

I turned and looked at the wagon. Something in Stain's voice seemed to imply I was missing something. I looked closer at the fire. It wrapped around every part of the wagon, crawling across every surface. Yet the colors were still apparent, nothing was looking burned, no ash or char was appearing. I opened my mage sight and realized why Stain had called me back and why he was less upset than I was. The spells that we had just applied to the wagon were doing their job. The fire was burning, raging against the wagon. But the spells were preventing any damage to occur. I turned to Stain and nodded, acknowledging what he wanted me to see.

"The fire is not feeding on the wagon. Someone threw some form of liquid fuel onto it's surface. Once that is burned up the fire will go out." Stain was angry. "Without Mark's warning I might have waited, the wagon would be ashes by now." His anger burnt as hot as the fire. "We will let the fire burn. That way all the fuel they threw on the wagon will burn off." He turned and walked over to Tulip. He had a few words with her and she shook her head. He spoke harsher, more severe and she finally nodded. She stood up and left the campsite. Ruth followed her, obviously upset.

"What did you say?" I asked Stain as he came back to his tent.

He looked at me and shook his head, "I insisted she fetch all of the elders. This attack has gone too far. Whoever did this was able to penetrate the shields and protections of three experienced mages. This is not the actions of a disgruntled person, it is a planned attack on us by someone who knows what they are doing." He went into his tent. "You would make yourself presentable, we shall have guests shortly."

I looked down and realized I was in my sleeping shirt. I looked over at Raven who grinned at my expression. She was wearing a sleeping gown. She blushed slightly at my silent gaze and stepped back into her tent. I went to mine to put on more clothes.

"I am so sorry." Mophar sat on my cot. "I heard the fire start and could not think of anything to do other than wake you up."

I picked him up and hugged him. "Thank you for that. You did what you should." I sat him down and started getting dressed. "The wagon will be okay, it is protected."

Mophar nodded, "I get that now."

I grinned, "I forgot also. No harm done with your warning."

I finished getting dressed and went outside. I was met with the fire slowly burning out, just a small fire licking at the wheels was all that was left. Tulip was standing there with a group of maybe ten people. Each looked to be an elder. They all looked annoyed to be called out of their beds in the middle of the night. Stain stepped out of his tent and looked around. He frowned and walked over to the group. "Where are the rest?"

One of the elders stepped forward, "You are a guest. You can not command us to appear when you so desire. Those of us who have appeared did so out of honor to Tulip. Now, what do you want?" This was the same elder that had welcomed Tulip back from her time on the road.

Stain stood up straighter and pulled out a medallion. "I feared having to use this." He handed it to Tulip.

She looked down and her face showed shock. She held up the medallion and examined it closely. "Is this real?"

Stain nodded, "It was awarded to me years ago. I was chosen out of five hundred. I hold this medallion in trust for my people."

Stain's words sent ripples through the elders and those watching. Each elder stepped forward to examine the medallion. Some showed shock, some disbelief, some anger. The same elder stepped forward, "What proof do you hold that shows this is truly yours and that you posses the right to hold it?" His anger was a burning brand that he swung with great passion.

Stain's anger at everything tonight finally showed through, he grabbed the medallion and held it high. "This does!" He cried and I could see him pour magic into the medallion. It started to glow, turning brighter and brighter until I expected Stain's hand to burn. Suddenly beams of light shot from the medallion. Each beam reached out and struck someone on the chest. Beams shot throughout the entire camp, reaching out to pierce tents, wagons, passing through all obstacles to land on the hearts of all of those who belonged to the people. "This light touches all of those who have sworn the oath. It touches all of those who are part of the people. This medallion carries a name, 'All Heart'." He cried this last out loudly. We stood there for a moment, all stunned. He lowered his arm, bringing darkness to the medallion once again. "I am the sworn protector of all of the people. By my oath and charge I have the right to call a meeting of all the local elders. Fetch the rest this very moment. I will wait for just moments before I fetch them myself. If I must then I will judge them guilty of violating their oaths." He stood there and waited while others rushed off to fetch the rest of the elders. Others wandered into the campsite to watch everything unfold. We waited mere moments till more elders started pouring into the campsite. When they had all arrived perhaps thirty elders stood waiting. "Tonight there has been an attack. This is the second attack on this campsite. The first happened when no safeguards were in place, it could have been anyone attacking us." He turned and pointed to the wagon, "Tonight someone was able to pass through the protections put in place by three strong wheel handlers and set fire to this wagon. It would surely have been engulfed and destroyed if not for the protections woven into it's very structure." He spun and faced the elders. "I demand that the culprit is found this very night. The list of those able to bypass such protections should be small, the culprit should be found easily enough by you." He pointed at the elders, "An attack has occurred against guests at your fire, against ones that are going to be in grafted as part of the people. It is your responsibility to find the culprit or to be held responsible for the attack." He sat down and looked at the elders. "I give you till the in grafting ceremony to find and detain the person or people who have attacked those I hold most dear. Do not dare to fail." His voice was dry and taut with his anger. The elders were obviously upset, yet some understood and those nodded and left the campsite to find out what they could. The rest slowly filed out of the campsite and into the camp at large. Noises showed that the camp at large was waking up from the excitement of tonight.

I sat down beside Stain, "What now?"

He looked at me and gave me a grim smile, "Now we wait for the enemy to be brought to us. They have no other choice. I have forced their hand." He looked up at Tulip, who looked almost sick at the events.

She walked up to Stain, "Why have you hidden who you truly are from me until now?"

Stain looked worried and hurt, "I hide many things. Some because of oaths, some because of wisdom. This is one of those things that is a bit of both. Also, I wanted you to get to know me as who I am, not my authority." This last was said quietly.

Tulip nodded and turned away, "I understand. Give me time." She walked off.

I watched her walk away and pondered what all had occurred Raven came over, dressed in her leather fighting gear. "What does all of it mean?" She pointed to the medallion.

Stain smiled a gentle smile, "Until you are one of the people I can not tell you this story. Just understand that it holds the same authority as a crown might in some lands. An absolute authority in certain situations."

We both looked at him in shock. He looked back and started laughing. "No, I am not a king. Not by any standard. It is just the same authority that a crown represents. In certain situations all of those of the people must obey me. Very specific situations."

We nodded and sat there quietly, waiting.

***

"We could not find the culprits, we did however find out who was behind the attacks." One of the elders stood in the campsite with a few other elders. "We are ashamed to say it was Artimus who instigated the attacks against you. He and his cohorts have fled into the night. We will be sending out word about his actions to all the people. When he is found he will stand trial." The elder looked upset. "Perhaps he can earn forgiveness at some later date."

Stain frowned yet was diplomatic. "Very well. I agree that all that can be done for now has been done." He nodded. "Thank you for pursuing this quickly."

The elders all left, leaving behind an odd silence in the dawn of the day.

"Well, after all of that excitement I am famished." Tulip walked up. "You are cooking breakfast today old man." She tossed some eggs to Stain. "It is the least you can do for all the surprises you gave me this past night."

Stain smiled and stood up, "If you desire food, I shall attempt to provide you the best food you have ever had." He headed for our supplies and spent the next bit of time cooking an amazing amount of food. It was quite possibly the best breakfast I had ever had.

***

We all were tired that day, things were happening too fast. Deliveries occurred throughout the day and we were busy loading all the various items into and onto the wagon. The awnings were brought to the campsite and installed. The material was beautiful and strong enough to withstand all sorts of weather. While we worked we talked and discussed many things.

"Why do you think Artimus decided to attack us?" I asked Ruth at one point.

She stopped and frowned, "Artimus has always been a very traditional person. I have been struggling with why he might have attacked your group." She sat down and looked very sad, "The only reason I can fathom is that he feared your in grafting He wanted to chase you away." She looked around. "I fear we shall never know his true reasoning. Even if he is caught. For what he did there will be a price. Most likely he will be banished from the people and marked an oath breaker." Tears formed in her eyes. "We live mainly at peace with each other and even with the outside world. I can not understand Artimus deciding to make trouble."

Tulip walked up and put her hand on Ruth's head, "I fear it is more complex than even that. He desired power and control. That has been his way. I think he felt that I was gaining power in the camp and that I would gain more control of the people once again. He dared not attack me directly, but if he could prevent the in grafting then perhaps my influence would be damaged." She shook her head sadly, "Which is all stupid. I desire no influence or power any more. Those days are behind me." She walked off to finish packing away the kitchen.

Raven walked by carrying a load of linens. "Why he did what he did is not as important as keeping it from happening again. Hopefully after the in grafting, since we will be part of the people, this kind of attack will not be an option." She climbed into the wagon to pack the linens away.