God Mage (13 page)

Shortly before the sun touched the horizon,
Bren set the group down in small, open clearing. As soon as the
last horse’s hooves touched the ground, Bren nearly collapsed.

His head bobbing, Bren started to slide off
his horse. Before he fell all the way to the ground, Cass and Jin
were there to catch him. Bren could still see, but his mind was a
little fuzzy from the backlash of the magical energy. “You okay?”
Jin asked as he helped Bren to the ground.

“Just a little tired,” Bren replied as his
eyes started to grow heavy.

“Surely you aren’t going to say that the
Brotherhood mages are better than you,” Cass said jokingly. “They
have been doing the same thing to follow us for days now.”

“No what they have been doing is similar but
not near as strong,” Phena replied in Bren’s defense. “There may be
less of us, but the horses make all the difference. Because of
them, he had to add many more spells, and because it was so roughly
done, he used much more energy than he should have.”

“Sorry. It was my first time,” Bren said in a
near daze. “And trying to use four elements at once with them
pushing against each other didn’t make it any easier.”

“I was not criticizing you,” Phena said with
a thin smile. “Maybe I was a bit, but I don’t think Master Sae-Thae
could have done what you just did. Now, if he had the same powers,
he would have done much better, but then again, he is much more
experienced than you.”

“Thank you for that vote of confidence,” Bren
said sarcastically.

Cass laughed and grabbed Phena by the waist.
“Such a sparky lady,” he said as he tried to give her a kiss, but
she quickly brought up her knee hitting him in the groin.

“Yes, I am just full of that spark,” Phena
said, patting the back of Cass’s head lovingly as he was doubled
over in pain.

“See? A firefly, just as I said,” Cass said
grunting as he hobbled over to sit on a large stump. “Though she
has a bit of a stinger as well.”

Everyone laughed as Bren just looked at the
two. He was still far removed from himself, and only a small part
of his mind found humor in the antics of the two. It was bad enough
when he walled off his emotions, but it was even worse when he
broke down that wall. They didn’t trickle or slowly consume him, it
was more like a flood, and Bren always felt like he was being
washed away. Thankfully, he was too tired to really feel much of
anything at the current moment.

“Think the Brotherhood will be able to catch
us?” Cass asked as he started gathering loose kindling to start a
fire. “Or can we finally have a nice relaxing night.”

“They might be able to keep up with Bren, but
I doubt it,” Phena said as she sent a bolt of energy into one of
the larger sticks of wood causing it to start to burn. “We just
have to make sure that Bren doesn’t burn himself out.”

“Burn himself out,” Cass said. “What do you
mean?”

“Magic is a double bladed weapon,” Phena said
in reply. “Every mage can pull in as much as the surroundings
allow, but at some point, the magic will start to burn through the
mage and their ability to use magic. Sometimes it even kills the
mages, though most of the time it just ends their ability to use
magic.” The sound of worry and finality in her voice sent a shiver
through Bren.

Bren sat close to the fire to warm his body.
It had been a long day, and Bren found himself fighting to stay
awake. The meal was a simple one of cured ham and beans along with
a type of flat bread that tasted slightly sour to Bren. Shortly
after eating, Bren curled up in his bedroll and quickly drifted off
to sleep.

Later that night, Bren was woken by a ringing
in his ear. As his mind cleared, Bren heard his name being called,
and after looking around, began to understand that it was coming
from his father’s earring. “Flynn, what are you shouting about?”
Bren asked, his head feeling as if it was being ripped apart.

“Bren. The mages tower is in an uproar,”
Flynn said, his voice hinting at the man’s apprehension.

“I need to know more than that,” Bren said
with a heavy sigh, thinking that the mages had just got their
bonnets in a knot. “What is going on?”

“The other day we received a letter
requesting that you appear before the tower to discuss something of
importance. When I arrived, they were more than a little put out
and demanded to know where you had gone off to. I told them that it
was none of their concern, but things quickly took a turn for the
worse. The tower is now claiming that in your absence, they have
ruling power.”

Bren let out a string of curses loud enough
that Cass, who had been sleeping nearby, jumped to his feet.
“What’s wrong?” his friend asked, his sword already halfway out of
its sheath.

“Nothing that you can deal with,” Bren
replied laughing lightly. “Just the tower causing trouble in my
absence.”

“Oh,” Cass said, setting his sword back down.
“I’m surprised it took them this long to cause problems.”

Bren shook his head and turned his attention
back to the problem at hand. “Looks like we don’t have a choice.
Send a letter to Rane and Farlan requesting aid and the reason for
it. As much as I hate to use such means, it seems that the tower
won’t learn unless I do. I can’t have them jumping all over
themselves each time they learn that I have been gone for more than
a few days.”

“Are you almost done with your little trip?”
Flynn asked, his voice showing his displeasure at his current task
as regent. “Because if you take too much longer, I might start
taking heads off some of these people.”

“I think we are nearing our goal, but it is
hard to tell,” Bren replied. “Just do your best not to kill anyone
who you don’t have to. If you do end up releasing your sword, just
try not to do it in the throne room,” Bren added laughing.

“No promises,” Flynn said before he shut off
his end of the enchanted earring.

Bren reached up and touched the small gem
that hung at the bottom of the earring. Enchanting had always
intrigued him, but he had never felt the drive to make anything of
his own. Something inside of him told him that he could, but it
wasn’t something Bren really wanted to do. It was like knowing one
could swim but not enjoying the cold waters.

As his hand dropped away from the earring,
Bren looked around to notice that it was still dark, and he was
still very exhausted. Grabbing his blanket, he covered his head,
closed his eyes, and tried to drift back off to sleep.

While lying there, Bren could hear every
sound that was made in the dark. The worst was Brenda’s snoring. He
had told her about it once, and only once, and Bren thought for
sure she was going to behead him for even suggesting that she might
snore. It was a lesson for Bren; one that he learned well. Never on
pain of death, suggest that a woman do anything that she doesn’t
admit to herself, especially if she has a sword or any other weapon
nearby.

Bren tossed and turned as he tried everything
he could to drown out the noises that filled the air. At first he
tried positioning his arm so that it covered his ear, but it was
incredibly uncomfortable. After more than an hour of twisting and
turning, Bren gave up sleep for a lost cause.

Getting up, Bren walked to the fire that was
now just hot embers glowing dimly in the night, but it gave off
enough heat to chase away the cold night air. “Not going back to
sleep?” Cass asked, taking a seat next to him.

“Tried,” Bren said. “I am so tired, I can’t
see straight, yet I can’t fall asleep for the life of me.”

“I have been there before,” Cass said
laughing. “Wish I could tell you the cure for it, but I don’t have
the slightest clue. My mom used to say that I was too tired to
sleep, though it never made sense to me.”

Bren and Cass talked for a few hours until it
was time to switch guards. Even though Bren was awake, Cass still
woke up one of the other guards to take a shift. Bren told him to
let them sleep, but Cass just said that Bren was too tired to pay
enough attention to be a good guard.

T
he next morning,
Bren watched the sun rise from horseback as the others gathered
their gear. His eyes were heavy, and his body felt tight. He wanted
to sleep, but he had lost that chance once the sun came up.

Once everyone was ready, Bren started
building the spell again. Unlike the day before, it was much harder
to raise them into the air. His head started to spin as he pushed
them forward and pain ripped through his head, but Bren ignored the
pain and continued to carry the group through the air.

Less than three miles along, the pain in
Bren’s head started to feel as if it was being ripped apart. Bren
tried to ignore the pain as he had earlier, but it became so
intense, everything turned white as if he had been looking directly
at the sun.

Thinking it would pass, Bren shook his head
and pushed on. Suddenly, everything went blank, and Bren found
himself falling from his horse. He barely heard the screams of
everyone else as they were dropped out of the air while still
moving at a fast pace. Bren felt himself roll across the ground but
he stopped after only a few spins. Bren pushed himself up and tried
to look around but his eyes were having trouble focusing. Unable to
pull himself to his feet, Bren crawled to the sound of the others
voices, until he lost what little strength that remained in his
arms.

As tired as he was, Bren still couldn’t sleep
even though it seemed like the perfect time for a nap. Flipping
over onto his back, Bren looked at the sky. It was such a peaceful
looking sky, almost like the waters of a still lake. A light voice
tickled his ear. As his head turned Bren, looked at Cass’s face.
“What happened?” Bren asked weakly.

“I was thinking of asking you the same
thing,” Cass said with an air of concern in his voice. “One second
we’re scooting along, the next it’s like we hit an invisible wall.
No one is hurt but four of the horses are lame and are going to
have to be put down.”

“Move aside,” Phena said, pushing Cass away.
She pulled back Bren’s eyelids and looked deep into his eyes then
placed her hand lightly on his forehead. “He has a bad fever. We
need to get him someplace out of the sun.”

Bren tried to move his head, but Phena held
it tight. Though he couldn’t see his friend, Bren heard Cass as a
map was unrolled. “There is a town a few miles to the east. With
luck, they might even have a doctor,” Bren heard Cass say.

The next thing Bren knew, he was being laid
on a thick blanket that was strung between two long branches. Soon
Bren was being drug across the ground, though not at a fast pace.
Every so often they would stop, and Faye would place a cold cloth
across Bren’s forehead and wipe off the sweat that had begun to
bead on his brow.

As time passed, Bren started having trouble
keeping his senses in check. Soon everything was a blur to Bren. He
could hear voices, but his mind couldn’t sort through the words. He
could tell who the voices belonged to. Faye, Cass, Phena, and even
Thuraman talked to him. They were comforting even though he could
not understand what they were saying.

When the horse finally stopped, Bren was
lifted off the makeshift litter and carried into a building. He was
placed onto something soft, and once again, a cold cloth was wiped
across his forehead as soft voices whispered in his ear.

As he lay there, the world around him became
distorted and unknown, and Bren fell into a deep, fevered
sleep.

When Bren opened his eyes, he found himself
in his throne room staring at a man, who looked much like himself,
sitting on his throne. “Who are you?” Bren asked as he moved toward
the unknown man.

“Do you really need to ask?” the man replied
in Bren’s voice, though it was slightly darker sounding. “I am you.
A part of you to be more precise.”

“I am just hallucinating,” Bren said as he
laughed deeply.

“You may be, but I don’t think it’s something
as simple as that,” the man said taunting Bren. “Why do you fight
the magic? It is a part of you and unless you learn to embrace it,
then it will continue to tear you apart.”

“Are you serious?” Bren asked mockingly.” If
I let the magic in, then it will destroy everything that I am.”

His shadow-self jumped from the throne and
walked around him as if he were inspecting him. “Is that such a bad
thing?” he asked as he peered directly into Bren’s eyes. “You are
weak as you are now. If you let the magic in, then you would be
strong enough to shape the world however you desired. Do you not
think that is worth the price?” the shadow grabbed his arm as it
spoke and pulled Bren in close.

Bren pulled free of the man’s grasp and took
a step back. “No amount of power is worth losing who I am,” Bren
replied adamantly. “I will not be controlled by anyone or
anything.”

The other him laughed, it was a deep and
throaty sound that stung his ears. “Do you really think you have a
choice? Every time you use magic, a small part of you will be
washed away until only I remain. All that will happen if you fight
it is that you will have to endure that much more pain. Give in and
let me take my place.”

“I refuse,” Bren said straightening his back
and looking the other man straight in the eyes. “I will not fade
away. I will fight against you every step of the way, and in the
end, I will be the one left standing.”

“Really,” the other him said with a wicked
grin. “You may think so, but I will slowly consume you, and you
won’t even notice. It is not as if I have to hurry. We will both
live for a long time, so I will just take my place one piece at a
time.” The words faded off as the other him slowly disappeared.

Bren was left alone in his throne room with
nothing else to do but ponder the shadows words. Had he already
lost some of himself? Bren tried to think of anything that might be
different about him, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t
think of anything. That news gave him little solace as he was not
even sure he could detect it even if it was right within his
sight.