Stranded Mage (21 page)

Before slipping into his bedroll after a long night of work Thad looked over at his work. The boots were nearly done, a few more nights and they wouldn’t need his attention anymore. He had only a little more than a handful of the stone arrows finished and the number of magical traps prepared were less than a dozen.

He comforted himself in the knowledge that more than a few of his traps had already been used but against the numbers they would soon be facing it seemed like only a pittance.

It was true they had already destroyed a group far larger than theirs, but it had not been without toll. They had pushed themselves hard and many went with only a few hours’ sleep but it was still better than they were allowing their enemies. There is something to say about the one being chased. It allowed them to set traps and the fact they had less weight and greater maneuverability made it even easier, but it was no lie they were beginning to wear down.

When they finally met up with their counterparts Thad realized just how bad things were beginning to get. Not only were they worn and tired, they were beginning to run out of rations.

That night instead of sending Reeve and his men out Thad called for a war council. It didn’t please the assassin to hold off on his nightly work but the cold elf gave in when Thad refused to budge.

“We can’t keep playing cat and mouse,” Thad said for the tenth time. “I grant you it has worked well but we are running out of energy as well as food.”

“Then what would you have us do?” Parson asked heatedly. “Should we attack a force nearly ten times our own? We would be slaughtered.”

“We need to cut around them and continue to head toward the capital,” Thad continued. “We have already proven we can out distance them. Along the way we can leave traps to slow them down even more, but we need to get enough distance we can restock and rest without worry.”

“And leave a hostile force breathing down our throats?” Reeve interjected.

“I don’t see that we have much choice,” Thad replied pleadingly. “If we continue to push as we have we may well reduce their number but we will fall far before the enemy. We need to rest and we need more supplies. Can any argue that point?”

None of the elves looked happy but neither could they argue against Thad’s logic. They were stuck in an uncomfortable position. They could continue to fight and die slowly or they could run and leave a large force trailing behind them. It wasn’t a pleasant choice but it was a necessary one.

“He’s right Reeve, no matter how we cut it in the end we just don’t have it left in us,” Parson said disappointedly. “I don’t like it any more than you but what else can we do?”

Reeve didn’t reply choosing instead to stalk off into the night. Thad hoped the assassin wouldn’t cause any trouble but one could never tell what the elf would do.

“Don’t worry, he might not want to run, but he understands why we must,” Parson whispered to Thad.

That night Thad drifted off once again to the murky blackness he had come to know so well. This time Thad found himself in the palace gardens with a very worried looking princess.

“The Rane soldiers have begun to pull out of Farlan in mass. We have followed and pushed them hard forcing them to meet us at every turn, but once they reach the border we dare not encroach on their kingdom. I fear shortly you will be overrun,” Maria said before Thad even had the chance to ask he what was wrong.

Thad had heard rumors about the Rane military being in Farlan but he hadn’t paid them any heed. Now he knew it was the reason they had faced so little opposition. That seemed like it was going to change and in a hurry. With the new information Thad was even more secure in his desire to break away from the large force they had been fighting before more soldiers arrived to reinforce them.

“We are near the capital. Once we finish our business there, we shall march toward Farlan,” Thad said hopefully.

“I don’t think you will find whatever you plan to accomplish there an easy task, not with over eight thousand soldiers breathing down your back,” Maria replied mournfully.

Thad understood her trepidation. His blood had ran cold when she had mentioned the size of the force now retuning right where he was headed, but even on a fast horse it was easily eight days to the border. A battle weary forced march would take an army that size near a score of days before they could reach the capital. Thad and his group were only a few days march from the capital and that gave them plenty of time to get in and out, hopefully.

Thad’s silence didn’t help Maria’s mood as large tears began to well in her eyes. Thad pulled her close to him though he was unsure why he felt he needed to comfort her. Where women were concerned, Thad no longer knew if he did it out of his own desire or because of the values instilled into him as a child. In the end Thad decided it didn’t matter at this point in time. Maria had always been a friend to him, even if she was a bit overbearing at times.

“I will be home before you know it,” Thad said gently into Maria’s ear.

Wiping the tears from her face Maria pulled back from Thad. “See that you do. I nearly had to chain that short friend of yours to the wall when he learned you were in Rane,” Maria added, laughing lightly.

“Tell Crusher to behave himself. Not even that hardhead could make it through an army that size to reach me,” Thad replied, shaking his head.

“If I don’t hear that you are on your way back soon I have a mind to let him try,” Mara countered, the stern expression returning to her face.

Looking at her in the waning moonlight Thad had to admit that she looked much better with her face slightly pinched scowling at him than she did crying. “This is the longest I think I have talked to you during one of our visits,” Thad mused.

“”
It is not easy and it leaves me drained but the closer you are I think the lighter the toll on me becomes,” Maria said, beaming happily. “Not to mention you haven’t upset me enough tonight to boot you out of my dream…Yet.”

Thad laughed at her mention of booting him out of her dream. It wasn’t that he thought she wouldn’t do it but the sheer idea of the little girl he remembered physically booting anyone seemed ludicrous to him. “I will remember that my princess,” Thad said, laughing.

“Don’t you princess me. Am a full Queen now,” Maria said defiantly then her face took on an abject sadness.

At the mention of the queen Thad faintly remember Maria crying during one of their shorter visits about her mother being dead. Thad was still unsure what had happened while he was gone and dared not tread that ground when he was unable to see Maria face to face. He had many question but none of them pressing so he let them go and pulled Maria into another strong embrace.

Thad could once again feel the murky blackness roll around him as the connection between him and Maria was being severed. He still wasn’t sure how she was able to pull him into her dreams, but he believed that she might be an internal mage. The book he had mentioned them though mostly only in passing. Unlike external mages there powers could only affect themselves for the most part and each internal mage's power varied greatly. It wasn’t a great answer to the question but it was a start, and you had to start somewhere.

The next few days the small group of elves forced marched toward the capital, only stopping to sleep. The hunters would go out at night and try and scare up any game they could find but things were beginning to get scarce. After the second day out the scouts reported that even with a spyglass they couldn’t spot the Brotherhood soldiers anymore. Knowing that the large Army of Brotherhood soldiers were no longer right on their tail let Thad breathe a little easier.

They had fared well in their battles against a much larger opponent but they had not had to face them in an open field. Every battle they had fought had been of their own choosing; giving them not only the element of surprise but also a measure of control over the overall flow of the battle.

They were nearing the capital now only a little more than a day out. Thad was more than a little surprised that they had not encountered even a token force. Rane must have had the bulk of their troops in Farlan and once they had passed the few left within Rane, they had free reign. It wouldn’t last forever but Thad hoped it lasted long enough for him to finish his dark business.

Even if he was unable to finish his work Thad’s mind told him that they needed to be on their way within twelve days. The large force following them would catch up in no more than four days. They weren’t the real problem, it was the eight thousand that now marched back home from Farlan. If they waited too long it would be impossible to make it home alive.

How do expect to get past the eight thousand soldiers to reach Farlan? It’s not as if they will just stand aside and let you pass.

“We will just have to be careful and move as fast as we can once we head out. If we can stay ahead of the messengers then maybe we can move around them before they know we have left the capital,” Thad replied, more than a little unsure of himself.

I wish you would give up this fool’s errand and head for Farlan now, but I don’t see that happening. The fact that it hasn’t even crossed your mind does worry me more than a little.

Thad didn’t have a response for his staff and he didn’t think he needed one. He knew that the whole mission was not something a sane man would embark upon. He wanted to live long enough to see Farlan again but a part of him, a large part, still wanted the blood of those responsible for Brianna’s death. Though it wasn’t as frequent he still saw the light fading from her eyes in his dreams.

“Master Thad, there is a rather large mansion ahead of us,” one of Parson’s scouts reported to him. “Master Parson would like for us to check it out.”

“Tell Parson we should all go see this mansion of his. It’s about time we found a place to settle down now that we are only a stone throw away from the capital,” Thad replied, eager to have any reason to get a break from marching.

The scout disappeared back into the throng of other elves. Thad didn’t know if Parson would agree with him but he could hope. When the entire column of elves changed direction slightly Thad felt a sense of relief and excitement run through his body at the same time.

The mansion the scout had reported looked more like a miniature castle to Thad’s eyes. It was large enough to fit their whole force with more than a little room to spare but it did lack some of the more prominent features a proper castle would have as far as defenses went. There was no gate or drawbridge only an open arch welcoming anyone who wished to enter. While it had a moat it looked too thin and shallow to offer any real threat to someone trying to scale the walls.

When they drew closer it became more obvious the manor had been built to display wealth, not to keep out those who might wish it for themselves. A horde of servants and a handful of armed guards gathered in the courtyard to look upon their visitors.

Thad had the other elves hold back as he and Reeve steeped forward to talk with whoever was in charge. As soon as they neared a man in his early forties wearing a silk doublet of dark purple and leather trouser dyed nearly midnight black shouted for them to halt. “Why have you come to my home uninvited?” the man asked indignantly.

“We have come to see if your home would suit our needs,” Thad replied almost blandly. The manor wasn’t the fort Thad had hoped for but he doubted they would find something more suitable before they reached the capital. “You and the servants may host us but I must insist that your men at arms depart.”

“I think not. You will leave my estate this instant,” the man howled, his face turning a deep scarlet. On his command the handful of guards unsheathed their swords and looked around at the large group in front of them nervously.

“Draw,” Thad yelled, and the air was filled with the sound of steel leaving scabbard. Not wanting to kill without need Thad looked around for whoever might be in command of the men at arms. A few of the guards stood out as more experienced than the others but Thad couldn’t decide which one to address so he decided on letting them choose. “Captain, there is no reason you and your men must die here. We have a larger and a better trained force. Anyone who chooses to walk out the gate will be left alone. Those who choose to stay will receive no quarter.”

The men at arms looked to each other for support but it didn’t take long for the first man to lay down his sword and walk out the gate. As the first man left it was as if a dam burst and the other dozen soon followed suit, much to the dismay of the landowner, who continued to yell at them.

“Now that the pleasantries are over, why don’t we go inside?” Thad more stated then asked.

“I will not have you and your filth within my halls while I still live,” the man yelled, his voice raspy and horse.

Thad looked over to Reeve who gave him a cold smile. “Do you want me to deal with the fool, or would you like the honor?” Reeve asked as he rapped the tips of his fingers over the hilt of his dagger.

Thad didn’t want to kill the man for simply defending his home no matter how much of a fool he was. Lifting his staff, Thad began to gather the magical energies around him and bending them to his will. Within the span of a heartbeat the vines that clung to the stone walls shot out and tangled around the man’s feet then moved up to bind the entirety of his body.