The High King: Book Two of the 'Riothamus' trilogy (39 page)

Darven could
not keep silent, “You must be wrong, I am no mage.”

He frantically
turned to Aran, “Drayden said the bounce may have come from another
mage. Perhaps he felt your Warriormage Ability lord?”

Aran turned to
the High Earthmage, “That is true, are you certain you sensed the
Ability coming from Darven?”

Drayden nodded
uncomfortably, “Aye lord. Each mage has their own unique signature
overwritten upon their Ability. I know yours lord, I felt its use
much during the ambush…and after…”

He paused, “I
am not mistaken. Wolf Leader Darven is a latent Warriormage.”

Darven sat
down heavily upon the stool. Bini, who had accepted his own news
with greater equanimity, put a comforting hand on the other man’s
shoulder.

“How can this
be?” Alissa asked. “All thought that Aran was the last living
Warriormage.”

“The Goddess
works her will,” Trevan muttered enigmatically. “The power within
the land itself is seeing the lack and is bringing to the fore
Abilities which are the most needed.”

“So there will
be others,” Aran said finally, consideringly.

“Perhaps,”
replied Trevan. “Although it may be useful indeed to Scan all the
Guard, seeing as the Andurian Guard are all elite soldiers, there
may well be more in its ranks possessing that latent Ability.”

“I thought
Warriormageing was an Ability that could only be passed through
families,” Aran asked in some confusion. “I know it was within the
Andurian line for Andur himself was a latent Warriormage. Weren’t
the others of his calling killed during the Serat invasion?”

Trevan nodded,
“That is true enough…however the Goddess works her will. He turned
to Darven, “Do not be alarmed Wolf Leader, for I think this Ability
of yours has only roused itself within the last number of weeks. I
believe that if you had been Scanned months earlier, nothing would
have been found.”

Darven
nervously chewed his bottom lip, “So what does it mean?”

Trevan turned
to his king, “Ask Arantur here…he is the only one who has any idea
of this.”

Aran stared at
the Wolf Leader with new, considering eyes.

“Prepare for
the rage, Darven,” he replied quietly. “It is as interlaced with
the Ability as breathing is for a living man.”

“Can I ignore
it? Not train it. It might go away.” the young Guard leader asked
desperately.

Aran shook his
head, sorrowing for the pain, anger and confusion that would almost
certainly come to his friend.

“If the war
itself is the catalyst for the re-emergence of the ancient
Abilities,” Trevan replied inscrutably. “Then you will almost
certainly have no choice but to use it.”

“If you can
successfully leash your emotions,” Aran added quietly, “Then you
already have a key to its control.” He stared at Darven with a grim
face, “This Ability is not an easy thing to bear, and I mourn with
you about its finding.”

Aran looked
up, and met the eyes of the High Earthmage. “I’d rather you did not
tell the Archmage about this,” he said. “I will have a word with
Captain Taran and get him to send to you for Scanning any of the
Guard who seem to be fighting above and beyond their normal
ability…”

“The Archmage
really ought to know…” Drayden interrupted.

Aran laughed
dryly, “I think it would vastly upset him to learn that there is
another latent Warriormage in the camp—besides in the past the
Warriormages and Metalmages kept themselves apart from the other
mages of Glaive. I think we ought to reinstate that practice, for I
believe there is little the other disciplines can teach us. Already
I am finding out that the keys and skills for these ancient
Abilities are very different to what is taught at Glaive College.”
He glanced across at Trevan, “Although I will ask to impose on
either yourself or Mage Trevan to teach the aids to concentration
to Darven.”

Drayden
nodded, “That we can do. You think then to reestablish Rapier
again?”

“I don’t
know,” Aran shrugged, “It will be up to those found. If most of
them are discovered within the Guard then they already have a
career there.”

He sighed and
glanced across at Darven’s troubled face, “We can do nothing yet
except Scan the ones who show most promise. A college, if there is
to be one, will have to be something that is addressed after the
war is over.”

Darven nodded
his agreement, happy to delay any formalisation of his newly found
Ability.

Aran turned
back to Drayden, “However I must pull us back to the matter at
hand. How soon would you be able to give us a long range
surveillance report?

”I have
rested,” Drayden replied immediately. “I can effect a
transformation any time necessary.”

Aran stood,
“Then do so at once High Earthmage…I would like to know where the
enemy is, and their numbers.”

*

By mid-morning
teams of legio had been organised to construct wooden
fortifications around the camp and to dig the first of the stake
lined defensive pits. Already the first of the supply wagons had
been sighted trundling in from the east, and the digging men
cheered considerably with the thought of food fresh from the near
market town of Eldenton.

Later in the
day Aran walked the camp with his commanders, overseeing and
observing the military preciseness of the Legions at work.

“We do this
all the time on manoeuvres,” explained Commander Terdec, proudly
staring at the precision and order of the camp. He looked back at
the others and grinned, “Mind you this is the first time we’ve
properly been able to put into place everything we’ve practiced…”
He gazed at the endless orderly rows of white canvas tents, “We
have already learnt a lot from this campaign.”

Aran stared at
the long rows of tents, “How did the march from Leigh go, Commander
Druec?”

“It was as
well that most of the snow fell after we reached the gathering
point,” Camp Commander Druec growled, replying. “Else the infantry
would have had a heavy march indeed if we had to slog through all
this melting snow.”

“At least you
did not have to ride for leagues after fighting all day,” Terdec
replied cheerfully, his face pinched red and white with the cold.
“Now that was the stuff of epics. I only wish we had a bard along
to record the day.”

“That I do not
wish,” Aran said shortly, “I for one would rather forget that day.
We lost far too many lives for my peace of mind.”

“You think so
my lord?” Terdec asked curiously. “Just over a hundred were lost
and the enemy had frightening casualties. I actually think we did
rather well.”

Aran shook his
head, “I count even one life lost as one too many. We can
ill-afford to lose soldiers, especially since we have heard no word
from the plainsmen.”

“Aye,”
Commander Urskar of the First Haulgard Legion sighed. “We could do
with more cavalry; I know that my men and mounts are still
recovering. We would be indeed hard pressed to field a strong force
if the enemy showed itself in the next few days.”

Aran stopped
and stared into the overcast western sky then turned back to his
companions.

“Don’t worry
about that,” he reassured them. “We should be getting reports back
soon from the Earthmages, besides…” and he gazed back towards the
west, “The enemy are a long way away…even with my farsight I cannot
sense them.”

“There is some
movement in the mountains to the far west of Riggeltz,” Darven
murmured his eyes distant, vacant and dreaming.

Almost
disbelieving Aran turned to his friend, “You can sense them?”

Darven’s face
tightened, “I’m not certain, but as I was listening to the
conversation I got the vague impression of a large body of infantry
gathering deep within the western mountains, and also small numbers
of troops on the plain near Riggeltz.”

His body
suddenly tensed and his face contorted, “What in the hell was
that…?”

“Pull away,
now!” Aran commanded, physically grabbing his friend’s arm.

Darven dropped
to his knees, and spasmodically vomited onto the snow. Hunkering
down, Aran put an arm about his friend’s shoulders until the
involuntary shaking fit was over.

Drained,
Darven looked across to meet the concerned eyes of his king.

“What was
that…thing?”

“Our enemy,”
Aran replied simply. “You made my initial mistake and went too
close and tasted the control she has over her troops.” He shook his
head, “You seem to have a natural flair for this Darven, but I
would advise you not to attempt to farsee again until you have
learnt to block your thoughts. Her grasp may yet be distant,
however it is insidious and it would be too easy to fall into her
control.” Aran stood up, wincing a little at the tightness in his
legs, “As soon as Drayden returns I must talk with him about
Scanning the Guard and the others here…we will urgently need to
teach blocks to all the new Warriormages.”

“Warriormages?” Commander Sennar whispered the dreadful word. “We
have more Warriormages?”

Aran caught
the eye of the cavalry legio, and nodded gravely.

“Aye…only this
morning Wolf Leader Darven was discovered to have the latent
Ability.” He stared at each officer long and hard, “We expect that
there will be more found, for the war itself seems to be triggering
the Ability in the best of our soldiers.”

“Even legio?”
asked Urskar.

Aran nodded,
“I expect even legio will be found with the Ability.” He turned and
regarded the building of the fortifications, “I urge you to look
for any man whom you think is fighting above his natural ability.
Watch too for those in the Legions who seem to possess unique
talents, or perhaps possess an inexplicable rage or temper.” His
eyes hardened, “Find out too if any man seems to be sensing the
whereabouts of the enemy, for I would rather have everyone here
Scanned than let a latent Warriormage slip through our fingers and
into the control of the enemy.”

“I will make a
general proclamation throughout the Legions,” stated Sennar,
turning as if to go.

“No!” Aran
half cried. “I don’t want this generally known. In strictest
confidence only let your officers know what to look for. Then send
for either mage Trevan or Drayden and they will Scan any you
suspect.”

“You think
there will be many, lord?” Captain Taran asked, a frown beetling
his brows.

Aran shrugged,
“I honestly don’t know, however it is vitally important that any
suspect soldier is Scanned. It’s going to be horribly difficult,
for we don’t have the time or resources to train new Warriormages.
The least we can do is to teach them blocks, and then hopefully we
won’t run the risk of our finest soldiers being taken over and used
against us.”

“What if …”
Urskar could not finish his question, as it was too horrible to
contemplate.

“Some
Warriormages slip through and are possessed?” Terdec grimly
finished it for him.

Aran’s eyes
hardened, “As much as I hate the thought, however any soldier so
possessed by the enemy will need to be executed. I am the first of
the Warriormages, and my knowledge is scarce indeed. If we find one
who has been overcome I will try and turn him back, but if I fail
we have no other option.”

“What about
the Healermages?” queried Terdec, “They worked well on the wounded
after the ambush. Surely they could help?”

Aran shook his
head. He had grave misgivings about the effectiveness of a
Healermage in dealing with the possession of a Warriormage.

“Could we not
imprison them? Make certain they are well guarded, so they are no
longer a risk to the army,” Urskar asked, unhappy at the thought of
even one of his men possessing the Ability.

Aran’s eyes
grew bleak with bitter memories.

“When the rage
comes to a Warriormage,” Aran stated coldly, “I doubt even rope or
chain could hold them.”

*

Archmage Maran
of Glaive had spent the better part of the day wrestling with his
conscience about the events that had transpired during and after
the ambush, and still had come to no firm conclusion as to whether
he had acted improperly or not. Realising that he had to confront
Arantur, he made his way out of the mage enclave, and walked up to
where the king was standing near the fortifications.

“Do you not
trust me, Arantur?” he stated quietly, his voice hesitant at the
reception he might receive.

Aran spun
around and his face darkened when he saw the Archmage.

“The battle
gave me more insight into you, Glaive, and the other mages than
anything I had seen to date,” Aran replied tightly, immediately. “I
understand you very well Archmage.” He turned again and stared into
the dark overcast, “However, I do not trust you, and I believe your
aiding of the province against our enemies is only one of your
motivations. You clearly have other plans as well. You spend too
much time alone in your dusty halls with your old books. When
others look at the sunset they see the beauty of the clouds, the
mountains and the light. However, you see swirling patterns of
power and structures of energy. How can you see as other men
do?”

A gleam
entered Maran’s eyes, “Need I remind you that they are powers that
we both share and understand. Though our approaches to the
magepower are different, we are both called mage, irrespective of
the titling of our Abilities. Although we are part of this world,
our magepowers take us apart from the rest…” He paused as if to
gather strength, “But you wound me my lord. We could have stayed
behind our crashing waves and swirling ocean mists of Glaive, but
our kinship and stewardship of the province drove us to leave our
fortress of power, in order to aid both you and the people.”