The Mage's Limits: Mages of Martir Book #2 (25 page)

As soon as Darek climbed onto the stage, Jakuuth walked over to him and held out a hand, a smile on his aged yet handsome features. “Darek, good to see you. How did you sleep last night?”

Darek shook Jakuuth's hand. “I slept well. How about you?”

“Oh, you know I'm not as young as I used to be,” Jakuuth sighed, rubbing his back as he said so. “Even we Limitless suffer from the effects of age, after all. But I am still in good enough shape to lead the attack on North Academy, so don't worry about me.”

Jakuuth slapped Darek on the shoulder good-naturedly as he said that, while Darek just smiled and nodded. Jakuuth could certainly be friendly when he wanted to, but Darek just couldn't forget how Jakuuth had threatened to bash his head in with his gavel if he failed to achieve Limitlessness. Nor could he forget that sooner or later, he would have to kill Jakuuth.

“Now go stand by Rema and Gonar over there,” said Jakuuth, gesturing at the sisters. “Aorja will be here to join us shortly, and once she gets here, I will begin the speech.”

Darek nodded again and walked over to stand by Rema and Gonar. The two sisters were talking with each other, but it was in that strange language that all katabans spoke in. It sounded like shrieks and clicks to him and reminded him of Durima and Gujak, those two katabans who he had not seen or heard of in over a year.

Wonder how they're doing now,
Darek thought as he stood beside Gonar, who did not seem to have noticed his arrival.
I bet they're doing far worse than me, unless they're still on the run for killing the Spider Goddess.

A moment later, Aorja climbed onto the stage, spoke briefly with Jakuuth about something Darek couldn't hear, and then went to join Darek, Rema, and Gonar. Rather than stand next to Darek, she took up a spot next to Rema. This in spite of the fact that Darek knew that Aorja despised Rema, though why, he didn't know. He suspected it was just another female rivalry that he couldn't understand.

She must really hate me if she wants to stand next to Rema instead of me,
Darek thought. He found that that thought hurt, even though Aorja's hatred of him wasn't a secret.

Now that everyone was present, Jakuuth raised his gavel. That motion alone silenced the entire Army, which up until this point had been a loud mass of talking, joking, and training, in the case of a few of the more disciplined soldiers who had seen this waiting period as the perfect opportunity to work on a few spells they hadn't yet perfected.

“My Limitless Army,” said Jakuuth, his voice booming over the crowd, his back to Darek and the others. “For three months, we have been training every day to become a powerful Army of disciplined soldiers, the best in all of Martir. When I first arrived here, you all were nothing more than a collection of the world's worst rapists, murderers, thieves, ship saboteurs, and assassins, easily the least likely candidates to make a disciplined Army out of.”

Aorja was nodding, like she agreed. Darek agreed as well, though he was too busy wondering if he could kill Jakuuth now and get away with it, to nod.

“But I have always had faith in my ability to train anyone in the path of Limitlessness,” said Jakuuth. “It was hard work, as you all know, but it was also well worth the effort. Even now, I can see us storming North Academy and World's End, not as an undisciplined mob seeking vengeance on those who harmed us, but as an effective and united Army the likes of which the Northern Isles has never seen before.”

Darek did not doubt that, although he would not have put it in so cheery terms himself. After all, a large part of the reason that the Limitless soldiers listened to Jakuuth was because he was such a harsh and unyielding leader. Sometimes Darek wondered if the Limitless Army could work together to overthrow Jakuuth, but then he dismissed the thought every time. Jakuuth was strong and powerful, far more so than any one of the Limitless. No doubt he had some way of dealing with rebellion, should he ever need to.

“Even better, I can confirm that we will not be alone,” Jakuuth continued. “The squad that will invade World's End shall be aided by allies I made a while ago. I will not say just yet who these allies are, but rest assured that they will support us when we attack the Throne of the Gods. Powerful allies, too, who are not afraid of the pathetic katabans 'navy' that is currently protecting World's End as we speak.”

Uron,
Darek thought.
Has to be. But why does he say 'allies,' plural? Does that mean that Uron has his own army? Where would Uron even get an army? Perhaps more importantly, how could he keep it hidden from the gods for so long?

“The North Academy force will not have similar backup, but we won't need it,” said Jakuuth, in a loud, mocking voice. “The students and teachers of North Academy all believe in the false Sixth Pillar. They believe they are Limited and incapable of growing stronger. Because of this, we will crush them as a boulder crushes an ant. Even the so-called Magical Superior will fall before us.”

Darek cast a quick glance in Aorja's direction. She was smirking, as if imagining what the Magical Superior would look like dead. Darek balled his hands into fists, but said nothing.

“Nervous?” Gonar muttered, causing him to look down at her. She was chewing on some kind of bone, though it was stuck too deep within her mouth for him to tell what it might have belonged to.

Darek shook his head and muttered in return, “No.”

“You don't need to be, you know,” said Gonar as the Army cheered on Jakuuth's proclamation of the Magical Superior's death. “Jakuuth has it all figured out. But if you're still nervous, I have some extra fingers in my pocket here I could share with you. They always help me calm my nerves, even when I'm not hungry.”

The short, fat katabans patted her pocket. Darek grimaced, remembering Gonar's disturbing habit of collecting human fingers to carry around as snacks. He had heard that she had taken the fingers from prison staff after Jakuuth overthrew them … before killing them, of course.

Before Darek could decline her offer as politely as he could, Jakuuth's voice boomed again, causing him to start and return his focus to the Limitless leader's speech.

“Once we conquer North Academy and World's End, we will then move onto the rest of Martir,” Jakuuth continued. “Nation after nation will fall before us like wooden blocks stacked unevenly on top of one another. The gods themselves, weakened by the destruction of World's End, will be incapable of stopping us. I promise to give each individual soldier their own island to rule as you see fit, to answer to no one but yourselves and me.”

The Limitless Army whooped and roared their approval, a few banging their swords and shields together just to add to the noise. Darek normally would have been skeptical about the idea of three hundred odd men and women conquering the whole world, but when he felt his own Limitlessness, his doubt faded, especially if they managed to add other mages to their ranks at some point.

“I mean to keep this speech short and to the point,” said Jakuuth. “We have spent more than enough time thinking and training and planning and talking. In another hour, after everyone has filled their bellies with the prison food and gathered all of their equipment, we will begin the invasion of North Academy and World's End. Therefore, I dismiss you all to eat and prepare, but only for an hour. Once that hour is up, I expect to see every head back here ready to go to your designated location.”

As soon as Jakuuth finished speaking, the Limitless Army broke up. Half of them climbed back up the walkways to their cells, likely to gather last minute provisions that they may have forgotten in their haste to gather for Jakuuth's speech. The other half went over to the large boiling pot of slop and meat located on the other side of the prison yard, getting into a neat line so that each soldier could get his fair share.

Darek saw his chance. He broke from his place next to Gonar (who was now eating one of the fingers she had offered him earlier) and walked up to Jakuuth, who had just turned around at that exact moment.

“Great speech, Jakuuth, sir,” said Darek with the most winning smile he could muster. “You did great. I am sure the rest of the Army will keep your speech in mind as they attack our enemies and begin our conquest of the world.”

“Thank you, Darek,” said Jakuuth. “But please, don't call me 'sir.' We're so close now, why, I think we can just call each other by our first names, don't you think?”

He's in a good mood,
Darek thought.
Should be easy to get him to do whatever I ask.

So Darek nodded and said, “Of course, Jakuuth. I was just wondering if we could speak in private somewhere, perhaps back in your office. There's something I'd like to talk with you about, but I don't want to do it where everyone can hear it, as it's private.”

“Private?” said Jakuuth. He glanced over his shoulder at the long line of soldiers waiting for their food, as if he was hungry as well. “Very well. I know you wouldn't be asking me this if it wasn't serious, Darek, so I will grant you that request.”

“Where are you two going?” Aorja asked.

Darek almost jumped. Aorja was standing behind him, suspicion painted all over her face. She had her hands on her hips, just like how Mom had looked in Darek's younger days whenever she thought he was up to no good.

“To speak in private in my office,” said Jakuuth. “It's fine, Aorja. Go and join the other soldiers for breakfast. I doubt we'll talk for more than five minutes, if that.”

Aorja frowned. “Are you sure you don't want me to come with you, sir?”

“Absolutely,” said Jakuuth. Then he put one hand on Darek's shoulder. “Now, let's go and get this over with quickly. I was serious when I said that I wanted everyone here in an hour, so why don't we head up to my office and get this over with right away?”

When Darek blinked again, he and Jakuuth no longer stood outside on the makeshift wooden stage. Instead, they stood inside the small office where Darek had first met Jakuuth a month ago. The curtains were drawn and the door was closed, making it quite black inside until Jakuuth snapped his fingers and several candles on his desk lit up, allowing Darek to see Jakuuth's aged, curious face.

“All right, Darek,” said Jakuuth with a yawn. “What is it you would like to talk about?”

Darek's nose twitched at the smell from the candles. It was like chocolate and dirt, a smell which irritated him greatly. His fingers curled, but he did not grab his wand. Even though this was the perfect opportunity to do so, he could not bring himself to kill Jakuuth right now.

So Darek said, “When we attack North Academy, will you spare Mom?”

Jakuuth's expression quickly turned into a raging scowl. He grabbed Darek's shoulders roughly and snarled, “You mean the woman who betrayed me? The woman who is the very reason I spent the last three decades locked away beneath World's End, like some kind of disgusting cripple that no one wants to look at?”

Although Jakuuth was clearly older than Darek, that didn't mean he was weaker. His hands, large and strong, gripped his shoulders so hard that Darek almost thought that the Limitless leader was going to crush him to death.

But then Jakuuth let go and stepped back. His chest heaving up and down, Jakuuth said, “I apologize for manhandling you, Darek. Your mother and I … we used to be close. We were young and carefree and I thought … never mind.”

“Uh, sure,” said Darek. He realized he had grabbed his wand, which he quickly let go of so Jakuuth wouldn't get suspicious. “I was just wondering if we could spare Mom. I don't want her to die because … well, you know.”

Jakuuth ground his teeth, but then he said, in a forced calm voice, “I understand how you feel. When I was younger, I cared about my own mother, too.”

“You had a mother?” said Darek, though he wasn't sure why this came as a surprise to him.

“Of course I did,” said Jakuuth. “Remember, I am half-human, half-god. My godly half came from Grinf, while my human half came from my mother. As much as I loved her, she never understood my greater destiny as the Son of Grinf.”

Or she understood you were crazy,
Darek thought, but aloud, he said, “Is she still alive?”

“No,” said Jakuuth, shaking his head. “When I broke out of prison two months ago, my first stop, before Rock Isle, was Carnag, my home island, sometimes known as Grinf's Court. I sought out my mother, only to discover that she had died ten years back due to her old age. I visited her grave, where I left her flowers and prayed to my father to give her soul peace.”

He looked at his feet as he said that, as if he was still back in that Carnagian graveyard looking down at the grave of his deceased mother. It almost made Darek feel sorry for him, which made it even more difficult for Darek to look for an opening in which to strike.

“But understand this, Darek,” said Jakuuth, looking up at him. “Do not let your love for your mother blind you to the kind of woman she is. She is deceitful and treacherous. She will grow close to you, even love you, and then toss you aside when she learns who—no, what—you really are. She is a propagator of the limiting beliefs that keep us mages from achieving our true power. She is a witch.”

“She's not that bad,” said Darek, although he made sure to keep a conciliatory tone to avoid angering Jakuuth. “I know she can be a bit bossy and stubborn, but I think killing her would be a huge mistake.”

Jakuuth shook his head. “You still don't understand. Do you think I'm just some mad, would-be dictator who wants to impose his beliefs on the world? Do you think I am doing all of this because I desire power above all else? Do you think I want to destroy North Academy because they rejected me so many years ago?”

Yes, yes, and yes,
Darek thought.
You're nothing more than a crazy sick bastard who is leading an army of other crazy sick bastards to destroy a school full of innocent teachers and students.

But Darek made sure not to utter a word of that thought. He said instead, “Well, no. I just thought—”

Jakuuth held up a hand. Darek tried to speak, but he realized that Jakuuth had taken away his ability to speak, at least for the moment.