The Weapon Bearer (Book 1) (16 page)

“My gold is already yours. Whatever you and this other person needs they can ask from me also. I know Kara is not your real sister, but I truly thank you for coming with us. I had a fear that I would not be enough to help her survive, now I know I don’t have to do it all on my own.” Kilen had spoken slowly and from the heart. There was a small silence before Bowie spoke.

“I’m just asking for a bit of your wine money. Don’t go getting all teary eyed on me.” Bowie jumped up and started to walk off. He stopped a small distance away and said over his shoulder, “Thanks.” With that he headed towards the cooks hut in the center of all the fire’s.

Kilen closed his book and went to start loading the horses behind the structure. Sgt. Wells was already there brushing the horses and Brent’s horse was already saddled. He spoke to Kilen as a father would his son, “Well how do you feel today then?” Kilen joined him in brushing down the horse so that they stood face to face working.

“I feel whole. I have to admit that I had to go against my promise already. Wizard Parker wants me to be at full health the entire way to Deuterium. It seems I am their protector of sorts.”

“Listen to that wizard, he is a smart one. We have never seen him here in Keepers before, but he is the only one to ever bring us a potential,” he said with reverence.

“A potential?” Kilen stopped brushing the horse.

“You,” he said. “You are a potential for king here in Keepers. You hold two elemental marks on that blade. One more from let’s say, a fire wizard perhaps, and you will have the right to claim the Water Realm as yours. With that you will also claim my allegiance and sworn oath of protection.”

“I am just a knowledge seeker. I want no part of being the Water Realm king,” Kilen said as he started brushing again.

“Well either way I wish to make a request. I want to fight a real weapon bearer, and so when you travel through this area again as a fully trained weapon bearer, I want to fight you. Not to the death but to make sure the title I was given two days before the fall of the water kingdom was really earned.”

“I will try hard not to disappoint you in that fight,” Kilen said laughing. Wells did not laugh. Kilen realized that he had earned his rank over ten years ago and will never be able to be promoted until the water king rises. It was not a joke, but to test himself that Sgt. Wells sought.

Both kept preparing the animals for departing Keepers. They worked in silence lending a hand where needed.

***

Brent woke from his deep sleep and smoothed his robe. He collected his things while checking Kara’s state. He moved around the structure to where the horses were and found Sgt. Wells and Kilen working together in the morning light. “Where has our lord taken off to already this morning?”

“He said he had business with Master Bradley about a servant to travel with us to prepare meals, sew, and care for the horses.”

“Is that all? we don’t need is another on this trip, I’ll be back with him shortly. Be prepared to ride, and get Kara into the saddle. When we are out of Keepers we will lift the sedation. We will leave as soon as I return with Bowie.” Brent muttered under his breath about unfocused children while stomping off to find Bowie. Kilen worked harder to get everything prepared before Brent returned.

Brent found Bowie right where Kilen had said, talking with the fat chef by his cook pots. The cook was standing still with his arms crossed listening to Bowie talk. “You see we are a man short and could use his expertise in almost every area.”

“Who’s expertise are we talking about?” Brent cut into the conversation like a wintry blast through an opening door.

“Leroy’s expertise in cooking , herbs, medicine, and sewing. Not to mention to have another hand in caring for Kara with the broth she will need. I bet he can even mix up a sedative to keep her asleep so you won’t have to use magic to do that.” Brent was struck with Bowie’s words; he wished that he had thought of it first. Brent started to apologize for the mutterings he made coming into this conversation.

“I must admit I had not thought about the help that the boy could offer us until now Master Bradley. I do need lots of help getting this wizard to the Earth Realm without incident. I know we spoke of the weapon bearer needing some schooling to become a full weapon bearer. You’re sons expertise certainly helps us fill in the gaps. What then will it take to let him join us in our journey?” Brent waited expectantly for the chef to answer.

“I don’t think I can say no, unfortunately. If he goes to help the weapon bearer then it would benefit Keepers greatly I think. I will ask that when you are finished with his teaching, you send him back to me.”

“It will be so,” Bowie said without the wizard able to get in a word. The chef waited on Brent to speak his agreement.

“Well as his lordship has said, it will be so. I will see to it that you receive compensation for his time away. I know how much of an asset he is here with you.”

“The only compensation I need is to make sure that he stays alive and that he brings home Earth Realm recipes with him. I have never had a chance to visit the Earth Realm in all my travels.” He smiled and they shook hands at the agreement. Bowie was more excited than he had been the last two days, even with the celebrations and dancing he had done last night. “LEROY, get over here.” The boy came bounding across the camp with hand still dripping blood from whatever he had been preparing for the cook pot. He wiped his hands on his apron with the spices and knives. “I need you to help these men with a task. I won’t be around to help you so do it right and don’t question the wizard. Do you understand?” Leroy nodded his head once and waited for his father to tell him what his task would be. “Good. Get your things together and I’ll send someone to saddle Pullboy for your ride. Pack your herbs and tools, both sets of boots.” The father and son walked off as he continued to give instruction on what to pack. People in the town shook his hands and bid him a quick farewell as he walked. The chef said to each person he passed, “My son journeys into the Earth Realm to protect the wizard.” Tears came to his father’s eyes almost each time. People around the town offered help in packing his things and getting supplies for his horse. New shirts and pants were put into saddle bags and girls offered Leroy flowers as a token of thanks for his bravery. Kilen came, walking the horses with Kara secured in her saddle, to the crowd gathering around the Bradley’s house. Brent and Bowie both mounted and waited for everyone to say their good bye’s. When everyone was finished Leroy’s father gave him two silver daggers and whispered something in his ear. Leroy hugged his father and promised that he would return safely. With that, Brent started to pull a fog around them, trying to show his power as a wizard to give the people confidence in Leroy. Kilen saw that Brent was too weak to put much around them so he pulled as much as he could. The party disappeared into a wall of fog that blocked out the daylight. Brent moved to Leroy and helped him exit the town in the fog, and Kilen did the same, using his water vision for Bowie and Kara.

To the people in Keepers it seemed as if they had turned into a fog and slowly drifted from town. Kilen maintained the fog behind them as they departed Keepers until they were out of sight and then let it dissipate where it stood.

Before long Leroy yelled from the back of the precession, “Wizard Parker? Can you explain to me where it is we are going and what I am supposed to do for you?”

Brent waved Leroy up to the front to ride beside him, “Well since you are with us now I can give you the entire truth. Kilen became a weapon bearer the night of Springfest not two days past. I found him fighting for his father’s blade, and his sister throwing fire. In the short, when we get to the Earth Realm King I’ll need Kilen to be trained in many arts like cooking, herbs, and medicine. That is your undertaking.”

“We’re going to Deuterium?” Leroy was shocked, he thought that he would never leave Keepers until a new king was crowned. Now he was traveling with these people he barely knew into the heart of his town’s worst rival. “I’m supposed to teach Kilen medicine, herbs, and cooking while we travel to Deuterium?”

“Yes and yes,” Brent said “Not everything mind you, but enough that he will be able to pass the basic training to become a scout for the King’s army. You will be training Bowie also. Give them both every advantage they can get. That is your job, the rest of the chores will be split up equally. Do you accept this Master Bradley?”

Leroy took a moment for it all to settle before answering, “No one has ever called me Master Bradley, please call me Leroy. I do accept these terms Wizard Parker.”

“If I am to call you Leroy then you will call me Brent, just like the others. Now I need to start a bit of training myself while you think on how you are to accomplish your task in the next few weeks. Kilen, we will start with history as your first subject.”

Kilen perked up, “I know a lot about history. I’ve read all about the wars and struggles for land and seas. I don’t think there is much to learn, should we start with something else?”

“You don’t know the whole history. The history I speak of remains a part of wizards’ and weapon bearers’ secrets. I’ll ask you other two not to listen,” he said winking at Bowie and Leroy. They smiled in return.

Brent started in as if he was telling a great story, not a history lesson, “About three thousand years ago there were no kings and no realms. People that populated this land lived in small tribes, relying on their environment to survive. Wizards were born and killed if they were discovered, so they wouldn’t kill their own families. Some mothers had slipped their small children away from their villages before they could be found out as a wizard. They were sent away to live in solitude so that they might survive. Eventually, these rogue wizards had grown so powerful that they would sometimes kill whole villages without meaning to. Water wizards were some of the worst, making rain for days on end, flooding lands and drowning whole villages. Fire wizards would turn into a torch, lighting their bodies on fire and burning anything that moved, killing whole herds of animals, burning grass land, forcing people to move their villages to eat. The wizards were a menace.

About 2,500 thousand years ago a fifteen year old boy named Efrindoel was a victim of one of the wizards. His entire village was washed away, and he was the only one that remained alive. His parents had pushed him into a tree so high they could reach him themselves. He watched them get swept away in the waters. When the flooding subsided he picked up a stick lying on the ground and fixed a knife to the end of it. Then he made to seek out the wizard who had caused the destruction.

When he found her she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was swimming in a small pond, and she told him that she had made it using the water from the sky. She asked Efrindoel to come swim with her, and he did. He met her in the water still clutching his spear, and asked her why she had killed his family. She was confused and told him she had made a beautiful place and had killed no one. He tried to tell her that her magic caused the death of his village, and he held his spear ready to pierce her heart. She told him that she had her pond, and if he wanted her water magic that he could have it. She reached up to hold the end of his spear and she let him push the tip into her skin. Then she tried to give him her water magic, but instead imbued his spear tip. He felt power rush into him through the weapon and thought she was trying to kill him. He thrust the spear into her chest and took it out again. He became the very first weapon bearer and killed the wizard who gave the power to him.”

Kilen said, “Wait I haven’t heard the start of this story, but I know that Efrindoel was the first elemental king.”

Brent held up his hand, “I’m just starting the history lesson, let me continue. Efrindoel traveled all over the land searching and finding wizards. Each one he would find he would force at spear point to give him their power before he plunged the spear through their heart. Eventually he found out that there were only four types of elemental wizards and he had collected them all. By that time he had developed a following of survivors wanting to kill wizards. Those that had three elements on their weapons he sent to find others to help hunt them. He was the King of these survivors, the king of a murderous savage group of people bent on killing wizards. Eventually the earth, water, and wind wizards began to group together to fight back against Efrindoel’s people. They captured one of Efrindoel’s warriors and tortured information about the process of giving magic to another. They tried to hide the ability by putting the magic into jewelry. The magic lessened, but the abilities were still there. Wizards forced men to follow them by threatening their families, and gave them magic items to fight against Efrindoel.

The wizard battles lasted over fifty years. Some of the wizards banded together to form a nation of wizards and started to keep records and instruction books on how to keep control of themselves. Wizard Heathmos was a leader of the wizards. They named him Lord Heathmos and gave him the task of stopping Efrindoel. They approached Efrindoel and were able to convince him to stop killing. He gave Lord Heathmos control of any wizards they found. The killing stopped and Efrindoel’s spear was passed to his eldest son Afrindoel, and he became the second world king.”

Brent took a long drink from his water skin and continued, “Afrindoel had no hatred for wizards like his father, so he began to talk with them. Wizard Lord Heathmos and Afrindoel set apart the southern land, what is now the Fire Realm. He said that the wizards would be sent there to study with Heathmos, and when they were capable of holding themselves in check he would let them venture back to their home lands. So wizards were integrated back into the Afrindoel’s reign. Wizards began to feel they were superior to the rest of the humans. Wizards of all types began carving out areas for their own, forcing people to work for them. Afrindoel fought alongside Heathmos to take back these lands. When the fighting was cleared, wizards were sent to serve under the Kings and were called the Wizards Councils. Any wizard who didn’t serve under a king would not get his protection from the Wizards councils. This is how we began to use kings and councils. No king is to be an elemental wizard, and no councilmen are to be a armor or weapon bearer. Did I lose you in all that?”