White Hall (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 10) (58 page)

He moved to sit by Uliya who was looking at the boy. Her mentor tried to speak with the child and comfort him, but she was a battle mage. Fighting and war had been the woman’s world for half her life. Even though she was still young, Falcon Orna didn’t seem capable of relating to the boy.

“You should try to speak to him,” Piotr stated urging the red haired cadet by pointing with his head. Her eyes dropped at his words. Trying to pull her attention back from the ground before her feet, the wizard finally managed to make the melancholy girl look at him, but not at the frightened child.

“I wouldn’t know what to say to him,” the girl managed quietly.

Piotr nodded and turned his head slightly towards the awkward attempts at comforting from the falcon. “She’s too rusty at dealing with children to be any good at it. You have a younger brother don’t you?”

Surprise registered in the girl’s eyes at Piotr’s knowledge and she asked, “You knew that? Did I tell you about my brother?”

“The first day in orientation everyone mentioned something about their past. Those of us from Delanne mentioned our town and most said something about our families. It’s where we come from and Wizard Gregor said that it was important to remember where we started. Our families, friends and homes might be left behind, but it is the strength of remembering what and who we fight for that will keep us alive.

“You spoke of a younger brother and sister too. You have a...” Piotr had to think hard to remember details of someone he barely knew at the time, but his memory was strong thanks to being a wizard. “I think you have an older sister as well, but you are the only one to show any sign of magic.”

Her eyes went slightly wide at the boy’s remembrance of details given once over two months ago. She nodded slowly and responded, “You got it right. I have two sisters and a brother. How did you remember that?”

Thinking that he had barely even noticed the girl at the time, even Piotr was surprised that he had. With a shrug, the boy replied, “A wizard has a strong memory, I guess. We need to remember lots of gestures and words that aren’t even in our common language. Probably magic helps to keep other things accessible as well.

“Anyway, you have barely left your family behind and you would be better at talking with him than Falcon Orna. You should just talk to him like you are talking to your brother. What if his pet had died or someone he knew? What would you say to him?”

Her eyes looked at him curiously and the girl leaned closer to kiss him on the cheek. “Are you sure that you shouldn’t just talk to him? You seem better at it than me.”

Smiling at the girl with the calmness she had noticed as he spoke with her, Piotr shook his head and said, “If men attacked the village, a female presence will be more soothing for him. Besides you’re pretty and have a sweetness that I think he’ll respond to if you try.”

“But what do I say to him?”

“First start by trying to be comforting. If he responds, wait for awhile before asking him what happened. Our leaders will want to know, but you’ll need to bring him out of his shell first. He’s fragile, so just be there for him right now.”

Nodding slowly, Uliya looked ready to try. Piotr stood and assisted the girl up with a hand. She moved closer than he thought necessary brushing up against him with her body and said, “I think I like you more than your brother now.”

With that she brushed her hand against his cheek looking like she wanted to kiss him again, but the red haired cadet strode away to sit beside the boy opposite Orna, who looked appreciatively at her student.

He moved to join the other wizards. Zieran and Gorum had been speaking with each other intently while the camp began to set up tents and a cook fire. Banty looked unsure what to do with himself as his elders spoke of whether to release the animals before nightfall or to wait until morning. There had been talk of sending riders back to White Hall. Since there were many veterans at the school or they could send word of the attack to Blackwall, which was almost as close to them as the school from the forest.

As if his approach was the cue to put together a plan jointly, Falcon Eyrk and Elijah moved to join them along with the leader of the soldiers, a sergeant named Kerland. The last man was the eldest of the group and a twenty five year veteran, though still shy of his fortieth year. Most had heard of him, even those who weren’t a part of the soldiers being trained.

Falcon Eyrk was the senior mage and stated, “Qeras and Trienne will scout for the enemy and return as soon as they can. In the mean time, do we just go on with the mission as planned?”

Wizard Gorum stood straighter and demanded, “That is what we should do. This problem with that village is none of our concern, though we should, of course, report it to Blackwall and probably White Hall as well. They can send men to find out who committed these atrocities, but our duty is to our mission.”

Elijah looked at the wizard with a frown and retorted, “Any attack on our people is our business, wizard. We have the men and women capable of finding and apprehending these bandits or whatever. We should do our part to end any threat on Southwall’s soil.”

Gorum frowned and responded quickly, “We have competent soldiers and mages along, I agree; but what will you do with the children? They aren’t ready to fight. War is for those who have been trained for more than a few months time.”

“They are more powerful than you think. What bandit can stand up to a battle mage with even half of our spells?” Elijah retorted trying to keep the other men leaning towards avenging the sacked village.

They had been in the small village long enough to know that many had been killed, though most of those were men. Weapons scrounged together had been used, but if the enemy consisted of soldiers with any training, pitchforks and machetes wielded by farmers and townsfolk would be little more than a vain threat.

Almost no bodies of women or children had been discovered. The falcon added, “It looks like a raid. The fire was meant to obscure their motives, but the women and children were taken along. They might be slavers.”

“Slavers!” the wizard scoffed. “Inside of Southwall? How ludicrous. Anyone daring to try would be thrown in prison before they could sell even one.”

Piotr spoke up, “They might have been taken for pleasure or for labor.”

Again Gorum looked unwilling to believe such an idea and he replied, “Then they should have taken men. They are stronger than children and women.”

“They would also be harder to control, especially if their families were trapped with them. Wouldn’t you risk your life to save your family rather than let them stay in slavery?” Piotr asked the wizard. It was unlikely that the man had a family of his own, but even at fourteen, the boy could see himself fighting back if it meant saving others.

The boy’s question gave the older man pause, but Gorum seemed to shake it off as he looked to Zieran and the other older men saying, “Slavers, brigands, or whatever they might be; they aren’t part of our mission. As elder wizard for the mission, I say we release the animals in the morning and alert the authorities when we return.”

Sergeant Kerland countered, “I thought you nature wizards had magic to communicate over long distances.”

Gorum frowned, but Zieran answered, “If we have the right animals to work with, we can direct them to a city with a message attached. We don’t have any way beyond that to communicate with White Hall.”

The soldier frowned and Falcon Eyrk began to look impatient with the wizards. The falcon said, “We shouldn’t involve the students in a mission, but some of the veterans can stay and deal with these murderers. You want a word for them Gorum? That is what they are.

“There are over a dozen dead in that village. There are signs of horses and carts heading into the forest that you want to release your animals into, so if you can’t worry over people perhaps your animals will carry more weight for you.

“We have two mages tracking them to find out where they are holed up. We have seven falcons, eight trained soldiers and two full wizards. Not everyone can go; but with Zieran, five of the mages and as many soldiers as Kerland can spare, we should be enough to take down most pockets of thieves and murderers.”

Gorum looked shocked that the falcon would choose Zieran by name. He was the elder wizard; but as Piotr watched his face, the boy realized that the man was also a coward. It was why he wanted to do only the job they had come to do and leave. The wizard didn’t want to risk his life to help these people.

“I can go to and I’m sure Niklaus and some of the others will want to as well,” Piotr stated to the mage who had assumed control of the group.

“You’re all novices. We can’t risk taking nearly untrained recruits into a fight,” Falcon Eyrk stated though his eyes revealed appreciation for the boy’s heart and willingness to do what was right when one of his leaders would not.

“What if you need more men? We don’t know how many there are,” the boy continued to press, though he wondered why. Piotr didn’t really want to fight. He certainly hadn’t come out to the forest for such a thing. “We can release most of the animals now. Morning or night won’t matter, but we need to wait for morning with Bo and a few of the others.

“Night is the friend of some animals but the others will need time to find a place they can feel safe. Once they are released, our job is done; but Gorum and Banty can take the carts back with whoever else wants to ride back. I know enough magic to help, just like most of your cadets.”

Eyrk glanced to the other men appearing tempted by the idea. No one else looked as sure, so finally the falcon shook his head. “We’ll wait for Qeras and Trienne to return with a report. If they believe that there are too many, we will fall back and leave a couple mages to keep track of them, otherwise we will deal with them with what we have in the morning.”

Having given his final word, the other men all seemed content to abide by his order. The falcon was an impressive man and the others seemed to take his lead with little hesitation. Unfortunately Piotr still had his reservations; but he was just a novice in their eyes, so his opinion was dismissed.

The Southwall troops finished setting the tents or rolling out bedrolls. There wasn’t any water here, so they were forced to continue working from their canteens and a couple large pots brought along on Bo’s cart. Piotr worked with the other nature wizards to release most of the animals that were comfortable in the night, even in a new area.

Bo would remain. Estry as well as a fox and a handful more that would have difficulty leaving during the night without a lair remained in their cages. A few were already sleeping as they ignored the drama among the men.

Not wanting to be caught off guard, the novice worked to set connecting ties with the animals which remained and a few which were released. Their senses were better than his so the boy planned to work off of their abilities to ensure their safety.

Guards were set from the start and would be throughout the night; but they were human. Cadets would be paired with veteran soldiers, mostly their mentors, which meant their sentries were even less prepared for the night. While he worried about an attack, Piotr was surprised that no one else seemed to be as well.

As he walked closer to the trees, the boy used his magic to find a lark owl. Named for the noises which sounded like someone being happy and the other bird which was the basis for the saying 'happy as a lark', the owl was also a perfect sentry. The novice wove a spell that was beyond the knowledge he had arrived at the school with less than three months ago.

While Falcon Eyrk doubted the students’ abilities, Piotr knew that he was already skilled enough to lend his magic to a fight and make a difference; but he was also a wizard. Once inside the woods, any close quarters fighting would be too dangerous for any wizard. Few trained with weapons, especially as novices, so they were only good with distance between them and an enemy.

Perhaps that was the added worry for the falcon. Keeping Zieran protected and alive was much simpler than adding all four wizards and the cadets, who were also liabilities in a fight since they were untested. Still he would have thought that there was strength in numbers.

“You’re setting up the owl as a sentry?” Zieran asked surprising the novice as he set his spell connecting his mind to the lark owl. “So you don’t trust a bunch of teenage children with less than three months of training to keep us safe?”

At the man’s chuckle at his sarcastic joke, Piotr ignored him long enough to release the mid size brown and gray owl. It would stay close by for the night watching out for them, but the boy planned to find another to be redundant. For some reason, he felt anxious. The only reasoning for it was his worry that the bandits might have seen the riders when they went to investigate the fire. If they were able to watch from the forest unseen, the bandits might very well choose to follow and attack them.

If he was looking for a time to best attack a group of battle mages and soldiers, it would be in the darkness and late enough to perhaps catch a sentry half asleep.

“It can’t hurt to be cautious. The bird won’t go too far and will make its laughing call to warn the sentries.”

Zieran nodded and followed the novice as he tried to find another bird, preferably something nocturnal like the owl, for a second sentry. The wizard asked, “Have you learned the magic which can call animals to you from a distance?”