White Hall (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 10) (61 page)

To his surprise, the bear was too late. As he finished sneaking towards the men flanking the air wizard who was driving the mages back. Two black shields absorbed much of his attack, but they couldn’t slip past the push of wind keeping them outside the forest and making them easier targets for both arrows and wind spells.

As Piotr slipped closer, a large dark form pounced on the wizard from behind. A hound, if he was correct, leaped on the man knocking him to the ground. Teeth dug deep into the wizard’s arm. The power of the creature broke the arm with a loud crack and it leaped back into the brush before the other men could move to save their wizard or get revenge.

It was Niklaus, he thought, as Bo crashed into the first of the flanking line. The man was knocked down with broken ribs most likely along with other broken bones. Before he could move, the forest leaped up grasping the other men. Without the wind wizard to use his magic to keep the plants from holding his guardian assassins, Gorum could focus his magic on incapacitating the other brigands. He made sure to bind the air wizard as well, but the man looked nearly unconscious from the pain of the broken bones and torn flesh.

Listening for the sound of battle, Piotr was surprised that even the last group to the north seemed to have gone silent. Perhaps Zieran had taken them out already.

Pulling back most of his consciousness, the novice asked, “Do you need any help Zieran?”

The mentor shook his head. His eyes were completely lucid and he appeared to have pulled his mind back from the owl lent to him. “No, I caught the fire wizard first and the others went down easily after him.”

Calling the bear back to the campsite, Piotr watched as Bo returned looking wary of the humans around her for the first time. She had been used unlike any time before. When they had tried to set her free in the past, even using similar mind control hadn’t left a lasting impression on the bear. Humans and the food they provided were too convenient so she would wander back no matter what they did.

Piotr felt guilty for using the bear like he had and he could see it in her eyes, that this had felt wrong to her as well. Maybe he was placing his own feelings on the animal, but the novice thought maybe this time, Bo would decide that she had enough of humans for awhile.

The group from White Hall took awhile to finally take full control of the area. There were injuries on both sides and sadly deaths as well.

Three veteran soldiers had been killed fighting in the forest. Falcon Qeras was found broken and bleeding where the air wizard from the enemy had first caught them off guard. He died before the battle was over and without a healer among them, his injuries would have been impossible to heal for the trip back to the white city.

In camp, not only Uliya had been hit by the arrows. An unfortunate cadet from the soldiers died from an arrow through the throat. Two more had been hit, one to an arm and the other a leg; but their wounds were simple enough that the nature wizards could take care of them, even if they weren’t able to relieve the pain that a healer could.

Their injuries extended to others as well. Most of the veteran mages were banged up. The wizards had nearly killed them, but their defenses had proven enough to save all except Qeras. Trienne needed mending from the nature wizards before she could bleed out from a pair of nasty wounds, but they got to her in time.

The night was spent without anymore sleep, but by the time the sun was cresting the horizon, the prisoners were all bound and the wounded healed as far as they could be. That only left making the brigands tell them what had happened to the remainder of the villagers.

Elijah, Zieran and two of the soldiers rode out to find a small fort early enough to catch the few guards by surprise. Nearly twenty villagers had survived, but they had little to return to in their village. The soldiers escorted them to their village to find only a few homes left intact enough to live in, but they would be enough temporarily. Help was coming from both White Hall and Blackwall already. Provisions were taken from the fort and help in rebuilding would be there soon enough that the four parted to return to the camp with the news and the three brigands they had caught as well.

More horses had been found in the fort and food had been brought on some pack animals. Though the brigands were criminals and deserved death in all their minds, they weren’t the judge and jury. They were soldiers and as such were the arms of the law at times, but not the law itself.

Falcon Eyrk had discovered that the earth wizard was the leader. His shirt was still bloody from Bo's attack, but he has survived thanks to his stone skin spell. The three wizards had been pulled away from their men and the mages had questions for them. Piotr remained close enough to hear. His brother had returned covered in blood from the men he had injured. Even shape changing didn’t hide what he had done.

Eyrk led the questioning as he demanded, “What were you thinking in attacking that village?”

It wasn’t the first time he had demanded the information from the wizards. No one was talking, however.

Niklaus stepped towards the wizard and mumbled a spell. The enemy wizards watched as he moved closer. The blood on his shirt made the young man look menacing, though at fourteen he shouldn’t be much of a danger according to their minds. His form shifted and grew massive as he mimicked the shape of a bear. He was a bear and as menacing as Bo. He stepped forward and fear could be seen creeping into the wizards’ eyes.

“You can change, boy, but you can’t scare me,” the earth wizard stated trying to look defiant in spite of the fear he had after the attack in the night from Bo. “Your rules say that you can’t hurt us as your prisoners and that you need to take me to a judge.”

Eyrk didn’t flinch as the bear stared the wizard down angrily.

“The boy is young and the will of a bear can cloud a mind,” Eyrk replied in turn. “If he loses control of his anger, I can’t vouch for your safety. Many of your comrades are dead in the forest. Our wizards might have avoided killing very many of you as they preferred bringing you to justice. We, on the other hand, are battle mages and if you try to kill us, we are more than willing to kill you.

“This boy has some of the magic of wizards, but he is also a battle mage. If you value your life, I think that you will choose to answer me finally.”

Refusing to give in, even in the face of a bear, the wizard started to refute the notion saying, “You can take your threats and...”

He failed to finish his statement as Niklaus lunged forward biting into the man’s shoulder. The wizard screamed feeling teeth and the pressure of a bear’s jaws gripping the opposite shoulder Bo had already injured with her teeth. Niklaus held the pressure drawing blood but restraining himself from crushing the man’s shoulder for the moment.

Piotr moved closer and told the man, “Like the falcon stated, my brother is a bit on edge in his animal form. Since he hasn’t crushed your shoulder or torn out your throat yet, I think you might want to rethink your answer. He bit several other men and broke the arm of your air wizard too as a wolfhound. My bear hurt you with your stone skin spell to protect you. What do you think he will do to your body now if he chooses to really bite hard?”

Nodding at Piotr’s advice, Falcon Eyrk asked again, “Why did you attack the village and where did you come from anyway? All those with magic power are taken to the schools to avoid harming others. You shouldn’t even be free to do such a thing.”

With the pain lessening, the wizard answered, but his foul attitude continued to be flaunted in the falcon’s face even so, “I was brought to Red Hall as a child, but I eventually escaped after learning what I could. I hated what they were trying to turn me into, so I ran away. When my cousin showed his power, I was there first and took him to train him. He leaned towards wind, but I trained him as best I could and we pieced together versions of wind spells that I had seen in the school.

“When my son became a teenager, he also had magic and I took him to train like I had my cousin.

“As you can imagine, we couldn’t stay in one spot too long. Those damnable seekers would try to take us all back if we were caught, so living away from the towns and cities was the best we could do.

“Living away from civilization makes it hard to earn a living, but we found like minded souls who were willing to take what was needed. Strength makes us capable of surviving anywhere.”

“Having strength and using it to persecute and kill others doesn’t make you survivors,” the falcon replied quietly, though the menace remained in his voice. What the men before him had done was reprehensible to those who served Southwall to keep it safe and protect its people. “You abused your power and killed women and children as well. We’ve seen the bodies.”

The earth wizard looked down and towards the fire wizard on his right. While he didn’t look directly at the younger man, who was the youngest of the rebellious wizards; Piotr could read the slight movement in that direction as something important. Niklaus had released the wizard from his bite, but the man’s sudden silence made him bare his teeth reminding the man of the penalty for not answering him. Frowning as if annoyed by the reminder, the earth wizard looked at Eyrk and stated, “It wasn’t supposed to go like that. We went to extort some food and gold from those villagers, but they wanted to fight. Several of their men attacked us like a bunch of fools. They tried to hurt my son. He fought back and things began to burn.

“Anyone killed was an accident though. He can’t always control his fire, even if he is capable of powerful spells.”

Zieran heard the comment and stated, “If he is so powerful, then he should have gone to a school for training. Even if you hate the schools, you should know that the more powerful a wizard is the more likely they will need special training to keep control over their magic.

“He is one step away from a wilder and you’ve kept that weapon ready to explode for years. You aren’t even a qualified mentor, if you ran away when you were young without finishing your training.”

Again the man looked at him defiantly and retorted, “They were the ones who caused it.”

“Because they didn’t want to give up what they had worked so hard for?” Falcon Eyrk defied the man’s logic. “You are criminals, bandits and murderers. Trying to justify your accident because they refused to give in to your bullying isn’t going to sit well with the court either.

“You will all see trial, but I wouldn’t try using that argument or the final judgment will be quick and to the point, I would think.”

The falcon stood up and said to the others, “I think that is all we need to hear. Make sure their bonds are strong and tight. We don’t need them starting any trouble. They will ride back in the bear cage.”

Looking annoyed Gorum added, “Keeping these scum with us will slow our return to White Hall. Perhaps we should send a few riders ahead to warn the lord of White Hall about our situation?”

“Sergeant Kerland sent two riders back during the night,” Wizard Zieran stated. “Piotr and I sent word to Blackwall to let them know of the current situation, but their riders might have left before it will reach the city. The rest of us will need to keep an eye on our prisoners. Not everyone can be held in a cart and transported that way.”

The grumpy wizard looked perturbed that he couldn’t just ride away and leave the criminals behind him, but as he joined the group about to head home; Gorum didn’t argue further. He took the reins of the bear cart with its prisoners and started off with the main column of riders.

Only Zieran and Piotr remained behind to finish the release of the last animal in their care.

Piotr soothed Bo with his magic and was allowed to pat the bear as she waited patiently. “Go on now and make this your home, Bo,” Piotr said softly. “No one will control you any more. Go be a bear and eat fish or find some bees’ honey.”

A last pat, as the boy moved towards her rear to spur her onward, received a last look from the bear. It was a look that seemed both reluctant and ready to leave the presence of humans finally. She could probably remember what happened in the night, if Piotr judged his magic correctly. The magic and men, the screams and fighting, even the death, would help make the gentle creature want to leave the world of men behind her.

The two wizards pulled themselves into the saddles of their new horses. Mages and soldiers would take turns riding the carts along with the injured, while this trip would be on horseback for the novice and his mentor.

“Do you think she’ll stay this time?” Zieran asked his novice mostly to break the uneasy silence of the morning while they hurried to catch up with the column.

Piotr nodded. He probably knew the bear as well as anyone, but as he looked back where they had left her, Bo had already disappeared into the green forest. “I think, human or animal, last night was enough to make anyone want to disappear for awhile. The forest has plenty for her and should be safe now that the bandits are gone. She should stay, especially if Bo can find a mate here.”

Sighing at the idea, Zieran added, “Well, I think you are right. War and killing would make anyone, even a bear, want some peace and quiet for awhile.

“Come on, my novice, we have a long day ahead of us.”

Chapter 31- The Test of Leadership

The sound of two girls moving through the air using magical wings was followed by the sound of footfalls in long grass. The swishing of the green blades as their bare legs kicked through them as they landed would have been obvious to anyone nearby, but Cheleya and Katya had finished their flight landing on a strip of land between a grove of trees and the river.