| The Wizard of
Zovoe Chapter 2: Trial by Combat (nosex magic viol) � 2010 Rhys.The.Mage Ch. 1 || Ch. 2 || Ch. 3 || Ch. 4 || Ch. 5 || Ch. 6 || Ch. 7 || Ch. 8 || Ch. 9 || Ch. 10 || Ch. 11 [1] After nightfall the expedition made camp and the scouts posted the watch. Rhys did not make it obvious, but he set wards a good distance from the campfire. He watched carefully as Jillian set two of the wards, correcting her when necessary, and pleased that she was taking her studies so seriously. He supposed he was in part responsible for her quick progress, after all it is was partly his gift she was benefiting from. Still, she seemed to be progressing much faster than his earlier apprentices, including Tagil. The scouts, Rab and Zilan, and fighters, Lusan and Kiba, sat around the fire telling tall tales and drinking measured amounts of ale from their supplies. Not only did they not want to get drunk, they did not want to expend all their ale with several days still before them. The group eventually got tired enough and doused the fire before retiring for the night. Rhys and Jillian were awakened by Rab about an hour before sunrise. “Master, lady, wake up.” The man kept his voice quiet. “There are several approaching from the northwest. They have kept their distance, but now they are moving directly toward us.” Rhys nodded in the dim starlight. Jillian did not appear alert yet. He slapped her lightly on the cheek and held his hand over her mouth to stifle her expected outcry. “Shh. Those approaching are unaware that we are alerted. We need to keep it that way.” Rhys turned to the gathered men. “Two of you with bows behind me. Gylal, and Zilan will lead with me. Rab, go with Jillian to the rear. And all of you, do not look toward the fire.” Rhys weakly sensed the men approaching, and figured there were about ten. Given his trouble in reading them, and their ability to avoid his wards, he suspected one of them was a wizard--or they had the help of one. At about fifty yards the band approaching them spread out into a semicircle before continuing their approach. Rhys waited until they were thirty feet away, then he gathered his will. “Tuz,” he said. The remaining wood in the fire burst into flame, light and heat in an instant. The raiders were surprised and momentarily blinded. An instant later two of them fell to well placed arrows. Gylal, Zilan and Rhys closed with a group of four to take advantage of the momentary blindness. Backlit by the blazing fire, Rhys struck one of the men in the side with his swing of his staff. “Eltor,” he said just as contact was made, and the man all but collapsed with the impact. Gylal and Zilan were now engaged in sword fights of their own, each against one opponent, as three others sought to surround Rhys. Jillian, unsure of her spell casting, drew her dagger and stayed with Zilan behind the two archers, who were even now drawing down on the men attacking Rhys. As the archers waited for a clear shot, Jillian felt something tickling her mind. Rhys must have felt it as well, as he seemed briefly distracted and one of his attackers slipped in for a quick thrust at his arm. He drew blood, but not seriously. Jillian turned slowly around and peered into the murkiness. Her skin was now crawling with the odd sensation, and the strangeness of it scared her. She concentrated, stilled herself, and focused on shielding her mind. She did not know why, but she felt certain something unnatural and evil was headed her way. Her world seemed to contract before her as she focused her mind, and soon she caught a glimmer of movement in her field of vision. The thing, whatever it was, was only ten feet from her. If she looked directly at it she found she could not see it, so she kept her eyes moving and tracked it indirectly. If she had not known better, she would have thought the thing intrigued by her actions. Jillian recalled Rhys' words of warning about the wrong spell, but she was running out of time and the others were either busy or unaware. She shifted her grip on the dagger, focused her mind on the feeling of being cut, spoke softly, “Terem,” and threw the dagger with all her force at the shadow. She was rewarded with a shrieking howl as her weapon contacted its target. Rhys heard the beast's shriek and dispatched another of his attackers even as Gylal defeated his. Jillian sensed something changing just as a blast of force struck her and the archers, flinging them away from the shadowy beast like pieces of parchment in a strong breeze. The archers regained their feet to find they had clear shots at two of the remaining brigands. They shot as one and the brigands staggered back, one hit in the shoulder and one in a thigh. The beast moved sharply to Jillian's left, and she felt another shift in the air. Still recovering from the shock of its last attack, Jillian watched in horror as the shadowy thing lunged at her. Unbidden, a single word came to mind and she spoke it--”Fala.” The beast appeared to slam into a wall a few feet away from her, snarling and snorting at her. Then it seemed to slowly push through the wall and toward her. As she regained her feet she cast about for another idea. The beast emerged on her side of the wall and at last it was fully visible. Some twisted thing from a nightmare, it appeared equal parts man, dog and demon. Two legs, fur, a pair of blazing yellow eyes, and short black wings to boot. Jillian thought it was smiling at her. It raised a forelimb and the man closest to her bent over as if he had been punched in the gut. He fell to the ground, motionless. A second word came to mind, and she spoke it, “Feher.” The creature hissed at her, the sound full of malevolence, but she did not hear it. She focused all her effort on the image of a pure white circle and refused to be distracted. The faint circle around her shimmered as the beast hammered at the air above her, unable to push through. It tried once, twice, three times to reach her, failing each time. Then its features spread in a demonic grin. Jillian kept her focus. Gylal had now dispatched two men and now engaged the third that had attacked Rhys. Zilan was slightly injured, but holding his own. As the last brigand turned away from Rhys, the mage spun toward Jillian, his mind racing to solve the problem he found. He took one step and slammed into an invisible wall of dark power. Rhys concentrated on the feeling, and saw Jillian a mere step from the beast that had already killed one man. Rhys saw the white circle, caught a glimpse of the creature, and instantly came to a conclusion. He raised his staff and pulled his will together, “Eloholt be muzni!” Jillian, very close to the beast and its foul stench, watched as the thing seemed to collapse in on itself. It thrashed around, shrieking in agony as it was pulled into another place. Its whole body squeezed into and through a knothole in front of her and disappeared. Lusan and Kiba closed with the last of the attackers and dispatched them, and just like that it was over. Rhys checked on the fallen man, but Rab was already dead. The battle over, he moved to Jillian, who stood weakly and was almost certainly in shock. She was silent, and quite stiff as he held her. [2] “It's over. It's gone.” She looked up at him. “What was that thing?” “A maltuse. A lesser demon, very uncommon, and quite dangerous. I'm proud of you.” “Proud of me?” She gestured to the fallen form of Rab, the dead man at her feet. “He's dead! I didn't help him!” Her voice was rising in pitch and tempo. Rhys held her more firmly as he saw Gylal searching the dead bandits. “You saved yourself and probably two others. You gave us a chance to deal with the other attackers, who would doubtless have distracted us had you not given us time.” She did not appear consoled. “And you survived something you should not have.” That got her attention. “Something I should not have?” “Jillian, really. I just started you on magical combat what, a day ago? Almost anyone I know of at that stage would not have stood up to the maltuse for ten seconds, let alone five minutes. I am quite proud of my apprentice.” He kissed her on the forehead. She pushed him away. Her voice rose another octave. “Did that thing attack me because I was a sorceress? What the fuck was it doing here? Did I do all that work just to die out here in the middle of fucking nowhere? For nothing?” She stared at him, did not find her answers in his blank stare. She stomped off. Gylal finished his searches and approached Rhys. “Should we go get her?” “I'll go after her in a moment. I know what she is going through, just as you do.” “I haven't had one of those things try to tear my throat out.” Rhys nodded. “True, but you likely felt the same way the first time your life was threatened.” Gylal nodded, decided to move on. “I found these.” He gave Rhys a handful of crystals. “They were carrying nothing else of interest. What are they?” Rhys examined the crystals, three bright green, one black and one cloudy amethyst. He held up the amethyst. “This one is for communication. It is cloudy because its carrier died.” Gylal nodded. Rhys continued. “The others feel like they are meant to penetrate standard wards. Clearly I am being too predictable.” Rhys concentrated, burned out the gems, and tossed the whole lot into the dirt. “So what is your assessment?” “Oh, up for games I see. Well, the demon, or whatever you called it, didn't get here on its own, so it was sent. I would bet these men didn't know it was part of the deal. It was sent directly by whoever we are after. The question is, do they know any more about us?” Rhys nodded. “Whoever sent it certainly knows we survived the demon since it won't be returning. But all that does is confirm I am with the party. We do, however, have an advantage.” “Oh?” “This was a probe, no more. It was sent as a message. It is quite unlikely that they know of Jillian's abilities, and that is to our advantage.” “Maybe so, but she didn't kill it, you did.” “Aye, but she survived. And if she can pull that off after just a little training, that Wizard is going to be in serious trouble when we finally find him. For now, he just wants us to know that he knows where we are.” Gylal nodded with understanding and Rhys went off after Jillian. … Rhys found her still fuming and full of energy, but he knew there was going to be a crash. “How do you feel?” “I'm upset, that's how I feel.” Rhys ignored her mood. “You expended a great deal of energy back there, and had a brush with death. You will start to feel the effects shortly.” “All I did was say a few words, why should it be different than starting the fire?” But no sooner had she finished the sentence than she felt light headed. “Sit.” He sat facing her. “The energy required is most directly related to the will required to make the change. Setting brush on fire is a minor thing, since the brush only resists a little. Maintaining a circle against an attack requires strength to counter what is thrown at it. And killing directly takes a truly frightening amount of power.” “You could set clothes on fire.” Rhys shrugged. “Yes, you could. But since you still know you are killing, it is difficult. It is one thing to kill with a bow, or a thrown dagger. It is quite another to stab someone in the heart. That kind of direct killing must never become easy.” “So what is the point of having the magic if you cannot use it?” “Oh, it most definitely can be used. I could have shattered all of their bones with a few words, but then I would not have had the strength to take on the maltuse.” Jillian shook her head. “And if I had tried to kill it myself?” Rhys looked at her evenly. “You would have failed. It would have survived, and you would be dead.” She slumped into his arms. “I am so tired.” She started to shake. “You see, it is more demanding than you think. Eventually you can get used to the drain and figure out ways to deal with it, but you must be reamin mindful of it.” He paused and looked at her as her breathing calmed. “There is a precious lesson I must teach you later.” “Oh?” she said. He nodded, stroked her hair. “Later. As for that thing you fought, creatures like it are best turned if you can manage it. Sending them home is the most efficient use of your power. As for other things, most that are not human can be more directly attacked. But the more intelligent the creature, that is, the more it is like you, the harder it is to kill outright.” Jillian nodded slowly, seemed not to fully accept what he was saying. Rhys took hold of her chin and turned her head to look her straight in the eyes. “It must always be hard to kill men. Only those who are truly evil can kill directly and not suffer for it. When that happens, you become a danger to all around you.” Jillian nodded in understanding and Rhys relaxed his grip. “Even when your life is at risk you must respect the fact that killing them will be very difficult. If you forget that, you will overextend yourself and become careless.” Rhys helped her to her feet. He raised a hand to cut off her next question. “For now we need to get moving. We still have many leagues to cover before we can deal with the one who sent our friends tonight.” Lusan, Kiba and Zilan had buried Rab and stripped any useful gear off their fallen enemies. The party set off again with more equipment, but down one man. Next Chapter |