Advent (Advent Mage Cycle) (8 page)

Our team mates merely laughed.

“Xiaolang?” Shad appealed to the Captain with a pitiful no-one-loves-me expression.

The Q’atalian just rolled his eyes. “Not five minutes, and they’re already back at it. This is going to be a long year.”

“Entertaining, though,” Hazard pointed out jovially.

Trapped as he was, Shad still didn’t give in, just pouted up me with an expression so forlorn that I almost felt guilty. Almost.

Maneuvering the dirt around his right hand, I lifted my clip out from his grasp. It shot free of the ground and into my waiting hand.

“Aren’t you going to let me out now?” Shad inquired in overly polite tones.

“Why? I like you down there. You can’t cause mischief.”

“
Gaaarth!
” he whined.

I ignored him and everyone’s snickering, focusing on cleaning off my hair clip. Only when I had cleaned off the clip and put my hair back into place did I finally relent and release Shad from his earthly prison. I was even nice enough to clean Shad off, instead of leaving him mud encrusted from the chin down.

The steaming and aromatic food arrived on large, oval-shaped platters. The team fell on the food as if they hadn’t eaten anything decent in weeks—which might be the case. I’ve heard a lot of war stories about military food. I wisely stayed silent until they had eaten their fill. Hungry people tend to be grumpy people.

“Where’s Chatta?” Xiaolang inquired as he polished off the last of his bread.

“In Del Hain still,” I answered. “The Trasdee Evondit Orra gave her a last minute request to do before they would release her to go into Chahir. I thought to just come pick you up while waiting for her to finish the job.”

“Saves time,” Xiaolang agreed. “I don’t want to travel all the way to Chahir from Del Hain by conventional methods, however. Take us fifty miles away from the border before you come up.”

I considered this order as I toyed with my practically empty glass. “You think fifty miles is far enough away that the Star Order can’t detect us?”

“I think we could actually come in closer,” Xiaolang disagreed, putting his elbows on the table and leaning forward slightly. “You said that the Star Order uses blood magic, correct?”

I wasn’t sure where he was going with this. “Right. And?”

“Even when we were a bare twenty-five miles away from them it took the Star Order three days to come after us. That suggests that whatever method they have of detecting magic, it’s either complicated to use, or it doesn’t extend very far. They didn’t do anything until after that night when Shad and Aletha went up against the pool’s defenses—which lit the sky up. On that flat plain, anyone within fifty miles could have seen it.”

I hadn’t thought of that…but he was right. “You’re suggesting that they didn’t detect magic, but that they
saw
it.”

“
That makes a lot of sense,”
Night mused at my elbow. He was staring at the Captain thoughtfully. “
It does explain why Nuish was able to collect all of those magicians in one place without being discovered, doesn’t it?”

“And he said that he didn’t see magic through the pool,” Xiaolang confirmed with a firm nod. “He just saw magic being used, that’s how he knew who to go rescue. I think we have more freedom to move around than we once imagined. But I also think that these Star Order Priests are like other magicians—they can either feel or see magic. The longest range I’ve ever heard of was yours, Garth. Can anyone best twenty miles?”

“Not that I’ve heard,” I admitted with a shrug.

Xiaolang didn’t look surprised at my answer. “I doubt a Star Order Priest can match the range of a Mage. They aren’t as powerful as you, just sneakier. But for precaution’s sake, I’m going to pretend they might be able to detect something twenty miles away. And for paranoia’s sake, I’m going to double that distance when at all possible.”

Considering that we were going up a whole country…that was very wise. “Sounds good to me.”

“Now,” Xiaolang stood up, slinging a bag over his shoulder. “Let’s get out of here before my commanders can catch me and throw another stumbling block in my way.”

Chapter Five:
Discovery

Was he hunched over that book
again
?

I shook my head. Barely two days out of Del’Hain and I swear I hadn’t seen Xiaolang’s face for more than five minutes. Fortunately, Hayate was intelligent enough to stay on the road without his rider’s guidance. Even now Xiaolang was paying absolutely no attention to his surroundings.

I caught Eagle’s eye and jerked a thumb in Xiaolang’s direction. “The next time that he razzes you about always sticking your nose in a book, remind him of this moment.”

“Oh, I intend to, don’t worry,” Eagle assured me with a feral smile. “In fact, I’ll never let him forget it.”

I hadn’t expected anything different.

“Garth, come here a moment!” Xiaolang called back to me.

I heaved a sigh. And so it begins…. When I had explained to Xioalang about the index, his expression had resembled a goat with a new boot chew toy. When explained that the index lists the provinces each family lives in, I swear he began to dance in place. The end result being if we wanted a turn with the copy, we’d have to pry it from his cold dead fingers.

Night lengthened his stride without my urging, catching up to Hayate before falling into step with the dragoo. Xiaolang leaned sideways, holding the book so that I could see it, his finger pointing to a particular spot on the page.

“Does this name ring any bells for you?”

I’ve been asked a lot of questions about that book before today but never that one. I frowned a little at the entry. Haikenen? That particular name didn’t sound familiar. However, the family name, “Hai” did. Where have I heard that before…? Ah!

“Not that name. But the Hai family are renowned swordsmiths. Nothing can beat a Hai sword, not in quality of craftsmanship or in strength. I believe they’re based out of Shirlane, in Farless.”

Xiaolang relaxed a bit, looking heartened. “Oh, good. Haikenen was from Shirlane as well, so apparently the family hasn’t moved out of that area. They were known to produce Fire Mages, which could explain why the family are such good swordsmiths.”

I pulled up a mental map in my head. “If we push hard we could be there in about three days, I think.”

“Yes, that matches my calculations as well.” Satisfied, he finally put the book away. “I do like having a destination like this.”

“Even with the destination, I’m scanning the area as we move through it,” I informed him. Actually, I was doing that now, as we were barely ten miles from the border.

“Oh certainly, please do. We never know when we’ll just stumble across someone.” His forehead wrinkled slightly in concern. “I just hope that if we do find a Fire Mage, he won’t be insane like Remcarparoden.”

Me too.

“
Garth?”

I looked down at Night, who had tilted his head slightly to look back at me. “Yes?”

“You said that Farless was a neutral Province, didn’t you?”

“That’s what Guin’s information said.” I shrugged. I wasn’t as sure about that analysis. Sometimes “neutral” just meant “too lazy to do anything about it until provoked.”

“
I was just wondering if I have to act like a normal horse while I’m there or not.”

“It would probably be wise not to push the issue,” Xiaolang advised sympathetically. “We’ll have Didi lay low as well.”

Night gave a long-suffering sigh.

~*~

Chahir, no surprise, was still hanging onto winter by its fingernails. There were traces of snow in the shadows, under trees, and right next to buildings, giving evidence of a recent snowfall. It was only in areas that received sunlight most of the day that the ground was clear.

Still, the chill air was a mute testimony that spring hadn’t arrived yet.

The past three days of travel to Farless hadn’t exactly been pleasant. We all had on multiple layers of shirts, sweaters and thick jackets. At night, we huddled under blankets with untraceable heating charms, product of Chatta’s foresight. Even with the layers and the blankets, the nights proved to be less than pleasant. The night wind had a talent for penetrating every layer we were wrapped in. I think the only reason why Hayate kept moving, instead of huddling around a fire like he wanted to, was because maintaining a steady pace kept him warm.

I continued searching the area around me as we moved, trying to find anyone with magical abilities. It wasn’t until the morning that we crossed the border to Farless Province that my efforts were finally rewarded. I could barely detect the person, as they were a good twenty miles further along the road, but there was no doubt in my mind. This person felt just like Remcarparoden.

Fire Mage.

“Xiaolang!” I called to the front of the group.

Xiaolang lifted himself up in the saddle so that he could see over everyone’s heads. “Did you find someone?”

“Yes. Twenty miles, straight ahead. He or she is a Fire Mage.”

Chatta’s head snapped around. “Are you sure?”

“Positive. The magic feels just like Remcarparoden’s.” And that was a feeling that I could never forget. That blazing, molten feel of magic felt like an inferno.

“Excellent,” Xiaolang purred. “Let’s pick up the pace, people. I want to find this kid before dark.”

We went from a slow trot to a slightly faster one, matching Hayate’s speed. I kept my attention on our new Mage as we rode but it wasn’t until after a cold lunch—which was eaten in the saddle—that I was able to discern anything more. I could almost swear that the Mage was a boy, for one thing.

And at that moment, his magic was being used.

“Garth?” Chatta had a hand on my arm, catching my attention. “Is something wrong? You’re frowning.”

“He’s using his magic,” I responded slowly.

Her fingers tightened on my sleeve. “The Mage is?”

“Yes. Not much is being used,” I hastily added before she jumped to any conclusions about burning cities. Our past experience linked Fire Mages with mass destruction, which couldn’t always be the case. History said that the Fire Mages were usually the most disciplined of all the Mages. “I’m not even sure if he’s doing it on purpose. His magic is definitely active right now, though.”

Chatta still looked a little disturbed. I couldn’t blame her—I was a trifle disturbed myself. “How far away are we?”

“Another eight miles, maybe?” It was hard to judge exact distance with just my magical sense.

“I think we better speed up.” Chatta urged her mare into a brief sprint until she caught up with Xiaolang. I didn’t catch what she was saying, as the words weren’t loud enough to carry over the din of hoof beats, but I could hazard a guess. Xiaolang stiffened in alarm after the first sentence out of her mouth.

I knew he was going to call me forward again to ask questions, so I silently urged Night to pick up the pace a bit. We’d barely caught up when Xiaolang turned to me and started firing off questions.

“Are you sure? Is he under any danger of being discovered? Do you sense any Star Order Priests around?”

I held up both hands, staving off this flood of questions. “Whoa, Xiaolang, slow down. In order, yes, I’m sure. I’m not sure if he’s in danger of being discovered or not, but I doubt it. It took me this long to realize that his magic was active—it’s such a miniscule amount that it would take a triangle to detect him. And no, I don’t sense any one of the Star Order around. If you’re asking for my opinion of how much danger the kid is in, I would say that we could reach him before anyone figures out what he is.” Probably. The chance of discovery was still there, of course.

“Is it a Mage accident?” was Xiaolang’s next worried question. “You said that young Mages have no control over their magic.”

“True,” I nodded. “I don’t think this is a Mage accident, though. Those tend to be spectacularly messy and use a lot of magic in a short burst. This is more quiet and sustained.”

“Which is good,” Chatta added thoughtfully. “Mage accidents happen because there’s such a large build up of power that it has to be released or it will burn the Mage out. If he’s releasing small bits of magic like this, then the odds of a Mage accident happening are reduced.”

“Well, that’s one less thing to worry about then,” Xiaolang muttered under his breath. “Garth, keep a close eye on the situation. If you detect that the kid is in danger, use the earth path and go get him. I hate to alert anyone that we’re back in Chahir this quickly but better that than lose a Mage.”

I nodded firmly. “Understood.”

Xiaolang twisted in his saddle, looking back at his team. “Eagle, Shad, stay close to Garth. If he does have to go get the kid, go with him. You’ll cover his back while he’s rescuing our Mage.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Sure thing, C2.” Shad saluted lazly, but had definitely perked up at the possibility of some action.

I noticed that Xiaolang didn’t even bat an eye at the nickname. He was probably so used to it by now that it didn’t even faze him.

I kept an even closer eye on the Mage now, letting Night have complete control. In fact, I was barely paying any attention to him. I have no idea how much time elapsed when the magic suddenly was shut off.

“Garth. Garth?”

Someone was shaking my shoulder gently. I snapped back into my immediate surroundings to find Eagle studying my face intently. “Is something wrong?”

“The Mage shut off his magic.” I wasn’t sure if that fit into the “wrong” category or not.

“You make that sound like a deliberate decision. Don’t you mean that the magic just stopped?” Shad asked me in some puzzlement. “I thought it took practice and training to be able to control a Mage’s power.”

“Yes and no. I was able to somewhat control my power before I was trained—although not much, I grant you. I didn’t always get the results that I wanted. Fine control takes practice and training. Still, it
is
possible for a new Mage to stop his magic.” I struggled to put something into words that I instinctively recognized. “It just felt like he deliberately stopped it.”