Forgotten Mage (7 page)

“I don’t know,” Bren replied, dodging
the question.

“Don’t give me that,” Clair said,
giving him a disapproving look. “I know something happened and from
the way she kept sneaking glances at you, I know you had a part in
it. Now, you will either tell me what it was or prince or not I’ll
take you out back and blister your hide.”

“I don’t think I should say anything,”
Bren replied almost pleadingly. He knew that Faye wanted her secret
to remain one, but he didn’t see a way out of the situation without
revealing it.

Just tell her what she wants
to know. There is no reason for you to be punished for something
that you have no reason to hide. They will find out sooner or later
and I promise you, it will be better for both of you if it’s
sooner.

Thuraman’s words echoed in his mind and
while the staff was mostly full of useless advice, this time the
words struck home. It was true that Faye couldn’t hide it forever
and even if she could, it would only end badly for her. Taking a
deep breath and letting out a quick prayer that he was doing the
right thing, Bren looked Clair in the eyes. “Tonight Faye used
magic. She was really worried about it so please don’t be too hard
on her.”

Clair muttered a line of curses and
started to pace behind the wagon. “Are you sure?” She asked after a
few moments.

“Yes, it was hard to miss at the time,”
Bren said confidently. “She was scared that Doren would hate her
for it.”

Clair gave him a worried look then
after a few moments let out a long sigh. “I can see why she would
think that, but as gruff as that old goat is, I don’t think it
would sit badly on him, at least not for long. He blames the mages
for his sons and brother’s death during the war, but he would never
take it out on Faye. He dotes on that poor girl.” Clair continued
to pace back and forth for a few moments and Bren was forced to sit
and watch, too afraid to move.

Noticing that Bren was still there,
Clair gave him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, this isn’t really
your problem. I will talk to Faye and Doren, you just go inside and
get some rest.”

Bren did as he was told and went to
his room. Looking around, he started to think how much he would
miss the place after he was gone. Unlike the palace, this place
felt warmer and more like a real home. As he drifted off to sleep,
Bren dreamt about what it would be like to spend the rest of his
life on such a small farm.

Thad still couldn’t believe that he was
sitting and talking with Humanius, the god that had created the
brotherhood. The god looked much like any other human with the
exception of his silvery skin.

“Why did you try to kill all the
mages?” Thad asked bluntly, getting a warm look in return from the
god.

“To save the rest of the humans,” The
god replied evenly. “You must understand that my sister and I do
not come from this world. We come from a world of what you would
call gods, though really we are just completely in tune with the
source.”

“What does that have to do with killing
mages?” Thad asked, his ire stirring.

“Let me start at the beginning,”
Humanius said with a placating gesture. “Long ago, our race worked
magic the same way you do today, but as time passed, my father’s
father who would come to be king of our world learned how to become
more than what we were. He learned that if you forced a high amount
of magic to course through a child, then it would merge more fully
with magic and be able to do much more powerful things later in its
life. Mages, as you know are nearly immortal and live for
centuries, but those who have had this done to them become
immortal. As time passed, my father, who became king after his
father passed, grew ruthless in his rule and a large war started.
When it was all over, my father lay dead and those gods that were
left turned to me and my sister next. We fled and using our
combined strength, we came to your world and the magic came with
us. Magic is the only real connection between our world and this
one. As long as it flows the barrier between the two worlds weaken.
When it falls, there will be nothing keeping my brethren from
falling on this land and wiping it clean.”

“But why kill us?” Thad asked hotly.
“Wouldn’t it be better to train us and get us ready for what was
coming?”

“That is what my sister wanted, but she
didn’t see you as I do. She didn’t care how many died in the end as
long as she had her revenge on the other gods for driving us from
our home. My choices might not have been right and even if they
were, they have failed. The veil will fall and your world will come
to an end.”

“We can fight,” Thad said again, with
more strength in his words. “My people will not simply lay down an
accept defeat.”

“Even if they fight, they cannot win,”
Humanius said quickly. “If I had let my sister do as she wished,
you might have a chance, but then this world would be no different
than my own. Magic should be limited, otherwise it will be
misused.”

“There must be something you can do?”
Thad asked as he thought about his own family. “My children are
still babes and I will not see the world come to an end before they
have a chance to live in it.”

“Babes,” Humanius responded, waving his
hand. A large image appeared, showing Thad a young boy who looked
much like him dancing with a young girl. “You have been within the
abyss for years, not days.”

CHAPTER VI

That night as Bren dreamed, he found
himself drifting in total darkness. It was almost as if he was
floating in a large pool of water and being pulled down by an
invisible force. Bren panicked, he fought against the pull forcing
himself back to the surface of his own mind. The pull didn’t
relent, but grew steadily stronger then it was gone, leaving Bren
alone in the darkness.

It was peaceful and quiet, but Bren
felt as if something or someone was watching him. Looking down at
his hand, he noticed the thin silvery scar that now shone brightly
on the back of his hand.

Holding up his hand, Bren looked at the
scar as a light delicate voice whispered in his ear. He couldn’t
understand the words, but he felt comforted by them. Pulling his
hand close to his ear, Bren tried to listen but it was such a faint
whisper he wasn’t sure that it was really there.

Suddenly, a sharp pain hit Bren’s
chest, then another. Looking around for the source of the attack,
Bren saw nothing, but the area around him gradually grew lighter.
Once again, Bren fought to stay where he was. He wanted to know
what the voice was saying and where it had come from, but it was no
use.

As his eyes opened, Bren saw as a small
fist rushed toward him. Half asleep and unrepaired, he couldn’t
stop the blow before it pounded into his chest. The first blow was
quickly followed by another and another as Bren scrambled to get
out from underneath his attacker.

“Why did you tell her?” Faye shouted,
continuing her onslaught, this time slamming both fists into Bren’s
chest at once. Bren grabbed Faye’s hands and grimaced as the
bruises on his chest ached. “Why?” Faye repeated, slumping down as
large tears rolled down her face.

“I had too,” Bren replied weakly. “She
needed to know,” Bren said, his words said in more of an effort to
convince himself than the distraught girl weeping in front of
him.

“What’s going on?” Clair asked, as she
ran into the room. Bren started to explain, but Clair quickly
silenced him with a knowing look. “Let’s get you cleaned up dear,”
Clair said, pulling Faye from the bed and leading her from the
room.

When the door was shut behind them,
Bren uncovered himself and checked his body. Small red whelps had
already started to form on his chest and stomach where Faye had
struck him.

I told you that she would be
nothing but trouble. Did you listen to me? No and now you have one
of the most dangerous creatures the world has ever known after your
head.

Bren stifled a laugh as he begun to get
dressed. “Dangerous? I think there are plenty of things in the
world more dangerous than Faye,” Bren replied, his mind conjuring
up images of Faye dressed in armor attacking him with an axe. He
tried to make her look menacing, but each time, she would miss and
fall to the ground. Bren found himself laughing harder.

You might be laughing now,
but we will see about later. I have seen girls no bigger than her
take down men three times your size and not with a sword, but with
their words. Take my word for it, there is nothing more dangerous
than a female who thinks you have wronged her.

Bren dismissed Thuraman’s words and
continued to ready himself for the day. As he walked down to the
common room, Bren was still worried, though not about what his
staff had said, but about his time on the farm. The seeding of the
field was finished and now the only thing holding him in place was
his own unwillingness to leave. He knew that soon, he would have to
continue on to the Mage’s Tower, but he didn’t want it to be today.
Any way it went, he needed to talk to Clair about it.

Bren found everyone awake and siting
around the table waiting on Clair to place the last of the food on
the table. For the first time since he had come to the farm, Faye
sat across from his seat forcing Bren to sit next to Joseph. Bren
had been amazed when he had learned that the mountain sized boy had
only been four years older than him. On more than one occasion,
Bren had tried to talk to him, but Joseph was a quiet fellow and
tended to answer and question with as few words as could be
used.

“Did you enjoy the festivities last
night Joseph?” Bren asked, hoping to clear the silence that seemed
to hang over the room.

“Yes,” Joseph replied and quickly the
silence returned to the room.

Bren found himself tapping his fingers
on the table as he waited for Clair. When he saw the older woman
enter, carrying a large plate of sliced ham in one hand and hard
biscuits in the other, he breathed a sigh of relief.

No sooner than the plates were placed
on the table, Bren started to stuff food in his mouth as fast as he
could. He didn’t know why, but something in him told him that it
would be wise to escape the room before anything happened. After
years at court, he had learned to trust his feelings when they told
him such things.

“Bren, now that the work is done, when
do you think you will be leaving?” Doren asked loudly.

“Too late,” Bren muttered to himself as
he swallowed the last bite of food from his plate. “I don’t know
sir. A day or two at most,” Thad replied hesitantly.

From across the table, Bren could see
Clair’s eyes boring holes into Doren, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“If you need an escort, I am sure that Joseph would be more than
happy to take you in the wagon. With the seeding finished, I am
sure we can spare it for the trip.”

“That is very kind of you sir,” Bren
said sounding defeated. “I think I will go get some fresh air and
see how Avalanche is doing.”

As soon as he was outside, Bren kicked
a small rock that happened to be in his path. Nothing was going the
way he expected. “Why am I always the one who gets chased out?”
Bren asked, muttering out loud to himself.

Bren found himself walking, not paying
much attention to his surroundings. When he looked up, he found
himself in a small grove of trees. Standing in the middle of the
grove was a large apple tree that looked like something out of a
tale. As soon as his eyes found the tree, he knew it was the one
Clair had told him about. Placing his hand against the tree, Bren
pictured his father standing in the same place he was
now.

“This is my tree,” Bren heard a small
voice say from above him. “My nest in is this tree. You stay away
from my nest.”

Looking around, Bren noticed a small
mouse looking down on him from one of the branches. “I didn’t know
that mice had nests,” Bren said, as he looked down at the ring on
his finger. He had known that it allowed one to talk to animals,
but he wasn’t sure why it started to work just then. As far he
remembered he hadn’t touched it with his other hand to activate it,
in fact he had almost forgot that he had it.

“Of course I have a nest. A nice nest
filled with all kinds of shiny things I have found,” The mouse
replied proudly.

“You like shiny things?” Bren asked,
pulling one of the silver coins from his pouch. He didn’t know why,
but he was finding the odd little mouse interesting.

“Yes, I like shiny things,” The mouse
said moving closer and looking at the object held in Bren’s hand.
“I want that shiny thing, I don’t have one like that.”

Bren chuckled and tried to focus on the
mouse. He felt a slight burning sensation from his right hand and
then he was looking down upon himself from high above. The coin in
his hand glittered in the sunlight far brighter than he had ever
noticed before. Not only could Bren see the sparkle of the coin
through the mouse’s eyes, he could feel its urge to have it as well
as the fear it felt from his presence. He had seen many things like
him before, and not all of them had acted kindly to his
presence.

Bren reassured the mouse that it was
safe and after a few moments, the mouse descended and plucked the
coin from his hand. Bren let go of his hold on the mouse and found
himself once again looking through his own eyes as the mouse stood
in his palm turning the coin around in its small paws.