God Mage (15 page)

Looming before him, stood trees that looked
more like mountains and a large grass plain that looked like a
small forest. “What in the nine hells?” Brenda said her voice
clearly showing her disbelief in what she was seeing with her own
eyes.

“Everyone, keep your eyes open,” Cass said as
he nudged his mare forward. “We have no idea what is waiting in
that grass jungle.”

“Trees big enough to carve a castle out of
and that is all he has to say,” Bren heard Brenda say snidely
before she spurred her horse to follow.

Bren concentrated on his surroundings as they
descended the large hill and entered the valley below. Even though
it was still hours before noon, the sky was dark and covered with
large, ominous clouds making it hard to see more than a few hundred
yards in any direction, as the only real light came from the large,
arcing energy that flashed through the clouds. Bren tried to expand
his vision with magic, but as soon as he tried to pull some in, it
was as if his whole body was filled with an abundance of magic. It
was far more than he had ever felt before and vastly more than he
could control. Not only was his vision extraordinarily heightened,
allowing him to see every strand of filament on each blade of
grass, but his hearing was exceptionally acute as well, making it
possible for him to hear the worms moving beneath his feet. Within
seconds, his head began to spin, and it felt as if someone was
trying to rip apart his skull.

Bren tried to release the pent of energy, but
there was just too much. Before he knew it, he was slumped over the
back of his horse as it raced to join the others while he let out
billowing screams of pain. He didn’t know how much time had passed,
but the next thing he noticed was Cass holding the reins to his
horse, trying to talk to him, but his words were lost in the other
sounds that echoed in his ears. Bren tried to tell his friend what
had happened, but he couldn’t get his brain to form the words nor
his mouth to say them. All he could do was grunt and scream.

Bren had expected to lose control and faint,
but he was not so lucky, as the pain didn’t give him that pleasure.
He was vaguely aware as he was lowered from his horse and laid on
top of his bedroll. He could feel Faye’s hand holding his. He could
feel her heartbeat and hear every single breath she took. It was
like drums pounding in his ear and winds bellowing through the
mountains.

Fool, close off your mind to the magic.

“I’m trying,” Bren gasped out loud as he
tried to force the magic away, but it was like a flood, and his dam
had been broken.

Suddenly, the pain started to subside, and
Bren was able to force the door closed that he had opened to let
the magical energy enter his body. As his senses cleared, Bren
looked over to the ground and found that the diamond on Thuraman’s
top shone so brightly it lit up the surrounding area like a
miniature sun. It was so bright that he couldn’t even tell that the
other gems along the staff’s entire body had started to glow as
well.

“Thuraman,” Bren said to the staff but
received no response. “Thuraman!” Bren said again, this time a
little more franticly.

After a few moments, the diamond died down to
a warm glow, allowing Bren and the others to see the myriad of
smaller gems shining with a new light. That wasn’t the only change
to the staff either. The wood had changed from a marble like
surface to something that felt akin to glass to Bren’s touch. And
most astounding, the top of the staff that had once been a simple
piece of carved wood now looked eerily like a clawed hand clasping
the large diamond that sat on its top.

“Thuraman what happened? Are you alright?”
Bren asked once the glow in the diamond had faded so that it only
lit up a small area around the staff.

I tried to drain the magical energy from
you. It looks like it worked. There was so much… I thought that I
would break apart. Do us both a favor and don’t do that again.

“I think I can agree with you on that,” Bren
said with a short laugh getting a few odd looks from his friends.
Faye was trying to say something to him, but he pushed her voice
aside and continued to focus on Thuraman. The staff had never been
the most friendly thing in the world, but he had been around since
he had been born and had always talked to him when he felt lonely,
and Bren wasn’t sure, but he thought it was possible that it had
just saved his sanity if not his life. “You seem different than you
did before.”

I feel different as well. The magical energy
is still flowing through me and not just into my gems. I can feel
it everywhere around me.

“Couldn’t you always access the magical
energy?” Bren asked slightly confused.

I could sense it through my gems the same
way you see though your eyes, but that was it. Unlike a mage, I
could not pull it in at will. My gems store magical energy, and I
can access that if I need to, but for the most part, the magic I
used was supplied by you or your father.

“Then you can cast magic on your own
now?”

No. I still can only use spells that have
been inscribed into me, but I have access to a far greater source
of magic than my own stores. If you need me, then you no longer
need to feed me your magical energy; I can use my own.

It felt as though Thuraman was happy with
what had occurred, but Bren was unsure. It was always hard to read
the staff. A lot of times Bren thought the staff was almost human,
but it never looked at people with the same heart a human had. The
staff seldom showed any real emotion, though now it seemed to be
brimming with an almost childlike happiness, which brought a smile
to Bren’s face. “Maybe my failure has done more good than you
think,” Bren whispered to himself.

“Bren,” a voice yelled as Bren was brought
back to the surface of his mind—his body being was shaken hard.

As Bren opened his eyes, he saw Cass looking
at him with a worried expression on his face. “Cass,” Bren said,
his voice coming out weak and strained.

“What happened?” Cass asked his eyes still
wide with a hint of fear.

“I tried to use magic to check the area,”
Bren replied weakly. “This whole area is covered in a thick blanket
of magic—far more than anywhere I have ever been before. It was too
much… I thought I was dying. Thuraman…my staff saved me.”

“I see,” Cass said, looking from Bren to the
staff that still sat on the ground next to him, glowing slightly.
“Can you ride?”

Bren tried to stand, but his legs wouldn’t
heed his call. He still felt as weak as a newborn foal. “I don’t
think so…”

Cass cursed under his breath, though Bren
couldn’t hear his words, he knew what the man was thinking. The
Brotherhood was close behind them and any delay could be deadly,
but the man would not risk his patron’s life to save his own or
anyone else’s for that matter. “Looks like we will be camping here
then.

As soon as Cass walked away to let the others
know of the change in plans, Faye, who had sat quietly rocking back
and forth on her heels jumped toward him, wrapping her arms around
his neck and weeping silently. “Everything is fine,” Bren said in a
reassuring voice though his voice still sounded strained.

“I thought you were dying,” Faye said as she
held him tighter.

Bren looked around and noticed that everyone
was watching them. As soon as they noticed him looking their way,
they all turned and went back to unpacking their gear. Bren wanted
to laugh but he was simply too tired to put in the effort, so
instead, he silently rubbed Faye’s back. “I promise; I’m fine. I
just need to rest for a little bit,” Bren said when it seemed that
Faye had calmed down some.

“I’ll unload your horse; you rest,” Faye said
after a few moments.

“No need, I already got the others seeing to
his gear,” Cass said coming up from behind them. “Bren, you get
some sleep, and let us know the second you can push forward. Faye,
watch him, and make sure that he doesn’t pull another fool stunt
like this again. I wish Lillian had some of that foul brew of hers.
I would make you drink it as punishment whether it would help you
or not,” Cass added as he threw Faye her bedroll. “We’ll take care
of your horse, and you take care of the fool…. Seems like a fair
trade to me.”

Bren held back a smile, knowing that while
his friend seemed to be making light of the situation, Cass was
anything but amused. The warrior was just that, a warrior, and
right now, Bren’s forced stop had put them in a bad spot. They
couldn’t move forward, and with the Brotherhood behind them by no
more than a day or two, every moment counted.

I wouldn’t worry too much about the
Brotherhood at the moment. Just like you, their mage will be
useless once they reach the Deadlands they will have to catch up
with you the old fashioned way. Though if they do catch up, then
you will have to use your sword and me instead of your own powers
unless you enjoy pain. You can worry about that later; right now
just enjoy a good rest.

Bren was still surprised at the feeling of
worry coming from the staff but tried to put it aside. He was
tried, and his body felt strained, so he took everyone’s advice and
lay down on the ground, and within moments, he was sleeping
soundly.

A
s Bren slept, he
found himself walking along a long winding road. Stopping, Bren
looked around trying to see where he was. There was no grass, no
trees, nothing but the road. Feeling more than a little uneasy,
Bren turned around, planning to head back to where he had been but
found that the ground dropped off behind him into a large expanse
of nothing.

Without any options, Bren turned back and
resumed walking down the long lonely road. With no sun or ground,
Bren found it hard to discern the passage of time while he walked,
but soon he came to a crossroad. There were only two directions he
could take, and they both looked the same. Giving it little
thought, Bren turned to the left and continued walking.

It wasn’t long before the road he walked
began to climb uphill. By the time he reached the top, the bottom
of his legs and feet were beginning to hurt. Looking down, Bren
noticed that he had no boots or clothes at all. As soon as he
noticed this, an old man appeared, standing on the edge of the
path.

“Do you know where you’re going son?” The old
man asked with a wheezy and frail sounding voice.

“To the end of the road,” Bren answered. The
words came out of his mouth before he even thought to answer the
old man. “Do you know where I am headed?”

“No,” the old man replied. “But I will give
you a bit of my wisdom that I have garnered over my long life.
Don’t always follow the paths that are laid out for you. You should
try to make your own when you find yourself on one that does not
suit you.”

“That is easy to say,” Bren said, looking at
the emptiness that seemed to stretch for eternity. “There is no
place to walk beside the path that I am on.”

“If you truly believe that, then you are lost
my young friend. Not all paths are laid out in stone and dirt.
There are always hidden paths, and where none exist you can always
make your own. Every road was once nothing until someone decided to
walk it.”

Bren tried to think of a retort, but when he
blinked, the old man was gone. Scratching his head and fearing he
had lost his mind, Bren turned back to the road to find that it had
disappeared as well, and he was now standing in a large meadow that
stretched as far as he could see.

“Where do I go now?” Bren asked the air as he
turned in a complete circle to find nothing but grass and wind in
every direction.

“That is for you to decide,” a soft voice
whispered in his ear. Turning around, Bren could not find the owner
of the voice, and once again he began to doubt his state of
mind.

“Who are you?” Bren yelled at the top of his
lungs, but he received no reply. A cold shiver ran down his back as
he collapsed to his knees. “I don’t know which way to go,” Bren
said in a pleading voice.

Bren shot up from his bed, his eyes wide, and
his body still shaking slightly. He looked around and found himself
once again among his friends. Faye wiped the sleep from her eyes
and gave him a sleepy smile. “Up already?” she said groggily.

“Was I not out long?” Bren asked, looking
toward the sky to find that the sky was still covered in the
ominous black clouds.

“Half a day,” Faye replied lightly. “Given
how little sleep you have gotten over the past fortnight, I thought
you would sleep until sunrise—not that we could tell when it rose
though.”

“Where is Cass?” Bren asked looking around
for his friend.

“Cass…I don’t know. He took first watch, so
he might be walking the perimeter of the camp,” Faye said looking
around. “You know you could go back to sleep. We could all use a
good rest and that counts doubly for you.”

“I wish I could, but we can’t risk staying in
one place too long while the Brotherhood is still following us. It
can’t be that much farther to the hidden village. Once we are
there, we can get all the sleep we need,” Bren said as he pulled
his arm out of Faye’s grasp.

Bren found Cass on the edge of the camp
looking out toward the hills they had crossed earlier that morning.
“Seen anything yet?” Bren asked, startling the young soldier.

“Bren you’re awake,” Cass said, holding his
chest to exaggerate his surprise. “It is good to see you back among
the living. Now we can get moving and hopefully leave this
god-forsaken land behind us. If I have my guess right, the
Brotherhood just made camp at the edge of the Deadlands, but it is
hard to say for sure without getting a closer look. I can’t think
of anyone else who would be foolish enough to follow us, but you
can never tell.”