Magus (Advent Mage Cycle) (14 page)

"And if you take a Witch or Wizard's wand away?" Overlyten enquired. He was amused at my reaction, and delighted that we were so involved in the story.

The realization started to sink in. "You mean this man found a way to disarm them?"

Overlyten nodded, like a proud teacher to a student. "Precisely. He was quick to realize that most Witches or Wizards couldn't defend themselves if they were without wands or crystals. And so he developed several strategies to do just that. Before the Magic War started, he had been an excellent soldier. He went into intensive training, honing his skills and refining his techniques until it was literally impossible to touch him. No one could match his speed, or his quick reactions."

"He outran their aim…" Hazard breathed in realization.

"Of course," Xiaolang murmured. His eyes were alight with admiration. "No matter how strong or deadly the weapon, it doesn't do any good if you can't hit the target."

Overlyten flashed him a feral smile. "You are exactly right, Captain Xiaolang. This man set a precedent—he was quickly promoted to a captain in the Jarrell Castle Guard, and given men to train. His people became nearly as good as he was, and there weren't many magicians that were a match for them. Because of him, this was the one castle in all of Chahir that was relatively untouched during the war." His voice fell to a sad murmur, "Until the last battle…"

This story sounded like it had a tragic ending, and like any child, I was put out at the prospect. I like happy endings.

"Shortly before the order was given for all magicians to leave for the Isle of Strae, there was an intense battle at the castle. The fighting was intense, and fierce. Captain Riicshaden led his men in the fight, and many people were saved because of their efforts. However, the battle took its toll. During the course of the battle, the Captain was shoved off the top of a battlement, and fell fifteen feet onto stone."

I winced, my body giving sympathetic twinges. I once fell about four feet, and broke a leg in the process. I can imagine what a fifteen foot fall—onto solid stone, no less—would do to a body.

"Captain Riicshaden was gravely injured. Most of the major bones in his body were broken, and he was bleeding internally. The battle was such that they could not take the time necessary to heal him, even though there were two Witches present that were capable of the task. In desperation, they came up with another plan. The Witches put several healing charms on his body, meant to slowly heal his injuries, and an Earth Mage—” Overlyten looked straight into my face as he said this "—encased him in a special crystal meant to sustain his life."

"…I'm sorry," I croaked out, "what?" I could not have been more astonished if he had announced that the Earth Mage had turned the sun into a pink parasol. With ruffles.

Overlyten, I think, said that line in such a deadpanned way just to get this sort of reaction from me. He was enjoying my discomposure far too much. "He encased him in a magical crystal, a crystal that kept him alive while the healing charms had a chance to work."

"And then…what?" Eagle prompted, completely engrossed in the story.

"And then every magician was ordered to the Isle of Strae, and never came back," Overlyten replied, splaying his palms in a helpless shrug.

The full implication of this statement hit me like a bolt of lightning. I nearly fell out of my chair. "You mean this Captain of yours is still in there?!"

"Yes." Overlyten leaned forward, intense and pleading. "Magus Rhebengarthen—please
get him out.
"

~*~

I simply couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Deep within the bowels of the castle, within a dark room that had never seen sunlight, was the most ancient magical craftsmanship that I had ever laid eyes on. The crystal was a good eight feet long, standing upright, and was thick enough to where it would have taken two men to reach around the width of it. There, suspended inside that perfectly clear crystal, was a man. He was as still as death, and if not for my magical sense telling me otherwise, I would have thought he was.

"Magus, meet Captain Riicshaden," Overlyten said softly.

Riicshaden wasn't the large, bulky warrior that I had envisioned. He was of a normal height and a slim build. The muscles that I could see on his arms spoke of strength, but more built for speed and endurance than anything else. He was still in the black and silver uniform of Jarrell, ripped and bloodstained from battle. They apparently hadn't even taken time to change him into clean clothing.

"Is he still alive?" Overlyten enquired hesitantly.

My eyes never left the crystal. "Yes."

"Rain and drought," he whispered in amazement. "Can you free him?"

Maybe? "I hope so," I answered honestly. "Allow me to study it, please."

"Of course, of course." He backed away a few paces, supposedly to give me room to work.

I strove to ignore my audience, turning my mind to the problem at hand. Night was still outside the castle, as we hadn't known how to get him down the very narrow staircase without destroying said staircase. I described what I was seeing to him, ending with, "
Any Jaunten knowledge you want to share?"

"I think my mother heard about this, but she never saw it. I don't know more than you do."

"That's helpful, Night. Thanks."
My mental "voice" dripped with sarcasm.

"
You're the all-powerful Advent Mage, you figure it out."

"Now that was low."

"Stop stalling."

I sighed, wondering what I had done to deserve such abuse. He was right, though. I was stalling. I felt completely out of my depth, and I was deathly afraid of making a mistake and accidentally killing the Captain. It would be really pathetic if Riicshaden had managed to live for the past two hundred years, and then I kill him trying to get him out of the bloody crystal.

That would hardly do wonders for my reputation.

"
Garth?
" there was an odd tone to Night's voice.

"Yes?"

"Captain Riicshaden is talking to me.
"

My jaw hit the floor so fast it bounced on the stone tile. "WHAT?!"

"Magus?" Overlyten exclaimed in alarm.

I was too flabbergasted to say anything to him. "
What do you mean, he's talking to you?"

"Just that. I checked to see if he was awake or not, and he responded. He's requested that you get him out, even if it kills him. He says that he's tired of being trapped in there."

I felt the blood drain rapidly out of my face, leaving me cold and shaken. Great ancient magic, he was
aware
in that bloody thing?

Overlyten is not a patient man. When I didn't respond, he reached out and grabbed my shoulders, nearly shaking me. "Magus, what's wrong?!"

"He's awake," I whispered.

The Dom froze, as if he were a statue. "He's what?" the question was dangerously calm.

"He's awake. He requested that I get him out, even if it kills him." What must it be like, to spend two centuries so thoroughly trapped that you couldn't even twitch a muscle? That must have been
maddening
. I would have gone insane.

My fears suddenly didn't matter. I had to get him out. And I had to do it
now
. I nearly shoved Overlyten out of the way, intent on my purpose. I put both hands against the crystal's surface, feeling the warm texture against my skin. How to do this…?

The crystal itself was nothing remarkable, but made like every other crystal in existence. It was the power imbued in it that made things interesting. Earth power was there in abundance, which wasn't surprising, considering who made it. That power was tied to a ley line, which was unusual, but again, not unexpected. The Mage's spells would not have lasted this long without some help. There were healing spells put into the crystal as well. I've seen similar spells, so I recognized the feel of it. It confirmed what I had been told.

I wasn't sure if that spell would complicate extracting the Captain or not. Chatta would know, but she wasn't here. I'd have to guess, and under the circumstances, guessing wrong was very hazardous.

Taking a mental step back, I thought about it logically. The healing spell on that crystal was nearly gone, so Riicshaden was probably completely healed. At least, after two hundred years, I should
hope
he was completely healed. It was safe to remove him from the crystal in that sense. But how to extract him…?

I examined the crystal again, carefully feeling out every nuance. A half-formed idea started swirling around in my brain. I almost dismissed it as ludicrous, but the more I thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

"My lord?"

Overlyten appeared at my side like a puppy expecting a treat. "Yes?"

"Be ready to catch him."

He lit up, as excited as any child during a celebration. "You can do it?"

"I think so. Just be ready to catch him, if he falls your direction."

"Right." He scooted over a foot, arms spread in preparation.

I said a quick prayer that this would work then I made myself focus. Crystal, in essence, was rock that was so compressed by heat and pressure that it turned into this sheer, transparent material. In theory, all I had to was put it under a different kind of heat and pressure, and it would melt again. The problem was controlling that heat and pressure so that I didn't bake the poor man trapped inside.

I started from the top, working my way down, influencing the stone to melt. Rivers of liquid rock flowed down to the floor, like wax would from a candle. This was a very nerve-wracking process. Was I hurting him? I had no way to tell, and didn’t want to lose my focus by talking to Night. Just melting the rock, however, without taking any precautions was too dangerous. But what to do…?

I almost froze when an idea plopped into my head. Busted brass buckets, that just might work!

No, forget that, it
would
work. Riicshaden didn’t deserve my doubts right now.

Because this was a construction of an Earth Mage, I found it easy to manipulate it. I braced my feet, and placed the palms of my hands firmly against the facets of the crystal. I concentrated on the face of the battered warrior trapped inside, and imagined I was holding him in my arms instead of the crystal. I blocked out everything else around me; I became the crystal, holding his body in a protective embrace and keeping him alive. When I was satisfied that my focus would hold, I slowly extended a shield around the both of us.

Yes…
yes
, it worked! He had a shield around him now protecting him from heat and magic.

Still, I was worried that the process was taking too long. I sped it up, and soon Riicshaden's head was clear. Within seconds, his torso was free, then his knees.

It was at that point that he toppled forward. Overlyten leapt forward to catch him, supporting the body until he was completely clear. Then I reached out, pulling his feet free of the crystal and helping Overlyten carry him a few feet away. No one wants to stay around melted rock, not when it was hot enough to scorch skin. Once he was completely free, I dropped the shield.

I was about to suggest taking him upstairs when Riicshaden's eyes opened, and he looked at me. They were bright with unshed tears. "Thank you, Magus."

I grasped his shoulder, squeezing gently. "My pleasure, Captain. Welcome back."

~*~

Riicshaden wouldn't hear of staying indoors. After being cooped up in a dark room for two hundred years, I didn't blame him. I carried him up the staircase myself, and out into the main courtyard. By the time we stopped, I was very grateful he wasn't the large man I had been picturing—I was winded as it was. Being a blacksmith’s son, I wasn’t any stranger to carrying heavy objects. I think it was climbing up three stories of very steep stairs that got me.

When we were finally in the open, I settled us both on a stone bench that was under the shade of a tree, only partially exposed to the sunlight. We were attracting a lot of attention, just sitting there, but Overlyten was taking care of it. He drew his people away, and I had no doubt that he was already telling the story.

Riicshaden wasn’t very strong because of his long confinement, so I kept a supportive arm around his back to keep him upright. He lifted his face to the sun, eyes closed, and I think that if he had been capable of it, he would have purred in contentment.

"I've missed the sun," he whispered.

The curiosity was eating at me. I just had to ask. "Were you really awake all that time?"

"Most of the time, I slept," he admitted. "Whatever spells were put on the crystal encouraged me to do that. But I woke up whenever people came into the room. I heard their voices."

If he had remained sleeping most of the time, I could understand why he was still sane. Awake for two hundred years would not have kept one's sanity intact.

After another moment of sheer enjoyment, he lowered his head enough to talk to me. "Your Nreesce, Night, is a very nice fellow. He was telling me all sorts of stories to keep me distracted while you worked. I'd like to thank him."

"Of course. I'm sure he'd like to meet you in person as well." A suspicion entered my mind and I asked hesitantly, "What stories?"

Riicshaden's smile was far too innocent. "Oh, minor things really. He told a great many of his early days with you."

I groaned. That brat! He loves embarrassing me.

The Captain started laughing. "It's not that bad, I promise. He really does love you, I could tell. You're good friends."

"He's one of the best friends that I have," I admitted. Sourly, I added, "Although there are days when I'll swear just the opposite."

That set him into chuckling again. "I like you, Magus. Do you mind if we drop the formalities?"

"Not at all," I assured him. "Call me Garth."

"And I'm Shad, thank you for the gift of your name."

"There you are!" Xiaolang appeared from behind us, Night at his heels. "Night said that you'd done it. Welcome back, Captain."