Rising of a Mage (12 page)

“They have already been avenged, brother. And I will continue to train. I have been given my task in life. I will train harder and I will become as powerful as my body will allow, and more. I will hunt the evil of this world. I will protect those who cannot protect themselves. I will not tolerate this to happen if I can stop it, and I will avenge those I cannot be there to protect.” Cannen looked at his little brother and realized he could offer him nothing in comfort. “Cannen is there anything you would like this stone to say?”

“I guess it should have their names.” It was the only thing he could think of. He had never been one for words. He watched as his brother stood. Fire appeared all over the stone and when it was gone the stone read CALLIMORSSI across the top of the stone and across the bottom were the names of his father, his mother, his brother, and his two sisters. They both let the tears flow again. When they had finished crying, they both mounted their horses and rode back to the city. Anwar followed his brother back to the shop where he worked. He lived in a small apartment above the shop. They shared an embrace and then Anwar returned to his home. The guild was his home for now, but Anwar knew he would never truly have a home again.

Over the next few months Gabrielle realized that Anwar had been the most determined and dedicated student he had ever had. After the murder of his family, however, he was given a purpose. Anwar pushed himself in the use of magic far harder than he ever had before. Gabrielle had learned from Anwar that the story Mariah had told was true; he had created two fireballs at once the first time he had ever used the spell. Anwar explained that, in his studies, one of the things his staff could do was copy his magic. His staff grew in power as he did. So when he cast a spell he could will his staff to as well, making twice as many spells and able to hit twice as many targets. Anwar was slowly returning to himself. He was far more determined but the anger in him was slowly subsiding and Gabrielle was comfortable again. He knew that Anwar did not intend to take his anger out on the world or at least only on those doing evil in the world. As the last few months had gone by Anwar had mastered fireballs and lightning blasts more powerful then Gabrielle could imagine wielding. He had mastered the shields and because Gabrielle could not push him, he was pushing himself. Often Gabrielle would just watch as Anwar cast a magical shield as strong as he could make on a boulder and then he would throw spells as powerful as he could create at the boulder until he destroyed his own shield. There would be nothing left of the boulders. He learned to control each spell to the point where he could throw dozens of a spell at multiple targets before he moved on to another spell. He was a great asset to the raiding party.

Over the next few months Anwar and Mariah were called on a half dozen times. It always went the same way. As they approached, Anwar would make short work of those he could see. The group when then ride in and finish off any monsters that were hiding or running. The first time they were called on after Anwar’s family had been killed, Mariah realized that the ornamental dagger that Captain Anthony had given her was magical. After Anwar had blasted a large group of goblins, the raiding party rode into the woods. Mariah had encountered three goblins. She had thrown her dagger, aiming for the closest one’s eye. She noticed as she turned on another that the blade had glowed orange as it found its target. She had thrust her short sword through the second goblin’s chest and taken the head from the third. When they returned to the guild she told Anwar what she had seen. He asked if he could see the dagger. Anwar knew more about magical items than anyone in the guild, so she figured if anyone could learn the truth of the dagger it was him. The next day she saw him reading a book while holding her dagger. That night she watched as he cast a spell on her dagger. “It has been enchanted with seeking.” She looked at him as if waiting for him to explain. “The dagger will hit whatever you aim at, as long as it is not magically shielded. If you throw the dagger at someone and they jump behind a tree it will follow them and find its target,” he explained.

She smiled. “Thank you, Anwar.” By the end of the winter season they had stopped being called on. Anwar had purchased a small chest and in it they had stored all of the coins they had taken from the dead as well as their pay for each raid. They agreed they would continue to save until they decided to leave Kampar. In a few years when they decided to leave this city they would leave with a fair amount of gold.

As Anwar had thrown himself into his training Mariah had pushed herself harder as well. She had become so adapt at healing that Master Gibbins rarely attended any who came to the guild personally. She had also learned how to create a magical shield similar to the one Anwar created, if not nearly as powerful.

The spring started with Anwar’s sixteenth birthday. He looked well past twenty and was now an inch over six feet and a solid two hundred pounds. Mariah continued to be awed by his tightly-corded muscles. He was tall and strong and gentle. In bed, with her face on his bare muscular chest, she could lie here forever, she thought.

Chapter Ten

Anwar’s Birthday

A
nwar woke to Mariah’s lips against his. He kissed her back. And then her tongue was in his mouth. It was the first kiss they had shared since her birthday.

“Happy Birthday Anwar.”

“Well if that is my gift, I am not complaining.” She looked into his eyes and he got that feeling he always got when she looked at him like that. It was as if she could see inside him. “I love you Mariah. I know I haven’t proven that much in the last few months, but I do love you.”

“I love you too. Here.” She handed him a bag. He took out a spell book. Magical Healing. He flipped through the pages and it had a number of spells for healing minor wounds, or spells to stop poison from spreading. It was nothing compared to what she was capable of, but it was a great gift. The other item in the bag was a pair of boots.

He looked up at her. “Oh I am throwing those away.”

She looked to his boots on the floor. “Those are good boots. Good and broken in.”

She laughed. “Ha, with a hole so big in one I can see two of your toes.” Anwar laughed too. She was glad to see him laugh; he hadn’t done so much lately. “Master Gabrielle said these have some enchantment on them. You can make your footfalls silent or very loud if you choose.” “Thank you, Riah.”

“You’re welcome,” she said and then she kissed him again. “As she pulled away, though, he pulled her back and kissed her again.

“I love you,” he said as he lifted her shirt over her shoulders.

“I love you too, Anwar. “She lay down on top of him, and continued kissing him. She felt him grow against her. He was not wearing a shirt. He rarely slept in one. She slid his pants off over his feet. Standing next to the bed, she removed her own. Then she climbed back into his bed and kissed him again. “I thought it was your birthday,” she said. She continued kissing him. He rolled her over onto her back. He was sitting up in front of her just staring at her. “What?”

“You are so beautiful.” He began kissing her again. Then he was kissing her neck; her body tightened and she felt herself becoming moist. She could feel his hardness rubbing against the inside of her leg as he moved down and took her breast in his mouth. She couldn’t take it anymore. She wanted him. She needed him. She reached down and stroked him, and then she pulled and guided him inside her. She felt the pressure as she took him inside her. It was painful, but it felt good at the same time. Her whole body was tingling. Anwar could feel the warmth of her body as she took him inside her. His body longed for her. He was a part of her. Mariah bit his chest while he took her. It was painful and a single tear slid down her cheek. Her toes curled and her nails dug into his back. She felt his body tighten, his muscles bulged and she could feel him release inside her. She rolled him over. She was on top of him and he was inside her. She slid up and down on him, pressing against him and then her body tightened and she lost control of herself. She felt him continue to push against her. It was like nothing she had ever felt before. She lay down on top of him and she could hear his heart beating. He was still inside her. They lay like this for a long time. Anwar kissed her forehead. “I love you”

“You better!” Then she headed to the their bathing chamber. She turned around and he was watching her as if he was drinking her in with his eyes. “Are you coming.” He smiled and followed. They washed each other’s bodies, and she lay in his arms, the warm water soaking them.

Anwar went to see Master Gabrielle later in the morning. Mariah had to take care of her duties. “Happy Birthday, Anwar.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“You’re welcome. I assume your birthday has been good so far.”

“Yes, sir, Mariah gave me my presents before I came here. Thank you for helping her.”

“It was my pleasure. And here is your gift from me.” Anwar took the small paper-wrapped package. He unfolded it. It was a traveling cloak. “That was mine when I was much younger, before I settled down here in the guild. It will protect against physical attacks. It does not have near the enchantments of the coat you made for Mariah, and I am sure you could make one much stronger. I will not be offended if you do so.”

“No sir. I am extremely grateful. But I can’t take this from you.”

“Bah, I have no use for it now I would be honored if you would put it back to use. Hopefully not too soon though.”

“Thank you sir. I am sure there is still a lot for me to learn from you before I am ready to leave here.”

“You’re welcome.” Gabrielle knew that he would have little left to teach Anwar this time next year, but he wasn’t going to say so. “I will leave you to your studies then. It is good to see you in high spirits again.” Anwar just nodded. He took his gift back to his room and locked it away in the chest under his bed with Mariah’s coat and knife and the bags of coins they had collected. He left his room and went down to the training area that he used to practice his magic. No one else used this area any more, but sometimes people would come to watch Anwar work with magic beyond the abilities of anyone in the guild. Today Anwar was going to begin mastering an Ice Bolt. After casting the bolt a few times he practiced making a larger one. He was throwing bolts about as round as two fists when he heard someone behind him.

“Hey you big, ugly giant-blooded beast.”

Anwar turned around. “Cannen what are you doing here?”

“You didn’t think I would forget your birthday, did you?” Anwar walked to his brother and they shared an embrace. “I know you got all your magic and everything, so I figured this was as good a gift as I could get you.” He held out a ring. Anwar took it. It was a simply made band with a wide circle at the top. There was a rose with a circle pressed into the flat of it. “To remind you of what you’re fighting for and that you still have one brother back here. I figured, if anything, you could wave your hands and make it do something useful for you.”

Anwar smiled. “There’s a little more to it than that, but now that you mention it, I think that would be a good idea. I will spend some time and figure out what power I should imbue this with. Know this, brother. Between the two of us we will have created an item of great power.”

Cannen laughed. “That sounds pretty cool, brother. Will you tell me what it can do when you have decided?”

“I will. It will be some time before I decide. It will be something I have never done before—that is all I know now.”

Cannen hugged his brother. “One day people will be telling stories about my brother the great and powerful Anwar, Protector of the Realms. Happy Birthday brother.”

Anwar walked with his brother as he left the guild. He said his goodbyes and then headed to the training ground to train with the rest of the raiding party. Captain Anthony, Ezekiel, Jabaal, Viktor, Marcus, and Sampson were all there. Captain Anthony and Jabaal were staring at him and then they looked at each other and smiled.

“What?”

Jabaal let out a chuckle. Then he coughed. “There’s a different kind of magic in your eyes today, friend. It seems you got more for your birthday than you were expecting.”

Anwar just shook his head. “So are we just going to talk about me all day or are we going to train?”

“Ah, not today, son,” Captain Anwar said. Ezekiel handed him a pack. Anwar opened it. There was nothing inside. It was a traveling ruck. “Thanks, guys. It would seem everyone is trying to get rid of me,” he said with a smile.

“No, never that. You have been more valuable than any of us, which is why we gave you that ruck. Take another look.” Anwar did and, when he opened it, Jabaal jumped inside it. Anwar was still holding the pack in his hands; it barely seemed to have gained any weight at all and Jabaal was chest deep in the pack. Anwar set it down and helped Jabaal out of his pack. “We took it from a cave were we killed a troll a couple a years back. Thought a wizard could make as good use of it as any of us, and since you been saving us so much work all winter—and our hides a couple a times to boot—we figured you earned it.”