Spell Fade (8 page)

The morning sun saw them packed, mostly rested, and eager to start. All they were missing now was their guide.

Josie stomped at the ground, restless and ready. Aliet sat quietly atop Josie, reins loose in her hands, allowing the animal to wander. None of Aliet and Marcus’s livestock had survived, leaving Dartan and Marcus on foot. Dartan sat on the steps of the front porch, while Marcus stood behind him. The only noise between them all was that of Josie clomping about, eating grass from wherever she could find a decent bite in the dry, dusty ground. Eventually, she made her way to the porch, and began pushing Dartan’s pack around, making sure there was nothing underneath she might want.

“Watch it, Josie,” Dartan said, pulling the bag onto the step next to him. Josie ignored him.

“Do you think you’re keeping her alive?” Aliet asked, absently rubbing Josie’s neck. She looked up at Dartan and added, “With magic, I mean. Do you think you’re the reason Josie has survived?”

“That nag? I doubt it. She’s just too stubborn to die.” Josie responded with a grumble and a huff that stirred Dartan’s hair. He thought he heard a chuckle from behind him, but couldn’t be sure as he had always assumed Marcus incapable of laughter. He looked back, but there was no trace of even a smile on Marcus’s face. He turned back to Aliet. “Don’t make me think about it, though. Just in case. I mean, we need someone to carry our bags.” Aliet smirked and steered Josie back towards the other side of the yard.

By the time the sun cleared the roof, headed towards mid-morning, Marcus was more than a little restless. What started as a simple shifting of his weight from one foot to the other escalated to full on pacing across the entire length of the wooden porch. Mixed in with the noise of creaking planks, Dartan could just make out Marcus’s mumbling. The words weren’t clear, but the frustration was. When both sounds stopped directly behind Dartan, he froze, not daring to even breathe. Two more steps brought Marcus’s worn black boots into his peripheral. His chest started to burn as the silent seconds ticked by. Finally Marcus grunted, and the boots moved swiftly past Dartan.

“We’re leaving,” Marcus announced, walked down the steps, and headed across the yard without another word. Dartan sat still for a moment, catching his breath, unsure he had heard correctly. Had he missed the wizard’s arrival? No, a quick glance around showed there was still no sign of him. So, what was Marcus doing?

“Wait!” he called out, grabbing his bag and scrambling off the steps. “Leaving? Where are we going?”

“Amstead, of course,” Aliet answered as she guided Josie around behind Marcus, who had not even paused when Dartan spoke.

“But, the wizard,” Dartan argued. “Who will guide us?”

“Marcus knows the way,” Aliet assured him. She spoke over her shoulder, not turning Josie to face him, or even slowing. “I’m sure the wizard will find us, when he has a use for us.”

How could Marcus possibly know the way to Amstead? Dartan stood at the top of the road and wondered. Then something caught his eye, a patch on Marcus’s pack. It was faded, but still recognizable – the crest of the Capital Guard. He remembered now, Marcus had once been a member of the elite Royal Guard. Head of his watch and destined for Captain, to hear Aliet speak of it, though she rarely did anymore. It had been before their parents got sick, and he had traded that life for the one he had now.

Dartan stood in the yard, uncertain. The house behind him was empty and dark, while his friends moved further away, leaving him alone. There was nothing left here for him, and if he waited long enough it might not be the wizard who showed up looking for him. Aliet was right, Marcus knew the way, and the wizard could find them whenever he got around to thinking about them.

Dartan had a short jog to catch up, and he fell into place beside Aliet and Josie. “How long will it take us?” he asked after catching his breath.

“It would take me two days,” Marcus answered. “Us?” He turned slightly, looked at Dartan, and added, “Most likely more.” Dartan looked up at Aliet. She gave him a smirk and a gentle shake of her head. She was right, best not to poke the bear.

Dartan spent the next couple of hours at the back of a more or less single file line, occasionally peering behind them for any sign of the wizard. A few close calls later he decided it better to concentrate instead on avoiding anything Josie dropped in his path.

The first fork in the road came upon them unexpectedly as they rounded a curve in the woods. Dartan slowed, looking for some sort of sign or direction, but Marcus moved steadily on, picking a path with barely a glance. It was the same each time an alternate path presented itself, and after each one Dartan thought of the wizard less and less.

It was well past midday before he finally appeared. Dartan first saw him as a solitary figure in the road ahead. The robes, hat, and beard appeared as they drew closer. The last thing to come into focus was the smile so broad it crept up into his squinted eyes. He raised his hand, as though greeting old friends, but he wouldn’t find any in this group.

Marcus gave him little more than a glance and grunt as he passed. Alain’s smile faltered a bit. Aliet glared as she passed and Josie swished her tail right through him. There was only confusion on his face when Dartan reached him. He was the only one that stopped.

“You do realize this isn’t morning, don’t you?” Dartan asked.

“Of course I do. You realize I’m also responsible for ruling this country, don’t you?” His furrowed brow showed irritation, but no malice. Dartan simply shook his head and continued walking. Alain stroked his beard a moment, then produced a staff from thin air and fell into step beside Dartan.

“I honestly don’t see the problem,” Alain said. Dartan looked sideways at him, but remained silent. “I mean, just look at you – well on your way to Amstead with a more than competent former member of the Royal Guard leading you.” Marcus shot a glance over his shoulder at the wizard, who returned it with a smile. “You hardly need me at all,” he concluded.

“Sure,” Dartan said, “except we have no idea what to do once we get to Amstead, where we’re going afterwards, or what insane task you want us to perform once we get there.” He stopped and faced Alain before adding in a lower tone, “The only guidance you have impressed upon me thus far is not to trust a wizard.”

“Then I have done you a great disservice. By no means should you limit your distrust to just my kind, boy.” He poked a finger at Dartan, “Trust no one.” He paused, thinking, then added, “Except for those you must.” Aliet groaned, but Alain merely smiled and continued to walk on, leaving Dartan standing in the road.

“As for your other concerns,” Alain continued on as though Dartan were still beside him, prompting him to catch back up. “I will answer all your questions, in due time. For now though, you should know I am preparing for your arrival in Amstead. You will have lodging at the Scales Tavern, where you will meet a man who possesses something you need, if you are to be successful.”

Aliet leaned back in the saddle and loudly whispered, “Don’t bother with asking about the ‘something’, but see if you can at least squeeze a name out of him.”

Dartan cleared his throat to mask the laugh. “A man, you say?” he ventured casually. “And would this man happen to have a name?” The look the wizard gave him was one worthy of his own mother, and he felt his cheeks sting with the red of shame. Even Aliet, who could see nothing of what passed between them, squirmed uncomfortably in the saddle. Dartan looked down at his feet and had another thought, it probably wasn’t the best idea to poke fun at a wizard anyway.

“Logan.” Alain spoke his answer straight out into the air, to all of them and none, simultaneously. They walked in silence for a few moments before he spoke again. “I’ll return when you reach the tavern.” He then turned to Dartan. “Do be careful, Dartan,” he said softly, then, without a sound, disappeared.

Dartan released the breath he wasn’t aware he had even been holding, and Aliet turned to look back at him. She swung her head both ways, scanning everything behind her.

“Is he gone?” she asked.

“I guess,” Dartan shrugged, “but how can we be sure?” Aliet slid from Josie’s back and slowed to let Dartan catch up.

“I suppose we could talk about him, and if we’re not struck dead then it means he’s not around?” she offered.

Dartan nodded. “That makes sense.” He took a large step away from her and said, “You go first.” Aliet laughed and Dartan felt a smile on his own face. It seemed to lift more than just his cheeks, and he laughed as well when Aliet moved close and punched him on the shoulder. It felt good. He had missed this Aliet the past few days.

“Seriously though,” she said between laughs, “do you really think he’s just going to leave us alone until we get there?”

Dartan shrugged. “Apparently he has a country to run.”

“But what about you? Apprentice.”

Dartan rolled his eyes. “Obviously I didn’t impress him enough to spend the time.” He looked down at his boots, watching the road pass by for a few moments. “You know, the further we get from the farm, the less I feel like I worked any magic on it at all.”

“Well, something certainly was,” Aliet said, then moved conspiratorially closer to him, speaking in a whisper. “Honestly, even though I acted shocked, I wasn’t really surprised to find out you had ‘the gift’.”

She must be joking. How could she take it seriously when he, himself couldn’t believe it? He looked over at her, expecting her wicked smile, but it was her serious eyes that caught him first. “I’ve seen strange things happen around you,” she shared. “Things I couldn’t explain, so I pretended they didn’t happen, or that I just saw them wrong.”

“Things?” Dartan’s mind was racing, trying to think of what she could have possibly seen. And how many times had she seen them? “Like what?” he asked tentatively. She heard the uneasiness and saw the dread on his face, and then she did smile.

“Nothing you would have noticed, or even realized you were doing,” she soothed. She thought for a moment. “Tools you reached for seemed to jump out and meet you halfway, the ground split open before your plow even touched it, and I swear if you had just put baskets on the ground the crops would have fallen right in them.”

“You make it sound like I didn’t do any work at all.”

“That’s not what I said.”
And you know it,
her eyes finished. “All I said was that I’m not surprised to find out you have some magical ability. What does surprise me is that you don’t seem to care.” She leaned closer in to him. “Aren’t you the least bit curious about what you can do? Or even how to do it?”

Dartan simply shook his head. “I know magic has a place in this world, but up to this point it’s been more of a nuisance than anything else.” He placed his hand on the hilt of the sword slung across his back. “I’d rather place my trust in something a little more solid.”

Aliet didn’t even try to conceal her laughter. “Well, I don’t think it will come to that just yet. Two men and a woman, each with one bag and a single horse between them, are hardly a tempting target for bandits.” Her smile disappeared as she draped her hand over the hilt of her own sword hanging from her waist. “But if it does get rough, remember, you might want to just stand behind me.” Dartan gave her a playful shove and both of them laughed.

Dartan was a little better than average with the sword, but he was no match for Aliet. He had always teased that it was her small stature which gave her an unfair advantage, but they both knew the truth. She was just better than him, and most everyone else. In fact, the only person Dartan knew of better than Aliet was their teacher, Marcus.

Marcus walked at a steady pace nearly twenty meters ahead, oblivious of them, while they both looked at the broad sword sheathed across his back. Aliet looked back and forth between Dartan and her brother a few times.

“You know, since you’re not getting any magical training,” she reasoned, “you could probably get some more sword training.”

Dartan raised his eyebrows. “Really? Have you forgotten my last lesson?”

There had actually not been a lesson, she recalled. They had been late, and her with blood on her shirt and a swollen nose. It had been her own fault, falling from the fence, but explaining it to Marcus had not been easy. As soon as he saw her, the look of irritation on his face changed to anger nearly as fast as his sword was unsheathed. Dartan would have been dead had Aliet not stepped between them. Somehow she had made Marcus listen to her, but that had been the end of Dartan’s training.

“How exactly did you fall off that fence?” Dartan was thinking of that day too. Her smile faded and cheeks flushed as she let her mind go further back.

It was late afternoon, the sun behind her, setting the field ablaze with golden light. She watched Dartan finishing his work in the fields from her perch atop the fence. He stood, stretched, and began walking towards her with squinted eyes. The sun lit his face, but it seemed dull compared to the brightness added when he smiled.

He reached her, placed a hand on the fence on either side of her, and leaned forward. She breathed in as he drew close, smelling the sweat, grass, and earth clinging to him. It was intoxicating. She barely heard his voice over her pounding heart.

“I can’t see your face,” he said, moving closer, searching for her shadow. “I’m getting the feeling you’re making fun of me.” Aliet leaned closer, drawn in by his eyes, but found herself focusing on his lips. It was the first time she had ever felt the pull of them, and somewhere her clouded mind wondered how she had never noticed them before.

“There you are,” he said, his eyes finally adjusting. His smile disappeared when he met Aliet’s eyes, and his own grew wide. “Did you see that?” he asked turning and pulling away from her. It was too late for Aliet. Her forward momentum couldn’t be stopped, and instead of falling into Dartan, she crashed to the ground.

She blinked and the memory faded, leaving only Dartan staring at her, waiting on an answer. “I’m not sure how I fell,” she answered quietly, avoiding his eyes. Then, “But what was it exactly you saw that day?” It was Dartan’s cheeks that turned red this time.