Spellscribed: Ascension (31 page)

The wolfman glanced towards Wrach, who nodded. He looked back to the bodyguard and spoke, his voice indistinguishable from a human’s.

“My second tells me that you are a strong warrior.” The leader said. “And that you saved his life days before.”

Joven nodded, silently noting the shifting movement in his peripheral vision. “I did. You must be Gnaeus.”

“I am he.” Gnaeus replied, tipping his muzzle in a human-like nod.

“I am your only chance to get out of the kingdom alive.” Joven stated. “The Spengur can keep the generals from having you killed, but we have been at war for far too long for anyone else to have the… restraint that he has.”

“Your Spengur,” Gnaeus asked. “Is it the small man I believe is called Endrance?”

Joven nodded. Gnaeus growled something in their native language, and the other eight wolfmen revealed themselves from their places in hiding all about Joven. One had managed to sneak within three yards of the barbarian without alerting him or spooking the horse. As they assembled, Joven was thankful that they were at least somewhat peacefully minded. A fight would have been very bad for him, unless Endrance’s bird was far more dangerous than he thought it was.

“Take us to him.” Gnaeus demanded. “We bring him a chance to make peace with our packs, and possibly ensure the survival of us both.”

Joven shrugged. “Don’t need to tell me twice. Follow me.”

* * *

“It’s the same one I met a year ago?” Endrance asked.

“Yep.”
Joven stated. “Said he remembers your scent.”

“Why would a pack leader risk his life to send a message?” Endrance pondered.

They had commandeered a house so that Endrance had time to practice and prepare for the ceremony. He was sitting in the main hall, carving at a block of wood with one of his knives. He was supposed to make a little token that was supposed to be carried up the mountain by the Ascension team of his choice. The other teams were supposed to try to make it up the mountain, and take the token from the holder.

From what Bridget and Selene had told him, the Spengur had to make the token a special one in the past. Stories about it giving the holder superhuman speed, strength, and even once it supposedly gave the person the ability to spit fire from their mouths. It was a tall order, but Endrance had a plan.

“Are they waiting outside?” Endrance asked, slicing away another strip of wood. The token was starting to look like a six inch diameter disk with a small hole punched through it near the edge.

Joven nodded.  “Yes, they’re outside. The Draugnoa and a contingent of thirty men are keeping an eye on them.”

“Well, they should be more than enough to handle them if they cause trouble.” Endrance replied, putting the knife back in its scabbard and picking up an iron nail. He started carefully etching the surface of the wood.

“I don’t know about that, Endrance.” Joven said, concerned. “These wolfmen don’t move like any of the ones we’ve fought before.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. Actually they remind me of me.” Joven stated.
“Specially trained, experienced and well equipped. I’m not sure I could have beaten many of them if it came down to it.”

Endrance looked up from his work and stared at his bodyguard. “They’re that good?” the astounded mage asked.

Joven nodded. “I’m just glad they were not here to cause trouble. It would have taken three times as many men to stop their advance.”

Endrance looked down at the wooden token. “Bring the leader
in, and any of the others that insist on going with him.” He said, marking another line on the surface of the wood. Joven nodded, walking out of the room. Endrance continued working on the token, having an idea in mind. Shortly after his disappearance, Joven returned, followed by the leader Gnaeus. He was followed only by one other wolfman, a somewhat younger one with a pair of short swords on his back and a bundled pack in one arm.

He was also followed by four barbarians who flanked the two on four sides. Endrance glanced at the soldiers and scowled. He looked Joven in the eye and tilted his head back at the door. The bodyguard turned to the men.

“All right guys.” He said. “Give the Spengur the space he wants. Out.”

“But we-” one of the soldiers protested.

“Out. Now.” Joven growled. The four tentatively vacated the chamber, but Endrance could hear them milling about in the next room, likely ready to burst in if there were any hints of violence. Endrance knew that the wolfmen heard the same, if not smelled them still nearby. It would have to do.

“Endrance.”
The leader said, and Endrance immediately recognized the smooth, human sounding voice. It was, in fact, the wolfman that spared his life in the woods over a year ago. “I see letting you live was a wise decision.”

“Gnaeus.”
Endrance said, hoping he was pronouncing it right. Endrance hopped off the chair and stood, walking within arm’s reach of the pack leader and looking him in the eyes. “I am glad you let me live, or I would not have been here to aid the people of this kingdom in what could be the hardest times they were to experience in a century.”

Gnaeus’ ear flicked, and Endrance began to wonder if there were cultural differences in how close to stand to another and how to look someone in the face in the wolfmen’s society. If he had given insult, Gnaeus was more tolerant than most of the people in the northern wastes and merely tilted his head slightly in acquiescence. “I come to you now in hopes that you can repay the favor.”

“You need me to save your life?” Endrance asked.

“No.” Gnaeus said. “Like I did for you, I need you to let us live.”

“I don’t understand.” The mage stated flatly.

“The Atastos rising has caught much of our pack unprepared.” Gnaeus stated. “We have managed to find a den that keeps us safe, but we fear that once the Atastos are defeated, and we have no doubt you will defeat them, your people will not be able to see past the true differences and will come after us for revenge. As pack leader, I need to secure my pack’s future and that means coming to the person who is most likely to change the minds of the people.”

Endrance hadn’t even considered the repercussions of the ongoing war, beyond saving the city from being overrun. He knew the people of Balator well enough that, even if it were clear that the invasion was of the undead variety, machinated by magic beyond the ken of spellcasters of the current era, they would not be able to leave the living wolfmen blameless. It would likely lead to them singling the wolfmen out, hunting them down and eradicating all that could be found.

“Tell me, Gnaeus.” Endrance began. “How do you propose that I do that? These people are harder headed than a rock golem and ten times as quick to offend.”

“You are in a position of power.” Gnaeus stated. “You can make them understand.”

“I am not the leader of these people… this pack.” Endrance reasoned, hoping he wasn’t making a mistake. “But, I am the closest thing they have to a shaman. I can advise, but not directly affect the wills of the people should they wish to risk defying me.”

“Your pack doesn’t currently have an alpha.” Gnaeus said. “We have learned this much. You are the one who killed the alpha, so you are now the alpha.”

Endrance shook his head. “That’s not how it works here. Well, it is how it works here, but I am not able to be their alpha and their shaman.”

“What happens then?” Gnaeus asked.

“Glad you asked.” Endrance stated, turning and walking back over to the chair he had been sitting on. He picked up the discarded token and waved it. “I perform a ceremony to allow others to compete to prove they can rule the kingdom.”

Gnaeus’ ear flicked again. He glanced at his second, who nodded. Gnaeus looked back at Endrance and grinned. “And do you think your new king could make peace between us?”

“Yes, I suppose.” Endrance said. “The king would be able to make a decision from that point. But all the candidates have been fighting with your kind for years. I don’t know exactly how they would receive it.”

“I see.” The wolfman replied, pacing. The wolfman had a faint smell that reminded him of wet dog. Gnaeus turned to look at him and grinned. “Then we will help.”

Endrance blinked at Gnaeus, confused. “You’re going to help?”

Gnaeus tilted his head. “If you explained it properly, then once the new king is on the throne, he will bend his ear to your words. If that is the case, then the fastest way to get what I need is to help you get what you need. Am I correct?”

Endrance thought it over. “Yes.” He concluded. “However, I don’t know how much they will allow you to help since they have a hard time distinguishing between the normal members of your kind and the Atastos that are on the verge of overwhelming our city. Not to mention that there are at least three Atastos mages approaching and I don’t know how to handle them before they potentially blow the walls down and make my job even more difficult.”

“Atastos mages?” Gnaeus asked. “That’s… impossible.”

“Why?” Endrance queried.

Gnaeus’ tail swished once and his ears shifted position. “There has not been a member of our packs able to teach magic to our young for decades. The Alpha before the Alpha I replaced was among the last to have any knowledge of the gift.”

Endrance nodded. “The Atastos mages are undead, so they could be from that time. How many of your people used to be able to use magic?”

Gnaeus looked confused. “All of them. Aren’t your people the same?”

Joven glanced at Endrance and whistled. The mage stared at the wolfman wide-eyed as he considered that revelation.
An entire species able to use magic? They weren’t magical creatures though, as Endrance had heard reports about their vulnerability to illness and other maladies that mortals explicitly suffered. Did this mean that every one of them had the ability to use magic innately?

“No. Our people aren’t.” Endrance replied. “It’s a trait that happens randomly, though it can be inherited, if the parents were both powerful enough. We have some houses or bloodlines that are thought to almost certainly produce mages, though there are cases of people born who have the ability though their parentage had no ability.”

“Odd.” Gnaeus stated. “We all have had the potential, but without teaching we can only perform the most basic of magic.”

Endrance thought again. With the new information he had gained, it gave the invasion of the undead wolfmen a strange color. Every time he cast magic in their presence they were entranced by it, to the point of ignoring enemies around them. Then they went after him, over any other enemies. Were they hunting mages? Or was it that they longed for what he had?

Either way, Endrance was not in the habit of letting wolfmen tear him apart for whatever reason, so he was contented to never find out what would have happened if they had actually gotten a hold of him. The mage wiped his face with a hand and sighed.

“All right.
I think that your help will be needed, but it may not be what you are expecting.” Endrance said.

Gnaeus only watched him, waiting to hear his plan.

“The Ascension is a ritual that I only have to perform the beginning of, and once that is done, they go through their challenges as they climb the mountain. Your presence would only be seen as a chance to attain even more glory during their rise, so I will need your help with something a little distasteful, but out of their way.” Endrance said, glancing at Joven. He knew that his bodyguard was going to object the loudest of everyone present.

“I need to buy time for the victor to make it to the top and the king to be crowned. It should be done by dawn if I have the timing about right, but we our walls will be in jeopardy by that
point. I need you to come with me and kill the Atastos spellcasters before they have the chance to do that.”

“Wait!” Joven exclaimed, his brow furrowing. “You can’t possibly be thinking of going out there!”

Gnaeus’ ears perked up and he turned to talk to Wrach in their native tongue, a language of growls, whines, yips and variegating barks.

“Yes. I am thinking of going out there.” Endrance replied calmly.

“But they’re going to tear you apart!” Joven protested. “You said they were each more powerful than you!”

“They are. But as you said, these wolfmen are skilled. Skilled enough that thirteen of them are a force that can be wielded like a dagger in the dark. With their help, I can neutralize at least one or two of them, giving your people a fair chance.” Endrance reasoned.

“No. Just… no!” Joven said. “I can’t let you do this!”

“You have to.” Endrance said. “Or all your people will fall. And look at it this way, what more glorious death can you find than one that secures the lives of thousands?”

Joven scowled. “I hate when you use our logic against me.” He griped. “I don’t like this. I’m your bodyguard; that shouldn’t be your task, Endrance. Give it to me.”

The wizard shook his head. “No. You cannot counter their abilities. I have something in mind that should keep them distracted long enough for the wolfmen to strike them down. If it works, we’ll be done before the rest of the hordes can turn towards us. Then the wolfmen help me evade capture while you make sure the Ascension is completed. Once that’s done, the armies outside will no longer
be a problem.”