The Archmage Unbound (21 page)

“I do, my lord,” he answered.

“The young man in front of me has come
to my attention as being worthy to join our new order. Do you feel that he is
acceptable in mind and body?”

“He is, my lord,” Dorian replied.

“Give me the sword Sir Dorian,” I
commanded. This part of the accolade was fairly standard so he was already
holding a scabbarded long sword. He held it toward me with the hilt free for
my hand and I drew it smoothly from its sheath. I lifted the naked steel to
point upward with the hilt even with my eyes. “Throughout history the knight’s
sword has been a symbol of his faith and trust, to both his liege and to the
gods. The Knights of the Stone are granted their power by the earth itself,
rather than any heavenly agency. You will give fealty to me and pledge to
protect humanity itself, even against the gods if necessary. Will you swear to
this Sir Dorian?”

Dorian’s face was a study of warring
emotions. I thought for a moment he might faint at the words I had chosen, but
then I saw his jaw clench and color returned to his cheeks. At last he
answered, “I so swear, I will uphold these vows, and even though the gods
themselves may curse me I will not fail in my duty.”

I looked down on Harold and his blond
hair almost seemed to glow in the candlelight. “Will you swear to this
Harold?”

He never hesitated. “I swear it.”

“Then by the power I hold in trust as
Lord of Cameron and the power granted me by the earth itself I dub thee
knight,” I intoned, bringing the sword down to lightly touch each of his
shoulders once. “Rise Sir Harold and take up your sword.” The young warrior
in front of me stood and as I handed him the naked blade I saw there were tears
in his eyes.

Dorian stepped behind him and knelt
down. I wasn’t sure what he was doing for a moment, till I saw him buckling
the spurs onto Harold’s boots.
I always forget that part,
I chided
myself. Then Dorian stood and buckled the scabbard and belt around Harold’s
waist so our new knight could sheath his sword. When he had finished he struck
Harold hard between the shoulder blades, almost sending him to his knees. Even
the blow was traditional, a welcoming ‘buffet’ given by a senior knight to a
new peer. “Welcome brother knight,” he said and then he embraced him.

“There is yet one thing left undone,” I
told them. Both of them looked at me with questioning eyes, traditionally the
ceremony was already done. “The Order of the Stone is more than just a name.
Now that you have sworn your oaths I may invest you with a small part of the
earth’s strength. This does not come without some risk however, and someday
you will be forced to relinquish this power lest you become part of the earth
itself. Are you both willing?”

After a short pause they both nodded and
responded with ‘ayes’.

“I must speak with the earth. When I am
ready I will hold out my hands silently, each of you take one and respond with
these words: ‘I accept this gift freely and freely will I return it when my
time is done.’ Do you understand?” I asked. Again they both nodded.

I sat as Moira had shown me, so as to
avoid falling when my mind was too far gone to steady my balance, and then I
opened my mind.
Moira watch over me,
I called mentally. For this she
would serve as my miellte. She flowed upward from the stone floor beside us,
this time she was composed utterly of grey granite. I sensed more than saw the
two men in front of me flinch in surprise, but they held their ground.

“You may proceed,” she said aloud.

The deep thrumming of the earth grew
louder as I focused upon it, until it seemed to drown out every other sound.
As I listened it seemed as if I could almost understand it, though it was
unlike any human voice. My mind expanded and I struggled to maintain my
balance, to do as she had taught me. “Keep your center,” she had told me last
night. “Include as much of it within yourself as you can, but do not let
yourself be included within it.”

And so I did, until it seemed I was
composed of nothing more than a giant stone heart, beating in time to some
ancient cosmic rhythm. When my thoughts began to disintegrate, to fade into
its vastness I stopped… somehow… and I held back.
Now to prepare the gift
,
I thought. Mentally I divided my earthly vastness into three portions, two
very small ones and a vast remainder.
Their portions must be small or they
will not last.
Once I was ready I extended those two smaller parts, upward
and outward, into a world I could see but barely understand. Lifting my
‘arms,’ I held them out toward the two beings that would become my companions…
at least for a time.

They reached out and grasped me with
soft appendages, while making sounds I could not comprehend, yet I could feel
their acceptance. With an inward ‘click’ I felt the bonds form as a small
portion of me was given into their care. It was finished. Using what seemed
like alien eyes I studied the strange space I was in, wondering at its purpose.
Now that my goal was accomplished I struggled to remember what I should do.
Then another mind touched mine,
Mordecai, it is over, you must return to
yourself. Leave the earth behind and return to the world of men.

The sound of my name resonated with
something within me and everything began to make sense again. With a dizzying
sensation the world seemed to ‘snap’ back into place. I studied my hands for a
moment, for everything seemed smaller. Finally I tugged on them a bit, to
remind Dorian and Harold they could let go. They both seemed to be dazed and
it took them a moment to release me.

I glanced at Moira.
I’m fine now,
thank you,
I told her mentally. With a nod she sank downward into the
stone floor. I looked back to my two companions. Now that I had released my
connection with the earth I was no longer connected to them but I could see
that they were both connected to something. I could feel an almost subliminal
power radiating from them.

“Mort...,” said Dorian, staring at me.
He couldn’t seem to find the words he was looking for. Harold didn’t even try.

“Take it easy. Your bodies will feel
different and it will take a while for you to get used to it,” I told them. I
assumed that much from what Penny had gone through when she had formed her bond
with me.

“I feel different,” said Harold.

“You are. You are stronger than before,
possibly faster as well. You also possess extra reserves of energy, so you will
not tire quickly. In times of need you can draw upon the earth itself to
increase your strength even more but it is unwise to do so. The more you use,
beyond what you have now, the faster you will change,” I replied.

“Change?” he asked.

“Into stone,” I answered. “The strength
you have now you can use safely, for decades at least. Eventually you will
start to notice changes, when that happens it will be time to retire and give
up your extra power. I will help you release the bond then.”

Dorian grinned, “So we’re like Penny
was?” He was clenching and unclenching his fist slowly as he spoke. I could
almost see him trying to decide what to test his newfound strength upon first.

“Not exactly,” I said. “You are not
bound directly to me for one thing, which means that if one of us dies it isn’t
a death sentence for the other. You are bound to the earth. The power you
gain from it will probably be similar to what Penny gained from me, but I think
there will be differences. Not the least of which is the risk that if you draw
upon extra strength too often you may begin to turn into stone yourself.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Dorian
replied. “A warrior made of stone would be nigh invulnerable.”

“A man of stone has no care for the
things you love. Nor could he have children,” I said bluntly.

Dorian’s face went still as he
considered it. I could almost see the exact moment Rose entered into his
thoughts, for a blush appeared on his cheeks.

Harold could see it too, “Perhaps it
would be best to take care of the ‘having children’ part of it sooner rather
than later Sir Dorian, just to be safe.”

That was the first sign I had
encountered of Harold having a sense of humor. I definitely approved. “Mind
your manners… ‘brother’,” Dorian snapped angrily at the younger man.

Together the three of us walked from the
chapel. “Rose did say something about meeting with her father. I wonder what
that’s about,” I pondered aloud. Dorian shot me a look that warned me not to
speculate further so I stopped there. He’d had enough stress for one day I
figured. As we stepped through the doors we met Penny and Joe McDaniel waiting
outside for us.

“Is your ‘secret’ ceremony finished?”
she asked.

Dorian was already looking for a
distraction so he clapped Harold heartily upon the back. “Meet our newest
knight!” he exclaimed. Unfortunately he hadn’t anticipated his strength and Harold
was sent hurtling face first into the opposite wall of the corridor. If Penny
had been a foot or two to her right he would have knocked her down.

“I think you two should be careful for a
while, until you adjust,” Penny said. I saw her eyes dart toward me for a
second with a sad look in them. She never complained but I knew she still
missed the bond we had shared when she was my Anath’Meridum. “Let’s go and
have breakfast,” she continued in a cheerful tone.

As we entered the dining hall a cheer
rose up, echoing from the walls. Penny stepped back and raised her hands with
the crowd and I knew she must have organized it then. “Three cheers for Sir
Harold!” she yelled and the people responded. Three times they cheered and
each time poor Harold’s face got redder with embarrassment.

Dorian smiled enough for both of them.
My friend wasn’t shy at all… so long as the attention was focused on someone
else. He soon had our newest knight moving through the crowd so that everyone
could clap him upon the back as he made his way to the high table. As they
went I watched Penny with new eyes. She never failed to surprise me. I hadn’t
suspected she was organizing a celebration such as this at all.

Now that she had it was obvious to me
that someone needed to do it, but it had never occurred to me. I was grateful
again that she had seen fit to marry me. Seeing how the people responded to
her enthusiasm gave me even more joy. If something ever happened to me I
didn’t worry that they would follow her in my stead, she had already captured
their hearts.

She turned to look back as we walked,
meeting my eyes with a smile. Her body was swelling at the waist, and in more
interesting places, yet her expression still held the sparkle of the girl I had
always loved. Something in my face must have told her my thoughts then, for
she leaned back and kissed me sweetly. “You look happy,” she said, whispering
directly into my ear, the room was too noisy to be heard otherwise.

And that was when I finally realized
it. Despite the recent war, despite my father’s death and all the terrible
things that had happened, I was happy. My people were cheering, not for me,
but for someone else, and I was happy. I had a place, friends, love, and the
beginnings of a new family. Certainly there were problems to be overcome
still, but at that moment they seemed small. Negotiate peace with the king and
then all I would have to do would be to protect the people from a few unnatural
enemies. It seemed almost simple.

“That’s because I am happy!” I yelled
back at her over the ruckus. She laughed and we sat down to the best breakfast
I could recall eating in years.

Sometimes mornings aren’t as bad as they
seem at first.

I made sure to get to bed early that
night. I had finished Harold’s armor early and he and Dorian had left me to
make sure all the fittings were adjusted perfectly. Consequently I made it to
dinner on time and spent a quiet evening with Penelope. In short, my day had
been almost as good as the morning was.

Penny and I rose early the next day.
The preparations had already been made but we wanted to get a good breakfast in
before we had to part ways. Today was the day I would be traveling to
Albamarl. Rose and Dorian arrived almost as soon as we did, and even more
suspiciously, they arrived together. I gave my friend a hard stare as he
escorted her to the table and he rewarded me by blushing bright red.

Penny elbowed me and I lost my fierce
glare, lapsing into a smile instead. “Don’t tease him Mort!” she hissed in my
ear. “He’s terribly embarrassed and it’s taken her months to get him to this
point.”

I looked at Penny in astonishment.
They’ve
been plotting this for months!
I thought to myself. I wondered idly
whether Dorian had just escorted Rose from her room or if he had been inside… I
shook my head. No, that simply wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be. “So does
that mean…?” I asked curiously.

She gave me a hopeless look. “No! And
wipe that stupid smirk off your face!” she told me. I finally complied and we
both tried to put on normal expressions before Rose and Dorian sat down with
us. I could tell Penny wasn’t really angry though, she had been struggling to
keep her composure too.