The Mages' Winter of Death: The Healers of Glastamear: Volume Two (18 page)

Michael thanked Obert and sat back to think. Was the coming war with the three kingdoms of the east caused by pressure on their food supplies as the planet got colder? It seemed possible. He was also certain that Firebreath the Red Dragon would know of the cycles because dragons were almost immortal. His predictions of war and destruction for the city of Min Hollow could be based on knowing of this cycle. Michael wondered if there was anything a single human could do to stop the onrushing disaster.

That morning, Michael and his friends left for Azure Falls. They made good time on the sleighs taking turns resting in the sleeping sleigh while traveling all night. They approached the new walls of Azure Falls by noon the following day.

Chapter 28

The new walls were completed, and six archers’ towers now overlooked the walls providing excellent lines of sight for the defenders. The main city gates were open and there was a lot of traffic entering town. When they drove their sleigh through the gates, they caused quite a stir because snow-elk driven sleighs had never been seen in Azure Falls. The shaggy white and tame snow-elk were exotic and beautiful; everyone wanted to pet the large animals and several children wanted to climb on their backs for rides.

Walter Tallman came forward to greet Michael and his friends, and soon the whole town was cheering their arrival and crowding around. This was market day, and the town was full of people from the surrounding farms because there had been no recent snowstorms and travel was easy for the first time in more than a month.

Since Michael and his friends had battled the rogue knight protectors who had made the locals into virtual slaves, the whole community was grateful and welcoming. Walter opened the double gates to the warehouse area near the main city gates. Michael had purchased that land and commissioned the construction of a warehouse and stable for his business interests on his previous visit.

He found the lower level was completed. It would be an excellent place to leave the sleighs and snow-elk until they were needed again in the following winter. Michael now knew that it would likely be colder than the current winter and so on for decades. He thought snow-elk would not seem strange to the citizens of Hearthshire Province in the coming years.

The storage and sleeping rooms on the second floor were not completed, but Walter took them on a tour of the new facility. Michael arranged for the care of the snow-elk and paid for the construction efforts that would complete this outpost for his business interests. There would be sleeping accommodations for his business associates and storage for his shipments. Michael and his friends decided to use a wagon and team of horses for the remainder of their trip to Marigold Meadows where their own warhorses were stabled. Michael negotiated with a local farmer for his wagon and team.

Once they bought the stout wagon and four draft horses, they transferred the ore from the dwarfish mine into the wagon together with all their other supplies. Michael had also purchased the blacksmith’s shop next to his new warehouse, and they decided to spend the night in the house on that property before traveling on to Oxbow Narrows. The switchbacks up the Blacksmith Hills would be difficult for the heavily laden wagon, and it was safer to go in daylight.

They had dinner with a group of town elders who updated them on the news of the area. Now that the town’s wall was finished, there had been six new houses built in the past month. The town’s merchants and builders were prospering. There was a growing population of farmers who preferred to live in the safety of the walled town and went to their farms only for the day. There also was a recently arrived blacksmith who wanted to rent the smithy from Michael and a harness maker of substantial skill who had relocated from Broken Arrow. Michael was pleased with the progress. That night he walked around the town’s walls and towers, and secretly cast dwarfish spells to strengthen the soft travertine stone. When he finished, the defenses were as strong as if they’d been constructed of granite. They were probably the best defensive walls of any town this small in whole Kingdom of Glastamear.

Before leaving the next morning, Michael met with the newly arrived blacksmith; Jerald the Smith rented the blacksmith shop and agreed to provide all the blacksmith support for Michael’s enterprises in the area. There were many hails and greetings as they rode their new wagon through the front gates and began the steep climb up to the village of Oxbow Narrows. The cold night temperatures had produced a frozen crust on the stone-paved roadway, and it was slow travel on the rough and often slippery switchbacks. It was evening before they reached Oxbow Narrows. The wooden stockade was manned with archers, but the guards recognized the Oxbow brothers and shouted greetings before opening the gates.

They drove their wagon directly to the foundry. Henry Ironmaster came running out to greet his nephews. After the exchange of hugs, Michael showed Henry the ore they had delivered. Henry sent four workers to unload it while they went into his office to talk.

“So you found this silver-blue ore in an ancient dwarfish mine. Why do you think it might be related to the secrets of making steel?”

Michael uncovered the bundle he was carrying and showed Henry the steel short sword and arched steel-clad shield. “These were made in that same mining facility. There are several hundred of them, perfectly preserved for two thousand years, no rust or signs of age.”

Henry hefted the sword and picked up the shield. “They’re lighter than I expected. The sword is quite sharp like it was just honed. The shield shape is interesting. Why do you think it is an arch rather than flat? That shape adds substantially to the weight; it must have a purpose.”

Michael set the shield against a wooden pillar and armed his crossbow. He shot five bolts at it; all were deflected by the steel layer and angled shield’s shape. “It’s impossible to hit it straight on. The steel will be a good defense against a sword, but it’s the shape that make these perfect against arrows and bolts.”

“I have made some progress too,” Henry explained. “I have not been able to reach temperatures hot enough to melt the steel in those six sets of knight protectors’ armor you sent me. However, I can get the metal hot to that red glow temperature. When it’s that hot I can work it with hammer and anvil.”

Henry went over to a locked chest and opened it. Inside were hundreds of arrows. He went in to the adjacent room and returned with a cuirass of one of the knight protector’s armor sets. He placed it against the wooden pillar and strung a longbow. He loosed five of the arrows from that chest. Every one penetrated the steel plate to a depth of four hands or more. If a knight had faced those arrows, he would be dead.

Henry explained, “After I was able to heat the metal to the red glow stage, I could work the armor, folding it over and over and then forming it into these points. I assumed that whatever the formula for this steel was, in this way I could make good use of it. I have only one complete set left, and this single cuirass that is now full of holes. I’ve made about eight hundred points, not all fletched at this time. I have about two hundred arrows ready for you to take with you. I’ll work with the ore and see what I can produce by combining it with iron. I’d like to keep this dwarfish sword and shield to test.”

“Of course, that’s why I brought them.”

“Good, let’s go to my house for dinner after we get you rooms at the inn. The town is busy with market day, and if we wait until nightfall, the rooms may be taken.”

That night Michael left the inn to try an experiment. Preciously, Michael had buried an artifact that prevented all fire magic in the area of Oxbow Narrows. He wanted to experiment to see if he could prevent the naiad spell’s effect on one person while leaving it in place for all other fire mages. He hoped to use this enchantment on High Priest Carson so he could re-consecrate the Great Temple at Briarton.

After his tenth try, he had formulated a new spell, never before spoken on Home. He had used different ancient Elfish words until he hit on the correct combination.
Restore the power of fire
made him able to cast fire magic even in the presence of the
quench fire magic
spell. He crafted a second spell, which was simply
un-restore the power of fire
. He could now use fire magic even in locations where the power was restricted by another spell. He thought the spell would last for decades if he cast it with his full power. It was the first new spell created in Glastamear since the Legend Times.

Michael went back to the inn and told his friends that he would catch up with them on the road to Marigold Meadows. He asked them to take his armor and all the supplies in the wagon and head for Marigold Meadows at first light. Michael packed some travel clothing in a pack and went out into the night. He converted to his eagle form and flew through the night until he reached Hearthshire Town. It was dawn when he converted back to his normal form, dressed in his black travel clothing, and walked to William’s House.

When he entered, Megan the housekeeper was excited to see him and insisted that she needed to prepare breakfast. She fussed over him as the new owner of the house and explained that the whole town Hearthshire Town thought him a hero because of the events that let Governor Farrier displace the rogue knights. Michael always suspected that Megan and William had an intimate relationship after William’s wife passed away from cancer of the blood, a disease for which even a master healer like William had no cure, but neither had ever acknowledged the relationship in front of Michael. Still he felt that this should be her home for the rest of her life.

She spread out more food than he could possibly eat and asked, “Master Michael, what brings you back to town? Maybe you and your wife would move here permanently. The people love you already, and I’m sure they would cherish your wife.”

“I’m not a master healer like William was. Please just call me Michael; I’m the same person who was an apprentice here last summer. My lovely wife Diana is pregnant with twin girls. They’re due early in the summer. I don’t think there is any chance that she would move right now, but maybe someday. The main reason I returned today was that I needed to refer to some books in the library. I’ll spend all day doing research and leave in the morning.”

Michael gave her a purse of golden crowns and silver scepters. “Here is additional money for maintaining things until I return. Keep a well-stocked pantry and larder and don’t stint on your own needs. I also think you need some new clothes, especially a warm long coat. Winter isn’t over yet.”

She hugged him in response.

Michael went to the second floor library and studied old volumes all through that day and long into the night. Megan brought him lunch and later dinner, but she did not interrupt his concentration. She had spent decades living with a master healer and knew the importance of leaving someone alone while they studied old books. He read every volume on agriculture and scores of historical accounts of events six hundred and fifty years earlier, and he searched the few books that covered the period thirteen hundred years earlier.

One famous ancient epic of thirteen centuries ago was the
Chronicle of Hunger
. He had always assumed it was exaggerated fiction. He’d believed its account of the heroes eating human remains after a great battle in the snow and ice near the White Mountains was merely a story to frighten children. There were other accounts of great battles in these epics in which nearly everyone died from the cold rather than swords and arrows. There were claims that blood froze before hitting the ground and that men’s hands were too cold to hold a sword. There were stories of bodies found centuries later still frozen in ice like those he’d seen at Winnowing Castle. In the
Tale of the Long Sleep
he found an account of the historical city of White Palace located in the Province of White Plains, which was buried in the snows of a bitter winter and never found again. After the Great Civil War, there were many accounts of the world seeming to be empty. There were hundreds of empty villages and even cities were mostly unoccupied. He believed Obert’s estimate that half of the humans had perished.

He certainly didn’t know all the answers, but he had a good understanding of the scope of the problem Glastamear would face over the next hundred years. It scared him; his children would live through the starvation time and his grandchildren would know of no better time except from books.

Long after midnight, Michael cast
transparency
and made his way through the dark streets to the temple compound. He climbed a wall and found the High Priest’s house. He entered and climbed the stairs to High Priest Carson’s bedroom and quietly cast his newly invented spell
restore the power of fire.
He crept out and returned home where he slept in his own room until dawn. Michael had never felt confident enough to occupy William’s much larger bedroom. In the morning, Megan and he had breakfast before he left to meet Jim and the Oxbow brothers.

Chapter 29

Michael in his eagle form flew along the road from Oxbow Narrows to Marigold Meadows looking for the wagon carrying his friends. He found them about an hour’s travel from Marigold Meadows. Michael converted to his normal form and dressed in his black travel clothing and hailed the wagon as it rounded a bend in the now snow-free road. After exchanging greetings, Michael jumped aboard, and they continued on toward Marigold Meadows where their horses were stabled. Michael was looking forward to riding Black Dash again. He’d grown to love his speedy stallion and had not seen him since they sailed from Black Sand Beach to Sand Point with the supplies for Briarton.

As they neared Marigold Meadows, they saw many other travelers headed for town. Whole families were riding in wagons or walking together. Michael was pleased to see that the surrounding countryside seemed to be returning to normal in spite of the huge toll of death that the white pneumonia had taken here in southern Hearthshire Province. It was a sunny day with temperatures well above freezing, and Michael sat back and enjoyed the warm sun and the comfort of ordinary clothing compared to the armor he’d worn for almost all the past two months. Michael and his friends sung an ancient traveling song from the period of the Great Civil War,
The Road to Archer’s Plantation.

Banners unfurled, drums beating cadence, striding with mates, as we march toward Archer’s Plantation.

Swords in their sheaths, crossbows holstered, clad in our armor, as we march toward Archer’s Plantation.

Stout friends beside me, loving family at home, my cohort keeps time, as we march toward Archer’s Plantation.

Walls of inferno, scarlet blasts and smoky sky, flesh of friends burning, thousands fall and die, as we march toward Archer’s Plantation.

Bloody battle engaged, enemy arrows in flight, I fall in the dust, at the now blazing town that was Archer’s Plantation.

Master healers a-chanting, the wagon’s ride rough, the pain overwhelms me, while I travel home to poor freezing Briarton.

They switched to happier drinking songs, but the Archer’s Plantation marching song made Michael think more of that time six hundred years ago. The town of Archer’s Plantation was at the southern edge of the Province of Southport an unlikely place for a battle unless the rest of the province had already fallen to the armies of Min Hollow who won the Great Civil War. It would have been one of the last holdouts.

If a new civil war came, the hundreds of thousands of citizens in Min Hollow could form a much larger army than the less populous southern province. If food were scarce, Southport Province was the most important area to conquer, and Michael had no idea how to maneuver armies or defend huge areas. He decided that he must be very careful about starting something that he couldn’t control. War might make the coming cold interval even worse.

When they arrived at the gates of Marigold Meadows, the wagon had to wait in a long line to enter. By asking others who were also waiting, they discovered that today was the start of the Winter Fair, and people were bringing the handicrafts they’d made during the period of heavy snows into town to sell. Each wagon flew banners with drawings of what each family had for sale. They saw wagons loaded with jars of cider and beer, wagons with cold weather produce, wagons with crocks of preserved onions and cucumbers, and wagons with homespun cloth and clothing. There was one wagon with dyed red yarn made from wool and colored with scarlet winterberries. They had displayed huge loops of yarn along the roof of their wagon, making it a colorful attraction for buyers. Just a month earlier, none of these people would have been willing to travel into town because of the risks from both pneumonia and brigands.

Michael and his friends were passing around a crock of beer purchased from a nearby wagon as they passed through the main city gates and headed for the stables where their horses were housed. There was a warm wind blowing from the south, and it was the best weather they’d seen since leaving Southport Province. They entered the stables excited to greet their horses.

Michael was giving Black Dash an apple when the attack came. Six men in mismatched iron armet-style helmets and cheap hardened leather cuirasses charged into the stable and attacked with their two-handed long swords. Michael was unarmored, and the first strikes were all aimed at him. He took a deep cut in the lower back before he realized he was in danger. Three other swords cut into his back higher up and another into his right arm. One of them punctured his right lung. As he fell from the deep killing wounds that had pierced his lung, liver, and small intestines, he cast
stone armor
to protect himself from the killing blows that followed as the attackers attempted to sever his head with their two-handed blades.

Even though he was in intense pain, Michael’s head was clear enough to know these wounds would be fatal within minutes. His view narrowed as if through a far-looking glass, but he saw his friends were engaged in a furious battle against the six defrocked knights who had been expelled from their order in Hearthshire Town. Michael began the casts that could save his own life if he completed them before he lost consciousness. Only the skill of a master healer could help the two deepest wounds, and his friends were not masters. He would die here on the floor of this stable if he couldn’t stop the internal bleeding, but it was difficult to concentrate because of his pain and with a battle raging around him.

The last thing he saw before turning his focus completely inside his own body was Black Dash delivering a fatal kick with his rear legs to one of the attacker’s skull. After that he saw nothing but through his manna driven healing vision. Michael had the greatest total level of manna ever born to a human. Even with the skills and experiences available to the greatest master healers, these wounds were fatal, but not for Michael Elf-Blood.

When Michael was able to return some attention to matters outside of his own body he heard Jim say in a very determined voice, “You shall not enter.” It was the voice of command from a man born to sixty generations of aristocrats.

Michael heard another voice say, “But sir, we only want to help. Is it true that Michael Son-of-William was attacked? He brought us food and buried our dead. The whole town would defend him if asked.”

“I understand,” Jim said. “Make room for us at the Safehold Saga Inn. We’ll carry him there when he can be moved. All six attackers are dead, but no one else may get near him until we know what was behind this craven attack.”

Michael heard the city guardsman send someone to the inn. “As you wish sir. We’ll stand by until he’s ready to be moved.”

Michael reversed the
stone armor
spell and spoke. “Jacob and Roger, is everyone all right?” He saw they were kneeling over Peter and Gregory casting healing spells.

Roger came over and knelt next to him. “They’ll be fine. The magic armor you gave us is a wonder. They have only bruises, not a single blow got through to flesh, but you seemed near death. We couldn’t even touch you because of some spell you cast in defense. As a result, we’ve had no chance to work healing magic on you.”

“I’m fine or will be soon. I’ve been working on myself, but it will take a few days before I’m ready to travel. It was those damn rogue knights wasn’t it? They swore revenge and assumed we’d come through Marigold Meadows on the way home.”

“Yes, they’re all dead. Black Dash killed one of them with a kick, Jim got three, and Peter and Gregory got the other two with a little help from Roger and me. Let me rig a stretcher for you and we’ll move you to the inn.

Roger made a stretcher from canvas they had in their wagon and wood from the stable. They gently lifted Michael onto it and waited for Peter and Gregory to recover enough to walk on their own to the inn.

A few hours later, Michael was in his room at the Safehold Saga Inn conversing with Diana via mage thought-talk.

“Why in Perry’s name were you wandering around a city with no armor? You promised me that it would keep you safe because of its enchantments. Why was yours left in the wagon when Jim and the Oxbow brothers were wearing theirs? Can you explain that?” He could tell that there were tears, even though the communication was not visual.

“I was careless. I didn’t take it when I flew to Hearthshire Town so I didn’t have it on when I boarded the wagon near Marigold Meadows.”

“Promise me that it won’t happen again.”

“I swear by Father God that I won’t go anywhere without either my armor or clothing that I’ve enchanted with protective spells. On my honor, it will NOT happen again. You would not believe how much it hurt or how stupid I feel.”

Diana thought of another matter to bring to his attention. “Michael, since I’ve seen you do it, I know that you can make gold coins by pulling the gold from the soil or the sea. I don’t understand how that’s possible, but I know it works. We’re actually broke so it’s a good thing you’re coming home. I spent all the proceeds of the apartment sales and the whole chest of coins you left on that large shipment for the food you delivered to Briarton. I borrowed the part I was short from Timothy and Carolyn. The prices were much higher than the first shipment, and I had too little time to try and get other donations.”

“My sweet, you should never worry about money. I’ll be on my back here at the inn for two more days. I might as well spend the time making money.”

“Dear, there is something else you may not realize. The aid we sent north was called the Michael’s Relief Fund. Everyone believes in your generosity, but also they assume you have vast wealth because you gave so much away. Every robber and brigand in Glastamear may think you’re the richest commoner in the kingdom. You need to be cautious. They could kill you for your purse or hold you for ransom.”

“I’ll be careful my love. I realize that you can’t go to balls and entertainment without me or some other family member available to escort you. Do you have any idea if there are plantations for sale in the province.”

“Actually I have a lunch here at the apartment for forty to sixty women every week. We call ourselves the Southport Relief Society. It includes many of the wealthiest merchants’ wives, many aristocratic matrons, and the wives of both the governor and the high priest. I’m quite well informed. I know of two large properties for sale. The last survivor of the Houston family died without heirs, and the plantation near the Easter Barrier Mountains went to the church. There is a second property for sale down in Government Fields; Governor Talton controls it. I can ask around and find out if there are more.”

“Good, when I get home, I need to explain something that I’ve learned about the history of Glastamear. For now, let me just say that food will get more scarce, and land here in the south more valuable.”

For the next two days, Jim and Roger made repeated trips to the local representative of the merchant banking partnership that Michael used for his business interests. With each deposit of gold, the balance of his letter of credit grew. On the third morning when they were ready to leave for Southport, his balance was back to the level it had been before the purchase of relief supplies. He wanted to buy land and do some and do some spring planting as an experiment.