Warded Mage (Reawakening Saga) (15 page)

Crusher was right more soldiers could be headed in their direction now, but Thad didn’t think that was the case. Most likely, they thought the force they had detached was enough to take care of
them, otherwise they would have waited to attack until they were certain of victory. That didn’t mean their weren’t more enemies in the area, it just meant that next time they would send more, making it even more important that he find ways to counter their white swords. “Just give me a few days before we continue. I think we can all use the rest.”

Crusher grunted and walked off. Thad knew that Crusher understood what he was saying, but the dwarf was stubborn and even if he understood, he would act as if he still wanted to keep moving. It was mostly an act but sometimes it was hard to tell the difference. Forgetting about Crusher and his moody nature
, Thad turned his attention back to the items gathered in front of him. Now he was faced with the decision to work on the other ideas he had first or to make metal pellets to use. He only had a few ideas that might or might not work. The metal pellets were guaranteed to work but he would need more than that if he wanted to survive. Thad still had a few ideas but that didn’t seem like enough. There had to be more that he could do but nothing was coming to mind.

Thad picked up a sword and flipped it over in his hands. It was made of good metal though it didn’t have any distinguishing marks. With the sword alone, he could make nearly thirty metal pellets. Right now he could fire about fifteen pellets at one time accurately. With tightly packed
opponents they wouldn’t be able to dodge them very effectively, and the pellets would still be extremely effective with his opposition spread out, if he was able to make the pellets fast enough even a skilled warrior would have a hard time dodging. Their main weakness was that in close quarters they were useless, using them would expose him to unneeded danger.

Sitting the sword aside Thad picked up one of the smaller daggers and flipped it up in the air letting it fall blade first into the ground. The dagger wasn’t very balanced
, with a very heavy blade, but that meant that it would usually fall with its blade into the ground, the handle was light meaning there was less chance of its weight causing trouble later on. In a fight, he would hate to rely on such a weapon but it was perfect for what he was needing. Smiling to himself, Thad pulled the dagger out of the ground, flipped it higher into the air, and watched as it once again lodged itself in the dirt.

You always seem happy when you’re playing around with your toys.
“That’s because it’s fun to see what all I can do.” Thad replied as he pulled out the parchment and began writing out what he planned to do with the dagger. He would need one of the smaller gems in his pack but he had plenty to spare.

Thad pulled a small garnet about the size of an acorn out of his pouch and placed it against where the blade and hilt met. Focusing he made the metal part like water and let the gem slid into it. Once the gem was firmly affixed to the dagger, Thad began the next stage of the enchantment. He knew that to make a lasting enchantment he should use more gems and balance out their duties but he decided that wasn’t needed. One strike from one of the white swords would destroy the enchantments placed on the weapon
, unless he designed it like his staff, and that would take weeks of tedious work.

Thad’s hands stopped moving as a thought occurred to him. “Why didn’t his staff’s magical enchantments stop working when it was hit by one of the white swords?” the question bothered him. At first, he hadn’t given it much thought but after seeing how the magical pellets were affect the question began to nag at him.
I don’t know either but I know each time one of those cursed blades touched me it was as if I had to fight just to stay aware.
His sword hadn’t been affected either, Thad could still feel the magical energies gathering within it. Maybe it had to do with the strength of the enchantment. Thad ran his hand over his head pulling at his hair slightly. Why hadn’t the enchantments been destroyed like the others? It was an important question but one he didn’t have an answer to, there were just too many unknown elements. The only way to start to understand the way the swords effected enchantments was to use the sword against them. It was a good plan but one that would take a lot of time and in the end might destroy anything he made. Right now, it just wasn’t a viable option.

After a few moments, Thad slammed his fist hard into the ground. It was frustrating
, but for now he didn’t have the luxury of worrying about how the white swords worked. It was more important to focus on a way to get around them and attack the wielder. In the future, when he had time, he would have to examine the white swords more in depth but right now it just wasn’t possible. Thad forcibly had to set aside his worries, leaving a tight feeling in his stomach. After taking a deep breath, Thad picked up one of the regular swords and started his work. Right now, he only needed to do what he could and leave the rest for later.

Chapter XIX

Thad stretched his right arm. There was still a bit of pain in his shoulder but the wound was healing, but it would still be weeks before it completely healed. He had spent a few hours every day using his magic to speed up the other’s healing but he couldn’t do it for himself. It was annoying but he was forced to rely on Brianna’s care for his wound. She applied poultices to the cut that removed most of the pain and had greatly increased the rate of healing, but it left a foul odor that he could gratefully do without.

It had already been three days since the Brotherhood had attacked. He couldn’t put off leaving any longer. Avalanche was up and moving around again and Crusher’s complaints were starting to get more insistent. Even if he wanted to stay longer and work on his plans, his companions wouldn’t let him. It was already late in the day so leaving now would be fruitless. With the way Brianna and Crusher were talking
, first thing in the morning they would continue on their way to Handlane, whether.he liked it or not

Knowing time was limited
, Thad went back to work on the dagger in front of him. He had switched between making metal pellets and working on different ideas for enchantments over the past few days. Right now he had more than a hundred pellets, more than enough for a single encounter, he hoped.

H
e had tried out many ideas over the past few days and only a few of them had worked. He had tried making vines grow to ensnare his opponent but as soon as they got close to the sword, they stopped growing. It was still effective in the sense, that it would grab and tangle anyone that didn’t have one of the weapons. The vines themselves, while forced to grow from magical influence they were not magical in nature themselves. The only problem was that the enchantment took up a large amount of magical energy meaning that it would take weeks for it to charge to a level where it could be useful in battle.

Thad had learned that he could try the spells himself before enchanting them to see if they would work. It saved some time but also tired him out. Even though it wasn’t perfect, he had made two daggers with the ensnaring enchantment. The idea was that he would throw them into the air when he activated them. There was the problem with the chance of them trapping his allies as well but Thad had come up with a way
to circumvent that. He had given everyone a ring that sent out a magical pulse to keep them from being targeted by any of his enchantments. He wished he could have taken credit for the idea of the rings but it had been his staff that had suggested it.

Currently he was working on an enchantment that would cause the ground to become like quicksand. It worked by breaking down the earth and infusing it with large amounts of water. Water was not one of his best elements so the strain on using the spell was daunting but making it as an enchantment was surprisingly easy as long as he used enough gems and had a good understanding of how to spell worked. He had been told many times that casting a spell and enchanting were completely different but he hadn’t truly understood what that meant. As long as you had the talent to cast the spell and the understanding of it
, then you could enchant an item with it, that was if you had the ability to enchant. There were still other limits such as the residual effects of the magic on its container, so fire and energy magic was hard to enchant.

Thad worked long into the night but he was still days away from finishing his current project. Unlike the others, it required many enchantments working together in harmony. Sighing Thad placed the dagger in his pack so that he could continue his work on it another time.

“Time to eat, I was able to catch me a couple of rabbits so we can have fresh bit o’ meat tonight.” Brianna said as she tugged on his arm leading him away from his work and toward the small fire where the others sat.

Thad was happy to have some real food. One could live on traveling rations for only so long before it started to feel like a burden to eat. The two rabbits were small and Brianna had cooked them into a stew along with some of the dried meat and hard biscuits. It was a little salty but was still better than the fare that he had been eating.

“Still playing with yer toys?” Crusher asked not even trying to disguise the annoyance in his voice. “How much longer are we gonna be sitting round twiddling our thumbs?”

Thad quickly looked at the other members of the group. Arianna was busy playing with the fire and seemed to care little about the decision but Brianna was different. Though she had said little about the fact they had not moved in the past few days
, her face betrayed her thoughts. She was anxious to get moving again. “You’re right, it’s about time for us to get moving again,” Thad replied getting a dumbfounded expression from Crusher. “Tomorrow we should get back on the road. We can’t be that far from town.”

“Ai, that’s what I was
er...,” Crusher stuttered, “dagnabit boyo isn’t any fun when ya just agree with me.”  Crusher grumbled and crossed his arms in defiance.

Thad smiled inwardly, he had won that round. He knew it was a bit childish but he always enjoyed getting one over on the surly dwarf. Taking another bite of the soup Thad looked over at Brianna and gave her a slight wink. She smiled back at him and shook her head slightly.

Once the meal was finished Thad went over and began to set up his mat to sleep. He was tired and he knew he would need a full night of rest if they were going to be traveling again. In the past, he had always pushed himself past the point of exhaustion. He had thought that it was needed but in the end, he was being childish. If the enemy attacked while he was in that state, he would be worse than useless, nothing more than a burden that his friends would have to protect. Over the past few days, he had worked himself hard but had made sure that he never left himself too vulnerable. Looking back on himself, both made him laugh and frustrated. How could he had he ever been so childish?

Thad lay on the ground his eyes fixated on the sky above. The s
tars were shining brightly down at him. He felt Brianna lay down beside him. She never said anything, she simply placed her hand softly on his chest. Thad smiled inwardly, she always knew when to speak and when to leave him to his own thoughts. Thad turned his head slightly and looked at Brianna. He had no clue why she cared about him. They were nothing alike, but Thad could not picture his life without her around. “What do you plan to do when we reach Farlan?” Thad whispered.

Thad felt
Brianna shrugged her shoulders. “I haven’t thought bout that. It doesn’t really matter anyway. I’ll stick with ya ta make sure ya keep yer nose out of trouble, and bail ya out when I hav’ta. Haven’t ya learned anything, we dwarves love our treasures and we make sure ta protect them. Not all treasures are metal and gems ya know boyo.”

Thad laughed and pulled Brianna close to him. It wasn’t the first time he had been considered a possession
, but it was the first time he had been happy to be called such. Whenever he was with Brianna, he felt at ease. It was different than he had felt with anyone else before. Had looked up at the sky again. How long had he been gone from Farlan. A year two he wasn’t sure. The dwarves didn’t measure the time as seasons passed. He had been in the dwarf village for a few seasons but he hadn’t paid much attention to time either while he was there. In the end, it didn’t really matter how long he had been gone, he doubted much had changed since he left.

Thad woke the next morning before the sun had a chance to peek above the horizon it was still only a light pink haze in the distance. Brianna was still sleeping soundly but Crusher was already awake with a small fire going. Thad moved cautiously
, as not to wake Brianna, she was a handful to handle, if she was woken from her sleep early. “It seems that Arianna has tired of playing with you. I haven’t heard you grumbling about any pranks lately.” Thad said as he took a seat next to his friend.

Crusher gave him an exasperated look. “That dang fairy still trying her best ta get under
me skin, ya have just been too focused on yer toys ta notice. This morning I had sharpened rock fragments waiting on me in me boots.” Crusher looked over to where Brianna still slept and jerked his head toward her. “I wanted to drag the fairy about by her wings but it wasn’t worth getting yer girl’s wrath.” Crusher snorted, “That girl is worse than a devil in tha morning.”

Thad had to agree
, Brianna was impossible to deal with when she first woke and it was even worse if her sleep was interrupted. “I know I’ve asked this before but why were you so insistent on coming with me to Farlan? I can somewhat understand Brianna’s reasoning but I still don’t get yours.” Thad poked a stick into the fire causing it to flair slightly. “Back in the dwarven village you were a talented blacksmith but out here you have just become a target for the Brotherhood. You said it was because we were brothers but I still don’t understand.”

Crusher looked straight into Thad’s
eyes, his eyes were unwavering and serious, more serious than Thad had ever seen them before. “Listen well brother, I won’t repeat meself again. I owe ya a lot,” Thad went to deny Crusher’s statement but before he could speak Crusher held up his hand, silencing him. “Don’t say I don’t owe ya. Even if ya don’t want me ta owe ya I do, nothing ya say will change that. If ya keep denying it, I’ll beat ya within an inch of yer life. Even though I owe ya a great deal fer what ya did back in the Underearth, ain’t not the only reason I be following ya. If ya haven’t noticed we dwarves have the habit of enjoyin life. I came with ya because I was sure that as long as I tagged along I’d get ta enjoy me life. It beats spending the rest of me life simply beating around with me hammer. Back before the Brotherhood chased us into seclusion, we dwarves were sought after for our wares. It was an enjoyable time to be a dwarf, if I can help bring that time back I’d be willing to wade through as many bloody battles as I need ta. I don’t know if ya will win against the Brotherhood. In truth I figure we’re gonna end up as dinner for the worms in tha end, but at least we can take as many of those bastards with us as we can. Do ya understand me reasons now brother?”

Thad hadn’t thought about how the Brotherhood really affects the magical races, but no
w that Crusher had brought it to light, it made sense. He didn’t know much about the other races, but the effects on the dwarves should have been obvious to him, given the amount of time he had spent with them. The dwarves had gathered around him showing off their different creations and boasting of their skill. With the brotherhood around, they had been force to stay hidden even worse, their talent and skill with a hammer had been forgotten. Dwarves love to hold secrets, especially in their chosen craft. The blacksmiths were the most secretive of all, seldom letting anyone in their workshop when they were at their craft for fear of the secrets of their art being discovered. While they loved secrets, they loved to tease at those very secrets, and for a blacksmith that was selling their wares off to others so they could be appreciated and envied. In times past famous dwarven blacksmith’s names had been spoken all over the land, but now they were nothing but myths to the outside world. “My apologies, I never stopped to think about your circumstances.” Thad’s voice was humble and solemn.

Crusher stood up
, his face turning slightly red. “Don’t ya be getting all mushy on me. Me reasons are me own. I’m just as upset with me fellow dwarves at their willingness to accept their current way of life as I am with the Brotherhood. It would be better to fight ta the death than simply let ourselves fade into obscurity. So don’t think yer the only one with issues with those dang rat faced bastards. No matter what comes ta pass ya aren’t responsible fer me being here, so don’t be getting all weepy on me every time something happens.”

Crusher turned his back to Thad but Thad could hear the catch in the dwarf’s voice. Thad could hardly keep himself from laughing. The dwarf had a softer heart than he would ever let on to anyone. It was one of the things Thad like most about the dwarf.

“Ya boys seem like yer having a good time. Thad, ya didn’t confess yer love ta Crusher did ya. I’m gonna get jealous.” Brianna said teasingly a twinge of laughter in her voice.

”Girl,
yer pushing yer luck, don’t make me bend ya over me knee.” Crusher said turning back around his face still red though his mouth was twitching in irritation.

Thad moved away from the fire as the two started in on each other. It was becoming an almost daily ritual for the two to start the day with an argument. The worst part was that some days it lasted until the sun fell. While he had time, Thad started to pack away his belongings in his pack
, in a way that they would be easy to retrieve. The metal pellets he had made were about the size of his thumb and he could only fit thirteen in one of the spare coin pouches that Brianna had pulled off one of the dead Brotherhood. It would be better if he had something that could hold more of the pellets but for now, he decided to put the others in one of the side pouches on his pack that was easy to reach.

Thad pulled out one of the pellets and rolled it in his hand. It was the largest size he could use without causing the speed to drop. Thad had tried the same spell with a spear and while I did fly forward, it wasn’t done with enough force to pierce leather let alone metal armor. The only other weapon Thad had that could be used to good effect against the Brotherhood were three large metal orbs about the size of a close
d fist that was formed around a large gem. Thad had loaded the gem with a large amount of magical energy and they would work much like the glass orbs he had made back in Southpass. He couldn’t use the orbs anywhere near him or his companion but if a large force moved against them they would be worth the risk.