08

Chapter 7

Yelena dipped her pen into a bottle of ink as she took notes. "So, each spell feels different in your mind, but you don't necessarily know what it does when you first learn it?"

"Right," Corec said. "Sometimes, I don't even know that I'm casting it. About three weeks ago, we were ambushed by...bandits. I felt strange during the fight, like everything was easier. At first, I thought it was just because the last time we were ambushed, they caught me without my armor, and this time, I was ready for them. But then, a week and a half ago, we were fighting ogres, and I felt the same thing again. I think it's a new spell."

"Did your weapon feel lighter?" Venni asked. The tall, big-boned blonde woman stood where Sarlo had been the previous day. She wore a surcoat over a padded gambeson, and had an arming sword belted to her hip.

"Yes, it did."

"It sounds like a strength spell. It's exhilarating the first few times you cast it, until you get used to the effect and learn to compensate for it."

"I asked Venni to join us because she has experience with the types of spells you know," Yelena said. "She's a battle wizard."

Venni nodded. "You sound like one yourself, except for not being a wizard."

"Battle wizard?" Corec asked.

"A wizard that specializes in spells for fighting with weapons," Yelena said. "I suppose the term isn't used much these days."

"Wizards can only master so many spells, so some of us choose an area to focus on," Venni added. "You sound like you don't have any choice over what you learn, but a real wizard does. My father had started teaching me to use a sword before we found out I was a wizard. I didn't want to give that up, so I decided to combine the two. There was actually a small group of us back in Matagor, where I grew up, but the others didn't bother recruiting new members, and the last of them passed away, oh, close to two hundred years ago."

Yelena said, "Venni recovered some of their spell books, so every once in a while, she'll take on a promising student, but from what we learned this morning, I don't believe that will help you."

Corec nodded. Yelena had spent several hours testing him to see if he was a wizard, but she'd concluded that he wasn't.

"This strength spell makes me stronger, I take it?" he asked.

"Yes," Venni said, "but it can throw off your balance, so be careful. And you'll want to strengthen your sword, too, or you're liable to break it."

"You can make a sword stronger?"

"With a different spell. I'm not sure how to explain it for someone who doesn't learn magic like a wizard."

"I wonder..." Yelena started, then paused. "Maybe the spells he learns are based on the actions he takes. He's a warrior, so he learns battle wizard spells. If he was a sailor or a librarian, perhaps he'd have learned completely different ones."

That theory appealed to Corec—it at least provided an explanation that made sense.

Venni shrugged. "If that's true," she said to him, "and you can control it to a degree, try to teach yourself the spell. If you know your sword won't break, you can even use it against plate armor. It still won't

cut

the armor, but if you miss a gap and hit the plate, the blade won't dull or chip. It's not as good as using a hammer or a bill, but it's better than nothing."

Corec nodded. He'd never faced an opponent wearing plate armor outside of practice sessions before he'd left the knights, but it wouldn't hurt to be prepared.

"Is that what you do?" he asked.

She patted the sword at her side. "I used to, but Dart here doesn't need the spell. She's happy enough to go up against armor all on her own."

Before Corec could ask about that, Yelena said, "We're getting off track. Let's get back to your spells. You're wearing a mail shirt today but you weren't wearing it yesterday. Do you prefer armor over being able to use magic?"

"I didn't wear it yesterday because I figured I'd need to show you my runes, but the metal doesn't stop me from casting spells. I wear plate armor when I'm on the road, and I can still use magic."

"Now I'm jealous," Venni said. "My armor spells are good, but not that good."

"It's unusual," Yelena said. "I've spoken to two dozen arcane mages over the years, and most of them were affected by metal the same way a wizard is. There were only a few that weren't. Again, my guess is that the magic is conforming to your lifestyle. You wear armor regularly, so the magic has somehow compensated for that."

"What were those other mages like?" Corec asked. "Deshin—he's a wizard here in the city—he said that most only manage to learn one or two spells."

"Some of them are like that. Like the boy who was caught in a burning house and figured out a spell to protect himself from the flames. A useful spell in very rare circumstances, but it was the only one he ever learned. He ended up working for a circus. Others learn a strange mishmash of spells without any rhyme or reason, as if someone took a spell book and chose a few pages at random. And then the last group pick up a pattern of related spells. I'd say you're one of those."

"I guess it's reassuring that there are others like me."

"Well, a battle wizard is a strange choice, even for that group," Yelena said. "They're more often like Sarlo, though in his case, it didn't happen by accident. His people are sometimes born with unusual arcane gifts—or at least his grandmother's people are. Seekers, Seers, Travelers...they're all related."

"I've never heard of those. Yesterday, you said he's a Seeker, right?"

"Mostly, though there's some overlap between the three abilities. He can find things or people, given enough time and information. It's fascinating, actually. To him, Seeking is just something he does, but as far as I can tell, there must be nine or ten different spells involved that he doesn't even know he's casting."

"Can he help us find Three?"

"I can't spare him for the amount of time you'd need for an ocean journey. Besides, I have another task for him—someone who needs to be found. We're off track again. Let's get back to the binding spell. You said the last time you cast it, you felt something?"

"I think so, but it was hard to tell."

"Cast it on me."

"What?"

"You can't bond another warden, so you can cast it on me for practice. Or Venni, for that matter, since she's already bonded. Once you know how to cast it purposely, you'll also know how

not

to cast it."

Corec nodded. The idea made sense. "How do I do it?"

"The same way you cast any other spell, I'd assume. For me, the warden's binding spell isn't like one of my wizard spells. There are no words to say. I just feel it in my head, and I...it's difficult to explain. I know how it's supposed to feel, so I make it feel that way. I believe it's similar to how you cast

all

your spells, yes?"

"Yes, I can feel a shifting in my mind. If there's a fight, it all happens without me thinking about it, but if I've used a spell enough times, I can usually cast it on purpose too."

"So, remember what the binding spell felt like, then repeat it."

Corec tried but nothing happened.

"It didn't work," Yelena said. "Try again."

He did.

"Again."

#

Katrin sat with her harp in the room she shared with Corec, practicing some different fingerings she'd learned from the minstrels she'd played with two nights earlier. The performance had been awkward, since nobody had been quite sure who should take the lead—the minstrels had much more experience, but they'd recognized her as a bard shortly into the first song, and had then been reluctant to offer suggestions of their own. It had been fun to try new things, but the three of them hadn't repeated the experience.

She looked up when Corec returned. "You were gone for a long time."

"Yelena had me practicing how to cast the binding spell," he replied. "We went until I could barely see straight."

"Did it help?"

"Well, I think if I

wanted

to cast it now, I might be able to figure it out. The trick will be in seeing whether I can keep from casting when I

don't

want to do it."

"That's something, I suppose, but you're not really going to cast it again, are you?"

He sighed and sat down on the bed. "It's a lot to take in. I've spent the past day wondering if I can just ignore everything she told us. I don't really

have

to be a warden. They don't seem to serve any purpose, and I'd just like to live my life. On the other hand, if someone wanted to be bonded, I suppose it wouldn't hurt, if it was the right person."

"Like who?"

"I'd have to give that some thought. Yelena took years to pick each of her...she called them bondmates. I suppose it takes that long to find the right people. The First said something about that as well, but I didn't really understand what he was talking about at the time."

Katrin set her harp to the side. "So it's a choice between being a warden—whatever that means—and us just going off and living our own life."

"It seems like it. But also, I don't think Yelena wants me to settle down here in Tyrsall. You heard what she said yesterday about the wardens being territorial. Before I left today, she asked me to let her know any time I'm in the city."

"I didn't really think about what she meant by that. I was starting to like the idea of living here."

"So was I. But she said she'd be moving on in a few years, so maybe we could live here after that."

"What do we do until then?"

"Follow Shavala around until she decides to return home?"

Katrin laughed. "That's a lot more traveling than I was planning on, but I guess we can make up our minds as we go. Maybe we'll find another city on the way. Matagor sounds nice from what Bobo says, and it's a long way from Yelena."

"There are plenty of places we haven't visited yet, and it sounds like Shavala wants to see them all. I guess it won't be hard to find somewhere else to live until Tyrsall is available."

"If we really

are

going to live as long as Yelena, we'll have plenty of time to made a decision." Katrin didn't quite believe how old Yelena claimed to be, but then, why would the woman lie about it? "What do you think the others will do?"

"Hmm," Corec said. "When we figure out how to end the bond, Ellerie will do that, then get as far away from me as possible. Treya might actually keep it, but I don't know what she'll do after that. Shavala will either go home someday, or she'll just keep right on traveling."

"What about Bobo?"

"Fifty years from now, he'll still be snoring away in the next room. I'm never going to be able to get rid of him."

Katrin laughed.

There was a knock at the door, and Corec opened it to let in Ellerie and Boktar.

"Did you finish getting the supplies?" he asked.

"All stocked up," Boktar said. "Are we leaving tomorrow?"

"I think I've learned what I can from Yelena, at least for now," Corec said, "and I'm going to pick up my armor in an hour. I'll be ready to go."

Ellerie nodded. "Then I'll send a messenger to Treya letting her know we're heading out first thing in the morning."

"I asked Yelena if Sarlo could come with us to help find Three, but she said she needed him for something else right now."

"Oh, that was a good idea. Maybe he'll be available the next time we're in town."

#

Treya made it to the inn early in the morning. While the others were packing, she cornered Bobo alone.

"Do you have a few minutes to talk?" she asked.

"Of course, my dear. What would you like to talk about?"

"What are godborn?"

"Godborn? That's a departure from our usual topics. Why the interest?"

"The first time we met with Bishop Lastal, he insisted godborn were real, but I don't know much about them."

"Ahh. Well, I'm no expert, but to the best of my knowledge, they are distantly descended from a god just as demonborn are distantly—or not so distantly—descended from a demon."

"But...how?"

"I assume in the normal way. I thought that was the sort of thing they taught you in concubine school."

She rolled her eyes. "That wasn't what I meant. I meant...

how

?"

"The way I've heard it said is that a mortal and a god have a child together, and that child is godborn. Some of the child's descendants may also be godborn. They might have something to mark them, just as demonborn do, but the stories aren't very clear on what that something is."

"But how would a human...

be

with a god? Nobody can see or touch them. Only priests can communicate with them, and even then, only through visions."

"Well, here, you're getting into legends. It's hard to know what's the truth and what's a myth when you're looking that far back, but some stories suggest the gods were once more involved in the world, and would interact with people."

"But if that's right, and godborn and demonborn are descended from gods and demons, then are seaborn really descended from the sea?"

Bobo laughed. "So the legends say, but they sure look a lot more like an elf or a human than an ocean, don't they? The same with the stormborn and the stoneborn. I doubt very much that Boktar's ancestors were boulders."

"Then it's possible godborn aren't descended from gods at all."

"I suppose that's true."

Treya breathed a sigh of relief. "What do the godborn...do?"

Bobo said, "I've never known one, but I imagine they do whatever they can to get by, just like the rest of us."

"Lastal said that demonborn and godborn sometimes inherit magic from their ancestors. Is that true?"

"Now you're well away from anything I've read about. Ellerie's more likely to know something like that. You should ask her."

"It's not all that important," Treya said. "Perhaps I'll talk to her some other time." Then she had another thought. "Why aren't lizardfolk called lizard

born

?"

"I couldn't say. Perhaps the word changed gradually, like the stoneborn, who are more likely to be called dwarves these days. Maybe humans and elves had another name in the past, too."

#

Corec was helping Boktar load the last of the pack mules when Venni rode into the stable yard, her horse fully loaded for traveling.

"Good, you haven't left yet," she said.

He cinched up the last strap on the pack mule. "We're just heading out now. Boktar, this is Venni, a friend of Yelena's."

The two greeted each other, then Venni turned back to Corec. "You're taking the North Road, right?"

The North Road led northeast along the coast to High Cove, then roughly north to Lanport. The other option was to take the Mountain Road northwest, which skirted around the southern edge of the Storm Heights on its way to the plains.

"Yes," he said. "We think we'll make better time that way. We've heard the roads are better."

"How would you feel about some company? The Baron of High Cove is dealing with something that's been killing dogs and cats in the city. He thinks it might be imps. The baron sent a pigeon to the Duke of the North, who sent a pigeon to Duke Voss, who asked Yelena to take care of it. I'm the only one who's nearby that she can spare right now."

"Imps are demons, aren't they?" Boktar asked.

"Little demons. They can cross over easier than the big ones."

"Do you need help?" Corec asked.

"No, but I hate traveling alone. So, what do you think?"

"Will we get there in time?" Corec asked. "We've got to be twelve or thirteen days away from High Cove."

"I don't have much of a choice. Yelena normally sends Sarlo for something like this, but he's off taking care of another matter. And the duke isn't going to give me a ship for a few dead animals."

Boktar said, "They could ask someone in High Cove to take care of it. It's a big city. They've got to have guardsmen and wizards."

"True," Venni replied. "If that happens, I'll just head back here, but Yelena didn't want to wait for more pigeon messages back and forth before sending someone."

The dwarf nodded. "I'll go let the others know that we're ready to saddle up the horses...and that we've got company."

After he'd gone, Corec asked, "What's this really about? Somehow I doubt you're all that concerned about traveling alone."

"No," Venni said, "but it's not much fun, either. And...I thought it would be good to get to know you. Yelena is uncomfortable with the idea of another warden being so close by."

"Well, I do sometimes have business in the city, but you can let her know I won't settle down here, at least not while she's still here. I'm sure we can work out anything else."

"She'll appreciate that. What sort of business?"

"I work for a few of the trading houses. Caravan guard. I was thinking about asking if they have any bodyguard work, but I guess I'll have to do that somewhere else now."

Venni laughed and shook her head. "I'm not sure you really understand what it means to be a warden. Trust me, you're not a caravan guard anymore."

"To be honest, I was thinking of ignoring all the warden stuff. If I can learn not to bond people anymore—or even better, learn how to end the binding spells—Katrin and I just want to settle down somewhere."

"Katrin—that's your girl, right? The bard you mentioned?"

Corec nodded.

"Look," Venni said. "Settling down, maybe. Not binding anyone else, maybe. But that doesn't change who you are. If there's nothing more important you'd rather be doing, bodyguard work might be a good fit, as a bodyguard to a king or a duke. I've done a bit of that myself over the years. You're a battle wizard, or something like it, and you shouldn't let your talents go to waste."

"I suppose. I've thought about looking for something more...meaningful, but I haven't figured out what that is yet." That was something he'd only discussed with Katrin and Shavala, so he didn't want to go into detail with a near-stranger. "And I'm not much of a battle wizard. I mean, sure, the spells help, but I don't think I'm any better of a fighter than, say, Boktar."

She laughed again. "You'd be surprised how effective even the tiniest spell can be, especially when combined with your own training and equipment. Speaking of which, are you seriously telling me you can cast spells in that getup?"

He was wearing his full panoply since they were preparing to ride out. The breastplate had been returned to working condition, though with the remaining dents and scratches, it looked well used. Venni wore the same surcoat and padded gambeson she'd had on the day before.

Corec shrugged and held his palm up between them, summoning a mage light to float above it.

Venni just shook her head. "That's simply not fair."

#

Five nights into their journey north, they stayed in a little fishing village. The innkeeper wasn't interested in Katrin's offer of music, so they paid full price for their four rooms. Treya shared with Shavala, as she usually did, but the room only had one bed, so they had to share that too. Boktar had insisted that he and Bobo would get the room with the two beds—there was a limit to how much he could put up with the other man's snoring.

Before going to sleep, Treya sat cross-legged on her side of the bed and closed her eyes.

"Meditating again?" Shavala asked. "That's every night since we left."

"My teachers said I need to get better about doing it."

"Perhaps I will join you. Your meditating seems much like the exercises I'm supposed to do to extend my elder senses."

"I hadn't considered that," Treya said. "I don't use my healing senses at all when I'm meditating—it would cause too many distractions when I'm trying to focus on nothing. Doesn't that happen to you?"

The elven girl cocked her head to the side. "I've never known the elder senses to be distracting. They represent the world around me, which was already there, so how can I be any more distracted by it than I was before? But perhaps it's not so similar to your meditation after all. I'm supposed to focus on everything I can sense."