Blue Mage Equinox: Book 2 of Tournament of Mages Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Blue Mage Equinox:

  Prologue

  Chapter 1 – Plans of Deception

  Chapter 2 – Preparations

  Chapter 3 - The Citadel

  Chapter 4 – The Meeting

  Chapter 5 – Raging Storm

  Chapter 6 – Alone

  Chapter 7 – The Feast

  Chapter 8 – Fia

  Chapter 9 – Burning Rocks

  Chapter 10 – The Sound of Thunder

  Chapter 11 – Fia’s Song

  Chapter 12 – Sins of the Past

  Chapter 13 – In the Canyon

  Chapter 14 – Convergence

  Chapter 15 – Redirection

  Chapter 16 – Fortitude

  Chapter 17 – If Only…

  Chapter 18 – In the Darkness

  Chapter 19 – Lessons Learned

  About the Author

  Glossary

  Copyright

  BLUE MAGE

  Equinox

  Tournament of Mages 2

  Cleave Bourbon

  Blue Mage Equinox:

  Arran has a secret. His entire family are witches. Although feared and persecuted by the nearby towns and villages, Arran knows it is his family who brings the rain, makes the crops healthy, and keeps away the dangers of the night. Yet, his family must gather in secret and hide from those who might wish them harm. It isn’t fair, and one day Arran will prove that witches, at least his family of witches, are good and should be revered and respected. Soon, the harvest equinox will come and Arran will be formally inducted into the fold. He has been practicing spells with Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. He will show them how witches should be respected. Yes, he will show them ALL!

  Prologue

  The cold breath coming off the mountains blew in a storm Gunar had not seen in years. Lightning forked through dark clouds as midday turned to evening. It was so dark it appeared twilight in the middle of the day. Gunar nervously paced in front of the animal hide tent where his wife, Iyana was giving birth. He looked up at the angry sky and prayed to the great spirits that the storm does not impede the midwives as they assisted his beloved wife. The wind picked up and the tent flapped violently. Gunar circled the tent and checked that it was secure. He had checked the tent at least ten times in the last hour. He winced every time his wife screamed and moaned. She sometimes cried out louder than the thunder clapped. He was worried like any father to be but he was also comforted that this day was the equinox, when night and day were the exact same length, a special day among his people.

  The midwife exited the tent. Her face was ashen and worried. She found Gunar pacing back and forth not far from the tent.

  “There you are,” She said, “I wanted to give you an update on the progress.”

  “Why what’s wrong?” He said.

  “Oh nothing, she is having a tough time of it, that’s all.” The midwife said.

  “That’s nothing? What are you not telling me?” Gunar asked.

  “The baby is turned backward. We’re trying to work him around so he can be born normally.”

  “What are their chances? How serious is this?” Gunar asked.

  “If we can’t get the baby turned we may have to make a decision between saving the mother or the baby.” The midwife said. “Are you able to make that decision?”

  Gunar looked at the midwife with contempt, “what you think? How could anyone make such a decision?”

  “I realize this is not something to take lightly but you been on this earth long enough to know that life doesn’t always reveal the clearest path. Sometimes you have to choose the lesser of the two evils.”

  Gunar put his head in his hands, “go back to her and do what you can. Try to save them both for as long as you can and if the decision must be made I will make it then.”

  The midwife nodded, lifted her skirts, and rushed back to the tent.

  The flashes of lightning became more frequent preceding accompanying crashes of thunder. The electoral storm was drawing nearer. The flashes of lightning in the crashes of thunder became more frequent and so it lasts they seem to be right above. The wind picked up threatening to blow the tent and pull up its stakes. Following a particularly loud crash of thunder, a bloodcurdling scream issued forth from the tent. Gunar fell to his knees clenching his fists, “I pray to you gods! Don’t make me choose between my child and my wife. Protect them both and I will serve you as no man has served you before.”

  The tent flap opened and a soot-covered midwife stumbled out. She was holding something wrapped in swaddling cloth.

  Gunar rushed to her. He looked into the face of his son and then back to the midwife, “and my wife?”

  “In all of my days, I have never seen the like. We were unable to turn him no matter how we tried.” Tears begin to stream down her sooty face. “We were coming to the point where we needed to make a decision but this little fellow made the decision for us.”

  “What, what you mean? What happened?” A frantic Gunar asked.

  “In all of my days of midwifery and all of my training in witchcraft and as a woman I have never seen a child burn his way out of his mother’s womb.”

  “What you saying?”

  “I am saying this child, whether it was an act of survival or instinct, burned his way out of his mother’s womb!”

  “So she is gone then?”

  “I should say so. I don’t mean to be morbid but there was nothing we could do once the child entered the world.”

  Gunar sank to his knees again. “For the love of the gods, I didn’t mean this!” He whispered, “how could something like this happen?”

  Gunar managed to return to his feet and look into the face of his son once more. The boy cooed and acted as any newborn child. “I want to blame him but how can anyone blame a newborn? How could he possibly know what he has done?”

  The midwife handed Gunar his newborn child, “the gods of blessed you whether you realize it or not. The only child I can think of who would have such a power to do what he has done to bring himself into this world could be the elemental magic of the blue mage. If it is true then consult with the high priestess. She will know how to proceed from here.” The old midwife rubbed her hands on her skirts, turned and walked slowly back to the tent.

  Gunar looked up to the sky and realized it was silent from the moment his son was born.

  ****

  Gunar had to wait several days before the high priestess came down from the Citadel, a sprawling fortress located somewhere in the mountains of Tamania, to consult with him. In the meantime, he had named his son Arran. Being part of the nomadic sect of witches, Gunar had little to do with the protection of crops or in the protection of prosperity as the witches of the Citadel. But already the people of the nearby villages were hearing rumors of the infant child and how he cruelly mutilated his mother to come into the world. They had begun to fear the child would bring doom upon them.

  The high priestess was aware of the unrest in the villages when she met with Gunar one crisp evening at the foot of the mountains. She examined the boy for about an hour before she sat down to talk with Gunar.

  She sat sipping her tea occasionally looking Gunar in the eye as if searching for the right words. Finally, she took one last sip of her tea, cleared her throat, and spoke in a very hushed tone.

  “He will have to be taught at the Citadel. It is my assessment that he is the blue mage and therefore a danger to the surrounding villages and their peoples. A witch with the power of the elements but without control over them is extremely dangerous as we have already seen with his m
other. In the Citadel we can take the necessary precautions to guard against any accidental use of his gifts.”

  “I will accompany him, of course?”

  “If you wish. Far be it from the coven to deny access from the child’s father to his child. But be warned, sometimes in the course of instruction, and in the interest and safety of those surrounding him, our methods may seem harsh or even cruel. There will be times when you may not see your son for days. You’re not to interfere. If that is understood you’re free to accompany him to the Citadel.”

  “I understand,” Gunar said.

  “From what I understand the villagers are already suspicious of the boy. It is in his best interest that we take the child to the Citadel straightaway. Gather whatever you need for yourself and prepare to leave at first light.”

  “Forgive me high priestess, but I must ask. How do you know that my son is the blue mage?”

  “I assume you mean other than the way he was born?”

  “I know it may seem a foolish question to you but for my own peace of mind I must hear it from you.”

  “Of course. I have no definitive answer to give other than my experience. Your son is not the first blue mage I have laid eyes upon nor shall he be the last. Suffice it to say I know the earthly powers when I see them. Now, I suggest prepare yourself for the long and arduous journey ahead to the Citadel.”

  Chapter 1 – Plans of Deception

  Ephaltus tossed a piece of parchment into the fire burning in the hearth of the Earth Chamber, “Blasted reviewers!” Marlee was sitting at the dining table with a plate of bacon and eggs, “Remind me to recalibrate the oculus again before you use it. I am not blaming you, but one of the god’s cronies has been spying through it while you have been watching the mages. I told you we must recalibrate it each time to keep the overly curious out!”

  “What’s a reviewer?” Marlee asked.

  Reviewers are lesser gods or servants of the gods who watch rival god’s champions and rate them on their performance before the tournament. The information is used to help the gods know when to cheat.” He rubbed his bearded chin, “Well, I suppose cheat is a strong word. It lets them know when to intervene so that their champion has the advantage. The problem is that we are still too far away from the tournament and the mages have not settled into their roles yet. Hells, the mages are downright ignorant at this point,” he complained, “Besides, as you’ve seen, this first year of mage reveals aren’t yet settled. You can’t get too attached to any of them yet because the whole lot of them may change before the tournament.” He walked to the table next to Marlee, “Now do you see the importance of keeping things to ourselves while the stories of the mages play out?”

  “What did the parchment you destroyed say?”

  “Oh, one of the underlings rated the red mage with three stars. He said things went too easy for her. Ha! He must not have seen what I saw. The red mage is barely able to wipe her nose at this point.” He pulled out one of the dining chairs, “Oh well, maybe whatever god he reports too will underestimate the red mage now and she’ll stomp his or her champion into the gates of second hell!”

  “If she makes it to the tournament.” Marlee reminded him.

  “I get the feeling she will. The gods will thrive on her conflict. The other rating on the parchment was five stars and said the red mage’s story was intriguing.”

  “What if she decides not to participate? I saw what happened to her. What if she takes her own life or finds someone else to kill her and take her place?”

  “That is a possibility. I doubt her patron god would allow it. She can’t kill herself for one thing, and if the gods continue to rate her a threat, her patron god will likely keep her going. But, it’s still very, very early. It’s difficult to rate the intensity of a storm from its beginnings as a fluffy white rain cloud.” He pointed to her breakfast, “Hurry it up. We have work to do.”

  Marlee ate the rest of her breakfast in two big bites and took one strip of bacon with her as she followed Ephaltus out of the Earth Chamber. The dryads scrammed to clean the table behind them.

  Ephaltus led Marlee into the Arsenal of the Way. She watched him as he rummaged through parchments scattered about on the wooden table in the middle of the common room. After a few moments, he looked up at Marlee and frowned as if he were looking for something he could not find. “Well, I suppose we need to revisit this Teoni business now. It seems she has made off with some of my papers. I assume her ambition is driving her to continue her training.”

  Marlee noticed something about the bookcase behind Ephaltus. She strolled over and began pointing at each book with her index finger until she came to a blank spot. “These volumes are all numbered but number six is missing. Was this book here before?”

  Ephaltus joined her at the bookshelf. “It appears she has taken that volume as well. I’m not sure what this volume contained that was so damned important to her. Oh well, it doesn’t matter. The Arsenal of the Way is supposed to alert me when something as important as a training volume goes missing. She must have used a spell I am not unaware of in this case.” He raised his hands up and pointed all five fingers of each hand at the blank spot on the bookshelf. As he concentrated, what appeared to be dust flying around through the air began to coalesce into the shape of a book and then it became the missing book. Ephaltus appeared to be pulling the volume from the air and replacing it in the blank spot. After a few moments, volume 6 had been returned to its previous position; it even matched the aged look of the others in the set. Marlee was unsure whether or not it was the exact volume that Teoni had stolen or if it were merely a replacement.

  Marlee reached up and took volume 6 down from the bookshelf. “Is this the same book?”

  “Of course it is.”

  “So you retrieved it from Teoni?”

  “Not exactly. Everything in the Arsenal of the Way is replaceable. Nothing may be taken that I can’t replace. Sometimes it takes the stolen items from the thief and sometimes it just replaces it with a new one. I never know which I don’t really care.”

  Marlee thumbed through the volume until she came upon a place of interest. She lit up with excitement, “She knew!”

  “She knew what?” Ephaltus asked.

  “Look here. This section explains the rules of the millennium when you are to retire and an apprentice is to take your place. It says right here that the tourney master apprentice is replaced exactly as the mages are replaced. If the tourney master apprentice is harmed or killed they are replaced with the one who harmed or killed the apprentice.”

  “Doesn’t prove anything. There’s more to that book than just the tourney master rules. How do you know she even read that part? Also, the tourney master apprentice was the one doing the harming, not the other way round.”

  “Because I’m her sister. I won’t accept what she did to me was as callous and malicious as it seemed. If she read this passage and knew that we would basically switch places and that I would be all right it would make me feel much better. Besides, we both knew that she would make a better green mage than I would. I’m much more suited for tourney master than she. Our family has a long history of green mages and we were taught from an early age in case we continued the legacy. Look, this book also speaks of the blue mage and how the green and blue mages are rivals.”

  “Well, if it makes you feel better than we’ll just accept it and move on. I assume this means that we can also accept what Teoni did as a positive and move on with our preparations unabated.”

  “That’s exactly what it means.”

  “Then I agree she knew, and all that, and it all worked out exactly the way you think it did.”

  Marlee gave him a not so amused look.

  “What? I can’t agree with you?”

  “Ephaltus!”

  “Regardless, we have work to do. If you think she read the passage about the rivalry between the blue and green mage then I think we had better one of us get to the oculus and keep an eye on her
.” He paused, “After I show you how to recalibrate the blasted thing again, that is.”

  “What do you think she would do?” Marlee asked.

  “We know somewhat of what she is capable of now. Anything is possible. We could be watching a brand new set of blue and green mages by the time it’s all said and done.”

  “Do you think so?”

  “I do. This tournament year is turning out to be full of surprises. I can guarantee you one thing for certain.” He pointed his bony finger at Marlee, “If the mages keep changing identities like they have been so far this year all the way up to the tournament at one point the gods themselves will get involved.”

  “Because the new mages will run out of time to train?”

  “Precisely. They are already sneaking into our affairs and attempting to rate these novices. Eventually, the gods will begin protecting, and maybe even help train, their champions.”

  “Such a thing is allowed?” Marlee asked.

  Ephaltus chuckled, “Well, they’re gods! I guess in the end they can do whatever the hells they want!”

  Chapter 2 – Preparations

  Teoni listened to Asleth’s proposal. She was still a little bit shaken that the Grey Mage had found her so easily but she did understand the importance of an alliance.

  “What do you plan to do when you get there?” Asleth asked.

  “What do you mean? We’re still a few years away from the tournament. You should be seeking out the white mage and trying to assess their strengths and weaknesses as well. You certainly don’t want any surprises cropping up during the tournament.”

  “That’s certainly a concern, I do want to be prepared, but I am also concerned about making a concerted effort between the three of us to be able to handle anything that the other mages might throw at us. After all, we know what each colored mage is supposed to be able to do so it’s all a matter of strategy. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  “I do. I see what I’m doing as a strategy as well. Each person has their strengths and weaknesses and by knowing them I can make a plan and possibly even stunt their training to my favor. There is no prize for second place nor is there any room for failure in my view.”