Red Mage Ascending: Book 1 of Tournament of Mages Read online

  Chapter 10 – The Arena

  Another two days and two nights of travel passed before they laid eyes on the massive walls of the arena in the distance. The morning sun falling upon the glistening walls made it seem closer than it was. It still took all morning before they reached the outskirts of the massive structure.

  As they approached, it was Thessa who first saw the childlike dryads darting in and out of the trees, which grew thicker the closer they got to the walls of the arena. Finally, when Hana could see the entranceway, a dryad appeared before them. She stood there staring at them for a long moment.

  “Hello there,” Hana said trying to sound as friendly as possible. “Is the wizard available?”

  The dryad turned her head as a curious dog might if it didn’t understand.

  Thessa came out of Hana’s shadow and the Dryad shrank away from her appearance.

  “It’s all right,” Hana reassured her. This is Thessa, a friend. I am a friend too.”

  “The great Tourney Master Ephaltus cannot be disturbed.” The dryad said. “You must go away.”

  “I must speak with him if you please,” Hana said.

  “No, go away.”

  “I believe he will want to see me. I have been told by the priests of Sheth’s Cradle that I am the Red Mage.”

  “Oh, the Red Mage!” Several dryads stuck their heads out from behind the trees and repeated the sentence in unison.

  “So, he will see me?” Hana asked.

  “No, Red Mage. Go away! Go back to Sheth’s Cradle and train.

  “Go away, Red Mage!” The other dryads repeated.

  Thessa ringed her hands nervously, “What’s a Sheth’s Cradle?”

  “It’s the village I really come from. It’s in the far southern corner of Vestia. You’ve never heard of it?”

  “Who goes there?” came a male voice from somewhere behind the dryads.

  The dryad in front of Hana turned to respond. “The Red Mage and her pet of death, most exalted one.”

  “Pet!” Thessa exclaimed. “I’ll show you pet!” She took a step and Hana put her arm out to stop her.

  “Well, send him to me.” The male voice said.

  The dryad stepped aside. “It is a girl, master.”

  “Whatever, just send her to me.” He said.

  Hana carefully walked forward and Thessa followed. The dryads hissed at Thessa as she passed them. Hana rounded a tree and the tourney master exited from an enormous tree truck. He wore green robes and had a flowing white beard. Hana stopped before him.

  “I am Ephaltus the Tourney Master.” He extended his hand.

  “I am Hana, the Red Mage.” She took his hand.

  “Ah, yes you are. I have seen you before.”

  “You have?”

  “Oh yes, I have seen a few of you mages. I plan to visit the rest before we begin. What can I do for you, Hana?”

  “I wanted to talk to you about this tournament business.”

  Ephaltus gave her an inquisitive look, “Say, have you ever seen a real life dragon?”

  Hana was taken aback by the suddenness of his question, “As a matter of fact, we saw one fly over us a few days ago.”

  “Would you like to meet him?” Ephaltus asked.

  “Uh, won’t he want to eat us or breath fire on us or something?”

  Ephaltus laughed heartily and Hana was a bit miffed. “Probably! He does seem to have a temper.”

  “Then no thank you.”

  “Oh, come on. I will be with you.”

  “No, thank you.”

  “Well, he’s in the arena and I am going to go speak with him. If you want to speak with me, I’m afraid you must come along.” He turned and walked away.

  Hana looked at Thessa who shrugged. Hana sighed and followed the wizard to the gates to the arena.

  The old man was speedy for his age; Hana found herself almost running to keep up. About halfway to the gateway, Ephaltus was joined by a young woman who was also dressed in green. When Hana got closer she realized the girl was an elf.

  “Look, Marlee, isn’t he magnificent?” Ephaltus said.

  “He truly is Master.” The elf replied. She looked at Hana and whispered to Ephaltus, “I was just watching her. What’s she doing here?”

  “You know I can hear you,” Hana said.

  “Sorry.” The elf girl said sheepishly.

  The dragon was sprawled out in the middle of the arena, its tail wrapped around to its massive front claws like a great cat situated in front of a fireplace. It had its head resting on the arena floor. Ephaltus stopped at a good distance from it.

  “Ho there, Shadar.” He said.

  The dragon raised its enormous head. “Greetings Tourney Master Ephaltus.”

  “You’re early, or is this merely a visit?”

  “It’s a visit, of course.” The dragon fixed its eyes upon the elf. “An elf maiden?”

  “Oh, this is Marlee. She is my apprentice. I am retiring after this year’s tournament.” Ephaltus said.

  “And who are they?”

  Ephaltus turned to Hana, “What did you say your name was again?”

  “Hana.”

  “This is Hana, the Red Mage. She is also too early.”

  The dragon huffed, “What’s wrong with the other one? She appears to be…injured. He sniffed loudly, “And quite stinky.”

  “Her name is Thessa,” Hana told the Tourney Master. She is my friend.”

  Ephaltus nodded at Hana and turned back to the dragon, “I don’t know what’s wrong with her. She is the Red Mage’s friend apparently.”

  “Well, tell her I don’t like her!” The dragon said.

  “He doesn’t like your friend, Hana.”

  “Now wait one moment, I said she is my friend. She deserves respect.” Hana protested.

  Ephaltus rushed to her and spoke in a hushed tone, “Please don’t anger the dragon, dear. After all, he is a dragon!”

  “I don’t care, he can show some manners,” Hana said.

  The dragon raised its head higher, “Leash your mage, Ephaltus.”

  “Hana, I say again,” he pointed. “Dragon!”

  “And I say again,” she raised her voice so the dragon could hear her clearly, “he should have some respect, not to mention manners.!”

  Smoke began to roll out of the dragon’s nostrils.

  “Go ahead! Burn us! I dare you!” Hana said defiantly. “I have nothing to lose!”

  The dragon roared and got to his feet. Ephaltus had a panicked expression on his face. The dragon puffed a cloud of smoke followed by a snickering grin, “I like this one.” He said. “Very well, I apologize to your ashen friend.” He said returning to his resting position. “You might want to seek out a bath for her.”

  Ephaltus sighed with relief.

  Hana felt a little foolish, “I’m sorry.” She was directing her apologies to both Ephaltus and the dragon. “A lot has happened to me of late, and it’s quite possible that I’m acting out on it.”

  The dragon tilted his head, “All is forgiven. Don’t ruin it for me by being all wishy washy. Besides, it was my fault for being so insulting. You’re right I do need to mind my manners.”

  Ephaltus took out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead, “No rush on cleaning and conditioning the arena floor, Shadar. The tournament is still a few years in the future.”

  “I came here to relax and get away for a while,” Shadar said. “I will condition the field and have it ready before I leave in a few months.”

  “A few months?” Ephaltus seemed surprised.

  “Is that a problem?”

  “No, not at all, just mind you don’t steal any of the livestock from the nearby farms or there may be trouble.”

  “I’ll not take from nearby. I know some prime hunting grounds to the north where no one is the wiser.”

  Ephaltus returned his attention back to Hana. “Now, why are you here again?”

  “I have come to ask that you release me from being the Red
Mage.”

  “Nope!”

  “But, you didn’t hear me out.”

  “Don’t have to. You can’t back out. Well, there is one way, but you would have to forfeit your life and I assume that isn’t acceptable. You should go back to wherever you came from and get to training.”

  “I have to die to get out of being the Red Mage? I thought more than one candidate was born sometimes.”

  “Sometimes, but that’s just a backup in case you die of natural causes or get bitten by a poisonous snake or fall off a cliff or something. It isn’t so you can just say you don’t want to be the Red Mage anymore.”

  “It’s unfair! I am to be the Red Mage or die?”

  “Yep! I am afraid you are. You know, there are a lot of people in the world that want the privilege to be one of the mages.”

  “Good, let one of them have it then.”

  “It doesn’t quite work that way. Look, I didn’t make the rules, the gods did, and they will not budge on them.”

  “But, I don’t know how to be the Red Mage.”

  “You should have stayed home and not run off.”

  Hana shot her exasperated gaze at Thessa who just looked back at her and shrugged.

  “There are circumstances. I have to find three children taken by blood feeders. I don’t have time to train now.”

  “Blood feeders? The Black Mage is already trying to toy with your training? Fascinating, and they are apparently doing a bang up job of it; you had better get started with your training.”

  “Didn’t you hear me? I have to save children! Surely that should buy me something.”

  “Nope! If those kids are with blood feeders, they’re good as dead. You should be concentrating on your training.” He looked at his apprentice. “I feel like I’m repeating myself.”

  Marlee nodded.

  “How can you be so callous?” Hana asked.

  Ephaltus began walking back to the entrance, “Walk with me.” Hana followed. “I can do something about your training. The Red Mage from one hundred years ago still lives. He is old and partially senile, but he will teach you what he knows. He is a good guy. He actually won last time but forfeit the prize of being the ruler of the six kingdoms to the mage he thought would do a better job. He might be able to help you with your situation.”

  “All right, that’s something,” Hana said.

  “He lives in the forest in the kingdom of Adendalind. Come to the Arsenal of the Way and I will draw you a basic map even you can follow to find him.”

  Chapter 11 – Down

  What Ephaltus lacked as a host, he made up in preparedness. The old wizard set Hana and Thessa up with enough food and water to make the journey to Adendalind twice over, yet the burden of the pack was minimal.

  Angry at being stuck as the Red Mage, Hana didn’t say much the first day of travel. She did, however, make it clear, through her constant mumbling, that she was extremely upset. When they made camp for the night at the edge of the forest, Thessa spent her time away gathering firewood and generally avoiding her, which Hana noticed. Finally, after the fire was going and the late meal was cooking in the solitary pot the two owned, Thessa joined her by sitting on a fallen log she had dragged up near the fire.

  “I mean no offense, but are you going to continue to brood the entire way? What are you the most upset about? Being the Red Mage or having to abandon going after the Sephera children for a time?”

  Hana rubbed the itch from her left eye, “No, to answer your first question, I am not going to continue to brood. As far as your second point, if I can’t get rid of this burden, I will become the best Red Mage this world has ever seen. It does me no good to lament. I have to train, master these magical abilities, and win the tournament, or some other silly mage will. I’ll not be the weak one who goes down first.”

  Thessa nodded, “Then I will help you in any way I can.”

  “As far as the Sephera children. I’m fairly certain Sarren was behind the trouble in Vestia. It pains me to say it, but he has already sealed their fate, I’m afraid.”

  “You think so? You don’t think that’s a bit heartless of you?”

  “Well, of course, it’s heartless! What in the two hells do you expect? You and me against the world?”

  “No, just you and me against Sarren,” Thessa answered.

  “Because that worked out so well for us already. By all means, let’s keep fighting him unprepared. Perhaps if we do it enough, we’ll get lucky.”

  “No need for the sarcasm.”

  “No, I think the best course of action for us at the moment is to go to this Red Mage and train. Once I know more about what I can do, we can find the Sephera children, even if I have to turn them back as I did you. Surely this old mage will know how I did it. I may even learn to how to turn you more completely.”

  “I told you, I don’t want to change the way I am now. There are some advantages to being the way I am.”

  “I remembered. I thought you may have wanted a normal life after all this is over. You know, maybe get married and have children of your own. There will be a day when all this comes to an end and when that happens do you still want to be the way you are now?”

  “I don’t know. I guess we will find out when that day comes.”

  “I guess so,” Hana said, poking the pot with a stick to get a look inside.

  “We are both ignoring another possibility,” Thessa said. “Sarren is probably looking for us. He may even have the children with him.”

  Hana let the pot swing back to where it was hanging over the fire. “I thought about that, but I decided it was more productive to focus on getting to the Red Mage and training. If we can get there before that bastard finds us, we will have a fully trained blood mage to help us.”

  “If he agrees to help us.”

  “He better! I don’t think Ephaltus would’ve sent us to him otherwise, to be honest.”

  The two girls ate, slept, and headed back on the trail early the next morning. They were well into the forest of Adendalind when Thessa began to cough up blood and drag behind. After briefly examining her friend, Hana began to look for wild herbs and roots as they walked, anticipating a brew for her friend when they stopped for the night. As luck would have it, they came across an abandoned cabin nestled in a copse of tall trees. Some of the walls were suspect, but the roof was good and there was a storm on the horizon.

  Hana bound Thessa in the girl’s bedroll, “Get comfortable. I think we will be staying here for a few days.”

  “Hana, go on to the old Red Mage. I will be fine and when I recover, I will join you there.”

  “That’s out of the question. Not only do I not want to face the Red Mage alone, but I can’t imagine running into Sarren without you. You be still and rest. I will tend to you with my magic and whatever knowledge of herbs I have.”

  Hana brewed the medicine from the herbs she had gathered, as the rain came down through the trees, dripping off the leaves and branches and soaking the ground.

  Later that night, after she had drunk down the brew, Thessa’s mysterious illness had turned for the worse. Hana worried about her chances to quickly recover. She covered her friend with another blanket and worked on an old wooden bed frame she found. She used her magic to strengthen it before she moved Thessa. Afterward, she gave the girl another brew and then she finally decided to try magical healing, the kind she had used to heal herself successfully many times before. She was annoyed when her magic didn’t seem to be working either.

  She made certain Thessa was comfortable before she retired to her own blankets arranged comfortably on the wooden floor beside Thessa’s bed. Hana could see between the wooden floor planks and so she took a moment to watch the rainwater run underneath the cabin like a small stream. She was grateful the floor was dry and the roof held nicely. She peered to the southernmost corner of the cabin. The wall was almost completely gone, but the roof was suspended by two sturdy support beams. The other three walls were still intact. Whoever
had built the cabin built it well regardless of the damage.

  Hana couldn’t sleep so she checked on Thessa once more. The girl slept soundly. She returned to her pallet and listened to the hypnotic cadence of the rain falling, lulling her to sleep. Just before her heavy eyes finally closed, Hana was startled awake by the tall, telling figure of a man moving out in the forest in between the trees while holding his hooded cloak around himself to ward off the rain. He approached fast, too fast for Hana to prepare a defense. Panic seized her as the makeshift door she had fashioned creaked open and the man strolled quickly through the threshold. Hana, in a desperate attempt to protect herself and Thessa, cut the palm of her hand with a paring knife and let the blood flow from the wound in a stream that rose from her hand like smoke from a burning twig. The familiar light began to pulse through it as Hana commanded it.

  The man removed his hood to reveal his blond hair and slightly pointed ears. His face was pleasant, even friendly, and he was grinning, “Nice trick. Is that spell for me?”

  “Yes!”

  “You don’t plan to hurt me with it, I hope.”

  “Yes!”

  “All right.” He held up his gloved hands to show her he was not planning to resist. “If you will permit me?” He lowered one hand slowly to his pocket underneath his cloak. Hana stiffened and the blood moved like a wispy snake waiting to strike. “I am called Asleth. I am from the city of Brodmore here in northern Adendalind. I have traveled here specifically to help you.” He produced a vial from his pocket. “This is the cure for your friend’s illness.”

  “What is it?”

  “Elvish herbs from the northern mountains. I doubt you know of them. Your friend is suffering from resurrection sickness. It happens sometimes when a blood feeder is turned back to the living.”

  “I turned her back ages ago.”

  “That doesn’t matter in the slightest. The illness can occur at any time.”

  “Who in the two hells are you?”

  “I told you. My name is Asleth. I am an elf of the kingdom of Adendalind. I have the sight. I saw you come here, I saw your friend dying, and I asked my people how to heal her.” He pointed to the vial, “and that’s the cure.”