Blue Mage Equinox: Book 2 of Tournament of Mages Page 9

  “Good.”

  Fia stopped on the trail, “Are those men up ahead?”

  Arran squinted, “Yes, about seven or more that I can see.”

  As the two walked closer they realized the men were soldiers and they held someone as a prisoner. Closer still, and Arran recognized Teoni had been captured by Danton and his men. Teoni appeared to be unconscious.

  Chapter 17 – If Only…

  “All I have to do is tell him to run the dagger through her heart!’ Danton said triumphantly when Arran and Fia were close enough.

  Arran looked the assassin holding Teoni in the eye, “If you do as your master commands, you will become the green mage in her stead. Are you prepared to allow that to happen?”

  “I do as I am told.” The assassin said, pressing the dagger harder into to the supple flesh of the unconscious Teoni.

  “No, stop it,” Arran shouted, putting his hand out to stop the assassin from piecing Teoni’s skin.

  “Arran,” Fia said, “You can’t let him fool you. He will kill you to become the blue mage and then have his man kill Teoni anyway.”

  “For me to do this you will have to let Fia take Teoni away from here. I won’t resist when they are safely out of sight. But, you must let them get away alone, without your men escorting them or following them.”

  Danton laughed, “And I am supposed to take you at your word? Just let them go and you will sacrifice yourself nobly.”

  “Aye, I give you my word.”

  “No Arran! That’s madness.” Fia said. “He’ll kill you and then send his assassins after us. We won’t get more than a few leagues away.”

  “Let the women go,” Danton said.

  “But sir.” The guard holding Teoni protested.

  “I said to let them go!” Danton growled. He looked Arran in the eye. “You should know, perhaps, that it was the that one,” he pointed at Fia, “Who tipped me off about the girl and you now want her to be off with the girl she told me about. Pathetic, you don’t even know who your allies are.”

  The assassin allowed Fia after she took Teoni from him. She didn’t get far dragging the dead weight of the green mage.

  “Is she all right?” Arran asked Fia.

  Fia put her hand to Teoni’s mouth, “She breathes.”

  “That’s good for your sake,” Arran said to Danton.

  “I guess you didn’t hear me or you don’t care.”

  “It isn’t that. I don’t believe you, idiot. Why should I?”

  “Hmm, well, I have held up my end of the deal, now you hold up yours,” Danton said.

  “What’s to stop me from frying your brain inside your skull right now, Danton”

  “This.” Danton held up the amulet from before, the one that negated Arran’s magic.

  “That only stops me,” Arran said. “It won’t stop the others.”

  “You’re enough.” He began walking toward Arran.

  “No!” Fia shouted. She let Teoni fall to the ground and she began to hum and sing.

  Danton nodded to one of his men and the man nodded back. He stood behind Fia and when her song began with her singing voice he stepped forward and sliced her throat from ear to ear. She gurgled, grabbed her throat and fell on top of Teoni, who was only just then beginning to stir.

  “No, you bastard!” Arran said to Danton.

  “No, you’re the bastard,” Danton said as he plunged his sword into Arran’s stomach. He drew his dagger and stuck it into Arran’s neck. “All three of you are terrible mages. The others would have cut you down like grain the field. I will lead a new team of mages, a strong team.”

  Blue mist flowed from Arran and entered Danton as Teoni awoke and fixated on what was happening. Fia was still gasping.

  “Oh gods, oh gods, what have you done Danton?” She put her hand on Fia’s throat and began healing her would-be fatal wound.

  Danton smashed the amulet on a rock and pointed at a nearby tree. A cascade of white lightning issued forth from his fingertips, “At last! I am the blue mage. I can now win the tournament and take my father’s place as ruler of the six kingdoms!”

  As soon as Fia seemed to take to the healing Teoni whispered to her, “Hang on, this is going to feel really strange.”

  “What are you about to do?” Fia looked horrified.

  “What I must, you are too weak to fight and I can’t fight them all off by myself. Take a deep breath and hold it.”

  “Wait, I have a plan.” It was too late, Teoni was already casting. Fia breathed in and soon felt the sensation of flying. She looked down and watched Danton and his men getting smaller and smaller as they took to the skies. They didn’t fly far before Teoni sat them down on a massive branch of a tree. Teoni was a magnificent hawk and Fia a small wounded sparrow. As soon as Fia was secure, Teoni let her revert back into herself. Then the green mage put her head in her hands and began to sob. “I fell for his trickery and let myself be caught!” Teoni lamented. “Oh gods, is he really dead, Fia? Is he dead because of me?”

  Fia was about to answer in the best, most delicate way she knew how, when she spotted the black fog rolling in underneath the tree. “It isn’t over yet, Teoni. Thank the gods I sang enough of the song. She heard me!”

  “What are you saying?” Teoni asked.

  “I’m saying death moves as swiftly as the wind. I told you. I have a plan and there she comes.”

  Chapter 18 – In the Darkness

  Danton put his leather gloves on to control his abilities just as his father had instructed him. His father would be so proud of him. He killed the blue mage and therefore secured the throne another one hundred years for his father’s line. He would have his men kill the green mage and her friend and assume their magic identities. Then he would hunt down the other mages until he had the distinct advantage over all of them. His father would train him to win the tournament and rule the six kingdoms. “The green mage and her friend couldn’t have gotten far. One of them is far too wounded,” He said to one of his assassins, “Take a couple of the men and go kill them.”

  “Aye, sir.” The assassin said. He left to go recruit his men.

  Danton looked down at the corpse of Arran, “You fool! Falling in love with the enemy. You deserve to be dead! You would never have won the tournament.” He kicked Arran and laughed manically.

  “Sir, what is this? Is this your work?” His lead assassin asked.

  Danton stopped laughing and opened his eyes to see a black fog rolling in at the feet of his men. “What the hells is that?” he said, “It’s not me. Stay clear of it.”

  “Agghh!” One of the men screamed as the fog engulfed him. He fell to the ground writhing. He stood from the fog. His eyes were blood red and his face was ashen.

  “Get away from that fog!” Danton commanded his remaining men.

  The black mist suddenly moved with blinding speed and took hold of all the rest of his men, turning them into the same red-eyed ghoul as the first man. Danton turned to flee but stopped when he saw the figure of someone forming out of the mist. Soon the figure of a woman coalesced out of the black fog. She wore a black cloak that obscured everything but her flowing red hair and luminous red eyes.

  “Who are you?” Danton asked.

  “I am Thessa. And I have come for you.”

  Danton’s men began to shamble toward him, “What are you?”

  “I am the black mage and I can’t allow you to succeed with your plans.” She said.

  “The black mage! Ha, you can’t hurt me. I am the blue mage.” He took off his gloves and sent cascades of fire through his advancing men. “See, I can burn them. I can burn them all!”

  “I know,” Thessa said.

  Danton was about to send a lightning bolt through Thessa when he noticed the blonde in white step out from behind the shadows, “You! I thought you were dead from your bloody smile.”

  “Come now, Danton. I heard your order. You were sending men to kill us.”

  “Look I…” He took the element
of surprise to send the lightning he was building to roast Fia. She sidestepped most of it but the bolt struck her anyway. To Danton’s surprise, she stood back up. She opened her mouth and let out a bloodcurdling, sharp note. Danton collapsed to the ground, holding his ears. When she stopped, he got back to his feet, “Ah, I see. Well, it’s been nice chatting with you both, but I have to go now.”

  “You aren’t leaving,” Thessa said in her raspy tone.

  “You can’t stop me. You are both mages and everyone else is dead. So, I will be on my way. He felt a sharp pain in his ribs and back. he looked down at the blade protruding from his chest. He turned his head to see a red-eyed, ashen-faced Arran standing over his shoulder. “No. you’re dead. I killed you!” The blue mist and streaks of lightning began to move from Danton to Arran. Arran’s red eyes went dark and his ashen face began to regain its color as the abilities of the blue mage passed back to him.

  “I am afraid no one will bring you back from the dead,” Arran said as he let Danton fall to the ground. The last of the blue mage abilities passed into Arran as Danton expired, still with the shocked expression frozen on his face.

  “Is it gone?” Fia asked. “The demon?”

  Arran thought for a moment, “It seems to be. It hasn’t spoken inside my head.” He glanced at Thessa, “Thank you.”

  Thessa nodded.

  “If the demon is gone from Arran’s head, I think we just killed two birds with one stone, you may all thank me later.”

  “How did you find the black mage so quick? How did she know what to do?” Teoni asked.

  “We agreed the death song would mean that I needed her or was in trouble when last we met,” Fia said. “I sought out the black mage and I got the idea after I found her. If Arran died he would lose the demon and if Thessa resurrected him, he could kill Danton and get his magic back while at the same time killing Danton.”

  Arran Took Teoni’s hands in his, “I am sorry for everything.”

  “I’m sorry too.” She pulled away, “I must go now. No matter how we feel about each other, I am the green mage. I am the enemy.”

  Thessa floated eerily to Teoni, “There has to be a way to fix all this. My mother is the red mage. The grey mage took her from me, but I love her still. Why must we all be enemies? There must be something we can do to change the tournament.”

  “Are you suggesting that we rig it ourselves?” Arran asked. “How would we begin to do such a thing?”

  Teoni shook her head, “The tourney master would set it straight again. That’s one of the reasons why there is a tourney master, to prevent what you are suggesting.”

  “What could he do about it?” Thessa asked.

  “The short time I was with him, I learned that he is not to be underestimated. We don’t want to go up against him.”

  “What do you mean the time you spent with him?” Fia asked.

  “It’s a long story. I promise I will tell you later.”

  Arran smiled weakly at Teoni, “Maybe we should meet the other two mages. Can you arrange it?”

  Teoni shrugged, “I don’t see why not.”

  “Fine, you go and talk to them and the rest of us will head for a place I know of in the mountains,” Arran suggested.

  “So, you’re not going south then? Fia asked him.

  “Not now. I want to see how this plays out. Is everyone agreed?”

  The rest nodded in turn.

  Chapter 19 – Lessons Learned

  Ephaltus paced angrily across the floor of the Arsenal the Way. Almost everything he touched he would slam down or throw or disrespect. Marlee sat at one of the tables with her head hung low watching Ephaltus throw his temper tantrum, knowing that she was the main cause and the object of his anger.

  “I must be losing my mind in my old age. I knew better, how can I let you talk me into such an abominable thing?”

  “But I…”

  “Don’t you speak! Not yet at least, I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.”

  Marlee fiddled with her fingers nervously. She kept her head low and try not to make eye contact.

  “Whisking the red mage away like that was the worst thing we could have done. Especially right after she found out about her child. Now, look at all of the problems it has caused. Immediately when she woke up the black mage felt abandoned and alone. If the red mage had been there and the grey mage, things might have gone differently. This is why I say do not interfere with things in such a direct manner. All we did was make things worse.”

  Marlee looked up and met Ephaltus’s gaze. He frowned, moved his chin back and forth as if you were about to speak but knew better. “Well go ahead, what you have to say for yourself?”

  “You’re right I didn’t know what I was doing. I never dreamed that sending the red mage away would cost that much grief to the black mage.” Marlee said.

  Ephaltus’s expression softened and he scratched his nose, “Well, the past is written in stone now isn’t it. All we can do is learn from our mistakes and move forward. The most important thing I want you to remember right now is that we cannot fix this mistake we made. In other words, we can’t interfere further, we need to let the chips fall where they may and move on.”

  “What about my sister?” Marlee asked.

  “Yes, we need to discuss your sister. We discussed earlier how your sister must have known what would happen to you when she took over being the green mage by reading the book we replaced. She must have known by killing you that you would not really die but would instead become the tourney master apprentice while she would become the green mage, that much is obvious. The moral implication would be, did she actually know this information or not beforehand. If she did indeed know it, then why did she perform the deed the way she did?”

  “I’m more interested in knowing why she didn’t check on me. If she did read the book, and she knew what was going to happen then why didn’t she come back to find out for sure? Maybe we should go and talk to her.”

  Marlee wiped a tear from her left eye, “I don’t want to talk to her at the moment. First of all, I’m still mad at her, and second, I know that her heart is broken because of Arran. She would be unreceptive and dismissive and I don’t want to deal with her until she has a clear head.”

  “I understand,” Ephaltus said. “It’s just my personal opinion, but I think we should leave all of this in the past. What has happened has happened, we can’t change it, but we can accept it.”

  Marlee nodded.

  “It’s agreed then, we continue on with our preparations, accept what has happened, and move forward,” without another word Ephaltus left. Marlee sat there for a moment staring at the oculus room. “Ephaltus may not approve, but there is something I can do!” She went into the room and turned the oculus to focus on the magistrate, Ravin.

  End of Blue Mage Equinox

  Black Mage Cursed will be the continuation of the story of Thessa, the Black Mage.

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  About the Author

  Cleave Bourbon was born and raised somewhere in Texas. Somewhat tired of the traditional European, middle ages settings for fantasy, Cleave has a penchant for setting his fantasy in Steppe climates and indeterminable times in history. He might have elves traipsing across deserts or dwarves tunneling in caverns beneath great plains.

  Fantasy, in his mind, pretty much covers anything you can imagine so why not bring in Native American style legends and myths to challenge protagonists?

  His current series, Tournament of Mages, does all of the above and more! It's a magical slugfest between forces of darkness, greyness, and good! A carnival of carnage between things that go bump in the night and worse, things that go bump in the day!

  Cleave invites you to come
along and enjoy reading again, while he explores his imagination and entertains with magic, might, and mayhem!

  Web page: HTTP://cleavebourbon.weebly.com

  Glossary

  Adendalind – An eastern elvish kingdom with mountains and forests. It is believed to be the oldest kingdom.

  Ag Caderan - The Southern Kingdom of men and elves. The southernmost section of the Asir desert ends in the north of this kingdom, giving way to an arid steppe climate. The western section of this kingdom, west of the Asa river, is wet and rainy.

  The Arena – The complex used in the Tournament of Mages. It is a complex field that can morph into just about anything the Tourney Master can think of. It’s the testing grounds for the six mages.

  Arsenal of the Way – Arsenal located in the Arena complex. It’s where all the equipment for the tournament is kept. It also houses the six orbs, magical portals that allow the Tourney Master to instantly travel to any of the mages.

  Asirad – Mostly desert kingdom of nomadic men. Sixty percent of the Kingdom is a deadly desert.

  Asleth – The current Grey Mage, born in Adendalind, and ally to Hana. He is older and better trained than Hana so he becomes invaluable to her.

  Blood Feeder/Vampyre – A creation of the Black Mage’s power. They are former men or elves bitten by the master Vampyre, who was directly created by the Black Mage or might be the Black Mage. They are part of the Black Mage’s dominion over death and the dead.

  Craessa - Southernmost kingdom of elves and a few high men. Craessa is a forested kingdom with lush southern grasslands.

  Danton – Prince of the six kingdoms. Wants to become the Blue Mage like his father.

  The Earth Chamber – The home of the Tourney Master, kept and maintained by woodland nymphs called dryads. The dryads take care of the grounds while the Tourney Master is sleeping and they take care of the Tourney Master’s needs when he/she is awake.

  Ephaltus – The eighty-seventh Tourney Master of the Tournament of Mages. He is a wizard immune to all the magic of the six mages. He awakens five years before the tournament is to take place each century to prepare and aid the six mages as they train.