The Weapon Bearer (Book 1) Page 9

  Bowie chuckled back, “Actually, that boy was us. Well, I mean we didn’t wrestle it. Kilen tried to chase it into me and I shot it in the eye when it charged Kilen. The bloody thing broke its neck in the fall, but you know how these stories can get out of hand.”

  “Yes, well…this seems like a fine place to take a bit of a break and cook our noon meal.” Bowie started skinning the rabbits and found some sticks to skewer them. Kilen built a fire and got it going. They all unloaded Kara and let her horse rest. While the meal was cooking Kilen reached out to each horse and found that he could heal them and energize them from a small distance. This took quite a bit more effort. Brent nodded in approval that Kilen was advancing without the need for instruction.

  Brent took down a pot from his bags and put it on the ground. “Kilen, come here for a second. I want to show you something.” Kilen moved to sit down next to Brent on a fallen log. “Take your sword and place the tip inside this pot. Concentrate on the water in the air and push it together onto the tip of the sword.” Kilen followed the instructions and before long drops of water were falling, from the swords tip into the pot. Kilen thought that sweat was beading on his forehead just as fast as the sword tip. He pulled harder on the water in the air, ground, and plants. Soon there was a trickle coming off the sword, then a steady stream until the pot was filled. Kilen moved to each horse and filled his palm with water as they drank. Kilen moved around the camp filling water skins as Brent spoke to him, giving instruction or advice. He was elated to be able to perform such a small task with the magic. “If you practice this you will be able to move the water you put into the pots, and eventually be able to gather water from the air and direct it as a weapon. I did this the night I met you by pulling water from the barrels on the side of the street.”

  Kilen thought about what he had seen and remembered watching the young wizard manipulate the water. Kilen saw a small cup beside Bowie and felt the water inside it. Brent was checking the meat cooking on the fire and his back was turned to Kilen. Kilen decided that he would try, only the wizard would know if he had failed. Kilen concentrated on the water inside the cup. At first nothing moved. The surface of the water in the cup began to tremble and slowly a finger of water reach toward the sky. Kilen realized he had been holding his breath. When he breathed the finger dropped back into the cup. Taking a couple of breaths he tried again; the finger reached up quicker the second time. Slowly the finger pulled up into the air above the cup to form a sphere of water. The struggle to hold the form of the sphere of water took a lot out of him. “The more you practice the easier it will become. The water is using its own magical properties to do what you will it to do. The water may seem heavy to move in your mind, but it is no heavier than it was before. In fact, when you become better at it the water will seem to become lighter. It is good to keep trying.”

  Bowie had finished with the rabbits and cleaned his knife with the water from his cup. Kilen caught some of the water he poured before it hit the ground. Fighting the downward force of the rest of the water he only managed to slow it slightly before hitting the ground. Bowie took no notice. He dried his blade and set the rabbits to cooking. Kilen knew that he would refill his cup from the water skin soon enough so he concentrated on it. Using the water vision he saw that Bowie’s water skin was just over half full. He moved the water inside the skin so that it sloshed back and forth on the dead tree it sat on. Kilen tried to pick up the entire contents of the water skin after it had settled. Bowie grabbed the skin before he could lift it and tried to pour himself a drink. Kilen held the water in the form that it had taken. No water came out of the skin no matter how Bowie shook it or squeezed it.

  Kilen asked as sweat trickled down the side of his face, “Having some trouble there Bowie?”

  “There is something stuck inside this water skin. I can’t get the water to come out.” Bowie raised the water skin above his head to look inside the opening. When he did Kilen released the water from the skin, and watched as Bowie shouted and soaked his jacket, shirt, and face with water.

  Brent and Kilen laughed. Bowie turned around to look at them still oblivious of what had actually happened.

  “That was very good Kilen. You should try and move the water around now. See if you can keep it from dousing your friend.” With that remark Kilen brought a sphere of water up to eye level with Bowie so that he could see it. Bowie’s face flashed with recognition of what had happened. Then he watched as the ball of water slowly danced around the fire pit and its occupants. The horses paid no attention to the floating ball. Brent then started to manipulate the water ball against Kilen’s will, pulling it and pushing with ease and a practiced hand. Brent began feeding the ball water from the air as it moved around, making it grow in size and in difficulty to manipulate. The ball got to be the size of a pail of water and was floating all over camp. Bowie watched, waiting for the ball to come in his direction so he could jump out of the way. The ball started to fly in Kilen’s direction, well above his head. Bowie pulled an arrow from his quiver and shot the ball, bursting it. The water fell from its form, landing as if it had been thrown onto Kilen. He was soaked again, in his tattered clothes.

  “What’s fair is fair,” Bowie said as he got up to retrieve his arrow. Brent laughed relentlessly at the two soaked boys standing in the camp. Kilen went to his bags and pulled out a new set of clothes that Bowie had bought for him. It was plain wool, to his relief. He changed clothes and put the tattered clothes in his bag. His mother had told him to waste nothing and he could use the cloth as patches or to polish his sword.

  “Well now that you’re dry why don’t you help Bowie get the water out of his clothes.” Brent got a look of confusion from Kilen. “Just because the water is split up into small pieces and fills the space between his clothing’s threads does not mean you can’t control it. Pull them out and put them back together in that ball of water.” Kilen looked at Bowie and felt the water in his clothing. He began pushing it away from his body until the air around him appeared as though it were steaming. It didn’t seem to matter what he did the water just wasn’t becoming easier to move. He concentrated on each individual piece and started to station them in the air while he pulled another out and added to the mass. Soon there was a small sphere of water that was growing. He started to pull more and more bits of water from Bowie’s clothing until he saw what seemed to be steam rising from Bowie’s shoulders. He was starting to get a bit light headed. He didn’t know if it was from the magic or from holding his breath. When Bowie was dry Kilen tried to experiment. He moved the ball of fog, slowly stretching it in all directions. The result he got was fog in a small cloud in the air. He moved more water from the air in the area to cover the whole camp in a light fog. Bowie sat on the log now with Brent in completely dry clothes watching Kilen improve his skills. He moved the fog so that he could clearly see the wizard by forming a dome just as Twilix did in Humbridge. Brent bumped Bowie with his shoulder, and gave him a look of being impressed by the new student. Then Kilen let the fog go and it dissipated back into the air.

  He promptly sat down on the ground and took deep breaths to see if it would clear his head. He smelled the roasting rabbits with a renewed hunger, “Wow I feel as if I haven’t eaten in days.

  “You should be hungry. It takes a lot out of you when learning new skills,” Brent said. “It took me months to learn what you pick up naturally. If I do get removed from the council maybe I should look at being a wizard instructor. I think I’ve done fairly well with you. I’ll have to step up the lessons. Of you keep going at this rate you will be fully trained by the time we reach Deuterium. The king will have no choice, but to see you as a full weapon bearer then.”

  The small group sat and chatted about the way they had fought with the water and Brent explained how to manipulate water that another wizard is using. They both listened intently and Bowie picked up the sword to have a try using the magic. Bowie was a quick learn but all he could manage was to produce a drop or two o
nto the tip of the sword. “We should extend our teaching to you each day. In small amounts though, you don’t have the earth power to restore your strength.” Bowie was excited at the thought of being trained also. Bowie and Kilen started to pack up their gear and check the horses. Brent stood facing with his chin resting on his balled hand. Kara breathed in and out evenly, and her eyes had started to flutter. Soon it would be time to subdue her again. “Kilen, with how strong you are I think we should be strong enough to try something.” Kilen went to stand beside Brent who, had taken on a very wizardly mask. He was in deep thought watching Kara. Kilen spoke to him to let him know he was ready.

  “What is it we’re going to do to her?”

  “Well, it would make it easier if she was awake enough to ride her horse without being tied down. I intend to wake her up enough that she can move and talk a little. We will have to watch her closely and both of us will have to subdue her from afar to keep her at the point between unconscious and a fire ball. She will probably speak nonsense and complain about everything, but I have seen Twilix do this once with a fire wizard she had caught. If this works she will follow commands, but will probably not be able to make decisions on her own, or carry on a conversation.” Kilen moved nearer to Kara and pulled the sword from the sheath, gripping it in both hands. “NO no no no, if I wake her too much I don’t want her to see you as a threat and throw fire in your direction. The more threatened and angry a fire wizard gets the harder they are to subdue and the more damage they cause.” Kilen sheathed the sword and buckled it on to his hip so that he could rest his hand naturally on the hilt. Brent placed his hand on Kara’s head and his eyes turned deep blue. When he finished Brent waved Kilen over to her and they pulled her closer to the still roasting coals of the fire. Kilen watched the elements move in Kara and saw her body come awake. Her eyes began to flutter. She squinted at the light through the trees. Brent reached up to shield her eyes so that she didn’t get angry. She looked around and laid her head back on the pack she was using as a pillow. They moved her away from the fire without disturbing her comfort to much.

  She complained, “You couldn’t get me anything to eat. I can smell food and you didn’t get me any.”

  Kilen hugged her and said, “I’ll get you some cheese and bread. Will that help?” Kara didn’t answer, but made a sound as if she thought that the food sounded good. They put food in front of Kara on a plate and Kilen told her to eat. She did and then sat looking at the empty plate swaying back and forth on the ground. Brent nodded to Kilen and they helped Kara into her saddle. “Kara, follow us please, and be nice to your new horse.” At that Kara pet the horse’s neck and patted him.

  “I’ll call you Grant. You look like a Grant, Grant,” she said to the horse. They continued down the road, Kilen and Brent watching every move that Kara made. She had only eyes for the horse, and talked to him often. Bowie trailed behind with a motion from Brent. He had no protection if Kara was to become fully awake. Kilen wasn’t sure he would be able to subdue his sister. He didn’t like the idea of making her unconscious. They traveled like that for most of the day, Brent only talking to let Kilen know that he was manipulating Kara, so he could watch. Kilen started to help in maintaining Kara in her semi-lucid state of mind. It was easier than floating a ball of water around a campfire, but required that they touched her.

  The sun had started to dip below the horizon when they could see a town in view. It wasn’t a town that had walls or street’s but seemed to be a bit more of a village with houses built haphazardly.

  Brent said loud enough for Bowie to hear, “This is the Town Keepers. It’s on the edge of Lake Leviathan. These people are here awaiting the return of a water king. They were all servants of the water king and they stay to take up lodging when a new one arises. These people are a sort of annoyance to King Atmos. They do not build walls, and do not request his guards for protection so they don’t have to pay taxes. They sit and wait for the return of their new king. Being a water wizard, they will welcome us with open arms. I will talk to them about allowing a fire wizard to sleep in their town before we go inside. These wooden houses would go up like kindling if she woke now. We will sleep here for the night with their permission.”

  As the small party approached Keepers, Brent motioned Kilen to lean in close. “Kilen, ride so that you are just behind me and keep your hand on the hilt. Ride as though you are a fully trained weapon bearer. Sit up straight and give this town the confidence that they have nothing to fear except you.”

  Bowie said from behind them, “In your other saddle bag there is a blue cloak. Its fine enough for a lord.”

  The wizard nodded in approval to Bowie. Kilen reached down and donned the deep blue traveling cloak. The inside of the cloak was as black as night and both sides were made of a fine material that seemed to shimmer in the fading sunlight. Brent nodded in approval, “Now while we are getting settled I will give you more instructions. You will not speak to anyone unless I tell you that you can. You will look everyone in the eyes. The people here will notice someone using water magic so don’t use it unless you want to look like a fool. They know a trained wielder when they see one. They already know me and if we play this out right they will assume that you are very deadly. The safer this town feels from your sister the better welcome we will receive.” Kilen started to scowl back at the wizard giving his best intimidating face. “You just look like a fool now. Not like you’re not mad at the world, just cautious. Just try to meet every eye that we see. Look at them long enough to say with your eyes, ‘I see the darkest parts of your soul.’” Kilen didn’t know if he had that kind of look in him.

  They rode at a canter at the edge of the town. There was no gate nor walls. There were two men sitting on either side of the street on wooden stools. The men were large and wearing full set of armor bearing the same crashing wave as Brent across their chests. The town had a poor hometown feel to it, made of small houses with no signs of embellishments. The two men stood and made their way down to the street to greet the late arrivals into the town. Each man lifted an arm in a sort peaceful greeting. When Brent got nearer they each hit a gauntleted fist on their breastplates in salute. “Greetings wizard, and…armor bearer?”

  “Wizard Brent of the Earth Realm Council,” Brent added giving himself the full title. “This is Kilen a weapon bearer from the Earth Realm.” When Brent introduced Kilen the guards looked at each other and then looked at Kilen’s eyes. When they were both satisfied they then saluted him also. Kilen nodded and saluted back, having the feeling it was right.

  “How can we aid your travels along, wizard? Perhaps you have brought us a new king.” The guardsmen pointed his chin at Bowie in his red outfit.

  “Not this day sir, I am however in need of a place to rest this evening. We are escorting a newly awakened fire wizard to the king.” The two men began to pull swords from their sheaths, Brent raised his hand to them. “Be at peace, Kilen and I have her under control. You dishonor me thinking that I, a water wizard, would willingly walk an untamed fire wizard into Keepers.”

  They returned their swords to their sheaths, shrunk down at his raised voice, and offered a bow in apology. “Our apologies wizard, as long as she is truly subdued we will find comfortable accommodations for your people. Welcome to Keepers, as a town rule we shall provide a two person escort for the fire wizard. Sgt. Wells will go with you now and another shall be coming shortly. You should see Master Bradley at the kitchen near the waterfront.” Sgt. Wells walked on the opposite side of the Brent saying nothing as they walked through the town. Children came out of houses to get a glimpse of the visitors. Parents leered in the house doors only taking a tiny bit less amusement with the travelers. Kilen tried to look each person in the eye long enough that they knew him to be looking at them. Most of the town’s people would look down or away at his gaze.

  Kilen wanted to look away from the villager. He had grown up thinking it rude to stare at people he didn’t know. He knew that the same feelings
were what made the villagers turn away now. As they rode through the town a second man still strapping on his armor came to join Sgt Wells. The second man was younger than the sergeant but just as large. They put their heads together a couple times, and the younger man looked back at Kara and then at Kilen, looking at his eyes. He too quickly looked away from them. The town seemed skittish after they looked at Kilen, he felt as if his emotions were reflecting off of everyone in town. He would continue to look them in the eyes no matter how nervous he got.

  The group finally came to an open area with cook pots in the center and fires in formed into a large circle around them. Small three-walled structures surrounded the fires. There was a large man moving from fire to fire smelling and tasting the contents of the cook pots placed there. He had an apron full of spoons, forks, and herb’s sticking out of the pockets. The belt he wore had variations of knives used to filet and chop. The sergeant called to him as Master Bradley. An adolescent boy with dark brown hair of a medium build was following him around adding herbs and spices into each pot as the he instructed. Brent stopped the group and Sgt. Wells went to talk with Master Bradley who immediately waved them towards a three sided structure.

  Brent lead the group into the structure. As they rode Kilen could feel the warmth from the fire and he closed his eyes, viewing the world with only the water vision. The comfort of the warm fires was short lasted as he heard Kara let out a small moan. Kilen felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise and he saw the water in Kara move faster than normal. He reacted quickly, grabbing her by the shoulder and forcing water magic to subdue his sister, in fear of her turning into a ball of fire. It would have raised the alarm and she would have fallen victim to the guardsmen if she came awake. He looked at the wizard in fear as Kara slumped in her saddle almost falling out except that Bowie was there to catch her. Brent was now facing Kilen, his deep blue eyes looking back into Kilen’s with recognition of what had happened. He moved quickly to Kara and adjusted the water in her body slightly and led her horse closer to the fire. “You have acted too quickly. Any more and you would have killed her,” Brent said gently to Kilen. Kilen shrunk at the statement from the wizard. He had almost killed his sister. The concentration that he had put into his demeanor vanished.