Rune Mystic, page 1
part #3 of The Rune Mystic Series
Rune Mystic
The Rune Mystic: Book Three
Author: D. L. Harrison
Copyright 2020. This is a work of fiction. Names, Characters, Places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Afterword:
About the Author
Other books by D. L. Harrison:
Book Description
Chapter One
His heart pounded in a steady rhythm and a warm sweat covered his body, as he ran through the village toward the center square with a possibly insane grin on his face. The four enemy life mages were right on his tail, his speed and strength enhancements matched in kind, and his natural ability and speed were far more important than magic at the moment.
When he reached the center of the square, he drew his sword and dagger with a flourish, and definitely had an insane grin on his face as he turned to face his pursuers. He felt the three fire mages a block to the north, and just barely felt some water mages to the south inside the forest, but he ignored them for the moment.
The four life mages slowed, and they gave him a wary look as they drew swords, broke off into two’s, and then flowed smoothly around either side of him to surround him. Clearly, they expected a trick of some kind.
“Your magic is almost out. You should just give up.”
He laughed, “Never happen, Mage Caley. Come get it.”
It was six months after Tanner’s rebellion was put down. Thirteen and a half months since he’d put that blacksmith’s mark on his first blade made as a journeyman. He wasn’t the strongest mage, but he was on the upper side of average for his age, and he expected his growth to stop any day now. Twelve to thirteen months was the average growth spurt time, before a mage started to gain in power much more slowly. Their power doubling once a year, instead of once a week.
He was enjoying the competition, but in truth his large grin was more about what else would happen that day. It was twelve months since he’d asked Lia if he could court her, and it was also their handfasting day. He’d had a grin on his face since he’d woken up.
Lia, his usual partner in the competitions, had been taken out early due to a particularly nasty trap that some fire and death mages had set up together. The pair of them had gotten a little too predictable over the last six months, their usual devastating tactics using Lia’s power as a club in a critical moment had been turned against them.
The towers weren’t exactly enemies or anything, but there was definitely some residual resentment going on with some few mages in those towers, fire and death, for his role in taking Tanner down.
Of course, they didn’t really know what he’d done, they just knew he was responsible. Regardless, he’d escaped that trap by the edge of his teeth, and now he fought alone. He’d taken out a few young mage groups with war spells, and these four were the survivors of his last one.
Caley of course, was one of his closest non-friend friends, because of the customs and traditions of the towers they weren’t supposed to be friends, just comrades in arms and allies. She was almost eighteen now, and she’d matured quite nicely. She was still petite, five foot one, with reddish brown hair and soft liquid brown eyes, but she’d lost all the baby fat and was quite a striking elfin beauty. She’d made mage last month, and his teasing shot was more congratulations than anything else.
Caley smirked, “You can’t beat all four of us.”
He snorted, “Only two of you can attack at once. I’m in the same class, remember?”
Caley asked, “Why the village square?”
It was a rather pointed question, and the word stupid was obviously implied if not said aloud. It was true enough that he’d have done better searching out a place with a bottleneck to face them one on one.
He laughed, and told the truth, “To make you nervous and think it must be a trap.”
Well, it was a partial truth, anyway. There were layers to his desperately thought out plan, which meant it was likely to blow up in his face. Complicated plans usually did, but he had an edge that way this time.
Caley’s eyes narrowed in thought, and that’s when he sprung forward with a flash of light exploding forward from his dagger, while his sword rounded aiming for her legs. It was a cheap trick, just a little magic for a light spell, he really was running low. He’d even dropped all his shields, except for his water shield.
It may have blinded her for a split second, but her experience saved her as she jumped back and twisted her body, her sword swinging in a controlled way to make him abort or impale himself on it. Except, he was dual wielding. His dagger struck out and parried her blade, and he bowled her over. His sword adjusted to a downward swipe to open up her stomach, something that wouldn’t really happen, but the arena would mark it as so.
Still, he missed, as she rolled quickly to the side and batted his sword away at the same time. He had to abort altogether as the two life mages from the right and left lunged in for the kill. He’d gotten much better at his sword work over the last six months, but although close he knew he wasn’t really a blade master yet.
Although, he imagined only a blade master watching him fight would know that. The shortfalls in his style and competency weren’t easy to spot.
Regardless, he was good enough to roll to the side as he batted away the sword with his own, and lunged upward with his dagger mid-roll, forcing the lunging attacker to abort. The attacker on the other side also aborted, given he might stab his partner. He rolled back to his feet outside their circle, and he grinned ferally as the four of them moved to surround him again.
Caley narrowed her eyes, “What’s so funny?”
He said with mirth, “Fire mages, so damned predictable.”
Her liquid brown eyes widened.
He knew he’d never survive the four of ten life mages he’d failed to kill with his war spell, so he’d counted on the fact the fire tower never passed up an opportunity to take him down. It was the second reason he’d stopped in the square. He knew if he could feel the fire mages, they’d be able to feel him. The third reason of course, was that the open square meant the life mages after his blood had no handy walls to dodge behind.
The entire square filled with roaring and rolling plumes of fire. The four life mages ran south, away from the flames. Two of them even made it before their shields died. Normally, life shields did better than that against fire, especially the fire of three average fire mages, but their magic had taken a large hit from his war spell not two minutes ago.
He so owed Caley an apology, she hadn’t made it.
It was of course, also why the one shield he’d held onto was water, the absolute best shield to have to block fire. Even his weak water shield would give him the few moments he needed. He ran north, right into the flames. Fire mage shields were also pathetically weak against physical damage, they were meant to stand in the back and rain down fire, not fight on the front lines against men with swords.
He could barely believe his plan had worked, normally they’d have avoided life mage blade masters like the plague, and not come so close. He guessed some of them really did hate him. Or at least, they really enjoyed killing him in the competition, or trying to kill him.
He spun into the trio, his magic barely a trickle at that point, and his sword swung and snapped the forearm of one, essentially ending his ability to cast, while his left hand snapped out and pommel punched another right in the solar plexus. That was enough, the arena spells knew he had a dagger in that hand, and it judged the fire mage stabbed in the heart.
The last fire mage had a grin as insane as his, as Olin’s shields fell the same moment that he started to spin into a third and final attack. He sighed, and aborted his strike, as his skin lit up red and the fire in the square was snuffed out by the arena safeties.
“You got me.”
Jason, he thought that was the name anyway, said, “Damned right.”
It was said in a bragging way, but not a mean one. He wasn’t one for confrontations, at least not against other mages that should’ve been allies, but the tone made the question slip out. It didn’t quite match his expectations.
“Why do you guys always come after me so hard?”
Jason smirked, “The challenge of it. Rune mages are hard to take down. With the defense of a water mage, along with the magical offense and physical offense to match our weaknesses, you’re very hard to pin down.”
Huh, he’d have to reevaluate his thought process, maybe they didn’t all hate him after all. Even if they did all try to kill him on a monthly basis. Though, from the nasty looks, he knew there were a few, but obviously Jason wasn’t one of those.
He nodded, and then quit the field to watch the rest of the match.
Talia said, “Not bad, if a little suicidal.”
He laughed, “Thanks, mistress.”
Lia kissed his cheek, “You should’ve run.”
He shrugged, “I shouldn’t have tried to take on that many life mages, I was sure I had them, then it all fell apart. I was dead already. If I’d run away from the flames, the two living life mages would’ve cut me down.”
Lia narrowed her eyes, “But they didn’t not die from the flames until after you charged north.”
He smirked, “True. I expected them to live, I was using the fire mages to evade them, and gambled on having enough magic left to kill them on my way by. I almost made it.”
The last six months he and Lia hadn’t even come close to winning another competition. Not with the master mages back in it, some few of them ridiculously powerful. Much like Lia would be in twenty years. Those he avoided the best he could, and always ran the other way if he felt their strong magic.
Garen snorted, “You’re incapable of running.”
He shrugged, “I was dead already, I figured I could take two, maybe three more mages out first.”
Garen said, “And that’s the problem, you see this as a game that has points. You need to start treating it as a real battle. Never commit to a fight if it will kill you, or your partner,” he added that last rather pointedly.
He sighed, “Except in the arena we can’t retreat and run away, not really. Name one mage that’s ever quit the field and joined the stands because their magic was low, before glowing red.”
Garen, Lia’s father, had come back from the border four months ago. Hand-fasted couples always teamed up on missions, and they worked together by tradition. Of course, with his wife running the tower as mistress, he’d been doing local assignments in the city and tower only, so he was home at the tower every night. It was a compromise and exception of sorts, since a team can’t lead the tower, it needed a guild head, and Mistress Talia was it.
At least, until Lia became a master rune mage, then she’d run the place and Talia would step down. He wasn’t bothered at all by the idea of being in her shadow that way.
The two of them hadn’t exactly hit it off, but he suspected that was more about him courting Garen’s little girl, than anything really about him at all. He always got the impression he was judged wanting, and that no one would ever be good enough for Garen’s Lia.
Well, Lia would be his later that day, just as he would be hers. He imagined, or hoped, the relationship with his father-in-law would grow more friendly over time. Maybe the man thought he’d get Lia killed out in the field, by being reckless. He wasn’t sure. It could be worse, at least the man hadn’t withheld his blessing, even if it was grudging, Garen had given it.
Talia said, “Garen,” in a reproving tone.
He sighed, “I do take it seriously. It’s the best way to find my limits. I won’t go past those limits in the field. Pushing things is how you grow and gain experience in not really dying. I won’t lie, I enjoy the thrill of riding that line in the games, maybe more than I should, but real war isn’t a game, nor is it fun.”
Garen grunted.
Lia said, “I’ve had this conversation with him before. It’s… not typical thinking, but he has a real point. He never charges a master mage for instance, or really does anything truly suicidal. When he dies, it’s usually by the skin of his teeth. Which backs up his approach.”
He shrugged, “Once my rapid growth stops, and I have a good idea of those limits, my tactics will change. The problem is every month I’m sixteen times more powerful than the month before, so those limits have to be re-measured.”
At least, that was his story, and he was sticking to it. He did enjoy it, but neither was he suicidal, and he’d never take similar risks with Lia in the field. As if she’d let him.
Talia said, “Fortunately, for all our peace of mind,” she grinned to soften that statement, “Your first mission as a married couple should be relatively sedate. The council approved your mage finding and quickening spells. Shortly, the queen will make a proclamation that all citizens must be tested for magic. The two spells will be the first addition to the rune library in several hundred years. You’ll have a couple of days to enjoy yourselves and celebrate, but no more than that.”
That sounded both exciting, and dreadfully boring. Exciting to find more mages that were no doubt in the populace, mages that had never accidentally channeled so didn’t know what they were. Boring, because he’d probably be sitting in the city square for days as the populace went through. The villages would go faster, there were only a thousand or two in each one, including the surrounding farms.
Of course, most normal people were afraid of mages, even if mages didn’t go around killing people at random with magic. Not all of them of course, but many.
It was also safer for mages to be found with his spells. Most people the first time they channeled magic they harmed themselves, usually while very angry and thinking about killing someone. High emotions tended to be the most common trigger. It was dangerous to be an unknown mage outside the tower. His first new spell would detect the silent unmoving magic within them, and the second would release the magic in a controlled way once agreement was reached with the person.
He hoped to find new rune mages, but in truth they’d probably find more than a few of the other disciplines as well.
The council itself had been rather cautious with him the last six months. He’d hesitate to say the other towers feared him, but at the same time they’d kept a close and wary eye on him the last six months. Elisha, the earth tower mistress, along with Talia, seemed very comfortable with the fact he was a mystic, and even excited about the possibilities. Jace, the water guild master led the paranoia bandwagon, and Aubrey the life guild mistress seemed to waver back and forth on it, at any given time.
The warm and friendly life mage mistress obviously wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but fears of the past and what he might do in the future tempered that greatly. She really was nice, so much so she stood out that way among people, not just mages. He’d even caught her looking guiltily at him at times, probably after having pessimistic thoughts about him.
Gavin and Aron, the new fire and death guild masters were firmly in Jace’s camp on the matter. The new air guild mistress, Serina, he couldn’t quite pin down. Still, two firmly on his side, three that wished he might have an accident to make their life easier, even if they wouldn’t arrange one for him. And two that seemed to waffle back and forth. All in all, it could’ve been worse. It was also why it took six months for them to approve those runes, even if it was beneficial.
By doing so, they’d set a precedent, and basically admitted that any spells he came up with didn’t count as experimentation, which was against the law and tradition. He suspected that’s why it’d taken so long, and that it wasn’t really about the two spells’ facility. Of course, he was firmly told not to use any spells that weren’t approved and already in the library, anything new had to be approved by the council first.
Nevertheless, it made him a little nervous at times, he depended on the two wafflers to outvote the three masters that clearly didn’t like him, four to three. He was inconvenient.
They stayed quiet for the rest of the competition, watching the various skirmishes, and one very spectacular full-scale battle between just two very powerful master mages. That latter was a very humbling thing.
Still, Lia did hold his hand, and they shared more than a few bright excited smiles that didn’t go unnoticed by anyone with eyes, it was their handfasting day. He was a bit nervous, but at the same time excited and sure. Lia was the only one for him.
Lia was stubborn, powerful, and opinionated, but incredibly sweet at times as well. She was more than a match for him, challenged him, and supported him, all at the same time. She also listened, and she was quite obviously deeply in love with him. She had lovely long blonde hair, bright cerulean eyes, and a breathtakingly beautiful face, a soft beauty with high but soft cheekbones, fair unblemished skin, and she still managed to leave him speechless at times when it hit him.
They’d spent almost all their time together the last six months, missions, lived in the same tower, shared every meal, and they were closer than ever. Almost, because it was healthy to pursue separate diversions every once in a while, but after a year he was still completely besotted, and he couldn’t imagine being away from her.
