Spellscribed: Conviction, page 26
Endrance hesitated. “Oh.” He murmured. “Then it seems that I owe you all an apology. I didn’t give you any notice of my intentions, and I can see how this could be misinterpreted.
“You are wise and gracious, Sir Mage.” The commander replied with a tight smile. “I am Captain Dullahan. of the first ambassadorial regiment.”
“I’m Endrance of Balator.” Endrance introduced himself, inclining his head. “Thank you for your patience.”
“Great.” Captain Dullahan said dryly. “I’ll inform Lady Alana of your arrival.”
Endrance nodded, dismounting. “Thank you. Stables?”
Dullahan waved, and several armored men and women marched forward to take the reins of their horses. “We’ll stable them inside. Please follow me.”
The rest of the group dismounted and the soldiers approached, but three of them scattered when they saw Giselle, backing away and pointing their spears at her.
“Wolfman!” one of them exclaimed, surprised.
“Whoa!” Endrance shouted, dashing around the horses to shield the girl. “Don’t hurt her! This is my charge!”
“She’s a wolfman!” The same soldier that had shouted before added. His spear point was only a few inches from Endrance’s gut, but the man didn’t lower his weapon.
“She’s a child!” Endrance shouted back at the man, his temper rising. “I promised I would look after her, and I will do everything in my power to do so. Do you have a problem with that?”
The man seemed to have finally realized that he was yelling at a wizard. The fact that several of Endrance’s spell tattoos gleamed with light probably helped curb his disposition.
Before the man could apologize, Captain Dullahan walked up to his subordinate and struck him in the side of the head with a powerful punch. The soldier hit the sand hard, crashing onto his back and dropping his spear.
“How dare you point a weapon at a wizard of the Circle!” Dullahan roared, his hands balled into fists. “Threatening a mage carries the highest of punishments!”
The captain turned to Endrance. “I’m sorry, Sir Mage.” He replied. “I’ll have him executed immediately.”
Endrance paled. “Whoa there!” he exclaimed. “You don’t need to kill the man!” He shook his head, unbelieving how seriously the captain was taking the man’s actions. He had weapons pointed at him all the time in Balator, and had gotten used to it.
Dullahan looked at him, confused. “You… are not offended?” he asked.
Endrance sighed. “No. He wasn’t trying to threaten me.” He explained. “Though I don’t appreciate having spears pointed at me, I don’t think that you should kill the man for forgetting who he was pointing his weapon at.”
Dullahan nodded. “You are also forgiving.” He looked down at the soldier. “You are given a pass,” the captain ordered. “Turn yourself in to the prison. A night in a cell should help you think about how lucky you are.”
The soldier nodded, handing his equipment to another soldier as he turned to trot towards the tower. Endrance watched the man go, confused. “Is that how Alana runs things here?” he asked, scratching his head.
Dullahan spoke, never taking his eyes off the retreating soldier. “She merely enforces the law set down by the kingdoms. A mage is too valuable a person to risk allowing them to be injured or killed.”
Endrance closed his eyes, thinking. “I didn’t realize how literally everyone took that.” Endrance murmured, thinking about Kaelob’s instructions. The way he had said it made Endrance feel that he had been exaggerating to impress him; but now that he’d seen the law in action, he could see that the crazy mage had been nothing but honest with him.
“You are a kind man.” Dullahan said in a low tone, matching Endrance’s murmur. “I am glad I will not be losing a valuable man today.”
Endrance opened his eyes and looked about at the group. Joven was standing directly beside him. He had probably been there since the moment the man had leveled the spear at him. Endrance had not been in any danger from the beginning, but it would be difficult to explain that to the captain. Selene stood at his other side, holding Giselle in her arms; though only her companions would notice the reddening of her pupils as she prepared for a potential outburst of violence.
He looked behind, and saw Tanya had an arrow knocked, but undrawn, on her horn bow, with Bridget standing just out of the way, both her cleaving swords naked to the moons light. It looked like they were ready to take on the whole platoon, if need be. Above them, Gullin circled, ready to rain fire down on the assembled enemy.
“I am glad that it did not come down to violence.” Endrance said. “I think it would have turned out badly for everyone.”
“Please, follow me.” Captain Dullahan entreated, turning and leading the way towards the tower. The group picked up their gear and followed. Endrance walked with his Grandstaff in his right hand, both enjoying the strange, crackling tingle of the electrically charged grip, and the deepening pulse of the presence within it making contact with the earth every time he touched the butt end down.
The entrance to the tower was two feet off the ground with what looked like an oversized window with a thick stone sill. Endrance saw that they had a ramp they could lower down to make the climb more manageable. They walked up the thick, dry planks, and Endrance looked back down the way they had come.
“What about the horses?” he asked.
“They will be taken in through a different window.” Dullahan explained. “There’s one to the side we use for a stable.”
Endrance noticed that there were several greenish spots in the desert. They were spaced every few feet, and it only took him a second to realize they marked the places where his staff had touched the earth. It appeared that several inches of green grass grew around where his stave had made contact. Looking down, he saw that the wood of the ramp was starting to revitalize, regaining the healthy appearance of freshly cut wood. Endrance lifted the staff, worried it would turn back into a tree if he kept it in contact.
Inside, they found the room was far larger in scale than would be normal. The floor was at least six feet below, and the roof ten feet above them. There was normal furniture scattered throughout the chamber, but they looked like additions, and not part of the original furnishings. The floors, walls, even the door frames, all appeared to be built of the same sandstone chunks, and designed for someone several feet taller than Endrance.
“Whoa.” Endrance said, blinking in surprise. They took the ramp down into the room, and Endrance wasn’t the only one surprised by the change in scale.
“Yeah…” Joven said aloud. “I bet whatever race built this would be a tough opponent to fight.” He observed.
“Sounds like fun.” Selene said, wide eyed as she followed them down.
“The whole tower is built like this.” Dullahan announced. “Each room, every hall, even the privy, is scaled to someone far larger than we are.”
Endrance squinted up at the ceiling. “I never heard about this.” He stated. “How come no one has reported that it was a tower of giants?”
Dullahan, and the several dozen men who filed in after Endrance’s party, seemed unimpressed. “It was the only structure found in the whole world that was like this.” He said. “I think we are better off assuming whoever built this place had used magic to make it bigger for some kind of experiment.”
Endrance considered the man’s words. “It could be true.” Endrance replied. “If you can think flexibly enough, you can accomplish almost anything short of raising the dead with magic.”
Alana’s voice echoed through the room. “Even that, is only because we haven’t figured out how.” She declared, walking into the room. Her robes were of a lighter weave than when she had been in Ironsoul, though her sash remained the same. He had never noticed she had been wearing sandals before.
“Wizard Alana.” Endrance said, bowing his head. “It is a pleasure to see you in a less… severe environment.”
He wasn’t sure if Weldom’s resentment of him had rubbed off, or if he had evoked her ire in some other capacity, so he had gone for the most formal introduction between wizards of equal rank.
Alana nodded her acknowledgment, a tight smile on her lips as she greeted them. “Wizard Endrance.” She said, nodding her head in reply. “I see you managed to attain quite the jump in rank since the trial.”
Endrance looked down, finally remembering the new golden sash and black sigils of mastery, of which he had gained two, in the three and a half weeks since he had last seen her. “Oh yeah.” Endrance said in a drawn out way. “I ran into the Archmagus on my way here, and he gave me an evaluation on the spot.”
Endrance noted that Alana had her sixth sigil of mastery, the sigil of the scales. Her sash was a dark gray. “You’re doing quite well for yourself, too, you know.” Endrance stated, doing his best to smile genuinely.
Alana’s brow twitched, but she maintained her smile. “I hope to complete my next theorem within the decade.” She said. “And after that, it should be a clear shot to attain my magus title within fifteen years.”
Endrance did the math in his head. His own ridiculous growth rate aside, she was advancing as a wizard at an astounding rate. She would be hardly sixty by the time she made it to the title of Magus, which was an accomplishment that few could claim.
“That’s amazing.” Endrance exclaimed, walking up to her. “I haven’t written much; work keeps getting in the way.”
Alana looked down at him, her expression both confused and a little derisive. “You seem to have complex theorem down just fine, from what you were reciting during the trial.” She said, her tone indicated she was obviously disbelieving his claim.
“I… don’t exactly follow your standard learning course.” Endrance admitted, his hand absently touching the silver bracer on his left arm. “I had most of that information impressed upon me. I didn’t really have a choice in the subject matter.”
Alana sighed. “It seems that Kaelob was perhaps a better teacher than we had thought.” She said, her harsh tone melting a little at the edges. “If he managed to teach you that much so quickly, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could surpass me some day.”
Endrance bowed his head. “I am not interested in surpassing you, Alana.” He said morosely. “I wish I had been allowed to learn things at a much slower pace, but ever since I earned my third sigil, I’ve been getting forced to learn and adapt; or else not just I, but many others would die as well.”
“I’ve heard that life in Balator is tough.” She said, looking at his companions. “If the… heroic stature of your traveling companions is the norm, I can see that only the physically capable are able to survive there.”
Endrance glanced back at his friends. He had gotten used to how physically impressive they were. Joven and Bridget, in particular, were very muscular and competent warriors, but even Selene had more muscle on her body than the average man in Ironsoul. Joven caught Alana looking him over, and flashed her a grin when he caught her eye.
“Yes.” Endrance replied. “It’s been a rough year. Joven’s exercise regimen is quite difficult.”
“Pssh!” Joven blew air through his teeth. “I have been having you do the exercises we give our children.” He proclaimed, shaking his head. “You would break if I gave you any of the adult training.”
Endrance glared at him. “You’ve been having me train with iron weights! Live training with daggers and staves!” Endrance complained. “You’ve brained me with that damn stick like fifty times!”
“Well that’s ‘cause you keep dropping your guard.” Joven said. “As a matter of fact. if you didn’t you’d probably have moved up to the training we give young adults.”
“Iron weights?” Alana asked, looking confused.
Joven unhooked his pack. “I have them right here.” He said, pulling out a pair of black iron rods three quarters of an inch thick and a foot and a half long each. “They’re actually unworked metal rods from my mother’s forge.” He said. “The black iron is denser than regular iron and weighs more, but it’s also sturdier and can take a lot of heat to melt.”
“And you can just… carry them around?” Alana asked, her eyes widening.
Joven held one out to her. “They’re not that heavy, and I might find something I want to make out of them one day.” He explained. Alana reached out and took the rod in one hand, the weight causing her arm to dip several inches before she adjusted.
“Not that heavy?” she said, handing it back. “That’s what he’s training with?”
Joven nodded. “Four days a week before breakfast.” He said proudly. “And sprints on the off days.”
“I do a lot of running.” Endrance piped in. “It has probably saved my life once or twice.”
Alana shook her head. “I don’t know how you have the time to do it all.” She said, “Train your mind and body at the same time.”
“He’s exhausted more often than I’d prefer.” Selene complained, giving Endrance a wink. “But he manages to get a full night’s sleep.”
Alana turned to Endrance again. “You have been working hard. I hope your new assignment as Ironsoul’s ambassador to the elves will turn out to be less… eventful.”
Endrance thought about how he’d be away from Valeria’s reach for several years. “I’m hoping that it will, at least, be less busy.”
Alana gestured for them to follow. “Stay the remainder of tonight and tomorrow and rest. We will make sure you’re ready for the trip across the River of Glass before we send you off. You can also write up your messages to the ambassadorial staff awaiting your arrival.”
Endrance nodded. “I take it that it’s safer to travel at night?” he asked, walking out of the giant room with her, his companions in tow.
Alana shook her head. “The desert leading up to, and after the river, is dangerous at night. There’s a species of insect that grows quite large here that hunts at night. During the day, it’s hot enough to kill your horses, not to mention they are not suited for desert travel.” She led them down a hallway twice the dimension of any normal passage. “Instead, you will travel in the hour before and after suns set and suns rise.”
“That’s only four hours a day.” Endrance said. “That seems exceedingly slow.”
“You’ll want to go on foot.” Alana added. “We found out the hard way that the insects find the smell of horses irresistible.”
“We’ll have to leave our horses here?” Joven said, a frown forming on his face. “But, I like my horse.” He muttered.
“We can keep an eye on them here, or if you want to sell them to us, we can pay you for them, and you can purchase another mount when you return.” Alana said. “But bringing them along will only draw trouble to you.”
Joven shook his head. “I would not sell him to you.” He said. “He has a temper.”
“He’s also never let anyone else ride him.” Endrance said. “Nearly kicked me in the face the first few weeks I traveled with him.”
Alana frowned, considering. “Well, I don’t know how to send him back to Balator.” She said. “Is there someone in Ironsoul who would be able to watch after him for you?”
Joven thought about it for nearly a minute, while Endrance, Selene, Bridget and Tanya agreed to sell their horses to her. After they finished the transaction, he snapped his fingers.
“Aha!” he exclaimed. “I think Gwen would probably be able to watch the horse.”
Endrance glanced at the barbarian, a smirk on his face. “I knew you two would get along well. You don’t think she’d have a problem with him?”
Joven nodded. “Oh she will, if I know my horse as well as I do.” He said. “But I think I can trust her to respond like a barbarian would.”
Endrance’s expression fell. “You think she’d punch him in the head if it bit her.” He stated.
“Yep.” Joven replied. “She’s got a mean left hook, I’ll tell you what.”
Endrance turned to Alana. “I’ll write her a note. I’m sure she’ll love the horse.”
Alana nodded. “Okay, I’ll have him sent back with our next mail dispatch.”
Alana turned and gestured to the room they walked into. It was, like all the rooms in this tower, huge in size. “This will be your quarters.” She said. “The doors have long since rotted away, so make use of the curtains. Also, please do not go down any stairs you may find. We have only cared to keep the two floors below us secure.”
“This isn’t the ground floor, is it?” Selene asked.
Alana finally gave a genuine smile. “Of course not, otherwise it wouldn’t be called the Sunken Tower. From what we can tell, this tower goes down at least two dozen more floors, but since everything is nearly half again as big, the area has more than enough space for all of our ambassadors from the elven lands.”
“So you don’t know what’s down there?” Endrance asked.
Alana waggled an extended hand, a so-so gesture. “We more or less know, but mostly we haven’t confirmed there aren’t any traps or defensive magic further down since it had been cleared by the Circle of Magi hundreds of years ago.” She explained. “We occasionally have people come through who want to explore, but they always come back reporting nothing of interest. But they came back, so there can’t be anything that’s really dangerous.”
“I want to know more about the insects you mentioned.” Joven said.
Alana shook her head. “Plenty of time to brief you on them before I send you on your way. Rest for the night, and I will fill you in on the desert in the afternoon.”
“Fine.” Joven agreed. “Tomorrow then.”
Alana bade them good night and departed.
“That was far more pleasant than last time.” Endrance declared once the curtain was in place.
“I hate her.” Selene said, frowning.
Endrance sat down next to her, putting an arm around her. “You hate her?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She said. “That’s weird.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know why I hate her.” Selene said, confused. “It’s like when I first met you, but without the part that liked you.”
