John Forrester: Fire Mage

“How do you know this?” Nikulo said, suddenly alert.

“There are many things I know that you don’t. Enough of this talk. I’m tired.” Rikar pulled a wolf skin over himself and turned away.

The group fell silent. Talis closed his eyes, thinking about Rikar. The time he’d caught Rikar praying to the shrine of Zagros. His words in the desert. When Rikar had called his master. Aurellia. Who was this Aurellia? Talis was determined to find out…

After everyone was asleep, he glanced at Rikar. He seemed asleep as well, but for some reason Talis could feel he was awake, alert, waiting. The wind stirred, a moist wind, blowing from the east. Rikar shifted slightly, and Talis closed his eyes, observing with his ears. He could hear Rikar rising slowly, creeping from camp.

Seconds later, Talis opened his eyes and spotted Rikar stalking along the river. Shadows danced and the moons reflected off the rippling water. Talis followed, trying to stay quiet, and past a bend in the river he glimpsed a dark figure along the shore. Rikar approached the figure and Talis felt a chill run down his spine. He stalked along the forest’s edge, trying to get closer.

Rikar bowed low to the figure. Talis crept closer, until he could hear what they were saying.

“Obedient boy, you’ve served me well. Is all according to plan?”

Talis held his breath. The figure was Aurellia, the one who’d saved them from the necromancers in the desert. In the moonlight, Talis could see one side of his hideous, wrinkled face beneath a black cape.

“It is.” Rikar frowned. “Some complications…but nothing to stand in the way.”

“Complications?”

Talis listened to Rikar tell the story of the assault at the huts. Rikar did his best to change the story to paint his own actions (or lack of action) in the best light.

“This friend of yours…Talis Storm. He could prove useful. Could he be swayed in our direction?”

Rikar paused for a moment, as if unsure how to proceed. “Talis has different aims-he longs only to save his city.”

“As he should.” Aurellia chuckled. The wind changed, gusting up for a moment, striking Talis’s back.

Aurellia stiffened, like a hound catching a scent. He turned towards Talis, pits of blackness blazing at him.

“You were followed…by your friend.”

Talis dropped, feeling electricity crawling along his back. It was too late. Rikar strode towards him, lifting his hands. Aurellia sauntered over as well, his cloak shuffling along the ground.

“You should have stayed at camp…” Rikar pulled his shoulders back.

“A guest…how quaint. I would have come prepared.” Aurellia clasped his hands together, as if trying to solve a puzzle. “Now I could look at this two ways: one, a curious boy, loyal to his friend, concerned for his safety…out here in the wilds. Two, a traitorous boy, spying on a friend, sworn to some foul task. Now which is it?”

Talis stepped out of the shadows and bowed his head to Aurellia. “Curiosity… And I should offer thanks, for saving us in the desert.”

“Most polite…impressive. You are quite welcome.” Aurellia harrumphed. “A master must protect his loyal apprentices. But enough of history, why are you here now?”

“I should ask the same thing of you and Rikar.”

“And insolent. If you wish to preserve the use of your legs, please contain yourself.” Aurellia raised a long, crooked finger. “Let’s just say, behind the curtain of life, there is a grand struggle. Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall. Treacherous plans by the rich and ruthless. Everything you see on the outside is not what it seems.”

Rikar grinned. “The master today, is the slave tomorrow-”

“Refrain!” Aurellia glared at Rikar. He paused, then strode close to Talis. “I am old, as old as recorded time.” Talis could smell the sick stench of mold wafting from his mouth and wanted to vomit. “Many of this world call me master. You have a choice, young Talis, a choice that will decide your future. You can be patient and assume there is a valid explanation behind this secret meeting, or you can act rashly. The latter would be…a mistake.”

A mistake. More like it would cost him his life. He had no choice…

“Apologies for my intrusion.” Talis bowed. “I will take my leave.” As he walked away, he could hear Aurellia whispering to Rikar.

Before Talis reached camp, Rikar jogged up to him, breathless.

“Wait…before you-”

“Who is he? Have you been feeding him information all along?” Talis gripped his sword hilt.

Rikar backed away, pressing his palms out. “This conversation is going in the wrong direction. If you try to fight me, you’ll lose. That sword will do you no good.”

“I want answers…”

“You won’t get them from me. Only Aurellia can give you answers, so you’ll have to be patient.”

“No…you can tell me who he is…how long have you been studying with him?”

Rikar’s face contorted to a snarl, glancing down at Talis’s fire sword now positioned over his heart. “You really want to do this? You think you can beat me with that sword?”

“I just want answers…you owe me that at least.”

“Aurellia is my true master of magic…his knowledge and abilities are beyond any of the wizards in Naru.”

“And how did you find him?”

A pained sigh escaped from Rikar’s lips. “After my father was killed, I kept having nightmares of my father tortured in the Underworld. I visited the Temple of Zagros, begging mercy for my father, but the nightmares continued. Once at midnight I bumped into a robed figure worshipping at the Temple. I was surprised, because I’d rarely seen anyone there. I asked the person if he was a temple priest and he chuckled, saying perhaps in a way he was.

“The man asked me why I had come here, so I told him my story… It turned out that the man was Aurellia, one of the most powerful magicians in the world. He helped stop my nightmares and once he knew my abilities at magic, he took me in as his apprentice…”

“But who is Aurellia, really? Where does he come from?” Talis released his grip and lowered his sword.

Rikar shook his head, eyes dark and mysterious. “You’ll have to ask him that yourself.”

“So we go on, continue our quest and act as if nothing has happened?”

“Nothing has happened…yet. Once we get to the island, things will change, I can promise you that. And perhaps you’ll have your opportunity to find the answers you seek from Aurellia…”

The Surineda Map led them to the island and yet Talis felt like it was a trap waiting to spring. He couldn’t trust Rikar, and he didn’t feel like he could trust Aurellia either. But that island was where the map led them and he could feel the power waiting for them, the power of the sun, the power of the Goddess Nacrea.

Talis turned his back on Rikar and walked back to camp, his mind filled with thoughts.

The next morning Lenora glanced at Talis as if she sensed something had changed overnight. Mara noticed also and sent him a look that said, What’s going on?

He motioned Mara to follow him over to the river and they sat behind an upturned tree stump.

“You look like you slept in a pile of leaves.” Mara brushed a strand of hair from his face.

“After everyone was asleep, Rikar snuck off…to meet the sorcerer from the desert.”

Mara’s face paled in disbelief. “The one who slew all the undead?”

Talis lowered his voice and leaned in closer to Mara. “I followed Rikar last night to the river. The sorcerer…Aurellia, he’s…he’s some kind of a terror. But Rikar told me he’s studying with him…since his father’s death.”

“Rikar’s changed, ever since his father was killed on the hunt.”