The banging of the gavel caught my attention.

  “The interview of this Mage is over. Guards, get him out of my sight,” Chairman Stin stated, disgust in his voice. I heard the opening of the door to the cage at the same time feeling returned to my limbs and my headache subsided.

  I stood up and looked at the Chairman and the Council Members. “Thank you for your time, Chairman Stin. Members of the Council,” I said politely before exiting the cage. Whether they helped me now did not change the needed niceties. I could show some courtesy. There were some people up there who deserved it. I respected the old woman, Meghan, much more than I did that idiot Stin. When I exited the tent into the headquarters, however, one of the guards stopped me.

  “I’ve been asked to keep you in the waiting room until after the Council has finished its deliberations. Would you please come with me?” she asked, appearing uneasy.

  I looked at the hand on my arm and the tension in how she held herself. “Of course I will. Please lead the way,” I said cheerfully. She visibly relaxed, taking me down the hall to the room where I knew I was about to spend even more time.

  The other guard waited by the door, holding it open for me. “Let us know if you need anything,” he said.

  “Thank you, I will,” I replied. As the door shut behind me, a worrying realization hit me. The guards knew I was a Mage. That meant the whole fucking camp would know as soon as these soldiers were off duty. I didn’t have much time. We would need to leave as soon as possible. At the same time, I couldn’t do anything that would threaten the guards. That included casting my Mind Read spell. Even though it was level 2, the person I had cast it on had noticed. Heck, my mare GB had needed to give me permission.

  When I opened my spellbook to where I had left off, it glowed brightly. I squinted my eyes. “What the—” I gasped. The glow diminished. I closed the book and looked at the marginally fancier cover in surprise. I opened it to the title page. Book of Poisonous Shot, Level 2. Holy shit, it worked! I need to get more of these books!

  About twenty minutes later, the guards opened the door, letting in Meghan with Mary on her arm. They both appeared tired, but judging by the way the old woman was walking, the entire session had been much more exhausting for her than it had been for me. I stood up, offering her my seat.

  “Thank you, young man,” she sighed as she eased into the chair. I moved to the bench by the door so Mary could sit with her sister.

  “After how I was treated in there, I wasn’t expecting any visitors,” I said dryly.

  “Yes, well, the cage was just a precaution required by Snit and three other representatives. And after your outburst, you were lucky to be let out of the cage at all. I agree with you, by the way. But Snit is an adherent of the school of thought that the Voice is a higher being deserving of our respect, despite not being one of the gods.”

  “Even some within our ranks believe this is true,” Mary chimed in.

  “Then they should respect my decision to follow the direction of the Voice,” I replied.

  “It’s not that simple, Finn. You’re a Mage. Nathasian clerics from the Empire are preaching in most of the Twelve Kingdoms. They are preaching against you, telling horror stories of past Mages. This makes the whole thing fresh in people’s minds, and the Council Members that represent the kingdoms constantly hear about civil unrest related to word of a Mage walking the lands again. People are afraid, and fear puts them on edge.”

  I stopped myself from asking an idiotic question that had popped into my mind. “Is Juan getting the men he needs? Am I to be detained?” I asked instead.

  “Oh, the force he requested? Yes, and no. As to your freedom, General Venegas is taking complete responsibility and you will be released into his custody. It was the best we could do, considering,” Meghan said softly. “But that’s not why I’m here.” She pulled out a large spell book and handed it to me.

  “This is bullshit!” I snapped. I rode with Juan at the head of the group of thirty soldiers under his command. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful to the old lady—I needed another spell.”

  “It’s a very useful one. Most of your spells are offensive spells, meant for attack. You have very little in the way of support or defense. Councilwoman Meghan did you a huge favor by giving you this.” Juan handed the book back to me, which I quickly zapped into my backpack.

  “Oh, she did! And I was very polite and grateful. I thanked her so much that I thought her sister was going to flay me alive,” I said.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “So what’s the problem, Finn? It’s a good spell,” he asked.

  I mumbled my answer under my breath.

  “What was that?”

  “I thought it would let me fly,” I grumbled.

  Juan’s amusement started off small as he absorbed what I said and blossomed into him throwing his head back in raucous laughter. Some soldiers riding closer to us had heard everything and joined him in enjoying my frustration.

  “What was I supposed to think? The name implies flight! How was I supposed to know it was a shield spell? It’s called Phantom Wing, for fuck’s sake!” I said, irritated.

  Spell Level Range Cost Damage

  Phantom Wing 1 Self 12 MP ACT, 2MP Upkeep

  -Reactive Flare 1 3 Feet 3 MP Act 5-10 HP

  My loud exclamation increased the laughter. I settled into my saddle to brood.

  The soldiers Juan had wheedled out of the Council, the 303rd Chinchillas, were a tenth of what he had asked for. Fortunately, the Council had allowed him to choose which unit he took with him. He chose special operations men and women, led by one Captain Rebecca Clarke. These were the chaos makers, the ones that worked behind enemy lines to destroy supply lines, take out messengers, and steal food and gear.

  All the Earthborn chosen were former military and were the kind of people who were off-book, black-ops soldiers that dressed how they wanted, with beards if they could, and ball caps. None of them were human anymore. There were also the natives, who were a mixed group of everything from humans to races I hadn’t seen yet. It was a scary mix to have at one’s back.

  But one thing I noticed was none of them gave a brask ass about my being a Mage. It was refreshing not to have to worry about being strung up because of my class. At the same time, I doubted they would be enough to get us over the chasm bridge alive.

  Captain Rebecca was another of Juan’s former trainees and was, for all intents and purposes, a tech geek. She’d been in the Navy and claimed never to have been a member of the Special Forces, despite the way she held herself. The captain was a level 51 Spellsword and a very bubbly dark elf. Despite me knowing that she was likely in her forties or fifties, her apparent age was around 17 years. My brother Sean would have been smitten within minutes of talking with her.

  The day was cloudy and threatened rain. We had been making good time up the pass, and I really hoped we could be at the main messenger camp at the top or on our way down before the rain started. Something my father had said about the unpredictability of mountain weather suddenly came to mind, though, as the rain started to drop.

  The light drizzle accompanied us up the pass, dampening my mood. I was grateful for the hood on my poncho and the warmth it provided. Harper and Jerseil caught up with us halfway up the western slope of the pass, each bringing extra supplies. The two were all smiles and laughter, unfazed by the dreary weather.

  I knew intellectually that the ride up the pass did not take much longer than six hours, but it was taking too long, and I just wanted to be dry. My poor attitude and brooding likely did not help matters. The old woman had given me a good spell, and I should not let my ruined expectations tarnish that. What was it she said? “Mary and I hunted down the mage that almost killed me. I don’t want to hunt down another, so make this count”. She had pulled up her shirt to show me the scars. I think that vulnerability had scared me more than her words.

  The spell used on the council member many years prior must have had properties that prevented healing. The basic healing potions that existed in this world were so good that even when I had taken one with quills literally in my body, the puncture wounds had healed with no blemish. Thinking about the old woman’s scars, I had to wonder what kind of spell—what kind of damage type—could do that. It was likely related to the demonic corruption of the deal the Mage made. Whatever the spell was, I wanted nothing to do with it.

  When we arrived at the top, the messenger camp was abuzz with activity. Word had gone ahead of us, and they were preparing to house and feed us before we went down the other side. The drizzling rain made it more difficult for them, as they had tents for the overflow from the barracks. I vowed not to drink so much this time.

  “Hey, it’s the songbird!” cried a messenger. “Come to serenade us with your sweet, sweet singing?” The laughter followed, and behind me I heard Harper loudly explaining my drunken vocals to Captain Rebecca and the soldiers under her command. This led to even more laughter. I groaned. This was not something I would live down.

  Although I had a few drinks with the enlisted after dinner, I woke up the next morning feeling mostly refreshed and found the entire strike force in the mess hall. They must have let me sleep in, as I was literally the last one to come to breakfast. None of the soldiers of the 303rd looked hungover. Considering the amount of alcohol I’d seen them inhale before I went to bed, it was quite a surprise. I grabbed my food and sat among them, listening to their talk about mostly normal things. I paid little attention, though, having most of my mind on what we were going to face in the next few days.

  “… no, no! There were three of them, and they were all sisters! And not of the related kind. Who thought women of the cloth would be into that?”

  “I’m telling you, Marax’s brew is smoother and has a full body…”

  “… and it was the cinch! She never found out who had done it. But…”

  As I got up to leave, one sergeant got my attention. “Yo, Mage! We mount up in 20, make sure you’re ready!”

  “Thanks!” I replied and waved with faked cheerfulness. Almost the entirety of the messenger command post fell silent at the sergeant’s outing me. I felt uncertain eyes on me. Messengers and soldiers stationed here, who had drunk and talked with me the night before, now looked ill. I heard horrified murmurings from the messengers and support staff.

  “…a Mage,”

  “…one of those monsters, here?”

  “What are we supposed to….”

  “I can’t believe I drank with a dirty Mage.”

  I hurried out, trying to act as normal as possible, with the sounds of fear and anger rising in volume behind me. At least we would be leaving soon.

  On another fucking adventure. Hurray for me.