Battlemage Nonetheless: Book 6 - Apprentice
Chapter 15

Copyright© 2011 by Risq

Dusty and Suzan appeared in front of a distraught Daniel as he waited for their arrival.

A few people had showed up and were helping the downed guards as Daniel looked at Dusty and Suzan. The people had sent for more guards to come watch over Wolfgang after they heard Daniel explain to Dusty and Suzan what happened to the first set of guards and his wife in better detail.

"And then the bastard took her and disappeared by, I guess, it looked like he stepped into a shadow," said Daniel.

"Did he get Wolfgang or did he decide to stop at the door?" asked Dusty.

Daniel looked at him strangely for a second before he answered.

"No your friend is safe, so now we need to worry about my wife," said Daniel testily.

Dusty tried to smile warmly as he stepped forward to touch Daniel.

"I asked because I was told he had a code he lived by and he said he didn't want to kill or really harm us. I asked that because I wanted to see if he lived by his word. The fact he left Wolfgang alone when he took Rachel says that he did it to lure me to him and he doesn't want to harm her," said Dusty.

Dusty felt Daniel take a deep breath and some of the tension leave him.

"I'm sorry, it's just ... she's my life ... my wife ... my children's mother ... I," started Daniel.

"I understand. What message did he leave? Where did he say we needed to meet him to get Rachel back?" asked Dusty changing the subject and trying to keep Daniel focused on getting Rachel back.

Daniel was a proud man. If he broke down over something like this, and they were able to get Rachel back safely, he knew Daniel would feel uncomfortable around him from that point forward.

With Daniel leading them to the front door Dusty saw the dagger still deeply embedded in the door. Thankfully no one had touched it while they were talking about what had happened to Rachel in front of Wolfgang's supporters.

"Suzan, can you and Daniel look at that please? I want to check on Charles or Wolfgang, or whatever we're calling him today," said Dusty as he started in the house.

Walking through the house Dusty quickly reached the back of the house and looked in. He saw Charles and Kat side by side in bed. If he didn't know better he would have thought them to be only sleeping.

One of the men from the city followed him inside to watch to see what he was doing.

Stepping up to the bed he checked first on Charles's non-existent wound, then he looked under both of their eye lids, and then he checked their bodies magically. He couldn't find any reason they were still both out cold.

As far as he could tell they were both physically sound.

Just as he finished Suzan and Daniel entered followed by two guards who stood outside of the doorway and waited.

"You won't believe this. It's a letter of challenge. He's challenging you to meet him at something called the "Crystal Caverns". The note said you know where it is and that you should be there in less than a week if you know what's good for you. Where is that anyway?" asked Suzan showing Dusty the note.

Dusty re-read it himself before he looked back at the two of them.

"It's just outside of Menthausen where we just were, the capital city of the mages. It's where they used to mine and refine their magic absorption crystals used all over their city. That cavern has been long mined out and they had to find another supply of the crystals. Its about ten miles outside," said Dusty.

"Why did he pick there?" asked Suzan

"I guess he's trying to prove a point to both us and the council," said Dusty.

"That will take us just shy of two weeks to get there," said Daniel.

"Unless we don't stop at all, day or night, until we reach the city. Apparently the plan is to have us very exhausted when we reach him. He must have a quicker way to reach where he's going," said Dusty as he frowned.

"Maybe not," said Suzan excitedly.

"What's up hon?" asked Dusty.

"We left our horses and packs back at the city right?" asked Suzan, almost rhetorically.

"Sure ... aaaannnddd," said Dusty.

"Well I left my phone in the pack because I was in a hurry to examine the beautiful gates and I completely forgot to go back and get it when we headed out," said Suzan smiling.

"So all we need to do is call it and when it picks up teleport before the voice mail finishes your greeting," said Dusty excited.

"Just hope the stall is big enough to hold us all," said Suzan smiling.

"I just hope they've not gone through your packs and sold your stuff," said Dusty smiling back at her.

"Great! This way we can surprise him and finish this fight before he's ready for us," said Daniel.

Linking hands they quickly called Suzan's phone.

When it picked up Dusty said "Outgoing call Suzan's phone" and the three of them disappeared from Wolfgang's home.

The small group that had assembled in Wolfgang's room looked astonished, but quickly switched back to watching over Kat and Wolfgang in bed.

The guards were used to Wolfgang doing strange things, they were sure that any friends of his would likewise do them as well.


Wolfgang felt like he was floating.

He had felt this feeling before. He never really wanted to feel it again, even though when he had it held positive benefits for him.

The first time he had felt it was when he fought with Athol. Thanks to that he had learned more about Dusty's world. Enough that most of the things he saw when he was a child were solidified and he was able to better grasp them.

The second time he was trapped into this feeling it was for longer, but again he saw the world and took a few more ideas away from it. But still, he didn't want to come back ever again if he could help it.

But here he was yet again!

"This" time he had the same feeling of floating but he couldn't see anything like he had before. It was like he was floating on an inky black sea and there wasn't anything there.

Suddenly he 'felt' screaming.

He didn't hear it so much as felt it in his mind.

Looking around he saw a bright outline off in the distance. It was the general shape of a woman, but where he would normally see general features he only saw the generous outline of a very well built woman and she had a faint blue glow.

Willing himself to move that direction he closed in on her. He had never noticed anyone either of the times he was here before.

As he got closer he realized it was KAT!

"Kat is that you?" asked Wolfgang mentally.

Kat appeared to stop screaming as she frantically looked his way.

Instead of her bright brown eyes and brown hair he only saw the completely blue outline of her body, eyes, and hair. But he knew her features when he saw them!

As his mind reached out to her she stopped her screaming. Wolfgang saw her fix him with a desperate look as she tried to find something to latch onto in this world of darkness and nothingness.

"Charles is that you?! Where are we?! Please help me?!" cried Kat as she swiftly started moving his direction.

"Kat we're..." was all Wolfgang got out before she reached for him and tried to wrap her arms around him.

At her touch the world exploded in their minds.

In the blink of an eye Suddenly Wolfgang was Kat!

In that microsecond he relived all her experiences. He felt the lure of a lifestyle he could never lead but was tempted into it by a friendship with the Duke's son William who was bored with it.

He felt what it was like to have sex for the first time. He felt what it was like to have sex as a virgin woman with a man. The pain, the rush of emotion, and the skillful way William took her over the edge into her first orgasm.

He felt the lies and betrayals, and the devastation of everything as it came crashing down when she got caught by her boyfriend after the first time she had been with multiple partners in a single night. Wolfgang felt the crushing feeling of loss as she looked into his eyes.

Wolfgang then felt the hurt and devastation as the love of her life, the man she was going to marry, turned his back on their engagement. It was after finding out what she had been doing as she told him what she had been doing. Then later feeling the desperate loss again when she finally knew that there was nothing she could ever say to win him back, and he had left the city to avoid her forever.

He relived all the loveless sex she engaged in and her feelings of betrayal by all men. She felt they had used her as their plaything, later tossing her aside to return to their former lives. She felt they didn't care how badly they screwed up her life in their quest to only get their rocks off.

He felt the sense of vindication she felt when she had the power to end their lives for so carelessly messing around in her life without a care in the world.

Wolfgang later again felt the devastation when that desperately long lost lover, the man who looked eerily exactly like him, came back into her life as she was trying to kill Aric for his power! She had tried to kill Aric twice and she had almost succeeded both times Wolfgang realized.

Wolfgang realized that Kat had gotten far closer to killing Aric than he ever did.

As the rest of her life played out, he was still inside Kat's mind. He was still able to see how every time she helped someone she moved a little closer to what she felt was redemption.

There were many times that she failed, a few times she was assaulted or raped trying to achieve it, but she still kept walking the path to what she felt was atonement. He relived all the times she was with a man or the times it was with many different men.

At first he felt all the power she felt she had over them and the joy it brought. Later those same emotions changed into ones of anger. Then they changed into sadness as she realized no matter how many she was with it never changed how they viewed her.

Not one of them felt anything for her beyond something to be used for their own pleasure.

He also could see the self-loathing she went through after those times. Times she tried to mental justify what she had done just so she could go on living. Times she looked for the one man who could give her back what she had lost so long ago.

Wolfgang relived all the pain of loneliness that she lived through as she desperately searched for her other half to complete her, the one she was sure that she would never find because she gave him up without weighing the cost of her actions.

During this same blink of an eye, Wolfgang lived through every one of her marriages. Every one of her faked deaths. The living with heart breaks or the problems brought on by marriage.

Through it all accepting of everything others did to her as her fault no matter who was to blame for what.

Kat saw it all as part of her penance for her actions early in her life.

He could see her desperate plight to protect all human life, almost at times shielding just one person at a time. She saw it as a way to protect their dreams, unlike how she squandered hers away so long ago

Meanwhile, at this same time, Kat was now Wolfgang!

She watched as he found the body of his father after it had been brutally murdered on the orders of their King. She relived all the times his father encouraged the boy to try one after another of his crazy inventions, as Wolfgang tried to make the world better.

Kat saw through his eyes his first meeting of his wife Beth and what he had to do to win her over. She relived all the times Beth and Charles worked at freeing his kingdom of the despot who was killing the men and taking their wives and daughters for his personal harem.

Not one of the woman taken ever reappeared anywhere in the kingdom again, nor were ever seen by anyone leaving the kingdom.

She witness all the various battles he and his new friends fought to try and free the kingdom that culminated into the night he could finally take revenge on that King for what he did.

Kat watched all the times Wolfgang had with Beth and how happy he was with her and how they built a kingdom together.

She felt the pain of how Athol came and took it all way!

Kat relived that fateful battle where Wolfgang, risking his life, tried to save his friends. It was a battle where he faced someone he knew he couldn't defeat, someone who much more powerful. He knew his opponent was a powerful and unmatched Battlemage, but he tried anyway.

She saw and felt the incredible pain that Charles felt when Athol wounded him.

Kat then sensed him waking up and looking for his wife, only to realize that over half a millennium had passed since he had last seen her and that she was now gone.

She felt the incredible grief and loneliness at the sudden loss and felt his heart shatter into a million pieces knowing it was just that morning when he last saw her. How he would now never have closure with her.

Kat saw him start to rebuild his life and take over the reins of the life his wife had left for him and. How he did everything with the motivation of making her proud of him as if she was still with him.

She saw the countless years, similar to hers, that passed and how he lived them. She saw his battles with all the Battlemages over time. It was then that she realized that Wolfgang was the one responsible for their deaths! It wasn't a curse as she had always heard!

Kat saw how Wolfgang was loved by his people and how he often needed to use one in a way that would allow him to achieve the best outcome for the greatest number of people. She saw how those around him were willing to lay down their lives to make sure that he could accomplish that goal.

But she still saw how he was hiding his loneliness from everyone and how long he read and reread his former wife's journals every night to try and feel that bond that was gone from so long ago.

As the two of them intermixed with the other's lives they started screaming in shock and panic as they lost hold of their separate identities.

They each became the other person and the shock was too much for them as they started to drown in the other person's pain and anguish...


Rachel was slowly coming around.

The last thing she remembered was talking to the guards about what they were going to do and say when one pitched over. It appeared he was hit in the back of the head with the hilt of a dagger.

As she started to shout out a warning the other one started to fall forward almost at the same instant in the same manor.

Reaching for her sword she started to look around to see what it was that took them out when the most god awful pain erupted from her side.

She knew the moment that she was hit that a rib was shattered, possibly two, but she didn't think it punctured anything. She could remember screaming from the sheer pain before someone hit her in the stomach so hard that it knocked her out.

Looking around she noticed she was hanging by her arms in an open area that was at least a hundred yards to the nearest wall. The walls were just far enough away that she could make out the various support beams used.

There were also various sizes of metal support girders all around her that appeared to be holding up the ceiling. She could tell by this that she was in some type of cave, but only that much she was sure of.

Moving tenderly to the side, she tried to lift her legs to the right and the sheer pain in her side almost made her scream again, but instead she gasped loudly. Yes she was sure a few ribs were broken.

"Yeah, about that ... I needed you to scream. I'm kinda sorry because you're actually pretty nice looking, shame to have to damage that nice body. For someone with your muscle tone you're actually pretty soft to the touch. But I did what I had to, to get your friends here," said Galvin as he came into the light.

Concentrating on the man now in front of her she saw that he was dressed in all black. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt, black pants, and had twin swords strapped to his back. The man had on a hat that had what looked to be trailing scarves behind him that were attached to the hat.

He had a scar over one eye and might have been handsome save that he had a cold smile on his face. Besides, he broke her ribs in a single shot to the side just to make her scream. That would put a damper on anyone's attraction to him.

"Who are you and why am I here?" asked Rachel softly, while trying to breathe shallowly.

She tried not to move around too much.

"I'm Galvin and you're here because one of your friends claimed to be able to protect you all from me. You're here to prove him wrong. I'd say so far he's failing pretty miserably at protecting you, wouldn't you?" asked Galvin.

"I have to say that Dusty ... no my husband isn't going to take this well, so you had better release me," said Rachel.

Galvin started moving around her slowly without saying anything, but once he was behind her spoke again.

"Shame I'm not the type of guy to rape a woman, it's bad for business to be known as an animal like that," said Galvin

Rachel felt his hands lightly on her butt, but she fought every inclination she had to twist away. She knew that it would only aggravate her broken ribs.

"Yes ma'am ... that is a bad thing indeed to be known as. A rapist I mean. But I might have to make an exception in your case," said Galvin softly as he slid his hand around her and then lightly cupped one of her breasts for a few moments before he removed it.

"You jerk. Let me go before it's too late. My husband will kill you for this," said Rachel softly as she tried to remain perfectly still.

Galvin watched her shallow breaths from behind her for a few moments where she couldn't see him with that same ice cold smile.

She actually was pretty nice looking for the mother of two. Under different circumstances he thought ... oh well business first. He patted her butt once again before speaking.

"Too late for..." started Galvin before he stepped in front of her and looked up at the ceiling.

Rachel saw him watching the ceiling above them before he said "Hmm he's better than I thought. I was sure I'd have the pleasure of your company for at least a week so we could get to know each other better. Oh well."

Galvin acted disappointed, but then he then looked at her and gave her a cold smile again.

Rachel then realized the whole time he was lightly touching her he was trying to get her to move on her own again. He could have really groped her before while she was out, undressed her, or raped her and she couldn't have stopped him. But he waited until she was awake to start to do these things to her.

She figured out that he was trying to get her to hurt herself trying to get away from his touch. He wanted to watch her futile struggle to get away from him.

"You're a real bastard you know that," said Rachel softly to keep from hurting her side any more.

"Guess I am, but your friends are here and by the sounds it's three of them. So I'm sure one is your husband. But you better call him to come save you before I do something you won't like," said Galvin softly as he got closer to her face.

"I'd rather die than lure him into a trap," said Rachel just as quietly as she tried to continue to breathe shallowly.

"You know, I believe you would. Oh well I wanted to do this the easy way. Now I guess I'll just play with him for a bit before I throw him back. Now that I know he's here I wonder how well he'll do with only one nut in his sack. Or you know, maybe I'll cut off the whole thing and see how he likes being a gelding," said Galvin coldly.

Rachel didn't like the look in his eyes, as she twisted away, resisting the urge to scream from the pain. It was just as she started to call out to Daniel to warn him that Galvin knew they were there. Galvin was already moving. He got behind her and soundly hit her in the back of the head.

She then hung limply by her arms as he looked at her. In the end she did entertain him at least a little bit before he needed to move on.

"That went better than expected. Well time to go welcome my guests. Wonder who we'll see first," said Galvin smiling as he started for one of the openings in the side of the massive room.


Dusty, Suzan, and Daniel all appeared just inside the stable back in Menthausen. For all intents and purposes it was a pretty nice stable. Thankfully it was pretty spacious or it might have been ugly if they had teleported inside and not had much room to move around in.

Suzan quickly opened her pack and retrieved her phone.

Dusty asked "Suzan can you bury your phone close by incase we need a fast exit?"

"Sure, not a problem," said Suzan as she looked at him strangely but still did as he asked.

Moving swiftly the three of them went out a side door and was out in the field before anyone realized that they were there.

Now outside, the trio moved swiftly to the entrance of the mine.

Suzan was impressed once inside.

She could see the glitter of the crystals still left behind and embedded in the walls. As she looked around she saw the magical light sources called candlestones as they were used to light up the area. There was a dirt path and rails on the ground mining carts that led further into the cave.

"Everyone welcome to the mine, watch your step, and let's rescue Rachel. I was told once before that all shafts lead to the central room further down," said Dusty as he started into the cave.

They had been walking about ten minutes when Suzan voiced a question.

"Why didn't they just use magic to mine everything? I see shovels and picks still lying around. Why would they do it the manual way when they have such a grand city just a few miles away?" asked Suzan.

Daniel mentally echoed that question.

"Raw calamite crystals react badly to magical interference to start. Once it's refined and shaped then you can work with it in its preprocessed form. But once it hardens, then it's set in that shape for life and you can no longer alter it. It makes it great for defense, but you better get it right the first time," said Dusty smiling.

"Ok, that explains that," Suzan smiling at him.

As they walked on Daniel thought he saw something. It looked like a naked sword. Curious if it was his wife's he started to step towards it.

"Daniel, don't go too far. Some of these shafts can..." started Dusty but was cut off by the roar of the ground beneath Daniel as it shifted and opened up beneath him as he disappeared.

 
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