Chapter 15

Stepping out onto the rooftop, Wahleia paused for a moment, watching the sunrise over the forest on the other side of the river. The view was beautiful as well as the combination of the woods, the trees and the undisturbed river, giving her the feeling there was even more she was not seeing. Admiring the view, she was surprised as a voice above her, called, “If you like the view down there, the view up here is even better.”

Looking for the voice, Wahleia could see a man standing there. He looked old which confused her as his voice sounded strong. Climbing the last flight of stairs, Wahleia agreed the view was even better. Taking a moment to enjoy the sun on her face she was still aware of the man who had spoken to her as her wolves let her know he was approaching. She did not worry about his approach as both wolves were on guard as always but relaxed enough to let him approach without a warning growl.

Stopping beside her, he stated, “Each day I come here to start my day and to enjoy the sunrise, even cloudy days are beautiful here.”

“I understand why you would come here, the forest and river are beautiful to behold. The haze reminds me of the snow blowing off the escarpment back home just before a winter storm blows in.”

“Violent storms do not occur here very often, the magic of the forest would subdue any storm coming from the east. To the south and west there are mountains and should a storm make it past then once again the forest limits the damage.”
“I can feel the power of the forest, but how is it possible for the forest to stop a storm?” Wahleia asked.

“I have lived for many years and seen much in my life, yet even I do not understand the strength of Elven magic. Maybe someday when you return you may ask the elves, yourself,” the man offered.

“How do you know I am passing through?” We have never been introduced and I do not even know your name.”

Turning to look at Wahleia, the man offered, “My apologies, my name is Venoc and I see my apprentice needs further reminders that while he’s known within the citadel, new arrivals have no idea who he represents.

“As to knowing who you are, your name is Wahleia and before I awoke this morning, I was content in not having that knowledge. However, there are those who I have met in my lifetime who deemed it important enough to disturb my sleep with whispers of your name.”

“Why would my name be of interest to anyone?” Pausing for a second to consider her position, she added, “I travel south in order to meet a man I only know from a dream. Other than where my dreams have led me, I do not even know where to meet him, so why would others be interested in me?”

Taking one last look at the sun now rising over the forest, Venoc turned to Wahleia, asking, “What do you know of the history of our world?”

“What do you mean; the gods created Heaven and Earth, and then added all the races in their own images. Each race has their own version but looking past making themselves better than the others the stories are the same as I learned from my grandfather.”

“That is the story most races know, and for most the story is correct,” Venoc said while motioning towards the table set among the trees. Once Wahleia was seated, Venoc continued, “The story goes back even farther but in the interest of finishing before lunch we will only talk of what has come after the creation of the world.

“Once the gods were finished with their creations, the world settled for a time and the races were left to fend for themselves. Most prospered though a few failed and either died out or now survive in small enclaves separated from the other races. Humans as you can imagine thrived on this new world expanding until they were stopped by those strong enough to fight back.

“Fortunately, the races that had fought against the humans, did not take advantage of the weakened human race, as such a move would have surely coalesced the humans into one army. Instead they withdrew leaving the surviving humans to do what we were good at and turning on one another instead of those who defeated us on the field. Only we humans did not just fight amongst ourselves, we implored our gods to help on both sides and true to their nature and own egos, the gods became involved and the last war was the most devastating with the southern lands the battlefield for men and gods.

“The reason the southern lands were attacked by the rest was due to the belief they did not contribute as many men as others did making the difference on the battlefield. The reason given by the rulers was that their contribution in users of the arts was greater. Against the wizards of the other races, human wizards were more than their equal; what they could not defeat were their numbers, and one by one they died eventually leaving only the mundane humans to fight alone which led to their defeat.

“With their defeat the survivors turned on the weakest amongst them to blame and marched on the south. The south expected such a betrayal, building a device to nullify all magic users who were on the battlefield. Once the battle commenced the south used the device which worked better than planned rendering not only humans useless but the gods who had been summoned by their priests as well. All suffered under the effect of the device, wizards in the front who had planned to annihilate the southern army with their magic found themselves defenseless as their magic did not come when called. The men facing them did not wait to charge the men who had intended to cut them down with magic. Thousands died on both sides but what was worse were those who controlled the device were among the dead, no one was left alive to turn it off after the battle was over.

“Then again with so many dead no one really cared anymore. The southern empire was defeated, their people scattered, and the device forgotten as anyone who cared about its use was dead, including several gods who had fallen during the fighting being trapped on the field with their magic blocked.”

“No one has gone back to turn this device off?” Wahleia asked.

“At the time the survivors wanted nothing more than to return to their homes and mourn the loss of so many friends. For a generation no one had considered why magic had disappeared, and then several more generations passed where the discussion was frowned upon. Finally after several hundred years, men started studying why men no longer had the ability to do magic.

“What we found were references to the device used in the war but no mention if the device was destroyed. Expeditions were sent south hoping to determine if the device existed and to either turn it off or destroy it. What one expedition discovered was the cities in the south had not been destroyed as we told in the written histories. Along the coast there were towns and cities with fierce people who did not care for the expedition due to the war. Still the expedition made its way up river, being stopped by a group calling itself the citadel who it turned out were now the guardians of the device and as you can imagine, the members of the citadel were not pleased at our arrival.

“Worse still, when the expedition attempted to go around the citadel and climb the escarpment, they reported numerous undead that at first were only an annoyance. Within days the undead were becoming a problem for not only were there more undead arriving every hour but the dead they had slain would return to the world, rising from the dead once again. The expedition force lasted less than four days before we were forced off of the plateau and back to our ships for the return north.”

“The dead followed you all the way back to your ships?” Wahleia asked between bites of a fruit she had never had before.

“No they did not; the undead seemed to lose interest once we were off the plateau, almost like they were protecting the device or something else, whatever it may have been we never found out.”

After yet another bite, Wahleia stated, “I appreciate the history lesson, but my question remains, why are there people who I do not know interested in me and my name?”

Smiling, Venoc stated, “Your first mistake is assuming those who are interested in you are human. There are a few, but more are not or at least do not claim any human lineage and would most likely be insulted if anyone suggested they were human. Their interest is not in you directly, but the man you seek from your dreams.”

“How would any of them know about my dreams?” Wahleia asked.

“I cannot say, there are few who would consider taking me into their confidence. Wizards and others tend to be a secretive bunch, always leery about letting their guard down around others, where a misspoken word might be worth quite a bit of gold or other treasure. As to how they gained their knowledge of you, maybe one of them is gifted in prophecy or some of the darker arts. Those I do not like to guess about but they too exist.”

Looking down at the wolves resting at her feet, Venoc added, “Maybe one of your spirit guides owed a favor to another. For now though I would suggest you should be happy they have visited me in my dreams, asking me to see you are not delayed on your journey.”

“You have asked me here just to tell me that I am not to be delayed?”

Smiling, Venoc added, “Well that was the purpose of others, I could work behind the scenes to make that happen. For myself, I thought breakfast looking out over an enchanted elven forest with a fellow user of the arts would be interesting. The few of us who remain seldom leave our homes as it is too dangerous for us without the use of our magic.”

“I am no wizard,” Wahleia answered.

“Whether you believe you are or are not is irrelevant. Others, who I would not cross name you as such. If it is their opinion that you are then it is not my place to disagree with them. I will leave any disagreements for you to discuss with them, when they decide to make their presence known. For now I extend my invitation to breakfast and to enjoy the rest of the sunrise.”

Looking to the east, Wahleia could see Venoc was right in choosing this place for breakfast, as the colors across the river were spectacular with the sun reflecting off of leaves touched by elven magic. Taking a seat to watch the sunrise, Wahleia asked, “You say there are fewer magic users every year, why is that?”

“No one knows for sure, those of us who remain believe someone has been hunting and killing the few who have shown any ability. How they are being tracked no one knows but each year there are fewer who come to us, soon there may come a year where there are none, that will be dire as magic then will be truly dying out in a world created for those who used magic.”

“What about the other races?” Wahleia asked, never taking her eyes from the panorama in front of her.

“Even elven users are dying out other races too but human users have fared the worst, as I believe they are the most diverse of all the races.”

“So if I wanted to learn magic finding a teacher would be easy then?”

“Maybe this is why the warning was given. I think if you had come to my attention before then I think I would be willing to take you on as an apprentice. That would be a temptation. Maybe the warning I received was not directed at me to ward off the Overlord but instead was directed at me to not delay your journey. This is something I will have to think upon later.”

Before either could continue, there was a rumble between them as both Moon and Shadow both stood looking towards the stairs. Wahleia was slower to turn as her sight was joined to Moon’s once the wolf touched her leg. What Moon shared with Wahleia was a small boy, dressed in the clothing of the servants of the Citadel, standing close to the stairs, looking scared at the two large wolves staring at him as if he was to be their breakfast.

Lacking the sight of the wolves, Venoc had to turn around to see the page standing close to the edge of the stairs looking ready to run if the wolves made a move towards him. Venoc was waiting for him to bring the message he could see the boy carrying but with the wolves still looking in his direction, he was not going to come any closer. Realizing the problem, he asked Wahleia, “Would you mindsettling your wolves, it seems my page fears them more than me.”

“Sorry, I’m still getting use to Moon’s vision and at times I forget where I am.” Seconds later both wolves were lying at her feet though both were still looking at the boy.

He offered a thank you to Wahleia, though to the boy, he called, “Come here.”

The boy approached and started talking before he came to a stop in front of Venoc, saying, “The rest of the lady’s party has arrived, unfortunately there has been an incident.”

The boy’s statement brought Wahleia out of her chair and her wolves to full alertness as she asked, “What has happened?”

Standing his ground in front of the wolves, he answered, “Before your party arrived here there was a fight in town. Both combatants have been taken to the arena for trial.”

Joining the conversation, Venoc asked, “Who did the guards take?”

“I think the girls said his name was Tuda,” the boy answered.

“Were the girls okay?”

“I do not know. They looked okay but all three of them looked ready for a fight.”

Looking to Venoc, Wahleia asked, “May I see them?”

“Yes of course,” Venoc offered leading the way down the stairs and to the front gate. Wahleia realized immediately this was a different way down and she was soon approaching the gate with Venoc at her side followed by her wolves.

Before she could ask what had happened, Esai blurted out, “They took Tuda to the arena. The guards said his trial will be this morning as there were few fights last night.”

“Before that, what happened?” Wahleia asked.

Conni offered, “When we could not find you on the ship we asked the watch and they said an escort had come for you to take you to the Citadel. Tuda worried since you had gone alone. Once the rest of us were up, he stated he was going to come here and find you. We tried to stop him but I could already see he was agitated and was not listening to us. We did our best to keep him out of trouble but when one of the townies said something insulting to me, Tuda attacked the two of them. When he started winning the rest of their friends joined in making it six to one so we joined in. We would have won too if the watch had not shown up.”

Wahleia grinned at Conni’s statement. Continuing she asked, “Why weren’t the rest of you taken with him?”

Esai stated, “The watch stated the rest of them did not wish to challenge us since we were girls.”

Venoc asked, “In addition to Tuda, how many did they take?”

“Just the two who started the fight.” Conni stated.

“That is not good,” Venoc offered.

“Why, he was defending his sister.” Wahleia asked.

“That will have no bearing on the judges. I would suspect they will look to make a spectacle of them in the arena. More than once they have allowed multiple fighters in the ring at one time. Since he was taken this morning he will be the afternoon’s entertainment.”
“Why would the judges allow this? He was defending me,” Esai asked.

“The city state is on edge with the influx of young men looking to join the army. Until the Overlord signs them up they cause trouble for everyone. These duels are the Overlord’s attempt to keep the number of fights down to a minimum though as you can see the effectiveness is questionable,” Venoc said.

“Can we see him?” Esai asked.

“Not before his first fight, the judges allows no one access; they say it is to prevent friends from smuggling contraband to the prisoners. If he is wounded, then they will allow family or sometimes owners in to tend to them. Unfortunately, there are no hard fast rules for the judges, There have been cases where they have not allowed anyone in between the fights. The more wounded he is the better chance he has of someone being able to see him. Wahleia would most likely be allowed in as he was her servant, but she would have to prove it to the jailers.”
Conni asked, “Is there nothing we can do before he fights?”

“You might return to your ship and wait, if you are going to attend the fights then I can arrange for better seating if you wish and I can escort you there. The Overlord’s troops will keep the trouble makers away,” Venoc offered.

Looking out over the arena, Wahleia was impressed with not only the size of the arena but also the number of people who were seated waiting for the fighting to begin. Her grandfather had told her tales of about how large the building in the city-states could be and the arena here proved him correct. Of course an arena this large was needed for the crowds who were even now filling the seats all the way to the top of the arena.

Venoc’s word had also been good as to their seats were near the judges. Wahleia thought no one could miss them of course as their bright colors stood out from most everyone around them making them easy to see and if anyone was inclined, to kill them.

Sitting next to Wahleia, Esai was having similar thoughts about the judges when the judge dressed in a yellow hat stood up and proceeded to announce judging would commence shortly and that everyone needed to make sure they had placed their bets. Returning to his seat, iron gates opposing each other opened and two men stumbled out prompting laughter from the stands closest to them as the iron doors behind them closed. The men stood and waited where they had fallen moments before. There was a commotion in the stands that drew everyone’s attention as wagers were placed. Both men were about the same height though the man standing to everyone’s left looked stronger.

When the betting slowed down, a second judge stood up, this time to read the charges against the men standing below that included drunkenness and fighting. The red judge then joined the other four judges and they discussed what Wahleia and the others did not know. Returning to the podium the red judge announce, “As this was only a bar fight between friends, and neither man wishes it to be to the death, the ruling of the judges is that they shall fight to first blood, begin,”

There were a few audible boos but they were drowned out by the cheering as both men advanced to the center of the ring. Neither man had been armed when they were arrested and neither had a weapon now, both men preferring to pummel the other to the enjoyment of the crowd. Too soon though, the fight was over as the bigger men sported a bloody mouth from a head butt from the other. Two more fights were resolved the same way before weapons were brought out. Neither man carried their own as he stepped out onto the sands, their weapons being tossed into the sand for them to retrieve on their own. Once the men retrieved their weapons the fight ending quickly as once again the fight was to first blood.