Chapter 8

"Tell me again where the pups came from?"

"They are Winter Wolves," I told Artuma. "Vulkai. Their mother died protecting Ilesa and I, and in doing so, was mortally wounded. Ilesa offered to save her, but she chose to save these pups instead.

"And you have them because?"

"Because it was my magic she used to save them with and in allowing my magic to be so employed, I have found myself somewhat ... bound up in their lives and they in mine."

"So you now travel with a pair of Vulkai young, and you cloak yourself in Winter Wolf pelt?"

"I do. The male Vulkai's pelt, the one who sought to harm us, not their mother's."

"I assume that is also where the new ornaments on the pommels of your weapons came from then?"

"Ahh, you noticed that? Yes, the eye teeth of that Vulkai made a far better finish to my new weapons than what I had planned, and I did not have to become indebted to King Tynis to earn them."

"There are debts and there are debts, apprentice. I know you know that as well as I do."

"I do. I can only be satisfied that this time a debt went someplace willingly."

These are not newborn pups, and you have the look of someone who hasn't slept in a real bed in some time. Just how long have you been in the forest?"

"Six months,"

"Your master was willing to do without you for so long?"

"I didn't really give him much choice - well, Gaen didn't really give him much choice, but he didn't seem too put out. I think that once again my chosen path has coincided with where Tynis has told him I will be going. Within those parameters he seems to be giving me a lot of freedom."

"Well what next for you then, my friend? A little time getting used to civilization again?"

"I am sorely tempted to do just exactly that, but while I think I'll have to spend a little time back at the tower, I also still seek a better knowledge of Old Cunish, and you'll remember that last time I saw you, you promised that if I returned you might be able to point me in the direction of a teacher."

"True enough, I did, and I can. I think I can anyway. There's an old wizard I knew in my younger days who claimed to have been a very serious student of Old Cunish during his youth. Whether that was true, or a ploy, I couldn't guess, but he certainly was as familiar with the language as anyone I'd ever heard before or since."

"Do you know where I could find him?"

"That's the tricky part. Last I heard, he had retired to the hermitage at Kaya Tumic, in the eastern mountains. Getting there means leaving the Vale and either crossing the Tatterik and taking a ship south out of Fedriksland, or riding south into southern Montcross and taking the passes there into the mountains."

"Not a journey to be taken lightly. I see why you say it could be tricky."

"Not just due to the journey. What do you know about the hermitage there?"

"Very little, actually. I know it exists, and I remember my master telling me that there are always a handful of the more elderly wizards living there, living out their last days."

"You can imagine what kind of mood a wizard who is so old he is waiting to die might be in. Advanced age and approaching death do little to diminish a wizard's power, but they do sometimes diminish their judgment. This is why their younger peers insist they retire there, to keep their fellows safe and the temptations for straying into mischief few."

"A clutch of senile wizards? I'd never considered the possibility."

"Is it so unheard of?" Artuma laughed. "I confess, I have a hard time conjuring up the image of an infirm wizard."

"Generally it doesn't happen to often. Old, slow wizards usually become dead wizards long before senility could ever become an issue. The hermitage is a gesture of kindness and respect from their younger peers, but in essence it is a brutal choice — retire to isolation, or be killed. Kindness or brutality, few accept it."

"Perhaps it helps to be the more cerebral type. Eliun always told me he was happiest as a researcher and hated the sorts of things that more typical wizards seemed to relish.

"Eliun is his name then? I do not recognize it from any of my readings."

"Yes, Eliun the elder, he was known as. He was a wizard for Robaret, Senior Rider of the Wine River Clans in the Horse Kingdoms. Robaret himself was elderly when Eliun came under his sway, and the two of them were content to remain in the clan houses beside the Wine River and leave the running of the kingdom to Robaret's son Patred, and later his grandson Robaret the younger.

"Was known as? You make it sound as if he was dead already."

"I guess it just comes of knowing that there's a place where old wizards go to die. The concept may be strange, but it leaves an impression."

"I guess it would," I agreed, tossing the bitter dregs of my now cold lavis into the fire. "Its getting late, and I'll want to hit the road at first light in the morning, so I'd better be getting to bed."

"I won't be up to share breakfast with you then, my friend. Have a safe journey."

"Krei, Labo, lets go," I called to the pups. The two of them had been stretched out by the fireplace, soaking up the warmth, something they seemed curiously fond of, for Winter Wolves that is. "Artuma, I appreciate all you do for me, and your friendship."

"I've known some wizards in my time, Pacasin, but you are the first I could truly call friend," Artuma held out his hand and we shook. The pups came over and gave the innkeeper a farewell sniff and followed me out his door and up the stairs to our room.

"You do not want to cross the Tatterik," my master told me when I'd returned to the tower. "Crossing the Tatterik means dealing with the Bitter Peat, even if only a small part of it, before reaching Fedriksland."

"But taking the route through southern Montcross means stopping at Montcairn and presenting myself at the royal court."

"You are sworn to King Tynis, it is his due," my master argued.

"And having met him, I understand why he is not only your king, but your friend. For this reason, I am not afraid to present myself to King Tynis, and as you say, it is his due. It is his court that concerns me though, not the king himself. You have often told me tales of court intrigue. I do not see myself enjoying that."

"Well, you are only an apprentice, its not like you will be missed at court if you didn't, but let me check with the king and see what his wishes in this matter are. Now take those damned hounds out for a run, will you? They are drooling on one of my favorite rugs."

I did take the pups for a run, something they relished, and which I found myself adjusting to. It was a different kind of daily physical activity than I was used to, and though my muscles had protested at first, they were settling into the routine of a daily run and the complaints my legs had been making had lessened in the past few weeks until they were almost unnoticeable. I'd seen an increase in my general stamina as well and wondered if there weren't other things I could be doing that would benefit me. The lake seemed too big and too cold for swimming, but Samaroc had told me that swimming was good exercise and easier on the joints than running. He also recommended I gain some confidence in my swimming, as I seemed destined to travel some, and even wizards needed to board a ship now and then. I would in fact be waterborne soon enough, crossing the lake by barge to reach the southern shore and the start of the road to Montcairn and the southern reaches of the kingdom.

There was a spot beside the lake to the west of the tower that I ran to, a rocky prominence that rose up out of the land around it, jutting out into the lake at the same time. There was a single small and stunted tree that grew at the very tip of the prominence and a small flat knoll, covered in hardy mountain grasses. We ran there again today, and again when we arrived, I practiced the forms I had been taught, replaying the fights I'd been in so far in my life. While I did, I let my magic run loose a little, sinking into the runes of my sword and into the gold-cored steel wire that wrapped their handles.

As I moved, I could feel the pups in the back of my mind, observing as usual, watching me, feeling me, and watching out for me at the same time. As they watched, I let my thoughts wander back over the past six months.

Those months just past had been ... different to my experience than anything else I'd ever known. Ilesa would come to us whenever we came to the pool, and we could speak there, but she would force us out and into the forest after a few hours, and we could only expect her to be there every third day. Even when she was not present at the Chestnut Pool she sent us creatures of the wood, to nurse the pups at first, and when they were ready for it, assured me that finding game would be no problem. It wasn't, and the pups took to the raw meat quickly and without trouble.

So did I. We all took to devouring our catch far faster than we should, and then it was a matter of giving the pups time to grow into themselves and for our connection to solidify into something that could survive outside the forest. For a good part of the time we were there, there was much less of the man and wizard in me than there was of the forest.