Chapter 1



Adwin was a runner in many of the ways the word could be used. She had run for fun and exercise since her days in high school. She was a runner in that she was built for it, long legged and with lungs for those long cross country trials. Finally she was on the run from the local magistrate making her the fugitive kind of runner.

A day after her crime found her climbing over the walls of Baile an Ti Mhoir. While the walls were indeed high at close to 70 feet and there were two of them going in concentric circles around the port city separated by a hundred yards of bare earth. They were far from unscalable, having large grooves between blocks for hands and feet with no guards patrolling the tops in these times of peace. In fact no army had laid siege to them in the over 200 years since the Revolutionary war. No criminal had gone over them in 20 years, so there very well might be guards on the fortifications tomorrow. That was why she was going over them tonight before they realized she was pulling a runner.

She hadn't been able to go home for fear of being caught, so she was fleeing with nothing more than the clothes she was wearing and a few coins in her pocket. The city was surrounded first by small communities of people without enough money to live within the walls. Then with walled estates of those rich enough to be safe outside of the city. Then lastly farm lands that supported the rest with fresh food. It wasn't hard at first taking one farm lane after another constantly heading north. Adwin would be safer in Pennsylvania where even if she were caught by the local authorities they would need an extradition order to return her to Mary's land and Baile an Ti Mhoir.

She ran a marathon's distance before she felt safe enough to ask a farmer for a ride in the back of his wagon. Hiding the mage-mark on her cheek to avoid questions of why an American Academy graduate would need to hitch rides and worry about the cost of food. Adwin kept moving stopping only to eat a couple quick meals in little hamlets she passed with a cafe or general store. The money wouldn't last long but it was worth spending some of her coins to be able to keep moving fast. Adwin was almost to the forests of Pennsylvania when she felt the first tinges of cold dread. Nothing else she knew felt like that but creatures of necromancy. It was time to start going cross country.

The brier patch parted as Adwin ran up to it, plants leaning as far away from her as their roots would allow. She barely noticed the tribute paid to her by the plants since she was busy running for her life. Soon as the young woman passed by the thorny shrubs they went back to their original state of tangled defiance daring any who should follow to go through them. Adwin was tired and dirty, scratched from occasional falls onto rocks or dead plants unable to get out of her path. She wasn't about to stop; behind her was a pack of zombies, undead humans and hunting hounds, tirelessly trailing her through the northern woods.

As a lifemage Adwin could influence most living things with a thought causing plants to move away, animals not to notice her, or healing small wounds with a touch of her hand but she had no control over the dead. A single zombie would not have been a problem for her in these woods with so much life around her. Grass would tangle its feet, vines could bind its limbs, and the very trees surrounding it would beat the monster to a pulp at the request of a spell. Unfortunately it wasn't a single monster following her but a large group of over 30 creatures way more than she could possibly hope to stop before they overwhelmed her. They never tired and they never stopped, the zombies would get her eventually unless she could somehow destroy them.

For the first time in her life Adwin found herself wishing she had been born to some other type of magic. A pyromancer could throw a fireball destroying ten at a time. A geomancer could open the earth at their feet crushing them en mass when he slammed the rock closed. Just about any other type of caster could deal with being hunted by the relentless armies of justice easier than she could, of course that was why the tribunal had sent undead after her in the first place.

A noise crept into her awareness, at first a gentle whisper building to a much louder sound of water rushing over rocks. This was her first bit of luck in days, the stream was at least 20 yards across and disappeared off into the woods in either direction with no sign of a nearby dry crossing. Adwin didn't hesitate for a moment before plunging into the water and wading across, the water only reaching midway up her small frame. It would slow the dead up some since they couldn't cross running water without someway of staying dry. They would have to search for a bridge or a really large tree to make it across, that could possibly mean days of travel for them. The Hunt would never give up but this would at least give her a small reprieve while they searched for her trail again.

There was no sign of the undead again that day. It was also proof that there wasn't a mage trailing her to help them. Many of her colleagues could have parted water, made bridges or tunnels to by pass the small river with barely a pause. Adwin guessed she didn't rate that kind of attention from the authorities. Maybe their minions would only restrain her instead of passing sentence the moment they caught her. And maybe she would do better never being caught by them.

The next day had Adwin checking with the trees this side of the river every couple of hours. None of the trees felt the cold entropy of the dead anywhere near them, her pursuers had not made it this far yet. Her network of life extended out for miles around anywhere a living plant's root or leaf touched another plant. Without eyes or ears they couldn't see or hear for her but all life felt the cold touch of death when it was near. Few other magic users could be as well informed about their enemies as her. Maybe a aeromancer could have the wind tell him or a necromancer would feel the pull of his own creations, but a lifemage connected to every living thing that touched another living being for miles. She could even see through the eyes of a squirrel on a tree or a badger in the brush. She didn't bother with the extra effort though since the greens were enough to track the forces of Necromancy.

A few days later found her slipping over the walls of Harris-town with the help of a kindly old oak tree. Adwin's dark hair was longer than the day before, her skin a few shades lighter than anyone who had known her would recognize. A little household magic had cleaned and patched her clothes so she wouldn't stand out in a crowd. There were sure to be portraits being distributed to all the officers of law that could be reached by the mirror network. They'd not spot her by sight at least and if she kept her nose clean they'd not have reason to look deeper. She just needed to avoid any of the town's no longer human guards, they would not be fooled by a few cosmetic changes. Luckily most people where uncomfortable around the products of necromancy so they were restricted to the gates, sewers, and other less wholesome places.

The few coins in her pockets had done her no good out in the wilds but here they were her ticket to a hot meal and a comfortable bed. It felt good to be among people again, too long in the woods left her feeling lonely and dispirited. Adwin hadn't felt this relaxed in weeks since she started her flight from the law. She needed a plan, something more than the endless running. She didn't have enough to purchase a airship ride to Canada or The Aztec Empire. There didn't seem to be a way to earn any money using her biomancer training least nothing that wouldn't give her away. Her thoughts made her trace the area on her right cheek where her sanctioned mage brand had been.

Every mage who graduated from the American Academy was inscribed with a calligraphic symbol of his or her Art and degree they had studied, for those who could read the symbols it was your resume. Unalterable by most it stayed with you for life growing and changing as you did in your arts. The process was so deep into a person that you could run your tongue along the inside of your mouth and feel the ridges from the inside. For those who made their living by the arts it was a part of you like a hand or foot.

A day after her crime Adwin had tried to remove it by every spell she knew. She was versed in more magic than most having spent extra studies in the army, but nothing seemed to work. Finally she had come to her wits and times end as she was sure they would find her soon if it wasn't gone. Her teeth clenched into a piece of wood, her right eye shut, a small pond as a mirror; Adwin used her belt knife to cut away her own cheek. Her only comfort, peppermint leaves chewed to numb her face a little. Once a half dollar sized circle of flesh had been removed, she was just able to stop the blood and heal the edges before she passed out. It was odd to wake up with her face throbbing, her mouth and teeth dry from air constantly blowing on her oral cavity. It was weirder still to grow back the missing flesh without the mage-mark glowing in response. Every spell she had done since academy had caused a small warm glow on her face, and now it was gone.

She needed money if she wanted to travel. A couple of subtle inquiries later landed her a quiet job under the table as a dish washer in a local tavern. The little magics everyone used to heat the dishwater or curse off a really tough piece of food weren't likely to get her noticed by anyone. On the contrary not using those things would get her noticed faster than a one legged zombie at a high school prom. Every kid was taught those basic cantrips as a matter of growing up, weather you were going on to academy or ended up as a growing tomatoes for the family business.

The tavern owner was an older man with a white walrus mustache and a belly to make Saint Nick jealous. He kept his position at the bar as a helmsman guides his ship. Old Jake as he was known seemed never to move from the center of his domain yet nothing in the tavern or rooms above it went unnoticed. His waitresses were family and no one would dare take advantage of Old Jake's family, not if they knew what was good for them. It was not long before Adwin under the name of Jenny was welcomed home as a long lost daughter.

A week turned into two and still no sign of the Hunt approaching Harris-town. Adwin stayed away from the river docks, city gates, and anywhere else the undead might be used. She might have gotten away for the time being even though her portrait was still displayed nightly on the network mirrors. Adwin worked each day in the tavern and slept nights in the main room once the last revelers had gone home. Soon she had enough money to buy a ticket to any where an airship from Harris-town was likely to go. She studied the destinations on the board in front of the sky port whenever a tavern errand took her past it. Unfortunately none of the places listed in the shippers office was named Safe, Free, or Unfound.

As it moved on towards a month Adwin started to feel increasingly nervous, nothing untoward had happened but it felt like her luck couldn't last forever. She let the kind tavern owner know that she would be moving on again in the morning. Old Jake was sad at her leaving since he had never had such a conscientious and hard working employee before. He wasn't surprised though since few willing chose a life of kitchen work as their career. He would miss Jenny but he made sure she got a few extra coins and some traveling food to go with her. She even had a small satchel with a couple items in it to help make life easier. All in all she was doing much better than she had since this whole mess had over taken her. On the way to the sky port Alice, one of the waitresses, caught up with Adwin and started to walk alongside her. Adwin gave her a curious look and kept her own consul for a few minutes. She intended to let Alice be the first to break the silence so as to not accidentally give something away.

"I know what happened in Baile an Tí Mhoir, I just had to tell you that I would of done the same. If I was you. Your secret is safe,"

It stunned Adwin for a moment, she had assumed that no one had recognized her during her time in Harris-town. "How did you know?"

"Mostly it was the timing, that and you didn't change your features just your hair and tan," she said with an embarrassed shrug.

"I guess I need to work on my disguise some. Thanks for being a friend Alice, I didn't realize how good of a friend till now,"

As Adwin turned to go into the sky port Alice put a gentle hand on her arm holding her up to press a few more coins into her palm, "Take these with you, it may come in handy."

The short conversation played over and over in Adwin's mind as she went into the woman's room inside the port. A quick check to make sure no one was in the bathroom with her. A locked stall gave her a place to change into her only other set of clothes, a yellow sundress and sandals. With a spell she had learned as a prank all her hair fell out in a big waterfall of black tresses. Bald as the day she was born she used another spell to regrow her hair blond leaving it short and messy. Next she changed her facial features longer nose, green eyes replaced blue, and a smaller chin made her so much harder to notice. With a final casting she gave herself an additional little post adolescent growth spurt to top off the new and improved look. Adwin nearly collapsed after the last spell, she was out of practice and changing one self was always much harder than casting on others. A quick rest in the lavatory did her a world of good.