Magician Prince (36 page)

“I am not scared of her,” Michal said with
defiance. The spark in his eye showed that he meant it too.

“Fear her or not, it will make no difference
when she forcibly tears apart your mind to get at whatever secrets
you might be holding. It also will matter little in protecting you
when she decides to bury the blade of her staff into your skull.”
Michal had no response to that except for the sudden draining of
color from his face as Alia came over the hill behind them. She had
been running, but upon seeing Byrn and his captive she slowed her
pace to a fast, purposeful walk.

“Where is Avelice?” she called in a frantic
rage.

“One of the magicians got away with her!
Tomlin is trailing them to Mollifas,” Byrn shouted back.

“So Tomlin has not betrayed me after all.”
Alia half-smiled to herself, and then added, “It was Riona.” The
distance between them was nearly closed now. “She took my baby
while the others kept us busy.”

“Are you really Byrn?” asked Kaleb. He was
rubbing his arm. There was a faint aura of magic there where
Southernstar must have applied some healing magic to repair
whatever injury Ryonus had given him.

“I am, Kaleb.” Then he spoke to Alia as well.
“Then Sane has explained to you what is going on?”

“We already knew,” said Kaleb and Alia
nodded.

“We only found out last night,” added the
enchantress, “When my father revealed the truth to me. I am glad
you are alive by the way.”

“You seem to be taking this well,” observed
Southernstar to Alia.

Michal laughed at that. “Xander might
disagree. She tried to kill him last night.”

Alia ignored him. “Seeing you like this is
not that easy for me to get past. I know you are Byrn, but when I
see you I still see my father and it is difficult for me to
separate those two things.” She averted her gaze, and then after a
moment said, “We do not have time for this. Does he know anything
useful?”

“He has been uncooperative.”

The enchantress nodded. She started to
approach Michal’s earthen encasement, but noticed the anti-magic
rune drawn into the dirt. It was glowing faintly after having
absorbed most of the fire magician’s magic. “How did you do that?”
she asked, then immediately followed up with, “Never mind. I don’t
really care.”

“Where is Riona taking my daughter?” Alia’s
voice carried an almost hidden melody in her question. With his
magic nearly completely drained it was impossible for Michal to put
up an adequate mental defense to protect himself from Alia’s
hypnotic charm.

“To Mollifas. Xander is probably taking over
the castle even as we speak.”

“Why would he take her from me?”

“I do not know.”

With that the questioning was done and Alia
let go of his mind. She aimed the blade of her staff at Michal’s
face and thrust forward. However, his scream was cut short when
Byrn grabbed the weapon and pulled it so that the blade missed his
head.

“You don’t need to kill him,” Byrn told
her.

“I don’t need to let him live. There is no
value in saving him and I am not accustomed to leaving enemies at
my back.” Alia pulled her staff free from Byrn who let it go at her
efforts.

“It will take him a day or two to work his
way out of that dirt mound and by then this will all be settled one
way or another.” Byrn positioned himself between Alia and
Michal.

“Then we will not be going to Mainor to find
some Atmari crystals?” asked Sane.

Byrn shook his head. “We will be going to
Mollifas to rescue my daughter. If we can subdue Xander long enough
for me to retrieve the crystals, then so be it. Otherwise…”

“Otherwise what?” Kaleb asked. He knew enough
from their tones to be concerned. Sane put a hand on the boy’s
shoulder and shook his head.

“And what of your war?” asked Southernstar of
Byrn. “It seems that both sides want you dead and you intend to
confront them while simultaneously preventing them from destroying
each other. I am most intrigued to find out how you expect to do
that.”

“I haven’t quite figured that out yet,” said
Byrn. “Can you fly us all to Mollifas in your dragon form?”

Southernstar thought about it and told him,
“Your boy and woman would have to ride on my back. I do not like
it, but will allow it under the circumstances.”

“Understood. Thank you.”

Southernstar’s human form shimmered and
rippled like her body was being reflected in a pool of water. A
bright light radiated from within her, shining forth from every
pore in her body and even her red dress seemed to exhibit that
glow. Kaleb, Sane, and Alia averted their eyes from the soon
blinding light, but Byrn refused to look away. He was mesmerized by
the interplay of magics that fueled her transmutation. Enchanting
energy created the framework of the spell that forged an image for
the body to take, then a massive amount of manipulation magic was
forced to course throughout the body at ever increasing speeds
until the very limbs and organs were properly molded into that
shape. It was the lightning fast flow of magic that created the
blinding luminescence of the spell. When the light died down
Southernstar greeted the humans in her true majesty. Kaleb took a
few steps back without thinking, but Sane put a reassuring hand on
his shoulder and the boy faced the giant red dragon.

Alia reached out to touch her, then pulled
her hand away. “May I?” she asked.

“Do as you will,” Southernstar’s voice echoed
in their minds.

The enchantress touched the dragon’s leg
tentatively. “Your scales are cold,” marveled Alia. Southernstar
bowed her head and showed a toothy smile.

The dragon’s head turned to Byrn. “What are
you doing?” she asked, her mental voice held an air of patience and
interest. “You are trying to replicate my transformation. Do you
wish to be a dragon?”

“I wish to be myself again,” Byrn told her.
His concentration was all tied up in rebuilding his former body.
Creating the enchantment framework was not that different than the
disguise of Baryn that he wore when infiltrating the castle. It was
summoning forth enough raw power to infuse every inch of his body
and force the shape change that was proving to be difficult.

“You need more power,” observed
Southernstar.

When Byrn did not answer Alia grabbed his
hands and held them in her own. It was almost enough to break his
concentration, but then he felt a sudden influx of magic coursing
into his body. Alia was feeding him, willingly transferring her
power into him. It had been so long since they last shared this
mingling of magic that Byrn was at first surprised, but soon was
reminded of the intimate connection they once shared. Byrn’s body
felt hot and his muscles started to ache as his shape was minutely
changing with every passing second.

Alia let go. The heat was too much for
her.

Byrn’s muscles grew tighter. His hair
darkened. Freckled spots on his arms lost their color and
everywhere his skin tightened. He could feel his nose shrinking and
his vision grew sharper. Then he fell to his knees and it was Kaleb
that helped him to his feet and supported his weight.

Sane wore a mask of shock. His hand was held
over his mouth to keep his jaw from dropping. “How do you feel?”
the sorcerer asked in amazement.

“I feel weak, tired.” Byrn looked at his
noticeably younger hands, turning them over as he did so.

“Your body is still old although you no
longer look it. It is impossible to turn back the wheel of time
once it has turned forward,” Southernstar told him.

“Never the less, it is good to have my old
body back or at least some semblance of it.” Byrn held out his hand
to Alia. She was sitting on the ground in shock. “Thank you for
this.”

“It only seemed right that I help you,” said
Alia. They looked into each other’s eyes and felt a spark of old
passion. It was Alia that broke their gaze and turned to the
others. “We must hurry to Mollifas and find our daughter.”

Janus stood upon the stage built just for
this announcement as he looked over the crowd gathered before him.
Every law-abiding citizen of the capital must have been out there
packed tightly together, filling the square and pouring into the
side streets just to hear their king’s victory speech. He had
succeeded in saving Aurelia from the magician rebellion just as he
said he would. Or at least that is what they all thought. They were
about to find out that the reality of the situation was much
different.

In addition to King Janus, the queen-mother
and representatives of the noble houses sat in places of honor
around him. They wore reserved smiles and talked quietly among
themselves. None of them suspected that they were about to lose
their kingdom to the very group that their pathetic king was
planning to claim he had defeated utterly.

The king raised his hands in the air and the
assembled masses cheered in excitement. Janus was dressed in regal
purples and red silks. His golden crown, though lacking in
adornment, was well polished so that it shined in the noonday sun.
Janus reveled in the adulation being bestowed upon him and kept his
hands raised high for an insufferably long time. Xander smiled from
his place in the crowd. He would let the lessers have a few minutes
more to bask in their supposed glory before it all came crashing
down around them.

Finally, King Janus lowered his arms and the
crowd’s roar fell to a series of excited murmurs. He watched them
with satisfaction and finally Janus began to speak. “My people, I
stand before you at the beginning of a new age. It is an age where
we need not fear the machinations of magicians who are bent upon
the utter destruction of our way of life! No longer must we worry
about the pain and the misery and the death that follows in their
wake!” The crowd exploded in cheers and applause while Janus waited
a minute for them to settle down.

“The enemies of freedom known as the Magician
Collective have suffered severe losses and been routed from their
fortifications in the east.” Now the crowd’s shouts of approval
were nearly deafening. Xander began to casually push his way
towards the front of the crowd. Kenzai and various guards were
stationed around the perimeter of the gathering with a
concentration of soldiers around the dais and its nobles. “They are
scattered to the winds, but we will not rest on our laurels so that
they can rebuild their strength. Our goal is no longer to contain
the magician threat as my father and his father before him did.
From this day forward we will exterminate any and all magicians
with roving bands of Kenzai warriors dedicated solely to that
purpose.” Once again the crowd shouted its approval, but it was in
significantly muted tones compared to their previous outbursts.
Apparently genocide did not sit well with all of Aurelia’s
citizens. Every family feared a magician being born in their line
for the loss it would create, but they were more comfortable with
sending their loved one to a domain rather than watching them be
executed.

“This was a day that I wished my father would
have lived to see, but I know that he is looking upon me from the
underworld with pride.” Janus started to choke up at the memory of
his father, but managed to keep his composure.

Xander was now only thirty feet away from the
king. He wondered if Janus would recognize the face of his own
brother and secretly hoped that he would. When it was discovered
among the Collective that Byrn was a prince of the kingdom and he
failed to return from whatever trial he had endured with that
Kenzai they kept prisoner it was Xander who planted the seeds of
doubt about Byrn’s loyalty. Even then he saw Byrn as a prime
candidate for his next host body. The young man was already a
master magician and showed great potential for becoming a
grandmaster if he could acquire knowledge of the most powerful
magics as Xander once did. His relationship with Alia was a
difficulty that had the grandmaster seeking other potential hosts
once he knew how far along their romance had proceeded. That was an
entanglement that Xander would have liked to avoid altogether, but
the advantages of being Byrn Aurel outweighed that one drawback.
Alia hated her father now, but in time she might come to forgive
him once she sees the kingdom become a beacon of freedom for their
kind. He would tell her of his conversation with Kassani and why he
had to have Avelice back to ensure that she becomes ruler of this
realm once she is of age and Xander steps down in thirty or forty
years after taking his next body.

Xander snapped back to reality from his
musings. Janus was wrapping up his little declaration of victory.
“From this day forward it will be the magicians who will be the
ones to live in fear. They will be the ones to flee in terror when
they see our Kenzai squads coming for them, knowing that they have
no hope left!” Janus stopped to take a breath and the crowd let
loose with more whoops and hollers of support. If not for the
constant interruptions of the people assembled, Janus’ speech would
have been only a few minutes long, but their constant interruptions
had allowed it to drag on for much longer than it should have. That
was enough. It was time.

There were about thirty people within a
ten-foot radius of the grandmaster. That would be plenty of
sacrifices for what he had in mind. Xander’s original plan would
have led to a slaughter within the castle. Alia countered it with
an admittedly smarter plan that would allow them to take the royals
while limiting casualties on both sides in an effort to keep “Byrn”
safe from his own curse. After her escape at the cabin, Xander
decided a combination of their strategies would be in order. He
would take the nobility prisoner with minimal fuss, but let them
watch as he tore through a good number of citizens with ease. They
should fear his reprisal so much that once he did have the reigns
of power in his hands no one would ever consider attempting a
revolt against him. He unhooked the staff beneath his cloak and
held it in both hands as he channeled death magic into his staff
and called forth the ancient dragon crest rune in his mind’s eye.
It was a complicated design that would require a half hour of
drawing on the ground for a master necromancer to cast it, should
one even be fortunate enough to know the spell. He suddenly slammed
the weapon into the ground. The earth shook for a moment at the
weight of the impact and a black light began to grow around him in
the shape of the dragon crest rune. Women screamed and men cried
out in pain that were unexpectedly caught within the rune as it ate
away at their bodies. Only Xander who stood in the center was
unaffected.