Rising of a Mage (15 page)

“Anwar, they are beautiful. I love them. I love you. Can we go test them?”

“You can if you want I am going to need a little time to recover.”

“We can test them together tomorrow then. Now I think you deserve a proper thank you, if you are not too tired for it.” Anwar smiled back at her. She set the blades on the floor next to them, and took him.

The next day they went to see Anwar’s brother. He was hammering on a huge piece of metal when they arrived. Anwar had no idea what it would be, but whatever he was making it was going to be heavy. Mariah ran to Cannen. He set his hammer down as he saw her coming. She threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek.

“Thank you, Cannen. They are beautiful.”

“Ah yes. The knives. I am glad you like them.”

“I love them. I brought them with me. Do you want to see what your brother did to them?”

“I could only imagine.” She took them out of her leg harness and handed them to him. “They look the same to me.” Mariah laughed.

Anwar picked up a board that was leaning against a far wall. “Need this?”

Cannen smiled. He was about to get a demonstration. “No, not particularly.” Anwar held the board over the edge of a long table about fifteen feet away from Mariah. She winked at Cannen and threw the blade at the board. As she released, Anwar dropped the board to the ground. The blade flew over the table glowing orange, but, as it passed over the end of table, instead of continuing into the wall, it changed course, shot straight down and plunged into the board on the ground. Anwar picked up the board and held it up for his brother to see, the blade buried an inch deep, hanging from it.

“Now that’s a knife. I can’t believe I had a hand in making that.”

“Ah, but you did, brother.”

“Do the rose blades do the same thing?”

Mariah pulled one out. “Where is your thickest piece of scrap steel.” Cannen looked at her, a little confused. He walked over to a piece of scrap metal that were still big enough to work into odds and ends pieces he might need. Mariah set it on the ground, leaning against the table. She drove the blade into it. It sank into it down to the hilt. She pulled it out, put one hand on the metal to steady it and then cut the piece in half. “Gods, man, that’s half inch plate. I could use something like that around here.”

Anwar picked up a long knife. “This do?”

Cannen pulled a shorter three inch blade from a sheath on his hip. “This would be better. Could do some real nice ornamental work with a knife like this.” Anwar put the long knife down walked over to his brother and took the knife. Cannan grinned. “You serious?”

“It’s the least I can do for my big brother. The other thing about these knives you made is that they can’t be broken except with very powerful magic and they will never need sharpening. I’ll do the same with this.” “Thank you, brother. It’s too bad you don’t plan to stay in Kampar. I could open my own smith. We could get rich off magical weapons like this.”

Anwar smiled. “How much would it take to open your own smith?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I could get something started with a hundred gold pieces.”

“How much for a fully equipped smith—something like this?”

“Closer ta two. I’m saving though. I’ve got about twenty put away; four or five good years like the last two and I’ll be set.”

“How much could you sell… say, a sword for. One that would never break and could cut through steel like butter.”

“Sword like that I could sell to the king of Kampar himself. He’d equips his royal guard, no doubt. Sixty crowns a piece, at least.” “Present him with the offer. If he accepts, get the design he wants for the sword, make six and I’ll imbue them.”

“Anwar, I couldn’t.”

“Of course you can. If the king doesn’t accept the offer, make whatever swords you want and I’ll imbue those. Give me another day and I’ll have this knife ready for you. It would be nice to have a demonstration to give the king, I’m sure.”

“Anwar, what did I ever do to get a brother like you?”

“Love you too, Can.”

“I hate when you call me that.”

“Course you do. Alright, well, we’ll let you get back to work. See you in two days.”

“Oh wait I almost forgot.” Cannen went to a table, reached into a small tray and pulled out a ring.

“Thanks, Cannen.”

“It’s nothing really.”

Mariah followed Anwar to the gem cutters shop. “Ah, Master Anwar, good day to you, sir.”

“And a good day to you. I’m going to need another gram of sapphire dust and a gram of diamond dust.”

“Yes sir. Working hard, aren’t you, sir.”

“Looks like I’ll be working even harder soon.”

“In that case, this is on the house. Got to take care of the repeat customers, don’t ya know; keep ’em repeat customers.”

“Thank you. I’ll be back again soon; you can count on it.”

Anwar took the two small pouches, stuffed them in a pocket and then he and Mariah headed back to the guild.

“What was that ring you brother made you?” Mariah thought she saw the edge of his lip almost curl into a smile.

“That is the next item on the list.”

When they were back in the room Mariah asked when Anwar was going to make his brother’s knife. “I’ll do it tomorrow, let my energy fully recover.”

Mariah realized making these items must really have taken a lot out of him for him not to jump right into the new work like he did everything else, but then again, even though Anwar was the most powerful wizard in Kampar, if it was so easy to make magical items they wouldn’t be so rare or valuable. The next morning Anwar went to the spell chamber and repeated the process he had used to make Mariah’s rose daggers. He had the spells memorized now but he still repeated them a hundred times that morning before he came to the chamber. He didn’t feel near as drained after the completion of this knife as he had after the three he had created for Mariah. His energy would likely be restored by the end of the day. Gabrielle saw Anwar leaving the casting chamber with a bag in his hand, headed in the direction of his room. He wished he knew what he was making. Danner had told him that Anwar had come by twice, and of all the components he had purchased. Whatever Anwar was creating, they would be pretty powerful and from the sound of it he was making a number of them. Anwar and his damn secrets.

Anwar returned to his room. He spent the rest of the day writing in his book. He explained first that his brother made the blades. He explained the design of each blade in detail. Then he explained the components and the spells he cast on each blade. Then he copied the spells into the book. He wrote about the knife he had just created and what it was going to be used for. When he was finished, he spent the rest of the night studying three scrolls he had spent a lot of time finding. Each told a different version of a similar spell, but he was going to use a combination of the three spells to create the next. He began copying down the different portions of each spell in the order he would need to use them as well as the components from each that he thought he would need to use. This was going to be very difficult indeed. He hoped it would work. It was going to be the hardest spell he has ever worked, but not nearly as hard as the one he was planning to finish this book with.

The next morning Anwar took the knife to his brother. Cannen ran it down a length of steel and it cut through it like paper.

“This is amazing, Anwar! Thank you. Are you sure about these swords? It seems like its asking a lot.”

“Well, you’re not asking; you’re practically refusing. I’m more than sure. Just don’t promise a complete product for at least a month. I have to finish a couple of other things before the end of the month and then I’ll need a little time to recover.”

“Oh, even if I started today, it would take me at least a month to finish the six swords, seeing as I’m doing these on my own. I have to work on them in my own time after I finish my work each day. If the king decides he wants them, I’m sure it will be an elaborate design that will take me even longer.”

“Sounds like a plan then. Oh, to pile a little more on your plate, Mariah meant to ask you the other day if you could make her a strong little chain to hang a rose pendant on. She saw it in a jewellery store. It looks like the one on my ring so she got it, but she didn’t want one of those flimsy little chains they sold.”

“I’m sure I can come up with something.”

“Thanks.”

That night Anwar finished putting together the spell he was going to use on the ring his brother had given him the other day. The one with the KG stamped on the face of it. He explained to Mariah that he was going to spend the next four days preparing for this spell along with his daily practice of all his magic. Every day he worked different areas of magic, making sure to keep them all fresh in his mind so they he retained his mastery over them.

The next day Mariah followed Anwar around the city collecting the items he would need for the ring he was imbuing. The first stop they made was at the gem cutter. He purchased a gram of diamond dust and a small uncut ruby for 22 gold crowns—a very fair price. At another shop he bought the wing of an eagle. At the final shop on the far side of the city he bought a scale of a fairy dragon. That was the most expensive item he bought at 23 gold crowns. Any kind of dragon scale was expensive; they were very rare, but they weren’t as expensive as they were rare because there were very few real uses for them. Fairy Dragons were not very big and the scale was about half the size of his palm. With all the items he would need for his casting they returned to the guild. Anwar continued to study his spells; he documented the items he had purchased in the book he was writing. The next day Master Gabrielle saw him in the halls and asked if he minded if he sat in when he created his next item. Anwar realized he must have talked with Danner. It was true Danner was fair and honest but he was obviously reporting to Master Gabrielle as well. Anwar was entertained by this. There was no way for him to know what he was going to create, even if he figured out all of the other components. He kindly explained that he would need to do this spell without Master Gabrielle, but at the end of the month he was going to create his final item. He requested Master Gabrielle’s presence for this. Master Gabrielle seemed satisfied that he would be there for what would undoubtedly be his most difficult creation, as he was saving it for last.

Two more days passed and Anwar prepared for his spells. He practiced them both a hundred times, and Mariah went with him to the casting chamber. He explained to her that this item would take more energy for him to cast than all three knives. In truth, it would take more to cast than a dozen knives and it would take him at least a week to fully recover the magical energy it would take from him, but he did not divulge all of that. He reminded her of the importance of not distracting him once he had started and she agreed. She moved to the corner of the room and patiently watched. First Anwar laid the ring with KG stamped on it on the table. He emptied the bag of diamond dust on it. He had decided that, any time he was going to create a magical item, he should start by making sure it would last and not be easily destroyed. He would make a note of this in his book later. He cast the spell of hardening and the diamond dust all around the ring dissolved and was absorbed. Then he laid the ring on the fairy dragon scale, placed the ruby in the center and set the eagle’s wing on top of it. He began casting the spell, and soon he saw the ruby dissolve. As he continued, the eagle’s wing dissolved but was not absorbed. He thought that it might happen, and did not let it distract him from his casting. As he spoke the final words of the spell, the command words that would activate the ring—Kampar Gabrielle—the fairy dragon scale made a popping sound. It burst into flame and, as it burned, all of the smoke floated into the ring. When it was finished, he spoke the command word that would seal the ring. Anwar stood there staring at the ring for a few minutes. Finally he looked up at Mariah.

“It is done.” He dropped the ring into his pocket.

When they returned to their room, Mariah spoke. “Anwar, are you ok? Did it work?”

“Yes I am just very tired. And I believe it did work. I will have to test it to know for sure.” Anwar had intended to write everything that had happened in his book while it was still fresh in his mind, but he was exhausted.

“Anwar you should get some rest. You look like you have been sparring for hours.” He nodded. He took his boots off set them at the edge of his bed and climbed under the covers. Mariah walked to the bed, kissed him on his forehead, and told him she loved him. A few minutes later, Anwar was dreaming.

Anwar slept until the next morning. When he woke, Mariah was already gone. Anwar wrote in his book. He noted his opinion that when creating an item of power you should start by hardening it and making it last. Then he explained what components he had used and in what order along with the spell he had used to create the ring. He noted that the eagle feather had dissolved, but had not been absorbed by the ring. He explained that he was not sure if it was needed when he figured out the spell, so he used it just in case. Then he copied the spell into the book with the revised list of components required for the ring of teleportation. As he explained the creation of the ring, he explained that before he spoke the final command words that he concentrated hard on a specific point in a specific place as he would have done when teleporting. He did not list the command words or the place to which the ring would teleport you. This book was meant to help others understand how the magic was done; not how to use the specific item he had created. When he finished detailing everything he could about the ring and what he had done to it, he closed the book and set it on the shelf next to his bed. He still needed to test the ring but he would do that after he created his final item. His body was recovered but he could still feel the drain on his magic; it would take nearly a week before it was fully recovered. He could still work magic without any risk to himself but it would slow the process of restoring his magical energy.

Before he began studying his final spell, however, there was a knock at his door. he got out of bed and opened it. It was his brother Cannen.