The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah) (54 page)

Chapter 43

Magic Duels

Saturday morning Glendymere was waiting out in the canyon when Kevin and Chris arrived.
“Good morning! Did you enjoy your time off? I did. I slept the whole time.”
As he was talking, Glendymere knelt on the ground and extended his foreleg for them to climb up on his back.
“I thought we would head off to an island I know to practice with energy bolts. I don’t really want to destroy my front yard.”

Kevin and Chris buckled themselves to Glendymere’s chain and braced for flight. As soon as they were settled, Glendymere soared into the clear, blue sky. About an hour later, they reached the ocean and soon afterwards the coastline dipped below the horizon. All they could see in any direction was water, lots and lots of water.

“You know, I don’t think I like this. It’s eerie,” Chris whispered.

“I know what you mean, but it’ll be okay. Glendymere won’t let anything happen to us,” Kevin said to reassure Chris.

“If he can help it,” Chris mumbled. After a few minutes, he continued, “I got over my fear of flying by looking towards the horizon. It makes you feel like you’re close to the ground. Well, the horizon isn’t a whole lot of help here.”

“No, it isn’t, is it? I’d hate to try to fly over the ocean. I keep looking at those waves and wondering how I could manage to keep myself in the air. I don’t know if I could do it.”

“You could, and you could support Chris, too. Want to give it a try?”
Glendymere asked.

“No. Maybe some other time,” Kevin answered. And then, as he continued looking down at the waves, he mumbled, “Some other life.”

They had been over the ocean for about an hour when Kevin spotted a tiny black spot in the water. At first he thought it was a whale, but as they got closer, he saw that it was basically a big rock sticking up out of the water.

When Glendymere landed, Kevin had the feeling that they were on the top of a mountain that was mostly underwater. The top of the rock was about half a mile long, a hundred yards wide, and fairly level, running north to south. The east side sloped gently down to the sea, about a hundred feet below, but there was no beach. The west side was steeper, with a few sheer drops. There was no sign of any kind of life.

Glendymere nodded towards the other end of the island and said,
“Kevin, I want you to go down to that end. Chris and I are going to stay up here.”
Once Kevin had reached the other end of the island, Glendymere said,
“I’m going to throw an energy bolt in your direction and I want you to make an energy net to catch it. Let your net touch the ground, and it will direct the energy flow into the ground.”

A couple of seconds later, a bolt of energy streaked through the air across the island. Kevin shook his head and said, “I don’t think I can do this. By the time I saw the thing, it was already gone. I’m just not that quick.”

“You didn’t think you were quick enough to defend against arrows at first either. Same idea, only energy travels faster than arrows. You’ll get it,”
Glendymere said.
“Now here comes another one. Get ready.”

By lunchtime, Glendymere had thrown over a hundred energy bolts. Kevin had figured out how to make the net, but he hadn’t been able to get it cast in time to catch any of the bolts. Although Chris couldn’t see the net, he had kept up with what was going on by listening to Glendymere’s comments.

While they were eating lunch he said, “Kevin, I don’t know anything about this, but it seems to me that the best way to catch those bolts would be to keep the net up all the time instead of waiting until he throws one.”           

That afternoon, Kevin tried Chris’s suggestion and stopped almost all of Glendymere’s bolts. Right before they stopped for the day, Glendymere told Kevin to try to throw a bolt back at him after he stopped the next one. Kevin stopped Glendymere’s bolt easily enough, but when he threw one back, his net caught his bolt and directed it to the ground, too.

“That’s the problem with maintaining the net all the time. It’s an excellent defense, but you can’t attack, and sometimes you have to if you want to end the assault.”

“I guess that’s how one guy loses, by lowering his net at the wrong time,” Kevin said.

 “That’s one way to look at it. The key is to know when it’s safe to lower your net. Timing is crucial.”

“So maybe the smart thing would be not to rush to attack, but to concentrate on defense while you watch how your opponent fights,” Kevin said, more to himself than to Glendymere.

“That’s a good strategy, when you can use it, especially since you don’t have to worry about running out of energy. However nothing says that two sorcerers have to stand out in the open to fight.”

“I thought there were a lot of rules governing magic duels,” Kevin said.

“There are, provided it’s a sanctioned duel, but the only duels that are sanctioned are for the seats on the council.”

“How does that work anyway?” Chris asked.

“The challenger formally petitions for the seat by notifying the Master Sorcerer that he wishes to duel for it. Then the Master Sorcerer sets it up by naming a time and place. By the way, be sure you pick a really desolate place. You don’t want to create any new wastelands. Some place like this would be fine.

“On the day of the duel, the Master Sorcerer, the seated sorcerer, and the challenger meet at the designated spot, along with their seconds or assistants. The Master Sorcerer protects the non-magicals, but other than that he just observes. When it’s over, whoever’s left claims the chair. It’s all quite civilized really.”

“Yeah, provided you aren’t the loser,” Chris mumbled.

“But you can’t count on all sorcerers playing by the rules. You could be the victim of a sneak attack and not know who’s attacking you until you defeat them, and if you score a direct hit before you find out who it is, you might not ever know.”

“How can you protect yourself from a bolt out of the blue?” Kevin asked.

“By always being ready. Tomorrow when we come out here, I want both of you to listen to the sound of a bolt being thrown, watch the change in the light, feel the charge in the air. There are a lot of clues, if you know what to watch out for. Almost every sorcerer can throw energy bolts, and there are a lot of sorcerers out there.”

Kevin thought about that for a few minutes. Then he asked, “Do sorcerers ever sign on with bandits or slavers?”

“Not often, but it happens. Just like some soldiers hire out for the money, some sorcerers go where the money is, too. They usually don’t have to kill anyone though. All they have to do is fire off a couple of warning bolts. No one would keep fighting after that.”

“If they get caught are they put in jail?” Chris asked. “Would a jail hold a sorcerer?”

“Not if he’s any good. But no one tries to arrest a sorcerer anyway. All they’d get for their trouble is an energy bolt. Unless they hang around in a particular province long enough for the seated sorcerer to go after them, they usually either retire or end up being the Master Sorcerer’s problem.”

“The Master Sorcerer’s?” Kevin asked.

Glendymere nodded.
“Taking care of rogue sorcerers is another one of your responsibilities, but don’t worry about it. Most retire long before they make anyone angry enough to report them. Of course, you’ll have to deal with any rogue sorcerers who show up in Camden, but since everyone knows that that’s the Master Sorcerer’s province, they’ll probably avoid that area. Now, if you two are ready to call it a day, climb on board and let’s go.”

After they set down in Willow Canyon, Kevin said, “I’ve got a question. When two sorcerers face each other in battle, do they do anything other than throw energy bolts at each other? So far, it seems like it’s just a contest to see who drops the net at the wrong time.”

“In a way that’s true, but there’s usually more to it than that. Most of the time there are other things around to work with.”

“Such as?” Kevin asked.

“They might throw boulders at each other, set some trees or grasses on fire, sweep some sand up into a blinding storm, or coax a heavy downpour out of the clouds.”

“Why?”

“The more things a sorcerer has to handle, the more likely he is to drop his net at the wrong moment. About the only thing that is considered off limits during a duel is attacking the sorcerer’s second. Of course, that doesn’t mean that it never happens. That’s why one of your responsibilities as the Master Sorcerer will be to protect the seconds during a duel.”

“Just the second? What about the assistant?” Chris asked.

“Same thing as far as the sorcerers are concerned.”

“So, someone could attack Chris to try to distract me, and then get me while I’m busy defending him, right?” Kevin asked.

“That’s about the size of it.”

“So, the winner would probably end up being the sorcerer who can juggle the most stuff, who can remained focused, no matter what,” Kevin concluded.

“I’d say that’s about right.”

Chris thought a moment and then said, “Then it seems to me that the way you convince everyone that you’re good enough to defeat any and all challengers is to show that you can handle a lot of tasks at one time.”

“That’s not a bad plan. Even the most powerful sorcerer would be hesitant to go up against a sorcerer who could spread his attention over several things at one time without letting any of them slip. You might want to add some juggling to your exercises over the next couple of months.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Kevin, Chris, and Glendymere spent all day Sunday and Monday out at the rock island with Glendymere throwing bolts and Kevin trying to deflect them. Kevin’s skill with his net slowly improved, and by Monday afternoon, he managed not only to defend against all of Glendymere’s bolts but to counterattack with some of his own. Meanwhile, Chris sat off to the side the whole time, watching little flashes of light and feeling completely useless.

Towards the evening of the third day, Glendymere asked Kevin and Chris to turn their backs towards him and watch the sea. Then he fired an energy bolt.

“What happened?” Kevin said as he jumped up and spun around.

“What do you mean?”

“You fired a bolt. Why?”

“What makes you think I threw an energy bolt?”

“I don’t know,” Kevin said slowly, “but you did.”

“Sit down and look at the sea again, only this time, concentrate. You too, Chris.”
Glendymere waited a few minutes, and then tossed another bolt.

“Now!” Chris exclaimed. “You fired one just now, didn’t you?” Then he frowned and asked, “But how did I know? I didn’t hear anything. I don’t understand.”

“That’s what I was talking about the other day, about picking up on the clues. You sense it. You don’t hear it or see it, but the clues register, and you know. Chris, that’s why I insisted that you come along. I was hoping you’d develop a sensitivity to the disturbances. Now, what do you do when you sense that a bolt has been fired?”

“Jump for cover?” Chris answered.

“You could, but you’d probably be too late. Although it would be better than doing nothing.”

“Cast a net,” Kevin said. Then he frowned a little and asked, “But where would you cast it? You don’t know which direction the bolt’s coming from?” Kevin stopped and thought for a minute. “How about a dome-shaped net? One that would cover both of us.”

“That would work. Just be sure to make it high enough. You wouldn’t want that much energy disbursing too close.”

“How big should I make it?”

 “Big enough to cover anyone with you, as well as the horses, wagons, everything you want to protect. You need to always be aware of where everyone and everything is because once the net is thrown, it’s too late to make changes. Energy bolts travel fast.”

“Let’s try it,” Kevin said. “Come on Chris. Face the ocean again. Glendymere, this time throw it at us.”

“Are you sure about that??” Chris asked. “You haven’t tried this before. Are you sure it’s going to work?”

“Look at it this way, Chris. If it doesn’t work, you’ll never know it,”
Glendymere teased.

“Ha, Ha. Very funny,” Chris said as he turned his back on Glendymere and sat down facing the ocean again. “Don’t be surprised if I jump when that thing is thrown,” he grumbled.

“Just don’t jump too far,” Kevin said. “I haven’t thrown this type of net before. I don’t know how to do it yet.”

Glendymere flew down to the other end of the island and threw a bolt. To be on the safe side, he aimed over their heads, but just before the bolt reached them, Glendymere saw a huge hemisphere of shimmering light encase them. His bolt reached the net and followed the lines of the net until it was absorbed harmlessly into the ground.

“Not bad for a first attempt. Not bad at all.”

“Hey, as long as it worked,” Kevin said with a grin. Then he turned to Chris and said, “See, you’re still here.”

“Yeah, this time.” Chris shook his head. “I don’t like having one of those bolts headed in my direction. I know we’ve joked about not growing old, but sometimes the reality of that statement hits home.”

“Which is why you never ever want to forget what it feels like when a bolt is thrown,”
Glendymere said.
“But don’t worry about it too much, Chris. Chances are you won’t ever have one aimed at you. They’ll be aimed at Kevin. You’ll be in danger only if you’re close to him, but then, if you’re close to him, he can protect you. So, are you two ready to go home or do you want to practice with the net some more?”

“Let’s try a few more,” Kevin said. “Then we’ll call it a day.”

A little while later Chris said, “It could just be my imagination, but the air seems to shimmer and sparkle when you throw that net over us, and things outside the net look blurred.”

“I don’t think it’s your imagination,” Kevin said. “I see it, too.”