TRC - Lord of the Glass Desert Ch. 01

"Keep an eye out," warned Tetas. "If bandits attack, it will be at one of the low points," he said, pointing at one of the dips in the surrounding walls. "Any higher and they might break a leg."

"What about archers?" Kal asked.

"They may have one or two but there's a chance a stray arrow might hit a horse. With these barrels, they won't be getting this wagon out of here without both of them" said the winemaker. "Unfortunately, I'm going off what the mercenaries I hired have told me. I've never been attacked, but I've also never been on this trip without protection either." He shook his head, "This was a bad idea."

"Then it's a good thing you chanced giving me a ride."

"I could have handled some bandits," said Reez.

"Were it not for our run-in with the patrol earlier, you may have been correct," said Kal. "Between your bow and your father at the reins, you might have escaped an attack unharmed. But if my hunch is correct, they will have had hours to prepare for us."

"What I'm wondering is, why you are still here?" asked Tetas. "I imagine you have some magic boots or something to catch up with us as quickly as you did. Why not leave us? Or maybe you are one of those who hunt down bandits for fun."

Kal shook his head, "I prefer not killing anyone unless necessary, and I could never forgive myself if I found out you were killed when I could have stuck around and saved you."

"For all your caution a moment ago, you seem curiously unafraid."

"I've been in a few fights and I had a good teacher. In fact, I'm crossing the Great Desert to meet her."

"You keep calling it the Great Desert. Its name is the Sulerin Desert," corrected Reez.

"In many of the books I've read, the Sulerin Desert is the largest in the world, which is where it gets its common name, the Great Desert. I'm excited to finally see one, I've never been to a desert before."

Reez looked at his father, "It's the largest in the world?"

The winemaker chuckled, "I've heard that before but I'm not going to take a stick out and measure it. Just to let you know, you aren't missing much. An ocean of sand is impressive at first but the blistering heat steals the excitement quickly." His expression became serious, "On your guard. We are coming up to the first of the low points."

The three men went silent, carefully watching the tops of the walls for any sign of movement. For many long minutes, the echoing clicks of the horse's hooves striking stone and the creak of the wagon's wheels were the only sounds to be heard. Kal frowned at the extra noise, echoes would make it more difficult to hear which direction an ambush came from.

As he looked for any sign of imminent attack, his thoughts strayed to the winemaker's question about hunting bandits and wondered if maybe he was a little too eager for this fight. An unwanted memory came to him of he and Veir landing on the side of the road next to an overturned merchant's cart just beyond Lantaran borders. Kal had been drawn there by a flash of shimmering purple fabric through the trees. What they found on the other side was heartbreaking. The mage chased away the vision, he needed to focus on the here and now.

The men relaxed as the walls of the pass began to stretch above them once again. More of the low points passed with no sign of anything out of the ordinary. After a while, the father and son began to relax and talk quietly. With all the potential places for an ambush they had already passed, Kal was even starting to think he may have been wrong about the patrol. Still, something bugged him about the lieutenant's conference with the captain.

Kal's thoughts were interrupted by Reez as they came around a bend. "Look, we can see the crest of the road!" he said, pointing excitedly.

The move saved the young man's life as a crossbow bolt meant for his chest embedded itself in his arm. Kal kicked off the barrel in front of him, flipping himself backwards and off the side of the cart. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he brought his arms up as if drawing an imaginary bow. A small rune on his vambrace lit up, the spell forming a glowing purple arrow between his hands. Years of hunting the forests around his hometown allowed him to line up the shot before the man atop the cliff had the chance to cock the small crossbow. Kal's arrow streaked toward the bandit, catching him in the shoulder and spinning him to the ground. With a scream of pain, the man let go of his weapon, sending it spinning over the edge of the wall to smash apart on the road ahead.

The mage darted over and dragged Reez out of his seat, throwing him unceremoniously beneath the cart in case there were any more archers before grabbing his staff from where it rested on the side rail. Tetas set the brake on the wagon, jerking the horses to a stop before snatching up his son's dropped bow and quiver. Jumping out of the driver's seat, he used the cart for cover as he nocked an arrow and readied himself for another attack.

He didn't need to wait long. Three men jumped down onto the road ahead and started toward them, but they were far enough away to not be an immediate threat. The four that leapt off the wall behind them were of greater concern. Kal admitted he was a bit impressed as three of the raiders hit the ground and dove into a forward somersault, coming to their feet with weapons in hand. The fourth drifted down slowly from a featherfall enchantment and was easily picked off by Tetas. Clutching the arrow protruding from his chest, the man's featherfall enchantment faltered and dropped him to the ground where he didn't move again. Reez wasn't the only one in the family good with a bow.

Kal held up his staff in front of his face and said, "Spear." Just above his head, the platinum cap on his staff elongated, coming to a point. As he stalked toward the other three, he heard the whip of a bowstring followed by the scrabbling of men trying to get out of the way. The mage was thankful that the winemaker knew enough to not fire into a melee.

Raising a hand, one of the thieves sent a dagger flying at Kal. The shield rune on the mage's vambrace lit up and he lazily knocked the projectile away with the barrier that sprung into existence just above his forearm. Seeing this, the remaining three bandits slowed their advance even as their opponent's magic shield vanished.

"Ria, I need some extra eyes," said the mage out loud. The sprite appeared next to her bag and spun around quickly taking in the scene before turning her body invisible and flitting up above Kal's head.

"The guy next to the cart has taken down one of the three up ahead but he's running out of arrows, looks like only a couple more shots left," reported the sprite.

Kal gripped the spear as the three men came closer, once again fighting off the memory of the overturned merchant's cart. Dealing with these raiders wouldn't make things right again but maybe he could save others, like Tetas and Reez.

"I took out an archer a few seconds ago. Fly up and check to see if he has any friends hiding away up there."

"Got it," she replied before flitting off.

"Also, I don't want you to see this," he muttered under his breath. The speed and strength runes on his vambraces lit up as Kal dashed toward the leading bandit.

Only wielding a couple of daggers, the thief brought the blades up in front of his face in defense as Kal poked the spear at him. The man's body was wide open, but the mage instead spun the spear backward bringing the gold-capped butt up from below. The end of the spear easily broke through the bandit's paltry attempt to deflect the weapon and crashed into his chin. A small spray of blood accompanied by a few teeth erupted from the thief's mouth before he collapsed backwards, his head bouncing off the stone road hard enough to make Kal wince at the sound.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kal saw the bandit with the throwing knives raising another. The speed and strength runes lit up again as Kal reached out, tendrils of magic tethering his hand to the stone beside the bandit. A jerk of the mage's arm and a pylon of rock erupted from the ground, curving until the blunted end aimed directly at the raider's head. The man managed to bring his arm down in front of his face but the thick stone rod smashed through the limb with a loud snap before powering into the side of his head. Out cold before he hit the ground, the raider didn't react as his arm flopped onto the stone below at an unnatural angle.

With a flourish, Kal spun his spear around to brandish the pointed tip once again as he turned toward the last of the three men. More cautious than the others, this one hung back as the mage dealt with the other two and was now backing away while holding two short swords up in front of him. Kal guessed this was the second in command judging by his much nicer clothes compared to the other bandits. Well... he was probably the leader now, Kal was fairly certain the man with the featherfall spell had been the head of this group prior to being killed by Tetas's arrow.

The man took a couple of swipes at Kal, attempting to keep him at bay but the mage batted the blades away with hardly a glance.

"Did they tell you it would be easy pickings?" he asked the man. "An old winemaker, his inexperienced son, and a young mage apprentice. What could be an easier target?" Kal growled as he continued his advance. The man was quickly starting to panic and kept glancing behind him as if contemplating escape.

"Mage! I'm out of arrows!" called Tetas, from behind him. The eyes of the bandit flicked over to where the winemaker was standing next to the cart as Kal's speed rune flared. Batting one of the man's blades to the side, Kal drove the tip of the spear into the man's chest before the raider even realized he had moved.

The man's short swords clattered to the ground as his hands came up to grab the shaft to the spear. "Please, I don't want to die," he begged. His mouth was out of sync with what Kal heard as the translation spell embedded in the mage's mouth went to work. "I'll give you everything I have, I'll become your slave. Just please don't let me die." Flecks of blood were beginning to appear on the man's lips as he finished speaking.

Kal looked down where his spear pierced the right side of the man's chest and was quietly disappointed with himself. He meant to kill the man outright but at the last moment shifted the spearpoint to the other side, away from the bandit's heart.

A memory of shredded purple silk flickered across his mind and Kal's expression became cold as steel, "I don't need your money and I've no need of a slave." With the strength rune glowing, Kal lifted a foot and kicked the man off the end of his spear, sending him bouncing down the stone road of the pass. With a spin of the weapon, he cleaned its tip of any blood and turned to face the two final raiders coming from up ahead.

Seeing the rest of their band had fallen, the two bandits decided this bunch was too dangerous and turned to run.

Another image, this time of a man's emerald green robes turned black with dried blood, made Kal grit his teeth in anger. One of the runes on his vambrace lit up, creating a light blue copy above the glowing ink with a brown secondary ring around it. The center part began spinning, quickly gaining speed until the brown ring on the outside expanded, breaking apart into sections and glowing brighter as the spell activated. Gripping his spear, Kal sped after the fleeing men faster than any horse.

---

"I thought you said you weren't hunting bandits," said Tetas as Kal returned to the winemaker and his son. The man pulled Reez out from beneath the wagon to find him pale and barely conscious, far beyond what one would expect from a crossbow bolt to the arm. "We need to get him to a healer, I think the bolt may have been poisoned," he said, looking worried.

"No need," said Kal, bending down next to the young man and laying a hand on his arm. Unseen by the winemaker, two runic tattoos on Kal's back lit up beneath his clothing. The first quickly neutralized the poison from the crossbow bolt while the second healed the wound in Reez's arm. A third tattoo remained dark, a seldom-used tribute to his late mother that could cure any disease. As the winemaker's son began to rouse, Kal looked up at Tetas, "I wasn't lying. I didn't come here to kill bandits."

"Then maybe you should explain to them what just happened," said Ria, flitting down to land on the mage's shoulder. She looked over at the raiders laying in the road, "I could use an explanation too, I've never seen you like that before."

Kal scanned the area, the first two bandits he engaged were still breathing as were the two down the road. Considering the condition he left them in, the mage was wondering if he did them a favor by sparing their lives. The man wielding the short swords was too far away to see the rise and fall of his chest. Looking at Ria, he pointed at the bandits, "I claim the right of victory, take everything but their clothes. I'll give you your explanation once we are moving again," he said as he helped Tetas get Reez to his feet and into the seat of the wagon. A stream of tiny motes flew into Ria's bag as Kal used a little bit of geomancy to push the stone pillar back into the road before vaulting into the cart and resuming his perch on the barrels.

A short time later the walls of the pass echoed once again with the sound of hooves on stone. Kal waited until they were beyond the last of the unconscious bandits before speaking. "I think this has been festering for a while now," he told Ria, "but I didn't realize how much it was bothering me. There hasn't been much chance to do anything about it with how we normally travel." He turned toward Tetas, "Months ago, just outside the kingdom of Lantaris, I came across an overturned merchant's cart. Hidden from the road were a woman and her father, both killed by bandits. The cart was stripped of all their wares, the father's throat cut, and the woman..." Kal stopped speaking as tears welled up.

"She must have been important to you," said the winemaker.

"That's the strangest part, she wasn't." replied Kal, drying his eyes on a shirt sleeve. "Hell, I didn't even know her name. We just spent a couple of nights together when our paths crossed. She was a good woman, and her father was a good man. They deserved better."

"That still doesn't explain what you did to those brigands back there," said Ria.

Kal allowed himself a small smile, "Veir and I couldn't take the time to hunt down their killers and I think I took out my frustrations on them," he said jerking a thumb in the direction they had just come. "My heart feels a little lighter now and I'll have to hope that I may have saved others on this road from a similar fate. In my defense, most of them were breathing when we left."

"I'd be surprised if the rest of them made it through the night," grumbled Ria. Kal's magic arrow almost took off the arm of the crossbowman he sent her to check on. She arrived just in time for the man to take his last few breaths.

"Not my problem, they shouldn't have attacked us."

The sprite was taken aback by his unusually callous attitude but at the same time welcomed it. This was better than his reaction to killing a couple of ant girls during a rescue months ago. Kal mentally beat himself up for weeks afterward, despite knowing that he did the right thing at the time. Also, these were bandits and scoundrels who were trying to kill them, not a couple of monster girls who were essentially gardeners.

The two men up front mumbled their agreement with Kal's statement before the group fell silent, processing what they had just gone through.

Feeling like he had achieved some degree of vengeance for the woman and her father, Kal focused on the path ahead.

Trying to put the experience behind him, he let his anticipation mount as they approached the crest of the pass. He was hoping to see the expanse of the Sulerin Desert spread out before him the the road's high point. As the cart leveled out then transitioned to the downward slope on the far side, the mage visibly deflated. The tall rock walls and curving path blocked the view. Tetas chuckled and said that they still had about an hour before they would see the Great Desert. Kal was sorely tempted to fly up and take a look but decided to keep that particular ability to himself.

A short while later Reez turned in his seat to look at the mage, his expression serious. "Please accept my humblest apology for my poor attitude earlier. I thought I could defend us by myself and let my pride get the better of me. Thank you for saving my life back there..." he paused in confusion for a moment. "You saved my father and I, yet I cannot recall your name."

The mage smiled, "Kal... My name is Kal"