Wizard Ch. 12

John's luck can't hold forever, can it? He's causing trouble and it's well past time for him to be tested. And what better time to test him then while he's distracted tending to his newest thrall?

You can find Chapter 11 here, Chapter 1 here, and the story (Enchanted) that started it all here

John emerged from the Mayor's house and made his way back to the well. Helleen stood at his side a moment before asking, "What, exactly, do you plan to do?"

The sound of still ringing against steel caused them both to turn. Helleen's hand went to her sword but she did not draw it. Artesia stood in front of a group of men and women, all of them villagers save for Roxanne, and led them in drills. They were armed with spears, swords, and cudgels.

"What in the name of the saints is she doing?" Helleen wondered.

"Teaching them how to fight," John said.

"That's not fighting, that's... that's..."

"That's fighting," John said. "Not the artistry of a gladiator or the skill of a swordsman, but the simple manner of fighting in mass."

"Thought you were a wizard?"

"I am, but Artesia has been spending time teaching me how not to fall on the sharp end of my spear. She's been teaching me how to fight by myself though... this... this I can see how the movements sync with the soldier beside them. It looks clumsy and it would be, by themselves, but can you imagine fighting a line of soldiers like that?"

Helleen fell silent as she watched the villagers drill. It was sloppy and awkward for most, but there was no denying the effectiveness of it. Assuming they all kept from dropping their weapons, that is. "Without flanking them it would take a sacrifice to break that line," she admitted.

Baylee, the man who called himself Sheriff of Highpass, was in the front ranks of the defending group against Roxanne and Artesia. He was sweating in the cool mid-morning air but wore alternating looks of determination and grins as they worked.

"So, that plan?" Helleen asked. "While your woman teaches them how not to piss themselves."

"Oh, I expect a good many might still do that," John chuckled. "But hopefully now they'll live to clean the mess up themselves."

Helleen wrinkled her nose.

"If they can protect themselves better are you thinking they won't need us anymore?"

"I hadn't planned any of this at all. I expect it's Artesia's doing. That woman is something else," John said.

"Is that right?" Helleen mused. "She seems awfully grumpy all the time. Pretty enough, even with her scars, but she doesn't do anything with herself."

"Oh, I don't know about that," John said. "I'd say she does plenty. You just need to look for it. I'd choose a thousand Artesia's over a single beautiful useless courtesan."

Helleen smirked. "What about a not-so-useless beautiful warrior?"

"You fought well against Jennaca," John said. "Almost gave her a challenge, even."

"Almost?" Helleen cried. "Why, if I'd had her measure I would have known far better how to put her down. I've been studying her, you know. If we spar again it will be a different battle, I assure you!"

"Yes, it will," John agreed. "A battle where she defeats you far quicker. Remember, she didn't have your measure either."

Helleen's mouth fell open and she stared at John as he bowed his head, turned, and strode away.

John saw Matthew emerge from the longest building as he walked toward Artesia. He waved and Matthew waved back before breaking into a jogging and reaching him as he neared the drilling recruits.

"We've broken up our patrols, one of my mine or yours with one of theirs. Teaching them the routes and how to keep watch," Matthew said.

"That's a good thing," John said.

Matthew grinned and leaned in. "What's next, then? How's that girl?"

"Aisley is recovering. She woke up and talked to me a bit."

"Oh, what came of that?"

"The end is near, I think."

Matthew drew back. "For who?"

"Depends on how we go about it," John said. He shrugged. "These creatures serve someone... someone that has a goal in mind. It's not just mindless savagery and feeding on the locals."

"I thought not. Why would they bring them game every few days? It's like they want them fed... but not fed well enough to avoid going hungry."

"Aisley said they leave the people at Hawk Hollow alone... mostly. As long as they produce."

"Produce? Produce what?"

"Gold."

Matthew stared at John for a long moment before he asked, "Gold?"

"Aye, that's where the mine is. They mine and smelt it and then it's taken from them. Meet their quota and they live to work another day. Fail and...well... that's why they cleared out Rock Haven. They needed more miners."

Matthew swore.

"I'd wager Highpass here is where the reserves are kept."

"Reserves?"

"Aye, when the folks of Hawk Hollow can't keep up, they'll need a bigger work force. That, or they'll need replacements for the people killed."

Matthew swore again.

"Mind you much of this is conjecture," John warned.

"Conjecture?"

"Yes, I'm speculating."

Matthew stared at him again for a long moment.

"I'm guessing," John tried. "This is what makes sense to me, based on what I know."

"Right," Matthew said and shook his head. "I follow you. Seems you've got the right of it, far as I can figure."

John smiled and turned to address Artesia.

"So, all this gold," Matthew said.

John turned back to him.

"Seems if we were to liberate them and reclaim all this gold, they'd be willing to share some of it with them that freed them, don't you think?"

John smiled. "It's not an unreasonable thing to ask."

"Damn right it's not," Matthew said.

John turned to Artesia. "What's this?"

"Teaching them to protect themselves, my lord," Artesia said while lunging forward and trying to drive the wall of alternating spears and shorter reach weapons back. She drove a spear to the side and blocked a sword with her shield. A club slowed at the last moment as it swung toward her. She took the softened blow on her hip and twisted with it to drive the back of her sword-wielding hand into the man's face.

The defender staggered back and fell, tripping the man behind and beside him. She stepped into the break and kicked the legs out from another defender before slapping a third across his upper back with the flat of her blade.

She stepped back and shook her head at the man who was cradling his sore jaw. "Don't pull your blows. Not for me and not for a true enemy. And you! Yes, you... when he fell back you tried to catch him? Are you daft, mad, or do you ache to see your guts spilled on the ground?"

He gawked at her like a fish freshly pulled from the water.

"Let the man fall. If he can rise, he will. If he can't, then you did not good but cause an opening in your line. When your line is broken, it is weak. You're in too tight to swing properly and anywhere I can go I'll kill your friends, sisters, brothers, and wives. If there's more than one of me, they'll force a wedge and flank you. Then you're all dead."

Her harsh tone and words caused the anger in their faces to drain right along with the blood.

"Now set up and do it again!" she barked and moved back. She nodded to Roxanne, indicating she should attack next.

"Artesia, a moment?" John called.

"Of course, my lord," she said and turned to walk over to him.

"This is... perfect. Thank you," he said.

She smiled. "They're a bit slow, but living like this most of them know how to account for themselves. They've a few hunters too. Possible archers, if they can learn well enough to protect. They know nothing about fighting together though. This seemed like a good way to help them."

"It is," John agreed. "I'm even more impressed to think that a one-time bandit can teach such tactics and command so many people."

Artesia's face colored from the praise. "I wasn't always a bandit," she mumbled.

John smiled. "Tell me, how long do you think until they'll be able to fend for themselves?"

Artesia turned to look back at the drilling villagers. "This is only the first group. The ones on patrol will need to take part and so will the others that are still hiding in their houses."

"I'm not sure they're hiding so much as doing what they've learned needs to be done to get by."

She snorted. "I'd say a week, but that's only if they keep up with it. Otherwise they'll get sloppy and it will all fall apart. Two months would be best."

John winced.

"You had other plans, my lord?"

John tilted his head. "Do you know how very much I respect you?"

Artesia's brow creased. "My lord?"

"I respect all of you, Artesia. Your mind, your skills, and your privacy."

"Have I done something to upset you?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Far from it. You just reminded me of something I noticed before... you always address me as 'my lord.'"

"We discussed that some time ago, I thought?"

He nodded. "Yes, briefly, but I didn't really notice it then. It's not that you call me your lord, it's that you refer to me as, 'my lord,' and not, 'milord.'"

"I always learned to speak it properly," she said.

"Yes. A lowborn person, no matter their personal worth or potential, learns to speak of it as, 'milord.' You do not."

Artesia stiffened. "As I said, I've always tried to speak properly."

John smiled and realized he wasn't going to get any more out of her. "It was just something I've noticed. A passing curiosity and one of many unique quirks about you that combine to make you the wonderful young woman you are."

Artesia hesitated before bowing her head. "Thank you, my lord."

John turned to take in the villagers drilling with Roxanne and, now, Matthew. "Hawk Hollow is where we need to go," John said. "That's where the villagers are being taken too. That's where Rock Haven's people went."

"That's the next town in the mountains, isn't it?"

"It is. Two days trek through the mountains to the north."

Artesia stared off into space as she considered the logistics. "You want to leave now? They're not ready and if it's a two day trek..."

John nodded. "You're right. I want to get there and find the source of all this, but I'm not willing to sacrifice these people to do it."

Artesia smirked and asked, "Are we sacrificing the people in Hawk Hollow instead?"

"From what Aisley said, as long as they do what their supposed to, no harm comes to them. We'll have to leave their fates in their own hands for now."

She snorted. "Shouldn't everyone be responsible for their own lives?"

John chuckled. "Indeed they should, but I think we both know how sometimes our lives spiral out of control and it feels as though we're riding a galloping horse and just trying to hold on."

Artesia winced and nodded.

John turned and studied the town. "What about fortifications? Would that help?"

"It would," she agreed. "But they don't have enough people to learn to fight and build at the same time."

John grunted. "All right. Is there anything I can do to help prepare them?"

Artesia studied his face for a moment and then shook her head. "You're barely more than a danger to yourself with your spear, my lord."

John chuckled.

"Best if you continued to think on what we face and how we can defeat it when the time comes."

"Very well. Thank you, Artesia, for your service and your candor."

She blushed again and turned back to the villagers. "I should get back to this."

"Of course," John said.

She returned to the group and watched a moment while Matthew and Roxanne tried some different tactics against them. In moments she had something to say and did so in a voice loud and fearsome enough John was glad she served him and not the other way around.

He slipped away and struggled to put the pieces of the puzzle together. In Rock Haven the people were gone and so was their wealth. Now the villagers of Hawk Hollow were being forced to mine gold for these vicious creatures. What use could these things have for wealth? The answer was as obvious now as it was before: they didn't need it. Someone else coveted wealth. Someone or something.

"I need to see one," John muttered as he followed the growing path the patrols were making around the village. He needed to understand what they were to understand what could have made them.

There were wizards that focused on wild animals. Breeding and magically altering them. Just as John had once been enthralled with how renowned and revered mastering enchanting would make him, these others sought the prestige and the arrogance of mastering the transmutation and transfiguration of living creatures.

Black leathery skin with heads like an alligator and long prehensile tails they could use as weapons. Vicious claws and, as he'd witnessed, opposable thumbs. What would such a creature even begin life as? A wolf? A great cat? A lizard?

"You shouldn't be alone out here."

John spun around and saw Helleen standing between the back wall of a house and a boulder. "I needed to walk and think."

"Even so, I can't imagine how upset Jennaca would be if something happened to you. I'd have to console her and, well... as much as I might enjoy that I know that would ruin her," she said and walked toward him. "You timed your pace to be between patrols too, I noticed."

"I did," he admitted. "I needed some quiet."

"So I should stop talking? I can't leave you alone, it's not safe."

"You're fine," John said with a smile. "I've worked through the worst of it."

"Oh, and?"

"And I can't do much more right now," he said. "It's frustrating... but we're doing the right thing here."

Helleen fell in beside him and asked, "We are?"

John smiled at her. "Training these people and helping them, I mean. I need to see one of these creatures. Study it. Learn what it is and, hopefully, what it was."

"What it was?"

"These are no natural creatures, they had to come from something and be twisted by magic into what they are now. That would also explain why they're working together. It takes a great social instinct and intelligence to boot to draw so many of a species to work together. Animals do not possess such things on their own."

"Intelligence," Helleen said. She shivered. "You speak as though you admire them."

"I suppose I do, in a way. Enough to be afraid of them, at least."

She looked around them. The larger evergreen trees had been cut down to make logs for building, leaving only saplings and scraggly pine and spruce trees amidst the occasional boulder. Mountain walls rose all around them, protecting the village of Highpass in a natural bowl of sorts. "You think they're watching us now?"

"I'm sure of it," John said.

Helleen shivered again.

John chuckled. "I thought you enjoyed performing?"

She glanced at him. "I do... what's that have to do with anything?"

"Well, if you like to put on a show, doesn't that mean you like being the center of attention? Like being watched?"

"Not if it's something that's waiting for a chance to eat me for dinner!"

"I suppose that's a good point."

"Your damn right it is!" Helleen said. She chuckled and shook her head. "Every time I think I start to figure you out you go and spin me about and slap me on the arse with your spear to remind me I'm not as smart as I think I am."

"I haven't slapped you--"

"It's a figure of speech," she explained. "Any recruit we train to join us has to learn how our style of fighting. It's a dance, really, and most would-be-dancers are clumsy. So we teach them by exposing their flaws. That means spinning them about when they move wrong and slapping them on the arse with our weapon to prove a point and embarrass them."

John raised one eyebrow. "Well, I suppose that's one way to do it."

Helleen grinned. "And you keep doing it to me."

John glanced at his spear. "I'll try to keep the pointy end away."

Helleen laughed.

John checked the sky and frowned. The sun was in the southwest and it would be dipping below the mountains in another hour or so.

"How long are we staying here?" Helleen asked.

"That's up to you," John said. "Jennaca, Artesia, and I will wait until we feel the villagers can defend themselves and then move on. I hope you stay with us, but Matthew will make that call."

Helleen snorted. "He'll do what you tell him. Haven't you figured that out yet?"

John stared at her. "Why do you say that?"

She gestured around them. "All of this? It's way beyond him. Matthew was a soldier once, long ago, but he didn't like the killing. That's what he tells us. I think it's more that he didn't like the thought of being killed."

John frowned. "He doesn't strike me as a coward, more like he's concerned about his people."

"Oh, he's not a coward, but he definitely weighs his risks for himself and for us."

"That's good. I'd like a leader that valued my life."

She smirked. "We do, but what all this is... what we're doing here? It feels good. We're not sell swords or soulless soldiers that only do what our lord and master bids us, but we might as well have been for all the good we've done. We've made a living by not really living, you see."

"Because you have no roots or homes, you just move about and never get to know anyone but each other?"

"You do get it!" Helleen said with a smile. "This... whatever this is we're doing... it feels good. Rox feels it too and I'm sure so do most of the others. Is this the sort of thing you always do?"

John pressed his lips together a moment as he considered his reply. "It's the sort of thing I'd like to do more of," he admitted. "I live a complicated life, Helleen. Jennaca and Artesia too, I suppose, since they've been swept up in this with me."

"Jennaca adores you," she said.

"Perhaps as much as I adore her," John said.

Helleen smiled. "That's something else I don't understand... you two are smitten with each other."

"You find it hard to believe that I could care for a woman like her?"

Helleen's laughter echoed off the mountains. "Oh no, far from it! Jennaca's like a raging spring flood, she could sweep away an entire town with her smile alone."

"Seems I'm not the only one smitten."

Helleen blushed. "We've talked. Quite a lot, actually. I fancy her, I won't deny it. She seems interested too."

"She is," John admitted. "But don't tell her I told you that."

Helleen's breath caught in her throat a minute. She shook her head before she could continue. "So why is it she said she couldn't be with me... not until you and I..."

John snapped his head around to look at her. "You and I what?"

Helleen blushed. "I think you know."

John felt his cheeks warming. He shook his head to force his thoughts to fall in place and said, "I don't know why she said that. I told her she could do what she wants with you."

"That spins me about too," Helleen said. "Why, with all the hardship and danger you face, would you two not be together?"

John sighed. "I said my life is complicated."

"Mad seems a better way to put it."

John smiled. "I'm more than a wizard, Helleen. Much more."

Helleen's eyebrows drew together in confusion.

"Once, long ago, I was a wizard. I forget nearly all of that though. Now I'm learning the art of magic again, but without the sins of my past," he said and then chuckled. "I have new sins this time... a great many of them."

"Such as letting the woman you love fuck around on you? I've heard of that, but you don't strike me as the type to be cuckolded."

"If that were the case why would she insist I bed you before she could?"

Helleen winced. "Good point."

"I serve a greater power," John said. "A being with her own ambitions and needs. I exist to fill some of those needs."