men died in my raid last night, and those few died only because they gave violence to the boy who now travels with me. And before you feel for them, you might consider the thousands of people the orders slaughtered in Arderveer a fortnight prior.”
The room was now quiet except for the crackling fire pit and city noises that drifted in through the open windows.
“Come here, Will.”
The boy complied, and Garrick put his arm around Will’s shoulder.
“The boy and I are going to leave, quietly and peacefully. Make of that what you will. But heed my warnings. It is important you listen to the news this man brings, and it is important you make up your own minds. Koradictine and Lectodinian rule will be upon you before you know it, and it will be only through people like the Torean mages of the Freeborn, or maybe through independent people like me and like you, that Adruin as you know it may be saved.”
The crowd moved away as Garrick led Will to the doorway.
“Be careful, wizard,” the bald man said from afar. “News of this speech will travel.”
“Thank you,” Garrick said.
Then he took Will by the shoulder and guided him out of the tavern.
The nighttime air was cool, and the streets still busy.
“The orders will know where we are in the time it takes a man to run across town,” Garrick said as he led Will to the stables. “So we had best get on the move.”
“Are you a demon?” Will asked.
“No, Will,” Garrick replied. “But sometimes it feels that way.”
“Are you afraid?”
He looked at the boy and felt a noose tightening around his neck. Until recently he thought that noose was looped only around his own neck, but he felt differently now. If planewalkers were involved, that meant this was a big noose, a noose that was looped around the necks of every person on the plane. That included the necks of every Lectodinian and Koradictine mage on the plane, too, though they may not know it.
Alistair, with his penchant for isolation, would have bristled at this news that kept falling around him like pieces of a single puzzle. “There’s always a bigger demon,” Alistair would have muttered as he tweaked up a warding spell.
Garrick thought about planewalkers, about Arderveer, and about Elman waiting for him in Caledena. He thought about his god-touched magic, and he wondered where Darien and Sunathri might be. The orders were coming for him, and if he stayed with the Freeborn he was putting his friends at risk.
On the other hand, as long as Garrick was alive the orders had a common enemy, and would focus less on the Freeborn. Perhaps he was, therefore, the last barrier to full-scale war.
It was a strange thing to be both a target and a security blanket.
“Yes,” Garrick finally replied to Will. “I’m afraid of a lot of things.”
Chapter 13
"That didn't go as I had hoped," Garrick said to Will as they rode through the city.
The night was growing dark.
“What are we going to do now?” Will said.
“It’s too dangerous at the Inn,” Garrick replied. “So we’ll find a place out here to pass the night.”
“Out here?”
Will’s expression of fear told Garrick all he needed to know about the boy’s opinion of sleeping in the alleyway of a big city.
“I'll watch over you. You’ll be fine, I promise.”
“And we’ll see Darien tomorrow?”
“Maybe.”
The questions were beginning to annoy him again. “We’ll go to the university,” he said. “And if Darien wants to join us, he’ll find us there.”
“The university? What are we going to do at the university?”
“We’re going to try to learn as much as we can about the orders, Will. Where they came from, who they are, and where they might be today. Consider it your first lesson in magic, all right? Does that sound fun?”
“Yeah!”
Garrick has happy Will couldn’t see his expression from his seat in front of him.
He wasn’t going to tell Will that he needed to learn more about the orders because he
The room was now quiet except for the crackling fire pit and city noises that drifted in through the open windows.
“Come here, Will.”
The boy complied, and Garrick put his arm around Will’s shoulder.
“The boy and I are going to leave, quietly and peacefully. Make of that what you will. But heed my warnings. It is important you listen to the news this man brings, and it is important you make up your own minds. Koradictine and Lectodinian rule will be upon you before you know it, and it will be only through people like the Torean mages of the Freeborn, or maybe through independent people like me and like you, that Adruin as you know it may be saved.”
The crowd moved away as Garrick led Will to the doorway.
“Be careful, wizard,” the bald man said from afar. “News of this speech will travel.”
“Thank you,” Garrick said.
Then he took Will by the shoulder and guided him out of the tavern.
The nighttime air was cool, and the streets still busy.
“The orders will know where we are in the time it takes a man to run across town,” Garrick said as he led Will to the stables. “So we had best get on the move.”
“Are you a demon?” Will asked.
“No, Will,” Garrick replied. “But sometimes it feels that way.”
“Are you afraid?”
He looked at the boy and felt a noose tightening around his neck. Until recently he thought that noose was looped only around his own neck, but he felt differently now. If planewalkers were involved, that meant this was a big noose, a noose that was looped around the necks of every person on the plane. That included the necks of every Lectodinian and Koradictine mage on the plane, too, though they may not know it.
Alistair, with his penchant for isolation, would have bristled at this news that kept falling around him like pieces of a single puzzle. “There’s always a bigger demon,” Alistair would have muttered as he tweaked up a warding spell.
Garrick thought about planewalkers, about Arderveer, and about Elman waiting for him in Caledena. He thought about his god-touched magic, and he wondered where Darien and Sunathri might be. The orders were coming for him, and if he stayed with the Freeborn he was putting his friends at risk.
On the other hand, as long as Garrick was alive the orders had a common enemy, and would focus less on the Freeborn. Perhaps he was, therefore, the last barrier to full-scale war.
It was a strange thing to be both a target and a security blanket.
“Yes,” Garrick finally replied to Will. “I’m afraid of a lot of things.”
Chapter 13
"That didn't go as I had hoped," Garrick said to Will as they rode through the city.
The night was growing dark.
“What are we going to do now?” Will said.
“It’s too dangerous at the Inn,” Garrick replied. “So we’ll find a place out here to pass the night.”
“Out here?”
Will’s expression of fear told Garrick all he needed to know about the boy’s opinion of sleeping in the alleyway of a big city.
“I'll watch over you. You’ll be fine, I promise.”
“And we’ll see Darien tomorrow?”
“Maybe.”
The questions were beginning to annoy him again. “We’ll go to the university,” he said. “And if Darien wants to join us, he’ll find us there.”
“The university? What are we going to do at the university?”
“We’re going to try to learn as much as we can about the orders, Will. Where they came from, who they are, and where they might be today. Consider it your first lesson in magic, all right? Does that sound fun?”
“Yeah!”
Garrick has happy Will couldn’t see his expression from his seat in front of him.
He wasn’t going to tell Will that he needed to learn more about the orders because he
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