The Lost Mage Read online

  Prologue

  "I have found it!" Chavez said as he dug through the rubble. His demon, an imp smiled mischievously as he snatched the artifact from the mage. In the Pit, as it was known to humans, his real master, the demon Drommul had been trying to gain entry to this plane for eons, now they were one step closer.

  Traxxus was weak as imps go but he was more than a match for his so called human master. It was not uncommon for demons to gain entry to the planes of man, but the only way for demons to gain access is to be summoned. Unfortunately the summoned demon was at the mercy of the mage who summoned them. Mages who successfully summoned a demon could and often did inflict various painful punishments to ensure their demon was cooperative.

  Traxxus had allowed himself to be caught by the inferior mage after he had gotten on Drommul's bad side. While Traxxus was only what the human mages considered a class 2 demon, his current master didn't even have enough power to capture a class 1 demon. That is unless the demon wanted to be caught, but other than those stupid fish demons what demon would? Once a demon was caught it would always belong to that mage unless that mage either died, transferred possession to another owner or the demon was given the true death.

  The true death occurred when a bound demon was caught inside of a pentagram, escape was impossible unless a mage freed you or the pentagram was disturbed somehow. The demon was then subjected to a complicated ritual that ensured its death, now and forever. Normally if a demon was defeated or killed they just reappeared in the Pit to nurse their injuries. Mages could send their summoned demons to the pit at any time, now that the human Chavez had found the Xoxacrux a powerful artifact apparently known only to Drommul. With the artifact, Drommul could be brought over to this plane without being summoned, meaning that he would be in charge, not some mage. As far as Traxxus could see though there would only be one problem.

  In order to cross over, a vessel had to be prepared, not just any vessel; a human mage must be sacrificed. Drommul would need the mana their bodies produced to get his consciousness across. Drommul could then assume total control of the body. Once he controlled the mage he could then summon his body in the Pit to this plane and escape to it, Drommul would be an unbound demon in the land of man. When Drommul had heard Traxxus's plan about converting the mage, Drommul stopped torturing the small imp whenever it returned to the pit. Now that the Xoxacrux had been found, Drommul was adamant that Traxxus not mess up the ritual, the artifact was a one-time use item, meaning they had to get the ritual right the first time.

  "Are you listening to me demon?" Chavez said as Traxxus felt a stabbing pain courtesy of that stupid human he was serving under. He would see to it that the human was the first person killed when Drommul came over.

  "Yessss masssster I, am here, kind massssster pleasssse don't hurt Traxxus anymore. Traxxus be good for massssster" the demon said while secretly seething inside.

  "I said now that we have this thing and all of the other items, what else do I need to gain the ultimate power of the demon king?" Chavez said with his eyes greedy and full of lust.

  "The lasssst part is the most difficult, we need to sacrifice a mage" Traxxus said awaiting the pain he knew was to come.

  "You want me to kill someone!" Chavez screamed as he clenched his fist tight while murmuring a spell.

  Traxxus body wracked with pain as he crawled up in the fetal position.

  "Good masssssster, that is the only way! What can they do to you once you have the power, Traxxus hasssssss been good to you yes? Traxxus said in between his throws of pain.

  "Yes you have” Chavez said as he calmed down. “Without you I would be married to some noble living my life out with no real power. But you…you have made it so the fools in the academy have left me alone. I will get this mage sacrifice and then punish the council themselves. When the first years get here, I will snatch one of them".

  ACT 1

  Jon shivered in his cell, his body unable to produce anymore tears. He had been given 10 lashes; thankfully he lost consciousness around the sixth stroke. He had worked in the palace ever since he could remember; his mother had been a slave working inside the palace for the last 40 years, ever since her father sold her when she was a little girl. Jon did not know his father, it was rumored he was some unknown noble, his mother never talked about the man but only stated he had died in the war with the barbarian empire of Kuul. Whoever he was, upon his death he had given a sizable portion of his wealth to ensure if he had any bastards in slavery they would be set free. Whoever his father is or was didn't matter now to Jon, the only thing that mattered was his mother. She had gotten sick and then progressively worsened, a victim of rot lung. The cure is somewhat expensive but Jon knew the King's apothecary had a sizable supply, when he wasn't helping out the Hunt Master he spent a lot of his time helping out the King's healers. When he asked for aid, everyone was scared of what the king or his family would do if they just willingly gave him the medicine. Jon could have just snuck in and taken it, but it was likely he would have been found out since he was the only one who had been asking about it. So he went to the King's second son, Geoff.

  Jon and Geoff were the same age and Jon was often brought in as Geoff's sparring partner to prepare the prince for his eventual job in the military. Jon hadn't sparred with the princeling once it was determined Geoff had magical ability. From that discovery onward, Prince Geoff was taught by private tutors in ways of magic and everything else. Still, Jon knew Prince Geoff had to remember him. When Jon begged for the cure, Geoff turned him away; Jon could still hear the sneer in the prince's voice.

  "You want me to worry about some slave woman?" the prince had said as his tailor was fitting him for a new suit. "I don't care if she dies or not, she isn't worthy of the King's medicine. Now get out of my face before I have you whipped". Jon had made the mistake of dropping to his knees pleading for the prince to change his mind, accidentally touching the young man's boot. Geoff saw it as an attack, by law he was taken before the King. Geoff’s father was always in a bad mood, the King constantly waged war with the barbarians to the north. When he wasn’t doing that he spent his free time punishing slaves and peasants. The King heard his story and swiftly sentenced him to the ten lashes, two weeks in the dungeon followed by the painful branding on the right side of Jon's cheek.

  As a freeman, even the king had to abide by some of the laws. It was decided that Jon would be banished from Ket. Upon his release he would be expected to leave the country immediately, upon the pain of death if he should ever return. Jon hoped he could get word to his mother, but when he last saw her she wasn't doing so well. Jon still had a day left in the dungeon, another day without food, only water. Jon strained his neck as he heard someone coming, hopefully it was one of the maids, Jon had left word with them to reach his mother. Unfortunately it was the prince himself.

  "This is the one who attacked me" Prince Geoff said to a woman Jon knew as the Duchess of Kent, a rich girl whose family owned a rather large piece of land in Ket.

  "You are so brave to have fought him off, aren't you scared to be in the same room as him?" the Duchess asked.

  "My father always said you have to face your enemies, not run from them, I wanted to show you what will happen to whoever you decide to marry if he ever hurts you" Prince Geoff replied patting her wrist.

  "Geoff it isn't fair" the Duchess complained. You were meant to be with me; even your older brother is marrying my sister. I bet that Duke Shiloh is trying to set you up with that horrid daughter of his because she is a mage".

  "I didn't attack you your highness" Jon said interrupting their conversation. "I'm sorry if it seemed that way, I only wanted your help..." Jon said as Geoff cut his sentence short.

  "Silence peasant, no matter how much you grove
l you will still be banished" Geoff said as he waved his hand and began to walk away. "You should be lucky I am a kind noble, if I weren't you would be executed".

  Jon listened as the footsteps retreated and thought about his life. He had wondered when exactly he was supposed to be freed when he heard more footsteps, followed by a hushed silence. Jon looked up and could see the son of one of the king's healers, a boy of 7 years named Rolfe.

  "Jon" Rolfe said quietly.

  "What are you doing here Rolfe" Jon replied.

  "This was the only time I could sneak down, your Ma died last week Jon" Rolfe said looking back towards the door.

  "What do you mean she died?" Jon asked on the verge of tears.

  "Papa said if you start to cry I should tell you to listen to everything I have to say" Rolfe said still looking nervous.

  "What?" Jon replied.

  "You are supposed to be freed at night. The people here have scraped some money together for you and have packed you a bag. There is gonna be a wagon that can take you a good ways out, you should try to head for the Dead Man's land..." Rolfe said as Jon could hear a door opening.

  "Rolfe come quickly" Jon heard a voice say as the boy bolted.

  Jon was left alone in his misery, his mother had died and she probably didn't even get a decent fire to send her off, let alone be buried. Jon lost track of time as the dungeon master eventually came to release him.

  He was a hard looking man of about 50, when he branded and whipped Jon he did so with an efficiency of a man who had taken no pleasure from the beating, he was a man doing a job. He released Jon and walked him out through a side entrance until they were directly in front of the palace. He then pulled out a scroll that he read off of, apparently so he wouldn't miss any points.

  "You are hereby banished from the Kingdom of Ket" the dungeon master read off as he cleared his throat. "Behind you is the King's road, it leads directly out of Ket and as long as you are on it no harm will come to you. If you are caught someplace other than the King's road the sentence is execution. Be on your way".

  Jon looked as the man rolled up his scroll and turned to walk away as two guards followed. The King's road ran from the palace which was in the center of Ket straight into a neighboring country. Jon had not really seen too many maps but he guessed it was the empire of Harlock, the country of which Ket had an uneasy cease fire. Jon walked into the night and wondered where the wagon he was told about was. He would have to mourn his mother later, Jon had heard about other people who were banished.

  It gave anyone with a penchant to do harm to others the free reign to do so. Who was the banished supposed to tell? Jon had even heard stories of banished people captured as slaves and forced to work in some lord's home. Once you were taken there, it's not like you could escape since you would be marked for death for not being on the king's road. It took Jon about an hour to reach the gates of the capital; the guards took a look at his face, sneered and let him pass.

  Jon's face had felt warm despite the chill in the air and when he touched it, he knew it must look horrible. Jon walked further on for about ten minutes when he spotted a covered wagon, just off the road. The driver of which was sitting on a small stool wrapped in a blanket or shawl of some kind.

  "Are you Jon?" the driver asked identifying himself as a male.

  “I am” Jon replied.

  "Good because I have been freezing my ass off" the driver said as he stood up and grabbed his stool.

  “Hurry up and get in the wagon, use the bandages I have to cover the mark on your face, put it around your head and wherever else you can think of, your story is that you are a blacksmith whose fire had gotten a little too hot and sprayed you with molten iron. After you finish with the bandages hop in the bench, you are driving".

  Jon did as he was told and began driving the horses. The moon was out so the road was relatively clear. He could hear the driver was behind him obviously talking to someone, a woman from the tone of her voice, no, not a woman, a girl. Her voice was undoubtedly feminine, but it lacked the wisdom he had heard in the voices of other females. Jon figured the girl had to be around his age, what she was doing with a man as old as the wagon driver Jon had no clue.

  Jon was thankful someone saw fit to help him out, get him into contact with the wagon driver. Jon found that he really couldn't blame any of the healers, if they had acted against the King it would be them who were whipped and banished. Jon drove long into the night as he could spot the sun beginning to rise on his right. Jon's back was sore and his bottom hurt from sitting for so long. Jon pulled off the road to relieve himself when he heard the sound of someone in the wagon stirring.

  "Hurry up Mariah" Jon heard the driver say obviously talking to the girl. "It won't be long before your master discovers you are not in his home. Do your business quickly and get back into the wagon”.

  Jon finished up as he heard the sound of someone jumping off the back of the wagon. He turned around to see a somewhat plain looking girl run off into the bushes after giving him a glance. He was right about her age; she was no more than 18 and had the build of any peasant he had ever seen in Ket. The nobility were normally taller, the men had broad shoulders and pronounced chins. The women were also tall but with finer features, their noses turned up a little and their lips were thin. Most nobles only married other nobles in order to keep what was known as noble features amongst themselves. Pale blond hair complete with the lightest blue eyes ever seen was the standard. The only exception was for mages.

  All countries had mages Jon knew, these people could light a fire with nothing but their minds. Jon had seen the King's personal Mage Anna perform all manner of magic, the woman carried no weapon, only a staff. Mages were few in number, in Ket anyone capable of using magic were bound to the King and his armies. Male mages were practically none existent, not only were they duty bound to marry another mage, the King himself picked out their brides. If mages were a force to be reckoned with, the offspring of a male mage and female mage was not only guaranteed to be a mage, they held so much power that comparing them to an average mage would be like comparing a prized charger to a pack mule. Male mages from what Jon knew were always married off to noble houses; it was a get out of poverty free card for all of those lucky enough to have the talent. It was the only reason some of the nobles carried different traits. Of course due to dalliances by noble males was the reason some commoners also carried noble traits. The girl who had just ran out the back of the wagon had brown hair but it was lighter than Jon's was. Jon wouldn't be surprised if like him, somewhere down her line was a noble with a penchant for either slaves or peasants. Probably the former Jon thought as the driver did mention something about her master. Jon turned to get back on the wagon when the driver stuck his head out.

  Jon could see the man clearly now, he obviously favored the girl. He had the same nose, and his eyes were brown like hers. He was probably her grandfather Jon thought, as he was well up in his years to be fathering any children.

  "Alright Jon you have driven far enough" the driver said. "There should be a place to camp up ahead. We will stay there until night catches again. I'm sure you must know the girl we are traveling with is wanted; she will travel with you to out of Ket then you both can decide what to do from there".

  "Why is she wanted?" Jon asked.

  "She was born a slave, her mother conceived her with my late son" the driver said as his eyes misted a little. "Anyway her master is a minor noble with an estate close to the palace. He treats her the way all of them types treat their female slaves. His wife knows about these occurrences and punishes my Mariah whenever the mood strikes her".

  "Aren't you scared that they would put two and two together and come after you sir?" Jon asked.

  "Don't be calling me no sir Jon, my names Harlo" The driver said with mock outrage. "And to answer your question no, I'm not worried a bit. I travel often and no one has seen me in the city for over a month. I only talk to her mother through a mutual acquaintance since
I don't want to draw the ire of her lord. I found out Mariah was ready to leave three days ago and we would have if I didn't come upon one of your friends disposing of your Ma. It was then I was told of your plight and asked if I could wait. I knew Mariah may need someone to look after her so I waited. Speaking of your friends, they gave me this for you". Harlo said as he handed Jon a small sack, obviously containing coin.

  "You saw what they did with my ma?" Jon asked not worried about the coin.

  "I did boy" Jon replied. "And I was told it was of no use to tell you because you would be distracted from saving your own hide. I didn't know your ma, but I can figure she didn't want you throwing your life away for no reason. For your peace of mind she was buried by one of your friends who want to remain nameless".

  "I'm finished" Jon heard the girl’s voice say from behind him.

  "Alright get into the wagon" Harlo said as he climbed out. "Jon here can get a little shut eye while I fix us some grub. You might as well get to know each other since it is likely you will be traveling together for some time".

  Jon was tired, tired enough that he went straight into an uneasy sleep and decided to put off food until he was rested. He was hungry, damn hungry but he knew he could survive longer without food than he could without sleep. The sun was on its decent when he finally woke up, the wagon was on the move despite what Harlo had said about waiting until night.

  "I see someone decided to join the land of the living" Jon heard the female Mariah say, the first time she had ever addressed him.

  "Everything is just happening so fast" Jon replied.

  "Yeah I know what you mean, I am sorry about your mother" Mariah said as Jon could see a little sadness in her face.

  "Life is hard my ma always said" Jon said as he sat up. "There aint no use crying about things you can't change, you just have to make the best of it".

  "Well we are going to try to sneak into the Dead Man's Land surrounding Magus" Mariah said as she absently placed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Hopefully I can make it to Magus. I don't know what I will do there, but I hope I can find honest work. What do you plan on doing?"