The Mage Hunter - Chapter 4

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The mage reached for his Focus. Cassida Rane leapt forward, ankacite sword shimmering ahead of him. Athena stood to the side, slow to reach for her own sword. The mage side-stepped Cassida Rane’s wild thrust and spun a length of silver over his fingers. The precious metal glowed blue and the air began to crackle. Cassida Rane threw a left handed punch, attempting to knock the Focus out of the mage’s hand.

Cassida missed.

A surge of silence caused Cassida Rane’s ears to pop, the world shrank and then expanded and the mage hunter was tossed aside by the solid gust of wind. He landed against a chair and table, smashing them to little more than dust and splinters. Cassida Rane coughed and scrambled to his feet. The mage spun his silver Focus on the heel of his hand, the ends had made crafted to look like paws connected by a fluted spindle. One of the paws flexed its claws. Cassida Rane felt his greatcloak bunched up, claws pricked his skin, and he was dragged towards the mage. He slashed down into the air and felt the sword bite through something soft and bloodless. The air began to distort like a heat haze.

Athena launched herself at the mage, ‘Tell me your name!’ Her sword a matte grey blur through the air. The sword pierced his cloak underneath his arm.

The mage chuckled as he spun his silver Focus and the wall behind Athena crumbled to dust. A sphere of water held in the air and engulfed Athena’s head. Her sword clattered to the floor and she began to drown.

‘You do not deserve to know my name,’ the mage stalked towards Athena, his hand reaching inside his own cloak.

Cassida Rane threw himself at the mage, tackling him round the waist and slamming him into the rubble of the wall. He grappled for the mage’s Focus but he slid it up his sleeve. A fist slammed into Cassida’s jaw, he swayed to the left and an arm wrapped around his neck.

Athena was on her knees, the bubble of water undulating over her head. She searched her greatcloak in a frenzy. Cassida struggled for breath and felt his eyes bulge from the pressure. Athena found a sink and as soon as the odd hollow crystal touched the water it lost all semblance of shape and splashed to the floor. She gasped for air, padding around for her sword. Finding it she slashed at the mage’s wrist in a wild swing. Blood spurted across the room and up Cassida’s face, he fell forward down onto his hands and knees, gulping down air.

The mage screamed, blood gushed from his wrist. ‘You bitch! You sodding bitch!’ he held his wrist with his unharmed hand, blood traced his fingers and hand like rivers over the crags of his hands. His life sluiced out of him through his fingers.

Cassida Rane rose to his feet, ‘Good work.’ He recovered his sword and pressed the sharp end under the mage’s chin. ‘Now, I could stop the bleeding but I’m going to need some information first.’

The mage released his wrist and the blood gushed out. His Focus slipped from his sleeve and he spun it. Cassida Rane let his sword fall and then flicked rightwards, knocking the silver bar with claws at each end across the room. ‘Like I said, I could stop the bleeding.’

‘Master, he can still…’ Athena said.

‘I know,’ Cassida Rane squinted at the mage. ‘Tell me your name.’

The mage had hold of his wrist again, holding it above his head. He ground his teeth, tensing his jaw for a few heartbeats, and then said, ‘Hanro.’

‘Hanro what?’

‘No family name.’

‘Where are you from?’

Hanro shrugged, ‘Banished as a child. Expected to die.’

‘Cruel, though had you died a few more people would still be alive,’ Cassida Rane said. ‘Does the name Tremlor Aralius mean anything to you?’

Hanro’s expression rippled for less than a breath, ‘No. Never heard of him.’

‘Why’d you kill the mage upstairs?’

‘Double-crossed me.’

‘Over what?’

‘Money, do you know how hard it is as a mage?’ Hanro smiled. Rivers of blood crisscrossed his arm and soaked into his shirt. ‘Everything can be made easier with a little influence.’

‘Easier but not better.’

‘Says someone who’s never tasted it.’

‘I can taste it now, bitter and sickly,’ the air stank of molten metal and Cassida Rane’s tongue felt like it was dipped in iron filings which caused his teeth to shriek in pain. Beneath the burn and tang was an apple scent, sweet and fresh. A glow of distortion filled the room and spread to the street. Cassida blinked a few times to bring Hanro’s visage into focus, though the blur returned quickly.

‘That’s only the outer shell, the depths…’ Hanro licked his lips, his fingers shuddered, and a gust of wind wailed through the door kicking up sand and dirt.

Athena flinched and shielded her eyes. Cassida Rane turned away for a moment, a torrent of sand scratching his neck and ears. The sand piled up in the corners of the room, on the tables, on the knobs of the cupboards. A clatter of silver echoed behind him and Cassida turned to see Hanro on his feet, slouched heavy to one side. His face was pale now, dark rings around his eyes, and his injured arm hung limp. Hanro flicked the silver bar, a claw shifted, and Athena screamed.

Cassida Rane thrust his sword straight for Hanro’s neck. The mage dodged, but he was too slow. The sword pierced his throat. Athena slumped forward, gasping. Hanro lay dead on the floor. Cassida Rane wasted no time in searching the mage’s body, and confiscating the Focus. There was a residual energy in the six-inch long bar of silver, Cassida’s skin tingled with it and the air around the claws oscillated. He secreted the Focus inside his greatclock and turned to Athena, ’Are you injured?’

His apprentice rubbed her neck. Burn marks coiled around her neck like maroon silk. Her eyes were bloodshot. ‘I’ll survive. He was… powerful.’ She rose with Cassida’s aid.

‘He was, easily the deepest I’ve seen a mage delve into that pit of corruption. But that bond is now severed, only the echo remains in his Focus and that will fade with time.’ Cassida Rane felt nauseous, the Focus in one of his greatcloaks many pockets ebbed with influence. He wondered if mage’s felt the same or if that was what differentiated them, that mage’s felt elation while everyone else grew ill from the aura. He would have to return to The Gilded Shrew to deposit the silver tool as soon as he was able. He set a chair upright and sat down, concentrating on controlling his response to the Focus, it had never been so awful. ‘Search… him,’ the words came out in two distinct slurs.

Athena did so without a word but concern was etched on her face. Within minutes she had found a few Silver Serpents, an unmarked key, two notes on torn paper, and a small emerald gemstone. ‘What would he have need for emerald?’

‘I… don’t know,’ the last two words tumbled out bunged together. Cassida Rane swallowed bile. ‘We need to return to the Gilded Shrew, this Focus is thick with corruption.’ He rose, staggered, and fell back into the chair. He tried, and succeeded, on his second attempt.

Athena secreted away Hanro’s meagre belongings and master and apprentice exited onto the street. Onlookers watched but like before none came forth, none said a word either. Amongst the commoners were a couple of Arstar’s city watchmen, they too remained silent.

Cassida Rane felt himself flagging, the Focus he had collected from Hanro drained him. Resisting the mage’s conjurations had harried him like an autumnal storm, the Focus was a constant assault like the tide upon the shore. Athena’s eyes were alert but her pallid tone betrayed her true state. They had slunk through the back alleys and hidden passages to reach the Gilded Shrew out of sight beyond that of stray dogs, feral cats, and a few vagrants. Cassida stepped onto the main street, two buildings up from the outpost and was thinking of the scraps of paper he had found and how to uncover their meaning when Athena grabbed his arm.

‘Master, it’s the woman accomplice,’ she whispered.

Cassida Rane glanced at the woman and the man she was talking cordially with and dived into the next alley. Athena was close behind. ‘What is a mage doing talking with our outpost keeper?’ The street was bustling with wagons, children, and patrolling watchmen wary of new arrivals.

‘You said the outposts are unknown to most,’ Athena whispered. She peered round the corner. ‘They’re laughing, maybe she is a regular.’

‘That would be quite the coincidence. Over two hundred pubs in Arstar and the woman we’re looking for just so happens to drink where we are staying,’ Cassida Rane held back a snicker. It was a ludicrous suggestion.

‘We should catch her,’ Athena said, her hand on the hilt of her ankacite sword.

‘Impossible.’

‘You aren’t charging headlong into the fray,’ Athena regarded her master with sunken eyes. The bruising on her neck had darkened to a plum purple and spread up to her chin.

‘I know my limits, I am just rarely pushed to them.’

Athena had the good manners to chuckle.

‘Wait for her to leave,’ Cassida Rane said. The master and apprentice waited and attempted to hear the conversation but the street was too loud, with the hustle and bustle of recently admitted merchants transporting their wares and labourers on a break. The woman stood profile to Cassida Rane and he could not read her lips.

The sun had shifted a degree before the woman left. Cassida darted out from the alleyway and tried to call for the innkeeper of the Gilded Shrew but he was not heard over the din of the street. Just as he reached the steps of the pub someone grabbed his arm. He spun around, expecting the mage, but found a fellow Mage Hunter.

‘Cassida Rane? We need to talk.’ The man was broad shouldered with a head of hair cropped close to his scalp. Cassida did not recognise him.

‘And you are?’

‘A friend, let’s step inside,’ the man’s overly wide mouth smiled in such that made his face wrinkle with excess flesh. The smile did not reach his eyes.

Cassida chose not to tell the unknown Mage Hunter about the Focus in his greatcloak nor about his duel. If asked about his haggard appearance he would deflect, though he hoped the newcomer simply thought Cassida Rane looked old and weary. As for Athena… well, he would attempt to deflect any and all attention from her. After all she was an apprentice, he was a master. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Malanor Eviren,’ his hand arced towards the door of the Gilded Shrew.

Cassida Rane entered, Athena close behind.

‘And who might you be?’ Malanor asked.

‘Athena, my apprentice,’ Cassida Rane turned and glowered at Malanor.

‘Say no more,’ Malanor nodded, accepting.

Cassida Rane approached the bar, the balding man was cleaning tankards one by one, making hard work of it. ‘Three ales, please.’

‘Right you are,’ the man responded in his gruff accent.

Cassida turned to see a pair of women sitting in a booth enjoying glasses of fortified wine while a man sat alone, half a pint in front of him while he snoozed. Malanor gestured to a table near the door to the kitchen, secluded behind a screen from the front of the pub. The barkeep nodded and the three sat down.

‘I’ll get right to it, Vice Master Tiberius sent me to check on you. You’re Master Ascalon’s pupil and the old scholar has been disparaging the Vice Master since the elections began. I was wondering if you know why he would do such a thing?’ Malanor Eviren sat back as the drinks arrived. He did not touch his tankard, the froth ran down the side and gathered in a ring on the table.

‘And? Grand Master elections have always had heated campaigns.’ Cassida felt his cheeks flush.

Malanor Eviren pursed his lips, ‘No one else has put their name forward.’

‘While unusual it is not unheard of for people to be elected who didn’t want the position. Garo de Festrea comes to mind, regardless there is a month before the final vote’ Cassida Rane said. Sweat ran down his back, the Focus was a furnace in his greatcloak, the essence Hanro had infused it with was immense. Far greater than any other Focus he had known.

Athena sipped her ale, having slid down the high backed bench and appearing as small and quiet as possible. Her face was pale and Cassida Rane worried the Focus was so powerful to be affecting her too.

Malanor smiled, grunted, ‘Let me be clear. The Vice Master will be Grand Master, it is a foregone conclusion, those who manoeuvred against him will be remembered.’

‘That’s certainly one interpretation. From what I heard Tiberius was struggling for support within the Chapter Commander council.’ Never had Cassida heard of a candidate for Grand Master send out loyalists to strong arm other hunters into voting a certain way. He was glad not to be in the Castrum.

‘A minor setback.’

Cassida Rane raised his brow as he gulped down the cool ale. His scalp tingled. He had to rid himself of the Focus.

‘You seem ill, Cassida. Is everything alright?’ Malanor asked. He turned to Athena, ‘You do not look well either. Have you recently fought a mage?’

Cassida closed his eyes, ‘We did. He was called Hanro, he is dead.’

Malanor chewed his lip, ‘Good work, his Focus?’ The man’s eyes flicked from Cassida to Athena and then to the man behind the bar, there was a message there but Cassida didn’t catch it.

‘I have it. Most powerful object I have come across,’ Cassida Rane leaned back, his forehead was slick with sweat.

‘Very good, I can transport the Focus back to the Castrum on the morrow. Secure it for you.’ He spoke with experience and condescension, as if he outranked Cassida but he had given no sign of it.

‘I have not yet analysed it, but thank you. I will have it secured at the main outpost as soon as I am finished,’ Cassida Rane said.

Malanor Eviren rapped his fingers on the table, ‘If you insist, but know this. I am in town a day or two. If you have finished your analysis by then let me know and I will make sure this Focus is contained in the Vault, if you have any letters or memos for the Castrum I will gladly play courier. Being out in the field all the time can be taxing,’ Malanor gave one last smile that did not reach his eyes. ‘Anyway, I must be off. You can find me at the outpost.’ He left after depositing a handful of coins on the bar for the drinks.

Cassida and Athena sat in the secluded booth for a while. He finished his ale while Athena had barely touched hers. He set the Focus on the table and felt mild relief with it being a mere foot away from him. ‘What do you know of Vice Master Tiberius?’

‘Not a lot beyond him holding the post for as long as I have been with the Order. He spoke me and the other recruits, the ones that were accepted, but since then I don’t remember seeing him.’

‘He was an accomplished Mage Hunter when I was first leading missions, out from under Ascalon’s wings. My Master had wanted to give up field work but that meant he couldn’t teach an apprentice anymore, only recruits. Tiberius was putting together a team for a strike on a known mage hideout and was accepting experienced apprentices like myself, said if I excelled I would be elevated. Ascalon was pleased, as was I, but when the day came something went wrong. The hideout was empty and looked like it had been for some time. The mages were long gone and we were left disappointed. Tiberius was nonplussed, I remember him saying something like, “These things happen.” Very not Order of the Mage Hunters. I was elevated to Mage Hunter and able to join companies and missions of the sort, take my own bounties if I so pleased. Ascalon was delighted but I was disappointed that we had failed to catch the mages. Ascalon said it happens and that Tiberius would be on their trail soon enough. I kept an eye and hear out for the next mission he was leading but it never occurred. In fact I don’t think he led another mission again, two years later he was elected Vice Master.’

Athena sat with her arms folded for several breaths then said, ‘What are you saying, Master?’

Cassida Rane shook his head, ‘I don’t know. I need to secure this infernal item and rest. Let’s retire till the morning when we have clearer heads to analyse the Focus.’

‘And ask the barman about that woman,’ Athena added.

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