Hours later Quina, Morah and I sat at the front desk of the sick bay eating a meal of thick stew with some hard bread. We had spent most of the day healing everyone in the sick bay. Once word got around that there was a talented Light Mage available at low cost, it didn’t take long for people to come streaming in to get healed on a near constant basis.
Eventually they started bringing in friends and families as per my recommendation. Anytime that happened, whoever brought them usually paid out of their own pocket for the healing or chose to have their pay docked. I had probably seen over a hundred people today, two thirds of them weren't even guards.
There were many tearful expressions of gratitude from guardsmen who brought their spouses or children to me to be healed. I never charged more than a few sterlings even with the more severe cases that required a lot of power. I was quite exhausted after an entire day casting.
“Can't believe the sick bay is almost empty.” Quina said. While downing another spoon of her stew.
“It is really such a rare thing.” I asked.
“It's been years, there’s always someone who needs our help and with our shoestring budget we can't afford to get a mage too often” Morah answered.
“Well, I'm happy for the experience.”
“Are you not planning on staying on? I'm sure the captain would give you a permanent position. “Quina asked.
“No, I'm on contract with a mercenary company. We're on leave so I decided to spend the time healing.”
“That's unfortunate, how much longer do you have on the contract? ”Morah asked.
“3 years, I signed it yesterday.”
“Well, if that isn't unlucky, if the captain knew that there was a light mage who actually has reasonable prices he would have snatched you right up,” Morah said.
“Here you go.” Morah handed me a gelding and 20 sterling.
“Not bad for a day's work” I said as I added it to my pouch.
Morah had a smirk on her face as she said. “I'm sure you could have earned 10 times that if you pushed.”
“The practice was far more valuable to me, besides you seem like decent people I couldn't in good conscience gouge the prices”
I wanted these people to consider me a friend. The more it spread through the city that Moon the Light Mage is a trusted friend and ally the better it would be for my plans. That was worth far more than the financial loss.
A groan from down the hall grabbed our attention. It seemed the young man Derek had finally awoken. He got up stretched and made his way towards us occasionally giving confused glances at the empty beds.
“Welcome back to the land of the living Guardsman Derek.” Morah said when he finally reached us.
“Thanks. I'm a bit surprised that I'm not dead. Gut wounds don't usually heal.” he said while rubbing the scar on his chest.
“And who is this lovely creature.” he said looking at me.
“That's Moon, the light mage that saved your life, “Quina said.
“An elven light mage this far south. That is strange. Regardless” he came over and stood in front of me and held out a hand.
I stood up to shake it and to my surprise he turned my hand over and laid a gentle kiss on the back of it. The move was so unexpected I didn't even have time to react.
“Madam Moon, thank you for the gift of life.” Derek said as soon as.
This entire occurrence was unpleasant. I didn't want to make a scene, so I tried to play off my revolution to his actions.
“You're welcome, however I'm a male.” I said flatly.
Quina burst out laughing at the instant drop in Derek’s expression.
“Really?…………. I've heard that elves………. My apologies sir.” Derek scrambled for words.
Mistaking me for a woman has been happening almost nonstop for the entire time I was here so Derek's actions didn't raise my heckels as much as it usually does.
“It's fine, let's just pretend like this never happened. “I said not wanting to deal with this anymore.
“Agreed.” Derek said.
“How did the captain afford this, by the way? I know healing me had to cost gold.” he said looking at Quina.
“Your healing was free. Moon here offered to heal you as proof of his abilities.” Morah said
“It seems I owe you thrice. Please, how can I repay this debt?”
I was about to say leaving my presence would be a fantastic gift, but I had a better idea.
“I’m in need of armor, something light that can deflect a blow and good for long travel. Do you know any reputable armors in the city?”
“Yes actually, I can make sure he gives you a proper discount. Will you be here tomorrow?” he said eagerly.
“I'll be here every day for the next two or three weeks. How much does a set of good quality leather armor cost.”
“2 or 3 gelding, maybe 4 if you want the leather dyed and other decorations done.” I couldn't care less about the decoration and dying.
“Dying and decorations are unnecessary. What I want is quality. How long would this order take?”
He thought about it for a moment and said “No more than a week and I assure you his work is exceptional. Just leave it to me, I’ll arrange everything” he turned to leave then said.
“Thank you again for saving my life if you ever need anything feel free to call on me.” I nodded then he marched off.
I sighed and went back to my food. “That has to be annoying,” Quina said.
“It is but once it spreads that I’m a male hopefully that will stop happening. I was close to immolating him.”
Quina chucked then said. “At least he didn't propose marriage. Now that was funny.”
The door for the back of the barracks opened and the captain walked out followed by 4 of his men. Two of which I healed earlier. Morah and Quina sat up and saluted the captain, I remained seated.
“You have done excellent work Moon, will you be available tomorrow?” he asked as soon as he approached us.
“If you would have me, yes, I was actually hoping I could do all my healing work from your sickbay. Your guardsmen would of course always have priority.” I said.
“Hmmm that is acceptable, but would you not prefer to have your own establishment.” The captain countered.
“You see, I'm under a contract with Sten and the bronze Spears so I can only spend time healing when we are on leave. I do not know the city nor the people I should and should not associate with. Your guards seem like good men and women so they could act as a filter for any………………undesirables.”
In reality I wanted to give the guards the power to control who would have access to my healing. I'm sure by now it's spreading through the city that there is a light mage among the guards who performs healing for a fraction of the cost.
I intend to create a symbiotic relationship between us. They would have the power to choose who gets healed. I would both earn coin, practice my magic and no doubt make myself an invaluable ally to the guards. Getting access to proper armor is only the beginning. Since I'm not under contract with them I'm sure they would do much to keep me on their side.
If the captain is a man of any sense he can use me to his advantage in any number of ways. He nodded as no doubt that idea began to take root.
“This arrangement I believe could work and you have no problem with leaving the selection of people to be healed to us,” the captain asked.
“Certainly, as I said before my intention was largely to practice my healing and earn a little coin, who I heal matters little.” I said.
“Very well report back here tomorrow I'll have clients for you.” He stepped in front of me and with the first smile I've seen on him then he said.
“Let us do good work together.”
We shook hands in agreement.
Over two weeks had passed since the first time I started working with the guards. Since then, I have earned over 8 Gelding. There was an initial boom of people coming to the guard. At first it was mostly guardsmen with their friends and families then the clients became random. An occasional street urchin. A man with more scars than Breala and one woman who was somehow haughtier than Sarah. I didn't care enough to ask who they were so long as they paid.
Once I made it clear to all my clients that I would under no circumstances reveal the details of their condition to anyone without their consent. I began to get more embarrassing and bizarre cases. These range from various STIs among the guards and one woman who apparently took some poorly made abortive potion and was having an allergic reaction. None of my healing could do anything for her so I just pumped a large amount of life ether into her and over the next few days she recovered. I felt tired and sluggish for hours afterwards but eventually my strength returned.
Since I was earning more coin than expected I purchased a set of well-made leather armor. I wore a chainmail vest under the leather chest piece. I had bracers for both my arms and legs as well as a brand-new pair of hard leather boots.
Feeling a bit of vain I decided to have the armorer dye the armor a dark purple. The dye itself cost an entire gelding since purple dye was rare. I paid a salon to braid my hair much in the same way Dena did. It would still make sense to cut it but a vain part of myself refused to.
I had Sten come by the barracks to verify the armor's quality before I finalized the purchase. He started to get friendly with some of the guardsmen, no doubt sniffing for coin. I also decided to pay for the room in the Inn in advance for the entire year. Now in full armor and with the medical satchel strapped over my shoulder. I headed to Grassy Grove where the rest of the company is set to meet today.
Stan had finally chosen a contract and he was going to brief us on what our goal was. I walked into the tavern for the first time and as expected an elf in dark purple armor with white hair drew a lot of attention if there is one thing I’ve learned is that simply walking into a place with confidence uncaring of the attention that I drew is enough for most people to decide its best to not bother me.
A small table by the back seated most of the company. They were also fully armed and armored so most of the regular patrons stayed as far from them as possible.
Tanner whistled at my approach. “Well, don't you look impressive,” she said as I took her seat. Lilian who was sitting at the far end of the table gave me a piercing stare that made me slightly uncomfortable.
“That's damn fine armor, where did you get the coin for that?” Brandon asked.
“Oh, you haven't heard, Moon here’s been healin for the guards there's a constant line to go see him” Tanner said amused.
“It's been quite profitable, if a bit boring.” I said and signaled a bar maid to come over to order a drink.
“The color seems a bit much,” Mikah. Said.
“I'm a mage. I need to have a certain amount of gravitas. Besides it is not any more garish than Sarah’s ”I countered.
She wore the same dark red armor I saw on her the first time we met. At the same time Sten and Breala walked in. Sten stood at the head of the table then announced “Good you're all here. Now for the contract,” He brought out a piece of paper.
“There's a group of bandits raiding shipments going North to the Suncrest barony.” Sten explained.
Before he continued Caan said. “Why is Vernon paying for this contract?”
“I was just getting to that. The attacks that have been within Vernon Borders so technically it's the Barons problem.” He paused for a moment then continued.
“His shipments are always well guarded. How have they managed to get away with their lives? “Sarah asked.
That was a good question if there's one thing I learned from the baron's reputation is that he doesn’t play around when it comes to coin.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“He sent 25 of his personal knights in full kit to guard his last shipment; 4 survived. They report that there was an earth mage among them” he said, dead serious.
There were murmurs of concern as soon as he mentioned there was an earth mage among the bandits.
“How powerful is this image?” I asked.
“Based on the reports from the surviving guards the Baron and his advisors assume he's at least journeyman ranked. They're still trying to determine his identity.”
That brought even more alarmed whispers at the man's skill level. Sarah and I locked eyes for a moment, realizing that our success would mostly come down to us.
“The price is 15 Gelding a head.” Everyone stopped complaining at that announcement.
“15 Gelding?” Mikash said out loud, drawing some looks.
That was likely enough gold to set someone up for life. Sarah and I would of course be getting more than 3 or 4 times that.
“Damn Sten, how did you negotiate that?” John asked.
“Everyone already knows that Sarah’s a part of the company with Moon’s reputation as a powerful Light Mage spreading, we could offer guarantees most companies couldn't.” At the announcement that there was a significant amount of coin to be had their grumbling about the difficulty of the contract subsided.
“A carriage has been arranged to take us Crowsreach, from their it’s a two day march to the location of the attacks.”
Sten brought out a map showing the path we would travel. He pointed to the road leading north from Vernon until Crowsreach then there was a long road between two hills which was the fastest route to Suncrest Territory and the location of the attacks.
It wasn't as well traveled, so lacked consistent patrols to clear out bandits. There were many hills and steep cliffs that could be used for ambushes.
After final discussions on travel arrangements, we packed our bags with supplies and made our way to the main gate. As soon as the guards spotted us, they cleared the path of any peasants.
Laron, who was on duty, rushed over to me.
“Sir Mage.” he said, grabbing my attention.
“Laron, how do you do?”
“No complaints, the captain wanted to find out how long your contract would be.”
It was 6 days of travel by carriage and another two by foot, so I said. “Around 3 weeks, call it a month if we have any delays.”
“Ok Sir, if I’m not on duty when you return, be sure to head over to the barracks. The captain wants to have a conversation with you. Good Hunting.”
I gave him a wave and quickly got back into position.
“Do you know what the Guard Captain wants?” Breala asked.
“Hhmm Not sure, probably some more healing, I’ll find out when I get back.”
Outside there was a carriage waiting for us. A man I didn’t recognize handed the reins to Sten and headed back into the city. We Headed down a road that wrapped around the city eventually leading north. As usual we set up camp to rest for the night Sten, who was familiar with horses fed and watered them. We had no watch rotation since these roads were exceptionally safe.
I didn't feel like sleeping so I walked around 50 feet away from the camp and started practicing some spells. Whenever I got the chance to try dual casting, I still haven't been able to simultaneously cast two spells at the same time, but I was confident I would eventually master it. I sat cross legged on the grass enjoying the cool wind. I probably failed dozens of times at this point and was taking a moment to gather myself.
I heard steps approaching from behind me and I turned around to see Lilian coming towards me. It was surprising she wasn't using any stealth abilities. She sat down in front of me crossing her legs in much the same fashion I was sitting.
We have had little communication, barring the few words necessary to carry out any tasks we were assigned. But now that we were alone, and the rest of the company was sleeping she seemed to want to talk.
“You have been practicing that for some time. What are you doing?” she said.
With a sigh I said. “I'm attempting to cast two spells simultaneously; it is quite difficult. Is there something you need from me? This requires focus.”
She bit her lower lip then said. “It would seem that my actions have caused you discomfort and this has given you reason to avoid me.”
“I simply have no interest in another lecture on how my actions are shameful for an elf. Do you intend to give me another.”
“No, I see that my words will have no effect on you.”
“Since you understand that, what did you want to talk to me about then?” I asked.
“Your name is spreading Moon, there is talk among the city of a beautiful white hair and purple eyed elven man, with healing as powerful as a court mage. What you are doing is dangerous, “she said.
“Oh, and what exactly am I doing? “I was curious if I understood my end game.
“You are building influence among the humans using your power as leverage. I see how the guards show you deference. Some may think it is simply a result of your kindness and honor, but I can see that it is on purpose.” she said as she locked her green eyes with mine as if daring me to deny it.
“And what of it? I’m a lone elf in the world, magical power alone isn't enough to ensure my safety.” Said in response.
“The other elves will learn of you eventually; it could take months or years but they will.” she said in warning.
“Would they come so far from elven lands just for a royal elf?” I asked.
“Queen Sianna, as limited as her powerbase is, still has plenty of influence. If she were to start reproducing, the threat of her reigniting the royal line is something many elves will work to prevent. Other matriarchs will want you for themselves to add your strength to their bloodline.so yes they might” She explained.
“Among humans, magical power is not determined by birth; it is almost entirely random except amongst the oldest mage families; this is untrue for elves.” I wondered if it was something like that since Garett wasn't entirely sure about it.
“The most powerful clans owe their magical power to small amounts of royal blood within their line. We do not have marriages like humans, we choose a mate for life and mates are usually chosen based on their power. Any elf that sees you can feel the command you have over the Ether. They would be desperate to add your blood to their line” Lilian said.
“Well, that does not bode well for my health since I have no interest in children.” I said.
“You do not wish to continue your line.” she asked as if that was the strangest thing she had ever heard.
“No, I genuinely don't care about having any progeny. "I said.
“You are the strangest elf I’ve ever met,” she said with bewilderment.
“You say the royal elves are the most powerful mages, how powerful is the queen compared to me.”
“Perhaps if there were 50 of you there would be a chance to beat her in magical combat. Queen Sienna's control over the Ether is legendary. Though you have grown significantly for someone so young.” she added that last bit in some attempt to mollify me.
“How old do you think I am?” I wonder what age I would be relative to a human.
“Perhaps 30 summers your young but still very much an adult to our people if just barely.”
It seems I have a significant amount of growing to do. At least I had some measure of how much power I would need to equal the greatest elf mages. The only question was how I could achieve this power. I doubt they would leave me alone. I had to gain enough power to dictate my own terms with them. I had no interest in becoming some breeding tool for some powerful elven woman. I shivered at that thought.
“Is there truly nothing I could offer you to return with me to the Queen?” she said, shaking me out of my thoughts.
“If ever see your queen it will be at a time of my choosing, under my terms. Now if you would be so kind as to leave me to my work.”
“Very well, Moon”
She got up and left. I redoubled my training, determined to finally learn this skill.
A few days later we finally reached Crowsreach. I wasn't in the best mood since I continually failed in my pursuit to master dual casting. The plan was to stop for supplies and continue on to where the bandits were likely to be stationed.
This place could barely be called a village; there were perhaps 2 dozen buildings. There wasn't even a moron in their father’s armor guarding the entrance. The villagers who were milling about scattered as our heavily armed company rolled into the main road.
“It's not much of a village” I said, underwhelmed by what I saw. The people were dressed in what could barely be called homespun clothing. A rotund man in far better clothing approached us cautiously. Sten taking the lead said.
“Greetings, I presume you're the headman.”
The man said. ”Ahh yes, muh name’s Granon, welcome to Crowspearch. I hope you're not looking for trouble. “he said meekly.
“Nooo my good man we’re simply traveling though and hoped to take some supplies off your hand and leave our horses and carriage at a safe place for a few days”. Sten said in a disarming tone.
At the mention of that the headman looked remarkably more excited.
“Well, that's great we would be happy to have you. I might ask who you are.”
“My name is Sten, and this is my company, we have in our number a fire and light mage as well as 10 of the best warriors and trackers this side of the Yugar pass.”
At the mention of mages he turned a touch paler. Glancing at the rest of us in the cart he then turned his attention to Sten. “Please, it would be my pleasure to stable your horses while you have some rest and repast.”
“Lead the way.” Sten said.
We made a short trip to the center of the village where there stood a two-story house. It seems many of the villagers subsisted on farming and agriculture since behind most houses were animals and crops growing. The large carriage had to be left outside while a young man unsaddled the horses with Sten’s permission.
“So, Sten, you said there was a light mage among you?” The headman asked him.
The rest of the company began to unload packs and moved them into the small front yard.
“Yes, that would be the Moon there.” Sten said, pointing at me as I cast lighten on the packs to make it easier for the company to unload them.
“Well, you see my wife recently gave birth and has had a rough time recovering so I was curious if.” Sten cut him off then said. Sten gave me a look as if asking me permission, so I gave him a nod in return.
“Healing cost coin my good man and I'm sure you know a light mage's work is not cheap. Perhaps we barter for a week's worth of supplies and Moon here will see your wife.”
While under contract I was essentially under Stens command the limits of this were defined in the contract so asking me to heal this woman was well within our agreements.
“What kind of supplies would you need?” the headman asked nervously.
“Some dried meat, grain for the horses, and hardtack for the road. I'll take some dried soup if you have it.”
We have enough supplies to last us longer than the estimated length of the contract. But at least we can indulge a bit instead of rationing our food.
His face scrunched up as Sten listed all the supplies he wanted. Either this man was an exceptional miser, or this village was that poor. The headman finally said.
“It's a deal.” Sten and Granon shook hands.
Granon had a servant load the supplies onto the carriage and after that I was escorted by another servant into the house.
Eventually he brought us to a room with a large 4 post bed in the corner. I drew back the curtains to see a brown-haired young woman sleeping soundly. Next to the bed was a well-made wooden crib with an infant wrapped in white blankets sleeping inside.
Another young woman still stood beside me as I watched the girl sleep.
And that's what she was, a girl. There were laws within the empire prohibiting marriages this young. Apparently, some empress had the common sense to realize that girls that marry after their first bleeding have a higher chance of dying in childbirth.
So, the minimum age for marriage was 16 summers. Though there weren't any significant consequences so long as the girl didn't die in childbirth in that case there might be a death sentence. This girl looked barely 13 or 14 and that was being generous. People living so far from any real law tended to not feel the need to follow them.
“Leave us.” I said to the servant.
“But sir mage the Headman said.”
I just stared at her with a dead expression. This had worked many times in the past so barely a few seconds later she did a hasty curtsy and exited the room.
I could hear her feet running down the hall likely to inform the Headman. I examined the girl with a little life ether. She was as I expected of someone giving birth so young she had significant injuries. She had significant damage to her uterine wall, a perineal tear and she was still losing blood. Focusing intently on repairing those injuries, I started to heal her.
10 minutes later she woke up “what…. Magic?”. She said I suppose anyone would be confused waking up to a spell circuit shining green light on them. I cut off the spell.
“Yes magic. How are you feeling?” I asked.
“Ummm ok” she touched her lower abdomen.
“There's almost no pain.”
“Good, that means I'm close to finishing.”
“What's an elven mage doing this far south?” That was somehow a more pressing issue than what I was doing in her room.
“I'm a mercenary, my company is passing through then the headman bartered for my healing.”
“Ugh, what did that oaf end up trading away” she said as she sat up.
“A week's supply of food for 12 people”
“Well, I guess that's not so bad.”
I'm not sure how I expected a young girl who just went through what seemed to be a difficult birth, to act but this certainly wasn't it.
“Well, I’ll be done soon so stay still as I work. '' As I said this a few minutes later there was a knock at the door. Both the girl and I said “Enter.” at the same time.
The servant from before and the headman walked in. “Ah Sten said your work is exceptional, it was my error to doubt.”
He walked towards us “How are you feeling my dear, need anything more pillows perhaps a meal.”
“I'm fine.” she said with annoyance in her voice as he fussed over her. Since her healing was largely complete, I elected to leave the room. Not wanting to deal with this.
The rest of the company sat in a circle in their yard eating what looked to be some stew. Honestly it seems as if all these people eat is stew. I was hungry so I decided to join them. There was a bowl covered with a white cloth that I assumed was for me.
“So how's his wife?” Sten asked.
“I've healed her, she had a difficult birth so there was some tearing. For one so young, birth is not a thing to take likely."I said.
“For one so young? How old is she? " Tanner asked.
“13 or 14 summers maybe.”
Tanner sniffed in disgust at that.
“These outer villages are always so barbaric” Tanner said, stuffing down another bride of the stew.
I found the idea of bedding someone so young quite repulsive but there was little to be done about it. So far from the capitol there was little justice to be found except for the one you make for yourself. As much as I was repulsed by the marriage between a man in his late twenties and what was by any definition a child. I wasn’t inclined to do anything about it, this contract was far more important.
We left some time later; Sten was determined to make up for the time lost by stopping here. Before we left, I couldn't help but notice the look of hate that came across Sarah’s face as the Headman and Sten shook hands.
We were a day into our journey, and I was able to get a few hours of sleep the night before. There was still at least another day and half of traveling before we would reach the sight of the latest attack. Sten being the experienced soldier that he was made sure we were constantly on guard.
We passed through a canyon carved through the valley by some long dried up river. It was probably 30 feet wide and 50 deep. The sheer cliffs on each side were quite imposing. We walked along the river bed , our eyes trained on the sides of the canyon. Conversations were kept minimal.
Since we were on a strict time schedule, we chose this route instead of the safer route that would add several days to our journey.
The sun beat down constantly and occasionally one of the company would take a drink of their water as we marched. I was a bit disappointed we left our carriage behind, but the wheels would have long been destroyed in this rocky terrain.
A pulse in the ether brought me out of my musing. At the same moment Lilian twitched and spun around to face me. There was only one thing that could be and since neither Sarah nor I were casting I screamed. “SHIELD COVER.”. And as fast as I could I cast a shield around all of us.