Even before the episode in the Command Tent, the arrival of Ilthur, and the destruction of the city wall, Thequen had been exhausted. Lunch passed in a daze, where he mostly tried to hold himself upright and look like he was paying attention, as Vulmar and Ilthur sat across the table from him and chatted about the finer points of magic, all of which went right in one of Thequen’s ears and out the other. Once more, he regretted his funding running out before he could finish at least one more year at the Academy. If he’d done so, he might be able to make heads or tails of their discussion about types of mana flows and alternate rune shapes. Halfway through the meal, Vumlar took notice and dismissed him from further duties for the day. Thequen left Ilthur’s staff with Vulmar, shuffled zombie-like through camp back to his own tent, kicked off his boots, and collapsed on top of his bedroll.
He did not wake until the dawn of the next day. Once more, Sergeant Graydon’s voice cut through the camp. This time he moved among the tents and bashed a pot against a shield. “Up! Up, you dogs! Today is even better than yesterday! No more ladders to go up, up, on!”, Graydon sang as he stomped past Thequen’s tent. Thequen groaned, his body still sore from yesterday, as he got up and put his boots back on. Bright sunlight pained his eyes as he exited the tent.
“Mages to one side, everyone else, eat your breakfast and then form ranks!”, Graydon shouted repeatedly from about fifteen feet away, over by the start of the line for morning chow. He met Thequen’s gaze, repeated himself one more time and then pointed off to the left.
“Do I get to eat, at least?”, Thequen asked. Graydon glowered at him.
“You eat elsewhere, I assume. Mages are to form up and proceed to Command again as soon as possible. They didn’t tell me why, just that I’m to bring you all over personally.”, Graydon grumbled.
Graydon led Thequen and five others along the vaguely familiar path back to the center of the camp. Halfway there, Thequen could feel the unpleasant emptiness in his stomach. Once they arrived, there was no food to be had, though the stammering boy from yesterday seemed to have been put in charge of making sure everyone got a cup of water. Thequen drank his cup down in an instant, and then turned it back in.
A wide space had been cleared adjacent to the Command Tent and it was in this little field of dirt and mud that anyone in the 3rd Arcane who could cast any spells at all had been assembled, Thequen included. They stood in loose rows, quite organized for a bunch of mercenaries, most of which had been in the business for even less time than Thequen had. He stood in the uncomfortable heat of the rising sun, hungry, and waited. It was a far better sort of suffering than running with a ladder toward a wall covered in enemy archers, at least. After some time, Ilthur, Commander Cardon, Lord Ghol, and Vulmar emerged from the main tent and moved to stand in front of the assembled mages.
“As you are all probably aware whether from firsthand experience or rumor, this man is Ilthur. A Tower Mage. He has assisted our war efforts greatly already, and has offered me a handsome sum to all him to test you for… something. I’ll let him explain. This is of course, a volunteer exercise. Those who don’t want to may step away at any time and return to their regular duties.”, Commander Cardon said. Then he stepped back, and Ilthur stepped forward.
“The Towers must have mages, as the entire continent, not just this little backwater, will soon be on the brink of war. As such, I must recruit whoever seems to have the aptitude. If you pass my test, I will buy you out of your contract with Commander Cardon, and you will come with me to the nearest Tower. There you will be educated, trained, and further tested. At the end of it, perhaps one in ten of you will be worthy to serve the Tower. The rest of you will be dead. If it is money that motivates you, plenty of that will be provided, with no strings as to how you use it.”, Ilthur said as he hobbled back and forth along the front rank of the assembly.
“One in ten is poor odds, old man!”, someone in the back said.
Ilthur stopped. “I saw the ladder crews and the loss of life in the middle of the lines yesterday. It’s better odds than you’ll get continuing to fight here. Who will take the test? Those who won’t, can get lost.”, he said with a frown. About half of the assembly stepped away. Most went to line up at the mess tent. To Thequen it smelled like they still had food in there. He resisted the urge to follow his stomach and walk away.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Instead Thequen raised his hand. Ilthur stared at him. “How much pay? And how much education?”, Thequen asked.
Ilthur’s shoulders fell a little as he sighed. “I can pay more than your wage here, by about double. As to education-- you all know what I did to the wall yesterday. I can only promise that those who succeed will be made my equal in arcane might. Or better.”, he said.
Double Thequen’s current pay was something like 20 coin per day, give or take. He couldn’t help but remember Rulf, the loan shark who had partially funded his first year at the academy. There were minimum payments to be made, and it had been bad enough that Thequen had taken the first job he was offered and signed up with the 3rd Arcane. But this was a way out. In half a year he could have Rulf paid off, interest be damned, and then he would be free. And if what Ilthur could teach was better than the Academy’s knowledge, so much the better. If not, he would save up, then return to the Academy for another year. He raised his hand again. Ilthur glared at him.
“I’ll do it.”, Thequen said.
“Good. A first volunteer. That makes this easier. Step forward then, and grab hold of my staff with one hand.”, Ilthur said as he tilted his staff forward.
Thequen stepped forward and grabbed hold of it. It felt just as it had last he held it. Just being aware of the power it contained made him start to sweat. “What next?”, he asked.
“Draw the smallest amount of mana possible from the staff, whatever color you like and make it glow in your hand. Show all your colors, if you think you can.”, Ilthur said.
Thequen shrugged. That was one of the first things any student of the Academy learned, except that it was normally performed using a small, imperfect mana crystal, not someone else’s staff, almost overflowing with excess mana. He closed his eyes and focused, grabbing a hold of the flow of mana within the staff with his mind. He failed and tried again, keenly aware that all eyes were on him as he did so. On the third try he did it, and he shook with shock as he felt the mana course through him. He gripped the staff tighter and turned up the palm of his other hand, then directed the mana-flow.
He opened his eyes a few breaths later, to find that he’d gotten two little balls of concentrated mana to appear in his palm, one silver, one green. “Good?”, he asked Ilthur as he struggled to focus on multiple things at once.
“You pass. Disperse them, and then stand over there.”, Ilthur said with a curt nod as he waved over to where Commander Cardon stood.
As Ilthur then tested everyone else in the small group, one by one, using the same test, Commander Cardon leaned in. “A shame if I lose so many good soliders, you know.”, he whispered to Thequen.
“Sorry sir, but double pay is double pay.”, Thequen said with a shrug.
Commander Cardon chuckled. “Of course. No hard feelings.”, he said.
The second person Ilthur tested, a tall woman with blonde hair, passed, and moved to stand nearby.
The third person tested-- the moment he grabbed a hold of the staff he collapsed, and had to be carried to the medical tent. “I didn’t think it was that hard?”, Thequen said.
“I guess we’re both lucky then.”, the woman said with a shrug.
The testing continued, out of those gathered, only one other person succeeded. A broad shouldered guy, head shaved. If Thequen hadn’t seen him pass the test and pull gold mana, he wouldn’t have ever thought he was a mage.
The pool of potential volunteers exhausted, Ilthur hobbled over to Thequen and the others. “Just these three then, Commander.”, he said as he reached into his robe and pulled out an improbably large bag that jingled as though it were heavy with coins. He dropped it into the Commander’s waiting hand.
“Fewer than you expected?”, Commander Cardon asked.
Ilthur nodded. “Much fewer, but that’s my problem. As agreed, I shall assist you with your little mission here, until it is done. I believe the next step was to eliminate or rout the defenders? May I ask if convincing them to surrender is an option?”, Ilthur rasped as he started to walk toward the hilltop and the town beyond it.
“I would rather not have to take care of a bunch of prisoners who might later turn their knives against me for pillaging their hometown.”, Lord Ghol said. Thequen had almost forgotten he was there.
“Then I shall rephrase, Lord Ghol. Do you wish this day to be a wholesale slaughter for which the town you are about to occupy will never forgive you, nor forget about, or may the Commander and I attempt a peace talk first?”, Ilthur said. The tip of his staff glowed a purple, and as he stared down at Lord Ghol, Ilthur seemed to grow just a bit larger. Thequen suspected it was some sort of illusion.
Lord Ghol clenched his chubby fist and for a moment it looked to Thequen like he was about to raise it and strike at Ilthur. Then he took a breath, his face still somewhat red with anger. “Attempt your talks then, wizard.”, he said.
“Commander, apprentices?”, Ilthur said. He shuffled quickly toward the hilltop. Thequen and the others followed behind them. Lord Ghol brought up the rear, a handful of attendants and bodyguards trailing after him as he huffed and puffed, whether in exertion or anger, or both, Thequen wasn’t sure.