Rend Hope (7 page)

             
"The east coast." Markus said simply, the pseudo-cowboy whistled and shook his head.

             
"Why did you travel all the way here then?" He questioned, the short blonde man shrugged.

             
"Some guy just pointed west and off I went." Markus answered, Kendal glared.

             
"Funny." He said sarcastically, Marie began to dust herself off.

             
"Sadly I think it's true.  Didn't you read Teivon and Henry's report?" She asked Kendal, who shrugged.

             
"Yeah I skimmed through it.  Just wanted to see if this guy had any inconsistencies with his story." He replied, never taking his eyes off Markus.  "So far everything checks out, even your terrible sense of direction, but I can tell there is something you're not telling me."

             
"And what's that?" Markus asked, mildly curious.

             
"The real reason you are here." Kendal answered, Markus' eyes narrowed, was his poker face really that bad?  He didn’t want to reveal who he really was unless it was absolutely necessary.  If word got out about who he had once trained under then traveling incognito would become pretty difficult.

             
"I already told you..." Markus started but Kendal interrupted him with a wave of his free hand.

             
"Yes, you already told me someone pointed west and you followed, but I can tell just by the way you're fighting that you have an ulterior motive here.  There is repressed anger in your actions." Kendal paused for a moment, when he spoke his voice was slightly colder.  "So, want to tell me what your motive is?"

             
There was a long pregnant silence, Markus glanced over at Marie and saw her young face was full of concern, probably afraid that they were going to start fighting again.  He didn’t like it, but he had to give the cowboy something, otherwise things would get messy.  Time for the contingency plan.

             
"Let's just say I'm looking for someone, sheriff." He told Kendal, who narrowed his eyes in response.

             
"And why pray tell, are you looking for this person?" Kendal questioned, Markus tried his best not to wince.

             
"He stole something from me.  Something important." Markus finally said, it was true to a degree.

             
"What did he steal? Gems? Barter goods? A lousy trinket? Girlfriend?" Kendal asked, barraging Markus with a series of questions, the blonde magi snorted at the last one the sheriff asked, if this guy only knew his ex-girlfriend…

             
"None of those." Markus replied, slowly reaching into his right pant pocket to show he wasn't being aggressive.  The "Ordinary" magi pulled out a silver necklace with a disc-shaped medallion, both had seen better days.  He threw the medallion to Kendal, who caught it with his left hand.  Upon close examination, the sheriff realized that there was a socket within the center of the medallion where a gem should be.

             
"The gem this person stole means a lot to me.  I heard he ventured to the west coast and followed suit." Markus explained, Marie turned to the flannel jacket-wearing magi.

             
"You do realize the west coast is a very big area to search right?" She asked him, Markus shrugged, relaxing his stance.

             
"It's not like I had anything better to do with my time." He replied, Kendal examined the medallion a moment more before throwing it back to Markus.

             
"Any idea what this person looks like?" Kendal asked, Markus placed a hand on his chin as he thought for a moment, perhaps this could work in his favor, maybe his quarry had been sighted in this area.

             
"White hair, white beard, wields a fancy staff and wears a dark purple cloak." He informed Kendal, Marie's eyes widened and she paled when she heard Markus' description.  Both men picked up on it and turned to her.

             
"Something wrong Marie?" Kendal asked the teenage girl, she slowly looked towards him.

             
"This person Markus is looking for, he's the same one who killed my entire team." She answered.

**********

              A very shoddy barn made out of rusty sheet metal was Benjamin's current shelter.  The structure was only big enough for a bed, a desk and a small lamp.  Fortunately, the place was only a temporary shelter, he'd be here two, maybe three days max before moving on.

             
Currently he was waiting here on orders of his "Master" Ebrim Thraves.  Supposedly, his master had taken out a team of Midas City Deputies and had set a trap for anyone that would come looking for them.  Benjamin's task was to confirm the person who sprung the trap was dead.  It was a waiting game and he hated waiting. 

             
Deciding to try and stave off boredom, the teenage necromancer-apprentice decided to take a leather ball out of his backpack and practice kicking it against the barn's wall.  The ball made a loud clanging sound every time it struck the sheet metal, but he didn't care.  He was out of earshot from where the trap was, so the victim wouldn't hear it, plus kicking the leather ball was therapeutic for him.  He used to do it all the time as a kid, after being scolded by his father for not training hard enough to his liking.

             
His father, Benjamin felt his anger rise just thinking of him.  He always pushed him too hard in his training, pushing him well past his limits.  Even when it was obvious that he was overly fatigued his father still demanded more from him.  Rebecca, his sister would usually be the one to get his old man to back off.  Really he didn't understand why his dad was such an asshole with training, and now that he was dead, Benjamin figured he never would now.

             
The teenage necromancer-apprentice frowned, kicking the ball suddenly wasn't so therapeutic anymore.

***********

              There was something foul happening near Midas City, but Janine Garlow wasn't quite sure what it was yet.  The vice-sheriff currently had her sorcery analyzer on her right eye.  Designed herself with a little help from some tinkerers in Midas City, the analyzer looked like a monocle, a gold chain attached from the monocle all the way to a clasp in her right pocket.  It displayed data by magically inscribing it in words on the lense, then fading off after a time. The analyzer allowed her to scan for traces of sorcery and necromancy.  She had found neither at first.

             
What she did find was the place where the southern scouting team had met their end.  There were bits of torn fabric from tan military fatigues, the uniforms that most deputies wore.  There was also five human sized bloodstains soaked into the sand.  Each bloodstain had a trail of dried blood that led off in a different direction.  Janine had spent most of the night following four of the trails, each one was a dead end.  However at the end of each trail were traces of sorcery, but not necromancy.

             
Another scouting team would arrive at her location shortly now that it was morning, but she didn't want to lose time.  Besides, checking the location of this last possible corpse could be the breakthrough she needed.  This blood trail was heading back west, which was very different than the other blood trails.  Two went east a little ways, one went south, where the trail went cold as it reached the outskirts of the Mistwoods.  Finally, the fourth blood trail went north, just to the east of Midas City.

             
Janine's sorcery analyzer was starting to get traces of necromancy, she felt grim satisfaction in finding out that the threat to her city of a necromancer assault was in fact very real.  She did not enjoy what that could entail for them though.  The vice-sheriff started to pick up the pace as the traces grew stronger.  Finally, she had a definite strong readout on her analyzer, someone had performed a necromantic spell around here just a day or so ago. 

             
A quick look around the general area uncovered a corpse that several vultures had feasted on.  It looked like nothing more than a skeleton with a layer of raw flesh covering it.  Janine approached the ravaged corpse for a closer look, her lips forming a tight line as she concentrated.  Yup, this was definitely where the necromantic spell was performed.  Strong traces of the vile magic were all over the cadaver.

             
Suddenly, a dark violet glyph appeared under the corpse, glowing brightly.  Janine watched with alarm as her analyzer registered a rapid buildup of magic energy from the glyph.  She had time to mutter a curse before the glyph exploded like a bomb.  Sending forth a huge plume of smoke and flame into the morning sky.

Chapter 6

             
All eyes were instantly on Marie.  She looked up into Markus' eyes and saw there was a different look about him.  The sixteen year-old girl realized she had never seen him truly angry until now.  At the mention of the man who killed her team and the realization that he was the same one Markus was looking for, the "Ordinary" magi's demeanor had changed completely.  He looked a like a coiled snake ready to strike.

             
"Why didn't you tell me this before?" He asked her in an accusing tone, Marie held her hands up defensively.

             
"You...never really asked about what happened to my team." She answered, this seemed to satisfy Markus somewhat as he calmed down.

             
"Okay point taken Marie.  I just have one question, did this man...did he continue heading west?" The blonde-haired magi asked, Marie thought for a moment before answering.

             
"Yes." She stated, Markus eyed her for a moment.

             
"You're sure?" He asked, Marie nodded.

             
"I was a little more concerned with what he did to my team at that moment, but yes I do remember him heading west after the...incident." She confirmed, Markus immediately headed for the room's exit, but was stopped by Kendal

             
"Where are you going?" He demanded, Markus stopped, but he didn't turn around to face the sheriff

             
"Where do you think?  I'm going after him."  Markus replied impatiently.

             
"I'm not finished with you yet." Kendal declared, Markus just shrugged.

             
"Not my problem.  My entire reason for coming to the west coast was to get back what's mine.  Not play a thousand questions with a wanna-be cowboy." The blonde magi explained, Kendal grit his teeth at the cowboy remark.

             
"Low blow blondie.  How about I fill your legs full of holes and then we can see what other creative insults you can manage?" The sheriff said darkly.

             
"That's fine as long as you don't mind having all your ribs get crushed." Markus shot back evenly, his hands starting to glow with magic energy.

             
"Stop!" Marie suddenly shouted out, kicking over the interrogation room's table and stepping between the two magi.  She was tired of the arguing and fighting, they should be using their efforts on more productive things, like the threats beyond the city’s walls.  The teenage magi turned to Markus.  "Look, I know what this guy stole from you is important and I may not know him as well as you seem to.  That doesn't change the fact that he's extremely dangerous, even for you.  He took out my entire team like they were nothing and I'm still not even sure why he spared me." She revealed, shaking her head.  "If you're going after him you're going to need help.  Let us help you."  Kendal looked at Marie, his jaw dropping.

             
"Um, excuse me, but I never volunteered to help this guy.  Sounds like finding this mystery man is gonna be a real pain in the ass." The sheriff complained, Marie glared at him.  Kendal’s laziness was really irritating at times.  Even more so because she knew he was a very capable fighter and magi.

             
"Fine! Then I'll help him then!" Marie announced, Kendal took his right index finger and thumb and rubbed it on the bridge of his nose.

             
"Geez, you really aren't going to let this one go are you Marie?" Kendal responded, Marie shook her head.  He didn’t like this, she could tell.  He probably still had his suspicions about Markus, it was his job to be after all.  However, the blonde aeromancer had plenty of opportunity to take her life and he didn’t.  Despite his ability to keep secrets Marie trusted him at his words for some reason.  He seemed less “Shady.”  Others had tried to deceive her for their own benefits, but she got the feeling that if Markus was deceiving her, he was doing it for her benefit.

             
Just then a deputy cautiously peeked his head into the demolished interrogation room.  He had a fearful look in his eyes and looked like he was about to scamper away like a frightened rabbit at any moment.  He caught sight of the sheriff and relaxed slightly.

             
"Uh sir, just so you know, the scouting team that the vice-sheriff requested is ready to head out." The deputy spoke nervously, Kendal raised an eyebrow.

             
"The vice-sheriff sent for a scouting team? I thought she just finished a mission?" He asked, the deputy tugged nervously at the collar of his shirt.

             
"Yes, well, the Mayor assigned her a mission to find out what happened to the southern scouting party, which has not reported in yet.   The vice-sheriff went off to check it out last night despite protests and we have now just got a team assembled to rendezvous with her." The deputy reported, Kendal shook his head.

             
"Let me get this straight, Vice-Sheriff Janine Garlow, went ahead and took another mission after JUST finishing one?" The sheriff questioned, the deputy answered with a nod.  "She went off to investigate a missing team?" The deputy nodded, "On her own?" The deputy nodded again.  "In the middle of night?!" The deputy hesitated for a moment then nodded once more.  Kendal slapped a palm to his forehead and sighed.  "How soon until the scouting team leaves?"  He asked the deputy in a tired voice.

             
"They'll be ready to leave in about twenty minutes sir." The deputy told him.  Kendal nodded and began to exit the room.  He stopped when he was about to pass Markus, who was still standing before the doorway.

             
"This isn't over 'Ordinary' Magi, once I make sure my vice-sheriff is okay, I'm coming back to finish my questions." He declared, Markus matched the intensity of his glare.

             
"That's fine cowboy, I won't be hard to find." Was the "Ordinary" Magi's reply.

**********

              The huge pillar of smoke and fire rose to the morning sky.  Abruptly, the pillar suddenly reversed direction, collapsing back in on itself.  The ground seemed to be sucking up the smoke and flame like a vacuum cleaner.  It wasn't the ground that was absorbing the pillar however, it was a card.  Once it had absorbed all trace of the explosion, the small card turned to ash.  The card's ashes were then carried by the slight breeze into the air.

             
Janine had dropped the absorption card just in time, but it was not without consequences.  Her right hand was caught in the blast when she threw the card down.  It was badly burned and she couldn't really move it much.  She heard footsteps behind her as she was busy examining her hand and trying not to scream from the pain.  Quickly she whirled around to find a young man, solidly built, with short red spiky hair.  He was glaring at her.

             
"Damn it, why did it have to be a woman?" The young man said to no one in particular.  Janine reached into the pack on her right hip with her left hand.  It took slightly longer than using her injured right hand, but she didn't really have much choice.  She pulled out three cards, fanning them out in her left hand.

             
"Are you the one who set the trap?" She questioned, the youth sighed and shook his head.

             
"No, but I know the person who did." He replied, Janine's eyes narrowed, her sorcery analyzer was still functional, but so far she got no readings of magic from the kid.

             
"I don't suppose you'd tell me who then?" She asked, The red-haired teenager frowned and ran a hand through his spiky hair.

             
"Afraid I can't do that lady, orders and all that, you know how it is." He answered.  It was Janine's turn to frown, she knew it would have been too easy if he told her the identity of her would-be killer.

             
"So you're a henchman then?" She inquired, at this the youth's expression darkened.  There was a fire in his eyes as he glared at her.

             
"No I'm...something else, but I'm not here to argue what I am to your assailant.  I'm here to finish the job.  It's just that I don't like killing women." He stated.

             
"Sounds like you’re in the wrong line of work then.  I'll ask you only once more and then I'll have to get more ‘forceful’ who planted this magic bomb and why?"  She demanded, the youth shook his head, sighing once more.

             
"I knew it would come to this." He stated, stretching out his right hand.  Janine's analyzer picked up the magic energy gathering around the kid.  A giant over-sized gauntlet made out of rock formed around the boy's right arm, all the way up past the elbow but before the shoulder.  "Look if you turn and walk away right now I won't pursue you, I'll just tell my 'Master' that the person who triggered the bomb was blown to pieces." He offered, Janine took note of the disdain in his voice when he said "Master."  Judging from the way he was manipulating the rock, the kid was a geomancer.

             
"I'm afraid I can't do that kid.  I need to find this master of yours before he causes my home any harm." She declared, the red-haired geomancer crouched into a fighting stance.

             
"It was worth a try." was his reply.

             
The two sorcerers stared each other down, the only sound was the slight breeze that picked up small amounts of the sand around them.  The breeze mildly disturbed their clothing, but other than that the two were fixated on each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.  They were like statues.

**********

              Gudale Prison, that's what the sign said.  To Ebrim the building looked more like castle than anything else.  Several square shaped towers made from dark-green rock rose into the sky and the heavy oak double doors that served as its main entrance were tall and wide, as if the structure was holding an army within its walls.  The necromancer noticed that one of the doors was ajar, looks like there were previous visitors before him.

             
As Ebrim continued to examine the outside walls of the prison he felt an unusual thought enter his brain.  He thought about how Patricia would have loved seeing something like this, his late wife always did have a thing for castles and knights.  An old pain tugged at the necromancer's heart, and his mind wandered to happier times.

**********

Twelve years ago.

Stonehollow Village, located in former Utah.

              Ebrim watched the woman work, her long blonde hair which usually went to her waist was tied into a tight bun on top of her head. Her delicate hands weaving some cloth bandages around a wounded man's waist.  He had two cups of a rather rare beverage, something the ancestors called "Coffee."  One was for him and the other for the hard-working woman he was watching.  The vanilla-colored flannel shirt and ragged blue jeans she wore were covered in spots of dried blood, but that was okay, she wore these items just for this purpose.  Once she was finished bandaging the man she wiped some sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand, moving a few strands of blonde hair out of her eyes as well.

             
"This is the second day in a row you've been here Patricia." Ebrim spoke to the woman, who instantly straightened from surprise.  She turned towards him, her chocolate-brown eyes bloodshot and gave a small smile.  "You need to get some rest."

             
"These people aren't going to fix themselves." She replied.  "Some medical attention is better than none."  He sighed, his wife spent most of her free time at Stonehollow's clinic, doing what she could to help the sick and injured.  No matter how hard she worked though, there was always a pile of bodies to be burned by the end of the day.  Ebrim couldn't help but think how futile her efforts seemed to be.

             
"I know that dear, but you'll be good to no one if you collapse from exhaustion." The dark-haired man said, holding up the steaming cups in his hands so she could get a better look.  "I brought coffee."  Patricia's eyes lit up at the mention of coffee.

             
"You got coffee?  I thought we ran out three days ago?" She asked, Ebrim smiled mischievously.

             
"Yeah well, managed to sneak away with a pouch after last night's scavenge run." He replied.  After hesitating for just a moment, Patricia went to the clinic’s fitting room and removed the ragged vanilla shirt and blue jeans she was wearing, changing into a green shirt and khaki shorts, though she still wore her brown boots.  Together, the couple exited the clinic and sat on the stone steps of the building's rear entrance.  Ebrim handed her one cup of the steaming beverage which she gratefully took.

             
"What else did you guys find from the scavenge run?" Patricia questioned after taking a sip of her coffee, Ebrim shrugged.

             
"A few canned goods, some blankets, and...a cache of medical supplies." He informed her,