Read Online Journeyman (A Wizard's Life) by Eric Guindon - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Eric Guindon
Tags: Fiction
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you. He comes to our village every harvest and demands we pay him tribute. He takes a share of the harvest and also some of the other things we produce. If we object, he threatens us with violence or curses. One year, we resisted and he cursed a man with excessive flatulence until we relented. The stench was quite potent.” All three elders were nodding in agreement. “He is due to arrive again within the month. We’ve put together our money and have got eleven silver coins to offer you, if you will protect our village from this villain.”
“You’ll have our thanks as well, Lord Wizard,” put in the elder named Kalder.
“I will consider what you have asked, gentlemen. You may be aware that my wife is with child. I am loathe to leave her so close to the end of the pregnancy.”
The three looked disappointed as he escorted them out of his dwelling. “I will have an answer for you in the morning,” he told them.
As they walked away, he heard Kalder say to the others: “I told you he wouldn’t defend us from his own kind!”
That night at supper, Benen broached the subject with Sania. She understood that it was important to him to go and deal with this wizard.
“Go, my love, and show this village that you will stand with the common folk against unjust wizards.”
When he told the elders his decision in the morning, they were overjoyed. He made his arrangements and left with them that very afternoon.
A week later Benen and the elders arrived in the village of Gronin.
#
Eager to complete this task and return to his wife before she gave birth, Benen spent no time in the village itself. The elders had told him the wizard always walked into the village from the north when he came, so Benen headed in that direction to intercept the bully.
Once out of sight from the village, Benen stashed his things into a bag he had brought and changed into the giant eagle that was his favourite animal form. He took off northward, flying in a search pattern, looking for signs of the wizard.
It was not long before Benen spotted something unusual.
Marching south, he saw a mansion carried on the back of a giant elephant. As he got closer though, he realized there was no elephant at all, just four elephant legs coming out of the bottom of the building. Benen would be surprised if this was not the home of the wizard he sought. He flew toward it.
The home spotted him as he approached. It stopped walking forward and hunched down defensively. Benen landed a short distance in front of it and changed shapes back to his human form.
After he was dressed, Benen waited to see if the wizard would emerge from the walking mansion, but no one came out. He flew toward the building then, using the magic of the Pinnacle to lift himself into the air. When he was within shouting distance, he called to the wizard.
“Hello! I have come to speak with you,” he yelled.
There came no verbal response, instead a metallic human form came out of the mansion and stood on one of the many balconies. It moved its arms and hands in strange ways, and Benen recognized too late that the metal being was casting magic. The air around Benen burst into flames and only his quick reactions saved him from severe burns; at the first sign of the fire, he had let himself drop, escaping the worst of it.
Benen did not know what the creature was, but it could cast magic. This was disturbing.
He flew back up, keeping his movements erratic so as to make himself a difficult target and, when he came into sight of the metal being, he used the magic of the Pinnacle once more to pick up the creature, aiming to fling it to the ground below. Unfortunately, his spell fell apart as he was casting it and soon, so did his flying spell. Benen found himself plummeting toward the ground.
As the moment of impact grew ever closer, Benen frantically re-cast his flying spell, succeeding with only a few seconds to spare.
Did the creature cut my spells apart? he wondered.
Benen took
“You’ll have our thanks as well, Lord Wizard,” put in the elder named Kalder.
“I will consider what you have asked, gentlemen. You may be aware that my wife is with child. I am loathe to leave her so close to the end of the pregnancy.”
The three looked disappointed as he escorted them out of his dwelling. “I will have an answer for you in the morning,” he told them.
As they walked away, he heard Kalder say to the others: “I told you he wouldn’t defend us from his own kind!”
That night at supper, Benen broached the subject with Sania. She understood that it was important to him to go and deal with this wizard.
“Go, my love, and show this village that you will stand with the common folk against unjust wizards.”
When he told the elders his decision in the morning, they were overjoyed. He made his arrangements and left with them that very afternoon.
A week later Benen and the elders arrived in the village of Gronin.
#
Eager to complete this task and return to his wife before she gave birth, Benen spent no time in the village itself. The elders had told him the wizard always walked into the village from the north when he came, so Benen headed in that direction to intercept the bully.
Once out of sight from the village, Benen stashed his things into a bag he had brought and changed into the giant eagle that was his favourite animal form. He took off northward, flying in a search pattern, looking for signs of the wizard.
It was not long before Benen spotted something unusual.
Marching south, he saw a mansion carried on the back of a giant elephant. As he got closer though, he realized there was no elephant at all, just four elephant legs coming out of the bottom of the building. Benen would be surprised if this was not the home of the wizard he sought. He flew toward it.
The home spotted him as he approached. It stopped walking forward and hunched down defensively. Benen landed a short distance in front of it and changed shapes back to his human form.
After he was dressed, Benen waited to see if the wizard would emerge from the walking mansion, but no one came out. He flew toward the building then, using the magic of the Pinnacle to lift himself into the air. When he was within shouting distance, he called to the wizard.
“Hello! I have come to speak with you,” he yelled.
There came no verbal response, instead a metallic human form came out of the mansion and stood on one of the many balconies. It moved its arms and hands in strange ways, and Benen recognized too late that the metal being was casting magic. The air around Benen burst into flames and only his quick reactions saved him from severe burns; at the first sign of the fire, he had let himself drop, escaping the worst of it.
Benen did not know what the creature was, but it could cast magic. This was disturbing.
He flew back up, keeping his movements erratic so as to make himself a difficult target and, when he came into sight of the metal being, he used the magic of the Pinnacle once more to pick up the creature, aiming to fling it to the ground below. Unfortunately, his spell fell apart as he was casting it and soon, so did his flying spell. Benen found himself plummeting toward the ground.
As the moment of impact grew ever closer, Benen frantically re-cast his flying spell, succeeding with only a few seconds to spare.
Did the creature cut my spells apart? he wondered.
Benen took
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