Wandering Warrior: Judge - Chapter 16 (Patreon)

Chapter 16

“What’s wrong?”  Jess was walking next to me, the two of us trailing the three Wardens.  We were leading the disgraced captain’s horse, which was loaded down with raptor hides and other various bits.   “You haven’t said much since we left the clearing.”

“There are two things that are really bothering me.”  I had come up with several ways to keep Jess from getting killed, but only one of them gave her a true chance at survival.  And it was the plan I didn’t like the most.  “And I don’t see a way to fix the biggest issue without a lot of pain, sweat, and tears.”

“Well, tell me what’s bothering you.  Maybe I can help.”  Jess slowed a bit, opening the gap between the Wardens and us.  She leaned in to whisper.  “Is it because of those three?”

“No.  The biggest problem I have is what we are going to do to keep you alive.”  I explained what I had learned from Cross, and told her my concerns about leaving her in Greendown.  “So, you see why I’m unhappy.”

Jess didn’t answer right away, instead taking a few minutes to think about her reply.  “The best thing would be for me to go east, outside the region the Wardens control.”  The corners of her lips turned down into a frown.  “But the Eastern Marshals are close enough to the Wardens that they might as well be the same thing.”  She fell silent again, her nose scrunched up in thought.

I waited for her to work through the problem.  While we were walking, the forest started thinning out enough that sunlight was able to reach the forest floor, making the ground warm up and creating a low fog that hugged the earth.  Both Leedy and Murphy were quickly red-faced and overheated in their armor, but the hearty Wardens refused to slow down.  Cross seemed to still be in a daze, occasionally glancing back at me with a blank look on his face.

“Of course!”  Jess winced as soon as she realized she had shouted, breaking me out of my observation of our surroundings.  “I could just change my name when we get to Greendown.  No one will know who I am, especially since I’m from a small village.”  She seemed proud of her idea, walking with a bit of a strut.  Until I burst her little bubble.

“So, there are a lot of pretty shifter girls around your age, height, and weight in the area?”  I raised my eyebrow, already seeing her wilt.  “I suppose if you can blend in with a group of people that look just like you, it should be easy to hide.”

“You don’t have to be so sarcastic.”  She looked down at her feet.  “What am I supposed to do then?  Hiding in the wilderness until they forget about me sounds terrible.”

“No, I have something much worse in mind.”  It was hard not to smile as Jess seemed to pull in on herself in fear.  Served her right for sneaking up on me all the time.  “I’m going to teach you magic.  At least, enough to protect yourself from mundane assassins.”

Her eyes went as wide as saucers, and her mouth dropped open, exposing her elongated canines.  “Y-you are going to teach me magic?  Real magic.  The kind that you do.”  I nodded, and she whooped with joy.  “Yes!  I’m going to be a real wizard!”

“It’s wizardess, and that’s not what I’m going to train you to be.”  I shook my head as she tried her best to calm down.  She almost managed, but she couldn’t keep her hands still.  I ignored it, and got on with the first lesson.  “I’m going to teach you how to be a mage.  Not a wizard, wizardess, sorceress, druid, warlock, or witch.  A mage.”

“What’s the difference?  I mean, I know a druid talks to animals, and a witch makes potions and love spells.  But it’s wizards that cast real magic.”  Jess was finally settling down, the conversation leveling her out some.  “Aren’t warlocks and sorcerers the same as a wizard?”

I almost growled in frustration.  It drove me crazy when people got it all wrong.  “No, they are not the same as a wizard, and a wizard isn’t the same as a mage.”  I paused, expecting another interruption, but she surprisingly stayed quiet.  “A wizard performs magic through rituals and memorized spells.  They usually need some kind of focusing object, like a wand or staff, that they have enchanted somehow.”

“Yeah, that’s what I want to do.”  Jess did the fluttery thing with her hands again.  “This is going to be so amazing!”

“No.  We don’t have the time for you to spend the next decade memorizing the necessary incantations and rituals required to be a wizard.  And while a mage uses enchanted items, they use them to enhance what they already do.  They don’t require them like a wizard does.”  I held out a hand and snapped my fingers, shooting a bolt of electricity into a nearby tree.  It was much stronger than I expected, but I played it off like I completely meant to blast the bark off of an innocent walnut tree.  “See that?  Only some concentration and an activation movement, and I can do magic.  A wizard can’t even manage that much without some kind of tool to help them.  Mages directly control the power of the universe through willpower and mental focus.”

“Wow.  Okay, I get the point.  I want to be a mage.”  Jess walked over to inspect the damage while I waved off Leedy and Murphy.  The spell had made them stop short, expecting an attack.  I gave them a shrug in apology and the two of them turned around.  Cross hadn’t stopped walking.  Jess returned from looking over the tree and we fell in step behind the Wardens.  “What about the other kinds of magic users you were talking about?”

“I don’t want to get bogged down explaining everything right now, so I’ll just go over the bare minimum.  Sorcerers make a deal with a powerful entity of some kind and borrow their power in return for something.  Usually regular sacrifices, their own soul, or promises of future favors.  You can see why I don’t like being compared to one of them.”  Jess nodded to show she understood.  “Good.  Now, druids are similar to sorcerers, but they make deals with nature or earth spirits for power.  Sometimes the primal gods of old, if they have any power left to share.  Those are the ones that can turn into animals like a shifter, without all the downsides of being a lycan.  Usually, a druid is a force for good – as long as you don’t trash what they are protecting.  The bad part of being a druid are the limits on how far they can go.  They promise to protect nature, or some sacred region.  If they stray too far from their place of power, they get weaker and weaker until they are forced to return.”

“What happens if they don’t go back?”  Jess was looking around the forest as if she was looking for a druid to pop out from behind a bush or something.  “Do they die?”

I shook my head no.  “The compulsion to return would get stronger and stronger, until they couldn’t ignore it any more.  And them leaving their place of power is pretty rare, especially if they have a big region to cover.  Like this forest, or a mountain range.  That isn’t the important part for you to remember, though.”

“Okay, what’s the important part?”  Jess was still watching for a druid instead of looking at me.  “Don’t shoot trees with lightning?”

“Well, you’re not wrong, but what I was going to say was to try and avoid fighting a druid on their own turf.  They are always tough.”  I remembered the crazy old druid I had fought on world ten.  I had been trying to gather rare ores so I could gain my Blacksmith Profession, and he had taken exception at my digging.  It had all worked out since that’s what led to my blessed star metal mace and hand cannon.  At the time it had been less than fun.  I realized Jess was staring at me and cleared my throat.  “Anyway, the last one you need to know about are warlocks and witches.  They don’t just make love potions and cackle over a black cauldron.”

“Oh, I was just kidding about that.  I know how evil witches can be.  There is a coven to the north that rules over the orcs and goblins.  Some people even say they control the weaker undead.”  Jess shuddered.  “I definitely don’t want to be one of those.”

“Well, I don’t know how true all that is, but I do know not all witches and warlocks are evil.”  Jess opened her mouth to argue so I held up a finger to stop her.  “There are white witches and black witches.  White witches aren’t very common, which is why most witches get a bad name.  The difference comes from how they get their power.  Black witches get their power from sacrifices, like a sorcerer, but they manipulate the spent life energy directly instead of trading it with a demon or something similar.”  I shuddered, remembering the great sacrifice of the Seven Shade Coven on world eleven.

“If that’s how black witches get power, how do white witches use magic?”  Jess was guiding the horse around a divot in the road, doing her best not to step in the mud packed on the edge of the trail.  “Do they sacrifice bad things?”

“Nope.  White witches get magic through prayer and dedication to benevolent entities, and they use spells through runed objects and potions.”

“That sounds a lot like a druid, except without the promise to stay in one place.”  Jess finally got the horse back on the trail after managing to get mud up past her ankles.  “Do they have limits like druids?”

I thought for a minute about how to best explain it, considering how close they were to a druid.  “You know how most healers are a priest of some kind?  They heal through prayer to a god they worship.  Well, not all gods work that way.  Some are in between the gods of nature and the gods of light and dark.  Those are the ones a white witch deals with.  That means they are usually weaker in a direct confrontation.  Their real power lies in the wide array of abilities and potions they have.”

“Like what?”  Jess was hopping along next to me, trying to knock the mud off her feet.  “Love spells?”

“What is it with you and love spells?”  She just shrugged at me.  Ugh.  “Yes, things like love spells, seeing the future, tracking spells, potions for strength, speed, invisibility, breathing under water, charms of all types, the ability to speak to spirits, all kinds of things.”

“Okay, I get it.  They are powerful, but not in the same way a black witch or warlock is.  It sounds to me like becoming a mage really is the best choice.”  She squinted at me, her face turning serious.  “When do you start teaching me?”

“Now, if you want.”  I waited for her to stop dancing with joy before I finished talking.  “First, I need you to hold out your hand and let me test you.”

“What are you testing me for?”  Jess was practically shoving her hand in my face.  “Are you going to teach me how to throw a fireball?  Oh, how about turning invisible!  I’ve always wanted to do that.”

“Let me test you first, and we can go from there.”  I took her hand and gently pushed a tiny puff of mana into her body to check how resistant she was to it.  At least, I tried to make it a tiny amount.  The burst that shot into her was enough to jolt her like she had been shocked, and her hand yanked out of mine as she gave me an uppercut to the nose.

“Wha-what was that!”  Jess was shaking, and I was pinching off a bloody nose.  The girl had hard knuckles.  “Are you trying to kill me?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”  I drew a few small circles on my forehead to stop the bleeding, then pulled out a rag to wipe away the blood running down my face.  “I gotta say, you have a solid punch.”

“Remember where I worked?  I had to be able to defend myself.”  Jess was shaking her hand, trying to get feeling back into it.  “What did you do to me?  My hand is asleep.”

“That’s because you have my mana in your hand instead of your own.  Where does the numbness stop?”  I moved closer as Jess indicated a spot just below her elbow.  “Hmmm, that’s interesting.”

“Interesting good, or interesting bad?”  She was still flexing her fingers.  “Is there something wrong?”

I shook my head and took her by the hand again.  “It’s just interesting.  Not necessarily good or bad.”  I tried pulling my mana back out of her hand again so she could get feeling back in her arm, but it wouldn’t come free.  “Well, it looks like your first lesson is going to be how to purge your body from foreign mana instead of a fireball.  I think it might be because of your heritage making you different, but I can’t reclaim my mana from you.”

“Different?  How does being lycan-touched make me different?”  Jess seemed to curl up on herself.  Another person telling her there was something wrong with her because of a situation she couldn’t control.  I was going to have to break her of that mental trap at some point.  Might as well start now.

“Stop acting like being different is bad.”  I shook my finger in her face.  She looked up at me, tears trying to escape her eyes.  “Being different is what separates you from the chaff.  Like I was saying, your body seems to hold onto mana much better than anyone I’ve ever trained.  It will make it much easier for you to gather energy for powerful spells.  Controlling them is going to be your issue.”

“Y-you mean I can still cast magic?  I’m not going to go full shift or something and lose control of myself?”  Jess perked up, her ears almost vibrating with excitement.  “I can be a mage?”

“Actually, I didn’t even think about you shifting.  That’s something we’ll have to keep an eye out for, but I’m not worried about it.”  I put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.  “Even if that does happen, I won’t let you hurt yourself, or anyone else.  Have faith in your new teacher.”

She took a few deep breaths, and gave me a sharp nod of agreement.  “Okay.  I trust you.”  Jess held her hand up, flapping it around like an injured potato.  “Can we fix this now?”

I laughed, and let go of her.  “Sure.  First, I need you to imagine in your mind that your body is an empty vessel.  Like a Jess-shaped vase that doesn’t have anything inside it.”  She squinted, concentrating on what I was telling her.  We were getting farther away from the three in front, but I was okay with that.  Just in case something didn’t go as planned, some extra space was probably a good thing.  “Now that you have that image in your mind, do your best to sense the mana I pushed into you.  You should see it as a kind of mist or fog that fills up the numb part of your arm.”

Jess grunted, and beads of sweat popped out on her forehead.  “I see it.  It’s like a blue-green fog, with yellow lightning running through it.”

Well, the lightning part was new.  I would have to check on that later, when I was alone.  “Good.  Now imagine opening up a hole in your palm, almost like popping the cork on a bottle.  Then push the fog out of it and seal the hole back up when it’s all gone.”

Jess lifted her hand and pointed it off into the forest, away from the rest of us.  Her arm started to shake, and she bit down hard, gritting her teeth.  After a few seconds, a burst of cyan light shot out of her palm, gouging out a deep rut in the ground and sending dirt flying with a booming shockwave I felt in my chest.  Jess dropped to her knees before passing out.  I managed to catch her before she could face plant into the hard-packed trail.

“What are you doing back there?!”  Leedy had stopped, his sword out and ready.  “Would you please stop blowing up the forest, and telling every monster out here exactly where we are?”

“Sorry!”  I waved, showing everything was okay.  “My fault!”  He turned back around and they went back to walking.  I got Jess back to her feet, and slapped her awake.  “Hey, snap out of it.  That was impressive for a first spell, but you can’t go passing out every time mana leaves your body.  You need to control how much you push out at one time.  Don’t allow yourself to lose too much all at once, otherwise the shock to your system will knock you for a loop.”

“Got it.”  Jess straightened up, forcing herself to stand on her own.  “I’m okay now.  I just got really weak all of a sudden.”

“Because you pushed out all of your own mana along with mine.  It will be a bit before we can try again.  Probably close to sundown.”  I passed over the bracers that had belonged to Cross.  “And next time, I want you to wear these.  I’m pretty sure they enhance whatever spells you use.  I’m hoping they also help control how much mana passes through them.  We’ll have to see if they help you or not.”

“Thank you, James.”  Jess put them on.  They were loose, but not so loose that they would fall off.  “I’ll take good care of them, I promise.  Although I will have to hide them under my sleeves when we get to any villages.  Anyone who looks at them will be able to tell they came from a high-ranking Warden.”

“Just be smart about it, and you should be fine.  I’ll need to look them over later, but you should get used to wearing them for now.”  I would make a rubbing of the runes later, so I could study them.  If there was anything new, I could probably make something custom for myself with them.  Maybe a ring would work, and then I wouldn’t have to take off my hand cannon or shield bracelet.  “Let’s hurry, we need to catch up to the others.  They’re too far ahead.”

We stepped it out, and by the time the next village was in sight over the next hill we had caught up to them.  The trail ran straight through the middle, with a high earthen wall surrounding the cluster of buildings that hugged the thin ribbon of packed dirt that ran through the forest.  I was looking forward to buying some new clothes if they had any, and maybe trading some of the raptor hides for some local currency before we got to Greendown.

As we approached the gates, Jess tugged at my sleeve.  “I just realized something.  You said there were two things bothering you, but only told me about one.  What’s the other problem you are worried about?”

I didn’t answer right away, instead looking at the pile of dinosaur skins on the horse’s back.  “You have velociraptors here, right?”  Jess nodded yes.  “Well, the thing that’s really bothering me is what else might be out there.”

“What?”  Jess followed my eyes to see what I was looking at.  “What else are you worried about?”

I swallowed hard.  “Have you ever heard of something called a tyrannosaurus rex?”