Ben's NaNoWriMo Log

Chapter 17 added Sep 23, 2005
Molly strode over to the window, peeking out between the shutters. "Blast!" "What's wrong?" asked Sarah, the conflicting emotions that were battling in her were washed away by a cold, all-too-familiar feeling of dread. Her hand twitching near the hilt of her rapier, Molly looked back toward the door. "There's a man out in the courtyard -- a wizard, by the look of him -- looking for Syphar." She looked at the wizard sitting on her bed. "He asked for you by name." Syphar sprang to his feet. "Is he alone?" Molly shook her head. "He has half a dozen men-at-arms, at least." She jerked a thumb over her shoulder at the window. "There are more out on the street. Can't tell how many. Kufriti, no doubt about it. Probably the king's men." Syphar began to pace back and forth. He shoved a hand through his hair. "How could they have found us so quickly?" Sarah sat where she was, looking back and forth between Molly and Syphar. "What are we going to do?" "I don't know," said Molly. "We might be able to fight our way clear, if it weren't for that wizard. I'd bet my eyes he's more than a Journeyman." She turned to Syphar. "No offense, but I doubt you'd be a match for him." Syphar stopped pacing. He held his hands together in front of him , the thumb of his right hand rubbing the domed sapphire in his ring. It was a gesture Sarah had come to associate with the wizard being deep in thought. His thumb stopped moving as he looked for a long moment into Sarah's eyes. She couldn't read the expression in his face, but a heartbeat later his hands dropped to his sides and he nodded. "I have a plan. Follow me." Molly and Sarah exchanged worried glances as he strode past them, but fell in behind him nonetheless. Syphar's plans had served them well often enough. Sarah felt her apprehension increase as she realized that they were headed straight for the courtyard. Where else could they go? Syphar walked out into the midday sun with Molly and Sarah in tow. He had his hands folded casually behind his back. Sarah held her chin up and did her best to face her fate with dignity. The courtyard was empty save for a sallow faced man in green robes trimmed with gold, and seven armored men with bared broadswords standing behind him. Curious faces watched the spectacle from the galleries of the inn; no doubt some of them mistook this for an impromptu dramatic production. Syphar stopped a few steps away from the green robed wizard. He gave the other man an appraising look. "So Count Arden has Boarshead lackeys doing his dirty work for him already, eh?" The wizard's triumphant sneer faltered for a moment, then returned with new vigor. "You would do well to show respect to your superiors, Journeyman. The Boarshead college is loyal to King Alfred as it was to his predecessor, may Tavion's light shine upon his soul." As he spoke, the wizard fingered a triangular gold pendant about his neck that was set with a glittering emerald. "Though I suppose such insubordination is to be expected from a traitor." Sarah glanced at Syphar, but she couldn't see his face from where she was standing. Whatever his plan was, it seemed to include annoying the people who were likely planning to kill them. One of the soldiers behind the wizard went out to the street, where he summoned back the men who had been surrounding the inn. They began to file into the courtyard, swelling the contingent to nearly twenty. "I must admit I am impressed," said Syphar. "However did you manage to find us with the pitiful arts they practice out in the woods? By smell, I presume." The green robed wizard gave a toothy grin. "For one who claims such superior knowledge, I am surprised you don't know that certain items can be tracked from a great distance." He tapped his pendant for emphasis. Syphar nodded. "Ah, a minor miscalculation on my part." He shrugged. "This entire exercise seems pointless at any rate. The king is on his throne; surely none of us poses any threat to him at this point." "Treason is treason," said the wizard. "It's a noose you shan't wriggle out of with such sophistry." Sarah couldn't take it any more. She stepped up next to Syphar. "Please, this is all my fault. They were only trying to help me; they know nothing. Take me and leave them in peace." The wizard shook his head. "That's enough." He gestured to the men behind him. "Take them." As the soldiers began to move forward, Syphar's right hand shot up before him The ring on his clenched fist blazed brightly. Almost simultaneously, the other wizard's hands flashed with green fire. Sarah recoiled form the rush of flames, only to see them splash against an unseen barrier a few feet in front of Syphar. Even so, she could feel the heat from where she was. As they faded, the green robed wizard could be seen once more, an expression of mild surprise on his face. His emerald focus flared again, and bolts of lightning leapt from his fingertips, dancing across the barrier searching for gaps in the mystical shield. The lightning, too, winked out, leaving its intended targets unharmed. "A powerful defense," he admitted. "You can't sustain it for long, though." Sarah could see that he was right. Sweat was already beading on Syphar's forehead. With his free hand, Syphar gently pushed Sarah away from him. "I don't have to," he said through clenched teeth. Before Sarah could ask what he meant by that, she began to see the telltale rippling in the air around Syphar's body. She took a step back as the tiny ripples grew into wider waves. His entire body began to glow, and Sarah could see faint trail that must be ley lines curving and flowing into him from every direction. The green robed wizard looked on, at first with confusion, then disbelief, then horror. He backed away one step at a time, and his soldiers exchanged worried glances. Blue flames began to lick up around Syphar's body as still more energy poured into him. Sarah could barely make out his face as he turned his head back over his shoulder to speak to her. She only barely registered the other wizard turning to run as Syphar spoke: "I love you, Sarah." With that, the fireball that had been her friend Syphar was sucked through the blazing sapphire, emerging through the other side as lashing tendrils of energy. In mere heartbeats the light winked out, leaving the wizard and his soldiers as charred husks on the ground. Of Syphar there was nothing but a ring tumbling to the flagstones with a clink that echoed in the sudden silence. As if in a dream, Sarah walked slowly to the ring. She crouched down and took it in her hand. It bore no mark from the terrible energies that had flowed through it, save a crack through the center of the sparkling blue stone. A hand clapped on her shoulder and snapped Sarah out of her daze. She saw stunned faces all around in the galleries of the inn. "Come on," said Molly's urgent voice. "We have to get out of here."
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