White Hall (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 10) Read online

  White Hall

  By

  Donald L. Wigboldy Jr.

  Copy Write May 2015

  For World Maps and More Go To:

  https://www.facebook.com/BattleMageATaleOfAlus

  Other books by Donald L. Wigboldy Jr.

  From the Tales of Alus series:

  The High King: A Tale of Alus

  The Emperor’s Shadow War

  Battle Mage: A Tale of Alus

  Battle Mage: Winter’s Edge

  Battle Mage: The Lost King

  Battle Mage: Dragon Mage

  Battle Mage: Dark Mage

  Battle Mage: A Hero’s Welcome

  Battle Mage: Forging New Steel

  Modern Tales:

  Voran the Night Guardian

  Standing Before Monsters

  The Mermaid’s Chest

  Chapter 1- The Harvest

  The brown rabbit made a single hop past the white washed fence sinking down immediately. Raising its head to look around for trouble, the timid creature was cautious in its approach of the vegetable garden. A woven fence about two feet tall barred the rabbit from a good meal, but even the house a hundred feet away and the animals milling around the farm would not deter this bandit from its intended fare.

  Sitting quietly, the dark haired boy perched on the porch held his fingers in a triangle as if they held the tentative creature in a frame from such a distance. His eyes glowed slightly before Piotr felt like the sight before him flipped around dropping to less than a foot off of the ground. Looking towards the porch, the boy could see himself sitting there with his chin nearly buried into his upper chest.

  “Not so fast, little guy,” the boy’s lips said sounding distant to anyone that might have been close by just then. His father and older brothers were working with the animals or out in the fields, however, and his mother could be heard humming as she cleaned the house on a cool spring afternoon.

  Winter had been long, as it always was in the north, though Southwall was far from the harshest hit of North continent as it occupied the large, southwest peninsula. Named for the wall which guarded the nation, Southwall and the relation to its enemies reminded Piotr of his situation with this rabbit. It was the same little monster that he had shooed away all growing season the year before at his mother’s behest, but no matter what they did the rabbit just continued to come back time and time again.

  Just when the boy had actually realized that he had magic which could take over the creature’s mind, even Piotr couldn’t say. He had looked through the bandit’s eyes last Fall, which had scared him for all of a minute before the fun of watching the world from the rabbit’s eyes became too much fun to fear. With a gentle push, he could make the creature turn around and leave the garden; so as usual Piotr urged Bandit to turn around and hop back through the fence.

  Riding along as a passenger, the wilder watched as the rabbit ran through the tall grasses. The wilderness nearby had enough food for the creature around the house that he didn’t feel any regret stopping him from eating from their garden. In fact, the rabbit’s nose and Piotr’s traveling in its mind had led him to find an excellent source of berries that had delighted his mother. They had preserves which lasted all through the winter just because of the boy and his connection with the rabbit; but his ability wasn’t limited to just the one creature he had nicknamed Bandit.

  “Piotr!” his brother yelled in his ear startling the dark haired boy.

  “You don’t need to shout in my ear, Niklaus,” Piotr complained to the other boy who was virtually a copy of the first. Twins, Piotr and Niklaus looked alike in the face; but Niklaus was a little taller, stronger and overall more physical than his younger twin. An hour different in age, Nik also liked to call him little brother. Unlike Piotr, however, he lacked the magical talent growing in the other boy.

  “I called you three times and you wouldn’t listen.” His brother's eyes looked to the grassland beyond the white washed fence and he asked, “Was it Bandit again?”

  Standing to face his twin, Piotr had to look up slightly as he nodded an answer. “That little rascal just refuses to give up. I planted seed for lettuce and carrots in a little patch last year for him and his family, but he just has to try and eat ours.”

  “That’s because you are too nice to him. He’s taking advantage of your softness towards him, little brother,” Niklaus stated with a confident nod in return. “I’ve told you he needs a good stone to the butt before he’ll learn to stay away.”

  “You’re not going to use your slingshot on him, Niki,” Piotr commanded with a wag of his finger which merely made his brother shrug in response. “What did you want anyway?”

  “Dad needs you in the barn. Cheese is acting oddly and hoped maybe your little trick can figure out why.”

  With a sigh and last look towards the grasses hiding the rabbit and his family, Piotr turned to follow his doppelganger barefoot. Niklaus wore his boots. It was another difference between the boys and made Piotr look even shorter beside his twin. The future wizard had always liked nature and letting his skin touch the earth made him feel more a part of the land around them. Rough ground barely troubled him and, in fact, his feet almost seemed to be able to adjust to the hidden rocks and weeds hidden in the grasses. He couldn’t remember the last time the soles of his feet had felt pain from the earth no matter what terrain the boy walked along.

  A short walk down the path led them to the barn, but Piotr could already hear the bleating moos of the cow his sister had jokingly called, Cheese, for the product their mother made from its milk. It was a cry of pain and the boy wondered what could be going wrong.

  “Piotr, use that weird sense of yours and tell me if the calf is turned the wrong way,” an older man with similar features to the boys ordered waving him over along with Niklaus. Mostly bald, the man stood beside Cheese while his eldest brother, Owden, petted the cow and held some hay in his hand before her just trying to be comforting to the struggling mother.

  His family wasn’t afraid of his strange abilities. While they were just outside of Delanne and far from the wizard schools, wizards were a somewhat common thing at least along the road between Hala and White Hall, the wizards’ school. In some towns, the people looked at wizards as scavengers of their children; but most realized that without them coming through to find the children blessed, or cursed depending on one’s view, with magic their powers would go out of control becoming something even more feared, a wilder.

  No wizards had been to Delanne the previous year, even this close to the capitol, they couldn’t expect to visit every town and village in the country every year. Wizards were far from common and battle mages, their lesser powered soldier versions, were equally rare. Piotr and his family fully expected that he would be caught up in the wizard hunts this year though. It was inevitable; but the boy didn’t see why he needed to go. His power wasn’t out of control and his nature magic had been fun, not scary, for the boy who came naturally to it.

  “I don’t know if I can, dad,” the boy answered unsure of his ability to gain the answer his father needed. “Even if I get in her mind, there’s no guarantee that I can find that out.”

  “Just do your best. We need her and I can’t afford to lose her with this pregnancy.”

  “Stupid, Clancy,” his eldest brother, Owden complained of the bull they were pretty sure was the culprit. The bull had followed her around for years, but was normally kept apart from the females until they needed more animals. Somehow one night he escaped and was found near the pen of female cows meant for keeping them active and healthy. Cheese was one of three pregnant cows unexpectedly carrying
calves this spring.

  Sighing, Piotr placed his hands on her flank stroking the cow’s side. Looking through animals’ minds or giving them suggestions wasn’t the only trick that the boy had learned during the winter since his powers had begun to manifest.

  He closed his eyes breathing slowly even as he felt the cow’s nervous breaths. The pain was there as well, but the pregnant beast was mostly unsure of the process of childbirth and the pains continued to upset her.

  Turning her head towards the boy, Cheese mooed at him as if pleading her case.

  Piotr continued to pet the cow and felt his mind leaving his body. He could feel her pains and the boy’s concentration moved towards the womb where the baby inside was already struggling to get free, though it was unsure if it wanted to as well, he thought with a slight smile. It was warm and safe inside the mother, but nature also drove the calf and its mother to separate for both of their sakes.

  Contact with the calf was made and the untrained wizard could feel that his father’s worries were correct. The boy had witnessed several births from their animals and never been squeamish like Niklaus or Owden could be. While it wasn’t always the prettiest thing, he had always found it fascinating and had considered becoming a healer of animals even before his magical talents arose.

  Stroking Cheese’s side in a circle, he exerted enough control over the calf to make it try and turn within the cow’s womb. Like teaching it to swim, the barely intelligent mind went with his urging. His mind remained calm and simply tried to suggest the baby might wish to move to become more comfortable between the pangs of birth.

  After a few minutes, Piotr nodded and said to his father, “I think he’s aligned now, dad. You can try to guide him out if you want.”

  Continuing to ease both mother and calf, Piotr waited until his father helped catch the baby as it was ejected from the cow. Though it was far from the cleanest thing to see, the boy didn’t blanch as the liquids splashed his pants and bare feet.

  Niklaus, he noted, was nowhere to be seen by that point. Harboring a smile as Piotr knew that he and Owden would have plenty of ammo to use to tease his twin, the boy stayed until his father sent him away telling his son to go clean himself up before going on with the rest of his day.

  As the boy walked outside, he found his brother with their little sister, Mila and a pair of men he had seen from time to time. The Kelov brothers were neighbors to them in the way that most farmers were neighbors away from towns like Delanne. Miles separated them, but the road to the town passed by the Amares farm before eventually reaching the home of the brothers and their families.

  Compared to his brother, the two men were blond giants. Surprisingly, it was the Kelovs who were the ones who appeared to be wary.

  The men nodded to him as he exited the barn and witnessed the state he was in. While Piotr wasn’t considered a dirty, smelly boy by his neighbors; his history of trying to run around barefoot and being a country boy was apparently confirmed in their eyes.

  “Hello, Piotr, is your cow alright?” the first man known as Adamos questioned seeing only the boy exiting the barn. He was the elder of the two brothers, but smaller by a couple inches. Still the blue eyed man towered over anyone in Piotr’s family, even his father was only of median height and overshadowed by their two neighbors.

  Realizing that either Niklaus or Mila must have told them of what was going on inside, the boy nodded replying, “The calf came out safely and both are fine. Dad’s just cleaning up the mess and double checking her now.”

  Their voices must have carried since it was only moment’s later that his father exited with Owden shadowing him. Both needed to get cleaned up as much as Piotr did, he thought with some amusement.

  “Adamos and Redolpho Kelov, what brings you here today?” the father asked as he wiped his hands off with a towel. He didn’t extend his hand in greeting since they all realized where those hands had been so recently.

  The elder of the brothers was the more talkative every time Piotr had seen them, and Adamos answered as usual for the two, “We were just coming back from Delanne, Rikard, and thought you should know. Wizards are on their hunt here again.”

  While he managed to not sound completely negative, both men frowned. His father’s face on the other hand went white as his eyes darted to his son and back to the men.

  “So soon, but the snows have barely melted around here? I would guess that there might still be some close to the wall yet, though I guess that it is Spring officially,” the man mused rubbing at his bald spot which had extended his forehead to nearly the back of his head. It was probably a look that Piotr would have to look forward to, though their father’s baldness was often a point of teasing for the boys against him.

  Adamos shrugged and glanced at Piotr as well. His talent with animals had spread among the local neighbors, though as far he knew no one had said anything to the townsfolk of Delanne. The Kelovs had even borrowed the boy to help with some of their animals last fall. His talent went beyond anything natural and everyone just assumed he was becoming a wizard. No one was afraid of Piotr, however, since the boy had shown surprising control and never endangered anyone with his burgeoning magic.

  “Early or not, the wizards have already started out of their schools to search for this year’s harvest. I’m sorry, Rikard,” the blond haired man said sounding as apologetic as his words suggested. “What are you going to do?”

  Sighing, the man was silent only a moment before looking to his son. “Take a bath and gather your belongings, Piotr. I guess we might as well ride into town to see these wizards. We might be wrong, since you have shown odd talent for working with animals that might not be magic; but if we go to them we will know sooner. We might as well get it over with, son.”

  “Is he really going to leave to become a wizard, papa?” Mila asked curiously as the younger girl appeared unsure whether to be happy or sad with the idea. While being the baby of the family and the only girl made her set apart from her three brothers, the youngest Amares still looked up to all her brothers not wanting to see any of them go.

  Her father only shook his head as he replied, “We’ll go ask the wizards and find out, Mila. Are the wizards still in town or have they set out for the farms?”

  Adamos answered, “Delanne is a fair size town. I would think that the wizards would spend at least one day there looking.”

  Taking a deep breath, Rikard put a hand on his son’s shoulder urging him towards the house. “Hurry, Piotr, I don’t want to get there so late that we can’t find the wizards and not be able to get back for dinner. Go clean up and take time to say goodbye to your mother.”

  The boy’s feet started slowly for the house, but as his mind began to comprehend what was likely to happen to him; Piotr began to hurry. He, like his little sister, was filled with mixed feelings about the possibility of being harvested by the wizards. When was the last time Delanne had any wizards or mages found there, he wondered?

  To Piotr, Delanne was quite alien though it was only a couple miles from his home. The farm was close enough for trade and the sale of crops and livestock for his father, but the boy enjoyed that it was far enough away to be part of nature to an extent as well. While there were fields for farming; woods grew up between farms, a couple small streams ran through the area as well, and deer and rabbits could be found easily for hunters.

  Though some might prefer to keep the wilderness further away to protect their crops, the boy loved being able to see the animals or climb a tree when he could get out of his chores.

  Delanne was different from the farm where only a dusty, beaten path served as a road. It was a crossroads of a sort for northeastern Southwall. One road led east to Hala, the capitol of the country, where the king ruled and defended the kingdom from the Dark One and his armies. North was Norcrom, the second of the six guardian fortresses which served to garrison and maintain the great wall known as Northwall. To the west a single paved road exited the town, but it was only a mile west befo
re it split sending one path to White Hall and the other veered to the south and Cadmera.

  Cadmera’s road would continue on to Red Hall. Though it was nearly as close as White Hall, most wizards found northeast of the Cadhalla River would travel to the school near the center of the northern half of the country. Piotr couldn’t say that he knew much of those facts; but even a boy of fourteen, somewhat out of the loop on his farm, had heard some of the stories.

  Now he faced the town with its wood and stone buildings centered on the paved road that was the heart of Delanne. Trade flowed through the town and servicing those travelers was a large part of the economy. Banks, inns and other services for men living on the road, which a boy of fourteen wasn’t supposed to know about, lined the streets or occupied others close to it. Barns, granary storage and pens helped increase the sales of the local farmers as well, so Delanne was a mix of buildings from smaller houses to large inns and warehouses.

  “Now I wonder where we can find them,” Rikard mused loud enough for Piotr and Niklaus to hear. His twin had joined the other two for the trip. Having never been a night away from each other since the womb, the two boys could feel the strangeness of the future upon them. Though they had their differences, the twins still often seemed of one mind and separating them just seemed wrong.

  “We could ask in the center of town?” Niklaus suggested. Unlike his twin, the elder boy felt as comfortable in town as at the farm. He was the one who often tried to get his other brothers to go to Delanne more frequently, though their father tended to keep them too busy to do it very often.

  Urging the horses pulling their cart to keep moving, Rikard looked for the strange clothing which would single out wizards from the regular citizens. Wizard robes were well known to the eyes of the people of Southwall, since their harvest of children with magic occurred so regularly. Some saw them with dread. Taking away their children didn’t set well with parents; but wilders running around destroying their towns or worse was far less attractive to the people who would be harmed by children losing control of powers beyond most people’s imaginings.