Slave to the Empire:
Ranger 3
"By the time I reached my fourteenth year, I had already become
apprenticed to one of the Rangers stationed at the enclave. It was also about
that period that the Lady of the High Forest made her annual appearance at the
enclave. The city of Caliban remained officially outside her jurisdiction, but
it was a hollow and never enforced regulation. My Master's name was Kurne,
another half-breed like myself, only he was of one of the minor border houses
that did not have the biases the city houses had regarding children of mixed
blood."
Aerick closed his eyes. "Any semblance of morals or integrity was gone
from my father when he appeared. He cared nothing for the laws of the enclave,
nor that of the sacred bond between those who lived in the woods and the higher
powers. All he cared for was his own appetites. He had with him several of his
retainers, all killers like himself. He tainted the very soil with his
presence. It didn't take him long to find me, and he taunted me mercilessly of
my own failures, all the while ignoring his own. I had learned much from Master
Kurne in the arts of combat and survival, but I knew nothing of the ways of
magick. My father tried to cast a spell on me, one of the forbidden spells, but
was interrupted before he could finish by the Lady of the High Forest. One
minute he was in the process of casting the spell, the next he was on the ground
with an enraged High Elf standing over him. I had never seen the Lady before,
only heard of her in muted conversations."
"She is one of the Guardians, sovereign protectors of the natural world.
We have regular dealings with them in all their guises." Serena interjected.
"Yes." Aerick agreed. "She was most definitely a Guardian. I can't
really describe her form, simply because it seemed to shift ever so slightly.
One moment you are looking at something, the next something else. What I
managed to see was a woman covered in a form of armor that looked like treebark,
then hide. The type of magick that my father practiced was not allowed in her
territory, and generally it was frowned upon in the rest of the kingdom. She
had him pinned to the ground with some kind of stake, he screamed so loudly, and
his retainers were about to attack until they were restrained by the Mercenaries
present. They would allow none to interfere in the High Lady's business. She
destroyed him, a stern reminder that death, nor nature, would not be denied. I
received my first lessons of magick in that one moment. For all things, there
is a price.
"She took me in after that event, and began my instruction in magick. I
still studied the ways of the Rangers with my Master, but it was the High Lady
that taught me much about the natural world. I alternated training time between
the two, and once I reached my thirtieth year, I was recruited into the Ghost
Wood Mercenaries on both the recommendations of the High Lady and Master Kurne.
I served in the unit ever since, finally ascending to command of the unit on my
hundred and third birthday. From there I led the unit in campaigns and
skirmishes along the Iceholme border and running battles through the Seven
Realms. I am sure that there is much that you do not already know about me."
"Very true." Serena admitted. "Our intelligence network keeps track of
many of the independent militaries in that interact along Imperial borders.
Your command of the Ghost Wood Mercenaries has been exemplarily." She leaned
back. "How much do you keep track of the affairs of Gilead?"
"Not much since the Mercenary Enclave moved from Caliban to Kallis in
Iilead."
"Would you be surprised to learn that most of the great houses of Gilead
were under the influence of Iceholme?"
Aerick snorted. "No, I'm not surprised."
"Good. I would be disappointed in you if you were." She stood. "The
great houses are not wholly under the influence of the Lich King. They find
that turning a blind eye to events more to their liking, believing in the
strength of their armies to stave off any threat. Unfortunately they have
fallen prey to their own visions of invincibility. The High Lady, nor any of
the Fae Tribes, will support a co-existence with Iceholme. Nor will they lend
armies to defend the great houses."
"Have the great houses degenerated that much?"
Serena shrugged. "The waters of that pond are so muddied it is
difficult to tell a fish is a fish."
She motioned for him to follow, and led him back to his chambers. "Get
some rest. Tomorrow you will learn a few new tricks."
Aerick woke after a dreamless sleep to a room of deepest chill. His
eyes focused on a woman in the palest white. Her entire countenance radiated
the cold chill of the north. The only feature that stood out from her colorless
form was her eyes, eyes of ice blue that shone like beacons in the dim light of
the room.
"Speak to me boy." Her voice sharp and brittle as ice shards. "Speak
to me of magick."
There was little indication of her true age, or even if she aged at all.
"If I might inquire as to which kind M'Lady means?"
"Foolish boy. Do you presume to lecture me on Magick and all its
glories?"
"Is that not what you asked?"
Her eyes narrowed to slits.
"Impertinent." She spoke. "Yours is the magick of the earth, of
nature. What do you really know of it boy?"
"Earth magick is derived from all that lives and grows in the earth. A
properly trained Earth Wizard can utilize the power and life-force of the earth
to work his magick. Consequently, an Earth Wizard is attuned to the balance of
nature in ways that transcend mortal flesh. Most of those who practice such
magick are either Druids or Rangers. Druids serve as the healers and shepherds
of the earth, whereas Rangers serve as its defenders."
"And how do you describe your Mercenary life in its relation of the
duties of a True Ranger."
"By taking contracts that would bring me into direct conflict with those
who would despoil the earth. Rangers are usually bound to a set place; those
who are not wander taking care of the small tasks. I see myself engaging in a
proactive defense."
"By waging war?" Her robes rustled silently.
"As I said, only against those who defile the earth."
"How...judgmental of you." She spoke. "And how can you tell what is
defilement and what is nature?"
"I don't understand."
"No, you don't." She seemed to float to the door. "Come."
He rose from his bed and dressed quickly, following the cold lady
through the labyrinthine corridors of the fortress to a small, barred door at
what seemed to be near the top of the fortress. The woman touched the bars and
they withdrew, the door opening silently to a world of white. She took Aerick's
hand and led him into the world beyond, where they emerged into the wild untamed
lands to the north. He wrapped his arms around him as the cold artic wind
enveloped him. His guide turned to look at him.
"Are your skills so poor that you cannot warm yourself?"
"I...I am bound not to work my magick while I am in bondage to the Lady
of the Dragon Riders."
"You are freed from the constraints for this period of training. Warm
yourself, and follow." She turned her back on him and moved away.
Aerick swallowed and focused his strength into his hands. The earth
magick he had been taught was one of mainly gestures, and he quickly wove his
hands in the proper sequence to invoke a simple warmth spell. He breathed
easier as the magick flowed about him and wrapped him in its warm embrace. He
followed behind her as best he could. Her natural coloring made it nearly
impossible for him to keep up, but he did. He caught up with the woman as she
overlooked what appeared to be a permanent encampment. Below in the swirling
snow, humans and orks interacted in the daily life of those who live in the
lands of summer sun and winter night.
"Observe." She commanded. "In other lands, they would be mortal
enemies, but here, the land does not forgive mistakes. Survival takes
precedence." She turned to survey the landscape. "Look around you, is there
not life, is there not beauty to be found in the bleakness of the cold north.
You claim to fight against the dark powers, but there are none here. There is
no defilement, only the balance of life and death. You have seen all your life
that the evil that affects your people comes from the north. It does not. It
comes from those who would use their powers for their own end. Magick is a
tool; it can be used for good or ill, all depending on the heart of its
wielder."
"You sound frighteningly like my teacher."
"Of course. Who do you think taught her?"
Aerick studied the woman quietly. He knew little, save for the
information that Serena provided to him on the Guardians. His teacher spoke not
once of her own teacher, or how she became a Guardian herself.
"What you must learn, is the magick of the northlands. You must learn
how to use the land to protect and conceal you. Your life will come to depend
upon it."
"I assume that all this is related to this mysterious mission that I am
to go on."
"You...and others."
"Others?"
"There are many layers to this task. Many objectives that must be
completed in such a short time. There is-"
"A prophecy?"
"No, no prophecy, no legend or mystic quest." Her eyes bored into his.
"There is great danger in this undertaking. None of you may survive it."
He shivered despite the spell of warmth.
Her hand touched the side of his face. "Do not let the future trouble
you needlessly. It is not yet written."
She led him further into the wilderness, to an ancient ruin of a
forgotten age. He looked for signs of habitation, but found none apart from the
occasional ice bear. He felt the rush of earth magick billow up from the earth,
and the large central stone in the center of the chamber began to emit a soft
ruddy glow, along with warmth that rivaled the greatest of feast halls. He saw
the flow of magick in the chamber, from a great pool of life beneath the ruins
it ran, though many of the passages and channels it flowed were blocked, the
great hearth stone of this place remained intact.
"You see the ways of this place's magick." She spoke. "It is a good
beginning." She paced the chamber. "Open yourself to the magick of the
outside. Open yourself to the magick of the north."
Slowly, he let down the magickal defenses that he had built long ago.
It came upon him as a flood. Indeed there was life here, as well as death. All
in perfect harmony.
"How is it there is so much of the dark magick here in the north?"
"It is the cold. The winter chill is as a preserver for dead flesh. Is
there not a device used by many of those who live in 'civilization' that
preserves meat? A creation of simple magicks that uses the winter chill?"
"Is it all so simple then?" Aerick looked at his new teacher. "The
undead kept chained in their forms by the cold of the north?"
"Simple? No." She shook her head. "Not so simple. Before the
Lich-King began his reign, this land was in balance and in peace. The rights of
life and death were perverted, warped when the death-lord took the throne. Upon
you I lay this charge. Restore the balance. You know the Rights of the Wood
and the Hunt. I will teach you the Rights of Death. Lay the restless dead back
into the womb of the earth."
"What of Cymra the Black." Aerick asked many weeks later.
"She is not your concern. Another will decide her fate."
Aerick moved through the snow drift without track. For many months now,
he had studied the ways of the north until his teacher saw that he had mastered
the skills needed to survive. She was not an easy taskmistress, for often she
hunted him in the wilds of the icy north, and she was not merciful on those
times she caught him. This was the final test of his abilities. It was not an
easy task, for She was looking for him always. His goal was the portal from
which they arrived. She showed him exactly where it was, and how to activate it
to return to the Fortress of the Dragon Riders. He used his newfound magick
sparingly, instead relying upon his own natural talents and training as a Ranger
to guide him. He crossed the great ice fields along the Frozen Sea, angling
near the small villages of the northmen, yet remaining distant, leaving no trace
of his passage. He felt Her presence near, yet far. He moved quickly,
silently, stopping only when needed, and resting lightly upon the ice. It was a
race, with the prize for winning being a warm bed in the fortress. Failure
meant a night of pain.
The gate back to the fortress was on a plateau on the edge of a
mountain. The portal hung motionless in space, a scant few inches above the icy
ledge and could be accessed from either side. He stared up at the glowing
apparition, nearly a thousand paces up the side of the mountain. Several trails
were available to take, but he chose none of them, instinctively knowing that
they would be both watched and trapped. His best chance was to climb the shear
wall, but to do so would require an expenditure of magick that might be
detected. Passive magick, magick that affected the caster, was hard to detect,
but to those whose senses were attuned to the flow of magick, it was detectable.
Active magick, on the other hand, would be like ringing a bell since it affected
the world around the caster. There was a chance, however, to perform a slow
casting, drawing out the ritual magick so that it made only the faintest whisper
in the matrix of life. The only drawback was that it would take the most time,
and any interruption would be cause to loose his concentration and have to start
again.
A last option, try to free climb the mountain. It would be extremely
difficult, but it would be the safest course against an opponent who used magick
exclusively. Aerick rubbed his hands together before placing them on the rock
face. Slowly he inched his way up. He could sense Her searching for him
magically. He took a chance and pulled in all of his of active spells. The
rush of icy wind nearly cost him his perch, but he persevered. He felt the
warmth leave his extremities first, the first warnings of hypothermia.
He couldn't feel his fingers when he reached the plateau, nor his toes.
The portal glowed before him, awaiting him. He leapt forward and rolled,
expecting Her to appear and stop him but nothing hindered his roll through the
gate, and onto the floor of Serena's office. A warm fire roared in the
fireplace, and there was food waiting on a cart near her desk. The chair facing
her desk was occupied.
"Did you enjoy your stay with Mistress Freyja?" She asked, her
attention fixed on the documents she was reading.
"It...it was an experience." Aerick stammered.
She looked up and examined him. "A few bits of frostbite I see." She
turned to face the occupant of the chair. "Well?"
Mistress Freyja stood and faced her student. "An interesting solution
to a difficult problem." She turned to Serena. "I have taught him as much as I
can in such a short period of time. Should he survive," She turned to face
Aerick again. "I would like to...test him further."
"Done and done." Serena replied.
Mistress Freyja fixed her gaze upon him as she blurred slightly, them
disappeared.
"Go see the healer, then get some food and rest." Her expression was
serious. "Tomorrow things will be much different."
