He always wanted a sibling—someone to share in adventures with. Maybe…finally…he would get that wish.
The End
CHAPTER 10
THE WOLF
Occasionally I include small details about characters to further flesh them out. While they may seem small and materialistic, they almost always reveal something profound about the character. Such is the case with Farrin’s jade wolf statue, which is briefly seen in Farrin’s office in Glowma. Several readers asked about it, so I decided to flesh out a story that would explain how he received it.
Though he wasn’tthe leader of the raid—that was Kavon, riding in front with Tenebris himself—Farrin carefully combed over the party, discreetly studying each individual. Everyone rode, though a few were mounted double on sturdier horses, and the group morale was high.
Earlier that morning, they had attacked a caravan that carried a few enslaved magic users and freed them. The magic users had been sold to Torrens at a Ringsted slave auction and were supposed to be presented to the ruler of Torrens. Tenebris had cut off that horrible future with the raid, and the one-time slaves now rode with them as comrades.When we reach camp, I’ll make a detailed list of the new recruits’ magic and abilities.
Farrin allowed himself the luxury of a slight smile. When he first joined Tenebris as little more than a boy, the exalted man had barely a dozen magic users who followed him. Now he was twenty-years-old, and Tenebris had no less than forty under his command.Our forces will continue to grow. As long as magic users are treated unfairly, we will ride!
“Behind us!” A new recruit shouted with panic.
Farrin swung his horse to see a small squad of soldiers on the horizon, chasing them. There couldn’t have been more than fifteen of them, but they were all mounted and armed with gleaming swords. At the moment, they were out of range of bows and arrows—not that their party had any—but they were closing in fast.
Farrin studied his fellow magic users with a grim frown. Tenebris had gone for subtly over fire power for this particular raid, and the few who had battle-worthy magic were already drained from their morning skirmish with the caravan. It wasn’t too troubling. Farrin could handle them—and if he failed, Tenebris certainly would. But the lack of organization bothered him like a nail in his boot.
He glanced to the front of their raid, searching for Kavon. The illusionist was too busy shouting at the scouts for failing to notice their pursuers earlier to give combat orders.
Shaking his head, Farrin slipped from his horse. He reached for the two-handed broadsword strapped to his back and tapped his speed magic.
Though the pursuing soldiers were far away, Farrin’s magic let him close the gap in moments. He stopped in front of the officer leading the squad, startling the man’s horse so it reared and snorted.
Using his speed magic, Farrin easily avoided the equine’s front hooves and ducked to the side. He grabbed the officer by the arm and yanked him from his horse.
A flash of his sword, and the officer was dead. Before the soldiers realized what had happened, he attacked and killed three more of them. He was on the fifth one before they arranged themselves into a combat pattern and tried to run him down with their chargers.
It didn’t work. Farrin zipped between them, careful to nail the soldiers and avoid injuring the horses—which Tenebris’s forces desperately needed.
By the time he had offed the seventh soldier, the warriors spun their mounts around and fled back the way they came.
Farrin considered following them. It wouldn’t do well to let the soldiers carry off word of Tenebris’s gathering forces, but he disliked killing those who were fleeing rather than fighting—even if they were non-magical. It was a dirty move he had been forced to pull too many times during his days as a gladiator.
His indecision gave enough time for a few members of Kavon’s raiding party to catch up.
“Tenebris says to come back,” Judoc—a magic user who could control animals with his flute music—said.
Farrin nodded. “You’ll take care of the horses?”
Judoc flipped a flute out of his back pocket. “Yep.” He started playing a little tune on his flute, and the horses moved towards their party under his magical influence.
Farrin tapped his speed magic and was back in the middle of their group in a few moments. He swung up on his horse, who snorted at his abrupt arrival, and scanned their party. He was pleasantly surprised when Tenebris caught his gaze and gestured for him to join him at the front of the group.
Kavon raised an eyebrow at Farrin when he drew his horse alongside Tenebris’s, but Kavon turned his mount in a circle and addressed the other magic users. “Everyone, back into formation. Scouts, this time you had best do your job properly!” His charming smile held a slight glitter of a threat as he inspected the ranks the magic users scrambled into.
“That was tidy work out there,” Tenebris said, drawing Farrin’s attention away from the party.
“Thank you, sir,” Farrin said.
Tenebris leaned back in the saddle and smiled, making his hooded eyes crinkle. “You are undoubtedly the strongest warrior I have welcomed into my ranks—even though you were barely more than a boy when I freed you. But you’ve gotten even better since then.”
Farrin smiled at the praise. “I will do everything in my power to be your defender.”
Tenebris chuckled. “Thank you, though I’m afraid you can’t always be at my side.”
