The Prodigal Mage Part 28

Abandoning him, she ran.

When the third screaming Olken fisherman was flung overboard to drown in the whirlpool-churned harbour, Arlin gave up any hope of surviving.

Staggering on the smacks pitching deck, furious with fear, his father was bellowing at the boats captain. Youre the sailor, Hayle! Sail us away from here! Get us back to the pier!

I be tryin! Hayle shouted back, blood from a split eyebrow slicking his face ghastly red. Hed lashed a length of rope to the boats mast and wrapped its end around his wrist, an anchor to help him stay upright as the boat lurched and tossed and plunged. Why dont you help? Why aint there a Doranen spell to save all our hides?

There was, of course. There were several incants designed to move a boat at will across water. Ain and the other two mages were desperately reciting them nowbut they werent working. Morgs leftover magic of ruination was too strong for them. The sigils sputtered to sparks and memory almost as soon as they flared into life.

See to your own tasks, Hayle! Father snarled. Leave the matter of magic to your betters!

Sir, said the captain, and returned to his men.

Arlin touched his fathers arm. You have to let me do something. Why did you bring me if you wont Not yet, said Father. I wont have you revealed yet.

But sir His father slapped him. Do as youre told! Have I nurtured you for twenty years to have you throw my efforts away now?

Face stinging, Arlin shook his head. No, sir.

Then stand here out of the way, his father snapped. The rest of us are equal to this task.

He watched his father rejoin Ain and the others. I hope so, for all our sakes. Then he grabbed hold of the boats railing and stared with horrified fascination at the roaring whirlpool that had them trapped.

The dreadful thing was easily sixty feet across, large enough to swallow the fis.h.i.+ng boat whole. And if by some miracle of magework they werent swallowed whole then the chances were good that their vessel would be smashed to flotsam against the reef, because even as the whirlpool sucked them inexorably towards it, a half-dozen randomly sp.a.w.ned waterspouts kept granting a cruel reprieve. Towering above them, moaning and howling as though they were alive, the wickedly capricious spouts thrust them left then right then left. Whipped them in sickening circles and tossed them clear of the water completely only to buffet them back into its wet, avid embrace.

Hed already vomited again, twice.

And then he nearly lost his balance as the smack lurched and heeled over. His feet slid out from under him, and only his desperate hold on the railing kept him from falling. He sent up a swift prayer, though hed been taught their religion was a lie.

If youre taking me, Barl, for pitys sake take me fast.

The roar of the whirlpool and the keening of the waterspouts were so loud his ears felt buffeted almost to deafness. He was battered and bruised, knuckles skinned red raw, splinters in his palms, his cheeks, and forehead after being skidded from one side of the smack to the other, face down.

Burning through the pain he felt a sudden spike of anger.

I had plans. I had dreams. I dont want to die.

Something touched his knee. Turning, looking down, he saw whey-faced Fernel Pintte huddled amidst a tangle of fis.h.i.+ng nets. The Olkens head was split open. Blood dripped off his nose. You said this wouldnt happen, he moaned. You Doranen, you swore on Barls legacy this The Olken captains sudden shouting distracted him. Swinging round, Arlin looked to where the man pointed. It was a small boat, rolling towards them in line with the reef, seemingly unaffected by whirlpool or waterspout. But how was that possible?

Asher! Hayle cried. It be Asher the Innocent Mage, come to save us! Then his face changed. The b.l.o.o.d.y fool, hes like to kill hisself. I fear there aint no-one can save us now, not even him.

What? Asher? Butbutwas Rafel with him? Ignoring Pinttes querulous bleatinglet the fool bleed to death or go overboard; who would care?he let go of the railing and risked what was left of his life staggering to the other side of the boat. Flung himself onto its railing, held on tight and stared at the onrus.h.i.+ng plain canvas sail. Two men stood in the battered shallow hull beneath it, both dark haired. One his fathers age, one his own. He felt his belly clutch hard.

I think Id rather die than be rescued by Rafel.

His father left his friends to their desperate spellcasting and joined him.

Look at him, said Father, through tightly gritted teeth. Asher. Flouting his unnatural talents.

Arlin shook his head, bemused. How is he doing that? How is he able to control that skiff and the water so easily when you A sideways glance at his father stopped him. When Ain and the others cant Wipe the admiration and envy off your face, boy! his father spat. No Olken should be able to wield Doranen magic. The mans an abomination.

Of course he was. But if there was any chance Asher could save them Because I cant. Im not even permitted to try.

Ashers skiff was close enough now for him to make out the Olkens faces. What could be seen of them beneath slick fresh blood was pale with strain. Father and son stood side by side in the bow, Ashers right hand anch.o.r.ed to Rafels left shoulder, Rafels left hand holding tight to his fathers right. Their eyes were slitted with fierce concentration, and they rode the racing boat as easily as if they stood upon Westwailings stolid stone pier.

Arlin felt the power coursing between them. Felt their common bond and their unity of purpose. Rafel was taller. His father was thinner. But they were two men with one heart and one mind.

Barls t.i.ts, how he hated them.

The fishermen whod not yet drowned were laughing and shouting, feet drumming the deck. Captain Hayle leaned dangerously over the side of his boat. Cupped his hands to his mouth and sucked deep lungfuls of salty air.

Dont come no closer, Asher, or youll be caught along of us!

Neither Asher nor Rafel replied. They were too busy fighting the wild water and the coils of filthy magic still pouring off the lethal, sharp-toothed reef. Magic that had been mostly sleeping, until he and Father and the others had woken it to violent life.

So this is our fault. Asher was right, curse him. We never shouldve attempted to break magics hold on the reef.

Asher! Hayle shouted. Go back while ycan! Aint no point you bein drownded along with us!

Could Asher and Rafel even hear the man? Arlin doubted it, with waves smas.h.i.+ng on the reef and spray flying and that cursed whirlpool roaring and fresh waterspouts keening to life even as older ones died.

Asher raised his left arm, fingers pointing at the nearest waterspout, and a stream of raw power poured out of his body. The waterspout touched by Ashers power collapsed in gouts of foam and spray.

Hayle led his fishermen in a ragged cheer. Arlin could easily have cheered, himself. He could feel the echo of Ashers power in his own flesh and bones, overwhelming. Exhilarating. The Olken might be an abomination but hed bought them a reprieve, however short-lived. Beside him, Father leaned precariously over the railing, narrowed gaze hungry, thin lips peeled back in a furious grimace.

The skiff continued its racing progress as Asher collapsed every waterspout he could reach. How powerful was he, then, if he could foil the reefs poisoned magics and guide his boat at the same time?

Arlin gasped, understanding. But hes not.

Asher battled the waterspouts but it was Rafel who was controlling the skiff. Wrapping it in compulsion and moulding the waters beneath its hull. And that meant Rafel waswas Like Asher.

Sick with dismay, Arlin stared at Ashers arrogant son. Of course. And now he understood his immediate, persistent antipathy towards Rafel. All their lives, from boyhood, hed felt the potential in the Innocent Mages firstborn child. When his flesh crept, when his blood stirred, this was why.

Because Rafel is wrong. Like his father, hes wrong. Like his father he can kill us with magic.

The liar! The filthy liar! His father was trembling, bone-white with fury. He said his son was plain Olken, but the perversion breeds true. Ill see him thrown off the Mage Council for this. Ill see him censured and sent packing as far from Dorana as can be contrived!

Arlins mouth was cottony dry. He had to cough and spit before he could speak. What about the daughter?

How should I know? said his father, venomous with contempt. But Ill find out. Ill And then he was choking with disbelief. Barls mercy, what is he doing? He canthe cantsurely not even Asher can think But clearly Asher could. Asher did. Like his father, Arlin could feel it: the Olkens desperate push against the rapidly growing whirlpool.

Rodyn! cried Ain, hurrying to join them. Though she was spray-soaked and exhausted, still she was glorious. Please, Ain, smile at me. Sarle Baden and Ennet Vail hurried at her heels. You feel it? she said, breathless. Is it even possible, do you think?

Before his father could answer, he stepped forward. It might be, Ain. Asher is Hold your tongue, said his father, fingers biting into his arm. Youre embarra.s.sing me.

So many times hed promised himself he would stand against his fathers unkindness. Hed not kept his word once. Hed not keep it today, either. At least not here, and not now.

But when this crisis is behind us when were safe again on dry land Rodyn? said Sarle Baden. His eyes were red-rimmed, the rest of his face bloodless from the effort of fighting the reef. Is he really Yes, Father snapped. But not even the vaunted Asher can hope to destroy that whirlpool. Its being fed dark power from the reef. Not even with the help of his gross son can he succeed.

Yes.h.i.+s son, said Ennet Vail, looking as wretched as Sarle Baden. Rodyn, we cant permit Never mind that now, Ennet! We must help the Olken collapse the whirlpool.

You want us to help him? Baden demanded. That upstart Olken b.a.s.t.a.r.d?

Father turned on him, snarling. I want to live, Sarle. Dont you? So let us render him our a.s.sistance, shall we? Let us save him so he might save us, so that we, at our leisure, might see him thrown down at last. Arlin! Have you the wit to join us?

He flinched, and hated himself for flinching. Yes, sir. I stand ready.

I always stand ready. I am always your obedient son, no matter what you do or say.

His fathers smile was so fierce that even Ain and the others had to look away from it. Then let us save ourselves, shall we? While we still can.

Thrumming with power, holding the skiff dangerously close to the reef and the whirlpool, Rafel risked a look sideways. I dont think you should do this, Da. I dont think What? Da unslitted his eyes long enough to glance at him. That I be up to it? Bite your tongue. He tried to smile, but only managed a dreadful grimace. I aint even got one toe in mgrave.

There was no time to argue on it. All he could do was keep the boat off the reef and out of the whirlpool. Lend Da more strength, if more strength was what he needed. Breathing hard, he fought the water beneath them, struggled to hold the skiff in one place, as Da poured every bit of power and magic he possessed at the relentlessly expanding whirlpool.

Except it wont be enough. It cant be enough. Hes only one man. But He heard Da gasp, even as he felt the slap of fresh power himself. Startled, struggling to keep hold of the water beneath them, he stared across the whirlpool at the blue and yellow fis.h.i.+ng boat so perilously close to being sucked to its death.

Sink me b.l.o.o.d.y sideways, Da muttered. Do you feel that, Rafe? Or did I tumble into dreamin unawares?

No, Da. You aint dreaming.

The Doranen mages were trying to link with them in a working. Rodyn Garrick and his poxy son and the other three. It wouldnt work for any other Olken but because it was Da And me. They know about me now. Thats going to cause some ructions when this is overif I aint dead. Probly even if I am.

Let em in, Rafe, said Da. Fresh blood was trickling from his nose. Cant hurt now. Might even help. They aint tryin to kill us. They be tryin not to die.

Tightening his grip on Das shoulder, feeling Das fingers take a brutal hold on him, he opened himself to the Doranen mages power. Let Rodyn in. And Arlin. Let in the other three. Pushed their strength from himself into Da, who was a crazy man, trying to tame a whirlpool.

It was odd, how he could be so hurt and angry and still feel this proud.

Da was breathing harshly, long slow drags of air that sounded like his lungs were tearing. Blood leaked from his eyes.

Let me help, Da, he said urgently. You cant do this alone!

I aint alone, sprat. Got them fancy Doranen mages holdin my hand, said Da, trying to smile. Trying to comfort him. Just you keep the boat still. Keep it off the reef and away from that whirlpool. The b.l.o.o.d.y things a b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Dont reckon I can Rafel shouted, feeling Dragonteeth Reefs poisoned magic wrench and twist and writhe, feeling it fight his fathers efforts to destroy the roaring whirlpool. Morg was dead and still the sorcerer was fighting, determined to destroy what he could not steal or possess. Horrified, he felt Da sink to his knees. Felt pain blossom in him as it blossomed in himself.

The skiffs canvas sail cracked once, and the stern began to slip and slide Hold on, Rafe! Da shouted, furious. Dont you pay no notice to me! Hold this b.l.o.o.d.y boat steady!

But Da Do it, sprat, or youll kill us all, yhear? You want to murder me, Rafel? Dyou hate me that much?

Close to weeping like a girl, like his sister, he closed his mind to pain, to fear, to the imagined look on his mothers face when she learned that Da was dead of fighting the magic in Dragonteeth Reef. Instead he sank all thought and feeling into keeping the skiff steady a fleas jump from the whirlpool. But it was so hard. Morgs magic was thick like tar, trying to trap him and suffocate him. Trying to win, even though he was long dead.

Help me, Barl. Aint you in there too? It aint only him in there. This is your fight as much as ours, so b.l.o.o.d.y fight!

Two more waterspouts screamed into life, so close he could feel their spray stinging his face.

Rafel Da groaned. Get rid of em.

Get rid of em? How? Thered been no time to teach him the spell. Except he hadnt known how to pick that lock, had he? And if he could pick a lock, at age ten Desperate, dizzy, he reached deep inside himself, summoned what was left of his newly woken magicand threw it haphazard at the whipping waterspouts. Searing power poured out of him. Half-blinded, retching, he could see with his inner eye the dark tracings within the writhing towers of water. See the violent confrontation between his magic and Morgs.

The waterspouts collapsed.

Shocked, he nearly lost his balance. And then he felt something s.h.i.+ft. Something give. Turning, he saw the whirlpool was slowing.

Da! he shouted. Youre doing it! Sink me, Da, its working!

Aye, Da said faintly. His legs gave way, abruptly, and he thudded to the rowers bench. Ayejust a bit morea bit more The Doranen mages on the fis.h.i.+ng smack were starting to fade too. Theyd poured everything they had into the working, to help Da.

But not cause they care if he lives or dies. Only to save themselves. Best not to forget that. Especially since theyve gone and found out the truth.

The whirlpools dull roaring had changed pitch. It was lighter now. Softer. Splas.h.i.+er. Holding his breath, Rafel watched the churning water slow and slow willed the sinkhole to collapseto diebut that was too much to ask, even of the Innocent Mage.

But I aint complaining. Youre a b.l.o.o.d.y miracle, Da.

Rafe Das voice was the merest thready whisper. Rafe hurry. We aint got long. Get us over to that smack He was nearly emptied of strength himself, drained right down to his dregs. Feeling his own blood trickle hot and wet from his nose, he gathered the restless water beneath the skiff and rolled them forward again, between the hungry reef and the slowing whirlpool, heading for the blue and yellow fis.h.i.+ng boat and the folk theyd risked themselves to rescue.

Closer closer his head pounded with the effort. He didnt dare look at his father, though he could hear Das laboured breathing. Barl, help him. You better help him. And then they were close enough and he eased the skiff to a stop.

The fis.h.i.+ng boats captain was still alive, but it was Rodyn Garrick who did the talking.

Youd best climb up here, Asher, he called down, chalky-pale from the mageworkingbut strong enough still to throw his weight around, the arrogant b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Then you and that boy of yours can do whatever it is you do His face twisted with disgust. And theres Doranen grat.i.tude for you. Typical. so we might return safely to the pier.

Da gripped his knees, slumping, his face screwed up in pain. Rafel took one look at him and realised he didnt have the strength to speak. He barely had the strength to keep the whirlpool at bay.

Hold on, Da. Dont you let go now or were all b.l.o.o.d.y sunk.

Sorry, he called back, staring up at the Doranen. Rodyn Garrick, with poxy Arlin beside him, his face a white mask. The other three, hovering behind. That aint going to happen. Youll have to float back to sh.o.r.e with me and Da.

Garrick laughed, disbelieving. Nodded contemptuous at the skiff. In that thing? All of us?

The small boat shuddered beneath his feet, fighting his uncertain control. Magic and chit-chat at the same time not as easy as it looked. He could feel the sweat pouring down his face and spine. Exhausted, hurting, he let temper have its way.

Well if it aint good enough for you, b.l.o.o.d.y stay where you are! Think I give a s.h.i.+t? My das nigh on killed himself to save you but if you dont want to be saved, fine. Stay there and b.l.o.o.d.y drownyou and your boy.

Youre Ashers son? said the captain, voice raised strong over the mayhem, while Garrick spluttered, lost for words.

Aye, he shouted. Rafel.

Hayle, the captain answered. And well be down to you directly. His tired gaze flicked sideways. Leastways, those of us who aint got a yen for bein drowndedll be down.

He turned away from the railing, calling for his crew. Light-headed with relief, Rafel dropped to one knee beside his father. Hold on, Da. Were nearly done.

Da nodded weakly. Hurry, sprat, he breathed. Scant paces distant, the swirling whirlpool growled. Itll slip me any ticktock No. No. He laid an arm across his fathers shoulders. Were hurrying, Da. Just you b.l.o.o.d.y hold on.

Looking up, his gaze collided with Arlin Garricks narrow-eyed glare. Such fury. Such hatred. Guess he aint best pleased to find out what I really am. Despite the killing effort of steadying the skiff, he grinned.

Something you wanted to say, Arlin?