The Sorcerer's Bride 6 Duties

The guests had begun to leave, and some of the castle servants had started to clean up the table and the chairs. Kaldrek, however, wasn't really paying attention to them as he was feeling uncomfortably full. His wife though, looked like she felt really accomplished and proud of herself.

This kinda gave Kaldrek a bad premonition of his future. It was made all the worse because he knew he would have a hard time saying no to her.

His thoughts were interrupted by Jayesh. He had a serious look on his face, "Kaldrek, I need you to come with me. It's important."

"Alright," Kaldrek stood up. He hoped it wasn't too serious.

The king led him to his study. "I wish I didn't have to trouble you right now."

"I don't mind. Now are you going to tell me what the problem is?"

The king frowned and said, "I just received a report that the western boundary stone failed. So far the men stationed nearby have been able to hold it, but it will only last so long."

Kaldrek barely managed to suppress a groan and instead gave a small smile, "Alright, I will go check it out."

With that, the young sorcerer teleported out of the castle to a hilly area. The hill he had teleported to had several armed men in the midst of a struggle with some grey orcs.

Kaldrek put a soft smile on his lips even as he felt loathing of these creatures rising up in him. He raised his hand and summoned forth flames, being careful to make sure his king's men were not in danger of his magic.

The sound of the orcs screaming in pain because of the fire pleased him and the smile on his lips became a little more genuine.

"Sorcerer," the captain of the men said, "Thank you for coming. Is there any chance you can fix the boundary stone?"

"Yes, though it depends on what the issue is with how long it will take me to deal with it." Kaldrek headed for where the stone had been.

It was still there, only it was no longer glowing and was instead a dullish gray color. Kaldrek picked it up to examine it, using both his eyes and more importantly his mind.

What he found made him sigh a breath of relief. The stone had merely run out of juice. As bad as that was, it was actually the best possible explanation for a stone failing like this. It meant that there was no foul play. Though it did mean he should probably check the others soon.

He looked at the men who were standing there, and used a stern voice "I am going to need you to hold on a little while and keep any monsters out. Think you are up to the challenge?"

"Yes, we can do that," the captain a.s.sured him.

"Good." Kaldrek sat on the ground cross-legged and cradled the stone in his hand.

It wasn't long before all his senses left him except for the feeling of the cold lifeless stone in his hand. He focused his energy on it.

He wasn't sure how long it had been when the stone started responding. It began to glow a soft luminescent blue, which then depeened in color until it was nearly indigo in shade.

It was already evening when he pulled himself out of it, and when he did he put the stone back in its place and reactivated it. He took a step back, realizing as he did that he felt a little light headed after recharging the stone. It was probably a good thing that Zylvia had forced him to eat that much, even if it had been torture at the time.

"Good work," he told the men who had been guarding the barrier. "That could have turned nasty without you here."

They nodded. "It is why we are here," the captain said.

Kaldrek smiled as he teleported back to the castle. It was heartwarming to see such good men serving his king.