When Wolves March

The throne room of Harkoraal was stone and timber now, no longer canvas and smoke. Beams of dark oak stretched above like ribs of a long dead beast, and firelight licked along the iron sconces. Though still sparse, the hall had weight now. Authority.

Senjar sat beneath a carved arch of antlers and blackened steel, the Arl's seat set high atop a tiered platform.

The great doors groaned open.

Kaelric entered first. Mud on his boots, road dust on his cloak, and steel at his side. His face was unreadable. Behind him came five strangers no matching robes, no sigils of court or banner.

They walked like wolves who chose their own trails.

Senjar leaned slightly forward.

Kaelric bowed shallowly. "Returned, as ordered, Arl. I bring those who answered your call unaffiliated, unclaimed, and complicated."

Senjar gave him a nod. "Speak."

Kaelric stepped aside and gestured toward the first a thick shouldered man with streaks of gray in his beard and a scar over one eye. He wore battered leather and carried no staff. His fingers were burned in places, healed rough.

"Name's Gavren Thorne," Kaelric said. "Former battlemage in the old Rivelor Company. Fought in the Siege of Ithos. Forty-five winters. Doesn't speak much."

Gavren gave a nod, short and unbending. His presence burned like a coal banked in ash.

The next stepped forward younger, lean, with red-tinged eyes and a jagged tattoo curling up his neck like smoke. His cloak fluttered though no wind touched it.

"This one calls himself Kirel. Fire blooded. Reckless. Probably arrogant enough to die young."

Kirel smirked at that, his gaze fixed on Senjar like a challenge unspoken.

The third and fourth stepped in together, water bound, but otherwise as different as dusk and dawn.

The first pale hair, calm eyes, robes of navy trimmed with seal bone moved like a still pond. Kaelric gestured. "Aelynne, water wielder. Trained in secret in the Frostshore monasteries. Cold but capable."

The second darker, taller, green tattoos winding her fingers had sharper edges to her movement, like a stream biting stone.

"Rasa, also a water mage. Wandering blade for hire. No temple, no cause, no apologies."

Aelynne gave a small bow. Rasa did not.

The last stepped forward, eyes sharp, smile sly. His cloak hung loose like he barely noticed it, and his voice when he spoke was warm as a whisper.

"Corien, windcaster," Kaelric said. "Says he is a noble by birth. Might be lying. Might not. Knows more than he lets on. Speaks too much."

"Arl," Corien said, bowing with a flourish. "A pleasure. You'll find I'm more useful than I look. And I look fairly useful."

Senjar did not smile.

"You've all come to Harkoraal," he said, voice firm, low. "Not as guests. Not as swords for hire. If you stay, you swear loyalty not in ink or words but in deed."

None answered yet. They waited. Sizing him up, the man on the throne.

And just then the fire nearest the doors dimmed.

A shadow moved behind it, slow, quiet. The guards stirred but did not raise steel. The mages looked back.

An old woman stepped into the light. Hooded, bent, her robes tattered with dust and travel, yet she moved with a strange gravity. Not frailty weight.

Kaelric frowned. "She wasn't with us."

"No," Rasa murmured. "She walked here alone."

The woman stopped halfway down the hall. Her staff carved with runes that shifted in the light tapped softly on the stone.

Senjar stood.

The throne room held its breath.

"I am Velyra," she said, voice strong and calm. "I was not summoned. I was shown."

Senjar stepped down the stairs toward her.

"By who?"

"Not a who," she said, "but a when. And soon."

Then, raising her hand, she pointed directly at Senjar's chest.

"You carry the curse of the mana, Arl. You will need more than swords."

"Curse of mana?" Senjar asked in a curious tone.

"There is more, but I would like to discuss it alone with you, Arl."

"You have come a long way, rest. I will call you after, I am done here." Senjar gestured the guard, "Show her good hospitality worthy of Harkoraal."

The women bowed in respect and left with guard.

"So, Gavren Thorne. You look like a man who knows much about magic itself. I want to know about it and mages." Senjar looked at the old mage before he spoke.

"As you wish, Arl." Gavren gave a nod.

"Every mage has mana which is mostly fixed at birth. Though, I have not heard of the case where it changed. But still there is a possibility."

"What about different forms, like some uses water some fire?"

"There are different attributes of a mage or you can call it affinity towards a element. There are different attributes like fire, water, earth, wind, lightening and more."

"What attributes do you have and how do you find about it?"

"In the Empire, when a child turns 4 years of age. He is tested by placing his hand on a magic orb, which tells you if he have mana and how much does it have."

"How do they train these children?"

"At first, there are guilds in big cities which train these children for a fee. There is also a University of Magic in the imperial capital."

"How do you know a certain mage is stronger than the other, Gavern?"

"There are ranks in magic, Arl. These ranks are individual for every attribute. If one mage has affinity towards two elements. It won't be the case that he is at same level on both attributes."

"Hmmm.. What are these ranks?"

"In simple terms. It starts from 1-Basic, where one can only use basic spells of one's element. Then comes 2- Adept, then 3- Expert, then 4-Master and at last most legendry title for a mage 5- Archmage."

"There is only one Archmage in the Empire, that is known. He is very old and also the Head of Royal mages of Empire."

"Most mages reach the Expert stage before they die. I am also expert in fire element."

"What about these other mages?"

"Only Aelynne here is at expert in water element. The rest are at Adept in their respective elements." Kaelric aswered Senjar's question.

"Tell me, Gavren. You don't carry a staff or a wand but these other mages here do, why is that?"

"It is not compulsory for mage to use staff. Of course, it has benefits like, It helps in accuracy of your spells direction. Some staffs have mana stones on them, they makes the casters spells powerful."

"If you have a little bit of mana, you can use these powerful stones on your staff to use magic effectively and with power."

"As for your question, I don't need a staff."

"I have never used magic myself, Gavren. But in sometimes during training or fighting, there is strange force that emits from my body that makes me strong. What's that?"

"My Arl, it means you have magic and you utilized it in raw form. That is difficult to achieve. Only some warriors or Knights manages to achieve this."

"Hmm," Senjar looked at Gavren intently, "I want you to stay here and look for every one here in this tribe from child to adult, who have mana and can become a mage. I need you to train them."

"But before all of that, I need all of you to swear loyalty to me and to this tribe. You will be fed, paid, you will have a place you can all call home. You all will become Harkoraal."

Every one of them kissed his hand and bowed in respect.

"Good, now all of you can leave Kaelric, adjust them in the tribe. Gavren you stay."

They bowed and left.

"Yes Arl, What do you need?"

"I want you to train all children, men, women who have mana. I also want you to train me, but not only as a mage. I want to improve that skill of using magic as a force. Can you do that?"

"I can teach you, Arl."

"Good, also men who are older but have mana and if you see that training them as a mage will not be beneficial then train them as warriors who can utilize mana as force."

"It will be done, Arl."

"You can leave, rest and after that go and meet Mara. She will help you with every expense this whole task will cost."

He bowed and left.

"Can I come inside, Arl?" It was Telmar voice.

"Come in."

Telmar entered the throne room and greeted his Arl.

"Tell me what's the situation in Tathar's Cross?"

"My Arl, the town is weak. They only have two thousand soldiers in the town with no mage. Though I have heard rumors from soldiers that Baron is raising his forces for possible battle."

"Well. Since they want us to pay. Let us pay them with blood." Senjar said.

"I want you to spread rumors near the town that Harkoraal are weak and people are in fear. But Arl Senjar is planning to attack the town. Make sure Telmar, they come out of town to fight us thinking they can crush us."

"Yes, Arl."