Advent Mage Compendium (Advent Mage Cycle Book 5) Read online

  Advent Mage

  Compendium

  Honor Raconteur

  Raconteur House, Tennessee

  Forward

  As my editor and I worked on Advent and Balancer, she had issues with some of the scenes I had written. They didn’t add to the plot in any way, they didn’t really build character, they were written just for my sole entertainment. So she convinced me to take them out of the book.

  While I did see her point and agreed with her, I didn’t want these stories to sit on some hard drive collecting dust. Sure, they weren’t a vital part of the story but they were entertaining and in one particular case, it gave a great deal of backstory. One story was written purely for fans. (Fans that unfairly bribed Night with peanut butter when I wasn’t looking!)

  All of this gave birth to—the Compendium. Here are the stories that I give you for pure entertainment. If you’re paying attention to events, you’ll be able to tell where they originally fit in the books.

  I’ve put each story in order of the timeline of events. Enjoy!

  Honor Raconteur

  Table of Contents

  Forward 2

  Warhorse 4

  The Index 12

  Toy Soldiers 26

  Afterward 99

  Warhorse

  When I was still a colt, it traumatized me when Garth disappeared from my sight. But as I grew older, I began to realize being away from Garth sometimes had its advantages. Like right now. As he zipped along the earth path with the Witch we had just discovered in tow, I am heartily grateful to be away from him. Being underneath the surface of the world, unable to see anything or know where you are, there’s just something inherently wrong about the whole idea. If it weren’t for the fact that Garth was the one in control, I’d never go down there.

  There was nothing else to be found in twenty miles any direction from where we stood now, Garth had made sure of that before he left; however we might as well put the time to use until his return by us moving along.

  With him gone, I kept an eye on Chatta, as I normally do. Garth had never asked me to watch over her. I simply did it because Garth loved her (even if he was too dense to realize this yet) and because she was dear to me, too. She probably didn’t need my protection, as she’s a very formidable Witch, but I watched out for her anyway. It’s just what a guy does.

  The day had warmed up through the course of the morning, and people were shedding jackets right and left. The area around was simply low foothills, scraggly trees and an extensive amount of yellow, dry grass. There was no water in sight and no breeze to give relief from the heat. I didn’t find it particularly hot, but the flies were starting to buzz around me, which was irritating. I kept flicking them off with my tail or the shake of a head, but they were back within seconds. It’s a shame they’re too quick for me to stomp on…

  Aside from keeping track of Garth (who can, and has, been lost in his hometown before) I have one other job on this team. Garth will certainly notify everyone the moment he finds someone with current or potential magical talents, but it doesn’t occur to him to say anything if there are other people on the road. My telepathic range isn’t as extensive as Garth’s magical sense is. I can only detect people five miles away, but it’s enough to give Xiaolang plenty of warning.

  A good hour went by of us plodding along the dusty highway before I detected a party of men approaching. Xiaolang, there’s a party of about ten men coming our direction.

  “Thank you, Night. I’m not too worried about travelers right now as Garth was sure no Star Order Priests are within our vicinity.”

  Well, that’s true. Our presence in Chahir is a badly kept secret anyway; I suppose I don’t have to be on the lookout anymore. But if I’m not searching for travelers, then what am I supposed to do to distract myself from these pesky flies? Hmm. Now there’s a thought. I eyed Didi, riding along on the back of Chatta’s mare, with a sidelong look. Didi?

  The meuritta looked up with his ears cocked in question. “Di?”

  If you keep all the flies away from me, I’ll let you braid my tail.

  He perked up immediately at this offer, as I knew he would. Didi never got permission to braid anyone’s hair, but his fingers were constantly itching to do so. For him, this was the offer of a lifetime.

  “Di!” he squealed in happy agreement. Without a by-your-leave, he leapt from the back of Chatta’s horse to my back and started chasing flies away with enthusiasm. Even the fly chasing had to be entertaining for him. Anything was better than sitting on the back of a horse and pretending to be good.

  I saw the dust the horses kicked up before the travelers themselves appeared on the road ahead. As the distance closed between us, I watched them in idle curiosity. Plain clothing, all of it in browns or blacks or muted greens that people normally wore as travelling clothes. With their fair hair and light skin tones, all of them were Chahiran, which was not remarkable considering we were in their country. Even the horses they rode were nondescript. Nothing remarkable about this group.

  And yet, something about them bothered me. Some sixth sense said that I needed to look under the surface. What was it?

  We were closer now, some hundred paces or so away from them. I could almost make out the color of their eyes from this distance. One of them reigned to a halt and slid from his saddle to the ground. What? No one stops in the middle of the road, even if your horse pulls up lame. That’s bad road etiquette. What was he doing?

  Without truly meaning to, I focused on the group to see what they were thinking.

  “…they should be close enough …now!”

  Close enough to what—even as I thought it, I caught flashes of what the rest of the party was thinking and my battle instincts flared to life. I half-reared as I screamed out to my team ON GUARD! THEY’RE STAR ORDER!

  Everyone drew their swords at once with hisses of steel. The other group seemed surprised at our sudden combat readiness, but it didn’t make them hesitate for more than a moment. With a shout, they charged us.

  I stood in the middle of the group, and the first to reach us were quickly engaged by Xiaolang, Shield and Hazard. Some of them slipped around them and reached the rest of us. I planted myself at Chatta’s side and flailed out at the first Priest to reach me. He swung out at me with a battle axe in his hands, but enhanced weapons don’t really affect me. I hit his arm and weapon with my front hooves, breaking both. With a scream, he dropped the broken weapon, which thudded to the ground. Cradling his injured arm, he tried to back his horse away, but the area around us had turned into a melee of weapons, horses and fighting men. There was nowhere for him to go.

  From nowhere, a boulder flew right past my head, whistling as it sped off. I felt the fine hairs in my ears stir, that’s how close it passed to me. Where by the guardians had that come from?! I lifted my head to look around, and then shied abruptly right, nearly slamming into Chatta, to avoid being hit by another flying boulder.

  There! From up ahead, the young Priest who had first dismounted now stood and was grabbing any boulder or stone in the area to use as a projectile. For a second, I watched in stunned amazement as he grabbed a boulder bigger than my head without touching it, and then threw it at us. What magic did he use…? I thought only an Earth Mage could manipulate ground like that!

  As I watched in growing horror, part of the road rose up like a coiling snake and darted forward. Xiaolang, heading for the Priest, dodged the first strike but not the second. It caught him around the shoulders and lifted him high, then threw him like a snapping whip.

  Swearing, I darted forward, using my chest like a battering ram as I needed to in orde
r to fight clear. Xiaolang…I have to get to Xiaolang… Hayate, how is he?!

  The dragoo sounded livid and very worried at the same time. “Not moving.”

  As I passed Hazard, I could hear him grit his teeth, his blade locked with an opponent’s. “Night, get to the Captain. These benighted Priests just got stronger, and I can’t get free of him.”

  Stronger? Had they linked to that Priest-Mage over there? Likely the case, but I really didn’t want that to be the answer. I was pressed on all sides by horses struggling to get free, some of them crow-hopping in the limited space, trying to get away from the moving road and the boulders whizzing everywhere around them.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Shad leap free from his horse, abandoning it. The gelding took advantage and abruptly darted away. Shad did an almost impossible leap straight toward me, grasping a hand in my mane and swinging up onto my back. “Sorry, Night, but you’re my only chance to get to Xiaolang.”

  Hang tight, I ordered grimly. With a war cry tearing from my throat, I reared and lashed out again with my front hooves, breaking a Priest’s leg and pushing him and the mount he rode aside in the same moment. With that, we were clear. I sprinted forward, heading straight for Xiaolang.

  Hayate was crouched protectively in front of his downed master, even though small rocks the size of a fist kept hitting him now and again. There was nothing I could do for Xiaolang in that moment, but I could certainly do something about the rocks and earth-whips that were being thrown at us.

  I lashed out with my back hooves, connecting with a sizeable boulder headed for my teammates. It cracked in half and spun away at different angles, impacting hard into the dirt. Shad left my back in the next moment, his boots barely touching earth before he sprinted for the earth-wielding Priest. I could spare no real attention on Shad. Instead I focused on every boulder, every attack that I could reach, either using my Breaking power to destroy it, or simply using my body to block the smaller attacks. I quickly discovered that if I kept rearing and hitting the earth around me, it disrupted the control the Priest-Mage had on the earth. I could prevent half of his attacks from completely forming just by my Breaker power alone.

  I could hear all around me the sounds of metal clanging against metal, the screams of the wounded as they were hurt, the thud of hooves dancing in panic against the packed earth. Chatta appeared from the middle of that madness of packed bodies and limped straight for Xiaolang, one leg almost dragging behind her. Guardians, when had she been hurt?! The injury had to be a serious one, as she put no weight on that leg, but half-crawled along the ground.

  If I left my position now, and stopped fighting the Priest-Mage’s tactics, every person behind me would suffer the result. I couldn’t abandon my post here. So I shifted my stance to directly protect her and the downed Captain. When I did, I had a clearer view of Shad directly engaging the Mage-Priest. How had he managed to dodge all of those earth attacks…? What am I saying, of course he did! No man alive is quicker, or has faster reflexes, than Shad.

  Still, Shad barely got one good swing in before the Priest-Mage froze, a horrified look on his face. Then his eyes rolled into his head and he slumped slowly to the ground before collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut. I stared at him in confusion for several moments. What? What happened? Had he burned himself out using power that he shouldn’t?

  With their power link broken, the other Priests disengaged quickly and fled. They sped past me as quickly as their legs would carry them, as most of them had been unhorsed at one point or another. The few still mounted stopped long enough to throw their downed comrades over the saddle and then they too ran from us.

  I didn’t care if the enemy were cowards. I had more important concerns. Chatta, how is Xiaolang?

  “Not good,” she responded with a pinched look to her eyes. Her skin was white from the pain. “We need to get him to a hospital quickly, but the fastest way is Garth.”

  “You’re right, but we can’t wait in the open like this,” Shield objected. “Too vulnerable. Night, take Chatta. Shad, help me put the Captain back on Hayate.”

  “Didi,” Chatta turned until she spotted him hovering in the air before ordering, “Find us a safe place to hide.”

  The meuritta sped off like a shot. I went to Chatta and lowered myself to my knees so that she could mount without straining her leg. Even as she gingerly moved onto my back, I swore that I would guard her better in the future. This time, I wasn’t moving from her side until Garth was back.

  When Shad pulled the unconscious captain into his arms, I sent up a silent prayer that Xiaolang would be able to hold on until Garth could get us back to Del’Hain.

  The Index

  I admit, I took my sweet loving time going down to the Sojavel Ra Institute. I had spent a harrying day yesterday meeting with King Vonlorisen, arranging for his Queen to be exiled, and then checking up on Xiaolang and Chatta. Not to mention hunting down two errant boys who had somehow gotten it in their heads that if they just had a familiar, they would be proper Mages.

  After the day I had yesterday, all I wanted was at least one day of peace. I didn’t get it, not with Kartal’s summons, so I decided to slow roll my response. I spent the morning at my parent’s house over a wonderful breakfast and checked on everyone in the team. I even contemplated a mid-morning nap.

  If not for the unfortunate fact that Kartal figured out how to tap into my parent’s mirror, I likely wouldn’t have made it down to southern Hain at all.

  So seeing Kartal waiting at the front entrance, toe tapping, and a thundercloud expression on his face didn’t really surprise me. I came up from the ground, eyed him sideways and thought just perhaps I shouldn’t have let myself be pushed out the door.

  “Garth, what took you so long?!”

  Have you ever seen someone have a conniption? It isn’t a pretty sight, let me assure you. Still, I wasn’t as worried about this explosion as most people would be. After all, I can disappear into the earth at the snap of my fingers and Kartal doesn’t have a prayer of finding me afterwards. I’m safe enough. That confidence allowed me to smile at him benignly.

  “I had things to check up on this morning. Calm down, Kartal. You look like an irate lobster, waving your arms around like that.”

  He snapped his mouth shut and gave me a look hot enough to melt metal. “Misbegotten, egotistical Mage,” he snarled between clenched teeth.

  “Thumb-sucking Wizard,” I retorted back pleasantly.

  He pointed an outraged finger at me. “I did not call you down here in order to get into a childish Insult War with you!”

  That’s rather a shame. I haven’t had a decent Insult War in ages. “Then tell me what you do want me to do so I can get it done and get out of here.”

  He gestured me to follow him curtly with a sharp wave of the hand. “This way.”

  I looked around the Institute idly as I followed Kartal through the building. The place hadn’t changed a bit since my last visit. I still had to dodge people that were so focused on the book or magical doohickey in their hands that they were paying no attention to the outside world. And I could swear that the stacks of scrolls, books, and magical whatchamacallits cluttering the hallways had doubled since my last visit here.

  About two stories up, Kartal shoved open a door and stepped inside. I caught a glimpse of the plaque as I entered. It simply read “Chahiran Cave Treasure Room.” I nearly passed it completely when I realized that someone had scribbled a note to the side of the plaque. Curious, I backed up a step to read it: “No, you idiots, ‘treasure’ doesn’t refer to any gold, all right?”

  I lifted a hand to my face to cover a snicker.

  Under that line someone else had written (in red, no less): “And stop sneaking off with stuff! I know exactly how many items are in here, you dolts, don’t think I don’t notice when you ‘borrow’ things!”

  “Garth, what’s the hold up?” Kartal asked impatiently, looking back over his shoulder.

  “Sorry, I
got sidetracked by the notes on the plaque.” I gestured to them with a nod of the head. “Did people really think there was gold in here?”

  He rolled his eyes. “You wouldn’t believe some of the rumors that were going around. I had one person stop me and insistently demand that I confirm there was an eternal elixir of youth stashed in one of the crystals. Now come on, you’ve wasted enough time.”

  Now, I’m no stranger to chaos. Anyone who had seen my room while growing up would know that I’m familiar with messy rooms. But I’ve never seen a room look quite like this.

  There were several long tables that took up the length of the room. Covering the surfaces of these tables were all of the weapons, books, scrolls, crystals, and other paraphernalia that I’d brought from the cave. I’m sure that at first it had been laid out in an organized manner but it wasn’t that way now. Actually, it looked rather like Didi had attempted to organize things, it was that cluttered.

  The tables I could sort of understand. It was the little girl that confused me.

  Standing at the far end of the room stood a transparent little girl of about six or seven. She was very pretty and obviously Chahiran—her hair was in blonde ringlets, eyes a light green, and she was in a dress cut in an ancient style. I’ve only seen dresses in that square shape with poofy sleeves in history books and old portraits. Aside from the fact that I could see right through her she looked perfectly real.

  A ghost?

  No, surely not.

  As I watched, she was seemingly talking to thin air. “…by extracting the seeds from the center fold one must be careful to not tear the petals. They will be used later in the potion and must be undamaged to reach the desired effect—”

  Hearing a potion recipe out of a six-year-old Chahiran was unbelievably odd. I turned to Kartal, hoping for an explanation. “What is going on? Who is she?”