Rogue Magician (The Magician Rebellion) Read Free Page B

small
home located in the trading district. Beside the door there was a wooden sign
bleached by the sun with a picture of a winged boot painted on. The live-in
shop was called the Winged Boot as the sign implied. It was not a terribly
creative name, but was effective in garnering new business.
    “ Father,
I'm home,” shouted Byrn as he entered the storefront of the home, “...Father?”
    “ In
here,” Tannys Lightfoot answered from the kitchen. His voice somehow managed to
sound both rough and comforting, “Go for a morning ride, did you? Not getting
into any trouble, I hope.”
    “ No,
I just wanted to get out of the city for a little while. Spring is finally
getting underway and I wanted to take Emma out for a ride. I imagine she needed
to stretch her legs as much as I did.”
    “ I
knew I made the right decision when I took you in and made you my apprentice.
You have the same wanderlust that I did at your age,” Tannys told him with a
gleam in his eye. “Just be sure to keep your itchy feet under control now that
you will be starting out on your own as a journeyman this year.”
    Entering
the kitchen Byrn could smell the freshly cooked eggs as his adoptive mother,
Marian, put them on three plates. A loaf of freshly baked bread already sat in
the center of the table. “You have excellent timing,” she told the young man,
“Sometimes I swear you are part bloodhound.”
    “ No,
I just know your routine,” replied Byrn sitting down to enjoy his breakfast,
scrambled eggs with bits of bacon mixed in. Byrn's stomach growled in delight.
He broke off a piece of the loaf and took a big bite of the still warm bread.
It was the simple things like this meal that reminded him how lucky he was to
be taken in by the Lightfoots and given an apprenticeship. If not for them he
would still be living in the orphanage or more likely would have been kicked
out when he turned fourteen and living in the street as a beggar or thief.
    Marian
laughed at the boy, “You're not a hound at all. You're all stomach!”
     
    ***
     
    Not
far to the south of the lakeside where a young man was fantasizing about
becoming a great hero there was a cave that no one dared go near for fear of
the creatures that lived deep underground. If anyone was foolish enough to
venture into those caverns they would find themselves surrounded by a pack of ogres.
No one was sure how many resided in the cavern’s tunnels, but a pack of ogres
were known to grow to two dozen with an ample enough supply of food and that
was the general estimate held by the cityfolk.
    It
was unclear if the woman entering the cave was foolish or just desperate, but
no matter what her reason she entered showing no signs of trepidation. She was
in her early twenties and very beautiful with raven hair and blue piercing
eyes. Her slender figure was hidden under a black cloak with a blood red skull
on the back. At her side she carried a staff made from the wood of the Great
Forest in the elven kingdom of Raiden known for its magic harnessing
properties. Had any seen her staff it would instantly have given her away as
being a magician just as the red skull insignia on the cloak would have marked
her as a necromancer.
    Her
footsteps were light, but determined. She had no desire to wake an ogre by
accident. It would do her no good to be killed in this place.
    Lifting
her left hand a soft flame emanated from it lighting the way through the cave
as the sparse sunlight diminished the further in she went. It took only a few
minutes to find what she was seeking. As she approached she could see the
gray-green skin of an ogre's belly rising and falling as it slept soundly on
the dirt floor. It was one of four of the beasts lying in the expanse.
    Once
the cloaked woman could see the whole beast she stopped and held her staff
straight up placing the butt firmly on the dirt floor. I'm coming for you, father, she thought hopefully. Closing her eyes
she took a moment to clear her mind of all fear and