Awaken (The Mortal Mage Book 1) Read online

  Contents

  COPYRIGHT

  MAP

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FORTY

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  NEW RELEASES

  SERIES INFORMATION

  AUTHOR INFORMATION

  AWAKEN

  BOOK 1 OF THE MORTAL MAGE TRILOGY

  Copyright 2017 by B.T. Narro

  Cover and Map by Beatriz Garrido: https://www.artstation.com/artist/beatriz_garrido

  With Interior Illustrations also by Beatriz Garrido.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is coincidental.

  All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written permission of the copyright holder.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Desil drew looks from everyone he passed as he drove his wagon out of his small town. Although he was one of the youngest men in Kayvol, at eighteen, Desil knew the attention was not because of his age. It came from the two men in uniform tied up in the back of his wagon.

  The few townspeople of Kayvol who knew Desil grinned at the sight as if holding in a laugh. Everyone else stared with their mouths agape. A few looked to each other as if they should do something, some even starting after Desil’s horse and wagon, but none made it more than a few steps before stopping to shrug or mutter in confusion.

  These guards were men of the king’s army, the only two sent to Kayvol to keep peace. They’d threatened Desil with jail several times by now if he did not release them, but Desil paid no attention. They would say anything to get out of this embarrassing situation they’d gotten themselves into.

  It would take a few hours to get to the capital. Desil found it easier to stay silent than to respond to any of their not so clever attempts to gain their release. Halfway there, one of the men began to complain about his full bladder. When Desil ignored him, he struggled against the ropes. Desil stopped the horse and looked back to stare at the guard until he stopped fidgeting.

  As they made their way around the edge of Raywhite Forest, the castle of Kyrro came into view. The king had overseen construction of a curtain wall during his twenty-five-year tenure. It seemed like a waste of resources to Desil. The castle was already an enormous fortress of stone that dwarfed the homes and shops of the citizens around it.

  Desil had never been through that outer wall, but he would try talking his way within if that’s what it took to deliver justice to these corrupt guards. The streets of the capital were crowded with all kinds of people. Most were busy with their own tasks of trade or the transportation of goods, all casually making room for Desil’s horse and wagon without noticing his prisoners.

  From what Desil’s mother had told him, the king had done well to lower the number of beggars in Kyrro, which had been unusually high after the last war. It occurred before Desil was born, twenty-five years ago. His mother was one of many who’d fought. Since then, she’d taken measures to keep Desil from fighting in any future war. He tried to appreciate her efforts to keep him safe, but the path she’d laid out for him was a waste of his talents. Bringing these guards to the castle was the most excitement he’d had in a year.

  He was in good spirits when he finally arrived at the gated entrance of the castle wall. Desil had been waiting for weeks to catch these guards stealing, as he’d suspected they’d been doing for a while, and now it was finally time to give them what they deserved.

  The swordsman standing guard outside the castle rushed toward Desil in obvious fury.

  “You bring my brother through the capital tied up like some prisoner?” the soldier screamed.

  Brother—so that would make this guard another Girgis to deal with.

  Desil hopped off his wagon and put up his hands. “He stole coin right off a table from my mother’s tavern.”

  The older Girgis brother ignored Desil as he used his blade to saw at the ropes around the wrists of his sibling.

  “Get me out of here, too,” said the other guard. “I’ve had to piss for the last two hours!”

  No doubt the brother of the thief wouldn’t treat this situation justly. Desil looked around for someone who might help and perhaps prevent the brothers from retaliating. He met the gaze of a guard with dark hair that fell behind broad shoulders. Before Desil could call to him, someone shoved Desil, and both brothers were grabbing him.

  “I’m arresting you for crimes against the king’s men!” spat the older one.

  The younger gritted his teeth and bent Desil’s arm back to the point of pain. Desil freed his other arm from the older brother’s grasp and shoved the younger one back. A fight was the last thing he wanted, but the older took on the same look of anger as his sibling as he grabbed Desil by the shoulders and tried to knee him in the groin.

  “Get on the—!”

  The order died on the elder Girgis’ lips when Desil jumped back to avoid the dirty blow. He caught the man’s leg while it was still in the air, then threw him back. The soldier stumbled backward, his arms flailing to keep balance.

  Desil pointed. “You’re the one who should be arrested for freeing a criminal before trial.”

  When the soldier came to a stop, he drew his sword. His brother did the same.

  Desil had brought no weapon. He took a fighter’s stance as he began to regret coming here. His throat went dry as he thought of his mother hearing how he’d been killed right outside the castle.

  “This is your last chance to get on the ground and accept arrest,” the older brother warned. “Or I will force you no matter what it takes.”

  But accepting arrest would be admitting guilt in the eyes of these men. Desil was just starting to consider how to disarm both brothers without losing a limb when a voice boomed from behind him.

  “What’s the meaning of this?”

  He turned to see the dark-haired guard with the granite shoulders, the most formidable man yet. It wasn’t just his muscular physique that spoke of sword fighting experience, it was the confidence in his smirk and his cold blue eyes that surveyed the scene with delight, as if he’d come across a gold coin on the ground.

  His presence dissolved the Girgis brothers’ aggression, as they let down their weapons, but i
t did nothing to remove the red from their faces.

  No one answered him, so the guard’s voice rose.

  “Tell me why two brothers, guards of the king no less, are fighting some young man…and losing?”

  “Kirnich, sir,” the older said, “we weren’t prepared for him to fight back, but you saw that he has. He should be arrested for…for treason!”

  It was almost laughable. Treason. Obviously, the older Girgis couldn’t think of anything more appropriate. Both of them lowered their heads so as not to look into Kirnich’s frosty eyes as Desil turned to address him.

  “I saw the younger Girgis steal coins right off the table in my mother’s tavern, sir. I suspected he’d been stealing for quite some time, so I detained him.”

  “Tackled me from behind!” interrupted the guilty man.

  Desil ignored him. “As I was in the process of getting him onto my wagon, the other guard must’ve presumed I was guilty of something. I tried to explain what I was doing, but he wouldn’t believe me. Eventually he tried to place me under arrest and fought me as well. I didn’t see another choice but to bring him with the other.”

  “Get me off this wagon!” The guard thrashed against his ropes. “The bastard boy knows I’ve been holding it in for hours and he doesn’t care!”

  “If you don’t believe me,” Desil told Kirnich, “a psychic will confirm everything I’ve said.”

  Kirnich’s smile cracked open and a laugh came out from his belly. Everyone waited for him to finish, nervous glances all around.

  He gestured at the brothers who had taken up their weapons again. “Put down your swords.”

  They returned their weapons to their sheaths.

  “I said put them down,” Kirnich repeated, his smile gone.

  The brothers dropped their blades.

  Kirnich came around to stand in front of Desil, looking him up and down. “How did you manage to rope up those two larger men and get them onto your wagon?”

  Desil saw himself through Kirnich’s eyes for the moment. He was a young man of average height with dark hair and a sharp jawline. The look in his deep-set eyes often gave others the impression he had much on his mind, which was true, but there was nothing threatening about his appearance. His body was lined with well-defined muscles thanks to his climbing and swimming, but his true strength came as a deception to most, unlike Kirnich, who looked capable of lifting boulders.

  “I had the rope ready when I tackled the first guard,” Desil answered. “The second one was much harder, as I had to fetch the rope while fending him off.”

  Kirnich grinned. “And how far did you travel with them like that in your wagon?”

  “I came from Kayvol.”

  Kirnich let out a deep laugh. Behind him, the Girgis brothers’ faces twisted.

  “Why go through all the trouble?” Kirnich asked with a tight smile.

  Desil was starting to feel Kirnich was making light of this for his own entertainment. There would be no punishment to the deserving unless Desil changed the mood.

  “At least one of them has been stealing from more than just my mother. It wasn’t easy getting them here, and now I expect them to receive proper punishment. I will testify in front of a psychic to prove what I saw.”

  Kirnich chuckled as he put up his hand. “All right, that’s not necessary. How much did you see him take?”

  Desil tried to hide his embarrassment as he gave the accurate amount. “Five pennies.”

  Kirnich laughed louder than before.

  “But at least one of them has been stealing since they were sent to Kayvol,” Desil continued. “Both should be brought before psychics and questioned about their wrongdoings.”

  “I’ve stolen nothing,” insisted the one still tied up.

  It might’ve been true, but the Girgis brothers remained silent, both staring at Kirnich’s back from the sides of their eyes.

  “I will take care of everything here,” Kirnich said. He walked over and untied the guard, who ran off, presumably to relieve himself. Kirnich let him go without a look. “What’s your name, young man?”

  “Desil.”

  “I’m sure you’re needed back at Kayvol, Desil. What does the king have you doing there?”

  This would be even more embarrassing. “I help my mother with her tavern.”

  Kirnich’s brow furrowed. “And how old are you?”

  “Eighteen.”

  “Seems to be a waste of your talent. The king is recruiting.”

  The younger Girgis started to complain, “Sir—”

  “Quiet,” Kirnich interrupted. “What do you say? I promise it will make your life more interesting.”

  “I’ve heard about the recruitment.” Because war is coming, Desil thought. “But if the Girgises are the type of men the king employs, I want nothing to do with his army.” Besides, Desil had other plans for his immediate future.

  Kirnich didn’t just frown as Desil expected, he glared in subdued fury. This was clearly not a man who was used to being told no.

  Desil tried to return to the matter at hand, pointing at the younger brother. “Do you need help detaining him? He might fight.”

  The soldier looked as if he might pick up his weapon and charge Desil, but Kirnich shot him a glance that froze him.

  “I can handle any resistance he and his brother might give me. You’d better leave now so you can make it back to Kayvol before dark.”

  “I volunteer to take the new town-guards for Kayvol back with me.”

  “No.”

  Confused, Desil waited for more of an explanation, but none came. He dared not say more. There was power behind that one word, as it was spoken like a threat.

  Kirnich huffed out an angry breath. “I was starting to like you, so don’t ruin it by staring like an idiot. Go!”

  There was nothing else Desil could do, so he took his horse and wagon and started north. Kirnich had both power and a temper, a dangerous combination. Desil watched him put his hand on the younger Girgis and escort him through the gate of the wall.

  Desil wondered what would happen to the thief, worried for the first time that the punishment he received might be too severe.

  Desil had one task to do that day—purchase barley. He would get some in the capital on his way out. His mother had been worried when he’d tackled the thief but had become even more concerned when Desil left with the two guards tied up in his wagon. But she’d known it was too late at that point for him to let them go, so she’d settled for telling him to be careful. No doubt she would be relieved when he returned.

  His mother was a formidable woman, easily able to handle the tavern on her own. She’d mostly done so for the last year, after Desil’s father was executed. Desil had assisted her every day, but there wasn’t a task he did that she couldn’t do as well, usually in less time.

  Kayvol was a quarter the size of the capital. The town had been established only three years ago, built beside the largest lake in Kyrro, which had a habit of overflowing every time there was a drizzle. The citizens of Kayvol had been responsible for forming a river from the lake, a river that now ran past the Academy and all the way to the ocean. Named Fernan River by the king himself, it became the home of many waterwheels that the people of Kayvol became responsible for managing. Not Desil, though. For the last three years, he had only been assisting his family with their magic-themed tavern.

  It was an easy job that left plenty of time for adventuring, mostly with his father. His mother had already traveled throughout Ovira with Wade before Desil was born, and she’d already had enough adventuring for a lifetime, fighting in the wars when she was around Desil’s age.

  She was just closing the tavern when Desil arrived. Even though Effie was a small woman, she still managed to squeeze the breath out of Desil with her hug.

  “You had me worried! Did they give you much trouble?”

  He handed her the barley. “No, but they wouldn’t let me bring any guards back. There will be none here until t
hey send more.”

  “Well, one of them caused more trouble than the other one made up for. We should be fine without them for a time.”

  He followed her into the dining area and around the tables and chairs made from hardened sartious energy. Effie had spent weeks shaping the furniture after their family had finished construction of the tavern, as all the while Desil and his father warned her that a single green mage could undo all of her work with the snap of two fingers. But Effie had confidence people would appreciate the magic theme and do nothing to ruin it. Fortunately, she turned out to be right so far.

  While Desil and his father had gone from shop to shop in the capital collecting supplies, she had decorated the walls with handwritten spells ranging from a simple fireball to a sartious and bastial bomb. She’d even come up with silly names for every drink. Desil’s favorites were bastial blend, sartious slurp, and pyforial pickup. Both he and his father appreciated Effie’s creativity, but they feared their patrons wouldn’t care for the frills of the tavern. Fortunately, Effie was right again. Some people made trips out to Kayvol just to visit the only magic-themed tavern in Kyrro. All of the other patrons were workers in this small town. Most were instantly made happier by the lively decorations when they stepped foot inside the tavern, but there were some whose personalities changed after too much drink, and not for the better.

  One had been Desil’s father.

  They entered the kitchen where Effie put down the barley and glared at Desil. Her sudden anger caught him by surprise, but after a moment he figured out what must’ve happened while he was gone.

  “I see the messenger from the Academy must’ve come today.”

  His mother nodded and took an envelope from her pocket. Instead of handing it to him, she held it behind her as she put her fists against her hips. Desil had known the messenger might come today, but he couldn’t let the thief go just to keep the results of his interview and test a secret from his mother.

  “I don’t understand,” Effie said. “I thought you agreed with me about this.”

  “I do agree. I’m not planning to go to the Academy like you and Father did, and I’ve had enough lectures about the contract.”

  “Yet you went behind my back to apply.”