Free God Mage by D.W. Jackson Page B

wasn’t enough
wind magic to be had near him.
    Slumping to the ground, he was mentally
exhausted from trying to pull in magic when there was none to be
had. The looks he received ranged from surprise to awe, but he had
little energy to pay them any heed. All he could think of at the
time was how heavy his eyes felt and how good a small nap would
feel.
    When Bren opened his eyes, the sun had
started its climb into the sky once again, and the Brotherhood had
taken up their search. They had already searched the entire
northern section of the mountain and were now moving eerily close
to the entrance that Bren and the others had used to enter the
valley.
    Bren held his breath as the first soldier
passed the secret entrance, passing by without any hint that he had
found anything. For a moment Bren thought that the entrance would
go unnoticed, then an old soldier who walked by the mountain
banging the hilt of his dagger on the rock face called out to the
others pointing toward the hidden entrance.
    Bren didn’t know what to do, but the other
generals didn’t seem to be as unsure. As one, the four other
soldiers with him raised their hands, and the ground under the
entrance began to tremble and opened up to expose a hole filled
with sharpened sticks. Four of the Brotherhood soldiers fell inside
the trap, but it didn’t deter them from searching for a way to open
the secret door.
    Bren panicked and pulled in the only magical
energy that gathered around him in mass and called to the earth.
For a moment, it felt as if the whole mountain would fall around
them as Bren let loose a torrent of energy that caused the whole
ground in front of the hidden entrance to erupt in thin spikes that
looked as if thousands of swords the size of a man had simply
jumped out of the earth.
    As Bren slumped against the entrance to the
cliff, the eyes that had looked at him earlier with awe and
surprise now looked at him in fear. Bren felt a little pang in his
chest at the looks but pushed it aside. Now was not the time to
worry about how people he barely knew looked at him.
    Turning his attention back to the
Brotherhood, Bren noticed that they had pulled back from the
mountain and were headed back to the large field outside of the
forest. His attack as flashy and as big as it had been had done
little damage. Less than a hundred soldiers had been within the
range of the stone swords but it had forced them to retreat and
that was a victory, even if it was just a small one. That was the
problem with magic. It could be deadly, but it was much easier to
use against a single opponent than many at once, and even then,
experience was the key, and Bren was severely lacking in that.
    A few hours after the Brotherhood had pulled
back, Bren noticed that they had started cutting trees down from
the forest and constructing the beginnings of a fort. The next
morning, it became clear that the Brotherhood had no planes to
venture into the deadly forest again, and Bren breathed a sigh of
relief.
    Shortly after the sun reached its apex in the
sky, a messenger arrived, telling Bren that the elders wished to
speak with him again. Unlike on the way up, Bren didn’t hesitate to
use magic to light his path as he made his way back toward the
village through the dark tunnel.
    Bren found his other friends waiting for him
outside the elders’ building. Most of them had a tired and run-down
look on their face, but it was Faye’s look that pained him the
most. Bren could see that she had not slept in days, and her hands
shook slightly as she looked at him. He knew that the battle a few
nights before had been hard on her, but it seemed that it was much
worse than he had thought.
    Without thinking, Bren wrapped his arm around
Faye’s shoulder and pulled her in close. As soon as her face
touched his chest, he could feel her shaking slightly as she
quietly sobbed. Their guide continued to walk toward the building’s
entrance, but Bren didn’t move to follow until Faye had