Free The Castrofax by Jenna Van Vleet

Nolen’s
instantly. They were dark, and the skin around them crinkled as he
frowned.
    “Y’,” Ryker whispered, his voice hoarse and
dry. “Y’ better have a good reason par waking me.” He spoke with a
strange smooth accent using a dialect lost to the Ages.
    “I am Mage Prince Nolen Novacula, and I am
here to free you.”
    Ryker looked around and gave his shoulders a
little roll.
    “T’ what end?” he finally asked. As his
tongue loosened, his words became more fluid.
    “What end do we all want?”
    “Power, I imagine,” Ryker’s voice gained some
strength. “Answer mine question.”
    “I need your help securing the throne of
Anatoly.”
    Ryker gave him a suspicious look and made a
clicking sound with the inside of his cheek. “Par yourself?”
    Nolen nodded.
    “What year is this? Have the Queens of
Anatoly fallen?”
    “It is 4152, and no, the Queens still rule
the Eagle Throne.” Ryker said nothing, and Nolen realized he had
not fully answered the first question. “All I ask is for your help
with the throne, and in turn I will ally Anatoly to your
cause.”
    “Mine cause,” Ryker repeated and gave a small
smirk. “Tell me boy, who sits the Head Mage Seat?”
    “Class Six Mage Casimir Brynmore, a Spirit
Mage.”
    Ryker’s cool face brightened as his eyebrows
rose. “A Class Six? Are y’ having a laugh? Aye, what luck I’ve
found mineself in. So boy, t’ what end will the throne take
y’?”
    “I want it for power.”
    “Aye, I realized. But why do y’ want power?
Every man wants power par a reason. Y’ best be truthful with me.”
He had a commanding voice, and with his frequent use of eye contact
Nolen could tell why people were drawn to him. He could not help
but want to answer.
    “My sister,” Nolen replied, the truth
spilling from lips. He once swore to himself he would tell no one
why he thirsted for power, but the man had a hold over him. “My
twin whom I love dearly was sent away years ago, and I have no
answers why. With power we could be reunited.”
    “The royals still take kin t’ marriage
then?”
    Nolen frowned. “No, that was done away with
long ago.”
    Ryker regarded him with a calculating look.
“Tell me of the Mages.”
    Nolen looked somber. “Class Ten, Nine, Eight
and Sevens are extinct. We hardly hold onto Class Sixes. It is rare
to wield more than one Element, and we have lost much pattern
knowledge as we grow weaker.”
    Ryker nodded thoughtfully and looked at the
difference in their clothes before grimacing. “Y’ have gumption
waking me, but as y’ did it in a good Age I shan’t kill y’.” He
made another clicking sound with his cheek and sized Nolen up.
“Right, boy, here are mine terms. I want something of Ages past,
and if y’ get it for me I will fetch y’ the Anatolian throne.” He
paused and brushed a cobweb from the back of his hair. “I want the
Silex. It was taken from me long ago, ac if y’ truly want your
throne, y’ will find it par me.”
    “The Silex fell out of knowledge Ages ago.”
Nolen knew little of the fabled object, and each story did not
quite match the next. Some say Ryker created it, others said it
existed long before they did. Nolen believed it was an object that
bestowed Class Ten powers in every Element to anyone it
touched.
    “Aye, it was taken from me, but it is ne an
object what goes missing without someone knowing its location. Y’
find that par me. I warrant it will be protected, so take the
strongest Mage y’ have t’ dispel the wards ‘round it…. How did y’
get down here? Is this place ne warded?”
    Nolen reached behind his trouser hem and
pulled out the Medallion of Unwind. He tossed it to Ryker with a
flick of his thumb. He recognized it instantly, playing his finger
in and out of the center hole through the patterns within, and his
dark eyes flicked up. “How far away is the exit?”
    Nolen looked behind him as if it would help
answer the question. “It took me several minutes to arrive,”