The High-Wizard's Hunt - By Ashley Delay Page 0,87

be already dead.” He turned away to head back to Stanton as the sun set in the distance. Pausing for a moment, he looked over his shoulder. “If a guarantee is what ye be needing, I offer me own. The day will be dawning with the cold, lifeless bodies of the dragon cagers beneath us. We will be victorious.”

*

Gus stood to his full height upon a fallen log in the woods outside of Stanton. His eyes scanned the crowd that had gathered with apprehension. He knew that he must convince them to join Osric’s cause, but it would not be easy to sway them to fight in the battle. He had pulled out all the stops and used his authority as a world renowned Wand-Maker to bring beasts of every breed to the meeting. It was an eclectic group. While many of the animals would not normally live in the region, the busy trade industry in and around Stanton provided work and food for a wide variety of species. The furry faces of creatures small and large eyed him with curiosity. Many of them were animals he recognized, and a few of them were unfamiliar to him but vouched for by his older children as honorable.

“I know you are all wondering why I have gathered you here.” Gus gazed out as many nodded in agreement. “Over the past few months, it has become apparent that our world is growing restless, and our freedom is under threat.” Gus’ tone was somber and he spoke only loud enough for his words to reach each keen ear gathered before him. “We are at war.” Murmuring broke out in the crowd and Gus heard tittering laughter from a group of squirrels to his right.

“You’re goin’ senile, you old furbag.” The jeer came from a young wolf named Ordin laying on the carpet of pine needles on the forest floor. Gus remembered the year the pup was born. The winter had been colder than usual and Ordin’s mother had grown ill late in her pregnancy. A local healer had administered herbs and Gus was there casting protection spells over her. The herbs had eased the rattling cold from her lungs, but they had also sent her into labor. Without Gus there to cast his spells, the pups likely would have died when she whelped early. Ordin was still thinner than the average wolf of three summers, and Gus hoped he was stronger than he looked.

“You can laugh and make jokes if you want. Your disrespectful arrogance will only keep you ignorant.” Gus aimed his wand at the kindling in a small circle of stones on the ground before him and lit a fire with a spell. “We are at war, and I want to show you the kind of men that are threatening your homes and families. Threatening your freedom.”

Gus had never been very good at fire tellings. He was a master at manipulating the strands of magic, and even better at binding them into a stick to make a wand, but convincing a fire to depict his words was not a strong suit for him. Still, he could think of no better way to persuade the crowd of creatures than to show them the things he had seen. Gus reminded himself silently that it was just another spoken spell. Fire tellings had been the traditional method of passing on stories for far longer than he had been alive. Yet no one seemed to remember their origins. Gus knew that they must have begun with the ursidae that had written Osric’s book of spoken spells. He had been the first to use spells in that manner, and Gus could only smile wryly at the irony that the technique had been in use ever since, but no one in the Human Realm knew that spoken spells existed until Osric rediscovered them.

Gus scurried back onto the log and looked out over the crowd. Many of the animals looked back at him skeptically and gazed at the fire with instinctual distrust. It was obvious that most of them doubted the seriousness of the situation. It was easy to roam a forest and forget that the happenings of humans and their cities would ultimately affect every creature in the surrounding area. It was just as easy to see the signs of change and ignore them, confident and comfortable in the surrounding country. Yet, many of the animals Gus was addressing lived within the city of Stanton. They worked alongside