Benjamin Ashwood Read Online Free PDF Page B

soon as he said it though, she had to be a
Mage.
    “Ben,
do you know what this means?”  Alistair asked excitedly.
    “No…”
    “If
she’s a Mage Ben, then she can heal Brandon!” 
    Alistair
spun around and ran back to towards the door, nearly tripping over the step as
he rushed inside.  Ben stood in shock.  It was true, there were stories about
Mages who were said to have incredible powers to heal wounds that far surpassed
the skill of even a trained physic.  But it was also said in the stories that Mages
never worked for free – and that their payment was rarely in gold.  They could
perform great, mysterious feats, but they always collected something in return.
     
    The
next morning Ben awoke with a pounding head.  He lay on the small cot in his
room and winced as a pair of birds burst into song outside of his door.  He
judged by how much light was coming in under the door it was mid-morning.  He
knew he must have woken up with worse hangovers.  At the moment, he couldn’t
recall when.
    He
stumbled outside to the water trough and plunged his head in.  The cold water
sent a shock through his body and he came up gasping for air.  He filled up a
tin mug he hung outside and sank down onto a rough-hewn bench and leaned
against the timber mill.  His head fell back against the wall and he stared up
at the clear, cloudless sky.  His stomach rumbled in hunger but the thought of
stoking the fire and making porridge or frying eggs seemed like an enormous
effort.  The thought of eating the handful of hard dry biscuits he had in his
tiny pantry was even worse
    He
reflected on the previous night and his mind still swirled with unasked and
unanswered questions.  He’d followed Alistair into the Tavern where Alistair
was already begging for the help of the woman in front of a stunned crowd.  The
woman did not deny she was a Mage, but she did not admit it either.  She simply
said she’d look at Brandon’s injury and see if she could help.
    Rhys
and Saala exchanged a worried look then Rhys said he’d go with her.  Saala and
the two girls quickly retired to their rooms.
    Ben
and several of the other town folk hung around the Tavern anxiously discussing
what it meant to have a Mage in their midst but after a bell it became apparent
there would be no more news that evening.
    The
stories were all clear that when a Mage cast a spell they expended themselves
somehow.  They were also clear that a Mage would never expend that energy
without recompense.  From what he could gather, they sounded somewhat
self-serving.  He guessed they were limited in either what they could do or how
often they did it.
    As
Ben sat thinking on what he knew about Mages, it slowly occurred to him that
his pounding headache should be much worse.  His room was above an operating
timber mill and this time of the morning there should have been the sound of
saws cutting raw logs into boards, the crashes and bangs of wood being moved
around inside and the constant swearing of the mill workers.  The only sound he
could hear was the chirping of birds.
    He
groaned and stood to change into fresh clothing and to go find out what was
going on.  After last night when he nearly missed seeing the Blademaster and
Mage, he wasn’t willing to sit and let the news come to him, even with a
pounding head.
     
    Ben
jogged the short distance from the mill into town and he slowly started to feel
better.  The light exercise got his blood pumping and relieved some of the
pressure in his head.  As he made his way to the town center he saw where all
of the mill workers had gone.  There was a crowd gathered on the green and they
all seemed to be shouting towards the small lodging house that was next to the
Buckhorn Tavern.
    Ben
spied Serrot on the outskirts of the crowd and made his way over to him. 
“What’s going on?  It looks like half the town is here.”
    “I’m
not completely sure.   I just got here, but they’re saying that the woman Mage
is