Fantasy Best Seller "Rage of Night": Chapter 2

"What the hell was that?" Kel screamed at the Lord Commander, "First the rebellion has armed soldiers out of nowhere, by the thousands, and now they've got Wizards!"

"Slayer," Captain Bellar, head of intelligence, and the only other man present in the command tent, raised a hand. Kel cut him off.

"Don't even get me started on you, Captain." The way Kel said 'captain' made it sound like a curse. "Why wasn't I told?"

The Lord Commander Egan, King's Duke of the western marches, reasserted his authority. "Kel, we didn't think the reports could possibly be true. There are many who report any rumor, no matter how outlandish. You know that."

"And you don't think that maybe this rumor might bear repeating, just for the sake of caution? This is defensive force! You have two-thousand men, no cavalry, only a handful of archers, and NO WIZARDS!" Kel slammed his fist down on the tabletop, sending goblets flying.

The tent was dead silent for a moment, until Kel spoke again, this time in a whisper, soft as the moss on a tombstone.

"How many men?"

The Lord Commander raised an eyebrow. Captain Bellar blanched.

"I said how many?" Kel roared.

"How many what, Kel?" the Commander asked.

Kel turned a raptor's gaze on the Duke. "How many died today because of your conceit? You thought the peasants always believe things are worse than they are, that they believe what they want to believe, but you made the same mistake yourself.

"You didn't want to believe the enemy had mages, so you ignored the information. You didn't want it to be true, that it couldn't be that bad.

"But it was. And men died. Because of you."

"See here!" Bellar said, "There has never been a rebellion in which a sworn Wizard took sides. Never!"

Kel swung his head around, focusing his penetrating stare on Bellar. "I can think of one. The Impergium."

"That was long ago. Things are different now. We-"

Kel cut him off. "Are they? Do you suppose, then, that Wizards are incapable of breaking an oath?"

Bellar's face reddened. "Well, I..." It was obvious to all that the Captain had been trapped in his own words - the existence of the Mageslayers proved Kel's point better than any argument.