Sorcery's Song

By Talee

Brooklyn’s life was going just the way it should. She discovered she had the ability to learn to be a healer and immediately began apprenticeship with her father. She started by healing animals and was still valued for that. Through years of training she was becoming a talented healer in her own right, and the people of the village had become comfortable with her responding to their healer requests. Brooklyn responds to a request for healing on the wrong side of the border with the Xeros mountains which are jealously guarded by sorcerers. When a sorceress feels her calling the power, she is offered an apprenticeship in exchange for the lives of the young man she had healed and his father. She is soon drawn into a world of mystery and intrigue that she never imagined could exist.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Talee
• Release date: Apr 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215928301

Talee

A dedicated reader and writer, I have always loved a good character. Heroic magicians, iconic warriors, and everyday people who overcome adversity are what I seek in both my reading and my writing. Some of my favorite books are Andre Norton's Witch World series, Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders, and Christopher Stasheff's Warlock series. I like to take characters that are believable and show how they overcome long odds to succeed, or simply adapt to their environment to accomplish happiness for themselves and others.For me, writing is just like reading, I may know how the story is going to eventually end, but the joy is in the journey that unfolds day by day.

Book preview

Sorcery’s Song

(Darth Chronicles)

Talee

This is a work of fiction.  All of the characters, organizations and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously

Copyright 2023 by Talee

First Edition: March 2023

Acknowledgments

Thanks to all those who have supported my efforts by buying my books and especially those who provided reviews encouraging others to buy my books.  I write for you, and am happy that you find my works entertaining.

This book is dedicated to my oldest granddaughter Brooklyn, an amazing young woman.  She has a playful spirit and an amazing talent for making others smile and feel her joy in life.  And of course, she has grandpa wrapped around her little finger.

Chapter 1: Healing Animals

Brooklyn felt the pull and a distinctly male plea for help. Pain was clear in the mental plea. She recognized the taint of wildness in the call, but the clarity of the touch was new to her. She turned off the road and hurried to the small clearing where she knew the animal would be. A broken arrow shaft was sticking up above the tall grass. She knelt next to the small body and carefully removed the arrow as she cleared and prepared her mind.

Brooklyn drew focus and began singing the song her father had taught her.

Queen of the night brings us light. Floating free to give us sight. She moves the seas and heals the earth. In the day, she is dim and gray, but come the night, her strength remains. Thin and dim or full and bright, yet she always rules the night…

As she sang, power flowed into her body. Brooklyn focused it, willing the healing process to begin. First, the broken leg then the damaged muscle, and finally, the skin. Eventually, all that she could do was done, so she stopped singing, letting the power seep out of her once more. She applied a salve she had made with her herbs to the young fox’s tender skin where there would soon be only a slight scar. She stood up and stepped back, waiting for the sleep spell to wear off, hoping against hope that she had done all that needed to be done.

Brooklyn remembered the first time she had found a wounded animal in the woods. She had been just a small child at the time and not yet trained as a healer. A hunter had been off target and hit a deer in the hindquarters. The deer had run in panic probably for hours before deciding it was safe and bedded down for the night.

When Brooklyn had found the injured deer, it was struggling to get up, its hindquarters refusing to respond. Her heart had gone out to the beautiful creature, and she automatically did what she had seen her father do. She spoke calmly to the animal and moved very slowly toward it.

Eventually, the deer dropped to the ground in exhaustion, and Brooklyn was able to approach it. She had prayed that her father’s talent would respond for her, and then she began singing his song.

That was the first time she felt the power respond to her call. She remembered willing the arrow to remove itself and the animal to heal.

To her amazement, the arrow did fall away and the deer’s wound began to heal. But then the world began to spin and everything went dark. When she woke up some time later, the deer was gone, but the arrow was still there to prove it had not been a dream.

The excitement had given her the energy to run home and tell her father about the experience. The pride in her father’s face was something she would never forget. That was when he started training her to be a healer.

Movement brought Brooklyn’s attention back to the present as her patient awoke and climbed to his feet, looking around in confusion for just a moment. The pain that had been in the fox’s eyes when she found him was nearly gone. Brooklyn relaxed and released a sigh of relief. She wiped the sweat from her brow and smiled as the young fox realized he was free and bounced back into the woods.

You are fortunate it was me who found you, little one. I pray that you stay clear of people and their chickens in the future.

Brooklyn picked up her little bag of herbs and headed back to the road. Ed was waiting for her to come and heal his bull. It was the third time this year that the bull had gotten tangled up in wire while trying to get to the neighbor’s cows. Why the cousins could not figure out a way to share the cost and the benefits of the bull made no sense to Brooklyn. Ed kept stubbornly putting up the wire to keep his bull from visiting his cousin’s cows…

Brooklyn shook her head. Those two would argue and fight over whether or not the sun would come up in the morning.

As Brooklyn came into sight of the farmhouse, Ed came running down the road, yelling for her to hurry.

Please hurry, Lady Healer. He is bleeding and growing weaker by the minute.

Brooklyn lengthened her stride but knew she dared not waste her strength by running as Ed would have her do. The bull would need her to be strong when she arrived.

Ed was waving his hands urgently, trying to get her to speed up, and showing less and less patience at her insistence on holding onto her pace. When he began to curse, Brooklyn finally spoke.

Ed, I have explained to you before that I will be of little use to you or your bull if I use all my energy rushing to his aid. I assume he is tied up in the same wire fence as usual. If you wish to rush back and begin removing the wire, you may. I will be there as soon as I can without tiring myself to the point where I cannot be of assistance.

Ed looked indecisive for a moment. Then he glared at her and took off for his bull, yelling over his shoulder as he went.

I’ll hold you responsible if he dies because you could not be bothered to hurry up one damned hill. He is a valuable bull, and even with the exorbitant prices you charge, it will take a long time for you to cover his cost.

Brooklyn stopped and spoke with the absolute calm she had learned from her father when dealing with such men.

I will not be threatened nor will I accept responsibility for the damage you have done to your bull with that wire. I have other clients who need my services. Good luck with your bull. She turned to leave but heard his desperation when he came running back toward her with a plea.

Lady, you cannot leave. The bull will die without your help. It is your duty to help when I call.

Brooklyn fought down the surge of emotion that Ed’s words stirred in her. Then she quickened her pace back down the road away from the farm where she could feel the bull’s pain.

Ed caught up to her and grabbed her shoulder, squeezing hard as he pulled her around to face him.

Brooklyn would never understand what caused her to lose her temper in that moment. But as she was being turned around forcefully, she used the momentum to strengthen her slap as she struck him across the face.

The anger in his eyes was replaced instantly with shock. He released her shoulder and stepped backward, rubbing his suddenly reddening cheek.

Brooklyn let her anger show as she said, How dare you lay a hand on a healer? When my father hears of this, you and your farm will be without healer services. All the healers in this dukedom will know of your actions before the year is past.

Ed's eyes widened, and Brooklyn could see the fear in them. The man bowed his head, speaking quietly as he begged for her forgiveness. "Lady, please forgive me. My bull is the difference between us struggling to put food on the table and having a future for my sons to inherit. I was wrong to speak to you without the honor you are due. I am truly sorry for that.

"When I touched your shoulder, I was just trying to get your attention so that I could explain the urgency of my need for your services. It was wrong. Unforgivably wrong of me to do so. Please understand my desperation at seeing you leaving my bull and my family’s future to die.

"If you cannot find it in your heart to forgive that offense, I understand. If you must leave and let my bull die, then so be it. But please, Lady, do not have my family be shunned by all healers.

Please be merciful, Lady. I will never again speak to you without the respect you are due. Nor will I ever touch you again. Please do not do this.

Brooklyn fought down her anger, regaining her balance once more. She knew that her father would’ve had no mercy for this man. He would say that grabbing a healer was something that could not be tolerated lest it led to greater violence.

Brooklyn understood that logic, but she could feel the fear in the man and knew that he meant what he was saying. And in fairness, she knew that she had goaded him when she turned to walk away. She stood there torn between what her father would have her do and what she believed she should do.

Sobbing, Ed dropped to his knees, most likely assuming that her silence meant she would not forgive him. Brooklyn felt the decision settle in as though it were a latch dropping in place on a gate.

I will not forgive this disrespect. But I will not share it with my father either, provided you keep the promises you have just given.

She was about to walk away when a long-term solution occurred to her. She turned back to face Ed who was getting to his feet, tears still running down his face.

Brooklyn said, I will also do what I can for your bull today, on the condition that you remove the wire fence and work out an agreement with your cousin to avoid further injury to your bull.

Ed stood there looking in shock for a moment, but then his eyes brightened and he bowed his head to her. Agreed, Lady. If you restore my bull, I will have all the wire removed before the sun sets. Regardless of whether or not my cousin and I can reach agreement, the wire will not be put back up.

Brooklyn’s heart raced at his response. Something good had come out of this conflict. The great bull would not be injured again by the fence.

Without a word, Brooklyn turned back up the hill, quickening her pace as much as she dared. She could feel the animal’s plea for help. It was softer and less clear than the fox’s, but she knew it was in deep trouble. She began singing the song of power as soon as she could see the bull. She formed the spell for healing sleep and laid it on the bull before she even reached the animal.

Once she examined the bull, she saw why Ed had been in such a hurry. There was blood squirting from its left front leg and a fairly large amount of blood had pooled underneath its body.

She quickly formed the spell to heal blood vessels and laid it on the bull, willing the leg to mend as she cut the wire and pulled it out of the wound. Then she moved on to the other places where the wire had pulled through the animal’s hide.

The bull had clearly been caught in the wire for some time and had been struggling against it. It took hours for her to get the last of the wire cut away, and soon the bleeding stopped. Then she laid a diagnostic spell on the bull and felt relief that no bones had been broken.

She mixed a salve from her herb bag and spread it over the myriad of cuts in the bull’s hide. Then she drew deeply of the power and formed the healing spell that would work best on a cow’s hide, laying it on the bull and willing all the cuts to heal.

As the spell settled in and did its work, Brooklyn released the healing-sleep spell. Then she collapsed.

Sometime later, Brooklyn awoke to the smell of meat cooking, and her stomach rumbled its desire for food. She looked around and realized that she was in a house that she had no memory of entering. Then a young woman noticed her and spoke up quickly.

You gave us quite a scare, Lady. How do you feel?

Brooklyn stretched and twisted her body before responding. Other than being a little hungry, I am fine. How did I come to be here?

Father brought you down from the hill after you fainted. He said you healed the bull and then just fell to the ground. I had my cot brought out so that I could watch over you while attending to my chores. We will be taking the evening meal as soon as the men return from the field. Will you join us, Lady?

Memory came flooding back in, and Brooklyn realized where she was and who the young woman was.

Thank you, Ella. Your kindness, as always, is appreciated. I would be honored to join you for the evening meal before I return home.

Ella bowed her head and then hurried out of the room, returning quickly with a cup of water and a chunk of bread. She handed them to Brooklyn and then spoke with that familiar smile on her face. Here, Lady, to tide you over until the men come in. Father said they might be a little late.

Brooklyn took the food gratefully, eating slowly to savor the warmth of the bread and the sweet butter that was melted on it.

Nearly an hour later, Ed and his three sons came walking into the house, looking exhausted. When Ed saw Brooklyn, he straightened his shoulders as he walked over to her, bowing his head before saying, Lady, we have removed all the wire, and I have requested a meeting with my neighbors to discuss how we can work out our differences. I am a man of my word, and the wire will not go back up regardless of whether or not we reach an agreement. Thank you for healing the bull. I am greatly in your debt and will not forget the generosity you have shown me.

Then he reached in his belt pouch and pulled out a small bag of silver, counting out twice the normal rate and handing it to her.

Brooklyn took only the normal rate from his hand and shook her head when it appeared he would argue. Then she spoke gently, aware of how much pride the man had and how much it must have cost him to keep his bargain with her.

There is no debt between us, Ed. Ella has invited me to stay for the evening meal, and then I will return to my father’s house. I know that you are a man of honor and I am happy to know that you have removed the source of your bull’s injuries. She bowed her head to him.

Ed headed toward the back of the house, speaking over his shoulder to Ella.

The boys and I will clean up before dinner. We will sit down for the evening meal in five minutes.

True to his word, the men reemerged from the back of the house five minutes later and took their seats at the table. Ella and the other women served the meal then sat at the women’s table, indicating Brooklyn should join them there.

Brooklyn was relieved that she was not forced to sit at the men's table after performing a healing. Some men considered women healers to have a status more like a man than a woman and insisted on treating them like a warlock.

She once again wondered why there were two tables in these farms. The women worked as hard as the men did. But it had always been this way, and Brooklyn was under no illusion that she would be able to change such things.

Chapter 2: A Warlock’s Disdain

Brooklyn topped the hill as the sun sank behind the mountains ahead. She could see her father’s cabin at the bottom of the hill nestled against the river just half an hour’s walk upstream from what passed for a town in this remote southern corner of the Dukedom of Azil.

She hurried down the sloping terrain, cutting across two farms in hopes of getting home before the dark settled completely on their little valley. But well before she reached her father’s land, she still had to form the light spell and place it on her staff so that she could see better.

Brooklyn heard the horses before she saw them. She stopped where she could watch the road that ran past the house, willing her light spell to dim so that it would not be seen from the road.

Two horses rounded the bend, and Brooklyn strained to see the two men riding them. They were talking quietly, and she could not make out the words being spoken. But she recognized the voice of the mayor’s oldest son as one of the two men. She did not, however, recognized the other man’s voice, so she remained hidden as they rode closer. Finally, she was able to make out what was being said.

The mayor’s son was saying, "That house over there is the home of our healer and his daughter. The healer has been asked to be present to honor you tomorrow, Lord Warlock. I believe his daughter is out helping one of the local farmers.

My father has requested all the key men to be present tomorrow. We are a small community and are honored that one such as yourself would take the time to come to our call.

The other man laughed. I have come because you have agreed to the required payment. The size of your community has little to do with it. This is purely a business arrangement.

Of course, Lord Warlock. My father has the agreed payment prepared.

Then they remained silent until they had ridden far enough down the road that Brooklyn could no longer hear them.

Brooklyn’s heart skipped a few beats. A warlock coming to their little town? That had not happened since she was a small girl.

The warlock back then had been summoned to care for those who were rescued from the collapse at the mine. It was rumored that the warlock who had come at that time knew some healing spells that even her father had not seen before. Her father still lamented the lost opportunity to learn some of those spells.

Perhaps, just perhaps…

Brooklyn willed her little light to grow once more and made her way across the road and up the path to her father’s house. As soon as she opened the door and heard the comforting sound of her mother sending the young ones off to their beds, she relaxed.

Brooklyn’s father greeted her as she walked into the house. Ah, the prodigal daughter has returned. And how is poor Ed’s bull?

Brooklyn smiled up at her father as he hugged her and welcomed her home.

She said, The bull was in pretty bad shape this time. A torn artery among many other cuts. Took all I had to put the poor thing back together. But there is good news. I convinced Ed to take down the wire. Hopefully, the bull will be safe from that danger in the future.

Really? You got him to agree to take down the wire? What did you threaten him with? Never mind, I don’t want to know. Her father laughed and held her at arm’s length, pride showing clearly in his pale blue eyes as he looked at her.

Brooklyn’s heart melted, and she straightened her shoulders. Her father was a loving, gentle man, but it still caught her off guard when he showed such pride in her accomplishments.

He said, I guess we will have to rely on normal healing needs to fill the pots going forward. I had thought that we might end up owning that bull someday as stubborn as old Ed is. You are truly a miracle worker.

Then he hugged her once more before her mother came in and took charge.

Brooklyn! I was beginning to believe you would have to spend the night on the road somewhere. But as always you found a way to make it home for the night. She pulled Brooklyn into a hug but didn’t stop speaking. Has your father told you yet? The mayor summoned a warlock to reopen the mine. The two of you are to meet with this warlock tomorrow. It is such an honor.

Brooklyn felt a surge of excitement once more. Not only was there a warlock in town, but she would also be allowed to meet him. A rare honor, indeed.

Then her father said, You must be on your best behavior, Brooklyn. Warlocks tend to be very gruff and business-like. It is only because the mayor believes you have the potential to be a great healer that you are even invited.

As her father’s words settled into her, Brooklyn’s excitement waned a little. He was saying that she should be seen and not heard when in the presence of the warlock. But still, she would be allowed to meet him.

Her mind began racing as she thought of all the wonders she had heard warlocks could perform. What if he showed them how to make it rain, or make a home impervious to the weather? What if he showed them how to protect themselves from the spring flooding, or make a common rock into gold? Or even less impressive things like creating fire without wood, or communicating across long distances? Oh, the possibilities…

***

Brooklyn looked in the small mirror one last time, pushing a stray lock of brown hair back into place. She smiled as she remembered what her father had said when she complained about the freckles on her nose and cheeks. A girl without freckles is like a night without stars, he had said.

Why she had to wear a dress and put her hair up was beyond her. It wasn’t like a warlock would have any interest in her as a woman. In fact, it was said that they despised women who could call the power. But her parents had been very insistent.

Brooklyn’s stomach tightened and her muscles tensed. What if the warlock rejected her simply because she could heal? Perhaps she should be trying to look like a boy instead.

The memory of her father speaking to her sternly when she had been afraid of meeting the mayor popped up in her mind. "Fearing that which has not yet happened is a waste of time. Should it happen, there will be enough time to deal with