by K.L. Coones
*
Mira’s words echoed in Ralik’s head that night, keeping his mind whirling even though his body was exhausted. The image of a dirty, beaten and starving woman huddled in the corner of one of those cages would not leave his mind. Ralik slipped out of bed, quickly threw on some clothes and laced up his boots. On the way out of his room, he grabbed a small silver amulet from his nightstand and shoved it into his pocket. Quietly, he nursed the front door open and gently closed it behind him. Once on the street, he dashed as fast as he could toward the fields outside of town. Back from patrol, several of the regular militia had been posted outside the encampment, so Ralik slipped on his amulet. The guard, Hurn, paid no heed as Ralik walked by him. Ralik kept his distance from the man, but he was still in plain sight with the bright moon overhead. His amulet kept the man from acknowledging him. It was if he did not exist at all.
He unhooked a small lantern that still burned from the side of one of nearest wagons and headed for the section housing the animal cages. He heard nothing moving within as he approached, and only a soft breeze ruffled the tarp that covered the animal inside. With quickening breath, Ralik reached out and slowly pulled up one corner of the tarp, letting the light of the lantern spill into the cage. Ralik’s breath caught in his throat. At the back of the cage huddled a human form, its hair matted with dirt and other filth and its arms and legs striped with the red lines of a whip, a half eaten piece of raw meat a few feet away on the cage’s filthy floor. Ralik quickly examined the cage. It was the one in which he had seen the tiger the day before. Ralik felt sick to his stomach as his eyes lingered on the torn and whelp ridden flesh of the poor person within. How could he see them now? Why couldn’t he see them during the day? What had changed? He decided to try another cage. The next cage was decorated with the long body of a snake across the top, so he gently raised the tarp and peered in. The light spilled over the long, emaciated body of a bald man.
How could someone do this to people? The sick feeling in his gut was quickly turning into hot rage at the sight of the starved man. Then something occurred to him. He glanced about quickly. The snake-man’s prison was well shadowed, so Ralik let go of the tarp and slipped off his amulet for a moment. Again he pulled the covering away and glanced inside. The glistening scales of a python shimmered in the lantern’s light. Gone were the emaciated limbs of that poor starved man, but Ralik knew it was no trick of the mind. He knew that underneath that façade of snake flesh was the bald man he truly was. It must be his amulet. Ralik wished he knew why his amulet allowed him to see through the illusion, but he didn’t have time to investigate. He had to figure out a way to tell someone who could do something; he had to discover a way to reveal the prisoners for what they were. His amulet allowed him to move about at will. Perhaps if he searched Algernon’s wagon, he could determine how he was creating the illusion, and maybe, a clue toward breaking it so that he could tell Sergeant Fisk.
“Count” Algernon’s wagon was easy to find. It was the largest and most ornate in the caravan. Ralik reached up and tried the latch; it was unlocked, and the door swung open on silent hinges. Inside, Ralik could hear Algernon snoring loudly through his bulbous nose. Inside, a small candle still burned, so Ralik extinguished the lantern and set it on the ground outside the wagon, entered, and closed the door behind him. The place was a mess. If he hadn’t known better, he would have thought someone had already rifled through the wagon before him. Ralik’s heart sank. How was he supposed to find anything in this pigsty? Magical studies were not one of his strong areas, but he knew someone who was adept with it. Turning to leave, something on the floor caught his eye. The corner of a large leather-bound book jutted out from beneath a pile of old dirty robes, its gold embossing glittering in the candlelight. With his foot, he pushed aside the clothing, further exposing the cover of the book. The leather was of premium quality and was highly embossed with gold lettering and runes. Carefully, he knelt to pull the large tome from under the clothing, only to find it locked. The lock was of a similar fashion as those on the spellbooks the apprentices were assigned at the Guild. If this was a spellbook as well, maybe it could be accessed, and through it, they could reveal the secret of this circus. Ralik tucked the book under his arm and quietly left the encampment.
The next morning it was Ralik who was knocking on his friend’s door as the sun rose. A sluggish Doran answered the door, squinting as the morning light assaulted him over Ralik’s shoulder.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Doran began to wake quickly when he saw the set of Ralik’s jaw. That, coupled with the fact that Ralik rarely came calling this early, indicated to Doran that something was amiss.
“I need you to look at this.” Ralik held up the large book he had stolen from Algernon’s wagon the night before. Doran flipped his head as a signal to enter and Ralik followed him up to his room.
“Where did you get that? It looks like a spellbook.” It was time to come clean with Doran and tell him everything that had happened from the night they stood guard at the circus encampment to last night when he saw the truth behind that circus.
“Do you remember the night we were standing guard?” Doran nodded. “Well, I wasn’t exactly honest with you when you asked where I had been. While standing guard, I heard a noise behind me in the encampment. I went to investigate, thinking it could be Studus, but it wasn’t, it was a girl from the circus. I followed her and saw her feeding bread and water to the animals.” Doran furrowed his brow.
“What’s so special about that?”
“She was giving the animals water in a cup. You saw the animals at the circus yesterday; did any of them look like they could drink from a cup?”
“No.”
“I talked to her that night, but I couldn’t get her to tell me what she was doing,” continued Ralik. “I also told her I would not tell anyone I saw her.”
“You’re such a dupe when it comes to girls,” grumbled Doran. Ralik ignored him.
“I met her again the next day, during the circus. Turns out she is one of the acrobats of the Flying Swans. We started talking and I asked her again what she was doing the night before. What she told me was astonishing!”
“Well?” Doran was on the edge of his seat.
“She said the animals are not animals at all; they are people, caged up and somehow changed to look like animals, probably with a spell in this book!”
“You believed that story?” asked Doran dubiously. Ralik leaned back in his chair and gazed into his friend’s eyes.
“I went back there last night, and I saw it for myself.”
“You saw people in those cages,” repeated Doran. Ralik nodded. “How was it that you could see them when you went there at night?”
“I don’t know,” Ralik answered honestly. He didn’t mention his suspicions about his amulet; Doran didn’t know about his possession of it. “What kind of magic can hide the true form of something from those who see it?” Doran sat in thought for several moments, staring hard at the gold encrusted tome before him.
“Well, it seems to be illusion based, since someone who disbelieves what is before his eyes can see through it, but usually it takes more than just a disbelieving mind to nullify such a spell.”
“Since you know the truth now, is there something we can do to aid you, so that you can see through the enchantment?” asked Ralik.
“I… could set up what is known as a rune square. It can dampen any spells or enchantments within it, but … it’s not easy to construct,” stated Doran. Ralik waited silently, prompting his friend to continue. “I’ll need a cold iron chisel, and I’ll have to cut some poplar branches into staves… Oh, Ralik, I’ve never done it before. It probably won’t even work!”
“Doran you have to try. We have to figure out a way to break the magic so Sergeant Fisk can see. These people are no more than slaves.”
“Ok, I’ll need most of the day to gather the r
eagents.”
“Good, once we have everything we need, we wait till dark to set up the square and test it with you. If it works, you should be able to see the people as they truly are. I’ll send a message to Sergeant Fisk to meet us at the circus the next day. With the square still in place, he should also be able to see the truth once you, Mira and I show him what to look for,” finished Ralik. “What can I do to help you gather what you need?”
“You should go to the circus today and mark off spots to place the posts,” instructed Doran. He scribbled some instructions down on a piece of parchment and then started pulling on clothes. Without a thought to breakfast, they exited the house and set about their tasks. On the way to the fairgrounds, Ralik read the instructions.
Placement of the posts must be exact and each post must be placed in a straight line from each of the others at equal distance apart. This will form a perfect square. The square must enclose everything we want to reveal.
Should they try to enclose the whole circus, or just one or two of the cages? There was also the matter of the militia guards. Neither Doran nor Mira had the advantage of an amulet to protect them from detection. Doran and Ralik could volunteer for guard duty that night, and use that as an opportunity to complete the construction of the rune square.
Ralik met Mira outside her family’s tent after their performance.
“My friend and I have come up with a plan, Mira,” he informed her. She sat in thoughtful silence as he explained the steps they would take to reveal the circus’ secret to everyone. Algernon would be exposed and Sergeant Fisk would be there to arrest him.
“Is your friend a Guild apprentice, too?” she asked.
“Yes, his name is Doran, and you will meet him tonight. He is my best friend; you can trust him, Mira.” She nodded.
“What about my family? Will the Sergeant think they had anything to do with it?”
“Doran and I will explain to him that the rest of the members of the circus didn’t know what was happening,” explained Ralik. Ralik knew there was no evidence that any of the other circus performers were involved and that Captain Fillmore would rely on the testimony and evidence presented by Ralik, Doran, and Mira when presenting Algernon before the authorities.
They spent the rest of the day surveying the grounds to determine the locations of the rune square posts. Ralik and Mira decided that the best course of action would be to place the square around two or three of the animal cages and then disguise the posts to appear as part of the circus.
“Meet us next to the sign on the outskirts of the camp after nightfall,” instructed Ralik after they had marked the positions of the posts. “I need to meet Doran, and then try to convince Sergeant Fisk to allow us to stand guard tonight.”
Getting Sergeant Fisk to assign them to guard duty for the night was simple enough. Anytime he or Doran wanted to increase their experience in militia duties, Sergeant Fisk would not stand in their way. With that portion of the plan in place, Ralik met Doran at his house as the sun began to set.
“I was able to get everything,” stated Doran. “I had to substitute ash staves for poplar, so I do not know how that is going to affect the power of the square.”
“It will work,” said Ralik. “It has to work.” Mira met them at the sign at nightfall and the boys had her take the staves into the encampment and hide them until it was time to set up the rune square. Doran stated that the northern post had to be placed when the moon reached its apex in the sky, still several hours away. While Ralik and Doran stood guard, Mira busied herself with finding several lanterns and hooks that could be affixed to the posts to disguise their true purpose. Ralik thought it odd that one deception was being used to expose another. Perhaps that was what was meant by “poetic justice.”
“It’s time,” said Doran from the darkness as he approached. Ralik nodded. They left their posts and entered the encampment. Mira waited for them on the steps of the wagon under which she had hidden the staves. “On each post, at the top of the shaft, I carved a large rune. These runes must face inward, toward the rune across from it, so that a cross is formed. There is a small hole drilled through the wood just below it. You can use it to align the posts using this length of string. The smaller runes on the sides of the post will align automatically,” he explained. “Once the post is in place, use the hole for the hook and hang the lantern; hopefully, we won’t mess up the spell.” They set to work. Every few minutes Ralik could not help but glance skyward toward the moon as it inched its way to its apex. Only minor adjustments had to be made in the positions chosen for the posts and soon the last one waited to be dropped into place.
“I’ll make sure no one is coming,” volunteered Mira. She scampered away, taking a position across from the wagons and tents housing the circus members. The moon neared its apex; within a minute or two, they would be able to drop the post into the hole, align it, and then everything would be set to test. “Hurry!” hissed Mira from her lookout position. “Someone is coming! Hurry!” They couldn’t hurry. No magic Ralik knew of could speed the moon’s journey across the sky. He could only hope that the moon moved faster to its destination than the approaching intruder.
“Doran?” Ralik murmured plaintively. His friend kept his eyes skyward, waiting for the exact moment. Seconds that seemed like an eternity ticked by.
“Hurry, they are getting closer!” pleaded Mira.
“Doran?”
“Almost,” replied Doran, concentrating. Several more seconds ticked by. “Now,” said Doran, and the two dropped the post into the prepared hole. On the periphery of his vision, Ralik saw Mira duck back into the shadows as the strong man walked passed her. He was heading right between the two posts. Within seconds he would cover the distance and walk right into the string stretched taut between them. Doran leaned forward and peered through the alignment hole along the length of string, rotating the post until he could see its twin on the opposite side. Once aligned he let go of the string and it floated to the ground. Doran and Ralik flattened themselves against the earth just as the strong man passed in front of them. Ralik began to feel lightheaded. As soon as the strong man rounded a nearby tent and disappeared from sight, a huge gush of air forced itself out of Ralik’s lungs. He had been holding his breath from the moment Mira had made the alarm. The dizziness quickly passed. It was time to test the square.
The three met at the tiger’s cage. Doran glanced at Ralik and Mira, and then slowly lifted the tarp to peer inside. It seemed to Ralik that Doran examined the occupant of the cage forever. Finally, Doran let the tarp float back to its position covering the cage. His face was ashen, his eyes a mixture of revulsion and sadness.
“It works.”
