Fires of Memory

by Washburn, Scott;

  He and his men swept past the king’s pavilion and then headed west to find the enemy.

  Chapter Nine

  The ship sailed smoothly over a calm sea. Its single square sail bellied out with the steady breeze. The sun was just rising out of the low-hanging fog but did little to warm the crisp air. Jarren was still grateful to see it. Just a few hours earlier, he had been afraid he might never see another sunrise. He clutched the blanket he had been given and looked around. The ship only had four crewmen, and they seemed to do very little compared to the men he had seen aboard the merchant ship. There was one man at the tiller and the other three just watched.

  In the daylight he took a closer look at the woman who had saved him and Gez from the villagers and the sea. She had very short brown hair, a prominent nose, and round cheeks. Her eyes were green and her lips narrow. No one would ever call her beautiful and even ‘pretty’ was stretching things, but she was certainly not ugly. She seemed very young to Jarren. But if she’s a wizard, maybe she’s two hundred years old. She was wearing trousers and a tunic with a cloak and boots. Since their rescue, she had not said a word to him.

  She had said very few words to the villagers, either. She had simply told them to bring all of Jarren’s luggage to the boat. They had done so with instant obedience and great deference to the woman. When the luggage was aboard, she had ‘invited’ Jarren and Gez to accompany her. Under the circumstances, they had not even considered refusing. He glanced over at Gez, but the boy was sprawled on top of their bags, wrapped in blankets and snoring quietly. Mustering his courage, he approached her.

  “I…I want to thank you for getting us out of that situation, Madame Lyni,” he said.

  “Just ‘Lyni’. No ‘madame’ needed,” she replied.

  “Ah. And I am simply ‘Jarren’. But please accept my thanks. I was afraid that those men might harm me and my servant.”

  “A few of them wanted to cut you into fish bait.”

  “Do you know why?”

  “Overzealous loyalty, I would imagine.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “When you and your young friend came barging into Orberus like a beached Kraken, asking about us…”

  “About you?” exclaimed Jarren.

  “Well, you were asking about magic devices and the people who made them, weren’t you?”

  “Yes. Is that you?”

  “Not me, personally, no, but some of my associates. In any case, when you started snooping around, that made the good townspeople nervous.”

  “Why?”

  “Because they’ve got a good thing and are afraid of losing it, I would imagine.” The woman was silent for a moment and Jarren looked at her intently. “You see, we provide them with good fishing and fair weather. We heal their sick and make sure their livestock are healthy and fruitful. In return, they respect our privacy and provide us with an outlet to the outside world. It has worked for centuries, and they were worried that you were going to ruin it for them.”

  “Would they really have hurt us?”

  “It’s certainly possible. I have no idea how it would have turned out.”

  “Well, I thank you again for intervening.”

  “Don’t be too grateful. Had it been my decision, I would have been in favor of the fish bait solution.” Jarren looked at her sharply but could not decide if she was joking or not. There was a hard look on her face that made him nervous.

  “But it wasn’t your decision?”

  “No.”

  “Then whose?”

  “You will find out soon enough.” The woman moved away from him and he resisted the urge to follow her. He had so many questions! But it would not do to be rude or pushy. They were going somewhere, and presumably there would be some answers when they got there. Instead, he went over to where Gez was sleeping and sat down beside him. He was no longer dripping wet, but still quite soggy. He took off his cloak and spread it out to dry, and then wrapped another blanket around himself. In spite of not getting any sleep at all the previous night, he was wide awake.

  An hour or two passed and Gez continued to sleep. No one else aboard had said a word, and at last Jarren could stand it no longer. He got up and went over to where the woman was standing. “How long a voyage do we have ahead of us?”

  “Only a few more hours. It is not far.”

  “Really? How do you maintain your privacy so close to the inhabited islands? I know that many ships pass through these waters. Do they not see your…abode?”

  “It is not so difficult. The sea is much larger than most people realize, and almost all of it is empty and trackless. Several of my associates have powers which affect the winds and the currents. A gentle push here, a tiny tug there, is enough to guide ships safely away from our home—and they do not even realize it is being done.”

  “Amazing! And you have maintained your privacy in this way for centuries?”

  “So I am told. I have not been here very long, so I’m afraid there is little I can tell you.”

  “Indeed? The…uh…wizards recruit new members and bring them to the island?”

  “You are certainly the curious one. I don’t think I will tell you any more. And you should keep in mind that the fish bait option has only been deferred, not canceled.”

  “I…see,” said Jarren nervously. He moved back to his baggage and carefully took out his journal. He really needed to record what had happened before he forgot any of the details—or was swamped with new information. He found the familiar routine of scratching away with quill and ink to be relaxing—and he had already learned a great deal. There was a hidden enclave of wizards, as he had hoped and suspected. And they did have contact with the rest of the world, although only in secret. New members were also secretly recruited and…

  “So you really are a scholar?”

  Jarren jumped and nearly spilled his ink. He looked to see that Lyni was standing behind him and looking over his shoulder. Gez started awake at the same moment.

  “Uh, yes, yes I am.”

  “Birds,” said Gez, “he studies birds.”

  “I study magic,” insisted Jarren.

  “Whatever you say, boss.”

  The woman frowned as if in thought. “I’m not sure which is worse, a real scholar or some money-grubber out to undercut his rivals. Either way, you spell trouble. If it comes to a vote, I’m all for fish bait.”

  “I’m sorry you feel that way,” said Jarren. “If that’s so, then why did you rescue us at all?”

  “I was instructed to bring you to the island.”

  “How did you know we were in the town?”

  “Hey, they’re wizards, ain’t they?” said Gez. “They know everything, I bet.”

  “Hardly,” chuckled Lyni. “And we knew you were in Orberus because some of our friends sent us a message. Nothing magical, just a homing bird. The masters decided to bring you here and that was all there was to it.”

  “I…I’m hoping they will be willing to talk to me when I get there. I have a great many questions.”

  “I’m assuming they wish to talk,” said Lyni. “I can see no other reason to bring you here. Our dungeon facilities are quite limited, and if they had anything more drastic in mind, there would be no point in bringing you to the island.”

  “Well, that sounds hopeful,” said Jarren.

  “Sounds like trouble to me,” muttered Gez. But then he brightened. “This island must have a lot of gold and gems lying around? I mean you folks can turn lead into gold and all that, right?”

  Lyni merely laughed and walked away. After a while, one of the other crewmen offered them some bread and cups of watery wine. They were both very hungry and accepted gratefully—although Gez was disappointed. “I thought wizards would have cakes and brandy or something fancy. If they don’t live better than regular folks then what’s the point?”

  “Some people don’t put so much importance on material wealth, Gez.”

  “Some folks are damn fools.”


  Another hour passed, and then there was some activity among the crew. Lyni seemed to be doing something, but Jarren could not understand what it was. She stood near the bow of the ship and moved her arms in odd patterns and seemed to be chanting something. The others made adjustments to the sail or helped with the tiller. The ship was heading toward a thick wall of fog. Jarren moved forward so that he could see better.

  The ship got closer and closer to the fog until it formed a gray curtain across half the world only a few hundred yards away. Closer still and the monster’s head on the bow touched the fog. It was so thick that the bow of the ship disappeared even though Jarren was only a few yards away. Then the fog swept over him and he could barely see his hand in front of his face. He stood there, frozen in anticipation.

  Then, as quickly as it had come, the fog was behind them and the air was clear. It was like, well, it was like magic. “Wow! Look at that!” exclaimed Gez.

  In the distance, perhaps three miles away, was a rocky island. It was tall and very steep, almost like a mountain crag that was sticking up from the ocean. Even from here, Jarren could see buildings clinging to the sides and a narrow tower sticking up from the very top. He stared at it for a while, trying to comprehend just what this all meant. Then, when he noticed that Lyni seemed to be finished with whatever she had been doing, he went over to her.

  “This is our destination, I presume?”

  “Yes, welcome to Peridoq.”

  “Peridoq? Is there some significance to the name?”

  “None that I am aware of. But I’m sure someone here must know the origin of it. Like as not, it is just some word in the local tongue that means: ‘chunk of rock sticking out of the sea’.”

  Jarren laughed. “True enough.” Lyni lapsed back into silence and Jarren contented himself with just watching. The ship covered the last few miles quickly, and Jarren was able to see that there were dozens of stone buildings on the island. Or perhaps there was only one. It was hard to tell. The buildings all seemed to be connected to each other and also to be part of the island itself. Rock blended into walls, walls into stairs, stairs into bridges, and then bridges back into the rock again. Parts looked to have been carved out of the rock while other parts had clearly been constructed. But it was all stone. Even the roofs appeared to be made out of thin sheets of rock. There was some variation in color, but not much. Gray, everything was a shade of gray. It was a drab and gloomy place—or at least it looked that way from the water.

  As they got closer, he could see that there were a number of small waterfalls splashing down from the heights. They fell into pools at different levels and then splashed down again until they finally reached the sea. It added a bit of life to the stone island. But as he watched, Jarren suddenly thought about the magic pump in the fountain back in Zamerdan. There was no possibility of there being a natural spring at the top of this stony island, so the water had to be pumped up to the top in the same fashion as the fountain operated.

  “Not a speck of gold,” sighed Gez. “Nor a glint of gems. What a rotter! A den of wizards and they’re paupers!”

  By now, the ship was nearing a stone dock that jutted out from the island in a small, sheltered cove. Several more of the monster-headed ships were tied up there, but he could see no one else about. With only a few movements of the tiller, the ship slid right up next to the dock. The square sail rolled itself up all on its own and the ship slowed to a halt. Two of the men jumped out onto the dock and tied the ship to it.

  “We are here,” announced Lyni. “Please come with me. Your baggage will be brought.” Jarren followed her eagerly, but he noticed that Gez grabbed his own small bag before coming along. There was a heavy door—also made of stone—which was the only exit from the dock. Lyni led them through it into a dark passageway. Jarren was completely blind for a moment, but then they emerged into the light again. A set of steps cut into the face of the island led upward, and they followed them higher and higher. From time to time, there would be doors set into the rock, or a balcony or even a small house sticking out from the cliff. It reminded Jarren of some of the steeper parts of Sirenza, except for the lack of color or decoration—and people. They met no one.

  He also noticed that everything needed repair. Stonework was cracked. Balusters or entire railings were missing. Grass and vines were pushing through joints. Some windows were boarded up or had broken glass. The place had a shabby, sad feel to it.

  “What a dump,” said Gez.

  “The lower levels are unoccupied,” said Lyni, who, for the first time, looked less than totally self-assured. “Up above, things are in better shape.”

  “How far above?” asked Gez. “This is turning into quite a hike!”

  Lyni did not bother to answer but continued up the steps. Jarren was getting tired, himself. Still, they continued, up stairways, over small bridges, through tunnels. The waterfalls splashed down around them or flowed under them. He looked out and saw that they were several hundred feet above the water now. But then he looked up and saw that they still had a long way to go—assuming they were headed all the way to the top.

  As it turned out, they were not. About two-thirds of the way up, just as Jarren was sure he could not make his legs bend and straighten one more time, Lyni announced they had reached where they were going. She even let them rest a bit, although she did not look the least bit tired. They were on a wide balcony with a breathtaking view of the ocean. From the balcony, a bridge jumped across a cleft in the rock to what appeared to be a large hall set into the side of the cliff. It had many windows and balconies of its own. As Lyni had promised, everything here was much better maintained than it had been down below.

  When they had caught their breath, Lyni led them over the bridge and through the large double doors of the hall. Inside, there was a spacious foyer with two staircases curving up and away on either side. Several doors were set into the walls which opened into other rooms. The stonework here was much more elaborately carved than outside. Graceful columns and wood beams—the first wood Jarren had seen, aside from the boarded-over windows—held up the roof. Elegant brass chandeliers were suspended above them, and he was excited to note that the lights in them were magical rather than oil or candles.

  Their guide led them through the door to their right and they found themselves in a comfortable library with book-lined walls, a marble floor, tables, and several leather chairs. Sitting in one of the chairs was an old man with a long white beard. Lyni went up to him and curtsied. “I have brought them, Lord,” she said.

  The man slowly got to his feet and leaned on a walking stick. Jarren looked at him closely. The beard and his very bushy eyebrows concealed much of his face, but he had high cheekbones and a large forehead with a much-receded hairline. His nose was rather bulbous and he had twinkling blue eyes behind a pair of spectacles. He looked exactly what Jarren would have expected of a wizard. He was relieved to see that the man wore a friendly smile in addition to his long dark blue robes.

  “So! Our visitors are here at last!” he said. His voice was high-pitched, but strong and steady. “I am Dauros, and you must be Master Jarren Carabello and this is Gez. Welcome to Peridoq!”

  “Thank you, sir,” said Jarren, bowing. “I’m very pleased to be here. But you speak as though you were expecting us.”

  “Oh, but we were! Indeed, there have been a few among us who have been making wagers on how long it would take you. I daresay, you got here quicker than anyone anticipated. My congratulations.”

  “But how did you know? Did your magic…?”

  “What? No, no, my dear boy, I’m afraid predicting the future isn’t something we’re terribly good at around here. But let’s sit down! Lyni, dear, would you have the servants fetch us some refreshments? Sit, sit!” Jarren found a seat opposite Dauros, who sank back down into his own chair. Gez took a seat off to the side and Lyni left the room.

  “Now where was I? Oh, yes: your coming here. No, we weren’t divining your movements, it was
simpler than that. You see, although we have remained in seclusion here for a long time, we have kept an eye on what has been going on on the mainland. We have…representatives, and a few friends, who pass on the news to us. In particular, anything regarding magic. So, when you started making a name for yourself in academic circles with a study of magic, it naturally sparked our interest. I’ve read some of your papers and heard accounts of your lectures. Very well done, young Jarren, very well done. At least for as far as you’ve gone.”

  “Thank you, sir,” said Jarren, quite pleased that his fame had spread much farther than he ever imagined.

  “You made it no secret that you wanted to search out any remaining practitioners of the art, so we expected that sooner or later you would be led here. I must say that I’m personally a bit alarmed at how quickly you did manage to find us. I thought we had been more careful than that. Still, one slip in three hundred years isn’t too bad, I suppose.”

  “And I never would have actually found the island if Lyni had not come to our rescue, sir.” At that moment, the young woman returned with a servant bearing a tray. Conversation was interrupted while they were served. Gez was pleased that now they did, in fact, receive some delicate pastries, and he insisted on having a cup of the very good wine. Jarren had already discovered that the boy could out-drink him any day. Dauros took a glass of the wine, but Lyni took nothing. She stood against one wall with folded arms. Jarren shifted in his seat. His clothes were dry by now, but they were starting to itch rather badly.

  “I suppose we could have just ignored your presence in Orberus,” continued Dauros, “but that would have been rather rude. Especially since the villagers were upset enough to do you harm. Besides, I was looking forward to talking with you.”