Path of the Magi (Tales of Tiberius)

by Stuart, Richard J

  “But you saved her life from the dragon. She’s supposed to marry you and live happily ever after?” Maci asked, puzzled.

  “It doesn’t always work that way in real life, I’m afraid, little sister.”

  “She’s an idiot,” Maci proclaimed. “If she doesn’t want you, I’ll marry you.”

  Tiberius looked at her and laughed. “You’re a bit young for me I think, kid.”

  Maci looked thoughtful. She was pretty bright for a three year old. “That’s true. You’re my brother too. Well, don’t worry, we’ll find you someone better. We’ll get you a girl who isn’t afraid of dragons.”

  She was pretty silly, but she did cheer him up. He saw she got home safely. Maci, in turn, solemnly promised to help him kill the big old dragon next time.

  On his way back from Mr. Okubo’s, he saw something not altogether unexpected. Gillyian was standing in the road, waiting for him.

  “I thought I might see you,” Tiberius said. “You can tell her she was right. About everything. My schoolgirl has given me the push and I’m joining up with Dallen and the magi. I trust you’re happy.”

  “She said you’d be in a foul mood,” Gillyian said. “I have a message for you though.”

  Resigned, Tiberius stopped and waited. Gillyian reached into a pocket and brought forth another folded letter. Evidently Salina could write in English when she had a mind to.

  The message read:

  Dearest Tiberius, I'm ever so sorry to hear of the damage to your homeland. I would have sent help if I had known, but my gift is fickle and I do not foresee every calamity. On your behalf, however, my people are sending a gift of five hundred thousand florins to your town to aid in repairs. This shall be sent with a group of my people. They are also skilled gardeners who will help restore what was burned. The gardens needed work anyway!

  –Salina

  P.S. Come dancing with me when you feel better!

  “Half a million florins?” Tiberius said. He wasn’t sure of the exchange rate but that was quite a bit of money.

  Gillyian smiled. “A token among friends. Your sacrifice is not in vain.”

  Tiberius just stared at him.

  “You are the one we’ve been waiting for,” Gillyian said. “You’ll pay us back a thousandfold in time.” He put an arm on Ti’s shoulder. “Have courage! If the enemy understood what they were unleashing today, Satan himself would have come to kill that dragon.”

  Gillyian started off towards the woods. “We will meet again in happier times, Master Fuller!”

  Tiberius continued on home. He went upstairs and to his room. He found Marcus there.

  “Are you going to try and talk me out of this too, Marcus?” he asked.

  “No, I just came to help you pack,” he said. They worked in silence for a while. There wasn’t too much to pack. He was outgrowing his clothes and he’d need to travel light now anyway. He packed up a trunk full of clothes and another of books and a few miscellaneous items: a battered chess set, his bow and arrows, and his old staff.

  “You’re doing the right thing, Ti,” Marcus said at last. “Even Dad knows that in his heart. You know he knows.”

  “Funny way of showing it.”

  “He’s scared, Ti. Can’t you see that? Everyone in this town is scared out of their wits. You’re the only one that’s doing anything about it, that I can see.”

  Tiberius just nodded and picked up a trunk.

  “To be honest, I’m glad Marybeth gave you the push. Nice girl, but she was holding you back, Ti. You’re destined for better things.”

  Marcus grabbed the other trunk and they walked downstairs to the family cart. Marcus grabbed the reins. Before he started the cart, he looked over at Tiberius. “You study hard, little brother. You learn magic like you learned the quarterstaff, and that dragon will have a surprise waiting for him.”

  Driving though the town they went past their church and saw Pastor Adams looking over the damage. The dragon had sent blasts of fire at various spots as he’d come into town, no doubt as a diversion. The church had taken some minor damage, especially to the gardens, which were now nothing but blackened soil.

  Pastor Adams saw them and waved them over.

  “Are you going somewhere?” he asked.

  “I’m going to take Dallen up on his offer and join the magi, Pastor. I’m going to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Tiberius explained.

  The old man thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “Tiberius, would you do me a favor please?” he said.

  “If I can, sir,” Tiberius said.

  “Would you be so good as to bring me that dragon’s head on a platter? He toasted my prize geraniums. Toasted them just for spite. You see he gets what’s coming to him, young man.”

  “Yes, sir, Reverend,” Tiberius answered.

  “Get going then; you won’t learn anything sitting around here. Mind you, I’ll still expect you at Sunday service as your lessons permit.”

  “Yes, sir,” he replied. Marcus started up the cart again and drove him to Dallen’s estate.

  A short time later Tiberius was settled in on of the guest rooms. Marcus had gone back to the family home. Tiberius walked down the staircase and into Dallen’s office.

  “So, where do we begin,” he asked.

  Dallen gave him a little smile. “Tell me Tiberius, if you had only one wish, what would you wish for?”

  Tiberius thought for a moment. “More wishes?”

  “Exactly. That’s where we start. If you want to learn the secrets of the universe, we start teaching you how to learn more secrets. You start with speed reading and mnemonics. We need you to learn more and faster and better retain what you are taught.”

  “How do I read faster?”

  “It isn’t so difficult. Most people just don’t think to do it. Pull up a chair and I’ll show you.”

  ∴

  Tiberius was not seen much in town after that. He came on Sundays to church, but he came in late and in the back, so as not to disturb the townsfolk. He still chatted some with Pastor Adams after church. Relations with his father were strained but not broken. For his mother’s sake he came to Sunday dinner now and then. But the family was busy with Marcus’ new baby, and Tiberius in turn was busy with his studies. He was quietly exempted from the Sunday shootings. Everyone in town understood that the safety of the town didn’t depend on Tiberius standing with the rest of the militia and firing a longbow.

  One appearance he did make though. While Dallen had taken over his education, he still had to take the government’s high school graduation exam. There was a certain nervousness in the room as Tiberius rejoined his old classmates for a final exam together. Marybeth didn’t look at him. Tiberius simply took his seat and started answering questions. He finished early and placed the exam on Mr. Johnson’s desk. Mr. Johnson studied it carefully, thinking he might learn something.

  One other surprise was that the bank thought that Tiberius had saved them from being robbed of over a billion shillings. They proposed to give him a small reward of some fifty thousand shillings, a merest fraction of the amount of gold that was stored in the bank at the time of the attack. Tiberius did not accept right away, as he explained to the bank that he thought he would need the sum as down payment on an educational loan. He thought he should talk to Mr. Dallen and see what arrangements he thought necessary and proper. He would have to make a tithing to the church and give something to his brother as well, as his brother had been part of the action with him and had a new child on the way.

  He went at once to talk to Mr. Dallen, who, to his surprise, went to talk to the bank himself. He refused any money for himself, concerning the education of Tiberius, but he commended the bank on their interest in supporting Ti’s education. Especially as he noted that should this particular educational project fail, the bank was likely to be destroyed and all its gold stolen by the dragon at some future date. On mature reflection of this fact, and the accompanying tax advantages of an educational
grant as opposed to a reward, the bank revised their offer. They gave Marcus Fuller a reward of twenty thousand shillings, and arranged for Tiberius to have a respectable annuity of a thousand shillings a month, while Tiberius was at his studies. The total cost was slightly higher than they had first thought to spend, but when viewed as an investment in the bank's security, the cost was quite modest.

  A short time later a letter arrived at the Fuller residence, informing them that Tiberius had passed the graduation exams with high honors. There was not much fuss made of it, but the senior Mr. Fuller did have the letter framed and placed on the wall of the print shop.

  Chapter V

  The Basics of Magic and Romance

  Turning each page as quick as he could, Tiberius finished off another textbook and dropped it on the pile next to him.

  “Your speed reading is coming along quite well,” Ian observed. “You’re almost as fast as Singh now.”

  “Great,” Tiberius replied with just a touch of exasperation. “I can read books faster than my dad can publish them now. I’m sure that will be a big help when the dragon returns. When do I learn any magic?” He’d spent the last few months learning speed reading and mnemonics, while finishing up general studies for the government exams. Now that it was all out of the way, he thought they could at least teach him to turn a tadpole into a newt or something. Messura had given him a rather exasperating physical and Dallen had asked him a lot of detailed questions concerning the training he’d had from Mr. Okubo, but so far those were the only unusual things he’d experienced. He might as well have gone to Standbury’s for all the magic he’d learned so far.

  “Not for a while,” Ian said, answering his question. Tiberius gave him a puzzled look. Ian just laughed at him. “You haven’t seen me do anything magical, have you?”

  “I thought you were just being polite or something,” Tiberius said.

  “You’ve got to learn a lot first before you start doing real magic,” Ian said. “I can’t say how long. Dallen hasn’t told you because he doesn’t know himself. But I expect it will be a few years.”

  “Years?” Tiberius wondered.

  “What’s your hurry? Dallen’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Before you can start mucking about in the spirit world you’ve got to have a good grip on this world. You need a firm understanding of the Christian apologetics, theology, ethics, literature, poetry, math, basic sciences, and so on.”

  “What’s poetry got to do with magic?” Tiberius asked.

  “What’s magic without poetry?” Singh chimed in from across the room. “Good poetry strengthens the spirit. You’ll need your eyes wide open before you can venture into the spirit world. Poetry is glasses for the soul.”

  “I’ve been learning all this stuff already,” Tiberius said.

  “You’re on your way then, aren’t you?” Ian said.

  “What Ian is trying to tell you,” Sing explained, “is that your studies of the classical humanities: art, literature, science, philosophy and the apologetics, aren’t simply a sideline. Mastery of these subjects is an integral part of becoming a magus. You can’t command the universe if you don’t understand it. You can’t understand the universe if you don’t understand Shakespeare.”

  “Don’t worry; it’s not boring around here,” Ian said. “If you want to do something weird and dangerous you can always help Singh with one of his experiments.”

  “I assure you I always take every precaution...” Singh protested.

  “Right,” Ian said, ignoring Singh’s feeble protest. “You’ve got to master your body too. You get really good at meditation first. Mind, body, spirit. It’s all part of being one of the magi. You’ll learn to stop your heart, raise and lower your body temperature, increase your strength, that sort of thing.”

  “Sounds like some of the stuff Mr. Okubo was teaching me. He called it chi.”

  “Well, there’s another reason nothing seems different for you. You’ve already been on the path of a magus; you just didn’t know it,” Ian said.

  “There is nothing new under the sun,” Singh observed. “For example, the principle of directing thought into material form is well known, even in the Old World. There are books like Think and Grow Rich, The Power of Positive Thinking, and so on. You’ll find everything we do here is an outgrowth of well known principles.”

  “And that eventually lets me start throwing fireballs?” Tiberius wondered.

  “You’ve got to go though your investment first. That and learn the true name of a bunch of things,” Ian said.

  “What’s that?” Tiberius asked.

  “Investment?” Ian answered. “Well, I haven’t done it yet. Ask Singh what its like. He’s done it and he hasn’t stopped showing off since.” That earned him an objecting cough from Singh, but Ian ignored him. “I gather you develop meditation to the point you can separate your spirit from your body. Then you do your first couple of spells while out of body and closer to the spirit plane. It’s like learning to walk. The first couple of steps are the hardest. It’s a bit risky too. Some folks kind of like it once they’re out of their body and don’t feel like going back.”

  “The investment is dangerous? How dangerous?” Tiberius asked.

  “All magic is dangerous,” Singh said. “There is nothing especially dangerous about the investment procedure, every precaution is taken. It’s no more dangerous than having your tonsils removed at Saint John’s Hospital.”

  “Ah, but every surgery carries a risk,” Ian said. “It’s like doing surgery in a spiritual sort of way.” Turning back to Sing he continued, “And what about Angelina?”

  “That was over one hundred years ago and poorly documented,” Singh answered. “Don’t let Ian’s attention to sensational anecdotes concern you. Investment is, I admit, a delicate procedure with certain theoretical risks, but there are no well-documented cases of serious injury. At least not since modern safety procedures were implemented.”

  “Let’s get back to this true name stuff,” Tiberius said. “Are you trying to tell me that things have some sort of secret name in an ancient language and that if I just knew that rocks should really be called ‘Fred’ I could get them to tap dance for me?”

  “It’s ‘Fredwina’ actually, and they prefer the tango,” Ian shot back. “No, seriously, it is a lot more complicated than that.”

  “Well, what then? I mean, a rock’s a rock. Right?” Tiberius said.

  “Is it?” Singh said. “Do you know what a rock really is? Do you have any feel for the forces that shaped it? What sort of rock is it? Sedimentary? Volcanic? How do its molecules fit together? What are its magnetic rhythms at the subatomic level? If you were God, how would you say, ‘Let there be rock?’ When you know the answers to questions like this, you’ll know the true name of a rock. It isn’t just a word, it’s knowing what a rock is.”

  “Sounds pretty complicated,” Tiberius said.

  “He managed it; you can.” Ian said, pointing at Singh.

  “There are shortcuts, naturally. It isn’t necessary to recite the entire periodic table of the elements every time you want to summon some water. But you do have to have the understanding. Knowledge is the essence of a magus,” Singh stated. “It’s our lever on the universe.”

  Tiberius picked up another textbook. “Ah, geology, how appropriate. I guess this may take awhile.”

  The next day, Tiberius was surprised to see Mr. Okubo stop by, little Maci in tow. Mr. Okubo and Mr. Dallen went off and had a long discussion. Ti was left entertaining Maci for a bit.

  “Are you learning lots of magic yet?” she asked innocently.

  “Don’t you start. I just had this conversation,” Tiberius replied.

  “I’m learning lots of katas from my dad. He says I’m going to be a black belt in no time. I like learning mommy’s dances too. She’s really pretty.”

  “Yes, she is. You learn to dance like her and you’ll need those katas to keep all the guys away.”

  She giggled. “I�
�m going to join you and the Rangers fighting dragons and such.”

  “I don’t know that they take girls,” Tiberius said.

  Maci snarled with all the ferocity a pretty three year old could muster. “They’ll take me, or I’ll beat them up.”

  Dallen and Mr. Okubo joined them. “I’ve just been reviewing things with Mr. Okubo, Tiberius. I think I know how to continue your meditation lessons now.”

  “I suppose this is the end of my quarterstaff training,” Tiberius said wistfully.

  “Oh, I don’t know about that,” Dallen answered. “If Mr. Okubo is willing, I think it would do you good to continue your martial studies. Good exercise if nothing else.”

  They were distracted by a small giggle. They looked over to see Singh entertaining Maci with a small display of magic lights.

  “It’s nice to meet Miss Maci Okubo at last,” Dallen said. “Your young sister, Tiberius, is a most refreshing moralist.”

  “Really, sir?” Tiberius replied.

  “Yes,” Dallen explained. “She seems to be of the opinion that anyone bad, rude, or unpleasant should be given a good karate chop. I want to have her run for the Senate. They could benefit from her moral clarity. All the same, I think we might risk moving a bit closer to the capital and its decadence. I think a change of scene would do us all a bit of good.”

  “Moving, sir? You’re going to sell this house?” Tiberius asked.

  “Sell the house? Whatever for? Oh, that’s right, you’ve never seen the northern estate. I have more than one house, you know. Real estate’s always a good investment. Besides, I like a change of scene now and then. Don’t worry, I’ll send the carriage around for Sensei Okubo as needed.”

  ∴

  That started the first of a series of moves with Dallen. Dallen’s northern house wasn’t much different from his southern house, save that it had a bigger backyard and better access to the capital. They were near the capital city of Port Elizabeth, but far out in the suburbs, so they didn’t see much of the courtly life of the capital. Mostly they stayed close to the mansion, learning a variety of courses, as much as they could under Dallen’s tutorship. He and Ian attended a couple of classes at a local college. Dallen thought it best that they did not learn everything from one teacher. Also, he did not want them isolated. A magi’s place was in the world, he explained.