Path of the Magi (Tales of Tiberius)

by Stuart, Richard J

  At least he could see Lord Brandon, now. Sort of. He was seated behind a desk, surrounded by three townsfolk, one of whom kept waving a couple of chickens at him for no discernible reason. Lord Brandon at least looked his part. He was a short man with broad shoulders and a dark graying beard. He had the look of a harassed commander.

  The room was crowded, and there were other Rangers about, some with gold trim to their armor. Tiberius recognized a tall blonde soldier as the famous Darras Walker. Another man who was seated with his feet on a barrel Ti thought was the other commander, El Gato. Looks like he had joined the Rangers after all. Probably trouble with a woman had got him transferred out to the front at last.

  It didn’t look like the argument was going to end any time soon, so Tiberius pulled out a book and started to read. He was there for about a half hour before there was an interruption. The room suddenly filled with a puff of smoke. Looking up from his book, Tiberius saw a man in brightly colored green and yellow robes. They were heavily covered in gold embroidered runes and mystic symbols. They were rather too heavy on the magic squares to be esthetically pleasing, but somewhat functional. He was instantly on the alert, but the man hadn’t teleported in; he’d merely made a small puff of smoke in the room. This was probably a dabbler in the arts. The robes had symbols better left unused, but nothing too dark. There was chaos around the room. The farmer who had been leaning across the table while arguing with the captain had stepped back to the side of the table. The soldiers, including Lord Brandon, had all drawn their weapons. The doorway was cluttered with men: soldiers trying to get in, and farmers trying to get out. Tiberius was the only person who hadn’t moved. He calmly put his book away and looked up, studying the new arrival. Then Tiberius unobtrusively shifted his staff, moving it closer.

  The wizard was a short man with a thick red beard and long red hair. He stepped up to the desk and gave a short nod of his head.

  "Lord Brandon, allow me to introduce myself. I am Berthold the Red, a wizard. I have come for our mutual benefit. There are strange forces at work about here." He glanced furtively about for effect, then turned back to Lord Brandon. "I believe I have come in the nick of time. If you place yourselves at my disposal all should be well. Indeed, I think I may promise you a rich reward once we achieve our goal."

  At this point the Lord Brandon interrupted.

  "Who the hell are you?"

  "Berthold the Red, M’lord. A great and powerful wizard who has come to assist you in facing a threat of which you may yet be ignorant. But it is real, nevertheless, I assure you. My services are . . ."

  "Are you the magician from Sherwood we were told to expect?"

  "No doubt my coming was foretold. Forgive me for my brusque entrance, but I think there should be no question of ..."

  "Excuse me, I think you might mean me, Lord," Tiberius interrupted.

  All eyes turned to him as he stood up and approached the desk. The emotion behind their eyes varied from the open hostility of Berthold, to the puzzled “now what” look of the lord. Between the two of them, Berthold was far more obviously a magician. He was the one with mystic runes gaudily inscribed on his robe, and he was the one who had appeared in a puff of smoke. The other fellow was a quiet, scholarly looking chap. He did have his own staff, but it was nothing but a thin walking stick compared with the elaborate staff that Berthold carried.

  The young man stepped up and started to speak in a very educated voice. "You will excuse me for interrupting, but you mentioned a magician from Sherwood City, and I’m pretty sure you’re talking about me. I shouldn’t wish there to be any confusion. I have a letter of introduction ..."

  Berthold stepped forward angrily. "You dare to call yourself a magician, you wet-eared boy. How dare you interfere in this quest! Be gone! There will be no part of the treasure for you!" he said.

  "I really do beg your pardon, sir,” Tiberius said with a polite bow. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your tale. I just wanted to avoid any confusion. I really have no idea of what you are talking about. I'm not interested in any treasure. Dallen just thought I could use a bit of practical experience, and that I might make myself useful."

  At the mention of Dallen, Berthold took a step back. His eyes darted to the emblem of the magi that Tiberius wore.

  "Dallen sent you? Are you a magi?" Berthold asked with alarm.

  “A magus, yes. Well an apprentice, really. At your service, sir," Tiberius added.

  Berthold nodded too and stepped back. He looked a bit shaken. Tiberius put his letter down on the desk and then stepped back to sit down.

  "Pray go on, sir; I didn't wish to interrupt," he said.

  Berthold stood nervously in the room; his eyes didn't leave Tiberius. Lord Brandon at last interrupted.

  "You were saying, Mr. Berthold?"

  Berthold continued to stand. He scratched his beard for a moment. "Well, I've just been thinking, Lord, it’s really not as important as all that."

  "If you know of some threat to the realm, we would of course be interested in investigating,” the Lord said. “I might also mention that I am authorized to pay a small percentage of recovered plunder as a salvage fee."

  Berthold stammered. "Well, that is very generous of you Colonel, very generous indeed, but no. No, it’s nothing, nothing at all,” Bethold said with another nervous glance at Tiberius, now quietly sitting on the bench. “Sorry to have bothered you." With that, the little wizard scampered towards the door. Men cleared out of his way, but the soldiers watched him closely as he scurried away.

  Lord Brandon watched him go, stepping around the desk to the tent entrance to make sure of Berthold’s departure. Only when he had waddled beyond the gates of the fort did the colonel return to his desk and his seat. His eyes then locked on Tiberius and every eye in the room followed.

  "Now let’s see about you," Brandon said, gesturing for Tiberius to come before the table.

  Tiberius rose and gave a small bow. "There is no need to hurry on my account, Colonel; these gentlemen were here before me."

  "Never mind about that lot; they'll keep. Step up here while I take a look at this letter."

  Tiberius rose and stood before the desk.

  He nodded as he read the letters. "Very impressive. I knew your father, Tiberius. He was a good man, one of our best. Pity he chose to retire to private life after the war. Is he well?"

  "Quite well, sir. As is the rest of my family. He runs a print shop now with my brother, the best in Sherwood. He still runs the militia out of Sherwood City at need."

  "I never figured his boy to be mixed up in magic," Lord Brandon pondered.

  "It wasn't really something we planned on, sir. It just seems to have worked out this way."

  “Says here they want me to take you on as a civilian scout. I think we can give you a try,” the lord said, studying the papers.

  “With respect, sir, I don’t really think we need any sort of magician hanging about,” said the large, blonde man Tiberius recognized as Captain Walker.

  Lord Brandon glanced back at him. “He’s a magi, Darras. I know his teacher, Dallen. They did some good work back in the great war. If he’s anything like his teacher or his father, he’ll make himself useful.”

  “All the same, sir, I’d rather not trust any sort of magician. Not in my company.”

  The lord shifted his glance to El Gato. “I’ll give him a try,” El Gato said without moving a boot. “I’ll try anything once,” he said.

  “We know that, Gato, that’s why you’re here,” Darras replied, causing a round of laughter around the room.

  El Gato ignored the laughter at his expense and stepped up to the young man. “Show me your boots,” he said.

  “My boots?” Tiberius asked. He was puzzled by the request, but he lifted his cloak so El Gato could get a good look at them.

  El Gato nodded with approval. “Practical. Can you ride?”

  “I rode here from Sherwood City. There are some highwaymen on that road by the way.”
>
  “Yes, we know. We have more pressing business, however. I’m leading a couple of troops on the Farmer’s Way tomorrow at dawn. Come along if you like. Mind you, if you fall behind you’re on your own.”

  “I’ll keep up.”

  “We’ll see,” El Gato said.

  Just then there was another interruption as a short man of the cloth suddenly burst into the room. Reverend McNair was a short, lean, but energetic man with greying hair and a goatee. He wore a set of worn grey friar’s robes over a mail shirt. He was a bit out of breath.

  “Mr. Tiberius, I’m ever so sorry; I just heard that you arrived. Have you met Lord Brandon yet?”

  “We’ve just assigned Mr. Tiberius here to work with Gato’s company,” the lord stated.

  “Ah, excellent,” Reverend McNair replied.

  “Maybe you could find some quarters for him?” Lord Brandon asked.

  “Yes, yes,” the padre said, catching his breath.

  “You know this man, Padre?” Darras asked, puzzled.

  “Yes, well, I know of him; he’s one of the magi. Dallen’s pupil. Come along, I’ll get you settled. We’ve put aside a room in the castle for you. This way, this way.”

  Tiberius was grateful that at least someone had apparently heard of his coming. He followed the reverend back up the hill towards the castle.

  “Did you have a safe journey?” McNair asked.

  “Not too bad. One group of highwaymen charged me a rather exorbitant toll. I thought I should check in before I did anything about them though. Sort of a gambit on my part. I don’t want to tip my hand too soon.”

  “You’ll find worse than that around here, I’m afraid. You really should have come up the coast road, or better yet traveled by boat.”

  “I was glad to get a taste of the country. Of course, simple highwaymen aren’t really my job.”

  “We all wear many hats out here, Mr. Tiberius. I had them put you in the tower room. It has a nice view and it’s fairly spacious. Not popular though. It’s a bit isolated and it’s under the water storage. That makes some people nervous. I didn’t think you would mind, though.”

  “No that should be fine. A little isolated is good for me.”

  “Splendid. Castle’s in need of repairs, but the sanitary facilities still work. Not much hot water. I don’t expect that will bother you. Your trunk arrived this morning.”

  He was led up to a large circular room in the great tower. It was sparsely furnished: a simple cot, his trunk, and a wash basin. It did have a nice view through a few narrow windows.

  The padre seated himself on the trunk. “Not much, but you can settle in later. I’m just hoping now that you’re here I’ll have a bit more time to catch up on things.” He suddenly pulled out a pocket watch. “Oh my! You’ll excuse me!” He then ran off. Tiberius was left to fend for himself.

  ∴

  The next morning, Tiberius was up early. Captain Gato saw his new occult expert was at least punctual.

  El Gato called the troops together.

  “We’re going to sweep the road. We’ll move in three columns. First column will march straight down the road. I don’t expect you’ll see much. Bandits will flee to avoid us and come back later. That’s why I’m taking a company on either side of the road. I’ll take the left column; Rodriguez will take the right. Both of us will move a little in advance of the road column. Hopefully that way we’ll pick up some of the scum fleeing from the roads.” He turned to his new expert. “You keep to the main road for now. I’ll let you know if that should change.”

  Tiberius nodded his understanding and then started down the road with the troops. The ride was a fairly pleasant one. The weather was overcast but didn’t actually rain, and by mid morning a few patches of blue could be seen dotting the sky. A few miles out from Vonair, the farms stopped and the road became worse.

  After a time, they came to a small wooden bridge over a creek.

  The horses saw it first. The lead horses stopped and reared up rather than walk forward.

  “What’s wrong with them?” the lieutenant asked.

  Tiberius came up beside him and pointed to a large rock by the other end of the bridge.

  “I don’t like the looks of that rock, Lieutenant. Why don’t you let me ride ahead and get a better look.”

  “I don’t have time to stop and let you look at rocks,” the lieutenant said. “Squadron dismount; we’ll walk them across. Maybe some of the timbers are worn.”

  The lieutenant dismounted and handed the reins of his horse to one of the troopers. He and a corporal stepped across first, studying the timbers of the bridge, which looked in good shape. Tiberius also dismounted. He followed a few steps behind, watching the rock carefully.

  Suddenly the ‘rock’ exploded into action. The rock turned out to be a large troll, ten feet high, with an eight foot long club. It swung it with barbaric fury towards the two Rangers up front. It likely would have killed them but Tiberius cast a spell which shattered the club in mid-swing. Still, the troll knocked the lieutenant down, and a backhand from the troll cast the other soldier into the river.

  Tiberius tried a second spell as the troll took a moment to look at his club. Something went wrong, though. Instead of the lightning bolt he had expected, he felt a blast of pain though his arm. Nervous in his first field encounter, he’d tried to rush things and had flubbed the spell. The troll stepped forward to finish off the lieutenant. Tiberius had to try something else.

  He raised a wall of ice around the creature. The troll’s enormous fist hit the wall of ice, not the lieutenant. The ice cracked warningly.

  Behind him there was pandemonium. No one had their bows strung; the horses were panicking. The only good news was that El Gato had come back fortuitously to check on how they were doing. He was trying to get men organized behind him, but he had a word for Tiberius.

  “Run, you idiot!” he said.

  Tiberius answered by telekinetically moving the lieutenant behind him and out of harm’s way. He now stood facing the troll, who was busy pounding though the ice.

  Tiberius took the moment to collect his breathing. Another second later the ice shattered and the troll charged towards him.

  “Fulmo trafu!” he commanded. Lightning shot from his staff this time and the monster fell back in agonizing pain. The lightning ended and there was a moment’s pause. The creature, maddened by pain, charged again. Again lightning flashed. This time the monster came crashing forwards. It stopped and moved no more.

  Gato came forward and looked the scene over. He took a long look at the dead troll then took a look at the young magus.

  Tiberius was standing over the body of the troll. Trolls aren’t too fine smelling to begin with and now this one reeked of charred flesh. He was okay till he took a look at the face. For all the rock troll’s stony body, the face was definitely human. It had a disturbingly peaceful expression on its face. Trolls were intelligent creatures. Fairy folk, yes, but living all the same. They weren’t like the living-dead vampires he’d dispatched. Suddenly he felt a little ill. He’d just killed someone. Granted, that someone had been trying very hard to kill him, but all the same, the thought made him a little ill.

  El Gato put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you all right?” he asked. The wizard was looking a bit green.

  “Yes, … no. Sorry, I’m just not used to killing things,” Tiberius said.

  “First time in combat?” Gato asked.

  “Yes, well, sort of. There wasn’t a body before.”

  “I understand. Take a drink of water. Sit down for a minute; we can take care of the body. Good work. It was certainly trying to kill you.”

  He turned back to the troop. “You and you there, let’s get this body off the bridge. You two, you make sure you keep the wizard alive till he figures out what he’s doing. Get some firewood; I want this body burnt.” He turned to the lieutenant. “What happened here?”

  “The rock attacked us. The wizard said something about looking at it
.”

  “The next time the wizard tells you he wants to look at anything, you stop and look, or I’ll have your busted down to a private. I don’t care if it’s a rabbit. You understand?”

  “Yes, sir,” the lieutenant said meekly, still rubbing his head where the troll had hit him.

  Tiberius came over to him. “Let me see that injury,” he said.

  “Are you a doctor?” El Gato asked.

  “No, but I can treat most wounds. I can help with the fire too, though I don’t think this kind regenerates.”

  “We’ll make sure,” Gato said

  One of the Rangers came up and saluted. “Sir, there’s some gold under the bridge. Looks like the troll kept a stash nearby.”

  “Good. Divide the weight and we’ll take it with us. Make sure your count is accurate,” Gato said.

  “Yes, sir,” the enlisted man replied.

  ∴

  After tending to the body of the troll and the bridge, the squadron moved on. El Gato stayed with the center squadron and the magus. Tiberius stopped him once that afternoon.

  “What is it?” Gato asked.

  “Something out there, I think. Goblins possibly. We’re being watched. Should we pursue them?”

  El Gato thought a moment. “No, not at present. I want them to know the road is patrolled. I don’t want to go clearing out lairs just now. Darras is on the north road. We’ll team up to clean out some of these nests.”

  “Very well,” Tiberius said.

  “Step at a time, wizard. We will clean up this territory.”

  “Magus, actually. Wizards are different.”

  “Sorry, what was your name again?”

  “My friends call me Tiberius, or just Ti for short,” Tiberius answered.

  “I understand shorting names,” El Gato smiled. “My real name is very Spanish and very long. I don’t even remember all of it myself,” he said. “Come along, I don’t want to spend the night out in open country.”

  ∴

  The patrols continued for a few days. Sometimes the Rangers would camp out under the stars; sometimes they would take shelter at a tavern or disperse to some of the farmers homes. Farmers were only too glad for the company, but there were limits to the number of Rangers who were welcome at a time.