by Allan Cole
The spell links came to him quickly and he jotted them down for reference and then got out a clean casting scroll and his brushes and magical paints. Gundara was busy devouring the sweet rolls he’d been promised and was quiet for a time. As he nibbled on the last of his treats, the little Favorite noticed what Safar was doing and watched with some amusement - picking dried berries and crumbs off his tunic and popping them in his mouth.
Safar used a narrow brush to paint sorcerous symbols on the rough white surface of the scroll, building up the spellcast’s foundation.
"You can tell you’re a student," Gundara criticized. "Too complicated. And do you really want to put the water sign in the center? Most wizards I know shove it in a corner out of the way."
"I’m not other wizards," Safar said. "And in this particular spell water goes in the center."
"O-kay," Gundara said. "If that’s what you really want. But I think it’s pretty stupid." He’d finished the rolls and with no other tasties in sight he didn’t see any reason for continued politeness.
"You’d better pray I’m right," Safar said, "because you’re the one who’s going to carry it out."
"Oh, that’s just wonderful," Gundara complained. "Here I am, the product of history’s greatest wizardly minds, reduced to student pranks."
"This happens to be a prank," Safar pointed out, "that’s may save your master’s life."
"Oh, in that case," Gundara said, "leave the water sign in the center. I’ll get a new master quicker."
Safar, mind buzzing with the spell cast he was forming, started to get irritated. But when he saw the Favorite licking the sugary remains off his ugly little face he had to laugh.
"You win," he said. He dabbed white magical paint over the blue water sign. "Will the right hand corner do, O Wise One?"
Gundara shrugged. "Put it where you like. Makes no never mind to me. The Master knows best, that’s my motto from now on."
"Fine, I’ll put it there," Safar said. "Now, what symbol would you suggest for the center."
Gundara got interested in spite of himself. "How about Fire?" he said. "That’s a good symbol."
"Fire it is, then," Safar said, loading his brush with new paint and making red flame-like flares in the center."
"Of course, Lord Asper would’ve used his serpent symbol," Gundara said. "But I suppose he’s out of favor with the younger wizards these days."
The name caught Safar by surprise. "Asper?" he goggled. "You know of Asper?"
Gundara sniffed, superior. "Certainly I do. You don’t spend a couple of thousands years knocking around wizards’ laboratories and not run into Lord Asper. Of course, his stuff was always more popular with demons. Since he was one. And I don’t do demons. That’s Gundaree’s job. But I’ve picked up enough about him over the millennia to get by."
Safar pushed the scroll in front of him. "Show me," he said, holding out the brush.
Gundara hopped closer and grabbed the brush. Small as it was, it looked like a large spear in the little Favorite’s taloned paws. He washed off the red in a water dish and loaded it with green paint.
Gundara lectured as he drew. "The serpent had four heads so it could see in every direction. Each head had four poison fangs to help guard the center." He daubed in the long body. "And there was a poison stinger on the tail in case the serpent was attacked from overhead. And then up here, right below where the heads join, you need to give the serpent wings so he can escape into the air if he needs to."
When he was done, Gundara stepped back to examine his work. "Not bad," he said, "even if I do say so myself."
His twin must have uttered an insult, for he suddenly turned toward the turtle idol, which was sitting next to the brazier. "Oh, shut up, Gundaree!" he snarled. "Shut up, shut up!" He turned back to Safar. "He’s so rude," the Favorite said. "You can’t believe the things he says to me!"
Safar, who was getting used to the one-way exchange between the twins, paid no attention. He examined the scroll and when he was satisfied he made a magical gesture, stirring the air with a forefinger. A miniature tornado - about the size of Safar’s little finger - sprang up over the paper, quickly drying the paint. When it was done Safar blew on it and the tornado vanished.
Then he rolled the scroll into a tight tube and gave it to Gundara.
"Keep it," he commanded. "When you hear me chant the words to the spell you are to activate it. Do you understand?"
"What’s to understand?" Gundara said. "You humans make such work out of magic. Demon wizards know it all comes from the gut, not the head. They just do it, while you’re still thinking about it."
Despite the retort the Favorite did as he was told, collapsing the paper tube into an object the size of an infant’s finger and tucking it into his sleeve for safe keeping. For a change, however, Safar was stung by Gundara’s comments.
He’d learned much in Walaria. He had a mental storehouse of spells to confront almost any possibility. And he had the sound intellectual knowledge to create new spells to meet eventualities rote learning didn’t cover. Compared to the other students and, yes, even compared to Umurhan, he had much greater power. He could feel it surging forward when he cast a spell - so strong he had to hold back so he didn’t betray his true abilities. Still, the force was nothing like he’d experienced when he’d bested the demons in the snowy pass years before. He’d tried in private many times but he’d never been able to equal the river-like surge he’d felt during that life-and-death moment. The failure frustrated him. At first he tried to tell himself it didn’t matter. That magic really wasn’t his true purpose - which was to find the answer to the puzzle of Hadin. But the more he’d studied, the more he’d realized the solution would only come through sorcery.
"When I have time," Safar said, "which probably won’t be until I’m safely on my way home, you and I need to sit down and have a long talk about Hadin."
"Best place in the world," Gundara said. "Smartest mortals around. They made me, which ought to be proof enough. Although, somebody sure made a big mistake when they made Gundaree. Probably a human assistant. You know how there are. Of course, anything I have to say will be pretty old news. The gods were still in swaddling clothes last time we were there."
"Anything will help," Safar said. "Also I want to hear about Asper."
Gundara yawned. "That’ll be a pretty short conversation," he said. "All I know is what I’ve heard from other wizards."
"I understand he wrote a book about his theories," Safar said. "Have you ever seen it?"
"No. And I don’t know anyone who has."
"I think there’s a copy in Umurhan’s library," Safar said. "Among his forbidden books."
"Then why didn’t you steal it today?" Gundara asked. "You could have gone upstairs. I told you it was safe. And once you were inside I could have sniffed it out for you easy. You wouldn’t have even had to give me another sweet roll."
"There’s wasn’t time," Safar said. "Now I’m afraid there never will be. I don’t dare go back to the University. And after Founder’s Day I’ll be running as fast as I can. With a lot of angry Walarians chasing me."
Nerisa’s voice came from behind them - "I can get it for you."
Safar and Gundara turned to see her perched on the window sill.
"I was starting to worry about you," Safar said.
Gundara snickered. "Stick with worrying about yourself, Master," he said. "She does just fine. I sensed her climbing the watchtower fifteen minutes ago. But you didn’t notice a thing until she was inside and announced herself."
Nerisa giggled. She jumped off the sill, dug a sweet out of her pocket and walked over to give it to the Favorite.
"I knew it was my lucky century," Gundara said, "soon as you stole me from that stall." He popped the sweet into his mouth, closing his eyes and chewing with great gusto.
"Why don’t you go rest for awhile?" Safar told him. He gestured and the Favorite disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The turtle idol rocked on its legs as the
smoke funneled into the stone. Then all was silent.
"His lip smacking gets to you after awhile," he told Nerisa.
"Never mind that, Safar," Nerisa said. "I really meant it. About the book. I can get in and out of Umurhan’s place in no time. Especially with Gundara to help me."
"It’s too dangerous," Safar said.
Nerisa put a hand on her hip. "Nobody’s ever gotten close to me yet," she said. "What could be so hard about an old library? Let me have Gundara and I’ll be back before First Prayer."
Safar shook his head. "You don’t know what you’re saying, Nerisa," he said. "Things are a lot worse since last night."
He made her sit down, brewed her a pot of mint tea, and told her an edited version of what he’d learned. He left out the bargain he’d made with Olari, figuring quite correctly that she’d want to get involved.
Tears welled up when he said he was leaving Walaria.
"It isn’t safe for either of us," he said. He dug into the heavy purse Olari had given him and pulled out a handful of gold coins. "Here. This is for you."
Nerisa struck them away. Coins scattered across the floor.
"I don’t want money," she said. "I can get money anytime."
Safar gathered them up again. "I’m not abandoning you, Nerisa," he said. "This is just in case money. If I’m caught, or... there’s some other emergency. If all goes well, you can go with me if you want."
Nerisa grinned through her tears. "You’d really take me with you?" she cried.
"It won’t be very safe," Safar warned her. "There’ll be a lot people after me."
Nerisa threw her arms around him. "I don’t care," she said. "Let them come. I know all kinds of tricks. They’ll never catch us."
Safar unstuck her, gently pushing her back into her seat amongst the pillows. "You don’t have to go all the way to Kyrania," he said. "It’s a pretty boring place for someone who grew up in Walaria."
"Well, it won’t be boring to me," Nerisa said, thinking that for all she cared Kyrania could be the dullest place in all Esmir. It didn’t matter as long as she was near Safar.
Safar patted her hand. "We’ll see," he said. "Once we’re clear of Walaria we can talk about this again."
"Anything you say, Safar," Nerisa said, dreamy.
Then she yawned and stretched. "I’m so tired," she said. "Can I sleep here for awhile? I’ve been ducking and hiding all day."
Safar hesitated. "They know to look for you here," he said.
Nerisa yawned again. "That’s okay," she said. "Gundara will warn us if anybody comes."
Safar started to say it was still too big a chance to take. Then heard her breathing deepen and looked over and saw that she’d fallen asleep. In repose she seemed even younger and more vulnerable. Her lashes were delicate fans on her soft cheeks. He could see the fine bones of her face and thought that someday she’d be a great beauty. If she lived long enough to reach womanhood. He didn’t have the heart to awaken her. So he banked the coals in the brazier and pinched out the wicks in the oil lamps. He found an extra blanket and covered her. She sighed, clutching the blanket tight and murmuring his name. Safar found a comfortable place a few feet away. So much had happened he doubted he’d be able to do much more than rest. But he’d barely closed his eyes when sleep rose up to carry him away.
It was a dreamless sleep, although once he thought he heard the rustle of fabric and felt soft lips brush his.
The next thing he knew the door crashed open and four burly men rushed inside.
He rolled out of his blankets but before he could come to his feet the men were on him. They clubbed him down and pinned him to the floor.
Then a heavy boot crashed into his head and stars of pain flared. He lost consciousness for a moment, then he heard steel strike flint and he opened his eyes to see Kalasariz standing over him, an oil lamp in his hand.
"Acolyte Timura," the spymaster intoned, "you are charged with conspiracy against the crown. What do you have to say for yourself?"
Safar was dazed by the beating. He tried to speak, but his tongue was thick and refused to work. Then he remembered Nerisa. His heart jumped and he turned his head to see where she was. But she was nowhere in sight. Relief flooded in - thank the gods, somehow she’d managed to escape. Then another thought pierced the haze. Why hadn’t Gundara warned him about Kalasariz’ approach?
The spymaster held a heavy purse over Safar’s head. It was the purse of gold Olari had given him, minus the coins he’d shared out with Nerisa. Kalasariz shook the purse. "What’s this?" he said. Then he opened it and spilled coins into his palm. "This is a great deal of money for a poor student to have in his possession," he gloated.
Safar said nothing.
"Where did you get so much gold, Acolyte?" the spymaster demanded. "And what did you swear to do to earn it?"
Safar still said nothing. What was the point?
Kalasariz kicked him again. "It will do you no good to hide in silence, Acolyte Timura," he said. "Your fellow conspirators have already confessed."
Safar regained enough wit to say, "Then you don’t need to hear from me, do you, My Lord?"
The reply won him another kick, this time in the ribs. They hauled him to his feet, gasping for breath.
But he still had presence of mind to look over at the brazier where he’d last seen the stone idol.
It was gone.
The only thing he could think was, Nerisa must have it.
Then Kalasariz roared, "Take him away! The sight of this heretic offends me!"
And they dragged him out the door.
* * *
"Hsst! Someone’s coming!"
A dim light appeared and Nerisa dropped to ground. She hugged the stone as a dark figure shuffled out of a corridor and headed her way. She was on the top floor of the University - no more than a hundred feet, Gundara had informed her, from Umurhan’s library. The Favorite was a flea speck on her sleeve - he’d told her about Safar’s method of carrying him about and she’d adopted it.
The shuffling figure was an old priest. He mumbled to himself, cursing the cold stone on his bare feet and muttering deprecations against the devils who had conspired to hide his sandals. He was carrying a small oil lamp with a nearly burned out wick that gave off just enough light to make her nervous. She flattened herself as he walked right up to her, then veered to the side to fumble at a door. He broke wind loudly and Nerisa guessed the door led to a privy. The priest went inside and shut the door.
Nerisa came up like a cat and ghosted down the corridor until Gundara told her to stop because she’d found the library. It was locked, but that only delayed her for a few seconds. She fished a narrow bar from her pocket, slipped it into the keyhole and forced the big tumbler back. In an instant she was inside, quietly closing the door behind her.
The library was a sealed room and so dark she couldn’t make out even the largest objects. But she could smell the dusty odor of old books, just like the ones at the Foolsmire, except there was heavy sulfur smell of magic that made her throat feel raw.
"I can’t see," she whispered to Gundara.
There was a sudden glow and the Favorite appeared before her full size - which meant he came up to about her knee. His body gave off a dim green light and she could see the hulking shadows of furniture and book shelves.
Gundara made a slow circle, sniffing the air. In her pocket she felt the stone idol become warm as the Favorite drew on its magical power.
Then he said, "This way," and scampered off into the darkness.
Nerisa followed and they moved along the twisting aisles until they came to the far side of the room where tall bookcases lined the blank wall. Gundara hopped from shelf to shelf until he was eye-level with Nerisa.
"There it is," he said, pointing a glowing talon. "Asper in the flesh." Gundara snickered. "The book’s bound in leather," he said. "Get it - flesh! Ha ha. I’m pretty funny tonight."
"It must be the sugar," Nerisa said through gritted teeth.
<
br /> At first she’d thought the Favorite was a cute little thing. She felt sorry for him because he had to live in a hunk of stone. But after several hours in Gundara’s company she just wanted to get the job over with and hand him back to Safar. Honestly, he asked such personal questions. Statements, actually. Like accusing her of being in love with Safar. Which was true, but it was none of his fiendish business.
Gundara gripped the edge of a slender book and heaved mightily. It came out so fast he lost his balance. He squealed as he fell, scaring Nerisa half to death. She caught him in midair, but the book slammed to the floor, echoing loudly.
"Be careful," she whispered. "You’ll wake them up!"
"Oh, piddle pooh," the Favorite said - although he did whisper. "You could shout at the top of your voice and those old gas bags would never wake up."
"Just the same," Nerisa said, "I wish you’d be more quiet. I’m used to working alone and loud sounds bother me."
"You’re a pretty good little thief, dearie," Gundara said. "But I bet you wish you had me around all the time. You’d be rich! We’d steal everything that wasn’t nailed down."
"Riiight," Nerisa said, bending down to pick up the book.
It was thin and seemed to contain so few pages Nerisa feared Safar would be disappointed. The leather was cracked and old, but from the light Gundara gave off she could see the worn image of a four-headed serpent.
"That’s Asper’s book all right," Gundara said. "There’s probably not more than five or six in the whole world." He preened, proud of his work.
She started to fish a treat from her pocket to reward him, when he suddenly said - quite loud - "You shut up, Gundaree. You couldn’t of found it if it were on fire. So there. Don’t you call me that! Shut up, you hear me? Shut up! Shut up! Shu-"
Nerisa clamped a hand over his mouth, cutting off the rest.
"Stop that," she said. "Or I’ll wring your neck. I swear I will."
When she took her hand away Gundara hung his head. He kicked at the floor with his elegant little foot. "I’m sorry," he said. "He just gets me soooo mad, sometimes."
