by A. R. Wilson
Was her spell even working?
The claws of its feet adjusted their grip on the branch, snapping off chips of bark. Elbows resting on his knees, he sniffed the air again then leaned forward a few inches.
Remember the scrolls… Remember the scrolls…
Her options had run out. All of her spells required her to speak the words aloud. The only way to save herself was to reveal herself.
Please, let this work!
She prattled off the needed words. The creature howled in surprise as the branch beneath him shattered. Tumbling, he drew to his feet the moment he hit the ground.
Tascana spied a rock the size of the beast’s head and pulled at the stone with her mind. The rock crashed into him. Another howl of surprise, but this one also carried the tone of rage. She pulled at another and then another. If nothing else, she might be able to knock it unconscious.
The creature leapt back, hunched down on all fours. “Show yourself to me!”
Tascana felt the air suck out of her chest. It can talk?
Authority reverberated through the air, echoing from tree to tree, matching the frenzy heaving through his shoulders.
“You cannot hide from me!” The voice was scratchy, like someone drowning in madness. He eased back onto his legs and relaxed his stance. Thin lips pulled into a smile, exposing pointed, irregularly-arranged teeth. “No matter. It is only my job to find you, apprentice.”
What?
The creature glanced along the ground as he felt at his face. After a few pats, he walked back to where he dropped the wolf carcass. Walking at double the speed as before, he slipped into the ghostwoods.
Tascana wrapped her arms around herself.
What. Had. Just. Happened.
She chanced a few breaths. Within moments, she was gasping and had to slap both hands over her mouth. She willed herself to believe that the stillness of the forest was not a foreboding sign. It was good fortune. Yes, it was lucky because she would hear the thing coming.
Turning her thoughts back to the fox, she looked around. There he was, sitting in the same spot as before. His ears continued twitching this way and that.
The words of that foul beast swirled in her mind. “It is only my job to find you” and then it called her an apprentice. What could that possibly mean? How was it possible for that thing to know she was an apprentice of magic?
No one knew what she studied in Gaulden Forest. She was sure of it. Every time she came out this way, she was careful not to be followed or seen by anyone.
“It is only my job to find you.”
Those words rolled back and forth.
The way that thing pronounced the vowel sounds was unusual, something her father taught her was an ‘accent’ when she was little. This was unlike any accent she knew. Many times she had gone on trading missions with her father visiting places beyond the Jestine Mountains. The farther she got from home, the more foreign the sounds became. But this accent had a quality all its own.
Come to think of it, her father’s accent was unique too. She knew her father came from a land far away to the east, on an island somewhere, but nothing more. Talking about his life before he came to Bondurant was as taboo as asking about the Avian Expanse. The way his face hardened with sorrow every time the conversation tripped in that direction suggested a life too painful to remember.
Thinking about accents and other random tangents deterred her mind for a few minutes. A hot tightness in her chest pulled her back to the words ‘find’ and ‘apprentice.’
Who would send something like that to find her? It had to be someone strong enough to control such a thing. So what was strong enough to give orders to a man-cat-beast and then expect the creature to return and give a report?
It had to be a wizard. Unless something more powerful than a wizard existed. When it came to magic, anything was possible. The only people who used or studied magic within a ten day journey in any direction would be the wizards at the Fortress of Erudition. Could it be that by her using magic somehow they sensed her strength? Unlikely. If they had such a thing as that monster at their disposal they would make it common knowledge. A creature like that would terrify any person. Had she grown up with images of that thing in her head she would have turned in all the scrolls she found rather than the one she was forced to surrender to Kidelar.
Oh, that’s right! Her twelfth scroll, the one she lost to her father’s friend. Why did she always forget she had one more scroll to study once she was done?
The evenings spent listening to her father and Kidelar discuss history, peoples, and cultures throughout her youth used to bore her to sleep on countless visits to his home. Kidelar was the most well-read person in all of Hess Bren, probably all of Bondurant. He also studied to apply to the Fortress of Erudition, much to Father’s disgust, but Kidelar’s knowledge of history seemed to fascinate him.
That reputation nudged her to ask Kidelar to help her understand the strange writings on the scrolls she found. She could still see the look of strained caution on Kidelar’s face when he asked her where she found the sample shown to him. As much as she hated lying to one of her father’s friends, she would not risk revealing her hiding place in Gaulden Forest. He wanted to know where she found the scroll before he even offered to tell her anything about it. That meant she found something big. Something worth hiding from a thirteen-year-old girl. Apparently, it was also worth hiding from her parents because he never mentioned it to them. At least not that she knew.
Kidelar had insisted on keeping the scroll for further study. Though she yearned to have it back, revealing her true reason for seeking his help came with too great a price. Finding those scrolls was like finding a long lost twin. The first time she held them she knew she was destined to have them in her life. Taking one of the scrolls to Kidelar to get help in translating them was a risk. Afterward, she knew she could never take a chance like that again. If she were meant to have these scrolls then somehow she would find a way to translate them herself.
Sitting in a ghostwood tree, fearing the return of that hideous beast, Tascana replayed some of the last three years in her mind. Only now did she find it odd. How could a thirteen year old, who spoke a single language her entire life, translate and interpret writing from a completely different writing system? Yes, it was magic, of course it was magic. But was it its own spell? Logic could not explain her translating those scrolls of her own effort. And now, with the reality of magic tracking her down, Tascana started to wonder if those scrolls held more than lessons.
Whether the creature had something to do with the scrolls or not, he had done his task. Whoever sent that thing had a purpose in sending it. And if someone had a purpose in finding her, then someone might come looking for her. Or perhaps they would send more of those things to follow through on whatever reason they had for tracking her.
Looking up, she noticed evening approaching and her stomach lurched. What was she going to do? That thing was still out there.
Back on the ground, she saw the fox still in his place. She didn’t dare risk sending him off to find the man-cat-beast. This skill was too new. If she became lost in the spell at this height...
She spat the words to release him before her panic tricked her into trying something. The moment the last word slipped out, he disappeared into the brush. Scampering noises came from her left as he hurried off in the opposite direction of the creature.
Chirping echoed above her. Soon, the evening song of the birds would cease and only the sounds of buzzing insects would remain. Given the option, she would rather hurry home while it was light. Cover of darkness also meant difficulty avoiding things that made noise such as piles of leaves and thorny bushes.
Now to decide whether to believe the creature was gone and run straight home or believe he might be hiding and take a roundabout way to lose him in the forest.
There might be a third option. If she didn’t go home, she wouldn’t risk leading that thing to her mother or father. She had one p
lace that might be safe. One place where she might find an answer to what that thing was.
She eased her way toward the ground. Creeping along one branch at a time, pausing between breaths for a sign that something was coming, she looked around to get her bearing. Home was that way, which meant she needed to go this way.
Her path did not veer her as far from the beast’s path as her anxiety wished it could, but having somewhere to go was a better plan than running blindly away.
Within moments, the sting of hunger and thirst caused her to stumble. Skipping breakfast and lunch to practice the tenth scroll proved almost as foolish as leaving her waterbag at home this morning. At least she had her fear to keep her going.
She hurried east, then south, then east again. A few minutes later, she reached the road and pushed herself into a sprint. Being out in the open made her more visible to the creature if he was out there, but it also made him more visible to her. Having a few moments to think before getting pounced could make all the difference.
The orange of evening faded into a dark blue before she saw the lighted window she desired. Though she had made it this far without any sign of the creature, she did not slow her pace until she was within several feet of Kidelar’s door. Her emotions overrode her timing, and she hit the door with her left shoulder.
Pounding on the entry with her right fist, she waited for him to answer.
A man slightly taller than her with shoulder-length sandy blond hair yanked the door open. When their eyes met, he pulled his head back in surprise. “What is the matter, child?”
“May I come in?”
“Of course, absolutely. I am in the process of reorganizing my library so you’ll have to pardon the stacks.” Books of every shape and size rested in piles two and three feet tall. Tascana walked over to the far side of the room where chairs had been pushed aside to stay out of the way of his sorting.
Kidelar waited until she sat down before speaking. “Now, tell me what has transpired. Did you injure yourself? Is your mother all right?”
“I saw something in the ghostwoods earlier today.”
His eyes softened in concern, waiting.
Tascana bit her lip, wondering what other stupid thing she might say. With so much at stake with every detail she gave or left out, every word counted. She needed to know what that thing was, what it was capable of, and she needed to be able to go back to her hiding place to study the eleventh scroll. Fatigue and thirst had already cost her the mistake of admitting she had seen something.
Why did she have to leave her stupid waterbag at home this morning?
“At least I think I saw something. I was up in a ghostwood tree so I didn’t get a good look at it.” She tried to laugh to make it sound like she was embarrassed for even mentioning it. The look on his face continued to hold the same concern. “Just some kind of weird thing, and I want to know whether or not… if my mind is playing tricks on me.”
“Knowing you, I’d believe almost anything. And by coincidence I’ve been scanning through these books all week deciding if any should be cataloged to a different area. Tell me what you saw, and perhaps I can bring a little light into it.”
She rubbed her shoulder then folded her arms across her chest. “I saw some kind of person walking around with gray skin.”
At first, his face held gentle concern. Then, his eyes slowly widened.
Oh no, that did it. The first detail out of her mouth set ablaze worry and surprise across his whole countenance. She had to think of something fast.
“But like I said, I was up in a tree so maybe it was nothing more than a shadow over their skin.”
Kidelar leaned forward in his chair so his elbows rested on his knees. Interlacing his hands, he thrust his pointer fingers together and held them against his lips. “Tascana, I desire that you listen very carefully to me. Tell me every detail you can recall about this individual.”
No! She had to be allowed back into the ghostwoods. That thing was probably far from Hess Bren by now. All she needed to do was go back to her tree to collect the scrolls. That’s all. That creature might be a killer; anything was possible. But if Gaulden had to be evacuated because of that thing running around killing people, couldn’t it wait a day or two? She needed to protect those scrolls!
While her heart struggled to control her bubbling emotions, her focus shifted to the lines hardening around his eyes. Kidelar looked as serious as death. As though the answer she gave held the weight of the world. As much as the thought of abandoning her last scroll made her sick to her stomach, the hardness in his eyes reminded her why she was here in the first place. She trusted him.
“Tall. Very thick, strong. A thin line of hair on his head and thick, short hair down his legs that made him look cat-like. And claws.” She held out her arched fingers. “He also had long, pointed ears. I’m guessing that thing was a male, but I can’t know for sure.”
Kidelar made no reaction as she spoke. At the end of her list, he sat silent for a few minutes, staring at the floor. “Did it produce any sound?”
The knot in her stomach tightened. If he knew what it was then he knew what kind of danger it presented, and that was what she needed to know.
“It spoke words, like how we speak. I don’t remember exactly what it said. I was pretty focused on its appearance.”
“I have never personally witnessed what you described, only sketches.” He walked over to a stack of books against the far wall and wriggled out the one third from the bottom. Flipping through the pages, he kicked over a stack of books and ignored the tumbling mess as he made his way back to her. “Here it is. The one who wrote about it once before referred to it as a goblin. I understood them to be a myth.”
She took the book from his extended hand. The drawing was exactly what she saw. “It says here they live to the far south, beyond the… the…” With a light touch, she pointed to the words ‘Avian Expanse’ written in a note along the bottom of the page. “How could anyone know that?”
“I wish I knew, especially now.”
The eyes of the sketch pulled at the knot in her stomach. Those same diagonal slits for pupils made it look as though it were bred for war. “A goblin?”
“How long ago did you see this creature?”
“Several hours ago. It was mid-afternoon.”
“Did it see you?”
“I don’t think so.” Technically, she hadn’t lied, though heat poured into her cheeks anyways. Her eyes stayed fixed on the drawing, wondering who had seen a goblin in the past well enough to recreate it on parchment.
“How about if you and your mother enjoy some hospitality over here until your father returns from Kovarilos? I must do some more reading before I present this to the Council. If that creature finds its way into Hess Bren, there may be safety in numbers.”
Nausea wormed through her. Why wouldn’t he tell her what he knew?
“Do not tell your mother the actual reason for the invitation. She is a professional worrier when it comes to you, and we’re not going to tell her anything until it is necessary.”
She looked up at him only long enough to confirm he meant what he said. The eyes in the sketch pulled her back into the pages.
“I trust you possess the ability to distract your mother from what is actually going on?”
His words almost pulled her away from the drawing a second time. She shrugged and moved her hand to turn the page. He reached and snatched the book from her lap.
“Go get your mother while I move some of these books out of the way. It will take nearly an hour to get this place ready to receive company.”
So that was it. He had read the story, the account on the next page, and now he wanted her under the protection of his roof. The information she wanted was on that next page. By this time tomorrow, she would know if he intended to share it with her or if she needed to steal the book to find out for herself.
“What about the goblin? Are you sure it’s safe to go outside?”
He
nodded, gathering an armload of books to place on top of another pile. “I believe if you were in any immediate danger you never would have made it to my home.”
“What about dinner?”
“If your mother does not have a stew waiting then we will find something to prepare here.”
“Let’s hope she does.”
Kidelar smiled over his shoulder as he pushed and shifted stacks against the shelves of his library. Tascana turned toward the door.
Outside, a full moon gave enough light to see the path home. If Kidelar felt safe enough to send her out alone then she trusted him. No one would dare face her father after sending her off into danger.
Something written on that next page was the answer she needed. It had to be. Whatever had been scrawled on that next page was the reason why she was safe enough to walk home alone but needed protection overnight.
When Tascana opened the door to her home, a flinch of movement to her right almost made her cry out. Heluska was on her knees, hands clasped together, lifting her head in surprise. The look on her face reflected Tascana’s own confusion.
“What are you doing, Mother? What’s wrong?”
Her smile held a combination of embarrassment and laughter. “I always pray when you’re out after sunset. Why do you keep running off after you promised to stay home while your father is away?”
Tascana let the door fall closed behind her. “Oh. Well, I want to visit Kidelar earlier and promised him we would come over tonight for dinner. Is that okay?”
Disbelief washed over Heluska as if she had been slapped in the face with it. “You did what?”
“Sorry, I guess I really should have asked you first.”
“No, that’s fine. We haven’t done anything like that in a long time. What’s the occasion?”
A goblin sighting in Gaulden Forest.
Wrapping her arms around her chest, Tascana shrugged. “I thought it would be nice.”
