The Wizard's Sword (Nine Worlds of Mirrortac Book 1)

by Paul Vanderloos

  ‘Orgp,’ the being repeated, and patted Mirrortac on his head.

  ‘Orgp,’ Mirrortac mimicked, starting to chuckle to himself at the amusing nature of the sound.

  Other Orgps appeared around them, making little splashes with their tails as they pushed their way into the mass of plankton. The sound of their sucking reminded Mirrortac of the source of his previous amusement and a smile appeared on his whiskered lips. In clear spaces of water he could see other fish as large as Orgps, swimming in among the matter that lay suspended beneath the surface. These fish were the same cobalt colour as the depths beneath them while their lighter blue and exaggerated snouts probed though the water, sucking up volumes of water and food matter and expelling the excess through their gills. Three dorsal and three anal fins arched backwards to conform to the elongate form of their bodies, which ended in tails cut into a deep ‘V’. They were faster fish than the Orgps, built for efficient movement. Mirrortac pointed out the fish to one of the male beings who nodded then faced him with the method he used to gain the erfin’s attention.

  ‘Sssip’, was the sound issued from his lips - like a serpent’s hiss that ended with an abrupt pursing of the lips. ‘Sssip!’ he repeated.

  Mirrortac mimicked him and was rewarded with a wide grin.

  Half the day they ploughed through the sea of plankton, encountering many orgps and sssips and a myriad of small creatures that hopped, bubbled and frothed on the floating bed of mush. A haze of heat and humidity built up and again they resorted to riding on the backs of the Eeeps. This time the erfin showed little hesitation in joining in on the cooling fun. The sea cleared and a swell built up, piling the water up into giant rolling hills that lapped more noticeably against the walls of the timber vessel. They returned to the safety of the deck, the faces of the water people wearing the knowledge of warning that the sea had told them. They glanced from horizon to horizon, looking for something that at first was not apparent to the erfin. The haze seemed to grow into dark patches of sky and the burning fire glimmered dim in the waning day. South of westering, the gods were weaving the clouds, building them higher upon the loom of the heavens. A storm was in the offing.

  Each of the water people busied themselves with various preparations, battening down the fish wells with lock tight covers, securing all the storage wells and checking all that could come loose in a storm. Two of them opened large wall wells at either side of the bow and extracted a fabric woven of a glossy grass-matter that was very strong. They stretched the fabric across half the vessel, from the bow to its centre, securing it with twine to holes that existed along the decking walls, thus creating a space like a cavern where all could shelter when the storm struck.

  And the waiting began.

  Mirrortac joined the watch as the clouds foamed up into fleecy thunderheads while beneath, the darkness grew into a deep purple and lightning cracked and streaked between sea and cloud. They could hear the rumbling and feel the air shudder as the feet of the storm joined with the waters of the lake. A stiff cooling breeze blew up from northering and rushed over them towards the storm. The sea boiled and churned. Suds frothed up from the crests of waves. One of the water people squeaked a command to the Eeeps to escape the violent tug of the twine; the creatures released them, falling out of sight and leaving them at the mercy of the sea’s own whims. The storm moved to westering, covering the light of the sun of Luma. A thin veil of high cloud fingered out over their heads.

  The water people retreated to the shelter and Mirrortac joined them. The wind was gathering strength now, whipping the waves up into angry tongues of froth that lashed at the vessel. Mirrortac’s stomach and heart heaved as the vessel fell into the deepening valleys between the waves, which loomed above them in green swirling mountains. As the vessel rose up again, he peered down into the gulf of dark water and clutched at his belly. In a thrust the vessel dropped again, crashing with a shudder. The decks were awash with water that drained out again as the vessel climbed up onto another wave. Mirrortac shivered as the cold wash of saltwater trickled over his feet, and he grasped a firm hold of the side rail as the storm continued its assault on the vessel and its occupants. The water people sat silent and solemn, accepting calmly the turmoil that beset their vessel. Mirrortac felt sickly and unnerved, frightened and near panic as each crashing wave threatened to drown them all in this endless lake. A comforting arm curled around his waist and he found himself huddled in with his strange companions as the vessel groaned and buckled beneath them with the relentless surge of the waters.

  The storm raged into what was to become a long night filled with the roaring sound of the sea and the howl of the wind. Mirrortac nestled in closely with the female beside him, wishing either that the storm end or his death be a swift one. The ministry of his beloved Mateote and the company of his erfin family and friends were just a vague dream now - only memories of happier days spent under the soft skies of Eol where the scent of the fir trees was a fragrance more valued than the most precious marblelite. These strangers offered what comfort they could but it was little reassurance in this screaming, heaving night. But as all storms, this one eventually came to an end, leaving the vessel wallowing in a disturbed sea as the sky lightened into a grey dawn. The water people stumbled up from their places and again called the Eeeps, which returned to take up their duties of towing the vessel. Mirrortac was illsome and refused a breakfast of Blulloop. He lurched around the rocking vessel, wondering if he would ever again walk upon solid earth.

  The Eeeps took them through an unsettled sea, stirred up by the passage of the storm. Day merged into day and still there seemed to be no end to the waters - the entire world was now flooded. After five days travel, the waters of the endless lake began to take on a deeper hue. Mirrortac had regained his appetite but his mood was sullen. He had no idea of where these people were taking him or if he could continue the mission of finding the Well of Lost Memories in a far northern land of mists and waters. One of the male water people took him aside and began to teach him the silent signs of all they perceived around them. The being circled both his arms towards each other, moving his hands in towards each other then lifting them up in a motion reminiscent of the waves of the sea. Indicating the lake, he repeated the motion. Mirrortac understood and copied the sign. The being then cupped his palm and rocked it, indicating the vessel. Mirrortac again copied the sign. And continuing in this manner, he was taught many signs and soon was able to communicate with them in a basic way.

  Another ten days passed and still the lake would not yield to the land nor did the waves abate in their restless march. Mirrortac was given tasks to appease his boredom, including repairing the fabric torn in storms, mopping the deck and practising the growing list of signs he was taught. The Eeeps exchanged places once more in the series of exchanges made within the 20 days of the journey, replaced now with animals of a lighter colour, more aquamarine with dashing white bellies and a cheerful manner in their squeaks and splashing play. These were Eeeps of another order, heralding from shallower waters perhaps not far off and the erfin took solace in the contemplation, watching for a change in hue of the lake from the cobalt of deep waters to the turquoise of friendlier seas.

  After a day-and-a-half of sailing through a soup of sea vegetation, the waters were clear again and behaving kindly, making wavelets under a hot and cloudless sky. Mirrortac had been busy with small tasks when, as dusk fell, he was distracted by the distant sound of crashing waves. The Eeeps slowed and the water people’s attention was concentrated at the point where the waves were breaking ahead. Mirrortac stopped what he was doing and joined the others at the bow, peering ahead at the golden crests of waves falling upon a semi-submerged ground. The Eeeps pulled the vessel towards a wide gap in the breakers. The sound of the breakers amplified as the vessel closed in on the gap. The jagged teeth of this rock-like land snarled at them as the vessel passed between them and beyond to safety. Luma played its crimson light over the surface of the waves while beneath, i
n the shadows of the glare; Mirrortac fancied he could see the forms of many shapes beneath. More of these half-lands emerged from out of the sea from points all around them, bellowing their protest as the waves tumbled over their rocky jaws.

  The Eeeps were given a new command that they immediately responded to by diving to the bottom with the tow-twine and securing the looped ends to some the dark shapes on the bottom. The vessel swung around in the breeze and came to a halt and the Eeeps were rewarded with a feed of the Blulloops and were allowed to swim freely in the shallow lagoon. A flock of the white birds reappeared from a sky that had been scant of any birds for the many days of the lake journey. They flew overhead, squawking and arguing as they descended to the water somewhere beyond the rock outcrops.

  Mirrortac sat peering across the waters as the sky dressed into the indigo of night and the moon of Mogog rose with his sprinkling of moon-drops dusted across the dome of the heavens. As he pondered, the waters around the vessel lit up with a million tiny lights that shone from somewhere within. Amazed, he stared at the lights. Red and green and yellow glimmered and swirled below the lake’s placid surface, producing a multi-coloured hue across the whole of the shallow sea. The female water being came to his side, and gazing at the vista, turned to Mirrortac with a smile of contentment. He could see the colours dimly reflected in her eyes and glinted dull gold upon the polished surface of her helmet and diamond-shaped pendant. She stroked his new-grown orange fur then embraced him in simple affection. Morning ascended with the squawking of sea birds spread in untidy groups in the air around the vessel. Mirrortac stretched himself after a night of welcome and undisturbed sleep. The shallow waters were a balm to him, slopping and lapping a soothing lullaby through the night. He shared hugs with his new friends and watched as they dived into the sea. The water was as transparent as a clear fine gemstone. The pure white of the sand on the bottom was patterned with ripples and dotted with flowering underwater stones. Fishes of many shapes and exotic colours glided in among the stones, picking at the smaller animals that rolled and crawled and danced under and around the stones and sand. Nearby, the strange rock formations rose clear of the water and stood stark and moist in the sunlight. The depth at the vessel was no more than a few erfin-lengths with the bottom rising steadily up to the formations that were all composed of massive clusters of the flowering stones. Some were oblong and spherical while others branched into weird and wonderful shapes as large as an erfin. The water people were swimming and sliding through the shallows in communion with the fishes, enjoying the splendour of this watery paradise.

  Mirrortac learned how to swim in the days spent at the lagoon. He finally was confident enough to propel himself slowly across the shallower parts of the lagoon, watching with blurred vision the unfolding of life beneath him. Fishes in all the colours of the rainbow and of various beautiful patterns lived out their existences, oblivious to their curious intruders. Other creatures of every description scuttled about these shallows too, some with many legs like spiders, some like worms and others like gaudy snails, carrying shells of spirals, whorls and chequered patterns. Mirrortac noted the ebb and flow of the lake’s flood as it partly emptied and filled in a secret and mysterious rhythm. This was no ordinary lake - its waters were bitter and its dimensions so immense.

  They returned to the vessel at day’s close. Mirrortac had grown to like the daily swims, comparing the lightness and freedom from weight to flying. Mirrortac was astounded by the tameness of the creatures that they encountered, and as he peered out across the lagoon, he could see a large flock of the birds was gathering, their excited screeching signalling a change of mood. Some of the birds left the others and swept out towards them, crying out as they closed in over the vessel. The birds hovered above them, warbling and screeching as though communicating some urgent message. The three beings warbled back a reply and looked at each other and the erfin with delight. The beings called out in a sharp chorus to the Eeeps, bidding to them to return while they strolled over to a storage well that had, until now, remained unopened. Out of it they extracted three capes of a fine woven material and coloured crimson with an almost luminous quality. The familiar design of the elongated diamond was set in indigo into the material. They dressed into the capes that extended down to their ankles, adding a regal air to their bearing. Luma descended in a shimmering blaze into the Underworld while the Eeeps released the vessel from its mooring and towed it slowly across the shallows. The beings withdrew torches that sat within polished bronze metal cuplets and placed them at intervals at places made for these about the vessel. They then revealed fire-makers of baked clay with implants of quartz-type flints that sparked enough to set the torches alight. The torches burned with a steady yellow flame, producing an aromatic vapour of some unknown timber resin. Flickering circles of light reflected off the water as the vessel negotiated its way around the jagged outcrops with the pale face of the sands below.

  Mirrortac had fallen asleep in a corner of the deck and awoke before the dawn. There was an emergent hint of light upon the eastern horizon and the now the shapes of other vessels could be seen in the distance, their own torch flames bobbing and blinking in the fading darkness. As he rubbed the tiredness from his eyes, he could see that the lagoon was dotted with vessels that were fast converging with them in some pre-arranged rendezvous. The crash of waves could again be heard in the distance, northering. The silhouette of a mountain rose out of the northeast horizon, adding a beat to the erfin’s heart. His three companions stood together at the bow, their golden helmets picking up a hint of dawn reflected off their shiny surfaces.

  As the other vessels closed in, Mirrortac could see others like these water people; all dressed in similar robes and helmets. There was a barrier of jagged rock ahead, extending in a ridge in opposite directions with a gap just large enough to accommodate the passage of one vessel at a time. Beings in a vessel ahead of them suddenly erupted into song that was taken up by all the beings in the other vessels, including his companions. The air vibrated with a strange harmony of sound that continued as the faint light of dawn became a glow then a spectacular rising, spreading golden fingers through a herald of thin clouds and across the wavelets of the sea. Mirrortac’s ears buzzed with the fullness of a weird music. A throng of many birds congregated above the multitude of vessels while the waters came alive with the splashing, dipping, and sliding bodies of innumerable fishes and Eeeps. The gap between the rock ridges encompassed the vessel and Mirrortac watched as the raised outcrops, wet and stark, passed to either side, revealing before them a thick forested land that rose up to a high peak, its sides sweeping upward into a cone alongside a long ridge to one side. A guardian of mist and cloud obscured the peak as though anchored there after straying upon it in some time past. The land curved out in a skirt of forest beneath the peak, ending in a peninsula and a strait of water separating the peninsula from another land covered with more forests, lush and soothing green. At the side of the peninsula that faced them, the shore curved inwards into a large sheltered bay. Mirrortac sniffed at the scent of unseen flowers, marvelling at the vessels, birds, fish and mysterious people whose strange song echoed and resounded off the low cliffs of the bay.

  As the fleet of timber vessels sailed into the cove, a beach of brilliant white came into view. Hundreds of beings stood upon the sand with their arms raised in welcome and waving their bodies and singing. Mirrortac’s ears pricked as he listened to the first uttered language since he found himself on this vessel. The expeditioners blended their voices with the song ashore yet did not partake with language.

  When the vessels came into the shallows, his companions motioned to him to go with them as each of them leapt enthusiastically into the shallows, wading waist deep in the cool water, their capes trailing half afloat behind. The Eeeps swam in amongst them, rolling over on their backs as they submitted to the petting strokes of the crowd. Strangers patted the erfin as they came out to greet them, eyeing him with grins and a glint of intelligen
t interest within their eyes. A few sniffed at his orange fur and snuffled his face, twitching their slender whiskers and smiling with a disarming hint of knowledge. There were now at least 20 of the vessels tethered within the shallows of the bay and three times as many of the water beings. The ones on shore also wore capes but of crimson designs inlaid within gold. They also wore robes that loosely covered their bodies, allowing only for the extremities to be exposed. The robes were of a green wavy gloss material. Instead of gold helmets, they wore headdresses of vines and flowers, perfumed with delicate pink petals. Adornments of metal ringlets, necklaces of white and black shells and garlands of aromatic flowers were worn around arms, legs and draped generously about their robed bodies. There were females and males, children and those of all ages. Violet smears of fragrant essences were evident upon many faces, highlighting cheeks and eyebrows, completing the gaudy island people.

  Mirrortac was welcomed with fragrant embraces and the soft feel of their fleecy robes. Many came to embrace him, smothering him in their impatience. He felt overwhelmed by their warmth and affection for this stranger among them. A child emerged from the crowd and startled him with an outstretched hand grasping the live and wriggling form of a colourful tiny serpent. For a moment Mirrortac retreated, hesitant, remembering the snerks, but the tiny serpent looked up at him with comical bulging eyes and an endearing grin, slipping its tongue in and out without any ominous intent. The child proffered the serpent to him, urging him to take it. He reached out with a hesitant hand and accepted the creature, allowing its tickling sliding body to glide across his palm. The serpent twined its body in and out of his fingers, testing its tongue on the erfin’s skin and tasting the residue of sea and sweat that exuded. Its body was green with a pattern of coloured bands and red lines like veins.