by Bob Blink
“I wouldn’t give that man the time of day,” said one of the group.
“Well, I can’t fault you there,” agreed Jolan. “He is a bit of an ass. But merely for the sake of this example let’s pretend. Now, once you arrive some weeks later, you open the Mage’s Box -- it has to be you because no one else can open the box -- withdraw the tankard of cool ale, that hasn’t spilled a drop mind you, and hand it over.”
“This is nonsense,” muttered one of the group. “That’s impossible!”
“I know,” replied Jolan. “but it works extremely well.”
“This is silly,” Mage Lonid complained. “I’m done with this.”
“Wait, wait a minute, I think I have it right here.” So saying, Jolan reached behind himself and when his hand returned from behind his back he held the largest sized box he was able to make. There was no way he could have hidden the large object under his clothes.”
“Cute,” one said. “Now he wants to play games.”
“I thought maybe if I demonstrated. It comes in several sizes, by the way. Does anyone have a tankard, or even a tall glass of wine?”
For a moment Jolan thought they were going to refuse, but then the lady in charge, High Chancellor Vaen, walked back to the table behind the group of mages, and picked up and filled a goblet from a pitcher sitting there. She walked over and handed the brimming glass of wine to Jolan. He smiled his gratitude, opened the box and placed it inside.
After closing the box, he asked if anyone wanted to try and open it. No one was interested.
“Is it okay if I throw this out the window?”
“Please,” said Mage Lonid.
Jolan looked to see if anyone was at risk below, then pushed the box out the window. A moment later they all heard a loud crash as it struck something three stories below and bounced across the courtyard.
“Can we send someone for that?” he asked. “I’d go myself, but I don’t want anyone to claim I was up to some trickery.”
Several minutes later one of the King’s Guardsmen returned with the box and placed it back on the table in front of Jolan.
“Madam, the object smashed one of the stones in the courtyard wall. It will need to be replaced.”
High Chancellor Vaen nodded and waved the man away. She, like the others in the room, had already noted that the box was unscratched. That in itself wasn’t so remarkable, but imbuing a box to resist damage was a higher order skill that Jolan shouldn’t have had.
As they watched, Jolan opened the box once again, stood back, and offered them all a view inside. The glass of wine, of course, stood un-spilled inside.
High Chancellor Vaen looked at the others of the Mage Council and said dryly, “He’s right about one thing. It does work extremely well.”
After some arguing among the group, it was decided that there were far too many issues to be resolved quickly. It was also decided that Asari and Jolan would be “guests” for the night here in the building. Rooms existed for just such an eventuality, and the cafeteria was more than adequate for their needs. They were being detained, although the unfriendly word was never spoken.
“We would appreciate it if you would leave these items here for our inspection until we meet in the morning.” Jolan was told. It was clear it wasn’t a request.
Chapter 41
“What if they don’t believe us or aren’t interested?” Asari asked as they followed their guide down the long hallway.
Jolan couldn’t see that happening. “I have to believe they will at least want to investigate our story a bit more. They haven’t really run any of the tests they should be able to use to see if my story is true.”
While he spoke with certainty, Jolan was less confident in his heart. There had been a great deal of doubt cast their way the previous day, and he had without a doubt annoyed at least one of the senior mages. He was well aware that important decisions were often made for personal reasons, and they could well be turned away because one or more of the mages simply didn’t like them. He was also made uncomfortable by the fact they were being escorted in an unfamiliar direction, not back to the large meeting chamber they had visited the previous day.
“If they send us away, we will have to take some time and figure out what is the best way to proceed on our own. It appears I am never going home, so we will have lots of time to think of a strategy for going after Cheurt.” Jolan actually had a bit of an idea in the back of his mind, but it wasn’t developed and he didn’t want to plant ideas in Asari’s head out of concern his friend might act too rashly.
“If you’ll wait here, I’ll inform Mage Dibon you are here,” their guide informed them.
They looked at each other. Neither could decide if it was a good sign that they’d been returned to the individual who had escorted them into the complex the previous day. Moments later their guide stuck his head outside the door and motioned them forward.
“Just go through that door and have a seat.” Their guide watched as they passed through the door, then turned and left to return to more pressing duties.
Dibon sat behind a massive wooden desk at the far end of the room. A number of chairs were arranged along the front edge, and the two dutifully made their way across the room and took seats. Jolan couldn’t help noticing the piles of scrolls and stacks of random materials that cluttered most of the room.
Mage Dibon smiled when he looked up. “I won’t keep you in suspense,” he said. “I really hate that kind of thing myself. The Council of Mages has decided they would like for you to stay on with us for a bit.”
Jolan released the breath he’d been unconsciously holding.
“Come now,” Mage Dibon said seeing Jolan’s reaction. “You couldn’t have really had any doubts. Something of this magnitude.”
“How did they decide? Was a vote taken?”
“Actually yes, although it probably didn’t matter. Chancellor Vaen was clearly set on keeping you around at least until further questions can be answered and testing can be performed, and she has the power of veto over any Council vote. Her desires alone would have been enough to keep you here. As it turns out, the vote was unanimous.”
“Unanimous?” Jolan was surprised. “Even Mage Lonid?”
Dibon smiled. “Even him. Although in his case, probably for his own reasons. You certainly embarrassed him with that stunt with your weapon. When you punched through the shields he had erected, he was caught totally off guard. He is rather prideful of his shielding ability. He was certain he could prevent you from completing anything you were attempting, but when the goblet was smashed despite his best efforts he suddenly realized he was not as strong as he’d thought. He also realized that had you been using him for the target, he would be the one with a hole in him rather than a wine goblet. He took it as a personal affront.”
“If that’s so, why is he in favor of our remaining?”
“Partially because of the very thing that he sees as an affront. We have all known that cuprum is resistant to magic and that one could in theory build a weapon that would present a problem for any mage. But cuprum is so rare that to have enough to build a realistic weapon, and then one that could be brought close enough to be effective is almost unthinkable. No one ever considered that such a small object could be delivered with such force. If, as it seems, you come from a place where cuprum is plentiful and such weapons are commonplace, then it is essential we understand if Cheurt is acquiring supplies of such items. If Ale’ald is contemplating yet another war, one of the most effective approaches to improving their success would be the deployment of weapons that could effectively remove the mages of opposing forces. Even Lonid realizes this.”
Mage Dibon paused and smiled again.
“That said, I think the major reason he voted in your favor is that amusing box of yours. He still thinks there is a trick involved, but if not he really wants to understand how you created the thing. None of us have ever seen or heard of such an artifact before.”
“What happens
now?” the previously silent Asari asked.
“First we must see to getting you into the Guest Cottages over at the college. There is no point spending your coin on a room in town, when most of your time is likely to be spent here. After you are settled we can see to arranging more interviews and some preliminary testing of your abilities.”
“I assume they are interested in Earth. There is little more we can tell you about Cheurt.”
“Certainly Earth will be a topic of discussion. I am certain there will be a deeper questioning on Cheurt, especially the conditions under which he performed the “pairing” with you. That is of some concern with members of the Council. You have no idea the risks he was taking with your life, or at least your sanity. The fact you survived intact is a tribute to his skill with the process, the unusual conditions present on your home world, and your own skills that were unknown to him at the time. Our own uses of “pairing” requires a minimum of three trained mages operating together on a subject under specific controlled conditions.”
Dibon paused momentarily, then continued.
“We are also most interested to discuss with you your ring and the wondrous staff you are carrying.”
Jolan remember Dibon eyeing the staff the previous day. He hadn’t realized he’d picked up on the ring.
“There really isn’t much to tell,” he said.
“Perhaps, but it is most surprising. The ring is clearly one of eighty that were supposedly made. We don’t really know if that many were actually constructed. We know for certain of the present existence of less than ten of the rings in all of Gaea, and only one staff member of the College is blessed to have one. Yours is the only blue stoned ring that is known, and we wonder what its function might be.”
“I’ve wondered that myself,” Jolan explained. “As yet I have seen no evidence of what it can do.”
“Yes, well time will tell we hope. Your staff is also a bit of a surprise. It is one of an even smaller number of similar items said to have been created. This one we know of, but it has been lost from sight, of the College at least, for over seven hundred years. It was thought destroyed. To have it suddenly appear again is disconcerting. It does pose a bit of a concern to the Members of the Council, since it is a Staff of War, and its potential power is frightening. The Council of Mages here in Angon has proscribed the use of the power as a tool of war. For one mage to have two such marvels is almost beyond thinking.”
“What about my entry into the College as a student?”
“That has been tentatively approved as well, although it does pose some problems. To start, you are considerably older than those who normally start training here. Your friend Asari is more of the typical age. That means you will be an anomaly in the classes, which will cause you some ridicule and might pose a disruption to the classes themselves. We also need to run some tests to see how best to approach your unique training requirements.”
So he was at least to be given a chance. “When will these classes begin?”
“For now it is thought you would be in a beginning class. That might change, and you might even be sent into independent study, or more likely a combination of the two. First year class is different than all other study. Many who come to the college are really not suitable for a fulltime career as a mage. Many who come will be better suited to a career as a tradesmage, using a somewhat limited set of skills to work in society, improving products, or using their skill to enhance items that can benefit from the infusion of small amounts of the power.”
“Like the special medicines that are made here in Cobalo?”
“That is one such application to be sure.”
“You said the first year is different?”
“The first year is a shortened session. It starts three weeks from now, and lasts for half a year, through the winter months. By then it is known which students would benefit from continued studies, and which are really not suited to staying on. Those that stay, move up to the second year. From that time on, as long as they remain enrolled, their studies continue year-round, with a couple of short vacation breaks.”
“So I have a few weeks of sitting around before things really start?”
“Oh, you will be kept busy enough. But you will have some time when you can explore Cobalo a bit and get comfortable before classes begin. You should also have completed testing so you should have some idea of your ultimate ranking.”
“Some mention was made of running some kind of probe on the “knowledge” I seem to have acquired from Cheurt.”
“That will have to wait until after the term begins. Probing in that depth is something that only a few have the proper skills to do safely. Our resident expert is off in Kimlelm, and won’t be back until shortly after classes start.”
Dibon stood up. “We can talk more later, but first let us get you settled in. We can go by the hall we used yesterday and pick up your possessions, and then go over to the cottages. The members of the council have made one request; your weapon. We are uncomfortable with weapons in general, but that one is especially worrisome. We would ask you keep it locked in the security chamber provided in the room. This is a safe place that only the two of you will be able to access. I realize you have your own “box”, but it is expected you will be asked to demonstrate that repeatedly, and you said only one can be made at a time, so it would be best not to have anything in it for the expected tests.
Jolan could tell that Asari was unhappy with the request, but he finally nodded his assent. His friend had become used to having the pistol with him, and while he couldn’t imagine a need here in Cobalo, he would have probably said the same thing in Carta before the kidnapping.
“Are you certain?” he whispered in Asari’s ear as they followed Dibon out into the hallway.
“It’s okay for now,” Asari answered.
Jolan shivered as they stepped outside the building. The skies were clear today, and there was only a slight breeze, but the temperatures had dropped sharply from those of the previous few days. Jolan didn’t see signs of frost, but the temperature couldn’t be that much above freezing. Dibon, who seemed totally unconcerned by the cold snap, must have noticed.
“I had forgotten. One of the things you should probably do after I show you around is buy some warmer clothing. Winter is upon us I fear, and I think we are in for a bit of a cold snap.”
Even moving briskly, it took them fifteen minutes to reach the southern edge of the campus compound, which fortunately was where the Guest Cottages were located. They were told the student housing for active students was on the north end of the campus. The buildings seemed to be constructed uniformly of a reddish stone, and looked to be almost new.
“When was the college built?” Jolan asked as they approached the cluster of cottages.
It was initially opened just a few years after the recovery from the Mage Wars was underway. That would be a little more than one thousand and fifty years ago. The grounds expanded and grew as the range of subjects matured and expanded somewhat, but reached its current size and layout nearly six hundred years ago.”
“Have the buildings been recently refurbished? They look to be of similar construction and relatively new.”
“These are the original buildings,” Dibon informed him.
Jolan had another look. That meant they were built with some application of the power, and were clearly resistant to aging and weather. He could see that all the major structures were inter-linked with the enclosed walkways Dibon had mentioned, so regardless of the conditions outside, students could move between buildings as needed. Dibon had said there was a secondary system of interconnects underground.
“Here we are” Dibon said, and escorted them inside where it was considerably more comfortable. “You will be just down the hall on the right.”
Their quarters were large and well furnished, although nothing was fancy. Once again they each had their own room, with a shared common area, and a common bathroom with tub. No more having to go down to the
public baths.
“There is heated water,” Dibon showed them as he spoke. “The drains are designed to carry away the water when you are finished.”
He showed them the other features of the rooms, some unexpected by Jolan, such as the glow lamps in the rooms. No more smelly candles to deal with. They also activated the security chamber and made it accessible to each of them. After placing the items inside, Dibon took them down the hall to a common supply area and found a couple of coats they could use until they got their own. As they left he pointed out the cafeteria, which provided meals from sunup until well after dark each day. Meals were free of course.
They were escorted back to the guard area so they could return to the inn and make arrangements to have their belongings relocated to the cottages. At the entrance they stopped and arranged for their rings.
“These are linked with you personally, and cannot be used by someone else, even if they were to be taken from you. Both you personally and the ring must be present to pass the scan, but it will allow you free entry and exit from the grounds without the need to pass through the guards each time. If you are carrying packages, you may be required to present them for examination of course.”
“What do you think?” Jolan asked Asari as they walked away from the gate and back into the bustling city just outside the wall of the Inner Court.
“Dragondamned long way in and out every time you want to go somewhere,” he replied.
Jolan had thought the same thing, but then once classes started he would be expected to stay on campus for eight of the ten day week, so the distance from town wouldn’t be an issue for him. Asari on the other hand, would probably want to spend more time out and about, and would have to deal with the walk on a daily basis. In the springtime it wouldn’t be so bad, with the pleasant lake, but as the snows set in, it would be far less inviting.
