The Bowl of Souls: Book 05 - Mother of the Moonrat

by Trevor H. Cooley

  She was scowling at the wizards. “I am disinclined to prove myself after such a rude greeting. I should refuse, but since Edge has asked me . . . Very well.”

  Jhonate lifted her gray quarterstaff in front of her and caused the end to widen and flatten. A round hole formed in the center of the wood. She lifted it to her eye and as she looked through it, Fist switched to spirit sight and saw the white haze of spirit magic stretched across the opening like a wispy bubble.

  “Right now I can see Edge’s connections to his bonded as well as the haze surrounding that man’s axe,” she said, pointing to Willum.

  Locksher grinned. “I see. She has peered through her bond with her Jharro staff as a means of seeing into the spiritual spectrum. Ingenious, Jhonate!”

  She grunted. “I can also see the bond Master Latva has with his dagger.” She then turned and focused on Wizard Auger. “It seems to me that you council members are the only ones in this room without the ability to use spirit magic.”

  Auger’s mouth dropped open and he stammered at being spoken to in that manner twice in one meeting.

  Wizard Munsey, the council fire wizard cleared his throat and gestured at Willum. “What of Master Coal’s son? How do you expect him to help in your search, Valtrek?”

  Everyone turned their eyes on Willum. He shuffled his feet, looking completely unsure of how to respond. Justan gave him an encouraging nod and Fist nudged him.

  “Uh, well, like the others, I can use spirit sight. My father taught me how to do it with the bond.”

  “He was the one who found the spy on the Academy Council,” Justan added.

  “Well, that was my axe, actually,” Willum said.

  “Truly?” Locksher said, an eyebrow raised.

  “Very interesting. And how did your weapon do that?” Munsey asked.

  Willum mouth hung open for a moment before he responded. “It, uh. It was Tad the Cunning’s axe actually. Um, he left it to me upon his death. It has the ability to sense several things and one thing it has learned is how to smell out the witch’s magic. I can see the witch’s eyes with spirit sight, but my axe can sense the effects of her magic being used nearby.”

  “Truly?” Valtrek asked. “Could it tell if someone has been in contact with the witch but didn’t have a moonrat eye with them?”

  “I don’t know, but-,” he paused, his hand resting on the axe’s handle, and blinked in surprise. “Actually it thinks it can.”

  “The axe talks to you?” Locksher asked, his other brow raising.

  “Yes, it has a-.”

  “Can you prove this, young man?” Auger interrupted and his dubious gaze was echoed by several of the other council members.

  Willum blinked and looked around the room. “Well, I could tell you what I see here, but the daughter of Xedrion already pointed out the other sources of spirit magic in the room.”

  “I don’t see why he should have to prove anything,” Justan said. “I was told to involve only those I knew for sure I could trust. He meets that criteria.”

  “Young man,” Auger started. “I am quite tired of your rude interrup-!”

  “I agree with Sir Edge,” Valtrek said, cutting the wizard off and Auger’s cheeks went red. “All this complaining is just wasting time. Each of these young people is more than qualified to help.”

  “Very well,” Master Latva said raising a hand. He fixed Valtrek with a stern glare. “We shall not dispute that these people are qualified for the task. The question I have is why you have seen fit to invite all of them to this meeting.”

  “The things I brought you here to discuss could very well be helpful to them when searching out the witch Mellinda’s spies,” Valtrek explained.

  “But is it necessary that they know everything?” Wizard Randolf asked, having remained silent up to this point. “I understand the hope that this . . .” He glanced at Justan, his lips twisting. “Sir Edge can keep his ogre under control, but what of these two?” He gestured at Jhonate and Willum. “They are academy students, whatever their qualifications. Can we trust them not to go running off to their superiors as soon as this meeting is over?”

  Fist could hear the creak of Jhonate’s hands tightening on her staff. He expected her to shout at the old men and put them in their place, but despite the glower in her eyes, her lips remained pressed together.

  She’s too proper for that, Fist, Justan sent. She was raised to respect those in authority. But I agree. If Randolf weren’t a council member she would have clouted him with her staff already. From his tone, Fist could tell that he wanted to do it himself.

  Would you like me to hit him? Fist asked jokingly.

  I’m tempted, Justan replied.

  “If you remember, Randolf,” said Valtrek. “I wanted to invite the Academy Council from the beginning.”

  “I agreed with him,” said Master Latva.

  “As did I,” said Wizard Beehn, fixing Randolf with a glare.

  “You three seem to be agreeing on most everything these days,” Randolf mused. “But you were overruled by the rest of us. Even the prophet agreed that we should keep this information to ourselves.”

  “You do prattle on, Randolf,” Valtrek said with a shake of his head. “I wasn’t planning on speaking of that particular information until they had left.” He turned to them. “Don’t worry, the information he is speaking about won’t affect you.”

  What don’t they want to tell us? Fist asked.

  I’m not sure, but if the prophet agreed that we shouldn’t know, I’m not too worried about it, Justan said, but Fist knew it wasn’t completely true.

  “As for the rest of this meeting, I take full responsibility for them,” Valtrek said. “They have proven themselves against our enemy’s forces and each one of them has good reason to want this siege lifted as much as the rest of us.”

  “Once again, Randolf, I agree with Valtrek,” Master Latva said. He looked at the rest of the council. “Do we have a consensus? Who here objects to Valtrek’s decision?” Wizard Auger was the only one to raise his hand. Wizard Randolf simply folded his arms and gave Justan a disdainful look.

  “Good!” said Valtrek. “Now we can finally begin. First things first, I have some information regarding the prophet. He left the school last night.”

  “W-without speaking to us first?” Auger said in surprise.

  “When has he ever bothered to ask permission before?” Randolf said.

  Fist was disappointed. He had been waiting to speak with Big John. He had so many things to say to him. So many questions to ask. But every time he tried, the prophet had been too busy.

  “Did he say where he was going?” Justan asked.

  “He did not,” Valtrek said. “He came to my offices and asked if he could go down and speak with the prisoners alone. When he returned a short time later, he said only that he would return before the first attack on our walls.”

  “So he told you nothing,” Vannya said.

  “Actually he said a lot,” Locksher said, one eyebrow raised. “This means that we have at least a short time before the enemy forces make an assault. This also tells us that his return is a sign that an attack is imminent.”

  “But there was no time frame given,” Beehn said. “Not very helpful.”

  “Nevertheless the Academy Council should be informed,” Justan said. “This could help them when preparing their defenses.”

  “I will broach the subject when the War Council meets later this evening,” Latva said. “Did he say anything else? Anything at all?”

  “No. I asked him what he thought of the prisoners and he just said that he would be leaving,” Valtrek said.

  “Yeah, well he wasn’t exactly helping much anyway,” said Randolf.

  “How can you say that?” asked Wizard Munsey. “He warned us of the attack on the academy.”

  “All I am saying is that he has a huge amount of knowledge, but he won’t tell us everything we need to know,” Randolf said.

  “He is acting
under constraints,” Master Latva reminded him.

  “So he says,” Randolf replied, then sighed. “Go on Valtrek. Everyone knows my opinion on the matter.”

  “Indeed,” said Valtrek.

  Out! Fist felt Squirrel nudge the flap to his pouch again.

  This isn’t a good time, he replied.

  Hide, Squirrel promised.

  With a sigh Fist gave in. Okay. Just stay out of sight. Don’t make trouble. He could understand not wanting to be cooped up in a pouch all the time. He made sure no one was looking and lifted the flap just wide enough that Squirrel could escape.

  Good. Squirrel slid out and darted behind one of the many desks in the room. Fist returned his attention to what was being said.

  Valtrek was speaking. “Perhaps more importantly, I have finally heard back from our contact inside Dremald for the first time since the academy was evacuated. Some of these things I plan on bringing up at the War Council meeting anyway, but I felt I should let those of you that won’t be there know right away.”

  “Good!” Latva said. “So what do they know?”

  “Well, bad news first, they are aware that the academy forces escaped here,” Valtrek said. “That much we already assumed, but the detail that they know is quite astounding. They have troop counts and at the least a general idea as to how the wall is being manned. They also know the names of all our leaders.”

  “That is pretty bad,” Justan said.

  “However, they do not know any of the plans discussed in our meetings, so we know the War Council at this time at least is clean,” Valtrek added.

  “So we still have spies to deal with, but the things they know could be discovered by anyone that can freely walk the grounds,” Locksher mused.

  “We should keep an eye out for those in cleaning crews or kitchen workers,” Jhonate mused.

  “As well as any students spending a lot of time watching the warrior camps, especially if they are taking notes,” Justan added.

  “Can you give us some good news, Valtrek?” Randolf asked.

  “Well, for one, the tactic of using the destruction of the academy as a weapon was a good one. The enemy army was decimated and the mother of the moonrats was gravely wounded. From what my source said, the destruction of moonrat eyes hurts her in some way.”

  “That is true,” Jhonate confirmed. “I have felt her pain as I destroyed them.”

  “However,” Valtrek said. “Ewzad Vriil seemed amused by the whole thing. He feels that she will soon be back to full strength and is satisfied with having all the forces that oppose him within our walls.”

  “But what of his army?” Willum asked. “We destroyed most of them.”

  “He viewed them as fodder anyway; pawns that could be easily replaced. Even the creatures that he created are of no consequence to him. He expected them to perish. Evidently they are unstable.”

  “Yes. They melt away,” Fist said.

  “He has already begun replacing his army of beasts,” Valtrek added. “My source was concerned in particular about a pack of assassins Vriil plans on sending after us. He intends to target our leaders.”

  “We must let them know,” Jhonate said.

  “We will. We will,” Valtrek said.

  “Do we know how soon he plans to attack?” Willum asked.

  “Not as of yet. My source says he seems to be in no particular hurry.”

  “This source is awfully well connected,” Locksher mused. “Who is it?”

  “That is one of the things I cannot say,” Valtrek said apologetically. “If one of the moonrat mother’s spies found out, their life would be forfeit. My source is close to Ewzad Vriil. I can say no more than that.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “Is there any other information that you can tell us?” Justan said. “Anything that could help us in our search?”

  “Well, one thing I noted is that the moonrat mother has expressed no concern whatsoever about those of her spies that we have apprehended already, which means it is likely she has no idea they were captured,” Valtrek said.

  “Or she isn’t worried because they know nothing that could help us fight her,” Justan suggested.

  “That is a very real possibility.” Valtrek admitted. “Though I hope that’s not the case.”

  “Who are these spies anyway?” Locksher asked.

  Valtrek sighed, “The council members know this already, but I suppose that I should show the rest of you. Their identities may be of some use as you search out their comrades.”

  “By the gods! A rodent! On your shoulder!” Professor Auger exclaimed, his eyes wide as he pointed a shaking finger at Master Latva. Fist grimaced as everyone looked to see Squirrel perched on the master’s shoulder.

  Squirrel froze, staring back at them, one hand reaching out to accept a crust of bread from the old wizard’s hand. Master Latva looked back at Auger in confusion. “Yes, what is it?”

  “Do you realize how many plagues have been started by rodents? That thing could be riddled with disease! We must dispose of it immediately!”

  “Nonsense,” Latva said, reaching up to stroke Squirrel’s head. “He is Cadet Fist’s bonded and well cared for. He is perfectly clean.” As if to prove a point, Squirrel pulled a nut from his cheek pouch and placed it in the master’s mouth.

  “Oh. Thank you,” Latva said and chewed it calmly. “See? Nothing to worry about.”

  Fist’s face flushed with embarrassment. Squirrel! I’ve told you not to share your cheek nuts with humans. They don’t appreciate it as much as other squirrels!

  Squirrel ignored him and began chewing the crust the wizard had given it.

  “But,” Professor Auger said in anguish. “It’s-it’s . . .”

  “Come on,” Valtrek said “This way.” The wizard headed towards a door in the back corner of his offices and as everyone else began to follow, the council historian continued to stand there with that exasperated look on his face.

  He doesn’t handle being interrupted well, does he? Fist sent to Justan.

  Justan glanced back at Auger before motioning Fist through the door. Definitely not. He used to issue punishments to students whose eyes wandered away from him in class. It happened constantly. His lectures were so monotonous, it was difficult to focus. Still, apart from Vincent, he likely has more knowledge than any other wizard in the school.

  Oh . . . Monotonous? Fist asked as he followed the others down a drab twisting stairway.

  Sorry, uh, it means boring and repetitive, Justan said.

  Like all these stairwells in the Rune Tower? Fist said after he nearly slipped on a particularly narrow step. He had to be careful, if he fell now, he might take half the High Council with him. At least the stairwell was tall enough than he didn’t have to hunch over.

  Right, Justan sent with a laugh. Just take it as your new word of the day.

  “But my word today is caterwauling,” Fist complained. It was the word that Justan’s mother had used to describe Lenny and Bettie’s arguing earlier that morning. He liked that word. It reminded him of a bunch of treecats roaring.

  “So you can use monotonous tomorrow,” Justan replied in a whisper.

  “Maybe,” Fist said. He supposed that it was a useful word after all. But what if he heard a better word between now and then? There were so many wonderful words used around the Mage School.

  While he pondered this, Fist’s left heel caught on the broken edge of a rock-hewn step. He stumbled forward, trying to catch himself. He was able to turn sideways and dodge between Willum and Wizard Munsey, but he was losing control. Finally he reached out with his long arms and slammed his hands into the walls on either side to stop his momentum. He strained his muscles and came to a halt, but not before his broad chest collided with the soft form of Mage Vannya and sent her sprawling.

  With a yelp, she careened down the stairs. Jhonate turned and, seeing her coming, pulled Master Latva to the side, but Wizard Locksher wasn’t so agile. His eyes widened in surprise, but Vanny
a plowed into him anyway, knocking him down the last two steps and landing on top of him at the base of the stairwell. Wizard Valtrek, who had had been opening the steel framed door at the base of the stairs with a long brass key, jumped and whirled around with a shout.

  “Sorry!” Fist said with a grimace.

  Locksher laid stiffly with his back against the stone floor, letting out a soft wheeze. Vannya, who was laying face down over him, pushed herself up until she was straddling his hips. “Professor Locksher, are you okay?” She moved her hands over his chest, feeling out with her magic, and finally he let out a gasp.

  “I’m fine,” Locksher said “Fine! Just had the wind knocked out of me. Could you, um . . . stand up now?”

  “Oh.” Her face colored and she climbed off of him. Fist arrived at the base of the stairs, grasped Locksher’s arm, and pulled him to his feet.

  “I’m really sorry, professor,” he said with a grimace.

  “You may want to see about getting those stairs fixed, Valtrek,” Master Latva said, pointing to the chunk of missing stair.

  “Yes, I see,” said Valtrek. “Well, follow on.”

  Valtrek headed through the door and the others began filing through after him. Fist stayed behind for a moment to apologize to Locksher again, but the man wasn’t paying attention. He was staring after Vannya wordlessly as she passed through the door.

  Fist followed Justan through the door. That was embarrassing.

  More for Professor Locksher than for you, I would think, Justan replied with amusement. I thought your dance moves were terrific.

  That’s not funny, Fist grumped. Where are we going, anyway?

  I’m not sure, Justan said. But this area looks even in worse repair than the corridors leading to Valtrek’s office. It this weren’t the Mage School, I would think we were headed to a regular dungeon.

  At first glance it looked like a regular dungeon after all. Not as dark and cramped as Ewzad Vriil’s had been, but the area was dimly lit and the air was unpleasantly humid. The floor and walls were carved from rough-hewn stone. But that was where the similarities ended. All the cells were empty and lacking bars or doors of any kind and, to Fist’s mage sight, the walls were humming with elemental magic.