The Unsuspecting Mage

by Pratt, Brian S.

  Two silhouettes approach the door. Unable to make out any distinct features, they can only tell that one is adult size while the other is smaller. Moving his mouth next to Corbin’s ear, he whispers, “Let’s return to the stairs and hide.”

  Corbin nods and starts backing down the hallway.

  Being as quiet as they can, they return to the stairs and ascend a short ways until they can no longer see the hallway. Holding still, they await the approach of whoever it may be.

  James is sure that the sound of his heart, which feels like it’s trying to beat out of his chest, will surely give them away. They don’t have long to wait before two sets of footsteps enter the hallway from the outer room. He holds his breath, his heart beating wildly in fear as the footsteps draw closer, and pass by, the front of the stairwell. They then continue to the room at the end of the hallway wherein the pentagram lies.

  James whispers to Corbin as they return to the hallway, “Stay here, I’m going to see what they’re doing.”

  “Are you crazy? I’m getting out of here. If you’re smart, you will too.” With that he brushes past James, quickly moves down the hallway and exits through the front door. Once outside, he breaks into a mad dash as he races away from the house.

  Knowing logically that he should leave too, James has an undeniable need to know what is going on in there. Slowly and quietly, he makes his way through the rubble to the entrance of the room. As he approaches, a subtle, pulsing, dark blue glow begins emanating from the room. Steeling himself, he peers around the corner.

  Two individuals stand motionless before the pentagram. A small vortex pulsates with a dark blue radiance in the air above it. A feeling of horror washes over James, yet he’s unable to turn away.

  The taller of the two begins to chant; the unfamiliar words painful to the ears. The smaller one, which looks to be a young girl, snaps out of her lethargic trance at the utterance of the first word. With a scream, she tries to flee and is only able to take a step before the taller one seizes her by the hair, holding her fast. At the touch of the taller one, the ability to run seems to drain from the girl. Unable to run or even move, the girl stands there and cries.

  From the vortex, a shimmering wave stretches forth and makes contact with the girl. A soul wrenching scream tears from her throat. Her body spasms traumatically as pulses travel along the wave from the girl to the vortex.

  As more screams are wrenched from the poor girl, James reacts without thought. From a campaign wherein he played a druid, words of a spell issue forth:

  Forces of Good, forces of nature,

  Give me your aid this day

  Sever the bond, free the girl

  Course of evil to stay!

  Tendrils of power spring to life and converge from all directions at a point somewhere deep within him. From there it surges outward from his outstretched hand and arcs toward the shimmering wave. A blinding explosion like a mini-super nova flares when the two powers meet. Once the dots cease dancing before his eyes, he finds the wave from the vortex gone and the girl sags unconscious in the grip of the evil’s minion.

  Hatred and malice erupts from the vortex. As it washes over him, James senses that the evil in the vortex is now focused upon him.

  The evil’s minion turns toward James, letting go of the young girl who collapses to the floor.

  Wariness turns to shock as he discovers the evil’s minion to be a girl that looked a little younger than himself. Dressed in blue jeans and a black shirt, he’s further dumbfounded when he spies the words San Francisco written across the front. She’s from home!

  Her eyes glow with an inhuman intelligence; her face twists in an expression of pure evil. Wielding a dagger in one hand, she chants words whose very utterance set James’ skin acrawl.

  “I’m from Earth, too,” he shouts.

  But her expression fails to change.

  “We can help each other.”

  Unresponsive, she continues toward him and the chanting continues.

  Out of the corner of his eye he catches sight of a change in the swirling of the vortex. Taking his eyes from her for a moment, he glances quickly over to it. A shiver goes through him when he finds the vortex beginning to coalesce and take shape.

  The chanting from the girl suddenly stops and a dark cloud exudes outward toward him. The sight of the miasmic cloud causes him to dart backward out of the room but the cloud moves faster. He holds out his arm as if to ward it off, but instead feels excruciating pain.

  It engulfs his arm; welts form and fire races along his nerve endings. A scream escapes him as more of his body comes in contact. Somewhere amidst all this agony, he finds the strength to cry:

  Soothe and heal

  No pain to feel

  Power courses through his body and reduces the pain to a dull throbbing. The black cloud dissipates when the power behind the spell is exhausted. The features of the girl are contorted, misshapen and twisted by the evil which controls her. She continues advancing toward him.

  Thinking fast, James glances at the floor as an idea comes and casts:

  Stone like pudding

  Soft and slick

  Entrap her feet

  Then harden quick.

  As her foot descends to the floor during her next step, it sinks beneath the surface. Then as she moves forward with the other, it too passes within the stone of the floor. Once both have sunk into the stone floor a little past the ankles, the stone solidifies around them, encasing her feet. Her legs continue trying to bring her toward him, as if she does not realize what has happened. She starts chanting another spell.

  Taking a small stone fragment from the rubble littering the floor, he casts the same spell used when he killed the wolf and throws. Ping! The stone ricochets off an invisible shield surrounding the girl.

  Her chanting raises an octave and there’s a disconcerting prickling of his skin. He reaches down for another stone. Then borrowing from his druid’s repertoire of spells, he draws his arm back and says:

  Forces of Good, forces of nature,

  More aid do I need.

  Pierce the shield, through the heart

  The power of good, succeed.

  Again a multitude of power tendrils flow into him, meet in the center, and surging outward as he hurls the stone at the girl. This time when the stone connects with her protective shield, there’s an intense flash of light and the stone passes through to strike her in the chest. It then explodes out her back and she slumps lifelessly forward to the floor, settling at an awkward angle due to her legs still being encased within the stone floor.

  Tired, exhausted and drained, James turns toward the pentagram and the evil coalescing above it. The swirling vortex has now almost completely formed into something inhuman in aspect and malignant in nature. The glowing red eyes of the creature are fixed upon him and he can feel hatred roll over him like a filthy tide. Somehow, he knows that he must find a way to close this portal between worlds before the creature is able to manifest completely. He modifies another of his druid’s spells:

  Forces of Good, forces of nature,

  Hearken to me one last time.

  Seal the rift, the passage to close,

  And let victory at last be mine!

  One last time he feels the influx of multiple tendrils as they suffuse him with more power than ever before. So intense is the power as it passes through, that it feels as his nerve endings are being seared raw as it flows outward. In his mind’s eye he visualizes the portal and the power of the evil fighting to keep it open. Such malignant hate and evil; even in his worst nightmares he never could have imagined such to exist. His mind’s eye concentrates on the portal, directing the magic in drawing it close. The power continues flowing to, and then out through him, toward the portal.

  Wave after wave of malignant hate strike him like physical blows, each nearly causing him to falter. Somehow though, he manages to remain focused and continues directing the magic in closing the portal.

  Just befo
re the portal is no more, a final surge of unbelievable malignancy blasts into him and knocks him back several steps. With the closing of the portal, he ends the spell and the magic tendrils cease flowing into him. He has little time to enjoy his victory. Completely drained and exhausted, his eyes roll up into the back of his head, and he collapses to the floor passing out.

  When consciousness returns, he comes awake disoriented and with a headache threatening to split his skull wide open. Others are in the room, but he’s having a hard time getting his eyes to focus properly so couldn’t make them out.

  “James, are you all right?” a familiar voice asks.

  He knows it’s familiar, but his mind can’t quite put a name to it. Unable to utter more than an incoherent grunt, he shakes his head. Water is poured into his mouth and after a couple swallows, his vision clears. He manages a weak smile as his eyes finally focus on the one addressing him; Ceryn.

  “Thought…you…home,” he manages to get out.

  “Thought I went home?” When James nods, Ceryn shakes his head. “No. I was visiting a friend and happened to be at the Squawking Goose when Corbin came running through the front doors screaming of demons.”

  “When he finally told us what was going on, we hurried out here.” He then gestures to a man by the pentagram and continues, “I dragged our priest along just in case. When we saw the devastation, we thought for sure to find you dead. Imagine our surprise that you weren’t.”

  His mind couldn’t make sense of what the Warden was saying. “Devastation?”

  “Devastation like I never would have believed. Trees shriveled in a massive swath with this house at the center; plenty of the animals, too.”

  “How?”

  “We thought you might be able to tell us.”

  James just shakes his head.

  Another man kneels by the pentagram, the little girl in his arms. Sobs come from the man. James thought at first she was dead, but then the man notices him looking their way, wipes tears from his eyes, smiles and says, “Thank you. I don’t know how I can ever repay you for saving my little girl.” His sobs were those of gladness, not sorrow.

  The priest walks over and addresses Ceryn. “The girl is fine, if very weak. She will be fine after a few days rest I would think.” Turning to James, he adds, “You could do with a little rest yourself, young man” With that, he returns to the girl and her father and talks quietly with them.

  Another man enters the room and walks to Ceryn. “We found Hern and Joshua upstairs, they’re both dead. Looks like they were sucked dry somehow, their bodies are being loaded on the wagon as we speak and then we’re taking them back to town.”

  “Very well. Thank you for your help.” The man shakes Ceryn’s hand and then turns to walk out the door.

  The man by the pentagram helps his daughter to her feet and with the priest lending an arm, they manage to get her moving. They make their way slowly out the door and disappear down the hallway.

  Ceryn and Corbin help James to his feet. He glances at the older girl whose feet are still encased in the stone floor. “What are you going to do with her?”

  “Leave her for now,” Ceryn replies. “We plan to return tomorrow and the priest will thoroughly cleanse the house. Then we’re going to raze it to the ground.”

  They help him across the room and out to the narrow hallway, but not before he takes one last look at the girl and the words San Francisco on her shirt. She must have been that girl the news had said went missing the night before he left for the interview. He couldn’t help but wonder how she had come to such a state. Will his fate be similar? Shuddering at the thought, he leaves the room.

  Out front, he pauses to survey the devastation of which Ceryn had spoken. Mouth agape in horrified shock, he took in the trees shattered and twisted remnants of trees that stretched a far distance before the forest resumed its natural appearance. Some had even been blasted apart; for where the forest had been closest to the house lay a carpet of splintered wood. And from what Ceryn had said, it had not only been trees and undergrowth, but animals as well.

  Thinking back to the battle and the myriad tendrils of power that had answered his call, he understands. Forces of Good, Forces of nature. I did this. My spell called on nature and nature responded.

  Keeping such thoughts to himself, he allows Ceryn to bring him to a roan mare and assist him in mounting. He rides in silence while they lead him through what once had been a living and thriving ecosystem. His mind has a hard time coming to grips with what he has done.

  Upon reaching Trendle, Ceryn parts company as he plans to confer with the town council about what happened at the old abandoned estate.

  James is in a daze, has been since shortly after they left the devastated area. He merely nods as the Warden takes his leave.

  Corbin takes him home where James goes right to bed.

  Chapter Six

  _______________________

  Over the next two days James takes it easy, sleeping through most of the first, only awakening when Mary brings in a plate filled with eggs and potatoes. During his breakfast of the second day, he spies the girls peeking at him through the doorway. Their giggling alerts Mary who immediately shoos them away saying, “Let the boy eat in peace!” Once he’s eaten his fill, he lies back down.

  “You rest,” she says.

  As she passes through the doorway, James hears Mary again berate her girls for bothering him. Apparently they hadn’t shooed very far. He couldn’t help but grin. He has come to like Corbin and his family. They had definitely done everything they could to make him feel welcome while staying with them.

  The redness and welts caused by the black cloud have all but disappeared, and he feels much better after having rested the day before. He manages to fall asleep again and remains so until Mary brings in his lunch. The sound of her approaching his bedside prompts him to open his eyes.

  In her one hand she carries a bowl of soup and in the other, a cup of water. When she sees him looking at her, she asks, “How are you feeling?”

  “Better,” he replies as he sits up.

  She sets the glass of water on the nightstand next to the bed and then hands him the bowl and a spoon.

  The aroma coming from the soup makes his stomach growl. Taking the spoon, he eagerly scoops out a portion and begins eating. “Very good,” he says much to Mary’s pleasure.

  Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, she inspects his injuries. “We were worried about you,” she says. “Corbin said that when they found you, he thought you were dead.”

  He gives her a grin. “I can imagine,” he replies.

  “Too bad about Hern and the boy,” she says sadly. “At least you were able to help the girl.”

  “Is she alright?” he asks.

  Mary nods. “Her father says that she is much more subdued than what she used to be,” she explains. “Our priest thinks after some time has past, she will gradually regain much of her youthful exuberance.” A pause, then…“She used to be such a happy girl.”

  “After what she went through,” began James. “I can imagine it taking some time for her to recover.”

  “Yes,” she agrees. “We are all just thankful she is alive.”

  His bowl is soon empty. Taking it, she leaves the room with a final word about him getting more sleep.

  Taking her advice, he lies in bed for awhile but sleep is an unattainable goal. It isn’t long before he concludes that he’s not going to be able to fall asleep any time soon. Thankfully the throbbing in his head which had been nigh on unbearable the day before has subsided to a dull ache and he starts thinking that he may be able to enjoy living again. Being tired of lying in bed, he decides to get up and stretch his legs, wobbly though they may be.

  Taking it slow, he swings his legs over the bed and attempts to stand. When he gains his feet, sudden dizziness strikes him and he has to sit back down on the bed. Holding his head in his hands to calm the dizziness, and the slight increase in pain, he takes several d
eep breaths. Once the dizziness subsides and the pain returns to a manageable level, he again attempts to get to his feet, this time managing it without the sudden onslaught of dizziness and worsening of his headache. Feeling only slightly dizzy and unsteady, he refuses to give into weakness and shuffles over to the chair where his clothes are laid out and gets dressed.

  Once he manages to dress himself, he opens the door and walks out into the front area. There he finds Mary sitting at the table mending a pair of trousers. “Where is everyone?” he asks, coming over to the table.

  “The kids are out in the fields,” she replies, “and Corbin went with those returning to the house to help raze it to the ground.” She puts the trousers down and says, “Can’t sleep?”

  Shaking his head in response, James replies, “Not tired. I’m feeling much better too, your soup really hit the spot. I think I’ll take a little walk to stretch my legs and get some fresh air.”

  “Cyanna’s outside playing with the dogs,” Mary tells him. Picking up the trousers she continues, “If you should see her, tell her I would like her to come help me, okay?”

  “Sure will,” he agrees and then walks over to the door and goes outside. He looks for Cyanna but there is no sign of her or the dogs.

  Enjoying the warmth of the summer sun, he decides to walk over by the pond to find a comfortable grassy spot where he can sit down and relax. The ducks have since traveled on, so he just lays back and watches the clouds going by, enjoying the peace and quiet. The warm sun soothes his weary body, making him very relaxed. Before he even realizes it, he falls asleep.