The Cave of Nine Bears (Chronicles of a Magi)

by Gene Curtis

  Mark looked at the photos while LeOmi flipped through them. After she was finished, he said, “So we’re looking for a cave with that picture of a wheel.”

  “Actually, no. That petroglyph will let us know it’s the right place, but maybe it’s not unique or maybe it doesn’t exist yet. We’ve already looked at images of every bit of cave art known to exist and that image was not among them. What we’ll be looking for is the keeper of the prophecy. If it’s something that is destined to be located, there will be a prophecy about it. It could be something written down or it could be something passed down orally. We’ll be looking for where Henry,” he looked at LeOmi, “your former coach, got that wheel he left you in his will or how he knew to put that prophecy on the back of it.”

  LeOmi said, “He made the wheel himself.”

  “That’s what Jacque, his foreman, said.”

  “Jacque’s still there? I thought the place was sold.” Jacque was the foreman at her former coach’s ranch and had been there for most of his life. He was also a good friend to Henry and might know something more about the wheel LeOmi had inherited.

  Mr. Young and Mr. Diefenderfer looked at Mark and Mr. Young said, “Lease with an option to buy as an absentee tenant, he wanted to keep Jacque there to run the place. Told him that if he’d stay on he could keep all the money he made. Rather generous fellow if you ask me. Only condition he made was he had to keep two of the horses there, Henry’s Horse and Fire, I think he said, but he could do whatever he wanted with the others.”

  Mr. Diefenderfer corrected, “Fury... not Fire.”

  “Quite right my friend. I must be getting close to middle-aged. My memory isn’t as good as it used to be.”

  Mark and LeOmi smiled; Mr. Young and Mr. Diefenderfer were in their middle one hundred and fifties, well past middle-aged for most people. LeOmi had more reason to smile than Mark since Fury was her favorite of Henry’s horses and she had a fondness for the ranch’s old foreman. She’d been concerned about what Jacque would do once the ranch was sold. She made her mind up that she was going back to visit him as soon as she could.

  Mr. Diefenderfer said, “All well... and good... now... back to the... reason for... this discussion.”

  Mr. Young reached for the folder LeOmi had and said, “Right. We’ve searched all the recorded prophecies and foretellings and have yet to find a clue. Our next step is to consult with experts, if there are any, on the subject.”

  LeOmi handed the folder back and asked, “Raphael, what does he say about it?”

  “He won’t talk about it. He says we should be looking for the sunstone replica.”

  Mark looked a little puzzled. “If you’re supposed to be looking for the fake sunstone, why are you helping us? It’s not your quest.”

  Mr. Young and Mr. Diefenderfer chuckled. “Over the years we’ve come to realize that Raphael is really clever. He often hides behind jokes and being contradictory, but he really does want to help. Only he’s prevented from just coming right out and saying what he means so he puts... puts is not quite the right word, but he puts groups to work at seemingly mutually exclusive things in such a way that they have to cooperate with each other to accomplish each goal.”

  Mr. Diefenderfer clarified, “Sometimes... different groups think... they’re working to... achieve different things... when achieving one... achieves the other... as well.”

  Mr. Young said, “Couldn’t have said it better myself. We believe this is one of those cases.”

  Mark said, “So finding the fake sunstone will lead to the staff?”

  Mr. Diefenderfer said, “Or vice versa.”

  Mark said, “If that is true then we need to start looking for the sunstone. If I were going to hide it, I’d put it in the most secure location possible. Do you know where the Neo-Phylum headquarters is?”

  “We in fact... do know where... their headquarters is... in Iznik... formerly known as... Nicaea. Our operatives assure... us it is... not there.”

  “How many places have you guys looked for it?”

  Mr. Young and Mr. Diefenderfer looked at each other. Mr. Young said, “Good question.”

  Mr. Diefenderfer thought for a moment and said to Mr. Young, “I can’t think... of a reason... why they shouldn’t... see it.”

  Mr. Young said, “Let’s give him a copy.”

  Mr. Diefenderfer nodded and Mr. Young said, “Come by my office before dinner.”

  * * *

  Gayle, one of the executive assistants for the offices of the Council of Elders had Mark and LeOmi wait in the lobby since Mr. Young hadn’t returned yet. He was expected back soon.

  LeOmi sat in a chair and picked up a magazine. Mark began looking at the paintings on the walls. One depicted Zoroaster as a young man meeting Job, an old man with a long gray beard, on a mountainside overlooking a flat desert plain. Magi history recorded this meeting where Zoroaster discussed his faith with Job and the two philosophies were so similar that Zoroaster considered them as being practically the same. Another painting showed an old man with a beard atop a hill holding his staff high while two ancient armies fought on the desert below. Yet another showed a man asleep on top of a mountain with a vista of The First Mountain spread around him in his dream. History recorded that this was the discovery of The First Mountain since he was there when he awoke. Since then six other mountains with similar access points had been discovered.

  Mr. Young walked in carrying a white bag with the store logo Tesla’s Toys in electric blue on the side. “Sorry, I’m running a bit behind. The electronics shop was a bit more crowded than usual.” He motioned for them to follow.

  His office was lined with glass shelves filled with old objects that looked in need of a good dusting. His ancient desk was cluttered with various size small boxes filled to overflowing with odd bits of notepapers, small metal and plastic parts and partially disassembled gadgets. A computer sat on a small table beside his desk.

  He pulled from the bag he was carrying two odd looking necklaces and a small computer tablet. He picked up another necklace from his desk and put it on. “Put the necklaces on like this, with the transmitters at the base of your skull. They transmit directly to the visual cortex.”

  He turned on the tablet and waited for it to boot. When the image came up, it filled Mark’s entire field of view with a blue background. There was a single icon in the middle that looked like a picture of the Earth. The image was transparent and he found he could shift his attention from that image to what he was looking at in the real world with ease or focus his attention entirely on the computer image while ignoring the real world. He said, “Nick’s going to love this.”

  Mr. Young smiled and LeOmi asked, “Why not just use a computer screen?”

  “The resolution on a computer screen is somewhat limited. This allows you to zoom in a lot without losing detail, watch.” He tapped the icon once and then spread his fingers apart several times over the image that appeared on the screen. The image zoomed in each time he tapped and spread his fingers. Five times of doing this brought the view down over a street in London, England. Then he zoomed in on a car at the top of the display and they could read the license plate. The license plate image on the tablet’s screen was very blurry. “The tracking information on where our people have searched is updated in real time. You’ll have the information as soon as anyone does, as long as the device is near a hot spot. The password this week for the overlay is ‘chocolate’. I’ll keep you updated on that.” He typed in the word and the overlay appeared on the screen. “If the sunstone is found a large red dot will appear.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Surprise!

  Running the kitchen last year entailed everything from designing it to building it and stocking it to making sure everything ran properly. It had been a lot of work, but it was wildly successful even though it was only open on Saturday nights. Patrons weren’t allowed to pay for their meals either (it was a project for sophomores to get some hands-on experience and customers p
aid by way of a comment card), but they were generous with their tips. They were so generous in fact that the project actually turned a profit, a small one, but still a profit.

  This year Jamal would be able to just supervise and act as maître d’ when needed. After all, it was his kitchen. A number of last year’s chefs were back this year and looking forward to breaking in the rookie chefs, quite a bit different from last year where everyone basically had to wing it.

  They also had several new items on the menu and he was looking forward to peoples’ reactions to their handmade cheeses, most of which had been aged for ten months.

  The kitchen had been built in the picnic section of the recreation area in the center of the first level of the mountain. It was five thirty; half an hour before they opened and people were already showing up. They had run out of food last year, just once, and people wanted to make sure they got what they wanted in case it happened again. He had made sure it wouldn’t.

  He joined his group of friends at their table. “Where are Mark and LeOmi?”

  Nick answered, “Mr. Young wanted to see them in his office.”

  James asked, “What have they done now?”

  Salina said, “Mr. Diefenderfer and Mr. Young are probably discussing how to search for the lake without getting attacked.”

  Chenoa pointed, “There’s LeOmi; I don’t see Mark.”

  “Where’s Mark?” Chenoa asked as she approached.

  “He went to get something, said he might be a few minutes late.”

  Salina leaned across the table and touched LeOmi’s hand. “I heard about the attack at the last lake. If you’d like to talk about it, I’d like to hear.”

  A brief wave of sadness washed over everyone in range of LeOmi’s reverse empathy before she caught herself and was able to bring it under control. “They weren’t armed until the end; that’s when Mark sicked the fish on ‘em.” She turned to Jamal. “Hi guy. What’s cooking?”

  He produced a handful of new leather-bound menus with a smile and handed them out. “We’ve added deep dish pizza, custom macaroni and cheese and several other cheese based dishes.”

  “I thought this was a gourmet kitchen?”

  “Oh, it still is. We analyzed the orders from last year. People ordered mostly comfort food and the most common thread was cheese. We realized the cheese part right off and started making our own. We serve the best gourmet comfort food you’ll find anywhere. Tonight I recommend the beef lasagna, a supreme delight with mozzarella, feta and Parmesan. Even the noodles were pressed right here.” He put his fingertips to his lips and kissed them before flaring them out. In his best Italian accent he said, “Signorina LeOmi, it’s so a good you will get a fat because you will eat a too much.”

  LeOmi chuckled. Everyone chuckled. Jamal was definitely in his element.

  A man dressed in regular clothes approached the table. “Hello, is this where Mark will be?”

  Jamal thought he recognized the man but couldn’t put a name with the face. “Mark will be here. He’s running a little late.”

  He nodded, “Thank you,” and walked away to join a large crowd waiting on the periphery of the picnic section.

  Jamal looked the crowd over before saying, “I’d better let the chefs know about the size of this crowd. See you later.”

  Shana and Bekka came to the table and Shana asked, “Where’s Mark?”

  LeOmi answered, “He should’ve been here by now.”

  Shana closed her eyes and a few moments later said, “He’s coming down the stairs with a couple of boxes... setting them on a hand truck on top of a couple more boxes. He should have gotten someone to help him with that... He’s on his way.” She opened her eyes. “Okay, what would you guys like to eat?”

  LeOmi said, “Lasagna and a glass of tea.”

  Everyone else said they’d have the same.

  A few minutes later Mark walked up pulling a hand truck stacked with four boxes. “Almost forgot to bring enough pendants.” He looked at the crowd. The crowd was large enough that it would take hours to swear in everyone one at a time. “I think two thousand should just about do it. Did you guys already order?”

  Everyone nodded. Mark tapped Nick, who was sitting on the end of the bench nearest him, on the shoulder. Nick stepped out and Mark stood on the bench. He raised the staff high and a hush fell over the crowd.

  The oath giving had begun spontaneously last year when Kenneth, a third level sophomore had pledged his allegiance to Mark and his quest to defeat Benrah. When Kenneth had finished, everyone else at the table that had not been pre-chosen stood and gave the exact same oath. When they were finished, Shana read a prophecy given centuries earlier that stated the oath almost exactly. The prophecy also said that seven thousand from each tribe would pledge that oath. He estimated tonight’s crowd to be about two thousand people. It would take quite a while to sign them in and he felt sure a lot of them were there to eat as well.

  He raised his voice, “Sorry I’m running late. Those of you here to give your oath step forward and give it as a group. There’s too many to do it as individuals. You’ll be able to sign in after supper.”

  He lowered the staff and a large group stepped forward. In unison, they knelt and placed their weapons on the ground. One person began “I choose...” and everyone else joined in, “I choose... my sword, my skills and my life serve you and your quest to defeat Benrah.”

  Mark concluded in a loud voice, “I’ll be right here when you finish eating. You can sign in and get your pendant then. The food is free; just make sure to fill out a comment card. The teachers use them to grade the chefs.”

  After Mark’s group ate and people started coming up to sign in Mark said, “I have some news to tell you guys so stick around after everyone is gone.”

  Mark was putting a pendant on a person’s neck about every five seconds now. Salina had organized the crowd into five lines and it was moving fast: print your name on a piece of paper and get in line for a pendant. The pendant, a naturally occurring crystal cross on a silver chain, served as a reminder of the oath and it identified the wearer to others. Mark had given up on looking at each person as an individual after two and a half hours. He didn’t even notice that it was his mother in front of him now waiting for her pendant. All he saw was the blond hair hanging down as the woman held her head bowed waiting for the chain to be placed on her neck. When it was she raised her head and said, “Honey, thank you.”

  The voice sounded like his mother’s with a heavy southern accent. His mother also called everyone honey or hon. It was a North Carolina thing. That’s why he looked to see the face of this North Carolina lady. He almost didn’t believe what he was seeing. “Mom?”

  “Hi, honey.”

  “Mom! What are you doing here?” He looked her up and down. She was dressed in a black tunic set just like every other student here. Her tunic had green trim.

  “Emerald Tribe, second year junior.”

  He looked at her hand; she was wearing a signet. It was almost too much to take in. “What? How?”

  She leaned to the side a little, enough for him to see who was standing behind her.

  “Dad?”

  Mark looked over his shoulder to find his brother who was now seated two tables away looking at him and talking with Cap’n Ben and LeOmi. “James!” He waved for his brother to come over.

  “He already knows.” Mark turned back to his mother. “It’s a lot to explain, honey. We’ll talk when you’re through here.”

  After Mark and Salina finished with the last person they hurried over to where his mom and dad were seated talking to the rest of the group. He hugged them both without letting them stand. “How on Earth did you do this?”

  “Well, hon, you heard Mrs. Shadowitz say that there was an older student restarting her studies; well, that’s me. I was a second level junior when I was attacked. They’re letting me start where I left off. I don’t know what I’d do if they made me start back at the beginning and make up thos
e first five years.”

  “You’re a Magi? But you were so, so...”

  “Against Magi school? Well, yeah... that was the way my minds tried to protect me from some pretty awful memories. I lost all my memories and whenever anything that might have brought them back happened, my minds would rebel or even just shut down.”

  He turned to his dad.

  “I’m studying as a thaumaturgy and took a position here as a janitor. I’m working in the museum. I wasn’t about to stay home alone.”

  “Are you guys staying in Magi City or the dorms?”

  His mom answered, “I can remanifest; we’re staying at home.”

  His mind was doing cartwheels. His mom, a warrior, it was hard to fathom. He just couldn’t picture her with a sword in her hand, much less wielding it in combat. She was so gentle, so delicate, so, so— “It’s not right! You can’t be a Magi. You’re my mom!”

  LeOmi sighed. “Listen at you. You grew up with an image of your mother in your mind. Now you find out that image was all wrong. Your mother is a real person. Get over it.”

  Nick added, “You wouldn’t even have blinked if it had been my mother.”

  Mark nodded, “You’re right, but it’s just so weird.”

  His dad said, “You think it’s weird? Imagine how I felt when I found out. It was downright scary. You should have seen her fight. I thought she was going to cut my head off instead of the thrall behind me. Last year’s attack brought her back.”

  It was after midnight when his parents finished answering questions. Mark said, “It has been a very interesting day. Aside from my parents, an interesting development has happened in the search for LeOmi’s lake. The search for the lake is the clue we’ve been following to find the second staff. Mr. Diefenderfer and Mr. Young have been searching for the sunstone. There are indications that the two quests are connected, finding one leads to the other. We’ve decided to start going after the sunstone as well.”