Unsuspecting Mage

by Brian S. Pratt

  “I didn’t get all of them,” James admits. “Unfortunately, one of them escaped on horse back.”

  “At least you got me out of there alive,” he says.

  Just then a knock is heard at the door, Miko goes over and takes the food from the server, not letting him come in so as to preserve the secrecy of Perrilin’s presence at the Silver Bells. He then closes the door and places the tray upon the table. Taking one of the plates, he puts several pieces of baked chicken and some bread on it before taking it over to Perrilin. He then returns and starts in on his own share.

  Not much is said over lunch, each being deep in thought about recent events. When James finishes eating he gets up and grabs his backpack. Miko comes to his feet as well and starts getting ready to accompany him.

  Placing a hand on Miko’s shoulder, James says, “I need you to stay here and take care of Perrilin. I’m sure I’ll be fine by myself.”

  Miko is obviously disappointed at not being allowed to go to the Archives. He says, “Okay,” but is none too happy about it.

  “Bye, Perrilin,” he says as he opens the door. “You too Miko. I’ll see you when I get back.” Then he walks out the door and closes it behind him.

  With the letter in his pocket he travels down the road and it doesn’t take him very long to reach the gates to the castle area.

  As he approaches the gates one of the guards on duty sees him coming and says, “Halt! Declare your business.”

  James shows him the letter from Ellinwyrd. The guard takes notice of the symbol of the Archive Custodian at the bottom and says, “Wait here a moment.” Turning to a younger guard he says, “Run and see if the Archive Custodian is expecting a visitor.” As the other guard runs off, the first one turns back to James and says, “Just be a moment sir, can’t let anyone in without authorization.”

  “I understand,” he replies. While he waits for permission to enter, he looks out over the castle complex, excited about being so close to a real live castle. He sees several buildings bordering the street leading from the gatehouse wherein he waits, and through the opening between the buildings, the castle itself. Majestic and grand are what come to mind when he sees it. Tall, shining towers and an imposing central keep, quite impressive.

  The guard returns in the company of a boy wearing a tabard bearing the king’s coat of arms. The guard says, “If you will follow the page, sir, he shall lead you to the Archives.”

  “Okay, and thank you,” James tells the guard who only nods in reply. Turning, he follows the page as he is led into the castle area.

  Chapter Fourteen

  _______________________

  He marvels at the majestic buildings by which the page leads him. Tall, impressive, he is completely in awe at being in their presence. For one who had long desired to visit England and the castles of the British Isles, this was a dream come true. In stark contrast to the imposing edifices, the people they encounter were rather ordinary. Perhaps he had inflated expectations for those residing in such places, but their clothing aside, men and women alike were rather ordinary in their appearance. Not the bigger than life aura about them the movie industry led one to believe they possess.

  He nods to several, even offering a ‘hello’ to one grim looking individual wearing richly attire. But all that was given back was indifference, if they even took the time to glance his way that is. Despite the cold reception, he is ecstatic at being in such close proximity to a real, bona fide, castle!

  Their path takes them down a short lane passing between two stone structures which had to have been at least four stories tall where it opened onto a courtyard with a magnificent four tiered fountain amidst many beautifully flowering plants and bushes. Situated upon pedestals, statues and sculptures rose above the flowering bushes about the area. James takes note of several young ladies talking and laughing as they take their ease on a pair of benches placed near the fountain. One girl in particular, with flowing auburn hair, makes James’ heart skip a beat when he spies her standing there by the fountains with naught but her profile visible to him. But what a vision of beauty that profile was. His eyes lingered on her for a second too long, for she turns and their eyes meet. About to turn his gaze away, he stops when she gives him a smile and waves at him as he passes through.

  James waves back, feeling a little weak in the knees and awkwardly stumbles into a bush bordering the walkway. The unexpected obstruction causes him to trip and tumble to the ground. Red-faced and feeling the fool, he quickly gets back to his feet. The laughter of the girls by the fountain only worsens the feeling of embarrassment. He turns to find them pointing over toward him, laughing. Ears burning and feeling for all the world like curling up and dying right there, he hesitantly looks to the auburn haired girl only to find her smiling. But such is the manner in which she smiles that his pride is at least in a small portion restored. Giving her a quick, shy smile, he hurries to catch up with the page who has almost reached the other side of the courtyard.

  Catching up with him he asks, “Who was that girl by the fountain?”

  The page pauses and turns his head to glance back at the group by the fountain, “Which girl?”

  Pointing, he says, “That one.”

  “Oh, that is the Princess Alliende,” the page replies as he continues toward the edge of the courtyard.

  A Princess! A real honest to goodness princess, and she smiled at me! Reaching the edge of the courtyard, he looks back before he leaves and sees Princess Alliende still watching him. Seeing that he is looking, she waves at him one more time. Smiling a crooked smile, he waves back and then leaves the courtyard hurrying after the page.

  Once out of the courtyard, he’s led down another avenue until arriving at a medium sized building made of stone, with a single large wooden door standing open at the top of several steps. Leading James up the steps and in through the door, the page takes him down a hallway, past several doors until coming to a pair of double wooden doors at the end. Upon each of the doors is engraved the same symbol that had sealed the letter Ellinwyrd sent. The page taps upon the door and from within comes a muffled, “Enter!” at which the page opens the door and steps to the side, motioning for James to enter the room.

  The room is cluttered, papers and books lining every surface including the floor, not at all what he had expected of a place called the Royal Archives. An elderly man sits behind a table, bent over a large book laid out before him. A shaft of sunlight streams in over his shoulder from the window behind him illuminating the pages of the book. Hearing the door open and glancing up to see James enter he says, “Thank you Berin, you may go now.” The page bows to Ellinwyrd, for that is who this man must be, and then leaves, closing the door behind him.

  Ellinwyrd motions for James to come forward and sit in the chair opposite him saying, “Please, sit down.”

  James walks over toward the table, having to step carefully around several books lying abandoned on the floor and then sits in the chair. “Thank you sir, for taking time to see me,” he says.

  Ellinwyrd closes the book in front of him and sits back in his chair. “The letter that was delivered to me did not give any names but bore the seal of a friend.” He looks intently at James and asks, “Can you name him?”

  “Perrilin the bard wrote that letter on my behalf,” he answers.

  Nodding agreement, Ellinwyrd says, “I heard that he was taken by the city watch the other night. How is it that he is with you now?”

  “I came across him in an abandoned house outside of town,” he explains. “There were several men there who had him tied to a chair and were beating him pretty badly. I stopped them and brought him back to town.”

  “Is he okay now?” Ellinwyrd asks, obviously concerned.

  “He’s still sore from his ordeal,” James answers, “but claims he will live. He’s resting in a room at the Silver Bells even as we speak.”

  Ellinwyrd chuckles, “That sounds like him. We’ve been friends a long time now and I hate seeing him ge
t into these situations.”

  “Situations?” he asks.

  “Always something happening when he is around,” Ellinwyrd says. Waving his hand dismissively he continues, “But enough about him, what is it that you think I can help you with? The letter stated you thought there was something in which my help may be needed?”

  James removes the medallion from around his neck and hands it across the table to Ellinwyrd. “I was hoping you might know if this design has any sort of significance?”

  Taking the medallion, Ellinwyrd brings it close and takes a good look. After a minute of examination, he glances up to James and says, “It looks familiar, but I can’t quite remember why.” He contemplates the design a moment longer before turning it over and examines the smooth back side, rubbing it with his thumb. “What can you tell me about it?”

  “Not much really,” he answers, hoping he won’t have to tell him exactly the circumstances by which he acquired it.

  “Hmmm…” Ellinwyrd gets to his feet and walks over to one of the many shelves in the room with the medallion still in hand. He picks up one book, flips through the pages briefly before returning it to the shelf and then chooses another. “It seems that I remember seeing this in one of the older tomes, perhaps one dealing with…” he begins to explain before trailing off. Removing a tome with aged, yellow bindings and cracked by the march of time, he nods his head then brings it back to the table. “This may be it. This tome relates the history of various religious orders in the area, both those currently popular and others that have fallen out of favor,” he says to James as he returns to his seat and lays the book between them. Carefully opening it, he says. “There used to be other religions around than there are now, but for one reason or another have disappeared.”

  “Disappeared?” James asks. “How can a religion just disappear?”

  “Perhaps disappear is an over generalization,” he replies, looking up from the book and glancing across the table at him. “But some religions are no longer sought after by the common man. Over time their temples close, people no longer wish to be priests of that religion, so the religion, sad to say, fades away.” He returns his attention to the book, and continues flipping through the pages. Every once in a while he would pause when he came to a drawing, stopping only long enough to compare the diagram on the medallion to the one that’s in the book. When it proves not to be a match, he continues on.

  “Have there been many religion’s to fade away?” asks James.

  “I would think so,” he says. “Though how many is hard to say.” He turns to another page and again brings the medallion up close for a comparison. “I think we may have found it.”

  “Really?” says James excitedly, leaning across the table in an effort to get a better look at the picture. “What does it say?”

  Ellinwyrd hands the medallion back to James and silently reads the section in the book relating to the design depicted on the page. “There is not very much here, just a paragraph,” he says and then moves the book closer to James so he can better see. “This is the symbol of the god Morcyth. The man who wrote this did not know very much about those who believed in Morcyth, simply mentioning that it was an ancient religion whose priests were scholars and teachers.” He turns several more pages but finds nothing further written about Morcyth, so closes the book.

  “Have you heard of this Morcyth?” James asks him.

  Nodding, Ellinwyrd says, “A little. His influence waned over five hundred years ago I believe, though I am not sure why. I do know his priests were good, always helping everyone they came into contact with.” He looks questioningly across the table at James and asks, “One wonders how you came to be in possession of a medallion bearing the sign of a god whose priests have not been seen for over five hundred years?”

  Shifting in his seat under the eyes of Ellinwyrd, he hesitantly replies, “It was given to me.”

  “Oh?” Ellinwyrd says, arching one eyebrow questioningly.

  Not sure why, but James feels that he can trust him. “It’s a rather long, unbelievable story,” he says. “I was not born in this world,” James admits as he looks to see the reaction his words are having on him.

  “Truly?” asks Ellinwyrd, intrigued but somewhat skeptical. “What world were you born upon?”

  “We call it Earth,” he explains. “It’s very similar to this one, but with many differences. One of the major differences is that magic doesn’t work in my world.”

  “Fascinating,” Ellinwyrd says, then prompts James to continue.

  James then relates the tale of how he answered the ad and all the events from the time he entered this world until the time the god, or whatever that little creature is, gave him the amulet. He further explains how he came here to Cardri, how he hoped to discover the meaning of the amulet. How he hoped in some way to shed some light on all this.

  “An interesting tale,” Ellinwyrd says when James finishes. “It seems strange that you were brought to our world and not told why.”

  “I agree,” James says. “All I was told was to do what feels right.”

  “And it felt right to tell me your tale?” Ellinwyrd asks.

  “I feel I can trust you with it,” James explains. “Odd, but you’re the first one I’ve met in this world that I’ve felt that way about. Even Ceryn doesn’t know the whole story.” He looks to Ellinwyrd and asks, “I hope that I am not mistaken?”

  “Oh no, your story is safe with me,” Ellinwyrd assures James. “I can understand where secrecy about this might be the prudent course of action at this time.”

  “Having heard my tale, what would you propose I do now? Should I go in search of Morcyth? And if so, where do I start?” he asks.

  “You are the only one who can answer that,” Ellinwyrd says. “You were told to do what feels right, does going in search of Morcyth feel right?”

  Considering the idea a moment, he says, “I still feel that I need to know more, so I guess it does. Where would be a good place to start?”

  “I am not sure,” he admits. “Morcyth in his heyday was fairly widespread, with local temples in almost every major town. I believe I read somewhere that the central temple to Morcyth had been located in the Kingdom of Madoc, somewhere around the Sea of the Gods.”

  “Sea of the Gods?” James asks. “Where would that be?”

  “As you may be aware, the Silver Mountains lies along Cardri’s eastern border,” he explains. “On the other side you will find the Kingdom of Madoc. In the central area of Madoc sits an enormous body of freshwater called Sea of the Gods, with many cities lining its shores. Quite likely, one of those cities once housed the central temple to Morcyth,” continues Ellinwyrd. “However, which one eludes me.”

  “Well at least that’s a start,” James acknowledges.

  “One slight problem however,” he warns.

  “What would that be?” queries James.

  “In case you haven’t heard, the Kingdom of Madoc is being invaded by the Empire from the south. Travel there will be difficult at best. The Empire is currently besieging the town of Saragon, some hundred or so miles south of the Sea.”

  “I heard about that,” he admits. “Is there any way to get there without running into the Empire’s forces?”

  “There are two passes that allow travel between Cardri and Madoc which would not take you near the fighting, at least where the fighting is right now. One is the Merchant’s Pass, just east of the city of Trademeet. That one is the most direct path to the Sea and is still some distance north of the invading forces so should be relatively safe. The other one is the Dragon’s Pass. It lies further north past the Forest of Kelewan. It would be the safer of the two but will take you many days out of your way.”

  “I see,” says James. Getting up, he stretches his hand across the table to Ellinwyrd and then continues, “I appreciate you seeing me and being so helpful, but I must be going. I still have many things to do before I set out in the morning.”

  Motioning for Jame
s to sit back down, Ellinwyrd says, “Don’t be in such a rush. Maybe I can help you further on your quest.” He gets up from his chair and walks over to a table with many books lying in uneven piles upon it. He picks up one and brings it back to the table.

  “I have been meaning to send this to a colleague of mine who maintains the Great Library in the City of Light, which lies on the southern shore of the Sea of the Gods. His name is Ollinearn. From time to time we send each other copies of books and manuscripts that are of interest to the other.”

  He takes a large sheet of paper lying on a nearby table and proceeds to wrap the book tightly within it, inserting the corners within the folds until he has a nice, secure package with no loose edges. Taking a candle burning on the table, he drips some wax over a seam then presses his ring into it, making his sign. Satisfied, he hands it over to James who takes it.

  “If you would be so kind as to deliver this,” Ellinwyrd says as he gets a quill, ink and paper out, “I will write him a letter asking him to help you in any way he can.”

  “I would be glad to,” agrees James.

  Ellinwyrd takes but a moment to write out the letter, then rolls it up and like the package, places his seal in wax upon it. He hands the letter to James saying, “Give this letter to him and he should be willing to help.”

  James takes the letter and says, “Thank you for your, help. I will be sure to give him the book and letter when I arrive at the City of Light.” James again stands as he holds out his hand.

  Taking James’ hand, Ellinwyrd says, “I am glad I could be of some help. Should your travels bring you back to Cardri, please feel free to stop by for a visit. I would dearly like to hear more about you and your world.”

  “I will,” James assures him and then turns toward the door to leave.