A Forthcoming Wizard

by Jody Lynn Nye

  “I do not care!” Rin replied indignantly. “What more can he get from us that he did not get? Oh, why did I tell him?”

  “There was nothing you could do,” Lakanta said, also for the hundredth time or so. “My dear, we are not wizards or knights, and I doubt there are many of those who could withstand those strange eyes of his. No wonder the Orontae wizard went mad. We are just lucky that he has left us alive.”

  “He still wants us as hostages,” Rin said. “We are trade goods. What a humiliation!”

  “He is completely mad. He wants to end the world. If only there was something we could do to stop him.” Lakanta shook her head. “I hate it when only one party in a transaction has all the advantages. If only we knew where we were. I wonder how far we are from where we were.”

  Restlessly, Rin thrust herself up and onto her feet. Lakanta did not have to see to know what she was doing. She heard the whisper-click of the centaur’s hooves feeling their way over the unevenly hewn floor.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  “It won’t do you any good,” Lakanta said, pitching her voice over the sound of Rin kicking the door of their cell. “That door’s good stone and it’s more than two feet thick. It would take ten of my cousins with steel hammers and chisels a month to hammer through it. You’re not even chipping it.”

  “I have to do something!” Rin said. Her voice had a sharp edge of panic in it. “Will he not at least give us some light? I hate being in darkness!”

  Rin returned and settled down beside her. Lakanta felt the warmth of her body and appreciated it. “Thank you for your courtesy. You must be as uncomfortable as I.”

  “I’ve had worse accommodations,” Lakanta said, forcing cheerfulness into her tone that she did not feel.

  “At least we are being fed,” Lakanta said. “I almost miss poor Morag’s cooking.”

  Rin laughed, well diverted. Lakanta was relieved. She had achieved a moment’s calm. It would not last. “Do you?”

  “Almost, I said. Burned meat would be better than none at all.”

  A hand sought hers in the blackness and squeezed. “If I had to be shut away in a tiny stone box with only bread to eat, I am grateful to the eternal ones to have a friend like you to save my sanity.”

  “Don’t say that,” Lakanta said, squeezing back. “You’ll ruin my reputation for heartless dealing.”

  “As if anyone could hear you talk for a moment and find you heartless,” Rin said. Lakanta felt her heave herself to her feet again. “Ah! It’s so quiet and hot in here! What I wouldn’t give for light and clean air!”

  Her hooves clattered across the floor, and she started kicking again. Lakanta shook her head. Rin was as obdurate as the stone she was attacking. She should be doing something, too, but what? The atmosphere in the place muddled her mind. The enormous ratlike creatures scratched around the doors, and who knew what else was out there?

  “Stop a moment,” Lakanta said, sitting upright and frowning. “I hear something.”

  “That is me kicking the door.”

  “And I see something. Green light. Just a tiny dot, as if it’s very far away. Where in the mountain’s name is it coming from?”

  “Your eyes are so starved for sight they are playing you tricks,” Rin said. “The only way to see light is once we are back on the surface and free. But first I will kick the life out of that . . . that creature. How dare he cage us up!”

  “Please, my friend,” Lakanta said. “No one would like to cast about threats more than I at the moment, but I hear scratching.”

  At last Rin allowed herself to calm down, and she came to where Lakanta’s voice was. She listened.

  “By the Mother’s mane! I hear something. And I do see a bit of light.”

  Lakanta tapped the stone with a fingertip. “I know stone as sure as I know my own bones, and it sounds thin here.” She raised a shoe and kicked at it with all her might. It fractured like a pie crust. Lakanta jumped back at the glare of green light that flooded from the hole. A face looked up at her.

  “Hello,” it said. “We are friendly. Who are you?”

  “Well, now,” Lakanta said, rocking back on her heels. “Rin, my dear, you are right. I am hallucinating. I am seeing Tildi with a beard.”

  Neither Serafina nor Olen had time for lessons; nor could Tildi have concentrated upon them if they had. She was all too clearly aware of the proximity of her homeland. She felt that the elders were looking down disapprovingly upon her from the high bluffs as the pair of ships sailed out of the mouth of the Arown and turned westward, making for Tillerton.

  All enmity had been put aside in the name of the cause. The Scholardom had united with the werewolves for the sake of defense. Sharhava and Patha had formed an alliance that surprised everyone for everything except its intensity. Tildi saw something new in Sharhava’s rune: she had formed a bond of friendship with the werewolf matriarch. Though she loved her niece, she had few tendrils that reached out to others. Tildi was glad to see it. Serafina maintained a spell bridge that allowed free passage between the two ships so anyone could come and go as he or she pleased. Tildi also noticed that Prince Eremi spent whatever time his father did not demand on the Eclipse training in company with the Scholardom. He and Inbecca knew how dangerous the coming days would be, making every moment together precious. Tildi often heard the sound of sweet music in the evenings as he played his precious jitar for Inbecca. Magpie stood at his father’s side now, as Inbecca flanked the abbess on the opposite side of the ship’s wheel. Every person in the company was on guard, as prepared as they could be for what might come. She hated to see any of them thrown into danger, but they had to get her friends back safely.

  A howl came from the lookout’s basket. Captain Betiss pointed with his chin at a dark spot in the cliff face in between a narrow pair of waterfalls that tumbled down into a pool and flowed down the shorelands to the sea. Reckoning by the book, they had sailed westward for a day. The cave mouth was on the coast in a wild area that was claimed neither by the humans, the smallfolk, nor the dwarves, who lived under vast tracts of the mountains farther to the west.

  “There’s one of your ways in to the tunnels, masters,” he said. “This place was occupied once, long ago, but it’s been abandoned just as long. You see the ramp cut into the stone below it? That’s wide enough for two carts to pass abreast. Just like back in Tillerton.”

  “Plenty of room for a force to march upward,” Halcot said, eyeing the cave.

  “But not enough for them to stand upright, if Tildi is correct,” Olen reminded him.

  “We will put up with whatever discomfort necessary,” Captain Teryn declared. Morag stood at her shoulder. Tildi noticed how closely he watched everything Calester did. Such scrutiny was not lost upon the Maker, who seemed to enjoy the scrutiny. He gave the sergeant a solemn nod and pointed to a spot on the page to which the Compendium was open.

  “Put into the cove,” Calester said. “This is near enough.”

  Captain Betiss set up another howl that split the cold sky. The werewolf crew sprang to their posts and spilled air out of the sails. They launched a small pilot boat that guided the ships through the narrow neck, avoiding the jagged pillars, so sharp that the dark blue sea was torn to white rags upon them. Seals and gulls on the rocks let out their own harsh cries as the ships passed.

  “The bottom’s deep in the middle here,” Haroun said as the mate repeated his barked order to drop anchor. “We are lucky to have such fine weather, in spite of the lateness of the season. Too many rocks. We could tear out our bottom if we were blown out of the channel. It’s a good thing my people don’t have to row you to shore; one good thing about having wizards aboard.”

  “I see no thraiks,” Magpie said, peering at the cliffs. “He must not let his pets run where they could be spotted. No doubt they exercise as far away from here as they can.”

  “He is in there,” Calester said, looking down into the book and up again. “Not close by, but within that complex. Mist
ress Summerbee is right.”

  “How far from that point will we find this Knemet?” Soliandur asked.

  The Maker frowned. “This is not a map, highness, it is a symbolic representation. If you were to measure the tunnels as they are indicated here, they would appear to grow or shrink. It could be a matter of hours or days.”

  The crew picked up local gossip along with supplies. The missing statue and huge chunks of rock on the island where the Guardian had stood was the talk of the seaport.

  “They call it a bad omen,” Captain Temur said, shaking his head with merriment in his eyes. “I would’ve told them we have the Guardian on board our vessel, but no one would have believed me.”

  In spite of his light words, he took his responsibilities seriously, as did his son. Everyone was making ready to invade the underground fastness.

  “We must not come too close to Knemet before we are prepared,” Olen said. “There is no hiding the effects of the book. Once he sees runes appear, he will know it is close.”

  “We are all prepared to fight,” King Halcot added. “My guards are trained to a razor’s edge.”

  “As are my knights,” Sharhava added. “We can provide protection on land or in the air. We have been practicing protective wardings under the tutelage of Mistress Serafina. We are well provisioned, and our weapons are ready. When the confrontation comes, you may rely on us.”

  “You won’t be coming,” Calester said.

  “What?” Sharhava demanded, her chin out. “You cannot dismiss us out of hand. You will need us! Who knows how many miles of tunnels we must search to find the missing? We can help.”

  “I cannot risk you,” the Maker said. “Your skills are not enough to protect you from one of my kind, especially one so irresponsible and callous as Knemet. You would never persuade him to give up your friends, and you might become another prisoner I must rescue or bargain for. Master Olen and I have been discussing the matter. I must be the one to face Knemet, so I must go, of course. Master Olen is nearly as accomplished a wizard as we are, and will help rather than hinder the effort.”

  “Thank you for the compliment,” Olen said dryly. Tildi didn’t see a bit of rancor in his rune. Evidently he had taken the Maker’s personality into account and did not take offense at what was an outrageous insult.

  “I need the Compendium with me. Without it, my abilities are too closely matched to his. We know all of each other’s tricks and ways of thinking. I require its advantage. Since it would encumber me I would like to ask Mistress Tildi to accompany me and help keep it out of Knemet’s reach.”

  “I will come,” Tildi said.

  “Knemet will have the advantage of the book as well, once it is within reach,” Olen said.

  “But he is not expecting it,” Calester said. “With the wardings in place, he will not know exactly where it is until I allow him to know. By the way, I see you have been using a variation on the protective spells I invented,” he added, looking up with pleasure at the pale silver veils that enveloped the ships. “I appreciate the refinements you have added.”

  “Thank you,” Olen said. “It is a most elegant rune. Mistress Serafina has maintained our wards during most of the journey. Her mother, the wizardess Edynn, was responsible for adapting this part of the spell for greater protection.”

  Calester bowed to her. “I see I am in the presence of a most puissant magical dynasty.”

  “Never mind the pleasantries,” Serafina said with a touch of asperity. “See, the runes are climbing up the hills. They will touch the headlands soon. We do not have very much time until he knows we are here.”

  “I understand that, lady,” Calester said. “That is why we must make our move at once.”

  Sharhava was outraged. “You can’t take the book straight into his hands. It must stay here, safely out of reach, and Mistress Summerbee as well, where we can guard them. That is our job.”

  “I must take it,” Calester said firmly. “He will see the runes when they touch him. The effect, as you well know, reaches out far in advance of our arrival. I must take the risk.”

  “Bad planning,” Soliandur said firmly. “You may be a wizard, but not a general.”

  “Then what, my lord?”

  “We have discussed this time and again over the last days! You need a diversion.”

  “I had already made that decision,” Calester said. “A two-pronged attack will distract him.”

  “Two-pronged?” Halcot asked.

  “Aye. A force here in the bay will distract most of his protectors so that it will be possible for a smaller group, led by me, to go inside the stronghold and search for the lost ones. I will agree to take guards with me if the rest of you remain here and keep the thraiks dancing for as long as needed. The moonfolk are a commanding force on board as your guards and knights are in the skies. We will send a signal to you when we have the others safe.”

  “That sounds acceptable,” Soliandur said. “I would be pleased to go with you.”

  “And I,” said Halcot. The two kings looked almost eager for the chance. Olen cleared his throat.

  “No, my lords,” he said ruefully. “I cannot think that it would be wise to denude the thrones of two countries of their kings if the situation goes awry. We have no advantage except surprise. Once we are within Knemet’s realm, his rules take precedence. We do not know what we face. None of us can identify some of the runes we see in those tunnels. He has given rise to one new species of which we know; there will surely be others, possibly more dangerous than the eel-creatures.”

  “We accept the chance of danger,” Halcot said, his jaw set.

  “But I cannot allow you to take it. I would rather take a few of your guards. I do not value their lives less, but it will not cause a catastrophe in the dynasty of Rabantae or Orontae if we do not return. I offer you an alternative task, one of equal importance to the survival of our company.”

  “And what may that be?” Soliandur asked, his hooded eyes glowering.

  “Protecting Mistress Serafina. One of our number must remain here to maintain the spells to allow your steeds to take to the air and to provide the necessary magical protection.”

  Tildi looked up at Serafina. By the set of her jaw, the young wizardess had just barely agreed to be left behind, but she understood the necessity.

  “It sounds like you wizards have everything already worked out,” Halcot said sourly. “We poor folk who lack magic are only pawns in your chess game.”

  “Not at all,” Olen said, regarding the golden-bearded man with some sympathy. “None of these decisions are lightly undertaken, my lord.”

  “Very well,” Halcot said with ill grace. “May I and my captain choose those who will go with you?”

  “And I?” Sharhava asked, equally miffed.

  “Of course,” Calester said, bowing to them. “We trust your judgment.”

  Halcot nodded to Teryn, who saluted and marched back to her company. Sharhava had a quick word in a low voice with Loisan. He nodded and walked over to the rail where the Scholardom stood waiting impatiently for news. He returned with three knights in tow, each well armed and carrying a full pack. Tildi recognized Lars Mey, Pedros, and Vreia, the three shortest in stature of all the Scholardom except for Princess Inbecca. Teryn brought back Morag and a lithe, dark-skinned woman she introduced as Demballe.

  “Very well, that many and no more. I do not want to have to protect an army.” Calester caught the look of disapproval on Tildi’s face and smiled down at her. “You do not like the way I lead, little one?”

  Once she would have been embarrassed to be singled out for her opinion. Tildi straightened her shoulders, lifted her chin, and looked the tall human straight in the eye.

  “You could at least leave people their pride,” she said.

  “You are the one who told me that the matter was urgent. Could you do better? You have never fought a war.”

  Tildi was not going to let him talk down to her, not when she knew she was ri
ght. “But I have run a farm. If I needed to have a second team of threshers in a distant field, I must trust them to take the task and do it as well as they can, without my eyes upon it. For that, I must show them the meaning of their part of the harvest. If I only snap out instructions, they will feel I don’t trust them to understand.”

  Calester looked indignant. “I am trusting them.”

  Olen chuckled. “I believe Tildi thinks that counsel should be taken with all parties involved, Master Calester, and I can’t disagree with her. Perhaps we have been high-handed, my lords. I believe the conclusions we would have reached would differ little. We must go as silently and swiftly as possible, therefore a large party would be a detriment. The force that remains here must be strong and well organized. Do you not agree?”

  Soliandur snorted. “Is it any wonder I mistrust wizards? Everything is done in secret in the dark, and the rest of us mortals must deal with the aftermath.”

  “I will not deny that is often true, my lord, though it sometimes takes a good deal longer to explain our workings than simply to show them.”

  “You say we are going to create a diversion out here?” Captain Betiss asked.

  “That is correct,” Calester replied. “We cannot conceal the book, so we must overwhelm Knemet with its presence. We will slip ashore silently, but that will reveal the ships to him. In fact, I mean to divide my old colleague’s attention. It may even bring him out himself, though I have my doubts as well as my hopes. He always was a snail in his shell.”

  “And how are we going to do that?” Magpie asked.

  “Like this,” Calester said. He pointed his hand at the main deck of the Corona. A small spot the size of a coin appeared on the boards just forward of the main mast. Lines began to spread outward from it in a complicated pattern. Tildi peered at it. She thought of all the ancient symbols she had learned, but this one was unfamiliar as yet.