The Serpent's Orb

by Guy Antibes

  No one showed any interest in him, so Jack rose and found a log to sit on outside the circle of wagons and lit a torch that floated in the air. The book that he had mostly neglected since Quist had taken it from Derr Mason’s library was as impenetrable as always. He wondered why he couldn’t understand it. The Alderachean summary that Fasher had given him wasn’t so difficult to comprehend.

  Jack flipped the pages and found a section on the Second Manipulation and tried to puzzle out the words. It was difficult going, but he managed to realize that one of the functions of the Second Manipulation dealt with distorting perceptions. He wondered if a wizard had manipulated the volume so he couldn’t read it and that was what he was experiencing. He wanted to talk to Quist about it, but the man had been trading swigs from the liquor jug and wouldn’t be any help.

  He yawned and trudged back to their camp and retired before any of the others.

  Chapter Sixteen

  ~

  J ack woke up in an empty clearing.

  As Jack frantically looked around the campsite, everything was gone except for Jack and his bedroll. His hand went to his pocket, and he drew out the cube that verified the blue side still pointed southeast. He couldn’t imagine what could have happened unless his drunk friends left without him.

  His magic sword was gone, but no one had removed his wand or his purse. He had no horse, no food, and no companions. At least they hadn’t killed him or taken all of his objects of power. He wondered if this was the patriarch’s work. The tracks of the wagons meant they were headed south into the swamp. That could mean anything, but he had the feeling his friends would have gone with them. It was the only thing that made any sense. He had to follow the tracks to find out.

  Quist was a wizard, so that could that have something to do with his friends’ disappearance? Who knows what the man would have said to the grandfather? Perhaps he let on that he had no power. That would leave Jack, alone of the four, who had any wizarding talent. Jack smiled sadly, realizing that knowing a few tricks didn’t make him a wizard.

  Jack looked up and down the road. Reoja was at least six days to his north and east. His purse didn’t have that much money in it. The cube had still indicated southeast, so he trudged down the incline that led into the swamp and on toward the Serpent’s Orb. The wagon tracks were plain enough to follow. The road was built up about six feet from the swamp itself, so the road was dry, and that made for easy walking.

  Jack had built up a thirst, but he didn’t dare drink the stagnant water that pooled below. The heat was different in the swamp than on the lands above. His clothes stuck to him, and after two hours of walking, he was thoroughly miserable. If he pressed forward to Rugiz he wondered what he would do there all by himself. At least the swamp was a day or so across, according to Tanner’s map. Jack hadn’t looked at it closely enough to see if there was a village or inn along the way, but he would just trudge along.

  He spotted some berries below, so he climbed down and stripped a few handfuls from the vines and returned to the road above, much refreshed. At least he wouldn’t perish along the road. The tracks continued to lead him until a few hours to sunset as Jack reckoned it. Then they left the road, but something was wrong. They just stopped in the middle of the road, but Jack noticed brush marks or something that had obliterated the tracks.

  Jack walked farther up the road and came back the other way. The brush marks stopped at a certain place and then moved off the road. He scratched his head and began to walk with his hands out. He stepped off the road down the incline where the brush marks stopped. He shook his head when he realized that he still stood in the air above the swamp six feet below and realized that he was standing on a second-level manipulation. He continued until he came to an invisible gate of some kind. The illusion persisted, but Jack wondered what would happen if he teleported to the other side. Would that break it?

  He sat down in the middle of the air. His hands felt the dirt beneath him, but his vision told him he was floating above the swamp. He grabbed a handful of the dirt, and when he lifted it to view his palm, the dirt appeared. It was an illusion for sure.

  Jack took a deep breath and stood next to the barrier, closed his eyes, and teleported to the other side.

  A wooden gate appeared behind him. The tracks appeared again and continued on a wide, elevated dirt road that looked like what he had left. Jack noticed the road moved upward, but it twisted as it went, keeping him from seeing very far in front of him.

  In an hour, by Jack’s reckoning, he stood at another gate, but this time the doors were open, and he could see a town on the other side. The wagon tracks merged with many others, but this couldn’t be anything other than the city of the Soffez. Jack walked around the wall, trying to find a less obvious way in, but there were no doors. He sighed and figured he would have to go through the gate. Holding the wand in his head, he walked inside, but before he made it a few more steps, guards stopped him.

  “You aren’t allowed in here,” one of them said.

  “My friends were taken by Heros and his three units,” Jack said.

  The men laughed. “You are the one. I guessed as much. Heros won’t be very happy to hear you arrived,” the spokesman of the two said. “Follow me.”

  Jack wouldn’t be particularly happy to see him either, but if that meant reuniting with his friends, it was worth it. As they walked, he noticed the Soffez residents didn’t look or dress any differently than the Lajians on the outside. He guessed the city wasn’t as big as he thought, but it did have large buildings lining the walls to the right of him. Some emitted smoke. He heard the rushing of water on that side of the town, as well. It only reminded him of his thirst.

  They passed a fountain. “Can I at least parch my thirst?” Jack asked.

  “Feel free. It is drinkable water.”

  Jack took some handfuls of water and tossed some water into his face. “That is better. I’ve been walking on the road all day.”

  “And you didn’t die from all the deprivation?” the guard said.

  Jack could tell he was joking. “A few berries along the way sustained me.”

  “You better drink some more water. Depending on the berries, you are likely to have a very sleepless night.”

  “They won’t agree with me?” Jack asked.

  “And you certainly won’t agree with them, but let’s get you to Heros before the dam breaks.”

  Jack didn’t know if the man was pulling his leg or not, but he followed him through the town. They reached a larger building than most, and the guard showed him in.

  “Heros,” he said to the woman at the front desk.

  “I’m in the middle of all this paperwork. Can you take him?”

  The guard shrugged and tugged on Jack’s shirt. He took him upstairs to the next floor. Jack’s legs were beginning to protest from all the walking.

  “In here,” he said.

  Jack read the writing on the door. It said Section 4 Leader. He knocked and walked in.

  “Oh!” Heros put his hand to his face. He was obviously disappointed. “Tanner bet me that you would be able to follow us here. I can’t believe you arrived here and aren’t trudging along the way to Rugiz.”

  “I used a little wizardry,” Jack said.

  “A lot if you were able to get through the main gate.”

  Jack shrugged. “How much did you bet?”

  “I won’t tell you,” Heros said. “It is a family secret.”

  Jack would just wait until he could ask Tanner. He would demand a share since he had to do all the walking.

  “Obliterating the tracks didn’t work, by the way. I just followed the brush marks. It was a little more tedious, but here I am,” Jack said with a grin this time.

  “It is the end of my workday. I will take you to your friends,” Heros said.

  Jack walked back through the town and down a street to a little cottage close to the town wall. “Why are there walls? You shouldn’t need to defend against attackers w
ith your illusion.”

  “We aren’t worried about the two-legged ones, just the four-legged ones. There are a lot of nasty animals in the swamp, and most of them come out at night.

  Heros knocked on the door. Helen opened it. “Ah, the world traveler,” she said with a smile. “Tanner will be very glad to see you.”

  Heros said goodbye, leaving Jack alone with his friends.

  “I imagine I’ll be getting my horse and all the rest back.”

  “Including your sword. Taking that was Quist’s idea. He said you would be wondering if the patriarch had captured us.”

  Jack nodded. “It did cross my mind, but only briefly, since he would have taken me and left the three of you by the side of the road.”

  “So true,” Helen said. “Come in. Quist and Tanner are taking naps. Heros got them rather drunk last night, and I was the only one sober enough to be forced to witness the little bet Heros and Tanner made.”

  “At my expense,” Jack said. “I didn’t need the exercise.”

  “Ah, you made it,” Tanner said leaning on a doorframe to a bedroom. He grinned. “I made more than enough to get us back to Corand.”

  “So, I was put to work making money for you?”

  “For us,” Tanner said. “The fare includes you and the orb.”

  “You are more confident than I am right now.”

  Tanner ruffled Jack’s hair. “Don’t be irritable. I knew what I was doing.”

  “And you slept while Jack was going frantic about what had happened to the rest of us,” Helen said.

  “Are you mad at me, too?”

  Helen shook her head with disgust. “You just reminded me why I never liked traveling with you. I forgot since we met Jack, but now I remember everything.”

  “Everything?”

  Helen blushed. “No. I have a selective memory. Nearly everything.”

  Jack looked at both of them and figured he was better off not pursuing that line of conversation.

  “This is our rest day, then?”

  “We might turn it into two days if you don’t mind,” Tanner said.

  “One for me and two for everyone else,” Jack said. He couldn’t help being a bit peeved. It was hard for him to be at the end of a prank, but he felt he would pull through.

  “Where can I lay down and sleep after a whole day of walking?”

  “Take the empty bed that is all ruffled. Quist is continuing his assault on everyone’s ears in the other bedroom.”

  Jack straightened out the bed before he stretched out. He knew he fell asleep, but he was awake not much later because it was still light outside. He hurried out of the bedroom.

  “Where is the privy?”

  “Just outside the kitchen door, why?”

  “Bad berries,” Jack said. He was worried his rest was over.

  ~

  Jack woke up, bleary-eyed, head in his arms resting on the kitchen table. He looked for a pump handle, but there was a large crockery jug by the kitchen sink. He scooped out some water and rubbed his face with it. He had no idea when everything had settled down during the night, but he had thought to rest in the kitchen before finding his bed.

  Dawn had barely begun to break. Jack was thirsty, so he grabbed a mug and drank deeply. He yawned and spotted the empty couch in the sitting area of the cottage and commandeered it, quickly falling back to sleep.

  Someone pushed him. Jack looked up into Quist’s bloodshot eyes. “You missed a wonderful dinner.”

  “I was in no shape,” Jack said.

  Quist nodded. “We have to leave this place.”

  “I know,” Jack said. “We have to find Simara Khotes before Aramore Gant.”

  Quist made a face. “No not that. It is their liquor, and it is very addicting. They put something in it.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, I know what it is.”

  “What?” Jack wondered if they had barged into a place from which they could never escape.

  “Alcohol,” Quist said turning away and laughing as he stepped out the kitchen door.

  Jack turned over, but his time to sleep had passed. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Helen walked in carrying a basket.

  “Oh, you are up. Feeling better?” she said.

  Jack nodded.

  “At least we don’t have to cook,” she said as she laid breakfast out on the table.

  “What is that I smell?” Tanner said. “It certainly isn’t Quist.” He spotted the food. “Ah. Our captors have certainly treated us well.”

  “Can’t we leave?” Jack asked.

  “No. Not until we pack up and saddle our horses,” Tanner said, “and collect our winnings.”

  Quist walked in the door and sat down at the table, munching on a slice of bread.

  “What level of the Second Manipulation is that gate by the road?”

  “Reasonably high,” Quist said, “though it didn’t seem to be much of a barrier to you. How did you get past it?”

  Jack told them. “If I didn’t know how to teleport, I don’t know if I would have been able to figure out where the latch was.”

  “How far can you teleport?” Tanner asked.

  “Maybe six feet. I took a big risk, I know, but you had to have gone with the Soffez family, and I didn’t want to go all the way to Rugiz. I would have no idea how to find you.”

  “Keep that a secret, Jack,” Tanner said. “You shouldn’t be able to do something like that at your level, and who knows what else might impede our search for the orb.”

  “I can do that if Quist can.”

  “Do what?” Quist said, coyly.

  “Let’s get fed and meet with Heros. He is the wizard who got us through the gate. They don’t think in terms of the Five Manipulations, although they use a different set of terms that mean essentially the same thing. None of them could get your sword to work, though. I don’t know if that means they are weak wizards or if their magic is stronger differently than a Corandian wizard’s.”

  “Weaker, I think,” Quist said. “They are stronger in mental manifestations. So the gate was nothing for them, but producing a flame or something like teleporting is more difficult. I am assuming the old men that they have stuck me with were telling me the truth, but my observations while still lucid seem to bear that out.”

  Jack was satisfied with that. The big test would have been trying to use the seeker cube. Even Aramore Gant, couldn’t make that work.

  They gathered their things, including Jack’s sword, and walked to the stables a block away. They rode to the building where Heros worked. The Soffez leader walked out to greet them.

  “I have a surprise. I wish to accompany you to Rugiz. Would that be all right? We have some family business in the city and having a Lajian with your group might break down some barriers when you start asking questions.”

  The offer surprised Jack, but he could see the Soffez leader’s point, and despite the bet, he said, “Sure. All you have to do is walk while we ride.” He tried not to laugh as he said it, but the others spoiled the effect.

  Heros looked at the others and smiled. “Maybe I should, but not today. I am already prepared to go.”

  Heros nodded at one of the men with him, and the leader’s horse was brought around the building. “Let’s go. I also know my way about Rugiz, so once we are there, I can help you locate your target.”

  Target? Jack thought. He guessed Heros was more direct with his words than the others would be. None of them had really talked about any strategies once they confronted Simara Khotes. Jack would certainly find a way to finally procure a metal cuirass to protect against wizard bolts.

  Chapter Seventeen

  ~

  R ugiz looked larger than Reoja, but Jack figured it was because the inland city was spread out on a plain and Reoja was jammed into the bowl of the harbor. He checked the orb seeker, and the Serpent’s Orb still looked to be in the city.

  “I need some additional armor,” Jack said to Heros. “Do you know of an armorer
?”

  “You should have told me before we left my city. We have many metal smiths and armor is one of our products, but I know where they are sold in Rugiz. Weapons are part of the standard offerings that family units sell.”

  “Let’s go there first,” Jack said to the group.

  As Heros led them through the city, Jack had the luxury of looking around at buildings that carried the flavor of the architecture of Reoja, but with what he thought was a lighter touch. Maybe the difference was indicative of the wealth difference, with Reoja being the richer.

  Heros stopped along a row of shops. “In here.”

  They tied up their horses with Quist, as usual, being the one to watch the horses. “Hey, don’t I need armor?” the wizard asked.

  “Maybe something for your back,” Helen said.

  Jack quickly found what he was looking for. He tried the cuirass on. The back fit fine, but the front was too large. The shopkeeper walked up.

  “Your chest isn’t as developed as it might be in five years or more,” he said. “I’ll look in the back.” The man came back with a flatter front which he clipped at the shoulders. “Try this.”

  “It does fit better,” Jack said, beaming. He finally had some protection from wand bolts.

  “Something in leather for my friend outside,” Tanner said.

  The shopkeeper peeked through his door and nodded and came back with a black leather cuirass. Jack noted that the front was much more generous than his own.

  “I will pay, for the goods,” Heros said. He winked at the shopkeeper and nodded. “I still owe you all for saving my family.”

  “Thank you,” Jack said. He took the cuirass off and held it out, as best he could since it was a bit heavy. “It looks too new, though.”

  “Ah, you noticed,” the shopkeeper said drily. “Most people like new, but looking at your weapons, maybe not you. It will only take a minute. I have an expert in the back.”