by Des Pensable
He went to the Yith bookshelf and slowly worked his way through to see if there was anything obviously interesting, and saw the book Jaz had mentioned which had been torn in half. He took it from the shelf and flicked through the pages to see if there was anything of interest, and his heart almost stopped. There were the exact drawings of how to make power crystals that he had diligently copied many years ago into his workshop manual, with the strange exception that all the writing was in the Yith language.
He looked carefully at the following pages and recognised other figures from textbooks he had seen. Then, as he turned the page, he saw a picture of a ball of clay accompanied by half a page of Yith writing. All he had to do was work out how to translate it.
‘Do I know any Yith language, Alpha?’ he said almost automatically, but Alpha wasn’t there. It was guarding the workshop.
He quickly left the library and raced down to the workshop. His excitement and obvious enthusiasm was noticed. He grabbed Alpha, some parchment a quill and ink and sped back to the library.
‘Do I know any Yith?’ he asked Alpha. Curiously, Alpha was hesitant in answering and eventually said no.
He didn’t worry. He already had a plan of attack for the manuscript.
He turned to the section on how to make power crystals. He knew every word on the page, except he knew it in Panmagica common. Here it was written in Yith, which used the draconic alphabet, which was pronounced differently to the common alphabet.
He had seen and read this text a hundred times or more - he knew it perfectly, as he had used it countless times. He selected the text under one of the figures and wrote what it should be from his memory. Then he rewrote the common into Draconic using the draconic alphabet. There it was almost exactly the same, except the Yith had four extra characters. He mentally mouthed the words and discovered that the extra characters represented special sounds not usually used found in common such as ts, ch, zh and och.
The Yith language seemed to be ancient Draconic without spaces between the words, but including the special characters not used in common. There were also words that he did not recognise but had to guess.
He excitedly turned to the page showing the ball of clay and writing it on parchment translated it using his knowledge of Draconic. The page heading read ‘Chaos matter.’ and the text underneath read.
‘The Lord sayeth ‘With this dirt I turn chaos to order. Think and it shall be.’' Then it showed directions on how to recognise the substance.
Identification
1.Flatten a ball of the substance with the palm of the hand and watch it reform its ball shaped structure over the next few minutes.
2.Examine the substance with the magic eye and it shall look lifeless.
3.The mind wizard of the seventh order can cause the substance to deform to his wishes.
Just as he finished, in came High Wizard Featherdown.
‘What’s this, just learned Yith have we! That’s curious! I asked your grandfather if you could understand Yith and he said you couldn’t. Would you mind explaining please!’
Aquitain was quite surprised at Featherdown’s aggressive attitude.
‘As a matter of fact, you are correct, Your Excellency. Ten minutes ago I would have said I can’t understand Yith, but if this is Yith then it is very like ancient Draconic and you would understand some of it, since it is similar to the language used to write wizard powers.
‘You may have learnt Draconic as I did, where it is written using the common alphabet. This script uses the Ancient Draconic alphabet where the letters are pronounced differently. It is also written from the right to the left rather than the way we do it in common. Let me read this bit aloud. ‘illumeninsit thurgol frabrintus.’ Do you recognise that? It’s a key to producing magical light.’
‘By the Powers, do you mean the Yith are using magic in the same way as we are?’ said Featherdown.
‘Granddad told me that he believed many of the words of power originated from the dragons and that we copied them. Many scholars maintain however, that it was the newmans that discovered magic and that the dragons copied us. This old book suggests that my grandfather was correct. Maybe both the newmans and the Yith have copied the words of power from the dragons.’
‘How did you work it out?’
‘I looked in Old Hoary’s Encyclopaedia for information about the ball of clay and couldn’t find any. That prompted me to look elsewhere and when I found this half book I recognised the figures on one page as the same that we use in our workshop manual back in Panmagica. Here, I’ll show you. See the inscription under that diagram? I have read that hundreds of times over the years, but in common. In here it is written in Draconic. If you take care to pronounce it carefully, it sounds the same as we’ve been using for years.’
‘Did you find what you were looking for?’
‘Yes, Your Excellency. Here it is in the book, and here is the translation.’
Featherdown read Aquitain’s translation and said ‘What do you think it means?’
‘It suggests that a mind wizard might be able to manipulate the clay to change its shape using his mind,’ said Aquitain.
‘Are you a mind wizard of the seventh order?’ asked Featherdown.
‘I have no idea, Your Excellency. I have never heard of any grading system for mind wizards.’
‘Where did you get the clay?’
‘From my mother, Your Excellency, it was a gift from my father.’
‘Where did he get it from?’ asked Featherdown.
‘I have no idea, Your Excellency. My mother said the last time I saw him was when I was about eight years old. I can’t remember him.’
‘Was he newman?’
‘That’s a strange question' thought Aquitain, but he replied ‘Of course, Your Excellency.’
Featherdown looked perplexed for a while, then said ‘Good, I’m glad you found what you were looking for. Perhaps you can translate some information that I’ve found that seems like it was written at the time of the Great Storm. It may shed some light on what happened.’
‘I’d be happy to, Your Excellency.’
As soon as the High Wizard left, Aquitain hurried back to his workshop to test the ball of clay. He also borrowed the Yith half book to see what else it might reveal.
Just as Aquitain reached his workshop, Zephira turned up. ‘I’ve got some good news,’ she said with a smile. ‘The High Wizard wants you to make two pairs of magic bracers like mine, for the new wizard defenders to use in training. Isn’t that great?’
‘Yes, yes that sounds fine. I’ve found out what the ball of clay does. Come in and watch,’ he said excitedly. He hadn’t been this excited since he was in his newman body.
He closed the door and locked it securely. He sat Zephira on a chair and asked her to keep quiet. He placed Alpha back on the shelf where it had a commanding view. Immediately, it told him that the rat was watching.
‘Jaztrix, I know that you’re watching,’ he said without looking. ‘Thanks for telling me about the Yith book. Just hope that I can make this stuff work for me.’
He cleared his workbench off and placed the ball of clay in the centre of the vacant area. He first squashed it down with the heel of his hand, and then just watched. Slowly but surely it reformed its ball shape.
‘Look that’s the first test. It rebounds after deformation.’
He used his power to detect magic. ‘It passes the second test. It looks inert with the magic eye. Now let’s see if I’m powerful enough to make it dance for me.’
He closed his eyes and fixed its shape in his mind. He turned the sphere in his mind into a cube, and then cautiously opened his eyes. In front of him was a cube of clay, and across from him was a wide-eyed Zephira.
‘Did you actually do that with your mind, Aquitain?’ she asked.
‘I think so,’ he said, unsure that he had done it himself. So, he had another go. This time he mentally shaped it into a cup with a handle. When he opened his eyes he saw a c
up.
‘By the Powers, I can do it!’ he shouted. ‘I can actually do it. I can bend this stuff to my will.’
‘That’s awesome. Can you make it into a blade?’ asked Zephira.
‘I suppose I can.’ he replied and again concentrated on the clay this time with his eyes open. The clay responded extending itself out into a blade then forming a hilt and hilt guard.
Zephira grabbed the blade and swung it around. ‘Beautiful. Just beautiful,’ she said. ‘That stuff is amazing. Imagine the possibilities. You can make anything you ever wanted.’ Just then it reformed into its ball shape and fell out of her hand.
‘Oh. It’s got a problem. It won’t stay in the shape you want for long. Perhaps you’ve got to keep mentally concentrating on it to keep it shaped the way you want it,’ she suggested.
‘You’re right. You get nothing for nothing. When I shape change I have to concentrate on keeping the new form, and while I concentrate it depletes my source. If I stop concentrating then my shape reverts to its primary Logicon form. I suspect the same will happen with this ball of clay. It’s just another damn way to use up my source. I need a bigger source!’
He tried again. This time he formed the clay into a wristband, placed it around his wrist, then waited. Every now and again he thought of it and reinforced it mentally to be a wristband. Five minutes later it was still a wristband. ‘There you are, while it’s in contact with me and if I reinforce its shape now and then, it will remain what I want it to be.’
‘That’s incredible,’ said Zephira.
‘It is isn’t it, but if I use it then it will effectively use up my source, making it unavailable for other purposes.’
‘There must be some type of Logicon rule for this type of thing,’ she said seriously.
‘Something like you can’t squeeze more magic out of a fat head than is in there in the first place,’ she said, and laughed loudly.
‘Laugh all you want,’ said Aquitain ‘I hope you find it funny, because I don’t.’
At that moment there was a knock on the door, and Featherdown asked to come in.
‘Well, did it work?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ said Aquitain. ‘It looks like I must be at least a seventh order mind wizard because the chaos matter responds to my mind,’ and he showed the High Wizard his new wristband. ‘However, there is a cost; it depletes my source.’
‘That’s a small cost for something so useful, if you ask me. Anyhow I have the scrolls I want translated here. I would appreciate it if you could do the job as your highest priority.’
‘As you wish, Your Excellency. I will start it right away.’
‘Good,' he said. 'I’ll be back,’ and he left.
‘What are these scrolls? Are you playing games with the boss now?’ asked Zephira curiously.
‘I don’t know what’s on them yet but I suspect they’ll be interesting. I’ll tell you later. Have an ale for me down the inn will you,’ and he ushered her out of the workshop so that he could get started.
‘What a day!’ he thought as he seated himself and unrolled the first scroll.
A few minutes later he established that they were definitely written during the Great Storm. They gave no indication of how it started, but did describe a terrible period of four months that the writer spent confined in a cave. The writer described how the sky darkened in the middle of one fine day and stayed dark while lightning and firestorms lit the sky for endless days. After a while it had snowed, and after that remained freezing. The writer had never finished the last scroll and Aquitain assumed that he or she had perished.
Featherdown returned a couple of times while Aquitain was working on the translation, reading the completed parts and suggesting possible meanings for words that Aquitain didn’t understand. At the end he congratulated Aquitain, asked him to keep all that he had learnt to himself, and left.
Aquitain was now quite perplexed. He couldn’t work out whether Featherdown trusted him or not. Maybe Jaztrix was right. Maybe the High Wizard trusted nobody, and everybody here lived under continual scrutiny. He didn’t like it, and felt that after he learnt as much about shape changing as he could from Quab it would be time to move on and attempt to locate his father.
Chapter 11 Surprises
Zephira didn’t return until the early hours of the next morning. She was both very happy and very drunk. She banged on his door until he opened it, and staggered in. ‘Hey Rob. Guess who’s back. He said he came back just to see me again.’
‘Your bard friend Chantalot, I would guess,’ said Aquitain. ‘Did he tell you where he’s been?’
‘Yes. Some place up north,’ she said as she tried to sit on a stool near the main workbench. ‘He said I’ve got beautiful eyes.’
‘Which town?’ asked Aquitain again.
‘I don’t know. Does it matter.’
‘Perhaps,’ he said. ‘Where does the bard live when he’s here?’
‘He’s got a room in the inn of course. He gets it for free.’
‘I think you'd better get some sleep and try to keep sober. I’ve got a feeling we might need to move on soon.’
‘Great!’ she yelled. ‘Let’s go and have a fight somewhere. I need some practise. These bastards here are hopeless. I think you’re right. I’ll get some sleep.’ And she staggered off.
Rob picked up Alpha changed to his Logicon form, collected his body shell and left for a walk. As he passed the Inn he dropped Alpha on the ground. Like a spider it scurried across the ground and up the Inn wall for a little eavesdropping. It took about five minutes of checking rooms before Alpha found the one with the bard and who was with him? It was Featherdown!
Alpha relayed their conversation to Aquitain.
‘Look I still don’t think that they’re up to anything,’ said Chantalot.
‘As I told you this morning, I checked their story out quite thoroughly. There’s a warrant out for Aquitain for the murder of some Logicon, but his cousin Zephira is clean.’
‘Murder of a Logicon!’ thought Aquitain, ‘By the Powers, I hope it wasn’t Facit.’
‘I still have a strong feeling that they’re here for some reason other than just to hide out,’ said Featherdown.
‘We’ve still got a spy here that I haven’t managed to catch yet, sending information back to the Unity of Wisdom. If the spy sends information about Aquitain back to Panmagica, we could get a visit from an Archon and I don’t want one of those poking around here.
‘I’ve got Quab searching for this Amber fellow. Perhaps he will be able to clear up why they’re here. In the meantime Quab’s asked Miranda to come here and teach Aquitain some more shape changing. He’s hoping that he’ll tell her something useful, or at least stop him from finding Amber before we do.’
‘By the Powers, these bastards are nosey,’ thought Aquitain.
‘All right I’ll keep working on Zephira, but I don’t think I’ll get anywhere with her. She’s as tight lipped about Aquitain as anyone I’ve ever met. Even totally drunk she won’t say anything,’ said Chantalot.
‘She sounds like a good friend of his to me. I wish all our friends were that tight lipped,’ said the High Wizard.
‘Oh. I meant to tell you that I dropped in on Aunt Alice in Panmagica. She said to ask you to send Jade for a trip there as she hasn’t seen her for a couple of years.’
‘Oh damn,’ thought Aquitain. ‘The bloody bard’s a brother or cousin of the High Wizard and Zephira likes him. She’s not going to react well to this when she finds out.’
The High Wizard left shortly afterwards, and Aquitain called Alpha back. He was now in a real predicament. Quab was searching for Alin Amber and there was a spy in Twin Towers who was likely to report to the Unity of Wisdom that a Logicon had turned up here about the same time that Rob disappeared from Panmagica; and if that wasn’t bad enough, he was now a murderer. There could be an Archon here after him anytime. He concluded that it couldn’t be Facit, as Granddad would have sent him a message, so he didn’
t worry about that any further.
He went back to his workshop and sat planning until dawn. He remembered that Quab had suggested that he do some shape changing practice north of the Druid Sanctuary. That’s where he’ll tell Miranda to find me he thought. But first he needed a contingency plan, some place that he and Zephira could escape to quickly if the Archon showed up.
Granddad had given Zephira four rings and two of them were rings of teleport. These were very expensive and restricted in Panmagica to those with a permit. In general, this meant the wealthy, the hierarchy of the Unity of Wisdom, and the Merchant Wizards. They were normally used for transport between teleport markers for non-magic users, but those with experience and a good memory could travel to a well-known location without the use of a marker.
Aquitain knew all about them, having made several in the past year for wealthy customers, and that would be his priority tonight, for without markers it was unlikely Zephira could get around Mudrun, and they could easily become separated.
Since goods flowed regularly into Twin Towers by teleport from other places on Mudrun before being sent out the gateway, it was obvious that there was an established network of commercial type teleport markers similar to those in Panmagica. That meant that somewhere there was a list or table of marker identification codes. If he could get a copy of that list then there would be a good number of places to escape to, even without his own markers. However, for security reasons the High Wizard would keep the list closely controlled and locked away, but there were two other possible sources for this information: Jaztrix and Quab.
