by Des Pensable
‘Ah. I love this place,’ he said to himself. ‘The smell of the jungle and the feeling of nature all around is just fantastic. I’ll have to retire here when the time comes.’ And he strode off down the road towards the town. When he arrived at the edge of the jungle he saw ahead of him near the first dwelling a troop of six guards sitting along the edge the road. They saw him coming and stood up,, forming a roadblock with weapons drawn. He continued towards them and when he was fifteen paces away was called on to halt and identify himself.
He could see the fear in their faces as they looked at Goth. That was one of the reasons Granddad had built Goth in the first place. Most people saw Goth as the real threat, not him, and that was usually their first and last mistake in a fight. Goth was a terrifying sight and physically very dangerous. It was also immune to magic, and consequently could be sent after magic users or to attract a large number of fighters trying to incapacitate it; then a fire ball cast at Goth would kill everyone around Goth, leaving it unharmed. Granddad and Goth were a lethal combination, but he wasn’t here to fight.
Grandad told them the High Wizard had summoned him, and that the war machine behind him was totally under his control and would not harm them. In fact, he instructed Goth to sit down and the great construct looked much less threatening when it wasn’t towering over them. They dispatched a runner and a quarter of an hour later received confirmation from the High Wizard that Wizard Theolaur and his construct were to be allowed through the roadblock, but escorted by two of the guards.
He walked on through the town and saw very few locals, and those that he did see quickly disappeared on seeing him and Goth. A guard who looked tired and stressed challenged him again at the gate in the wall separating the town from the magic gateway. The guard stopped him and asked what the thing behind him was. He simply replied that that was his assistant, and then asked where he could find Zephira.
Not wanting to make problems the guard told him where he might find her, but reported the situation to the duty officer of the day, who passed it onto Featherdown, who replied, ‘Ask him to drop in for a cup of tea when he’s ready.’ The officer found this a little odd, but considering that the stranger hadn’t caused any trouble, he let the old man with the large construct walk about accompanied by the two guards.
When Zephira saw Granddad she immediately dismissed her class and raced over to hug him with tears in her eyes.
‘Oh Granddad, I want to go home. Please tell me that you have got a pardon for Rob.’
He gave her the family hand sign for a mindlink and she agreed. Granddad created a mindlink and asked her if she could take some time to walk with him and she quickly agreed to that as well. So they headed back to the town and turned towards the beach, walking arm in arm, with Goth walking behind them and the two guards following Goth, while they conversed using mindspeak.
‘I always love sitting on the beach here. It’s so different from anything at Panmagica. It really makes me feel more alive. It’s something about the purity of it and the peaceful quality of the waves that have travelled half way around the world to wash onto this beach, ending their migration gently lapping against the sand,’ said Granddad.
‘Aquitain may be dead Granddad,’ said Zephira suddenly.
‘When Aquitain was carted off by the Archon, Alpha was left behind. I suspected that even if I could get Aquitain out of the prison I would have to send him away for a while, so I gave Alpha a power to send messages through dreams to keep me up to date with what was happening while you two were away. It’s called a dream sending and Alpha sent me one last night local time saying that Aquitain is currently alive and well, however, he was killed by an invisible wizard assassin and shortly after reincarnated by one of the female druids called Miranda. He’s now a bear, which is apparently a large and fearsome creature.
‘I was also sent a message by the High Wizard demanding I come here and tell him what’s going on, and judging by the number of guards running around and the roadblocks, something happened recently.’
‘That could be bad,’ she said. ‘We think a wizard and a druid organised a large group of animals to attack the town last night. Ten people were killed and more than thirty injured. I’ve been afraid all night that it was Aquitain and Miranda. The High Wizard has said nothing yet, as he’s waiting for a report from Quab, the town’s druid, who has been investigating where the animals came from.’
Granddad was a bit confused about what was happening, and asked Zephira to tell him everything from the beginning, starting with their arrival on Mudrun. By the time they had reached the beach and sat on the sand, Zephira was well into her account of the past couple of weeks. She continued solidly with hardly a breath in between, right up to yesterday when Miranda had told them how her adventure with Aquitain had led to the discovery of the mask and club.
She described in great detail her feelings when Miranda dramatically returned wielding a powerful staff, and told them about Aquitain’s death, leaving behind a Logicon arm and leg as proof. Then she told him how Featherdown didn’t believe he was dead, but thought that she was putting on an act to put the Archon off his trail.
‘An Archon turned up here?’ asked Granddad, quite surprised.
‘Yes and Miranda’s effort did seem to convince it that Aquitain was dead. She gave it his arm and leg as proof.’
‘I wonder how the Archon knew to come here?’ Granddad wondered. ‘It seems that some of my information is a bit behind.’
‘Featherdown told me that the High Druid sent a letter to someone at Panmagica, and also that they think there’s a spy here who’s been sending information to the Unity of Wisdom.’
‘Ah. Well now I can see what has happened,’ said Granddad. ‘I suspect our spy must have heard that there was a good bounty on Aquitain and decided to do a little bounty hunting. The question is, how did he find Aquitain if he and the druid woman were in hiding? There must be a leak in Featherdown’s security somewhere.’
They sat on the sand picking up handfuls and letting it run out through their fingers like sand in an hourglass, while watching the waves in silence; or that is what any onlookers might have thought as the discussion about security and the assassin continued through their mindlink.
Zephira told him she thought that it might have been a gnome apprentice of Featherdown’s called Jaztrix, as the gnome was always hanging around. She told him how it used to snoop on him in the workshop and the library. She told him that Featherdown had sent it to watch over Aquitain and Miranda, and it was presumably there when the assassin struck. She felt the assassin might have been Jaztrix, as she had mysteriously quit as Featherdown’s apprentice rather than trying to explain what had occurred.
‘It’s a possibility. Perhaps when we talk to the High Wizard he can expand on that. One of my associates back in Panmagica told me about a bard there who was making discrete enquiries about you and Aquitain a few days ago. He called himself Thistlewillow. Is there anyone here by that name?’
Zephira asked whether Granddad had a description of the bard, and after hearing it told him that it sounded like Featherdown’s brother, Chantalot. Then she spilled out the story that she had been taken in by him but that, to his credit, he did tell her about his visit to Panmagica and had tipped them off about the High Druid’s letter to Panmagica about him being here, and that was why Aquitain and Miranda had left.
‘By the Powers, it’s getting tangled. It’s hard to know whom to trust. I’m beginning to appreciate that druid woman Miranda. It seems she doesn’t know who to trust either, so she’s decided to tell no one about where they are or what they are doing. Presumably they’ll search for Alin Amber,’ said Granddad.
Hearing Alin Amber’s name stimulated Zephira to tell Granddad about the incident in the inn with Featherdown, and the prophesy about chaos.
‘Yes, I know about that. It seemed as if he was trying to bring on the final struggle,’ said Granddad. ‘There is a theory that if enough people believe in a prophecy it
will happen.’
‘What’s the final struggle, Granddad?’ Zephira asked suspiciously.
‘Perhaps the beginning of a better world, Zephira. It seems that there has been a struggle going on between two factions of deities for thousands of years. I have a friend who has spent almost his entire life researching prophecies. He found one that seems to be a secret held by most of the faiths and religions in all the worlds he’s visited, and that is many dozens. It translates something like this:
‘After the great cataclysm the founts of knowledge and wisdom will disappear, the balance will change and the struggle will commence. In the final struggle Chaos will fight Order throughout the universe until the balance is restored and the founts are free to give answers.’
‘Aquitain’s father told me about the founts not long after I met him. They were great sages that travelled the worlds observing and learning from all what was really happening, and twice a year they made themselves available to answer any question from any person, high or low. The rulers and the priests disliked them, as they would answer questions which the rulers and priests didn’t want people to know the answers to. A few hundred years ago they all suddenly disappeared, and since then the rulers and priests have made sure that all knowledge about them has been kept secret or destroyed.
‘I thought it was a lot of rubbish and dismissed it as such. Later, Aquitain’s father told me that Mudrun was the world where the cataclysm happened, and he had a clue as to where the founts had gone. I didn’t believe him until I thoroughly researched it myself. I now believe he was correct. The Great Storm was the great cataclysm, and this is where the founts lived or gathered. Where they went I don’t know, but I suspect that his father intends to somehow involve Aquitain in a plot to find their location.’
‘Now I’m starting to understand,’ Zephira said softly, as many things seemed to be growing clearer. ‘The founts had great power didn’t they? They had a divinity seed, one of those fragments of divine knowledge. You and Aquitain’s father have planned this all along. You want to find them so you can gain more power. That’s why you’ve isolated and protected him and given him secret knowledge. It’s all so that you can use him like a pawn in some stupid power game. What about him? What if he doesn’t want to play? What if he doesn’t want more power?’
‘It’s not about power girl, it’s about knowledge and wisdom and restoring the balance to the universe. If people could ask the right questions of the founts they could know whether their leaders and priests were telling them the truth. In having truthful leaders and priests, then the people would be better off. We could eliminate corruption and oppression everywhere.
‘Do you really think that the Unity of Wisdom would like a sage telling the people what really happens within the religions and cults in Panmagica? Of course not! They would have to stop their corrupt practices and actually do some good for their followers instead of exploiting them. That’s why they don’t want the founts found and released. That’s why they keep the knowledge about them secret.
‘Aquitain’s father is very powerful. He’ll protect Aquitain. Just imagine - by finding the founts we could make Panmagica and a whole lot of other places decent again. What could be more noble that that?’
‘Have you told Aquitain he’s a pawn in a game?’ asked Zephira. ‘Have you told him he’s got to risk his life so that you and his father can save the worlds?’
‘Curiously, the less he knows the better he’s likely to do. However, this is getting us nowhere, Zephira. What we’ve done is no longer important. What’s about to happen is monumental. It seems the final struggle is imminent. What we need to do, is to try and limit the chaos. That’s why I’m here. That bloody mask he found is very dangerous and is likely to cause a lot of trouble unless it’s destroyed. It might call itself the Jacintra’s Image, but I know all about it. It’s known by several names and one of them is the Mask of Chaos.
‘It was an experiment that went wrong. It is not only sentient, but contains the spirit of a powerful and mad mind wizard who has a grudge against the world. He will cause absolute havoc given half a chance. I know how to destroy it and I want you to find Aquitain and give him the knowledge. However, this knowledge is so dangerous that I cannot allow you to know it, so with your agreement I would like to lock it away in your mind in a special way that only Aquitain can retrieve.’
‘So I’m a pawn too am I? You want me to agree to allow you to tinker with my mind again. What if I say no? Will you dominate me and put the information there anyway? Will you wipe my mind and make me forget about being a pawn?’
‘What’s your problem Zephira? You’ve suspected all along that the family had some hidden agenda. Now you know a little more. Just do your part and you’ll help Aquitain do his, and with luck we’ll all win.’
‘And if we lose we’ll all die, Granddad. I’m too young to die for a cause that I don’t care about. I’ll do the right thing by Aquitain and the family this time, but don’t count on it in the future. I’m also going to tell Aquitain that he has been tricked and manipulated by you and his father. Let’s see what he thinks about that. Maybe he’ll tell you to get lost himself.’
‘Good,’ said Granddad, ‘I’m glad you’ve agreed to cooperate. Now I want you to go into a state of autohypnosis. You’ve done this before but you’re going to have to calm down a little first, so use the mantra of calming.’
Granddad implanted the information and then told Zephira that she would need to find Aquitain, as it was unlikely he was going to show up now that he’d been declared dead. He told her that he had brought Goth along to help her, especially when she got near the mask. Goth was immune to most magic and hence couldn’t be affected by the mask, so any command given to it would be carried out ruthlessly, even if the task was unpalatable. He also told her that he had made a slight modification to Goth to allow it to magically levitate on her command, in case it became bogged in jungle mud. She would command Goth using a magical bracelet.
‘Now for you I got a little present. It’s a necklace of six powerstones each containing one power. Two will allow you to change shape, two will heal you of reasonable damage and two will allow you to fly. Use them wisely. I have keyed them to your memory of your little dog Tessa, who you loved when you were young. Think of her and ask her to release the power.’
Finally, he suggested that they go and have a chat with Featherdown, as he should have worked out by now what had happened the previous night. So they stood up, stretched and proceeded on their way to see the High Wizard. On arrival they were ushered into the tower by a gnome but left Goth outside, as it was impolite to take it in. Zephira didn’t know what to expect, but after witnessing how annoyed Featherdown had been the previous night, she suspected the meeting might get a bit fiery.
As they teleported into the tower entertainment room, Featherdown garbed in his official scarlet robe walked over to Granddad and warmly welcomed him, shaking his hand and offering him a drink. Quab, who was seated with a drink also stood to welcome Granddad. Zephira immediately suspected that something was wrong. Featherdown and Quab were being too nice - they must have some new information that she didn’t know about.
After activating the wards, getting Granddad a cup of tea and muttering a few pleasantries, Featherdown finally came to the point.
‘I trust Zephira has filled you in on what’s transpired since she and Aquitain arrived, and particularly about the drama yesterday and last night. I must apologize for my rude message last night. We were under attack and it seemed that Aquitain and his druid friend may have been responsible; but from information gained this morning it would appear that they had nothing to do with the trouble. Instead, I am partially to blame.’
‘You speak as if you know Aquitain is alive,’ said Granddad.
‘He was killed by an assassin and was reincarnated as a bear by the druid woman, Miranda, who is also the Princess Miranda of Argenta. It seems she has taken a liking to him. The Princess is quite headstrong
and came here yesterday and unleashed a very powerful weapon, which I knew was in the possession of her mother, the nymph Queen Snowbelle. I contacted her mother as a matter of courtesy to ask her to keep a closer watch on her dangerous weapons. Needless to say she wasn’t very happy, but stated that she would find out what her daughter was upset about.
‘This morning she contacted me and told me about Aquitain’s reincarnation as a bear. He is still recovering from the shock of dying and being reborn, but is safe and well in the care of Queen Beatrix of the Crin. Her daughter was still asleep at her place, so the incident last night could not have been caused by either of them.’
Zephira nearly fell off the chair she was seated on when she heard that Miranda was a princess, but was greatly relieved that neither Aquitain nor Miranda had been involved in the attack on Twin Towers.
‘Then who did it?’ she asked excitedly.
Granddad gave her an admonishing glance as if to say ‘keep quiet, we’re just about to find out’, but Featherdown kept talking anyway.
‘That news of course relieved me greatly, but now it makes me feel guilty for dragging you here at such short notice. I can readily say that your two grandchildren have done nothing but bring honour upon themselves and your family.’
‘Thank you,’ said Granddad graciously. ‘Have you shed any light on what did happen last night?’
‘Yes. Quab and I have spent a considerable amount of time reconstructing events, and I think we have a reasonably clear idea, and as I said earlier I am partially to blame. Several months ago a gnome came to me asking if she could spend some time training with me. She presented good credentials from a trusted friend, so I accepted her into my tower. She was very intelligent and learned fast, perhaps a little too fast. I let her have the run of the tower and town, and when Aquitain arrived I had her follow and check on him.’
‘She tested him in several ways to work out when he could and couldn’t detect her, and after a while worked out a strategy to stay hidden from him and his memcrystal. When he left to lay low at my hideout up north I sent her along to watch over them, and to report to me if there was any trouble. After Aquitain was killed, she left a letter for me saying that she couldn’t answer any questions and was quitting as my apprentice; this raised the question as to whether she might have been the assassin.
