Kirl approached Juxta. "Well done, you controlled your rage."
Juxta said, "I could've won."
"I've no doubt."
Marc approached the platform Juxta still knelt on. Juxta rose to his feet. Marc said, "Sorry about laughing. I simply never felt so much power before. Thank you for the duel."
Juxta grimaced. "You're welcome."
He slept in the next morning. He awoke to a certain large cat licking his face. He mouthed an, "Ewww," and wrestled the cat off him. They found their way downstairs, and Kirl's youngest apprentice cooked breakfast. It smelled good. They ate, and then Juxta left for the library to study. Juxta wanted to find two things: ways to fight the undead and references to the legend of the amethyst. Robert looked over his shoulder taking it all in. They made little progress on the first day.
That night Juxta dueled again, facing an apprentice and a master. The apprentice didn't laugh this time, and Juxta felt no real rage. He lasted for about fifteen minutes before having to concede. Day by day this became Juxta's regimen: study in the daytime and duel at night. After a week or so Juxta looked at Kirl with his best, please, I beg of you, look. Juxta said, "I've had enough for now. I need a break tonight."
The Bastard Kirl laughed. "Your fatigue is your weakness. You should be able to last at least an hour in a duel with another master."
"But I'm not facing another master but a master and an apprentice," Juxta said, with just a hint of a whimper.
"Still, you must duel each night. It's the fastest way for you to become a master."
"Fine, don't expect me to win."
That night he faced Marc again. Within the first five minutes Marc laughed with glee over and over. Juxta's rage boiled inside a finely constructed cage embedded in Juxta's heart. He felt a twitch of anguish as he tried to keep it bottled up and maintain his sphere shielding him from Marc's onslaught. Within a few minutes fatigue ached its way through Juxta's body, fatigue that had built up over the last week. Marc pointed at his cat. He cast a small lightning bolt at the resting animal, and it jumped up from its slumber with all its hair standing on end.
Juxta put a sphere up around the animal in time to shield it somewhat. Juxta's rage blinded his eyes with its dark fury. Power flowed into him like a torrent. He pulled back his right arm and made a great sweeping motion with it at Marc. Lightning, thick as a man's leg, lit up the entire spectator stands and crashed into the ground in front of Juxta. He made a final motion with his hand, and the lightning darted across the distance to Marc carving a great swath of blasted ground on the route. Power sparked in the gemstones of a half dozen magi watching the event as they bolstered Marc's shield in anticipation. The lightning reached Marc. The shield held for the moment. Marc shouted, "Quarter!"
Juxta twisted his hand and called on more and more lightning.
Kirl shouted, "Stop this!"
Juxta pulled his will back, and the lightning flickered away. The lights dimmed in the spectator stands. Marc fell over onto the ground and simply stared. He curled up in a ball, shaking. Juxta felt only rage. He used his necromantic telepathy to send the word pain into Marc's mind. He started screaming and writhing. He screamed louder than any one Juxta had ever heard scream.
Kirl shot Juxta a glare. "You used necromancy on him!"
Juxta looked down on the ground. "Kirl, I didn't mean to."
Marc still howled. A master from the spectator stands shouted, "Fix him, Juxta."
Juxta conveyed rest into Marc's mind. He quieted down into a deep slumber.
"He shouldn't have attacked my cat!"
Kirl howled, "You shouldn't be using necromancy!"
"I'm sorry." Juxta looked to the magi in the spectator stands. "I won't let it happen again."
Kirl's brow smoothed out to a minor simmer. "Let's get a stretcher for Marc and take him home. When will he awaken?"
Juxta examined the palms of his hands. "I'm not certain."
"Bah!"
They carried Marc on a stretcher back to Kirl's house and put him in his bed. Kirl said, "Necromancy is forbidden. You must not practice it or ever use it."
Juxta nodded.
Marc awoke for breakfast the next morning. Juxta studied and dueled, and he typically didn't feel a rage when dueling. He grew more and more proficient as the days passed. He and Robert got nowhere in the library. A month passed with no progress in the library, but slowly, Juxta was lasting longer in the duels. Juxta went before the council and asked if an archive existed and, if so, could he gain access to it.
The eldest replied, "We haven't opened the archive in two hundred years. Perhaps it's time."
Inside the archive, Juxta found dozens of books and countless scrolls. Juxta and Robert dove in. After a week they stumbled across something useful, a method for enchanting a blade to fight the undead and their spirits. Juxta copied the enchantment to a fresh sheet of parchment. By then, Juxta lasted a solid half hour against master and apprentice. Another month passed and another.
One night Juxta faced an apprentice named Kevin, and a master named Jeremia. A half hour passed with them battling. Juxta felt the typical fatigue then he paused. He started breathing in deep breaths and just let the power flow. With a certain calmness to his being, he started counting away at the time. Forty-five minutes passed. Juxta smiled. Kevin and Jeremia began to visibly sweat. The aged master's hands began to shake just a little bit. Juxta breathed in more and more power with every breath. He started simply with green fireballs. Kevin's assault began to waver and then blink out. Juxta lashed out with lightning. Kevin's shield held, but blood started to flow out of his nose. Jeremia's shoulders slumped. Juxta pulled the lightning back. Kevin fell to one knee. Kevin looked Juxta in the eyes and shouted, "Quarter!"
Kirl smiled. He walked up to Juxta and patted him on the shoulder.
Juxta's brow narrowed into tight little wrinkles along his forehead. "Don't tell me I have to face two masters and an apprentice next."
Kirl laughed.
"Tell me."
Kirl patted Juxta on the arm again. "You've done it. You're a master."
Juxta smiled and nodded.
"Your family and friends would be proud."
"Eh, family is long dead," Juxta said. "I'm sure I'll see Simon and William again though."
Robert materialized. "I'm proud of you, Juxta. Surely I count for something."
"Yes. Thank you."
"We have nearly taxed the library of Weslan. There's an ancient method of enchanting a blade to resist magic. I hoped we'd find the instructions for the enchantment in these libraries, but alas, I think the only place it's written down is back in my quarters in the Lost City. The enchantment may be what we need to face Balron."
"Putting you to rest might involve returning to the Lost City as well," Kirl said. "Perhaps Quann has figured out a way..."
Juxta looked from one to the other. "We'll leave for Druidia in the morning."
Chapter 26
Juxta packed his meager belongings and started the journey to Druidia's capital. Juxta rode hard, for he usually traveled with rangers. The cat ran alongside the horse. The cat grew faster than Juxta had been expecting. Juxta stopped at inns almost every night of the journey. People kept staring at the cat, yet he didn't seem to mind.
When Juxta arrived at the Druidish capital, he looked up Quann at his residence. Quann smiled wide and bobbed his head up and down on answering the door. "How goes your training with Kirl?"
"I'm a master now," Juxta replied, with at least a tiny hint of pride.
"Good. Let's visit your trees after lunch."
"We found a way to forge a blade useful against undead. Have you had any luck finding a way to put Robert's soul to rest?"
"The priesthood thinks there's a way. We're to meet with them."
"When?"
Quann rubbed his chin, and his eyes rolled about a bit. "We didn't know when you'd arrive. Let's go and visit them tomorrow afternoon. That will give you time to visit your trees."
After lunch they went to Quann's garden where Juxta's trees grew. Quann grasped Juxta on the shoulder. "After you wake them, spread out the call to other trees in the city. See how many you can feed."
Juxta tilted his head to the side. "Is this a Druidic exercise?"
"More of a test of strength," Quann said.
Juxta started the chant to awaken his three trees.
Break the Peace, Awake
Wake the Ancient, Take
They shouted, Juxta! He poured more power into the chant and willed it to spread out from him in a circle. A tinkling little glow of wisps of power began to spread out from him, just the faintest little bit of white that you could barely see in swirling patterns. Tree after tree awoke, inquiring, Who has awoken me? Juxta's trees replied to them saying it was Juxta.
Break the Peace, Awake
Wake the Ancient, Take
He spread the chant's reach out further and further. Within a few minutes it seemed every tree in the city had been reached, and a low chant started in Juxta's mind, Feed us. Juxta poured more power into the chant, and the few trees that straggled awoke. The power of the trees fed a warm glow in his chest that spread out to his entire body.
Juxta started the chant to feed the trees.
Green of Spring, to be Seen
New Life, from Strife
The sun started to crawl through the sky for Juxta as he burned with mage power. Trees bloomed and seeded across the city. Still Juxta's power flowed, and it invigorated him. Dueling couldn't compare to using his power this way. Night fell. Leaves turned to autumn colors and fell to the ground. Thunderstorms raged through the night blanketing the city with flashes of light and thunderclaps. Juxta continued his chant. As the sun rose new growth showed in bright green on the trees of the city. Tree sprouts grew into young saplings. The young saplings cried out first, crying out enough, crying for mercy almost. Juxta ended his chant and looked around. Instead of just three trees, a dozen saplings now stood. The entire city looked as if it had been painted the light green of the first few days of spring.
Quann prepared a breakfast of eggs, fresh bread, and ham slices. Juxta's bones ached from fatigue. A knock thundered on the front door as they cleaned their plates. Quann answered it with Juxta at his side. Three ancient druids stood with their fists clenched around their staves. The center one raised his eyes up from the ground to peer into Juxta's face. He pointed his gnarled old hand at Juxta and growled out the words, "The time of doom is upon us."
Quann waved his hand at Juxta. "This is Juxta, and he's no doom bringer. He's just uncannily powerful."
The leftmost aged druid spat on the ground. "The prophecy is twofold, and we're doomed no matter which outcome occurs!"
Quann simply clasped his hands together. "My friends, it's early in the day. Have you breakfasted yet? My hearth's fire is still hot."
The rightmost old druid took in a great breath of air and spoke loudly as if partially deaf. "You can't ignore the signs, Quann!"
Quann smiled at the three druids.
Juxta said, "What's the prophecy?"
"They're afraid you're going to turn to necromancy and bring doom upon the entire land," Quann said. "I don't believe in the prophecy, so much of the original scrolls it was written on were lost eons ago that I think it's just old men harping that their world might end a few days before nature decides on it."
It was Juxta's turn to spit on the ground, and he glared at the three old men. "I despise necromancy. Everything about it sickens me."
The three old men slumped down even lower on their ancient forms.
One turned to leave, and the others turned to follow. Quann said, "No breakfast?"
The three old men shook their heads and kept walking.
"Let's get some rest," Quann said. "We were both up all night watching the show."
They went inside, and Quann pointed at a comfortable looking couch with silk pillows in an antechamber. Juxta smiled and lay down, falling asleep in an instant.
Quann woke him in the afternoon, and they made their way through the city streets.
Juxta stopped and stared when they reached the temple. The sunlight glared off painted white walls. Windows, with colored glass, dotted the sides of the building while its roof reached into the sky at such an angle Juxta had to ponder its construction for a moment. They stepped into the front door, and three priests were scattered about the room. One sat at a desk reading. One was dusting a long shelf filled with unlit candles. One kneeled in prayer at the front of the room. Colored light from the windows dotted the room filling it with a warm but brilliant glow. Quann walked toward the kneeling priest. He wore a hooded cloak made of some brown woven material. Quann said, "Hello!"
The priest stood up and turned to face Quann and Juxta. He pulled back his hood, and he turned out to be a she. Juxta gaped at her, staring at the perfectly smooth curves of her face. Her hair was perfectly trimmed in straight lines and a blond so light it bordered on gold. Her eyes were filled with both blue and green, with the green around the center. She waved a perfect smile at Juxta, and his knees began to melt. Juxta might as well have been smitten with a hammer. He inadvertently sparked a bright light in his amethyst gemstone, bright enough to drown out all the other colors filling the room. He stammered for words, not entirely sure what he was going to say.
Quann said, "This is Elizabeth."
"Call me Lisa. Are you trying to blind me with that light, so I can't get a look at your face?"
"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to do that." He tried to turn the light down, and it twinkled a bit but stayed steady. Juxta focused his will and quieted his mind, letting the power flow out of him and snuffing out the light.
Lisa looked him over from head to toe. She noticed the cat and bent down to it. Juxta tried to say, "Don't," but it was too late. Lisa reached a hand behind the cat's face and started rubbing it behind the ear. The traitorous cat turned its head and pushed up against Lisa's hand purring loudly.
Lisa asked, "Where did you get such a big cat?"
"Kergia."
She smiled and kept petting the cat. The animal purred and started to drool just a bit. "So, he's just a kitten then?"
The stiffness melted out of Juxta's face in the essence of a sigh. "Yes."
The cat rolled onto its back, and Lisa started rubbing its belly. The cat had the nerve to start growling and moaning.
"He's supposed to be dangerous to everybody but me," Juxta said.
"He seems starved for attention to me," Lisa said as she stopped petting the cat and stood back up to her full height. The cat stood on its back legs, put its paws on Lisa's chest, and licked her face.
Juxta shouted, "Traitor!"
The cat turned and looked at him then got off her and returned to Juxta's side.
Lisa asked, "What's his name?"
Juxta looked at her. He shook his head. "He doesn't have a name."
Lisa's eyes and mouth both opened wide as she said the words. "He should have a name!"
"It seems pointless to give a cat a name." Juxta's eyebrows furrowed. "They don't come if you call them."
"I have raised more than one cat that would come when I called out their name." Lisa's stare turned into a glare. "Kergian cats definitely need names."
Juxta turned to the cat and waved his hand. "Cat!"
The cat went up on his hind legs and put paws on Juxta's chest. The cat nuzzled his face.
Quann looked at Lisa and smiled. "You must have a way with them, Lisa."
Lisa turned to Quann. "Anyhow, where is this ghost you need put to rest?"
"I don't know. I'm surprised he hasn't shown himself." Juxta shouted, "Robert!"
Lisa blinked her eyes a few times. "The ghost has a name, but the cat doesn't. I understand."
"Maybe he couldn't enter the temple," Quann suggested.
Juxta pushed the cat down onto the floor. "Let's check
outside."
Quann led the way, and Lisa, Juxta, and the cat followed. Robert materialized just outside the temple doors. "I couldn't go inside."
Lisa grasped at her heart. "I thought you were just joking with the priesthood, Quann."
"It's no joke," the ghost said. "I'm in limbo."
Lisa reached out a hand to touch Robert, and her hand passed right through his pseudo gaseous form. Lisa whispered, as if to keep Robert from hearing, "Where did you find him again?"
"The Lost City in the Weslan Forest," Juxta said.
Lisa shook her head and started waving her hands around. "What do you mean? You've been through the Weslan Forest and seen the Lost City?"
Juxta's mouth twisted into a commonplace grin on just one side.
"I'm guessing you found Robert's spirit, but his body has long since turned to dust?" Lisa asked.
Juxta fixed the grin on his face. "No, we found his body."
"Did any of you think to give it a proper burial?"
Robert looked at Juxta. Then the ghost looked at Quann and then looked at Lisa and finally Robert said, "No. If it's that simple, what are we waiting for?"
Lisa placed her hands on her hips. "It may not be that simple, but I think it would be a good start."
"Again, what are we waiting for?"
She smiled her patient smile. "I have to pack my things and let the priesthood know where I'm going."
"Let's set out tomorrow," Juxta said. "We need Simon to get past the Tree Nymphs."
Robert said, "I'll go to Lynken and fetch Simon."
"We'll meet Simon in Weslan and venture to the forest from there."
Robert darted off, heading east.
Lisa scratched her head for a moment. "Meet me back here on the morrow. I'll be ready."
Quann, Juxta, and the cat made their way back to Quann's residence. Juxta asked, "Will you join us, Quann?"
"If I thought you needed me, I would, but I think you'll be fine without me."
That night Juxta slept in Quann's guest chamber. Come morning he ate a quick breakfast and went to the temple. Lisa waited. She had a spare horse laden with heavy saddle bags. Juxta said, "We can rely on the cat to bring rabbits and ducks back to camp. Are you sure you'll need that much in the way of supplies?"
Juxta, Magi Page 20
