The Ways of Mages: Two Worlds

by Catherine Beery

  Moving Sergeant Tolivier was not without its own complications. The portly soldier had steadfastly refused the carriage hired to transport him and the ladies to the new accommodations. He insisted that he be allowed to walk or ride on horseback.

  “Lacy things with cushions is fer women and I t’aint no woman.”He had said.

  It wasn’t until Kindra unblocked his pain centers that he consented to the carriage ride–explaining to Tep that someone had to guard the women. Tep raised an eyebrow; but otherwise said nothing.

  Despite the move, the men were no more willing to talk about what they were working on than before. At one point Gawin asked Bendon if he would like to help. The old mage shot an alarmed look at Robert and the older engineer put a hand on Gawin’s shoulder and said simply… “Lad, for reasons I really can’t get into…that’s really not a good idea.”

  “But…”

  “Trust me lad.”Robert said with a amused smile on his face.

  Bendon, as usual, spent much of his time running from pub to pub looking for the odd traveler to engage in games of chance. His luck at cards seemed spotty at best. Yet he always seemed to have enough on hand to pay the innkeeper for their room and board.

  By Saturday, Jewel had decided she would die of boredom. She and Tep went for a walk on the beach with Mister Underfoot and Rat in tow. The cats enjoyed following Jewel to the lakefront as there were always minnows and small crabs to be had on the beach. Rat, the cat that had joined their party in the city of Thioden was finally coming to terms with the fact that she was not a rodent. That said, she still tackled Mister Underfoot each time he made a move towards a mouse. The situation served to confuse the older cat to no end.

  As Jewel and Tep walked along the sandy lakefront they passed behind the machine shop where Gawin and Robert were working on their mysterious project. Jewel made a decision. Picking up Mister Underfoot and signally Tep to do the same with Rat, she walked up the wooden beach stairs towards the back of the stone and stucco structure.

  Once at the top of the walkway she and Tep made their way towards the back wall facing the lake. A single large but curtained window afforded the occupants a view of the water. A door next to the window provided a back entrance to the shop. Jewel could hear the men arguing inside.

  “We’ll never get it calibrated without taking the risk.”Gawin was saying to Robert.

  “Aye yer right lad, but the important question is deciding how much risk is acceptable. A smidgeon too much and we could destroy it.”

  “And we can’t know the extent of the risk until I do the math…I understand what you are saying. The problem is that it will take years to derive the calibration formula without empirical data. Years GrimHolden doesn’t have.”

  “So what are you suggesting, lad? Plug in all four vertices and see what happens?”the old man said with exasperation.

  “Controlled tests - Measure what happens.”Gawin said firmly.“Inch the vertices in until we see temporal or positional perturbations in the immediate locale and then inch the vertices out one at a time.”

  “And if you push the wrong vertices too far, you could find yourself translocated in time or space. Are you prepared to miss the birth of your child? Or even worse, can you swim for days on end when you suddenly find yourself twenty leagues out to sea?”

  Jewel had heard enough. She marched past the window and pushed open the back door. She had intended to confront the men and put a stop to this foolishness. What she had not counted on was the Border Collie sleeping on a mat by the door. The dog woke with a start and immediately started barking at the two intruders holding cats. Mister Underfoot, for his part, was no stranger to dogs and had developed over the years, a distinct dislike for the breed. He launched himself from Jewel’s arms with a great leap that covered over a third of the distance between himself and the tallest person in the room. Two more rapid bounds and he had attached himself to Gawin…mid-thigh, where he proceeded to claw his way up the tall engineer to his shoulder.

  Gawin reacted to this unexpected assault by screaming and attempting to defend himself from ten flailing claws. He stumbled back and into Robert who was delicately fitting his strange black sword into a cradle mounted on a mechanism the two men had been working on.

  “NO!”the old man yelled but it was too late. The sword fell into place and the cradle slid a full six inches into the mechanism. A powerful wave of nausea enveloped Jewel. Robert grasped the sword and cradle and frantically pulled it back. But it was too late. Jewel along with Tep and Bendon who had come running up from the opposite direction right as she reached the door all disappeared in a shimmering wave emanating from the device before Robert managed to retract the sword. Before the wave vanished, they briefly saw a narrow band of land around the building as it might look in spring with fresh buds upon the trees.

  “Not spatial.”A stunned Gawin said as he removed the cat from his shoulder.“Temporal?”

  “Most likely.”The older man agreed.“The question is how long?”

  “About eight months.”Said a very angry looking Jewel who stepped through the door with a belly now substantially bigger than Gawin remembered.

  “Oh my God!”Gawin said as he saw his wife. Jewel was clearly in the final stages of her pregnancy and by all appearances was going into labor. He turned to Tep who was sporting a fuzzy blond beard and was now taller than his wife and said“Fetch Kindra. Get her here…get her here NOW!”

  “Bendon’s already run to fetch her.”Tep said, stepping back from the door and the puzzling puddle of fluid forming at Jewel’s feet.

  Gawin helped his gasping wife to a cot in the corner of the shop.“Shouldn’t we have boiling water or something?”He said with desperation to the old man.

  Robert smiled and patted Gawin on the shoulder as he gently pushed him out of the way.“I’ve had some experience with this in my day. Why don’t you have a nice seat over by the hearth and let me and mother here get down to the business of seeing this baby into the world and then we can find out what happened here.”

  “But it can’t be time yet!”Jewel argued between gritted teeth.“I haven’t even had a chance to kick his time tinkering bottom yet.”she continued as she pulled Gawin in for a quick hug, kiss, and punch before pushing him away.

  “Aye, but it is lassie.”Robert turned to Gawin who was still deciding whether to be alarmed, panicked, confused or concerned.“I’d say the sword is on the temporal axis…six inches seems to be good for about eight and a half months–give or take a few weeks.”

  “Temporal axis–yes”Gawin said with just an edge of panic in his voice.“Jewel…?”

  “Jewel will be all right.”Robert said with confidence. He placed a moist cloth on her head and smiled warmly at her. “This appears to be a completely normal pregnancy aside from the obvious shortcuts taken.”Jewel’s eyes flashed at this. Unperturbed, the older man sat next to her on a stool and pointed to her swollen belly.“I used to be quite a doctor–may I?”

  “PLEASE!”Jewel gritted out.

  The old man gently eased her dress up and felt the curve of her belly with both hands. He repositioned his hands and felt again. His professional demeanor which he held while conducting the examination gave way to a broad grin.

  “What’s wrong?”Jewel and Gawin said in unison.

  “Wrong? Nothing’s wrong”The old man said with a smile.“She’s kicking.”

  He signaled Gawin to place a hand on his wife’s abdomen.“You can feel the foot pressing here.”

  “I can feel her!”The lanky engineer said with a smile that threatened to split his face. A contraction hit Jewel and she gasped in response.“Are you alright?”Gawin asked with a growing sense of concern.

  “I think so”Jewel answered while puffing.

  “That’s just her body getting ready for the ordeal to come.”Robert explained.

  At that moment Tep, Tommy, Sergeant Tolivier and a very somber Kindra strolled through the door the border collie had been guarding moments b
efore.

  Kindra took one look at Jewel’s condition and turned to face the old man.“You’ve been tampering with time again.”She accused.

  “Technically, this would be the first time.”He mumbled apologetically.

  “Purely a matter of semantics.”She scolded.

  Gawin looked from the mother dragon to the old man and back again.“What are you two…?”he started to ask.

  Kindra smiled and placed a kindly hand on his shoulder before he could finish.“Nothing to worry about, dearest. It’s an old argument between even older friends. Everything will be fine. For the moment, I need you and the men to take Tep to that pub across the way and teach him the finer points of getting drunk. I believe that you’ll find Bendon holding a table for you already.”

  “But I…”

  “But nothing.”she said firmly.“There’s nothing you can do here. We have the finest physician in the known lands to tend for your wife.”

  Robert rose and placed a reassuring hand on Gawin’s shoulder.“Go on lad. You add nothing to the process here. We’ll call you when there’s some news.”

  Gawin knelt by his wife and she smiled bravely.“Go on dear. I’ll be fine and Kindra has already blocked most of the pain.”

  “I love you.”He said with one final plea.

  “And I love you…Now go and get respectfully drunk. You and I will have lots to talk about later.”

  “Yes dear.”he offered meekly.

  “Come on laddie.”Sergeant Tolivier said cheerfully.“We got us some educatin’ta do.”He wrapped one meaty arm around both Tep and the lanky engineer.

  Tommy closed the door behind them as the sergeant led the two out the door.

  Chapter Six- Tomorrow’s Yesterday

  GrimHolden shuddered. It was cold in the damp cell he shared with four well-fed rats. They were well fed because he had learned early on in his captivity that the gruel he was served in a cracked clay bowl once a day was tainted with potions that made him drowsy and compliant.

  Twice after eating he had fallen asleep only to awaken with a lustful ardor in the arms of a girl who twenty years ago had been his first love…a girl he knew to be dead from a boating accident when she was but nineteen years old.

  Altana was trying to fulfill a prophesy that required a pregnancy…what scared him more than the weeks of torture he had already experienced was the thought that under the influence of the drugs he might have already given her the boon she sought.

  The rats were all asleep so he knew the gruel was still tainted. He selected one of the unconscious animals and quickly dispatched it. He gently flowed the tiniest bit of magic to cleanse the poisons from the carcass and to cook the flesh. The technique was well known to all the Grimedian knights who often lived in the field. Once done he quickly consumed the morsel and disposed of the remains down the grate that served as his privy.

  His plan for escape needed just a few days more…and, he admitted to himself with a grimace…a definite turn of luck.

  ***

  Bendon waved the men over as they entered the bar. Turning his attention back to the barmaid, he placed their order.“We’d like five of your‘mixed woodland creatures’plates, my dear.”

  “And a pitcher of ale.”Tolivier added as he arrived at the table and took a seat across from Bendon.

  An agitated Gawin managed to contain himself until the rest of the group could get settled. Then moving his eyes quickly between Tep and Bendon, he cried out“One of you, for God’s sake, please tell me what just happened?”

  Tep looked confused and a bit perplexed as if he didn’t understand what Gawin was talking about. Bendon seeing the desperation on Gawin’s face and the puzzlement on Tep’s, broke out laughing. Wiping his eyes with a sleeve he continued,“What‘just’happened is a matter of perspective. For you, Robert and Tommy, and for that matter the rest of the world... only a few moments have passed since the accident in the workshop... for you time has been pinched. For Tep and I,…and your wife time took a bit of a turn. We stepped back roughly eight or so months.”

  “Pinched?”

  Bendon paused to consider how to best explain what happened.“Time and space are a fabric. Each of our lives is a single thread in that fabric…now if you consider a single string… “

  “A single person’s life.”Gawin interjected as understanding dawned.

  “Yes my boy, a single person’s life…a single string…the length of the string is normal time…If you place a knot in the string it’s shorter. For those of us who were caught in the path of Roberts’s portal device the threads were knotted or pinched. It’s as if we looped back in time eight months in the blink of an eye...

  “She’s going to kill me.”Gawin whispered.

  Tep grinned.

  “Oh, believe me…If she knew the full scope of what happened or rather will happen in the past with Robert’s portal she’ll want to kill the both of us.”Bendon added.

  “Why you?”Gawin asked.

  The old man smiled at the young engineer and sipped his beer.“It’s probably best I not discuss that yet…”he hedged.“Besides dinner is here!”

  The‘mixed woodland creatures’plate turned out to be a hearty venison, squirrel, and rabbit stew seasoned with wild carrots and leeks. Fire roasted potatoes were served on the side. The polenta thickened stew itself was ladled onto baked and halved bread truncheons.

  Tommy thoroughly enjoyed the hearty meal. The savory mix of flavors and textures was surprisingly good. In fact, it was perhaps a little too good. Tommy had the distinct feeling that Bendon was up to something. Hoping to catch him off guard, Tommy looked up from his plate and said“So what’s the plan–o-wise and venerable one?”

  Bendon and Gawin who had both been chewing on tough but tasty bits of venison, paused and glanced at Tommy.

  “Plan?”They said in union.

  Tommy smiled and repeated“Yes, plan, you old coot. We’ve played enough cards for me to know when you’re hiding something up your sleeve.”

  With this comment, the rest of the group turned their attention to Bendon; except for Tep who used the opportunity to steal one of the sergeant’s potatoes.

  Bendon sighed and said.“Could you keep your voice down? No sense letting the world know of my skills with the cards…we still need to pay the rent after all.”

  Tommy smiled and nodded for him to continue.

  The wizard reached behind himself and dug into one of his red cloak’s many pockets. Pulling something out, he glanced at it before returning it to the cloak. Turning back to the group, he said“After we finish here, we will use the portal symbols strategically placed by Jewel and myself over the past eight months while we waited to catch up with this timeline. They will take us both back four hours in time and instantly to Mortia. We will use those four hours before Gawin’s daughter is born to sneak in, find Grim, sneak out and come back here in time for the birth”

  This statement was greeted with stunned silence by the rest of the group. A visibly perplexed Tolivier sat mumbling something about‘sub-decked time’while shaking his head. Gawin mumbled“I have a daughter?”The others, with the exception of Tep who continued eating calmly, just sat - stunned.

  Bendon decided to follow Tep’s example and snatched the piece of venison out from beneath Gawin’s hovering hand. He popped it into his month and chewed contentedly as he waited for the coming explosion.

  ***

  Altana watched the grimy man who sat in the corner of his dank cell. Thomas Holden, GrimHolden for those in the monastic order he was the head of…had been her prisoner for the better part of two months. She found herself strangely drawn to the man that was her enemy. He was a bastion for good…and she…well she was not.

  In spite of this difference she was enthralled by his seeming lack of concern for his diminished station. He had been declared“king”by the Archbishop of Vandenburg yet she treated him like common jailhouse dirt. Despite this, he respectfully thanked her for every meager meal she provided him
. She found it frustrating and appealing at the same time…that of all the lives she controlled and ultimately crushed this one man would consistently defy her. Was it the challenge or the allure of what could not be owned? She sighed.

  She had been drugging his food in order to force compliance. Raping a man was far more difficult than the reverse. Still she was determined that he would beget her son so that she and the child could fulfill a millennium old prophesy. The potion she had been using had initially been effective but she had recently noticed that it was no longer binding him to her desires. She found this odd because she had specifically charmed it against tampering until consumed. Still, it mattered not. She could feel the new life taking hold in her belly. Once she knew the pregnancy would carry to term she would decide what to do with this newly minted king. She gave orders to double the drug dose in his food.

  ***

  General Stanton looked every bit his nickname, the Reed, as he swayed while standing in a blustery wind that was tearing through the decimated corn field his soldiers had camped in the night before. The morning sun was already a hand’s breadth high but it brought little promise for warmth this day. His gaze turned westward, towards the capital city of Pershara. The word had come by runner the night before that the city was stirring and the king was raiding private storehouses and granaries…impounding every foodstuff available in the city. It seemed Raymond Holden the pretender to the throne since murdering his nephew, King Randolph Holden, nearing twenty years ago was aware that an army loyal to the newly declared King Thomas Holden was marching on the city.

  The general grimaced as he thought of how the people of that city were suffering because of the seizures. Anyone who wanted to eat had to be seen as loyal to Raymond's throne. Further, by housing all the food within the palace gates, the palace could survive a multi-year siege. The city itself would fall to pieces but Stanton seriously doubted this troubled the despot Raymond Holden one iota.