by Mike Shelton
Onius’s face reddened. He bowed his head slightly and returned on his horse to speak with the trio of wizards. Voices were raised, and arms waved around in the air.
Onius rode back to the group. “Chief Judge, this is their final resolution, based on your demands: Their general will be demoted and will leave at first light. As you pointed out, their two judges will need an escort. So, this newly demoted captain and a few of his best, handpicked soldiers will follow Mericus and another judge to Cassian to maintain the laws and peace there while you are away. Your guards can stand outside the inn tonight, if you think they need to, but River Bend is a safe place. That should cover enough of your demands, Sir.”
With all of his demands apparently swept aside, the Chief Judge’s cheeks grew red above his short beard. “Onius, counsel me. What do you think we should do?”
“Sir, I have served you and those before you for years. I have always guided the Chief Judge to keep the peace and the law. Things are moving forward more quickly than we thought, and I would advise caution at this time. Keep a level head, and get to the Citadel. I assure you, I will have words with Kanzar immediately upon our arrival.”
Daymian raised his voice to his people. “We will stay here tonight and leave early in the morning, resuming our trip to the Citadel. You will treat the people in this town with respect and pay for any services used. Captain, have your men secure the horses and find someone to feed and brush them, and then report back to me. All of you others may leave for the inn.”
Alli walked with Roland, Bakari, and Kharlia toward the inn.
“I still think we should fight,” Alli said.
Roland grinned. “Me, too. I’m itching to use some power.”
“You fight too?” Alli asked. “I thought you were a counselor.”
“Alli, dear, I assure you I am much more than a counselor. Maybe we could spar sometime.”
Alli took a step closer to Roland, spinning a knife in her left hand. “That would be my pleasure.” She would like nothing more than to put this arrogant boy in his place.
“Don’t do anything stupid, you two.” Bakari moved between them. “You are still apprentices.”
Alli and Roland both scowled at Bakari.
He laughed. “I was kidding.”
Roland then spread his hands wide to the side. “First, you find yourself a girl and take over the power of a vulture; and now, you’re making jokes. Bak, you might just turn out all right after all.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Bakari couldn’t sit still at the inn when he knew there was an old library in River Bend that he had never visited before. And it didn’t take much convincing for Kharlia to agree to come along with him.
It wasn’t hard for the wizard to escape the guards around the inn. The night was clear, with stars shining down that lit their way to the library. Bakari basked in the warmth radiating from Kharlia as he walked by her side. It was a strange feeling he had for her, strange only in the sense that it was new. He admired her and felt protective of her well-being.
She glanced his way and smiled, and he felt his face redden in the starlight. He thought back to the night when he had saved her from the mercenaries by merging his mind with the vulture’s mind. He had known it was forbidden, but in the moment of his need, it had come to him. It had been the only solution he could think of.
Thinking back now, he realized that the hardest part had been separating his mind from the animal’s after he was finished. But there was still no evil taint in him or foul sensation. In fact, the ability continued to intrigue him.
He pushed aside his thoughts on that subject for now. What he needed to find out was how the barrier had been created, what kept it powered, and why it was now failing. In his methodical mind, he knew there must be a connection between the rise of the King-men, the move by Kanzar and his judges to assert more control, and the failing of the barrier. Too many coincidences didn’t sit well with him.
He and Kharlia soon came upon the small stone library and walked around its dark exterior. Their dark skin and clothes would help them to blend into the shadows of the night if anyone looked in their direction.
“How do we get in?” Kharlia asked. Finding that the doors were all locked, she kept glancing around, worry on her face.
Bakari wondered how she was holding up in this situation, so far from her home. He smiled and walked up to a back door again. He only felt mildly bad as he pressed his hand to the door’s lock and used his power to unlock the mechanism. They weren’t there to do any harm, only to find out some information.
Bakari look around once more and then pushed the door open, motioning for Kharlia to follow him inside.
“That’s cheating,” she whispered with a twinkle in her eye.
Bakari raised his shoulders. He had never thought of it as cheating. It was an inherent power he held, a power he undertook to use for good.
Closing the door behind them, he gazed around the dark room. Starlight gleamed through the windows, highlighting bookshelves and tables. He took a moment to breathe in the aroma of the books and scrolls, and his heart leapt inside him. This is where he felt most at home: surrounded by knowledge. He stepped toward a nearby bookshelf and ran his hands lovingly over the spines of the books.
“Isn’t it wonderful?” Kharlia said, her voice floating across the dark room.
Bakari smiled. “Yes, it is. It’s larger than I would have thought for a small town. Many of the libraries in border towns close to the Elvyn Forest hold more books about pre-barrier life. This might be the result of Elvyn influence and desire for learning.”
They both took separate directions as they walked around the room for a few minutes to get their bearings. They came back together on the room’s far side and found two other smaller rooms, windowless and dark.
“I will light a candle in one of those rooms. We can study in there without being noticed,” Bakari said. “The Chief Judge wants to know more about the barrier.”
Kharlia nodded, but she was only half listening as she moved around the room, probably hunting for books on healing or herbs. Bakari watched her walk, her dark cloak swirling softly around her homespun dress, and marveled again at her poise. He had to turn away to remember why he was there.
Fortunately, hundreds of years ago, a few scholar wizards had designed a system for cataloging scrolls and books. This system was implemented throughout most of the land, and, indeed, this library used the system he was used to. That would make searching for the right books easier.
Focusing his attention on the history section, he noticed several books he had not read before, a few going back prior to the barrier. He picked up a sampling of them and settled into a chair in the reading room. Kharlia soon joined him, and the two sat in comfortable silence, each immersed in their own worlds.
Eventually, Bakari took off his glasses and leaned his head back in his chair. “Very interesting, but nothing about the barrier,” he said out loud, mostly to himself.
“Have you tried the scrolls?” Kharlia asked.
“No, but I will. We need to head back soon. I was hoping to find something useful.”
Bakari headed over to the cabinet that held the scrolls. Dragging his hand down the cabinet, he read the catalog numbers. There were some scrolls here about herbs, so he pulled them out for Kharlia. When he came to the historical section, he found three other scrolls. He took all of them back to the smaller room, handing Kharlia the ones on herbs. Her cheeks colored in excitement, and the corners of her small mouth turned upwards in a large smile.
He took the three historical scrolls to his side of the table and opened the first one. On it, he found a map already known to him. The second held a treatise on different forms of government and their advantages. And the third was a historical and factual account of the weather.
“Nothing again!” Bakari furrowed his brows. “I’m taking these back, and then we should be going. Did you find anything?”
“Oh yes!” Kharlia
smiled up at him. “Wonderful things.” She had brought along a small bag with parchment, ink, and a quill and was frantically taking notes. “Quite a few herbs that I hadn’t thought to mix together.”
Bakari walked back to the cabinet with his shoulders slumped. He had hoped so much for some additional insight. He was afraid of what might happen to them when they reached the Citadel. He slid the scrolls back into their place, but the third one didn’t fit anymore and poked out farther than the others.
“Hmmm,” Bakari murmured. “They fit before.”
He slid it in again, but still the scroll wouldn’t go in any farther. Pulling back out the other two, he crouched down and peered into the cabinet. Then he reached inside the dark cube and felt around. He was surprised to find something in the back, so he pulled it out. He held it in his hands: a small scroll, edges frayed, tied with a tiny strap of leather. It must have fallen down earlier, when he had removed the three larger scrolls.
Taking the newfound scroll back to the lit room, he sat down and rolled the leather tie off of the scroll. Then he opened it up flat on the table. It was a map, drawn with thick, unskilled strokes. The entire scroll was only about twelve inches tall and six inches wide.
Kharlia moved around the table and walked up behind Bakari. He tried not to be distracted by her presence, even though she was hanging over him, her body slightly touching his shoulder. He smoothed out the scroll again.
“What is it?” Kharlia asked.
“I’m not sure,” Bakari admitted. “It is not a map I recognize.” He ran his fingers over portions of it, trying to get his bearings. “Wait, I think this is where we are right now—River Bend—and this is the Dunn River.” He pointed down the length of the map.
“And this is Cassian.” Kharlia pointed to a large circle on the map closer toward the center and farther down the scroll than River Bend.
Now that Bakari had found his bearings on the map, he picked out many landmarks he knew. He worked his way up and down the scroll. The Citadel, marked in red, had lines from the top right of the scroll pointing down to it. Following these lines up, Bakari gasped.
“I’ve never heard about a city here.” Bakari pointed to a spot that would now be the most northeastern portion of Alaris, a portion on the other side of the Dunn River. It was marked with a blue circle and a symbol next to it. Light lines extended from it in the form of a sunburst, then broadened out and circled all around Alaris in its entirety.
“What does it mean?” Kharlia asked.
“The writing is in an abbreviated language form called symbolus, in which symbols refer to a string of words. It’s a more compact form of taking notes. This one means Celestial Star or Celestar.”
Kharlia looked at Bakari with questioning eyes.
“And then, these lines here, around the symbol, are drawn around the map to represent what seems to be the barrier.” Bakari’s voice rose in excitement. “This is the first thing I have seen linking the Citadel to the barrier, and it seems to go through this spot, called Celestar.”
Hunching closer, Kharlia pointed to the blue spot on the map. “Something was drawn underneath the blue mark.”
Bakari inspected it closer and agreed. He held up the scroll and moved it in front of the candlelight, being careful not to get it too close. His mouth hung open as a shape began to appear under the blue circle. Unmistakable in its form, it appeared to have been drawn in far greater detail than the rest of the map.
“A dragon!” Bakari let out a gasp of joy. “A dragon, Kharlia. Do you realize what this means?”
Kharlia sat down next to Bakari at the table and shook her head.
“Numerous books at the Citadel mentioned dragon-like creatures, but many dismiss these references as exaggerations. The few tidbits we do have never tell us about where they came from or where they went to or if they actually existed at all. They do mention these creatures’ tremendous power and might: enough power to overcome dozens of wizards.”
Kharlia ran her finger over the spot. “Do you think they were real?”
Bakari took a long moment before answering as his mind ran through the numerous books he had read since he was five and had been dropped off at the Citadel door. He tried to piece together the images on the map in front of him and what it all meant. The conclusion or answer eluded him at the moment, but this information was more, far more than he had hoped for. Celestar was the first place he had ever seen marked on a map that might hold the key to the barrier.
“Bak?” Kharlia prodded him again for an answer.
“Sorry, Kharlia, just trying to put it all together. It’s so exciting. The only other sure reference I have read about dragons comes from Mahli, where our people are from. It was a story about people who rode on dragons and about how the greatest rider became a king, the king of the whole land.”
“When I was little, my mother used to tell me stories of dragons and magic, passed down to her from her parents.” Kharlia’s eyes glistened in the candlelight, and she paused before speaking again. “I sure do miss her sometimes.”
Bakari didn’t quite know what to say. He rubbed his hand across the top of hers. “I hardly knew my parents.” He spoke softly in the quiet room. “They, or someone, dropped me off at the Citadel when I was only five years old. I remember my mother’s soft voice, singing to me, and my father’s long, braided hair. The wizards say I was left by the front gate with a note that said to call me Bakari.”
“I’m sorry,” Kharlia said. She sat quiet for a moment, then looked back at Bakari. “So, the dragons? Do you think they are real…and not just children’s stories?”
“Maybe, but maybe not. I don’t understand it all, but I need to tell the Chief Judge. He could send some wizards from the Citadel to this place, Celestar.” He turned his head back to the map again, memorizing every detail. It wouldn’t be right for him to take the scroll away from its rightful place.
Then they snuffed out the candle, returned the scrolls and books to their shelves, and headed through the dark room toward the back door. As Bakari reached for the doorknob, he heard voices outside. He turned back to Kharlia with his finger to his lips, and they both crouched down to not be seen through any of the small windows. Then they listened to the voices talking.
“Mericus, what are you doing here as a judge?” Bakari recognized Onius’s voice.
“Onius, good to see you again,” Mericus said, his tone arrogant. “You have not been around the Citadel in a while.”
“And, what does that mean?”
“Onius, don’t get so upset,” Mericus said as if trying to calm him down. “I am sure Kanzar has plans for you too.”
“Plans?” Onius asked.
“You know Kanzar…he always has plans. I’m not always privy to them, but I don’t mind being a recipient of his generosity: first, as a judge,” the voice of Mericus dropped lower, almost to a whisper, “then, who knows?”
Before Onius could say anything more, another voice spoke.
“Wizard, you owe me some money,” the gruff voice said.
“I owe you nothing,” Mericus said. “Your job was to take the Chief Judge, and you botched it.”
“Mericus, what have you done?” Onius said, raising his voice.
“We kidnapped him as agreed and administered the poison,” the third man said. “It was your wizards who interfered. Pay up as you agreed or else there might be new problems that you can’t control.”
Bakari turned to Kharlia and mouthed the word mercenary to her. She clearly understood: Onius and Mericus were talking to the captain of the mercenaries who had kidnapped the Chief Judge. They turned their attention back to the conversation.
“Don’t threaten us,” Mericus said.
The mercenary captain laughed. “You wizards need me. You are too high and mighty to get your own hands dirty.”
“That is where you are wrong, Captain,” Mericus said.
A bright light flashed through the outlines of the door, and the night fell silen
t for a moment.
“Mericus,” Onius growled. “You didn’t need to kill him.”
“I didn’t like his attitude, and, anyways, he isn’t dead, merely stunned,” Mericus said. “People need to learn their place. Their attitude toward wizards has grown complacent during the reign of judges.”
“Be careful, Mericus.” Onius spoke with barely concealed contempt. “Don’t climb too high, or you might fall.”
“Oh, I see,” Mericus said. “You want the power for yourself.”
“I have been serving judges for more years than you have been alive, Mericus. Don’t be greedy. These are dangerous times. I obviously need to talk to Kanzar. Things have moved far ahead of me while I have been away from the Citadel.”
“The plan is still the same, Onius. We must have a king. And that king will be a wizard. Are you getting a conscience now?” Mericus said.
“The Chief Judge is a good man. I don’t want to see him hurt by greedy wizards,” Onius said.
“You have been away from the Citadel for too long, Onius.” Mericus’s voice faded as the two walked farther behind the building. “You have grown soft in Cassian. You care for the Chief Judge too much. And, from the look of things, you are losing control of your little apprentices.”
“I have not lost control of anything, Mericus.” Onius’s voice also got softer, and Bakari tried to follow the voices by moving around the room to another window.
“So you do have them under control. I hear brilliant things about those three from Cassian. News has reached us in the Citadel. They’d better not get in our way.”
“Their powers are considerable,” Onius agreed. “All three are moving ahead faster than normal. I admit, they do need to learn better their roles as wizards, especially Roland. Their powers could upset the balance of the Citadel.”
“You need to discuss their abilities with Kanzar and the Council, Onius,” Mericus directed.
“Don’t worry about them, Mericus. I’ve got it covered. We just continue to appeal to Roland’s vanity. And Gorn has Alli under control. She is powerful, but still young. She can’t do anything on her own. Then Bakari...”
