by Dan McGirt
* * *
10
Have you gone totally insane, Raella?”
Mercury angrily confronted the queen as we entered her private study. After yesterday’s formal audience I slept off weeks of difficult travel in the softest bed I had ever known. This morning a squadron of handsome soldiers had taken the delighted twins off for a grand tour of the city while Raella led Merc and me here to examine my aura. The queen and the wizard had evidently begun their argument last night, for tension crackled in the air this morning, even before Merc’s outburst when he saw the three men awaiting us in the study.
Raella met Mercury’s anger with aplomb. “They are my guests and only wish to speak to you—and Master Cosmo.”
Mercury glared at the waiting trio. “I have no wish to speak to them.”
“Please hear us out, Lord Boltblaster,” said a wizened little gray man with wispy white hair. He wore a plain gray robe and clutched a gnarled wooden staff. His voice quivered with age, but didn’t lack force. “And you as well, Master Cosmo. We have come far at great risk to meet you, arriving only last night.”
“I’m flattered. Who are you?”
“The League,” said Merc icily, crossing his arms.
“We represent the High Council of the League of Benevolent Magic,” confirmed the man. “Actually, we comprise the whole of the High Council since the loss of several members to assassins of the Dark Magic Society. I am Timeon. The others are Votarius and Ormazander.”
Votarius wore red and blue robes decorated with white stars. He was middle-aged, just starting to gray, with a thin, hawkish face and intense brown eyes. Ormazander was of the race of blue-skinned humans from the far south, beyond Cyrilla. He wore a feathered cap and numerous bead necklaces. His silk robes were green and yellow. All three League representatives were studying me carefully.
“Let us sit,” said Timeon. When we were seated, he continued. “We have been searching for you, Jason Cosmo, since the Society began their massive manhunt a year ago, hoping to reach you before they did. We are grateful to Lord Boltblaster for bringing you here.”
“Which I would not have done had I known you vultures were waiting to pounce on him,” snapped Merc. Raella gave him a sharp look and he said no more.
“What do you want with me?” I asked.
“You are a very special man,” said Ormazander, giving me an odd look, as if puzzled that I should ask such a question.
“So I’m told. He Who Sits On The Porch said something to the same effect.”
“He Who Sits On The Porch?” said Votarius, with a strange kind of eagerness. “You saw him?” He turned to Ormazander. “It’s incredible! Even the wisest priests assured me he was only a myth.”
“He seemed real enough to me,” I ventured.
“He Who Sits On The Porch is a messenger of The Gods who counsels only the elite of heroes,” said Timeon, with obvious respect in his voice. “His appearances have been so rare that his very existence is doubted in many circles. Votarius wrote a dissertation on the subject and will no doubt wish to question you about your encounter—later. For now, suffice to say his appearance only confirms the words of the Luminous Oracle of Mount Suradel, who told us you are our only hope.”
I knew the Luminous Oracle to be the most honored and accurate prophet of all. His predictions always came true. Such, at least, was his reputation.
“The mumblings of oracles are notoriously vague and subject to many interpretations,” said Merc.
“Votarius, would you read the transcript of the Luminous Oracle’s pronouncement?” said Timeon.
The younger wizard unrolled a parchment scroll. “These are the words of the infallible Luminous Oracle of Mount Suradel: ‘The man called Jason Cosmo is the key to victory or defeat. Preserve him from the Dark Magic Society if you would preserve all that is good in the world.’ End of quote.”
“You’re way off,” said Merc.
I sensed another ugly confrontation brewing and decided to hold my tongue. I wasn’t sure just what was going on here, but I knew I was out of my depth.
“You are a blind, selfish, stubborn fool!” raged Votarius, jabbing an accusing finger at Merc. “The threat of the Society is plain for all to see, yet you deny it!”
“And the League is harmless as a lamb, I suppose?”
“We estimate that half the master wizards in the Eleven Kingdoms serve the Society, either openly or covertly,” said Votarius. “The League has but four arcane masters.”
“I count but three,” said Merc.
“I have joined them,” said Raella softly, not meeting his eyes.
Mercury looked at her in disbelief, moved his mouth soundlessly a few times, then suddenly lost his vigor and animation, bowing his head with a beaten sigh.
Votarius continued ominously. “Two out of three wizards of lesser rank serve the Society. Four out of every five new apprentices in the profession serve the Society. Meanwhile, independents and League members are killed regularly. This means the Society will soon have a monopoly on the practice of magic. All magical power and knowledge will be turned to their aims of subversion and world domination.”
“As opposed to your goals of making the world a safe and happy place in which to live,” muttered Merc. “I have heard all this before. Why do you repeat it now?”
“For the benefit of your companion,” said Timeon earnestly. “We wish to make clear to him the nature of the threat which hangs over all our heads. Jason Cosmo, the League of Benevolent Magic exists for one purpose, that of preventing the Society from gaining dominion over the nations and peoples of the world. We have opposed them for centuries, exposing their plots, rooting out the corruption they spread. We have held them in check. Many have bravely given their lives to this purpose. Yet now, as our numbers dwindle, the Society is the strongest it has ever been—and it is poised on the brink of total victory.”
“What do you mean?” I asked absently. Mercury had sunk into his gloom and Raella had withdrawn from the conversation as well, averting her pained face. I could see the fresh teardrops glistening on her cheek. Just looking at the two of them made a lump form in my throat, yet the League wizards seemed oblivious to the pain around them.
Votarius took up the pitch, eyes glittering with righteous fervor. “He means the Society has achieved a position of power in almost every kingdom. Court ministers, generals, nobles, priests, great merchants—perhaps even a few ruling monarches are under their sway. The Society can profoundly influence events throughout the Kingdoms. Our sources indicate they are in the final stages of a timetable for domination—ready to achieve total victory within ten years. Only you can save us.”
“Me? Why me?”
The trio frowned and bent their heads together for a quick, whispered conference, looking in my direction several times with hopelessly puzzled expressions.
“What do you know of the Age of Despair?” asked Ormazander at last.
“Only what’s common knowledge,” I said. “The Gods abandoned the world and the demons set up a Dark Empire.”
“And how did that Empire come to an end?” he prompted.
“The Gods finally sent a Mighty Champion to cast it down. Everyone knows that.”
“And what was that champion’s name?” he said, leaning forward eagerly.
“I don’t know. In the stories I’ve heard he was always just the Mighty Champion.”
Ormazander lifted from the table beside him a thick leather book with pages of yellowed vellum. “This is The Book of Uncommon Knowledge, a compendium of little known facts recorded by scribes down through the ages. Herein you can learn the eye colors of The Gods, how many drops of water it takes to fill the oceans, and the lyrics of the first song ever sung.”
“Sounds fascinating.”
“I turn now to the section on the Age of Despair. It says here that the true name of the Mighty Champion who liberated the earth from the Empire of Darkness was Jason Cosmo.”
“Let me see that.
” He handed me the book. Incredulous, I scanned the page and confirmed his claim. “How accurate is this?”
“It is certified by the Mnemonic Monks of Everwhen Keep, the most renowned scholars in the educated world.”
“Okay, what does it mean?”
“We believe,” said Votarius, “that you are the living reincarnation of the historical Jason Cosmo who defeated the Empire of Fear. The Society has its roots in the fallen Empire and seeks to restore it. This they are close to doing. We believe you have been chosen by The Gods to defeat them, as your earlier self, who was perhaps your ancestor, defeated the original Empire. It is your destiny.”
“The Society knows this,” said Timeon. “They have their own dark oracles who could reveal these things to them. That is why they seek you. They want to destroy you before you destroy them.”
“Yet there are limits to their knowledge,” said Ormazander. “They were unable to divine your location and thus employed the tactic of offering a great reward. Now that you have surfaced they will turn all their might against you.”
“You are the last hope of the free world,” said Votarius, with the passion of a zealot. “You can vanquish the Society, turn the tide to victory for the forces of truth and justice.”
“Hold on a minute!” I cried, holding up my hands. “I think you’re getting a little carried away. You sound like you expect me to single-handedly defeat the Society when your League has been fighting them for centuries to no avail!”
“That’s the general idea,” said Votarius. He was dead serious.
I laughed. “You’re crazy! Even if the Mighty Champion did bear my name, that doesn’t make me him. This is all getting a bit too apocalyptic for me.”
The three wizards were taken aback at my outburst.
“Perhaps he is correct, sirs,” said Raella, suddenly all queen again. “These speculations are premature. Once I have read his aura we will better understand Master Cosmo’s significance to the Society and to ourselves.”
Votarius’s bright eyes suddenly shone brighter, with a weird purple light. “The aura!” he cried, in a voice not his own. “The secret is in the aura! Spiritual lightning!” He stood and the blue bolts from his fingers struck me, hurling me across the room. I felt as if my insides, my skin, the very blood in my veins had been changed to flaming liquid pain. This was what the Huntsman had experienced at Mercury’s hands. It wasn’t pleasant. I screamed.
“His eyes!” cried Raella. “Possessor!”
Timeon and Ormazander were slow to react, but Mercury dove across the room and tackled Votarius. They crashed into a small table, shattering a crystal vase. The bolts quit hitting me as Votarius turned them on Merc at contact range.
Raella stood over me and conjured up a protective shield of rose-colored light. Mercury produced a knife from beneath his cloak and slashed Votarius’s right hand, which ceased to conduct the spell.
“Don’t kill him!” cried Ormazander, levitating the knife from Merc’s hand to his own.
“You fool!” said Merc. Votarius put his left hand across his face and pumped magic energy into Merc’s head. He broke free and rolled across the floor, clutching himself and trembling violently. Votarius leaped up and came at me. I was still unable to stand.
Timeon tried to intercept his possessed colleague with his staff, now glowing with green light, but Votarius batted it aside and knocked the older man down. Ormazander came at him with the knife and was likewise cast aside with ease.
“Cosmo must die!” proclaimed Votarius.
Raella’s shield protected me, but not the queen herself. A shower of pink sparks flew from her hands and surrounded her attacker’s head, but he ignored them and plunged onward, backhanding the queen to the floor. As she fell, her shield vanished. Votarius then lifted me by the throat with his bloody right hand, the demon giving him supernatural strength. He held out his left hand and Merc’s knife flew into his grasp.
“Now perish in the name of the Demon Lords!” he hissed. His face was contorted with hatred, dripping with sweat. His glowing eyes, twin beacons of bedevilment, burned with a sick madness.
He wielded the knife at my gut, but I caught his arm with my still free hands. Squeezing my throat, he fought to drive the knife onward into my body. He was stronger than I, and the blade moved slowly closer.
Then he collapsed, releasing my throat and falling on his face at my feet. Two holes the size of fists were burned in his back. Across the room, Mercury removed his sunshades.
“An item of many uses. I’m glad you gave me these, Raella.”
The queen rushed to him. “Are you well, my love?”
“More or less,” he said weakly. “And you?”
She had a purplish bruise on her face where Votarius had struck her. “I live.”
“I’m going to throw up,” I announced.
“You just feel that way,” said Merc. “It will pass.”
“Did you have to kill him?” asked Ormazander accusingly.
“Yes,” said Mercury.
“We were three to his one. We could have driven out the possessing devil and saved our comrade.”
“Yes, we were making real progress in that direction, weren’t we?”
“You are a murderer,” said Ormazander.
“The situation here is far more complex than you League numbskulls could ever comprehend. You’ve had your say, now do us a favor and get out of my sight!” The battle with Votarius had restored Merc’s vigor and morale.
“Come,” said Timeon, placing a restraining hand on his companion. “He did what had to be done.”
“I didn’t think it possible for a possessor to reach anyone within this palace,” said Raella.
“It isn’t,” said Merc. “He was possessed already.”
“Liar!” said Ormazander.
“He is correct,” said Timeon. “The possessor must have lain dormant in him for a long time, waiting for a chance to strike.”
“A sleeper,” said Raella. “That means none of us can be fully trusted.”
“I’ve known that all along,” said Merc, glaring at Ormazander and Timeon.
Timeon and Ormazander bent to lift their fallen comrade’s body. As they touched it a small ball of purple light flew out of the corpse’s mouth, zipped around the room, and disappeared down an air duct.
“The possessor is free!” said Raella. “Find it!”
The League members hastily departed, dragging the body.
“They are as blind as ever,” said Merc.
“Now, Mercury—” began Raella.
“Did you hear them? They see everything in terms of their own conflict with the Society. They take even an explicit statement from the Luminous Oracle that Cosmo must be protected and interpret it to mean that he is a great savior sent by The Gods to grant them victory over the Society in spite of their own ineptitude. They’re lunatics!”
“You forget that I am one of those lunatics.”
“I’m certainly trying to. Why, Raella?”
“They are brave and dedicated to ideals even you once held to.”
“Ideals are just words. Especially for the League. The Society, at least, is honest about its nature.”
“Mercury, I think you should go before we both say things we will regret. I have work to do.”
“So be it.” Merc stalked from the room, leaving me alone with Her Majesty, the Queen of Raelna.
* * *
11
I apologize for this unpleasantness,” said Raella. “Mercury’s hostility toward the League often transcends the bounds of reason.”
“Why is that, Your Majesty?”
“He still bears them ill will for old wounds. I see the justice in his complaints, but I think this has gone on too long. There comes a point when personal considerations must be set aside for the common good.”
“I’m not sure I follow you.”
She laughed. “How could you? I’m referring to events a decade old, but if you’re to be caught up
between the League, Mercury, and myself there are certain things you ought to know. Mercury, for example, was not always the man you see now. You didn’t know him before he lost his idealism, his faith in the good.” She took on a distant look.
“I sense the onset of a tragic tale.”
The queen ignored me, already lost in the past. A hidden violin sounded faintly as she spoke, magically triggered by her emotional state. “He came to my father’s court when I just a silly little princess. The great mage Pencader served my father, King Raegon, as court magician and also tutored me. Mercury was his handsome young apprentice. Inevitably, we fell in love.” She sighed. “He said I was the living image of the goddess Rae herself.”
“That’s very sweet,” I said.
“Unfortunately, it is also very true. According to tradition the Shurbenholts are semi-divine, being descended from Blaze Shurben, the Son of Rae and first king of Raelna. As such, we may only wed royalty. I was promised at birth to Prince Halogen of Orphalia. That marriage would unite the two thrones, cementing Raelna’s traditional alliance with its northern neighbor.”
“I think I can guess what comes next.”
“When word of our love reached my father, he banished Mercury from the kingdom on pain of death. My heart was broken. Three lonely years passed and my wedding day arrived. With Pencader’s secret aid, Mercury returned and spirited me away in the midst of the ceremony. We eluded my father’s forces and fled to Caratha to seek sanctuary at the court of Prince Ronaldo. Halogen followed with an elite force and would have captured us, but word arrived that my father had died, making me queen. Once I assumed the throne, no one could make me marry against my will—but neither was I free to marry as I desired. The only way for me to wed Mercury would be to renounce my heritage, and that I could not do.”
“I’ll bite. Why not? If you truly love him—”
“I have a duty to my kingdom, to my people. I am in a position to improve their lives, to make Raelna the just and beautiful kingdom it was meant to be. I love Mercury with all my heart, as I could never love another, but my duty must come first. Were I to step aside, power would pass to a council of reactionary nobles and the people would suffer.”
