Wizard's Alley

by James Haddock

  He nodded to his man, who brought in an animal skin and laid it on the ground beside his master. I ported the tumor and scar tissue out onto the skin, along with all the festering waste from his intestines. I then healed his intestines where the tumor had been removed.

  “God, that reeks,” he said.

  I nodded. “That’s what was killing you. You'll be back on your feet in a day or two.”

  “How do I know this isn't all just for show?” he asked.

  “Well, if it was, it was a free show," I said, smiling. I pointed at the skin on the ground. “You can have that buried in your waste pit,” I said. His man took it away.

  He studied me for a time. “I can eat now?”

  “Yes, you are completely healed.” I assured.

  “Well, it couldn't be any worse, I guess. I was dying anyway. Bring us something to eat,” he called out. Two women brought in trays of food and drink.

  We ate and talked of weather, children, and grandchildren. Once we had eaten, he said, “You wish to buy some cattle.”

  “Yes, I actually want to buy a herd to put on my lands.”

  He nodded, “My man told you I was selling out?”

  “He did, but that was when you thought you were dying; now you are not. You may not want to sell out completely.”

  “I may still die.”

  I smiled. “That is a certainty, but not from that blockage.”

  “I hope you are right; I want to see my grandchildren grow up.”

  “Let's say, for conversation’s sake, that you are healed. Would you continue your herding business?”

  “Six months ago I would have told you I would die herding; now I'm not so sure. This is my life and our livelihood.”

  “I need a Herd Master. You would have a home and no need to travel. Your family could work for you, and you would see your children and grandchildren.”

  “You must be a rich wizard.”

  I chuckled, “You could say that.”

  He nodded. “For conversation’s sake, what kind of herds, and how big are you planning on?”

  “Well, I guess that would depend on my Master Herder. I'd want cattle and horses, the best of both. But I would take the advice of my Master Herder on what would be best for the herds and lands.”

  He nodded and sat thinking; I waited. “Let us speak plainly,” he said, looking intently at me.

  I nodded. “Let us speak plainly,” I replied.

  “I am the chief of my herding clan. If I herd in one place, my clan would have to herd in one place.”

  I nodded. “How large is your clan?”

  “Fifty herders and their families.”

  “I am more than a wizard; I am a Wizard King. I have thousands of acres on which to raise herds. You and your clan would be welcome in my Kingdom. I would build houses for you and your clan, so you could set aside your tents, unless required, for your own purposes. I would buy your herds and others, and you would manage them for me. When we sold cattle, your clan would take them to market, and we would share the profits.”

  “What is the name of your Kingdom, King Wizard, and where is it?”

  I could see doubt in his eyes. “The name of my Kingdom is Mountain Hold. It is completely surrounded by mountains, and there is only one way in. It is a beautiful land with pastures, lakes, rivers, and forest.”

  “The mountains to the east?” he asked. I nodded. “They do say there is no way through the mountains, only around them,” he said, thoughtfully.

  “Unless you can fly,” I said. "Would you like to see it?" I asked, opening a portal at the side of his tent.

  “Is that a vision?” he asked, staring through the portal.

  “No, it is real.” I stood and walked through.

  “Wife,” he called. The two women from before entered the tent and waited at his side. “Help me up.” They got him to his feet, and they all walked toward me. We were on a hill overlooking my cattle and horses down on the plain.

  They all looked around. “Papa, it is beautiful; this is your Kingdom? Truly?”

  I nodded, “It is.”

  “Tut-tut,” he said to his daughter, “please forgive my daughter; she is young.” She dropped her head. I nodded, smiling.

  He looked around: “I believe my partner would have some questions.”

  “Of course.”

  “Wife.”

  “Thank you, Husband.” She turned to me and bowed, “King Wizard.”

  I bowed in return, “Lady.”

  “Where would you build our houses, and how many?”

  I motioned with my arm: “Pick a place and as many houses as your clan requires.”

  “How will we be supplied if no one can get into your lands?”

  “I will have them delivered to you as we are doing now. There will also be the herds driven to market. You are free to come and go as you please; I'll make a way for you.” She thought for a moment, and then bowed.

  “What price will you pay us for our herds now, and what pay will we receive for managing your herd?” the Herd Master asked.

  “Name your prices: one for me to buy everything, one for just the herd you wish to sell now, and one for buying everything and you coming to manage my herds.”

  “I will need time to talk to my clan and decide.”

  “Will a week be enough time?”

  He nodded, Yes, that should be enough.”

  “Then I shall return in one week for your answer.”

  They went back through the portal. Bowing to them, I closed it and ported back to the castle map room. I looked through the maps and found the place I had met the herders. It was the central plains and the city in the distance was, according to the map, Central Plains City. All the maps were wrong. No map showed my lands, and that suited me for now.

  Over dinner, Pam said, “It seems we are making our neighbors nervous with all of our building.”

  “Why is that?” I asked.

  “They see it as a prelude to an expansion by military means.”

  “I see. They all liked us, or should I say, didn't fear us, when we were weak, but now that we are getting stronger, they don't like it.”

  “In a nutshell, yes,” Pam answered.

  I shrugged. “They'll get over it. I don't really care what they think as long as they don't make a move against us.”

  “That's the thing; they may believe the only way to ensure their safety is to attack us before we’re strong enough to attack them.”

  “That would blow up in their face,” I scoffed.

  “You can tell the Royal Envoys that in the morning,” she said smiling.

  “Sounds like fun.”

  Chapter 22

  The next morning the throne room was full. Representatives from several kingdoms were there—North Landing and South Landing being the largest and closest. Each envoy had brought a wizard, and all of our guests haloed red except one. The meeting started off hostile.

  “We demand an explanation of your intentions,” the representative from South Landing shouted.

  Queen Pam looked at me. “Sir Wizard, if he shouts at me again, send him to the dungeon until his King apologizes to me.”

  “Yes, my Queen.”

  “I am a Royal Emissary!”

  “Dungeon it is,” I said, and he was gone. The room became a little tense. His wizard moved his hands, preparing a spell. “I wouldn't if I was you.” The air around me crackled with magic. He stopped and decided now was not the time to test me.

  The envoy from North Landing stepped forward. “My King asks the intentions of your military buildup?”

  “What I do within my own borders is my business, as is his within his borders. However, in this case I will answer. South Landing attempted a subversion of my military and an invasion with his forces. The battle did not go well for them. We felt it prudent to make ourselves better prepared for future events, should the need arise.”

  “What will you do with all the wizards you have working on your projec
ts when they are completed?” the envoy asked.

  °Interesting, they think we have an army of wizards working for us.°

  “I suppose they will seek other employment,” she answered. “Should we tell them North Landing needs wizards?”

  “You have built shipyards.”

  She nodded, “North Landing has shipyards.”

  “You have built new forts.” He was getting frustrated.

  She nodded, “North Landing has forts.”

  “Perhaps if you sent a peace tithe, that would help put everyone’s fears to rest.”

  Queen Pam laughed, “Sir Wizard, tell him how we feel about people who demand tithes.”

  “There is only One who deserves the tithe and you or your king is not He.”

  “Return to your kings, and tell them I have no desires upon their kingdoms. I have quite enough to do in my own.” She stood, everyone bowed, and she left the room.

  I stayed, and the throne room emptied, except for the man with the blue halo around him. He had his power masked, but I could tell he was a wizard, and a powerful one. I stepped off the Royal platform.

  He approached and bowed, “Sir Wizard.”

  I bowed in return. “Sir Wizard.”

  “You are a Magenta.”

  I nodded, “I am.”

  “It has been many years since I have met one.”

  “And you are my first,” I answered. He smiled.

  “Let us speak plainly,” he said.

  I nodded, “Let us speak plainly.”

  “Queen Pamala has no desires of expansion and is no threat to anyone, except to those who attack her?”

  I nodded. “Just so.”

  “I thought not; the weak minded see threats in every shadow.”

  “And some are just greedy,” I answered.

  He chuckled, “So they are my young friend.”

  “What Kingdom do you represent?” I asked.

  “None specifically, but some seek my advice from time to time.”

  “Let them know that, as long as they leave us in peace, we will live in peace. But the old saying, ‘Pray for peace but prepare for war,’ would be apt in this case.”

  “I will.”

  “Will you stay for a meal?”

  “Sadly, I cannot this time; perhaps the next.”

  “Then the invitation stands.”

  “I thank you.” He bowed and ported out.

  I ported to the Queen. “You heard?”

  “I did,” she replied.

  “An interesting fellow.”

  “Where do you think he was from?”

  “The west, I think. He had a western speech phrasing.”

  “Makes sense. They'd want to keep up to date on us. I think we should add a few more ships to our navy,” she said, and I nodded.

  I also thought it was a good idea for me to mask my power all the time. They would still recognize me as a wizard, but could not tell how strong I was.

  The thought of adding more ships was prophetic. Retribution sailed into the harbor the next day with two ships trailing in her wake. She looked a little worse for wear, so I ported down to the navy dock where she was being tied up.

  “Does anyone aboard need a healer?” I asked.

  “They do, Sir Wizard.”

  “Take me to them.”

  He nodded and led the way. He had eight with minor wounds, but two were in really bad shape. “Can you help them, Sir Wizard?”

  I nodded. “I'll do my best,” and got to work.

  I healed the two worst ones first. They had been burnt badly. Wizard fire had hit near them. All the others were minor burns, some stabs, cuts, and concussions. Once I had everyone healed, I asked, “What happened?”

  “We were acting like a cargo ship, and these two tried to take us. It was a near thing. If you hadn't added those wards, they world have taken us. Both ships had wizards and experienced crews.”

  “Did we lose anyone?”

  He nodded, “We lost three men. We had to kill the wizards. During the final fight was when we lost the three and the two badly burned ones fell. On the upside, we've got two more fighting ships. We freed all the slaves, and they want to join in on seeking revenge against the pirates. We made a good haul on the cargos too.”

  “Rest and pay your men; take a draw on accounts until we settle.”

  “Thank you for healing the men, Sir Wizard.”

  “They are my men too, Captain,” I said.

  As I left the ship, everyone bowed and said, “Thank you, Sir Wizard,” as I passed. I put the three ships in dry dock to be repaired.

  I needed something that would give our ships a heavy advantage; the pirates had had wizards, and I couldn't go on every trip. An enchanted ballista might do what we needed, but sunburst powered ballista would be even better. I ported to the fort to look at their ballista. It shot big bolts the size of spears, but thicker. I fixed the design in my mind and ported to the ship lumber yard.

  I fixed the ballista design in my mind and conjured one with a bolt. Then I took one of my sunburst stones and embedded it into the ballista.

  I concentrated on the stone: “Lightning bolt charges, absorb attacks to recharge.” It charged and turned purple.

  I ported away from the city with the ballista to test fire it. I cocked, loaded, and aimed it at the mountainside. I looked to check my aim and fired. A bolt shot out of the ballista charged with lightning and struck the mountain. It took out a nice chunk of rock. I smiled; I had my new weapon.

  ***

  I made ten more lightning ballistas—two went to the harbor garrison, two to South Pass garrison. The other six would go on our three fighting ships, but I needed more sunburst stones. What if I used them to move the ship instead of sails? I'd have to think on that one for a while.

  I ported over to the dry dock to see our new ships. One was a frigate, the other a barque. I walked through both ships; they were in fair condition. I viewed inside both and found their logs and papers. I went to the captain's cabin where the papers were, put my hand on them, and absorbed their knowledge. They were pirates all right, but someone from South Landing was paying a bounty on all Midway ships taken.

  Well, that changes things. We would need more sunburst ballistas, in order to arm all our ships. I ported back to the castle.

  “What did you find out?” Pam asked. I told her all I found and what I suspected. “South Landing again. You would think they would have learned by now.”

  “Some people learn through pain, and we are about to make it very painful for them. We will arm all of our ships, and when I say arm, I mean besides the cannons—to the teeth.”

  I took a sheet of parchment and drew the outline of a ship's deck. I drew eight ballistas’ positions on the deck—two in the front, two in the rear, and two down each side. All the ballistas would rotate so we would get full interlocking fire coverage.

  “I'm also working on a way to move our ships whether there is wind or not. The next time our ships leave port they will be ready for a fight when one comes.”

  The next day I ported to Crystal Lake and picked up more sunburst quartz. I made and installed the ballistas on the three ships in dry dock and had eight others set aside for Tradewinds when she came in.

  I ported back to Crystal Lake. I wanted to find a larger sunburst quartz to protect, control, and move the ship when needed. I viewed around the lake and even out in the water, until I found four stones the size of large chicken eggs.

  I went back to Retribution. At the ship's wheel, I grew the pedestal higher and wider and embedded the sunburst stone into it, making the stone part of the ship. I stepped back and thought of all the things I wanted the stone to do and whether it was possible or not. “You don't know, if you don't try.”

  While I was considering the problem, the captain walked up. “Good afternoon, Captain,” I greeted him.

  “Good afternoon, Sir Wizard. I see you've made some additions to the ship.” I nodded. “And I bet those aren't the no
rmal ballistas either.”

  I smiled, “No, those are lightning bolt ballistas. When you fire a bolt, the charmed ballista will add lightning to it.”

  He smiled, “That will give someone a nasty surprise.”

  I nodded, smiling. “Tell me,” I said, “if you could magically add anything to a ship—anything at all to help run, move, and protect the ship—what would you add?”

  He looked at me a moment. “Seriously?” he asked. I nodded. “Let me think a minute, a magical ship. Well, for the ship to move whether or not there was a wind. To pump water out of the bilge. I don't know…to do everything the crew does if the crew couldn't. For me to just say, ‘Ship unfurl the sails, or weigh anchor, or take us home.’ Things like that.”

  I nodded. “I like that. Let me see what I can come up with.”

  “I'd also like to know where the ship is all the time and be able to port to you.”

  “Have all the crews meet here on the docks in the morning. Some things have changed, and we need to make some adjustments,” I said.

  He bowed. “Yes, Sir Wizard,” and he left.

  I stood and studied the problem and let myself feel around the ship. How close was the bottom to my keel? How close was I to the dock? My sails, my rigging, my wood—I was the ship, and I needed to protect myself and my crew. I need to follow orders and come home safely. If attacked, I need to defend myself and my crew.

  With all these things in mind, I set my hand to the sunburst stone and poured all of my concerns into the stone. All of the ideas the captain and I had talked about went into the stone, into the ship. When I finished, the stone was a deep purple, and the ship had a purple halo around it. After a moment, the halo faded, but the stone stayed the same deep purple.

  The captain came out on deck. “Did you do something to the ship?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “She feels different—the way she moves, the way she sounds.”

  “I put a ship stone in her. She will now do all the things a crew would do if they can't.”

  “How does it work?”

  “Ship, drop anchor,” I said, and the anchor dropped.

  “Ship, raise anchor,” the captain said, and the anchor raised.

  “If you tell her to, she'll bring you or herself home, and she won't run aground either.”