Magus

by R H Frye

  As soon as the chain was rejoined behind her neck, Carol felt a surge of heat from the medallion. Maraydel chanted a word with his hand still touching the necklace and suddenly the clasp was gone. The necklace had been modified to become one constant, unbroken rope around Carol’s neck.

  Carol was too caught up in the rush of sensations she was feeling to notice how the chain had been altered. With the first flush of heat, she could feel energy pouring from her body into the medallion. The sensation reminded her of dying, and she had to momentarily fight against a surge of panic and doubt. Gradually, as the medallion cooled against her skin, Carol became aware of a feeling that she had never felt before. It was as if another eye had opened in her mind and she could somehow see more than she had ever seen, but the feeling was also more than that. She felt like her thoughts suddenly had a weight and power that she had never suspected. The idle thought crossed through her mind that she would like to know what Maraydel was thinking, and without conscious effort she could feel her mind attempting to enter the mind of the magus. His mind was closed to her efforts, and she heard the wizard chuckle behind her.

  “Congratulations. You’ve already discovered how your mind has been freed from its previous boundaries. I would issue you one short word of warning, however. Stay out of my mind. Never try to invade my thoughts. You are now one of my kindred and that is something we never do to each other.” Maraydel chuckled again. “Don’t worry. You’ll have plenty of other minds to plunder and control. In the meantime, you need to learn to shield your mind from others. After all, we still have the shaman to deal with.”

  Carol nodded her understanding and pulled her thoughts back from the magus. “What do I need to do?” She was eager to learn. She had committed herself fully to the choice she had made, and her memories of her old life were rapidly falling away as the lust for power took her.

  The magus and his apprentice sat down on the floor of the living room and Carol’s dark training began.

  Chapter 22

  As John stepped out of the back door of his grandfather’s house, he heard the sharp crack of a hunting rifle being fired. A satisfied smile crossed his face as he followed the sounds into the forest behind the house. He climbed a short hill and came out into a small clearing in the forest. Danny and Adam were both lying on their bellies in the clearing, and they looked behind them at the sound of John’s approach.

  “So how is that rifle working out?” John asked. They had purchased the Winchester Super X 30-06 from a pawn shop on the outskirts of Cherokee. The deal had been sweetened by the high-powered hunting scope which was already attached to the rifle and had been included in the $600 price tag.

  “Great!” John was relieved to hear excitement in Danny’s voice. The young man had been subdued since his abrupt awakening that morning, but the new rifle was apparently enough to make him forget his troubles for the time being. “Naturally, I still need to sight it in a little, but it’s pretty close already.”

  “He is a good shot, John,” Adam added as he looked through the binoculars at a white target that the pair had set up on farther down the ridge they were on. “He shoots the way I was taught to shoot. He stops breathing while firing and squeezes the trigger. He will do fine.”

  Danny smiled in response to the praise that he was receiving as he turned a knob on the hunting scope. Without another word, he sighted through the scope and fired off another round. The sound of the rifle was painful to John’s ears and he wished that he had plugged them with his fingers. He was relieved to see that both Adam and Danny were wearing the yellow foam earplugs that the pawn shop had thrown in for free when they purchased the gun. Danny continued to look through the scope of the rifle for a moment before pulling his face away from the stock to make an adjustment. John just had time to plug his ears with his fingers before the young man fired at the target again.

  “Hey what’s all the noise?” John turned to see Sarah entering the clearing behind him. She had apparently finished changing her clothes and had climbed the hill to join her man. All four of the people in the clearing had just attended the small funeral in John’s back yard. The distant sounds of a backhoe filling in the grave reminded them all of their reason for being on Charlie’s land.

  John and Sarah had shared a few private moments in the house as John grieved once more for his grandfather. Danny and Adam had quickly changed clothes and moved into the woods to give the couple some privacy, and John had joined them as soon as he finished changing. Sarah was relieved to see John and Danny smiling, since both men had been in a somber mood for most of the day.

  Danny had briefly glanced over his shoulder at Sarah before returning his attention to the scope. Apparently, what he saw through the scope must have satisfied him because he held his breath and fired off three rounds in rapid succession. After another long look through the scope, he asked Adam to hand the binoculars to John.

  John looked through the binoculars at the target where it was resting approximately 100 yards away. He saw three holes in a tight group in the center of the target. Two more holes were on the target, and John could see that they were obviously the first shots that Danny had taken to zero the scope.

  “That looks really good.” John handed the binoculars to Sarah and she echoed John’s compliment before handing the binoculars back to Adam. Satisfied that things were moving along well with Danny, John turned his attention to Adam. “Adam, why don’t we head back to the house and see if we can talk to my grandfather again? Danny seems to have things pretty well in hand here.”

  Adam nodded and climbed painfully to his feet. He started down the hill towards Charlie’s house without a word, and John paused briefly to talk to Danny before following. “Shoot until you’re completely comfortable with the rifle, okay? I can always buy more ammo.” Danny nodded and turned his attentions back to the rifle. As Sarah and John followed Adam down the hill, three more shots sounded from the rifle. John took Sarah’s hand in his and they walked together into the house.

  As John and Sarah entered the cabin, Adam was just sitting down on the shabby sofa that dominated the living room area of the cabin. Sarah took a seat on the opposite end of the couch, and John grabbed one of the spindly dining room chairs from his grandfather’s small table. He carried the chair a few steps from the dining area to a spot near the sofa and sat facing Adam.

  When everyone was seated, Adam opened a plastic bag that John had not previously noticed. The bag had the logo of Adam’s store on it, so John surmised that it must contain the items that Adam had gone to retrieve after the planning session of the previous day. Adam opened the bag and began to remove items and place them on the dilapidated coffee table that was sitting tiredly in front of the sofa.

  A small collection of items was growing on the coffee table. The first item was the bundle of sage that Adam had used when John was attacked in his last vision. A large container of salt was the next item to find its way onto the table, and this was followed closely by four squat gold-colored candles. A large pouch of chewing tobacco was the next item to join the collection, and the last item was a bluish colored stone about half the size of a man’s fist. When the bag was empty, Adam wadded it up and stuffed it into the front pocket of his faded jeans.

  John and Sarah sat listening intently as Adam began to explain the various uses of the items that he had brought. “The sage has two purposes. We will use it to clear the house before we start, and its smoke will help to conceal you from your enemy if he is watching. We will use the tobacco to call the blessings of the spirits from the cardinal directions to this house. You will lie on the floor of the cabin for this vision and we will draw a circle of salt around you with this.” Adam held up the large container of salt. “The circle of salt will draw the protection of the earth around you. We will place the four candles at the cardinal directions just inside the salt ring and light them. Their golden light and color will bring the protection of unconditional love to surround you. And last you will place this ston
e on your navel. Lapis is the stone of the creator and it will serve to anchor you to your body and its location in the house.” Adam finished his explanation and looked to John and Sarah for questions. “Do you understand?”

  Sarah nodded and John murmured, “Yes.” He looked thoughtfully from Adam to the items that the old man had brought. In a louder voice, he added, “You’re sure this will work?”

  “I’m sure that this should protect you, yes, and Charlie seems to agree because he came to me in my dreams again last night. It was his idea to bring the candles and the salt.”

  “Why doesn’t he come to me in my dreams anymore?” John wondered aloud, not really expecting an answer.

  “He’s afraid to come to you now,” Adam said. “After what happened the last time you talked, he’s worried that he’d be putting you in danger by coming uninvited into your dreams. He’s afraid the magus will sense the link somehow and attack you again.” Adam held up the sage and produced a lighter from his pocket. “That’s the point of all this stuff. He wants to talk to you for a good long while, and he knows you need protection while you’re away from your body. Now I’m going to get started.” Adam stood up, walked to the front door of the cabin and opened it. He stepped outside, lit the bundle of sage on fire, and when a healthy plume of smoke began to issue from the bundle, he blew out the flame. Smoke continued to rise from the bundle, and he began to wave the smoke across the entrance of the cabin.

  Sarah watched the old man work his way into the cabin slowly while spreading the smoke across the room. She glanced at John and the items on the table before asking aloud, “Can we go ahead and make the circle of salt and place the candles?” Adam looked away from his activities and answered with a simple nod before resuming his clearing work. Sarah took the salt and looked around the small cabin for the roomiest spot to work. After a brief moment she realized that some rearranging was called for and she conscripted John into helping her. Working together they emptied the coffee table and placed it upside down on the tiny dining room table. John placed the chair he had been using back where it belonged, pushed under the edge of the table that was now holding the coffee table. Together, John and Sarah slide the sofa back against the dining room table. This left an open area that was approximately eight feet by ten feet. After waiting for Adam to spread the smoke from the bundle of sage through this area, Sarah drew a large circle in salt in the open area while John placed the candles at a close approximation of the four primary compass points. Out of helpful things to do, the couple sat down on the sofa and watched Adam work.

  A few minutes later, Adam finished clearing the house and the wholesome scent of sage pervaded every corner of the room. The old man retrieved the pouch of tobacco and moved to the center of the back wall of the house. He opened the pouch and pinched a small quantity of tobacco between his fingers. Next, he held the tobacco an arm’s length in front of him and muttered a prayer. As he finished praying, he released the tobacco from between his fingers. The moist strips fell to the rough wood floor of the cabin and made an untidy pile on near the wall. He progressed in a clockwise direction around the room until a prayer had been said at each outside wall and a small pile of tobacco was resting where he had prayed. During the entire process, Sarah and John sat quietly watching while holding each other’s hands.

  At long last, Adam finished with the fourth wall and came to stand before John and Sarah. “It’s time to begin.”

  John took a deep, relaxing breath and expelled it. He leaned close to Sarah and gave her a long and loving kiss. When he broke the kiss, he gave her a nervous smile and said, “Wish me luck.”

  “Good luck honey.” The simple words were all the encouragement that the shaman needed to surrender to whatever the future held for him. He nodded to Adam as he stepped into the circle of salt. Following his instincts, he peeled off his shirt and tossed it to Sarah. Adam offered his lighter to John, and he took it with a nod of thanks. John turned to light the candles, starting at the northernmost candle—which was the candle closest to the back wall—and working clockwise around the circle until the western candle was lit. He tossed the lighter back to Adam and lay down with his head near the northern candle.

  Adam moved to sit beside Sarah on the sofa. Sarah was nervous for John, but she kept her worries to herself. Adam must have sensed her concern, because he placed a reassuring hand on Sarah’s knee. She smiled at the old man and covered his hand with her own before returning her attention to John.

  John looked at Sarah and gave her a reassuring smile before closing his eyes and imagining the meadow from his previous intentional vision. He had the mildest sense of disorientation for a moment, and the meadow suddenly appeared around him once more. He smiled and started down the hill to find his grandfather again.

  Chapter 23

  Carol was practicing her newly gained abilities in the backyard of her parent’s house, when she heard Maraydel swear behind her.

  The magus had been watching her progress, and for the most part seemed satisfied with the things she was learning. She was holding several of the small chips of diamond that they had removed from her mother’s jewelry in her left hand, and with concentration she could feel energy flowing into the diamonds and through her body to her right hand. Throughout the course of the day, the magus had tutored her on the arcane language that he used for twisting the world’s energies to his uses, and her understanding had progressed at an unnatural pace. She understood without being told that her new medallion was acting to augment the powers of her mind, and she strongly suspected that this was the reason she could now learn a dead language at such an astonishing pace. She had been just about to speak the word that would convert the raw energy in her hand to electricity when she heard Maraydel swearing. Her concentration slipped, and she uttered a curse of her own as she felt the energy drain from her body back into the world around her. Irritated, she whirled to face the wizard.

  Maraydel seemed completely unaware of Carol’s irritation. He continued to speak some of the vilest curses that Carol had ever imagined for another long moment, but Carol’s intent glare finally broke through his outrage and got his attention. “Don’t give me that look. I have good reason to be angry just now, so don’t force me to take my frustrations out on you.”

  Carol took a long, angry breath and held it until she felt her the fires of her anger sink to a smolder. When she felt that she could be somewhat civil again the young apprentice said, “Maybe if you told me what’s making you angry, I could help.”

  Maraydel bit back a hot reply of his own. “It’s the damned shaman. I had hoped to trap him outside his body once more if he was stupid enough to leave it again, but apparently, he’s getting smarter. I know he’s communing with someone, but I can’t find my way into his vision. The bastard is getting much better at the things he can do, and frankly I’m tired of it. Damn the man!” Maraydel would never admit it, but the shaman’s rapid progress was also scaring him more and more as time went on. He had never met an opponent that was so adroit at foiling his every attack, and the simple fact of the man’s survival was both an irritation and a huge worry to the magus.

  Carol realized that she really had nothing helpful to offer. The best she could do was to learn to harness the energies that she was just learning to manipulate. “Sorry.” The apology was insincere, and she found that she no longer cared about such niceties. She turned around to face the tree stump that was her intended target and began to once more summon energy through the diamonds in her left hand. “Now could you keep it down? If you want me to be more helpful, stop being a distraction.” Before the magus could reply, Carol spoke the word to produce lightning and she was rewarded with a small arc of energy that leapt from her palm and added a black mark to the weathered stump that was her target.

  Maraydel was impressed in spite of himself. “Well done,” he commented mildly. In truth, the praise was much less than the girl deserved. She was showing a rare knack for learning the language of destruction an
d creation, and she was learning to manipulate energy at a rate that rivaled the speed with which he had learned his craft. Of course, Maraydel’s master had been very reluctant to teach him anything—with good reason as it turned out. As soon as Maraydel had been certain that the old fool had nothing more to teach, he had killed him in his sleep. And by that time, Maraydel had already discovered the secrets of cheating death, so he separated the head and heart from the body and melted down the old master’s medallion. He then embarked on a campaign of equal parts power and guile to remove any threat from among his own kind. If there was another magus whose power rivaled his own, he found ways to place that magus in opposition to other strong magi. In the matter of only a century, Maraydel was the strongest surviving magus in existence.

  Satisfied that he was now the highest power among the magi, he had set out to enjoy every twisted pleasure that his diseased mind could imagine. Women and men were tortured for his pleasure. The loveliest women were raped and beaten repeatedly until all of their beauty—both internal and external—was destroyed, and then Maraydel would have the luckiest of these ladies killed. The truly unlucky women were sent back to their families in shame and ruin. Most of these unlucky women ended their lives in madness and seclusion.