Chapter 10
Magna had left her home five days ago and on the morning of the fifth day, she woke at the Wayfarer Inn in Highmeadow Village. The relatively clean bug free room only cost a few coppers a night with a straw mattress resting on a wood frame bed did not remind her of home but comfortable nonetheless. With a sigh, she sat up throwing the blanket from her stretching her arms as high as she could yawning as if she had not slept all night. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she slipped on her boots yawning expansively. It seems she must have spent a restless night to be this tired first thing in the morning, sighing again, she got up and poured fresh water into a bowl sitting on a small table picked up a bar of soap and washed her face. The soap she is using to wash her face and hands is scented but smelled of cheap perfume and oils found in some bathhouses. Not that she had ever been to any of those places. Drying herself with a surprisingly clean hand towel, she laughed thinking that when she leaves this morning she will smell like a cheap whore.
She had slept in her travel clothes so she tightened the bronze ring belt around her waist securing her dagger, grabbed her backpack and left the room with Fangthane following her. The night before the innkeeper was not about to let her bring the dog inside but for a few extra coppers the innkeeper reluctantly agreed to let the dog stay the night inside. When he saw the dog was not going to bother any of his patrons he offered a large bone with meat still on it for a copper to feed him. She paid him the copper and he lay on the floor of the main room gnawing on it until she finished her meal.
Walking the short distance to the wooden stairs, she proceeded down them to the main floor. Standing at the bottom of the stairs, she looked about the room. Scattered around the main floor, dozens of tables and chairs with a few patrons sitting at them already drinking filled the room. Behind her to the left is the bar with kegs of ale on each corner and stools neatly lining the front of the bar. The dirty windows let in streamers of filtered morning sunlight filled with dust motes floating lazily in the air. Farther to the left, is a doorway leading to the kitchen nestled below the rooms above on the second floor. Glancing in that direction she wondered if she might get another bone for Fangthane and some fresh bread. Sighing she decided against it and headed for the main exit to explore the town.
Once outside, she looked up and down the dusty street. A woman in a homespun smock with a rope belt around her waist struggled mightily to push a wooden wheelbarrow filled with bags of white flour from the mill on the other side of village up the street in her direction presumably headed to the bakery. Watching her for a moment she felt hallow inside, realizing something is missing in her life but she could not quite put her finger on it. Could it be love and companionship she so desperately needed? A vital part of me missing but what is it, what could be missing from my life that has me feeling this way she asked herself.
Indecisively waiting for a moment, she could smell the wonderful aroma of fresh bread baking in the nearby bakery trying to decide whether she should walk to the one farther down the street on the left but, as with the inn, they were more for the wealthy than for someone like her. What interested her most, is the apothecary also down the street on the left thinking they might provide some herbs that she might need that do not grow in this area. Growling suddenly her stomach reminded her how hungry she is. Her decision made, she crossed the dusty street heading for the bakery, determined to satisfy her hunger issues so her stomach would leave her alone.
In this part of town, many of the wooden buildings have their roofs coated with dried pitch to seal them from the rain making them hot and miserable in the summertime. Walking up the front stoop to the porch, she saw a single wooden door open to the public. Signaling to Fangthane stay put, she entered the bakery and the first thing that caught her eye is the fresh loaves of bread sitting on cooling tables. Working in front of the hot ovens a short corpulent middle-aged woman was taking more bread out of the ovens to cool. When she finished, she turned with a near toothless smile in greeting. Covered in flour and yeast her apron not helping protect her long peasant smock she is the embodiment of what a baker would look like.
“Good day m’lady what can I help ye with this fine morn?" she asked pleasantly.
“Two loaves of your fine smelling bread for the road and one to eat now if I may,” Magda responded politely. The woman smiled even wider exposing her rotting teeth that almost caused Magna to wince when she saw them. Taking the two paraffin wrapped loaves she gently put them in her backpack and tied it shut. She opened a small side pouch and retrieved the coppers necessary to pay for the loaves of bread. Slinging the backpack over her shoulders, she took the additional proffered loaf and headed for the door thanking the baker on the way out. Returning outside, she gave a piece of bread to Fangthane and headed up the street to the apothecary.
Walking up the street, her feet stirred up puffs of dust that gently swirled in the morning breeze like miniature sandstorms. The sky is cloudless due west but more to the north, northwest is different story with numerous clouds building up that might eventually bring some rain to this parched area. Walking down the street, chewing her bread the smell of the bakery gave way to the smell of the stable mixed with the forge smells from the armorer. Braking off another piece of bread, she tossed it to Fangthane who caught in the air quickly swallowing it without chewing. Passing the stables, she could see number of horses with their heads sticking out of the stalls watching her and her dog pass them. Reaching blacksmith shop, she saw him stoking his fires to prepare for a long day plying his trade. Seeing the apothecary across the street, she angled toward it in anticipation.
One of the larger buildings on the street the apothecary has the same front stoop and a porch as the posh inn with two double wooden doors open inviting people to enter. She could not imagine there being much business in this town for the apothecary but one could never tell. Walking closer, she felt something awry and with every step, she knew something was very wrong. Strange I did not feel this last night when I was looking in the window she thought trying to move a step closer. Suddenly, she felt fear; fear so palpable her stomach threatening to hurl its contents. Even Fangthane had a frightened look on his face with his long tail starting to go between his legs. She has never seen him act frightened like this especially coming from a dog that faced down a she bear with cubs.
“You feel it too do ya?” Taken completely by surprise both her and Fangthane spun toward the sound of a voice behind them. Twice in a few moments she has seen her dog act strangely and Magda did not like it one bit. Standing across the street in front of a vacant building leaning on his staff stood a nondescript young man with shoulder length straight black hair parted down the middle, astonishingly light blue eyes, a small slender nose but with a firm jawline that had a sprinkling of beard growing. He is dressed in black wool pants tucked into calf high boots, a gold ring belt with a large dagger on his right side and a long sleeve white shirt accenting his black hair.
“What do you mean?” Magda asked skeptically admiring the way his hair looked laying across his shoulders.
“The closer you get to the entrance of the apothecary does it feel like your stomach is going to hurl it contents?”
“Why yes it does,” she replied moving a little closer to him but keeping her hand near her dagger. She could tell Fangthane is enormously pleased to be moving away from the doorway to the apothecary.
“My name is Thoryn what do you go by?” he asked pleasantly. On first impression, Thoryn looked young but sometimes age and appearance is misnomer with wizards.
“My name is Magda and my dogs name is Fangthane,” she replied walking up the stoop and into the shade of the porch.
“Sure is a funny name for a dog. How did you come up with Fangthane?” he asked humorously.
“I was calling out names to him and when I said Fangthane he wagged his tail kind of like what he doing now, so the name stuck and you are right it is a funny name for a dog.”
“Would
you like to go for a walk, I assure you I mean you no harm?” he said hurriedly with a worried look on his face.
“Before we go, I have a question for you. How is it we could not see you when we walked right passed you?”
“You did see us standing here,” he laughed at the doubtful expression on her face. “No really you did but I have this innate talent of changing perceptions of what people see. At the best of times, it is hard to explain. My special ability to blend in is similar to how a mirror reflects an image of what you see and if someone covers the mirror you no longer see the reflection it is the same with me I cover my reflection until I want someone to see me. I am sorry it is much too difficult to explain,” he said apologetically when she looked at him askance.
“What about my dog’s sense of smell how come he could not smell you?” Magna asked, thinking she cornered him.
“That’s the only drawback, he did smell me. The wind is wafting up and down the street mixing with all the human smells, food, and smoke he was not able put it together because he did not have his sense of sight. Right outside the village on the right side of the road is a little stand of trees with a little stream bubbling up with fresh cold-water and plenty shade to talk in. Would you like to go there, my intensions are honorable?” again he quickly added embarrassed.
“That sounds wonderful I have a loaf of bread we can share and you can explain to me what is amiss with the apothecary.” They walked not saying anything until they reached the stand of trees. She is pleasantly surprised at the cool breeze blowing through the oak trees and the tinkling sound the water made as it flowed up and out of a hole in the ground over some rocks and through the trees. Magda unslung her pack setting it on the ground sitting next to the stream. Leaning his staff on a rock next to her, Thoryn casually moved a few sticks and small rocks clearing a spot next to her making it comfortable for him to sit. Reaching in her pack, she took out two tin cups and tossed them to Thoryn to fill from the stream. She broke the bread in thirds giving all three of them a piece of it. Sitting for a few moments enjoying the still warm bread, Magda relaxed feeling quite comfortable around this enigmatic young man sitting next to her.
“Can we try something so you can get a better understanding of what is in the apothecary?’
“What is it you want to try?” Magda asked cautiously.
“Magda you have the innate ability to sense good and evil. The reason you could sense the wizard in the apothecary is that it exudes evil and does not care if it does because it is very powerful disdainful of others. Therefore, anyone with the ability cannot help but feel its presence. This thing was once a living breathing human and in a sense is still human in body but not mind so I probably should not call it a wizard though it was once. The once human is so diseased with evil its mind is no longer that of a human. The reason I am here is to find creatures like this and slay them for they are spies and this one runs a network of them right out of the apothecary. I came here to defeat it but when I got here, I realized very quickly that I am not powerful enough. For days I have been watching it and because of its ostentatious self-worth of its abilities and power it has chosen to ignore me because to it I am no threat,” he paused to see whether she had any questions before continuing. "If you will please relax and seek your imagination try to sense what you feel from me, I will not hide my true self from you.”
Magna relaxed going to the place she went to when she was a child that had frightened her so much that she never allowed her imagination to go there again. She reached out to him tentatively at first finding that he is made of goodness, then she went deeper and could see everything about him, like looking in a picture book. She could see everything from his brain to the tiniest cell in his body. She saw something amiss within his heart so she simply let her sense of rightness fix it. Thoryn is amazed at what she could do; he could feel her inside him as if she is part of him. Then he got frightened of her power, her ability to heal is so vast that the ability to destroy is to. If she went the other way, she would surely kill him. Magna sensed what he felt and the fear of hurting him brought her screaming back to herself.
“I am sorry, so sorry,” Magda's eyes filled with tears fearful that she had somehow hurt him.
“No Magda it is ok I am fine you did not hurt me. What you did for my heart may have saved my life ten or twenty years from now,” Thoryn said taking her hands to calm her. Suddenly, they shuddered at the evil fast approaching. Even Fangthane stood with his hackles up growling menacingly. “Magna run, take your dog go to Castle Qenildor and seek Bilgrammus he can help you,” he said urgently.
“No we can fight it together.”
Suddenly, with no chance of escape for either of them, the thing was upon them. This creature is different from any Thoryn had ever faced and it went straight for Magda. It struck her with a mass of blackness the emanated from its outstretched hand. At the last possible second Thoryn put a shield of pure light in front of her partially deflecting the attack back into the creature with some getting through staggering Magda backward. Then he felt it, the increase of wild imagination building around Magda, the crescendo of power nearly overwhelming him he did something beyond his comprehension he imaged himself bonded with Magda physically and spiritually. She felt his awareness flowing into her imagination while she attacked the creature. This is unmitigated destruction, she started small attacking the blackness tearing at it then she began ripping it apart all the while she felt the once human wizard shudder with pain.
Thoryn could see a small line of blackness starting at the edges of her pure light essence growing as the seconds passed. He knew what he had to do and it frightened him yet he welcomed it at the same time. He knew this would change both them forever, one would loose and one would gain. He gave her everything, his love of life, his forgiveness, his compassion for people, and his love of magic, all of it. Seeing the blackness recede even when she continued to destroy the creature, brought him instant gratification and when it finally turned to a fine black powder on the ground did she stop. Looking closely at her pure light essence, he could clearly see that it is not only pure and intimately joined to his as if they were now the same but not exactly. He knew he would never be able to do magic again, that for the rest of his life he would be at her side giving everything to her each time she asked for it and he would do it without recompense.
Both fell to their knees in exhaustion staring at each other. Fangthane came up and licked Magda in the face then gave Thoryn a big sloppy kiss for good measure. Laughing nervously, Thoryn wondered if she knew what had happened. He knew she had to have some inkling of what had occurred. He decided he would start by explaining what happened openly so she does not curse him the rest of his life.
“Magda do you understand what I have done?” he asked sheepishly. She did not help him much looking at him with an unflinching stare. “Magda I am, I," he could not go on but he knew he had too.
Gently placing her palm on his cheek she said reassuringly, “Thoryn it is pleasing to me that I can feel your essence within me and reassuring at the same time. You are now a part of me forever I can feel this and you did what you thought best. What you did is the bravest thing anyone could ever have done; you saved me from being a monster. All my life I have had this hallow feeling inside making me feel as if I needed to fill a void and you have done that for me. What this means for us, I am not sure; fate may very well dictate what is to become of us. Neither you nor I will be able to love another as man and wife I know that now and that could mean our downfall. I do not love you in that way nor do I think do you, but I do love you for what you have done, who knows we might grow to love each other as man and woman.”
Games of the Powerful Page 55