Grishel's Feather

by Guy Antibes

  “You can perform other spells?”

  Jack nodded. “But I don’t know many. I carry notes from a little wizardry manual. You took them from me.”

  “Most of what you wrote is gibberish. I would be surprised if a small fraction of what it says is true.”

  Was that why Jack couldn’t get much out of the manual? There was no one he could ask. In this specific matter, Jack didn’t trust Fasher.

  “I didn’t know that.”

  Garolla sat back in his chair. “So it seems you aren’t a god or even a godlet, Jack Winder. Your feckless act has put your friends in danger.”

  “I am trying to save my friends,” Jack said.

  “For now, you will serve the Black Fingers. You will spend the day working outside while we determine what to do with you specifically. You have too much power to be trusted.”

  “Then trust Helen or Penny,” Jack said. “I can’t use the feather anyway.”

  “But you said you have objects of power. Why is your pursuit of them any different from my Lajian brothers’ and sisters’ obsession, as you call it.”

  “I don’t seek to own a collection of objects of power. Any objects that I possess came to me, I didn’t purchase them or steal them.”

  “Are you accusing us of stealing Grishel’s Feather?”

  “I don’t know how any of the three feathers ended up where they did,” Jack said. “Why can’t you make a decision now? You waited for the hearing with Addio. Don’t you feel angry that he deceived you? He tried to dominate you, the leader of the Black Fingers. I’m just a teenager trying to save my friends. We have no designs on your leadership or anything else. As I said before, we are happy to return the feather to you when we are done.”

  “That might be an empty promise once the feather is in your hands.”

  Jack shook his head. “I’ll mention this one more time, you can have some of your people come with us. We will accept any reasonable restriction.” He didn’t know what else to say.

  “I will make a decision at sundown. You are young and strong. A little physical labor won’t hurt.”

  Jack gave up and sighed. “I will work outside.”

  They left the room to find Rucco waiting. “He will accompany you while on gardening duty. Show him around, have him fed, and return him here at sundown,” Garolla said, walking down the corridor.

  Jack couldn’t help but watch Head Garolla leave them.

  “Come with me,” Rucco said. “Most of us look forward to spending time on the outside. I get out once a week or more. I have some questions and some observations for you.”

  Jack followed Rucco through the gate. More people were going in and out of the gates than there were when they entered the previous day. Rucco led Jack through one of the little glades that lined the main road to the cavern. A large vegetable garden was on the other side of one of the manicured hedges.

  “This is where we will be working today. The tools are in this shed. We will be weeding the rows.”

  Jack grabbed rough gloves, a sack that he could sling on his shoulder, and a narrow hoe to match the items Rucco had retrieved. Rucco showed him what to weed before he began to give Jack information.

  “You have presented the head with a dilemma,” Rucco began to say as he worked. “He is under pressure to change the Passoranian Black Finger Society to align with what the Kadellia chapter desires. They are the most influential of the Black Finger chapters. Passoranian Black Fingers have enjoyed the support of the people and have been well tolerated by our royal rulers and the government. There are those of us who wish that to continue.”

  “And is Garolla of the same mind?”

  “He holds a political post, and he derives most of his power from the society, not from Passoran. It is likely our policies will change, unfortunately. The abbot is in much the same position, although he has more support from the monks to keep the church out of political affairs, so Torlo told me.”

  Jack took it in. “How will that affect my friends?”

  “You should be asking how it is going to affect you. The head wanted you out of the cavern. He doesn’t trust your claims of not knowing many spells.”

  Jack frowned. “I really don’t know many spells, but I do have a lot of magical power,” he said. “Perhaps he is right about not wanting me inside, although I am without my objects of power.”

  “But you can make more, right?”

  “Of course, but my sword and knife are unique, not only in the magical sense, but I don’t want to leave them behind any more than I don’t want to leave behind my friends.” Jack thought for a bit. “What about Addio?”

  “You won’t have to worry about Addio anymore. He is scheduled to be tried and executed for his manipulation this morning.”

  Jack wasn’t happy about the execution part since that meant Jack could be executed as well, but he wouldn’t be able to coerce anyone even if he wanted to. There were advantages to being kept from spells, he thought.

  “We need to get this completed,” Rucco said. “This isn’t a punishment for me. Sometimes life in the cavern can be oppressive.”

  “What do you do in there all the time?”

  Rucco worked for a bit before responding. “I shouldn’t tell you, but some of us do magic research. There is a large library; some left behind by Grishel researchers, but instead of accumulating objects of power, we gather knowledge.”

  “The library is in the big building where the meeting room is?” Jack asked.

  Rucco nodded, but he turned and went back to work.

  As Jack weeded in the warmth and light of the sun, he thought about Fasher’s personal library. Most books were on healing, and the books on magic were a small collection. He didn’t get a chance to see the magic library at Wilton. Should he be worried about a treasure of texts on wizardry in the hands of the Black Finger Society, especially a chapter that might become less independent?

  Jack wondered how much more magic the world could create. Could the Black Fingers assemble enough wizards in a single force to obliterate nonaligned wizards? The Black Finger Society was successful in Tesoria until many of them died under Eldora’s protective spell.

  The warmth finally got to Jack. He yawned and looked around for Rucco, who slept underneath a tree. Jack smiled. He might do the same, so he worked on a row heading toward another group of trees and set aside his bag and little weeding hoe to take a nap.

  His eyes became too heavy to open, and he finally relaxed.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  ~

  J ack opened his eyes. It seemed he had just gone to sleep, and he felt a bit cheated. He sat up, but the glade had changed. Rucco wasn’t across the field. Trees covered the plot. Jack looked around. The mountainside looked the same, but instead of an edifice carved out of the rock, everything was natural. The cavern opening showed as a slit of darkness.

  “Wondering what has happened?” said a male voice behind him.

  Jack turned to look at a man about the same height as him, but he still seemed impossibly tall. When he noticed the man’s hair was made out of tiny brown feathers, he stood.

  “Hello, Grishel,” Jack said.

  Grishel laughed. “At least we don’t have to go through an embarrassing introduction. I’m glad you recognized me, Jack Winder.”

  “Where or when are we?”

  “Gods live in tiny pockets that move with them. You recognized the cavern?”

  “Of course. I expected to be here, so,” Jack shrugged. “I suppose you have an errand for me?”

  “You get right to the point. If you were one of my monks, you would be prostrated on the ground worshipping me.”

  “But I’m not one of your monks,” Jack said. “I hope we are still friends.”

  Grishel smiled and reached out to touch Jack on the shoulder. Jack could feel a shift, and they were sitting on stools carved out of stone, looking at each other from across a stone table. The walls were made out of rock.

  “We are i
nside your cavern?”

  “Aren’t you surprised?”

  “I’ve teleported from Lajia to Raker Falls. I know how it feels.”

  “Do you want me to scare you?” Grishel asked.

  “Not particularly,” Jack said. “I’m sure you can if you have a mind.

  “If I have a mind.” He put his hands palms down on the table. “You don’t have the time for that nonsense, although I have an abundance of time.” That comment brought a melancholy sigh from the god. “Ready for business?”

  Jack nodded.

  “You learned about the Black Finger Society library?”

  “Just now. Did you have anything to do with that?”

  Grishel shrugged. He ruffled the feathers on his head. “I want it destroyed. There are spells, should they be found, that might even put the gods in danger.”

  “Do you have an object of power to help me do that?”

  Grishel smiled a little too knowingly. “Takia’s fire will be enough.”

  “You even know about my sword,” Jack said.

  “And your power, Wizard’s Helper. Only you can control that fire.”

  “I will have to get my sword, or I’ll burn my hand off.”

  “That is your problem, not mine. As payment, I will tell you where my relic lies,” Grishel said.

  “A bargain!” Jack said.

  “Errands can bring benefits to many, many, many.” The god ran his hand through his feathers again.

  “I was thinking of doing it anyway,” Jack said.

  “I know, and that is why I decided the time was right to let you see me.”

  “Why me?”

  Grishel pursed his lips. “It is not something that I will tell you, and the time is not yet right. Remember that old metal tube at my abbey?”

  “The one that—” Jack sat back and nodded. “It sapped my power. That is how it can heal magical wounds. It removes the magic.”

  “Clever and simple, if I do say so myself. It works on females more slowly, but they lose their magic as well,” Grishel said. “If you touched the feather itself, your power would be extinguished within a moment or two, considering how much power you yield. Penny would lose her magic in a quarter hour or so. You were on the right track on how to use it. Let her wield the feather while you feed her your power, Helper. It works with direct contact, so a leather pouch will keep you safe from its effects.”

  “Do the monks know your feather is inside?”

  Grishel chuckled. “I’m sure the abbot suspects it holds the feather, but I doubt if he is really sure. There is a feather encased in glass in the library, but it is a fake.”

  “Why did the other feathers react to me?”

  “I will leave that answer for another at a different time. Will you perform my errand?”

  Jack had to think for a moment. “I still have to get to Raker Falls and then to Fasher.”

  The god nodded knowingly. “The path is not easy, nor is it sure, but you will have your chance to escape. Take advice where you can and follow your instincts.”

  It was Jack’s turn to laugh. “Fasher would tell me the first and be annoyed if I followed my instincts.”

  “Perhaps. Are we together on this?”

  Jack bit the inside of his lower lip. What would happen if he said no? He knew that wouldn’t happen. Their interests were aligned, and now that Jack knew where the feather was, he might have to steal it, but he would do anything to save his mentor. He thrust out his hand. “Deal!”

  Grishel took it and shook it once.

  ~

  Sunlight played on his eyelids. He rose and sighed. He wondered if he had a feather tattoo on his other wrist. His bracers were still on his forearms. Rucco still slumbered on the other side of the field. Jack looked up at the sun. It hadn’t moved, as far as he could tell.

  He walked over to Rucco. “Time to rise. It’s morning,” he said.

  Rucco blinked his eyes and shot to his feet. “We are in trouble!”

  “For what? I was only joking.”

  Rucco rubbed his eyes and smiled. “This isn’t the first time I’ve sneaked a nap.”

  “Your hair looks rumpled. Did you join me?”

  Jack pointed to the opposite side of the field. “Over there. I was out long enough to dream.”

  “We only have an hour or so’s worth of work left, so let's get it done. You start at the end, and we will work toward each other.”

  Jack was fine with that. He wouldn’t be tempted to blurt out that he had another vision or visitation or whatever Grishel had done to talk to him. They worked quickly, and soon their task was done.

  “Time for jail?” Jack asked.

  Rucco nodded. “Your friends didn’t get the opportunity to get out. I’m sorry.”

  “No one else will get sunburned,” Jack said as they made their way toward the cavern gate.

  Jack noticed a long building through the trees. “What is that?”

  “Oh, the stables. If we got much closer you wouldn’t have had to ask the question,” Rucco said. “We take this path back to the cavern.”

  Jack kept looking back, trying to memorize the way to the stables. He guessed they would have to beat a hasty retreat once he set the library aflame.

  “You seem a bit nervous,” Rucco said.

  Jack looked forward. “Who knows what my fate will be once I am inside again?”

  “I suppose so.” Rucco sighed. “I’m a little anxious about it myself.”

  Jack didn’t respond. What if the head had sent Rucco with him with the intention of spying? He kept his real thoughts to himself. Perhaps the nap was a ruse to see if he would escape? Jack started to think of all that could have happened, but he would never leave his group behind. Perhaps none of the Black Fingers thought like that, but he certainly did.

  They entered the gate. The woman who had escorted them through the cavern joined them on their way to the cells. With wizards continuing to come and go, Jack wouldn’t know if others were minding him during his gardening.

  Rucco left them at the little square while the woman led Jack back into the facade that fronted the cells.

  “These weren’t originally cells, were they?”

  “They still aren’t. These are the visitors’ quarters. Some of the doors lock from the outside, and those we can use as cells.

  That made sense to Jack. He could leave any time he needed to, taking Carlo, and then he could grab the three women. As he thought about Grishel’s errand, he realized that the god didn’t actually do anything to help them other than tell them where the feather was. That would have to be enough, Jack thought.

  He stood in front of the cell, letting a Black Finger unlock the door and let him in. When he walked in, there were two people in the room lit by a floating torch.

  “Ferrio,” Jack said.

  “Ah, you remembered me,” Ferrio said, lounging on the pallet that Jack had used.

  A sack of something was on the floor, evidently a mattress for the unluckiest person in the room.

  “Where is Addio?” Jack asked, hoping for the best-case answer.

  “He was found guilty of coercing a group of Black Fingers and executed,” Ferrio said.

  The way he said it indicated that the priest didn’t care. Jack noticed the priest’s fingers were black again. He figured Ferrio was a plant and Jack wondered if Addio’s death was some kind of a ruse.

  “We won’t be fed until tomorrow morning,” Carlo said. “I’m not happy about that.”

  “Did you get any lunch?” Jack asked, realizing how hungry he had gotten after coming in from a day weeding. Rucco would say they would be fed, but Jack guessed both of them slept through their midday meal.

  “A few pieces of bread and fruit,” the Torito sibling said, frowning and folding his arms. “I don’t know what we did to deserve this kind of treatment. We didn’t do anything to them.”

  “We want to use Grishel’s Feather,” Jack said. “That is enough, although the Black Fingers in
the cavern don’t seem to be very religious.”

  “They aren’t,” Ferrio said, looking at his dark fingertips. “The most religious Black Fingers gravitate to the abbey.”

  “Is that where you are headed now that you have become a Black Finger?”

  Ferrio seemed to be surprised by the question. “Uh, no. We didn’t spend more than an hour there.”

  “What did the abbot talk to you about?” Jack asked.

  “Hardly anything. Addio did most of the talking, and once we found out the feather wasn’t there, we left.”

  That meant the abbot hadn’t bothered to test Addio, and that was good news, if any news was good at this point.

  “Did Addio use his persuasive spell on the monks?”

  Ferrio shrugged. “Probably. He didn’t need to persuade me.”

  “Not true,” Carlo said after listening in. “You wouldn’t hook up with an eagle sect priest unless forced. I would guess you are still under the spell, and that means Addio is still alive and still making mischief.”

  “Maybe,” Ferrio said. “At least you won’t get the feather either.”

  “What?” Jack sat up. “You mean the feather isn’t here either?”

  “It is, but it is protected by a large glass block like it is in Fassira and Ullori.”

  “Where is the feather?” Jack asked.

  “In the library, of course.” Ferrio breathed on a black fingernail and polished it on his tunic.

  “You have seen it?” Maybe Jack could find out where the library was or get taken there.

  “I have. They showed us the library when we first arrived. I still can’t tell if it is a hawk or an eagle feather,” Ferrio said.

  “Once a hawk, always a hawk, eh?” Carlo said. “You are pathetic.”

  Ferrio sneered. “Not as pathetic as you. You won’t have to worry about anything after tomorrow.”

  “Then Addio has taken over again?” Jack said. He thought he detected a blush on Ferrio’s face, but the light wasn’t very bright.

  “I don’t know what you mean.”