“I think so. Like they’re zombies.”
“Yes! Something like that. But you know how stories are in small towns. I haven’t seen anybody zombified with my own eyes.”
The door chimed and Nicole’s eyes lit up. “This is some timing! That guy who just walked in is Harley Jones. He’s one of the people who saw one of those zombies. He’ll talk to you.”
Harley came up to the counter. He looked about fifty, though his long hair was very gray for someone that young. “Morning, Nicole!”
“Morning to you, sunshine. Hey, Harley, this guy right here is…you know, I didn’t get his name.”
“Grant,” I said. I put out my hand and Harley shook it.
“Anyway,” Nicole said, “I was just telling Grant that you’ve seen somebody who the Loyalty Guard picked up.”
“I did indeed,” Harley said. “Colt Jackson. Got nipped for a mistake in his taxes. Rumor had it they pulled him out of his house during one of the inspection raids.”
“But you saw him after the raid, right?” Nicole asked.
“Yep. I mean I think so. It sure as hell looked like the guy.”
“But he was different?” I asked.
“Yeah. Like his brain was in outer space. He just stared ahead. Completely ignored my talking to him. When I put my hand on his arm, he took his other hand and removed mine. Not like in a violent or mean way, just like an absent-minded thing. The whole time he’s just staring, like he’s waiting for instructions.”
After breakfast, I returned to my hotel room. The conversation at the diner felt icky to me, and I took a quick shower to try to wash away the feeling of death that seemed to fill the air in Ethos.
In my small collection of belongings, I had packed a journal and a pencil, two objects that were almost calming in their lack of technology. I opened the journal and jotted a few simple lines about what I’d witnessed that day. Then, a sudden burst of inspiration. I erased those few lines and started writing my story.
That’s what you’ve been reading thus far. I’ve worked for the last day putting this thing together. During that time, I’ve become increasingly sure that the enemy is watching me here in Ethos. Might just be paranoia. There haven’t been any more loyalty checks, and I’ve yet to see any of the zombies, though I met a few more people with stories of encountering someone they knew who was no longer really that person.
I like it here in Ethos, other than the loyalists. There is this feeling when I’m around them that I’m surrounded by true evil. It’s a scary feeling. I’ll write more later.
Nathaniel looked up from the book. “That’s all there is.”
Opellius frowned. “I don’t understand. The book felt so much thicker.”
Nathaniel fanned the pages in front of Opellius. “Can you see this?”
“Yes, Nathaniel. Aye. I can. It’s almost completely blank.”
Nathaniel looked down at the book. “Damn it!” He tossed the miracle object into the wall. Despite the force of his outburst, the book was not damaged. It landed on the floor opened to two empty pages.
“I understand you’re upset,” Opellius said. “Perhaps there is more to be found in other territories?”
“None of this makes any sense,” Nathaniel said, ignoring the question. “This Goldman, he wrote in a journal. There’s nothing about a book powered by sorcery. He said the very journal he wrote his story in was normal.”
“Let’s think about what we do know,” Opellius said.
Nathaniel sat back down, shoulders slumped. “We know nothing of any importance. We know not whether this tale is true or a fantasy. And if it’s true, is it our past or a tale of another world? Magic of this sort knows few bounds.”
“Agreed,” Opellius said. “But we saw the emissary. We both witnessed him. And he, or this object, gave me sight. There is something here, Nathaniel. Something more than a few pages of story. And don’t forget what we’ve learned about the prophet.”
“So what? Yesterday I believed the prophet to be a meaningless lie. Now I know he’s a meaningless evil man from some other when. He still holds little value. Much like the book.”
Opellius chortled. “Well, let’s take our time and study the Goldman’s words.” He bent down and retrieved the book from the floor. “There could be something which—”
“What?” Nathaniel stood up.
“I don’t know,” Opellius said. “What do you see?”
Nathaniel looked. “Your fingers. They are poking into the blank page. How?”
Opellius grinned. “Magic!” He pulled his fingers back, and the page rose up like cream-colored liquid tendrils, following the retreating digits.
“It doesn’t want to let you go,” Nathaniel observed.
“No, it doesn’t.” Opellius touched the surface of the page again. The tendrils wrapped around the back of his hand and shot up his arm. They pulled the shocked man toward the page. The book dropped to the ground as it sucked Opellius in.
Nathaniel took hold of Opellius’s legs and pulled. It was no use. Opellius slipped from his grasp and disappeared into the book, seeming to shrink down as he moved from the real world into the page.
Nathaniel stood silently. He dared not pick up the book, and he didn’t know what to tell the hive mind that loitered nearby, nor did he know what to do next.
Suddenly the book erupted, Opellius emerging in a torrent of the liquid. He dropped to the floor and the tendrils retreated as quickly as they’d appeared, until the book seemed harmless again.
“Opellius!” Nathaniel called. He knelt by the old man. “Are you hurt?”
Opellius sat up and smiled. His eyes were wild. “Magic, Nathaniel. Such magic!”
“I don’t—”
“This is not merely an object for recording a story! It is a portal!”
IV
The Portal
13
“What did you see?” Nathaniel asked.
He and Opellius sat on the intricate bench in the woods, the object placed several feet away in the grass. Nathaniel had bombarded Opellius with questions from the moment the man returned, but Opellius had asked for time to gather his thoughts. Now the man turned to him and spoke with awe.
“I saw another world. The world of the book, I believe.”
“The Goldman’s world.”
Opellius nodded. “Seems to be. My vision there was like it is here. That is to say, I can see but in almost an abstract representation of sight.”
“But you saw that other world.”
“I did. It buzzes with noise. I didn’t care for it.”
“How long were you there?”
Opellius considered the question. “A while. The better part of a day. I could only wander a short distance, not interacting with anyone, and then I returned to a glowing portal that it seems only I could see.”
“Hmm. All that, and yet you were gone barely seconds.”
“That is interesting.”
Nathaniel stood up. “Interesting or not, this is the break we needed. We must go to this other land. Find the Goldman. Find out what he knows.”
Opellius held up his hand. “Wait. I’m sorry, Nathaniel. I want to come with you, both to help set things right and to explore the other land. I just cannot.”
“Why not?”
“There’s something more to the portal. It is extremely draining. I couldn’t travel very far over there because the magic did something to me. It weakened me. The longer I was over there, the weaker I became. I am an old man, with very little of my power left. I don’t know how long I can survive on the other side of the portal, and I would be nothing but a detriment to you.”
Nathaniel sighed. “I see. What will you do?”
“I will guard the book until you return. I imagine that won’t be a very long time, at least not from my perspective.”
“Very well.”
“Do you need to bring anything with you? My clothes were still on my body in the other land, so it stands to reason—”
/> “I am fine,” Nathaniel said. “Thank you. I don’t require much in the way of supplies, and I can make do over there with whatever I find.”
“Don’t underestimate that place, Nathaniel. I know not whether it is truly of our world, but it is not a world we understand. Does that make sense to you?”
“Aye. I will be careful.”
Nathaniel knelt before the book and opened it to one of the blank pages. He looked back at Opellius, who watched him with grim countenance. Nathaniel placed the tips of his fingers on the page. At first there was nothing, then the page morphed and extended. He felt the book pulling at him, harder and harder as it extended its grip to encompass more of his body. He did not feel any sense of being crushed or compressed. He felt very little at all. Just that tugging sensation, pulling ever downward. The book rose up to meet him, and soon that off-white color was all he could see.
Nathaniel heard a sound like the rushing body of water he had crossed after facing off with the wild dogs. Suddenly, a vision of the world came at him with frightening speed. He braced for impact with the ground, but the vision slowed, and he found himself lying still on a hard surface.
The ground beneath him was made up of the black rock he had seen on his journey, but here it was a solid sheet. He sat up and the world swam around him. Opellius had been right— there was something about the world or the book’s magic that was not good for him. He shook his head, and things stabilized.
He saw the glowing blotch in reality that represented the portal back to Opellius’s home. Behind that, he saw carriages rumbling in the distance, seemingly pulled by nothing. Small buzzing hunks of metal whirred overhead like birds. More magic, like the weapons left over from the bygone days. Nathaniel got to his feet. On either side of the black strips of path there were a handful of people. Most of them stared at objects in their hands, but one woman noticed him and walked over.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Aye,” he said.
She gave him a confused look. “Why are you standing in the middle of the street? You’re gonna get run over.” She took him by the arm and walked with him to the side of the black surface, where they stepped up onto a hard white path running parallel to the black one.
“You need not worry about me. Do you know the Goldman?”
“What?”
“The Goldman. Gold man. It was written as one word within the pages of the book, but I suppose it could be—”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Are you sure you’re okay? I’ve heard about people that got pinched by the Loyalty Guard.”
“Can you bring me to them?” Nathaniel asked. “I would like to see this Loyalty Guard.”
The woman’s face wrinkled in concern. “No, I don’t think you want to do that. Haven’t you heard about the inspections? We had one the other night right here in town and they…”
She stopped mid-sentence. Nathaniel didn’t know if she was lost in thought or had thought better than to speak on the subject of the Loyalty Guard with a stranger.
“What do you call this place?” he asked.
“Ethos,” she said. “I’m Lilli, by the way.”
“My name is Nathaniel,” he said, bowing his head. As he did so, he observed her bare legs. She wore the same blue fabric as he had seen in the other territory, but her clothing was much shorter. “Your attire is different than where I’m from.”
“So is yours. You’re dressed like a reject from the Renaissance Fair. And where is it that you’re from, exactly?”
“Somewhere far from here. On the other side of that portal.”
She gave him another of those looks of worry and took a step back from him. “Portal? I don’t get it. Your home area doesn’t have a name?”
“It does not. I live in what is called an enclave.”
She nodded. “Oh. I understand. A halfway house.”
“A halfway what?”
“It’s okay. Does anybody know where you are?”
“An old man and his mutant aides. Well, they’re not exactly mutants. The hive mind.”
Lilli’s eyes were wide. “All right. Let’s go see if we can get you some help.”
Nathaniel remained silent and followed Lilli. They entered a building where food was being served to patrons wearing all manner of strange clothing. They spoke the language of the prophet, but heavily accented, like the guard in the other territory, but different from that as well.
“Hey Lilli!”
A woman behind a large counter held up a hand in greeting.
“Nicole! What’s up?”
“Shouldn’t you be at work?” Nicole asked. She observed Nathaniel. “I see you’ve made a friend.”
“I took off. Mental health after the craziness of the last few days. And this here’s Nathaniel. He needs a place to sit down.”
“Well, take a seat. You gonna order something?”
Lilli smiled. “We’ll get to it, don’t worry.”
She led Nathaniel to a booth and she sat on one side. He followed her lead and sat across from her.
“This woman, Nicole, she met the Goldman.”
“Did she now?”
“Aye,” Nathaniel said. “But he went by a different name then. Grant, I think.”
Lilli turned toward the counter. “Hey Nicole, you know somebody named Grant? Came in recently?”
“As a matter of fact,” Nicole hollered from a door behind the counter, “he was in yesterday. Wanted to know about the zombies.”
Lilli turned back to Nathaniel with a look of surprise. He smiled and nodded.
“You really are here looking for someone?” she whispered.
“Aye. I believe he holds the answers I seek.”
“Okay, color me curious.”
“I don’t understand,” he said.
“Never mind. Let’s order something. My treat.”
Nathaniel expected that the magic of the book would grant him the ability to understand the written language of the book’s world, but the menu was a mess of bizarre symbols and photos of unusual food.
“I don’t understand any of this,” he said.
“You can’t read?” Lilli asked. “Never mind. No judgment. I’ll order.”
When Nicole came to the table, Lilli asked for two cheese omelets and two cups of coffee.
“It’s a little late in the day for breakfast,” she admitted to Nathaniel, “but I can’t help myself in diners. I’ll eat that stuff at any hour.”
When the food arrived, Nathaniel studied it. He took one of the utensils and jabbed at the yellow substance on the plate.
“You’ve never had an omelet? What planet are you from?”
“I don’t know,” he said.
“I have to be honest,” she said. “Every time I start to think you might be for real, you make me wonder if you might be dangerous.”
“I’m only dangerous to those who’ve wronged my people and me.”
“And that’s the Loyalty Guard? The president?”
“The Authority. I don’t believe they’re here. You needn’t fear them.”
She smiled. “Well, that’s a relief. Listen, just break off a piece with the edge of your fork and eat it. It’s not rocket science.”
Nathaniel frowned. He did as Lilli described. The yellow food was delicious. “This is very good,” he said.
“Told you,” she replied. She picked up a red bottle and poured an ample amount of a red liquid on top of the omelet. “Try it with ketchup. It will blow you away.”
He did, and she was right. He enjoyed the beverage as well, filling his mug to the top with cream and sugar. He took another sip and put the cup on the table. He heard the rattle of the cup vibrating on the tabletop and looked at his hand. It was shaking, almost imperceptibly. He felt another of the waves of dizziness pass through him.
“Are you okay?” Lilli asked.
“Being here is not good for me,” he said.
“Ugh. You really are recovering, aren’t you?
We need to get you back where you belong, bud.”
“Not until I have my answers. Not until I find the Goldman.”
“Fine. Hey, Nicole? Do you have any idea where that guy was who was asking about the zombies?”
“No,” Nicole said. “Think he’s staying somewhere in town. I don’t really know. Wait… Holiday Inn Express. On the edge of town.”
“Oh, yeah, sure,” Lilli said.
Nathaniel was already on his feet. The feeling of weakness was gone for the moment. “Can you take me to this place?”
“Sure, I guess. I’m parked right down the street.”
“Lilli,” Nicole said as she came around to their table, “you sure you’re okay here?”
Lilli nodded. “It’s turning into an interesting day, that’s for sure.”
“Uh huh,” Nicole said.
“She doesn’t trust me,” Nathaniel said as he and Lilli exited what she called “the Ethos Diner.”
She turned left and he followed after her.
“No, she doesn’t,” Lilli said. “Because you seem to be a recovering drug addict who is either full of shit or doesn’t remember who he is. Your appearance is weird, you’re jacked as hell, which means you’re probably a roid head on top of everything else, and you speak with an accent that I’ve literally never heard before. So, she’s right to be worried about me. Lucky for you, I’m a sucker for confused, helpless men. So, God help me, please don’t prove Nicole correct.”
She reached into the bag she carried over one shoulder, and produced a small knife. It flashed in the sunlight for a second before she put it away. “I don’t want to have to use this,” she said with a hint of a smile.
“I understand. You will be safe with me. I promise that.”
She nodded. “My car is right over here.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
She rolled her eyes. “You don’t know what a car is? Jesus. What do you know?”
“I know of the baby Jesus.”
The Magic Book Page 10