by Guy Antibes
Jack was impressed that Ralinn would notice the unique shape of the hilt of his Soffez-made sword. “It is being repaired at the weapon maker’s shop,” Jack said. “I wanted a belt knife, but he’s going to make the latest repair better.”
“The shop on the south side of the village?”
Jack nodded.
Lark’s eyebrows went up. “I tried to buy a sword from him, since he has quite a reputation, but I was told I would have to wait six months, and we don’t have six months to waste waiting in Underville. I don’t have a weapon any longer than this.” He pointed to a knife with a blade sitting in a foot-long sheath.
“He is just making some repairs,” Jack said. “He made sketches of my sword, so maybe he was more motivated.”
Lark smiled. “I am looking forward to seeing it. Do you have the message?”
“It is in my room,” Jack said.
The wizard frowned. “You are too casual with it,”
“You won’t think that when I show it to you. I will go grab it.” Jack left them and ran up to his room.
He grabbed the bag that held the warded box, along with other personal items, and returned to the table. At least they hadn’t left him when he was gone. He handed the bag to Lark. “It is in there.”
Lark opened up the drawstring and looked inside. “I can’t even tell it is an illusion. Fasher Tempest is a wily soul.”
Jack nodded. “I’m still new to all this wizarding stuff. A ward is the same as an illusion? It is a Second Manipulation, right?”
Lark smiled. “It is a very sophisticated illusion that is very versatile. Fasher Tempest said this is keyed to you and to the grand wizard. No one else can make it transform.”
“Transform?” Jack asked.
Lark’s eyes widened. “The transformation is what makes it a warded box. You didn’t try to open it?”
“No. It isn’t really a box,” Jack said in a near whisper.
“I know it isn’t, but you can open it like a box, and it will look empty inside.”
“I never tried,” Jack said. He wasn’t thrilled that Ralinn smiled along with her mentor, as they both had to be looking down on him.
“Let’s eat,” Lark said. “I’m hungry. This inn’s food is much better than the boarding house across the street. Ralinn and I will be glad to leave it behind.”
~
Jack rode to the weapon maker’s shop just before he was to eat lunch at the inn and head south into Tesoria with the others. He was very relieved to see the man talking to another customer as he walked in. He wouldn’t have to go find him.
“Ah, I’m glad you came. I will be closing up my shop early for my youngest daughter’s birthday celebration, and I didn’t know where you were staying in Underville.”
“Here I am. Did you finish everything?”
The man grinned. “I stayed up half the night. I’ve never worked on such a sword in my life. If I sensed it correctly, there are three imbuements in the sword.”
Jack nodded. “Two offensive and one defensive.”
“The defensive one is in the pommel, correct? I think the one in the blade shoots wizard bolts. The imbuement in the guard is totally out of my experience.”
“It is based on an object I came across in Lajia. There isn’t another object like it in Corand,” or anywhere else, Jack thought, “Did you damage them?” If Jack didn’t get the guard repaired, he could rely on Lark for the counterspell to coercion, but Takia’s fire would be lost for his trip.
The weapon maker shook his head. “I’m as much a wizard as anything else. Everything is intact, although working on the guard took me the most time. I am hoping it will look the way you bought it.” He went outside to his work area and returned with the sword. The end of the scabbard was now tipped with a metal guard. “This comes off. The bolt will push it off, or you can just remove it.” He demonstrated.
Jack looked at the guard and smiled at the excellent repair. The repaired guard had been rough before, but it worked; now the guard looked like it had never partially melted when Jack summoned a full dose of Takia’s fire. He ran his hand along the tips. The imbuement had remained on the guard’s tips, although some of the surface area was gone.
“The knife?” Jack asked.
The weapon maker smiled and handed it over.
The blade wasn’t quite as shiny, but the hilt matched the sword. Jack wished Tanner were with him, so he could learn how to use it in a fight. The wand was useful, but it lacked a guard.
“This must cost more than what I paid.”
The weapon maker laughed, almost giddily. “I would pay twice as much for the pattern that you provided me,” he looked at the sword. “When I catch up with my orders, I will make the first one of those. I will earn twice as much for one of those swords. That is how I reckon it. I wish you well on your travels.”
“Thank you,” Jack said.
He rode back to the inn and found Ralinn and Lark already eating.
“Breakfast over there,” he nodded across the street, “was nearly inedible.”
Ralinn nodded, her mouth full.
“We already ordered for you. Sit and eat.”
Jack did as he was told and showed Lark the knife the weapon maker had given him.
“Worthy of a prince,” he said. “Isn’t it, Ralinn?”
“If you say so,” she said before she filled her mouth again. She wasn’t quite as attractive wolfing food down, but that just made her a little more human to Jack.
Lark handed the knife back. “I will examine your sword in more detail tonight. We will likely be sleeping under the stars.”
When the pair had finished eating, Jack still had a bit to go. “Will it take us long to get to Wilton?”
“In better times, heading south along the main road is the fastest way to Gameton,” Lark said. “I know a more discreet entry point into Tesoria. It is farther west.”
Chapter Three
~
I n a quarter hour, they headed out along the continuation of the road from Kadellia, that ran east from Underville to a small port on the coast. The Northern Sea became the Middle Sea somewhere just north of that place. Jack could never figure out why a sea would change names. It wasn’t as if you could put a border on the water.
Long before reaching the coast and just after a village that straddled the road, Lark took a pathway through a wooded area heading south. They traveled through a forest that was much larger than Jack had first thought and walked their horses across a wide shallow river.
“We are now in Tesoria,” Lark said.
Jack looked back. “The Basingspill.”
“Which is more impressive farther upstream, but there are so many farmers on both sides that use its water that it ends up as a trickle when it pours into the Middle Sea. I am known in patches of Tesoria; so if Ralinn and I sport veils over our faces, don’t be surprised. I don’t want to be recognized.”
“Is it normal for people to wear masks in Tesoria?”
Ralinn smiled, and it was a wonder to behold. “Masks, no, but veils are common in Tesoria. Men wear opaque cloth and women will wear something more stylish, silk or lace.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Jack said.
They rode along in silence, but finally, the sky darkened, and the day’s ride was over. Lark stopped at a clearing that had been used before.
Their meal was cold and not as satisfying as Jack would have preferred, but they had a small fire contained in a stone ring left by previous travelers.
“I was wondering something,” Jack said. “Why doesn’t Fasher send the message by mail, or a bird, or even with telepathy. Certainly, both of them should be powerful enough for that.”
Lark leaned back, holding onto his leg. “Your master doesn’t trust any mundane means, and as for telepathy, the two wizards must have met in person. I don’t know if they have met or not, but perhaps the ward is to be activated in person. Did he stipulate that you have to open it?”
Jack nodded. “He did, so I guess that makes it more secure.” He pulled out the box and opened the catch, showing nothing inside the box. “Can I put something inside this?”
Lark laughed. “Yes you can, but once the ward is removed, the structure will disappear.”
“What if Fasher had made a metal strongbox out of the flat scroll?”
“I really don’t know,” Lark said. “I’m not powerful enough. Now that I have handled it, I believe the box is actually a Fifth Manipulation. I believe that something will happen when you activate it. If it were a true Second Manipulation, you wouldn’t be able to open it. You can put something light, like pens, points, and an ink block, but not much else. Remove everything when you and the grand wizard open it together, or the contents will fall when the box transforms.”
Jack looked at the box and ran his hands along the edges. He could feel the faint tingle he felt with objects of power, but it wasn’t strong. He held it out for Lark. “Can you feel any magic?”
“Me?” Lark opened it up and then closed it before wrapping his hand around the box. He shook his head. “I can’t feel a thing. I am sure Tempest made sure he created a prosaic item to hide the scroll.
Jack nodded. He would do as Lark suggested and put writing instruments in the box as well as a folded parchment. The thing certainly wasn’t fancy; he had taken one similar to extended school for two years.
“How long have you been an apprentice?” Jack said to Ralinn.
“Quite a while,” she said.
That couldn’t be true, because Jack was convinced she wasn’t any older than he. She couldn’t have been with him more than three or four years, but maybe to her, it felt like a long time.
“What has he taught you?”
Ralinn paused.
Lark spoke up. “The progress of my pupil is between the apprentice and me,” he said. “In Tesoria, it is impolite to pry too far.”
Jack pulled out his knife. “I was wondering what kind of spell I could imbue into this knife. Do you know of anything good? The sword is imbued with wizard bolts, fire, and an anti-coercion spell.”
“I knew it was an object of power. How could Fasher have parted with such a weapon?”
Jack gave Lark a half smile. “Because it isn’t his. The sword is mine, and I did the imbuing.”
“Astonishing. I wouldn’t have thought you could do such a thing. You did mention you were a helper, but you said you are inexperienced.”
“I learned how to do that along with a few other spells. What would you suggest?”
“You know how to imbue multiple spells into a single object?” Ralinn said. She sounded impressed.
“I do. So I would guess two spells would be enough for this.” Jack looked at the blade that he hadn’t looked at since they left Underville.
“Extra power, for one,” Lark said. “That way Ralinn or I could use it if needed.”
“I agree. I have run out before,” Jack raised his hand. “I know all about overextending one’s power. I have done it to myself, and I have seen the worst that can happen if a wizard isn’t careful,” he said thinking of Aramore Gant; the Alderachean Patriarch’s hand had been charred by Takia’s Cup. “What else is a good offensive spell? I don’t really know anything other than fire and lightning.”
“Invisibility,” Ralinn said. “I just learned that.”
Jack looked at Lark. “Would you be willing to teach that to me? I’ve been told I am a quick learner.”
Lark shrugged. “We can try. I doubt you will be successful.”
“What does invisibility do?” Jack asked.
“It isn’t as dramatic as it sounds. You and whatever you touch disappear from a person’s view, but you really aren’t invisible. Your shadow still appears, and nothing large disappears with you. If I carried my saddlebags, for example, I wouldn’t be able to invoke the spell.”
“No one on horseback would disappear?”
Ralinn laughed. It sounded like tinkling bells to Jack. “No, and you have to keep invoking the spell the entire time since it only works for a moment or two. I have been able to maintain the illusion for three minutes.”
“How about you?” Jack asked.
“I haven’t kept time, but I would imagine about ten minutes. I usually stop because I can feel the drain, as I’m sure you would too.”
“When my power is tapped, I can detect it. What about another wizard? Can they sense the use of magic? I’ve known some wizards who are very sensitive.”
“Not me. I couldn’t detect Ralinn, but a stronger wizard probably could. Magic is magic, after all.”
Fasher hadn’t taught Jack any real magical theory, so he didn’t know and made a noncommittal sound to Lark’s comment.
“What do you concentrate on? What is the keyword that works best?” Jack asked.
“Vanish for me. I think of disappearing from the midst of a group of people,” Ralinn said with an excitement that lit up her beautiful pale blue eyes.
Lark frowned. He obviously didn’t want her to blab about how she learned.
“It is a little more complicated than that since it is a Second Manipulation,” Lark said.
To Jack, it wasn’t any more complicated. To him, a different level just took more will and more power. “What is your trigger word?”
“Disappear,” Lark said. “I can’t make Vanish work,” he admitted.
Jack could look up to see if invisibility was in his wizardry manual, but he wouldn’t show it to these two wizards. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them, but they would have to earn more trust before he shared much more with them and that included his Serpent’s Orb stories.
“Maybe I will try Gone,” Jack said. He looked around the campfire and imagined himself missing. If it worked for Ralinn, it should work for him. He moved farther from the flames and sat on his blankets. “When I imbue, I generally faint, so just cover me up a bit. I’ll wake up in the morning.”
Jack remembered how it felt to imbue his sword and held the pommel. He imbued energy into it like he did a spell, but he thought of the ladle object of power in Fasher’s drawer as the source and the hilt of his knife as the destination. After closing his eyes, he drew in power around him and felt resistance from the hilt. He applied more power until the resistance melted away, and his own power flooded in to the knife. The feeling was different than storing a spell, and he didn’t faint.
“One down,” Jack said. “I suppose I should try the spell before I try to push it into the blade.”
He was uncertain about doing one imbuement so soon after another. He drew will and power around him, which was much easier when he wasn’t trying to push it into an object.
“Gone.”
Jack looked at his hands. He was still around. He sighed and figured it must not have worked until he looked at the surprised look on Lark’s face. “You are still sitting there. I can see the indentation in the grass, but your blankets are gone,” the wizard said.
“He did it on his first try,” Ralinn said with an astonished voice, speaking as if Jack wasn’t there.
“How do I stop the spell?” Jack asked.
Ralinn flinched at the sound of his voice.
“Will it to stop or think of yourself being visible again,” Lark said.
Jack willed the effect to stop by imagining himself reappearing around the campfire.
The pair of them visibly relaxed when Jack appeared. For Jack’s part, he felt no unusual drain of his power. He would have to find a way to see how long he could be invisible, but he decided not to do it in either wizard’s presence.
“At this point, the question is why imbue the knife if I can do this on my own?” Jack asked.
“Theoretically, you should be able to invoke the invisibility spell, and it will stay active, leaving you the ability to do something else at the same time,” Lark said.
“Oh! That makes a lot of sense,” Jack said. “I’ll test it tomorrow.”
He took the knife and drew his power
around him once more and funneled his will into the blade. He met with the same resistance he always did, until the barrier began to break down, and then Jack spoke the word “Gone” to infuse the blade with the invisibility spell. It was at that point that Jack blacked out.
His foot was being wiggled, and Jack opened his eyes as the sun was creeping over the trees in the clearing. Ralinn held onto the toe of his boot. “Are you awake? I know you are alive,” she said.
Jack rubbed his eyes. “I know the spell to wake up. It is invoked when you pinch my toe,” he said with a smile.
“Oh!” Ralinn said with alarm, dropping Jack’s foot. She recovered quickly. “You failed. Your knife doesn’t work like an object,” she said.
Jack sat up and saw Lark holding onto the knife.
“I almost believed you,” the wizard said.
“You will.” Jack put out his hand and Lark laid the knife on his palm.
He felt the tingle of power move from him into the hilt. The object needed a bit more power, but it should have been enough for Lark to detect. “Gone,” Jack said after willing the spell out of the blade.
“He’s gone!” Ralinn said, looking at Lark. “You said he failed.”
“It must be keyed to him.”
Jack willed the spell to stop. “It must be. Sorry, you might not be able to use it.” Jack brightened, “but you can use me.” He held out his hand for Lark to touch.
“I forgot you are a wizard’s helper,” he said grabbing onto Jack’s wrist. “I can feel the power seep into me. I’ve never met one before, and it is difficult to believe a person as young as you can bottle up so much power.”
Jack was tempted to tell them his story, but he didn’t. “I don’t know how to key, but I guess that is what happened. I’m still pretty ignorant. I know just a few spells, and really, it is better that way. I thought invisibility would be innocuous, and it is.”
“You didn’t even have to practice,” Ralinn said. “It took me two months.” Jack could hear a little petulance in her voice.
“What does Fasher Tempest really teach you?” Lark asked.
“Not much more than a little theory. He hasn’t taught me a single spell,” Jack said.