by Guy Antibes
“Oh. I never thought of gods or goddesses walking Lillit’s soil.”
“But you pray to Eldora?”
Jack guessed she smiled under the veil. “I do, and I have. I once entertained becoming a priestess. Eldora only has priestesses who have enough magic to become wizards.”
“Many Alderachean priests can manipulate, but they are permitted to practice the first three levels and no more,” Jack said.
“I’m not to the third and barely to the second,” she said.
Jack thought that was an admission she wouldn’t usually make. “I don’t know what I am,” Jack said.
“Whatever it is, you are powerful,” Ralinn said.
It was Jack’s turn to laugh. “I’m like a muscle-bound oaf. I have the muscles, but no coordination. On second thought, there is no like. I am a muscle-bound oaf. You haven’t seen me swing a blade.”
“You don’t need to. That wand of yours was enough to save us all,” she said.
Jack hadn’t thought much of his efforts at saving everyone. If Tanner and Helen hadn’t been there, Jack wouldn’t have been able to fend off the scouts. “Tanner and Helen were needed as much as I,” he said. “A single wizard can’t defeat ten people.”
Even Aramore Gant was at a standstill and had to escape when the Black Finger reinforcements arrived at Amara Soffez’s keep. Takia’s Cup had enough force to stop anyone until a wizard’s power ran out, but Ralinn didn’t need to know that.
“Perhaps. Lark’s attempt at burning the scouts backfired,” Ralinn said.
“Literally,” Jack countered, smiling. “You make my point that wizards shouldn’t be running the world.”
“I can’t quite agree with that.” Ralinn paused for a moment. “What if a wizard didn’t rule with his magic?”
“I’d rather that happen than a group like the Black Finger Society run things. They are in it for the power. A ruler should be in charge to help his people.”
“Or her people,” Ralinn said.
“I agree. I’ve seen good wizards and evil wizards. Often the evil ones do a lot more with their power. Fasher Tempest, my master, turned to healing after a bad battle with the Kadellians.”
“Are you good or evil?” she asked.
Jack laughed. “Good, of course. But I imagine evil wizards would give you the same answer. I want to learn more about wizardry, but not to gain power. It is one of the few talents that I have, and I want to get better.”
“You have other talents? Sword fighting?”
“I am the oaf, remember? Ask Tanner or Helen, and they will just laugh. I am a bit of a prankster, but I haven’t done too much of that since I returned from my last errand. A little, though,” Jack said. “I also ran my father’s planing tools better than anyone. He would just as soon have me do that for him for the rest of my life, but I’m not interested in working for him.”
Ralinn nodded, he assumed with a smile. “I wouldn’t be either if I was a wizard’s helper.”
“My parents don’t even know what that is. They assume I’m a mediocre servant for Fasher Tempest.”
“But you often refer to him as your master,” Ralinn said. “Doesn’t that make you his servant?”
“You know what I mean. I have some unique abilities; even I can figure that out. Fasher is my mentor, and I work for him while he teaches me; although, I haven’t learned anything much from him yet.”
Ralinn looked ahead before saying anything else. “Is he using you?”
Jack laughed. “Of course he is. Fasher is sending me on these errands. I’m being paid to work for him, so I’m employed.” If he weren’t being paid, Jack would have ended up in the Raker Falls’ guard, which made every unemployed young man serve for six months after they turned eighteen. He had to admit he would rather be talking to the lovely Ralinn Bonarin than walking the streets of Raker Falls in a hot guard uniform any day.
Lark and Helen rode into an inn’s stable yard. Jack’s conversation with Ralinn had come to an end.
~
“I’ll pay for the rooms,” Lark said.
He had more money than Tanner ever did. They all had separate rooms. Jack stowed his belongings and made sure he had his papers when he went down to the lobby. This inn didn’t have a common room, but there was a pub next door.
Tanner was the only one to meet him.
“What do we do? I guess we have the rest of the afternoon to ourselves?”
The mercenary looked at the empty stairway and sighed. “Why don’t you and I take in the sights? I haven’t been to Pestersee before, and I want to do a better job figuring out what is happening in the countryside.”
“Don’t you want to wait for Helen?”
“Those three can go off by themselves, for all I care. Let’s leave word with the innkeeper and go.”
“Can we look at the Pestersee cathedral?”
Tanner reached up to ruffle Jack’s hair. “Sure. What else do you want to visit?”
“If we pass a church to Eldora, the water goddess of the Tesorians, I wouldn’t mind seeing what people think she looks like.”
“Let’s go,” Tanner said after having a word with the innkeeper standing at the front of the dining room.
Jack walked out into the sunshine. Most people in Pestersee apparently wore veils. Jack tied on the red one Lark had given him, but Tanner stopped at a street vendor selling the things. He picked the most common color, white.
“Do the colors mean anything?” Tanner asked the vendor.
“The one you bought doesn’t mean anything, but his means he is taken.”
“Taken?” Jack asked.
“By a young woman. You must be new to Pestersee,” the vendor asked.
“We travel from Corand,” Tanner said, with a smile on his face as he glanced at Jack.
“Different cities may have different meanings, but in Pestersee, a red veil on a man signifies he has a girlfriend.”
“What if a girl wears the same color?”
“Two things, either she does it so she won’t be bothered by suitors, or she is in love herself. If you see a couple wearing the same color, they are betrothed.”
“It certainly isn’t love,” Jack said, “but I sort of like the look anyway.” Jack remembered that Ralinn had given the veil to Lark. Did that mean the two were special to each other? He had to shake his head in confusion. Perhaps where Ralinn lived, red meant something else.
“Then let’s go,” Tanner said, after he tied his veil on. “I feel like I’m a robber.”
They walked back toward the cathedral. It was easy to spot because of its golden spire. Jack thought that maybe a pitchfork might be more appropriate, since supplicants fed Alderach spiritual hay. He made the remark to Tanner, but his friend just grunted.
The cathedral was a bit smaller than the one in Bartonsee, but the tower and spire were higher. The pictures of Alderach’s miracles were done in tiny colored tiles. The windows weren’t painted like the ones in Bartonsee and Dorkansee, and they were small, making the golden figure of Alderach in his bull phase look dingy. Jack thought a skylight was needed to make the statue more impressive. The horned caps were all a tan color, and the priests wore brown veils. It made them even sillier looking.
“I’ve seen enough,” Jack said.
They exited in the bright sun. After looking around the square from the top of the steps, Jack spied a building with a woman in front, holding a wavy staff. She had blue hair.
“Why don’t we visit that other temple?” Tanner asked. “I’ve always been intrigued by blue-haired goddesses.
Jack agreed, and that was their next stop.
Jack was a bit disappointed. There must not be as many adherents to Eldora as to Alderach in the city. The insides were painted white with blue trim. A larger statue stood at the end of a modest nave, but there were only a few people in the place.
“You are worshippers?” said a woman wearing a white, filmy veil and a light-blue gown with a hood covering her hair.
> “Corandians,” Tanner said.
“I thought the red veil…”
“What about the red veil?” Jack asked.
“It is a special kind of veil,” the woman said. “The design worked into the cloth signifies an advanced male acolyte. How did you obtain it?”
“A wizardess lent it to me while we travel in your country,” Jack said. He preferred the vendor’s explanation to hers. “Should I not wear it?”
“If you don’t attach any significance to it,” the priestess said amiably. She brushed her hand against Jack’s sword.
“You are wizards?”
“He is,” Tanner said, looking up at the ceiling and pointing to Jack with his thumb.
“This is an object of power,” she said.
“It is. So is this,” Jack touched the handle of his wand.
The woman’s eyes lost their twinkle. “You are with the Black Finger Society?”
Jack laughed. “No, quite the opposite.”
The woman sighed. “I hope you are right. Pestersee is crawling with them. Just a moment,” she touched the wand and brushed her fingers across Jack’s hand and stopped mouth open. “You are a helper!”
“I am,” Jack said.
“A moment. Please don’t leave.”
The woman rushed to a woman kneeling in the middle of the nave, praying to Eldora. She had words with the supplicant for a few moments and then made a sign for them to remain where they stood. Jack took a seat, and then Tanner shrugged and took one next to him.
“You breed excitement when you enter a house of worship,” Tanner said, “but I thought it ended when the patriarch of Corand discovered you in Bartonsee.
“No one found me interesting when we toured Alderach’s cathedral.”
Tanner folded his arms, but he stood when the priestess returned with two others. One woman was definitely a senior person with a band of silver bordering her hood.
“Will you come with us, please?” the senior person said.
Tanner looked at Jack with a raised eyebrow, and the pair of them followed the woman flanked by the pair of priestesses. They went through an archway and were led into a meeting room, or it could have been a dining room, Jack thought.
“Please sit,” the older woman said.
She approached Jack and asked to touch his wrist. Jack complied, curious why the women were so excited. The senior priestess nodded to the first woman they talked to. She left.
“Forgive me for the excitement. A priestess gave you the veil?”
“She is a wizardess, so she said. She once entertained becoming a priestess, though,” Jack said looking at Tanner.
“The fact that she possessed a red veil with the sigil of Eldora embroidered on it means she is either a priestess or a very devoted follower. You may call me Halippa, by the way. I am the chief priestess of the Pestersee Temple. And your names?”
“Jack Winder and this is my friend Fasher Tempest.”
“Jack, not now,” Tanner said. “Jack is a bit of a trickster. My name is Tanner Simple. We are on our way to Wilton.”
Jack was happy; he still wore the veil. The woman wouldn’t see his red face. He hadn’t expected Tanner to scold him so publicly.
“To Wilton.” Halippa echoed. “To see the grand wizard, I imagine?”
Tanner nodded.
“A wizard’s helper on an important task. I may burden you with another.”
“Why would you want to do such a thing?” Tanner asked. “Why would we accept a task from a total stranger?”
“Jack’s veil indicates he is no stranger,” Halippa said. “He has been identified. There is a test. If you pass it, I will give you a very rare object in exchange for doing something for Eldora in Gameton. I don’t know what it is, but all will be made known.”
“Why us?” Jack said. “We are strangers. What is to keep us from stealing whatever you give us or holding it for ransom?”
Halippa smiled. “Is that your intent?”
“No,” Jack said. “I’m already on an errand that makes little sense to me. I’m not sure if I want to do another.”
The other priestess came in with a pillow. On it sat a tiny box in bad condition. It was something his mother would have thrown out, Jack thought.
Halippa pushed the pillow toward Jack. “Open it, if you dare.”
Jack looked at Tanner who didn’t give him any advice. He touched the edge and could feel magic, but as he did so, the box changed in appearance to a beautiful, dark-blue, lacquered box with silver waves inset on the top. “It is warded!” Jack said. He kept his hand on the box as he opened it up, revealing a long fish bone surrounded by deep black velvet. “An object of power?”
Halippa nodded. “I wondered what it really looked like. If I hadn’t been told about you, I wouldn’t dare part with it.” She sighed. “It is your reward should you agree. Not many can touch the box and live, another proof that you made the right choice.”
“This isn’t the thing you want me to deliver?”
“It is yours. There are five of those bones in the world. Only helpers can touch the bones and the boxes that contain them. This is of no use to us except in time of great need.”
“What does it do?” Jack asked.
“No one knows. It exudes power, a great deal of power, but no one has been able to unlock its secret. A relic without a story is worthless, in my opinion,” Halippa said.
Jack thought the woman was pragmatic, much like the patriarch had been until he went mad with power. “Can I touch the bone?” he said.
“I look forward to your doing so,” Halippa said.
Jack picked up the bone, and his mind turned black.
Chapter Nine
~
J ack could see the bone in his hand. Even though he was encased in blackness, it was as if he were bathed in light. He could see his hands, his sleeves, and the fish bone held in his hand. He felt for the veil, but it was gone.
A sense of motion overwhelmed Jack, just as it had when he teleported to Raker Falls from Lajia, but this time he struggled to accept that everything was real, and he fought off the sensation that this experience was in his head.
A flash of light batted away the darkness, and he stood beside a flowing river. It looked like spring, since the river was swollen and angry looking. A hand emerged from the seething waters followed by a blue-haired woman dressed in layers of silk.
“Jack Winder,” she said, her voice filling the air and becoming part of him as she spoke. “You have been called at a critical time in Tesoria’s history. I have waited for one such as you to serve me.”
“I’m not your servant. I don’t even believe in you,” Jack said. “I worship Alderach.”
Eldora laughed, but it was more like a giggle. “I have an errand. Don’t get all upset, Jack Winder. You are on an errand already, and this one is to be fulfilled along the way. I want you to enter the Sanctuary of the Wild River at my temple in Gameton and put your hand in the sacred fountain while holding onto the bone. You will need to be guided to the sanctuary by Pakara Jimaroon. She lives in the city of Yellowbird. Can you do that?”
“And what do I get out of doing that?”
“The bone and the box, of course,” Eldora said.
“So I can talk to you whenever I wish?”
She laughed again. “Silly boy. You will be able to control water and other things with the bone, but you must be careful.”
Jack knew she was going to warn him about the dangers of playing around with unfamiliar spells. Which she proceeded to do.
“I will try,” Jack said. It was worth it for this hallucination anyway, he thought.
“Trying is not good enough. You must succeed. Lark Handercraft and Ralinn Bonarin do not realize it, but they will be the beneficiaries of your success. You can do it for them, or do it for Ralinn, alone. ‘Restoration’ is the trigger word.”
This had to be a hallucination, Jack thought. A goddess wouldn’t be talking about specific people, but the
n she knew his name.
“I’ll do it,” Jack said.
“The task will become more important to you as you travel, but I understand your reticence. I will say this. Only a helper can perform this deed; a helper pure in heart and without guile.”
Jack laughed out loud. “That is definitely not me,” he said.
“You are good enough for me.” She came closer to him and kissed his cheek. “I can’t help you with this errand, but I wish you well.”
The blackness shut off Jack’s vision. He opened his eyes to find he was still holding onto the bone.
“How long was I gone?” Jack asked.
“What do you mean?” Halippa said. “You just touched the bone.” She smiled. “You had a vision, didn’t you?”
“A hallucination,” Jack said.
“I had words placed in my mind last week, a sending from Our Lady. She instructed me to find a helper, and you walked in.”
Jack shivered. “I must be dreaming.”
“You aren’t,” Tanner said. “What just happened to you?”
Jack twiddled the bone between his thumb and a finger. It infused him with power, not the other way around. He had the impression that he couldn’t tell anyone about the task Eldora had given him.
“I’ll do it, but all I’ll say is that I need to visit Eldora’s temple in Gameton.”
“You did receive a vision.”
Jack nodded.
“You are crazy,” Tanner said, shaking his head at Jack.
“It can’t take us long,” Jack said. “It isn’t for me, but for others.”
“I suggest that you put away that red veil and wear it when you reach Gameton. Find a plain red one.” She smiled as she said it. “Is there a girl that you like?”
“Girls,” Jack said, lying, “in Raker Falls.”
Tanner’s eyes crinkled. He must have been smiling. “Are the meanings of the colored veils the same everywhere in Tesoria?” Tanner asked.
“Red means the same in Gameton and Pestersee,” Halippa said. “I don’t know if you will be successful, but I was told the chosen one will make every effort, so take the box with you.”