by Guy Antibes
~
Jack and Jorey Balcon got along rather well while Jack talked to him about his adventures seeking the Serpent’s Orb. Jack didn’t mention Takia’s Cup. He wouldn’t tell anyone the final details of the patriarch’s demise until Fasher treated him better.
“So what is the story about Eldora’s kiss marks?” Jorey asked once the grand wizard was about up to date.
“I have a task to perform with Corina beneath Eldora’s temple. It involves an object of power that the goddess put into my hands. It is the bone called River.”
“I would have never thought the priestesses would give up any of their precious bones. Can I see it?”
Jack took off his necklace and showed him the Serpent’s Orb and demonstrated the transformation when he touched the box. He flipped it open revealing the bone. “It stays in its own warded box until I need it. I’m sure you understand.”
“I do. Maybe more than you. It takes power from you?”
“The orb does, but Eldora’s box gives me power.”
Jorey’s eyebrows rose. “I would never have suspected an object doing that.” He clapped Jack on the shoulder. “You are unique. Even among the few helpers that I have met.”
They followed the grand wizard in single file on a track along the river that reminded Jack of the waterway path. The day was waning, so Jorey took another path south and ended up in a farming village.
“We will be welcome here, since I grew up in this village,” the grand wizard said. “We can spend the night here if we are willing to share rooms. All my relations are gone or have moved out, but I’ve helped out the village when they have needed it. We won’t have to worry about lodgings. Is that all right with you, mercenary?”
“Not a problem,” Tanner said.
Jack ended up rooming with the grand wizard. He didn’t know if that was through circumstance or by design.
“Hold onto my wrist for longer. I fear the Black Finger conversion spell sunk deeper in me than I thought.”
Jack did as the man said. Jorey leaned back against the bare wood wall of the room and shut his eyes. Jack sat on the bed next to him. He could feel his power draining, but Eldora’s box pulsed a little differently as it pushed its own magic into him.
The grand wizard sat straight up. “That is enough. I thought you would take longer. Are you all right?”
Jack nodded.
“I stole large amounts of power from you, and you aren’t woozy or weak?”
“Not at all,” Jack said.
“Amazing. I think the taint is fully out of me. Could you make sure Lark has full power? He doesn’t seem as energetic as when he left Wilton.”
“He has changed, I think,” Jack said. “Has he led a sheltered life?”
Jorey nodded. “Pretty much. He was third in line for the throne and neglected to learn as much as he could. He is a decent wizard, though. Why do you ask?”
“Our journey wasn’t without trials. Ralinn seems to have taken most things in stride, but I’m not sure Lark has,” Jack shook his head. “Maybe it’s my imagination, but there seems to be a dark cloud over his head.”
“After dinner, I will suggest a treatment from you.”
“You make me sound like a healer,” Jack said.
“For things magical, you are. Helpers do that, but you seem to be more than a helper. I’m sure experienced wizards have told you that before.”
“I haven’t been around all that many experienced wizards. Other than Fasher and those I have met on my errands in the past months, they have all been Black Fingers.”
“Even me, when we met.”
Jack shivered. “I don’t want to talk about it. After I do Eldora’s bidding, it’s back to Raker Falls.”
“And that is the perfect place for you while Fasher tutors you.”
“He hasn’t done much of that yet,” Jack said. He sensed he was about to feel sorry for himself, so he resisted that.
“I suspect you are getting some practical education. Do you know how rare it is for a wizard to get a vision of a goddess?”
“Two,” Jack said.
Jorey laughed. “I forgot. Two.”
An hour and a half later, Jack and Lark sat on Lark’s bed. It wasn’t much better than the cots at the army camp.
“Relax, Lark,” Jack said. “This is for your own good.”
“If the grand wizard hadn’t insisted, I wouldn’t be doing this.”
Jack looked around the room that Lark shared with Tanner. It was just like his.
“I’ll hold your wrist. You should feel my power infuse you.”
Jack grabbed onto Lark and could feel his power flow into Lark, who did just as Jorey had done. He leaned back against the wall behind him. As the power continued to flow, Lark relaxed even more. The pulse from the blue box began to replace Jack’s magic, but instead of reaching a steady state, it filled Jack with power. His body felt as if it were going to burst. Jack panicked. He had never felt such power inside of him before. It seemed that the only thing he could do was push the extra power into Lark.
Lark was already out, and in a flash, Jack had joined him.
Jack’s head ached when he woke in his own bed. It creaked as he sat up. Ralinn sat next to his bed, her veil on her lap.
“You are awake!”
Jack put a hand to his head. “I have a splitting headache. How is Lark?”
“He is still out. Jorey is watching him. Jorey and I are the only two with any healer training. He has had just a little more than me. Let me feel your forehead.”
She leaned over him, but Jack grabbed her wrist, making sure it was covered with cloth. “I don’t know if you should touch me,” Jack said. “I gave Jorey an infusion of power, but when I did the same to Lark, I overloaded or something, and I think, I overloaded him too.”
Ralinn grabbed his wrist, touching his skin. “See? Do you feel your power sinking into me?”
“No, quite the opposite,” Jack said, but it wasn’t magic he was feeling with her touch.
She smiled and put her hand on his forehead, and then felt her own. “No fever. I think you are sound again. Let me perform one more test,” she said, slightly out of breath.
Jack didn’t think she had expended that much energy.
“Close your eyes for this one.”
Jack did as Ralinn said. He felt her lips brush his. She kissed him again, a bit harder and longer.
“There. I think that is a normal reflex.”
“What?” Jack noticed that his hand had grabbed her shoulder. He let her go.
“I’ve wanted to do that for weeks,” she said.
“I don’t hold it against you,” Jack said with a faint smile. He looked into her beautiful eyes set in a beautiful face. He was about to ask for another when someone knocked on the door before they opened it.
“Lark is awake. You both should see him,” Jorey said. The man looked a bit shocked.
“Is something wrong?” Ralinn asked.
“It depends on who you are.”
Jack didn’t know how to take that. Jack and Ralinn rushed to Lark’s room. Tanner sat on the bed with a damp towel. On Lark’s cheek was a kiss from Eldora.
Lark looked at Jack with amazement. “You were the conduit,” he said. “She said she was surprised you called her.”
“I didn’t call her.”
“I don’t argue with goddesses,” Lark said. “She gave me some very, very private information and told me to support you as much as I could.”
“You’ve already done your part. I’ve given Fasher’s message to Jorey,” Jack said.
“That is nothing compared to what you will do below Eldora’s temple. We have to wait, though.”
“Wait? Isn’t the capital going to burst into flames if I don’t complete my errand?”
“No. We have to create an alliance of factions, and that won’t be easy,” Lark said. He rubbed his cheek, and the blue kiss came completely off. Jack was jealous.
Chapter Twenty-Four<
br />
~
“T his is all craziness,” Jack said to Tanner, as they rode closer to Gameton. “I’m a teenager, for Alderach’s sake. I have no idea what I am doing.”
“Do you think I do, at this point?” the mercenary said, looking ahead at Lark and Helen talking to each other. “What does she find to talk to Lark about all day long?”
“You are jealous! I wondered what it was, but I never knew until now.”
“Guilty,” Tanner said, “but I don’t know why. We have known each other ever since the battle that brought Quist, Fasher, Helen, and me together for the first time. Once we are done with these nobles, I am sure everything will return to normal.”
“What is normal?” Jack touched his lips, remembering Ralinn’s kiss, especially the second one. “The normal before this trip is definitely not going to be the norm when I return,” he said. “I have these, for one thing.” Jack stuck out his wrist guards. “And what am I going to do with these?” He pointed to each cheek.
“Maybe they will fade away once your task is complete.”
Jack wasn’t so sure.
Jorey rode up beside Tanner. “We will need to leave our horses at the next village,” he said. “I’ve already told the others.”
“You mean we don’t ride triumphantly into Gameton?” Jack asked.
“We are all fugitives in our own way,” Jorey said. “Whatever we do will be in secret until the proper time. That is what Larkin told me.”
“What about your post at the guild?”
“I sent a message that I will be on an extended leave,” the grand wizard said. “I suspect Whelham will take my place until my return. I don’t want to be converted again.”
“I don’t blame you,” Jack said. “It never took with me.”
“It didn’t? You continually impress me.”
Jack grunted. “It isn’t anything I’ve done.”
Jorey laughed. “You saved me from the Black Finger Society. Jack Winder did, not Jack Winder’s body, or Jack Winder’s magic. Those are just tools for what is truly inside.”
“A teenager. I’m only eighteen years old,” Jack said.
“Great. I am fifty-one. So what?” Jorey said.
Tanner just laughed. “You tell him, Balcon. I just had the same discussion with him. I will say for sure that he isn’t a man in a boy’s body. Quite the opposite, really, and he is a mediocre swordsman.”
“I am surprised by any wizard being a swordsman at all,” Jorey said.
Jack pulled up. “Are we done here? I’ve taken enough of your abuse. You are both worse than my former friends.”
“Any wonder why they are former?” Tanner said to Jorey.
“I haven’t any idea,” Jack said.
The two men laughed and continued to ride, leaving Jack in the middle of the road looking at everyone riding ahead of him.
Corina rode back. “Don’t pay any attention to them. They are just jealous,” she said, sounding much like Jack’s mother when she wasn’t mad at him.
“I don’t think it is all jealousy,” Jack said.
She looked at the dwindling riders. “Maybe not.” She turned and smiled. “At least we have each other,” she said.
Jack sighed. “Until we die at the Sanctuary of the Wild River.”
Corina’s smile turned to a grimace. “At least until then. We need to catch up.”
“An eruption of immaturity,” Jack said. “I used to have them all the time, like pimples.”
Corina gazed at Jack’s eyes and patted the side of his face through the veil. “I don’t think you are done with those kind of eruptions yet.”
“Not at all, and maybe never,” Jack said as he snapped the reins of the horse.
He rode at the back of the group until Ralinn joined him.
“Are you all having a good laugh?” Jack asked.
Ralinn’s eyes beamed. “Not me!”
Jack knew she was smiling.
“For an unserious person, you sure took yourself seriously for a while.”
“How do you know I’m still not taking myself seriously.”
She laughed softly. It was almost a giggle. Jack was enchanted yet again. “Because you aren’t still anchored to the road back there. Corina thinks you are cute.”
“Like a puppy?” Jack said.
She nodded. “Pretty much. I think you are cute too.”
“Like a puppy,” Jack repeated.
She reached over and took his hand. “Definitely not like a puppy.” She kissed his hand and rode back to the side of her brother.
~
The village was larger than Jack expected, more like the size of Raker Falls. Jorey arranged space for the horses. He bought extra boots for everybody and explained that they would be getting their feet wet.
Jack had looked at the river when they had passed by it a few times along their route. It required swimming, not wading. But he knew how to swim well enough if he could make a float to carry his armor.
They were back to carrying their possessions, which weren’t many since most of their things were at Hennis Inn in Wilton. He expected the Black Finger Society had already gone through all they left behind. Jack had left his wizardry manual, but perhaps he would try to get another in Gameton, especially if they were to spend some time before his great performance with Corina.
Jack brought up the rear as they walked southwest on a pathway that would bring them close to the capital’s walls. They spent the night in a clearing next to a pond. Although it was late summer, Jack was chilled. He suspected the others were too.
“I’m not filling up my water skin in that,” Lark said, looking at the stagnant water in the pond.
“We have a full morning of walking until we reach the outskirts of Gameton,” Jorey said.
Jack walked out. “Perhaps I can be of some help.” He put out his hand with the blue band. “Water,” he whispered and put a tiny bit of power into the spell. Water appeared to pour out of his index finger. “Fill it up. Eldora’s best,” Jack said.
Jack kept it up as those who had filled their skins in the pond washed them out a few times before finally filling them up. Ralinn held Jack’s while he poked his finger in the hole until water cascaded out.
“How does it taste?” He asked.
Tanner took a drink of cool, clear water. “Heavenly.”
“Eldora’s heaven,” Helen said.
They all laughed and followed Jorey cross-country to a jumble of dwellings that wrapped around the south side of the capital, away from the river. Jack wondered why they needed extra boots if they weren’t around the waterway.
After an hour more, they walked among modest houses in a district still outside the city’s walls. No one stopped them for papers as they followed Jorey to a door in an alleyway.
“Let us hope it hasn’t been locked.” He tried the latch, but it didn’t move.
“What is on the other side of the door?” Jack asked.
“A hallway,” Jorey said.
“Shift,” Jack said, appearing on the other side of the door, and conjured a floating light looking for a lock, but finding none. He stepped back and found a timber that had been placed against the door. That was a cheap lock, Jack thought, as he used his sword to pry the wood jammed against the door. It finally gave way, and Jack opened the door for his friends. “Welcome to my home. Please come in,” he said.
When everyone was on the other side, Tanner and Jack replaced the timber. Jorey produced a floating light brighter than Jack’s and led them along the hallway to a set of creaky stairs.
“I don’t think this has been used in twenty or thirty years,” Jorey said.
“It seems longer than that,” Lark commented.
“I used it twenty years ago, Prince Larkin,” Jorey said.
“It still seems longer. Are you sure you aren’t 150 years old?” Lark asked.
“Ah, a sense of humor finally reappears,” Ralinn said.
They continued down the stairs for a lo
ng time finally reaching the bottom. An unpleasant stench assaulted their noses.
“This goes underneath the foundations of the wall?” Tanner asked.
“Indeed it does. The last time I came through here, there was ankle deep sludge. Put on the boots you would rather throw away. Don’t use your flame to light our way. Someone told me the air could explode. This little light will have to do.”
Jack liked his new boots better, so he kept his old ones on. Jorey started. The sludge was still there but it was deeper than when he last walked through the passageway. Jack wondered what people would think when they saw seven people walking through the streets of Gameton with mud nearly up to their knees.
They sloshed their way through the passageway. Jack could see a faint light ahead barely able to brighten the darkness until he could see an archway with the treads of stairs. By this time, Jack was sure his sense of smell was permanently damaged. They trudged up the stairs. Corina and Ralinn wore dresses, and the hems clung to their legs.
At the top of the stairs, the door was locked from the outside.
“We can’t get through,” Jorey said. “Jack, can we have you save us again? I can teleport, but I wouldn’t know the first thing about unlocking the door without a key or something.
Jack nodded and teleported to the other side. The door was padlocked shut. He looked around. The passageway opened into a basement. Jack needed a wire of some kind, so he scrounged around and found a box bound with wire. He took his wand and wrapped the wire around it, and then he twisted the wire until it snapped. It took him a few minutes of work, but the lock finally succumbed to Jack’s efforts. He opened the door, and they all tumbled into him.
“I’ll find out what kind of warehouse this is,” Helen said.
Jack replaced the lock and stood, breathing the better but not great air in the basement.
Helen returned. “We are at the bottom of a warehouse. It looks like it supports market vendors. There are cages with different kinds of goods inside,” she said, grinning, “including clothing.”
They walked into a busy marketplace, wearing new clothes. They left their dirty clothes behind with coins for payment. Lark insisted, and Jack was fine with that. They had finished their journey from Wilton to Gameton without too much trouble. They strolled through the market lanes and bought street food. All were hungry.