Scholar of Magic

by Michael G. Manning

  When he entered the house a minute later, his mother glanced up with a look of irritation. “I thought I told you to wash before—oh! Never mind then.”

  Will was more surprised by what he saw. The goddamn cat was half bundled in a warm towel by the hearth, and Erisa sat on the floor beside him, a damp rag in her hand, which she appeared to be using to carefully wipe away the blood and dirt that had stuck to the demigod’s fur. The cat’s eyes locked onto his with an expression of longsuffering, but the Cath Bawlg said nothing. Maybe he won’t kill her, thought Will. “If it’s too much to bear, let me know and I’ll take you outside,” he said aloud.

  His mother misunderstood who he was talking to. “Surely you haven’t been gone long enough to forget what I do for a living, have you?”

  He chuckled. “Never. Where is everyone?”

  “Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?” said Erisa. “Where has my son been all this time?” She never took her eyes off her patient, but Will could hear the displeasure in her tone.

  “I’ve had a lot going on,” he said weakly.

  “Too much to bring your wife to visit between school semesters?”

  Ouch. “You’ve met Selene before—”

  “And I liked her,” interrupted his mother. “Is she too important to visit now that she has you?”

  He tried to process that statement. Was she implying that Selene felt she was more important because she had married him? That would only make sense from a mother’s point of view—no, it had to be the opposite. She thought Selene felt she no longer had to try. Maybe. He wasn’t confident in his translation. Will countered the multilayered question the only way he knew how, with honesty. “I don’t know what that question means exactly, but I have a lot to tell you. The first thing is that I haven’t actually seen Selene but once since we got married.”

  Erisa stopped, then slowly turned her head to look at him. “Say that again?”

  “She’s being kept hidden away. Even I don’t know where she is.”

  “She was kidnapped?”

  “No, it’s voluntary, to protect her from her father.”

  His mother frowned, but returned to what she was doing. “But you’re safe in the capital? Wouldn’t the king simply arrest you if he was angry at her?”

  Will decided to lie a little. “He’s afraid to do anything to me for fear of upsetting his daughter.”

  “Yet she has to hide from him? William, you’re not making any sense.”

  “It’s really complicated, Mom, and I don’t have a lot of time.”

  She glanced at him sharply. “You just got here, and he doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere for a while.”

  “I have to use Granddad’s lab again, then I’ll have to leave, whether he’s fit to travel or not. People are depending on me.”

  “Sammy will be home in less than an hour,” said his mother. “If you leave without seeing her, she’ll be furious.”

  Translation, Mom will also be angry, thought Will.

  His mom froze then. “Wait, the laboratory, you don’t mean you’re going back to where the trolls are? You nearly got yourself eaten last time!”

  He swallowed. “If I don’t, Tiny might not survive another week, and another friend of mine might lose an eye and half her face.”

  Erisa glared at him. “Her? Never mind, what about Tiny? He just left for the capital a couple of weeks ago. What happened?”

  Will was mildly surprised by the amount of distress in his mother’s voice. Apparently, she had grown attached to the big warrior while Will was away. “He took a heavy beating for me, Mom. I mean, he actually covered me with his own body.” His throat constricted as he tried to answer. “The armor kept his skin safe, but they bruised him badly, especially his kidneys.”

  His mother blanched at that. She knew quite well what that meant. “It might not be that bad, Will. If he drinks a lot of water and rests…”

  “It’s that bad, Mom. The head doctor at Wurthaven felt his chances were pretty bad.”

  “Isn’t there some other way? If you wait, Sammy can let Eric know. He could probably bring some of his soldier friends to help. You can’t go alone, not again.”

  Will shook his head. “More people would only make it worse. Trolls don’t respect men and steel; they fear nothing aside from fire. If I go alone, I can do this. Trust me.”

  “You said something similar last time.”

  “I didn’t tell you what I was doing last time. Did I?”

  Erisa shook her head. “You aren’t improving your case with me.”

  “I’m sorry, Mom, but I’m not making a case. I’m doing this whether you approve or not.”

  Tears began rolling down her cheeks. “For most mothers, watching their sons grow up brings quite a few tears, but you—I swear to the gods it will kill me. I can’t bear this.” She wiped her face on her sleeve, then added, “Come back, and when you do you’d best say hello to Sammy before you leave, or else you shouldn’t bother coming back at all.”

  “What about Uncle Johnathan, or Annabelle?”

  “Your uncle is living in our old house, so he can be closer to his work. The army is paying him to produce carts again. Annabelle ran away, but she left her son with us. His name is Oliver. He’s napping in the other room. Try not to wake him when you leave.”

  “Damn, a lot has changed,” said Will.

  “You should visit more often. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a shock.”

  “Mom, I had my reasons—”

  “That your bride disappeared, and you were afraid to come without her? I’m your mother, William, not the king. Just tell me and I’ll never judge you. I’m on your side, remember? I always will be, no matter how stupid you are, or how angry you make me.”

  He stared at her for a moment, at a loss for words. “I’m sorry, Mom.”

  “Go. I have a patient and it’s never good to cry in front of a patient,” she told him. Feeling riddled with guilt, he turned and headed for the bedroom. His mother’s voice called to him once more. “William. Make sure you have your mind on what you’re about. Don’t put yourself in danger until you’re focused. You can feel guilty about me after you’re back safe and sound.”

  “I will, Mom,” he answered, then stepped through the door. I will? I will what, feel guilty? That was the stupidest answer ever, he chided himself. Then he dropped the topic, shoving it to the back of his mind. Erisa was right. He needed to focus on what he was doing; otherwise he’d wind up in a troll’s belly instead of returning to save anyone.

  Chapter 29

  Muskeglun was just as pleasant as he remembered it being, which was to say, not at all. Will could feel the oppressive atmosphere settling into his skin within seconds of passing through the congruence point. The air was hot and heavy, and a sweltering miasma of rotting vegetation made sure his nose didn’t feel left out of the fun, either. The friendly local greeters, also known as mosquitos, swarmed closer to make him feel welcome.

  “I hate this damn place,” he muttered after activating the limnthal.

  “Wherever you go, there you are,” said the ring cheerfully.

  “What does that mean?”

  “Any place is awful if you’re there,” clarified Arrogan.

  “I’m in Muskeglun.”

  “Ooh, all right. My mistake. You’re right. Muskeglun is in a class of its own, but think of it this way, you’re bringing happiness and joy to others.”

  He wrinkled his brow in puzzlement. “What others?”

  “The mosquitos.”

  Will chuckled. “At least someone’s happy to see me.”

  “Do you have a plan? They were pretty pissed when we left last time.”

  He took a deep breath. “I sort of have a plan.”

  “What is it?”

  “Well, everyone I’ve talked to is pretty opposed to me coming here, for the very reason you mentioned a second ago. But on the other hand, I don’t really have a choice, otherwise I’ll lose one friend and see anothe
r maimed for life…”

  Arrogan interrupted, “You’re starting to make me anxious. Skip to the plan part.”

  “So thus far, in order to convince people to support my decision, I’ve been pretending I had a plan.”

  The ring groaned. “And how many people fell for your bullshit?”

  “Up to now, very few have given me a chance to explain. The head physician at the school didn’t, so I had to put him to sleep. The king’s Driven tried to arrest me, so I had to run from them. After that, the goddamn cat just showed up and helped without asking what I planned to do. Mom didn’t really ask either.”

  “So, no one then?”

  “Me,” said Will. “I fooled myself, otherwise I’d have been too scared to come. I did bring a sizeable carrot and an equally large stick, though, plus I have a translator.”

  The ring made an audible sigh. “Assuming I’m the translator, what carrot and stick did you bring?”

  “Two full butts of ale and twenty vials of alchemist’s fire. I’ve also got a sizeable store of white phosphorous if things completely go to hell.”

  “I see. So it’s going to be, piss in the cup or I burn your village to the ground? You realize that’s a pretty awful way to behave. Burning people alive is just about the classic definition of evil, and that’s coming from someone who once killed most of his friends.”

  “They’re trolls,” argued Will.

  “They’re people too. Plus, if you go with threats, things are very likely to go to hell. Trolls panic when they see fire. Do you know what people do when they panic?”

  “Run?”

  “Some run, some freeze, and others lose their minds and attack. If you make a threat in the troll village and someone calls your bluff, you’ll have to light someone or something on fire. When you do that, they’ll panic. Even if you manage to throw a bunch of those vials, they’ll tear you to pieces.”

  It had been more than twenty-four hours since Will had last slept, and he was getting close to snapping as desperation and anxiety ate at his nerves. “Do you have an idea, then? I’m running out of time.”

  “We’ll do it my way. Let me do the talking and do everything I tell you.”

  “What’s your way?”

  “We’ll be nice.”

  Will’s jaw dropped. “When have you ever been nice? To anyone?”

  “I’m always nice when I know I can’t win in a straight fight.”

  “Not that I’ve seen,” countered Will.

  “That’s because I was a badass. You probably never saw me around anyone I couldn’t whip, but this is one place where I always mind my manners.”

  “Your manners are only matched by your excessive modesty and humility,” quipped Will.

  “You really have a mouth on you, boy,” replied the ring.

  “I learned from the best.” He was too tired to argue, though. “Let’s do it your way.”

  He was dressed lightly, wearing only a single layer of cloth, an undertunic. He might have gone bare-chested, but the insects dissuaded him from doing that. On his head, Will wore the antler hat that Arrogan had made from the horns of the fae lord, Elthas. It didn’t have any magical properties, but since trolls couldn’t distinguish the differences between humans, it served to identify him. They didn’t know that Arrogan had died, so the antlers made them think he was the same man they had been dealing with for decades.

  And the same one who had run out on the last deal without paying them their bonus cask of wine.

  He had actually given them more wine than promised, but because it had all been in a single rundlet cask instead of in two separate quarter casks, the trolls had thought he had cheated them. Arrogan had had some choice words for him over that blunder.

  Will hoped today’s gift would help clear up the misunderstanding. The two butts of ale were huge compared to the rundlet cask he had brought before, and apparently size mattered. A butt was roughly equivalent to seven rundlets, so he was bringing fourteen times the volume of ale as he had of wine.

  “You’re sure you can talk them into this?” asked Will nervously as they marched eastward away from the stagnant lake.

  “You brought two whole butts of ale, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’d say we have a fair chance, but don’t do anything weird like pointing at their dicks like you did last time. There will be a lot more of them in the village, and while Lrmeg wasn’t interested, you never know when you’ll come across a troll pervert.”

  “That was an accident,” protested Will.

  “Mm hmm, is that what you tell your wife?” said Arrogan, finishing with a wicked cackle. Will didn’t respond, so the ring continued to tease him. “Remember when you came back from Barrowden with a pregnant girl? You could come back from this place by yourself but still have to explain to your mother why you’re pregnant. I’m sure Erisa would get a kick out of that.”

  Will shuddered, remembering the horrifying details of how trolls reproduced by breaking off a piece of themselves inside a partner. If the partner was a troll, the flesh would combine and a new troll would grow like a tumor. If the partner wasn’t a troll, the piece left behind would simply grow into a twin of its troll parent, consuming parts of its host until it was big enough to violently erupt from the ‘mother.’

  “Can we talk about something else?”

  “As long as it’s interesting. You know I get mean when I’m bored.”

  Obviously, thought Will. “I have a question about Selene.”

  “Leave me out of your marital problems.”

  “No, about something she told me. When Aislinn gave us our half an hour together, we found out that she had only been through six months of time, while I’ve had a whole year pass by. Do you know where she could be?”

  “Holy hell!”

  “What?”

  “Shut up, let me think,” said Arrogan. Will waited patiently, walking in silence, until finally the ring began muttering to itself. “That sneaky, conniving, wily bitch, that’s how she’s keeping Lognion from finding her.”

  “How?”

  “The heart-stone enchantment creates a bond that can enforce the master’s will even across the boundaries between dimensions, but it won’t easily cross multiple planes, and if there’s a temporal difference the connection gets even more muddled.”

  “That clears up everything for me,” said Will snidely.

  “Don’t be an ass. Of course it doesn’t. There could be any number of planes that have a temporal difference like that, but I only know of a few. The real key is that I know a lot about her past, which narrows things down considerably.”

  “Aislinn’s past?”

  “No, Selene’s, you idiot! Yes, of course, Aislinn’s past. Her teacher was from another world, one which Lognion couldn’t reach even if he knew which one.”

  “And you’re about to tell me, right?”

  “I’m not sure that would be safe,” said the ring cautiously.

  Will didn’t feel like taking no for an answer. “She already told me about it and described everything. She even has a friend there; his name is Sylandrea. So you might as well explain the rest.”

  “Sylandrea? She told you she was friends with an elf?”

  He remained silent, waiting to see if Arrogan would reveal anything else. After a moment, the ring sighed. “Damn it. You only knew the name, didn’t you?”

  “And you fell for it,” said Will, trying to ignore the painful ache in his chest. He had learned the name in what he had thought to be just a dream. Now it was apparent that he had actually travelled astrally. And my hope that I was just imagining her with someone else is getting thinner all the time. Whatever the truth was, he still had important questions. “If Aislinn decided to do something, like trying to keep her for good—is there a way for me to get there?”

  “Nothing is impossible, but this might as well be. You could try to sneak aboard an elven trading vessel in Trendham, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Plus, you’d have to
wait a long time; they only show up there every four or five years. They’re also very wary of that sort of thing and their magic is nothing to sneer at.”

  “How did she get from there to our house so quickly, though?”

  “I don’t know,” said the ring honestly. “Within Faerie, Aislinn can probably teleport freely, which means she can get from anywhere there’s a congruence to any other plane in almost no time at all. So she either knows where the entrance to the elven lands is, or she knows of another path through a different realm altogether.”

  “And you said her teacher was from there?”

  “Graylin was his name,” said Arrogan. “Well, that’s not his full name of course. They all have ridiculously pompous names that take way too damned long to say. Graylin is what he was called by those he was familiar with.”

  Will stopped suddenly as a tall form stepped out from behind a tree. The troll’s shadow fell over him, and he felt his mouth go dry. “There’s one in front of me now,” he announced quietly.

  “An elf?”

  “A troll.”

  “Oh, time to go to work.” The ring began issuing a long series of grinding barks and guttural coughing noises. “Hold your hands out to either side to show him you have no weapons.”

  Will opened his arms and spread his fingers wide to show he wasn’t holding anything.

  “Make sure to keep them balled into fists. Trolls use claws, so if you open them it’s an aggressive gesture.”

  The troll was already beginning to growl, but Will quickly corrected his mistake. “I had them open for a moment.”

  “I’ll apologize,” said Arrogan, beginning another sentence that sounded as though he might be trying to cough up a hairball. The troll responded, then leaned in to smell the air around Will’s head. After that, it straightened and turned away. “He says for you to follow him to their village. He’s going to let Clegg decide what to do with you.”

  “Is that safe?” asked Will, his feet already moving him into a jog so he could keep up with the troll’s long stride.

  “Clegg’s a good guy,” answered Arrogan. “You didn’t get to meet him last time, but I’m sure you’ll like him.”