The Power Bearer

by Guy Antibes

  “Over here,” Merran said, pointing to a sink. “I’ve one of these in my palace. It disposes of garbage in a flash of fire.” He helped her put the smelly garbage in the sink and put a cover over it. A flash lit the edges of the sink and the garbage sat as ashes in the bottom. He turned on a tap and water washed it out.

  Norra marveled at the waterspout and turned the tap on and off. “This is much better than a pump.” She looked back at the larder and it was now full of fresh food. “Looks like we won’t starve.”

  “I’ll bet he pays a farmer in Polda to keep fresh produce in a cabinet similar to this and it refreshes when everything is removed,” Namen said.

  Norra and Lily looked at each other, shaking their heads. “Wizards,” Norra said.

  “A wizard can’t do this. Very talented mages can.” Merran shook his head. They opened cupboards and emptied all kinds of things out and then found them stocked up again. Norra prepared a vegetable stew with the help of Merran providing the fire for the stove.

  They decided to explore while the stew simmered. Floor six turned out to be a library of books. Overstuffed chairs flanked reading tables on the outside by the windows. Slanted mirrors took the light from tall windows and reflected it down on the spaces between the shelves, which lined up perpendicular to the outside walls. To Merran and Namen’s disappointment, none of the books were on magic.

  Floor seven seemed to be a storage room. Furniture, covered with cloths, littered the floor in a haphazard fashion. They returned to the kitchen floor and Norra doled out the stew.

  “He must have had a large staff at one time. But everything looks so new that I’d guess he didn’t keep them for very long,” Merran said, sitting at the table.

  “So do we go to the top?” Norra said as she finished her stew.

  “What would be at the top?” Lily said.

  “I know I’d put my workshop up at the top, so it probably holds the wizard’s library. If there is a place where the information exists to allow Norra to give up her power, it should be there.” Namen gave himself another helping.

  She nodded. “My purpose is to return to my father’s estate and Miss Podingoode’s school.

  “And what more finishing could you possibly need?” Namen said, as he shoveled more stew in his mouth. “This is good.”

  Norra smiled. “I want to learn the way a lady acts. I’ve learned how an adventuress lives when she doesn’t need to be around people. I don’t know how to properly talk or act. I don’t know how to dress and I don’t know how to dress my hair and use cosmetics very well.” She looked at Lily with a twinkle in her eyes.

  “Yeah. That would be a useful thing for a criminal to learn. I could slip into parties and balls and case the house.” She laughed, but Norra could sense a bit of wistfulness in her voice.

  “Well, Delia’s gone for good. Maybe you could come with me and you could take her place.” They both smiled to the consternation of the two mages.

  Norra put the dishes in the sink and washed them. It was time to continue their exploration of the tower. So far, not much was secret and Norra felt anxiety building up within her. They had skipped the fifth floor above the kitchen, but found it could be reached by a stairway through a doorway on the side of the tower. It curved and opened onto a sitting area, the mage’s living quarters.

  The mage did quite well for an old man. The tower was as well furnished as any palace. Four very large bedroom suites ran off from a hallway that hugged the central core.

  As they walked through them, each of the party chose a room and spent a little time freshening up as each room had its own bathroom.

  Norra walked into the central sitting area and saw Gristan looking out of the window at the meadow below. “Don’t mind me,” he said. “Just don’t leave me on any floor unless you ask. I don’t know if I can muster up enough strength to push the buttons on that lift thing.”

  “What do you think of the Master Mage’s tower? I’m impressed.”

  “As well you should, Norra. This man was, if he ever wanted to be, the master of the world. He held the mages in check and, if the legends hold up, kept them out of Polda through the power of his personality. You saw the shell of the mage. When he dispatched me, he was at the height of his power and was no one to be trifled with.”

  “Except for you,” Norra said, laughing.

  “Hmpf. I guess I did trifle with him at that. But I’d never have done it sober.”

  “Never do what sober?” Merran said as he walked into the room. “I know some men who never do anything sober.”

  Gristan bowed and sniffed, “I was once of that persuasion.”

  “And look where it got you.” Merran sat down on a couch.

  “In the Master Mage’s Tower,” Gristan said with a great deal of feigned disdain.

  “Indeed it has,” the Mage of Win said.

  Namen returned and looked out the window with Gristan at his side until, shortly, Lily arrived.

  “Shall we continue our search?” she said.

  “Let’s start at the top and work our way down,” Namen said. “I’m anxious to examine the Master Mage’s artifacts.”

  Norra furrowed her brow. “Artifacts?”

  “You know fireproof boxes for throwing bolts, various implements to perfect one’s craft. The Master Mage supposedly developed a number of new spells that he did not share. The power transfer obviously being one of them,” Merran said, as he rose from the couch and led the rest of the party to the lift. “I’m sure he kept a journal of some kind. All mages do.

  Once inside Gristan stood by the buttons. “Let me try.” He pressed the top button, numbered twenty-one, and up they went. The ghost looked pretty pleased with himself. “I can get around.” No one else showed any signs of caring, so Norra nodded and smiled at him.

  The door opened into an empty level except for one door behind the lift on the central column. Gristan walked up and pressed the button. Nothing happened. Each of them in turn tried and nothing happened until Norra tried last. She felt a shock when she pressed it, but the door slid open to reveal a different lift. This one was smaller and they had to squeeze in a bit.

  Only one button for this one. Norra pressed it and felt another little spark. The lift groaned a bit, but took them up to the next level. All were excited. Since this was a protected lift, wherever they went would be a special place.

  The door opened.

  ~

  The room went all the way around the tower. Windows and windowed doors ran around the circumference so they had an unlimited vista for miles around. The rolling top of the forest disappeared into the distance.

  Namen knocked his knuckle on the glass. “This must be three or four inches thick.” He tried a door and stepped outside. Everyone felt the draft and could see the wind whipping Namen’s hair and beard. He came back in. “There is definitely more wind up here.”

  There was method to the mage’s madness. All of the tall items such as bookshelves lined the columns like spokes on a wheel and the middle of each row had mirrored illumination similar to the library far below. Opposite the lift door, a contraption of thick metal and glass dominated the inside.

  “Namen, there’s your contraption for testing wizard bolts,” Merran said in a matter of fact way. All of them browsed around the room. Namen and Merran began to search the Master Mage’s library.

  “Everything is here,” Namen said to himself as he went from book to book. He opened ancient scrolls and read. “Many of these books are duplicated at all the other towers, but it’s obvious they don’t have these complete collections.”

  “But this section,” Merran said, “is all new.” They all looked at shelves filled with folios stuffed with papers and parchments. This is what the Mage worked on up here.” He took up a sheaf of papers and buried himself in his studies.

  Norra wrung her hands and sat on one of two small couches looking out over the forest. They were in the secret part of the Master Mage’s Tower, but she didn’t e
ven feel close to ridding herself of the mage’s power. If she were to be successful in finding out how to transfer it out of her, this would be the place. She thought their presence would feel like an intrusion, but within herself, this room seemed more like her father’s summerhouse on a lake on the south edge of his estate. It felt built for the comfort of the person who created it.

  She wanted to just lie down and close her eyes and the power would be absorbed into the tower, but it didn’t look like that would happen. She didn’t feel angry about it, but frustration did add to her anxiety.

  The meadow and looking out over the tops of the trees served to relax her a bit, but underneath it all, she felt uncomfortable. The tower felt safe, but she’d have to leave the tower to return home. How safe would that journey be? It would be significantly more dangerous without her power, but she was certainly ready to give that a try.

  Lily grabbed a metal contraption of some kind and plopped herself down on the other couch and sat playing with a crank on its side. “We’re finally here. I never thought you’d make it.”

  Norra lifted an eyebrow. “If you didn’t then why did you come?”

  The toy began to whir and Lily quickly put it down on the floor, looking relieved when it wound down. “What were my options worth? My partner bolted, you and Fenning tied me up with whatever spell you used. Quite frankly, I had just spent a lot of hungry nights.” Lily smiled, “I couldn’t be happier the way things have turned out.”

  “But what will you do when all this is over?”

  “That, my dear Norra, to use Gristan’s turn of phrase, is a very good question. I don’t know and I’ll make a decision to go somewhere and do something after we’re done with all of this. For the present, I will enjoy a comfortable bed and a magical larder to keep me going until I do.” Lily grinned at Norra and went back to play with her toy.

  ~~~~

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Life or Death

  ~

  Norra had no such doubts about where she would head. Back to Miss Poddy’s she’d go. It was always her intent to return to her former life. She looked around at the Master Mage’s lab. Not a shred of doubt clouded her mind, but she wouldn’t be the same person who left. Merran shouted and Norra turned her head in the direction of the sound.

  “Here it is.” Excitement filled his voice as Merran came rushing over to Norra. “He has described how he developed the spell to transfer his power and it says here he intended to transfer his power to someone he knew.” Merran looked at Norra. “I guess there were no suitable vessels in Magia when he knew death was imminent.”

  Norra nodded. “But why can’t I remember any spells?”

  Merran blinked. “The transfer did nothing to eliminate the curse, it wasn’t intended to.”

  Norra would like to throw water on him, right then. But it was true. She was long familiar with the fact that not one of the spells could stay in her mind.

  He smiled and bowed. “But you are unique in the world to remember as much as you do for as long as you do. I’ve known women with a bit of power. They crop up in Magia from time to time. You had dinner with one, the first night you were at Tower Win. Whenever someone told my mother an incantation or thrust a written spell in her hand, she could not hear it, nor read it. You’ve done both! The Mage’s power must be great to break through the curse, even in so small a way, so you can tap into his power.”

  That mollified her anger, but still she found it an unfair situation. Her thoughts turned to Merran’s mother. Imagine another woman who knew she had a wizard’s power, but totally unable to use it. How confining. How insulting to the female race. What kind of evil bound women’s ability to work magic? They must have represented a great threat to the wizards of the time.

  The unfairness of it all didn’t change her mind. She’d been brought up without an expectation to cast spells and, quite frankly, still believed that not having the ability to work magic was more of a blessing than a curse.

  Merran sat down beside her and continued to shuffle through the mage’s notes. “Here it is. The transfer of power.” He read on and his face fell. “Are you sure you don’t want to keep the power?”

  “Definitely not.” If Norra was sure of one thing, it was that.

  “Let me read what he wrote: Transfer of Power.” Merran cleared his throat. “The mechanics of the transfer of magic power requires the following spells… I won’t get into those, but it is a certain sequence and not just one spell. But here is the part you need to know. In any power transfer, the transferee will have to give up his life in order to separate the power from the soul. When the transfer is complete, the transferor dies.”

  “Dies?” Norra repeated the word in a tiny voice. “I’ve come all this way to die?”

  “No not at all. You just keep your power,” Merran said with a smile. His forehead sheened with a film of sweat, as he fidgeting with his hands. His words did not match the look on his face. Namen walked up and shook his head in sympathy.

  Norra touched the side of her face. “But if I do that, every wizard and mage will know I hold power. The cloaking spell using air blankets doesn’t last very long. I’ll never be safe and will never be able to defend myself on my own.”

  “There is that,” Namen walked away with his hands held behind his back.

  “Is there nothing you can do?” Lily pleaded with Merran, but he shook his head.

  The mage tilted his head and said, “I can continue to look at his writings. So much of what he experimented with required his power. I can see that no other mage in the world could duplicate much of this. I’m not so sure I have the power to work any of these spells in any event, even with the transfer spell sequence.”

  Norra had convinced herself that she could just return home and not have to worry. What were her alternatives? She didn’t want to show weakness at this point, but a tear tracked down the side of her face and she could feel her nose about to drip. She rose to find something to wipe her nose with other than her sleeve. This whole conversation didn’t seem real. A thread of panic insinuated itself in her. She couldn’t live with this, like this. All she wanted was a retreat to Bordon Forest, but with wizards running loose in Polda? She couldn’t allow that to continue if she could help it. If she kept her power, could she ever go home? Returning to Miss Poddy’s might attract an entire army of wizards wanting to kidnap her and , knowing the typical wizard, destroy the town. This just wouldn’t do.

  “I know you’re devastated Norra,” Gristan said. “Perhaps after dying, you would be a ghost and we could keep each other company. I know I’d like that.”

  Norra knew Gristan meant well, but she couldn’t restrain her tears. Gristan pointed out a roll of soft paper on a desk that the Master Mage must have used. She grabbed a length and blew her nose into it and then took another length and dabbed at her face. “Gristan, you are such a dear, but I was there. The Master Mage didn’t turn into a ghost, he just disappeared. It was like he sank into the ground. He just… left.” She waved her hand. “I can’t think of a nicer ghost to be with than you, though.” Her tears turned into streams and she sat down on the desk chair with her head in her hands.

  “No one is forcing you to go through with this. You’ll find a way. Perhaps Merran can write a little book. Handbook of Spells. You don’t need a memory if it’s written down. Look what you did to Namen all on your own at Plover’s Beach.”

  She let out a sigh and spoke through her crying. “That’s not the way I want to solve the problem.” She thought of something that stopped the tears cold. She slapped her forehead. “Who gets the power when it’s transferred. Namen? Merran?” All of the distrust she felt towards Merran came to the front of her mind. She did have a say in what went on, for she would have to recite the spell. That’s the way the Master Mage did it. No one could force her to let go of her power, although that’s what she desperately wanted. “It’s my decision to make, my little bit of control.” The thought settled Norra a bit and she now ha
d three choices. Keep the power, transfer to Namen or transfer to Merran. She’d think about it. But die? Did they really expect her to die?

  “Indeed it is. And I’m behind you in whatever you decide,” Gristan said.

  The sun dipped down and shone sideways into the workshop.

  “It’s time to go,” Merran said.

  “She’s right.” Namen said. “We can sleep in the tower tonight. I’m sure it hides our power. I would think the Master Mage would make it so.”

  Merran nodded. “Well it’s been a long day for me. If any of you are as tired as I am, you won’t mind us all turning in.” He turned to Norra. “You can take all the time you want to make up your mind. The choice is all yours. I’d not wrest that control from you for all of Polda and Magia. Sleep on it. I want to go through all of the papers. There are more to review. Perhaps he discovered a better way. If he did, it would be in his folios.”

  They all walked to the lift without saying another word, except for Gristan. “If you don’t mind I’ll spend the night up here. There are quite a few curiosities and I seem to have a little more power to move things in the tower.

  ~

  Morning, four days later, Norra rose up early to take a bath. The mage even had hot water plumbed or spelled into the bathtub. She just soaked and felt sorry for herself. They had spent their days in various parts of the tower including tending to their horses. They found that the hay for the stables came through another portal like the food. There was even a contraption that filled with oats. Only Norra could gain them access to the top floor.

  After all of this time would Merran force her into making a decision? She couldn’t bear another serious conversation with him yet. But he had been going through all of the Master Mage’s work and hadn’t come up with a new approach. He’d told her he had maybe a half-day left.