Path of the Magi (Tales of Tiberius)

by Stuart, Richard J

  El Gato nodded agreement. “It’s the ideal weapon for the dwarves. Perfect for close formation fighting or driving goblins from tunnels. An engineer’s weapon too. I’ve always wondered why the dwarves didn’t use it.”

  “Tradition dies hard among our people. But Essenhart is not afraid of new ideas. It’s easy for our smiths to craft such weapons. All he lacks is an experienced soldier who could help train our people in the proper use of this weapon,” the captain answered.

  Lord Brandon spoke up. “I’d like a moment to discuss your request with my council. Meanwhile, let me offer you some refreshments. My page will take you to sample our kitchens.”

  “You are too kind, Lord,” the dwarf emissary said. As soon as he was out of earshot, Lord Brandon brought them together.

  “Gentlemen, this could be the chance we’ve been waiting for. I’m told by my superiors that this Prince Essenhart is the likely successor to the king. If we are able to help him now, it will stand us well in the future.”

  “Unless Essenhart doesn’t get the throne. That’s not a sure thing. The dwarves have some form of election to name a king for life don’t they?” Darras answered.

  “Something like that,” Tiberius answered. “But if we are able to help Essenhart in this and he can secure a military victory over the goblins, it would ensure his succession.”

  “It's more complicated than you might think,” Lord Brandon explained. “Some consider the current king a usurper. His predecessor's body was never found. We could be involving ourselves in a civil war. Still, the chief Steward recognizes the current king, and Prince Essenhart is the likely successor,” Brandon pondered. “But there is no question a successful military campaign by Prince Essenhart against the goblins would help us,” Brandon stated.

  “Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s worth the risk,” Darras said.

  “Yes, if Essenhart attacks across the river, that will cut off any chance of the queen receiving substantial reinforcements,” Tiberius said.

  “That’s settled then,” Lord Brandon said. “But now who do we send?”

  “I’ve trained men in the short sword before,” El Gato stated.

  “He is the logical choice,” Darras answered. “My background is all cavalry. Anyway,” he said with a smile. “I don’t think you’ll find too many distractions out there with the dwarves.” So saying he outlined a woman’s curves with his hands, drawing the shape in the air. This drew laughs from all but El Gato.

  “I don’t know about that,” Tiberius said. “I hear Prince Essenhart is a bit of a ladies’ man himself. He might teach El Gato a few tricks.”

  “Gentlemen, I assure you my mind will be on more serious matters. Besides, I have no taste for women with beards,” El Gato replied.

  “Oh, that’s nonsense,” Tiberius said. “The dwarves are just skittish about their women folk. They’re perfectly attractive. Dwarven women don’t have beards. Well, most of them don’t at any rate. With fairy folk, you never know. You read about all kinds of strange things. I’d be careful.”

  “I trust by now El Gato has learned his lesson about careless treatment of women,” Lord Brandon interposed.

  The guests were brought in and it was agreed that El Gato would winter with them, instructing the Prince’s troop on the Roman style of fighting. They even agreed to send some sample swords and pilum. The guests were delighted and arrangements were quickly made for Gato's departure.

  ∴

  With things quieting down for the winter, Tiberius took leave to go look up his friend Singh. He made his way down past Henry’s and deeper into the border lands. His old friend and colleague Singh had purchased an farm by a quiet, isolated little village. Tiberius finally had a chance to pay him a visit. It was a big farm and he noted that Singh had used the same unnoticeability spell that guarded the Sherwood City mansion. Hardly anyone would know the place was here unless they knew just where to look.

  Singh greeted him at the door and walked him around the estate.

  “Plenty of room here, and I can do whatever experiments I like. Oh, and I had a fairly good crop of apples this year. I’ve got a few ideas in mind for some agricultural research. I think I can find my own way to make lives better in the region.”

  “It’s an impressive facility,” Tiberius observed as they walked into the door. The house itself was a comfortable if slightly rustic building, but Singh had simple tastes.

  “I don’t mind saying you cost me a fair amount of gold,” Singh complained in jest. “I decided to purchase a bit of extra land, but the prices around here are going up sharply. Apparently there’s a new wizard running about sending the local goblins and bogies fleeing in terror. People who were thinking about clearing out are now looking to stay and make a go of it.”

  “Do tell, I wonder who that could be?” Tiberius asked. “I wonder what they would think if they knew there were now two magi in the border lands.”

  “I’m rather hoping they don’t find out. My purpose in coming here was to keep a low profile,” Singh said. “Not that I haven’t had my own share of adventures, but I’m trying not to advertise them. You won’t mind if I give out your name should the occasion warrant?”

  “Not at all. I don’t think there could be any more people trying to kill me,” Tiberius said.

  Singh lead him to a comfortable front room, well lit and the walls lined with books. A moment later Tiberius nearly fell over in surprise when a beautiful young woman walked into the room carrying a tray with a pot of tea.

  She was a tall, strong looking woman with long blonde hair and a face like an angel that easily burst into a broad smile. Her hair tended to drift in front of her face a bit and gave her a shy look. She was very young and very pretty. She gave Tiberius a shy glance and a smile as she set the tray on the table.

  “I thought you might like some tea,” she said.

  “Thank you, Kristine,” Singh said. Suddenly he looked up. “Oh, that’s right, you haven’t met Kristine,” Singh said. It was like him to forget to tell you something really important like this. “She’s my new housekeeper. Kristine, I’d like you to meet Doctor Tiberius Fuller, one of my order. You’ve heard me speak of him.”

  Kristine’s smile broadened. “Oh, yes, Doctor Fuller. I’ve heard so much about you; it’s an honor to meet you at last,” she said with a polite curtsey.

  “The pleasure is mine,” Tiberius said, rising to take her hand. “And my friends call me Tiberius, or just Ti for short.” He noted her hands were a bit rough. She was a girl used to hard work.

  “So you’re Singh’s new housekeeper?” he asked.

  “Doctor Greentree has very kindly permitted me to stay with him,” she said.

  “Has he now?” Tiberius said with a accusing glare at Singh.

  Singh gave a reproachful glare. “She stays in a small cabin out back that was built as a guesthouse,” Singh said. Kristine left the tray and went out back.

  “Since when do you need a housekeeper?” Tiberius asked.

  “Have you tasted those cookies yet?” Singh answered. Tiberius looked at the tray and took one of the cookies in hand. They were frosted sugar cookies, baked just right. He took a bite and they tasted as good as they looked. In fact they were as good as any cookie he’d ever had in his life.

  “I see what you mean,” he said.

  Singh laughed. “It’s not just that, though I did start missing Mr. Eumaios’ cooking. This is too large a place to manage on my own; I need a staff. I’ve got a couple of gardeners too in the bunkhouse. Also, Kristine isn’t just a marvelous cook. She’s quite a find. Don’t let the shy, sweet nature fool you. She’s fearless and cool under pressure. Undereducated, but extremely bright. She’s the perfect assistant for my research. I’m giving her a few lessons. I’m actually thinking about making her my apprentice,” Singh said.

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Tiberius asked. “She’s extremely pretty. Isn’t she a little … distracting?”

  “Oh nonsense.
Really Ti, you must try not to leap into romantic fantasies. Anyway, I can’t make that decision on my own. We need three other magi to approve. I’ve written to Dallen, Messura, and Tanyia. I admit she is rather comely and pleasant to have around. But I assure you I have no dire romantic ends in mind.”

  “Hmm. Well, you don’t perhaps. The way she looked at you though … never mind. Where on earth did you find her?”

  “Orphaned girl, she was staying with an aunt. Got a bit lost in the crowd. Truth to tell, she’s far brighter than any of her relatives. Astonishingly so, she's right up there with your sister in intellect. Anyway, they were having a bit of bother with a witch. I sorted out the witch and afterwards I happened to mention I was moving into the neighborhood and that I could use a bit of help keeping up the place. Kristine kindly offered her services.”

  “Interesting, but I didn’t come to check on your staff. I want you to look at something.” Tiberius brought out a roll of documents and spread them on a table in front of Singh. Singh started with a casual glance, but then started studying the notes in earnest.

  “Good heavens. An integrated multi-layered personal defense matrix? Have you actually cast any of this?”

  “I’ve done it a couple of times. It’s a bit cumbersome yet,” Tiberius replied.

  “Four defensive spells in a chain casting matrix. Linking the dragon skin with Dallen’s shield is brilliant. And this vapor shield concept is exceptional. Total environmental control.”

  “It’s just a slight modification to what we were doing before. You know I was suggesting that we manage the airflow around Dallen’s shield,” Tiberius said.

  “Yes. This is a completely original spell. A shield of air that surrounds the user, providing a constant safe atmosphere, flexing to deflect any violent changes in airflow, and providing substantial protection against any gas based attacks including breath weapons. Technically, I’m not sure whether to classify this as a shield or a light air elemental. It’s brilliant and annoying.”

  “Annoying?”

  “I’m going to have to learn how to cast this myself and your original work is always hard to keep up with,” Singh said. “The idea of chain casting these spells for greater efficiency and duration is also brilliant, and complicated.”

  “I think it’s missing something, though. I think five would be a better number anyway.”

  “Hmm, possibly. It would balance the matrix, I suppose. What did you have in mind for number five?”

  “No idea. Well, a lot of vague ideas, but I thought as you have a good copy of the catalogue here we might come up with something,” Tiberius said, eyeing Singh’s bookshelves.

  “Well, lets have a look.” Singh walked over to the shelves of books and stopped by a few metal boxes. He drew one out and came over and sat down next to Tiberius. He started flipping though cards. “Here I have index cards for every spell the magi have ever worked out, though Dallen still has most of the original scrolls. Here we are, exotic and advance defenses,” Singh said as he flipped though the card box. “At least there is no shortage of interest in the subject. For some reason staying alive in the face of hostile magicians is a topic that has a certain appeal. Let’s see: here are some force field variations, graviton particles, vector shielding, ionized gas, cold plasma. Here we’re getting a bit more exotic: ice shielding, fire shields, silver shields. Ah this is interesting, ‘the shielding vines’. Summons a live plant which wraps itself around you. The plant gives some shielding and the vines aid by actively deflecting blows. Not much on fire defense though; I can’t say I’d recommend that against a dragon.”

  Singh passed over the card and Tiberius gave it a glance. “No. Interesting, but that doesn’t seem to be what I’m after,” Tiberius said.

  “Now here is something unusual: ‘the bubble shield’; It wraps the user in a protective cocoon of bubbles. The bubbles breaking slows the impact of any attack. Of course you have to walk around surrounded by a lot of bubbles. Sort of like you’d lost a battle with your morning bubble bath.”

  “Interesting. Might have some application as a wall spell, but I doubt if that would be a practical daily defense. I like the idea of enchanted bubbles though. I'll come back to that later.” Tiberius flipped though the cards which Singh had handed him. His eye fell on one that was heavily scribbled on. In large red letters it said ‘Not functioning’. For a non-functioning spell it had received a lot of attention. “What’s this one, Prismatic Reflection Shield?”

  Singh wrinkled his nose as if he’d just had a bite of lemon. “Oh, don’t let Dallen rope you into fooling about with that; he had me working on it. One of Dallen’s old mentors got him started on that. Cornelius, I think. Great astronomer, fascinated with optics and prisms. It’s brilliant but useless. You just can’t lower the initial energy to the levels he’s after.”

  “But what does it do?” Tiberius said, trying to decipher the card.

  “At a practical level, nothing. That’s the problem. Well, it will take the edge off a heavy cross bow strike or a good longbow shot. High powered rifles, too, if you ever get beyond the ban. But useless for ordinary attacks.”

  “What is it supposed to do?” Tiberius asked.

  “It is supposed to reflect any attack back at the sender. If someone stabs you with a knife, they’d find the energy of that strike was reflected back at them. Clever idea, but we’ve never really got it to work.”

  “Good grief. A shield that reflects any sort of energy? That’s a bit much even for magic, isn’t it?” Tiberius said skeptically.

  “Actually, it wasn’t really the concept of reflection we had trouble with. Cornelius understood the true name of a perfect mirror. It works; it just doesn’t work well enough. Cornelius wanted the perfect defensive shield, so the spell had to reflect any attack. We can do that, but to get the reaction going we need to absorb energy from the incoming attack. That isn’t a perfect process, and we need a certain minimum energy from the incoming attack in order to be able to siphon off enough of the incoming energy to trigger the defense. We can’t get that down to a practical level. That, and there’s no real way to accurately target the reflection. We can do it in a laboratory but not in the field.”

  Tiberius turned the card over studying the brief notes. The concept was brilliant and very intriguing. But he could see the obvious problems, too. “So it doesn’t work against most of the attacks you’d typically encounter. Brilliant if someone calls lighting down on your head, but useless if they stab you with a kitchen knife.”

  “Exactly,” Singh replied. “And kitchen knives being more common than lightning bolts, well you see the problem. Really it doesn’t work at either end of the spectrum. At it’s best it only reflects about 99.5% of the incoming energy, so if it’s a really massive attack or a rather ordinary one, it will still fail. I suppose it might be of some use to you, as dragon fire would be about the right range for the shield to actually work. On the other hand, your example calls another weakness to mind: indirect attacks. The shield reflects energy in the direction the attack strikes the shield, not necessarily where the attack originated. So if you did face a druid or something calling down lightning from the sky on your head, he could do it all day and never be bothered in the least by any reflections. They’d just go harmlessly up into the sky,” Singh explained.

  “Hmm. Is this stable?”

  “Not the version I have here. If you want to pester Dallen about his notes, I think he did have a stable version. But trust me, you aren’t likely to damage anyone with this.”

  “Looks like you have the basic reaction down. Where you have troubles is trying to heighten the focus to target the attacker. What if you loosened the focusing requirement?”

  “Hmm, yes, that would help with the defensive nature of the shield, but the whole point was to reflect attacks back on the sender. That would make things still worse if you try to get things down to the level of a knife attack. The whole thing is impractical.”

  “I think you’re m
issing the point, Singh. This looks like it might be very practical indeed. I think I could make something of this, but I’d like to see the notes. Time to pay Dallen a visit, I suppose."

  Tiberius stayed the night, learning mostly that Kristine was as good a cook at breakfast as she was at dinner. With a parting jab at Singh that he was going to gain weight if he wasn’t careful, he mounted his horse and rode to Dallen’s home. The journey was swift as he used a bit of magic to help the horse, and by late in the day he was situated in Dallen’s library. Dallen came in to greet him.

  “Hello, Tiberius,” Dallen said. “To what do I owe this visit?”

  Tiberius didn’t lift his head from the scrolls. “I wanted to check on one of your old experimental spells, actually. The Prismatic Reflection Shield.”

  Dallen’s eyes sparkled slightly. “Ah, so you’ve caught that bug, have you? Well, I’m glad to have a fresh set of eyes, but I doubt if you’ll get anywhere. Cornelius, Singh, Tanyia, Messura, and I have all knocked our brains out over that spell from time to time. It’s a seductive notion, turning any attack back upon the attacker, but just not practical I’m afraid.” Dallen turned to the shelves and shuffled through some notes. “I do have the file, if you want to look through it. Ah, here we are. Always glad to have another crack at it, though. There was some good work done on this.”

  “I thought you had worked out the basic reflection principal,” Tiberius said taking the notes in hand.

  “Yes, we did a good bit of work there,” Dallen reminisced. “The trick was to have an energy shield that would give way under stress to a reflective matrix which used the incoming energy to redirect the force of the attack back in the direction of the attack. Trouble was we couldn’t be subtle about it. It requires a pretty big jolt of energy to get the reflective matrix going. It worked brilliantly against a massive fire bolt, but it was utterly useless against a standard goblin bow. That, and we could never quite get the aim right quite right either. The matrix was never quite perfect and it was hard to hit anyone that fired at you. We played with that one for years back when I was younger. We just found that trying to set up the shield so it would respond at a practical level just took to much effort to cast. Too much initial energy. I stuck with it longer than most of my colleges at the time as I thought we might make a device out of it and overcome the energy inefficiency that way.”