Origin Scroll

by Richard S. Tuttle

  Egam ignored the question. “Have you ever met this Dawn?” he asked. “Is she aware that you are coming?”

  “I do not recall ever having met Dawn,” she replied hesitantly. “Why is it important for you to know if she was expecting me?”

  “You are cautious,” remarked Egam. “That is as it should be. If Dawn is expecting you and you fail to show up, she should alert the authorities. If the authorities were to find you in my company while I was helping you to River’s Run, they might assume me a kidnapper. If you were to decide not to continue on to River’s Run, I could still be the subject of scrutiny. If however, you were not expected, she would not alert the authorities and they would not be looking for you.”

  “Are you a wanted man?” she asked. “Do you fear the authorities discovering your hideout?”

  “I am not wanted by the authorities,” he declared. “I do have enemies, but I do not fear them, I respect them. I respect them enough to realize that any inquiries, however small, would not escape their scrutiny. I am not yet ready to meet them. I will choose the time and place for the confrontation, not them, not fate, not you. You walk into my home and fear me for a kidnapper. Is this rational?”

  “I am sorry, Egam. I do not mean to spurn your hospitality. Nor do I wish to bring trouble upon you. If you could just give me directions to River’s Run, I will be on my way and never mention our meeting.”

  “And what will you do in River’s Run? Do you have an occupation to pursue? Have you thought about what tasks will fill your years?” asked Egam.

  “No,” Jenneva answered, “I have no plans. I like to read though. Books are filled with knowledge and adventure.” She looked around the cavern at Egam’s volumes of words.

  Egam caught the twinkle in Jenneva’s blue eyes as she surveyed his library. “Very well, then,” he said, “perhaps you will be my guest for a few days while you rest up for your long journey and then I’ll point the way to River’s Run.”

  Jenneva was overwhelmed by the selection of reading material. She found whole sections of the library devoted to history, mathematics, medicine, art, and geography. His section on literature had to be better than the Baron’s, but the most extensive sections were on magic, science, religion and folklore. Uncle Hasra had always said that there was no such thing as magic; that every event had a logical explanation. Still, Jenneva could not think of any explanations for her entrance into the tunnels or the glowing wall that she walked through. And she was sure that the birdcage Egam had used on her would defy logic.

  She had seen little of the old gray-haired man in the last several days but when they did meet he was always cheerful and considerate. He kept an ample supply of fresh food available and didn’t seem to care how much Jenneva ate. He was never hurried or irritable and would always answer Jenneva’s questions. She was free to roam wherever she wished, whenever she wanted to.

  Jenneva began to dwell on the old man’s questions. What did she hope to accomplish with her life? What type of occupation would she be good at? Would anyone care if she never showed up at River’s Run? She knew that Uncle Hasra had not sent a letter to Dawn because he had mentioned that fact. She didn’t tell Egam because she did not fully trust him. Why can’t she just stay here and devour his books? Perhaps he will let her work around the cave in return for her staying? She could promise not to get in the way. She trusted him now. He asked her daily if she was ready to leave. Maybe he wanted her to leave? Perhaps he enjoyed his solitude.

  Egam disrupted her thoughts. “Won’t your cousin be worried?” he asked. “You have dallied for a month now and she must be very worried.”

  Could it really have been a month, she thought. It had seemed like only a few days. “Egam,” she said, “I am sorry. I didn’t realize that I had been here that long. I have been an imposition on you. Perhaps I can repay you by performing some chores. You have extended every courtesy to me and I feel that I must repay you in some fashion.”

  Egam laughed. “You seek a way to prolong your departure. You are clever, but are you talented?”

  “What do you mean?” she stammered.

  “What do you know of magic?” he asked.

  “I do not believe magic exists,” stated Jenneva. “All things have a logical explanation.”

  “Logical?” deliberated Egam. “Yes that is true, but it is also true that magic is logical. It takes a very perceptive person to tap the logic of magic. People say that a person has magical talent, but it is really the ability to perceive forces that others mislabel as illogical or non-existent. Of course, talent is not enough. A good magician must also study and experiment. She must devote her life to bettering her skills.”

  The use of the female gender in Egam’s statements was not lost on Jenneva. This man was a magician and he was offering her an apprenticeship. Maybe. “And if this person did possess the ability and agreed to devote her life to study, would she be bound to her instructor?” she asked.

  “To be bound to an instructor is an illogical thought,” stated Egam. “One is privileged to serve a master, but it is the master who is obligated to the student. The best master will not stop teaching until the student is better than the master. That is a serious obligation, don’t you agree?”

  “What if the student does not have the ability?” asked Jenneva.

  “Instruction ends and the student is dismissed,” answered Egam. “Do you doubt your abilities, Jenneva? Why do you think I was so disturbed with your arrival? Only magical talent could have entered my realm. The entrance to the old tunnels from the cave where you left your uncle has remained unmolested for hundreds of years, yet you passed through. Your entrance to this cavern through a solid stonewall is evidence of your abilities. A non-perceptive individual would have been unable to even detect the light through the wall. Your ability to perform these feats without the knowledge that you were performing magic indicates an ability of greatness that I have trouble comprehending. This is why I tried to determine your heritage. A person of such great abilities does not just happen. Whoever your parents were, they were magicians of great power. Perhaps some day we may discover their identity, but today we start learning. Come with me.”

  Egam led Jenneva to one of the large tables. On the table was a small block of stone atop some parchments. Egam removed the stone and took one parchment and placed it in front of Jenneva. “This is a fairly simple feat and one that I know you will be able to accomplish. You are going to move this parchment across the table. You will have trouble at first because you do not know how to control the power. You must will the parchment to move. It may help to have a reason for your desire to see it moved.”

  Jenneva stared at the parchment, mentally she wished the paper would move, but it did not. She demanded that the paper move, but it refused. It would be easier, she thought, to just bend down and blow the paper across the table. “Concentrate,” pleaded Egam. Concentrate. Never doubt your abilities. The parchment will move because I will it to move, she thought. She concentrated. Slowly, the parchment started sliding across the table.

  “Very good start,” congratulated Egam. “Now let’s try something of greater substance.” Egam took the stone and placed it in front of Jenneva.

  “That was a trick right?” questioned Jenneva. “You probably moved the paper and let me think I was doing it.”

  Egam smiled and shook his head. “Do not doubt your abilities because you did not know they existed. Try the stone.”

  Jenneva willed the stone to move as she had with the parchment, but the rock only vibrated. She tried harder. Her head started to ache and still the rock remained. The pain distracted her mind. “Concentrate,” said Egam. “Your desire to be a magician must be proved.” Concentrate. Never doubt your abilities. The pain increased. She wanted to stop, but she must not fail. “Your desire for fame depends on this rock,” said Egam. She felt like her eyeballs would pop out of her head, but she kept trying. “Fortune awaits the verification of your abilities,” stated Egam. The pain
was intense. Her vision blurred and the stone merged with the table. She was getting dizzy. She could not keep this up. She would pass out. “Hasra’s soul is being crushed by the rock,” shouted Egam. Suddenly, the rock flew across the table and smashed into the wall, disintegrating into thousands of dust particles. Jenneva fainted.

  Jenneva awoke in her bed. She still had a headache, but the intensity of it was greatly diminished. She was aware that she had succeeded in moving the stone, but she was concerned about the pain caused by the effort. Moments later, Egam arrived with a tray of cheese and a pot of tea. Egam removed a tin from his robe and tapped a small amount of white powder into the tea. “Drink this,” he commanded.

  “What is it?” asked Jenneva hesitantly.

  “What do you care?” asked Egam. “I am your master and until you become the master, never doubt my intentions. Your trust in me must be unconditional.”

  Jenneva drank the tea and ate a small piece of cheese.

  “Good,” said Egam. “It was a mixture of antler and metal. It has an amazing effect on stress headaches. You did well today, Jenneva. You have verified my conclusions regarding your abilities. I have never had a student that could move the rock on their first attempt. You also showed your intentions for your powers, and this is good. Many seek the power for their own glorification, but for you helping others is a more powerful motivation. I couldn’t be more pleased. I have laid out a course of instruction for you. At first it will consist more of reading than experimentation. You must develop a knowledge base that will give you reference into the origin of the powers. This knowledge will come from a variety of sources. I’m sure you noticed the breadth of my library. It is not because I like to collect books. Each of those volumes contains information pertinent to magic. There is also the need to learn about potions and elixirs.”

  Jenneva’s headache was gone. She reviewed his outline for training and noticed that there was no reference to time anywhere in the document. Egam explained that the training would proceed at whatever rate she was capable of learning.

  Jenneva was excited and read volume after volume. Time had no meaning down here in the cave. She noted, that however Egam had arranged the lighting for the cavern, he had compensated for day and night. At times the overhead light was very bright and at other times it was very dim. Jenneva suspected that whatever spell he used, he had crafted it to coincide with life on the surface. There were things that she missed on the surface. The feel of sunlight on your face, the sight of the moon, the smell of green grass, the sounds of wildlife. She missed them all. She would have to ask Egam for a trip to the surface. Perhaps she would wait. As much as she desired a touch of reality, she loved reading his books. The experiments were also going well and a trip to the surface would halt them. For the past week they had been working on mind speech. It fascinated Jenneva that two individuals could communicate without an utterance. He could even read her thoughts without her sending them. Soon she would learn that technique as well.

  “So,” uttered Egam, “you desire the real world do you?”

  Egam, that’s unfair! You’re eavesdropping again.

  “You’re just jealous,” laughed Egam. “Perhaps you will master it soon. Come. I have been saving a surprise for you.”

  Egam led her to the pool of water and went into an incantation. Suddenly the cave walls disappeared and they were outdoors. Jenneva was disoriented. He hadn’t transported them anywhere because everything that existed in the cave was still there. She looked around. The pool was actually a pond. The cave floor was grass. There were trees behind the bookshelves. They appeared to be in a small valley completely encircled by towering peaks. The peaks even had snow on them. Her bed was in a little alcove on the edge of the valley.

  “Which is real?” he asked.

  “This is real,” answered Jenneva.

  “How do you know?” queried Egam.

  “It’s logical,” she replied. “I should have realized it long ago. That first day when I arrived, the cave floor was spongy, like grass. The pool had a dirt bottom like a pond. The light was set up for day and night but that’s because it was day and night. This is a magnificent illusion, Egam, but why live in a cave when you have such beauty here?”

  “The illusion is two way,” answered Egam. “When we see the cave ceiling, those above us see another peak. Unfortunately, Jenneva, I still have enemies and I am not ready for them.”

  “Tell me of them, Egam.”

  “It is dangerous for you to know too much, too soon. Today we are dealing with mind speech. My enemies possess these powers as well. So far, I can block them. In the future, who knows. You, however, have not yet mastered mind speech. You could be easy prey to the likes of Sarac.”

  “Who is Sarac?” prodded Jenneva.

  “This is important, Jenneva,” cautioned Egam. “I have already said too much, but I will ease your curiosity a little further. You must always be conscious of never mentioning his name in mind speech. If his name has to be mentioned at all, do so verbally. Now, Sarac was a student of mine some time ago. He was very talented but, unlike yourself, he wanted to learn for selfish reasons. He learned quickly and mastered all that I could teach in a mere seven years. He kept his association with me because of my vast library. I have always guarded my library with a ward that I have shared with no one. Magic, as with all of life, has two faces, the light and the dark. The light side of magic is just as powerful as the dark, but it is not destructive in nature. That is not to say that you can’t destroy things with the light side. You did that your first day when you smashed the rock into the cave wall. The rock was reduced to dust. That is destructive.”

  Egam sat by the pond and continued. “The dark side of magic is devoted to destruction. My library contains a wealth of information on the dark side as well as the light side. I have never had an interest in the dark side, but Sarac did. As I had fulfilled my obligation as master, I terminated our relationship. I did this for his own good as well as the good of all. Sarac swore he would defeat me and gain my library. He tried, but while he knew all that I knew, he was not yet as strong as I was.”

  “How long ago was this?”

  “It is over thirty years now,” replied Egam. “Thirty years that he has been honing his skills to defeat me.”

  “Several times,” she asked, “you have said that you are not yet ready for your enemies. If he knows all that you know, how can you ever be ready?”

  “I have started studying the dark side,” he answered. “It is not what I wish to spend my time studying, but I have no choice. I must prepare to defeat Sarac or he will defeat me.”

  “You mentioned enemies as in plural,” queried Jenneva, “who are the others?”

  “I am not sure of the others. Shortly after Sarac left, I took on another promising student, Kirsta. She also was very gifted. You must understand that I am not obligated to accept a student. I do so only for those judged exceptional. Anyway, Kirsta was pure of heart as you are. She also learned what I could teach in seven years and left to go out on her own. I liked Kirsta very much and we kept in touch for a while. One day while she was visiting me I found her browsing references on the dark side. I tried to probe her mind, but she caught me at it and protected herself. We have not spoken since.”

  “Just because she was looking up something on the dark side, you have canceled her friendship?” asked Jenneva.

  “No, not for using the library. During the mind probe I picked up two items that disturbed me. She had Sarac on her mind. I believe that Sarac was using her to get the information he needed. Kirsta must have been in love with Sarac or I am sure that she would never have helped him. I still care for her very much, but I cannot afford to open myself to her.”

  “You mentioned two things in the mind probe, but only mentioned Sarac. What is the other thing you discovered?”

  “The Origin Scroll”, sighed Egam. “The Origin Scroll is a lost historical tome that purportedly has spells and incantations that are so pow
erful that they can create and destroy universes. No one has ever seen it, but there are references to it in the earliest volumes of both magic and religious orders. That book in Sarac’s hands would have the worst consequences for all of mankind.”

  “Are you going to have to destroy Kirsta as well?”

  “I don’t know, I hope not. Sarac is evil, but I think Kirsta is not. I think she fell in love with him and often love will blind you to reality. The problem is not limited to Sarac though. Sarac has become a master in his own right. He also takes in students and I believe Sarac would try to control his students. He once joked about creating a spell that would bind the caster to its creator. He is the type of master to create such a spell and teach it to his students. When they learned the spell and cast it, they would be eternally bound to Sarac, his to control. And if his students became masters, and taught this spell to their students; well you can see where this leads.”

  “Is there anything that I can do to help,” asked Jenneva.

  “If it is your desire to help,” replied Egam, “you will. I am obligated as your master to teach you all that I know. I have been studying the dark side for twenty years now. You are not obligated to learn all that I know, I am obligated to teach all that I know. The decision will be yours when the time comes. Know this though, if Sarac has his way I will never finish tutoring you. He will see me dead before then. I have spoken of the ward, which protects my library. If ever I should die, know that I will leave a clue for you to gain access to my library. You will need to find the clue, cancel the ward and place your own ward of protection on the books. The library will be yours and so will the obligation to safeguard it.”

  Chapter 5