Can’t have even one little groove,
Make both sides perfectly smooth.
At the completion of the spell, he watches the surfaces of the two pieces shift and become smooth as glass.
“Unbelievable,” Corbin exclaim from behind his shoulder. “I’ve never seen anything like that.” Seeing James glance at him, he continues. “Sure, I’ve heard of magic but have never seen it done before.”
“It’s not as easy as it looks.” Turning back to the workbench, he checks to ensure both sides of both pieces are smooth, then sets the smaller piece upon the larger and centers it. A nail is placed in the hole that Corbin had bored in the smaller piece. Removing a hammer from the rack on the wall, he gently taps the nail until the head is almost touching the wood. Satisfied, he flicks the outer edge of the smaller piece and watches as it spins on its axis. There is some momentum lost due to friction as it rubs along the bottom piece, but it should be serviceable.
Using a piece of charcoal, he draws a radial arrow on the surface of the top piece. “It’s finished,” he announces and shows it to Corbin.
The farmer looks at it skeptically. “It is? What’s it going to do?”
“Just watch.” Hoping this works, he holds the bottom piece securely and as he releases the magic says:
Near or far, dead or alive,
Finding Hern, do I strive.
Compass mine, this I say,
The shortest path, point the way.
The intense surge of power at the completion of the spell takes James’ breath away. Before it subsides, he fears that he had made a deadly underestimation of his abilities. But the drawing of power came to an end. Ever so slowly, the top piece rotates until the charcoal arrow points in the general direction of the forest.
“Hern’s that way.”
There is still a minute drawing of power being taken from him. James figures that like the orb back in the cave, such a drawing must be needful to maintain the spell.
“Are you sure?” Corbin asks, uncertainly.
“Pretty sure. Only one way to find out.” He gets up from the workbench and makes his way from the barn. Outside, the charcoal indicator still points toward the forest. Whenever James turns the compass, the charcoal arrow always indicates the same direction; toward the forest.
Moving toward the forest, they reach the forest’s edge and come to a stop. James glances to Corbin. “Shall we go find him?”
Corbin has the look of one who would rather be somewhere else. Eyes lingering for a moment on the forest, he licks his lips, glances to James and nods. “Yes, though let’s be careful.”
“Oh, you can bet on that.”
Following the compass, they make their way into the forest.
An hour of tangled underbrush, fallen trees, and uneven ground later, they arrive at a break in the forest wherein stands an old, abandoned house nestled in the middle of a clearing. It had once been a finely crafted two-story dwelling, though now, one side had partially collapsed. The yard and surrounding area was severely overgrown with brush and small trees. The arrow of the compass points toward the house.
James didn’t relish the idea of entering the house. There was something about it that made his skin crawl whenever he looked at it. Hoping the compass might be pointing to a destination somewhere in the forest beyond, he walks around to the other side. The compass swivels as he moves, the arrow always aiming at the house.
“It says Hern’s in there.”
Corbin makes no reply.
Glancing at his companion, James is surprised to discover a worried look on his face.
“Something wrong?”
Returning his gaze to the building, he says, “If this is the place I’m thinking of, it has a bad history.”
“What do you mean?”
“It happened three score years ago. One day a stranger arrives in Trendle and purchases a claim for a parcel of land within the forest. Said he wanted to get away from city life and find peace and quiet. He contracted several of the townspeople to build his house, this house perhaps. The construction took nearly a year and once the construction was finished he moved in. After that, no one saw much of him. He kept mostly to himself, rarely coming to town and then only to buy supplies.
“It didn’t take long before rumors began surfacing about this man.” He cast a glance to James. “Stranger, especially ones that keep to themselves, are grist for the rumor mill.”
James nodded. From what he had already experienced in his short time in Trendle, he knew exactly what Corbin meant.
“Anyway, one afternoon several boys decided to come and spy on him, to see what he was about. When they arrived, they crept up close to the house and peered through a ground floor window. One climbed a tree to better see inside. The boys claimed that when they looked through the window, they saw the man sitting cross-legged on the floor. A circle encompassing a five pointed star, a pentagram as the townsfolk later discovered, was drawn on the floor not five feet in front of him. At each point of the pentagram burned a candle. The boys said it looked as if the man was in some kind of a trance, and that he was chanting.
“They watched as the man chanted unfamiliar words. Then suddenly, the air above the pentagram began to flux and swirl. At that point, the man’s chanting changed, becoming more intense. From out of the flux and swirl appeared the shape of an inhuman creature not of this world. It slowly began to take shape, growing more solid with every word the man uttered.
“The boy on the branch clung transfixed as he watched the unfolding events. When the creature was almost completely formed, the branch upon which he lay gave out with a loud crack and broke, throwing him to the ground. The end of the branch smashed through the window to the room wherein the man sat.
“The boys claimed that just after the window shattered, they heard a monstrous roar from the other side. The man shrieked in terror before being abruptly silenced. The boys ran as if demons were after them, which was probably not far from the truth. When they returned to town, they went straightaway to the Town Hall and told their story to the mayor, who immediately dispatched a party of armed townsfolk along with a priest to investigate.
“When they arrived, no trace of the man could be found. They did find the pentagram on the floor however, with four of the candles having burned down to nothing. The fifth candle laid on its side, shards from the broken window lay around it. It is believed that when the window shattered, the glass flew and knocked over the candle, which broke the holding spell, allowing the demon, that’s what the priest said was most likely being summoned, to break free and take the man. The priest stated that there didn’t seem to be any traces of evil remaining in the house. But just to be sure, he cleansed the house from top to bottom before they departed.”
Glancing at James to gauge his reaction, Corbin continues. “The people hereabouts avoid this house, they think it’s haunted. Whether by the spirit of the man or by the demon he summoned, no one is sure. Every once in a while, some hunter comes across this place and tells of feelings of foreboding, or of hearing strange noises. If Hern is in there, I would hate to guess what that would mean.”
“I agree, but we need to see if we can find him. That missing boy may be in there as well. We can’t just leave them,” James says with surprising determination. “Should they still be alive, they are going to need our help. If we’re careful, maybe we could get in and out real fast. See if we can find them.”
“Quickly then,” Corbin agrees uneasily. As James leads the way into the house, he follows close behind.
The front room is dark and shadowed with narrow streams of light making their way through the windows. A fine layer of dust covers everything. Grass and small plants have sprouted through the myriad cracks marring the floor. Spider webs fill the corners and drape between bits of old furniture.
As they press ahead, a sense of foreboding settles over James. He tries to shakes it off, but it only grows as they follow the compass toward a hallway leading deeper into th
e house.
The left side of the hallway has partially collapsed, the debris making for treacherous going. In one place they have to stoop quite a bit in order to make it past where a section of the ceiling had caved in. As they make their way through the rubble, a small amount of light filters through the broken and cracked areas above creating an eerie atmosphere.
Not far past the caved-in ceiling, they come to an opening on their right. It’s a flight of stairs leading to the second floor. Though rubble chokes the stairwell, James figures that they could make it through should the need arise. Looking up into the darkness, he definitely hopes the need does not arise!
Moving past the stairwell they reach another doorway, the last one accessible before the hallway becomes impassable due to the collapsing of the second floor. Peering cautiously around the corner, James looks into a room, one that has somewhat been spared the ravages of time that the rest of the house has suffered. Light filtering in through the room’s broken windows falls upon a five pointed star inscribed on the floor. That must have been where the demon was summoned. Doing a quick scan about the rest of the room, he fails to find anything unusual so steps through the doorway and enters the room. Corbin follows close behind.
Walking to the pentagram, James indicates the broken glass near one of its point. “This must be where the shattered window broke the spell of holding.” Scanning the area for bloodstains, he fails to find any. Reaching down, he picks up one of the broken shards. It’s cool, but doesn’t feel odd or strange. He tosses it back to the spot where it had lain.
“Maybe we shouldn’t stay here any longer,” Corbin says nervously. There’s a definite tremble indicating fear in his voice. “It doesn’t look like we’re going to find them here.”
“Perhaps.” Glancing at his compass, James is surprised to see the pointer going round and round in a clockwise direction. “That’s weird,” he says as he shows it to Corbin.
“What does it mean?”
Shrugging, James replies “Haven’t a clue. I told you I was new to magic.” Discontinuing the spell, he places the compass back in his backpack. He then looks to Corbin and is about to suggest they search elsewhere, when a slight flicker from the pentagram is caught from the corner of his eye. He quickly turns his head, but it’s gone.
Corbin notices his sudden movement. “What?” His eyes dart around the room.
“Thought I saw something,” James replies. Turning his head so the pentagram is again just at the edge of his peripheral vision, the flickering reappears. This time he holds his head steady and continues looking at the pentagram out of the corner of his eye. After a few moments, he begins to realize what he originally took as a flash is actually a steady, slow pulse; barely discernable in the shadows.
“Curious.”
“What is?” Corbin glances agitatedly between James and the pentagram.
“I can see a slight pulsing coming from the pentagram. Though I can only see it when it’s in my peripheral vision.”
“Pulsing?” fear is evermore apparent in the farmer’s voice. “Let’s get out of here.” He edges toward the exit.
His feeling of foreboding is quite strong now. “Yeah, that might be a good idea.”
Corbin leads the way, and enters the hallway. James follows closely. The foreboding is growing worse. They pass the stairway leading to the second floor, then come to where the hallway ends at the outer room.
Just before Corbin passes from the hallway into the outer room, James grabs his arm and jerks him back.
“Look.” Whispering softly, he directs the farmer’s attention out the front door.
Two silhouettes approach the door. Unable to make out any distinct features, they can only tell that one is adult size while the other is smaller. Moving his mouth next to Corbin’s ear, he whispers, “Let’s return to the stairs and hide.”
Corbin nods and starts backing down the hallway.
Being as quiet as they can, they return to the stairs and ascend a short ways until they can no longer see the hallway. Holding still, they await the approach of whoever it may be.
James is sure that the sound of his heart, which feels like it’s trying to beat out of his chest, will surely give them away. They don’t have long to wait before two sets of footsteps enter the hallway from the outer room. He holds his breath, his heart beating wildly in fear as the footsteps draw closer, and pass by, the front of the stairwell. They then continue to the room at the end of the hallway wherein the pentagram lies.
James whispers to Corbin as they return to the hallway, “Stay here, I’m going to see what they’re doing.”
“Are you crazy? I’m getting out of here. If you’re smart, you will too.” With that he brushes past James, quickly moves down the hallway and exits through the front door. Once outside, he breaks into a mad dash as he races away from the house.
Knowing logically that he should leave too, James has an undeniable need to know what is going on in there. Slowly and quietly, he makes his way through the rubble to the entrance of the room. As he approaches, a subtle, pulsing, dark blue glow begins emanating from the room. Steeling himself, he peers around the corner.
Two individuals stand motionless before the pentagram. A small vortex pulsates with a dark blue radiance in the air above it. A feeling of horror washes over James, yet he’s unable to turn away.
The taller of the two begins to chant; the unfamiliar words painful to the ears. The smaller one, which looks to be a young girl, snaps out of her lethargic trance at the utterance of the first word. With a scream, she tries to flee and is only able to take a step before the taller one seizes her by the hair, holding her fast. At the touch of the taller one, the ability to run seems to drain from the girl. Unable to run or even move, the girl stands there and cries.
From the vortex, a shimmering wave stretches forth and makes contact with the girl. A soul wrenching scream tears from her throat. Her body spasms traumatically as pulses travel along the wave from the girl to the vortex.
As more screams are wrenched from the poor girl, James reacts without thought. From a campaign wherein he played a druid, words of a spell issue forth:
Forces of Good, forces of nature,
Give me your aid this day
Sever the bond, free the girl
Course of evil to stay!
Tendrils of power spring to life and converge from all directions at a point somewhere deep within him. From there it surges outward from his outstretched hand and arcs toward the shimmering wave. A blinding explosion like a mini-super nova flares when the two powers meet. Once the dots cease dancing before his eyes, he finds the wave from the vortex gone and the girl sags unconscious in the grip of the evil’s minion.
Hatred and malice erupts from the vortex. As it washes over him, James senses that the evil in the vortex is now focused upon him.
The evil’s minion turns toward James, letting go of the young girl who collapses to the floor.
Wariness turns to shock as he discovers the evil’s minion to be a girl that looked a little younger than himself. Dressed in blue jeans and a black shirt, he’s further dumbfounded when he spies the words San Francisco written across the front. She’s from home!
Her eyes glow with an inhuman intelligence; her face twists in an expression of pure evil. Wielding a dagger in one hand, she chants words whose very utterance set James’ skin acrawl.
“I’m from Earth, too,” he shouts.
But her expression fails to change.
“We can help each other.”
Unresponsive, she continues toward him and the chanting continues.
Out of the corner of his eye he catches sight of a change in the swirling of the vortex. Taking his eyes from her for a moment, he glances quickly over to it. A shiver goes through him when he finds the vortex beginning to coalesce and take shape.
The chanting from the girl suddenly stops and a dark cloud exudes outward toward him. The sight of the miasmic cloud causes him to dart backward out of th
e room but the cloud moves faster. He holds out his arm as if to ward it off, but instead feels excruciating pain.
It engulfs his arm; welts form and fire races along his nerve endings. A scream escapes him as more of his body comes in contact. Somewhere amidst all this agony, he finds the strength to cry:
Soothe and heal
No pain to feel
Power courses through his body and reduces the pain to a dull throbbing. The black cloud dissipates when the power behind the spell is exhausted. The features of the girl are contorted, misshapen and twisted by the evil which controls her. She continues advancing toward him.
Thinking fast, James glances at the floor as an idea comes and casts:
Stone like pudding
Soft and slick
Entrap her feet
Then harden quick.
As her foot descends to the floor during her next step, it sinks beneath the surface. Then as she moves forward with the other, it too passes within the stone of the floor. Once both have sunk into the stone floor a little past the ankles, the stone solidifies around them, encasing her feet. Her legs continue trying to bring her toward him, as if she does not realize what has happened. She starts chanting another spell.
Taking a small stone fragment from the rubble littering the floor, he casts the same spell used when he killed the wolf and throws. Ping! The stone ricochets off an invisible shield surrounding the girl.
Her chanting raises an octave and there’s a disconcerting prickling of his skin. He reaches down for another stone. Then borrowing from his druid’s repertoire of spells, he draws his arm back and says:
Forces of Good, forces of nature,
More aid do I need.
Pierce the shield, through the heart
The power of good, succeed.
Again a multitude of power tendrils flow into him, meet in the center, and surging outward as he hurls the stone at the girl. This time when the stone connects with her protective shield, there’s an intense flash of light and the stone passes through to strike her in the chest. It then explodes out her back and she slumps lifelessly forward to the floor, settling at an awkward angle due to her legs still being encased within the stone floor.
The unsuspecting mage ms-1 Page 10