Unsuspecting Mage

by Brian S. Pratt

  “Thanks to you as well, Alexander,” James replies, then turns to Corbin, “Shall we go?”

  He nods. “Goodbye, Alexander.”

  “Goodbye, Corbin. Hope to see you again soon.” Alexander then leaves the window and disappears to the back.

  Corbin turns to lead the way out the door to where the horses are waiting outside. James manages to mount without aid on the first attempt and gives Corbin a smile of triumph.

  “Now, to Hern’s farm.”

  James nods. “Lead on.”

  They head their horses back through town and leave by a road other than the one they came in on. James finds that this time, he doesn’t feel in danger of tipping to the side. His horse also responds well to his directions and the difficulty he experienced earlier fails to return.

  Once they leave the outskirts of Trendle, Corbin asks what he plans to do once they reach Hern’s place.

  “I’m not really sure,” James admits. “It’s likely there will be nothing I can do.”

  Hern’s farm lies several miles from town; and with his fear of riding gradually diminishing, James is able to enjoy the ride through the farmland. There’s a certain sense of freedom being on a horse gives that he never felt before. He figures it to be what driving a car for the first time must be like. His grandparents had never felt comfortable with him driving and had somehow managed to forestall any attempt he made to get his license. He wondered what they would think of him now. A touch of homesickness returned, but the sun on his face and the freedom a horse brings soon had him cheerful once more.

  From the main road, they take a small lane leading toward a line of trees in the distance. Soon, a small home with a barn out back and corral to the side came into view.

  “Is this it?”

  Corbin nods

  James slows and gives the vicinity a once over. Everything appears normal. He makes a quick loop around the house with Corbin following and fails to discover anything that might indicate the fate of Hern. Returning to the front of the house, James brings his horse to a halt and sits for a moment staring at the open front door. He then closes his eyes to see if can feel anything weird, like a residual trace of evil or magic. He doesn’t.

  Yeah, like I’d know what that would feel like even if it was here, he muses to himself as he opens his eyes and dismounts.

  “What do you think?”

  James shrugs. “Don’t know. Let’s check out the inside.”

  He and Corbin dismount and approach the front door and enter. They find the insides just as Corbin had described with dinner still on the table, though by now it was pretty ripe. There was no sign of a struggle or anything. It looked like he just up and walked away.

  Returning outside, James considers the problem;

  Corbin wants me to find where Hern is. How can I locate him? How did they do it in all those books I read? Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, Esp., not sure how to go about those. When you need to find something you use…you use…a compass? Could I fashion a magical compass to point out the direction of Hern’s whereabouts? The image of a tracker having his hound sniff an article of clothing worn by the one he sought sprang to mind. That might just work.

  “I think I may have an idea. Let’s go to the barn and see if I can find material to fashion a compass.”

  “What’s a compass?”

  “It’s an object one uses to find things,” James replies. “Back where I come from, they would use it to always point north. That type of compass doesn’t require magic.”

  “Why would you care where north is?”

  “It’s mainly used by sailors when they have no sun or stars to steer by.”

  “That would make sense.”

  Reaching the door to the barn Corbin opens it and steps back, allowing James to enter first.

  Once within, James scans the interior to see what materials are available. Over in one corner are a dozen narrow posts neatly stacked. Crossing over to them, he spies one with a diameter measuring roughly three inches and takes it. Motioning for Corbin to come over, he asks, “Could you cut me a smooth, half inch section off of this one?”

  “Sure,” he says and takes the post. He then carries it to a workbench near where a rack of tools hangs on the wall. Taking down a saw, Corbin positions the end of the post so it extends over the edge of the workbench. “Do you want it off the end or should I remove the end first, then cut a section?”

  Rubbing his finger over the end, he finds it rough and cracked. “Maybe you should take the end off first. I’ll need it smoother than that.”

  “All right.” He then proceeds to remove the unusable portion. Once it drops to the ground, he starts on the piece James requested.

  While Corbin works on the post, James continues to look through the post pile and finds another that has a slightly wider diameter than the first. When Corbin finishes removing the desired section from the first post, he has him saw a similar piece from the second.

  Gathering a few more items that he feels might be useful in compass construction, James returns to the workbench and waits for Corbin to finish. When Corbin is done, he returns the saw to its hook on the wall, then removes the unused portions of the posts from the workbench. After brushing away the sawdust from the surface of the workbench, he lays the two freshly-cut pieces down upon it. Stepping away, he makes room for James.

  James picks up the smaller of the two and shows it to Corbin. “Is there a way you can drill a hole through this one? It needs to be slightly bigger than one of these nails?” He gestures to a pile of nails lying on the workbench.

  Corbin searches the tools on the wall above the workbench, nods and takes one down. The tool reminds James of a screwdriver but the end is fashioned like a drill. Taking the piece of wood, Corbin uses the tool to bore a hole. When he has the hole the size James requires, he blows off the excess wood debris before handing it back.

  James examines it. “Perfect. This will do fine. Placing both pieces of wood on the workbench, he creates a vision of what he wants to accomplish, then releases the magic as he says:

  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 the 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.