Wizard Dawning (The Battle Wizard Saga, No. 1)

by Lance, C. M.

  Mumbling unintelligible words, he simultaneously motioned with his hands over the water. The water darkened, becoming opaque. He stared at it intently.

  Meredith gazed into the pan from the other side of the table.

  "Damn," he muttered. "See. Nothing." He swatted his hand over the pan in disgust.

  But, there is something. "What's that glow over there?" She waved a finger over part of the pan.

  "It's just a reflection, from…." His hand pointed toward the ceiling. However, where he pointed, there wasn't anything to cause a glow.

  Thor waved his palm over the pan. The glow remained no matter where he moved his hand.

  He leaned closer to the pan, scanning the water's surface intently and mumbling as if to himself. "If he were in the dark… Where is it dark? Night, a room, a cave, a car trunk, a container, coffin…."

  "Coffin?! Don't say that," Meredith exclaimed.

  Thor looked embarrassed. "Don't worry. I'm just thinking about how much I need to move the point of view to figure out where that is." He said, nodding at the pan.

  He stared fixedly at the water, and began to mumble and motion with his hands. The only change came when the glow faded away. Soon the pan showed only blank blackness. Thor continued to mutter and move his hands. It took on a rhythmic chant.

  Meredith continued to watch the pan. Suddenly it brightened and shapes began to form. "Look," she exclaimed.

  Thor panted in gasps, eyes clamped shut, brows furrowed, and sweat beading his face.

  His eyes opened and focused on the changing scene within. Browns and tans replaced the former black. Some green crept in. The colors took on shapes; becoming scrub bushes and rocks—lots of rocks—large rocks. He continued to chant and make pulling motions with his hands and then stopped. They were looking at a low-level aerial view.

  "Does anything look familiar," he asked, between gasps.

  Meredith looked at him with concern. "No, it could be anywhere hilly and rocky. There's just a dirt tracking leading to it."

  "That's what I feared," he sighed and limply slid into a chair breathing rapidly. The vision in the pan disappeared.

  "Are you okay? What can I get you?" She felt concern for him. He looked so weak and tired.

  "Glass of water."

  She handed him a glass as his breathing slowed.

  He took it with a weak smile and a nod. He sipped a bit then a bit more. "Takes more out of me every time."

  "Maybe you shouldn't do it."

  "Have to. To find Sig."

  "Did you find him?"

  "That's who I searched for. It has to be him. I'm glad you suggested it. I didn't imagine he wouldn't have the talisman."

  "How do you know he doesn't have it.?"

  "If he had it, I wouldn't have found him. It keeps spells like remote viewing from finding him."

  "Why wouldn't he have it.?'

  He grimaced and then looked up at her. "The answer to that question is what worries me."

  "What do we do now?"

  Grampa's head hung, facing the floor. "Please make me some food," he whispered. "I have to rest and eat, and then try again."

  He started to rise from the chair and fell back, off balance. Meredith grabbed to prevent him falling. He grabbed her around the waist.

  "Can you get me to the recliner? I'm so weak," he whispered.

  She squatted and threw his arm over her shoulder. She rose, dragging him up. They shuffled into the family room and she maneuvered him until he could collapse into his chair.

  He breathed deeply with eyes closed. "Thank the gods you're a strong woman."

  She patted his shoulder. "I'll whip something up."

  "Make sure it has sugar. I need quick energy."

  She returned quickly with two sandwiches, one chicken salad, the other roast beef, and a glass of milk. Grampa breathed heavily, sound asleep. She laid the plate and glass on the table beside him and went back to finish preparing brownies.

  When the brownies were ready, she took a plateful with her and went to wake him.

  He was breathing more easily and his eyes snapped open when she shook his shoulder. "Wha . . . Meredith… We need to get Sig."

  He tried to rise from the chair and she pushed him back.

  "Not before you eat and drink. I don't want to lose you too." She pointed to the food. "Eat. Then we'll find Sig." Not wanting to hover while he ate, she went back into the kitchen.

  When she returned, both sandwiches were gone as well as half the plate of brownies. "My you've gotten your appetite back."

  "Not really. I have to eat. I've got work to do."

  "What do we have to do?"

  "I have to perform a remote viewing again and then pull back away from him until we can see the surroundings to determine where he is. It looks like he's in a cave or a shelter, although I didn't see any buildings."

  "I didn't either, just rocks and vegetation.

  "You said he went to work on his geology project. That could involve a cave."

  "You saw his truck still at the library. There weren't any vehicles in the vicinity in the short time we looked at the scene in the water. He had to get there somehow."

  "I don't like the situation at all. I have to find him." He started to rise and Meredith helped heave him up. He tottered back into the kitchen and slumped into a chair next to the pan of water on the table. He stared down into it.

  "What do we do next?" Meredith asked.

  "I'm going to find him again and then draw back, as before, but further. We need to find features, markers, landmarks, rivers, streams, roads, anything that will tell us where that is." Grampa said, pointing at the pan. "If we can get close, there are other things I can do, but we have to get within range."

  "Tell me what to do."

  "Note what you see when I start the viewing—anything that will help us find that location. Another set of eyes helps, like you've already shown."

  She stepped over to the small desk in the kitchen and came back with a notepad and pencil. "I'll write down anything you tell me or that I see."

  Grampa nodded and began to mumble and wave his hands over the water.

  "Look there's the glow!" Meredith said, and then felt fear. "It's not as bright as before."

  Grampa nodded slightly and changed to a pulling motion. The scene changed much more rapidly than last time. Where there had been black, suddenly color burst into being. Colors took on shape and became scenery. The scenery shrunk in size as the vision pulled away. It was similar to a movie where the camera went from a close up to a panoramic shot.

  They travelled in the direction of the car track. It meandered into and out of view while they pulled straight back, rising at an angle above the woods. Meredith scribbled as the scenery changed. A small stream crossed the track and suddenly the track ended at a gate leading to a dirt road.

  "Stop, there's a road. Can you follow it?" She asked.

  "Not very well," he croaked. "I'm focused on Sig. I go closer and further, or around him. Can't follow the road."

  Meredith considered those limitations. "Pull back, we'll try to see a crossroad."

  "What time is it?" Grampa whispered.

  "It's 12:30."

  "Where are the shadows? That's north."

  "Oh, yes, that helps." She scribbled again.

  The view in the pan began traveling again, away from the dirt road, further from Sig. Movement accelerated. Meredith watched anxiously.

  "Wait, through the trees, there's a road. It's to the right."

  The scene steadied and then began to swing right. Grampa remained silent. His head hung over the pan.

  The scene passed over a narrow paved road. "You passed the road. Go back," Meredith said urgently.

  The scene slowed and finally stopped. Then it began to move, but not back the way it had come.

  It approached the paved road on a diagonal, passed over it and then passed over the dirt road.

  Grampa groaned. The scene shifted right, past the dirt r
oad and then changed direction again. It approached the intersection of the two roads.

  "There are signs. Get closer."

  Grampa moaned.

  Two signs. One square and white and the other a blue and white pentagon. Meredith copied down the two numbers, but couldn't read the county designation.

  "Closer." She leaned forward closer to the water. The scene faded away and then the pan slid toward her. Water sloshed over the edge. Grampa's head hit the table and he rolled out of the chair in a faint.

  "Oh no!" She dropped to her knees next to him to check his pulse. Still beating. He took shallow breaths, but he was breathing. She exhaled a sigh of relief.

  She rose and retrieved a pillow from the couch in the family room. Tucking it under his head, she checked for cuts or lumps from his fall.

  His eyes cracked open. "Let me lie. Get a blanket." She pulled two blankets out of the linen closet and draped them over him and then sat next to him and rubbed her fingers through his white hair. He looked so fragile with his eyes closed, breathe erratic.

  She remained there while his breathing smoothed out. After almost ten minutes, his eyes slitted open. "Can you help me to the chair again?"

  After he settled in the recliner, she stretched her back, glad for her natural strength.

  "What can I do Grampa?" She asked, after she draped the blankets over him.

  He looked up at her from under his white bushy eyebrows. "A Stoli?"

  She smiled.

  "And maybe some more brownies?"

  She felt relief. He would live. Now they needed to make sure Sig would.

  Meredith let Grampa Thor sleep for three hours as he requested. While he recovered, she researched the intersection revealed in the viewing pan. After printing Google maps she had found, and making a list of items to bring, she went to wake Grampa at four p.m.

  He rested more easily. The half-full Stoli glass clasped in one hand, balanced on his stomach, rose and fell in time to his light snores. A half-eaten brownie lay on the carpet below where his other hand dangled.

  He woke up with a start when she picked up the Stoli glass from his stomach. With wide eyes, he asked, "Is it time?"

  "It's four o'clock. We have a little over three hours of daylight left. It's going to take us about an hour to get to the intersection you revealed in the scrying pan. I've made a list of things to take with us, including flashlights, rope, bolt cutters, blankets, water, and food."

  Thor scrubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands and threw off the blankets. "Got blankets here." He levered himself out of the chair, under his own power. It was a good sign that the rest had helped.

  Meredith handed the list and a pencil to him. "See what we need to add."

  He checked off several items and added a few to the bottom. "Here y'go. That looks pretty complete. I have to get a few things from my room. Get your things and meet me at my truck."

  Grampa came out carrying a gym bag and helped Meredith load their paraphernalia into the back seat of the dually pickup. He held the passenger door open for her, and said, "You're the navigator."

  She handed the maps to him and held out her hand for the keys. "I've ridden with you. We're in a hurry. You navigate and I'll drive."

  He shrugged and climbed into the passenger seat. It wasn't the first time he'd heard complaints about his driving.

  After starting the pickup, Meredith leaned over and pointed at the maps. "They're in order and I highlighted the routes to take."

  "Let's go."

  They arrived at the intersection seen in the pan of water in just under an hour. Meredith knew her driving made Grampa nervous, but he managed to keep his grunts and gasps to a minimum as she exceeded all posted speed limits.

  Now the truck rolled along, well under the speed limit as she watched for the gate and narrow track leading away from the dirt road. Gravel growled and splattered when she hit the brakes and swung toward the gate when she spotted it.

  Grampa followed her when she jumped out with the bolt cutters. "Here let me do that dear."

  "Grampa, you need to save your strength. I can get this."

  He stepped back as she set the cutters onto a link in the rusted chain. Pressing one handle against her thigh for leverage, she used both hands on the other handle and pulled. Veins bulged on her forehead before the chain sheared with a pop.

  As she swung the gate open, she hollered, "OK, you drive now. I'll keep watch." His familiarity with the truck in rough terrain outweighed his driving idiosyncrasies, with speed no longer of the essence.

  Where the dirt track ended, they both jumped out and looked up at the towering cliff of rock and boulders. Meredith wended her way along what looked like a footpath containing what looked like fresh sneaker imprints in the dust. It dead-ended at an enormous boulder with many smaller rocks piled behind it and the cliff.

  "What now?" She said, turning back toward Grampa.

  He stood with his eyes squinted, his hands thrust forward, nose wrinkling as he sniffed the air. "There's been a demon here. Can you smell the sulfur?"

  After a couple of sniffs, she shook her head.

  Looking over the pile of rocks, he shook his head. "These have been freshly moved. See the discoloration there and there?" He pointed. "Look at the fresh dirt on these boulders. It matches the exposed dirt up there." Pointing again.

  He dropped to his knees and began smoothing the dirt. "Will you please bring me my bag, the pan, and the water jugs?" Without waiting for her response, he began drawing in the dirt with the tip of his pocketknife. He finished and took the pan and poured water out of one of the jugs into it. Fishing in his bag he brought out an artifact that looked like a finger bone with feathers tied to it.

  Holding it up, he said, "An American Indian seeking charm." He placed it on the water gently so that it floated. Raising his hands above the water, he began chanting. The artifact began moving around the pan, gently spinning back and forth and then moving hesitantly as if seeking something. The swings slowed and it stopped.

  Grampa's head fell to his chest. "Damn." He looked up to Meredith with despairing eyes. "He's either under or behind that pile of rocks."

  Her legs turned to rubber and she collapsed next to Grampa. "How can we get him out?"

  Grampa Thor stared at the rock pile, despair etched across his face. "I don't think my magic is strong enough anymore to move all of that." Nevertheless, he pushed up against the nearest rock and rose to his feet.

  He stood, swaying, while he examined the wall of boulders, looking for weaknesses he could take advantage of.

  He felt a hand on his shoulder.

  "Grampa, you don't have to do it by yourself. It's the twenty-first century. Let's take advantage of technology."

  He turned fully to look at Meredith. "What do you mean?"

  "We have the tractor with a backhoe, chains to pull the rocks, your dually pickup truck, and Sig's truck. Let's use what we have and save your magic for when we need it."

  "But it's almost dark. It will take hours to drive the tractor here."

  "We have a trailer to haul it on. We don't have to drive it. The tractor has lights that will allow us to work even if it's dark. We've operated it in the dark several times. There's a portable generator and work lights, too."

  He felt the crushing despair lift from his shoulders. He reached out and pulled her into a crushing hug. "I'm so glad I have you. No wonder Sig is such a wonderful man."

  He released her and stepped back. He felt tears welling and brushed his fist at his eye. "What are we waiting for? Let's get going!" A chortle burst out. "I even want you to drive."

  †††

  They arrived back at the rock wall well after dark. Meredith lead the way in Sig's four wheel drive pickup, followed by Grampa Thor pulling a trailer laden with the tractor, backhoe combination and the portable generator behind his pickup.

  Meredith unloaded and set up work lights on stands around the perimeter and dragged heavy duty chains up close to the stac
k of boulders while Grampa unstrapped the tractor and dropped the trailer ramp in preparation for unloading.

  More familiar with the tractor's operation, from having seen it in use around the farm, Meredith backed it down and around to the rock pile. She climbed down to confer with Thor on the best approach.

  "The good news is, I don't think he's underneath or right behind the pile," Grampa said. "I had to move the viewing point a long distance before we saw daylight. That's the bad news, he's deep inside that hill somewhere. "

  "We need to pull those two huge boulders on the top of the pile to the side, so I can get the tractor in close to dig out the smaller rocks below them. Let's use your pickup and the chain to pull them down." She grabbed the chain and climbed the pile to wrap it around a chunk of roughly egg-shaped rock about half the size of a smart car.

  After fastening the end of the chain to Grampa's trailer hitch, he applied power in low gear and straightened the chain taut. Continuing to apply pressure, nothing happened, until he jammed the gas pedal down and spun all four wheels. The top of the boulder began to tilt away from the cliff.

  It picked up speed and rolled forward, directly toward the truck. Meredith pounded on the side of the truck bed and shouted, "Go, Go, Go."

  The chain cradle she had draped over the top of the rock pulled free as it turned over and Grampa accelerated down the dirt track, chain dragging, and boulder bounding down the pile in pursuit.

  The huge rock hit the flat area, bounded in the air, wobbled to the side when it landed, and came to rest. Meredith sprinted to the side to avoid being crushed.

  They followed the same process three more times, to remove large hunks of rock from the top of the pile.

  Meredith backed the tractor close, stopped, and said, "I'm not very good with this thing. Please stay out of the way. I don't want to knock any rocks onto you."

  At that warning, he gingerly hobbled to the side. When he was clear, she scraped and lifted chunks with the backhoe.

  After fifteen minutes of watching, and occasionally dodging rolling rocks, he came forward waving his hands. "Let me go up and look. I think I saw an opening." He scrambled up the rock slide to the top and turned to thrust his fist in the air. "We have an opening!"