Summer's Cauldron

by G. L. Breedon

  “Could it be more than one Spirit Mage working together?” Alex asked mentally.

  “Possibly,” Batami said, her face pulling into a frown. She wore her usual white robe, but the folds of it shifted ever so slightly, as though caught in a breeze. Alex recognized it as a sign she was thinking deeply.

  “Do you think the figure in black might have something to do with it?” Alex asked.

  “It is hard to say,” Batami said. “This mysterious person seems to be with the carnival, but that does not mean he or she is working with the Shadow Wraith. We simply do not know enough. I will examine the barrier.” She turned her gaze to Alex, her voice firm. “You remain here.”

  Batami faded from his sight, leaving Alex alone in the yard. Not entirely alone. Sufina, the bone-white Titan wolf who was Batami’s constant companion, lay in the grass near the hut. Sufina could not see into the astral realm, but she did seem to be able to sense an astral presence and she turned her head back and forth for a moment after Batami’s disappearance. The massive wolf, bigger than any bear, snorted loudly and laid her head down between her paws. She knew enough not to worry about Batami.

  Although endlessly impressed with Batami’s skill and power as a Spirit Mage, Alex was not so easily reassured, especially when the Shadow Wraith was involved in events. He floated in the middle of the yard, his mind filled with anxious thoughts. It was odd, not having a body to reflect and amplify those thoughts, but this did not make them any less potent. Alex sought to calm his mind as Batami had taught him, imaging he was breathing deeply and calmly.

  Batami appeared once more in the clearing, her astral form glowing a deep cobalt blue. Alex willed himself to move to her and waited in mental silence. He had learned that asking Batami questions when she was considering something did not result in swift answers. The look in Batami’s eyes told him she was contemplating something very deeply.

  “I could not cross the barrier,” Batami said finally. “I cannot imagine it is the magic of a single Spirit Mage. Such a mage would be far more powerful than myself. While that is not impossible, in and of itself, for such a person to have escaped my attention would be beyond improbable. And I cannot imagine there are sufficient Spirit Mages hiding in the Carnival and working in league with the Shadow Wraith to produce such a barrier.”

  “Then what does that leave?” Alex asked.

  “Judging by how very little magic is being drawn from the land,” Batami said, “it can only be an artifact from the time of the War of the Shadow.”

  “It’d have to be thousands of years old,” Alex said, trying to imagine how such a magical artifact could survive for so long.

  “Before the War of the Shadow burned the magic from most of the land on the earth, such artifacts were common,” Batami said. “And they were well-made. But you are correct. Most of those artifacts have been lost or broken in the long years since the war. I suspect it has been kept by secret followers of the Shadow Wraith for all this time. Hidden to await the time when they might need it most.”

  “How do we break through the barrier?” Alex asked, hoping there was actually an answer to that question.

  “I don’t know,” Batami said. “From the size of the barrier and how little magic is being drained from the land to sustain it, I suspect it either has a reservoir of magical energy or it somehow is able to amplify the magical energy it draws.”

  Alex had seen objects enchanted to store magical energy to use at a later time. His father had several at the jailhouse. They were useful when mages needed to leave the magic of the Rune Valley behind. Especially if a warlock needed to pursue a suspect into the normal world. Most of these enchanted objects had some particular magical purpose, like creating light, or stunning blasts of energy, but others simply stored the magical energy so the mage who held them could conjure magic for a short time. However, Alex had never heard his father or anyone else mention an enchanted artifact that might be able to amplify magical energy.

  “We have to find the artifact,” Alex said, already formulating a plan in his head to do just that the next day when the carnival opened for business and he and his friends had the opportunity to use their golden tickets.

  “That will help,” Batami said, “but do not expect it to be any place easy to find. And it can be in nearly any form. I will continue to examine the barrier from the outside.”

  “If it’s in the carnival, the Guild will find it,” Alex said. “We’re good at finding things.”

  “Like the Rune Tree?” Batami asked, a smile briefly crossing her face.

  “Well, that’s taking a little longer than expected,” Alex said, his mental tone a little defensive. Batami was of the opinion the Rune Tree was nothing more than a myth handed down through the ages. A story to tell young mages at bedtime.

  “Nothing turned up in the Dead Forest?” Batami asked.

  “We found something,” Alex said, being vague to avoid mentioning how dangerous the adventure had turned, “but it wasn’t the Rune Tree.” If Batami knew how potentially deadly Alex’s quest for the Rune Tree had become, she would probably forbid him from continuing his search. To Batami, it was far more important Alex be alive to face the Shadow Wraith and its demented supporters than hunting for some legendary tree.

  “A fruitless endeavor, then?” Batami said.

  “We found an old cauldron, so it wasn’t a total waste of time,” Alex said.

  “A cauldron?” Batami said, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

  “It was outside an abandoned hut,” Alex said.

  “What did you do with the cauldron?” Batami asked.

  “We took it back to the Guild House,” Alex said. “Clark said it smells like deep magic.”

  “And you thought it wise to take a magic cauldron from the Dead Forest back to your home?” Batami said. The tone of her voice was familiar enough that Alex took a moment and paused to rethink his decision to take cauldron.

  “The hut hadn’t been used in years,” Alex said, bringing to mind the thick layer of dust coating the inside of the thatched roof shelter. “And the cauldron might be useful someday.”

  “You’re certain the hut was abandoned?” Batami asked.

  “Positive,” Alex said.

  “Curious,” Batami said, glancing off in the direction of the Dead Forest.

  “Do you know who it used to belong to?” Alex asked.

  “If it belongs to whom I suspect,” Batami’s said, her eyes narrowing with thought, “then you should be cautious of that cauldron. On the other hand, if it is the cauldron I know, it would not be abandoned. At least, I hope not. So…caution.”

  “Why does everyone think I don’t know how to be cautious?” Alex asked. He had intended the thought to be for himself alone, but Batami must have heard it clearly enough in her mind because she laughed.

  “It is only those who know you, who question your caution,” Batami said with a chuckle. “Now, since we cannot pursue the matter of the barrier around the carnival, or the agents of the Shadow Wraith hiding within it, any further this night, let us continue with your lessons. See if you can do this.”

  Batami turned and stretched her hands out before her, twin molten-blue lightning bolts leaping forth, striking a boulder ten feet away. Sufina, the Titan wolf, raised her head momentarily, but then settled back down to sleep. Few things unnerved her.

  “Wow,” Alex said, looking at the burn marks on the newly cracked boulder. Batami had been teaching him how to use magic while in astral form, but this had so far been confined to conjuring the wind, starting fires, moving small objects, and other more mundane actions. Creating lightning bolts while in astral form that could pulverize large boulders, and potentially large evil carnies, was exactly the kind of lesson Alex had been patiently, and sometimes not so patiently, waiting for. He smiled.

  “I think it’s time you begin learning a few more practical magics,” Batami said. “It seems you might have cause to need them.”

  Alex had no doubt he wo
uld need them. Once he and the Guild found the artifact creating the Spirit Barrier around the carnival and disabled it, someone would have to confront the Shadow Wraith’s followers. Alex knew that confrontation was as likely to take place in the astral realm as the real world.

  “Try,” Batami said, gesturing toward the boulder across the clearing.

  Alex smiled his astral-body-smile again.

  Chapter 9: Carnival Confections

  Alex woke up hot, exhausted, and starving. The open windows, and the small, magically powered fan blowing on him from the ceiling, did nothing to dissipate the heat and humidity clinging to the valley. At breakfast, his mother and sister both had their hair pulled back in ponytails. His father muttered a rune-spell and the temperature of the room chilled for a time, but it didn’t last.

  “Unseasonably hot,” his father said, buttering a slice of toast.

  “Maybelle should do something about it,” his mother said, sipping at her coffee. Maybelle Meriwether was the local weather witch.

  “Maybe she’s saving her weather charms for when it really gets hot,” his father said.

  “Maybe she’s afraid she’ll cause another summer blizzard like she did last year,” Nina said with a giggle.

  Alex was about to say something, but it came out as a yawn. He covered his mouth with one hand and then stuffed a bite of egg into it with the other. Astral travel always left him extra hungry and extra tired. He wasn’t really asleep while in his astral form and something about the process left his physical body much depleted.

  “Long night with Batami?” his father asked. His parents knew about his training with Batami, but since they never asked for many details, he rarely gave them any. This morning, he decided to tell them about the suspected artifact creating an astral barrier around the carnival.

  “After that, she insisted on a longer lesson,” Alex concluded a few minutes later.

  His mother and father shared a look between themselves before his father spoke. “I’ve never heard of an artifact like that.”

  “Neither have I,” his mother said. “We can check the books tonight, but I don’t remember ever reading of such a thing.” Alex’s mother loved to collect books and there were thousands of them around the house, overfilling shelves, stacked in corners, and piled on stairs. “Be careful today,” she added.

  “Careful is my middle name,” Alex said.

  “You’re middle name is Reckless,” his mother said.

  “I thought it was Stupid,” Nina said.

  “Your mother and I will be at the carnival, as well,” his father said, ignoring the banter. “If something goes wrong, blow these.” He took two small whistles from his pocket and handed them to Alex and Nina. He handed one more to their mother and held up a fourth in his hand. “Each one of these is linked to the others. Blow one and all will sound.”

  “And we’ll know you need us and where you are,” his mother said.

  “The whistles give a tug toward the one that blew,” his father said. “So we’ll know what direction to run.”

  “Cool,” Nina said, blowing on her whistle and smiling as the other three sounded in response.

  “We need to get some of these for the Guild,” Alex said, examining the whistle and trying to sense the enchantments upon it.

  “Keep them handy,” his father said, staring at Alex. “And heed your mother. If you think you see the person in the cloak, or if you recognize one of the voices from the tent, find us or blow the whistle. Don’t try to save the town by yourself this time.”

  “I wasn’t by myself,” Alex said. “I had Nina and the Guild.”

  His parents frowned, but said nothing. Nina, meanwhile, grinned, and Alex knew why. It would only be a few more days and she would be old enough to be an official member of the Young Sorcerers Guild.

  After breakfast, Alex and Nina stopped by the Guild House in the backyard to collect a few other items Alex thought might be useful. They found Daphne and Clark examining the cauldron from the Dead Forest. Clark held the cauldron upside down while Daphne stood beneath it, her head deep inside its cast-iron shadows.

  “Don’t drop that,” Nina said.

  “Hmm, that’d be the last thing I’d do,” Clark said with a grimace.

  “You’re gorping right it’d be the last thing you’d do,” Daphne said, her voice made louder by the echo from within the cauldron.

  “If you’re going to cook her,” Alex said, “you have to turn the pot the other way around.”

  “Hmmm,” Clark said with a quizzical look that Alex wasn’t sure was a frown of disgust or a hungry smile.

  “Very funny,” Daphne said, emerging from beneath the cauldron. “We’re trying to figure out what it does.” Clark took this as his cue to set the cauldron down.

  “Good idea,” Alex said. “Any luck yet?”

  “Mmmm, not really” Clark said. “I can smell the magic, but it doesn’t smell like anything in particular. Except maybe onions.”

  “Even I can smell the gorping onions,” Daphne said.

  “Onions?” Nina asked.

  “Someone used it to cook a soup, I think,” Daphne said. “But other than that, I can’t tell what it’s used for or what the magic is supposed to do. We’re going to run some tests on it later.”

  “Tests?” Alex said.

  “You know, light a fire under it and see what happens when we put different things inside,” Daphne said.

  “Things?” Nina said.

  “Nothing dangerous,” Daphne said. “Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan.”

  “Hmmm,” Clark said.

  “Now I know how people feel when I say that all the time,” Alex said with a laugh.

  Daphne frowned and punched him in the arm on her way out the door. Alex laughed again and followed her.

  “Let’s get to the carnival,” Daphne said. “We have work to do.”

  “More than you think,” Alex said, feeling the laughter fade away.

  A few minutes later, the Guild assembled under the old sycamore tree at the edge of the carnival. Alex’s mother had managed to convince their parents they would all be safe enough to attend the carnival in broad daylight. The Guild stood in a circle and listened to Alex explain his attempts to use astral travel to spy on the carnival and the surprising results.

  “I can ask Daddy if he’s ever heard of such an artifact,” Victoria said when Alex had finished. “He’s ever-so-knowledgeable about such things.”

  “We’ll check my mom’s books tonight,” Alex said. “The library will be closed all weekend.”

  “We could always break in again,” Rafael said in a dry tone. “It was so much fun and so successful the last time.”

  “No,” Alex said, frowning at the memory. “We have enough to do today trying to find the followers of the Shadow Wraith and this artifact.”

  “Mystery person,” Ben said. “We also need to find the person in the cloak.”

  “I’m not so sure it’s someone from the carnival,” Alex said.

  “So what in the name of Theseus’s toenails are we waiting for?” Daphne said, stomping off toward the carnival.

  The others looked at each other silently for a moment and then followed Daphne toward the carnival and all the dark mysteries it contained. Normally, Alex would have been filled with excitement about spending a day at a carnival, but the feeling that caused his stomach to tighten more with each step toward the colorful tents was not enthusiasm. It was fear. People were trying free the Shadow Wraith again and whoever those people were, they knew who Alex was, and they had no compunction about trying to kill him.

  However, it wasn’t himself he was so much worried for. His sister, his parents, his friends, and the whole town were in danger. Focusing on that thought helped turn his fear into anger. Anger was an emotion Alex knew could get him into trouble, but a ball of anger in his stomach felt better than a knot of fear.

  Alex and the Guild showed the ticket taker at the entrance booth their golden tickets. Th
e ticket taker, an old man with a gray beard and a gray fedora on his head, frowned at the tickets and then at Alex and the Guild. He seemed unhappy to lose so many paying customers, but eventually, he waved them through.

  Victoria said her goodbyes and headed off to help staff the booth of magical inventions her father had setup. After their tour of the grounds, and their adventures the night before, Alex and the Guild were very familiar with the carnival, but they were not used to seeing so many people present.

  Word must have traveled fast, because it seemed like the whole town and most of the residents of the Rune Valley had descended upon the carnival. Normally, the Founders Festival was a one-day event, held on Saturday in the town center, in front of the statue of the five founders of Runewood. The presence of the carnival had extended the festivities to include Friday and the entire weekend. The carnival would close its gates on Sunday night, pack up and be gone the following morning. This meant the Shadow Wraith’s followers had a limited window of time in which to accomplish their dark mischief. It also meant Alex and the Guild had a limited amount of time to stop them.

  They wandered through the carnival grounds, pretending to be just a group of local kids out having fun. They used their golden tickets to pay for games, rides, and entrance to the various sideshows. Alex avoided the rides, preferring to leave them to the others.

  As they walked, they tried to taste as much of the various carnival food as they could. They ate magical cotton candy that shifted shape as it got smaller, beginning as an elephant, becoming a lion, then a hawk, and ending as a mouse. They consumed cones of ice-cream that changed flavors as it melted, starting off as chocolate, becoming lime, then banana, then coconut, then peppermint, then pistachio, and then finally, strawberry.