In Pursuit Of Wisdom (Book 1)

by Steve M. Shoemake

  Phillip had stood there watching the entire conversation bounce around the room from one to another. Kyle’s description of Magi was very interesting. Frightening, actually. But he pushed all that was pushed to the back of his mind as his near-term fate hung on the emotional whims of a seventeen-year-old woman. Put aside this cleric nonsense and let’s stay here! Or go back to Brigg!

  Kari walked over to Belara and bowed. “Thank you for your guidance, Mistress. But I feel compelled to seek answers in Urthrax.” She turned to the Queen. “We will depart this afternoon according to plan, Your Majesty.”

  Phillip fought hard not to cry again.

  Queen Najalas

  Later that morning, the Queen waited patiently for Jonathon to call out the name of the first petitioner. Kari, Kyle, Sarah, Rebecca, and Phillip were all seated near the back; they had been allowed to hear petitioners, as were other ancillary members of the Queen’s court, from time to time. This being their last day in Rookwood, they wanted to get as much time with the Queen as possible.

  Niku and Simon were also there, seated near the Queen, all drinking a fragrant tea, its scent wafting throughout the Great Hall. Belara stood on the other side of the Queen, somewhat more stoic than she had been earlier that morning. Strongiron, apparently, was with his army lieutenants in training, for he still was nowhere to be seen.

  “Let’s have our first petitioner,” the Queen ordered, somewhat impatiently. “We have an excursion to see off today.”

  “Yes, my Queen. We have only one petitioner this morning. The True Mage Magi Blacksmooth, from Brigg.”

  There was a gasp in the back of the room. Magi didn’t even turn his head as he entered the Hall from the side parlor where all petitioners gathered to be heard before their name was called. As he walked toward the Queen in the front of the room, he lowered his hood to reveal his shoulder-length, auburn hair. He had grown a full beard over the last several weeks, and he now sported the sign of a mage who has successfully Climbed: his pure white eyes.

  The Queen stood as he approached. “I have heard of you.”

  Magi nodded. “And I’ve obviously heard of you, my Queen.”

  The Queen saw Kari and Kyle approaching from the back of the Hall, Rebecca and Phillip right behind. She held up her hand to stop them. “To what do we owe this visit, Magi?”

  The mage narrowed his eyes. He knew from years of looking up at his former master’s face just how unnerving that particular facial expression was. “I am here to report an injustice, my Queen.”

  “What injustice?”

  “I have been deceived. It has been made known to me that as a small child, I was kidnapped, and only recently have I met my natural father. I discovered this man was murdered recently, his throat slashed. I believe the man who stole my childhood to be the murderer, and I would like you to use your resources throughout Elvidor to help identify him and bring him to your court to answer for his crimes. He is a mage—a rogue True Mage—and his name is Marik Kinshaw. He used to run a school in Brigg. My old school.”

  The Queen leaned back in her throne. “That is quite an accusation. Do you have proof of this?”

  “I can direct your mages to my father’s body. We can teleport together this very minute if you like.”

  “That won’t be necessary. But tell me, if you are right and the man whom you accuse of this crime is guilty—this man being your former teacher, a True Mage you say? Then why would he slash your father’s throat? Is that typically how mages kill people?” she asked pointedly.

  The Queen watched Magi closely. She found his story odd, to say the least, and was wary of him to begin with, based on what Pilanthas and more recently Kyle had shared with her about this man. But for some reason I think, at least, that he believes what he is saying, even if I have my doubts.

  “I can’t answer that, my Queen. But when you hear his story and mine together, I will leave it to you to judge the truth.”

  Queen Najalas leaned forward in her throne. “Will you truly ‘leave it to me’? Your request reeks of revenge. Should I expect you to sit there quietly if I bring this Marik into court and sit him there next to you?” She leaned back again. “Tell me, Magi. What do you really want with Master Kinshaw? Why do you call him ‘rogue’?”

  “I wish to have a conversation with him. I was hoping you could help find him. As for why he is rogue—I believe he is an agent of an ancient foe. I would like to determine that for myself.”

  “An ancient foe? Who might that be?”

  “A self-styled God that you may have heard in your bedtime stories: Kuth-Cergor.” Another series of gasps, some derisive laughter, and mostly chatter immediately filled the room. Jonathon’s loud voice silenced the crowd.

  The Queen panned around the room again. Miss Sarah had moved away from the crowds, constantly looking around for some reason. Kyle and Kari shared a shocked look between them. Simon and Niku nodded to one another.

  The Queen regarded Magi for several moments. The silence in the Hall grew awkward. Finally Magi spoke again. “If you are unwilling to post a warrant for this man’s capture for questioning, I’ll be on my way and trouble your court no longer.” He pulled the hood back up over his head.

  The Queen raised her hand. “Wait, True Mage. Will you—join us?” She didn’t know how to be anything but direct.

  Magi tilted his head. “Join you? Join you in doing what?”

  “We are fighting the same foe. I have heard you are a strong mage—we will need all the help this land can muster. Stay.” Her tone was as soft and as unQueenlike as anything anyone in the room had ever heard from her.

  “He won’t stay. He never does.”

  All eyes in the Great Hall turned toward the voice behind Magi that belonged to the beautiful woman with intoxicating green eyes that had won over the hearts and minds of so many earlier that morning.

  Magi slowly turned around and faced Kari, who stood right behind him. He lowered his hood once again and looked upon her for the first time with his white eyes. Though it didn’t change his vision in the slightest, his appearance would never be the same. She sucked in her breath slightly at the sight.

  And then he slapped her, sending her sprawling on the floor, lip bloodied.

  “You are the last one to issue proclamations about commitment!” Magi strode toward the exit when he heard another familiar voice. Glancing over, he saw Kyle shouting as he began moving his hands.

  Magi surrounded himself effortlessly in a body-hugging invisible shield, his fingers crushing a small marble without the slightest of pauses. Ten missiles struck his shield and evaporated into nothingness, while all around him the Great Hall erupted into chaos.

  “Goodbye, Kyle.” Magi sent one missile at Kyle, who was putting up a pathetic shield of his own, to no avail. The missile exploded through his magical defenses, boring a hole straight through his body the size of a melon. He grunted unceremoniously and convulsed on the floor in his sister’s arms. He was dead a few seconds later as the blood emptied out of his body.

  “KYLE!” screamed Kari.

  “SEIZE HIM, SIMON!” screamed the Queen, standing up.

  And then Magi was gone. Teleported away on the wings of his Art.

  The Queen was staring and pointing at the spot where Magi had just teleported. Without turning to Jonathon, she declared, “The True Mage Magi Blacksmooth is to be found and executed. I do not need a trial—my own eyes testify to his guilt. Send his likeness to every Lord and Elder throughout Elvidor with an open death warrant of five thousand gold crowns. Nobody commits murder in the center of my court, and his sentence is to be carried out by any who can.”

  Veronica

  As Simon roared and the Queen issued her proclamation, Veronica sensed an opportunity. Option #3? It is an open contract, non-exclusive, but still…five thousand gold crowns! A ridiculously lucrative bounty. As for Strongiron…she couldn’t kill someone she couldn’t find, and the General was nowhere to be found. The poison dart with his name on i
t was tucked securely in her sleeve, just waiting for a glimpse of the man. Fine morning he picked to not show up in court.

  But perhaps this solved her dilemma. Finding this Magi might be the only way to avoid getting sent to another continent without blowing her cover. Now or never.

  She climbed onto a table, and with a shrill whistle brought the commotion to a halt. Even Jonathon looked up at her, somewhat impressed with her ability to command the attention of the Hall. She raised her voice loud enough for all to hear. “My Queen, I, too, believe in Fate. I was here to witness this for a reason. My Queen—I beseech you—let me track this animal down. I have travelled the length and breadth of Elvidor, and I can find this man because I can find this Marik. My path has crossed his, and I know where he is headed. Soon Magi will, too, with the power that he wields. Let me find this man for you and bring him to justice or justice to him in the name of the Queen! Only then will my mind be at peace enough to be of any service to Dymetra. Please, your Majesty. Let your excursion continue to Urthrax, but let my path first intercept the “real” rogue mage—this Magi Blacksmooth. No one here but me can cross under the mountains. He may teleport, but I will not be far behind.”

  The Queen looked at Veronica and narrowed her eyes, angrily waving her hand in a dismissive fashion. “You seem awfully quick to abandon a path toward God to become a bounty hunter, but I do not care. Do as you will.” Veronica locked eyes with the Queen, bowed slowly, and stepped off the table, turning to leave.

  The Queen looked at Jonathon and pointed at Kyle’s body. “Yes, my Queen,” he said as he began to attend to a devastated Kari and the corpse of her brother.

  Finally, the Queen spoke. “Council in my chambers, within the hour. Alert Peter and Strongiron.”

  Veronica’s ears perked up as she turned to leave. A council meeting in the Queen’s chambers within the hour…Alert Peter and Strongiron. She nodded politely to one of the guards that Simon dispatched to go track down the rest of the Queen’s council. Soon others began leaving, and Veronica began making her way through the castle as well.

  She wasn’t leaving, however. She was going hunting here in Rookwood— one last time. Back to Option 2.

  The wide hallway that led to the Queen’s chamber had sentries posted on either side of the large double doors. There was no place to hide there. But one of the former Kings of Rookwood wanted balconies built on either side of this long hallway so servants could throw roses down the long path that led to the Royal Chamber, presumably whenever the King took a wife. Veronica had heard that story while at court, and when she asked to see it, she saw that the balconies were empty. With a little exploring, she found the stairs that led up to the balcony, and they were unused and unguarded. The sentries on either side of the door could see up there, but if you stood at a tight angle, in the shadows, and were silent…she would have a shot. A tough one, to be sure, but a shot. Strongiron would have to pass that way to enter the Queen’s chamber, unless there was some other way inside that she didn’t know about.

  She carefully positioned herself, looking down at the sentry furthest from her. It was a very tight angle for a dart, and a miss would ricochet loudly off stone opposite her. Furthermore, the target would have to be the face or neck—she couldn’t afford to strike armor and have the poison wasted. An even bigger problem than the angle or the unforgiving stone along the far wall was her escape route out of the castle. She would have to move very quickly, and use every form of distraction she had at her disposal.

  One poison shot, and I have to be running as soon as I release it. The only thing left to do now…was wait.

  Helmut

  “So, tell me again what this is about. You said your name was Helmut?”

  Lord Corovant was dressed, as was his penchant, in full regal splendor. Though he wore no crown, as it interfered with his silken, blonde hair, a more stylish man could not be found in all of Gaust. His palace, across from the Great Library, was also truly spectacular. Each room seemed to be more ornate than the last. It was no wonder he rarely left the place.

  He sat on a dais in his Audience Hall, surrounded by guards and other important-looking men who looked, well, important. The raised platform on which he sat was easily 6 or 8 feet above the petitioners that he allowed to visit for 15 minutes every other morning. It was therefore not an accident that the Lord of the City of Gaust gazed down at this sailor.

  “Aye. Helmut Bowhistle, first mate of a merchant ship—ever hear of The Modest Mermaid?” he asked uncomfortably.

  “No.”

  “Ah, no matter, no matter,” Helmut mumbled, then spoke up again. “You see, my Lord, I’m looking for a man. Reckon he’d be about this tall.” Helmut held his hand to the bottom of his neck. “Actually, he may appear a wee bit taller than that, beggin’ yer pardon.” He raised his hand about another six inches or so, shrugging his shoulders a bit.

  “So you are looking for a man of questionable height. Before you waste more of my time, do get to the point. Why should I care what this man has done? Answer me that and then you can come up with something more identifiable than his indeterminate height. You have six minutes remaining.” Lord Corovant smoothed the wrinkles from the sleeves of his deep purple, silken tunic.

  “Yes, Lord. To the point. This man is a thief and a murderer.” He looked up at the Lord, who decided to pay attention when he said the man was a killer.

  “What did he steal, and who did he kill?”

  Helmut smiled nervously. “He, uh, stole a large gem, my Lord. The most beautiful purple stone you ever did see. A stone that would match the very tunic you wear, my Lord. Killed two of my men aboard the Mermaid while out to sea, he did. I thought you should be aware of the man, see’in as you have people to protect and all that.”

  Lord Corovant leaned forward. “Killed your men while out to sea? If you could not catch him aboard a ship at sea, I find it laughable that you want me to spend resources on him now. What did he do, fly home to land? You have four minutes left.”

  Helmut backed up, smiling again with nerves. “He is a tricky devil, my Lord. He escaped in a lifeboat during a storm at night. We couldn’t find him in the dark, rolling water. But he left two of my men dead and, like I said, he’s stolen a gem.”

  “You have no idea whether he even came to Gaust or perished in the storm, do you?” Lord Corovant appeared to be quickly losing interest in the conversation.

  “Well, I, no. I do not, my Lord. But if he is here, he would be easy to spot, my Lord. Red hair, mismatched eyes. I would think you would want to have your mages put a sketch together or something. There would be taxes to be collected if the gem was returned to me, of course.” Helmut flashed Lord Corovant a smile brimming with crooked teeth and crooked intent.

  “Well, of course you’ll pay taxes, assuming the gem is yours to begin with—something I’m not inclined to take at face value. Regardless, I will have my mages lift his image from your memory and put it to parchment; seems like more and more warrants are being requested daily. This one was sent to us just this morning from none other than our Queen.” Lord Corovant pointed to an unraveled scroll that he had posted on a wall near Helmut. Embedded in the parchment was a magical, shimmering image of a man with long, auburn hair, and white eyes. “Apparently this mage had the gall to openly commit murder in the midst of her court. She has sent his image to all the cities and villages in Elvidor, warning us and informing us that this man is to be brought before her by any means necessary, alive or dead. Have you ever seen this man?” Lord Corovant was already summoning his steward to take Helmut to see the staff mages that would create the image of the man on the new warrant.

  Helmut narrowed his eyes and instinctively put one hand over another—covering up his newfound ring. “Nay, my Lord. I have not,” he lied. “But I thank you for hearin’ me. We do live in such a Dark World, don’t we?” He stared at the shimmering face of the mage on the Queen’s warrant before leaving quietly with Lord Corovant’s steward.

 
Magi

  There was a small voice, buried deep within Magi, which had wept as he drilled a hole through his best friend’s chest. Shaking it off, he teleported to where he thought, just maybe, he might find Marik. This silly quest for a staff would have to wait until he made that man pay for lying to him all these years.

  It was with great purpose and anticipation that he arrived in Brigg.

  “Magi, is that you?” Black-John smiled up as he put down his hammer and backed away from the forge to shake Magi’s hand. “Oh, man. You made it to the top, didn’t you? Good for you! Look at them white eyes. Gonna take me awhile to get used to that. Saw you teleport back. Always told people that you wouldn’t have no problem. Seeing some of his other students pass their tests, always figured you’d get through it with your eyes closed, pardon the saying. So does it change your vision? Can you still see alright? How’d Kyle do? You boys sure were thicker than thieves growing up—”

  “Actually, I’m not sure where he is.” Half a lie, I suppose. “So, you haven’t seen Marik around, have you?”

  “Nah, not since you three left with Venatus all those months ago. Everything okay?” Black-John extended a sweaty, calloused hand to the boy he’d known for years.

  Magi paused, then shook it briefly and forced a smile. “Yes, everything’s fine. I do need to see if Marik has returned, however. If you’ll excuse me—good day.” He turned and headed to his final destination—Marik’s house. As soon as he was out of sight, he wove a spell of invisibility, one of the newer spells he had learned from his father’s spellbook. He felt the rush of power surge through him as he bent light itself to his will. He disappeared flawlessly; Magi did not want to be spotted by anyone else he knew in his hometown.

  Moving silently through the village, he saw both the Packard’s and Gain’s enormous farms. He saw Lady Goodwin. He saw Marik’s school, even saw his former roommates, Tarsh and Nugget, studying. He thought about cursing Tarsh for his advances on Kari, but was intent on finding Marik, or evidence of where Marik might be. Serenity was teaching a younger mage a new spell that involved illusions and false images. He saw familiar faces everywhere, and was thankful for his invisibility.