“How much time do we have?”
“Very little, I’m sure.”
“I can teach them the basics. But that’s about it. We really need more time.”
“One moment, Myles.” Omar beckoned to an Akana in the council group. “Kleis, Myles will show you everything he is able to within the next few days and then you’ll pass this on to myself and the rest of the council. Okay?” Kleis nodded, bowed to Myles, and returned to the council gathering.
“Kleis was instrumental in the deciphering of the German Bible that Nekar left at the fountain," Omar explained. "He has a photographic memory and sees details that most others miss. Within the two months that he’s been learning under my tutelage and reading the libraries of material on my laptop, he now has PhD-level knowledge in Physics, Biology, Astronomy, and Chemistry. He should be able to get more than a basic grasp of what you know just by watching you perform illusions for a few days.”
Myles narrowed his eyes. “We’ll see. Illusion is an art, you know, not science.”
“I do believe I’ve offended poor Master Callaghan.”
“Master…my eye!”
When Myles joined the seated group, they all stood up. Myles waved them back to their seats and sat down himself.
“I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting everyone yet, and it appears that we’ll be working closely together. So let me introduce myself. I’m Myles Callaghan, reformed con-man, illusionist, and all-around scoundrel.” The Magi members looked at each other and back at Myles with puzzled, nervous smiles. Myles guessed the translator didn’t have a good equivalent for "scoundrel". They seemed to think it meant something good, since this was a Master Magi addressing them. “I arrived here by accident, and I’m not a scientist like Doctor Metzger, but I come from Earth just like he does.
“I trained with the greatest acrobats, illusionists, and con-artists on Earth. What I can teach you is not science, but an expression of art … an extension of yourself. It’s not like the cold, hard facts that you learned from Omar. It’s more like using a natural style that’s part of you. You have to put yourself into it in order to be truly great. Now, I’d like to meet each one of you. We’ll start with you.” He pointed at a male Nepsah. He was about a finger tall, had spiked purple hair, green eyes, and what looked like pilot goggles. He wore a leather vest with several pouches and another pouch strapped to his leg. His eyes widened and he stumbled backward, crossing his arms tightly.
“Me?” he cried. “Why me? I didn’t do anything wrong!” His eyes darted back and forth. “It was the Akana, Kleis. Yeah…he did it!”
“And what’s your name, guiltless one?” Myles asked.
“Seux!” He glared at Myles.
“How long have you been here, Seux?”
Seux's eyes shifted from Omar to Myles. “About that long.” He backed away a little.
Myles raised an eyebrow at his odd response and started to lean on him a little. “Seux, you can’t hide things from a master of deception. I can tell when someone’s conning me. What is it you’re not saying? I think you’re keeping secrets from us.”
Myles felt Omar’s hand on his shoulder. Omar pulled him aside and whispered in his ear. “Some Nepsah have fragile minds. If you push them, they can become psychotic or obsessed with you. Seux is exceedingly smart. You probably noticed the tiny ring on his finger. He’s nobility of some sort. He already has knowledge of advanced science and illusion. I watched him perform several illusions yesterday that he mingled with science. He was good. I have an idea about the meaning of this outburst, but just keep in his good graces for now.”
Myles nodded and turned back. “Thank you, Seux. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding.”
Seux furrowed his eyebrows. “Well, don’t let it happen again. Hmph!”
Myles ignored his hurt pride while trying to be respectful. “And what are your studies, Seux?”
“I’m a master chemist and illus…uh, illustrator!”
“And here I thought you were going to say illusionist. I have a high regard for illusionists.”
Seux colored and shot back, “Uh…no. Why would I say that? That’s silly. You know, you’re weird!”
Myles turned to the next person in the circle. She too was only a finger tall. She had pale skin, dark, sunken eyes, and long, black hair drooping over one eye. She wore black-and-white-striped socks that she’d pulled up to her knees and a black silk dress. Seux stuck his tongue out at her. She just giggled.
“I’m Neafer!”
“Neafer, what race are you?”
She popped up from her seat. “I’m a Haspen, sir! I’m the only one of my race to join the Magi.”
“And why did you join the Magi?”
She clasped her hands together and twirled in a circle like she was in the air. “I was the first to discover that you and Omar have those tattoos, and I’ve been curious about you both ever since. At first Omar was reluctant to let me join the Magi. Then I betrayed the Council of Six and now the Magi have maps of all the cities in Sarx-Ergon. You see, the only person that I was loyal to before now was Ragal. I mean, I guess we call her Kasey now. But since Moluno tried to kill Ragal, I’m not feeling loyalty to anybody. But the Magi tried to help Kasey, so I’m here for curiosity and new loyalty!”
Seux snorted. “Loyalty…hah.”
Myles listened to Neafer's story and his feelings for Kasey stirred his anger toward Moluno. He forced himself to just file that information away. Ragal had been tattooed just like he and Omar. So Neafer had told Ragal about theirs? Had she wanted to escape the Kalat curse for a long time? Was that why she had wanted to meet with them -- to find a way out of her cursed life? Kasey might have been going through the same struggles he’d been going through. No wonder he felt connected to her.
But right now, he was working on getting to know these council members, so he focused on Neafer. “What are your studies?”
Neafer practically twittered with excitement. “Cartography and biology!”
Myles turned next to a three-foot tall, stout man. He had rocklike growths at every joint and lining his eyebrows, too. He also had a long beard. Seeing that he was the next, he stepped forward and announced, “I am Lithos of the Daqad, at your service. My specialty is geology and biology.”
Myles laughed. “Kind of like a self-study, huh?” But Lithos just stared at him blankly.
In an attempt to avoid any further awkwardness, Myles moved on. Before him sat a female-beast with black and brown fur. Her markings and head resembled a Doberman, but she had a humanoid body and hands with doglike claws. She also had hind paws and hawk-like wings with small spikes on them. “I am Roca. I am of the Hybrid race. My studies are biology and genetics.”
Better to just keep moving. When he turned to the next person, Darius, who’d helped carry him through Takeleth to the king when the Kalat crushed his leg, smiled back.
“You, I know. It’s good to see you here with us, Darius. What’s your study? Wait. Let me guess, marine biology.”
“Correct.” Myles shook his hand.
Myles could see out of the corner of his eye that Seux seemed to get more and more excited with each introduction. He found this little creature to be strange in his behavior and wondered if Omar would explain all this later.
Sebastian stepped forward. “I represent the Gabad. My studies are illusion and physics. I’m a warrior by trade already, so I’m becoming a soldier/magi. We will become a group called the Alexandros. Omar has decided, although for now it’s a secret to be kept within the council, that he’s also naming me as a founder of the Magi.”
Myles nodded in agreement. “Good move, Omar.”
A Remmy Myles recalled from the Council of Seven jumped out of his chair and onto the table in front of Myles. “It’s magic!” In the tradition of Remmys he wore a mushroom cap. His beard and hair were orange-red. His eyes were a gold color that reminded Myles of fall leaves.
Myles asked, “What's your name? And is your study comedy?”
"I'm Peel-off. Nope!" The little man puffed himself up. "It’s medicine and chemistry and soon illusion and maybe biology and physics and geography! I’m going to take your position!”
“Hey, Omar, keep a close eye on this one.”
Peel-off saluted Myles before he sat down again.
Next a catlike creature with black fur, dressed in robes, stepped forward. “I am Leon. I have awaited your return in order to study illusion, Master.”
Myles bowed respectfully. “It’s nice to meet you. I believe you’ve chosen well.”
The last two people to be introduced sat close together. One was a woman who was quite close to paper thin, and she wore a skin-tight black outfit with glowing blue wiring woven throughout it in intricate patterns connecting metallic nodes on the tops of her hands, shoulders, elbows, knees, and in the center of her chest. The other one was the thickest man Myles had ever seen. You could take six of me and line them up in rows of two by three and that would be this guy’s mass.
“This lady is Saphira, who belongs to the race of Gauntmen. Petr is a Gruntman. They both study physics. Saphira is also teaching a special martial arts skill to the Alexandros—the warrior group that Sebastian is creating. Their story is much like Romeo and Juliet. I guess it’s true that opposites attract.”
Myles bowed and said, “It's a pleasure to meet everyone.” He put a hand on Kleis’ shoulder. “Okay, let’s start your training now.”
Omar stopped Myles. “Wait. Don’t leave without these.” Omar handed Myles twelve glowing knives and a strange-looking gun. “These will help you in the event that the darkness breaks through the city boundaries.” Myles tipped his hat to Omar. He appreciated his thoughtfulness but felt that whatever was threatening the city was probably not susceptible to knives and guns.
16
Illusions
Myles and Kleis descended the stairs in silence. Kleis already seemed to be watching everything that his new mentor did, trying to understand the instincts as well as the techniques of his teacher. Myles, on the other hand, was consumed with thoughts about what to teach Kleis and how he’d do it. He hated any kind of classroom teaching and felt that learning by demonstration was far more effective.
Myles was genuinely excited about having a student. He’d always been the student in his days with the circus. He was now the recognized master, and there was a tower full of characters who wanted to learn from him. He wondered what his parents would think if they knew about this. For a brief moment he even thought about Kasey and wondered what she’d think when she returned. But primarily Myles was quickly forming his strategy for teaching Kleis the art of illusion, and he knew what they needed to do. He chuckled to himself as he thought about his plan.
After leaving the Tower of the Magi, Myles took Kleis down to the café where he’d first met Sebastian. It was the middle of the day, so the café was busy. Almost every table was full, but they weren’t paying attention to their companions. Instead everyone turned and watched as Master Myles of the Order of the Magi approached with Kleis.
When they neared the café, Myles turned to Kleis and whispered, “Here’s the deal. Either you’re as good as Omar says you are or you’re not. I’m going to give you one chance to pick up on what I’m about to do. If you can’t perfect my moves after watching me do it once, then we’re wasting our time. If you’re going to teach all the others, you have to be as good as me. Understand?”
“Okay. Please proceed.” Myles went into the café, but he tripped as he walked up to a table. He knocked a waiter down, turned over a table, and fell into the laps of two attractive lady Gabad. Myles immediately got up and smiled at them, offering his apology. “Excuse me, ladies. I am so sorry.” Then he helped the waiter up and set the table back in place. After speaking to a few other people and exchanging small talk, Myles returned to Kleis and whispered, “Your turn.” With a smile like a Cheshire cat, Myles held up three change purses and handed them to him. “Now you have to return them undetected.”
Kleis raised an eyebrow but took the three purses. “Do I have to flirt?”
Myles shrugged and winked. “If you want to, sure. I can put in a good word for you.”
Kleis rolled his eyes and walked away. He approached the same waiter. Myles couldn’t make out what Kleis was saying, but he pointed back toward Myles. The waiter looked over at Myles and nodded happily. The waiter walked Kleis to the table where the two ladies sat. On their way to the table, Kleis lightly bumped against the waiter and slid the purse back into his pocket. When he reached the table, he spoke to the ladies and they also looked over at Myles and nodded with smiles toward him.
Myles could see the subtle moves being made, and he couldn’t wait to find out what kind of a con Kleis would use to keep them distracted. Things turned even more bizarre. Kleis, the waiter, and the ladies all got down on the café floor and crawled around as if they were looking for something.
Kleis actually pulled the same trick that he’d used with the waiter and slipped the ladies’ purses back into their pockets as he jolted against them in the search. Myles wondered how Kleis had learned that so quickly. One of them found something on the ground and handed it to Kleis. They all seemed happy and rose to their feet again. Kleis thanked them, bowed, and returned to Myles.
With his back to the café, Kleis stepped up close and handed Myles a small ruby. “I slipped this from your pocket before I went over there. It’s what I had them all looking for. I told them you’d lost it when you fell. After I’d slipped all of the purses back into their proper places, I dropped this on the ground so that one of the ladies could find it. They feel they’ve done a great service to the Master Magi. Did I pass your test?”
“No…you aced my test! I can’t believe you got that out of my pocket. You know what, you deserve that ruby. Keep it.”
“I planned to all along.”
They turned and walked away from the café. Kleis patted Myles on the back. “Myles, you couldn’t have expected I’d learn so quickly. I’m not an average Akana, you see. Back on Soterion I’m from a kingdom called Loefel Meren where all those that live there are Akana, Yaarma, Gabad, and Miyka. Racial interbreeding is forbidden there because it’s caused problems in the past.
“My father was an Akana who fell in love with a Gabad. Marriage between the races is permitted. They were watched closely by the authorities, but my parents apparently wanted a child much so they ignored the ban, and my mom got pregnant with me. They were going to be forced to give me up so they had to leave Loefel Meren. They took a ship out to sea where they found an island off the southern coast and tried to settle there. On that island, however, they discovered a portal. The portal brought them to Musterion, and it was here that I was born.”
Myles studied Kleis. “But you look exactly like an Akana.”
“Yes, that’s true. But I can also glow at will like the Gabad do. I’m dexterous and fast like the Gabad, and I’m extremely social which is Gabad and un-Akana. I just have the super-intelligence of an Akana. On Soterion the Akana don’t have wings either. It seems that Musterion changes some of the races of Soterion, giving Miyka, Yaarma, and Akana their wings and forming rocks on the Daqad’s skin.”
“Wow, so you got the best of both sides.”
“It would seem so.”
Myles and Kleis heard a woman cry out. They looked at each other and ran in the direction of the scream. Another scream led them to a bloodstain on the ground, as if someone had been attacked and dragged off.
They followed the blood trail to a wall where it seemed to end. Myles and Kleis both searched the wall, looking for a trigger to open it. Kleis found a suspicious brick, so he pushed on it and a ten-foot square section of the wall moved. Working together, they were able to push the wall section forward until there was an opening leading into complete darkness.
Kleis whispered, “It’s the Maze of Musterion. Myles, we mustn’t leave the Core!”
Myles looked down and saw that the trail of
blood led right into the darkness. He looked up at Kleis with a sly grin. “So, as far as the Magi goes, do I outrank you?”
Kleis nodded. “You hold the same rank as Omar and Sebastian. No one outranks you. As a member of the Council, I’m just below your rank.”
“Good, then there’ll be no arguing here. You fly to the tower and notify Omar that I’m entering the Maze of Musterion. Tell him that it seems I can’t refuse a damsel in distress.”
Kleis hesitated at first but then bowed and said, “Yes, Master Callaghan.”
Kleis flew off to the tower as Myles cautiously stepped into the darkness. Myles had spent six months blind-folded while he was with the circus while being taught to rely on his other senses. He had been trained to walk, run, move freely, and even fight while he was blind. Back then it made for a good circus act. Now it would become a valuable defensive skill.
As he walked deeper into the tunnel, Myles felt the darkness stealing his air. It crawled all over his skin, a kind of living darkness.
Myles felt for wetness of the blood on the cold brick floor. He crept along the tunnel, following the trail with his fingers. He bumped into something solid. Rather, it was someone.
“Oh, Myles Callaghan. Had you just stayed on Earth, you wouldn’t be in this mess. If you’d chosen to go back to Earth when Gabriyel offered, you could’ve lived past this day. But you are stubborn, aren’t you? Well, I’ll kill you in your pride, and then I’ll own you.”
“Moluno!” Myles gasped. The darkness had started to clear a little and he straightened before the sneering Kalat, taking in the spear in his hand.
The ominous figure in front of him shook his head. “Moluno is dead. I’m Thanatos.”
Myles aimed a spinning kick at the face he still thought of as Moluno's. “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
Bridgeworlds: Rise of the Magi Page 17