Kaempie interrupted them by resting a hand on Silvio’s shoulder. “Meneka’s right. Your mother’s ability to cast spells hasn’t been channeled by Hacatine. The warriors were gentle once like Claudia. But in the queen’s hands, their spells are now wicked and cunning.”
“So we’re going to die?” Silvio’s voice trembled as he repeated his question.
“Not necessarily.”
The three watched as Reuben pulled the boat ashore, gathering the belongings that had been washed up on the beach.
“But we’ll have to discuss a plan, and we need to do it tonight.” Kaempie went to help Reuben gather the arrows drifting in the surf.
“I’m going on the boat,” Meneka said.
“What do you mean, you’re going on the boat?” Silvio asked as he curled his knees to his chest. His stomach was still ill from swallowing salt water. His fingers reached to the delicate chain around his neck.
“I’m going as far away from here as I can get, whether anyone else comes with me or not.”
“You’re crazy. You’ll never make it.”
“Sure I will. Hacatine won’t be combing the waters anymore because she’ll think we wrecked. She’ll send her scouts here to pick up our pieces.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because we’re just a short distance from Taikus. Look.” Meneka pointed to the east. Fog still hovered over the water, but it was rolling out to sea. The view of the coastline was clear. The silhouette of the island cut into the brilliance of the moon. “We’ve not come far at all. Hacatine will find us here.”
“If we don’t move soon,” Reuben added as he and Kaempie returned. Silvio took the bow and quiver that Kaempie handed him.
“By water,” Meneka said.
“By land,” Silvio corrected and then held his breath, hoping the others would agree with him.
Meneka kicked sand into Silvio’s eyes as he stood. Silvio jumped up. Kaempie held him back.
“Stop, both of you,” Kaempie said. "There’s no time to fight. When we get to where we’re going, you can beat on each other all you want.”
“Where is that?” Reuben spun around to face the older wizard, fire in his eyes. “Just where are we going?”
Silvio knew Kaempie didn’t have an answer. How could he? No one had been given a chance to plan this trip. They’d been hustled to the beach by Claudia and her friends, given the skiff and sent to sea.
Away. That’s where we’re going. Away, as if away is a place of safety.
Silvio’s stomach tightened at the thought of their voyage having no end. “If we make it to the northern lands, we’ll be safe. The winds will protect us.”
“How can you be certain of that?”
“They saved us from the serpent, didn’t they?” Silvio said.
“Our magic saved us,” Reuben answered.
“Our magic and the winds. There has got to be more to this world than just us.” Certainty rang in Kaempie’s voice, settling the unrest in Silvio’s heart.
“Of course there is. There’s Hacatine,” Meneka interrupted. “And I’m going as far away from her as I can get.”
“If we’re going anywhere, I’m walking,” Silvio said. “I nearly drowned just now. The northern lands are farther away than the entire span of Taikus. The waters are dark and deep and inhabited by monsters. I’m not taking that course and you’d be wise not to either. I’m walking.” There was another secret confidence Silvio kept his mother’s magic. Unlike his friends, Silvio could disguise himself on land.
“Look!” Meneka pointed toward the island. Lights flickered in the Taikan harbor where Hacatine kept her ships. “We don’t have time to discuss anything. Let’s get in the boat and head north, like Kaempie suggested.” Meneka raced toward the shore but Reuben caught his arm and pulled him back.
“Wait.”
“For what? Can’t you see? She’s caught wind of us.”
“We’ll take a vote right now.” Kaempie was trying to be diplomatic, but his rationale was losing way to nerves. Silvio heard it in his voice. Silvio scooted into the shadow of the nearest tree and watched his comrades. Meneka struggled to get free from Reuben as Kaempie stacked their belongings in a neat pile on the beach. All the while, the lights in the distance intensified. For as much rowing as they had done, they were only a short sail from Taikus. When Hacatine called their names at the hall this evening and no one answered, she must have suspected they had escaped. Silvio hoped that his mother would not pay for their disappearance.
“If she used her serpents to find us, she’ll wield the flash of her dagger to kill us.” Meneka released himself from Reuben’s hold just as the sky lit up. “Hide.”
It was only a moment’s flash. A huge beam lit the waters and changed the fog into a haze of white. Silvio ducked into the trees, Reuben and Kaempie fell face down on the sand behind a pile of driftwood, and Meneka crouched behind the skiff as the clouds glowered. The flash was brief. Silvio sighed with relief.
“She’s watching the waters,” Kaempie said.
Meneka tipped the skiff upright and loaded his weapons into it.
“What are you doing?” Kaempie asked.
“I’m getting out of here.”
“Didn’t you hear me? She’s watching the waters.”
“I’ll hug the coast until we’re out of range. Are you coming with me or not?” Meneka said.
Kaempie turned to Silvio, who shook his head. There was no time to exchange words. A giant wave hit the beach, lifting the skiff afloat. Meneka climbed into it and Kaempie ran to him.
It was a horrific thing—to watch the waves crash again. Kaempie was there one minute, and then a cover of bubbling foam rumbled to shore without him. Reuben ran into the water, but when another breaker pounded the beach, the dark haired conjurer retreated. Silvio thought, or hoped, he saw Kaempie holding onto the gunwale of the little boat as it receded out to sea. But already the blanket of fog concealed the skiff, and he knew the moonlight was playing tricks with his eyes.
He listened to the sound of the waves beating like an injured heart. The wind blew salt spray into Silvio’s face. It bit his cheeks with sand, and sent shivers of cold up his spine. He waited, his pulse pounding in his chest. But the boat didn’t come into view again. It was gone.
Reuben walked up the beach and stood next to him, dripping wet, trembling with cold. Silvio didn’t know Reuben very well, and it wasn’t as though Reuben wanted to know him. They just stood there, two strangers side by side trying to comprehend what had just happened.
There were no comforting words. The older teenager was lost in his own troubles.
“I’m going back home,” Reuben whispered.
Silvio looked up at him. The older boy’s face reflected the moon, his head turned toward Taikus.
“You’ll die,” Silvio assured him.
“I’m going to die anyway,” he answered. “Even so, I’ve left something behind that I can’t live without.”
The lights of Hacatine’s ships were offshore east of the cloud layer. It was obvious now she wasn’t headed north. No. The ships were headed due south, to Bandene, the beach where they stood.
“If that’s Hacatine coming here, I’ll be able to escape back to Taikus unnoticed.”
“How? Without a boat?”
Reuben looked at Silvio, determination in his eyes. “I’ll move east through the woods until I come to the channel of Alisubbo. From there, I’ll swim.”
“And leave me here?”
“You can come with me.”
What? Swim? You’re joking. “I guess we’re on our own,” Silvio concluded. It didn’t sound right. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. He looked north again at the approaching fog. No skiff came with it. No Kaempie or Meneka.
Hacatine’s ships stabbed at the moonlight to the east, catching wind and moving with considerable speed. The cloud might conceal the galiot soon, but Silvio doubted a little fog would hinder the queen’s pursuit.
“Then run
.” Reuben said. “Your magic is strong. Follow the coast west to the bay, and then veer north. Meet up with those two.” He nodded toward the sea where they had last seen their friends. “I doubt that they perished. Kaempie is too good a wizard for such an end. Go. Have hope. My heart lies elsewhere.”
Silvio couldn’t have stopped Reuben with words or magic. He watched the older wizard walk east along the shoreline for a little way, and then disappear into the forest that bordered it. Silvio knew those woods, having foraged them with his mother, and he had seen the mysterious city of Alisubbo that it bordered. Protected by their own inventions, Alisubbo was a contention of Hacatine’s even before she crowned herself queen. No Taikan had ever gained entry, nor had their attacks ever been fruitful.
They are too wise in that city,” Silvio’s mother had told him. “They have weapons that take the wizards and sorceresses by surprise. No one will ever conquer them.” And then she whispered something in his ear that he would never forget. “And they have the wind of the north on their side.”
Silvio drew his breath as Reuben disappeared. Here he was. Left alone on the beach.
Silvio gathered what supplies were left. A bag of food, his bow and arrow, and a lance he could use for a walking stick. He slung the pack on his back and turned west.
Flee
A terrible storm hit the coast that night. High winds blew as Silvio scrambled along the beach. The tempest was so violent that the only way to keep the flying sand from burning his eyes was to put on his cloak and cover his head. It made navigating difficult. His hood flew into his face and blinded him, causing him to bump into boulders and stumble over rocks. His lips soon grew chapped from the salt in the air. Teeth grinding against sand, Silvio eyed the forest that bordered the beach, wondering if he’d find shelter from the gale without being hit by a falling tree. He decided to take his chances.
He climbed the bank. The wind was at his back now, and the tall boulders in the crevice of the cliff kept it at bay, making it easier to breathe. Tripping over his cloak several times before he made it to the crest, he looked out over the night vista. Lightning flashed. Thunder rumbled as electricity stiffened the hair on his neck. With every strobe of light, he looked at the beach to see if he could spot Hacatine. Once he saw a ship moored not far off shore.
Silvio came to the hilltop and ran. He was scared and his muscles were tense. He tripped and scraped his knees. It hurt.
He collapsed on a log just as the storm let loose with rain. In the thundering downpour the wild screech of a condor pierced his ears.
There they are. I’m doomed.
He closed his eyes, touched the chain around his neck, and willed his mother’s words to return to him.
“Like the branches of a stately fir, your arms will spread. Your eyes will see everything that goes on around you, but no one will see you. You will be nourished by the air you breathe, and in your guise, you will find peace.”
Suddenly, the rain wasn’t cold any longer. Instead, it was warm and sweet. He could taste it with every pore in his body. He opened his eyes to find himself towering high above the ground, his arms outstretched, balancing fragrant boughs that danced in the wind. He was a tree. Or rather he was Silvio disguised as a tree. The forest wasn’t strange to him any longer. It was home. He was part of it.
Peace shrouded him, just as his mother had said. Sleep came quickly.
Pursuit
“I know you’re here.”
It was a wicked voice that called out at sunrise. If he hadn’t been standing so tall in the forest with his head so high in the sky, he might not have heard her. But the ocean breeze sent the sound to him as a warning that the witch queen walked the sands below. He could see her in the distance. Her long white hair blew in the wind as the folds of her silk dress rustled against her slender body. Her personal guards, the griffons dotted the sky, circling high above the queen.
“Kaempie, Meneka, Reuben and Silvio. Answer me. Show yourselves and you will have amnesty.”
Amnesty, my foot. When has she ever been merciful to a wizard? Well, at least I know now that she hasn’t found the others yet.
“Silvio, I’ll release your mother if you show yourself.”
Silvio winced. A sharp pain of remorse ran its dagger through his heart. His worse fear was realized.
“I’ve followed your tracks, boys. I know you’re here. You can’t hide from a sorceress. You know that.”
Hacatine wasn’t alone. Two dinghies came ashore and now the beach was crawling with Taikan warriors, all of them women. They were muscular, dressed in furs and armed with more weapons than Silvio had ever seen. “If I have to look for you, you will suffer, and so will your families.”
Silvio worried about his mother, and he thought about Kaempie’s sisters and whatever family Meneka had left.
He wasn’t a hero. But he was wise enough in his own wizardry to know it wouldn’t matter if he gave himself up. Hacatine was ruthless. Her word meant nothing. She’d kill him and his mother anyway. Her callous dealings with the wizards after the war proved how savage she was.
The sorceress gathered her women together in a huddle on the beach. She signaled the griffons with her staff, and they dove nearer to land, their featherless heads bent low. She sent them away and like arrows, the wind in their wings whistled as they hovered over the beach and into the forest. Silvio saw Hacatine pointing toward the cliff, sending her scouts in different directions, none of which was toward him.
Perfect. I’ll run again. Perhaps I can put enough distance between us that she’ll never find me. Perhaps I’ll meet up with Kaempie and the northern winds. Maybe I have a chance, after all.
Silvio willed his release from the limbs of the tree and landed on the ground, a bit shorter than he had been. It was an odd sensation, being a wizard in a teenage body again. It took a moment or two of stretching in order to loosen his stiff limbs. But once he had, he was ready to run. He gathered his lance, put his bow and arrows on his back, and stuffed his cloak into his pack, swinging it over his shoulder. He felt refreshed this morning. His feet were limber enough to move with speed, and so he did.
Skipping over roots, his feet flew across the spongy forest floor. He ducked under branches and dodged the twigs that slapped at him. Spider webs tickled his face as he burst through their hairy threads, but nothing stopped his pace.
He stayed close to the bank. Daylight shone through the trees to his right so that he caught glimpses of the ocean. He’d follow the coast, like Reuben had told him to. If he was quick enough, perhaps he’d find his friends again.
Silvio ran all morning. The air in the woods was moist, smelling like seawater and mushrooms. He hadn’t eaten, but had fed more on the excitement of his travels, and the hope of meeting up with Kaempie in the northern lands.
When the sun reached its zenith, the heat made travel difficult at high speed. No longer did the ocean breeze reach the bluffs and cool his sweating body. The air was still—still enough to hear the mosquitos that buzzed around his face. He had to rest.
While looking for a log to sit on, he came to a clearing that overlooked the sea. The great body of water had become a narrower channel, one that stretched west and ended at a patch of greens and golds. Silvio could see the bay, the marshes, and the prairie that led to the foothills. Across the water was his journey’s end, the glorious mountain that the winds protected. A safe haven.
“Silvio.”
He jumped, his heart leaped to his throat as he searched for the owner of the voice. He didn’t see her, but he knew it was Hacatine.
“Silvio, I know you’re out there. We’ve found something that belongs to you. How shiny it is! I think I know where it came from.”
The shadow of a griffon blocked the sun and cast a shadow over him. Silvio squinted as he watched the bird soar overhead. The creature squawked and then flew away. It had found its prey.
He didn’t stop to think, but his hand reached for his neck only to discover that the chain his
mother had given him was gone. It must have fallen off when he turned into a tree.
Out of instinct, he sprang down the hill, running faster than he ever had, or ever thought he could, toward that patch of green grass and the forest south of it, hoping for the chance to make it to safety.
When he reached a marshland, he realized his peril. Hacatine’s warriors were running faster than he had been. They were long legged, quick and graceful like deer. They appeared out of the brush, scattered in amongst the trees. Arrows flew but Silvio was wiry enough to avoid them. The women weren’t trying to kill him. Hacatine wanted him alive. She’d never be able to steal his wizardry if she killed him.
Being so light, he skidded across the muddy marsh and escaped its hold. But his pursuers sank. The armor they wore weighed them deep into the loam, and those who had not yet been trapped by the wetlands stopped to help their comrades. It was Silvio’s chance to get away. He ran as fast and as hard as he could.
He followed the beach a short distance until he came to a grassy meadow wild with flowers. Racing through the field, he headed toward the forest that bordered it.
Hacatine’s warriors, with griffons hovering over their heads, cleared the marsh and resumed the chase. They rustled through the reeds close behind him. Silvio’s breath was so short he could hardly breathe. His hair matted to his head from sweat. He peeked over his shoulder. Some of the women were crouching in the grass stringing their bows.
With a lunge, he dodged behind the first tree he came to. Caressing its stately trunk, he closed his eyes tight and thought of his mother. Even without the tiny chain, and with all the strength he had left, he willed his mother’s magic to take hold.
His arms stiffened as a yellow glow of power melted him into the thick stringy bark. His heart slowed and his body cooled as he let himself be absorbed by the tree. He stretched tall. There were no boughs or greenery for the cedar he clung to was old and dry. But he had the heavens to reach for. He stood so far above the valley that the meadow, the ocean, a prairie, and mountain range were his vista. Rocking ever so slightly with the wind, his arms were the branches swaying in the breeze. Sunlight warmed his back. Far below, the group of warrior women who had been pursuing him circled his trunk, calling to one another. One by one, they disappeared into the forest.
Diary of a Conjurer Page 2