Diary of a Conjurer

by D. L. Gardner

  He opened his eyes in time to see the remains of a dust devil disappearing into the evening sky. The men were gone.

  “Whoa!”

  Fruit’s Labor

  “What will it be? Lobster? Fresh bread and cheese? A taste of mutton?” Ivar had already conjured a table on the beach, a bowl of fresh fruit as a centerpiece and two goblets of dark steaming tea.

  Promise kept her distance while Ivar experimented with his magic. Enthralled with his newly discovered abilities, the youth visualized all the comforts he’d been missing since he left Kaempern, and some that he never had but only heard about.

  “Come on Promise, you must be as hungry as I am, and I’m famished.” He closed his eyes considering what he would most like to eat. It had been a long time since he had consumed a hot bowl of stew, thick with gravy and big chunks of fresh vegetables. He flicked his fingers at the table, peeked, and smiled. “Look! Venison. Come on. What are you waiting for? Let’s eat.”

  Ivar placed himself on the bench he had made, and picked up his spoon. It was every bit as tasty as Britta’s stew, his hunger finally being satisfied. He closed his eyes for a moment as the broth slid down his throat and warmed his insides. When he opened them, he saw Promise still standing in the shadows.

  “Why won’t you eat with me?” he asked.

  He snapped his fingers to create butter and goat cheese for his bread and a dish of herbs to flavor his stew.

  “That’s not how we were taught to use our magic,” Promise said, still aloof.

  “Well, I’m not you. I’m not a sorceress, and I never lived on the island of Taikus. Your rules don’t apply to me.”

  “What does apply to you?”

  Ivar gave her a wide grin, “Nothing. That is, nothing in the way of rules.”

  “What about the Kaemperns’ way of life? Doesn’t that apply to you?”

  He considered her question for a moment and then shrugged. “How am I violating anything the Kaemperns taught me?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “Besides, Kaempern standards did apply to me when I was one of them. But I’m beginning to understand that I’m not. You said yourself, in that other language you used, that I’m not of this world. Funny, I understood what you said, too. So obviously I’ve got roots in another land. Besides, Kaemperns don’t have this kind of magic, do they?”

  “They have the shield. The Wind.”

  Ivar pulled apart his bread, and dipped it into his broth. “Yes, they do. But it seems to me I’m something more than a Kaempern now. I’m more like a conjurer. It’s his, you know?” He looked at her, ready to confide if she was willing to listen. “I see Silvio when the power starts tingling. And it’s green. Like him.” He looked at his hands. The veins on his fingers pulsated a glowing green under his skin. He had never felt so alive, so excited. “As far as who or what I am, I think I’m floating around somewhere between a Kaempern and a Taikan. That will do as an answer to my quest, at least until I find out who I am!” He shot her another grin.

  “You may be disappointed when you do.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “You know, this feast is for you, too. I’d really like you to join me.”

  She stepped out of the dark, closer to the fire. He reached out to her, half a loaf of bread in his hand, and nodded, coaxing her to take it. She did. Before she bit into it, she gave him a long cold stare.

  “You look at me as though I’m your enemy.” He thought for a moment, and then realized that maybe now he was. “So, are you going back to Hacatine, to tell her where I am? Are you going to tell her I have Silvio’s magic?”

  “Hacatine’s not stupid. She’ll figure it out on her own.”

  Ivar kept his grin. It was safe that way. He couldn’t read her emotions, and she couldn’t read into his as long as her magic didn’t penetrate his eyes.

  He finished his dinner without further conversation, wiped his hands on a linen cloth he had conjured, and then rose from the table. Unsure what to do next, he strolled to the fire and stood by her side.

  “The bread is better with cheese.”

  She looked away.

  “Is there something else you’d like?” Ivar felt a chill race up his spine, as he looked at her. She was a pretty thing; graceful, strong yet shy, like a deer in the woods.

  “The bread was satisfying, enough.”

  He took another moment to admire her beauty, and then shrugged and sat on the blanket, pulling Lyle’s case onto his lap. “I’m glad he left his box.” He snapped the clasp open, fixing the lid upright as he had seen Lyle do. After a few moments of playing with the buttons, he sighed. Nothing he did made the flat surface change the bright blue color it had been last night.

  Ivar looked up at Promise, distracted again by the way the soft red glow of the embers made her cheeks glimmer. Her auburn hair hung in long waves past her waist. She had taken off her furs, revealing a tunic that hung gracefully over her slender body, the balloon pants only complemented her form as they draped around her legs. He was having a hard time keeping his eyes off of her. “Why didn’t you use magic on them?” he asked.

  She glanced at him. “Why should I have?”

  “They were going to shoot you.”

  She laughed. “I would have stopped the bullet long before it had a chance to do any harm. You, though, acted foolishly jumping in front of his gun. It would have been very difficult to stop a bullet with you in the way.”

  “Oh!” Disappointed she hadn’t interpreted his actions as a gallant attempt to save her life, he pouted. “You can stop bullets? How much power do you have?”

  Her face fell and she looked at the fire. “Not as much as I used to. Hacatine took most of it. She does with all of her warriors. She lets us keep enough power to defend ourselves, so that we can stop bullets or bend swords. But we cannot attack with magic unless she is there and manipulates us. It’s her way of making sure we aren’t a threat to her.”

  “And this ability to see into others? Obviously she lets you do that?”

  Promise nodded. “Every sorceress has a power unique to them. Insight is mine. Hacatine finds it very useful, which is one reason I’m an officer. I’m to report everything I learn to her.”

  Ivar’s eyes widened as he searched her eyes. “Do you?”

  Promise shrugged. “Not everything. I’ve learned how to keep some things to myself.”

  The silence was deafening. What information about me has she kept secret and what has she told? “So what are Hacatine’s powers?”

  “Phantoms. She can create visions to control people. Those are her natural powers. But she has others now. Strengths that she’s taken from us, and she’s robbed the wizards of their will powers. She’s been able to wield catastrophic damage. Her goal is to gather all the magic in the world in order to gain control of everything, and everyone. She wants very much to conquer the power of the Northern Wind. Once that’s accomplished, she rules the world.”

  “Do you mean she’s after the magic of the legendary wizard Kaempie?”

  “He’s one of them. Your friend Silvio is another, although that has changed.” She looked at him and Ivar felt a heat wave pass through his body.

  “I’m one of them now, too, aren’t I?”

  “You have Silvio’s magic.”

  “The Kaempern powers protected me before, I have confidence they’ll continue to do so.”

  Promise snickered.

  “So, why did you leave, if your leader has so much advantage over everyone else?” he asked. “Are you spying on me to take information back to her?”

  Promise shook her head. “That’s not my intention.”

  “No?”

  “I’d just as soon stay away from her. Nothing about the woman or her ways is pleasing. She’s wicked.”

  Ivar studied her downcast face as she stared at the flames. He knew Hacatine was wicked, but he thought all sorceresses were. At least that was what Silvio had tol
d him. “Now that surprises me!” His voice softened. “So you’re running away from her? Is that why you’re here? Is that why you’re following me?”

  She sneered. “Following you? I saved your life twice and you think I’m following you?”

  “Well, yeah.”

  She shook her head, and brushed her hair off her shoulders. “I can see your past, and I can see your future, a little way out. Not a lot, but a little way. I saw Hacatine trying to drown you.”

  “Throwing me overboard, I know about. But on the jetty, too? Was that her doing?”

  Promise shrugged. Ivar waited for a moment before he pressed her for what he really wanted to know, not sure how to ask. “So even if she was trying to drown me, why do you even care?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “Why do you care what happens to me?” he asked again, and then wondered again if Promise was lying and if she, too, had a sinister motive. Or maybe she likes me. His lips curled into a twisted smile just at the moment she peered at him from the corner of her eye. “You’re very pretty,” he whispered to her.

  She looked away.

  Ivar turned his attention to the black case with the buttons. Maybe he shouldn’t have made Lyle disappear. The man could have taught him how to work his tool. “Where do you suppose they went?” He looked up at the night sky. There was no sign of anything having been disturbed in the heavens. The stars shimmered peacefully.

  “Who? Those people?”

  Ivar nodded.

  “They left this world.”

  “Where to?”

  “The portal, somewhere far away. I don’t know. I haven’t been there,” she answered.

  “Have you known other people to leave this world?”

  “I’ve seen it before, yes.”

  “You once said that I’m not from this world. Did I come from the same world those people came from?”

  “I have no idea. I was just making an assumption.”

  “No. You were certain when you said it. You spoke in another language. Where then? Where do I come from?” Ivar set the case down on the blanket certain she could tell him the answer. “All you’d have to do is tell me. Would you look into my memory again and see?” he asked.

  She backed away when he stood.

  “Please?”

  “No. It wouldn’t be right. You’re a human, not a wizard. You wouldn’t be able to handle sorcery now.”

  “That’s ridiculous. I can handle anything. I have a wizard’s magic!” Ivar moved in front of her, blocking her from the fire.

  She avoided his eyes stepping toward the shadows. “That doesn’t make you a wizard.”

  “It makes me strong, though. I can handle it, I promise. Look into me. Tell me. Did I come through this portal? I’m dark like those men were, am I one of them? Were they my relatives?”

  “I can’t tell you that,” she answered. “I don’t know anything about that world.”

  He took her hand. Green tingled through his veins when she pushed free of his hold. “The magic feels different when you touch me. It feels good.”

  “Get away from me.”

  “Look at me, Promise.” He wasn’t shouting, but his voice was louder than it had been. He glanced at his trembling hands, the flesh of his fingers glowed, his fingernails lit like lanterns. He reached out for her but she jumped away. He lunged forward and caught her, this time grabbing both of her arms. She struggled, thrusting her knee into his stomach. He laughed. It didn’t hurt. Instead, Silvio’s energy congregated in his midsection, spiraling through his chest and then his arms. When it reached his hands Promise turned cold. He was turning her to stone.

  “No, don’t go away. Don’t freeze. I don’t want to hurt you. I just want you to look at me.” He grabbed her cheeks and turned her face to his. “Look at me. Look into me. What do you see? Tell me what’s there.”

  The magic held her tight and forced her eyes to open wide.

  “Look!” Ivar demanded.

  The power in him took control. He felt the conjurer’s wizardry making the demands, not him. The green glow from his eyes shot into her and she stiffened. He saw inside her deep auburn irises. A white light spun out at him, racking into his brain from hers. It shot through his head like lightning, giving him a terrible headache. His hair stood on end. The light streamed for such a long moment that he grew numb, and then he relaxed. His power mixed with hers and then he saw it, a faint golden shimmer in her pupils growing larger until it exploded into a flash. She screamed. He released her. She fell. His knees folded under him and Ivar toppled on the blanket. As he lay under the night sky the spots he saw slowly dissipated until they lingered in a final shape; the shape of a golden dagger, clear as if he were holding it in his hands.

  Promise Told

  Walking helped. The pain in Silvio’s joints spread out thinner when he walked. A little bit of ache everywhere in his body was a lot better than a lot of agony all bunched up in one spot. The Xylonites made things better too, little angels that they were, singing songs trying to make him feel young again.

  “We’ll ask him to return it. It’s that simple! And that’s what we’ll do, sir.” Xylepher kept saying in-between stanzas, catching his breath so he could hit the high notes with the others. “As soon as we find him. A wizard’s magic is no good in a man’s body anyway. What’s a Kaempern going to do with it?”

  Silvio grunted. He wasn’t sure what Ivar would do with a conjurer’s magic. Still, Silvio stood a better chance getting it back from Ivar than from that abominable sorceress queen had she stolen his powers.

  They had just rounded the western side of Skerry. The Xylonites passed the point while hugging close to the cliffs, but Xylepher, enchanted with the tide pools, led Silvio along the beach, for the tide was well receded. After stepping over a cluster of sand crabs shuffling out of his way, Silvio glanced up.

  “Look!” Xylepher called to him, waving frantically.

  Thinking the little man was pointing at a starfish that clung to the bottom of a pool, the conjurer neared the soldier and stopped when he eyed the subject of Xylepher’s excitement. A water skin. Not just any water skin, either. It was a Kaempern skin; elk hide with twisted lace that only the hunting tribe of the north could construct. Silvio picked up the vessel, surprised that it was full, and poured a taste of its contents on his tongue. Not the salty taste of marsh water from Elysian Fields, nor the mineral water from Taikus. No this could only be the legendary sweet, spring water from Deception Peak.

  That was odd, being as Ivar hadn’t any possessions on him when Silvio found him on the beach. He had nothing. Not a water skin or even a shirt for that matter save the tunic Silvio had made for him. There was only one way this water skin exists.

  The boy would be thirsty. He’d be thinking about having a drink of fresh water. That’s all he needs to do. So! Ivar is aware of his powers and he’s learning how to use them. This could be a good thing. Or not!

  The fog slowly lifted off the ocean surface as thin misty clouds revealed traces of blue skies. The conjurer stopped to catch his breath and to take in the vista. Watching, always watching. There was so much to look out for.

  And there they are!

  Ships. Not one or two, but half a dozen, all surrounding what Silvio could see as the last of a mast slowing sinking into the ocean’s depth.

  “Fine job we did, sir,” Xylepher whispered as he stuck out his chest. “Didn’t think we’d sink the whole ship, but we did. The weasels have some pretty sharp teeth!”

  Silvio grunted. “Hacatine’s wrath is sharper.” With a pounding heart, he wiped his brow with his arm. Flames from Alcove forest haunted his memory. The woman was evil and she’d be looking for him with a vengeance. “We’re doomed.”

  “We can hide.”

  Silvio turned to the little man, “Hide? Yes. We can hide. But the boy, will the boy hide? It’s not just these old bones that matter anymore. I have more to watch out for than just my body.” When Xylepher looked up at him with ques
tioning eyes, Silvio explained. “Still guarding my magic.”

  The Xylonites no longer sang, but waited for Silvio and Xylepher to catch up. The ships were in plain view now, and everyone could see them. The conjurer pointed toward the western edge of the bluff, where the switchbacks that climbed the overlook were more gradual, leading to hills that sloped into rolling grassland above the beach.

  “Run!” His command tapered to an excited cough.

  One thing about the little people, they were quick. Much quicker than the old man who hobbled and waddled his way to the trail. Xylepher was kind enough to stay with him, though Silvio kept shooing him away. “Let Hacatine think I’m alone,” he complained, huffing his way up the hill.

  “Pardon my saying, sir, but she won’t see me in her spy glass. I’m too small.”

  The old man grunted, too spent to argue. Once on the hill, the Xylonites could barely be seen in the grass. They’d be safe. And the green dust the Xylonites had collected at the beach had enough power to transform Silvio into a crooked, wind-blown pine, like those that dotted the landscape. Not something Silvio looked forward to doing. His joints still hurt from the last time he turned into a tree.

  The sea breeze blew hard against their faces once they peaked the bluff. Seagulls floated, stagnant, bucking the wind and going nowhere. Following the lead of the Xylonites, Silvio crawled, hoping to get as far inland as possible before Hacatine reached shore. His bones creaked as his knees pushed against the wet grass, the blades tickled his nose. He moaned once, holding back a sneeze, but gasped when he saw a figure in the meadow very near them.

  “How the bunzwacker did she get here?”

  It was her! The statue! The sorceress he froze a few days prior now lay face up in the grass.