Eye of the Moonrat (The Bowl of Souls: Book One)

by Cooley, Trevor H.

  “Look here, son. In this town there’s a law that says ever’body’s got to be carryin’ some sort of weapon.” Justan saw two old women haggling over some food. Both of them had large daggers strapped to their waists.

  “Why would they want to do something like that?” Justan asked.

  “It’s done to stop crime, and it works too. At one time, this place was crookeder than a troll’s teeth. But most thief’s ain’t willin’ to risk their life fer a couple of coins. And now there’s hardly ever any crime here. You just got to be careful ‘cause sometimes accidents happen.”

  Justan gripped the hilt of one of his swords loosely and watched as everyone went by. Indeed there was a sort of carefree feeling. People showed their wealth openly here. One fancily dressed man walked by twirling a gold pocketwatch on a chain. No one would have dared to do that in Reneul. Sure they had great guards trained by the Battle School itself, but one still had to be careful.

  “You know, I once thought about settin’ up shop here,” Lenny continued. “You’d think it’d be good business fer a smithy, but I found out that ever’body here’s so gall-durn cheap that the good stuff just won’t sell.”

  They turned down several streets until they reached a road lined with inns and pubs. The signs were garish and sometimes vulgar. Evidently some of the places sold more than just beds. Justan’s face turned red with embarrassment. Here was another place that wouldn’t have lasted long in Reneul. There were laws against that kind of thing there.

  Lenny stopped and yanked his arm. “There she is!”

  The Winking Maiden was a slightly dingy establishment with a sign out front that was painted with a smiling, scantily clad young lady holding out a foaming mug and winking exaggeratedly. Inside, the place was clean but a little rough around the edges.

  It was a two-story building and the bottom floor was the common room. This served as both a pub and a restaurant. There were several tables filled with people, a bar and a serving area. An older woman who looked like she had been pretty in her younger days was on a small stage in the corner singing bawdy songs. The men were laughing and eating while a few barmaids served them. It was too early for anyone to be too drunk.

  Justan was surprised to see that a wizard who was so staunch about his students drinking had decided to stay in this place. He was about to ask Lenny about it, but the dwarf was already at the bar ordering a plate of meat and a tankard of ale. Justan didn’t know where to go until he heard an excited squeal coming from up the stairs. Vannya came running down and pulled him in for a quick hug.

  “Justan, you’re alive, I can’t believe it! We were all pretty tense, but the Professor said that you were still okay. Wait until the others find out you’re here.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him up the stairs and down a hall. She reached a room and threw open the door. She dragged him inside to the open stares of all seven of the other mages who had taken the journey. Pympol dropped his cards on the floor. Evidently Vannya wasn’t the only one who had thought him long gone.

  “Look, everyone, the professor was right. He’s here!”

  Justan was surprised to see that most of them actually seemed pleased about the news except for Pympol, who mumbled as he picked up his cards. Everyone wanted to ask him questions about his adventure.

  Justan chose his words carefully. He told them that he had an argument with the professor and took a walk to calm down. Then he told about how he got lost and his harrowing battle with the moonrats, but left out the part about Gwyrtha.

  They were all delighted by his recounting of the tale and very interested about his encounter with the elves. They all wanted to hear more, but Vannya saved him by telling the mages that she had to take him to see Professor Valtrek.

  When they left the room, she stopped him with a questioning gaze. “You didn’t tell the whole story in there, did you?”

  Had he been that transparent? “Well, let’s just say that when you deal with elves, there are just some things you can’t talk about.”

  Vannya seemed to want to ask more, but Justan had given a reasonable excuse. Everyone knew that elves were very particular about their secrets. She led him out of the back of the inn to the place where the horses were stabled and the wagons were stored.

  “How long have you been here waiting for me?” he asked

  “Oh, we just arrived here yesterday. It hasn’t been too long a wait, but everyone is ready to get back to the school.” They walked around to the wizard’s wagon.

  “Here we are,” Vannya said. “But before you talk to him, there are some things you should know. After you left, the Professor went crazy looking for you. He sent his spirit out of his body to search for you and that is a very risky thing to do. He did things differently after you left. He would come out every couple of hours to check to see if you had come back. After the dwarf volunteered to go after you, he told us to go ahead and travel through the forest in hope that you would catch up to us.

  “Then one night, it got real creepy going through the dark forest. We could hear the moonrats going berserk. We were scared. They were hanging in the trees all around us, making that awful noise and staring at us with those glowing eyes and Professor Valtrek came out again. He cast a blanket of silence around the wagon so that we couldn’t hear them, and then he brought us to the edge of the ward and gave us an anatomy lesson on the things.” She saw that Justan wasn’t impressed and frowned.

  “Justan, he tried to comfort us! What I’m trying to say is that something you said made him change.”

  Justan just looked at her.

  “And I’m supposed to love the man now?”

  For some reason, his remark must have stung her, for she flinched.

  “Look, I don’t know what he did to you that makes you feel this way, but whatever it was, I am sure he regrets it. You should give him a chance to explain.”

  He didn’t get it. Why was she defending the man?

  “Hey, I’m sorry, but after what he did to me, it’s going to be very hard for him to earn my trust again.”

  “Then what did he do?”

  Justan looked at the wagon. “I can’t explain now, Vannya, but I promise to tell you all about it later.” She glared at him, spun away and stormed back into the inn.

  Part of him felt like he should go after her, but whatever was bothering Vannya would have to wait. He stared at the wagon door, steeling himself for the likely confrontation. He stepped up the first step and knocked on the door. The rune glowed almost immediately and Justan spoke into it.

  “Professor, it’s Justan. I’m back.”

  After a moment, there was a response. The rune flared with each syllable the wizard spoke. “Please come in.”

  Justan gingerly grasped the knob of the door, half expecting to be shocked, but when he felt the cool metal and nothing happened, he opened the door. The wagon was as empty as the first time he had entered and it was brightly lit inside. As Justan shut the door behind him, the large silver mirror swirled with cloudiness and that familiar spicy-smelling mist poured out of it, filling the room.

  The wizard’s head poked out of the mist and he squeezed through the mirror into the room. As soon as he exited, the mirror shimmered and turned back into its normal reflective state. The mist dissipated into the air and was soon gone.

  The man in the white robe took a seat on a nearby chair and gestured for Justan to sit on the bed. Valtrek sat calmly with his hands folded in his lap.

  Justan was surprised by the wizard’s demeanor. He had expected an outburst. He thought he would be yelled at and punished for the way he had left, and was willing to put up with it in order to reach his goals. He found himself sitting down on the bed as invited.

  “Justan, I am glad to see that you made it out of the forest alive,” Valtrek said. “I must begin by offering you an apology. I don’t expect you to accept it, but all the same, I am sorry for what I did. I truly had no business interfering with your tests and I am aware that I put your friend’s life
in danger. If it were possible, I would apologize to her too.”

  This was far more than Justan had expected. Once again, the wizard was disarming him before the fight began. It irritated him that it was so hard to stay angry at the man.

  “I appreciate your apology, but it doesn’t make things right. I am still being forced into this situation against my will.”

  “I know. There is nothing that either of us can do about that now. You have this magic gift. If you don’t learn to use it, the result could be a disaster. I must ask you to trust me-”

  “Trust you?” Justan interrupted. “I don’t think that’s possible. You have already shown me that it is your own agenda that is most important to you, not mine. I have something that you want, that’s what I think. You didn’t sell the potion to Kenn for my sake.”

  The wizard ignored the young man’s outburst and replied with a smooth tone, not letting the conversation get out of hand. “Whether you trust me or not, you have a decision to make. What are you going to do Justan?”

  “I . . .” Justan wanted to shout at the man again, but Valtrek was so calm that his heart just wasn’t in it. He sighed. “I have already made a decision. I am going to attend your school for the two years and be done with it.”

  “That is not the decision I was talking about, Justan. I had no doubt that you would attend. The question is what do you plan to do when you get to the school? Are you going to sit and bide your time until it is over and waste two years of your life?” Now there was passion coming into Valtrek’s voice.

  “No, I’ll tell you exactly what I’m going to do. I’m going to go in there and do what I have to do in order to get this power under control. I am going to learn every drop of information I can. In fact, I will probably be the best student you have. And when these years are over, I will go back to the academy and be what I am meant to be. A warrior.” Justan stood up. “Is there anything else you wish to know?”

  The wizard chuckled wearily and shook his head. “I suppose I should have expected nothing less from the son of Faldon the Fierce. Very well, so you don’t plan to trust me. I can live with that for now and so can you. Just know that there may come a time when you may have to trust me for both our sakes. When that time comes, please remember this. Though my actions were wrong, my intentions were pure.” Valtrek stood to face Justan.

  “Now go, get some sleep. We leave in the morning.” Justan turned to leave and the wizard stopped him. “One more thing. Don’t go running off again.” He patted Justan on the shoulder. “It isn’t worth it.”

  Justan stormed out and headed for the inn. He reached out to Gwyrtha through the bond. With days of travel between them, her thoughts seemed a bit muted, but Justan could still feel her presence in his heart. The man in the white robe didn’t need to know how wrong he was. This time, running away had been well worth it indeed.

  Justan re-entered the Winking Maiden and headed for the common room. He didn’t feel like talking to the mages again at that moment. As he walked through the door, he saw Riveren and Zambon sitting by Lenny at a table. The dwarf was being quite loud and boisterous. He had three empty plates and four empty tankards in front of him.

  “Justan!” The two guards shouted out, and gestured for him to sit down.

  “It is great to see you alive!” Riveren exclaimed. “Lenny told us all about your amazing battle with the moonrats. You sure are lucky, my friend!” He gave an apologetic grin. “Hey, listen. We really wanted to go after you, but our contract states that we have to stay with the wagons.”

  “I understand.” Justan assured him and looked at Lenny who was busy downing another drink. “Do you think it’s wise to let him keep drinking like that? He’s just going to keep getting louder until someone throws him out.”

  Zambon laughed. “You think we could stop him?”

  Lenny put the tankard down and smiled mischievously at Justan through his mustache.

  “Besides,” Riveren said. “He’s a dwarf. It’s going to take more than a half a dozen tankards of this weak stuff to get him drunk. I think he’s just being loud for show.”

  Zambon laughed. “Riveren’s the one to know. He likes to do it so that he can get away with harassing the barmaids.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Riveren said as he pinched the behind of an attractive young woman who slid by. She twirled around and glared at him. He feigned innocence and pointed to Justan. The girl growled at Justan and stormed away.

  The evening passed by in such a fashion, and indeed the dwarf did get louder, but not enough to get them thrown out. Justan stayed a little later than he should have because he knew that Lenny would leave in the morning and the guards would go their separate ways at the Mage School.

  It was late when he finally trudged up the stairs to the room that he and Lenny were to share. Even though the bed was lumpy, it was the first bed he had slept in since leaving the Training School. It felt so good that he was asleep almost instantly. He didn’t even hear Lenny come in until the dwarf shook him awake.

  “Wha . . .?” Justan croaked, squinting his eyes against the light of the candles the dwarf had lit.

  “Wake up, son. I’m takin’ my leave,” the dwarf pronounced. He dragged a chair over to the bed so that he could talk to Justan face-to-face.

  Justan sat up and rubbed his eyes. He had hoped that this moment could be delayed. Other than Jhonate, Lenny had become the best friend he had. “Why must you leave now? Why not come along with us? Surely there is some business for you at the Mage School. It would be helpful to have a face there I could trust.”

  The dwarf sighed. “Sorry, boy. I done been away from my own forge far too long. The orders are probly pilin’ up and my durn fool apprentice nephew just don’t quite got the touch yet.”

  “I’m sad to see you go.”

  “Please, son. Don’t go all teary on me. This is just somethin’ that has to be. ‘Sides, knowin’ you, it won’t take long fer you to find somebody else to trust.” Lenny reached out and dragged his pack over to his chair. Evidently he had retrieved it from the wagon. It was bulging with the precious magical ore he had brought.

  “Look, before we left Wobble, I grabbed somethin’.” The dwarf turned and rummaged through the pack. He pulled out a velvet-covered bundle. “My brother had started makin’ this for a strange old man who come into town. But weeks went by and the man never come back in with a deposit so he didn’t finish it. I was bored when I first got there and the shipment of my ore was delayed, so I finished it.”

  He unwrapped the velvet package and inside Justan saw a dagger in an ornate sheath. The dwarf handed it to Justan. “I figgered I could sell it to one of them mages in the caravan, but I couldn’t get myself to part with it.”

  Justan turned it over. The handle was unusually wide and carved of some kind of bone that was inlaid with silver etchings. The sheath was also much wider than with a normal dagger, and made with a mix of silver and some other metal that Justan couldn’t place. It was so well polished that it gleamed in the candlelight. “Wow, Lenny, I don’t know what to say.”

  “Go ahead, boy. Pull it,” prodded the dwarf.

  Justan whistled. He had never seen its like. It had two blades coming out of the hilt so that it almost looked like one wide blade that had been split down the middle. One blade was a simple carving blade with a wicked edge, while the other one had a jagged edge that looked like a saw blade. Justan hefted it and found that it was exquisitely crafted with perfect balance and it was made of the same metal that the sheath was. “What is it for?” Justan asked.

  “The old man that brung the drawin’s to Chugk said it was a ceremonial dagger. I don’t know. I’ve made lots of them kinds of daggers and ain’t never seen one like this. But I figger you might be able to use it. At the very least you’ll make the other cadets greener than a week old steak.”

  “Lenny is this magic?” Justan asked.

  His friend smiled. “It don’t got any magic in it yet.
The stranger that brought the drawin’s fer the dagger also brought some unique ore that has the potential and Chugk mixed it with silver. When I finished it up with Buster, I used the right process; so it’s set up with the correct pathways to be magicked. Maybe you’ll learn how to charge it up some day. Who knows?”

  Justan found a lump in his throat.

  “It is a fine gift, Lenny. Thank you.” He reached into his shirt pocket. “Last time I left a friend I was unprepared.” He pulled out a bowstring necklace that was threaded with several sharp teeth. He had put it together as they traveled with the elves in the forest.

  “Moonrat teeth. I pulled them out of my boot heel. I figured it would give you a start to your collection so that you can one day match your brother.” He handed it over to the dwarf. “Oh, and here’s another one I found stuck in one of my pouches. Maybe Chuck can use it.”