by John Booth
Jake’s Quest
Wizards V
By
John Booth
Since the attack on his parents’ house, when his Auntie May was turned into a living bomb, Jake has had eighteen months of peace and quiet. He and Jenny are well off, and in his other life, the Kingdom of Salice is prosperous and at peace.
Jake’s life is about to get interesting again. It has taken a long time to get permission to go where he believes Dafydd Williams is hiding. Jake is certain that Dafydd is the bomber. But the question ‘why?’ haunts Jake almost as much as the body count his cousin’s attacks have caused.
But before he can get to Dafydd, he has a deal with the Dragons to complete and all hell breaks loose. From that moment on Jake’s troubles begin mounting in all directions. Family is a problem, his mistress is in trouble (And Jake makes it worse), the Diabli appear to have formed an alliance, he is nearly killed by plains Indians, and then his dragon Fluffy disappears.
Jake must go to university to finish his quest, but first he must survive the entrance exams and a couple of determined women.
(Authors Note: In Welsh the ‘dd’ in Dafydd is pronounced somewhere between ‘ff’ and ‘th’.)
JAKE’S QUEST
Wizards V
Copyright ©2014 John Booth.
Electronic edition published by John Booth Enterprises
Cover Design by JBE
Cover Background © SpinningAngel Dreamstime.com - Aquarius City Skyline Photo
John Booth asserts the moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Other books by John Booth on Amazon Kindle
Wizards Series
Wizards
Jake’s War
Jake’s Justice
Jake’s Women
Jake’s Quest
Jalon
Jalia on the Road
Gally Delbar
Jalia in the North
Jalia and the Slavers
Jalia at Bay
Jalia Prevails
Tom & Laura Series
The Spellbinder
Scotland Hard
Revenge of the Brotherhood
Magic Series
House of Silver Magic
Sapphire Magic: Breaking Glass
Gold Magic: Terror in Mind
The Magic Series (Anthology)
Standalone Fantasy
Andrew Hawks
London Gothic
Carlotta and the Krius Scepter
Shaddowdon
Horror
The Lost
The Inspector Monde Mysteries
Visit the author’s web page Scrawls in the Dust
Contents
1. Remembrance
2. The Council of Wizards
3. Galator
4. Night in the Museum
5. The Twins
6. Family
7. Salice
8. Bronwyn
9. Diabli
10. Wolf
11. Council & Cake
12. Gwydion
13. Gone
14. A Few Goodbyes
15. Harlan
16. Trapped
17. Transformations
18. Reward
19. Landmines
20. Bob
21. Five Sides
22. Surprises
23. Lana
24. Lectures
25. Ambassador Retnor
26. Field Trips
27. Magic
28. Survival
29. Revelation
30. Words
31. Upsets
32. Forbidden
33. Permission
34. Through the Wardrobe
35. Arrogance
36. Bellweather
37. Reactions
38. Actions
39. Skirmish
40. Fire
41. Gillian
42. Death
43. Fight
44. Letting Go
45. Quest’s End
Epilogue
1. Remembrance
Birds sang and butterflies flitted from flower to flower in a surprisingly large remembrance garden. A mere eighteen months ago this had been a typical street of houses. And just across from where I sat was where the house I grew up in used to be. With the houses gone, subtle landscaping and an encircling hedge of leylandii it was unrecognizable, except to a wizard.
Wizards have an overdeveloped sense of place, it comes with the ability to hop anywhere in the multiverse we have already been. I could hop to where my bedroom used to be with unerring accuracy, though I’d then have to cope with the 20 foot drop into a large goldfish pond.
A path cut from local stone looped its way through the garden in a seemingly random fashion, touching far too many small stone circles on its way. I was sitting on the wooden bench bought with money I’d donated. There was even a little brass plate that said Rest in Peace on it, if you knew where to look. The garden was empty of other people, which was a shame considering how beautiful it was.
It took me a few moments to realize that I was no longer the only one present, even though I was staring directly into the place where she appeared. Wizards’ hop through space, which is an instant transition, but this vision of loveliness appeared like the world had sighed her into existence. She grew into reality from infinitely far away and though she walked slowly she was beside me in seconds. By then I had recognized her.
“Lady Issus, Representative of Zelphi,” I said, standing and attempting a bow. It’s not something Welsh lads are trained in, so it didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. When you encounter a goddess you want everything you do to be perfect.
“Lord Wizard Morrissey.” There was laughter in her voice and I quickly and surreptitiously checked my flies, thankfully they were fully zipped.
“Jake,” I mumbled, the rest of my sentence forgotten. She had me tongue-tied.
Issus looked around her with an expression of surprise on her face. “I thought I was coming to your home. Such a sad place. Whatever happened here?”
I could have told her this was where my neighbors died. That each stone circle commemorated a victim murdered in an attempt to kill me. Instead I said nothing and simply watched her.
She walked to a bed of late flowering plants and cupped a bud in her hands. It came into full bloom in seconds and then reversed itself to become a bud again. The magic she used was unknown to me. It must have been a bubble of time, but everything I knew about magic said such a thing was impossible.
Issus turned to me, a frown forming on perfect lips.
“You are keeping people away with your grief. I shall dispel it and you must not put it back. Who died here?” She made a gesture of dismissal.
The garden felt different, as if a weight had lifted from my shoulders that I had been unaware I’d been carrying.
“Friends, neighbors, acquaintances; I caused their deaths.”
Issus gave me a sharp look. “You killed them?”
“My Auntie May exploded because somebody wanted me dead.” God, that sounded stupid when said out loud.
“Th
en you did not kill them. And what of the man who did?”
I shrugged. “I’m still trying to find him.”
She nodded and came over to the bench to sit down, patting the seat beside her in invitation for me to join her.
Issus is not only beautiful, but incredibly sexy. Whenever I’ve seen her she’s wearing clothes that accentuate her curves and draw the eye to places that have a certain effect on a man. As our bodies came into brief contact on the bench I leaned forward to cover the developing bulge in my jeans.
When she placed her hand on my leg, no one looking could have missed the involuntary pulse in my groin. I suppressed a moan of pleasure.
“Why are you here?” Was my voice usually that high? I swallowed and tried to keep my mind on higher things. This was not helped when she turned towards me and my eyes locked onto her swaying breasts. With an effort I raised my eyes to meet her gaze.
“I told you we would meet again when prophesy demanded. Are Lord Retnor’s eyes fully healed?”
How in all the universes had she known about that?
“Yes, better than ever, he tells me.”
She smiled and all thoughts of sex fled my mind. This was a woman a man could worship and ask for nothing in return.
She coughed, “I’m sorry. The glamour is difficult to suppress, though it is always nice to be loved.”
The world grew a little colder and she slightly more human. She kissed my cheek as though I was a little boy she was pleased with.
“Jake Morrissey, you are about to undertake a quest. As we speak the Council of Wizards in Valhalla are sending a messenger to bring you to them. You know what that means?”
I felt a surge of rising excitement. This time I was finally going to get the bastard.
“I see you do, but this I charge you to think upon.”
She paused for a moment to be sure I was listening.
“Justice is better than vengeance.”
I was trembling. I’d been waiting for this call for ages. I wanted her to finish talking to her so I could go.
“Is that it?”
“Think on it, Jake. Before it is too late.”
She faded out of existence in a totally different way to that she’d used to arrive. I had no idea how she did that either. It was as if her body changed into a million tiny flowers and blown away on the wind.
I stood and brushed imaginary bits of Goddess off my tee shirt and jeans.
It was time to go. I hopped to Valhalla.
2. The Council of Wizards
I hopped into chaos. Men and women shouted at each other from behind curved desks that looked down upon the stage where the leaders of the council held court. The din made it difficult to think and at first I thought that no one was in charge.
Then I saw Meldar Lind get to her feet and begin to bang a gavel. At first the gavel’s knock was lost in the sea of voices, but she applied magic to the sound and by the third bang the sound it made was close to knocking me off my feet. Everybody stopped shouting and the silence that followed was in some ways more shocking than the sound of the gavel had made.
Meldar gave the assemblage a mocking smile. She spoke in English, which was a blessed relief as Valhallan is tedious beyond belief.
“You may not have noticed, but Wizard Morrissey has joined us. Do you want him to think we are nothing more than a pack of baying hounds?”
There were some shamed-faced looks from the men and women of the council and they resumed their seats with much shuffling of papers. Meldar turned to face me.
“Wizard Morrissey, we had barely sent our messenger to contact you and you have caught us at a bad moment. We rarely act like this. May I offer my apologies?”
I was never comfortable among Valhallans, but at least she was speaking English. Apologies in Valhallan might have taken two or three days to complete. I decided to use a bit of diplomacy.
“I am sorry to have interrupted the Council in debate. However, as you know I am eager to get to Balmack so I hopped here as soon as I got the word.”
“And why has Delft not returned with you?”
Now that was unexpected. Delft Lagan was one of the three council leaders and it was unusual for one of them to take on the role of errand boy.
“I recieved your message indirectly.” A raised eyebrow from Meldar demanded more. “From Issus of Zelphi.”
There were a few gasps and even a couple of whistles. Zelphi must be higher up the pecking order than I had assumed.
“And did she offer you any words of advice?”
“She wished me luck.”
I don’t think anyone there believed me. Tough, that was the most they were getting from me.
Meldar sighed and motioned me to sit in the solitary chair that faced her. She and Carl Brindel occupied two of the three chairs behind an imposing bench. As Delft was off trying to find me, his chair was empty. I didn’t think we needed him, this was a simple matter.
Meldar picked up a document and squinted at it. Her already bony face looked even more like a skull than usual as she read it.
“We have received word from the Chancellor of Haldor University on Balmack. He has accepted our request to include you in the Enrolment Competition for Unaffiliated Wizards.”
I stood and punched the air, then sat back down in response to many disapproving looks.
“We have stuck our necks out for you, Jake. The Balmack Accord has a fearsome reputation for punishing those who cause them trouble.”
“When have I ever caused trouble?”
I had on my innocent face. Several people groaned and I saw a man bury his face in his hands. I have a certain reputation.
“When do you not?” Meldar was not amused. “Even though we are only your sponsor there is still risk for us in this. You killed the Balmack Accord Representative at the Conference Between the Worlds…”
“That was an accident. He should have got out of the way.”
Meldar frowned and I shut up. It was still his fault though.
“…which means that you are a banned alien in the Balmack Accord. They know what we have done to get you around that ban and they know why. Their laws give you an opening to join Haldor University as an undergraduate, if you can prove yourself worthy. We believe the tests involved are arduous, almost certainly life threatening. Are you sure you want to go through with this?”
It was a fair question, one my wives had already expressed a little more forcefully.
“The man who bombed and killed dozens of people in my world wrote taunting letters to the police in Balmack script. I think this man is my cousin, Dafydd Williams, but even if he isn’t, the Bomber must have some connection with the Accord. It’s the only clue I’ve got left.”
Meldar smiled. It stretched her thin lips white.
“And your presence in the Accord will force him to act?”
“I’m hoping so.”
“Given your propensity for trouble I would say it is a certainty. The Balmack have assured us that no one in the Accord would commit acts of terrorism. They see you as a dangerous lunatic, as do a number of the members of this council. Try not to kill too many people while you are away.”
“I always try,” I said, and I meant it. I never set out to kill people, I’m not a murderer, but to be fair the body count around me has been rising steadily over the years.
The meeting was apparently over. Meldar beckoned me over and led me out of the council chamber to a small room where she offered me a drink.
I took it and sat down in an armchair opposite her. She raised her glass and we silently toasted my trip.
“You have five days and three hours before you go.”
I checked my watch and did the conversions. Four twenty five on Friday afternoon. Her bony fingers clenched my wrist and a set of coordinates flowed into my mind. When I say coordinates, they were nothing like a map reference, but for a Wizard they were easy to understand. The location was somewhere on Valhalla I’d never been.
“Wh
at should I take with me?”
She shook her head. I guessed she knew as much as I did.
The Valhallans weren’t allies with the Balmack, but unlike the Malevon, my other principle allies, they were on speaking terms with them. Apparently the Balmack were patriarchal and prudish, while the Malevon with their queens, were the exact opposite. Finding out about the university loophole had taken time and I’d almost given up hope of getting to Balmack without starting a war. After the Valhallans applied on my behalf it still seemed to take forever to get to this point.
“You are a remarkable man, Jake Morrissey.” Meldar shook her head again. “The Balmack understanding of magic makes our research look like the work of children. If they were not a peaceful and inward looking culture they could have carved out a massive chunk of the multiverse for themselves. Their worlds are the last place anybody would look for a deranged killer. Anybody but you.”
“I have to find him. Too many people have been killed by his hand.”
“Perhaps he has finished with you? It has been a long time since his last attack.”
It was a fair point. It had been 18 months and four days since he blew up my street. I was keeping count. But no one as deranged as him was going to give up on trying to kill me. He was just taking a breather.
“I can’t risk the lives of those around me on that supposition.”
“I understand.”
And I believe she did. We stood and shook hands.
As I turned to leave I heard her whisper.
“Come back safely, Jake Morrissey.”
3. Galator
I appeared in the Bat Cave near the wall, where it’s safest. The cave is looking pretty good these days, Fluffy seems to appreciate cleanliness a great deal more since regaining his eyesight and he tidies up all the time. No more half roasted grinning sheep heads on the sofa these days. Of course, it might be down to the babysitting he does for us. Our toddlers adore him.