Osric helped Kenneth to his feet and began to unstrap the hilt from his side.
“I haven’t even looked at it myself yet. It just occurred to me when I was given the sword. It was a power lock from two wands, and one of them was the wand of the prophecy. I knew it, I just knew it.” Osric smiled and laid the sword he had carried since his father had died in front of Gus.
“How is it possible that you never knew your father’s sword was also a wand?” There was an almost playful tone to Gus’s voice. “You’ve been carrying that for half your life.”
“I think the unicorn that rescued me from the rubble is behind it becoming a wand. If my father had known this was a wand then he may have sold it during some of the lean years to buy us food.”
“Ah, well let’s see if your suspicions are correct. I’ve always wanted to get some answers to my questions about the unicorns. I knew it wasn’t the wand I gave you!” Gus smiled up at him.
“I’ve always wanted to see what you two are talking about as it was happening.” Kenneth stepped forward, followed shortly by Bridgett and then Pebble.
“There’s more than enough room,” Osric replied as he looked down and activated the Wand-Maker gift. What he saw was altogether as new as it was familiar.
Unlike the wands that Gus made, it was made of what looked like circular rings that decreased in size as they tapered away from the hilt of the sword. There were none of the typical linkings of strands to form a structure. Instead, the strange rings shared a common shaft that ran through the very center of the wand, and each of the individual rings was a distinctly different color. The structure was remarkably similar to another wand that Osric had looked at not too long ago, except that in this wand there were dozens of individual rings.
“Pebble, why does this wand look so much like one of your wands?” Gus inquired, but it was Kenneth who answered.
“He’s the one that knows, but I think he is a bit too young to understand the significance of what he knows.”
“Known, but not known.” Gus smiled.
“All things are new to the young.” Osric spoke with appreciation.
“Some of the hints he would give us in that blasted game I taught him are starting to make sense now.” A genuine joy radiated from Gus as he looked at Osric with an uncharacteristically youthful smile.
“Yes, I believe you are right.” Osric nodded in agreement. Then he leaned in close and whispered in Gus’s ear, “And I think I’d like to know how he came up with his wand design too. Why don’t you ask him?”
Gus stood right where he was and cocked his head to the right, asking, “Pebble, where did you get your inspiration for your wands?” A singular tremor shook his right ear.
“Osric’s wand, silly.” Pebble smiled.
“Well, I have to admit I was hoping for a bit more, but since he’s known all along, I guess it makes sense.” Gus shrugged, looking up exasperated.
“I thought there’d be more too.” Osric returned the expression.
“I couldn’t have done it without the unicorns helping me, though. I didn’t have Osric’s wand to look at always. Plus, it was tough trying to figure out how to do it the same way as his. It’s still not perfect, ’cause those strands are hard to get at from below. They had to tell me how to do it five times before I got one right. Then it was easy, but I still can’t make ’em quite like Osric’s!” Pebble bounced around in excitement.
Osric and Gus both stood there, slack jawed and silent, waiting for more. Had Pebble really stated that unicorns had taught him how to make the wand? As far as the brightest minds on Archana were concerned, unicorns could not speak. Not only did he indicate that they had instructed him in wandcraft, but that they had done it five times.
“Who told you how to do it five times?” Kenneth was the one to break the silence.
“The unicorns,” Pebble responded with the exaggerated impatience of a child. “You might hear me better over by them.” He motioned for Kenneth to move next to Osric and Gus.
“I think he’s picking up some of your mannerisms.” Kenneth directed his statement toward Gus.
“I’m sorry?” Gus leaned in with his right ear.
“I said I think he’s picking up some of your mannerisms.”
“Not you, I’m talking to the boy.” Gus scowled, yet a smirk remained on his face. It was as if he just couldn’t manage to say it with a straight face. “You said the unicorns told you how to make these wands?”
Both of his ears twitched madly and his thin frame held in a tremendous amount of energy that looked ready to explode. Gus’s entire body leaned toward Pebble in anticipation of the next few words.
“Yes!” He sighed. “The unicorns taught me how to make the wands. Goodness! You need to pay better attention, Pa. I already said it twice.”
“You are correct,” Gus spoke slowly as he chose his next words. “Now, how exactly did you get the unicorns to speak?”
“I never said they spoke. Their mouths can’t make words, silly. They talk to the insides, like the dragons talk to each other, except for dragons can talk to us too.” Pebble pointed to his ears. “But you have to be polite or unicorns won’t say nothin’—not a peep. I told you that when we was at the Grove of the Unicorn.” He said the last in exasperated annoyance.
“I don’t remember you telling me any of that.” Gus shook his head, more for the lack of attention he had paid his son than from disbelief.
“You tried to see their wands and they hid them from you. Then I told you to ask ’em first like you always told me.” Pebble shrugged.
“I have most certainly told you to ask before you look into anyone with your gift, but you rarely listened,” Gus said.
“Well the unicorns are so pretty that I looked at them first, before I looked in them.” Pebble shrugged again matter-of-factly. “I said, ‘Hello, you are pretty,’ and she said ‘thanks.’ We talked for a bit before I asked to see her magics. Since I was so polite she said I could. But I never looked at anyone without asking since. Well, no one but all us here. I wanted to play games and you all said you would, so it was fair to look at you.”
“I could see how you might think that.” Gus bowed respectfully towards his son. Then he smirked a joyous smirk.
Not since his promotion to Contege, shortly before the attack on the palace, had Osric felt such satisfaction. By his guess, it had been far longer for the ex–world’s greatest Wand-Maker—it was undeniable that Pebble had surpassed his father as the best. Gus beamed with tremendous excitement as he gazed as his pup. All of the onlookers attempted to hold in their sniggers, and a few unsuccessful mouths let loose an uproar at Gus’s frivolous approach to his son.
Gus leapt at his son with gaiety. Both prairie dogs erupted with laughter as they tumbled about. Despite his youth, Pebble had nearly doubled in size since they had departed on their adventure almost a year earlier. Gus’s thin frame kept disappearing beneath the chubby ball of laughter.
The cackles continued for some time as a visible load lifted from the small group of friends. Bridgett smiled as a happy tear slid down her cheek. Then her expression grew concerned and she leaned to whisper in Osric’s ear.
“When you can tear yourself away, I need to catch you up on some dragon happenings. I’ll be with Eublin. Don’t hurry, but join me in the library when you can. You’ve carried such a considerable weight for so long, this time will do much to revive you.” She motioned to the delighted gathering. Then she kissed him softly on the cheek and walked away.
2 – Mourning Epiphany
Kal groaned as he walked into the Wand-Maker’s room for another day’s work. Willam hadn’t yet arrived, and Gus was never on time. But Kal liked to arrive early and take advantage of their new contraption. Peering into the hidden realm that could, until recently, only be seen by those with the Wand-Maker’s gift, was thrilling. It was true that they hadn’t created a tool that would allow him to manipulate the strands, but that was only a matter of time, by his reckon
ing.
He had to avoid Eublin to get to his station ahead of the rest. The gnome had been standing in the hallway on a pedestal for added height and visibility, trying to get everyone to sign some petition to change the way the hunt worked. The one thing Kal knew was to not get trapped in the hall with Eublin when he was on his pedestal.
He had detoured around that hallway and ventured by the kitchen to see if they had begun serving for the day. They hadn’t set out any food yet, so he was left to let the internal rumblings continue for some time. While passing by the entrance to the barracks, he saw something that almost made him sacrifice an early arrival; a crowd seemed to be growing in the field, and laughter resonated from the area. For a moment he thought he heard Gus chittering playfully, and that’s when he decided that he must be hearing things incorrectly, so he continued his hungry, weary walk to his small space within the Aranthian base.
The thought that he was a part of something as revolutionary as the Aranthians filled him with pride. This was his area; that was a hard fact to get used to. He still had to listen to the lectures of another master of the craft, but this time his own failings were due to something he couldn’t control. He had the mind for wand-making, but not the gift. His stomach rumbled again just as he got to his station in the wand-making room. Kal grabbed his wand and focused on his attempt to summon a connection with the communication spell.
“David, are you there?” With so many people gathered around the grounds and Eublin on his mission to right the injustice of the hunt, Kal didn’t want to risk another trip out to get food or he might lose what chance he had to learn more about the Wand-Maker’s gift.
“Hey, we’re behind getting breakfast out, so make it quick or James will kill me!” David was thin and tall in the triangular display that appeared above the wand. Sweat poured out from under his blond hair, still visible in the transparent image.
“I didn’t mean to bother you. I was just wondering if you might be able to bring a few plates to our office when you start serving? I tried to stop by earlier, but you weren’t serving yet. You know how the passageways can get some mornings.” Kal could hear several voices chattering and pans clattering about as the kitchen staff prepared the morning meal.
David’s image turned toward Kal’s right as he spoke. “James, could you spare me for a delivery when we serve? The Wand-Makers don’t want to chance the halls this morning,” he shouted.
“Ha!” James’s voice bellowed in the background. “Gus is probably going to be a busy bee after this morning’s epiphany. Besides, all the work you did to help us get ready for our cattle—you deserve an easy morning!”
The door cracked open and Willam stepped through, looking tired and casting a glance in Kal’s direction. He raised a weary hand up in greeting. Then, seeing who was on the other end of the wand conversation, his eyes went wide.
David turned to face forward with a cocky smile. “How many plates should I bring?”
Kal looked at his stick-gathering partner, who nodded enthusiastically, then sat down across the table from him.
“That’s two so far. Better make it three just to be safe. If you happen to see Gus in the mess, just bring us two.”
“Okay, I’d better run. We’re just waiting for the biscuits to brown, which should be anytime. Do I need to bring rulha as well, or juice?”
“Juice,” Willam whispered with a quick motion of his head.
“One juice, one rulha, if you don’t mind. Gus can get what he wants whenever he decides to get here.” Kal smiled. Then something that had been said caught his attention. “Did I hear correct? Did the cattle finally arrive?”
“Yes, just a bit earlier. Osric called for me from the training grounds and told me they were here. We’re going to be eating well for the foreseeable future.”
“Osric’s awake?” Kal now realized what had caused all of the commotion outside, and he grimmaced as he regretted missing the excitement in his hurry to get to his station. “Do you know if he plans to stop by our area today?”
“No idea. I didn’t even know he was awake until I heard him shout my name from outside the window.”
“Thanks. We can’t wait for the food to get here, and thanks for the news.” Kal ended the link and sheathed his wand. Taking a look around, he saw piles of wand material on every surface. “We need to clean this place up quick!”
“I’ll move the sticks over here under the desk if you want to get the broom and sweep up all of the strippings and bark that are lying about?” Willam grabbed as much of the small scraps of wood as he could hold and started organizing them under the table.
“Sounds good, but let’s get this done as quick as we can. I would like to try and show Osric that we are good for more than just gathering sticks. You think he can get Gus to make better use of us?” Kal moved to the back of the room, fetching the broom.
“I don’t think we could fit another stick in this room if we tried. Gus is bound to let us learn something one of these days.”
The door to the room opened and laughter burst inside. Kal quickly pushed a pile of debris against the wall and leaned the broom against the counter as Willam dropped his armload under the table. He looked nervous, and several sticks tumbled across the floor from his ill-timed toss. He kicked at the sticks closest to him, trying to make them find a less obvious place to rest.
“I still can’t believe how different you seem.” Osric’s head came into view, and he was smiling while looking down.
“Shh! Don’t spoil the surprise!” Gus bounded in, with Pebble, Jane, Kenneth, and Macgowan in tow.
Kal and Willam looked between each other at the sight of Gus hiding an obvious smile behind a fictitious frown. There was something strange in the way they all walked, as if weightless and unencumbered. It was simply baffling to witness.
“Why are you still here? Shouldn’t you be gathering more sticks by now?” Gus nearly cracked a full-fledged smile.
Kal looked at Willam with hopeless desperation. He hadn’t even been able to use the strand-sight device, and the worst part of it all was that his breakfast hadn’t yet arrived and they would have to spend the day gathering sticks in the hot sun, outside of their safe enclosure. They wouldn’t have time to get back and find something to eat until lunch, and David would be furious that they had made him bring food to an empty room. They wouldn’t be able to get him to bring them their morning meal again anytime soon.
“We’ve got piles of them sitting around here. Why can’t we take the day off and learn something for a change?” Kal berated himself in his mind. He had spoken too timidly. He sounded weak and reminded himself too much of a beggar.
“Yeah, Gus. Give the guys a day off and teach them something, why don’t you?” Kenneth glared at the Wand-Maker sardonically.
“They’ve been putting up with you for months, so I’m sure they deserve more than a day off,” Jane echoed.
Kal was starting to grow nervous with the way they were acting. Were they all drunk this early in the morning?
“Not so. I’ve been a perfectly hospitable instructor. Tell them I’ve been perfectly hospitable.” The aged prairie dog looked back and forth between Kal and Willam, giving away no hint of his motivation.
“He’s been perfectly hospitable.” Kal’s voice was less than convincing, eliciting a couple of loud chuckles, a guffaw, and two snorts from the gathered recruits.
“This is too much fun.” Osric held his stomach as if he had spent too much time laughing. “But I have been indisposed for too long. I think I am going to excuse myself and see to the rounds that I have missed over the last month. Besides, Bridgett said she needed to speak to me about a possible threat. I think now would be a good time for me to see what that was about.”
At last there was something familiar—Osric never stayed in one place for too long. Kal still didn’t know what to make of the rest of the confusion. Once Osric had made his escape and everyone’s attention returned, Gus regained his scowl.
&n
bsp; “I don’t think that you’ve convinced me. I need you to convince me that you felt I was cordial and attentive to your needs.”
“Oh come on, Gus,” Kenneth protested while Macgowan and Jane shifted uncomfortably.
“You two need more patience. At my age some things take time.” Something that resembled a smile was on Gus’s face. Kal was beginning to sense that a joke was happening at his expense, and he didn’t find it amusing.
“Look, you have been, quite probably, one of the worst instructors Archana has ever seen. You are impatient, closed-minded, guarded with instruction, and you have a horrible habit of insulting everyone who could kill you without a second thought. You walk about this place as if you are the only authority on anything magical, and you inspire a great deal of nothing special from everyone.” He shook with the nerves that it took to speak his mind.
Kal waited, anxiously anticipating what he knew was coming to him.
“You think I’ve been too harsh?”
Kal sent daggers at Gus with his eyes. He didn’t like being belittled, and even less in front of a crowd.
“You have been the worst kind of intolerable,” Kal answered.
“The worst kind, you think?”
“I don’t have to think. There is no doubt that you are the worst kind of instructor. That’s why the three men and one woman in this room are watching with such keen interest. They know you to be a vicious little tyrant.” The words felt great! Kal took a deep breath of satisfaction, disregarding the uncertainty on display from the onlookers.
Gus took a long, slow breath and looked down, as if he were hearing what was being said for the first time and was actually listening.
He took a deep breath and replied, “I may have been less than I should have been.” There was an unnerving amount of honesty in Gus’s voice.
“May have? The executioner could answer with that amount of honesty, but not you.” Kal held his breath, unsure of the brazenness in his words.
The Weaving of Wells (Osric's Wand, Book Four) Page 2