The Emperor's Mage

by Clark Bolton

  They were in a natural cave, and behind them was a door leading back into the temple area occupied by the monks. Neeq had suggested they reside here, in preparation for their departure. A second exit was said to lead to a tunnel, which would take them through the wall of the canyon to the lands beyond.

  “Happy to be away from men,” she admitted.

  “I’m a man.”

  “You are the dragon-mage.”

  “So Tass tells me,” he replied irritably.

  “Will he come with us?”

  “I told him he doesn’t have to, but…he just called me a boy…and said it was his duty.”

  “I do not understand duty, I think,” As-Cheen said with a pout. “The Cold-Mother told me what my duty was. Now I think I have none.”

  Ich-Mek didn’t know how to respond. He had given up his duties in a way, and they had been forced upon him as well. Maybe that’s what they saw in each other, he mused: a new duty.

  “Neeq will be coming soon,” he warned her. “He’s going to tell us secrets…then we have to leave.”

  “I wish to leave,” she replied.

  When Neeq arrived, he had a bundle of maps with him. These he unfurrowed on a mat, then went about showing them the lands of Ibu-Jek.

  “I was once sent to the palace...” Neeq informed them, “…as a member of delegation to plead with the Emperor to send a dragon-mage here to Shrindala. One never came, as you know.”

  Neeq had spent over a year with his fellow monks, he explained, within the inner-city of the capital; not once were they granted an audience with the Emperor, and Neeq suspected the Emperor was never informed they were in the capital. The experience had changed his view of the world, he told them.

  “You should not leave, Fu-Si, while thinking the Emperor is the only force driving the lives of his subjects,” Neeq went on to say.

  “Regents and governors, you mean?” Ich-Mek asked cynically.

  “Among others. The patrons of this temple, and our sister temples, weigh daily on provincial affairs, Fu-Si. And I must say we even have representatives in the inner-city of the capital.”

  Ich-Mek listened carefully then thought to ask, “They couldn’t get you an audience with the Emperor?”

  Neeq seemed to smile with embarrassment before saying, “We ordained have our limits, particularly with the imperial family. Not to say we don’t have occasional sway.”

  They talked of other temples, and for Ich-Mek, the seemingly bizarre relationship they had with governors and other lords. When he had first arrived at Shrindala Temple, he had thought all worshipers were eventually interred here, but had since learned this was not the case. It took a special dispensation to be granted the privilege, and now Neeq was explaining high-ranking officials were not above influencing the outcome of this, and other temple matters.

  “What about Tass?” Ich-Mek asked at one point. “Who sent him to Key-Tar-Om?”

  Neeq paused for a few moments before saying, “That was partly my doing, Fu-Si. I must admit to having had many misgivings about it over these many years. Tass has been…beyond loyal to his mandate.”

  “How long was he there?”

  “He never told you?” Neeq asked inquisitively.

  “No, only that it was a long time. More than a cycle, I think.”

  “Yes…” Neeq replied somberly with a bow. “Over twenty years, Fu-Si. There were those of us who considered recalling him…but thankfully, we refrained.”

  “His body will be interred here…I mean if that is what Tass wants?”

  “Rest assured that it will be done, Fu-Si,” Neeq said with an even deeper bow. “The two of you…and As-Cheen…are our saviors. Eternal will be our gratitude.”

  Ich-Mek found it hard to imagine having his bones interred here, and was certain As-Cheen felt the same. He pictured a long full life for the both of them, but then became sad when he thought about the chances that would come to pass.

  “I have written this for you, Fu-Si,” Neeq said as he handed over a small piece of rice-paper. “I ask only that you not share what is on it, and that you destroy it before the end of three days.”

  Ich-Mek looked at the list on the paper. “What are these?”

  “The locations of temples where you may find aid if the need arises. Many are in Wa province, but I’ve taken the risk of including all the major ones in Ibu-Jek.”

  “Why keep it a secret?”

  Neeq smiled widely at him. “Emperors and the ordained do not always share the same interests, Fu-Si. Nor do governors, and rivals.”

  “Rivals?”

  “Sadly, we do not all worship the same gods,” Neeq replied with a faraway look. “Having a powerful lord as a worshiper can bring with it things…let’s call them perverse privileges. Not something the ordained are proud of, least not most. Their use can be…unfortunate.”

  Ich-Mek looked shocked and saw that As-Cheen was alarmed as well. Monks were a source of great comfort, he had learned since fleeing Key-Tar-Om. All people seemed to revere them, but now he was being told that was a mistake.

  “I’ll memorize this, then burn it,” Ich-Mek promised. Then he gave two letters to Neeq, asking, “Can you get this first one to Yi-La in the capital?” He admitted shamefully, “It’s short.”

  “I can try, Fu-Si. But it is taking a risk to be found with such a letter,” Neeq warned.

  “I’d made sure not to mention too much about…all this,” he assured the monk. “The second I don’t know if you can deliver for me. It’s for a friend I had to leave behind in Key-Tar-Om.”

  “That may be more than can be accomplished,” Neeq warned.

  “Please try,” Ich-Mek said with a tinge of guilt in his voice.

  Neeq bowed as he accepted the letters, then changed the subject. “I have asked you to stay here…” Neeq said as he gestured to the cave around them, “…because of two reasons. First was to prevent your destination from being learned by others, which I think was accomplished. The other was to wait so you could travelers to arrive.”

  “Travelers?” Ich-Mek asked as he began memorizing the list of temples.

  “Traveler-monks, as they are sometime fondly referred to,” Neeq replied. “An order I have been privileged to travel with in the past. They are of a different sort.”

  “I thought Tass was going with us.”

  “I’ve advised against it,” Neeq replied with a frown. “His stature…and his mannerisms…will call more attention to you, as will other things.” Neeq nodded toward As-Cheen as he said this. “Not wise where you intend to travel.”

  Ich-Mek sat back to think on that point for a moment. As-Cheen had her desire to travel across the sea, and did he. Yet they still had no solid destination, other than to head for the coastline.

  “If you think it best,” Ich-Mek finally said meekly.

  “Yes, Fu-Si. You may find them…gruff…even callous, but I assure you this will be needed.”

  “How many?” he asked in confusion. “I don’t think we were planning on more than one traveling companion.” Ich-Mek looked to As-Cheen for confirmation, and she gave it with a slight nod.

  “We are fortunate to acquire three travelers. All ethnically suited for the east of Ibu-Jek. The privileged person that was escorted here to Shrindala by them, thankfully, has agreed to stay awhile, and so has freed them of service.”

  “They are monks though?”

  “Yes, absolutely. But as I’ve said they may not seem so at times.”

  Ich-Mek shook his head and gave Neeq a wide smile. “Do I have to guess what that means?”

  Neeq grinned back. “They are not restrained from doing harm, as one would come to expect of a monk. So they can be upsetting when they choose to be.”

  “They fight?” Ich-Mek exclaimed.

  “Oh yes! They are very accomplished in all things martial.”

  __________________________

  “But you’re not coming, right?” Ich-Mek asked Tass as he prepared to head down the tunnel
that would take them through the canyon wall.

  He hadn’t recognized Tass at first since his head was now shaved and he wore the saffron-colored robes of a monk. Furthermore, he had been led in by Neeq with the three travelers, who were dressed in a similar fashion. The four mostly shaven heads had thrown him for a moment.

  Tass opened up a small pouch which appeared to Ich-Mek to be empty, then Tass gestured to the pouch Ich-Mek carried at his belt. “I have one more journey, dragon-mage,” Tass proclaimed with a very monk like bow.

  “You need silver?” Ich-Mek asked in confusion.

  “For your family, dragon-mage,” Tass replied. “I shall take it wherever I must.”

  “Alone?” Ich-Mek asked as he looked to Neeq with confusion. “Why?”

  “It is his wandering stage, Fu-Si,” Neeq explained. “Normally done as a new initiate, and with no silver. However, Tass was not able to partake of this tradition – that is, until this moment.”

  “You don’t have to, Tass,” Ich-Mek told him. “Someone else could take it, maybe.”

  “Do not be concerned, Fu-Si,” Tass said with another bow. “Please allow me the honor. I will see only your family knows this is from you.”

  “You may not find my sister, Tass…or anyone else,” Ich-Mek felt obliged to warn him.

  “Then what is your desire, Fu-Si?”

  Ich-Mek thought for a moment. “The temple where my parents’ ashes were buried, Tass. My village is poor, I think.”

  That being settled, Ich-Mek then poured half the silver pieces he had been given by Neeq into Tass’s pouch. Then Neeq pulled him and As-Cheen aside, and had them sit with him while the four monks waited in the tunnel.

  “Now you will hear what few know.”

  Ich-Mek felt a shiver run up his spine at Neeq’s tone. “Can’t the others hear?” Ich-Mek asked.

  “This is a hushed subject, Fu-Si, I’m afraid,” Neeq replied. “Best kept for the ears of a dragon-mage…and a spirit-girl.”

  As-Cheen began to pout immediately, and Ich-Mek could tell she very much wanted to leave before being burdened with even more troubles of men. Gently grabbing her arm and smiling at her, he convinced her not to get up and leave.

  “Forgive this last-minute need, Fu-Si,” Neeq apologized. “It wouldn’t serve to have others overhear…or misspeak, even to other monks.”

  Ich-Mek nodded his head as if he understood, but couldn’t fathom any subject that required this much secrecy. “We will be careful.”

  “Yes, Fu-Si,” Neeq replied with a slight smile and a bow. “Your desire to travel outside of Ibu-Jek has been heard by the ordained, though we think the decision unfortunate.”

  “We are going,” Ich-Mek insisted as he looked down at the floor.

  “Yes, Fu-Si. And that is why I tell you now of the Hon-Chi, and their travels outside of Ibu-Jek.”

  Ich-Mek nodded his head in understanding now. “I thought no one left but fishermen?”

  “Normally, no. The Hon-Chi felt…pressured to flee, and so they took extraordinary measures. Have you heard of the tripod-cauldrons?”

  Ich-Mek was thrown by the question for a moment. “Hmm…yes, I think so. I remember singing mantras at the school with those words.”

  “Yes, most school children are taught this. You might have heard there are nine of them; one for each province. The Hon-Chi possessed one, which in and of itself is a rarity.”

  Neeq gave a brief history of the Hon-Chi, the primary residents of Hon province. They were a people apart from the majority of Ibu-Jeks, but not so notable in their differences physically as Tass’s people were. The first emperors conquered them in a past age, and incorporated them into the empire almost fully.

  “Persecution of the Hon-Chi arose about the time Tass first journeyed to Key-Tar-Om,” Neeq informed them. “Why it began at all is still a discussion in hushed circles. Whatever the reason, they felt the need to flee Ibu-Jek…leaving whole cities empty, and half a province as well.”

  “Where did they go?” Ich-Mek asked.

  Neeq took in a deep breath before admitting, “We don’t know. Truly no word has ever reached my ears of what land…or end…they came to.”

  “The Emperor let them leave?” Ich-Mek asked with a growing sense of excitement.

  “Oh, no!” Neeq assured them. “The dragon-cloud was not opened for them, and so they performed a feat thought impossible: they breached the cloud themselves.”

  “How?”

  “The tripod-cauldron, it is believed. Each governor is entrusted with one, and in this case the governor of Hon province was himself a Hon-Chi. This governor used the mages sent to him from Key-Tar-Om against the Emperor.”

  “Why would they do that?” Ich-Mek asked in shock. “They are sworn to obey the empire in their duties.”

  Neeq smiled at him knowingly. “Why does a dragon-mage sit before me?”

  Ich-Mek lowered his eyes in embarrassment, and felt blood rising to his head. He was being naïve, he realized.

  Neeq paused for a few moments before continuing. “The tripod-cauldrons were used in the creation of the dragon-cloud, and they are needed to sustain it. To speak of the breach is an offense punishable by death, Fu-Si. Few are still aware that it exists.”

  “They left in ships?” Ich-Mek asked as he tried to calm himself.

  “Barges, actually. They are not a seafaring people, but are masters of the river and canal systems of Ibu-Jek. These sea-barges were said to number in the hundreds. Each could carry more than a thousand, it was rumored.”

  Ich-Mek was surprised at the numbers. “How many Hon-Chi were there?”

  “Many thousands, but now there are almost none. Which is why I think you best journey there in the fastest way possible.”

  “To Hon province? But you said they left.”

  “Rumors, Fu-Si…little more…but there may be remnants left, even after a decade.”

  “That long?” he asked as his hopes for a way out of Ibu-Jek began to fade.

  “The numbers were staggering,” Neeq replied. “Entire towns were disassembled, and whole mountain ranges cleared of trees. The effort began some twenty years ago, and so may still continue in some fashion.”

  “Would they take us?” Ich-Mek dared to ask as he looked to As-Cheen, who looked to be anxiously awaiting more information from Neeq.

  “I cannot say,” Neeq replied sadly. “But at the very least, there is a hole in the cloud there. Nowhere else will you find one, I think.”

  Ich-Mek thought about his plan to sneak under the cloud. “Are you sure the dragons would notice us?” he asked hesitantly.

  “You are the dragon-mage,” Neeq replied without emotion. “The rings are among the Emperor’s prized possessions. There is nothing like them, and so I think it is folly to believe the dragons would not sense their presence.”

  Ich-Mek nodded his head and then turned to look at As-Cheen to see how she felt. She looked into his eyes sadly for a moment, then asked Neeq, “How do we find the Hon-Chi?”

  Chapter 29 – Yi-La

  “The temple of Shrindala has been opened,” Master Gang informed Yi-La as they walked from his residence to that of Master Sey-Laht, “or so Dtu-Ru believes.”

  He went on to warn her sternly to keep quiet during this visit as Dtu-Ru would once again show a presence. Yi-La nodded her head in understanding but said nothing for fear she would let something slip. She had no recollection of ever hearing of a temple by that name, and could only think, due to her master’s urgency, that it involved Ich-Mek somehow. Or perhaps dracomon.

  When admitted to Master Sey-Laht’s study, they found a distracted Dtu-Ru already upon the silk screen. The mage looked to be working with something, which Yi-La took to be magical in nature but wasn’t sure why she thought that. Hoping not to be noticed, she gave the frame a wide birth and found herself a spot where she couldn’t see into it.

  “We are all present, master,” Sey-Laht said respectfully.

  There was a pause before Dtu
-Ru began reciting arcane-script just above a whisper, which sent chills down her spine as she desperately tried to think what he might be doing. Neither of the masters present looked concerned, so she forced herself to look the same.

  “And you know what precisely…masters?” Dtu-Ru asked slowly.

  Master Gang cleared his throat before replying, “Nothing, only what you have surmised.”

  “You have no ears outside the capital,” Dtu-Ru said critically. “I give them to you but you fail to use them.”

  There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Master Gang spoke again. “We are not deeply familiar with Shrindala Temple, Dtu-Ru. Can we be sure it requires a dragon-mage to do as you say?”

  “Yes! I have in the past…participated in assisting the monks. Only a dragon-mage may do so.”

  “He is a first-level apprentice,” Gang countered.

  “No mastery required, Gang. You would know this if you’d cared for the monolith and its covenant as I do.”

  “I care, Dtu-Ru. But see no point in such an ancient ritual, which reminds us of a former glory we’ll never achieve.”

  “Glory…it ever drives emperors,” Dtu-Ru said spitefully, “and these monks, I’m sure, despise our lengthy absence.”

  “That part of the ritual I respect,” Gang claimed.

  “Nonetheless, the Regent is likely aware.”

  It was becoming clear to Yi-La that Ich-Mek had indeed done something substantial in this temple, but it wasn’t that which concerned the dragon-mages; it was that Ich-Mek had perhaps inadvertently announced his location to the world.

  “The Mage-Chancellor seems unaware,” Sey-Laht then informed them.

  “You two say he is a simple apprentice, Sey-Laht,” Dtu-Ru said in an accusatory tone. “How is that he avoids your scrying?”

  Yi-La watched as Sey-Laht shifted his stance slightly before defending himself. “It is no mean feat to foil the devices I have. Using a tripod-cauldron may work, but could draw attention.”

  “Shrindala has a formidable bowl – I suggest you make use of it, masters,” Dtu-Ru said condescendingly.