When Michael moved to stand next to Obert, he heard a shout. “Is that you Michael?”
“Yes my lord guild master. I’m relieved to see you still alive.”
“And I you Michael, I feared every healer in your province was already dead. What of William?”
“I’m sorry. I know he was your closest friend. I was out in the Hearth Forest gathering herbs when they came for him. I located our housekeeper and she told me he used heart stop before they could carry him away.”
“We live in evil times, Michael, evil times not seen for two thousand years. The Church seeks to gather all magic including our healing magic under its domination. They will find children with healing magic potential and make them priests.
“You don’t think it was the king’s death that started this,” Michael said with uncertainty in his tone.
“Of course no healer was involved. No healer in the two thousand year history of our guild has committed cold-blooded mass murder. It’s impossible for a trained guild healer to murder hundreds by poison and commit regicide as King Richard claims. How about you? Will you join us in our flight to Mitchell Island?”
“My friend Obert, shaman of the Black Sand Pod, helped me to reach you in time. A fast schooner with the manna signs of six fire mages follows not far behind. They’re knight protectors on your trail.”
Lord Hampton, master of the healers’ guild, showed shock on his wrinkled brown face. “Michael if you know the spell for detecting manna, you must also know that many priests and all knight protectors are fire mages who can also cast it. There’s no place to hide if they are close behind us. Mitchell Island has no real temples only Perry shrines tended by lay brothers with no magic skills. We thought we could hide there, but we’ll never outrun a schooner.”
“My Lord, I have a plan; may we come aboard?”
Michael introduced Obert to Lord Guild Master Hampton and to Guild Bursar Childes. The guild master introduced the other two mages: Arthur manager of Westport Hospital, and Diana a strikingly beautiful young apprentice from Westport Hospital who Michael had never seen before.
Lord Hampton explained. “Bursar Childes and I were at the hospital when word came that the guild hall had been invaded and our brothers and sisters carried off by knight protectors. Since the hospital is next to the main wharf, we had a chance to flee before they came for us.”
“The naiads taught me the water magic spell submerge manna. It can make our manna invisible to the priests.”
The guild master smiled in relief. “If you can work water magic, then you truly are the elf-blood of Gripton’s promise. The guild suspected it since you were discovered as a child, but now I know it. But you must also realize that no other human can learn water magic. I see now how you can escape, and that is most important. I will die happy knowing you’ve come to set thing right.”
“Master, I don’t think I’m really Gripton’s promised one, but I did learn that if someone with water magic takes your hand and casts submerge manna, your healing manna will be hidden from any fire mage. One of the naiads used this power to help me avoid the knight protectors who chased me through the Great Black Thicket. When the time is right, Obert and I can hold hands with each of you, and your manna will suddenly disappear to the vision of the mages in the schooner.”
The four healers nodded in understanding. Bursar Childes asked, “How will our little sloop elude them even if they can’t see our manna?”
“You’ve heard the tales of naiads disappearing whenever they wanted to sneak into human settlements. Both Obert and I know transparency. If we cast it with our full manna, this whole small sloop will disappear. I suggest that we make for the squall ahead, and once in it, we’ll disappear, apparently sunk in the storm.”
The gorgeous Diana spoke for the first time. “I don’t know anything about the elf-blood or water magic My Lord Hampton, but if we can reach it, my home village of Rock Point should be as safe as anywhere in Glastamear. There’s not even a Perry shrine nearby and all four hundred residents are some kin of mine. They have no love for the Church and its constant demands for money. We’re poor folks in coin, but there will plenty of seafood, sweet potatoes, oats, and peas as well as warm hearts to welcome us to their snug little homes. It’s not like the luxury of your guild house, but much safer. The village of Rock Point is on the western most peninsula of the western most island of Glastamear.”
Lord Hampton replied, “Diana, I too was born in a humble village, not a palace. We’ll enjoy a quiet place by the sea and the time to plan a way to rebuild the guild.
“Michael, we’ll follow your plan. Captain, make all speed to that squall. When the time comes to disappear, push over the side the empty water barrels, extra sails, and anything else that might mark a shipwreck. Bursar Childes will cover your loss with gold.”
Once they had reached the squall line, Michael nausea increase until he had a green tinge to his pale skin. He used healing magic to suppress his sickness, but Diana noticed. “Michael, it must be your first time at sea. Look at the horizon not at the side of the boat, and think of other things.”
When the time came to disappear, Michael took Diana and Bursar Childes by the hand while Obert took Lord Hampton’s and Arthur’s. Michael and Obert repeated the spells to hide their manna and to make their whole ship and everything on it invisible; all sign of the sloop disappeared except for the depression in the sea where she sailed. Flopping around in the high seas with no boat visible was even worse for Michael’s sea sickness, and he cast a more powerful healing spell as he fought the urge the vomit on the most beautiful girl he’d ever met, the woman he already hoped might be his life partner.
For three hours they kept the sloop invisible and hid the manna of the healers as they sailed toward the western shore of Mitchell Island. During that whole period Michael and Diana talked of their fears and their flight from knight protectors. Michael found Diana very easy to talk to about the loss of his parents and the loss of William, who had been like a second father to him. His whole world had been shattered, but he felt excited to hold hands with this beautiful girl and to talk about everything important to him.
Michael used his detect all manna to see what happened to the schooner. She had sailed into the squall, tacking back and forth for two hours.
Finally, the knight protectors turned east towards the mainland. The healers were safe for now, and they were very far from the Great Mother Temple of Perry Ascendant in Min Hollow. The enormous temple was the seat of the Most Holy Son of Perry Ascendant. The Holy Son was the leader of the church who had directed the pogrom against them, and Michael hoped that someday he’d pay for the tortures and deaths he caused.
Chapter 10
Michael and Diana spent the whole night getting acquainted. It was clear to every healer onboard that they and found comfort in each other, and everyone left them alone to talk in private. The following morning at dawn, Michael with Diana by his side stood on the prow of the small sloop, watching in fascination as a giant conical mountain came into view.
“That’s Great White, an extinct volcano; my hometown of Rock Point lies in the circular harbor on the left.”
“The only thing I know about the town of Rock Point is that it’s where all the salt cod comes from.”
“Yep, that’s us. We sell cod and salt and salted-cod. The town always smells like fish and the sea. I’ve missed that smell. We almost never have visitors except for a few merchant ships in the summer. It’s as isolated as any place in Glastamear.”
Michael shivered and said, “I’ve never been this cold in the early autumn. It feels like winter.”
“The Ice Current flows past the peninsula. It keeps the town cool in the summer and much colder than the mainland or the rest of Mitchell Island in the winter. Those terraced fields will be in harvest now. In another month snows will cover the Great White down almost to town. It’s the Ice Current that carries the cod in such numbers that we can catch all we can eat plus all we can sel
l.”
“There are no Perry Ascendant priests?”
“No priests, but also no healers. There hasn’t been a healer living here for over sixty years. That’s why the whole village chipped in to help me get my training once they figured out I was born with a little healing manna.”
“They’ll be glad to see you back. You’ll be able to finish your apprenticeship with three expert healers here.”
Diana looked a little hurt. “Does that mean you’re not staying? I could learn a lot from you too.”
“Diana, I’d love nothing more than to spend a relaxing time with you here in Rock Point, but there may be other healers that need me to hide their manna from the Church. I’ll stay on the sloop with Obert till we get back to Black Sand Beach. Once there, I’ll make my way to Northport. When I find other healers, I’ll try and bring them to Rock Point if your people would welcome them. There is danger in defying the Church and King Richard the Vengeful.”
“The Church means nothing to us. Perry’s writ never reached here, and King Richard is just the Church’s puppet. There are lava-tube caves that go deep into the Great White. We can shelter healers with a thousand paces of rock to hide their manna when we see a ship approach. We have used those caves for storage and shelter from blizzards or raiders for six centuries, and there are comfortable rooms cut from the volcanic stone that include beds, kitchens, and hearths. Bring every healer you can find; they will be welcome.”
Two hours later they neared the entrance to the Rock Point Harbor, and Diana and Michael were still standing in the bow chatting about being apprentice healers. The huge sixty foot high circular basalt wall of the harbor was natural volcanic rock. Michael thought it looked as if a huge bubble of rock had burst and left this semicircle of stone. A twenty paces wide opening provided access to the harbor. Two dressed stone towers about ten stories high jutted up on either side of the opening, obviously designed to guide mariners into the harbor, perhaps as both lighthouses and fortifications.
When they entered the harbor there was a sudden rise in temperature. “What just happened; I don’t even need a jacket now.”
Diana laughed. “Now you know our secret. Rock Point is not nearly as cold as most people think. There are hot springs that flow into the harbor making the water much warmer than the open sea. Centuries ago, our ancestors channeled some of the springs into pipes that direct a flow of hot water under our houses, keeping us nice and warm all winter.”
Michael smiled. “You said no one ever visits in winter, so no one knows your secret. Everyone thinks you’re incredibly hardy souls when you’re actually just like the rest of us.”
“You’d love it here, even in winter,” Diana said.
“I think you may be right,” Michael replied as he gawked at the town.
There were three piers with perhaps fifty small fishing boats either attached or pulled up on the rocky shore. Racks of drying cod were visible on the beach opposite the town. Twenty, two and three story dressed stone warehouses lined the harbor. A large market building stood next to the largest pier.
The three streets behind the commercial area grew up the side of the hill. They were lined with one or two story houses. The houses were all made with the same gray-black basalt as the towers at the harbor entrances, and most looked like they had been in place since time began. Moss grew on the slate roofs and carefully tended gardens with mature pecan, almond, plum, apple, or pear trees grew in small vegetable plots in front of each home. Flower boxes were at almost every home’s windows filled with pansies and other cold weather flowers.
Unlike every other town in Glastamear, there were no walls. There was no way to attack Rock Point from land, and since a chain could be drawn across the harbor entrance, there was almost no way to attack by sea. Michael thought it was the most charming and safest looking town he’d ever seen.
“What are those walls above town?” Michael pointed up the side of Great White.
“They’re more terraces for growing grapes, oats, and other crops. The mountainside is too steep to hold soil without those walls. We grow everything we need. We trade for metal items, ceramics, and luxuries, but we have sheep and goats and everything else we need for food and clothes.”
Someone ashore spotted Diana and started to yell hello. Little boys went running all over town to pass the word, and soon a crowd that seemed to be every person who lived in Rock Point was gathered on shore waving excitedly. Standing in front was a portly man who was dressed in a fine white fur robe with the gold chain of a mayor around his neck; next to him was a beautiful middle-aged woman who could only be Diana’s mother. They waved and shouted.
“You father’s the mayor?”
“Really he’s a fisherman, but when they found I had some manna and was going to learn to be a healer, the town selected him as mayor. He’s a dear sweet man who everyone loves, and I’m glad he doesn’t have to go to sea anymore.”
The welcome was warm. Everyone seemed glad to shelter the guild master and other healers, but the real star of the evening was Obert. The naiads were greatly loved and respected by fishermen all over Glastamear, and every man wanted to touch Obert for good fortune.
Even though the captain was anxious to sail with the evening tide, the mayor persuaded him to wait until morning so that he could join everyone in a feast of thanksgiving for Diana’s return. The celebration was also a welcome to the guild master and other healers. The captain and crew joined in the street festival. Every home moved its dining table to the street in front of their houses and filled it with food and drink. The whole town wandered the streets sampling each home’s fare. Michael had never tasted better lobster or crab, and he decided that the town’s food was astonishingly good. There was an occasional mutton stew, but everything else was from the local harvest or from the sea. There was no wine, but fine ale and hard apple cider were plentiful.
It was near midnight when Michael reluctantly said goodbye to Diana, promising to return to Rock Point as soon as possible. He was too bashful to try a kiss, but Diana made sure he didn’t depart without exchanging their first kiss. Again they both felt the closeness they had when holding hands on the ship. It was important to both of them.
He was sad to leave as he walked back to the sloop with Obert, but there were things that only he could do. He must save every healer he could.
Chapter 11
Michael didn’t sleep well. He had delightful dreams of Diana and nightmares of fire shooting knight protectors. He knew what he must do, but it would be so much easier to stay in Rock Point with his sweet Diana.
Before dawn he dressed warmly and walked along the path to the closer of the two towers that guarded the harbor entrance. It was a freezing walk along the top of the natural seawall because a stiff wind blew from the west bringing the cold of the Ice Current. He saw something swimming in the harbor, and as the dawn progressed, he realized that Obert was out for a morning swim. When Obert noticed him, he swam over to the wall and easily climbed the almost vertical slope to join him on the path.
Michael pointed to the eight foot waves pushed to whitecaps by the stiff wind. “Do you think the captain will sail in this? That sloop is so small.”
Obert said an elfish phrase. It was the spell still waters, and suddenly the waves disappeared from a semicircle of sea about a hundred paces in diameter and centered on the seawall where they stood.”
Michael laughed. “You could have stopped my sea sickness any time with that spell.”
Obert smiled. “I thought you would want the excitement of real waves on your first sea journey. The range of the effect is directly related to the power of manna you put into it. You can calm a much wider area than I. Give it a try. Put all you have in it.”
Michael cast the wave-stilling spell with every trace of power he could muster. After the cast, he felt completely empty of power and staggered slightly against the power of the wind.
Obert made a sound that was a naiad version of a gasp. The sea was mirror smo
oth for as far as the eye could see even though the wind still blew at near gale force.
“Our whole pod casting in unison couldn’t have done that. I don’t know that even an elf or dragon could. Let’s climb the tower and see how far your spell reached.”
After climbing the long winding stairs inside the tower, they reached the top. A watchman stood in obvious shock leaning against the power of the wind but staring at the glass-smooth sea. When he saw Obert, assuming he had cast the spell, he bowed low and asked if he could touch the naiad’s hand for luck.
Michael and Obert looked across the western sea. For thousands of paces there were no waves. Far in the distance, they saw some sea foam blowing from the tops of waves. The cast had calmed the seas for at least a ten thousand paces radius.
They didn’t speak on the tower but headed back toward town.
“How long will that spell last?” Michael asked as they approached town.
“With that much power unless you use the cancel phrase, it might last one or even two days. You should probably reverse it now.”
After Michael cancelled the spell, Obert said, “You’ve heard of magic golden amulets and rings and other things that carry the power of a spell within their matrix.”
“I know there is said to be magic in Perry artifacts, and of course, there are the fables of magic rings, magic swords and such. Is it true that objects can be enchanted?”
“Dragons and elves can lock spells into artifacts of gold or into certain jewels like rubies and diamonds. Until I saw the power of your cast of still waters, it did not occur to me, but you may have that enchantment power. If you could bind the spell submerge manna into a ring or amulet, the healer wearing it could not be detected by a fire mage.”
The Pogrom of Mages: The Healers of Glastamear: Volume One Page 4