by Paul Edwards
Chapter Two
We appeared inside a small stone building, I looked at the floor and saw that the flagstones it was constructed of had blades of grass growing between large cracks. The walls were made of hewn limestone blocks crumbling with age.
I looked up and saw that the structures roof had disappeared long ago, I saw that it was night for I could see a few dim stars twinkling in the sky.
It seemed abnormally bright for it being night, I could see all the details of the building very clearly. I looked for the moon thinking that it must be the source of the extra illumination.
I gasped when I saw it, "Oh my god!"
Shelley turned her head and matched my gaze.
"Now that is magic," she said breathlessly.
The moon or more correctly this moon was huge, it dominated the sky, it was so close I felt my hand involuntarily move as if to touch it. The surface of it was covered in large blue seas and green and brown land masses, soft white clouds drifted over both.
"Look," Shelley pointed to a thin golden thread that led from the moon to the earth.
"It must be a corridor to travel between the two worlds," I said.
"Is magic like this even possible."
"Not easily, the spells must have been wondrous."
I used my bracelet to summon my sword and scabbard, I slung the scabbard over my shoulder when it had appeared.
We both walked through the buildings single door and emerged onto a large grass covered meadow. We were on top of a tall hill and could see the terrain below us for many miles. I saw enormous forests cut through with rivers and streams, there was a mountain range on the far horizon.
I saw the unmistakable yellow and orange lights of a large city at the base of the mountains, a thin barely visible silver line crossed the terrain and ended at the cities border.
"That must be a road," Shelley said pointing.
I looked down towards the bottom of the hill and saw that the silver line of the road passed near the base of it. It was only about a half a mile away.
"Mr. Camp must have used it, he probably started walking towards the city," I said.
"Do you think it's safe?"
"Of course not, but we have the benefit of magic."
We started walking towards the road.
It took only a short time before we stood on the flat jigsaw of flagstones that made up the road. It was about twenty feet wide and in excellent condition. I used my bracelet to conjure up a small wagon harnessed to two small horses.
The two animals stood quietly as Shelley and I climbed onto the small bench seat at the situated at the front of the wagon, when we we're both seated I grabbed the reins and shook them, the horses hooves started to make a slow clop clop sound as they pulled the wagon down the road.
"Are they real horses?" Shelley asked.
"Convincing simulacrums, you can't tell they're not real unless you examine them closely."
"Thank god, no poop or food to worry about."
It was only a short while before we entered the dark forest , we could still make out the road but the tangled branches and leaves of the tall trees lining it's sides blocked out a large amount of the moons light.
The hooting noise of an owl startled me, I then heard the rustling of a small animal scurrying.
"Geez this is pretty creepy," Shelley said.
"Yes... what can you tell me about this Harry Camp guy, did you know him?"
"I took a few courses he taught, he's in his late thirties or early forties and he has red hair, he was a good lecturer."
"That's it?"
"Well I heard a rumor he was into a lot of re-enactment stuff."
"Re-enactment stuff?"
"Ya... there are groups that dress up in medieval costumes and pretend to be living in the past."
"Really? I suspect they don't imitate the disease and starvation of those times."
"No just the good parts."
"Hmm... so he's a frustrated adventurer."
We sat in silence and listened to the rhythmic beat of the horses hooves, the forest opened up into a large clearing after a few minutes of travel. The light from the large moon illuminated the clearing with an eerie glow.
"Did you hear something?" Shelley whispered.
I listened intently but could not hear anything but the sound of leaves rustling in a light breeze. I unsheathed my sword and laid it on my lap and then shook the horses reins causing them to trot faster.
The clearing started to narrow back into the dense forest, a feeling of unease suddenly came over me. I jerked the reins causing the horses to stop.
"Who are you?" I yelled into the darkness of the road in front of us.
"You speak the ancient language... how unusual," a tallish man of medium build emerged from the shadows.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"No time for a chat? Not very friendly," I could see he was carrying a weapon of some kind.
"Close your eyes," I whispered to Shelley.
I started flipping the squares on my bracelet, I shut my eyes before I activated the spell. I saw a bright flash through my closed eyelids, I opened them when light dimmed to a glow.
The tallish man had put both his hands over his eyes, from the remnants of the spells light I saw three more men standing at the edge of the forest, they also had both hands over their eyes. I saw large clubs lying at their feet.
I jumped off the wagon with my sword in hand, I ran into the tallish man as hard as I could knocking him off his feet. I dropped my sword and then activated another spell with my bracelet, I pointed my hand towards the three other men, a wave of force emanated towards them from a point a few inches from my fingertips.
I saw the three men fly backwards as the wave passed over them, the trees near them jerked violently. I picked up my sword and walked over to the man I had knocked to the ground, he was staring back at me his eyes squinting as he blinked repeatedly trying to clear his vision.
I put the tip of my blade next to his throat.
"Petty thief, you will answer my questions," I said menacingly.
"Well you're not very friendly at all..."
I pressed the point of my sword into the skin of his throat.
"Your web has captured a wasp little spider, who are you?"
"I'm a tax collector... I work for the emperor," he was starting to whine.
"Tax collector, really? Where did you learn my language?"
"I was a student at one of the universities, it's a compulsory course."
"Have you seen a strange red headed man come through here in the last few days?"
"We... um... just set up our tax collection booth today... you are our first customer , you owe the emperor many coins for your crimes... if you pay me I may be able to put in a good word."
I could see a sinister confidence building in his cold dark eyes, I saw his hand move suddenly like a snake reaching for my sword hilt. I brought my foot back and then swung it as hard as I could smashing it against the side of his head.
His head jerked and made a crunching sound a small fountain of teeth flew up from his mouth, his body went limp then as he lapsed into unconsciousness.
I walked back to the wagon and climbed onto the bench beside Shelley, I laid my sword back on my lap and grabbed the reins. Shelley stared at me with a look of astonishment on her face.
"Geez Kem... what the hell?" She said.
"I have met many men like these, you can tell by their eyes sometimes, they aren't burdened by guilt or compassion. They will think twice before victimizing strangers from now on."
"Did he see Harry?"
"I don't think so, but men like him believe the truth is a commodity to be traded."
I shook the reins hard and the two horses broke into a rapid trot, the speed of the wagon was fast enough for me to feel a light breeze on my face.
We traveled for another two hours before we finally pulled the wagon off the road and into the forest. The sun had not risen yet so w
e decided to get some sleep, the wagon had a number of magical features built into it including being able to be folded out into a small sturdy shelter with two comfortable beds.
The shelter had a thick door that could be locked by barring it with a small wooden beam, I placed the beam into place before we both crawled into our beds and fell asleep.
I woke up in the morning seeing bright sunlight shining through the cracks of our small shelter. I picked up my sword and hen cautiously unlocked and opened the shelters door. I peeked out and saw nothing but trees and vegetation.
My movement woke up Shelley and she sat up in her bed rubbing her eyes. We were soon both outside folding up the shelter into a wagon.
"Do we have any food?" Shelley asked.
I opened a door on the side of the wagon and pulled out a small drawer, I then grabbed a handle beside the drawer and pulled out a small shelf.
"Voila food and a small stovetop," I said.
Shelley looked into the food drawer, "hmm... bacon and eggs, no cereal huh?"
"Bacon won't kill you," I said feeling slightly annoyed, how anyone could resist bacon was beyond my comprehension.
I turned on the stoves heat and started cooking breakfast, Shelley had found the wagons small sink and water hose and was busy cleaning herself.
We were soon both sitting on the back of the wagon eating our breakfast, Shelley just ate some eggs and toasted bread.
"You would have been a perfect member of a small tribe I met once," I said angrily.
"What tribe was that?" Shelley asked, a curious look on her face.
"Oh it was some nomadic sheep herders, their leader had some weird theory that pigs were evil and caused disease, actually he had a lot of weird food theories."
"What was this leaders name?"
"Iba... something, I can't remember... why do you want to know?"
"It wasn't Abraham was it?"
"It might have been, I do remember he was quite the bossy boots, he screwed around on his wife too, her name was Saira if that means anything."
Shelley stared at me with a very odd look.
"How far did you get when you tried to read the bible?"
"Something about an apple tree, it was so boring and puritanical, how they managed to write a creation story without any sex in it is beyond me."
"I'd give it another try."
"I'll wait for the movie... you know you could have conjured up the cereal you like, you are a sorcerer after all."
"I don't have a spell for that."
"Have you come up with a simpler way of castings spells, or are you still using a notebook?"
Shelley reached into one of the large pockets on her cargo pants and pulled out a well worn leather bound notebook."
"I tried using a wand along with verbal commands but it didn't really work out."
"Why?"
"I looked like a crazy person conducting an imaginary orchestra."
"Hmm... any other ideas?"
"I thought about using my smart phone, but I've lost every single electronic toy I've ever had."
"Something will inspire you," I said.