Wizard in the Woods

by Jeffrey M. Poole

  Why, then, would this wizard sign his work? Perhaps it wasn’t a wizard’s mark after all.

  I still think you’re right, Pravara told him. I think this is the mark of a wizard, albeit an arrogant one.

  We’re no closer to determining who it is, Mikal pointed out.

  True. You’re in the Archives. Keep looking.

  I wouldn’t know where to look. And I really don’t want to go back down to Andra to ask for more help. For that matter, I don’t even know what help to ask for.

  We’re looking to unmask a wizard.

  Thanks for the tip. However, I don’t think they have a ‘How to identify a wizard – for Dummies’ book. I think we’re on our own.

  Are you calling yourself a dummy?

  It’s a popular line of books back in the kingdom of Idaho. Sarah bought me one when they bought me a ‘smartphone’. It was the only way I could figure out how to use the blasted thing.

  What is a smartphone?

  Urgh. Don’t get me started. It’s just a device, that’s all. I don’t know why everyone on Steve’s world has to have one in their hand at all times but they do. I’d much rather have a conversation face-to-face than on a machine.

  Agreed.

  Two hours later brought a welcome surprise. Shardwyn had returned, and he had brought his consultant with him.

  “Mikal!”

  The shout echoed loudly in the room. Several patrons looked angrily up from their books and scowled at the interruption.

  “Lissa! It’s so good to see you!”

  Lissa rushed to Mikal’s side and gave him a hug. She looked around at the many cases full of books and sighed contentedly.

  “I love the Archives. You are so lucky.”

  “Why?”

  “You can come here whenever you want. You live in the same castle they can be found in. I envy you!”

  Mikal grasped the girl’s hands in his own.

  “You can come here whenever you want, too. Didn’t my father give you full access when you asked?”

  Lissa nodded. Her long brown hair, currently arranged in a thick braid, fell more than halfway down her back. She glanced down to see what Mikal had been reading. Her eyebrows shot up with surprise.

  “You’re reading about wizards?”

  “Yeah. I think I found a wizard’s mark and I’m trying to see if there might be some record of all known wizard marks. Maybe I can find a book, or a report, or a…”

  “You won’t find one, young master Mikal.”

  Mikal looked over at the tall thin man wearing robes of dark forest green. He smiled at the resident wizard and then snapped the book he had been showing Lissa closed.

  “What do you suggest, Shardwyn? How can I research this thing?”

  “You say you found a wizard’s mark, dear boy? Indeed! Let’s go to my workshop. I’m sure I can find something that will help you there.”

  Mikal held out his arm and waited for Lissa to take it. Together they followed Shardwyn down the wide marble steps to the Archive’s ground floor. Mikal pulled Lissa to a stop at the desk and then stared in abject horror at what he saw. Peanut was up on Andra’s lap, sitting up as though she were rearing up on her haunches, and was snuggling up against the old woman’s chest. Andra was crooning softly to the corgi as she stroked her new friend’s furry belly.

  “You’ve got to be kidding,” Mikal muttered with disgust. Peanut’s head lifted out of the crook of Andra’s arm and studied him, as if to inquire about the nature of this interruption. “Let’s go, furball. We have work to do.”

  Andra gently set the dog back on the floor and handed the leash back to Mikal.

  “That’s a cute canine you have there. Any time you want to bring her by you be sure to do so. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Mikal automatically answered.

  ****

  Lissa’s eyes widened as the three of them entered Shardwyn’s workshop. An acrid, pungent aroma was in the air, as if the quirky wizard had forgotten about a potion he had been brewing and had ended up burning it. Discolorations dotted the floor and even a few places on the walls. One wall, in fact, had every square inch of it colored bright neon pink. Mikal looked the wall up and down and chuckled.

  “That’s a new one on me. How long have you had a pink wall, Shardwyn?”

  “What’s that?” The wizard glanced over at the wall and shrugged. “Who can say? I think it might have been like that ever since I moved in here.”

  “No, it wasn’t,” Mikal murmured, soft enough that only Lissa could hear him. She giggled.

  Shardwyn cleared a space on his workbench and indicated the stools on either side of him. Once Mikal and Lissa were seated Shardwyn turned to Mikal.

  “Now, what can you tell me about this mark? You say you’re sure it’s a wizard’s mark?”

  Mikal pulled the sheet of paper he had drawn the mark on for his father out of his pocket and smoothed it out.

  “It looked like this. The burned ground was almost a perfect rectangle and there were clearly two interlocking diamonds in the center of it.”

  “How did this burn get there?” Shardwyn asked. He pulled a monocle out from within his robes and pushed it into place over his right eye. He picked up the parchment and studied it closer.

  “Dragons did it. The problem is, neither dragon says they can remember doing it. I do remember Steve telling me a couple of years ago that there was an instance of a dragon being possessed by a wizard and made to do things he ordinarily wouldn’t have ever done.”

  Shardwyn’s wrinkled face jerked up. He stared at Mikal for so long that the monocle popped loose and fell toward the scarred table that served as his workbench. Lissa caught it before it could be damaged on the hard surface.

  “You’re referring to the renegade wizard, aren’t you? Are you thinking this is his mark, young Mikal?”

  Mikal nodded. “I am.”

  “We have not had any signs of the renegade wizard for several years now,” Shardwyn announced. “It was hoped, and believed, that he and simply moved on, or else passed away. Why would he want to resurface now? And then leave his mark for all to see?”

  “Maybe he thought no one would be able to see it,” Mikal suggested.

  Tell them it can only be seen from the air.

  “Pravara says the mark could only be seen from the air.”

  “More than one dragon made this burn, you say?” Shardwyn asked as he stroked his stubbly chin. “Interlocking diamonds. Hmm.”

  “Is the mark familiar?” Mikal hopefully asked. “Do you recognize it?”

  “I am reminded of an occurrence several years ago. I think I might have seen this mark then.”

  “Really? Is there any way to tell for certain?”

  Shardwyn nodded. “Aye. I just have to find my journal from two years ago.”

  Mikal groaned as he slowly looked around Shardwyn’s quarters. Stacks of books and mounds of clothes had been shoved into every available corner. Failed experiments and various mechanical apparatuses were perched precariously on already unstable stacks of books. Huge maps and tapestries were seen covering large bulky items in the middle of the room. Where were they even supposed to start looking?

  “Will you at least tell me that you know where it is?” Mikal asked, already knowing the answer was going to be negative.

  Shardwyn turned and pointed back towards a smaller second room visible through an open doorway. It was even more cluttered than the main room they were presently in.

  “Oh, sure. It’s probably back somewhere in there. Care to help me look?”

  Mikal gave the wizard a dark look that said he’d rather jump in the moat with Bredo, the huge serpent, than willingly step foot in Shardwyn’s personal bed chamber. Lissa held a finger to her lips and hooked her arm through his to pull him towards the room.

  “We’d be delighted to help you search,” she added brightly as she smiled at the wizard.

  “Well aren’t you adorable? Thank you, young Lissa
. I would greatly appreciate the help.”

  Mikal sighed. What had started out as a noble quest to investigate the mysterious happenings of two rogue dragons had now turned into a fruitless search for a missing book in Shardwyn’s cluttered quarters. This was not what he had signed up for. He caught sight of Peanut sniffing around a large reflective object that had several colorful powders sprinkled over the surface.

  “Watch it, Peanut. Do not get too close to that. We don’t know what that stuff is.”

  Intent on seeing for herself what the strange smelling substance was, Peanut thrust her nose down onto the surface to get a good sniff. However, as soon as contact was made, the tray, which had been balancing on a single stack of books, began teetering off balance. It started to slide forward, towards the curious dog, when Mikal managed to catch the tray and prevent it from breaking. However, as soon as the tray jolted to a stop the spilt powder on the surface slid forward, coming into contact with Peanut’s nose.

  The poor dog sneezed. Then she sneezed again. Peanut dropped to the ground and pawed at her nose a few times before turning to look up at her owner. Mikal burst out laughing. Peanut’s snout was now the same shade of blue as the sky.

  “Shardwyn? What kind of powder was on that tray by the window? Will it wash off?”

  Shardwyn risked a glance up and saw the newly colorized corgi snout.

  “Not to worry. It’s a dash of powdered allon mixed with the pollen of a jansa tree. It’s perfectly harmless. It’ll wear off eventually.”

  “Do you hear that, Peanut? I told you to leave it alone. Now look at you. You have a blue nose!”

  Anyone who claimed dogs were incapable of emotion has truly never owned a dog before, Mikal thought. The look Peanut gave him was one of utter disbelief and betrayal. Mikal chuckled again.

  Shardwyn pulled a tightly rolled scroll from beneath of pile of soiled socks and started to unroll it when he accidentally dropped it on the ground. In a flash Peanut had darted in, grabbed the scroll, and tried to run. Amazingly enough, the wizard quickly grabbed an end of the scroll before Peanut could pull it out of his reach.

  “Now, now, little Peanut, give me back my scroll. I do not think this is something you want.”

  Peanut playfully barked around her mouthful of scroll and gave three rapid reverse tugs on the ‘toy’ in an attempt to claim ownership over the strange object in her mouth. The ancient scroll, being nearly two centuries old, understandably began to crumble apart.

  “What do we know about this other wizard?” Mikal asked as he gingerly lifted up piles of discarded clothes to see what was beneath them. “After all this time we must know something, right? Peanut, off.”

  Peanut instantly released the soggy scroll, throwing Shardwyn off balance and stumbling backward. He tripped on a pair of his own boots and fell heavily onto his bed. He immediately sat up and dusted himself off. He placed the damaged scroll up onto a shelf already crammed with all manner of things.

  “What we know is that he’s quite intelligent,” Shardwyn said as he hurriedly began removing his discarded things from the reach of the curious corgi. He grabbed an armful of clothes and tossed them up onto his bed. “I have done a full census every six months in the hopes that something will turn up but it never does. I didn’t think it was possible for a person to be able to avoid detection by a census but there you have it.”

  “So if he’s smart enough to fool the census then what else is he capable of doing?” Lissa asked as she combined two short stacks of books into one larger stack. “Umm, what are we looking for? What does your journal look like, Shardwyn?”

  “My journals haven’t been properly bound yet, I’m afraid. Right now it’s just a gathering.”

  “What’s a gathering?” Mikal quietly whispered to Lissa.

  “It’s a collection of pages that have probably already been stitched together but have yet to be bound to a cover.”

  “Correct!” Shardwyn beamed his appreciation at the young girl. He found a large bundle of papers, flipped through them, then tossed them up onto the bed. “We also know,” the wizard announced as he continued to rifle through the many stacks of books in the room, “that he’s powerful. He’s demonstrated the ability to cast multiple types of spells. That, in itself, is a dangerous mix of power.”

  “I still don’t understand how this wizard was able to fool your censuses,” Lissa remarked. She had discovered a pile of laundry that the last ten cleaning girls must have missed because there were flies buzzing around the reeking pile of linen.

  “I would have to concur,” Shardwyn admitted as he sat back on his haunches. He had just checked under his bed and had ended up spooking a family of mice. Six streaks of grey fur zipped across the floor and disappeared under a large storage cabinet. By the time Peanut trotted over to see what the disturbance was the rodents were long gone.

  “How do they work?” Mikal asked.

  “How does what work?” Lissa wanted to know.

  “The census. How can you be so sure the census should have found him?”

  Shardwyn grunted, mumbled something, and thrust a hand into a large bin full of who knows what. After a few moments he pulled his arm out and held up a gold sphere the size of his clenched fist.

  “This is a spent census. It’s the one I just used three months ago. Up until I started searching for this wizard I would have placed all my faith in this device. It had never failed me before. Now I can’t seem to get the blasted thing to work properly.”

  Mikal took the golden sphere from Shardwyn’s hand and held it up to his face.

  “How does it work?”

  “Once properly activated, this sphere will travel over every square inch of the kingdom looking for signs of life. As soon as a human is detected then they are scanned and a notation is entered into a book I have defined for the census as the ‘journal’. Name, age, jhorun, and address are all recorded for each person the census detects.”

  Mikal stared at the gold sphere.

  “How does it know it hasn’t missed anyone? What if it’s scanning Donlari, but you’re presently in Avin? Wouldn’t you be missed? So when the census travels to Avin, and the villager from Donlari is on his way back home, how do you know that person won’t be overlooked?”

  “Because the census will leave a copy of itself at every location it has previously been to which will continually scan to look for discrepancies in the data. If a person leaves or a visitor arrives it’ll know. That’s why the king always bans intervillage travel while a census is underway. Then once the census is complete the copies are destroyed.”

  “How long does it take for a census to complete?”

  “When the king gives enough notice to the people then most censuses can be completed in less than a week. Spontaneous censuses, like the ones I’ve been conducting for the past year, take longer as the people are on the move. I’ve had several take up to three months to finish.”

  Mikal cleared his throat. “Didn’t you say you thought you had found him two years ago?”

  “It was four years ago,” Shardwyn corrected. He gave the two of them a sad smile. “I really thought I had found him.”

  “What happened?” Lissa wanted to know.

  “It was the first unscheduled census I had ever done. The king wanted an immediate check of the entire kingdom. I can’t say that I blame him. Another wizard had been living in Lentari, right under our noses, and I hadn’t a clue. It was quite embarrassing, let me assure you. I launched the census and watched as the list began to grow. Two months later it was done. Everyone was accounted for. The census reported there were no inconsistencies, no tampering, and no foul play. We had him. I just knew we had him. Or so I thought.

  “The census led me to Verdayn. There was a high concentration of jhorun coming from the village. I will say, young master Mikal, that I felt this validated my theory the wizard was nearby. I had called in the castle militia and the village constable. Even the king was standing by, eagerly awaiting news.”r />
  “What happened?” Mikal asked.

  “I was led to a small cottage southwest of the village. A young family lived there. A mother, father, and young son were the only people living there. I tested them. You know what?”

  “The tests came back negative,” Mikal mouthed with Shardwyn.

  Lissa hopped up on Shardwyn’s unmade bed and crossed her legs into a seated position.

  “What jhorun did the census find there?” she asked.

  Shardwyn ran a withered hand through his short gray hair and sighed.

  “Their jhorun was inconsequential. They tested negative for wizard-class jhorun. The father was a farmer. His jhorun allowed him to locate and purify water, thus allowing his crops to grow healthier and larger than most. And the mother’s? Let me see.” Shardwyn consulted his notes. “The mother’s jhorun allowed her to persuade chopped wood to pull apart on its own rather than being split up by an ax.”

  “You’re right,” Mikal agreed, nodding his head. “Those jhoruns aren’t very strong. Could he have found a way to mask his jhorun from the census?”

  Shardwyn shook his head. “No. No amount of deception or trickery could hide a jhorun’s true nature from the census. At least not that I’m aware of.”

  “Could your census have malfunctioned?” Lissa asked.

  Shardwyn shrugged and resumed his search for his missing journal. He opened a large blue trunk decorated with silver stars and sank both arms deep into its contents as he checked to see if the trunk contained any books. “While unlikely, dear girl, it was a possibility. This family was the only one identified by the census of having wizard class jhorun yet each time I tested them the results were the same. I cannot explain it.”