Uneasy or not, Eril was one of the first in line to attend the evening performance. It was unusual, though not unheard of for there to be a separate admission charged for the evening performance. Eril was not the only one who wanted to see this wizard perform, and the audience area was packed before the wizard came on the stage.
When the acrobat troupe, the opening act of the evening, left the stage, a hush fell over the audience. A sudden chill wind swept in from the east, and many of the footlights on the stage flickered and went out, adding to the sense of foreboding. Fog started to flow out from the stage and into the audience, then with a bright flash and boom, the wizard appeared.
He was tall and wore long silvery dark blue robes, a long cloak, but no hat. His hair was dark, flowing midway down his back, and he was clean shaven but for a small goatee that came down to a point. In his left hand, he held a tall staff, tipped in brass and topped with a crystal orb that glowed with a greenish light. He looked every inch how Eril had imagined a powerful wizard would look before he had met Master Silurian.
After a brief hesitation, the audience burst into applause. The wizard held out his right hand and bowed to the crowd.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” he said after the audience had quieted. “I am gratified by your welcome. I have come here this evening to show you real magic, not some simple trickery or sleight of hand, but the type of magic that is usually not seen by good folks, such as yourselves. I am here to frighten and amaze you, for real power is often frightening. But first I will begin with power!”
As he said this final word, he pointed with his staff toward the left side of the stage and said a word. From the clear night sky, came a lightning bolt crashing to the ground just beyond the edge of the stage. The audience gasped, a few shrieked, and had scarcely begun to recover from the first when he pointed at the opposite end of the stage and another equally bright and loud bolt landed there.
The crowd was stunned, but he did not wait for them to recover. In quick succession, he pointed at three different points and bolts of lightning rained down on the hillside above the top row of seats. Each time before he pointed, he said a word or two. The language was not Herglish, but Eril knew he should recognize it.
Meanwhile, the crowd was on the verge of panic. Some people started to get up to leave their seats, but the wizard spoke, his voice impossibly loud.
“Be calm, dear friends. Peace. Remain seated. No one has come to any harm, but I cannot guarantee the safety of anyone who tries to leave before the performance is concluded. You are witnessing real magical power here tonight. With power, there is always an element of danger, but if you will remain, I will protect you, and you will witness wonders such as you have never imagined.”
The audience calmed quickly. Several men who had been on the verge of panic appeared suddenly ashamed and tried to act as though they had never been afraid. Eril was sitting near the back. He had wanted to watch the crowd as well as the wizard, he was trying to determine exactly what the wizard was doing to produce the effects the audience was seeing. The wizard had gone on with the show, dramatically transforming a pewter plate into gold, flying through the air, and making the ground tremble in a small earthquake. It did not take long for Eril to see that the effects were created by a demon. The wizard was only directing it.
He sensed it first with his zdrell sight and then used his demon sight amulet as soon as he realized what he was looking for. The demon was doing all the work, and now he knew the half-familiar words the wizard was saying, they were in the demon tongue.
Knowing this made Eril even more confused. He had not suspected a demon originally because there were none of the trappings of a common summoning, no portal visible, and more importantly, no sacrifice. Demons worked only for pain or death, and this show produced neither. There was fear and discomfort in the audience, something the demon would enjoy, but nothing sufficient to warrant this huge expenditure of power. Eril could not believe that this wizard had found some new way to motivate a demon, and that meant, somewhere, someone was suffering for this crowd’s entertainment.
The thought made Eril’s blood boil.
The show progressed, with several more impressive displays of power, but now that Eril understood how it was done, each succeeding display left him feeling worse. The show concluded with a pillar of fire descending from the darkened sky and enveloping the wizard, it swirled about him for a moment, then both wizard and fire vanished. The audience sat in stunned silence for a moment and then erupted in thunderous applause. The wizard stepped out from the side of the stage, took several bows, and then left.
Eril was one of the last ones to leave. He walked back to his tent, pondering.
§ § §
The next day he told Gordal about the show and the demon and asked if he knew a way to command a demon without a sacrifice. Gordal did not know of one either.
“Eril, the only thing I can think is that this wizard has several apprentices and that he has journeymen who work them over before the show begins, and probably afterward as well. It certainly seems possible, but that isn’t what puzzles me the most.”
“What puzzles you more than someone causing that kind of pain for a crowd’s entertainment?”
“Well, that’s just it, it doesn’t make sense, there’s no return. If this wizard has the resources to spend power like that, why even bother? From what you describe of the performance, he could have had a demon make him at least a thousand golds out of copper. That kind of wealth wasted on a crowd, and they say he is going to do it again tonight and tomorrow. That is what I don’t understand. I can’t believe it’s just for ego, there must be another reason.”
They both sat lost in thought.
Then Eril asked, “Don’t you have any webs around the stage?”
“I did. But they have gone silent since this Keltrode showed up. I’d guess he had something to do with them being destroyed.”
“Why didn’t you check on those webs when they stopped working?”
“Two reasons. First, that part of the fair is not one I normally need to monitor closely. The shows have their own security, so I never had much out there in the first place. Second, that is a long way from here and I simply haven’t had time. There is only one of me, Eril, and you can see I’m more than fully occupied at this stage in the fair,” he replied with a bit of pique.
“I just wish I knew what he was doing.”
“So do I,” agreed Gordal. “I can’t spare the time to lay a new web, Eril, but if you could figure out how to do it, you could find out.”
“Yeah, but I just can’t seem to get it.”
“Have you tried today?”
“No.”
“Then maybe, with this additional motivation, you will think of something, something you haven’t tried yet.”
Eril could think of nothing, and then something dawned on him, he had been going without any of his rings for weeks now, trying to build up his strength and not become dependent on them. He had used the power ring when he had first looked at Gordal’s webs, and had tried using it when he was trying to duplicate Gordal’s technique, but he had not tried using the master ring. It had been over two weeks since he had put it on, and he had just not thought of it.
He felt so stupid; he wanted to scream.
Gordal looked at him and smiled. “It appears you have thought of something, yes?”
“Yes. I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid. Could you let me watch you make another web?”
“Certainly.”
“Just wait a minute,” he said, opening his shielded amulet and pulling out both rings. When he put on the master ring, his breath came out in a sigh. The whole room glittered to his enhanced sight, and the lines of web were moving with life.
“It’s so beautiful. I had forgotten. Oh, why didn’t I think of this earlier?” Eril sat for a moment, just looking around.
“OK, now I’m ready. Please do it.”
Gordal smiled and began the incantation.
Watching with his enhanced senses, Eril saw as he never had before the subtleties of the incantation. Movements that before had only seemed to be flailing around, now gained meaning. He now saw that Gordal actually had hold of the line much earlier in the spell than Eril had thought previously. He also saw that from that early stage, Gordal was manipulating the line, changing it.
Now he understood why he had never been able to duplicate Gordal’s final move. He had failed to prepare the line properly. Even now, he was fairly certain that he could not duplicate what Gordal was doing, but he felt he had a hope of doing the same thing in his own way.
Eril watched Gordal make the final move and attach one end of the line. He walked forward and took the other end from him and stared at it with all his senses. He ran his hand along the changed part and then onto the part of the line beyond the “knot,” and sensed how it was different. He then carefully probed the knot itself, and gently undid it. As it started to come apart, he concentrated and tried to retie the end. He almost lost it, but then he felt it go back into its “knotted” state.
Eril let out a happy sigh. “I think I’ve got it. It is all so much clearer now.” He paused, and then said, “I guess I just need to see if I can do it from scratch myself.”
“Try, boy, try.”
Eril sat down, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. His vision changed so little when he closed his eyes, he had to open them again to make sure he had. He reached out with his hand and mind and pulled a line to him. He did not use any of the complicated steps of Gordal’s incantation. Once he held the line, stroking it and changing it subtly, then he twisted his fingers tieing a section into a knot. It took a couple of tries, but then he felt it catch.
“That’s it, boy, you’ve got it,” Gordal breathed. “Give me that end, and tie the other.”
Eril walked over carefully, afraid that he would somehow undo what he had done. He handed Gordal the end, and then walked back, holding the line in his hand and set about creating a knot in the other end. It was easier the second time.
Eril was elated. After all the frustration and work, he had finally figured it out. He just wished he had thought of the master ring earlier, but he was not sure that he could have done it, even with the ring, if he had not spent so long struggling, before he got to this point.
“Now, I’m going to see what Keltrode is up to!”
Gordal shook his head. “Practice some more this morning. You need to plan carefully how you lay the web. You can’t be seen doing it, or he will just tear it down, or have his demon do it as soon he summons it. He knows about me, otherwise, I would already know what he is up to, so move carefully. Whatever you do, you can’t let a demon know you are here.”
“You’re right, Master. I’ll practice more, and be very careful about how I do this.”
“Good,” Gordal said, nodding.
§ § §
Eril went back to his tent to practice. He tried it two more times with the master ring on, then he took it off and tried it with only the power ring on. He found that it was somewhat harder to do without the master ring, but now that he knew what he had to do, it quickly became easier.
The final test was to see if he could do it without any of the rings. When he removed the power ring, he felt the sudden wave of weariness that came from having to support himself with only his own internal resources. Once he had recovered, he found it was not any more difficult to get a line but tying the knot made him tire quickly.
When he had been wearing the power ring, he had felt no drain at all, but the ring had simply offset it for him.
He deliberately created two more lines without his rings, and then was too tired to do more. He took a short nap and then pondered how he would lay his webs while he ate his lunch. His plan formed Eril went to Gordal to see if he thought it workable. Gordal approved.
Chapter 8
Eril’s plan was simple. He would invoke his invisibility amulet and fly over to get a good view of the wizard’s camp. Once he had discovered the most likely places that Keltrode could be doing the summoning, Eril would lay web and then bring it back to Gordal’s tent and watch what transpired.
Eril waited until late afternoon, just before he knew the show preparations would begin in earnest. He wore both rings, he needed all the extra help he could get.
As soon as he was in the air, Eril knew that there was something very wrong with what Keltrode was doing. There were only three tents in the wizard's campsite, which was situated away from the main camp. He could not have enough apprentices to cover the kind of power shown in the performance for more than one day, and yet he was doing two more.
One tent was obviously the personal tent of Keltrode, it was large, made of expensive fabric, and embroidered with eagles and flying mythical creatures. The other two tents were a plain brown canvas. Eril drifted down near the larger of the two and glimpsed two pain tables and knew he had found the right place.
Still invisible, he carefully landed and looked inside. The tent was empty. He quietly set about making a web and attaching it around the inside edge of the tent at head level. He ran the line right along the seam so that even with his enhanced vision, it was barely visible. He then brought it out through the door and ran it above head level between the two tents and then flew, trailing the web back to Gordal’s tent. He did not drop his invisibility until he was inside.
“How did it go?”
“Good. I think,” Eril said, attaching the end of the web line. “It was strange. There was hardly anyone there. I heard voices in Keltrode’s tent, but I didn’t see anyone who looked like a journeyman or even an apprentice. This makes even less sense now than before. The one thing I did find is the tent where I think he does the summoning. There were two pain tables. I laid my line around the inside edge of the tent. We should be able to see everything that goes on. I really want to know what he is doing.”
“I hope this isn’t what I’m beginning to suspect it is,” Gordal said, frowning.
“What do you think it is?”
“I’d rather not say. Some things are better left unsaid unless they must be spoken.”
Eril was confused, but from the expression on Gordal’s face, he doubted that he would get any better answer.
§ § §
Now that the initial rush of preparation was over, Eril was annoyed at having to wait. The way he had laid the line gave him a very limited view of anything other than the inside of the one tent. So far, no one had entered and Eril was getting worried. What if he had picked the wrong tent? What if that tent was only used to store the pain tables? He could think of no answers, and as time stretched on, he got more and more nervous.
Finally, less than an hour before the evening performance was due to begin, a young man who looked to be a journeyman or older apprentice entered and set down several sacks. He pulled out candles and several knives.
Keltrode was the next to enter. He was still putting on his fine clothes for the evening performance. He inspected the knives.
“Did you sharpen the two flaying blades?” Keltrode asked his assistant.
“Yes, Master.”
“Good. I don’t want another mess like last night. It took me twice as long as it should have to get the skin off. I was almost late for my entrance.”
“I sharpened them to as fine an edge as possible, Master.”
“For your sake, you had better hope that you did, or you will find yourself on one of these tables.”
Keltrode looked around impatiently.
“Where is Grall?” Keltrode said, pacing and looking out the door. “I can’t start the summoning until I have my victims.”
Just then, a very large man came in through the flap of the tent with a boy, somewhere between eight and ten years old slung over his shoulder. The boy was tied hand and foot and blindfolded. He took the boy and roughly laid him on the nearest pain table.
“What took you so long?” Keltrode asked impatiently.
�
��I had this one bagged hours ago, Master, but the other I was buying from the slave trader, turned up missing. The slaver was looking all over, and just now found the little rat. Seems like he might of had some idea what was going on. Anyway, Durliss has him and will have him here in a few minutes. I knew you needed one to start with, so I brung this one now.”
“Yes, yes, whatever, I don’t care. Frislan, get his clothes off and get him strapped down. I need to put on my smock and start the summoning.”
Eril was breathing hard. The boys he was using were plainly not apprentices, and the way he was treating them, Eril suspected that Keltrode was going to use them up completely, just for tonight’s performance. The mystery of how Keltrode could get demons to show such power was lessening, even as Eril’s horror grew.
The assistant, Frislan, had taken one of the knives and quickly cut off all of the boy’s clothes. From the look of them, the boy was probably one of the beggars that abounded at the fair. He tied the boy face up on the table, leaving only the gag. The boy’s eyes were wild with fear.
Keltrode had finished putting a large smock over the outside of his fine clothes. He walked over and picked up a knife and made two quick cuts along the boy’s breastbone about a quarter of an inch apart, down to the boy’s belly button. He then made a quick cut at the top of the boy’s breastbone, joining them. He then put the tip of the knife under the skin and levered the strip of skin up.
Up to this point the boy had been crying and struggling, but now let out an enormous scream that the gag could only slightly muffle.
Keltrode’s face had been very business-like so far, but now a look of undisguised pleasure washed across it as he saw the boy’s agony.
“Good,” he said. “We’re ready.”
The Journeyman for Zdrell Page 4