Diary of a Conjurer (31 page)

Ivar stepped reverently through the field,
whispering a prayer for the people who died there, and as he did,
he heard a song that blew in from the sea.

Forget, o lest the heart is sore

And call your past of woe no more

For in the night you once had died

But in the morn been born alive.

What sense do those words
make? I hadn’t died.
How do those words
pertain to me?

Ivar spoke them over and over again, humming
the melody while breathing in the fresh sea air, every step
bringing him nearer to Deception Peak.

The Quickening

Since Silvio had insisted on walking through
the wetlands, the arrival to Elysian Fields took the entire day,
much longer than they had planned.

Xylepher halted the company before they
emerged from the marsh with a long and breathy “Whoa!”

“Blasted rack is killing me,” Silvio
grumbled as he inched his legs over the travois. “What are you
doing?” Silvio asked when Promise rose from her mat.

“It’s been a long ride.” She staggered a bit
as she reached her arms to the sky and yawned.

He could have insisted she stay still until
they decide what to do next, but it didn’t seem fair since he
himself had sores from lying on the woven mat. Most of the moss had
worn thin and the reeds had rubbed his skin raw in places. The
wetlands had been the most difficult terrain to travel through, not
just for them, but for the wolves as well. The mud was deep, thick
and murky.

After a short breather, and some secret
discussion among the Xylonites, Xylepher pointed insistently past
the reeds, down the beach and toward the mountain. He mounted his
weasel again. “We keep moving. We’ll be less likely to catch the
eye of a spyglass if we travel in the night shadows.

Promise did not return to her travois, and
though Silvio had reservations, he let her walk. Slow, maybe too
slow, but they persevered, Silvio and Promise, the wolves, Xylepher
and his band of soldiers.

Promise slipped once in the mud. She reached
out and grabbed onto the shoulder of a Xylonite to break her fall.
The Xylonite woman balanced the sorceress as best she could while
other little people ran to her side to assist, though there was not
much they could do to help.

“Baldersnatch!” Silvio had been startled by
Promise’s fall, and a bit angry at Ivar about her helplessness. He
waddled in the reeds looking for a limb that could serve as a cane.
With luck he found a smooth sturdy piece of driftwood and pinched
off the protruding twigs to make a walking stick for her. He
returned to the others who now had Promise upright. Silvio tapped
her hand with the tip of the cane.

“Thank you,” she said softly as she balanced
on the limb.

Silvio grunted. “There’s a rock on your
right, and a stump on your left. And the mud is thick.”

“The mud is thick,” she repeated, a cynical
smile on her lips. “As if I couldn’t tell.”

“Very well, then.” Silvio
guided her through the marsh though he dare not touch her.
Wizards don’t touch Sorceresses, can’t trust them
to touch them, not even the helpless ones. Wicked they are, and
might cast some spell to cripple something, or me, as if that would
make much difference.

Still upset at her
request
to save Taikus, for all he knew,
luring him back to Taikus could be one of Hacatine’s traps to get
him to the island.
Shouldn’t listen to a
crying girl. Might mean death.
Silvio kept
a close eye on the Xylonites who walked next to her.

When the caravan came to dry ground the sun
was past its zenith. Shadows of Alcove forest spread over them, and
the air turned cool. Silvio stopped next to Xylepher. “I don’t
think we’ll catch up to Ivar.” He watched as the rest of his
company pulled out of the marsh. Promise and her helpers came
first, then the congregation of little people. Last came the wolves
still harnessed to the travois and led by the soldiers on weasels.
“We’ve been too slow. Hopefully the fool youth will head to the
Kaempern camp. Maybe Amleth will talk some sense into him. Make the
boy give me back my magic. Make him stay home. Now that would be a
good thing!”

Silvio and Xylepher followed the last of the
caravan to the shores of Elysian Fields. From there they could see
Inlet Bay, a vast expanse of water separating the Bandene Peninsula
from the Northlands.

Before Silvio had a chance to speak, the
Xylonites ahead of him called out in panic, cried and wailed all
sorts of unintelligible noises.

“What is the fuss?” Silvio asked.

Xylepher gasped. “Look, Silvio, sir!
Hacatine’s ships are entering Menek. They’ve invaded the
North.”

The one thing Silvio had wanted to avoid
beyond all cost was for his people to panic. Now here they were
scrambling around like bees without a queen. “Bumshackers, Xylepher
can’t you settle them?”

Xylepher was as dumbfounded as Silvio with
the confusion. “Never mind. We’ve arrived at Elysian Fields. All
well indeed. We’ll make camp, get something to eat and establish
some order.” He turned to Xylepher whose eyes were wide in
disbelief. “Xylepher, get these soldiers under control,” Silvio
nodded toward the men who had already dismounted and joined the
others in the frenzy.

“Yes, sir.” Xylepher pulled off his helmet
and with a sweaty and worried face asked, “How, sir?”

Silvio sighed. “Put them to work. We need
firewood. Have them pull the supplies out of their saddlebags?
Gather some rocks for a pit. They can forage for food; pick some
thimbleberries in the woods. The young ones can dig for clams.”

“Yes, sir.” Xylepher rounded up his men,
which seemed more like herding chickens.

In time, the fire burned and the aroma of
nuts roasting settled in the meadow. The little people still jumped
around with anxiety, glancing off at the bay, chattering among
themselves. Silvio gave the idle ones the job of exploring the
meadow and rounding up two horses, one for him and one for Promise.
Since some of the Xylonites had been riding weasels, which could
run and tunnel and scurry along quickly, everyone would make better
time if Silvio and Promise were mounted as well. For the next leg
of their journey, Silvio would turn the wolves loose and leave the
travois behind.

“I don’t understand how the Xylonites are
going to catch the horses.” Promise stood by the campfire warming
her hands as Silvio stirred the coals with a stick.

“A little bit of oats,” Silvio mumbled,
wondering if it were at all possible for a little person to catch a
horse.

“I don’t know much about horses. We don’t
have them on Taikus. But I’ve seen them. They’re big, Silvio. They
could stomp on the little people. Squish them.”

“Bah. Xylonites are fast.
That’s one thing about them. See them one minute, next minute,
poof.” He snapped his fingers and did a double look at Promise.
There was a smile on her face. Silvio’s chest puffed.
Hadn’t seen her smile before.

“I just don’t want them to get hurt,” she
whispered.

“Neither do I,” Silvio held out a cup of tea
and a piece of toast made from nut meal. When she didn’t respond to
his offer, he laid the toast on a stump, and unthinkingly took her
hands in his to wrap them around the wooden cup. Touching her sent
a chill down his crooked back. She was a sorceress, and here he was
a wizard. These things weren’t supposed to happen. He shuddered as
he drew his hands away. She was calm, though pale. Perhaps she was
as surprised as he was.

Frustrated as to what to do with the bread,
he waved it around for a moment. “Open your mouth.”

When she did, he broke off a piece of toast
and set it neatly on her tongue.

“There,” he mumbled, brushed the crumbs off
his fingers, and quickly turned away.

“Thank you,” she said as she chewed.

“Don’t mention it.” It came out grumpy, but
he was more comfortable being a grouch anyway. What he really meant
was not to tell anyone that he had touched her, but he didn’t
elaborate. Who would she tell? He rested in the field and enjoyed
the scent of the grass and the sound of gentle waves splashing on
the sand at the end of the bay. His repose was interrupted later by
Xylepher.

“Sir, they’ve caught two horses. We’ve used
the ropes that harnessed the wolves, sir, so I guess you won’t be
using them any longer.”

“That’s the intent.” Silvio looked out across
the field. He couldn’t see the Xylonites; they were hidden in the
tall grass, but two horses stood still, their tails swishing, and
their heads low. “Good, Xylepher, then bring them here. We’ll get
started again after we eat.”

“It’s a day’s ride to the Kaemperns, still,
sir. Do you intend to travel the entire night? Or do we make camp
in the prairie?”

Silvio thought long about that. They probably
wouldn’t make it to the foothills before nightfall, and the prairie
was a hunting ground for predators. A Xylonite would be a tasty
delicacy for an owl or a coon, whereas Elysian Fields was a
sanctuary. They could probably come to Kaempern by nightfall
tomorrow if they start early in the morning.

“The Xylonites could tunnel in the prairie,”
Promise said. “They’d be safe underground. If indeed Hacatine is at
Menek we’d better keep moving.”

She was right, though Silvio’s weary bones
would have been more comfortable bedding someplace for the
night.

“Bring the horses here, then,” Silvio kicked
dirt on the fire. It’d been a long trip but hopefully this was the
last leg of their journey. If they camp in the prairie, they’ll be
in Kaempern before noon tomorrow. He gazed off into the distance,
the sun now sinking to the horizon. Though the Menek village was
far from them, smoke rising from what would be a dock filtered into
the sky. He then saw something that instilled a spark of hope in
his heart. He saw a golden glow at the base of the mountain where
the village was.

“The Dragon Shield,” he whispered. “Hacatine
will have more to contend with than she expected.”

The Mount of Deception

Ivar glanced out over the
water only once on his way up the hillside. The fleet of ships
approached Menek, and the gold of the Dragon Shield’s light covered
the village like a globe. If Hacatine was attacking, Amleth would
be there, and so would Aren. It won’t be a long battle. The
Sorceress won’t break through the Dragon Shield, and with the Songs
of Wisdom wreaking havoc, she’d risk being shipwrecked
again.
She’ll give up before tomorrow
night, and then we’ll be free of her.

There wasn’t much sense in going home to
Kaempern with a battle ensuing in Menek. Britta would ask too many
questions and he wasn’t prepared to talk about what he’d been
through, not without telling Aren first.

I’ll wait in the foothills until Hacatine is
gone and the Kaempern army is home again.

Ivar lingered amongst the cedar trees as he
watched the last of twilight settle over the valley. The whole
northwestern terrain spread out before him. The prairies, the marsh
and Alcove Forest to the south. To the east Hacatine’s fleet
lingered in the waters near the sea port at Menek, no doubt
preparing for an invasion. Beyond the fishing village were the
Fjords protruding from the water, their peaks barely visible
through the fog.

His gaze returned to the shore that met the
grassy fields, where a tiny glow of firelight danced. Someone was
camping on the trail he had traveled earlier that morning. A
foolish thing to do. No one in his or her right mind would be
aimlessly wandering that desolate and dangerous terrain without
purpose, especially not at night. The prairie was a hunting ground
for wild boar, bobcats, and nocturnal predators. Only strangers
unfamiliar with the northlands would camp there.

Perhaps the vagabonds were
spies sent by Hacatine to invade a less protected Kaempern village.
Or perhaps it was Hacatine herself seeking Ivar with the intent of
taunting him again, or robbing him of Silvio’s powers. Either way,
Ivar wasn’t going to be found. He wanted to put as much distance
between him and Hacatine as possible.
Cross-country will be the best way to travel
now
,
abandoning
the trails to hide in the mountain
. Ivar
knew this country well. It was his home and his hunting
grounds.

With only a little light of day left, Ivar
could still see well enough to climb over the stark white boulders
and up the cliffs to where the firs grew tall and met with the
black stone pillars of Deception Peak. He would venture to the
aspen groves that grew behind the Kaempern village and which
camouflaged the entrance to the caves.

Ivar hesitated when he
smelled an animal nearby. The only food he’d had for days was
shellfish. His stomach twisting with hunger.
If I’m going to eat, I’d better do my hunting now, before
entering the hollow of the mountain.
Nothing worth eating lives in the caves.

Even though his body weight had suffered on
this journey, Ivar hadn’t lost strength or grace. Swift and agile,
he never lost his hunting skills. With his natural ability now
combined with the incredible willpower of the conjurer, Ivar was
able to sneak up on the hare. The rabbit jumped from where it had
been hiding in the shadows. He lunged, grabbed its hind legs, and
watched it squirm in his hands, beating its strong thighs in an
attempt to free itself.

The sense of power that Ivar had over the
creature thrilled him. The magic churning inside his body delighted
him. The lightning energy sizzled through his hands into the beast,
toasting it to a crisp. The creature’s hair singed and fell in
burning embers to the ground. Laughing, Ivar watched it die and
then ripped it open with his fists, eating first its heart, its
liver, and then the meat that had been roasted tender from the
magic.