Diary of a Conjurer (9 page)

As he followed the creek into the gulch he
heard voices behind him. Kaempie slipped into the brush and held
his breath as the three foreigners approached.

“Well, at least you’re good for something,
Jacques.” Armel said as they passed Kaempie’s hiding place. “Beach
combing can pay off, that's for certain. Good eye, boy.”

“What are you going to do with it?” Jacques
asked.

“You saw how that serpent flew into the sky,
didn’t you?” Armel answered.

“You’re going to draw serpents from the
deep? Aren’t you afraid they’ll turn against us? We don’t know any
magic words.”

Armel laughed. “I don’t care about serpents.
But if it can open up the sea, I’m betting this little dagger can
open up the heavens, too.”

“It could,” Hermaz agreed. “If we sail to
the right location. What do you bet?”

“You have the sextant, the compass?” Jacques
asked, his voice anxious.

“I even have the charts. We’ll navigate
where the ship was before we dove into this snake pit, and then
we’ll see if we can’t get this thing to get us back.”

“Home!”

They laughed. “Yeah. Home with a magic
dagger! I bet it brings a pretty penny!”

Something about the three men taking off to
sea with the Taikan dagger seemed amiss to Kaempie. But he wasn’t
thinking as clearly as he used to, and failed to sense any urgency
concerning the magic of his island. He watched the three renegades
as they rowed his skiff out to their ship, boarded and hoisted
sail.

It wasn’t until sunset that the sky lit up
with an explosion. Kaempie wondered if indeed they had traveled
home through a portal.

***

The young wizard retreated to the woods. He
built a yurt and stayed to himself. Sometimes the dragon-serpent
would appear overhead, flying from the mountain eastward, leaving
flames and destruction in its path. Sometimes those flames would
come from the village. Though he was remorseful of the natives'
plight, after the death of Meneka, Kaempie no long felt capable of
saving anyone. Without his gifts, he couldn’t heal a single wound,
nor trust himself to make a wise decision. He simply did not
interfere.

As the years passed, Kaempie slowly made
friends with a certain group of hunters that ventured into his
woods. It was through them that Kaempie learned about their
village, that the natives remembered Meneka and had taken Meneka's
name as their own, calling themselves Meneks. Kaempie would hunt
with the men and with his keen eye and steady bow, sent them home
with enough meat to feed the entire village.

One night after a horrendous dragon attack,
Kaempie was surprised to see his friends wandering aimlessly in the
forest.

“Didn't you come to hunt? Where are your
weapons? Your bows and arrows?”

“We’ve been banished,” a strong young man
stepped forward.

“Banished?”

“We've been cast out of our village to
survive on our own in the wilderness. The elders believe that our
hunting has caused the dragon’s wrath. They say we compromised its
sovereignty. I, my young child Vilfred, and these other men and
women have been exiled.”

So remorseful was Kaempie to hear this news
that he took the people to his hiding place and together they built
a village of their own. The people loved Kaempie and took his name
as theirs, calling themselves Kaemperns.

Kaempie lived with his people until he grew
very old. One day, a great wind picked up, shaking the trees,
stirring dirt and leaves into the heavens. Then Kaempie heard
something familiar—the same voice he heard so many years ago. It
whispered a song on the wind, and when it was over, it spoke his
name. Kaempie lay down his bow by the campfire, nodded a fond
farewell to his friends, and walked into the woods. He was never
seen again.

The Tale of the Four
Wizards

Reuben

Depart

Drenched, Reuben stumbled as the waves
rushed past, momentarily knocking him off balance again, leaving
salty foam racing between his toes. Working the sand out of his
teeth with his tongue, he spat the remaining saltwater that had
been caught in his throat and brushed his wet hair from his
eyes.

No sign of the skiff, or of Kaempie and
Meneka remained, only the rising waves as they receded into the
clouds and the dark of night. Chilled by the sea breeze, Reuben
fought the tide as he trudged to shore. There he spotted the
fluorescent green light of Silvio’s eyes. The two stood side by
side solemnly watching the waves pound its death march on the
beach.

They’re gone.

A cold, empty feeling filled
Reuben. His body trembled. “I’m going back home,” he whispered.

“You’ll die,” Silvio assured
him.

“
I’m going to die
anyway.”
We’re fools thinking we
could escape. There’s nothing to gain from this.
“Even so, I never should have left.” He didn't regret having
obeyed his mother. He respected her concern for his life. Still, he
harbored a secret that, had he been honest, would have changed even
her decision, a secret that weighed heavy on his heart. Now, with
his good friend Kaempie gone, there was no sense in
continuing.

East of the cloud front, the
seaport Taikus glowed in the night.
The
island was not asleep. Lights of Hacatine's ships floated in the
dark.

“If indeed that’s the queen coming
this way, I’ll be able to escape back to Taikus unnoticed.”

“How, without a boat?”

Reuben looked at Silvio. The boy
reeked of magic. Light pulsated through his pores so blazingly that
his whole body glowed green. But Silvio seemed naïve to its
presence, or at least its importance. “I’ll move east through the
woods until I come to the channel of Alisubbo. From there, I’ll
swim.”

“And leave me here?”

He hesitated to
answer
. Kaempie wouldn’t leave
the young conjurer, but I can't stay here with him. My allegiance
is elsewhere.
“You can come with me.” Reuben
offered.

Silvio shook his head, his eyes
fixed steadfast on the waves. “I guess we’re on our own,” Silvio
said.

They stared at the sea. The
roaring tide crashing on the shore beat away the last glimmer of
hope either of them had of seeing the skiff again.

“
Then run.” Reuben urged.
“Your magic is strong. Follow the coast west to the bay, and then
veer north.
Meet up with those two.” He
nodded toward the breakers where they had last seen their friends.
“I doubt that they perished. Kaempie is too good a wizard for such
an end. Go. Have hope. My heart lies elsewhere.”

He rested his hand on the young
wizard’s shoulder. There’d be no reason to tell Silvio why he was
going back. The boy was too young to understand the turmoil that
haunted him, and they barely knew each other anyway. Their eyes
met. Reuben gave the boy a nod and a hopeful smile, then picked up
his bow and quiver. He walked toward the woods in the direction of
the strait of Alisubbo.

Please go on, Silvio. Don’t be
discouraged. You can survive! Make haste!

Reuben followed the shore along
the edge of the forest until rocky cliffs prevented his passage and
he was forced to ascend a steep bank. When he reached a flat summit
that overlooked the coastline, he turned around and surveyed the
beach below. Silvio had gone.

Good.

But the sight on the horizon was
not so good. Hacatine’s ships had wind in their sails, traveling
east of the fog bank. Closer now, it was obvious that her fleet was
set for Bandene.

Run, Silvio.

His heart leapt. He too must
make haste to the outskirts of Alisubbo. There he’d be safe. No
Taikan warrior would come near the city known as the Quaking
Fortress. Fear kept its enemies away. Throughout history, whenever
Taikans had invaded Alisubbo, explosions of great magnitude shook
the ground, causing waves of immeasurable heights along the
Straits, and floods that ravaged the shores of the island. It was
believed that the winds of the north protected that coastal city as
well. Hacatine would not invade Alisubbo —not until she was certain
of her supremacy. Not until the Northern Winds were
tamed.

Whether he’d be safe or not
when he reached its boundaries, Reuben didn’t know. But it would
give him time to use his magic to look into the near future and
immediate past.
Doing so would reveal
whether Lelanie was still safe and what course he needed to take.
He had less fear of the city of man than he did of Hacatine and
what she could do to his family.

The Thieves

A moonless time of the
night, the storm in the west blanketed the sky, though no rain fell
where he walked. Still drops of moisture from humidity mingled with
his sweat as he felt his way through the woods. His bare toes
curled around the cold rocks and coarse roots of the trail that
eventually widened to a road much like those in Taikus. In the
daylight, men traveled here. Rollers more advanced than the stone
wheels found on Taikus had cut ruts in the soft dirt that he now
followed.

He’d seen the vessels. He and his
friends would come to the edge of Bandene Forest to hunt for deer,
but occasionally they’d see the odd contraptions rolling on the
road. Baskets atop lightweight wheels that were pulled by horses.
They carried men, two or three at a time. A wonder to the young
Taikans, sometimes he and his friends would hide in the forest just
to watch them roll by. Alisubbo’s craftsmen were so much more
advanced than the wizards of his homeland.

But none of his friends had ever
set eyes inside the city. Stone walls and iron gates secured it.
Reuben wished his nation would attempt peace with these citizens so
that knowledge and wisdom could be shared. But Hacatine’s policy
had been to conquer, not to treaty, falling short of both.

Which is why she
wants me. The more wizardry she gains, the stronger she becomes. I
hate what she does to us.
If our
child is a boy, then what?

His hurried, and his mind
raced quicker than his feet. His thoughts traveled beyond the
Straits, anxiously searching the island for his loved one. It
wasn’t until he tripped that he realized he’d forgotten where he
was, and by then, it was too late. Stumbling to catch his balance,
his attempt failed and instead, he flew through the air.

Reuben wasn’t hurt when he
hit the ground. Gravel clung to his lips as he lifted his face out
of the dirt. He spun his body around to sit and found himself
surrounded by four men. Laughing, their bare feet nudged his legs
as they spoke in another language. Reuben pulled his hair behind
his ears and looked up. He possessed the magic to translate, but he
wasn't quick with initiating his powers when he was
confused.

A tall thin man met his gaze,
having dark hair much like his own, but with skin that was a deeper
tan, perhaps from the sun, perhaps from a bloodline unfamiliar to
Reuben. His hair was shoulder length and he had a moustache that
curled slightly at the edges. When he smiled, his teeth sparkled
gold, not white like they should be.

“A foreigner stumbling in the
woods at this hour?” the man laughed.

Reuben’s magic finally afforded
the translation.

“Where’s your money?” the man
prodded, nudging Reuben again.

“
He’s poor as a beggar,
Paulino. Besides these.” The man held Reuben’s bow and quiver full
of arrows in his hands, pulling away as one of the other scoundrels
reached for it.

Paulino kicked Reuben again. “What
are you doing here? Hunting, eh? For what? Owls?”

“No, I’m not hunting.”

“
Where are you from,
then? What are you doing here? Artur…” he nodded
toward the woods. “See if he’s alone.”

Reuben was just as curious
as to the identity of these people as they were of him. Their dress
was unlike the attire worn by anyone he had ever seen.
Loose-fitting pants tied at their waists with scarves of color,
sashes strapped across their chests and beads hanging from their
necks were not the modest garb of the men from Alisubbo. If Reuben
could steady his thoughts, he’d be able to see their past and
perhaps get a clue as to their origins.

“I think he’s alone,” Artur
called.

“Ruy, Aldo, get him up.”

“What are we doing with him?”

“We’re taking him to camp. He’s
strong, young. Should bring a good price, I would say. Clumsy,
though.”

Ruy and Aldo lifted Reuben
to his feet and allowed him to stand on his own. “Don’t
worry,”
Ruy said with a grin. “We’re
friendly captors.” When their eyes met, the wizard took the
opportunity to shoot his magic into the depths of the man’s mind.
Stunning his victim for only a second, he extracted Ruy’s most
recent memory into his own thoughts.

“The officials of the city are
looking for you,” Reuben accused. “You’ve stolen some pretty
important gold pieces.”

The outburst caused the others to
balk. Paulino drew a knife from his waist, but Reuben released Ruy
from the spell and set his focus on the weapon, heating the metal
with his will. Paulino dropped it, watching the glowing blade
smolder in the grass at his feet.

Not sure what they would do,
Reuben waited as the men regained their senses. Paulino broke into
a laugh as he picked up his weapon and brushed the ashes that had
clung to it off on his pants.

“Magic, is it? You come from
across the way? The Magic Island?”

The other two men relaxed.

“We may be able to do some
bartering. Come with us, my friend. Let’s talk.”