SEARCH FOR THE LOST SOUL (20 page)

“I know, but
the situation has changed. It’s too dangerous for him to stay unaware of what’s
happening. Besides, I think he’s your friend. I know that Loren is and Dominic
is his apprentice. Even if Dominic wanted to report you, I think he’d do what
Loren wants him to do.”

Kelly smiled
slightly. “I noticed that you didn’t say that Dominic is your friend.”

Chris
nodded. “I don’t think he is. I think he just tolerates me because I’m with
you.”

“That might
be true. But, I wonder if your conclusion about Dominic doing what Loren wants
is right.”

Chris
sighed. “I’ll admit that I don’t know what I’m talking about. But, I would
think that it’s hard to get a wizard to accept you as an apprentice. And, if he
didn’t do what Loren wants, surely he would terminate Dominic’s apprenticeship.
Then Dominic would not only be in the position of searching for a new wizard to
train him, but what wizard would want an apprentice who doesn’t do as told.”

“You might
be right, but, is it worth the risk?”

“I think it
is. Besides, I don’t think we have any other options.”

Kelly sighed
as she sank down into a sitting position. “Alright. I trust you.”

Chris bit
back his own sigh as he settled next to her; he wished she hadn’t said that.

They were
still sitting in front of the fire when Dominic returned more than an hour
later.

Dominic
strode into the campsite and straight to the fire, holding a hare by its ears.
As he passed, Chris noted that the animal was already skinned. He almost asked
if the apprentice had used magic for that gruesome task but refrained; Dominic
was apt to be angry enough once they told him about the spellbook.

Dominic put
the animal over the flames, holding it in place with a wave of his hand before
turning to the two of them. “What is it you wish to say?”

Chris
narrowed his eyes, the vision of ears suspended in space once again passing
before his eyes. “How did you know we wanted to talk to you?”

The
apprentice shrugged. “The way you are watching me tells me this.”

Chris
glanced at Kelly, noting that her eyes were on the flames once again. He sighed,
wondering what the attraction was. Since she appeared reluctant to start, he
did. “You remember the spellbook that everyone was looking for at Terrill’s
castle?”

“Yes.”

“Kelly has
it.”

Dominic’s
eyes widen slightly but his voice was as calm as ever. “Tell me how it came to
be in your possession.”

When Kelly
remained silent, Chris started to relate the tale. He fell silent when
Dominic’s black eyes came to rest on him. “Kelly must be the one to relate the
tale.”

When Kelly
remained silent, Chris nudged her gently in the ribs. When she still didn’t
speak, he leaned over and whispered in her ear. “You have to tell him or he
can’t help you.”

Kelly took a
shuddering breath before recounting her tale in a low voice. Dominic listened
without interrupting, his dark eyes never leaving her face. When she finally
fell silent, he eyed her for several minutes before speaking.

“I would
like you to expound on why you took the spellbook from the safe in the first
place. I did not have the impression that you are a thief.”

“I’m not,”
Kelly’s voice took on a defiant tone. “I’ve never done anything like this
before.”

Dominic
nodded. “Go on.”

Kelly met
the apprentice’s eyes for a moment before answering. “I can’t explain it. When
I saw the spellbook in there, it was like I had to have it.”

Dominic’s
face was unreadable as he asked. “And, how did you keep it from being
discovered once Terrill began searching for it?”

Kelly
shrugged. “I don’t know. The spellbook began talking to me, whispering
actually. It told me how to keep Terrill from finding it.”

Dominic
stood facing Kelly, his eyes flashing. “And the spellbook continues to talk to
you?”

 Kelly
nodded and told him what she had earlier told Chris. Dominic nodded and turned
to walk to his bedroll. He sat on it and looked up at the two of them, “Please
do not disturb me. I must consult with Loren.”

Chris
watched as Dominic closed his eyes. After several minutes, he leaned close to
Kelly to whisper in her ear. “Do you think he’s using ESP?”

“Shush,” she
whispered back. “Any noise will disturb the atmospheric waves.”

Chris stared
at her for a moment. “How do you know that?”

Kelly didn’t
look at him. “I just know. Now, be quiet.”

Chris shook
his head as he turned his attention back to the apprentice.

More than an
hour passed before Dominic moved, standing in one fluid motion and striding to
the fire where he turned the hare with a wave of his hand. He leaned close to
smell the animal for a moment before straightening and turning to face Chris
and Kelly. He eyed them for a moment before crossing the distance between them
with long strides.

Chris
watched the apprentice’s face as Dominic lowered himself to sit facing them but
he could tell nothing from his expression. Dominic spent several minutes
letting his eyes examine first Chris and then Kelly before he began to speak.

“Loren has
determined that the spellbook wants you to possess it. That is the only logical
reason for you taking it in the first place,” his voice held no emotion.
“Therefore, Loren and his mentors have determined that this matter does not
need to be brought to the attention of the Wizard’s Council.”

“So, she’s
safe.”

Dominic
nodded. “From judgment from the Wizard’s Council. But, there are many dangers
still facing her.”

Chris
shrugged; although it was a relief that she wouldn’t be stripped of her powers
for the theft, he was well aware that this wouldn’t protect her from the
dangers she faced from the loss of her soul. He frowned, “You said that the
spellbook wanted her to have it, are you saying that it has an intelligence of
some sort?”

“Not in the
way that you think, no. But, spellbooks have the ability to choose their
owners. In most cases, it becomes apparent to the one who currently has
possession of a spellbook that it no longer wishes to belong to that person and
he will pass it on, but occasionally it will call out to the person that it
wants to attach itself to, as it appears to have done in this case.”

Chris
frowned. “Without intelligence, how does it let others know what it wants?”

Dominic
sighed. “There are many things that a spellbook can do to discourage ownership.
In some cases, it will refuse to reveal the spells that have been written in
it, even when the proper incantations and rituals are performed. At times
spellbooks have been known to change the words written in them so that the
spells malfunction.

“If the
spellbook wants to go to another owner and the one who possesses it refuses to
give it up, the spellbook has the ability to rewrite a spell so that it will
kill the sorcerer when he tries to cast it. I remember one case where the
sorcerer disappeared into a cloud of smoke; he was never found.”

Chris
shuddered and glanced at Kelly. “So, is Kelly safe with it in her possession?”

“Certainly,
it is apparent that the spellbook wants her to have it.”

Chris
breathed a long sigh of relief. “So, what about the whispering the spellbook is
doing?”

Dominic
frowned. “That is a more difficult question to answer. Loren does not recognize
the name Griling. However, it is known that Marcelondini was killed by magical
means. The Wizard’s Council never discovered the name of the sorcerer, or
wizard, that did the deed, despite a lengthy investigation.

“It is
highly possible that Marcelondini’s spellbook knows the name of the one who
killed its master and that it is trying to pass that information on to Kelly.
Loren, Michael and Joshua are researching that aspect. They will contact me
with their results.”

“So, is
Kelly in danger from these whispers. I mean, is the spellbook going to force
her to do what it wants?”

Dominic
shook his head. “No. The spellbook could try to trick her into doing its
bidding, but now that I am aware of the problem, I will counteract it.” His
black eyes bored into Kelly. “You should have informed me of this the moment
the whispers started.”

“I was
afraid.”

Dominic made
a rude noise.

“Hey,”
protested Chris, leaping to Kelly’s defense. “You were the one who said that
whoever took the spellbook would be punished by he Wizard’s Council.”

Dominic was
silent for a moment before sighing. “I misspoke. I did not give you all the
information that you required to make the correct decision. I suppose that I
must shoulder some of the blame for that.” His eyes shifted between the two of
them. “In the future, you must report anything out of the ordinary that occurs,
no matter what you fear the consequences will be. I cannot protect you if I do
not know what form the danger is taking.”

Chris
nodded. “We will.”

*     *     *
    *     *

The conflict
Chris felt increased the closer the mountains came. On the one hand, he knew
that the only way to retrieve Kelly’s soul was to enter those mountains, but
the thought of the stoners and the soul worshipers was so terrifying that he
was having nightmares every time he fell asleep.

As he had
promised, he informed Dominic that he was having the dreams. Dominic tried
every spell he could think of but nothing stopped the nightmares. Because
Dominic feared that the lack of sleep would pose a danger to their safety,
Dominic contacted Loren for advice.

As soon as
he finished conversing with his mentor, Dominic rose and went to his backpack,
digging inside for a moment before pulling out a small velvet bag held closed
with a thick golden string with purple tassels at the ends.

Dominic
peered inside the bag for a moment before shaking his head and returning the
bag to his backpack. He withdrew a wooden box with silver hinges, which he laid
on the ground next to his backpack and reached inside again, extracting four
identical, black bags made of some type of cloth. He tucked the bags into a
pocket of his cape and turned to face Chris and Kelly, who were watching him
closely.

“I must go
in search of several herbs I need for the potion that Loren thinks will help
you. I do not know how long I will be gone. If it grows late and you are able,
go to sleep. I hope to have the potion ready for you in the morning.” He turned
and disappeared into a grove of trees.

Chris
grunted after the apprentice was gone. “That’s easy for him to say. He doesn’t
see strange creatures trying to eat him when he closes his eyes.”

Kelly
smiled. “You should be grateful that he’s willing to help you. From the way you
were acting at the beginning of the journey, I wouldn’t have.”

Chris
scowled but couldn’t maintain it; Kelly had a point. He smiled, thinking how
helpful Dominic had been to both of them. As much as he hated to admit it,
Dominic was coming frightfully close to becoming a friend.

Chris was
sitting with his back against a tree, watching Kelly sleep inside her bedroll
when Dominic returned. The apprentice ignored him as he moved to his backpack
and withdrew a stone bowl and an implement that Chris had no name for.

Dominic
squatted next the wooden box, opening it with a series of hand motions over the
lid. Once the lid popped open, Dominic shook the contents of the bags from the
pocket of his cape into the box. He closed the lid and tossed the bags aside.
Singing in a language that Chris couldn’t understand, Dominic waved his hands
in a complex pattern over the box.

To Chris’
amazement, a silver light sprang from Dominic’s hands and surrounded the box,
hiding it from Chris’ view. Time seemed to drag as the apprentice continued to
sing.  to Chris’ untrained ears, the words sounded identical, but he
couldn’t believe that the apprentice was chanting the same words over and over.
But, he admitted that he knew almost nothing about the practice of magic so he
couldn’t know what was necessary.

he recalled
the simple spells in little book on magic that he had been reading. although
the book claimed that someone with a small amount of power could perform them,
Chris had read them aloud with no result. A few  of the spells had been
written in what looked to him like Latin, though he would never swear to it.
But, the majority of the spells had been written in what the book called the
language of magic. It had consisted of both words and designs he later
discovered were called runes. To his novice eyes, many of the runes had
appeared the same, but he knew that a scratch too small for him to notice on
first glance could change the meaning of the rune. Plus, he had no idea how to
pronounce them.

For all he
knew, several runes could evoke the same sounds; or sounds so similar  as
to make them sound the same to an untrained observer, such as himself. There
were many such words in English and he saw no reason for the language of the
runes to be any different.

He shook his
head and looked away from Dominic; it wouldn’t do him any good to keep
listening, he would learn nothing. But, in the silence of the wilderness, he
couldn’t help but hear, no matter how hard he tried not to.

The sun was
peeking over the eastern horizon when Dominic finally lowered his arms. The
silver light hovered over the box for several minutes before dissipating.
Dominic waited until all traces of the light was gone before reaching down and
opening the box. With his index finger, he pushed the herbs around for a few
minutes before nodding.

Dominic rose
and stretched before crossing to his backpack. He removed a stone bowl and the
implement Chris had seen the night before. He carried the two items back to the
box and knelt next to it. Using his fingers, he measured doses of the herbs and
threw them into the bowl. When he finished, he took the implement and began
grinding the herbs together.

“Can you
explain what you were doing?” Chris asked from his position against the tree.

Dominic
didn’t look up. “I should think that most of what I am doing is obvious, even
to you.”

Chris
started to reply sarcastically but stopped himself. The apprentice had been up
all night performing his magic over the box. Chris didn’t know how tiring it
was to execute magic but he imagined that it must be incredibly exhausting; the
concentration alone would require a lot of energy.