Wizard Dawning (The Battle Wizard Saga, No. 1) (10 page)

As she walked out, the setting sun formed a halo around her. He watched until the door shut.

In addition to continually unsuccessful drills on magic spells and incantations, Grampa Thor introduced Sig to texts on magic and exposed him to demon lore as a way of preparing him for foes he may face.

Sig received a list of magic texts, called Grimoires, which Grampa advised him to acquire and study. He even provided Sig with several from his own library.

"Grimoires are books containing a mixture of conjurations, spells, potion recipes, natural secrets and ancient wisdom. They were some of the first codifications of knowledge at the dawn of writing." Grampa explained.

"Not all grimoires contain Black Magic and even those that do, are not entirely evil." He handed the
Petit Albert
to Sig. "This grimoire contains practical household tips as well as spells to catch fish, charms for healing, and instructions on how to make a Hand of Glory. That's the spell we've tried that is supposed to make you invisible—or at least hard to detect."

Sig held up the list of grimoires. "What about others on here. Should I concentrate on any in particular?"

Grampa glanced at it. "The
Dragon Rouge
, or Red Dragon has invocations for summoning demons. While you won't use them, you should be aware of strictures that can be placed on demons as well as cautions that it outlines for handling them. You never know when that knowledge will come in handy."

"What's this about Solomon's collar bone?"

Grampa made a face. "That's not 'clavicle'. It's
Les veritables Clavicules de Salomon
. It describes the hierarchy of demons. Solomon also discusses particular demons he enslaved to help build the temple. It includes questions he put to them about their deeds and how they can be thwarted. It's like a self-help manual against demonic activity."

"How many demons does it cover?"

"Hundreds if not thousands. There are the princes of hell, and the first through third hierarchies and then legions of lower level demons."

Sig groaned.

Grampa pointed to another on the list. "This one by Johann Weyer enumerates sixty-nine of the more powerful," Grampa said with a smile. "But, those generally aren't the ones you will encounter."

"Then why study them?"

"Because they are the most dangerous. That's the good and bad of it. They are the most dangerous to you and also to the Wizard who invokes them. They don't like taking orders from mortals and will use every trick in their power to turn on the Master who summons them. Only the most powerful and skilful Mages will summon them"

"Tell me again why I want to practice magic?"

Grampa shook his head and pointed at two more books down the list. "Study these in particular. The Arabs were more practical. Instead of delineating all of the higher demons, which have already been studied ad infinitum, they focused on lower level demons; called the Servitors—the ones you are more likely to encounter. They're easier to summon and control for the run of the mill Black magic practitioner."

He watched as Sig grabbed a pencil and marked the books he had indicated.

"Dark Mages may be blinded by greed and delusions of grandeur, but they aren't completely stupid. They mostly summon demons they can control, or at least the Mages that are still alive do."

"I can't believe that I ever wanted to have magic," Sig said with a tragic look.

"You don't need to know the individual Servitor demons. You need to understand the categories of demons you're likely to encounter. In approximate order of power there are Marids, Afrits, Djinn, Foliot's and Imps. Of course there are numerous subgroups including Ghuls, Jann, Palis, and Shiqq."

Sig rolled his eyes and nodded. "Is that all?"

"That's all for today. I'll have more for you tomorrow. I hope you didn't think zombies were the only foes you would have to face. Necromancy is dirty, evil magic, but you should realize that rotting, animated corpses are one of the easier challenges you'll have."

Sig hung his head. "I'm sorry if I seem ungrateful. I know you're trying to help me."

"No, I'm sorry for loading you up like this, but I have to cover as much as I can in the time I have left."

A feeling of loss washed over Sig. His felt his face fall into a forlorn expression. "I'm sorry Grampa. I don't mean to make this hard for you. It's just that it seems like a mountain of information to memorize while I'm looking over my shoulder for the Dark Mage who wants to kill me."

"No, it's a mountain of information you
must
memorize if you hope to keep a Dark Mage from killing you."

Sig looked into Grampa's eyes and realized he was serious, deadly serious.

Sig assembled the equipment, which he would need when he met Madeline to check out the caves her uncle described and piled it in the back of his truck.

Back inside he hollered, "Mom, I'm going to meet Madeline about our geology lab project."

She came out of the laundry room. "Where are you meeting?"

"At the library."

"When will I get to meet your lab partner? Maybe you can invite her over for dinner. Since she's new in town, we should show our hospitality."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. She might like the company. The uncle she's staying with is out of town a lot and she doesn't have anyone else."

Meredith's expression turned sad. "Poor girl. Yes, please invite her. After a loss like she's had, being alone is probably not a good thing."

"I'll do it." Sig said with a smile.

"Call me if she wants to come over tonight."

Sig showed her his cellphone. "Will do."

†††

He pulled into the parking lot next to Madeline's BMW convertible. She swung her bare legs out and paused before she stood up with a grin. Sig smiled in appreciation. She wore gray short shorts and tight, long sleeved pink T-shirt. It was nice that the weather had turned warm. The reminders of the last snow were almost gone.

He pressed a button to roll down his passenger side window. "I know with this crazy weather that it seems like spring is rolling in, but won't you be a little chilly inside a cave?"

She flashed him a moue. "It's such a gorgeous day." She raised both arms toward the blue arc of sky, showing off her trim waist and belly button as the T-shirt rose above the low cut shorts. "I miss the sun on my skin. I am a California girl after all. I have sweat pants, a parka, and a blanket in the trunk along with the lunch I packed. I'm prepared for anything," she said with a crooked smile.

He got out of his truck and walked around the back. "Put the top up. I'll grab your stuff and put in the back of the truck. Hop in."

"I thought we'd take my car," she said with a frown. "I told you I need to soak up the sun. Besides, I know how to get there. Or is it not considered masculine to let a woman drive?"

Sig shrugged. "Okay. I don't want to be called a chauvinist." He grabbed a small cooler from the pickup bed and held it up. "Sodas." Next he hefted a gym bag from the truck bed. "I've got a flashlight, a high intensity torch, and 600 feet of rope. I hope you brought breadcrumbs so we can find our way out it that's not long enough."

"I don't think that will be a problem," she said with a smile.

On the passenger side of the BMW, he dropped his gear into the back seat and swung his legs over the door and slid into the seat. "I've always wanted to try that, but convertibles are scarce in Minnesota."

"I can understand why not, most of the time, but today is the perfect day." She giggled.

Sig leaned his head back on the headrest, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "The sun does feel good. This is a good idea."

"I'm glad you like it." She started her car and pulled out of the lot.

†††

She drove for about an hour. The roads grew smaller, the terrain more hilly, and vegetation thickened. Finally she pulled off a paved road onto a gravel road.

"Do you think we should stop and put the top up to keep the dust out?" Sig asked.

"Naw, if we drive fast enough we should leave the dust behind."

Sig laughed. "Go for it California girl."

She mashed down on the accelerator and the car leapt forward trailing a towering plume of dust.

Sig looked back. "It's okay as long as you keep moving but when you stop, it's going to fill up your car."

She shrugged, pushed her Foster Grants up on her cute little nose and kept motoring. She slowed for stop signs but didn't stop. The dust never quite caught up, before she accelerated again.

Sig relaxed and drummed on the door and dashboard to the music blaring from her stereo system. He let her control the music and watched her golden red hair float around her face as she drove. Her skin seemed to glow and take on a bronze tone as they travelled. It was going to be the best geology lab he ever could imagine. So what if the caves were a flop?

Trees on each side of the road grew thicker and she had to slow to steer around wash outs that had been worn by runnels crossing the road. The trailing dust plume grew smaller, but still never caught her car. Her smile grew wider as they crested hills and dropped toward narrow points in the road where it passed over small creeks and streams.

She never consulted a map while she drove; surely negotiating turns even though street signs grew scarce.

"Have you been this way before? You seem to know where you're going." Sig said.

"No, I'm good at visualizing maps. After I study one for a little while, I'm good to go." She smiled over at him and then jerked her eyes back just in time to swerve around a particularly large gully cutting across the rutted dirt road. "Almost there, thank God. That one would have ripped out the undercarriage if I hit it."

A few minutes later she slowed and pulled off next to a sagging metal gate. No signs indicated where they were.

Sig looked at the skeptically. "Through there? Do you think it will open? That's a pretty big lock."

She reached into the console, pulled out, and brandished a large key. "That's what this if for and my big strong boy is here to open the gate. Here." She handed him the key. After fiddling with the lock for a moment before it released, Sig was able to lift the gate and swing it to the side, enough for her to pull the car through. Beyond the gate, the track became two ruts separated by brown weeds rising two feet into the air.

He looked quizzically down the trail. "Can this sports car get down that path? This is where my truck would come in handy."

"Get in. It's supposed to be clear enough."

He stepped into the car and she slowly picked her way through the weeds accompanied by the steady crunch of gravel.

The rutted trail wound down a hill, switching back twice until they reached a cliff of jumbled boulders ascending eighty feet in the air. She stopped, shut of the car, and turned to Sig. "We're here."

"Wherever here is." He got out and looked up the pile of boulders and around at the brush growing up to the base of the boulders, leaving only enough room for the car path to end.

"See that trail winding up through the boulders?" She asked. "Uncle told me that it leads to the cave entrance. Come on, grab your stuff and let's check it out." She popped the trunk and pulled out a picnic basket and a blanket. "I've got mine."

Sig smiled and grabbed the cooler and gym bag. "Let's go."

She threw the blanket over her shoulder, and then grabbed his arm by the bicep and pulled it close to her chest. "It looks rough. Don't let me fall."

He tensed his arm, said, "Hang on," and followed the narrow winding trail up between the boulders.

They slipped and hopped around boulders taller than Sig. Finally, behind a particularly huge boulder, a dark opening yawned in the side of the hill.