Of course, I toyed with my options, but I didn’t really know what they were, “What are my possible responses?” I asked.
“You may deny them entry, permit them to enter, or have them eliminated,” the dry voice responded. I didn’t like the sound of ‘eliminated’. It probably entailed the same sort of lightning attack that nearly put me in an early grave.
“Allow them entry,” I commanded. The door swung open on its own and I could see an exasperated Penny standing outside.
“Would you please explain to your talking door who I am?” she said.
“Already did, come on in... we’ll see what happens this time.”
She and Rose were both able to enter without a problem. The door politely closed itself once they were inside. The complexities of the enchantments were beyond anything I had previously imagined but they set my mind spinning with ideas. Meanwhile Penny glared at the door as if she were plotting revenge. “I hope I don’t have to go through that every time I come in,” she said finally.
“What do you mean?”
With a sigh she answered me, “It’s your house now Mort. We’ll probably be living here whenever we’re in the city.”
I hadn’t given it any thought before but she was probably right. Assuming we ever returned to Albamarl. I doubted I’d be back within the half a year I had left to live. “Um, ‘House’ I have a question.” I was addressing the enchantments now. It didn’t respond. “Door, is there a way to let someone in without my permission?” Still no answer, obviously I had a lot to learn.
“Just forget it for now Mort. Let’s see what the house looks like,” Penny interrupted.
I didn’t feel like arguing with inanimate objects in front of her and Rose anyway so I quickly agreed. We made our way through the entry hall to examine the rest of the house.
Chapter 9
King Edward Carenval sat in his reception chamber looking over the man who stood in front of him. The fellow was in his mid-forties and looked like he’d led a hard life. He stood six feet in height with dark hair and eyes, though his hair had gone grey at the sides. He bore no weapons, being in the presence of the king, but something about his stance gave the impression that there should be weapons on him.
“Do you know why we have called you here today?” Edward began.
“I would prefer not to make hasty assumptions your majesty, but given my past I would think it might have something to do with the Count di’Cameron.” The man looked up from where he knelt, meeting the king’s eyes.
“Indeed. We find ourselves in need of your counsel. Who would have guessed that Tyndal’s child survived?” Edward rubbed his beard as he spoke.
“It was always a possibility. They never found her body or her child’s.”
“We understood that if a wizard died his pact-bearer died with him,” the king’s eyes were curious.
“They severed the bond before his death, your majesty.”
“Is that possible? What is the point then?” Edward asked.
“It is possible your majesty, but according to the histories it had never happened before. Both parties must agree to it and the Anath’Meridum are sworn to never relinquish the bond. My guess would be that they agreed to it so that she could flee with the child.”
“Cyhan, you were involved in Elena’s training, but how would you know she severed the bond rather than having simply died?”
Cyhan answered, “When the bond is formed a gem is created. It is kept by the trainer from that day forward. It glows as long as the bond is intact and crumbles to dust when those bonded die.” He reached into his pouch, bringing out a dull red gem. “Tyndal and Elena’s gem faded but did not crumble, indicating they broke the bond before he died.”
Edward leaned forward to look at the gem, “Why was this not reported?”
“It was reported your majesty,” Cyhan looked steadily into the king’s eyes without wavering.
“No matter,” Edward waved his hand, “we must have forgotten after the news of the Cameron’s destruction reached us. You must do better with the new trainee. We cannot afford another mistake such as Elena’s.”
“I agree your majesty, though if it had not been for that mistake there would be no new Anath’Meridum to train.” Cyhan was overstepping his bounds but he had always been brash.
Edward looked at him sharply, “Be mindful of your words lest they lead you to trouble. If Elena had fulfilled her oath we would no longer have to worry about unbound wizards destroying the world. You will meet Mordecai tomorrow. You are to return to his home and see that he chooses quickly. If he refuses send word immediately, before you try to... remedy the situation.” He left unspoken what the remedy would be, but they both knew there was only one possibility.
“Yes your majesty, I look forward to meeting him. I understand he has been free for over a year now. Did you see any sign of madness in him?” Wizards were always more difficult to manage if they had already become unstable.
“We would not know what to look for, but he seemed sane enough,” Edward answered. “You may go now. You can judge for yourself when you meet him tomorrow.”
***
I found the home of the Illeniels was fascinating. The upper floors held at least seven separate bedrooms, several parlors and, much to my excitement, a library. The first floor had a large parlor, a workshop and a massive kitchen. A door from the workshop led down a steep staircase into what seemed to be some sort of basement. The house itself seemed to have a foundation of solid stone, and the stairs had been rough cut from that same stone as they led down. Strangely they came to a dead end within the rock under the house. A casement indicated a doorway but the granite was seamless and unbroken. It appeared to be a false door.
Upstairs Rose was eagerly examining the library while Penny studied the master bedroom. I was alone staring at the strange stone doorway, if it really was a doorway. Unlike the rest of the house there were no enchantments or other magical markings here. The rock was smooth and untouched. I opened my mind to examine the stone, trying to see if there was a space behind it, but the world vanished into the stone. My thoughts sank into it without finding any purchase.
He has come, but does he see?
Great, the voice was back. It was easy to distinguish this from the physical voice that the door had used above. This was a purely mental thing, almost a delusion. I had begun to wonder about myself. I imagined I could feel the stones around me pulse, almost like a heartbeat. I’m losing my mind, I thought to myself. A scream from upstairs brought me back to reality.
Grabbing my staff I raced up the stairs, heading for the upper floors where the girls were exploring. I could hear both of them yelling now, followed by a loud crashing sound. When I reached the third floor I saw Penny crossing the hallway brandishing what appeared to be a wooden hat-rack, she vanished through the library door ahead of me.
“Let go of her!” came Penny’s hoarse battle-cry as I looked in the doorway. The scene that greeted me would have been comical if not for the seriousness of the situation. A massive creature made of solid stone held Rose upside down by one leg. Her dress had fallen upward to cover her face and revealed a lovely set of gams. Penny charged at the creature holding Rose with her hat-rack lowered like a lance.
She struck it solidly but it ignored her attack. The man-shaped creature’s mass was such that she failed to move it at all. “Please desist, intruders will not be tolerated.” The voice that issued from it was deep and grating, like the stone it was made of. Penny ignored it and swept her hat-rack back to strike it across the side of the head. The wood snapped, leaving her holding the bottom half.
I had to give her credit, despite her total inability to affect the creature holding her friend she showed no fear. The only sound she made was a low growl as she searched the room for another weapon. She reminded me of an angry cat.
“Let me go you stupid pile of rubble!” That was Rose hissing from beneath her inverted skirts. Meanwhile Penny had found one of the
library chairs and was winding up for a swing at the back of the thing’s legs.
“Attacks will not be tolerated.” It said and I saw long stone spikes sprouting from its free hand. As Penny swung at it the arm lifted, preparing to sweep down. The force alone would crush her, the spikes were overkill.
A quick word and I created a shield around her, the room shook as the massive arm impacted the shield. My knees buckled at the strength of it. Uttering several more words I thrust my arm out and an invisible fist drove it back to slam into the bookcase behind it. Rose screamed as she swung violently back and forth. “Stop!” I yelled.
The creature froze in place. Well hell… if I had known it was that simple I would have tried that to begin with. “What is your name?” I asked.
“Magnus, master,” it replied.
“Why are you here?”
“I guard the library,” it answered.
“I hate to interrupt, Mordecai, but do you think you could have it release me before you continue your interrogation?” Rose said.
Why hadn’t I thought of that? I took one more good look at her legs… no sense wasting the moment after all, “Magnus please release the woman. She is a welcome guest here.” It let go of her leg immediately, dropping her unceremoniously on her head.
“Ow!” Rose landed hard, forming a confusing pile of skirts and lovely female limbs. I moved to help her up but Penny beat me to her.
“Back off hero...” she said as she helped Rose to her feet. She gave me a hard stare, “I saw that look.”
I was deeply offended by her lack of trust but I figured now wasn’t the time to profess my wounded innocence. “Magnus, what are you?” I turned my attention back to the library guardian.
“A golem,” it answered simply. That helped, I had no idea what a golem was.
“Please return to your station, you will not be needed further today,” no sense admitting my ignorance. “The two women in the room with me are both guests and have my permission to use the library,” I added with an afterthought.
“Yes master.” It walked ponderously across the room and stood in the corner. Once it stopped moving it looked like statue, a particularly ugly and uninspired one. Its ancient creator obviously hadn’t taken many art classes. Then again maybe its creator had been an impressionist. I had never cared much for what they called ‘art’.
“Are you ok Rose?” I asked. She was sitting on the floor rubbing her injured leg. The calf and ankle were forming an ugly bruise. “Here let me see if I can help.” I knelt down to put my hands on her leg.
Penny whispered in my ear as I passed her, “Careful now, I’ve got my eye on you.” Women! You’d think I was half goat by the way she acted. I gave her a wink to put her at ease.
Placing my hands on Rose’s leg I closed my eyes and focused my attention inward, first within myself and then within the leg I was holding. Broken blood vessels and inflamed tissue were the main problem. I repaired as many vessels as I could but the general inflammation was beyond my skill. Hopefully I had limited the extent of the bruising but I couldn’t be sure. I also used a trick I had learned the year before, putting the nerves transmitting pain signals to sleep, numbing the sensations from that area.
“How’s that?”
“Better,” Rose replied, “Thank you.” She put her hand on my shoulder and used me as a support while she got to her feet. “Doesn’t hurt as much as I thought it would,” she mused.
“I numbed it a bit. It will start to hurt more later, but with luck the worst will be over by then.”
“I think perhaps I’ll stay closer to you while we search. Most of the magics here seem to recognize you as their master.” Rose was a wonder. She had just been shaken within an inch of her life and she was already calmly reasoning out the best course.
“That does seem wise,” Penny put in, nervous now that it was clear how dangerous the house could be.
A random thought crossed my mind. I wondered how Penny would look hanging upside down. Her legs were easily a match for Rose’s. I considered suggesting we test the theory, but I doubted she would take to the idea. Maybe if we used pillows in Magnus’ hands, so that it didn’t bruise her...
“I don’t like that evil grin on your face Mordecai. What are you thinking?” Penny asked.
“Nothing,” I replied innocently. “Did you find anything interesting in here Rose?” See, I’m learning the fine art of misdirection. Penny pursed her lips, she wasn’t fooled.
“I was just walking around, reading the titles on the spines. I saw one over here titled, ‘The History of Illeniel’, but when I reached up to pull it down your rock monster took offense,” Rose responded.
“And that was when Magnus inverted you?” Something about the word inverted just sounded funny to me. I’d have to find more ways to include it in future conversations.
“I’d like to know who perverted you Mort,” Penny commented dryly.
“Actually I think it meant to warn me away at first, but I was so startled I kicked at it and... well you saw the result,” Rose looked almost embarrassed. That was new to me; normally she was rather like a cat, devoid of shame.
I reached up to pull down the volume that had started all the trouble. I had to admit the title was intriguing. The book was inscribed with runes to preserve it against age and decay so it was difficult to judge how old it was, but I had the feeling it was incredibly ancient. The secrets of ages might lie within its pages. Considering the depths of my ignorance the contents of the library were daunting.
Opening the cover I scanned the first few pages. It had been penned by someone named Arador Illeniel. The name was unknown to me, not surprising since I knew next to nothing of the history of wizardry. The year written under his name was 546 A.S., just a few centuries after the sundering. Given that the current year was 1123 A.S. that made the book nearly six hundred years old. My mind reeled at the age of it. I began scanning the first page.
The first to carry the name was known simply as Illeniel. If he had a surname it is no longer known but his descendants bore his name as their surname from that time forward. There were no ‘great’ wizard lines then, simply men born to power. Over time the families that produced the greatest wizards gained fame and their descendants were watched for signs of it.
Mages were more common then and Illeniel is thought to have been born the son of a farmer. Early accounts claim that Illeniel was the first to hear the voice of the earth and later used this ability to raise the mountains known to modern men as the Elentirs. Why he did this has been lost over the passage of many generations but some legends claim it was done to end a war between mankind and an elder race known as the She’har.
The age that followed has been called the ‘golden age’ of man as humankind grew and dispersed across the continents. The wizards of the line of Illeniel and the other great lines: Mordan, Gaelyn, Centyr, and Prathion, developed many fantastic magics now lost to knowledge. Many lesser lines of mages were alive then but only those of the great lines were sensitive enough to hear the voice of the earth, and few among even them.
“You can read the book later Mordecai. We should examine the rest of the house,” Rose said, bringing me back to the present. I considered what I had learned in just a few paragraphs. There had been another race before mankind, five great lines of mages had existed, and the first Illeniel had created the Elentir Mountains! I was stunned. And what had the book meant by ‘the voice of the earth’? Less than a page into it and I was already full of questions.
“What?” I responded. Smart as I was I could only keep track of one conversation at a time and my own internal dialogue had filled that spot.
Penny sighed, “She said we should keep looking around. You can read later.”
I balked internally but I knew they were right, “Ok let’s finish exploring. You and I will be spending the night here anyway.”
Penny turned to Rose, “Would you like to stay the night with us Rose? The house is a bit dusty so you might h
ave to rough it but...”
“Of course!” Rose interrupted. She loved nothing more than mysteries and my new house was chock full of them. “We can make a slumber party of it.” She gave me a smile full of mischief, “I’ll have some fresh linens brought over for the beds so we don’t have to ‘rough’ it.”
They spent several minutes making plans for the evening, a conversation in which I was purely a bystander. I stepped out into the hall and examined the rooms nearby. Across from the library was a short hallway lined with stone alcoves. From the outside it appeared to be the sort of room that might have a variety of statues set into each alcove. Curious I went in.
The alcoves were empty. Where statues might have stood in each recess there was instead a raised stone circle inscribed with magical runes. Having seen something like them before, I knew immediately what they were… teleportation circles. Each alcove had a name written above it, probably listing the destination, but all of them were unfamiliar... except one. ‘Cameron’ was the name written there.
The more I considered it, the more it made sense. Having married Elena di’Cameron my father would have wanted an easy way to visit her family. The matching circle at Cameron Castle must have been destroyed when fire gutted the keep. It made me sad to think my parents had probably been so close to an easy escape when my father died. I could only imagine how desperate their situation must have been.
I made up my mind then. Before we left I resolved to find the necessary books to build my own circle. There were plenty of examples of well-constructed circles here and once we returned I would build a new mate to the circle here. We would never be more than a moment away from my house here after that was done.
I went back into the hall and found the ladies both patiently waiting for me there. “The golem must have ‘shaken’ some sense into you,” I quipped, since they hadn’t gone exploring on their own. They failed to see the humor in my remark. Once again I was saddened that the world would never understand my comic genius.