Diary of a Conjurer Read online

  “Freezing her is wicked.” Ivar looked over his shoulder and gawked.

  Several dozen-miniature people dressed in green tunics and baggy pants followed Silvio to the campfire. They brought tiny wooden bowls and eating utensils, circled the fire, and then nestled on a log.

  “Bah!” Silvio said, so loud Ivar’s attention was drawn away from the little people. “What kind of wizard would set a sorceress free from a spell he just made? He’d be just as wicked as she is.” He lifted a large cast iron kettle onto the coals.

  “I think you’re jumping to conclusions.” Ivar sat back against the log, switching his scrutiny between the gentle face of the statue, and the curious activity of the little people who had been exchanging seats with one another. “You shouldn’t be so quick to judge her. She saved my life. There must be some good in her.” He tossed a wood chip in the fire pit, reflecting on her touch the night before, and her apology, ignoring how rough she had been when she first tied him up.

  “Bah! What’s to say that was a good thing to do? There’s no good in evil. None.” The old man spoke with decisive stubbornness.

  Ivar didn’t care to argue with him, having already formed his opinion concerning the wizard. He broke off a limb protruding from the fire, and pushed it farther into the coals causing a stream of smoke to puff into his eyes. “Who are these people?” He waved the smoke away and nodded toward the little men and women that sat near his feet.

  “Xylonites.”

  “Xylonites? Descendants of Xylon?”

  Silvio grunted.

  “I’ve heard of them. Xylon was the little war hero who played a major role in the battle of the Eastern Edge. So you must have known Xylon too?” Perhaps there were more things Silvio knew. Perhaps he’d been in the war and could tell Ivar about his father’s heroic acts.

  Silvio raised an eyebrow while he stirred the boiling broth. He didn’t say a word.

  “I probably would have met him, too. The war ended the year I was wounded. All I know is from stories the Kaempern elders tell. Which isn’t much.” He pushed the stick at the coals. “Not what they’ll tell me, anyway.”

  Silvio sat quiet for a moment, and when Ivar looked up he noticed the old man staring at him.

  “You can thank King Ian,” Silvio mumbled.

  “Thank him? For what?” The scowl on the wizard’s face puzzled Ivar.

  “Thank him that the Xylonites have a heart for men. If I had my way, I’d toss you back into that skiff of yours, and let the waves drive you through whatever portal you came from.”

  That sliced Ivar’s heart. He didn’t care that the old man didn’t like him. The feeling was mutual. The wizard’s words suggesting Ivar came through a portal pierced him. He knew he wasn’t a Kaempern, but to think he might be a foreigner from another world was devastating.

  “Here, eat some food. Get some strength. You deserve to eat, I suppose.” Silvio set a bowl in front of him. After he had scooped a spoonful of stew into each of the Xylonite dishes, he poured Ivar a healthy serving.

  The broth was warm, a little bit sweet, and satisfying with plenty of chunks of vegetables to chew on. Ivar’s appetite was so demanding that he set the spoon on the sand next to him, lifted the bowl to his mouth and drank the tasty gruel. It wasn’t until he laid his empty bowl down and wiped his mouth with his arm that he noticed Silvio staring at him again. Belly full, Ivar burped.

  “I know you,” Silvio’s voice had a haunting ring to it. It spooked Ivar.

  “What?”

  The wizard’s stare was unnerving. Ivar shuffled against the log.

  “What do you mean you know me?” Ivar asked. “We’ve never met.”

  “No? Maybe not.” Silvio pointed his gnarly finger at him. “But you came with a witch into my forest, my kingdom. You and your traveling companion don’t belong here. You’re lying to me. If you are a Kaempern, why are you here?”

  “I’m on my Crossing into manhood. It’s a ceremony the Kaemperns take when they come of age.”

  Silvio waved and sneered. “Fool youth. Manhood! Ha! You’ve a long way to go for that! You were nothing more than a pile of flotsam when you got here. If that makes you a man, you’ve a lesson or two to learn.”

  “Flotsam is it, then?” Ivar nodded toward the statue. “If you want to know more about me, why don’t you ask her?”

  “I want nothing from a Taikan,” Silvio hissed setting his pot down and waving away the thought. “Nothing. If you’re finished eating, we’ll go now.”

  “Go?”

  “Away, and quickly. Hacatine will be here looking for her. And you! I’m taking you to the Point. Maybe Alcove Forest if I have to. Hide you away somewhere until I know who you are. It’s a long walk but it will keep you out of trouble.”

  Ivar laughed. “Who’s to say I’m going anywhere with you?”

  Silvio alternated his focus between packing his pots and pans, and glaring at Ivar. He carried his cooking gear to the edge of the woods and stashed it in a patch of milkweed. “Not coming then? Very well. Let Hacatine haul you away.” He stretched his arm and pointed toward the sea. “Go with her to the dungeons of Taikus. Go to Wicked Queen’s torture and her death chambers. What do I care?”

  Ivar’s smile faded as the old man railed. “Dungeons?” He’d had enough imprisonment being tied to a sinking ship. Maybe Silvio was a crotchety old man, but there could be truth to his warning.

  The conjurer began his trek down the beach with little people at his feet. Ivar took another glance at the statue, the sea, and then the frozen sorceress again. He jumped up and ran after the wizard.

  Westward

  So gray was the day that little distinction could be made between the sky, the shore, and the ocean. Whenever Ivar set his foot forward he was never sure if he’d step in dry sand or if foamy sea would rush against his knees. He trailed behind Silvio and watched the wizard waddle in and out of the fog, jumping from the waves as if he’d melt should the water touch his toes. Ivar chuckled at the sight and wondered if the old wizard could even swim.

  Ivar paused once and looked over his shoulder toward the campsite he had spent the morning. The campfire, the boat, nor the statue were no longer visible, but rather lost in the clouds that hugged the earth. How far away they had ventured, he didn’t know. Remorse crept into his heart and he frowned. What would happen to the mysterious sorceress who had saved his life? Would he ever see her again to ask her about his past? What would she do with that information?

  “Are you coming?” Silvio called from afar.

  As Ivar neared the wizard a new terrain appeared to his left. Boulders formed steep cliffs that reached so high the crests of the embankment disappeared. A fragrant scent of fir suggested a forest on the rim. Rocks scattered on the beach made passage more difficult.

  “You’ll need clothes,” Silvio said as Ivar approached. “Something to hide that dark skin of yours. Don’t think the witch queen won’t be looking for you! Hacatine will find your friend and steal information from her with her magic, and then you’re doomed. Either that or the girl will voluntarily tell Hacatine everything she knows about you. If she looked into you, you’re ruined.”

  “She wouldn’t do that. She tried to save me.”

  “Bah!” Silvio turned his back on Ivar and meandered toward the cliffs. “You cannot trust a Taikan. She’ll tell them everything she knows. Where you are. Who you are.”

  “How do you know so much about the Taikans?”

  Silvio didn’t answer.

  “What does it matter to Hacatine where I am or who I am?” He climbed on a boulder.

  “It matters because you were her prisoner, and now you’re not. That’s what matters. A proud queen that witch. No one escapes her clutches without a pursuit!”

  “I’m not so sure Promise would give her any information, though. Besides, she doesn’t know where I am. She’s stone remember? You can’t see when you’re a rock!” Ivar jumped from one boulder to another. “Anyway, I think she likes me.�
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  “Ha! Likes you? She belongs to the Queen. She can’t like you. A warrior has no life of her own. Once they find out who you are, the witch will be combing these beaches looking for you.”

  There it is again. Exactly who does the wizard think I am?

  “Silvio, old man, wait!” Ivar jumped back on the sand in and let the waves splash over his toes. The white of the breakers rolled and tumbled farther off shore, curling with a mighty slap, resonating its release with a rumble, only to recede and start the pattern again.

  Silvio stopped to wait for him.

  “If I don’t even know who I am-” Ivar’s hair blew into his eyes, and across his face. He wore a smug smile as his voice rose over the sound of the ocean. “How can Promise possibly know who I am?” How could Silvio know?

  Silvio didn’t answer; instead he stretched out his left arm and twisted his fingers at Ivar. With a moan that sounded like an elk’s mating call; the conjurer spoke a spell that emitted a stream of green dust.

  Ivar coughed and waved his hands to clear the minute particles that flew around his face. When the magic dust cleared, he was wearing a tunic.

  “Green?” Ivar spread his arms in question after shock had settled to a mere disgust. “You gave me a green tunic?”

  “It’s the only color that ever comes out. Curse of the trees, I suppose. Don’t complain. It’ll hide you in the forest.” Silvio walked up to him, his bottom lip quivering as he inspected the tunic, brushing the creases out and adjusting the leather laces that wove across his chest. “It’s not that bad.”

  “Why not brown? Or black? You’re a wizard. You should be able to do anything.”

  “Conjurer.” Silvio’s eyes glazed over as if he were drifting into another world. “Never made it to wizardry. Never could go back and learn the more difficult tricks of the trade. That’s not your concern though, not now. Later, if ever. We don’t have much time now.” Silvio looked up, shielding his forehead though there was no sun. Dark clouds floated dangerously low as if rolling in on the tide. “There’s wind in that storm. Winds that will fill Hacatine’s sail and bring her here quicker than a bee flies home. There is only one place for you to go and we need to go quickly.”

  “Only one place to hide?” Ivar regarded the rising tide and the urgent skies. “And if I don’t get there in time?”

  The wizard’s left eye widened as he hissed, his hair blowing over his mouth. “She’ll consume you faster than you ate your porridge this morning. She’d probably be a bit tidier at it as well.”

  Ivar grimaced at the comparison.

  “It’s your soul she wants. Don’t be a fool. Run from her.”

  The old man’s words penetrated into Ivar, sending a shudder up his spine. “How do you know something like that?”

  With a twist of his head Silvio started his trek again, his hair flying, his feet stumbling over the rocks and avoiding the waves.

  Ivar hadn’t started this journey running from anything. He was a Kaempern on a quest, seeking information. Why should he run? The Northwind protected him and as long as it was at his back, he was moving in the right direction.

  He glanced up at the bank, wondering what had happened to the little people who had long since scurried into the forest. “Where did the little ones go?”

  “The Xylonites? They’re hiding. They’d be of little help, anyway, if Hacatine showed her face. She crushes them, steps on them. You can’t imagine her cruelty. I don’t blame the Xylonites for hiding. In fact, I encourage it.” Silvio scowled as he pointed a gnarly finger at Ivar. “You should be so cautious!”

  “If I hadn’t lost everything when my raft floated away, I’d be able to defend myself. All I need are my weapons or the chance to make new ones. If we camp in the woods, I can craft another bow.”

  Silvio grunted. “Better be magic arrows if you’re shooting a sorceress.”

  “I don’t need magic! I’m the best archer in the village. Amleth even said so.”

  The shoreline widened, the edge of the forest stretched further south and the long flat beach spread out before them. Silvio led Ivar inland, away from the rising tide and toward the hills.

  “Why do you think Hacatine wants to consume my soul? Who am I to her? I mean the only reason she captured me in the first place is because she found me entangled with a sea serpent. I thought she was saving my life by pulling me from the monster’s clutches.”

  “Hacatine is a murderess.” Silvio spoke softly as if in confidence, and a melancholy pout spread across his face. “It was Hacatine who chased me from my home. She would have killed me if I hadn’t fled. I wasn’t alone either. Hundreds of other wizards on the island ran away from her.”

  “You lived on Taikus? The Island of Sorcery?”

  “Taikus wasn’t always like it is now. Used to be wizards who ruled the island. Reigned with wisdom, too.” He turned his head and grabbed Ivar’s arm to catch his attention. “We even listened to your Wind for guidance, just like you. Taikus was a good place to live back then. What happened should never have happened.”

  “What happened?”

  “Rebellion. The Sect of Sorceresses! Hacatine led an army of rebels. Greed swept across the land like a tempest. Evil she was; evil she is. Always will be and with everyone that follows her. That Promise girl of yours is evil, too. Don’t let her fool you. Evil!” He glared at Ivar.

  “I don’t know about Promise being evil. She risked her life to save mine. I don’t think making that kind of sacrifice is evil.”

  Silvio grunted a sound of disapproval, his stride gaining speed.

  “But I agree with you about Hacatine. She’s bad! I won’t argue that. What makes her so wicked?”

  The old man shook his head and moaned a little. The lines on his face grew long. “Things were too good, too lush, too easy.”

  “What things?”

  “Island things. People got lazy.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  Though the wizard still glanced at Ivar from time to time with a sorrowful gaze, his spirit seemed to be far away; perhaps back at Taikus in some distant era Ivar was too young to remember. “Greed isn’t happy with what it has. Greed always wants more. Hacatine looked for evil.”

  Ivar laughed. “You can’t see evil!”

  Silvio waved his bony arm at the sea. “Look out there. What do you see?”

  “What? That? I see the clouds and a storm brewing.”

  “You have man’s sight. A man sees what’s practical for him. You see a storm because a storm is a threat. It’s something you need to prepare for. Vision is different to a person of magic because little threatens them.”

  “How so?”

  “A wizard would look out across the ocean from the white shores of Taikus and see the sunset, the end of the day, peace, and rest. He sees a job well done and is satisfied. What did Hacatine see? Hacatine saw emptiness when she looked at Taikus.” Silvio drew in his breath and sighed heavily, as if even the thought of those days brought pain. “When she looked out across the waters she saw more gold, more food, more comforts, more slaves, more power. That’s what she saw. But the worse of what she saw?” The old conjurer shook his head. “No. Better left unsaid.”

  “What? What was the worse?”

  Silvio refused to answer.

  “Well, then what do you mean by gold? Do you mean the gold at Deception Peak? The gold at the altar of the dragon? If Hacatine had interfered with the last war, would the Kaemperns still have won?”

  “I can’t answer that question. How would I know what might have happened? You answer it. What do your legends say?”

  “They say the North Wind is more powerful than any other force in the world, and Amleth says the winds were responsible for ejecting the dragon. They and King Ian.”

  Silvio grunted. “There’s your answer then.”

  The conjurer tucked his head to his chest as he walked, his frown sinking into his beard. “Long before the Kaemperns, the wind didn’t have magical power. Somet
hing happened to change all that, but I’m not sure what.” Silvio mumbled to himself allowing Ivar to overhear his conversation.

  Ivar cleared his throat hoping to gain the wizard’s ear. “Our people say the wizard Kaempie relinquished his magic to the wind and that’s where the magic and the songs came from. They say that’s what gave the Kaempern’s their Dragon Shield.”

  Silvio stopped, this news seemingly to have sparked an interest. He lifted his head, his face beaded from the mist on the air. “Kaempie?”

  “Yes. Our Name’s Sake. The wizard Kaempie, our Patriarch.”

  Silvio inhaled and changed his focus from Ivar to the sea. Salty spray dampened his hair adhering it to his forehead. His cheeks and nose reddened. “

  “You didn’t know the legend?”

  “No. I didn’t know what happened to him. I thought he had been swallowed up by the storm.”

  “You knew Kaempie?”

  Silvio nodded. “He was my friend. Years ago Hacatine drove us from our home. We rowed away in a small boat with two others friends. We believed we were the only ones left. But Fate had the four of us part ways, and I never heard what happened to any of them. Until just now.”

  Ivar had a good look at the wizard then, not only because the old man faced the light that was reflecting off the clouds, but because now he saw the wizard in the light of the Kaempern legends.

  “I’m awed! You knew our patriarch, and here I am talking to you?”

  “Holderdash! Don’t idolize me. Listen to the story so you learn from it.”

  “Yes, sir.” A grin spread across Ivar’s face. No Kaempern could have ever had a Crossing as exciting and special as this one!

  “The Sect accused the wizard council of treason when the wizard King refused to send ships to invade your lands.” He nodded in the direction of the mainland, indicating the lands that belonged to the Kaemperns and the Meneks.

  “My home?” Ivar asked.

  Silvio scowled. “Before your time. Before your people called themselves Kaemperns. Hacatine spread rumors to further her cause. Soon, her wickedness spread over the island like a plague. My mother heard the accusations, everyone did. Everyone had an opinion and they weren’t all in Hacatine’s favor, but no one tried to stop her. Maybe they couldn’t. Hacatine formed an army and orchestrated a coup, gaining power by stripping the wizards of their magic. One by one.”