Wizard's Quest: Book Two Chapter Three

All works copywrite Jay D Evans 2013

CHAPTER THREE

 

 

The four travellers emerged from the cave Sean had fashioned. The sun, not yet over the horizon, reflected off the high cirrus clouds floating like wisps of cotton in the light blue sky. The breeze coming down through the canyon barely abated the heat, which was already uncomfortable.

Stretching, Richard looked at the sheer walls before him. There were no foothills with these mountains. The rock strewn plain ended here at these walls of granite with only the canyon, carved by the long-dry river, as an entrance. Standing there, staring at the canyon entrance, the foreboding came back to him.

His trance was broken when Kahnlin spoke right behind him. “It is time to go. If we wait much longer, we will risk coming across troll patrols. They watch the mountains very carefully, looking for any Trelf that isn’t hidden well enough. They want to find our hiding places.”

“Aye, we need to find our friends so that we can move on. The sooner the better.”

“Once we enter the canyon, we will follow it into the heart of the range. The trolls are more concentrated there. If your friends are still alive, that is the most probable place to find them. I do want to caution you; your friends may very well be dead, with nothing to find.”

Having already thought about this prospect, Richard, with sorrow in his eyes, replied, “I know. But I have to try to find them. They’d do the same for me.”

“Very well,” Kahnlin replied flatly, turning toward the mouth of the canyon.

“Arrogant bastard,” Sean said, under his breath as he watched the exchange between his friend and Kahnlin, his face filled with contempt.

Elizabeth looked at her friend. "What?"

“Nothing,” stated Sean. “I just don’t like that bloke. There’s something about him that just isn’t right.”

“I know what you mean. We need to talk to Richard about him. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to ask him along. We could have found our way without him.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Richard had his reasons for asking him to come. But, I think you’re right; we need to talk to him about this.”

With everything together and the area wiped clean, the four started into the canyon with Kahnlin in the lead. Richard followed him with Elizabeth next and Sean bringing up the rear. The three humans were watching everything, not knowing what to expect. The walls of the canyon were steep and high; a perfect place for an ambush. Kahnlin seemed nonchalant, as if there were no reason to worry. He kept a brisk pace without slowing, making the rest almost run at times to keep up. Finally, well past midday, the group protested at their death march by a complete halt

Dropping to the ground, drenched in sweat and panting, the three young humans showed the exhaustion of trying to keep up. Even the lightweight Elvin clothes they wore seemed to trap the oppressive heat. The breeze that had been present at the entrance was gone, the air so still that nothing moved. The sun, having passed over them, cast shadows onto the western wall where it seemed slightly cooler to them.

Kahnlin looked down at the young wizards. “You should rest here for a few minutes. I will scout ahead. The canyon opens up into a valley ahead. I will make sure that it is safe before we continue.” Without waiting for a response, he was gone.

“Odd one, he is,” stated Sean, looking in the direction the Trelf had gone, his eyes squinting through the sun’s glare.

“Aye, he is. Ah dornt troost heem. There’s somethin’ abit heem ‘at isnae reit,” Richard, not being able to control his Scottish accent, replied.

Elizabeth looked at her friend, “Why did ya ask him to come along, Richie? We could’ve found the others without him.”

“Aye, maybe. Then again, maybe not. He knows the territory and we don’t. Like Ah said, Ah dornt trust ‘im, but, unfortunately, we need ‘im reit noo tae help us.”

“And what happens when he tries to kill us?” added Sean. “You know he will. Sooner or later, it’ll happen.”

“I have the same feeling, but we dornt know that for sure. We’ll just have to keep an eye on him, that’s all.”

Pulling the controller from his shirt, Richard inspected the device. How did Kahnlin get it to do what he did? There was nothing to indicate that it was anything more than what MacCorkadall had said it was, yet, Kahnlin had made it do more. Opening the small sphere to look inside proved no more informative than examining the exterior had been. Small gears and gyros were all that he could see. Closing the sphere as not to disrupt the mechanics, and concentrating on it very hard, Richard and the others did not see Kahnlin return. Nor did they see the look of intense hatred on his face.

Closing the controller, Richard looked up and saw the Trelf standing there. Kahnlin quickly changed his expression, but Richard had caught just a glimpse of it. Not sure that he had seen correctly, he dismissed it as a trick of the light. Kahnlin was helping them after all.

“Is the way clear? Did you see any sign of trolls?”

“No, there was no sign of trouble. The valley is safe. We should get moving, though. We still have a long way to go before we are totally safe from harm.” Kahnlin said, a monologue of self-punishment running through his mind. Letting his expressions and feelings show had been a large, and very stupid mistake.

Looking at his companions, Richard asked, “Are you two rested enough to go on?”

Sean looked at Elizabeth and then at Richard. “Aye, I think we are. It isn’t gettin’ us any closer by sittin’ here.”

Slowly the three humans got to their feet. Sean was right; it was still a long way to their destination. There was no use in procrastinating and making the journey any longer than it needed to be. From the position of the sun, it would be getting dark in less than four hours and the trolls would be out. As hot as it was, Richard wanted to get as far as he could.

As they started on their way again, Richard started feeling uneasy. Kahnlin was more silent and determined than he had been that morning. To Richard, it seemed as if he was on a mission of his own that did not include them. The thought of the loathing he had glimpsed on the Trelf’s face would not leave him. Something was wrong; he just could not figure it out. Reaching into his shirt, he grasped the controller; it had to have something to do with it. He knew it deep inside. Until he could understand just what the sphere was, and all it could do, he knew the unease would not leave him.

As the foursome approached the opening into the valley, Richard started to slow down. Something wasn’t right. As the riverbed opened up into a wide valley of rock and sand, the canyon walls came to an abrupt halt. It was like going from a tunnel into a large room, minus the ceiling. He could see nothing out of the ordinary, but the voice in his head was telling him to be wary. As he stopped altogether, Sean and Elizabeth ran into him.

“Whatcha stop for, Mate?” Surprised, Sean stepped back.

“Something just doesn’t seem right about this,” Richard whispered. “I can’t put me finger on it, but, it just isn’t right.”

“It has something to do with Kahnlin, doesn’t it?” Elizabeth whispered conspiratorially, looking toward the Trelf.

“I’m not really sure. Just something telling me things aren’t right.”

Looking ahead, he could see the valley, littered with rocks on a blanket of sand. Heat waves shimmered, making the entire scene look to be a mirage. Just past the canyon mouth were several huge boulders scattered in disarray. He could see nothing that might be out of the ordinary for this place. But the feeling wouldn’t leave him. Something was very unsettling about this valley.

Kahnlin stopped and turned just as he reached the mouth. “We must hurry,” he said a little louder than need be.

Clutching the small sphere, Richard looked at his friends and nodded. The three of them vanished and reappeared several metres past the entrance where Kahnlin stood. The reason for his urgency was clear. Behind the boulders, just past the mouth, were several more trelfs, ready to attack. Each bore weapons that were meant for killing swiftly and efficiently. If they had walked past them, rather than transporting, they would have been dead before they would have known what happened. As it were, they had surprised their would-be attackers instead.

“Reodh!” Richard shouted as he swept his arm at the enemies, throwing the spell at all of the trelfs at once, freezing them instantaneously.

Sean, looking at his friend, simply stated, “Told ya.”

“Aye, ye did at that.”

“What made you use the controller, Richie? There was nothing to indicate this was going to happen.” Elizabeth said as she stared at the Trelf attackers.

“I just had a feeling, Liz. Good thing, too.”

Their victory was short lived. Kahnlin had not been included in the freezing spell. He had been in the canyon still. As the three young wizards congratulated themselves on their quick thinking, he had come up behind them. Hiding behind a boulder, he readied himself for the attack. In an instant, he came from behind the boulder, threw both arms forward and yelled, “Cur mow!”

The three young wizards, caught unaware, were throw ten metres further into the valley. The destruction spell that Kahnlin had cast was thwarted only because Richard was standing in front of the other two. The magic of the sphere had protected them all. Dazed and confused, they lay on the ground looking at the sky.

“What the…...” came from Sean.

“What happened?” Elizabeth stammered.

Looking around to where they had been, Richard saw that Kahnlin was readying himself to attack again, this time from a position that he could get to each of them separately, or together. Without thinking about it, he grabbed the sphere with his left hand and reached out with his right to encompass both his friends and the three disappeared in a flash of light once again, this time appearing back in the canyon they had transitioned from before. As they appeared, Richard saw the earth erupt where they had lain just seconds before.

The three wizards threw themselves against the canyon wall to conceal their whereabouts from Kahnlin. Watching his actions from their hiding place, they could see that he thought they were dead, obliterated by the explosion of his spell. He looked at the place they had been and then turned towards his frozen friends, just beyond the mouth of the canyon. Kahnlin off-handedly waved his arm in a semi-circle, doing away with the spell Richard had cast, and the frozen Trelfs joined their friend. The group looked around the area one last time, turned and started walking toward the far end of the valley.

“That was a close one, Mate!”

“Aye, a little too close if ye ask me.” Richard looked at Elizabeth, who was visibly shaken. “You okay?”

“I…I think so. Now what do we do? It’s not just trolls we have to worry about.”

“I really don’t think that we have to worry about Kahnlin again. He thinks we’re dead,” piped up Sean, sounding a little more assured than he felt.

“He left without even looking very hard for the controller. Remember what he said? ‘Whoever holds the sphere is almost indestructible.’ He’ll be back, I know it.” Looking toward the direction the group of trelfs had gone, Richard wondered when the next attack would happen, and from whom.

Worried about another attack from the retreating trelfs, Richard decided to camp just inside the canyon for the night. They had food and water, and each of them could fashion caves now, so shelter was not a problem. Knowing that Kahnlin had entered their shelter before was what worried the threesome. They had not known he was there until they had awoken. This time, it was crucial that he not be able to enter without them knowing, if at all. Being the most experienced in forming rock into shelters, Richard was elected to do the honour of building a ‘Trelf-proof’ temporary home for them.

Working with granite was much more difficult than the rock and sand on the plain, it was much harder material. With some effort, Richard finally fashioned a small cave in the canyon wall. This being done, the next thing was to make an exterior wall that would allow them in, but no one else. Forming the wall out of the sand and rock of the canyon floor was simple; it was the entrance to the cave that was the problem. Kahnlin and his friends were not that much bigger than the three teenagers, and they were just as agile. Kahnlin knew this area, so hiding the entrance would not do. It would have to be something that he would not notice. Staring at the newly formed wall, Richard was at a loss as to how to make it impenetrable.

Sean and Elizabeth had watched their friend struggle with his dilemma; finally, as one, they spoke. “Why not make it invisible?”

Looking at his friends, not really understanding what they meant, the only thing he could say was, “What?”

“Make it invisible, Mate. You know, it’s there but you can’t see it. In this case, make it so that it looks the same as it did before…Kinda like they do in those Star Trek movies.”

“Star Trek movies?” Richard asked, dumbfounded.

“Yeah, where they are watching the aliens from the hidden forts.”

Richard had never watched Star Trek, neither on television nor at the cinema so he had no idea what Sean was talking about. Being from a poor family with only his father to raise him, he had run the streets as a child. That was how he had been discovered by Master MacCorkadall, he had tried to pick his pocket and the Master had caught him. There was never a television in the flat and going to the cinema never entered his mind. Now, here was his friend trying to explain how to make a wall look like it was there when it really wasn’t by using an example from some science fiction TV show. Finally, Sean got through to him what it was that he was thinking.

“Sean, I’ve never done that before. I know there are charms that will disguise things, but I’ve not done one.”

“No better time to learn than right now,” piped up Elizabeth. “I know you can do it, Richie. You’re good at magick. You’re the best!”

“I don’t know about that,” replied Richard, looking at the granite, sand and stone wall. “Let me think about this for a minute.”

Racking his brain, Richard tried to formulate a charm that would make the entire canyon wall look exactly as it did before he had made the cave. If he used the time spell to show it as it had been and then worded his charm just right, it may work. If nothing else, it would fail and he would have to try again. It was the wording that had to be right. How could he do this? Keep this wall as it was. No, that won’t work. Make this stone as natural….no, not that. Damn! How do I do this?

“Okay, mates, just how do I do this? It’s your idea, Sean, maybe you should be the one to make the charm.”

Not expecting Richard to put it back on him, Sean looked dumbfounded. “This is beyond me, Mate. You’re the one that’s a Journeyman. I’m just an Apprentice, I’m supposed to follow you, not do more.”

“Druid magick!” exclaimed Elizabeth.

Both boys looked at her and said in unison, “Huh?”

She looked at them both with consternation. “Sebastian always used Druid magick. That’s why he could do things before you found the Stone, Richie. Druid magick uses nature, just like when you make the shelters. Only use it to make it look the same but still be assessable for us. All it is is an illusion. It was done in the old times, with Merlin and his teacher. Remember? What was his name? Fick or Flick or whatever…used it to make King Arthur’s sister beautiful when she was actually deformed.”

First confusion, then understanding came to Richard. Of course! It was so simple. Stepping back away from the granite to where he had a clear view of the entire area, he concentrated. Staring intently and stretching his arms, palms outward, the young wizard waved his hands, crossing them, in opposing circular motions. Slowly, the rock face of the canyon wall and the sand wall he had brought out of the ground began to change. The sand’s light brown colour changed to the bluish grey of the granite around it and the doorway disappeared. It looked exactly as it had before he started. The cave was now invisible, yet, assessable to anyone who knew where the doorway was.

The effort that Richard expended was great, but he was not as exhausted as he had always been in the past with that much effort. His powers were growing stronger, his knowledge greater. With every accomplishment, his confidence grew. It was as if there were no boundaries for him anymore, only the ones that he put on himself. It was only a matter of time before he could figure out the sphere, he knew it.

It was now getting late, the sun no longer shone into the canyon and the valley was starting to darken. The night air was as uncomfortable as it had been during the day. The three young wizards went into their temporary shelter, moving through what appeared to be solid rock. With an open doorway, the heat was not as unbearable as it had been in the other shelters with such small entries. At least with this open wall the air could move somewhat. The only drawback was that they could not light a fire lest the light or smoke be seen coming through the illusionary granite, giving away their hideout. Richard cast a warding spell on the entryway for added protection; he had learned the hard way that to be complacent could cost them their lives.

As the three huddled against the cooler walls in the back of their cave, they fell into an exhausted sleep, filled with dreams of hope of finding their friends and nightmares of trolls and trelfs attacking at every turn.