Light in the Barren Lands: Travail of The Dark Mage Book One (6 page)

Preparations for Kenny’s birthday party were well underway. Despite the kids’ impatience, the party wasn’t scheduled to begin until the afternoon. Kendrick, Kenny’s grandfather, should arrive by then unless the storm continued unabated.

After breakfast, James took Jiron to his study, although it wasn’t a study in the classic sense of the word. Instead, it was a room at the heart of the house sealed by magic against unauthorized entry. Some things contained within would not be good for others, especially a four year old boy, to be messing around with. In fact, if you didn’t know the room was there, you probably wouldn’t have been able to find it.

A picture hung on the wall midway down the hallway, a marker used by James to identify the location of the entrance to his study. Stopping to the right of the picture, James passed his hand across the surface of the wall, and an archway four feet wide and seven tall, opened before them.

“I promised Meliana I would check her father’s progress,” James explained. Passing through, he waited for Jiron to follow before resealing the entrance. Immediately, four globes sprang to life, bathing the study in a soft, yellow glow. “For Kenny’s sake, I hope he makes it.”

“Are you going to put off the party until he arrives?” Jiron asked.

James shook his head. “No, I have already begun the ice cream. Besides, I doubt if Kenny could wait another day.”

“Neither could Jira,” Jiron added with a grin.

James always thought of the interior of his study as reminiscent of a mad scientist’s laboratory. Aside from the four globe lights powered by crystals, there was a latticework of crystals that took up a good portion of one wall. A dozen red, glowing crystals sat in a three-circled tier, radiating outward from a group of four crystals that formed the middle. Those four crystals were the heart of his island. Their magic fed everything from the ice cream maker to the heat in his bathwater to the alert lights.

Everything on his island that held a crystal needed a continual source of power, however minute, streaming toward it in order for it to remain operational. He found it much easier to have his “working” crystals pull magic from a central source than to have each crystal responsible for drawing its own power from its surrounding environment. Initially, he had done so, but soon learned that if too many crystal-powered objects were in close proximity to each other, the power they drew began having adverse consequences to their surroundings. So he came up with the latticework. Each “working” crystal would draw its power from the four, which would in turn draw their power from the twelve.

The twelve “powering” crystals were in turn fed by “gathering” crystals positioned beneath the waters surrounding the island. Each “gathering” crystal would draw magic from the ocean and send it to the “powering” crystals, which would in turn send it to the four at the center of the latticework. Should the power demand be less than what they were sending, then each crystal in the chain would store power until needed.

Over the years, he went from the single, original “gathering” crystal to the twelve he has now as he continuously added more and more “working” crystals. Now though, he figured to have enough power coming in so as not to require adding any further “gathering” crystals. Of course, that was until he could bring his teleporter online. At that point, he would have to determine how much energy would be required for each activation, and add more “gatherers” accordingly.

The center of his study contained a large circular table made of the blackest basalt. Four feet diameter and polished to mirror smoothness, he found it perfect for far viewing, and much superior to the small, hand held mirrors and pools of water he had been forced to make do with during his earlier adventures.

A modest desk with all the accouterments for writing sat against the left wall. Three tiers of shelves upon the wall above the desk contained various items, some being the ineffective results of past, failed experiments. Two were matching large conch shells. During his second year on the island, he had tried his hand at creating a telephone of sorts which could be used from the workshop and home. But despite his best efforts, he never quite made it work right. Their voices came through garbled and very hard to decipher. He always planned on returning to it again, but other, more pressing experiments like his ice cream maker demanded his attention.

Coming to stand before his scrying table, he laid his hand upon it to activate its power. The table was also powered by the heart of the latticework which made things much easier, and less draining, on himself. A small amount of magic was still required from his own reserves, mainly to focus his thoughts and direct the image, but the majority of the power used to bring the image to the table came from the lattice.

Over the years he has grown very adept at using this table and it took only a few seconds before an image of open water came into crystal clarity upon the table’s surface. “Now,” James said as he focused on the image, “let’s see if we can find him.”

Jiron remained silent as James concentrated, shifting the image first one way then the other. Rather than having the mirror search for Kendrick, he had the mirror start in one area and then moved the image as he manually searched for him. He found it to be less magically draining this way. Having the table hunt for Kendrick would have caused magic to be sent out in a three hundred and sixty degree radius while it searched. And as the area being searched widened, the magic drain increased accordingly. But knowing from which direction Meliana’s father was coming, it was easy to focus on one area of the ocean and search from there.

Waves were high and the image was less clear due to the sheets of rain pouring down. “Can you find him?” asked Jiron quietly.

“Should be able to,” replied James. “Not sure exactly where he is, but we’ll locate him.” It took him over ten minutes before the familiar sight of Kendrick’s ship came into view.

Waves were pounding the ship, crashing over the starboard side and deluging the sailors on deck. As he brought the image in closer, he saw Kendrick on deck shouting to his men. His expression didn’t seem panicked or fearful, but remarkably business-like as he orchestrated the efforts of his men.

“He may be late.”

James nodded. “We’ll see.” Concentrating on the image once more, the ship grew in size until it seemed as if they themselves were upon its deck. Then, the image passed through the wooded walls of Kendrick’s quarters. It was hard to keep the image stable as the undulation of the waves caused the ship to violently pitch back and forth. Just when James had Kendrick’s room in sight, the ship suddenly pitched and he was looking into the cargo hold.

“This is much easier when the sea is calm,” explained James. Concentrating, he once again reacquired Kendrick’s quarters and brought the image to bear on a piece of parchment. It was held in place by a knife embedded through it and into the table. He brought the words written upon the parchment into view.

Worry not. Will be late. Give my regards to my grandson.

“He knew you were going to check on him?” asked Jiron.

“We worked this out long ago,” his friend replied. “If he was late or something untoward was happening, he would leave a note.” Returning his gaze back to the image, he concentrated and a pulse of magic left him. On the parchment below Kendrick’s “
K
”, a
“J”
appeared.

James looked up at his friend. “So he will know that we got the message.”

“Handy,” praised Jiron.

“It would be better if I could come up with a way of actually speaking over long distances.”

“What’s stopping you?” Jiron asked.

“Hard to explain,” James replied. Canceling the image, he sighed. “Guess I better tell Meliana that her father isn’t going to make it for the party.”

Before he left, he took a soft cloth from the edge of the desk and cleaned the smudges from the surface of the table made during his search for Kendrick. Then, with a word he opened the archway and passed through, making sure to reseal it once again.

Chapter Four

________________________

There have been many events witnessed throughout the lands, events so unbelievable in their scope as to boggle the mind. One such event was taking place on an island off the coast of Cardri. Were the average man to hear of it, he would scarcely believe it to be true. For the mage who took on the Empire and lived to tell about it, who had assumed the appellation of
The Dark Mage
, was even now walking in an awkward gait with a tuber trapped between his knees.

He and Jiron, much to the enjoyment of their wives and children, were having a race to see who could make it around the house while holding a tuber between their knees first. And to everyone’s surprise, James was in the lead.

“Come on, daddy!” whooped Kenny.

“You’re falling behind, dear,” Aleya said to her husband.

Three feet behind, and with the last corner of the house to be rounded, Jiron tried to increase his speed. But every time he did, the tuber would slip out from between his knees and precious time was wasted as he put it back in place. Just as James turned the corner, Jiron’s tuber slipped to the ground yet again. Putting it back in place, he hurried forward and around the corner only to find James farther in the lead.

“Come on, father,” shouted Jira. “You can still win!” Decked out in the dress her mother had bought in Cardri, she jumped up and down cheering her father on.

Jiron thought that prospect highly unlikely seeing as how James was already nearing the finish line. Still, he wouldn’t go out without a fight. Giving up was not in his creed. Determined to at least make a good showing, he tightened his knees about the tuber and quickened his pace.

Two steps later, the tuber hit the ground. Replacing it, he again tried to close the gap only to have to pick up the tuber once again. When it fell the third time, James was only ten feet from the finish line and enough was enough. He had been vanquished. Picking up the tuber, he went to congratulate his friend.

Kenny was the first to greet his father on the other side of the finish line. With a “Yay, daddy!” he raced forward and wrapped his arms around James’ hips.

James patted his son on the head and gave him the winning tuber. “Here,” he said. “This is for you.”

Taking his prize, Kenny raced off.

“Not bad,” said Jiron.

“Well, to be honest,” admitted James, “I’ve been practicing.” Grinning, he said, “I wanted to be able to win at least
one
of these games.” At Kenny’s last birthday party, he hadn’t done nearly as well.

“So that’s it. For a minute I thought you were using magic to hold the tuber in place.”

“Don’t think I didn’t consider doing just that,” he chuckled. “But that wouldn’t have been fair.”

Jiron grinned and turned to his wife. “Is the food ready yet?”

“Almost,” she replied, directing his gaze over toward the picnic table situated beneath the limbs of a towering pine.

The large wooden table was laden with meats, bread, and cheese, all the accouterments necessary for sandwiches. A light meal guaranteed to leave room for cake and ice cream afterward. Overhanging boughs were decorated with festively colored ribbons, and wisps of sparkling light danced throughout courtesy of a spell created for just such occasions.

James had revived many traditions from home. First and foremost were birthday parties complete with cake, ice cream, and games. He had fond memories of those from his youth and wanted to give Kenny those same, joyous memories. Birthdays in this world were normally greeted with far less celebration, often a gift or two and perhaps a special meal. Of course, if one didn’t have the means, birthdays often passed with little fanfare.

Meliana was at the table with Jira and Kenny. She waved the two men over indicating it was time to eat. Lorri emerged from the manor house with mugs and drink for everyone.

“Thank you, Lorri,” James said as he came to the table.

“You are welcomed, sir,” she replied. Setting the tray on the table, she turned and returned to the manor.

Helping himself to the sliced beef and cheeses, Jiron put together a sandwich reminiscent of a Dagwood.

“You do realize you can have two don’t you?” James asked.

Jiron only smiled as he took a bite.

The two children were eating their sandwiches with great speed so they could get on to more important things, like ice cream. No sooner had the last bite entered their mouths than they were making it clear the time had come. Kenny looked at his father pleadingly, but remained silent. Jira on the other hand was somewhat less circumspect.

“Ice cream, now?” she asked. When James hesitated, she added, “We finished our food and everything.”

James glanced to Meliana, who nodded.

“Hooray!” both kids exclaimed.

“Can I at least eat my sandwich first?” Holding out a sandwich with only two bites missing, he looked questioningly into two sets of eyes.

Apparently not. Jira grabbed him by the hand and practically dragged him back to the manor house. Kenny skipped along behind, anticipating the delights to come.

Within the front room of the manor sat the ice cream machine. Encased in a magical protective shield to prevent unauthorized, premature distribution, it hummed as magic moved the inner churn. Condensation beaded its outside and a small pool had collected on the floor.

Upon entering the room, James canceled the protective barrier and the kids rushed forward. “Hold on, there,” he said as Jira tried to remove the top. Moving her aside, he picked up the ice cream maker and carried it back outside to the table. By the time he returned, Lorri had already brought out the bowls and spoons.

“Hurry, daddy!” cried Kenny.

“Ice cream!” exclaimed Jira.