Sorcerer Rising (A Virgil McDane Novel) (17 page)

Otherwise, we wouldn’t have found a spot at all.

Teams had gathered a
ll around the base of the Arcus. They were setting up camps, assembling equipment, performing spells, and most importantly, drawing lines in the dirt as they jockeyed for room.

I
n the center of the chaos, humming with energy, descended the Rainbow. One moment it seemed red, the other blue, sometimes shifting into colors I didn’t recognize. It depended on your position, angle, or mood. It was maddening.

“Son of a bitch…” James said, staring up at it. “I’ve seen a lot, but never anything like this.”

I had to agree, and I had seen ten times more than anything he had.

Lambros and her team, the robot, and just about everyone else went to work. I took that time to sneak off. This wasn’t my role and I could think of much better things to waste my time doing.

I threw in a chip. “Call.
” I eyed a pair of threes, a jack, a two, and a nine. At this rate I wasn’t going to make anything on this trip.

James threw in two more. “Raise you five, McDane,” he said, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

Alfred threw down his hand. “Playing cards with s Sorcerer. I don’t know how you convinced me that was a good idea.”

“Hey,” I said. “We all have gifts, just because yours isn’t poker doesn’t mean you need to blame it all on magic.”

Bob threw in his bet and it was time to show our hands.

“I guess not,” James said, laughing while he scooped the pot into his corner.

“That’s not true,” Alfred said. “About Sorcerers. I played a hand with one back in Arkansas, he could touch the card and they’d be any hand he wanted. Sorcerers can do that, you know, just touch things and make em’ different.”

I laughed as James started dealing. “More than likely you just had a really good cheat at the table
. And it’s a lot easier to make something out of nothing then change it.”

“That’s not true,” Bob interjected. “I saw a Witch turn a man into a toad once.”

I shivered. “Well, that probably was real. Who knows what they’re capable of?” I threw in a chip. “But not for the normal world. Of magic that is.”

“Then why don’t you give us an example?” Alfred asked. “Why don’t you show us what the difference is?”

James looked up from his cards, the smile on his face drawing tighter. “Bob, Al, I know you wouldn’t be rude to someone Mr. Aberland hired personally, would you?”

Both men sat straighter, mumbling apologies.

“That’s all right,” I said, flexing my ring hand. The web hadn’t improved. “I don’t do tricks, but I can tell you this, the only difference between a Wizard and anyone else is politics.”

“Politics?” James asked, frowning.

“Politics,” I repeated. “They’ve had this game wrapped up for the past thousand years. They control magic and any business associated with it. You want something from the Aether, only a mage can get it. The Guild controls that supply because it controls the distribution, not to mention half the clouds in the world.”

“I don’t know about that…” Bob said, keeping an eye on James while he said it. “I’ve known a lot of them street mages and magicians who couldn’t do half the stuff a Wizard could.”

“They weren’t Sorcerers,” I said. “That title is something that’s earned just like being a Wizard, just not through certifications.

“Listen,” I said, a bit frustrated. It was always hard to drill this into people. “Let me give you an analogy. There are two types of musicians in the world. You have those that learn music their entire life, who are tutored on it and go to Julliard. They can read music upside down, backwards and forwards. They know the theory, the techniques, the dos and don’ts of a hundred years of knowledge and learning.

“Then you got the musicians who learned to play on the street or in bars, with busted up old guitars and dusty pianos. They don’t know about chords or notes, or if they do they don’t see them as sacred. They can play by ear, not because they’re just that good but because they’ve never seen sheet music and they didn’t have any other way.

“For a musician it’s next to impossible to not be involved with music. Magic is the same way. It lives in you. You see people like these Wizards whose power has been cultivated by education, from the best resources money can buy and the tutoring of a thousand professionals. They had all the characteristics the Guild was looking for, and more importantly, none of the ones they weren’t.

“For every person born with that talent, that gift, there are a dozen that have the same talent but for whatever reason can’t make it in. They don’t belong to the right family or they’re too free thinking. They don’t have enough money or they don’t interview well.

“Sorcerers are the best of those that fit into that category. They don’t have a degree, they have a reputation. It used to be something to be proud of.”

“Before the war,” Alfred said.

I hesitated, my mood souring. “Before the war,” I agreed.

We all took a drink in salute, without even thinking about it. There weren’t many people who hadn’t fought in that hell.

Just as I was graduating from the Tower, a little piss pot nation called Ander decided the grass was greener on the other sides of its borders. What began as a campaign of land grabbing turned into the largest war the world had ever seen. Before the U.S. joined in, and finally the Guild, they had decimated half of Europe and made incursions into Africa and Asia as well.

It was an unexpected attack. Ander’s Emperor, may he burn well, had led one of the most dangerous militaries the world had ever seen and the only of its type; an army made entirely of mages and Sorcerers of all talents and types. Before then Sorcerer was a slur the Guild used to describe those mages who thought themselves equal to a Wizard. It came from an old term for those who were irresponsible for magic, but it was only a slur to them. For the rest of the world it just meant the generic brand. After the war, it meant something different. It meant one of Those People, someone from Over There.

The war would have been lost but for the Guild.
Ander’s capital, Boshan, was destroyed by the Guildmasters in the final battle. Destroyed really didn’t describe what they’d done, but then there wasn’t really a word that did. The explosion had been seen all around the world, had lasted for two days, and the misty cloud that now rested where once a city had thrived, killed whatever it touched.

We showed our cards and James raked in the pot again.

I threw down my hand. “Shit. Where the hell did you learn to play cards like this?”

“Mr. Aberland,” he said.

I raised my eyebrows. “Really now?”

“Best teacher I ever had,” he said. “If you look that son of a bitch in the eyes while raising, you can bluff Satan himself.”

I laughed. “He might not like that tone.”

Alfred and Bob laughed nervously but James just shrugged. “I have all the respect in the world for Mr. Aberland, but he’s a son of a bitch and he’d be the first to admit it.” He winked. “That’s why he brought you on, you know.”

I sat up a little straighter. “How’s that?”

He waved his hands toward the Wizard’s tent. “He hates the Guild. He figured hiring a Sorcerer would piss them off enough to chase them away. You in particular.”

I leaned back in my chair and let that sink in. On the one hand I really didn’t like being used like that. On the other hand, well, the enemy of my enemy…

“Why’s he hate them so much?” I asked.

James shrugged. “Not sure it’s any one thing in particular. I know they’ve fought him on anything he ever needed from them. He never forgets that type of thing.”

That figured. Aberland’s company had been doing things with science thought possible only by magic for twenty years. The Guild, mages in general, had lost a lot of their old markets to science. They’d also gained quite a few, but only grudgingly.

I pushed away from the table. “All right, I’m done. Before you take my whole paycheck. Maybe I can go play gopher for Lambros or something. Make myself useful.”

James laughed, shuffling the deck. “See if you can find Sam
. The way he tells it he’s a regular Doc Holiday.”

Sam was kicked back in his tent, a book in one hand. He looked over his glasses at me as I came in. “What can I do for you, Virgil?”

“I’m going to go make myself useful,” I replied. “James told me to tell you they were looking for a fourth.”

He laughed, plopping down the book and throwing his feet over the side of his cot. “I think that’s just what the doctor ordered,” he said with a smile.

I liked the doc. Everyone did. He was easily the oldest person here but had the energy of a teenager. He’d studied at Johns Hopkins, worked in some of the best hospitals in the world, taught a few as well, had even been on an expedition or two.

I made my way back toward the Arcus and the team.

I heard that little sociology lesson you gave back there
, Al said in my ear.

“I hate it when you do that,” I said out loud, ignoring the odd look a worker gave me. I ducked into a supply tent.

You know right now we couldn’t even call our self a mage, maybe not even a hedge mage, let alone a Sorcerer.

“It’s not that bad,” I said, flexing my hand again.

I focused, channeling my power into my hand. Bright pain lanced up my fingertips, surging through my eyes. It wasn’t getting better. If anything, it was getting worse.

Please don’t try that again
, Al said.
I felt that too.

“It’ll heal,” I said. “It always does. And we’ll repair the talisman. It may even repair itself as it heals.”

Al laughed bitterly.
Bullshit. We need to take care of this, sooner rather than later. You’re traipsing along with two Wizards and you have nothing at all to defend yourself with.

The robot, Arne I told myself, walked slowly around the base of the Arcus, examining the pillar. It, or he I supposed, picked up a large scoop of dirt, holding it close to his face. Dimly, I heard a multitude of gears and motors whirring deeply within his head.

“What do you see, Arne?” Dr. Lambros asked.

“I am unsure, Diana,” he replied. “I have several records on Aetherial soil and minerals, but this is my first time in the Aether. It is creating interference with my sensors.” He looked up at the Arcus. “Perhaps the Arcus itself is interfering. I will have to recalculate, but I am willing to postulate that this will take longer than expected.”

“What can you tell me about that?” I asked, pointing to the trailers of mist swirling in the sky.

“Fog,” Dorne said. “Nothing more. We are not here to study the Arcus, Sorcerer, nor the weather.”

“Actually,” piped in Arne, “There does seem to be some type of disturbance emanating from all directions around the Arcus.” His lenses telescoped out of his head, honing in on the mist. “This weather phenomena does not seem to be natural for this world. If you would be so kind, Mr. McDane, I would greatly appreciate a direct observation.”

“Not a problem,” I replied, laughing to myself as the Wizard glared at the toaster. I needed to do something, be active. If I sat around too long my mind was liable to think on things better left untouched. “Keep doing your work, I’ll be back in a bit.”

“I’ll go,” Tiffany said.

Hm, that would put a fun new twist on camping…

“I don’t think so,” Dorne said. “You will stay right here and do the job we are being paid to do.”

She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Is that right, Conrad? Well, last I checked, I held this charter, not you. In fact, I brought you along. So I will decide what job we are being paid to do.”

Dorne frowned. “You do whatever you please, Tiffany. Waste your time.”

“Is this place dangerous, McDane?” James asked.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” I replied. “There are some wolves, or something like them anyway, but the local fauna is pretty tame otherwise.”

“Just as well,” he said, “I’d rest a lot better if you took a couple of guys with you. Take one of the jeeps too.”

He called over our poker buddies, Alfred and Bob, and we quickly got a jeep ready.

“So,” I asked Tiffany, sitting in the back, enjoying not walking for a change, “Old Dorne’s an apprentice, huh?”

She laughed. It was a pretty laugh. “Not quite, but he is still learning. He is quite talented but has seen little experience with the Aether. He’s an enforcer.”

I grimaced, tucking that away for later. Wizards tended to fall into one of two categories, explorers or enforcers. The world was a dangerous place, and while most every Wizard was trained in defending themselves, there were always those selected to specialize. It wasn’t anything official, just the duties they were handed. Cruder was an enforcer, but then so was Levi. My uncle was one of the few I felt could be both, the great ones usually were.

We drove along for an hour, me and the Wizard chatting as we enjoyed the view. She watched the woods and I watched her. Don’t look at me like that, we both enjoyed the view, we were just looking at different things.