Spellscribed: Conviction (13 page)

"Oh." Joven replied. "He seemed... agreeable enough."

Meryl nodded. "He would be. I hear he's coming here to see the trial. Your Endrance must be pretty important, if he warrants this much attention."

Joven nodded. "He's what I live to protect."

"So you have business on behalf of him?" The elf changed subjects smoothly. "Perhaps with that... bone you are carrying?"

Joven looked down at the staff and actually felt somewhat embarrassed. "Yeah... he was going to start making this staff when he was taken directly to the tower." He started explaining.

Meryl glided across the floor as she approached. "Allow me to look at it." she said gently.

Joven handed it over without complaint. She held it in both hands, turning it over and rotating the bone as she examined it.

"This is hydra bone, a creature of the earth." she said. "Tempered by the fire of a creature that lives outside our world." she ran her hand along the storm bat wing handle and little crackles of electricity ran along the little silver lines throughout the black material. "It has been touched by lightning, but not only once. This must have taken quite some time to do without magical assistance."

"It took four hours just to carve the hole in the top to get to the marrow." Joven admitted. "Dulled three drills."

"After what has happened to it, this bone is in an auspicious position." Meryl observed. "I believe you have many of the conditions met to make a Grandstaff."

"Grand... staff?" Joven asked.

Meryl set the modified radius on the finely polished wood floor of her shop. She let go, and the bone remained upright.

"A Grandstaff is a piece of elven magic, not human." Meryl answered. "It is a staff that touches all five elements, and fuses them together into a supreme foci that is equally adept at any."

"Uhh..."

"You have a staff made of part of an earth creature, granting it the hardness of stone. Normally we elves use a living tree to signify life magic, but this is just as effective. The bone has been treated by fire and lightning, which is an air trait. The last two we need is water and life."

"I, uh... boiled it for a while, does that count?" Joven asked.

Meryl gave him a look that made him feel moronic. "Boiling is a mundane treatment that does nothing for the creation process. You will need something magically potent to make it work."

Joven looked around the shop. "Do you, uh, have anything like that?" he asked.

"Yes." Meryl confirmed, "Though it will not be cheap."

Joven held out a bag containing some of the gold pieces and as many gold tabs. "Will this be enough?" he asked. "I want to finish this and present it to Endrance as soon as possible."

Meryl took the bag, laying a hand on his forearm in the process. While she quickly counted the coin, he struggled to rein in the sudden turmoil he felt in his chest. He had never been affected by a woman before, but somehow she was hitting him harder than he had ever felt.

"This is a fair amount, and would be able to buy some materials that would pass for the purposes we have in mind." the elf said, frowning. "But, if you wanted materials that are on par with what you have brought me..." she shrugged, causing her hair to shift and shimmer.

"Show me what you have in mind, and I will decide then." Joven said.

Meryl turned and glided away, the staff remaining standing in the center of the shop. Joven frowned, walking past it as he followed her. She led him to a corner of the shop, opposite the front door.

"Here." she said, gesturing to a display stand. A long shard of ice, about four feet long and as thick as his forefinger was displayed on a rack. Joven could feel the cold as he approached, it leeched the warmth away from him the closer he got. It was slightly curved, and composed of some kind of deep blue frozen liquid.

"This is a rare find." Meryl said,

"It's ice." Joven said.

"It's more than that." She replied. "It's the blood of an ice dragon, frozen the moment it was exposed to air."

"Endrance said something about hydras being dragons." Joven said. "Will that be a problem?"

Meryl shook her head. "It's a mischaracterization. Hydra are lesser dragons, like a drake or great serpent. But this will not be a problem. You only need life now to complete the Grandstaff, should you purchase this."

"Won't it melt?"

"No. it is attuned to the coldest of water magics, and it has a strong connection with air. It will not melt."

"I don't understand. Connection?"

"You need the elements to have tangential connections to make the Grandstaff work." Meryl explained. Earth and fire, fire and air, air and water, water and life, life and earth."

"So you need them to not oppose each other."

Meryl smiled. "Not directly." she answered.

Joven considered. "Did you have something in mind for life?" Joven asked. "You don't happen to have life energy just sitting around, do you?"

Meryl glanced across the aisle where several different colored crystals glowed softly on their stands. "No... I think that will not be sufficient." she said, dismissing the thought. "I have something better suited to the task."

She showed him a glass jar, capped with a silver plate, covered in arcane sigils and sealed in red wax. Inside was spongy and green, but Joven couldn't figure out what it was. It looked porous, but it flowed like water when she moved the jar.

"What is that?" he asked after squinting at it a few seconds. Whatever it was, it had started creeping up the sides of the jar where her hands were touching the glass.

She set the jar back on the shelf. The green stuff slid back down into a puddle. "This," she said. "Is 
Saolnach.
 It is an elven word, meaning something close to 'living moss,' but the translation does it little justice. It is the offspring of a naturally occurring life elemental."

"It's... a child?" Joven asked.

Meryl's brow crinkled slightly as she frowned prettily. "No, not in the way we view children." she replied. "Think of it more as an... imperfect copy. It doesn't have the self awareness that the parent does, and is more respondent to magical 'nudging' than words."

"So this is the life element you mentioned?" Joven asked.

"Yes. It is one of the most powerful life element reagents that I can sell in Ironsoul, and it has strong connections to both earth and water. It would be very compatible for your Grandstaff." the elven woman declared, patting the top of the jar.

Joven looked at it, unable to figure out how he would incorporate it into the staff. "I guess it would make a good stain." he muttered.

Meryl looked momentarily appalled. "
Saolnach
 is not a simple stain!" she exclaimed. "It needs to remain alive in order for the Grandstaff to work!"

Joven scoffed. "What, he's just supposed to water it before he goes to bed?"

Meryl made a concerted effort to explain it without being condescending. "No, if you keep it in contact with a source of elemental water, it should require no watering, and suffuse its life element through the staff. So, perhaps, if you were to put the blood of the ice dragon in the core of the staff, and fill the remaining space with 
Saolnach
... The synergy would bind it all together, even if you haven't finished carving the bone."

"Then it would work, right?" Joven asked. He was starting to get a massive headache from trying to understand concepts like 'elemental connections' or 'synergy.' "Just tell me if that would work or not. I want to finish this quickly."

"You can't rush perfection, sir." Meryl retorted. "But it isn't perfect, if it isn't there when you need it. I can guarantee this will work, and I can even aid your completion of the staff, since I would assume you do not have the requisite tools to work with frozen dragon's blood or other similar materials."

"Nope." Joven replied.

"Excellent." Meryl replied, pleased. "Let me see... the products, plus their import costs, and labor for the graft... I tell you what, I'll cut you a deal, since you've been the most interesting customer to come into my shop in months."

"Okay?" Joven asked. "How much?"

"Only ten thousand coin, Ironsoul gold standard, of course." Meryl replied. "Or a hundred Salthimere banking markers, if you have them."

Joven wasn't the best at math, but the number seemed extraordinarily high for him. "Hold on." Joven replied, pulling the remainder of the coin he had made selling the hydra bones. "How much does this cover?"

Meryl laid out the money on the counter. She counted it out, making sure he could keep track without having to be asked. There were ten 100 piece tabs, 37 single gold coins, 14 silver coins, a pair of steel coins that seemed oddly out of place, and a single copper piece. She frowned, looking up at him.

"This would make for a fine deposit, should you wish to put a hold on the items, but it is only a tenth of what you need."

Joven sighed. "Thank you for your offer, but I'll have to find what I need somewhere else." he exhaled, scooping the coin back into the bag and turning to leave.

Meryl flicked her wrist as he grabbed the still-upright staff, using a spell to hold it in place. Joven came to a halt as his arm pulled taut.

"Just a moment." she said quickly. "I did not say that you were out of options. Please hear me out."

"What?" Joven said, his irritation rising.

"You are a man of extraordinary strength and endurance." Meryl began. "If you're willing, you can work off the rest with your body."

"I... huh?" he replied intelligently.

"I need a man who can help me out with a few things. As soon as they're done, you can consider those items yours. I'll even throw in a few extras as a thank you."

"Why me?" Joven asked. "You seem like a very capable mage, why do you need a single man?"

Meryl laughed, her voice like a tinkling bell. "You are thinking of a different concept of paying with your body."

"You need me to fight someone." Joven stated. "It's simple."

"That's what it means to you." Meryl replied. "And to many people in Ironsoul, I suspect they would mean a certain kind of intimate favor." she winked at him. "But that's not what I mean either." she shrugged. "Though you do have a certain attractive... muscularity."

"Then what do you mean?"

"I merely need you to help me with a few tasks that require more than one person to accomplish." she said. "If you accept, we can go over the details."

"Will I have to kill someone?" Joven asked.

Meryl tilted her head. "One track mind?" she said.

"Nope." Joven jerked his thumb to the haft of his axe, where a red ribbon reflected the light of the room cheerily. "I can't use my weapons, so you'd have to lend me one."

"Ah." she replied. "No, I don't want you to kill anyone, though there may be violence."

"That's fine." Joven said. "What else?"

"When I moved here and took over the shop from the prior owner a decade ago, he left behind a small list of people who owed him money. To put it simply, I want you to help me collect."

"You waited ten years to collect on a debt?" Joven asked.

"It wasn't very long, to we elves." she replied. "A decade is a perfectly acceptable waiting period, in polite elven society. But I have realized lately, that the people who owe me money may die sometime in the next few years, and I should collect on an accelerated time table for humans."

Joven considered. "Fine," he declared. "I help you settle your debts, and our exchange is settled at the same time. Deal?"

Meryl nodded. "Deal."

The staff suddenly came loose, and Joven spun it in his fingers. "So when do we start?" he asked.

"Tonight, if you are able." She said in response. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner I get to see a Grandstaff completed."

Apparently, to the Archmagus, soon meant two weeks before he would be seen again. Endrance had thought that perhaps a few days would give him enough time to make another window to chat with him, but it seemed that he might not see the Archmagus again until the trial. During the first few days, he spent his time carefully going over the numerous spells he had tattooed on his body, checking over each one.

After plotting the spell-forms of the tattoos onto paper, and comparing them to the research notes he had, he noticed that there was an irregularity in almost all of the tattoos that he had scribed himself. They all were almost right, but several of the lines were slightly deformed. After puzzling over it for hours, he finally figured it out when he dozed off at the desk and awoke with a page stuck to the side of his face. The lines on the paper looked off because his perspective of them was different than when he wrote them.

This made him realize that he was designing his tattoos from the perspective of looking straight at a surface, but he was scribing them by looking down on his body. The skew was very slight, not enough to disrupt the spell, but it made the spells inefficient and they took up a little more space than was necessary. It would be a little harder to complete, but he could correct the tattoos he had on his body. And from that point on, he could be conscious of the difference when he added new ones.

Endrance went through a few of his robes during the process, when he realized that there was nothing akin to bandages in the room. Even though the pain wasn't as bad as the first time he scribed a spell on his skin, it still bled a little from the lines as they were drawn or shifted. He ended up deciding to lay his robe out over the floor, and using it to wipe up the blood after he was done. When finished cleaning up, he burned the robe. It didn't seem to matter how he disposed of it; the next morning he found a clean exact copy of his robe waiting for him when awoke.

He also discovered he could change the meals in the cupboard by saying what he wanted when he held the handle for the door before opening it. Over the next few days, whenever he ate, he asked it for increasingly stranger and stranger things. By the end of the first week and two bad stomachaches, he discovered that it could not make food uncommon to Ironsoul. So, he would not be eating much of the cuisine he was used to in Balator.

Endrance had also written a letter, and asked Ethan to have it delivered. He took one look at the name on the envelope, looked up at him, swallowed nervously, and said he'd be back. Endrance wondered what the concern was about, until a few minutes later Ethan knocked on the door, opening it.

"I delivered your message." he said. "He said he would have to respectfully decline your offer to meet at this present time."

Endrance frowned. "That was awfully quick." he observed.

Ethan shook his head. "I just had to go next door." he said.

"Wait." The wizard shook his head, his mind struggling to keep up. "So he's here?"

"Yeah." Ethan said, scratching his head. "He's here for the trial as a second suspect."

"Doesn't... having a second suspect kind of, I don't know, show that I didn't do it?" Endrance asked.

Ethan spread his hands. "I don't know. I know nothing of how this circus is supposed to work. I'm just supposed to keep you from wandering off."

Endrance grinned. "Well, being a hired sheepdog is safer than a caravan escort."

"It's safer than just walking home sometimes, too." Ethan said with a groan. "I nearly got killed a month or so after we parted ways last, when I was heading home on vacation."

"What?" Endrance asked. "What happened?"

"Two mages decided to duke it out." Ethan said, shrugging. "I nearly got caught up in the crossfire. Several others actually did. I still get nightmares from it."

"How did you survive?" Endrance asked.

"One of them beat the other, of course." Ethan said, scratching the back of his neck. "I just... ran far away enough to avoid getting caught in something that would get me killed."

"Wow. I'm glad you survived." Endrance said.

"Don't say that." Ethan protested. "I wouldn't have been in that situation if I had foregone taking a vacation that year."

"Ethan." Endrance said, looking at the man's hand. "You're bleeding."

Ethan looked down at his hand. The fingertips were coated with a few droplets of blood. "Oh." he said absently. "I must've scratched my neck."

Endrance beckoned to the man. "Here," he said. "Let me heal it."

Ethan backed away, wiping his fingers on his pants. "No." he protested. "You're not supposed to be casting spells here."

"I don't think it's going to be a problem." Endrance said, confused.

Ethan turned and left the room. "I'll handle it, mind your own business!" he exclaimed, slamming the door.

Endrance stared at the door, confused. "What the hell..." Endrance muttered, sighing. It was turning out to be a frustrating day.

That evening he was summoned to an interrogation. Endrance was required to dress in the usual drab colored robes he had been given, though his sash was stitched with the three gold sigils of mastery upon the end; a small concession to his status as a wizard. He was led to a darkened room with cold stone floors. Wearing shoes with thin soles, he could feel the heat leech from his feet into the rock below.

The chamber was lit by a circle of gold candlesticks, in which he stood in the center. The tallows were notched to indicate the hours, and on the hour marker, the candle would crackle. He had not been seated; it was obvious by the lack of a chair in the center that they intended him to stand.

Five chairs had been arrayed before him in a semicircle with several feet of space in between them. The four seats flanking the center were simple wooden chairs, sturdy backed, and hand carved with simple detail in a style that could been seen all over Ironsoul. One chair had a dainty pink pillow upon the seat that looked familiar, but Endrance couldn't remember where he'd seen it before.

The center seat was far more ostentatious, and was covered in gold leaf in a scale pattern that made it draconic in appearance. The arm rests appeared to be clawed arms clutching the front legs of the chair. The high back of it was set with a large ruby.

That must be Archmagus Talos' chair, Endrance thought. He would be the highest ranking member of the Holy Circle of Magi. Under that, would be the High Magus, one for each satrapy. Then there were the Magus, the second tier of the most accomplished wizards. Then there were the wizards, then the apprentices, and lastly the worshippers and followers without talent for magic. Each had a certain magnitude of authority over those below them; from none at all for the talentless, to being able to shake the foundations of Ironsoul for the Archmagus.

Endrance shifted where he stood, but didn't try to leave the circle. He had sensed some form of magic when he’d stepped into their light. It would be foolish to try the defenses without any information about them, and all he had to do was sit there patiently for things to resolve. He also didn't want to give Weldom any possible idea that he was trying to escape.

The air rippled, and four figures appeared from the air before him. The flickering candlelight revealed the Archmagus, Weldom, a female Magus, and Kaelob. Excepting Talos, they all had heavily embroidered sashes and robes of black silk. The Archmagus wore his leather pants, but otherwise wore nothing else but his tattoos. While present, Kaelob was the least somber of the four assembled before him. While the three remained standing, Archmagus Talos sprawled out on the chair to Endrance's far left. The Archmagus, a High Magus, a Magus, and his master. Four people of the highest echelons of the Holy Circle of Magi were staring down at him.

"Uhh..." Endrance spoke as the remaining three took their seats, leaving the golden chair unoccupied. "What-"

A loud flapping noise accompanied a rush of air, and everyone turned to look at Kaelob, the source of the sound. The wizard sat wide-eyed on the seat that had held the pink cushion. His eyes narrowed to the stern faced women next to him.

"You moved it, didn't you?" Kaelob inquired accusingly, pulling the pillow from under him. A squeeze of his hand caused it to vibrate and repeat the sound and wind. "Clever."

"Please," the woman responded with disdain. "This is a very serious proceeding, Kaelob." She growled. "Try, just for once in your life, to purport yourself as such."

Endrance shook his head in dismay. There went any kind of positive support he would have from his master. He should have expected as much. There was a reason Kaelob had retired fifteen years before, and since then, he had gotten more and more unconventional as the years passed.

The magus turned her attention to him. Her hair was short cut and brown, and she had several piercings in her ears of various metals and gems. "I don't suppose you are as mad as he is?" She inquired. "That would make this case a great deal easier."

"Oh, I would hope I am not as mad, Lady Magus." Endrance replied with the proper courtesy. "My master had to work long and hard to be that crazy, and I only had to learn magic from under him, not how to make life decisions."

The woman nodded, a look of respect beginning to grow on her face. "Good. I take it you were present for the cheese incident."

Endrance grimaced, wiping his face. "It took me a week to get the smell out of my clothes."

Kaelob laughed. "It would have been easier if I hadn't melted it first."

Endrance joined the woman in scowling at him. Kaelob snickered and reclined in his seat, tossing the pillow over his shoulder. It went off once more as it tumbled out of the candlelight, and the brunette magus closed her eyes and muttered to herself until it stopped.

Endrance looked to the Archmagus. "Who is the fifth seat for?" he asked.

Talos shrugged. "You are accused of an offense against a kingdom official. It is for the High King, or whoever he sends in his stead."

Endrance felt the blood drain from his face. He was being interrogated before the High King? The ruler of the kingdoms of Ironsoul? He quickly regained control of his panic and took a steadying breath. He'd been standing in front of kings before, he could handle it. After all, the last one had been a huge man, a strong leader, and a powerful summoner.

And he had killed him. It had been necessary, but it was still something he wished he could have avoided. Still, it taught him that no matter how larger-than-life a man could seem, they were still that. Men. No one was exempt from that, not even Endrance.

"Will the High King be joining us?" Endrance asked.

Talos waved his hand dismissively. "I informed him of this, but it is unlikely he will personally attend. In the light of Ezeilo's debriefing, he is unwilling to meet in private with an admitted kingslayer."

Endrance felt a strange tension in his spine. That was not the first time he'd heard someone call him that, and he was starting to wonder if there was certain significance behind it. He supposed it didn't much matter at the present time. He was just going to have to live with the repercussions of his deed.

Endrance nodded. "Are we going to wait for his proxy then?"

Kaelob shrugged. "Do you think we should?"

"I think I should defer to whoever is in charge of these proceedings." Endrance replied. "Because I don't know much of the courts at all."

Kaelob nodded. "Good." he waited a few seconds, looking over to the Archmagus. "Because neither do I."

Weldom leaned over to Archmagus Talos and whispered to him. "How did he become High Magus again?" he asked.

Talos raised a hairless eyebrow and replied, his expression deadpan. "Must have been before he went mad."

"I am not mad!" Kaelob replied. "I'm just eccentric. And my hearing's just fine, thank you."

"Enough." Talos said. "We will get started and the High King, or whoever he sends to sit in, can get caught up when he arrives."

Endrance sighed. "I'm ready for questioning."

Kaelob leaned forward. "Why would we want to question you?" he asked quizzically.

Endrance blinked at his former master. "Because... someone thinks I murdered somebody?"

"Oh. Right." Kaelob replied, leaning back. "We don't need to question you."

Endrance stared at him, exasperation furrowing his brow. "Then why am I-"

Talos waved his hand in a cutting motion, interrupting. "You will be questioned, Endrance." He looked over to Kaelob. "Kaelob was not apprised of your current mental safeguards. We will ask you some questions before we continue."

"Oh?" Endrance asked.

"It used to be that we'd just scry the answers and declare innocence or guilt." Talos stated. "But because you have a spell in your mind of Archmagus caliber protecting your thoughts, breaking through it could be just as dangerous for you as it would be for the winnower. So, we are forced to resort to an interrogation in witness of all interested parties."

"Ah." Endrance said.

"Do you have a better solution?" Weldom asked, scorn on his voice.

Endrance shrugged. "Not really, but you could use a truth spell to confirm the veracity of my statements."

He waved his hand dismissively. "Easily countered or protected against. We don't normally need to ask."