Wizard's Blood [Part Two] (31 page)

“
I’m John Beyer,” he said holding out his hand. “Marcie says you have a document signed by my father?”

Randy held out the document once again, and they waited while the young lawyer flipped quickly through the pages.

“
I remember this,” he said. “Dad was a bit surprised by the request. We don’t normally hold items for clients, but your grandfather and my Dad were pretty close. Come. We’ll go into my office. We’ll look at your paperwork and then I can send for the package. It’ll take about a half hour to get someone to go down to the vault and retrieve it.”

It was easier than he could have hoped. While they waited for the package to be retrieved, they went through the formalities. John found the firm’s copy of the paperwork which had, among other things, a photograph of Randy included. That helped the identification along as well.

John looked uncomfortable. “It says you do magic tricks and I am to ask you to demonstrate. There is nothing specific here. Do you know what it is referring to?”

Randy didn’t have to think. It could only be one thing. “I start fires,” he said straight-faced.

“
Of course you do,” the lawyer replied. “I’m supposed to have you demonstrate. Perhaps a piece of paper in the ash tray?”

Randy chuckled, but after John had placed a small piece of paper he looked across the desk and forced the paper into flame. The lawyer’s eyes widened in surprise, but he recovered quickly enough.

“
That’s what it says. I wasn’t to tell you until after you demonstrated, but it says if you couldn’t start the fire, I wasn’t to hand the items over to you. Given you match the picture and could meet the other requirements, I guess I’m bound to complete the exchange.”

John spoke briefly with Marcie on the intercom, and a few minutes later a man came in carrying a surprisingly large case. It was fifteen inches wide by almost four thick, and nearly five feet long. It looked sturdy and well made, and was locked with no sign of a key.

“
My copy of the document says the case is locked, but you should know how to open it. We were not given a key.”

Randy knew what was required. The case would have to be destroyed to be opened. He could sense the weak wards inside, surrounding something the outer case contained. The wards were a level any beginning mage on Gaea would have laughed at, but they were strong enough that any non mage would have been unable to open whatever was being protected. He was more certain than ever they had finally found Oscar’s effects.

* * * *

Back at the house Randy set the case on the kitchen table where he could get a close look at it. Where the locks should have been, the case had been modified so that a smooth exterior showed, with no key hole or latch showing. Whatever was holding it shut was on the inside, and he confirmed that the only way to get at the contents meant physically cutting into the case. He went to the garage and returned with several tools and started to carefully cut through the case in the region of the modifications. He moved slowly since he didn’t want to damage the contents, so it was a full half hour before he felt something release inside and the two halves of the case hung loosely open. Setting aside the tools, he carefully folded the top side back to expose the contents. He needn’t have worried about the contents. An inner ring of metal surrounded the items inside protecting them from damage.

Sitting among the items was an envelope with his name on it. He picked it up and opened it carefully. Inside was a brief typed note.

Randy and Janie had searched the attic one day, but his father had been moved at some point to clear out the remains of a century’s worth of accumulation, and there were only a couple of boxes of papers that went back fifty years or so. Everything else had apparently been tossed. If Grandfather Raymond hadn’t located these items they would have been lost forever. He looked back at the contents as he laid the note on the table. One item he recognized immediately.

“
Grandfather Raymond’s walking stick,” Janie said looking at the long staff snuggled into the cut out that had been made for it.

Randy had forgotten about the walking stick that his grandfather had carried with him for years. It hadn’t seemed important to him before, but now he recognized it for what it was. Old and gnarled, it looked a bit like the Staff of War that Vaen was holding for him back on Gaea.

“
It’s a staff of magic,” Randy said softly as he lifted the relic from the case. He could vaguely feel a sense of something waiting to be tapped in the artifact, but nothing that told him of the staff’s true ability. For over a hundred years the staff had been trapped here on Earth where magic was all but impossible. Even so, and despite years of carrying by his grandfather, who Randy suspected knew the object was more than a simple walking stick, it looked polished rather than worn. Carefully he set the staff aside and turned back to the other items in the box.

Each was carefully set into a cavity prepared especially for it. First to draw his attention were a pair of lightly glowing crystals. A third crystal, dark now, completed the row of three.
Pairing-crystals
Randy realized, and the hair on his arms stood up slightly. They had waited for over a hundred years. Had the third always been empty, or had it somehow lost its precious content over the years. He could only guess at what knowledge or insight might lay hidden inside, and was eager to tap the contents. Caution restrained him at the last minute. He should wait and talk with Vaen. Would they be safe to tap after so long? It might be better to have the contents passed by the experts back on Gaea rather than use his mage’s skills to download the information directly right now. He knew he would be returning to Gaea sooner than he had anticipated.

His eyes reluctantly moved away from the crystals to a pair of rings that lay in two separate cavities. One he recognized immediately. It was much like the rings he had found before, except this one had a red stone. It was dark now, but he knew it would come to life when a mage wore it back on Gaea. A
fire spell
ring. He was good with fire and this would further boost his ability. He knew from experience that he could wear it simultaneously with the others if he wished.

The second ring was familiar only because of the design, if it was indeed a ring. The loop of metal was large enough that he could fit both thumbs simultaneously through the opening, and rather than a colored stone this had an intricate design he’d seen once before. Three equally spaced green stones surrounded a central yellow stone on a field of black. This was the same design they had found months before on the large amulet the wizard had been carrying. What did it mean and why would Oscar be carrying it?

Carefully he set the ring down and picked up the next item to catch his attention. This also was some kind of amulet for it had a chain that was obviously intended to allow the user to hang it around his neck. It was large, almost three inches in diameter, and was constructed of some kind of ceramic with inlaid slivers of silver metal around the outside. There was a small central core of metal, and the outer edge had a series of very small screws that held the two halves together. The back side was darkened, as if the device had been burned somehow. Something told Randy this was an important find, but it was going to take considerable study to try and understand the function if Vaen or someone back on Gaea didn’t know its purpose. Next to the amulet was an odd ring of linked metal. It looked much like a bracelet, but was devoid of any decoration and would have looked exceedingly plain.

The final item was a book, which Randy was certain was a log or record of some kind. The book was the object he had sensed with the weak warding. He set down the device and picked up the book. He tried to open it, but as he suspected it wouldn’t open. It was as if the book was a single object carved out of wood.

“
What is it?” Janie asked as she watched him examine the cover.

“
I believe it is Oscar’s diary,” he said and handed it to Janie. She tried to open it, and frowned when she couldn’t find any place to get a purchase. She shook her head and handed it back.

“
With a slight shiver of anticipation, Randy penetrated the warding. He didn’t need someone like Ronoran for something so simple and weak. He suspected Oscar had intended to keep the book from being read by the casual relative, but fully intended a descendant with the power would be able to open it. Janie watched surprised as he opened the cover and looked at the first page.

He had expected it to be written in Gaean for some reason, but then he realized that would have been pointless. Oscar would have to assume the eventual reader would never have been there and would have no knowledge of the language. He read aloud so Janie could hear.

Randy stopped. He wondered how much of this he would have believed had he found it and somehow managed to open it years before. Now, he knew it was a factual history that his ancestor had tried to prepare to tell his descendents of their heritage. He wanted to read this in detail, but it was something that could wait. He flipped through the pages until he found a section much later on that addressed the other contents of the box. He read from that point: