The Archmage Unbound (29 page)

I counted the rings and found there were
twenty one within the box, though it appeared there might have been more
originally. I pondered them for a good while before I set them aside for
another day. I had a feeling their purpose would become clear to me later…
probably while I was sleeping or bathing. I always did my best thinking when I
was relaxed.

Finally I turned my attention to the
book. I had been restraining myself thus far, since it was what I desired to
look at first. I had saved it for last since I knew it might well take me a
long time to make up my mind about its value.

It was a very compact item, no more than
six inches in width and only slightly taller. Even though it was bound in
silver it wasn’t more than half an inch in thickness and would easily fit into
a shirt pocket or pouch. The metal exterior was covered in runes, but unlike
the others I had no idea what their purpose was. The arrangements were unlike
anything I had ever considered which made it hard to guess whether it was safe
to open or not.

“I could stare at those patterns for a
year and probably not understand what they’re supposed to do,” I said out loud,
as if giving voice to my thoughts would make them more reasonable. “Sooner or
later I’ll have to take a chance, and one thing I rarely have the luxury of is
time.” Having said that, I felt sure it was true.
It’s still stupid to
open something like that without at least having witnesses in case something
bad happens
, said a small voice in the back of my head. I quickly
hustled that voice down to the basement of my mind and had it locked away where
it wouldn’t bother me anymore.

“No time like the present,” I said, and
then I undid the metal clasp that held the book closed and flipped the cover
open. As I did the runes around the edge of the metal began to writhe and
move, as if they were alive, something I had never seen runes do before. A
golden light suffused the metal and it felt as though the book itself jumped in
my hand, in fact it startled me so much that I nearly dropped it. Gritting my
teeth to steady my nerves I watched as the book expanded to slightly more than
twice its original size. Once it had finished growing the runes grew still and
the book resumed its more usual dormant state. I let out a long held sigh,
grateful there hadn’t been some sort of trap.

I looked at the title page and felt my
heart jump with excitement when I read the words there.
‘Index of Enchanting
Schemata’
was the name of the book. As I stared at it I remembered Moira’s
words,
“The Illeniels were well known for the many mage-smiths and skilled
enchanters they produced throughout history.”
This was the first sign of
that. Nothing else I had found in the library had so much as hinted at the
secrets of enchanting, much less providing full-fledged schemata. I had
despaired of ever finding any guidance in the lost art I had somehow re-invented.

I began thumbing through the pages idly,
wondering what I might find. One page was titled, ‘Schemata for trans-spatial
storage apparatus’. The designs seemed strange but I recognized some
similarities with teleportation circles, though the resemblance didn’t go very
far. Another page held a diagram for something called a ‘self-locking door’,
and yet another contained the schemata for a ‘stasis field effect’, whatever
that was.

A cursory examination told me that the
book held very little in the way of instruction or explanation. Whoever had
owned this book previously had obviously made it to be portable and durable,
and he or she hadn’t needed much in the way of explanation. This was a book
for someone already well-practiced in the art of enchanting, for what it
contained were formulae and fully functional diagrams of enchantments.

Still I would rather have a book of
functional designs rather than a primer with no real world applications. I had
already discovered the basics on my own anyway, or most of them I hoped. I
felt certain that using these I could work backward to figure out how they
worked. Many of the designs I found were similar to ones I had already
created. I gave myself a mental pat on the back,
not bad for a beginner,
I
thought.

Eventually I decided I should go back
outside before anyone started looking for me. Closing the book I watched as it
quickly shrank back down to its previous size. It really was an amazing
effect, though I still didn’t understand how it worked. Looking around I tried
to discern the mechanism for re-opening the door.

Thankfully it was just as simple as
entering. The wall behind me held a similar pattern to the one I had activated
on the other side. I reached up to touch it but a stray thought made me
pause. Given that I was in a secret room it seemed obvious I should make sure
no one was outside before I opened the door again. Normally I would simply use
my arcane senses to check whether anyone was nearby, and I did try, but I
failed.

In most cases failure isn’t that
unusual, but this time was an exception. I was unable to sense anything beyond
the small room I stood within. It was as though I had entered a small bubble
of reality, encapsulated by an endless void. Now that I was paying attention
the sensation was shocking.

It reminded me somewhat of my first experience
with the shiggreth, when I discovered I was completely unable to sense their
physical presence, except as an absence. This was similar, except now the
effect had extended to the entire world; the only thing I could perceive was
the tiny room I was inside. My heart rate sped up as an involuntary moment of
panic sent adrenaline coursing through my veins. I got my fear under control
quickly. I had never been one to let fear trump reason.

Taking a slow steady breath I put my
hand out to the pattern, where my fingertips should activate the enchantment
that controlled the door. As my fingers touched it I felt the same tingle I
had felt before and then I became aware of the world beyond the room I was in
again. The door didn’t open, for I hadn’t withdrawn my hand yet, but the
connection between me and the enchantment had restored my ability to sense the
world outside.

Interesting,
I thought to myself.
The enchantment must make the room itself
invisible to mage-sight, and conversely it makes it impossible to sense the
world outside when you’re within it.
It was a cunning piece of work and I
found myself admiring the cleverness of whoever had originally designed it.
Not only was the room undetectable from the outside, but whoever was inside
could see to tell if anyone was outside before opening the door, although that
would probably make them visible to mage-sight.

“Can’t have everything I guess,” I said
to myself and then I took my hand away from the enchantment. Seconds later the
door opened and I stepped out into the main library. The door closed behind me
and once it was shut I could no longer sense anything of the room I had just
been inside.
That really is a clever piece of work,
I thought. I hoped
the pattern would be among the other schemata I had inside the book I now
held. Not that it mattered… I could copy it from the walls themselves if need
be. I felt sure it might be useful to me someday.

I turned and made my way to the door. I
could sense Marc on his way up the stairs and something about his stride told
me he had something important to discuss.

I met Marc just outside the library,
pretending to some surprise at finding him there. I did things like that
often, pretending to be surprised when I met people, mostly to put them at
ease. I had come to the conclusion early on that it only upset people when
they knew I was aware of their every movement when they were near me. No one
likes to feel as if they are continually being watched. It wasn’t as if I
really watched people constantly, usually it was more like the background noise
in a busy room. You hear the voices but you don’t know what they’re saying
until you pay attention to one or another of them. My mage-sight was similar,
I could focus upon an individual and see as much as I liked, up to about a mile
away, but in practice I couldn’t possibly watch everyone. It would have driven
me insane.

If they knew how much I could see I
doubt anyone would have been comfortable living within Castle Cameron. In
reality though, people’s lives are… for the most part, incredibly boring.
Still I pretended to be as normal as possible, to avoid making everyone
uncomfortable.

“Don’t act surprised to see me,” Marc
said, as if he could read my thoughts.

I frowned, “What do you mean?”

“You always overdo your acting. Since
it’s just me you don’t have to bother. I know you can see me from one end of
the house to the other, so you don’t have to pretend to be surprised when I
find you.”

I couldn’t fault his logic.
Bastard
knows me too well,
I thought with a grin. “You’re too sharp for your own
good. I hope you realize that?” I said.

He struck a pose of intense concentration,
putting one hand on his chin and the other on his hip, “The thought had
occurred to me,” he said smugly. “I try not to flaunt my gifts too much
though; it might make others feel inadequate.”

I laughed. “Are you going to tell me
what you found or spend all day congratulating yourself?” I asked.

He pretended to ponder my words
seriously for a moment. “That’s a tough one,” he said at last, “but the real
question is how do you know I found something?”

“Magic,” I answered immediately, “that
and the fact you have a book tucked under your arm and you were looking for me
with a certain air of urgency.”

He looked down at the book he held. “I
guess you have me on that one.” He walked past me, into the library I had just
left. “Here let me show you,” he said sitting down at the closest reading
table. I followed him and sat down in a nearby chair. “I took a stack of
promising books to my room last night, to look through before I fell asleep. I
found this tucked inside one of them.” He pulled out a neatly folded sheet of
paper, yellow from age.

“Which book was it in?” I asked.

He held up the book he had been
carrying,
‘An Illuminated Guide to the Birds of Lothion’,
read the
title.

“Why would you have even taken that one
to search through?” I said curiously.

Marc smirked sheepishly. “Sometimes I
get tired looking through so many serious tomes. This one has a lot of really
lovely illustrations, all carefully hand painted. I was looking through it
purely for enjoyment.” He shrugged helplessly.

I shook my head. Even though we’d been
friends for nearly twenty years now I had never known he was interested in
birds. Perhaps I wasn’t as observant as I thought. I opened the paper
carefully, for it was brittle. Once it was unfolded I could see it was a letter,
and the handwriting was familiar to me.

My Dear Friend,
I cannot say much here, for I fear this letter may
never reach you. I must assume you received my last letter for I have not
gotten a reply yet but that is not unusual these days. They watch my
correspondences carefully, of that I am sure. Quite possibly they have
stolen your replies to keep me from seeing them.
Vendraccus moves more freely now and I suspect he will attempt to unseat me
soon. There are none left now that I can trust. I hate to sound
morbid, but this may be my last letter. A source close to Vendraccus has
given me information that I think may be of importance to you, though I do not
understand its meaning. I cannot even be sure if it is the truth; my own
spies are untrustworthy and may be feeding me misinformation.
I have been told that Vendraccus has been charged
by his god to find something known as ‘Illeniel’s Doom’. My informant was
unsure what ‘it’ might actually be, but he said that by the conversation he
overheard it sounded like something living, such as a person or creature.
Whether this helps you or not, I do not know, but
I assumed that the name would have some meaning to you.
Good luck. I cannot tell you how much your
friendship has meant to me over the years, especially now that I find myself
alone, surrounded by strangers.
Sincerely,
V.

I had seen a letter similar to this one
previously; in my father’s writing desk the first time I had explored the
house. I was also sure it had been signed much the same way, with a simple
initial. At the time I had been unsure who had sent the letter to him, but
given the content of this one I was starting to believe it really had been
Valerius, the last king of Gododdin. I had no idea how he had become friends
with the man, but then my father’s life was still mostly a mystery to me.

I looked at Marc, “You know what this
means?”

He shook his head negatively.

“Me either,” I admitted. “Although it
really does seem that my father had some sort of on-going friendship with the
king of Gododdin.”

Marc let out a deep sigh. “I had really
hoped you might be able to make something of that.”

“It isn’t your fault,” I said. “So far
my only sources of information about this thing have been from the gods
themselves, and we know how reliable they are.”