The Broken Key (02) - Hunter of the Horde (26 page)

He got up and stretched as he made his way to the window. Glancing over to the manor house, he noticed the window to the room in which Bart was staying was dark.

Kevik figured he must have already gone to sleep.

Kevik loved the view from the third floor, he could see for miles. The moonlight passing through the sparse cloud cover created an eerie patchwork over the landscape. He pulled his robe closer as an errant breeze passed through the window.

Quiet. Other than the crackle of the fire behind him the world was silent. Then off in the distance a wolf’s cry came to him as it howled at the moon. He let the tranquility of the moment ease the stress he had been under while working to decipher the symbols.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and as he let it out, felt his muscles begin to relax.

“I’ve been working too hard,” he said to himself.

Another yawn broke free and he realized that he had almost fallen asleep standing before the window. Opening his eyes again, he closed the shutter and turned back towards his work desk. “I better continue this in the morning,” he mumbled.

He wet two of his fingers then used them to pinch the life from the burning candle wicks. Once the only light left was that coming from the fireplace, he pulled his cot from the other room and set it close to the warmth of the fire. A couple more logs on the fire to keep the room warm then he laid down on the cot.

He closed his eyes and began drifting off to sleep. Before sleep completely claimed him, the symbols that he had been working on for his spell began going through his mind.

Not really concentrating on them, he slipped further towards sleep. Then the last symbol which had been giving him so much aggravation joined the others.

Kevik hovered in that place between the waking world and the land where dreams were born. Symbols danced and gyrated, all but the last moving in perfect harmony. The lone symbol finally joined with the others but quickly fell from the dance. Every time the symbol tried to join with the others, it lost its place and was forced out of the harmonic pattern.

Time and again the symbol worked its way into the harmonic flow of the others, and each time was pushed out. The symbol longed to join with the others. It stood there watching as its fellows created patterns of breathtaking beauty. Finally giving up on ever joining its fellows, it stood there feeling dejected.

After what seemed a very long time, four of its fellows broke free from the others and came to it. Hardly daring to believe what was going on, the symbol stood there motionless.

The four symbols came, each grabbing hold of the lone symbol. Allowing it’s fellows to draw it in with the others, it began to feel the rhythm of dance. It let the four direct its movement as its movements started meshing with the others. Then, the four symbols let go.

Scared that it would again be expelled from the rhythmic dance, the symbol froze. It felt itself begin to lose the cohesion it had known just a brief moment before, when suddenly one of the four came and nudged it into motion. Then from the side, another of the four came and propelled it forward.

Still unsure what to do, it shut off all sensory input except for the rhythm of the dance. It allowed the rhythm to flow through him, lead him, become him. He lost himself in the rhythm of the dance. Joy began to spring within his being as the rhythm took over.

Opening himself up once more, he found that he was weaving with the others in perfect harmony.

Yes!
the symbol cried as he meshed in the harmonics of the dance.

“That’s it!” cried Kevik as he came back to wakefulness. The dream, if it had been such, was now forgotten. He understood in perfect clarity what he had been doing wrong.

Springing up from the cot, he rushed over to the table where his staff laid upon the two stands.

In his excitement, the lethargy which he had felt earlier was gone. Adrenalin coursed through his body as he took hold of his staff. With utter confidence, he began the spell which would infuse his staff with power. A yellowish glow enveloped the staff after the utterance of the first word. With each proceeding word of power the glow intensified.

When the last word was spoken, the yellow glow took on a more reddish hue.

Kevik almost cried out in exultation when he saw the reddish hue develop. The reddish hue meant the staff was ready to receive the spells which it would hold and be able to perform from then on. He didn’t have very much time, a matter of mere minutes in which to cast the three spells the staff was to hold.

Before he cast the first spell, he took several calming breaths to settle himself. The last thing he wanted to do now was to misspeak one of the spells in his excitement. When he grew calm, he cast his new light spell.

The spell was absorbed into the staff the instant he cast it and the reddish hue grew darker. Encouraged, he cast the next spell, the one to detect items with magical properties. When that spell was complete, he could feel the staff take hold of it and draw it into itself just as it had with the first one. The glow deepened still further.

Kevik trembled with excitement. His excitement was such that he had to forcibly calm himself in order to continue with the last spell. If all went as planned, the glow should flare a dark red with the absorption of the third spell, and then disappear.

Another calming breath then he was ready. Steeling himself, he began casting the third and final spell. Again, the staff drew the magics within itself and once the last word was spoken, the glow flared red and winked out.

It worked!

Kevik gave out with a cry and did a little jig. True, it would take the staff a day to gather sufficient power before the spells would be ready for casting, but he had done it!

Tomorrow night, he’ll test his staff to make sure it will truly work. Then the following day he’ll head to the Tower where he’ll arrange for the testing.

He picked up his staff with pride and looked at it. He closed his eyes and thought of his former master. I did it master. He almost felt Allar’s presence in that moment but knew it to be his imagination. Setting the staff back down on the stands, he returned to his cot. It took him a long time to return to sleep, but sleep finally won out.

In the morning when Kevik opened the tower door for Bart, he stood there with staff in hand and a grin upon his face.

“You did it?” asked Bart.

“Last night,” Kevik replied with satisfaction.

“That’s great news,” said Bart. “When are you going to go for the test?”

“I hope the day after tomorrow,” he replied. “I wish first to test my staff to be sure it actually works.” Before Bart could ask the question Kevik saw in his eyes, he held forth the staff and added, “It needs to gather magical energy before it will be able to cast any spells.”

Bart nodded, he could understand that. “How long does that take?” Kevik shrugged. “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “From what the book said wherein I found the spell, it takes days for a staff to fully absorb the magic it requires. However, it should have gathered sufficient magical energy for me to see if the spells I put in it will work properly. After that, I’ll go down to the Tower and arrange for the test.”

“Now if we can just get Riyan and Chad promoted to Armsmen, we can get on with things,” commented Bart.

“Indeed.” Kevik noticed how Bart wasn’t coming further into his tower. “You coming up?” he asked.

Bart shook his head. “No,” he replied. “I’m going to take all but five of the horses into town and see if I can sell them. That will leave one for each of us and a spare for supplies.”

“Good idea,” agreed Kevik. “Always could use some extra coins.” Grinning, Bart nodded his head. “Especially when you’re not sure where it is you’re going.”

Kevik nodded. “Now, about that lake with an island?” he asked.

“Yes?” asked Bart.

“This morning I remembered there was another lake with an island to the west at the base of the mountains,” he said. “It’s called Island Lake, I believe, due to the fact it has a small island.”

Bart thought for a moment, he hadn’t heard of that lake. But then he had never spent much time outside of Wardean either. “Is there a town called Kartha near there?” Kevik shook his head. “No.”

“Then Catha to the east is still our best bet,” he stated. “If we fail to find anything at Catha, we’ll give Island Lake a try.”

“Just thought you might want to know,” Kevik told him.

“Thanks,” Bart replied. “You never know. I better get going on into town. I’ll be there most of the day.”

“Oh?” questioned Kevik.

“I’m going to try and find out if Durik and his men are in town,” he said. After the attack, he’d been worried that they may be planning another attempt.

“Be careful,” Kevik warned.

“I will,” Bart assured him. Then he held up his finger and showed Kevik the ring he bore. “Should anything out of the ordinary develop, let me know.” Kevik nodded. “I will.”

“Look for me after sundown,” Bart said as he turned to leave through the tower’s door.”

“See you then,” Kevik said. Closing the door after Bart left, he secured the locks and returned upstairs to his workshop. After placing the staff back on its stands, he pulled down the book in which the farseeing spell was explained and spent the rest of the day working on it. Only a few symbols were ones he didn’t know, but they were permutations of the ones he had already learned, so shouldn’t be too difficult in deciphering. Then some time to get the inflections right and he’s got himself a new spell.

Over in the stable behind the manor house, Bart saddled his horse. Then he saddled the horses he was taking in to town to sell. May as well sell their saddles and tack as well, no sense leaving it here to fill up the storeroom.

Once all the horses were ready, he secured the reins of one horse to the saddle of another until they were all tied in tandem. Bart took the reins of the lead horse in hand as he mounted and then led them out of the stable.

During one of his earlier visits to Gilbeth, he had noticed a horse trader on the eastern edge of town. It was there he hoped to sell the horses. He was certain the man would take them off his hands, what concerned him was how much he would get for them.

The route to the horse trader took him through town. People on the streets paused to look at him and the horses as they rode by. It wasn’t every day a man was seen leading four saddled horses through town. Bart bore the stares with equanimity and made his way to the horse trader’s.

When the horse trader’s shop came into view, Bart saw a man working on a horse’s hoof in the corral adjacent to it. He was using a file to smooth an uneven callous that had developed. When Bart drew closer, the man looked up. He nodded to Bart then went back to what he was doing without a word.

As the man knew he was there, Bart rode to the fence surrounding the corral and dismounted. He held the reins of his horse as he leaned against the fence to wait until the man was finished. It wasn’t long before the man let go of the horse’s hoof and patted it on the flank. He set the file down on a table then moved toward Bart.

“Can I help you?” he asked. Coming to the fence, the man first glanced to Bart then over to the horses.

“Would like to sell four horses with accompanying saddle and tack,” Bart replied.

“Hmmm,” the man muttered as he continued to look them over. “Stolen?” he asked.

Bart shook his head. “No,” he replied. “They once belonged to a group of men that had tried to kill me.”

The man nodded. “That wouldn’t have been the bunch who tried to kill old Allar’s apprentice would it?”

“The same,” Bart said.

“Too bad about Allar,” the man told him. “He was a nice enough fellow.”

“Are you the horse trader who I need to see about the selling of these horses?” Bart asked.

The man’s gaze returned to Bart and he grinned. “That I am.” Reaching a hand through the wooden rails of the fence he said, “Hornsby at your service.” Bart took the hand and replied, “Name’s Bart.”

“Well Bart, bring them around to the gate and we’ll see what we have,” Hornsby said.

He then turned and started walking over to the gate.

Bart untied the lead rope of the four horses which was tied to his saddle then led the four horses he planned to sell to the gate Hornsby had already opened.

Hornsby opened the gate wider when Bart arrived as Bart led them in. “They look a bit thin,” he said as they entered the corral.

“Perhaps,” argued Bart. “But they’re still young with many good years left in them.” Once the gate was closed, Hornsby took each horse and inspected it; first the eyes, then the mouth, condition of the hooves, and a cursory glance at the saddle. As soon as he was through with one he would move to the next. When he was finished with the fourth horse he turned back to an expectant Bart.

“I’ll give you forty for all four and the saddles they bear,” he said.

“Forty?” exclaimed Bart. “They’re easily worth twice that, at least seventy five.” Hornsby shrugged and wore a look that said he wasn’t at all interested in them. He indicated the dozen horses in the other corral behind the one they were currently in. “I have more than I can sell as it is,” he explained. “I suppose I could give forty five for them.”

Bart continued to haggle and they finally settled on fifty three golds as the final price.

Though not as much as he hoped for, it was still better than keeping the horses and paying for their upkeep.

Hornsby took Bart into the adjacent building and had him wait in the outer room while he went into the back to get the coins. When he returned he held a bulging sack which he upended, dumping the coins onto the table. After they had both counted the coins and each was satisfied the number was accurate, Bart returned the coins to the sack.

“Thank you,” he told the horse trader.

“Any time,” replied Hornsby.

Before leaving the building, Bart placed the sack of gold coins into his pack. Hornsby had already left and was taking his newly acquired horses over to the rear of the building where he was proceeding to remove the saddles and tack.