Wizard in the Woods Page 27

  Son, you could never drive me away.

  Then why did you leave? You broke Mother’s heart! She thinks you’re dead. I thought you were dead, too! Why didn’t you come back?

  It’s complicated, son.

  You ought to give it a try, Mikal suggested. He’s pretty smart.

  Very well. My Lord, would you permit me to speak with my son in private?

  SEEING HOW I HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF YOU EVER HAVING ANY OFFSPRING, AND HAVE RECENTLY LEARNED YOU DO, AND IT’S A HUMAN OFFSPRING AT THAT, I DO BELIEVE I WILL REQUIRE YOU TO EXPLAIN YOURSELF. SINCE THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE PREPARING TO DO WITH YOUR OFFSPRING, YOU WILL STAY HERE.

  But what about the others? They don’t need to hear any of this. This is a personal matter.

  THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE YOUR HUMAN SON FLOATED INTO OUR MIDST AND ANNOUNCED HIS PRESENCE AND EXISTENCE. IT’S CLEAR TO ME THAT YOUR OFFSPRING DID NOT KNOW YOUR TRUE NATURE. I WILL CONFESS TO BEING CURIOUS HOW THIS CAME TO BE. GARETH, YOU MAY PROCEED.

  As you command, My Lord, Gareth the elder grumbled.

  Thanks, Gareth the younger said at the same time.

  We’re going to need a way to refer to each of them without calling them the same name, Pravara noted.

  What about just using ‘senior and junior’? Mikal suggested. That’d work, wouldn’t it?

  Gareth frowned, which resulted in him baring his fangs. I don’t want to be called ‘junior’.

  Nor do I wish to be called ‘senior’, the elder Gareth added.

  Everyone present turned to Lord Phaedren, who had settled himself to the ground and was watching the proceedings with a bemused expression. He turned his glittering red head to regard both father and son.

  I WOULD SUGGEST THE TWO OF YOU WORK THIS OUT OTHERWISE I WILL ASSIGN NAMES I AM QUITE CERTAIN NEITHER OF YOU WILL LIKE.

  Can you just use a different name? Pravara asked Gareth’s father. Is there any other name you’ve used before?

  Why should I give up my name? Gareth the elder demanded. I’ve had mine longer than my son has had his.

  I haven’t heard anything from you in over two years, the younger Gareth reminded his father. This is the least you can do for me. Allow me to keep my name.

  So be it. On land, in my human form, I was called ‘Balthor’. I can use that again.

  Lord Phaedren stirred.

  AS IN, ‘BALTHOR THE WANDERER’? EXACTLY HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SHIRKING YOUR DUTIES, GARETH?

  Don’t you mean ‘Balthor’? Mikal quietly reminded him.

  CORRECT. BALTHOR, ANSWER THE QUESTION.

  The younger Gareth turned to the stunning red shealk and bowed low.

  I know you have questions, Lord Phaedren, and you certainly deserve answers. I don’t have any right to ask this, since I am a guest here and I don’t know you. Aye, we are presently in your domain, and I should abide by your wishes, but do you think, this once, you could let him explain himself first? I’d like to know why my father deserted me.

  NO MERE SHEALK DARES DICTATE TO ME WHAT I CAN AND CANNOT DO IN MY OWN DESMESNE. HOWEVER, THESE ARE EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES AND I WILL ADMIT THAT MY OWN CURIOSITY HAS BEEN PIQUED. I WILL HONOR YOUR REQUEST AND ALLOW GA… BALTHOR TO EXPLAIN HIMSELF.

  Gareth gave the regal shealk another bow before turning back to his father.

  Thank you. I appreciate it. Now, I’d like to know why I’m talking to my father, under water, in the middle of the ocean, and he’s a shealk. Does that mean I’m able to change my form to shealk whenever I want?

  No. When I met your mother I was in a human form. When you were conceived I was still in my human form. That makes you fully human.

  Except my father is a shealk, Gareth reminded him.

  Aye.

  Why did you turn yourself into a human?

  That’s a difficult question to answer, my son.

  You should give it a try. I’m all ears.

  Balthor sighed.

  I learned how to change my form many years ago.

  How old are you? Gareth interrupted, as his father was taking a breath.

  In your years? 782. That’s nearly eight centuries, son. After that many years I had started yearning for something else. I was tired of the water. I wanted to see dry land for myself, and I wanted to do it without scales or wings.

  As you can probably imagine, it was during these travels that I happened to meet a human woman by the name of Adyna. Over time we fell in love with each other and couldn’t stand to be apart. For the first time in several centuries I was truly happy. Then we learned we were expecting a baby and I became concerned. I had the same questions as you, my son. Would you be covered in scales? Would you have gills instead of lungs? The day you were born I sighed with relief. You were happy, healthy, and completely human.

  It wasn’t until you were nearly five years old that my previous life caught up with me. I had heard that several shealk were spotted off the shores of Capily. Being a shealk myself I knew that we rarely venture to the surface, and if we do, we are exceedingly careful not to be seen. So when I heard of two shealks swimming along the surface out where everyone could see them I knew they were looking for me.

  I told your mother that I had received word that a family member had grown sick and I was needed in Capily to care for them. I’m sorry to say that I presented myself as a very convincing liar. She never suspected anything. I traveled to Capily, shifted back to my original form, and intercepted those that were looking for me.

  What did you tell them you were doing? Gareth wanted to know. How were you able to explain your absence?

  I had given it plenty of thought. I decided to tell the truth, only I omitted a few details.

  A FEW DETAILS? Lord Phaedren growled. I’D SAY YOU LEFT OUT MORE THAN JUST A FEW, WOULDN’T YOU AGREE?

  I explained I had been traveling, I made some new friends, and had been eager to learn more about their culture.

  Didn’t you say you’re a wizard? Mikal asked. Didn’t you have responsibilities?

  Lord Phaedren growled, INDEED HE DID.

  I confided with Amentharias and convinced her to take over my duties whenever I was away.

  Who’s Amentharias? Pravara asked.

  OUR OTHER WIZARD.

  She was my only friend. She alone knew what I was going through. She agreed to help. I owed her everything.

  YOU PICKED A FINE WAY TO SHOW YOUR APPRECIATION.

  What’s that supposed to mean? Gareth asked the leader of the shealk.

  AMENTHARIAS VENTURED TOO CLOSE TO A SMOKER AND WAS KILLED. OUR COMMUNITY NEEDED THE GUIDANCE AND SUPPORT OF A WIZARD AND NOW WE HAD NONE. IT WAS DECIDED WE NEEDED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT OUR OWN WIZARD WAS DOING WHENEVER HE LEFT ON ONE OF HIS ‘EXCURSIONS’.

  What does that mean? Mikal asked, looking from face to face. He settled on Balthor’s as Gareth’s father met his eyes.

  It means they had me followed. They knew I was swimming to the surface but thankfully that’s all they knew. It had become increasingly difficult to sneak away to be with you and your mother. Every opportunity I could I would spend with the two of you.

  So what happened two years ago? Gareth demanded, growing angry again. You’re telling me that for two years you were unable to come see us? To be with your wife and your son??

  Balthor growled.

  Two years ago my life changed forever, and it wasn’t a good thing.

  Can you tell us what happened? Pravara gently asked.

  I was in such a rush to return to my son and my wife that I wasn’t watching where I was going and stumbled into a smoker. I instantly recognized it for what it was and invoked a number of spells to keep me from harm.

  Excuse me, Mikal interrupted, comically raising one of his disproportionately small forelegs as though he were still in his human form and wanted to ask a question, but what is a ‘smoker’? Lord Phaedren mentioned that word before and now you just did. I really don’t have any idea what that means.

  A smoker is a hydrothermal vent, Balthor exp
lained. An area of the seabed opened and there was a vein of molten rock directly below. Can you imagine what happens when ice cold sea water makes contact with hot molten rock?

  Well, I now know what to avoid, Mikal casually remarked.

  So you say. Most vents have a tall, chimney like structure around it and is easy to locate. Fresh smokers are much more dangerous. There is no indication that anything is wrong until the vent opens and begins expelling its poisons. They are silent killers. That is what destroyed Amentharias and that is what I had stumbled onto. A fresh smoker.

  What did you do? Gareth asked in a worried voice.

  I cast every protection spell I could think of in order to stay safe. Water purification, scale strengthener, and containment spells. I used anything I could think of. I couldn’t leave you and your mother alone in the world so I vowed to stay alive. What I didn’t know, however, was the thriper’s prison was nearby. Due to the massive amounts of jhorun I expelled I ended up awakening the creature. It escaped because of me.

  No, it didn’t, Gareth argued. It escaped because of me. That ship with all the enchanted weapons sank nearby. That’s what woke it up.

  Balthor stared at his son and cocked his head slightly to the left.

  That ship? Son, that ship sank less than a year ago.

  That’s right. It sank and ended up scattering enchanted weapons everywhere. One of them woke up the Athanaus and it escaped.

  Are you telling me you think you are responsible for awakening the thriper, my son?

  Gareth nodded.

  Then rest at ease because it escaped over two years ago. How do I know this? Because I was there when it happened. Whatever trance the thriper had been placed in couldn’t have been that strong since it escaped its prison almost immediately. It emerged, starving for jhorun. I, unfortunately, was the first thing it saw. I had already exhausted most of my jhorun trying to protect myself from the smoker. I was no match for the thriper. It depleted my jhorun so badly that there was nothing left to regenerate the next day.

  Didn’t I hear that the Athanaus only escaped last year? Mikal turned to look at Pravara for confirmation. My father said that they had started noticing the drain on people’s jhorun at the end of last year. We had just assumed that was when the creature escaped.

  Balthor shook his head.

  That means it had depleted its supply of available jhorun and began actively seeking other sources. You must trust me on this. There is only one shealk responsible for the thriper’s escape, and that is me.

  So that’s why you were unable to return to Gareth and his mother, Mikal deduced. With your jhorun gone you were unable to shift back to a human, is that it?

  Correct. I wanted nothing more than to be able to return to my human family but that dream had been taken from me. To say that I felt like an extreme failure would have been an understatement.

  Gareth stared at his father with a sympathetic look.

  All this time. You were stuck here because you couldn’t switch back to a human. I should have known you wouldn’t have deserted mother and me.

  Deserted you? Never, my son.

  Mikal glanced over at the shealk Dragon Lord to judge his reaction. Lord Phaedren was strangely quiescent as he sat there, staring at both father and son. After a few moments Lord Phaedren’s head, as if sensing he was being watched, swiveled over to his.

  YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY, HUMAN?

  Do you know who I am?

  IF YOU DON’T LIKE TO BE CALLED ‘HUMAN’ THEN YOU JUST NEED TO SAY SO.

  Sorry, that’s not what I mean. What I meant to say was, do you know what my jhorun is?

  NO. HOW WOULD YOU EXPECT ME TO KNOW THAT?

  Wow. Let me try that again. My jhorun is very unique. It’s been defined as the enhancement of other jhoruns, if you presently have a jhorun to be enhanced, and –

  THIS HELPS US HOW, EXACTLY? Lord Phaedren dryly asked.

  You didn’t let me finish. Not only can I enhance an existing jhorun but I can also give jhorun to those who don’t have any.

  WHAT? Lord Phaedren sputtered, rising up several feet from the mesa floor. YOU CAN?

  Would you mind saying that again? Balthor slowly asked, certain he had misheard Mikal’s explanation of what his jhorun could do.

  For someone without a jhorun, Mikal slowly and carefully explained, I can gift a person with a jhorun. In your case, uh, Balthor, I should be able to give you back your jhorun as long as you can explain it to me in as much detail as you can. If you don’t then you run the risk of getting something different which will behave in a different manner. That’s what I decided I did wrong when I gave those other people their jhoruns back. I was giving them what I thought their jhorun was. Please remember, if we go through with this, your jhorun won’t be at full strength. However, you will at least get a supply back that will start regenerating on its own.

  Balthor looked excitedly at Mikal before turning to look at his son. A few moments later he turned to Lord Phaedren. He reverently bowed his head.

  My Lord, please, would you permit young Mikal to apply his jhorun to me?

  SO YOU CAN SHIRK YOUR DUTIES ONCE MORE BY HIDING ON DRY LAND?

  I’ve never hidden from my duties, My Lord.

  I WILL PERMIT THE HUMAN PRINCE TO HEAL YOU. WITH REGARDS TO YOUR DESIRE TO SEE YOUR HUMAN FAMILY AGAIN, THAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN.

  I cannot abandon my family, My Lord. Please, have mercy.

  WE WILL DISCUSS WHAT IS TO BE DONE ABOUT YOUR LIFE AS A HUMAN ONCE THE THRIPER HAS BEEN CONTAINED ONCE MORE.

  If I can get the thriper back into his prison will you allow me to see my wife and son?

  THAT IS A MATTER TO BE DISCUSSED AT A LATER TIME. RIGHT NOW THE THRIPER HAS TO BE DEALT WITH.

  Is that why you’re allowing me to have my jhorun back? So I can try and solve yet another problem when no one else can?

  WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?

  My Lord, I do not think you have any idea what we wizards go through on a daily basis. Healing, communication, protection. We’re responsible for it all. Correction. With Amentharias gone all of it now falls to me. Since I haven’t had my jhorun for over two years I can only imagine the amount of work that is waiting for me. My Lord, I am overwhelmed. I have been so for quite some time. Why do you think I was sneaking away? There has to be more to life than work.

  I AM BEGINNING TO SEE YOUR POINT. CAN YOU TRAIN ANOTHER?

  To become a wizard? No. The level of jhorun necessary to become a wizard is something that you have to have been born with.

  LIKE YOUR OFFSPRING?

  Don’t even think it. He is not going to have the same life I did. I want him to be free to do whatever he wants to do. He is a human, my Lord, not a shealk.

  I WILL CONSIDER YOUR WORDS. YOUNG MIKAL, WOULD YOU PLEASE SEE IF YOU CAN RESTORE OUR WIZARD’S JHORUN?

  Mikal swallowed noisily and looked at Gareth’s father, who was now giving him an imploring look in return.

  I’ll do what I can. Do you have someplace quiet where we can go?

  DIRECTLY BEHIND ME AND TO THE LEFT IS A CAVERN. YOU MAY USE THAT.

  Balthor swam off. Mikal cast a quick look at his friends and then followed after him. Lord Phaedren was right. Near the far ring of jagged rocks was a rather large outcropping of stone that was extending in to the underwater mesa. Swimming around the outcropping revealed a mouth to a tunnel that curved in and to the right, depositing them inside a large empty cavern.

  What do you need me to do? Balthor anxiously asked.

  I need you to tell me about your jhorun. How does it work? What do you typically do with it? What are your triggers?

  My triggers? I don’t know what you mean by that. My jhorun is the ability to work with spells. I can see the inner components of a spell in my head. I can determine which…

  You can determine which components are needed to make an accurate spell, Mikal interrupted, hearing enough of a description of Balthor’s jhorun to trigger a recent memory. You can work compl
ex spells in your head without having to speak them out loud. You can –

  Explain yourself. How do you know this?

  Because Gareth told me. That’s his jhorun, too, Balthor. You share the same jhorun. This is going to be easier than I thought.

  How does this help us?

  It helps us because I already know how your jhorun works. Now be quiet. I need to concentrate.

  Mikal closed his eyes and ordered his parietal eye to remain closed, too. He wanted total darkness for this. He felt his jhorun tingle throughout his body and cast it out at Balthor. He was right. His jhorun did not encounter any jhorun anywhere within his friend’s father. The Athanaus had drained it all out of him.

  Switching tactics, Mikal focused on what he knew about Gareth’s jhorun. His friend’s remarkable ability to formulate spells was exactly what his father could do. What he had to do was simple. He had to transfer enough of his own jhorun to Balthor so that it would be enough to start regenerating, and then he had to give the jhorun a set of instructions which would define what kind of task it would perform.

  Clearing his mind of all random thoughts, Mikal pictured an empty room, much like the cavern he was in right now. He focused his jhorun and siphoned off a tiny amount and pictured it as a small, dancing ball of light.

  A spark of light appeared in his imaginary room. Whether or not it appeared in the cavern with them remained to be seen since he was unwilling to open his eyes and break his concentration. Once the spark was burning bright enough he brought up all his memories of Gareth telling him how his jhorun worked, and all the mundane explanations of what he did to modify a spell, and applied it to the spark of light.

  The spark turned light green. It had accepted the instructions and was now waiting patiently to be given to a new host. In his mind he pictured Balthor waiting quietly in the empty room. His large blue shealk body was resting comfortably on the floor and wasn’t moving. Mikal ordered the spark to move over to the prone form of his father’s friend and allowed it to sink down into the water dragon’s chest.

  He waited a few moments to make sure the shealk had accepted the jhorun. He sent his own jhorun to investigate. He felt the spark and knew it was there. After a few moments he withdrew his jhorun and allowed himself to open his eyes. Balthor was still there, staring expectantly at him.