Diary of a Conjurer (3 page)

Hacatine’s ships stabbed at
the moonlight to the east, catching wind and moving with
considerable speed. The cloud might conceal the
galiot soon, but Silvio doubted a little fog would hinder the
queen’s pursuit.

“
Then run.” Reuben said.
“Your magic is strong. Follow the coast west to the bay, and then
veer north.
Meet up with those two.” He
nodded toward the sea where they had last seen their friends. “I
doubt that they perished. Kaempie is too good a wizard for such an
end. Go. Have hope. My heart lies elsewhere.”

Silvio couldn’t have stopped
Reuben with words or magic. He watched the older wizard walk east
along the shoreline for a little way, and then disappear into the
forest that bordered it. Silvio knew those woods, having foraged
them with his mother, and he had seen the mysterious city of
Alisubbo that it bordered. Protected by their own inventions,
Alisubbo was a contention of Hacatine’s even before she crowned
herself queen. No Taikan had ever gained entry, nor had their
attacks ever been fruitful.

They are too wise in that city,”
Silvio’s mother had told him. “They have weapons that take the
wizards and sorceresses by surprise. No one will ever conquer
them.” And then she whispered something in his ear that he would
never forget. “And they have the wind of the north on their
side.”

Silvio drew his breath as Reuben
disappeared. Here he was. Left alone on the beach.

Silvio gathered what supplies were
left. A bag of food, his bow and arrow, and a lance he could use
for a walking stick. He slung the pack on his back and turned
west.

Flee

A terrible storm hit the
coast
that night. High winds blew as Silvio
scrambled along the beach. The tempest was so violent that the only
way to keep the flying sand from burning his eyes was to put on his
cloak and cover his head. It made navigating difficult. His hood
flew into his face and blinded him, causing him to bump into
boulders and stumble over rocks. His lips soon grew chapped from
the salt in the air. Teeth grinding against sand, Silvio eyed the
forest that bordered the beach, wondering if he’d find shelter from
the gale without being hit by a falling tree. He decided to take
his chances.

He climbed the bank. The wind
was at his back now, and the tall boulders in the crevice of the
cliff kept it at bay, making it easier to breathe. Tripping over
his cloak several times before he made it to the crest, he looked
out over the night vista. Lightning flashed. Thunder
rumbled as electricity stiffened the hair on his
neck. With every strobe of light, he looked at the beach to see if
he could spot Hacatine. Once he saw a ship moored not far off
shore.

Silvio came to the hilltop
and ran
. He was scared and his muscles were
tense. He tripped and scraped his knees. It hurt.

He collapsed on a log just as the
storm let loose with rain. In the thundering downpour the wild
screech of a condor pierced his ears.

There they are. I’m doomed.

He closed his eyes, touched the
chain around his neck, and willed his mother’s words to return to
him.

“
Like the
branches of a stately fir, your arms will spread. Your eyes will
see everything that goes on around you, but no one will see you.
You will be nourished by the air you breathe, and in your guise,
you will find peace.”

Suddenly, the rain wasn’t
cold any longer. Instead, it was warm and sweet. He could taste it
with every pore in his body. He opened his eyes to find
himself
towering high above the ground, his
arms outstretched, balancing fragrant boughs that danced in the
wind. He was a tree. Or rather he was Silvio disguised as a tree.
The forest wasn’t strange to him any longer. It was home. He was
part of it.

Peace
shrouded him, just as his mother had said.
Sleep came quickly.

Pursuit

“
I know you’re
here.”

It was a wicked voice that
called out at sunrise. If he hadn’t been standing so tall in the
forest with his head so high in the sky, he might not have heard
her. But the ocean breeze sent the sound to him as a warning that
the witch queen walked the sands below. He could see her in the
distance. Her long white hair blew in the wind as the folds of her
silk dress rustled against her slender body.
Her personal guards, the griffons dotted the sky, circling
high above the queen.

“Kaempie, Meneka, Reuben and
Silvio. Answer me. Show yourselves and you will have amnesty.”

Amnesty, my foot. When has she
ever been merciful to a wizard? Well, at least I know now that she
hasn’t found the others yet.

“Silvio, I’ll release your mother
if you show yourself.”

Silvio winced. A sharp pain of
remorse ran its dagger through his heart. His worse fear was
realized.

“I’ve followed your tracks, boys. I
know you’re here. You can’t hide from a sorceress. You know
that.”

Hacatine wasn’t alone.
Two
dinghies came ashore and now the beach
was crawling with Taikan warriors, all of them women. They were
muscular, dressed in furs and armed with more weapons than Silvio
had ever seen. “If I have to look for you, you will suffer, and so
will your families.”

Silvio worried about his
mother, and he thought about Kaempie’s sisters and whatever family
Meneka had left.

He wasn’t a hero. But he was wise
enough in his own wizardry to know it wouldn’t matter if he gave
himself up. Hacatine was ruthless. Her word meant nothing. She’d
kill him and his mother anyway. Her callous dealings with the
wizards after the war proved how savage she was.

The sorceress gathered her
women together in a huddle on the beach. She signaled the griffons
with her staff, and they dove nearer to land, their featherless
heads bent low. She sent them away and like arrows, the wind in
their wings whistled as they hovered over the beach and into the
forest. Silvio saw Hacatine pointing toward the cliff, sending her
scouts in different directions, none of which was toward
him.

Perfect. I’ll run again. Perhaps I
can put enough distance between us that she’ll never find me.
Perhaps I’ll meet up with Kaempie and the northern winds. Maybe I
have a chance, after all.

Silvio willed his release from the
limbs of the tree and landed on the ground, a bit shorter than he
had been. It was an odd sensation, being a wizard in a teenage body
again. It took a moment or two of stretching in order to loosen his
stiff limbs. But once he had, he was ready to run. He gathered his
lance, put his bow and arrows on his back, and stuffed his cloak
into his pack, swinging it over his shoulder. He felt refreshed
this morning. His feet were limber enough to move with speed, and
so he did.

Skipping over roots, his feet
flew across the spongy forest floor. He ducked under branches and
dodged the twigs that slapped at him. Spider webs tickled his face
as he burst through their hairy threads, but nothing stopped his
pace.

He stayed close to the bank.
Daylight shone through the trees to his right so that he caught
glimpses of the ocean. He’d follow the coast, like Reuben had told
him to. If he was quick enough, perhaps he’d find his friends
again.

Silvio ran all morning. The air in
the woods was moist, smelling like seawater and mushrooms. He
hadn’t eaten, but had fed more on the excitement of his travels,
and the hope of meeting up with Kaempie in the northern lands.

When the sun reached its zenith,
the heat made travel difficult at high speed. No longer did the
ocean breeze reach the bluffs and cool his sweating body. The air
was still—still enough to hear the mosquitos that buzzed around his
face. He had to rest.

While looking for a log to
sit on, he came to a clearing that overlooked the sea. The great
body of water had become a narrower channel, one that stretched
west and ended at a patch of greens and golds. Silvio could see the
bay, the marshes, and the prairie that led to the foothills. Across
the water was his journey’s end, the glorious mountain that the
winds protected. A safe haven
.

“Silvio.”

He jumped, his heart leaped to his
throat as he searched for the owner of the voice. He didn’t see
her, but he knew it was Hacatine.

“Silvio, I know you’re out there.
We’ve found something that belongs to you. How shiny it is! I think
I know where it came from.”

The shadow of a griffon
blocked the sun and cast a shadow over him. Silvio squinted as he
watched the bird soar overhead. The creature squawked and then flew
away. It had found its prey.

He didn’t stop to think, but his
hand reached for his neck only to discover that the chain his
mother had given him was gone. It must have fallen off when he
turned into a tree.

Out of instinct, he sprang down the
hill, running faster than he ever had, or ever thought he could,
toward that patch of green grass and the forest south of it, hoping
for the chance to make it to safety.

When he reached a marshland, he
realized his peril. Hacatine’s warriors were running faster than he
had been. They were long legged, quick and graceful like deer. They
appeared out of the brush, scattered in amongst the trees. Arrows
flew but Silvio was wiry enough to avoid them. The women weren’t
trying to kill him. Hacatine wanted him alive. She’d never be able
to steal his wizardry if she killed him.

Being so light, he skidded across
the muddy marsh and escaped its hold. But his pursuers sank. The
armor they wore weighed them deep into the loam, and those who had
not yet been trapped by the wetlands stopped to help their
comrades. It was Silvio’s chance to get away. He ran as fast and as
hard as he could.

He followed the beach a short
distance until he came to a grassy meadow wild with flowers. Racing
through the field, he headed toward the forest that bordered
it.

Hacatine’s warriors,
with
griffons hovering over their heads,
cleared the marsh and resumed the chase. They rustled through the
reeds close behind him. Silvio’s breath was so short he could
hardly breathe. His hair matted to his head from sweat. He peeked
over his shoulder. Some of the women were crouching in the grass
stringing their bows.

With a lunge, he dodged
behind the first tree he came to. Caressing its stately trunk, he
closed his eyes tight
and thought of his
mother. Even without the tiny chain, and with all the strength he
had left, he willed his mother’s magic to take hold.

His arms stiffened as a yellow glow
of power melted him into the thick stringy bark. His heart slowed
and his body cooled as he let himself be absorbed by the tree. He
stretched tall. There were no boughs or greenery for the cedar he
clung to was old and dry. But he had the heavens to reach for. He
stood so far above the valley that the meadow, the ocean, a
prairie, and mountain range were his vista. Rocking ever so
slightly with the wind, his arms were the branches swaying in the
breeze. Sunlight warmed his back. Far below, the group of warrior
women who had been pursuing him circled his trunk, calling to one
another. One by one, they disappeared into the forest.

They don’t know
I’m here.
Even though the buzzards circled
above him, Silvio smiled, pleased with the deception and thankful
for his mother. Peace returned.

Safety

The only thing he needed now
was to endure. Patience was much easier to acquire when he was
tapped into this strong majestic pillar whose roots dug far into
the soil.
I’ll wait here until
I’m certain I’m safe. Even though those warriors passed by, I know
they’ll be back.

There was no way to know how long
the women would search through the woods, but he didn’t want the
warriors to catch his scent when they returned.

Besides, refuge in the old cedar
tree was comfortable.

The view was magnificent. The
fragrant smells of evergreen from the western forest refreshed his
spirits. This was the forest Kaempie spoke so highly of. A haven
for deer and elk. No wonder the hunters longed to come here.
The undergrowth was thicker than the Bandene woods,
and flourished with berries and herbs.

A call from below woke him from his
musing. When he looked to the east, his heart sank. Hacatine walked
in the meadow with an army by her side, and she was calling his
name.

“Silvio, I know you’re alone and I
know you’re in those woods. Come out. Come on home, lad.”

He watched her traipse through the
grass, the swarm of soldiers following her. Black dots across a sea
of green, invading the fields like locusts. The Griffons blackened
the sky. How she knew he was in the forest puzzled him until he saw
the flash of light that bounced from the dagger in her hands.

Forged from the heat of
magical powers she had kept aside whenever she had a harvest, the
dagger could wield both will and sorcery with incomprehensible
license.
My
baby,
Silvio had once heard
her call it. Perhaps it couldn’t do everything she wanted it to,
but she claimed that once all the Taikan wizards belonged to her,
the magic would rule the world.

Something that must never, ever
happen.

“I sense your presence.” She had
the dagger in her hand, light flashing on the ground under the
tree, and then into the forest, and back again.