The Lost Mage (23 page)

The light bug. Look, there’s another one.

Darakin was struggling to see what the cat was talking about when it occurred to him that Mrowley was attacking the reflected light in the water.

“Silly cat. That’s not a bug. It’s a reflection.”

No, no, it’s a bug. Look, they’re fast. Much faster than flies.

“No, kitty. Look, see when I cover the stream of light from the window,” Darakin put his hand in between the light and the water, “no reflection.” He took his hand away. “And now – reflections!”

It’s back!
Mrowley dunked his paw in the water again.

Darakin laughed. “How is it that you understand about the average speed of a housefly, but the idea of a reflection stumps you?”

Dude, I think I know a light bug when I see one.

Darakin shook his head. “Well, that may be, but I need you to not stick your paw in this. I’m going to put some of the lizard-demon’s residue in –”

Mm. Lizard.
Mrowley’s mouth moved in an involuntary chewing motion at the thought of lizard meat.

“No. Not lizard. Demon. I’m going to put his residue in here and try to read it for clues about its location. If your fur or anything is in here, it will interfere with my reading.” He picked the bowl up and took it to the sink to dump the water and start over. Mrowley raced into the kitchen with him and jumped up to watch the water going down the drain for signs of the light bug.

“Mrowley!”

What?

“I thought you were going to stay off the counters.”

Huh?

“I don’t want you on the counters.”

Okay, dude. You only have to ask.

“I did!” Darakin heard a chuckle from the entryway and turned to see Nora standing there.

“Are you still arguing with that cat about keeping off the counters, then?”

“Well, I keep asking and he acts like it’s the first time he’s hearing it every time.”

“Aye, well I’m convinced that ADD is part of all cats’ genetics.”

“You mentioned that before. What is ADD?”

“Attention Deficit Disorder. It means they have trouble paying attention and processing what you’re saying.”

“Trouble obeying is more like it.”

“What cat has ever obeyed when it didn’t suit their needs?” She walked in behind him and rubbed his shoulders. “Come now, you’ve admitted you’ve never lived with a cat before. You’ll have to trust me on this – obey is not part of their vocabulary.”

“You sound like him now.”

“That’s because it’s true.”

“Well, I’m trying to do my scrying spell and he keeps attacking the reflections in the water, saying they’re ‘light bugs’.”

Nora laughed. “Do you want me to put him in the bedroom?”

Dude. Let me watch. Please?

“He says he wants to watch.” He looked at the pleading cat. “Fine. But no more light bugs, okay?”

Sure, sure. You take care of them.

Darakin rolled his eyes and headed back to the living room with his fresh bowl of water. Nora followed.

“Did I wake you?” Darakin asked as he carefully sat on the floor with the water.

“Aye. I kept hearing you yell ‘Mrowley’.”

“Sorry,” he gave Mrowley a dirty look. The cat blinked innocently back at him.

“It’s okay. I’m kind of curious to see your spell. What’s going to happen?”

“Well, I’ll cast a circle around this area – you’ll need to choose to be in or out of it because you can’t break it once cast, then I’ll burn the incenses and imbue the water with their essence to purify it. Then I’ll put some of the demon residue in the water. If the spell works correctly, the residue will form a shape that will help discern the demon’s location.”

“You think maybe you should make a sketch of what you see? I mean, you’re not exactly familiar with the locations around here.”

“Good idea! Do you one of those magic pens you use?”

“Magic pens?”

“One of those pens that writes without being dipped in an inkwell.”

Nora laughed. “Sure. But I think maybe a pencil would be better for this.” She went to the kitchen and returned with a pencil and some paper.

Darakin held up the pencil and stared at it.

“It’s sort of like charcoal that doesn’t get your fingers all messy,” Nora tried to explain.

“Why would you give me the number two? Why would we not use a number one?”

Nora looked at the number two in the black circle on the pencil. “Oh, that just means, well, actually I’m not sure what it means. Something to do with the thickness of the lead it uses to write with I think. It doesn’t matter. It’s better for making a sketch than a pen would be.”

“Thank you. I’ll start now.”

“Okay. This should be interesting.”

“I’m sorry, Nora, but I only know the magic incantations in the languages of my realm, so that’s what I’ll have to use to cast the circle and do the spell.”

“Oh, okay.”

“So, are you staying inside the circle or out of it?”

“I’d like to be inside, if that’s okay. What’s the purpose of the circle?”

“Any time you’re doing a spell, it’s a good idea to use a circle to contain the forces you summon.”

“Oh.”

Darakin had Nora light each of the candles and then patted the spot next to him, indicating that she should sit there. Then he stood and held up his dagger; the only of his weapons that he’d actually been wearing when he was summoned to this realm. He faced each of the directions, chanting some invocations in a very strange sounding language. Once he was done, he sat in front of the bowl and did another incantation before lighting the incense. He held the burning incense next to the bowl at the water level and gently blew the smoke over the water.

Once he was satisfied with his preparations, he took the jar with the lizard slime in it. He fished some of it out using the piece of the branch that he’d collected it with. The residue dropped into the bowl and swirled around for a few minutes before settling down.

Darakin bent over to look at the design formed by the slime. His brow furrowed in puzzlement, but with a shake of his head, he began sketching what he saw in the scrying bowl. When he was done, he dismissed the circle and blew out the candles.

Nora picked up the sketch in her hand and stared at it, her restrained laughter causing a slight smile to form on her lips. “Um, Darakin?”

“Yes?”

“What is this?”

“I don’t know, Nora. I only sketched what the bowl showed me. I don’t know what it means.”

She put the sketch down and stood to give him a hug. “I’m sorry the spell didn’t work.”

He pulled back from her. “What are you talking about? It worked. There’s the image that formed.”

“But it’s useless! It doesn’t show a location at all!”

“So, that image means nothing to you?”

Nora stared again at the sketch he’d done. It showed a cartoon fork dancing with a spoon. “Well, sure, if it was hiding in Saturday morning cartoons, maybe. I mean, it looks kind of familiar, but I think it might be from an animated movie or something.”

“I was hoping it would mean something to you,” Darakin said with disappointment.

“I’m sorry. Is it possible it was in one of those previews we saw when we went to the movie a few days ago? Maybe that’s why it looks familiar?”

“I don’t recall seeing an image like this before.” He dropped the paper and watched it float to the floor, as did Mrowley, whose head bobbed from side to side as he tried to follow the motion of the floating paper. When it landed on the floor, he pounced and then sat back to watch it for further signs of movement.

Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmmity hmm.

“What’s he doing?” Nora asked in surprise. “It almost sounds like he’s singing!”

“Actually, he’s humming.”

“Wait, cats can hum?”

“Apparently. Mrowley, what are you doing?”

Mrowley began singing.
The Galaxy Café and Saloon …

“Now, he’s singing.”

“Cats can hum
and
sing? What’s he singing?”

Darakin attempted to repeat the cat’s song. “The Galaxy Café and Saloon …”

Nora, suddenly recognizing the jingle, continued the song, “where your fork and spoon will send you over the moon.”

Food and drink so good, it’s out of this world,
Mrowley finished the commercial’s tagline.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe I missed it! I’m so sorry to have doubted you, Darakin. The Galaxy Café and Saloon – it’s this silly, chain, space-travel themed restaurant and bar that runs ads that show a fork and spoon dancing over the moon. Where the hell did the cat learn that?”

Oh, it’s always on the magic box during the day.

“He says he sees it on the magic box during the day.”

“Is he … are you trying to tell me that he watches television when we’re not here?”

Yeah, but only when she remembers to leave those cabinet doors open.

“When you remember to leave the cabinet doors open, he says.”

“Forget to close them is more like it.”

Well, if she could forget to close them more, that would be great. I like watching the magic box.

“He wants you to forget to close them more often.”

“Well, I suppose there’s no harm in it. Mrowley, I’ll leave the doors open for you.” She turned her head and said to herself in a surprised voice, “I can’t believe I’m having this discussion.”