The Visitors
Theodore Bassi and Laurel Weaver rode their smoke-belching Wizard Cart down the ancient Selurian road toward Calway. The former was grumbling about the bumps in the road, while the latter was enjoying the journey through the ancient forest.
Theodore was a thin 2.1 meter tall man with a harsh, pale, scarred face. His blond hair and beard were turning to gray. He was wearing a pointed hat and robe, both made of an iridescent red fabric. This clothing was decorated with occult symbols in silver, gold, and stranger metals. He carried a tall metal staff studded with crystals and jewels. In short, he was the very model of a modern Council wizard.
Laurel, by contrast, was dressed in a sensible, modest, undecorated hooded cloak. She looked in her late twenties and had a round, kind, pleasant face that put people at ease. She carried a wooden staff decorated with live moss and lichen and a small but healthy bromeliad. She was 1.6 meters tall, and slightly chubby. Her long dark hair was matched by a healthy tan.
The two wizards rounded the final curve in the road and sighted Calway. The most noticeable thing about the village was that it was currently surrounded by Bluke heads, impaled on sticks. There was no stench; the heads still seemed fresh, although it had been several days since the battle. Someone had obviously gone to the effort of preserving them. Both Laurel and Theodore disapproved of such actions, of course, but they saw the reason for it. Out here in the wilderness, such savagery tended to be the natural outcome of prolonged low-intensity conflicts. And, given what was understood about the psychology of the Blukes, the ring of heads would no doubt be an effective deterrent.
They did not deter the two visitors, though. The wizard-cart sputtered up the road toward the ring. As its riders got closer to the village, their keen eyes, and other senses, noticed more signs of the recent conflict. There were several fresh graves in the church cemetery. The men and women working in the fields were alert and wary. There were no children outside the village.
They also saw a strong young man of noble bearing riding a horse around the fields. He had a sheathed rapier and was obviously patrolling for any sign of danger. Laurel recognized him as Andrew Lopez. He had spotted them some time before, but did not seem surprised by their presence. The wizards had obviously been expected.
Near the center of the village, Friar Kantz and the hedge wizard R. A. Yoder stood waiting for them. Both of them seemed to be concentrating their attention on the warding circle that held a restive Kronak Shelled Slug in captivity. Theodore stopped the cart by manipulating several controls, and then he and Laurel got out and walked toward the village.
Laurel knew that Theodore would normally have driven the cart right up to the door of where he was going, but the old wizard was smart enough not to spook a large magical beast with the unnatural and noisy thing.
When the wizards came to within ten meters of the ring of heads, the two Bluke heads that flanked the road abruptly came to life. Their eyes glowed red and focused on the intruders. Their mouths opened and produced a fierce hiss.
Laurel did not react, but Theodore's scowl showed that he was mildly annoyed. He held out his right hand, with the palm outward and the fingers spread. His hand glowed briefly with a fiery red-white light. A similar light appeared on each of the foreheads of the two Bluke heads. These lights coalesced, forming a figure on each head. It was a symbol depicting the top half of a sunburst. There were five rays coming out of the sun, mirroring the position of Theodore's fingers. Shortly after these figures appeared, the two heads burst into flames. In less than a second they were nothing more than piles of ash.
The visitors continued down the path. Yoder left The Slug and strode angrily toward Theodore, moving with surprising ease for such an old man. Once he got close enough, he started yelling, "Just what do you think you're doing? We put a lot of effort into that, and we don't have any more heads to replace those with. You've ruined the defensive perimeter; I hope you're happy."
Theodore's scowl deepened, but he retained his composure. "You have no right to address me like that, hedge wizard. Necromancy was specifically prohibited by the Aretto Decree of 1546, and I have every right to destroy necromantic creations whenever. . ."
Yoder interrupted him. "You don't have the right to do anything out here. You don't have the jurisdiction, and you don't have a clue about what we have to do to keep ourselves safe. Once you get what you came for, you can kindly get out."
Now Theodore was slightly upset. "We certainly do have the right to control this area. If I wanted to, I could have you both arrested and brought before the Council for improper use of magic."
Laurel spoke up. "Relax, Theodore. These things are just Skull Guardians. These two are not likely to go about raising legions of undead warriors. They do not have the power or the motive." She turned to Yoder. "But we do have jurisdiction here. Either you are behind the times or you are bluffing."
Yoder stalked away, muttering. The visitors continued on to Friar Kantz, who greeted them more pleasantly. "Please excuse the actions of my associate. We have all been stressed lately, between the battle, the cleanup, and trying to contain this beast." He indicated The Slug in the warding circle. It was growling and pressing its head against the invisible barrier.
Laurel nodded. She walked around The Slug's containment field slowly, inspecting it. After she completed the circuit, she waved her hands around several times. Several of the runes inscribed in the ground shifted position and changed form, and then the runes and the circle they were inscribed in started to glow brightly.
The Story
Laurel turned to Kantz. "You can rest now. That will hold her until it is time for us to leave. I see that Theodore is already heading toward Erin. I suggest we follow. What can you tell us about her?"
"There has been no change since I sent you the Message."
"Your Message was rather short, of necessity, and did not include the full story. Please, tell me of Erin's condition from the beginning, starting with her first manifestation of power."
Kantz was normally a reserved man, but now he found himself talking hastily, spilling his story to Laurel. "It was a shock to us all, but a welcome one. The battle was going badly, despite our best efforts. Aaron was locked in a mortal duel with the Gator-Mage, and the enemy was attacking us from all sides at once. It was all I could do to keep up the spirits of the townsfolk and keep them from panicking."
"Not that they are weak, of course, but a shock force of armed Brutes will ruin any force's day. They are a great group of men and women, and I have nothing but pride for..."
Laurel interrupted gently, "Please, focus on Erin."
"Yes, of course. I'm sorry. Anyway, the first thing I felt was a great presence in the middle of town, a manifestation of the power of winter itself. I looked over, and saw a thick cloud of ice and snow and fog, with the shape of a person barely visible inside. At first, I feared our doom, thinking that it was another Ogre-Mage. But then I realized that it did not feel like one of those terrible things. It felt familiar, and oddly comforting, like something that belonged with us. But it had a cold, dark edge to it as well, one that promised death and pain."
"Then, all of a sudden, the cloud started to strike down many of the attackers with great blasts of ice. They were confused, and began to panic. Andrew and I rallied the villagers, and in less than a minute, we were driving them out of town. The ice got many of them, and we got many more, but a substantial force got away into the woods. That is why we are still wary."
"While this was happening, I felt the Gator-Mage fly away. After that, Aaron focused his attention on the wintry presence. He felt in his heart what I could not sense, that the great force was his daughter. He ran toward her and called her name, and then I realized the truth."
"After the enemy left the middle of town, Erin's mind started to fade away. The cloud got smaller and weaker. We could tell that she was leaving us, that her soul was getting sucked into the Etherweb. The great force that she had used to save us was taking her away. She collapsed, lifeless, onto the ground."
While Kantz was talking, he and Laurel passed the blacksmith's shop. Laurel saw a huge pile of Bluke weapons, shields, and armor piled up inside. The blacksmith was sharpening a sword with a grinding stone. Theodore was watching this process intently, and when he began to move again he was behind the other two.
Kantz was still relating the events of the battle to Laurel. "But then Aaron reached her. He knelt down and placed his hand on his daughter's forehead. By this time, the feeling of winter had faded away entirely. Aaron's body slumped down, as sent his soul into the Etherweb after her. After a few seconds that seemed like hours, Erin started breathing again. Aaron also returned to us. He was nearly blind, and suffered from Ether stun, and Erin had severe frostbite."
"I was able to heal these wounds easily enough, but Erin remained unconscious. Even now, she is still comatose, although we can find nothing that might cause such an injury. No kind of healing seems to have any effect. Her parents have been tending her. They are both quite skilled and competent, and their love is great, but if you cannot aid us she will soon die."
They reached the Lopez manor just as Kantz finished. The house was atop a small hill in the middle of town, close to Kantz's chapel. A tall ivy-covered wall surrounded the house and yard. A solid new wooden door was set into an opening in the wall. Kantz indicated that it was the entrance, and all of them walked inside.
The Discovery
The yard of the Lopez manor was actually more of a pasture. Three horses and several dozen chickens could be seen roaming freely among the grass. But the Lopez manor had one feature that most pastures lacked. There were over a dozen red oak trees, of various ages, scattered around the yard. They dominated the scene, towering over the house and walls and giving the area a grand and stately air. Aside from these trees, there was little vegetation aside from the grass on the ground and the ivy on the walls.
There were two paths through the yard. Both of them went in a roughly north-south direction. The visitors were on the easternmost one. It was clearly the path for guests; it was well marked and paved with cobblestones. This path continued straight up the hill towards the house, and then forked. The fork on the right led to the courtyard. The left fork led into the front door of the manor, into the entrance hall. On the other end of the yard, there was a dirt path that led past the stables, chicken coops, and barns and into the rear of the kitchen on the far side of the house.
Kantz led the two wizards on the right fork. The courtyard had a low wall around it, so they could not see what was inside until they were at the top of the hill. But they could sense the effects of the courtyard. It was apparent, even at a distance, that the courtyard was in fact a mandala, a magical sculpture that gathered and focused the energies of the environment. The secrets of creating such things were rare, at least in eastern lands. The wizards correctly guessed that it was the work of Mei Lopez, Aaron's wife from the West.
The visitors soon reached the top of the hill, and were able to see into the courtyard. Erin was laying on a mattress in the middle of the courtyard, at the focus of the mandala. Her father and mother were tending her. Erin was breathing shallowly, and was perspiring. Mei was mopping her forehead with a damp cloth, while Aaron was chanting a prayer.
The visitors examined the scene, especially the mandala. All of them had the magical sight needed to see how the various elements of the courtyard worked together to channel the natural flows of energy in the Calway valley. Laurel inspected it appreciatively and opened herself up to its powers. Theodore scowled at it contemptuously and raised a ward around himself to protect his magic from contamination. Kantz walked in without a thought, neither accepting nor rejecting the energies.
When Aaron and Mei noticed the approach of the magi, they rose and turned toward their guests. Aaron walked over, and then stood at attention as he formally introduced himself and his wife.
"Honored travelers, you are most welcome to the house of Aaron Lopez, Lord of Calway, Guardian of the Duke's Commerce. I am in your debt and in your service. This is Mei Lopez, my wife of twenty-seven years and the steward of this house."
Theodore returned the formal greeting. "I, Theodore Bassi, Red Wizard of the Seventh Rank, accept your hospitality, and hope that I can bring good fortune to this house. This is my pupil, Laurel Weaver, Green Wizard of the Second Rank."
They then walked to the center and observed Erin. Laurel knelt down over her, gently touching the girl's forehead. Theodore stopped a few feet away. He reached inside his robes and brought out a leather satchel. He opened it to reveal a collection of tools, all buckled into place and neatly arranged. There were things that looked like magnifying glasses, jeweler's eyes, and a merchant's scales. There were ampules and vials filled with strange-looking papers, powders and liquids. But there were also menacing-looking things, like knives, needles, shears, and wires.
Laurel got up, walked over to Theodore, and spoke to him softly. "Erin does not suffer from mere overchanneling, and the mental trauma that she sustained due to Etherweb exposure has already been healed. There is something more at work here."
Theodore replied grumpily. "Of course there is. Even these people could treat such simple maladies." He gathered several tools and approached Erin. Aaron watched him warily, and his hand shifted ever so slightly toward his weapon as Theodore began to inspect his daughter.
Kantz noticed this. He moved toward Aaron, and began to speak in his best calming voice. "These magi are good people, and they only want to help your daughter. They are the personal physicians of the Duke of Noks. They are the best at what they do. I trust them. You should trust them."
Kantz could have hypnotized a raging lunatic with a speech like that. But Aaron's mind had been strengthened by years of adventuring and by the powers bestowed upon him as a paladin. He merely snorted, and folded his arms across his chest as he continued to glare at the magi.
Theodore did not notice this, or pretended not to. He pored over Erin with one of the magnifying glasses. It seemed to Aaron that the wizard was using the glass wrong. He had it too close; it was focused several inches beneath Erin's skin. All you would see at that distance would be a blur.
After about two minutes, Theodore stopped observing Erin in this fashion. At some silent signal, Laurel gathered several things from the bundle of tools and walked over to where Erin lay. She gently took Erin's left arm and lay it flat on the mattress with the palm and the inside of the arm facing up.
Laurel opened a small jar filled with a brown liquid. She then dipped a clean white cotton ball halfway into the liquid. With the cotton ball, she swabbed the liquid on Erin's skin on the inside of her arm, below the elbow. It quickly dried, leaving a brown stain.
Laurel then picked up a fairly large needle. The sharp end gleamed in the morning sun, and the other end was covered with a rubber-like substance. Laurel held the needle so that it was almost parallel with Erin's arm, and then carefully inserted the needle in the brown-stained area of Erin's skin. Aaron twitched at this, but his daughter did not. After making sure that the needle was in the vein, Laurel put a patch of clean cotton gauze over where the needle entered the skin and wrapped a bandage around Erin's arm to hold the gauze in place.
Laurel then took a small, empty glass vial with a rubber seal and twisted it onto the end of the needle. Blood immediately spurted into the vial, causing Aaron and Mei to jump in alarm. Kantz quickly reassured them that this was a normal part of the Ritual of Blood, and that it would soon be over.
The vial was completely filled with Erin's blood in about four seconds. When this had happened, Laurel twisted the vial off the needle. Somehow, the vial was sealed tightly so that no blood escaped. No blood came out of the needle either, although it was still in Erin's vein. All of the onlookers could see that serious, high-quality magic was being worked.
While Laurel was drawing Erin's blood, Theodore had been picking up a small piece of cloth from his toolkit and spreading it out. Then, he opened several of the containers and poured out small amounts of powders and liquids onto the cloth. The liquids did not soak into the cloth, but remained in little beads, like water on a waxy leaf.
Laurel walked over to Theodore and gave him the vial of Erin's blood. Theodore then attached another, smaller, needle to the vial and turned it upside down. Erin's blood was released onto the cloth and chemicals in small controlled drops until the vial was half empty.
Some of the things the blood landed on changed colors, and some of them did not. Neither wizard made any sound during this procedure, but both watched the results intently.
After about a minute of this, Theodore frowned and Laurel looked puzzled. The old wizard paused, then came to a decision. He poured out all of the rest of Erin's blood so that it formed a small pool on the cloth. He then murmured a spell over this blood. At the end of the spell, he dropped a small diamond into the blood.
As soon as the gem touched Erin's blood, the blood disappeared and was replaced by a small cloud of white fog. Deep within this fog, the gem glinted once. Then, the fog changed shape and color with startling speed. It turned blue, and coalesced into the unmistakable shape of a dragon.
Laurel gasped in horror. Theodore immediately turned around and shouted, "Move her off the mandala."
Aaron protested. "But without the healing energy, she will die."
"I am the expert here, not you." Theodore snapped. "Something is living inside her. That thing is absorbing the energy of this courtyard before it can get to Erin. It grows within her, feeding on her life energy as well as the power you have so graciously given it. Move her, now!"
Aaron and Kantz followed his instructions and lifted the mattress that Erin was laying on, taking care not to disturb the needle that was still in her vein. They started to take their burden into the house. Mei rushed ahead of them to prepare a more suitable bed. Theodore turned to Laurel. "We must find the source of this contamination. Get me that hedge wizard. I will stay here and do what I can to stabilize the girl."
Laurel left the courtyard, going through the door that led to the road outside. Theodore gathered up his equipment and followed Aaron and Kantz inside the Lopez manor house. The Red Wizard found Erin laying on her parents' bed, and spread his equipment out on the air next to the bed.
Theodore's hands began to move swiftly and surely. Bottles and vials were opened, and liquids and crystal salts were mixed. Little balls of fire and ice appeared, heating and cooling the various ingredients at intervals.
Kantz watched this procedure with respect, mentally taking notes on the wizard's technique. Aaron watched with a grim suspicious scowl. Mei watched with a calm unblinking expression that betrayed nothing.
After about three minutes, the wizard held a vial of red liquid. He turned around and addressed the others. "This will cause a reaction. Be prepared to heal her."
They moved closer. Theodore twisted the vial onto the needle in Erin's arm. Its contents drained through the needle into Erin's vein. Just after the last drop left the vial, Theodore pulled the needle out of the vein quickly but smoothly, and then backed off hastily.
Erin moved, for the first time in three days. She gasped, and twitched. Aaron quickly placed one hand on her chest and another on her head as he uttered, "Light and Life, Flow and Heal."
Erin relaxed again. Her breathing was deeper now, more steady then it had been before. She also looked better and more comfortable. The wound in her arm, where the needle had been, healed instantly and completely. But she remained unconscious.
Theodore was the first to speak. "That is all we can do for now. She must rest and we must work."
Aaron replied with the demanding tone of an officer, "What exactly is happening to her? How will we be able to stop it?"
Theodore turned to her. "As I said before, there is something living inside of her. It is a God's Blood entity, far more sophisticated than the spawn of Gregu. It has hidden itself very well, mimicking her own God's Blood as it slowly consumes her. We cannot drive it out by force; that would kill her. We cannot use normal healing techniques, because that would only feed the thing inside of her. My potion has weakened the thing and halted its growth, but it is only temporary and will not work twice."
Mei looked the old wizard square in the eyes and spoke for the first time. "Yet there is still hope. I can see it in your eyes. I saw it in your actions."
Theodore nodded. "You are correct. We must find the source of this creature. I do not think it is from the Etherweb; my theory is that it was dormant in some kind of magic item. We must find this item. If we do, then I can trick the being inside of Erin into returning to its former home. But we must act fast. If we delay, then it will grow too large to be contained in that item, and it will never leave her. I estimate that we have a day before she is lost forever."
The wizard turned to leave. "And so, I will waste no time. I am going to find this item."
Aaron, Mai, and Kantz watched him go. Kantz said, "I must go back to the chapel now. There are others who need healing. But rest assured that I will return here to help with the removal when they find this item. You can tend her until then."
The Search
Theodore found Laurel and Yoder on the road outside the Lopez manor. They were chatting pleasantly, and Theodore interrupted, "I want to see anything magical that was recovered from the recent attack. Something that was brought into town recently is responsible for Erin's state."
Yoder protested, "We examined everything that was dropped by Linebarger and the Blukes. Nothing had enough magic to do something like that to her. The only objects of power in this town now are the ones that have always belonged here. There is my staff, which Erin never touched. There is Aaron's weapon, which likewise she never touched. There are alters and vestments in the chapel, and many magical tools in the Tower of Art, but those have never left the buildings they belonged in."
"Perhaps one of the Blukes carried a magic weapon?"
"Impossible." I would have noticed it during the battle. The only one with magic was that Gator-mage, and he left nothing behind.
"What of that Litling merchant? Perhaps he carried something with eldritch power?"
"He had a Deathflash grenade, but he used it in the battle. Anything else he had is either on his slug or buried with him."
"Show me the grave."
Yoder led them to a mound of dirt and rocks in the churchyard, and then excused himself. The Litling's grave was marked with a hastily carved wooden marker, but it was deep and well-covered. Seven feet of hard-packed dirt, gravel, and rocks lay between the wizards and the Litling. Theodore peered down. "I see nothing that is magical, or could contain magic. There is only mundane clothing here. We need to examine that slug."
They left the churchyard and went to the town center and the warding circle with the captive slug. Theodore and Laurel moved to opposite ends of the circle, and began to use their magic sight to look inside all of the bags that still adorned The Slug. Theodore was the first to speak. "There are many things here with some magic, but nothing beyond the level of a charm. They must be hiding something."
"Wait," said Laurel. "I do not sense any deception. Battles are extremely chaotic. They probably do not know what happened. I think that we should consider evidence as well as memories."
She continued. "From what I have heard of the events of that night, Linebarger died near where Erin manifested magical powers. I am sure that something the Litling owned is behind this. Perhaps we can find a ledger listing his possessions."
Theodore shrugged. "You do that if you want to. I will keep asking these people questions."
Laurel and Theodore separated then. Laurel stayed near The Slug and used her magic sight to look inside the bags and compartments for a ledger, notebook, memory crystal, string of quipu knots, or any other standard form of record keeping.
Theodore hastened to the Chapel. Calway's center of worship was surrounded by a verdant courtyard, which was separated from the road by an iron fence about one meter tall. The wizard opened an iron gate in this fence and started down the path that led through the courtyard to the chapel itself.
The path was lined with all manner of grasses, herbs, flowers, shrubs, and trees, but one type of plant dominated the courtyard. There was a line of red oak trees on each side of the path. These trees were hundreds of years old, and towered above the chapel building itself.
Theodore looked closely into these trees as he walked past them. There was definite power in these trees, power that he would do well to consider more closely. But that could wait until he dealt with the matter at hand.
The Red Wizard opened the main door to the sanctuary. He saw that many of the pews had been removed, and replaced with beds and mattresses on the floor. Eleven of these were occupied by patients, in various stages of injury and recovery.
Theodore found Kantz tending a woman with a head injury on one of these beds. He brusquely said, "Tell me who buried the Litling."
Kantz, annoyed by this intrusion, was equally brusque. "That was Mrs. Sigmon."
"Where is she?"
Theodore followed Kantz's directions to a farmhouse on the outskirts of town. He entered her house without knocking, and looked around. Mrs. Sigmon was sewing up a shirt. She immediately noticed the wizard storm in, and asked, "How can I help you?"
Theodore continued to examine the room. Aside from one of Yoder's ginseng ovens and some vacuum containers, there were no magical auras. Theodore walked over to the locked oven, opened it, and looked inside. There was nothing. He closed it again. During this process, he had not touched the lock or latch at all. Only after he did this did he acknowledge Mrs. Sigmon's presence.
"Tell me, was the Litling missing anything when you buried him?"
Mrs. Sigmon was angry now, and completely unafraid if this meddling stranger. "Aside from half his ribs?"
"Don't be flippant with me. Tell me what was missing."
"I don't know. Nothing springs to mind."
Theodore sighed. "Tell me what he looked like when he rode into town in the morning. Describe what he was wearing and holding, from his head to his toes."
"Well, he had that big ol' hat, and the bright scarf, and the suit. He was holding his whip and his cane, and there were rings on his fingers and toes.
"How many rings?"
"Oh, I can't rightly say. It seemed that there was one or two on each and every finger and toe."
"He was not buried with any rings."
"And how do you know that? You been digging up people?"
"No, I can see through dirt. Now, tell me where his rings are."
"We put them all in a bag and put the bag on The Slug. We figured his relations would be wanting them back. And there were three of us what did it, and we were all three made sure no one grabbed any."
Theodore scowled with the distaste that an educated person has for bad grammar, but said nothing except, "What of the whip and cane?"
"No, he didn't have them when we found him. Who would take them things into battle?"
"So, he did not need his cane to walk?"
"No, he just carried it everywhere and twirled it around all the time."
"What did this thing look like?"
"It was made of funny gray stuff, and its handle was carved like a dragon. It looked cold and mean. I reckon it is still with The Slug if you want to look at it."
"Would you describe the Litling as cold and mean?"
"Heavens no, he was the brightest and cheerfullest thing that ever walked."
"Thank you, Mrs. Sigmon."
Theodore walked out of the house and headed back to The Slug at a hurried pace. When he got near The Slug, he barked at Laurel, "Have you found a cane or rod with a dragon handle?"
Laurel was reading a notebook. "Yes, there was something like that in a bag with his clothes and personal effects." As she talked, she gestured to a bag on the slug, and it jumped through the air into her hand. She opened the bag.
"Don't touch it"
Laurel shook the bag a couple times, adding a magical nudge. The cane dropped out and landed on the ground outside the slug's warding circle.
Theodore drew a different magic circle areound the cane where it fell, and then started to examine the thing. He started poking it with his staff, turning it around and around as he gazed at it intently. After some time, he looked up at Laurel and said, "This is bad. We will require the use of the hedge wizard's shop."
Laurel looked concerned. "He will not want to allow anyone into his private domain."
"Tough."
The Healing
The next morning, Theodore and Laurel emerged from the Tower of Art. They made haste through the chilly, foggy spring air towards the Lopez manor. They were not the only ones stirring. Most of the farmers were already heading out to the fields, and the shopkeepers were preparing for a day of work.
The two wizards went through the same outer door and path as before, but this time they took the left fork. They let themselves into the entrance hall, and found nobody there. It was a formal, disused room, full of heraldry and trophies, and a large fancy table and chairs.
On the far side of this room there was a door leading to the kitchen. The wizards entered, and saw that the kitchen was much more homey and comfortable. It was full of the same herbs and utensils that filled the farmhouse kitchens of Calway, although they were more numerous and of better quality. It had a small table, barely big enough for four people, and a huge fireplace surrounded by ovens and grilles with kettles, skillets, and pots.
Friar Kantz and Aaron were seated at the table, discussing something in a low tone of voice. Mei and Andrew were bustling around the fireplace, busy cooking breakfast for seven people. They all greeted Theodore and Laurel hastily as the wizards entered.
Theodore announced, "I am ready to begin. He paused and looked over at Aaron. "You will need to leave your weapon in this room. Its energy would interfere with the transfer."
Aaron paused, and looked into Theodore's eyes. The old wizard returned the gaze. After a few seconds, Aaron reached down to his belt, unsheathed the weapon, and left it on the table. The jade outline of the dragon in the haft of the shrunken najinata glinted slightly.
Theodore looked around the kitchen and said, "Be warned that the procedure will be painful and bloody. I cannot say more, because if you know what the plan is, the entity will read that knowledge from your minds and defeat me. You must not do anything until we are finished, but at that point you will be needed." After leaving that disturbing thought on everyone's mind, he turned and strode towards the bedroom where Erin lay in her coma. Everyone except Andrew followed him in.
The door from the kitchen was in the west wall of Aaron and Mei's room. It was a light, airy space, with two windows. One opened on the courtyard to the south, and the other had a view of the lawn to the east. Erin was laying on the large bed, which was set against the north wall. Also on the north wall were an armoire, a nightstand, and a mirror.
Laurel was the last person in the room, and she closed the door behind her. Theodore then turned to Mei and said, "You will need to remove her shirt." Mei hesitated, and glanced at Aaron, who scowled.
Theodore sighed. "I am a wizard and a physician. I view the human body as something to be cured."
Aaron relented, and nodded to Mei. She slipped Erin's rough cotton short off over her head.
Theodore then pulled a wicked-looking creation from his robes. Its core was Linebarger's dragon cane, but the most visible aspect of it was a large rune-covered knife attached to one end of the rod. There were many jewels and filigrees of metal attached to both the cane and the knife. All of the Calway natives, even Kantz, looked at this device with some trepidation.
Laurel moved to the other end of the bed, next to the east window. She sat down on the floor in the lotus position, holding with her staff across her lap in both hands. Laurel then closed her eyes as she centered herself and focused her power. Theodore waited patiently while Aaron and Mei waited anxiously. After some time, Laurel rose to her feet, pointed her staff at Erin's chest, and said, "I am ready."
Then, with no fuss and no warning, Theodore plunged the knife into Erin's heart. Aaron yelled something incoherent, and launched himself through the air at the wizard. Kantz stepped between them, grabbed Aaron's shoulders, looked into the paladin's eyes, and hissed, "For her sake, do not interfere!" Aaron took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and backed down.
Erin's body convulsed. Her hands clenched and her eyes and mouth opened. A horrible scream came from her lungs. Theodore kept the knife exactly where it was, and Erin's blood began to flow up around it until blood covered Linebarger's staff.
Laurel touched her staff to Erin's chest, right above the knife, and began to chant. The plants on the Green Wizard's staff began to move. Then, without any apparent effort, Laurel Weaver channeled an flow of spiritual energy greater than what the Lopez mandala was able to deliver.
Mei was the only one in the room who did not sense this great rush of power, but she saw its effects. The lichen and plants on Laurel's staff sent tendrils into the wound in Erin's chest, and then began convulse in a regular pattern. Those with magical sight saw that the plants were wrapped around her heart, making it beat.
Erin's heart, incapable of moving itself but massaged by Laurel's plants, kept sending blood up the knife and cane. But when the blood reached the top of the cane, it leapt through the air to Laurel's staff, where it flowed back down into Erin's body and back into her heart.
This process continued for almost a minute, with both wizards maintaining a fierce concentration. Finally, Theodore withdrew the knife. The blood stopped flowing up and began to drip off the cane. Laurel also withdrew her staff, but several chunks of the lichen and moss remained attached to Erin. These plants pulled the wound shut, digging into the skin and binding it like sutures. The plants then contracted, Erin's chest wound closed, and she stopped bleeding. Erin relaxed and sank back down. Her breathing was steady.
Laurel said, "We are done. You take over now." As soon as she did, Mei and Aaron both rushed over to their daughter, ignoring the two wizards. Mei cleaned up her blood, and Aaron started to heal her.
Kantz paid attention to the wizards. Immediately after talking, Laurel had quietly passed out and slumped to the floor. Theodore was gripping the cane with his left hand, waving his right hand around in the air, and murmuring words of power that made the hairs on the back of the priest's neck stand on end.
Kantz dared to look more closely and deeply at this, shifting his vision into the realm of magic. He saw a blue cloud around the rod. To magical eyes, it was eerily similar to the blue cloud that had replaced Erin on the battlefield. However, there was no visible manifestation of this wintry force; it was pure God's Blood.
As Kantz saw the cloud more clearly and its outline came into focus, he saw that it took the form of a coiling serpent, a thin writhing thing with a large mean-looking head. It was a dragon, and it seemed to be trying to bite Theodore in the face. It lunged and twisted in the old wizard's grasp. Kantz could see stubby little arms, but the rear of the dragon disappeared into the rod. It almost seemed like Theodore was trying to cram the rest of the dragon into the rod.
Kantz decided that whatever the old wizard was doing was beyond his aid or understanding, and that Erin was safe in the care of her parents. He scurried over to the far side of the bed to check on Laurel. The younger wizard was very weak, and obviously suffering from severe overchanneling. Kantz eased her to a more comfortable position on the floor and began to treat her spirit. He waved his hands slowly and carefully around Laurel, restoring some power to her God's Blood and the tissues of her body.
After stabilizing his daughter, Aaron started to pay attention to what else was happening in the room. He turned around to look at Theodore. Aaron was able to see the cloud of blue magical force, but he was not able to discern its details the way that Kantz had. He did, however, see that the cane and the attached knife were glowing blue, with the same type of magical energy that the cloud was made of. It looked to Aaron like Theodore was trying to push a cloud of mist into a magical weapon.
It also looked like Theodore was succeeding. With every passing second, there was less and less of the fog. Aaron could see it spiraling slowly into the rod. As the cloud got smaller, the cane glowed more brightly. Finally, he saw Theodore push the last strand of magical fog into the rod. Immediately after he did this, the Red Wizard uttered an ancient incantation in a thunderous voice. With that, the glow on the cane faded away.
Friar Kantz was halfway through the process of healing Laurel when he heard Theodore's ancient Selurian shout. He smiled to himself. What the wizard had said was, "Got you, you bastard!"
The Awakening
Aaron saw Theodore tuck the now-inert cane and knife into his robes. At the same time, he felt movement behind him. He turned around and saw Erin open her eyes and raise her head off the pillow.
Mei rushed over, leaning over and hugging her daughter close. "Just relax, darling. Everything is okay now."
"No, it's not okay." Erin announced. "I feel funny, and there are strange people in our house!" She looked over Mei's shoulder and glared at Theodore suspiciously. Mei released Erin and stood up. Erin sat up fully in the bed, not taking her eyes off the Red Wizard.
Then, Erin's eyes widened and she squeaked, "That's my blood on his hands!" She looked down, and noticed for the first time that she was naked above the waist. She grabbed the bed covers, pulled them over her chest, and yelled, "Get out of this room!"
Theodore turned around, opened the door, and left. Erin saw her shirt folded on the nightstand, grabbed it, and swiftly pulled it on.
Then, she noticed Kantz and Laurel out of the corner of her left eye. She turned, and asked, "What is she doing on the floor?"
Mei replied softly, "She passed out from the effort of healing you."
Erin looked a little embarrassed. She leaned over toward the unconscious Laurel and said, "Um, thanks."
In the kitchen, Andrew was frying sausages and eggs on three different cast iron skillets at once. He had already finished the large pots of grits, cooked apples, and oatmeal and taken them into the large hall, where they sat steaming on the table in the middle of seven place settings.
Andrew heard the door open, and turned to see Theodore enter the room. The old wizard walked slowly to the kitchen table and sat down wearily. "Is she going to be okay?" asked Andrew anxiously.
The old wizard turned to look at Andrew, and then sat silently as he considered the question. Andrew stared at him, waiting for an answer. Finally, Theodore said, "The presence inside her has been removed and her body is as healthy as it has ever been."
Andrew beamed. "That's great news!" He turned around, flipped some eggs, and then looked over his shoulder and said, "There is already food in the other room. Help yourself. It sounds like you've earned it!"
Theodore got up, went into the hall, and surveyed the spread. He scowled disdainfully at the grits, tasted one slice of cooked apple, and then filled his bowl with the nutty oatmeal and began to eat it slowly.
Back in Aaron and Mei's bedroom, Erin smelled the cooking breakfast, and said, "I'm hungry. What do we have to eat?" Then, she hopped out of bed and ran into the kitchen.
The door burst open and Erin entered the room with her usual energy. Before Andrew had time to say anything to his sister, she looked around and said, "Hey, so you are good for something after all."
As Erin was saying this, she swooped past the table and grabbed a fork. She then advanced on the fireplace with the fork held in front of her. Andrew watched her, stunned and speechless at the sight of his sister up and about so quickly.
"Move it, I'm hungry." Erin impaled one of the sausages with her fork, and ate it in three bites. While she was chewing, she grabbed a plate from the cupboard and began to fill it up with more food. Andrew just shrugged and got out of her way. Aaron and Mei, looking in from the doorway, smiled. Their daughter was back.
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