Wizard of Jatte by Rowan Erlking (ereader ebook .TXT) 📖

I doubt she told you tale of the wicked wizard of Mizburg. Or of the famous dragon maker of the Dondit River.”

She hadn’t. There was a definite gap in his knowledge of mythic lore.

“It is likely she didn’t want to traumatize you,” Pandoros said more kindly. He then reached for a large book with an open binding and handed it to Theissen. “Study this. It is full of the myths of creation and several secrets that give clues to the birth of magic.”

The other magician watched with a mocking smile.

Theissen accepted the hefty book, opening the pages with a somewhat annoyed glance at Undi. He didn’t like being made to feel ignorant. Yuld Scribeson made sure they knew plenty about history and law. The man just hadn’t given any credence to mythology. Peering down at the first page, he read aloud:

Before the world was, there was nothing but a void. Flying from the north of the void came a being known as Jodis who had ruled the north with power and authority. Flying in from the east came a being known as Temis who had ruled the east with strength and guile. Flying in from the south came a being known as Klodil who had ruled the south with depth and civility. Flying in from the west came a being known as Hanin who had ruled the west with ferocity and cunning. All four celestial beings met in the void bent on claiming that open territory for themselves. They warred there for aeons, but not one had prevailed. However, the void had been filled with the remains of their lifeblood and it gathered together forming a ball of light, growing larger and brighter until it swelled into a world full of seas and land. When the four gods had seen the world their blood had made they stopped fighting to take a look. The northern god Jodis admired the vast land and seas in the north, and he made his home there. The eastern god Temis admired the open seas and coastline to the east and he made his home there. The southern god Klodil admired the warm and prosperous bounty of the south and he made his home there. The western god Hanin admired the unpredictable and wild terrain if the west and he made his home there. Together the four gods only meet to move mountains and earth when called upon, forever abiding in their new territories.

Looking up from the pages, Theissen made a face. “Do you actually believe this stuff?”

Undi merely smirked. He walked back to the bookshelf lifting off another volume, but appeared unlikely to share it.

“We believe there is essence of truth in even the myths,” Pandoros said.

Theissen regarded the book in his hands then shrugged. “Ok. I’ll buy that.”

He could see Undi looking slightly disappointed. The man closed his book and stuck it back on the shelf. “Why is that?”

Shrugging, Theissen regarded the myth for a moment. “Maybe because the way you do your spells. It is almost like you are asking the four gods permission to command the elements. Almost every spell you say has some reference to the four quarters of the earth.”

Pandoros grinned, clapping his hand together. “See! I told you he’d figure it out! I said he was intelligent!”

Undi made another face.

“Now pay up!” Pandoros stood up and extended his hand to Undi.

Theissen rolled his eyes. He turned to read more from the book. That was another thing he gotten used to. The magicians loved to make wagers besides doing their experiments and setting up competitions. Of course, once that part was taken care of, usually they taught Theissen how to operate the spell they had been comparing his wizard skills with. That part was what he was usually waiting for. He just had to wait until Undi stopped sulking. Pandoros tended to win on most of their bets.

“Ok, fine! But really, he’s so ignorant about all that other stuff,” Undi said. He then turned to Theissen. “And you had better study both books very well! You can no longer go around with that ignorant village boy attitude. A wizard ought to go around being respected, not scrambling around from apprentice carpenters.”

That chiding was not what he wanted to hear. Theissen closed the book and set it on his coat, also picking up his silver teacup and his writing case.

“Are you leaving already?” Pandoros asked, watching him.

“No.” Theissen frowned like he was thinking of it though. “But I think I ought to get my things together anyway.”

He turned towards Undi.

“So, am I going to learn this spell, or what?”

Ignoring his flippancy, Undi nodded. “Just watch me. Do as I do. Say as I say. Got it?”

Theissen nodded. That was the easy part.

They began.

 

Skipping down from the magician’s house over to the market streets, Theissen hurried to pick up the wine his master had asked for. He slung it in a carrying sack over his shoulder as he hurried to pick up a few pears and a loaf of black bread. His master had a sister whom he paid to cook for him and leave food in the larder for later, but she never brought over fresh fruit. That, she said to Theissen when she had met him, was Lordri’s job. She had a few other words to say about him, but Theissen kindly forgot them.

Then strolling past the florist, he picked up the last of the blooming daises and paid for it with the remains of his spare change. It didn’t matter. When Lord Baron Grianne returned, he and his master would have plenty of money to turn a profit on other projects. Already business was picking up. Theissen set the pot of daises on the step of a particularly pretty girl he had met in the market square earlier that week who also happened to be the butcher’s daughter. He gave a small wave to Butcherwife before hurrying on back towards his master’s shop.

“There you are!” Someone shoved him to the ground just as he turned a corner. The wine bottle broke on impact.

Two voices laughed with malicious gusto.

Looking up, Theissen just glared. He dusted himself off and assessed the damage.

The man shoved him down again. “And where do you think you’re going?”

“Doesn’t that get old?” Theissen snapped, getting back onto his feet.

The apprentice to Munden just sneered, then gestured to the spilled wine. “I bet that was expensive. Too bad.”

Looking at the spilled wine also, Theissen just made a face. He reached over to the bottle and set it right in the puddle. With a tap all the glass pulled back into it and sealed up the hole. Several people stepped back, just staring.

“That was smart, you dumb head. The wine is still gone, unless of course your master just wanted the bottle,” one of Munden trio said.

But Theissen merely gave him a smirk and unstopped the top. With a small gesture, all the spilled wine trickled up back into the top. He then stopped it up again and stuck it back into his sack.

“You pest!” The ringleader lunged at him. This time Theissen dodged, pulling up a paving stone to trip him.

“I should be saying the same to you,” Theissen snapped, skirting around another one that swiped at him with his fist. “Why don’t you guys leave me alone? I did nothing to you.”

“But your brother did!” one shouted, watching him with a fixed gaze and preparing to charge as soon as Theissen would just stop moving.

However, Theissen didn’t stop for a second. He laughed. “I’m not my brother! Take it up with him.”

“Shove it!” the ringleader shouted, getting back onto his feet. “We’re taking it up with you!”

Theissen hopped back, now letting the ground shove him hard so he could have a jump start in the race home. “Then you’re stupid!”

“Who are you calling—” But the ground tripped the threesome again. Theissen hurried off laughing. Their feet were stuck in the ground once more.

Others around them also laughed, passing by as the trio went once more at their shoe buckles to loosen them from the stone.

“I’m back!” Theissen hopped through the door and set the wine bottle on the work desk. “Do want this here or in the larder?”

Lordri Carpenter set down his sandpaper and stared with appreciation. “Oh, in the larder. In the larder. I see you also brought bread!”

“And pears.” Theissen walked to the other shop door and peered in to see if the back shop was clean. It was. Even the floor looked perfectly swept.

“Great! I’ll tell the boys to gather for dinner. You unlock the larder. I’m starving.” His master had gone up the stairs, hefting over the steaming covered pot his sister had left for them. Following after, Theissen also took a small carving tool from his belt and then selected a fist-sized piece of wood to start with. Grinning to himself, he marched up the stairs after him.

Chapter Twenty-One: Translations of Westhaven Magic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The seasons passed in Liptan Town, fall to winter, winter to spring, then spring to summer and then back to fall again. Theissen had been there for over a year and the winter winds were now blowing in like the one previous. It wasn’t the same wet cold as it got in Lumen, but at the same time the cold seemed to bite harder as the winds of Liptan Town were merciless. Theissen noticed his coat was wearing thin, but he had yet to buy a new one. He was saving up for something nice to give to the girl that had caught his fancy.

Her name was Lilissa. It wasn’t the butcher’s daughter, but a daughter of a prominent merchant that sold hats up in the mercantile district not far from the magician’s shop. He often saw her walking with the girls of her side of town giggling and batting her eyes bashfully. She was like a flower, a rose, with ever changing petals. Her black hair was always braided into two plats then wrapped with a string of pearls on her head around the rest of her long tresses. She was nothing like he had ever seen, and whenever he did see her his heart pounded harder in his chest than he had ever felt. The problem was, he had only spoken to her twice, dumbstruck every other time he had faced her. And worse, he rarely had occasion to talk to her since the hat shop her father ran was a woman’s hat shop. For a man his age to be seen there would have been too conspicuous.

Still, there was the winter festival coming up, and this year he planned to introduce himself properly to Lilissa at the dance. He only hoped he had not forgotten how to dance after all that traveling and work.

“I’m back,” Theissen said to the bookshop owner. He lifted up the folding stepping stool he had made, setting it on the counter. “Do you want to try it out before sealing the matter?”

The bookseller turned from an elegantly dressed customer, lifting a finger with a pleased smile. “Just a moment.”

Theissen stepped back and waited. His face needed to thaw anyway. The bite of frost was still on his cheeks. His chin was already a raw red.

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