Wizard Dawning (The Battle Wizard Saga, No. 1) (20 page)

Rick laughed as he set the mirror down. "It worked, it worked! It must have worked; I'm alive. You're alive." He fell to his knees still laughing. "Alive."

Sig stared as the basilisk crumbled, breaking into smaller and smaller pieces, that turned to dust. The light breeze carrying wisps of the deadly monster away fascinated him. He wrenched himself out of his daze when he remembered the Professor.

Sig raised the shield. Arthur lay motionless. Sig dropped to a knee and felt Arthur's chest. It moved. Rick crawled over next to them. "Crap. I forgot. Is he alive?"

"Yes. He's still breathing."

Rick shook him. "Arthur, wake up."

"Don't move him! You could hurt him."

Rick snatched his hand back. Arthur moaned and his swollen eyes slitted open. Then he looked around frantically. "Where is it?"

Rick put his hand on his shoulder, "It's OK. The basilisk is gone. Thankfully I paid attention in at least one class."

"What did you do?" Sig asked.

"The basilisk's stare is deadly to every living thing, including itself. I ripped a mirror off a dresser in the farmhouse. I held it up and shouted at that bad boy. Seeing itself in the mirror, it turned to stone, and then crumbled."

Arthur struggled to sit up. "Excellent. That is the essence of pass-fail. Pass and you live."

"The basilisk is turning to dust and blowing away."

As Sig assisted him to his feet, Arthur said, "When the monster dies, it disassembles and returns to the Hell from which it was summoned. We need to close the portal before anything else emerges."

"How do we close it?"

"We have to destroy the Sorcerer's circle. The Dark Wizard must have left it open before he set fire to the barn. A vicious parting gift, perhaps planning that whatever comes out of it will attack you across the road."

Rick looked at the collapsed, burnt structure. "If that didn't close it what will?"

"We need to destroy the key sigils in the circle."

"In case you haven't noticed, it's buried under a lot of barn."

Sig said. "We need the tractor." He changed form and sprinted across the road.

†††

Sig drove the tractor around to the side of the barn where he and Mom had seen the portal ring and began to move debris with the backhoe.

Halfway to uncovering the inscribed floor he paused as an uncomfortable feeling with a new smell swept over him. Rubble thrust up and a spider as large as a Great Dane crawled out.

Sig was prepared when it crawled out. He crushed it with the backhoe bucket, but others teemed from the wreckage. The spiders were too quick for the backhoe so he sprang down, changing shape as he did. Wielding Aðalbrandr, he hacked at spiders as they burst forth. Rick, in wolf shape, darted after one that got away. He grabbed the spider by the leg, shook it like a rat, flipped it over, and ripped out its underbelly.

Arthur joined in. He made a throwing motion and a flaming orb shot from his hand. A spider, about to jump on Rick's back, turned into an eight-legged torch, scrambling across the scorched remains of the barn. It ran into a fence post and dropped to the ground. Flames licked at the fence railing.

Spiders swarmed out of the wreckage faster than Sig could slay them. As Arthur ignited a spider, another jumped on his back, knocking him to his knees. With a backhand sweep, Sig sliced it in half before its emerald green fangs, slimy with venom, could sink into the wizard. The wizard blasted a spider off Sig's shoulder a moment later.

Sig and Aðalbrandr took the brunt of the attack. He spun, stabbed, and slashed, like a steel whirlwind as spiders fountained from the remains of the barn. Rick had his back, grabbing any arachnid that got past him.

Arthur watched for any that managed to escape. After he blasted them, they scampered in circles until flames ate away their legs.

Sig dispatched the last spider and spun, evaluating the scene. Spider carcasses surrounded him. Another half a dozen husks smoldered in the barnyard and four flaming spiders wobbled erratically until their legs folded.

Obviously eight legs made drop and roll impossible.

Rick disemboweled his last victim and looked around for more, his muzzle covered in yellow-green spider gore. His faced had the wrinkled-lip look of a dog sprayed by a skunk. He changed back to human form. "Wow, what a team." He turned slowly tallying the carnage. "Jeez, there must be 50 of them. Did any get away?"

Arthur shook his head. "No, we got them all. Let's get this rubble cleared so we can shut the portal before anything less pleasant comes through."

Sig curled his lip. "Less pleasant?"

Arthur shrugged and they attacked the barn remains with renewed vigor, Sig on the backhoe, dug into the detritus, while Arthur blasted larger pieces into smaller, easier to move pieces. As they uncovered the floor, the center of the sorcerer's circle mounded up. As it rose, it turned grayish purple with green and red lights flickering across its surface. Then it collapsed, pulsed, and mounded again. Arthur urged them to dig faster.

Sig didn't need encouragement. Thoughts of battling something less pleasant drove him.

When they exposed three quarters of the inlaid form, Arthur signaled a stop. "Desist, I see enough." He pointed at three of the inlaid emblems. "Chop those out and it will shut down. Quickly now."

The circle mounded again, higher this time, and emitted a high-pitched whine that turned into a gargling roar.

Sig clawed at one of the forms with the hoe bucket while Rick attacked another with an axe from the tool shed. The mound's pulsing slowed. It stopped with the destruction of the third emblem.

Rick leaned on the axe handle, "We finished it before anything else nasty materialized."

Arthur nodded, turned, and limped across the road. Over his shoulder he said, "At least nothing that we could see."

Sig and Rick exchanged looks. "Maybe we shouldn't tell Mom about this."

Rick motioned with his head, "There she is on the porch. Do you suppose that she can't see four-foot tall, flaming spiders from there? Should we start whistling a happy tune?"

Sig groaned.

With ears pricked forward, Czar stood beside Meredith. As the men approached, a low growl rumbled. He slunk away, looking back at them with a snarl. The men reeked of burnt barn and portal scents, redolent of rotten eggs and worse. Since she couldn't slink away, Meredith suggested they shower immediately, while she threw their disgusting clothes in the washer. She'd wait for an update until they washed away the nauseating odors.

Over an early supper, they gathered to discuss the day's events. Meredith listened quietly, with her jaw clenched. She kept her hands on the table as they talked, but when they finished she slammed them down. "I can't believe what has been going on across the road; and we had no idea. Zombies, basilisks, snakes, giant spiders; all arranged by a Dark Wizard. Are we blind?"

Arthur raised his hands. "Meredith, the magically attuned have operated outside of humanity's perceptions for thousands of years. You are no different from millions of people in the world who have encountered, but not seen, magic. Partly, it comes from learned stealth, and partly from the need of those viewing to not believe."

"They killed my husband, Sig's father and got away with it. No telling what else has happened—and no one had a clue."

"If it comforts you, look outside. We've just battled and defeated one of the most deadly beasts known to man, the basilisk. Then we fought giant spiders, which turned into scampering torches. No one ventured to investigate while the carcasses slowly faded back to whence they came. No police, no fire trucks. It's like Sig's disposal of the zombies. It happens, but no one is aware. The world changes, but remains the same."

"We're investigating those phenomena at the University. Why do the non-magical ignore the obvious?" Turning to Arthur Rick continued, "The events here should be an excellent case study. Perhaps it will give us an opportunity to publish."

Arthur bestowed him with a thin-lipped smile. "Unfortunately the university credo, 'Publish or Perish' can become 'Publish
and
Perish' if the topic involves Black Magic. We have to be very selective about what we reveal. A Dark Sorcerer will be extremely sensitive to exposure. Perhaps we should consider publishing posthumously."

"Posthumously—for the Sorcerer or for me?"

Arthur shrugged and imitated flipping a coin.

Rick frowned.

Arthur turned to Meredith. "I spoke to the lady I mentioned, the one who can assist you in learning about your powers. She will be here the day after tomorrow. I apologize for being hasty, but I feel you should at least talk with her."

"Who is she?"

"A practitioner, like me. She is also a professor of economics at the University. Prescience is amazingly useful in that field of study. She is currently on sabbatical, so has a bit of free time. She is interested in your case and agreed to come for a consultation. Anything beyond that depends upon mutual agreement. If she doesn't feel she can help, or if you don't want her assistance, she will leave. At least take it as an opportunity to learn."

"After my lectures to Sig that an untrained talent is a wasted talent; what can I say except that I look forward to talking to her?" Sometimes preaching can turn around and bite you in the ass.

Sig smiled at her.

Arthur went on. "Yes. . . Sig." His gaze focused on Meredith. "I would like to take him back to the University with us. As you've seen, it can be dangerous around here. Further, Sig has untrained talent. The more I'm around, the more potential I see, but it seems to be locked inside. Perhaps it will come with training, perhaps there is something else. However, he can't get the help he needs here. Of course he'll be leaving his friends behind before graduation."

"No great loss there," Sig said with a grimace.

Meredith glanced at Sig. "He's had a rough year. His ex-friends on the football team have hazed him about the less manly sports he pursues now, like fencing." Sig rolled his eyes as she turned back to Arthur. "You make a convincing argument. I'd like to discuss it with Sig, before making a decision. Can we give you an answer tomorrow?"

"Certainly. I won't rush you. We can stay a bit longer. Thorval's condition remains stable. Tomorrow will be fine. In fact, we should stay until Professor Balcescu arrives. That will allow me to make introductions."

Arthur's expression changed to a shy smile, "I wouldn't mind sampling more of your cooking while we stay."

She smiled warmly. "I'll do some menu planning."

Sig and Rick exchanged glances. Rick raised his eyebrows. Sig's wrinkled brow betrayed his seemingly casual shrug.

Just what she didn't need speculation on her private life by teenagers.

She knew Sig was uncomfortable with the thought of leaving her. They'd gone through much together, first his father, then her father, now her grandfather. She could tell he wanted to stay and support her, but also that the thought of learning more about himself and his powers excited him.

She certainly couldn't teach him anything about his powers, and it didn't look like Grampa Thor would be able to. It seemed that Professor Herman held the key to unlocking that door.

With a Dark Mage trying to kill him, that door had better open soon.

Meredith followed Sig to his room, shut the door, pulled his desk chair around, and sat down. After motioning for him to sit on the bed, she asked, "What are your thoughts about going with Arthur to college?"

"I'm really mixed up, everything has happened so fast." He looked up into her eyes. "I don't want to leave you with all the bad things that have been happening."

He looked down at the hands clasped in his lap. "But, I'm afraid if I stay here, they'll keep happening. If I stay and you're hurt, it will be my fault. If I don't stay and you're hurt it will be my fault because I wasn't here to protect you."

Meredith shook her head. "We're going to make this decision together. There's no fault involved. Let's look at what we know. Most everything happened after Grampa arrived. If he was the cause, he'll be going to Chicago."