Andre Norton - The Magestone

When I handed him Elsenar’s jewel, he did not clasp its chain around his neck, but instead tucked the pendant within an inner pocket of his tunic. I knew that for a magic-averse Alizonder, the jewel had to be an awful object, whose very touch must be loathsome . . . yet Kasarian was willing to risk his life to carry it across the sea and through the Dales. On an impulse, I wrote for him a travel blessing I had learned during my childhood years of residence with the Dames of Rishdale Abbey.

After Farris returned to Lormt we received only one other report concerning Kasarian’s progress. Nearly nine weeks later, early in the Month of the Crooknecked Fern, a scholar from Karsten arrived, bearing a message for me which he had been given in Es City when it became known that he was traveling to Lormt. The Es City merchant desired me to inform “Kasyar’s” master that his apprentice had reached Etsport on the Seventeenth Day of the Month of the Snow Bird, and had sailed for the Dales two days later on the Storm Seeker. I recalled that during my own voyage, Captain Halbec had mentioned that ship to me. He considered the Storm Seeker ’s Captain Brannun to be one of his few fellow Sulcars whose ship and crew could safely dare the winter seas.

After that heartening word, silence prevailed for many anxious days. We pursued our search of Lormt’s documents from first light until dark, and past dark with the aid of lamps and candles. We discovered fragmentary confirmations for Elsenar’s journal accounts, and some evidence to support Kasarian’s version of Alizon’s early history; but we did not find any clear details or specific strategies that we might use against the Dark Forces from Escore now threatening both Alizon and Estcarp.

At least once a week, we gathered in Morfew’s study to observe Jonja and Duratan as they consulted their foretelling devices. Jonja explained to me that her runeboard could indicate, in a general sense, how Kasarian was faring. When she concentrated on Kasarian while touching her rune-board, should her moving fingers be halted upon a gold rune, then we might be assured that he was well; a red rune would disclose the presence of some limited peril; while a black rune would indicate mortal danger or death. Duratan said that his crystals could also display signs of external impediments or positive aids. All of us felt relieved when the first few runeboard readings and crystal castings seemed to show that Kasarian was proceeding without adverse interventions. Our concern intensified several times, however, when Jonja’s fingers stopped upon red runes, and Duratan’s crystals confirmed the existence of danger. Ouen reminded us that we had to expect Kasarian’s ship would encounter storms during any winter voyage to the Dales. Morfew suggested that the Storm Seeker would likely require four to six weeks for its passage, depending upon the winds and the number and severity of the storms. We therefore calculated that Kasarian should have arrived at Vennesport late in the Month of the Hawk, or possibly early in the Month of the Crooknecked Fern.

As those intervening weeks crept by, we were lulled by the repeated appearance of gold runes and positive crystal readings. Then suddenly, on the last day of the Month of the Crooknecked Fern, when Jonja ran her fingers across her rune-board, they halted on a black rune. Duratan, grim-faced, cast his crystals, and exclaimed with evident frustration, “Kasarian is in danger—but from what? I see two sources of Power confronting him, but both are of the Light. . .”

“Elsenar!” Nolar’s voice shook with excitement. “Kasarian must have located the ruins, and by means of Elsenar’s jewel, the mage has been revived. Would not both mage and jewel show as Forces of the Light?”

Jonja’s expression remained bleak. “Until the dominance of the black rune loses its hold,” she declared, “I shall stay here with my board.”

To our puzzlement, neither indicator changed that night, or the next day, despite repeated consultations, but in the late afternoon of the Second Day of the Month of the Fringed Violet, Jonja gave a strangled cry, and slumped forward in her chair. Alarmed, Nolar took her hand, but after only a few moments, Jonja shuddered and opened her eyes.

“I have received a Sending from Elsenar,” Jonja announced. She pressed a hand to her forehead, as if still dazed. “Compared to this, the Witches’ Sendings were a mere whisper in my mind; Elsenar’s Sending bears the force of a shout! I shall have to brew a remedy for this resulting ache . . . but I have no time for such. We must ready a horse—no, two horses.”

Nolar gently pressed a cup of barley water into Jonja’s hand. “Refresh yourself first,” she suggested, but the Wise Woman spurned the drink, setting it to one side.

“We must make haste!” Jonja urged. “Elsenar intends to return Kasarian to Lormt through the same postern by which he traveled a thousand years ago.”

Morfew absentmindedly drank the barley water, then remarked, “But all we know about the site of the forester’s lodge where Elsenar worked his postern spell is that it was within a day’s ride of Lormt.”

“Elsenar assured me that I could determine the place,” Jonja replied. “He knew about my talents from Kasarian. I sensed the mage’s intention to take immediate action. It may well be that Kasarian has already accomplished the transit. Judging by the speed of the displacement from Alizon City to Lormt, we must assume that this far longer distance would still be bridged magically with great brevity.”

Duratan swept his crystals back into his hand and tossed them again onto the table. As they scattered, the shining blue stones crisply outlined a wedge pointing to the southeast. Scooping up the crystals, Duratan rose to his feet. “I shall see to the horses,” he said. “Our initial direction is clear.”

Also standing, Jonja clutched her rune-board. “I will ride with you,” she asserted. “We must hurry. Kasarian may be stunned by his transit. What if he emerges impaired and stumbles into a ravine?”

Preceding her toward the door, Duratan said, “We shall discover his condition only when we find him.” The late Spring twilight was fading when they brought Kasarian back to Lormt. I watched from a doorway opening onto the great courtyard as Duratan’s horse approached, bearing a double burden. Duratan was mounted on the loin behind the saddle, his arms extended to support the senseless Alizonder. Master Wessell hurried past me to help carry Kasarian inside. Although the injuries to my legs had healed, I still had some difficulty in walking, and was obliged to rely upon the clever wheeled chair that Master Wessell had constructed for me. I could thus be fairly easily pushed about on the ground floor, but I required someone to lift me bodily up and down stairs. It was for that reason that we had changed our meeting place to Morfew’s study from Ouen’s upstairs quarters.

Jonja did not allow us to confer with Kasarian until the next day, providing him time to recover his strength. With barely contained impatience, we gathered in Morfew’s study. When the old scholar escorted Kasarian between the towering stacks of scrolls and documents, I thought Kasarian appeared even more gaunt than when he had left Lormt, but he moved with the same singular grace. Taking his seat at Morfew’s worktable, Kasarian related to us the details of his astonishing journey.

After our spirited reaction and discussion of what responses we should make, Kasarian surprised me by openly recognizing actual positive advantages in our traditions of oath-keeping and mutual trust. He conceded that in view of the Escorian threat to us all, each of us—Estcarpian, Alizonian, or Dalesman—might be forced to change our traditional thinking.