Michael Manning - The Archmage unbound

Still I would rather have a book of functional designs rather than a primer with no real world applications. I had already discovered the basics on my own anyway, or most of them I hoped. I felt certain that using these I could work backward to figure out how they worked. Many of the designs I found were similar to ones I had already created. I gave myself a mental pat on the back, not bad for a beginner, I thought.

Eventually I decided I should go back outside before anyone started looking for me. Closing the book I watched as it quickly shrank back down to its previous size. It really was an amazing effect, though I still didn’t understand how it worked. Looking around I tried to discern the mechanism for re-opening the door.

Thankfully it was just as simple as entering. The wall behind me held a similar pattern to the one I had activated on the other side. I reached up to touch it but a stray thought made me pause. Given that I was in a secret room it seemed obvious I should make sure no one was outside before I opened the door again. Normally I would simply use my arcane senses to check whether anyone was nearby, and I did try, but I failed.

In most cases failure isn’t that unusual, but this time was an exception. I was unable to sense anything beyond the small room I stood within. It was as though I had entered a small bubble of reality, encapsulated by an endless void. Now that I was paying attention the sensation was shocking.

It reminded me somewhat of my first experience with the shiggreth, when I discovered I was completely unable to sense their physical presence, except as an absence. This was similar, except now the effect had extended to the entire world; the only thing I could perceive was the tiny room I was inside. My heart rate sped up as an involuntary moment of panic sent adrenaline coursing through my veins. I got my fear under control quickly. I had never been one to let fear trump reason.

Taking a slow steady breath I put my hand out to the pattern, where my fingertips should activate the enchantment that controlled the door. As my fingers touched it I felt the same tingle I had felt before and then I became aware of the world beyond the room I was in again. The door didn’t open, for I hadn’t withdrawn my hand yet, but the connection between me and the enchantment had restored my ability to sense the world outside.

Interesting, I thought to myself. The enchantment must make the room itself invisible to mage-sight, and conversely it makes it impossible to sense the world outside when you’re within it. It was a cunning piece of work and I found myself admiring the cleverness of whoever had originally designed it. Not only was the room undetectable from the outside, but whoever was inside could see to tell if anyone was outside before opening the door, although that would probably make them visible to mage-sight.

“Can’t have everything I guess,” I said to myself and then I took my hand away from the enchantment. Seconds later the door opened and I stepped out into the main library. The door closed behind me and once it was shut I could no longer sense anything of the room I had just been inside. That really is a clever piece of work, I thought. I hoped the pattern would be among the other schemata I had inside the book I now held. Not that it mattered… I could copy it from the walls themselves if need be. I felt sure it might be useful to me someday.

I turned and made my way to the door. I could sense Marc on his way up the stairs and something about his stride told me he had something important to discuss.

I met Marc just outside the library, pretending to some surprise at finding him there. I did things like that often, pretending to be surprised when I met people, mostly to put them at ease. I had come to the conclusion early on that it only upset people when they knew I was aware of their every movement when they were near me. No one likes to feel as if they are continually being watched. It wasn’t as if I really watched people constantly, usually it was more like the background noise in a busy room. You hear the voices but you don’t know what they’re saying until you pay attention to one or another of them. My mage-sight was similar, I could focus upon an individual and see as much as I liked, up to about a mile away, but in practice I couldn’t possibly watch everyone. It would have driven me insane.

If they knew how much I could see I doubt anyone would have been comfortable living within Castle Cameron. In reality though, people’s lives are… for the most part, incredibly boring. Still I pretended to be as normal as possible, to avoid making everyone uncomfortable.

“Don’t act surprised to see me,” Marc said, as if he could read my thoughts.

I frowned, “What do you mean?”

“You always overdo your acting. Since it’s just me you don’t have to bother. I know you can see me from one end of the house to the other, so you don’t have to pretend to be surprised when I find you.”

I couldn’t fault his logic. Bastard knows me too well, I thought with a grin. “You’re too sharp for your own good. I hope you realize that?” I said.

He struck a pose of intense concentration, putting one hand on his chin and the other on his hip, “The thought had occurred to me,” he said smugly. “I try not to flaunt my gifts too much though; it might make others feel inadequate.”

I laughed. “Are you going to tell me what you found or spend all day congratulating yourself?” I asked.

He pretended to ponder my words seriously for a moment. “That’s a tough one,” he said at last, “but the real question is how do you know I found something?”

“Magic,” I answered immediately, “that and the fact you have a book tucked under your arm and you were looking for me with a certain air of urgency.”

He looked down at the book he held. “I guess you have me on that one.” He walked past me, into the library I had just left. “Here let me show you,” he said sitting down at the closest reading table. I followed him and sat down in a nearby chair. “I took a stack of promising books to my room last night, to look through before I fell asleep. I found this tucked inside one of them.” He pulled out a neatly folded sheet of paper, yellow from age.

“Which book was it in?” I asked.

He held up the book he had been carrying, ‘An Illuminated Guide to the Birds of Lothion’, read the title.

“Why would you have even taken that one to search through?” I said curiously.

Marc smirked sheepishly. “Sometimes I get tired looking through so many serious tomes. This one has a lot of really lovely illustrations, all carefully hand painted. I was looking through it purely for enjoyment.” He shrugged helplessly.

I shook my head. Even though we’d been friends for nearly twenty years now I had never known he was interested in birds. Perhaps I wasn’t as observant as I thought. I opened the paper carefully, for it was brittle. Once it was unfolded I could see it was a letter, and the handwriting was familiar to me.

My Dear Friend,

I cannot say much here, for I fear this letter may never reach you. I must assume you received my last letter for I have not gotten a reply yet but that is not unusual these days. They watch my correspondences carefully, of that I am sure. Quite possibly they have stolen your replies to keep me from seeing them.

Vendraccus moves more freely now and I suspect he will attempt to unseat me soon. There are none left now that I can trust. I hate to sound morbid, but this may be my last letter. A source close to Vendraccus has given me information that I think may be of importance to you, though I do not understand its meaning. I cannot even be sure if it is the truth; my own spies are untrustworthy and may be feeding me misinformation.