Brian Pratt - The unsuspecting mage

Gathering a few more items that he feels might be useful in compass construction, James returns to the workbench and waits for Corbin to finish. When Corbin is done, he returns the saw to its hook on the wall, then removes the unused portions of the posts from the workbench. After brushing away the sawdust from the surface of the workbench, he lays the two freshly-cut pieces down upon it. Stepping away, he makes room for James.

James picks up the smaller of the two and shows it to Corbin. “Is there a way you can drill a hole through this one? It needs to be slightly bigger than one of these nails?” He gestures to a pile of nails lying on the workbench.

Corbin searches the tools on the wall above the workbench, nods and takes one down. The tool reminds James of a screwdriver but the end is fashioned like a drill. Taking the piece of wood, Corbin uses the tool to bore a hole. When he has the hole the size James requires, he blows off the excess wood debris before handing it back.

James examines it. “Perfect. This will do fine. Placing both pieces of wood on the workbench, he creates a vision of what he wants to accomplish, then releases the magic as he says:

Can’t have even one little groove,

Make both sides perfectly smooth.

At the completion of the spell, he watches the surfaces of the two pieces shift and become smooth as glass.

“Unbelievable,” Corbin exclaim from behind his shoulder. “I’ve never seen anything like that.” Seeing James glance at him, he continues. “Sure, I’ve heard of magic but have never seen it done before.”

“It’s not as easy as it looks.” Turning back to the workbench, he checks to ensure both sides of both pieces are smooth, then sets the smaller piece upon the larger and centers it. A nail is placed in the hole that Corbin had bored in the smaller piece. Removing a hammer from the rack on the wall, he gently taps the nail until the head is almost touching the wood. Satisfied, he flicks the outer edge of the smaller piece and watches as it spins on its axis. There is some momentum lost due to friction as it rubs along the bottom piece, but it should be serviceable.

Using a piece of charcoal, he draws a radial arrow on the surface of the top piece. “It’s finished,” he announces and shows it to Corbin.

The farmer looks at it skeptically. “It is? What’s it going to do?”

“Just watch.” Hoping this works, he holds the bottom piece securely and as he releases the magic says:

Near or far, dead or alive,

Finding Hern, do I strive.

Compass mine, this I say,

The shortest path, point the way.

The intense surge of power at the completion of the spell takes James’ breath away. Before it subsides, he fears that he had made a deadly underestimation of his abilities. But the drawing of power came to an end. Ever so slowly, the top piece rotates until the charcoal arrow points in the general direction of the forest.

“Hern’s that way.”

There is still a minute drawing of power being taken from him. James figures that like the orb back in the cave, such a drawing must be needful to maintain the spell.

“Are you sure?” Corbin asks, uncertainly.

“Pretty sure. Only one way to find out.” He gets up from the workbench and makes his way from the barn. Outside, the charcoal indicator still points toward the forest. Whenever James turns the compass, the charcoal arrow always indicates the same direction; toward the forest.

Moving toward the forest, they reach the forest’s edge and come to a stop. James glances to Corbin. “Shall we go find him?”

Corbin has the look of one who would rather be somewhere else. Eyes lingering for a moment on the forest, he licks his lips, glances to James and nods. “Yes, though let’s be careful.”

“Oh, you can bet on that.”

Following the compass, they make their way into the forest.

An hour of tangled underbrush, fallen trees, and uneven ground later, they arrive at a break in the forest wherein stands an old, abandoned house nestled in the middle of a clearing. It had once been a finely crafted two-story dwelling, though now, one side had partially collapsed. The yard and surrounding area was severely overgrown with brush and small trees. The arrow of the compass points toward the house.

James didn’t relish the idea of entering the house. There was something about it that made his skin crawl whenever he looked at it. Hoping the compass might be pointing to a destination somewhere in the forest beyond, he walks around to the other side. The compass swivels as he moves, the arrow always aiming at the house.

“It says Hern’s in there.”

Corbin makes no reply.

Glancing at his companion, James is surprised to discover a worried look on his face.

“Something wrong?”

Returning his gaze to the building, he says, “If this is the place I’m thinking of, it has a bad history.”

“What do you mean?”

“It happened three score years ago. One day a stranger arrives in Trendle and purchases a claim for a parcel of land within the forest. Said he wanted to get away from city life and find peace and quiet. He contracted several of the townspeople to build his house, this house perhaps. The construction took nearly a year and once the construction was finished he moved in. After that, no one saw much of him. He kept mostly to himself, rarely coming to town and then only to buy supplies.

“It didn’t take long before rumors began surfacing about this man.” He cast a glance to James. “Stranger, especially ones that keep to themselves, are grist for the rumor mill.”

James nodded. From what he had already experienced in his short time in Trendle, he knew exactly what Corbin meant.

“Anyway, one afternoon several boys decided to come and spy on him, to see what he was about. When they arrived, they crept up close to the house and peered through a ground floor window. One climbed a tree to better see inside. The boys claimed that when they looked through the window, they saw the man sitting cross-legged on the floor. A circle encompassing a five pointed star, a pentagram as the townsfolk later discovered, was drawn on the floor not five feet in front of him. At each point of the pentagram burned a candle. The boys said it looked as if the man was in some kind of a trance, and that he was chanting.

“They watched as the man chanted unfamiliar words. Then suddenly, the air above the pentagram began to flux and swirl. At that point, the man’s chanting changed, becoming more intense. From out of the flux and swirl appeared the shape of an inhuman creature not of this world. It slowly began to take shape, growing more solid with every word the man uttered.

“The boy on the branch clung transfixed as he watched the unfolding events. When the creature was almost completely formed, the branch upon which he lay gave out with a loud crack and broke, throwing him to the ground. The end of the branch smashed through the window to the room wherein the man sat.

“The boys claimed that just after the window shattered, they heard a monstrous roar from the other side. The man shrieked in terror before being abruptly silenced. The boys ran as if demons were after them, which was probably not far from the truth. When they returned to town, they went straightaway to the Town Hall and told their story to the mayor, who immediately dispatched a party of armed townsfolk along with a priest to investigate.

“When they arrived, no trace of the man could be found. They did find the pentagram on the floor however, with four of the candles having burned down to nothing. The fifth candle laid on its side, shards from the broken window lay around it. It is believed that when the window shattered, the glass flew and knocked over the candle, which broke the holding spell, allowing the demon, that’s what the priest said was most likely being summoned, to break free and take the man. The priest stated that there didn’t seem to be any traces of evil remaining in the house. But just to be sure, he cleansed the house from top to bottom before they departed.”