Rob Scott - The Larion Senators

‘You saw the remains of that schooner riding the wave before it crashed over us?’ Gilmour asked. ‘It was too big for this river, certainly this far east.’

Steven paled. ‘You mean it came all the way from Orindale? But that would mean that Mark…’

‘Right again,’ Gilmour said. ‘Even if Garec and Kellin reach the city, they may not find much in the way of seagoing transportation available.’

Steven wiped his eyes and swept the wet hair off his forehead. ‘So it may be just you and me. Where’s the spell book and the portal?’

‘I hope they’re still tied to my saddle. I caught a whiff of them from over there.’ He pointed, then added, ‘I don’t think it’s very far. I was on my way when I stumbled on you and your ladyfriend.’

‘All right,’ Steven said, ‘let’s go.’

‘First,’ Gilmour said, grabbing hold of him, ‘I need you to think about fixing my hip.’

‘I don’t know anything about hips, Gilmour.’

‘Sure you do,’ he replied, ‘you fixed Garec’s lung, didn’t you? You kept your own bones from breaking.’

Steven was confused. ‘But they were moments of- well, heightened emotion, really. I just took what I knew about physiology and infused it with-’

‘Exactly,’ Gilmour said. ‘Where do you think new spells come from? Why do you think we spent all that time in your world? Collected all those books? Sponsored research and medical teams from Sandcliff for all those Twinmoons?’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘Think about the magic you’ve done, the crafty spells, not the bombastic stuff.’

‘Yes, I remember, “Explosions aren’t magic”.’

‘Good. You’ve been paying attention. But think about how you managed to heal Garec, to neutralise the acid-cloud, to find and defeat the almor, to keep yourself warm beneath the water, to keep yourself free from the need for oxygen for so long. There is a common denominator for all those spells, Steven.’

‘What’s that? Knowledge?’

‘Of course. The knowledge and experience you have of anything, human lungs for example, impacts the power you bring. It’s how we used to generate common phrase spells, the complex spells called via a series of common phrases in their incantations. Those spells weren’t constructed because their incantations were similar; their incantations were derived because their etiologies, their origins and impacts overlapped: they had common effects, because they were based on overlapping fields of knowledge or research.’

‘But I’ve tried to operate out of compassion…’

‘And your magic is powerful when you’re compassionate,’ Gilmour assured him, ‘far more powerful than anything I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been at this for some Twinmoons. Remember what happened when you handed the hickory staff to Nerak; even I doubted you.’

Steven sighed. ‘All right, I’ll try it. Let me see your hip.’

‘That’s the spirit, my boy. Fix me up; I might have a race to run later today.’

‘Wait a moment.’ Steven looked up at his friend. ‘Why don’t you fix it?’

‘I don’t know how to.’

‘Bullshit.’

‘Maybe.’ Gilmour smiled. ‘I want to see you do it. You’re the sorcerer, Steven. I’m just an old teacher, and we still don’t know if Mark can detect your power. Nerak certainly couldn’t.’

‘Grand, a physiology test.’

‘Don’t think about it that way.’

‘How should I think about it? As a Larion magic test? At least I passed physiology!’

Gilmour laughed and Steven scolded him to hold still. He examined the injury, then asked, ‘So Nerak was the one who put all the common phrase spells together?’

‘Many of them, yes.’

‘I would have thought it was Lessek who did that.’

‘Well, Lessek built the foundations which Nerak – all of us – were able to build on, that’s true, and Lessek summoned and created magic. He called all the magic in the known universe into the spell table; it was an impressive and powerful feat. What Nerak did was to refine and enrich the Larion magic, to expand it through research and knowledge – just like you’re doing now.’

And he did it through common phrase spells?’

‘Amongst other things, yes.’

‘The same spells he eventually used to destroy the Larion Senate?’ Steven felt around Gilmour’s hip joint with his fingertips.

‘Some of them, yes. But for a long time, Nerak’s resources went beyond hatred and destruction. He was a powerful asset to the Senate. How’s it going?’

Steven said, ‘You dislocated the joint, similar to your finger, but this joint is much bigger and a dislocation here involves a good deal more tissue damage. The bones are back where they belong; that probably happened when you were tumbling about, it popped out and then popped right back in. But the damage is to the muscles and connective tissue holding the whole works together. You can’t play sports for twenty years and not see a few of these, so you’re in luck this time. Just don’t come to me with a case of lung cancer or anything.’

‘Not to worry.’

‘The way you smoke, you might surprise yourself.’

‘Just heal me so we can be on our way, please.’ As he felt the familiar tingle and itch of magic at work beneath his skin he closed his eyes and tried to remain still.

Steven went back to his previous subject. ‘So how long before the fall of the Larion Senate was Nerak generating the spells that eventually became his undoing?’

Gilmour stared at a spot in the distance. He answered quietly, ‘I have no idea, Steven, but I fear it was a long time.’

‘So he might have found critical bits of what he needed while visiting Earth?’

‘I’m almost certain he did.’

‘And he might have experimented with spells to desecrate or destroy long before he brought them to bear against his own brotherhood?’

‘Again, I’m sure he did.’

‘Why didn’t he kill you earlier?’

‘He didn’t kill me at all; I’m standing here right now.’

Steven laughed, and a bit of magic slipped from his finger to lance through Gilmour’s thigh. As he winced, Steven apologised. ‘Sorry, sorry. I was distracted. Sorry.’

He went on, ‘What I meant was why – if you and Kantu were the only real threats to him and his work – why didn’t Nerak arrange for your death and then take over the Senate at his leisure?’

Gilmour drew a breath as if to respond, then he paused and, as if thinking to himself, said, ‘Honestly? I don’t know. But your question has some merit; why wouldn’t he have tried to kill me? I was his equal; he couldn’t do anything radical, new, dangerous or different without consulting me. Perhaps he did try. I don’t know.’

‘Hmm,’ Steven said. All right. How’s that?’

Gilmour tested the leg. ‘Much better, thanks.’

‘Don’t mention it, just leave your insurance card with my receptionist on your way out, and don’t take more than one lollipop.’

‘Agreed.’ Gilmour stretched, and started across the mud.

Steven brushed as much of the filth from his clothes as he could and joined him. After a few paces in shared silence, he asked, ‘So where is Lessek now?’

‘He’s dead.’

‘Is that why we only get to see him in dreams and memories?’

‘And on Seer’s Peak,’ Gilmour added.

‘How’d he die?’

Again Gilmour paused. ‘I don’t know. It’s my understanding that in the earliest Twinmoons of the Larion Senate, there were not as many regulations and policies governing the transport of foreign objects and substances back and forth through the far portals.’

‘Ah, drug-runners, even way back then. The Coast Guard must have had a hell of a time tracking them down.’