Allan COLE - Wizard of the winds

"Those scholarly castings are so complicated, so ugly with all their mathematical squiggles, only a rich man would want one, Methydia said. To show he was wealthy enough to hire such a wise dream catcher.

"But ordinary peoplereal peoplewant to know now, not days from now. And they want to be able to read the chart for themselves so they can hang it over the mantle and show it off to their friends by pointing out the highlights."

The other members of the troupe also pitched in with his showcraft education. The brawny dwarf, Biner, taught him the delicate art of applying makeup and altering his features so he could play many different kinds of characters. Arlain and Kairo showed him how to do simple acrobatics. They ran him through heart-stopping exercises and plied him with strengthening powders until his muscles vibrated with power. Elgy coached him on timing, getting Rabix to play rhythmic music as Safar performed his acts over and over again until his delivery was as natural as the mental beat Rabix drummed into his head.

To Methydia's amazementand his ownSafar's magical powers increased with each passing day. It wasn't a gradual strengthening, like his muscles, but leap after leap from one pinnacle to the next. For the first time since he was a boy he actually enjoyed doing magic. The roar of the audiences swept away the shame his father had accidentally instilled in him. He delighted in their amazement. Especiallyas Biner had said it wouldthe wonderment of the children.

As he became stronger and more skilled he even started dispensing with some of Methydia's tricks. His illusions became almost entirely magical, although he still used showmanship to sell it, as Methydia would say. True, the performances drained him, just as Methydia predicted. Yet never so much he couldn't deliver as many encores as the crowd desired.

For a time Methydia kept herself at a slight distance from him. She still teased him and made suggestive jokes that made him blush. But that was her nature. Mainly she behaved like a kindly teacher or mentor, correcting him when he needed it and praising him when he deserved it. Although Safar was powerfully attracted to her, it never occurred to him that she might feel the same. Why, she was old enough to be his mother. Perhaps even older. He ought to be ashamed of himself for thinking of such disrespectful thoughts.

During that time Safar noticed a small tension building among the troupe and crew, as if they were waiting for something long overdue. Occasionally when he and Methydia were out on the deck togetherrunning through a new twist in the acthe'd noticed people glancing at the two of them. Then there'd be little smiles, whispered asides and shakes of the head.

Once he overheard the roustabouts wondering aloud if maybe Methydia's lost her sweet tooth. Safar didn't know what that meant. He was doubly mystified when the men saw him and turned away, shamefaced.

The dreamlike days ended when they reached Kyshaat.

It was a regular stop in the troupe's circuit. Over the centuries the people of Kyshaat had turned the vast plains surrounding their walled town into wide fields of fat grain. The circus folk expected a large profit from their visit to the region and were dismayed when they saw the desolation of the usually lush fields. It was as if an enormous ravenous beast had swept through, devouring the grainstalks and allnearly to the ground.

Hungry and pitiful eyes stared up at the Cloudship as it sailed overhead. To Safar the usually joyful circus music had an eerie edge to it as they serenaded the crowds and Biner's big booming call of Come one, Come all, seemed to be flattened and swallowed up by a thick miasma.

"Don't know what's happened here, Biner muttered to Methydia. But maybe it'd be best if we moved on."

Methydia pressed her lips together and shook her head. We were eager enough for their company when there was a profit to be made, she said. I'll not turn away now because fortune no longer favors them."

Biner nodded and turned back to his duties, but Safar could see he was worried. On the ground hundreds of people followed the Cloudship's shadow, but they were so silent Safar could hear the wails of small children carried in their parents arms.

A few minutes later the Cloudship was tied up over a barren patch and the roustabouts were swaying down the equipment.

When Safar's feet touched ground he turned to face the onrushing crowd. To his amazement they all stopped at the edge of the field. It was as if an invisible barrier had been thrown up. They remained there for two hours while the roustabouts put the circus together. Methydia had them dispense with the tentsthe stands were set up in the open.

When she thought all was ready she beckoned to Safar and the two of them advanced on the crowd. About twenty paces away a shout brought them up short:

"Beware, Methydia! Come no closer!"

Methydia's pose was unbroken. Her eyes swept the crowd.

"Who spoke? she demanded.

There were mutters in the crowd, but no one answered.

"Come on, Methydia insisted. We've traveled many miles to entertain our friends in Kyshaat. What kind of greeting is this? Speak up!"

There were more mutterings, then the crowd parted and an old man, bent nearly double, hobbled out, supported by a heavy cane.

"It was I, Methydia, he said. I was the one who cried the warning."

Bent over and aged as the old man was, Safar could see the skeletal outline of once broad shoulders. The fingers gripping the cane were thick, the wrists broad-bladed.

"I know you, Methydia said. You're Neetan. The one with the seven grandchildren I always let in free."

Neetan's wrinkled face drooped like an old beaten dog's. There's only two, now, Methydia, he said. All the rest have been called to the realm of the gods."

Methydia's eyes widened. She took a step forward.

The crowd stirred uneasily and once again Neetan shouted, Come no closer!"

Methydia stopped. What happened here? she asked.

"We are becursed, Methydia, Neetan said. All of Kyshaat is becursed. Flee while you can, or the curse will afflict you."

Safar saw momentary fear register on Methydia's face. Then her chin came up, stubborn. I'm not leaving, she said, until I've heard what it is that has brought you to this state."

Neetan stamped his cane. It wasn't one catastrophe, he said, but many. First we were visited by King Protarus."

Safar was startled. Iraj was here? he asked.

"Beware how you address him, my son, the old man said. Do not be so familiar with his royal name."

Safar ignored this. He pointed at the barren fields. Iraj Protarus did that? he demanded.

"Only some of it, Neetan said. And it was one of his generals, not the king, who came. The general arrived with a small troop and demanded our fealty to King Protarus and food for his armies."

"And you granted this? Safar asked, Without at least asking payment? It was inconceivable to him that his former friend would not at least offer to pay these people.

"What choice did we have? Neetan said. It is well known that King Protarus is not so kind to any who oppose him. Why, several cities have been sacked and burned for defying him. Then the men and old ones were killed and the rest sold into slavery."

Safar was furious. Methydia laid a hand on his arm, steadying him.

"You said this was but the first of many catastrophes, she said to Neetan. What else has befallen you, my friend?"

"At least King Protarus left us enough to live, Neetan said. But then we were visited by plague to ravage our homes, birds and locusts to denude our fields and beasts to devour our flocks."

While the old man enumerated the evils that afflicted Kyshaat, Safar caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure at the edge of the crowd. But when he looked directly at the spot the figure was gone. He suddenly caught a whiff of a foul odor. Then the scent vanished.