Roan Carratu
Magic Universe
-The Story of Tempar
-Copyright 2003 Roan Carratu Sample: First Chapter (Rated PG-13)
Chapter 01 Tempar's Childhood
"No life shall be given to the dead" -The 1st Rule of Magic
Tempar grew up in the Valley of Dawn, in one of the two villages there, in Friendly, a small village of less than three hundred folk. His mother was White Tail, wife and first love to Wizard Tonkin, an man of unknown age who looked as young as White Tail but who walked and talked like his actual age, very old. White Horse Tail took care of his home, and kept his two other wives in line, Forest Mouse and Walk Bird and their children, Boy Bark, son of Forest Mouse, and Loud Bird, Walk Bird's girl. Tempar had the same kind of responsibility, to keep the other children in line, but he was as likely to get them in trouble as keep them out of it. Tempar was a real troublemaker, or so the Wizard said, although he said it more as a boast than in disapproval.
The Wizard was not his real father. Tempar knew very little about his real father, Rock Climber, who disappeared just before he was born. Needing a husband, White Tail had petitioned the Wizard, knowing he needed someone to make his life easier in the old castle, a cold and forbidding place then. The Wizard, quite amazed at this request, had taken her as wife, and when petitioned by other widows of the wilderness, as such women were called, he took on the others, subservient to White Tail. He did not touch the others, though, except for a kiss now and again. Or so it seemed to Tempar. In his cups, the Wizard Tonkin boasted that he was the first Wizard in many generations to have wives, he would say, grinning widely, and he couldn't understand why his predecessors had not wed. The Wizard became quite talkative over a few cups of mead after dinner once in a long while, although he usually hardly talked at all for weeks.
Hating his babysitting duty, Tempar usually kept pretty much to himself when he could. He found ways to get away, even in the old castle. For instance, in his own room, on the second and top floor of the castle, he found a weak place in the wood behind his clothing shelves, and by pulling and pushing on it, he pulled a board away and found the hollow there, which he climbed into. He could go neither right nor left, his back against the cold stone of the outer castle wall, but he could climb up, and he did. He climbed up into a long hollow below the roof, and there found a place of his own.
By walking along the planks laying over the ceiling boards left by ancient carpenters, often fighting sneezes from the ancient dust and wiping away spider webs which seemed to spring up between visits, Tempar found his way to kneel above the Wizard's own room, only two rooms away on the second floor, and by creeping there quietly, he could look down through a small crack into the Wizard's own inner sanctum, and watch the old man and Tempar's mother. Usually all he saw was the old man sitting in his most plush chair, snoring away in the evening. White Tail would come in, blow out the lamps, and Tempar would crawl away quietly. But once in a while, when Tempar knew the Wizard had work to do, and he could get away from his babysitting duties or his studies, Tempar would crawl up and watch the old man as he did Magic.
He didn't see much, but he did see the Crucible, a metal sphere, like two military helmets with the brims welded together, a three legged chalice with an ornate lid. Mumbling something, the Wizard poked a wooden stick, slightly longer than a hand's length, through a small opening in the lid, and after a short time, something would happen, but Tempar would not know what... it happened fast, and often with a flash of bright light that momentarily blinded Tempar. He knew the Wizard wore special coverings for his eyes, and figured the bright light explained them, but he could not figure out how the flash of light produced all the strange results the clients claimed. They were never present, but waited for the Wizard in the living room downstairs, where one of the mothers would give them cakes and mead.
Carpenter Bon had his arm grow back, according to Bon's wife, a fact witnessed by all the villagers when Bon finally left his house and went among them, and Fish of the Stream, the young bride of Scar on Mouth, had become pregnant after just such a session, her child born healthy and the splitting image of Scar on Mouth, sans the scar of course. Sight of Bird received a new far seeing tube from the Wizard, a thing of crystal and gold metal, and Grass Slayer had his broken hardwood axle not only become one again, but it became a heavy gray material which could hold the heaviest loads the farmer could put in his cart. For all this, among other strange results, the Wizard lived in the castle and received a portion of every harvest of grain, bird, hunted animal, or the first born of sheep or cow. These were not payment, for the concept itself held no meaning in the people, but they were gifts, for that was the way of the people, to take care of each other through gifting and natural sharing.
All from something Wizard Tonkin did with the Crucible, something Tempar could not seem to grasp, even by watching it done below him.
On his sixteenth birthday, early in the morning, for reasons unknown, the Wizard had all the children line up in the courtyard. Tempar was a bit scared, actually, dressed in his heaviest clothing and carrying a pack of food and a fire kit. The Wizard had taken them out before, into the wilderness, and shown them Grembles and Darkmons, the small fire breathing dragons which lived in the cliffs and the equally dangerous little frog-like things which ate rock and shat diamonds, which could kill with a flick of their long tongue. These, the Wizard had taught them at the time, were Magic creatures, and must be avoided until the children learned to kill them. He did not teach them how to kill them though, leaving them a bit scared of the wilderness that surrounded their village and farms, and that might have been his intention, after all. Children sometimes never returned from the wilderness.
The Wizard came out and kissed his three wives goodbye, the children hugging and kissing each after him, and Tempar noticed tears in his mother's eyes after she hugged him. This gave Tempar a solemn feeling of dread. He had never seen his mother look at him with the expression she showed as they left that day. With a wave, the Wizard started walking, out the big gates, and onto the road there. The children followed, noticing instantly that he did not turn towards the village, but towards the mountain, the road to Far Away. Bark Boy was nine winters of age then, and Loud Bird only seven. Tempar had to walk behind them, to make sure they kept up, despite the slow pace the Wizard set.
Caravans often came down the road, coming from Far Away, the city beyond the mountains, and even farther, even from the great cities on the coast of the Great Ocean. While the winding path, paved with ancient stones, supposedly had Magic protections from beasts, the children were quite nervous as they silently followed the Wizard upward, eyes darting from one clump of dark forest to another, on both sides of the ancient leaf covered stones.
They walked a long way, hours of silent effort climbing a gradual slope, the pace set by Wizard Tonkin himself, walking slowly ahead like the old man he was. As the coming night turned the brush and old trees invisible, finally the Wizard stopped and turned to them, the exhausted children gathering as close to him as they could, barely able to see his gray robes through the gloom.
"We will spend the night here, just short of the Great Gate." The Wizard said, promptly sitting down on a large boulder on the side of the road.
Tempar sighed. "Bark Boy, gather wood, there is some very close. Do not go into the brush. Loud Bird, you pile the leaves into mounds, for we will need to lay out the tents on something soft." He took off his pouch and got out his tinder and fire box, then made a small cleared area for the fire, sweeping the leaves and small twigs into a pile for starter. He gathered rocks and laid them around the small pile, then took out some Croak, the fine hair making the best tender known to him. With a couple of fast cranks on the fire box, a bit of hot glowing wick jumped out of the other end and landed on the tender, which flared up quite satisfyingly.
Feeding the tiny fire with twigs, Tempar looked up in the sudden light and saw that neither child had moved, scared of the dark. "Go on... just stay within sight of the fire." He said softly, knowing their fear from his own childhood experience. He fed the fire as he listened to their footsteps on the leaves, then looked up at the Wizard, who sat watching him intensely.
"Wizard Tonkin, where do we go?" He dare ask, not customary for boys his age with his elders. The Wizard looked at him with unblinking eyes for a moment, then got out his pipe and packed it with Flossmere.
"You have the right to know, Tempar." The Wizard replied. "I can tell you where, but I cannot tell you why." He lit his pipe by some means Tempar did not understand, moving his hand over the end of the pipe mysteriously. The Wizard expelled a stream of smoke, making his breath visible, then smiled down at Tempar.
Tempar wondered if the Wizard was saying he would not tell him why, or the Wizard didn't know why.
"We go to the City in the Mountain." The Wizard said, looking at him intensely, as if he wished to see what reaction that would produce.
Tempar felt ignited. That was the only way he could ever express what he felt. It was if a fire of excitement had roared through his body, his hands suddenly trembling. He dropped the twig he held and looked at his hands in surprise. He didn't recognize the place the Wizard spoke of, but somehow the name seemed to tinge every thought, as if he should recognize it. He opened his mouth to ask, but the Wizard interrupted his intake of breath.
"As I said, Tempar, I cannot tell you why. You will find out, but the Great Gate is just a candle inch beyond this place, and we will go through it. Then we will climb the stairs there, up and up for the morning, and reach the City around Sunhigh. We will make camp there, and at Sungone, we will enter the Palace of Mourning to sleep before you take the Test. That is all I can tell you, I can tell you nothing more."
And he said nothing more. Tempar set up the tents over the piles of leaves, and sat with his back against a tree, telling the two younger children a story about a hunter who faced a bearboar, and won a great purple jewel in cunning combat. He had heard it from a traveler a week before, who had stopped for a time at the castle to rest his carrybeasts.
Soon, exhausted, the two other children climbed into their blankets and slept, while Tempar sat against the tree and watched the unmoving Wizard, who seemed to be mumbling to himself and making strange waves with his hands.
Emboldened by his previous questioning, Tempar dared to ask the man what he did.
"Ah... bold tonight, aren't you?" Wizard Tonkin replied, waving his hand at Tempar. "I do purification rites, young dog." He replied. "It may not be necessary, but one never knows. I make my mind a clear sphere of energy, from my bottom to my top, to face whatever comes from this trip."
Not the least offended by the derogatory carename, Tempar considered the answer, realizing he understood almost nothing of this. "Will you teach me, Wizard?" He asked, knowing only that way would lead to understanding.
The Wizard started, as if stung. "By Simon, I have waited for those words from you for a vast time, Tempar! All those nights you crawled above my room, I have waited for you to ask for the Teachings. Yes, I will teach you, regardless of what this trip brings to us."
Tempar hid his face, embarrassed that the man had known of his presence above him. He had been so quiet and careful, he thought it his own secret.
"No, you did not reveal yourself through clumsiness," The Wizard said, as if he could read Tempar's mind. "The Magic revealed you the first time you lay above me and I used it. I knew you could learn nothing from your peeking, so I didn't mind you being there. I only hoped you would ask, but you never did. Any time we wanted privacy, we blew out the lamps." The Wizard laughed, a sound rarely heard in the castle, a deep all out laughter that seemed to echo from the trees around them, making Tempar wince, thinking of Bearboars and Wolves.
Finally, the laughter died into chuckles, and the Wizard seemed to almost collapse into himself with relief from some tension he had not revealed to Tempar. Stretching, the man walked to the tent and then looked back at Tempar. "No watch is necessary, Tempar. We are protected here. Go to sleep." The Wizard shucked off his robes and crawled into the tent, and soon his snoring could be heard from the tent. Tempar sighed and got up, ready to sleep also, despite his mind which seemed to windmill in a dozen different directions.
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