Chapter 8
Mia’s struggles were in vain. She struck at the dragon with both hands. The dragon lifted her from the ground. She pushed and pried and hit and fought, but the mighty claw might have been steel for all she could get it to move.
Then she recalled something she had learned about dragons: they loved to be flattered, to have their ego fed.
She stopped struggling. “Dragon Cwyth,” she said in the sweetest voice she could muster. “What beautiful eyes you have!”
The dragon tightened his grip. “Don’t patronize me, ugly little thing!”
“But they are beautiful eyes.”
“Yes, I know.” He vainly threw his head back. His grip loosened. It’s working!
“And your voice! So musical!” The grip tightened.
He swung his huge head to within a few feet of hers. Mia struggled. She pressed the side of her face hard against the huge claw, which bound her from knees to the top of her head, in attempt to distance herself from the dragon's muzzle, but in vain. The mighty dragon's grip was like being encased in steel. He exhaled slowly just feet away from Mia. His breath was sickening in the first few seconds, and dragons can take a long time to exhale, if they so choose, and it was thus the dragon Cwyth so chose. He spoke to her in a whisper. “No more patronizing! You are little more to me than the irritating fly!”
If a dragon could ever have a look of intent, it certainly would have been Cwyth at that very moment. A dragon's expression that came even close to being decipherable carried a lot of weight, Mia later realized, for, as everyone knows, dragon's faces are incapable of changing expression. And it was indeed much later Mia realized this, because right now she was in serious trouble. She trembled with fear. His gigantic forked tongue wagged as it tasted the air and then the damp, scarlet forked tip, both at the same time, brushed her face from her lower jaw to half way to her eye up and down several times. Under different circumstances, the motion might have tickled. It touched her face! Mia’s head spun. She nearly fainted from fear. Without another word the mighty dragon stood, and in one strong leap, sprung from the ground and took to flight. Mia held on to the dragon’s claw, though she really had no need. Cwyth had a firm grip. Up they flew into the night, high into the black sky. Navigation came easy for him, for, as everyone knows, dragons have incredibly keen night vision. He had lit the trees on fire only so that Mia could see him; he knew how others perceived dragons, and how they perceived him. Many feared his fierce, intimidating presence. One of his favorite things to do was to entertain that fear.
Shortly into the flight Mia noticed they were heading toward a group of sparingly lit buildings. From this distance she could not be certain, but as they grew closer she saw that it was indeed Marigaff’s Farm. She hoped he wouldn’t attempt to raid the farm with her in his claw. Cwyth soundlessly circled the farm once. His great wings flapped in a backward motion, slowing him to alight with a deep thump on the lawn in front of the house. There on the lawn, twenty feet from where Cwyth set down, was Marigaff in her white wicker rocking chair, smoking her pipe while knitting in the light of a small fire. She stopped her knitting when Cwyth dropped Mia directly in front of her. Mia fell hard to the ground.
“Take care what you do with your things, sorceresssss!” the dragon hissed.
“And I will thank you for not taking meal of that which is mine!” she said. “Please burn nothing upon your leave, Dragon Cwyth! I wish to not have to call upon you again so soon.” Without a word, Cwyth sprung fifty feet into the air. A few mighty flaps of his great wings and he was gone. It was a long moment when Marigaff finally finished a section of her knitting before addressing Mia.
“That was unwise, child. Other dragons wouldn’t have been so merciful.” Mia remained where she lay, crumpled in a half ball. She began to sob.
“I...I...I di’n’t mean to...I miss...I....my mom!” Mia broke into tears. Marigaff set her knitting aside and bent to her. For a long time they sat on the cool grass of the yard. Marigaff, not for the first time, held Mia while she cried.
Marigaff spoke with Mia the next morning, having summoned Mia to her quarters after breakfast. “And just because you’re sorry for what you’ve done does not mean that it go unpunished.” That much Mia knew. “We all have choices, but sometimes we are not the ones who get to make those choices.”
“‘For in life we know not always how we turn,” Mia quoted one of the wizard’s proverbs, “verily, we turn.’”
“Very good, child. It is the wise wizard that accepts this. For today, you shall have the responsibility of cleaning stables.”
“What?!” Mia exclaimed. She sat up in her chair. “I don’t think so!”
“For two days.”
“You said for just today!” Mia pleaded.
“Three.”
“Oh, I get it. You’re gonna add a day for every time I argue.” Mia held a fisted hand to her chin, a habit she had adapted from Aaramerielle.
“Yes, child,” replied Marigaff. “That is how this works. Now. Where were we?”
“I’m not shoveling manure is where we were,” Mia said.
“Four.”
“Hey! You trapped me! That’s not fair!”
“All things are fair, child, when looked at rightly. This trap builds character,” Marigaff said, “yet other traps destroy.” The look she gave Mia was enough to announce the end of the conversation. Unfortunately for Mia, she did not interpret the look correctly.
“Still,” Mia planted her fists on her hips, “I am not cleaning stalls!”
The hot, bright mid-morning sunlight shone on the steamy piles in the stables where Mia stood motionless with a pitchfork. The flies were thick, their buzz melding into a constant irritating hum. Mia thought that with all the stinking manure she was shoveling, the flies would land on the manure, not her. But the flies didn’t seem to think so. She was on her third day of punishment. At least the schedule only required two hours a day.
She was hauling the last barrow of manure to the dump site when a thought came over her. Not just an idea. Something of a picture, something she could see in her mind. The thought scared her. Somehow she knew without a doubt that it was Saa talking to her. She stood outside the stall, still holding the barrow of manure, flies buzzing, lighting on her, but she ignored them. Something was happening. She dropped the barrow where she stood and ran straight to Marigaff’s quarters. She had to get there as quickly as possible. Marigaff would know what to do.
“Lady Marigaff!” Mia burst into the room without permission to enter. “Lady Marigaff! Something’s happening!”
Marigaff looked at Mia, then at the trail of soil Mia had spread on her clean floor, then back to Mia.
Mia followed her eyes to the smudged floor boards. “Oh! Sorry!” she said.
Marigaff shook her head and motioned to the chair reserved for her subordinates, which indeed was most everyone. Mia sat.
“What is it, child?”
“Marigaff! Something happened! In my head! I have to go see Tree! I don’t know why, but Tree’s important! I’ve never been hit so hard with a feeling like this in my life I know, I know, that I have to go see Tree!”
Marigaff held a hand in the air signaling Mia to stop. “Child, I know what this is. You have had a vision of Saa.”
Mia had heard of visions Saa had given some wizards. From time to time Saa would “tell” things to certain people, usually wizards with particular tasks at hand. Why would she be having a vision? What sort of task would Saa give her that would involve Tree?
“What did Saa tell you, child?” Marigaff asked.
Mia thought of the picture, not words, that she had received. “I saw Tree. He had arms, but they were branches, but arms, you know? And he was handing something to me.” She looked at the ground and then at Marigaff. Her eyes shot open wide as Saa again overcame her, stronger this time, the warm, flowing, serene feeling of the magic of Saa she'd come to love. “I must go to Tree! He has something for me, something that
I have to have if I'm gonna do what I'm supposed to. Whatever that means. That’s exactly the feeling I got. Still have! What does all this mean?"
“It means that we are going to call upon our friend Tree. Now.” Without another word, Marigaff stood and strode to the door. Mia sat there in the chair. “Come, child! It is for you that we go!” Mia shot out of the chair and followed the fast moving sorceress out the door and across the expanse of lawn.
They walked at a medium pace down the path through the distant gate of the yard, the mid morning sun warming their faces, Marigaff holding her head high with confidence.
“Shouldn’t we tell someone that we’re leaving?” Mia asked.
“We will return soon,” the sorceress replied.
“Well, what is it we’re going after?”
“We shall ask Tree when we get there in a few hours.”
“But Tree’s two days away.”
“Yes, child, he is. If we were to walk there. But we are not going to walk.”
“Then how are we going to get there?” Mia asked. She almost ran to keep up.
“We are going to fly.”
“Fly? How? Do you have an airplane in your back pocket or something?”
Marigaff sighed. “I have no idea what an airplane is, and would not know an airplane from a fence post. And I am certain that there is not one on my person, nor on any other person I know.”
Mia decided that further interrogation would be futile, as Marigaff's answers were the evasive answers that wizards always seem to enjoy giving.
For half an hour they walked the easy path in silence. Soon they turned off of the path at what seemed to be the right place, though Mia did not see anything unique about their turn off point. No path, no marker. Just sparse forest like all the rest of the forest they had passed. Through the woods they walked until they came to a meadow beside a brook. There they stopped.
“Here,” Marigaff said. She looked straight ahead as she spoke, holding Bielle Marre before her. “Slorkta Cwyth! Da ramma maasa borrt nah allerie yawah!” (Dragon Cwyth! I ask your aid this humble day!) Mia could feel the unmistakable power of Saa wash over her like a like a warm dizziness. She knew that Marigaff had summoned somebody. Or something. They stood there a few moments. After a short time, from behind came the dragon Cwyth, gliding low over their heads. He turned sharply and landed in the meadow where they stood and folded his great wings behind his back. He lowered his head to their level.
“Sorceressssss,” he said, “and her ugly little vagabond. You have asked of me aid to which I ask: to what cause?” The great beast intimidated Mia. His forked tongue, as big around as a broomstick, threateningly tasted the air.
“Friend Cwyth, so well is it that we do meet. Great day!” Marigaff addressed him.
“Oh, please!”
“Cwyth, this is Miagaff.”
“I know what it is,” he said. “Gaff, indeed!”
“Miagaff, tell Cwyth what happened.”
“With what?” She backed behind Marigaff.
“Your vision, child.”
“Oh! That! I...uh... had this thing in my head, and...”
“You had a vision of Saa and need to get somewhere quickly,” Cwyth said. Cwyth had been around a long, long time. He recognized that the course of events surrounding the Carrying of the Book of Life had amazing similarities. He also knew very well that Marigaff would not request his aid for trivial matters.
“Well, yes and no,” Mia said. She smiled at the thought of using a wizard's line. Her confidence elevated; she played the role of wizard. Serene. Wise. Knowing. In control. “We need to get to Tree right now!” She knew she had misplayed the role even before Cwyth spoke.
The dragon swung his head to her. Now that she could see Cwyth in the light, she saw that he was indeed in his own way very becoming, with mostly gold-edged purple scales, the purple changing hue as it shone like abalone in the midday sun. “And what makes you think that I should bear you there as the lowly beast of burden would?” He breathed warm breath in her face, the stench not as bad as the stable, but close.
“Dragon Cwyth, please!” Marigaff rolled her eyes at Cwyth.
“We’ll give you a cow!” Mia said.
“Don't be so liberal with my cattle, Miagaff!” Marigaff said.
“Why should I accept bribery when I may take as I so choose?” Cwyth leveled and flattened his head menacingly; much the way a snake does just before it strikes. Mia took a step back.
“Dragon Cwyth! If you don’t mind!” Marigaff had her hands on her hips.
With lightning fast movements that only predators can execute, Cwyth seized the two women by the waist with his fore claws. He bent his arms impossibly backward and placed Mia and Marigaff on his back between the two rows of stegosaurus-like plates.
“Mia,” Marigaff said, “sit as such and grasp with your legs thus.” Mia did as she was told, and none too soon, for the very moment she was securely seated, Cwyth left the ground. He did not leap into flight as he usually did, knowing that he might throw his riders should he attempt such a maneuver. The great dragon gained altitude with each powerful stroke of his wings. Soon they were gliding, the roller coaster effect leveling into a smooth, peaceful and quiet ride. The feeling was exhilarating! I’m riding a dragon! It was actually her second dragon ride, though the first one wasn’t much fun. If only Susan could see this!
They were high enough that she had an entirely different perspective of just how vast Awlland was. The plains seemed to go on forever. In less than a few hours they began their descent. The landing was so smooth that Mia couldn’t feel Cwyth’s feet touch the ground. There to her left was Tree. When the dragon Cwyth lay prone upon the ground, Marigaff slid the distance from his back into the knee-deep flowery grasses. Mia followed suit. Cwyth held his head erect and settled into a pose that resembled a gigantic cat at rest and casually inspected the back of his right forefoot as if he were not going anywhere anytime soon. He ignored the two women
“Tree!” Marigaff said. A light breeze was bending Tree’s branches on this most beautiful day. “Great day!”
“Great daaaaay, Sorceressssss!” Tree’s branches moved slightly more than the wind moved them. Tree’s trunk had the same solemn face in the bark she had seen when she first arrived on Morrah. “Great day, Miagafffffff!”
He’d called her by name! How did he know that? “How do you know my name?” she said.
“You are Miagafffff, the Sorceressssss. The Carrierrrrrr. All know thisssssss.” The face remained motionless. A crackling sound like wood breaking came from high in Tree’s branches. With a rustle it fell through the leaves and branches, a stick as big around as a silver dollar measuring six feet in length, slightly twisted but mostly straight. It came plunging to the ground and stuck like a spear in the moist dirt only two feet in front of Mia. She jumped back and looked up into the branches.
“Hey! Watch it, Tree!” she said. The bark on the trunk was smiling.
“Thisssssss issss for youuuuu.” The stick before her was without bark, but the grain in the wood intriguing. The end of the stick that was not in the ground bore a large knot that upon closer inspection, Mia could see was an intricately formed rose. She reached out to take it. Upon laying her hand on it, she felt a strange warmth, one similar to a Saa invocation, begin to creep up her arm. In two seconds, it had engulfed her. Mia knew.
“This is why we came here,” Marigaff said. “This is your wizard’s staff. The staff builds the power of Saa. You will do things with your staff that without you would not have the strength. It cannot be destroyed lest you wish it. It will find its way to you if lost. It is its own master and an extension of Saa: take care its use.” Marigaff had that look again. Mia stared at the staff she held in her hands. Marigaff continued. “Each wizard must choose his own staff when Saa deems the time appropriate. Most choose a special walking stick they’ve had for a while or a branch of a tree they favor. I’ve only once known Saa to vision one to a wizard. This is that
once.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mia asked.
“We let those things mean what they may, child, and no more. Yet no less, either.” Mia hated those kinds of answers. “Now, thank Tree. He has never given a staff to a wizard before.”
She looked at Tree’s trunk and noticed that the bark again wore a melancholy frown. Tree looked pathetic. “Thank you, Tree, for my staff. Are you sad?”
Tree’s branches moved. “It issssss as parting with offfffffspring. She isssss called Dieliellllllle, from the Old Elvvvvvven tongue ffffffffor TrueRossssse."
"TrueRose?" Mia looked at the staff, feeling the binding warmth it radiated. "Staffs have names?"
"Don't you?" Marigaff said. "Call her Dielielle, dear. Not TrueRose.
It was then that Mia remembered that Tree was the one who had sent her to near certain peril, directly into the hands of man eating trolls.
“Hey!” Mia said. “You know you nearly got me killed? You sent me to a troll village! They hit me over the head and put me in a dungeon! Then they were going to eat me! I barely escaped!" She slammed the butt of her staff on the ground. Tree gave no reply. When her eyes made it back to Tree’s trunk, the bark face was smiling again.
“SSSSSSSSSSoooooo! It wooorked!”
Mia heard Cwyth give out a small laugh. “What are you laughing at?” She glared at the big dragon.
“Tree!” Mia said. “That wasn’t very funny!” The face on Tree’s trunk had disappeared. “Tree!” she demanded. No response. “Tree! Answer me!” Cwyth let out a snort of laughter. And despite Mia's pleading, she could not persuade Tree to say another word.
They promptly left, flying back the way they had come. By Marigaff's direction, Cwyth put them down a league west of Marigaff’s Farm so as not to cause alarm to the farm's populace. They walked the remaining distance to the farm.
“Why did Cwyth respond to Saa if Saa doesn’t affect him?” Mia asked Marigaff.
“Dragons, you see, ‘feel’ Saa. They know when, how, and where Saa is being invoked, and can be spoken to through Saa. Cwyth will help, but only sparingly and rarely, as he’s incurably lazy.”
“So he might have told you no.”
“He has many times,” Marigaff confessed. “But he knew this request was important, and he does have a vested interest, one important enough that I knew he would be more than willing to come to our aid, despite the taunting he had given you at first.”
“Yeah,” Mia replied. “I could tell he was bugging you.”
“He knew all along that he was going to help, even before we asked. He taunted you because that’s just how Cwyth is. Mostly he’s a nuisance.”
“Cwyth and Tree should be on the same bowling team,” Mia said.
“Bowling?”
“It’s a game.”
“Yes, child. Well. Tonight you shall learn about staffing.”
“Why tonight? I’m tired. Could we do it in the morning?”
“Cwyth took us lest we lose time on foot. Time draws nigh that you depart.”
“Depart? To where?” She knew where.
“To fulfill your duty as Carrier of the Book of Life, of course,” Marigaff said. Mia knew that she was supposed to be carrying some book somewhere. She was hoping for more information from the sorceress. She knew that wasn’t going to happen.
“Okay. Whatever. So when am I leaving?”
“At the morrow’s dawn’s light. My Lord Finnegaff awaits us as of yet to act as guide.”
“Tomorrow?!”
“No! The day after.”
Finnegaff met with Marigaff, Mia and by Mia’s request, Aaramerielle, in Marigaff’s quarters shortly after first light. Finnegaff’s pointed, floppy wizard’s hat sat a bit crooked above his uncombed long, gray hair. He reclined in a comfortable chair and lit his pipe, this time with his big toe. A fire burned in the fireplace. Marigaff had hot cider for all. Finnegaff looked around at the small company with a nod, then wasted no time getting down to business.
“Thus we begin the eighth Carrying of the Book of Life in the year 3199. In council are Marigaff, the first Carrier of the Book of Life, Miagaff, the Carrier of the present, and Aaramerielle, the novice wizard elf. Mia, dear, I will tell what I can of the journey. Ask what you may.” The wizard smiled. He placed his bare feet upon the table and leaned back in his chair. The blazing fireplace to his right provided the only light upon his face.
“Long ago,” he began, “the world of Morrah was ruled by the elves of old, who lived by the laws of magic. The world lived in harmony, all races of intelligence: elf, dwarf, mumbwe, Centaur, Mantid, giant, man and all lived with little more than rare minor conflict. For thousands of years the magic of old gave way to peace and forgiveness, until one elf succumbed to greed. His name was Gaff."
“You mean like,” Mia said, “Gaff, as in Finnegaff?”
“That is where we get the name for the title of our office,” Marigaff said.
“Yes. Well,” Finnegaff said. “Gaff was taken by greed, and gave in to the dark side of the Old Elf magic. Yes, it has a dark side. All things balance: ‘...Good is as true to evil as light is to dark’.” He quoted one of the wizard’s proverbs. “Gaff yearned to rule over the magic, so to speak, driven by evil and darkness. He wreaked devastation over the world for the next one hundred and twenty three years. To accomplish this, he drew on the Old Elf magic and created four dragons: Cwyth, Creggar, Cinndar, and Corgg, all evil, all bad. They were bound by Gaff’s powerful control of the magic; they had little will of their own. He sent them out, one east, one west, one north and one south, to burn anything not natural and kill all that breathes. The entirety of Morrah nearly fell under the rule of Gaff, and had it not been for the secret council of elves, he might have succeeded. The twelve of the council had combined their power, and used it to create new magic. For years they toiled to alter the fabric of the magic until finally they broke Gaff. But try as they might, they failed to block the dark magic from our world. They called their new magic ‘Saa’, the Old Elven tongue word for light. They deemed the dark magic ‘Essaa’, the Old Elven tongue word for dark. Three of the dragons, having their will restored, went their own ways. Cwyth, you have met. Corgg elected to become keeper of the Land of Desolation. And Cinndar is caretaker of the Plains of the Great Beasts. Creggar still remains under the hold of Essaa, and Gaff retained enough power that he to this day controls Slagg. Slagg was once a beautiful land, but Gaff’s desolation of it has been so complete that it is hardly inhabitable. It is there that the dragon Creggar is confined.” He paused a moment to utter a few words to himself. As he spoke, the end of a doily he had been rolling into a tight tube sprung to flame, from which he lit his pipe.
Marigaff snatched the burning doily from the mischievous wizard and shook out the fire."Finnegaff! Do you mind?" Mia noticed the doily was unscathed.
He shrugged, having lit his pipe. “Yes. Well, the Book of Life,” he continued, “was created to replenish the magic that is so intricate to our world. It cannot be burned nor destroyed. It cannot be memorized or copied or read except when it is time. The elves of old entrusted the care of it in the wisest of fashions to the giants. They are neutral; they are nearly immortal; they go unchallenged. And it is they that see the Reading of the Book of Life at end.
“The Book is given somewhere in the land and must be carried by an outworlder, for the outworlder does not feel Saa as a native does. If a Morrander were to Carry the Book of Life it would be a certain disaster, as any wizard would know at any time where the Book was. The Sorceress of Slagg, even her master, Gaff.
“Should a wizard taken by Essaa possess the Book of Life, he or she would delay the Reading and, as it delays, the bonds between good and evil would shift. And shift it would, for good or evil, it wouldn't matter. The bonds wouldn't balance, and it is those bonds that keep the two magics of Saa and Essaa from becoming intertwined. This would make Saa vulnerable to corruption, and, ultimately, work to Gaff's evil desire to rule Morrah.
>
"Gaff must not rule,” Marigaff said.
Finnegaff nodded. “Yes. So. In these years Gaff has ensnared only three subjects: Linggaff,
third carrier of the Book of life, who is now deceased; Tonygaff, fallen while Carrying the Book of Life to be read; and Eringaff, who still seeks to possess the Book of Life for her master, Gaff himself. We believe she may want it for her own cruel intentions and attempt to overthrow her master.”
“You said her name!” Mia said. “The third one!”
“Well yes. But we really should not use it,” Finnegaff leaned a little closer. “She hears her own name through Essaa and can locate us when we speak it.”
“But you just spoke it! Does that mean she knows we’re here? That you just told her where we are?” Mia said.
“Only because she already knows where we are,” Finnegaff said.
“It sounds like a lot of things about this adventure are kinda freaky. What did you mean when you said one of the carriers fell? Fell where?” Mia said.
“I mean to say that he was killed before he could Read.”
“I could be killed doing this?!”
“You were almost eaten by trolls once,” said a small voice from across the room.
“Belemeriath!” Mia said. She had neither seen nor heard him come into the room, and hadn’t noticed him sitting on the edge of the teacup on which he perched. He hadn't shown his face since she had arrived at Marigaff’s farm, and Mia had missed him in spite of him being an impossible little imp. Belemeriath had a certain, well, attraction about him. Mia found that she did like him after all, at least when she was in the mood for it. He lightened the load for her in many ways. When he buzzed her face and hovered inches from her, she didn’t even flinch.
“I saved you from the trolls, Miagaff!” he said, puffing his chest.
“Yes, I remember. That was…”
“And after we parted, I told everyone about you, even King Kesteremiath!”
“The lesser fairy king,” she said.
“You know him?”
“No. I just read about him in a book.”
“King Kesteremiath is in a book? Great Saa!” Belemeriath said.
“He’s been king for three thousand years,” Marigaff said. “Naturally he’s in the history books!”
“Yes. Well!" Finnegaff pulled the conversation back on subject. "As you may have guessed, the dark sorceress will be trying to get her hands on the Book of Life. She must get it and keep it from being read. If she does this, the very fabric of the magic will distort, and in a few months she'd gain power, and, ultimately, be it of her will or not, surrender the power to Gaff.”
“And that isn’t a good thing,” Mia said.
“No, it’s not! It’s not!” Belemeriath said. “Things would go to Essaa if she...”
“Belemeriath! Watch your tongue!” Marigaff said, though she was smiling. Not that reprimand would do any good. Fairies were so free a spirit. She admired that in him.
“Our journey begins in the morning. We will go to Centauria, Mantadia, Elfwood and the Granite Mountains. At each of these places you will select one representative from the native race to accompany us. It is, Miagaff, your choice who goes, and you must choose with guidance from Saa. And don't let anyone influence your decision, either by bribe or by force. We then go to the giants, where you will Read from the Book of Life.”
“And then I can go home?” She asked.
“Well, yes. That's how it works.” As is often with the long-winded wizard, his pipe had extinguished. He paused to light it. This time he snatched the unsuspecting Belemeriath from the air and mumbled an invocation of Saa. Flame ignited one of the fairy’s wings. Belemeriath struggled and yelled something in a strange language, most likely New Fairy. Finnegaff finished lighting his pipe, then tossed Belemeriath into the air, who recovered from the throw. He shook himself off while hovering. His wings were miraculously unharmed.
“I hate it when he does that!” He looked at Mia and laughed, then buzzed about the room at top speed. It occurred to Mia that there probably wasn't anything that bothered Belemeriath.
“I've something for you,” Finnegaff said. He reached into a leather bag he had placed on the table between them when they first came into the room and pulled out a dark green velvet pouch, about the size of a slice of bread and twice as thick. From the bag he removed a dark brown leather-bound book. There were no words on the cover. It was, in fact, very plain. Aaramerielle gasped. Marigaff smiled a thin smile.
“This is the Book of Life, created by the elves of old. It must be read at the Glen of the Giants at the turn of four hundred years to replenish the balance of the magic of Saa. I now place it in the charge of Miagaff, the eighth Carrier of the Book of Life.” The old wizard handed the book to Mia. She took it and reluctantly opened it. The yellowed, tattered pages were blank. “You can't read it now; you won't see anything on the pages until the giants invoke the magic at the Reading.”
Mia closed the book. “This is what I’m supposed to carry?” She said, amazed at how plain and simple something so important was. She had expected it to be gold embossed, big, cumbersome, or a fancy scroll or certainly something more regal that gave one an impression of authority and majesty. But definitely not this.
“Don't let it out of your sight,” Finnegaff said. “Place it in the satchel and hang it around your neck like a necklace. It's now in your keep, Miagaff. The dark sorceress must not get her hands on it. We can all feel the presence of the Book when a Morrander carries it. Should you become separated from it, you may locate it by following the strength of the feeling you are about to experience, as the closer you come to the Book, the stronger the feeling becomes.”
The overwhelming bond that swept Mia when she placed the string of the satchel about her neck was soft and warm, one of contentment, perhaps even love. Indeed it was very powerful, and all consuming. At the moment she felt like she wanted nothing more than to hold the Book forever. No words could describe what she felt. And she knew beyond all doubt that she could distinguish this feeling from any other, no matter what.
“That is good, child,” Marigaff said as she touched Mia on the forearm. “That is the best place for it. Keep it hidden from view. I see you feel the Book.”
"Yes...yes, I do!" Mia said. "Wow!" She gently placed her hand on her blouse over the Book. She held it there a moment.
Finnegaff continued. “For the rest of the day we gather provisions and review maps. Let's go, if there are no more questions, and see about horses.” Mia did have many questions, but the feeling she received when given the sacred Book of Life made her forget them all.
Marigaff, knowing the horses as she did, selected three steeds to carry the small party. Mia, however, insisted on taking Rosielle, a paint mare she had grown quite fond of while taking riding lessons. Marigaff knew the importance of allowing the Carrier of the Book of Life to select those that would accompany her to the Reading, be it race or animal. So Marigaff consented to Mia taking her, despite the old mare being a little slow. Finnegaff rode Grinnolle, his gray gelding of moderate temper. The third horse was Mandarin, a brown quarter horse accustomed to much handling.
Later they reviewed where they would be going and what they would be doing once they got there. “First,” Finnegaff instructed, “We'll go to Centauria, where you'll select the third member of the party.”
“Do we need a fairy representative?” Mia asked Finnegaff.
“Well, yes. It is deemed,” Finnegaff answered. Belemeriath flew to Finnegaff’s side, hovered there and bit his little fingers, but said not a word. He stared at Mia. His little body trembled.
“Can I choose now?” she asked. Belemeriath flew in short, quick upward arcs.
“Well, yes, if Saa directs you,” Finnegaff said. He was looking at Belemeriath, who was so frantic that he had broken out in a sweat, something fairies do only on rare occasion.
Mia smiled at the quaking Belemeriath. “Okay. How do I do it?” She pi
cked up her mug of cider and took a small sip
“Invoke Saa,” Marigaff instructed, “as you would for fire.”
“Oh!” Mia said. “I get it!” She closed her eyes, which she needn’t do to invoke Saa; she just sometimes liked to, and gripped the mug with both hands. “Beke Belemeriath piar bonan duo?” (Shall Belemeriath go with us?) Upon hearing the invocation, Belemeriath flew to the tea cup he had perched on earlier and landed inside the cup and held on to the rim. His trembling was so violent that the cup rattled against the saucer.
Mia’s eyes jerked wide open. The vision of Belemeriath that came to her was so sudden and strong that she dropped the mug of cider. “Belemeriath!” she exclaimed.
It took some doing to get Belemeriath to settle down. He was ecstatic. He flew about the room at high speed, laughed uncontrollably and rattled off a string of inhuman noises. Naturally they would not be human. He was not a human.
“The vision Saa gives for the selection of a representative is quite unmistakable,” Marigaff remarked. She handed a towel to Mia.
“Wow!” Mia said. She took the towel. “No kidding!”
From Centauria they would go to Mantadia, then to Elfwood to consult Queen Ronnameth and to select an Elven representative. They would need to find the Mumbwe, who were nomadic throughout Awlland and Elfwood, though Finnegaff claimed the Mumbwe would most likely find them first. Their next destination would be the Granite Mountains. Finally they would make their way to the Glen of Giants, where the Book of Life would be read. If all went well. Finnegaff insisted they keep their party small to not draw attention to themselves, and told Mia not to invite just anyone to join them.
Mostly they would make time during the day, but in a few places they might have need to travel by cover of darkness. They would make camps along the way except for a very few instances where they planned to board with friends, ones Finnegaff knew he could trust. Food they would take, find, or purchase. Using Saa to procure food, or for any reason, would send a beacon to any wizard who might be interested in their location, so using Saa was not an option. Mia was given a short sword and a small knife. Part of her training while at Marigaff’s Farm was in using this very sword, though her instructor did not believe her ready to use the weapon yet and warned that she might be more danger to herself than to an adversary. Neither did she think herself competent with the weapon. She was quite unable to imagine herself actually using it for what it was designed. But if it came down to it, Finnegaff would rather she not be empty handed. It was also recommended to Mia that she not let Dielielle leave her side. She knew that if she was separated from her staff, it would find her, but do not tempt fate, Marigaff had said. “Nay shall they cleave, not by any choice, lest a wizard leave his staff in unattend. Lo, the staff lives! It will seek its master in all ways, for it is faithful.” She knew this proverb well.
After a quiet supper, Finnegaff and Marigaff took ale with old friends. Mia, Aaramerielle and Belemeriath visited around the yard fire pit with a fire Mia started with Saa. It flamed small, lighting their somewhat serious faces. Their conversation took lulls as they talked about nothing in particular. They had been invited to join Finnegaff and Marigaff and planned to do so soon, but Mia expressed a need for a little quiet time first, in the good company of Aaramerielle. Aaramerielle was more than happy to comply; she felt close to Mia, a friend; not withstanding that being in the presence of the Carrier of the Book of Life was, by her or anyone else’s standards, a high honor.
“The dark sorceress is looking for me,” Mia said. She perked up. Her eyes opened wide. “You know what we should do? We should send a few people dressed like Finnegaff and me in the other direction and make her think that it’s us!”
“She would know,” Aaramerielle said. “The route you'll take is the route that every Reader has taken since the first Reading. She already knows when and where you are going to be.”
“But why not go a different way?”
“Well, I don’t know. It’s just how it’s always been done.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s just that, well, I’m kinda scared about the whole thing.”
“Well, you have Finnegaff to take care of you.”
“And me! And me!” Belemeriath said.
“Still,” Mia said, “it’d be nice to have a diversion.”
“We could ask Finnegaff,” Aaramerielle said. “It couldn’t hurt.”
They went to the dining hall, where Finnegaff was with Marigaff, "partying", as Mia termed it, with a few score others. Aaramerielle told her that it was regarded as 'honor to tradition' before the Carrying of the Book of Life. It might even be a genuine tradition this time, she added, which Mia didn't quite get. She also reminded her that this sort of thing was common for wizards. Wizards, she said, could find an 'honor to tradition' for just about any occasion.
They found Finnegaff sitting at a long table with his arm around Marigaff's shoulder, laughing at something one of the stable boys had said. Everyone had a mug before them. Wooden buckets dotted the tables half full of ale, and a young girl was fetching refills from the keg in the kitchen. Cheese trays half gone, sliced roast getting cold, fruits with vegetables about, as much on the floor as on the tables were everywhere. Mia had never seen the place in such a mess! The people partying were loud, and the music from a three-piece instrumental group that played the strangest instruments Mia had ever seen, providing music that was not quite to Mia’s tastes, raised everybody's volume level a notch or two.
“Behold our honored guest!” Finnegaff said. He held his mug aloft, and in doing so, slopped ale on Marigaff, who laughed at the mishap. Despite the apparent confusion, every mug in the hall rose.
Someone yelled from across the hall. “Hail the Carrier of the Book of Life!” Calls of ‘hail’ parted every lip. Mia felt her face turning red. All drank, cheered and applauded.
“Not expecting this, were you, child?” Marigaff said.
“Finnegaff! Miagaff has a good idea!” Belemeriath circled Finnegaff’s head about two feet out, not taking his eyes from him. Mia wondered how he did that. He could fly up, down, right, left, even backward very fast while changing directions with equal ease.
Finnegaff held his finger as one would for a bird to perch. “Come hither, my old friend!” Finnegaff slurred his words, the ale long since having taken effect. Belemeriath immediately perched on his finger. He stood with his two tiny feet on the intoxicated wizard’s weaving digit. His tiny body weight shifted easily to keep his balance. “You are a most delightful fairy, Belemeriath. I am so fond of you. Have I ever told you that?”
Belemeriath was eating it up. With his hands clasped in front of him and arms straight, he drew his chin into his neck, mocking shyness. “Yes, once.” Belemeriath snapped out of it as quickly as he’d been taken by the compliment. “Finnegaff! Miagaff has an idea for the journey! Tell him, Miagaff! Tell him!”
Finnegaff looked at Mia, a silly grin on his face. “Dear Mia!” He drooled out. “Dear, dear Mia! Mean, Miagaff! Sorry 'bout that! I will always listen to anything you say. Whaiis it, dear Mmmmmia? Gaff?”
“Well,” she said, “I thought that maybe we could go a different way on the journey and send a few people disguised as us on the usual way we’d go.” Finnegaff was quiet, thinking. “You know. To throw the dark sorceress off our track.”
“I...I don’t know...” Finnegaff got serious. “We’ always taked a same route.”
“But why?” Aaramerielle asked. “Do they have to take the same route?” Belemeriath was still on Finnegaff’s finger when Finnegaff reached for his mug of ale, having forgotten that the fairy was there. Belemeriath hovered in the very spot he’d been in when perched on the finger. He hardly moved when Finnegaff withdrew.
“Well, yesss en no.” Finnegaff stroked his beard. “Mean, yes an' no! I s'ppose we could go
"Another way. Why?”
“Because,” Belemeriath yelled in his little voice, “If we send some humans dressed like you and Miagaff, Erin...I
mean, the dark sorceress will think it’s really you and go after the wrong party!”
“Thassa won’erful idea!” Marigaff slurred as bad, if not worse, than Finnegaff. She hit him on the shoulder. “Finn, why didn’t you ever think of that?”
“Well, I guess I never thought of it is prob'ly why! Mia, dear! Thassa truly splendid idea! But the party tha’s supposed to be us wo' be in likely peril!” He held a finger aloft in attempt to look sophisticated. “I meant, Miagaff. Sorry.”
“I thought of that, too.” Mia smiled as her idea began to be accepted. “One of them needs to be a wizard! That way, if they’re in any kind of trouble, the wizard can use Saa to get them out of trouble!”
“Yes, well, lemme think on this.” Finnegaff kept stroking his beard. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all, and maybe she was in for a little rejection.
“Okay!” Finnegaff stood. “I’ve thought 'bout it. We’ll do it!” Mia shook her head and exchanged a knowing glance with Aaramerielle. She loved some of Finnegaff’s peculiarities. Some. “Who can we get to do this?”
“I would like to go,” volunteered Aaramerielle. She hadn’t said anything when they were first discussing the diversion about wanting to go! Mia hadn’t planned on the decoy being Aaramerielle!
“Amarellielle," he slurred her name, "dear, I don’ think yer a strong 'nough wizard to stand up to a...a...a shadowrought or wha'ever!” Finnegaff said.
“But I am!” Marigaff said.
“No, no, wait a minute!” Finnegaff, for the first time since Mia had met him, looked surprised.
“I'll shall masqu'rade as yourself, dear Finngaff, and Aaramerielle as Miagaff!” Marigaff was all over the idea. She was all over Finnegaff, too. She had her right arm wrapped about his neck. The other negligently held a mug of ale, her face mere inches from his. “You shall jus' have t' choose 'nother route for your journey, dear Finngaff!”
Finnegaff considered. “Yes. Yes, then. But you must return here,” he said to Marigaff as head of the Council of Wizards rather than as a friend, “as soon as the en'my learns who you rilly are. An' get message to me that you been found out. Those are the conditions.”
“Of course,” Marigaff smiled and patted him on the cheek, perhaps a bit too hard. He squinted, though he did not move. Finnegaff was doing a part of his job that he did very well, and Marigaff never questioned him in such matters.
They left the party in the dining hall and convened in Marigaff’s quarters to revise their plans. They poured over maps; they studied parchments until a very late hour, but would have been done much sooner had the two wizards not been so full of ale. They finally agreed that they must get some sleep and adjourned.
Mia was very tired when she and Aaramerielle took to their respective beds. Many things ran through her head; many she understood, many she didn’t, but all of it was exciting. Soon sleep overtook her, and she slept in peace and contentment.
She woke early as the first signs of light changed the landscape to deep blue. Not quite ready to arise just yet, Mia tried to go back to sleep. Though not asleep, she felt like she was, yet awake in a dreamless sleep, as if all thoughts were on stand by. She drifted off to sleep, or something like it.
Wide awake, she pulled the hairbrush through her hair. She looked at the door to her bedroom. Her own bedroom. On planet earth. Her hand weakened. Trembling, she dropped the brush.