Read The Crystals of Tlalli: Awakened Affinities Page 28

pretty good with his little scheme as he ran down the road and climbed into the treb he had ‘borrowed’. As he drove down the street the shalat he had gotten from the Magi flashed and beeped at him. The spell the mage had put on it made him answer the call. He hated that mage.

  “Yeah.” He said in a surly tone.

  “You didn’t check in. Did you find the source?”

  “No, No nothing.” He lied.

  “I know when you are lying Morick. What have you found?”

  Morick was sweating now in his effort to resist the magic of the spell. He sobbed.

  “Ok, I found a trail. It led to Shani and Jamara. I’m still working on it.” It wasn’t entirely untrue. The half-truth worked! The magic didn’t zing him like before.

  “Well your time is running out. I will hunt you down if you betray me. No matter where you go I’ll find you and believe me you don’t want me to find you if you run. Call me tomorrow and everyday with progress reports or you will wish you were dead.” The mage’s voice was low and menacing, Morick shivered. He knew magic couldn’t reach as far as he planned to go. He believed he could pull it off, the mage be damned.

  …

  When Toren finished talking to the moron thug in Jamara he called his master Jarath in the Dark Tower of Vanora in the far North. That wasn’t the real name of the tower it was what Toren called it. He smiled planning out what he would do with all the power Jarath had promised him.

  “You had better have something to report.” Came Jarath’s voice on the shalat.

  “Yes lord. It came from one of the Kahshian affinity caverns. I was unable to break open the door. I did, however, detect a huge energy residue, like nothing I have seen before. I think the magic spike we felt originated there.”

  ”It had to have been the girl of the vision. She is the only one with enough power to make a spike of energy so large. I want her found!” Jarath’s voice was menacingly low and sent a spike of fear into Toren’s soul. He audibly swallowed.

  “Y- Yes, I will not fail you my Lord.”

  “See that you don’t.” Jarath threw the shalat the wall where it shattered. That mage was an inept but necessary disappointment. When he found the girl he would give Toren what he wanted, he would make him into a test subject. Jarath was a tall dark haired human. His lean muscles responded as he ran up the stairs to the circular room at the top, his black silk robe dancing out behind his harried steps. The cold stone beneath his bare feet, the air frigid was making his breath fog. The cold was part of his main power and he endlessly let it flow through him.

  He would have to talk to Magi Zeorun, his hunter at the Opia Nation’s palace, tell him to step up the search as well. Between Toren and the other mage he would find and capture the girl. The experiments with the transference spell were not going well. People were talking behind his back. He would show them all. When he brought back the affinities that had failed and got the portals to work again they would bow at his feet. His greatness would go down in history as the Magi who saved the world.

  His son and top hunter had returned without the girl. She was the key to making him invincible; she was the only person alive who could wield the white and black magic. As far as he could tell from his research the key to restoring the crystals was the most rare affinity of all, the gift of the white and black. This girl was nothing; she could not be allowed to take his glory, his fame. He would be the one to restore the crystals not some child who knew nothing of this world. When he thought of who she was he became enraged again. That was another reason to take the affinities from her and imbue him self with them, she didn’t deserve them.

  Although, until he perfected the transference spell. He would simply have to capture the girl and keep her quiet. He felt close to achieving his goal. At least he knew she was back on this world and within reach. It would only be a matter of time before he had her. The last batch of magi his hunters had brought him was adequate for the last test. He had successfully transferred power to four out nine test subjects. Those weren’t great odds but it was a success of a sort, at least some had survived. All great breakthroughs of science and the affinities had undergone setbacks after all. Time was running out, the crystals were all dimming. He would perfect this. He would be the one to bring the lost affinities back to the world. And then the world would be his for the taking. He smiled at the thought. He could almost see the crowds and parades he would have to endure.

  17- Investigation

  Moyo was having difficulties. It had been several days of miss direction and false leads before Moyo got a good lock on his spell to find Morick. The man had made contact with many people in Shani and in Jamara, none of them upstanding citizens. He had sold some jewelry to a pawnshop in Jamara. Moyo had found out from the manager of the seedy little shop that Morick had been a steady customer about two years ago when he had gotten in trouble with the local authorities and had left town. Now he was back and up to no good. Moyo didn’t like using his charm ability to get what he wanted from people but time was ticking and he needed to find the red haired girl. He knew from his intense visions that she was close. Just not where she was. Morick was a thief, a mercenary, and not good at either. He had come into some money recently it was clear, because he had rented a room at a locale inn and had been buying women and imbibing freely of the Kahshian beer. His bragging of his impending wealth had drawn attention from other sources it seemed. Moyo had heard from the local low life that Morick would be making a big contact with a dangerous source. What that source was he didn’t know, but it had scared the contact Moyo had developed with the pawnshop merchant.

  Moyo had used his scrying ability to track the spy and it had led to a seedy bar in Jamara. Now he sat in a booth in the back. He watched Morick as he talked to several people. Moyo could not hear what was being said but it was clear the man was making deals with the local underworld thugs. When the spy left sometime later Moyo followed him to a deserted building and sat back out of sight waiting for Morick to come out. It was dawn when Moyo decided to go in to check on the man.

  The unmistakable feeling of powerful magic was the first thing Moyo noticed upon climbing into the back window into a kitchen. Noticed may be too tame a word, hit him in the face and almost knocked him out was more like what he experienced. The feeling made Moyo’s skin crawl like low voltage electricity, it was not pleasant to endure. The smell of intestines and blood was overwhelming as Moyo entered the back bedroom. Moyo gaged and fought the vomit threatening to explode. When he had better control of his stomach and his gage reflex he discovered what remained of the man who had been known as Morick. Moyo now more then ever needed to find the girl. He looked around for any clue as to who might have killed the thief; but only came up with a blurred vision when he touched the shoe of the dead man. The vision was not helpful. He saw a ring with four arrows pointing into a flame. What it meant he had no idea. He had to find out where the girl was. He would have to do a more intensive spell to learn what he needed to know. He would need a safe place where he could be undisturbed.

  Moyo left the building cloaked so no one would see him. He went back to his Inn room and collected his things. He bought supplies for his trip and filled his water bottle again. He checked out and left the town. He had planned for this. While looked for the man he had discovered a network of caves in the hills around the city. The next day he would be in the countryside where he had found the caves. All the caves around this area had crystals of one type or another. He knew just the one with the faint violet and blue crystals he needed to augment his power for the scrying spell. Yes his affinities were for the yellow and blue but violet had always seemed to enhance his powers nonetheless. He needed another vision of the girl and Morick. He had a bit of cloth from the dead man with him. He was confident that in the next few days he would find the girl. He felt desperate to help her. Moyo did not know why he felt this way but he could not shake the feeling that this girl was important.

  It was a rainy afternoon
when Moyo got to the cave. He was glad to be out of the wet and into the dry cave. The cave was cold though and soon he was shivering. He would have to get dry before the scrying could be started, it would be no good to start such an involved spell only to be distracted by the cold. Moyo built a small fire in a nook of the back cave where it was evident others had used the place for a fire as well. There was no fear the rock would crack and collapse here there were runes strengthening the walls around the fire pit. This must be one of the locale affinity caves; there was a grate in the fire pit and stones arranged neatly around it. Nature had provided a natural chimney that drew the smoke out of the cave there. Soon he was dry and warmer.

  Moyo prepared the scrying bowl he had in his pouch and sat clearing his mind of outside things. The bowl was small and light but it would have to do. Moyo took the piece of fabric from his pouch and put it in the water in the bowl. He pictured the girl from his vision and Morick. When they were clear in his mind he opened the magic within him to see what the two had in common. Where they would have touched in life, if at all. Soon he was riveted with the vision of the robbery and of Rica’s face streaked in tears. He knew