Visions of Chaos

Chapter 1 Mark of the Beast

It was hot and humid on the edge of the market square where Rob Theolaur stood watching the crowd. A drop of sweat streaked down the side of his face stopping cautiously on the edge of his chin before plunging to the ground leaving a star shaped splash in the dust.

He paused for a moment more to watch a bare-chested street entertainer juggling three knives and a flaming torch. Nearby a waist high storyteller dressed in a tattered green dragon costume exhaled miniature puffs of fire to an audience of laughing children. Market days in Panmagica always had a carnival atmosphere and he could have watched the sights and drank in the ambiance for ages; but he was here for a purpose.

‘Over there,’ he shouted to his two bodyguards as he pointed to a green and white canvas covered market stall.

He launched himself at the crowd and fought his way through the sea of faces and closely packed bodies with his guards struggling to keep up. A tattooed woman draped with a large snake blocked his way. She offered small bottles of miraculous potions. He shook his head and waved her aside. A food vendor waved small pieces of greasy meat on long thin sticks in his face and he pushed them away abusing the man.

Small black flies were already out in great numbers, buzzing annoyingly around his face and eyes, but there wasn’t enough room to use his flyswat.

‘Damn this heat!’ he said to no one in particular.

The magically induced breeze had failed to eventuate again. The city engineers blamed the new high-rise buildings for changing the airflow patterns but didn’t seem to have an answer to the problem. So everyone just had to smile and tolerate it. The crowd seemed happy but the merchants’ patience was a little strained.

Rob wouldn’t have been there at all, had he not earlier received a message that his cousin was expected back today. He would normally have been busy in his workshop repairing magical items. However, he wanted to buy her a small gift to celebrate her return. She was more like a sister than a cousin. He had missed her greatly, and was really pleased that she had finished her training and was returning home.

Finally he reached his objective to find a dazzling display of amulets, brooches, belt buckles and rings. The jewellery had been spread out lavishly on wooden trays lined with black silk, and sparkled with an unnatural beauty.

He muttered a few strange words and his eyes glowed briefly with a dull shade of purple. He could now see that many of the pieces contained a simple glamour to enhance their beauty and presumably hide their defects. One or two were in the form of miniature dragons, and these captured his interest.

Algrin the merchant mopped small beads of salty water from his forehead then moved hopefully over to Rob with a polished smile.

‘Good day, milord. What can this humble servant do for such an esteemed wizard as yourself on a glorious morning like this one?’

‘I’m looking for a gift for a female friend. I was hoping for something interesting, but all of these goods you’re displaying are enhanced by deceptive glamours to cover up their faulty workmanship,’ said Rob.

‘Have you any other amulets similar to these dragon designs, but of better quality?’

‘You have a discerning eye for one so young, milord. I have some miniature fire dragon amulets that might interest you. I’m told they were crafted somewhere in the Yith empire by master artisans using their strange, alien magic.’

Algrin produced a black velvet bag from under his robe and tipped out three small, finely detailed silver dragon shaped amulets into a cloth and laid them on a polished wooden tray, placing it on the bench top before Rob. These pieces were of far superior workmanship.

‘I’m only a simple merchant and can only believe what I have been told, but many of my customers have sworn that the charms hidden within these amulets have changed their lives. They are known to warm the hearts of young women and induce them to acts of great passion. I’m sure that one of these would make an excellent gift for your friend.’

‘I’m not sure that my cousin would be overly enthusiastic about getting passionate with me,’ said Rob, chuckling, while his two bodyguards grinned at the suggestion.

‘One never knows the effect that this type of magic might have on a young woman, milord. Perhaps she will change her outlook towards you. Cousins have been known to favour cousins before today.’

Rob was amused by the thought as he reached out to pick up one of the dragon brooches for a closer inspection, but as he did so something strange happened. His fingers appeared to meld together, leaving his hand looking more like the flipper of a turtle. Embarrassed, then suddenly annoyed at this indignity, he hastily withdrew the offending hand and hid it behind his back.

‘What sort of trickery are you up to merchant? I’m not in a mood for jokes,’ growled Rob sternly.

Algrin was not quite sure of what to think. He had noticed the change in Rob’s hand. He was now suspicious, and inclined to think that that the wizard was up to some type of deception. With the heat and humidity his patience was thin.

Anger rose swiftly in Rob as he backed away, examining his flipper-like hand with the other and wondering how the merchant had done it. He should have felt the vibrational tingle that accompanies magical activity. His reaction now gave him a look of guilt, causing the merchant to slip his hand inside the neck of his robe to grip a small spherical amulet of crystal that hung on a chain about his neck. He evidently hoped this would protect him from any malicious magic.

One of his bodyguards noticed Rob's angry expression.

‘Calm down, my Lord. It is not good for you to become too excited. You must use forbearance.’

For several seconds Rob and the merchant stood glaring at each other, until their concentration was broken by a nearby shout.

‘You there lad! Come here!’ commanded a loud masculine voice. Suddenly a bare-footed young boy broke into a run a few paces to the right of Rob, ducking and weaving through the crowd.

‘Catch him!’ yelled the town's watch sergeant as his two assistants raced off after the boy. The crowd stopped momentarily to observe the chase, then resumed its chaotic journey.

Rob’s feet were solidly anchored to the cobblestone road as he sought to control his anger, still pondering the strange transformation of his hand. His mind was jerked suddenly back to his surroundings when he felt the pressure of a hand on his shoulder, and someone behind him said ‘You there lad!’ in a voice mimicking that of the watch sergeant.

His heart missed a beat and anger surged again as he spun around to face whoever had the temerity to touch him, only to see a smiling young woman of his own age with a brown leather bag slung over one shoulder.

She had short-cropped raven hair and the purple tattoo of a warrior on her light tan face. Her clothes were more those of a traveller, a loose long sleeved olive shirt tucked into darker green masculine pantaloons that vanished into knee-high brown leather boots. Attached to the side of each boot was a dagger of the type that might be thrown or wielded. On her wrists, partially covered from view by her loose shirtsleeves, she wore a pair of brown leather bracers inlaid with small glowing figures of tortoises carved finely from mother-of -pearl.

‘By the Powers, I thought ... Melanie, it’s good to see you.’

Melanie’s smiling expression changed to one of concern as she took in the angry expression on his face, but looking into his eyes she relaxed and hugged him briefly.

‘What’s wrong Rob?’ she asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

‘Someone’s played a trick on me,’ he said, looking suspiciously at her and tucking his new flipper under his left arm to hide it.

‘Calm down Rob, it’s not good for you. You must use forbearance. There’s a tavern at the end of the street. Let’s go there and sit down for a while,’ she suggested with some perplexity, and taking his good left arm she towed him along, fighting her way through the crowd. The two bodyguards followed them, grinning like gargoyles. They knew her well. It was quite possible that whatever had happened to Rob’s hand might have been one of her practical jokes.

Algrin the merchant followed them away from his stall for several paces, watching them suspiciously as they wove their way through the crowd to the tavern. He was curious about the young wizard, and wanted another glimpse of his malformed hand. He should have been less worried about Rob and Melanie and more diligent about his stall, for behind him, one of the street vagrants who was loathe to pass up such an opportunity, slipped in and pocketed the three fire dragon amulets that Rob had shown an interest in.

Wiping his clammy brow as he fought his way back through the crowd to his stall, he was thinking that perhaps he was wrong about the young wizard, when he noticed the missing amulets. He cursed loudly at having been tricked by the young pair into leaving his goods unprotected.

‘I’ll fix those thieving young bastards,’ he thought angrily to himself as he called over a young lad he knew and handed him a coin to deliver a hastily scribbled message.

Upon their arrival at the tavern, Rob sent his bodyguards home with Melanie’s bag and found a dimly lit booth in the back of the room. He called for a jug of ale and for a moment observed the motley bunch around them to see if anyone had an undesirable interest in them. The place was poorly ventilated and reeked of a sour, unpleasant aroma indicative of unwashed bodies and spilt beer. Nearby were two black clad men who whispered together while looking about furtively, as if worried about something or someone.

A cloud of foul pipe smoke wafted over to them and Rob coughed and spluttered, resenting this violation to his lungs. There was a low murmur of hushed voices but nobody seemed interested in them, so he relaxed a little and returned his attention to Melanie. He gave an almost imperceptible signal with his hand. She understood his gesture and nodded slightly in assent.

His eyes glowed a dull purple colour momentarily as he created a mindlink between them. They could now talk, send mental pictures and feelings to each other in safety using mindspeak, a form of mind magic.

Mind wizards, the practitioners of mind magic, had an internal font of magic they called their source and were feared for their abilities to control and manipulate peoples’ minds. They were rare in this city as the consortium of religious groups known as the Unity of Wisdom which governed the small city-state of Panmagica had outlawed the practice of this type of magic.

‘It’s really lovely to have you back . I’m surprised at how fast the last few weeks have gone. Did you learn much from the shield master?’ asked Rob through the mindlink.

‘Rob, it was great! You would have loved it there. I found the food a bit spicy at first but I grew accustomed to it. The brew was magnificent and the people really nice and very hospitable. I didn’t get much time for sightseeing, as the weather was pretty horrible and we had a busy training schedule. We were also snowed in most of the time.

‘The strangest thing was the night sky. All the stars were different and the world had two moons. We were in a town by the edge of a sea that was a hundred leagues across. You could smell it in the air and the sounds of the snow birds woke you every morning with their screeches.

‘Master Nello, my instructor was really lovely. At first he was very formal and awkward. He finally admitted that he wasn’t used to teaching women his special fighting techniques, as few women took up arms in their society. He said his methods needed a strong arm and steady legs and I was too lightly built. However, after the first couple of training sessions where I thrashed his best assistant at sword fighting, he changed his mind and we got on well from then on.

‘He first taught me the main techniques with his unusual type of shield and then we worked on how to blend it all together with my style of dagger and short sword fighting. He had a pair of his special shields made for me and we practiced and modified the technique for my light build every day for weeks, until I could do it in my sleep.’

‘That’s wonderful Melanie; now tell me, how did you pull that trick on me? I couldn’t feel any magic being used at all, and you know how sensitive I am to it.’

‘What trick Rob?’

‘The one where you made my fingers all meld together into a flipper,’ said Rob, as he pulled out his hand from under his arm to show her. However, he found his fingers had returned to their normal state.

‘What are you talking about? It looks normal to me,’ said Melanie with an impish grin. ‘It sounds like someone in the marketplace has played some sort of illusion trick on you, but I swear it wasn’t me this time.’

Melanie returned to the topic of her trip and talked on about the place for ages, showing him mental images of some of the people and places; but Rob was only partially paying attention. He was also trying to work out how someone had disguised the magic so well that he couldn’t feel it. He was still highly suspicious that Melanie might have done it, and was concerned that he had not seen through it. Previously, he had always been able to perceive illusions for what they were. This one had looked and felt so real.

They chatted for more than an hour, warmly enjoying each other’s company, exchanging memorable images and feelings through the mindlink with ease, while quenching their thirst with two jugs of ale.

‘And how are you, Alpha?’ asked Melanie, momentarily glancing up at the top of Rob’s hat. ‘Aren’t you going to talk to me?’

‘Hello Melanie ,’ replied Alpha. ‘You two seemed to be so excited at seeing each other, I didn’t want to interrupt.’

Alpha, was a rough cut emerald, as large as a walnut, camouflaged with a simple glamour to look like an ordinary pebble. It was Rob’s memcrystal, an extremely useful little magical construct, given life by having a small piece of Rob’s own mind embedded into it.

Sitting on top of Rob’s hat, Alpha was a sentinel with a 360-degree view, watching and listening for trouble. It was akin to the familiars often used by wizards, but less obvious and considerably more reliable. It could communicate with him and others using mindspeak.

Eventually, Rob and Melanie finished chatting, left the tavern and started home down one of the narrow streets filled with cheap bars and food stalls, towards the more respectable area where their grandfather’s magic equipment shop was located. They light heartedly strolled along conversing mentally and not paying much attention to anything around them, until Alpha sounded an alarm.

‘Warning! Possible trouble behind! . The lane across the street looks clear!’

They turned and saw a group of six men who looked to have an unhealthy interest in them, approaching rapidly. Rob grabbed Melanie’s arm and ran with her across the street to the entrance to the narrow lane, but as he did his anger surged. His legs folded underneath him as if they were made of rubber and he collapsed heavily, using his arms to cushion the fall.

He screamed in rage, sending a huge pulse of emotion through the mindlink. It scared Melanie for a few moments. She pulled free and spun around to face their attackers, shouting though the mindlink.

‘By the Powers Rob, control yourself or someone might get hurt! Please use forbearance; I’ll take care of these idiots.’

Rob crawled painfully to the nearest laneway wall, his head throbbing with pain. He turned to watch, while mentally struggling with the darkness that was trying to take hold of him.

Melanie stood slightly side on to the approaching group. She spread her legs a little, adopting a comfortable and relaxed fighting stance, and waited. The group slowed to a halt and five of the men formed circle around her while the sixth, who seemed to be the leader, stayed back.

‘What’s the problem, boys?’ she asked casually.

‘We’ve been asked to teach you two a lesson. You shouldn’t go around stealing goods from our friend,’ said the leader.

‘You have been given the wrong information. We have stolen nothing,’ replied Melanie defiantly.

‘You’re lying, bitch!’ he shouted and signalled one of his men to attack. A large bald brute lumbered forward with arms outstretched as if to grab her. She nimbly sidestepped his hopeful embrace, kicking him so hard in the rear that he seemed to fly a few paces through the air, landing in a heap face down on the ground. His uncouth friends laughed at his misfortune and suggested he have another try.

He bellowed in anger, raised himself off the ground and charged again, this time swinging at her with his meaty fists. She coolly diverted his clumsy attack and struck him a vicious blow to the throat. He staggered off, struggling for breath, and collapsed to his knees.

‘Get her!’ yelled the group leader, and all four charged in, one diving to grab her legs.

Melanie danced as elegantly as any artiste on a stage. She moved with a grace that was beautiful to watch, weaving and dodging amongst the four assailants with ease, diverting or blocking blows and returning a devastating pounding to all parts of their bodies. Her arms moved in a blur. Her feet struck with the deadly accuracy of a snake attack, but hit with the impact of heavy rock, stunning her attackers. In seconds all five lay scattered on the ground.

‘Have you had enough?’ she taunted as she turned towards the gang leader, but he wasn’t there. She adopted a defensive stance and waited and listened. A dagger flew from nowhere. Using one of the bracers on her wrists she deflected it and it fell to the ground. A second dagger followed and she deflected that as well. The gang leader was there somewhere, but invisible.

Moments later both daggers appeared to rise off the ground and began circling her as if watching for a breach in her defence. Melanie crossed her wrists and whispered an arcane word. The tortoise inlays glowed brightly and a small disk the size of a dinner plate of arcane energy appeared on each wrist. Her eyes glowed a dull purple colour momentarily and she adopted a stance with one disk facing forward and the other covering her back as she slowly rotated, looking for signs of the invisible controller of the flying daggers.

Both daggers attacked simultaneously, but deflected off an invisible shield around her body. She reached down and unsheathed a throwing dagger from her boot, and holding it firmly adopted her defensive stance, slowly turning, watching and waiting. The daggers resumed their circular orbit around her but increased their velocity until they seemed just a blur, then suddenly struck like angry hornets at her head. She ducked reflexively, and they passing over her head. She heard some arcane words, her mind went blank and she fell unconscious to the ground.

The leader appeared and walked over to Melanie with a dagger in his hand as Rob rose and propped himself up against the wall.

‘If I were you, I wouldn’t touch her,’ suggested Rob.

‘Why? You haven’t got her to protect you now. What are you going to do about it?’

Rob smiled as if talking to a friend and his eyes momentarily pulsed with a dull purple.

‘She wasn’t trying to protect me. She was trying to protect you, my good friend. She was afraid I might hurt you, but I won’t because we are friends. You and your unfortunate friends attacked us by mistake! Someone gave you the wrong information.’

The leader’s expression changed from one of aggression to one of friendliness as his eyes glazed over.

‘Yes. Yes you’re quite right. We were mistaken. I’m sorry about this.’

A whistle shrilled as several members of the City Watch came running round the corner and down the street towards them.

‘I hate to tell you this. The town watch sergeant said some terrible things about your mother. I think you should you go and have a stern word with him,’ Rob suggested.

‘Did he!’ said the leader. ‘I’ll fix that bastard!’ And he dashed off towards the town watch, shouting expletives at the sergeant.

Two of Melanie’s assailants rose and hurriedly hobbled off down the street in the opposite direction from the town watch. The other three lay injured. Rob limped over to Melanie, touched her forehead and she woke instantly.

‘What happened?’ she asked immediately, noticing that Rob’s eyes were still brown.

‘He used some stunning magic on you. He’s quite friendly now and has decided to fight the town guard rather than us.’ Rob smiled.

‘Damn!’ said Melanie. ‘I was too busy watching those flying daggers. I must have let my guard down. You had to use your talent didn’t you? I’m sorry.’

‘The daggers were an illusion to keep your mind occupied while the fellow used some other magic on you. You’ll have to be careful of that in future.’

‘Let’s go,’ said Melanie, jumping to her feet and grabbing Rob by the arm.

‘Wait a moment!’ Rob cautioned, as he fumbled in his pocket for a magical stone. Moments later there was a surge of magic and they were teleported directly to the backdoor of Granddad’s shop.

‘Thanks,’ she said.’ I wasn’t looking forward to explaining to the Watch that we were the innocent victims.’

He smiled and opened his hand to reveal a transport stone. ‘You know Granddad’s motto. Always be prepared.’

‘Why didn’t you damn well use it earlier?’ she asked, a little annoyed, as she crossed her wrists, dismissing the arcane shields. ‘I wouldn’t have had to injure those idiots back there.’

‘I’m sorry. Normally I would have,’ he replied, ‘but when my legs turned to rubber and collapsed under me, it triggered such strong anger that I couldn’t think of anything other than trying to get it under control.

Then, with a smile, ‘That new style of shield work was very impressive.’

‘Thanks.’ she replied, excited that she had had a chance to show off her new skill.

‘These are the shields I trained with. They were included in the training fee. They work a little like a Levi disc. They have both repulsion and attraction fields. You can use them to repulse people or objects away from yourself, or to attract objects that have been directed at others, so that they miss.’

‘It’s a good thing I was there, Rob. Is your problem getting worse?’

‘Unfortunately it is, Mel. I’m having terrible mood swings too, and it’s taking much more time and effort to block them. Sometimes lately I’ve been falling asleep and not waking up for days. When I do finally wake up I’m tired. Can you believe that?’

‘Have you told anyone?’ she asked.

‘Granddad knows but says nothing. There’s something wrong with me but they can’t do anything Melanie.’ replied Rob.

‘I think you should talk to them about it, Rob. I felt your rage this time and it scared me.’

‘I’ll think about it. Let’s go inside - the others will be dying to see you and hear your tales.’

Rob hugged Melanie warmly, whispering his thanks once more; then faked a weak smile as he unlocked the rear of the shop, so that she could enter through the back door. It was great to have her home again. Inside they ran into his mother, Tina, who was overjoyed to see Melanie again, embracing her with an enormous hug.

‘You’ve come back to us at last,’ she cried.

‘I’ve only been away for a few weeks, Aunt Tina,’ said Melanie. ‘But it is good to be home again.’

Moments later, Granddad, a middle-aged man with silvery hair, neatly trimmed beard, sparkling eyes and wearing an infectious smile, appeared out of nowhere with arms wide open for a warm hug. He hurriedly closed the shop, put on some water for hot drinks and disappeared again. Five minutes later he reappeared with Melanie’s grandmother and her parents, who carried large plates of cakes and pastries. After another round of hugs and kisses they all sat around asking her questions about her trip, talking, eating, drinking and laughing like old times.

For a brief moment in time, the family was together again and happy. That was, until Rob felt his anger rise again. His fingers on his left hand all melded together and then melted to form a spherical blob of flesh at the wrist. Why was this happening? Why now? What was causing it? He was growing both annoyed and concerned!

He stood in the middle of the room expecting surprise and loads of sympathy. His family could clearly see that his arm now resembled a club rather than its normal state. He expected his mother, Tina, who was a healer, to suddenly shout, exclaiming that he had some terrible disease but she didn’t.

‘Has that happened before?’ she asked calmly, and he angrily replied,

‘Yes, something similar, but not quite as bad, earlier this morning when I was in the market; and a few minutes ago my leg went all rubbery.’

‘Did anyone see?’

‘A merchant at the market and perhaps the two guards with me,’ replied Rob. ‘What’s wrong with me, mother?’

‘I think I know, but I would like to consult with some others first. Go to your room at the mansion and lie down.’

Melanie stood shocked for a few seconds then reached over and touched it. ‘It’s real, Rob. It’s not an illusion. Your hand has melted.’

‘I know Melanie, I know,’ he growled.

‘Calm down, Rob,’ said Grandad. ‘I think it’s time for a family meeting tonight after dinner at the mansion. Tina can you contact you-know-who and find out what he suggests we do? Rob, get some rest - it should turn back into your hand again. Melanie, save your questions until later.’ And he left with Grandma

Rob’s mother took his right hand and said, ‘Don’t worry Rob. I’m sure that it will be fine,’ then left.

Melanie’s mother, Flora, hugged him.’ Don’t worry Rob. Tina will look after you.’

Melanie’s father, Peter, had a close look at the blob of flesh, poked it, and muttering to himself teleported away with Melanie’s mother, leaving Rob and Melanie standing together.

‘What just happened?’ asked Melanie, incredibly surprised at the family’s response.

‘They all acted as if they knew what was wrong, but weren’t prepared to say it aloud,’ replied Rob.

‘That’s exactly what I think. They’re keeping some horrible family secret from us. I wonder what it is. I hope your hands and legs don’t all turn into turtle flippers or blobs at the same time, Robbie, you’ll have to flop around on the floor like some type of weird animal. It could be quite funny,’ she said impulsively, seeing some sort of dark humour in it.

Rob was not amused.

Meanwhile elsewhere in town High Priest Kelnor of the Temple of Spiritual and Financial Harmony sat crouched behind an ornate polished wooden desk that was trimmed with gold inlays. A skeletal scarecrow of a man, he stopped scratching at a parchment with his quill and curtly asked his assistant who was next.

‘We have Algrin, the merchant from the bazaar, Your Holiness. He claims to have valuable information on a potential plague within the city.’

‘Not another merchant trying to backstab a competitor I hope. Okay send him in.’

Algrin was brought in and the usual courtesies began.

‘As Your Holiness knows, I am one of our faith’s most obedient servants. Earlier today I witnessed what could be the beginning of a plague, or at the very least a horribly diseased member of the Merchant Wizards’ Guild wandering the bazaar in the Wall area, contaminating the people with his affliction.’

‘Really!’ said Kelnor. ‘And what evidence leads you to this conclusion? Was the person reeking with foul odours and covered in horrible sores?’

‘Not exactly, Your Holiness, he was a sickly man and had a horribly malformed arm which he hid from sight lest it worry all who saw it; and he feigned illness even to one of his friends who met him in the bazaar. Later, I had some of my friends who are members of our faith follow them, to see whether this man showed any other signs of illness. They said they saw the man fall to the ground groaning in pain, with spots on his face. When they approached to offer assistance, the friend of the ill wizard attacked them for no apparent reason, delivering them terrible blows and incapacitating them using a strange foreign form of fighting.

‘Then, for no apparent reason, one of my friends attacked and ferociously fought with the town guard that came to investigate a disturbance, while the wizard and his friend escaped.’

‘Are you suggesting that the wizard used mind magic on your friend? That is a very serious charge.’ said Kelnor looking concerned.

‘Perhaps, Your Holiness. My devout friend is not known for getting into fights, and he wasn’t drunk at the time. It would explain his bizarre behaviour.’

‘Hmm. It is a bit strange for one of our brethren to openly fight the town guard. Did this wizard wear a guild badge or display any family symbol?’

‘Yes, Your Holiness, The wizard wore a dark green flattened hat of wizard style, with a single yellow or golden stripe. I’ll draw the family symbol if you wish.’

Kelnor nodded, and the merchant sketched Rob’s family symbol.

‘My friends are in the city lockup if you wish to talk to them further.’

‘Okay, I’ll look into it, but I can’t promise that your friend who fought the town guard will get off lightly,’ replied Kelnor.

Algrin the merchant left with a smug smile, thinking that this would even up things with the thieving young wizard for stealing his amulets.

Kelnor called for his assistant to pull out the file on the owner of the family symbol drawn by Algrin. He was always interested in what the members of the Merchant Wizards’ Guild were up to; and to find that one with a possible deformity or disease who was potentially using mind magic was even more interesting. A few minutes later the assistant returned with a large book.

‘The symbol belongs to the merchant wizard Sol Theolaur. He is the Secretary of the Wizard’s Guild. He is not a member of our faith. He runs a Council licensed magic shop in the Central Circuit and has an estate in the wealthy district in the temperate zone. The wizard cap was of a base level wizard artisan, suggesting that it may have been one of his tradesmen. There are no serious infractions of the law recorded for the family, but there was a case several years ago where Sol Theolaur was believed to have used mind magic. The case was never proven, and was dismissed.’

‘I seem to recall we’ve investigated this man on several occasions before, but I can’t remember why. He is not considered a powerful wizard, yet he has considerable influence and wealth. Why is that? He is a model citizen, but very wealthy. He is hiding something, and perhaps we should look a little deeper. Get some of our agents to do a little snooping around and see if we can find out where his wealth originated. Maybe we can find a way to convince him to join our flock.’

‘As you wish, Your Holiness.’

Chapter 2 Family Secrets

The family mansion was a blatant expression of Granddad’s wealth. It was a large two-story granite building, built like a fortress and surrounded by wide lawns and gardens, with a high stone wall around the periphery. The interior had marble floors, a grand staircase, numerous rooms outfitted with expensive woodwork, rugs, tapestries and artwork. It was located among the mansions of other wealthy wizard merchants, and had a domestic staff of ten plus twelve guards, four of whom were always on duty, manning the front gate or patrolling the grounds.

As might be expected, the place was magically protected. There were gargoyles set into the corners of the building to watch for aerial intruders, and several statues scattered around the gardens to detect those at ground level.

Inside the mansion was a magical alarm system which, when tripped, would create dense fog, hypnotic images and false illusory doorways and stairwells. There were also several newman-shaped constructs and statues, which could become animated and be directed to defend family members or attack intruders.

The family members took turns at managing the magic shop during the day, but always spent dinner and the evenings together at the mansion, where each had their own private rooms. It was an opulent life style but it all seemed lost on Rob at the moment, as he sprawled on his bed pondering his future. His hand had reformed but now one of his feet had lost its shape and he couldn’t walk. He was scared.

Rob, who was now twenty-two, had started working as an apprentice magic item maker in his grandfather’s shop when he was eight years old. They had discovered at an early age that he had a talent for grading and embedding magic into crystals, so he specialized in that area of magical art known as crystal tuning.

Rob had an extraordinarily good knowledge of both standard and mind magic theory, but unfortunately his source, the special internal reservoir of magic essence that set mind wizards apart from other magic users, was just too limited to sustain any real personal mental powers for any useful length of time. To offset this he had been apprenticed, and was now a journeyman wizard. This gave him a cover to keep his mind magic abilities hidden.

He had made quite a number of items approved by the Unity of Wisdom, but had recently turned his talents to making special magical items for more discreet customers, where the profits were much greater.

Once he had become a journeyman wizard, his grandfather wouldn’t allow him to learn any lethal magic, as he couldn’t control his anger. ‘An angry wizard is a dangerous wizard to both friend and foe,’ was Granddad’s favourite saying. ‘Defend and run Rob, that way you’ll stay alive,’ was another.

Rob spent countless hours in meditation, practicing mind control and harmony exercises. He learned strange mental defence techniques that weren’t in any textbook, and daily practiced defending against mind magic attacks on his mind from Granddad, until these skills were as automatic as breathing. Anyone trying to charm or mentally control Rob was in for a surprise.

Of course, the ban on lethal magic severely limited his future as a serious magic user, and seemed to predestine him to the role of merchant wizard artificer for the rest of his life. He was a little bitter about this, since he considered himself better than the average wizard of his age, and like many young wizards, desired to travel and see the worlds.

Granddad never ceased to point out that four of his seven apprentices, who had better control over their tempers than Rob, had died in magic fights within a year or two of leaving his employment. Rob had grudgingly accepted his grandfather’s wisdom and learned no lethal magic.

He was deeply depressed by the time Melanie called in with a potion from his mother to help him rest. She sat with him and her heart went out to him. He was the closest thing she had to a brother, and as a brother she loved him dearly. His mother and hers were twin sisters, but while they looked very similar they were worlds apart in temperament.

Tina, his mother, was wild and headstrong. She had inherited the mind magic ability from Granddad and was a strong and powerful mind wizard like her parents. She had chosen to put her energy into healing, and under an assumed identity had become a top rate healer on other worlds, while remaining completely unknown in Panmagica, owing to the local ban on mind magic. She periodically disappeared to tend to her healing work, leaving Rob with the rest of the family.

Melanie’s mother, Flora, didn’t inherit any mind magic ability. She was totally normal in all aspects and wonderfully loving. She was Rob’s second mother, which in a way made Rob feel more like Melanie’s brother. She was always there for both of them, filling in when Rob’s mother was absent. At times Melanie had even been jealous, but it didn’t last long for Rob was too good a friend.

Peter, Melanie’s father, had been one of Granddad’s first pair of wizard apprentices. He had captured Flora’s heart from an early age, and it had been inevitable that they would join together. While Granddad played politics on a grand scale, Peter was the quiet protector, keeping a close watch over the business and family finances. He was also a good solid wizard in a fight, and a ferocious defender of the family. He had shown his worth on several occasions when criminals had pressured the family. Nobody toyed with Granddad’s family unless they wanted trouble.

Rob cheered up a little when Melanie arrived with the potion. He wasn’t used to being sick, since mind wizards could heal themselves of normal bodily damage or illness, but this strange bodily reaction was totally foreign to him. He drank the potion and fell into a deep and dreamless sleep while Melanie sat beside him imagining the worst. A few hours later, she woke him and together they went to the family meeting in the planning room, which they both jokingly called the games room, for it was there that all the serious business and political decisions were made.

The planning room was a heavily magic-shielded chamber about six paces square in the centre of the mansion. The floor, walls, ceiling and even the door were covered in small, light grey ceramic tiles made of a material that excluded magic of all types. In the middle of the room was a beautifully carved, oval wooden table that would comfortably seat a dozen people. Inlaid in the tabletop was a map of Panmagica, with various areas shaded with a variety of colours. On one wall was a blackboard with chalk and in one corner was a scroll cupboard holding dozens of maps.

Their most powerful construct, Goth, who resembled a large black suit of plate armour, stood outside the door with Roland the Head Guard, in an anteroom about half the size of the Planning room. The room was richly decorated with paintings and small tapestries from strange worlds, designed to impress visitors who would sit on ornate chairs set out around the walls. On their arrival, Rob and Melanie found the planning room door locked.

‘What’s going on, Roland?’ asked Melanie.

‘Your grandfather has asked that you both be blindfolded before entering, and Alpha is to remain outside,’ he said with an unreadable expression.

‘That’s a strange request. Are you sure?’ asked Rob.

‘Perfectly sure, my Lord, your grandfather was quite specific. No blindfold, no entry.’

‘All right Roland, I suppose we’ll have to play along.’ So both he and Melanie allowed blindfolds to be placed over their eyes. They heard the door open and they were led in and the door was closed behind them. Rob noticed that the room had a strong pleasant fragrance as if filled with freshly cut flowers.

‘You may take the blindfolds off,’ said a strange voice.

They stood before the broad oval table, and seated opposite them were not their family, but a collection of strangers. In the centre and directly facing them was an old man clothed in the robes of a high priest of the Unity of Wisdom. On either side of him sat a middle-aged priestess. All were wearing sour and hostile expressions.

At the narrow end of the table to his left stood the Head of the Unity of Wisdom Guards, whom Rob had seen on many occasions, while at the other end to the right stood a solid looking man wearing the insignia of a High Wizard.

‘Where is our family?’ asked Melanie.

‘They are enemies of Panmagica and have been placed under arrest,’ said the High Priest in an aggressive tone. ‘It is now time to deal with the two of you.’

‘What are their crimes?’ demanded Rob, a little shocked.

‘Your grandfather is a mind wizard, which is a prohibited art. He will be tortured until he confesses and then publicly executed. His body will be burnt and his ashes dispersed,’ intoned the High Priest.

‘Your grandmother is his accomplice and will be treated similarly,’ the High Wizard said with a sneer.

Both Rob and Melanie were stunned by these accusations.

‘I don’t believe you!’ shouted Melanie. ‘You’re wrong!’

‘Your mothers are harlots and will be sent to entertain the troops,’ cackled one of the priestesses, seeming to enjoy the prospect.

‘And your father will become a eunuch, purged of his magic ability and sold into slavery,’ added the other priestess.

Melanie lost control. ‘You can’t. I won’t let you!’ and reached for her concealed daggers, but a word of power from the High Wizard froze her in a crouching position with her hands glued to the hilts of her weapons.

Rob maintained his mental control. This is what he had been trained for. This is what he had studied and exercised for.

‘Let me see the warrants,’ he said coolly.

‘Are you stupid or just too inbred?’ inquired the High Priest. ‘I am a member of the Council. I don’t need warrants.’

Rob stood his ground.

‘Yes you do, Your Holiness! The law is quite specific and even you must obey it. I wish to see the warrants for my family’s arrest. My Grandfather is Secretary to the Merchant Wizards’ Guild. You are treading on very thin ice if you think you hold an inquisition in our house and get away with it!’

‘Don’t dare to threaten me, you arrogant young pup,' the High Priest's voice was like stone. ‘The Unity of Wisdom runs this city and you will bow down now before us or pay dearly for your disrespect.’

Rob didn’t move, openly defying the High Priest to act.

‘Cut her throat!’ commanded the High Priest.

The Head of the City Guards walked around behind Melanie, whipped out a dagger and slit her throat. Crimson spurted out everywhere and Melanie collapsed to the floor to lie in the damp puddle of her own blood. Rob stood there momentarily, shocked beyond belief; then his training cut in and his mind raced. Perhaps he could save her yet.

He felt a cold chill as ethereal fingers assaulted his mind, attempting to cloud it with fog. He knew this magic well. It was an attempt to dominate his mind and force him into submission.

‘Nooooooo!’ he yelled and fought against the icy fingers, attempting to pry them away. The fingers seemed to flow together, interlinking and solidifying into chains criss-crossing his mind. He gathered his will power, straining his mind to break them. His anger began to rise. The darkness he always struggled so hard to control began to envelop him. Scales appeared on some parts of his body and thick dark hair on others. His fingers on one hand extended to claws. His other hand turned into a hoof. His head became horribly misshapen, and the darkness took over.

Suddenly he expended all the magic essence in his source in a single mind magic enhanced scream so powerful that it left his lungs like a mighty gale, shattering the glasses on the table and smashing into the priests with hurricane force.

The two priestesses and the Head of the City guard were slammed against the wall and knocked unconscious, but the High Priest and High Wizard weathered the blast like willow trees bending and swaying in the storm, but never faltering. The mental chains shattered. He was free, but his control over his own mind was lost in a bestial rage.

The high priest erected a wall of arcane force between himself and his companion and Rob, blocking him from harming them. His eyes turned as black as coal. He seized Melanie and with giant strength, threw her over his left shoulder as if she was a rag doll, and turned toward the door to flee. His free arm bulged with muscles like thick tree branches and he smashed the door open with a single mighty blow. Goth, the huge metal knight-like construct stepped into his path to block his exit. Goth was holding Alpha, his memcrystal, in one hand.

He struck the construct with a huge blow. It rocked but stood defiantly blocking his escape, without moving to either assault or restrain him. He heard a scream from Melanie. How could she scream? The thought stopped him in his tracks. Her throat had been cut. He looked down at her through misty eyes. There was no blood. He couldn’t see it or smell it. He could only smell a strong floral aroma. In the back of his mind a memory slowly fought its way to the surface like a bubble struggling through thick honey. Magic was often masked by other smells. There had been a strong floral smell when he had entered the room. He stood struggling to understand what it meant.

‘It is an illusion, Rob,’ yelled Alpha. ‘You’ve been tricked by an illusion. That’s why I was excluded from the room.’

He spun around hardly believing what he was hearing. The illusion shattered. His aunt and his grandmother were unconscious. His uncle Peter was just staggering to his feet.

He lowered Melanie to the floor, horrified at what had happened.

Granddad expelled the wall of force and shouted at him. ‘Take control Rob. Use the Mantra of Calming NOW! You must use forbearance.’

Alpha spoke into his mind. ‘Rage has taken control of you. You must calm down. Use the mantra, Rob. Use the mantra. Use forbearance.’

He couldn’t remember it. His mother began chanting it aloud to help him focus. His mind slowly recognised it and he closed his eyes and joined in. He recited it repeatedly until he had firm control of his mind once again, and his heart rate had dropped back almost to normal.

Roland, visibly shaken by the event, finally gathered enough courage to ask what he should do. Granddad said not to worry. Some magic had gone wrong but it was now under control. Rob’s mother attended to his aunt and grandmother while the others watched silently until he finally returned to his normal form and his eyes returned to their brown colour.

‘By the Powers Granddad, what did you do to me?’

‘Nothing! my boy. We did nothing at all. You managed to do that all by yourself. We just helped it along a bit. Grandma and Flora were not fully convinced as to our course of action. I think that there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind now. Grab a seat and we’ll explain.’

Melanie took a seat beside Rob. She was seething with anger. She was more annoyed with the family than ever before in her life. She was also terrified of what had happened to Rob. On several occasions she had seen him lose his temper, usually when he was scared or worried, but nothing like this. He had totally lost control and had become a monster, and they had caused it. She was lost for words. Why had they done this? What was wrong with him?

‘Now I know you’ll have lots of questions, but could you let us tell a story first, then we’ll try to answer any further questions you have,’ said Granddad.

‘Firstly, what happened to you is not fatal or even dangerous, as long as it’s under your firm control, which, as you have witnessed, it’s not at the moment. You have a special ability, which has taken until now to fully express itself. In fact we’ve all been expecting it to happen for some time. That’s one of the reasons why I have been having you learn and practice so many methods of mental control and why you’ve been so closely watched and protected over the last few years.’

‘You’ve inherited a remarkable ability from your father to shape change into beasts. The problem is, that in Panmagica, the Unity of Wisdom has got some idiotic idea that all shape changers are evil. Consequently, they are sentenced to death if they are caught, and we didn’t want that to happen to you.’

‘But shape changing is a disease isn’t it?’ asked Melanie, her anger turning to interest.

Rob said nothing; he was too shocked.

‘Yes it can be, but Rob doesn't have a disease. In his case it’s more like a natural talent,’ said Granddad. ‘Could you please let me finish the story?’

Melanie was silent but her mind was sprinting ahead. If it wasn’t a disease then there must have been something strange about Rob’s father?

‘No dad! Let me tell the story,’ said Rob’s mother suddenly. Granddad nodded and she continued on in his place.

‘About two years before you were born, a war broke out between one of Panmagica’s allies and the Yith Empire, over some insignificant frontier world. Both groups claimed it. The Yith Empire sent a delegation of druids to try and settle the problem peacefully. They were priests of nature who were very worried about how a war might affect the fauna and flora on the disputed world.

‘The delegation stayed in the inn just down the road from our magic shop. One day one of them came in to examine our stock, and I was on duty that day. I didn’t know he was a part of the delegation because he looked like any other newman customer, with no lizard-like Yith features.’

'He was handsome, beautifully dressed, obviously wealthy and very charming. I was attracted to him. He came back several times that week, and each time we talked I became more attracted to him. He told me he was in the city on business, but never mentioned what it was about. At the end of the week he said that he would have to leave the city but would try to return later in the year.

‘The Yith delegation left when the talks broke down, shortly after they were poisoned at one of the state receptions. Fortunately none of them died as, being druids, they were quite resistant to most poisons. However, they took it as a serious breach of protocol and left. The Unity of Wisdom didn’t seem to care too much, and later it was widely believed that they were behind the poisoning. That was the start of the friction between our empire and the Yith empire, which is still running today.

‘A few weeks later, he showed up again and revealed that he was a mind wizard, and asked to talk to Granddad about contracting to supply us with some magic items at very good prices. Granddad was a little reluctant at first, but eventually agreed to try him out. Over the next year he supplied copious items and rare magic ingredients at very good prices, allowing us to make excellent profits. Each time he visited I came to know him better, until I fell in love with him.

‘One day he asked me to leave and live with him. Neither Granddad nor Grandma was happy about us joining. It was too soon they said, so I eloped with him against their wishes. Several months later we returned. I was pregnant with you, and your father and I had a problem. He had been involved in some sort of Yith politics over something called a divinity seed, and his faction had lost. The lizards in the opposing faction wanted him dead, and he thought that it would be safer for our child and me if I returned here.

‘Granddad and Grandma were very happy to see me, but not so happy to have him around. He was worried that he would bring retribution on the family, so he left. However, before leaving he told us that you had a good chance of inheriting his unique type of shape changing ability when you became a mature adult.

‘He was hunted continuously, but we still heard from him occasionally over the next two years, then there was nothing for the following six years. One day I received a message that said he had found a perfect hiding place. Since then, we have resumed trading through his