The Rings of Salammis

The Second Visitor

     Saturn reached the dwelling tree a few moments later and tapped on the door to announce his presence before walking straight in.

     Thomas leapt to his feet as the older wizard appeared, and Derrin looked up in wide eyed interest. A real wizard! Although both his parents and most of his teachers were wizards, he was much too familiar and comfortable with them to equate them with the fearsome and powerful figures who appeared in fireside tales, but this was a real wizard. An imposing, mysterious character whom he could imagine battling dragons or tearing down a fortress with bolts of lightning.

     Saturn saw the boy staring at him and scowled back, but that only made the boy's bright blue eyes open wider in fascination. The boy had no fear of him whatsoever, and Saturn found to his surprise that that made him feel just a little bit uncomfortable. The new Malefactos, he thought. What kind of creature will this boy grow up into?

     "I'd like a word," he said to Thomas, gesturing towards the door. "If you please..."

     Thomas nodded. "I'll be back in a minute," he told Lirenna.

     She nodded, giving the fearsome looking old wizard an anxious glance as the two of them left. "Who was that, mother?" asked Derrin as the door closed behind them.

     "That's the man your father works for," replied Lirenna, still staring after them. "I wonder what he wanted that's so important it couldn't wait for Tom to get back to work tomorrow?"

☆☆☆

     Saturn wasted no time but got straight to the point, telling the younger wizard of the discoveries that had been made up on Kronos. "We don't know that this is how the saboteurs are coming to our world," he said, his hands clasped behind his back as they strolled side by side through the forest, "but we have to investigate the possibility. We are launching the Ship of Space early, therefore, so that it can take a group of us up for a closer look."

     "And you want me to come?" asked Thomas. "You wouldn't be telling me all this otherwise."

     Saturn nodded. "It is also possible that these artifacts are connected to the Rossem Ship and may contain Rossemian magic, so we'll need someone who can sense it."

     Thomas was zlmost trembling with excitement, the older wizard noted. A pair of mysterious artifacts floating up in space, possibly the products of an alien race. Thomas would have begged to be included in the expedition, he knew. He might even have stowed away on the ship, his demon of curiosity driving out all thought of consequences, but Saturn wanted him to come. Saturn required him to come! He must be blessing his strange ability to sense Rossemian magic, thought Saturn with amusement.

     "When do we leave?" asked Thomas breathlessly.

     Saturn suppressed an uncharacteristic smile. He could faintly remember his own excitable youth, so long ago, and he hoped it would be a long time yet before Thomas's driving curiosity led him to something that destroyed his innocence. It was amazing, really, that it hadn't happened already. It was because of his confinement in the valley of Haven, of course. He'd been sheltered from the grim realities of the world for twenty years.

     "Be in Kronosia by dawn tomorrow," he said. "There'll be someone there to meet you and show you the way. I'll be joining you around noon and the ship will lift soon thereafter. You can use the time to familiarise yourself with her."

     "Yes, Master," cried Thomas in delight. "And let's hope our trip goes a little more smoothly than our trip aboard the Hummingbird."

     Saturn winced inwardly at the reminder of their last flight abroad, even though he knew the younger wizard had meant nothing by the casual, offhand remark. Thomas had never given any indication that he resented the older wizard's decision to abandon Gunther and Karog in the Southern Continent, forcing Thomas to undergo his gruelling ordeal to save them. He'd understood the importance of getting the fragile Orb of Skydeath Protection back to the valley, but somehow that just made it worse.

     He glanced at Thomas's wrists. All healed now, but when his carpet had landed back on the Hummingbird to the joy of the crew they had been raw and bleeding from the leather thongs used to tie him. It had taken Saturn a long time to forgive himself for that, and that had been the result of just one hard decision in a long lifetime of hard decisions.

     "It should do," he replied. "We know we won't have to cross any mountains at least."

     Thomas chuckled at that, and the older wizard marveled that he'd been able to shrug off his ordeal so easily, that the core of him was untouched by it. Of course, he'd experienced worse things before his retirement to Haven, and he had the examples of Gunther and Karog who'd been prisoners of the Duhraks for weeks, not just one day. He considered his decision to grant them a place aboard the Ship of Space when it set off on its real mission. Were they ready for it? Did they need longer to recover first? But no-one else had the experience in space that they had, flying the test chamber, and they'd proven their ability to work together as a team. The work might even be good therapy for them. He put the doubts out of his mind, therefore, and resolved to stick to the decision he'd made.

     "I'll go and tell Lenny," said Thomas, excusing himself and turning back to the tree. "I'll have to be careful how I break it to her. She doesn't like me going away. She doesn't say so, but I can tell."

     "One thing first, before you go," said the older wizard, however. "Fourth year apprentices are busy enough as they are without running errands for you. If you want a book from the library, fetch it for yourself in future."

     He was going to say more, but the look of incomprehension on the younger wizard's face stopped him. "I'm sorry?" asked Thomas in confusion.

     "The fourth year apprentice, Brian Jules. You sent him to fetch you a book from the library. I passed him on the way here."

     "I don't know anyone by that name, and I haven't sent for any books. I like to go myself, and have a good browse among the shelves. I don't know what you're talking about."

     Saturn stared at him, then swore violently. "It must have been one of the saboteurs," he snarled furiously. "I had him, had him right in my hands, and I let him go!" He dashed off, following the path Jasper had taken, leaving the younger wizard to stare after him in bewilderment.

☆☆☆

     Thomas hurried back to the tree. Derrin and Lirenna looked up in surprise as he burst in, and Thomas collapsed into his chair in relief. They were all right. His wife and son were all right.

     "The saboteurs are back," he said in response to Lirenna's questioning gaze. "Saturn saw one snooping around outside. Probably just spying, seeing what's what. Drass, I thought we'd seen the end of them."

     "I heard nothing," said Lirenna, however.

     "Nor me," added Derrin brightly.

     "Look, I've got to go away for a little while," said Thomas, leaning forward to take his wife's hands. "Saturn's found something and he wants me to help investigate it. While I'm away, I want you to be very, very careful. Be alert at all times. Please?"

     "I don't think we're going to be in any danger," said the demi shae, however. "I was all alone with Roitala for weeks and it never tried to do me any harm, not even when I tried to catch it. They've never deliberately hurt anyone, that I know of."

     Thomas fingered his jaw unconsciously. "They killed old Schoena Scull, remember?"

     "That was an accident. They only meant to leave him tied up for a while."

     "Well I don't want you to be killed by accident," countered Thomas firmly. "Just be careful, okay? Just stay alert."

     "I will, I promise," said the demi shae earnestly. "So, where are you going off to this time?"

     Thomas leaned back in his chair and told her, his excitement returning at the thought of the adventure to come.