Diary of a Conjurer by D. L. Gardner

here?”
    He hesitated to
answer . Kaempie wouldn’t leave
the young conjurer, but I can't stay here with him. My allegiance
is elsewhere. “You can come with me.” Reuben
offered.
    Silvio shook his head, his eyes
fixed steadfast on the waves. “I guess we’re on our own,” Silvio
said.
    They stared at the sea. The
roaring tide crashing on the shore beat away the last glimmer of
hope either of them had of seeing the skiff again.
    “ Then run.” Reuben urged.
“Your magic is strong. Follow the coast west to the bay, and then
veer north. Meet up with those two.” He
nodded toward the breakers where they had last seen their friends.
“I doubt that they perished. Kaempie is too good a wizard for such
an end. Go. Have hope. My heart lies elsewhere.”
    He rested his hand on the young
wizard’s shoulder. There’d be no reason to tell Silvio why he was
going back. The boy was too young to understand the turmoil that
haunted him, and they barely knew each other anyway. Their eyes
met. Reuben gave the boy a nod and a hopeful smile, then picked up
his bow and quiver. He walked toward the woods in the direction of
the strait of Alisubbo.
    Please go on, Silvio. Don’t be
discouraged. You can survive! Make haste!
    Reuben followed the shore along
the edge of the forest until rocky cliffs prevented his passage and
he was forced to ascend a steep bank. When he reached a flat summit
that overlooked the coastline, he turned around and surveyed the
beach below. Silvio had gone.
    Good.
    But the sight on the horizon was
not so good. Hacatine’s ships had wind in their sails, traveling
east of the fog bank. Closer now, it was obvious that her fleet was
set for Bandene.
    Run, Silvio.
    His heart leapt. He too must
make haste to the outskirts of Alisubbo. There he’d be safe. No
Taikan warrior would come near the city known as the Quaking
Fortress. Fear kept its enemies away. Throughout history, whenever
Taikans had invaded Alisubbo, explosions of great magnitude shook
the ground, causing waves of immeasurable heights along the
Straits, and floods that ravaged the shores of the island. It was
believed that the winds of the north protected that coastal city as
well. Hacatine would not invade Alisubbo —not until she was certain
of her supremacy. Not until the Northern Winds were
tamed.
    Whether he’d be safe or not
when he reached its boundaries, Reuben didn’t know. But it would
give him time to use his magic to look into the near future and
immediate past. Doing so would reveal
whether Lelanie was still safe and what course he needed to take.
He had less fear of the city of man than he did of Hacatine and
what she could do to his family.

    The Thieves
     
    A moonless time of the
night, the storm in the west blanketed the sky, though no rain fell
where he walked. Still drops of moisture from humidity mingled with
his sweat as he felt his way through the woods. His bare toes
curled around the cold rocks and coarse roots of the trail that
eventually widened to a road much like those in Taikus. In the
daylight, men traveled here. Rollers more advanced than the stone
wheels found on Taikus had cut ruts in the soft dirt that he now
followed.
    He’d seen the vessels. He and his
friends would come to the edge of Bandene Forest to hunt for deer,
but occasionally they’d see the odd contraptions rolling on the
road. Baskets atop lightweight wheels that were pulled by horses.
They carried men, two or three at a time. A wonder to the young
Taikans, sometimes he and his friends would hide in the forest just
to watch them roll by. Alisubbo’s craftsmen were so much more
advanced than the wizards of his homeland.
    But none of his friends had ever
set eyes inside the city. Stone walls and iron gates secured it.
Reuben wished his nation would attempt peace with these citizens so
that knowledge and wisdom could be shared. But Hacatine’s policy
had been to conquer, not to treaty, falling short of both.
    Which is why she
wants me. The more