Aglanthol 3 - The Castle of Saelethiel (The Law Cannot Be Shaken) - 12. Chapter 12

Qildor left the camp at dawn and went all the way back down. He moved fast and after only three hours he had reached the bottom of the mountain. He looked around, yet he did not see any changes. The beginning of the path looked exactly like he remembered it. Qildor climbed the path again, carefully scouting and watching out for the man’s traces.

Neldor had grown angry when he had discovered that Qildor was gone. He wanted to leave the camp also, but Magath stopped the wizard from doing so. Instead of picking up a quarrel, which he could have easily done, he inquired the old man and asked him to tell him more about mind focusing techniques. Neldor calmed down. He had never had an apprentice and the young man’s interest flattered him. Although he found that mind working techniques were far above Magath’s understanding, he explained the basics to him and as an example visualized the image of a frog. The image hovered between them. Magath was smitten.

"I cannot materialize it, though," the wizard said. "It does not work here."

"You mean you could make this image real?" Magath asked curiously.

Neldor nodded.

"Yes, I could make that frog jump into your lap. But like I said, the magic does not work here. The image must suffice as an example," he said.

Neldor dissolved the image with a gesture of his hand. Magath gazed at him in awe. The wizard smiled at him.

"Would you like to visualize an image?" Neldor asked to his own surprise and against his belief to never reveal too much about magic to an average man.

Magath was enthusiastic about it. Neldor explained the technique again. And for two or three hours, they focused on the exercise. With the help of the wizard, Magath finally managed to visualize the image of a beetle. The image lasted for only a few seconds. But they both saw it clearly.

"Magnificent," Magath exclaimed.

"Magic," Neldor said drily.

He looked at Magath with new respect. The young man was apparently talented. What a pity he had been raised among peasants. If someone had found out about the man’s talent early and had taken him to a skilled and trained man, then the man would perhaps have become a shaman or a healer or an expert in herb lore maybe. Neldor smiled absent-mindedly.

"What is amusing you?" Magath asked.

"I was just thinking," Neldor replied. "Tanmil is an odd village. The villagers are very talented, it seems. Gwyn fought against Khaalindaan. The peasant Dran had a foreboding of evil. And now you visualized an image after only a few hours of training."

Magath smiled back.

"Despite me being an average man," he said.

Neldor nodded.

"Not so average, it seems. Fate summoned you on this journey, after all," he said seriously.

Magath looked at the wizard. A shiver ran down his spine.

"And Qildor saw the Castle of Saelethiel that is hidden from the eyes of an average man," Neldor mused. "Very odd all."

They sat in silence for a while.

"Can we do it again?" Magath asked finally.

Neldor gave him a questioning look.

"Another image," Magath said. "Qildor will be away for some more hours. We need to pass away time."

Neldor smirked. He straightened and then they resumed their exercises.

~~**~~

Qildor had meanwhile walked half the way back to their camp. So far, he had found no trace of the man. But he was sure meanwhile that the man had entered the mountains on his own. Six men would not have been able to move up the narrow path without leaving a trace. Qildor climbed higher and then he stopped at the sight of two boulders in the distance.

‘A perfect place for the night,’ he thought.

He left the path and moved into the direction of the rocks. He checked the place carefully. And then he finally found what he had been looking for. A few broken twigs and a trampled flower. Qildor knelt down and had a closer look.

"Two days ago," he said.

He straightened and looked around. He doubted the man was still anywhere near. But his gut feeling told him to be careful. Qildor approached the boulders. He investigated the place. He saw nothing at first. He took his time, however, and checked the place carefully. Suddenly, he spotted a wool thread on one side of the boulder. Qildor removed it from the stone cautiously and held it in front of his eyes.

‘Black wool. Rough, old, worn. From a robe probably. He must have leaned against the rock,’ Qildor thought.

Qildor investigated the place for some more time, yet did not find any more traces. He returned to the path and resumed climbing it. He was certain now that the man had walked up there two days ago. Close to the place where they had looked for the cave, Qildor found another wool thread in a bush. It was the same material. Qildor looked around and then looked at the path. Their horses had left no traces. This meant Neldor’s ward hid their horses also. This magic, at least, worked well.

‘Luckily,’ Qildor thought. ‘But I suspect we left more traces than he did. If he came back, he must have found them. I suspect he knows that we are at his heels.’

Qildor moved on. He reached their camp in the afternoon. He turned around the rock and stopped short when he saw Neldor and Magath sitting next to each other and gazing at the opposite rock. Their eyes were narrowed and their looks were piercing. Qildor’s hand automatically seized the handle of his knife that was adjusted to his belt. Qildor turned around slowly and looked in the direction that Neldor and Magath were gazing. He jumped at the sight of a huge spider hovering between the rocks. His sudden movement caused a noise. Neldor and Magath turned their eyes to him. The huge spider disappeared instantly.

"Goodness," Qildor exclaimed. "What was that?"

"Just an image," Neldor said soberly. "An image of a spider, to be exact. We produced it as an exercise."

"Produced it?" Qildor asked. He looked warily in the direction where the spider had been.

Neldor and Magath rose to their feet. The wizard smoothed down his robe.

"Have you found anything?" he asked Qildor.

Qildor, still bewildered, took the wool threads out of his pocket. He told them where he had found them.

"He entered the mountains two days ago. He spent the night down the path between two rocks. From there he went up the path the following day. I’m sure he passed the place where we spent last night. There was no other sheltered place along the path. And I doubt he is here among us," Qildor said.

They fell silent at his words and looked around warily. Neldor shook his head.

"Magath and I spent hours here. I doubt he watched us. A sign, however subtle, would have revealed his presence, I’m sure," he said.

Neldor reached out his hand to Qildor. Qildor handed him the wool threads. Neldor had a close look at them.

"Khalindash wool," he said.

He handed the wool threads to Magath. Magath nodded.

"Rough. Definitely not Aglanthol wool," he confirmed.

"We have evidence now," Qildor said. "One man, a Khalindash. He reached the Western Mountains two days before we arrived."

"Dran’s story is true then," Magath said. "The riders he watched were Khalindash men. They were headed for the Western Mountains. Their leader planned to discard the men as soon as they had reached the mountains. This is what Dran overheard."

Qildor nodded.

"If he moved on at the same pace, he must be far ahead meanwhile," he said.

"If he moved at the same pace, he would have already arrived at the castle. But the castle is hidden and reality has changed. He meanwhile must have found out about it," Neldor said.

"If he went back the path, he might be very close," Qildor said.

"Luckily, the ward that makes us invisible works very well," Neldor replied. "It also conceals our voices and the noises we make, have I already said this?"

Qildor looked at Neldor with surprise. The information was new to him. However, it made sense. Concealing one’s sight and not one’s voice would not be very productive at all. Qildor returned to his previous thought.

"Nonetheless he might have found our traces. I found his trace. And we are three. We must assume that he meanwhile knows that someone is at his heels," he said.

"Doubtlessly," Neldor replied. "He must have concluded this from the additional ward alone."

Qildor gave Neldor a questioning look. But they were interrupted by Magath.

"Master Neldor," Magath called out.

Qildor and Neldor turned instantly. Qildor startled again, but Neldor clapped his hands.

"Magnificent," the wizard exclaimed.

Qildor writhed with disgust at the sight of the huge spider now hovering right next to him.

"Magnificent," Neldor exclaimed again, and then he walked right through the image.

~~**~~

Ogol stood not far from them and looked down at their camp. He gazed at the huge spider that was hovering in the air. The image had shown up and had disappeared. A few minutes later it had shown up again. Ogol, however, did not see the man who produced the image. Ogol gazed at the spider grimly, but then a mocking smile appeared on his lips.

"You put up a ward that makes you invisible. But you forgot that I can see the image. How inconsiderate. Don’t you realize you’re acting foolish, old man," Ogol said mockingly.

The image of the spider dissolved finally. Ogol watched the place for some more time, but no more images showed up. He left his observation point and returned to the place where he had spent the previous night. He sat down on the ground and leaned against the rock.

‘He’s also having problems with his magic,’ Ogol mused. He had also meanwhile found out that only certain techniques worked well.

‘He can’t materialize either,’ Ogol thought. ‘He can only produce an image. The image was not good either. Not perfectly three-dimensional. And it did not last long and it hovered way too much. In fact, it looked like a beginner’s image."

Ogol’s smile broadened. He smiled contently.

"Or like the image of a very old man who has lost his ability to concentrate," Ogol said triumphantly.

Ogol leaned back more. He sensed the cold stone in his back. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked up at the sky. Ogol relaxed.

"He’s having problems also. He’s off guard and careless. And his magic does not match mine,’ he thought. ‘It should not be difficult to defeat the old man.’

Ogol smiled. He had planned to wait and let Neldor make the first move. His plan had worked out well. Neldor had revealed himself and had already given away very much.

Ogol yawned. He shifted his position. He was tired. He needed a rest. He had felt under pressure for days. But now his tensed body relaxed. Ogol drifted to sleep.

~~**~~