Diary of a Conjurer by D. L. Gardner Read Free Book Online

froze.
    It started as a tiny glow against the
southwestern sky, but quickly burst into a streak of red. The
forest on the southern shore was aflame. Black smoke billowed into
the heavens covering the earth in darkness. Already, Meneka could
smell the pine and fir that was being consumed as the salty breeze
carried the residue across the waters.
    Alcove Forest was on fire.
    There was no lightning. The day had been
clear and cool. This fire was not made by natural causes. Meneka
could only guess that Hacatine had a hand in it.
    Fear became a lump in his throat. He wasn’t
safe. No one was safe. Whether or not Silvio and Reuben survived
her attack, he may never know. But he could be certain of one
thing. If she had captured or killed those two wizards, she’d be on
his trail soon.
     
    Sails in the Night
     
    Meneka stayed up all night watching the dark
waters. Fog and smoke hovered over the bay, but he could still see
the stars reflected in the tide.
    What happened to Kaempie? Why doesn’t he
show up here and help us out?
    Some of those shimmering reflections on the
water were moving. They weren’t stars at all. Meneka knew that.
They were ships, and most likely Hacatine’s ships. If Meneka didn’t
do something fantastic, she’d invade this village looking for him.
And these people would probably hand him over to her.
    Where are the winds when you need them?
    Meneka glanced up at the mountain that
towered over the village behind him. Eerily glowing in the
starlight, its peaks appeared like ghostly hands caressing a dimly
lit candle.
    Why should he let the murderess snuff out
his life when he had this whole land at his command?
    Meneka cupped his hands and concentrated on
the power that pulsated beneath the flesh of his fingers. Even if
he couldn’t make a serpent come to life, with the right
maneuvering, he could fool the villagers into thinking the vision
was real. He breathed into his hands, closed his eyes, and imagined
a most horrendous creature. Eyes of marble hollowed into a skull of
dark shadows, coated with scales its pointed fangs arched
dangerously over its mouth. A gilded body sweeping into a tail of
thick mass as heavy as lead.
    “Yes. The essence of wickedness! This is
what I think of you, Hacatine. And you won’t own these people. I
will. They will hate you and love me. They’ll never be your slaves,
but they’ll be my loyal subjects,” he whispered.
    He held the fireball for a long moment,
soaking in the warmth it churned, and then tucked it into his
shirt. Content that his plan was going to work, he nestled in the
sand under the stars and fell asleep.
    The wind picked up in the night. By dawn,
the tide was high, and breakers broke the silence of the morning,
pounding on the beach like explosions of thunder.
    The ships were offshore, but the gale that
stirred held them back. Meneka stood and watched as the villagers
ran in panic. Lines of people streamed toward the mountain.
Meneka’s eyes rested on the yurts they had erected the day before.
They stood firm, barely wavering. Their matted walls flapped
quietly.
    “Eric,” he called as he spotted his friend.
“Send them into the yurts!”
    “Hold up!” Eric called out. It took a moment
for Eric to redirect the people, but soon they turned back. Many of
the men eyed him suspiciously as they passed, but Meneka nodded in
confidence at those who peered. “It’s fine. The yurts will hold.
You’ll be fine.”
    When the people were sheltered, Meneka
walked to the beach where the abandoned fishing boats tossed on the
waves. He could see Hacatine’s ship quite plainly. There was no
mistaking that vessel, so appropriately named The Intruder .
The ship hadn’t always belonged to the sorceress, but was once
owned by the wizard king Bolero before the uprising. Meneka’s eyes
rested on the beak head as the boat rocked on the water. A young
maiden carved from a lush red wood, common in the forests of
Taikus, clung to the bow as though the ship was her