Wood Nymph and the Cranky Saint- Wizard of Yurt - 2 by C. Dale Brittain, Brittain Read Free Book Online Page A

answer.”
    “That’s something else the bishop was worried about. He feels that it has been a mistake having both a saint’s shrine and a nymph share the same grove al these centuries. The modern church needs to eradicate al remnants of superstition, and the uneducated may find it a stumbling block to their faith if they come to worship God and His saints and find themselves in the realm of a wood nymph.”
    “Especialy one as lovely as she is,” I provided.
    Joachim gave me a quick look. “I thinx the bishop knows better than that, he said, answering a question I had not directly asked. “There has never been the least doubt about the moral purity of this hermit—
    or any of his predecessors. But wood nymphs, as I
    understand it, are immortal and, thus, they are outside of the human drama of sin and salvation.”
    And so, I thought, was whatever had made that footprint.
    Joachim hesitated for a moment before continuing. “Ive mentioned before,” he said at last, “that the bishop is very uneasy about my friendship with a wizard. But I wrote him that, in this case, it could be advantageous to have access to someone who might be able to influence a nymph. Therefore,” with a sideways glance from his enormous eyes, “I do hope you can do something.” I said nothing for a moment but thought about this. The bishop seemed to have issued the chaplain a veiled threat: Either I proved my ability and wilingness to help the church or else the bishop would pressure Joachim to end our friendship. I thought of suggesting that if the bishop became angry with him, then he could stop worrying about being asked to join the cathedral chapter, but decided this would push him too far.
    Instead I said, “I’l try my best, but it may be hard if the nymph won’t even talk to me. I’l want to consult my books back at the royal castle, perhaps talk to my predecessor about her, and maybe even telephone the wizards’ school. They don’t want young wizards caling them up with every little problem, but if my books don’t give me much help, I may have no choice.” Joacnim had started to mount his horse, but he seemed to hear something in my voice I had not meant him to hear. He swung back down and looked at me. “I’m sorry. I was thinking of the need to get back to the count’s castle, to send the bishop a message by the pigeons immediately. But he can wait a little while longer. What’s realy bothering you about the wood nymph?”
    “It’s not the nymph,” I said. “It’s something else I saw.” And I tola him about the horned rabbits, the footprint that was almost, but not quite, a man’s, and the strange sense of renegade spels lurking amid the magic of the valey.
    ‘ So I know now the horned rabbits aren’t creatures from the land of wild magic,” I finished. “It looks as though someone took dead rabbits, attached sheeps’ horns, and then, I don’t know how, brought them back to life. Some wizard must have made them. But my predecessor and I are the only wizards in the kingdom.’
    “Do you think the old wizard’s practicing black magic?” asked Joachim quietly.
    ‘ I don’t know what to think,” I said in despair. “I’l have to go talk to him at once. He would have been almost the last person I’d suspect of dealing with the powers of darkness, but if he’s able to create life, he’s gotten supernatural help from somewhere.”
    Joachim nodded thoughtfuly. “That’s the shortcoming of wizardry, isn’t it. Because it’s a natural power, you can’t use unaided magic to alter the earth’s natural cycle of birth and death.
    “But why would he do it?” I burst out. “He’s retired, he doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone
    any more.
    ‘When he decided to retire, back before you came to Yurt, he told al of us that he wanted to spend more time on his research. Maybe this is what he’s been researching.”
    “I stil can’t understand it,” I said gloomily, catching Joachim’s intense