Wordscapist: The Myth (The Way of the Word Book 1) by Arpan Panicker Read Free Book Online

his insane dreams. He was huge and yet very lithe. He walked like a predator, taking long, powerful strides. He carried a scape-staff. Most wordsmiths had a custom-made scape staff that they crafted all their lives, adding runic symbols to the slim totem pole that was their personal weaving tool. Silvus’s staff was a huge one, thick in girth and about six feet tall, a few inches less than his incredible height. It was carved with powerful symbols that enhanced his scapes and spells. It must have weighed a fair bit, but he carried it lightly. He nodded at me with a faint smile. I nodded back, not trusting my voice to make normal sounding conversation.
         He walked to the centre of the scape-field and said something to Lily. I checked the master console. The microphones caught the words and the software transcribed the speech into text for the records. I hit a button and the transcript scrolled on the screen, “Good morning, Lily. All set for the scape?”
         Lily’s reply was to the point, “Yes, Master Silvus. I could not find my scape-staff though. It seems to have disappeared.”
         “No problem,” Silvus dismissed this with a wave of his hand that I could see from the corner of my eye. The transcript scrolled on, “The spells are unusual and would not have been aided by your staff. I have my staff for what enhancement we need. So let’s get on with it.”
         He gestured to Zyx and Jimmy who were talking outside the perimeter, significantly beyond the microphone field. As they started walking over, he turned to me and nodded once, clearly aware of the fact that I was watching them closely. I abandoned my pretence of being busy with calibrations and started walking towards them.
          “Wordsmiths, Historian,” Silvus started, the charm in full force, “We are here for a historical scape, the first and probably last of its kind. If this works, the Guild will be empowered beyond imagination. I trust all of you are sufficiently prepared with your spells and other arrangements.” This last bit was said with a nod to me. “I am going to lead you all through the scape strategy. As you will have noticed, I have listed in the briefing the spells we will be using in the scape today. The rest of the scape will be woven by me and me alone. I do not want any of you to add to it. You will contribute to the spells only. With the kind of experience and capability this group has, I do not think a rehearsal is required for spell incantations, even ones as obscure as these. And yes, we do not have much time. The moment we define the scape and its intent, Sign will become aware of our little initiative. That gives us a few minutes before she gets here. We need to connect to Alter and set up the special defence I have designed to prevent her from tracing the rabbit hole.”
         He was being cryptic and was leaving nothing at all to the others. The spells were complex but child’s play for a group like this. They were only to add the collective strength of their gifts to the scape, while Silvus manipulated the scape to its completion with his words. Spell incantations were standard, and when rendered in chorus, there would be no innovations and therefore no chance for any misinterpretations. The strategy was well thought out and left no scope for Lily or even the faithful Zyx and Jimmy, to sabotage the scape. Lost in my thoughts, I did not notice that the wordsmiths had all fallen into position.
         “Historian?” Silvus’s voice was a query and a reprimand. I quickly muttered an apology and ran back to my console. I checked all the equipment readings one last time and raised my thumb to signal that I was ready.
         “Wordsmiths! Make me proud!” Silvus roared out.
         Snatches of words floated to me, carried by the wilful wind. I brought up the master console to check the scrolling words. They were the opening words of the Covenant Seal; a spell to bind the group to