SEARCH FOR THE LOST SOUL (13 page)

They looked
into only two rooms before abandoning their exploration; Terrell’s castle was
just too depressing. They settled into a dark sitting room rather than return
to their small rooms. By early evening, Dominic had joined them to await
Terrell’s arrival.

After
several minutes of silence, Chris asked the question that had hovered at the
edge of his consciousness since entering Terrill’s castle. “If magic and
technology don’t go together, how is it that there’s electricity in these
castles?”

Dominic eyed
him for a moment before answering. “Electricity is a relatively simple concept.
All that is required is a process for stimulating the flow of electrons. But,
the electricity that flows through the castles of those with power is not what
you would call traditional electricity.”

Chris
frowned. “Are you saying it’s magical electricity?”

Dominic
shook his head. “No, the generation of the electricity is the same as it is
everywhere else on the planet. It is only the way the electricity is used that
is different. You see, normally the wiring through which electricity flows is
copper. There can be no copper in the vicinity of magic.”

“So, what
does the electricity flow through?”

Dominic
smiled. “Twine.”

Chris stared
at him for a moment before he was able to form the question he wanted to ask.
“Twine! Do you mean string?”

Dominic
shook his head. “Twine is thicker than string, the twine that we use is crafted
by hand. There is a low level sorcerer who supplies these types of items.” His
smile broadened. “For a substantial fee, of course.”

Chris shook
his head, wondering if he would ever understand the requirements of magic. He
glanced at Kelly, frowning when he saw that she was staring at the wall,
showing no interest in the conversation. He suppressed the sigh that threatened
to escape; once he had helped to rescue and return her soul to it’s rightful
place, he would have no reason to have any knowledge about real magic.

Dominic
laughed softly. “But, that does not answer your true question, does it?”

Chris
returned his attention to the apprentice. “I thought you answered it thoroughly.”

Dominic
shook his head. “Ah, you do not know the question that you really want to ask.
But, have no fear, I shall answer it nonetheless. What you really want to know
is: how can magic function correctly when there is electricity around?” he fell
silent, eying Chris expectantly.

Chris rubbed
his finger against his right thigh as he considered Dominic’s words. As he
thought about it, he realized that Dominic was right. How was it possible for
magic to function correctly around electricity but not around guns? He looked
up at the apprentice and nodded.

Dominic
smiled. “I was certain that you would get there eventually. The answer is,
there is no electricity in the areas of the castle where magic is most likely
to be performed.” He held up his hand to forestall the question he could see in
Chris’ eyes. “I know, in a sorcerer’s castle, there is apt to be magic
everywhere. But, if you will think back to your visit, you will recall that
there were areas where candles and gaslights provided illumination. remember
Loren’s study.”

Chris closed
his eyes so he could picture Loren’s study. He could easily see the chairs next
to the fire, the walls lines with books and the huge wooden desk. But. No
matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember seeing any kind of light other
than the fire in the fireplace. He finally opened his eyes and shook his head
at Dominic.

Dominic
sighed. “Do you not recall the orbs that floated around the room, moving to
wherever they were most needed?”

Chris
thought for a moment before shaking his head again.

Dominic
rolled his eyes. “You are not very observant. take my word for it, there is no
electricity in the study.”

Chris
nodded. “Alright, but these globes you’re talking about, how do they work?”

Dominic
smiled. “Magic, of course.”

“Why use
candles and gas if you can provide light with magic?”

Dominic
frowned at him. “Why waste the energy required to cast such a powerful spell
when alternative sources are available?”

“Then why
use the orbs at all?”

“In areas
where magic is likely to be performed, the less technology the more likely the
spell is to work. candles are generally not a problem, as long as you don’t
have a metal wick, but gas lanterns tend to function irregularly around magic.”

Chris shook
his head; he didn’t understand and doubted the apprentice would explain
further. most likely, he thought his explanation sufficient. He opened his
mouth to ask another question but didn’t have the chance to pose it. Dominic
turned away from him, effectively telling Chris that the question and answer
session was over. Chris sighed; he’d have to take the information as it was
doled out.

A silent
servant entered the room as darkness fell and lit a blazing fire in the stone
fireplace. For a few minutes Chris held on to the hope that the fire would
cheer the place up a bit but he finally had to accept that nothing would help
this castle. He glanced over at the still figure of Dominic, wondering if he
dared to ask the apprentice how long they would be staying here. He finally
abandoned the idea, fearing that he wouldn’t like the answer.

Helmuth
entered the room shortly before seven to announce that dinner was ready to be
served. The three of them followed the German to the dining room. This room was
no more cheerful than any of the others they had seen, dark with deep shadows
in the corners. There was only one light, a glass chandelier hanging from the
ceiling, but more than half of the bulbs had burned out, shedding no light at
all.

The four of
them seated themselves at one end of the long, wooden table, with Chris making
certain that he was seated next to Kelly. Almost immediately, female servants
began filing in, each carrying a tray laden with food.

Even though
the type of food he was eating was unfamiliar to him, Chris resisted the urge
to ask what it was. He was well aware that people in other parts of the world
ate things he wouldn’t consider appetizing, and, if these were such items, he
didn’t want to know about it. Surprisingly, the food was delicious, thought the
water, in the spotted glasses, had a funny, metallic taste that Chris didn’t
like.

After they
finished desert, a triple layer chocolate cake of some sort, with what Chris
took to be a cherry filling inside, they retired back to the sitting room to
await Terrill’s arrival. Helmuth asked if they required anything more, bowing
and backing out of the room when Dominic informed him they did not.

Terrill
finally entered the room. Chris had to suppress the desire to wrinkle his nose
in distaste as he spied the wizard; he was as disgusting as his castle. He was
what Chris would call a dumpy man; short and overweight with a long white beard
that held the remains of his last meal, bits of meat, bread and something green
that Chris couldn’t identify.

The long,
silken red robe he wore was stained in several places and the hemline was worn
where it drug against the uneven stone floor. His deep-set piggish eyes darted
around the room, coming to rest briefly on each of his visitors, remaining the
longest on Kelly, which made Chris shift uncomfortably in his chair.

Once he had
examined each of them, he crossed the room and lowered himself carefully into a
velvet-covered chair that had seen better days. He moved around in his chair
until he faced Dominic before beginning to speak in English that was even more
heavily accented than Dominic’s.

“Most of the
items that Loren requested are ready. But, there is one, the Angle charm, that
I am having great difficulty in locating. I am certain that I will eventually
be able to do so but it may take several days.”

Dominic
nodded. “We suspected that you might have trouble obtaining that item. We will
wait until you can procure it; it is necessary for the completion of our
mission.”

Terrill
glanced at Kelly then looked back to Dominic. Chris had the definite impression
that he was about to say something about Kelly’s soul. He was grateful when the
wizard said nothing when Dominic shook his head.

Several
minutes passed before Dominic leaned forward. “I was wondering if we might
request another favor from you.”

“Of course.
Loren is a dear friend and you are his apprentice, his emissary. I will give
you whatever help you desire.”

Dominic
nodded. “On our passage across the North Sea we were waylaid by Baltsaros.”

Terrill
frowned. “He is Vasilis’ man, is he not?”

Dominic nodded.
“I am happy that Vasilis chose to send Baltsaros and not one of his other
vassals. Baltsaros had much less skill than I and it was not difficult for me
to defeat him. But, I fear that Vasilis will send another, one with more power
who may be able to overwhelm me. I was thinking that if Chris was armed with a
sword we would be better able to protect Kelly. I am not particular about the
sword, except for certain properties, which I am certain you are aware of.”

Terrill’s
eyes shifted to Kelly for a moment before returning to Dominic. He laughed. “Of
course. You will be happy to know that I have in my possession the Dragon
Sword. I am certain that it will meet your needs perfectly.”

Chris leaned
forward. “You have a sword that actually killed dragons?”

Terrill
turned a disdainful eye to Chris. “This sword not only killed several dragons
but the hilt contains scales from the first dragon it killed.”

Chris
frowned. “How is that possible?”

Terrill
sighed before answering. “The sword was carried by the greatest dragon slayer
of them all, a barbarian named Jirairan. The man was known to be a brute and as
uncouth as they come but when it came to killing dragons, none could equal him.
He acquired the sword after killing the owner, who refused to give it to him when
he demanded it.

“He had the
sword only a few days when he met the dragon they called, The Old One. This
dragon was rumored to be so old that it was one of the originals, but that was
never proven. Jirairan came upon a village that had recently been visited by
The Old One and the village council hired him to kill the dragon. He had never
killed a dragon and wasn’t inclined to accept the offer until they promised him
a bag full of gold. After seeing the bag, Jirairan agreed.

“The sword’s
hilt was broken during the battle with the dragon but he did mange to kill it.
When he came down the mountain, he demanded not only the bag of gold, which the
council gladly handed to him, but also ten virgins and for the hilt to be
repaired with some of the scales he had returned with. The village council was
not going to accede to these new demands until he threatened them; stating that
he would do twice the damage the dragon had done unless they did as he
requested.

“They did.
The blacksmith repaired the hilt in three days and they ran him out of the
village, happy to be rid of him. There are many such tales about him during the
twenty years he was active. He claimed that he killed two hundred dragons with
this sword, but only about seventy were confirmed.” Terrill laughed, “There was
much rejoicing when it was learned that Jirairan was dead.”

“How did he
die?” Chris couldn’t resist asking.

Terrill
shook his head. “Jirairan had made a habit of revisiting the villages and towns
that had made the mistake of hiring him to kill a dragon. There was one large
town in what are now called the Carpathian Mountains that he revisited at least
four times, each time threatening them until they delivered virgins to him.
When he left after his fourth visit the council hired archers to line the roads
that led into town with instructions to shoot him if he reappeared. When he
did, they complied.

“It was said
that more than a hundred arrows hit him before he fell. There was a week-long
celebration in the town but they never buried the body. They felt he did not
deserve a Christian burial and let him rot where he fell. For years afterwards,
brides would go to the spot the night before their wedding and spit on the
location where his bones lay.”

“That’s some
story,” commented Chris when Terrill finished his tale. He sat back in his
chair. “I don’t think I believed that dragon’s ever existed. There has never
been any proof of one.”

“It is
extremely doubtful that there ever will be,” replied Terrill. “The dragon’s
body was very useful, magically speaking. When one died, all the local mages
and practiconers trekked to the body and collected everything they could find.
We still use those pieces, though certain parts of the body are becoming more
rare with each passing day.”

“And the
other mythical creatures. Did they exist also?”

“Some did.
Do you have a particular one in mind?”

“Yeah.
Unicorns.”

Terrill
laughed. “Ah, yes. Unicorns. They were beautiful creatures but they were hunted
to extinction before the time of Christ. Their horns were very valuable items.”