The Flying Sorcerers

down. For a moment, all was still and silent. I held my breath and prayed.

And then Shoogar took a step forward, another. Purple did likewise. I exhaled loudly in relief; the two magicians carefully closed the remaining distance. They ended up facing each other, one standing to either side of me; Gortik was standing opposite my position, also between the two magicians. As Speakers for our villages, we had thought it best to place ourselves so. If the magicians should attack each other, we would be there to stop them (I hoped). If we couldn’t stop them. … Well, I would be in no position to worry about it.

Shoogar and Purple eyed each other warily, Shoogar looking Purple up and down. Purple only looking down.

“The oath,” I prompted.

“Him first,” they both said, pointing in unison.

“Both together!” Gortik and I cried.

Reluctantly, Shoogar and Purple reached out and took each other’s right hand; then they joined left hands too. Now neither could reach his spellcasting equipment without first letting go, which would allow the other to reach for his. They glared at each other across their linked arms.

I looked at Gortik and nodded. He nodded back. Simultaneously, we each turned to our respective wizard and snipped off a lock of his hair, two fingernail clippings, and took a droplet of blood and a nasal dropping.

While the two magicians watched, we mixed these ingredients together in a bowl between them, then separated the result into two equal portions which we put into spell bags, one for Shoogar one for Purple.

“Here. Now neither will be able to cast a spell on the other without also affecting himself. Any harm that befalls one will befall the other, so it will be for the benefit of both to watch out for each other’s welfare.”

They continued to scowl.

“Repeat after me,” I said, “in unison, so that your oaths will be taken as one: “I (state your full name, including the secret syllables) do solemnly swear …”

“Do solemnly swear …”

“To love, honor and cherish …”

“To love, honor and cherish …”

“My brother magician as myself.”

“My brother magician as myself.”

I turned to Shoogar. “Do you, Shoogar, agree to uphold the terms of this oath?” His eyes were fierce.

After a moment, I repeated, “Do you, Shoogar, agree to uphold the terms of this oath?”

He muttered something.

“Louder.” I kicked him.

“I do!” he snapped.

Gortik leaned forward then and slid a leather-and-hair ring around the third finger of Shoogar’s left hand.

I turned to Purple. “Do you, Purple, agree to uphold the terms of this oath?”

He grumbled, “I do.”

“Fine.” I slipped a ring around his finger. “As long as either of you is on this island, that ring will remind you of your duty as a magician, and your duty to your brother magician. See that you use it well. Now, by the authority vested in me as Speaker for the upper village, and by the authority which each of you has seen fit to grant me by your presence here, and also by the authority which Gortik has given me in allowing me to perform this ceremony, I now pronounce the two of you magicians united in trust!”

Simultaneously, they let go of each others hands, and leapt apart, glaring angrily. I closed my eyes and waited. There were no explosions, no hissing fireballs.

I opened my eyes.

They were still standing there, looking at each other.

“An auspicious sign,” murmured Gortik. “They haven’t tried to kill each other.”

“Mm,” I said.

Purple drew himself up and took a step forward, hand outstretched. “My seeing pieces?” he asked.

Shoogar slowly lifted them from around his neck. Reluctantly, he handed them over.

Purple took them reverently, carefully. Hands trembling, he wiped them with a soft cloth and placed them across his face. He squinted around at us, “Lant, Shoogar, Gortik — it’s good to see you. I mean, really see you!” He stepped impulsively forward and clasped Shoogar’s right hand. “Shoogar, thank you, thank you, for taking such care of my seeing pieces!” He was smiling — He actually meant it!

Shoogar was caught by surprise. He muttered, “You’re welcome,” without even realizing he had. “Now we can build a flying machine?”

“Yes,” laughed Purple, “now we can build a flying ma-chine!”

Gortik and I looked at each other. It was a start. If only they didn’t kill each other trying.

I was beginning to understand what old Thran had meant when he used to say, “A man is not fit to be Speaker until he has first led a flock of goats through a forest of crazyfern.”

In fact, I was beginning to suspect that the goatherding task might be easier.

For instance, it appeared that I had to organize the flying machine construction. I appointed Wilville and Orbur as officials aides and instructed them never to leave Purple and Shoogar alone together — not for any reason whatever.

The boys nodded soberly. They understood all too well, but they were willing to accept the task — they were as eager to build the flying machine as Purple and Shoogar were.

Now if only the other men of the village would be as willing to accept my leadership.

I smiled bitterly at the thought. If only the seas were Quaff, we could all get drunk — I might as well wish for a moon to fall out of the sky and carry away all my problems. The way things were going, if the seas were to turn to Quaff, I would find only a bladder with a hole in it.

Hinc and the others had wanted to stay, then they wanted to migrate, then they wanted to stay — then they found out that staying meant they would have to clear the upperslopes, bind new housetrees, build extra nests and make the area livable — and they wanted to move on again. They wanted to do everything but work.

To tell the truth though, the woods here were wild — they were a savage tangle of red crabvines and scraggly blackbushes. Broken branches hung everywhere, and stingbee nests were a common sight. Graygauzes hung from almost every branch, and once we found a hollow of nesting vampire kites.

Everywhere else the woods seemed delightfully tame and well cared for — but here, where we were supposed to settle, here it was as if all the wildness had been stored for the rest of the forest.

Or perhaps we had not noticed these things until we began to work.

We all nursed stings and bites. The women were never less than exhausted.

We men ate badly — sometimes worse than on the trail — and lived in chaos. That the work was tiring was no secret.

For once even the women were allowed to grumble. The children helped or hindered as suited their whims, and in general had a fine time.

Shoogar appeared each morning at the rising of the blue sun and blessed the day with a hasty chant: “blessed art Thou, Ouells, father and mother of all the gods, who hast commanded our women to work for us.” Then he disappeared back into his nest to sleep until noon.

Meanwhile the shepherds had located several excellent pastures on which to graze the sheep. And they were delighted — at first — with the workforce sent up from the lower village. One of the lads was identical twins — so that though he was counted only as one, he did the work of two. In effect we had four novice shepherds to pick the burrs out of the wool and comb the sheep.

That, of course, freed several of the more experienced novices to work alongside the rest of us in the sloping wood. They appreciated that not at all.

Life in the sloping wood gradually became more pleasant than wandering across the deserts — that is, once we had housetrees and nest enough for our own needs. Hinc began to talk of weaving again, and began testing various fiber-plants and trees. Jark was daily to be seen testing some new and exotic kind of root or herb as a flavoring for Quaff. Ang, faced by an absence of frogs, changed his vocation and set up fishing rods along the stream. And I —