Aquitain asked himwhether he would have time to scry for Alpha and Zephira. He saidhe didn’t, but added that he could get a message to Granddad, whowould. However, evidently that Granddad had problems as well.
‘Something odd hashappening in Panmagica. There is great tension at the momentbetween the Wizard’s Guild and the Unity of Wisdom. I’ve heard thatthey are cracking down on all sorts of wizard activities. The blackmarket has had to go underground and it’s very dangerous to sellillegal magical items. Several merchant wizards have already beenjailed.’
‘Do you think theseproblems are related to Alin Amber’s prophecy?’ asked Aquitain.
‘Who knows! I don’tlike prophecies, as too many power hungry idiots get it in theirmind that they can benefit by trying to make them come true.’
‘Get some rest. I’msure something major is going to happen soon, and I could use yourhelp. Your successful skirmish this morning seems to have improvedmorale among the guards and it seems the townspeople are pleasedthat we’ve been able to bring the culprits who attacked the town tojustice so quickly.’
Aquitain left a shortmessage for Featherdown to send to his grandfather and asked if hecould use the commercial teleporter to visit the Jeti village.Featherdown vanished for a minute and returned with a scroll and abox big enough to house a pair of shoes.
‘Here, take these. Thescroll gives you permission to use the commercial teleporterwhenever you need to travel on official purposes. It’s a privilegeI extend to my Wizard officers. Don’t abuse it. The box containssome special equipment on issue to Wizard Hounds and Druid Hounds.It should be useful.’
Aquitain opened the boxand found two small leg pouches like the one that Miranda used,only these had some magical property.
‘They’re smalldimensional bags,’ said Featherdown. ‘They hold about as much as abackpack. The interesting thing is that they have a localisedcamouflage effect permanently embedded. Use the activation word andthey change their colour and texture to match the background, whichis your leg, of course. They seem to be reasonably waterproof aswell. Should be useful for the two of you changing formcontinually.’
Aquitain thankedFeatherdown and left in his giant newman form to visit Quab at thesanctuary. Before he left he retrieved the rod and the scroll fromthe workshop and placed them in his new dimension bag. Halfwaythere he was spotted by some of the guards from the temple skirmishand dragged down to the Ugly Bear for an ale, which in Aquitain’scase meant half a barrel. Morale was certainly high, as the wholetown seemed to be partying.
He was credited withpersonally killing dozens of Yith, and at one stage having his headchopped off. Eyewitnesses said they saw him feel around with hishands until he found his head, then re-attach it. Others said thatthe Lady had incarnated him as her personal agent on Mudrun to dealquick justice to any Yith that wanted to cause trouble. After awhile it got too embarrassing, and he went to the sanctuary forsome peace and to wait for Miranda to arrive.
Quab had heard some ofthe rumours and was keen to hear Aquitain’s version of the events,and after hearing the story was quite relieved.
‘The stories all aroundare starting to paint you as some sort of supernatural creature.That’s good for local morale but dangerous for you. Half theDruid’s Council already believes that you are the problem behindall the reports of strange incidents. Featherdown’s got his wizardsand many of the guards out getting firsthand accounts of theproblems to prove that you weren’t involved. However, theCouncillors are not interested in proof. They believe whatever’sconvenient at the time. There will be a challenge to the currentHigh Druid soon, and let’s hope he wins.’
‘Do you think that thedruids in this rebel faction are causing the problems?’ askedAquitain.
‘I thought they mightbe, but your sighting of the Yith makes me uncertain. The Yith havealways claimed this world. I’m not sure why they haven’t tried toinvade it before now. Perhaps because the Druid’s Council hasalways claimed that we are neutral territory. The real problem isthat the rebel faction is very friendly with the Unity of Wisdom.If they take power then I think they will allow Unity priests here,and that will likely change our neutral status and provoke the Yithto come here in force. Perhaps the Yith you fought at the templewere here as spies to watch for any signs of Unity priests.’
‘Do think that AlinAmber’s prophecy is coming true?’ asked Aquitain.
‘It’s not what I thinkbut what all the ordinary people think. If they all think that theprophecy is coming true then I guess it is,’ replied Quab.
‘I agree with you aboutthat,’ said Aquitain. ‘Tell me what are the rules of booty appliedwithin the guards?’
‘Why, did you find someat the temple?’
‘I was thinking that ifI keep working for Featherdown I’m bound to find some sooner orlater.’
‘Featherdown appliesthe booty rules from his war wizard days. Half of all booty byvalue goes to the commander and the other half is divided equallybetween the members of the commander’s troop. If anyone died thentheir share goes to any surviving family. The commander always hasfirst choice of any items found but they would count against hisshare. What did you find?’
Aquitain decided totell Quab about the control room and the items he found there, butkept quiet about the note attached to the scroll. Quab had neverseen the rod before or ever even heard of it, but when shown thescroll was immediately interested. He took it into his hut,unrolled it and laid it out on his table, anchoring its edges withvarious objects. He sang a prayer then examined the text.
‘This scroll was stolenfrom the High Druid two days ago. It was the cause of a greatargument in the Druid’s Council yesterday. The High Druid accusedthe rebel faction of stealing it. They of course denied it andaccused him of faking its disappearance.’
‘I know it’s powerfulbut I can’t read it. It’s a druid scroll isn’t it? What does itdo?’
‘You’re right. It is adruid scroll. It’s the most powerful scroll in this world. It asksthe goddess Lithgala for divine intervention. It requests amiracle. It was found here on
