Search the Forgotten - Chapter Four      The first thing I noticed was that the darkness was a little lighter.  The second thing I noticed was that I was wet and cold.  A light moved back and forth and I opened my eyes.  I closed them immediately.  The light was too bright.      "He's coming 'round," Orin said.      "About time," Arthester Jalivay grumbled loudly.  "Put the lamp on the table, Orin.  Now, Arif, open your eyes."      I opened my eyes again.  I wasn't in the chamber I had been.  I was in a smaller chamber.  I was on a bed and there was a small table near it.  There was another table near the far wall and Skylar was sitting at it.  Orin was standing near it and Arthester Jalivay was looming over me.      "Can you sit up?" Arthester Jalivay asked me.      "I can try," I croaked.  "My throat is sore, my side hurts and I'm wet and cold," I said as I struggled a bit into a sitting position.  I looked up at the man I'd come to see for help and I noticed a fleeting embarrassed look cross his face.      "Well, you're throat is sore because you yelled again," Orin said.  "Incoherently, I might add."      "Sorry about that," I muttered.      "Well," Skylar said from his seat near a table.  "You're side hurts because when you passed out, you fell out of your chair and hit the ground pretty hard."      Arthester Jalivay cleared his throat.  "Well, you're wet because I thought dousing you with water would wake you.  I was wrong."      "I told you so," Orin said.  "Somehow, I like saying that to him," he said in an aside to Skylar.  I smiled at that.  Arthester Jalivay rolled his eyes skyward.  "We tried to tell you that it wouldn't work."      "Yes, you did," Arthester Jalivay said.  He looked back at me.  "They'd already tried it."      "Must have been one of those times I woke up drenched," I said, glancing at my two friends.  "With sweat, I'd thought at the time."      "Well, we thought it'd work," Skylar said.      "Nice try," I replied and smiled to show that I wasn't angry.      Jae came into the room and placed a number of things on the table.  Arthester Jalivay went over to the table and selected a few items which he brought over to me.  He sat on a chair that was next to the bed.      "Lean forward," he told me.  I did so.  "Hm," he muttered as he felt around my head with one hand.  He took something from his other hand and tapped my head a few times in various places.  "Does that hurt?" he asked.      "No," I answered.      "Do tell me if you feel a headache coming on," Arthester Jalivay said.      "All right," I said.      He used a tube to listen to my head in several places as well as my chest.  He looked in my ears and examined my eyes while he used a light that gave off different colors depending on colored glass slides that he placed in the lantern.        When I told him that I felt a headache coming on, around the time he held up the lantern before he used the colored slides, he glanced toward my friends and they banged loudly on a metal pot which startled me greatly.  I quickly glanced in that direction, my headache gone.      "Look this way," Arthester Jalivay said.  I did.  "Sudden auditory shock," he said.  Then he continued his examinations.      Some time and several 'auditory shocks' later, he sighed and said, "Well, so much for the physical."      "See?  He's under an enchantment!" Orin exclaimed.      "We don't know that," Arthester Jalivay said.  "Yet."  He got up and went over to the table.  He put the things down that he had and grabbed a glass bulb that had some clear liquid in it.  I thought at first that it was water.  He came back and sat down.  He looked at me through the liquid in the glass bulb.      After a while, I asked, "Now what?"      "Just sit there for a while," he said.      I sighed.  He stared at me for what seemed like ten minutes before he asked Jae to bring the lantern over.  Then he told me to look at the lantern.  I looked at the lantern.  After several minutes of nothing happening, Arthester Jalivay asked me what I was thinking of just before I'd passed out.      "I was looking at the lantern and for some reason, I thought I'd seen something like it before," I said.  Even as I said it, I started thinking about that again.  I could swear that . . . .        "Ah," Arthester Jalivay muttered.      "Headache," I said as it was growing and getting painfully sharp.      Suddenly, a loud sound of something crashing echoed in the chamber and I quickly glanced at Skylar and Orin.  They chuckled at my obviously startled expression.  They'd slammed the pots they had on the floor.      "I hope these aren't dented," Jae said, rushing over to them, picking them up and examining them.      "You found something?" I asked, turning back to Arthester Jalivay.      "Yes," he said.  "I did."  He looked at me very seriously.  "My friend, a powerful enchantment has been placed upon you."      "I knew it!" Orin exclaimed.      Arthester Jalivay glanced at him.  "Someday I may have to examine you.  I'd like to know how you knew."  Orin sat down and looked as if he suddenly wanted to be some place else.  Arthester Jalivay turned back to me.  "There's something I want to try," he said.  "It will probably cause you to have a headache. You may even pass out."      "Will it remove the enchantment?" I asked.      "It may help me to figure out which enchantment was used," he said.  "That information may help me to find or figure out the counter spell to the enchantment."      "Let's get on with it," I said.      "Good man," he said.  "First, Jae, go get some clean linens for this bed."      "Yes, master," Jae said just before he dashed out of the room.      "The horses!" I said, just now thinking of them.      "Don't worry," Skylar said with a smile.  "We took care of them while you were out."      I stood up and stifled a groan as my side ached.  I touched that side to test its tenderness.      "No broken ribs or other bones," Arthester Jalivay said.      "You're a doctor?" I asked.  I started pulling the wet sheets off the bed.      "Yes," Arthester Jalivay said.  "Physician, mage, cook.  I'm a man of many, many talents.  After all the years I've been around, I did pick up a few things."      "That's right.  You said you were over eighty years old," I said.  I tossed the wet sheets off to one side.      "No, I said that the last time I had a beard was over eighty years ago," Arthester Jalivay said, correcting me.  "I'm far older than that."      "How much older?" I asked.      "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he replied.  "So I'm not going to."      "He told us that too," Orin said.      "When you've lived as long as I have, sometimes it's just a good idea to keep one's age to one's self."  Arthester Jalivay said.  Then he winked at me.      Jae came in, handed me a nightshirt and quickly made the bed.  I, in turn, quickly changed out of the wet things I was wearing and donned the nightshirt.  I settled myself back in bed per the Physician Mage's instructions and waited for him to get ready to do whatever he had in mind.      He went out, taking most of the items from the table and after a few minutes came back with several other items which he placed on the table.  Then he proceeded to mix up something that he insisted I drink.  I sat up, took the mug from him and sniffed at it.  It smelled awful and I do admit to wrinkling my nose at it too.      He ordered me to drink it and when I started to pinch my nose closed, he said not to.  He said I had to breathe in the scent of it as I drank.      It tasted as awful as it smelled.  I told him so.  He said he didn't care.  It was good for me.  Typical physician talk.      "Now what?" I asked.      "Now we wait a few minutes," he said.      I plopped back and let my head sink into the pillow.        "Once that solution takes effect, I'll have you breathe this mixture that I'm mixing up now," Arthester Jalivay was saying.  "Then, we'll see what happens."      He continued talking, but for some reason, I lost track of what he was saying.  I know the others asked questions, but I can't for the life of me remember what they said either.  I felt like I was drifting, as if I were floating on air.  I couldn't really feel the pillow or even the bed.  It was like I was detached from myself.  It was a rather odd feeling, really.      "Breathe this," I heard a voice say.  Something was placed over my nose and mouth and I did as I was told.  I breathed.  In.  Out.  In.  Out.  What a smell that was!  Couldn't place it though.  Had I been more aware, I might have barfed.  I might have barfed anyway and not noticed.  I really didn't care at this point.      I think I yawned.      The next thing I knew, I was walking down a corridor, dressed in formal attire.  Someone was beside me and he was saying something but I couldn't hear the words.  He was smiling though.      I said something to him and I smiled back.  He was older than me, but not that much taller.  I could swear that I knew him.  I know I knew him very well.  But I couldn't recall the man's name.      The man said something else.      We stopped in front of a door and he said good night to me.  I actually heard him that time.  He had such a familiar sounding voice.  Then he gave me a light punch on the shoulder, turned and walked down the stone corridor, the breeze of his passage making a nearby tapestry wave slightly.  Two guardsmen followed him and two others remained and took up positions outside the door.      I felt secure in the knowledge that they were nearby.  I entered the room and picked up a nightshirt that I found draped over the back of a chair.  I disrobed, put on the nightshirt and climbed into bed.  It was large and comfortable.  The heat from the hearth's fire was very pleasant and I knew I'd get a good night's sleep tonight.      It wasn't long before I was asleep and dreaming, but I was awakened by a loud crashing noise and sound of swordplay.  There was yelling but as I tried to rise from the bed, I was roughly shoved down.  Then something was shoved over my face and as I struggled, I found myself growing weaker.  The light from the fire in the hearth was fading from my sight.  Someone roughly tried to pick me up.      "Arif!  Wake up!" a voice commanded.  "Breathe!" it commanded further.      I breathed.  I blinked my eyes.  I coughed a couple of times and a fog seemed to be lifting from my head.  I found myself back in the cavern with Arthester Jalivay taking a cloth away from my face and the others looking on with expressions of apparent amazement on their faces.  He handed the cloth to Jae who took it quickly away.      "That was a strange dream," I muttered.      "Come on, sit up," Arthester Jalivay said as he helped me to sit upright.      The room seemed to spin for a moment and I swayed slightly.      "Keep breathing," Arthester Jalivay said.  "That feeling will pass quickly."      I took a few deep breaths and my head did clear some.  I looked at the Physician Mage.  "I dreamt I was walking through a corridor.  I was talking with someone but I couldn't hear him," I said.  "I went to bed, then something happened."  I felt a headache.  It was throbbing and I blinked my eyes again.      "That was no ordinary dream," Arthester Jalivay said.  "That was a memory."      "A memory?" I asked.  My head was getting fuzzy again so I figured maybe I should take another deep breath.  I did and the headache faded and my head seemed to clear some more.        "No need to tell us about your experience.  You narrated your dream for us," he said.  "I used a combination of drugs and minor sorcery.  Since it worked well enough, I've a good idea of what I need to look for.  Now I have to do some research.  And you need to rest.  Now, you lie back and try to get some natural sleep.  You've had a busy day, young man."      I did as he said.  I settled back in the bed.  It wasn't long before I fell asleep. - = - = -      When I awoke, I saw that I was alone in this "bed chamber".  I saw that there was a folded pile of clothes on one of the chairs.  A brief examination showed that they were my clothes.  Jae must have cleaned them while I slept.  I slipped the nightshirt off and got dressed.  I also looked around the room for a chamber pot as I had a very urgent need just now.  No pot!  What kind of bed chamber was this with no pot, even if it was in a cave?      Without looking at it too closely, I picked up the lantern and left the chamber.  The tunnel twisted and turned but it was short and soon I found myself in the same large cavern where I'd first met the physician mage, Arthester Jalivay.        I walked over to the table where we'd sat and looked for the notes that Arthester Jalivay had written, but they were gone.  My need to relieve myself urged me to seek out the exit, which I found easily.  It wasn't long before I'd found the entrance and I set the lantern down on a shelf.  It remained lit and since I couldn't see how to extinguish it, I left it alone.      I left the cave, glanced once at the bush near the entrance and walked quickly toward the cottage when a headache threatened.  Whatever that bush reminded me of, I had a more urgent need that commanded my attention.  Incidently, my headache quickly faded.  I headed toward the cottage.      The sun was well up, I noticed with a glance at the sky.  Obviously, it was hours passed sunrise.  Somehow, knowing that, set my stomach to growling.  Now I had two objectives.      Jae came out of the cottage before I reached the cottage's wooden porch.  "Good morning, Jae," I hailed cheerfully.      "Arif," Jae called back as I quickly trotted over and climbed the three steps up to the porch.  "We were wondering how long you were going to sleep today," he said, smiling.        "Oh?" I asked.        "Skylar bet you'd sleep to the eighth hour.  Orin bet you'd awaken sometime during the seventh."  Jae's smile widened a moment.  I bet you'd get up during the ninth hour."  He chuckled.  "I win.  It's half passed that now!"      "Congratulations," I said.  I smiled back but not for long.  I really had to go.  "Jae, I'd like...."      "To know how I knew?" Jae asked, wrongly anticipating my question.  "Well, I've helped Master Jalivay many times and I knew how long you'd probably sleep after that session we did with the memtacala.  You could say, I had inside knowledge."      "Where's the privy?" I asked before Jae could say anything else.      "Oh that's out back, but it'll be shorter to just cut through the cottage," Jae said.  "Right this way," he said, opening the door and preceding me inside.      To the right was a roomy sitting area and bookcases lined two of the walls.  One wall had a hearth but no fire burned within it.  There were crossed swords over the hearth.  Some cloaks hung on pegs to my immediate left.  There was an unstrung bow, a quiver full of arrows and a sword there too.  There was a hallway straight ahead and I followed Jae into it.  We passed a room that was obviously a kitchen and wafting from the doorway was the unmistakable smell of baking bread.  The next room to the right held a large table surrounded by many wooden chairs.  Then we passed a closed door and came to the end of the hallway.      "Just go through here," Jae said.  "Make sure you close this door once you're inside.  Then make sure you close the other door at the end when you leave."  He smiled shyly.  "This is actually just another corridor we added on to make it easier for us in the winter.  When you exit at the end, you'll be at the outhouse.  It isn't actually connected."      "Thanks," I said.  He turned to go back and I opened the door.  I entered the corridor and shut the door behind me.  There were small glazed windows at the top of each of the walls.  They were propped open.  Two unlit lamps were mounted on each wall at alternating intervals.  I quickly walked to the end and slipped through the door.      The privy was just before me, and as I took the three or four steps to its door, I noted there were buildings off to the right and left.  I entered the privy and took care of business.      With relief, I left the privy and heard voices off to my left.  I recognized the voices of my two traveling companions and I listened for a moment.      "...or so Arthester said," Skylar was saying.      "Arthester!  Arthester!" Orin said a bit heatedly.  "You shouldn't call him by his first name like that!  Call him Arthester Jalivay, or Master Mage and Physician Jalivay, or...."      "Or, I could just call him Arthester," Skylar said with a chuckle.      Someone hissed behind me and I turned and saw Arthester Jalivay peeking around the external hallway.  Well, what would you call it?  I took the few paces toward him and he whispered to me.      "Entertaining, aren't they?" he said.      I stifled a chuckle but smiled.  "Yes they are," I whispered back.  "I want to thank you, uhm--" I quickly thought back to what Orin had just been saying.  "--Mage and Physician Jalivay."      Arthester Jalivay smiled.  "Too formal.  Just call me Arthester," he whispered.  "I'll see you inside at your convenience."  He turned and walked around the exterior hallway, away from Skylar and Orin.      Speaking of whom, I could tell they were getting closer by the sound of their voices.  I chose that moment to step around the privy.      "Arif!" Skylar said enthusiastically, probably cutting off another protest from Orin about how one should address Arthester.      "Hey, Arif," Orin said.  "How'd ya sleep last night?"      "Very well, actually," I answered.  A rather delicious scent wafted on a breeze toward us and my stomach reminded me that I had not yet eaten this morning.      "Well, that's good to hear," Skylar said.  "Any, uh, dreams?"      "None that I can recall," I said.  I sniffed at the air.  "What is that smell?" I asked as I turned toward the building that wasn't too far away.  Thin clouds of smoke were still coming out of it's wide chimney.  It must be the smoke house.      "That'll be Lynna's doing," Skylar said, rather proudly it seemed.        "Lynna?" I asked, puzzled.      "My sister," Skylar said.  "I thought I mentioned her while we we're traveling."      "You did," Orin said.  "Your sister this and your sister that.  You didn't mention her name!"  He shook his head.      "Oh," Skylar said quietly.      Orin turned toward me.  "Never mind him.  How long have you been up?"      Ah, the bet.  "Well," I said, taking this opportunity to just stall for a bit.  "Let's see now."  I frowned as if thinking back hours or days.      "Surely you haven't forgotten," Skylar said.      "Oh, come on!" Orin said.  "It was only just this morning."      "Think!" Skylar urged.  He folded his arms across his chest.      "I am.  I am," I replied.        "I can't believe this," Orin grumbled.  He started pacing.      I couldn't help but laugh at them.  I then told them when I'd gotten up and that Jae had told me about the bet.  I didn't tell them what Jae had said about being able to figure out how long I'd sleep.  Jae could tell them if he wanted to.      "Skylar Dingledine!" a woman's voice said from behind us.  We turned and saw a blonde haired, blue eyed woman standing just outside the smoke house.  She'd evidently just come from there as the door was open.  She slammed it shut and walked very purposefully toward us.      "Arif," Skylar said, grinning.  He extended his arm out toward the woman.  "I'd like you to m...."      The woman very quickly grabbed Skylar's arm and tossed him unceremonially over her hip.  He landed with a thud and she was still holding his arm.  She knelt on his back, holding his arm behind him and pinning him to the ground.      "...meet my sister," Skylar grunted.      Ah, so this was Lynna Dingledine!  She was wearing leather breeches of a leafy green and lighter green linen shirt.  I guess she and her brother have a similar taste in clothing.  She also had a stained leather apron on.      "Where's my money!" Lynna asked as she applied pressure to Skylar's arm.      "What money?" Skylar asked.  Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say.  She applied more pressure to his arm.  "Ow!"      "The money you owe me for the extra jerky packs you took," Lynna said.  "The money you owe me for the dried herbs.  The money you owe me for...."      "I get the idea!" Skylar said through a grimace.  "Let me up!"      "Let you up, what?" Lynna asked, rather viciously, I thought.      "Let me up, please," Skylar said.      She let go of him and leaped back.  She was certainly agile!      Skylar regained his feet.  He dug a coin out of a pouch at his belt and tossed it to her.  She examined it, bit it, examined it again.  Then she smiled at him as she tucked the coin away.  It was a most charming smile.      "That's better," she said.      "Now," Skylar said.  He turned toward me.  "As I was saying, Arif, this is my sister, Lynna."  She looked at me and blushed.  I guess she hadn't realized that she had an audience.  "Lynna, this is Arif."      "Greetings," I said simply and smiled.      "Pleased to meet you, Arif," Lynna said.        She extended her hand and I grasped it.  I'd thought of kissing the back of it like a gallant gentleman, but she gave it a good firm shake and let it go.  She had a firm, confident handshake.  The winning smile she gave me resembled the one I'd seen on Skylar's own face so much, I had to look at him.  He was smiling too.      "These two told me something about your plight," Lynna said as she casually slipped her arm around mine.  "You must be hungry.  Let's get you inside and fed."      "I am rather hungry," I said.  I glanced at Orin and Skylar.  Orin rolled his eyes skyward and Skylar's expression was unreadable.      My two companions followed as Lynna guided me back into the cottage.  We went through the exterior hallway and once inside the cottage proper, she led me into the room on the left that held the table and chairs.  I saw that this room and the other one, the kitchen was actually one large room with a door at each end.  Jae was removing a loaf of bread from a large metal oven.  There were already three loaves on the table.      "Sit here," Lynna said, indicating a chair next to the end of the table at the opposite end from the bread.  I sat.  I knew a command when I heard one.        She went over to Jae and when he saw her, his eyes lit up.  So did her's.  Their gaze was brief but telling.  I smiled and watched as Orin sat next to me and Skylar took a seat opposite me.  While Jae sliced some of the fresh bread from a loaf that had already cooled, Lynna filled a bowl from a pot near the large hearth.  She sat it before me and included a full set of silverware.  Jae brought over a plate with the bread slices and a bowl with some butter in it.      I did not waste any time.  As my stomach growled its impatience, I picked up my spoon and immediately starting in on the stew.  As soon as Jae returned with a mug of tea, I took it from him and sipped.  I set the mug down.  Then I took a slice of bread, slathered on some butter and ate half of it before returning my attention to my stew.  Only this time, I used my fork on the larger pieces of meat.      "You act like you haven't eaten in weeks," Orin commented.      "Sorry," I said, looking around the room at everyone.  Jae and Lynna were smiling, Skylar was helping himself to some of the bread and Orin was looking at me in some amazement.  I took another sip of my tea.  "I'm just very hungry of a sudden."      "That's to be expected," Arthester said as he came into the room, an open book in his hands.  He came over to the table and sat at it's head.  He set the book down, keeping it open.  "I expect the memtacala won't have as much of an effect on your hunger as time passes and I make some adjustments to the formula for your situation."      "That's good," Orin said.  "Just watching him wolf down that food is making me tired."      Skylar looked at the diminutive man.  "I thought he'd make you hungry."      "Oh please," Orin said, grabbing a slice of bread and borrowing my knife to spread some butter on it.  He started eating the bread.      "Would you like some stew, Orin?" Jae asked.      "Nah, I'm not hungry," Orin said around a bite of his bread.      "Could have fooled me," Skylar commented.      Jae rolled his eyes and went back to the kitchen end of the room.  Lynna sat down next to Skylar and I could see how much they both resembled each other.      It didn't take long to finish my meal.  Jae refilled my mug with more tea and asked if anyone else wanted some.      "I'd rather have an ale," Orin said.      Jae, Skylar and Lynna all rolled their eyes as one and I couldn't help but smile at that.      "It isn't even noon yet!" Lynna pointed out.      "So?" Orin asked, apparently innocently.      Lynna looked at Skylar.  "Talk to him!" she insisted.      "Why me?" Skylar asked, throwing his hands up.      "He's your friend," Lynna said.      "Acquaintance," Orin said automatically.        Jae set a tankard before Orin and the dwarven man thanked him.  I noticed Jae glance at Arthester.  Each nodded to the other almost imperceptively.  Now, I wonder what that's all about? I thought to myself.  I glanced back at Orin and he took a big pull on his ale.  He burped, excused himself and complimented Jae on the ale.      After we all had beverages before us, and my empty bowl and used fork and spoon had been removed, I turned toward the physician mage.      "Arthester--" Orin and Skylar both dropped their jaws open in unmistakable astonishment.  "--you said before that you had to do some research.  Have you found anything?" I asked, wanting to laugh at my friends.      "How come you called him, Arthester?" Skylar asked.      "Well that is my name," Arthester said, a hint of a smile on his lips.  He turned toward me.  "I know what class of enchantment is upon you.  There are many variations of the basic enchantment and which variation was used on you is what I don't know yet."      "How can we find out what variation was used?" I asked.      Arthester glanced at something in the book before him, then leaned back in his chair.  "That, my friend, is where we have a bit of a problem."  He sighed.  "I could hit upon the right combination of herb, drug and spell tomorrow."  His look as he gazed upon me was intense and I admit to feeling uncomfortable.  "Or it could take years," he said.      "Years," I muttered.  I stared into my tea mug, at the dark fluid contained within.  "Years," I whispered to myself again.  A feeling of urgency came over me.  I felt nervous.  I couldn't wait years.  I had to....      What?  Did I have to do something?  Did I have to go somewhere?  What?      A headache throbbed.  It felt like a nail was piercing my brain!      There was a loud crash and I looked to my right, over Orin's head and saw Jae standing in the kitchen staring at me, a large fry pan on the floor.  My headache was gone.  I looked at the others.  They were all staring at me!      Jae picked up the pan and wiped it off with a clean rag or something.      "Did you see something?  Feel something?" Arthester asked.      I told them what I'd experienced and as a headache started again, Arthester said for me to drink my tea.  I did and the headache went away.  Arthester flipped through the book he had before him and skimmed several pages.  He sat back and sighed again.      "I need to go through the Master Concordance," Arthester said.      "Oh, no," Lynna whispered.      "Is that really necessary?" Jae asked.      Arthester looked at them.  "It's necessary," he said.      "What's the Master Concordance?" I asked, puzzled by the reluctant attitude of Jae, Lynna and the master physician and mage.      "The Master Concordance of Herbs, Potions, Spells and Miscellaneous Magic," stated Arthester, "is not the first choice reference to consult if other options are available."      "Why?" Orin asked.      "First, you have the master index.  One volume of three thousand seventy-seven pages.  And for all that, it only points to references in the eight volume section index," Arthester answered.      "The section index has the references that point to the remaining four hundred and eleven volumes," Jae added.      "Well, at least it's indexed," Skylar said.  Jae and Lynna gave him rather unpleasant looks, though Arthester only rolled his eyes skyward.      Arthester rose from the table.  "I best get started," he said, with another sigh.  He grabbed a slice of bread, buttered it and left the room.      "At least it's indexed," Lynna muttered.  "You know, if you weren't my brother I'd take you outside and give you what for!"      Skylar chuckled.  "What for?" he asked.      Lynna's eyes blazed and she flicked the fingers of one hand in her brother's face.  A tiny puff of a cloud, yellow green in color, appeared just under his nose as he was taking a breath.  He inhaled it and started sneezing.  If I hadn't been watching them, I would have missed seeing that tiny cloud.      Orin and I exchanged glances and then we looked at her.  "When did you learn that!" Orin demanded.      "I've picked up a few things," Lynna said nonchalantly.      Skylar's face was turning red and his breath was coming in shorter gasps between his sneezing.  He waved to get his sister's attention.  I was about to point him out to her myself when she looked at him.      "Are you going to behave yourself?" Lynna calmly asked him.  He nodded as best he could and she flicked her fingers at him again.  He stopped sneezing.      After several deep breaths, he said, "That was uncalled for."      "Hrrmph!" Lynna uttered.  She turned sideways in her chair to face away from him.      "All right.  Look, I'm sorry," Skylar said.  "But you know me and my sense of humor."      "His dry wit," Orin put in with a chuckle.      "If he keeps that up I'll dry his wit," Lynna said.  She glared her brother.      Skylar smiled that winning smile he and his sister shared.  "I love you anyway," he said.      Lynna huffed.  Then suddenly leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder.  "Really?" she asked, apparently uncertain if her brother did care for her.      "Sure I do," Skylar said, reassuring her.  He gave her a little, one armed hug, then patted her on the head.      She backed away and gave his shoulder a punch.  "Good!"  She rose, scooted over to Jae and gave him a quick kiss, then left the room.  I picked up my mug and took a drink of my tea to hide my smile.      "Jae," Skylar said as he rubbed his shoulder.  "So what's all this with my sister and magic?"      "It wasn't my idea," Jae said.  He blushed slightly and turned away for a moment.  He picked up a large wooden spoon and stirred the stew.  "It was sort of my fault though."      "Oh?" Skylar asked.      Jae covered the large kettle and moved the hook it was suspended from a little closer to the hearth.  He came over to the table and sat down in the chair that Lynna had used.      "Well, you see," Jae began, "we were sparring with the swords and you know how she is.  She's a fast and tricky swordswoman.  She was getting the better of me so I did to her what she just did to you a few minutes ago."      "What?" Skylar exclaimed.  "That's cheating!"      "That's what she said," Jae commented.  "So, she asked Master Jalivay to teach her a few things.  Including the counters."  He sighed.  "I just can't beat her now.  She's better than me with a sword and she knows the counters to many of the spells I'm likely to use during a sword fight."      "Maybe I should learn a few of those counters," Skylar muttered.  We all looked at him.  "For self-defense, of course."      "Of course," Jae and Orin both said.      At that point, Jae shooed us out of the kitchen, claiming that he still had to clean things up before lunch time.  I begged a few lumps of sugar from Jae and then left the cottage and went over to the stables.  I visited with Red and he was apparently quite thankful for the sugar.  He nudged me in the shoulder rather forcefully which just happened to cause me to stumble back a bit.  As I caught myself from falling, my eyes fell upon Red's tack.  Somehow, I got the impression that he'd intended it that way.      I looked at him.  "Right now?" I asked my horse.  I felt a little foolish until he nodded his head and nickered.  Why not? I thought to myself.  "We're going riding," I said to Skylar and Orin.      "Why?" Orin asked.      "Red wants to," I answered as I shook out his saddle blanket.      "Oh," Orin said. "I see."      It wasn't long before Red was saddled up and we were outside.  Red wanted to run and I let him.  The day was warm with only a few clouds in sky.  We headed along the foothills in a generally eastward direction.  He was in a playful mood and we dodged around a few trees as if chasing something only Red could see.  I only guided him a little bit, just so we could stay in sight of the cottage.      When Red decided it was time to stop running, we started back at a walk.  The excitement of the run was thrilling and now I felt relaxed.  I got the feeling that he wanted to work off some nervous energy.  And then I wondered why I thought that.  Frankly, I was glad for the run.  Maybe I had the nervous energy that needed some working off.      "Is that it?" I asked aloud.  "You thought I needed this run?"      Red nodded his head and nickered.      "This is ridiculous," I said to myself.  Now I'm talking to my horse like he can understand me, I thought.      Red glanced back at me and snorted.  I laughed.      It took us twenty minutes or thereabouts to return to the stables.  Once I had Red settled, I went back to the cottage.  It was lunch time and everybody seemed to be gathering in the kitchen.  After washing up and making myself comfortable at the table, Jae served us stew and Lynna brought several pitchers to the table.  Arthester and Lynna and I took tea, Skylar and Jae took water and Orin was evidently drinking ale.  I noticed that Arthester, Jae and Lynna exchanged a glance and a nod that seemed to be concerning the pitcher placed near Orin.  I wondered what was going on with that?      Lunch was more of the stew I'd had for breakfast.  Jae must have added something to it as its taste was slightly different.  It had only a hint of spiciness that seemed to touch the tongue only slightly just one swallowed.  Apparently we all liked it and Jae blushed a bit at the compliments we gave him.      Arthester ate his food more quickly than the rest of us and then he left the room with only a quiet "excuse me."  I presumed he went back to his research.      Orin and Skylar wanted to hear what Jae had been up to since the last time they'd all gotten together.  His brief tale was more of a list of the few more additional spells he'd learned and the recipes he'd made up, the latest of which we'd just eaten.      Lynna told us that she'd run into a couple of people she called "poachers".  Apparently they were hunters that had wandered into an area she considered her own.  They didn't want to leave.  One of them challenged her to a duel for the right to hunt in area.  She accepted.  She won.  The one she'd fought was for leaving but the other one wasn't going.  Then he "mysteriously" started sneezing.  At her suggestion, the man she'd bested took his companion out of the area.  He must have been "allergic" to something.  She said she'd followed them, out of sight of course, and then released the spell after she thought the rude one had had enough.      Of course, Orin and Skylar had to relate their most recent adventures too.  Fortunately, Orin's story was also mine.  He related how we met and since that was something I could remember, I jumped in to tell my part.  Jae and Lynna hung on our every word.  At Skylar's arrow stunt, she called him a show off and he grinned at her.      After lunch, Jae had his duties around the cottage to tend to.  Skylar went out to the smoke house with his sister.  Orin said he wanted to check on Pany.  I didn't know what to do.      I went for a walk.      There were several apple trees that Red and I had discovered during our run.  I went to the nearest of those and stood in its shade.  I looked out across the expanse, at the scattered trees, the grass from here to the foothills beneath Ylan Mountains and Arthester's cottage and the other buildings on the "property".  It was peaceful here.  I could live in a place like this, I thought to myself.  If . . . .        If what?      I still didn't know.  I just knew that something required my attention.  There was something I had to do.  But what?      I made myself comfortable under the tree, sitting with my back against its aged trunk and pondered that question.  Right up until a headache pierced my brain with a dagger's pain.  I clutched my hands to either side of my head and tightly closed my eyes.      A loud crack sounded above my head and I looked up sharply.  My headache faded and a quick glance showed Lynna standing to one side holding two wooden staves.  She tossed one to me and I reflexively caught it with a deftness that surprised us both.      "Let's dance," she suggested, with a playful smile.      "Dance?" I replied.  I realized how stupid that sounded right after I said it.  I did realize that she wanted to spar.        I stood up and she swung her staff at my head.  I blocked it casually but I had misjudged her enthusiasm.  She nearly knocked the staff out of my hand and she came within an inch or two of connecting with my head.  "Hey!" I exclaimed, inanely.      "What's the matter?" Lynna teased me.  "Afraid to hit a woman?"  She took another hearty swing.      I blocked it and countered, sending one end of my own staff toward her.  "Not when she's trying to kill me," I retorted.      She answered my move with a block and swing and I dodged back just out of her reach.  "If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already, my friend."      "Friend?" I said, blocking her lunge with a down stroke of my weapon.  I swung the other end of my staff toward her in a fluid move.  "If this is how you treat your friends, I'd hate to see how treat your enemies."  She swung her staff up to block my swing.      "So would they," she replied as our staves shouted in cracking reports.      We "danced" back and forth, swinging our staves and attempting to brain each other.  And successfully countering each others moves.  I attempted to knock her feet out from under her with a sweeping move and she jumped my staff while swinging her own around in an arc.  She aimed once again at my head and I ducked under her swing.      "Good move!" Orin shouted from somewhere.  I didn't turn to look but instead blocked her follow through.      "Ten coppers on Lynna," Skylar said.  I sent my staff jabbing her way.      "Done," Orin agreed.  Lynna chopped her staff down on mine and let the staff swing around, it's momentum bring up the other end which I guided toward her head.      "Will you two shut up?" Lynna grunted.  She blocked my move and our staves let out another loud crack.      We both took a step back for a quick breath.  Then she lunged in.  I swung my staff to knock hers out of the way but I realized, too late, that her move was feint.  She turned her lunge into a swing, not always an easy maneuver, and swept my legs out from under me.  I landed with a thud and I used what momentum I had to roll away from her.  I regained my feet and swung my staff just in time to block another of her tries at my skull.        "Twenty coppers in favor of Arif," Orin exclaimed.      I came at Lynna and tried to pummel her with one end and then the other of my staff.  She backed away and blocked each of my swings.  She smiled and I returned her grin.      "Done!" Skylar said.      "I told you to shut--" She swung her staff at her brother, aiming high.  He ducked and back somersaulted away while I aimed at her legs. "--up!"  And she was down on ground herself.  She held her staff to her and rolled and rolled away.  She jumped up and faced me, her staff at the ready again.      I brought my staff back up and she uttered a piercing war cry and lunged.  I whacked her staff down and she let it jab into the ground and vaulted over my head.  What a move!  She landed spun around to face me, laughing.  Then she charged again.      This time I swung my staff upward and knocked the leading end of her staff into the air.  With another war cry she followed through with her swing.  I managed to block the other end of her staff just in time to protect a delicate part of my anatomy.      "That would have been a low blow," Skylar commented.      She tried another lunge.  I spun around sideways, out of the way.  She turned her lunge into another vault and spun around in the air.  She landed on a branch in the tree, facing me.  She reached up and plucked an apple from a branch over her head.  "Care for an apple?" she asked calmly.      "Sure," I replied.  She tossed it to me.  I caught it and she reached up for another one.  I caught my breath before I took a bite of the apple.  It was sweet and delicious.      "So who won?" Orin asked.      "Lynna did," Skylar said.  "Pay up."      "No I didn't," Lynna replied.  "It was a draw."      "What do you mean 'a draw'?" Skylar asked.  "Clearly you're the better staff fighter."      "It was a draw," Lynna said.  She looked at me.  "Could you have gone on some more?"      "Definitely," I replied.  "You?"      "Most assuredly," she said.  She jumped down and started back toward the cottage.  I walked along beside her.      "How about apples for us?" Skylar asked.      "The tree's right there," Lynna said, waving a negligent hand back toward the tree.      Orin came up along side us.  "Are you sure Arif didn't win?" he asked.      "Positive," Lynna said.  "You'd be able to tell if you were paying attention."      Orin sighed and grumbled under his breath.  Lynna gave him a quick glance but otherwise ignored whatever he'd said.  I hadn't caught his words myself.  After another few yards Skylar caught up with us and tossed Orin an apple.      "Thanks," Orin said.      "You're welcome," Skylar replied.  He gave his sister a pointed look and she stuck her tongue out at him. - = - = - Return to top of page. Chapter Five     I...uhm...don't think I'm ready for email yet.    ;-) But that doesn't mean you can't try and send me a note! Copyright © 2002, 2003 B. J. Miller Jr. All Rights Reserved