Chapter 15

Traveling like a Great Mage took a while to get used to. It was about seventy five percent effort and twenty five percent luck. Malek had decided it was convenient at times if you knew exactly where you were going. It was a simple action of thinking of the place and letting the magical thought pull you there. Malek and Mitty had been traveling to and from Tamarin for twenty years, so it took very little to appear with great accuracy wherever he planned.
Places he had never been to before were a bit more difficult. A description or drawing of the place could get him near or even to a location similar, but there was no guaranteeing the exact spot he would arrive.
Find a tree with no description and no idea of its location was a tricky endeavor. That didn’t mean that they couldn’t use magic to speed up the process. Malek began their trip by thinking of the farthest eastern town that he had been to. It was even smaller than Gooled, and the only reason he’d visited was an outbreak of some large furry rabbit creature was turning all the vegetables white.
Like a chain, Malek closed his eyes and pulled Iber and Lasser along with him. They landed in the town for no more than a few seconds before Malek sighted the farthest tree he could to the east. A moment later, they were standing under the tree. Again he chose the farthest landmark and moved again.
After about fifteen minutes of hopping from one spot to the next and taking Iber and Lasser with him, Malek began to tire. The sights seemed to be farther away and the pull was more difficult to manage.
"It's somebody else's turn. I've got a splitting headache," Malek said as they settled into their locaton. He rubbed the pain from his temples. Normally it took longer to wear him out traveling, but perhaps it was because he carried two others with him.
"I'll take a go for a while," Iber said as he scanned the horizon. The three had reached the base of the mountain range that encircled Galadin.
"No," Lasser and Malek said in unison. Iber tended to spout verse to make his magic work. The words really had nothing to do with it, but for some reason they put Iber in the correct mindset for magic.
Iber rolled his eyes and shrugged. Lasser nodded and popped them up to a slight break in the slope. There was a path here. It snaked in long switchbacks up the side of the mountain. Each time he moved them, Lasser skipped up three of the winding trails. They reached the peak in ten minutes.
"How did you last that long?" Lasser asked Malek as he held his head.
In deep breaths Malek tried to calm the ringing in his head.
"It's beautiful," Iber said, taking a deep breath of his own. "Look. I can see my house from here."
"Don't be ridiculous." Malek opened his eyes. In the distance he could actually see a white glimmer set against the curve of the mountains. It was possible that it was Tamarin, but as far as individual houses went...
There were a lot of trees. The forest of Argon seemed to stretch out infinitely. Masonae was somewhere in that forest. No, Malek corrected himself, he'd probably already gotten to Tamarin. He and Mitty would be wandering around the city, while she got over babying him. Masonae had a right to see the city. He had a right to know that his parents would not age. And if they found the seeds, he had the right to choose what life he wanted to live.
Once Malek got over his stomachful of fear and dread, he was proud of his son's decision to leave the safety of home and set out for himself. He could have picked a more convenient time.
Malek turned his attention to the other side of the mountain. Where Galadin was green and golden, it was gray. Some of the mountains were capped with snow, The mountain they had just climbed was only the first of many. He could not see any lands flat beyond.
"Ready?" Iber asked. "Eyes, nails, teeth and hair, take us to that point over there."
They moved a mountain over. On the next move they'd be in snow.
"That's harder than it looks," Iber said already shaking his head clear. "Over the mountain, right to the top, take us right to that little spot."
From the top of this new mountain they could see a golden plain that seemed to stretch out infinitely to the horizon.
“Looks like it won’t be able to spot the tree there. Probably the only one,” Iber said.
“Yeah, that looks totally different than Galadin.” Lasser surveyed the view. “Iber, how about right there.” He pointed to a small lonely grove of trees to the south. It looked like the only grove of trees on the entire side of the mountain range.
“And toss the poetry, if you can. I’m about to toss a few things of my own,” Malek said truthfully.
“Poetry soothes the soul.”
“It’s my stomach you’re going to have to worry about.”
Even in the silent jump, Malek saw that Iber’s lips still moved as he created the rhyme to take them to the grove.
They’d been on the ground for less than a second, when Malek knew he was going to be sick. He leaned over and sprinted for a good place to empty his stomach. He heard wretches coming from the other direction as well. He turned to see both Iber and Lasser bent over and slightly green around the edges.
Malek closed his eyes and thought of water and stomach powders. He had them well defined in his mind, but no amount of pulling or cajoling could turn them into a reality. He must have used most of his magic traveling.
“Perhaps it was the change in altitude,” Iber said, straightening up.
“I’m exhausted. Anyone feel like making up some beds?” Lasser also stood and wandered back to the shade of a spindly little tree. He looked it up and down, as if hoping it might be the magical one they needed so he could go home right now.
“I already tried. I’m all out,” Malek said. If he couldn’t wish a glass of water, surely a bed was out of the question.
“So am I,” Lasser said, turning his attention to Iber.
“Me too.”
“You only made a few jumps. Both of us did a lot more than you did.”
“I said, I said, I said, a bed, a bed, a bed.” Iber looked around expectantly. Nothing materialized. He was really out of magic as well.
“Well, I suppose I’ve slept on the ground most of my life, and I can manage now.” Lasser took a quick sniff. “But let’s go that direction to bed down. I’m sure our magic will be back in the morning.”
The three mages walked a short distance through the grove and came to the other side. Despite his headache and drooping eyelids, Malek examined the trees. They were small and twisted, as if something had nearly choked them to death. In Galadinian standards, these were almost bushes. None of them appeared to be anything like the great Calca tree that ebbed with strength and age.
Malek found a good spot against one of the trunks of the larger trees. There didn’t seem to be the danger of anyone sneaking up on them, the long prairie grasses didn’t really hide much. The sun was still high in the sky, but Malek felt as if he’d been traveling well into the darkness. He watched Lasser and Iber bed down as well. The last thing he remembered was the comfort of his wife’s smile and the strength in his son’s eyes and then the blissful nothingness of sleep.