Chapter 4

Parents are bad liars... especially when they worked in pairs. Masonae's mother was the worst offender. Whenever he asked a tough question her hands went straight to her skirts where they pressed and twisted in the fabric. His father just got very quiet, his eyes staring intently at his son, then at his wife.
Masonae knew that his parents loved him; he knew it without reserve but there was no way he was going to let them lie to him any more. His birthday was in three days. Fifteen was old enough to take the news and responsibility his parents were intent on hiding. After all, hadn't his father been out on his own in the world before he was Masonae's age?
Masonae had a plan. It was simple really. He had to catch them in the act. He had to find both his parents in such a compromising position that they would have to tell the truth-- the truth he already knew.
He had begun to guess at least three years ago, but it wasn't until a few months ago that Masonae realized his mind wasn't just playing tricks on him. One day, he'd been on his way home from Gooled. Voices were coming from the back of the orchard. He recognized one as his mother, but the other was unfamiliar, and not quite human. He'd snuck up close enough to see his mother's skirts through the trees. She was standing next to a huge gray boulder that Masonae had never seen before. He nearly screamed when it moved.
"I'm off then," it had said casually.
"Bye. I'll see you later." His mother had called as the rock rose above the treetops. As it rose higher, Masonae stared openly at scaly winged being, which could only have been a great dragon. He watched it gracefully fly west until it was only a dot on the horizon.
"Hello Masonae," his mother had called sweetly from behind."
"That was a dragon! You were talking to it."
"Dragon? I don't see any dragon. You must have been daydreaming, dear." And with that, his mother had turned back towards the cottage and Masonae had promptly forgot the whole episode -- until almost a week later when the memory had snuck up on him from behind.
That was when Masonae began to suspect his parents of tampering as well as lieing. On the outside his family had all the appearance of a respectable, if not a bit recluse, member of the small town of Gooled. They lived on the outskirts of town in an enchanted cottage that wasn't quite as small on the inside as it was on the outside. It had three bedrooms, occasionally four, when guests were expected, a well stocked kitchen, and a comfortable
living area.
His mother was a tailor with an expertise in dragon cloth which came in high demand whenever the lesser dragon population rose. His father was a locksmith and often helped patrol the forest on the edge of town to search for recent dragon activity. While not completely normal, there was very little to hint at the secret that no one ever seemed to guess. After the Dragon Incident, as Masonae now deemed his encounter, he'd begun to suspect that magic was heavily involved.
The townspeople seemed to ignore any odd happenings, like the time the mayor had called an emergency town meeting to deal with an infestation of purple binghies, a small flying insect whose bite turned people purple. His father had slipped out the back while the mayor had been booming on about sacrifice and determination, and the town counsel had been trying to determine the correct action plan that involved the least involvement by them personally. When the meeting broke up an hour later and the purple binghies had completely vanished, the townspeople shrugged it off and went about their business.
No one seemed to notice that every two weeks, like clockwork, his parents disappeared for the better part of the day with only the flimsiest excuses. Last week they'd gone berry picking and come back without any berries. Only after Masonae wondered out loud did the berries, cleaned, cut and sweetened, appear on the table.
No one thought it odd that Masonae had several aunts and uncles that arrived, uninvited and unannounced without horses or any other sort of transportation. Not to mention the oddest occurrence – his uncles hadn’t aged a day for as long as Masonae could remember. He would be catching up with them in a year or two. Even in the past two weeks, Masonae had caught glimpses of his parents, young and changed, out of the corner of his eye, but whenever he had turned to look, the illusion vanished and his parents became the middle aged couple he remembered. Things were changing, but not fast enough.
So today Masonae decided to put his plan into action. He packed a bag with necessities, left a note on the table, and headed into Gooled.
The town was currently prospering, being on the main road to Tamarin, it thrived on the flocks of people who wanted to stay the night.
A few ambitious businessmen had started a general store, complete with miniature carvings of Great Mages and Dragons, magical cures that were more oil and water than anything else, and small glasses printed with "Welcome to Gooled." There were also practical things there. The baker brought in a few loaves of fresh bread a day, and the and the man who owned the store always kept it well stocked with meats, cheeses and lots of hard candies.
As Masonae entered the store, a little bell jiggled on the doorknob and Garn, hustled out from the room in the back. When he saw that Masonae was not a lucrative tourist, he slowed a bit and ambled behind the counter.
“Your mother be wanting some of those nice sweet candies today?” he asked. Masonae shook his head. His mother always bought the candies for his father, who never seemed to buy anything for himself.
“I’ll have a loaf of bread, a round of the cheese there, and a few slices of the beef there.”
“Planning a picnic or something are we? Found yourself a girl?”
Masonae blushed and pretended to look at a large quill with the town’s name inscribed on the shaft. Girls had yet to even notice him yet. He really didn’t have many friends at all. They tended to forget he existed.
“You get that from me,” his mom had said when he’d lamented to her. “People just seem to look through me sometimes. But it will change when you get older.”
It wasn’t until he was older, that Masonae realized his parents’ magic was also at fault. Once he’d brought home a friend he’d met. They’d spent three hours together talking about everything in particular, and nothing important. The boy had left the house waving and vowing to come back the next day. Masonae had sat on the front doorstep the entire afternoon, but no visitors. He’d gone to the boy’s house and been treated like a complete stranger. The magic at work somehow slipped into people’s minds and removed their memories of him and his family. Only the shallowest of details remained. The shopkeeper knew his mother liked to buy candy. She sold dragon cloth and his father was excellent with locks. Anything more than that and the man would have no memory of it in the morning.
“I’m going to Tamarin. I’m going to visit my parents.”
“Your parents went to Tamarin? Whatever for? Somebody get bit by something? Have you got purple parents?” Garn chuckled to himself as he laid out the cheese and bread and wrapped them expertly.
“My parents go to Tamarin every fortnight. Though this week, there must be a special meeting, because they went last week. My parents are Great Mages, you know-- Malek and Mitty.”
Already a glassy look had spread across Garn’s face. It was as if someone had poked him with a needle and let the air out of his chuckle. He nodded once blankly, and wandered back into the storeroom, whistling a listless tune. Masonae grabbed his packages, laid the correct amount of money on the counter and left the store.
Masonae turned right and headed out of town along the road to Tamarin that led almost directly east. He walked swiftly for the first hour, determined. His parents couldn’t rule over him forever. He began to imagine his mother’s face, as he paraded through the gates of Tamarin, and she was caught, far from home and perhaps even dressed in the white robes of a Great Mage.
The second hour began to disturb Masonae. He wasn’t quite sure what nagged on his mind, but somehow he knew there was something quite wrong. He kept walking, even sped his pace a bit, but the feeling kept growing inside him. When he hit the orchard, the feeling welled out of him, from his toes up through his guts, pushing on his lungs and erupting in a loud scream. It was the largest scream he’d produced. It rang through the trees and sent a flock of birds swirling up in a racket all their own.
The stupid road had taken him back home again. Without changing direction, he’d walked two hours west and ended up back where he started.
“I should have known it was going to be that easy!” He sat down, right in the middle of the road, mindless of the dust and pondered his situation. The road to Tamarin was obviously enchanted, at least for him. It be useless to use it. The road south might be equally enchanted, and a journey by that road would take him weeks at best. He’d have to circle around the Forest of Argon, and come up the other side. He wasn’t prepared for a journey of that sort either. He had some money saved away, and his father had taught him well how to provide for himself, but he wanted to confront his parents, not worry them senseless.
The only other route to take would be avoiding roads all together and walk through the edge of the forest. He’d been in Argon many times before with his father, but had promised not to go alone. There were still very strange things in the darkness of the forest. Not to mention there was always a threat of lesser dragons. But the edges were safe enough, if you knew how to be careful.
Masonae weighed the consequences as he stood up, wiping the dust from his trousers. Traveling through the forest would result in two things: he’d catch his parents in the act when he reached Tamarin, and they’d be very very mad at him. He could deal with that.Turning southwest, Masonae stepped off the road.