Free Magic (complete)

Chapter 7

Anders made it back to his rooms in one piece. He had no trouble at the carpenters, and in fact the apprentice fitted his tools with better handles than they had before. One of the guards that let him out was at the gate when he returned, making it easy to slip back inside without fuss. He even managed to replace the stolen apron and shirt in the quartermaster's storeroom undetected while Barton was being yelled at for 'rumors of running off with a kitchen maid' which made Anders feel just a bit guilty. Back in his rooms he waited at his desk for his guest.

It was the midnight bell before he heard something softly brush up against his door. He stood and opened it to allow Jak dressed in his brown robes. For an instant, Anders sensed just how dangerous the man in front of him could be. Instinct, or something like it, made him take in the thief. His solid stance, his lean muscles, the wicked daggers at his hips. If Anders hadn't had the length of hallway on his side, Jak just might have run him through that night.

"Here is what I have." Jak tossed his stolen journal on the bed. "I can't make out much of it, its written in some other tongue or something. I want to know why I would get paid a small fortune for retrieving this pile of chicken scratch."

"Alright, I'll try to take a look. So you think you can help me find my work?" Anders picked up the journal and flipped through a few of the pages.

"I can certainly try. Show me a bit of what's in them. Did you write in a book or scroll? And do you have any idea who in Whitethorn would have taken them?" Jak inspected the contraption of wires and stone on the desk.

"You seem very sure it's someone from the keep." Anders said.

"Anders, there are very few in my...line of work, that are willing to come in this keep. There are a couple others that I know of, but they aren't in the area right now. You can search Selstad and be hard pressed to find another man willing to do what I do. So, what do your notes look like?" Jak asked.

"Three notebooks. Leather bound, no markings. Well, some singe marks." Anders watched Jak inspect his invention. "You should actually see a number of sketches of that item in them. See how the stones are held in a circular pattern by the wires? There is a lot of that pattern sketched throughout the notes. One of the three books is trials and results of the individual stones and their properties reacting to lightning energy. The other two still have a number of substances I've not gotten to test yet."

"Alright, so what does the thing do?" Jak ran his finger over a rough black stone.

"In theory, it will be able to hold a charge of lightning magic for extended periods of time. Do you know some mages can store excess power for use later in certain gems found in nature? Well lightning mages famously can't do that. The most you might be able to do is store a jolt of power in something metal, preferably iron or copper, for a day." Anders pointed at the stones in turn, sending small tendrils of power into them. The whole contraption fit in two hands, it was a ring of thick wires with gems and stones wrapped every inch or so into it. Anders pointed to part of the circle. "I'm slowly working with the gems and these magnets here to keep a charge that circulates through all the stones without enough time to dissipate."

"I'll pretend I understood most of that. So any leads?" Jak stepped away from the desk and looked at Anders.

"No. Well, maybe this one red robe. Three actually." Anders thought about anyone who might dislike him enough to sabotage his chance to leave Whitethorn. Cerdic and his friends weren't likely to take it that far, but they were the only ones Anders could think of. And he did see Cerdic in the hallway the day his notes were taken.

"What are the names?" Jak crossed his arms over his chest. "There are hundreds of mages in Whitethorn."

"Well, I don't know two of them acutally, but the most likely suspect is Cerdic." Anders admitted. Jak scratched the hair on his chin and stared at the young mage.