Previous Chapter

Riker’s Cove was quiet that evening. There was nothing unusual about that, of course, but the quiet had a sinister cast to it. A trio of small creatures with a fell light in their eyes crept through the streets, breaking off in different directions and vanishing into the shadows. Then, just after sunset, a wistful melody carried through town. The mood over the town lightened. The sheriff hustled through town to a house near the water.

For the next hour or so two small forms watched that house, their eyes alight with anger and uncertainty. Then they abruptly got up and ran off. They scrambled down the beach to the long pier leading to the lighthouse and the statue of Jonathan Riker watched them go.

There were still many shadows over Riker’s Cove but for the moment the waxing moon banished them out to sea.

Brandon studied the sheriff named Avery with curious eyes. Harper had mentioned that many of the druids from Columbia’s Stone Circle still walked the land but Brandon hadn’t expected to find them holding office in public service. He’d assumed resentment or distrust would preclude it.

Warwick worked his magic for some ten minutes on the boy they’d found by the docks, apparently using a thistledown candle to peer into his memories in an attempt to learn the fate of other missing children from the village. Finally he admitted defeat and extinguished the candle, then thanked the family and spent a few minutes more reassuring them they’d done all they could to help find the other two missing children. The sheriff also took the time to check the house’s perimeter. Finally he approached Brandon and his sister. “Well met, Sir Fairchild,” Warwick said. He touched his fingertips to forehead, a gesture that represented removing a helmet among friends. “I have a lot of questions to ask you but I feel we’ve imposed on the Strathmores long enough. Would you and your companion, Miss…”

“Cassandra Fairchild, sheriff.” Cassie dipped slightly in an abbreviated curtsy.

“If you two would care to join me in my office then we could discuss things without bothering them further.”

Warwick turned and gestured to the door with obvious meaning. Brandon gave Cassie a questioning look. His sister had been quietly humming a tuneless note from when they’d discovered the boy out by the docks at dusk until shortly after the sheriff arrived. Since then she’d kept her peace, which he took as a good sign. Now she gave him a slight nod, telling him she was in fact done with whatever she’d been doing. “Of course, sheriff,” Brandon said. “It would be our pleasure.”

Cassie looped her arm through the crook of Brandon’s elbow and allowed him to lead her through the town. While it was of low intensity she’d spent a long time flexing her talent for stonesong. He wasn’t sure what the exact price for that would be but her vision had to be impaired to some degree at the moment. So Brandon kept an eye on her steps as they walked. He didn’t want to embarrass her by waving a hand in front of her face while the sheriff was present but he wasn’t about to let her fall flat on her face either. However, even if she was completely blind for the time being she could still listen.

While they crossed the town she closed her eyes and tilted her head this way and that as the cool ocean breeze swept through her hair. If she heard anything unusual she didn’t mention it. They reached the town jail without incident. “Thank you for being so accommodating,” Warwick said as he unlocked the front door and ushered them in. “The last month and a half have been trying for the Strathmores. I’d rather they have their peace.”

“I’m happy to give it to them, sheriff.” Brandon replied, guiding Cassie over the step and into the building. “It’s the duty of every Knight on errantry to uphold the virtues of Chivalry. How could I ignore a child in need? How could I impose on his family once the need was met?”

“Fair questions,” Warwick said. He closed the door to the jail and offered the two chairs in the front room. He perched on the edge of his desk. “I’d say your answers do you credit as a knight. I am curious, though. How did you know Stu was in distress? I’m told the ensorcelled children like him appear normal to the passing observer.”

“Perhaps,” Cassie said as she made herself comfortable in her chair. “But he didn’t sound normal to a stone singer.”

Both Brandon and Avery raised their eyebrows. Avery presumably in surprise that she was a stone singer and Brandon that she so easily revealed that fact. Avery set his candle on the corner of the desk and inspected Cassie with more care. “That’s a rare gift, Ms. Fairchild. If its not prying too much into your secrets may I ask in what way you determined something was wrong? Could you repeat it?”

“Every person has a melody to their life, sheriff.” Cassie hummed a few bars of slow, almost sleepy music. “That’s yours, for example. A thoughtful, deliberate tune to reflect a trained and careful mind. When a person is ensorcelled, their tune goes off key or, in extreme cases, it becomes dissonant.”

“That’s the only thing such a sound could indicate?” Warwick asked.

“It could be several other things. But Stewart wasn’t off key at all. He wasn’t even making music. All I could hear was a single note, sustained indefinitely, as if the melody of his life had shrunk into a single, constant scream. I knew we couldn’t ignore that. Unfortunately I’ve never heard anything like that before so I can’t guess whether other people will be the same under the influence of the same magic.”

“Well, your actions are commendable although it’d be better if we knew you could repeat it.” Avery steepled his fingers and studied Cassie in the same way senior knights from Avalon would. Like a new variable on the battlefield. “How did you go about breaking Stu’s enchantment?”

“I just sang a tune.” Cassie smiled her most disarming smile, the kind that kept their father wrapped around her finger. “Everyone has a tune they’re supposed to sing. If they lose track of it often the best way to help them is to sing your own song with them until they find their own again.”

Avery’s lips pursed like he’d just eaten something sour. “That seems a bit simplistic.”

“Simple, perhaps, but not easy to do, even if you know what you’re doing.”

“I suppose.” Avery rose and paced along the side of the building. “Well, it is good that Stu is safe and if you’re willing to help free the other two children that were taken with him I and their parents would be very grateful. But I am curious. You said you were here on errantry, Sir Fairchild. May I ask the nature of your quest?”

Brandon laughed. “You’ll find it ridiculous, I’m sure.”

“No more so than anything else in the Columbian West, I’d say.” Warwick gave them an inscrutable look. “So what is it?”

“The Secret of Steel. What else?”

Avery’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Really? I’d heard Stonehenge still searched for that bit of myth from time to time but why come here? The Sanna aren’t known for their metallurgy. The Hispaniola that rule Tetzlan guard the local magic jealously…”

“Technically we’ve been tasked with retrieving some of the Founder’s writings that came over with the first round of Knights that Avalon sent during the Sanna wars. Pellinor’s Journals, The Archives of the du Lac Lineage. But,” Brandon gestured to his sister, “technically it’s her quest. When she came of age she heard the call and the Founders decided to send her here. As far as I know Stonehenge has never sent a stone singer to this place on this quest so I think they were hoping she’d hear something new.”

Avery returned to his spot on the desk, his attitude curious now. “Have you had any luck?”

“We’ve heard a… name?” Cassie put a note of uncertainty in it. “Perhaps a title? Supposedly there’s a man in brown who carries a sword of steel and is called The Strongest Man in the World. Have you heard of him?”

“Yes, the Hodekkian,” Warwick mused. “He knew Jonathan Riker somehow, came to the dedication of his statue. He carried one of the curved swords their people favor at the time. A tachi, I think it’s called? He never drew it, though, so I assumed it was bronze like any other.”

“We’ve heard its a silvery metal that isn’t aluminum,” Brandon said. “It’s not much to go on but it’s a start.”

Avery frowned. “But he’s not here in the Cove. Believe me, I’d know if he was.”

“No, we haven’t heard that,” Cassie put in. “We came because we heard the sheriff’s deputy was also a knight from Morainhenge. We hoped he might know the fate of the henge’s relics. When we arrived we were told the sheriff had no deputy so we thought the man had moved on. Turns out he was just promoted.”

“As you say,” Warwick agreed. “Unfortunately I can’t help you. The Master did empty the Reliquary before Morainhenge fell but he didn’t pass them out to the standing knights. He gave them all to the assistant master and told him to find new, worthy guardians for them. I clearly wasn’t one of the worthies. I’ve heard rumors about Assistant Master Oldfathers in the years since but I’ve never seen him in person.”

Brandon sighed. “Well, don’t feel too put out. We’ve heard variations on that story at least a dozen times in the last year and a half. As near as we can tell only one Morainhenge knight was chosen by one of your relics. Very strange.”

“Oh?” Warwick’s brows shot up again. “Who’s that, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“A knight of the First Circle, very green at the time of the Lakeshire War, apparently.” Brandon drummed his finger, trying to dredge up the right name. “Was it Nat Thorton?”

“No,” Cassie said. “Nat was the one who survived. The one who received it first was Cole Thurmond. Nat was his squire for most of the war. When the assistant master brought Cole the Bedrock Shackles after the war they found both were able to wield them.”

“That’s right,” Brandon remembered it clearly now. “But Nat told us Sir Thurmond died running down the leader of a rogue Sanna warband about three years ago and the relic passed to Nat.”

Avery nodded. “I remember Thurmond and Thorton. They were good men, although not very remarkable from what I remember. I suppose time changes us all.”

“I suppose so.” Brandon got to his feet and reached down to help Cassie up. “Well, we will keep looking. Do you think we can be of help with the other children missing from the town?”

“Perhaps.” Avery studied Brandon for a moment. “Although I’m not sure if you’re quite up for dangerous work just yet. What happened to your leg?”

Brandon hadn’t thought he’d been favoring it that much but the sheriff must have noticed. “I injured it fighting some gold drinkers a few weeks ago. The Hearth Keepers have done their best but its not back to normal yet.” He wiggled his foot back and forth. “It’s useful for day to day work and if things turn bad, well, I cultivate the yew so I think I can compensate for it. I don’t expect a few ensorcelled children to be that dangerous.”

“So Roy Harper didn’t tell you to expect danger?”

Brandon suppressed a sigh. He’d hoped all the talk about errantry and relics might sidetrack the sheriff. Clearly the man knew his work better than that. When they’d first arrived in town Brandon and Cassie had discussed how to answer the sheriff if he asked them whether they knew Harper directly. Both of them had hoped it wouldn’t be necessary, given the circumstances.

“All we knew is that he left a note saying he had personal business in Riker’s Cove,” Cassie said. “He invited us to join him if we had no other leads to follow up.”

Avery tilted his head. “He left you a note? When was this?”

“About a week ago, according to the date,” Braondon said. “We met Mr. Harper in his capacity as a Railway Detective about three months ago. He offered his home in Keegan’s Bluff as a base of operations for our search. Since then we’ve spent much of our time traveling across the West and so has Mr. Harper. We’re rarely at Oakhart Manor at the same time so we leave messages for each other with Mr. and Mrs. Gardener who watch the house when Mr. Harper is away.”

“And he left you a note about Heinrich von Nighburg?”

“No, as I said he mentioned personal business here and that he’d heard there was an old knight from Morainhenge here. I’m not familiar with the man you name.”

Avery’s eyes narrowed. “He’s responsible for kidnapping Stu Strathmore and the other missing children. Do you often coordinate your work with Harper’s?”

Cassie shook her head. “Mr. Harper supports our quest and lets us know when he hears things that might help us but we only coordinate with him when Brandon’s sense of chivalry drives him to meddle, like with those gold drinkers.”

“Yes, that happens.” Brandon managed not to roll his eyes as he said it but it was a near thing.

“How was it that you wound up on the same train as his friend van der Klein?”

“Mr. Harper suggested we travel with him in his note,” Cassie said. “I suspect it was an offer made for our convenience. He tends to be very considerate of our traveling needs, seems to think it’s his duty as a host.”

“That’s commendable of him.” Warwick grunted and folded his arms over his chest. “He didn’t mention having a stone singer as a resource.”

“Of course not,” Brandon snapped. “He doesn’t speak for my sister or I and he wouldn’t presume to.”

Avery sat a little straighter, looking chagrined. “Of course not.”

“Would it changed your decision to have him leave town?” Cassie asked.

“Not really.” Avery took his thistledown candle and removed it from its base, carefully reforming the still soft wax with his fingers as he spoke. “The fact is I don’t trust firespinners to consider the good of the town first. Just having another ally with unusual talents doesn’t change that equation in a meaningful way. The fact that he was in the Regulars doesn’t help.”

“How did you know he was in the Army?” Brandon asked. “I was under the impression it was rare for people who lived this far West.”

“On the contrary! I’d guess old Regulars are more common out here than in the East these days.” Avery shrugged. “Jonathan Riker ran here to escape the war before it started. Many, myself included, came here after to escape its ghosts. But to answer your question, I knew Harper was from the 43^rd Infantry because most people who know about firespinners know that. He’s actually rather famous in these parts.”

Cassie got up and took Warwick’s candle off the desk and held it for him as he worked the wax drippings into it. “So you disliked him because you were at odds during the war?”

“Plenty of Lakeshire born firespinners out here, ma’am.” Avery took the candle from her and held it up for inspection. Cassie favored him with another winsome smile. “Though I suppose the old loyalties did play some factor in my decision.”

She nodded in understanding. “And now that you know there is another druid vouching for him, does that change your opinion of him?”

The sheriff gave her a sharp look. “I thought I was the one who looked into minds.”

“That’s you, certainly,” Cassie said gravely. “But I can hear a great deal that people leave unsaid and often that’s what’s most important. So how is it, Sir Warwick? Will you let the two of us, Mr. Harper and his friends help you save these children?”

Warwick stared at his candle for a long time then sighed and set it down on his desk. “Alright, Miss Fairchild. You’ve got a deal.”

Previous Chapter

The newest strangers in town had very different priorities from the last group. They never came to the graveyard. That didn’t mean they escaped the patient watch of Jonathan Riker’s statue. On the contrary. After first arriving they went down to the beach where the young man bathed one leg in the ocean. His sister kept him company, occasionally serenading him with snatches of light, wistful song.

Other than that small excursion they didn’t leave the inn for the first day. They were more active the second. The two of them walked up and down the docks, chatting with the captains of small fishing boats and tramp freighters. Money changed hands as if they planned a trip by sea in the near future. And they ended the evening on the beach once more, bathing the man’s leg and pensively watching the setting sun as it sank beneath the horizon, skewered by the Cove’s lighthouse like a giant, burning orange.

---

The town got very quiet at sundown. Avery found it strange, as habits formed years ago in Palmyra told him the cool evening was the perfect time for candle making. The rhythms of seaside life were very different from those of a druid’s forest stronghold. The morning tide was vital to the people of Riker’s Cove and it came well before sunrise. By sunset most people were long asleep.

As the town’s primary peacekeeper Avery did his best to remain awake until the night was well underway, so as to be on hand in case brigands tried to take advantage of the cover of night. He remained at the jail, his lone thistledown candle burning. With his senses expanded he looked out across the town, listening for the sound of thoughts. There were limits to his range, of course. With only his candle burning he could pick up on thoughts within twenty feet or so of where he sat. But if anyone lit the candles he’d shared with them he would pick up on their mind right away.

Well, with some exceptions. Roy Harper had proven immune to the candle’s power, somehow. Perhaps the hint was in the name of his talent. He hadn’t learned much about druids with the firemind but it stood to reason that such a person would have firey thoughts and that may explain the way the candle reacted to Harper’s mind by flaring up instead of carrying his thoughts. Avery hadn’t worked out a possible solution to the problem yet.

Fortunately Harper’s Sanna friend hadn’t been so impenetrable in his thoughts. Proud Elk had heard something from Harper that convinced him that following Harper could keep their promise to old man Riker one way or another. Avery was expecting the two of them and their friend from the train to turn up again any day now. Probably not by train. Most likely by horse, possibly by boat. Yet so far there was no sign of any of them.

Not for the first time he wished he could find a willing deputy. Sadly there hadn’t been any takers since von Nighburg reminded the town that the law was potentially a very dangerous profession. No one wanted to take the risk of wearing a tin star just to keep the peace.

Such grim thoughts kept him company through dusk. The evening was about to tip over into full night, the waxing moon high overhead just a sliver from fulfillment, when one of his other candles flared to life on the other side of town. Avery scrambled to his feet, snatching up his sword. With his candle holder in his left hand he bolted into the streets. The jail was high on the hill leading out of the Cove and the Strathmore home was almost on the waterfront. Even at a fast walk it took him almost ten minutes to get there.

He covered the last few hundred feet with a growing sense of unease. The closer he got to the house the more the smoke from his candle seemed to thrum with some other magical force. There was a large spell at work and Avery suspected von Nighburg was the source. The emotions of the family coming through the candle’s magic were mixed and the ethics of searching their thoughts directly outside of an active threat were clear. It was a dark thing to do and he wasn’t willing to take that step yet.

Avery did his best to work out how many people were in the Strathmore house before he knocked. He didn’t know the family well. The father was a fisherman and his steady, watchful presence was immediately obvious. The mother was equally apparent. Her concern and drive to nurture those in the house carried clearly through the candle, bright as flame. The Strathmores had three children, though one was currently in the clutches of the black magician that lurked in the lighthouse. Unfortunately, while there was a jumble of youthful excitement in the house, it was too chaotic for Avery to determine how many people were feeling those emotions at the moment.

Most surprising was the addition of not one but two other sets of emotions. One had an air of watchful satisfaction. The other was the source of the mysterious thrumming Avery had felt for the last few minutes. Judging that cautious optimism was the correct approach, the sheriff loosened his sword in its sheath but didn’t draw it. Instead, he knocked on the front door of the house.

Aaron Strathmore answered a few moments later, clearly expecting him as the Strathmore patriach quickly swung the door open and motioned him in. Avery glanced around the main room. Stairs to a loft, small kitchen area underneath, the stove in the opposite corner, doorway to the master bedroom of to the right. A large family table dominated the room and Rachel Strathmore sat there, her oldest child wrapped in her arms. The other two clustered around her, excitedly talking over each other. Standing by the back wall were two strangers with similar faces, a brother and sister at a guess.

Aaron closed the door quickly behind the sheriff. Before going any further into the room he took Strathmore aside and whispered, “Who are those two?”

“Out of towners,” Aaron replied. “The brought Stu back about twenty minutes ago, easy as you please. You wouldn’t think he’d been missing for weeks.”

Avery’s own experience suggested it hadn’t been quite as simple as that. “Did they say where they’re from?”

“Avalon.” Strathmore shrugged helplessly when Avery gave him an incredulous look. “How should I know for sure? They don’t sound like any Columbian I ever met but I’m hardly the expert now am I?

“Okay, I’ll talk to them in a minute. Is Stu all right? Is he acting strange that you’ve noticed?”

“No,” Aaron said, folding his arms. “I’m worried that being a captive so long might have hurt his mind but he seems normal and I didn’t want to worry the missus, see?”

“I understand. I really need to ask him some questions but I can wait ’til the morning if you’d like some more time to let him rest now that he’s back. Just keep in mind that we don’t know what might have happened to him in von Nighburg’s care. Does he remember anything?”

“Not that he’s said.” Strathmore shook his head in a resigned fashion. “Ask you questions now, sheriff. There’s still two missing children and if Stu knows how to help them we’d better find out as soon as possible.”

“Appreciate your cooperation.” Aver stepped over to the table with Aaron, who offered him an empty chair. The sheriff sat while the boy’s mother turned the child to face him. Avery removed his hat and laid it on the table. “Hello, Stu. How are you feeling?”

The child looked up at him with guileless brown eyes. “Hello, Sheriff Warwick. I’m feelin’ pretty fit, I guess, except Momma says I’ve been gone for six weeks and I don’t remember any of it.”

“Sounds like you’re doing alright, son.” Warwick smiled in spite of the serious situation. The energy and excitement in the boy’s voice felt infectious and had none of the sickly magical overtones of enchanted feelings. But Avery’s good mood quickly passed. “Stu, did you know that there are children besides you missing from town?”

Stu shook his head and gave his mother a questioning look. She nodded. “It’s true, Stewart. If you can think of anything that will let the sheriff help them it could be very important.”

Stu screwed up his face in a caricature of concentration. Then he slumped in dejection. “Sorry, sheriff, I really can’t remember anything.”

With a nudge Avery put his candle directly between them. “If I have you permission, Aaron, I might be able to help him remember.”

The Strathmore patriarch glanced at the candle then back at the sheriff. “By magic?”

“Thoughts and memories are my specialty. The candle generally facilitats communication but with a little time and work I can delve into parts of his mind he normally doesn’t recognize.” Avery got up and crossed to the window then took the candle there back to the table with him. “We might be able to dredge up something that way.”

“Is it dangerous?”

“Not dangerous, Mrs. Strathmore, but it could certainly be called invasive. Like the barber checking your teeth for cavities.” Avery sat down with the second candle just in front of him. “Shall I?”

“There’s other children out there missing,” Aaron said. “We gotta help as we can.”

“If it’s not dangerous I think a little discomfort couldn’t hurt,” his wife added.

Avery stared at Stu across the candle flames. “What about it, Stu?”

The boy gave his parents a confused look. “But-”

“I heard them, son, and if they’d said no then that would’ve been the end of it. But you must agree as well.” Avery cut the beginning of his mother’s objection off with a look. “Listen well, Stewart Strathmore, for today you cannot be a boy. Today you must be a man. Only a man can take responsibility in a matter such as this.”

His mother overcame Avery’s glare and her objection burst out. “That’s not fair!”

“It was unfair when he was taken from you for six weeks, it was unfair when his memories were taken from him and it was unfair when the burden of being the only lifeline for others was placed on him.” Avery folded his arms across his chest and glared at the boy’s parents. “I won’t add to the unfairness by taking his decision from him.”

“I’m not scared!” Stu exclaimed.

“Good.” Avery gestured at the candles. “Then look at the flame and see the magic there. Have the courage to ask yourself whether you are prepared to grapple with it. Don’t be afraid that you’ll be a coward if you say no.”

Stu stared at the candle for a long moment his expression wavering from awed to nervous to solemn. “What will happen when you do the magic?”

“We’ll look into each other’s thoughts and memories at least as far as we’re able. My mind is very well trained so you probably won’t see much beyond me working the magic. However I’ll be able to see almost everything you’re thinking.” Avery gestured around the room. “Anything you’re thinking about your family, your favorite memories, any grudges between you and your brother and sister. Of course I’ll be looking for you memories from the last six weeks. However there will be many things besides that which I learn in the process because that’s how the magic works.”

Stu looked at him for a long moment then asked, “You won’t tell anyone? Promise?”

Avery considered how to best assure him of that then raised his right hand. “I am Avery Warwick, Knight of the Third Circle, and I serve at the pleasure of Arthur, First and Forever King of Avalon. In rain and sunshine I walk among the stone circle and steward its legacy for the coming generations and I swear on the Stones of Morainhenge all I learn from you will remain secret, save what is needed to defend the innocent.”

Avery felt the magic of the oath catch at him. It had been almost a decade since he’d sworn by the Circle and it felt different to him now. Perhaps the destruction of Morainhenge had changed the nature of his oaths. Perhaps the lack of another Knight to witness and solemnize the oath weakened it. Perhaps he was no longer worthy of his oaths. Regardless, he hoped it would be enough to convince the boy.

“I am Bradon Fairchild.” Avery nearly jumped out of his seat – he’d forgotten the two strangers in the room. The man had stepped away from the wall and also raised his right hand. “Knight of the Second Circle, servant of the Phoenixborn, sworn to defend his Circle and his Realm. I swear by the dolmen of Stonehenge, if this man forswears his pledge and breaks that circle then I shall teach him the error of his ways.”

The magic roared to full strength. Contrary to his musings of a moment ago, Avery felt the binding nature of the oath fall on him stronger than he’d ever felt it before. The magic of the oath settled into place, a gleaming ring formed around his right wrist and Brandon’s. Then the magic settled in place and the ring faded from view.

“There you have it,” the stranger said. “The strongest promise we can offer.”

Stu watched the proceedings in open mouthed wonder. Once the oath was done he snapped to attention. “Okay. Then I wanna do the magic.”

Avery had to shake off his own moment of nostalgia after experiencing that familiar ritual for the first time in ages. He nudged the candles into position and said, “Then look here. Let yourself relax and think about a recent memory. What was it like when you came home tonight? Think about that.”

The sheriff let his eyes go unfocused and sharpened his attention to the candle. He felt the boy’s memories radiating towards him on the waves of heat from the flame. Confusion and surprise at his parents teary delight when he walked in the door. Then, earlier, meeting a pretty lady singing on the street. Earlier still, the Riker girl taking him to meet a strange man.

Tall, dressed in a tunic that looked like it came from two hundred years prior and wearing a richly embroidered red cloak. He had a salt and pepper beard and flinty cold eyes. In his right hand was a staff with a gold banded crystal at the top. The staff was clad in a strange, silvery metal. Based on the description on the wanted poster, Avery guessed this was Heinrich von Nighburg.

Avery felt a pang of confusion. He moved forward in Stu’s memories and returned to the moment the boy met the songstress. Then Avery worked backwards with greater care. Yet no matter how careful he was he found the same fragments of memory and nothing else. It was like the whole time he’d been missing Stu Strathmore had been asleep and formed no memories at all.

Previous Chapter

The sheriff led the two strangers out of town, the shorter of the two still protesting. “I know you don’t want our help, Warwick,” he was saying. “But van der Klein is your last, best hope to sort things out before it goes sour. The three of us are the only ones coming to help you. It’s not like the Knights of Stonehenge are going to show up unbidden.”

“That’s fine, Harper,” Warwick replied in a more normal tone. “You just tell your friend there to get back on the train and light out to other parts.”

“I’ll be back if we learn anything about that lighthouse of yours,” Harper replied.

“Just send a note.”

The sheriff watched as the two men approached a third, a tall but thin fellow with a very pale face and hair. They argued for several moments but by that point they were far enough away that their voices didn’t carry to the statue. Neither sheriff nor the three he watched paid any attention to the other two passengers who got off the train.

But Jonathan Riker’s statue noticed. They were young, a man and a woman. They had very similar faces and blonde, curling hair and they moved with determination and purpose, though the man favored his right leg. As they passed the first buildings in town the man paused just long enough to look back and watched Harper and his friends climb on the train. Then they vanished into the heart of the Cove.

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Johan van der Klein fiddled with the sides of the small black box that sat between him and his old friend. Roy was gnawing on a roast chicken leg while Proud Elk explained why the sheriff of Riker’s Cove threw them out of town. Every so often Harper would add a bit of context or fill in a detail. Johan thought the most interesting bit was the fact that Sheriff Warwick was a master of candles of revealing. Even among the druids such people were rare.

“Did you ever work out what the first candle he burned was?” Johan asked when the story was done.

“I was assuming it was a single instance of the candles he used in his office,” Roy said.

“Did he light it with the others when he showed you the house?”

Roy thought about it for several seconds. “No, now that you mention it I don’t believe he did. Any reason he wouldn’t? The others were a lot more burned down than the one he greeted me with.”

“Harmon’s Sons don’t have very many records of encounters with druidic magic techniques,” Johan said, pulling one side of his box so it slid an inch out along the grooves it sat in. The dull gleam of a mirror inside it caught the light from the afternoon sun. “Candles in particular are a tricky business to work out. Most druids give form to magic using plants as their medium of choice. They awaken trees that are too small to have minds of their own, they exist symbiotically with plants like the yew or ivy, they burn incense to release power from herbs and the like. Very few mesh directly with magic like you, Roy.”

Roy tossed his chicken bones down on his plate and looked warily around the hotel restaurant they sat in. They weren’t the only guests there but few seemed interested approaching the table where the three sat. There was a ring of empty tables all around them, as if Roy’s hostile attitude and reputation as a bounty hunter and monster killer repelled the peaceful people of Loewenburg. Satisfied he wouldn’t be overheard, Roy asked, “So what about the candles? Do you have a guess as to what they do?”

“Hard to say.” Johan carefully shifted the sides of the lightbox so the mirrors caught the light and focused it so it created the illusion of a flickering flame. “Druidic incenses do many different things and candles are similar in their approach. A lot of powerful magic herbs are toxic on some level and druids build up a resistance to them during their training. However the toxins in some herbs are so concentrated that the dose in normal incense is still too high enough to kill. Other herbs release magic so powerful it’s impossible to control except in the smallest amounts. So druids weave a few threads from the plants into candle wicks. That produces smaller, more manageable doses of magic – or toxins – that make the plants a usable lens to shape the magic.”

“Yes, I’ve heard that,” Roy said. “I knew a Harwick once. He could use a candle to turn to smoke and pass through gaps in walls and the like.”

“That’s not one I’ve heard of before.” Johan continued to tweak the shape of the light from his box to create more and more illusory candles. “Sadly, it doesn’t help us figure out what Warwick’s candles might do. The reasons druids chose candles as a medium for magic are secondary to the actual function of the magic they are creating. The candle is just a way to regulate it safely. There are potentially as many different kinds of magic candles as there are fibrous herbs to put in their wicks. If it wasn’t one of his candles of revealing I can’t guess what it is from what you’ve told me.”

Roy shook his head. “Those revealing candles work very fast and very obviously. Whatever that other candle did it was much more subtle.”

“Were the flames of the revealing candles silent like the one he brought to your first meeting?”

“Couldn’t tell.” Roy sketched the bars of a prison cell with his hands. “Iron in the bars, remember? That tends to dampen out the voices from an open flame unless the fire in question is much larger than the intervening iron. That’s one reason I carried an iron weapon for years. Helped me sleep with a campfire nearby.”

“Well, given the kinds of magic they tended to put in candles we can assume it’s a very powerful working we’ll have to be cautious of.”

Proud Elk studied the flame illusion intently. “It has been many years since I have seen such craft, Silver Glass. It seems much more impressive than a bit of candle wax.”

“Well, the First Son of Harmon was a true genius. But whether he was an equal to the First and Forever King of Avalon is very much an open question and one we’ll likely never see answered. What is certain is they created very different kinds of workings. The magic of light is much more ephemeral than that of the great, growing things of the earth.” Johan collapsed the lightbox down to its base form, closing up the many mirrors and leaving only the black lacquered exterior showing. “I would have liked to see this lighthouse. Changing the bend of space is a very difficult thing to achieve.”

“Ever seen anything like that before?” Roy asked.

“Problem is, like a druid’s candle, it could be any number of things,” Johan mused. “Illusion, actual bending of space or just creating a link between the top of the tower and distant place. But there’s no way to narrow it down without testing things.”

“Does it matter?” Proud Elk asked. “I did not see much of that man’s town but I did notice that every house and shop with a window had a candle behind the glass. Based on what you’ve said I do not think this can be coincidence.”

Roy nodded. “I saw them at the inn, too. I suspect our good Sheriff Warwick passed them out after von Nighburg came to town. Usually his lot are stingier with magic than that.”

“What about your friends?”

Proud Elk gave Johan a questioning look. “I thought all of us who signed the Pact were accounted for.”

“We are. But I met two travelers from Avalon on the train and learned they were coming to meet Roy as well.” Johan ran a finger along the edge of this lightbox. “They got off at the Cove but the sheriff clearly wasn’t expecting them. The girl seemed to know what was going on somehow.”

“Very sharp ears on that one,” Roy said. From the faint smile he had when he said it, Johan guessed that was all the explanation they were going to get. He’d been tight lipped even as a kid in the Regulars. “Her brother is a fully fledged Knight of the Stone Circle, straight from Stonehenge itself. They’ll stay ahead of Warwick pretty easily. Hopefully they can figure out a few things for us before we get back there.”

“You’ve got a lot of faith in those two,” Johan said. “I suppose it’s yours to give.”

“I was kind of winging it, to be fair, but we got as good an outcome as any of us could hope for,” Roy said. “I was thinking we’d give them a day to look around and then sneak back up on the Cove and whistle for the Fairchilds.”

“A serviceable plan given the circumstances,” Proud Elk said. “There is one question – no, two, that it leaves unanswered.”

Roy quirked an eyebrow and said, “What’s bothering you, Proud Elk?”

“First, we do not know why Heinrich von Nighburg chose this lighthouse building in that man’s village.” The Sanna man ticked off the possibilities on his fingers. “Is it a place of power? Is it the tides and ocean? Was it simply a convenient thing he found?”

“You’re an expert at dousing and the other river magics of the Sanna,” Johan said. “Do you have an opinion?”

“Like you, I would have to go there and examine it to make any kind of guess. That brings me to the second issue. What will we do if breaching the lighthouse requires some kind of talisman or special ritual that we do not know? The sheriff was unable to divine a way in. If we try and fail we will have revealed ourselves to von Nighburg and the sheriff.”

“A moment, gentleman.” Johan turned and motioned for one of the hotel’s waiters.

The man hurried over, smoothing the front of his suit. “Can I help you, sir?”

“Does the hotel have an almanac available?”

“Of course, sir. Would you like to see it?”

“Please.” Johan ignored his friend’s questioning looks.

It took only a moment for the waiter to return with a thick book in hand. He passed it to Johan, who quickly began flipping through it. “Is there anything else?”

“This will only take a moment.” Johan found the entry he wanted and skimmed over it, making a note of the timing of the situation, then handed it back to the waiter. “Thank you, that will be all.”

Once they were alone again he continued, saying, “We can solve the second issue by waiting another day to return to the cove.”

“Why’s that?” Roy asked.

“Low Noon is in two days. It’s a time of portent when the barriers between what’s seen and unseen are very thin and many forms of magic become more powerful. I believe we can create a new entrance to the unseen portion of the lighthouse – or perhaps drag it into our world – with the added power of the lunar eclipse on our side.”

Proud Elk frowned. “I have not heard of this Low Noon before. Lunar means the moon, but the what is eclipse? Why do you name it like you do the highest moment of the day?”

“Is that important?” Johan asked.

“It is a time of portent,” Proud Elk said in disapproval. “Shouldn’t the name have portent as well?”

“A lunar eclipse is when the moon is overshadowed by the earth,” Roy answered. “I believe the Sanna call it inil’anawak? The moon is full then turns dark for several hours.”

The Sanna man nodded. “I suspected as much but I also wish to understand why you’ve chosen this name.”

“Well, as I understand it the name came about because a lunar eclipse is the opposite of High Noon. Night versus day, happening rarely instead of daily, moon and sun.” Roy shrugged. “I don’t know the exact origin of the phrase. You know we’re not as particular about these things in Columbia as you folks are, Proud Elk.”

“On the contrary, Bright Coals, even in this I feel there is much to learn about your people. Now, I have a third question.” He turned to Johan and said, “Given the nature of this time won’t that make your magics difficult to work, Silver Glass? I recall you needed light to work them.”

“Not to worry. It’s been eight years since we went down to Tyson’s Run. I’ve picked up a trick or two that let me work my arts even if there’s no light at all.”

“Then we’ll leave in two days.” Roy got up, straightening the front of his vest with a sharp tug. “Until then we’ll make preparations as needed. I’ll arrange for a boat or skiff, I don’t think the sheriff will expect us by sea. Meet here this evening to check in.”

“Who will pilot the boat?” Johan asked.

“I have stood at the rear of many a canoe,” Proud Elk assured him. “I may need to spend some time outdoors tonight. Look for me tomorrow evening.”

“We may need you for that Proud Elk, although I’m going to be looking for something very specific. I’ve used them before working with Books. It’ll depend on what’s available out here, though, so if I can’t find it we may need your expertise after all. I’ll let you know for sure when you get back.” Roy stood up and gave them a sharp nod. “Get to it boys.”

Johan picked up his lightbox and got to his feet. A house outside of the world as they knew it would be a real challenge. The First Son of Harmon created the lightbox as a versatile and easily transported tool for the working of his arts. But a lot of sacrifices were made to achieve that versatility and portability. For a challenge like von Nighburg he was going to need more mirrors.

Previous Chapter

Most visitors to Riker’s Cove came by skytrain, validating Jonathan’s long push to build a formal station for them in town. However Riker himself and many of the first settlers arrived by boat. Indeed, the docks still accepted many newcomers to town in the present day. While popular, these large forms of transport were didn’t always fit the needs or wants of a man traveling alone. The trains in particular weren’t welcome in lands controlled by the League of the Sanna, either.

So it was no surprise that the Sanna man who came to Riker’s Cove the day after Roy Harper arrived on horseback, rather than by train. He rode in about late morning, old buckskin pants and worn linen shirt hidden under a long, brightly beaded coat. He gave the graveyard a wide berth. Jonathan Riker’s statue was not slighted by this as the customs of the Sanna and the Columbians were very different in regards to death. As they were in many ways.

However, when searching for someone the basics are much the same from one culture to another. So the stranger went to the hotel first. Then he crisscossed the public square a few times, visiting the pub, the smithy and the general store. Finally he went to the jail. But Sheriff Warwick was out at the moment so he sat down on the doorstep and waited.

---

Avery didn’t know any Sanna men, so when one turned up outside the jail he was more than a litle surprised. The dark skinned man regarded him with impassive stoicism as he approached. Avery returned the sentiment. Before the Lakeshire War druids primarily drilled with the expectation that they would be called up to fight the Sanna when hostilities broke out between their nations again.

Ultimately that never happened but that didn’t mean there was no low level violence between the Sanna and the Columbians. Out in the west it was actually pretty common. But it was rare for them to come so far south.

Avery tipped the brim of his hat to the stranger. “G’morning. Can I help you?”

“Good morning.” The Sanna man stood with an effortless grace and spoke with the precise diction his people were famous for. “You are the sheriff of this town?”

“That’s right. I’m Avery Warwick, and you are?”

“You may call me Proud Elk.”

That was an awkward name and no mistake. Avery was tempted to ask how he’d say that in Proud Elk’s native tongue but he knew some Sanna tribes really hated revealing things like that. “Okay, Proud Elk, what brings you to my jail.”

“I came to this town to meet Bright Coals, the man you call Roy Harper.” Proud Elk tilted his head and pursed his lips oddly, seeming to indicate the jailhouse. “I am told he is here.”

Avery reassessed the Sanna man. He’d never heard of their people sending out firespinners or bounty hunters but there was a first time for everything. Problem was, he wasn’t sure how Proud Elk would react if placed under arrest. “Well you were told correctly. You’ll have to leave any weapons outside so as to ensure there’s no jailbreaks.”

Proud Elk nodded and extracted a whip club from his jacket. It was a heavy stick of hexwood with an equally heavy sulfurite crystal embedded at one end and a long, fifteen foot vine extending from the other. Sanna braves were supposed to be deadly with them. Avery took the weapon and found it to be very unwieldy in the hand. “You will allow me to speak to him now?”

“Sure. Come on in.” Avery unlocked the door and ushered Proud Elk into the jail.

“What crime did Bright Coals commit that you were forced to jail him? I have heard he’s quite scrupulous.”

“I am.” Roy got up from the bench where he’d been sitting and approached the bars of his cell. “Hello, Proud Elk, good to see you. Did you bring Many Herons with you?”

“The Elder was recently injured and is unable to travel. Your Thaddeus Heller now serves as mayor of a town and his obligations prevent his travel right now. They have had a difficult time.” Proud Elk looked uncomfortable crossing over to the empty cell, conspicuously avoiding meeting Harper’s eyes.

“I know Sam Jenkins is dead,” Harper mused, drumming his fingers on the bars. For some reason that was enough for Proud Elk to relax. “Add in you and me and that’s five accounted for.”

“Many Herons sent a message to Lost Crow but he returned to the north and we do not know where he lives now. It may take weeks to reach him.” Proud Elk finally met Roy’s gaze. “That’s six. Do you have any news of the other two?”

“Ty Hutch went prospecting from what I heard. It may take even longer to reach him than it does Lost Crow and we have semaphore towers to work with.” Roy sat back down on his bench. “Van der Klein is on his way. Not the greatest response we could hope for. Three out of eight.”

“No one thought only eight would live, much less that they would be such as us.” Proud Elk frowned his disapproval. “So why are you here in jail, Bright Coals? We gave our word to that man that we should defend his family and home yet you are unable to do so. Such a mistake is unlike you.”

Avery cleared his throat. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Proud Elk, but is it possible you’re also here to hunt down Heinrich von Nighburg?”

“Yes. As a brave of the Sanna I must uphold the promises we made to the founder of this town.”

He said it with the kind of grave certainty that suggested he thought everyone present understood him. Most Sanna spoke that way. In fairness, the Sanna prided themselves on learning languages and clearly speaking them. From the amused expression on Harper’s face he knew Avery was lost. He didn’t leave the sheriff in the dark long.

“Did you ever meet Jonathan Riker, Sheriff Warwick?” Harper asked.

“No, I came here about six years ago. He was dead and buried by that point.”

“You ever ask how he died?”

“I heard he went off to sort out some kind of problem up north before it got to the Cove but he never came back.” Avery frowned. “I always got the impression the townsfolk didn’t approve of him doing that so I never pushed to hard on the topic.”

“Yeah, I heard that, too.” Harper gave Proud Elk a look but it seemed to go right past the Sanna man. “Well, have you ever heard of the Summer of Snow?”

“Couldn’t hear about anything else back when I was coming out this way.” Avery raised his eyebrows. “Why? Is that the trouble he went to deal with?”

“One and the same.”

“Wait.” Avery massaged his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “Why wouldn’t people want him doing that? The Summer of Snow wiped out crops all over the West, nearly caused a famine over thirty counties. Stopping that was heroism on par with Arthur and the Founders. Why not talk about it?”

“Because he died doing it and it was his connections that brought half the ships here each year,” Roy said. “At least, that’s what I heard at the dedication ceremony for his statue.”

“Okay, I can somewhat understand that,” Avery conceded. “So historical facts aside, what does this have to do with you two?”

“When the snow was at its worst, sixty men from the northern Sanna tribes and the Western Columbian counties gathered in Leondale,” Proud Elk said. “We agreed that the cold must be broken, no matter the cost. If it remained it would cost us family and home and ultimately our lives.”

“But some folks weren’t keen on chasing down hunger incarnate,” Roy added. “If they died they couldn’t do much for hearth and home later, after all. So we made a pact. Anyone who survived would take on the obligations of those who died. We didn’t expect the numbers would be so lopsided at the time.”

“Nine all told, wasn’t it?” Avery rummaged through his memories and came up with half a verse of half forgotten song. “Sixty one men went down to Tyson’s Run and nine emerged when battle was done.”

Harper visibly flinched but Proud Elk didn’t seem to notice. “Not entirely correct,” the Sanna man said. “As I said, there were sixty of us in Leondale, the last man was someone we met at the sawmill by the river.”

“This is important because?”

“That latecomer was one of us who survived,” Harper said. “But he wasn’t a part of the Leondale Pact.”

Avery quirked an eyebrow. “You didn’t invite him, then?”

“I didn’t.” Harper shot Proud Elk a sideways look. “Did you?”

“The Sanna have learned it is better not to request help from him.” Proud Elk shrugged. “I don’t expect him, either way. Chipped Ax spoke as if he had contract with him recently.”

“No wonder he didn’t come,” Roy muttered. “Old man Heller must really be in a bad way if he cut another deal with him.”

“So that’s all very interesting,” Avery said. “But it’s not relevant to my main point. Proud Elk, I’ve arrested Mr. Harper because I don’t want him or anyone else tinkering with Heinrich von Nighburg. He’s a very dangerous man and the threat to the people of this town if you go and fight him, then lose, is very real. You’re not Columbian, so I’d prefer not to arrest you, too. But I will if I have to.”

Proud Elk scowled. “The pledge to that man is a matter of the Sanna’s word, not Columbian law, Sheriff Warwick.”

“Well we both know Sanna words can be pretty flexible. Ever heard of the Diamondback River massacre?”

Roy hurried to interrupt before Proud Elk could let loose the indignant retort building behind his stormy eyes. “Sheriff, do you really think you can keep things going like this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Black magic isn’t a spell or a crime, it’s a way of life. Once you start killing for power its hard to stop.” Harper braced both feet on the floor and leaned forward until his nose almost touched the bars. “Von Nighburg is going to kill again.”

“Mr. Harper, that’s a remarkably astute observation. My concern isn’t maintaining the status quo indefinitely. I just need to stay the course until I can find a way into that coalstoking lighthouse of his. Since you didn’t even know it existed when you got to town I presume you didn’t come with a solution in hand.” Avery gestured at the pile of loose paper Harper had squirreled in the corner of his cell. “Unless you’ve worked it out over the last day?”

Harper absently ran a thumb over the spine of the book that sat on top of his messy scribbling. “I’m afraid not. However, Johan van der Klein is a Son of Harmon, one of the deepest theoretical magic traditions on the continent. He may be able to tell us something when he arrives.”

“He coming on that L&K train this afternoon?”

Avery’s question was rewarded with a chagrined look from Harper. “Yeah, I suppose he is.”

“Well the three of you can get back on it and leave, thank you very much.” Avery sat down at his desk and picked up his candle holder. “I respect your dedication to an old promise. Most men wouldn’t go so far for someone who died six months ago, let alone eight years. But I have access to many sharp magical minds from the old days. If you want to protect Riker’s home and family you’re much better off leaving this in my hands. ”

Proud Elk stirred. “Our oath-”

“One of von Nighburg’s hostages is Jennifer Riker, Jonathan’s granddaughter. Please. I’m begging you, leave this in the hands of someone who knows the town and who they’ll trust.”

For a moment the Sanna man looked crestfallen. Then he rallied, turning stubborn and saying, “The word of the Sanna is not-”

“Sheriff,” Harper interrupted. “May I have a moment alone with Proud Elk?”

Avery nodded and got to his feet. As he walked out of the jail he lit his candle and sat down on the doorstep. He’d give them all the time they needed so long as they finally agreed to leave in the end. In the mean time he trimmed up his candle, lit it and waited.