The Unsuspecting Mage - Brian S. Pratt [41]
“Hern’s that way.”
There is still a minute drawing of power being taken from him. James figures that like the orb back in the cave, such a drawing must be needful to maintain the spell.
“Are you sure?” Corbin asks, uncertainly.
“Pretty sure. Only one way to find out.” He gets up from the workbench and makes his way from the barn. Outside, the charcoal indicator still points toward the forest. Whenever James turns the compass, the charcoal arrow always indicates the same direction; toward the forest.
Moving toward the forest, they reach the forest’s edge and come to a stop. James glances to Corbin. “Shall we go find him?”
Corbin has the look of one who would rather be somewhere else. Eyes lingering for a moment on the forest, he licks his lips, glances to James and nods. “Yes, though let’s be careful.”
“Oh, you can bet on that.”
Following the compass, they make their way into the forest.
An hour of tangled underbrush, fallen trees, and uneven ground later, they arrive at a break in the forest wherein stands an old, abandoned house nestled in the middle of a clearing. It had once been a finely crafted two-story dwelling, though now, one side had partially collapsed. The yard and surrounding area was severely overgrown with brush and small trees. The arrow of the compass points toward the house.
James didn’t relish the idea of entering the house. There was something about it that made his skin crawl whenever he looked at it. Hoping the compass might be pointing to a destination somewhere in the forest beyond, he walks around to the other side. The compass swivels as he moves, the arrow always aiming at the house.
“It says Hern’s in there.”
Corbin makes no reply.
Glancing at his companion, James is surprised to discover a worried look on his face.
“Something wrong?”
Returning his gaze to the building, he says, “If this is the place I’m thinking of, it has a bad history.”
“What do you mean?”
“It happened three score years ago. One day a stranger arrives in Trendle and purchases a claim for a parcel of land within the forest. Said he wanted to get away from city life and find peace and quiet. He contracted several of the townspeople to build his house, this house perhaps. The construction took nearly a year and once the construction was finished he moved in. After that, no one saw much of him. He kept mostly to himself, rarely coming to town and then only to buy supplies.
“It didn’t take long before rumors began surfacing about this man.” He cast a glance to James. “Stranger, especially ones that keep to themselves, are grist for the rumor mill.”
James nodded. From what he had already experienced in his short time in Trendle, he knew exactly what Corbin meant.
“Anyway, one afternoon several boys decided to come and spy on him, to see what he was about. When they arrived, they crept up close to the house and peered through a ground floor window. One climbed a tree to better see inside. The boys claimed that when they looked through the window, they saw the man sitting cross-legged on the floor. A circle encompassing a five pointed star, a pentagram as the townsfolk later discovered, was drawn on the floor not five feet in front of him. At each point of the pentagram burned a candle. The boys said it looked as if the man was in some kind of a trance, and that he was chanting.
“They watched as the man chanted unfamiliar words. Then suddenly, the air above the pentagram began to flux and swirl. At that point, the man’s chanting changed, becoming more intense. From out of the flux and swirl appeared the shape of an inhuman creature not of this world. It slowly began to take shape, growing more solid with every word the man uttered.
“The boy on the branch clung transfixed as he watched the unfolding events. When the creature