The Pathfinder Of Magic Part II - The opening of the gate
PROLOGUE
So far.
Andy has been chased by the Representatives of the Orden. When he finally fell asleep beneath two huge blocks of stone he travelled to another place. He met the two siblings Jahs and Manda. They gave him a leather pouch that contained something called the shrine. He awoke from his dream and encountered Alain the elf. The elf had promised to deliver Andy to The Four. Somehow Andy managed to break the spell and while trying to flee from the elf he instead met Karr. Karr almost managed to capture the boy with his magical green gaze but once again, Andy was able to break free and escape. After witnessing the amount of magic that the boy held, Alain was struck by the belief that Andy is Akhisha; the Pathfinder of magic.
Erax the Fire-Elemental captured a fleeing Andy who in an attempt to escape entered the astral dimension and leaving his earthbound body behind. Alain who witnessed the event entered the astral to communicate with the boy.
Hamis, one of the Representants of the Orden with a magical ability to steal magic from others and in return gain the specific magic from his victim, touched Andy’s body and gained some of the boys magic power.
Andy managed to find a way to communicate with Hamis and found, in him, an ally to help him escape from the rest of the hunters. Andy told Hamis that Erman was a Darkmagician, one of The Four, a secret that Alain had told him. Before Hamis could come up with a plan to make their escape Erman made an attempt to bring Karr over to his masters’ side. The mighty Sohrs. A battle broke out where Erman disappeared and the others manage to escape thanks to Hamis and Andy.
Erax thought that he killed the boy once and for all before he joined Massto and went on his way towards Kreah. They were met by Zera, Jun and Samos and with an order from Overlord Murar, Massto and Erax was sent to return to Ramah after they discovered that Hamis and the boy was missing from the site of the battle where Erax had left them. Overlord Murar felt the trace from an old blackmagic and declared that a war was coming and that they needed the boy. Jun, Zera and Samos was to continue the search and Alain the elf was set to make them look like fools in their efforts. He had to protect the Akhisha no matter what. Alain managed to trap them in an elvencircle at the cost of his own strength. He had to walk away and gather his strength from the earth in order to continue his protection of the boy.
While Erman tried to escape from Karr the mighty Sohr at last manage to take full control of his vessel. They needed power and they would get it with the amulets from the siblings Jahs and Manda. The Sohr whom now owned the body of Karr, ordered Alonse, another one of The Four, to collect every single amulet that Damu the Forbidden had made. The boy is not allowed to close the gate once it has been opened.
Hamis and Andy travelled up the mountain pass towards a safe heaven, a fortress high up in the mountain. When they reached the top they encountered the old man Davos and the next thing Hamis knew, he was fleeing back down without a clue as to where he’d been or where he was going. He didn’t even know his own name.
Chapter XII
Zera and Hamis
When Hamis finally reached the ground of the flat forest land below, it was bright and he could see footprints from men on the ground.
A few broken branches and trampled up leaves helped him to get a sense of direction in the vast vegetation. He had no feeling in his left arm and the pulse was very slow. Suddenly he saw some people up ahead. He shouted at them but no one answered.
He approached them exhaustedly and saw them more clearly as stopped in astonishment. Was it some kind of ritual he watched? Three people were following each other in a circle. They moved very slowly and no one said anything. It was a woman and two men.
As he approached them carefully without trying to disturbing them, he saw how focused they were on their task. Everyone's faces were deeply focused and they seemed totally unaware of Hamis. He hoped that the ritual was not too important because he was in great need of help.
He looked at the woman. She was very beautiful with long blonde hair that looked like it was spun in gold when it got illuminated with sunlight. She had a red shawl with strange symbols. She may be a medicine woman or even better. A healer, but I couldn’t be that lucky, could I?
He reached out his arm and took the woman's hand in his. She did not resist and let herself be led away from the other two who continued the ritual without interruption.
The woman stood before him and looked completely puzzled. She looked at him for a short moment before her face lit up in an incredibly loving smile. "Hamis," she said.
Hamis, what a strange name for a woman.
He wanted to introduce himself when he realized that he didn’t know his own name. How strange. Then he watched as the woman's fist came at him with an incredible speed and everything went black.
* * * *
Hamis awoke in the warmth of a campfire and a thick blanket over him. The woman cooked something over the fire. He waited a few moments before he began to speak to the woman. "I am sorry that I interrupted the ritual, and you had every right to be pissed off if I disrupted something important. But I am seriously injured and…"
Hamis looked at his left arm and saw that it was bandaged and cared for in a skilful way. "I see that you have already taken care of me and my left arm. I'm very grateful, Hamis?"
The woman had cooked something that smelled wonderful and she stopped what she was doing and looked at him horrified. She hurried up next to him and went down on her knees to examine his jaw where she had hit him. Hamis was still a bit sore but it gave him no pain. "You did not hit me that hard," he said with a smile. "I was so exhausted and weak, so it probably would have been enough with the gust of wind," he said with a gentle laugh. "Hamis?" She said questioningly. "It’s very nice to meet you Hamis, In spite of the circumstances. Unfortunately, I can not introduce myself because I do not know my name. I seem to have some problems with my memory," Hamis said both playful and serious at the same time.
The woman just sat silently with a terrified look on her face. "If I make you uncomfortable I apologize. I think I'm heading for the city which lies east of here. But I would very much like to taste some of that fantastic smelling soup before I go, if you have enough to spare that is?" "Hamis is your name stupid! And I'm afraid that someone has blocked your memory," the woman said firmly.
"My name is Zera and I am the one that made you that cloak you’re wearing. And you and me… we are a couple Hamis."
He was completely dumbfounded as he saw Zera´s beautiful eyes start to fill up with tears. "Hamis my Hamis, what has happened to you?" She leaned forward and hugged him as she kissed him gently on the cheek.
Zera told Hamis about who he was and what had happened after he met the boy. Hamis could not understand that he was a Representative of the Magicians orden and that he’d fled with a boy who was one of The Forbidden. Zera tried everything. She asked about the boy and the elf and everything else that Hamis had done before he lost his memory but got no answer. Hamis memory was just like a white cloud, and he got a splitting headache every time he tried to think.
Zera took Hamis to the horses and they rode off to the west. When they had left a good distance behind them and the whole afternoon had almost passed, they got down from the horses and sat down on the grass. Hamis had to fetch some more water while Zera began to boil what little water she had left. When Hamis came back she tried one more time to make Hamis remember, but the result was the same. "Hamis, I would like to put a spell on you. An incantation looking for magical influence," Zera said seriously. "I have tried to read your magic Hamis but I find nothing. When you were stuck with the boy you must have taken some skill from him and you got the ability to hide your magic from everyone, and it seems that you can hide it still.
Hamis looked despairingly at Zera. "But I can not do anything. I do not know how to go about to get out of this. If you think that it could help by putting a spell on me, go right ahead," Hamis said.
Zera took away a piece of jewelry from her shawl and asked Hamis hold it with both hands. Hamis did as he was asked, holding the jewelry hard. Zera took out a bag that contained some kind of herbs and put them into the boiling water. When the brew was finished, she poured it into a cup which she held against Hamis lips. "I'll be honest, it is not good," she said with a smile. When he looked at her, it was not difficult to understand why he had fallen in love with Zera. He opened his mouth and Zera poured the hot brew into his mouth and he gave an involuntary sound from his throat when he felt the burning liquid on his palate.
Zera had moved a few steps back to watch Hamis. A moment later Hamis made a grunt and he dropped the jewelry. The jewelry was on the ground and it gave of reeking fumes that rose up into the air. Zera moved quickly and held her hands over the fumes while she whispered something. She went down on her knees and put a hand on her chest and Hamis was at her side a moment later. "How are you? Does it hurt? What happened Zera?" He asked uneasily. "Ohvi. It is an oldmagic Hamis and it feels like ohvimagic. "Ohvi? But why would the steppefolk erase my memory?" Hamis asked. "Just because it feels like ohvi does not mean it needs to be the steppefolk. It is also an oldmagic Hamis. " "But can someone who is not ohvi use ohvimagic?" "Yes," said Zera, and turned her gaze towards the ground. She looked up again and continued talking. "You and I believe that Hamis. We have studied the old magic and found evidence that the old magic can take any shape. It can do elvenmagic, malad and Kima, too."
Hamis sat quietly for a moment and consider the information that Zera given him. "But… if it is ohvimagic, then there’s a possibility that they can help me getting my memory back," He said hopefully. "That's why we ride towards the desert and mountains in the west Hamis. We ride to ohvi and the city Tallmat."
Hamis looked amazed at Zera. "Did you know that I suffered from ohvimagic?"
Zera met his eyes and said; "If it makes you feel better, the answer is yes, but if you want the truth. We started to ride west because the Order is to the east. You are a hunted man Hamis and in their eyes, a traitor." Hamis face turned white. A traitor gets executed, he thought, while a shiver went down his spine.
* * * *
They continued to ride and finally stopped at the place where Erax, Hamis, Erman, Massto, Karr and the boy had been together three days earlier. "Do you remember this place?" Zera asked.
He looked at the surroundings of the place. There were remains from a campfire and the ground was badly burned a short distance away. It looked as if someone had wanted to burn away everything down into the bedrock of the ground. Hamis went down into the burned down groove and tried to remember, but the only thing that happened was that the headaches came back.
Zera described the events explained to her by Magician Jun. She described the different traces from magic and the strange darkmagic that Karr had left behind. Hamis looked thoughtful and turned towards Zera; "I can feel that what took place here, is of great importance. I have to get my memory back and if the boy has oldmagic and" Hamis paused and looked at Zera. "I don’t know why I was with the boy or whoever it was that blocked my memory. What if the person who blocked my memory has the boy and the boy's memory is also blocked." Zera studied him but said nothing. "When I saw you and the other two men walk around in a circle, what did you do then? It looked like you were in the middle of a ritual or something," said Hamis.
Zera look away in embarrassment and said; "We were trapped in an elvencircle. He tricked us. We thought we had him trapped but it was ultimately he who trapped us," she said grimly. "But then they are still trapped in the elvencircle," Hamis exclaimed. "Yes that's right," Zera said with a malicious smile. "But why didn’t you release them? I thought they were busy with what they were doing that they didn’t want to be disturbed. We can not just leave them in that circle forever," Hamis said desperately. "Hamis!" Zera said sternly. "Think about it now. It's Magician Jun and Air-Elemental Samos who are trapped in the circle. They are looking for you Hamis, the traitor. An elvencircle only lasts up to four days if it doesn’t get more magic from an elf. It gives us a three days head start and we don’t know what they will do next. Hunt me and you? Hunt the boy? Or hunt for the elf? "
Hamis stood silently with a sour grin on his lips but he had to give in. If he was a traitor, he sure didn’t want to have the Magicians orden after him. "What about you then Zera? If you're with me, won’t the Magicians orden see you as a traitor as well? Are you willing to risk your life to help me? " "Of course I will risk it you stupid. Can we continue to Tallmat now? It takes at least seven days with short breaks to take us to the mountains of the West."
Hamis sat up on his horse and started riding. They rode on until it was dusk and they stopped in a small village near the town Zirka. Zera had Hamis under a watchful eye but he had no memory of the village or what had happened here.
They left their horses and walked into the little beerhall and sat down at an empty table.
Hamis and Zera looked around in the noisy hall. The people laughed and joked with each other and the atmosphere was friendly. They could hear the villagers talk about the mysterious boy who saved them from starvation and that crops that hadn’t grown in years were already ripe and edible. Many of the vegetables and plants were new to the youngest children and they hadn’t tasted them before and ate with pure joy. The water wells were top-filled, and life had never been so good in the small village. But they also quietly whispered about the terrible words that the man who threatened to burn down the whole village had said.
Zera and Hamis were so busy to listen and observe that they almost jumped when a young barwoman asked what they wanted to eat and drink. Hamis looked at Zera and she replied that they would have a beer and a steak with root vegetables. The barwoman smiled as she took the order and then disappeared among the guests towards the bar.
When the woman returned with their food and drinks, Zera asked if they had a free room for the night. The woman smiled broadly and said that she would arrange it immediately.
Hamis looked suspiciously at Zera and asked; "Just one room Zera? You're not going to take some liberties with a man who just lost his memory are you?" Zera became quite red in the face and fought the embarrassment by shifting her gaze to the food. Hamis laughed happily and ate with gusto.
The next morning they rode to the town Zirka. They rode on most of the way in silence. Zera rode first and Hamis looked at the woman he apparently had a relationship with.
What if my memory is gone forever? What if an ohvimagician can’t help me, what would happen then? Would Zera continue to be by my side, or would she go back to the Magicians orden and forget about me? I am no longer the Hamis she got to know and come to love. I am a different person now, a person without a past, without friends. The boy! Why did I flee with the boy? Was I forced or did I choose it on my own? If I did choose it by myself, there must have been good reasons as to why I acted like I did.
Hamis stopped his brooding and rode up alongside Zera. "Overlord Murar has already informed every Representative that they must keep a watch out for you and the boy, Hamis. Although Zirka is a small town, there will be members of the Orden there. We must try to keep a low profile and blend in as best they can. You must get a new cloak and vest but the let the beard stubble be. Most people recognize you as a clean-shaven and handsome fellow," Zera said and flirted a bit with her long eyelashes. Hamis got a little embarrassed and just nodded in response to Zeras suggestion.
Welcome
Welcome to andersfalestal.n.nu.
