The Author

Chapter Four

            “Then it must be true. The Hallon Bei will be fulfilled. Artems must know what he’s doing. We’d better get you to him!”

            “You know what all this is about?”

            “Well, I know the stories. Just before The Author was killed thirty years ago, a prophecy was written, the Hallon Bei or literally ‘Future Truth.’ It told of dark times ahead, but a Nechnan woman would come eventually to be the new Author and she would restore balance and peace. This must be you. Artems certainly believes so and he’s the most intelligent man in the Realms.”

            Alice was beginning to feel overwhelmed.

            “I don’t understand. What’s so important about a writer?”

            “Written words have magical power here. The Author, ruler of Vachne Reim and Betton Reim, wields the most power of all writers. He or she must possess a limitless imagination to maintain order. This is very exciting, Alice.”

            “You’re saying I have magical ability?” Alice asked dubiously.

            “If you are The Author. If only there was a way to show you…” Bo looked around, thinking intently. Then his eyes fell on the map. “I’ve got it. You can put my name on the map. It’s just a small bit of magic, shouldn’t be too difficult. You’ll need something to write with.”

            “Okay.” Alice fished a pen out of her purse. In one quick movement, she took the map and was on the point of placing the ballpoint on the paper when Bo put a paw under the pen.

        “No, no, no. That won’t work on a magical map. It’s a little more complicated than that. Um, here, write on the envelope. Ink and wood-based paper should be powerful enough for such a simple spell.”

            Alice picked up the envelope and set her pen at the ready.

            “Okay, what do I do?”

            “Um… okay, write this: Ya ahlem Bo mugim na ya marþasc.” Alice looked blankly at Bo. He spelled the words for her and told her they meant “The name Bo will show on the map.”

            “Now what?” she asked.

            “Now put your hands on the words and think of my name on the map and nothing else. Intent is the key in magic. You have to concentrate on what you want to happen.

            Alice did as she was told. She closed her eyes and imagined Bo’s name on the map alongside her own. She envisioned the pointing arrow and the forest and the village in ink on the page. She imagined the entire map. When she reopened her eyes she looked at the map, but Bo’s name was not there.

            “It didn’t work. I don’t think I’m the person you think I am.”

            “Hold on. What did you think of. Describe it exactly.” Alice described to him her exact thoughts. “Ah-ha! You thought of the other markings on the map. You must think of my name only. Do it again.”

            This time, when Alice closed her eyes she thought only of the letters B and o on the yellowed paper on which the map was drawn. She could see the imperfections in the ink, the light and dark in it. She saw it as though it had always been there. An odd sensation came over her, like putting the final piece of a puzzle into place. It was a feeling of completion. When she opened her eyes, the letters were on the page exactly as she had imagined them. The writing matched the rest of the map and it was the same deep purple ink as Alice’s name.

            “Ha! There, you did it!” Bo said. “Artems is right. You must be the girl spoken of in the Hallon Bei.”

            Alice marvelled at what she had done.

            “You didn’t write that did you?” she asked, just to be sure it wasn’t some terrible joke.

            “Uh, no. I can’t write… No opposable thumbs.”

            “Oh.”

            Alice blinked. The realization that she could perform magic replaced all her other thoughts for several seconds. She shook her head to clear her mind and begin working out what to do next.

            “Well, this Professor Artems seems to want me to come to him. I suppose that’s where I need to go.”

            “That’s a long journey. He’s The Archivist but now serves as the Author Regent until the next is found. So, he lives in Vachne Reim. There are only two gateways opening there and I don’t think we’re close to either of them.”

            Bo pulled the map toward him with a paw.

            “You want to come with me?” Alice asked.

            “Of course! This is the single most important event in the history of the Realms! And I’ll get to travel and see far-off places which is exactly what I left home to do. And besides, someone has to watch out for you.”

            Bo smiled, or at least it looked to Alice as though his slightly bared fangs, the upturned corners of his mouth and squinted eyes would be a cat equivalent of a smile. It’s nice to have a friend, she thought. She smiled back and nodded.

            “Now,” he said, looking at the map, “let’s see. Ah, yes, here’s the Walo River and to the east… Yes, just as I remembered from geography lessons. There’s the gateway just outside of the great city of Golþa.”

            Alice looked at the map. She hadn’t looked at it closely since she had arrived in Betton Reim. Now, the words Nechne Reim dotted the paper, turning from green to yellow to red, appearing and disappearing. She saw the Walo River, drawn in blue and two spots on the map labelled Vachne Reim. Unlike the Nechne Reim labels, these were written in stable black ink. One was on the far right center of the map beside the city labelled Golþa, the other on the far upper left corner labelled not with a dot, but an arrow pointing off the map toward the corner of the paper.

            The Walo River, Alice noticed, flowed very near to their location on the center of the map in Walscala Wood.

            “So, if we make our way through the forest we’ll come to the river and we can follow it to the gateway,” Alice said.

            “Those were my exact thoughts,” Bo responded, with another cat smile.

            Alice nodded and began to gather up her things.

“Don’t ever forget,” Bo said urgently, “never throw away any blank scrap of paper. You may need it for a spell.”

He pointed a paw behind her. The envelope was laying on the grass behind her, forgotten in her fervor to begin her trek. She picked it up and stuffed it in her bag.

            They walked deeper into their wooded sanctuary. Alice was profoundly happy to have a guide and a friend to talk to. And talk he did. Almost at once he began pointing to objects in the forest and giving her their Vachnish names. So, the lessons began.