The Wizard From Vahan

Chapter 2

The magician looked into his black scrying mirror. The one thing he would never want to be was a wolf in sheep's clothing, and he freely admitted that the first time he had ever looked in it he saw a demon- the same one which came to him every time and enabled him to see the multiple varied scenes in the depths of the glass and their bustling activity. More than anything else it resembled a television, and the programme today was Jasper.

At first he felt a flicker of annoyance- what was this, an intruder in The Retreat? As he looked more closely the impression was more of someone lost, but either way he was taking no chances and raven's wings began to sprout forth from his shoulders. Jasper 's arm went across his face as what appeared to be a great bird swooped down from nowhere and crashed into the jungle a few paces ahead of him.

"What are you doing here? This is my Retreat!"

Jasper peered out through his locked fingers. "So you're a man? I would never have known. It wasn't my idea to come here and I have no idea where I am. My time jump went wrong, that's all, and then some alien brought me here."

He could see the stranger's face now: rugged high cheekbones and brown eyes, which now held a look of sympathy. He was a little darker-skinned than the men Jasper had led on the march, like a suntanned version of them. The raven wings began to shrink until all that was left was a raven-feather cloak swirling around him, and he reached out and clasped Jasper's hand.

"My name's Emin," he said. "I am known to the people as a wizard. I built this place for myself by magic, and it hangs in the air above Vahan; from here I can watch what the inhabitants are doing and intervene if necessary. I can see you didn't mean to intrude, and I'll be glad to get you back to wherever you're supposed to be."

For the first time since his time jump Jasper actually felt optimistic. "Thank you, Emin", he said.

"How did your time jump go wrong- could you explain that some more? I've done them myself when I was training, and I've never known anything to go wrong."

As they walked through the jungle Jasper related everything that had happened to him that day. It was far easier to move now that he was following someone who knew exactly where he was going, and which parts of the vegetation were the easiest to push through. They made good progress, avoiding the denser parts of the foliage, and soon came to a wooden house in an area that was flat and relatively clear of creepers. Outside the house were some rough wooden seats and a table.

Jasper sat down on one of the seats, for he was very tired by now. Although he was strong and fit from his training he had been on a long march, and then a trek through the jungle pushing plants out of the way, both of them quite unexpected on what was after all supposed to have been an inner dream journey.

Emin went into the house and came out several minutes later with several items on a tray: a pack of tarot cards and a set of rune stones, both exactly the same as the ones Jasper was familiar with on Earth, and a jug full of juice from the pink plant together with two tall glasses. "You sit quietly and have a drink of bitu juice," Emin said. "It wouldn't be good for us to drink it all the time, you need water as well, but it will do for now and I know where to find water later on. While you're drinking I'm going to do some divination, to see if I can find out more about your situation."

Jasper could barely follow what Emin was doing; his fingers flew, and the tarot cards jumped into one formation after another. But Emin frowned and shook his head, and then tried again, this time with the rune stones.

"Something is blocking me from getting any information. I'll have to try remote viewing. I'll go first to the place where you started and then to the blue vortex. Watch that no-one approaches; they shouldn't, we should be the only people here." With that Emin sat cross-legged and closed his eyes, and projected his astral body along a tunnel to view the two places.