Jason Cosmo: Hero Wanted

Chapter 3

We thundered down the dark forest road, only slowing our pace when we were sure that there was no pursuit. The Sanitary Police and Black Bolts were evidently too busy fighting each other to chase us.

"I think we're clear," I said, looking back.

"Excellent," said Mercury. From a pocket in his cloak he withdrew a small crystal sphere attached to a leather loop. At a word, the sphere shone with a soft white light. Mercury hung it from his saddle horn. "Now you can tell me who you really are."

"What do you mean?" I said. "I'm Burlo Stumproot, humble turnip farmer."

"Nonsense. I'll grant your bumbling peasant act is convincing, but I know better. You are an agent of the League."

"League? What league?"

"The League of Benevolent Magic. Though we both know your vaunted benevolence is a sham."

"I actually don't know that. Or what you're talking about."

I did know that the League of Benevolent Magic was an ancient order of wizards dedicated to opposing the Dark Magic Society and to making the world a better place through the power of magic. But that was the extent of my knowledge. In Darnk, all magic was forbidden. It had been so since the sorcerer Gorgibund the Ghastly laid waste to the entire kingdom more than two hundred years ago. Before that, Darnk was a scenic little realm known as the Jewel of Arden. But Gorgibund's Curse blighted the land and all who abided therein. Our surroundings were a permanent reminder of the awful destructive power of magic. We Darnkites wanted no truck with it.

Mercury eyed me skeptically. "You say you are not with the League?"

"I'm not even a wizard."

He snorted. "That much is obvious. I took you for a League recruiter in peasant guise. But, come to think of it, a lackey of the League would already be lecturing me about using my powers for the benefit of all humanity. So I grant you are no Leaguer. But neither is Burlo Stumproot your true name."

"You've got me there," I admitted.

"So who are you?"

What could I say? If Mercury was after the bounty, I had no chance of escaping him, not with his powers and fighting prowess. I decided to take a chance on the truth. Something about the wizard, despite his surly manner and demonstrated deadliness, made me want to trust him. 

I swallowed hard and said, "My name is Jason Cosmo."

"Jason Cosmo?" His laugh was caustic. "Impossible!"

"I'm Jason Cosmo, a woodcutter and turnip farmer from Lower Hicksnittle. What is so impossible about that?"

"You do not have the aura of a woodcutter."

"The ore what?"

"Aura. Auric script. Around each person's visage are symbols scribed in golden light, which, although invisible to most, reveal much to those who can read them. Your age, race, occupation, and special skills can be divined. Magic potential and physical strength. Rough indicators of dexterity, intelligence, even wisdom and what might be called charisma. Emotional state, health, and other qualities of mind and body. Truly skilled aura readers can identify your most valued possessions, your credit rating, and your general disposition toward good or evil, law or chaos. Think of the aura as all the most salient aspects of your character written down on an invisible sheet of invisible paper."

"Invisible letters on an invisible sheet of paper. On my face. Are you kidding me?"

"Not at all. I read your aura back at the tavern. Tried to read it. Your aura is not in the Standard Auric Script. It also appears to be encrypted, for lack of a better word. All I see is gobbledygook." He paused. "Yet I sense great power in you."