The man within the templ.., p.1
The Man Within the Temple, page 1
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
EPILOGUE
The Last Stone Cast
Also By C.G. Garcia
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About the Author
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
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2nd Edition Copyright © 2015 C.G. Garcia
1st Paperback Edition Copyright © 1998 C.G. Garcia
All Rights Reserved
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No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author.
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Cover Design by C.G. Garcia
CHAPTER ONE
Allison McNeal sat silently in Aidric’s sitting room near one of the few windows his suite contained, staring out into the indoor garden, her eyes seeing nothing and her mind a million miles away. Patiently, she waited for Aidric to return from Diryan’s chamber, not at all anxious for the conversation she knew would happen.
After leaving Master Kiryl, she had remained silent, lost in a despair so great that even Aidric’s gentle prodding couldn’t coax a word from her. For once, even his nearness didn’t seem to affect her in the least. She had only been able to think about Master Kiryl’s words, echoing through her mind like the sound of a gunshot reverberating down a darkened hall. After they had been offered another meal by the Providencen priests—a meal she had barely touched—Aidric had built another portal, and they had returned. To what, she was no longer certain.
Looking troubled, Aidric had reluctantly left her alone in his quarters while he ran off to speak with King Diryan, promising that they would talk when he returned. She had merely nodded, and he had sighed in frustration as he had left. Allison hated herself for shutting him out like that, but it was the only way she knew how to cope with the terrible weight that had been forced on her that even now was threatening to crush her.
In her childhood when her stepfather had beaten her, her only solace had been to lock herself within her mind, away from the pain, the anger, and the utter hopelessness she had felt. She had trained herself so well to lock herself away when the pain became too great that now it was second nature.
Alone with only her thoughts, Allison had finally allowed the chaos of everything Kiryl had told them to swirl around freely in her mind as she tried to make sense of it all. Kiryl had spoken of truths, but she had no idea what he had meant. It had all sounded like a bunch of new age mumbo-jumbo to her, something one of those televangelists would rave about. She doubted even Aidric knew what the Seer had meant, and that troubled her more than she cared to admit to herself.
Then, there was her suspicion that Kiryl knew something dire concerning her, and for reasons unknown, had allowed her to know he knew and maddeningly chose not to reveal anything to her. Inwardly, Allison fumed over his silence, but what could she do about it? It wasn’t very likely that she would be visiting him again anytime soon, and even if she did, it was equally unlikely that she would even be allowed to speak with him again.
“I have never known you to be so silent,” Aidric suddenly said behind her.
Allison had not even heard him come into the room. Slowly she raised her head to look up at him. His face was drawn and his posture wilted as though he were on his last dregs of strength. She knew building that portal home had stretched him thin, although he would never admit it to her.
Her earlier guilt came rushing back. It’s because of me he’s ready to collapse.
“You must be tired,” she said, purposely ignoring his unspoken question. Now wasn’t the time to be selfish. “Why don’t you go rest? I’ll be okay here on my own for the rest of the day. It’ll give me a chance to read some more.”
“You can’t be rid of me so easily,” Aidric said with a lopsided grin as he pulled up a chair and joined her. “I’m not so tired that I cannot sit and talk with you awhile because Allison, we do need to talk.”
“I know.” Allison refused to meet his eyes. She knew she would cry if she did.
“I took you to see the Providencen priests in hopes of laying to rest any fears, any questions you had regarding who you are,” he began softly, staring at her with eyes that were full of conflicting emotions. “I never realized the extent of what they would reveal to you. Had I known, then perhaps I wouldn’t have been so quick to bring you to them.”
His lips twisted into something like disgust. “I did exactly as they wanted. You shouldn’t have had the burden of another prophecy to shoulder so soon.”
“Why?” she asked more sharply than she had intended, raising her eyes to his. “Isn’t it better that I know the truth?” At least some of it, she thought bitterly, remembering Kiryl’s knowing expression.
“Your silence when I left you here disturbs me, more so now than your silence directly after we left Master Kiryl,” Aidric said. “Since your arrival to this world, you’ve always been full of questions, curiosity, even doubts, but now, there’s—nothing.” The look in his eyes was indecipherable. “It shouldn’t have been this way.”
“But it is,” Allison said quietly, turning her eyes back to the garden. “It’s funny, the games fate can play with you. You live your whole life thinking your life is your own and whatever comes of it is what you decide to make of it. Then out of the blue, fate comes along with a mocking grin and flings something like this into your lap, expecting what? For you to just cheerfully deal with it?”
“Allison...”
“I had thought the Golden Mage business was bad enough,” she continued as though Aidric hadn’t spoken, “and I was determined to deal with it and get on with whatever life I could make here. Then suddenly I’m not just some legendary mage destined to either save or destroy a kingdom I never knew existed until a few days ago, but also a mage destined to determine whether the people of this reality have a fighting chance to survive or not. There aren’t enough words to even express how monumentally terrifying it is to know that the survival of a whole world is partially up to me, someone who doesn’t really understand any of it.”
Allison turned her eyes back to Aidric. He was looking at her grimly, the air of reassurance she had grown so accustomed to receiving from him conspicuously absent.
“Everything Master Kiryl told me made no sense at all! He told me to seek out truths—truths about what? And how, if I understand nothing?”
Aidric ran a hand through his hair in frustration as he replied, “That’s why we often don’t seek out the help of the Order of the Providence. It seems they delight in speaking in riddles. Diryan especially abhors the thought of having to consult with them. If they would only speak in common terms that any layman could understand, then perhaps half the problems brought to them would not have ended in disaster. Perhaps these ‘truths’ Kiryl spoke of are merely representations of your acceptance of the destiny Seni has given you. It would seem so to me.”
“I suppose you’re right,” she said thoughtfully. “Maybe I’m just trying to make something out of nothing. Lord knows I tend to do that often enough! Still, there’s something that he was hinting towards but never actually said that’s been bothering me.”
“Aside from the obvious, you mean?” he offered, flashing her a weak smile.
“Funny,” Allison retorted but smiling despite herself. Over the last few days, she seemed to have developed a weakness for Aidric’s smiles.
He shrugged. “I tried.”
“You can try to cheer me up later,” she promised, and then said more soberly, “For now, I’d like your opinion on my suspicions. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that he was keeping something important from me—something that I desperately needed to know. It even seemed as if he wanted me to know he was keeping something from me. I could see it in his eyes when he looked at me.”
“That doesn’t surprise me a bit,” Aidric said with a look of disgust. “If it’s not riddles, then it’s secrets. I have my own suspicions that the Seers enjoy watching us stumble along, helping us only when their own hides are endangered. Seni knows that they need a little amusement to liven up the drudgery of their lives. It’s probably unfair of me to say such things about them. Deep down, their intentions are probably for the best. They are, after all, messengers of Seni, but one does wonder—”
He shrugged. “The Providencen priests, in a way, are like stern teachers, and the whole world, their novices. Their aid will o
“Not a very encouraging prospect in my case,” Allison said dryly.
“Indeed,” Aidric said thoughtfully, and then he abruptly sprung up from his chair with a burst of renewed energy that came from God-only-knew-where. He held out his hand to her and said, “Come. If you are to venture into uncertain lands, then we both shall stumble through them together. That I pledge you.”
“But—but where are we going?” Allison asked in bewilderment as she accepted his hand, and he pulled her onto her feet. “Shouldn’t you be resting after casting so many draining spells today?”
“I have rested enough sitting here with you,” Aidric said cheerfully. “Besides, I was never one to stay still for longer than a moment as you will soon discover only too well. Let’s leave all our troubles and all thoughts of legends, prophecies, and duties behind for the remainder of the day. You have yet to see the kingdom that lies beyond these walls, and I don’t know when we’ll have another opportunity such as this to escape. The village of Ell is near enough for a day-long outing.”
“But don’t you have other duties to attend to today besides me?” Allison asked worriedly. “You’re the Mage-general. Surely you—”
“Let me worry about that, milady,” he cut in. “Let’s just say that I’m taking the day off that I should’ve had the day you graced us with your presence. Now, no more protests. Shall we be off to the stables?”
“I can’t ride,” Allison warned as they left his rooms.
“Then it’s high time you learned, isn’t it?” Aidric said with a boyish grin.
“But in this?” she said with a raised eyebrow, fingering her flimsy apprentice uniform with uncertainty.
“Would you rather breeches?”
“Yes!” she said eagerly. Anything but this weird nightgown!
Aidric looked at her askance as if she had said something very amusing. “I was merely jesting.”
“Well, why can’t I wear breeches?” Allison demanded, stopping in mid-step and folding her arms over her chest stubbornly.
“It’s not proper,” he explained, as if to a very small child. Somehow, she found his tone more amusing than annoying. “You would scandalize the whole kingdom if you appeared before the public eye sporting breeches.”
“I don’t see how that would make much more difference now since my just being here is scandal enough for them, it seems,” she retorted, “but if it’ll cause you any grief, then I won’t do it.”
“Ladies ride well enough in skirts,” Aidric offered.
“Well said for someone who’s never had to ride in a skirt,” she noted dryly.
“I stand rebuked,” he said with a chuckle as he held the huge door of the Mage Hall open, waving his hand before her in an invitation to pass, “but I still remember my manners.”
Allison smiled as she walked outside and immediately squinted as she was confronted by the bright sunlight, brighter than any sunlight on Earth. Blinking rapidly to clear the flashing spectrum from her vision, she shaded her eyes with her hand and gazed up briefly into the sky, marveling at the sight of the two suns. She supposed that she looked foolish gawking up at the sky, but this was the first time she truly was able to soak in her surroundings, and be damned with appearances! She was going to make the most of it!
The pungent scent of freshly cut grass reached her nostrils as she glanced all around at the expanse of the perfectly manicured grounds of the palace, drinking in the beauty, and at the same time wondering how they managed to keep a lawn so immense cut and free of weeds. Because I don’t think they have a lawnmower to help them along, she thought with a grin.
Beyond, to the south, Allison could vaguely make out the shapes and shadows of a forest along the horizon. A strange sensation washed over her as she stared at the forest, not threatening, but something that seemed to beckon her from deep within the foliage.
“That’s the forest you found me in,” she spoke up suddenly, positive she was correct, “the Forest of Illusions, and that’s where the Mage-field is located, isn’t it?”
“How do you know that?” Aidric asked, his expression surprised, as he walked up behind her.
“I think I can—feel it,” she replied with a slight frown, struggling to explain to him something she didn’t fully understand herself. “I can’t really explain it. It’s like something in that forest is—” She struggled to find the word. “—calling me,” she finished helplessly, “but that isn’t exactly right.”
“Yes,” Aidric said distantly, his forehead creased as though he were deep in thought. “It’s something all mages feel after they have Bonded with the magic there. In a sense, a mage has left a part of their essence there in the Field after the Bonding, and what you are feeling now is the result of it, though I cannot fathom why you are able to sense the Mage-field when you have yet to Bond with it.”
“When I die, the energy released during that transition from life to death goes to that Mage-field,” she stated vacantly, tonelessly, as if she were in a trance.
“What?” Aidric choked out in disbelief.
Allison shook her head a little and then looked at him questionably when she saw how agitated he was. “I’m sorry. I was woolgathering. Did you say something?” she asked.
“What did you just say?” he demanded.
She eyed him oddly. “I asked if you had said something. I guess I wasn’t the only one woolgathering.”
“No, no—before that,” he said a little impatiently. “You said something about when you die, the energy released goes to the Mage-field. Where in Seni’s name did you hear that?”
“I did?” Allison said, frowning. “But I don’t remember saying—”
“Never mind,” Aidric interrupted, running his hand through his hair, a gesture she was beginning to recognize as one he did when he was exasperated. “Something tells me we should just let that one be. I pledged that we would escape this madness for at least today, and damn it, we shall!”
Still frowning, Allison took the arm he offered and allowed him to lead her over to the stables, which were located at the south end of the palace grounds. The smell of hay was everywhere, causing her to suddenly erupt into a sneezing fit.
“Damn it all, I would be allergic,” she said, rubbing her nose in annoyance.
“To horses?” Aidric asked incredulously.
“No, to hay, silly,” she chided. “I hope you brought a lot of handkerchiefs with you because I’ll be sneezing the whole trip.”
“No need,” he said and placed a hand over her nose.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, shying away from his hand in alarm.
“Ridding you of your allergy, so hold still.”
Her nose instantly began to tingle, and a few seconds later, Allison felt the warmth associated with healing that she had grown so accustomed to feeling spreading up through her nasal cavity. When he removed his hand, the itching and sneezing had stopped.
“You never cease to amaze me,” she said wondrously, rubbing her nose as if not quite sure to believe that the allergy was gone.
“And that’s only because you amaze so easily,” he teased.
Aidric introduced her to the Stablemaster, Ahern, a tall, dark-skinned man with a pleasant face. To Allison’s surprise, he didn’t show even an inkling of fear towards her, only a mild curiosity.
He bowed politely to her and said, “A pleasure, m’lady. I saw you at the celebration, though even then I couldn’t believe my eyes. ‘Tis not every day you get t’ see a legend.” He then turned to Aidric and said, “I’ll have Shadow saddled up for you, m’lord.”
“The Lady Allison is to be given a horse of her own,” Aidric said. “She has no knowledge of horses—so she claims—so have you any suggestions?”
