The Fool
Sometime in the Summer of Year 687
Il' Aluk, Darkon
Chapter 8
Another year passed for me relatively as quickly as the previous had due to the studying that I was still forced to keep up with. My books arrived from Tess like clockwork every two weeks in the farmer's cart and with it occasional notes from her telling me to keep studying, gossip about events that occurred on campus or in Il' Aluk, or even stories of how Chanella's own studies were progressing. Of the three I could tell that Tess look the most pride in the third for her adopted daughter was fast becoming as knowledgeable of every book on the floor Tess was responsible for as was her 'mother.'
The girl had yet to decide on what she planned to study at the university and the way Tess spoke of her appetite for reading she thought it possible that the girl would already have read through the entire library before being assigned her first book to review for class. While this was obviously a gross exaggeration I was just as pleased as she was to see that the young street waif who had helped me put to rest a ghost was adapting to a far more normal lifestyle now that she no longer worried where her next meal was going to come from or where she would be sleeping that night.
On my domestic front the passing of time had become easier as well. First the pain of loss of my mother, while not going away, had become a constant pain that I had just come to live with. I still missed her, especially at times when I knew my studies would make her proud, but I cried less and less often over time as I thought of her.
For my father the pain was longer lasting. Thankfully Elsa's presence tended to blunt the very worst of it as the two sat on the porch of our house or her own until night approached and in comfort the two spoke of their separate but shared pain of loss. I knew at some times both of them broke down and cried though I never spoke of such things.
I accidentally caught my father reach out and take Elsa's hand as she wept openly, a move purely supportive and friendly, yet when he noticed that I had seen this he let her hand go and lowered his eyes guiltily. I tried to speak of this later, to tell him that it was alright and time for us to move on with our lives, that mother would not have wanted us to live in sorrow, but he closed down that conversation with a look before I could even make these points. I wept that night but for my father and not for myself.
I spoke with Elsa about this, perhaps hoping to enlist her into my schemes, but she told me that she had the situation well in hand and that my interference would likely only increase my father's pain and guilt. She said this not to hurt me, and certainly not because she had some marriage intents upon my father, she made certain to state that flatly on three separate occasions that I can recall, but because she knew she could help him through his pain and over time make him the man he was. And her reason in doing this for him was so she would help herself as well. Yes indeed Elsa was one of those rare self sacrificing women who took the pain of her family into herself so that they might not be burdened by it and carried it with very little complaint. Our world would be much better with more like her.
While I was unable to enlist my father or Elsa in my schemes, that did not mean the two of them were unsuccessful enlisting me into their own. As one might expect as Ingrid grew older she seemed to the three of us to become more beautiful each and every day. And unfortunately while we three saw this and while Ingrid was oblivious to it, many other young human boys of our village had eyes as good as my own.
The crossbow threat my father and I had developed to blunt their overeager enthusiasm had quickly faded as the local boys realized our threats were all bluffs. Neither of us had the temperament to actually pull the trigger, though I must admit one rather forward boy who had tried to steal a kiss from Ingrid when she had said not seemed deserving to me of at least a flesh wound, perhaps a quarrel in the calf to slow him down a bit.
In a conference while Ingrid was still asleep the challenges we currently faced were all laid on the table. Elsa explained from her own history and from talking to her daughter that it was not any specific boy Ingrid was actually interested in since she accepted dates from at least half a dozen or so on alternating periods of time. Instead it was simply the attention that young men were paying her that the young girl found so intriguing. Boys had never paid her such attention before. Elsa said from her own discussions and knowing what it was like to be a young girl once she doubted there would be any way to get Ingrid to give this up.
My father said from his own experiences as long as Ingrid appeared not to favor any one of her suitors then she would continue to be see as fair game to all the local boys. They both asked me for my review of each of the boys and what I knew of them as far as their honor and intentions. Were any of them worthy of Ingrid in my eyes for then we could encourage her to possibly pay more attention to him? As I listened to the list of names, not one could I consider worthy of dating Ingrid. All of them to me seemed to less that dependable and unworthy of her attentions. This result of course left us back where we started when we called this secret meeting.
Finally it appeared to me that of the three of us I was the only one of the appropriate age to be able to spend time with Ingrid and not make it appear that this was all some plot to keep her away from others. Her mother agreed saying she would 'encourage' Ingrid to spend more time with me while my father would let the word out to the parents of other possible suitors that she seemed to want to spend time with one boy in particular to lower the complications for all of us as well.
In truth I enjoyed spending time with Ingrid, especially in my breaks between studying. I found her to be quiet but quite intelligent and she was the perfect person to discuss some of my studies with, especially those parts that I had to work out to make sense in my mind. She seemed to know instinctively when to offer me alternate options to my thoughts and when to let me work things out without saying a word. I really could not have found anyone better for a study partner.
I even ended up telling her this the evening before I left of Il' Aluk and thanked her for all her assistance over the past year. She blushed and smiled and turned to me and spoke. "I've been thinking the same things about you Rudolph." And before I knew what was happening she leaned up and kissed my lips, shocking us both and sending her running into her mother's house giggling in surprise and happiness. As I wandered home I knew in that instant that my life had forever changed again like it had the moment I had decided to become a doctor.
The ride to Il' Aluk with the merchant that summer was as uneventful as the previous year, which in the land of Darkon is a good thing. While I was happy for the merchant's company and of course the ride I let him do most of the talking as I was still thinking over the kiss Ingrid had given me and the ramification this had for my future, or at least what I wondered it meant. While not my first kiss, it certainly was the one that had the most dramatic impact upon my thoughts.
The road once we left the farms around Rivalis was free of traffic and would likely remain so until we got nearer to the capital. I used the opportunity while the merchant droned on about this year's growing cycle to sit back and rest my eyes and before another mile had passed, I had drifted off into a semi state of slumber. While I dreamt of Ingrid I could hear somewhere farther off soft chuckling laughter that I could not immediately place but which sounded all too familiar. Then I was rudely jerked awake.
"Where in blazes did this lot come from?" I felt the wagon shudder to a stop and the merchant's arm reached out to keep me from falling forward. The first thing that my eyes were able to focus upon was the line of wagons our own had almost run down as we came over the top of a hill. Wagons that were now plodding ever forward on their own toward the city of Il' Aluk just as we ourselves were
I thought at first this dozen or so wagons was a rather large troop of Vistani based on the fact that the wagon right before us was undoubtedly one of their number. In fact only the first wagon was also Vistani and through some unspoken communication these two turned off for a field while the middle ten or so continued down the road without them. Only when the last of these wagons was drawing past the now stopped first wagon of the Vistani did anyone speak aloud.
"Gundarak to Darkon in a single afternoon." The man aboard the last wagon called out. "You kept your end of the bargain Vistani so we will keep ours." The man tossed a palm sized leather bag that jingled with the sound of coins as it landed by the wheels of the lead Vistani wagon. The speaker paused for a moment, perhaps awaiting some acknowledgment but once he determined none was forthcoming he turned his head once more to keeping his own wagon in place behind those of his companions.
The merchant beside me took a drink from a silver flask he kept in his vest and waited for the wagons ahead of us to move on a space before he would start our own horses moving again. When I gave him a questioning whisper he merely said it was better to give those who travelled with the Vistani extra distance so that if someone, and by this I knew he meant the Kargat, decided to investigate they would not accidentally associate us with them. Having seen that happen at the university a few years earlier I fully understood where the merchant's caution came from.
"Gentlemen I would suggest you hurry for Il' Aluk has not seen the likes of that particular circus in quite a few years." The surprising unexpected speaker was a Vistani who stood now beside his wagon bouncing the pouch of coins in his hand and smiling at us. How he had gotten there without me or the merchant noticing him I could not explain. He smiled openly and honestly even though I could feel my companion's uncomfortable shiver at being addressed by ones deemed outlaws and enemies of our land.
"I thank you sir and will have to look into it based on your recommendation." I said to be polite and hopefully end this conversation by the tone I used.
The Vistani man only laughed all the louder. "I am sure you will." He tied the coin belt to his own belt. "Where else would you be able to see trained plain's cats, fire eaters, jugglers, one who can walk the spirit world, and even dancing horses for the mere cost of five coppers?" He turned away from us and back to his own wagon just as the merchant began moving our own wagon at a slower than normal pace. I assume he decided it was better to be moving at let the circus pull away from us than to sit here and possible be seen in the company of the Vistani if someone were to come along.
As we rode past the wagon, the chuckle of the gypsy man as he climbed into his conveyance was all to familiar and reminded be of the same sound that had been echoing in my dream. That coincidence kept me on edge until we reached the gates of the capital.
I had only entered Tess's apartment and put my travel pack down when Chanella came running up to me and told me I was to go straight to the university library. I asked if Tess was okay, since this was the only reason I could see for the immediate summons as my test was not scheduled for another week. With a 'yes yes she fine' Chanella ushered me out the door and led me through the crowds, past the university guards who all seemed to recognize the girl now and did not even challenge her reason for entering the walled off campus. I wondered if any of them know this was the same street waif who used to sit just down the street from here and beg them for coins and what they might say if they did.
We made it to the library and found Tess pacing, something I had never seen her do before, and immediately I knew she was very concerned about something. When she heard our nearly running steps on the solid marble floors she looked up and stopped walking, allowing just the hint of relief to enter her posture.
"Rudolph, thank the divine ones you have arrived." She spoke and before I cold get a word in edgewise directed Chanella to take her place in the library, something the girl jumped at the opportunity to do, and grabbed me by the arm and ushered me back out the door I had just entered. For a woman at least four times my age, she walked rapidly and surely across the campus grass toward the medical school building.
"Tess what is this all about?" I asked as we were reaching the doors. I noted the clerk lifting his head to challenge us but a look from my librarian companion silenced him without a word being spoken. In fact one could not deny that she easily intimidated this man with just a look.
"No time Rudolph." Tess said. "I'll let the college masters explain everything to you."
Instead of turning into the interview room where I had been ushered for the previous two years Tess guided me this time to a stairway and up two levels to the topmost floor where I could see that the level was merely a single hallway that led to the various private offices and quarters of the medical professors on the staff. While I looked left and right I could tell by the spacing of the doors that the rooms got progressively bigger until they reached the other end of the hallway.
We did not stop at any of these rooms along the way and instead went straight to the closed door at the very end of the hallway where Tess knocked only as a courtesy to announce our intention to enter before ushering me through with her close behind me. I had only a moment to register the brass plaque beside the door engraved with the words 'Master Professor Gunther Van Berg' before I heard his familiar voice speak to me in its less than cordial inflection from within the room.
"Ah the young ghost slayer who wants to be a doctor." He sat behind his massive desk and his tone held a mixture of contempt and humor to it all directed my way.
"Master." I said bowing low and trying not to show my confusion. "How might I be of service to you?"
"To me?" He laughed. "Hardly! But possibly to the college boy if your stories are not all hoaxes as I suspect they are."
"Sir?" I asked to prompt him for more.
"You did not explain the situation to him Tess?" He purposely ignored my request.
"There was no time Gunther." She said drawing a scowl from the other man.
"That is Professor Gunther, or Master Professor Gunther librarian Tess." He said in a coldly menacing tone.
"Only to your students and ass-kissing flunkies Gunther." Tess replied calmly and evenly. "Which I most certainly am not one."
"Indeed."
The room remained silent as both stared each other down until finally Professor Gunther acted as if he tired of their game and turned his eyes once more to me. "I recall you had some fantastical story of putting a spirit to rest two years ago and that was why you were late for you appointment is this correct young sir?"
I hesitantly nodded which appeared to be all Professor Gunther was waiting for.
""Well that is perfect then." He looked at us both. "I make no excuses that I did not believe you then and I still do not believe you now. However we now have an opportunity to prove me wrong. If you do so this time then you will be admitted into this school for the coming year as you had desired to. If however, in seventy two hours, since that was how long it took you last time if I recall, the situation has not been repaired, then the board shall know you lied to us and therefore your admission to this college will be denied." He smiled like a predator. "Will there be anything else?"
"Sir I do not know what situation it is you are speaking of." I replied obviously confused.
"Librarian Tess can explain it to you." He pushed the subject aside. "I would offer you my best wishes for your success but all know that would be untrue so let me just say you should get right to work lad for the clock starts as of this moment." As if in emphasis the evening bell began to toll the sixth hour after noon as Gunther lowered his head to his desk dismissively and Tess led me back out of the room.
I was awash in confusion with my head spinning, but Tess did not pause and instead led me on to the next destination with only a few words. "Rudolph, while your future may be at stake, understand there is also a life in jeopardy as well."
Tess led me back to the first floor once more but instead of leaving she turned us down into the main corridor of the building once more and led us to the very same room where Gunther's office was located two floors above, only on this level the room served as the college cafeteria. Oddly enough, however, this dining area presently had one of the campus guards standing out side the door who challenged us once he understood our course but gave way before the glare and a few soft spoken yet deadly serious words of my librarian companion that shocked even me.
We walked through the tables that were all neat and in order and made our way to the kitchen. Once more from the doorway everything appeared in order though there were bowls of freshly diced vegetables sitting on one cutting table along with a knife sticking point first into a cutting board and may have still been quivering or perhaps that was just a trick of the light. Tess said nothing about them so I assumed all was in order.
I noted only two other doors into this room, one obviously led outside the building and was likely where food stores were delivered. It was securely double locked from the inside. The other door most likely led to a pantry and it is to this one we made our way. Tess opened it to reveal a larger than normal food and cookware storage closet that again looked all in order except for one keg of cooking oil that appeared to have leaked on the floor.
"Tess what is going on?" I asked finally when we stopped to look into this room.
"That is what I am hoping you will help us find out Rudolph." She said turning to me and preparing to explain. "I know only about ghosts from the books I've read and like any other subject, perhaps even more so than other subjects, the stories I've read are impossible to prove what is fact and what is purely writer's fantasy. That is why we need you. You have faced such creatures more than once. You are the only expert I know who may be able to solve this mystery and save a life."
"You have said that twice now." I laid my hand upon her shoulder. "Why don't you start from the beginning."
"Sure….but which beginning?"
After a moment or two to collect herself she launched into her tale. "Every one of the colleges has its own cook on staff to feed the college's students and professors since they all spend most of their time here in these buildings. The one here at the medical school was named Ernie, Ernest really but no one called him that."
"He started here at the school just over three years ago last spring, taking over for the previous chef Sarah who was a fantastic cook and a young widow with a child. I used to arrange to come over to this building just before meal time to chat with Sarah who always let me taste test her meals. She should have been a royal cook in some palace somewhere because her food was worthy of the finest nobility."
"Sarah's son got sick with pneumonia three winters ago and while the college would allow her to stay home with the child, they would not pay her salary. Knowing that her son needed a healer's touch Sarah left him tucked in at home and came to the school to cook and then raced back to hire a cleric to bring to her home. By the time they had arrived though the boy had died and there was nothing the priest could do but say a prayer for the boy's soul and offer his mother condolences."
The cause of death struck me a quiet blow for though Tess knew my mother had died I had never told her the cause. I held back the wave of sympathetic grief and let her continue.
"Sarah took her own life that night and I am sad to say and was only discovered because she failed to appear at work and a few of us went to go check on her." Tess showed tears in her own eyes as well. "Professor Gunther showed his usual caring streak and by the end of the day he had already hired Ernie, who had failed out of the College of Magic, to assume the duties. I guess alchemist to chef is not so large a leap depending upon how one looks at the two professions."
"After the first week though we all seemed to know why Ernie had failed in class. If his spells were anything like his meals then it is a testament to the College's builders that he did not reduce the place to ash like he did on more than one occasion with his meals."
"Gunther let him know that he had only one more week to start cooking proper meals or he would be let go from this position as well. Our Master Professor does enjoy his food if you have not noticed." I had actually noticed that his pants fit rather snugly about the waist but had no reason to comment on such things.
"Surprisingly in the next week Ernie's meals, while still rather basic fare, did begin to improve significantly." She continued. "I assumed he either talked to cooks at local inns or got his hand on a decent cookbook and focused on the simplest recipes first until his confidence grew over time."
"With his job secure now Ernie began to branch out to more elaborate fare until last evening when he put together a feast for the graduating class that was a marvel and had everyone cleaning their plates and seeking seconds and thirds." Tess seemed to have enjoyed the meal as well for I could see refection in her eyes. "For me however the meal reminded me of the ones that Sarah had made. In fact I was so bold as to ask him if he had perhaps ran across recipe cards or something?"
"I remember he looked at me in shock as if I had exposed his secret but since there were only the two of us talking and I promised not to say anything he calmed down and thanked me for keeping this fact to myself. Perhaps in a way I was wrong for not saying something more at the time."
"Lord Gunther got up at that point and made a speech for the graduating class that was exactly the same one he gave at each of the previous five years. Our Master Professor is not one for expending more time or effort on students than is required." Tess's disgust at Gunther was evident. "His only changes to the speech this year were three references he made to how much he enjoyed the meal."
"The first time he simply said what a great dinner it had been and this brought a smile to Ernie's face." She explained. "The second one Gunther said he had never had food this good at the college before caused Ernie to blush followed by the sound of an empty pan falling somewhere in the kitchen which the cook went to go check on. Then by the end of the speech Gunther went so far as to say that Ernie, who he had selected for this job to replace the last cook and who the Master Professor could not even remember the name of, just demonstrated Gunther's own skill in finding talent since this was a better meal than any other college cook had ever made."
"Almost immediately we heard the sound of metal pans crashing to the floor and in fact Gunther joked that he thought perhaps Ernie had fainted at the compliment. A few of us went to go check but we found the kitchen in order, though the handing metal pans that had caused the ruckus were still swinging on their hooks as if they had hurriedly been replaced." Tess explained. "However, there was no immediate sign of our cook."
"We heard a muffled plea for help coming from the pantry here and we thought perhaps Ernie had either locked himself in or gotten trapped under a heavy crate perhaps and needed assistance." She pointed to the room which had many such items but all appeared to be in a neat and orderly fashion. "The door did not open at first to our efforts and while two of the students went to fetch more help, I and another listened to Ernie's please for mercy coming from within the pantry. We called out to him but he either did not hear us directly or was too afraid to answer."
"We struggled at the door for another few seconds when suddenly it opened with almost no effort at all. It was as if the lock had been released, though as you see there is no lock upon this door." I noted that too. "Inside there was no sign of Ernie, only the scene you see here before you. It is nothing more than a pantry that appears completely in order except for this odd spill of cooking oil."
I looked down more closely at this since Tess's tone seemed to indicate that I should ad found that rather than a spill and a puddle the oil seemed to have been drawn in very specific lines that were broken only in a few places that by their shape had obviously been where Ernie had been standing. There was no sign of oil beneath where his shoes had been which made me deduce the oil had been draw in this pattern while he had stood here. But why do such a thing? And why would the cook stand here while it was happening? I turned back to Tess once more.
"Rudolph, I think Sarah's ghost is behind not only Ernie's disappearance but also the meals he had been creating for the past three years." Tess confided in me. "I looked all through this kitchen today and have not found any recipes she left behind, but I tell you the food from last night was without a doubt her creation. I think Sarah's ghost has kidnapped Ernie."
Darkness was fast approaching and while I did not relish surrendering eight of my seventy-two hours to sleep, I also realized that being out of doors and killed by the things that roamed the night would be even more detrimental to my future. Instead Tess and I went back to the library to collect Chanella before we headed for her home. While there I asked the two if they had any books on ghosts that described a similar situation to the one we faced but both admitted they did not.
What seemed odd to me was that Sarah had taken Ernie with her rather than simply kill him. While this potentially boded well for the living cook's survival at least of a while, it left me pondering questions I had never considered. I had observed ghosts like the elven warrior fade from view and then reappear the next day but I had never stopped to ask myself where they were during that interim. Did they simply cease to exist? I doubt that since then they would need to be created all over again.
I also knew they did not go on to the afterlife, whatever that might be because that was where the ghosts in Staunton Bluffs had gone once they came to rest. I could not imagine that a place like heaven would allow the elven warrior to come and go, or that he would even chose to do so based on how the various religions described such a place of beauty and love.
Conversely I had to assume that its opposite, Baator, Hell, or whatever the infernal realms are called, does not have an open door policy allowing those who have been condemned to eternal damnation to leave if they so chose either. That idea sort of defeats the whole purpose behind such a place in my understanding.
I asked Tess and Chanella about this and while the young half-elf was every bit as confused as I was, Tess said what I needed was a book on planar theory that supposedly discusses such things. Unfortunately the only university library levels to have such books are the College of Magic and the College of Theology. Tess promised to do what she could to borrow one of these works from another librarian if it could be arranged.
I realized as well that I would likely need to speak with this spirit directly and I asked Chanella if she knew where Ivan the medium was these days. She bit her lip and nodded, saying that he had supposedly fled town not long after our encounter with the elven warrior ghost if the stories her friends on the street told could be trusted. She had once heard that the Kargat had captured him but every now and then when she dropped a coin into the cup of one of her former associates and asked how things were on the streets, she would hear that other unknown beggars were asking after the 'street medium from Barovia' as well making her think that he had actually escaped. I hoped he had escaped and was living someplace safer though this made my own issues at the moment that much harder.
But perhaps I could solve these problems through another way as well, I thought to myself as we all went to our separate beds to rest up for tomorrow's activities.
I found the circus without too much difficulty since it was all the local children were talking about. Those few who had attended it had told the others children who had not and the stories grew both in number and incredibility at a phenomenal rate. I am certain this was the original plan for it was without a doubt the smartest way to advertise such an event that I had ever heard of.
The circus had set up their wagons and tents in the merchant quarter where normally caravans of goods were assembled and emptied. The group had come in a convenient ten day period between such events so the owner of this area had agreed to rent out its use to the circus for a ten percent cut of the admission's purse. Based on the talk I heard and the crowds standing in line to get in I had little doubt both groups had found this agreement profitable and to their liking.
I paid my own five copper to get in and began to walk around the great tents, waving off offers of food, though much of it was strange and smell delicious, and similar offers of games of chance. Those seemed to be particularly profitable for the circus with young men trying to win prizes for wide eyed young ladies standing beside them. I had little doubt that were this Rivalis and Ingrid standing beside me I too would be laying down coins to win her such a gift and myself a smile in return.
The performer's wagons had both words and pictures painted on the side, which was fortunate since the language they had used to advertise such things was not the common one spoken here in Darkon. While I could not read the actual words, the fact that the wagon had the pictures of a troop of short men, though not dwarves due to the lack of beards, spitting clouds of fire around a beautiful dark haired and scantily clad woman made me realize that this wagon was the living quarters of the troop of fire breathers. The other wagons had equally impressive advertisements that made clear their owners. I went in search of the one I required.
The spirit walker's wagon was the least descript, looking more like rolling clouds of grey through which red and yellow eyes seemed to reflect at the observer if the sun happened to hit them just the right way. I found this a bit disturbing but was not so easily turned from my course knowing what was at stake. I stepped up the three stairs to the wagon's door and knocked, politely yet determined.
"Who dares disturb the restful trance of Louis Cypher, Mystic of the Paranormal?" The voice called out in my native tongue but with such a thick accent that it took me a moment to decipher what it is he had said. I could hear him moving around within, perhaps getting dressed or cleaning the place up as he awaited my response.
"Sir I need to speak with you on a matter most urgent." I replied letting my voice show concern and a hint of mystery. I had found such tones work to my advantage in grabbing people's interest and in fact it was a mystery I was enmeshed within so not a lie.
He let the door open inward and looked at me as I looked at him. He was tall, easily more than six feet, though not as broad as the Lamordians had been. Instead he was of a more medium build, still in shape but also of that age where it seemed he was constantly fighting off the extra weight that seems to want to accumulate right along the belt line. His hair was close cut but still showed the beginnings of grey appearing as did the wisps of his beard after a day since his last shaving.
Most unique about him was his very deep set eyes that seemed to see everything around him and were a strange bluish grey tint that changed between he two colors based on how the light hit them or whatever his emotional state seemed to be. Had he not already proclaimed himself to be a mystic I would have suspected such for those eyes seemed to see things in this world that the rest of us did not.
"Well boy don't stand there on my steps come in and sit down." He motioned to the small table in the wagon that reminded me of where I had my fortune told years earlier. This wagon, however, was more brightly lit and had not curtain separating one part from another. He sat down in one of the two chairs and pointed to the other. "Why have you come to see Louis?"
Once again his accent was a bit hard to follow but after a moment I understood and replied.
"Sir I am seeking someone with a gift to speak with spirits." I said slowly and clearly so not to be confused in my needs.
He looked at me as he titled his head judging my intentions and making me feel uncomfortable under that gaze. "You are a young man." He said. "You should not be worrying about the dead but instead should be seeking out the living!"
"Might I suggest you go watch our mighty Princess fend off the hot advances of a tribe of short fire breathers." He offered trying to sell another portion of the circus. "For a boy your age she is just the thing. I tell you that woman is a wonder to behold…and her performance is not bad either." He laughed at some private joke he had made.
I merely shook my head and turned the conversation once more back to my own needs. "I have no doubt sir but I come to you on a matter truly of life and death." I pleaded
This seemed to catch his attention and after a moment to reach in his pocket for a silver piece which he began to let dance across his knuckles he bid me to speak and tell my story.
I did so telling not only of my current situation but of the events of two years ago that led me to this place. I found it difficult to concentrate though on my story as my eyes kept being drawn to the coin and how it seemingly jumped from finger to finger or slid under his palm to reappear in yet another location. I have no doubt that had the story been less than truthful I would likely have tripped over myself in telling it. Perhaps that was the whole purpose of his exercise.
Louis kept the coin rolling as my story ended and he went deep into thought at all I had told him. Finally he nodded to no one in particular, unless he was speaking to someone in his mind, and turned his gaze to regard me once more.
"The place where the spirits go that you spoke of is called the Border Ethereal." He started, but this name meant nothing to me. "If the cook Ernie has indeed been taken there then he is likely dead already or will be soon enough in short order for there is no food or water there, at least any his body will be able to use."
"Then it seems we must go there immediately." I replied.
Louis only laughed. "Travelling there is not like booking passage on a ship young ghost hunter." He said. ""Few are those who have such a skill to reach this place, though I suspect your Vistani friends are some such." This confused me for I had made no mention of the Vistani in my stories. He only continued without noticing my reaction.
"I would say luckily for you I am such a one, though I seriously doubt it was purely coincidence that brought you to me." I tried to defend myself, explain I was not the agent of another but he held up his hand to cut off my denials before they were spoken.
"I will need time and certain provisions if we are to make such a trip." He said to me, though his inclusion of the word 'we' set me a bit on edge. "The time cannot be helped for I must prepare myself for battle if such a thing were to come." I recalled how the elven warrior's sword had passed through observers without harming them, as well as how people and their weapons passed through he ghost with no effect as well.
This made me wonder then how someone did battle with a ghost if neither could affect the other. With all I was learning of such beings I thought this would be a fine subject for someone of skill and learning to write a treatise on for those who came behind to learn from.
"I will make you a list." Louis continued. "It will be up to you to acquire as many of the item on here as you can. The first one, blessed holy water is a must and we shall not travel without it. The others are all nice to have and may be the difference between life and death for your cook."
He scribbled on a piece of parchment before handing it over to me. "Lastly you believe the ghost in question is also a cook as well?" He asked and I nodded for it was the only information I had and I said as much. "Okay I will make that my primary consideration though I will want some standard defenses just in case you are incorrect. Ensure you return in time so that we may leave from the kitchen at the same time the cook was taken. We want to have every advantage available to us and often time of day has an unknown effect on the spirits we seek."
I had no idea what advantages Louis was speaking of but I figured as long as he himself knew, then I would trust his judgment. I looked over the list and determined that I had none of the items on it, nor did I know where I might acquire such things. Luckily I had an aged friend with the right connections who likely would know where at least some of them could be acquired for the coins we had available to us.
"Louis was not kidding about the difficulties on this list." Tess said as she scanned the paper he had given me. I thought the same thing but I figured she would know better than I in this case.
"The holy water will be easy." She explained. "The College of Theology has young acolytes create this every week as a test of their continuing faith in their chosen profession. They sell it cheaper than any of the local churches since they have no real use for it. I can probably get it for free since I know a few of the people that work over there." She seemed pleased at least to have this connection.
I nodded at this since it was the only must have item on the list. Louis wanted four flasks but I suggested that we get ten since this seemed the most important item and she could get it free.
"Magic, be it weapons, wands, or anything else will be difficult and probably not worth the effort." Tess replied. The College of Magic has such items but they are closely guarded and anyone showing interest in such things find them the interest of people they would prefer to not know." I knew the subtle reference was meant to be the Kargat and agreed that although we were doing nothing questionable, my one encounter with General Athoul made me doubt even that would be safe enough.
That of course eliminated nearly half of the items remaining on the list however. But like I said I did not think any of the other items would be any easier either.
Tess shook her head at one item after another until finally she paused and thought about the last item on the list. "This last one might be possible." Tess said but of course I did not remember what item on the list she was referring to. She put the paper down and went into her room where I could hear her rummaging around. I picked up the paper and looked at what had been written on the last item on the list. It said simply 'Personal item of the ghost.' I wondered if Tess had such a treasure.
"Here you go Rudolph." Tess emerged from her room holding a small silver necklace with a teardrop charm on the end. "When we learned that Sarah had taken her own life I made certain to go to the kitchen and make sure nothing of hers was left behind for any unscrupulous characters to find and sell. The necklace had been the only thing I found. It had been left beside the sink as if Sarah had taken it off to wash her hands before she began cooking and then forgot to put it back on before she left." She handed it to me and told me to open it. I popped the clasp and saw a small drawing of what could only be her child inside.
That made me feel a little better, remembering how the little girl in Staunton Bluffs had recognized her toy from the image burned upon my palm. But this meant I would have to wear it because I wanted to keep my hands free for holding the holy water vials.
"Oh how pretty!" Chanella called from behind me as she stalked silently into the room. "Can I wear it mom?"
"No dear, Rudolph needs to take it and show it to Sarah." She explained disappointing her daughter.
"I can take it mom."
"No!" Both Tess and I said at the same time. This made Chanella frown but did not deter her from pressing on.
"I've helped Rudolph put ghosts to rest before." Chanella argued. "And Ernie will not know any of the others though he is certain to remember me after all the little pies he made for me."
"No!" This time my voice was solo which made me turn to look at Tess who I was surprised to see was actually considering the merits of this idea of hers.
Finally Tess turned to me. "She does have a point Rudolph." The librarian admitted much to her own disappointment. "And I can always count on you to look after her right?"
The burden and responsibility of this statement hit me like a stone right between the eyes and I could only nod. Chanella took this as a victory and came forward to wrap her arm in my own.
"We've done this before Rudolph." She tried to comfort me. "What could possibly go wrong?"
I think only the foolish or the clinically insane should be allowed to say those words for in my experience they seem to be a dare to the very gods to do their worst. But once said they could not be taken back so I settled in and hoped the gods in question who may have been listening would not inflict too much pain on us for saying such.
The first thing that went wrong compared to what we had planned was when Louis showed up at our assigned meeting place outside the circus with the woman he had referred to as Princess upon his arm. I looked at the young woman who was perhaps a year or two older than myself and realized there was something odd about her but I could not put my finger on it. Louis though stopped my question before it was asked and motions for me to bring them through the university gate before we talked any further. I agreed and while the guards looked closely at the girl, I could see they were intrigued by her undeniable beauty rather than whatever I had sensed. Princess played this off with a smile and a pat upon each of the gentlemen's cheeks to thank them for their compliment.
I walked with them to the College of Medicine where Tess and Chanella were waiting for us holding a pouch of flasks that I knew contained the holy water we required. I quickly explained to Louis that of all the items he had requested we had only located these and the charm. He looked to his companion and said that this would be fine.
The five of us waked into the kitchen, closing the door behind us at Louis's insistence and much to the annoyance of the campus security man standing watch who wanted to keep a watch on us, and especially Princess. But he had his orders to allow us to do what we must so although he grumbled he stopped at that point for making any further claims.
I turned to finally ask the questions that had been burning in my mind but Louis's raised hand once more stopped me before I spoke aloud. "Thank you for not saying anything until now. I assure you that our combined safety is better served by this caution."
I did not at first understand until I looked at the girl once more and suddenly realized why she seemed both odd and familiar. "You are Vistani!" I said barely over a whisper but this was enough to cause everyone to freeze and look at me.
"I am half Vistani actually." The girl said with no hint of embarrassment or concern by this revelation.
"She is also the Guide Medium you will need to find your missing cook." Louis added.
"I thought you were the medium." I said
"You will excuse the deception Rudolph." The girl replied. "But I have found it better in places like Darkon that we of Vistani blood do not advertise to just anyone that we have powers beyond that of others. This type of statement tends to make local citizens nervous. Nervous citizens tend to bring the interest of local authorities which is something I prefer to avoid whenever I can." Her comments made sense of course.
"So you do not battle small fire breathing halflings for the entertainment of others?" I asked still coming to grips with this change.
"No, only for my own." She laughed.
I have to admit I did get a good sense of trust from the girl now that I understood where my initial apprehension had come from. But still I did not like the fact there had been deception, even if it was understandable in this case. But as Louis had put it, it was not like we or Ernie had another choice in the matter.
"How many of us may go miss…?" Chanella spoke up breaking our own surprise to the pair of performers.
'Call me Gypsy." The girl said. "It's not my name but I have been called by this moniker for so many years it seems like it should be." She smiled disarmingly. "And the number is as many as you want though I recommend fewer is better since some of the nasty things that live in the Border Ethereal can sense life force and may chose to come and investigate. The more we bring will be like ringing a dinner bell for some of them."
I looked over at Tess and Chanella hoping this new information would deter them from their chosen course of action but I saw no wavering in the young girl's eyes and this was enough to allow Tess to agree to the plan continuing. "Two of us plus the pair of you?" I asked.
"Three then" Gypsy replied. "Louis does not like such journeys do you my love?"
"One such adventure is one more than I cared to have my dear." He replied and she laughed all the harder.
"Our time is running short if you truly wish to do this at the same time as the disappearance occurred two nights ago." Tess added in making us all realize we were stalling instead of getting to down to the very business that brought us here.
"Show me where the disappearance took place." Gypsy stated and we followed Tess first to the kitchen, where there now seemed to me even more bowls of chopped vegetables than yesterday, and then to the pantry where nothing had changed at all that I could see.
Gypsy bent down and looked at the cooking oil at her feet and nodded. "A pentagon." She replied standing up satisfied.
"The famous five pointed star?" I asked not seeing the image.
"No not a pentagram a pentagon." Gypsy replied. "A five sided object. It has all the same gating capability but without the inherent protections. But of course the ghost would not want to protect the cook from her power so this makes sense."
I am glad it made sense to someone because I had no idea what it was she was speaking of. "And since she used oil which does no rapidly dry we can use her own portal for ourselves instead of having to create a new one." I took this to mean it would be faster and less energy on our part which was obviously meant as a good thing.
She went to the keg from which the oil had come and using the first two fingers of her right hand she began to retrace the pattern with fresh vegetable based cooking oil. As each line was completed by her touch it began to glow with a soft luminescence that was unnatural to the oil but seemed to indicate that the magic was still in effect. Also by standing close I could just make out Gypsy whispering words that made no sense to me but still did not seem to be magical in nature.
As the last line was completed the pentagon suddenly filled with obscuring mist as if a thick fog had somehow descended into this on small enclosed section of the pantry. She turned and looked to Chanella and me. "We must be quick for the portal will last at most an hour or two." We both nodded not knowing what we were in for.
"I will go first." She instructed. "When your turn comes close your eyes and step over the line without disturbing the oil. Once you feel me take your hand on the far side you can open your eyes." She waited for the two of us to nod before she stepped up to the edge of the pentagon and with a look back at us over her shoulder stepped over the line and disappeared immediately from our sight.
"That is so cool!" Chanella exclaimed and before I could stop her she followed Gypsy across the line exactly as she had been told to even though I had expected to be the next to go. I turned and nodded to Tess who could not help but have some concern in her eyes. I nodded as i to say I would bring her daughter back and followed Gypsy's directions myself and stepped into the Border Ethereal.
I felt someone take my hand and opened my eyes expecting it to be Gypsy but in truth it was Chanella whose other hand had our guide's clenched firmly. Now knowing that the first step had been taken I took a moment to look at another world.
By her and Louis's description of what to expect I was prepared for a misty type environment of perpetual deep fog that cut our ability to see to a mere few feet. I had thought it would be where shadowy creatures wandered as merely dark images just beyond the range of our sight. And I thought it would have sounds that echoed from all around us so that we could not pinpoint from which direction they had been made.
It was anything but all of that.
Instead the place we emerged within was an exact duplicate of the very kitchen and pantry we had just come from, except the walls, floor, and ceiling were made from seemingly solid fog with just enough give below our steps to feel like one was walking on a sponge or perhaps a pillow. The foods in the storage room here looked, if anything, more delectable even than those that had filled the pantry back on our world, but a curious touch by me demonstrated they too were ghostly in form and substance. Or perhaps I was the one not material since my fingers passed through them.
"You were right about the ghost being a cook." I heard gypsy's voice even though her lips did not appear to move.
"How can you tell?" I asked quite interested seeing both my companions wince as if I had shouted.
"Think quietly when you want to say something Rudolph." Chanella chastised me teasingly.
"A ghost will often make their surroundings match a comfortable place from their life." Gypsy explained. "Since this place is an exact replica of the kitchen we just came from I am fairly certain that the ghost involved is the one you suspected it was. At least it will not be a surprise." She said this without any sense of satisfaction.
"Why aren't you happy?" I asked in a whisper getting a 'good boy' nod from Chanella.
"Because I have never battled a cook before so I am not sure what exactly to expect." Gypsy replied.
The two newcomers showed confusion on our faces but Gypsy merely waved us off. "Keep your holy water ready Rudolph. Offer it as a threat at first to locate your missing chef, but do not hesitate to douse the ghost with it if she seems ready to attack you. I will try to draw and keep her attention while you two perform the rescue."
At our nod of understanding Gypsy opened the pantry door wider and stepped fully into the kitchen with Chanella and me on her heels. A middle aged woman turned at this movement from stirring what appeared to be soup on the stove and cocked her head as if uncertain of our intentions in interrupting her meal preparations.
"You are not supposed to be back here." She said letting go of the wooden spoon that kept stirring all on its own as she turned to face us three directly.
"We have come looking for Ernie the cook." Gypsy said drawing Sarah's attention and motioning us off to the side with a wave of her hand hidden from the ghost's view.
"You cannot have him until he learns his lesson." Sarah replied watching Chanella and I out of the corner of her eye while keeping her head facing the woman speaking to her.
"He does not deserve to be punished by you Sarah." Gypsy said again to the ghost.
"Punished?" She asked. "For lying and telling everyone that the meals he cooked were his own recipe and not mine? Why would you think I would punish him for that?"
"Tell us where is Ernie at Sarah." Gypsy asked as she took two steps closer.
"Stay back." Sarah replied. "I am warning you."
"Where is he?" Her words were forceful and demanding and she strode directly toward the ghost.
"I said stay back!" Sarah grabbed the ladle next to the simmering pot and in a move of practiced ease scooped up some of the boiling liquid and flung it in Gypsy's direction.
Quick as a flash though Gypsy held forth her hands and a towel appeared in between them blocking the splatter of soup and even absorbing it before it fell to the floor. I thought this odd not only for her ability to make a defense out of midair but also why not simply create a shield of some sort rather than a towel? But the oddities were only beginning.
Quick as a flash Sarah tossed three knives, though these were paring blades rather than throwing daggers, and each flew true and deadly toward Gypsy even though I could see in that moment none of them were properly balanced or weighted for such accuracy even by a Vistani knife juggler. Of course denying them did not change the fact that they were still about to impale our guide. Yet quick as a flash Gypsy held her hand out and one of the lids from a stew pot flew unerringly into her hand in time to intercept the missiles as well as any warrior's tower shield could do.
With her other hand Gypsy grabbed one of the flasks of holy water she was carrying, she had four in total on her belt, popped the cork seal and sprayed the water in Sarah's general direction. The ghost too summoned a towel before her but when the holy water hit this barrier or went around it to land on the floor or kitchen counters it began to dissolve whatever image it touched like the strongest acid.
I understood then the nature of combat that Gypsy was forced to engage in and why it was so important for her to understand her opponent ahead of time. Sarah had created a world comfortable to her here in the Border Ethereal and thereby confined her opponents who step into this realm to use only such things as would be normal in this type of environment. Sarah needed to understand she would likely be battling within a kitchen so that she could devise likely offenses and defenses to Sarah's attacks. Had Sarah instead been a blacksmith by trade, the two might be throwing horseshoes and hot coals at one another at this moment.
Chanella's grabbed me by the collar and pulled me behind a counter and out of firing range drawing my attention to a man less than a decade older than me who was bound and gagged with kitchen rags and lying upon the floor a few feet away. Though it seemed to me he should easily slip free of such bonds he was unable to do so by himself, just as Chanella and I were unable to pull them free of him either.
Thinking I understood the rules of existence here I pictured in my thoughts a paring knife with which I could cut free the bonds but while I focused on it in my mind and even spoke my desire aloud, my palm remained empty. I cannot with any certainty say this is because I myself do not have Gypsy's mystic gift and therefore cannot create such things, or if the fault lay in that each time I tried to focus, a clang of some metal object hitting Gypsy's stew pot shield distracted me from making it work.
"What do we do?" Chanella asked pulling against the bindings still to no avail.
I reacted solely on instinct and had I stopped to reflect I doubt I would have chosen this course. I popped the cork on a vial of holy water I carried and poured it directly onto the ties. Only once I began doing so did I fully recall the acid properties of this liquid here in this place and hoped that this effect was constrained solely to elements of the environment and not its living occupants. I was lucky for that indeed proved to be true.
Once free Ernie took no time in standing up and with Chanella pushing him toward the pantry we focused on our escape. "Gypsy we have him." She shouted out trying not to distract our guide and guardian too much in the process. She merely nodded and reached for another vial of holy water looped in place by her belt.
"No do not take this one away from me too!" Sarah cried in true anguish falling to her knees and sobbing into her palms making herself an easy target for our guide. I paused in my flight as did Chanella and Ernie to look at the ghost. Gypsy lifted the open flask and made ready to launch it at the first sign of deception or aggression.
"Sarah you need to move on." I said trying to coax the ghost to understand its time in the living world had passed like some of the treaties about ghosts I had read suggested I should do. I stayed back beyond her immediate reach, but talked softly and empathetically. "Your time here in our world has passed you by."
She raised her tear strewn eyes to look at us. "All I ever wanted was to be recognized for my cooking." She said. "When I was just beginning to achieve this my whole world came apart and no one will ever tell me now that my recipes were good."
"Good?" Ernie called from the pantry door. "Your foods are he best I have ever eaten and I can only make the simplest ones you wrote of. Even with your magical formulas of food before me I will never be the cook you were in life or in death."
"But everyone thinks you made them." Sarah said more out of sorrow than anger.
"That is true." He replied. "I admit I liked the attention, but now knowing that I was hurting someone in the process I will go back and tell the truth and then resign my position. Your recipes deserve a true chef to make them, and I have trouble simply slicing vegetables."
"That is only because no one ever showed you how to do it correctly!" Sarah answered.
"Be that as it may it is still like me taking credit for a statue I did not make just because I happened to have picked up the chisel and mallet when someone walked by. I will not take credit for another artist's work!" His tone seemed full of resolve.
"Well…" Sarah seemed to pause and consider. "What if I teach you to cook?"
"Could you?" Ernie appeared excited then let the emotion leave his face. "No it still would not be right. People would think that I was the artist. You would get no credit for your creations."
"I would if you told them where the recipes came from." She answered. "And in exchange I will teach you to cook and help you prepare your meals. Is that a fair deal?"
Ernie paused to consider this. Gypsys's arm had lowered by this point but still neither her, Chanella, nor I wanted to interfere in these negotiations. Finally Ernie responded to that offer.
"I can not do that Sarah." He said disappointing the ghost. "It would not be fair to you. However, if you would allow me to publish your recipes and give you full credit for their creation then I think we could come to a deal." He offered a smile.
But now it was Sarah's turned to reject this. "Only if you share the authorship with me." She replied. Ernie thought over this for a moment and nodded saying he would take only second billing and credit for compilation. Sarah also made him promise to take any profits as well since she had no family had no use for the money herself.
Minutes later the four of us returned to the real kitchen with Sarah thanking us and promising the College of Medicine cook that starting in the morning she would show him how to properly select and peel vegetables. While the duty sounded dreadfully dull, since it was a task my mother often left for me, Ernie had a bounce to his step as if he now understood his calling and reason for coming to the university. Fate had not made him a magician, but Sarah the ghost might make him a respected cook.
Perhaps the old truism should be modified. Behind every great man is a great woman, ghost, or both!
As a final note with Ernie's return, and especially after the fanciful omelet he made for Master Professor Gunther the next morning my acceptance into the College of Medicine for the coming year was grudgingly approved for I had fulfilled the task set out for me. I could not determine though if on balance Gunther saw this as a negative for my prospective attendance, or instead a positive for the return of his chef? I of course saw it as both since by attending I would get to sample all of Sarah's recipes that she, ad Ernie, believed were worth living for.
Did I question at all whether I was deserving of this honor since it was not my academics or knowledge that had secured my position? No I did not. I had known many others were here solely as an honor to their upper class birth or the money they had lined the proper pockets with to open up this opportunity to them. My service was at least equal to theirs, and easily more so to anyone who got to eat in our college cafeteria.
And in truth I was merely following the destiny set out before me. If I were truly going to become a great healer in this land, I had to enter into this college through some means. My service had merely opened a door, but it still would come down to me to prove myself worthy of remaining here through my diligent studies and one day proving this by graduating. My ghost related activities would not help me with any of these challenges. And little did I know how important my studies would be.
Sometime in late summer of the year after I had returned to my home village of Rivalis, many miles to the east in another Darkon village call Tempe Falls a stranger staggered into town dressed overly warm and mostly covered for that particularly warm day. While this seemed odd, no one said much at first for the stranger stayed away from others, seeking out first the two local temples in town before finally heading to the primary village inn where departing merchant caravans were also staying.
The stranger took a room and his meal upstairs, shying away from others as much as he could. On the way up the steps he passed close to, some say he may actually have brushed against two of the hired guards the caravans employed. Neither thought much of it and nothing more that night was heard of with the stranger.
In the morning the caravans departed, one to the northwest, winding its way toward Il' Aluk, and the second to the northeast for other villages. Neither knew they had a stowaway with them.
In Tempe Falls when the stranger had not been seen by mid day the owner went to his room seeing if he was planning to stay another day or if he would soon be leaving so the chambermaids could change out the room's linen. After three knocks with no reply the innkeeper used his backup key.
The strange lay peacefully upon his bed, no longer clothed in anything more than his small clothes, which based on the humidity of last evening seemed appropriate. However his body appeared painted with red stripes, much like the wild elves might tattoo upon themselves or one subjected to lashing might resemble.
The inn keeper shook the man and feeling his body already hardening realized his guest was no more and called the grave diggers to come and bury him and then is girls to clean the room.
Three days later he and his girls started showing the red lash lines as well. But by then the plague had already started to grow in many other places all across our land. Word was fast, but the plague spread even faster. The Crimson Death was free in Darkon!
