Wizardly protector

I found the trunk in side room off the basement. It must have been a secret room at one time, but the door had crumbled with the passing of time. I was eighteen and lived on an old sail boat in a boatyard. Not that that was bad, the boat was fifty feet long and was really nice.

I lived on a trust from my grandfather and had moved out of my parent’s house a year ago when they started fighting. I still had a couple of weeks of school left and then I planned to go to the local college.

Anyway the trunk, I was exploring the basement of grandfather’s old farmhouse late on a Friday. The trunk was huge, at least seven feet long and three deep. I was careful as I pulled and pushed it until I had gotten it upstairs. I had to be real careful getting it across the floor since some of the floor was rotten and could not hold the weight.

Out on the screened in porch I finally stopped and looked at my find. It looked old, maybe even older then my grandfather had been. The latch looked simple and I did not see any lock. I moved the latch and heard a dull thud. I did not see any hinges and was surprised when I raised the lid. The hinges were made of wood and were actually part of the lid and the chest.

I grinned and turned my attention to the contents of the chest. On the top was this six foot long staff with a milky white crystal inside a wooden lattice at the top. Under the staff was what looked like a thick book. The edges of the pages had that metal shine like you see on some bibles.

When I carefully reached down to lift the cover I saw that the pages were made of thin metal. The rest of the stuff in the chest was dark cloaks, well except for the bronze dagger. I pulled the staff out. It felt warm and I got an impression that it was alive. Picking up the heavy book I moved to the steps into the house and sat down with the staff across my lap.

I opened the book and tried to make sense of what I saw. Because of the way I had grown up I could read Latin and several other languages. What I saw on that first page was like a mix of languages. Latin, Arabic, Chinese, maybe Sanskrit, also some letters that looked almost like they could be Cyrillic.

It was very frustrating looking at those pages and not being able to read them or understand what the person that wrote them had been trying to say. The staff in my lap became hotter and suddenly I could read everything. It was not just that I could read the book. It was like I could not, not read it or could not stop reading it.

As I read each word it was as if they were burned into my mind. Word after word sped past and then I was turning the page. As I continued, my body became hot, like I was on fire. After awhile I started getting cold as if I were made of ice. Than everything slowed and I felt heavy and more… solid as if I were some statue or made of stone.

That lasted until I saw the sun start to rise and I started feeling lighter. It felt like my body was just a cloud and still I read, the words burning their way into my brain. My body seemed to go back to normal, except that I could feel things differently now. It was another day before I finally closed the back cover of the book and I knew what had happened to me.

I stood and put the book back into the chest before gesturing. The trunk disappeared and I knew it was waiting for me back on the boat. I hesitated and released the staff with a flick of my wrist and it disappeared. Unlike the chest, I knew it was still their waiting for me to call it back. I looked around grandpa’s farm and sighed. Maybe one day I would fix it up.

I walked to my car, an old Toyota hybrid. When I got home to the boat I made a large dinner and ate. I was still thinking about what had happened and what had been done to me. If people knew, it would not be good. I was trying to think of what to do when the news on TV caught my eye.

They were talking about another girl’s body being found. She had been killed by a serial killer. That really made me think and I knew I had to do something to help. That night my dreams were filled with strange creatures and different people. Monday’s always start slow but not this time.

My classes seemed a lot easier and when the last bell rang I was still in a good mood. I had thought about this all day. After I had driven home, I put on one of the old cloaks and sat on the deck of the boat with my eyes closed and murmured a spell. Images of buildings swirled around me and then stopped to show me one.

Than it was like I was walking into the building and taking an elevator with several other people. When I got to the office I wanted, I looked around carefully. I opened my eyes and I was back, sitting on the deck of my boat where I had never left. I concentrated and murmured a spell that caused my face and hair to change.

I stood and with a flick of my wrist, the staff was back. I took a step that was not there and was standing in the room I had seen. I looked at the man sitting behind the desk as he looked up. With a flick of my wrist the staff disappeared and I bowed slightly, “I came to offer my services.”

He cleared his throat, “How did you get in here?”

I shrugged, “You would not understand or believe if I told you.”

He stood up, “Who are you and what do you want?”

I smiled and gestured to the stack of folders on his desk, “I want to help you catch these killers. My name? Well, strangely enough you can call me Merlin.”

I glanced at the door as two other men stopped in the doorway and the man came around the desk, “Mr. Adams, I am here to help.”
I gestured at the folders on his desk and one appeared in my hand. I tossed the folder up in the air and it hung there. I spread my hand and the contents of the folder spread out and hung in place. I could see pictures of crime scenes and victims as well as other reports. I looked at Mr. Adams as he stood staring at the file, “Which was the first victim?”

He stirred but did not respond, “Mr. Adams?”

He looked away from the file and at me. Slowly he walked forward and pointed to the picture of a young woman. I gestured and murmured a spell before gesturing to the other side of the office. An insubstantial image of the woman appeared and I walked across the room to her. I walked around her slowly, murmuring another spell.

When I was done, I turned and gestured to the back wall. A large map with glowing dots appeared with a ghostly image of a man next to it. I walked back to the files as the woman disappeared, “Who was next?”

Mr. Adams looked from the image of the man to me, “Who is that?”

I glanced back, “Your killer. Well, what he looked like when she was killed.”

I gestured, “The next one?”

I repeated my spells with the next eleven victims and when I finally turned. I glanced at the dozen women and men crowding the doorway. I looked at Mr. Adams, “If I give you his address, can you arrest him?”

He hesitated and then shook his head, “We would need evidence. We would be able to put him under surveillance though.”

I nodded and turned back to the map. I put my hands together and then separated them while whispering a spell. The map zoomed in to one house. I held one hand flat towards the map and gestured to another wall. The map seemed to split and a second map appeared on the other wall.

Still facing the first map, I gestured and the map turned to show the street. I made a gesture, ‘like come here’ and the map moved down the street to the corner and showed the street signs. I looked at the crowd, “would one of you mind writing those down.”

I turned to the other map and with a flick of my wrist the staff appeared. I quietly murmured another spell and made a gesture. The address number glowed for a second and the angle change so that we were looking at the front door. I moved the display and it looked like it was moving towards the door and then the door was gone.

Slowly the display moved through the house. We saw the suspect and a woman in the kitchen. I moved out the back door and into the detached garage. At the back of the garage I could see a different shaded area to one side and looked at Mr. Adams, “Do you see the secret door?”

He looked at me and shook his head, “No. Where is it?”

I pointed out the area and took a minute to locate the switch to open it. I moved the display through the secret passage and had to turn it to go down some steep stairs. At the bottom of the stairs it turned again and slopped down to a door about thirty feet away. The door was locked when the display reached it, not that that stopped it.

After the display had gone through the door, I stopped it and we stood in silence. I glanced at Mr. Adams, “Wait just a minute, you can get ready to call a judge for a warrant when she escapes. We can probable call the local cops and ask them to do a drive by.”

He stared at me, “She is naked. How the hell is she going to get untied, unchained and escape?”

I smiled and looked at the display before murmuring a spell. I could hear his hurried call as I watched the chains on the woman’s feet in the display shake and then just fall off. I whispered, “Listen to my voice and you will be free.”

I heard her answer, “Who are you? I do not see you. Where are you?”

I gestured and the ropes around her wrist fell away, “I am Merlin. I am watching from far away. Wait until I unlock the door.”

I gestured and the display moved back through the door. Another murmured spell and the lock snapped open and dropped to the floor. I moved the display back into the room, “Now push open the door.”

The woman carefully stood and took staggered steps to the door as I turned the display. I watched as she hesitated and then pushed the door and it swung open, “Now go up the hall and turn onto the stairs.”

I followed her with the display as the agents around the room kept whispering and trying to urge her on faster. At the top of the stair she stopped facing the doorway, “Look to your left, do you see the magnet?”

The woman nodded her head, “Yes.”

“Slide the magnet down onto the plate next to the door.”

As soon as the magnet touched the plate the door popped open and surprised her, “Go to the garage door on the right.”

It took her a long time to reach the door and I knew she was running out of energy, “Lift the door.”

She struggled for a couple of minutes and then stopped, “I can’t, it is too heavy.”

I looked at Mr. Adams and he was staring back at me. I sighed, “Listen closely, in just a moment you will feel lots of energy, you will feel much better. This will not last long and when it leaves you will not be able to do anything. After you open the door go straight to the street as fast as you can.”

She nodded and I started murmuring the spell. She suddenly stood up straight, “Oh my!”

I shook my head to get rid of the disorientation, “Quick, open the door and get out.”

She just yanked and the garage door rattled up. She started walking and it quickly turned into a drunken stagger. I looked at Mr. Adams and the other agents, “Close your eyes now!”

I whispered a spell and they disappeared. I closed the display and stepped after them. I stepped out onto the street in front of the suspect’s house. The agents were looking around and I saw the woman staggering down the drive with the suspect hurrying after her. I flicked my wrist and my staff disappeared. I ran towards her, “Stop!”

That seemed to get everyones attention. The man started talking quickly, saying that the woman was his deranged sister. She collapsed and he bent to grab her, “You touch her and it will be the last thing you ever touch.”

I stopped in front of him as he stood scowling, “get off my property!”

I looked down at the woman at my feet, “I will, just as soon as the ambulance arrives.”

He reached to his back and the next thing he knew several agents were pointing guns at him. I slipped the cloak off and knelt to wrap the woman before I lifted her into my arms, “You are safe now.”

She leaned against my chest as I turned and walked towards the street with her in my arms. A police cruiser was just pulling up as I knelt in the street with several female agents around me. I glanced at the agent next to me, “I think it is time for me to go.”

I smiled at the woman at my feet as I stood and flicked my wrist to bring back my staff. I took one last look around and stepped away onto my boat. I walked down into the boat to make dinner, I was starving. After I had eaten, I lay down and before I knew it I was asleep. I woke to my alarm and got up to get ready for school.

I watched the news while eating a bowl of cereal and it was full of reports about the woman I had saved. Something strange happened in my first class. I was sitting next to the wall and had an outlet next to me. I felt a tingling and looked down to see a tiny arc of electricity from the outlet to my ankle. It did not really feel like I was getting shocked, it was more like the arc was feeding me.

I knew from the book that there were many ways to recharge the magic energy in my body but I did not expect this. By the end of the day there were no more arcs and I felt really good. When I got home I did something I had only been thinking about. I used salt and a few herbs to make a circle around the boat before doing a few spells that made the circle flare and then disappear.

I checked the news and then changed my face back to the one I had used before. With a flick of my wrist my staff appeared and I stepped between. I looked around the hospital room and then moved closer to the bed. I absently picked my cloak up from a chair as I passed and reached out to touch the sleeping woman.

Her eyes snapped open as she opened her mouth to scream. I smiled, “Really?”

She looked at me for a minute, “It is you.”

I nodded, “Are they treating you okay?”

She took a breath, “besides thinking I am crazy you mean?”

I grinned, “Everyone is a little crazy.”

She reached out to touch my arm, “You are real aren’t you?”

I let her feel my arm before I pulled away, “I am very real. I came to make sure you were okay. I need to go now, others need me.”

I stepped back, “Live well.”

I stepped between again and stepped out into Mr. Adams office. There were several strange men there. They scrambled out of chairs and reached for weapons. I whispered a spell and gestured to the shelves behind Mr. Adams desk. All the weapons in the room were suddenly on the shelves. I looked at the men and then at Mr. Adams, “Am I interrupting?”

He smiled slightly, “Not at all. These men were here asking about you.”

I shrugged, “You have my name. I came back to see if you are willing to let me help you now.”

One of the men stepped closer, “We are from the National Security Agency…”

I held up my hand to stop him, “I know who and what you are. I am not permitted to help you and no, I will not tell you how I do what I do.”

I looked at Mr.