Accidental Archaeologist Read online

  'Well, what is it for?' she asked, her hands back in her victim. Thordric averted his eyes.

  'I said I wanted something useful to do,' he said.

  'Useful in what way?' she said. Alarmingly, she picked up some type of saw and began hacking at the body with it. Thordric looked desperately into his teacup, trying to ignore the sound of metal grinding on bone.

  'That's just it, I'm not sure,' he said. 'Vey keeps coming up with potions to help with different ailments, Wizard Batsu has developed a new type of plant that disperses bad odours and refreshes everything with its scent and Wizard Myak is the one who is developing all these new tea blends that give different benefits depending on the flavour. I just don't know how to compete with that.'

  'Then don't,' his mother said, shrugging as she put down the saw and looked critically at what she'd just done. 'Listen, Thordric. You and Vey have been working together trying to make the Council a better place than it was when Kalljard was there. Why don't you use your passion for that to help you figure out what to do?' she said.

  Thordric stared at her without blinking. 'Mother, you're a genius!' he said, getting up and splashing tea down his front.

  'I'm glad you think so,' she replied, now picking up a dangerously sharp metal instrument and plunging it deep into the body. Thordric suddenly felt that he needed to stretch his legs.

  'There's a cloth over there that you can dry yourself off with on your way out,' she added, without looking up.

  Thordric took it and hurriedly left the room.

  He walked back to the Wizard Council's crescent moon shaped building, striding straight past the giant main doors and around to the back, where a there was single small door set into the wall. He pulled a silver key from his pocket, emblazoned with the new Council emblem; a book and potion bottle in front of a silver half-moon.

  That had been Thordric's idea, his way of letting people see that the Council had changed. The book and potion bottle had been the old symbol, but he had added the silver half-moon as a tribute to Vey's father, whose methods they now used to train young wizards, including half-wizards.

  He unlocked the door and he went in, passing the dormitories of the lower level wizards and making his way up to Vey's room at the very top of the building. Vey opened the door before he could even knock and beckoned him in.

  'So,' he said, handing Thordric a plate of cold meat and fruits. Thordric took it gladly, realising that he had missed dinner in the serving halls. 'What was it that my dear Uncle wanted?'

  The Inspector, as well as being Thordric's stepfather, was also Lizzie's brother, therefore making he and Vey like cousins. Thordric had always been comfortable with that arrangement, for Vey and Lizzie had been like family ever since he had known them. He thought Vey rather liked it too, after not having much of a family for so long.

  'He had a bit of trouble with his moustache,' he replied. 'One of the twins had pulled half of it out.'

  Vey laughed. 'I think your sisters are going to be very lively as they get older.'

  'They're lively now,' Thordric said with a grin. 'Mother seems to be able to handle them well, though.'

  He ate everything on his plate, absently levitating a large crystal ball between himself and Vey in an unusual game of catch. When he had finished, Vey looked at him seriously. 'Have you given any thought to what I said earlier?' he said. 'I feel awful when you get all gloomy like that.'

  To his surprise, Thordric smiled. 'Actually, I have. There's a lot of wizards that refused to be part of the Council before you took over, aren't there?'

  'You mean the Wanderers?' Vey asked, interested.

  'The very same. I thought I would find them and let them know what happened. I could also find other half-wizards and tell them about our training.'

  Vey sat back in his chair, tugging at his beard again. Thordric wondered how he hadn't pulled it out by now. 'It's not quite what I thinking, but it's definitely a worthy cause. We've got a few records of them somewhere; nothing detailed mind, but I think they mention the location they were last at.'

  'Kalljard kept records of them?' Thordric asked.

  'Of course he did. You know as well as I what a suspicious man he was. I think being High Wizard for nearly a thousand years went to his head.'

  Thordric had to agree; Kalljard had certainly been a nasty piece of work.

  'Come with me, I believe the records are now in the library,' Vey said, getting up. 'I need your help down there, sometime,' he added. 'You've worked with father's books more than I have; I'm afraid I don't know which section to put them in.'

  The library was bathed in a warm red glow from the floating fires along the walls. Thordric had wondered whether it was safe to have fires like that around the books at first, but Vey had assured him that they wouldn't actually burn anything.

  'Now, let's see, where would it be?' Vey said, scanning the shelves for the section names.

  'Maybe under Distant Towns?' Thordric hastened a guess. If, as their name suggested, they really did wander, then he supposed they wouldn't still be anywhere near Jard Town. He went over to the travelling section, finding the Distant Towns sub section just a short way in. He blinked. There, in front of him, was a thin, velvet covered folder with a black label attached to it, with the word 'Wanderers' written on it in red ink. Snatching it up, he took it back to Vey.

  'Ah, you found it,' he said as Thordric handed it to him. He put it on a table, carefully unwrapping the velvet cloth to reveal the leather-bound folder underneath. Opening it, amongst a great cloud of dust, they found a map and a few names written in faded ink on a small piece of paper.

  'Now,' Vey continued, unfolding the map and spreading it full out on the table. 'As you know, all the wizards of the Council and the Wizard Council Training Facility live here in town.' He pointed to a dot on the map labelled Jard Town. 'No Wanderers would have dared to stay here in case they were caught, so…'

  They both scanned the map. In the top right corner, in a place called Neathin Valley, was a cluster of red dots, much like ants. He counted seven.

  Thordric counted the list of names; there were also seven. 'They must be here, look,' he told Vey, showing him the names and dots.

  Vey frowned. 'Neathin Valley? I've never been there for myself, but I've heard some strange rumours about the place. I'm sure my father's sister used to live there.'

  'Didn't Lizzie say that she visited her sister in law fairly recently? Perhaps I could ask her about it,' Thordric said, rather excitedly.

  'Yes, if my Aunt still lives there.' Vey looked at the large clock in the room, its pendulum floating rather than swinging. 'Let's go back to my chambers. It's not altogether safe to be here after hours, not even for me. Wizard Callus will be furious is if he catches anyone lingering here with his precious books still out of place, High Wizard or not.'

  Thordric agreed heartily. He had once had the misfortune to spill ink over a book he had borrowed. The word 'imbecile' that Wizard Callus had magically stamped all over his body hadn't come off for six weeks.

  Once they were safely in Vey's chambers, they spread the map out again on the floor. 'So, how do I get there?' Thordric asked, looking at the distance between Jard Town and Neathin Valley. It was nearly two thousand miles. 'I can't take a carriage all that way.'

  'Of course not,' Vey laughed. 'You'll have to travel by floating ship.'

  'You mean the floating Ships of Kal?' Thordric gasped. He knew that the late High Wizard Kalljard had created them over five hundred years ago, but he had never even set eyes on one before.

  'The very same,' Vey said. 'Kalljard had very few good ideas, but those ships were definitely one of them.'

  'But I thought that boarding one cost over a year's worth of wages?'

  'It did,' Vey said. 'Until I found out how they really work. You see, everyone thought that the magic used on them was terribly advanced and took a lot of energy, so a large fee was at least somewhat acceptable. However, not long after Kalljard…departed, I had a c
hance to go on one.'

  'And?' Thordric asked, fascinated.

  'It was nothing more than a compound of minerals and herbs, rather like a potion, in fact, used as fuel. I was terribly disappointed to find out that all of the ingredients were as easy to obtain as the ones we use in our simple potions.'

  'So, how much is it now?' Thordric asked.

  'Six coins each way, including cabins and food. Of course, you won't have to pay anything seeing as you're going on official business,' he said, grinning at him. 'Now, get to bed and we'll discuss it all in the morning.'

  Chapter Three: Digging Away

  Thordric rose early that morning, far too early to see Vey, who never awoke until breakfast was ready. Instead, he thought about his travelling plans and realised that he had no way of communicating with Vey or Lizzie while he was away. What if something didn't quite go to plan? He could get lost or the Wanderers might reject him, or worse…

  There must be something he could use to send messages back and forth. He had heard of a number of stones that had powerful connective powers, but he had never been much good at using rocks and minerals. Plants were more his style, but was it possible to use one to communicate?

  He thought back to when he had helped Lizzie in the garden last. She had said something about being able to separate a single plant into two or more parts if it was starting to get too big. Perhaps if he found the right plant, the separated pieces could still be linked together. All he would have to do would be to make it possible for his voice to travel from one piece to the other. That way, he could give one each to Vey and Lizzie and keep another for himself.

  Searching through his rather limited collection of books he found a small, neatly handwritten one. It was an encyclopaedia of plants, written by Vey's father and though it had been a while since he'd read it, Thordric was sure that there had been something about a plant which aided communication.

  He flicked through it, glancing past the neat hand-drawn pictures showing what the plants looked like and listing their rarity and uses. It wasn't Big Man's Nose, it definitely wasn't Windsome Sunbeam, nor Hedra Laxa, Ratel Arba, Glorious Poom…

  The list went on, but still he couldn't find it. He was sure it had been here somewhere.

  Wait. Near the back, a page had been torn out. He could see that whoever had taken it had been somewhat hasty, as the remaining part was so jagged that it looked like a set of teeth.

  He shut the book with an aggressive snap, and went up to see if Vey was awake yet. If someone was stealing, it should be reported. Of all things, it had to be the page that he needed…

  Once up the spiral stairs to Vey's tower room, he knocked on the door, far harder than he was intending. There was a loud, rather startled shout from inside and the heavy sound of footsteps.

  'Hello?' Vey said, his head appearing around the door. His dark hair and beard were a mess and his eyes were squinted from the light. 'Oh, Thordric, it's you.'

  He opened the door a bit more and let Thordric in. Thordric noticed with amusement that not only was Vey wearing husky pink night robes, but was wearing socks of an acid green with them. He had always felt that sleeping with socks on was a most curious habit and would have said so, if he had not still been angry.

  'Would you like some tea?' Vey asked, offering a cup he had just summoned from the kitchens.

  'Thank you,' Thordric said, taking it. Tea would be good, particularly if it was the blend that calmed you down after a single sip. He didn't want to take his anger out on Vey, particularly when he was in such a sleepy state, for he would simply go back to bed and zoom Thordric's chair out of the room.

  'So, what is it you woke me up for?' Vey said, after Thordric had drunk some. He was awake enough to notice Thordric's mood and had poured him an extra cup just in case the first was not enough.

  Immediately Thordric felt better, but the question now made him feel guilty for not waiting until later in the day. 'A page from one of my books has been torn out,' he said quietly.

  Vey frowned, tugging at his beard again and noticing that it had somehow become tangled with his hair. 'Which book was it?' Was it one of father's?'

  'Yes, it was the plant encyclopaedia. I was looking for a particular plant, but when I went to look for it, the page was gone.'

  To his surprise, Vey started chuckling and went over to his drawers. He opened the first one and pulled out a sheet of paper, with jagged edges on one side. 'Is it this one?' he asked.

  Thordric took it and looked. It was.

  'And I thought I had a bad memory,' Vey continued, still chuckling. 'You gave that to me weeks ago to look at, something about using it in a potion to create psychic ability.'

  Thordric felt rather silly. He did remember.

  'I, er…thanks,' he said.

  'So,' Vey said, curious now. 'What did you want it for this time? It must have been something exciting if you were looking for it this early.'

  Thordric winced as a fresh layer of guilt fell onto him. Nevertheless, he explained his idea. Vey listened, occasionally nodding, though mostly trying to untangle his beard.

  'Let me see if I've understood you,' he said, finally getting the last of his hair free from his beard. 'You want to divide a single plant into three, keeping it alive, so that each person that has one is linked with the other two?'

  'Yes,' Thordric replied.

  'Then, you might just be onto something there. Take a look at this,' Vey said, digging around in his drawer again. 'Ah, here it is.'

  He pulled out a wad of notes, written in the same writing as Thordric's book. Vey's father had written it, then. 'This is…!' he began, scanning the first page. 'It's almost exactly what I had in mind, though I admit I wasn't sure how to make voices carry across.'

  'You want to work on it?' Vey said, smiling as he saw Thordric's excitement.

  'Of course. With this, I'll be able to speak to you when I'm in Neathin Valley.' Thordric's grin was so large that he was positively beaming.

  'Good. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going back to bed. Never did me any good getting up early…'

  Thordric left him to it.

  The plant Thordric needed was called Tenro Aqus and, despite having magical properties, was generally used as a table flower in cafe's and sometimes at home. But Thordric needed more than just the flowers, he needed the roots. If he didn't separate the plant at the roots, then it wouldn't work.

  The only place where he knew they grew wild in town was the graveyard.

  With a sigh, Thordric dressed himself in his official robes and, after a hurried breakfast, made his way there.

  There was a fog that morning, but with it a crisp freshness that Thordric found rather soothing. Unfortunately the fog was so thick that he missed the graveyard entrance twice and had to keep circling back.

  When he finally got there, he had to push the fog away from the graves with one of his spells, for the Tenro Aqus only grew by two of them. He found them quickly, greeted by a clump of luminous blue flowers, each one no bigger than his thumb. Only then did it dawn on him that he had forgotten to bring a spade.

  Never mind; the groundkeeper would have one.

  Putting up a red marker so that he could find the Tenro Aqus again without having to shift the fog, he made his way to the groundkeeper's shed. He found it locked, but with a trick he had learnt from Vey, summoned a spade from within. It didn't go quite as he'd planned, however, for instead of it simply appearing in his hand, it levitated itself through the window with such a crash that several birds took to flight.

  Thordric sighed again. He could fix that later. Now he had a plant to dig up.

  It was nearing midday by the time that Thordric got back to his chambers, carrying a large clump of Tenro Aqus and covered in earth. He had never thought that a plant could put up such a fight when trying to be dug up. No sooner had he put the spade in the ground did the plant disappear and pop up again a few metres away, waving its blue flowers at him almost mockingly.

  In the end,
Thordric had to trick it into believing he was digging for something else. It was a difficult piece of magic, for he had to dig in one place but make the force of the spade impact another, so that he was actually digging around the plant without having to stand near it. It had left him weak and tired, but it had worked.

  He would have to tell Lizzie about that one, for, being his first teacher, she loved to hear about the kinds of magic he was doing. Particularly if it was something complicated.

  It was then that he remembered that he wanted to speak with her about Neathin Valley. He thought about asking Vey if he wanted to go too, but then remembered his earlier intrusion and decided against it.

  The fog had all but cleared now and, having put the Tenro Aqus somewhere safe where he thought it couldn't get away, he made his way to Lizzie's townhouse.

  She was in the garden when he arrived, taking snippets of rosehip and dandelion. Seeing him coming, she wiped her hands on her apron and opened the door for him, frowning slightly as he walked mud into the hall.

  'What brings you here again, boy?' she asked, still frowning.

  Thordric realised why and hastily sent all the mud from the carpet and himself back to the graveyard where it should have been. Lizzie smiled instantly.

  'There was something I wanted to ask you. Have you ever been in Neathin Valley?'

  'I have, though not too far in. I believe I told you that I went to visit my sister in law a few weeks ago. Neathin Valley is where she lives.'

  So Vey had been right.

  'Could you tell me about it?' he asked, absently taking a biscuit from the plateful that she was offering.

  'There's not an awful lot to say, boy,' she said, her brow creased. 'Neathin Valley is a very dry place, with only one town called Valley Edge. It actually runs along the edge of the valley, not in it, and there are a lot of underground springs just a few miles out in what is known as the Valley Flats. I believe people bathe in them to help recover from mild illnesses, though I wasn't fortunate to go to one myself. It's said that men and women bathe together there.'