Really not so long ago, so close to current events that someone might even remember them, there were three students of the Arcane Tower, they were in their late teens and taking a research trip out into the countryside. Melody was the one who had suggested this trip, she was studying ancient hedge magic, the kind used long ago by Druids. Darren and Hector had come along after reading some of Melody’s notes about pagan fertility rituals. Young men can be very hopeful. The lads may have been disappointed on that score, but the weather was glorious, the late spring sunshine was warm, and the land was lush and green. The three of them had set out on foot from the Arcane Tower and over three weeks they’d covered about a hundred and twenty miles at a leisurely pace, stopping to talk to locals, investigate standing stones, and to study fascinating old trees, at least they were fascinating to Melody. Dutifully, Darren and Hector carried the surveying equipment that Melody was using to map, what she classed as magic phenomena.
One morning as the group trudged up hill, Melody spotted a dying tree in a field of sheep, it was a pathetic sight, its leaves were brown and hanging limply despite the glories of spring. Stopping her companions she unpacked various pieces of equipment, five large crystals were placed around the base of the tree and lines of white sand joined them together to form a magic circle. She had tried this several times before on other unhealthy trees and plants, in the hope to purify the plant and restore its vigour.
The ritual had been recorded by an elderly scribing wizard, who had lost the ability to see what was happening in another room, but he’d been able to see what was happening yesterday. It wasn’t so strange for magic wielders to lose or change abilities in their old age, but this change was particularly useful when researching ancient magic. There were limitations however, old Harrison could only write down what he saw and heard in the rituals, he could not ask questions or gain understanding from feeling the flow of magic from being there himself. Harrison was merely an observer separated by both space and time. Melody had taken up Harrison’s research and was determined to field test as much of it as possible, mainly by trial and error.
The crystals began to glow as Melody pushed her magical energy into them, she repeated the chant and tried to conjure up images of Mother Gear, and the flow of life energy that came from deep in the ground. There was a crack and pop, and then a terrible stench like boiled cabbage. Hector sighed deeply and then scribbled the results into a notebook, as he kept the records.
“Experiment nineteen, resulted in the boiling of the withered leaves and the blackening of the trunk. Sorry Melody, there is no obvious point to make about where you could have gone wrong.”
“Well let’s pack up and go find somewhere for lunch, I don’t want to look at this tragedy,” replied Melody a little sulkily.
“Exactly my thoughts, why are we paying attention to this tree when there is a far more interesting one over there,” as he spoke Darren pointed to a giant tree further down the slope.
The tree was truly huge, its trunk stood as tall as a two-storey house then its limbs sprung up in a ring around the top. Half a dozen sheep were sitting in the shade of its wide boughs.
“Bizarre thing, isn’t it? I mean it looks like someone stuck some trees on top of an old tree stump.”
“You’re right Darren, it looks like it was pollarded hundreds of years ago,” said Melody confidently, she’d spent a lot of time researching forestry terminology.
Melody and Darren walked over to the tree and took out the measuring tape so they could record its girth, much to their surprise they had to use the ten-foot-long measuring tape five times, as the tree was just over forty-two feet in circumference. Using a collapsible measuring rod, they estimated the trunk was eighty feet high.
“I wonder if there’s a flat top that’s encircled by these branches?” Melody scratched her head as she imagined what the tree must look like from above.
“In its current form I reckon its about a hundred and thirty feet tall, but just imagine what it would have been like before it lost so much of its height?”
“It would be unbelievably tall if it grew like a giant redwood, but judging by the leaves this is some variety of oak,” said Melody.
“This might sound crazy, but do you think this could be an Yggdrasil tree?”
“They became extinct at the end of the first age of magic, people have only ever found fossilised tree stumps. How do you know about the Yggdrasil trees to begin with?”
“As a child my father took me to see the Angel’s Tower. I wrote my first-year research paper on the subject of the giant trees of the old world. I’ve seen lots of artists renderings of the five known fossilised tree stumps. And Professor Morlock has a fossilised leaf print in a cabinet in his study. A single leaf from the tree was bigger than a sheet of parchment. I was only twelve when I wrote that paper, so it wasn’t exactly my best work, but I do remember it fondly.”
“I wrote my paper about unicorns,” said Melody wistfully, as she remembered her first year at the Arcane Tower.
As they had been talking, Hector had taken one of his own devices from his satchel and was peering at the tree through it. The device looked like a small telescope with two lenses, one a little larger than the other set in a slightly conical brass cylinder. There were several buttons and dials that could be adjusted across the surface of the tube, and even additional lenses that could be dropped into a slot to amplify, magnify and identify all kinds of things. This curious device was called a Mage-e-scope, the one Hector carried was only a field-portable, one, but at the Arcane Tower there were far more delicate versions of this piece of apparatus. The larger and more powerful devices could unravel magical phenomena. Delicately, Hector dropped an additional blue lens into place and adjusted the front lens slightly, he nearly dropped the device when he saw a magical aura surrounding the tree. He began to move around the tree in a wide circle, but the aura always seem to be facing him. It must be some kind of optical illusion, similar to that of a rainbow. Whilst a rainbow was multicoloured, this aura took the form of a magic circle in shades of white and blue.
It occurred to Melody and Darren that Hector hadn’t spoken for a few minutes, when they turned to look, they saw their friend had taken out a notepad and was sketching something. Going to peer over his shoulders, they discovered he was copying down the magic circle he could see through the Mage-e-scope. Rather than going through the tedious exercise of trying to explain, Hector passed the Mage-e-scope over to Melody, who took a good long look and handed the device to Darren. Whilst Melody reacted with stunned silence, Darren was very vocal, his exact words couldn’t be recorded as he cursed in an ancient magical tongue, any attempt to write it down always resorted in the paper catching fire.
“My sentiments exactly mate. How the heck could this exist so close to the Arcane Tower and nobody know about it?” As Hector spoke, he pointed to the sketch of the magic circle in his notebook. “I know a little bit about sealing magic and that tree has a seal on it.”
“Do you think there’s something terrible held within it? I mean I remember hearing a story as a child, about a terrible daemon trapped within the hollow trunk of a great tree,” asked Hector.
“I heard that too, I think it was the Tree of Time that grew in the in-between, and it was the great daemon of darkness or was it the daemon of nightmares?” Darren really didn’t sound sure as he tried to remember the folk story.
“Honestly, I don’t think we need to worry about that kind of thing, that seal is one of protection. It is an eight-point matrix, but no connecting lines between the points which means the seal is keeping things out not in.”
“A protection seal. That means, there is something valuable inside,” Melody could barely keep her voice steady as she was so excited.
“It could be anything, from a treasure trove to the resting place of a king from the old world,” suggested Darren.
“No matter what’s in there, it will be a great discovery, and maybe it will be enough to get us our summer credit, without us traipsing over fields and through bogs,” Hector added this last bit under his breath.
Without further delay the three students approached the tree with every intent to enter it. A close examination of the trunk near ground did not reveal a hidden doorway or any indication of another mean of entry. Every piece of magical equipment that they carried was put into play as they examined more and more of the surrounding area.
“It’s possible there’s a hidden passageway that leads up into the tree from underground,” suggested Melody.
“We’ve tried every spell of revealing that we know, and Hector even made one up especially for this conundrum. If we get to close to the tree the magic gets sucked into the seal, if we stand too far away the results are so vague,” Darren couldn’t keep the disappointment from his voice.
“I don’t like to be the one to suggest this, but maybe we should try everything fresh in the morning. I mean it’s getting late and I’m hungry. We will think better after a good meal and a night’s sleep,” as he spoke Hector’s stomach rumbled.
“Hector’s right. Come on Melody, there was a nice inn in the village, everything will look better tomorrow.”
“But what about…
“Melody, the tree’s been there a thousand years, if not more. Its not going to disappear overnight,” Hector and Darren interrupted Melody in perfect unison.
Begrudgingly Melody packed up the equipment and followed her friends back to the village.
The trio sat in the public room of the Sage Oak, Melody had commented about the inn’s name and had pointed out that the picture on the sign was that of the oak tree they were investigating. The two young men ordered lamb chops, mashed potatoes and a medley of vegetables, Melody watched them devouring the meat as she daintily picked at vegetable stew and slices of toasted rye bread.
“How can you possibly eat so much meat and especially lamb, after we spent all day in a sheep field?” she asked reproachfully.
“That’s exactly why we want lamb. I’ve been looking at sheep all day and thinking how tasty they be,” Darren’s words were a little indistinct as he still had a mouth full of food.
Hector didn’t talk at all whilst he ate, he gave the food his full attention.
The students were getting some odd looks from the locals, they were obviously students of magic judging by their colourful robes and the bags of magical equipment they carried around with them. Travelling wizards and witches were not usual in these parts. Melody had beautiful long, blonde, hair which she wore loose about her shoulders, she was also slender, and pretty, her blue eyes twinkled with intelligence and more than a little playfulness. Darren was a tall young man, surprisingly wide across the shoulders and he had the build of someone who would bulk out in the next couple of years. His brown hair and eyes complemented his friendly face that was clearly used to smiling. Whilst these two were good-looking in a normal everyday kind of way, it was Hector that caused the locals to look twice. Hector was a little taller than Darren, but far slenderer, his black hair grew in tight curls which he kept cut short, his eyes were such a dark shade of brown that sometimes it appeared he had no iris at all just huge pupils, his skin was dark far darker than the rich brown gravy that now adorned his plate.
A barmaid came over to collect up the empty plates, Hector tipped the young woman and thanked her politely for the meal whilst the other two muttered their thanks.
“If I may be so bold Sir’s and Miss, what kind of magic do you all do?”
“We all study different branches of magic, but we’ve been friends for many years, that’s why we decided to travel together. Melody who organised our current little trip, specialises in studying ancient magic, along with the Earth magic’s like transformation and element summoning.”
To prove Hector’s words Melody conjured up a small flame in the palm of her hand then drew water from the humid air and doused it.
“Darren only started specialising last year, when he discovered an aptitude for battle magic.”
“And what do you do sir?” asked the barmaid when Hector paused for dramatic effect.
“I study the Arcane, ancient magic that has never faded away from knowledge, I know the spells needed to catch a bolt of lightning in my bare hand, and how to curse someone to the ninth generation for crossing me.” Hector tried to smile to show that it was a joke, but something about his last statement caused the barmaid to scuttle away quickly.
“Truly mate, you do have a way with words, and the ability to scare any pretty young women away.”
“What do you mean by that? Am I not a pretty young woman?”
“You don’t count Melody, I have known you since you were eleven.”
Darren grunted in pain as Melody kicked him in the shin under the table.
“Now then children, since we are now fed and watered, and before Darren drinks four more pints and can’t hold an intelligible conversation, shall we go over today’s notes.”
For a moment Darren considered kicking Hector under the table for his justified sarcastic comments, but he thought better of it. Hector really did know how to curse somebody.
Over the next half hour, they put their heads together, comparing notes and observations, the debate became a little heated, then Darren announced that getting drunk would probably be the best solution to all their problems, as of course you come up with your best ideas when you’re inebriated. This time it wasn’t clear whether Hector or Melody were the first to kick Darren under the table. After another round of drinks some crazy ideas were suggested. Melody took a sip of her rhubarb gin and began to sketch out her latest hare-brained idea.
“What we need to do is enter the tree from above,” as she spoke, she raised her hand like a soaring bird, and knocked the oil lamp that hung above the table, setting it swinging. “We can use a flight spell to get us off the ground far enough away from the tree. Then we can plan the descent to coincide with… entering the magic null, of on another love Buffalo lying…”
As Melody began to garble her words, she also began giggling at her own tongue-tiedness.
“Okay Melody I think you’ve had enough gin,” as he spoke Hector took the glass away and performed a nullifying spell over the alcohol, as he did so, he discovered that it was far more potent than any of them had guessed. Gratefully Melody took back her glass of rhubarb tonic water and had a few long sips.
“All right I was getting a little bit drunk, but what’s I’m trying to say, is that we know the magic will fail when we get too close to the tree, so we could use that to our advantage.”
“It would only be to our advantage if the magic fades away slowly, how quickly magic fades depends heavily on the spell. I mean, we could just get so close, then fall out of the sky like a rock, rather than float down like a feather. I have no objections to you going first Melody, and then I’ll give it a go, if you don’t break your legs,” mumbled Darren.
Hector was perhaps the only one who had noticed Darren’s stumbling words, as his friend tried hard to conceal his drunkenness. A local man now approached the trio, he looked nervous, but he’d clearly been pushed forward by four or five others who had been listening in to the student’s conversation.
“Begging your pardon young Sir’s and Miss, but we couldn’t help but overhear you talking about a great oak tree, would that be the one north of the village?”
“That’s right, we are students of the Arcane Tower, we are doing research on druid magic, and we had to stop and investigate such an interesting thing as the great oak tree.”
“I don’t know if it’s any help… you see the tree is on my land, I’m the local sheep farmer, and my family have farmed these hillsides for generations. Um… I, well my father told me, like his father told him, that that tree was something all magical and not for the likes of us, but I must say I was mighty curious then, and still am now. If there is anything I can do to help, I am at your disposal.”
“Do you know a non-magical means of elevating ourselves up fourteen feet of sheer trunk?” asked Hector a little sarcastically, he was just about to open his mouth and add a rather unkind comment when the farmer answered him.
“That will be easy enough, my friend Mr Cartwright over here, is a roofer, he has several sets of long ladders, and Mr Thatcher can lend him his cart and horses to bring them up to the farm.”
“Ladders!” shouted Darren, slapping the table as he spoke, upsetting his pint and knocking the tiny glass of sherry that Hector had been drinking to the floor.
For a prolonged and terrible moment Darren and Hector stared at one another, the locals backed away to the far end of the room and everyone braced for blows of a magical kind. Melody bent down and used a little magic to restore the broken sherry glass, but the contents had mingled with the dirt on the floor and had mostly soaked away.
“Sorry mate, I will buy you another,” offered Darren.
“Don’t worry about it, we are all tired, and some of us have had a few drinks too many.” Hector gave Darren a knowing look before he went on. “I’m going to bed I’ll see you two in the morning.”
Bowing his head respectfully to Melody, he departed. Barely had the sounds of his footsteps on the stairs leading up to the rooms they had hired had faded away, when Melody turned on Darren.
“You great clumsy oath, try and be more considerate, don’t drink so much and get so excitable. As a Battle Mage you’ll have to show considerably more self-control. I’m going to bed.” Melody went to leave but turned back to add a few more words of wisdom. “I suggest you think about your conduct and apologise properly to Hector in the morning.”
As she disappeared Darren pondered for a moment, as to whether or not to have another drink or to go to bed himself, the sheep farmer approached with a bottle of some local brew and offered him a drink. Deciding to have one more as a nightcap, Darren began to ingratiate himself with the locals.
The next morning Melody and Hector discovered Darren underneath a table fast asleep, and as true friends do, the pair of them took delight in talking very loudly and cheerfully, whilst their friend was suffering from a terrible hangover.
Shortly after the clock in the village church had struck ten, Mr Thatcher and Mr Cartwright appeared, with a large wagon loaded with several ladders and innumerable lengths of ropes. The two local men announced that Mr Smith, the sheep farmer would be waiting for them up by the great oak tree. Gratefully the students accepted a lift on the wagon, although Darren lay in the back amongst the coils of rope gently groaning every time they went over a bump or a dip in the road. Melody and Hector sat on the backboard with their legs swinging, they enjoyed a little conversation as they watched the countryside rolling slowly by.
“I’ve noticed something Melody, I can’t decide whether it’s real or a big elaborate joke at our expense,” said Hector.
“What do you mean? Everyone has been very friendly and polite to us.”
“Haven’t you noticed the peculiar names? Like the innkeeper was called Mr Potter, the farmer is called Mr Smith, the roofer is called Mr Cartwright, and to complete the set the carter is called Mr Thatcher,”
“You missed one, the barmaid was called Miss Prentice,” added Melody
“Seriously does everyone in this village have a surname that sounds like a profession?”
“Last night I spoke to the village blacksmith, his name was Mr Gardner, and the gardner at the manor house was called Mr Smith. Ha, ha, h-oo,” Darren’s voice was little more than a whisper, his ensuing laughter quickly turned into a groan.
“I’m telling you there is something weird about this place,” Hector spoke in a low tone as he didn’t want his words to carry.
“It could have something to do with magical radiation, that tree has been here longer than the village has.”
“Maybe Melody, but I imagine there would always have been a settlement where the village is, it’s just a perfect location with the river and everything.”
“Seriously Hector don’t talk so loud. Also, I spoke to the steward from the manor and his name was Mr Baker and apparently the baker is called-“
“Don’t tell me he’s called Mr Stewart?” interrupted Hector
“No, the Baker is called Mr Mills.”
“You know it’s possible that all these funny names could have resulted in a census mistake, I’m sure I heard about something like this in one of my history lessons. A clerk carrying out the kingdom’s first official survey put everybody’s first names down into the ledger where he should put their family names. Since it was official it stuck and eventually, we wound up with people in that area called things like Terry Bob, Amelia Mark, or Joseph Louise. It’s possible that a clerk made a similar mistake here putting everyone’s professions down in the ledger as their surnames.”
“Good theory Melody, we just need to wait until we meet someone called swineherd.”
“It’s quite a large village, we haven’t met everyone yet Hector, I’m sure you’ll find him,” croaked Darren.
At that moment the cart jerked into a large rut that caused Darren to curse colourfully and groan.
“How much more of this torment must we go through?” he begged.
Hector looked around and noticed that they were practically there.
“Several more miles my friend,” he lied.
“Seriously Darren, if you just apologise to Hector, he could annul the alcohol left in your system and you wouldn’t feel so sick,” said Melody.
“Of course, I’d forgotten. Hector my good man I apologise most profusely for my ill conduct last night, I promised to buy you a bottle of best sherry before our return to the tower. Please accept my heartfelt apology, and render what assistance you can with your mighty magical might.”
“A little overblown, but apology accepted. I’ll remove the alcohol once we reachthe tree. After all we will need you on top form for all the work we got to do.”
“You are a cruel man Hector, making me suffer for miles and miles.”
At that very moment the wagon came to a stop, Mr Thatcher and Mr Cartwright jumped down to greet Mr Smith the farmer, the local men shook hands and extended a local greeting which the trio of students couldn’t quite make out. Carefully Melody and Hector slid off the backboard and turned to help Darren down, as good as his word Hector muttered a few words and waved his hands to annul the remains of the alcohol, which had turned into a mild form of poison within Darren. Within a minute or so Darren looked a little tired, but more or less like his usual self.
“I know Hector that you’re studying the darker side of the magic circle, but there is no reason to be so cruel, I genuinely thought that you would leave me to suffer for another hour,” he said.
“We were only on the cart for twenty minutes,” said Hector as he checked his watch.
Seeing that her two friends were about to begin one of their epic bickering sessions, Melody pulled Darren away. Hector watched from a distance as Mr Thatcher and Mr Cartwright lashed a couple of long ladders together, then prop the now much extended ladder up against the tree, all the time being supervised by Melody. She wanted to make sure she could climb off the top, and in between the branches. The local men hung around nervously, their curiosity kept them close by, but their fear prevented them from scaling the ladder themselves.
There was a short argument as Melody and Darren argued over who should go up first, in the end Darren went first as he had more skill to handle any physical attacks that might come from triggering magical defences. Melody helpfully pointed out that if he became trapped in a spell, she would be in a perfect position behind him to get him out.
Darren climbed the ladder slowly and carefully, partly down to its slightly shaky construction, partly due to the dangers of exploring a new magical phenomenon, but mainly down to the fact that he hadn’t shaken off the last of the hangover. Melody surged up the ladder behind him and a few seconds later Hector climbed up.
It came as a slight disappointment to find no waiting Guardian, magic trap spells, or anything amazing and terrible. What the friends discovered was a nearly flat, circular area surrounded by branches on the outside, at the centre was a grime encrusted glass dome, and to one side was a circular trapdoor.
“It’s surprisingly clean up here,” commented Melody as she looked around, “I mean I was expecting piles of leaves, old bird nests and what not.”
“Probably the magic keeps most birds away from the tree, but saying that I saw a large raven in the branches yesterday, it watched me very intently,” said Hector.
The other two pondered Hector’s words, ravens were considered among the most magical of the local birds.
“Do you think it could have been some kind of guardian? I mean a bird could tidy away leaves, twigs and stuff, but it wouldn’t be able to wash the glass. See the dome is dirty.” Darren pointed as he spoke.
The glass dome was a perfect half bubble of thickened glass, such an object embedded into the tree could only have been created with magic. Taking up her measuring tape Melody recorded its dimensions, and discovered the dome was exactly six feet across. She rubbed at the black and grey dirt and lichen, but it didn’t shift, walking back over to the ladder she called down to Mr Smith and asked if he could bring up a bucket of hot soapy water. Looking quite relieved at an excuse to go home Mr Smith strode off. Seeing that the three students hadn’t come to any harm the other two men approached the bottom of the ladder, one of them carried along length of rope and the other a pulley.
“If you think it’s safe enough up there, we will rig up a pulley for lifting the bucket, when Humphrey comes back,” called up Mr Cartwright.
“That’s a good idea, everything seems fine up here, but just give us a minute,” called down Hector.
The trio now stood around looking down at the trapdoor, it was protected by a ward spell, which was sufficient to have kept out any curious locals. But such a minor spell was child’s play to them, in fact they played a game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who got to break the seal. To no one’s surprise Hector won, Melody believed that he had somehow cheated, but of course she had no evidence. Hector would have taken an annulment spell to the ward to burn it away, but since they were unable to use magic within the wards, he took a dagger to the runes and scratched over a couple causing the spell to fail. Darren stepped forward and pulled back the trapdoor whilst the other two prepared as best they could for whatever came next. There was no blast of magic, or a terrible roar from within, there was just a gust of musty air.
“Am I the only one who thinks that this is all too easy?” asked Melody.
The other two nodded, they were thinking the same thing and if they were honest, they were feeling disappointed that there were no greater defences than a simple loss of magic ability this close to the tree.
Moving forward, Melody looked down through the trapdoor and spotted a short ladder leading into the darkness. Mr Smith had provided them with a storm lantern and a candle which Hector now held over the opening. Taking a deep breath Melody descended, determined not to let the two young men outdo her. The ladder went down about five feet before she felt her boots hitting solid wooden flooring, she reached up and took the lantern from Hector. She stooped a little as she stepped down a couple of steps and was able to stand upright, the other two came down the ladder, Darren tripped over the two steps at the bottom of the ladder and nearly fell face first, whilst Hector banged his head on the lip of the trapdoor as he was too tall to fit comfortably. They took a minute to allow their eyes to adjust to the dim light that the lantern cast. At first they saw little more than shadows, but the smell was powerful.
“When I was a little girl,” said Melody, “my grandma had a wooden chest in which she kept the family treasures, some really old books, a folded tapestry, some silver candlesticks and that kind of thing. When I turned ten, she opened it to show me the contents for the first time, I remember it smelt of old wood, ancient paper, and leather. This place smells exactly the same.”
“When I was twelve my father took me and my twin brother to the family tomb in the hidden valley up in the mountains, it is traditional for boys in the family to spend the night in the tomb. I’ll always remember that night, sitting with my father listening to him telling stories about our ancestors as we looked at their dry bones wrapped in shrouds. The smell of old dry air and the feel of eyes in the darkness, it was just like this place.”
Both Melody and Hector turned to look at Darren, to hear his story.
“I never knew you had a twin,” said Hector, has that got something to do with the reason you came to the Arcane tower rather than going to the Obsidian tower in Garnett?”
“Yes, my twin went to the Obsidian tower. Father was told that we had to be separated, twin magic users can be too powerful when they are left to bond their magic through learning together. Father was a trader, so having one son come to the Arcane tower seemed like a good opportunity to him, when I return to Garnett I’ll have a different set of abilities and skills to my brother.”
“Won’t that make the two of you even more powerful?” asked Melody
“Maybe in some ways, but we’ll be unable to combine fire and lightning spells or conjurer a magical creature in unison. That will limit our combined power a great deal.”
“As fascinating as this is guys, aren’t we supposed to be exploring?”
As he spoke Hector pointed off into the gloom which had lessened to reveal a curved wooden walkway, with a handrail on one side and curved shelves on the other. Hector held the lantern up high to cast light over the shelves, he discovered they were carved out of solid wood from the inside of the tree. Kneeling Melody examined at the floor and the railings.
“Everything is carved out of the tree, there’s not a single joint or nail anywhere. Whoever created this place was a master of earth magic.”
“These books are ancient, perhaps as old as the Arcane tower, I hardly dare examine them,” mumbled Hector as he passed the lantern to Darren.
With slightly trembling hands Hector unrolled a scroll that showed a beautiful diagram of the night sky, depicting the magical importance of a particular star. The next book contained pressed cuttings and drawings of plants, Melody took the book from Hector and identified three or four magical plants. Feeling left out Darren placed the lantern on an empty shelf and picked up a book, a second later he slammed it closed and pushed it back onto the shelf, hoping that the others hadn’t noticed. But of course they had, Hector reached out and picked up the book to discover a picture on each page, the illustrations of a young man and woman moved together on the paper, as they were intertwined in their eternal lovemaking.
“What are you looking at?” asked Melody and when Hector didn’t respond she snatched the book from him. “Look at the illustrations, they are beautiful, I’ve seldom seen such well-done moving imagery. I wonder what else is in here? Obviously, nothing is categorised.”
The trio moved around the first mezzanine looking at books and scrolls, also a number of preserved items in jars and dried specimens. A demon skull sat on a shelf with its black horns curling like those of a ram on either side of a nearly humanlike skull. Every so often there was a gap between bookcases which left an alcove to display larger objects, like a leaf-elf shield from the time of legends, a sword or spear, and some objects they couldn’t identify.
A second ladder led down to another floor which was just like the first, from there they found a final set of ladders leading down. The third floor appeared to be the bottom, as a large round table occupied its centre. Using her trustee measuring tape, Melody discovered that the inside of the tree was significantly larger than the outside.
“Obviously some kind of pocket dimension, just look at the books and scrolls they have not aged as much as they would have if time and space was normal in here,” pointed out Hector.
“Are you suggesting that in the hour we have been here, only a minute or so has passed outside? Or would it be the other way round?”
“It doesn’t work like that Darren. I think it’s very likely that we have brought our own time with us. Saying that, we shouldn’t stay here too long, you know how easy it is to lose track of time in a library.”
Darren opened his mouth, probably to ask another question, but at that moment light began to pour down from high above them, as someone began to wash the grime from the glass dome. Dappled sunlight filled the space, illuminating the shelves, the books, the scrolls and the artefacts. Melody spun around trying to take everything in, that’s when she spotted something unexpected and terrible crumpled against a bookcase. Shrieking like a little girl she hit behind Darren. Hector walked over to investigate the crumpled object that looked out of place, hitching up his dark blue robe he squatted down and with his long delicate fingers he twitched back an ancient hat, to reveal the skeletal remains of a long dead person. The figure had to have once been a magic user, it wore robes of grey which had silver threads woven through it depicting magic circles and runes. In its hands lay an open book and nearby a discarded quill and ink pot, delicately Hector lifted the book and brought it over to Melody and Darren, so that they could all examine it on the table which was now illuminated with midday sunshine. Quickly Melody and Hector read the last page and then flicked back a few to pick up the narrative, Darren could read the arcane runes, but not as quickly as the other two, after asking them to go back a couple of times Hector decided to simply translate and read the book aloud.
“Ninth day of the third moon. As spring comes to this green and pleasant land, I eagerly await to see if my constructed tree produces leaves, it has been the work of a winter and it will hold my precious collection. Twenty fifth day of the third moon. Leaves now cover my creation, I had hoped the leaves would be of the size and nature of Yggdrasil leaves, but they are a little small. The magic I have woven into my creation will allow the structure to grow, both the exterior tree and the library within, the library will expand as I fill the shelves and displays. Fifth day of the fourth moon, Marvao came to see me today, he implored me to abandon this place and take my knowledge and skills to the newly crafted tower, he offered me an influential position with the opportunity to teach, as if such a thing would interest me. I sent him away running, with his robe on fire and told him not to bother me again. Tenth day of the fifth moon, it has been some time since I last wrote in my journal, I have been consumed with unpacking my collection, I know it will take me many days and moons to organise them, especially since I become distracted as I take each one from its crate. Fifteenth day of the fifth moon, the cough that has been my bane grows worse, I’m experimenting today with an infusion of chamomile, bane-wood and essence of narlak. Twentieth day of the sixth moon, after many months work I have created my guardian, using the power of the summer equinox I brought my creature to life. As the tree grows and draws its power from the earth my raven Quote is connected to the tree. Twenty-first day of the sixth moon, to my great surprise Quote has the power of speech, I intended for him to be intelligent enough to aid me in minor tasks and…”
“Come on Hector, what did he say next,” prompted Darren.
“He has smudged the ink, and his handwriting is bad, he was obviously really excited,”
“Just move on to the next page Hector,” whispered Melody she was clearly on tenterhooks.
“Third day of the seventh moon, Quote is my most dependable creation and companion, in a matter of days he has memorised the locations of books, scrolls, and artefacts, he has become invaluable in my efforts to begin cataloguing my possessions. Ninth day of the seventh moon, the cough has grown worse, some days I am barely able to leave my chamber. Quote brings me news from the village, it is a shame he cannot fetch enough food for me as well, the gossip helps to pass the time as I lie in my sickbed. As I feel a little stronger today I will attempt a new infusion of dandelion root and dried juniper berries, failing that there is still a bottle of rhubarb wine, that will suit my throat and give me a good night sleep. Fifteenth day of the seventh moon, Marvao returned today with a healer, the young woman was such a beauty I allowed her to examine me, I sniffed her golden hair as she lent in to listen to my ragged breathing…”
“What a disgusting old pervert,” blurted out Melody
Hector nodded, he had kept on reading silently and by the expression on his face the book went into far more seedy details. Turning a page Hector picked up the narrative again.
“Twelfth day of the ninth moon-”
“Hang on, how have we got on all the way to the ninth moon? What happened to the eighth?” demanded Darren.
“A page has been torn out,” stated Hector bluntly, “twelfth day the ninth moon, what little health and vitality Fina returned to me has now faded, the illusion spell I used for the past month has drained much of my power, but the memories of those happy days will stay with me for the remainder of my life. Fourteenth day of the ninth moon, Quote has returned from Fina, bearing a new medicine and a letter. Fifteenth day of the ninth moon, Fina’s medicine soothes my aches and pains, but leaves my magic weak. I must proceed with setting the wards to protect my legacy before it is too late, at the turning of the next moon I will have everything in place, all I need now is a sacrifice. Twentieth day of the ninth moon, Fina has returned, I enthral her with my allusions, this time she will not leave. Twenty-third day of the ninth moon, tonight when the full moon rises I will conduct my ceremony, the chamber beneath the library is all prepared and I now have Fina so far under my power she will go willingly. Twenty-fourth day of the ninth moon, it is done, a bloody night’s work, but the wards are in place to protect my tree for a hundred years and more. Ninth day of the tenth moon, Quote has been absent for eleven days now, I sense he disapproves of what I did, but the magic that binds him to this place as my creation means he cannot go far. Eleventh day of the tenth moon, Marvao returned searching for his daughter Fina, I refuse to leave the library to speak with him we exchanged words via Quote, Marvao became enraged and tried to burn down the tree. This proved an excellent opportunity to test my wards, the fire flowed across the ground, but fizzled out as it reached the base of the tree as the magic fuelling it died, I on the other hand, who possesses the seal ring, was able to use my magic to send him scurrying away, chased by a number of lightning bolts. Fourteenth day of the tenth moon, Marvao returned with a mob, I am trapped in here now, they threaten to burn the tree down with normal fire, which I fear will work.”
“Come on, I know that’s not the last page what does he say next?” prompted Darren.
“It’s just crazy ramblings, sometimes he uses arcane runes, and these words I think are in leaf elf, which I can’t read, I’m not certain if there’s anyone even at the Arcane tower who can read the elf languages any more.”
“I wonder what was on the missing page from the diary?” pondered Melody.
“Nothing that would do you any good to know,” answered a new voice.
The trio looked up and saw perched on the other side of the table a scruffy raven.
“Did that raven just speak?” asked Darren stupidly.
“Yes,” replied Melody she stared at the bird. “I presume that you are Quote?”
“I am indeed young mistress, by what names may I call you?”
“I knew that the bird would speak, but actually seeing it, I mean hearing it has taken me by surprise,” muttered Darren as he eyed the bird warily.
“My name is Melody, these are my friends Hector and Darren,” as she spoke, Melody pointed to her friends.
“To which magical houses do you belong?” asked Quote.
“We are still students, but I hope to join the House of Shadows,” said Hector then he pointed at Melody, “Melody here intends to join the House of the Wind and devote her life to research. As for Darren he will probably join the House of the Flaming Fists, and become a battle Mage, that’s if he can control his conduct properly.”
“Very interesting master Hector, I’m glad that I chose to reveal this place to you three, you have such different skill sets and interests that you can make the most of the knowledge that lies here.”
“I take it that you will now serve us?” asked Hector.
“Indeed master, but only one of you can take the seal ring and use their magic powers within the confines of the wards.”
“Quote, would it be possible to break the wards so that we can use our magic freely?”
“That would be my wish young mistress,” as Quote spoke, he bowed his head.
“What must we do, to break the seal?” asked Melody.
“Below this level there is a chamber, which is half filled with the roots of the tree. It was within this dark place that the sacrifice was made, and the wards were set, only there can they be undone.”
“Finally, an opportunity to use some battle magic, Hector pass me over the deck guy’s ring and I’ll go down there and burn the magic away,” Darren rubbed his hands together as he spoke, then he stretched his shoulders to flex his muscles.
“To start with master Darren you’ll need to open the secret door. If you place your hands on the edge of the table and turn it clockwise to this point,” Quote indicated part of the patterned wooden table with his beak. “Then turn it anticlockwise to this point.”
Following Quote’s instructions Darren rotated the tabletop clockwise and anticlockwise, sometimes moving it almost fully around and then maybe an inch or two. Each time he stopped the table at its new position there came a click, Melody and Hector watched in fascination at this combination lock. Finally after one more short turn anticlockwise, they came a boom and a rumble. Turning to look behind them they saw a section of shelving swinging out, and a stone staircase behind it unfolding down into the darkness. Picking up the lamp and swinging it confidently Darren moved forward, he paused after two paces remembering that he didn’t have the master control ring.
“Be a good chap Hector and pass me the ring,”
“Why are you asking me? If you want it so badly get it yourself.”
“Come on mate you have experience with these kind of things, I mean the whole realm of death and dreams that is your forte.”
Both young men turned in astonishment, as Melody pulled at the gold ring on the dead sorcerer’s hand, she barely shrieked as the finger dropped off and she shook it out of the ring. With only a minor look of disgust she slipped the ring onto her own finger. Instantly lights came on within the library, illuminating more details on the lower levels, like the carvings of plants and animals on the bookcases. The lights themselves were sunken into the wood and before they had been illuminated, they had looked to be nothing more than part of the decorations. A white aura spread up Melody’s arm, illuminating her pale lilac robe and leaving little white dancing lights in her curly blond hair for a moment.
“Congratulations young mistress, you are now in control of the library,” Quote bowed to Melody, before he hopped off the table, flew across the room and landed on her shoulder.
Without a glance at the others Melody strode forward, lights bloomed in the stairwell as she headed down, illuminating her path, as there was nothing else Hector and Darren could do, they followed in stunned silence.
The stone steps descended in a great spiral, the walls around them arched up to create a tunnel of seemingly bare earth and roots. Every now and again a rock would jut out of the wall a couple of inches, experimentally Darren pulled at a pebble that looked loose and found it came away in his hand.
“Please don’t pick at the walls, this space was never finished,” as Quote spoke, he hopped about on Melody shoulder to face Darren.
Defiantly meeting the raven’s glare Darren posed a question to the creature.
“In the diary it said that your life force was linked to that of the tree, so how come you look so scruffy?”
“I’m sure you’ll look scruffy too when you’re nearly seven hundred years old.”
“Of course that makes sense, the old Mage mentioned the new tower, he must of been referring to the Arcane tower, our school will be celebrating its seven hundredth birthday in two years time,” Hector paused for a moment considering his next question. “What was the old Mage’s name?”
“He never told me, I always called him Master, but Marvao called him Goatfar, or more often Fat Goat,” as he spoke Quote shrugged his shoulders which is easy to do with wings.
“Hush, we are nearly there,” Melody’s voice had a strange musical quality to it that her friends had not heard before.
A rough stone archway appeared at the bottom of the stairs leading into a large domed room, more than half the space was filled with tree roots, some as thick as a barrel, others as slender as fingers. All the roots emerged from the domed ceiling and spiralled in criss-crossing patterns until they reached the floor where they disappeared into the ground. With a little difficulty there was just room to squeeze through the roots, to reach the centre where a light glowed from within a dense cluster of roots.
“There, Mistress, that light is the source of the power of the protective wards,” Quote jumped from Melody shoulder and flew off towards the light.
Melody found it easy enough to climb up and under roots to get to the centre, but her two male companions found they were squeezing through gaps a little too tight for comfort.
“When I was a little boy my grandmother told me a story about a naughty child, who went off to play down by the river, where the cunning willow tree was. The little boy had been warned not to play near the willow tree, as it would whisper in your ear, but he went to play in the water. The willow tree convinced him to swim in amongst its roots, it said something about a gold coin, or magic ring, or something. Anyway, the little boy swam down in amongst the roots, only for the tree to tighten its grip around the boy, and he drowned,” said Darren.
“Your grandmother sounds as cheerful as mine,” muttered Hector, “Now you’ve mentioned it, I’m concerned by the thought of these roots closing in around me.”
“They’ve already done it once.”
Melody pointed to the source of the light, little dancing lights clung to the once white bones of a skeleton that hung amongst the roots, here and there were ancient bloodstains, but they had faded to little more than brown smudges. A few wisps of blonde curls remained tangled up in the roots, but what really drew everyone’s attention was a root that grew out of the right eye socket and doubled back, heading in through the mouth.
“Fina the healer?” Melody sounded uncertain.
“Indeed the fair Fina,” said Quote. That terrible monster of a man, enthralled her with dark magic, blinding her mind and senses to all but what he wanted her to see and think.”
“What must we do now Quote?” Hector’s voice was hard and resolute, he knew a little of the forbidden blood magic that must have been used in this sacrifice to set such powerful wards.
“Cut away the roots that hold her, take her bones from this place and lay them to rest elsewhere, that will break the wards. But be careful if you damage the roots too much you may kill the tree. I’m not sure if the library in its pocket dimension would survive that,” said Quote.
Each of the three companions nodded solemnly, they all drew the short knife carried by all magic users and final year students. Carefully they cut ay the roots as close to Fina’s remains as they could. Melody tackled the thickest ones as she could conjure a little magic around her blade, that allowed her to make the cuts swiftly. As the bones became loose, Hector went back upstairs and came down with a lovely cloak that had been displayed up in the library, he laid it down and began to fill its centre with the bones.
One hour turned to two as the trio worked on, their mouths became dry, and there hands sore from the hard labour, but they did not falter or complain. Finally, Melody took her enchanted knife to the roots holding the skull in place, as she cut away the tree root it shrivelled and died, crumbling out of the eye socket and mouth as dust.
“Let’s get out of the library,” said Hector. “I think we all could do with some fresh air.”
The others followed Hector’s suggestion as he reverentially picked up the folded cloak containing Fina’s bones.
As the three friends emerged through the trapdoor at the top of the library and peered through the branches, they were surprise to see that the sheep were gone, and in their place was a small crowd waiting in the field around the tree. The villagers had brought picnics and they were keen to hear everything about the mysterious tree. Darren gratefully accepted a bottle of ginger beer and after he downed it, he began to tell the tale, leaving out some of the more unsavoury details, as a small boy of about eight years old hung on his every word. Food was shared and bottles of drinks were passed about, whilst Melody and Hector relayed more details of the library. Darren had wisely stationed the village priest at the foot of the ladder to ward off any curious children, as the library was still dangerous and of course the remains of Goatfar still needed to be disposed of.
“What are we going to do next?” asked Hector.
Melody stretched out on the green grass, drinking in the smells and sights of the summer’s day all around her, as she collected her thoughts, Darren jumped in to answer the question.
“The logical thing to do would be for us to split up, I will stay here and protect Melody and the library while she begins cataloguing. Since the wards are down anyone could muscle in and claim this site. You should return to the Arcane tower and explain what’s going on, you have the best people skills, no one ever argues with you. Also, you should return Fina’s remains,” Darren pauses for a moment as he searched for the right words, “just don’t let them put her bones in the crypt, she was a healer, no that’s not what I meant. She’s been down in the dark long enough…”
Hector placed a hand on Darren’s forearm, the two young men exchanged a look that suggested words did not need to be spoken, as they each understood the other in that moment. Melody sat up and nodded with approval.
“The only remains that deserve to be left under the tree for all eternity are those of Goatfar, and that is what I intend to do next,” she said.
“There are also the other rooms connecting to the lower floor of the library that can be accessed by rotating the table, you have a lot to explore and experience mistress Melody,” Quote spoke quietly, so only the trio could hear him, the raven sat on Melody’s lap allowing her to gently stroke his feathers as he ate a slice of bacon.
In the days and weeks that followed, Hector returned to the Arcane tower, but shortly before he reached it, he stopped on a sunny hillside and dug a small grave. He did not have the skill to lay out the bones precisely, so he piled them up carefully with the skull on top, still wrapped in the beautiful purple cloak. When the hole was filled in, he replaced the turf and left the spot un-marked except for a sprig of white roses.
Darren discovered a chest of gold in a storeroom off the library and used some of it to purchase the land around the great tree from farmer Smith. Then Darren commissioned the local carpenter Mr Taylor to build some sturdy wooden steps that would lead up to the library hatch. Seeing what a fine job Mr Taylor made of the stairs he kept him on along with Mr Cook the builder as they set about constructing a small house.
Melody was as good as her word, she removed the remains of Goatfar from the library and deposited them in the chamber beneath the tree. She’d investigated the old Mage’s bed chamber, a kitchen and a small bathing chamber that led off from it and decided she didn’t want to use the spaces. Not only were they dark and claustrophobic she discovered the torn out page from the diary in Goatfar’s pocket, she now knew some of the horrors that had taken place in those rooms.
Quote claimed to serve the library and to offer advice and help to anyone within it, but it became clear very quickly that he was loyally attached to Melody, he would follow the young woman around pointing out things and even reading and translating old manuscripts for her. As the library saw a new lease of life so did Quote, it didn’t take long for his dusty grey feathers to fall away and glossy new black ones to take their place.
When Hector returned from the Arcane tower he brought with him three professors, who tried to take over the cataloguing and they were keen to break up the collection and send it back to the Arcane tower. Melody had always been known for her gentle nature, her calm voice and her kindly words, but when she discovered what these three wise sages had planned, she erupted like a volcano. Apparently ,she sent all three of them scurrying for the hills, or at least that’s how Hector described it to Darren when he came back from a trip to a local quarry.
Whilst the new house was being built, the trio stayed at the inn beneath the sign of the great oak tree, they would sit up late into the night talking, sharing plans and dreams.
In the years that followed the small house was extended, as a few other students who grown tired of the strict rules of the Arcane tower came to study at the Tree of Knowledge as it was now known. Melody was a natural teacher and she split her time between researching the library and sharing what she discovered.
Darren took his responsibilities as Guardian of the Tree of Knowledge seriously, and the responsibility brought him an air of maturity, that in time caught Melody’s eye. Shortly before these two turned thirty they decided to marry, which of course meant building another structure in their ever-expanding complex. Darren commented that before long they would have buildings circling the oak tree, and five years after making that statement it became true.
Hector returned to the Arcane tower to complete his education, he did indeed join the House of Shadows and return to his homeland, to visit his father and brother. Hector did not stay in Garnett for long, he set out to travel the lands, to learn new magic, to collect rare objects and he would often return to the Tree of Knowledge, to visit his old friends and their children.
It’s also said that Hector returned to the hillside near the Arcane tower every so often, to place white flowers at a certain point, but whether you believe that or not I will leave up to you.