Kismet and Tell:
Book One
Of Adventures in Sorcery

	
       



      "Part One: Foreword to Fortune"



Well, my adventure started out normal enough...

A blue light flashing in my face woke me. I stared at the blinking globe on the bedside table for a minute, still half asleep. It took my fuzzy mind a minute to remember what the light meant.  I covered my eyes with my hand and groaned. They always pick the worst time to summon me, I thought to myself in irritation. Don't they know a girl like me needs her beauty sleep? I sat up and pulled the heavy brown curtain aside from my window a little and looked out. Yep, still dark. I checked the clock next to the blue bauble. It showed the time as midnight. I heaved a sigh and reluctantly got up from my bed. Placing my hand over the globe, I turned the light off. Then I opened the curtain all the way, and by the moonlight pouring in through the window I proceeded to get dressed. I slipped out of my sleeping gown and put on my usual outfit of pants, shirt, tunic, gloves, boots, and gold circlet.  As a precautionary measure, I attached my short sword to my belt. Before leaving, I ran a brush through my knee-long, deep blue hair, not bothering to braid it as usual because I was in a hurry.  I checked my appearance in the mirror quickly: big, round sapphire blue eyes hidden just slightly by my bangs; high cheekbones; a cute, round face with just a hint of angularness; a cute little mouth with lush lips; and an adorable, barely upturned nose. Still pretty, even if I'm not quite awake yet, I thought with a small smile.
On my way out of my small, simply furnished room, I paused in the doorway and weighed my options. I could run down the many dark streets of the port city to reach my destination, but though I liked the idea of the exercise I'd get, I didn't feel up to confronting the lowlifes lurking out there. I felt too tired to enjoy such battles at the moment. And besides, I knew quite well the impatience of the men who had summoned me. So I decided to Teleport instead. Teleportation is an easy spell to cast, but it uses a lot of magic power and so it's very draining on me. So I only use it when I think it's definitely necessary. And since the spell requires me to visualize my destination, I can only Teleport myself to a place I have actually been before. Normally, I prefer to walk wherever I go because I love the exercise. So, having made my decision on mode of travel, I mentally pictured the runes for the spell, and activated it by saying, "Teleport". A bright white light surrounded me, and the floor vanished from beneath my feet.
I found myself a moment later in a quite ordinary, run-of-the-mill room of a castle. Torchlight lit the spacious room, revealing the colorful tapestries that ineffectively covered the moss and mildew that had taken up residence on the grey stone walls. A chilly draft hit my back, and I shivered slightly. I knew I should have put my cloak on, too, I thought with a slight grimace. Lord Etain, the most powerful lord of the city of Westover and therefore head of the Council, sat at a large rectangular table of polished oak in the middle of the "grand meeting chamber". Also at the table sat the ten remaining lesser lords of the city. They all wore "casual attire", given the lateness of the night. That is, they had on simple silken shirts, leotards, and doublets with their respective crests embroidered on them. When I materialized in the chamber, I found the men in earnest discussion of some topic. I crossed my arms over my chest and cleared my throat to get their attention.
"Ah, Miss Marissa. There you are. So nice of you to join us." Lord Etain motioned for me to have a seat at the table. Grey tinted his receding shoulder-length brown hair, and it looked as if he was getting a bit chubby in his old age, as evidenced by the way his stomach made his belt look like it wanted to come undone at any second. Etain must be one of those people who age badly, I thought. I hope I age better.
I sat in the chair at the end of the table opposite Etain, then propped my elbows up on the table and rested my chin in my hands. I looked him in the eyes. His green eyes still held the fire of youth despite his age.
 "It's not like I have a choice," I told him. "The deal was that I would help the lords of the city of Westover whenever they needed me to, and in return you would pay all of my bills in the city for as long as I reside here."
"That was the deal. However, I didn't know the bills would be so enormous.... Especially the food bills."
I felt my face get a little warm. My right hand rubbed the back of my head and I laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, well, a girl's got to eat, doesn't she?" I said in weak defense. 
"But enough to feed a small army? That's about what these bills amount to.  Triple servings of full course meals at each meal...and then double helpings of desert afterwards? I'm surprised you've managed to keep such an attractive figure."
I glared daggers at him and let loose a low growl from my throat. He was getting a bit personal. Then the next thing anybody knew, I stood beside him, frowning, and...
BONK!
My fist clunked him on top of his head. Not too hard. Just hard enough to get my point across. "So I get carried away sometimes!" I said testily. "Just lay off!" 
He cringed back into his chair and rubbed the small bump forming on his head. "S-sorry, Miss Marissa," he stammered. "I meant no offense."
I calmed down. I didn't want to do TOO much to alienate myself from my mealticket with my temper, but it seemed they needed a reminder of just who I was. "Apology accepted, Lord Etain," I said as I returned to my seat. "And as for how I keep my perfectly proportioned figure.... Well, a ruthless mercenary sorceress like myself manages to get plenty of exercise on her travels, between disposing of bandits and taking their loot, finding lost treasures, and hiring her services out for the cause of justice." 
Etain nodded in understanding, probably not wanting to press the issue.  I decided to let the subject go and get down to business. I crossed my arms over my chest. "Well, anyway, what can Marissa Cobalt do for the fine lords of Westover this time?" I asked him.
Lord Etain leaned over and looked at me imploringly. "My nephew, Branden, has disappeared. I want you to find him."
"Huh?" My arms fell to the table and I looked at him in confusion.  "I can understand your personal concern," I told him, " but why does his disappearance concern the other lords of the city? They probably aren't all that worried about his well being. Since you have no son, your nephew stands to inherit your seat on the Council after you are gone, and his disappearance would provide the other lords with an opening for them to fill with whomever they'd like." Not to mention that the egotistical bastard's a royal pain in the neck and probably wouldn't be that missed, anyway, I added silently. I know I won't miss him. "There must be something else about his disappearance to warrant all the lords to ask for my help in finding him," I finished aloud. After living in Westover and performing various "odd jobs" for the lords for over five years, I'd managed to gain a good understanding of the politics of the port city.
Another lord, sitting to my left, laughed. I recognized the fat, bald man with the long, droopy mustache as Lord Abarond. "How very astute of you, Miss Marissa. Branden was in search of the lost treasure of Archadia for us. He has not been heard from in almost a month."
	 "That's all well and good," I said, still confused, "but what is your concern? Granted, the lost Archadian treasure would be a great find..."
Lord Etain answered my question. "One of the pieces of the treasure is of great importance to Westover. It is a relic of the bygone days of the city. That's all we can tell you for now." 
I suddenly found myself standing with my chair toppled over and my hands flat on the tabletop. "That's all!? That's all you can tell me!?" I practically shrieked the questions at them. I'm a bit quick-tempered and a little prone to acting without thinking at times. I've been trying to work on that, though, but not too successfully. 
The lords shrank back in their chairs from my outburst, expressions of wide-eyed horror on their faces. Half of them managed to stutter apologies, and the other half crawled under the table to hide lest I did something even more violent - which I actually thought about doing as I stood there with my chest heaving in anger. It really upset me that they would tell me so little about what they were looking for, after all that I had done for them in the past. And I had a bad feeling about the whole thing, too. Slowly, I calmed my breathing, figuring that I could live with the small amount of information that they were willing to give me...and deciding to find Branden and get that treasure all for myself. So, I'd eventually find out what they were after in any case. 
I composed myself after my little outburst and got back to business. I straightened my chair and sat back down. "Ok, I'll find him," I told Etain. "Tell me where he was last seen or heard from and where he was going to head for next."
"He was last in Apo, heading for the Camra area." Lord Etain and the others sitting at the table looked relieved at my acceptance of the quest.  The ones hiding under the table crawled back up at my agreement...and my lack of violent action. I could see another emotion behind the looks of relief, though - an emotion I could not quite identify but that reinforced the feeling I had that they were up to something, and that that something wasn't good.
After I had the information I needed, I Teleported back to my little rented loft above a magic shop to get what sleep I could before morning, when I would set out on my journey.


*			*			*


That morning I packed into two small bags whatever I thought I might need to start my journey - a few magic items, but mostly food rations of dried meat and biscuits. I put the bag of rations on my belt and the other bag in a magic pocket inside my brown cloak. I'd designed the magic pocket myself. Whatever I put in it gets placed into a pocket dimension.  To retrieve something from it I only have to think of the item and put my hand in the pocket. There is also a list in the pocket of all the items I put in or take out. The list updates itself each time something is added or removed. I put my hand in the pocket and took out the list. I looked it over to refresh my memory of what was in the pocket dimension, then returned it.
When I was finally ready, I left the port city of Westover, making my way out the crowded southern gate of the city. Naturally, whenever someone saw me coming their way, they got out of my way. I walked along the dirt road, heading south across the plains, towards the city of Apo.  Before I got too far, though, I stopped and cast a small little spell - just to be on the safe side. I didn't want anyone with dangerous intentions to follow me.
My boots, made from the hide of a black dragon, scuffed in the dry dirt of the road as I walked, and my cloak fluttered now and then in the light breeze. I thought back to the events of the night before while I journeyed. I couldn't escape the feeling that the lords were up to something evil, and that poor Branden was just a pawn in whatever game the lords were up to. And for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what they were up to. They want that piece of the Archadian treasure badly, but why? What's so special about it? And what's happened to Branden?
I thought about it and thought about it, puzzled over and pondered those questions all day without making any headway on them. I finally concluded that I needed to do some research on the Archadian treasure. The stories I had heard about it as a child - that it was a veritable treasure trove of gold and artifacts, lost with the mysterious disappearance of the wondrous city of Archadia a thousand years earlier - weren't helping me figure the puzzle out. 
At the onset of twilight I decided to stop for the night. I followed the road as it curved into the trees of the surrounding forest and set up a small camp a little ways off the road. It wasn't much, just a little campfire under an oak, but it would suffice to keep me warm during the chilly autumn night and keep any unfriendly creatures away. I opened my bag of rations for my dinner, and my eyes widened in horror. Oh, no! It's empty!  
"WAAAAH!" I whined, and some tears fell from my eyes. 
I was SO hungry. I could have kicked myself for doing it again. I had packed just enough food to last a couple of days until I reached the nearest town on the way to Apo. But as is my habit when I get deep in thought, I munch. And I had been so lost in thought all day that I had unwittingly munched all of my rations. NOW what was I supposed to do? There was no stream nearby, or I could've caught some fish. And tramping through the forest in the dark to hunt was definitely out of the question. I'd just have to wait until morning to find some food. So, with tears still streaming down my cheeks and my stomach rumbling in protest, I curled up beside the campfire to sleep fitfully.


* 	 	            * 	  	          *

                           
The bright golden sunrise of morning came fast, almost too fast. Before I knew it, I found myself trudging along the road in a zombie-like state, listening to the chirping of the birds and wanting very much to roast them over an open fire but knowing I had no way to reach them. Unless I wanted to blast them to bits with my magic, which wouldn't solve my food problem. My stomach rumbled quite often, and though it seemed awfully loud to my ears, it scared none of the local wildlife. 
When no suitable food had been found after a couple of LONG hours of walking in starvation, I pretty much resigned myself to having to wait until I reached the next town before I would be able to get some food. I stopped long enough to count my money. I reached into my magic pocket and took my money purse out. It felt too light. Dreading what I might find, I looked in the purse. Not liking what I saw, I turned the purse over and shook it. Just some lint fell to the ground. 
"ARRGH!" I screamed in mortification and plopped down on the ground. "NO money! No money! NO MONEY! WAAAH!" 
I couldn't even buy food when I reached town, now! I had forgotten that I'd charged all my supplies to the lords of Westover, so I had no hard currency. What was I going to do? Too bad there weren't any bandits around for me to rob...
But just as that thought crossed my mind,  I heard a twig snap. I looked up quickly and saw a ragtag group of ten bandits appear a little ways away among the trees of the forest and surround me in a circle. They all wore dingy clothes, but only some of them had ratty shirts on their backs. The bandits stayed just on the outskirts of the forest, close enough to intimidate me before attacking. They threateningly brandished in their hands either swords or clubs. A few of them made catcalls at me.
Their sudden appearance startled but didn't scare me. I had fought enough bandits in my journeys to know one thing about them: they were all bravado and had absolutely no skill. I smiled. Ah, now this is just what I need to lift my spirits - a good bandit-thrashing. I felt safe enough to get a bit cocky before I made them sorry they even attempted to rob me.
I stood up and put my hands on my hips. "Where have you guys been? I was just about to give up and go looking for you myself. Hey, you didn't happen to bring breakfast with you, did you? You know it's good manners to bring a gift, like dish of food, when you pay someone a visit."       
My attitude had the desired effect. They took a step back and stared at me. "Huh?" they grunted questioningly.
The bandit leader - a guy with a patch over his left eye, a scar on his right cheek, and a wicked-looking cutlass held before him in attack position - stepped a little closer to me. My act apparently hadn't affected him. "Sorry to have kept you waiting, Blue-hair," he said. "You didn't exactly make it easy to find you. And no, we don't have breakfast." 
Oh, well. I hadn't really expected them to have food. That would have been asking too much. But I smirked at the other thing he'd said. It pleased me to see that the spell I had cast after leaving Westover - a spell to cover my tracks for the day - had worked. 
The bandit chief grinned fiendishly. "Now, girl, we can do what we came to do."
"And just what did you come here to do?" I asked coyly. "Escort me to Apo? Why, that's so sweet of you..."
"Ha! Of couse not! We're here to kill you."
I became serious. "Kill me? Why would you want to kill ME?" I crossed my arms over my chest and stared hard at the bandit chief. "Since I haven't done anything to you all - yet - it can't be a personal vendetta. So, who sent you?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" The bandit leader smirked and raised his sword near his head in preparation for a charge. 
"Why, yes, I would like to know. That's why I asked. So, are you going to tell me? "
"Not on your life. Now, prepare to die, Blue!"
"Ha! Not on YOUR life." 
I had only a moment to think as the leader and his band of cutthroats charged at me. There were too many to attack with my short sword. I would have to use my magic.
I closed my eyes and willed the magic of my circlet to amplify my power. Then I pictured the runes for the spell, and made a few minor modifications to it. 
	?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????-Ball of flame -explodes on contact -encircle
I opened my eyes and saw the green glow from the emerald on my circlet. I held my gloved hands out before me, palms facing each other. "Infinite Earth, mother of all, grant me the purifying power of fire. Burning fire of justice, gather in my hands." A swirling ball of flame appeared, suspended in air, between my hands. When this new Fireball exploded, its flames would go along the circle of bandits. And since it was being amplified, the bandits didn't stand a chance of living. I grasped the Fireball in my right hand, not being harmed by it because I was the caster of the spell.
I raised my arm to throw the Fireball. "Fire..." I called out, but before I could finish the activation of the spell... 
"Hold it!" a man's voice called from out of nowhere.
The bandits stopped in mid-attack, a scant couple of yards from me. They turned to stare at the person who dared to interfere in their business. The interruption startled me, too. The Fireball died in my hand as something else claimed my attention.
About twenty yards down the road, in the direction I had been heading, a tall, slim man walked out of the forest. With my sharp eyesight I could see that he wore a long-sleeved white shirt over which he wore his only piece of armor: a shirt of chain mail. I could also see the gold hilt of a sword sticking up over his left shoulder. Hmm, definitely a light-fighter. And from the looks of him, he's probably fast and dexterous. I noticed he had his long, flame-red hair pulled back in a ponytail. And he was quite handsome. My breath caught in my throat, cutting off the scathing reproach I had planned to yell to him for being so rude as to interrupt my fun.
"What do YOU want?" the bandit leader finally demanded of the stranger in a tone dripping with ire. "If it's a fight you want, you'll have to wait your turn. We have business with this lady first."
The interloper strode towards us, drawing his sword from the sheath strapped to his back. "I'm afraid I'm not the patient type," he said. "And I can't allow you to harm that lady."
	The bandit chief growled. "Have it your way, Red."  He charged at the swordsman, his band of lackeys following him.
I just stood there, my mouth gaping wide in astonishment. This was the first time anyone had ever come to my rescue. I couldn't think, I was so overwhelmed. I just watched the whole scene unfold before me like some sort of surreal dream. 
The swordsman was very skilled, much more so than I had expected. He held his sword before him, the blade raised to strike. He stood his ground, not moving, waiting for the bandits to come to him. When they were within range, the stranger swung his sword once, hard, from left to right, nearly cleaving the bandit leader and three others near him in half. Two more bandits on the stranger's right attempted to get a sword's strike in under his defenses, but he nimbly dodged to the side, at the same time punching them in the face with the pommel of his sword. He was as quick and agile as I had expected him to be. The two bandits fell to the ground, unconscious, their swords flying from their hands. The remaining bandits turned tail and ran back into the forest, screaming in mortal fear.
The stranger turned to run after them. I came out of my stupor finally and called out to him to wait. To my surprise, he did.
"Let them go," I told him. "They're not worth it." 
He sheathed his sword and turned to face me.
 "Let them tell whoever sent them that I'm not that easy of a target to get rid of," I added by way of explanation. He nodded in agreement. 
I walked over to one of the unconscious bandits.  He was one of the few bandits who wore a shirt.  I knelt, grabbed him by his shirt collar, and roughly slapped him awake. The stranger came over and watched from behind me.
"Tell me, bandit," I said with a growl. "Who sent you?" 
The bandit shook his head. "I, uh, I don't know..."
Anger rose in me, and I put venom in my voice. "Tell me, or I'll let this man here," I motioned with my free hand to the swordsman standing behind me, "finish what he started."
The bandit, really scared now, shook in fear. "All right, I'll tell you. All I know is that it was some nobleman from Westover. He paid us to kill a blue-haired sorceress traveling to Apo."
"Are you sure that's all you know?" I put a growl back in my voice.
He shook his head vigorously. "I swear. Can I go now, please?"
I sighed. "Sure. And take your friend with you." I dropped him rudely to the ground. 
The bandit scrambled up, picked up his unconscious friend, and ran off.
I stood up and turned to the stranger. I had to look up to see his face. He stood about six inches taller than my average height of five-feet, five-inches, and appeared to be about my age of twenty years. And he looked even more handsome up close: clean-shaven, a slightly sharp nose, a slightly pointed chin.... All in all, just what you would expect of the stereotypical hero in a bard's tale.  My heart skipped a beat - or two or three - and my pulse quickened while I stood there, just staring at him, lost in the pools of emerald green that were his eyes...although his long bangs hung down the right side of his face and covered that eye a little. After a couple of moments I realized what I was doing and shook myself out of it. My face grew warm, and I held my hand out to him in greeting. "By the way, thank you for helping me," I told him, feeling a little embarassed that I had stared at him like that. 
	"It was my pleasure," he said. He took my proffered hand, lifted it to his lips, and kissed my knuckles. Then he smiled at me, a dazzling smile that actually reached his eyes. "My name is Fiore Ferio. I'm a traveling mercenary."
I didn't think my face could get any warmer, but it did. I smiled back at him, my first genuine smile in a long time. "I...I'm Marissa Cobalt. My friends call me Riss." At least, they would if I had any. I have a tendency to make enemies easier than friends. Over the years I'd earned a reputation that tended to make people wary of me, except in business deals, where money and necessity seemed to overcome all obstacles. This guy, though, doesn't seem to have heard of me. Otherwise, he wouldn't still be here. And he definitely wouldn't be so nice to me.
I found myself staring at him again. I quickly composed myself. "I, uh, have some business to get back to. I'd better get going. Thanks again." I turned away from him and walked off down the road. 
Step. Step. Step. 
A strong hand grasped my arm. 
I stopped dead in my tracks. But for some reason, I didn't reach back around and knock him across the road like I normally would if someone had grabbed me out of the blue like that. 
 "Hold on, Riss," Fiore said.
My breath caught in my throat again. He actually called me "Riss", I thought in disbelief.  I turned back around to face him.
	"I saved your life, Riss," he said. "I now have an obligation to you. I'm going with you wherever you go until it's fulfilled."
"Oh, you don't have to, Fiore. Really. I wasn't in that much danger, anyway. I could have handled it."
"Regardless, I'm going with you. And who knows, you might need my help."
"Well, if you say so," I told him with a smile. He certainly seemed nice enough, and I'm a pretty good judge of character. Besides, it seemed useless to argue with him about it. And some part of me WANTED him in my company. "Let's go."
	We set off south down the road, the way I had been going and the way Fiore had come from. We traveled in companionable silence. I knew he would eventually find out my infamous reputation and leave me, so I said nothing to him, not wanting to get too close to him before he would leave. I just wanted to enjoy the experience of having a traveling companion for once, even if it was only for a little while. I also wanted a chance to think about what had come over me. Why did I react like that, staring at him and blushing like a silly schoolgirl with a crush? And why did I find myself sneaking glances at him as we walked? Never had I done such things before, and I admit that it frightened me a little that I could behave like that. The very idea that I, Marissa Cobalt, the ruthless sorceress supreme, the bane of all evil, could be overcome by a handsome young man who didn't seem afraid of me.... Well, it was unthinkable to say the least. Somehow, I knew that what had started out as a simple find-a-missing-person-and-a-lost-treasure job had just gotten complicated. I also had a feeling that it would only become that much more complicated along the way and that my life would never again be the same. 
Then a stray thought prompted me to break our silence. "Uh, Fiore," I ventured to say, also bringing our walk to a halt. "I don't want to seem impudent or anything but...do you have any money?"  I'd just realized that I had forgotten to take the money from the bandits.
He stared at me for a moment, uncomprehending, no doubt wondering why I would ask such a thing. Then his eyes lit up with understanding and he laughed.