I rush along the corridors to check the bulletin boards in other wings. I must get these posters down before any more harm is done. I hear the heartbeats in my ears. Who is doing this? It has been obvious since the possession of poor Amy Fingerhut that someone is using sorcery for evil things in the school. But also before then, there have been several incidents that have lead me suspect that they were not ordinary bullying or teasing, but something where magic was involved. Now the game has completely changed. The possession and especially the poisoning were really dangerous actions.
And now this. The poster is a clear sign of organised action. They are recruiting. Despite the running has made me hot, the thought makes me shiver. I remember very well the recruiting that was going on during the Great Battle. I had hoped I would never see that again. But the nightmare is here again. Even Geltoech.
"Help us with your allseeing eye."
This thought strikes my mind like a flash and I stop. Oh my gods, it was just a few hours ago when I saw the viper, Geltoech's totem animal. It was not just an unshy snake. It was an omen. This is growing bigger. It is getting worse. We must stop it before it gets out of hands like thirty years ago.
I start running again, even more determined. The students in the corridors look at me, surprised, but I am too upset to keep up appearances. The north wing bulletin board also has the same awful posters, and I grab them from the wall. Then I rush to the principal's office.
I knock only once and throw the door open without waiting. Almeron looks up irritated, as he is also a man of manners and discipline, but when he sees my exhausted and worried looks and all the posters stuffed under my arm, his blame dries to his lips and instead he stands up.
"Herbert, explain."
His frank sentence might sound unpolite, but I see from his concerned face that he has correctly realised that this is not time for chitchat. Even if he was not in the war, he reminds me of some of our great captains who were able to immediately identify the crucial points in messy situations and also make everyone else focus on them, too.
"Sorcerers are recruiting in the school", I say taking one poster from under my left arm and letting all others fall on the floor. I put it in front of him on his desk. "They do it in the name of Geltoech, just like during the Great Battle."
Almeron reads the poster in silence. After the initial surprise, he now controls his expressions. But I know he is as concerned as I am because he is slowly waving his head from side to side, a thing he unintentionally does when worried. While he is digesting the news, I lean and pick up the other posters from the floor.
Finally he looks up. "Who knows about this?"
"Anyone in the school may know. They were on the bulletin boards during the lunch break, maybe even earlier this morning."
He looks into my eyes for fifteen seconds. I can almost hear his brain working. Then he makes up his mind.
"Miss Wentworth!"
Miss Wentworth opens the door in four seconds and comes in. She is always so precise.
"Yes, Principal?"
"These posters were removed from the bulletin boards just a few minutes ago. Could you please go the the teachers' room - and classrooms if necessary - and tell every teacher in the school the following instructions. But do not let the students know about the content of the message."
"Very well, Sir. I will make a few written notes for teachers who are with students so that I can slip it to them without attention."
"Excellent idea."
"And what are the instructions, Sir?"
"First: continue your normal activities and do not pay attention to or comment the mask posters in any way. Second: if students spontaneously bring up the posters, just say that it was most likely a practical joke. Third: if they ask about Geltoech, tell them that it used to be a trational god from the west, which is the truth."
Miss Wentworth writes the three points down, repeats them, and leaves after Almeron nods to her. He turns back to me. "You have to postpone your teacher's digest. We have other matters to attend during the Friday meeting. We are lucky that all teachers were going to gather together anyway so soon after this incident."
"Wery well. Do you already have plans for the Friday meeting?"
"I will take these posters to the teacher's room to see if anyone can see something we haven't seen. They may contain a clue who has put them up and why. The text is not practical and clear enough for actual recruiting, only for raising interest. And you Herbert, I need you to go back to your Great Battle notes to check any details about the role of Geltoech in the recruiting of that time. Give us a brief overview in the meeting. Can you do that, I mean you don't have a class any more, do you?"
"No, I can focus on this. I'll go right away."
"Good. No, wait. I have a question."
I am already heading toward the door but I turn back.
"Your student Knut Ferrel was here just before you came. He said he's leaving to search for kokohlan lizard's scales from the north. He thinks they may help for Tauria Chand's amnesia. Do you think that might have anything to do with the posters?"
I am really surprised and I have to think for a while to sort my thoughts.
"I have been worried about Mr Ferrel. He has been really upset about Miss Chand's poisoning and barely has paid any attention in class ever since. But today he was more like his old talented self, most likely because Miss Chand was released from the hospital wing earlier today. But otherwise, I did not notice any signs of his intentions to leave, on the contrary he was very present."
"Well, that was during the history class, but less than an hour later he was already leaving. Something seems to have happened in between. What else could it be?"
"I really don't know, but I also cannot imagine why the poster would have made him search for kokohlan lizard's scales from the north."
"Unless it was just an excuse and his intentions are completely different."
I am diturbed by that hypothesis. "I doubt that very much. Mr Ferrel is a straightforward and honest student and has shown no attraction to even white lies, not to mention darker ones."
"Very well. I am glad to hear that. Well, we'll meet at three at the Friday meeting."
"I'll go to my notes."
~x~
The Friday meeting has a clearly tenser atmosphere than usually, and people are whispering rather than chatting. The meeting is for relaxing after a hard week and hearing about new topics - or old topics from a new interesting point of view. Now everyone knows that this meeting will not be relaxing. Rather, people seem to be waiting for clarity to the events of today. Almeron walks into the middle of the teachers' room. Everyone becomes so silent that you can hear your own heartbeats.
"This is an important day, and our actions during the next few days may lead to very good or very bad outcomes, depending on whether we act wisely or not. Today, just before the second lunchbreak someone put up these posters on several bulletin boards in the school."
Almeron raises one poster and gives it to the nearest teacher for closer inspection, who then gives it forward.
"Thanks to Herbert's quick action, the posters were there probably less than half an hour, but still it is likely that most students saw them during the lunch break. The poster is for recruiting students with magical powers to join in the name of Geltoech."
"Are you sure that this is so dangerous? Students are not familiar with Geltoech, and the message is fairly vague, not even a proper recruitment" Jane asks.
"I am glad you show your scepticism, because it will guide our discussion into a right direction", says Almeron. "But this is a serious business as shown by several facts that you will soon hear. The most important is given to you first: there is a hidden message in the poster, written in strange letters you barely see. It invites sorcerers to a remote barn today at eight o'clock to join forces."
This announcement seems to come to most people as complete surprise. They start to move restlessly and look at each other. But when Almeron continues, every pair of eyes is nailed on him.
"This actual message of the poster is very difficult to see, and we don't know how many students actually could read and understand it. We were able to read it thanks to Jacob, who, as you probably know, has a hobby with exotic languages and alphabets. But we have to assume that the person who put these up believes that their target audience is able to get the message.
"It is also important to understand why the appearance of Geltoech is a bad sign. You all know about this god, but it importance in the Great Battle is relevant here. May I ask Herbert to quickly guide us through this topic."
I step forward and join Almeron in the middle of the room. I start with the basic facts about Geltoech and his allseeing eye and how he was worshiped in the early days in west. Then I continue to tell about how sorcerers before the Great Battle started to use him as a symbol of sorcerer wisdom and skills. It was not religion as such, but a practical way to remind people about good properties they wanted to associate with sorcery by using something that everyone already was familiar with. But during the Battle when things became ugly it became a symbol of sorcerer superiority over other people. It invited sorcerers to join forces and to oppress other people because of their inferioity. And the latter interpretation seemed to be the one that was shown on the posters. That was really far from the pre-war times when all mothers were teaching the viper piper rhyme to their children without ever thinking that it could be seen recist. Nowadays few people talk about Geltoech's wisdom in the original, non-political and peaceful way, or even know about it.
"Thank you, Herbert. Yet another fact why I take this very seriously are the several incidents related to magic we have experienced during the last few years. As you all well know, we have had unexpectedly high number of events where the most likely explanation is that someone has used magic for bullying and teasing. The most serious incident was the recent possessing of Amy Fingerhut. After all the previous ones, I don't believe that a random pixie just came to our school from so far away and accidentally possessed someone. We do not know who did these things and why, but based on what we now know, they seem to be intentional violence against students in our school using magic. I assume that the posters and this violence are somehow connected although there is no clear proof. Therefore, we must not exclude the possibility that there is an intention for further violence in our school.
"Now it is time for comments and criticism. As you can see, I myself find the evidence compelling. But my conclusion is very disturbing, so you should think about this carefully and speak up if you have any explanation to the recent events that does not involve intentional violence. This time I really hope that someone could show I am wrong."
Almeron pauses and silence falls into the room. I can see that everyone is thinking seriously but nobody wants to speak. We all know that unfortunately he is most probably right.
After a long pause he continues to speak.
"Very well. The conclusion is that there is a need to worry and we must take action. We have an unknown enemy that is somehow connected to the school. They know that because the posters were quickly removed, Geltoech is not welcome. But we don't know whether they can guess that we actually solved their secret message. Therefore I suggest that we keep this top secret, because they might use the same method of communication also in the future, and we want to keep it that way."
Everyone is nodding to this suggestion.
"We must continue the school work as if everything is normal. The teachers must stay alert, but because we don't know what and where the dangers are, we cannot give meaningful instructions to the students - unless we decide that it is too dangerous here altogether and close the whole school for an indetermined time period. That is the last thing I want to do, because alghough a single student may be safer back home, that would seem like a great victory for our enemy and it would just encourage them to proceed in unknown ways.
"I agree otherwise, but we must try to find out what the meeting today will be about" says Jacob, who seems to be proud that his skills cracked the wicked code.
"You are right, Jacob. I suggest that we send one person to investigate. Someone who is skillfull enough to do it without being noticed. I think you all agree that Herbert is our man for the job."
I look around surprised. At least I did not see that coming, and I see suspicion on other faces, too.
"You will explain why, won't you?" Jane asks.
"With pleasure. You might think why I did not choose you, who are much younger, in excellent shape and really talented with swords and close fighting when need be. The simple reason is that the last thing we want know is a close fight. Lieutnant Herbert Cole lead a pioneer group in the Great Battle, so he really is an expert in how to sneak behind enemy lines and make observations without being noticed."
I feel my neck blushing. I know that not even many teachers know about my military background, and I have liked it that way. But I must admire Almeron's leader skills. With this single task and its motivation he was able to demonstrate that this is about collecting information, not using power; that he understands what is going on; and that he knows all of us personally and our strengths, and uses them wisely for the benefit of the team.
"Good point" Jane says simply. Nobody else seems to have anything else to say about that.
"That is settled then. The next thing. It is urgent that we identify who is or are behind these things, and we should follow as many leads as possible. If you get ideas to find out where the posters were made, come to me immediately. Herbert, before you go to your expedition, you could go visit chief Wismuth and ask whether there are any news about the investigation of Tauria Chand. Now that Miss Chand was released from the hospital today, it is good time to check the status of the investigation. And also related to this: Knut Ferrel mentioned that the poisoned strawberries were in a small cup, but the cup was never found from the town road where the incident happened. It was a simple clay cup but it had horizontal, hand-painted blue stripes on it, so it should be easy to identify. It's possible that the culprit went to the crime scene afterwards and took the cup to remove evidence. So keep your eyes open."
I can see that the frustrated and angry people are now getting slightly excited. The idea that each one of them could take action and make some progress to end this is stimulating. Anyone could find key evidence from within the school, if they just keep their eyes open and make clever conclusions. The Friday meeting ends in much more strengthening attitude than how it started.
~x~
For my evening expedition I take my dark cloak that I rarely use and a mask from the school theatre's storage room. I try to choose one that is as uninteresting as possible, with few identifyable details. I know that I must improvise in the evening, but with a mask I might even get into the barn to actually hear what they talk. I pack my items into a backpack and start walking toward village centre and chief Wismuth. I do not high hopes though, but I have no reason not to try because that's what we agreed on.
~x~
I start to have even serious doubts about the law and order in this village. Chief Wismuth seems to be quite untalented for his job. We are lucky that there are hardly any crimes in this village. And fortunately he is rather lazy. Catastrophes are often caused by friendly hard-working idiots who do their best but everything they do just makes things worse. And because they are friendly, other people are reluctant to get rid of them in time. With our chief, nobody will raise for him if people see that things are getting bad, and we will get a new chief in no time. Someone like Almeron.
Chief Wismuth could go full-time back to his actual baker's job and stop claiming that crimes take so much time. But he doesn't prefer Baker Wismuth, so we won't. It is a pity, because his pastries are really excellent. Although I learned completely nothing about Miss Chand's case, I was lucky to enjoy them during my visit to Chief, and it more than compensated the school lunch I missed.
I know where the barn is and after looking some school maps I have concluded that the most likely route from the school goes through the village centre and along a small road. The lake is on the other side, so that is clearly not an option, and taking an alternative route would lead to the other side of the hill on a very rocky area. So I walk along the small road trying to find a good spot where I can see everyone without them seeing me.
Soon enough I find a perfect place. There is a small abandoned storage hut outside the town just beside the road and a meadow. High grass and cow parsley is growing around it, and nobody has stepped on it for a while. The hut is built of logs on top of corner stones, so there is just high enough a space under the hut to crawl in and stay behind the grass. It is only a few meters from the road. I walk a large circle around the hut and approach it from the opposite side so that nobody can see my footprints. I also move carefully as I used to in the war so that the grass has barely moved when I have passed it. I crawl under the hut, find as comfortable a place as is possible in those circumstances, put my dark mask on and pull my cloak over me. Now I am just another stone under the hut and ready to wait as long as it takes.
The road is completely emptry for a long time. The barn where the meeting place is is abandoned, and so is the house at the end of the road. Only farmers may use it when going to nearby fields, but otherwise I don't expect to see anyone who is not going to the meeting.
It is ten past seven when I hear voices from a distance. Two figures are approaching, a tall one and another, maybe slightly smaller than average. Unfortunately they stop talking before they are close enough for recognisable words and walk in silence toward my hiding place. They are both wearing long cloaks, gloves, and Geltoech's masks. They are definitely going to the meeting. The bigger guy has his cloak collar poorly and I can see that he is wearing the academy uniform under it. So now we have proof that there is a direct connection with the meeting and the school. They go past me and then only the birds break the silence.
It takes half an hour before anything else happens. Then I see another figure approaching. It is smaller and walks like a girl but it is hard to say because of heavy clothing. She is also wearing Geltoech's mask. A flush of disappointment goes through my body when I realise the situation: they are all wearing the same kind of mask. Based on the poster, I have assumed that most participants are here for the first time, and they each grab whatever mask they happen to have. But no. This seems to be an organised group who have put effort in their costumes. They are not first-timers but rather some kind of a secret society. It also means that it will be impossible for me to go anywhere near enough to be seen. Unless, it may be that at least a few first-timers come with different masks.
Now I'm not sure what to hope for: if everyone is wearing the same mask, this is much more organised than I thought; but if there are many people with different masks, it means that their recruiting is successful.
Now it takes only a few minutes for the next figure to show up, and almost immediately another one. I observe them all carefully. I try to memorise their heights, weights, special costumes, boots and whatwever there is that could be used to recognise them afterwards. Unfortunately practically everyone is wearing similar cloaks with hoods on, so there are few details to be seen from behind the grass. All are wearing Geltoech's masks, and all but the first two walked alone. Most also seemed to look around warily, just as if they have gone to steal apples for the first time.
A few minutes go on and nothing happens. It must be almost eight o'clock. Twelwe people have passed me during the last hour. And everyone had the same mask. I cannot join the club even if it would be extremely interesting. As an organised society this was much bigger than I had hoped for. Even if they had trained black magic only for half a year, such a group could cause serious harm to the school and even the whole town.
My thoughts are interrupted by the noise of several footsteps. Three figures approach me in hurry. Although they are still far away, I can see that they have their masks in their hands! My heart starts to beat harder. This time I could actually see their faces and maybe recognise them. I try to move my head slowly from side to side to find the best place to look at them from behind the grass. Why is the sun already so low? The middle figure is the tallest and has blond hair. The person on the right has long hair and seems to be a girl, and the person on left has a short hair, dark. Carefully. Come closer. They seem familiar but I don't quite recognise them from the distance. They walk in silence. Then they look at each other, and put their masks and hoods on. No! It was so close, and so familiar, but I couldn't recognise them. I keep staring at them when they approach. Blond hair, tallish, with a girl and another person, probably a boy.
Suddenly a face comes to my mind: Osborn Woodsham! Can it really be him in the middle? Now they are very close, but with masks and cloaks there is little more than the style of walking that can be used for recognition. Now talk! Cough! But no, they just pass me quietly without a full proof of identity.
My brain starts to hurt. Could it really be Woodsham? He is arrogant, and breaks the rules when he pleases. And he has openly supported sorcerers. Now that I have learned much more about his aunt I could believe that she could have had a great influence on him. He knew things that seemed to be something that he would only hear from Sharon Rey. But she hasn't lived in this country since the Battle, so it is not clear how he could have even met her. But on the other hand, this does not sound like him. I've seen him fight alone for the weak against a large group. Well, I could imagine him fighting for sorcerers, but by poisoning schoolmates? I don't know what to think any more.
The big clock strikes eight. The meeting has started, and it is unlikely that anyone else would come. I still wait for a few more minutes. Then I crawl out of my hiding place, as carefully as I went there. I don't want to leave traces to be seen even tomorrow at bright light. I walk further down the road, looking carefully forward and back not to bump to anyone because they would not be any plausible excuse. I come to the edge of the forest, and I can see the barn in the middle of the field. There are two lanterns at the door and someone standing. Darn, they have chosen their secret place well. It is impossible to get from any side any closer than a hundred meters without someone seeing. It will be impossible for me to hear what they talk.
I decide to hide in the forest behind a boulder where I can still see the barn. I have just sat down when I hear some noise. I look at the barn, carefully not to be seen, and see a dozen figures come out. This was surprisingly quick, I thought that they would have a meeting for at least an hour or two. The people stand in front of the barn, walk around a bit as if uncertain what to do, and then they start heading toward the town. I hear frustrated voices but don't recognise words. It is already too dark to see much of details. The voices gradually diminish and disappear.
I still sit for a quarter of an hour thinking about what I have seen and heard and what would be the interpretation of all this. Then I stand up, walk quickly to Almeron's apartment, and share all the data I was able to collect with him, while sipping tea in his kitchen.
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