Runes of the Quest

Chapter 1

“Cast your Runes?”

In the market crowd, it was hard to hear any single thing, but the street magicians knew their trade well and could capture anyone’s attention, even in a crowd this size. I was no exception. The soft voice came from my left, and when I turned, I faced the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Her hair was a curly auburn that fell to her waist, and her eyes were the deep green of thick leaves after a summer storm.

She swayed with lithe grace as she extracted a leather pouch from somewhere within the folds of the black cloak that hid her body. As she shook the bag, her ruby lips pulled back into a wide smile. “You look like one who has a date with destiny, love,” she purred. “Why not see what advice the oracle can give for the price of a piece of silver?”

Entranced, I sidestepped out of the flow of the crowd and into the small space surrounding her table, not caring whom I jostled in the process. I dug into my pocket, pulling forth what I hoped to be a gustpa and handed it to her. Even before it landed in her open palm, it disappeared, and the leather pouch began to rattle as she shook it again. Prying apart the tied thongs, she held the bag out to me. I reached in, feeling smooth coolness beneath my fingers, and picked three of the stones.

I set them on the table in the order I had drawn them. Squinting, she rearranged them so she could read them from right to left as I had placed them before myself, and she flipped over the two which were blank. One remained so. She was quiet for a few moments, ever mindful of the effect her silence would have on me as I awaited my fate. Then she cleared her throat and pointed to the runes between us.

“You’re on a quest of sorts, no?” she asked, looking into my eyes. I nodded, and she continued. “This first stone is marked with raido, the Rune of the Journey. Your present course, though what you seek is closed to me.”

I bit my tongue, not willing to tell her whom I sought. She was a passing sigel, a street magician who traveled from town to town like dandelion spore, taking root wherever the crowds might be. She may have heard the legend of Talitha, but I couldn’t take her into my confidence here, in the middle of the marketplace. So I kept quiet, and she pointed to the second stone.

“This is gebo, the Rune of Partnership. I see you travel alone, and in this age it isn’t safe for a woman to do so. But your crossbow and quiver tell me you’re a warrior of sorts.” I nodded again, but she didn’t see me—her eyes were trained on the stones. “However, someone will be joining you soon.”

I started and she looked up, her green eyes flashing in the afternoon sun. “Ah yes, you’ll not travel alone much longer.”

Before I could respond, she pointed to the blank stone and smiled. “Odin’s Rune, the Unknowable. The end and the beginning. A portend of death at times, but don’t be afraid. Quite the contrary in this case. Here it represents karma, and tells us nothing is predestined that cannot be changed. This is your future.”

Eerie. Without a word, I began to draw away. Next she’d want to read my palm for another gustpa, or maybe cleanse my chakra, or some such nonsense. But before I moved too far, she grabbed my wrist. When I turned, she smiled again. “What’s your name, quester?”

“Morlea,” I told her, eager to go. The spell she had woven to draw me in had broken and my mind wandered. If I wanted a place to sleep tonight, I had to leave for the inn now. They would only hold my place until dusk before giving it away if I didn’t show to reclaim it, and already the Runes and their meanings were slipping from my mind. I had a princess to find.

But her lips formed my name, and at the will of her magic, my mind snapped back to the stones and to her. “The Boar’s Head Inn,” she said, releasing my wrist so I stumbled into the flow of the crowd. A few people pushed me back, angry I had fallen into them, but most stepped out of my way. They saw the crossbow, I knew.

Still, I got turned around and thrown off-balance. I shook the crowd away and turned, looking for the table where she had been, but it was gone.