The Adventures of Solo Jones: Changeling

Never heard of Solo Jones? Read the first book:
"The Adventures of Solo Jones: Genesis" 


Chapter 1, Interlude, Before Beginning

Mara leaned against me on the back porch swing. Mark and I had found it in the storage room upstairs, the room Mara chose for our bedroom. It wasn't in too bad shape, so we fixed it up and hung it on the back porch.

Two weeks had passed since we took over the house, and it was looking much better. Oh, there were many things still needing our attention, but with the roof and siding work completed we no longer needed much professional assistance.

Just as well, since they didn't like working in the spooky old house.

It was a warmer night than we had been having, and we had no air conditioning; so we sat out in the cool breeze a while, looking over that spooky back yard, before going to bed.

We had been quiet for some time, just enjoying being together. Mara's eyes, in the full moon's light, were truly like deep, dark pools, and I considered telling her that the way lovers do; but she spoke first.

"Solomoriah," she said, "after you were free of your old master, why didn't you go home?"

"Back to my people?" I asked, and she nodded. "Several reasons, I guess. I would have to tell Sol's mother, and Kras' parents, what happened to their sons. I might say they died in battle and leave it at that, but such a lie to people I had known all my life would tear at me." I thought for a moment.

"What about Fresia's parents?"

"I never knew them. She wasn't of my people; Sol met her in another village, where he was apprenticed." I looked off into the darkness. "The most important reason, though, was that I was tainted. I left my people as a headstrong warrior to make my reputation fighting evil; I could hardly return after five years as a necromancer."

"How would they know?" she asked.

"I considered hiding my powers, or pretending to be another type of mage, but almost all my spells were necromancy. Mostly, though, I was afraid they would somehow see it in my eyes."

"I've seen... no, I've felt your coldness, my love. Perhaps they would know."

"Priests and priestesses always seemed to know. They said my aura was impure."

Mara seemed lost in thought. "So you set out away from home, an undesired wanderer who's only love died before your eyes. You must have been lonely."

"I was. I cannot measure the depths of my loneliness, but it was never in me to give up. My will to survive made me Ket's slave, and though I regretted that act I never regretted that power of will which drove me to it." I paused. "I only wish I had been able to confront Ket. That was my ultimate plan, to travel the world gathering power to defeat my old master."

"So collecting the magic books of defeated enemies was not just a quest for power for the sake of power; you had a plan for it." Mara smiled. "A worthy plan. Still," she added, "Personally, I'm happy that your quest brought you to me."

I looked at the moon for a while. "I do regret that I never made it back there."

After another pause, Mara asked "Do you believe in God?"

"God, the One, the Creator? I don't know. Four years with Gruven Ket followed by three years battling the most evil mages of Africa and South America left me with little faith in anything besides my magic, my staff, and my ring." I thought a moment, with Mara staring into my eyes. I smiled. "Recent events have made me reconsider somewhat..."

We kissed, for a time.

Presently she said, "My people are Animists. They believe in animal spirits which guide their fate. When we came here, my father felt that we should try to make a place for ourselves in the neighborhood we were placed in. It turned out to be a mostly Black neighborhood, and pretty much entirely Baptist. So we joined. I think that my mother truly converted; I thought I had too, but I was just a girl. I don't know what I believe, now."

"I've told you of the beliefs of my people, haven't I?" I asked.

"Yes, I think so. Refresh my memory."

"My people believed in a single infinite God of limitless power. He was so far above us as to be beyond our comprehension, so he created beings of great power and set them over us. We called them gods, without meaning insult to God. We were both monotheists and pantheists; we considered the gods worthy of our worship because they were made by our Creator to rule over us."

"Yes, I remember." We resumed kissing for a while, eventually relaxing into an easy, peaceful quiet. I looked at the stars. You think they are unchanging, but they do change, and the sky looked very different than the one my father taught me about.

A while later, Mara said, "You're circumcised."

Puzzled, I said "Yes..."

"So why doesn't the ring make your foreskin grow back?"

I didn't answer right away... I just stared at the heavy silver band.

"I don't know," I finally answered. "I never met a mage or priest who could do with a spell what this ring does. I don't know where the Madman got it, or who made it; the workmanship and design is totally unique, so far as I know. It's really the most powerful item of magic I ever saw."

"Doctors can't do what the ring does either. You could help a lot of people with it."

"I've thought about that," I said. "But I can't help everyone. Maybe it's selfish but I don't want to lose it; I've come to depend on this ring." I looked at my right hand, which had just been regenerated when I got it blown to shreds by one of Dreamwalker's traps. "Maybe too much."

"Could be." Mara sat up, and looked at me. By the gods, but she was beautiful. "Can I ask a favor?"

"I can't imagine anything I wouldn't do for you," I answered.

"I joined a support group for women victimized as I was. I didn't go for very long; sharing the pain helped for a while but eventually it was more like reopening a wound every time I went."

"You want me to heal them?" I asked, certain I was right.

"Yes."

We spent a hour, perhaps, making plans for this mission. Mara wasn't sure how many women would be there; it took about an hour to heal Mara, so that was our benchmark.

Naturally I didn't intend for any of them to see me, or know about me. The plan was to enter the room invisibly and cast a powerful blanket Sleep spell, then simply give each woman an hour of wearing the ring. I would have to cast a Tap spell, but fortunately the location was near a Ley line.

Mara told me that the group sessions took place in a medical office building, and that the therapist always locked up at the end. She thought the cleaning crew was already gone by that time, so barring guards or a security system to defeat, it should be pretty easy.

It'd be nice if things were as easy as they seem.

Chapter 2, Saturday Morning Cartoons

As it happened, that was a Friday night, and the support group met on Tuesdays, so I had a few days to think things over before undertaking the mission Mara gave me.

The next morning I slept late; my once-accurate circadian rhythm ruined by too many late nights, I no longer woke with the sunrise. After completing my morning routine in the bath I dressed, then found Mara in the kitchen eating breakfast, and I joined her. I had just begun when the doorbell rang, so Mara went to get it. Shortly I heard Mark's voice, so curious, I went also. He had a key, after all; why had he rung?

I found Mark and Mara in the living room, and Emily was with him. I had not yet met his daughter, and she shied away from me when she saw me. Mara saw, and said, "Emily, this is Solomoriah, my friend."

The little redheaded girl said, "He's your boyfriend, isn't he?" and giggled. Mara waved me over.

I kneeled down to Emily's level and said, "Yes, I am. I'm pleased to meet you, Emily." I held out a hand, and she came out from behind her father and shook it with all the grave seriousness only a little child can have.

"Do you have anything to play with here?" she asked.

Before I could answer, Mara said, "I'll turn on some cartoons if you like." Emily expressed her approval with a happy squeal and Mara turned on the television. As they looked together through the numerous channels for young people Mark led me into the adjoining office, and closed the door.

"I'm worried about Emily, Solo. Valerie is getting meaner; I thought she was gonna hit me last night when I picked up Emily, and Emily was crying. She cried until we got back to my apartment and I got her a snack, and then she watched some television and sort of calmed down."

"So you think your ex-wife is abusing her?" I asked.

"I'm sure of it. When I gave her a bath I noticed some bruises on her back, and when I asked she told me she fell down. She didn't sound like she believed it herself. They looked like handprints." By this time Mara had joined us, and the look of anger Mark's statement evoked from her was fearsome indeed.

"Call the Family Services people," she said.

"I don't want trouble," Mark began, but Mara interrupted.

"Mark, think about it. Who is more important here? You? Valerie? No, Emily is. You must do the right thing. If Valerie is abusing her, Family Services will take Emily away and protect her. You can probably get custody if Valerie is judged unfit."

I was unfamiliar with the laws governing this sort of thing, and really so was Mara, but Mark admitted that it probably was the best thing to do. He promised to take action Monday morning since he had her for the entire weekend. "I'll just keep her Sunday night. Valerie can scream all she wants, but according to the court decree I have the right to keep her that long."

I left Mark and Mara discussing the distasteful thing he had to do, since the legalities and customs were strange to me. I knew something I could do which was much more useful at the moment.

"May I sit here with you, Miss Emily?" I asked. She giggled and nodded, so I sat beside her on the couch. She was watching a strange cartoon depicting surreal undersea creatures who behaved as if they lived on dry land; though demented in appearance it seemed not to be harmful. I watched with her quietly for a time, then I said, "Have you seen my ring?" She turned and looked at the heavy engraved band with obvious interest. I removed it and handed it to her. "Try it on if you like."

She put the much-oversized ring on her index finger and made a fist to keep it on. "Ooh, it tickles," she said, wiggling.

"Where do you tickle?" I asked, and she pointed to her back and then to the backs of her thighs.

After a few moments she said, "It stopped. Make it do it again!" I shook my head and held out my left hand, and after making a face at me she put the ring back on my ring finger. Shortly the strange cartoon creatures captured her attention, and I quietly got up.

Mara was watching me from the doorway. "You healed her," she said quietly. "Now there's no evidence!"

"Mark said he'd call the Family Services people Monday... didn't you?" I asked, walking through the door into the office. He nodded. "In two days she'd be healed anyway."

"True," said Mark. "Guess I wasn't thinking. Now what do I do?" He sounded very frustrated.

I thought quickly. "Let's change plans," I said. "Take her back tomorrow like normal. I'll go along, invisible, and watch over her. I have some spells which might help."

In fact I had gained two new spells since taking over Dreamwalker's library. I had learned the spells of Aura Reading and Dream Contact. What I didn't have, indeed so far couldn't find, was the spell of AntiMagic he used for protection against me. Most of his books of magical knowledge were in languages other than English, a fact which was most frustrating to me. I shouldn't need AntiMagic for what I had planned, though.

"What will you do?" asked Mara.

"For starters, I plan to adapt a spell of Kinetic Shield to protect Emily from her mother. I may read Valerie's mind, or examine her aura. I don't really have any right, but I suppose I've not let that stop me in the past."

"Emily's well-being is more important than Valerie's rights, as far as I'm concerned," said Mara. Mark reluctantly nodded.

We discussed options for quite a while, until Emily came in and declared she was hungry. Mara and I quickly fixed sandwiches for everyone, and then Mara said, "Emily, would you like to come over tomorrow evening for ice cream?"

"Yes!" she squealed, "yes yes yes yes yes! Ice cream ice cream ice cream!"

"Whoa, sweetie, calm down," said Mark, and eventually Emily remembered the sandwich she was tearing apart and resumed eating it.

"It's settled then," I said. "See you tomorrow around, ah, four o'clock?" Mara nodded, so I knew I had the time right. I was still learning then... it was still easier to think in terms of sunrise, noon, and sunset than in terms of hours.

Mark agreed, then said, "Emily, we need to get going. We don't want to keep the elephants waiting, do we?"

"Ephalants!" she said with enthusiasm. "We're going to the zoo," she said to Mara with extreme seriousness, and Mara nodded, smiling. We walked them to the door and said our goodbyes, and as they drove away Mara said, "Now we can get to the back yard."

Ah, yes, the pleasures of home ownership. Mara had decided that terracing the sloping yard was the only sensible thing to do, and had acquired tools and retaining wall blocks (which we had ordered from a firm which delivered free... I was tired of loading and unloading trucks after removing all the refuse from the house).

So we had work ahead of us. I groaned a little, and Mara made a face which basically said "wimp." Then I had an idea...

Chapter 3, Adventures in Yardwork

By late afternoon we were nearly done with the first terrace. Mara and I were doing most of the digging, but the stone and earth moving I assigned to a group of four Spirit Servants I had summoned. I put a lot of power into each of them, so they could do a lot of work before returning to the spirit world.

Mara was bent down arranging the last of the stones, and I was leaning on a shovel and watching. Without looking up, she quietly said "We're being watched."

I cast my eyes over the yard, trying to look unconcerned, but I saw nothing. On a hunch I silently released a Mystic Vision spell, and then I saw him.

He was invisible, of course, but with the Mystic Vision spell I could see his silhouette. He was downslope a ways, probably fifteen or twenty yards from us, skulking along the fence. I tried not to let him know I saw him, but I must have given myself away, because he suddenly became visible and leaped at me, brandishing a sword.

The leap was incredible; he covered the entire distance between us in a single leap, and had enough momentum left to plant his feet on my chest! While he was still in "flight" I reflexively released a Kinetic Shield spell.

It's all that saved me. The Kinetic Shield absorbed his weight hitting my chest, but in the same move he slashed at me with his sword. My defensive spell absorbed only part of his assault, deflecting the sword enough to change a decapitating strike into one which merely cut my throat. My blood sprayed on his dark clothing as I fell backwards and fell unconscious.

I was only out a moment or two; and I saw that my opponent had made the same mistake which many of my enemies had before... he turned away, assuming I was dead. Of course, the ring began immediately to heal me.

I hurt, naturally, and I doubted I could speak. I looked up slowly, and saw that he was drawing back his arm to slash at Mara.

My fury was instantaneous, and I silently released a twofold Force Bolt at him. He was lifted from the ground and thrown several yards away, landing heavily on his face. I slowly stood up, and waved at Mara to go into the house, but she was already going that way.

The dark-clothed assailant jumped to his feet in a single move, spinning around and coming at me again. That Force Bolt should have broken his back; suddenly I was worried.

He was very strong, fast, capable of incredible physical feats, and armed with a sword which, in the view of my Mystic Vision, glowed powerfully. I was weak from blood loss and half-drowned in my own blood, and I couldn't speak. So, I was afraid. Who wouldn't be? I released a Force Wave as he leaped at me again, and it caught him in midair, knocking him back to the hedges.

The swordsman fell from the hedges and landed running. What would it take to stop him? I released a Paralysis spell, but he began to literally shrug it off as I watched. Before he could resume moving toward me, I followed up with a threefold Lightning Bolt, and at last he fell.

That Lightning Bolt had enough power in it to kill a normal man outright, but as I shuffled cautiously toward him I saw that he was still breathing! Incredibly, he had survived two attacks from me which should have been fatal, as well as avoiding injury from the Force Wave and resisting the Paralysis. As I looked closer I perceived a mystic energy glowing just above his skin. Normal protective magic such as I was familiar with would extend several inches from the skin level; this was a magic I was unfamiliar with.

Tentatively I cleared my throat, and found that I could again speak, though hoarsely. I quickly cast a potent Sleep spell on the swordsman, then called painfully to Mara to find me some rope. She was unwilling to approach him, so when she returned I walked up the steps to get it.

"I'm going to interrogate him in the kitchen," I croaked. She didn't look happy about that. I quickly bound his hands behind him and then bound his ankles. I was still far from healed and didn't feel like carrying him, so I ordered two of the Servants to do it. As I had recently gained a healthy respect for traps, I didn't touch his sword either; rather I had another Servant get it. The last Servant had almost no power left, so I dismissed it.

Mara left the kitchen before the Servants came in with the swordsman. As they put him in a chair I sat down across the table from him, and instructed the Servant carrying the sword to approach me.

Now, at that time I knew little about swords, but there are few things made by humans which have such obvious purpose. I believe that a savage from the deepest jungle, who had never seen a weapon other than spear and blowgun, would immediately heft a sword by the obvious handle, perhaps cut himself on the blade, and quickly realize it was made for killing men.

This one was no exception. It was slightly curved, with the leading edge and a few inches of the back side sharpened. The crossguard curved around into a loop on the side where one's index finger would be; I didn't see the purpose of this, and have since found it to be an unusual design.

The strangest thing about the sword didn't hit me right away. It was clean. I took off my bloodsoaked T-shirt and wrung a few drops of blood from it onto the hovering blade. It ran off the blade like mercury. Even the leather-wrapped hilt repelled the blood.

Mara came in then. "Here, Solomoriah, give me that," she said quietly, taking the bloody shirt. She then handed me a damp towel to clean up with, and I thanked her as I removed the blood from my skin. I felt my neck and found the skin nearly healed, as I expected. "Here," she said, taking the towel and handing me a clean white T-shirt. I put it on.

The swordsman stirred a bit, alarming me, since I expected the Sleep spell to keep him out for at least an hour if not two. It seemed that he was dreaming; so I sent the Servant with the sword to the basement to place it in the room under the stair.

I then studied my assailant. He was tan-skinned and dark haired; in fact, he was colored much as I am. He was a shorter man, though, muscular and blocky in form. His features at first I took for Caucasion, perhaps from India, but then I noticed he also resembled a black man enough to pass as one with his skin darkened. His eyes had a hint of the Oriental in their shape. In short, I found his origin difficult to place.

Now, I often hear that one shouldn't discriminate on the basis of race. Realize that I don't, at least so far as to expect certain things of someone based on his color. I learned long ago (very long ago) that such "profiling" is usually an easy way to eliminate potential allies and overlook new enemies. Remember also that I, a nominally "white" man, fell in love with Mara, a "black" woman, literally at first sight.

But here was a fellow whose origin was cloaked. I found myself wondering if somehow it was intentional.

Well, enough time wasted, I thought. I dismissed the Sleep spell, then said loudly, "Wake up, dead man!" It still hurt a bit to speak, but I was determined to show him no weakness.

He stirred, then sat bolt upright, his eyes open. "What... where?" he said as he looked wildly about. "The sword," he said to me, "what have you done with it?"

"The" sword, I thought, not "my" sword? He seemed less angry with me for taking it than afraid of having lost it. This led to a theory, which I decided to test.

"Who is your master, dead man?"

He straightened up then, seeming to come to his senses. "I have no master."

"He's lying," said Mara, surprising me. I had thought she had gone from the room, but she was evidently standing behind my left shoulder. I tried not to look surprised at this.

"I know," I answered her, turning slightly; then I looked back at him with what I hoped was coldness in my eyes. "What is your name?" I demanded.


"Joseph Green."

"He's lying again," said Mara. I just nodded.

"So, 'Joe,' why did you try to kill me?"

"You're Dreamwalker's apprentice. Do you have to ask? Where is your master, anyway... shouldn't he be gloating over me by now?"

I burst out laughing at that point, which befuddled my "guest" greatly. "Dead man, you are a fool, and so is the master you claim not to serve. I was never Dreamwalker's apprentice. I was his enemy, and I ended his evil life."

"Why do you keep calling me 'dead man,'" he asked. "Do you mean to kill me?"

"You are already dead, so far as I am concerned. You gave up your life when you tried and failed to take mine. I can end you right now if I wish." I sat there a moment, as if thinking, though I already knew what I would do. "Go back to your master and tell him that I will return the sword to him, and only him, when he knocks at my door and asks for it." Then I began casting a spell; Joe began to struggle in his bonds, trying to escape, as I repeated over and over seven times the phrase for power. Usually I couldn't hold concentration for a sevenfold spell, but I was unusually determined this time. He would not resist me.

Finally I released the spell at him... a powerful Compulsion to do just what I had instructed him to do.

I got a sharp knife from the drawer then, and cut the ropes binding him. He immediately got up, pushing by me forcefully, and ran out the door in a blind rush. He leaped over the fence in a single bound and was gone.

"What now?" asked Mara.

I got up and got myself a drink of cold water. "Well, I guess we finish the first terrace. We still have lots of daylight."

"No, about him," she said in a bit of a huff.

"We do what I said. In other words, my love, we wait."

Chapter 4, Sword and Sorcery

After supper I went down to the basement, to the smaller room under the stairs, to study the sword I took from "Joe." The Spirit Servant had laid it on the floor, there being no furnishings in that room; so I sat down tailor-style on the floor with the sword in front of me, careful not to touch it.

I cast the long form of Mystic Vision, with the optional parts granting analytical powers included. As I completed the spell, the mystic field suffusing the sword became visible.

Spells of all sorts exist in at least four dimensions of space, so it isn't possible for normal humans to visualize the actual spells "shape" or "structure." The analytical Mystic Vision spell permits the subject to "page" through the spellform, viewing it one section at a time.

I wish I could explain it better, but there seems no way to do so.

I took my time studying the sword, and discovered three distinct enchantments. The first two I had seen before: Sharpness and Durability. The third was unfamiliar, bearing a vague resemblance to my Tap spell. After a while I figured it out... the strange spell was some sort of mystical power storehouse, a "battery" of mystical nature. It seemed obvious after I figured it out, of course. After all, without a means to store a reserve of magical energy, the sword would quickly become useless away from a Ley line.

Magic items of "permanent" nature must recharge themselves between uses. Back when I was an apprentice (about thirteen thousand years ago) magic was so pervasive that charging posed no problem. Now, however, a device such as the magic sword I was studying would quickly discharge its power in the first few strikes and then become no better than if it weren't enchanted.

I was trying to figure out how long the sword could be used in the absence of a Tap or Ley line when Mara called down to me. "Solomoriah, please come here. There's a very strange bird on the back porch carrying a piece of paper." She sounded unnerved.

I took enough time to release a spell of Closing on the door beneath the stairs before I ascended. When I reached the back door, I looked out carefully before opening it. Just as Mara said, a strange white bird with milky, pupil-less eyes was standing on the railing, with a rolled-up piece of paper pinned beneath its feet.

Carefully I approached, and reached out my right hand to take the paper. Suddenly the bird dissolved into a puff of white smoke!

Perhaps I should have been afraid of a trap, but I reached out and grabbed the paper before it could blow away. It was a letter, and it read as follows:

Solomoriah,

My deepest apologies for the attack on you by my apprentice. I assure you, it was done without my approval, for though I have many times expressed my hatred of the Dreamwalker to my students I never authorized any of them to attack him.

For your information, he took my nephew as his apprentice a few years ago. If you killed him, then you must know what he did with his apprentices. Naturally I have intended to take revenge for some time, but that is now unnecessary. I would have liked to do it myself, of course, yet I realize I had no prior claim as he had been killing his apprentices for many years.

As a token of my good will toward you, you may keep the sword. You have earned it much more than the apprentice who carried it.

Sincerly,
Joseph Green

"Huh," said Mara, who was reading over my shoulder, "so Joseph Green was his master's name."

"So it seems. Letting me keep that enchanted sword is strange, isn't it?"

"Maybe these people are big believers in honor. Experts in the martial arts often are, aren't they?"

"I wouldn't know," I said, "having been out of action for so long. I have a lot of catching up to do yet."

"What will you do with the sword?" she asked.

"It stays in the basement. I have no particular skill at using it, and it is mainly a killing weapon, unlike staves which are as much about defense and nonlethal attacks as lethal ones." I thought a moment. "Perhaps I need to look into getting a new staff. If I had one hardened by magic I could have used it to defend against sword attacks."

"Would you wander around town carrying it then? How would you have it when you needed it?"

She always has a way of finding the obvious problems before I do. I snorted, and said, "Not such a good idea, then." Mara made a sort of strange face at me, then smiled. I kissed her.

"I have a good idea," she said, and led me upstairs.


This story continues on my regular website at:
http://jcg.freeshell.org/fiction/book02chap05.html