Uncharted (Arcane America Book 1)

The old wizard leaned forward. “You see, my…observers, as varied a number of persons as you’d care to know, have been receiving reports that the inhabitants of this unknown land, from wild men, to fur trappers, and everyone in between, have been witnessing disturbances. Tribes that were once friendly to white men have vanished altogether, or else have become hostile. One of my informers sent verified reports of a large beast that kills men and sets fire to forests, and of other incredible creatures that some say are like the primal things that walked the land before the Deluge. One can only guess what miracles and nightmares remain to be found in the unknown territories of the Americas, the unexplored vastness beyond the Mississippi.”

He adjusted his spectacles. “We might find a tribe of Welsh Indians, as the intrepid Welsh were said to have sailed this way, long ago. Or lost Viking tribes, who settled here long before the Sundering. I don’t believe all the reports of strange beasts and marvelous happenings though.” Franklin paused, and picked up his brandy snifter. “Or rather, I didn’t believe them, but I am beginning to change my mind. I occurs to me that given what has happened to this world since the comet changed the rules of science and magic, perhaps I should not assume that the same parameters of natural science apply any longer. So many strange things we thought were legends have returned to this world.”

Meriwether thought he understood, and he respected the still-inquisitive mind of the century-old wizard and scientist. “So, you wished to come to the border of the unexplored territories to find out what they might harbor? Are you…are you sure you’re up to such an undertaking, sir?”

He knew he would very much like to explore that immense land. What plants, what animals would he find there? What things arcane and strange, legendary creatures made manifest? Meriwether itched to find out for sure, but his resources were lean. His father had died young, and his stepfather preferred to favor his own progeny, so Meriwether had to work for a living. He could never afford to hire the men or purchase the equipment and supplies for such an expedition. As for tramping by himself all over the unknown territory, as he often did back east, he doubted he would long survive either wild beasts or encounters with the natives in the unexplored, arcane territories. The Cherokees were long friends of his, excellent sources of knowledge about herbs, but who knew what strange and bellicose people lived beyond the river?

He realized that Franklin was making a face. The wizard said, “You are exactly right, Mr. Meriwether. While I might try to convince myself that such an undertaking to the wild lands would be exciting, I find I have grown too fond of my own creature comforts.” He took a long sip of his brandy. “I am convinced it is a worthwhile endeavor. But not for me.”

“Who, then?” Meriwether asked. His heart was suddenly pounding.

Instead of answering the question, Franklin seemed to fall back into the lecture he had intended to give in the square outside the Government House. “As you know, young man, since the Sundering we are confined to these territories by the magically created barrier that cuts us off partway out into the Atlantic. For nearly fifty years, we have not been able to sail to England, or even know if an England still exists.” He narrowed his eyes. “But we know from tales of fur trappers and the accounts of Portuguese and Spanish sailors in older times, that our land of America extends, perhaps largely unbroken, all the way to that other ocean, known as the Pacific Ocean, which in turn gives route to China and India…from whence, after a long voyage, it would be possible to once more reach old mother England and the civilizations of Europe.”

Meriwether found himself caught up in the idea. No ship had been able to sail east to Europe for half a century, since the comet arrived. But sailing west…

“Assuming Europe is merely cut off rather than destroyed, I confess I wish to know what they’ve discovered about magic, how they have created useful techniques for the benefit of mankind. All of the sorcerers like me in America are like isolated natural scientists, with no comparative information. Like science, magic benefits from more minds on the task, more people to discover what makes it work and how.”

He lifted the decanter, removed the stopper, and refilled his brandy glass, then Meriwether’s. The younger man didn’t even remember finishing his brandy, though he could still taste the warm glow in his mouth.

“I never thought of the need for a worldwide investigation of magic,” he said.

“That is because you were born to this smaller, more confined world. When you hear an old man like myself speak of England or France, those other lands are like descriptions of fairyland. You cannot know what it was really like, my dear Mr. Lewis. Coffee and tea both thrive in Virginia, and if people say it isn’t as good as what they remember from India or China, that is just old people talking.”

Meriwether nodded. The old wizard continued, “We find ourselves here in a very limited world. People will have children, and those children will need farms to support them. We’re already seeing that food is sometimes very dear in the eastern territories, the crowded original colonies. If we don’t make a push to find and tame more land, America will become as crowded as Europe, and with such crowding comes a certain calcification of the mind.” He made a gesture as of closing a book. “The mind which despairs of new horizons in the world will find no new territory in the realm of thought, either.”

Meriwether frowned. “I am somewhat confused, sir. You insist on the importance of exploring the unknown lands to the west, but who would you wish to take on this role?”

Franklin laughed. He’d chuckled or cackled before, but this was the first time Meriwether heard him laugh without reservation. It shook the room and reverberated from the silver and crystal on the sideboard. Even the lights of the candles trembled. “I wish the lands explored, Mr. Meriwether, but I have no intention of doing it myself. Now, if I were twenty years younger, I might brave it. Although I age more slowly than most people, I do still age. I’m too old, my reflexes too slow, my body too full of its own crotchets to undertake such a thing. And why would I need to, now that I’ve made your acquaintance? I was never like you, a man of woods and streams, a man of adventuring in the wilds and learning much from plants and animals. No, I am too much a part of cities, of older civilization.”

He raised his brandy snifter to Meriwether in a toast. “If beer is proof that God loves us and wishes us to be happy, then brandy is proof that he loves us very much indeed and wishes us to be overjoyed. Though there have been some experiments with vine growing and even distilling a passable sort of homemade whiskey, this land does not yet have the capacity to make any fine liquor that rivals Europe’s centuries of tradition.” He laughed again, just as sincere. “Yet another vital reason for us to find a way back to England and France.”

He seemed amused by his own comment, then grew serious again. “While we have a great deal of knowledge that was preserved here before the Sundering, not to mention what we have discovered on our own since, what we do not have is…” He rubbed his thumb across the fingers of his right hand, as though feeling some soft and precious fabric. “What we do not have is the sense of time and history from those places, the deep knowledge of human civilization. If America remains isolated, we will be impoverished. In addition to needing room and cropland for our people, in addition to needing to learn what the rest of the world knows about magic, we desperately need that weight of history for our people, lest it be forgotten. Because history is the teacher of the future.”

Absorbed in his own thoughts, Meriwether found himself daydreaming about all those unexplored lands. “I wish there were a way to do it, sir, with all my heart.”