The Power Bearer

by Guy Antibes

  ~

  Norra

  All Norra could think was that she couldn’t breathe. She gasped, taking in a huge intake of air and then she sat straight up. Everything looked hazy and all she could see were vague shapes, perhaps faces, above her head. After her hazy sight came muffled hearing and then she could feel her heart beating in her chest. She clutched her blouse and wondered what kind of existence she’d encounter after death. Was she a ghost?

  She brought her hands up to her face and saw Merran lying senseless on the floor as her vision cleared. “Lily!” she said and grasped her friend’s hands. Feeling had never been such a wonderful experience. Namen approached, grabbed her shoulders and gave her a big kiss. Norra could feel his scratchy beard and reveled in the sensation.

  “Merran.” She looked down alarmed, but saw him beginning to move.

  Gristan stood near. “I was dead, wasn’t I?” she said to her ghost.

  He nodded. “You were, Norra. I’ve never felt so sad. It was worse than when I saw my own body lying below me. But, alas, you never showed a propensity to join me and for that I will probably be very grateful for him.” She followed Gristan’s eyes to Merran struggling to get up.

  He shook his head vigorously and dusted off his robes. “Is there any of that mush left? I am bone tired and famished.” He looked at Norra and grinned. He took her hand from Lily and kissed it. “And how is my newly risen girl?” He gave her a weary smile.

  “I am alive.” She couldn’t help but beam. Inside she felt nothing but hope. “Are you the new Master Mage?”

  “Let’s find out, after I’ve rested for a bit,” Merran said.

  “Now that you mention it, I think I could use something to eat… and maybe something a bit stronger to drink,” Namen said. “That was some spell. I’ve never felt a power drain like that.”

  “It took a lot more out of me than I would have imagined,” Merran said. “I do believe we all have something wonderful to celebrate!”

  Back in the kitchen, Norra and Merran sat with reheated bowls of mush in front of each of them. “I find I can eat quite easily now. I’m free. Can you feel the mage’s power? I never really could, you know.”

  “Oh yes,” he said with his mouth full. “What color is my wizard light, Namen?”

  “A deep red. Not at all like the color that Norra had.” Namen looked at Norra. “And you, my dear, have as much magical light as Lily.”

  A flood of relief and contentment filled Norra. “I am truly free, except for one thing.”

  “Ah, the matter of all Magia still arrayed below, ready to destroy us all?” Gristan said. “Well, maybe you all.” He smiled.

  When Norra and Merran ate their full, they took the lift to the seventeenth floor and found the red chest.

  “Open it, Norra,” Merran said. “It’s yours.”

  She looked at all of them and bent over to open the chest and found that it needed the ruby key. She slipped it in and found that it didn’t work. Merran took it gently out of her hands and reinserted the amulet. The chest popped open for him. Everyone was surprised to find a page written in the Master Mage’s hand and another necklace. This one held a flat blue jewel in a setting much like the ruby key.

  ~~

  My dear Remet,

  I have hidden a treasure for you near the town of Fellingham close by Bordon Forest. There is a path in the Forest that is especially pretty; I’ve taken it often in my travels. Take the blue jewel and it will begin to glow in Fellingham and will turn white above the place where my treasure lies.

  I can’t tell you exactly where it is, because I will hide it on my way to transfer my power to you.

  I do so hope you are the one who reads this. My power is a terrible burden for one ungifted and I trust it has been transferred to another who is worthy to bear it for a long, long time.

  Love,

  Westos, the Master Mage

  ~~

  “His name was Westos,” Merran said. “No one knew his name. He always kept it secret so his relatives wouldn’t be threatened by the Nine.”

  “Hmm.” Namen stroked his beard. “I do believe I am a distant relation. We thought him dead; drowned in the Crystal Sea centuries ago.” He looked around the room and said to his memory, “Well met, old man.”

  Merran put the blue jewel around Norra’s neck and she took the ruby necklace from the keyhole in the chest and put it around his neck. “It’s yours now,” she said. Giving up the necklace seemed to bring her quest to a close. She had won. The power was in Merran and despite it all, she now trusted him more than any other mage.

  They went back up to the workshop.

  The mages began lofting bolts towards the top of the tower, or at least where they thought the top to be.

  Merran went back to the shelves to look for a folio he went through earlier and held up a parchment, shaking it at the group. “This will dampen the magic of all those in proximity and there is the antidote spell next to it. This is our leverage. I’m afraid it’s somewhat anti-climactic.”

  He went out to the balcony and amplified his voice. “I will speak to the Nine.”

  All eight wizards gathered below, clustered in a group.

  “I can see their shield with my new power. Let’s hope this works.” He grabbed a staff from a barrel of them in the workshop and pointed it down to the mages from the balcony and shouted an incantation.

  The mages fell to the ground and then began to wail as they rose.

  “Their protection has stopped because I have bound their magic. I don’t know how long it will last, but they are now as impotent as Gristan,” Merran said.

  “I beg your pardon,” Gristan lifted his chin in mock outrage.

  Merran shooed him away and then put his hands to his mouth. “I, Merran, Mage of the Win Tower, now possessor of the Master Mage’s power, speak to you. You may look up and see my light.” He threw a bolt of dark red across the meadow. “The remaining Nine’s magic has been dampened. Do not harm them, but take them back to their domains. I possess the power to restore their magic. I will not accept any further forays into Polda nor any plans to invade Polda and exploit the people of those lands. Disperse or you will be destroyed.” Merran threw more bolts around the encampment and then turned back into the workshop.

  “That should shake them up,” Namen said. “I’m afraid if they do disperse, that those already in Polda will not leave easily.”

  “I agree. Perhaps I need an agent who will root them out. Are you interested in taking an oath, Namen?”

  “I’m not one for entangling promises. I managed to escape Magia without making one, but there’s a time for everything.” Namen smiled, winked at Lily and then went down to a knee. “I pledge my fealty to the Master Mage Merran and do swear that I will protect his rights and do his will in protecting the people of Polda and Magia.”

  Merran put his hand on Namen’s head. “I accept your oath. Rise.” The two embraced.

  Gristan shivered. “That is too much like a marriage to me.” All laughed at his words and then he said, “But I am the one who is truly bound and I pledge my fealty, and all that, to you Merran, if you’ll have me. I still feel like I’m on a string.” The ghost danced around like a marionette.

  “I accept your oath, too, Gristan. I’m sure you and my uncle will be great ministers. Perhaps you can manage this tower while I am absent?”

  “I will. I have more power here than anywhere else. I can actually read a book—if someone can take it off the shelf for me.” They all laughed.

  Norra felt it was her time to speak. “I can go home, now. I really can, without any fear or worry.” She saw the disappointment in Merran’s eyes. “I might be persuaded to return as a visitor, but I want my parents to know I am safe and I want to finish my studies at Miss Podingoode’s in order to know how to be a proper woman. I’m afraid I’ve significantly departed from ‘proper’ in these last months.”

  “I’ll go with her,” Lily said. “I’m going to go to Miss Pod
dy’s place and she’s going to make me into a real lady. Norra and I will room together and she can teach me to read and know the things any lady needs to know. And since Namen’s going to Polda, I figured we might as well all travel together. I think we’ve proved we can do that.” She moved close to Namen and put her arm around him and grinned. “Besides, I’d like to see just what kind of treasure Norra is going to find.”

  “That leaves me,” Merran said.

  Norra looked over his shoulder and saw the beginnings of the magic horde packing their things and leaving the meadow.

  “I suppose you will leave me here,” he continued. “However here is where I belong. I can transport to my old domain and back until I handpick a successor for the Domain of Win. There will be no contest, although my choice will need to be powerful. Don’t think this is all over. Once the Master Mage weakened enough to let the wizards take their battles to Polda, the war began. No one knows how it will shake out, but you can be certain it isn’t over, regardless of how easy overcoming the Nine might have appeared today. I must be here to keep it in check. The Master Mage could do little better.”

  ~~~~

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Surprise on the Return

  ~

  Merran transported the three to the other side of the Western Mountains, one at a time, plus Norra’s black horse. They hiked into a village to purchase something to ride for Lily and Namen, and then continued on their journey towards Fellingham.

  “Do you enjoy being out on the road again, Namen?” Norra looked at the forest and wished she could just make a turn on the path and end up at home, but they were at least three weeks from Bordon Forest.

  “I’ll miss your company, Norra—and yours, Lily.” He put out his hand and held Lily’s.

  “I never thought I’d say it, but I’ll miss you and your forked beard,” Norra said. She didn’t like these departures. Leaving Gristan and Merran behind nearly destroyed her for different reasons. If Lily truly stayed with her, that would be fine, but Lily and Namen seemed to be a real couple. She had to be prepared for Lily to join Namen in his travels ridding Polda of renegade wizards.

  They rode until just before sunset when they found a little clearing bordered by a brook. Her task was to gather wood and start a fire while Namen and Lily ventured out for some fresh meat.

  After Norra set up wood to light, she sat on a rock and was about to pull out a tinderbox. She stopped, in idle thought, and fiddled with the blue jewel handing from her neck. She brought out the little spell book, she had brought it along as a souvenir from her travels, thumbing through the pages and wondering idly what it would be like to have talent again.

  Norra took a stick and just as she was about to read the spell, she laughed at the futility of what she was about to try. How could she be so silly? Muttering the spell, she flicked the stick with her finger. She felt as if her whole body had plunged into a lake of ice water. She coughed and shivered as her vision swam. Her body then felt like it was burning up and, wonder of wonders, the stick burst into flame so quickly she had to drop the fiery brand into the stack of wood before she singed her fingers.

  Namen ran back into the clearing with a dead rabbit in his hand and gazed at Norra. “You…” he just about choked to get it out, “You have the light of a mage…” His eyes bulged in utter astonishment and he coughed, “…and it’s the color of pure gold.”

  Her head filled with the words of all the spells she had learned on her travels. This would never do. Norra sat down, disgruntled, holding her head in her hands as the fire began to burn.

  “How am I ever going to get rid of this, now?”

  ~~~~~

  A Bit About Guy

  With a lifelong passion for speculative fiction, Guy Antibes found that he rather enjoyed writing fantasy as well as reading it. So a career was born and Guy happily is adding his own flavor of writing to the world. Guy lives in the western part of the United States and is happily married with enough children to meet or exceed the human replacement rate.

  The length of his works span from flash fiction (less that 1,000 words) to novel series.

  You can contact Guy at his website: www.guyantibes.com.

  Other Guy Antibes books

  The Sword of Spells

  A rollicking romp of a world’s only battle-mage. The major problem with the calling is that there aren’t any battles, so Brull has to make his way as a bounty hunter. He’s rather unique in that he uses his Sword of Spells to bring in magic practitioners who have gone astray. A number of his adventures are chronicled in this collection. EPIC FANTASY

  The Nile City Adventurers – Egypt: Trouble with Temples

  Two kids, twelve and fifteen, get transported to ancient Egypt and have to find a way to get back to the present. Along the way they accumulate the town Peace Keeper, a High Priest of an ignored Egyptian god and a telepathic cat. The High Priestess of a rival temple is after them all. Can she destroy their lives before they can escape? The usual running around ensues with a bit of Egyptian magic thrown in to make things interesting. YOUNG ADULT HISTORICAL FANTASY

  PANIX: Magician Spy

  A young man is born with extraordinary magical talents in a world where magicians are little better than tradesmen. Despite the pleadings of his magician-sister, he spurns a position at a magical academy and takes a position at a metalworks in a far land where he gets embroiled with the owner’s daughter, not in a good way. Circumstances force him to leave his work and join the intelligence agency of his native land. War is brewing. Can he use his unique talents to avert catastrophe? And if he does, what will happen to his life? EPIC FANTASY

  The Shattuk Downs novels

  Set in Shattuk Downs, a reclusive land in the kingdom of Parthy. Sara Featherwood could be a Jane Austen heroine with a sword in her hand. There are no magicians, wizards, dragons, elves or dwarves in Shattuk Downs, but there is intrigue, nobility, hidden secrets and plenty of adventure with a touch of romance in this fictional world. YOUNG ADULT FANTASY

  Daughter Bereaved

  When Sara Featherwood’s mother dies, her sixteen-year-old life is thrown into turmoil at Brightlings Manor in a remote district of Shattuk Downs. Life becomes worse when her father, the Squire, sets his roving eye on her best friend. Dreading her new life, Sara escapes to the Obridge Women’s School. Seeking solace in education doesn’t work as her world becomes embroiled with spies, revolution, and to top it all off, her best friend becomes her worst enemy.

  Daughter Disinherited

  If you were a young woman who had just saved the family’s estate from ruin, you’d think your father would be proud, wouldn’t you? Sara Featherwood is thrown out of her childhood home and now faces life on her own terms at age seventeen. She returns to the Tarrey Abbey Women’s School and is drafted to help with the establishment of the first Women’s College in the kingdom of Parthy. Now in the King’s capital of Parth, life confronts Sara as she learns about family secrets which threaten to disrupt her life and about resurgent political turmoil back home that turns her scholarly pursuits upside down as she must take action to save her family and her beloved Shattuk Downs.

  Daughter Betrayed

  At nineteen, Sara Featherwood has done all she can to help establish the first Women’s College in the kingdom of Parthy. That includes a pact with the kingdom’s Interior Minister, to go on a student exchange program as payment for eliminating opposition to the college. Little does Sara know that her trip to a rival country is not what it seems and as the secrets of the true purpose of her trip unravel, she must escape through hostile territory with vital secrets, but as she does, she finds herself drawn back to Shattuk Downs and must confront awful truths about those close to her.

  ~~~

  Guy Antibes books are available on Amazon and other book retailers in print and e-book formats.