Legends of Windemere: 02 - Prodigy of Rainbow Tower

by Charles E Yallowitz

  “All I found was a message telling me to come out to the front of the mansion about three hours after dark,” Luke says, rubbing his eyes to stay awake. “You ever notice how green all of these bushes are? They are lush for the entire length of the road to the front door. I think they’re magically maintained.”

  “You’re probably right,” Nyx mutters under her breath. She stops pacing and leans against a cherry tree.

  “You realize Aedyn didn’t send us these notes, right?” Luke casually mentions.

  Nyx laughs gently and smiles. “I know. Giving us a note isn’t his way and the hand-writing was entirely wrong.”

  “Exactly. Aedyn only writes in cleric style and his name has an ‘e’ in it,” Luke says loudly. “Nice try, Sebastian!”

  The noble steps out from behind one of the tall bushes wearing black breeches and a ruffled, dark green tunic. He is unarmed, but he is smiling so wide that they know he has a secret. He swiftly walks past them and locks the front door to the mansion. The smile melts into an evil grin as he backs away from the door. He stops about ten yards away from them and keeps his eyes locked on Nyx. Luke instinctively steps in front of her, which makes Sebastian's grin grow even wider.

  “You have a good eye, forest tracker,” the noble compliments him.

  “What do you want from us?” Luke asks, already annoyed with Sebastian.

  “I said I would get my revenge on you, Nyx,” Sebastian says, giggling to himself. “This young man heard me swear that I would.”

  “I think he’s broken,” Nyx whispers.

  “You’re starting to sound a little mad, Sebastian,” Luke mentions. He slowly puts his palms against the pommels of his sabers.

  “If you were embarrassed like I was then you would be angry too,” Sebastian declares, cracking his knuckles.

  “Angry is one thing, but your eye keeps twitching, so I don’t think you’re all there,” Luke says, the hair on the back of his neck standing up. “Maybe you should go lie down and we can discuss this tomorrow.”

  “No! I want to make her pay now!” he childishly exclaims.

  Nyx rolls her eyes, dropping into a crouch behind Luke. “How does a snooty noble plan on making a caster of my power suffer?”

  “Well, I was thinking. The wench has no magic, so she won’t be worth hurting physically-” Sebastian begins. A rock hits him in the shoulder and the noble glares at Nyx who is waving at him with another rock in her hand.

  “Next one breaks your jaw,” Nyx growls.

  Sebastian rubs at his shoulder and starts to drool hungrily. “As I was saying, you are not worth hurting physically. The one I should hurt is your warrior friend here. I kill him and you will suffer. I know you have deep feelings for him and killing him before your eyes would be delicious.”

  “Oh yeah, you’re nuts,” Luke mutters under his breath.

  “You’re unarmed, Sebastian, and even if you had a weapon, I doubt you could take Luke,” Nyx stutters through bouts of breath-stealing laughter. She gasps for air and puts her hand against Luke’s back to keep from falling over.

  “I don’t need a weapon to fight him,” the noble declares, his fists clenched at his sides.

  “I hate it when people talk like that. It never ends well for me,” Luke groans. He silently shifts his feet, so that he can launch into an attack immediately.

  Nyx shakes her head and lets her hand fall to her mourning star. “I might not have my magic, but I still have some weapons. There’s also Lord Gideon, Lady Adara, and Fizzle inside. The sound of a fight will bring them out and a simple lock won’t stop them. You also have to deal with Aedyn if he returns to the mansion in time for this fight. This is one of the dumbest plans that I have ever seen and, after being with Luke, I have seen some stupid plans.”

  “The priest returned and left again,” mentions the grinning noble. “He should still be searching for that missing gnome of yours. A powerful ward around the doors and windows should take care of the rest.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that,” Nyx nervously admits.

  A coating of purple energy oozes down the door and becomes an unbreakable wall. Nyx runs to the door and pounds on the ward before Luke joins her to kick at it. He bounces away holding his throbbing foot and swearing under his breath. They can hear Sebastian cackling behind them as they continue to beat on the magic ward.

  “How did he do this?” Luke whispers to Nyx.

  “I don’t know. Sebastian doesn’t know magic from what I’ve seen,” Nyx replies, turning to face the noble.

  “She’s right. I don’t know any magic aside from love potions,” Sebastian admits with a mocking bow. “Thankfully, I am working for a powerful caster.”

  “Working for?” Luke asks, relaxing slightly. “Some threat you’re turning out to be. You aren’t even in charge of your own revenge.”

  “It will become clear once my new employer arrives,” Sebastian promises. He puts his fists up as if he is ready for a boxing match.

  Luke draws his swords and takes a few steps toward Sebastian before a shadow drops from the roof. He dives forward as the dark figure lands a few inches behind him. Luke turns in time to see Trinity launch herself at Nyx and grab the surprised caster by the wrist. The chaos elf twists Nyx’s arm behind her back in a fluid motion. A few zaps of electricity course through the half-elf’s body sapping the strength from her body.

  “You will fight my little pet, Luke, or she dies,” Trinity announces. Her black nails grow long and razor sharp as she places them against Nyx’s throat.

  “This will be over quickly,” Luke scoffs.

  “Before you start, I should mention a little rule,” the evil caster says while she repeatedly zaps Nyx. “If you defeat Sebastian then she will die. In order to guarantee that she lives you will have to die. I’m a woman who remains faithful to her deals, so you have nothing to worry about.”

  “No, those are not the rules!” Sebastian shouts in a surprisingly deep voice. “I want him to fight me for real. It will be over too soon if he doesn’t fight back.”

  “Very well, fool. Have it your way,” Trinity says with a sigh.

  Luke starts to walk toward Sebastian who makes no sign that he will be drawing a hidden weapon or running. The forest tracker allows himself a quick glance at Nyx before he charges the noble. He crosses his blades and makes a low slash at the noble’s knees only for Sebastian to unnaturally bend out of the way. Luke steps back as he stares at Sebastian’s legs that are stretching backwards as if they are made of rubber. He is about to slash again when a punch to his chin sends him soaring back. The half-elf bounces off the warded door and crashes to the ground.

  “You’re not Sebastian,” Luke groans.

  “Guess you’re smarter than I thought,” the imposter says, his face twitching and twisting. “I used to work for this family as a decoy. For years, I was put in danger without any consideration from my employers and my memory erased every time I was returned. It was maddening when I learned the truth.”

  “He’s a doppelganger!” Nyx shouts.

  “Yes, I am a loyal, expendable monster of the Silverstar estate that was left to rot with pirates until my lady saved me,” the fake Sebastian says with a loving smile toward Trinity. “She helped me find a new purpose.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense. Doppelgangers can’t make a perfect copy of a personality,” Luke states, his head swimming as he struggles to his feet. “Everyone believed you were Sebastian. Your father and sister should have been able to recognize you as a fake. I don’t see how you can be a doppelganger without being revealed.”

  Luke charges at Sebastian again with his sabers ready to strike, but he is hit in the stomach by a punch from the noble. The attack catches Luke off-guard because he is still ten feet away from Sebastian. The half-elf gasps for air as he watches the elastic arm return to its original length. Luke can only glare cautiously at Sebastian and wait for any sign of an attack.

  Sebastian’s right hand instantly wi
dens and slams Luke into the ground, leaving a dent in the solid stone. “The personality is a problem among my people, but I found a way around it. I followed and studied Sebastian by taking several simple forms and discovering his reactions to various stimuli. I spent months gathering all of the information that I needed to turn myself into the perfect copy of him. It was surprisingly easy. Since the boy was an arrogant, womanizing drunk, I merely seduced Sebastian and killed him before taking his form. I have been in this mansion for months without anyone realizing that I was a fake.”

  “I think you’re lying,” Luke declares. Sebastian attempts to smash Luke into the ground again, but the half-elf nimbly rolls out of the way. “Prove to me that you’re a doppelganger and maybe I will take you seriously in this fight.”

  “Very well,” Sebastian says, pulling a scrap of dried flesh from his pocket and swallowing it. His body shifts and changes into the light-green, faceless figure of a doppelganger.

  “Now, your memory has been erased,” Luke whispers. He slowly spins his sabers while carefully inching toward the creature.

  “What? Who are all of you? What am I doing here?” the doppelganger asks in a panic.

  “See-” starts Luke before a stretched foot rockets into his head, sending him skidding into the bushes.

  The grinning, toothless mouth that grows around Sebastian’s face reaches the top of his head as he laughs at Luke in a high-pitched voice. “I remember everything. I disguised myself as a noble to spy on the family and waited for a chance to get revenge. Then, I was ordered by Trinity to kill you in front of your angry, little wench. See. I know everything that has happened to me.”

  “But your brain gland,” Luke moans. He tries to blink the stars out of his vision and can barely hear anything out of his left ear.

  “I had that gland removed,” Sebastian proudly says. His body shifts and changes color as he revels in his freedom. “Trinity knows a very skilled necrocaster who made sure I would never suffer a memory wipe again. A dangerous procedure, but well worth it.”

  An arm shoots out at Luke, who is scrambling out of the bushes. The forest tracker swiftly dodges the attack and rolls under the stretched limb. A slashing chop from the creature’s other arm forces him to drop to the ground while several bushes are destroyed. He has no time to get up before he is forced to roll away from a bloated fist that shatters the pavement. Luke pushes off the ground to backflip over a sweep and makes a quick dash at the doppelganger. He slashes it in the side of the ribs as he runs past, but the wound closes within seconds.

  “This is just not my day,” the half-elf grumbles.

  “Chop his damn head off!” Nyx shrieks, attempting to struggle free.

  “Just watch quietly,” Trinity whispers before giving Nyx another zap that weakens the half-elf's legs.

  “I’m gonna blast you into the Chaos Void,” Nyx snarls.

  “Gyah! My arm!” the doppelganger screams. Nyx and Trinity look away from each other and see Luke standing over a stretched, severed arm. The creature is stumbling back and holding the stump from which the arm was once attached. A fanged mouth and three fire-like eyes grow out of its head as it picks up the fallen limb. It holds the arm to the bleeding stump and Luke can see the moist skin starting to knit itself back together.

  “Not this time,” he snaps, chopping the arm off at the elbow.

  “Stop doing that!” the creature shrieks.

  “Why do people like you always say that?” Luke asks. He backs up a few steps and is about to leap at the doppelganger again when a severe pain rushes up his spine.

  Nyx watches Luke stagger forward and drop his sabers before a solid punch to his face from the doppelganger knocks him across the path. Even in the moonlight, Nyx can see a spreading blood stain on the front and back of Luke’s shirt. Nyx can feel her throat go dry as she watches Luke spasm and shiver on the ground. The feeling of helplessness disappears from the caster once she sees Nimby emerge from a bush. Her heart drops again when she sees the halfling is holding a blood-dripping dagger and is staring coldly at Luke.

  “Nimby? You . . .” she stutters.

  “He’s been on our side the entire time. He is the one that told us your route and schedule,” whispers Trinity, who tightens her grip on the stunned half-elf. “That dagger had magical poison on it given to him by me. He was more than happy to do what I asked. In fact, he wanted to run the show. The best thing about this is that there is no way Luke can survive long enough for you to defeat us and get Aedyn here.”

  “I don’t understand,” Nyx mutters under her breath.

  “She seems pretty stupid,” the doppelganger says.

  “You explain it, Nimby,” Trinity demands. She looks to where the halfling was standing and sees nothing but Luke twitching on the ground.

  “Where did he go?” she asks suspiciously.

  The doppelganger shrugs and looks around the area. “I don’t know. I turned away for a second.”

  “He probably went to send a report to our master,” Trinity says, though her voice sounds slightly worried. She snaps out of her thoughts when Nyx begins struggling again. “You still seem a little confused about this, Nyx. Let me explain it to you. Nimby just stabbed Luke with a poisonous dagger and the poor thing will die in agony. The way he’s thrashing, Luke might snap his spine or impale himself on his swords before the poison kills him. Meanwhile, youre unable to do anything about it, you poor, pathetic, neutered girl.”

  “I’m going to kill all of you!” Nyx shrieks.

  A blast of wind erupts around the half-elf and slams Trinity into the sealed door. The chaos elf takes a step toward Nyx only to be picked up by the tempest and hurled thirty yards away. She lands face first on the pavement with a loud crunch. The doppelganger watches as the wind becomes a pillar of fire that engulfs Nyx and begins to spin around her. The faint form in the middle of the flames reaches out to touch the mansion and the purple wards shatter with the deafening sound of splintering glass. Distorted runes and glyphs appear in the flames moments before the pillar rockets into the sky. Nyx is standing with her arms out as the magical fire crashes onto her.

  “What is that?” the terrified doppelganger asks.

  “Care to fight me now, Trinity?” Nyx growls with small flames dripping off her fingers.

  “How in all the name of every god did you get your magic back?” the chaos elf mumbles through her broken jaw.

  “You really pissed me off,” says Nyx, who is giddy over her returned powers. She can feel an intoxicating surge of power from beneath her feet until she breaks contact with the demon summoning circle of Lord Gideon. “Now, I have more power than I have ever felt. I could roast you alive or lance you with lightning. Maybe I should turn my arms into blades of acid and flay the two of you.”

  Trinity magically has her voice declare from the shadows, “You don’t scare me!”

  “I should,” Nyx warns her.

  She gently waves her arm and sends a swarm of fist-sized fireballs at the confused doppelganger. The creature is unable to move before the spell slams into it and sinks beneath its glistening skin. Nyx grins evilly while the fire eats away at the shape-shifter’s insides and he screams in agony. The doppelganger starts to melt until it is a steaming puddle of green ooze on the ground. Nyx turns her attention to Trinity, who quickly vanishes in a blinding spark of violet light.

  Her voice appears from the shadows swearing, “We will fight again, Nyx. I refuse to let our fun end.”

  “What is going on? By the light of Durag,” Aedyn gasps as he runs down the pathway from the street.

  “I’ll explain everything later. You have to check Luke,” says Nyx, who is still glowing brightly.

  Aedyn nods and sprints as fast as he can to where Luke is laying. The warrior is still twitching uncontrollably and his breathing is shallow. The priest begins chanting, but finds his healing spells reflected off the wound. He beckons for Nyx to come over as he takes a closer look at the injury. He barely notices that the ca
ster leaves fiery footprints in the stone while she runs toward her fallen friend.

  “This is strange,” Aedyn whispers, sweat beading on his brow. “He was stabbed with a weapon coated in a magical poison.”

  “I know that. Nimby did it,” Nyx states, putting up her hand to stop Aedyn’s question. “Don’t ask right now. Just find a way to heal him. I can feel the magic killing him.”

  “That is the problem. I cannot heal a magical poison in time to save him,” the priest explains as he undoes Luke’s shirt. “He will not make it through the night and I have not been able to regain much of my strength. If I was well rested and had the proper supplies at hand then I could save him within the hour. The only way the poison can be purged now is by transferring a lot of raw magic into him. I can heal the other poison, but that would not give me enough time to cure the magical poison.”

  “Other poison?” she asks curiously.

  “Yes, I can barely smell it on the wound,” answers Aedyn, who seems genuinely confused about the situation. “For some reason, Nimby diluted the magical poison with scorpion venom. The scorpion venom carried the magical poison into the blood and nerves where it started seeping into his aura. Normally, the magical poison goes directly into the aura and kills quickly. I have no idea why Nimby would combine opposing poisons. He should have known that they would get in the way of each other. It only served to increase the pain and suffering before Luke dies.”

  “It was to give us more time! Quick! We need to transfer some magic into him!” Nyx shouts excitedly.

  Aedyn backs away from Luke and stares into Nyx’s eyes. “I cannot save him, but you can. You are shining like a bonfire, so you can use a spell that would transfer your extra magic to him.”

  “I don’t know a spell like that.”

  “Then, I will start a healing spell to see what I can do.”

  “Wait, I have an idea, but I’m not going to like it.”

  Nyx leans over Luke and grimaces as she lifts his head. His skin is already turning pale and cold. A few short breaths are needed to prepare for what she knows she has to do. The deep kiss she gives Luke catches Aedyn off-guard until he watches the excess magic flow from her body. Luke’s wound begins to heal as a foaming, black liquid is expelled from his body. In a final flash of light, Nyx stops glowing and Luke’s eyes suddenly open to see her kissing him.