by Vic Broquard
After the cheering and clapping died down, he finished up, “In the coming days, these valuable ancient journals will be thoroughly studied. You may expect that we will be sharing the key information that we learn about our ancestors with all of you in due time. I know, some of you think this is most interesting. Others are saying so what? How does this help us now? Well, it is our hope that the journals will give us some clues about how to defeat the dragons, should they continue harassing us humans. In the meantime, Yuletide is nearly here so relax and enjoy the coming holidays.”
He moved back inside listening to the applause. Not long after, his crew joined him for a briefing. Tomas spoke first, “Dad, I’ve been tracking the abductions while you were gone. Here’s the picture. The nighttime random abduction of young women has definitely slowed down. As of now, only four women have been taken from Adapazan. Equal numbers have been taken from all of the other planets, except Asami, who continue to report that none are missing there. Who knows if Goro even knows, but for now, I am accepting that at face value. Leo and Stefan were able to trace and follow the most recent abductions on Valtr and located the rendezvous location. Unfortunately, they were not strong enough to stop the mass of dragons from stepping into the Shadows with the latest batch of fifteen women. Still they verified the pattern. Dragons, red and black, snatch a single victim from each of the fifteen worlds and bring them to the rendezvous point, where they cast more spells on the women just before taking them off-world through the Shadows. At least, dad, we’ve only lost four women. That’s better than before.”
Baron Jan reported on the fall harvest and the current levels of food storage in the subterranean cities, planet-wide. He was good at figures and kept accurate records. Zoran always made good use of what a person could do. Jan was not a fighter. After more reports, Zdenka gave her report on the many students.
“Well, dear, you are going to have to sit in with my advanced students this week, starting now. The Seventeen are just about to make their breakthroughs, you too, Karel. They are so close that they can taste it — Danika’s words. Perhaps even more important for the other women, they are about to tackle the Morph spells. I don’t have to tell you how critical that is for the handicapped women. We simply must see that they make it over that hurdle by Yuletide. That would really give them something to celebrate.”
“Whoa! Are you saying that all Seventeen are about to make Archmage?” Zoran asked in disbelief.
“Yes, dear, they are. True, each one has all sorts of gaps in the spells that they know how to cast, just as we all do. However, they are now preparing to deal with the top power spells. That’s why I need Karel and your help immediately. I’ve pulled Verushka, Marek, and Nadia out of their classrooms to help as well. Lida, Reyna, and Jarka are now running the classes until further notice. I am very hopeful that we can nudge all Seventeen through these tough spells.”
“Wow. Okay, you have my undivided attention. The history can wait!” Zoran was truly excited. Seventeen more powerful Archmages was unheard of — the sheer power that these women represented was enormous. Lead on, oh master mage,” he teased.
While Jarmila and Miroslav headed to their extra-dimensional study room around the Circle of Ascension, Zoran and Karel followed Zdenka into the top floor of her tower, where the Seventeen were already back at their studies, eager to tackle these most challenging spells. True, for the last few months, each woman had to face disappointments. One by one, each discovered that no matter how hard they tried or how badly they desired to know how to cast some of these more powerful spells, some spells were simply beyond their ability to learn and master. Danika, for example, had her heart set on knowing how to cast Self-project, a spell which created a duplicate of her body at some distance from herself, while her real self was then invisible. Attackers, namely dragons, would be attacking this image and not her own body. Yet any spells that she subsequently cast would appear to be originating from this image of herself. Eventually, she laughed it off, “I guess I am not meant to be able to hide behind an image of myself.” Others chuckled, but they too wanted this skill. Most were unable to learn how to cast it.
So it had gone through the two additional levels of spells beyond this one. Each woman found herself able to learn fewer and fewer of these power spells. Now they all had reached the ultimate power spells. Each one knew that out of some eighteen known spells, they only had to be able to cast one, just one, and they would become Archmages. Their power, fame, and renown would be second only to the barons and baronesses across the sixteen planets of the Federation. They threw themselves into their studies harder than ever before, perhaps too hard, as Zdenka continually reminded them. Effort didn’t count; knowledge, intelligence, and patience did.
Danika was determined to somehow master the Premonition spell first. She was married and she and Rafael were planning to start a family once she finished her studies. Having lost her husband and two babies to the dragons two years ago, she swore that she’d never again let that happen, that she’d never again be taken so totally by surprise. Hence, she had to know this spell!
Zdenka decided to work with her on this one, since this was Zdenka’s power spell that she so often used. Once again, Zdenka’s incredible knack of spotting the precise thing that one of her students was doing incorrectly paid off. After struggling with the spell for hours, Zdenka pointed out, “Danika, something is interfering with your casting. You are putting a barrier between yourself and the spell’s activation. You have the words down, your intention is fine, but can you see a barrier between you and the spell’s powerful energies?”
“Oh! Oh, I didn’t think of that. You don’t suppose that . . .” She canceled her morph spell, returning to her real form, that of an armless woman.
“Now try it,” Zdenka suggested. Once more, Danika went through the complex chant. This time, when she made the final connection, the spell detonated.
“Oh! It worked! It worked,” exclaimed Danika, very elated and excited as the significance of her achievement flooded into her mind. So did the premonition. She whispered it to Zdenka, who smiled and congratulated her.
“Let’s keep this to ourselves for now. Okay, which one do you want to tackle next?”
“Okay, I wonder if I should refrain from doing these while morphed?”
“I can’t say, Danika. That was what was interfering with this spell, but I don’t know if it will interfere with the others. Now you can tell for yourself.”
She decided to not re-morph and to deal with the awkwardness of using her feet for everything as she scanned down the list of spells, trying to decide which one to attempt next.
Meanwhile, in spite of the cold and snow, Archmage Karel took Eliska up to the roof where he kept his falcons. Why? She was trying to learn Karel’s power spell, Change Shape and wanted to duplicate his favorite form, a giant falcon. Eliska always dreamed of soaring like the falcons and hawks that she’d watched for hours on end as a child. Now if she could just master this one spell, she would be able to change her shape and become for a time any living creature, swamping the Morph spells completely. In fact, she could become a real dragon complete with its breath weapon and then change into another form in barely a second’s time! Under Karel’s guidance, after she canceled her usual Morph spell and returned to her real armless self, her childhood wish came true. A giant falcon suddenly stood beside Karel. At once Karel disappeared, a second giant falcon appeared and the two took to the skies, soaring for over an hour before returning to the roof top.
Kate was envious of Zoran’s powers to completely nullify all magic in an area for a time. She saw this as a most effective way to defuse tense situations before they erupted into conflicts. Kate was big on trying to get others to compromise and not fight. Zoran, therefore, worked with her personally. Although she was having lots of troubles with the spell, he kept at it. He got his breakthrough as a teacher when he cleverly spotted what Zdenka had just done with Danika. He made the same suggestion to Kate, who
obeyed and canceled her Morph Self spell. “Oh, this is so awkward, baron,” she protested slightly, as she tried to reposition the book with her feet so she could continue to read it.
“I know. Now forget that and let’s give it another shot. Full intention. You really want this to occur. It is solely your intention that maters, Kate.”
Again, she went through the relatively brief chant. Suddenly her spell detonated, much to the chagrin of the other students in the room. All spells in the room were suddenly canceled without warning. Several women dropped their books as their arms vanished. Lilia cursed, “Damn it! Who did that?” Others called out similar annoyances and then in a flash, they all realized what had happened, as Kate sat back with a satisfied grin on her face. She’d just Canceled Magic! She was now on par with Zoran. Kate radiated immense satisfaction and pride, well-deserved though.
Katerina, on the other hand, still held intense hatred against the dragons who so destroyed her life and family. She wanted to be able to strike back hard if they should ever again threaten her and her new fiancé. Thus, Verushka had her up on the roof of Nadia’s tower as she tried hard to create a fiery storm of meteors, which would rain down hard, smashing and perhaps killing a dragon. Zdenka decided not to ask Emil to come and work with Katerina because the woman wanted to use this spell to slay dragons. Thus, Verushka did her best to help Katerina work out the glitches in the spell’s casting. After long hours in the cold, the two were rewarded with a blaze of fiery meteors raining down harmlessly on the distant mountains behind the fortress and tower. Katerina had a self-satisfied look on her face when she and Verushka later rejoined the others.
To become an Archmage, one only needed to be able to cast one of these top power spells. Karel knew only the one. Zdenka and Zoran both could cast three. By Yuletide, each of the Seventeen had mastered three and a few had four of these spells down pat. Unfortunately, the remaining spells they were not able to grasp. Still, the Seventeen and all of Brn had something to celebrate on the 25th, when Zdenka publically announced her new seventeen Archmages. Indeed, the citizens of Brn went wild in their Yuletide celebrations this year. Having one Archmage in their town meant security and power, but with over twenty now in residence, they felt totally secure. No dragon could ever touch them or they supposed.
This news dwarfed all of the other many accomplishments of the remaining women. For thirteen other women, their accomplishment was all that mattered to them. Glass eyed Andrea spoke for her five dear friends, “Now we are no longer doomed to eternal blackness and dependency on mages for our lives. We can see again when we ourselves choose to — never again can anyone ever take that away from us!”
Similarly, Marcella’s comments were echoed by her six other constant companions, being taught by Zdenka. They all were armless. “Ladies, at last we have our lives back. No longer are we helpless and dependent on others. Not ever again!” Archmage Verushka’s sixteen similar women from Jing and Terra expressed similar opinions. All had mastered the Morph Self spell and could at will change their form, usually to their own selves prior to the dragon abduction. They could have arms whenever they desired, which was usually all the time.
On the morning of Yuletide, Zoran summoned the Seventeen new Archmages to his private study. “Congratulations one and all! This is one of the finest moments in my life — to stand here and talk to you women. You are shining examples of how resilient we humans are. I am so proud of you that I can hardly sit still! You have triumphed over immense personal tragedy, pain, and suffering. Yet, you never gave up. Here you are today, seventeen of the most powerful people in the Federation of the Sixteen planets!”
“I don’t have to tell you this, but I will anyway. With great power comes great responsibility. We Archmages are looked upon to be the guardians of our people, to protect and help them. I know that each of you will live up to those expectations. To that end, I want to offer each of you a position here on Adapazan, helping me oversee our great world. If you accept, I will see that each one of you has an Archmage tower built for you as soon as possible and a guaranteed income for as long as you work for me, a very tidy sum, I might add.” He then discussed the details of his offer, made possible by the treasure that was already recovered on Voss.
Always the spokeswoman for the Seventeen, Danika replied, “Baron, when I was abducted, at first, I just wanted to die, to join my husband and babies. I was helpless and could not even imagine how I could possibly live any longer. Then, I realized that I really did not want to die. I saw all these other women in the same position that I was in and I sort of snapped. Somehow I wanted to live and to be able to help them. True, when I first came here, for a brief time I wanted to follow in the footsteps of that poor woman who jumped off the roof, but I was so helpless I couldn’t even open the doors in the way to get there. Then, I remembered your words to me just as you came to rescue me. ‘Okay, Danika. Everything will be all right. I am coming to rescue you. Be patient. Help is coming.’ You cannot know how hard I clung to those words, Baron Zoran. Be patient. Help is coming. You were true to your word. Now I am finally in a position to pass such help along to others in need. I speak for us all; you can count on us. We will not let you down!”
“Thank you, Danika, thank you one and all. Now I’ve wasted enough of your time. Go get dolled up for the Yuletide dance!” They didn’t need to be told a second time. Giggling and chatting about his incredible offer, they left through a Mystical Door.
“Dear, where are you going to put seventeen more towers around here?” Zdenka teased him. Zoran laughed.
That evening when Rafael came to pick up Danika and Neda to take them to the Yuletide dance, he was a bit surprised. “My love, no arms tonight?”
She smiled, “Dear, I’ve decided to be myself as much as possible instead of using the Morph Self spell. Look, I am two years older now. If I always go around morphed to when I had arms so that I can look like myself and have them, then I am going to look only twenty-one forever while you turn old and grey. That’s not fair to you. I’ll morph when I need to, so don’t worry. Don’t worry, dear. We’ve all reached the same decision. If we are always morphed, we will never seem to age. Besides, dear, we have other spells we can use to help us with things.”
He gave her a loving kiss. “Now we can start our family. Maybe Neda will have a little brother or sister next year.”
“I want a sister, dad,” Neda giggled, imagining what that would be like. “I’m twelve now. I think Dragon wants to marry me when I get older. Mom, can I get married when I am fourteen or do I have to wait longer?”
Both Rafael and Danika spoke in unison, “Wait longer.” Both chuckled that they had the same thought at the same time. She added, “Eighteen is soon enough, dear. Get to really know Dragon, his good points and his bad ones. After all, if you marry him, you will have to live with the bad points too.”
“But dad doesn’t have any bad points,” Neda protested.
“Yes he does. He never cleans up his messes.” Both adults laughed.
As they approached the doors to the Stodgy Inn, Dana and Adrianna joined them. Adrianna said, “Danika, you look gorgeous tonight. Congratulations, by the way.” She smiled; the world was now perfect once again.
On another world, Wenzel, the ancient black, commented, “Well, it was just a case of dumb luck, Werner. Who could possibly have known at the precise time that you attacked the browns, their Strike Force One would be right there with all the barons, eh? Just dumb luck. No matter. The Breeding Program is working flawlessly now. However, we both know that Zoran is lying to his people when he says they only wanted to retrieve lost journals. How stupid does he think everyone else is, eh? I agree, he has found some super-weapon to use against us dragons.”
“We will use that and also the fact that he openly is telling the world that he’s recovered many, many enchanted weapons from Voss. Who is he going to use them against? Dragons, naturally. That coupled with the fact that he now has added seventeen new Archmages to hi
s arsenal can be used as proof of what we have been saying all along. Give them time and there will be hundreds of Archmages there.”
“The browns and blues have their spies in Brn and surely now know that they really are all becoming Archmages. Combine that with the weapons and the super-weapon and I think that you can easily convince the browns this time. You’ll have your majority and we can get on with exterminating these puny humans once and for all,” Wenzel declared.
Later that day on yet another world, Werner, the black, Lothar, the black, Alistair, the green, Frank, the green, Dario, the red, and Dante, the red, met with an extremely worried Donatello, the brown, and Pietro, the brown. Also, Cezar and Jenryk, the whites were present along with Bolivar and Ernesto, the blues, and Aeton and Barnabus, the greys.
Donatello, the brown, spoke nervously. “We have heard from our spy in Brn. Indeed, the first batch of women has completed their magic studies. It is as Werner warned us months ago. All seventeen have become Archmages. Even if we wanted to attack Brn and Zoran, now it would be suicide for us to even try! It is no leap of faith to presume that in another year or two he will have hundreds of Archmages there in Brn!”
This disturbed the blues and greys considerably. Werner allowed them to stew a bit longer before he spoke up. “I am afraid that Dario and I have further bad news. As you know, we’ve been keeping our breeding dragons on Voss for safe keeping. We do not want these human killing any more of our newborns or our young dragons. While we were there, we discovered even more alarming news.” All six neutral dragons perked up, listening intently to what Werner was saying.
“Zoran and his men spent months on Voss!” He exaggerated slightly. “Why? Well, at first, we thought that he was trying to find our caverns to kill our babies and children.” All six gasped. “However, we soon saw that was not at all what he was doing. Instead, he and his men were robbing all of the human graves on Voss, stealing hundreds of magically enchanted swords! He’s brought them all back to Brn. Now why would he need hundreds of enchanted swords?”
