“I’m sorry my son. You have no Power.” The Grand Master turned to the crowd of people, “Until next year. Thank you all for witnessing this great day.”
No Power! What was he going to do? No one had no Power! It was unheard of. Sure some had mundane things they could do. Heating water a couple of degrees with a touch, or turning a mushroom green with a thought, but never had there been someone with no Power! Tal slowly walked away from the main-stage and down the stairs behind it. He knew his parents were in the front row waiting to congratulate him, but he’d failed them. He’d seen the disappointment in his father’s eyes as the Mage had spoken, and he just couldn’t face them quite yet. He wasn’t quite old enough to live on his own but he would be of marrying age in another two years.
The celebration had begun already and the whole town was set up for the grand festival. Naming day was a festival like no other. He was sure his friends up on the stage would have a great night, and for a moment he felt guilty for not staying with them to find out what Power they had. He knew they would forgive him. Life without magic? How could it be?
The sun was setting and Mistress Ging was busy lighting lanterns and candles around the feasting tables. There would be drink, and food, and dancing. But who was going to want to dance with a nothing like him now? He grabbed a pastry from a table and kept walking until he was well away from the busyness of the town. Rarely was the whole town together in one place, and at the moment it was too much for Tal to handle. He had to figure out what he was going to do with himself. Would he just work the fields his whole life, doing back-breaking work while there were people who use their Power to do it in a fraction of the time?
The evening turned into night as he sat on a hill a couple of miles from town. Stars shone brightly in the dark sky, and he pulled his tunic closer as he wrapped his arms around himself. It was getting cold and he knew it was time to go back and face his parents. Maybe life wouldn’t be so bad, just different than everyone else’s. Hell, it’s not like he had an ability before and lost it. He just would never know what it’s like. Surely that was better.
His heart jumped into his throat when he saw lightning repeatedly flash towards the centre of town. Bright green strikes that certainly didn’t look natural rained down from the sky. Tal had no idea what was happening but he figured it could have been one of his friends testing their new ability. Some Powers were hard to control at first. At least that was what he’d been told. He sauntered towards home, aware that he would be reprimanded for disappearing without telling anyone where he was off too. His pace was brisk and soon the strange lightning ceased. Tal’s stomach growled when he thought of the suckling pig roasting over the fires, and the buttered bread, so soft it would melt in your mouth. He sniffed and swore he could smell the roasting pig…then he saw the flames.
The whole town must be ablaze to have that much fire! He ran the last mile, lungs burning by the time he rounded the corner to the edge of the village. There was heavy smoke in the air, and the festival area had been demolished. Shards of trees and tables littered the ground, and he could see what he’d smelled before. It wasn’t pig; the burned people were blackened to a crisp. There was no sign of anyone living until he heard a scream. He took the long way around the town’s centre, worrying he would see his parents and friends dead on the ground. He shook with fear, but adrenaline kept his body moving.
Behind the stage they’d stood on earlier were the survivors. Many of them were sprawled on the ground, some with injuries, but most looked to be breathing. Tal hid behind a thick oak and peered around the side of it, hoping to get a better view without compromising his position. A hulking man stood with guards on either side. Not a lot of back-up if you’re going to invade a whole village. The thought was cut short when he saw the dark green glow surround the large man. He was wearing a flowing green robe; his long black hair hung to his waist. One of the guards turned to the side, away from his master and Tal cringed when he saw the blank face. They are real! What are we dealing with here?
The faceless were monsters parents told their children about to get them to stay in bed when they were little. It was said that if a child was caught out of bed past the witching hour, the faceless would come and devour them. Some like Tal had challenged the theory and had survived to question their existence. He didn’t question it anymore.
Every instinct told him to run away and hide, but he couldn’t do that to his family. For the first time he saw the people tied together in a line beside the roaring fire. The sky was dark and it was hard to see their faces between the night sky and the smoke but he was sure one of them was his mother, and one was the Grand Master.
The Green Mage’s voice sounded calm but it carried far and Tal could hear every word from behind the tree.
“Haz, the great Blue Mage, here in a backwater dump, and dancing with peasants! What a sight.”
The Grand Master shifted uncomfortably but even from this distance, Tal could see his eyes burn blue with rage. Then Tal saw what was holding them together and keeping their Power at bay. The rope tethering his friends together glowed a soft green. He’d heard of powerful magic objects that would counter someone’s use of the Power. This must be one of those. But to stop the ten people from using their abilities must have taken a lot of strength. The Green Mage must have been a very powerful man to have this much control, and to have tamed two of the faceless.
“How did you find me, Lar, when I had every ward possible up against you?” the Grand Master asked, his voice hardly more than a growl.
“Just as always, the student becomes the Master. It was inevitable that I become more powerful than you. I only had to convince my friends here to let me out of the cage you put me in.” The large man looked at the faceless beside him. They stayed motionless. “Once they realized that I could help them more than an old man, sending them a pittance every few moons to keep me imprisoned, they quickly became amicable to my cause.”
Tal tried to understand what he was hearing. He called the Grand Master Haz the Blue Mage. Well that was impossible. The Blue Mage was just a character from the storybooks; the King’s right hand man from hundreds of years ago. The books said he trained all of the Mages of the Spectrum until they started to turn on him. Orange and Green revolted and they disappeared. No one knew where they had gone. Could it be? He did glow blue, and he always seemed to know more than a village Mage should.
“So what do you want? You come here and kill innocent people? My innocent people! I always knew you were bad news, but there were many nights I couldn’t sleep at night, wondering if I’d done the wrong thing having you and Zin locked away. Now at least my conscience is clear,” Haz said.
“It’s simple. I want your amulet, and I want you dead. Like I said, it’s simple. Then I will free Zin, take an army of the faceless and overthrow the throne. With me in power, I will bring back the Spectrum and we will rule this world as we should have centuries ago. You will die because of your ego and morals old man. It could have been different, if you were willing to bend a knee to me so many years ago.”
The Blue Mage looked defeated, his shoulders slumped and his head fell forward in resignation. “Take me, but leave the villagers. They have done nothing to you. They didn’t even know who I was.” His voice carried, though it was no more than a whisper.
“I can’t leave witnesses. They have to die.” He said the words with no affliction. Tal knew this man had no heart. He had to find a way to stop this. But how? He scanned area for a weapon. Maybe he could sneak up and kill the Green Mage. Once dead, the Power would return to the captured. It sounded so easy, until Tal realized he had no skills with weapons and could scarcely imagine killing someone. But he knew he had to try. He couldn’t let the man kill all his family and friends.
A wood-splitting axe leaned against a tree between him and the intruders. He had to get it, it was the only way.
Tal could hear nothing but his own heart beat as he crept towards the axe. Leaves and twigs crunched
under his feet but when he looked up, no one had turned in his direction. As he approached his heart beat so loud that he was sure they would hear it too. The tree was thinner than the last one, and he had to shrug his shoulders in to make sure he was hidden behind it. He gripped the wooded axe tight in his hands, the grain of it pressed hard into his sweating palms.
He was only about ten paces from Lar’s back…he would just have to be extra quiet. As he crept towards the group, he saw the Grand Master lift his head, eyes blazing blue. He screamed with a ferocity Tal couldn’t have imagined from the grizzled, old man. He raised his arms and his fingers crackled with blue Power. The Green Mage laughed and Tal knew this was the time to strike, while he was distracted.
Axe raised, he ran at the huge man, he saw his mother’s eyes go wide at the sight and as he swung the axe down for a killing strike, one of the faceless stepped to the side. The axe plunged into its chest, blood pumped out of the creature. Lar turned; a smile spread over his handsome face.
“What is this? A young man with more guts than you it appears, Haz,” He looked back at the Blue Mage to see his blue energy fade to nothing. “Did you really think I didn’t tune that specifically for you old man? Enough of these games!” He raised his huge green-glowing fist and shot Power from it at Tal. He covered his face and felt tears falling down his face as the green surrounded him. Was he dead? He didn’t feel dead. Looking up, he saw Lar’s eyes go wide as he let his arm fall to his side.
“Impossible! No one is immune to my Power. I am the Great Green Mage!” He flung more magic at Tal and other than his vision turning green, nothing happened.
Tal grabbed the axe, and pulled it from the faceless’ chest. The other one came for him, knife drawn. Suddenly they didn’t seem so scary. They didn’t even have eyes to see him! The creature thrust the knife at him and he spun to the side, axe wildly swinging away. It connected with something and he realized he’d missed and hit a tree. He tugged hard and the blade came free, splinters of wood fell to the ground. The faceless thrust again and this time Tal took a less wild swing. It cleaved part of the thing’s arm off; the hand fell with the knife still gripped tight.
The Green Mage stood with his mouth wide open and he stopped firing his magic at Tal who was running for the tied up villagers.
“Tal, that’s your Power, don’t you see? Magic doesn’t affect you. That’s why my magic couldn’t sense anything in you!” The Grand Master shouted at him.
The only way any of them were going to make it out of this alive was if he could get the Blue Mage free of the bonds cancelling out his Power. Tal grabbed the glowing green rope at both ends on either side of the Mage’s hands. The glow faded to nothing between his grip, and soon the rope was on the ground in front of them, smoldering with Blue Power.
Now that Haz the Blue was free, he urged the other villagers back. They dashed behind him and away from the ensuing battle. The large Green Mage had already begun throwing green fireballs at his old mentor. Blue and Green explosions lit up the smoky, dark night sky as the two fought fiercely.
Soon Tal could tell the Green was winning, and he knew he would have to do something to turn the tide. Since the magic wouldn’t harm him, he had to incapacitate the man who was three times his size. Just because his Power wouldn’t do anything didn’t mean his massive fist wouldn’t. He spotted the burnt rope and grabbed it judging it just long enough to do the job. In the midst of fireballs, he crouched and crawled over behind the Green Mage. He tied the rope into a large loop so it could be pulled and tightened, like the ones he used to catch loose cattle. This could work; he’s about the same size as a cow.
He swung the rope around in circles and let it fly as the Grand Master distracted him with a new tactic–running. Lar started forward but soon found himself with a rope around his body; arms held tight to his sides. Tal struggled to keep the rope tight around the man while waiting for the Haz to come and help him. The Blue Mage shot Power into the rope and soon it glowed bright blue. The Green Mage was captured!
“My boy, you did it! By the hair of a dog, you did it!” Haz’s blue eyes burnt bright.
The rest of the villagers freed themselves from their now loose bonds and went to help those who were injured. Tal smiled as Karry came over and gave him a hug. “Thank you for saving us,” she said.
“So the Power can’t sense me hey? This could be good. So what do we do with him?” He pointed at the raging man in the blue rope.
“I figure I’ve been hiding long enough. It’s time I get the Spectrum back together.” Haz fumbled in his robe and pulled out a dark stone on a leather rope. He tossed it at Tal and the rock burned bright Red. “For starters, I need a Red,” he said with a wink.
Tal flushed with excitement at the thought of being one of the legendary Mages. From across the fire, he saw his mother hugging his father and though he felt happy that his family was safe, he remembered the burned bodies as he entered the town. The Green Mage would have to pay for what he did.
“I know what you’re thinking, son, but I have something better planned. We leave tomorrow. I have some friends I want you to meet. We will take care of this one and find someone worthy of the Green.” Haz looked like the Grand Master he had grown up around once again.
Lar glared at Tal, and he was sure it wasn’t going to be as easy as Haz made it sound. Life had changed so much in just one day, and he was excited to see where it took him.
A sword may be some girls’ best friend, but all others may need is their wits, an attitude and a little magic.
THE BLUE ORB
H.L. Pauff
“For the love of the gods, can you try and avoid the bumps? Are you purposefully trying to hit each one?” Talip said.
The driver of the carriage turned his head and snarled at the young girl sitting in the back. “Quit your bellyaching, girly. You’ve done nothing but complain this whole trip. It’s a road, you brat! It’s bound to be bumpy.”
Talip crossed her arms and lowered her voice. “There might be nothing you can do about the bumps, but you could do something about your stench.”
The driver pulled the horses to a halt. “Excuse me? What did you say? I thought you said something dumb, but you cannot possibly be that foolish.”
“I said you stink worse than a latrine!” Talip shouted at the man.
“That’s it! Get off, girly. You’re done.”
“What?”
“You heard me. The ride’s over. Off.”
Talip look around. Only the small dirt road twisting and turning broke the hold the forest had on the area. “We’re not close to the village yet.”
“Off.”
She peered over the side of the carriage. “But it’s all muddy. I am going to get all muddy.”
The driver lurched to his feet which sent Talip scrambling. She hopped off the carriage and into a puddle of mud and shrieked when it splashed into her face. With a flick of the wrist and a laughing snort, the driver snapped his reins and the horses started to pull the carriage away. Talip wiped the mud from her eyes just in time to snatch her traveling case off the back of the carriage.
“You big dolt!” She watched the carriage get smaller and smaller until it vanished and she was left only with the dense forest for company. Cold, dirty water seeped through her shoes and the fabric of her socks and chills shot through her body.
“I hate this stupid village,” she said. Towering trees lined the twisty road and she knew that following the road would lead her to the village, but she decided that taking the long way was for suckers. Cutting a path through the forest would get her home quicker and out of her ruined socks faster.
Only in the presence of the dense forest did it dawn on her that she was truly heading home. She had gone months without seeing trees during her stay in Haver City. There were so many things to see and do that she hardly even thought about the forest or the village or even her parents. Every day, her cousin took her to see someplace new and exciting. When every day started wit
h a stroll through the markets to devour delicious pastries and flirt with boys, how could every day not be exciting?
There would not be any delicious pastries in the village. She’d be lucky to even get a piece of black, stale bread. There were no majestic stone buildings or paved roads. And there were, of course, no boys. The blacksmith’s son sometimes looked okay, with his mouth closed. When he opened it, it looked like his two front teeth were fighting each other.
“I hate this place,” she said with a grunt as she carried her heavy bag through the forest. “If I ever see that driver again, I’ll kill him.”
She knew she was close to the village when she saw the old hag’s shack and the nearby pond in the small clearing among the trees. Its thatched roof was damp from the rain and its walls looked ready to crumble from rot. The windows were dark, but Talip always imagined that the old hag liked to sit in the dark. Her shack stood far from the village, but still close enough to be the stuff of any child’s nightmares. Talip was always scared that if she wandered too far into the forest the old hag would turn her into a rock. Now that she was older she came to realize that the old hag was just a crazy old woman. But that didn’t mean she was going to go near the shack. She could smell the cat pee from where she stood. Instead, she made sure to take a wide route to avoid getting too close to it.
As she drew nearer to the village and could start to see some of the homes through the trees, she did her best to get her mind in a good place. She needed to start planting the seeds in the minds of her parents to let her move out to the city permanently.
She found her parents standing over the fire and a boiling pot of stew. “I’m home. Hello, hello. Mmmm…smells wonderful,” she said, walking past them. “Doesn’t smell as good as some of the food in the city. You wouldn’t believe the variety. Wait until I tell you everything.”
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