Tales of Casporix (Journal of Deiham)

by Clifford Paxton

  The witches explained the skull to King Safri. He assured them, that he could handle the power. The witches knew King Safri was not pure of heart but knew of his daughter Minervah. They told King Safri if he sent them his daughter to be sacrificed, that he would win the war, and that they would give him the skull. King Safri didn’t care about his daughter’s life; he just wanted to win the war. He agreed to the witches’ terms. He traveled back to Kylouz, and told Minervah, some of his guards will take her Witches’ Peak just for a discussion. He did not tell her about being sacrificed. He ordered a few men to take her there and drop her off.

  When she reached Witches Peak, they explained how they wanted to restore balance in the world. They explained the skull of power to her, as they did to her father. They told Minervah that she was a pure soul, but her father was an evil man. They told Minervah in order restore balance that her father must be killed. Minervah refused, she loved her father. She had walked back down from the witches’ peak platform to see that her fathers’ guards were gone. She had to travel back by herself. Which was a long trek for someone, only 18 years old. While Minervah worked her way back to the castle, a major shift happened in the war. King Tomlin was murdered as he slept. The war had ended. King Safri had won. King Tomlin was slain by his own son Epialeus; however, no one knew his son was the murderer, at the time.

  King Safri believed he won the war because his daughter was sacrificed. Minervah finally reached the castle, when she did it was late at night. No one had noticed her return, because they were all at a feast, celebrating the victory. The room was filled with loud conversation and laughter, but only one conversation had stood out to Minervah. King Safri was at the feast, boasting about his victory. She heard her father say, he would have sacrificed 1,000 daughters to win the war. She was heart broken; all she wanted to do was tell her father about how crazy the witches were, and their evil request. She realized at that time, her father had received the same type of offer and accepted it. She ran away from the castle back to the Witches’ Peak. She realized the evil within her father; she told the witches that she would kill him. The witches noticed how committed she was to their cause, and decided to activate the skull, without a sacrifice, to help Minervah handle her father. They taught her how to fully use the skull before she left. While she was away, King Safri ordered Sylvania to be burned to the ground. He planned on traveling back to Witches Peak’ and getting the skull of power, the next morning. He figured with the skull of power he would be able to rule, and defend his kingdom from the beast, without the resources of Sylvania, and wanted to punish them. All the people that were left in Sylvania had no choice but to travel to the east of the River of Preditus.

  Minervah returned to the castle. She used the power of the skull, to make herself invisible. See had seen King Safri standing on a balcony outside the king’s chamber, watching Sylvania be burned to the ground. He had a smile on his face and was drinking wine. Minervah could not believe he had the nerve to smile, after thinking she was dead. She pushed him over the balcony. He stumbled slowly backward, and fell. She made herself visible to him, as he was falling; in the hope he would feel regret, just before he died. From that day forward, Minervah ruled Kylouz. She was the first ruler with magic. The beast of the north never attacked Kylouz, the witches were happy; however the people of Sylvania searched for a new home. Many years passed, and the people of Sylvania formed a new kingdom, and named it the Kingdom of Preditus.

  More of my visions

  20 years before the Battle of the Phoenix. King Safri had visited the queen of Rebutjar. King Safri, and the queen, they had a son together; his name was Sarlic. No one knew that Sarlic was the son of King Safri. Sarlic was good friends, with Epialeus, who was the son of King Tomlin. Sarlic and the queen gave Epialeus a home after Sylvania, burned to the ground. Epialeus was a very ample man, his disease made him unordinary. While his mother was pregnant, she came in contact with exotic tree fungi, which affected her pregnancy. During birth his mom passed, but he lived. King Tomlin never forgave Epialeus for that. The rare disease made him grow faster and stronger than the other kids.

  The downside was the disease gave him a weird bone structure. His left shoulder extended up to his face, on the left side it didn’t seem he even had a neck, just a big lump on his shoulder. His face was deformed, and he had extra large visible veins on the right side of his neck, leading up to his face. He didn’t allow that to slow him down. Epialeus worked through the ranks of the military and was so good at what he did. Many years had passed, since the Battle of the Phoenix, and Minervah had him be her personal guard, fighting next to the great warrior Hypnoi, her guard, and secret lover.

  Then one day, the Queen of Rebutjar was dying from cancer. The queen of Rebutjar hated Minervah and refused to ask her for help. While on her deathbed, the queen of Rebutjar, told Sarlic a secret that would lead to the curse of our world. She told him King Safri was his father. That really bothered Sarlic, he felt since he was older than Minervah that the throne of Kylouz should be his. Rebutjar was a fairly large kingdom, but it was filled with people Minervah rejected for more power. There was a lot of tension between Rebutjar and Kylouz, every since the Battle of the Phoenix.

  After his mother passed, Sarlic became power hungry. He was powerful already at this point; magic had spread through the land. He was not, however, powerful enough to bring his mother back from the dead. He was looking for a way to save his mother, and not worry about the throne. While, in Kylouz, he said his mother had passed, and he wanted her to bring her back from the dead. She tried to explain to Sarlic, that death is something that must come to us all, and that she will not bring her back. This angered Sarlic even more. He wanted to attack Kylouz, and with Epialeus formulated a plan. He knew he could not just attack Kylouz with a big army because Minervah and Hypnoi would see it coming. She could simply wish them away. Knowing Epialeus was the guard of Minervah, he blackmailed him into getting the skull of power; he knew once obtained, that the power of the world would be his. He threatened Epialeus. He said if he did not help, that he would tell the Kingdom of Preditus, that Epialeus killed his own father, King Tomlin. Epialeus had no choice but to help. If the people of Preditus ever found out, they would have killed Epialeus.

  After all war arrangements were made, Sarlic launched an attack on Kylouz. He approached Kylouz with a decent sized army. The army was not a small army, but also not big enough to alert the fact, that a war was at hand.

  When the gates opened, the war began. Hypnoi and Epialeus were fighting together at the gate to defend the city. Hypnoi was worried they might be overrun; their military was not prepared for such a fight. He ordered Epialeus to get Minervah from her chamber. Hypnoi knew she could stop the battle with her magic. Epialeus went to her chamber and walked her outside. Right before she went down the stairs of the castle, Epialeus cut the skull of power off of her neck. Sarlic, who had sneaked past the battle, quickly used a spell to bind her in chains. Epialeus and Sarlic retreated to Minervahs chamber. Sarlic did not know how to fully use the skull of power but was prepared with a spell. Sarlic’s spell was meant to leave people in a world without magic, and it required a lot of sacrifice to complete. The spell would put the people of Kylouz, which would not follow him, into an alternate dimension. A world without magic, he did not want anyone to remember where they came from. He raised his hands, in his left, a spell book, in the right, the skull of power hanging from a chain. He began to cast his spell; the spirits of soldiers on the battlefield began being pulled straight from their bodies, dropping them instantly. They flowed like the northern lights, spirals upon spirals of light; went throughout the land, through the sky, into the castle windows, and bounced off the spell pot, which turned them into shining stones. The people who were not sacrificed found themselves on Earth; with no memory of the event, or where they came from.

  Hypnoi became terrified with the bodies dropping, and the lights shooting through the sky, to the castle. He rushed to investigate.
When he entered the chamber, he had seen Sarlic brewing a spell, and his lover bound in chains. As if matters could not get worse, Epialeus was standing guard for Sarlic. Epialeus warned Hypnoi to stand down, a request he could not fulfill. Hypnoi rushed to aid his lover; fighting his brother in arms. Epialeus was very skilled, and strong; he quickly overpowered Hypnoi, breaking his sword. Hypnoi nearly defeated grabbed the broken piece of the sword and threw it towards Sarlic. Seconds before Sarlic’s spell was complete, the sword hit the skull of power, and cut it in half. Half of the skull fell into the spell pot, along with his broken piece of the sword. The other piece of the skull dropped at Sarlic’s feet. The skull being thrown into the spell, created dreaming, as we know it. A gateway to Casporix was left open.

  Journal date: August 23rd, 2005

  I made Artemia leave yesterday. It was completely by accident. I was frustrated. She showed me this whole new world and gave me a whole new set of problems. I didn’t mean to wish her away, but as she told me (Having the skull of power, means you can control everything on Earth). I didn’t know what she meant by that. All I knew is after I snapped out of my visions, I was pissed, I just wanted a normal life. I was finally getting my shit together. She came in here, talking about magic this, a magic that…really bothered me…I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. Why should I care about Casporix? If what she is saying is true, then I could have everything on Earth. On top of everything else Kendall keeps calling me.

  Journal date: Aug 24th, 2005

  Artemia still hasn’t come back; I guess I got rid of her for good. If I didn’t have this skull chained around my neck, I’d think this was all a dream. It’s strange, I’ve figured out, that all that sleep, get a glimpse of the power of the skull. When it fell into the spell pot, people were giving the ability to tap into its power while they slept. They can alter their dreams, which probably explains, all the times I’ve dreamt, and could begin to control my dreams…I need to play with this skull a little more…find out what it can really do.

  Journal date: Aug 25th, 2005

  I’m starting to wish I had looked at my text messages and missed calls. I broke my damn phone today. I had it on the side table in the living room, and when I created a mini statue of a lion, it landed right on top of my phone and broke the table. I need more practice.

  Journal date: August 28th, 2005

  A strange man came to my apartment today. He continuously knocked on the door. I yelled through the door, that I didn’t want to buy anything, but he would stop knocking. Then I heard him say, (I don’t want to buy anything Deiham…let me in). I was confused how this man knew my name, and I still am. Either way, I let him in. He was a deceitful looking man. He had slicked back hair, and was wearing a business suit, smoking a cigar. He told me his name was Dolosis, and he just wanted to help me learn how to use the skull. At first I thought that he wanted to steal it, but he assured me that he didn’t. Dolosis said he was from Casporix, and that he liked the life he had on Earth. He said he didn’t want me to break the curse. Dolosis is happy with the life he has on Earth. He said (Why not take the only chance, you’ll ever get, to have EVERYTHING you have ever wanted! Why would you care about Casporix? You have never been there, and your life is here!). The man made a good point. He said that I could contact him, if I changed my mind, about getting his help. Then he disappeared into a cloud of purple, and black smoke.

  Journal date: September 2nd, 2005

  I’ve been locked up in my apartment for days now. I’m struggling to come to terms with what I have to deal with. I have spent so many days, just sitting in my apartment. I’ve made several objects appear, and disappear. Random art, video game systems, food…practicing with this skull has been interesting, I know that much.

  Journal date: September 5th, 2005

  Well, I know what I want to do now. I had a run in with the police today. The sad thing is, I never left my apartment. Someone had filed a missing person report on me; maybe because I haven’t gone to work. (Open up Deiham, it’s the police!). Man if them cops only knew, how much I didn’t like them, they never would have knocked on my door. Interaction with the police is something I never want. They must have got a key from my apartment manager because they came in without me opening the door. I’m sure my apartment was an interesting site to them. I have the windows covered in black curtains, trash is everywhere, and I had kicked the T.V. over. The news had really bugged me. I’m sure that I was even more of a sight for them. I hadn’t shaved for awhile now, and I hadn’t slept for a couple days. I was holding the broken half of the sword when they entered. They warned me to drop it, but I didn’t want to. They then drew their guns, standing shoulder to shoulder. Seeing those cops reminded me even more of my past. I started to get very angry. The windows busted open, thunder started roaring outside, and trash flew around my apartment like there was a mini-tornado in my living room.

  Then I froze time. Everything was frozen. I just simply thought about stopping time, and it happened. The cops were still standing shoulder, to shoulder. I was the only one moving. I walked through trash just floating in mid-air, as I walked toward them. I leaned in between the two cops, and whispered, (Go home, you were never here, forget about me). The cops turned around and left my apartment. That interaction made me realize. Dolosis was right...If I had all this power, why would I care about some place called Casporix. I need to correct the issues I have in my life. I wasn’t sure how to completely use the skull of power. I have only been practicing its magic for a short time. Maybe tomorrow I will take Dolosis up on his offer.

  Journal date: September 7th, 2005

  I had my first experience with Dolosis. Let me tell you, he is a character for sure. I’m not sure if the dude is good, or evil. He might just be completely insane. Yesterday, I had remembered how I just used my willpower to banish Artemia. I decided to use that same will power to focus on Dolosis, and try to summon him. There was a cloud of purple, and black smoke. Once it cleared, he was standing in front of me. I explained to him how I wanted to learn more about the skull of power. He said he would be happy to teach me. He said he was going to take us to a nursing home. I thought that was extremely weird. Well, when we got there it smelt like old people, medicine. It was late at night, and everyone was sleeping.

  We walked down a hallway, into a bedroom. Inside there was an old man, fast asleep. Dolosis told me that I could control what people see in their dreams. As we watched the old man sleep, Dolosis explained how to enter into the dreams, he wanted me to follow him, so he could alter them. He explained while we are in people’s dream, they could not see us; unless we wanted them too. We placed our hand on the old man’s head, and before I knew it we were part of his dream. The old man must have been a farmer before he retired. His dream started off with him in the middle of a field, on a bright sunny day. He was herding sheep. That moment I found out that Dolosis was a little weird, when he said, “Watch this.” All of the sudden a pack of wolves came rushing from over a nearby hill; ripping the sheep apart. The old man tried to run away, but he was too slow. The wolves caught up to him and started biting him over, and over again.

  The man could not see us, but I felt horrible. Dolosis, noticed my frustration, and told me I need to relax a little, that he was only playing. I have yet to find the humor in it.

  He said that I could use my power for good or evil; I explained I wanted to be good. He told me if I wanted to help this old man, I also have the power to cure him, he hasn’t walked for years. Dolosis told me all I needed to do was concentrate and heal the old man. I put my hand down on his left leg, the old man twitched. Then I had placed my hand on his right leg. The old man had begun to wiggle his toes. He had yelled out to the nurse “I can feel my toes!” It was late, and no nurse responded to him. He then moved his legs out of bed. The old man got up and walked into the hallway. The nurses rushed to him. I had cured him! I was happy. Dolosis, looked bored, and said it was time to go.

  I’m kind of worried about the teac
hings this man is giving me. Dolosis has a really weird sense of humor. He seems to be conflicted, between good, and evil. I told him I had enough for the day, and that we can learn more tomorrow.

  Journal date: September 8th, 2005

  It’s early morning….I had a really strange dream last night. I heard knocking at my apartment door. I went to answer it, but when I opened the door, there was only a box. The box was wrapped in tan paper, and a bow wrapping the box, made of blue ribbons. I went to open the box, uniting one-half of the bow, and then I woke up. Maybe it’s a sign, that I’m unwrapping the mysteries of my life. Speaking of which, I need to quit writing and get to learning!

  Journal date: September 8th, 2005

  I’ve never been so enthusiastic about my life before! I had a great teaching session with Dolosis. I believe I know what I want to do now. I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me write down what happened first. The day started off rough at first. Dolosis had transported us to the middle of a city; which was the last place I’d thought we’d practice magic. We were at a four-way intersection. It was very busy. There was a little girl with a backpack, standing with her mother, waiting for the light to change. The mother just pressed the ‘Walk button’. Once the button was pressed, the little girl started bouncing a ball while she waited. The ball had taken a weird bounce, and the little girl stepped out into the road and was hit by a car. People quickly surrounded her…her mother was screaming for help. It was one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen.