"That's better," Zhimosom muttered. "There's no use hiding in the shadows. Let me see you."
The Wizard rose from his seat and stepped into the light. He was young, barely a hundred summers in age. His hair was dark brown and thick, his beard neatly trimmed, and he wore the robes of a senior member of the Wizards' Council. His dark and foreboding eyes were ones that Zhimosom recognized instantly from many a Council meeting. "So it's you, then?"
"Yes, it's me."
"I believe you have taken it upon yourself to interfere with one of my students," Zhimosom stated. "A young Wizard named Lorit."
"Why would you say such a thing?" He took a step towards Zhimosom. "Are you accusing me of treachery?"
"Yes. He's been plagued by the Temple since the power awoke in him. It was only lately that I sensed that someone was aiding the Priests against him."
The Wizard shrugged.
"Do you deny it?"
The Wizard moved closer and Zhimosom stepped back, trying to keep the separation between them optimal, for the battle he knew was coming.
"Deny it? Why should I deny anything?" The Wizard raised his hand to reveal a ball of violet light that spun rapidly and shed sparks. He looked at it almost lovingly, then back at Zhimosom. "The Temple has granted me access to power, more power than I ever dreamed of - enough to defeat even you."
Zhimosom stood his ground and raised a shimmering wall of protective magic around him in preparation for the assault. He wished he were just a hundred years younger as he called upon the depths of his magic, summoning it to him, focusing it, bending it to his will.
He reached into a small leather bag that hung at his waist and grasped a handful of the carefully prepared mixture. He scattered it on the floor in front of his feet, creating an arc of protection between himself and the traitor. "Capere persona qui venit adversantur me," he said commanding the potion to bind the one who came against him.
Smoke rose from the powder, thick and dark. It flared into a brilliant crimson flame, forming an impenetrable wall between them. Zhimosom could feel the heat of it on his face and hands as he poured his power into it.
"You have always trusted in your shields, but they won't help you now." The Wizard took a step towards the wall of fire and raised his hands, he inserted them into the flames and separated them, parting Zhimosom's barrier as if it were but a curtain of fine silk.
He stepped through.
Zhimosom shuffled back, retreating to put some distance between them once more.
The Wizard advanced and the battle commenced, each one throwing magic at the other. Spells were deftly caught, diverted, warded, but as the battle raged on, Zhimosom felt himself giving more ground than he'd wished. It was exhausting and he had only his own magic to draw upon, while his opponent had the stored magic of the Temple's many victims at his command.
"Just one more step," the Wizard said advancing on him.
Startled, Zhimosom stepped back. He felt a strange sensation rising from the floor beneath him and looked down. A hexagram with complex and powerful symbols inscribed in each vertex had been carefully drawn on the hardwood floor. He recognized the symbols as those meant to bind him and dampen his magical powers.
A brief flash of panic struck him before he calmed himself and quietly worked the magic that would counter the spell. It should have released him instantly, but something powered it that he had not expected.
He struggled against it, panic rising in him as it clenched around his body, immobilizing him. He grew angry, angry with himself for falling for such a simple trap, angry at his inability to defeat such a basic spell. He focused his rage, but it was no use. He was trapped.
"Tenent hostium ieiunium," the Wizard said, commanding the hexagram to freeze Zhimosom where he stood. The colors in the diagram spun, slowly at first, but gaining speed quickly. The diagram threw off sparks, as the red light wove its way around each of the outlying symbols.
"Eum ligare ubi stat," the Wizard continued, binding Zhimosom and his magic. The inner hexagram lit up with a deep violet light that chased around the perimeter sparking new life into each outlying symbol until the entire diagram was alive with the rushing light.
"Caperent eum ibi aeterno," the Wizard shouted, commanding the spell to trap Zhimosom for all eternity. He stepped back and laughed.
Zhimosom reached out to Rotiaqua. The connection was weak and tenuous. The spells were already sapping his strength. He had barely enough time to get a few words out. "Be careful. It's ..." He didn't get the chance to tell her the name of the traitor before the spell took hold and silenced the connection. Zhimosom cast his glance back at the traitorous Wizard.
The Wizard smiled as he took a seat at the table. "I could only have dreamed that you would show up right in the middle of my trap."
"Why are you doing this?" Zhimosom struggled to get the words out. The spell was growing stronger, dampening his will, draining his magic, and keeping him from speaking any words that might free him or weaken his prison.
"It should be obvious." The Wizard looked up at him. "All these years I've had to put up with your rules and your code of conduct. You're getting old, it's time you stepped down and let your successor take over.
"When I discovered that you were planning to hand your legacy over to a foundling, a mere boy, well, that was just too much to bear. I can ill afford a young new Wizard being set up to rule the Council." The Wizard paged through the large tome he'd been examining when Zhimosom arrived.
"I've had enough of your interfering ways," he shouted. He flipped through the pages of the book tearing one of them. He stood up and leaned over the desk towards Zhimosom, his face red and hot. "This cannot be allowed. The Wizards' Council needs a strong leader, not a doddering old fool or an ignorant young boy."
The Wizard smoothed out the page he'd ripped. "No, I'm not going to lose my temper. This must be done calmly and with proper forethought." He stood, pushing his chair back, reached down, picked up his pack, and slung it over his shoulder. He grasped his staff and strode around the table to confront Zhimosom.
"You should be safe here for a while. If you don't mind, I will leave you alone with your regrets. I have a Priest to see."
The Wizard headed out of his study without looking back.
Wizard Pair
The Wizard Skelek stood before his home as he prepared to face his adversary, uncertain he would ever return. He raised his arms and chanted the spell that would bury his home beneath the earth, safe until his return. He felt the weight of the Charm of the Joiner about his neck as he invoked the incantation and drew on the Charm's stored magic. The earth swallowed the structure, until there was nothing but grass swaying in the gentle breeze.
Skelek signaled to one of the three dragons he kept under his spell; the trio would make unbeatable weapons in the coming conflict. His mount circled overhead with the rush of wind and the snapping of leather wings. Massive claws dug into the earth as the dragon came to a halt before him.
Out of the hundreds of dragons that made their home in the realm of man, Skelek was able to command only three of them at any one moment. Try as he might, he had never been able to manage any more than that. It took an immense amount of power to compel a dragon to act against its nature, but he would make do.
He silently ordered the dragon to lower its head. He climbed aboard, straddling the dragon's thick muscular neck, grasping onto scales with nervous fingers and digging his toes beneath armor plates to secure his seat.
He urged the beast on and it leaped skyward. Connected as he was to his mount, he instinctively felt the location of the rest of the dragon clan. They lay open to him, not only the three under his command, but the entire population. He sensed their presence and their individual life forces.
Skelek could switch command to a new dragon almost instantly, and had used his influence to gather the dragons from around the realm. One never knew when having a ready replacement at hand would turn the tide in one's favor.
Skel
ek had laboriously stored power in the Charm from his own personal reserves for almost a season. He had forgone the use of magic, preferring to store it in the charm. It would give him the advantage in this battle. He needed every bit of it to command the dragons.
The charm only stored so much magic. It only had as much magic as he was able to accumulate. It would grow perilously low during the upcoming battle, and Skelek knew he would have no more than one or two passes. If he lost control before defeating Endra there would be no recovery. Skelek was confident that he had stored enough magic to defeat his enemy, but precious little extra.
Skelek and his dragons reached the battle field where his adversary, the Wizard Endra, waited in challenge. Endra was no ordinary Wizard. He had ruthlessly taken the power from each of his adversaries and had the accumulated magic of a hundred Wizards at his command.
Skelek fell on Endra from the air like a bird of prey. The scent of rotten eggs and swamp gas preceded him as the dragon let forth a stream of fire. The flame washed over Endra, splitting into harmless streams of fire that licked the ground ineffectively.
Endra reached out his staff and lightning shot through the air, following the fire back to Skelek's mount. The dragon faltered, dropping for the ground, recovering with little room to spare. Skelek felt the power in Endra's spell, but with the help of the charm, he shook it off.
Skelek turned his dragon and reeled skyward once more. He drew power from the Charm and pressed it into the dragon to supplement the beast's own natural magic. Skelek commanded his dragon and, together, they dove once more. This time, Skelek pressed the attack with his own magic along with that of the Charm. He directed the blast at Endra, laughing as the fire penetrated Endra's shields and the Wizard erupted in flames, but his laughter was short lived. Endra vanished, only to reappear across the field, unscathed.
Once again, lightning flashed towards Skelek and his dragon. Skelek braced himself and turned his trio of dragons for the attack, but he was too late.
Skelek felt the power drain form the Charm until he lost control of the dragons. He released his hold on his spare mounts and clung tight, seeking a place to land.
He spied a safe spot and directed his mount towards it. The great beast flared its wings, snapped the air, and settled to the ground. Skelek felt the beast slipping from his control. In moments, he would be out of magic once again, stranded, impotent. What could he do now? Without the dragon, Endra would be upon him and that would be the end for Skelek.
Skelek felt the Charm vibrate gently. If only he had a source of magic to power the Charm again. He had come so close.
The dragon snorted, straining at Skelek's command as the power diminished and his hold loosened. Skelek slid from the beast's neck to the dry ground. He stood beside the dragon, commanding it to be still, knowing it was just a matter of time before his magic was completely gone, and the beast would be free once more.
He grasped a scale to steady the dragon and his hand touched the soft skin beneath the hard plates.
Soft skin!
That was it. Skelek took his dagger and pried lose one of the thick armor plates that protected the dragon. He touched the soft skin beneath and felt the dragon's pulse.
He drove the dagger home.
Blood gushed forth.
As the dragon bled out its life, Skelek grasped its magic and directed it towards the Charm of the Joiner. If he could capture the magic of the dragon, he could use it to command the whole clan. He would be undefeatable.
Skelek felt Endra approach. He raised his shields as best he could and absorbed some of the dragon's magic for himself. Skelek felt elated as the dragon gave up its power to him. Magic circled like a swarm of golden fireflies spinning in tighter and tighter spirals, then swept into the Charm, disappearing. The dragon turned to a cloud of dust and vanished.
Skelek gave a cry of victory. The dragons were his. He could command them all. He would be victorious. He reached out for another dragon to replace his mount, but something was wrong.
The dragons were gone.
He used the power of the Charm to scour the land, but there was not another dragon to be found. Above him, a curtain of diaphanous blue green light wavered in the ethereal wind. The dragons were gone; they had escaped across the void, safe from his magic.
Skelek screamed at the sky.
Lightning shot from Endra's staff, engulfing Skelek in a crackling blaze. Skelek tried to use the Charm to power a counter spell, but he was too late. The life force drained from Skelek just as it had from the dragon.
A millennium later
Uskin came awake to a sharp pain in her chest. She was covered in sweat and cold as ice. "Dragons," she cried. The Wizard's Keep was always cold, no matter the season, but she was sweating as if she'd been running for her life.
"Dragons?" Alwroth mumbled, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
"They're in danger." Uskin got out of bed and pulled on her robe; the warmth of the fur helped chase some of the cold away. She raised her hands and blew on her open palms.
A golden glow appeared, tenuous at first, but building in intensity until it lit the room, chasing the night away. It swirled into a tight spiral rising up from her palms, taking on a shape. The shape of a dragon.
Its wings were made of fire and its horns of golden light. It solidified and became clear. The dragon snorted fire.
Uskin peered closely at the vision. The dragon was curled around something ... No, someone. A girl. A young girl. Five summers in age. She was pudgy, with long curly hair and a pleasant smile.
The dragon gazed at the girl soundly sleeping safe within its massive coil of muscle. It gently sniffed her, inhaled deeply, and breathed fire that washed over her.
The little girl snoozed on, taking no notice. Her skin took on a bright hue under the ministration of the dragon's fire, glowing first red, then gold, then finally yellow as dazzling as the noonday sun.
The dragon's fire ceased, but the girl continued to shine brightly. She woke and peered up at Uskin with a sad smile.
Uskin knew she would never have a daughter of her own, yet somehow, when she looked at the child, she felt protective, as if the child were the daughter she could never have.
"What is it, little one?" Uskin asked.
The little girl remained silent, but slowly a new shape emerged beside her. It grew taller, taking on the shape of a man. Uskin felt that they belonged together somehow.
The man gazed up at Uskin. "We couldn't save them. Not even one."
The vision turned to a swirl of golden sparks and faded away, but Uskin stared on in wonder. What did this mean? The dragons had gone away long ago. They were off in their own realm, safe from the interference of mankind.
About the Author
James Eggebeen is a serial masochist repeatedly taking high tech companies through the growing pains of converting from a garage shop into a sustainable and profitable mature business.
He learned the value of hard work after being raised on a farm in Wisconsin where he learned auto mechanics from his saintly grandfather who patiently tolerated him and his siblings always under foot. His most frequent comment growing up was “Why did you people settle here when there are much warmer places to live?”
He confounded his teachers and most grown-ups at a young age writing incredibly powerful algorithms for phenomenally underpowered computers at the dawn of the computer age. This is a skill he has employed throughout his professional career and still takes great pride in (the confounding part mostly).
At 17years of age he made a deal with the US Navy to “Teach me about airplanes and computers. Take me anywhere it does not snow and I’m all yours.” They kept the bargain and started him on a world traveling adventure that has continued far beyond his six-year enlistment.
He has continued his world traveling adventures as a businessman, frequently logging one fourth of his time out of the country. He feels as comfortable abroad as he does at home and has developed an appreciation for a wide r
ange of cultures and cuisines.
He settled in Southern California after his service was complete and studied Engineering, Business and Finance at night while working at a series of start-up firms by day. He claims that growing up on the farm and the Navy have ruined his ability to sleep late and habitually gets up well before the sane portion of population starts their day.
He wrote many technical articles with such titles as ‘Gamma Ferric Oxide is it really safe for the long haul?’ He was cited in the Time Life Books on Computers as an expert in magnetic storage. He has a portfolio of patents for esoteric technology that only a handful of people really understand and hardly anyone really cares about.
He started writing fiction as an assignment for his last required course in his undergraduate degree. He wrote short stories for several years as part of an internet based writing and critique group before the internet was cool and email spam had been invented.
He still lives in Southern California with his wife of twenty-five years who puts up with all his bizarre habits and unusual hours, where he has a better computer infrastructure at home than most small
Table of Contents
The Taking of Power
Mistbury Tye
Zhimosom
Sojourn
Javier Chase
Strotailye River
Bebrook
Lost Boy
Road To Trickby
Trickby
Free Lorit
Awakening
Freshen Sea
Nebrook
Plains of Grass
Eldon
Swion Mountains
Mistwind
Veldwaite
Temple of Ran
Contest of Wills
Foundling Wizard (Book 1) Page 36
