The Stone of Elsira

by Scott Kennedy

  “Now, I am going to hang them. You'll have the pleasure of getting to witness the very life literally simmer away from them. Then I'm going to destroy you and your pitiful band of mages once and for all!”

  Lord Auberon looked over to one of his subordinates and gave him the signal to proceed with the hanging. Before his subordinate even placed his hand on the lever, Racer, who had been invisible since he got off the wyrm, released the restraints on both Arna and Vesser. He then ordered the wyrm to incinerate the nearby council vampires. The wyrm then turned to face Lord Auberon and released a blast of fire, bound straight at him.

  “Fools!”

  Lord Auberon raised the Stone and yelled. A colossal wave of light poured out from it that vaporised the fire and pierced the wyrm. Upon impact, the wyrm exploded in a burst of light. He then turned to face Racer, Arna and Vesser; just before he lifted the Stone to release another wave of light, an energy of a disposition he had not felt in many years flew by him. Another, and then another. After a few seconds he knew exactly what they were.

  “No...”

  The spirits of the Stone of Elsira were now among him. They manifested with no definite form but were pure balls of energy. One flew into the Stone, and it cracked. The second one flew into the Stone; it cracked more severely and Lord Auberon was forced to drop it. The third one then flew into the Stone and it exploded, releasing an influx of light that filled the entire city for ten seconds. Upon the clearing of the light, Lord Auberon who had been forced on the ground, raised his head from the floor, to see that the enthralment spell was now redundant. He stood up and looked at the mages. His left eye started to bleed, soon followed by his right. He then clasped his face with both his hands, yelled in rage, fell to his knees and started to shake vigorously.

  “What the hell do you think he's doing?” Bellona asked.

  “Don't know, but it doesn't look too good.”

  Lord Auberon turned over on his back; lying in a pool of his own blood and gripped his chest and then pulled it apart. The diamond on his pendant shot up directly above him and blood-red flames started to rapidly rush out of his chest. The flames then concentrated into the form of an infernal spirit. The energy from the spirit caused the entire sky to become stormy and hellish. Zupher directed his summoning wand in front of him and shouted: “Sruth Toise!” And within moments, with an array of sparks, Xarthox manifested before him.

  “Zupher!”

  “Auberon has released a demon! Can you stop it?”

  “That is one of the grand infernal spirits of oblivion. Alone that would not be possible.”

  “We're all going to have to give it everything we've got then!”

  Zupher drew out his wand and pointed it at the demon, followed by Xarthox with his staff. Bellona and Muriel then directed their hands at it. Over at the hanging polls, Racer joined hands with Arna. She pointed her wand at the demon. Racer then pointed his hand at it and finally Vesser and Elsje. Then in unison, they all projected their energy at the demon; it was pushed back on impact and its flames began to lose saturation. It was then that the mages could see the diamond sealed within the centre of the demon, acting as a bridge-mediator. They instinctively knew that hitting the diamond would banish it. The demon suddenly formed a dark sphere of energy, and launched it directly at Zupher. The mages were all set-focused on the offensive and were painstakingly close to moving their united energy at the diamond. Zupher was in trouble, he did not have the strength to form a ward strong enough to block the incoming projectile and was not in a position to evade it. Xarthox halted his attack, and wove his staff at the projectile just before it hit Zupher. It was then deflected back at the demon. Once it was hit by its own attack, it weakened, and the mages moved their projection towards the demon with all their might. Upon impact, the diamond shattered and formed a blackhole-void behind the demon. The demon was sucked in, followed soon by Lord Auberon and the remaining Council vampires.

  Soon after the void dissipated, the citizens who had been enthralled, all gradually began to come by. Xarthox looked over at Zupher and nodded before fading away.

  The mages were all cheering and celebrating, but Zupher had his eyes fixed on Racer and Arna, who were embracing. He made his way closer to them and it struck him – seeing them like this made him realise – Racer is his father. Upon reaching his parents, Zupher joined in on the hug; followed soon by Vesser. They all shed tears of joy.

  Epilogue

  The mages, Lucius, Elsje, Arna and Vesser later that evening had dinner at the Longhouse. They were having a wonderful fish fillet that one of the top gourmets in Adlok had prepared for them.

  “The future is now finally open for this place,” Bellona said.

  “True, but there is much work to be done after all that's happened,” Arna replied.

  “Should we re-establish the Arcane Society here?” Bellona asked.

  “I don't see us returning back to the old sanctuary, however, I don't feel we ought to rush into such a thing just yet,” Racer replied.

  Bellona nodded, the Arcane Society had to be completely reformed, and needed new mages.

  “Surely you can move your magic school to Adlok in the upcoming weeks?” Bellona asked, smiling at Lucius. She then directed her gaze at Elsje. “You could move your shop here. You'd make great business.”

  Elsje looked over at Lucius for a few moments. They instantly knew each other’s feelings without needing to put forth any words.

  “I'm afraid Cross-river village is my home, and always will be. From what I know, none of my ascendants ever lived in one of the cities. Thanks for the offer, but I am perfectly content.”

  Lucius nodded in affirmation.

  For the next hour, they all enjoyed their meal and shared company. Zupher had remained silent most of the time. He was happy beyond words to simply be among the great people he had met throughout his adventure; especially his family, who he had so longed to discover. Truth be told, from the day he met Racer, deep in his mind he knew he was his father, and once he saw him with his mother, it came to the surface. Despite all the personal evolution Zupher had experienced, and all the magic he had learnt, the most valuable thing to him was that he was now smiling and laughing among his true family.