Wizard Pair (Book 3)

by James Eggebeen

  "What say you?" Alwroth asked.

  "I don't like it," Tonor said. "Promise me this - after the war, you will send them through the trials. We must not break our own rules even for this."

  Alwroth queried each Wizard in turn. Not all agreed, but in the end they came to a consensus. They would march on Ryden but send an assassination team ahead of the main force.

  The debate was livelier when it came to allowing Zhimosom and Rotiaqua a seat on the Council for the duration of the war. In the end, Alwroth won out. Zhimosom and Rotiaqua would be allowed to sit on the Council until the threat of Sulrad and the dragons had passed, then they would undergo the trials.

  Alwroth waved to one of the attendants. "Please go fetch the Wizard and Sorceress."

  Alwroth stood as Zhimosom and Rotiaqua entered the Council Chambers. Someone had added two chairs to those spread around the table. The new seats were plain, unadorned, and almost uninviting.

  "Before you take your seat, there is much you need to know," Alwroth said as Zhimosom and Rotiaqua stood before the Council.

  "The Wizards' Council only accepts new members when there is a vacancy, and at the moment, there is none.

  "Before a Wizard is admitted to the Council, they must prove themselves worthy. This is done through trials of their knowledge and character. Even then, they are not allowed a voice until they have undergone the test of courage, strength, and wisdom."

  He looked sternly at the pair. "You have passed none of these tests."

  Alwroth watched as the two young Wizards squirmed. He could not believe he was about to elevate them both to full members of the Council, but they had power and information that might well be the difference between failure and success in the upcoming battle.

  "You are granted membership in the full Council for the duration of this war. At the conclusion of the war, you must undertake and pass the trials or you must relinquish your seat.

  "Is that clear?" he asked.

  "It is," they said in unison.

  "Then take your seats, please." Alwroth gestured to the empty chairs. He watched as the two of them tried to get comfortable before he began.

  "It's to be war, and you two are a key part of it. I expect both of you to take an active part in the upcoming conflict."

  Alwroth and Moright laid out the plans for a land battle with Sulrad. They would split the Wizards into groups; one half would take the direct route to Ryden, marching straight across the plains, while the other stayed behind to defend Amedon.

  Alwroth wanted Rotiaqua to be part of the later group. He was certain her ability to command the dragons would play a pivotal role, should they return.

  A small group would split off when they got close to Sulrad's position and attempt to take him by stealth. They would carry out Helmyer's plan of assassination.

  Alwroth asked Zhimosom to take part in the assassination attempt.

  "I do not agree with this plan," Zhimosom argued. "Sulrad is strong, and he's no fool. I do not want to leave Rotiaqua here alone. We work as a pair, we need to stay together."

  Alwroth sensed that Zhimosom was holding something back. "Is there something you need to tell me?"

  "No. I just don't want to kill Sulrad unless there is no other way. And I don't want to face him alone. I need Rotiaqua there with me." He folded his arms across his chest.

  "War is no time for personal feelings, son," Alwroth tried to reason with Zhimosom. "We need your special insight into Sulrad to help us find him. We can't just walk into Ryden and ask for him, expecting him to reveal himself. He is likely well hidden and you may be the only way to find him."

  Zhimosom shook his head. "We should capture him if we can. Killing should be our last resort, to be used only if he would otherwise escape."

  "Do not shy away from killing him if you must." Alwroth was concerned by Zhimosom's insistence. He would have to set an older Wizard to watch him. After the outburst, he wasn't sure how far he could trust Zhimosom.

  Spells of War

  The morning after Uskin's proclamation of imminent war, Zhimosom re-joined the battle planning session. He was still worried about the plan to assassinate Sulrad. He didn't want to admit that killing Sulrad would affect Rotiaqua. He tried to learn as many non-lethal spells as he could to contain Sulrad, but not kill him.

  "Why do the Wizards have so many spells for war?" Zhimosom turned to Helmyer after he'd completed a litany of spells that he was to learn before departing.

  "Wizards used to wage war on one another long ago," Helmyer said. "These spells are handed down from ages gone by. Many of the spells have not been used for hundreds of summers, some longer. A few of the spells even date back to the days before the dragons left."

  "What drove the dragons away?" Zhimosom asked.

  "Skelek. He was the Wizard who learned to command the dragons. He had an insatiable appetite for blood. The dragons found a way to flee his influence by crossing the void into their home realm. They fled there and left the world without their magic these thousand summers.

  "It's hard to believe that Sulrad has found a way to summon them back and command them," Helmyer said. "He must have discovered how Skelek commanded the dragons, and improved on it.

  "If Sulrad has found a way to summon and command the dragons, he is a threat to our safety that must be dealt with swiftly. We have to march as soon as preparations are complete."

  Alwroth looked around the room at the gathered Wizards. "I only hope our plan for assassination works. We can't afford an all out war against a Wizard who commands dragons."

  Zhimosom wanted to direct them towards a less lethal solution. "Surely not all of the spells are meant to kill. Are there spells that can be used to bind a Wizard? To take his power and seal it away from him?" Zhimosom didn't want to admit he had already learned some of these spells. He hoped Helmyer would teach him, some things he did not yet know.

  Helmyer laughed. "It's a lot easier to kill a Wizard than to stop him. His power wraps him in a protective shield. Most of these spells are meant to turn a Wizard's power against him. You do that and you kill him in the process.

  "Taking a Wizard's power away from him kills him just as quickly as imploding his magic. A Wizard and his life force are so intertwined that taking magic away also snaps the life force threads. It's usually fatal."

  "Surely there must be something we can do that's not lethal?" Zhimosom asked.

  "You're very curious about this, aren't you?"

  "I don't want to kill anyone. I'd rather just stop them from hurting others."

  Helmyer chuckled. "Such a compassionate young man. That could well be your downfall, you know."

  "I just don't think killing is the answer."

  "Not even after what you saw during the attack? When the dragon came and killed all those people? Burned them alive or left them in pain for days before they expired. That doesn't make you want to kill?" Helmyer shook his fist in the air at imaginary dragons.

  "No. I still don't think we should kill anyone unless we have no choice."

  "If you really believe that, then I'll teach you a few of the non-lethal spells, but do not hesitate to kill if you must."

  Helmyer hefted a heavy book onto the table. He blew the dust from the cover and opened it to the middle. There were drawings of Wizards and sketches of hexagrams used to cast spells, but mostly there were runes that looked only vaguely familiar.

  "What are these?" Zhimosom asked. He had been practicing his reading and writing skills almost every day. Rotiaqua had sat with him night after night reading along with him. He had studied the histories of the Wizards and of Amedon. He was getting proficient, but these he could not make out.

  "These are written in the ancient language of the Wizards. You will need to learn it in order to cast these spells." He flipped the book to one page containing a diagram like a stylized cage with gilt filigree. The cage was washed with a brilliant purple light. On the opposite page, a Wizard was trapped in the cage, tugging at the glowing bars.<
br />
  "See, containment." Helmyer rubbed his hand over the image and traced the words beneath the image. "This is the spell. It is derived from one used to direct and contain energy. It speaks of separating the Wizard's energy from him and fashioning it into this cage. If you can master this, you can contain your opponent."

  "How do I practice this spell?" Zhimosom peered at the words.

  "I will prepare a transcription for you. First, you will need to master the language used in the spell. It's not difficult. I will write out the words you need to learn, just don't speak them aloud. They are quite powerful."

  Helmyer took out a piece of parchment, scrawled out the spell and handed it to Zhimosom.

  Zhimosom scanned the words that Helmyer had written. They were hard to pronounce. He worried that he would forget them under pressure in the heat of battle.

  Back in their study, Zhimosom sat with Rotiaqua. He struggled to learn the Wizards' tongue and was a little frustrated that she had picked it up so much faster than he had.

  "Roll your tongue and try to make the sound in the back of your throat," Rotiaqua said as Zhimosom tried to imitate her pronunciation. "Reprehendo."

  "Depdehendo." Zhimosom thought he came close.

  "Reprehendo." Rotiaqua exaggerated the sound. She reached out, took his hand, and placed it on her throat. "Here, feel where I make the sound." "Reprehendo," she said. "It means to restrain, or as close as you can get to that. It means more than that, to hold back or coerce, but mostly restrain."

  "I'm afraid I'll get it wrong and the spell won't work."

  "You're doing fine. It takes practice." She looked the parchment over. "The words all seemed to deal with restraint and capture. What is this spell going to do?"

  "I want to restrain Sulrad, not kill him. We don't know what killing will do to you." Zhimosom worried about her. He had come to depend on her advice and her magic. She was a fast learner and had a way with people that he lacked.

  "I see. But, do you really think that's wise?"

  "I can't take the chance. You're more closely connected to him than I am. I wish you were coming along with me. Maybe we could come up with something together. Then at least I could see if my attack on Sulrad had any effect on you. That way I wouldn't have to worry so much."

  Rotiaqua squeezed his hand. "That's sweet, but you know that we have no choice. If it comes down to Sulrad dying to stop this war, then that's what it takes. If that means both of us die with him, then I am willing to take that chance."

  "No." Zhimosom stood up and began to pace.

  "Zhimosom. We're just two people. Look how many died in the last attack. How can you say your life is worth more than theirs?"

  "Not mine, yours."

  "Even mine. I am no different from you."

  "You're royalty, I'm a commoner. I can't forget that."

  "I'm no more royalty than you are. Father has banished me. I'm on my own."

  "That's all the more reason why you have to live. One day we can go back and you can reconcile with your father."

  "Zhimosom, those days are past. There is no reconciliation with my father. I am dead to him and that's the end of it. We have a life here in Amedon if we survive the war. I'll be happy just studying magic here."

  She stood up and grasped him by the shoulders. Zhimosom looked down on her. He was taller than she was but that didn't stop her from looking him in the eyes when she had something serious to say.

  "If it comes down to it and you have the chance to kill Sulrad, don't hesitate. Don't think of me or anyone else. Kill him. He will do the same to you and not give it a second thought."

  "I hear you," Zhimosom said.

  "I know you hear me, but are you listening?" Rotiaqua asked.

  Zhimosom shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't going to kill Sulrad if it meant killing Rotiaqua. She was too important to him. He'd find another way to deal with Sulrad when the time came.

  A few mornings later Helmyer told Zhimosom to get his things packed. They were heading out to Ryden immediately.

  "But I'm not ready yet." Zhimosom had mastered the Wizards' tongue, but he was far from confident in his ability to cast the complex spells he needed.

  "No time. We're leaving now. We can study on the way."

  "Why the sudden departure?" Zhimosom wanted to study more of the binding and transformation spells.

  "Uskin has had a vision. Sulrad is preparing to call more dragons. He will release them against Amedon. We are going to meet him in Ryden before he gathers his dragon army against us."

  They departed Amedon at a fast march. Over half the Wizards in Amedon were on the move and they were taking no chances.

  The journey from Amedon to Ryden was hard. Alwroth encouraged the Wizards to keep on the move as long as there was enough light, and on occasion even into the night. When they finally made camp outside of Ryden, Zhimosom caught up with Alwroth.

  "Why did we have to leave in such a rush?" Zhimosom asked.

  "Uskin is frightened," Alwroth said. "She has visions, and they are getting stronger."

  "Surely she's not afraid of Sulrad."

  "She's not afraid of Sulrad. She's afraid for the dragons."

  "For the dragons?" Zhimosom knew Sulrad had successfully commanded a dragon, but he had only the one dragon at his command. Surely, the rest of the dragons were safe.

  "Sulrad was getting ready to call more dragons," Alwroth said. "The more dragons he calls, the more he kills, and the more he has to attack us with again. Uskin was certain of this. She urged us to get to Ryden and stop him. She was unsettled and couldn't sleep at night."

  "We have to deal with Sulrad. How are we going to do that?"

  "I'm sending you to spy him out and find out what he is up to."

  "Me? Why me?" Zhimosom didn't feel ready to take on Sulrad. He was still unsure of his ability to wield the spells he needed to defeat the Priest.

  "Because you are attuned to him. You can direct Helmyer to him. Perhaps we can stop him with the simple assassination plan, as the Council has recommended. You will be a key part of this plan."

  "We should capture him, not kill him." Zhimosom didn't want to betray his concern for Rotiaqua. If it came down to it, he would capture Sulrad and, using some of the spells he had learned in Amedon, prevent him from harming the dragons.

  "We'll capture him if we can, kill him if we must. This has to end now, before he does any more damage."

  "What exactly are we going to do?"

  "You and Helmyer are going to find him first thing in the morning. Scout out his position and report back to me. We will march on him as soon as you return."

  The next morning, while they broke their fast, Helmyer asked Zhimosom, "How are you going to find Sulrad?"

  "I can already sense him," Zhimosom answered. "He's near. Somewhere outside of the city, somewhere where he can summon the dragons and not frighten the folk."

  "Are you sure you can locate him?"

  "We are tied, if only weakly. It allows me to sense where he is when I really push. If I am tuned in when he performs magic, I can find him."

  Zhimosom searched for Sulrad all day. Near evening, he located Sulrad near a small outcropping of rocks that poked out of the rolling hills.

  "There." Zhimosom held out his arm to stop Helmyer. "He's in that canyon there."

  Zhimosom felt a stir of magic. He looked up to see the familiar curtains of light in the sky. They were insubstantial, barely visible in the fading daylight, but they were there.

  "He's summoning a dragon." Zhimosom scrambled over the rocks to get a closer look. Sulrad stood between the rocky ledges that formed a canyon, arms raised. There was something around his neck. It was made of gold that glowed with an internal light and had a strong sense of magic to it.

  Overhead, Zhimosom heard the beat of mighty wings as the dragon descended. He felt its magic as it drew nearer. This was the same one he had met before, the one Rotiaqua had sent back across the void after the attack on Amedon. It was large an
d brick red, but there was another dragon. The second dragon was black and smaller than the first.

  The black dragon's magic was just as powerful as the red one's from what Zhimosom could tell, but the black one was not bound to Sulrad's will. It had been summoned but not commanded.

  Zhimosom reached out with all his power. He would bind Sulrad in his own magic just as he'd planned. "In tua magicae eritis involvint," he cried out, willing Sulrad to be wrapped in his own magic. As the words rolled off his lips, he knew he had gotten it wrong. He tried again. "In tua magicae erititris involvent." Still nothing. It didn't work. Sulrad took no notice of his efforts.

  Zhimosom felt Helmyer behind him as the Wizard prepared his own magical attack on Sulrad. Helmyer's attack at least caught Sulrad's eye, but it did little to deter him.

  The red dragon fell in behind the black one as it descended towards the ground. The black dragon landed outside the canyon and waddled in between the rocky ledges until it stood before Sulrad. The Priest shouted something Zhimosom could not hear and the red dragon jumped on top of the black one.

  Powerful claws dug into wings and held them tight. The red dragon used its head to pin its victim to the ground, exposing its neck to Sulrad's advance.

  Zhimosom jumped up as Sulrad drew his knife but stopped himself, because he had no more spells to try. Sulrad advanced on the dragon's exposed neck. Zhimosom watched in horror as Sulrad lifted a large scaly plate and slid the blade deep into the neck of the black dragon.

  Immediately, the red dragon released its victim and took a step back. The injured dragon bled its dark blood onto the sand at Sulrad's feet.

  The magic separated from the black dragon. It swirled in a tight vortex surrounding Sulrad, filling him with its power, overfilling him. Surely, this was enough to kill the Priest, but Sulrad reached for the Charm around his neck and held it aloft.

  The black dragon turned into a shower of light as it released its magical energy, free of its physical body.