The Greystone Chronicles Book Two: The Dire Lands

by Dave Willmarth

  Handing the diamond back, he said, “Now. Why are you really here?

  Alexander produced the wand and handed to the wizard. He stayed silent while the wizard examined it.

  “A unique wand that fires damaging light.” The wizard shook his head. “I don’t know whether to congratulate you, or slap you in the head. At least you came to find me before you killed anyone.”

  “I was very careful, master.” Alexander decided to play to the wizard’s ego. “But I didn’t want to risk firing it. Partly because I don’t know how, and partly because a 200-mana burst might be dangerous.”

  “Both good reasons to stop. And the reason we’re in this room,” Fitz replied. “This is my testing room. It’s warded with magic to prevent you from blowing up the whole tower. If something goes wrong in here, the only thing that will be damaged is you.” He grinned, pushing Alexander toward the center of the room. With a wave of his hand, he conjured a straw dummy that looked a lot like Fibble.

  “The wand is intent activated. Much like the healing wand I gave Fibble. You need only point it at its target and want it to fire.”

  “Will it fire a channeled beam? Or a burst?” Alexander asked, pointing the wand at the dummy.

  “Interesting. I assumed a beam. But if you’ve figured out a burst, then try that.”

  Alexander decided to update his mentor. “Kai showed me this spell, and opened up the light magic school for me. I didn’t know anything about the spell, and assumed it was supposed to fire in a burst. So that’s how it came out. Kai was pretty surprised.” He chuckled.

  “Ha! I’m sure he was. You never cease to surprise me, boy. Now, focus.” He waved at the dummy.

  Alexander pointed at fake-Fibble and thought about the wand firing a burst using 30 mana. The burst fired from the end of the wand, burning through the dummy’s chest. The beam seemed wider and stronger than when he’d cast it in the forest. Maybe it was just his imagination.

  As the wizard approached to re-examine the wand, he decided to ask, “Fitz, I used the minimum 30 mana that time. But it seemed like the beam was more powerful than when I cast it by hand.”

  The wizard took the wand from him. With another wave of his hand, the dummy disappeared, and two identical blocks of wood appeared.

  “Show me,” the wizard instructed. “You shoot your block with the spell you first used. Use exactly 30 mana. I’ll shoot a burst from this wand with the same.”

  Alexander held up his hand and fired a minimum burst at the wood block. The block jumped in the air, and landed with a hole burned into one side. Much like his first time casting at the log, the hole was about an inch wide, and two inches deep.

  Fitz pointed the wand at the other block, and fired. It, too, jumped into the air. But when it landed, there was a much larger hole in the wood. Slightly wider and nearly twice as deep.

  Alexander’s heart beat faster. “Could it be because I shaped the stone like a lens?” he asked.

  Fitz looked at the end of the wand. From the outside, you couldn’t really determine the shape of the stone.

  Pulling another small piece of obsidian from the larger stone in his bag, he shaped it into a convex lens, then handed it to Fitz.

  Enlightenment dawned on the wizard’s face. “That would explain it. You basically made it a magnifying lens. What made you think of doing this?”

  Skill Level Up! Enchanting +1: You have discovered that passing a spell through a convex lens may increase the power of the spell.

  Blushing, Alexander explained. “In my world there are old stories of mad scientists creating weapons of light called ‘lasers’ using a power source and a series of lenses like that one, to amplify the power and destroy things. Like planets. I guess my brain just decided that’s how it should work?”

  “Yes, well. Keep this to yourself, boy. If this became generally known, it would change the face of warfare across Io. Imagine a five-foot-long version of this, mounted on a siege tower. It could burn defenders off a wall, one after the other. Or, with enough stored mana, it could burn right through a gate. The same could be done right now, of course. But it would take a chain of mages pooling their power, and they would all be drained afterward, taking hours to recover. Most mages won’t even try it, because of the risks involved.”

  “I understand,” Alexander said solemnly. “Where I’m from we have terrible weapons of mass destruction that can take out entire cities, or even realms, in seconds. I would not want to see that here.”

  “Yes. Quite. Best you take your explorations in a different direction, boy. It’s plain you’ve a talent for destruction. Why not enchant items that provide boosts to useful attributes? Extra stamina, extra mana, and such? Maybe healing items like Fibble’s wand?”

  “I don’t know any healing spells yet,” he responded to the wizard, hoping he’d take the hint. Being able to heal would come in VERY handy.

  “Ha! You could be more subtle, boy. Fine, then. In the interest of saving the world from your dastardly tendencies toward crafting weapons…” Fitz placed a hand on Alexander’s head. Alexander was beginning to feel like he could tell the difference between magic types as they penetrated his mind. Dark magic felt a bit slimy, and burned like napalm, spreading itself to burn as much as possible. Light magic still burned, but it was a clean, almost surgical fire. He embraced the pain, as usual.

  Fitz removed his hand. “That should do. It’s a large heal, and requires a correspondingly large amount of mana. But when stored within an object during times of rest, it makes an effective combat heal without draining you of your reserves.”

  Alexander pulled up his UI and found the spell.

  Healing Light: This spell harnesses the regenerative powers of light to heal a friendly target for 2,000 hp. Range: 50 yards. Mana Cost: 600

  “Should I try to enchant something now?”

  Fitz snorted. “Why not? This should be interesting.

  Alexander pulled more obsidian from his bag. Breaking off a small piece, and another very small piece, he used his shaping skill to form the smaller one into a tiny convex lens. He spent some extra time smoothing and polishing the stone. Then he formed the larger piece into a wand-sized tube, which wrapped around the lens at one end.

  Looking to Fitz, who only raised an eyebrow and glared back, Alexander continued. As he’d done with the Ray of Light spell, he focused on transmitting the Healing Light through his hand, slowly infusing it into the wand, and down to the obsidian lens. Again, he pictured the magic moving in a tight spiral toward the center of the lens. Much tighter than before. He kept pushing mana into the lens until he felt resistance. Easing back, he began to spiral the magic through the body of the wand itself. Wrapping the tube like a Tesla coil. He continued until he was nearly out of mana.

  With his recent additional levels, his mana pool was up over 3,500. He’d put more than 3,000 into the wand.

  Fitz, who’d been watching carefully with mage sight, let out a laugh that was nearly a giggle, waving for Alexander to inspect his work.

  Salvager

  Item Level: Unique, Epic

  Stats: Intelligence +10, Wisdom +10, Stamina +10

  This wand will cast a burst of regenerative light magic, healing a friendly target for 2,400hp.

  Charges: 20/20

  Skill Level up! Enchanting +5: You have created a unique, epic level enchanted item.

  “Woohoo!” Alexander couldn’t believe it. He’d crafted an epic healing wand! He looked again at the stats. Huge boosts to his intel and wisdom, and a big increase to his stamina would bump up his health to nearly double what it was now.

  But the amount of hp per heal was off. The spell description said 2,000. The wand’s heal was 2,400. Was this because of the lens? He asked himself.

  Fitz nodded his head “Aye, boy. I can see what you’re wondering. Yes. The lens boosts the power of the spell. By 20%! That’s nearly unheard of. Absolutely unheard of from one so new to enchanting, and magic in general. Well done, boy!”


  Alexander had one more question. “Why only 20 charges? The wand you gave Fibble fired something like 100 shots before you had to recharge it.”

  Fitz waved his hand and produced the wand. A shout of goblin dismay echoed down the corridor. Followed by the sound of little feet rushing toward them. “This is Fibble’s Stick. Take a look.”

  Fibble’s Stick

  Item Level: Unique, Epic

  This wand imbues a target with regenerative light magic, healing the target for 200hp.

  Charges 100/100.

  Alexander chuckled at the wand being renamed for Fibble.

  Fitz said, “This wand was created by a GrandMaster Enchanter. Namely, me. It is in no way my best work, simply something I threw together in a time of need. It does indeed have 100 charges. But heals only 200hp at a time. That’s a total of 20,000 hp capacity.” He gave Alexander a moment to digest the information.

  “Aaaand…” Alexander did the math in his head, “the one I just made has a capacity of 48,000hp!”

  “Now you see it, boy. Even without the boost from the lens, your wand would have held double the capacity of Fibble’s.”

  “Thank you, Fitz. I… you’ve been a great friend to me. To all of us. And an even better mentor.”

  “It has been my pleasure, boy. You have shown great promise. I look forward to watching you grow. And the food here’s pretty good, as well!” He waggled his eyebrows.

  Laughing, Alexander said, “As you may have seen, we captured Dire Keep. It was full of undead, including a lich…” He went on to detail their findings at the keep.

  “Kai has joined our guild, and decided to become a citizen of the keep as well. I would like to extend the same invitation to you.” Alexander bowed low to his mentor.

  When he straightened up, Fitz patted him on the should. “Thank you, boy. But I’m afraid I must decline. I’m a lifetime member of the Mage’s Guild, and would not abandon that. As for citizenship, I am a citizen of Stormforge, and Advisor to The King. I’m afraid I must remain so.

  “But it sounds to me like you could use some assistance in repairing the keep, and boosting its defenses. And every citadel needs a good wizard’s tower! Especially since you so cleverly announced your new acquisition to the world!”

  Alexander hung his head. “Yeah. That wasn’t my best moment. We were all excited about playing with our new keep, and I didn’t think.”

  “Well, you DID remove the capability for the previous owner to portal to the keep. So, at the least you should have three or four days before an attack of decent size can be prepared. In the morning, we’ll go see the king, and formalize your rights to the keep. We’ll also ask for volunteers from among the citizens. And we’ll do the same with Thalgrin. The next day, we’ll all head over and begin improvements. In the meantime, I’ll send Kai back to guard the keep and begin repairs. Also, the two guild mages who’ve been working in Whitehall could probably be persuaded to take on more work, if the payment were worthwhile.”

  He winked, producing a bottle of dwarven spirits as if out of nowhere. “That reminds me. We need Thalgrin to deliver another shipment. Brick’s running low!”

  Alexander noticed a pair of goblin ears peeking out from the doorway. “Fibble! Come on in, buddy. I’ve got your stick right here.”

  The goblin stepped hesitantly into the room, looking from Alexander to Fitz, unsure of himself. When Alexander held out the wand, he stepped closer and accepted it, hugging it to his chest.

  “Fibble, we made a new friend today. Her name is Jules. She’s a very nice elf. She was hurt by some bad people, but we killed them all, and brought her home with us. She could use more friends, and a protector. You think you could protect her, like you did for Sasha?” Alexander asked, keeping his tone very serious.

  At hearing he was needed as a protector, Fibble’s chest puffed out, and he assumed a look just as serious as Alexander’s. “Fibble protect friends! Use stick to keep them safe!” He waved the wand about. “But…” he paused.

  “What is it, Fibble?”

  “Hungry dragon still out there?” the goblin asked, very quietly. He began to tremble. “Dragon wants to eat Fibble!” he wailed.

  Trying not to laugh, Alexander dropped to his knees so that he was at eye level with the goblin.

  “No, Fibble. The dragon will not eat you. He was just teasing you. His name is Kai, and he’s a good dragon. In fact, he is our friend. He has joined our guild. So now he is one of us!”

  The frightened little goblin didn’t look convinced. So, Alexander tried another approach. “Fibble, how would you like to join our guild, too? Guild members can NOT eat each other. It’s against the rules. You could come on adventures with us, and get bigger and stronger, until not even a dragon would scare you!” Fitz raised an eyebrow at this, but remained silent.

  Fibble looked at him for a moment. Alexander could practically hear the rusty gears grinding in the little goblin’s mind. “You… make Fibble a friend?” he asked.

  Alexander shook his head. “No.” The goblin looked crushed. “Fibble, you are ALREADY my friend. Since the day we met. And Sasha’s. And everyone else in Greystone. What I’m asking is, do you want to become part of our clan?”

  Fibble nodded his head so rapidly his ears stirred up a breeze. To a goblin, clan was everything. And Fibble’s clan were all killed. Many of them by Greystone when they cleared the village.

  “There is just one thing,” Alexander qualified. “You will have to take a bath, once every week.”

  Fibble’s eyes grew wide, and he began to back away. “Noooooo…” he protested, shaking his head.

  “Fibble, we all have to take baths.” Alexander thought quickly for a decent argument. “If we don’t take baths, we stink. And when we go on adventures, if we stink, it’s easier for monsters to find us. Then Sasha or Jules might get hurt!”

  Fibble thought it over for a while. “Okay. For protect Sasha and Jules, Fibble take bath.” He sounded as if he’d just agreed to take on a suicide mission.

  “Great!” Alexander sent a guild invite to the goblin. Fibble’s eyes got big as the words appeared before his eyes. Knowing from experience that the goblin couldn’t read the invitation, he said “Fibble, do you want to join the Greystone clan?”

  The goblin nodded his head, yes, and that was that.

  Fitz said, “I’ll send you back to the house. I’ll get Fibble bathed and prepared, and bring him to breakfast in the morning.” He snapped his fingers, and Alexander found himself in the courtyard in front of the house.

  There was still work going on at the forge. He stuck his head in to find Brick alone inside, pounding away at something on the anvil, zoned out like he’d been the day before. Alexander left him to it.

  Walking into the house, he headed to the lounge, where he found all three of the ladies smiling at him. Instantly suspicious, he stopped in his tracks. “What?”

  Sasha leapt up and hugged him. “You invited Fibble to the guild!” She squeezed him again.

  Laughing, and greatly relieved he wasn’t the target of some female plot, he said, “Oh, yes. He’s determined to protect you, and Jules, on our future adventures. And once I convinced him that Kai wasn’t going to snack on him, he even agreed to a weekly bath!”

  “No WAY!” Lainey giggled. “You’re like, the Miracle Worker, ‘n’ shit. The Goblin Whisperer!”

  “Yup! Fitz is giving him a bath as we speak.” Alexander grinned. “Oh!” he said, taking out his newest creation, “look what I made!”

  He handed the wand to Sasha. When she inspected it, her eyes grew wide. “It heals for 2,400 a pop! That’s nearly the same as my biggest heal spell!” Lainey took it from her hand to inspect it herself.

  Taking a few steps back, and moving behind the chair where Jules was sitting, he said, “Yeah, so… we don’t really need YOU anymore, Princess Band-Aids!”

  Sasha gasped, then snorted, and launched herself at him. Prepared for such a move, he dodged around the chair, then leapt
over a sofa, grabbing the wand from Lainey as he passed her. Continuing to keep large furniture between himself and his best friend, he fired the wand at her, shouting, “Pew! Pew!”

  Despite herself, Sasha collapsed on one of the sofas, laughing in great gasping donkey-laughs. Figuring himself safe, Alexander plopped down next to her, putting one arm around her shoulders. “Though, I supposed we’ll keep you around anyway. Your boyfriend Fitz might be upset if you left. Who would feed him?” He winced as she elbowed him in the ribs. When all the laughter in the room had died down, Alexander looked at Jules. “Have they given you the tour? Got you all set up with a room?” he asked.

  Jules hit him with a smile that curled his toes. “Yes, everyone has been so nice. And this place is amazing! The kitchen is bigger than my whole apartment. Sasha offered to let me stay in her room with her, but I don’t want to be a bother. So, she gave me the suite right next to yours.”