Rise of Shadows

by Vincent Trigili

  As we crossed the many bridges and passed through its mighty gates, I could see very large numbers of warriors patrolling the walls and the grounds around the city. The city walls were heavily embedded with great and powerful magical spells from countless wizards. The guards all had armor and weapons similarly enhanced by great magic, and overhead strange creatures flew. I had never seen their like before. They appeared to be a combination of an eagle and a lion. They were too high up to see clearly, but I was sure they had riders. There were three rings of walls, all highly defended and extremely thick, before we reached the beginning of the city itself. It was beyond my imagination to come up with a power from this realm that could crack this fortress.

  Shea asked for directions from one of the town guards, and then we pushed into the crowded streets of the city. We rode for a while until we came to an inn that had stables. Shea arranged for a room for the night and saw to it that our horses would be taken care of.

  “Shall we head to the Wizard’s Tower, then?” she asked.

  “Yes, please. I am anxious to get a message back home, if nothing else,” I said.

  It did not take long for us to reach the tower, but calling it a tower was unfair. It was more of a cube shape, and it had at least four spires that I could see in the early evening gloom. In common with most of the structures in this city, it was massive and guarded by powerful magic spells. As we approached the tower, I could feel Shea getting nervous, and she eventually said, “Okay, Dusty, this is your game now. Knock on the door and introduce yourself.”

  I took her hand to make sure she did not bolt away and leave me, and then approached the door, which glowed softly as I came near it. Before I could knock, a voice boomed out, “Who goes there?” from somewhere deep within the building.

  Steeling myself with all the nerve I could, I called back, “I am Battle Wizard Second Rank Dusty, of Alpha Academy, of the Vydorian Realm!”

  I heard Shea gasp at my introduction, but before I could even look at her the color of the door changed, and then the entire door vanished. I started to enter and felt Shea pulling away from me, but I did not let go. “Come with me, Shea; you will be much safer in here than out there.”

  “I guess,” she said.

  As soon as we cleared the door it sealed up behind us, preventing anyone else from following us, or us from getting out. I was not sure what to do next, so we just waited there in the entrance for a bit. Soon a wizard wearing the red robes of an apprentice came to greet us.

  “Greetings, Master Dusty. I am sorry to keep you waiting,” he said. “Please come this way.”

  I thought about correcting him on calling me master, but decided that I did not know the rules here and had better be careful. These wizards were my only hope of ever getting home, so I did not want to risk offending them. We traveled through the building into a large room that looked like a banquet hall. There were many tables lined up; after looking at them for a moment, I realized it reminded me greatly of the dining hall back at Alpha Academy.

  “Masters, please sit and let the students bring you food and drink. I will find the headmaster and return,” said the apprentice wizard as he left in a hurry.

  “Dusty, are you sure this is safe?” asked Shea.

  “Relax, you are with me, and I represent Alpha Academy,” I said as I guided her into a seat and took one myself. Soon the students were bringing us a grand meal the like of which I had not seen since that vacation I took with Phoenix. It felt like several lifetimes ago, but in reality it had only been a few years.

  “Yeah, about that … it seems you kept some secrets from me,” she said.

  “Sorry, but I did not know who I could trust, and to be honest it was several days before I figured out where I was. Are you familiar with Alpha Academy?” I asked.

  “I doubt there is anyone who is not!” she said.

  “Then it was probably good that I kept it quiet,” I said.

  After that we ate in silence for a while. I am not sure how long, but it seemed like an age. Finally I asked, “Shea, why are you so frightened of this place?”

  “You know why,” she said.

  “Oh, you think they will be after you. Well, as long as you are under my protection they will not. Besides, I bet you’re wrong about them,” I said.

  “Yeah, but I imagine you will be going soon,” she said.

  I really did not have much to say to that, so we sat in silence a bit longer. Eventually a wizard wearing the robes of an official headmaster entered the room. I stood to greet him, and Shea followed suit.

  “Greetings, Master Dusty,” he said, then he turned to Shea and asked, “And may I ask, who is this beautiful woman with whom you travel?”

  “This is Shea. She has brought me safely here through much danger and hardship. Without her as a guide I do not think I could have made it,” I said.

  “Then we are greatly honored to make your acquaintance, Mistress Shea; however, I am sorry to say that I must have someone escort you out, as only wizards may stay here,” he said.

  Shea moved to leave, but I stopped her and said, “Headmaster, with all due respect, I must protest. She is a magus, and she is on the run from sorcerers. I have placed her under my protection until a safe haven can be found for her.”

  “A magus?” he asked. Before I could answer he pulled out a wand and chanted a command word. The wand glowed brightly for a moment and then faded away. A look of astonishment passed over his face, and he said, “No, it can’t be.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “Dusty, that is a wand of detection. He knows what I am now,” said Shea.

  “Yes, Master Dusty. I have heard rumors that an alchemist had been spotted, but I discounted them as fairy tales. It seems I was wrong,” said the headmaster.

  “Headmaster, I would like to ask you for a few favors on behalf of Alpha Academy. First and foremost, I need to get a message to them, letting them know that I survived the trap and where I am, so they can stop wasting resources looking for me,” I said.

  “Already done, Master. Alpha Academy had put us on the alert to watch for you, so as soon as I heard you were here I sent a message to the Wizards’ Council. They will contact Grandmaster Vydor on our behalf. It may take a few days for the message to get to him, but it will get to him.”

  “Thank you, Headmaster. Then I guess it is only a matter of time before I can return,” I said. I was wondering why the headmaster was addressing me as master; that really did not make any sense at all. It was one thing for an apprentice to slip up, but for the headmaster, who apparently already knew about me, to call me master meant that something beyond a simple mistake was at play. I decided I would just continue to play along until I understood more.

  “Yes. Until then, Master, I humbly request you stay here with us. The only way you could have reached our realm is that a very powerful elite sorcerer brought you here. Here in this tower we can keep you safe from one such as that,” said the headmaster.

  “Thank you, Headmaster. I will take you up on that, but first we need to talk about Shea,” I said.

  “Master, you said she is under your protection, and she is a magus, so she can stay here with you,” he said.

  I looked at her and wondered about what I was going to say. I knew I was about to put her on the spot, but I also knew she would never ask on her own. “Beyond that, Headmaster,” I said, “I owe her my life, and there are many forces seeking her destruction.”

  I took a breath here to decide how I should phrase what I wished to say, but before I could complete my thought Shea interrupted and said, “Dusty, I appreciate the thought, but once Craig reaches here I will take my leave and bother these fine wizards no longer.”

  “Nonsense,” said the Headmaster. “You are not a bother, and I would like to formally invite you to join our ranks.”

  “What?” stuttered Shea.

  “You are a magus and have proven yourself worthy to Master Dusty. Ther
efore, I am inviting you to join us. Here you will have access to all our knowledge of alchemy and be under the protection of wizards throughout the realm,” he said.

  “I do not know what to say,” she said.

  “Say nothing, then,” I said. “Let’s get some rest and discuss this in the morning.”

  “Splendid idea, Master. I will have a student show you to the guest quarters. Feel free to explore the school during your stay with us. The walls will not let you go where you are not allowed, so there is nothing to worry about.”

  With that and a polite parting message, he left us. Shortly afterwards a student wizard led us to our rooms. Shea was too overwhelmed to talk, so we said good night, and I slept in an actual bed for the first time in two weeks.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  The next morning I met Shea for breakfast, and she seemed to be in much better spirits. Over breakfast, we chatted for a bit about Alpha Academy. I explained to her about the ranks and how the school operated in general, without revealing anything I thought might be considered secret. She was amazed to learn how milking cows and tending to chickens was part of the learning, and seemed a bit disappointed when I mentioned that it was probably not how things were run here.

  Once breakfast was done, we began to wander around the school and eventually found a library. Once inside Shea was dumbfounded by what she saw.

  “By the Light, this place is amazing!” she said. “Do you have something like this at Alpha Academy?”

  “Yes, but much smaller. In my realm books are almost completely forgotten,” I said.

  “How incredibly sad,” she said.

  “Oh, it’s not like that. We just have other ways to store knowledge that does not take up so much room,” I said.

  “Really? How?” she asked.

  I pulled out the pad that I still had from when I was spying on the battleship and said, “A single device like this can hold a copy of every book in this room.”

  “Show me,” she said.

  “Well, you would not be able to read what’s on this device. Most of it is in code,” I said.

  “Oh, but you can?” she asked.

  “After I break the code, yes,” I said.

  “What is on it?” she asked.

  “Information stolen from the pirates that my people are fighting,” I said as I slipped the pad back into my armor. “I was on their ship trying to learn what their plans were and who is keeping them supplied when I was trapped. Not very glorious, I suppose.”

  “Perhaps not, but very much needed in war,” she said.

  “Come, let’s see what I can find for you in here,” I said. I quickly moved to the bookshelves and was very relieved to see that they used the same cataloguing system that Alpha Academy did, probably because their wizards originally set up our library for us. Moving quickly through the shelves I soon came to what I was looking for: a section of history books. Once in that section I yanked out a book and handed it to her.

  “Pleburiam’s History of Alchemy and Other Lost Arts,” she said with a gasp.

  “You see, as a wizard you would have access to this massive storehouse of knowledge. Look around, there are students reading, studying, and working just like you could be,” I said.

  She did not say anything, merely flipped through some of the pages in the book at random. She was pensive for a long time, but eventually handed back the book and said, “Let’s see what other sights there are around here.”

  Before we got too far, a wizard in student robes came up to us and said, “Forgive my intrusion, Masters, but Headmaster wanted me to let you know that the midday service at our temple of Light will start in about half an hour. You are invited to take part, if you like.”

  “Oh, that would be wonderful. Can you show us how to get there?” asked Shea.

  “Certainly, right this way, Masters,” he said. The student led us deeper into the school until we reached a large, well-lit archway. “Masters, forgive me, but I must go to class. The temple is straight through that archway.”

  “We understand, thank you for your help,” I said.

  Shea moved quickly down the corridor, and I slowly followed her. The walls were covered in ornate sculptures and art of a kind I had never seen before. The way they were arranged made it clear that they were telling a story. I was not given enough time to look at them and figure out the story before I noticed that Shea had reached the end of the hall and was waiting for me.

  “Come, Dusty, there is only a little time left before they start,” she said.

  “Go on, I’ll meet you out here when it’s over,” I said.

  “You should join me, Dusty. It would do you good,” she said.

  I could think of no way in which that could be true, but I decided to go along with her. She led me into the temple, which looked a lot like the one we had stayed in before coming to this town. Inside, she led me to a large room with a lot of seats and a mixed group of differently-ranked wizards filing into the seats. They were all chatting among themselves in a much more informal way than I had seen any of them do outside of these chambers. Shea moved towards the front of the room, but I did not follow. Thankfully, she was swept up as many of the wizards greeted her and introduced themselves.

  I saw this as my opportunity to sneak away, but just as I was about to turn the doors closed behind me and musicians started to play. Soon the whole place erupted into song, and everyone was on their feet adding their voices to those up front. As the music played on, more and more of the audience began to join in. Some of them started to dance, while others sang heartily but stood still as statues.

  In all the commotion, I was able to slip out the back door unnoticed; but before I did, I caught a glimpse of Shea’s face. What I saw baffled me greatly. I had canceled my magical awareness spell the day before since everything here was magical, yet I could clearly see that her face glowed with great power, far greater than anything I had ever seen before. There was something else in her face too, something that I was even less familiar with: joy. Not just any joy, it was a deep-seated joy that affected her entire being. I could feel that joy all around me. It was as if it was in the air. I stared at her as long as I could until she passed out of view. I envied her; I would probably never know that kind of joy. That comes from having something greater than yourself to believe in, and life had taught me the brutal truth. There is nothing greater, there is nothing beyond, there is only the here and now.

  I found a quiet corner and pulled out the datapad that I had brought with me on my first mission as a spy. I decided to start logging everything that has happened since I left the Dust Dragon. I knew that at some point, hopefully soon, Shadow would want a full report from me. Recording all this now would help me organize my thoughts and help banish the image of what I had just witnessed from my mind. There was something going on in there all right, and for some reason it scared me.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Shea and I stayed in the school for the next couple of days. While we waited for news from my realm, Shea spent a lot of time with the wizards she met at the temple, and I worked hard on my trip logs. I was happy for her because she was finding friends here, and I knew that would help her to make what I knew to be the best decision for her, which was to join the wizards.

  We had not heard from anyone since arriving, and Shea was starting to get anxious for news about Craig, but she only spoke of him to me. I did not know why, but she refused to ask the wizards if they could send someone to check on Craig, and she insisted that I not speak of him to them. She did tell me she left word with the priests about where we could be found, since Craig would likely go to a temple to find her when he came to town.

  I was worried about what might have been happening back home while I had been away. It had been seventeen days since I had last heard from anyone. I wondered if they’d got away safely from the bombs, and if they had gotten into any other fights without me. Most of all, I missed Spectra. She was t
he only one who really seemed to understand me, and the past years serving with her under Master Shadow had been the best years of my life. For once, I had people who cared about me, and I was useful.

  That morning at breakfast Shea asked me about what I was doing all day long on the datapad, and I explained to her I was recording a log of what had happened to me so far. She wanted me to read it to her, and it seemed that, no matter what I said, she was going to continue to insist. I was just beginning to consider casting Shadow Form and walking away from her when we were interrupted by a wizard I had never expected to meet.

  He was an old man dressed in the purple robes of an elite wizard, except these robes were not normal. There was something odd about them. They seemed to change randomly, yet somehow always remain the official color of his rank. He had a tall, pointy hat with a wide floppy brim, and a long, white beard that added to the very ancient look of his features, so much so one had to wonder if he had been around to see the birth of the universe. Despite his age, there was an aura of power about him, and it was as if his very presence seemed to demand respect from the room itself. Student wizards all around us quickly moved away as if in dreadful fear of him. I recognized him immediately from paintings back at Alpha Academy, but those paintings did not do him proper justice. There was an overwhelming power about his presence that sucked from me the ability to link together coherent thoughts.

  I jumped to my feet and stammered out the best greeting I could, which seemed to amuse him greatly. Shea, seeing my reaction, quickly stood and greeted him with a far calmer demeanor.

  “Please, Dusty, Shea, relax and come with me,” he said as he held out his hands.

  Not wanting to upset him, but completely unsure what he was up to, I slowly and shakily reached out my hand and said, “Yes, Master Mantis.”

  Shea gracefully followed suit, and then he chanted a command word and suddenly we were elsewhere. The room that we arrived in looked a bit like a military barracks with a line of beds part way down each wall. In the center was a large table covered with food and drink. The walls and floor were completely made of stone, not unlike Alpha Academy, but it was clear that we were not there.