The Archimage Wars: Wizard of Abal

by Philip Blood

  Hydan was just grinning at me like this was a picnic outing, and he had just won the three-legged race.

  My ranting continued, “…and if I live through this, I’m going to cook your ass in…”

  Hydan interrupted, “You may get up now.”

  I quit shaking my right fist at him, and tried moving my left, and recently broken, arm. It moved without pain.

  I got up indignantly, and the others ignored my dark blue embarrassed saeran face.

  “I told you it would work,” Hydan exclaimed, grinning like someone who had just won the big stuffed animal at a carnival.

  I nearly hit him, but I was afraid my newly fixed arm might break again.

  That’s when the saeran guards surrounded us with lowered spears. They were all dressed in steel scale armor, blue uniforms and silver helms.

  “We come in pieces, er, in peace,” I exclaimed, raising my arms.

  One of the guards, obviously the one in charge, exclaimed, “You are spies, and you will all be executed!”

  I was angry, mostly at my companions, but this didn’t stop me from taking it out on the guard, “We are NOT spies, moron, but if you are going to execute anyone, start with him!” I said, pointing at Toji. Then I added, “Or, just take me to my father, I’m sure he’ll still let you torture Toji!”

  “Your father?” the guard Lieutenant repeated in a confused tone.

  “Yes, I believe he is in this town, which is why we killed some of the Island Bitch’s soldiers, and stupidly launched ourselves over your wall!” And here I glowered at Hydan, who returned me an innocent look.

  “And who may your father be? And why should we believe you?” the Lieutenant demanded.

  “Because my father is Oberon,” I stated, and it was like I’d dropped a ton of bricks on the conversation.

  All the guards gaped at me for a moment.

  “So, unless you want your commander to hand you your ass, I suggest you take us to him,” I finished smugly.

  “You are a wizard?” the Lieutenant exclaimed.

  “Yes, now unless you want to become snogfish, I suggest you quit pissing off a wizard who has been having a really bad day. I am in no mood for idiots,” I said, again glancing at Hydan.

  The Lieutenant considered both my threat and my possible relation to his commander. He couldn’t find a reason not to at least take us to Oberon, this way, if I was lying, the Sivaeral wizard would kill us, and if I was telling the truth, the Lieutenant might not get busted to private, or worse.

  We weren’t bound, but we were kept under constant guard. I was getting used to having pointy things aimed my way; hell, it was better than being launched from a trebuchet.

  Like the other village and the capital, Ouroboros had many canals running through the city. I guess it is a saeran thing, which isn’t all that surprising since they love the water so much.

  Oberon was a very busy wizard. The constant bombardment of the walls kept him going from place to place, trying to rework the reality of the walls. He looked a little haggard, and well, kind of pissed. That made him seem even more like my father.

  His opening words were, “Why are these spies not dead?”

  I chose to answer ahead of the Lieutenant, “Well, because we aren’t spies, dad.”

  “Dad?” he almost bellowed.

  I shrugged, “Check the family tree, I did. I’m your long lost son, Nicholas. You dumped me on Earth and then abandoned me, and I have a bone to pick about that!”

  Oberon was a big saeran, with muscles bunched up around his scaly shoulders. He was wearing black plate armor trimmed in iridescent blue. His saeran hard lips snarled slightly, and I had the distinct impression he was looking at us like a shark looks at a seal.

  “I have no Hidden children, nor have I left any child on Earth!”

  I thought about this and then said, “Look, I checked the Hall of Records in Poseidon; I am listed in there as your son. I have a Sivaeral Glyph on my cheek, and I have it on good authority that I am a Third of your House. There are only three Sivaeral seconds alive, which makes me the son of one of them. Since I am listed under YOUR name, I’m thinking, Pop, you are my father!”

  He glowered at me, and I glowered back. Then he kind of grinned, “You are belligerent enough to be my son, but I have only taken one mate, and she has been with me all along. She would and could not have borne me a son without my knowledge.”

  “And who is this?” I asked.

  “Heronite, my one and only wife, slain two years ago by that bitch, Morgain. I have had no other mate, and taken no mate since her passing.”

  I pondered his words, “Were you ever away from her long enough for her to have a child which you did not know? It would have been a long time ago.”

  He shook his head, “Never, not for long enough for a child to be born.”

  Damn, this made no sense at all.

  “And were you ever captured? Maybe you were…”

  “No,” he stated, cutting off my line of thought.

  I considered, and while I did so he stood and said, “Seeing you are not my heir and have entered this city uninvited…”

  “Before you go on and say something which can’t be unsaid,” I interrupted, “We can help against the Island Bitch’s forces.”

  He scowled at me, “How?”

  “We can fix the wall, and give you a chance to recharge, as it were.” I figured he was probably getting drained from the look of his tired body.

  “That would take a mage of decent power,” he noted.

  “Hydan and I are Thirds,” I replied.

  He considered my offer, and finally said, “I can’t trust you.”

  “Then come with us! Just let us fix the wall while you watch, this way you aren’t using any of your own power.”

  He considered that idea and then nodded.

  So we all trooped out to the wall. It had only been a few minutes, but there were already three damaged areas.

  Hydan started working on them. I just watched. I mean, I could have tried but I didn’t want to fail in front of Oberon and cause him to doubt us. He couldn’t tell who was doing the work anyway.

  After Hydan fixed all three spots, and then two more over the next hour, Oberon finally quit scowling. He was starting to regain his own power now.

  I had Hydan keep at it for another four hours, which is when Oberon announced he was back to full capacity.

  “So, now that you know someone falsely documented your relationship, what are your plans,” Oberon asked.

  I considered, and then said, “Well, this was a long shot anyway. I had hoped my parents could help me, I grew up a Hidden Soul on Earth, and don’t know much of my heritage.”

  “Well, you have to be the son of Gunder or Braun Sivaeral, they are the only surviving Seconds,” he noted, “that is, besides me. Are you going to try to visit them next?”

  I shook my head, “No, I have a little saeran girl to rescue, she was taken by Medrod.”

  “Medrod!” Oberon bellowed, “He’s dead!”

  “Yes, but still kicking, it seems Morgain brought him back somehow,” I noted.

  Oberon looked out toward the walls, though he really couldn’t see anything from where we were. “That bitch, she needs ending.”

  Hydan spoke at this moment, “What of your Archimage? He was not at the capitol, I wondered if he was here at the front with you?”

  That caught my attention, perhaps my Archimage was here, and he could finally help restore my memories, including what I’d stolen from The Dragon!

  Oberon shook his head, “No, I have heard nothing of our Archimage, not for some time. But Gunder and Braun, are protecting some of the remaining strongholds, I assume the Archimage is as well. And, seeing I am alive, so must he be, somewhere. I had thought he was in the capitol.”

  My first thought was ‘crap’, I’d really hoped he was here, and now it seemed no one knew where he was located.

  Oberon continued, “Perhaps he has hidden away to creat
e a new Actuality weapon with which to battle the Island Witch.”

  I made no mention of Caliburn, which was strapped to my hip, the rune covered blade hidden in a sheath I had created. For all I knew Oberon would demand it to use Caliburn in this battle, and I needed it for my assault on Morgain.

  “You really think you can sneak onto Mystical Island, and rescue a little girl?” Oberon said with doubt obvious in his voice.

  “No, but I’m going to do it anyway,” I stated.

  He looked at me for a moment, and then grinned, “I wish you were my son! I have decided to help you as much as I can. I can’t let you Five Point travel from within the town, that would open Ouroboros to incursion by the Island Witch’s cursed necromages, but we have a secret tunnel you can use to get away from the town. Let us supply you with some food, and then we’ll get you going.”

  “And drink?” Hydan said hopefully.

  Oberon smiled, “I have met a few Friares in my travels, so I won’t forget the spirits.”

  “Oh, I hope you mean alcohol and not more ghosts and shades!” Hydan exclaimed, but he just winked at me.

  “I’ll bring some of our finest brews,” Oberon promised.

  Hydan beamed at him.

  “Thank you, for all your help,” I said to Oberon.

  He clapped me on the back and led the way.

  I followed the big saeran, but I was depressed, I mean, I had finally thought I was going to meet at least one of my real parents and get some answers, but someone out there was messing with my past, and I wanted to know who, and why.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Well you must be a prisoner in disguise

  -Linda Ronstadt

  I was expecting their secret tunnel to lead us to some hidden exit out beyond the tree line, but this wasn’t the case. We were taken to the basement of a building, and down there was a door which opened into a natural cavern that went below the river. Some distance in, we came to a guard post, right before we had to get down and crawl under a really low ceiling, where it came down to within one or two feet of the floor.

  The guards there told us to follow the caves, which would lead us to our destination. That’s where they left us on our own.

  The caverns were damp and dripping, with lots of stalagmites and stalactite formations. It went for some distance, though how far was hard to judge in the twisting, winding cavern. And then we came to a larger chamber, which seemed to be a dead end.

  “What the hell?” I noted.

  Myrka was creating light by holding up a ball of Derkaz energy over her hand, much like she’d done when I first met her back in Chichen Itza. Now she expanded the size of the strange blue fire and lit the entire cavern. That’s when I saw the blackened circles on the floor of the cave.

  “It looks like a lot of Traveling Stars have been made here,” Toji noted.

  Hydan nodded, “Ah yes, I see. This cavern is beyond the StarWard Oberon has created in the Town, yet since there is no exit, no one can find their way in from the surface. The only way they could be found is if a mage shares an image of this place.”

  “And that’s why they keep a guard further back, right where any attackers would have to crawl through and into their blades,” I noted.

  Toji nodded, “Still, that was pretty trusting of Oberon to let you see this location.”

  I agreed, “True, but there were several branches back there, I bet they will just seal off this one if attacks start coming through.”

  Toji nodded.

  Hydan created a burning red pentagram and when it was ready, he said, “All right, you sure you are ready to head for Mystical Island?”

  “As ready as I can be,” I noted, “They have had Ziny for over a day now, I’m getting worried.”

  Hydan nodded, “As am I, you have to be prepared for the worst, Nick.”

  I knew what he meant, the little saeran girl could already be dead.

  “So, the four of us against the Island Witch, her resurrected husband and their army of necromages, all to rescue one little saeran girl,” Toji noted.

  “Are you worried,” I asked him.

  He half bowed to me, “You shame me, Master Justnick. It will be my honor to die during such an honorable quest.”

  I smiled at him, “Let’s try to live through it instead, just for kicks.”

  “As you say,” he said, giving me a salute with one of his tantos.

  I turned to Myrka, “What about you, Myrka? You didn’t sign up to die on a mission to rescue a little girl who you don’t care about.”

  “I will rescue her if it is in my power,” Myrka replied.

  That made me pause, “Why? You tried to kill her.”

  Myrka scowled at me, “That was when I thought she was a threat to my mission, and before I owed her a life debt.”

  “A life debt?” I asked.

  Myrka only blinked at me.

  So I turned to Hydan, “And what about you, Hydan. This isn’t an outing to a new pub, or anything all that fun, amusing or interesting. Why are you coming?”

  He smiled, “But Nicholas, you ARE fun, amusing and interesting; at least I have found life around you to be so. I do not fear death; it is just the next great entertainment.”

  “So you are willing to die?”

  He mused, “Willing, no, expecting, possibly, but I will not bow down to death; I will do my best to avoid it! However, I just refuse to fear it, what fun would that be?”

  “What fun indeed,” I agreed.

  Hydan looked at me strangely, “And what about you, Nick? Are you trying to save Ziny because she saved your life? Do you feel you owe her a life debt?”

  I thought about it and replied, “No, not really. I appreciate her saving me, but that is not why I am going to her rescue.”

  “Why then?”

  I shrugged, “Because she doesn’t disserve to die. I guess it is as simple as this, there are a lot of bad things in this world, and not enough good ones, and she is one of those rare things, a good person. Moreover, she was under my care, so I will not abandon her to the Island Bitch.”

  Hydan nodded and then gestured to the burning pentagram.

  Once again, I expected to arrive on the coast and be looking out at an island, but instead, I was in a forest.

  After I regained my balance from my spinning arrival, I spoke to Hydan who had also arrived. “Where the hell are we?”

  “As near Mystical Island as I dared to take us. This is one of the places I remember,” he replied.

  I looked around and saw there was some kind of a stone cliff to our left, which fell into a pool of dark water. “What was so memorable about this spot?” I asked.

  Hydan walked over toward the pool of water, as he replied, “Well, right over here was where I made my escape from Morgain’s necromages,” he said, pointing to an old blackened pentagram on the stone near the water.

  “And what were you doing on Morgain’s island?” Toji asked.

  Hydan shrugged, “I went to see what all the excitement was about. There are all these necromages and other dark powers, it is quite the mystery. I was just kind of curious as to what she was up to and why.”

  “You were curious?” I asked.

  He nodded, “My curiosity gets me into the most interesting situations sometimes.”

  Myrka snorted, “I’m surprised you Friares even survive. They will stick their nose into a burning fire to see why flames are hot.”

  “Well, why are they hot?” Hydan asked with a grin.

  Myrka scowled at him, “Because there is a fire!”

  Hydan lifted his hands, “So you say, but how do you know unless you experience it yourself?”

  Myrka just took a breath in as if she was going to answer, and then exhaled. “There is no use in talking to a Friare. May I kill him yet?”

  “No,” I said absently, I was thinking about Ziny, and I was worried.

  It was only about two mectors to the coast, but as we traveled through the woods, Hydan explained the situ
ation.

  “Morgain keeps an encampment along the shore on this side, that way it is difficult for any attacking army to launch ships to cross the channel. Sure, the saerans can swim across, but they can’t bring large siege weapons with them. We’re going to have to try to sneak past the encampment, and get into the ocean so we can swim across to Mystical Island.”

  Myrka snorted, “Mystical Island; that sounds pretentious, even for a Dokkalfar sorceress."

  I looked at the girl and said, “I thought House Dokkalfar embraced the Derkaz, just like your House. Aren’t your Houses allies?”

  I had to take a step back from the ferocious expression suddenly on Myrka’s face. “We are nothing like the Dokkalfar demons. Those fools wish to end the universe!”

  I did not know what to make of her statement.

  Soon we came to the end of the trees. Ahead was a dark wall, about twenty feet high, and it ran along the bluff overlooking the beach below. It kind of reminded me a little of the Great Wall of China, it had a wide top, where lots of soldiers could easily move and fight. At periodic points, there were lookout towers, and these, no doubt, held garrisons of soldiers, mages, and possibly some of those necromages.

  The wall wasn’t designed to keep ships from landing people on the beach; it was designed to keep people on shore from reaching the water.

  We were all hiding behind tree trunks, looking over the situation. There were many guards positioned along the wall, keeping a sharp eye out on the forest.

  “OK,” I asked, “What’s the plan? Are we going to build a ballista and shoot ourselves over the wall?”

  “Good plan,” Hydan replied, “But I’m not sure it is feasible.”

  Myrka was frowning, “How would we make ourselves act like large bolts?”

  “I was kidding,” I noted.

  Myrka shook her head, “This, or any other time, is no time to make jokes. I suggest we charge the wall, and then two of us will clasp hands at the base while one of us makes themselves light. Then they fling this light person up onto the wall. That person kills all the guards and then lowers a rope.”