Rise of The Mortokai

by D G Palmer

  ‘A huge giant failure of a human being,’ added Trinity.

  ‘They say that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, but in your case, it couldn’t have fallen any farther,’ the dryad chimed in.

  Daniel looked at them in horror. He tried to shut out the hurtful comments they threw at him but failed. He tried to run away but everywhere he turned they were there pointing and laughing.

  ‘To think that we both liked you.’

  ‘We were ready to fight over you.’

  ‘You’re not good enough for either of us.’

  ‘We don’t need you anymore.’

  ‘You’re no mage.’

  ‘You’re a disappointment to your father.’

  Those last words of the dream reverberated in Daniel’s mind as he woke up.

  They may only have been in his dream, but if he was being honest with himself, he thought those same words on an almost daily basis. Even before he knew his dad was a fae legend. He always noticed that his father had a kind of aura about him; people always liked being in his company, they listened to him and valued his opinion. And it was another thing when it came to physical activity.

  Daniel was nothing like his father. It bothered him a little in the past; a son always wants to emulate their father and make them proud, but now it irked him more than ever, now that he knew the status his dad held in his past life.

  Suddenly he became aware of sounds that emanated from the garden. Curious, Daniel went to his window to investigate. Down below in the backyard he could see Eric and Finn sparring. Typical; just as he was feeling down about not being the child his dad would have wanted. He couldn’t begrudge Finn though. She must be in heaven, he thought, knowing how much she was in awe of his dad. It must be like having all her Christmas’s at once. Daniel smiled at the thought.

  After having a quick shower, whilst he was getting dressed, Daniel spied his satchel and remembered the spellbook Trinity had given him; Gydion’s very own grimoire. He took it out, and on closer inspection, was a bit surprised by its unassuming appearance. The book was nothing like the Book of Azul. Whereas that one had been thick, hard backed, with a big golden clasp, this one was more akin to a small leather journal with a thin strap wrapped around it to hold it closed.

  The dark red cover was embossed, front and back, with runes and other esoteric symbols. Daniel untied the book and lay it down in reverence. He took a deep breath and prepared himself to open the spellbook. He was about to see things that, to his knowledge, had not been seen by many. Things that Gydion had written, secrets he had in his mind. The moment wasn’t lost on Daniel.

  But he couldn’t open it.

  From every angle he tried, the cover wouldn’t budge. He looked the book over again to see if there was another catch that he had somehow missed but there was nothing. Whatever he did, slap it, punch it, smack it, bang it, kick it, throw it, reverence had gone out the window by now and the book still wouldn’t open.

  Daniel slumped back into his chair, panting heavily and sweating.

  ‘Are you quite finished?’

  The unexpected voice shot Daniel up in his seat. His bedroom door was closed and that was definitely the direction the voice had come from, but there was nothing there, just that bloody book.

  ‘What a dunderhead! Did you really think that the great Archmage Gydion would leave his book unprotected so that any dunderhead, like you, could get access?’

  Daniel stared at the spellbook with his mouth agape. ‘It was the bloody book. It can talk.’

  ‘What a dunderhead! I’m the grimoire of the great Archmage Gydion, I’m not like ordinary books. Now pick me up.’

  ‘Oh, right, sorry about that,’ apologised Daniel.

  ‘And so, you should be, Dunderhead. Now,’ the book coughed and recited a set command after being placed on the desk, ‘speak the magic word, or words, and you shall have access.’

  ‘Huh? What magic word? She didn’t say anything about any magic word,’ Daniel said.

  ‘Who didn’t?’

  ‘Trinity. She gave me the book - uh - I mean you, and told me to read page 8.’

  ‘I see. And who might you be, Dunderhead?’

  ‘I’m Daniel, Daniel Welsh.’

  ‘I know that name.’

  ‘Really? How?’

  ‘I know a great many things about a great many things.’

  Daniel saw this as an opportunity and swiftly asked a question. ‘In that case, perhaps you can tell me about this Mortokai thing I’ve been hearing about?’

  ‘I don’t know anything about that,’ the book replied, which prompted Daniel to roll his eyes. ‘But I do know that the great Archmage Gydion and Trinity spoke of you often—'

  ‘What did they say? Only nice things I hope.’

  ‘—and Trinity did wish it, so I am willing to allow you access to page 8 and page 8 only, until you can tell me the magic word or words.’

  Gydion’s grimoire flipped its pages to the correct entry. It opened on a double page. On one side were the arcane words, the verbal component of the spell, followed by the runic lettering that denoted the hand gestures. On the other side was a description of the spell itself. There were scribblings around the edges, additional notes Daniel assumed. At the top of the page was the name of the spell; Astral Projection. ‘That’s what Trinity used when she came to me during the wheel run,’ Daniel whispered before he continued to read the fancy script of the magic book.

  Astral Projection

  This spell is used to separate the astral form from the physical one. Once separated the astral form is invisible to all those you wish it to be and is also intangible. Astral bodies can be sensed by detection spells and forcibly pulled from the astral plane with a Summoning spell. The astral form can travel great distances at great speeds, or even instantly if you know the place well. I have added the Mind Vision conjuration here also since it aids instantaneous travel. You visualise where you want to be and send your astral self to that point.

  Essence: personal

  Element: arcane

  Necessary techniques you must utilise to achieve spell success:

  Relaxation

  Concentration

  Visualization

  Remain mentally alert

  Astral combat is used so as not to cause significant damage to the physical world around the combatants. Within the astral plane you can-

  Daniel instinctively made to turn the page but the grimoire suddenly slammed shut.

  ‘No, no, no, page 8 only,’ the book reminded Daniel. ‘Besides, at this juncture you have no need to learn about astral combat.’

  After Daniel apologised for his instinctive page turning and explained how he zones out when he reads, the spellbook relented and reopened, much to Daniel’s relief.

  The would-be mage looked over the arcane words. A couple of them looked familiar, or rather some of their syllables did, Daniel having been taught them by Aradia. The others would be a guess at best.

  Daniel sat cross legged on his bed with the book in his lap. He went through the runes and practiced the gestures. This part of the process he found easy. There was no need to worry about pronunciation or syllables, just follow the instructions, hold your hands here, extend and retract your fingers in sequence at the right moment. Simple.

  When he felt he was ready, Daniel made his first attempt at casting the astral projection spell.

  ‘Whoa! Stop right there!’ The grimoire clearly heard enough. ‘If I had ears they would be bleeding right now. What, pray tell, was that supposed to be? The words in spells are supposed to be lyrical, not whatever that was that came out of your mouth. Is this the standard of young mages these days? Who exactly is your master? No doubt it is that dunderhead, Master Monroe. He calls this training?’

  ‘Well, actually, I - uh - haven’t had any real training yet.’

  ‘What? There was a time when an untrained mage would never dream of touching the Archmage’s grimoire, and if they did they would instantly find
themselves in a mystic cell to ponder what they had done. Oh, how I wish those days were back.’

  ‘See? I’m not cut out to be a mage! Everyone is on my back about it, Gydion, Trinity, Aradia, even Finn. I’m destined not to live up to my father’s reputation, nothing more.’

  ‘I really don’t see what the great Archmage Gydion sees in you, myself. It must be something though, so I’ll help you. Repeat after me.’

  Daniel did as he was told. Once he had heard the spellbook recite the arcane words, he now had the sounds for the words that were permanently in his photographic memory. He repeated them verbatim, much to the surprise of the book.

  Again, after taking several deep breaths, Daniel tried to cast the spell. The mystic words flowed from his mouth. Each syllable accompanied by a hand gesture. All the while, concentrated on his Personal Essence Reservoir in his lower abdomen.

  His muscles relaxed. He felt like he was going deeper down a spiral staircase into a world of relaxation. Daniel then started to experience a sinking feeling, as if he were slowly falling, but he was actually rising.

  His astral form was free of his physical one.

  ‘Wow! This is awesome,’ Daniel exclaimed as he examined his translucent, glittery astral body. He noticed how sharp his vision was, like everything was in super HD with ultra-vivid colours. He floated down and looked at his physical body with its serene face and he smiled. ‘Let’s see what this astral body can do!’

  The first thing he attempted was to see if he truly was intangible and placed his hand against the wall before he pushed. It went through as if it was not there and he nodded with appreciation. ‘Cool!’

  He followed this experiment by flying through the wall himself and floated down to where Finn and Eric sparred. ‘They totally can’t see me,’ Daniel marvelled as he levitated around them. ‘Maybe I should give that Mind Vision a try. So, to begin, you visualise where you want to be, picture it in every detail. Then you close your eyes, mentally send your body there, and when you open them, you’ll be in... Westminster Abbey!’

  He laughed as he floated above the famous gothic building, seeing it from an angle not many people got to experience themselves. It reminded him of when he floated, uncontrollably, over Almedia. ‘I can go anywhere!’ The realisation suddenly dawned on him. He could send his astral form anywhere, as long as he could visualise it. ‘So that’s why Trinity told me to start on page 8,’ smiled Daniel, as he thought of Almedia then closed his eyes and reopened them to find his astral body had instantly travelled to Ariest.

  ‘I’m never going to get tired of this! One minute I’m home, then Westminster and now I’m in The Dirty Dog by the look of things,’ Daniel said as he took in his surroundings. He floated down through the floor, hoping Trinity maybe there eating. But there was no sign of her. ‘Where could she be?’

  ‘I’m right here,’ Trinity said.

  Daniel turned around to see Trinity’s astral form floating behind him. He couldn’t hide the delight that appeared on his face, and neither would he want to. ‘How did you know I was here?’

  ‘I’ve been keeping a little detection spell active just in case,’ she smiled.

  ‘Just in case?’ Daniel scoffed. ‘You orchestrated it!’

  Trinity beamed. ‘Maybe I did, but I didn’t want Finn to have you all to herself, not now things are... different between us.’

  ‘I thought you might have forgotten about that,’

  ‘Are you kidding? Did you?’

  ‘No way! Any regrets?’

  ‘None. You?’

  ‘The only regret I have is leaving you behind.’

  Trinity smiled as she slowly reached out her hand. Daniel mirrored the action and they tentatively linked fingers. Neither said a word as they enjoyed the moment. Then Trinity suddenly had an idea. ‘You haven’t been to the Astral Realm yet have you?’

  ‘The book only allowed me to read page 8. And speaking of the book you could have told me that it talked. He almost didn’t let me read it at all,’

  ‘Yeah sorry about that, it was a last-minute decision,’ Trinity said, ‘Grim can be a bit of a stickler sometimes.’

  ‘Grim?’

  ‘That’s his name,’ Trinity revealed. ‘I’ll give you the password before you go back. For now, let me show you this.’ She smiled back at him excitedly as she held his hand tightly then closed her eyes and reopened them. ‘Welcome to the Astral Realm.’

  Daniel examined their blank surroundings in amazement. ‘It’s like everything has been erased, like we’ve blinked into nothingness!’

  ‘I wouldn’t exactly call it nothing...’ Trinity replied. The emptiness around them suddenly became a tropical beach with a beautiful red sunset. ‘The Astral Realm can become anything you desire. Why don’t you give it a try?’

  ‘Ok! So, I just will it to happen?’

  Trinity nodded and the realm transformed into Daniel’s bedroom. She looked at Daniel and smiled coquettishly. ‘Are you trying to tell me something, Daniel?’

  ‘What? No!’ Daniel could feel his face heating up. ‘It was the first thing on my mind - I mean - ahem - let me try again’

  The Astral Dimension changed again.

  Trinity looked out of the window before them and saw buildings whose walls were nacreous and iridescent with roofs of multicoloured shells. The room they were in also had the same pearlescent floor and walls. Trinity had an incredulous look on her face, she had never seen anything like it. ‘What is this place?’

  ‘It’s Pichini Palace in Murias City,’ Daniel told Trinity happy to be able to show her something new. ‘The medical wing to be exact. This is where I woke up after that incident with the kelpie.’ He changed the scenery again. Four rows of gold-veined marble pillars suddenly appeared around them with a huge mosaic of Zephyrus under their feet. ‘And this is the throne room where King Noi gave me the Book of Azul and Princess Nyriel kissed me.’

  ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘Long story short, she did it to keep my head on my shoulders.’

  ‘Long story short, I’m going to take your head off your shoulders... if you don’t kiss me.’

  It was only then he realised that they hadn’t actually kissed since reuniting, but his excuse was that he was still learning the ropes of being in a relationship. It was all new to him. Hearing it still made him chuckle inside, I’m in a relationship, with Trinity Evergreen! Kissing her now would be a reaffirmation of that declaration.

  They stepped closer to each other. She looked up at him and he lost himself in her green eyes. He pushed back a stray curl of her auburn hair then he instinctively leaned forward and their arms wrapped around each other. Their lips met.

  ‘And for future reference,’ Trinity started when they finally parted, ‘you don’t have to wait until you’re threatened to kiss me, I am your girlfriend after all.’

  Daniel was about to reply when he was suddenly yanked away by an invisible force. ‘What’s happeniiinnnggg!’ Then he vanished.

  ‘Maybe it was too soon for him to hear the “G word”,’ smiled Trinity.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Gydion dropped to his knee and checked her pulse. It was there, weak but there. He brushed the strands of hair from her face and made his wife comfortable in the recovery position before he stood and faced the Keeper.

  ‘That was unnecessary. She has no magic.’

  ‘She has no right to be here. Repulsing trespassers is my duty, and that is what I have done. You should take her now and leave before the same fate befalls you.’

  ‘You should know a couple things first; unlike Sayyidah I have magic and secondly she is my wife!’ Gydion unleashed a volley of blasts at the Keeper who barely got his shields up in time to defend himself. The power of the attack was still enough to force him back.

  ‘It has been a long time since I have faced such power. I commend you, but you still shall not pass.’

  ‘What is in this book that is so valuable?’

  ‘Nothing that you shall
learn while I still live.’

  ‘So be it.’

  The combatants stood facing each other. They both flared their Essence to replenish their levels. Gydion stood unmoving watching his opponents Essence. It was somehow different to any he had seen before. Sure, it shimmered a golden colour, but it wasn’t that; it was something else, but he didn’t know quite what. What he did know was that the Essence level of the Keeper was comparable to his own.

  It had been some time since his last duel, before he had returned to Earth in fact, but Gydion was able to keep up some semblance of practice, especially whilst training Trinity.

  He had done the gentlemanly thing and allowed his opponent to replace his lost Essence but he knew of some mages that would use the underhand tactic of attack whilst doing such a thing. He was glad to see that his adversary was not such a man.

  ‘This shrine is a place of great importance; I would not like it to be destroyed in the coming contest.’

  ‘Then the Astral Realm shall be our battleground.’

  The Astral Realm, the realm between realms. Also called the Spirit World by shamanistic magic wielders. It can only be reached by the projected Essence of beings. These astral forms are intangible and incapable of being harmed except by opponents who are themselves in astral form or by the most powerful of magic users. Combat here cannot be seen, heard or felt by those in the physical plane hence, as devastating and destructive a magical battle can be, there is no collateral damage.

  The two combatants simultaneously slowed their breathing and entered a trance state; at which point their Essence forms left their bodies and entered the Astral Realm.

  Gydion faced the Keeper, getting his combat spells ready to cast. Perhaps there was an element of battle rust on the part of Gydion because before he had time to react, the Keeper sent his first spell and wrapped the Archmage in mystic bands.

  ‘Keeping things simple usually pay dividends,’ the Keeper said smugly. ‘I had expected more from you however, considering the power within you. What a waste. Now you must pay the price for not heeding my warnings.’

  The Keeper silently spoke an incantation and his hands began to glow with power. He released a volley of arcane beams towards Gydion who just stood his ground. The beams grew nearer and nearer until they were about to strike the helpless mage. But instead of delivering a killing blow they passed right through him and the image of Gydion dispersed into nothingness much to the chagrin of the Keeper.