silavut-the-wizard

[silavut-the-wizard]

Silavut the Wizard, Chapter 78

Another super short one. Just a quick twist in the story that popped in my head a few days ago. Enjoy!

The Servant

The wraith beckoned for her—and she did as it bade her to.

Keeping its back turned toward her, facing out the window, it spoke in a low, gravelly tone. “You fail me, Servant. I should have done this myself. Alas, I have not the strength. Though I am still yet strong enough to tear you apart.”

She cowered at this. “No, please. I swear I’m getting closer.”

“Closer? Yet they still escape your beasts. Everything you’ve done, everything you’ve thrown at them, they thwart and defeat and escape. The Genat wraith, the brutes, the—”

“Please,” she begged, falling to her knees. “Just give me more time.”

“Time… time… always time. It is running out. It is not a luxury I can afford. If you do not capture them soon, I will start taking from you.” Finally the wraith turned toward her, its ghastly visage boring into her soul. “The entity grows stronger. We cannot waste any more time. We must have the girl. She is the key.” It turned back to the window, sparing her from having to look at its twisted form further.

“Yet she is so powerful. Even more so than the wizard, and she grows stronger by the day. She will soon be unstoppable. How can we capture someone that powerful?”

The wraith was silent for several moments as she waited, trembling. Finally it said, “We make them come to us. They are already headed this way. We just need to show them the path.”

She gasped. “They’ll destroy us!”

The wraith chuckled harshly. “I think not.”

It said no more and she opened her mouth to ask what it meant but she suddenly found herself alone. It had vanished just as suddenly as if it had never been there. She hated when the wraith did that.

She stood up and made her way back to her rooms, pondering its words. What did it mean “show them the path”? She didn’t want them walking right up to the front door. That would mean disaster.

After some thought, she had developed a plan that just might work. The wraith would be pleased and she would be praised. She hoped.

[silavut-the-wizard]

Silavut the Wizard, Chapter 77

Short one this time. Just a quick reprieve before they move on to the next step.

Unprotected

They barely made it to the outskirts of the village when the spell wore off. Silvaut whispered to keep an eye and ear out for their pursuers. Back at the village, they could still hear the Hangrolblest and hunter beasts roaring and howling in frustration at losing their prey. Though Silavut knew it would not last long. The creatures would soon pick up their trail again.

“So, where do we go now?” Anielle nervously glanced around.

Silavut let out a heavy sigh. “We have to find a way east, to get to Torchikal. We now know that’s where she is. Though first we must find supplies. We’re low on rations and our equipment needs serviced.”

“I…” Nara sniffled. “I know of a place. It’s not far from here. I remember seeing it on a map once in the information exchange. Taken from the Trefal library.”

Sehlan wrapped an arm around her shoulders and leaned against her. “Let’s go, then. Yes?” She looked at Silavut.

“Yes. Let’s. Lothiren, would you like to be returned to normal size?”

The dragon nodded in a way that only a dragon could. “I would very much appreciate that, wizard.”

“You do know it’s a risk, out here, unprotected… Right?” Anielle looked at Silavut with a furrowed brow.

“Yes, I know, but I doubt we’ll ever be safe with those things following us. We have to find a way to defeat them or lose them. Though I would prefer not to harm the two beasts if we can restore Tail and Vekta. As for the Hangrolblest, it can go to whatever underworld it wants for all I care.”

“Don’t you have a spell or something that could, I dunno, vanquish it, or something?”

Silavut pinched the bridge of his nose, took a deep breath, and calmly explained, “Not without the fire vessel. That’s the one element I need to do anything major. I need to find another suitable fire vessel. That’s another reason I can’t do a whole lot more than basic spells. It’s not like there’s a market on every corner—”

“OK, OK, I get it.” Anielle held her hands up in defeat and sighed. “Let’s just go to Torchikal, find her and end all this madness.”

“I agree with the angry one,” Lothiren said.

“Hey!”

Lothiren let out a small breath of fire. A dragon’s way of ‘laughing’.

Hoish let out a series of short hisses. His way of ‘laughing’.

Anielle crossed her arms, unamused.

The sorceress watched the creatures and overturned several pieces of furniture in frustration. “I want them found! NOW!” she screamed through her scrying glass. The creatures winced with her outburst. She stormed through her rooms in the tower, shoving aside anyone stupid enough to be in her path, not caring if they got hurt, or worse. The power within her writhed, itching to be free. She could sense something happening but couldn’t quite put her finger on it. That was another thing bothering her.

The entity began gathering strength and slithering its tendrils across the land. Freedom! it thought. Nothing can stop me now. If it could let out a maniacal laugh, it would be deep and rattling. It would still need more power, though, to become fully formed. Once that was done, its next task would be to find and destroy her. Then after that…

[silavut-the-wizard]

Silavut the Wizard, Chapter 76

Yay! A new chapter! Got stuck for a while, then inspiration struck once again. So here we are.

What happens to Silavut and co. this time?

Near Death

They quietly went upstairs to check on the others. Teshrial was fast asleep once again. Hoish and Lothiren were craning their necks, listening to the roaring and howling. They kept silent, both audibly and mentally, as they waited and listened.

Silavut contemplated if there was a way to escape without being detected. Though the town was crawling with magic, if they tried anything, he knew they would be discovered as their signature would be different than that of the magic in the town. He pulled out the spell book and turned page after page but nothing stood out to him. He wanted to throw the book in frustration, but knew that would attract the creatures’ attention.

He looked to the others for help. They all shook their heads. They would either have to wait to see if the beasts would eventually move on, or if they would try to sniff them out in town. There was no telling what they would do. The Hangrolblest and hunter beasts were relentless.

Silavut stowed the book and put his head in his hands.

Suddenly Teshrial woke up. “What—” she began. Nara immediately put a hand over her mouth and made a shushing gesture. Teshrial nodded and Nara pulled her hand away and put a hand to her ear in a listening gesture. Teshrial looked around and then heard it. The Hangrolblest roared and the hunter beasts howled in frustration.

Nara let silent tears fall for her fallen friends. Tail and Vekta. Could they ever be restored?

While they silently contemplated their situation, Silavut and Sehlan pulled out scraps of food they found in the old building. It wasn’t much, but they shared what they had. They ate in silence.

Silence. Just them and silence and the creatures.

Wait! thought Silavut. Silence! That’s it!!! He held up a hand excitedly to the others and pulled out the spell book again and rifled through it until he found the spell he was looking for: “Deathly Silent.”

Nara and Sehlan raised their eyebrows at him. Are you serious? their expressions said.

He showed it to Hoish and Lothiren who also looked at him incredulously.

Anielle was still fast asleep, completely oblivious to the danger.

Silavut frantically shook his finger at the page. I know it’s crazy, but what else can we do! was the intended meaning. He wasn’t sure if that’s what they got, but they acquiesced. Nara and Sehlan sighed, shrugged, and rolled their eyes while Lothiren and Hoish tilted their heads back and forth. Fine, let’s do it, then.

Teshrial didn’t know what was going on. She just watched the rest with wide eyes and curiosity. Seeing the book, she figured Silavut was up to something. Then the frantic pointing told her it was something serious.

Luckily there wasn’t much preparation. Just some silence—which they had, besides the roaring and howling—and mental clarity. Silavut closed his eyes and imagined the words in his head:

As Death guides the souls of those passed So does Silence guide the path of Death Walk with Death the Silent path Protected by the veil between But do not pass through the gate Lest your mortal soul be forever lost

Soon they all felt something, like a tingle in the air. Then they looked around and saw everything was covered in a grey haze. When Nara looked at Teshrial, though, she looked different. Teshrial looked translucent, like she was in between living and dead.

Nara tried to touch her, but her hand went right through her. Teshrial looked stunned, then started mouthing the word “No” repeatedly, and her expression changed to fear. Nara looked at Silavut and Sehlan.

Silavut dared to speak. “I… I don’t… I did everything right… I know I did.” He skimmed through the book frantically. “I can’t explain it.” He shook his head in disbelief.

“She may have been too far gone already,” Sehlan said quietly, almost a whisper.

“No, this can’t be. We can’t just leave her.” Nara was desperately trying to touch Teshrial to no avail. “My powers! Maybe I can—”

“No.” They looked down and Teshrial had a sad smile on her face. “No,” she said again, softly. “I know your healing powers, Nara. They cannot help me now.” She sat up, her form making a ghostly trail. “I was already at Death’s door when you found me. Sometimes there’s no coming back, no healing to be done. It is my time. You must go now.”

Teshrial faded away, leaving them in the now-empty house in the grey haze.

Nara started sobbing. “She can’t… It can’t be… WHY!!??” she cried out.

Sehlan embraced her and gently told her they had to go.

By this time, Anielle had woken up to see the scene before her. She watched Teshrial fade and Nara’s reaction. Then she heard the roaring and howling and needed no explanation. She knew they were in trouble. The only thing she said was, “What’s with the grey stuff?” Silavut quickly explained he had cast “Deathly Silence” to evade the beasts. She gave a terse nod and said, “Let’s go, then. I don’t want to be their lunch when the spell ends.”

Though it seemed a bit insensitive, they knew she was right. Nara leaned against Sehlan as they made their way out of the house and back to the street. They continued through the village. As they went, they saw many shimmering doorways leading to other places, but they dare not even touch one, lest they lose themselves.

The Hangrolblest could sense an odd magic but could not detect the source. The hunter beasts sniffed and howled but they could not find the scent. The spell had hidden the group’s exit.

Teshrial watched them go. She would see them again, but she had other plans.

Their brush with Death was only the beginning.

[silavut-the-wizard]

Silavut the Wizard, Chapter 75

Here we have the story about what happened in the village.

Sole Survivor

“There was an attack on our town. The raiders, marauders, whatever you want to call them, invaded without warning. They wanted to take our village for our resources. They would raid, pillage, and then move on. Then with the new threat encroaching, the… entity… that has now made its presence known, the raiders destroyed nearly everything and killed nearly everyone. Very few of us survived. I was one of the survivors. The raiders were afraid of… her… but even more so of this new, ancient entity.

“When the raiders finally fled to escape the new threat, we—the survivors—rebuilt what we could, but there wasn’t much left. I told them help would come, but they would not believe me. Over time, our remaining resources dwindled, and one by one others died.

“I still held out hope. Then I heard about the two saviours, Lady Sehlan the Warrior and Lord Silavut the Wizard, and their companions. The remaining ones still would not believe me. Without hope, they too succumbed and passed on. I eventually became the sole survivor.

“Over the years, I managed to grow a few handfuls of crops and hunt and forage for other food. However, because of the destruction, fewer animals would roam near our village and the plants started dying off. Thus it became harder to hunt and forage, and the crops would yield less harvest. The rains were short and the sun baked the fields.

“I became too weak to continue tending the crops or go hunting, so I salvaged what scraps I could that remained. I wasn’t sure if any other food was stored away in secret and I didn’t have the energy to look in every single nook and cranny.

“I finally became so weak, I could barely move. Then I heard noises outside. At first I was afraid it was the raiders again, come to finish what they started. Then when I realized it wasn’t them, I looked closer and saw you all. That’s when I rushed out. I’m so glad you’re here.”

By the time Teshrial finished her story, she was practically out of breath. She was breathing hard and had a sheen of sweat. Nara told her to relax and take long, slow breaths while wiping away the sweat with a cloth she found by the bed.

Then Nara suddenly perked up. “So that’s where those marauders came from, and why they were going to Genat Town!”

“Wait… You know them? The raiders?” Teshrial was suddenly more alert and her eyes went wide with surprise.

“Well, in a way. We had a run-in with them. They took me captive—not sure what for—until the others found a way to rescue me.”

“Oh! Do tell!”

Nara told Teshrial the whole ordeal. Her capture, her sign, the rescue, their experience in Genat Town, and Teshrial was so enraptured she listened to the whole story, then almost immediately after fell asleep once again. Nara smiled to herself. “Well, she’s asleep again. Hopefully they’ll be back soon,” she thought aloud. The others agreed. Nara laid down to rest herself. She closed her eyes and told herself it would be just for a few minutes.

However, when she awoke, it was dark. She had fallen asleep next to Teshrial, who had her arm wrapped around Nara who couldn’t help but smile. It felt nice to be next to someone like this. Then she wondered: Had the others returned yet? She gently moved Teshriel’s arm so as not to wake her and slid off the bed.

Looking around she saw Hoish and Lothiren curled up next to each other. She giggled quietly; seeing a small dragon next to a large furball, nearly equal in size, was quite a sight. Anielle was lying against Hoish, snoring lightly. A moment later she went to check if the others returned. No sign of them. Where are they? Are they OK? What happened?

Just as she was about to go out to call to them, the front door opened and they rushed in.

“By the Powers, are you two all right?”

“Ssshhh… quiet!” Sehlan urged in a whisper.

Nara clapped her hands to her mouth. She then heard the roar of the Hangrolblest and the howls of the hunter beasts.

“I don’t know if they can find us here, since this place is crawling with magic,” Silavut whispered, “but I don’t want them to hear us.”

Nara nodded. She then pointed upstairs, indicating the others.

[silavut-the-wizard]

Silavut the Wizard, Chapter 74

Silavut and co. have an interesting encounter in the village.

Silent Village

As they travelled, alert and cautious, Hoish heard a whispered shuffling.

“There!” the cat alerted them.

They turned towards where Hoish indicated. There, in a window across the way, was someone watching them.

“I thought I saw someone earlier,” remarked Nara.

“Guess you were right,” Silavut conceded.

They stood there observing the watcher for a moment before the watcher quickly ducked back and closed the curtain. They gave each other looks of uncertainty, debating whether to try and communicate or continue on.

Soon their decision was made for them. The watcher exited the house and cautiously approached them.

Hoish stood in front and the person stopped. Silavut looked at Hoish and stepped forward, whispering to Hoish to stay behind them. Hoish complied, but stayed on high alert.

“Hello there,” Silavut greeted with his empty hands held out to hopefully show they didn’t mean any harm. “Can you tell us what happened here? Where is everyone?”

The person shook their head and looked down at the ground sheepishly. “I… I’m… not sure,” they said so quietly Silavut barely heard them. They looked up, their expression unreadable. “Are… are you… them?”

“Them… who?” Sehlan had stepped up beside Silavut and put a hand on his shoulder.

“The… I mean…”

“It’s OK. We’re here to help. Who’s ‘them’?”

The person then ran up to them, suddenly crying. It was a waif of a young woman, barely an adult, emaciated. She hugged them and through her sobbing and tears, her voice muffled against them, “It is you! They said you wouldn’t come; that you would abandon us. Not me, though… Not me. I knew you would come.”

The woman stopped talking and continued sobbing against them. They stayed like that for several moments before they realized she had fallen asleep against them.

They gently picked her up and took her back inside, Hoish constantly glancing around, still on guard in the rear. Taking a quick look around, they found a bed and gently laid her down.

“This place is terrible,” Nara whispered. “Is there anything we can do? She looks like she’s starving.”

They talked amongst themselves for a while, deciding whether to take her or leave some rations with her and hope for the best. Though Silavut was a wizard, and getting more powerful, conjuring food took a lot of energy which he didn’t care to spend at the moment.

“Is there any other food in the village?” Nara wondered.

“We can’t just go barging into other places,” Sehlan warned.

“Yeah, I know, but maybe… we can knock on a few doors…? See if anyone answers? If not, then maybe we can take a peek inside…?”

“What do you think, love?” Sehlan turned towards Silavut who looked pensive.

“She might have something there. If anyone is here and they see who we are, maybe they’d help.”

“OK, let’s do it. Silavut and I will go. Nara, you stay here and keep an eye on her. Anielle, Hoish, and Lothiren, keep guard and stay alert.”

“Wait! What if she wakes up—”

“When she wakes up,” Sehlan interrupted, “just make sure she knows she’s safe and keep her company. We shouldn’t be too long. Hopefully. Come on; let’s go.”

Sehlan and Silavut headed out to check out the village. Once outside, Silavut asked, “Do you really think it’s wise to leave Nara with her?”

“She’ll be fine. Nara’s a good girl, she can handle it. She’s proven herself. You know this.”

“Yes, but at least one of us—”

Sehlan put a finger against his lips. “Hush, now. The others are with her. If something happens, they can handle it.”

Silavut took her hand from his lips and sighed. “You’re right. I’m just worried. We have so much going on…”

“Yes, and we’ll get through it, somehow. We have so far.”

Silavut nodded. “All right. Let’s do this. Where do we start?”

“How about that building there?” Sehlan pointed to a large gothic cathedral-like structure at the end of the road.

“That… looks a little… creepy.” Silavut shivered.

“OK. Then how about we just start here”–Sehlan pointed at the house next to the woman’s—“and work our way that way?”

Silavut nodded. “That… sounds like a much better plan.” He glanced back at the large building and shivered again. “Yeugh! That place really gives me the creeps. I really hope we won’t have to go there.”

Sehlan looked over at it again. “I guess it is a little out of place.” She breathed deeply. “Well, let’s go, then.”

They started towards the next house. A few moments later, they were knocking on the door. No answer. Silavut tried the knob and it turned, the door opening with a squeal.

“Guess no one’s home,” Sehlan said quietly.

“Guess not. Shall we see what’s inside?”

Sehlan nodded. “Just be careful.”

They slowly crept into the living room where it was just as destitute as the woman’s house. Searching, they found nothing.

“It’s like these people abandoned this place.” Sehlan ran a finger through the dust.

“Yeah, but why?” Silavut thumbed over his shoulder, indicating the woman’s house. “Was she abandoned, too?”

Sehlan sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know…”

“Maybe we should find out. First, though, we need to see if we can find some food.”

Several hours later, after searching multiple dwellings, they came up empty-handed.

“Well, one last place to look…” Sehlan looked up at the foreboding building.

“I really don’t like the looks of that place.”

“I know, but it’s all we got left. Come on.”

Silavut reluctantly followed Sehlan.

Back in the woman’s house, Nara sat in a rickety chair that felt ready to collapse if she so much as twitched watching the woman. “I hope they’re back soon. It’s been hours.” She turned to the two creatures. “Could either of you… oh, I dunno… see where they are?”

“That would be intruding…” Lothiren began.

“Yes, yes, I know. I’m just worried.”

Just then, she heard the woman take in a sharp breath and stir. Nara looked over at her and waited. The woman shifted and slowly sat up. Looking around she saw her odd guests.

“What happened?”

“You fell asleep. So we brought you in.”

The woman shook her head. “Oh, I’m so sorry.” She looked around again. “Where are your parents?”

Nara started a bit, but just shook her head. “They’re… not my parents. We’re just travelling together. They went out to find some food. It’s been hours, though. I’m worried.”

“I see.” The woman had a sudden coughing fit.

“Are you OK? You don’t look so good. How long has it been since you’ve had anything to eat?”

“Yes… No… I don’t know. Days, perhaps weeks.”

Nara scrambled for her pack and pulled out a part of her rations. “Here. You need this more than I do.”

Lothiren cut through her thoughts. “Nara, what are you doing? They said they’d be back–”

“Yes, I know,” she silently replied. “This woman is near Death’s door. She needs food now!”

Lothiren stayed silent, knowing Nara was right and not wanting to push the issue.

The woman hesitantly took the food, thanked her, and ate slowly. She knew the dangers of scarfing down food when not having eaten for some time.

Nara watched her for a few moments, then asked, “What’s your name, by the way? I’m Nara, these are our companions Anielle, Lothiren, and Hoish. The other two—”

The woman nodded. “Yes, I know, Silavut and Sehlan. Everyone knows who they are. Word travels fast in some places. I’m—” The woman coughed again. After catching her breath, she continued. “I’m Teshrial.”

“Teshrial. Can you tell us what happened here? Where is everyone? Why are you still here?”

Teshrial smiled sadly. “You really don’t know, do you?”

Nara shook her head.

[silavut-the-wizard]

Silavut the Wizard, Chapter 73

A very short chapter with an interesting surprise.

Power Surge

“Did we manage to clear Genat Town of all the wraith?” Silavut suddenly asked. “I feel like we’re missing something.”

Sehlan looked at him with concern. “I’m sure we did…”

“Maybe…”

Nara suddenly got between them. “No, he’s right. I feel it too. There’s another presence. I can’t quite place it, but it’s there. It definitely feels like it’s there.”

Sehlan stopped and shook her head in disbelief. “Except, we’re so far from Genat Town. How can you be sure?”

“We can’t, really, but it does feel like it. I can’t explain it. Though I know you feel something too.”

“Yes, but… is it really…?” Sehlan started to wonder about it now, her certainty waning.

The mark on Nara’s shoulder started glowing faintly. “Ooohhh… weird. Tingly…” was all she managed to get out before the glow spread, making her whole body glow.

“What the…?”

Everyone jumped back as the glow expanded and brightened, then suddenly went out.

“By the Powers, what in the world was that??” Silavut blinked a few times to clear his vision. He looked around and saw the others do the same.

“I… I don’t… know.” Nara shook her head. “I’ve never… That was weird.”

“What did it feel like?” Sehlan cautiously touched her shoulder and felt a small tingle, like a constant electrical current. “You’re tingling…”

“I can’t explain it. I don’t know what that was or where it came from…” Nara had neglected to tell them her birthday, and with all everything that’s happened, she never really thought about it lately. Then it hit her. “Wait!”

“What?”

“I forgot… It’s my birthday! Every year, this happens. I get a power surge that lasts for a little while. I can’t believe I forgot! I’m so dense!” Nara laughed at the ridiculousness of it. “Seventeen years old. Wow…” she said more to herself than anyone else. “Seventeen…”

The rest let out a collective sigh of relief.

“You scared us,” Silavut lamented, then smiled and hugged her. “Well, happy birthday, then. Sorry we didn’t get you anything.” He shrugged.

Nara continued laughing. “No, it’s OK. I never told you. I never really got presents anyway. Just another power surge, like usual.” She then sighed and looked at everyone in turn. “I’m sorry I scared you all. With everything that’s happened, I lost track. I should’ve at least told you what happens. I’m sorry.”

“It’s OK. We’re just glad you’re OK, and we’re OK. Everyone’s safe.” Sehlan hugged her then, and she burst into tears.

“I’m sorry,” Nara repeated. “Sorry for being such a crybaby. I just get so emotional sometimes, I can’t help it.”

“It’s OK,” Sehlan reassured her and let her cry it out.

A few minutes later she was cried out and was lightly sniffling. “I’m OK now. Let’s get moving.” She detached herself from Sehlan who looked her with a worried smile.

“You sure you’re OK?”

Nara sniffed deeply, let out a big breath, and nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure. We need to figure out what we’re doing next, and where we’re going.”

The others agreed and they continued through the small village.

[silavut-the-wizard]

Silavut the Wizard, Chapter 72

Something strange is happening.

Lurking Shadows

Back in Genat Town, with the wraith disposed of, the party was back in full swing and seemed never-ending once again. Yet another presence lurked, biding its time, waiting for the right moment to reveal itself. There would soon be silence, and the party would be over.

There would be no saving the town or its people from what was to come. The wizard and his companions were now too far away to stop it. No one would know what happened until it was too late.

Shadows grew longer over time. Not like when the wraith had ruled. No. The shadows were subtle and preternatural. Something more sinister was at work.

Back in the passage, before surfacing to find what lay in wait, Silavut had a shiver as he felt a foreboding but couldn’t place it. Sehlan noticed and asked what was wrong. He shrugged and it was probably just nerves. Nara, Lothiren, and Hoish had their doubts but Silavut waved them off, again attributing it to nerves about what lay ahead.

The thing in Genat Town laughed low and wickedly to itself. It had felt the presence of the wizard. They would be dealing with other issues too much to worry about returning to Genat Town any time soon.

Just a bit longer and it would have its day. With no wraith and no wizard to stop it, Genat Town would soon be a ghost town, as would all others as it spread its havoc and desolation.

So it wasn’t really the wraith they had to worry about, they were just a small part of it; it was something else entirely. Though the wraith did use the town for their purposes, they were also keeping the presence at bay in their own way, at least for a time. Now that they were gone, there was no stopping the thing that would soon destroy everything in its path.

The scribes in Trefal’s library were scrambling to record all of this when they realized once Genat Town had fallen, they would soon be next, once it had its fill of the other towns in between. Could it be stopped, though? That was the question. If not, not only would the world be in shambles, Silavut and his companions would fail in their quest. Yet if that were the case, would not the sorceress also fail? Too many variables to calculate.

The future was now split. Which one would prevail?

(How, you may be wondering, did the scribes of Trefal know all of this? Remember, everything that happens is recorded, no matter how big or small. It was felt everywhere all at once. When it expanded, not only did it reach out to Silavut, but the whole world. Thus they knew it. Satisfied? No? Too bad. If so, good. Now on with it!)

“Are you sure you’re OK?” Sehlan asked, looking worried.

Silavut had nearly doubled over and was barely able to straighten up. “I… I think so… What was that?”

Whatever he felt, it was stronger and worse than originally thought. Once the initial feeling wore off, the shock suddenly hit, making him double over and stagger. Hoish had padded over and kept him from falling completely.

“Whatever it was, we’ll have to figure it out later. Right now, we need to get up there.” Nara pointed towards the surface.

“I felt it too, wizard. Not as strongly as you, but it certainly felt bad,” Lothiren said, comparing his smaller size to Hoish, who was two and a half times as big as the dragon in current form. The reason for the smaller size was due to the wings and tail. Silavut didn’t immediately account for those in the shrinking spell. Which was also why Lothiren was able to ride on Nara’s shoulder for a time.

Now the dragon was eager to be restored to original size. Hopefully there wasn’t anything up there to prevent Silavut from performing the restoration spell. Though none of them was sure what was up there, especially after Hoish’s warning and Silavut’s suggestion to be prepared.

It took Silavut a few more moments to finish recovering and fully straightened up. “Thanks, Hoish.”

“You’re welcome. Now, let us see what we may be dealing with. Get ready.” Hoish took point, ready to attack once they breached the surface.

Slowly and carefully they slinked up to the surface. Hoish’s face slowly emerged first, his keen eyes and ears on alert. Looking around, he didn’t notice anything. “Looks clear,” he said and started climbing out. Though once outside, things felt strange.

Silavut was next, followed by Anielle, Nara, Lothiren, and finally Sehlan. They all shuddered at the strange feeling.

“By the Powers, what is that?” Nara asked, trying to shake the feeling.

“I don’t know, but I really don’t like it. It’s not her doing, I know that. It’s not got her signature,” replied Silavut, looking around uneasily.

“Wizard, if you would, please,” Lothiren asked gently.

“Oh, yes, right, of course.” Silavut pulled out the spell book and turned to the enlargement spell. Luckily there was nothing else required to prepare, so he started the incantation. However, something didn’t feel right and stopped.

Lothiren looked at him curiously. “Why did you stop?”

“This doesn’t feel right.” Silavut looked around again. “Anyone else notice how it seems… less vibrant? Like something is taking the colors out of everything?”

“Yeah,” Anielle noted. “Now that you mention it, it does seem a little duller than it should be.” She shuddered again, making a “brr” noise. She wasn’t cold, but it was like trying to shake off a chill.

“Lothiren, I’m sorry, I think we’ll have to wait. I know how eager you are to be restored. It just doesn’t feel right doing it here.”

“I understand. We will find a more suitable location, without this… shadow… upon us. Let us hope there is someplace nearby.”

“Yeah… All right, everyone. No danger here, and no sign of the beasts or the Hangrolblest. We’ve evaded them for now. Just be on your guard.” Silavut stashed his bow and the others followed suit, putting away their weapons, except Nara.

“I think I’ll hold onto this for a while.” She raised her sword. “Right now, I just feel safer with it at the ready.”

Sehlan nodded. “Good idea.” She swapped her axe and strapped her sword for quick draw just in case.

As they made their way through the quiet village, they kept on alert, constantly watching and listening for any signs of trouble. There didn’t seem to be anyone around. Hoish had taken point so the large cat could alert them of anything ahead. Lothiren had opted for walking this time, so as not to distract anyone, taking position beside Hoish.

“Where is everyone?” Anielle whispered.

“I’m not sure,” Silavut whispered back. “It’s too quiet.”

Nara gasped.

“What’s wrong?”

“I thought… There was… That window over there.” She pointed to a small house. “I thought I saw someone behind the curtain, watching us.”

“Should we…?” Sehlan started to ask.

Silavut shook his head. “No. Too risky.”

Sehlan nodded and they continued. The odd feeling continued gnawing at their senses. Silavut knew something wasn’t right but couldn’t quite pin it down. Then he suddenly realized something.

“Wait.” He stopped and stood straight. “The weather… It’s supposed to be getting colder, but it’s warm here.”

Anielle gasped. “You’re right! I wasn’t shivering like I thought I would after that impromptu bath. In fact, I’m almost completely dry. Still want a proper bath, though.”

Sehlan looked around warily, still on guard. “So what do we do?”

“First, we find a safe place. Hopefully away from… whatever this thing is. Next, I restore Lothiren. If we can, find a place to clean up. Hopefully the beasts and Hangrolblest will be far behind us by then. Once we’ve done all that, we figure out our next plan of action. Come on, let’s get moving.”

“Right. Off we go, then.” Back in Genat Town, the thing smirked to itself. Its power was slowly starting to take hold. Once it has gained full power, nothing short of a miracle would be able to stop it. This was the moment it was waiting for.

[silavut-the-wizard]

Silavut the Wizard, Chapter 71

They have yet another beastly encounter while trying to escape.

The Detour

The next day they woke up late. It was already mid-morning when they stirred. Nara was the first one up. She sat up, stretched and yawned, and looked around. Then she planted herself against Hoish. “Mornin’, Hoish.”

The big cat opened his eyes and yawned. “Morning, little one. How’d you sleep?” Hoish waited for Nara to move before stretching.

Nara got up and stretched again. “It was wonderful. The best sleep I’ve had for a long time. You’re warm and comfy. By the way, I’m Nara. How about you?”

“Glad to hear it, Nara. I slept well, thank you.”

As they chatted, the others started waking up. First Sehlan, then Anielle, and last was Silavut. Lothiren had already awoken but let the others sleep.

“Mornin’, all,” Nara greeted them.

Sehlan stretched and yawned, followed by the others. “Mornin’. Sleep well?”

Nara enthusiastically nodded. “Oh yeah. Best sleep I’ve had in a while.” She went over to hug Hoish again. “Hoish is warm and comfy,” she repeated. “Oh! He… You’re… You have gorgeous red stripes.” She just noticed his fur had varied dark-red stripes in no particular pattern. They were hard to see in the dimly lit cave at night, but now that it was daylight, they were visible.

“Thank you. I see our… friends… are still outside,” Hoish commented, seeing the three creatures just outside the cave, still trying to track them.

Silavut started packing up. “Yeah, I figured they would be. Our tracks did stop just outside, so it stands to reason they would be trying to pick up the trail again there. Glad my wards stayed active.”

“What would have happened if they failed?” asked Anielle as she started packing.

“Well, we’d either have fought, or been killed.”

Anielle shuddered. “That’s a pleasant thought,” she said facetiously.

“Quite. Let’s get packed and see what’s on the other side of that passage. Properly this time.”

Sehlan nodded. “Agreed.” She then looked at the passage and back at Lothiren. “Could you even fit through there? You barely managed to fit in here.”

Lothiren looked thoughtful for a moment. “There might be a way. Wizard, do you have a shrinking spell? Of course, and an expansion spell? Wouldn’t want to be stuck as a miniature dragon, as interesting as it sounds.”

Silavut racked his brain, then pulled out the spell book and started turning pages. “Hmm. Let’s see. Shrinking spell… shrinking spell… shrinki—Aha! Here it is. Now, expansion spell… Oh, yeah. Next page. I do believe we’re in business.”

“Wonderful. Do they require any additional material?”

Silavut carefully examined the spells. “No. Just have to be precise.”

“Very good, then. Let us go.”

They all finished packing and headed for the passage. Hoish was through first, followed by Nara, Anielle, then Sehlan. Silavut prepared the spell while Lothiren patiently waited.

“Meet you on the other side,” Sehlan said, making her way through. “Wow… It’s incredible. Silavut, you have got to see this!”

“Be there soon!” he called back. “OK, dragon, let’s do this.”

Lothiren felt a strange tingling as Silavut started the incantation. He read carefully and precisely, lest a misplaced word or syllable botch it. Everything suddenly started having a different perspective as the dragon started shrinking. Soon everything was way bigger and Lothiren was way smaller. It was an odd feeling. The dragon had never been shrunk before.

“There, that should do it.” Silavut looked up from the spell book at Lothiren and couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m sorry, Lothiren. It’s just… you’re so… small,” he said between breaths.

“Yes, quite. Shall we move on, then?”

“Yeah, sorry. Let’s go.”

The two made their way through the passage to the others waiting in the cavern. When they emerged, the others couldn’t help but laugh as well.

“I wondered what you were laughing at,” Sehlan said. “Sorry, Lothiren. It’s just so strange seeing such a small dragon.”

Lothiren let out a small puff in slight annoyance, but partial amusement, and said nothing more.

Once they all finally calmed down, Silavut took the initiative. “All right, let’s see what we’ve got here.” He started looking around and was in awe of the large cavern. “It’s huge.” He couldn’t help but try to take it all in at once. “This is incredible. I never knew something like this could exist.”

“It is amazing, isn’t it?” Sehlan went over to lean against him, taking his hand in hers. “If it was just us two, would you think this could be romantic?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah,” he whispered, “it could be.”

“All right, you two.” Anielle broke them out of their fantasy. “What’s the plan?”

They both giggled, then Silavut spoke up. “We need to find a way through and back out onto the surface without them following us, if possible. The Hangrolblest has a strong sense for magic, though, so even if we do manage to evade them, it would still pick up our trail. The beasts would probably follow. So we have to make sure we’re way ahead; again, if possible. We’ll split up and look for any other passages.”

They all agreed and started searching for anything that might lead them through. The cavern was immense, way bigger than they thought at first. Eventually they stopped to eat.

“Next time we see water, I’m going to clean up,” Anielle remarked. “I feel icky. Haven’t had a good wash since the last town.”

Sehlan swallowed her mouthful. “I agree with you there.”

Silavut and Nara agreed as well.

“Water?” Hoish asked. “I can smell fresh water. I just haven’t been able to find the source yet. It’s coming from over there.” He pointed his head in that direction.

“Then that’s where we search,” Silavut declared.

After eating, they went over to investigate where Hoish indicated. Though they couldn’t smell it, Hoish insisted it was there.

Nara felt around. “It must be coming through cracks somewhere. I can’t find any openings, though.”

“Then we’ll have to find a crack and bust it wide open.” Silavut started leafing through the spell book. It wasn’t his first choice, but he couldn’t think of anything off the top of his head.

“I thought you didn’t want use that, or at least as little as possible,” Sehlan commented.

“That’s true, but sometimes I feel lost without it. It’s the only thing left of…” He hesitated, the death and visions of Vorin still fresh in his mind. “…of Vorin, and when I read it, I sometimes feel like he’s here with me.”

Sehlan hugged him from behind. “Oh, Silavut. I’m sorry…”

He sighed deeply. “No, it’s OK. You’re right, though. I shouldn’t rely on the book too much. We need to find a way through.”

“Hey! I think I found something!” Anielle was in a far corner near the place Hoish said he smelled water. They all heard scraping as she tried moving something.

“Anielle, wait!” Sehlan rushed over to both stop and help her… Too late.

Anielle screamed as a jet of water knocked her back and water started rushing into the cavern.

Silavut, Sehlan and Nara quickly grabbed their packs and everyone dashed out of the cavern back to the small cave. They flattened themselves against the sides as the water blasted through the passage, rushed around their feet, and finally drained outside.

The Hangrolblest and hunter beasts turned towards the cave when they heard the sound of rushing water and saw it run out.

Back in her tower, the sorceress watched the flood through the beasts’ eyes. She had wondered where those scamps got off to. Then she pondered the rushing water. Did they drown in the deluge? she thought. No, they’re too stubborn. She waited until the rushing water subsided. “Get them!” she screamed in the beasts’ heads.

The beasts bounded into the cave, now that the wards were broken, and went in for the kill.

No one was there.

The sorceress screamed in rage. “WHERE ARE THEY!!???” She concentrated and entered the beasts’ minds again. “Go! Find them!”

The beasts continued through the passage, wading in the ankle-deep water.

The Hangrolblest poked its head in and realized it was way too large to fit. There was no way it was going to get in without completely destroying the cave and trapping itself along with the beasts. It pulled its head out and roared in frustration. It was determined to not let the beasts have them. The group was its quarry, its reward, and the beasts would only ruin the scrumptious magical morsels.

In the cavern, once the deluge had died down, they resumed their search for a way through.

“That was not the kind of bath I needed,” said a gloomy Anielle as she looked herself over and tried pressing some of the water out of her clothes. “Yuck. Now I’m soaked and icky!”

The others couldn’t help but snicker.

“Oh, you think this is funny, eh?” She glared around at all of them.

Nara spoke up first. “Yeah, just a little,” she said with a grin.

“You’re gonna get it.” Anielle splashed her. Then they heard another splash. Anielle froze, as did the rest. “Uh, that wasn’t me…”

They all glanced back towards the passage.

“The beasts! The water! It must have alerted them!” Silavut slapped his forehead. “Everyone get ready for a fight.”

“Where’s the Hangrolblest?” Anielle asked, looking all around.

“Not here. It’s too big to fit, and it can’t resize itself.”

The beasts growled. Hoish growled back.

“You don’t have to this, Hoish, this is our fight,” Nara told him.

“No, you are my pride now, I fight with you.”

Nara nodded with a small smile. “Very well. Let’s do this.” She turned her attention back to the beasts. “Tail, Vekta… I don’t know if you can hear me, but if you can, we don’t want to kill you. If you’re still in there somewhere, please—” Her pleas were cut short as one sprang to attack.

Hoish leapt and caught it broadside. They both landed on their feet. The beast turned to face Hoish. They circled each other.

“Please don’t kill him, Hoish!” Nara cried.

“I’ll try not to, little one.”

The fight was on. Hoish and the beast circled back and forth, each trying to find an opening. If the beast lost focus for even a second, Hoish would be right on it, so it had to dispatch the large cat first.

The second beast was choosing its target, glancing between the other three. The wizard, the fighter, or the traitor? It couldn’t decide. Then the sorceress decided for it. “Her! The traitor. Get her!”

Before Anielle could blink, the beast pounced to attack. She screamed as it landed on her. Silavut and Sehlan rushed to try and help, but the beast was too large and bulky for them to move it off her. Silavut racked his brain trying to think of a defense spell. The spell book would have one, he knew, but he couldn’t rely on it, as Sehlan reminded him.

Finally he had an idea. “Sehlan, the sword!” She rushed over to retrieve it and quickly handed it over. Silavut took it and imbued it with a penetrating shield spell, not sure if it would work. He then handed it to Sehlan and instructed her what to do. She took it and focused her thoughts as he instructed. Then she struck, slicing the blade between the beast and Anielle.

The beast howled as it was thrown off when the blade made contact and pinned Anielle to the ground. The beast quickly recovered and growled, turning its attention to Silavut. Not the ideal situation, but at least Anielle was unharmed.

Silavut, keeping his focus on the beast, yelled for the others to escape through the hole the water came from.

Sehlan helped Anielle to stand and made their way to the hole when she noticed Nara, the beast and Hoish. The two creatures snapped and snarled at each other, but neither could find a good attack position. Sehlan then whistled a quick single note. The beast faltered. That was his chance. Hoish attacked.

He took the beast down, bowling it over, knocking it out. He stood over it looking to Nara who smiled and nodded.

“Help Silavut!” she cried.

Hoish quickly bounded over to the other beast who jumped at the same moment Hoish tried the same attack on the other. They just missed each other. The beast was already in midair when Hoish pounced.

Silavut ducked and rolled towards the beast, which sailed over his head to land right where he was just standing. Hoish came around to attack again, but the beast was already going for another round.

Lothiren, who had been watching and planning this whole time, intervened by shouting “STOP!” in everyone’s head.

The beast, dismayed by the sudden intrusion to its thoughts, stopped in its tracks. The others, also startled, turned towards the dragon who was perched atop an outcropping.

“Wizard, use a paralysis spell! That will hold the beasts until we can escape! We cannot dispatch them until we know for certain whether we can save them or not. They may yet still be themselves somewhere in there.”

Silavut nodded and quickly prepared the spell. Luckily nothing was needed, just precision once again. He let loose the spell that would hold them captive until they were safe.

Back in her tower, the sorceress screeched with rage, blasting everything in sight, destroying the room.

With their packs secure, the group escaped through the hole and found themselves in an ancient waterway.

“Which way?” Anielle looked back and forth.

Silavut thought for a moment. “We follow the flow upstream. That means there’s a source. If we can find the source, there may be a way out.”

“What if there isn’t? What if we’re trapped—”

Silavut raised his hand which made her cower and stop her babbling. He then sighed and lowered it. “We can’t think that way. We have to find a way out. From my experience, and from what Vorin taught me, following water upstream is the best chance for survival and escape. If there isn’t a way out, when we’ll have to make one.”

Anielle sullenly nodded.

“That’s my guy,” Sehlan said with a small smile. “Come on, we better get going.”

They followed the waterway until Hoish stopped them. “I can smell fresh air. We’re getting close. Though I feel we may be in for a surprise. Be ready for anything.”

Silavut turned to look at the others. Lothiren was riding on Nara’s shoulder which made him smile, but he held his laughter and got serious. “Hoish is right. There could be anything out there. The Hangrolblest, a raiding party, more hunter beasts… Everyone get your weapons ready.”

They all brandished their weapons: Sehlan with her axe; Anielle with her longsword; Nara with her short sword; and finally, Silavut with his bow.

Lothiren spoke. “Wizard, get ready with your expansion spell. As soon as we have emerged, I wish to return to normal size.”

“Of course, Lothiren.” Before they continued, Silavut prepared the expansion spell, ready to hit Lothiren with it as soon as they were back out in the open. “All right.” He took a big, nervous breath. “Everyone ready?”

They all nodded, ready to face whatever was waiting for them.

[silavut-the-wizard]

Silavut the Wizard, Chapter 70

Wanted to bash out another chapter. Find out what happens in the cave.

Hoish

In the middle of the night, Sehlan awoke to a low growling. Everyone else was fast asleep. She was closest to the tunnel opening which is why she heard it. Turning over to investigate, the low growl became slightly louder. It was just on the other side of the opening. Careful not to disturb anyone, Sehlan slowly crawled over to it. Though it was dark, there was just enough light from the moon for her to peer into the hole.

A dark shape moved back and forth on the other side. She could also see what appeared to be part of a large cavern. Though she couldn’t make out any details. She quietly grabbed a torch from her pack and lit it. She hoped the light didn’t wake anyone and held her breath. Silavut stirred but turned over and continued sleeping. She breathed out with relief.

Painstakingly slow, she slid the torch as far through the opening as she could without going in herself. A large face suddenly appeared at the end. She gasped and nearly dropped the torch. The low growl came from whatever the creature was. She quickly retreated and was about wake everyone when she heard a voice inside her head.

“Wait,” it said. “I mean you no harm.”

Sehlan shook her head. It certainly wasn’t Lothiren. Was it the thing in there? Carefully she probed with her mind. “Who—what are you?”

She got her answer immediately. “I am Hoish. I know you and your companions. Please, may I come in?” The large face peered out of the hole. It was a large cat face, followed by a large cat body. “I apologize for disturbing you. I was considering certain options when you slid your light into the passage. I must have let my guard down.”

Sehlan looked on in bewilderment. She had never seen such a creature in person before. She’d ever only heard about them and saw them in drawings.

Suddenly Silavut awoke and jumped up with a sword in hand. He may not very good at sword fighting, but he could do it in a pinch. “Sehlan, get away from that!”

The large cat started to retreat towards the passage.

“No! Wait!” Sehlan stepped between them. “Silavut, stop!” She held her arms out in a protective stance.

Hoish stopped retreating. Silavut stood his ground.

The others awoke to investigate the commotion. Lothiren had a look of surprise. The dragon had also never encountered such a creature. Lothiren could feel his presence, his awareness. The cat-creature was magic-born.

“Sehlan, what—”

“It’s OK. I don’t know what he wants yet, but this”—she turned around to face the large cat—“is Hoish.”

The large cat nodded. It rumbled a greeting to the others.

“If he wanted us harmed, he would have done it by now. Please, put that down.”

“It is OK, wizard,” Lothiren said in his mind. “This creature is kin. Your companion is correct. You may put that away.”

Silavut sighed and put the sword away but kept up his guard. “Very well. Just know I won’t hesitate to draw it again should the need arise.”

“Of course. Everyone, meet Hoish. Hoish, please tell us your story.”

It took a while, but Hoish told them of his journeys. He was lost and wandered the land for years until he came upon them. He followed them for a while, watching everything, and started tagging along, keeping to the shadows, taking up leftover scraps for sustenance. He also explained he was able to hide his nature, as he had learned to do throughout the years, to prevent being detected once he learned Lothiren was with them. This proved he meant them no harm, as Hoish never attacked them, though he never revealed himself until now. That was what he was contemplating when Sehlan shined the torch through the passage.

“How did you get in there, then?” Anielle asked.

“I waited until you were all asleep and slipped in. I did not want to be out there with them any more than you. I saw and felt you put up the wards, but as I saw you enter here, I knew where to find you, whereas they don’t.”

Lothiren let out a small puff. “That explains the odd sensation I felt before. I knew there was another presence but couldn’t quite determine what it was.”

“That also explains the odd sensations I’ve felt for a while now,” Silavut commented. “I couldn’t quite shake the feeling. Now I know why.”

“Sorry for that. You all were the closest I’ve ever gotten to feeling like I belong somewhere for a long time. If you don’t want me here, though, I’ll go.” Hoish turned to leave but stopped when Silavut spoke up.

“Wait!” Silavut shook his head and sighed. “You… don’t have to go. As much as I hate to admit it…” He paused, gathering his thoughts. “…you’re right. You could have attacked us at any time. Yet you didn’t. You… have proven yourself.” He then turned to Lothiren. “As have you. I’m sorry for not trusting you. I’ve always had my doubts about dragons, and other such beings”—he indicated Hoish—“because of past experiences and never having actually been around such as yourselves before. I hope you can forgive me.”

“That is understandable, wizard. I’m glad you have to come trust me… Us.” Lothiren nodded towards Hoish. “You are forgiven.”

Nara clapped quietly and bounced in place. “Yay.” She bounded over to hug Silavut. Surprised, he froze in place for a moment, then smiled and hugged her back.

Hoish stretched a large cat stretch, whole body extended, and yawned. “Now that we have that established, I’m going to sleep.” He circled a few times and curled up into a ball; a giant fluffy ball.

“You look comfy,” Nara said, looking him over.

Hoish lifted his head to look at her with curious eyes. “If you wish.” He knew what she was thinking.

She made a small happy noise and rushed over to cuddle with him. She could feel his rumbling purr and it lulled her to sleep.

Sehlan smiled and shook her head. “She seems happier. Maybe that was one of the things bothering her so much. Your acceptance and trust of Lothiren… and now Hoish.”

“Yeah, she does, doesn’t she. She looks so peaceful. I hope we made the right choice.”

“I’m sure we did. What do you think Anielle?” Sehlan looked over to where Anielle was sleeping but she wasn’t there. “Hey! Where’d she go?”

“I think I have an idea. Follow me.” Silavut started towards the back passage.

Sehlan looked perplexed. “You really think she went in there, alone? After her complaining about deadly things?”

“Hey, we are talking about Anielle.”

Sehlan scoffed. “This is true. Let’s go see what she’s up to.”

They made their way through the passage into the cavern and saw Anielle looking around. She saw them come through. “This is amazing,” she said almost whispering.

They all looked around for a moment, then Silavut turned to her. “Yeah, it is. I thought you were worried about creepy-crawlies, though?”

Anielle looked at him. “You’re right. I was. Though seeing… what was his name… Hoish? After seeing him come through, I figured it was safe. I just wanted a quick look.”

“That’s fine, but you should’ve told us. Remember, you’re in our care, and we can’t have you wandering off and dying on us.”

“I can take care of myself, you know,” she huffed.

“That may be true, to a point. What if something got you? We may not be there to save you until it was too late.”

Anielle looked down and sheepishly replied, “Yeah, you’re right. It was pretty stupid.”

Silavut yawned. “We should go back and get some more sleep.”

They filed through the passage. Hoish was fast asleep with Nara cuddled up against him. She had a peaceful grin. They quietly retired to their spots and were soon asleep.

[silavut-the-wizard]

Silavut the Wizard, Chapter 69

The Hangrolblest and hunter beasts formerly Tail and Vekta finally close in on their prey.

Convergence

As the group made their way eastward, passing through small villages and gaining minimal provisions to sustain them until the next major town, their pursuers closed in. Lothiren had now caught up to the hunter beasts that were Tail and Vekta. The Hangrolblest, despite a headwind slowing it down, had nearly caught up to them. Soon they would converge on the group.

Silavut shivered, pulling his winter cloak tighter. “Brr. By the Powers, I hate winter.”

Sehlan looked over at him. “Me too, love. Me too.” She then pulled her own cloak tighter.

Anielle walked solemnly, not bothering to don her winter gear despite protests from the others. Silavut wanted to cast a spell of obedience but thought better of it. If she was to gain their trust, they would have to let her do things her own way, without deceit. Sehlan had tried talking to her but got nothing more than a few words and grunts out of her.

Nara walked ahead, taking the lead, lost in her own thoughts. She wanted to discuss her feelings but she didn’t know how to say what she was feeling. Sehlan got part of it right but it wasn’t the whole story. It wasn’t just about feeling alone despite being around others. There was more to it than that.

“How far to the next town? We need to get more provisions and—” Silavut suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Sehlan looked at him worriedly. “What? What is it?”

Anielle also stopped with concern on her face.

Nara turned around when he suddenly stopped talking and saw the look on his face.

“I don’t know. I can feel… Wait… The Hangrolblest! We need to find shelter. Now.”

They heard a great bellow and looked to see a dark figure approaching from the west. The Hangrolblest had caught up to them. As they started running, they heard another loud roar, this time from the east. Looking that way, they saw Lothiren barrelling towards the Hangrolblest. Then came the howls and growls. The hunter beasts formerly Tail and Vekta had joined the party.

“Oh, great. Everyone’s here. Let’s party!” Silavut commented sarcastically.

“What do we do?” Anielle asked nervously.

“We fight,” Sehlan replied matter-of-factly, pulling out her sword and dropping her pack.

Silavut retrieved his bow and arrows from his pack.

Anielle pulled a longsword from Sehlan’s pack.

Nara dropped her pack and wielded the enchanted sword.

They stood in a circle, back-to-back, waiting for an opportunity.

The Hangrolblest had drawn closer and was nearly on them when Lothiren barrelled into it, making them both tumble through the air.

Growls from the hunter beasts made them all turn. The beasts slinked towards them, sizing them up. In the caged corners of their minds, Tail and Vekta screamed and raged, unable to break free.

Nara started tearing up. “Tail. Vekta. Silavut, can you help them? Can you change them back?”

He looked at her, shaking his head. “I… don’t really know… I’ve only ever done one transformation spell, and that was long ago, on an inanimate object, before… well, all this. I don’t know if I can do it on something living…” He sighed. “We would have to capture them first, too.”

Nara nodded, tears falling down her cheeks. “All right.”

Above them, the two beasts fought, roaring and bellowing. Their jaws and claws trying to get purchase on one another. Both beasts were bleeding.

A snarl as one hunter beast sprang at them. Sehlan jumped forward and caught it broadside, just barely missing its open maw. She managed to tumble it sideways. Its bulk and momentum carried them both to the ground.

The other sprang as Sehlan fought with the one, trying to cause minimal damage. Silavut followed Sehlan’s lead and tried to bash it away but it landed directly on top of him. They fell to the ground hard, knocking the wind out of him.

Nara rushed over to try and fight it off to allow Silavut to recover. Unfortunately it was too large for her. She called Anielle to help. Anielle rushed over to try and divert its attention. It snapped and snarled at each approach and tried clamping its teeth on Silavut’s neck. He kept pommeling it with his arms and elbows while screaming with fear and rage. The beast would not give up its prey so easily.

Sehlan wrestled with the other but it just would not go down. The beasts were more powerful than the others they encountered. She was battered and bruised, but no major injuries. The beast was no worse for the wear either as they continued their combat.

With the beast on him, Silavut couldn’t conjure a spell. He was too busy trying to not get killed. Despite their best efforts, the two women couldn’t fight it off without injuring it, or worse. Nara didn’t want to kill it. Tail and Vekta were here friends. She couldn’t stand it if anything happened to them. She already lost one friend.

The thought of Gen, everything that’s happened since, and everything happening now, made her scream with rage. This made her power flare like never before. There was a physical sensation of a shockwave with her at the epicenter. Time suddenly seemed to crawl. With a power and strength she never knew she had, Nara threw the beast off Silavut then ran over to help Sehlan, hurtling the beast away from her. She then looked up and directed her rage at the Hangrolblest, causing a power wave to temporarily stun it, giving Lothiren an opening.

With this burst of power lasting only seconds, but feeling like forever, she was suddenly drained. As Sehlan and Silavut recovered, they saw her crumple to the ground. Looking around, they could see the beasts were knocked out. Lothiren and the Hangrolblest were still battling, and it seemed like Lothiren would take it down, but after Lothiren misjudged an attack, the dragon was knocked for a loop. That gave the Hangrolblest the opening it needed and dropped Lothiren to the ground. The dragon was out cold.

With a burst of rage, Silavut enchanted an arrow and shot at the Hangrolblest’s eye. It missed the target but still hit the beast in a sensitive spot. The enchanted arrow knocked the beast away from Lothiren. It bellowed and came around for another attack.

Anielle suddenly stood in front of the group with her sword raised and yelled. She became the berserker. Going on the offensive, she attacked the Hangrolblest whenever it got too near. She swiftly dodged and rolled, bringing up her sword to attack its underside as it swiped down at them. Though it didn’t do much damage, it did affect the Hangrolblest’s attack pattern.

However, Anielle couldn’t keep it up forever. Sehlan could see she was getting weaker and her rage was about to run out. She stood beside her and matched her move for move, attacking the Hangrolblest as it swooped down towards them.

Despite their best efforts, there was no thwarting the thing. It just kept coming back around for more, trying to pick them off. With Nara and Lothiren down, it was just the three of them against this magic-hungry beast. It was either kill or be killed, and right now it looked like it was going to be the latter.

Silavut could only do so much with his skills against such a creature. He didn’t want to tap into the more chaotic, corrupting power of sorcery but thought it might come to that. He then heard the hunter beasts stir. They were coming to. Racking his brain for anything that could help, he thought of one spell that would get them out of their current predicament. It wouldn’t kill anything, but it would certainly do some damage.

Gathering his courage, he tapped into the chaos. Sorcery was now his. He could feel its pull, trying to corrupt him, control him. No. I am your master, you are not mine, he told it. He pulled and it bent to his will. He focused on their enemies. A great concussing explosion hit the Hangrolblest and the hunter beasts, knocking them back. The Hangrolblest roared in anger and frustration and tried attacking, but its senses were off. The hunter beasts shook their heads.

Anielle and Sehlan looked around in shock. There was no time to wonder about this, though, as the Hangrolblest was now recovering and coming in for another attack and the hunter beasts were closing in again. The blast gave them just enough time to regroup, gather their things and start moving again. By this time Nara had recovered enough to run, but nothing more. Anielled carried her pack.

Lothiren had started recovering but was too weak to fight. The dragon took flight and scouted for a place for the group to hole up. Not far ahead was a cave they could take refuge in. They quickly made their way to the cave and Silavut put a protection spell on it, hoping it would conceal them long enough to formulate a new plan without further attack.

They watched closely as the Hangrolblest and hunter beasts slowly passed by, hunting them. They had tracked their scent to the area, but they couldn’t find the cave. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. However, to their disappointment, the creatures hung around the area. With their scent lingering, they would not give up so easily.

“We need a new plan,” Silavut stated with a tired sigh and sat down, head bowed in thought. “They’ve converged on us and they know we’re here. We can’t get out without another fight; one we might not escape this time.”

“We just can’t win!” complained Anielle.

“We’re still alive, so that’s something. I’d called that a win in my book,” Sehlan replied. She turned to Nara. “Are you OK? That was some power surge.”

Nara nodded. “Yeah, I’m OK. I’m just feeling really drained and tired. I just want to eat and get some rest.”

“You go ahead, then. We’ll see what we can figure out.” Sehlan knew there was something more but she didn’t press. She figured Nara would talk about it in her own time.

Having eaten and warmed up, Nara went to the back of the cave and laid down to rest. She tried to listen to their conversation but was more tired than she thought and was soon fast asleep.

“So, what’s our next move?” Sehlan had moved back over to the others.

“We have to find a way to get past those things out there or we’re dead.” Anielle paced in the little space.

Silavut looked up from his contemplation. “There might be a way. When we came in here, I noticed a small opening in the back of the cave. You can’t really tell its there unless you really look for it. It just barely caught my attention as I cast the protection spell. If we can manage to squeeze through, there might be a tunnel system—”

Anielle stopped pacing. “More tunnels? We don’t even know what’s down there! For all we know—”

“Yes,” Silavut interrupted her, “I know it’s a risk. Though it’s a risk I’m willing to take. Rather than deal with those things out there. Sure, there may be other creatures down there, and maybe deadly ones. If there are, we can deal with them much more easily than those things out there.”

Sehlan nodded. “He’s right. We really are better off trying to see where these passages go, and deal with whatever we may find, than go out there and get killed.”

Anielle sighed. “Yeah, yeah… you’re right. How’s Nara doing, by the way?”

“She’s OK, just needs some rest, like we all do. How about we all get some sleep and then we’ll worry about everything tomorrow?”

Silavut stood up and dusted himself off. “Sounds like a plan.”

[silavut-the-wizard]

Silavut The Wizard, Chapter 68

What happened to Silavut and Anielle? What about Lothiren, Tail, Vekta, and the Hangrolblest? Find out here!

Closing In

“Wha—where are they?” asked Nara, her voice shaky.

Sehlan put an arm around her and shook her head. “I’m… not sure…”

Nara looked up at her. “What do you think we should do?”

Looking around, Sehlan noticed everything was still there, so they hadn’t taken off. She then figured maybe she was behind their disappearance, as has been the case in the past. Quietly, almost a whisper, Sehlan said, “We should wait.”

“What about our mission? To stop her? What about Tail and Vekta? The…” Nara shuddered. “…Hangrolblest?”

It was Sehlan’s turn to sigh. “I know… There’s nothing we can do about any of that now. Let’s just hope Silavut and Anielle can somehow find their way back to us before any of them catch us. Do you feel like talking about anything right now?”

Though she did want to discuss her feelings further, Nara didn’t feel now would be the best time. She shook her head. “No. I just hope they’re safe. Even though I know Anielle hasn’t been the best company, she also hasn’t actually killed any of us. I think she’s just been trying to figure out which side she actually belongs on. Ours or hers.

“Sure, she’s wished us dead or vanished or whatever, but she hasn’t actually made that happen, despite her efforts. Though I doubt it was her best. I think she was just trying to buy herself some time to try and figure things out and where she is in all of this.

“I also know you and Silavut said it would be dangerous, and I didn’t really listen and insisted I come along, but I didn’t think it would be like this.” Nara sagged against Sehlan who had her sit down before she fell. “I’m sorry, I’m just a mess right now.” She started sobbing.

“No, no. Sshh… Hey, it’s OK.” Sehlan comforted her once more. “Yes, it’s been tough, but we’ve come this far. There may yet be a ways to go, and more nasty encounters to face along the way, but we’ll manage. Somehow.

“I also agree about Anielle. Yes, we didn’t trust her for a while, but I think you may be right and she was just buying time, as she didn’t seem to be putting her all in trying to dispatch us. I could tell she was struggling with herself. Maybe this… whatever happened to them… made her finally decide.” She looked down at Nara. “You hungry?”

Nara nodded against her.

“All right. I’ll get something together.” She rummaged through the packs and put together a decent meal of sandwiches and dried fruits with some water to wash it down. They ate in silence. When they were done, Sehlan asked, “Better?”

Nara nodded. “Yeah, a little.” She still sounded sad.

“Good. Food always helps, at least a little.” She gave Nara a small smile. Nara smiled back.

~~~~~~~~~~

Lothiren was flying as fast as a dragon’s wings could propel such a mighty body. Again, though dragons were magical creatures, there was only so much they could do for movement. There wasn’t much time and Lothiren hoped it wasn’t too late to save the group. It was a shame about Tail and Vekta. Maybe Silavut could reverse the transformation, if they could even be caught. Would the wizard even have that ability? Is he even that powerful? Lothiren thought. What about the Hangrolblest? Only time would tell.

Without having been able to contact Nara before, Lothiren would be lost. The lands were unfamiliar and seemed farther from Umilal than originally thought. It was only due to the magical link the dragon knew which way to go.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sensing the dragon wasn’t far behind, the hunter beasts formerly Tail and Vekta kept up a steady pace, tirelessly pursuing their prey. In the backs of their minds, tucked away in a small corner of consciousness, Tail and Vekta still existed. They were trapped, prisoners of their own minds. Unable to escape, they could only mentally shake the bars of their proverbial cages. The minds that are the hunter beasts were in control.

~~~~~~~~~~

The Hangrolblest followed the magical scent and knew it wasn’t too far behind its quarry. The great beast hungered for magic, and devouring every morsel would satisfy its craving. It would not let another opportunity pass by so easily. It angered the Hangrolblest that its prey slipped away. This time, it thought, it won’t be so easy.

~~~~~~~~~~

Consciousness. That was the first thing Silavut became aware of. Floating in a void without substance, bodiless and voiceless, was the next. Confusion set in as his mind was a blank. His self was aware, but nothing more.

Anielle felt weightless. She extended her awareness and felt nothing. She started panicking and felt herself starting to lose her self, slowly fading. Then she willed herself to be and the sensation stopped, re-solidifying her self. She tried calling out but found herself without voice. Then she realized she had no body and started panicking all over again.

Then it was like lightning hit them. Suddenly memories came flooding back and their selves reeled in shock. Silavut was the first to will himself into being, his body re-forming and becoming solid. He then found he had a voice and called to Anielle.

Anielle heard Silavut call out, which helped to ground her self. She concentrated and re-formed her own being, also becoming a solid body once again. She now had a voice as well.

Though try as they might, they could not find each other. The void echoed and reverberated in such a way it was impossible to discern a direction.

Silavut reached out with his magic. Nothing. Not even a spark. He tried telepathy. Still nothing. With one last attempt, he started humming a low, quiet note. Something he hoped wouldn’t echo and reverberate.

It was working! Anielle heard the note, just enough to follow the sound. She called out to Silavut, telling him to keep it going.

He took a breath and continued humming the note.

Soon they were back together, holding on to each other so they wouldn’t lose each other again. What is this feeling? Anielle thought. Holding hands with Silavut made her feel things she had never felt before. It felt… good!

“Hold on, Anielle,” he said when he thought of, hopefully, just the right spell. “I’m going to try to get us out of here. You ready?”

Though he couldn’t see, she nodded. “Yeah. This is just too weird.”

Their voices echoed all around, as if they were everywhere yet nowhere all at once.

“Here goes.” Silavut took a deep breath and started working the spell. A small glow emanated from just above their heads.

Anielle looked up and was about to say something when she felt an odd tingling sensation, and figured she should let him concentrate lest something unpleasant befall them.

A few moments later, there was a silent explosion that engulfed them. It both felt and sounded like a quick, quiet, almost inaudible poof. They found themselves lying in the clearing when Sehlan and Nara rushed to check on them when they fell out of nowhere.

Anielle moaned with nausea and slight bruising from the sudden transportation to solid ground. Silavut was helped up by Nara. A moment later, Sehlan was helping Anielle sit up after she emptied the contents of her stomach on the ground.

“That…” she said through shallow breaths, “…was rather unpleasant.”

“Sorry,” Silavut replied. “It couldn’t be helped. It was either that or stay there forever. However long that would have been…”

“By the Powers, what happened to you two?” demanded Sehlan.

They relayed their experience with her and the void and their sudden appearance.

“How did she do that, though?”

“Well, I mean, she is a sorceress, with powers even beyond my understanding,” Silavut replied, shrugging. “At least for now.”

“Isn’t there some kind of, I don’t know, protection spell or something against her kinds of powers?”

Silavut sighed. “If there is, I haven’t found it yet. The spell book has all kinds of stuff in it, but unfortunately nothing for protection against full-on sorcery. It states sorcery is too powerful to put a ward against, unless by another sorcerer. Which I most certainly am not, nor do I wish to be. Sorcery is a wild, powerful magic that corrupts and drives the wielder insane, as you can very well see. Though there are rare exceptions, for those who have the fortitude to withstand its corruption.”

“Blast it all.” Sehlan sat down hard on a fallen log. “What are we supposed to do, then? We can’t just let her keep doing these things to us.”

“I don’t know.” Silavut sat down beside her and they leaned against each other.

Anielle and Nara were aside, listening to the conversation when Anielle spoke up. “What about the Hangrolblest, and Tail and Vekta?”

Silavut shook his head. “I don’t know,” he replied tiredly. “I don’t know how we’re supposed to do it all… Defeat her, much less the Hangrolblest, and not kill Tail and Vekta before we have a chance to try and change them back… On top of that, we don’t even know exactly where her tower is now. We thought it was in the Dead Lands, but now we know it’s not—that one was just a decoy to fool us, that she used as a temporary base—and no clue where it actually is.”

Anielle looked around suspiciously. “What do you mean, you know it’s not there but you don’t know where it is?”

“Wait,” Nara cut in, to keep Anielle’s suspicions at bay. Though she had rejected the sorceress, there were still some trust issues to work on. “We do have an idea, though. Remember when I was connected with Lothiren after escaping from her tower?”

Silavut perked up a bit. “Yeah, what about it?”

“Well, when we were communicating, I got bits and pieces of images of where her tower is and what it looks like. We don’t know the exact location, but we do have a good idea of where to start looking.”

Sehlan stood up. “Where do we go, then?”

“Well, so long as we don’t run into any trouble, we go…” Nara paused a moment, getting her bearings from the images. “…that way.” She pointed in a general easterly direction.

“That’ll take us past the Dead Lands, to who knows where, maybe even off Umilal,” Anielle pointed out.

“Maybe even to Torchikal…” Nara looked wistful. “Wonder what it’s like there…” She trailed off as she got lost in thought about it.

“Well, maybe we’ll get a chance to see.” Sehlan tapped on her shoulder. “Hey, daydreamer, do you think you might be able to contact Lothiren again?”

“Huh? Wha—? Oh, sorry. Right.” Nara snapped out of it and giggled. “Let me see…” She closed her eyes and concentrated. The mark on her shoulder glowed brightly. The anticipation was palpable. A few moments later she opened her eyes and sighed. “No, nothing. Sorry.”

“That’s OK. We’ll try again later. Silavut, what do you think?”

He pondered a moment. “Well, we’ve come this far. What’s a few more leagues? Though if we’re going, we better get moving, it’s well into midday and the weather is getting colder. We should have enough supplies to hold us over until the next town. Then we’ll have to really stock up, and make sure we have the proper mounts to get through the mountains, then past the Dead Lands.”

“What about me?” They all turned to see Anielle with an arm half raised. “I know I’ve been a burden, and you might still not trust me, but I did renounce her, rejected her, and decided to put my lot in with you all… So…?”

“We’ll make sure you’re well taken care of. We can’t have you dying on us. Especially now that you have changed loyalties. Though you will still need to earn our trust after everything you’ve done.”

She nodded solemnly. “Yeah… OK.” She picked her head up and looked at them. “Listen… I’m really sorry for deceiving you all, and what I tried to do… All of it. The explosion in Trefal, the stabby thing, the wraith… I just wanted… Well, I don’t know really.” She looked down again, dejected, tears silently falling.

Silavut looked at Sehlan and nodded. She went over to Anielle. “Well, that’s all in the past now.” She lifted Anielle’s chin. “Come on. I’m sure you’ll gain our full trust somehow. Let’s finish packing and get moving.”

Anielle nodded and helped finish packing and clearing the spot to make it look unused, like no one had been there. Once that was complete, they started the direction Nara pointed earlier.

~~~~~~~~~~

The hunter beasts were closing in on their prey. There were still leagues to go, but they were closer now, having crossed the border. Tail and Vekta mentally screamed and thrashed about, trying to regain control. Unfortunately, her powers were beyond their ability to break.

Not far behind now was Lothiren. The dragon had managed to catch a good current with a tailwind and used that to make good time, closing the distance.

From the opposite direction, the Hangrolblest was closing in on its prey. The closer it got, the stronger the urge. It couldn’t wait to devour the magnificent magical morsels. Each one a unique magical flavour.

It was now only a matter of time. Who would get there first, and what would be the outcome?

[silavut-the-wizard]

Silavut the Wizard, Chapter 67

Sehlan has a talk with Nara, and Anielle makes a choice...

Alliances

Lothiren flies as fast as a dragon can. Though dragons are powerful, they can’t teleport, unfortunately. So Lothiren needs to stop every now and then to rest and recoup strength to continue flying. I hope I’m not too late, the dragon thinks. They better be OK. That Powers-damned woman… Lothiren shudders at the thought of what would happen if they were caught. Poor Tail and Vekta. Maybe the wizard can put them right again.

The beasts that were once Tail and Vekta steadily grow closer to tracking the group. They were farther ahead than Lothiren. Not by much, but enough the dragon couldn’t keep up. They had the advantage of solid ground to traverse. Sure, a dragon could use the ground, but they lumber along, getting far less distance than if they flew.

Back in her tower, she watched silently through a scrying bowl. Her scrying was currently more powerful than any other being on the planet. Even Silavut couldn’t compete. Though he was powerful, he still had a long way to go. She watched as the dragon and her creations raced to reach the group. The dragon was lagging behind, she noted, and giggled with devilish glee.

The next morning, after breaking camp, Sehlan whispered to Silavut she would try to talk to Nara. He nodded and finished readjusting his pack.

“Hey,” Sehlan greeted Nara.

Nara looked up from her packing. “Oh, hey. What’s up?”

“I… uh… wanted to talk to you, if you want. I kind of noticed you’ve been a bit… off… distant… lately. Is everything OK?”

“Yeah…” Nara sighed. “No… I don’t know.” She looked around and saw the other two a good distance away, finishing their packing. “Well…”

“It’s OK, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No! I mean, no… I do. It’s just… Hard.” Nara glanced at the other two again. “Are you sure it’s OK? I mean, with those two…?”

Sehlan looked back for a few seconds, then turned back around. “I’m sure. I told Silavut I’d talk to you. As for Anielle, well, I’m sure he’ll take care of her.”

“I see.” Nara talked a bit lower, to make sure only Sehlan could hear her.

Behind him, Silavut could hear parts of their conversation, but then it got quieter and could only hear whispers and murmuring, unable to make anything out. It was probably for the best. He finished packing and went to talk to Anielle.

Nara continued in her quieted voiced. “Well… I’m almost seventeen. I see you and him together and I start… feeling… things. Things I never felt before. I don’t know how to describe it.”

Sehlan nodded her head in understanding and helped try and explain. “It’s like even though you’re not alone, you still feel lonely.”

“Yes, exactly!” Nara hissed, excited Sehlan understood.

“I remember when I felt that way once, a long time ago. I saw people together and thought, ‘Boy, I sure would like to have that.’ Then it got complicated. Long story short, people wanted my body, not me. Until I met him.” She thumbed back at Silavut. “I… we… got lucky. He had never had anyone besides his parents and Vorin. I had everyone except myself, if that makes sense.” Nara nodded. “Then when we met because of… well, all this… I guess fate, destiny, whatever you want to call it, stepped in. Now we have each other, and you. You’re still young. You may not find what you’re looking for on this adventure, but I’m sure one day, on some magical journey, you’ll find the one.”

Nara nodded. “Yeah, OK.” She looked down solemnly as she slowly finished packing.

“I know it may not be what you wanted to hear, but there it is. At least you still have yourself, and us. I hope that’s OK for now.”

Nara sighed and shrugged. “Yeah, for now.”

“Hey, come here.” Sehlan lightly put her hands on Nara’s shoulders and gently prompted her to turn towards her. They looked at each other for a moment before Nara rushed to hug her. “You may still have these feeling for a while yet, but just know you’re our family now. We’re all in this together. Feeling better?”

“Yeah. A little.” Nara sniffled and nodded into her embrace. “Thanks, Sehlan. Thank you for understanding, and everything else.”

“Of course. Glad I could help. Any time you need to talk, we’re here. If you feel you can’t talk to Silavut, you can always talk to me. Or vice-versa. OK?”

“Yeah. OK.”

They parted and Nara wiped away tears as Sehlan turned to the other two. “Oh… Oh no…”

“What?” Nara looked around, not seeing Silavut or Anielle.

“Where’d they go?” Sehlan asked, more to herself than anyone else.

“I don’t like this,” Nara replied quietly, leaning against Sehlan.

“Me neither.” Sehlan looked around worriedly.

~~~~~~~~~~

Silavut and Anielle were in a dark place.

“Ah, the traitor and the wizard,” came a woman’s voice.

“We know it’s you,” Silavut said to thin air, looking around for the source.

“Do you, now? Well then, let’s get a bit more cozy, shall we?”

A flash. She was there, dressed in regular clothes, looking like any other commoner. They were sat around a table. It was unimpressive, just a seemingly ordinary table. Atop it was a bland centerpiece of a melted candle.

“That’s not fooling anyone. Where are we? What do you want?” Silavut asked, looking around the still-dark space save for their illuminated space.

“One thing at a time. We’re nowhere. This is just a primal void. Though we’re not really here, either.”

“How can we be nowhere but not here at the same time?” asked Anielle, puzzled at the statement.

“Tut-tut. A magician—or rather, sorceress—never reveals her secrets.”

Silavut knew exactly what she meant. Though he wouldn’t divulge it to Anielle, at least not at the moment. He might explain it to her later, if she proved useful. Instead, he said, “OK, now we know where we’re not. How about telling us what you want?”

“In due time, my poor, clueless, meddling wizard. Right now, I want you to see this.”

In the air above the center of the table appeared Sehlan and Nara, huddled together, searching for their companions, worried expressions on their faces.

“You see. Without you, they’re just scared little bunnies, waiting for the slaughter!” The last was said in a harsh voice. Then the vision changed to them lying on the ground, bloodied and torn open, as if attacked by a wild animal. No… the hunter beasts. Tail… Vekta… Silavut suddenly realized.

“No! That’s not real! You’re playing mind games again. I know those tricks,” Silavut said, waving his arm across the vision which vanished in a blur of smoke.

“Oh? How do you know? It could be a vision of the present, or the future.”

Anielle suddenly stood up, shoving her chair back. “Stop! We know it’s not real. You’ve had your fun. I know you. You raised me. Used me. You’re a cruel, vicious monster. I’ve decided… I’m no longer your puppet!” She said this with such voracious conviction, it actually took her aback, and there was a physical sensation as of a small explosion, but no actual physical effects. “My bonds to you are broken. You no longer hold sway over me. My alliance is now to them!” She pointed at Silavut. “Do to me what you will, but know that I am no longer under your power. I will no longer do your bidding.”

She laughed. “So be it, then, traitor.” She raised her arm to smite Anielle, but something stopped her. Silavut had somehow managed to sneak behind her. As she raised her arm, he grabbed it with all his might and pulled. “Let… me… go.” She tugged as hard as she could, but somehow his grip was stronger than she thought.

“No. You will not harm any of us—”

Before he could finish, another flash and she and the table were gone. They were alone in the void again. “You will never stop me,” came her disembodied voice. “As for what I want… I want all your heads on a giant, shining silver platter.”

With that, they felt like they were pushed out of existence.

[silavut-the-wizard]

Silavut the Wizard, Chapter 66

Where a history lesson is given.

History Lesson

Though they had to keep moving, they still needed to rest. After much discussion, they decided to set up camp for the night, hoping the Hangrolblest wouldn’t find them yet.

As they settled down for the evening, Nara started asking about the Hangrolblest. “So… What is this Hangrolblest? I know you said it’s a creature that destroys any kind of magic, but where did it come from? Can we, like, I dunno, ‘hide’ our magic from it? Why is it after us instead of her? Did the wraith send it, did she send it? Does she have some kind of protection from it? What’s the deal?”

Silavut and Sehlan glanced at each other with raised eyebrows. Turning his attention to Nara, Silavut closed his eyes, drew in a deep breath and slowly exhaled, getting ready to explain what he knew. He hoped Sehlan would help fill in any missing details he wasn’t aware of, if she knew any more.

“The Hangrolblest is an ancient creature. There used to be a lot more, but as far as anyone now knows, there’s only the one left. No one really knows why they died out, only that fewer were seen over the ages.” He paused to look around and saw the others raptly looking at him.

“Go on,” Sehlan said.

He nodded and his eyes got that glazed, long-distance stare as he recalled what he could. “It’s said that when this world was young, it was a magical place, with all sorts of wonderful and fantastical creatures, as those from fairy tales. However, when people started appearing, that balance was shifted, and the people realized they could use the magic for themselves, and became selfish with it, instead of using it in harmony with nature.

“It was because of this imbalance it’s said the Hangrolblest came forth, to restore the balance. They started small, destroying what they deemed ‘unnatural magic’, those using it for their own selfish means and the objects they imbued with it. Eventually, they became hungry for more power, and indiscriminately started destroying everything and everyone who they deemed unworthy of the power, finally just destroying everything magical until just a little magic remained.”

He heard a sniffle and looked over to see Nara dabbing her eyes. “That’s sad,” she said with another sniffle.

“Yes, it was, very sad,” Sehlan said, wrapping an arm around her.

Silavut continued somberly. “It was because of this eradication that people stopped using magic, and eventually the balance was restored, for a time. Nature healed and the creatures returned.”

“Oh, yay! That’s nice!” Nara perked up.

“Yes, very nice. Though it only lasted a little while. After some time passed, people began using the power again. Some became corrupted by it, becoming like her. Thus how the wraith were created, from corrupted magic. The wraith started feeding off others to keep their form, much like what we saw in Genat, the ones you destroyed.”

Nara nodded solemnly. “Yeah… and that one…” She didn’t want to say the one that got Gen that she destroyed for fear she might lose her composure.

“Yes, and that one… Sorry to—”

“No, it’s OK,” Nara said, weakly waving a hand dismissively. “Go on. So what happened to the Hangrolblest?”

“Well, that’s where it gets a little fuzzy. It’s thought the Hangrolblest dwindled during the ‘dry’ epoch. Though no one can be sure.”

Sehlan nodded, still embracing Nara. “The epoch lasted longer than anyone can remember, and by that time, the Hangrolblest had become beasts of myth and legend, stories passed down like fairy tales. That was when people started using magic again, because by then no one believed those who said they had actually seen a Hangrolblest, they were so few. Thus the reason the history was locked away, to prevent panic.”

Nara looked up at her. “If that’s the case, wouldn’t their return without warning cause even more panic?”

“The archivists didn’t see it that way. They figured if they did return, the people would be just as panicked and would act like it was the first time it ever happened.”

“OK, so if the history was locked away, how did you two come to know about it?” Nara glanced between them with confusion on her face.

Silavut spoke first. “After my parents…” Everyone knew what happened, but it was still hard for him. “Powers rest their souls,” he said instead. “My godfather and mentor, Vorin, Powers rest his soul, had first-hand knowledge of the Hangrolblest. He had heard and read the stories himself before being banned from the archive vault for spreading the word. When he first told me about it, I thought it was all tales, but he told me to keep it in mind. I haven’t forgotten the stories since.”

It was Sehlan’s turn. “My parents… Well, let’s just say there were involved in royal affairs in my home town. Because of this, they had access to certain privileged information. They knew I was destined for something great. So they relayed the same stories to me as a child before…” She still couldn’t quite talk about what happened. Even after all these years, it was still hard for her to process and come to terms with the incident.

Nara looked down in thought. “So that’s why my parents were trying to protect me,” she said quietly. “They knew… Why didn’t they tell me?” She started sobbing and leaned into Sehlan who hugged her close.

“I think you were still too young to understand,” Sehlan replied in a near-whisper.

Anielle sat there quietly, unable to add anything to the history lesson. She had vaguely heard of the Hangrolblest from her but never really caught on. Like Nara, she did wonder, though, where it came from, and said as much. “So, wait, if all that’s true, then where did this one come from, and why is it after us instead of her? You never answered that.”

“Unfortunately,” Sehlan began, looking at her softly, “there’s no answer to that. We don’t know who summoned it, if it was even summoned, or where it actually came from. There’s no telling what power she may or may not have to protect herself from it, if she even can. The only thing we do know right now is that we absolutely cannot let it destroy us.”

“As for ‘hiding’ our magic, that’s not possible. Magic is magic, and even using a protection spell is still magic, which can still be sensed,” Silavut added.

Anielle went quiet again, nodding sheepishly.

“All right, everyone. It’s late. I think this history lesson is over and we should all get some sleep.”

Sehlan nodded. “I agree.” She looked down at Nara, who had fallen asleep against her. She whispered, “I think someone else does too.”

Silavut smiled and nodded. “Do you want some help?”

Sehlan shook her head. “No, I got her. Thanks.” She carefully picked up Nara. “Oof, she’s a bit heavy.”

“Well, she is a teenager, she’s not a baby.” Silavut ribbed. “You sure you don’t want help?”

“No, it’s OK.” Sehlan gently lowered her to the ground where she laid out her bedding. “You know, it’s starting to get colder,” she observed after tucking in Nara. “It’s nearly winter, and snow will be coming soon, do you think we’ll be OK?”

Looking down at Nara, Silavut nodded. “Yeah, I think we’ll be OK. We still have our packs and cold-weather gear, and we can stock up on whatever we need at the next town, hopefully. Maybe commandeer some more horses. Come on, we should get some sleep.”

Sehlan stood and they embraced, then went to their own spot and laid down.

“You know, I worry about her, though,” Sehlan remarked as they settled.

“Who, Nara?”

Sehlan had laid her head on Silavut’s chest with his arm around her. “Yeah. She seems a bit distant of late. Tonight was good, but I think something’s troubling her.”

“Then I think you should talk to her.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He kissed the top her head. “Let’s get some sleep and we’ll worry about everything tomorrow.”

“OK. Good night.”

“’Night, love.” They closed their eyes and were soon fast asleep.

Anielle had turned in but was now kept awake worrying about the Hangrolblest. What would happen if it caught them? She shuddered at the thought and closed her eyes to try and get some sleep.

Leagues away, Lothiren was hoping it wasn’t too late to save them.

[silavut-the-wizard]

The Hangrolblest

A few questions:

Is there a way to hide/disguise the magic 'scent'?

Since she wasn't being hunted by it, is it because she has her tower hidden away? Or some kind of protection spell on it?

Why is it after them?

Did she send it?

Where did it actually come from?

Find out the answers to these questions, and more, in upcoming chapters. Just have to work out a few more details.

[silavut-the-wizard]

Silavut the Wizard, Chapter 65

Where they learn the partial truth, and get an unexpected message...

Revelations

As they trekked across the landscape, Silavut thought about making a truth potion to make Anielle reveal everything she knows. Whether it would be worth the trouble was another question. During their rests, he secretly made the potion.

Following their trail was the Hangrolblest. It was getting closer to their location. For a while, it lost the trail, but then picked it up again after they emerged from the tunnels. The magic scent was strong and getting stronger. There was no escape for them now.

After their third day of travelling, as Silavut passed around drinks, he was careful to make sure he gave Anielle the potion. He watched her in his peripheral vision and saw her swoon a couple times, but she just passed it off as exhaustion. Then she was stock still, staring straight ahead, unblinking. Slowly he stood and walked to her.

Nara watched him and saw where he was going. “Hey, what’s wrong with Anielle?”

He just glanced at her, then returned his attention to Anielle.

“Silavut…” Sehlan said in a warning voice, “…what have you done?”

He sighed and turned towards them to explain his plan. “I want to find out what’s really going. Where are Tail and Vekta, and Lothiren? Are we even going the right way? I want everything… So… I made a truth potion.”

“Silavut! I can’t believe you—” Sehlan started.

He held up a hand. “I know what you’re thinking, and I know your feelings on such things, but this may be the only way to get the information we need. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I know how you would have reacted…” He sighed again and hung his head. “If you want to leave, I understand. I took an oath, and if you feel I have broken it, then I’ll—”

“Stop…” Sehlan stood up and took his hands in hers. “Yes, you’re right. I would have told you no, and expressed my feelings on it. Look, I get it. You want to know what’s going on. We all do. Though is this really the right way? Yes, you also left us out of the loop, but I also had a feeling something like this would happen, so it’s not totally unexpected. I just hope you know what you’re doing. I’m not leaving.” She looked over at Nara, who nodded her head. “We’re not leaving.”

By this point, Silavut raised his head, and they looked into each other’s eyes. Silently, Sehlan released his hands and sat back down next to Nara. Anielle was still in her trance, which wouldn’t be broken until Silavut gave the command.

He stood in front of her and looked down at her before sitting down facing her. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, then opened them to begin his interrogation.

“Where are our companions?”

In a strange, dull voice, she replied, “With her.”

“Where?”

“In her tower.”

Silavut let out a quick, low growl, then continued calmly, “Where is her tower, exactly?”

“Hidden behind a veil of magic.”

He paused and took a deep breath, then had an idea. “Is it in the wastelands?”

“No.”

“Okay! Finally, a real answer. Is it past the wastelands?”

“No.”

“Ugh. Okay, fine. Can we travel to it?”

“Yes.”

“Good, good. You said it’s behind a veil of magic, but not in or past the wastelands, and we can travel to it…”

“Yes.”

He looked back at the other two, who were now watching curiously. Despite her misgivings about the truth potion, Sehlan had to admit to herself it was helping, even if only slightly.

“Okay.” He turned back to Anielle. “Is there any way to find it without running around blindly, so to speak?”

“Yes.”

“Great! Wonderful! How? How can we find her tower?”

“Travel to the wastelands. There you will find the answers you seek.”

“Well, okay then. That’s at least something. Better than what we’ve gotten before.”

Sehlan leaned over to whisper, “Are you going to snap her out of it now? I think you got all you can from her…”

He nodded and whispered back, “Yeah. So at least we know she has them and we have to go to the wastelands to get more answers.” Silavut turned his attention back to Anielle. “You will now close your eyes and return to yourself. You will remember nothing of our conversation. Once you are revived, you will only know that time has passed as if you were taking a nap.” He waved his hand in front of her and she closed her eyes.

Returning to his spot, he watched her for a moment, and soon she was revived. “What happened?” she asked.

“You fell asleep after taking your drink. You did say you were exhausted.”

“Yeah,” she said, frowning at her cup, “I guess I did. Huh.” She looked back up at them. “Well, shall we get going, then?”

“Yeah, sure, in just a bit. Let’s finish resting.”

Anielle nodded and frowned again at her cup, feeling something was amiss.

A while later, they started packing up to continue their journey. As they did so, Sehlan took Silavut aside and asked, “Do you think she knows?”

He shrugged. “Possibly. She was under her ‘care’ for a while. Plus she is a berserker. So she could have other certain abilities we’re not—nor she is—aware of.”

Sehlan nodded somberly. “Also, I’ve been thinking about that string back in the tunnels. Though I still can’t quite recall what it was, I think that string was planted. Maybe you thought you picked it up, but actually it was intentionally added in with your things when you packed up one day and you didn’t notice because it was just another inconsequential thing. I also think if you had used the whole string, we would have been in serious trouble.”

Silavut thought about this for a moment. “Hhmm… you may be right. I may have a good memory, but not everything up here”—he pointed to his head—“is always perfect.”

“That’s for sure,” she teased, grinning at him and giving him a playful shove.

“Hey,” he giggled and shoved her back. Then, though they haven’t really shown outward affection for most of their adventure, he quickly kissed her.

A bit shocked, she froze for a second, but then kissed him back. “Took you long enough,” she whispered, smiling and looking into his eyes.

They looked at each other for a moment. Their reverie was broken by Silavut clearing his throat. “Well, we should… ah… we should… get going,” he stammered.

Sehlan nodded. “Yeah, OK.”

They looked at each other a few seconds longer, then got around to finish packing.

“Hey, you two, what’s taking so long?” shouted Nara from across the way. “You having fun over there?”

They giggled and Sehlan shouted back, “Yeah, yeah, we’re coming.”

Soon they were off, continuing their journey to the wastelands.

Far away, Lothiren was trying to find them. The landscape was unrecognizable. Where was her tower at, then, if not the wastelands? Wasn’t there a trail leading there, and the raiders with their weapons…? Of course, Lothiren realized, it was a ruse, a trap! I must let the others know! Where are they? The dragon tried contacting them, but nothing was happening. Am I too weak? Are they OK? What’s happening?

A faint tingling sensation crept into Nara’s head. “What was that?” she asked quietly.

“What was what?” Sehlan asked.

“I don’t know… Something… In my head…”

“Are you feeling OK?” Silavut asked.

“Yeah, I think so… It’s just… This weird tingling in my head…” Nara shook her head, and the sensation passed. “Yeah, I’m OK. That was weird.” Then they noticed the mark on her shoulder glowing through her clothes.

“Hey, look, your mark, it’s glowing. Really strongly too,” Silavut observed.

Nara tried looking back over her shoulder, but couldn’t turn her head far enough. Though as she reached back, she could feel the power which suddenly surged through her. “What…?” she whispered, looking at her glowing self. “What… is this…?” She looked up and her entire being was glowing.

“Whoa! That’s new!” Sehlan remarked, jumping back a bit in surprise.

“Um… Help?” Nara pleaded with uncertainty.

“I… don’t know what to do…” Silavut replied, intrigued by this new development.

In the uncharted lands, Lothiren felt a strange sensation. What was that? the dragon mused. Wait… hold on… I think… Yes! It’s them! I can feel… Nara!? “Nara? Is that you?”

Suddenly, Nara could hear Lothiren in her head. “It’s Lothiren! Lothiren’s alive! Lothiren! What happened? Where are you?” She spoke out loud for the others’ benefit.

“Nara! Oh, thank the Powers! I was lured into a trap and held captive in her tower. It’s not where we thought, it’s hidden someplace else. I’m in unfamiliar territory, trying to find my way back.”

Nara relayed Lothiren’s message, then replied, “Yeah, we figured that out.” She didn’t say how, as Anielle was right there listening too, and she didn’t want to reveal Silavut’s deception.

“What about Tail and Vekta? Ask Lothiren about them,” Silavut said concernedly.

Nara nodded. “What about Tail and Vekta? Have you seen them? Do you know where they are?” she asked Lothiren.

“Yes. She captured them… Though I’m afraid I have some bad news… She’s turned them into…” Lothiren paused, wondering if telling them was a good idea.

“Turned them into what?” Nara asked, fearful of what the answer would be. She again told the others what Lothiren said, waiting for the answer.

Then the dragon laid it out. “Turned them into… hunter beasts…”

“No…” Nara gasped. “No… no-no-no-no-no…” She slumped down to the ground, head down, tears filling her eyes.

“What… What is it? What happened?” Sehlan asked soothingly, kneeling down in front of her, gently putting fingers under her chin and lifting her head.

“They… They’re…” Nara put a hand against Sehlan’s and squeezed lightly, transferring the mental link.

Sehlan got the message. She stood up, still holding Nara’s hand, who let her head fall again. “Well… Looks like we’re on our own, then. It’ll be a while, several days maybe, before Lothiren finds us. As for Tail and Vekta…” She told them what she learned from Nara and Lothiren. “I don’t think they’ll be of help now.”

“Oh… That’s… Definitely bad…” Silavut could only respond.

Anielle wasn’t sure what to make of the situation. Her loyalty was still on the fence. Was she changing sides? She was even more uncertain than before.

Sure, the two trackers were out of the way, but were now hunting them instead of her. On the one hand, she should be glad they were taken care of, but on the other, now they were the prey. Not that they weren’t before, but those hunter beasts are nothing to shake a stick at.

Even though they had Nara who could destroy things with a simple thought and flick of the wrist, so to speak, hunter beasts could be rather cunning given the right circumstances. The ones they encountered before, in the northern lands, were easy targets, with nowhere to run and hide. Now that they were back in the green lands, they could be extremely dangerous, with places to hide and hunt from.

“So what do we do now?” Anielle asked.

“We do what we do best. Keep going and fight if we have to.”

Just then, they heard the screeching roar of the Hangrolblest.

“It’s getting closer.” Sehlan looked up but couldn’t see anything. “Who knows when it’ll be on us again.”

“Right. For now, we’ll just have to keep moving. Can’t stay in one spot, lest it catch us unaware. Everyone, be on alert. Let’s go.” Silavut gathered his pack and started walking. The others followed suit, Sehlan and Nara still holding hands, with Nara trudging along solemnly.

Leagues away still, Lothiren now knew which direction to head, having caught their presence with Nara’s power surge. It would be at least several days before the dragon could meet them. However, there was something else nagging in the back of Lothiren’s mind. Connecting with Nara also gave a glimpse of the dreaded beast that hunts and destroys magic of all forms. The dragon shuddered just thinking about the Hangrolblest. Hopefully Lothiren wouldn’t be too late to help them.

[silavut-the-wizard]

Silavut the Wizard, Chapter 64

Where Silavut and co. finally make their way out of the tunnels, with a detour along the way.

Exit Strategy

As the group continued through the tunnels after Nara destroyed the wraith, they discussed their exit strategy. Silavut was, naturally, keeping a map of the tunnels in his head while trying to determine the layout ahead. So far, his mapping skills have proven useful, with a few false turns. Now they just had to figure out where an exit actually was.

“You know,” Nara started, “you are a wizard. Couldn’t you, like, conjure an exit-finding spell, or something?”

Silavut slowed and paused, turning to face her, his eyes wide with realization. “Of course!” he laughed. “Oh…” His face dropped. “Except… I don’t have the proper items at the moment. I’m able to do plenty of other spells, but that one requires specific things I don’t have right now.”

“Oh… Then… Could you maybe cast, oh, I dunno, a thread spell? To see if there’s some kind of air current to follow?”

His eyes lit up again. “That… just might work!” He reached into his pack and pulled out a wad of string. “I think this should do.”

“Where did you get that?” Sehlan asked, eyeing it suspiciously.

“Oh… Hhmm… I don’t really know, actually. Just kind of something I happened to pick up along the way, I guess. Why?” He noticed her reaction and held it out to her. “Is there something wrong?”

“I’ve seen this kind of string before.”

“Where?”

“I can’t recall…” Sehlan shook her head. “It’s all fuzzy, like a half-remembered dream…”

“Well, it’s all I have for the thread spell. Do you think it’s safe?”

Sehlan examined the string a bit more, her forehead pinched with worry. A moment later she relaxed and looked at him. “I’m not sure. Is there a way you can test it?”

“Not without actually casting.”

“Well, how about a small piece first?”

Silavut nodded. “Very well. Nara, hold this end.” He held out the loose end to her and she took it, pinching it between her forefinger and thumb. “Sehlan, take this end.” Holding the knotted end, she kept it loose as possible without letting it drop, hoping it wouldn’t tangle even more. “All right, here goes…”

Silavut closed his eyes and began to softly hum. He then reached up and cut an inch-long piece at Nara’s end. The string began to glow a light blue and started pulling away from her fingers. It seemed to be working. The string frayed and split into fine threads.

The threads then started glowing red and circling them.

“Um… Is it supposed to do that?” Anielle asked from outside the circle.

Silavut opened his eyes and looked up. Before any of them could react, the threads shot inwards and flared up at the same time, enclosing them in a flaming circle. However, because the threads were so short, their flare was short lived and they fizzled out, burning to ashes, before any damage could be done.

“Well… That settles that, then,” Silavut declared, discarding the string and setting it ablaze, burning it to ashes. “It was enchanted somehow. Good call, love.”

Nara was shaken and looked astonished and horrified at the same time and glanced between Silavut and Sehlan. “OK, that was weird. Thank the Powers it was only a small piece!”

“Yes. Sehlan has good intuition.”

“So do you, usually,” Sehlan replied, with a slightly scolding expression. “Sometimes, though, you can be a bit impulsive, like taking that string without a second thought.”

“I can’t help it, it’s part of my wizardly nature.” He shrugged sheepishly.

“Yeah, sure. Well, now what, then? We still have to find a way out of here.”

“Yeah, sorry that didn’t work,” Nara said sullenly.

“Hey, it’s OK. It was a great idea,” Silavut replied, giving her a side hug. “At least we tried, huh?”

“Yeah,” she said, leaning into him, a faint smile on her lips.

The next several minutes were spent trying to determine a way out. Then Nara heard a faint whistle. “Ssshhh… hey… listen,” she whispered.

They all stopped moving and listened. Sure enough, they could all hear it.

“It’s coming from that way.” Nara pointed towards a passage several yards ahead.

Slowly, they moved forward, Nara remembering what Sehlan said about rushing ahead. As they approached the passage, the whistling became louder. Cautiously turning the corner, they could see it was an open tunnel with a drop that looked bottomless. The whistling was coming from the wind blowing through it from an unseen source.

“This may be our way out,” Silavut said, peering all around for an exit, being careful not to get too close to the edge. “Except I don’t see—”

“Careful!” Nara yelled and pulled him back just before something big and grey shot right by them.

“What was that??” he asked, shocked and shaken. “Wow! Thanks for that. Could’ve taken my head clean off. Whew.”

“I don’t know what that was, but good thing I looked that way when I did,” Nara replied.

“Yeah. What were you doing anyway? You shouldn’t have been out there!”

“I… was trying to help…?” she said meekly.

Silavut sighed and smiled, and calmly said, “Well, you did. I think you just saved my life. So, thanks again.”

Nara smiled back at him.

Sehlan continued inspecting the chasm to see if she could determine where that thing came from. “Well, the only way I can see is down.”

“Where’s the wind coming from, then?” Anielle asked, peering over the edge.

They all had a very tiny inkling to shove her over, but knew it would be irresponsible. She was in their care, after all, and that act would be with them for the rest of their lives.

Nara peeked back over the edge with her and looked all around. The passage seemed blocked all around except down. So where did that thing come from, what was it, and where was the wind coming from?

Then they heard a screech.

“The Hangrolblest!” Sehlan gasped.

“Can it really get down here?” Anielle asked, cowering back.

Silavut looked back up inside the cavern. “I doubt it. Unless it can find the hole the wind is coming through.”

“Let’s hope not,” Nara said nervously.

“Well, either way, we still need to find a way out of this maze, and this seems to be our best option.”

They all agreed to that.

“Is there some kind of levitation spell you could use?” Nara peeked at the spell book. Silavut quickly, but gently, snatched it back.

“Sorry, no can do. Don’t know where the wind is blowing. Could be all the way through, or to a dead end, or who knows where. Don’t want to end up on the wrong side of a wall spike or something.”

Nara shook her head. “Don’t we have rope or something, to tie off with? One of us could have the rope tied around ourself while the others anchor it.”

Sehlan turned to Silavut. “She’s on to something there. We do have rope. If you could imbue one of us with levitation, we could maybe find out where to go. Or at least know where the wind is coming from and plan from there.”

Silavut was hesitant to do it, but reluctantly agreed. “Very well, then. Let’s decide who’s going to be the test subject.”

“I vote Anielle,” Nara spouted without thinking.

Silavut closed his eyes for a moment to gather his thoughts. “No. As much as we would like to, I won’t put her in harm’s way intentionally.” He gave Anielle a hard look. “Though we still have trust issues… I cannot conscionably intentionally put someone in harm’s way.”

Anielle looked a bit shocked at this. She thought for sure they would immediately put her out there, what with everything that’s happened. She looked down sheepishly, silently, and twisted her toe on the ground, embarrassed.

“I will go,” Silavut claimed. I don’t want anyone to get hurt, but if it happens, I’d rather it be me.”

Sehlan looked at him with a raised eyebrow and admiration. The more he took charge, the more she liked him. Though she liked him anyway, even with is follies and flaws. That’s already been proven.

“All right,” she said, pulling out the rope. “Here’s the rope.” She started tying it around him. He smiled goofily at her the whole time. She couldn’t help but chuckle, then whisper in his ear, “You like this, don’t you?” He only shrugged with a smirk.

Giving him one last quick sultry glance then stepping back, she proclaimed, “I think that should do it. Go ahead, levitate.”

He rummaged through his pack, pulled out the necessary items, and cast the spell. Slowly he started rising.

Nara watched with fascination. “That’s so cool! I wish I could do that.”

Sehlan laughed. “Maybe next time, kiddo, when we’re not in so much danger.”

Though Nara normally didn’t like such nicknames, it sounded nice coming from Sehlan. She smiled and nodded.

The others took hold of the rope to keep him from floating away and let the rope out little by little. Right as Silavut was about to float into the passageway, another grey object swept by so close, it could’ve given him a shave.

“Whoa! That was close!” he exclaimed, looking back at them with a nervous smile.

“Be careful!” Sehlan gasped.

Tilting a bit and peering down the passage, he couldn’t see any other objects, so he motioned for them to let the rope out a bit more. A few more seconds and he was in the passage proper. A strong wind blew up diagonally from below.

“I think I found it!” he yelled. He could barely hear his own voice over the wind buffeting him at the end of the rope. He pointed towards the source, then motioned for them to pull him back in.

“What is it?” Nara asked.

“I’m not sure,” he said, setting foot on solid ground and shaking his head, “and I don’t know if we’ll able to get to it, but it’s definitely there. It’s a current coming up diagonally from down below somewhere.”

Sehlan quickly checked him over to make sure he was OK after his close encounter.

“Would you stop? I’m fine.” He playfully pushed her away. “It was barely a scratch. See?” He pointed at the spot where it grazed him. It was just a surface scrape, not even enough to draw blood.

She playfully punched his shoulder. “Don’t scare me like that.”

His tone and expression became a bit more serious. “Honestly, I was actually a bit scared when it grazed me. I thought for sure it was gonna take me out.”

“Be more careful from now on, OK?” Sehlan snuggled against him for a moment.

“Yeah, sure. I promise.” Silavut gave her a small hug.

They parted and looked at the other two. Nara was slightly turned away from them with an unreadable expression. Anielle was just staring off into space. Silavut ‘cleared his throat’ to get their attention. They turned towards him, both now with completely neutral expressions.

“All right, then. So now we know there is, possibly, an exit down there where the wind is coming up. We just have to get to it. Anyone have any ideas? Besides jumping blindly.”

After a few moments of pondering, Sehlan was the first to suggest, “Is there a way we can reverse the current?”

“Unfortunately not. Even with all the power at my disposal, there’s no way to reverse such an event. It must take its course. Not everything can be solved with magic, that would just be too convenient.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“So how do we get out, then?” Nara asked.

Silavut stood a little straighter and addressed the group. “Well, the way I see it, we can either risk going through the wind tunnel, which who knows where we’ll end up, or we keep searching for a way out.”

Anielle spoke up. “I say we keep looking. I don’t trust that passage.”

The other two looked at each other, Nara’s expression now of anxiety. “You know, I would have to agree. I don’t like it. Especially if those… things… whatever they are, keep flying up out of there. If one of us gets hit…” She trailed off there.

Sehlan nodded her head. “I’m with them.”

Silavut smiled and nodded. “All right then, another way out it is! Come on, ladies, let’s find our way out of this maze.”

So they continued trekking through the winding tunnels. After a while, they started getting hungry, and needing to relieve themselves. For food, they each took a bit out of their packs and shared it around. Anielle, not having a pack, was given a share by the others. They wouldn’t have her starving to death in their care. As for relief, they did what they could without facilities.

After what seemed like hours of walking in silence, with breaks every now and then, Silavut spied something. “Hey! Look at this!” They all took a closer look. “It’s a grate! Mostly sealed over, but with a bit of work, I think we can break through. Though before anyone says anything, no, we’re not using magic. It’s too taxing for such a job.”

“OK, so how are we going to get through it?” Anielle asked, sitting down.

“We,” he emphasized for her benefit, “are going to do it the old-fashioned way… With our bare hands. Come on. We can do this.”

With that, they started digging, breaking away chunks with other loose pieces. Soon they could hear running water.

“Hey! We’re almost there!” exclaimed Nara, breathing heavily.

“Yeah, but where’s ‘there’?” asked Sehlan as she paused to catch her breath.

“We’ll find out when we’re through. Come on!” encouraged Silavut.

After several more minutes of effort, they finally broke through.

“Hey, sunlight! We did it!” Silavut grinned from ear to ear. “Sounds like a stream. Let’s get out of here and freshen up, eh?”

They all heartily agreed to that.

As they climbed out, there came another screeching roar.

“The Hangrolblest,” Anielle whispered, cowering once again.

“We’ll deal with it when we have to. Let’s just freshen up and find some shelter. Then we’ll figure out what’s next.”

With that, they all got a drink, cleaned up, and started heading for the next town.

[silavut-the-wizard]

Silavut the Wizard, Chapter 63

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT, EVERYONE!!!

New chapter is finally here!!! Sorry for the hiatus, took longer than I thought to continue the story. Had other projects I've been working on, and just life in general happened. You know how it is. So without further ado, I give you STW CHAPTER 63.

Where Tail and Vekta meet the sorceress...

Tail and Vekta

Lothiren was loath to do it, but there was no choice but to leave Tail and Vekta with the sorceress. There was no way to get them out without being re-captured and the dragon knew it. They would either have to escape themselves or wait for rescue.

As they were blindfolded, Tail and Vekta could only imagine the worst. There was no telling what was going to happen to them. Though as the cloths were removed from their eyes and they were manhandled, being thrown into a cell, they now had a pretty good idea of where they were. They then watched their captors storm away.

“What do you think?” Vekta said, shifting to sit against the wall. “Her tower, the dungeon?”

Tail shrugged. “Sure seems that way. Still can’t believe they got the drop on us. Should’ve been paying closer attention.”

It was Vekta’s turn to shrug. “Yeah.” He had more to say, but thought better of it, and instead said, “Well, we’re here now. So now what?”

Tail was pacing now and stopped to look at Vekta. “Now… I guess we try to find some way to escape.”

Then they heard it. A roar just outside. There were no windows, so they couldn’t see, but they had an idea of what caused it.

“Must be Lothiren,” Tail said, looking up at the wall in thought, as if looking out of a window. “That crazy dragon. Wonder if Lothiren knows we’re here?”

“Who knows,” Vekta replied, picking up a piece of random debris and fidgeting with it. “Would it really matter? Could Lothiren even break us out?”

“Well, it seems Lothiren escaped, so I’m sure it would be possible, but I don’t think being re-captured is a risk Lothiren is willing to take. So we’re on our own, or we wait for rescue, which may or may not come.”

Vekta stopped fidgeting and looked up at Tail. “OK then. What’s the plan?”

“Don’t know, haven’t thought that far ahead yet. Still trying to puzzle it out.” After that, Tail continued pacing in silence while Vekta sat fidgeting with the piece he picked up.

Tail then walked to the cell door to examine it. Vekta watched with half-interest to see what he would do. Tail carefully inspected every millimetre, including the lock, though he couldn’t see the internal mechanism. Finally he spoke.

“Well, seems like our little evil sorceress knows her hardware. Unless we can somehow shimmy open the lock, I think we’re stuck here until help arrives.”

“Bah!” Vekta quickly stood up. “Let me have a look.”

Tail stepped back with a slight bow and a hand extended at the door. “Be my guest.” He sat down against the wall and with a smirk watched Vekta work.

“Agh! Blast it all! You’re right!”

“Yup.” Tail gestured for Vekta to sit. “Told ya. You’d think I know my way around a door by now, eh?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Vekta replied, slumping against the wall opposite Tail.

“So… as we have some time to kill, let’s talk about us.”

Vekta raised an eyebrow. “Us?”

Tail nodded. “Yes. Us. You. Me. What happened. Everything.”

Vekta sighed. “Fine. I guess since we have nothing better to do than just stare at each other.”

“We could always play a game…” Tail teased.

“No! No way! I know you and your games.” Vekta closed his eyes for a moment. “All right. Let’s talk, then.”

“Good. Why don’t we start at the beginning…”

So that’s what they did. While they contemplated their situation, they talked about their past and what happened. It was no surprise to either of them, really, that they were both manipulated, but were both too stubborn to realize it at the time.

“So you see, I left because I thought it for the best,” Vekta said.

“Yes, I do see. I thought it for the best I stay out of it,” Tail replied.

“Yeah, I know.”

They both sighed.

Tail looked up at Vekta. “Well, that clears things up, then. No hard feelings?”

Vekta nodded. “No hard feelings. Thanks for letting me stay. Despite being captured, it was nice working with you again.”

“Same here. So… have we figured out a way out of this mess yet? Besides waiting for rescue, which who knows if it’ll ever—”

Tail was interrupted by an odd banging sound. Then dust and pieces of stone started falling.

“What the—” Vekta began, but was interrupted by an explosion from somewhere in the tower.

They waited a moment in silence, but nothing else happened.

“Sounds like something big is happening up there,” observed Tail.

“Yeah, but what?”

Tail glanced around, then noticed a miniscule crack in the stone around the door. “Hey! Look at that! We might be able to escape after all.” He pointed at the crack, and Vekta scooted over for a closer look.

“Wow. Look at that! You’re right.”

Though as their weapons were confiscated, even all their secret ones, they had nothing to work the stone with.

“What can we use, since all our stuff’s been taken?” asked Vekta.

“Let me see here…” Tail searched around but found nothing immediately of interest.

Vekta scooted around on the floor to hunt for any shards that may have broken off but only found useless dull chunks and pebbles. After a few minutes, he sat back. “Well,” he sighed, “guess we’re not getting out of here without a way to open that crack. Or we get rescued.”

For a few moments, Tail stood unmoving, lost in thought. Then he spun around to face Vekta. “There must be something—” Before he could finish the thought, another explosion rattled through the tower.

~~~~~

In the upper rooms, the sorceress was having a fit. She went on a rampage, destroying anything in her path. The explosions Tail and Vekta felt were her raiders trying to blast Lothiren out of the sky as the dragon escaped, which Lothiren didn’t even pay attention to, being too focused on getting distance from her tower.

Despite having captured Tail and Vekta, who were stewing in the dungeon, the fact the dragon escaped made her furious. She was hoping to use the beast for leverage. Now she had practically nothing. Sure, Tail and Vekta were good for something, but the dragon could’ve proven a valuable asset. Now she was stuck with the traitors.

“Bring them to me!” she demanded of the nearest twisted creature.

“Yes, yes, of course, mistress!” the poor soul replied with a rasp and scurried away to do her bidding.

“Bah! Useless things!” she spat as it left her sight.

~~~~~

In their cell, Tail and Vekta heard a door some distance away, then some scrabbling coming from down the hall. They looked at each other questioningly.

“What do you think?” asked Vekta. “Death, or freedom?”

“Probably neither,” Tail replied, peeking as far down the hall as he could through the bars. Then he saw the creature loping towards them. A moment later, it was at their cell.

“Mistress,” it hissed, “would like to see you.”

“Figures,” replied Vekta. “Wouldn’t be fun if it was too easy, eh, Tail?”

“You said it. Come on, let’s see what she wants. I’m sure she’s got wards to prevent our actual escape right now, anyway.”

Vekta stood. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Ah well.” He shrugged as they followed the twisted creature.

As they passed various alcoves, they both noticed a variety of weapons. They figured they were for defence in case there was an attack, and this was an extra stash in case her cohorts needed them.

They glanced at each other, both having the same ideas. However, those ideas were dashed when Vekta tried reaching towards one of the weapons and found resistance. He raised an eyebrow at Tail who shook his head.

They continued following the poor creature up through the tower, passing numerous passages with other poor souls disfigured by her power, doing any number of chores or tasks. They both felt pity, but knew they could do nothing right now without incurring her wrath, and neither felt like taking such a risk to go head-to-head in a fight with her, knowing full well they would lose.

“What do you think she wants?” Vekta asked.

Tail shrugged. “To gloat? Who knows?”

Soon they reached her chambers.

“Ah. There you are.” She looked at the twisted being. “Be gone, runt!”

Without a word, it scampered out of sight and closed the door.

“Well, the two traitors, back together. How does it feel to know you’ve been captured by the one who’s going to end you?”

Tail kept a neutral expression and shrugged. “No different than any other day, really.”

“Oh? Is that so? What about you, maggot?”

Vekta laughed. “Is that all you’ve got? Looky here. The all powerful, mighty sorceress can’t come up with a good insult.”

Her visage became dark with anger and she raised a hand to smite Vekta. Then she thought better of it, sighed, and dropped her hand. “You will do well to remember I can destroy you with just a thought.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever. You won’t, though. You need us. I can see it written all over your face. Remember, we are the best trackers, which means we can read people well too.”

Tail shot Vekta a warning glance. Vekta shrugged it off. Though they both knew she needed them alive, it didn’t mean she couldn’t harm them in other ways.

“Yes, I do need you, to get rid of that meddling wizard, his blasted barbarian girlfriend, and their little brat!”

“Um… No.” Vekta crossed his arms. “I don’t think so. Even if you do somehow make us do your bidding, I guarantee they’ll still come a-knockin’.”

Tail just glared at her.

“Very well, then. Let’s try this on for size.” She snapped her fingers and the two trackers turned into hunter beasts they encountered in the northern lands. Their minds were not their own now. “Go,” she merely commanded. Without hesitation, they obeyed.