by Wilbur Arron
Next to the temple is a large collection of buildings that sits unseen behind a ten-podia-high stone wall that runs more than two stadia in length. Behind that wall is the Mage Academy where I spent ten years of my life learning my craft. Now I was back at the order of the Megas Mage himself! With all that had happened since I left, I hoped the Megas Mage also had a sense of humor. We went to the gate, and I introduced myself to the guard consisting of three senior acolytes and four soldiers. The polis, other than mages, the ethnarch, and the senior priests, were forbidden to enter. Those that tried were severely treated; we guard our secrets well. I left my guard there with instructions to wait for me.
I said nothing to the acolytes other than my name and who I was here to see. All three bowed, and one escorted me toward the central building that looked like a small palace in itself. There the Megas Mage and the Mage Council lived and met unhindered by prying eyes. Around the central building was the large open courtyard where the acolytes practiced magik when not in the instruction halls hearing lectures, or in the vast library studying, or in their small cells sleeping. Since it was dark, there was hardly anyone in the courtyard. Instead, I saw a few candles burning in the resident halls where the students studied their lessons in magik as well as history, mathematics, science, philosophy, and law. There seemed to be a lot fewer candles than before.
I was escorted past the four acolytes that stood guard on the outside of the Megas Mage’s quarters. All wore three red stripes on their shoulders. They were all close to graduation and trusted enough to make sure those inside were not disturbed. I had stood guard here many times as an acolyte. One look at my Master Mage ring and they all stood aside and bowed. I was admitted and silently taken to the center of the building where the meditation chamber was. That chamber was where the Megas Mage and the other six Mage Council members studied and met to discuss matters. Once shown inside, the acolyte closed the heavy bronze doors behind me with a loud clang. I walked into the center of the room and saw a chair had been set up for me. As I sat down, a gong sounded, and the other door opened into the room. In walked a hooded figure in a pure crimson robe. I stood up and went down on one knee, which is a right granted to Master Mages. Normal mages have to go down on both knees and acolytes must prostrate themselves on their faces.
“Megas Mage, Alexio Sopholus comes at your command,” I said averting my eyes down.
“Rise Alexio,” the old, yet tender voice called. “Sit back down, we have much to discuss and not much time to do it.”
I sat back down in the chair. The old man took his place on a daïs and looked down at me. I noted we were alone which I thought strange. I had assumed the rest of the Mage Council would be here. The Megas Mage saw me looking around.
“Other than Philocrates, none of the other members of the Mage Council are here. All of the Master Mages and senior mages, are also gone, along with our best students.”
That was not normal, “What is happening, Megas Mage?” I asked.
The Megas Mage leaned over and spoke in a hushed voice. “For reasons I will explain shortly, I have decided to disperse our senior mages and our best acolytes to other locations in Lantia.”
There would only be one reason our leader would do such a thing. “Who are you expecting an attack from, the mages from Syrina?”
“A good answer from one of our best students,” the old man said with a chuckle. “No, I am expecting an attack from Ethnarch Pytheas or an order from him to arrest us.”
I asked myself if I heard that right. Why would the Ethnarch of Lantia arrest the Megas Mage? For over three hundred years, the Megas Mage and the Ethnarchs of Lantia have worked closely together to maintain peace in the vasíleio.
“Forgive me, Megas Mage, but why is this, and what does it have to do with me?”
“That, unfortunately, is simple, Alexio. We have learned that our ethnarch has decided, like the Zilar, to gain control over all the kingdoms. He is going to use the Zilar as unwitting accomplices.”
I sat there, aghast at what I was hearing. “I do not understand,” was all I could say.
“It first came to our attention right after we disposed of the mages of Syrina that Pytheas was planning something. We knew he had built up his army and navy. We finally learned what his plans were when he confronted his children about his intentions. There was a family meeting in the palace where he demanded support from his two sons and two daughters. To their credit, all refused to go along. Therefore, he exiled them. We have devices similar to your Speaking Stone inside the palace that overheard this and many other meetings and conversations. The ethnarch knows nothing of this, and we must keep it that way.”
I was astonished the Megas Mage spied on the ethnarch, but then everyone spied on everyone else in this world, why should the Brotherhood be any different? I was also stunned to think Pytheas believed he could take over Argina. From a military point of view, of which I was still an amateur, that made no sense to me. I knew the number of forces Sysgros and Pallas could assemble.
“How does he think he can take over Argina? We can mount a defense that would beat him in time.”
“He never thought he could do that until the Zilar came along,” the Megas Mage told me. “The Zilar will fight in Argina to take control. Pytheas has concluded both sides will be so weakened that he will be able to take his fresh forces and under the guise of destroying the Zilar make himself master of Argina. Once he does that, Syrina will be so weak that the combined forces of Argina and Lantia will easily allow Pytheas to overrun that vasíleio too. The Zilar have been a gift of the gods to Pytheas. His plan could have never worked without them.”
A realization hit me. “That means he will not allow me the use of the fleet.”
“Of course not,” the Megas Mage said sharply. “In fact, in two days, a meeting will occur in the palace with the ethnarch and other members of the court. You will be told that the fleet will stay in Lantia.”
I took a deep breath. “So, I have failed in my mission,” I said.
“You never had a chance to succeed, Alexio,” the Megas Mage said, sounding somber. “However, it gets much worse than this.”
“Worse?” I repeated.
“Much worse,” the old man almost moaned. “You see unintentionally, your past actions with the Zilar have shown Pytheas how to use mages to reinforce his forces both on land and sea. He fully intends to order the Brotherhood to accompany him on a campaign and use our skills to destroy the Zilar army, their navy, as well as any forces from Argina. The Syrina mage plot against him has made him distrust all mages. He had decided that for him to be safe, all mages will answer to him, or there will be no mages. That piece of skata Thessalos, who fully supports and encourages this lunacy, suggested it to him. They will shortly order me to assemble the Brotherhood and place them under the command of the polemarch and navarch.”
To militarize our Brotherhood would be just as bad as what Zilar did with the Syrina mages. Warfare would become much more dangerous than it is today. “Are they aware in the palace you know of their plans?” I asked.
“No, thank the gods; otherwise I could have never sent so many of my mage brothers away without notice. Pytheas does not want to attack us with your diplomatic mission in the polis. He is still a little afraid of you. After you are gone three or four days, he will send Thessalos here to demand our compliance or else. I will naturally refuse. At that point, Pytheas will attack us to force us to comply. He will succeed too, but he will find a mostly empty Academy.”
This was all too much. “Philocrates should have warned me about this.”
“At the time the arch-mage did not know,” the Megas Mage continued. “The scope of this plot has only become clear recently. Rather than acquiesce to the ethnarch’s demands, I have removed as many of our most powerful mages away from the Academy in secret. The rest are leaving tonight. The ethnarch is not the only one who has secret passageways in and out of the polis.”
Another realization hit me like
a rock from a stone thrower. “Then what about my companions and me? Pytheas will surely move against me?”
“No,” the Megas Mage corrected me. “To harm an ambassador, his wife, and party is a breach of our customs—too much for even for our ethnarch to get away with. You and your friends will go home the way you came. You will be given an escort of ten men. Once past Portanus, you and your party will be ambushed and all killed. The hill people or Zilar agents will be blamed. The last thing Pytheas wants is you back in Argina. You have shown that you alone could destroy enough of the Zilar so that the forces of Argina would not be weakened enough for Pytheas’ plan to succeed.”
My world was spinning. The Zilar were bad enough, but to have the senior ethnarch of our world do precisely what the Zilar wanted to do was something I never considered in my worst nightmares. “Ye gods,” I cursed. “Has everyone in this world taken leave of their senses?”
“It would appear the respect and honor others have for our age-old customs is a thing of the past. Pure naked power is the only thing that matters now. That is not a world where the Brotherhood that I have spent my life protecting can function. I will not have our Mage Code be made into a mockery. That is why I will refuse to take these orders from the ethnarch. Thessalos has convinced Pytheas that it is better to destroy the Brotherhood rather than allowing us an opportunity to oppose him.”
“Can he do this?” I wondered out loud. “You can fight back. Mages are allowed to protect ourselves.”
“Yes, we are, Master Mage, but few of us can command the forces you have. Also, we do not have the friends you have. You and we have been lucky so far that the Zilar are pigheaded enough to think they can get what they want with just brute force. Any polemarch that knew anything about magik should have known attacking Argina the way they did was foolish. Pytheas is smart enough to know better. He can bring his largest stone-throwers up and beat down our walls and just crush everything inside the Academy. He can amass enough archers and spearmen to kill everyone. Besides, he will find almost no one here. Oh, he may take losses, but he will win in the end. And he can make those losses up while the Zilar and Argina are beating each other to death. That is why I am removing as many mages as I can, but I cannot send all of them. If I send them all away, the ethnarch may guess what I did and go after them now. They need time to make their escape. Any time that we can buy with subterfuge, or in having the ethnarch destroy us, means time for the others to get away. That is why I have remained along with Philocrates with enough of our Brotherhood to convince Pytheas that we are all still here.”
“But you will all die,” I said. “I cannot allow this to happen any more than I could allow Lycus to destroy our eparchia.”
The Megas Mage grasped what I meant and shot to his feet. “No, Alex, I forbid it,” he yelled. “I will not have you do to the Ethnarch Pytheas what you did to Archon Lycus. Your actions against Lycus caused a tremendous amount of anger among many in the Brotherhood, the local military, the temples, and the Syntechnia all over Lantia. At first, many wanted you to be put to death. As we learned the facts about the Zilar and the treason of your archon, most concluded that you did what had to be done to protect as many of the poleis as possible. No one was happy with what you did, they just accepted the fact it was necessary to protect the greater good. If we kill the ethnarch, it will look like a praxikopima by the Brotherhood. The poleis all over our world will turn against us. Despite his plans, Pytheas is still highly regarded within this vasíleio.”
I realized there was one other option we had. “I could do it myself, and then the Brotherhood could denounce me and come after me.”
The Megas Mage looked at me with sagging eyes for a second. “You would do that, Alex?” he asked.
“If necessary, yes,” I said sincerely. “I already made that decision once when I went after Lycus.”
I heard the seated figure take a deep breath and then slowly get up as if in pain. He walked down the stairs from the daïs toward me. He threw back his hood, showing me the wrinkled and worn face of a man in his eighties, yet I knew he was well over a hundred. He put both hands on my shoulder, I could see the gray eyes water.
“My son,” he said. “It makes this old man’s heart glad to see there are still those in this Brotherhood who are willing to do what is necessary no matter the cost to themselves. I think I finally understand now just why you killed Lycus. I can also see why Malcor picked you as his student. No matter, I cannot allow you to do this. You must take my word on this. Your path lies elsewhere. You must survive and return to Argina. They will need you. Even more, this Brotherhood will need you. All tyrants will eventually expose themselves to be the enemies of decency. Pytheas is no different. One day his crimes will catch up with him. On that day, you and the others who have escaped must be well and ready to act. I, and the others here, all know our path lies here.”
“But I cannot just let this happen,” I said as my voice broke.
“Yes, you can and once more you must,” the Megas Mage said. “It is necessary for the Brotherhood to survive. Your task will be difficult, and success is far from certain, but you must do this.”
I thought to fight the Zilar was bad. It was nothing compared to what I was asked to do now. “Will I have help?” I pleaded.
The Megas Mage gently turned me around and directed my attention to the wooden beams that supported the roof. On the center beam sat a snow-white figure. It was an owl. I had seen it before.
“Is this what you want, too?” I asked aloud.
I heard the ghostly voice in my head. “You were told you be faced with many difficult tasks. This is one of them.”
“I may need your help,” I said silently.
“And you will have it,” the bird said and flew up to the top of the roof and disappeared.
“Now do you understand?” the old man said.
“Understand no,” I said honestly, “Accept, yes.”
“That is enough for now.” The old man said. He took my arm and walked me slowly to the door. “When you leave here after your audience with the ethnarch, you will go to Portanus. Once there, friends of mine will contact you, and you will get instructions.”
“I understand,” I said.
The Megas Mage went on. “Do not tell anyone of our conversation, not even that pretty wife of yours. There will be time enough to explain later. Also, keep that Syrina mage healthy. She may come in handy too.”
I just nodded; by now we had reached the door. “The gods go with you, Alex,” the Megas Mage said with a smile. “I do not think we will see each other again this side of Hades. Know this, however. Your Megas Mage is as proud of you as I am sure my brother Malcor was. You are one of the best of us.”
That was the biggest shock of all. “Malcor was your brother?” I squeaked.
“Of course, who else could I have trusted with the Forest of Allund and its many secrets?”
With that, he easily opened the bronze door and showed me out.
Sleep that night was impossible. I spent the night in the small library within our quarters, reading or trying to read. I could not concentrate on the scrolls. The next morning, I avoided Melina and the others for the entire day. I knew I had to betray no hint that I knew of this plot. It was no surprise that in the late evening, a message came to me from Thessalon saying there would be an assembly of the court the next day at the tenth hour. I and the others would attend. I was tempted to go alone, but that might alert Pytheas to what I knew. I could only hope the Megas Mage was correct about the ethnarch letting us go. It was a short while later when the door to the library burst open and in walked Melina and the others. They did not look happy.
“What is wrong Alex?” Melina blurted out. “It is not like you to shut yourself up. What happened with the Megas Mage?”
The others looked at me for an answer. I knew I could not brush them off, nor order them to go away, but equally, I could not tell them what I knew. Not yet, in any case. Instead, I decided to use a trick P
hilocrates taught me in the Academy. ‘Sometimes, a half-truth works better than a lie.’
I motioned them to all come in close to the desk. “The walls have ears,” I told them in a whisper.
I explained that secret intelligence told me that we would be refused the use of the fleet and then sent back to Argina. The rest I left out for now. Chremon and Nomiki did not look surprised, but Zila and Gyras did. My wife did not show any emotion. I told them they had to let on they knew nothing beforehand; otherwise, my sources would be endangered. All seemed to agree except Melina. I could tell she did not believe a word of it, but she said nothing.
Nothing more was said that night until later when we went to bed. That night Melina went to bed without her sleeping gown, which she never used at home; I was not in my sleeping robe either. As we embraced tenderly, she put her mouth next to my ear and used her tongue to massage it. “What is really happening, Alex?” she whispered gently.
I kissed her gently and then did the same to her right ear. “Nothing I can tell you about here,” I said with a slight moan.
She nodded her beautiful head, and we continued on passionately. If anyone was watching, I hope they found our antics enjoyable.
The next morning, we all dressed in our best wardrobe and walked to the audience chamber. As the sundial’s shadow crossed the tenth line, Thessalon appeared and repeated the litany of awards and titles of the ethnarch. I stood impatiently as Pytheas walked out and sat on his golden throne perched high above the crowd. He called out in a slow, methodical, and loud voice to the assembly below.