by William Cali
“Hanar, you think I did the right thing, right? This Yozer guy sounds like bad news. But Gilbrand, I mean, he put his hands on Mother Lyle. He was about to kill her. What was I supposed to do, just watch her die?”
Hanar pivoted in place abruptly. Pent expected a melancholy expression, the same fearful look he got from everyone else in town, but Hanar surprised him. He was grinning that same wide-mouthed grin he had glued to his face when he first escorted Pent into town.
“You’re a brave man, Pent. Braver than I, probably braver than anyone in town. You did what you thought was right, and you saved Lyle. You won’t hear me chastising you for saving my sister’s life.”
“I don’t know if that’s really worth anything if this guy comes here and kills everyone anyway.”
Hanar shrugged, patting Pent on the shoulder.
“The people of Somerville are so used to doing things one way, the very thought of changing a single thing will frighten them. Perhaps we can do something about that ‘killing everyone’ situation we seem to be in.” The woodsman quirked a bushy eyebrow. “Remember, my friend, I have an ace in the pot.”
“No man, it’s an ace in the hole,” Pent said, laughing.
Hanar scratched his beard. “I thought you used an ace to dig the hole.”
“Oh god, that’s not an ace, that’s a spade. Never mind, man, let’s get on with this.”
Hanar made his way into the forest, moving with renewed confidence and energy. The woodsman rushed ahead, pushing aside big branches and shrubs as Pent stayed close on his heels. He was amazed at how Hanar could travel through the woods so quickly when motivated. To Pent, there didn’t appear to be a single path or road on their trail. Hanar, though, marched on through the woods as if he knew them like the back of his hand. Honestly, he probably does.
Before long, Pent found himself in the same familiar clearing he had been in earlier. Hanar moved over to the large rock, and he wasted no time setting the stage as he had before. He pulled out the magical stone and raised it into the air, shouting the words, “GORDENTHORPE! REVEAL YOURSELF!”
The wizard’s hut peeked out through a nonexistent veil as it had before. Where there was once nothing, soon the strange hut with the floating ramp, impossibly supported by frail looking beams, filled the space. The beams should have been incapable of holding up a bookshelf, let alone a home. But support they did, along with the eccentric sorcerer and his collection of “tokens.”
Hanar grabbed him by the shoulder, causing Pent to wince in pain. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Nineteen
The hut was just as whimsical as it had been on his previous visit. Pent felt like he was in a thrift store for magical artifacts. The “tokens,” as Gordenthorpe had called them, shined and glittered on the wall. Their functions were lost on Pent, but he still found them to be awe-inspiring. He stared around, taking in the collection, and breathing deep the pleasant odor of tea as he searched for the wizard.
“Gordenthorpe?” Hanar yelled out. “We need you! A horror has befallen Somerville.”
“Oh ho!” The small, portly wizard whirled into vision from the adjacent room. Pent was again reminded of Santa Claus, and he was hoping their jolly friend could bring them some good cheer. “Hanar, I am a man of simple tastes and desires, and one of those is to live unperturbed. You speak of a horror? I try my best to avoid horrors, but surely it must be of great consequence for you to come to me.”
“It is of great consequence, perhaps the single greatest consequence of Somerville’s history,” Hanar said.
“Oh?” He whirled around, his short cloak twirling in a circle, and his eyes landed on a trinket that looked like a cowbell. His hands hovered over it like a man warming himself at a fire as he absentmindedly asked, “And what might that be?”
It was Pent who spoke first. “I got into a disagreement with this colossal ass named Gilbrand. Said he works under a man named Yozer, and that he’s going to come back and bring Yozer with him.”
The cowbell device fell to the ground and shattered into a thousand pieces of gold. Pent could barely hear the sound of the bell crashing over Gordenthorpe’s gasp.
“Y… Yozer?”
Hanar shot Pent a concerned look and then asked, “I knew there was no chance that a man as wise and well-traveled as you would be unfamiliar. You know of him then, this Lord Yozer?”
Gordenthorpe sank into a chair, face numb and eyes glazed over.
“Oh yes, I know him.” He laughed, but there was no humor to it whatsoever. “It’s a puzzle that anyone would not recognize his name. A puzzle of profound ignorance.” He sighed and looked out into space. “He is the true king of this world.”
“Gilbrand just seemed like some kind of punk with a sword, how was I supposed to know he was answering to some higher power?”
“It is as the chief said, then.” Hanar scratched at his bearded chin, as he often did when troubled or thoughtful. “We were told to not defy Gilbrand, but of Yozer I am unfamiliar. I perhaps have heard the name once or twice… It always struck me as an odd name. It never seemed to be a matter of such importance. True king of the world? I’ve never even seen this man. What king of mine is he?”
Pent sighed. He could take Hanar at his word as an honest person, but the fact that he wasn’t aware of the state of affairs in his home wasn’t surprising. He spent most of his time in the forest. If Pent had to pick someone in Somerville who knew as little as he did of Yozer, it would be Hanar.
Gordenthorpe stared at Hanar, his eyebrows raised. “You speak like the mole, sitting in the depths of his cave. Ignorant to the world around you.” To Pent, he said, “Gilbrand… I thought the local lord was Richitah. I suppose she should be dead now… It’s difficult at times, remembering the fleeting amount of years that most people are blessed with.” He tugged at his beard, slowly getting back on track. “I have never heard of this Gilbrand you speak of. But he has the makings of one of Yozer’s vassals. His situation is a common agreement.”
Pent began to pace around the room. He shared a concerned glance with Hanar and then turned to face the sorcerer.
“What do you mean?”
“He is surely one of many men who has been propped up by Yozer himself. Given free rein to do as he chooses with his territories, as long as he keeps them under control, and governs in the name of Yozer.”
“Well, he’s doing a real bang up job then,” Pent scoffed. “I had never even heard the guy’s name before today.”
“Yozer,” Gordenthorpe spoke the name in awe and disgust.
They sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Pent opened his mouth to speak, but the weathered man rose a finger to silence him. A cold shiver run through his body; he hadn’t noticed how old Gordenthorpe really was until this moment. Before, he had been so bouncy and jolly, dancing whimsically in the hut. Sitting in that chair, he had seemed to age fifty years.
The wizard finally spoke: “He is the greatest magical force this world has ever known. Greater in part than Eccue, greater than Karpas even. A sorcerer of great prestige and influence.” Pent stared into his glazed over eyes, already drawn into the tale.
“He was once a close ally of mine, in a long-forgotten era of heroes. The Age of Crusaders. We fought together for a better world. A world where people could live in safety without fear of mindless killing and death. He was a different man, then. Oh, he always spoke of certain ideas, ideas that were terrifying to me and the others. But he never acted on them. He was a stalwart force for good and justice.
“I remember once, long ago, one of the last adventures we shared. A horrible monster had surfaced. A lich—an undead abomination that had long since shed its mortal coil to live endlessly. This lich had taken the name of the legendary sorcerer Eccue and was wielding his self-named Scepter, threatening all men, everywhere. The Scepter of Eccue allowed him to move seamlessly from one location to another, you see. We mused on the origins of this monster if he really was Eccue reborn, the truth of which we never discovered. Y
ozer and I, along with others, managed to defeat the Lich. I’ll spare you the details. He was the last of the Five Scourges who plagued the old world and all of humanity. That was but one of many courageous acts we embarked on as heroes together.”
Gordenthorpe smiled in his nostalgic reminiscence for his old friend. He continued: “It was an age of challenges, an age of heroes. It brings me a great deal of pain to speak of these old days, but a great deal of happiness as well. These were hard times, and in the flames of hardship, blades of conviction are forged. Men and women of great skill and determination set out to pacify dangerous elements that threatened the people of the world. We met with many successes, but also many failures. Many of us died to create a semblance of peace in the world.
“But eventually, that era of heroes came to an end, as all things must. There came a time to choose between two new orders, two philosophies from which the world would be run. Yozer was initially a scholar and a kind man. He once believed that the chaos we lived in could be beaten back by strong men and women. But what he saw in our years of fighting hardened his mind and tempered his soul. He saw men of the pen be put to death by men of the sword. And he saw betrayers where he once saw old friends. He decided that the world would be better served under tight control. His tight control.”
“How can he control the world?” Pent asked. “You said there were many of you. Many heroes together couldn’t defeat him?”
“You must understand something about Yozer, and something about me as well. There are many born with an affinity for magic. Most never realize their true potential. They are never able to see the currents which flow with mystical power, most never even realize they exist. It is like any skill. You must practice and learn to begin to show promise. And when it comes to quantity of practice, Yozer has no equal. With time spent to learn, amazing things can be accomplished. Even the ability of longevity, the ability to extend one’s own life.”
“You mean to live without aging?” The concept was simultaneously appealing and terrifying to Pent. I don’t think I could live forever. Everything has to come to an end eventually, otherwise, I would just go crazy.
Gordenthorpe smiled. It was a weary smile that betrayed how old he really was. “Young man, there is no such thing as true immortality. All living things age, this is an immutable truth of the universe. But there are… means. Means to delay the process. Means to live far, far past any normal person would be allowed.”
“That’s some trick,” Pent said.
“If it was only as simple as a trick. The dedication required to learn how to do this… It took decades of intense study and training. In an age when people were dying by the scores every day.”
“I take it you didn’t figure out how to do this by yourself.”
Gordenthorpe shook his head. “I did not. I’ve come up with a few tricks of my own, but I’ve never had that much of a creative spark. Yozer, he taught me. By the time I had decided to take on the mystic arts, Yozer had already been around for many, many years. He took to teaching others his skills—he had been one of the progenitors of magic study in our time—and I suppose in some way his teachings were his means of fighting the terrors of our world.” He stroked his chin. “I believe that this was his way of giving back. Those who could make use of the mystic arts were of great help in our many battles.”
Suddenly, Gordenthorpe stood up and began pacing around the hut.
“I was one of his first students. At least, that’s what he always told me. He shared with me many secrets of magic, a few more I developed myself. The miracle of longevity was his closest guarded secret, one he told me had as many layers as you might find on an onion.” He pretended to peel one in the air. “To extend your life a few years is a difficult enough task. A few decades are a challenge that perhaps one in thousands will be able to rise to. He spoke of further depths still, musing on the possibility of true immortality.”
“But you just said—”
“I know what I said!” He spoke sharply, rebuking Pent’s interruption. “No human can truly avoid the path of aging, the inevitable grasp of death. It is impossible for a human.” Pent’s eyebrow raised at the wizard’s emphasis on the word ‘human.’ “Yozer had been grooming me, not as a successor, but as his ally in what he saw as a horrible war against chaos and death. He needed strong allies, and many were happy to join him. And, for some time, we performed much good in the world. Until he gave up hope of winning that war and waged his own.”
“And just like that, he flipped it on you all and took control. Seems hard to believe.”
Gordenthorpe paused for a moment and gathered his thoughts. He had stopped in front of a shabby looking blade that was plastered to his wall. It stuck out due to how ugly and weathered it was among the many other shiny trinkets. This sword was a dull copper, well-worn with hints of verdigris on the blade. The wizard’s palm hovered over it momentarily before he snapped back to attention.
“It didn’t happen in an instant. Over many more years there was brutal fighting. Yozer had asked me to fight on his side, but the conflict between joining my mentor and following my beliefs led me to the others. Unfortunately for us, Yozer had an ever more powerful ally on his side.” He pointed towards an hourglass that he had kept in the center of his table. “Time. Most people have only a lifetime to give. Yozer had many, many more years beyond that, and he used that to his advantage. We resisted him admirably, if I would say so, and I even took to training others who could one day rise against him,” he shuddered as he spoke this last bit, then regained his composure, “but it was to no avail. In the end, everyone who would have fought him has died off. His influence is the true rule of this land now, and it has spread over the course of a century. With his unstoppable might, he controls all of the lands you see and beyond. He passes on a piece of this control to his minions, and they exercise his will.”
He sat back in the chair, hands on the armrests and closed his eyes as if ready to enter a deep sleep.
Pent glanced at Hanar, who was staring off into space, eyes wide with contemplation. “Alright, so he’s bad news, figured that out,” Pent said as he crossed his arms. “Now help us figure out what to do to protect ourselves and put a stop to him.”
Gordenthorpe’s eyes shot open. “Do? You don’t do anything. You run and hide. This is a battle that was lost years before you were born.”
“That’s not gonna happen. I’m not about to run away from a fight.” Especially not one that I started.
“Hide then. Whichever you choose, I’d advise doing so soon.”
Pent glanced around the hut and considered grabbing something off the wall. But that would be pointless. I have no idea how to use anything here.
“If you don’t want to do anything, then teach us how to use some of this stuff. I’m sure you have something we can use to defend ourselves with.”
The suggestion shocked Gordenthorpe so much that he nearly tumbled out of his chair. “I absolutely cannot teach you how to use a single thing here!”
“Why? Do you need to have a ‘magical affinity’ to use them?” He pointed his thumb at Hanar. “He uses that stone thing to call you here, and you taught him how to use that. What, do you need some kind of magic words or something? Why can—”
“I can’t teach you how to use these things. If I teach you, Yozer will know that I still live.”
Pent was dumbfounded. Of all the answers Gordenthorpe may have offered, that was the least expected. “What?”
“If you strike out at Yozer with say, the Stone of Sienne, he will recall when I wielded it in battle years ago. Many years ago, when we faced the Vampire Lords of Umbro Mountain. In the proper hands, the stone can set a blaze to their cold hearts, setting them on fire at a safe distance. What a horrible spectacle, one of th—” He shook his head, cutting off his own thought. “It doesn’t matter the circumstances. It would be absurd to expect the Stone to fall into the hands of a random city or town, and that they would know how to use it. Someone
would have had to teach you, and Yozer would make that deduction. All of the equipment here will betray my situation! My anonymity!”
After having been silent for his whole speech, Hanar spoke. “You mean even Yozer doesn’t know about you? I know you’ve kept secluded from Somerville, but how can this be? You spoke of fighting alongside him, said that you trained under him for years.”
“He believes me to be dead. I’ve taken great pains in maintaining a peaceful quiet here in these remote woods.” He pointed a crooked, wrinkled old finger at Hanar. “Your knowledge of me was a fluke, and perhaps a mistake of kindness on my part. My living here is a secret, and I aim to keep it that way.”
“Ah, I see,” Hanar said with a smile. “To take advantage of your longevity, correct? You’re waiting for the right moment to strike back! To take the world back from your former ally and master!”
“No. I am not waiting for anything. I simply wish to live in peace.”
Hanar stared at Gordenthorpe, his face a mask of confusion.
“I do not understand. Is this true king’s rule not a matter of pride or importance to you? He stole the entire world and killed all of your friends. You are the most powerful being I’ve ever known. How can you ignore this matter?”
“It is precisely because he killed all of my friends that I am here! You know nothing of what Yozer is capable of. I am powerful, yes. Powerful, and safe, and alive.”
“So, to protect your own neck out in the middle of the woods, living in a craphole hut, surrounded by shiny pieces of junk!” Pent shouted. He pounded his clenched fist against the wall and half of the tokens rattled and threatened to fall. “You’re willing to just let everyone die?”
Gordenthorpe frowned, his eyes racing over the treasures Pent had disturbed.
“I have lived here in peace for many, many years. Long before I met either of you. You would have me sacrifice myself to correct your mistake?” He shook his head in defiance. “No, no I will not. I cannot help you in your task. All I can do is give you my best advice. Heed my warning and run, perhaps some of you will survive.”