The War of Spells

by George Mazurek

  “Do you have dreams, Kwazzo?”

  “No, my Lord,” a harsh voice replied from the tree.

  I sighed and got up. “Then, consider yourself a happy creature, my friend.”

  ~

  During the next days we criss-crossed the country, but we didn't find any signs of the Blackspot.

  But I couldn't be mistaken!

  It's here, I can feel it...

  I was wearing Elisa's talisman around my neck. The nearer we drew to her, the more warmth it emitted.

  Now, the stone was as warm as my skin.

  She must be near…

  We searched forests, pastures, and meadows; we travelled through dozens of villages and solitary houses and farms, but to no avail.

  We stopped at a crossroad next to a shabby inn with a faded signboard above its doors.

  I shook my head in disbelief.

  “It has to be here...”

  But there was nothing more than only four dusty pathways and the inn.

  “Zo'har was of the same opinion, my Lord,” neighed Kwazzo.

  Poor tephir! He had to carry me all day long on his four tired legs...

  “You couldn't find it either?”

  “No, we couldn't, my Lord.”

  “Then, let's ask someone in the inn,” I proposed.

  I pulled the bridle from my mount, but Kwazzo refused to move.

  “What's wrong, my friend?”

  “You shouldn't go there, my Lord.”

  I clapped his scruff. “Don't worry. I'm going to transform you back into a tephir, so you can rest for a while.”

  I did as I said and entered the inn with Kwazzo wrapped inside a blanket.

  “I don't like this inn,” Kwazzo insisted when I opened the squeaking doors.

  ~

  The dining room was empty. I sat at one of the five tables with my back to the wall. I put Kwazzo, hidden in the blanket, on the bench next to my right knee

  A curtain to a kitchen at the opposite side of the room drew aside, and an innkeeper with an apron emerged. He had short and dark, ruffled hair and a five o'clock shadow on his chin.

  “Bless you, Sir,” he mumbled. “Something to eat or drink?”

  “A pint of red wine, please... And some information,” I replied.

  The innkeeper left without a word. When he returned with a jug, I asked: “Is there any unusual place in your surroundings?”

  “Unusual?” the innkeeper repeated and frowned. “I don't think so, Sir.”

  I took several gulps of wine. It was made of gooseberry and tasted tart.

  “Do you know where I can find Gharib?”

  The householder winked shortsightedly. “There is nothing like that, Sir. Do you want something to eat?”

  I shook my head and the man left for the kitchen. I inspected the interior. The tables and benches seemed to be new. There were no scratches or stains so typical for pubs with many regular guests. In a corridor to the kitchen, next to the curtain, some hunting trophies were exposed: a head of a red deer, a boar, some birds and two large pale skins of uncertain origin.

  “What do you counsel, Kwazzo?” I asked inside my head.

  “We should leave, my Lord.”

  I nodded reluctantly and drank the wine to the bottom.

  Bitter, but tasty…

  I paid with a silver dime.

  “Let's go, Kwazzo.”

  “With the greatest pleasure, my Lord.”

  ~

  The sun was shining brightly and crickets twittered carelessly in the grass.

  A shadow of my baggage grew up as four legs and a head appeared.

  Kwazzo whined unhappily as I got on his back.

  We trotted until sunset. The sun hid behind a corn field, but we were no closer to our goal than before.

  And, to my complete disillusion, we ended at the same crossroad next to the inn where we began our journey several hours before.

  I was losing my patience.

  “This land is cursed!” I lamented. “We didn't turn anywhere, did we?!”

  “No, we didn't, my Lord. We went straight to the south the entire time.”

  I scowled. “So how can you explain that?”

  “As you said, my Lord. This land must be cursed…”

  The crickets were calm, the doors of the inn squeaked in the wind and its walls made of clapboards were casting a long shadow, much longer than one would expect for such a humble house.

  A shiver ran down my spine.

  Suddenly I knew it!

  “Kwazzo, tell me, why would someone operate an inn when there are no potential patrons? This land is almost deserted.”

  “Zo'har was of the same opinion, my Lord.”

  “What?”

  “He said it was not what it seemed, my Lord.”

  “Kwazzo! We have already discussed this! If you know something important, tell me that in advance!”

  “I'm sorry, my Lord. I didn't consider it important. Perhaps, my perception of importance is different than yours.”

  I cooled down. “You are right, Kwazzo, we are very different beings, who think and feel in a different way. What happened next?”

  “We went inside, and Zo'har drank wine just like you did, my Lord. He asked about one of the skins over there. The innkeeper said he could have it if he fulfilled his task.”

  Kwazzo fell silent.

  “What task?”

  “I don't know, my Lord.”

  “What happened after Zo'har fulfilled it?”

  Kwazzo hesitated for a while. “He didn't fulfill the task, my Lord. That's why he died…”

  I was left dumbfounded.

  Zo'har didn't succeed? A Warlock himself?

  “He failed to accomplish a task given to him by some sloppy innkeeper? How is this possible?”

  “I don't know, my Lord.”

  “You said he had died because of his failure. But who killed him?”

  “I have no idea, my Lord.”

  “How can you be sure he is dead then?”

  A flash ran through my mind.

  “The skin!” I gasped in awe. “You recognized that skin next to the kitchen! It belongs to Zo'har!”

  “Yes, my Lord,” Kwazzo agreed unhappily.

  I gave a shudder. The inn's doors squeaked derisively.

  “This inn is a fake,” I realized. “And also a trap. And we have no option other than going right into it…”

  ~

  “I don't have to pretend to be someone else,” I said when we were approaching the doors. “He knows about us already.”

  My appearance changed into that of the true wizard. Kwazzo was sliding behind me.

  This time, I had to bend when I was crossing the doorsill.

  Inns are not adapted to the greatness of Warlocks…

  ~

  The interior of the pub was empty. I turned to those damned skins on the wall that I overlooked a few hours before. The first one was surely human, but it was so shriveled that identifying it was impossible. The second one belonged to a wizard.

  To Zo'har…

  What power could flay a Warlock?

  “Gharib, my Lord?” Kwazzo read my thoughts.

  “Perhaps. We are going to find out soon, I guess.”

  I sat at the same table as before. The kitchen's curtain moved several times, but no one exited.

  Kwazzo started to shiver in an uncontrolled manner.

  I comforted him with my hand.

  “Tsssssch… You don't have to worry, my friend, I promise.”

  “Hopefully,” my frightened friend peeped.

  But, I confess, I didn't feel as certain as I pretended to be...

  CHAPTER 3

  A guardian

  the curtain moved for the last time and the innkeeper entered the room. It was the same man with an apron and shaggy hair. He ignored Kwazzo and turned to me.

  “Bless you, Sir. Something to eat or drink?” He asked while I was uncovering the true essence of this place. A sleepy atmosp
here and several tricky spells made a good camouflage, but I was more attentive now.

  We were not in a house, but in a mouth of a giant cavern.

  The innkeeper was surrounded by the fog of a transformation spell, so his genuine appearance couldn't be recognized easily.

  In fact, he was about ten feet tall, possessed one pair of extra arms with claws, and his elongated head with a large mouth full of razor-sharp teeth resembled that of a crocodile. His eyes glowed in treacherous yellow shades. But he seemed not to be aware that I could see his true appearance now. I examined the net of spells surrounding him. Its source seemed to be external. That led me to the conclusion that someone else was responsible for this masquerade, and the guardian-innkeeper was just a puppet in his hands.

  I ordered the same wine as before, and the innkeeper scuffed to the kitchen on his green chunky paws. His tail studded with prickles lazily wagged from left to right.

  When he disappeared behind the curtain, I got up.

  “Don't do it, my Lord!”

  “I have to, Kwazzo. Don't worry and stay here.”

  When I drew the curtain aside, the scent of lavender stunned me.

  Elisa had to be near!

  I stepped into a corridor behind the curtain. There was no kitchen.

  What…

  And then I stiffened as being bit by a viper.

  Elisa was here all the time!

  Or, at least, her skin…

  ~

  Elisa's skin was stretched over the wall!

  It was all I could do to stifle a scream of horror and pain!

  What have they done to you!?

  I touched her gently. She was still alive, though her skin was as white as snow and as cold as ice. I caressed her from her outstretched hands to her hair. My fingers vibrated when her weak voice, affected by long suffering, broke into my mind.

  My love! You came! Please help me! I´m dying from pain…

  “My Lord, be aware, the monster is coming back!” Kwazzo sent me a warning.

  I took my place at the table.

  “Another wish, Sir?” the innkeeper approached us lazily. “Yes,” I replied almost carelessly. “I want Elisa back. Now!”

  The monster made a slimy face. His long tongue unwound from his mouth to Kwazzo, who gave a frightened hiss and moved himself to the very edge of his chair.

  “I will put her body in the skin again, if you fulfill the task,” the creature replied with a growling voice. “Otherwise, your own skin will decorate the wall.”

  I got up from my chair and struck him with such force that he twirled across the room. He hit the wall on the opposite side with a crackling sound.

  “Release her, or you are going to die!” my voice thundered. “I won't play games with you!” I raised my left hand with all fingers glowing an ominous red. “I do my magic with the right hand. The left one is used for killing!”

  The creature made a poor attempt to strike me with its tail. Afterwards, it assaulted Kwazzo with a swarm of particles that grew in mass, but before it could do any harm, Kwazzo eliminated them with an astonishing flash of a defensive spell.

  “You mastered magic!” I was astonished.

  “Yes, my Lord, a little bit. It is sufficient to get rid of flying specks.”

  I smirked.

  The creature bombarded me with an arsenal of lethal spells but they could do no harm to me. I lifted the beast and pinned it to the ceiling. Its expression was somewhat surprised.

  “I have destroyed the mightiest wizards on Earth before you, including former Warlock. You can't fight my powers,” I was breaking his will slowly. “You are nobody... Release the spell holding Elisa, or I will put your skin on the wall too! And it's going to be very, very painful... I'm counting to three. One... Two...”

  “I can't do that, Sir!” The creature exclaimed. “I'm just a guardian!”

  I punctured his skin with hundreds of needles and began to rip it.

  The creature writhed in pain and screamed.

  “Please stop, Excellence! The spell can be undone only by my Master!”

  “I see. So bring your Master here.”

  The creature's green blood splattered onto my boots.

  “I have already called him!”

  I nodded. “Good...”

  I let his body free. When he landed on the floor, a dusting of blood sprayed around.

  “You should clean this mess,” I advised him thoughtfully. “Or you will lose your guests.”

  ~

  The creature got up heavily. “Thank you, Excellence...”

  The skin next to Elisa's fizzed and dissolved into the sand.

  Zo'har died definitively.

  Rest in peace, my fellow...

  The creature turned its eyes to the ceiling and opened its mouth. “My Master has heard your call and is sending a carriage for you.” It announced the news with a strange, mechanical voice. “He is expecting you.”

  I made a turn.

  Indeed!

  From the cavern, a silver coach with small windows drawn by four black horses emerged. I couldn't see a coachman or the interior of the carriage however. The coach stopped in front of me.

  “You are welcome to get on, Excellence,” the guardian said.

  “I'm not going anywhere without Elisa,” I replied.

  “She is already inside, Excellence.”

  I looked at the wall with the skins, and it was empty indeed.

  The inn vanished in a flash of bright light. A completely new world opened up, a corridor between stone walls heading deep into the underworld.

  The guardian fell dead to the ground. Perhaps, he was of no use to his Master anymore.

  I rushed to the coach when its doors swung open, and Elisa fell straight into my arms.

  “Syrdan, my love...” She whispered, sinking her face into my chest.

  I embraced her tightly. She was trembling. “Darling, are you all right?”

  “I'll be fine. Just give me some time...”

  She was more beautiful than I remembered. Her ponytail hair was falling down her back, and her pink dress was elegant, with a pattern of roses and leaves reaching to her knees.

  I used some subtle healing spells to calm her down and offered her fresh water and a piece of bread with goat cheese from my supplies. She ate and drank all I gave her. She was still very pale and weak, but her breathing turned more regular soon afterwards, as relief spread across her tortured body.

  I took her in my arms. Her eyes beamed pure happiness.

  “We are going to have a ride, darling,” I said.

  “With you, I would ride to hell itself,” she whispered.

  “I hope it won't be worse than that,” I murmured while approaching the carriage.

  “Wait,” Elisa stopped me before we could get inside. Her eyes were gleaming again. “The ride must hang on.”

  She leaned forward and our lips met hungrily...

  ~

  Leaning against a soft backrest, and with Elisa resting on my lap, I perceived the country running behind the window only by a tiny fraction of my mind. I guessed we had ridden through a waterfall and a stone avalanche, but I was not sure, because my attention belonged to Elisa.

  I described the last events in Averot'h before the city was destroyed.

  “Your father is dead,” I whispered while playing with her hair. “I'm so sorry. I was wrong about him. He was a good man…”

  “I know that,” she replied quietly. “We connected a moment before he had passed.”

  “He wished only best to you.”

  She straightened up and wiped tears running along her cheeks. Her eyes were as blue as the sky. “He told me everything before he had sent me here. I had forgiven him.”

  She cuddled me. “I only lived to see you again, my love…”

  I smiled. “Me too…”

  Kwazzo, accompanying us discretely under my feet, wriggled. “Kwazzo missed you too,” I translated to her.

  Elisa curled her lips
into a smile. “He has a name?”

  “Yeah. And he is both him and her.” I showed off my knowledge.

  She raised her eyebrow. “Really?”

  “I swear to that. But, tell me, how come you…” Suddenly I didn't know how to proceed.

  “How did it happen that my skin appeared on the wall?” She asked bitterly.

  “Yes.”

  “My father hid me at his distant relative's residence not so far from the tavern where you had found me. Once, I wandered around and the inn attracted my attention. I went inside and sat down. Shortly afterwards, a wizard entered…” Recounting the stressful event was not easy for her. She was speaking quietly, but her voice trembled at times. “He sat opposite me. I had never seen him before. He was all black, his coat, hair, beard and even his eyes were darker than a piece of coal. He started to provoke me. He said… something indecent… about my buttocks … and breasts… I gave him a slap. Then he went angry and hit me with a spell that I couldn't cope with, though I defended myself hard. He overpowered me. And the rest you could see...”

  Her eyes wide, her body drew nearer and pressed against mine.

  That's why I didn't noticed it sooner.

  The horses had vanished and our coach was falling into the wild flames and smoke of an erupting volcano...

  ~

  In a split second, we were floating weightlessly inside the coach which was rolling in the air. I grasped a knob, but the door was blocked, possibly by a spell.

  And the flames were almost within arm's reach!

  Salvation came unexpectedly. Kwazzo smashed through the ceiling, ripping it wide. We grasped his crest and let ourselves fly out of the carriage.

  Just in time!

  The coach caught fire and vanished in the flames before my heart could repeat a beat.

  “That was close...” I murmured when I crawled on Kwazzo's crest. I reached for Elisa and helped her onto the crest. She pressed herself to me, wrapping her arms around my waist.

  “Thank you Kwazzo! Are you able to fly with both of us?”

  “Yes, my Lord. Your sorceress is as light as a feather.”

  I gave a laugh.

  Elisa shook her hair out of her face. She breathed heavily. And she was cuter than ever, as her dress waved wildly around her thighs and breasts.