Vol. 1 - Another Typical Day (The Wizards of Eredwynn)

by Daniel Harris

  I then laid down my plan. We would fly rapidly to a spot in the road fifty miles from here. We would land due north of the camp that had nailed me awhile back and walk in from there. As we got close we would spread out into a semi-circle fifteen yards apart. Shielded, shielded, shielded. I couldn’t stress that enough. I told them that I loved them all and didn’t want anyone hurt. So, shielded they would cast invisibility and move within fifty yards of the camp. When everyone was set I would signal and everyone would carefully open fire with ‘meteor swarm’. I stressed the careful part and that I didn’t want anyone hit by friendly fire. Our shields were strong but I didn’t want to test them against our own spells. I told the twins not to double the meteor spell because we hadn’t tested that and didn’t want to blow up all wizards in the kingdom with an underestimation! They could take down any Captains that broke through faster than any of us and that would be their job after the repeated meteor attack. I said that Alice should do what Alice does and that I hoped we didn’t have to use Chloe’s skill. Everyone nodded and made sure of the plan. This was our biggest attack ever and we were all excited and scared. I suggested they eat what they could and rest for a little while. I would come get them when we were going to leave.

  Time passes to quickly when you’re dreading something. Finally it was time and I gathered everyone in the courtyard. Word had gone out that we were attacking a large Orc camp and the entire castle, staff, shops and guard included came to see us off. Everyone gave their blessings and wished good luck and then we shielded and took to the air.

  I went up five hundred feet so we didn’t have to worry about trees and turned on the speed. I checked, because that is who I am, to make sure that everyone was behind me and keeping up. Less than twenty minutes later we arrived at the point north of the camp. I landed in the road and everyone joined me. I went over the plan again with one added idea. I wanted Alba, very carefully, to cast invisibility and use her ‘blink’ skill to scout ahead. She grinned and as we turned to walk into the woods I heard a quiet ‘pop’. Alba was gone but was out there somewhere. Someday I’d stop worrying when I couldn’t see what my girls were doing… someday. We walked quietly until we got to the river. There I had everyone make sure their shields were up and we cast invisibility. We teleported across the river and made our way up the slight incline. Alba dropped her invis close by and I dropped mine so she could find me. She walked over with a scared look. ‘There are at least fifty Orcs and ten Orc Captains in the clearing ahead’ Alba told me. I told Alba to take her position in the line and go invis again and that my plan should take those guys out easily.

  We moved closer and made our horseshoe around the camp. The girls let me know their location with a subtle shaking of a branch or moving leaves. When we were all perfectly positioned I raised my wand. I pointed in right in the middle of the huge Orc gathering and opened up with ‘meteor swarm’. As the first flaming rock appeared in the air it was joined by the spell from nine other wizards. The effect was catastrophic! The entire camp was instantly scorched earth, Orc bodies, and pieces of bodies. Nothing in the area moved. I focused on the cave entrance because I knew that Orcs had come from there the night I was attacked.

  Suddenly, from out of the mouth of the cave came three little girls and five little boys! Alice had them all scooped up and pulled to her at once. That gave away her position and made her the target of spears thrown from inside the cave. Throwing spears at Alice is like throwing bullets to a man with a gun! Now that we knew that there may be more hostages we had to be careful. Our area of effect spells had to be put on hold and we prepared to go one on one. I called to an invisible Alba and told her to meet me by Alice. I made my way to Alice and heard the pop of Alba showing up. I asked her if she thought she could blink the children to the road and come back. She said that she’d never tried moving eight before, but she was game. She had the children hold hands and ‘pop’, they were a hundred yards away.

  I yelled across the camp so all the girls would know and wouldn’t accidentally kill me, “I’m going in. Cover me as best you can but try not to hit me!” Giggles across a battlefield might be odd but my girls weren’t exactly your every day soldiers. I invisibly moved forward towards the mouth of the cave. A huge spear flew from the cave in my general direction, stopped in midair and was added to the stack away from the cave. I got close enough to see inside and saw a Captain standing with a spear hefted and waiting for a target. I focused and repeatedly fired energy bolts at his face. He roared and charged out of the cave looking for his attacker. I ran backwards quickly, and remembering my instructions, I dropped to the ground. Sure enough, a super powered energy bolt exploded the Captain ten feet from me.

  I walked back to the cave and got closer. I could see nothing inside from where I was. I thought hard because I needed light but knew that would give away my position. This spell every dungeon gamer knew. It was a must when it was nighttime in some games but I’d never thought of a need for it. I focused and ‘lux’. My wand lit up with a bright light. From behind me I heard a loud whisper from Alba. ‘I want to learn that spell!’ I grinned because she was back safely and wanted to learn EVERY spell that I popped up with. I moved forward slowly and stuck my wand into the cave. It was much larger than I’d thought and had curves and tunnels. Dungeon style adventuring in my pixel life had never been my forte but I decided to move forward. Just inside was a large room and there was nothing in it. I moved forward and checked the room carefully for hidden creatures or traps. Since I was going to have to look this thing over with a light I canceled my invisibility. I walked cautiously to the mouth of the cave so the girls would know it was me and not something that should be shot. I yelled for everyone to check their area, drop invis and come help me clear the cave. There were a few seconds of silence and the girls started appearing all around me. Naturally, they all had to know the ‘light’ spell and ‘lux’ was an easy one to remember.

  With every one of us holding lit wands it looked like the sun had landed here. We pushed forward into the cave. There was nothing in the room I’d cleared and there was a large tunnel going off to the left. I started down it, watching for traps and openings on the side that could hold baddies. The tunnel opened up into another large room. I stuck my head around the corner and saw that there were torches burning inside. I told the girls to get ready and I stepped inside. A small army of ten Orcs saw me and charged. I let energy bolts fly and watched them fly over my shoulders in a deadly barrage. There were ten dead Orcs in a matter of seconds. I thought about being told that one Orc was more than a match for ten soldiers. Well, ten Orcs were no match for ten wizards!

  I watched the downed creatures to make sure that they were dead and moved forward. Around a corner, under the torches were a large group of humans tied up and looking quite feeble. I carefully made my way to them and untied them. All of them were weak and had been poorly treated. From rope burns to broken ribs, they were pretty messed up. I waved for Chloe. I stood and watched her perform her specialized magic with the same awe it always caused. Where there had been fifteen men, women, young men and young women lying injured there were now fifteen healed and whole people that had hope in their eyes.

  I asked the rescued people if there were more Orcs and was told that one had gone down the tunnel on the left but that was all they’d seen. I asked the girls to stay with the people and I’d either yell or be back shortly. I took off down the large tunnel and watched for the Orc that was supposed to be there. I saw a room at the end of the tunnel and prepared myself for confrontation. I moved to the opening of the enormous room and saw the Orc on the other side. I focused and before he even knew I was there he was hit twice. He staggered and turned toward me so I hit him a third time taking him out. I walked toward him to see if he had anything worth looting and noticed that it wasn’t a rock floor beneath my feet.

  The floor was crunching and a bit slippery so I held my wand a bit closer. The floor was sparkling with gold and platinum coins. I wandered in
farther and saw another room to my right. This room contained a pile of gold and platinum coins thirty feet in diameter and over six feet high in the middle. I searched around and found six boxes like the one the Orc Captain had been carrying and they were all full of gemstones. It was wealth like I’d never imagined. I walked back down the tunnel and called for my wife and consorts to please join me. They came running with wands at the ready leaving the other girls to protect the people. I told them that I was about to show them something that they wouldn’t believe. They gave me a funny look because I’d shown them so much they didn’t think they would believe already. I had them close their eyes and led them to what must have been the dragon’s bedroom. When they opened their eyes I thought they were going to pass out. The enormity of what they were looking at was overwhelming.

  We continued searching the cave together and found wondrous things. Some of the things we found, such as a huge bag of only platinum coins, I sent to the vault. I tried to focus on where things were and where I put them with the transport spell so I could avoid making a huge mess. I knew that getting this wealth from here to our vault would take some work but with bags and the other girls to help it would happen.

  We went back to where the other girls were with the people and asked them where they were from. They told us that they were from the town of Edil. Luckily Elaine knew where the town was because it wasn’t far from her home town of Soya. She said that she would be able to recall us there if that is what we wanted to do. I explained to the people that they needed to hold on to us and asked Elaine to let me cast first. She nodded and I cast recall with a focus on the road due north. We arrived with the normal ‘crack’ ten yards from a group of kids. The reunion was touching but after a few minutes I broke it up so we could get them home. We gathered in a large circle and I suggested that, with this large group, she should avoid putting us close to buildings. She nodded, focused very hard and then cast the spell. We came out of the spell in a field a short distance from town. We started walking in and were spotted. A bell started clanging and people poured from houses. As the people started approaching they recognized me, or perhaps it was a description of my clothes, and started bowing. I don’t like that groveling stuff so I asked them to please stop. There were handshakes and hugs for all the returned people. The girls and I received more thanks than we were comfortable with and were quickly ready to go.

  I announced that we had to be moving on and four girls that we had rescued approached me. They asked if going around and helping people was what we did. I told her that we tried to help anyone that we could. They said that they would love doing that kind of thing. They enjoyed helping people and making people happy like we did them. I said that I’d talk to my group and if it was decided that we were to take on novices someone would come and test them. They were thrilled with that and I called the girls to me. We held hands in a circle and I recalled us below Valeview.

  I asked the girls to follow me and act like we were just wandering. Six of the girls were quite confused and I enjoyed that. If I didn’t confuse them from time to time they might think I’d taken ill! We flew into the courtyard and then walked to the bakers. I asked for empty flour bags and he had plenty. We grabbed twenty and I thought that would be good for a start. We flew back over the keep and landed in an open area. I then told them to be on guard when we came out of recall, gathered together and I cast. We came out on the south side of the river just below the cave. We walked up carefully in case a raiding party had been out. That was highly unlikely because of their usual nocturnal habits but better safe than Orc food. We arrived at the cave and found no stragglers. I hoped we had put quite a dent in the Orc activity around here. As we started down the tunnel into the cave I explained that any treasure that was found when we were doing something like this would belong to all of us equally. We all did equal work and so should be rewarded as such. Everyone agreed whole heartedly. Most of the girls had never even had a single gold coin to call their own and would be happy with one should we find it.

  I had the six girls that hadn’t been to the bottom close their eyes and Isa, Chloe and Alba led them to the door of the dragon’s bedroom. We had them open their eyes and they screamed! This wasn’t possible, not in their wildest dreams had they seen such wealth. And we were really sharing it? Oh! Their parents could have a house with a floor!

  I asked Alice how hard it would be to separate the platinum and the gold. She said that it would be pretty easy. With her telekinesis skill she could focus on exactly what she wanted and it would come whether she could see it or not. She showed me by focusing on the huge pile of gold and platinum and the platinum coins began flying to a pile. I grabbed one of the huge bags that held a hundred pounds of flour and walked to the pile that Alice was creating. I started scooping coins into the bag when Alice asked me if I’d like her to do that. I was starting to feel a bit guilty about having her do so much and said so. She just grinned, took the bag from my hand by looking at it, stood it up and began filling it with the coins she was sorting.

  It took us five days to bag the coins and to box up the gems. We decided to teleport everything to Isa and my bedroom and we would float it down to the vault from there. I told the guard that no one was to enter that room because we were working on magic in there and someone in the wrong place could be hurt. Emptying the cave was fun but tiring work, from dawn to dusk. When we finally had everything at Valeview it was a happy day. We all had more money than we’d ever need, but that was a problem that we were willing to suffer with.

  The afternoon that we finished with the cave we were all sitting in my room I was replaying the day of the attack. I remembered telling the rescued girls that I’d check with my girls and see about taking novices. I threw out the idea for discussion and found that there was no need. All the girls loved being joined by new people. I suggested that since the princesses were all Expert now that they should plan on being the primary instructors. They suggested that if that was to be the case then they should be the ones to test the girls. Fair was fair and I agreed. I asked them when they would be going and all three stood up. Now would be as good a time as any!

  I told the remaining six girls that they should take some money to their families. I cringed the moment I said it because I remembered that Elaine was an orphan. I apologized to her and was told not to worry. She felt that she had a family now and was perfectly happy with it. She said that she would like to spread some gold around to the families that had helped her. I hugged her and continued with the others. I suggested that they not flood the local economy with to much at once. I said that there would be no reason that they couldn’t put there families into better housing and increase their quality of life considerably. Alice flew to the rafters and got the key and they went down to the vault. The girls returned an hour later with bags of gold coins. It was defiantly enough to change the lifestyle of the poor village and townsfolk that were their families. It was no more per bag than they had picked up in three or four handfuls from the cave. I estimated that the families that received it could have fine homes built with it. I figured that it would provide work for wood cutters and carpenters. Smiths would have to make nails where wooden pens weren’t used. Hopefully it would have a positive effect on the entire community. Everyone left for their respective destinations.

  Alice was the first one to return home and that worked out well for me. The first thing that I had to ask Alice was what she planned to do with the man we were holding in the dungeon. She told me that since it had happened quite some time ago that she couldn’t feel the vindictiveness that she honestly felt she should. She asked if it would be possible; since he was the king’s man after all, have the king pass judgment on him and whatever punishment was called for. I smiled and told her that the king would do pretty much whatever I asked of him. I didn’t know if it was because my Father-in-law respected me or was afraid of me, but he certainly had given me plenty of political power. I suggested that we take the knight to the king tomorro
w. Just she and I could go to avoid turning the capital into a circus.

  We then talked about her love of the telekinesis spell. She explained that she could actually ‘feel’ the object that she is handling. That was how she could shape rock or anything else that she was moving. I could see it differently than how she had to describe it because my science classes had been more advanced than hers. When cutting up or crushing a rock she could actually feel the molecules and cut at a molecular level! That would explain the perfectly smooth cuts that the construction crews loved her for! She became the teacher for the longest time. I was almost ashamed, but proud, that a student knew so much more than the Master!

  Finally the princesses returned with a fourteen year old girl named Kiena. She was the only one of the volunteers from Edil that had passed the test. I suggested that she could stay in the room with Calla since Chloe rarely went in there anymore. That brought a slight blush to Chloe but she nodded in agreement. I asked who wanted to get her fitted for clothes and a novice patch and everyone volunteered at once. I told them to figure it out in the morning. We all talked and did our best to put Kiena at ease. When the girls all returned from their home towns I could relax and headed off to bed.

  Chapter Thirty

  In the morning I woke and roused Alice. I rarely went to the girl’s rooms while they were in bed, for appearance sake, but I wanted to get an early start. She woke quickly and said she would be out as soon as she dressed. I went back to my room and fumbled around in Isa’s closet until I found a simple but pretty cape that would be long enough to cover Alice down to her ankles. I was taking her to the king’s court this morning and wanted her to not reveal that she was a wizard until we’d had a chance to make our case. Alice came out and I had her put it on, then the two of us went to the kitchen. We ate and chatted with the kitchen staff and then prepared to collect the third member of our trip.