Reborn- Journeyman

by Luka Petrov

  Walter came to where each of the spellcasters stood, preparing to cast the spell. I monitored the runes as they appeared while he concentrated on the spell. Everything looked fine. I observed him while he traced the glyph on his palm. As far as I could tell, everything seemed to be going as it should have. Then I watched as the puff of blue smoke appeared. The only issue was that it did not look like all the other’s puffs of smoke. His puff of smoke looked smaller and the smoke cloud looked sparser. Something was awry, but I could not determine what it was at the moment.

  Walter then went to throw the smoke cloud. He wound up his arms, hoisting the blue cloud above his shoulder before hurling it at the wall. All of us watched to see if the wall would freeze like all of ours did. The cloud dissipated before it reached the wall, and nothing had happened.

  “I knew this would happen,” Walter said as he hung his head in defeat.

  Yves went to comfort him, “Walter, that is fine. It’s a new spell. You can’t expect to cast it correctly the first time.”

  Walter retorted, “You, Agnes, and Cecily were all able to on your first time.”

  “We did, and we put in a great amount of practice in our regular spell mastery,” Cecily explained.

  “I do too,” Walter defended. “You guys are just better, I suppose.”

  Feeling bad for Walter I had to interject, “Walt, you will get the hang of this, I will see to it. Magic is about believing in yourself. Until you can do that, you won’t be able to cast any successful spells. Why did you want to become a wizard in the first place?” I needed Walter to be halfway competent to battle Balfomeir. Plus, the Demon Lord will not want a servant who could not do any magic. He would see instantly that this boy was not me. Not me by a long shot. I needed Walter to at least be believable when it came to impersonate me.

  Walter responded, “It was a promise I made to my mother.” As he spoke, tears began to form in his eyes, and he appeared to get choked up. He continued, “I promised my mother before she died. She wanted me to be a great wizard. You see, in my primary school, I was the smartest student, the one who was top of their class. Learning came easy for me. Then at Draererth, being among everyone who was already the top of their class, I no longer was special. I’m not even average at Draererth, I’m at the bottom. And I hate that more than anything.” Walter crouched down and put his head to his knees. His wails sounded like waves on the ocean as his voice oscillating between high and low sounds. We all came around Walter and Agnes and Yves hugged him while I sat next to Cecily and rubbed his back in an effort to calm down. Even I was starting to feel bad about my plan. I mean, dang, he was really pulling out all the stops to make me feel bad. It is as if he had known my secret plan for him.

  “Walter, you will get this. Calm down, we need to work on getting out of here. Getting worked up like this will not do any of us good,” I explained. Little did he know how crucial it was for him to nail this spell.

  Cecily chimed in, “Ed is right. We need you to be strong because we are going to have to keep it together if we will get out of this alive.”

  Walter began to get control over his emotions. His wails turned into sobs as he started to calm down. He was calmed down a few moments later while we still hugged him. “Thanks, guys, I just get so frustrated over everything. I know we are going to get out of here alive. I just know it,” Walter said as he lifted his head from his knees.

  Despite my plan, I felt for Walter. He had come from being the best in his town and was now, not the best. He was the dead weight within our party, that was for certain. I understood where Walter was coming from, however; I resented him. We were carrying him this entire time. Just today at the battle with Balfomeir, I had to use up my mana to take down the soldier assigned to him. I did not want to keep on doing this. It was a burden for our party. I did appreciate his charisma, however. He had turned out to be quite witty, and he provided comedic relief to some of these dire situations. That was his only redeeming quality. If it came down to him and another member of our party, I would easily choose the other member. I would have a better chance of becoming the greatest mage to ever walk in this world with equally good mages by my side and not a mage such as Walter. Now the reality of me even becoming a journeyman was becoming bleak as I would be the eternal servant of Lord Abraxas.

  This banter was a cute mental exercise; however, I must get back to getting my plan back on track. I appreciate them and discussing the future of my soul, but I need to take matters into my own hands and find a way of escaping here and meeting with King Harold.

  “I have to ask this,” I started. “Do you really believe in your heart that King Harold is going to send me to the Demon Lord?”

  Yves responded, “I’m not sure. It’s tough to tell. I mean, it would make sense. Sacrifice one for the entire village. Yet, you are only a young boy. That would weigh heavily on everyone’s conscious. Perhaps the village will rally and ask for your release and that we go to battle against the Demon Lord.”

  “We already were at battle. And we lost,” Cecily, reminded us of the obvious. “Why would we try something different? We thought the stakes were King Harold, and he would inevitably sacrifice himself for the village, just like his father did.”

  “But the stakes have changed,” Agnes rebutted.

  “Did they?” I asked. “It was one to sacrifice for the greater good. The village seems to be alright with the sacrifice being King Harold, and Lord Hofstra. Why would it bother them if the sacrifice was Edward MacAra?” I continued.

  Walter answered, “Because you are a young child. A nobody. I mean, why does the Demon Lord want you, of all people he could choose from in Gilmore?”

  I replied, “I think it was just random. I think I was the only student that Lord Abraxas would remember from when he masqueraded as Osgood at Draererth.” I came up with that response, hoping my friends would not catch on that I was sent to save this universe from the figure I met in the afterworld after I died.

  Cecily responded, “It’s because Ed is figuring out the Lost Spells. Abraxas has to take out the biggest threat. I thought you would have caught on about that by now.” I was glad that Cecily covered for me. I mean, it made sense. She was a quick one. I would have to watch out for her as well.

  “Remember,” I began to say. “Lord Abraxas wants to know magical spells. He wants to spell books and archmages. He wants to take over the entire universe.”

  Agnes confirmed, “Cecily, a great point. Lord Abraxas wants to get all the spell books in the universe, so he can learn all the magic in the universe.”

  Yves refuted the points we were making, “Guys! Did you guys not see what happened out there on the battlefield. I mean, I know I was not the only one who saw the mariliths trounce over the Gilmore army like they were nothing. They brought down General Yapal, a great fighter as if he was a sparring dummy. Why would Lord Abraxas need to know more spells? He has acquired an army of mariliths and has the power beyond measure. Something is not sounding right.” She makes sense. Why would a Demon Lord from the depths of the abyss who found his way out, want the silly spell books that were found in this universe? The battle today, demonstrated his power, which is beyond measure. I don't see why the spell books he was attempting to take from Draererth before he attacked last night, would be of any value to him. There must be some reason for this.

  Yves was definitely making sense. I resented Yves; she was one of the most book-smart students at Draererth. Definitely competition for the top spot at our school.

  The body heat that radiated from my friends felt comforting as the sky fell dark and the cell turned cold from the lack of sunlight to heat the air. They may not be true friends, but I was keeping warm from their body heat, and I was grateful for that.

  Now, to work on my plan. Once Balfomeir comes here to let us out, we will engage in a battle. Probably one similar to the one that took place at the barn. From there, hopefully, these guys can provide enough of competition so Balfomeir’s attention is put to
ward them. Meanwhile, while the others are engaged in combat and Balfomeir’s perception is diverted along with his army, I will flee to the castle. Once at the castle, I will demand to meet with the king. If I am unable to meet with him, I would storm his chambers until I could meet with him face to face.

  After I am face to face with him, I will impart to him the importance of me remaining free and us offering a replacement to Lord Abraxas. The king will soon understand that I must remain free to this universe because I possess a secret and important power. My eidetic memory allows me to learn spells quicker and my abnormal intelligence enables me to figure out the lost and undiscovered spells. By remaining free, I can continue my work on discovering and figuring out these spells, thus making Gilmore that much more powerful.

  I could work with the archmages of the land and we can become one of the most feared mage armies in the land. This will protect us when the Demon Lord strikes again. When that happens, we will be so powerful that I will subdue the evil lord and fulfill my destiny as becoming the greatest mage in the land and destroying the Demon Lord. This plan is so simple and foolproof that King Harold will have no issue of going along with it. It seems like a win-win for both of us. I get my freedom and King Harold gets to keep his kingdom. The only one who is a loser in all of this is Walter.

  I am fairly certain that Walter will be amenable to the plan. He has always wanted to be a great wizard. I can promise that I will teach him magic once I am able to free him after I defeat the Demon Lord. It should not take me that long to destroy the Demon Lord. Perhaps a few years. What are a few years? It’s not like it will be a walk in the park for me. The entire time Walter is with the Demon Lord, I will be toiling away on figuring out the lost spells. I will be burdened with learning magic I will not have any time to enjoy my life. I will dedicate my life to studying, preparing, and practicing so I and the other archmages from around the land are ready for Lord Abraxas and his army of mariliths. Walter will have to understand that while he is serving the Demon Lord, I am a servant as well. I am a servant to the magical tomes, which is not an easy feat by any means. Perhaps my assignment would be far worse than his. Yet, I must remain free to learn these spells and discover the ones that yet known. My task is far more of a burden than Walter’s. As compensation to Walter, I will explain to him I will teach him all the magic I learned while he was serving the Demon Lord. I will also impart to him he would do this universe a great service by taking my place and allowing me to gather the lost and undiscovered spells.

  In a way, it is a win-win for him. He will sacrifice himself for this universe, which is an honor and I will teach him all the magic I learned while he was in service to Lord Abraxas. I believe that he actually gets the better end of the bargain. He gets the fruits of my labor and all he has to do his serve Abraxas. If I did not have to be free to learn the magic to subdue the Demon Lord, I would actually prefer Walter’s role in all of this.

  The thing I want most in this world is to become the greatest mage that ever lived. I want history classes to be taught about my trials and tribulations as a youngster. I want statues to be erected in my honor. Different ones, ones of me during a battle, ones of me casting spells, ones of me looking noble. That way students who never knew me could know what a great mage I was. I will have to defeat the Demon Lord to get this type of notoriety, but that is a small price to pay. They even could make a statue or two of Walter. He would be like the sacrificial lamb that did something greater than he would have done if he was left to his own abilities. Walter will definitely get something out of this plan as well. He will get statues, where he would have never gotten a statue in his honor before. This plan is perfect for everyone. I’m sure King Harold will get a statue or two as well. I mean, I could say it was his idea. That way he could get credit for it too.

  Now, the only thing left to do to put my plan into motion is to wait. We have to wait for the opportune time to thwart Balfomeir allowing me to flee to the castle. That can only happen when Balfomeir returns. I wonder when he would return. Or when he would send a guard to feed us. I better ask the group if they think we will be fed here. I asked, “Do you guys think they will give us food here?”

  Yves responded, “I have no idea. We will only be here for two days, so they might think that we will make it until then.”

  “That is kind of harsh,” I replied. “Two days with no food, and then I’ll be surrendered over to the Demon Lord to be his servant for all of eternity.” I stood up and paced. Realizing that the end was nigh, and something had to give. That would mean that for my plan to start, there would only be one moment, and that moment would be when Balfomeir returned. Then another horrible thought came to my mind, “When I’m surrendered over, what will happen to the rest of you?” I asked. I had to give them a reason to fight.

  Cecily responded, “In the rare case that does happen, won’t we be returned to our families. I mean they sent ravens letting our families know that we were at Gilmore under supervision of the King before we were cleared.”

  Walter interjected, “Cecily, that is a lovely thought, but King Harold will have the blemish on his reputation for surrendering a little boy to the Demon Lord. We would spread to the other villages and towns of King Harold’s refusal to fight and that he was a coward and surrendered over a little boy to save his village. He could very well fight and perhaps defeat the Demon Lord if he arranged the armies from the other villages to join forces.”

  “That’s right. Good point, for a second there, I almost trusted authority,” replied Cecily.

  “What makes you like that?” Walter asked.

  “As a child, my family was brutalized by our town’s King,” responded Cecily.

  “Where were you from again?” Yves asked.

  “I was born in Broadhurst, but my family moved to Devonshire because the King of Broadhurst held and tortured my dad one day. My dad ended up getting away, and my family moved my brothers, sisters, and I south to Devonshire,” Cecily explained. “Realizing that I could become a wizard was the highlight of my life. I will never cease to keep learning how to increase my power. It’s the only thing I am certain I can control.”

  “I never knew that about you,” I stated. “Hamon is from Broadhurst.”

  “Yes, he is. I always had heard legends of the great wizard from Broadhurst,” Cecily affirmed.

  After our exchange and I was bored by Cecily’s stories. I mean, who cared? However, I did defend King Harold, “And what if he is doing that right now. He has us detained to seem like he will give me over to the Demon Lord?” I asked. Perhaps King Harold would talk some sense into Lord Abraxas, and I wouldn’t even have to put my plan into motion. That would be less guilt for me. I didn’t still want to admire King Harold; he was good friends with my dad. My dad always spoke very highly of him. Growing up hearing about the King, made me also want to work for the Kings someday. My dad revered him. He also served King Harold’s dad and loved the family. I think my dad always felt guilty after King Hofstra was taken by Lord Abraxas. Even though that was before I was born, my dad always felt a sense of duty to the royal family

  Cecily interjected my fairytale, “No. Nope! He is not doing that. You are going to the Demon Lord and the rest of us will be beheaded like that traitor explorer. I told you, I don’t trust this King. He seemed too good to be true to me if you know what I mean. We are delusional if we think otherwise.”

  Cecily did make sense with her assertions of King Harold. The only history that I knew of King Harold was that my dad shoed his horses and for King Harold’s father as well. My dad revered King Harold, he knew him since he was a boy. However, despite my family knowing King Harold, I would prefer not to have my fate at the mercy of someone else, I wanted to take back the control, but how? My plan only had one time for it to work. If it did not work at that moment, I would be subdued and taken to the king who would then offer me to the Demon Lord. Perhaps the king would have the same thought I did. Perhaps the king would be the one to come up wi
th a substitute and I would not have to rely on these under-powered teammates or the fortunate turn of one battle. Maybe, just maybe the king is preparing to find a replacement for me, and he realizes that I am more powerful to him a free mage than an offering to the Demon Lord. Yes! Yes! King Harold knows this. He knows that I am a powerful wizard. Balfomeir must have told him of my battle earlier today and King Harold is probably thinking that I am a worthy asset to have on his team rather than a trophy.

  My dad always said King Harold was exceptionally intelligent and wise. Clearly, he would come up with a plan such as this and I will be a free man soon. And to think I was doubting the king. I needed to trust him as my dad did. King Harold was wise beyond measure and after he had heard of the spells, I could cast being at the low-level I was, he would surely see I would be a formidable ally. I should have thought of this sooner. I need not have a plan because King Harold has one. If only everyone saw the vast potential I had. This world would be a much better place.

  Not to mention, then I would not look like the bad guy when the king gave up Walter instead of me. The king would have to order Walter to the Demon Lord, but it would be obvious that the idea came from me. Especially when they all saw me fleeing from the battle with Balfomeir. They would wonder where I was heading. Perhaps they would understand that I was the one who was wanted by the Demon Lord and therefore had no other option but to flee the battle and find safety. However, once King Harold came into the picture and ordered Walter to surrender himself to the Demon Lord, then it would be obvious that that idea came from me. Otherwise, how would King Harold know to give over Walter, who was clearly low ability and was someone we could afford to sacrifice?