The Wizard's Tower 02

by Peter Last

  Petra hurried around the bed and helped Josiah stand to his feet. Josiah held onto Petra, waiting a few seconds for his dizziness to subside. He shook his head to clear his vision, but the sudden movement caused the pain to flare up in his shoulder, and he sank against Petra to prevent himself from falling over. He straightened up after the pain had passed and turned to Petra.

  “Where do you suppose I could lay my hands on a shirt?” he asked.

  “If you stay here, I’ll be back in a second,” Petra told him.

  “Good. I think I can still stand, so don’t worry about me,” Josiah said. “If worse comes to worst, I’ll just sound like a tap dancing ogre again.”

  Petra jogged off and returned in a few minutes with a shirt which he handed to Josiah. The garment was loose fitting, and Josiah was able to easily pull it on over the bulky bandage on his shoulder.

  “Where’s Nathan?” Josiah asked after the shirt was settled comfortably on his shoulders.

  “Where is who?” Petra asked. “Oh, you must mean the elfin General.”

  “Yeah, that’s who I mean,” Josiah confirmed. “It just so happens that his name is Nathan.”

  “Yes, well I am not accustomed to people of such high rank being referred to by their first names. The last I heard was that everyone of any rank of significance was meeting in the military headquarters of the city. That was yesterday, so they may have finished their meeting, but perhaps someone there will know where we can find the General.”

  “Great, then we’ll start there,” Josiah said.

  “Directly after we visit Cirro and inform him that you are up and about, I presume,” Petra said.

  “Do we have to?” Josiah said in a slightly whiny voice. “If we do that, he’ll insist on following me around everywhere.”

  “Given the circumstances, I believe it would be the proper thing to do,” Petra answered after a moment of evident shock.

  “I was joking, Petra,” Josiah said with a sigh. “You don’t have much of a sense of humor, do you?”

  “No sir, not given the current circumstances.”

  “Well, then I’ll try not to make any more jokes around you,” Josiah grumbled. “Now let’s get moving; we’re burning daylight.”

  ******

  Timothy was being slowly pulled out of sleep by stages. When he had first fallen into bed, he was so tired that he could sleep through anything, but now that he had a few hours of sleep to his credit, he couldn’t ignore the stabbing pain in his side. Sleepily he rolled over to remove the pressure on his side, but he could still feel the uncomfortable object. He felt the area and found that the object was under his shirt. This turn of events didn’t surprise his sleep-fogged mind; rather, he lost no time in removing the object and tossing it onto the floor beside his cot. He rolled over and was about to return to sleep when something tugged at his mind. Maybe whatever it was that he had just thrown on the floor was important. What if he needed to find it later and was not able to because he had so carelessly discarded it? Groggily, he rolled over and felt around on the floor for several moments before he was able to locate the object. It was flat like a book, he noticed; in fact, it was a book. No matter, the point was that it would lay flat under his pillow and not cause him any discomfort. After placing the book under his pillow, he lay back down and closed his eyes, waiting for blessed sleep to wash over him again.

  He was just beginning to drift off when the sound of footsteps jolted him to consciousness again. He sat up immediately, but it was only three soldiers walking past him, their armor and weapons clanking together as they passed. With an angry glare at the soldiers, he lay back down and tried to let himself fall back asleep but found that to be an impossibility. Having been woken a second time, he was now fully conscious and could not go back to sleep no matter how hard he tried.

  After a quarter hour of tossing and turning, Timothy resigned himself to his fate and sat up, rubbing his eyes. Swinging his feet over the side of the cot, he pulled his boots on and laced them up. He retrieved his armor from under the cot and struggled into it as quietly as possible. Finally, he grabbed the book from under his pillow and headed for the door to the barracks.

  Outside the building, the first evidence of the rising sun could be seen to the east. The air was cool, and for what seemed like the first time in weeks, there was no sound of men fighting or preparing for battle. The city in no way looked deserted, as there were soldiers on every wall, but as for the streets of the city, there were only a few scattered people traveling them. Timothy knew that the relative silence would be broken all too soon, but for the moment he was content to find a bench and sit quietly. For several minutes he sat silently praying to Elohim. He alternately thanked and praised Him and finished by asking protection for all the soldiers of Magessa as well as a speedy victory over Molkekk’s horde.

  By the time he finished, the sun had freed itself completely from the horizon and was starting to ascend into the sky. The city, which had risen with the sun was coming to life, yet Timothy still couldn’t hear evidence of fighting of any kind. He looked at the book on the bench beside him and then at the soldiers on the wall. Surely the enemy would attack as soon as he picked up the volume, he reasoned, so he delayed opening the book for several minutes. Instead he reclined comfortably on the bench and closed his eyes. He stayed that way as the moments turned into minutes, but still there was no call to arms. Finally, when he could stand it no longer, he opened his eyes and looked up at the soldiers on the wall. They did not appear alarmed in the least, which was a good sign. Apparently, the enemy was not approaching to attack.

  Timothy shrugged and reached for the book. He turned it over in his hands so that the title faced him and for the first time realized exactly what it was that he held in his hands. In elaborate gold script, the solitary word Molkekk stared up at him from the cover of the thin volume. This was the book which Vladimir had given him in Molkekk’s tower in Vollexa Temp, and which he had apparently carried with him all of the way from that evil city without opening it even once. Instantly his interest multiplied a hundred times, and he opened the book and began to read. The first few pages were rather dull, and quite frankly Timothy had a hard time understanding how they pertained to the topic, but he struggled through them nonetheless. The beginning of the third chapter was where the interesting material began, and as soon as Timothy reached that point, he was lost to the world.

  ******

  Josiah entered the council chambers of Sulmon, drawing stares from everyone present. The doorman would not allow Cirro and Petra to enter the meeting, and they had been forced to stay in the hall. Now Josiah found himself wishing they were still behind him. He always found it easier to do things when he knew they had his back. The door closed with a bang, effectively separating him from his moral support.

  “And who are you?” a man at the far end of the room asked. His position indicated that he was not the moderator of the meeting, but he was of a rather high rank.

  “General Pondran, at your service,” Josiah answered with a salute. “I’m sorry that I am late, but I was just informed of the meeting.”

  “Actually, General Pondran has been indisposed since the council convened,” said Nathan from another part of the room. “He was wounded just before we arrived and has been unconscious ever since.”

  “Very well. Take a seat, General,” the moderator said. “When you are seated, we will proceed.”

  Josiah looked at Nathan again and saw the elf motioning to an empty seat beside him. Quickly Josiah made his way around the large table which dominated the room to a seat beside his friend and sat down. Immediately the conversation began again, but Nathan leaned over to Josiah.

  “Welcome back to the world of the living,” he whispered. “Last time I saw you, you were in pretty rough shape.”

  “So where’s Levvy?” Josiah asked as he looked around the room. “Shouldn’t he be here too?”

  “Yes, but apparently the people here don’t appreciate the fa
ct that the ogres have been an indispensable help to us, and have refused to allow him into their council,” Nathan answered. “Apparently the ogres have been oppressed even worse in the recent past than the elves have been, and it’s carried over until now.”

  “That’s a pity,” Josiah said. “He, for one, might actually have something useful to say. Hopefully he’s off doing something that is actually useful.”

  “Shh,” Nathan hissed at Josiah. “I want to hear this.”

  “The question we come to again is, ‘Why isn’t the enemy attacking?’” one of the council members was saying. “They have not pressed their advantage since everyone got into the city, and we locked the gates. But why not?”

  “I can answer that question,” Josiah said, and every eye turned to him. “Or maybe I should say that I can address it. My response to the question is this: Why are we even asking ourselves such a question? There’s no way to know the answer, leaving only speculation. And what would we do if we did know the reason for their not attacking? Would we really be able to use that knowledge to our advantage? Maybe, but maybe not.”

  “Then what would you have us do, General?” one of the council members said with a sneer. “Do you really think you’re smarter than a whole room full of your superiors?”

  “What are you, an Admiral?” Josiah asked as he considered the man’s rank insignia. “Don’t patronize me on that count. I was your rank at one time, and let me tell you something; being an Admiral doesn’t make you a lick smarter than anyone else. Now, what I would have you do is respond to the actions of the enemy, not to the supposed reason for their actions. I would have you outside doing something rather than sitting in here for extended lengths of time discussing matters that you can’t possibly know.”

  Josiah suddenly rose to his feet, his voice rising as he continued. “I would have you take council with all of your allies, not just those you deem worthy of your consideration. After all, the ogre General you denied a seat in this council probably has more sense than you do!”

  For a moment the room was stunned into silence by the outburst. It had taken place so suddenly that no one understood what had brought it on or what it was truly about. Finally, the admiral whom Josiah had been addressing stood up and leaned over with his hands on the table in front of him.

  “Do you have any idea who you’re talking to?” he yelled at Josiah.

  “My apologies, sir,” Josiah said in a calmer voice. “With all due respect, the ogre General you denied a seat in this council probably has more sense than you do, sir. With your leave, I would like to go consult with him.”

  Josiah gave a crisp salute, spun on his heels, and was out the door before anyone could say a word. The doorman gave him a quizzical look; apparently he was not used to seeing people leave such councils so quickly. Josiah didn’t even see whether he saluted or not, but marched straight past him without a glance. Cirro and Petra fell in behind him, but he didn’t acknowledge them until they were outdoors. Then he finally turned around and faced his friends.

  “That didn’t take long, Josiah,” Cirro began tentatively. “What happened?”

  “I found out that the leaders of our armies are idiots,” Josiah answered. “I also realized that I need to find General Levvy.”

  “He shouldn’t be too hard to find,” Petra commented. “The ogres have been restricted to a small portion of the city, so we will most likely find him there.”

  “Well, let’s go there posthaste,” Josiah ordered. “Who knows how much time we have to save this blasted city.”

  ******

  Timothy was half way through the book in his hands and hadn’t looked up from it yet. Life continued around him, and people even used the bench he occupied, but he didn’t notice any of them. His entire attention was focused on the details of Molkekk’s life and reign that were recorded in the book. Vladimir had read the book while Timothy was asleep, apparently the younger magician was a speed reader, and his notes in the margins, though sometimes difficult to read, were very helpful. They offered insight into the contents of the book and several times drew conclusions that Timothy would never have arrived at by himself.

  The time passed quickly as Timothy rushed through the book. He was only a half dozen pages from the end when he looked up for the first time. The sun was almost at its apex in the sky meaning that several hours had gone by. Timothy rose from his seat to stretch and walk a while along the road. The book, it appeared, was practically over, and though it had told him several things of interest, it would not really help him in his current situation. Molkekk was dead, and the problem was with his remaining army, not Molkekk himself. If he had still been at large, the book would have provided information on how to kill him. As it was, the topic was moot.

  Suddenly Timothy jerked to a halt, a line from the book stopping him dead in his tracks. That was it, wasn’t it? Though this created more questions than it answered. Of course, he wasn’t sure, so he would have to talk to someone who knew.

  Josiah would probably know, Timothy thought suddenly. It had been months since he’d last seen the man, but the memories forged in battle were not easily forgotten. Yes, Josiah would be able to help him out, but where could he find such an important man as the General of Saddun’s armies?

  ******

  When Josiah and his friends crossed the city division into ogre territory, they could not immediately tell the difference. There was no significant change in look or smell. Rather, the change came simply in the size of the inhabitants. Now instead of the people surrounding them being their own size, they were nine feet tall and hairy. Finding General Levvy was not as easy as Petra had indicated it would be. Apparently many of the ogres either did not understand Josiah or simply did not want to help a human after how the humans had insulted them by confining them to a specific part of the city. Nevertheless, after asking more than a dozen of the hairy people, Josiah was able to find one who tried to point them in the right direction, though he was not entirely sure of where Levvy was. Even so, the directions were better than Josiah had received all day, and he was thankful for them.

  He followed the road the ogre had indicated, and after fifteen minutes of walking came to a largish building with guards at the entrances. Approaching one of the guards, he asked of the whereabouts of the General and learned that he was inside the building. Gaining access to the building, however, was nearly impossible, even after he had convinced the guard that he was a General and needed to speak to the ogre leader. After fifteen minutes of arguing with the guard, he was finally able to persuade him to go and tell Levvy that Josiah was outside and requesting an audience with him.

  Josiah, Cirro, and Petra stood outside under the glare of the other guard as the first guard disappeared inside. Another fifteen minutes passed, and Josiah was beginning to despair that his message was even being delivered, when the doors flew open, and Levvy bounced down the steps of the building.

  “General, how good to see you!” he yelled as he flung his arms around Josiah and crushed him in a giant bear hug. “I trust that your visit does not herald bad news?”

  “Well, that depends on what you mean by bad news,” Josiah admitted. “I came to talk to you about defending this city. On the bright side, I can say you’re more intelligent than all of the human officers in the city put together.”

  “Is the city not secure?” Levvy asked with a frown.

  “For the moment it is,” Josiah answered, “but only for the moment. As you probably know, Molkekk’s army has ceased its attacks on us, which is enough to puzzle anyone. Nevertheless, I cannot believe that I just came from a war council in which they were discussing what the motive of the enemy might be in not attacking us.”

  “Wouldn’t it make more sense to prepare for another attack rather than discuss that?” Levvy asked.

  “There you go again, showing your ignorance,” Josiah said sarcastically. “You agree with me, so you must be wrong.”

  “Well, what have you come to talk to me a
bout then?” Levvy asked.

  Josiah started to answer, but was interrupted by a commotion down the street. Ogres were stepping aside to allow someone to pass, though Josiah could not see who it was. He caught his first glimpse of the man running down the street when he was only thirty yards away. The man sprinted the last yards up the steps to Josiah and stopped in front of him.

  “Josiah!” he greeted the soldier.

  “Timothy,” Josiah answered. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you. How have you been?”

  “As well as someone can be in a war, I suppose,” Timothy answered. “Listen, I need to talk to you. Now.”

  “About what?” Josiah asked.

  “About this,” Timothy said and held out a book that Josiah had not noticed before. It was a thin volume, elaborate gold script gracing its front cover.

  “What’s that?” Josiah asked.

  “It’s a book about Molkekk,” Timothy explained. “Read this part right here.”

  Timothy opened the book to a spot near the end and shoved it into Josiah’s hands. It took Josiah’s brain a few seconds to adjust to the complicated script of the book, but once he did he was able to read the passage with no trouble. When he finished, he looked up at Timothy expectantly; and suddenly it hit him.

  “Is this saying what I think it is?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Timothy answered. “Now, look at this picture.” He flipped a page and showed a sketch in the book to Josiah.

  “Who is that?” Josiah asked. He looked down to the bottom of the picture. “It says it’s Molkekk.”

  “Yes, that's what it says, but it also looks like someone else I know,” Timothy said.

  “I don’t get it,” Josiah said. “What are you getting at?”

  “This is a note my friend made,” Timothy said and tapped a penned scribble on the edge of the page. Josiah took a moment to decipher the note, but when he did he looked up at Timothy in alarm.