Wizard Dawning

by C. M. Lance

  The Professor handed the phone back to Giselle. “Oh well, the zombie didn’t need that eye anymore.”

  Jacob said, “Rick and I will take out the trolls and then help Sig with Andras and his wolf.”

  Giselle held out her bow. “I can take out at least one of the trolls with this. That will give you more time to help Sig.”

  “Good idea. I can use all the help I can get.”

  Jacob looked between Sig and Giselle. “All right. If the trolls aren’t out of it when Rick and I reach them, we’ll have to take them. Don’t shoot us. The quarters down there are tight. Somebody is going to get hurt. Be careful. We don’t want any fatalities to anyone on our team.”

  Chapter 73

  Jacob transformed to a wolf. He and Rick bounded down the stairs. Giselle hurried to catch them.

  They stopped in the hallway. One of the trolls looked down at them. “Doggies.”

  Giselle stepped between the Weres and rapidly dispatched four arrows. Each troll sprouted arrow fletching in its chest. Another arrow appeared in each troll’s right eye. They crumpled, dead before they hit the floor.

  The Weres dashed forward silently. Sig followed.

  Andras’ wolf bounded toward them with a roar, leaving Andras guarding the doorway. The wolf ran up the wall to the ceiling and dropped onto the Weres from above. The movement was unexpected and allowed the wolf to grab Jacob’s rear leg in its oversized jaws. It shook him violently. Jacob yelped and squealed in pain.

  Rick leapt on it from behind and savaged its ears. It released Jacob’s leg and whirled toward Rick. Jacob lunged up from the ground and grabbed the wolf’s hind leg in his jaws. They pulled Andras’ wolf in separate directions until Sig ran up and sliced through its torso.

  The Weres dragged the still struggling wolf halves to opposite sides of the hallway. Jacob’s rear leg dragged as he limped backwards on three legs. Rick kept the still snapping jaws from closing on him.

  Sig strode between them toward Andras who lunged forward, weaving his sword in a pattern that made it look like a curtain of steel.

  Sig broke through the steel curtain with blocks and thrusts. He couldn’t use his full repertoire because of the small size of the hallway. Nevertheless, because of his greater reach, he forced Andras back.

  At the doorway, Sig thrust at Andras and then grabbed the small table to the side and threw it. Andras chopped it to kindling while still in the air, but Sig managed to nick his shoulder. Andras stepped back and threw a fireball. Sig ducked under it, but it felt like sticking his head in a hot oven. He heard a yelp in the hallway behind, but couldn’t chance a look.

  Inside the room, Sig saw Dean Heathcoat sitting in the middle of the floor. A sorcerer’s circle, inscribed on the floor, surrounded him. In a remote part of his brain, Sig registered that the white streak was on the right side of the Dean’s head.

  With more freedom to move inside the large room, Sig kept pressing Andras back toward the Dean. Tears ran down the Dean’s cheeks.

  Andras stopped at the edge of the ring on the floor. It was as if his back was against a barely visible wall and he fought more desperately. Sig kicked him in the side of the knee and Andras fell backwards but stopped in mid-fall, leaning against a faintly shimmering bubble of force.

  Sig’s thrust at Andras but missed when he twisted his torso to the side. Sig’s sword pierced the force bubble and Andras fell inside, knocking Aðalbrandr loose. It dropped inside the bubble with Andras.

  The Dean screamed. At the far end of the room, a door opened. Another Dean Heathcoat stepped out in time to see Andras chop the first Dean into pieces. The first hack went through the Dean’s neck, and blood splattered on the inside of the force field. The headless Dean tumbled sideways and the field collapsed. Andras continued chopping.

  Sig focused his concentration and Aðalbrandr flew into his hand. He stepped forward and severed Andras’ head. Andras fell forward and disappeared with a pop.

  “Giaaaaannnnnnnnni!”

  Sig turned to the other Dean in the doorway. The white streak was on the left side. The Dean glared hatred at Sig and hurled a lightning bolt. Sig deflected the bolt with Aðalbrandr and ran toward the door. The Dean stepped back and slammed the door shut.

  Sig jammed his sword between the locked door and its jam and pried it open. The door ripped off its hinges.

  He bent to enter the doorway, but straightened up when the Professor grabbed his arm. “Stop! Don’t go in there.”

  The Professor looked around Sig, at the doorway casing. He maintained his hold on Sig’s arm. “Look at the inscriptions surrounding this doorway. It’s probably an inter-dimensional portal. We don’t know where it goes, or if you will even end up in the same place he went. He must be desperate, or is more advanced than I can credit.” He touched the sigils surrounding the door casing and then snatched his hand away as if it burned him.

  Professor Herman gestured at the door Sig had torn off. “Put that back over the opening. We don’t want anyone wandering in there until we remove the sigils enchanting it.”

  “I can’t find anyone, but some of the doors are locked.” Sig and the Professor turned at the sound of Giselle’s voice. She stood in the doorway to the hall. She raised her hands and said, “The little girl. I was looking for the little girl. One of you will have to open the locked doors to see if she’s there. In addition, Jacob can’t walk. His leg is damaged.”

  Sig went down the hallway, kicking in doors while the Professor and Rick used Giselle’s shirt and the Professor’s belt to bind Jacob’s leg.

  None of the locked doors concealed anyone. It was a relief to learn that they arrived before the Dean had kidnapped another little girl.

  Naked, Jacob lay next to a pool of blood. Blood soaked his bandage. He groaned when Sig picked him up and carried him up to the recreation room in the basement. Smoke rolled down the stairway from the main floor. A sheet of flames roared in the room at the top. “Crap, there were too many fireballs flying around.” Flaming pieces of ceiling fell to block the stairway. “We have to get out of here before it burns down around us.”

  Sig turned and ran to the basement window at the end of the hall. Holding Jacob in one arm, he shattered the window with Aðalbrandr. Rick made a cradle with his hands and Giselle climbed up. Rick followed her out. Sig handed Jacob through to them.

  He heard a hiss and roar. He whirled. The Professor ran from an explosion of fire that shot out of the recreation room. When the Professor reached him, Sig shouted over the roar of flames, “What happened?”

  “I unleashed a few fireballs to eradicate any evidence. Please give me a boost.”

  Sig helped him out the window and then changed forms. His Battle Wizard shape was too large to fit through the small opening. He climbed out and joined them on the manicured lawn to watch the house.

  Fire shot out of the windows on the main floor. Smoke and flames curled from the second floor windows. Sig changed back to Battle Wizard and picked up Jacob. “Let’s get out of here before the fire trucks and police show up.”

  They ran. Sirens whooped in the distance.

  Chapter 74

  The great fire at Dean Heathcoat’s house became the main topic of conversation around school the next day. The Dean’s continuing absence fueled rumors. One told of a dismembered skeleton found on the front porch.

  The news coverage didn’t contain many details other than that the mansion was a total loss. The four-alarm fire had taken most of the night to put down.

  Rick stayed to tend to Jacob at the Professor’s home. He called the Professor early in the afternoon to let him know that Jacob was healing and would probably be able to drive home in a day or two. It was another confirmation of the phenomenal healing power of Weres.

  When Sig left his afternoon class, Professor Herman was waiting for him in the hallway. “I’d like to try a few tests if you have time.”

  “I don’t have anything pressing.”

  “Good, meet me in the measuremen
t lab in fifteen minutes.”

  Sig drove to the Physics of Magic lab. The Professor was alone. “Why don’t you run through the standard sequence?”

  “Standard precautions?”

  Professor Herman nodded.

  During Sig’s regular exercises, they discovered that although his magic still wasn’t apparent, strange things happened at random times after he finished the exercises. Sometimes items he tried to levitate were found broken on the floor across the room on the next day. Candles he tried to light ended up as melted puddles later in the day. A worse problem was identified when students found unexplained pieces of molten wax, stuck to walls and the ceiling. The cause was a mystery until a candle Sig had used exploded, splattering a technician with scalding wax.

  Liquid evaporated out of pans of water he used for attempts at distance views. Another time, boiling water burned a student assistant when she emptied the viewing pan.

  Since none of it ever happened while Sig was around, as a precaution, they made him place all of the props into nonflammable, locked boxes at the conclusion of his tests. He also removed them for the next exercise.

  For this test, he pulled out two candles, a pan for water, and a prism and placed them on a table against the wall.

  While he filled the pan with water, the Professor said, “Please place your amulet on the table as well. I want to see you levitate it.”

  Sig placed his amulet next to the prisms on the table. Stepping back several paces, he focused on one of the candles. When nothing happened, he changed his focus to the other candle. Still nothing.

  The prism didn’t levitate, but Aðalbrandr flew through the air and smacked satisfyingly into his hand.

  The Professor, who was standing next to the measuring monitor, applauded. “Bravo. Now try the prism again.”

  Again, the prism remained motionless on the table. The Professor looked disappointed when Sig glanced at him.

  When he noticed Sig looking at him, he smiled and shrugged. “Try the pan of water.”

  The bottom of the pan remained clear and in focus, despite Sig’s use of the approved magical gestures and prescribed incantation.

  The Professor patted him on the back. “I had hoped that perhaps… Well, put your things away and I’ll meet you in front of the building.”

  Sig finished, locked up, and exited the building to find Professor Herman talking on the phone. He overheard the end of the Professor’s side of the conversation. “… I see. Very well, we’ll be over immediately. Thank you for the call. Goodbye.”

  He looked at Sig as he finished and disconnected. “That was the hospital about Thorval. We should get over there right away. There has been change in his condition. Come with me. I’ll drop you back here to pick up your vehicle afterwards.”

  Sig ran around to the passenger side and jumped into the Professor’s car. For once, he gave no thought to the fully reclining rear seats, the Electrotransparent Glass Roof, or any of the Maybach’s high tech luxury features. He just hoped Grampa Thor would live long enough so Sig could see him again.

  The Professor dropped him at the hospital entrance and drove off to find a parking space. Sig hurried to Grampa Thor’s room. A doctor and nurse stood outside when he arrived. The doctor waved him in.

  Grampa lay still in the bed, hands folded on his chest, breathing and feeding tubes no longer connected. Sig stood at the foot of the bed with his head bowed. In a few moments, the Professor treaded softly into the room. “How is he?”

  Sig looked up to him with a heavy heart.

  A horse voice whispered, “I’m a lot better today thank you.”

  Sig’s head snapped to look at Grampa Thor. His blue eyes were open.

  “Hello Sigurd, Arthur. How are you doing?” He croaked with a twinkle in his eye.

  Sig said, “You’re awake!” He stepped around the bed, leaned down, and grabbed him around the shoulders for a hug.

  “Yup, since last night. I tried to get up, but between all the tubes and being weaker than a newborn puppy, I couldn’t make it. Then I gave up and fell back to sleep and didn’t wake up until this afternoon. You should have seen the nurse jump when I woke up and asked her where I was. After I scared her, I was afraid they wouldn’t take the tubes out, but the doctor finally relented a little while ago.”

  Sig looked at the Professor. “Last night?”

  “I guess last night. It was dark.”

  Professor Herman walked over to Thor and felt his chest, head, and shoulders. He held his hands over him and ran them up and down his torso, not quite touching. After a few moments, he straightened. “I would like to run tests to make sure, but from what I can sense, I believe you are free of the demon.”

  “Hallelujah. I felt like it was gone, but I’m so weak I wasn’t sure.”

  “A Dark Mage with a white streak in his hair died last night, at the hands of a demon.”

  Grampa Thor’s eyes narrowed. “White streak in his hair? That bastard sicced the demon on me.”

  A large nurse strode in and stood with her arms crossed. “He’s very weak and needs rest. Please don’t upset him. It would be best if you go now.”

  Sig nodded and took Grampa’s hand. “I don’t want to tire you out. Get some rest. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  They stopped at the nurses’ station. The doctor scribbled on his tablet.

  “How is he doing?”

  “For someone who’s spent a month in a coma, he’s doing very well. It will be some time before he can leave here, but he should be back to himself in a few months.”

  “I think you’ll be surprised at how quickly he’ll be out of here,” Professor Herman said.

  “That will be a pleasant surprise. We’ll have him up as quickly as we can.”

  “Thank you.”

  Back in the car, Sig asked, “If he recovered last night when Dean Heathcoat died, do you think the Dean is the Dark Wizard who invoked Grampa’s demon?”

  “I hoped that his demise would liberate both of you. That’s why I tested you today. Your barrier obviously has another source. Remember, there are two Dean Heathcoats and we don’t know that it was one of them who sealed you away from your magic.”

  “But the trolls said the Dean claimed responsibility.”

  “Yes. That makes it probable, but not a certainty.”

  “But he went into that dimensional portal. We don’t know where he is or if he’s even alive.”

  “If he is the Dark Mage who locked you away from your magic, then we know he’s alive because your magic is still imprisoned. We must find him to get your magic back.

  “Even if we have to follow him there?”

  “I expect that he will resurface in this dimension. We will pick up his trail then.”

  Not a certainty. But there was hope if he could find the other Heathcoat.

  Chapter 75

  Sig arrived at the hospital as soon as it opened for visitors. Before he reached Grampa’s room, the doctor stopped him.

  “Your grandfather has made the staff nervous. He wants to leave and it’s too soon.”

  Sig appraised him levelly. “Have you ever cared for a Wizard with this type of ailment?”

  “No, but he’s been in a coma.”

  “I’ll talk to him, but he’s used to getting his way.”

  Sig walked into Grampa’s room He was dressed and sitting in the visitor’s chair.

  He sprung to his feet. “Thank God you’re here. Let’s get out of this place. They think I’m sick.”

  Sig chuckled. “Imagine that.” Grampa Thor’s cheeks had regained color and some of the wrinkles had smoothed out. He stood erect. His shoulders didn’t slump. Sig was surprised at the drastic change.

  Out of the corner of his eye he saw the doctor hanging around outside. Sig walked into the room, just out of the doctor’s sight. He pointed. “Grampa stand over there” indicating a point in full view of the doorway. He held his hand out where the doctor could see it. It was at the level of his head. �
�OK, if you can kick this, I’ll get you out of here.”

  Grampa Thor whirled, raised his forward knee, and leapt, leaning back to snap his rear leg up into a roundhouse kick. Sig dropped his hand about six inches to allow Grampa’s foot to make contact and whacked his chest with the other hand to ensure a resounding thump. Grampa dropped to his feet and clapped his hands. “Ah hah! I did it.”

  Sig winked at him and turned to the door. “Doctor, do you think someone who can do that can be released from your care?”

  The doctor walked into the room with a sheepish expression. “As long as I don’t have to do it. I’d end up in a hospital bed if that were a requirement for release. I’ll take care of the paperwork.”

  As Grampa Thor walked out with Sig, he nudged him and whispered, “Thanks for dropping your hand. I thought I could do it. I guess I haven’t recovered as much as I thought.”

  “I challenge any other one hundred ninety three year old man to do the same.”

  Thor nodded. “There is that.”

  †††

  Sig opened the door of his Jeep. “Hop in.”

  Grampa looked the Jeep over. “Nice, but I like pickups. What happened to yours?”

  Sig rolled his eyes. “We have a lot of catching up to do. The last months have been interesting.”

  Sig caught Grampa up on everything that had happened while he was in a coma. They were still catching up in the early afternoon, when Professor Herman pulled his car up outside. He walked into the kitchen where Grampa and Sig finished the second of three pizzas.

  Thor jumped to his feet and gave Professor Herman the man hug, both of them clapping the other on the back and beaming.

  “I didn’t think they’d keep you in the hospital for very long, but even I’m surprised that you’re out in just one day.”