The Archimage Wars: Wizard of Abal

by Philip Blood

  I called out and Hydan ran up, asking, “What is the matter, Nick?”

  I explained and he quickly repowered the Star, then we both jumped in.

  The Star didn’t take us far; we arrived at my mother’s portal, in the tallest tower of Ivory Castle. Hydan did a quick sensing of the portal and stated: “I tracked where she went.”

  Once he told me, I whistled, “Really, that place is real?”

  “Of course, it is one of the Ten Worlds,” Hydan replied.

  I thought about it and then said, “Well, I think I need to do a little research before we head there, so we’re going back to Earth first.”

  “Is that the only reason you are going to Earth?”

  I sighed, “No, there is the matter of Toji and Excalibur. I have to return that Actuality blade to the Lady of the Lake; I gave her my word, and I also want to know why Toji would take it from me!”

  Hydan nodded, and then said, “Good, there are a lot of Earth things I still need to experience! Is it true there is a powerful drink with a snake at the bottom which you consume?”

  I thought about it for a moment, and then said, “Oh, you mean Ta-kill-ya! But it’s not a snake, it’s a worm.”

  “A worm? And, if you drink this brew, and the worm with it, does it really attempt to kill you?”

  I chuckled, “No, that’s just a nickname for Tequila, though sometimes the hangover makes you wish the booze had actually killed you.”

  Hydan laughed, “I will drink until I reach this worm and see how it feels afterward!”

  “Go for it,” I said with a smile, Hydan was irrepressible.

  But I wasn’t sharing in his exuberance, and he noticed my glum look.

  Hydan tilted his head and said, “What has you so troubled, my friend?”

  At him calling me ‘my friend’, I gave him a wan smile, Hydan was my first and best friend, I realized. Then I answered, “This whole adventure on Abal, we didn’t solve much. In the end, Morgain escaped.”

  He tilted his head in surprise, and then just laughed, “You have great expectations of yourself, don’t you? You realize this planet was in a Civil War which had lasted centuries, and largely through your aid, the war is all but won! You have released the First Wizard of Abal from a magical prison, exposed, and ended a plot by the Dokkalfar to take over one of the Ten Worlds! You have found your mother, and at least know of your father now, neither of which you knew when you arrived.”

  I shrugged, “When you put it like that, well, it seems like we accomplished a lot of things, but I only see little Ziny’s head as my knife took it from her shoulders.”

  “You slew a necromage, not Ziny. It was Morgain who killed the little saeran girl.”

  I nodded slowly, but then spoke sadly, “I was supposed to protect her!”

  “You cannot protect everyone, Nick.”

  “No, not even one little girl it seems,” I said softly, and then my voice hardened, “I’m going to hunt down that bitch, Morgain.”

  Hydan looked uncharacteristically worried, and said, “Be careful, Nick, though I understand the reason for your desire to exact revenge, it isn’t a healthy thing to live for, nor would Ziny want you to live for revenge. There are other little girls out there, and little boys and all of them can use your help. How many innocents will perish if you are focused on this path of revenge while other evil takes place? Will you live for revenge, or will you follow the example of the compassion for others which made Ziny the person you loved?”

  I thought about that, and I remembered how Ziny had nearly killed herself to save a Tarvos sorceress who had tried to kill her earlier. I could keep Ziny alive by following her example; perhaps that was one way of protecting her memory, even when she was gone. Then I nodded, “All right, Hydan, I will try to have the compassion which Ziny showed us, and go save the other children if I can. But know this; if I do run into Morgain, I’m going to shorten her about one head’s worth! For now, let’s go see what Toji is up to with Excalibur, and then try to locate my mother and father.”

  I had Hydan go get Myrka, so we could depart, but while he was gone I spoke aloud.

  “Merlin Sivaeral, can you hear me?”

  A moment later the bridge was made, and I heard Merlin’s voice. “Nicholas, it is good to hear your voice! I only have a few minutes; the offensive to wipe the rest of Morgain’s forces from Abal needs my almost constant attention.”

  “How difficult do you think it will be to free the rest of Abal?” I asked.

  He answered, “Militarily? Simple enough, without Morgain or Medrod, the remaining necromages are a nuisance, but the outcome is not in question. What will be much harder is to restore peace and replace fear with belief in the mages of our world. The mundanes have been terrorized by Morgain’s necromages, and it will take a lot to regain their trust for those who practice magic.”

  “If anyone can do it, I’m sure it’s you,” I said, and queried, “Merlin?”

  “Yes?”

  “I have a question for you, who is The White Knight?”

  There was silence for a moment, and then he answered, “I don’t know who you are talking about specifically; are you referring to someone from Earth?”

  “Possibly, I don’t know,” I replied.

  “Well, on Earth there are two references I know of that could be who you are talking about, one from a story, which was based on a myth, though that myth was derived from some actual truth. The author called the written version of it, Through the Looking Glass. In his account, one of the characters was called the White Knight, but later on, he also referred to himself as The White Knight.”

  “So you are saying that Lewis Carroll is, or was a wizard?”

  “Most definitely, though his real name is Charles L. D. Friare. However, there is another possibility for the identity of your White Knight, one in which I had a lot more personal involvement. You know the legends of the time I spent on Earth while dealing with The Dragon?”

  “Yes, there are many versions, but no clear account of what really happened, but you said you are Merlin from the legend of King Arthur.”

  “Yes, that is true. There was a man I knew back then called The White Knight, but he went more commonly by the name, Lancelot.”

  “Lancelot du Lac? And this man was a Sivaeral Second?”

  Merlin laughed, “Lancelot, a Sivaeral? Most definitely not, though I understand where the myth of this could arise from his middle name, du Lac, meaning something to do with a ‘Lake’, but I think that had more to do with… never mind, I digress.”

  His answer floored me, it meant, assuming Merlin was telling me the truth, and that Lancelot was the man my mother told me was my father, then Morgain had been telling me the truth! My mother had lied to me about my father, again!

  I had not told Merlin why I wanted to know about the White Knight, and he hadn’t asked, so he really had no reason to lie to me. I then realized my father was not a Sivaeral Second!”

  “Lancelot is a Second?” I asked.

  Merlin answered, “Most definitely, I knew him quite well; in fact he spent a lot of time on Earth with Guinevere.”

  Merlin suspected The White Enchantress was Guinevere, but he didn’t know she had said the White Knight was my father. Then again, my mother had told me not to trust Merlin, so I had to take all this with a grain of salt.

  “I see, all right,” I said absently, still thinking about my mother lying to me, again.

  At my wandering tone Merlin asked, “I must be going, Nicholas, is there anything else?”

  I almost cut the Spirit Bridge, but then I said, “Yes, just one more thing.”

  “All right, what is your question?” the First Wizard of Abal asked.

  “What House is Lancelot?”

  Merlin’s voice answered immediately, “House Albus. You do know that, on Earth, in olden times, the word ‘Albus’ means ‘white’?”

  I said, “The White Knight. Thank you,” and then closed the bridge.

 
Hydan and Myrka walked into the room at that point and saw the strange expression on my face.

  “What has happened,” Myrka demanded, half raising her hands like she was about to blast something.

  “I just learned that my father, The White Knight, is a Second of House Albus.”

  Hydan frowned, “But, that cannot be, your mother is also a Second of that House, so that would make you a Bastard Second of House Albus! Your Glyph clearly shows you are…

  In my head I now knew the truth; I was not of House Sivaeral, but of House Albus. Right at that moment of clarity I felt a burning on my cheek, and Hydan said, “Oh my.”

  I walked to a mirror and looked at my face. Where I’d always seen a Glyph shaped like a nautilus, now I saw a new Glyph, the stylized spider of House Albus, just like the one on Fiona’s face, or my mother’s, for that matter. If I was truly a Second of House Albus, then, from what I understood, I was forbidden from mating with Fiona since she was also a Second. Even worse, I was an illegal Bastard child which every House would be hunting. I suddenly wondered if that was the reason Merlin had taken me from my parents as a child and hidden me on Earth! But Merlin doesn’t know who I really am yet. He has not seen my real Albus Glyph.

  This also meant something else, Merlin wasn’t my Archimage! That meant the person who had given me my orders to steal from The Dragon was still likely my real Archimage, the Archimage of House Albus! Perhaps that Archimage could help me regain my memories.

  I spoke softly, “When we have found Toji and researched a few things on Earth, we’re going to find a portal and go to my parent’s World. I want some damn answers, and I’m going to get them.”

  Myrka nodded, assuming I meant from my parents, and said, “And what World would that be?”

  I answered with one word…

  “Atlantis.”

  * * * * *

  This concludes Diabolical Book One, of The Archimage Wars series. The story will continue in Book Two: Sorceress of Atlantis.

  Author’s Note to Fans:

  Thank you SO MUCH for reading this novel. I hope you enjoyed it! I am starting up a monthly Newsletter for my fans. There will be blog posts, news, previews of coming attractions, and FREE giveaways! I will also answer questions submitted by fans, so you might have your question posted and answered!

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  Philip Blood