The City of Wizards

by George Mazurek

My feeling grew stronger, but he was not there.

  Should I let him go?

  No!

  I promised.

  And I want my revenge...

  At the end of the Arena we turned and tried the other side of the dragon's chest. Again, we moved from a rib to a rib, but Cid’rel was not hiding behind it.

  “Look out!” Kwazzo screamed.

  But it was too late.

  ♠

  Cid’rel was not hiding behind a rib. He was the last rib! It was a brilliant subterfuge!

  Before I could react, he jumped onto my tephir.

  His fingers changed into claws and he hit me in my right face and neck. The blood spurted out of my skin with a pain that was almost unbearable. Suddenly, I lost my balance and my tephir with the ka’tan leapt upwards. But that was only an illusion.

  I was falling to the ground drenched by warm blood.

  And nothing can stop me...

  I saw how the wizard ripped Kwazzo to the spell-bone.

  A flesh and the dark came soon after.

  ♠

  Maybe the soft sandy surface of the Arena saved my life.

  I lost my consciousness for a moment, and I was bleeding and beaten badly. But I was still alive.

  The wizard in green was walking toward me. His magic shield was activated. His footsteps squeaked in the sand.

  He is not sure whether I am dead...

  The last kat’an stopped at my feet and inspected me. I didn't pretend to be dead.

  He knows that already.

  “You are tough, boy,” he said calmly and pulled off the dagger. “But it's over now. The Council will last forever, and you shouldn't mess with its power.” His eyes blazed with triumph. “I'm going to disembowel you as your tephir,” he sneered at me. “And your brother, Rodan the Third and many other humans before, those weaklings without a pinch of power, inferior creatures who infested the world that belongs to us, wizards...”

  When he bent over me, I threw a fistful of sand straight into his eyes. His shield protected him from magic but not from such an ordinary thing as fine grain.

  He yelled, enraged, and his sphere glimmered.

  I took advantage of the moment and sent the last piece of my power in a form of a very narrow beam toward him. The beam was not exceptionally strong, but it was precisely focused. It produced an immense pressure at a tiny spot on the sphere, which failed to absorb it.

  The light pierced the sphere and wizard's body in a blink of time.

  Cid’rel's heart was punctured, halved, and vaporized.

  He fell to the sand and groaned. His pallid eyed turned to me.

  “You... bastard of Gael... I curse you... You will never find peace...”

  And with that his head bent backwards, and new sand poured to the ground until the whole body was nothing more than a small heap of grain.

  I got up slowly.

  My head was spinning. Fortunately, the bleeding stopped. It seemed I had not broken anything.

  I'm a lucky guy...

  I noticed a motion behind me. Cid’rel's tephir halted over the body of his master without any sign of grief. And then he left in a dignified manner.

  I realized he hated his own master, and wizard's death was his deliverance...

  I stumbled to Kwazzo, who was lying motionless aside. He was wounded badly. His eviscerated entrails surrounded him in puddles of blood, and he was screaming with pain deep in my head. With the rest of my power I healed what I could, and then I lay on my back, exhausted to the marrow of my bones.

  The fight did not go the way I assumed. I tried to weaken him slowly, but he was too sly to play my game...

  After a while I felt inflow of power again, so I could heal myself. I touched my neck. There was a long scar running to the ear, but I could move my head without difficulty.

  “Thank you, my lord,” I heard the tephir in my head. “All my family is obliged to you from now to the end of the world.”

  “Not at all,” I murmured and my left hand touched something cold and firm under the sand. It was a black stone embedded in a golden rim with some filigree on the upper side.

  “What's this?”

  “It's the Stone of the Council, usually born by a Supreme, my lord. I suppose it belonged to Martell, and then to Cid’rel. Supposedly, it harbors all the power of Ka’tan.”

  I put the stone in my right pocket.

  “Are you able to fly, my friend?”

  “To tell the truth... I have no idea, my Lord.”

  I almost laughed.

  “Well, let's try. Get out of this place.”

  ♠

  The flight was somewhat turbulent, but Kwazzo was happy anyway. He was whistling and squealing with joy as a little child.

  I smiled.

  On the horizon two flocks of tephirs appeared. Both groups headed eastwards, the second group was closing the gap.

  None of the tephirs carried a wizard.

  Kwazzo went silent.

  “What's going on?”

  “The punishment, my lord. Eating human or wizard flesh is a mortal sin according to our laws.”

  Now I understood. The first flock consisted of Council tephirs...

  “Do you want to stop and watch, my lord?”

  I shook my head. “No. I didn't know you have got laws of your own. You must tell me about it, some other time. At present, we must finish the task.”

  ♠

  The wind was howling when we approached the Ka’tan. The tower gleamed in the sun, proud and strong.

  And evil...

  I have gathered my magic powers back.

  Ka’tans were dead, but their nest was still there...

  I grasped the ancient and immense tower at its base into my left hand. Then I squeezed its walls so that cracks appeared on its perimeter, ripped it out of the ground, so that earth broke miles away, and threw it behind the city walls. Where the tower landed, forests were cut down to splinters, water from lakes spurted a half of a mile high, and dust covered the sun for almost two hours.

  The wind went silent. I flew over the city ruins in the fading sunlight. It was lifeless and deserted.

  Ka’tan was destroyed.

  Averot’h was dead.

  But I was a Warlock.

  I'm going to build it again, with the power of Mag’reb and with Elisa's help...

  ♠

  A black stone in a golden rim dropped from the pocket and began to fall. It could see the destruction of its Tower before it landed on the ground near the Tower's remnants, a ten feet high sharp-edged stub at a verge of a large hole. A gust of wind pushed him into the hole, into the safety of its shadow.

  There, he will wait for a new master...

  CHAPTER 9

  Mag’reb

  We were heading toward Mag’reb, my new seat, propelled by swift airstreams. Above us the sky was crystal clear, but below us only devastation could be seen.

  “Tell me one thing, Kwazzo.”

  “I'm listening, my lord.”

  “Why do you serve wizards? I guess you can live without us as well.”

  “No, my lord, in fact, we can't.”

  I scratched my chin. “Why not? You've got the spell-bone that allows you to fly.”

  “Well, that's a common misconception, my lord. You are right, we've got the bone, but tephirs do not possess any magic, and magic is essential for its activation. We can fly without a wizard, but not for a long time. We need your magic power, my lord.”

  “I see... May I ask something else, my friend?”

  “Of course, my lord.”

  “Do you know everything?”

  Tephir under my feet chuckled twice.

  “Certainly not, my lord... You remind me of your mother, lady Laetia...”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You are almost a perfect younger copy of your father, you have his eyes and face, but your sense of humour is that of Laetia.”

  “I didn't know her,” I said in a low voice after a paus
e.

  “She was a great person, kind and selfless. She helped everybody in need though her own health was getting worse each year. I miss her terribly...”

  We turned to the right a little, to the white tower with a black top, the highest structure in the world, and also the mightiest one…

  I felt unusual vibrations through my feet.

  “Are you nervous, Kwazzo?”

  “Yes. Everybody would be, my lord…”

  I laughed. Tephirs cannot lie and their sincerity is disarming at times.

  To be frank, I felt a tense in my veins as well.

  What are we going to find inside?

  The Doors of a Warlock at the very top of the tower were open.

  Kwazzo slowed down so I could jump down onto the lowest step of nine stairs leading to the doors.

  “My lord, I won't come in.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “You were inside already! Am I right?”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  I frowned. “But only a Warlock may enter the doors, and you served Elisa before me…”

  “And Martell before her, and Gael before him, and…”

  “Wait! You served my father?!” I was stunned.

  “Yes, my lord.”

  Hundreds of thoughts whirled in my mind.

  “I have many questions for you, my friend, but now I'm going to examine the tower. By the way, how old are you, Kwazzo?”

  “As you wish, my lord. One hundred and seventy four years, if I'm correct. But I'm certainly not the oldest one, my lord.”

  I shook my head in disbelief.

  “We must talk, definitely…”

  I stepped on the last stair and walked into the place where only a few gained a free entry during eons of time, with a weird chill in my neck...

  ♠

  And I was hit into my forehead by something small, round, and hot!

  Damn!

  I hissed and caught the blowing thing. It looked like a glass sphere, but inside there was some texture...

  The sphere vibrated as if it was alive.

  “That wasn't a polite welcome... Who or what are you?”

  “And who are you?” the sphere replied with an angry crackling.

  “I'm Syrdan, a new Warlock. And you?”

  The sphere calmed down. “I've heard already... So, that's you. I expected someone older and more experienced...”

  “Hmm, sorry for the disappointment.”

  “I'm the Ball of Life, though my lords call me the Lightball,” the sphere introduced itself.

  “What does the life in your name means?”

  “It means when I go out, the whole life goes out too.”

  I released the ball. It was hanging in front of me and its color changed into curious pink.

  “It seems you are pretty important,” I commented with a smile. I took a liking to this extraordinary sphere.

  Now I had time to explore the interior of the tower. But it seemed I was not inside the tower at all! I looked at unlimited space, an infinite horizon!

  Wow, I see the whole world...

  So this is Mag’reb's secret. From here, it can oversee and control the Earth; from here it finds out everything that happens...

  ♠

  “What's this dark spot right under the horizon?” I pointed my finger into the distance, behind foamy waters of the Little Sea, where green meadows and brown farmlands switched into one seamless ink.

  “I don't know, my lord,” the Ball replied. “Maybe yes, maybe not. But both Zo’har and your father were concerned by it. The spot was the reason Zo’har left the tower many years ago.”

  I frowned. “And he didn't come back. Do you think he returns one day?”

  The Ball wriggled. “I don't think so, my lord. I'm certain he is dead, and no one can return from nonexistence, not even a Warlock...”

  The astonishing view of the world went dark when I turned. Suddenly, I stood in a round chamber made of bricks, the home of Warlocks. I looked around.

  Several narrow roof lights lit the interior dimly. There was a table with a carved chair situated in the middle of the room, a plain bed at the wall, and a bookcase next to a wardrobe. I inspected the books cursorily.

  At the top I found Tor’lak's The Art of the Reign, beneath it was The Theoretical and Practical Prospects of Magic, and The Magic and Gender: A New Perspective.

  “Ehmm...” I cleared my throat perplexed completely.

  “Are you interested in literature, my lord?” the Ball drew nearer. “I know many books by heart.”

  “It depends,” I muttered. “I like The Stories of Mischievous Rabbits. I read it when I was eleven...”

  Fortunately, the Lightball didn't comment, so I could retreat to the opposite side of the chamber. The floor tiling was decent with some self repeating geometric pattern of black pentagons and white hexagons. Overall, I was surprised by simplicity of the dwelling.

  “What's this?” I asked the Lightball when I came to a niche and pulled out a coat decorated in red and gold.

  “This is Verdel's ceremonial robe. He used to wear it during Council meetings and Gatherings, my lord.”

  “Ugh...” I returned it into its place promptly. “By the way, did he treat you well?”

  “I wouldn't say that, my lord,” the sphere spluttered. “He couldn't bear me... I had to shine dimly all day long. I was not allowed to speak without permission, too. He didn't care about my recommendations. In short, he was a very evil and narrow-minded person, my lord...”

  I nodded in agreement. “He was a complete dunce... What's this?”

  I took out an object that looked like a ring, but it was black as a charcoal. All of a sudden a ray of light from the Doors hit rings' surface, bounced back to the sky and split it into halves with a lightning so intense that I had to cover my eyes with my forearm. The thunder that followed shook with the tower so heavily that all books from the bookcase fell to the ground.

  Damn!

  The Lightball blinked. “Congratulations to the first use of Zo’har's Thunder Stone after more than one century, my lord! I thought it won't work anymore, but it seems I was mistaken...”

  I put it back, shivering a little...

  “You should be more cautious in your exploration of Warlock's relics, my lord.” The Ball flashed in warning shades of red.

  “Sure...”

  After I cleaned the mess I returned to the niche. There was something on the ground... I lifted up a three elbows long wooden handle with a blue metal cylinder at the end. It was pretty heavy...

  “Put it down!” The Ball screamed. “It is Far’horns' World Hammer! It can destroy whole continents! You are extremely irresponsible, my lord!”

  “Oh, sorry...” I returned the thing to its place with care.

  “And what about this?” I took out a small leather pouch that looked innocently.

  “It belonged to Gael,” the Ball informed me.

  “Nice...” I examined interior of the pouch closely, but it was empty.

  I frowned. “What was inside?”

  “I don't know,” the Ball replied. “Gael has never spoken about it.”

  “Strange... Can I take it?”

  “Yes, you can take one relic out of the tower, my lord.”

  “Only one?”

  “Yes, my lord. It's an unwritten rule dating back to the first Warlock.”

  “I understand...”

  I hesitated between the empty pouch and World Hammer for a while.

  You are going to find Elisa, not to wreck the rest of the world...

  “Okay, I'll take the pouch,” I decided finally and put it into my left pocket, where Elisa's talisman rested already.

  I completely forgot to check the right pocket with the black stone...

  I looked around.

  I guess the exploration is over for now. It's time to go...

  I turned back to the sphere and briefly explained my future plans. When I finished, the Ball glowed in a sorrowful green.

&n
bsp; “It was nice to meet you, dear Ball of Life,” I said encouragingly. “At the moment I have to leave, but don't be sad,” I added from the Doors. “I hope to return soon. And please, don't go out meanwhile...”

  The Light of Life blinked in yellow.

  I would swear it was a smile...

  ♠

  Kwazzo was waiting at the last step of the Doors patiently.

  “Are you satisfied with what you have found inside?” he asked.

  I jumped onto his crest and nodded. Then I grasped Elisa's talisman, it was warm and smooth like her skin. A breeze scented with lavender caressed my face and hair.

  I guess I know where to find you, my love...

  EPILOGUE

  We followed a bumpy path between the land of humans and the land of wizards, led by Elisa's talisman and my heart. The road ran through a valley with beautiful white rocks rising from larch forests and blooming meadows that reminded me of my homeland.

  I pretended to be a poor wandering wizard in areas inhabited by wizards, and a destitute journeyman in areas inhabited by humans. In any case, I tried to avoid strangers' eyes as much as possible. I still felt consequences of my recent battles. My strength was increasing steadily, but I was not at the peak of my powers yet. During a day, I went by foot alone, but in the course of a night Kwazzo accompanied me quietly. Once, I considered him half-thing and half-animal. I couldn't be more mistaken!

  Tephirs shared wisdom that certainly matched that of humans or wizards. I learnt many astonishing facts about them during our journey. For example, though tephirs are bred at tree farms near the Gulf of Wild Waters, their native environment is water! In water they move even faster than in the air, and also, they are giving birth there. We passed by low homesteads with thatched roofs and farmlands with sheep and goats, and I tried to help where I could with some discreet spells…

  I listened to the stories told by locals, and one of them was especially alarming.

  “What do you think, Kwazzo? Is that tale about Gha’rib and the dark spot true? Is there some unknown magic power involved?”

  Kwazzo emerged from the water surface and shook itself so fiercely that I was soaked to the skin at a slap. I was resting on the river shore overgrown with reeds and nettles, while Kwazzo frolicked in the waves.