The Adventures of the Peculiar Enchanter: The Beginning

Posted by fffffplayer1 on 14-12-2014.

Revision uploaded on 17-05-2020

## The Beginning

The village of Burkborrow, in the heart of the kingdom of Argenturegnum, had for a long time now been the epicentre of several phenomena that left its residents baffled and even scared. For instance, the year Wiz was born there were two separate occasions, just one month apart, when the village was flocked by crows and bats the first time and cats and dogs the next. On another occasion a few years later, there was the legendary summer when it snowed for a week and the nearby river froze. And of course no one could forget last year's Hallow Festival when the spirits of the dead were seen walking in the village.

The villagers weren't sure what to make of such incidents. They were always shocked by these abnormalities they couldn't explain, but their superstitious nature allowed them to come to terms with them anyway. The real question always was whether they were divine signs or acts of the Devil. Usually, the village was divided and in the end nothing came of it. Wiz, on the other hand, didn't care either way, he was simply fascinated by the supernatural.

His personal favourite story was one that his mother would tell him and had taken place a few months before he was born. The story went that one night, three strangers appeared one after the other, knocking on their door and asking for a place to sleep. His parents, not wishing to refuse them, managed to accommodate the odd-looking men who claimed they'd arrived to pay their respects. On the next day to his parents’ surprise, the three men were gone as if they'd never been there. However, they did find three objects left behind: a little purple gemstone, an exotic red feather of a bird they didn't recognise and a phial with a golden substance inside. The gemstone would shine with a faint light in the darkness and the feather had the tendency to hover and fly of its own accord. They didn't know what the substance in the phial was, though, so they kept that on the back of a shelf in the kitchen, not sure what to do with it.

The mystery of the alien guests and the wonder of their gifts always fascinated Wiz and he would often ask his mother to tell the story again. He would also frequently ask his father to examine the feather, which he'd placed on his hat. The other two objects were long gone now, however, the gemstone having mysteriously disappeared and the phial given to a friend of his parents'. So had Wiz been told for he himself had been too young to remember either.

The young boy didn't limit himself to those items, though, and chased after every deviation from normalcy, studied them, trying to understand the nature and origin of these supernatural phenomena. Having also recruited the help of his friend Garvus, he searched for nymphs and fairies in the forests; he read books in a fellow villager's study, hoping to find out about magic; he experimented at home. All the while, he remained ignorant of the fact that the source for everything abnormal, what attracted the magic was in fact... him. For his destiny awaited him: he was to be the Peculiar Enchanter, known across many kingdoms and realms, bearing many names, taking many forms, travelling across the world, in space but also time.

It is when Wiz was twelve years of age that our story begins. For it is then that Wiz finally discovered his inclination to magic. It was on a rainy March day when it happened. Despite the menacing clouds that had gathered over the plain and the day's early drizzle, Wiz had ventured into the Old Woods at the north of the village, hoping to get a glimpse at the ever-elusive fey creatures he believed inhabited the place. He'd been at it for a few hours when he thought he saw the figure of a woman with her arms extended outwards, but as soon as he looked back to make sure, she was gone. Was it a dryad on a stroll to enjoy the touch of the drips of rain? Running near where he saw her, he didn't find anything but gnarled trees, so oddly shaped that one could see faces or limbs on them from the right angle.

“One day I'm going to catch you in the act, just you wait!” the boy addressed the trees.

He would have continued his excursion, but noticing the rain had grown stronger and already satisfied enough with that sighting -which was more than he usually got even if he searched all day-, he decided he should probably go home. After all, he had something more to hope for. Rumours had been circulating in Burkborrow and the surrounding villages that a Sorcerer was travelling through their region. Others were scared, but Wiz as always was excited by the prospect of meeting an actual magician. Maybe, just maybe he'd pass by their village that day. If not, maybe tomorrow. Or the day after that. Hopefully.

By the time Wiz entered the village, it was almost noon. His mother would be preparing lunch soon. Maybe that was some additional incentive for returning sooner than usual as he hadn't packed any himself that day.

At the entrance to the village, a boy of black curly hair was seated in the protection of a roofed porch. The boy,being his friend Garvus, was gazing off at the direction he was coming from. An excited smile formed on his face once he spotted Wiz.

“Hey Wiz! Thought I'd find you here. Come quick. I've got some news you're going to be interested in”, Garvus motioned for the other boy to hurry. “Crux, you're soaking wet. Are you sure it's wise to visit the woods when there's such downpour?”

“Relax! I'll be fine! Besides, if I find any fey, it's worth it”, Wiz replied, joining his friend on the porch.

“Did you find any?” Garvus looked at him with doubt.

“Almost”.

“Almost means you didn't. So, you got soaked for nothing”.

“I almost had her, though. But the heckin' dryad hid!”

“She's a dryad! What do you expect her to do? Hiding's their thing, isn't it? But never mind them, now. I've got something better”.

“Is this like that time when you passed me mud off as cake? Because it's not going to work”.

“Well, you fell for it, didn't you?”

“It's not like I've seen cake before...” Wiz mumbled under his breath. “I hear the Perrauts had cake for their daughter’s birthday last year”.

“We're getting off-topic. Is food and magic all you've got on your mind, you dunderhead?”

“No but look, the rain seems to be lighter now. Want to come by my house?”

“Sure. There's some time before I need to head back home”.

The two boys started walking down the road, heading for Wiz's house.

“So, what's the so important thing you've got to say?”

“If I told you it's about the Orange Wizard, would you be more interested?”

“The Wizard? What about him?”

“He visited Otter's Spring two days ago”.

“Seriously?! He could come here next, then! Oh, let him come! I want to meet him so much!”

“Aren't you afraid he'll hex you?”

“Don't be ridiculous. Wizards only hex people that vex them”.

“Oh, I'm pretty sure he'll be vexed”.

“You're terrible”, Wiz shoved Garvus on the shoulder, but he smiled. The other boy responded by shoving him back. “So, you think he might be here soon?”

“If the rumours are correct, he's already been to many villages nearby, so it's plausible”.

“This is fantastic! It's all I've ever dreamed of”, Wiz exclaimed; at that moment, he almost unconsciously felt something was off; in his excitement, though, he ignored the feeling, “I wonder what he's up to... What do you thi-”.

“Wiz, what's happening?” Garvus's startled voice interrupted him.

Garvus had stopped walking. Wiz looked at him. And then it hit him. Why his brain was telling him something was wrong even before he consciously noticed it. It had stopped raining. But only around the two boys. Water was still pouring all around them, barring in a circle centred on... him.

“What is going on?” Wiz shouted in surprise, his hands grasping at the air, trying to ascertain if this was really happening.

“Wiz. Are you the one doing it?”

“I don't know”.

“But you're in the centre of it!”

“I don't know!”

Not sure how to deal with this, Wiz just ran. If he ran away from it, he didn't have to understand what was going on. When he stopped by his home though, Garvus far behind him by now, Wiz realised that the area of no rain was still surrounding him: it had followed him.

“No, why? What? WHAT IS THIS?!” the bewilderment in his voice was emphasised by a flash of lightning and accompanying thunder. Which were far too bright and loud respectively. Wait! Had lightning struck right when he'd yelled? He turned around. His father's smithy, a small wooden building next to their house, was on fire and its walls were damaged. Struck by lightning... It'd been him. It had been *him*.

The gentle touch of the rain’s embrace had returned, as instantly as it’d disappeared and the sudden silence that had prevailed after the booming thunder –or so it’d seemed in his mind– was broken, but he took no notice. The sound of a man cursing snapped him out of his terrified trance instead. Looking behind his shoulder, he saw his father had come out of the house -thankfully he hadn't been in the workshop. Garvus had also caught up with them and was looking at the flames with wide eyes.

“What the… did you just do this?” Garvus asked in shock.

“I… I think I did. I don’t know how, though”.

“Are you children all right?” his father checked up on them, having assessed the situation; he and Garvus nodded and with a relieved expression, the man continued. “I’m going to do something about this fire. You stay back”.

The two scared boys watched the tall sturdy man as he ran back inside and returned carrying a water-filled bucket. Wiz’s mother came out with him, this time, also holding a bucket. Wiz knew they had a barrel of water stored inside the house, where his parents must have filled the buckets from. They dashed to the burning smithy trying not to spill any water and emptied the buckets’ contents on the flames.

“I really miss pressure water systems right now”, Wiz’s father muttered as they headed back to refill their buckets.

“What can we do? We get what we get”, his mother replied.

“Mom, should I help?” Wiz asked, seeing that the fire would need several more trips to be put out.

“Don’t worry, love, we’ll handle this. Why don’t you and Garvus head inside instead of staying in the rain?”

How could she keep such a calm, reassuring face when their workshop was burning, Wiz wondered. Was she really that calm or was she just keeping her worries in for her son? Was that the power of a mother? Wiz didn’t want to go inside, he wanted to watch until he was sure the fire was out as he considered himself responsible, but hearing her words somehow made him feel better. When Garvus started pulling him from the arm, he didn’t resist.

“Come on, she’s right. We might catch a cold out here”.

As they made for the door, Wiz gave a last look towards the burning building. A lot of their neighbours had gathered, too, some of them helping extinguish the flames, others watching from the cover of one house’s porch or another’s. Garvus opened the door and ushered him in. Just then right before he entered the house, he noticed Frau Weidemann, who lived next door, staring at him with an appalled expression. What was the meaning of that?

Once inside, in Wiz’s bedroom, there were a few moments of silence in consideration before either of them spoke up, “Hey, what just happened? Can you do… magic?”

Wiz paused for an instant thinking about it,“I don’t know how else to explain it. I didn’t think I was doing it –I didn’t even know I *could* do any of this–, but maybe I somehow unconsciously controlled the rain… and the lightning. I’ve read in a book that this can happen to magicians”.

“Does that mean you’re a magician?”

“I suppose… maybe. If we don’t take the lack of training into account”.

“Dang! The village is not going to like this, you know”.

“I know… Frau Weidemann just gave me quite the look in fact. But you and I have been searching for magic all this time and no one was *really* angry about it. Even Father Aldstan only told us off a few times. It can’t be any worse than that”.

“Wait, you mean Frau Weidemann already knows? Yes, she must have seen us when it all happened. That’s bad. Now, everyone’s going to know”.

“That won’t be good”.

“No, it won’t… But you know. This is kinda cool, too. Haven’t you been looking for magic all this while? Now, all of a sudden, you have it”.

“Yeah, but I didn’t want it like this”, Wiz pointed in the general direction of the smithy although the walls came in between.

“I agree, that was unfortunate –and it will probably get you a lot of flak–, but shock aside, should you not also be thinking what you’ll do with it?”

“Is there something I can do? You said it yourself, the village won’t like it, but they might accept it if nothing happens. Should I start using magic, there’s sure to be a riot, though. Besides, there’s no one to teach me here anyway”.

“You could always, you know… leave the village”.

Leave the village…? Why? What? Why would Garvus suggest that? Before he could word a reply to voice his bafflement, his parents walked in, diverting his attention from what’d just been said. Their clothes and faces had patches stained by ash and they were wet from the rain, but they otherwise looked fine.

“Is everything all right outside?” Wiz asked. “Did you put out the fire?”

“Yes, you don’t need to worry. Thanks to the rain and everyone’s help, we were able to quickly contain and extinguish the flames. That being said, the smithy’s pretty damaged”, his father explained; Wiz’s face darkened after hearing about that last part.

“Wiz, Garvus, you’ve still not changed clothes. It can’t be comfortable being all wet like this”, his mother noticed that the children were still soaked.

“More importantly”, his father interjected. “Is something wrong you two? You look upset. Before as well. Don’t tell me the lightning had you that scared?”

“No, it’s not that… Dad, don’t you think it’s weird the lightning struck the workshop when it’s not the tallest building in the village? Even our house just next to it is taller”.

“That is unusual, yes, but lightning doesn’t *always* hit the highest point”.

“And how about the fact there was almost no shock wave? The smithy was damaged, but I’ve read lightning’s shock wave reaches ten yards from the strike point. I should have been hit, but I didn’t feel anything”.

“Where are you getting with this?”

“This lightning wasn’t natural. And I think it was my doing”.

“Your doing how?” his mother asked; both his parents were now watching him closely, trying to understand what he was telling them.

“Magic, I guess… Garvus saw everything and he thinks so, too”.

“Everything? What exactly happened?”

Wiz and Garvus proceeded to tell them the whole story: about the rain stopping around Wiz, about the lightning striking on cue with him, and about Frau Weidemann seeing him, too. His parents looked thoughtful after this. The conversation that followed was full of pauses during which they all tried to process the new information. None of them were prepared for a situation like this. Garvus had to leave halfway through.

“Keeping it under wraps no longer seems possible and the majority of the villagers won’t be happy, but if there’s no follow-up incident they might just let it go with time”, his father shared his mind. “But is that really what you want, Wiz? If it’s really magic, would you just abandon it like that? It’s what you’ve always wanted, is it not? There are other options you could consider. But what do you think?”

“I… I don’t know. It’s too sudden. I don’t quite understand everything”.

He’d been taken by surprise by what he’d found out that day. He was always drawn to magic and sought for it in the world, but never expected to be a source of it himself. What he knew, though, was that he didn’t want a repetition of that day’s incident and he said as much.

“True, that should certainly be avoided”, his mother said. “But before we make any decisions, shouldn’t we confirm that it’s actually magic first? According to my father, people in my family have sometimes been able to do strange things in the past, but I’m not sure that was what I’d call magic”.

“How do we do that?” Wiz asked. “Confirm it, that is”.

“I guess… we try to replicate today’s phenomenon in a less destructive manner?”

“We can’t do that in the village, but I could take Wiz out in some of the farther fields and try there in the next days”, his father suggested. “Until then, you should probably lay low in order not to stir things up more than necessary”.

“Yeah, maybe stay home for a few days instead of going to explore or at the Perrauts’ place. Father Freidank’s lessons, too. We should let him know”.

“That’s right and until we figure things out, you should think about what you want to do”.

“Are there really other options?” Wiz enquired.

“Sure there are. I don’t know if it’s optimal, but if it comes to it, we could even move, I suppose”.

Move? Leave? Garvus said the same thing. Why were they all so set on that idea? What good would come of it? Wiz didn’t know. He didn’t like it. He didn’t want this to be his only option.

Although it’d been agreed he should mostly stay home for now, he went out a couple hours later. After they had lunch and the conversation continued for some more time, his father left to start the repair works on the workshop as soon as the rain abated and Wiz made for the small building by the village’s church where he hoped to find Father Freidank. His mother had suggested that she should go instead, but Wiz had insisted. He wanted a chance to walk and think about everything, especially considering he probably wouldn’t be able to the next few days.

Up until a few years ago, Father Aldstan had been the village’s priest, but he’d gotten rather old those years and thus when a new priest, Freidank arrived he took over most of the responsibilities. In contrast to Aldstan, Freidank had a somewhat more modern mindset, but he carried himself in a proper manner and performed his duties as expected – that is to say he quickly abandoned any ideas he might have had for major changes to how ecclesiastical matters were run–, so the village liked him anyway, even if they found him strange sometimes. One of his plans that did stick, however, was his attempt of educating the villagers –especially the children– to the extent that the rural lifestyle allowed.

Wiz was one of the children who attended his lessons, where he taught reading, writing, arithmetic, history, the scriptures and to an extent Mossian, the ancient language once spoken in their lands long ago, which was still used for many formal purposes, including those of the Church. Wiz had been taught a lot by his mother as well, so he proved a troublesome student asking questions above the class’s level and sometimes even challenging what the priest had to say –especially when it came to religious subjects, due to Wiz’s having been schooled to a different doctrine than the one people believed in in Argenturegnum. Even so, his mother thought there’d be more to learn from the Father’s lessons and he could maybe broaden his perspective.

Truly, his family was a strange one and Wiz had been raised with a lot more freedom and education than the average boy his age enjoyed in this country, but it was only reasonable considering his parents weren’t locals. In fact, Expia their homeland wasn’t even on the same face of Crux. They’d grown up in an entirely different environment, which even had more advanced technology reportedly. However, when his parents had come to Burkborrow before he was even born, despite being different, they’d been accepted and lived in harmony with the other villagers. But would that remain true once word got out that they were raising a young sorcerer in their home? Wiz didn’t want to destroy his parents’ peace. He had to make sure everything was all right. There would certainly be a lot more to do, but as the first step he had to talk to Father Freidank.

By the old church residing at the village’s small square, a building stood for the priests to use for auxiliary activities, like Freidank’s lessons. Wiz thought he might find the young priest there, so coming up before the door he knocked and called the Father’s name. No response came, but just to be sure Wiz opened the door to peek inside.

The room wasn’t empty, but instead of Freidank, Father Aldstan was sitting on a chair trying to make out the letters of the Good Book of his faith despite his poor eyesight. Wiz froze in place. Unlike Freidank as an old man and a clergyman, Aldstan appropriately represented the conservative nature of the rural part of a medieval land. Old-fashioned and stubborn as he was, Wiz had naturally butted heads with him many times before. And Wiz knew he could get angry, but most of all he was afraid of how real the offence was this time. They’d always argue over anything Wiz would question on times Aldstan was also present at Freidank’s lessons, both being too stubborn to back down. But as much as they disagreed, it was never that bad. Magic was something Aldstan could never accept, the Church would condemn it as the Devil’s work. And even though in the past whenever he was scolded for his seeking of it, it was all hypothetical, now there was actual magic going on. If the priest heard about it, Wiz didn’t know what he’d do, what he’d say to him.

The boy started to back away as silently as possible so that he wouldn’t be noticed. However, before he could get out of sight the old man lifted his head from the book and called out with his raspy voice.

“Freidank, is that you?” his opaque eyes ridden with cataracts met his and felt like they stared into his soul in a way he’d never experienced before. Wiz stayed still and silent hoping that those seemingly piercing eyes would not see through him. A few minute-long seconds later, the preacher continued,“ Why aren’t you properly coming in? Are you that busy? I won’t take much of your time then. It seems I won’t be able to attend the mass on Sunday after all, my leg’s not feeling any better. There’s also Berfrid’s son’s baptism coming up”.

Wiz did not reply and the priest seemed to have paused for now. It looked like Aldstan still thought he was Father Freidank. Perhaps being framed by the light coming in from the door made him even harder to make out than usual. Maybe that was all he wanted to say? Wiz prepared to move a foot backwards to leave –it’d be awkward to leave without replying, but there was no helping it– but then the old man started speaking again.

“By the way, have you heard what happened with Roland’s son?” Wiz felt like a bucket of freezing water had just been emptied on him. “The whole village seems to be talking about it. Apparently, he did magic. Or so they say”, Aldstan sighed. “I warned him so many times not to meddle with this kind of stuff, but he didn’t listen. I suppose this was bound to happen. He was lured in by the Devil and now he’s paying the price. What were his parents doing, I wonder? I’ve been very lenient on them, I even allowed them come to mass back when they came to the village even though they’re not baptised by our Church. But they let this happen? Maybe I should have been stricter with the foreigners…” he sighed again.

“But really I’m most sorry for the boy. At such a young age, why did it have to happen this way? He was a good boy, if a little unruly. Why did he have to be taken over by the Devil?”

Feeling a burning sensation within him overwhelming him, at that moment Wiz slipped and spoke up, “Why does it have to be the Devil? How do you know it’s not God’s blessing?”

“It does not matter if it’s God or the Devil. It doesn’t matter if it’s even a misunderstanding after everyone jumped to conclusions. Either way, it will be perceived as evil and the boy will be persecuted by the village”.

Wiz was a little shocked. This didn’t sound at all like what Father Aldstan would usually say. He’d never before budged in rejecting magic entirely.

“That’s not what you’d usually say”, at that point Wiz had almost forgotten the objective of not being found out.

“It’s not up to me to decide whether an innocent boy suddenly doing magic is evil or not. I’m just an old man so I can’t solve this in my mind, I can only stick to the old teachings. When it comes to the practice of things, it’s not that easy to show conviction, it’s more complicated than that”.

Wiz was dumbfounded. Was it possible he’d completely misunderstood the old priest? He thought he was not capable of doubting the old ways at all, but maybe he had some room for free thought after all. And yet what he spoke of was still grim. Even if the priest could think that way, not everyone would. This only confirmed his suspicions in the worst way. Everyone was talking about it already. This couldn’t possibly end well.

He might have continued down that train of thought further, but then Father Aldstan brought him back to reality, “But are you really Freidank? Your voice…”

*Oh shoot!* Wiz suddenly remembered he was supposed to be avoiding revealing himself. Even if the priest was more well-inclined towards him than he thought, he still didn’t want to have that conversation. There was only one thing left to do… He turned back and started running.

With no concern for leaving the door open or for the fact he’d cut off their conversation without a word, Wiz fled with all his might. For a moment, he’d almost thought it was all just another hypothetical discussion. But with the reminder of who he was and where he was, the meaning of the priest’s words came upon him swiftly pressing from all sides. He felt trapped, suffocated, oppressed. He wanted to hide on his own. The gazes of people, the words of people. He felt as though they’d be like stabs through his heart at that moment. So, he ran. Ran, away from Aldstan. Away from people. Away from the onlooking eyes of the passers-by and the loiterers. Away from…

The world came tumbling down as in his hurry he collided with someone. He fell on his butt as the middle-aged woman he’d stumbled upon clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

“Be more careful, young man”, she chastised him. “You should look where you’re… wait a minute… You’re Wiz. You have a lot of nerve showing yourself right now. How shameless. Do you know how much trouble you’re causing for everyone? If I were you I’d leave the village right this instant. We don’t need no devils here”.

“I… But I’m not… I don’t…” Wiz struggled to speak his mind, as he felt the hateful gaze of the woman oppressing him.

“You dare talk back, you warlock! We welcomed you into our peaceful village and this is how you pay us back? Off, off with you!”

In a hurry to escape from the woman’s verbal abuse, Wiz hastily got up in order to walk away from her ignoring his pride’s faint objections at doing exactly as she’d told him. After all, maybe that woman wasn’t so wrong after all, a small voice whispered in his mind.

He was almost at his home when suddenly Garvus showed up before him. That’s right! Even if everyone else turned against him, he at least had Garvus. His friend would no doubt stand by his side. He wasn’t scared of magic like the others were. He, too, held the same spark of curiosity as Wiz, even if he didn’t act like it. From the start, they were in this together.

Wiz could hardly hide the distress on his face as he approached the boy, “Garvus, it’s just as we thought. The news have spread all around the village and I think it’s turning against me now”.

The melancholic glance Garvus gave him in reply was nothing like what he expected from him, “Wiz… My mom…. She told me not to hang out with you any more”.

“What?” Wiz stared at him dumbfounded.

“I’m sorry… You know I don’t think the same. But it’s my mom and walls have ears. I’ll get in big trouble”, his friend gave him a pained expression and Wiz understood that the sensible Garvus had already considered and turned down all possible solutions.

“I see… I understand”, Wiz replied in a deceptively calm manner, although his goggled eyes betrayed his shock, and then he proceeded to unceremoniously walk past the other boy and continue his way home, oblivious now to his friend’s reaction.

Of course… Life wouldn’t be so simple. Garvus might not be scared, but his parents sure were. But that was fine. He understood now. He was hated by everything. He was a cursed being. There’s no place to run, when the world itself is against you. There’s nothing to do when your very nature is poisonous.

Before knowing it, he had reached his home. He got a short glimpse of his mother working on her handiwork before he crossed the room and shut himself in his bedroom. He was probably one of the very few people in that village who had a bedroom of their own, even if it was just a rather small one, but what had once made him proud to be set apart from the other villagers, now just served to remind him how detached he felt from everyone else, even his own parents.

He didn’t make it very far into the room, just letting himself drop on the floor, his back on the door. There he sat with a broody expression, contemplating on everything that had happened. He didn’t want to admit that the villagers were right and he was some kind of demon. He still believed that magic wasn’t inherently evil. After all he knew for a fact he’d made no pact with the Devil. However, as Father Aldstan had said, that wasn’t the important question anyway. People viewed him as a monster regardless. Perhaps in the end that was all that was needed for him to really become a monster.

Reviewing all that had happened during the day, his uncontrollable magic had first damaged their workshop; then he caused a fright in the whole village just by being, which in turn caused everyone to become hostile towards him and in extension probably his family, endangering their peace and quiet. He feared that the most. He didn’t want to be causing others trouble just because he was born somewhat different. It wasn’t even his decisions that were burdening others. If it was that, then had he enough conviction he could put his foot down and defend his position. But this was not something he’d decided for himself. He had just spontaneously become magical. It wasn’t his choice to cause trouble. It was his very nature that led to this and he couldn’t fight his nature. He felt doomed to be a burden to others. Was there something evil about him after all?

All of a sudden, a knock came at the door and his mother’s voice was heard from the other side, “Wiz are you all right? Did something happen? You seemed upset”.

Wiz didn’t feel like talking at the time. He just wanted to be left alone. He didn’t know how to unpack all that he felt to someone else. So much had happened in such a short while after all.

“You need to talk if you’re not fine, Wiz. You shouldn’t keep it in”.

He still did not reply. Despite that, the sounds of what seemed like his mother sitting down on the other side were heard.

“Did someone try to hurt you?”

“No, just…”

“Just?”
“They must all know by now. And they don’t want me here”, Wiz found himself replying to his mother’s more specific prompts.

“Are you worried about what they think?”

“Not that… but I don’t think they’ll just let us be. Garvus’s mom already forbade him to talk to me”.

“You don’t need to worry about that. Your father and I will find a solution”.

“Does that include moving away from here?”

“If we have to”.

“I don’t like that”.

“We just want to protect you”.

“I don’t want to keep hurting people”.

“You haven’t hurt anyone”.

“But I have! You, dad, Garvus, the village”.

“The village will be fine. Your father and I are only trying to protect you. It’s only natural for us to do what we can with that goal in mind. And although your separation from Garvus is unfortunate, that is not your own doing”.

“But would all of this be happening if I wasn’t like this?”

“Wiz, you are no different from the person you were yesterday. Are you going to despair because of one bad day when there were no problems before?”

“I’ve changed in everyone’s eyes and that’s what matters”.

His mother sighed and after a short pause, “To be frank, this isn’t the first time you’ve done something like this”.

*What? When was this?*

“Although I’m not actually sure it really was something abnormal since I never really got to see it very clearly and before I could confirm my suspicions it stopped happening, so I kinda forgot about it. That was around when you were two years old. Back then, I thought maybe you had some kind of powers like what my father described of my family. If it’s magic after all that doesn’t change anything. I’ll always love you regardless of what powers you do or don’t have. I was always prepared for this possibility. When your father and I chose to live here, we knew that there may be problems due to our different way of thinking. So, don’t think you’ve got some responsibility toward us. In fact, I should be the one apologising for letting this happen…”

Wiz did not reply immediately. For once, his mother’s words seemed to reach him somewhat and he considered them carefully. The fact that he might have been using magic before itself was surprising. So, this power had definitely not appeared suddenly now, but did that make any difference? What did his mother having suspicions beforehand mean for him? Did he really not have to take responsibility? Before he could completely answer those questions in his head, there came a heavy knock at the door.

“I’m sorry, Wiz. I should answer that. I’ll be back though”.

He heard the sound of his mother’s steps and then, after a short interval of silence, the sound of voices talking. It seemed there was more than one person at the door. Wiz couldn’t tell what was being said, but he noticed the volume of the voices was gradually rising. Then in a snap, the talking turned into yelling. The people were angry. Of course they were. Wiz was almost surprised there was no mob threatening to kill him, yet.

At one moment, one of the voices rose above the others and Wiz was able to make it out more clearly, “He’s a danger to Burkborrow! What if he summons more of that lightning?”

The man’s words –it escaped him in that moment, which of his fellow villagers he was– reached him like daggers in the heart. That’s right. It didn’t matter if his parents were ready to accept him that way. It didn’t matter if they were fine moving away. No matter where they went, Wiz was still a danger to everyone, his parents included. Today it was the smithy, but what would it be next time? If he couldn’t find a solution for that, then what was the point of bringing more trouble to them? But what solutions were there?

The shouting continued for a while and then stopped abruptly, although Wiz barely noticed. His mother returned, but this time he remained silent all the while. While previously he’d been worked up and let tears flow down his cheeks, now he felt himself going numb, growing out of tune with his surroundings. The day passed gloomily with him secluded in his own world, although he barely paid heed to the passage of time. At some point, his father must have returned, because he heard his voice and a discussion between him and his mother. He missed most of it, although he caught some lines about it being too dangerous to go back to Yorkanton and possibly finding his uncle. He’d soon forgotten about it though.

Wiz remained unresponsive after his father tried to talk to him as well and even when his mother left dinner by the door and continued to be in this state until after midnight. However, at some point when the moon had began its descent down the sky, as seen by a window, Wiz suddenly started moving again. He finally made a decision and having gathered his determination, he realised he should start acting as quickly as possible. With that in mind, he silently opened the door and gratefully accepted the dinner still left behind.

Due to the difficulty of doing it without waking his parents up and the several times he remembered there was something more he needed, it took him a while to get ready. By the time he’d prepared a backpack with all the supplies he deemed necessary and could find during the night, the moon was long gone from the sky and Wiz suspected sunrise wasn’t too far off. As such, he hurried and walked out the door. He was surprised with himself, how easy it was to just pack his stuff and leave. Maybe it was because it had taken him so long deliberating what to do that when he finally came to the one and only conclusion, there was only determination left behind.

He had one last look at his home and told himself that was it. He would probably not see the place again. Not for years at least. He held back a few tears that surprisingly formed in his eyes in antithesis to his determined attitude, and started his way out the village. Soon enough, everyone would start to wake up, so he had to hurry. Whether they tried to stop him or chase him away, Wiz wanted to avoid such encounters.

He didn’t have any plan as to where he was going, he’d only thought as far as getting out of the village as fast as he could. He didn't know what he'd do then, but there'd be time to figure that out. For now, he just had to make sure not to be noticed until he was far enough. Which is exactly what happened when, not too far out of the village still, Wiz came upon another silhouette in the darkness of the moonless night. He couldn’t be sure with so little light, but before he could even try to escape unnoticed, it looked like he’d been seen.

While he cursed his luck for encountering the only person out and about in the vicinity of the village, his suspicions were confirmed when the stranger spoke in a masculine voice, “It is pretty early for a little boy to be wandering alone, don’t you think?”

“It is pretty early for an adult to be travelling alone, too!” Wiz replied, trying to make out the man's appearance .

“I am not your typical traveller, though. Hmm, but it seems it's not so long before sunrise after all”, the man pointed to a barely visible orange skyline forming over the mountains in the east.

At that moment, as if on cue, a ray of light illuminated his face, so that Wiz could just barely see the man's long hair and beard. He also seemed to be wearing some kind of hat, one that ended in a pointy tip. Pointy?

“Are you the Orange Wizard?!” the boy asked in a mix of awe and surprise.

“I’d rather be addressed as Mardolf! I’ve had enough people calling me ‘the Orange Wizard’ or ‘the Sorcerer of Oranges’ and so many other names. Why are you sneaking out of the village in the dark, boy, anyway?”

“Probably, for the same reason you are sneaking in in the dark. I don't want to be seen”, Wiz responded, not sure what to think of his situation; he had said he wanted to speak with the wizard less than one day ago and here he was now, but the circumstances were not those he imagined.

The wizard chuckled slightly, “Clever! But the question remains, why are you sneaking out of the village?”

“Because they’re better off without me”, the boy said with a melancholic tone.

“How sad to hear a young boy think so; even if he hardly knows what he's talking about. Tell me then, how come you are doing such a self-sacrificing, yet reckless thing?” the magician sounded weary and even in the darkness he looked sadder.

“I just found out I can do magic, but... I don't know how to control it. I destroyed my father's workshop. And the other villagers are already turning against us. My parents don't need this. I’m too dangerous for everyone”.

“Turn back, boy, this isn’t going to help you and it won’t help your parents either!”

“You don't understand! If I stay, I'll only hurt them. I’ll-” At that point, however, an idea came to Wiz all of a sudden, one so obvious that he wondered how come he’d not considered anything similar at all until then. “Wait... What if you taught me?” the boy quickly grew excited in stark contrast to his broody state only moments ago.“I could become your apprentice! That way, I wouldn't hurt people. Maybe I could even help people. My parents”.

In the little but increasing light, Wiz could see Mardolf smile a melancholic smile .

“I wish I could help, but I am not in this business of mastership any more. It usually doesn’t end well. And in any case, I can sense the nature of your magic. It is not quite the same as mine. I would only be able to teach you so much. I am sor-”.

“Please, isn’t there anything you can do?” the boy lost his enthusiasm.

“Let me finish. I am sorry I can’t help you with that. *But”* , he stressed the word, “There's a friend of mine who is also a magician. His style is a lot more similar to yours and he might accept you. But I warn you that he hasn't accepted an apprentice in years. I can take you to him -he lives in the capital of this land- but it's up to you to prove yourself”.

Wiz looked up at Mardolf, his disappointment turning back to excitement and as the tip of the sun appeared behind the boy, he could see the orange robes; the still mostly blonde tufts of hair on the wizard's head; a kind smile on his face.

“But all of that only if your parents agree of course”.

Upon his return by the side of the magician and when his parents were brought back from their frantic search, Wiz received a flustered hug from his mother and subsequently an admonishing from both of them, which however he could feel overflowing with concern and relief. Even before he suddenly disappeared, he must have made them very worried with his act. And then when he went missing, they couldn’t even ask help from their neighbours. In retrospect, Wiz realised his actions had been more inconsiderate than what you’d expect for something done in consideration of them.

Once they felt satisfied in confirming their boy was fine and having released their built up stress, they finally had enough room to think about more than their family and turned to Mardolf. It was more than surprising to find a man such as him escorting their son, but they had to thank him nonetheless.

“You have our utmost gratitude”, his mother began. “Really, we can’t thank you enough. Will you come in for some tea? Oh, but we haven’t asked you for your name, how rude of us”.

“Mom! Can’t you tell just by looking, he’s the Orange Wizard of course”, Wiz called after her as she almost forcibly led Mardolf inside the house.

“That’s not a name, son. Also that’s stereotyping”, his father interjected; his tone was jovial despite the situation they were in until very recently, but that might have been intentional so as to discharge the tension.

“This way please. I’m Mira and that’s my husband Roland. Of course, you’ve already met Wiz. And you’d be?” Wiz’s mother spoke as she directed the wizard to sit down by their table.

“Mardolf. The name’s Mardolf. Although I am unfortunately also known as the Orange Wizard like your son put it”.

“A wizard huh? That’s curious”, the father replied eyeing his son, as Mardolf hand-signalled the mother that tea wasn’t necessary. “What brings you so far out to our places?”

“Just some old obligations I’ve been meaning to see to for a while now”, the magician said as he resigned that he’d be served tea whether he liked it or not. “More importantly though escorting your son back here is not the only reason I’m here”.

“Is that so?”

“When I met Wiz outside the village he was in quite the depressed state, but as I’m sure you’ll have noticed that is no longer the case and it’s not just because he met an old man. His mood changed because he came up with the plan to become my apprentice”.

Roland’s eyes frowned a bit as the implication of the suggestion dawned on him. Mira’s head popped up from the kitchen, “You want to take Wiz with you?”

“Actually no. I declined”.

“What’s that? Are you saying he’s not good enough for you?” Wiz’s father did not take kindly to that response either.

“No no, I simply do not take students myself. Wiz himself does have potential I believe”.

“How can you tell?” Wiz was curious, even as his father still looked unappeased.

“One can sense such things if they’re trained enough”.

“If that’s the case and you don’t intend to take him, why are you here then?” Wiz’s mother made sure not to be left out of the conversation even though she was in a different room.

“I had a counter-proposal that led us here. A friend of mine in Argenturbs, by the name of Geidrich, has in fact been in search of an apprentice for a while. Although he can be picky, I believe your son has a chance to be accepted”.

“What if he’s not?” Roland enquired.

“I could look for other masters who might take him, but I can’t necessarily guarantee as good living conditions or quality of teaching as Geidrich would provide. Alternatively I can bring him back and you go with whatever plan you had formed prior to my interjection”.

“Ultimately though it does come down to him having to go away”, Mira sounded sad.

“My understanding is that the village has been responding negatively to Wiz’s new-found powers. I don’t know how you were planning to deal with it, but surely it would be difficult to resolve the situation with Wiz staying here. I’m not here because I want to split up families. I merely suggest this plan, because Wiz could get the chance to learn control over his powers in a supervised environment, without danger to himself or others”.

“We could possibly move to the capital as well to be with him”, Roland thought out loud.

“I’m not sure if I’d recommend that if you’re not forced to. Geidrich may live there currently, but magicians can be rather busy. There’s no guarantee he’ll stay there. If he takes Wiz with him, will you keep following them around the country every time they need to move? You’ll have to stop somewhere eventually, but you have a life here already. Besides, the capital is not all that friendly a place to be in either”.

“Being separated at such a distance though… And we don’t even have cars here”.

Mardolf raised his eyebrow a bit at the mention of cars, but continued nonetheless, “Your son would have to leave the nest eventually anyway. You can see this as an early step towards independence. This happens with a lot of families in this land at even earlier ages anyway”.

It looked as though Wiz’s father was growing irritated again by Mardolf’s continuous rebuttals and muttered something about their not being like other families. However, before he could say anything more, his wife arrived somehow managing to balance a few cups of tea and a plate of cold jerky in her hands.

“Mira, what is this? Jerky with tea?”

“What? It’s good! Let me treat our guest”, she sounded indignant.

While it’s true that meat could be scarce in a kingdom that did not know of mass production yet, Wiz’s mother was not your typical medieval housewife. Beyond applying the skill she’d acquired in sewing and other crafts, she also occupied herself with other activities in varying frequency, one of which happened to be hunting. As such, not only was their family in a position to possess such jerky, but also to be able to freely offer it to guests as a tasty breakfast snack to go with tea.

Wiz wrinkled his nose at the scent of the tea as his mother passed the cups around, “Don’t you have something less caffeinated?” he requested.

“Shush you! You think you deserve special treatment after the stunt you just pulled?”, she wouldn’t have it. “Now then. Herr Mardolf seems to think very highly of Herr Geidrich, but is there anything more you could tell us about him? You understand I’m sure that we can’t simply hand off our son to just anyone”.

“I’ve known Geidrich for the longest time”, Mardolf sipped some tea, but had not as of yet touched the jerky. “He and I basically grew up together. He’s one of the best people I know. I can assure you he’s a very kind person who will respect your son and treat him fairly. He loves what he does and I’m sure he’ll be passionate about teaching as well”.

“Even so, meeting him in order to judge ourselves would be best”, Roland said. “It’d be three days’ travel to Argenturbs by cart, but I don’t know if we can get one. Perhaps in Otter’s Spring, if the news haven’t already spread there”.

“A cart isn’t needed. I can take you there today”, Mardolf replied and was met with a lot of surprised looks, Wiz’s specifically being coloured by excited glee, but he wasn’t entirely alone in that feeling.

“What seriously? You can do that?” his father asked.

“Why yes, we wizards can have conveniences like that”.

“Magic sure is something. Makes you wonder what all those rumours about you walking from village to village were”.

“Ah, those were different circumstances”.

“I do believe we’re getting somewhat off-track”, Mira interjected. “You’d be fine then with taking some of us with you to the capital, Herr Mardolf?”

“I don’t see a problem. And I understand you would be concerned over your son being alone with a stranger like me”.

“And when would you be able to take us?”

“Today preferably”.

Wiz almost yelped in alarm at the sound of that. Although he’d been excited at the idea of this new apprenticeship and glad a solution had been found, he wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to his old life just yet. A look to his parents revealed that they might have been more prepared for such an answer, but were still distraught. “So soon…” his mother muttered.

“I’m afraid I’m rather busy and can’t stay here too long. And if the situation gets any worse soon, the villagers could get violent. I’m sure we’d all like to avoid that”.

“Of course…” Mira responded. “I more or less have an idea of what you’re proposing now. I do have one last question though. Why are you so keen on helping a few strangers like us?”

The wizard smiled faintly, “Why indeed? I was once a magician boy myself. Perhaps, I relate to him. Or I might want to groom the next generation. Who knows?”

“I see. In that case, could you give us some time to discuss this?”

“Of course. I believe I saw a rather pretty forest while I was getting here. Perhaps I’ll go have a walk. Now let’s see”, Mardolf looked at his left arm at what appeared to be a watch -an operating one unlike any of the ones Wiz had seen before– “How about I return by noon and we see what we’ll do by then?”

Having agreed to that arrangement, the little party broke off with most of the tea drunk and the jerky barely touched by anyone other than Wiz, who was just hungry and didn’t drink tea anyway, and his mother. Mardolf quickly took off and Wiz wondered how he’d manage in the village now that it would be bustling with activity, especially with tensions already risen due to him. However, no disturbance ensued after his departure, so he had to assume the magician had slipped away somehow.

Although the boy had been content letting the adults do most of the conversation previously, himself having already pretty much decided, once Mardolf left, the centre stage returned to him. While his parents still hesitated to give him up and wanted to talk about that, the question of what Wiz wanted was quickly raised.

“I think trying out Mardolf’s plan is the best choice right now”, he replied thoughtfully. “I did after all originally suggest becoming Mardolf’s apprentice. I don’t want to separate from you… But I don’t know if there’s another way”.

“You’re probably right”, his father admitted. “And if that’s what you want, we shouldn’t stop you. Granted that this Geidrich fellow is to be trusted. We need to make sure to judge him thoroughly”.

“In regards to that, I think you should probably stay behind, Roland. We haven’t decided if we want to move to the capital as well, yet, so it’d be sensible to continue repairs on the smithy for now. In the meantime I can go with Mardolf and Wiz to meet Geidrich and find out if we can stay in Argenturbs or not”.

“Mmm. That seems reasonable. Though I’d hate to be here alone not knowing what’s happening where you are”.

“I’m sure you can manage as much, honey”.

“Don’t be sarcastic now”.

They continued to mull over the several details of the proposal for some time and Wiz used this chance to savour this time with his family, knowing it would (probably) come to an end very soon. After a while, though, Wiz had to break off of them even as their time together was limited in order to deal with some more of his responsibilities.

As the good friend he was, Wiz did not make it his business to remember Garvus’s day-to-day schedule, something which often infuriated Garvus when Wiz would make plans forgetting everything his friend had told him. However, in that occasion he just happened to have an idea –or maybe he just searched his brains that hard enough, something which he did not typically have the willingness to do– and he headed for the little forest at the south of the village –not the one he typically explored or where Mardolf must have gone to now, but rather a smaller and younger one– where he believed Garvus and his brothers must have gone foraging and picking up wood.

Although he’d been very scared to deal with his fellow villagers last day, now that he felt he’d found his place in the world again, his confidence in facing the village had returned. Even so, he kept to the safe side, opting to avoid causing an incident and walked out the village as discreetly as possible. Upon reaching the forest, he soon was met with the sight of children, both older and younger than him, scattered all around collecting wood branches, food or other provisions. Some of them saw him, too, and then proceeded to look the other way with a scared expression or even moved farther away from him. Wiz did not mind though, for it was only a specific person he was looking for. He did play with the other children too, of course, but as their reaction now showed he was not nearly as close with them as with Garvus.

As he searched, memories of all the occasions he’d dragged Garvus around for whatever crazy idea he got at the time came to him. Once, he remembered, he’d woken him up in the middle of the night to go observe the full moon, because it looked “different” that night. Another time he’d brought his friend with him in the rain to try a recipe of making waterproof fire he’d found. It was by no means magic, but Wiz had just gotten carried away in the moment, curious to see if it’d work. It didn’t and they both got a good scolding after they returned home soaked.

Garvus was by no means a willing sidekick, but he’d ultimately always gone along with Wiz’s absurd plans, even if he made it his mission to try and inject some sense into them lest they destroy the world one day. And although he complained a lot and teased him (before or after Wiz’s spectacular failures and sometimes maybe both), Wiz knew he enjoyed the ride nonetheless. To that good friend, he now had to say goodbye.

A few turns around trees later, Wiz found his friend gathering mushrooms. Behind a tree trunk, he started waving his hands to get the boy’s attention without being noticed by his brothers, but as soon as Garvus saw him his face assumed a sour exasperated expression. He proceeded to try and shoo Wiz away with his hands. Wiz would have none of it, however,and he started signalling for Garvus to come close even more frantically. Garvus responded with the mimicking of walking with his fingers, then pointing at Wiz, showing the mushrooms and then pointing at himself. Wiz waved his hands no and motioned for Garvus to join him behind the tree with wide movements of his arms, trying to show it was important. Garvus’s next set of charades included him kicking the air, hitting his fist upon his open hand and angrily shaking it at him. Wiz was about to answer in kind, but then it occurred to him that this would probably not be very productive. Instead he called out to him as quietly as he could muster, “Come here you fool”.

Garvus responded similarly, “Wiz, I thought you understood yesterday. Though you did seem kinda weird. We can’t be meeting like-”

“It’s not about that”, the other boy cut him off. “This is a lot bigger than that. We need to talk”.

Garvus sighed and finally gave up, approaching Wiz to talk to him.

“I hope to God no one sees us or I’ll get hell just because of you. I figured you might want to try risky things like meeting up in secret, but it’s crazy when my brothers are right there! So, what’s it?”

Typical Garvus, laying down all his objections and then jumping right on board anyway. Wiz smiled, but also felt a twinge of sadness at the same time realising that what he was about to tell his friend meant he wouldn’t get to experience the typical Garvus any more.

“Okay, so I got a bit panicked yesterday night –or was it today morning– and tried to run away”, Wiz started talking quickly, ignoring Garvus’s exclamation at his revelation. “But then I met Mardolf and he brought me back. Ah that’s the Orange Wizard, of course”. He received even further surprise from the boy. “Long story short, he wants me to try to become a wizard’s apprentice. Not his though, his friend’s. I think he called him Geidrich. But I’ll have to go to the capital. And I’m leaving today and I’ll very likely not be coming back. So basically what I’m saying is I need to say goodbye”, and with that he let himself breathe.

Garvus was left dumbfounded afterwards and needed a moment to process all the information, “An apprentice… In the capital… That would indeed be a good solution to your problem. Though it’s very sudden. But that’s probably for the best. Hmm yes this make a lot of sense. The Orange Wizard though, ha? I guess it’s rightful that he’d fix the problems he caused”.

Wiz was about to ask what Garvus meant by that, but then he remembered that he had indeed first released his magic after getting excited about meeting the Orange Wizard.

“So that means we’re parting. There go your dreams about uncovering the magic of Burkborrow. What a shame. But then again you should probably not complain with the amount of magic you’ll get to stuff in your brain at a magician’s study. Good for you”.

“The story’s that I’m going to live with a relative far away from here, so don’t blow it. My parents might still stay here, so it’d be troublesome if everyone learnt the truth”.

“Duly noted”.

Both boys paused unsure what else to say. Then, Wiz spoke up, “So I guess this is is goodbye”.

“I guess this is goodbye”, they stared at each other for a moment then Garvus continued. “I suppose you must not have a lot of free time right now and I’ve got to get back too, so…” he made to turn back, but then Wiz grabbed his friend’s arm and stopped him. Tears were welling up in his eyes.

“You jerk! Why are you so emotionless? Your friend’s leaving forever! Is that all you’ve got to say? Idiot!”

“You’re the idiot! Leaving forever? Don’t kid me. I’m sure someone as stubborn as you would make sure to come back no matter what. So, it’s not goodbye you know. It’s auf wiedersehen”, the pitch of their voices was rising dangerously and so they were getting squeaky.

“Oh is that so? You think you’ve got it all figured out? Well, I’ll let you know that you say my dreams are gone just because I’m leaving, but actually my will still lives on here! So in my stead go on and become a great scholar yourself, the grand scholar of Burkborrow respected by everyone”.

“I don’t think Burkborrow needs a scholar”.

“They think they don’t, but you show them what’s right. So, make sure that by the time I’ve come back you’ll have educated them well enough so that they’ll welcome me with open arms. That’s how good of a scholar I want you to be. And I’m sure you’ll be able to find the magic yourself, so don’t just let my dream die so easily”, by that point, both boys were letting their tears flow freely, with no care for their boys’ pride.

“That’s one tall order you’ve given me”.

“Well you know me, always attempting impossible tasks”.

“Wiz…”

“Yes?

“You know… I don’t think you’d make for a very good scholar anyway”.

And the crying was mixed with laughter, as was appropriate for this bittersweet conversation.

Removing himself from his friend and parting for who knows how long was a lot harder than Wiz had anticipated before he met up with Garvus. He’d gotten a lot more worked up than he expected. In the end, Garvus’s younger brother had to come looking for him in order for the two boys to remember they should both be going. On his way back, Wiz tried to dry his eyes so that it wouldn’t show to his parents he’d been crying. However, it wasn’t long after he entered the village again that he encountered a young girl before his path.

It was a person he’d not met a lot in person –in fact Wiz couldn’t remember a time when they’d directly spoken to each other off the top of his head–, but she was not entirely unfamiliar to him. She was the daughter of the Perrauts, referred to as such by most rather than her given name because of how much of a sheltered life she lived that led to most villagers having barely met her even in their close-knit rural community. Wiz pondered how rare it was to meet her like that, out in the open. In fact, now that he thought about it, wasn’t she supposed to be at a boarding school at that time?

Wiz shared a rather strange relationship with that girl. The Perrauts had always piqued Wiz’s interest, because they also happened to be foreigners and Wiz wondered why their families did not get along any better due to that common denominator. Perhaps they were separated by class because the Perrauts were rich, or at least understood to be by the common villagers of Burkborrow. Wiz, too, lacked a standard to compare them in order to determine how wealthy they really were. However, what had actually driven him to approach Carter Perraut, the father of the family, was the man’s study, the largest collection of books one could find in miles. Also, practically the only one aside from what books you could find at the church and the couple his own parents had at home, but its uniqueness did not mean it would compare any less handsomely if there were more rivals. The young Wiz, thirsting for knowledge of all kinds, found himself tempted by the idea of such collection and the man who hoarded them so near him.

At first, when he’d talked to Perraut, he’d seemed hesitant about the idea, but eventually he’d allowed Wiz access to the study and most of the books it offered. By some allusions of his, Wiz suspected that the man’s daughter might have had something to do with convincing him. He wasn’t sure why she’d do so, but he’d figured with such overprotective parents, she probably didn’t have many friends. Contrary to that idea, however, she hadn’t utilised that chance to talk to him at all.

But that did not mean their communications were non-existent. Their similar roots from the lands of Galaz tied them together and they soon ended up exchanging messages through various means written in Expian, the language both had learnt at home. Thrilled by the idea of communicating in a language that only they understood, they’d proceeded to talk about all sorts of stuff freely, including making fun of their neighbours. In the end, however, the fun had to end when they were reminded they weren’t the only speakers of that language by their angry parents who’d discovered what they’d been doing.

And thus such were the circumstances that had led to him being acquainted with her and yet only then getting to see her face so clearly for the first time. Wiz had come to the conclusion that the girl was a cryptic person who enjoyed operating from the shadows rather than openly; or alternatively that was the only way she could sneak through her parents’ vigilance to contact the world outside her home (and school in recent years). This understanding made it all the more peculiar to Wiz that she would choose to walk out in the open like that on that occasion.

And the first impression she had on Wiz on that special occasion was how she was actually taller than him. She was in fact around the same age as him, but what he had not accounted for was the girls’ tendency to grow faster than boys at that age. Wiz walked towards her, unsure if her staring at him was because she intended to talk to him or because she was also scared of him, but he felt somewhat intimidated by her imposing demeanour either way. The height difference might have been a factor, too. As he came close, she finally spoke.

“I learnt that you’re leaving fer the big city tae become a braw wizard!” she said with a straight-voweled rhotic accent of Expian; Wiz remembered she’d mentioned in one of their exchanged letters that her family had origins in a land called Batheia.

Wiz was caught off-guard by that statement, more of an announcement than a question, “How do you know that? It’s hardly been decided”.

The girl laughed a little at his confusion, “Those who have ears hear”.

“And would you consider that most don’t have ears?” Wiz was caught up in the moment and forgot the original topic.

“Not like some dae”, she said emphatically.

“Like who?” Wiz continued to be clueless.

“So, in the end, you’re running away”, she ignored the question. “Is it because they’re scared of you? Because you’re scared of them?”

Wiz frowned, “What else was I supposed to do? It’s more complicated than that”.

“I’m nae scared of you though. It’s a pity you’re leaving. Ah was rather fond of ye”.

“You barely knew me”, Wiz noted perplexed.

“I dinnae need to meet you, to ken you, Wiz Ardon”, the girl seemed to take enjoyment in confusing him. Wiz supposed she meant the letters they’d shared, but on top of it she’d just called him a word which he didn’t quite recognise immediately. He wondered if it was part of her Batheian dialect, but Wiz thought he’d seen it before somewhere. Searching all over his mind, he finally remembered stumbling upon it in a book that inserted a lot of old Galazian words in its text. If he recalled correctly, it meant something like…

“Who’re you calling strange? You’re one to talk”, Wiz did not mind that characterisation so much, but he couldn’t ignore that the kettle was calling the pot black.

Somehow she managed to chuckle without diminishing that mysterious air of hers, “I guess ye might be right. Ah’m a strange yin as well”, being amused seemed to thicken her accent. “I shouldn’t keep you long though. I telt you whit I wanted. Good luck and haste ye back”.

With this rather abrupt end to the conversation, the Perrauts’ daughter turned to leave. Wiz, however, had still questions unanswered, “Wait, where are you going? You haven’t explained anything yet. What was this meeting all about?” However, the girl kept on walking without responding and Wiz didn’t follow her, although it was probably due to the pressure of time rather than any particular respect for her wishes. And thus the odd meeting was concluded with further mystery and Wiz was further convinced the girl liked to be cryptic for the sake of being cryptic.

By noon, Wiz was just about done packing. Although he had already gone through a similar process during the night, he needed a rather different array for this kind of journey and had to start all over. Perhaps, it took him so long because deep down inside he didn’t want to be ready to leave.

If there was any working watch in the house, perhaps its residents could have noticed that the wizard’s knock had taken place right on twelve o’clock. When Mardolf arrived, Wiz had to dash for one last thing and thus he wasn’t there when his mother opened the door. She greeted him warmly, though some melancholy was concealed behind her smile.

“It’s about time then”, the wizard spoke. “Is he ready?”

“In a few moments”.

“I see. Will you and your husband be coming with?” Mardolf took note of the travelling clothes the woman was wearing.

“Just me. Roland will stay here to continue working on the workshop”.

“You’ve chosen to stay here after all then?”

“We haven’t decided yet. We’ll determine what the best choice is once I visit Argenturbs and meet Geidrich”.

“That seems reasonable”.

Wiz and his father showed up at that moment, the latter carrying a suitcase while the former wore a backpack, both of which were filled to the brim. “I’m ready”, the boy announced.

“We’ll be leaving at once if you don’t mind, so how about you say your final goodbyes. Bear in mind that you might not come back and your father might not come with you later”.

Roland put the luggage down and then knelt down on Wiz’s level before proceeding to hug him tightly, “Be strong now. There’s a chance we might not see each other for a while, but I’m sure you’ll do great. Have confidence and go give them hell”.

“You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be fine, I’m sure of it. Even though I’ll miss you. But I’ll write letters and come visit if I can”.

“We’ll be able to meet for sure. I won’t just let my son be alone like that. I’ll always protect you”.

“I love you dad”.

“I love you, too, son”, the big man smiled to Wiz, whose eyes had gone watery. Then he ended his bear hug and getting up gave a hearty push on his child’s back, “Now off you go. Become a great magician your father can be proud of. Don’t you dare think you can slack off and do this half-heartedly. Your father will be angry if he had to let you go for something you don’t put your heart into”.

“Of course”, Wiz grinned. “When have I ever done anything other than what I love?”

He didn’t really want to go, but he couldn’t say that at that point. Besides, if he did, he felt that he’d lose all his determination. He couldn’t be weak now. There was only one path forward.

“I’ll see you soon”, he said instead of goodbye.

“Not if I see you sooner”, and with those silly cliché words father and son parted ways.

Once outside, Mardolf took a look around at the people moving about or loitering in the road, but he then motioned for them to move with no concern on his face. Wiz wondered what they were going to do about the two of them, the demonised kid and the man in actual wizard garb, but to his surprise he soon realised that none of the villagers were paying attention to them. He looked to Mardolf in amazement. Was this his doing? His mother also seemed to be curiously taking note of the fact.

This further examination revealed a different image of the man to Wiz. Now that he saw him in broad daylight and when he wasn’t distracted by a conversation that would decide his future or saying goodbye to his father, he noticed that the magician actually had a rather shabby appearance. His clothes were worn, sewed and patched up all over and his hat was crumpled and turning at a weird angle. To complete his image as wild wizard, he walked supporting himself with a knobbly wooden staff. Somehow, though, this image didn’t lessen his respect for him at all (not that he didn’t know a lot of raggedy people like that anyway).

They continued their way, Wiz with his backpack, his mother carrying the suitcase for him, Mardolf supporting his weight on his staff, and mostly stayed silent for a while, but as they approached the Old Woods, a thought occurred to Wiz, “If you can take us to the capital right away, why are we walking?”

“Well, I consider it rather rude to teleport off of people’s homes and we can’t do it out in the village. We’re not really invisible, so casting this kind of magic would attract attention anyway. We’ll teleport once we get to the forest”.

“So, is that what you did? Made them not notice us even if they could see us!”.

“That’s a fancy trick”, his mother added.

“You think so?”

“Of course”, Wiz said excitedly. “This morning you also said one can sense things like someone’s magic, if you’re trained. How do you do that?”

“You just need to know where and what to look for. It’s not quite physical so it’d be hard to explain right now. Geidrich will surely teach you about it if he accepts you”.

“Do you always use magic so casually?” Mira asked.

“Not always. Part of being a good magician is knowing when to use magic and when not to. But a few conveniences here and there do not hurt”.

The question of using magic or not brought up a few of Wiz’s own thoughts, “Magic… do you think it lies closer with good or evil?”

“What’s this serious question all of a sudden? Have you been worried about that all this time?”

“I told you before, Wiz, you’re still the same sweet boy as always”, his mother weighed in. “Magic alone is not enough to sway you either way”.

“Well, I’ll admit I’ve met lots of magicians who went down the dark path. It’s not that hard, when you grasp this power in your hands that others don’t have, getting carried away is not that hard. I suppose if I were to say, magic isn’t quite good or evil, but it’s rather temptation. There’s a lot you can do with it. And humans have a great ability of imagining the worst things they can do to one another. If you don’t want to be corrupted, then you need to resist that temptation. That is the responsibility every magician carries. But I’m sure you’ll do fine, Wiz. Worrying about this shows your heart’s in the right place after all. You just need to keep your vigilance and you’ll not veer off the path you want to follow”.

Mardolf’s words weighed heavy on Wiz. Part of him had wished for a simple answer like the one his mother had offered, but he appreciated the wizard’s honesty. He wouldn’t have asked if he only wanted the easy answers.

“Is it really this bad?” Mira asked. “Surely, just magic like that can’t change someone so drastically”.

“You’d be surprised. It’s like getting rich all of a sudden. You can’t predict what a person like that will do. I’ve seen all sorts of things these past years”.

“There’s really that many people like that out there. And you never even realise it. Sounds scary”.

“You don’t know the half of it. But luckily there’s also people who will stand for what is right”.

“They must have guts. You should grow up to be like that, too, Wiz. Though preferably you’d stay out of danger”.

Soon enough, the three of them were properly concealed in the shadows of the Old Woods and Mardolf stopped. He offered a hand to each of them and instructed them to hold tightly.

“This part’s a bit tricky, so do your best to bear with it”, he warned.

Suddenly, Wiz experienced a most bizarre feeling. He felt like he was moving at an incredible speed, but couldn’t tell in what direction, if not all of them. His stomach tried to fly upwards, but his feet wanted to stay attached to the ground. His lungs tried to expand, but his whole body was being subjected to strong pressure from outside, as if the air was crushing him. Lastly, he felt himself being pulled by the arm that was grabbing onto Mardolf. Overall, it wasn’t the most pleasant feeling in the world. Thankfully, it only lasted momentarily, but it still left him dizzy and with an urge to vomit. His mother also looked pale, but Mardolf seemed fine.

“It takes some getting used to”, he asserted.

Wiz paid little attention to him at that point, though, because as he started to feel better he finally noticed his surroundings. They no longer were at the gnarled woods outside Burkborrow, but on a vast green plain that was framed by mountains in all the wrong places. Most eye-catching of all, however, was the enormous city that stood before them with its tall proud walls. Wiz had never seen anything like it outside of picture books. The actual city inside couldn’t be seen, but even just the walls with their multiple towers and the little ant-like figures crawling on top of them were impressive enough. A few more towers rose behind them were the only thing peaking above the walls and he assumed they belonged to the royal palace.

“It’s certainly an impressive sight”, Wiz’s mother responded to the glee on his face as she eyed it with interest herself. “It’s the first time for me, too, although I’ve seen other big cities before”.

Once his thoughts went back in order, Wiz realised that this was the first time Mardolf had cast real verifiable magic. Any time before that one could have rationalised it as the man deceiving them in some way or another, but this time there was no denying it.

“Shall we head there? If we don’t hurry, there might not even be time for Wiz to be tested today”, Mardolf waved in the general direction of the paved road unfolding before them and leading to the city’s gates.

“How come you didn’t take us inside right off the bat, near your friend’s house?” Wiz asked as they started down the road.

“There are enchantments in place so as not to allow this very thing. Otherwise enemy sorcerers could just break in any moment”, Mardolf explained.

“And who’s the enemy?”

“The other Six Kingdoms. Though I believe this one is currently on good terms with Ferrum Regnum and Viridi Regnum. But it’s unfortunate how the Seven Kingdoms are constantly feuding with each other”.

Wiz had learnt about the Seven Kingdoms of Castellar Regnum in his lessons, but it didn’t quite occur to him that the conflicts he knew of from history were still ongoing. He didn’t follow the current politics, but hardly anyone in Burkborrow did anyway. After all, any news other than outright war would rarely reach all the way to their village. However, it certainly made sense now that he thought about it. And the suddenly striking idea that a new war other than those he’d been taught of could break out in the future seemed frightening to him.

Soon they approached the gate and with it the hustle and bustle of people going in and out of the city. A lot more people than Wiz expected gathered in that one location, whether they were attending to some business or merely travelling like them. The group got somewhat dense as they neared the gate, but mostly because a cart happened to pass through at the time. The guards didn’t give them any trouble, though Mardolf did attract some gazes –from the public as well as them. And thus they got through to the other side.

The sight that they were met with was even more imposting than that of the walls. Layers upon layers of buildings of wood and stone stretched before them for as long as the eye could see. And the terrain went down a slope in that area before it rose again, so they could see a respectable amount. Houses big and small, old and new, luxurious mansions to the poorest of shanties created a colourful pattern like an oddly put together jigsaw. And rising above it all in the background was the royal castle, a majestic piece of architecture, created with both art and utility in mind.

“Welcome to Argenturbs!” Mardolf announced.

Wiz watched in awe as the sight unfolded before him. Besides the buildings themselves, the people impressed him as well. There were so many of them busy in the city streets talking loudly and causing a racket; Wiz thought he might have seen more people with one glance here than there actually were in his entire village.

They continued to walk through the crowd now and Mardolf talked, “Now Wiz. You must be careful in big cities like this. While magicians favoured by the king or the nobles are accepted here, you should know that the high class would see no problem regarding anyone they’ve not approved of as scum, a fraudster and a traitor. And if you make an enemy of them, you might have the commoners turn against you as well. It won’t be a lot different than what would have happened if you stayed in Burkborrow. Now, Geidrich will protect you and make sure you’re not persecuted by anyone if he takes you under his wing, but until you’ve made sure of his protection, you should exercise caution. And even after that, don’t do anything to turn the nobles’ attention on you. It’s better if they don’t register you at all”.

“This certainly is a complicated world Wiz is headed to”, Mira commented. “Are you sure it will be all right?”

“As long as your boy keeps a good head on him”.

“That is precisely what I’m afraid of”.

“Hey, I’m not that reckless. I know when not to push my limits”.

“Attempting to run off on your own seems pretty reckless in my book”.

“Are you going to hold that over me forever?”

“That was basically today!”

“There’s no need to argue. I’m sure it will work out”.

“No no, Herr Mardolf. If I am to let this gremlin start his new career on his own, I must make sure he understands the position he’s in first”.

“I get it. Believe me, I’m the last person who’d want me to be in danger. I’ll make sure to be safe”.

“We’ll see about that”.

“Geidrich would keep him in check as well, so don’t worry”.

It hurt Wiz that his mother’s trust in him had been wounded after the incident of his attempted running away, although he did understand why she’d think that way. He didn’t want it to be like this though.

It took some time to get deeper into the city, in the older and richer districts. On their way, Mardolf bought some food that could be eaten on the go, informing them they might not get to eat for some time subsequently. After they crossed a bridge across a river, they soon came to another smaller wall enclosing the part of the city where the nobility lived. Unlike the previous wall, however, when they arrived to its gate, the guards stopped them and asked their business.

“I am the wizard Mardolf the Orange! I am here to see the wizard Geidrich the Azure!” Mardolf informed them. Wiz wondered if Mardolf’s raggedy appearance would hinder him, but apparently the guards were fine with him.

“And the two of them?”

“They’re with me”, the magician said simply.

The questioning guard seemed to fight an urge to state that that was obvious since he momentarily rolled his eyes, but said no more. Beyond the status wizards who’d not been cast away by the high society enjoyed, it was common knowledge that angering a wizard leads to no good, so there was not much more the guards could do. Thus they were let through.

They were near their destination now and as a result both Wiz and his mother tensed up. On the one hand, the anxiety that he might not actually be taken in by Geidrich was finally starting to kick in. On the other, the sooner their journey was over, the sooner Wiz would have to say goodbye to his mother possibly and they didn’t know how quickly that would happen after they entered Geidrich’s house. They steeled their nerves, however, and kept on going.

Mardolf led them to a relatively small mansion, compared to the other buildings one would find in that district, which had however a sizeable garden. They let themselves into the grounds as there was no one or nothing to stop them and finally walked up to the doorstep. The magician knocked three times and Wiz breathed in deeply. He was really getting nervous now.

A manservant opened the door –at least Wiz understood him to be a servant when Mardolf asked him to inform Geidrich that they had arrived; the boy didn’t actually know to distinguish a servant from other people – and let them in. They were led to a chamber where a couple of people were waiting, one of them wearing similar clothes to the servant, the other one being a young woman, who naturally was dressed in entirely different garb. They both eyed the suitcase Wiz’s mother was carrying expressionlessly. Although they didn’t probably have any luggage like that, they likely understood what it was used for and they must have thought it presumptuous of them to bring it with them, even if they didn’t show it.

“Sir and the madam will have to wait here”, the servant explained. “The boy goes on alone”, he showed a door opposite the one they’d come from.

Wiz shot a frightened look at his mother and she seemed concerned as well. She grabbed her son’s shoulder as if to protect him from something. Wiz knew she was a brave woman who alone could face any dangers, but even she couldn’t relax so easily when it came to her son.

“Don’t worry. Wiz will be fine”, Mardolf reassured. “This is just how Geidrich does things, but he won’t harm Wiz. He won’t be alone anyway. The other children who are waiting will be there, too”.

Wiz didn’t want to go alone at all, but he had to, so he took another deep breath and nodded to his mother as if to say it would be all right. “See you on the other side”, Mardolf said. “I’ll be cheering you on”, his mother seemed to have found her confidence again, even if it was merely a mask. With that, Wiz followed the servant to the other room.

There he found three more people of varying ages, but not too far off his, sitting on a sort of stone bench that was embedded on the wall and went all around the entire room. The two of them, a boy and a girl, were very well-dressed in stylish clothes that Wiz suspected belonged to the noble class. The third person, however, a girl younger than all of them was the pure antithesis of the two others, wearing rags that barely constituted clothes and being dirty all over. Though the two opposite ends of a spectrum, Wiz thought he understood what they both were doing there. On the one hand, there were the nobles who hoped to rise in status by training in magic under a famous wizard. On the other hand, the poor girl had probably been left there by parents who didn’t know what to do with her in hope that Geidrich would take her in in their place. The fact that no guardian was waiting for her on the previous room supported that story. He *did* wonder, though, how they’d managed to get her through the inner wall.

As soon as he entered and sat down on his own corner, the other boy made a sound of “Tsk!” expressing clear disapproval in something about Wiz, who admittedly more closely resembled the dirty girl than the perfectly shining children of the nobles. Wiz examined him for a moment and the boy stared back with his sour expression turning rather hostile. Opposite him, the noble girl looked somewhat dejected or even bored. The younger girl was just simply cowering in her own corner trying not to attract attention.

After a few moments, perhaps once he’d made sure that no one was responding to his previous provocation, the boy spoke up, “I just don’t understand what *these* people are doing here. Magic is not something for commoners to handle. It rightfully belongs to the nobility. You guys can just go and get lost, because in a minute I’ll go in there and become Geidrich’s apprentice unlike any of you”.

 The older girl looked at him with an uninterested expression, “You do know that Geidrich was also once just a commoner, right?”

 “And what’s *your* problem?”

“Nothing. I’m just saying class has nothing to do with this”.

“Then what?”

“Talent. All these people are looking for is talent. Let me tell you all three of my brothers tried Geidrich’s test before me and none of them passed. I’m not going to pass either. The scaredy-cat who was abandoned by her parents for no reason actually related to magic surely won’t pass. And neither will you. None of us will. No one can handle Geidrich’s impossible tasks”.

“If you’re so sure you’re such a loser, then why are you even here?”

The girl shrugged her shoulders and then went back to ignoring everyone else.

 An impossible task? He remembered Mardolf mentioning that Geidrich hadn’t accepted an apprentice in years. He must have rejected a lot of them in that time. It certainly sounded ominous, but Wiz had never accepted the notion of such a thing before. Especially when it was someone else telling him it was impossible. That just made him want to try it all the more and prove they were wrong. It did make him nervous of course, hearing it’d be so difficult, but he wasn’t more bothered by that than the realisation that he’d have to wait a rather long time before he was tested himself.

The room was immersed into silence once again and the boy didn’t attempt to break it again. A few minutes later, just as he had said, the door at the end of the room opened and a voice asked for Dingfelder and the obnoxious boy walked in wearing an arrogant smirk to hide his own anxiety. After he was gone, no one else was interested in speaking to the others and there were no newcomers. It took a while for Dingfelder to finish, but eventually the noble girl was called in (Dingfelder must have left through some other way, because he did not return to the room). Wiz was left alone with the poor girl. Looking at her in her pitiable state –after a point Wiz realized she wasn’t trembling simply because she was scared– he wanted to help her, but he did not know how to.

 It took less time for the girl to finish and even less so for the young girl. Before he knew it, Wiz was called in, the last one of them all. By that point the day had progressed into evening and Wiz estimated it would end in a couple of hours at most.

On the other side of the door, Wiz found a man seated behind a desk, which was burdened by the weight of a good amount of books. He saw no bookshelves on the walls, though, so he thought that must not be the man’s actual study. There were large windows facing to the west, so the room was brightly lit at that hour.

The man himself was a bespectacled gentleman of shoulder-length hair and well-trimmed beard covering his cheeks, greyed too early making him look older than he actually was. A silver and golden ring bearing an azure-coloured gemstone glittered on his right hand’s finger. He was dressed in flamboyant blue attire with a few touches of silver and was currently examining Wiz just like the boy was doing the reverse.

“Your name is Wiz?” he asked finally.

“Yes it is”.

“Just Wiz, you’ve not received your second name yet?”

“No, just my birth name”.

“ And no surname?”

“No”.

“Even though you have a foreign accent?”

“My parents are from abroad, but I was actually born and raised here, so I’ve never made use of a surname you see”.

 “Understood”, the man known as Geidrich seemed thoughtful for a moment. Then he suddenly got up. “But damn that Mardolf! He has no sense of style. He walks around in those rags he calls robes and thinks that’s fine for everyone? What’s he mean with this? Bringing you all the way here in this roughed up state? Tell me, would it hurt to fix you up a little? Clean you up, get you some fresher clothes. What’s the big hurry? I see children day in day out, it’s not like it would have made any difference if you had arrived a bit later”.

Wiz remained silent during this outburst, dumbfounded by the issue Geidrich found with him. He hoped this didn’t mean he was already rejected.

“A great Enchanter once said that the most important factor in a successful magician is presentation. Hmm… We’ll really have to work in order to make you more presentable”.

If they had to work on him, then that must mean he hadn’t failed yet, “Eeer… You’ve spoken to Herr Mardolf?” he asked.

“Oh yes, he informed me you were coming”.

*When?* Wiz wondered.

“Now then. Come and sit. You don’t need to worry so much, I won’t bite”, the magician showed him to a chair and sat down again himself.

“You’re age twelve, correct?”

“Yes”.

“ You came from a village Northwest of here?”

Wiz thought it over for a moment, remembering where Burkborrow and the capital were on the map relative to each other, “Yes, Burkborrow”.

“What kind of life do you live back there?”

“Hmm. I lived with my parents and had to do chores for sure and help my parents with work when they needed it. But I also had lessons with my mother and the local priest. And I tried to unravel the mysteries of magic, in the field or with book research”.

“Quite the luxurious life for a villager. You said you were trying to unravel the mysteries of magic? Even before you discovered about having it yourself?”

How much had Mardolf told him and when did he get the chance to do it? “I was always interested in magic. I used to hear a lot of stories about it as a child, so I wanted to find it myself”.

“Is that why you want to be my apprentice now?” at that point Geidrich got up, came by Wiz’s side grabbing his arm stretching it out. He seemed to measure it.

Wiz was taken by surprise, but he figured the wizard probably wanted him to continue,“T- That and because I don’t have much of a choice any more”.

“Because your village doesn’t want you?” he inspected the other arm.
“Yes”.

“And why do you want to train under me specifically. I’m not the only magic teacher you could find”, the legs followed and Wiz had to stand up.

“Well, Herr Mardolf recommended you so I can trust you and he said you’re the best. And I’d like to strive to be the best of myself as well”.

“That is quite the admirable mindset. Would you mind if I have a look at your face for a moment?”

“A- ah, no?”

“Perfect”, the man got his face close to Wiz’s and examined it studiously. “Not a bad nose”, he muttered”, then he proceeded to pull the boy’s left eyelids open and look into his eye, then switched to the other one. “You’ve got some nice shapes there”.

After he let go, he took a piece of parchment from the desk and made some notes, “All right. I think we’re just about ready. There’s this task that I have all my candidates undertake. If you succeed, then I’ll take you as my apprentice. Come over here”.

Geidrich walked up to one window, which offered view to the garden, and Wiz followed, “Do you see that tree over there? I want you to go and get the fruit on it. And bring it back, by…” he pulled down his sleeve and looked at a watch. Wiz was almost surprised that both wizards he’d met carried a device so unusual for their kingdom, but then he noticed there were no numbers on the watch and instead of hands, little symbols of the sun, the moon and a couple of stars were perched on it and his amazement grew to a new level. “Let’s say by sunset”.

The tree looked like an apple one, but no apples were growing on it. He looked all over it baffled for a moment, but then his eye caught a ray of light reflected off something. On closer inspection, he realised it was a golden fruit that grew near the top of the tree.

“Hmm. It doesn’t look too hard, but there’s probably a catch. Nonetheless, I shall surely come back with it soon”, he said confidently.

“You seem very sure about this”.

“There’s no point in not being so”.

Besides the one he’d come from, the room had two more doors. Geidrich directed Wiz to one of them where another servant was waiting to lead him to the garden. Once outside, Wiz had to look for the tree for a while. Maybe it was being disoriented by going through all the rooms and hallways of the mansion, but when he got out he had little idea where he was relative to Geidrich’s room or the tree. Examining them one by one, he went from tree to tree. Some were entirely different, but there were more apple trees as well. Wiz regretted not paying closer attention to what his target looked like. The trees were few and far between relatively to the size of the garden, but simply going from one to another and inspecting them took a lot of time. It must have been more than half an hour later when he encountered the fourth tree he thought for sure must be the one. However, unlike the previous ones he really did find a golden apple on that one. Hoping Geidrich didn’t have more than one golden apple trees, he started examining it even more carefully.

It was obvious the fruit was out of his arms’ reach. However, that did not mean he couldn’t try to grab it. He suspected there would be a trick to it if everyone else before him had failed, but climbing up to get it was worth the try. After all, he needed to find out what made this task so hard in the first place. The lowest branches were close enough for him to grab, so climbing up wasn’t that difficult. He’d had a lot of practice at home after all. Yet, when he was about to reach the top and pop up above the tree’s leaves, he felt a strange sensation and then realised that instead of going up he was falling downwards. Moments later, he crashed on the ground face first feeling the scent of soil and grass in his nose.

Groaning in pain, he got up and looked around. There was definitely something suspicious about this tree, so he started searching for a way to get on top of it without climbing through the branches. To his surprise he very conveniently found a wooden ladder left on the wall nearby. Some more supplies like a bucket and big pair of scissors were placed with it and if Wiz knew about such professions he might have thought they belonged to the mansion’s gardener. But Wiz showed little care as to why they were there and instead simply chose to borrow the ladder for his task. It was somewhat heavy for him, but he carried it anyway and placed it on top of the tree. It came up a bit short, but it was better than nothing and he could deal with potential problems from up there. Or so he thought, but when he actually got up on it and neared the top an unknown force pushed him away and he dropped to the ground once more, this time on his back.

“Okay yeah so magical tree”, Wiz noted.

While still lying on the ground, the mansion rising above him caught his attention. He gazed at the plethora of windows it featured and wondered whether Geidrich was watching from one of them. Probably. Was he laughing at him right now? Not improbable.

Standing up once more, he inspected the tree one more time. Looking at it from other sides, at different angles, he looked for a clue, a piece to the puzzle, something that would lead him to the solution of this task. If the tree would not allow him to get near the fruit, did he have to reach it remotely? He picked up some rocks and tried to hit the apple, but his aim was way off. He wondered whether that was supposed to be the only way to get it and he’d just failed, but then he reasoned what sort of magician’s test relied solely on marksmanship? There had to be something more relevant he could do.

More relevant? Well, he was being tested for a magical apprenticeship. And it *was* magic that prevented him from getting the fruit. Maybe magic was the solution also. He hadn’t tried to consciously do magic before, but he’d have to start soon enough, so he might as well try now. He focused his mind on the apple and he imagined it moving. He tried to picture a connection between him and it and then the fruit following it. He created several mental images and thought about it in different ways, but it didn’t feel as easy to release his magic now as it’d seemed when he’d involuntarily done it before. Nevertheless, he persevered and although nothing happened for a while, at some point he thought he saw the fruit move ever slightly. There was no wind at the moment, so there was only one option. He was doing it! It hadn’t felt as real before, but now he definitely could tell he could use magic. For as he got more excited about it, the fruit reflected that and moved back and forth with increasing speed. Finally success. Soon enough, the movement would cause the apple to break off its stem and fly towards him. But Wiz celebrated too soon. Instead of that, a branch suddenly snapped with a loud crack and dropped right onto his face. That tree was sure not friendly.

When he looked again, grasping his face where it’d been hit, the fruit was still again. It looked like this wasn’t the way. There wasn’t a lot of time left, so he had to find something else quick. Although not all were as good, he started trying any ideas he got, like poking the apple with the fallen branch or trying to jump from another tree onto the special one, even though that wouldn’t normally be humanly possible. In the end, everything failed either backfiring on him or because he simply couldn’t make them happen.

The sun’s tip came to touch the mountains on the horizon. He would soon run out of time and he was getting nervous. He examined the tree again and again, from close and afar, from one side and the other, from any angle he could. Its image became imprinted on him from the frantic search so that he could still see it even when he closed his eyes. There must have been something. Something to help him. And then as the sun drew closer into the embrace of the mountains, it lit the right place from the right angle on the right time for Wiz to notice the glow of a faint reflected light. He was surprised to discover an apple. It was another apple. Not a golden one though. It was red, but far from normal itself. It was shrivelled and looked sickly. What the heck was that? Why would there be two apples on the tree of the task?

He looked to the sky, which was growing orange. Was that orange for Mardolf the Orange who would come to pick him up after he failed? At least he’d get to be with his parents a little longer, right? Wait, no! He couldn’t indulge himself into such a defeatist attitude. Not when he still had time left to do something about it. He’d promised he’d put his heart into it. He’d go all the steps to succeed.

Geidrich had told him to bring the fruit of the tree, but hadn’t specified which fruit. Perhaps, if he brought the bad apple, Geidrich would accept it. There was still a risk to trying anything other than the golden apple, but it was simply not possible to find a way to get it at that point. He grabbed the red apple, hanging from one of the lowest branches and it was cut off with no protest from the tree.

With no time to waste, Wiz dashed for the door he’d come from immediately. It luckily opened right away, but as soon as he entered, he realised there was an issue. The servant was gone and he did not know his way about the mansion. Geidrich sure liked to place obstacles in his way. It’s no wonder it was called an impossible task. With no other option, he tried to remember the path they’d taken before and trace it backwards. He looked for any object that would serve as a landmark on his way there and some did appear occasionally, but he took a lot longer to find them than he remembered them appearing last time. Soon even those stopped making any sense though and when all hallways and rooms started to look the same, when he’d be going this way or that for too long, Wiz started suspecting that it wasn’t him getting lost, but that the mansion itself wasn’t playing tricks on him. At that point, he wouldn’t be surprised if Geidrich had really enchanted the hallways to misdirect people or his candidates specifically.

His attempts to find his way were taking too long and he was beginning to panic. It no longer seemed very likely that he’d make it in time. To top it all off, he no longer could find any windows and thus couldn’t tell how long he had left, if at all. It became painfully clear, he had to prepare for the possibility of getting to Geidrich’s room after the sun had set. Did that mean simply accepting his fate of failing or was there anything more he could do?

All of a sudden after turning around a corner, he came across a painting he was sure he recognised from when he’d just left the room Geidrich was in, due to the strange concept it depicted, of a man being attacked by tiny people covering him all over –even though he’d never seen the hallway he had just come from before. With this encouraging twist, Wiz made the final dash to the door at the end of the corridor. He opened it and surely enough, Geidrich was in there. However, through the window behind him, he could see that the sun had disappeared behind the mountains, just recently in fact. It felt as though his innards were in all the wrong places.

“I… I have… brought it…” he announced regardless, trying to catch a breath, and held the wrinkly apple for him to see.

It looked as though Geidrich examined it for the moment, then he said, “Indeed that is the apple you are supposed to bring, but you know the sun has set”.

“I didn’t fail”, Wiz spoke before Geidrich could say anything more. “I didn’t run out of time. It’s still before sunset!”

Geidrich raised his eyebrows in a questioning expression, “How so?”

“Since the first part of the task required thinking outside of the box, this should be right as well. You asked me to bring the fruit before sunset. But you did not specify which one. It’s still before sunset. Tomorrow’s sunset. Thus, I have not failed”.

Geidrich gave him a truly surprised look and then laughed heartily, “How peculiar”, he said finally. “I was about to accept you anyway when you offered me the fruit, but I didn’t expect this. How unusual”.

“You’d accept me? Even if I hadn’t said that?” Wiz was confused.

“Whether or not you met an arbitrary deadline was of little concern to me. I intentionally rigged it so that you couldn’t anyway, so there’s no point fretting over it. I wouldn’t expect my candidates to perform perfectly without even having been trained yet. That would certainly be a paradox”.

“Then why?”

“Why did I set the limit? Tell me, do you know what I was testing you on with this task?”

“Not really”.

“It wasn’t about your magical talent. I already know you have great potential for it, the scent of magic’s all over you. Even a lowly warlock could tell that much”.

“It wasn’t about your intellectual abilities either ultimately. While certainly a factor, it wasn’t the main purpose of the test. One’s intelligence is rather easier to determine and it, too, can be groomed and shouldn’t be relied upon so heavily for someone who hasn’t been taught yet”.

“Physical abilities are also rather irrelevant and if they’re required at all later, you have time to improve on them. But there are qualities that cannot be taught, cannot be improved on with training, are quite hard to acquire if you do not possess them already. And yet they are essential for the making of a great magician. Being open-minded, not panicking at difficult situations, having perseverance. You may have the most talent in the world, but what could I do with you, if you lack those? You can go learn from other teachers, but I am looking for something higher than that here”.

“And so the time limit was set so that I could evaluate how you perform under pressure, how you handle situations that seem impossible. By offering me the fruit even after it was over you showed that you didn’t give up till the very end. It seems very simple, but no one has done it in the last few years that I’ve been administering this test. People tend to despair and give up too soon. Avoiding that was enough for me. I was about to tell you, but then you found your own loophole around it. How clever. I would most certainly be glad to have you as my apprentice”.

“Sir… with all due respect, you’re a bit of a jerk”, Wiz said but was actually overwhelmed with relief on the inside.

Geidrich responded with a chuckle and then, “With that said, how about you sit down? I was having a chat with your mother just now, so why don’t you join us”.

His… mother? To his amazement, Wiz found that truly his mother was in fact there in the room, on a chair positioned by the window. Was he so focused on Geidrich and convincing him that he’d tuned everything else out? She smiled at him, most likely glad that he had made it, but to Wiz it looked like she was saying, “Ha! You see? I was here all along”.

“Well done, lil’ guy”, she said with her actual voice. “I knew you could do it”.

Rather than sitting down, the boy dropped on a chair, exhausted both physically and mentally. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off he realised he was very tired and hot.

“Your mother and I were just discussing your living arrangements before you got here. I don’t know if you’re in a position to take it in right now though”, the wizard noted how tired Wiz looked. “Perhaps we should eat something first. You must be hungry”.

Subsequently, Geidrich led them to a dining room where they were served one of the most luxurious meals Wiz had ever had. Geidrich was a rather hospitable host and Wiz wondered whether he intended to treat them so from the start. They talked a little over some light topics and Wiz found out Mardolf had left to meet some acquaintances. Soon enough, however, more sensitive subjects were broached.

“So, mom, did you find out whether you can stay here or not?” Wiz had not brought up that topic himself a lot since the question had been laid, because he was conflicted about what he really wanted. On the one hand, he certainly didn’t want to be separated from his parents, but on the other he’d still feel somewhat guilty if they had to uproot themselves from their lives for him.

His mother’s smile at the time seemed to freeze. She didn’t answer immediately, but chewed on her food first. “Unfortunately it’s not that easy, like Herr Mardolf predicted. Herr Geidrich informed me earlier that he doesn’t intend to stay here in the capital for too long. It would not make sense for us to move here then”.

“My main residence”, Geidrich explained. “is located in a rather isolated area. There’s no settlement to be found for days. And while I would love to house your parents when they come to visit, there would unfortunately be some complications with the king if they stayed there permanently, should they so wish. On top of that, just like now I’m prone to travelling a lot and I’d have to take Wiz with me”.

All of a sudden, Wiz felt cold. He’d not been able to fully admit it to himself, but he’d dreaded that scenario.

“Seeing as there’s no point in staying in the capital, I’ll probably go back to Burkborrow for now and decide what we’ll do together with your father by the time you move to where Herr Geidrich lives”.

So, the final decision was being left for later. He wasn’t sure if that was to allow him to hope still or his parents. He appreciated it anyway. It didn’t have to end so abruptly. Whatever happened in the end, he’d probably be able to accept it more smoothly then.

“That seems like a fine plan”, he said.

“Speaking of which, Mira, do you intend to stay the night?”

“I think it would be preferable that I go back as quickly as possible, if Herr Mardolf’s schedule allows it. My husband still doesn’t know what’s going on, so…”

“Ah, that is no problem. I can inform him right away. Messenger Pigeon should be all right, yes?”

“Those actually work?” Mira asked with some disbelief.

“Yes –well, sometimes–, and mine faster than most”, he replied as he produced some parchment out of a pocket and started writing something a message. “Did you really think I’d let you travel at night, though? Why do you think I sent Mardolf away after all?”

“You did what?”

“It’s no harm, don’t worry”, he folded the parchment and whistled some kind of call. “He had people to talk to anyway. And thus now that you can’t escape with my taxi wizard friend, how about we talk about your sleeping arrangements?” and a pigeon swooped in to take the message Geidrich had prepared.

On the next day, Wiz woke up uncomfortably, not having slept well in a new bed. Perhaps, though, the problem was of a more psychological nature than the actual differences in his bed. Geidrich once again ate breakfast with them and halfway through that Mardolf showed up. Following that came the moment of the final goodbye. Wiz did not know when he’d see his mother again. Thus, when they came to the mansion’s doorstep where they’d part ways, accompanied by the two wizards, Wiz tightly wrapped his arms around her waist. This felt so much worse than the time with his father. This time, he’d really be alone afterwards.

“Cheer up, kid. The dream you’ve been after begins today”, she told him.

“I don’t really want you to go”, Wiz replied.

“I don’t really want to go either. I love you. But I’ll be seeing you before you know it. Your father, too. So don’t stay sad too long, okay? Enjoy your life here. And more than anything, be smart, stay safe”.

“You too. I love you also. So don’t do anything crazy now you don’t have a son to take care of. Dad’s told me how wild you can get, so don’t try to deny it”.

His mother laughed and perhaps intentionally broke it off then with a smile, “Stay cool. Peace!” She nodded to Mardolf and they started going.

“I’ll see you soon!” Wiz called after them and his mother gave him another smile. He watched the pair of them walk up to the outer gate for a while until they disappeared behind the gate. This really was it. The whole thing had happened too fast and Wiz had hardly had much time to think about it, but now his reality finally sank in. He was on his own now. This really was the end of an era. It made him feel lonely.

After remaining there and gazing blankly ahead of him for some time he was about to get back when he got his emotions in check, but then he noticed a couple of people enter. One was a woman and the other was short enough to be a child, but he didn’t recognise them from that distance. He turned to Geidrich who until that point had been making himself busy by reading a book a little further inside the entrance hall.

“Someone’s coming”, he informed the wizard.

With curiosity in his eyes, the man walked up to the door and looked out to see who it was and then immediately winced. Wiz also realised who it was once he looked again. The Dingfelder boy, accompanied by a woman who resembled him and wore similarly rich clothes. Probably his mother. As they got closer, Wiz could see she looked angry and he could guess her intentions. At that point, the wizard had definitely been noticed by them, so there was no point trying to avoid them, although Wiz wasn’t sure if Geidrich was the type to do that.

As soon as they reached them, the woman stopped for a moment, stood proudly and glared at them. Dingfelder eyed Wiz suspiciously, his expression sourer than ever.

“So what? Are you just going to stand there? Won’t you let us in?” the woman asked.

“I don’t feel particularly inclined to”, Geidrich definitely did not seem pleased to be having this conversation.

“Seriously? Do you have any idea who you are talking to?”

“Not particularly. Why, does it matter?”

“*Of course* it matters! Do you think you can get away with insulting us like that? Do you know how much influence we have?”

“Not much judging by how you tried to raise your status through me”, Geidrich sounded bored, not caring about how he enraged the noblewoman. “Is this all you came here to say?”

“No, of course not. I am here to complain. How dare you not accept my son as your apprentice? He’s the best candidate you’d ever get”.

“It’s very simple really. I just chose this boy instead”, he pointed to Wiz.

Dingfelder now gave him a shocked face, “What? This guy? He passed that impossible test? How did you do it? Are you some kind of monster?”

“What is this? You choose this dirty commoner over my noble son? Is this country going to the dogs?”

“I’m afraid class has nothing to do with it. This boy simply had more potential as a wizard than your talentless son”.

“How dare you…?”

“Please, not this again. Don’t you have anything more original to say?”

The Dingfelder mother might have had more to say, but the boy interjected at that point. “No, mother, there’s no point trying to reason with them. They’re monsters. Especially that commoner. Only a monster could have passed that old coot’s test”, Dingfelder didn’t seem to care about how naively he was insulting someone far more powerful than him.

“You’re right. We need not concern ourselves with this scum. If Geidrich associates himself with commoners, then it just means he wasn’t worth our time in the first place. Let’s go”.

With that, mother and son took off, though Dingfelder did take one last look at Wiz to cry, “You monster…” and yet after saying he had a strange expression on his face that Wiz could not read. But later on, when he had grown more, he’d think there was disappointment in that look and jealousy. But at the time, he couldn’t tell and ignored it. The conversation itself was odd and simply oozing of the two people’s bitterness, but it strangely affected Wiz.

“Well, that ended more easily than I’d expected. I suppose having an apprentice is helpful after all. It makes it easier to turn down their complaints”.

“Didn’t you say talent isn’t the most important factor?” Wiz asked remembering what Geidrich had said about Dingfelder.

“Well yes, but people like them wouldn’t understand that sort of thing. Now let us go before any more of them arrive”.

Wiz followed Geidrich, but he remained thoughtful.

“You seem down. Are you still sad about your parents? Well, of course you are. But you’ll meet them again eventually. And until then I’ve got just the thing to distract you and make you feel a little better. Follow me”.

The hallways seemed to work a lot more reasonably ever since he’d given Geidrich the fruit and thus they quickly reached their destination. The man pushed a pair of double doors and they entered a large room that Wiz was not ready for. Books. The largest collection of books he had ever seen. Even bigger than Carter Perraut’s. So many books. In bookshelves, on tables and on the floor. Leather-bound, hardbacks and paperbacks. Old, new and ancient. There was everything.

“Your mother told me you liked books, so I thought you might find this to your taste”, Geidrich enjoyed the look of pure amazement and glee in Wiz’s eyes “Now that you’re my apprentice, you’re going to have access to all of these yourself. Though you might be better off not reading some of them just yet”.

“Herr Geidrich, you can’t just bribe me like this, it’s unfair”.

“Just call me Geidrich. We’re going to be working together for a long time, so let’s start on the right foot”.

“All right, I can do that”.

“Now then. I suppose you might prefer to take a day off today rather than begin lessons right away, so why don’t you go on and pick a book? Enjoy your free time while you still have it. It won’t last long”.

“I wouldn’t mind starting today actually”, his determination stemming from several places spoke for him. “But before that, I’d like to ask you a question”.

“What is it?”

“Do you believe that magic really makes us monsters? Does it come from something like the Devil? Or is it God that gives it to us?”

“Is this about what that boy said? Pay it no heed. As I told you, I chose you for entirely different reasons than your magical power. Being chosen by me doesn’t make you a monster. Nor does having the power anyway”.

Wiz still looked unsatisfied, so after giving it some thought he continued, “I don’t know anything about Devils or Gods myself. I’ve been in this business for a while now and I’ve not really ever sensed the presence of either in my or others’ magic. If it really comes from one of them, I don’t think anyone could ever tell. But it might just be something that just naturally happens, too, with no one’s interference. I don’t think it matters either way. Magic isn’t really something inherently evil or good. It’s simply a tool and just like any tool, it’s up to how the user handles it. If you worry so much about what it makes you, then perhaps you should change your mindset and start considering what you make of it”.

What he makes of it? That certainly was a good question. For now all his plans were about studying magic with Geidrich, but one he’d have to graduate from that. It wasn’t something he needed to answer right away, but he thought one thing was for sure. He was done with hurting people. From now on, he’d prefer it if he could find a way for his magic to be helpful instead. Yes, that sounded nice.

“Thanks. Geidrich. This actually… really helped”, he smiled and felt like a burden he’d been carrying since the strike of that lightning was finally lifted. Perhaps it could have happened only once he was in the hands of someone like Geidrich who could teach him how to make this kind of control over his magic reality, but hearing what he had to say certainly felt like the final piece to a puzzle he’d been trying to make head or tails of all this time.

“I’m glad to hear that, but has this been eating away at you all this time? Well, you can let it all out now”.

“Let it out?”

“Your magic. You no longer need to suppress it. You’re in a safe space now, so no one’s in danger. You can let your magic loose and whatever happens, I’ll take responsibility. Not that I’ll let anything bad really happen”.

“But I’m not suppressing my magic”.

“Yes you are. You’ve been doing so since the first moment I met you. And judging by how you only found out about your magic now in a moment of excitement, you’ve probably been doing it your whole life”.

“But I didn’t even know about my magic until now”.

“You wouldn’t be the first one to suppress it subconsciously”.

“But I love magic, why would I?”

“I don’t know. That’s up to you to find out. And when you do, let it go. Because there’s really nothing to worry about”.

Did he really suppress it? Was he worrying about it all this time even before he knew about it? Come to think of it, one of the first things he said when he discovered about it was that he’d been looking for magic, but not in himself. He wanted it, but not for himself. A rather contradictory way to think. What had been stopping him? Why had he never considered trying magic himself? Why didn’t he consider learning the ways of magic after he learnt he could do it until Mardolf showed up? Was there something he was afraid of? Some internal fear that as soon as he did magic, something would go wrong. He thought that this fear of his magical self was a result of recent events, but was it possible that it was always lying dormant within him. Perhaps, a result of his environment’s contradiction in accepting abnormal occurrences that seem to come about naturally while rejecting anything of human origin?

He wasn’t quite sure, but it was the closest he could think of. And if it was that or something else, he certainly had to let it go. He couldn’t go on like this if he was to become a magician. He looked into himself and tried to find what it was he needed to let loose. Did he just need to tell himself it was fine now and it’d stop? Probably not. But he thought about how Geidrich was taking responsibility and that he’d keep things safe. And with that reassurance in mind, he searched inside him. And perhaps he felt something tense up as he did. As if it was trying to hide something from him. There was something there indeed. He realised now he’d felt it the day before when he’d moved the golden apple. It wasn’t just because there was no wind he was so sure about it. There was something inside him and he looked for it. As he felt the touch of it, a sense of stress suddenly overcame him. Was this really okay? It was almost like the sense was taking over his thoughts as well. But he persevered. He told himself again and again there was no problem. Everyone he’d talked to agreed he should not be afraid and Geidrich would help him. So, he should just let it go. Wiz finally let himself relax. And then chaos ensued.

Before he knew it, books started flying in all directions, a couple of tables started revolving in the air, some chairs dragged around the room in zigzags and the walls creaked. Wiz immediately felt bad about causing trouble and almost fell to the trap of suffocating what he’d let out once again, but then he forcibly stopped that train of thought. He watched as the piles of books that had previously been lying on the floor now hovered above them and he realised he felt quite disconnected from it. He tried to stop it, but he couldn’t. Was he really doing it? Although he had felt his magic before, now it didn’t seem to be there. Or was he just failing to notice it? Something definitely did feel a lot better about it all. Like finally completely swallowing a bite that had been stuck down your neck. There was a certain relief.

“Hahaha, amazing”, Geidrich was amused as a book smacked him flat on the face. “You’ve been keeping this all inside you for so long. I suppose it would go rampant like that if you released it so suddenly. Or maybe you really just fully lack control”.

Seeing his positive reaction and confirming it was all fine, Wiz realised he enjoyed the chaos just a bit. He found it rather funny really. Perhaps, as a result the storm of books got even worse and Wiz received two of them in the stomach. He found it a little less funny after that.

“You really are peculiar though. The boy who loves magic yet keeps it in tight check. Most peculiar. Oh I know, how about I give you an after-name? It would be most fitting, now that you’re beginning your new life”.

Perhaps for the first time in these two days, Wiz was able to feel good about this situation. He smiled. This seemed like a good idea, “Sure, go ahead. If you’ve got a good one”.

“Then, how about Ardon?”

Wiz almost choked himself and he wasn’t even drinking anything. The same word, the same specific way to call him used twice in a row? That was definitely weird. How was Geidrich in sync with that girl leagues away from them?

“What exactly does it mean anyway?”

“It’s an old Galazian word for peculiar”, Geidrich explained. “It was often used in the context of talented people who were however rather eccentric”.

“Oh, so that’s what it was! Then I guess it’s rather fitting. Wiz Ardon, becoming a wizard from this day henceforth. Did you do this on purpose?”

“No no, Wiz. You’ve got it all wrong. You shall be no mere wizard. I’m going to make an Enchanter out of you”.

~~~\*\*\*---\*\*\*~~~

And thus began Wiz’s new life as a magical apprentice. And although the two days leading up to it

had happened frantically fast, he did not come to regret that decision. With the benefit of hindsight, he could tell that he and his parents had made the right choice back then. In spite of the melancholy left behind by his premature and sudden parting with his family, Wiz came to enjoy his new life with Geidrich. The new-found freedom of being able to express his magical self –even though he didn’t know he had such a self to express before or that he was suppressing it– was invigorating. Geidrich was a fun person to be with despite the age difference and he taught Wiz a lot which satisfied the curious boy’s all-consuming thirst for knowledge. Beyond just the theory and practice of magic, Geidrich worked to nurture Wiz into a thinking self-dependent person: from history and geography to the sciences and then to cooking and fashion, the magician skipped nothing in his efforts for his apprentice’s global education.

That being said, as soon as he started to feel comfortable in his new environment Wiz was by no means what you’d call an obedient student. He often neglected his studies in favour of whatever had caught his eye at the time or ignored his master’s instructions if he disagreed or found them unnecessary. This more often than not led to trouble or at the very least butting heads with Geidrich and yet he still maintained his healthy dose (and then some) of confidence. Ultimately though, one way or the other Wiz did learn (most of) what he was supposed to and he grew as a magician.

As had been predicted, the two of them moved to a castle he owned out in the wilderness soon enough. Surrounded by mountains, cliffs, forests and a few spells to turn away travellers it was in the middle of an uninhabited area that stretched for miles. From there on, it was just the two of them and the girl Agnise, the young child who had been abandoned by her parents the day Wiz had taken the test and who, to Wiz’s surprise, Geidrich had taken under his wing (as it turned out both the mansion in Argenturbs and the servants that came with it had been provided by the royal family). When asked, the wizard had excused himself by saying that a man who’d lived his life as a lone bachelor for a few decades now couldn’t possibly take of a child on his own, but Wiz hardly thought a girl almost half his age fit the bill either. He wondered if there were a lot of poor families like hers trying to dump their children in Geidrich’s care and if the man always took them in. He also wondered how someone who could be so kind could also be so cruel by telling people he was looking for an apprentice when outside of extraneous circumstances he so obviously wasn’t. Then again, the main recipients of this cruelty were the noble and rich and in his brief yet enlightening encounter with the high class during his stay in the capital, Wiz found that his sympathy was quickly running dry.

Agnise was very shy and reluctant to open up to either of her house mates or talk at all, but that was to be expected after the drastic change of environment she had just gone through. However, it was perhaps easier for her to accept those circumstances when Geidrich provided far more of both the care and food that would not have been enough at her old home even if it wasn’t shared with eight more siblings. And while any child would miss their parents when parted with them, she’d experienced the bitterness of being unwanted and abandoned and thus understood deep down inside that she wouldn’t get what she wished for even if she was still with them. So in time, she grew less tense and came to like her new home. She even formed a bond with Wiz, who had also been separated from his parents and eventually was able to talk a little as well.

And thus life took a quiet turn, although the few residents of the castle did do their best to make it feel as though it was inhabited to its admittedly sizeable limits. Examples speaking to that were the occasional explosion or accidental summoning of a flock of ravens during Wiz’s training; as well as the occasional explosion or accidental summoning of a flock of ravens during Wiz’s experimentation in his room; and of course let’s not forget the occasional explosion or accidental summoning of a bunch of leeches in Wiz’s sleep.

But Wiz was not the only person causing a racket. Geidrich remained his ever-flamboyant self –a trait which he tried to instil in his apprentice as well– and the glamorous lifestyle to which he was partial along with his quirky enchanter nature frequently led to a fuss, which would then be added upon and amplified by whatever Wiz’s response to it was. One such instance was the one time he turned the walls and the floor of the castle into ice because one of his cloaks’ sleeves got ripped.

Agnise on the other hand was shy and quiet still, but despite of that her being a klutz managed to pull through so as she wasn’t left too far behind the other two troublemakers. The training she received by the mansion’s maids before they left the capital didn’t manage to make away with her clumsy and jumpy nature and consequently she’d often end up causing damage or other problems one way or another. Admittedly Wiz playing pranks or being a bad influence on her often played a big part on the huge messes she made, like the one time she painted the whole kitchen red, but her natural talent always worked to make things worse.

Life would get even livelier on occasions of Wiz’s parents’ visiting, as they did indeed fulfil that promise, if not as frequently as any one of their family would have liked. Mira was not one to fear a journey’s many leagues or the bandits that awaited in them and although Roland was more sensible in that regard, he had passion enough for the destination to overcome his doubts about what would have otherwise been a venture too risky to attempt. In the end, they never ended up moving out from Burkborrow. The trouble for it was too high for the gains of being just a couple of days’ worth of travel closer to their son, but still being a day away. And although it might not have been as apparent at the time when the whole village appeared as though it was convening against them, they did have friends they’d made there as well as livelihoods they’d spent years building. Between the village’s reaction to him the last time he was there and Geidrich’s complicated relationship with the King, Wiz’s visits were even rarer. So, Wiz stayed mostly apart from them.

And thus with this new way of life finally eventually becoming the norm, five years came to pass. Wiz was growing on all accounts, getting ever closer to the dream of being an Enchanter, but also finally having his adolescence kick in with all the effects that had. Agnise was also now a teenager, if just barely, and slowly becoming able to have relatively longer conversations with the other residents of the castle. And Geidrich remained virtually the same, an ever constant anchor to come back to whenever the world’s ephemeral nature got you down. And that nature of the world would seen come become ever more noticeable when a new era with its multitude of changes followed. For it is shortly after the explosion and fragmentation of Crux, the arrival of the Maelstrom, though it was not yet known by that name, that our adventure continues.

At that time as would later be known, a group of explorers seeking the source of Pure Imagination would end up unleashing a dreadful power of chaos, the Maelstrom, which would subsequently cause the planet to break apart into multiple smaller chunks. Although the people on the planet miraculously survived that process, they would then be left with the most pressing questions of “What the heck happened?” and “What do we do now?” For the wizarding community, however, the situation was a little different. For unlike most people they were better equipped to sense what kind of threat was looming on the horizon. And sending them on a frenzy, it would lead them to soon convene together in order to find out how to deal with it.

~~~\*\*\*---\*\*\*~~~

That night (although days and nights had lost most meaning in the days closely following the planet’s explosion, the world chunks moving erratically and revolving in unpredictable ways in abnormal directions and speeds), Geidrich returned home drenched to the bone, even though it wasn’t raining on their piece of Crux. In fact, Wiz thought it was probably impossible to rain there what with the lack of any considerably large sources of water. Actually, would weather phenomena work properly even if there was water? Would most water sources have dispersed into space by now? Was life on the chunks sustainable on the long term? In fact, why was it that they still maintained an atmosphere at all? There were several questions to be had when it came to the state of the former planet and few answers. Instead Wiz opted to ask something that could be answered.

“So, how’d it go?”

Wiz had taken note of when a few of the enchantments installed in the periphery of the castle had informed him that Geidrich had entered the grounds. He instantly had come down to the entrance hall in order to welcome (interrogate) his master.

“Mostly well”, and Wiz could tell from his voice he must have been very tired. He didn’t know what exactly he’d been tired by, however, as not only had Geidrich chosen not to take Wiz with him on that mission, he had also not divulged any information on what it was about. A rather unusual way for Geidrich to act on both accounts. Wiz realised that his master might think the mission was too dangerous for him, even though personally he’d like to say that he could handle at least being present if not taking part, but he didn’t understand why what it was about was being withheld from him. Regardless, he’d try to find out as much as he could.

“Mostly? What, did you encounter a thousand blood-sucking eels and let some escape? That doesn’t sound too good”.

“We encountered some complications along the way, but managed to resolve things in the end”, Geidrich articulated slowly in a way that showed he wasn’t in much of a mood to joke.

“You’re no fun today. I suppose I should let you rest. There’s dinner Agnise and I made if you want”.

“Mmm thanks. I think I’ll do that”, the enchanter closed the door behind him and entered further into the entrance hall. “Oh right! Before I forget. We’ve got an invitation”.

“An invitation? They gave you something like that during your quest?”

“Well, it’s not the official thing yet, that’ll be in a few days. But I got it confirmed from some of the people I met up with. They’re having the Wizarding Conference soon. I thought they might delay it what with this whole explosion situation, but it’s actually made them more anxious to do it in order to discuss what’s going on”.

“The Wizarding Conference? Wasn’t that supposed to be in like two more years?”

“No, it happens in intervals of three, five or seven years in a sequence that would be too complicated to explain right now. Last time it took seven years, but now it was five. Though I am surprised you remembered that, considering you had just barely started your apprenticeship and didn’t even go last time”.

“You know I’ve got a good memory”.

“Only when you want to. And your attention to what’s being told to you is even more selective”, Geidrich grumbled. “In any case, I’ll go change and then eat. You sleep. Agnise, too. It’s late”.

“If you instruct me with that stern tone, I’m sure to have bad dreams of grumpy old men later and then I’ll make the northern tower float like the old times”, Wiz teased seeing that his master was in the mood to joke just a bit.

“Who’re you calling an old man?”

“The one wearing clothes of last century’s fashion”.

“This joke doesn’t even work if last century was so long ago I wasn't even born in it”.

“Just goes to show had bad your fashion sense is”.

“Get out of here, you hooligan!” Geidrich waved his arm at him and Wiz grinned mischievously, having achieved his objective, and proceeded to run off.

Walking down the hallways and up the stairways, he headed for his room, but before he could get far, a head popped up around a corner. “So?” Agnise enquired with her typical hesitant manner of speaking. “Did Herr Geidrich get… injured?”

“Nah, he seemed fine”.

“Maybe it was… a hidden curse”.

“He just looked tired is all”.

“A curse to make him tired?”

“He wasn’t cursed”.

“How do you know?”

“I know”.

“Then, was it werewolves?”

“What? No, it wasn’t werewolves”.

“Vampires?”

“No!”

“Sexy vampires…?”

“What have you been reading lately?” Wiz wondered if the girl before him was really the same Agnise as a few years ago who could hardly say a word. Then again, he didn’t put it past Agnise to actually be scared of the sexy vampires, too.

“I found them in Geidrich’s library”, that didn’t really answer anything, but it did raise a good question. What was Geidrich even doing with such books? Putting that aside, however…

“ Come on, Geidrich wants us to go to sleep. So, you wanna play cards?” Wiz started walking once more.

“No way, you always cheat”.

“Then, what do you suggest we do, boss?” he asked, calling her a nickname he used from a long time ago, to tease her, but also in an attempt to get her to open up.

“Fine, but we don’t bet on desserts this time”.

“What, you want to bet on real money?”

“It’s not like either of us really has a-” at that moment the two of them turned around a corner and Agnise ended up bumping onto a suit of armour, causing it to drop on the ground in a loud cacophony of clanging.

“Crux, boss, don’t you know this suit’s there? We pass it by every day”.

“I know, but…”

The armour’s disembodied helmet suddenly began to talk, “I thought I told you to go to sleep. What are you still doing up, you rascals?” Geidrich’s voice said.

“Fine fine. We’ll head to bed right away”.

Naturally, no one slept that night.

A little over a month later, preparations for attending the Conference were done and although Geidrich still insisted that Wiz should brush his unruly hair more before they left, they soon proceeded to leave for the venue. It was only the two of them and to avoid leaving Agnise alone in the huge castle for the days they’d be away, she would be staying with a friend of Geidrich’s in the meantime, an arrangement that had been repeated on several occasions when the two magicians had to leave for extended periods of time.

Although Geidrich’s circumstances with Argenturegnum’s royal family were complicated – Geidrich had once described it as sort of being a prisoner to the King, because he chose not to fight in his wars–, he did have relative freedom to move within the country. And now that Crux had been turned into the system of small worlds it had, there was little control that the King could exert over him, so there was no one to stop Geidrich from going outside the country to Gleswin where the conference was held. Not that there was much meaning to countries any more anyway.

After several hops from world to world, required due to the chaotic force’s interference to transportation magic, Wiz and Geidrich arrived in the city of Kastir the night –as the world housing the city was sizeable and stabilised enough, it had a relatively long day cycle– before the conference was to begin. They were not the only ones to teleport to the same forest outside of the city to avoid causing a disturbance and they were met with the social expectations of the magic community quite early on. Several people knew Geidrich and some knew Wiz, but the latter didn’t tend to get along with them. These were going to be some long days.

Wiz had expressed his hesitation about attending the event from the start, but Geidrich insisted that Wiz needed to socialise with his peers and he might just get to learn something new. But Wiz still thought that compared to the prospect of hearing speech after speech of boring old men ranting about whatever obscure field of study they were into and then meeting so many of the people who dislike him at once, sightseeing of the city would probably be the most interesting part of the trip.

“Come on now”, Geidrich said as they argued about it once more on their way to their hotel. “It won’t be so bad. What with the crisis going on, I’m sure the subjects will be a lot more relevant this time”.

“What have they had time to prepare for in such a short while? I sense scaremongering incoming. But even that’ll be better than all the far-too-theoretical talk we’re going to hear”.

“When did you get such an ego critiquing everyone so harshly when they’ve not even made their case yet?”

“I just think I prefer the reading format. At least then, I can skip the random tangents these people tend to go on”.

“These people? You’re one of these people you know”.

“Yes and I’m very sure that if I ever write something the rest of you will find it very boring”.

Geidrich sighed, “It’s exactly this bad image of the magicians’ community that I want to avoid by having you meet more people”.

“I’ve tried that before and you know it doesn’t work”.

“Well, you did turn everyone’s voices to frog croaking at the last Springtime Festival”.

“That was only after everyone hated me already”.

“And I’m sure it didn’t help at all. Look, I know our community can be very competitive at times, but you’ve just got to find the right people out there who’d fit with you. You just can’t live this world alone. Try a little more and perhaps don’t hex people just as soon as it’s not going that well”.

“If there’s any decent people, I swear I’ll try not to hex them”.

“A friend of mine, Azira, is bringing her own apprentice and she’s around your age, so try to to get along with her at least”.

“What’s with this matchmaking?”

“It’s because you’re that bad at making friends”.

As the two of them continued through the city, one thing was certain. As predicted, Wiz was certainly impressed by the sightseeing. The mix of modern and old-fashioned was something he’d never seen before –granted, he’d barely seen anything that went beyond Argenturegnum’s age with his own eyes at all. He’d heard a lot about the more modern world, though, from his parents and Geidrich –who apparently had travelled a lot at a younger age– alike, so he enjoyed experiencing it in real life. While it wasn’t as advanced as the futuristic large cities of Expia, or even as caught up with post-industrial countries like Batheia and Makreia, the otherwise renaissance-like city was still spruced up with a lot of commodities and amenities of the future gained through osmosis from the neighbouring countries. After checking in at their hotel, Wiz explored merrily and was on more than one occasion tempted to buy things he didn’t need.

Unfortunately, this sense of wonder was soon depleted once the actual conference began and Wiz had to sit down through a series of presentations, a lot of which were about the nature of the chaotic force that had showed up on Crux, how to stop it or how to use it for magic; a few were just about whatever the presenter was interested in. Mardolf stepped on the podium, too, at some point. His speech was one of the better ones.

Three days later, Wiz felt vindicated by the boredom he was experiencing during a lecture on whether it would be more beneficial or harmful to use the chaotic force. Perhaps he was biased –Wiz admitted in his head–, but he’d quickly exhausted his willingness to focus after all of the theoretical, overlapping, overly specific or overly broad speeches that soon became indistinguishable from each other in his memory. At least he found solace in the fact that he was definitely the best-dressed person in the room, because besides a coat that would look like what’d happen if a cloak and a jacket had a child, he was the only one there wearing sunglasses. It was a pair he’d just bought and he found very useful, because not only did it make him look cool, but it also concealed his eyes, so one couldn’t tell when he was barely awake.

As the middle-aged woman went on about the ethics of chaos, Wiz found himself sending little pink bubbles that broke with a popping sound through the audience to pass the time. Although he did almost start a fight between a sisterhood of witches and a few wizards that sat close to them, when one of them thought they were harassing her, it was perhaps the Old Coot’s reaction he found most amusing when one of his bubbles found its way to him. Some claimed that the perennial man’s actual name was Coot, while others said it couldn’t possibly be it, but ultimately no one knew any other name for him so they all just called him that. The old man was infamous for the acute paranoia he’d developed after the multiple times he’d almost been killed, including seven separate cases of magic assassins coming after him, being swallowed by a demon and setting off a trap that transported him in the middle of a lich’s undead army. When the bubble smashed on the trembling man’s arm he jumped up in startle and hurried under his seat producing a barrier all around him –something which didn’t particularly surprise anyone, being used to the rowdy crowd that the gatherings of magicians made and Old Coot’s exaggerated reactions.

Wiz almost felt bad about it, but before he could get a chance to repent, someone spoke up from behind him.

“You sure got him”, he said with a chuckle.

Wiz was surprised, having thought that his sneakily cast magic had not been noticed –Geidrich hadn’t reprimanded him so far after all. He looked to his right and sure enough he found a young man grinning at him on the row behind his. Wiz was intrigued by his unusual eye colour: yellow.

“You find this stupid, too, don’t you?” he pointed to the sorceress speaking on the podium. “It really is dull”.

“I suppose”, Wiz replied quietly, thinking that playing pranks on people was one thing, but talking during someone’s presentation could be rather rude.

“Can we use chaos? Is it evil or not? Will it hurt us? Oh, whatever shall we do? It’s all rather stupid. The answer’s very obvious, so why are they making such a big deal out of it?”

Wiz remained silent. He started to feel he and the man didn’t quite have the same view. Yes, he did find them boring, but at least he understood their concerns were valid.

“Chaos, Imagination, magic. They’re all the same. They’re necessary evils people use to achieve their goals, but none of them is inherently good. No one’s unscathed from using them, so just deal with the stigma if you need to and be done with it. You already entered into this dirty business anyway”.

“Is that what you think of magic?” Wiz found himself asking, feeling somewhat offended and at the same time wondering why the stranger was telling him all that.

“Of course. The world has a natural way of operating and we’re disrupting that to bend it to our wishes. We’re attempting to defy our natural fates. Everything was created a certain way and it can only ever be happy if they don’t try to bypass that. Fish shouldn’t try to live on land. Of course we think magic will provide happiness, but it’s just delusion. Pursuing magic is a fixation”.

“You seem to think very badly of magic, but aren’t you a magician as well?”

“Would a drunkard lay off the booze if you told him it’s bad for him? I understand perfectly well how contradictory I sound when I’m a user of magic myself, but that’s just how it is. It taints us and distorts nature, but we can’t do without it. Magic is our opium”.

“That’s an interesting way to see it, but remind me again, who are you?”

The man didn’t as readily reply to that question, a faint frown coming over him and in the the time it took him to find a response, Wiz heard Geidrich’s voice, “Who are you talking to, Wiz?” He quickly whispered that he didn’t know and turned back to find out, but in the moments that he was distracted and looked away, the mysterious man had managed to get away. Another eccentric wizard.

Wiz wasn’t doing very well on the social side either. Despite it spanning the whole planet, the magical community wasn’t that large and this wasn’t the first big event he was attending. As such, he had already met most people his age that tended to come at these events. And the community being rather competitive, Wiz’s talent had managed to garner a lot of jealousy very quickly. His attitude didn’t help either and thus there weren’t many willing to talk to him except to make snide remarks. Of course, not everyone hated him, but not hating someone is not quite enough to strike up a friendship with them and so Wiz quickly met his quota of conversation subjects of common interest with the people who could tolerate him (and vice versa). And of course, when it came to older people, they were either oblivious of him as part of the younger generation or too busy to speak with him much.

Not that Wiz felt too bad about it, but he did feel awkward when he stood around on his own, not knowing what to do. He thought people might pity him and that wasn’t a very pleasant thought. Nonetheless, Wiz thought he’d done pretty well so far. He’d talked to a bunch of people and only hexed a couple of them; and even that was during an all-out brawl that had occurred during the second day: it’s only natural, in fact expected one should throw a few spells around on such occasions.

There was definitely a highlight in the parties that followed or came between the lectures and that was the food. There was a lot Wiz could say about this conference, but he had to admit the food was good. And on the third evening after all other scheduled events were over, the buffet for the special last party was even better. Wiz was by the table, éclair in hand when a dwarf wearing a tourist t-shirt he must have bought in Kastir walked up and started filling up his plate with a variety of food. He didn’t pause as he addressed Wiz.

“You’re Azure’s apprentice, aren’t you?” he asked.

Someone who knew Geidrich? Well that was hardly anything to be surprised by. Geidrich knew a lot of people. Not all of them could recognise him at a glance though. What gave him away?Was it the sunglasses?

Wiz nodded his mouth filled with éclair and the dwarf continued, “I never thought he’d actually find one, with all these requirements he had. I thought he might not actually want an apprentice in fact. You know he had his candidates do that ridiculous test for four years. People visited him from all over the planet. None of them succeeded of course. How did *you* do it?”

 “Mmm. If I were to say, it was probably that I was the most desperate to succeed, but also still kept hope I’d do it, all the while actually wanting the apprenticeship for what it was, not for any ulterior motives. Something like that. On another note, you seem to be aware of who I am, but I don’t know your identity just yet”.

 Having made a personal pile of food on his plate, the dwarf then sought to pour some beer in a cup, “I’m the clown who got stuck with brown”, the dwarf replied and Wiz went wide-eyed at the unexpected answer. “‘Oh, Galor, but your beard is so brown!’ Freaking Mirian. Half the world has brown hair. Just admit you were out of colours”, the dwarf continued his rant until he noticed Wiz’s confusion. “What? You don’t know what I’m talking about? Heh! I’m sorry. I’m Galor the Brown”.

 Wiz wasn’t sure what Galor was talking about –probably something to do with his title, but he didn’t know much more than that–, but he shook the confusion off, “Nice to meet you. I’m Wiz Ardon”.

“Yeah, Azure’s told me. So, enjoying your time in the high society?”

“It’s so-so”.

 “Haha! You hate it, don’t you? You’re a good kid. I suppose that’s what I should expect from the one who released salamanders against his fellow attendees in the last Springtime Festival. Oh, but uh! There’s a friend of mine. I’ll go greet him. See you later, kid”, he turned to leave, equipped with his food, and dived back into the crowd. “Yo Green! Long time no see”, Wiz heard him say before he vanished among the people entirely. What a strange encounter… Perhaps, it was in accordance with the rarity of a dwarf magician.

 He was alone again and he considered he should probably go back and try the socialising once more himself soon. Before he did so, though, he did pick up another éclair as they were quite good.

“Certainly, all these éclairs can’t be good for you”, a feminine voice suddenly said; the accent was Expian, much like his own.

 He didn’t recognise the voice and she’d spoken from behind him, so Wiz couldn’t see her, but he didn’t turn around immediately. He looked at the buffet instead, as if it was more interesting to him than the girl speaking to him.

 “Perhaps not, but at least you should allow me to enjoy the only good thing about this party”, he answered in an exaggerated tone.

 “Really? You only find the food interesting? Isn’t there anything else? I, for one, seem to find my interest in this boy who’s gobbling up all the éclairs one after another. And the music is also good occasionally”.

“Oh, I am sorry. I have seen no such boy. You see, the one I know of has only eaten two this whole evening, so it can’t be him”.

 “Is that so? Then how about the famous Enchanter’s apprentice everyone seems to be speaking ill of; or the one using magic to drive away strangers; or perhaps the one struggling to fit in just as much as I?”

“What can I tell you? I haven’t heard of any of these people. But I could help you look for them, if you’d like”.

“Come along then! I’m sure they’re around somewhere, Wiz Ardon”.

“It seems that my reputation precedes me. Tell me, am I famous?” he said, as he finally turned around.

He was met with the sight of looks he found rather astonishing. She had dark blonde hair that went just a little beyond shoulder-length, starting wavy at the roots, but ending up in curls, at the back of which she’d tied a flower. Her eyes were green, but a little brown area surrounded her pupils. A smile brightened up her face and perhaps it was just the moment, but Wiz was struck with the notion it was the prettiest face he’d seen in his life. She wasn’t particularly tall, but neither was he. She was wearing a green knee-length dress with short sleeves. She looked rather young, but he then remembered Geidrich saying that women this age look as old as their make-up, so he wasn’t quite sure. One thing was for certain, however. As long as looks go, Wiz was mesmerised.

“Famous? No, rather than that I’d say you’re infamous. There’s especially this story about how you charmed a few people to only be able to hop on one leg in the last Springtime Festival. Although I personally knew you regardless of that”.

“And pray tell, how is that?” although the girl’s beauty had had quite the effect on him, he quickly recovered –on the outside at least.

“I happen to know people who know people who know you”.

“Oh, that simple! Most interesting. I could of course ask you who these people are, but I think there is a much more pressing question. I don’t remember you telling me your name. Would you do me this honour of sharing this well-kept secret?”

“And what sly purposes would you need my name for?”

“But to tell my friends who this girl who tried to dictate my diet first thing we met was, of course”.

“You cunning creature! And how would that be in my interests? I won’t have you tarnish my reputation so”.

“But if you do tell me, I won’t have to come after you to learn. Do you want me bothering you again?”

“Now that’d be a pity. I quite enjoy your company. It allows me to try and dictate your life, you see. Perhaps, I’ll never tell you my name. Then, you’ll have to keep coming back to me”.

“Now, who’s cunning? Have you no pity on me? I’ll have to keep meeting you, in hope of learning that precious name of yours”.

“I am often told I am pitiless. On the contrary, I’d take pleasure in your suffering”.

“A rather accurate description then”.

“I will allow you to know some more of me, however, so that you can find me in your future pursuit for my name”.

“How magnanimous of you”.

“I’m glad you see it”, she laughed at that moment, perhaps their ridiculous banter finally getting to her. “I’m Azira the Pink’s apprentice. It’s through her I’ve heard of you, in fact”.

“What’s with all these coloured names popping here and there? Do all the old enchanters have a club or something?”

“You don’t know? Hasn’t Geidrich told you?” she seemed surprised this time.

“Know what? A dwarf I met earlier was rumbling about something of the sort earlier, too, but I didn’t quite understand what it was all about. I’ve wondered why Geidrich and Mardolf are called Azure and Orange for a while now, but I didn’t figure it was something so big”.

“They all used to be the Council of the Enchanters, a group made up of some of the most powerful masters of magic of their time. They fought on the front lines against the growing numbers of dark wizards two decades ago. They were betrayed, however, by one of their own and some of them were killed, including their leader Mirian the White. They were disbanded after that, but the remaining ones are still friends. Did Geidrich not tell you any of that?”

“No… He did not. It’s weird”, though at that point Wiz realised there might be a lot he didn’t know about Geidrich’s life before he met him. Still, he’d heard a lot of stories, but nothing about this.

“He must have had his reasons”.

“But Azira did tell you”.

“It’s not a particular secret”.

“I should ask him later”, they had veered off from their previous playful tone quite a bit, so Wiz decided to bring the discussion back to the more cheerful side, “But let’s not concern ourselves with that for now. This is a party, so let’s have fun. We’ll have to go back tomorrow after all”.

“Then how about we take this party outside? It’s getting stuffy in here”.

“Sure, let’s go”.

“So, you don’t mind if you leave the buffet behind?” she asked with a mischievous grin.

“I can always come back for them”, Wiz laughed.

The two of them made their way out of the room, Wiz fetching his hat –a pointy blue wizard hat at that– from the hat rack where he’d left it and his unnamed companion getting a jacket to put over her shoulders.

“Nice hat”, she complimented as Wiz put the accessory on his head.

“Why thank you. I stole it off Geidrich’s things with my very own hands. But don’t look at it now. It was a dusty old rag abandoned in a forgotten room when I found it. I fixed it up all right though”.

“Impressive skills”.

“Indeed for I aim for the path none other than that of a master tailor”.

They got out to a semi-outdoor area that led to a garden and were met with the night’s fresh air. There was no moon to be seen, but a multitude of stars shone brightly like jewels in the sky.

“You know I measured it yesterday and it seems night and day last about five hours each here. Didn’t expect I’d ever come to consider that long”, Wiz said watching the stars.

The two of them had been speaking in the generally recognised as international language of Galazian up till then, but Wiz switched to Expian then and he found that his companion had no problem responding accordingly.

“Do you often go stargazing with sunglasses on?” she asked, following his gaze.

“Don’t you know? My eyes will burn at the direct touch of any sort of light. Also, I bought these yesterday and I’m kind of still riding on the high of how stylish they look”.

“Can’t argue with that”, she chuckled. “It’s a little amazing, though, thinking that half of these stars are actually other pieces of Crux”.

“It’s a crazy time we’re living in. I wonder how this whole situation is going to affect celestial magic”.

“Someone actually spoke about that on the first day”.

“They did? I must have not attended that one or perhaps I just completely forgot about it”.

“Were you paying any attention at all throughout this whole conference?”

“All right, genius. If you’re that attentive, then how much do *you* remember out of all these speeches?”

“More than you, that’s for sure. But there are more interesting things to do than talk about all that right now”.

“Firstly, let it be noted that you dodged the subject. Secondly, like what?”

“Like trying to get you to take off your sunglasses for one”.

“Now why would you want to do such a thing? I look dazzling in these and you can’t deny it”.

“Certainly, but they’re not letting me get a good look on your face. How unfair for you to conceal your eyes when I’m exposing mine so freely”.

 “Are you forgetting you’re also keeping your secrets? You know *my* name”.

“But that is your own fault for being so unguarded”.

“All right, in that case, I’ve got a bargain for you. I can take off the glasses, but in exchange you’ll have to uncover some of the mystery that is you”.

“You’re some seller. Are you sure you entered into the right profession? So what’ll it be?”

“A simple question really. You mentioned earlier you also have difficulty fitting in. Is connecting with people troubling you?”

“You could have asked any question, yet you waste it on such a drab subject”.

“It’s not drab. Although it does not please me to say, I am hardly acquainted with you and I seek to know you more deeply”.

“Have it your way then”, the girl said, but she seemed pleased, betrayed by her slight smile. “If I were to summarise it, I’d say I have trouble dealing with large crowds of people like that. I even got a headache on the first night and had to skip the reception”.

“Is it just that? If you’d made proper friends on other less busy occasions then would you not have them to hang out with now instead of spending the night with me?”

“Can a girl not meet new people if she so wishes to?”

“She can, but I don’t think that’s what you’re doing. And yet it seems odd to me that such a sweet girl as you would have difficulty with this”.

“Sweet, am I? And how could you tell?”

“I can see the kindness flowing in your eyes”.

“You must be seeing things. And yet you’ve got a sharp eye. Even behind those silly sunglasses of yours. If you must ask, I suppose I can be a tad awkward with people and that makes me distant. How to put it… Do you ever get that feeling that magic is a burden?”

“I have, sometimes”, Wiz remembered when he’d discovered about his powers; he’d definitely call them a burden then. The thought also reminded him of the mysterious man who’d spoken to him earlier.

“Most people here would consider it a gift that’s supposed to lift you up, but sometimes I feel as though it actually bogs me down instead. It only makes life so much harder, but people praise it and expect you to do the same. There’s a pain that only I have and I can never speak out. No one would understand. This kind of feeling”.

“Those who have no magic fear you and would never understand. Your supposed peers experience it, but not in the same way as you and in the end they shun you out of envy. Your elders hold their wisdom over you as a gate they’ve passed to find all the answers you lack and you cannot be on the same track. You cannot communicate. And it gets very lonely. Maybe it’s not quite the same as what you’ve lived through, but I understand a little”.

“No, that’s quite accurate. It’s strange to find someone who holds thoughts so similar to mine”.

“Maybe it’s because we’ve experienced the same things”, Wiz said as he lied down, the sudden urge to observe the cosmos stretching above overcame him. “But I find it very refreshing. Having someone I can relate to so much”.

“It feels like I’ve been waiting so long to meet you”, the young witch entered Wiz’s line of sight as she stood above him, her head framed by the stars as if a holy aura; her eyes reflected the bright light of the party, though, and they seemed like the prettiest stars that hung above him.

“True… Where have you been all this time? Geidrich and Azira knew each other and yet we never met until now. What a waste”.

“You’re greedy. And yet earlier you were appalled by the idea of having to meet me again”.

“Oh, do not bring up the foolishness of the past. The future shines far brighter, I wish to only dwell in it”.

“Why don’t you enjoy today before concerning yourself with the pleasures of tomorrow? For in fog the future lies and you can’t tell what path it’ll take”.

“The riddles of the future are too complicated for me, so I shall be content in thinking optimistically”.

“That’s exactly the issue”, she sighed in defeat, for there was no teaching sense into him. Wiz instead occupied himself in enjoying this new expression that unfolded before him.

“Ah, I know. Elemiere!” he exclaimed all of a sudden.

“What is it?” the girl did not understand.

“As you will give me your name not, then I must find something to call you by myself. I can’t just call you Azira’s apprentice. So, Elemiere it shall be. The star that shines brighter than all”.

She seemed flustered though not displeased by the comparison, but quickly recovered, “Are you trying to sweet-talk me? I am hardly convinced when you can barely see with those glasses you’ve still not taken off despite our agreement”.

“You seem much obsessed with my sunglasses. This convinces me all the more you actually want them to stay on”.

“Don’t be ridiculous”, Elemiere quickly snatched the pair of glasses off of Wiz’s face and held them up with a satisfied look. “Don’t try to cheat me out of our deal, young Ardon”.

“As if you’re much older”, Wiz complained, but found he did not object much to the idea of seeing the young woman without filtering. “Are you happy now?”

“Very”, she grinned smugly and then proceeded to sit down beside him. “Now then, I told you about me, but what about you? What’s had everyone thinking so badly of you?”

“I hardly know myself. I just greeted people and informed them I aimed to be an Enchanter and all of a sudden they dislike me for some mysterious reason”.

“No, you didn’t”.

“Oh yes I did. I figured I’d be honest, is that so bad? Then, they’re suddenly all ‘How dare you be so conceited when you’ve only been studying magic for two years?’ Truly mysterious. And so I got off on a bad start with them. And I suppose my attitude didn’t help. Not everyone hates me of course. But you know how the cliques of our community are. If a newcomer doesn’t get along with some, it’ll be hard to be accepted by the rest”.

“Your attitude helped? Nonsense! I dare say your attitude was the core problem. You wouldn’t be first newcomer to hold too much power for their age. Not all talented people are shunned. It’s because you flaunted like that that you appeared haughty and turned their jealousy resentful”.

“Would you have me dishonestly humbling myself then? I find that would hardly be suitable for making a connection with them”.

“I’m not saying they weren’t very eager to reject you regardless, but you probably could have handled it in a better way”.

“Perhaps, but what’s done is done now and I don’t believe it can be reversed after I gave some people some really strangely shaped acne”.

“You’re much worse than the rumours would have you be, I see no remorse in you”.

“There’s no harm in an innocent wizardly feud now, is there?”

“That’s debatable. But who in this conference is not guilty of some such misbehaviours from time to time, I wonder”.

“Oh, miss Elemiere. Do you mean to tell me you have some spicy story of mischief yourself?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I believe that’s why I asked”.

“You’d pry into a maiden’s secrets?”

“This particular maiden more than others. Do you enjoy cloaking yourself in mystery so?”

“Are you not drawn in by the allure of the intrigue? Can you blame me then?”

“You use treacherous tricks, witch”.

“Am I to be offended by this?”

“No, you’re wonderful”.

“If you’re that eager to butter me up, then get up. I know that song”, Elemiere said as a new melody started to play, its sound carried outside a little muted, but still beautiful. “You can dance the Laurinol dance to it”.

“The Laurinol dance? You have such obscure knowledge”, Wiz muttered as he stood up

“But you have it, too”.

“Don’t always depend on it, because it happened to be so this time”.

“You’re all complaints. Are we going to dance?”

Wiz responded with a bow, “Would you share this dance with me, milady?”

“If I must. But I wonder if I should”, she teased, but performed a curtsey nonetheless.

They did not join hands, but started circling around themselves in opposite directions with a quick and complex step. It was a lively dance and every now and then they would clap their hands or bend their knees in a sudden drop of their torso in sync with the heavy beats of the music. As the song went on they joined together at last and there were even flashier manoeuvres, including but not limited to Wiz lifting Elemiere up and performing flips over each others’ backs.

The song finished, but a new one began and the two youngsters, not sated still, picked up a new dance. They continued in this fashion for a while until the songs subsided in nature once more and the dancing potential diminished. Not that the two of them could have continued on much longer anyway as they were left hot and short of breath after their few, but intense dances, huffing and puffing with their cheeks flushed red. Joy glimmered in their eyes, however, and they both sat down with satisfied looks on their faces at the base of the few stairs that led down to the garden.

“I didn’t know that dancing could be so fun when it’s not practice with a man decades older than you”.

“So, Geidrich taught you?”

“Ah yes, you must see *him* dancing. I can’t even get close to his elegance. I assume you learnt from Azira yourself?”

“Yes, though, I already knew some before my apprenticeship. But she definitely drilled a good deal of it in my head. More than I’d like perhaps”.

“What’s Azira like?”

 “Hmm… Azira. She’s a tough nut to crack really. At first glance, she might look silly and simple. One who would suitably choose the colour pink for herself. But she’s in fact surprisingly deeper than one might think and a powerful enchantress. Her magic is not quite the same as mine, but I’ve learnt a lot from her, about as much as I’ve not despite her efforts. But she’s also a very caring individual. I’d be ungrateful if I said she hasn’t helped me a lot. Her husband’s been helpful as well. His magic is not as strong, but he’s knowledgeable. Where Azira’s teaching methods failed, he filled in well enough. They’re very dear to me, both of them”.

 “I see you’ve got an interesting master as well. Not unlike Geidrich in some ways, I could say. Although he’s wise, he’s definitely far too preoccupied with fashion. Strange people, those Enchanters”.

 “But you’ve got to associate with them if you intend to become one yourself. And perhaps in time you’ll be strange yourself. Peculiar even”.

 “It’s in the name after all”, Wiz laughed. “But do you also want the same?”

 “Being an Enchanter? I don’t know. It does not seem as important to me. I’ve had this dream for a while, becoming the Witch of Kingston. If I could do that, I don’t think it’d matter what other titles I’d have, though I suppose I’d need to be skilled enough anyway”.

“Where’s Kingston?”

“I have no idea. But one day I’ll find it and I know this is where I’m going to stay and become famous as its Witch”.

“I wouldn’t want to stay in one place myself. I’d prefer a house that takes me to see the universe and its magics. Explore the world, help where I’m needed. That kind of thing”.

“A high aspiration in itself. I just hope you come and visit me from time to time when you’ll have grown big, as the Enchanter of Everywhere and I’m merely the Witch of Kingston”.

 “That’s a rather pessimistic view of the future. Why put yourself so low? In fact, I have half a mind to call you an enchantress already”.

“And why would that be?”

“Why, for I’m enchanted by you of course”.

She laughed.

“Smooth. But I must say, I find you rather charming as well”.

“Your praises humble me. I thought you’d never say one nice thing all night”.

 “What do you take me for, a damsel in distress ready to shower you in praise for the mere merit of a taking an interest in me? Nay, I must inform you I wouldn’t need saving in the first place. I am quite capable of taking care of myself”.

“Dost thou not think that many a damsel did not think that way before they got themselves in distress?”

“Oh my hero! Do you want to save me?”

 “’Tis this not what any noble Knight would do?”

“What Knight? Of the old speech?” she laughed. “And what gift shall I give you, my brave Knight, in promise of what more lies in wait for you if you save me from dangers unknown?”

“Oh, there is nothing that could surpass the wonder of a few, nay, merely one of thy golden locks!” Wiz said in a joking manner.

“You certainly go big, you rascal! But it is not entirely disagreeable to me. I wonder should I grant you it?”

Elemiere grinned mischievously and Wiz watched in surprise as she held a tuft of her hair in her fair hand and brought it to her face. She gently blew on the hairs and shining golden for a moment they flew to Wiz, suddenly apart from the rest of her locks.

“Well, that is definitely a shortcut to not having scissors”, Wiz commented in disbelief of what was happening as the short tuft reassembled and landed itself in his hand.

“Let this gift be promise between us binding us together, so we seek each other again. You have that name to discover after all”.

“And yet I find myself even further in your debt now, so I am uncertain what there is to offer that would grant me this knowledge in exchange”.

“Truly you have a daunting task before you. I should know, for I am hard to please”.

“I wonder… Perhaps, would a kiss please the lady?”

“A kiss?” she was surprised. “How daring! Don’t you think you’re a little hasty for someone who just met me today”.

“You are unlike anyone I’ve met before. And I doubt I could ever meet anyone else like you in the next thousand years. I do not believe I would regret it. But I suppose it would be most prudent not to rush until we know each other better”.

“Then, let it be not today. But one day, let us do good on this promise. A kiss for a name. I dare say, you only benefit out of this deal, though. But so be it. It is not poorly made”.

“You are so dishonest. Would it kill you to express your feelings more clearly?”

“I do believe it would”.

“How worrisome”.

At that moment, however, someone appeared from the door leading outside and popped up above them at the top of the stairs. She bore an impressive look, the only one in the conference daring to wear her hair pink. Her clothes, too, were bountifully adorned, but not distastefully so. There was something impactful about her appearance and one would consider her beautiful, but perhaps in a different way than Wiz thought of Elemiere.

“Oh so this is where you two ran off to. Wiz Ardon you scoundrel, what are you doing to my dear apprentice? Geidrich over here! Look, how cute. The two of them must have been flirting all night. We should arrange for all of us to meet together some time. I must properly evaluate if your apprentice is right to be courting my Lanor”, the woman who must have been Azira tried to sound stern, but you couldn’t remove the laughter from her face.

“Now now, let us not hurry into marrying them off yet, Azira”, Geidrich who had also showed up by now replied, but he was also sporting a smile under his beard. “They’re still children”.

Neither of the apprentices took too kindly to being referred to as children, but they did not say anything. Azira instead answered, “But that’s exactly why it’s so spicy!”

“Why were you looking for us?” Wiz asked, ignoring Azira’s unsettling comments.

“People are starting to leave little by little. We’ve got an early rousing tomorrow, so I was thinking we should take off soon ourselves”.

“Us too”, Azira told Elemiere.

Had it actually gotten that late already? Wiz had not realised that time had passed so quickly. He did not want the night to end yet. But it had to eventually.

“I suppose this is where we say goodbye for now”, he said. “Although our unfinished business shall surely bring us together ere long”.

“Oh? Unfinished business? What is this about?” Azira asked, but she did not get an answer.

“I’ll see you again, Wiz Ardon”, Elemiere then came closer so as only Wiz would hear her next words. “By the way, that just now was but a mere nickname. And I trust you won't dare to ask Geidrich for the real thing”.

And so the two of them parted too soon for Wiz’s taste. And yet he was still feeling blissful and light-headed long after so that he didn’t notice he’d forgotten his precious sunglasses until much later.

However, the bliss was not to last and a different fate would soon catch up to him.

On the next day, Wiz and Geidrich set out early after a short breakfast. “I’m glad you got along with Azira’s apprentice”, Geidrich had said and Wiz had suddenly wondered whether there could possibly be some spell preventing people from calling Elemiere by her real name; he also felt mild annoyance that Geidrich’s matchmaking had really worked, although ultimately he couldn’t complain. “Now you can have some friends. Though this isn’t quite how I’d expected it’d be. But we can talk more about it later when we’re back at the castle”, he’d continued and Wiz had resolved to wait similarly to bring up the subject of the Council.

The journey back was uneventful, though Wiz did not perceive it as dull for he kept busy in his mind with the plethora of thoughts stirred in him by the events of the past few days. After passing through a few worlds, however, they were finally back. Back at their castle. Contrary to what one would expect normally, they found themselves in night once more when they got there, although the trip had not been that long.

“Home sweet home”, Geidrich sang merrily as they approached the tall castle’s gates. “As fun as such events can be, there’s no feeling like coming back to your home now is there? I reckon we can sit and rest for a while and discuss everything that happened. And then Agnise will be back and she’ll want to hear it all from the beginning. Not the most effective plan perhaps, but I don’t suppose we’d be willing to wait any longer”.

Geidrich touched his hand upon the gate and muttered some incantations under his breath. A breeze picked up all around him and then the doors opened.

“Don’t you find that your enchantments when you leave home are somewhat extreme? If there was someone undignified enough to want to rob us, they’d surely not be powerful enough to get through even the normal protection”.

“You can never be safe enough. Now come on in, don’t wait at the door when it has so graciously been opened for you”.

Master and apprentice walked in and were greeted by the familiar scent of home –if not literal scent, because they could no longer discern it from living there too long, at least the scent of its lingering magic. However, it took a moment for Wiz to notice that there was also something unfamiliar within, though expertly hidden. Wiz almost dismissed it, for so little it seemed, but Geidrich stopped in his tracks, his face frozen.

“Someone has broken in”, he said.

“What?! Who?! How did they make it through your enchantments?” Wiz was shocked; things had taken a sudden turn.

“I don’t know. But be careful. They’ll most certainly be dangerous”.

Wiz assumed a ready fighting stance, preparing for an attack from anywhere. He extended his senses trying to detect the intruder. Or intruders. However, he couldn’t find them at all. He didn’t dare hope they were gone already. After all, that would be its own can of worms. Why did this have to happen now? Who would even want to hurt them? Someone powerful enough to match Geidrich’s magic couldn’t be after petty goals like robbing them. More than likely, it was something personal. But Wiz knew no enemies of Geidrich’s, let alone his. But… Was it perhaps someone from Geidrich’s hidden past?

“Welcome home Wiz”, the boy suddenly heard a voice creepily whispering in his ear and he could feel its owner’s breath on it and his shoulder. His spine was chilled. But it also occurred to him he’d heard this voice somewhere before, though he did not recall where.

The young magician turned around to find the man who had spoken, but no one was there. While he looked around in search for the man, a force suddenly struck him on his back pushing him forward and knocking him onto the wall. He dropped to the floor in pain.

“Wiz!” he heard Geidrich yell, but then there was an explosion of mist and everything was hidden from view; Geidrich never made it to him and the sounds of an apparent battle informed Wiz why.

Wiz was in shock. He had hardly felt the magic that had pushed him, let alone been able to defend against it. He hadn’t even seen it coming. In fact, his assailant had an ability to erase his presence entirely. Sensory magic wasn’t Wiz’s best suit, but he’d never encountered anything like that before. He feared he was completely outclassed. But Geidrich was there. Wiz couldn’t imagine someone stronger than him in their era.

But the battle continued and was getting louder. The boy could hear explosions, glass breaking, the clang of metal, the whoosh of the wind and more. It appeared the intruder could at least hold their own against someone in Geidrich’s league. If Wiz joined in, though, he could turn the tide in their favour and avoid unnecessary risks. There was no reason to find out if Geidrich was really stronger or not.

Although the hit on the wall had shaken him up –he had hurt both his back and head and could smell blood–, he made to stand up. At that point, he heard the old Enchanter cry in pain. His worry spiking, he ignored the pain and got up in quick fashion. He made a few steps forward, but despite his determination they came out dizzy and shaky. His progress was slow, but he aimed for where the source of the noise. He still couldn’t quite catch the assailant’s scent, but if he was close enough he could do something somehow.

Before he could come any closer, however, as an explosion then occurred where Wiz thought a door lay and he heard the footsteps of someone running away. With that tell giving him away, the young man could pinpoint him even without magic, but he made sure to feel his presence as well for good measure. He could no longer hide and five chains immediately sprang forth chasing after the intruder. His body might have been injured, but his magic was still perfectly functional and he was raring to give their attacker a taste of it.

However, the man managed to avoid the chains by melting them with a touch. Wiz would not let him off that easily and although he could not actually see it happen, he caused fountains of flames to rise out of the points the chains had been touched on. Blades of water proceeded to disrupt the effect of his spell and in quick succession a barrier was set up after the man. To his chagrin, Wiz had to admit their opponent was skilled, but that made him wonder all the more why he was running away. If it was just because he couldn’t take both of them, then he shouldn’t have challenged them in the first place. And in fact it was exactly running away that had allowed Wiz to locate him and join the attack.

There was no answer to be found, so Wiz could only follow after him on foot in his slow pace for the barrier would block any of his attacks. Geidrich, who had recovered quickly from whatever had struck him, was already in pursuit. He could sense the shock waves of battle reaching him once again, but now they were far away and he couldn’t make much of them. He had to catch up and with his head slowly but steadily stabilising a little, he moved somewhat faster.

Soon he reached the hallway the two magicians had taken and walking out of the mist could see the hole the intruder had blown where the door used to be. With a clear line of sight ahead of him, progress would be easier. Enchanting himself to fly forward instead of having to physically walk, he shot through the air past burn marks, a huge chunk of ice almost blocking the passage and a myriad of spiders crawling all over the floor and walls for a good distance. Even if the combatants had gone far away by now, he could catch up. As he went, though, he felt Geidrich activating the castle’s magic to intertwine its hallways together into an impossible maze much like he had done to his mansion when Wiz was taking the test long ago. He considered stopping to avoid the castle’s deceit, but he figured Geidrich could control this magic at will and wouldn’t lead him astray. The intruder, on the other hand, would probably realise the mistake he’d made in challenging them in home ground.

Or so Wiz thought, but more powers were at play. Instead of the hallways operating as he’d remembered, something went wrong. As soon as he turned a corner, the joining of unconnected parts of the castle did not happen without even a sign as he’d expected, but instead he felt himself shaken for a moment and his movement stopped,followed by the hallway spitting him out into a room he knew was on another floor. The abnormal behaviour unnerved Wiz. The enchantment placed on the castle was acting up and there was only one person who could have caused that. He couldn’t have had too long a time to disrupt it, a few days at most as opposed to the years Geidrich had spent reinforcing the magic woven into his home. What is more, the intruder hadn’t merely obstructed the enchantment, but altered it so that he could control it himself, even if not very elegantly. The mastery required for that was impressive. Wiz was beginning to fear that man more and more.

As he rose from where he’d fallen, Wiz noticed that he wasn’t in fact alone. Geidrich had also been dropped in the same room. The man had a cut on his cheek and burns on his clothes. The apprentice didn’t know if his master’s opponent had received an equal amount of blows, but he could tell that Geidrich was having trouble with him either way.

With a worried look in his eyes, the Enchanter closed the distance between them and look into Wiz’s eyes, shining a light onto them, “Are you all right, Wiz? Was your head hurt too badly? I hope it’s not a concussion”.

“I’m fine, what about you? And the intruder?” Wiz could no longer sense him. He feared the enemy could come out of anywhere any time.
“Don’t worry about that. You only need to get to a safe place away from him”.

“But with the two of us, we could…”

“He is a foe beyond your powers. It would be too dangerous. He has already disabled or brushed off many of my traps and enchantments. We can only depend on our own skills to fight him and yours aren’t enough yet. You must escape”.

“I don’t want to leave you”.

“*Listen*! It’s not safe”.

Wiz didn’t get to respond. Before he could, Geidrich was suddenly pulled away from him and flew across the room. Even the Enchanter had been taken by surprise, as his expression betrayed. Wiz watched terrified as his master was taken away behind double closing doors.

“Noooooo!” he screamed and tried to disrupt the magic, but it was to no avail.

He ran after him, as best he could, but the doors were magically sealed. Not having time to bother with the lock, he forced them open by shuttering them to pieces. He quickly followed the scent of battle. Behind another door, he found a winged lion of flames wrestling with a shadowy beast of indiscernible shape, wreaking havoc in the small storage room. Wiz cautiously crossed avoiding the summons and the chaos they created, but neither of them paid him any heed, so it was easier than expected. He was glad in that moment that Agnise happened to be away from home at the time of the attack, but he wondered what state of the castle she’d return to.

On the other side of the room was a hallway he knew led to the entrance of two neighbouring towers of the castle. He hurried there hoping he wouldn’t miss which tower they would go up. However, as he reached the end, he found a crater on the floor, but no clues as to which way the two magicians had gone. He hesitated, but in the end he realised all he could do was risk it. He chose one of the towers and started climbing it.

Higher and higher, faster and faster. He ignored the complaints of his body and continued his pursuit. He could still hear the sounds of combat, but couldn’t tell if it was coming from his tower or the next. The stairway continued on and on in a spiralling fashion and Wiz could tell this wasn’t the most effective method of ascending, both in terms of time and energy. He had to be cleverer than that if he hoped to achieve anything. At the first window he found he got to the outside of the tower and started walking up its wall. Before long, he finally reached the top of the tower. And to his horror, no one was there.

He briefly considered that he might have gotten there before them, but he rejected the idea immediately. He’d been too far behind. But there was no reason to think it over in his head. There was an easy way to confirm it. He looked over to the other tower, slightly shorter than his. Sure enough, two figures were standing on top of the balcony its staircase led to. Dressed primarily in black, he couldn’t make out the intruder’s appearance in the night very well, though he did notice a red stain on his clothes.

Geidrich, however, looked in distress, if Wiz could saw properly from the distance. They seemed to be talking, but his master was backed away to the edge of the balcony. Wiz wanted to shout, to interrupt them, to do something, but then the man turned and looked at him. Gazed into his eyes. And Wiz could see the assailant’s. Yellow irises peered into him with malice. He knew them from before, but he hardly recognised them in the moment. The man smiled a sinister smile and his gaze seemed to be judging him, as if telling him this was all his fault. He felt it to his bones. And then Wiz understood. He was hated by everything. He was a cursed being. There was no happiness for him.

The man turned back to Geidrich. Wiz couldn’t move. The man stretched his arm forward. He couldn’t breathe. There was a flash and the ring on Geidrich’s finger broke, shattered in dozens of pieces that flew in the night. He couldn’t do anything. In the same instant, the Enchanter was pushed off the tower. He could only watch. The man disappeared, fading and morphing into one with the darkness.

And in the starlight, Wiz watched Geidrich the Azure fall to his doom. . .

THE END

OF THE BEGINNING

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