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One Who Masters Magic: Ch. 32

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Wizards, Necromancers, and Prophets



Magic, when used for holy purposes, is among the most precious gifts the gods have bestowed upon mortals. Magic, when used for the profane black arts, is among the most dire threats to befall mankind.

— The Wisdom of Ages, a Wayic Holy Text



Abandoned house
Outside Terula City,
Kingdom of Terula
October 11


Magic was more than simply a flashy trick. It was greater than the power to kill someone standing next to you. It was more than simply seeing the future or healing or defending something from attack. It was definitely not simply something for show to impress peasants or intimidate peers. Many of the commoners and ungifted thought that magic was always something mysterious and unattainable, but they were wrong.

Magic was the power of life itself.

Magic sustained life, it made it possible, and without it, there would be no life. Tantis the Founder had, in his infinite knowledge, created magic and put it into this world so that it could keep his wife's creation alive. Originally, magic was meant to enrich life and bring beauty to the Two Realms.

Chaos took that beautiful gift and perverted it to kill and maim and destroy. Because of his envy and jealousy, the pureness and innocence of magic was gone forever. In its place, fear and danger emerged. Magic could be used to do many horrible, nearly unthinkable things, but the worst of those offenses was the power to summon back the dead. Necromancy was profane, vile, and the most repulsive use of magic because it stole souls from eternal bliss and bound them to an unnatural existence in the world of the living. Man was never meant to live forever. They were to live their lives, die, and return to the gods. Their souls, were they pure, would go to dwell with the gods forever with the goddess Mewela who loved them dearly. Those souls that weren't pure would suffer eternal damnation in the vengeful clutches of Chaos in the Eternal Fire.

Wizard Lorenez had never liked any of those who dealt in necromancy. Necromancy may have been banned in the kingdom as an blasphemy against the Tetrarchy, but that didn't mean it didn't exist. Mankind was always trying to stray and commit evil acts and necromancy offered some the perverse power that their warped minds desired. As a member of the Order of Wizards' Purification Sect, it was his responsibility to root out necromancy and destroy it and any associated with it wherever it could be found. He understood the danger that necromancers posed to the world and wanted to do his part to ensure that the darkest, most profane of necromancy's powers were never unleashed.

Even now, he was leading six of the city guard to a house three miles outside of the city that had been suspected of being used by necromancers. It wasn't a very reliable tip, but any report needed to be verified, especially this close to the capital.

Even if the prospects were slim that the house was a hub of necromancy, Lorenez almost hoped that there were necromancers present because it would give him a chance to relieve some tension. Things back at the College were growing almost unbearable as the rivalry between the wizards and prophets heated up. The feud between Grandmaster Wizard Setpinius and Master Prophet Xalent was continuing to the point that brawls had broken out during intercollegiate meetings. Fortunately, magic had yet to be used and nobody was killed in any of them, but the king had not been pleased and had ordered the two heads of their respective Orders to resolve their issues and stop the infighting. That hadn't gone over very well, so Lorenez  had volunteered to search out necromancers even when such a flimsy rumor was all they had to go on. It was a good excuse to get out of the city for an afternoon.

They approached the house without a problem. Lorenez cast a few exploratory spells to see if there was life inside or if there was any magic being used in the area recently. The life spells didn't show anything, but that rarely meant much when dealing with necromancers. He had once come upon a camp that had not shown any signs of life, but when they had entered to search it, had been crawling with necromancer adepts who had been able to conceal their spirit's life.

There were signs of magic being used, however, and that cause his pulse to quicken slightly. He could sense residual spells echoing within the house. It was nothing above mage level, so Lorenez felt confident that these were just amateurs and were no match against a full wizard. Even if he knew he could handle a mere mage, it wouldn't do to go in recklessly and fall into a trap. He and the men with him spent an hour watching the house for any signs of movement.

After nothing happened, they decided to approach it slowly. Two men went around back to watch for anyone trying to escape while the other four and Lorenez went in from the front. With just a simple gesture of the wizard's hand, the door blew into shards and the guards stormed in. Lorenez followed with his hands at the ready to ward off any attack.

What they found was a mostly empty house. There was an old bed with worn sheets in one corner and a few pieces of random debris on the floor, but the house clearly hadn't been used in months. With a furrowed brow, Lorenez went searching for the source of the magical echoes he had felt outside while the guards went back outside to keep from tainting the scene any farther.

His head whipped around at the sound of glass crashing to the floor. His hands were glowing with counterspells when he saw what had happened and extinguished them. "You fool," he hissed. "Don't touch anything."

The guard who had knocked down what appeared to be a simple glass cup looked confused. Lorenez shook his head angrily and answered the unspoken question. "Necromancy doesn't just involve raising recently deceased bodies. Any necromancer adept can bind the spirits of dead animals or people to objects that serve as wards or charms for their black magic. What may seem to be a simple glass could very well be a powerful charm that could detonate a sphere of lightning that would consume this entire house. Be careful not to disturb anything here."

Satisfied at the alarm on the faces of the four who had entered the house with him, the wizard started investigating things more closely. There were no signs of blood that would indicate a recent sacrifice, nor were there any of the standard totems or runes anywhere to be seen. There weren't even any sharp knives visible. With a frown of displeasure, he whispered the words to cast a new spell to determine what exactly he had felt from outside.

The world around him glowed in his eyes as he saw the magic potential of everything. If he wasn't careful, his mind would be overwhelmed and all he would see is a pure white light as though he were looking into the sun. As it was, he had to focus on each part of the spectrum of magical potential that the spell revealed to him. The table, walls, floor, and most of the objects here were a dull, slowly changing white light that held little interest to him. Small beetles and what could be a rat in the floorboards showed a deep, rich, slowly pulsing blue or green. The guards were only slightly more interesting as they glowed in a rapid bright light striating between yellow and orange. It took a minute or two to fully focus on everything enough to get to the higher levels of magical potential and that was when he saw it.

There, surrounded by the plain white light of the floor, was a fiercely flaring red light that sent waves out all around it. He ended his spell and the world returned to normal. "Leave this place," he commanded. "It is not safe."

The four guards hastily withdrew the way  they came and stayed outside. Lorenez approached the object he had seen with caution. With his natural eyes, he was able to see that the object seemed to be nothing more threatening than a small wooden cube around three inches on each side. He was experienced enough to realize that appearances were rarely accurate, especially when it came to magic and women. Without touching it, he inspected each of the five visible sides for any markings or differences without success. On the surface, there was nothing special about this piece of wood, just that it was a smoothed piece of what looked like birch.

He reached into his satchel and pulled out a tin of green powder. Slowly and carefully, he poured a hexagon around the box before returning it to its place. The next thing he brought forth was a small glass vial of purple liquid. A single drop was poured at each corner of the hexagon before being placed back where he had gotten it. He placed his hands over the cube and spoke the words that would complete the spell.

The design drawn around the object caught fire and began smoking. Green flames then erupted and cast the house in an eerie tint. A slight wind began swirling around wizard and spell drawing the smoke directly into the cube where it vanished into nothingness. After the green powder had burned away and the smoke had been taken in by the cube, Lorenez stopped his chanting and stared at the object in front of him.

The cube remained untouched, with only the slightest of white wisps emanating from it. He frowned and wondered what sort of magic this was and why it would have been found here. If it had been rejected by the cube, it would have told him that whatever magic was within it was shielded against such investigations. It hadn't blocked the smoke nor the rest of his spell, so it did not appear to be warded. Had the smoke turned a different color as it came into contact with the cube, it would have indicated what sort of magic he was dealing with. Instead, it had come back white, a non-color that indicated nothing of value. At least it did not indicate hostile intent or danger. His own senses had not picked up any threats or danger, either, but this was clearly an object of magic.

Deciding that the object warranted further investigation, he performed a quick containment spell to encase the object and keep it pristine. He wanted to be able to study this at his leisure back in his office with far more tools and potions to assist him. When he was satisfied that the spell was holding, he slipped the wooden block into his satchel and exited the house.

"Did you find anything, Wizard Lorenez?" the leader of the guard asked.

"No, I cannot sense any necromancy here. There was an object of magic within, but it could be anything or come from anywhere. Regardless, it seems that it is not a threat so I have brought it with me for further evaluation. It appears our journey was a general waste of time."

"At least it means we didn't have to stand around in the market all day staring at all the lovely ladies we can't touch," one of them said. The others chuckled.

"Then I am glad that I helped you escape that torment," said Lorenez dryly. He was disappointed that there had been no necromancers to deal with, but he was also intrigued by the stone block. Right now, he wanted to get back to the College to where he could study it further and perhaps salvage something of value out of this day.

Regardless to his desires, the wizard was doomed to face a litany of questions from the suddenly quite chatty guards. Now that the prospect of facing the horrors of necromancers had passed, they were eager to talk to a wizard. So few commoners ever had direct access to the gifted, and those that did were needing services rather than conversation.

"So, master wizard, is it true that the prophets have seen the Coming Darkness?" a guard ask.

Lorenez let out a sigh of impatience. "Do you not see the white of my robes? I am not a master, but simply venerated. If you must, address me as Venerated Wizard Lorenez." The guards didn't know what to make of that, but the one who first posed the question repeated it. "The prophets always claim to see the Coming Darkness around every corner. It is how they remain relevant. With such weak and generally impractical skills, they wrap themselves in mystery and supposed foresight to prevent themselves from being left out in the streets."

There was a murmur among several of the guards, but Lorenez didn't care. If he didn't care enough to bother learning their names or even recognizing their differences, he sure wasn't going to care about their gossip. He was able to continue down the road for several hundred yards before another guard interrupted his peace.

"The prophets see disasters and warn us about them. Many have been saved by their words. Surely that makes them relevant and worthy of support. Right?"

It was an amateur's argument, one he had heard countless times. Though he didn't generally care about what the common rabble thought, he had an aversion to ignorance and did not wish to be surrounded by it on their journey back to the College. "The prophets receive flash visions of many things, some of which are possible futures. With these visions come a few nuggets of what might come to pass, but the majority of them are filled with meaningless drivel. On occasion, the collective force of prophets manages to piece together something worth considering, but mostly, they only clutter matters with vague guesses."

"They predicted last year's drought in Klahae," argued one guard.

"Don't be a fool," Lorenez replied sourly. "The prophets had almost nothing to do with that."

The guard frowned and blinked behind his helmet's visor. "But they warned that stores needed to be laid the year before so that the people would have enough for the next."

The wizard let out an audible sigh. "No, the seers warned of that bit. The prophets only snuck in like they always do and claimed the credit as part of some obscure prophecy in a book not read in three hundred years. Since nobody can understand a quarter of what their prophecies say, nobody can dispute them."

This left all of the guards in a state of slight confusion. Sensing that another question was forthcoming, Lorenez decided to simply head it off before they wasted more of this time. "The seers see things in the short term, and unlike the prophets, their visions always come true in some form or fashion. They foresaw famine and dry earth in Klahae and warned about the drought. The prophets pounced on it and, with the support of the Tetrand, proclaimed it prophecy."

"Wait, so the prophets didn't see what was coming?"

"No, not at all," the wizard replied. "They took credit for what the seers saw. The priests were quick to take care of the rest as they preached the prophecy as some sort of divine revelation given to the prophets. The seers, as usual, were almost entirely uncredited."

One guard, the man who Lorenez  took as their leader, crossed his arms and huffed. "You speak as though the priests are lying and misleading the faithful."

Of course he was, but he couldn't simply say that aloud. It was hardly a secret that the College of Wizards had not gotten along with the Tetrand or the priests in many centuries. The Order of Prophets had long used the Way for protection and to elevate themselves as messengers of the Tetrarchy. The wizards were growing tired of it, and, if recent events were any indication, so was the Cloister of Seers.

The seers had frequently been on the fence regarding the Tetrand. Some years they would actively court the priests and others they would alienate them. To Lorenez, it seemed that they were simply fickle and were jealous of whenever the prophets and the Tetrand were particularly close. At those times, they would usually try to find a way to wedge themselves into the good graces of the Tetrand to offset the favor shown to the prophets. Other times, they wanted nothing to do with the Wayic leaders and were content to be left in the shadows.

They had deviated from this pattern only recently, namely after the great prophecy that had shaken the Royal Court a few months ago. This time, instead of rushing to garner favor from the Tetrand in a time when the prophets were more popular than ever, they had gone the opposite direction entirely. Though it wasn't widely known, Lorenez had overheard rumors of secret meetings between the Head Sister of the Seers and the Grandmaster Wizard himself. What such meetings consisted of, he could only guess.

"I would never say such a thing, guardsman," Lorenez replied. "The priests are faultless in their desire to serve the Tetrarchy. However, I do not believe that all of the prophets are the same. They are crafty men and greedy for power. It is entirely possible that they are capable of misguiding otherwise well meaning priests for their own ends."

"And what ends would those be?" asked a guard, one whom Lorenez didn't think had spoken yet.

In response, the wizard shrugged. "I do not know. I am but a simple wizard, one charged with combating the vile taint of necromancy. Surely we can all agree that such things transcend any politics or personal differences." That at least, seemed to satisfy them and allowed him a few more minutes of silence.

"What do wizards normally do when they aren't out hunting necromancers or healing people?" a guard asked.

Lorenez rolled his eyes and replied sardonically, "We spend all of our time reading dusty books, practicing our magic, meditating alone, and answering inane questions."

Some of the guards caught on to his tone, but the one who asked the question was apparently not burdened by the gods with an overabundance of intelligence. "That sounds pretty boring. I am glad I am not a wizard."

"Yes, it is good that you aren't," he replied genuinely. Young wizards with intelligence and perception such as this one rarely survived their own ignorance. Magic was a dangerous thing and could consume the caster if they weren't careful. More to prevent them from asking more questions than out of a desire to talk, he added, "Wizards are more or less like other people, we just do a lot more studying. Just because we can cast magic doesn't mean we are not human. We think, feel, and behave just like the non-gifted."

Another guard, the one who seemed to be their leader, asked, "Then tell me, sir wizard, is it true that all wizards take vows ne'er to touch a woman?"

The wizard genuinely wondered where people thought up these sorts of things. "No, it is not," he replied through clenched teeth.

"Then why is it that nobody ever sees wizards with women?"

"Because we so often have other things occupying our time that prevent us from wasting it in taverns or frivolous parties," he snapped. "Rest assured, there are many wizards who have female companions, some who even marry. There is nothing in our Dictates that prevent unions of that type."

"Then do you have a lady friend?"

Out of nowhere, Lorenez saw flashes of silky black hair and lush, red painted lips before him. He saw the curious red eight pointed star with the white swirls that she always wore around her neck. He could feel the warmth of soft hands on his chest and the curves of the feminine form beneath his own. He could see the rich, dark skin of her neck inviting him to kiss it. His nose was filled with the subtle scent of the spices that always surrounded her, the ones that came from her homeland and were so hard to find here. Eyes the color of honey bored into him with an intensity that took his breath away. Lastly, before they faded away, he saw a distinct image of a young woman, framed in shadow, alone with tears streaming down her cheeks. The woman was fleeing from dark shadows, but he could not make out what they were or what her face looked like. Try as he might, it was all covered in darkness. At last, everything swirled together and vanished into nothingness.

So abrupt were the visions that Lorenez's feet missed a step and he nearly tumbled into the dirt of the road. The power of them was tangible and left his palms sweaty and his breath ragged. He felt as though he had been up all night practicing multi-phased wards with Master Wizard Muldan. Sweat trickled down his back and his fingertips were tingling.

He didn't realize he had said anything until one of the guards asked, "Who is Vadansha?"

"Nobody," he said quickly. "Just someone I used to know."

He was so distracted in trying to figure out what happened that he nearly missed the response. "Is that the name of your lady?"

With a snarl, he flicked his hands and the guard who spoke out flew several feet and landed on his rump. "It is none of your business," he snapped. The other five men stared at him in shock and began to back away from him. None made the mistake of reaching for weapons—they knew that they stood no chance against a wizard if it came down to combat. Now in no mood to deal with their pestering, he growled irritably, "Leave me in peace. Return to your barracks for the day." They paused only long enough to help the one guard up to his feet before fleeing down the road. Somewhere, on the edge of his mind, Lorenez knew that this wasn't the sort of thing that would play well when he returned to the College, but right now, he didn't care.

There was magic involved in what happened, that much Lorenez knew. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but there was something important. It was a trigger of some sorts, but he had no clue as to what it was about. His mind sought the source of the trigger, but couldn't come up with a definitive point of origin. It could have been some outside source, a hidden ward he had inadvertently crossed. He doubted that because there was no sign of such a thing. It also might have been a key phrase spoken by the guards, something that triggered those memories within him. He had seen such magic before, but not in a very long time.

With a sharp intake of breath, his eyes widened. She was capable of such magic. Why would she cast such a spell upon him, especially after what happened? He racked his mind trying to determine when she would have done such a thing and could find nothing. The sort of spells that would set such triggers within someone's subconscious were tricky and required time. Usually the subject was unable to resist and then had their memories blotted out after the process. It was common enough among the ungifted, but to do such a thing to a wizard…

He shook his head to clear it and drive away the tingle that ran down his back. If she was capable of such things when he knew her, then she was truly among the most gifted of all of her kind.

Today had provided three new mysteries. First was this mysterious cube that he had found in the abandoned house. The second was how such powerful memories had been planted into his mind without his remembering the spell that was used. The third, and most disturbing, was why she had placed those memories into him and why she would want him to remember these things now of all times.

* * * * *

Master Prophet Xalent frowned as he watched the young wizard standing there alone on the road. With the help of a charm that altered and concealed his presence, he had been carefully following the group ever since they left the abandoned house. He could hear snatches of conversation now and then, but not all of it.

He remained silent as the unwitting wizard received the message and remained hidden. It was happening, that much he knew. The gods were gracious, offering good with the bad. There was a great temptation to reveal himself and speak to the wizard, but these sorts of things generally reacted poorly to intervention.

While he had knowledge of what was happening and what this would mean, he was powerless to stop it. Sometimes, being aware of the future was a great and tremendous burden that he did not enjoy one bit. His insight into prophecy and the future gave him the comfort of hope that things would turn out well. However, knowing the future also meant that he knew some of the terrible things that had to happen before good could triumph.

He waited until the hapless wizard was a tiny speck on the horizon before making his own way back to the city. Even with his charm, he had to be careful. If it was known that the Master Prophet himself was outside the Tower of Estar without an escort, things would go very poorly for him and the entire Order. The charm he wore concealed his features as well as most traces of the magic he could wield, but that didn't make it fool proof. A moderately well trained wizard or sorceress with sufficient focus could penetrate the magical shroud around him and learn his true identity. Even an observant ungifted could sense something was wrong if there was too much interaction.

Xalent was careful to keep his cloak wrapped tightly around him and his hood up over his head when he approached the city gates. It was fortunate that the autumn was colder than normal because it many others were bundled up in the same manner. The guards didn't give him a second look as he merged into the steady stream of people coming in and going out of the bustling city.

He had heard it said that three quarters of a million people lived within or just outside the city's walls. He wasn't sure if that were true or not, but there were certainly more people than he could count milling through the streets going about their business. Being so close to the walls meant that he had to wade through a seemingly endless number of merchants and shopkeepers all trying to convince the pedestrians why their wares were superior or absolutely necessary to purchase. Xalent found them all fascinating, but he was not interested in lingering because he didn't want to risk his charm failing at the wrong time.

He kept his head down and was able to get through the outer ring of the city and in toward the Tower of Estar at its center. In this quarter, the streets were quieter with fewer people. Instead of markets or vending stands, houses lined the street. The closer to the center he got, the larger those houses were and the more careful he had to be. Wizards and mages often frequented these houses for various purposes ranging from healing those who could afford it to earning a little extra money by tutoring rich children.

There was one moment when he saw a man in red robes of a Second Class mage walking straight toward him that he tensed up and prepared to make a run for it. Such mages were at the level of being a threat to him since they were strong enough to overcome his ward. Just as he was about to start off down a back alley, someone called out to the mage and drew him off to the courtyard of a well to do house. Xalent wasted no time in scrambling behind the mage's back and to relative safety.

There were no other encounters with gifted individuals for the rest of his trip to the house that was his destination. The house was an expensive and highly desired one less than a hundred yards from the security ring around the Wall of Silence that surrounded the Tower. Unbeknownst to the Prophet's Guard and just about anyone else in Teladia, the house was owned by the Akorias family who had long been secret supporters of the prophets. Centuries ago in 3E 792, Val Akorias had been angered at how prophets were treated and decided to take action. After conspiring with the great Master Prophet Jokatas, they decided to do something about the situation. Over the course of two years, they personally constructed a tunnel that went from the man's basement to one of the most unused storerooms below the Tower.

Val Akorias had no idea the true motivations behind Jokatas' decision to risk the destruction of all of the Order of Prophets. The well meaning man, while brave, had no true idea of how dangerous his proposal had been. If the Prophet's Guard had discovered the tunnel, they would have immediately purged the Tower of all life just as a precaution. So great was the threat that only the directing Master Prophet and Mistress Seer knew about it.

Xalent had no idea how the Prophet Aitin, himself only a mere Confirmed Prophet, had found it, but that was the only way that he could think of for the young man to have escaped the Tower unseen. Knowing how necessary it was for the prophets using the tunnel to have a way to come in and out without alerting anyone, Segan Akorias created a small trap door in 939 behind his house to allow people using the tunnel to come and go without him even being aware of it. Because of that, Tufas Akorias didn't even know if Aitin had come through the tunnel.

It wasn't a difficult thing to get back into the Tower, even if it wasn't exactly pleasant.  The tunnel was dark, stuffy, and rather filthy. Even with the light coming from a small sphere of fire hovering above his palm, it was hard to see. The tunnel was heavily shielded with wards stolen from somewhere throughout the centuries so that people travelling within it could not be sensed by the gifted among the Guard. That shielding also had the unfortunate effect of dampening all light regardless of its source and adding to the sense of gloom that pervaded the entire structure.

When he was at last safely within the Tower, he was able to change into his proper black robes and, with some careful navigation, reintegrate himself into the common halls and act like normal. His first stop was to visit Mistress Seer Hedgeroth in her office.

"What is it?" a tired and impatient voice responded to his polite knocking. When she looked up from her work, her face relaxed and her voice softened considerably, "Ahh, Shruden, what is it that brings you to see me this evening?"

Xalent smiled with genuine but fleeting warmth. "It has begun, Aelsa, just as your daughters foresaw."

The seer scrambled to her feet and hissed admonishingly, "Not here, old man, or you will doom us all!"

Though she was four years his senior, she had been blessed by the gods with looks of a woman in her late fifties rather than the seventy-one years she had actually lived. Because he looked his proper age, she often called him an old man. It had initially started as a joke, but it had no become habit.

She only relaxed when the door to her office was closed and warded with an anti-eavesdropping spell. "Are you sure it has happened?"

Xalent nodded. "I witnessed it with my own eyes. The bait has been set and the mouse has taken it."

Hedgeroth massaged her temples and sat back down in her chair. "This is too soon, things are not yet ready."

"I know that, but the gods do not work on our timetables."

With anxiety in her eyes, she asked, "Which one was it?" She drew herself up and held her chin high hoping to take the news face on.

"Paluthan's Branch," was all that Xalent needed to say in order to deflate her entirely. She sagged in her chair and let out a single moan.

"Who is the wizard?" she asked after a few seconds. "Anyone we know?"

"He is one called Lorenez, out of the necromancy branch. He was hunting necromancers and came across it."

She released a deep breath before muttering, "No wonder we kept sensing death perverted in our visions. I was wondering how that came into play."

"There were no necromancers and I could not sense any necromancy in the area," Xalent replied with one brow arched in curiosity.

The seer waved his comments away, "You should know better. Our visions are dominated by perception, not necessarily fact. What we see is always true if interpreted correctly, but it is often confusing and muddled. Was everything else as we saw?"

"Yes, not that there was much to go on." It was rare that the visions of a seer and the prophecy of a prophet coincided. For both to have been warned of this day had been too stark a sign for either to ignore. What happened on this day had confirmed an important branch of prophecy and invalidated three others. Paluthan had been a prophet hundreds of years ago who had written of the events that were now coming about. While there were no specific ties to the Master of Magic in his prophecies, it was long suspected—and now confirmed—that they were set in the same time.

She slapped her hands on her desk and said wearily, "I am too old for this, Shruden. We both are. I had hoped to be back in Mewela's warm embrace before the Coming Darkness struck, but the gods have seen it fit to place this burden upon my shoulders."

Xalent tried to smile, but his lips just wouldn't obey and the result was more of a grimace. "I am glad it was you, Aelsa. At least it is someone I know and trust rather than a new Mistress Seer. Transitions are always a hard time, putting this on a newly ascended Mistress would be cruel and dangerous."

Hedgeroth's eyes lit up in appreciation of what Xalent was trying to do, but, like him, she could not force a smile. "It does not matter now. What is done is done and things have been set into motion that cannot be undone."

"I know," said Xalent with regret and fear. "There is no going back now, we can only hope that the gods have worked things out for the ultimate good."
This and all material related to the Master of Magic series is copywritten by me. Unless otherwise mentioned or you have explicit permission from me, you cannot use anything related for any purpose.

I ask that anyone who is reading this please take the time to comment with one thing they like and one thing they think I could do better (or made a mistake on). Pointing out what I do well helps me know to expand and continue those things. Showing me my mistakes not only allows me to fix them, but it allows me to work where I am weak so that I can become strong. I may not agree with you or change what is there, but I can promise you that I will heed and consider anything you put.

Now we get to meet Wizard Lorenez. He doesn't play too large a part in the series at this early juncture, but he will definitely come in more later. I kind of like this chapter because it gives some insight into the mundane life of a wizard. Lorenez is part of the Purification Sect of the Wizards College, the one that goes around combating illegal and dangerous magic, specifically necromancy. In Teladia, necromancy involves taking the power of souls and imbuing them into an object (or person) much as someone would enchant something. Unlike normal enchantment, necromancy is much more powerful and dangerous as it can consume the very soul of the person who is performing the magic. As such, it is banned throughout Terula and Angvard, though most other kingdoms similarly ban it.

The second part of this chapter shows that naughty ole dog Xalent running around free when he isn't supposed to. He has his own purposes, mysterious ones at that, and won't let anything so pesky as a forty foot wall and hundreds of guards stop him. Of course, if you look closely, this also explains how Prophet Aitin managed to escape the Tower (remember the funky prophecy that disturbed everyone?).

Related Links


Story:


Prologue: A Prophecy Worth Blood (has all chapter links)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~Part II: The Kruish Lord~

Ch. 30: The Wisdom of a High Priest
Ch. 31: Cousin and Kings
Ch. 32: Wizards, Necromancers, and Prophets
Ch. 33: Promises and Hopes
Ch. 34: Brought Into Balance


Maps:


Continent of Teladia
Political Map of Teladia, 3E 1048
Size Comparison of Teladia and Europe
Size Comparison of Teladia and the US


Kruish:


Kruish Runic Chart
© 2013 - 2024 Trivas
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Edyong's avatar
"Sensing that another question was forthcoming, Lorenez decided to simply head it off before they wasted more of THIS time. "

more of HIS time?



N E C R O M A N C E R S!!! Slightly disappointed there's no appearance of one in this chapter