FOURTEEN

 

WAR OF THE WIZARDS

 

A deadly silence fell among the group. Suddenly the wailing of the condemned spirits seemed closer, as though they hovered on the other side of the rocks that sheltered them from the wind. The flames from the fire cast eerie shadows over their faces, drawing out the worry and confusion in their features. Everybody had known or heard about Lorenso’s renegade son, but none thought him capable of such a heinous crime. Of course they believed Lorenso. The old magician never lied.

“How astute of you. I was wondering how long t’would take ye to figure that out,” a high-pitched, but confident voice echoed around their alcove.

Alecsis, as usual was the first to react. Unsheathing The Holy Avenger Lorenso had so recently returned to him, he sprang to his feet, peering into the gloom surrounding them. The fire failed to penetrate the night beyond their small camp. Even the stars looked smaller and further away. The enchanted sword started to glow red, indicating an evil presence.

“Show yourself, or suffer the consequences,” Alecsis bellowed, taking up a protective stance.

“Always the brave one, Sir Alecsis,” the disembodied voice crooned with deceptive sweetness.

Alecsis jumped over the fire and darted into the darkness, swinging the glowing sword in front of him. “Where are ye, you little weasel? Come out and fight like a man!”

An evil cackle emanated from behind him, and he swung round in time to see a figure materialize beside the eddying fire. Alecsis gasped, recognition dawning. So his suspicions had been correct. Lorenso’s son was the flashy little upstart from the pirate’s camp - an upstart that was supposed to be well and truly dead.

“I saw you die before my very eyes,” Alecsis cried in bewilderment. “Shot through the stomach with a poisoned arrow. Are ye a ghost?” He certainly acted like a spirit, appearing out of nowhere, but he seemed solid enough now, and if he really was Lorenso’s son, he was probably capable of some very powerful spell-binding indeed.

Leonado laughed again. He looked no less flamboyant than he had last time, wearing more jewelry than a monarch at a royal function. “It takes more than poison to do me in. Nay, it would take an extremely powerful wizard to put me under the ground.”

“That can be arranged,” Lorenso said through clenched teeth.

“So you do move. I was starting to wonder if ye’d been frozen into immobility by one of yer own incantations. Old age has been known to cause spells to backfire. What with the mind not being as active as it once was. When the memory fades, essential words are easily forgotten,” Lorenso sneered.

As he turned to face his father, Alecsis rushed at him from behind, but it seemed Leonado had eyes in the back of his head. The Holy Avenger was wrenched from his grasp by invisible hands. He stared in horror as the sword spun through the air. Swinging round he rushed after it, but felt something snag his foot, tripping him up. He fell heavily on his stomach.

Gasping, he glanced round, and saw a large clawed hand shackle his foot. Made of earth and stone, it pinned him to the spot. As he heard the sword clatter to the ground somewhere in the darkness, another claw grasped his other foot, rendering him immobile.

Staring frantically around, he saw the evilly enchanted earth grab his companions in the same way. Even Lorenso was snared, but for him the flamboyant young sorcerer drew on extra reserves. Weaving his slender hands around each other, a vine grew from a stunted bush nearby, entwining itself around the old magician’s wrists before he had the chance to counteract the spell.

The only one spared from the earth-bound shackles was Karina, and a deep sense of dread sneaked up on Alecsis. He realized why Karina hadn’t been subjected to the same spell as soon as Leonado started towards her. The glitter of lust in his eyes burned brightly enough for all to see.

“NO!” Alecsis screamed. “Don’t you dare touch her!”

“And what will ye do about it, stuck there like a shag on a rock?” Leonado retorted with a chuckle, continuing to advance on the cornered princess. She had retreated to the rock face, and her frantic eyes met Alecsis’s. Please save me! they begged, and Alecsis struggled like a madman against his bonds, but the harder he pulled the tighter they grew, biting through his leggings into his calves.

“I’ll kill you if you so much as lay a hand on her!” Alecsis bellowed. His fury at being unable to escape made bright lights flash in front of his eyes. It tore at him like an evil demon, slicing into his soul with claws more painful than those tearing at his legs. He clawed the dirt, trying to pull himself along. Clothing tore, but the stone talons held him fast, working in deeper with each desperate movement.

The little sorcerer laughed, his eyes full of demonic fire as his gaze fell on the helpless knight. “Ye can’t possibly feel such deep devotion to this naughty little princess. Why, she helped me in many a nasty prank when we were children.” He turned back to her.

Karina stared wildly around, seeking an escape route. Seeing none, she tried to break past him anyway. Springing to one side, she darted forward a pace, but Leonado shot out his arm. Catching her around the waist, he hurled her back against the rock-face. Sharp stones dug into her back as the air whooshed from her lungs.

“No running away now, not when the fun’s about to start. Ye may even enjoy it.” He leered. “I know ye gave yourself willingly to the barbarian. Now ‘tis my turn.”

“Let me go!” she cried, resuming her struggles. He silenced her with a hard slap across her face. The force of it jarred her jaw, and she saw stars behind her eyes. During her disorientation, he clamped his mouth over hers. His invasion filled her with revulsion. Thrusting his darting tongue into her mouth, he pressed his wiry body against hers, forcing her hard against the rock. She felt its coldness dig into her back, but it was nothing compared to the iciness Leonado’s devouring mouth evoked.

She heard Alecsis’s screams of vengeance, and inside her mind she shrieked her answers. Help me Alecsis! Save me. Please! Please!

Leonado eventually withdrew his mouth from hers, and she managed a weak cry. “Lorenso! Do something.” Despite the fear numbing her mind, she realized that she had already given up on Alecsis saving her from the evil creature pressing his cold hard body against hers. He looked nothing like the impish boy she remembered. His features were the same, but the demonic fire in his eyes counteracted any fond memories she might have had of him. She would never think of him the same way again.

“The old buzzard is too feeble to save you from the pleasure ye’ll bring me. I be the strong one now. Yer father will reward me handsomely for bringing back Dorban’s murderers. Only with the aid of magic could anyone get inside the castle. I shall tell your father Lorenso helped Alecsis kill his brother.”

“He’ll never believe you,” she croaked. The continued press of his weight against her was making her lightheaded from lack of oxygen. For a small man, he possessed inhuman strength, but then he had the power of evil enchantments on his side.

“Oh yes he will, because my father shan’t be there to defend himself. He’ll be dead ‘ere the night is through. As for your beloved knight, he’ll go before the executioner as planned.” The last words were spoken so softly, only Karina could hear them. “I was so looking forward to seeing his blonde head roll. I shan’t be denied the opportunity twice.”

Stepping back, he dragged her a few feet across the rocky ground, then hurled her down.

By the time she managed to catch her breath, Leonado had thrown off his red robe, and yanked down his breeches, his manhood swollen with need.

“NO!” she screamed as he dropped to his knees, and straddled her. He began tugging off her garments. She managed to wriggle an arm free, and grabbed one of his many earrings. She yanked it from his lobe, a spurt of blood gushing forth in its wake. The young sorcerer howled, and Karina felt his weight lift as he clasped a hand over his ear. She scrambled back, but he caught hold of her boot. He was livid, the anger blazing in his eyes.

Within an instant he had thrown himself on her, and invaded her with a searing shot of pain that filled her with scalding coldness. She wailed like the undead spirits outside the camp, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Straining against the small, but powerful hands pressing hers to the ground, she fought desperately for escape. She soon discovered that he wouldn’t let her go until he was through. What made it worse was that no one was going to save her. Through the haze of her tears, she saw Alecsis sprawled on the ground, his own face streaked with tears and dirt, his eyes wide and filled with horror.

The sight of his fists pounding the earth in helpless frustration made a new kind of pain spear through her. Alecsis wasn’t quite as strong and brave as she’d thought. She clamped her eyes shut. This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening, she chanted over and over again inside her mind. And eventually she stopped feeling the agony tearing her up inside. A numbness settled over her body, turning her limbs into heavy lead weights.

Unable to tear his gaze from the two figures thrashing about on the ground, Alecsis felt Karina’s pain as though it were his own. Every thrust felt like a hot poker boring into his body. He continued to struggle against his bonds, chunks of skin tearing from his legs, but he got no closer to Karina and her torturer.

Just when he thought he would never get the sight of her helpless beneath the demon brat out of his mind, a new image swam into focus. He saw a wood-paneled room with a row of square windows displaying a stormy sky, and when he turned his head he met the face of a man leaning over him.

The stranger had fair hair like himself. It was long and straight, falling almost to his waist, and his face had the same chiseled features that greeted Alecsis every time he peered into the looking glass. But this man’s eyes were blue, the frigid blue of an early morning sky. These cold, uncaring eyes filled Alecsis with the same icy terror that had threatened to overwhelm him every time he tried to recall his life before Avion.

The image vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and Alecsis looked up at the night sky, his head spinning with confusion. The pale man had been real. Nothing imagined could elicit such mind-numbing terror. But who was he, and why had he appeared now when Alecsis had all but given up remembering anything about his past?

Alecsis saw Leonado stand up and nonchalantly slip his blood coloured robe back over his head. Karina lay slumped on the ground as though dead. For all Alecsis knew she could be, and a great wave of sorrow swept through him. Even if she lived, things would never be the same. Alecsis couldn’t even begin to imagine how she would cope with what that evil wizard had done to her.

“Oh Karina,” he sobbed, burying his tear-streaked face in the crock of his arm. “I’ve failed you.”

“Yes you have, haven’t you?” Leonado sneered. Alecsis knew he had come closer, but he couldn’t bring himself to look up and see the smug satisfaction on his face.

“Nobody leave while I move onto the next part of my plan.” Leonado laughed at his own pathetic joke. “The only one I’m freeing is my dear father. Aren’t I generous?”

“Ye’re naught more than a foul-minded bastard who likes to cause pain,” Antano yelled, shaking an angry fist at him.

Leonado slowly turned to face the young soldier, who half lay and half sat on the rocky ground a few feet away from Alecsis. “I’m getting a strange jabbing pain right about here.” He rubbed a beringed hand against his stomach. “Something to do with a poisoned arrow shot at me several weeks ago. Do ye know anything about it, Antano?”

The youth spat his contempt onto the ground. “I’ll do it again given the chance.”

Leonado slowly shook his head. “Such a shame it has to come to this. Ye’re much too young to die. Oh well.” Pointing at Antano, he began an incantation.

“Leave him be,” Lorenso shrieked, finally freeing his left hand from the clinging vine. He managed to counteract Leonado’s spell, hitting him in the back with an energy blast that sent him stumbling forward. But he didn’t fall. As he swung round, Lorenso disentangled himself from the other manacle, and worked on a spell of release for his feet.

“Oh, how clever of you! But I was going to set ye free myself. Alecsis was right, you see. I prefer to fight like a man. You and me, Lorenso, to the death,” he asserted, jumping into the air. Then he vanished. “Catch me if you can,” his voice echoed around the crags.

“Lorenso,” Alecsis croaked. Lifting himself enough to raise an arm, he pointed a trembling finger at Karina. “Please help her.”

“I know not how long I’ve got before he starts Serpon’s work,” the magician muttered, wringing his hands. “I should have done something sooner, much sooner. But he’s become so powerful... so full of evil.” He stopped beside the prone princess, and laid a gentle hand upon her brow. “She lives.” Bending over her, he whispered a few words of healing. He glanced back at Alecsis. “I wish I could make her forget.”

“Can’t you?”

Lorenso merely shook his head, his dark eyes full of pain. “’Tis not within my power. I can only aid physical ailments. Now I must deal with that demon child of mine... I’m sorry Alecsis.”

The torment in the old mage’s face reflected the agony in Alecsis’s heart. “Destroy him, Lorenso.”

Lorenso closed his eyes, and took a deep, agonizing breath. “There has to be another way.”

“Kill him,” Antano repeated Alecsis’s request. “There is no other way. Kill him or we all die.”

Lorenso walked slowly to the gap of their camp area. No there has to be another way, he repeated inside his mind. Muttering the same words of reversal he’d used to free himself, he released his friends of their bonds, the evilly-enchanted claws retreating back into the earth. How he wished it hadn’t taken him so long to figure out how to reverse Leonado’s earth-weaving spell. Had he realized it earlier, Karina would still be whole.

He ducked between the rocks into the darkness. The wind hit him with such force, for a moment he thought Leonado had already started his attack. Quickly casting a night-light spell, he saw nothing but hulking crags looming over him, blocking out the sky. No doubt Leonado had found himself a good vantage point, and Lorenso considered rendering himself invisible. No, let him come to me.

Clasping his cloak close, he began walking, grimacing against the wind’s icy bite. The spirits shrieked so loudly now, Lorenso felt their pain rip through him. No doubt Leonado reveled in their agony. What made you like this, Leo? he asked himself. Who planted the seed of evil, and what made it germinate and grow? It didn’t happen in the womb, of that I am certain. Neither your mother or I ever entertained a single dark thought. Whatever made you the way you are today must be reversible.

He reached another sheltered area of sorts, but this one was larger. The wind had eroded the rock to form a rough set of steps resembling a semi-circular amphitheatre. Perhaps this was where the spirits met to howl outrage at their fate, he thought, knowing instantly Leonado was hiding nearby.

“You can come out now,” he yelled, his voice echoing eerily around the chasm.

“Are ye sure ye’re ready for me?” he heard Leonado’s voice echo back.

I’ll see your arrogance vanquished if it’s the last thing I ever do, Lorenso thought angrily. How dare you treat me and my friends with such contempt. “Death is too good for you, Leo. Unless, of course, I ensure yer soul joins those haunting this place.”

The young man materialized on the highest step of the amphitheatre, some fifteen feet above Lorenso. “No, I won’t die - not this night. I have the power of an old enemy of yours behind me.”

“Of whom do ye speak, Leo?” Perhaps if he kept him talking, he might discover what had compelled Leonado to turn to the dark side.

“Ever heard of Dragonfire?”

Lorenso frowned, shaking his head. “Nay.”

“He remembers you well, and wishes ye dead.”

“So ‘tis not you who’s after my soul?”

Leonado gripped his head, his face contorting as though in pain. “Enough of this talk. Prepare to die,” he shrieked.

“I’m yer father, Leonado. You don’t want me dead, this Dragonfire does. Let me speak with him. Perhaps -”

“He hath no desire to speak to you.” The young sorcerer lifted this hands to resume his incantation.

“Ye have a good vantage point there, Leo, but ‘tis a long way to fall should anyone push you from behind.” Unable to reason with words, Lorenso decided to counteract Leonado’s spell with one of his own. Redirecting the wind was a relatively simple spell, and a sudden gust slammed into the young wizard. It had the desired effect. He tumbled from his perch, but he didn’t land in a heap on the ground. He caught himself in mid-fall, and landed nimbly on both feet directly in front of Lorenso. He folded his arms nonchalantly. “Even as a child you courted trouble, Leonado. Now ye’re knee deep in it. Who’s Dragonfire?”

“My teacher in the dark arts.”

Suddenly Lorenso knew he wasn’t speaking to his son at all, but some demon in control of Leonado’s mind. But how can I free him from the hold this creature had over him? he asked himself. “Why did ye kill Prince Dorban?” he persisted.

“Did I do that?” Leonado feigned innocence like an expert. No wonder he’d once been everyone’s favourite, Lorenso thought, his lips curling in distaste.

“Stop playing games, Leonado. ‘Tis time for the truth. Why did ye do it?” he repeated, clenching his hands into fists. Makim, Makim, hear my prayer, he began to chant, silently calling to his own god. Come to me. Come to me. Help me save this child from evil.

Lorenso had never summoned the Goddess of Miracles before. There had been no need. The only time he had ever met Her Holiness was when his father had inducted him into the life-long apprenticeship of spell-binding. At sixteen, Lorenso had been awed by her beauty, her awesome power. He’d never done the same for Leonado. His son never passed the test of faith.

“I thought Sir Alecsis did it. Everyone says so,” Leonado continued to goad.

Obviously Lorenso wasn’t going to get a straight answer out of him, not until his dark soul had been cleansed of this demon fiend, Dragonfire. Makim, Makim, hear my prayer. Come to me. Come to me. Help me release this child from evil. “But you and I know differently,” he said out loud.

“Do we? Nobody can prove it.”

“I will. I shall ensure ye pay for yer crime.”

Leonado wriggled his taloned fingers, brewing up an incantation. “And how do ye propose to do that, Father dear, not when ye’re about to lose your head.” Thrusting both hands up into the air, he brought a lance plummeting down out of the sky. Lorenso ducked, and turned to see the razor-sharp weapon bounce off the rocks behind him and vanish as magically as it appeared. Another appeared to take its place, and once again Lorenso managed to jump out of the way in time.

Leonado soon tired of this spell. Waving his hands and chanting a new verse, he brought a volley of fire balls hurtling from the sky. Lorenso fended the strikes off, deflecting them with a mirror spell. They too disappeared on impact with the hard rocky ground.

Makim, Makim, hear my prayer. Come to me. Come to me. Help this child learn right from wrong.

“How long are ye going to stand there resisting my power? Is one little shove in the back the best ye can do?” This time he sent ice bolts the size of carving knives pelting from the sky. Several smashed into the ground. A few glanced against Lorenso’s shoulders as he covered his head with his arms, drawing blood.

He began chanting out loud. “Makim, Makim, hear my prayer. Come to me. Come to me. Save this child from the dark side.”

“Ha!” Leonado laughed. “So ye’ll call upon your god to save yer useless hide. I should have known ye’d be too weak to face me on your own.”

Lorenso raised his hands into the air. Daggers of ice continued to fall, and he felt them slice his face and arms as they tumbled to the ground. “Makim, Makim, hear my prayer. Come to me. Come to me, if you want good to triumph over evil. I need you. NOW!”

He stared hopefully into the starlit sky. The tiny pin-pricks of light seemed to taunt him; we’re still here, but your god is not. Would Leonado really prove himself the stronger one? Surely Makim would never let that happen. She must be able see how dangerous it was for the young man to be in possession of such powerful dark magic. Why had she not intervened before? Had she become too weak by the lack of true believers?

It cannot be so, Lorenso thought vehemently, and repeated his chant, ignoring the pain of the ice cuts. He would have to treat them later - if he got out of this alive.

“Makim, Makim, hear my prayer...”

A faint glow resembling stardust appeared in the sky. It grew steadily brighter, taking on all the colours of the earth. Blues. Greens. Reds. Pinks, and a million variations thereof. They swirled in a kaleidoscope of brilliance. Lorenso had to look away; the light hurt his eyes. He saw that the shower of magic had even managed to move Leonado. He stood as still as a tree, face upturned, and hands hanging limply at his sides. For a moment he looked so much like the innocent child he’d once pretended to be, a knot of pain tied itself around Lorenso’s heart.

The swirling colours in the sky split, leaving a bright white hole for Makim to appear. Her eternally beautiful face shimmered into existence in its centre. Her smooth, ageless skin was whiter than Alecsis’s, but her eyes reflected the brilliant kaleidoscope that had proceeded her. A shining mantle of black hair swirled around her milky shoulders, and upon her head she wore a tiara encrusted with jewels. Every precious stone known to man glittered in her shimmering hair.

“I hear your plea, Lorenso... Oh, but you’ve aged so.” Her soft, melodic voice was tinged with sadness. “Has it really been so long?”

“Aye, your Holiness. I have lived an entire life-span since we last met. Not once did I require your assistance. We have lived in relative peace... But times have changed, and I’m afeard the danger is my own son, Leonado.” He extended a hand towards the gaping youth. Makim’s brilliance seemed to have sapped all the colour from his multi-coloured hair, making it look almost gray under her guiding light. His face had turned pale and bloodless, his dark eyes wide with wonder.

“This is your god!” he gasped in awe, turning to his father. “A god ye sought to keep hidden from me.”

Lorenso bit his lip. “Ye never showed you were worthy.”

“You asked too much!” he cried. “You were always asking too much. Why do ye suppose I left? I could never live up to your expectations.”

For a moment Lorenso hesitated, but then he said, “You never even tried.”

“I’m sure you didn’t call me to witness this argument,” Makim interrupted in her sweet, soothing voice. “I know of Leonado’s problem, and I’m afraid part of it does stem from the way you treated him.”

The old mage frowned. Was he to be punished instead of Leonado?

“Not all children respond to an iron hand. Some need a different kind of education. But enough of that. Tell me how you wish to right this wrong, Lorenso?”

“Banish him, oh mighty one. Send him somewhere where he’ll learn humility and love. Remove the powers of the evil beast that binds him.”

“No!” Dragonfire cried, shaking Leonado’s fist into the air. “You won’t take this apprentice away from me!”

“Oh yes I will, Dragonfire. You brought your own entombment upon yourself, and that is where you’ll stay for all eternity. Never again shall you prey upon the minds of the young and impressionable, for none remain in this land with the power you crave,” Makim said.

For a moment she seemed to shrink, but it was only so more of her body could appear in the white portal of light that surrounded her. She was the epitome of womanly perfection. Her creamy breasts swelled above the bodice of her shimmering white gown, and every movement of her slender arms and hands was a dance of grace and beauty.

“Leonado. Until you learn to use the power of magic for what it was designed, to heal and help those in need, you shall not cast another spell.” She pointed a slender finger, and Leonado let out a great shriek of agony.

Lorenso gasped when he saw the result of Makim’s work. Both of the youth’s forefingers had been severed. The digits lay in a bloody puddle on the ground in front of him, the outlet of his power thus cut from his body. He clasped his mutilated hands against his chest, whimpering incoherently.

“Now I will send you to a place that will heal your wounds, Leonado, but its walls are too high for escape. And even if you do leave, it is in a land far, far from here.”

Leonado began to weep.

“The only way you’ll regain the use of your magic is if you win your father’s forgiveness. Now go!” She pointed at Leonado again, and his cowering form vanished in a blinding flash of light.

Lorenso stared in dismay at the severed digits. “I’m sorry, son. I wish it could have been different.”

“So do I,” Makim whispered from above. “But I do not doubt you’ll meet again, and when you do, you will have the power to return his hands to normal, if you chose to do so. I will leave that decision up to you... In the meantime you have much to do. Your life is far from over. The young traveler, Alecsis, needs you. His destiny, and yours, are linked to The Crystal Fountain. The key is to unlock the door to his past, then to travel to his homeland. He has to go back. His people need him.”

Lorenso stared up into her pale face, seeing concern and worry cloud her beautiful features. Things must be very grim indeed. If Makim knew of Alecsis and his people, then perhaps she also knew who he was. But Lorenso never got the opportunity to ask. Her image faded, the brilliant clouds of colour surrounding her trailing like streamers into the darkness.

“The Crystal Fountain,” he murmured wearily. “What in the name of the gods could that be?”