people be free of his shadow, once and for all.’
‘Grand Master,’ Lomar began, ‘such an idea is not new. Many people have tried to kill the Emperor, many times in fact, and none has even been nearly successful, except for your brother as you described-and he has not been seen since that day. The Archmage keeps the Emperor surrounded by the most powerful spells and he has elite guards by his side day and night. Even the Circle of Eyes has failed to kill him. I must say, it seems impossible!’
‘It’s not impossible, by any means,’ the wiry old Grand Master corrected. ‘While it’s true that such a task does present its difficulties, what do you think I have spent the greater part of my life considering? In truth, the Order has wasted countless years secretly searching for my brother, all without avail; but we now have an alternative means of getting to the Emperor. Still, we must strike decisively and without error, for if we fail it will be the end of all our hopes and almost certainly our lives.’
‘So you have a plan?’ Samuel asked.
‘Not exactly,’ the old man admitted, ‘but we must put one together quickly. I’m sorry to say that the introduction of this new relic-something no one could have foretold- has thrown all my existing plans to the wind. It they manage to awaken this Argum Stone and it proves even nearly as powerful as the Staff of Elders, the war will begin anew and more lives will be forfeited. The Emperor can stay safely in Cintar under the protection of the Staff of Elders, while the Argum Stone goes north to obliterate the Gartens. Who knows? Perhaps the Emperor would even like to see the battlefront himself this time? With two Ancient relics of power in his hands, who can say what the Emperor can and cannot achieve? Before this happens, we must kill him. It has never been done before, but we now have something that I believe will make all the difference.’
‘What’s that?’ Samuel asked with great curiosity.
The old magician’s face creased with wrinkles as he grinned back towards Samuel. ‘Well, my boy-it’s you. ’
‘Me!’ Samuel said, startled and the Erics and Lomar seemed to share his surprise.
‘That’s right. You can do the one thing that no other person can. You can kill the Emperor.’
‘I have no idea how that could be so,’ Samuel declared. ‘How can I possibly kill the Emperor? I’m not nearly as powerful as some other magicians, even after everything I’ve learned.’
‘It’s not a matter of power, Samuel,’ the old man revealed. ‘It’s a matter of its application. You can approach the Emperor without anyone knowing you are even there, for not even the keenest of magicians can detect you while your magic is unsummoned. Even I was quick to dismiss this facet of your nature, when not even the greatest of magicians could achieve the same through spells. Once you are near enough to the Emperor, you can unravel his protection spell by spell and he can be killed like any man. You are the magician that cannot be found.’
‘The magician that cannot be
‘That’s another interpretation,’ old Anthem admitted, ‘or it could also be
‘Samuel has just returned,’ Eric said, jumping on the realisation.
‘But so have you, Eric,’ Goodfellow added.
‘Or so could your brother, Grand Master,’ Samuel concluded. ‘He could return and
‘That’s just my point,’ the old Grand Master agreed. ‘Such vague statements can be interpreted in almost any number of ways and are darned next to useless. You see, you have now returned to us, Samuel, just as the prophecy foretold, but so has almost everyone in some way or another. I can bend such words any way I see fit to suit the circumstance. Master Celios’ damn prediction has been the cause of more trouble than it’s worth. Whatever its true meaning, if indeed it has any, I believe we must ignore the finer details and just help the damned thing come to fruition. We kill the Emperor with the help of Samuel’s second unique ability that will help him with the task.’ And the old man looked to Samuel expectantly.
Samuel’s mouth fell open and it took him a moment to gather his wits. ‘How did you know?’ he asked, veritably gobsmacked.
‘I may be old, Samuel, but I’m not an old fool. I have been watching you since the day you first arrived here. At first, I was not sure, and we were so busy minding after young Master Pot here-thinking he was the answer to our prayers-that we couldn’t see what was before our noses. Your eyes follow your spells like a falcon follows its prey. By the nine gods, I only have to cast a quick bit of magic and you blink like you’ve been blinded! I always suspected it of Salu, but he would never tell me for sure, but I know you have the same special gift that he possessed, Samuel. You can see magic. It’s the only explanation for the neatness and quickness of your spells, Samuel. You seem to be an enigma of many sorts.’
‘What does he mean, Samuel?’ Goodfellow asked, full of confusion.
Samuel took a deep breath. ‘What he says is true. Since I can remember, I can actually see magic. I can see it like most people can see their own two hands.’
‘That’s incredible!’ Goodfellow exclaimed. ‘Why didn’t you ever tell us?’
Samuel shrugged. ‘It’s not something I like to talk about. I’ve had enough trouble in my life without having something else to mark me apart from everyone else.’
‘Well, it does make you unique,’ Anthem explained, ‘and now that the focus is away from Eric, it makes you dangerous. I don’t know if the Archmage knows the true extent of your abilities, but he knows enough to make him wary. He knows the prophecy as well as anyone and even suspicion is enough to get a man killed in this city. You’re lucky you haven’t been killed already, with all the damn foolish mistakes you’ve been making.’
‘Even if he manages to kill the Emperor, what then?’ Lomar asked.
‘The Emperor is the Empire. Once he is dead, we will free the nations he has conquered over his wretched lifetime. At last, Amandia can live in peace and freedom as it did before the Empire came into power. The family lines of the old kings still exist. Such descendants can retake their places and the Emperor has no such son to follow him. A senate once used to rule in Turia and I would like to see such an assembly established once more. Even if Empress Lillith does have a boy, there are many things we can do to stop him from inheriting as much power as his father.’
‘Is there actually some kind of plan, or am I just expected to run up to the Emperor and stab him in the head?’ Samuel asked.
‘Don’t be smart, boy,’ Anthem told him. ‘We need all the help we can get. I have summoned the Lions and they will arrive soon. After they were sent to kill me, they could not return to Cintar empty-handed and they, too, have been in hiding. Together, we will overcome the Emperor’s bodyguards and then Samuel can go to work. I will need to teach you what spells are guarding him, and how each one can be undone. I have spent years scrutinising and memorising every trick in Ordi’s book. Your timing will need to be precise, for the Emperor’s protection is also riddled with traps and misdirection. At the same time, we will need to keep the Archmage busy, for you cannot defend against the Staff of Elders and deal with the Emperor at the same time.’
‘So we wait for the Lions to return?’ Lomar asked.
‘That’s right, but they should only be a day or two behind me at the most. Now, why don’t you tell me everything that has been happening since I left this miserable city?’
Samuel absentmindedly rubbed the deep scar on his left arm and listened carefully as Lomar told the old Grand Master of all they had done up until that time. He was not at all sure about the old man’s plan to kill the Emperor, but these days, he was not really sure about too much of anything.
That night, while the Erics had sneaked out into the markets to fetch them some hot dinner and Lomar had gone out to meet with Master Glim, Samuel talked idly with Grand Master Anthem as they both browsed over their piles of stolen books. The patrols searching for them had somewhat thinned. Still, Anthem warned them all to be wary of agents of the Empire.
‘Pah!’ the old magician spat, reading over some pages. ‘Half these books are nonsense! This one is clearly written by a lunatic!’
‘It seems many of them were,’ Samuel agreed.
With that, Anthem tossed the book over his shoulder onto the carefully placed pile of unwanted books. Then, the old man sat opposite Samuel and gave him a level look that made Samuel sit up and pay attention.
‘So tell me,’ Anthem began. ‘I feel you have changed much since you left Cintar. I remember you as a happy
