The Young Magician

‘So what would you be in my absence, Samuel?’ Ash asked. ‘Would you be Archmage, or perhaps you have designs on being Emperor, too? King of the world, perhaps?’

Samuel ignored the remark. ‘I will kill you, Ash, as you killed my beloved and my family.’

Ash laughed so long and loud that Samuel clenched his fists with rage. ‘Oh, you poor fool! You’re telling me that you have been after me all along because one of my men killed your woman? And what’s this about your family? I’m sorry-did I happen to kill them, too? Well, that’s a shame, but I really have no idea what you are talking about. I kill many people every day, my naive young friend, and I certainly have no way of remembering one corpse from another. I can’t believe you have been stumbling along all this time trying to kill me, when I really had no idea you even existed. This really is quite amusing.’

Samuel was incensed by Ash’s demeanour. He took a step forward and readied to throw a spell at the man that would tear him to pieces.

‘Oh, I’d stop there, if I were you,’ Ash called out. ‘If Dividian’s spell is not finished properly, we could be in for quite a bad time. You see, all the power in here has to go somewhere, and if it isn’t used to awaken the Argum Stone it will blow this tower to dust. Don’t even think about using any of your magic. One wrong spell could destabilise the whole process.’

At that, Samuel stopped and eyed the hideous knot of power above them. Ash was probably right.

‘You see, it took me a long time to get where I am now, Samuel. I have lied, manipulated, stolen, tortured, kidnapped and killed. I have done every kind of foul, heinous and dishonourable act to claw my way to this point. It’s amazing what you can achieve with a little perseverance. With these two relics in my hands, I will be the new Emperor and ruler of the known world.’

At that, Dividian opened one beady eye towards Ash.

‘Keep going, Dividian, you damned fool!’ Ash told him. ‘Stop now and there’ll be hell to pay!’

Dividian scowled but closed his eye and continued on, sweat pouring from his forehead in rivers.

‘Why?’ Samuel called out above the raging din. ‘Why did you kill them? What did they ever do to you?’

‘What?’ Ash asked with disbelief. ‘Are you still going on about your pathetic family? I don’t know, boy! I don’t even know whom they were! Asking me to remember a few names or faces is like asking me to remember which my favourite pebble on the beach is. I began my life so poor and miserable that I began killing people almost as soon as I could hold a knife. When I found out how easily fooled most magicians were, I could not resist joining the Order. It was like finding the fattest, wealthiest, most stupid merchant in the world and having him ask me to mind the key to his front door for him.’

‘How could you bring the Order so low?’ Samuel asked him. ‘How could a magician be so foul?’

Ash laughed with outright mirth. ‘You mean you really don’t know?’ he asked incredulously. ‘Oh, my boy, you prove yourself more incompetent by the moment. I’m no magician! I couldn’t cast a spell in a hundred years! That is why I forged an alliance with the Circle of Eyes. They covered me with spells so I would pass as one of you and, in return, I would do them various favours and pass them information. The fool Lord Jarrod thought he was using me all along, but in the end I killed him, too. He wanted the Argum Stone for himself and arranged to have me return it to him but, in doing, so he gave me a path straight to everything I ever wanted. What a grand imbecile he was! And Rimus was no better. How can I bring something lower when it is already so pathetic?’

Samuel laughed in disbelief at himself for being so foolish. ‘You don’t have any magic?’

‘Of course not! It’s true, I do have some skill in manipulating the dense and foolish of this world, but magic? No. I dallied a little in black magic, but I found its aftertaste rather bitter. It’s much safer to let others meddle with such dark things. Just look at Dividian here. He seems to enjoy it immensely. I enjoy killing people because I think of all the riches that will result, but Dividian here is truly sick. He enjoys cutting and torturing people in ways that make my stomach turn. He prepared all my vials for me and taught me how to use them. Without him, I would have been killed long ago, so I guess I owe him my many thanks. However, with this,’ he gestured to the great stone tablet shaking beside him, ‘comes true power, for the power of the Argum Stone is truly a wonder. With it, I will be able to wield magic like a true-born magician. I will wield the Staff of Elders and be utterly unstoppable. I will rule the Empire and no one will be able to lift a finger to stop me.’

‘Ash!’ Dividian called out from beside the Argum Stone. ‘You’ll pay for this! Cang will have your head!’ He had ceased his chanting on hearing Ash’s tirade and the room started shaking as all the great weaves of magic began to fall out of alignment.

‘By the gods, Dividian!’ Ash cursed. ‘You can’t stop now! We’ll all be killed, damn you!’

‘Cang will kill you for this, Ash!’ Dividian declared, but he firmed his jaw and continued with the spell. The violent shaking became subdued as the Great Spell of Awakening continued.

Ash laughed again. ‘You see, Samuel? This is true power. Look at Dividian here. Right now, he has realised the truth about me and wants to kill me with all his will, but he cannot. His choices are defined by the situation I have created. Here he is, working the Staff of Elders on my behalf and for my benefit, even as he learns I have betrayed him. Even the great Circle of Eyes is but putty in my hands. Like all magicians, they are conceited and egotistical. They, the Order and even you, young Samuel, have seriously underestimated me. A common man has brought down the Order and the entire Turian Empire!’

There was a sickening slowing in the cycle of the pattern, making Samuel’s stomach churn. Then, a deep growling boom sounded and the tower lurched to one side, causing Samuel to scramble for balance. There was another gut-wrenching shudder and then Samuel’s head cleared. The Great Spell had finished and the enormous pool of energy in the room was gone, instantaneously swallowed with a great gulp into the ancient relic. Samuel knew what had happened, even without Ash’s maniacal laughter to tell him, for Dividian had succeeded. He had finished the spell and awoken the power within the Argum Stone. There was a sharp hiss as the enormous bulk of the ancient relic then shivered and vanished. For a moment, held in mid-air, something tiny could be seen in its place, glinting in the light, before it fell to the floor with a soft clink.

Dividian opened his eyes wide and staggered back, falling heavily to the floor and dropping the Staff of Elders from his hands. He looked thin and drained and struggled to move.

‘It’s done!’ Ash called out jubilantly.

‘Wait!’ Dividian cried. ‘The magic is spent but I must seal the spell for the transformation to be complete! If not, the relic will revert to its original form in a matter of days.’

‘Then do it, you fool!’ Ash commanded.

Dividian gathered the last of his strength and began to call out in the most ancient of tongues, the lost language of the people who had created all the wondrous relics ages before, a language only known as the Ancient Lick. ‘Karem abatu; mendar arrellum; daedus mantati hellevar; amun morbata!’

With each phrase, the tiny object on the floor blazed and squealed with white heat, seeming to recognise the words. At the completion of the utterance, it hissed cool again.

‘Is that it? Is it done?’ Ash asked impatiently.

‘It’s done,’ Dividian groaned, looking set to keel over.

‘Then it’s mine!’ Ash declared with delight.

‘Samuel!’ Dividian croaked. ‘Kill him! Kill him now, you young fool…before it’s too late.’

‘Hah!’ Ash spat out and kicked the Argum Stone’s wooden frame crashing to the floor, where it snapped in two under its own weight. ‘It’s already too late.’ Then, he bent over and plucked up the tiny, gleaming object from the floor. He gloated at it as he held it between his thumb and index finger, and rolled it around to glint in the light. It was a small, glimmering ring.

‘That’s it!’ thought Samuel. At last, he knew the meaning of the word’s Ash had spoken in Tindal. Amun-morbayah. They were simply instructions on how to awaken and use the relic, infused with the power of the Ancient Lick. ‘It’s a ring!’ he gasped aloud.

‘Why so it is,’ Ash responded, glancing up at Samuel with an amused smile. He popped the thing onto the ring finger of his right hand without so much as a pause and began rolling his hand around, letting the Argum Stone catch the light on its surface. ‘It’s not so bad at all,’ he mused to himself.

Samuel took half a step forward, but stopped in his stride, for Ash’s form had begun to pulse with blinding energy as magic began to course into him from the ancient relic. Samuel staggered back, shielding his eyes from the light as magic filled the man. Through slitted fingers, Samuel could see Ash bend over again and pick up the Staff of Elders.

‘Now let’s see what all the fuss is about,’ Ash mused.