Grand Wizard, you are in danger. Your Chief of Wands, your Secretary of Forbidden Magic, and the Head of Spell Casters, they all work for the Black Sword Riders.”
Dindrane took a deep breath, trying to make her hands stop shaking. Claudas and Ector threw her approving glances while Galehaut tried to suppress a smile of satisfaction.
“Um, well,” Merlin added after he cleared his throat of the lump Dindrane's speech had caused. “Ms. Astolat... um...what's your first name?”
“Dindrane.”
“Dindrane. Beautiful name. May I call you Dindrane?” Merlin added as he smoothed his grey suit-jacket.
“Of course, my Lord.”
“Well, Dindrane, what on earth is going on?”
“Grand Wizard, I would recommend you be seated. It's quite a long story.”
After Merlin took his place behind the dark cherry rosewood desk, Dindrane turned to Claudas.
“Claudas, would you like to take over from here? You are more familiar than me with the events that followed the end of the War of Wizards,” Dindrane proposed.
“With pleasure,” Claudas said as he moved at the edge of his seat on the yellow-cream couch. “Grand Wizard, I hope you’ll allow me to stay seated. I'm old enough to remember those dreadful events.”
With a gentle gesture, Merlin expressed her approval.
“It all actually started before the Order of the Silver Lake defeated Black Sword Riders. I was a young aspiring spellcaster working for a Black Sword Riders mage named Taliesin in old Celliwig. Grand Wizard, don't be alarmed,” she said as he noticed Merlin becoming uneasy. “I was a Celliwig native, and I was obliged to serve my homeland. Taliesin was a great mind, but his brightness reached the edges of insanity. The creation of a Super Mage was his main goal, and he would probably have succeeded if he had more time. After the war ended, Taliesin disappeared from the face of the earth, along with his notes about some of our incredible experiments.”
“Was Taliesin ever seen again?”
Dindrane exchanged glances with the Grand Wizard, and after she received his approval, she took the floor.
“He was considered dead until one of our spies snuck into a secret society that was founded by former Black Sword Riders that fled Celliwig when the Order of the Silver Lake won the War. They built houses and shops, and they called their new city Ynysville. They have remained faithful to the Black Sword Riders’ beliefs and way of life. They eat sausages, drink beer, even celebrate the Feast of the Black Swords annually. They have used magic to block the entrance to their town to anyone non-believer. There, in the forests of the Red Ridge Mountains, they live as if they didn't lose the war. They live life in secrecy and under the radar; no one who is not a member of their cult has ever been allowed to rent or buy property in Ynysville. Now you may understand why it took us so long to break through the barriers of their secrecy.” Feeling more confident, Dindrane tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“In time, their security measures have loosened. As the years passed, they’ve started feeling more comfortable sharing their views with other cults. Luckily for us, they looked for a spell caster outside their town walls.” Dindrane resumed her narration. “That was the opportunity we had been waiting for. One of our spies, Daniel Tal, volunteered to go undercover, and in a short time, he managed to win the trust of their chief mage. Guess who that scientist is. Yes, Dr. Taliesin is very much alive and continues to conduct the atrocious experiments he started in Celliwig.”
“And he has my daughter-in-law, whom we thought to be dead for years, working for him,” the Grand Wizard said.
“Is this true? A secret Black Sword Riders sect? How could this be possible? Why hasn’t anyone ever taken notice of them and shut them down?” Merlin gasped with surprise and disbelief.
“I am afraid it is very true, my Lord.”
“And why have I never been informed of their existence?” Merlin asked.
“You should ask your Whisperers Director, my Lord.” Dindrane smirked.
“Holly Mages.” President Merlin puffed out a breath, exhausted.
“And here is where you come in.” Dindrane stood up and stepped towards Merlin’s desk. “Alfred Roetter, Anni Sauer and Harold Schaefer: Your Chief of Wands, your Secretary of Forbidden Magic, and your Head of Spell Casters.”
“Do you have solid accusations against them except the fact they all have ice-blond hair and Celliwig-sounding names?”
“They are all members of Black Sword Riders. And you have been their way into the Academy. You were their Trojan Horse.”
“This is absurd,” Merlin objected.
“I am sorry, but you are wrong. I have intelligence on them back to when they were students of the Academy,” replied Dindrane.
After a moment of silence that seemed to stretch on forever, Merlin finally uttered. “They were some of the best of my students. They never gave me a reason to doubt their loyalty,” Merlin said, shaking.
“We have accurate information that there is more to come,” said Dindrane.
“What is next?” Merlin asked, darkness in his eyes.
“They want to eliminate us all,” Dindrane stated, his voice steady.
Sweat trickled down Merlin’s face, and his hands trembled as compunction filled his soul.
I felt I had to take action. I had been sitting quietly, monitoring their reactions and trying to get to know better what each of them stood for. Something in my gut told me that Merlin was a good guy and that the treason committed by the people he trusted the most had shaken him.
Moving slowly, I stood up and approached him. I put my hands on his shaking shoulders, and surprisingly to me, he accepted the comforting gesture.
“Grand Wizard, I believe in you. And I am still convinced that you were not aware of the
