Wizard's Tricks Part 3

Wizard's Tricks

Part 3

By E. M. Areson

I left the greenhouse and I went to the arena. I managed to get there without running into Horon, everyone was avoiding me. I went to the strategy booth, Horon would be here soon. I set on the floor, wishing he’d never get here. I held the pendant tight in my hand, careful not to crush it yet my nails dug into my palm. I rested my head on my fist and with the pendant still in my grasp.

Horon walked in and I was slightly amused by his appearance. No wonder everyone thought I’d cursed him. He was ugly. I could still see the light hair and dark eyes that hadn’t changed though everything else was different. He looked like the bruit he really was. I raised the corner of my mouth slightly but I couldn’t greet him. Horon my be my brother by blood, but he holds no place in the now empty hollow of my heart. What’s blood anyway? Does it really bid people who despise one another? I don’t even really care enough to hate him anymore, strange what a lack of love can do.

“Are you going to undo this?” Horon was looking down at me, yet it still felt like he was looking up.

“Never.” I didn’t rise, why should I?

“Why?”

“You destroyed all I cared about,” I half shrugged. “I thought I should return the favor.”

“Brother I-”

“When have I ever been your brother?” I interrupted. “When I would put on a mask and pretend your fear didn’t cut at my heart? When I would give you some of my magic to be better than you were and all you gave me was a cold gaze? When you killed my loved ones?”

I weighed for a moment then continued. “No? Then don’t say you’re my brother.”

“I need you to help me win the War Games, for the sake of our House. Won’t you even do that?” He crossed his arms and tried to make a hard face.

“I’ll do what I do.”

He looked at me one last time then left me alone with my neither love nor hate to give me strength. I stood and looked at the map on the table and out off the large window into the arena. My… Horon stood with the other contestants at the gate. I held the pendant in my hand and watched as the handlers began to open a large cage. The creature inside burst out before they could open it all the way and she cried to the sun.

I gasped at her beauty as the crowd screamed in terror. She was a harpie. I had read about them but I’d never seen one. She looked human, the only difference was that where shoulders and upper back are on a human she had wings of crimson. Her eyes were wide with fear. She tried to fly and remove the chain from her leg at the same time. The handlers pulled the chain hard and she fell to the ground with a crash. She picked herself up quickly and held her hands out in front of her.

No one seemed to hear as she pleaded for help. She didn’t want to be there, that made two of us. The gate opened and the contestants ran in, all fully armed and her with nothing but the clothes on her back. She tried to fly but the chain kept her close to the ground, every time she got more than a few feet up the handlers would pull her back down towards the charge. I couldn’t breathe, my heart raced and I tried to think. What could I do? Horon swung with his sword and cut her arm. The sight of her blood stopped my heart. It dawned on me what had happened and I ran into myself.

I looked for the sound I would need to save her. I hadn’t been able to save Gerti, Furon or Halpen, but I would save her. I looked through the sounds of magic and found one. It was so loud and powerful I realized it would probably be a bad idea. I grabbed at it and pushed my heart again. My lungs took in a small breath and I flung my arm through the open window. The magic poured out of my hands and out into the arena. The chain vibrated for a split second then shattered, the force sent the competitors flying. The harpie was launched into the air and she flew, faster than I thought was possible, away from the arena.

The crowd and competitors looked around trying to see what had happened. I tried to pull my arm back but it was too late, someone saw me. In only a couple moments the crowd was chanting, ‘The wizard of Jutop did it.’ I could see Horon looking up at me and I knew he knew what I had done. Death wishes and curses were nothing new to me. With the same hand, I’d used to freed her with I grasped the pendant. I closed my eyes.

It felt like only a moment passed before I was back at the great hall. This time I was at the front, kneeling before me judges. My parents and other elders from the House set at the head table and my other relatives at the side tables. Horon and another cousin were on either side of me, each with a spear. It was like I was a prisoner, a criminal. To them, I suppose I am.

“Isley. You have betrayed the House of Jutop, the House of your birth. What do you have to say to this charge? That you used magic to sabatosh the War Games and disqualify your brother.” My father looked so ashamed I almost thought about not being sarcastic.

I held my head up defiantly. “What I say? I say I used magic to save an innocent life from unnecessary slaughter.”

“What makes you able to judge us?” My Aunt Norro asked.

I smiled. “The magic within my soul is power. I do whatever I want.”

“Isn’t the elevation of your House something you want?”

I laughed coldly and everyone seemed to pull away in horror, without humor I said. “Not with idiots like him,” I nodded at Horon, “To lead us.”

This brought much outrage and I had to smile to myself. I don’t know why, maybe because it’s the most they’ve ever paid attention to me.

“If you can’t respect your House then maybe you shouldn’t be a part of it.” My father looked around to the other elders. “All in agreement to remove Isley from the House of Jutop?” No one, not even Frigya objected. “Then he is out! Remove his emblem.”

Horon pulled the patch that said I was of the House of Jutop off my shoulder ripping my shirt. He pulled me up by the collar ignoring my attempts to stand on my own. He pulled me, still by the collar, out of the hall. I looked back only once, to wave bye to everyone with a smile. In doing so I removed every bit of magic I had ever done on them. Clothes, enchanted to last forever turned to rags. Painting my magic had restored showed their fading. Faults in the building I’d fixed returned and everyone was shown for who they really were. The lies had vanished leaving a hall of truth.

Outrage, anger, and curses followed me out of the House of Jutop. Horon tossed me out the front door so hard I fell down the stairs. I tried to stand but he kicked me hard in the knee. If I was like him I would have fought back through the beating, I wasn’t though. I allowed myself to fall into my mind and not feel the pain.

What did I have to feel pain for was that all I loved was dead. I was without House. No human had ever cared for me and now Horon was beating me. The image of the harpie flying to freedom brought a smile to my face and I opened my eyes. I through off Horon letting him stumble, as he fought to use his unbalanced body like he had used his perfect magical one. I stood tall again, turning, the sun was setting and I walked away into the darkness.

When I was sure that I was both out of sight and that I wasn’t being followed I stopped. My knees were bruised, my face hurt and I wouldn’t have been surprised if I had a couple black eyes. It was cool, winter was only a week away and already the night was cold enough for frost. I reached for the pendant and… and… and found nothing. I looked down and searched my clothes and the ground around me.

I fell to my knees and began to sob through gritted teeth. I screamed into the darkness as it engulfed me. Everything was gone now. I didn’t bother to wipe away the tears. All the sadness, rejection and loss engulfed me. I hugged myself, falling to the ground in anguish. There was no one to comfort me. Why was I still alive all I wanted was death. I thought of all I’d lost and all I’d never had. It was so cold I couldn’t think, it felt like the tears were freezing on my cheeks.

After a while, I couldn’t move anymore. I closed my eyes, yet I heard the sound of approaching people. Probably people from my former House. They shook me and as they begin to beat my chest I fell into the sounds of my soul. I stopped my heart and lungs and shut out the world. I listened to the sounds of my soul, so beautiful. I didn’t care about anything else anymore.

Air was pushed into my lungs. I pushed it out and tried to close my mouth. Air was pushed in again. I resisted it, why should I breathe? I knew I wasn’t going to die. I’d decided never to die as an infant. Why should I care about breathing now? Yet, more and more air was put in my lungs and they started to work. My heart followed suit and I slipped into unconsciousness.

I awoke in a strange bed in a richly adorned room. I was dressed in a fine silk nightgown and I wondered who’d cared enough to change me out of the stupid strategian clothes I’d been wearing for two days. I set up, the room had one tall, wide door and the walls were white. To my right, there was a large collection of windows including a glass door leading to a balcony. The bed had a canopy of velvet and silk. I brushed my fingers over it admiring the richness. A chandelier of gold and silver hung in the middle of the room.

I could not believe my eyes. So I promptly laid back down and weighted to wake up. For a minute I wondered if I was in the afterlife. Then I remembered I decided never to die. I must be dreaming. There was nothing like this in the House of Jutop, and even if there was it would not be used for me. One, they hate me and two, I’d been removed from the House. Closing my eyes I ignored the sound of an opening door. Someone tiptoed to the bed and put a hand to my forehead as if checking for fever.

“You're awake.” It wasn’t a question. “Why are you still laying there? You're perfectly safe.” It sounded like a woman’s voice. “Very well, than wizard. Try and have it your way, but you’ll soon see I’m very stubborn.”

I don’t care how stubborn you are I’m not getting up, I thought. I heard her walk away from the bed but not as far as I thought the door was. I heard a slight creak like she’d just set down in a chair. I heard her pick something up, then the sound of turning pages. So she was reading, I wonder what. Maybe something interesting, however, I’ve learned to never underestimate how bad a book a person will read. After about ten page turns I started to wonder if I was awake. Can a person have a boring dream?

“This poem is really nice don’t you think? It’s called Sun Fall Around. Don’t know it? I’ll read it to you.” I heard her take a breath. “Sun fall around, Earth will grow, This is something we all know. Sun fall down, Darkness below, May all go well if you cross the snow. Sun fall done, Earth is gone, If you cry they will have won. Sun fall over, They are here, They will make all undone. Sun fall dead, We have lost, They will make us cry like they did.”

I did know it, I had read it often.

“I wish I knew what it meant though…” She sounded genuinely thoughtful. “You probably know don’t you?”

I wanted to smirk, I did know what it was talking about.

“Fine, wizard. Keep your secrets eventually you will have to get up.”

Mentally I frowned, she did have a point.

After a while, I did fell back asleep only to wake again in the same silk nightgown. I opened my eyes. She, whoever she was, wasn’t leading over me. A good sign. Carefully, quietly I set up. My eyes immediately fixed on the chair where a lady with a book in her lap set.

She was asleep, her dark hair matching her dark dress and contrasting with her crimson wings. She was the harpie I had saved. I would have recognized her anywhere, even though I had been about thirty-five feet away from the actual fight. Her left arm was bandaged, I think from where Horon had cut her. Thankfully it didn’t look serious. I set up all the way and gently got out of bed. The nightgown went to my ankles and I was careful not to trip over it. I with a twitch of my hands I removed the book from her lap.

I also took the opportunity to use a little magic to put on a pair of simple black pants that had been laid at the foot of the bed. I could use magic to dress while laying down but that always felt strange. They fit very comfortably as if they’d been made for me. I tucked the nightgown in the top of the pants and climbed quietly back into bed. I leaned against the headboard and began to read.

After about twenty pages she began to wake up, I looked at her as she looked around for the book. “Looking for this?”

She jumped a little then smiled, “So you’ll finally admit to being awake now?”

I nodded. “The poem, Sun Fall Around, it was talking about a contagious disease that once ravaged parts of Avlig during the winters.”

She set up, wrapping her wings around her shoulders like a cape. “Really? That’s interesting. I love poetry.”

I nodded again, “Words can be beautiful. What’s your name? I’ve never met a harpie before.”

“I’m Viktora.” She shrugged slightly. “I’ve never met another harpie either, to be honest.”

“Really?” I closed the book.

“As far as we know I’m the only one left. Like you I suppose.” She crossed her legs and set back reminding me more of a schooler than a lady or monster.

I smiled, “Being the only one isn’t too bad if you can at least try and be normal. It must be rather terrible for you. Wasn’t it just yesterday you were going to be killed in an arena?”

She laughed without humor, “Yeah, I guess that’s true. No one’s saying anything about it but everyone thinks it’s my fault for leaving the House lands…” She looked out the window and I understood.

“Everything wanted and feared rests just outside. When inside walls, they’re like a cage. When outside walls, the world’s unwelcoming. People want to hide us in the shadows, yet don’t trust to leave us alone.” We locked eyes and my heart, a thing that had always been under my control, fluttered.

“The mid-day meal is probably almost ready. I should go so you can get dressed.” She stood and began walking slowly to the door.

“How will I know where to go?” I set on the edge of the bed.

She halfway looked back but kept her eyes off me, probably thinking I was still wearing nothing but the nightgown. “Follow the sound of about thirty war horses.”

I laughed. I quickly dressed using magic and rushed out of the room. When I didn’t see Viktora in the hall I slowed. She was right when she compared the sound of the hall to war horses. It was only after I walked in did I see the emblem over the head table. Eurlo, the House that had been in power for over a hundred years and still showed no sign of falling. I quickly went to the end of the last table.

“Isley, the wizard?” An older man hurried over to me and shook my hand not letting go. “You can’t sit here, you’re our honored guest. Come to the front table.” He began to pull me up but I tried to stay put.

“Sir, I am a houseless wizard. I never sat at the high table in what was once my own house. How could I sit at the high table of the greatest of all Houses?”

He stopped and looked at me. “Do you really think so little of yourself? Why would we take you if we didn’t want you? I’m Durki, the Father of the House of Eurlo, we want you to join our House if you will.”

Confusion twisted my face in shock. “You want me?”

“Of course. You called us the greatest of all Houses if that is so it’s only because we accept the great people others won’t acknowledge because of prejudice. Very few members of the House of Eurlo are actually related. Most of us have been houseless and then taken in. My daughter included,” He motioned to a lady in a red cloak, for a second I didn’t recognize Viktora. She looked so much like a normal human at the high table. “Will join our House?”

My skin prickled and I realized everyone was suddenly looking at me. I kneeled from the knees so low my forehead was nearly laying on the floor, “I would be honored.”

He kneeled beside me and put his hands on my shoulders. “Then call me Father, and became the son and brother of the House of Eurlo.”

“Yes. Father.” I smiled and Durki pulled me up.

“Behold! Isley honored son and brother of the House of Eurlo.”

“Behold!” Cried everyone in the hall.

I was lead to the head table followed by cheers. No one had ever cheered me before. Viktora held the emblem patch and she carefully added it to the shoulder of my shirt. She took my hand and lead me to the seat on her left, between her and her father. He set down and within a few minutes, the hall quilted long enough for the food to be served. It was a salad with tiny bits of bacon in it. The flavor was so simple and yet so much better than anything I was used to.

I looked out into the hall. Strange, but yet it almost felt like I had come full circle. Only two days ago I set in the back of the hall at the House of Jutop, one of the lowest Houses. I was rejected and the only comfort I had was in monstrous creatures that were killed by one blood bound me to. I was told I was to be feared and I didn’t question it. Then, I freed a monster, and the House that didn’t want me left me. I lost everything.

Then I was found and forced to live again. The monster was a beauty and I was told I was special in a good way. I was accepted into a House that had no blood ties to me and still wanted to give me a life. I was sitting at the head table of the House of Eurlo, the most powerful House to ever exist. Maybe I did go crazy and I’m hallucinating.

After we had finished eating and no one had decided to leave yet, I casually brushed over Viktoria's hand. She didn’t acknowledge it with words but neither did she pull away. We were the same and we knew it. I looked over at her and she looked back.

“Would you like to see the library?”

I nearly jumped out of the chair. “The House has a library?”

She laughed and stood up. “Of course it does. Come on.”

The wings, that could look so much like a cloak when she wanted them to, brushed against me as I stood. I wasn’t doing anything with the exception of a smirk, yet she seemed to blush a thousand shades of red. Maybe I’m doing the same. I have little faith life will stay this good, but for now, I think I’ll read.

Photo By: Jenelle Ball

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