Draith
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Chapter 14 - A Real Wizard
🕑 Added 2025-02-24 22:00:04 +0000 UTCThe next morning we were summoned to a private audience with Althon.
We arrived much like the day before, even down to the announcement.
But this time, there was no audience. Calbern had stayed behind, and even the young man announcing us left as soon as they'd performed their duty.
Which left Nexxa and I alone in a room with the most powerful mage on this side of the continent. Althon sat on his throne, tapping his fingers softly on the arm rest as he watched us.
We watched him right back, neither of us moving from our place near the entrance. This wasn't the scripted event from yesterday. This was our true first meeting.
After nearly five minutes Althon suddenly stood, turning away while waving a hand at us to follow. "Come. Time grows short, and I must once again sacrifice my needs for the many."
Nexxa and I exchanged a glance before marching forward to fall in behind him.
Somehow, he managed to slither as he walked. At that point, I was starting to wonder if instead of water, maybe he had a snake affinity. Perth had never heard of such a thing, but he'd never heard of the elf-song either.
Althon led us down a hallway lined with art of the city and its folk. As we walked, I could see how the city had grown. And how it had fallen, only to be brought back again.
Every picture had Althon in it. In some he was smiling, others he was crying. And in a rare few, his face was painted in a rictus grin of hate.
In none of them did Althon carry the unsettling appearance I was familiar with.
"Look closely children, for if you follow the path I see laid before you, you will know these struggles yourselves."
The person speaking wasn't Althon. Or, at least, it wasn't the one we'd been following.
From out of a picture behind us stepped a man. A tall man, his shoulders straight and square, his beard long and gray, and his eyes as piercing as a screw driver.
He was everything I'd first imagined Althon would be. More really.
I could feel the mana rolling off him in waves, and I cursed myself for my foolishness. The other 'Althon' didn't even have as much mana pressure as Perth's father, yet I'd believed he was the real deal.
Speaking of the other Althon, he sidled up to us, his form slipping away. First his face melted off, then each of his limbs, one by one. Finally, beneath it all was a snake. Once free of its shed ‘skin’ it continued past us to coil around Althon's leg before ascending up across his shoulders. It flicked its tongue out, staring at Nexxa with the same hungry gaze that had me on edge the day before.
Seeing that look on what was clearly Althon's familiar was still a little worrying but not nearly so much as it had been.
"Come children, we have much to discuss," Althon said, turning back towards the painting. And I hadn’t imagined him stepping out, because he stepped right back in.
I watched for several seconds as his form moved deeper into the grass filled meadow depicted on the painting, sharing a glance with Nexxa.
Then I followed his lead, hoping I wasn't about to embarrass myself. To my relief and horror, I felt myself melting down as I stepped through the picture, only to reform before the process could complete.
Some part of me told me that if I'd melted all the way, that would've been it. No more Perth. No more Perry. No more me.
Just a messy puddle in a painting.
"Well, that was the weirdest thing I've experienced in the last eight hours," Nexxa said before giving her whole body a shake.
"Only the last eight hours, huh?"
"Yep," Nexxa confirmed without explanation before marching up the trail.
Not wanting to get left behind, I sped after her until we reached Althon.
He'd stopped next to a clear pool of water, and was staring into it, mumbling softly. As we approached he tapped it with the end of his staff, causing ripples to spread. Yet the ripples didn’t settle into calmness. Instead, they rose and shifted until they’d reformed. I'd been in an airplane exactly once, back on Earth, but that was still enough for me to recognize what he was showing us.
"This shall be your domain, Lenexxa of Althon," he said. "The mountains are yours to explore, the valleys, yours to exploit, and the monsters, yours to exterminate, and once that's done, the borders will be yours to expand."
"This is a dangerous land, but one that will reward your efforts. Do not mistake your skill for experience. I have arranged for a seasoned hunter to advise you for your first two years. Listen to his advice, but make your own choices."
Nexxa nodded, her eyes focused as she scanned every mountain, no doubt committing it to memory.
I did the same. It may have been Nexxa's, but if I truly intended to be her ally, there might come a time I'd need to come to her aid. Knowing the shape of her domain would be useful, if that day ever came.
We remained silent until Nexxa nodded again. "Where will I meet this hunter?"
"He will be waiting for you at the heart of your domain, here at the head of the Teleti river. A week's journey as the airship flies. Two by boat, and eight by horse."
"I don't see any settlements," I noted as I scanned the map again, despite being certain of my statement.
"That's because there are none. Until Magus Dominus Lenexxa makes the land safe, it will be unclaimed land."
"Oh," I muttered.
"Do not worry. I do not expect the same of a Mage-souled Magus Dominus as a Pegasus," he said with a light chuckle.
"Yeah, doofus. Sides, you're not half the fighter I am even before we account for our spells."
A nervous chuckle of my own escapes me. "Was I that obvious?"
"Obvious as rain on a cloudy day with a grumpy water mage watching from the porch," Nexxa replied.
"An oddly specific example," I replied, glancing towards Althon.
Althon started mumbling again, cutting off any reply Nexxa might have given me. Then he wiped the pool clean with another tap.
One more tap, and the features reshaped themselves into what would be my domain.
I was surprised to see the eastern edge remain liquid. Also, there was a great deal more height difference between the lowest part of my domain and the highest. Near that highest point, which sat just inland from the lake or ocean, was a tiny settlement of maybe twelve buildings. Half of them looked to be ruins.
Unlike Nexxa, there was no river in my domain. Just a few small creeks and the large body of water to the east.
"This shall be your domain, Perth of Althon," he said, breaking me out of my thoughts. "The mountains are yours to explore, the valleys, yours to exploit, and the monsters, yours to exterminate, and once that's done, the borders will be yours to expand."
"What this land lacks in monsters, it makes up for in isolation. You will journey to the furthest tip of the continent, on the edge of the Great Storm that burns eternal. It is a two week trip by airship from the closest domain, your sister's. Four months, by horse."
"Wait, horse? Why horse? Can't I use a pegasus or one of those drakes?"
"In the Frigid Peaks? I'm afraid neither would handle the cold of the high road well. If you have the funds, perhaps you could arrange frost wolves, though finding three of the beasts would be a challenge anywhere outside the peaks themselves."
"That's… unfortunate. Then how am I going to get there safely?"
"You shall travel with your sister to her domain. Once there, she will escort you to the eastern edge of her domain. Assuming you have unlocked your first spell impression, you will be capable of taking the eastern high road. It will be cold, but the wards remain… mostly functional. Those that aren't, you will repair as you travel east. You will be as safe as any Magus Dominus can be."
"That's not ominous," I muttered, shaking my head as I returned to studying the map.
"Being a Magus Dominus is not for those who seek a guarantee of safety," Althon replied, a frown on his face.
"I mean, it beats being sent to the Front," I replied, tracing out the nearest spring's direction from the settlement.
"What does that have to do with… Aranor! Tell me child, did your father threaten to send you to the Front if you didn't become a Magus Dominus?"
"Uh… basically?" I said, glancing at Nexxa who was staring back at me with her mouth hanging open.
"It seems I must apologize. I cannot change your fate at this point. You have made the pledge, and we are all bound to serve the Pillars. Had I known…"
"I mean, if you want to make it up to me, you can always drop me right in my domain. Or, you know, I always enjoy adding more spells to my grimoire. So… maybe I could take a peek at your library?"
Althon huffed out a laugh. "Bold child. I'm afraid I cannot simply spirit you away. Even the Shadow would find it difficult to take another so far in a timely manner. And to charter an airship to travel so far outside the Sky Ways would be prohibitive. It would make more sense to leave the land fallow for the next ten years. However, I suppose I could allow you to peruse one of my low order grimoires."
I blinked. I honestly hadn't expected that to work. Getting access to his spells was worth way more to me than a quick trip.
"Hmm. I shall also assign a guide who knows the high road for two years. Much like your sister, you should listen to them. But remember, your choices remain your own."
I nodded as I pulled out my journal, sketching out a rough map of the pool in front of me. It wasn't the neatest, but it would be a lot better than solely relying on my memory.
When I got a chance to search through his grimoire, I hoped I could find a complement to Review Scroll that might allow me to take pictures to add to Memory Palace.
Then again, didn't Nexxa say she could relive her memories? Maybe I wouldn't need anything extra.
When I indicated I was done, Althon swept the map clean. Then he led us out of the painting, emerging back in the hall. I hadn't noticed, but his snake had left at some point. Possibly as soon as he entered the painting.
"This is where I bid you both farewell. I have made arrangements for a ship to take you upriver in three days. My grimoire will remain in the library at your guest house until you leave, delivered by your mentor. I shall contact you every year on the Fifth of Hungry Summer, at the Heart of your settlements. If I am unable to contact you five years in a row, I shall assume you have perished."
"Ouch," I muttered. Not a lot of confidence there.
"If you survive for ten years, then your domains are yours for life, should you wish it." He paused, turning to both of us and laying a hand on each of our shoulders. "I hope to see you both ten years from now. Be prepared, be bold, be cunning. And remember, so long as you live, there is hope."
The intensity of his gaze made me want to take a step back, but the iron grip he kept on my shoulder locked me in place.
It only served to reinforce his words.
Then, as we were both still absorbing his last words, he vanished in a puff of mist.
Now that… that was a real wizard.
