PART ONE....
I was lost, lost as lost can be. I had ridden my horse for as long as it would go and then it kicked me off. I continued on foot following a small path until it ended, at the foot of an enormous mountain it just stopped as if it were as tired of me as the horse had been. But I couldn't’t go back, I wouldn’t go back, that would make him happy show him that I couldn’t get along without him. I’ll show him, I thought every waking hour and dreamed every night he’ll see that I don’t need him any more.
I suppose it’s really quite rude for me not to tell you whom I was leaving… or running from. I was apprenticed to a wizard at a very young age, well I say a wizard what I should say is the wizard. His name was Thelonious Flagg, and back in the dark years he had defeated kings, dragons, sirens, and dark elf warriors (lots and lots of dark elf warriors, in fact the dark years were named after the evil elves that ran wild burning down houses and raising hell almost literally). He was the only wizard alive that still practiced magic and was looking for an apprentice. My mother died when I was eight and my father, strapped for cash sold me to Thelonious as a slave. Little by little he taught me magic.
First the basic, Magic is the most natural thing in the universe, he would constantly repeat. In fact all magic is, is the manipulation of nature its self. Nature and therefore Magic is made up of four basic elements. He would always make me count them out on my fingers. Fire, water, air, and wind, a true wizard is learned in all four of these, a magician that only focuses on one element is a mage of that particular element. This talk droned on and on in a never ending cycle of what this element in this certain form can do to this element, blah, blah, blah. Nonsense or so I thought.
Although the technical and philosophical side of magic board me to tears, the physical “hands on” part of my training is what I lived for. I started by levitating rocks, and moved on to starting camp fires, making streams go the wrong way, healing wounds and finally how to fight with magic. All this in nine years a wealth of knowledge that I should have been grateful for.
In my last year with Thelonious he started to teach me to understand the subtleties of the different elements, their sub categories, how they worked and how to truly understand and control them. But I wanted to use my powers, I wanted to fight, I wanted an enemy to defeat, a kingdom to save, and I wanted the admiration of the world. That’s not what it’s about! He constantly told me, but I never listened. We fought constantly and the last time was the worst. He had been talking, lecturing really about the negative effect of magic on the untrained and unwary mind and I had been playing with the fire. He had asked me if I wanted to learn magic and I said yeah, Yeah I do. But you see what your teaching me isn’t magic it’s some sort of phony philosophy that makes no damn sense! And that was it, he didn’t teach me any more he said our lessons were over, that he had nothing more to teach me and he said I would never learn. I packed a bag of supplies saddled up my horse and blazed down the road so fast I didn’t notice I was going the wrong way.
What a fool.
So there I was lost, to proud to go back and to scared to go on. I made camp and decided to sleep on it, thinking that maybe in the morning I would know what to do.
The answer came to me sooner than I expected. That night I had a dream, I dreamt that if I continued forward that I would come to a temple and in that temple all the mysteries of the world would be revealed to me and I would become the most powerful wizard that there had ever been. I woke up the next morning positive that over the daunting mountain that loomed ahead lay my future as the ruler of the world.
Thelonious had taught me to live in the wild, to find my own food and find my own path. It took me seven days to get to the other side of the mountain, every night I dreamt of the temple and the dark, powerful secrets it held. On the seventh day of my crossing of the mountain I came to a village and looming behind the village was the temple just as I had seen it in my dreams.
I staid in the village inn that night, again dreaming of the ultimate power that waited for me in the temple.
In the morning while I ate breakfast I questioned the owner of the inn about the temple. “Hunted.” He said in a quiet voice. “Some explorers went in a while back.” He looked around as if he was sharing his darkest secret. “They came out half mad saying spirits and what not roamed around protecting something terrible!” I smiled what they thought were spirits where probably just air elementals, which were a synch to get rid of. In all reality when someone dies they die, there’s none of that haunting, ghost mumbo jumbo just death. I thanked the man for the information and the meal, downed my coffee and headed toward my destiny.
It took all day to reach the temple and the sun was setting when I reach the gates, I decided to make camp and not to go in the temple until the morning. But that night as I was asleep the dream came again only this time Thelonious got the power first and he became the ruler of the world while I was stuck groveling at his feet.
I immediately got up, fashioned a torch and entered the temple. I stepped into a long hallway made of cold gray stone, a little ways in there was a brightly colored map of the temple. At the top of the map there was a red arrow pointing to a red circle that said “you are here” there was a long green line that snaked along the temples long hallways and ended in another arrow pointing at a bright blue circle that read “ULTIMATE POWER HERE!” I stared at the map for some time, this was odd never before in any of the stories I had heard of heroes in castles or dungeons never, never had there been a map. Especially not a bright cheerful one.
I stood there trying to figure out if it was a trap or not, the whole thing seemed a lot like a set up. I was just about to turn around when I suddenly had a vision. In the vision there was an elaborate golden throne encrusted with jewels. It stood on the top of a tower so tall that from the throne you could see for thousands of miles. Great hosts of people were gathered around the tower bringing gifts and supplications to the one who sat upon the throne and on the throne was Thelonious a crown on his head and a scepter in his hand. I should be on that throne! I thought anger welling up inside me.
I grabbed a miniature map from a brightly colored niche in the wall with a sign that said “Take one” and ran down the corridor. I was so enraged that I barley saw the corridors fly past me, all I could think of was Thelonious on my throne. Finally I arrived in a large room that according to the map was where the ultimate power was.
The room was so dark that even with the torch I could only see for a few inches before my vision was swallowed up by the darkness. I summoned a large fireball and threw it to the center of the room where it hung like a giant chandelier.
I gasped as the fireball neared the center of the room, on wall opposite me there was a throne with a crown and a scepter on the seat. I walked cautiously towards it not wanting to trigger any booby traps. I reached the throne barley daring to breathe. I put out my hand to stroke the arm of the throne; it crumbled to a thousand pieces under my gentle touch. My heart sunk, there was nothing here it was a trap, a fake, a hoax. I had been tricked.
I unsheathed my sword and used the tip to dig around in the heap of rubble that had been my glorious destiny. Among the pieces of debris I found the crown. I stooped down picked it up and rubbed its smooth golden surface.
I don’t know how long I stood there numbly moving my thumb up and down the ridges at the top of the crown not even aware of what I was doing.
Finally I put down the crown and turned to leave this terrible reminder of my ill fate when the crown suddenly began to glow! I stood stock still not knowing exactly what was going on. The crown glowed blue, the intensity of the glow getting brighter and brighter. When the glow reached its precipice there was a loud POP! Like the sound your ears make when you climb a mountain.
Then there was a flash so bright it was impossible to look at. I tried to step backwards but tripped over my own feet and hit my head on a rock.
When I came to, there was a small, smiling blue man staring me in the face. He extended his middle finger in a lewd manner and asked how many fingers I saw. I knocked the hand out of my face and demanded he tell me who he was. “I am Rajah!” he said as if I should have heard of him. “Well what are you?” I yelled. His smile became so broad it no longer properly fit his face. “I am your Genie! Well almost.” I was about to ask what he meant by almost when a sudden thought hit me. “If you’re my Genie I get wishes right?” He winked. “Bulls eye, Sherlock.” “Who?” “Never mind.”
I stood up. “Genie! I would like to make a wish!” A thousand possibilities flew through my head I had just started to sort through them when there was another loud POP! Followed by an earth tremor that lasted a good fifteen seconds.
After it was over I looked at the Genie completely shocked. “”What did you do? I yelled. He shrugged as if it was a stupid question. “I granted your wish.” “I didn’t ask for anything.” I yelled, scared. The Genie nodded patiently. “I granted your deepest desire which at that moment was to have a formidable enemy so you could prove yourself.”
I babbled wordlessly. “Who you ask?” He was positively beaming. “I think you will find no greater enemy than the one I have summoned. In Fact if you defeat him you will be as famous as your old master. Even more so, I think.”
“Who?” I croaked. The Genie let out a giggle. “Your masters last great enemy… the last of the dragons!” He burst into a fit of laughter so loud the building shook.
I ran towards the door, I was no match for a dragon! I had to get Thelonious he was the only one who could stop it now. The Genies laughter stopped and he yelled at my back. “There’s no use in getting your master. You see if you only defeated the dragon you would only be as famous and powerful as your master, and that’s simply not good enough.” He stifled another fit of laughter. “So I arranged it to where your master is enslaved by the dragon! You’ll have to defeat the dragon and save your master! You will be considered the most powerful wizard of all time! If you survive.”
This was just too funny and he laughed even harder than before.
All the blood drained from my head, I felt dizzy I wanted to throw up. “What did you say?” I managed to ask. The Genie floated eye level with me and explained in a slow, calm voice. “Its really easy. You have to defeat the dragon all by your self, and after you do that you’ll be famous! Oh and before you ask I don’t except refunds or exchanges all wishes are final.”
I sat down, my head swooning and thought to my self, “I’m screwed!!!”
TO BE CONTINUED….
