The Adventures of the Peculiar Enchanter: Enchanting Encounters

The Adventures of the Peculiar Enchanter

Enchanting Encounters

 

                Strange Odd Shadow walked on the paved streets of the Renaissance-like city of Kingston. He had split up with the others from the expedition, supposedly for quicker exploring. Yet, in truth, he just wanted to search alone. For it was the Enchantress he was looking for and he couldn’t stand other people with him when he was dealing with such personal matters; especially since she belonged to his old world.

                Still, Shadow would take in all else he saw with great interest. As he saw a man setting up a photographic camera of his –of a very premature sort, of course–, Shadow thought that if he asked someone, they’d most probably know whether there was any Witch of Kingston around and where she lived. Thus, he approached the man.

                “Excuse me, sir! Can I ask you something?”

                “Of course! Of course! What is it, my good sir?”

                “I’d like to know: is there any woman known as the Witch of Kingston living in these places?”

                “Oh yes! The Witch of Kingston! She came some time ago! Splendid lady! Really! Have you come seeking her help? Many do! It’s the magicians! They always gather people around them”

                “Well, yes, perhaps! Can you point me to the direction of her house?”

                “Sure, sure, my good man!”

                The man instructed Shadow what streets to take, where to turn in order to reach the Lady’s mansion. Shadow thanked the man and said goodbye and he headed the way he had been shown. As he approached, he noticed, pretty early, that the castle could actually be seen rising above the other buildings, the tallest in its neighbourhood, even for the size all the buildings seemed to have in Kingston.

                The mansion was obviously owned by a magic-user’s. It had this odd character, not quite fitting with the rest, but not seeming out of place, that made it clear the owner was someone special. Maybe, it was the unusual mix of colours or the slightly different architecture, but Shadow couldn’t quite place his finger on it. Maybe, it just radiated a magical aura. Seeing it, Shadow was certain he was at the right place.

                He started getting enthusiastic. Yet, there was also some part of Shadow that felt guilt, due to his abandoning of magic. Yet, he mostly managed to avoid thinking of it.

                Soon, he found himself before the big metallic gates. Many times his height, the silver-and-red gates were decorated with carvings that seemed to move while your eyes fell on them. Shadow stood to examine them for a moment and then he started disguising himself as a beggar. After that, he walked up the steps that led to the gates and knocked. It sounded louder than he expected.

                Shadow waited for a few moments and then the gates started opening inwards on their own, with no person seeming to draw them. He entered through the opening and they started closing again. The boy found himself in an entrance hall, where several interesting to the unfamiliar eye objects were placed; however, Shadow could see they were very simple magical objects, if magical at all. He did not linger to look at them. Instead, he walked on the scarlet-and-golden carpet to reach the two footmen who were standing by the sides of a golden double-wing door with stars carved on it.

                “May I see the Witch of Kingston?”

                “Who is the one seeking the Lady’s help?”

                “That would be my concern, wouldn’t it?”

                The footman who had spoken looked at him enquiringly for a moment and raised his eyebrow, but then his expression went blank again.

                “Very well!” he said and the footmen opened the doors, so that Shadow could pass.

                Once Shadow had passed to the other room, with his back hunched, the doors closed behind him. In front of him was a large square hall, well illuminated by many big windows at his right and left. There were golden-yellow and red patterns on the floor, drawings of several colours on the walls. One door at the left and one at the right seemed to lead to the gardens, while the wall opposite him housed two more doors. Some suits of armour, seeming to be staring at him, decorated the side walls. The high ceiling had a bronze colour and seemed to have some patterns, too.

                Yet, the young minifigure only had eyes for the woman sitting on a comfortable and imposing throne at the middle of the other side of the hall. The clever eyes of the beautiful young Enchantress were looking back at him. She had her hair loose, was wearing a long white dress and looked astonishing as ever.

                “Milady, how kind of you to have me! I am thankful in advance for the help you are offering!” Shadow said with a fake accent.

                The Witch of Kingston examined him for a moment longer and then with a slight frown said “You’re late!”

                Shadow, with a smile, stopped the act. He straightened his back and let the clothes that made up his disguise fall.

                “Can’t fool you, can I? But what do you mean I’m late? I only just discovered that you may be here last week!”

                “It’s been more than three years since last time we met!”

                “Well, actually it’s been twenty three!”

                “Twenty three circles the sun would have completed around Crux during the time that the Universe went through, had Crux not exploded! But we two did not live all twenty three of these years!”

                “You were temporally dislocated, too?”

                “Were you really that self-centred to think you were the only one? No, I believe it is an enchantment that was placed on our villages –but maybe not only them– to affect not only them, but also those who originated from them. It’s really a clever spell, but I don’t know by whom or why! It also seems I arrived in this time earlier than you did! About six months! Still, you’re late! Couldn’t you bother to search for me during all this time?”

                “I was not in the best of places, ever since Geidrich…”

                “We are all sorry for his demise; he was a good and wise man. However, Wiz, I don’t think that running away from your past and your own self will help you get over that!”

                Shadow turned his head towards a window “Let’s talk about something else, alright?”

                An awkward silence followed for a minute or so.

                “So, you’re the Witch of Kingston, now! You finally found your Kingston, as you wanted, sweet Elemiere! How’s that for you?” he said calling her by the name he had come to call her to himself, in lack for a name to use for her; Elemiere meant the Day Star.

                “You know, the funniest thing is that I found two Kingstons!”

                Shadow raised his eyebrow in an enquiring way.

                “You see, after I found this place, I learnt that in another planet called Militiregnum, there’s another city called Kingston. After some study, I realised these two have a strange connection. There’s this magical energy concentration that there’s almost a portal between those two, and it seems to be natural. Taking advantage of this bond, I made an actual portal leading to and from the other Kingston!” the Witch seemed to be excited by all of this and so happy to tell someone about it.

                “Really? Where is it?”

                “You are standing in it!” she said with a grin.

                “What? The castle?”

                “Yes!  The back door is actually the front door to the other planet and the castle is in fact an in-between place!”

                “Very fine magic!”

                “Yes, yes! I am proud of it, myself!” she said “Wiz, why don’t we take a walk?”

                “Sure, why not?”

                The Lady led Wiz to the gardens of her home and there they walked. The gardens were a colourful place full of different kinds of rare and strange flowers, trees and all kinds of flora, all of which Wiz bet had some magical property or another other than being beautiful –besides they were not all beautiful.

                “Concerning that Militiregnum planet, it was interesting to find out that in a few of the countries there, they speak a language that is almost exactly the same with the one we speak! For instance, if some people from here travelled there and spoke an archaic form of our language, the only reason the people there wouldn’t understand them would be because they spoke the archaic form of the language!”

                “That’s interesting! And amusing to think about!” Wiz smiled.

                “So, how have you been lately, Wiz?” Elemiere asked.

                “Well, better than other times! I’ve joined the Nexus Force now and I really feel it suits me!”

                “Yes, I believe that it was with a Nexus Force mission that you have come here!” she replied.

                “Gee, sweetheart! No one likes a know-it-all!” Wiz teased her.

                “Says who?” the Witch teased back “So, it’s Strange Odd Shadow, nowadays, isn’t it? Curious name! How’d you pick it?”

                “It was actually kind of random, a thing of the moment, but I kept it!”

                “And why by taking this name, did you abandon your previous one, Wiz?”

                The young man looked at her grievously, but also somewhat angrily.

                “Will you let this go?”

                “No, Wiz! Because I care for your good and forgetting your past is not good for you! Why do you deny who you really are? The Nexus Force is all good, but it’s not all you can be! You and I, Wiz, people like us have certain talents and we must be responsible with them! Not misuse them, not neglect them, use them for good! And your parents! Have you forgotten them?! Don’t you ever think about them?!”

                “My parents?!” Wiz exclaimed “My parents?! Do you think that I don’t always have them in my mind? That I wonder how much they must be worrying for me, not knowing what happened to me?! That I don’t miss them?! But I cannot face them! I have failed them! Like I failed Geidrich! I left them hoping that I shall become a great wizard and here I am a few years later a mess of myself, unable to meet anybody’s expectations! I failed them by failing myself! I was not ready to see them again. And the more I did not return, the more difficult it became to do it. For the shame of not returning always increased. I couldn’t face them, as I can’t face magic. I have failed as an apprentice of magic” the volume of his voice decreased as he talked until it was almost a whisper; there were tears in his eyes now ready to be released at any moment.

                “Oh, Wiz! You never failed anything! There was nothing you could do about any of these and besides you’ve grown to a great magician anyway, without completing your training. And you think anyone would be really disappointed in you, because you didn’t complete it! I’m sure your parents would welcome you to their hug and comfort you for your loss, but never would they be disappointed. They still will if you return! For they still love you and will always do and they only care about how you are! As do I! You have to return, Wiz! Return and restore the ties to your past!”

                Wiz, who meanwhile had bent to his knees facing the ground, remained silent for more than a few moments. The young woman waited next to him waiting to see what he would say, without breaking the silence. Finally, he spoke.

                “You’re right!” he said, not having risen, yet “I shall return to my village and see my parents again! And my old friends!”

                He raised his torso and looked at Elemiere, his expression changing from that of struggle to a faint smile. He felt relief, as if now he was beyond the problems that had been weighing on his heart until then. With the Witch’s help, he was now free.

                “Thank you!”

                “I only care for your happiness, Wiz!

                “By the way, it’s Enchanter!”

                “What?”

                “You called me a magician, but let’s be honest if I am to be anything magical that would be an Enchanter!” Wiz stood up.

                “You really have some idea of yourself, don’t you? And you said wizard!” she said leading the young man to a bench.

                “I said my parents expected me to become a wizard, not that I am one!”

                “You are just terrible!” she laughed.

                “Yes, I am, dear Elemiere!” Wiz smiled back “That reminds me” and he sat closer to the girl “You have yet to share your name with me, o mysterious Witch of Kingston!”

                The Witch turned her head towards his and found it quite close.

                “But you haven’t shared your gift with me, have you?”

                He approached her even more, so that now he could feel her breath on his face.

                “Maybe, though, I can now!”

                The Witch of Kingston whispered one single word to his ear. Then, the two minifigures looked at each other’s eyes lovingly for a moment before they embraced…

 

~ ~ ~***---***~ ~ ~

 

                A while later the two minifigures were still on that bench, the Witch resting her head on Wiz’s shoulder.

                “Come back to me, Wiz, when it’s done. After you return to your village, don’t forget me!”

                “Don’t worry! I will not”

                One of her servants came out a door of the castle and made for them.

                “Excuse me, ma’am!” said the man upon arriving “But there is a visitor who seems urgent to see you. He insisted that I notify you of his presence”

                “Thank you! I shall see him, if he’s so urgent. Wiz, you don’t mind, do you?”

                “Not at all!”

                The minifigures walked back into the castle and entered the hall with the throne. Wiz sat at a corner, preferring to go unnoticed, while Elemiere sat on her throne. Soon, the aforementioned man entered the room.

                He was wearing some fancy clothes and he generally struck you as a neat person. He seemed to have a general expression of conceit, which was now mixed with anger. His curious eyes looked around the hall scanning it all, resting for a moment on the sight of Wiz, but finally looking back to the Witch.

                “Greetings, my lady! I don’t mean to trouble you for long, though you had me waiting for a while! I just have been looking for some… rare ingredients to make a potion and I was wondering if you could supply me with one of them!”  Wiz didn’t like his voice either. It made him so self-important, but something else, too, something he couldn’t quite catch.

                “What ingredient?” the young woman asked slightly reluctantly.

                “Drevark roots” he said and he seemed to smile triumphantly.

                “You can’t just come to people’s houses and insult them like this!” Wiz shouted from his corner, clearly very exasperated.

                Drevark roots are infamous for being exclusively used for the Dark Arts –especially the worst kinds of it. Hence, it was very insulting to imply that a magic-user might have some.

                The man looked at Wiz, who was now walking towards him, and said calmly “Are you the reason why I had to wait so long? I don’t think this concerns you, so why don’t you just go back to your corner!”

                The Witch looked at both of them, not sure what to do.

                “I wouldn’t think so, mister! Why don’t you just leave… before anything bad happens to you! You are obviously not welcome here, if this is how you’re going to speak!”

                “I say let’s just settle our differences… the old-fashioned way” he said taking off his glove and tossing it at Wiz’s feet.

                “There shall be no duel in my halls!” the Lady intervened.

                “But you can’t expect me to back out from a challenge!” Wiz objected as a sword materialised in his hands “Besides, he’s insulted you”

                He looked back at the man, as she exclaimed “Wiz, no!”, and he barely had time to deflect his attack; he had drawn his sword without Wiz’s realising it. However, parrying the hit caused the sword to leave his hands. The next slash would have been fatal if Wiz hadn’t flung the man across the room with his magic.

                “Not playing by the rules, are we, Master Wiz?” he mocked while getting up.

                “ENOUGH!” Elemiere’s voice echoed in the room and a force brought both men to the floor.

                “I shall have no duel in my halls! Leave us, immediately! You are not welcome here!”

                The man got up again and walked towards the door, but before he went through it he turned around and smiled to Wiz triumphantly. At that moment, Wiz was for the first time able to truly notice his eyes –there is this magic that doesn’t let you notice something, even though technically you can see it– and they were two yellow sinister eyes. Then, he was gone.

                “Never disobey me again!” the young woman sounded somewhat stern, but she was half-joking.

                Yet, Wiz wasn’t listening. He had been petrified by the sight of these eyes and his mouth was gaping in terror.

                “Did you see his eyes?”

                “What about them?”

                Wiz turned to her. “He was the one who smashed Geidrich!”

 

~ ~ ~***---***~ ~ ~

 

                Wiz was walking through a forest somewhere in the vast world of Castellar Regnum on his way home. When the first shock concerning that man was over, he decided there was nothing he could about it –since the man was gone before he could search for him. Thus, he stuck to the plan and soon –as soon as his Nexus Force duties allowed him– made for the village where he had lived his early life. But he still wondered what the minifigure’s purposes had been in that visit of his.

                He looked at the silver ring with a little purple stone on one of his fingers. The Witch of Kingston had given it to him, while keeping one identical ring for herself. He thought of his visit to her and how it had gone.

                “Thank you, Elwen!” he said.

                He noticed a particular tree he remembered from his childhood that signified he would soon get out of the forest. He was very near now and he felt nervous and excited. True enough, he got out of the woods after five minutes and he saw the hill behind which he knew lay his village.

                Wiz started walking faster going round the aforementioned hill. A few more steps and would be there. Finally, he made the last turn. And there, where he expected to find his homeland, lay the ruins of a burnt village. His village was destroyed. . .

>>Next Suggested Story>> Talmid Show, SEASON 3! Then, The Fall of Calibus Tower: The union of The Lady of Calibus, The Search and the Hunt, and To Return Home: Act 4: Journeys