Teaser Shorts

Welcome to Teaser Shorts! Where we tease upcoming manuscripts with litte tidbits of story. These are not supposed to be parts of the manuscript itself, but they aren't long enough to constitute a manuscript of themselves.

Into Raging Fire – Short I

The gates of Geidrich Castle opened, revealing Wiz Ardon and Felecity behind them. Wiz looked outside with a neutral expression. Did he really want to be out there? More than a year now, he'd been shut inside his castle, studying magic with a cat and phantoms of the past as his only company. But mostly the cat. It wasn't like he hadn't gone physically outside before, but this time stepping out the gates signified so much more.

For a year now, he'd d dived in the deep waters of the advanced magical arts with a single purpose. To utilise his skills in the fight against the dark forces that plagued the Crux System. But going out there, perhaps not to come back for a long time, he'd have to interact with other people again. His loneliness so far had been so convenient. He'd liked the silence. Now he'd have to listen to the utterances of the silly people that made up the majority of the world's population. He'd have to pretend to care.

“They will be insufferable”.

Felecity looked up at him, disapproving of his sentiments.

“Oh don't be like that. Only you deserve me well-behaved. You and her. But her I can't see”.

Felecity remained unamused.

“The Nexus Force. I have to return to them, now. I've been away for too long. At least, they're half-decent. But still I'd rather not have to speak with people...”.

Felecity blinked questioningly.

“Theramiere? Yes, I said I need to find him. But I've had one year to think about this. And I know my priorities. I hate his guts, but it's not urgent. As long as he doesn't make any new moves... but I don't have anything else he can take from me. She can take care of herself, I'm sure. If he wants to move against me, let him come. I'm ready for him. It won't be like the last time I met him. It won't be like when he fought Geidrich. I was a naïve apprentice then... And it won't be like when he came to Burkborrow. I'm expecting him now. I won't let him hurt people anymore”.

Wiz couldn't read Felecity's expression this time.

“Well, Felecity. Be a dear and look after this dusty old place while I'm gone. This wizard has to go now. Make sure it doesn't fall to pieces and don't let any adventurers raid it... Well, now. I've got to go. The outside world. One could say it was in flames last time I was there. Well, into the fire I go”.

He stepped out.

Into Raging Fire – Short II

"You could stand to keep this place cleaner, man", Wiz Ardon frowned examining the dusty, untidy room. Stacks of dirty dishes, scattered scribbled pages and books with worn out covers, a big spill mark over the carpet and a rusty cracked cauldron decorated the place.

The other man, previously occupied in cooking something in an unclean pot, jumped in surprise and turned to look at him with a startled expression, which slowly turned to a kind of cautious anger. He had graying blonde hair and his face gave the impression of someone who was trying to hold onto their younger look, but age was beginning to show anyway. His blue eyes had something dead about them. He looked cleaner than the room, but he'd let himself go as well as his living quarters. He was worse off than Wiz had imagined.

"Who are you? What are you doing in my home?" the man spoke in a vexed, somewhat threatening demeanour. "I will have you know I'm a powerful dark wizard, so you'd better be going!"

"And as you must have noticed from my appearance", Wiz replied impatiently pointed to his hat, "I'm a mage, too. Maybe you should be more worried about how easily I managed to break in, Erwin".

"Don't call me that, you brat! I'm the Maze Builder! I'll show you!" wrath was ignited in the man's eyes, as he charged Wiz pushing him onto a stack of dishes.

A knife materialised in the man's hand, with which he then tried to stab Wiz. The enchanter, however, placed his hand before the knife stopping it a few centimetres away from his palm. With the other arm, he pushed on the man's head, forcing him to his knees. There he stayed stunned; all fight had left him. He only raised his head to look at Wiz with a sad expression.

"You're not the wizard you used to be, Erwin, and there are plenty Rogues in the Nexus Tower that'd be much happier to get their heads clοbbered by me; so why don't you cooperate and stay put to finish this off nice and quick?"

"What do you want?"

"The Disciples of Morgusor, name ring a bell?" Wiz paused for a moment, giving the other time to reply, but Erwin did not speak. "The nine greatest dark witches and wizards of the last centuries; recruited by Morgusor upon his return to do his bidding; fought by the Council of the Enchanters. I wonder. Are you aware that someone's hunting them, killing them one after another? The Curse Bringer is gone. The Plague Master. The Brute. I just found the Soul Collector dead yesterday. That just leaves two of the remaining Disciples. The Demon Caller, who I think will take some more effort to be found. And the other is of course... the Maze Builder".

"What are you talking about? Who's killing everyone?" Wiz could see the fear in the sorcerer's eyes.

"That's what I want to know, too. What do you know about the one true apprentice of Morgusor? A man with yellow eyes. The one who killed Geidrich".

"What? That brat? Couldn't have been him. Curse Bringer sent him away, along with his whole village".

"Curse Bringer is dead, though. He became ill and his curse was undone. The Apprentice of Morgusor returned. And he had his revenge".

"Impossible! He's just a kid. That brat could never had defeated Bringer".

"He's no kid anymore! It's been years, get it? He's grown and now threatens to kill you all. Kill us all. Now, what do you know that could help us all survive".

"Morgusor found him when he was just a baby and trained him to be a wizard. I only met him a couple of times, I don't really know much about him. I heard he was the one to defeat Morgusor in the end, though" the Maze Builder explained. "He didn't have yellow eyes, though. I'd remember that" he added after a moment's thought.

"You said that the Curse Bringer sent him away. He did the same to me. And the Witch of Kingston, too. If the Curse Bringer wanted to avoid the new Enchanter whose coming he'd foreseen, then... which one of us is that?"

"What do you mean? Bringer just cursed Theramiere. I don't know about you or any Witch. I don't even know who you are".

"Then, why? Why did the curse affect us all?!"
"I don't know!"
"Crux! You're useless! I will be going then"

Wiz turned around to leave, but halfway to the doorway, the Maze Builder started talking again, "Wait! I remember you now. You're that other brat. Geidrich's apprentice!"

"What of it?"

"Your lot ruined us. It was your stupid master and his friends who reduced me to this state! All because of you. YOU!"

A dozen of daggers or so flew his way, but they were all deflected by an invisible barrier.

"I suggest", Wiz said with a dangerously calm voice. "That you hide as best you can. If he finds you, there's not much you can do".

Then, he was gone.

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

The man watched Wiz Ardon walk out of the tower where the Maze Builder lived and consequently disapparate away.

"Playin' Hide and Seek, Wiz? Finally looking for me after all these years? But no need to be impatient now. We are going to meet again soon enough. Properly, this time. So, don't worry; our time will come. Your time. As for now..."

A blink of the eye and he was inside the tower.

"Hello, Erwin!"

Into Raging Fire – Short III

“He was brought in from the upper levels”.

His head felt heavy, a dull pain covering the upper half of his cranium.

“How did he get past our guard?”

His ears were ringing and upon opening his eyes, the darkness was replaced by a blurry world of no distinct shapes.

“Apparently, he and a woman were reported to just appear there out of nowhere”.

He could hear voices in the background, but his voice couldn’t quite focus on them yet.

“Seriously? What sort of monster is he? A sorcerer maybe?”

He was on the floor, tasting the dirt. Damn! He spit. Why was the floor so dirty?

“No sorcerer I know has that kind of power”.

What were they talking about? He thought he recognised some of the words spoken; and his eyes were starting to refocus…

All of a sudden, a blurry figure flew out of the cell, breaking the rails in the process. Before the two Paradox Renegades who had been idling outside could react, the escaped prisoner had pinned them both on the wall by the necks.

“I am an Enchanter”, Wiz Ardon said and with his face contorted in an expression of rage, he applied pressure on the necks of the two Rogues, “Where is she?”

“What? Where is who?” one of them squeaked.

“THE WOMAN! The one they found with me! Bring her to me!”

There was a moment of pause and then, “As if we’d ever tell you, scum!”

Wiz screamed in anger and tossed the two men on the other wall, which broke and collapsed upon impact. Breathing heavily, the enchanter walked past the hole in the wall and down the corridor, looking for more people. He passed by more cells, some of them with more prisoners inside, but none of them was the one he was looking for, so he ignored them. Some called out for his help, others cowered in fear at seeing him, but he did not care. He simply walked on until more Rogues finally appeared.

There were five of them this time, all Space Marauders, and they opened fire at him as soon they caught sight of him. However, as the Maelstrom blasts approached him, they broke apart and dispersed into little lights, akin to fireflies in the night and no more harmless than them.

Wiz took the newcomers in for a moment, but then lost interest, “Just useless grunts. Bugger off!”

The Renegades were pushed onto the walls and rails by an invisible force, allowing Wiz to pass. Ignoring the panicked cries of prisoners and jailers alike, Wiz stood there considering what to do.

“I need to be faster”, he spoke out loud right before he jumped.

With a long leap, propelled by his magic, the next instant found him breaking through the wall at the end of the corridor. Losing no impetus at all, he continued soaring through the prison, breaking wall after wall, surprising everyone he passed by- although they were just a blur to him and he was just a blur to them.

In a few seconds, he came upon the last wall and suddenly found himself hovering in the air, clouds just barely above him. Turning back, he saw Nexus Tower, from which he’d moved away dozens of metres already due to his momentum. At the level he’d come from, a good half of that side’s wall had blown up, with the Tower’s contents spilling out from the huge hole. Debris and people, a lot of whom were spinning unable to decrease their angular momentum, were floating in the air in a sparse cluster. The entire prison had been forcefully poured outside with him as if it was a liquid held in a container that’d just burst open.

Wiz swiftly proceeded to examine the helpless floating people one by one, sparing no more than an instant on each.

“You! You will do!” he finally declared after checking multiple people.

Without delay he shot back, picking someone up on his way and causing the debris and people behind him to follow him again back inside. He landed on the Tower’s floor by the outermost wall he hadn’t broken, leaving the person he’d chosen down. A roar came behind them as the debris connected once again into one, albeit in a messy jumble.

“What are you doing? You’re going to kill everyone!” the person, a black-haired girl in a Shinobi’s outfit, exclaimed.

“Oh, they’ll be fine! Be more worried about yourself”.

“What do you want?”

“Ellwen, tell me! Where do you have her?”

“Who?”

“Haeneth Lanoris! Tell me where she is, now!”

“No one by that name was admitted here”.

“LIES!” Wiz grabbed the woman by the shoulders, his wrathful face, right before hers; she tried to retreat as far back as she could, but Wiz’s grip on her was too firm. “She was captured with me, she has to be here! Tell me the truth!”

“I’m sorry, but really, I don’t know anyone by that name to be kept here!” the girl replied with fear in her eyes.

“What’s your name?”

“My name?”
“WHAT IS YOUR NAME?”

“It’s Sarah Deihron!”

“Good… Now, I have your name. I can curse you and your family, if you’re lying to me. You hear that? If you don’t want unimaginable suffering to strike you and your family, then you might want to reconsider any lies you’ve told”.

As soon as his words registered with Sarah, an expression of horrified realisation was reflected on her eyes.

“I… I… there’s no lie”, she answered, her voice more high-pitched.

“Then, I just need to look in the other Rogue prisons until I find her”.

Wiz let Sarah go and opened a hole in the wall to go through. Sarah gave a sigh of relief and allowed herself a few seconds to let her breathing go back to normal. Wiz had almost reached the other end of the neighbouring room when Sarah walked in after him.

“Wait! If you continue like that, you’ll destroy the whole Tower!”

To her surprise, the enchanter heeded her and stopped in his tracks. He turned around and glared at her. His wide bulging eyes were bloodshot, his pupils contracted to little beads. His face was a mask of rage, with pulsating veins visible under his skin. His right eye was twitching and a dark aura was emitting from his body. With that demeanour, he looked back at Sarah, who stumbled backwards, immediately regretting her actions.

“What did you say?” Wiz’s voice was almost a whisper.

“I… I said that… you… you shouldn’t… destroy...”

“You do realise that I’m not in the best of moods right now. Crossing me could get you killed. And yet you dare talk back to me?”

The Shinobi nodded apprehensively, not quite sure what she should be saying. Wiz continued glaring at her for a few moments, then a grin formed on his face, although in his state, it only served to make him appear more maniacal.

“Fine… I guess I should find a safer way to do this. See you later, Sarah”, and having spoken his last words, Wiz flew through the ceiling.

And thus a new player entered the battle of Nexus Tower.