Chapter 3

“But do you think Hox is in favor of Leila’s pending destruction?” Kartemis asked, gulping down the very last of his coffee.

“No! Deruthe has got a lot of favorable things of which Leila’s death is excluded. Don’t you think so?”

“You may be right though…Do you remember our history? The history of the damn Magridal invasion seeking to bring the Escapee Magrid to justice? I bet you remember…Hox was one of the leviathans who used their powers to bring out the Magrids…that bitch is not the kind that goes soft on mistakes…you think she’ll not punish Leila for losing a treasure as treasured as the Azkamort spell book?”           

“You care for my candid opinion? Leila will not be lynched by Hox. She did nothing wrong absolutely”

“Oh. I see,” Kartemis said, feeling a bit awkward.

“Delaney, I want Leila dead.”

“Are you okay? She is your wife or…lover, I’m not wrong, am I?”

“Yeah, my lover, but you just will not be able to fathom a thing of all going on.” Kartemis said.

“Tell me!”                                                                   

Delaney urged, moseying into the darn mystery of what the hell was running through Kart’s mind. He for a moment recalled the mess he had created in his past, the crimes he had committed: the throats he cut and all the unaccounted murders he made, the casting of forbidden spells, the conspiracy to kill the Pilaorian queen but failed…he thought if Goddess Vol Hox could grant him clemency for all those crimes and not doom him to Magridinol, how much more would she not want to pardon Leila for a far lesser crime? Delaney was amazed how Kart was unthinkably determined to have Leila killed – besides he had an unborn son to lose.

Kart glared and did not reply. More than you know Kartemis kept his tone quite cool and polite, making him look so peaceful, inside of him slept darker man. The gods are cruel, maybe.

“Kart!”

Delaney called, raising his voice and narrowing his eyes as he tried to decide if Kart was making fun of him and if he was in his right mind, because, apparently he wasn’t. Kart was absent. He was thinking of something and Delaney was uncertain what that was. He cared.

“Look,” he said.

“Whatever it is you think you’re doing, you better put a stop to it all – going against Leila would be going against the one that made her who she is…Hox! You know you’re not a match for a goddess, you better not try at your peril,”

Delaney spat. “Are you even listening?! He shouted angrily…he had every reason to be mad. He was in a tight spot. A good friend…well, not so good now…wanted to betray and kill another good friend of his – what the hell was he supposed to do about that? Thrust a knife in Kart’s heart to stop his evil plan?

“I’ll just tell you later alright? I guess I don’t have to kill her after all, Hox will do the dirty work for me. See you tonight at the tavern.”

            Kartemis said and then disappeared from his seat on a whim. He didn’t even use his wand. That indicated he was getting better with his craft – wherever he was learning from. Delaney, one of his closest friends in Zaccrota felt perturbed with why Kartemis would want to kill Leila. That was the most stupid thing he had heard in a long time.

            Delaney sat in stunned silence for a moment, not quite believing what Kartemis had said a few seconds ago. One thing was definite about Paranormals like himself, their extrasensory perceptions. At that very time he was sure he could feel an invasion in his house. This perception of his worked most effectively when the invasion is caused by someone of the same wizardkind species. Standing up from his seat, he took an intent cold glance into the translucent window as if to see the invader coming physically through.

“Who is it?” He asked himself anxious facedly, having no idea what could be coming.

            Delaney turned pale instantly. It was Paige. What did she want from him? And she was with her son, Caulin, Friend of the Imp, Son of the one who survived. She made through the window in no time and made herself comfortable in the sofa, just like he had anticipated.

“Cease wondering why I’m here. It’s no good,” Paige said.

“Caulin,” Paige called.

“Excuse us.”

“Alright, I’ll go see a friend down at the Mort. Hi, Mr. Hunows.”

Caulin said. Delaney nodded, unable to get Kart off his mind. He did care a lot about Leila. As a matter of fact, he had a fond affection for her and could not afford to let Kart’s double allegiance cost her life. He looked at Caulin. He was a good lad. The last time he saw the boy was a few weeks ago while he was on a secret mission to a temple west of Dragritch, a highly populated city south of Pilaor, widely known for its high investment in brothel establishments and sex trade. He had seen Caulin with a friend chasing after a Milton hound with five legs. Its fifth leg made it hard for the poor creature to gain a dexterity in speeding. That had caught up with it when they had hardly tried. He had actually wished Caulin had seen him…but that would have compromised his mission – it was secret. With his eyes still on Caulin, he nodded the second time, turning to look at Paige and praying she wouldn’t be a trouble.

“Take care, my love.”

“I’ll be just fine. The Mort is a safe place,” he assured.

“Don’t use magic. The Lermils, remember?”

            Caulin, Friend of the Imp, left exasperated, having got to follow each order from his mom at age twelve. Paige’s gaze followed her son till he got lost through the door. For her it was just recently that she conceived him, and it has been twelve years already. Caulin was getting stronger and tougher in the wizarding world rapidly to the dismay of Paige. She liked it anyway.

            Though Paige is feared by a lot of witches and wizards, she couldn’t help but feel timorous and bashful at the thought of Caulin being the weakest wizard on the planet. No! She would say to the thought anytime it sprang up.

            She succeeded in drifting back to Delaney.

“You are going to stretch a helping hand won’t you?” She spoke silently. Delaney said nothing but gaped. Paige smiled wryly.

“Say something, lover boy.”

“What do you want huh, tell me? You come into my home unwelcome, and you call me boy.”

“You shall help me destroy Leila and Kartemis.”

“You don’t feel well, do ya?”

“Don’t make fun of me. Will you help me or not. They are cheating on me. We made a deal but they’ve gone against it. I need to kill them.”

“I don’t get this. Kartemis is on your side. Besides he told me he is your accomplice in trying to kill Leila. What is happening huh? Why are you telling me this? How could they cheat on you?”

Delaney said irately, now knowing what to make of the stupidity spiraling up. He looked suspicious and out of sorts.

“He’s stupid and gullible what do you think? He thinks he is my ally, no, he is actually working against himself.”

“Oh, I see. You’re trying to manipulate me? You turned two of my friends against themselves and now you plan to take them out. This is a funny plan you know? You have numerous wizards and witches working for you in the Grove, why wouldn’t you command the death of those two…why me?”

Delaney heaved a cold sigh of exasperation but remained silent after that.

“I know that he is your friend but you know what? I’m making you a great deal. Help me get that silly couple off my back. I will give you a million dollar and make you one of the greatest wizards that have ever lived.”

Paige proposed and smiled gently. That was too good to be true. Paige was never going to give out a whole million as pay just for the murder of two fellas, something she could easily do herself?

A million? Did she have that kind of money?

“I know I’ve never had a million dollar in my account before but I need you to know that one of my greatest traits is honesty. I don’t plan on negating that soon.”

“That means you may nullify it one day then?”

Paige said, looking forward to an answer expectantly.

           

***

The landscape was vast and looked a bit empty, a water land of rugged plains made even bleaker the end of the season. In the distance, mist settled over the craggy peaks of the many mountains, softening the jagged edges until gray fog adhered, almost seamlessly with the slate sky.

            Caulin, the son of the man who survived, huddled in his sheepskin coat as he watched an owl circle overhead. Owls were very common in Zaccrota…more weirdly, they could both move in the day and at night. He always wanted an owl for a pet, but his lady mother refused him the courtesy, saying the Granger family forbade owls because ravens were their sigil. Lady Paige Granger said he could only have a raven, but not an owl. He despised ravens, most of his wizard friends and families had owls. Having a raven instead was something he deemed a shame, only Paige didn’t see it that way.

He had been walking from Delaney’s down the road for about ten minutes but still hadn’t gotten used to loneliness of the walk.

            He felt he needed company. Twenty minutes later he was at the train station. He needed to get to Castlemort, the city of seven tongues, to see his best friend…earlier that morning he had sent a mail to Jesi, saying he probably would come along. That was because Paige had told him of her visit to Delaney’s and Caulin knew such a visit would only send him winding in the air in the name of excusing them for their private talk. He found that time worth spending with his friend than moving through and exploring Delaney’s lab – something he had done many time already and was already bored with the practice.

            At the train station he didn’t waste time at all. He didn’t even have to queue, for the train station was owned by his lady mother who had businesses spread over the land.

“Do you want a first class space, Mr. Granger?”

Caulin heard an old rusty voice ask as he walked through the close seats trying to find an empty one.

“No, Mr. Hummah, I’ll find a simple seat at the back. I don’t want too much attention.”

Caulin said. Mr. Hummah smiled crookedly and lingered behind a moment. He was an important man, he wasn’t a wizard but worked for his mom. He found a seat by the window and fell into it, taking his sheepskin coat off, he had gotten warm enough. Pulling his phone out he called Jesi and asked him to wait for him in thity-five minutes time at the usual place, the calculated time it’d take the train to get to the Mort.

As the primordial toothed wheel train grazed its way up the giddying ascent, Caulin Granger perused the serrated mountain top above him. In the distance, erected into the side of a fine precipice, the mammoth stone hermitage seemed so magical, looking whitish high up in the fog slowly lifting. This unbending sanctuary in the Hills, Zaccrota had housed some of the realm’s most influential wizards that were old and wanted to live in solitude, away from society for reasons only they found justified. It had been in use for more than six centuries, even before the Government was established, before the Magridal invasion took place.

Ironically, people depended on them for their great knowledge into the scripture of the gods…the hermitage hardly received visitors but when they did, it was because it was entirely necessary – very important people. He had been there ones…he recalled, when Paige had visited with him a year ago. Caulin still remembered the stares he had been given, as though they knew something about him that he didn’t know about himself. Well, that was actually true…Caulin had noticed Paige got uncomfortable about that and thus, made her purpose there short lived. That created the impression she was scared he’d get to know something, a reason he didn’t completely trust his mom. She was hiding something she thought. And from that day, he had planned to find a way into the hermitage…that would be hard, but not impossible. He wondered what it’d be like to finally get what he wanted.

The ride was short…like always. Caulin daydreamed all through and didn’t realize how fast the train had moved. He was at the Mort; the train slowed down now and in the process, he saw a lone figure waiting for him on the platform. The young boy his age was draped with an expression that was amusing to Caulin. From afar his rawboned features always made him look wizened and Caulin would always laugh at that.

Caulin stepped off the train, bidding Mr. Hummah farewell as he was bound to continue the journey to the other cities ahead. He smiled back, bowing gravely.

“Do you mind for a walk?”

Jesi suggested. Caulin agreed immediately. He now had the company he wanted and he was determined to have the fun of it. They were badly close like gore brothers and did everything together except that they lived apart. Caulin lived in his mom’s fortress in the Hurricane Grove while Jesi was at Castlemort, the city of seven tongues. He found no one he could trust as much as he could with Jesi.

“Honestly, I did miss you over the weekend. I didn’t think I would”

Caulin said.

“What! You! I can’t believe you would miss me even for a second.”

“But I did anyway. Do you doubt me so much?”

“Not really. Just that you’ve never said that before. Anytime I told you I missed you, you just ignore the remark.”

“Ah well, that’s it”

Caulin said. Jesi smiled at Caulin and yawned. They walked and talked about a lot of things, had lunch in a café when it was time for it and continued roaming leisurely to and around the Castlemort museum, tired, Caulin ordered two bottles of Scotch from a store and settled to drinking along the lines of a grove; yards away from people’s eye reach. That was a beverage their lady mothers prohibited, but the very thing that they wanted.

“Dude, I’m your friend…let’s talk about this once more? I guess I just wanna know”

Jesi said, eyeing Caulin for approval.

“Yes? Know what?”

Caulin looked a bit perturbed, his scotch starting to seem a bit less pleasant that it used to be, as though he knew what was coming next. Jesi was terribly bad at making entrances when trying to ask questions…especially if it was with something he badly wanted to know. That was one thing that got on Caulin’s nerves most of the time.

“I’m Jesi Borden, What are you?”

“Hey brother, you honestly are sometimes weird. You know that?”

“So, tell me, what kind of parent will give a child only a first name. What’s your last name?”

“Dude, you are such a big blow!” Caulin snapped, apparently getting aerated.

“Why do you so care?” he then asked.

“We share no kind of secrets do we? Just a mere name, you are hiding from me. Wow, what a friend!” Jesi said straightforwardly.

“Look here, I never said I didn’t have a last name. The name is Granger. Do you have a problem with that?” Jesi nodded silently.

“Quit the pretense friend; for all these years we’ve been friends you never told me your surname. Your real surname. We both know Granger is your mother’s name…what’s your father’s name, Caulin?”

“Alright, it’s cool. I get it now. Just for the sake of my father’s name you’re reacting like a bird about to be shot dead,” Caulin said and dissolved into gales of sighs.

“I can’t believe you find this funny.”

“You can’t understand me, bro. I’m a mystery.” Caulin said with a look Jesi found weird. “I will tell you but not now, maybe a time faraway from now or maybe never,” he added.

            After the Scotch they walked farther until Caulin decided his legs had become reluctant to walk him. They sat down on the bare ground on a long narrow walkway. Caulin noticed a frog hopping to the other side of the walk. He laughed.

“Why that?” Jesi asked.

“It got of fashion centuries ago.”

“Aha?”

“You remember friends teased Hormil when he brought a frog as his pet, don’t you?”

“Cats”

“They make me sneeze.” Caulin said and laughed, his feelings dying to a simple boy’s mood and kinda regretting he had gotten mad at Jesi for being genuinely curious.

“What would you like for a pet then?”

“An owl. My mom says I can’t have one. A goblin would also be acceptable, I guess.”

“I have always known you are crazy. I will recommend a dog for you. You look like one anyway,” Jesi said, jovially.

            Caulin got pissed. He felt like turning the Lermil into a fat pig but recalled Paige’s counsel against using magic. He held back and pushed the thought behind.

“Do you know about magic and spells?” Caulin quizzed.

“A bit, I think.” Jesi said, uncertainly.

“Just a bit?”

“I want to be genius in the use of my magic, one of the greatest wizards in the world.”

“What!”

Caulin said, stunned. His magic? He thought…

“Honestly, I never imagined you had magic and is eagerly aspiring to be a great wizard.”

“I am but my parents aren’t and they hate magic. They actually do not know I’m a wizard,” Jesi confessed.

“You know who Lermils are?”

“Aha, as I said I’m not one, because I’ve got magic. Lermils are mere humans with no magic or the non-witches and wizards, right?” Jesi said, outspokenly.

            Caulin remained silent but was filled with awe. His least expectation was to see Jesi doing magic. In fact his mouth fell open when Jesi said he tried casting spells at home the previous day but only one worked.

            Jesi’s parents were neither a witches nor wizards. He was, but not fully-fledged. Actually Jade McHale was Jesi’s father and a Paterdon in the Government. Government of magic, really? Only a few people recognized it as a Government…it was actually a containment program generally called Blarders tasked to hunt down wizards and witches who went against the rules…especially those that risked exposure in the circles of Lermils – those without magic. Even though Jesi had never used magic indiscriminately, he feared his father’s wrath when he got to know of his status. It was better to keep that a secret until the time was due, he believed.

            He couldn’t take his eyes of Caulin who was drunk with disbelief. Jesi: a wizard? No! Caulin thought. That couldn’t be. With his curiosity at its peak, he again asked, raising his right hand to his chest probably as an act of sincerity and honesty.

“I don’t know what to say, but dude! You really are a wizard for god sake?”

“What do you think?” Jesi gasped.

“So, what’s next?” Caulin asked, quizzically.

“What do you mean?”

Jesi said, obviously feeling a bit of superior.

“I meant, what I said to you in school last week.”

“What did you say?”

“Your greatness is evident in your every action. You know that?”

“You are such a flatterer, Caulin”

“That’s the truth, believe you me.”

“What of you huh, are you interested in magic and wizardry?”

Jesi decided witfully.

“Oh no, I hate it, actually, just like your parents.”

“Why?”

“I can’t discuss anyway. I just hate it,” Caulin hammered. Jesi nodded approvingly.

            Caulin felt telling the truth would get her mom, Paige extremely aerated, thus, kept the truth of his identity in the dark from Jesi, his best friend. Anytime he thought about it, it made him feel skuzzy due to the fact Jesi seldom kept secrets from him. Should he say a word about his wizardry to Jesi, Paige would undoubtedly get to know about it with her eagle eye all over the place.

“Hey bro, look here,” Jesi called, having instinctively realizing Caulin’s bashful mood.

“Caulin… I’ve been effing calling you, what just are you thinking about? Trust me; you are being effusive in your reaction. You won’t tell me what’s wrong and you will not also open up to me, huh?”

“What! Did you just burst at me?” Caulin ejaculated.

“It’s alright, I’m terribly sorry but you make me feel just so miserable when you act so bothered but will just not talk.”

“Ah; really? I told you earlier, you can’t understand me.”

“So, tell me, what invaded your mind?”

“Well it’s about what happened in Chemistry class a week ago. Professor Shade Quist, remember?”

“What is it with him?”

“Seems like you’ve not noticed the strange utterances he makes in class these days.”

“I sure have. They are so sharp and a deeper analysis of his words makes me shiver.”

“Prominent among his queer statements are: ‘Sometimes I wander into the mystery of power beyond powers. Never mind, it’s just a game,’ that’s what caught my curiosity.”

Caulin elucidated. “I have a feeling he is into something questionable, or?” Jesi pointed out.  “I think so,”

“Power beyond powers; but you know one thing, he smiles weirdly anytime he makes out such horrid comments. I keep wondering.”

Sometimes I wander into the mystery of power beyond powers. Jesi pondered circumspectly. He had read quite a lot of books about wizardry but the expressions of Professor Quist were a bit beyond brows.

“I presume he has got a connection with the great demon, Drakeizar, also known as The Escapee Magrid. And I think I may have seen some kind of strange symbol on his diary…it’s his secret thing I guess. I haven’t see that symbol anywhere and it could be that he had the diary made specially for him with that symbol on it. The fact that he is great with chemistry may explain his love for symbols. But do you know that fascinating thing?”

He asked. Caulin shook his head.

“There’s nothing written in the diary…It’s not a new one too and he keeps it close. Isn’t that grossly weird?”

Jesi suggested; he seemed to know quite a lot in the great wizarding world.

“Who is The Escapee Magrid?”

Caulin demanded, ignorantly, knowing who he actually was.

“Ehm, he is one if not the greatest wizard in Deruthe. He is the only man in this world who managed to survive about a year’s captivity in Magridinol, a prison for evil wizards in the Penson Sea. Actually it is guarded by millions of dragons and fierce looking goblins. In the history of the Magridinol prison, it is said that no wizard comes out of there. No one can even spend more than a year in captivity, you die before that time but death in Magridinol doesn’t just end that way; after 11 hours the body of the dead morphs into a Honyx. They are creatures that guard the wizarding world of Deruthe.”

Jesi demystified.

“So you mean to tell me that The Escapee Magrid or Drakeizar whatsoever is alive now?”

“Definitely, he escaped from the prison. That implies he is in this wizarding world, Deruthe.”

“But just how was he able to break out if it’s guarded?”

“Well, it has been a mystery till now,” Jesi said. 

           “I don’t get it, bro, if there are guardians of this wizarding world, how possible was it for that deathly beast of a wizard to do evil? Is it that they were ineffective?”

“I don’t think so. The Honyxes are very powerful indeed but they have a few limitations.”

“Such as,” 

“I read from Professor Grave’s library that there is a secret chamber also in the Penson Sea. Weirdly it is called the chamber of Worlg. Anyone who accesses this chamber becomes inherently not vulnerable to the powers of the Honyxes.

“How then is Professor Shade Quist related to The Escapee Magrid? Is that even his real name? It doesn’t make sense to me…or just a little,” Caulin admitted.

“That’s right, you made known to me one limitation; tell me the rest then,” he added eagerly.

“Forget that shit for now. For fear of death his name is rarely mentioned or heard. In place of that they call him Drakeizar, or ‘The one who survived’. There are other names by which people call him anyway. Let’s find out by ourselves, can’t we?” Caulin decided.

“Ah, we can. But the only problem is you don’t have magic and you are not a wizard. You may become gullible thanks to that. How can we face him?”

“I may not have magic and may not be a wizard too but I am certainly not stupid. We needn’t flinch at failure. We’ll be just fine.”

A few minutes passed and both boys hadn’t said a word. They seemed to have their minds saturated with several thoughts.

“We need an aide, I think”

Jesi said. “Yes but who?”

“It should be somebody close to Professor Quist. By virtue of that we can know what he does at spare times, where he goes and even the people he talks to the most. What he eats may even be needed; you may never know what may happen once we embark on the perilous scrutiny. With that we can find a lead.”

            Caulin got lost in thought again, trying to figure out who was the best to help. Jesi did same.

“Guess what, Ariadne is the perfect chap of Professor Quist.”

Caulin concluded and relapsed into silence.

“Ariadne is twelve, I think, and is terribly smart. No one is better than her, honestly.”

“I will speak to her on Monday.”

Caulin said.

“But you know something, Power beyond powers isn’t the strangest thing he’s ever said.

“The scars of Kartemisia”.

Nobody suspected a thing about that expression because it sounded quite true with biology. Kartemisia according to science is a kinda an aromatic plant with grayish leaves. Flowers: profuse, small. Lastly, these plants are very sacred and are native to the Northern hemisphere.”

Jesi unleashed. Zealous. Caulin only listened.

“In my father’s office at Blarders, Kartemisia is their symbol for the hunt…the hunt for fugitive wizards. That implies the scars of Kartemisia could be an orchestrated attack on Blarders by some wizards who are likely to be hunted down by the program. Does it make sense?” Jesi asked.

“We’ve got work to do bro. and I’m prouda you for pulling this up. The scars of Kartemisia make a lot of intelligence and if it is what we think it is, then Professor Shade is a man to be questioned. You can’t say anything to your dad because there is no evidence…we’ve got work to do!”

***

Paige paced to and from both ends of Delaney’s large hall figuring out what to tell Delaney about her deadly feat. She sat down finally and glanced at him. It was time for that singular decision to be made…a decision of savagery. Delaney was aware doing this in favor of Paige was going to be the end of his life for he knew goddess Vol would never get Leila outta her sight. The bond between those two was inexplicable and an attempt to split by death of one was a herculean task for which reason Paige needed someone close to Leila’s heart to do the dirty work. Thinking even profoundly, Delaney realized agreeing to help Paige destroy Leila Hagridar and Kartemis would be declaring a one man war against the entire supremacy of Hox. Based on this he didn’t need the wisdom of all wizards in the realm of Deruthe to know that under no circumstances was Hox going to allow him escape her federation space should he execute the murder?

“Delaney, answer me, I have limited time. Are you on my side or not?” Paige asked, putting one leg over the other and her lips narrowed as if about to cast a spell.

“I am,” Delaney replied flatly after thinking critically. What the hell? He agreed?

“Deal?”

“Deal.”

            He stood up from his seat and headed to his bedroom where he jumped onto his bed. Paige cast a spell and flew out through the window, making her body invisible, to prevent the Lermils from feasting their eyes on her.