Chapter 3: The Tower of Angus

Maqueda and I arrived at the main entrance of the Tower of Angus. I was about to reach out to push the huge gate when it sprang opened; itself. As we stepped inside, sooty oil lamps hanging on the brick wall ignited, so with the chandelier hanging at the centre. Glowing golden letters were formed on the floor and they read: Welcome, Master and Apprentice. Awesome. That was an acknowledgement.

The majestic tower was one of the oldest buildings in Gorwath. It was named after the first Head Wizard: Angus Qusmo, the sorcerer who could control the rage of tornado and lightning, made ice out of fire and fire out of ice. His name was written in the Scriptures of Time, the magic book of records as the most powerful wizard ever lived, known all across the Realm of The Light and the Realm of the Dark.

The Tower of Angus was the centre of wizardry in this kingdom since its establishment about seven thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven years ago. Nevertheless, nothing neither inside nor outside looked old. The wooden furniture looked new as they were just made. There was not a single scratch on the glittering marble floor. This tower must be enchanted with some kind of non-aging spell.

Maqueda uttered “The Chamber of the Phoenix” as we put our feet on the wooden staircase. To my amazement, the staircases started to move and spiralled upwards. We passed by countless of busy rooms as we went up in circular motion. There were wizards who were busying themselves creating new potions and writing spells on empty scrolls. They were wearing green robes which were meant for Ordinary Wizards.

 I spotted a group of young wizards who were having a hard time trying to tame a bunch of yelks, spider-like creatures with eyes all over their bodies. They produced deadly, yet very precious venom, one of the vital substances needed to heal someone affected by Dark Magic. Some of the wizards noticed the Supreme Wizard and bowed in respect. They also noticed the turquoise robe I was wearing and that made them stared at me with a total disbelief. My presence must be something extraordinary to them.

The Chamber of the Phoenix was a heavily guarded room located at the highest level of the tower. A group of wizards were guarding the path to the room when we arrived there. They were floating in two rows across the marble floor in cross-legged position, being deep in chanting with their eyes shut. They were wearing maroon robes which signified their rank as the Defensive Wizards. Sensing the presence of the Supreme Wizard, they lowered themselves to the floor, now standing and bowed upon Maqueda. They gave me the same look of disbelief as the wizards before them. They gave a second bow and this time it was meant for me.

I noticed something unusual about the wooden gate leading to the Chamber of the Phoenix. Living plant vines grew out of it as though the gate was a living wood planted on fertile soil. They twined against one another and delicate small flowers emerged between the tangled vines. There was something strange about the petals of the flowers. They were in fire. No. They were fire.

“Antherum Uros, Master. How should we serve you?” said the wizard with a purple shawl wrapped around his neck. It meant “May the Light be upon you.”

“Grantioso Umales, wizards. I wish to enter the Chamber of the Phoenix,” replied Maqueda which meant “The Light shall be upon us.” It was a courtesy of the wizards to greet each other with the Ancient Tounge, a language spoken and understood only by wizards. It was a gift.

“As you wish, Master,” said the wizard as the rest of the Defensive Wizards stepped aside to make way for us.

I watched in stupefied disbelief upon seeing the vines uncurled and the wooden gate opened itself to reveal a small steaming room. Magic seemed to work in every part of this tower spontaneously.

I trailed behind Maqueda as he entered the room. Curiosity drew me into the chamber with great enthusiasm. As we stepped inside, the gate to the chamber slammed shut behind us. The room was brightly lit by mysteriously shimmering precious stones radiating vibrant colours embedded on the wall . There were rubies, emeralds, amethysts and diamonds in different sizes scattered all across the rocky wall. I stood frozen for a while admiring the crystals in their brilliant shapes and colours.

A small fountain with running water stood at the centre of the chamber. There was a rainbow in the sprouting water and at the centre was an oval-shaped object about the size of my fist: a red, glowing egg. As I came nearer, the egg glowed brighter and by the time I was only a few inches from the fountain, the water was boiling with a hissing sound.

“Behold the sacred egg of the Phoenix,” said Maqueda, “it will hatch as soon as its rightful master touches the egg. Even now it is sensing your presence.”

“But the water is extremely hot! I’ll hurt my hand if I were to dip it in!” I said, taking a closer look at the egg which was gleaming in red. That made a stream of water  sprouted high towards the rocky ceiling.

“Worry not, Apprentice. It will do no harm to its owner,” told Maqueda with a smile on his face which turned out to be annoying rather than reassuring.

The old wizard must’ve gone senile. Slowly and carefully, I dipped my hand into the boiling fountain.  Well, Maqueda was right. It didn’t feel hot at all. I touched the egg with my forefinger and...

            “Boom!”

The egg burst into pieces. 

To be continued...

Chapter 2: The New Apprentice Wizard

I woke up the next morning with a knock at my room door. Lazily, I opened the door and found myself staring straight at Maqueda Firocco, the current Head of the Council of Wizards who replaced Grandpa’s position.

Maqueda was a man whose age was near to a century. He was wearing a purple robe and a pointed shoes, the official outfit of the Supreme Wizard. His face was pale. Maybe the Shadow’s awakening had made him feel stressed.  Grandma was standing behind him. She was clasping her hands together, an act that she always did whenever she was feeling uncertain.

The sorcerer waved his hand in the air while murmuring an ancient language and as he did so, purple sparks appeared out of nowhere and they went sipping into my palm.

“Aarrrghh!” I let out a scream. It was painful. It felt like my palm was pierced to thousand pieces.

“Maqueda, you said that it won’t hurt him!” said Grandma in terror.

“I’m sorry. The pain won’t last any much longer from now,” and as he uttered the last word, the pain was replaced with a cold sensation.

The sparks had formed an ancient symbol on my palm, a phoenix. Maqueda glanced at my palm, then at me. Then a grin of satisfaction was formed on his face.

“Rowena, he is The One we have been searching for,” said Maqueda, excited.

“No, there must be a mistake. My dear grandson is too young to handle wizardry,” Grandma gave at me with a sad look.

“Look for yourself Rowena. You know the legend as well as the rest of Gorwath do. This boy is our only hope,” Maqueda showed Grandma my right palm on which the phoenix symbol was embedded. Grandma nodded but with much hesitation.

            “Could someone please explain to me what is happening here?” I was totally dumbfounded.

“You, dear child have a great power of magic. It will become stronger as your age increases. You and only you have the power to go against the Shadow and put an end to its life and immortality. You are the key to a new peaceful life among Gorwathians. The phoenix symbol is a valid proof of that.” Maqueda explained to me. Then he glanced at Grandma and said, “Rowena, I must take this boy to the Tower of Angus where he will begin with his first training with wizardry. Come, boy. We don’t have much time to waste.”

Grandma went to the wardrobe, took out something from the drawer what looked like a twig from a willow tree to me. She approached me and waved the twig in the air. My old torn clothing turned to a turquoise robe. It was the official outfit of an Apprentice Wizard. I had never seen one before but I knew it from a story that Grandma had once told me when I was little. It felt comfortable on me. I never knew that Grandma could do magic before. I ran towards her and gave her my biggest hug and said, “Thank you, Grandma.”

Maqueda and I left Grandma’s cottage in a hurry. Maqueda seemed to be in great excitement. But he was still slow in pace. A man of his age wouldn’t be able to move faster than a seal on land. We were about to reach the Tower of Angus when an enormous scorpion appeared in our sight. That put us to a halt. It was an eerie sight. It had taken hold of a merchant in one of its grasping claws. The scorpion was about to devour a merchant with its sharp black teeth when Maqueda shouted “Thundorisa!” and a thunder blast towards the creature. The effect was so great that the scorpion turned to ashes in the blink of an eye. We ran towards the injured merchant who went sprawling on the ground. There was a deep cut on his abdomen and red blood was constantly oozing from the wound. He was wailing in pain.

“Riko, turn your right palm against the wound,” asked Maqueda .I did exactly as what the old sorcerer told me.

“Now repeat after me,” he added. I nodded to him.

“Connoquious!” said Maqueda. I repeated after him. The phoenix symbol began to glow and amazingly, the wound started to heal. The torn tissues reconnected till they were again intact in perfection. Maqueda seemed to be happy with how my first spell worked. He patted me on the shoulder. The merchant was in complete astonishment. His eyes were widely opened and that looked funny to me. He would look like a clown if a red fake nose were to be put on his face.

       “Thank you young man!” said the merchant. He shook my hand repeatedly, pulled himself up and went screaming around the town telling the incident.

To be continued...

Chapter 1: The Awakening of The Shadow

The sky was turning pale. A flock of pigeons drifted across the cereal field, making their way to their nests. Some made a stop on cereal plants and plucked them for their young before joining the rest of flock. The clouds were in vibrant orange and red. Far in the horizon, the sun was sinking behind the hills as the moon made its way in. I was sitting beside a robust wild berry bush. I plucked one wild berry and stuffed it into my mouth; delicious and juicy.

It would be great if Mum and Dad were still alive. We could spend hours gazing at the setting sun. It was a beautiful evening, a sunset scene that awakened memories of the past. I grabbed a spade and a rake with my hands; both covered in dirt and made my way back to Grandma’s cottage.

In the middle of my way I stopped by at Aunt Marie’s who passed me some homemade raspberry muffins. She was a warm-hearted old lady about the same age as Grandma’s. Everyone who lived in the kingdom of Gorwath, including the royal family acknowledged her for the tasty breads, cakes and muffins she baked and sold at Marie’s Bakery. She was the royal bakery. I thanked her and sped up for home.

            It was getting dark and nobody in Gorwath should be out from their houses at night for fear that the ferocious creatures from the Forbidden Forest would prey on us. I had never seen any of those beasts but Grandma had once told me that they had a great liking on human flesh.

The owls had already started to hoot when I arrived home. Grandma was waiting for me at the front door looking worried.

“Riko, what took you so long? A kid like you would make a superb dinner for the nasty creatures out there!” said Grandma.

“Nah, not that I’m safely home now Grandma,” I replied.

 “My dear Riko, have you forgotten what did Maqueda said earlier this morning? The Shadow is awakening! That will cause the vicious beasts of the Forbidden Forest to become more aggressive!” said Grandma in a pitch that hurt my ears.

“The Shadow? What on earth is that, Grandma?” I asked.

“Come in and I will let you know,” said Grandma.

I went in and locked the door made of oak tree. It was strengthen with metal bars and a magic symbol which assembled the form of a phoenix was carved at the centre. The carving was said to be able to guard the house from any evil creatures from the Forbidden Forest. Every house in Gorwath had the same carving on their doors.

“It is an evil magical dragon, a legendary creature that was said to have existed since the dawn of time. The Shadow has the power to control all the creatures of the Forbidden Forest and being invincible, no weapon could take away its life. The last time it awakened, it took years before the Council of Wizards could come to a solution to the problem. They were not strong enough to destroy it but they managed to put it into a deep sleep in a cave far deep in the Forbidden Forest. Even that cost us our dear ones’ lives,” Grandma suddenly stopped. I saw tears rolling down her cheeks. Then she continued:

         “Your grandfather, who was the Supreme Wizard and you father, the Apprentice Wizard were among those who fought against the dragon. They were the greatest wizards in Gorwath at that time. But even they couldn’t escape death. Before it eyes were closed, the Shadow fired out a strong blast of radiant blue fire from its enormous mouth towards your Grandpa and your Dad and that, my dear grandson, put an end to their life. I was also there but I couldn’t do anything but to be at their side till their eyes were closed. You were still a baby, born only a few days before the incident happened. Your Mum grieved for your Dad’s death. She mourned for him for days till one silent morning, I found her dead on bed with her hands hugging you.”

She turned away against the window and gazed at the mysteriously red moon tonight. Far in the Hills of Vengeance, the wolves were howling in unison.  

I left her alone in the living room and went to the kitchen looking for dinner. There were a juicy roasted turkey, chicken porridge and a bowl full of wild berries. They were just enough to fill up my empty stomach. A day’s work at Grandma’s cereal field wasn’t an easy job.

After that, I cleaned myself, put on turquoise pyjamas and went to bed. I could still hear the creepy howls of the merciless wolves as I put my ear on the pillow. It sent a shiver down my spines. Somewhere in the distant, a thunder boomed and scared some freaked owls away.

                                                                                      To be continued...