Industry & Intrigue (20 page)

He needed something to take his
mind
off it
all, an escape. He knew shouldn’t risk it right now, but it was the
only release that would calm his stormy mind and let him relax. He
leaned back in his velvet chair and sent a mental command to Darius
to bring him a new student. He didn’t care who, Darius knew his
tastes well enough, always delivering exactly what he
craved.

Something was wrong.
T
here was no
response from Darius, as if something was blocking the command.
There were only a few possible reasons for that and none of them
could be good.

Feyton clenched his teeth in frustration,
he did not need another problem. He closed his eyes and waved his
hands while uttering an incantation. He reopened his eyes, a blue
orb floated above his desk and awaited a command.

“
Locate Darius
Sidonius
,”
he said. The orb sped away through the walls. It back within
minutes and returned to the exact position it had been floating
before. Feyton put his hand in the sphere and the images of its
path sped through his mind. From his office, through numerous
hallways, a wooden door and finally inside Darius’s store room. He
could not see Darius anywhere, but the location spell was never
wrong, the man had to be in that room.

He would have to go there physically.
Feyton stood up and walked out of his office. He would find out
exactly where Darius was and scan every part of his mind to find
out what had happened.

It took him time to get
downstairs
,
his office was right at the top level of the Circular Tower. He
didn’t waste time knocking and opened the door and shouted,
“Darius!” The man wasn’t visible but that didn’t mean he wasn’t
here.

Feyton slammed his
green
, metal
staff at the floor and a wave of energy radiated over the room.
This revealed Darius, he was hidden within a shadow trap in the
corner. Feyton’s lips curled slightly, it was a pathetic attempt to
hide someone. Nothing a third year student could not
penetrate.

He
thrust his left hand into the shadow.
The pale, white glove that he always wore on that hand was a
powerful magical artifact. It had the ability to disrupt many
enchantments, though its range of effect was small. As the glove
touched the shadow the trap fell away and Darius was released, he
blinked his eyes several times and looked up at Feyton.

“
Archmage,
sir
, I…What
is going on?” said Darius, in a state of confusion.

“
Shhh
,” said Feyton, putting a finger to
his lips. “That’s what I intend to find out.” He moved his ungloved
hand towards Darius’ head. Darius saw this and panicked.

“
No master
, you…you promised me. You said
if I provided you with fresh students, you wouldn’t do that
again.”

“
Yes I did. Unfortunately this
is an emergency and I don’t have time to take the
slo
w route
past your mental blocks. Relax, its nothing you haven’t done
before.”

“
No…don’t!
” pleaded Darius as the
archmage’s hand wrapped around his skull. The hard tips of his
fingers dug into the man’s scalp. Darius stopped pleading and
started screaming.

When Feyton was finished, Darius lay there
trembling. “So that young skylord has discovered our secret, I was
not as careful as I should have been. I will have to deal with this
immediately. She cannot be allowed to reveal what she knows. I will
not let a skylord bitch ruin my life and everything I’ve built for
the last forty years.”

He aimed his
s
taff at
Darius and said, “Sleep.” The paragon instantly fell into a deep
sleep, his body calming. Feyton conjured another location orb and
gave it an order. “Find Zuri Abeliah.”

Chapter 18

The Blue Tower was the oldest
part
of
Warded Spirals. It was from the original Magic Center that was
built in 1388. The stonework for the tower came from a quarry in
the far north that mined a blue-hued, granite rock.

The natural color had been
enhanced by paintwork in order for Warded Spirals to have a bright
and welcoming look. Over the centuries the center had
undergone
multiple renovations and add-ons as it expanded and a
violent hurricane in the late fourteen hundreds had collapsed many
of the original buildings.

Nowadays the only
remaining
pieces were a single square tower and one set of rooms
beside it. When each of the Center’s towers were given official
names, it became the Blue Tower.

Bracus Tor listened patiently while Zuri
made her case. His office was located near the top of the tower, so
she had had plenty of time to think about the best way to tell him.
“We cannot sit here and do nothing when the archmage has committed
such grotesque crimes,” said Zuri.

“
No
,” replied Bracus. “We cannot. But
aside from this boy’s diary scribblings and the words of a broken
mind, you have no evidence with which we can use to place him under
arrest.”

Zuri was incredulous.
“That isn’t
enough?”

“
It proves that someone has been
raping and corrupting the minds of children at the school, but not
the archmage specifically.” The orc flexed his dark, green arm and
walked a few steps to place papers on his desk.

“
However, such a
ser
ious
crime goes against all imperial and magical laws and I cannot do
nothing. I will have to go and see Arnette Essex, she is the deputy
chief of the Scepters and a friend of mine. I know she will be as
outraged at this as we are.”

“
But what if it takes too
long?
Feyton
could find Darius before you return,” said Zuri.

“
I’m aware of that, but without
Imperial Branch and several of the Hydrus Scepters as back up,
there is little we can do. Did you expect the three of us to
confront the archmage alone? If so, then you’re more foolish than I
thought, Mastermage Abeliah,” and he laughed.

“
He’s
the most powerful mage in Alkos City,
we wouldn’t stand a-,” his sentence was cut off as the wall behind
him exploded outward in a shower of bricks and rushing air. A ray
of purple light hit Bracus from behind and scorched him.

Zuri could feel the intense heat even
though she was on the other side of the room. Bracus screamed in
pain and collapsed to the floor, his back a blackened and charred
mess.

Archmage William Feyton flew in
through the opening
and landed beside the orc. He looked down dismissively. “I
never liked him, an orc has no place in my Magic Center. I should
have taken care of him years ago, but that would cause me more
headaches than it was worth.”

He looked back up at Zuri
and
Yadra.
“So, I see you also recruited Paragon Torres against me as well,
what a shame. Despite our differences paragon, I have always had
the highest regard for your abilities as a mage. You are one of the
most talented at necromancy I have ever seen. Your loss will be a
blow to Warded Spirals but unfortunately a necessary
one.”

He tu
rned his gaze to Zuri next. “As for
you my dear, well I am disappointed but I can’t say I’m surprised.
Poking your nose where it doesn’t belong is unbecoming of a
mastermage. I had such high hopes for you.”

“
Save your fucking breath
archmage. I’m not interested in anything you have to say, you sick
pedophile!” Zuri screamed at him. “How many? How many innocent
children did you rape to satisfy your twisted desires? And on top
of that you ripped into their minds so they wouldn’t be able to
even remember anything about it!” Zuri let loose with all of the
rage she had inside.

Feyton let out a long
laugh
, “You
think the mental control was about protecting myself?” he laughed.
“I’ll admit it’s an additional benefit, but not necessary for
someone of my abilities. There are a dozen other ways I could
protect myself.” Zuri stared daggers at him in response.

“
Oh come now Mastermage Abeliah,
don’t look at me like that. Everyone in this world has needs and
desires, I tried to suppress mine for such long time, but working
here in a position of power,” he shook his head. “The temptation
became too much and I…stopped struggling. Stopped fighting against
my own nature.

It was
liberating, I had never felt so free.
It wasn’t often at first but then I was approached by someone who
had a requirement for gifted mages. Specific requirements that
required delicate mental manipulation. I simply took advantage of
the opportunity and indulged. It was wonderful.” He sighed with
pleasure and Zuri shuddered in disgust.

“
Then your
favorite student turned to
tarcaine. A horrible drug, it disrupts mental magic, the boy must
have remembered everything in the clearest detail. I’m still not
certain how I’ll explain this mess, but it shouldn’t be difficult.
There’s a story that can explain all this.”

Feyton suddenly thrust out his
staff and a web of green energy
flew towards her. She beat her wings and
lifted herself up as fast as she could. She was lucky, the spell
only missed her by inches. She flew to the ceiling and touched the
amulet on her wrist, activating a magical shield.

Feyton then turned his power on
Yadra a
nd
let loose with shards of ice. The shards flew through the air and
the necromancy paragon covered her head and face with her robes.
The deadly shards melted upon impact with the enchanted
fabric.

Feyton scowl
ed and incanted,
“
Aurus
taoch!
” He
flung a small bottle at the floor in front of Yadra. Dark smoke
wafted upwards and a nightmarish creature emerged. It was
seven-foot tall and made of glowing, red and black stone. It had a
thick horns around its face and a set of pure yellow eyes, but no
nose or mouth. Its massive hands looked like the end of a
sledgehammer and its thick legs ended in clawed feet.

It was a lava elemental,
creatures that normal
ly dwelt deep beneath the surface of the world.
They were beings of pure magical energy and this was the first time
Zuri had seen one successfully summoned. They were nigh
indestructible beings, their bodies designed to propel through the
hottest magma and the hardest rock. Its feet left charred marks on
the stone floor as it slowly paced towards Yadra.

It swung on
e of its hammer-like hands at
her, but she was able to dodge out of the way, the elemental was
not very fast. It made a grunting sound and the fiery glow on its
skin increased in brightness.

Yadra
reached into her pocket and pulled
out a wand. She waved at the creature’s legs and a layer of ice
appeared at the elementals feet, climbed up its legs and stopping
it in place. Zuri could see that the trap wouldn’t last long. The
ice was already starting to melt from the heat emanating off the
elementals legs and it swung its arms at Yadra in
frustration.

Zuri let loose with an attack
of her own and fired
several balls of fire at Feyton. They sped toward
him in a spinning helix of destruction. He held out his staff and
spun it in front of himself, creating a defensive whirlwind. As the
fireballs hit, they deflected away hitting the walls, one of them
striking a wooden desk and igniting it.

“
Ha!” said
Feyton in mocking tone. He
chanted three words in quick succession and his right hand was
surrounded in red energy. At the same time, a large hand made of
red light appeared near Zuri and Feyton made a grasping move with
his hand.

The hand of energy mimicked his movement.
Zuri’s speed was all that saved her and she propelled out of the
way of the crushing hand. It continued to follow her relentlessly
while Feyton laughed and chased her with it. She zipped around the
room as fast as she could but the hand continued to follow. There
wasn’t enough space to maneuver in here.

She looked over at the crumbled
wall and flew
outside, the hand following her. Now, in the open air, a
skylord’s natural environment, she could dodge the magical
construct much more easily.

It still pursued her, but
her
speed
and reflexes continued to get the better of it. She couldn’t do
this forever. If she continued like this Feyton’s elemental would
kill Yadra and he could then focus all of his magic on her. She
stopped suddenly and the hand flew past, unable to brake as fast as
she could.

“
Oloani
!” she shouted and flung a spell of
pure darkness at the hand. A deep dark circle appeared in the
center of it and expanded until it had absorbed the entire hand,
snuffing it out. The light construct couldn’t sustain itself in the
pitch-black sphere.

Feyton watched the energy
disappear from his hand and he sn
arled in anger and he looked up at Zuri
flying above.

He
let out a resounding shout that shook
the entire tower and sent another of the walls crumbling down. He
launched into the air with a flight spell and his staff held in
front of him, the jewel on the end aimed right at Zuri.