We pass through the front gate surrounding Master Simon’s chateau. The sky is gray, the earth black, and the dark shadows of decaying trees hang over every inch of the land. Master Simon’s front yard is so dreary that I’m half surprised gravestones aren’t erratically speckled all over the place. Yet as strange as it is, it’s a fitting environment for Master Simon. He does have grayish skin after all. It must be the result of not getting much sunlight.

We make our way to the front door. When I place my hand on the doorknob, Katherine suddenly tugs at my arm. “Wait. We shouldn’t go in. Something’s wrong.”

“What are you talking about Katherine?”

“I feel cold all of a sudden.”

We’re in a shaded area, so her sudden chill is understandable. “Would you like to wear my coat?”

“No. I just think…nevermind.”

I shrug my shoulders not understanding her. With a twist of my wrist, I push on the doorknob and the door slowly opens while creaking loudly. We pass though and I let go of the door. It falls shut much more readily than it opened, which wouldn’t matter save for the fact that it leaves us without light. Inside of Master Simon’s house, it’s pitch black. Therefore, I ignite my hand on fire and lead ahead of Katherine. The absence of light on the first floor must mean that Master Simon is upstairs somewhere.

We creep through the house step by step. I’d go faster, but my walking is somewhat impeded by Katherine following directly behind me with her arms wrapped around my waist. Even though I can’t quite see the details of the house, it seems that Master Simon is into images of gargoyles and other monsters. Some of the stone figures that hang from the walls are traditional style gargoyles whereas others are some sort of weird winged things with strange birdlike bodies, no arms, and the faces of babies. Perhaps the only thing worse than Master Simon’s sense of humor is his sense of art.

After wondering aimlessly on the first floor for a while, we finally find the stairs. Again, step-by-step, we climb up the stairs. The second floor is as equally dark and empty as the first floor. Fortunately, all of the stairs leading to the top are adjacent to one another so we don’t have to look around before we can ascend to the next level. Not hesitating, we continue to the third floor, which is the same as the second and the first. The fourth floor too is the same. It’s only when we reach the fifth and final floor that I see a trace of light from beneath a door. In fact, on the fifth floor there is only one door. As we approach it, Katherine tightens her death grip around my waist.

I push the door open. Somehow it still manages to creak loudly even though it’s just a small wooden door with three hinges. On the other side of the door, I find Master Simon staring out of a glassless, semi-oval shaped window. The floor beneath us is wood, the roof above us is covered with support rafters, and the gray brick walls are undecorated save for the two matching windows. Katherine and I step closer towards Master Simon. He doesn’t speak or even turn to acknowledge our presence. Instead, he just keeps staring through the window at the empty gray sky.

“Master Simon,” I say.

My voice breaks him out of his concentration. He first turns his head towards me and then the rest of his body follows. “Ah, Souladonis. I’m glad that you could come. I have much to tell you.”

His eyes ever so briefly shift to Katherine causing her to shrivel behind me. She wraps her arms tightly around my arm and gently tugs as if trying to pull me away from him. I ignore her. She’s been acting strange ever since we arrived here. Regardless of whatever reason she may have, her awkward behavior has placed an uncomfortable tension in the air. I immediately set to diffuse it by speaking familiarly with Master Simon. “Master, you had some good news for me I take it.”

The edges of his mouth curl into a sly grin. “Do you know what a familiar is boy?”

I do. “A familiar is a type of creature that is bound to a mage. They’re usually small creatures that follow a mage around and help him or her out with daily activities or in battle.”

Master Simon folds his arms pointing his right index finger in the air. His grin remains the same. “More specifically a familiar is a manifested expression of a mage’s mana. That’s why they can take the form of animals, monsters, or even objects. Their size too is a reflection of their masters’ mana. Generally, they’re small because most mages are weak. Powerful mages, however, are able to have familiar’s that can be tremendously large and surprisingly complex. For example, the gargoyle at the top of the Forbidden Tower in Winterspring is a mage’s familiar.”

A lightning surge of understanding jolts my mind. I’ve always had so many questions about the gargoyle. Before I assumed that it was just some sort of ancient and powerful monster. But the fact that it spoke modern language has always baffled me. Hearing that it’s not a monster at all, but rather a mage’s familiar makes a lot of sense. But it leaves one question. “Whose familiar?”

Master Simon dramatically smacks himself in the head. “Do you really have to ask such a stupid question boy? Whose do you think?”

I shake my head thinking, but I have no clue. Master Simon jumps in saying, “I know you’re a dunce, so I’ll tell you. It’s the familiar of the first Arch Lord of Winterspring.”

My eyes widen from the revelation. “But he died centuries ago! If a familiar is an expression of a mage’s mana, then how can the gargoyle still exist?”

Master Simon tilts his head back and gestures his arms out to the side as if I were the biggest fool in the world. “You really don’t know anything do you boy? The ENTIRE Forbidden Tower is made out of the first Arch Lord’s mana. At the very top of the tower, the Arch Lord left some sort of special treasure. Nobody knows what it is, but when you went up to the top with your girlfriend, the gargoyle just assumed that you were there to steal the treasure and attacked.”

It all makes sense now. When I went to the tower, I wanted to be able to brag that I got the forbidden treasure without having the least idea of what it even was. I was such a fool! Imagine, a fifteen year old fighting against the familiar of Winterspring’s all time most powerful Arch Lord. I never had a chance. I never even had less than a chance. Nadine died for nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I crash to the floor on my knees. “Well it seems your own stupidity has finally hit you,” Master Simon says. “But before you lose all of that audacious hope that you like to hold onto, you should know that there is a way to weaken the curse if not break it outright. –Kill the familiar. Kill it and then the petrification curse should weaken enough that a powerful status-removing remedy could remove the curse from your little girlfriend.”

I rise to my feet excitedly. “Master!” But then it hits me. I still can’t defeat the gargoyle. Even though I’ve learned so much in the past six years, I’m still nothing compared to the power of any Arch Lord much less the most powerful Arch Lord of the world’s leading magic academy.

Master Simon reads the change of expression on my face and cackles his bizarre laugh. “A little short on power boy? I know you are, but in a rare magnanimous show of gratitude for you providing me with the ultimate weapon, I shall lend it to you for a while.”

I tilt my head in confusion. “Huh?”

Master Simon squints while pinching the bridge of his nose. “Aaah, you’re such an idiot! I mean Sidney Butterfly!”

I scratch my head obliviously. I have no idea what he’s talking about. Master Simon starts pacing back and forth through the room. In a long-winded monologue, he explains:

The ultimate weapon is a gullible fool with too much power. One who can easily be controlled and exploited. I’ve taught so many fools, but all of them either lacked the power or character. It wasn’t until I came across Sidney Butterfly that I found all of the right ingredients in one person. She was the failure daughter of the Butterfly family, but because of her more successful sister, I knew that she had a great deal of magical power within her. She simply lacked the ambition and self-esteem to bring it out. Furthermore, she was lonely and eager to be loved. All I had to do was promise her companionship and I was able to play her like a fiddle.

I told her that if she joined the death mages, then she’d have friends who would look after her and care for her. She joined immediately. My next move was to wait until she grew strong in Death Magic power. I thought that I’d have to wait for years, but egged on by her supposed friends, she flew through the ranks and in mere months became an Apostate, a master-level death mage. Thus, with her sufficiently built up, all that was left was to tear her back down.

It was easy. Far too easy. The death mage group blatantly took advantage of her wealth, thereby sewing doubts in her mind. After that, they demanded that she kill. I knew that she was too soft to take a life. Instead, she was forced to retreat back to her house, where she went right back to feeling lonely and unloved. From there, the last step was to have her captured by the inquisitors. I knew that even Des Chevaliers, who sees justice in terms of black and white, wouldn’t have the heart to lop poor Sidney’s head off. His only choice would be to take her alive and force her to accept the Rite of Penance. In doing so, he would have played right into my hands. Regrettably, I made one miscalculation. I expected Des Chevaliers to capture her himself, yet for some reason he sent teams of his men. I was very worried that they would kill Sidney, but fortunately her power proved too much for the run-of-the-mill inquisitors.

Des Chevaliers and I found ourselves locked in a stalemate. He couldn’t risk losing more men, and I couldn’t step in directly lest my role in the whole affair be verified. I knew that he was already suspicious of me, but he had no proof and could do nothing. Fortunately, an x-factor strolled into town that I could use – you. Like Sidney, I knew that you could easily be exploited. All I had to do was say that it would help you find a cure for the petrification curse, and you’d do anything. So I told you about the Rite of Penance and sent you to capture Sidney. I didn’t know whether you’d succeed or not, but it was worth a try. Much to my delight, the next time that I saw you, you were sitting in front of little miss Sidney, who had already had her Death Magic powers stripped by an Amnesia Scroll. Now everything is complete. As soon as Des Chevaliers teaches her a single spell of Life Magic, Sidney will undergo a sudden transformation that will make her an ultimate class mage. Then surely enough, she’ll come flying back to me asking about what’s happened to her, and I’ll be here willing and waiting to comfort and reassure her. Then I’ll use her power to help me kill King Barthalamos and take the throne for myself! Kwahahahaha!

The sound of a wolf howling in the distance chimes in with Master Simon’s maniacal cackling. I turn around and wrap my arm around Katherine’s shoulders. “We’re leaving.”

Walking quickly, we try to escape through the wooden door. But before we even reach it, Master Simon somehow moves from the other side of the room to in front of the door. Except now, his appearance has changed. When I take a good look at him, my heart freezes in my chest. His jet black hair and gray skin are unchanged, but now he has black circles around his eyes, his painted black fingernails are longer, his orange and black robes are now pure black, and a brown bat familiar rests on his left shoulder. “Going somewhere?” he asks while stroking his pointy mustache.

“No, you can’t be a death mage!” I tell him. “Back in the castle you used Life Magic when I was injured by the Chief Inquisitor. You healed me!”

Master Simon checks the nail polish of his right hand. “That was a Full Heal script. There’s no reason that a death mage can’t use Life Magic scripts. They only require channeling raw mana energy into the script and not directly molding one’s mana into life energy. Even you should know that.”

Crap. He’s right. I should have known. I should have known everything. But I didn’t. Katherine and I have to escape. The only exits from the room are the door and the two windows. We’re on the fifth floor, so the windows aren’t an option. But maybe if I attack him, Katherine can escape through the door while I hold his attention. I break away from Katherine and leap through the air at Master Simon in a flying side kick.