《The Guardian of Magic》Midnight
Advertisement
Chapter 19
“I leave with you my wand and my instructions regarding my return. See that only the person specified in my instructions uses it. I will Appear during a time of much turmoil, war, and heartache.”
The Guardian’s Instructions, penned by Rigel Knotsworth, year 1002
Midnight
Oliver waited for everyone to fall asleep. He looked out the lodge window as Moon Inferior dipped beneath the horizon. Moon Superior was still shining bright, nearly at its zenith. The campus was completely still.
Time to go.
He softly slid open the lodge door and strode across campus, carrying a staff with him and trying his best not to look suspicious. As far as he knew, there really wasn’t anything wrong with walking around the campus or Magen City at midnight. But he would probably have arrested him for what he would do next.
Passing by the campus guards without issue, Oliver walked through the dark streets of Magen City toward the looming palace in the distance. He saw only two people walking in the cobblestoned streets, both in a hurry to get to wherever they were headed.
He heard something behind him and froze, spinning around. He searched the street with wide eyes, looking for what caused the sound, his heart thumping wildly.
A cat appeared, running across the street with a rat in its mouth.
Oliver sighed, turned, and kept walking.
He heard the sound of flutes and drums in the distance, probably from one of the city’s major taverns. Although it was upbeat, the music seemed ancient, boring, and foreign to him. He missed the sound of the Magen City he knew: hover cars honking at each other, planes flying overhead, the occasional sirens blaring in the distance. He missed his own hovercar… and his own music playlists.
The palace up ahead was the strangest part of the city for Oliver to look at. It didn’t exist in 4027. By his best estimate, in its place would eventually be a lengthy line of restaurants and an outdoor mall. Someday this palace would be destroyed. A thousand years from now during the Age of Greed.
He stopped as he approached the palace wall. The gate he, Silas, Ashley, and Ilan had entered to find the Barklian troop was before him. Half a dozen armored soldiers stood guard in front of the gate, and another half dozen were positioned on the walls. After Silas defeated the Barklians two days ago, he doubled the guard around the palace, reducing the risk of another assassination attempt. Which, in turn, only made things more difficult for Oliver to break in.
Before the guards noticed Oliver approaching the gate, he turned, stepping into an alleyway between houses made of stone and wood.
And he waited.
About ten minutes later, he heard footsteps. The sound of Salverian soldiers marching toward the palace. They came to replace the guards standing watch at the gate. Their shift was up.
Advertisement
This was the moment Oliver’d been waiting for.
He held the staff he brought with him out in front of him, its tip pointing upward. It was a birch staff. One of the rare woods. There was only one in the mage’s Lodge, and he’d been eyeing it for a while, planning what he’d do with it. It was lighter than oak, had more knots, and yellower.
He pulled a parchment out of his pocket where he’d scribbled the Carving for birch. He squinted at it, running the routine through his mind. He’d practiced Casting it with extinguished staves, and it was one of the hardest, most complex Carvings he’d ever attempted.
The sound of the soldiers’ footsteps grew louder as Oliver began the routine. He whispered to himself as he twirled the staff slowly. “Two clockwise figure eights,” he said, “thrust to the left, one vertical spin toward me, thrust to the right, three horizontal spins counterclockwise, thrust backwards, and then thrust skyward back to base position.”
He looked up at the tip. Nothing happened. He grew nervous, fearing he’d miss his window of opportunity. “Try again.”
On his third attempt, Oliver watched with amazement as the tip of the staff disappeared. In a blink of an eye, the rest of the staff and his hand also disappeared. He looked down at where he should’ve seen his body, but instead saw only the cobblestones beneath his feet.
The sensation threw him off balance and he staggered a few steps until he found his center, relying on the support of the staff in his right hand. At least, he assumed it was in his hand. He couldn’t see it. But he could still feel the knots of the birch wood with his fingers. He could feel the ground beneath his feet, but without being able to see his legs, he wasn’t quite sure on which cobblestone each foot was planted.
An unanticipated sense of doubt crept into his mind; he wondered if he still existed. His eyes told him he’d wisped away into thin air and was nothing more than a floating conscience. Yet his other senses told him otherwise. It was a strange, constant test of believing without seeing. “The faith conundrum,” he whispered to himself, admiring the irony of his situation.
He tightened his grip on the staff as he saw soldiers marching past the alleyway. He stood a few feet away from them, but not a single soldier looked his way. Waiting for the last soldier to pass, he quietly followed behind as they walked toward the gate, which was being opened for them.
Oliver made sure he had a firm grip on the staff, fearing he would reappear if he dropped it and that he wouldn’t be able to find it on the ground. According to the scroll he’d studied, he’d only stay invisible as long as he touched it. The staff itself would remain invisible until all its magic was burnt out, which he guessed would take about ten minutes or less.
Advertisement
Oliver tried to walk as close to the solider at the rear without making too much sound. His heart pumped so hard he feared his invisible rib cage would crack. He walked through the open gate, expecting someone to say something.
But no one did.
Oliver followed the soldiers until they came near the palace, which cast a long shadow across the courtyard. He crept away from the troop and into the palace’s shadow. With a sigh of relief, he scurried down the courtyard, staying in the shadows.
After a short while, he reached the north end of the courtyard. He noticed the dark red stains on the cobblestones and looked away. This was where he, Silas, Ashley, and Ilan had fought the Barklian soldiers last night.
A chill ran down Oliver’s spine.
The memory haunted him. The fighting. The magic. The soldier he’d stabbed in the abdomen. The blood he’d spilt.
He wanted no part in this war. This wasn’t his time, these weren’t his people. He had no desire to fight alongside them, no less… save them. That was clearly someone else’s job. He’d been dragged through time and forced to fight in a war that he didn’t really care about. He was willing to play along with the Justices’ insane plan… that is, up until last night, when he nearly killed that soldier.
After that, he made up his mind. He was going home. He would escape this prison in the past by breaking into the palace and using the Guardian’s Wand to time travel back to 4027. This was his last chance to escape before Silas dragged him off to battle in Cambium tomorrow. He couldn’t afford to make a mistake. He feared he would get killed in battle. Sure, he knew some magic after a week’s worth of training, but he wasn’t anywhere close to battle-ready. Getting the wand and using it tonight… meant survival.
It meant going home.
Tomorrow, if he’d stayed in 4027, would be the day the Justices would present their verdict on the Lumber debate. That was what he cared about. And he hoped he would still get to see it. He wasn’t sure if the Guardian’s Wand would send him back to the same time he left; he could only hope he’d return in time for the verdict.
He wasn’t sure he could even figure out how to use the wand. He’d asked Ilan and Silas as many questions about it as he could without raising any suspicions. He wasn’t entirely sure what it’s Carving was, or if it would work, but he had an idea he wanted to try and figured it was worth the risk.
Oliver took one last revolting look at the blood-stained courtyard and peeked around the corner of the palace at the northern entrance. Two soldiers stood guard, long spears in their hands. He could tell by their Salverian green tunics and decorative armor that they were elite soldiers, probably the Justices personal guards.
Oliver swore under his breath. No way could he fight them and win. And sneaking past them, even when invisible, looked nearly impossible.
He figured it would be this difficult. The Salverians had likely built up precautions for invisible mages. But, he knew none of them would be ready for what he had in mind.
Still in the shadow of the palace, he carefully placed the birch staff on the ground and memorized its location. As soon as he let go, his entire body reappeared. He quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out his black drone.
Its battery was extremely low, but he hoped it had enough juice for one last flight. “Drone,” he said.
The drone came to life. Its screen illuminated his face, flashing a low battery warning. He looked around, making sure no one noticed him. “Fly up.”
“Okay,” a female voice said from its little speaker.
With a buzz, the drone disconnected from the screen and flew fast into the air. He looked at the screen which showed what its little camera was filming. He pressed a few buttons on the screen to get it to fly close enough to the guards in front of the gate to get their attention.
“Hey! What’s that?” a guard shouted.
“An ashen demon!” shouted another. “Shoot it down!”
“Evasive flying,” Oliver whispered into the screen.
The drone buzzed away from the soldiers on its own. “Good idea,” its programmed voice said.
Oliver watched as the two guards left their post, chasing after the drone. He pocketed the drone screen, picked up the invisible staff which made him invisible again, and snuck through the palace doors as quietly as possible.
He moved swiftly down the palace’s narrow hallways, avoiding any sign of guards. The guards he did see were rushing to the palace windows to see what the commotion was outside. He’d been in the palace before when he’d given his speech a few days earlier, and he remembered seeing the Guardian’s Wand while he was there. Third floor.
Advertisement
- In Serial49 Chapters
Queen of the Castaway Isle
Sophie liked to think of herself as a survivor.Someone who, as an average person, survived hell on earth and returned to tell the tale. Give or take.In a tragic freak accident, the survivors of two plane crashes were trapped on a strange uninhabited island. It took over 8 years for help to locate what was left. Of the original 288 missing passengers and crew, only 22 people remained. The world went wild, everyone wanted to know what happened. What went on there? In a true Lord of the Flies fashion, it was humanity at its worst. Hell on earth. A miniature apocalypse in the middle of the ocean. All manmade.Sure Sophie had survived, but even after years of intensive therapy, she isn't always happy about it. Those who murdered her younger brother were now rich. Those who raped and left her baby sister to die were famous. The kings of that isle, monsters wearing human skin, had sold their stories and were now living the good life after. Try as she might move on, hell has followed her home. Until she wakes up 13 years back in the past. Less than 1 day before her scheduled flight. -------- Catch me on Discord: https://discord.gg/ARkSMFPbew
8 133 - In Serial7 Chapters
Avatar of Time
Under maintenance.Image is a placeholder from Alexander Mikhalchyk under Creative Commons licenses
8 158 - In Serial19 Chapters
Dispatches from the Inter-galactic
Dispatches From The Inter-Galactic is a series of loosely related satirical stories which take place in a galaxy full of various interstellar civilizations and numerous space faring species generally described as consentients. This series is set in a galaxy which take place in a similar but not entirely unlike the galaxy in which my series Up in Space takes place While there are numerous themes related to interstellar life, several of the stories directly relate to specific themes such as; The pan-galactic ramifications to the use of supersymetrical energy sources (often drained from intera-located alternate and pocket realities.) the use of which by most interstellar civilizations is steadily increasing the overall amount of Dark Matter. This is increasing the mass of the galaxy and results in the occasional rips in inter-dimensional space as well as an overall increase in supernova activity. It is also speeding up the approach of the galaxy in Andromeda, which is of concern to several long lived civilizations; The Morphoids, a race of shape-changing consentients who are capable of using the space lanes created by the use of supersymetrical sourced energy to spread throughout the galaxy. They are currently viewed as threat number one by many space-faring species; and Xeno and exo-sexuality, as many species try to figure out what sort of enjoyment they can have with many of the species they encounter in space (only some of which are carbon-based, or more rarely, humanoid in appearance). This also relates to the altering of species to make reproduction somewhat easier for those with rather complicated lifestyles. A major force in this area of pursuit is the galactic visiteering industry, which promotes the ‘uplifting’ of more primitive planet-bound near-consentients.
8 172 - In Serial13 Chapters
The Riddle Chronicles - Year I: Lord Protector (Harry Potter FanFiction)
London, 1938. As the storm clouds of war gather over Europe, a brilliant and ambitious boy escapes London's south docks, for the Scottish Highlands. At Hogwarts, Tom Riddle has the opportunity to master magic and put his lean years at Wool's Orphanage behind him. New friendships, experiences and an insatiable appetite for adventure, help him piece together his shadowy past. How will he fare against the Rabisu, persistent nightmares and a jealous, older student? Will the Hogwarts 800 bring humiliation or glory? Slughorn, auror, criminal and a group of loyal friends guide Tom in his choices, but are they the right advisers? Or the right choices?Published: 06/02/2018
8 156 - In Serial32 Chapters
Through Blood We Grow
Monsters come in many shapes. Men, animals, spirits, dreams, feelings. Sometimes it feels as if this world is a monster, simply waiting to devour you and all you hold dear. Grim knows this feeling better than most. Like many he was happy with his life, friends aplenty, a loving mother, a stable home, and a bright future. Like many that life was taken from him. But unlike many that wasn’t the end of him. He wasn’t devoured by the world, he was given a second chance and new name. With that name comes new people, new dangers, and a new outlook. This monster of a world wouldn’t consume him, he would grow. He would grow beyond the nightmares, beyond the weakness, and beyond his past. And the only way he can do that, is through blood.
8 204 - In Serial32 Chapters
This Love Is A Stretch! (Sky High Lash FanFic Love)
Being apart of a superhero family can be kinda cool espically when your high school is floating. However when your boyfriend turns evil and you still love him makes high school the worst place ever. What will happen in my last year of school. #Wattys2015)
8 208