《Seer's Cauldron》Chapter 12 - Reforming
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And so the great day dawned. The boys were up to their necks in cliché: ‘raring to go’, ‘what wonders we’ll see’, ‘real power’, ‘now we’ll see something’ – honestly, not an original thought in their heads. Whisper and I just continued ignoring them.
Well, except that we both spun breakfast out as long as we could, and we were both v-v-e-e-e-r-r-r-y-y-y s-s-l-l-l-o-o-w-w-w-w getting ready, and I danced the Blessing almost in slow motion . We hadn’t agreed it; we just both did it off our own bats. On the spur of the moment. Or whichever cliché you fancy.
We got to the Great Wizard Zaradzagus Grovelling Area around mid-morning, and found plenty of grovellers there before us. Enough to have attracted a man selling some sort of meat and hot bread, and another selling hot drinks.
“Nobody’s selling wet nellies!” moaned Whisper. “Why’s no one selling wet nellies? I like wet nellies! Why ben’t they selling wet nellies?”
Of the Great Wizard Zaradzagus himself there was no sign. Well, I didn’t expect anything else – obviously he’d wait until there was a good crowd to witness his Entrance – but apparently the boys hadn’t worked this out. Their disappointed looks made me laugh, which didn’t go down very well.
What a shame.
Well, when we’d hung around for a good hour waiting for something – anything – to happen, three lads walk out to by the water, and produce a drum, a whistle and something you pluck, and struck up a tune. To be fair, they weren’t at all bad. A few of the crowd start singing along, and then one or two began to dance, and it all got nice and relaxed. I didn’t know any of the songs, of course, but even so I enjoyed it.
But suddenly there’s this loud trumpeting noise from the tower (all on one cracked note), the music stops instantly, and smoke starts pouring out of its black sides. Then with another bleat of noise the whole side of the tower begins to hinge downwards – not just a narrow path like we came out on, the whole side. Smoke billowed out all around, so thickly that it was actually sliced by the huge ropes on the tower section.
The crowd – all except Whisper and me – the crowd went “Ahhhh!”
The Great Wizard Zaradzagus was standing on the tip of the platform as it slowly – ever so slowly – descended. He was dressed in a long, yellow robe from neck to feet, apparently plain, but sparkling in the low sunlight against the dark smoke behind him. He held a long, twisted and carved staff in his right hand, a good arm’s length taller than him, which also had something glittery in the top.
Very impressive, you had to give him that. This was a man who knew how to make an entrance.
The platform didn’t come all the way down to the ground; oh no, that wouldn’t’ve done at all for someone like the Great Wizard Zaradzagus to come down to our level. The platform came to a judder, and eventually a halt, almost manhigh above our heads. You could have heard a jaw drop.
“Friends!” he declaimed.
“Hey for the Great Wizard Zaradzagus!” shouted someone in the crowd, and the crowd went wild! (A plant? Orchestrated? Surely not – whatever gave you that idea!)
And then the Great Wizard Zaradzagus gave a speech. He spun it out for well over an hour, with the crowd hanging on every word, so you’re not getting the lot. Just the important bits.
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“Open the doors to your powers through meditation. It isn’t difficult! At least, if you have any strength at all it is not. Just calm yourself. Calm and suppress your thoughts! Open the mind!”
Mmm… Not quite, surely?
“Push away your thoughts, reject them! Use them as a barrier to hold away the outside world! Reject it! Rise above it! Then when your mind is truly controlled, your heart truly stilled and the outside world cast aside, then a new awareness, a greater awareness of your true self will reveal itself to you – rather, will reveal your self to you, your true self!”
No no! That’s completely wrong! You can’t start with your thoughts – there’s far too much to do before then! And you don’t reject – oh by the Stones, this fool’s got it all wrong! The last thing you should do is reject the world – or anything else!
Or has he got it wrong? He’s talking as though he meditates himself, and it can’t’ve been this way: you just can’t start like that. He must be deliberately misleading them. Why?
“Meditation is the key to power! Because meditation is the key to your own power – the only real power. If you have the basic strength of character you need to meditate as I’ve shown you, then the things you’ve seen me do – you will do too!”
So if you can’t do these things, it’s not because I’m telling it you all wrong, it’s because you’re a weakling – it’s your own fault!
But it got worse.
“Look never for any power beyond yourself! The only powers are the powers of your right arms, the powers of your heads, the powers of your hearts! Those are the only powers that can matter – those are the only true powers! Look never to women’s superstitions, or spirits, or stars, or lucky charms! You men have the power! Reach for it! Tap into it! Use it!”
WHAT?
“Rights come from strength! Rights come from power! It is strength that matters! It is power that matters! It is men that have the power, it is men that have the strength, so it is men that matter! Women are weaker than men. Women have less power than men – so it is men that have rights, not women!”
By now I was beyond speech.
“Learn from nature! Do hinds choose their stags? No! Stags fight each other, and the stronger takes the other’s hinds – whether the hinds want to or not! “
Remind me to tell you the tale of Blobnose one day. That’ll teach you how much choice the hinds have.
“Do jill hares choose their jack? No! The jack takes the jills he wants, and defends them against other jacks. The jills have no say – nor should they! So why do your women have any say? The women you own –”
WOMEN YOU OWN???????
“The women you own should do what you tell them. They shouldn’t be trotting out opinions of their own – it should be ‘My man says this’ and ‘My man thinks that.’ They’re your women, they belong to you. Let them do as nature always intended and accept that we men have the power, we men have the strength, and therefore we men have the right to own our women, and to do what we please with our own.”
There was a noise at the far side of the crowd at this point. I think a group of women were shouting something – I noticed one woman in particular, in a red dress and waving a red cloak or something, but they were all too far away for me to hear. Anyway I was too busy feeling sick.
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I wanted to go, but the others just stood there. Apart from Whisper, who was playing fivestones with a couple of other kids.
Then eventually Ziggyziggy reached his final inspiring climax – which I really can not repeat, it was that bad – and rose up and away into the tower the way he’d come. A little puff of smoke drifted out as the wall closed, I remember.
The musicians started up again, and everyone milled around in an aimless sort of way, and then there were sudden little commotions near the base of the tower. I couldn’t care less what was going on there. I wandered over to see if I could find the lady in red.
I had to push through the crowd, but I got through to her eventually. She was taller than me, and thinner – almost gaunt; there was more to it than just thin bones. She was with another woman, about the same age – twenties, maybe? – and the same style of dress, with folds at the waist and a double tie to her dark brown cloak, but plumper and somehow twitchy. And yet the red cloak was a bit tight, a bit straight-up-and-down; while the dark brown one was loose – almost fluffed out around its owner. They were quite different from the other women around; the other women were obviously from round here, and appeared to be listening to Zugglezuggle with open adoration. Redcloak and Browncloak definitely were not adoring at all.
“Er,” I began, with startling originality.
“Hello, sister!” replied Red-cloak.
Excuse me, but I’m not your sister, thank you. But there was something about her voice…
“I couldn’t see or hear clearly from where I was,” I continued, “but I thought you were showing disapproval of the performance.”
“Yes – performance. You have a gift for words, doesn’t it, sister.”
I was sure. “But you come from the same place as him, don’t you? Are you in his tribe?”
“How did you know that?” The false familiarity suddenly dried up, and suddenly I liked her a lot better.
“You speak the same, Lady – Lady –.”
“Still? I hoped it showed not maintent.” Maintent? What does that word mean? “But you’ve a very sharp ear, sister. Yes, I’m Fihel, dau–”
“Excuse me,” her companion butted in, “but ben’t you the woman everyone’s speaking of that’s the woman who’s vending salves at Brothy market? A shaman, or some such word? From one of the savage tribes out west?”
My, the compliments are flying today. I suspect my reaction to the word ‘savage’ showed in my face.
“Henva!” exclaimed Fihel. “You called her what!”
Henva put her hand to her mouth as her voice rattled on. “I’m so sorry! Oh Fihel! What it must be thought of me! It just slips out. Please, lady, I offer my apologies.”
There was no point in being stupid about it. After all, she was just saying to my face what everyone says behind my back. “Nothing to apologise for, Lady Henva,” I replied, keeping my tone formal. “It’s Seer, by the way. Lady Seer, if you insist, which I don’t.”
“Lady Seer,” she replied, and we shook hands.
“For future reference,” I added, “the polite phrase is Tent Folk.”
Fihel smiled. “That’s we in our place, Henva! And quite right. But you are the shaman of the Tent Folk? And you also go not with that hoopoe’s doctrine?”
Hoopoe. Yet another new word. I wonder how far they’ve come, that so many words so quickly are strange? “I completely disagree with everything he’s said so far. His rejection of the Spirits, obviously, his degrading of women, also obviously, and his faked instructions on meditation, also obviously. But it–”
“Faked?” Henva was suddenly attentive. “I’m essaying his methods and I can’t have them to work at all, and so have lots of people I speak to. Why fake?”
“They can’t work, they are utterly wrong in their taproot, and yet he speaks as if he meditates successfully – and I incline to believe him. I believe the instructions are designed to fail, so that people think they are weak losers and feel inferior. Meditation has to be done quite differently – but this isn’t the time or place.”
Fihel smiled. “But Henva will want a time and place, win’te? It’s her style of thing. Look, we’d like to talk more, but as you say, this is difficult. But we’re essaying to establish a group of women to fight this man. Would you – could we persuade you… Maybe?”
I smiled and retreated.
A strange couple. They both spoke very very fast, and yet the plump fluffy one seemed to pour her words out like feathers from a cushion, hardly getting one out before the next was started; while the other, the skinny redcloak, the words came out separate like darts; there was almost space between them.
And I hadn’t asked again about why they were come from Ziggy’s home when they didn’t support him. Careless, but then I was still worked up about Ziggy and his teachings.
Well, it probably wasn’t important. Eventually the music stopped and everyone seemed to be drifting away. The boys and I found each other again, we collected Whisper and left.
Obviously I wanted to sound off about it all; I mean, wouldn’t you? But the boys ignored me from the start, muttering and chattering to each other with their shoulders firmly towards me.
So what? I don’t care what these stupid boys do. I’m a shaman. I’m above that sort of thing.
Aren’t I?
I got the impression that Hawk was doing the pushing. Stack seemed to be defensive, slightly looking away and leaning away from Hawk, who was pushing forward. It seemed to stay that way all the way home. But when we got home, and started putting a meal together, Stack seemed to give way. You could see his head turn little by little in Hawk’s direction, see his shoulders straighten. There were a couple of moments when Hawk obviously produced some real knock-down argument that brought Stack up short. But all the time I couldn’t hear a word!
In fact, I felt really excluded – pushed away and out. And yes, it did get to me, just a bit.
After dinner, Hawk sat back.
“He’s right, you know,” he declared. The first words I’d actually heard or had spoken to me since the performance.
“Who is?” I asked.
“Zirakzagus.”
“Zirakzagus?”
“Yes. He said the only powers are in our own right arms, and he was right. The Spirits haven’t any power over us if we’re strong. I stood up to the Lady of the Flies and she couldn’t destroy me – because I’m strong.”
I didn’t quite know how to answer, just like that.
“You’ve been saying the Spirits want us to have a cauldron, but they’ve done nothing to help us at all. They have no strength at all.”
“Well, –”
“And you were supposed to be protecting us from great dangers, yet you were away for days and nothing happened. There Spirits are nothing, are they. Powerless shadows. And your claim to control them – it’s all just a cheat.”
He stood up and walked over to me.
“Come on,” he said, “Admit it. Admit you’re not a shaman and –” he took my hands in his and looked at me with that half-smile of his – “be my girl.”
Stones, I am so ashamed!
What was I thinking – well, I wasn’t thinking, was I! That was the problem. My whole body – including my brain – was just assuming “Yes!” After all, it was what I’d been wanting this twelvemonth – what I’d been dreaming of, what I’d been going to sleep thinking about – being Hawk’s girl. Obviously “Yes!” was the only possible answer – I didn’t need to think about it.
And my mouth was open to say it, actually open to say “Yes!” when there was a hard tug on my skirt.
I glanced down. “You’re my mummy! I don’t want you to be his mummy as well!” and a very cross little face were staring up at me
It wasn’t the logload of childish misunderstandings behind this remark, nor the real worry in Whisper’s face. It was just that the spell broke – it gave my brain just the moment it needed to click back into gear.
I took my hands back from Hawk. “Well, then, I suppose Stack will want my house, and I have some packing to do,” I said, and, holding Whisper’s hand very tightly, dragged him back into my place.
“Pack!” I snapped at him. “Pack everything now! You’ve got five minutes and if you’re not packed by then you’ll get the worst belting I’ve ever given you!”
“And shut up!” I added.
In five minutes, more or less, we had everything either packed or tied onto the outside of the pack or else we were wearing it.
“Now,” I said, “you’re the hunter. What’s the safest way out of camp without either of them seeing us?”
Whisper’s jaw dropped. “We – we’re running away?”
“Yes of course you gowk! Now which way?”
It wasn’t difficult. The fences were made to keep things out, not to keep things in. Soon we were deep in the woods and well out of sight of the camp.
“Right,” I said, “so we’re out of the camp. But if they follow us, we need to lose them. Hunter, show me how.”
Give him credit, he did. We waded along stony streams where our footprints wouldn’t show; we trampled false trails across weeds and swung back on tree branches; we walked onto flat rocks and jumped off, doubling back; we climbed trees and worked across to other trees and so down into water. These and a dozen other tricks should have been enough to put the best trackers off our scent, and I knew that for all their boasting these two were not the best.
In the end, we found a high pine with a damaged trunk that had grown a thick whorl of branches about the height of six men above the ground. We climbed into it from the tree next door, spread out a bed, tied ourselves in and tried to go to sleep. Whisper managed it at once. I didn’t. Not for hours.
And when I woke, it was broad morning, and a clear cold sunny winter’s morning as well. The birds were producing a very half-hearted dawn chorus, but otherwise nothing stirred.
The boys hadn’t found us.
It wasn’t relief at not being found that was strongest in my mind. It was the emotional certainty that they had never bothered looking.
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The Accidental Archmage - BOOK 9 (THE DRAGON HOUSES)
The Accidental Archmage Series (BETA CHAPTERS) NOTE: DRAFTS OF EARLIER BOOKS (BOOKS 1 to 8) HAVE BEEN POSTED BEFORE ON RRL. THEY ARE NOW ON AMAZON AND HAD ATTAINED BESTSELLER STATUS IN THE FANTASY-MYTHOLOGY GENRE. ACTUALLY, MANY RRL STORIES PUBLISHED ON AMAZON HAVE GONE ON TO BECOME BESTSELLERS AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER. HOWEVER, AMAZON KDP RULES REQUIRE THAT MOST OF THE DIGITAL CONTENT AVAILABLE ELSEWHERE BE REMOVED. GENRE: CLASSICAL EPIC FANTASY An epic mythological fantasy in another world. Immerse yourself in a grand and dangerous adventure. In a world both familiar and strange. A world where magic and gods still exist. Meet deities, beings, and exiles from Earth’s pantheons. Encounter warriors, huskarls, satyrs, hoplites, dark and evil mages, and strange beings from myths of pre-history up to the age of iron.Match wits with the likes of Loki, Zeus, Athena, Odin, Amun-Ra, Coniraya, Viracocha, and even Dionysus. Escape plots and schemes played by powerful gods of life and death.Find the truth behind the dark and otherworldly beings from the Lovecraft mythos.Play with dire wolves, drakontes, lamias, keres, amphisbaenae, a sphinx, ice giants, creatures of nightmares, empusas, gigas, minotaurs, vrykolakas, jotnar, dokkalfr, to name a few.Survive being in the middle of wars between civilizations and races. Suffer the arrogance and stupidity of gods and men alike. Cross paths with beings who don’t like you. Thor, Ares, and the Incan death god Supay, to name three.Be burdened with a quest to save yourself and your humanity in the brutal and primordial world of Adar.A world where scientific pursuit will get you a lightning bolt or two. Probably five. All at the same time. Book Nine - THE DRAGON HOUSES His beloved Eira rescued, the rogue Titans have been defeated, and Tartarus sealed. Yet as the rising Archmage tries to escape the Forbidden Isle, events have been set in motion that would embroil him once again in the tides of war engulfing Adar. Escaped Titans, a rising power in the South, vengeful adherents of the Elder Gods, and more have him in mind. Least of all, a far from defeated Loki. New players have come to the fore, each with their own purpose in mind. The lustful drive for power, the search for a release of one's soul, and the companions' storied pasts all come to drive the world deeper and further into chaos. Add a powerful demon determined to open a portal to its own dimension. It's enough to drive a mortal man mad. (Cover image used under license) Book Eight - WHERE TITANS WALK Now in the land of the damned below the underworld domain of Hades, Eira awaits the company and battle portends. But first, they have to find the fortress of the Titans. Above them, Loki's war is going well as the internecine war among the pantheons continues. An old foe rises in the south, more powerful than ever. Astrid finds herself the subject of a wife's rage and the murky past of the companions now comes back to haunt them. Yet amidst it all, a dying Elder won't wait as plots and new players bedevil Havard Ulriksson, formerly Tyler West of Earth, now the Archmage of his adopted world. Cover Image used under license from shutterstock.com. Alterations by the writer. Book Seven - DRAGONS AND DEMONS https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B08122Y739 An urgent rescue and the path to vengeance are not easy in a magical, myth-filled world. Nasty roadblocks and unexpected complications have a way of rearing their wicked heads along Tyler's route across the dwarven lands and into the infernal realm of Tartarus. More myths and legends cross the First Mage's path as Loki's war and Asag's emergence stir up mortal lands and magical domains. Cover Image used under license from shutterstock.com. Alterations by the writer. Book Six - TARTARUS BECKONS Gifts, curses, and problems. The unfolding of Loki's mad and complicated scheme results in a war between and among pantheons, empires, and kingdoms. From Ymir's Domain down to the far south, conflict engulfs Tyler's world and the magical gate to Tartarus is starting to break open, threatening to add mad Titans and other powerful beings to the chaotic mix. And on the forbidden isle of Banna, a dying enemy awaits. (Note: NOW PUBLISHED ON AMAZON) Book Five - LOKI'S GAMBIT With the promise of the First Mage not to act against him, Loki now accelerates his plans. A plot millennia in the making, spanning the length and breadth of Adar. Like a spider spinning its web, the trickster god now puts the finishing touches on an audacious scheme. A revolution to change the balance of godly and mortal power in the world. Book Four - VOID LANDS The Void Lands. A place where gods fear to tread. Where strange creatures and hostile beings emerge. A nexus of dimensions, the origins of which are lost in the mists of time. To stop the Aztecha Empire’s march to power and domination of the eastern lands, Tyler West, now a High Mage, must confront and defeat the empire’s mysterious patrons. Beings of incredible might and magical knowledge. An imperative path which leads him right to the Void Lands. Though a few detours are required, each dangerous yet crucial. The only problem is that the Void Lands are on the other side of the continent. And to get there, he may have to ask a favor from the Trickster God himself, the Norse deity known as Loki. Book Three - BLOOD WARS Continuing our lost mage's epic journey through the magical and extremely dangerous world of Adar. Escaping the convoluted schemes of the Greek pantheon, Tyler finds himself with an old acquaintance, the Incan deity Viracocha. His son, the sun god Inti, is dead. With the Aztecah Empire and its powerful pantheon of deities on the bloody road to more conquests, the deity asks for his help. A request he could easily refuse. Except Viracocha is not alone is asking for his aid. Two other pantheons have made their presence known to the young mage. And the Egyptian deities are watching how he will decide the matter. To add to his burdened conscience, the rise and dominance of the Aztecah pantheon would mean a million or more new human sacrifices. Resulting in extremely overpowered bloodthirsty deities. What's a newly minted Elder apprentice mage to do? Involve himself in a blood war? Book Two - GIFTS OF THE GREEKS Tyler's journey continues. New land, misadventures, friends, foes, skills, and knowledge. Confused encounters of the female kind. More deities become aware of Tyler as he continues his quest to survive, reach his potential, and carry out his burden. Amid convoluted plans designed by divine acquaintances of old and newly met gods, what's an ordinary guy from Earth to do?The god of wine wants to be his friend. Ares and his sons are coming to say hello. Book One - RAGNAROK RISING What if you fell through a crack in reality? Like those people disappearing in plain sight you've read about. What if you find yourself in a strangely familiar world? A world full of Earth’s mythological beings, lost civilizations, and people from its primitive and brutal past? Where magical energy still exists. Where gods play games among themselves, with the fate of mortal men as pawns. A land where a sword is deadlier than a five-inch thick contract drawn by a hotshot lawyer. Would you survive? That's Tyler West. Alone, lost and bewildered, the three moons in the sky made it clear he wasn’t on Earth anymore. It’s not a game. It’s real. And there's no coffee, pizza, fries, or his favorite show on HBO. *** All Rights Reserved. 2017/2018/2019/2020. Cover Images are used under license.
8 141Witches & Knights & Unicorn Fights
[2022-06-04: Currently drafting Act II - been on a hiatus trying to edit all the typos and continuity issues out of the first 12 chapters. Will start posting again in a few of days, probably at a chapter-per-week rate] Once upon a time, Maeve Morgan decided to be born... but she doesn't quite remember why. The other day, a voice told her to tell her own story... but she's not so sure just where to start, or quite when to stop. Maeve Morgan just wants to be left alone on her island, really, to shingle her roof, and maybe catch a Gnome someday. Meanwhile, in another Timeline... Bardlii Noonstar embarks on a mission to chronicle the adventures of a common hooded rat, which the Sentient City of Owl claims is destined be the Realms' next greatest Known Hero. And somehow, all of this will become connected. Which of our narrators will untangle this curious knot, by bravely and kindly advancing the plot? (Contains occasional swear words of the PG-13 variety)[participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]
8 140Legend of The Matriarch
This series of stories and perspectives ultimately accounts the birth and life of a new god that goes under the moniker of The Matriarch. Born as a baseless deity, she seeks knowledge in all forms and supports learning. However, even scholars have enemies. In her bid to explore worlds and expand her knowledge, she runs into another godlike creature whos views seem to counter her own. As she works to combat this threat to the entire multiverse, she seeks to legalize certain forms of darker magic, spread her influence, and acquires a lover or two along the way.
8 147Crimson
In a world of Runes the continent of Rustren is mired in slaughter and senseless wars. The Emperors star rises in the East, heralding the rebirth of the Emperor Rune. Once again the world will descend into carnage as kings and heroes wage savage wars. For whosoever obtains the Emperors Rune will obtain the Continent of Rustren.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Note from the author:This is my first novel and written purely for my own entertainment. I welcome any and all constructive criticism and hope to complete the story to a high standard.This is only a hobby so the releases will be sporadic and few. Sorry XDPS - I've included Tags such as Romance. I don't know how it'll turn out but i'll leave it there just in case.
8 88I Am Not A Humanity's Traitor (Isekai LitRPG)
Ren is a reincarnated person. His new world had the same name as his old one, Earth. But that was the extent of the resemblances. Ren has a skill as well, or at least he was told he did, but he had no inkling of how to use it. He was disheartened at first but his goal wasn't the path to power, all he wanted from this world was to continue the peaceful life, but the world didn't even provide him with that. A luminous pillar descended upon him and one of his classmates. Goddess Helastia, one of the most revered goddess, called them to herself, probably not a good news. However, there, he finds that a group of heroes has been summoned from his past world to confront the Devils that will be rising soon. But contrary to his assumption of being a hero himself, she referred to him as a reincarnated imposter. She labeled both of them as Humanity's Traitors and sends them into a dungeon where they were supposed to live. That is, with their masters and comrades, the Devils and their minions. The monsters in the dungeon were not likely to accept them as allies, instead, they were out to devour the delicacies that appeared in their home. Only despair awaited them. ---------------------------------------------------------- This novel is inspired from Neets's parallel world syndrome, Abnormal state skill and bunch of other jp novels, this is also my first time writing a web novel. Also English isn't my native language, so, sorry in advance. The pic in the cover is taken from pixabay and edited by me.
8 130Real life in a Virtual World.
A boy, living half his life in hell-on-Earth and the other half in nothingness, suddenly finds himself to be in a virtual game world. But isn't his life in this virtual world more 'real' then his life in the real world?
8 134