Chapter XX: Magic

“Ah, my fucking head is pounding, uh,” says Alakar.

Margrett cuddles up next to him on the bed of pelts and says, “Well, that’s what you get for drinking too much.”

Alakar then tosses and turns and asks, “What’s all that excessive racket? It feels like nails are being hammered into my skull. Ugh, make it stop….”

Mel stands over him, taps him on the side with a staff, and says, “It’s your high-bogs. They’re building new homes inside of the mountain.”

“Did you say, ‘your high-bogs?’ And wouldn’t constructing houses near the base of the mountain make less noise?” says Alakar as he sits up and rubs his head.

Mel says, “Fuck if I know, maybe if you weren't lying around in bed so long, you could have directed it, but no, you drank yourself till you blacked out, like a true drunkard.”

“I am not a drunkard, fuck off! Ow, my head… I think I’ll be taking it easy for today,” says Alakar.

Margrett then grabs him by the ear and says, “No, you’re not! You have shit to do, like watch the kids and figure out how to turn me back to normal… Remember?!”

Mel agrees and says, “Oh yes, and don’t forget you’re a king now, ha, what a joke that is. I’m sure that comes with many unwanted responsibilities,” and he chuckles.

“Damn you, cousin, and here I thought that was just a bad dream,” says Alakar as he stumbles to his feet.

“Nope, you fucked up as far as I’m concerned. You must have been too wasted to deny that challenge last night… Anyways, you need to work on your magic today, but don't fret, because yours truly will instruct you,” says Mel as he gives him a toothy grin.

Alakar staggers to the door and says, “Alright, well, we’re burning daylight. Let’s get this shit over with.”

“Wait! You’re going to need more than just a pair of pants,” yells Margrett as she runs at him with a shirt in hand.

Alakar quickly grabs her, caresses her long jet-black hair, and says, “Thank you, Hun, but I have no need for a shirt. This body will just outgrow it, so give it to one of the children.”

Margrett runs her hands down his gold chain and purple muscles, only to say, “Hmm, if you’re sure,” and then she pulls away.

“C’mon on, Mel, headache or not, I’m ready to start this training,” and he staggers out of the doorway.

The two made their way down the stairs, and they found themselves in front of a large opening in the side of the plateau. The highest point of its arch was roughly five humans tall and contained the sounds of busy pickaxes. And an occasional high-bog came out with a wheel barrel filled with gravel, which was laid out; it created something akin to a raised road outside of the opening.

Alakar points to one of the high-bogs and asks, “You there? What are you all doing?”

The high-bog nearly jumps out of his skin and says, “Uhm, uh, my liege, we are creating living quarters inside-”

“My liege? Liege? Who’s liege?! Liege! Never! I’ll never call you my liege!” says Alakar as he stares wide-eyed at him whilst taking out a butcher's knife.

“Ahhh! I’m sorry. I misspoke!” shouts the high-bog as he runs back into the mountain.

Alakar then begins to stab himself repeatedly in the thigh while yelling, “Liege! Liege! Liege! Liege! Lieg-”

*Boom* *Whooosh*

Mel abruptly ends his spell of winds and yells, “What the absolute fuck is wrong with you?! What the fuck was that? Are you possessed by a demon or something?!” as he lowers his staff in hesitation.

“Ough, my head hurts so much right now,” says Alakar as he staggers to his feet again.

Mel asks, “Did something happen to you?! Even goblins aren’t stupid enough to commit self-harm. What were you thinking?” as he confiscates the knife from the ground.

Alakar wipes the blood off his closing wounds in disappointment and says, “I… I don’t, I can’t, talk about it. I’ve just been through a lot….”

“You won’t tell me about it?! That’s fucked. Well, you better talk to someone about it because if you do that shit again, I’m going to blow you up instead of blastin yeah down!”

Alakar nods in dissatisfaction and says, “Agreed, I understand. Can we start now?”

“Sure, but I need you to listen attentively. I know this isn’t your strong suit, but I’ll give you a crash course here and now,” says Mel as he plucks a few of his nose hairs.

Alakar folds his arms and asks, “You gonna start teaching there, or you gonna pick your nose more?”

Mel coughs, clears his throat, and says, “Just keeping my nose clean, cousin… Anyways, the first thing to know is that every living thing possesses some degree of varying energies. Energy is either magical, spiritual, or physical, with the physical one being the only one you really understand.”

Alakar laughs and says, “I bet it’s also the one you least understand, you old frail coot,” as he looks his body up and down.

“Hush! And I’m only like this because I’ve dedicated my life to studying magic! Which goes into my next topic of technique. Even if one possesses a significant amount of energy, particularly magical energy, they still have to practice it, just like anything else.”

Alakar scrunches his face and says, “So, I guess it’s going to take me a while to master the magic I need then…”

Mel strokes his beard, smiles, and says, “For most, I would say yes, but for you, maybe not. A being's magic is usually limited by their spiritual energy, which does not change as far as we know. However, if one prays and devotes themself to a deity, they exceed this limit. Or they can be a heathen like you with a mysterious stone in their chest…”

“Ugh, this is too complicated! Makes my damn head hurt! Like, how am I supposed to use the stone to undo my curse and everyone else's curse when it’s likely the cause of it all?!” shouts Alakar as he compresses his temples.

Mel gives him a shrug and states, “One must master the magic to undo the magic. That’s just how it goes. I want you to start casting magic with your hands before using a medium too.”

Alakar thrusts his arm out flat and says, “Good. I’d hate to carry around a small twig like yours anyway. How does this work? Nothing happening yet…”

Mel yells, “Hey now! It’s not the size of the twig that matters. It’s what you do with it,” and he winks at him.

“You coming onto my cousin? Stop messing around and teach me already!” says Alakar as he flexes all the muscles in his head.

“You’re relying too much on your physical side. You have to use your mental. You must conjure and invoke the spell with your imagination. If the desire or thought is not focused, then nothing will happen! Try thinking of fire; that comes easiest to me.”

Alakar had closed his eyes. He was focusing a great deal, and it showed on his face as the veins protruded from his skull. After several moments, a green ball hovered in front of his palm. The ball swirled and dove in on itself repeatedly. However, it grew too quickly from the size of a small stone, then to the size of him, and eventually to the size of a small house. It became so large and heavy that Alakar had to place himself underneath it with both hands.

Mel panics, drops his staff, and shouts, “What the fuck is that?! That’s not fire! I said fire, damnit! Dispel it! Will it into your body! Hurry!” as he gawks at the massive cloud.

“Ah, ugh, I can’t. I’m sure- It’s gonna… Uh, please help,” says Alakar as his knees buckle from the weight above.

Mel runs around and yells, “Fucking launch that bitch in the air. Hurry! Now!”

“Ahhhhhhhhhh!” screams Alakar as he shoves the ball into the sky.

*Whooosh* *Zoooooom* *Ka-boom*

The large, condensed ball of gas spun into the air with ferocity. It soared at a great speed and exploded into a cloud of green mist before it could fall back down. The cloud of green lingered there in the sky. Both Alakar and Mel just stared at it in amazement until a flock of birds flew into it; their silence was then broken as they fell and hit the ground around them.

*Plop* *Thud* *Plop* *Thud* *Plop* *Thud* *Plop* *Thud* *Plop* *Thud*

Mel starts jabbing Alakar in his chest with his finger and yells, “Are you trying to kill us both?! And how are you still standing?! That was an insane amount of magical energy! You should have passed out,” and he picks up his staff.

“I don't feel any fatigue, well, not any more than what I walked out here with. I feel a bit anxious, though,” says Alakar as he rolls his shoulders forward.

Mel scratches his head and says, “That’s an understatement! I’m still fucking shaking… Why gas, though?”

Alakar rubs his chin and says, “Well, fire just didn’t come to mind. I thought of all those gas clouds you see in the swamp here, but for whatever reason, the cloud wouldn’t stop growing…”

“Interesting, truly fascinating. I think for you, it’s not a capacity issue but a technique issue. Watch me,” says Mel as he thrusts his staff into the air.

Mel begins to slowly conjure a fireball the size of a large boulder and then says, “This is all of my magic here in this ball, and my focus is undisturbed even while talking to you. Now, if you pray, it will temporarily increase your spiritual capacity in conjunction with your magical capacity; complicated, I know, but just watch!” and he begins to mumble under his breath.

Alakar patiently watches the ball hover unchanged and asks, “Is something supposed to happen here? Don’t tell me you're full of shit now, cousin?”

*Zoomp* *Poof*

“What?! This… This has never happened to me before?! Why?! How?!” asks Mel as he grovels near the dirt.

Alakar waves away the floating soot and says, “Is that what you tell every girl? And bah, that smell! It smells like something crawled up your ass and died. Phew!”

Mel trembles as he comes to his feet and says, “Something is really wrong… I need to go pray some more. Continue your training, please. See where your limit is, but don’t overdo it if you feel like you’ll pass out; that’s very dangerous for your health,” and he walks back towards the shack.

Alakar watched Mel slump his way to the stairs and wondered what bothered him so much. Usually, he expected a bit of back-talk from his cousin, yet something disturbed him to the core.

Alakar figured it was best for him not to pry, especially when he himself made a similar request. So, he spent the next couple of hours filling the sky with noxious fumes until he nearly collapsed. Alakar soon laid on his back in the gravel and was about to take a nap under the green sky, yet two of his sons approached him.

Boo knells with Yee and says, “Father, we has finisheds the tasks you asked of us.”

Alakar slowly rises to his feet and says, “What are you two doing? C’mon here, give me a hug,” and he pulls the two of them from ground up into his arms.

Yee gasps and says, “Fadder, you’re crushings mes, ek!” and he’s immediately let go.

“Now, what task are you guys talking about? I don’t remember asking anything of you as of late,” says Alakar.

Yee’s flat face scrunches up as he says, “Rou saids we’d lose our mating rights if we nots provides for da weak ones. Dids he lies again?!” as he turns to question his brother.

Boo gnaws on his jewelry and says, “I bets brother Rou did lies agains. He likes da pranks and trickerys toos much…”

Alakar rubs his temples, paces back and forth, and then says, “Wait, I remember now… You three just- You know what, never mind, just show me your work.”

He then promptly follows the two into a drained portion of the swamp nearing the road and asks, “How did I not notice this before? And why put tarps over the gravel?” as he gestures to the mounds.

Boo shakes his head and says, “Nos! We dids all dis tis mornings! These are the pits for spawnlings.”

Yee points to one of the three pits and says, “That ones mines there!” as he smirks with oozing pride.

“Hm, I see. Well, let’s have a look then,” says Alakar as he crouches down at Yee’s pit.

Alakar peers down into the shallow pit and says, “So these are my grandchildren?!” and he looks up at the two in shock.

“I want to see them!” says Alakar as he leans half his body into the pit.

“Gaaahhh! Gaaahhh!”

Boo looks down at the squirming goblin in Alakar’s hand and says, “Dat one looks very healthys. We hads roughly six litters born just dis mornings too, all healthys.”

Alakar looks the child over and says, “He’s so well dressed! Amazing! How many were born exactly?” and he gently sets the squirming goblin down.

Yee then promptly picks his goblin up and says, “Hmm, maybe twenty-somethings, not sures.” and begins to place the small one back into the pit.

Alakar suddenly grabs Yee’s arm containing the goblin and asks, “Is that a fucking brand? Why did you brand your children?!”

Yee studders, drops the goblin, and says, “We don’t knows whos is whos, so wes marks them alls. I’m sorrys, we not knows dis-”

“Ugh, you guys are going to give me an early death, I swear. My words are never well understood by you three… Now that I think about it, where did the clothes come from? Actually, where did any of this shit around here come from? The fine table cloths from last night, your clothes, and that fucking excessive amount of jewelry?!” says Alakar.

Yee looks around aimlessly and says, “Uh, the half-mens gave em tos us…”

Alakar throws his chest into Yee’s face, looks down at him, and says, “Don’t fucking lie to me… I’ll whoop your ass.”

Boo pulls his cowering brother back and says, “Please forgives brothers; he only half lies. In truths, wes beens raiding anothers half-mens village north of heres…”

“Fools! Taking things from others will get you nowhere! You’ve also blown our secrecy! It’s imperative that our existence remain undiscovered! Ugh!” says Alakar as he punches a tree.

Yee murmurs and says, “But, wes-”

“But nothing! The raiding stops now! I’ll decide on your punishments later. I’m going to go check on the other high-bogs for a bit and make sure they’re not up to no good,” says Alakar as he picks up a few leftover stakes on the ground and walks away.