Age Of The Red Demons

The Wizard

"We have come to you for a cure! We mean no harm!"

Smaragdus tried to calm the angry crowd as they armed themselves with sticks and stones. They were determined to protect whatever it was that they surrounded. "He is the prince!" He pointed to Daerys who was still on his horse, "He has journeyed all the way from Arnold to help you!"

"We do not need his help, we have a wizard!" Said a voice from among the crowd.

"He is our saviour and you shall not have him!" Cried another.

And another and another till their voices were lost in one another and it became noise.

Was it true they had a Wizard in their midst? The prince searched with his eyes but could not find a peculiar figure, at least not one who looked like a wizard.

"Is your wizard that great? Then why does he hide behind you?" Daerys demanded, "And why does he let you come together in this way? Does he not know that the burning flame is a plague?"

His last question sent an air of panic to his listeners and they murmured in response.

"A plague?"

"Is it a plague?"

"It is not!" Another voice answered, louder than the others. The voice commanded silence among the people and the murmurs receded. It was someone they revered.

From among the people, two men emerged. One of them was clothed in a grey robe. He had long hair and beard that were almost white in colour and almost too long for his short height. His eyes did glow like purple lightning and a red orb dangled around his neck. He also had a staff. Certainly, he was the wizard.

The other man was much taller, very tall. He had no hair on his head, nor did he on his face. His eyes were deep and his voice was loud. "Your highness, I apologize for my people." He was the head of Maddu. "Allow me to give to you a proper welcome into our noble city."

Climbing down from his horse, Daerys replied, "That would not be necessary." He walked towards the duo, contrasting figures they were.

Facing the Head, he demanded, "What is it you and your people are doing at this place, and why do you have a wizard among you?"

"He has only come to heal our sick." The aged man replied, his gaze as confident as his pose.

"You do know that sorcery is forbidden in Meredith." Mentioned Daerys.

"At a time like this, exceptions must be made." The wizard replied this time, and with a smile on his face. "Do you not think so, your highness?"

Daerys scoffed. He drew his sword and pointed at the wizard. Gasps of disapproval filled the air from the villagers.

"Why don't you come to my humble home, and we shall all find a solution to our differences." The Head offered, amidst the panic and murmurs of his people.

Prince Daerys hesitated, and then his gaze caught the sight of a sick child lying on the grass behind the two men. That must have been the reason everyone gathered there, the wizard was healing her.

"Fine," he said at last, putting his blade back in its place, "You should tell me everything you know."

As they made their way to the home of the head of Maddu, Daerys endured a conflict within himself. He was on his way to negotiate with a sorcerer. What would his father say?

King Morrys himself was having a hard period in Vale. They wanted him to take in wizards into Meredith.

King Dunamiz of Helen was certain that Zathryon was in Morrys' land. "If the red one is anywhere, it is Meredith." He declared, to the large hearing that gathered in the palace of Horon.

"Sire" called King Romeo to King Morrys, "Why do you not take in the Witchmother Marina if you do not wish to have wizards. We all know you despise wizards, or is it the same with witches?"

"I am resentful to anything that goes against the natural order, wizards or not". Morrys replied as he sipped his tea from a golden cup.

To this, Gaz Zillus, the grand wizard stood to reply, "The same cannot be said for nightsingers and hunters, but the wizards and witches were chosen by nature. I was born a wizard and so is every one of my kind. The witchmother and her kind too. Your majesties had better implored one another, for things could get out of proportion. The fate of us all rests and shakes on your shoulders".

As he finished his words and resumed his seat, the nightsingers raised their voices to express discomfort to his words. They could not believe their ears. Did the grand wizard just deny them?

The night singers had been in existence since the days of Albane. They had always practiced magic, but never received acknowledgement from the kings and wizards of those times, nor those of the present.

Legend had it that the first night singers received their powers from Ruby, one of the dragons of paragon. The dragon gifted to them the ability to speak with the dead. They could also conjure a dead soul back to life, be it in their real body or in the body of another.

The power was considered evil and sinister, especially considering the fact that it came from Ruby, the paragon of envy.

The wizards of the reach did not favor an encounter with night singers in the palace of Vale, and they did not hide it.

King Horon eventually stood up to the chaos. When all had calmed, he continued, "What does the king of Meredith say? We do not have the sun to ourselves, he comes and goes, drawing along our time."

The decision of King Morrys was simple, he would open the gates of his land to none but one wizard. The only wizard he had ever trusted, "My old friend, Ul Thera!"

The wizards frowned at this, and Gaz Zillus spoke for them. "Nine years it has been since that dwarf was last seen on the Reach. Surely, your majesty could make a better choice."

"What?" The king asked, "Do you not take him as one of yours?"

"Indeed he used to be," the grand wizard said after a sigh, "But the reach do not take responsibility for his deeds anymore."

King Morrys had made up his mind. He would let Ul Thera come and help out his people in Meredith. The other kings agreed to this, and so did the wizards, and the witch, and the night singers. Ul Thera it was.

And as the head of Maeve opened his doors for the crowned prince of Meredith, Ul Thera was with him, his staff clutched in his hands as he made to have his seat.

"So, tell me who you are." The prince demanded after he had settled down.