In Inkredia...
Prologue
A Message
The night charged in with an army of clouds, covering the sky from this horizon to that, just as Sorcerer Klaurus had feared. Standing at the terrace of his castle, he gazed upon the mountains that encircled his fortified village, a small settlement perched atop the smallest mountain in the range. Except for a few distant peaks that were tall enough to pierce through the cover, everything was taken by the shadow of the dark sky. Klaurus looked up. Clouds moved about restlessly, changing forms, churning and mixing together. He could make the moon beyond them, a brighter spot. It was a good sign. All that Klaurus needed was a small opening for the briefest of moments.
He walked back to his high chair and sat in it, vaguely glancing at the two empty chairs placed beside him. His guests had left hours ago. They lacked the patience that Klaurus had in abundance. Klaurus fixed his gaze at the sky and sat still. Finally, his patience paid off. Clouds shifted and a beam of moonlight lit up Klaurus mountain, leaving the village awash in a soft, silvery glow.
Send for them, said Klaurus to a massive man at his side. He walked up to a goblet placed on an elevated platform and looked at the black liquid inside it. The reflection of the nearly full moon looked back at him, throwing a faint glimmer on his severe, bony face and on the eyes that would make a vulture proud.
The moment is here, he said to the two tall men who now joined him at his side. One of them was young and handsome; the other had a hard and resolute face.
Klaurus took a fistful of bone dust from his pocket and sprinkled it into the goblet, then sang a long and dark incantation, filling the night sky with his resonant voice.
When he was done, he commanded the goblet, Show us whom I sensed with my eyes closed; the one who will obstruct us. Show us where he lives and show us how he looks. Show us the one with the Narsirim.
The black surface rippled as if Klaurus had dropped a stone in it. When it settled, the face of a young man with long hair appeared in it, briefly. Around his neck was a black medallion with a silver spiral on it. Then the water rippled once more and revealed a lone hut atop a hill; great, snow-clad mountains behind it. The images shimmered, as though a projection of bits and pieces from ones memory, a faint one at best. But it was enough.
I should have known, snarled the young man.
We have time, Lord Darvon, said Klaurus. I can send the best of them and have the boy brought, or his head.
The man with the hard face nodded.
Alive is preferable, but not an absolute priority, said the young man.
Clouds shifted and darkness took the village again.
***
Tmak shivered in fear. His Master was meditating, kneeling down in the centre of the small cell, where the two of them had been imprisoned for centuries. Tmak knew what it meant. The Master was planning to challenge the strong, magical walls of the prison. A bad idea! The golden lock around the Masters neck would not let him draw enough power to defeat the walls. He would only manage to annoy them . In return, the walls would inflict pain upon them. Pain the worst part about being a Monfrit. Tmaks long and twisted ears lopped down in fear as he remembered how pain felt.
No. NO!
Tmak squirmed about restlessly, an alarm ringing in his head, telling him to do something. But what could he do? Even if there wasnt a lock placed around his own neck to block his power, he was neither strong enough to change an equation of this scale nor smart enough to think of something clever. He could only plead and beg. But pleading before the Master was out of question. Tmak knew he wouldnt give in now. Tmak could feel the Masters resolve through their bond. Now, there was only one thing Tmak could do. He could beg the walls to release them, so that his Master did not have to infuriate them with a fight. Yes, the walls were just as adamant as the Master, but it had been a long time since they had been imprisoned. What if he could convince the walls they had been punished enough?
Hmm.
Tmak stopped squirming and looked at a wall, hope gathering in his large eyes. He had begged the walls before, even if it was a long time back. It had not come to this in the last hundred years, but before that, he had done it whenever the Master had readied himself to challenge the walls. To no effect, of course. The walls had never responded to his pleas and the Master had lost every time. Tmak shuddered, his ears drooping lower as he remembered those times. After every battle the walls had inflicted punishing pain upon the Master and it had passed to Tmak through their bond. Imprisonment troubled him, but pain terrified him. During their centuries-old captivity, he had endured it many times. If he didnt act now, he would have to endure it once more.
He bounded ahead and knelt before a wall; his hands spread out like a seasoned beggar. Let us out, mighty great walls, he whined in his squeaky voice. We have been punished so much already. Just make a little hole somewhere; well fume out of it. Or drop the magical barrier; well just walk through. Masters getting mad again. And I also feel like grabbing a goat or a dog or
Tmak, you COWARD, the Master roared. Dont shame yourself, you disgraceful imp.
I am a Monfrit, Master. Not an imp.
Then act like one. Pain may not touch you, after all.
But we are bound, Master, Tmak whimpered.
I cant waste my power even to release you from the bond, Tmak, or I would have. I have borne great pain over the last hundred years to bank all this power for only one purpose. The Master closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them he seemed calmer. His voice was now soft, yet determined. I have saved it for today, Tmak. If there is more pain than I can bear, it will pass to you.
Master! cried Tmak.
Wish that I succeed, Tmak, said Master, rising.
Tmak looked at the tall and muscular form of his master and shrank, terrified.
The Master closed his eyes and clenched his fists, drawing in a long and deep breath. Unleash, he commanded and instantly power-plumes of various colours, like a thousand translucent serpents, emerged out of his body and started whirling around him, enveloping him like a tornado. Then, he completed the command. Go STRIKE my enemy!