Needle In The Hay

“Lord Vexus, we have a problem. It appears farmers on the outskirts are going missing. Every night one or two people disappear.” A messenger knelt before his king to deliver the news.

Vexus thought on the matter for a moment. “Inform the Maleficus of this development. give them my orders to use The Sight.” He reached for a scroll and wrote his verdict on it. Closing the scroll, he enchanted it to not open and passed it to the messenger.

The messenger raised himself and bowed, before running out of the building. “More problems. What has been happening recently? The soldier last year enticing the centaurs, the vampires last week, and now this. I sense something terrible on the horizon, and I pray to Nergal that all of this ends well.”

A rather large tower stood near Castle Desmond. The entrance to the tower had the letter “O. P. M.” carved above it, standing for: Omnia Potens Maleficus, or All Powerful Wizards. The name was an idea of Desmond, to signify the sages residing in Illiu. The messenger walked up to the doors and held the scroll before him. After a moment they opened wide and a woman in a robe floated out towards him. “Orders from the King, sir. He wishes for you to examine the outskirts to attempt to find where the missing farmers are going.”

The scroll floated from the messenger’s hands and the robed figure floated back inside with the scroll. A sharp “Thank you.” was heard as the doors closed, and the messenger knew he was dismissed.

“Mearl, Orders from King Vexus.” The cloaked figure said as they floated into a large circular room. The room seemed larger than physically possible due to the size on the outside, but that is what magic is for.

“The pretend mage? What does he want of us now?” Mearl took the scroll and broke the spell on it with nothing but a thought. He read over the orders and scoffed. “The Sight? On lowly disappearances? Does he take us for simple show magicians? We are Sages, wisest of any mage, knowledgeable in every magic there is to know. He wants us to waste our time and talent on this? One day, that man will get what is coming to him. On that day I pray his son is smart enough to utilize us to our full potential.” Mearl burned the scroll with another thought, and began meditating.

“I don’t understand your qualms with the King. He is kind and intelligent. He seeks only for the betterment of his people, which includes us. Mind you, any knew tomes or ancient knowledge he comes across is gifted to us. We get access to every bit of knowledge that comes through Illiu, unlike with his father who shunned us from most matters excluding those that required our attention.” The witch took a spot meditating next to Mearl. “His only downfall is his lack of combat skill compared to the other kings. Any of us could take him out.” This part was sent telepathically to Mearl, getting him a snort.

“Yes, and as such we should remove him from power.” Mearl responded through the mental link they shared.

“Keep going on with your crazy thoughts, Mearl. We have work to do, though.” She looked using her magic around Illiu to find anything out of the ordinary. It wasn’t until late at night that she finally found something. A shift in the earth outside one of the abandoned barns. Looking closer she saw a figure leap away, leaving what seemed to be a trap door open behind him. “Suspicious activity in quadrat 36e.”

Mearl made no notion of care for what his companion had just said, though he did shift his gaze in that direction. He saw the figure running across the field at inhuman speeds. “That must be our culprit. We should report to ‘Our Leader’. Come, Ni’el, we must prepare the report.”

Ni’el could feel the disdain for their King through the bond they shared, and she sighed. She couldn’t stop him from having his own feelings, but she also didn’t want him to hate such a fair leader. “Yes, sir.” She began to actually walk behind her master. “Master, excuse me for asking, but how many levels of The Sight are there? I know it gets easier to use, so I assume it gets more efficient as well?”

“As the first spell you learn here, it is said to be a mark of your progress as you advance further. At your level, you know it well enough to project your own vision over an area from the sky. If you were, say, at our leader Mallun’s level; the rumours say he can see everything going on in Illius at any given time.”

Ni’el hung her head while she spoke out loud. “Wow.” She began. “I’ve been here for my whole life. I’ll never get remotely close to his level.” She stopped walking as they had arrived at the door to the room they were looking for.

“With an attitude like that you most certainly will not. Magic isn’t just about training. Magic is about wisdom and intelligence. But more so than that, you need to believe in it. Knowing how a spell works may help you understand how to cast it, but believing that you’ll be able to is important as well.” Mearl waved his hand across the door and it disappeared. “In order to gain entrance to this place, what was necessary?”

Ni’el thought back for a moment. “I don’t recall doing anything. I just opened the door and walked in.” She didn’t know where this was going.

“You didn’t just open the door. The little child Ni’el who wandered up to our tower was able to break the lock we had. She believed she could be a mage, she trusted her magic would not fail her, and she gained access. You’re the only mage who has joined in such a manner.” The look Mearl was giving her was genuine and kind. It was a look Ni’el seldom saw, as he remained neutral throughout most of the time she had been under his tutelage. “The same can go for life as well. You need to believe you can do something before you can actually do it. Now come, you have a report to conjure up.” Ni’el smiled at her master, and began creating a map to where she saw the mysterious figure.