NATURE (BOOK TWO OF THE WIZARD SERIES)

The wizard series starts with well……… what most people would call.. Normal. But that will change as you ride along. So embrace yourself. I choose to make him an antihero protagonist rather than a good Samaritan. Because good Samaritans are mythical creatures in most cases. The bastard is gonna make a bunch of mistakes and you are free to exclaim, laugh and curse the smart-ass jerk as you ride along through the streets of Lusaka. But don't take yourself or any of my characters in my word too seriously. Life is too short for that nonsense. And you as a reader will soon find yourself chuckling at things you probably shouldn't be laughing at. Call it his magic. So would you want to be the antihero wizard's partner as he befriends or battles; witches, serpents, the academy, snowmen, Costa Rican clown frogs, etc? ************** As they were sitting comfortably on the couches, they got alert and jumped to their feet when they heard a loud knock on the door. They exchanged thoughtful looks, then Mutale went to check who was at the door. “Who is it?” He shouted, but no one answered instead the person or whatever was knocked even louder. Mutale turned to look at the rest of them. Then Trevor gave him a nod. He touched the doorknob and opened it. Trevor’s family dog entered. And ran straight to Trevor. Mutale closed the door and followed the door behind. Willo was very dirty. Living its paw imprints wherever it stepped. And Loveness was cursing under her breath. Trevor squatted and noticed blood on Willo’s mouth. “Willo, what happened? Who did this? I promise I will dismember the bastard,” Trevor said angrily. Then I noticed something dangling in Willo’s mouth and he took it. He got up examining the thing closely. “Trevor, what is it?” Loveness asked. She wore a velvet blue dress. And white sandals. “This is a serpent’s skin,” he said. “A what?” Erup and Justine asked. “A snake. I expect this from Justine but you, Erup. Don’t you two learn anything from University?” Mutale spoke. “Dude, they don’t teach us about the different names of animals,” Erup spoke. Mutale opened his mouth to retort, but Trevor cut in. “Will you stop!” He snapped, “we have a serious matter at hand.” He squatted, “Willo, where did you find this?” Willo turned and stopped a few paces from them. “Trevor it’s a dog. Do you seriously expect it to talk?” Loveness spoke. Making sure to keep her tone in control. “Something bad is about to happen. And Willo is the only one who knows about it.” “But father....” Before Justine could even finish the sentence, Willo’s body began changing. The bones began popping loudly that even the baby in Loveness’s belly heard. But neither of them looked away. Then after a few minutes a black tall man. Whoa looked like he was in his forties, stood in front of them. He had short brownish hair. Black long beard with some gray in it, overall the bastard looked like he had not shaved in a while. “What the hell is going on? Who are you? And what did you do to Willo?” Trevor demanded. Motioning for everyone to move back, as he stepped closer to the man. “I’m Willo,” the man oozed. “What nonsense is this? Willo, no you are lying.” “I’m actually surprised that you find this unbelievable. Why do you think your parents brought me home? To keep your freaking ass safe. If you don’t believe me, read the later your parents left before they died. I’m sure you haven’t,” he added. “What later?” Trevor asked, puzzled. “You mean the later we found in their bedroom?” “Yes. Let’s hope you still have it?” “Yeah, it should be in my closet.” “Go and get it. In the meantime, I will wait here,” Willo moved and sat on the couch. “Er.... Mr. Not to sound rude or anything. But do you mid dressing up so your....... Doesn’t rub on the couch?” Justine spoke in the lowest voice he ever used. The man examined himself and realized he was naked. He quickly got clothing and wrapped it around him. “Let’s go. You can wear my clothes. And you can also help me find the latter,” Trevor said, and they headed upstairs. The rest sat down, and none of them spoke. After a couple of heartbeats, Trevor and the man came back. Trevor clutching a white paper in his fist. They all got to their feet as they noticed him. The man went straight and sat down. But got up again as he saw Trevor’s glare. “His story checks out. He is Willo. Apparently, the bastard can turn into a human. But that doesn’t mean I forgave you or anything. You and my parents still lied to me. First the library, then the bastard who was helping us, and now this. How many more secrets did they hide from me? I don’t know why they didn’t just tell me everything,” he sat down. “Can I speak?” Willo said. “They did it to protect you. If any of my kind knew I was helping wizards, then s**t will definitely get real. And with your enemies on your back. I’m sure one would have found out about me and inform my kind. So they hid it for that matter. And the library I’m sure they did it for a good reason.” Trevor didn’t respond. “And right now we have important matters to attend to,” Willo added. “What is so important that you have to reveal your true self to us?” Trevor asked, still furious. “I’m sure you know that this is a serpent’s skin,” Trevor nodded, “these bastards are in town. And as we know they are not friendly.” “Why should we get involved? They are not after us or anything. Are they?” Mutale said looking at Willo very attentively. “Sadly, they might be. And someone is kinda controlling them. Or leading them.” “So the serpents are not the only threat?” Trevor asked. “Yeah.” “And do you know who their boss is?” “No. I have been trying to find out for almost a month now.....” “Wait. You knew the danger was here, and you didn’t think it necessary to tell me?” Trevor snapped. “I needed to be sure. And at that time I wasn’t ready to reveal my human form.” “Willo, just leave before I do something I will probably regret later,” he turned back, “I said leave,” his veins starting to glow. “Willo, I would suggest you leave before he goes crazy,” Loveness said. Willo got up, “when you need me. I will be at my place,” he turned and left the house. Trevor went straight upstairs without saying anything to anyone. Loveness followed him behind. The boys just sat back on the couch. Just as puzzled as Trevor. But the poor man was more hate than them. Loveness entered the room and found Trevor pacing around, stamping his feet with every step he took. She went and sat down. Then cleared her throat before opening up, “Trevor, try to relax. I know this might be hard for you to take in. And that is why I didn’t say anything when you talked rudely to Willo. But you know your parents loved you.” She stopped, waiting for his reply. But she went on after a couple of minutes, “and don’t invent that anger on the boys. You have that habit. And instead of you acting like an Immature little girl, try to understand your parents. Just a quick reminder. We have serpents to deal with. I will be downstairs with the boys. You can come and join us after you resolve your issues,” she got up and left the room. He looked at the door and sat in the same spot she sat. In a way, she was right. If he had known about the library, Siobhan would have found Ryan’s soul soon, and things would have gone bad before he even discovered he had kids. And somehow his enemies would have found out about Willo and use that to their advantage. So I just had to do what the hell was correct. And that was to take down those serpents and kick their asses back where they came from. He stood and began pacing again. Apparently, he was having a hard time deciding. If he chose not to throw the serpents out of his town, then their boss will just kill more people to make him give in. And that was a path he intending not to follow. It took them almost a week to wipe the human’s memory after Ryan exposed himself to them. And after five years, that was not a path he was willing to take. It would be better if the humans stay out of this. He thought. He again sat down. Then after a couple of minutes got up and we downstairs. Everyone looked at him as he approached. “So,” he cleared his throat, “I have made my decision. I’m not going to allow those bastards to mess with my town. But first I have to check if Willo’s story checks out. I don’t fully trust that bastard, not after he lied to me for my entire life. And I’m not going to force you to join my fight. In fact, I prefer you stay out of it and concentrate on your school.” “We can help you with this fight. Just like we did five years ago. You don’t even have to ask,” Mutale said. “This is gonna be fun. I miss kicking some ass. I’m even becoming weak due to lack of training. School is really killing me,” Erup rubbed his hand mischievously. “Dude, you were never strong. I was actually the strongest,” Justine said. “Don’t start. I will call your uncle. In the meantime, I will be in the library and try to tress the serpents with the skin Willo brought. Where is it, by the way?” “Here, I knew you would need it,” Mutale handed the skin to Trevor. “And Loveness, stay far away from this as possible. I would actually suggest you go and leave in Anamaj for a while. Not until we deal with this. I don’t want to put our unborn baby in danger.” “I’m not going to leave you when you need me the most. And besides, I’m just five months pregnant,” Loveness argued. “Lov..........” “Trevor, we are not arguing about this. I’m not leaving and that is that.” “Alright, but in one condition.” “What?” she asked. “Don’t try to get too involved in this. And don’t leave the house. Those bastards are probably watching my house. So don’t leave this house. Do I make myself clear?” “Yes,” she responded. “Alright, now that, we settled it I will be in the library,” without waiting for anyone’s response he left. After an hour, Sebastian entered. He wore black, well-fitting blue jeans. A white shirt with sleeves rolled up. Sneakers and a matching eye patch. The boys told him Trevor was in the library. He walked through the dark passage wall and finally reached the library door. He touched the doorknob, took a long sigh, and finally pushed the door inwards. He looked around, then saw Trevor on a rather dirty table, flipping through the pages as fast as he could. He went over and sat down. “What the hell is the matter now? Why did you have to call me here?” “We have a big problem. Ok, more of my problem. Because those bastards are after me,” he added, and looked up at Sebastian. “Will, you be clear? What bastards are you talking about?” “Serpents.” “What?” “Serpents. Those bastards are killing people just to get to me. Someone has put a price on my head.” “Who might be that?” He asked, sounding more interested. “That is what I’m trying to find out.” “And who told you about this, anyway?” “From Willo. Can you believe that bastard can turn into a human?” “Wait, what? That Willo, your dog?” Sebastian asked. “Yes, man. Apparently, my parents hired the bastard to alert me when there is danger. And only knew about it today.” “This is crazy. But why did he not alert us about Ryan or Siobhan?” “I don’t know. Can we concentrate on finding the whereabouts of those serpents? We can talk about that topic later,” he took another book and began flipping the pages. “Yeah. So what are we looking for?” He moved closer to Trevor. “Look for anything related to the serpents it might lead us to their boss. In the meantime, I will try to track them with the skin he brought.” Trevor moved from the table and moved to a reasonable distance. He tried as many tracking spells as he could, but none of them worked. He kept flying in the air and hitting the bookshelves. Sebastian perused almost a hundred books, but still got nothing related to the serpents. And with each time worsted, those bastards killed as many people.