Soul of Magic (Soul of Magic Book 1)

ELEVEN

"Dammit!" Ghalador smacked his hand angrily against the stone wall as he saw the man leading the charge.

"Who's that?" asked Kyra, her eyes zoning in on the man too. Even from far away, the man was as intimidating as no man had the right to be, especially riding on his beast of a horse; the animal was almost the size of a hippopotamus. The man himself was also huge, the way he stared unfeelingly ahead lending an even greater support to the already ominous air surrounding him. He looked old, easily about sixty, sixty-five years of age. But ripe age aside, there was nothing rickety. He was strong, he was able, and he undoubtedly looked ready to tear all inhabitants of the castle to shreds.

"His name is Tristan," Ghalador said to Kyra, spitting out the name as if it was full of bile. “Tristan of Begermen.” Kyra had never heard of Tristan before; but Begermen was definitely not foreign to her.

She’d never actually been to the town but from the many things she’d learnt from history books and hearsays, she knew that Begermen was a small town, more like a settlement really, in the Barren lands, the harshest region in the realm. There wasn't really much of note about it; in fact, she could categorically state that there was none. The only reason why Begermen was even newsworthy was that it was a usual destination for the ne'er-do-wells of the world; an achievement made possible by the legendary acceptance of anyone who could show a modicum of skill in any unsavory arts by its infamous ferocious warlord ruler.

"Tristan’s the warlord of Begermen," Kyra realized with a gasp, Ghalador nodding affirmative to confirm her discovery. "But I don't understand," she continued. "How did Tristan get to know about this place when it's protected by magic?"

"The warlord has a number of wizards under his command," explained Ghalador. "He began the amassment when this hunt against magic got its peak, using the very thing that he knew we all wanted as a bargaining chip; protection. You swear your allegiance to him, he protects you in his mockery of a domain. There's a rumour that he wants to conquer the Barren lands and perhaps even the realm. The problem though is that his plan requires a lot of magical aid to come to life and so, his wizards led him here. He offered us a lot of money and protection for our help but I refused, we may be hunted in the world for no good reason but I’ll never sell my people into s*****y, especially not to a man like him. Judging from you see, I think you can imagine how well he took it."

Kyra sighed as she looked back at the army marching on them. Tristan wanted them dead and he wanted to enjoy every second of it. "So, what do we do now?" she asked.

"The only thing we can do in this situation, Kyra," Ghalador replied, touching her shoulder as he said it. "We fight."

***

"You can't seriously mean that I should leave!" Kyra shouted for the umpteenth time as she rushed after Ghalador, fuming with rage even though the latter didn't seem to be taking any note of it.

Ghalador had called all the wizards together immediately they got down from the wall, not mincing words as he told them exactly what was coming for them. He gave them a choice to either make a run for it, without it causing any blemish to their reputation, or stay back and fight the enemy. Most people choose to stay back and fight; which wasn’t a surprise really. Their home was about to be attacked by a monster who cared nothing for their lives, they would have to be realm’s greatest cowards if they sat back and watched it happen.

The young ones, the elderly, and the sick weren’t given a say in the matter. It was decided that they were going to be escorted out of the castle through a secret passage carved deeply into the hill which ended up in a valley very far away from the area. But much to Kyra's surprise though, she was also included in the escape group; a fact that she could neither understand nor fathom given that her very existence was supposed to be to help the wizards. And that was why she was far from pleased with Ghalador.

"You can't do this to me, Ghalador," she said to the seer again as he stopped to inspect the armoury, which wasn't much truth be told; the castle was originally built as a training ground, not a battle fortress. "I mean, you yourself said I'm the Soul of magic, the most powerful being on earth."

"But my dear Kyra, power takes practice," he returned, looking at her with eyes pleading for understanding. "And practice takes time. And time is what we do not have at the moment. Understand me, even if we all fall, you’re the one that must remain standing, till the very end. That’s the plan."

“What I don't understand is why I’m to leave with her," Lucian chimed in from the side; he had been fuming too since he learnt he has to escape with Kyra in order to 'protect' her. "Ghalador, you know I have more combat experience than all these people combined. You need me if we're going to have a shot at winning this battle."

"Yes Lucian, you're right. You are the best we have," replied Ghalador, touching the young man’s shoulder as he looked at him with pride. It was no secret that Ghalador saw Lucian as his own foster son. "That is why you have to be the one to undertake the responsibility of protecting the Soul of magic. The realm is a dangerous place, especially for people like us. She'll need all the help she can get and who better to provide it than you, our greatest warrior."

Both Kyra and Lucian gave a deep sigh in resignation; they understood that the seer hadn’t made the decision lightly. They had to respect it even if it wasn't what they wanted.

"But what about you?" Lucian asked in a last attempt to help. "Why can't you come with us? You're important to the world of magic too."

"I can't," he replied, his face sombre even as he was desperately trying to look brave; it was obvious that a part of the seer was afraid of what was coming. "We all have our roles in this campaign for our survival, Lucian. Yours is to leave this battle, mine is to face it. Besides, what kind of a leader will I be if I ran away while others defended my home for me?"

Suddenly, the shout of "Enemies at the gate!" resounded through the compound. Immediately, those in the escape group were led down to the tunnel to safety and the others rushed to assume their positions at the walls and gates. It was time and there was no turning back.

"It's time for each of us to play the part that we're destined for, my dears," said Ghalador, kissing the both of them on the forehead with a lot of love before preparing to take his leave. "May the spirits of our ancestors watch over you and keep you from all evil."

The seer didn't wait for their response as he turned and walked away, each step proclaiming the great wizard he was. But as Kyra and Lucian watched him go, they couldn't help but feel that he was going to die, and they were letting him.