The Sorcerer's Game

14. Meeting

"We do not want you to fight Zuko." Micheal shook his head at once. "We want you to kill him."

Azriel had been sitting comfortably on his chair, waiting for the man to state his purpose. The moment he heard what the old man wanted from him, Azriel pushed himself forward in shock. His eyes widened in disbelief and he gave an incredulous look.

"Mr. Glenn, you are joking, right? This is not true." 

"Not at all. After watching you kill Hellion, I am more or less sure that it is you the prophecy was talking about. You are the one who will free us from the monster and end this war." Micheal's eyes gleamed in delight and Azriel, for a minute, wondered if he had gone crazy. He looked nothing less the crazy scientists the movies showed about.

"Mr. Glenn, I killing Hellion was a coincidence. You are mistaken about it." Azriel denied without giving the man any chance to object.

"Fine, I will take it to be a coincidence for the time being. But it does not deny that you are not one of us. You will have to fight the war, whether you are destined to kill Zuko or not." Now, Azriel had no words to refute. If what he said was the truth and if he was special as the man claimed him to be, then he had no choice. Maybe he did, but he did not know what they were.

"Take your time to think about this, about everything, Azriel. You still need to go training first. You have time until then." Micheal stood up and Azriel followed suit immediately. "You must be hungry by now. Let me take you to the dining hall." Right at this moment, Azriel's stomach rumbled and he gave an embarrassed look, making Micheal laugh lightly.

"Aperto," Micheal mumbled again and the door opened, startling Azriel by the sudden sound. Although he had seen this before, he was still stunned by what had happened again. He now realized why the door did not have a handle for it did not need one.

"Azriel, once you finish eating, I will ask Dhara to give you a tour of the place," Micheal stated and Azriel nodded absent-mindedly. He was looking around him in wonder. The place had a gothic style of architecture and Azriel suddenly had a feeling that he had entered the Hogwarts school. Although everything looked different, it looked similar at the same time. There was an uncanny resemblance between Hogwarts depicted in the movie to the place he was in.

Azriel kept following the man until reached the dining hall. His thoughts snapped when he heard people's voices around him. He looked at them only to find them staring at him curiously. All he saw was them lifting their heads at the man in front of him questioningly only to find him nodding at him in return. He had no idea what silent conversation was taking place between them. But he was sure that he was the topic.

Azriel led the small dining table that had only two chairs and gestured for him to sit. "It is not time of lunch yet. So, the dining hall is empty. In two hours, the place will be filled and you will be able to meet everyone who stays here." Azriel nodded curtly, not knowing what else to say. 

"Please wait here. Let me get you some food." Micheal offered and was just about to leave when Azriel stopped him.

"No, no, Mr. Glenn, please tell me where I can find the food. I will serve the food myself. Please don't take the trouble."

"Azriel," Micheal let out a helpless chuckle. "The head cook here is short-tempered and if you were to go to her to ask for food before it is time for lunch or dinner, she might lash out at you. But don't worry, she is a sweet woman. Her anger vanishes as quickly as it makes its appearance. She will eventually give you food. But I do not want you to taste her anger on your first day itself."

Azriel too did not want any more drama for the day and he allowed the man to do as he wanted. However, the moment the man left the hall, he regretted not accompanying him to the kitchen. At the once, the people he had seen before surrounded him and the oldest among them even sat on the empty chair in front of him. 

"You must be Azriel Ryker." The man started and Azriel was surprised that the group knew his name. He was sure that nobody knew about him, not yet at least.

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Ohh, we were informed of your arrival." The man answered nonchalantly. He then ran his hand through his luscious black hair before he gave him a gummy smile. From his looks, Azriel deduced him to be older than him by two or three years.

"Who informed you?" He gave a blank look. As far as he remembered, all the people who knew about him were with him all the time, except for the medic. 'Ohh, she must have told everyone about me.'

"The moment you landed on Tethoris, we heard about your arrival. This is what happens when a new member lands on Tethoris. Everybody in Tethoris will learn who he is immediately. By the way, I am Julian Acre and these are my friends..."

Azriel did not say a word the man had said after he finished introducing himself. He was now worried about himself. If his arrival had been announced the way Julian said it to be, then he wondered if Zuko too had heard about it. He was now scared for his life and he did not know what to do. He stared ahead at Julian and licked his lips lightly.

"Does everyone in Tethoris know about my arrival?"

"Yes," Julian gave him a skeptical look. "Why are you asking about it?"

"How does it happen? Will there be an announcement made or..."

"Ahh, no, no. This place has a meeting hall where there a board that indicates the arrival of a new member. That is how we know about you."

"Ahh, I see." Azriel was now relieved and he sighed deeply. For a moment, he had been scared to think that even Zuko had learned about him.