Wizard Pair (Book 3) (43 page)
He reached into a small leather bag that hung at his waist and grasped a handful of the carefully prepared mixture. He scattered it on the floor in front of his feet, creating an arc of protection between himself and the traitor. "Capere persona qui venit adversantur me," he said commanding the potion to bind the one who came against him.
Smoke rose from the powder, thick and dark. It flared into a brilliant crimson flame, forming an impenetrable wall between them. Zhimosom could feel the heat of it on his face and hands as he poured his power into it.
"You have always trusted in your shields, but they won't help you now." The Wizard took a step towards the wall of fire and raised his hands, he inserted them into the flames and separated them, parting Zhimosom's barrier as if it were but a curtain of fine silk.
He stepped through.
Zhimosom shuffled back, retreating to put some distance between them once more.
The Wizard advanced and the battle commenced, each one throwing magic at the other. Spells were deftly caught, diverted, warded, but as the battle raged on, Zhimosom felt himself giving more ground than he'd wished. It was exhausting and he had only his own magic to draw upon, while his opponent had the stored magic of the Temple's many victims at his command.
"Just one more step," the Wizard said advancing on him.
Startled, Zhimosom stepped back. He felt a strange sensation rising from the floor beneath him and looked down. A hexagram with complex and powerful symbols inscribed in each vertex had been carefully drawn on the hardwood floor. He recognized the symbols as those meant to bind him and dampen his magical powers.
A brief flash of panic struck him before he calmed himself and quietly worked the magic that would counter the spell. It should have released him instantly, but something powered it that he had not expected.
He struggled against it, panic rising in him as it clenched around his body, immobilizing him. He grew angry, angry with himself for falling for such a simple trap, angry at his inability to defeat such a basic spell. He focused his rage, but it was no use. He was trapped.
"Tenent hostium ieiunium," the Wizard said, commanding the hexagram to freeze Zhimosom where he stood. The colors in the diagram spun, slowly at first, but gaining speed quickly. The diagram threw off sparks, as the red light wove its way around each of the outlying symbols.
"Eum ligare ubi stat," the Wizard continued, binding Zhimosom and his magic. The inner hexagram lit up with a deep violet light that chased around the perimeter sparking new life into each outlying symbol until the entire diagram was alive with the rushing light.
"Caperent eum ibi aeterno," the Wizard shouted, commanding the spell to trap Zhimosom for all eternity. He stepped back and laughed.
Zhimosom reached out to Rotiaqua. The connection was weak and tenuous. The spells were already sapping his strength. He had barely enough time to get a few words out. "Be careful. It's ..." He didn't get the chance to tell her the name of the traitor before the spell took hold and silenced the connection. Zhimosom cast his glance back at the traitorous Wizard.
The Wizard smiled as he took a seat at the table. "I could only have dreamed that you would show up right in the middle of my trap."
"Why are you doing this?" Zhimosom struggled to get the words out. The spell was growing stronger, dampening his will, draining his magic, and keeping him from speaking any words that might free him or weaken his prison.
"It should be obvious." The Wizard looked up at him. "All these years I've had to put up with your rules and your code of conduct. You're getting old, it's time you stepped down and let your successor take over.
"When I discovered that you were planning to hand your legacy over to a foundling, a mere boy, well, that was just too much to bear. I can ill afford a young new Wizard being set up to rule the Council." The Wizard paged through the large tome he'd been examining when Zhimosom arrived.
"I've had enough of your interfering ways," he shouted. He flipped through the pages of the book tearing one of them. He stood up and leaned over the desk towards Zhimosom, his face red and hot. "This cannot be allowed. The Wizards' Council needs a strong leader, not a doddering old fool or an ignorant young boy."
The Wizard smoothed out the page he'd ripped. "No, I'm not going to lose my temper. This must be done calmly and with proper forethought." He stood, pushing his chair back, reached down, picked up his pack, and slung it over his shoulder. He grasped his staff and strode around the table to confront Zhimosom.
"You should be safe here for a while. If you don't mind, I will leave you alone with your regrets. I have a Priest to see."
The Wizard headed out of his study without looking back.
About the Author
James Eggebeen is a serial masochist repeatedly taking high tech companies through the growing pains of converting from a garage shop into a sustainable and profitable mature business.
He learned the value of hard work after being raised on a farm in Wisconsin where he learned auto mechanics from his saintly grandfather who patiently tolerated him and his siblings always under foot. His most frequent comment growing up was “Why did you people settle here when there are much warmer places to live?”
He confounded his teachers and most grown-ups at a young age writing incredibly powerful algorithms for phenomenally underpowered computers at the dawn of the computer age. This is a skill he has employed throughout his professional career and still takes great pride in (the confounding part mostly).
At 17years of age he made a deal with the US Navy to “Teach me about airplanes and computers. Take me anywhere it does not snow and I’m all yours.” They kept the bargain and started him on a world traveling adventure that has continued far beyond his six-year enlistment.
He has continued his world traveling adventures as a businessman, frequently logging one fourth of his time out of the country. He feels as comfortable abroad as he does at home and has developed an appreciation for a wide range of cultures and cuisines.
He settled in Southern California after his service was complete and studied Engineering, Business and Finance at night while working at a series of start-up firms by day. He claims that growing up on the farm and the Navy have ruined his ability to sleep late and habitually gets up well before the sane portion of population starts their day.
He wrote many technical articles with such titles as ‘Gamma Ferric Oxide is it really safe for the long haul?’ He was cited in the Time Life Books on Computers as an expert in magnetic storage. He has a portfolio of patents for esoteric technology that only a handful of people really understand and hardly anyone really cares about.
He started writing fiction as an assignment for his last required course in his undergraduate degree. He wrote short stories for several years as part of an internet based writing and critique group before the internet was cool and email spam had been invented.
He still lives in Southern California with his wife of twenty-five years who puts up with all his bizarre habits and unusual hours, where he has a better computer infrastructure at home than most small
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