CHAPTER ELEVEN
At almost the same moment the twins were before the Dwarf council, General Traug was approaching Maget Tower. The large wall was in view and of course so was the Tower itself. The Tower was the one place he hated going. The building was not too spectacular, completely black, but the feeling one got once inside was quite ominous. All of those Magima present, unnerved him. There was also the ‘impenetrable wall’, which surrounded the entire area, and all he knew about the wall was anyone who tried to enter that way, died a rather horrible death. Shaking the thought from his head, he recalled the events of late.
It had been almost a week since he put King Jeremy under house arrest and Klayhern under martial law. It was something he still regretted doing. The king had been his friend for a long time. The realization he did not really know Jeremy at all perplexed him. Olrond also wondered how it was that so many people who possessed magic could go undetected. Lakin must have sensed it, he could detect even the minor workings of wizards and yet Gillock had eluded him. Something was not right with this whole situation and that bothered him. He was brought out of his reverie by the sound of the main gate opening in front of him. One of the guards informed him that as soon as he had freshened up he was to see Lakin. He nodded his acknowledgement and headed for his quarters. As he passed by the Tower, it suddenly became quite menacing. He decided a meal and a quick bath was in order. Maybe that would help his thoughts to clear.
Lakin watched as the general slowed his pace near the Tower. He could tell by his movements the man was intimidated by it, and this amused him. Of course, that was the point to its construction. It was supposed to appear menacing, which made it easier to dominate all who entered the grounds. The look on Olrond’s face, however, was something he did not like. His expression showed his mind was bristling with questions. With everything happening, the last thing he needed was the general challenging anything. Moving away from the window, he figured the general would take his time coming to see him so he decided to go to the lower levels to see how things were progressing.
Lakin loved moving through the tower. Nothing pleased him more than to feel the magical properties the Tower possessed. Housed here were close to one hundred magic users,
not that anyone knew this. Lakin had been building his army for the last sixteen years. The general knew the Magima possessed magic, but Lakin made sure he only ever saw no more than fifteen of them throughout the tower. After seeing the look on Olrond’s face, Lakin knew it was time the general found out the truth. Malena would not be happy, of course, but he did not care. Soon, he would be sending for Brin. Once she was under his control, he would not need that old witch anymore.
As he crept through the secret door, leading to the lower levels, a smile crossed his face. It was going to be interesting to see how the good general would react to what he was going to be shown. Lakin approached the door he was looking for, and hesitated. It had been many years since Lakin had looked in on this captive, and wasn't certain how he would be received. Slowly, he opened the door.
Lakin had forgotten just how large this room was. Magically done, of course, otherwise outsiders might wonder why the Order needed such a large room. It was magically sealed as well; it needed to be to hold a dragon. Lakin slowly moved inside, spotting the creature against the far wall. It appeared to be sleeping, but Lakin knew better.
“It has been a long time my friend,” stated Lakin.
The dragon opened its eyes, and stared at Lakin, deep purple eyes seething with hatred. “You do not know the meaning of friend, Lakin dragon slayer,” came the reply.
It took a moment for Lakin to compose himself. He had forgotten, as well, the effects a dragon’s booming voice could have on a person. “Do you know where your mate is?” asked Lakin.
The dragon ignored the wizard and closed his eyes as if to go back to sleep.
“The prophecy is about to be fulfilled,” continued Lakin. “Soon, magic will be returned and my abilities will be restored to their full power. I will find her, and she will also become my captive.”
The dragon snapped its head around, meaning to devour the wizard. Lakin had been expecting this attack and had erected an invisible protection wall. The dragon’s head bounced off it, not coming anywhere near its mark.
“You will not win. Even if you find her, we will not give you what you desire,” the dragon growled.
Lakin just stared at the dragon. The sheer beauty of the beast always overwhelmed him. His dragon had been a black, like his heart, this one was blue.
“Your mate will be found and will be my captive as well,” he stated again, and this time he saw fear in the dragon’s eyes. He smiled, thinking the beast was finally being broken, but he had one more card to play. “Gillock lives as well.”
This news caused the dragon to sit up straight and glare at the wizard. “You lie,” it hissed.
Lakin knew he would not believe him, so he had already begun casting a spell. A mist appeared and started to swirl. The dragon was stunned when Gillock’s face appeared in the centre. “It cannot be,” the bewildered beast whispered.
“But it is,” Lakin replied. “All this time he has been alive, and not once did he come to rescue you.” As soon as he spoke the words, Lakin knew he had made an error. The dragon reared and spewed forth his breath. The room was designed to stop dragon’s breath from doing any harm, but it took a moment for the magic to dispel its fire. That moment was enough to burn someone where they stood, but Lakin’s shield spell was still in effect. The dragon howled when he saw his mark unharmed. Lakin decided to take his leave, and without another word, left the dragon.
Although he had been in the lower levels for over an hour, the time delay spell made it so he had only been gone for a few moments. Lakin knew Traug would not be much longer. He could tell by the look on his face earlier that the general had many questions to ask him and figured although Olrond did not want to come and see him, his curiosity would get the better of him. Olrond was not the first general to question things after a time, and Lakin was hoping his reaction would be different from his predecessor. The last thing he needed right now was to have to promote a new general. He walked to the front hallway, and informed the two Magima positioned there to escort the general to his sitting room as soon as he arrived. Not waiting for a response, he went straight to the room to prepare. If things did not go well, Olrond Traug will cease to exist and that type of spell takes a bit of time to prepare.
Olrond tried to take a bath, but was too preoccupied to let its relaxing effect happen. Sighing quite resoundingly, he got out of the tub. He had wanted to take his time, but had too many questions which needed answers. Slowly, he got dressed and headed over to the tower. It still had an unnerving effect on the general, but he brushed it aside. Too many questions. The moment he was through the front door, the two Magima posted their told him where he was to meet Lakin, and escorted him. Normally, this would not bother Olrond, he was quite used to Lakin’s eccentricities, but with all his questions, it felt a little odd. The Magima opened the door for him, and motioned him to go inside, closing the door behind him. He noticed
Lakin off to the side, sitting behind his odd-looking desk.
“We need to talk,” he said, motioning the general to take the seat across from him.
“Yes we do,” answered Olrond as he sat.
Lakin stared at Olrond, as if trying to read his thoughts. After a few moments of silence, Lakin spoke. “You are wondering how it is I let so many who possessed magic go unpunished,” he stated, surprising the general.
“It’s odd that so many went undetected for so long,” Olrond responded after a composing himself.
“I need to show you something. It will help you understand a great many things. Will you come with me?” asked Lakin.
The question surprised Olrond, and a feeling of trepidation came over him. He had a feeling that saying no could result in a horrible consequence. “Of course I will go with you,” he re
sponded, unsure if it was the right answer.
Lakin smiled. “Then follow me.”
Lakin led the general out of the sitting room and down to the main hall. They moved across the hall to the far wall, where Lakin said something, and a secret doorway opened up. The feeling of trepidation grew stronger, but Traug knew he had to follow. Somehow, he knew all his answers would be found through that door. Down he followed Lakin, and he could sense the magic within the walls. Traug had no idea how far down they were going and thought the stairs would never end. They came into a hallway, which had many doors. “This is the housing floor,” stated Lakin, his voice reverberating off the walls. “There are around one hundred Magima here.” Lakin paused and looked at the general for a reaction. “We will discuss their importance soon,” he said when the general offered no visible reaction and continued to the end of the hall. They went down another flight of stairs, which went on and came upon another hallway. This one only had four doors. Lakin stopped in front of the first door and stared at Olrond.
“What you see in these rooms will leave you with more questions. We will discuss everything when I’m done showing you what I feel you need to see.”
Olrond just stared back. He had no idea what was going on but felt any type of negative reaction would be hazardous to his well-being.
Lakin muttered a few words and then pushed open the door. When the general moved inside, he almost fainted. The room was full of small creatures flitting about. “They are fairies,” came Lakin’s voice, as if anticipating the general’s next question.
“Why are they here?” asked Olrond, his voice almost a whisper.
“They supply these chambers with the magic we need to sustain them. They are not the only creatures of magic here,” Lakin stated.
Olrond just stared at the creatures. Their faces were so sad and the general was overwhelmed with grief. Lakin, knowing the fairies would have this effect on him, pulled the crying Olrond out of the room, and shut the door. It took a few moments for the him to regain his composure. “What wonders are next?” he asked Lakin.
Lakin moved them to the next room. “Inside here is a prisoner.”
Olrond almost laughed. It was as if Lakin was implying the fairies were here of their own free will.
Lakin, oblivious to the general’s state of mind, continued. “He was captured about seventy-five years ago in a raid just outside the Cyprian Forest. He is very uncooperative and is tricky. Do not listen to anything he has to say.”
Again, Lakin muttered a few words and opened the door. The room was small and not very well lit. On the far side of the room, Olrond could make out the form of a creature chained to the wall. “You may move closer,” came Lakin’s voice from his side. Olrond felt compelled to move closer and was stunned to see the being was an elf.
“He was the king of the elves,” stated Lakin, emphasizing 'was'. “His name is Glomain.”
Still Olrond just stared. The elf hung there, hatred filled his eyes, but he did not speak.
Olrond wanted to yell at Lakin for his treasonous ways, but thought against it. Suddenly, his promotion made sense. Olrond had been young and somewhat inexperienced, but the general he had replaced had vanished without a trace so he was picked to fill the position. Olrond now knew if his true feelings about all this were to come out, he would not survive the encounter. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself. “I am assuming that having these creatures here is of some importance?” he questioned.
Lakin smiled. “Yes, it is very important.” Turning to leave the room, he said, “I just have one more room for you to see, then we can leave and discuss everything.”
Olrond just nodded, afraid he might say something wrong, and followed Lakin to another room. This time, when the door opened, it was into an enormous cavern. Lakin moved the general inside, slowly, and Olrond wondered what could be housed in this room. It was only a moment before he saw what was in the room. The dragon opened its eyes, and glared at the two. Olrond was frozen with fear at the sight of the creature. Having never seen one, Olrond did not know how he was to react. “It's beautiful,” he exclaimed without thinking. As soon as the words left his mouth, he turned to see Lakin’s reaction and was amazed to see he was smiling.
“Yes, he is a magnificent creature.” Then he turned to face the general. “We must be going now. We have much to discuss.”
Olrond backed out of the room, not wanting to turn his back on the creature for fear it might melt him on the spot. Lakin led him back up the stairs and into his sitting room again. Olrond could hardly believe what he had just seen, and could only stare at Lakin, hoping for some kind of answers.
Lakin sat down and sighed, wondering where to begin. “I have known they were the twins since their birth,” he started. “For sixteen years I have been training Magima. The entire room has an enchantment on it. One hour above is a day below. That is how we came to have so many Magima. They are all very powerful magic users.” He paused, looking at Olrond. His face was that of a man who had just been slapped. “Not everyone whom has been brought here within the last thirty years has been executed; some went down below to be trained. People have lived full lives, had children and grandchildren in the time you have been alive. It was all for the sake of the prophecy.”
There it was; the prophecy. Olrond knew somehow it would play an important role, but was not sure how.
“And now it is upon us,” Lakin continued. “We must let it be fulfilled.”
Those words stunned Olrond, but he remained composed. “I thought we were stopping it at all costs.”
Lakin leaned forward on his desk. “No, it was always to be fulfilled. We just have to make sure it is done with only one of the twins, not both. Both would bring the end to our Order, one fulfilling it will make us stronger.”
Olrond was not sure how to respond. The fierceness in Lakin’s voice frightened him, but he knew he had no choice but to go along with everything. “What do we need to do?”
Lakin sat back, happy that he would not have to kill the general. “We will discuss that tomorrow. It's getting late; we should both get some sleep.”
Olrond stood, and many more questions plagued his mind. “We will discuss everything tomorrow?” he asked.
“Yes, I will answer any questions you have.”
Lakin led the General from his study and to the front hall. Traug said his farewell and opened the door, but just outside the door, was a figure. Brin moved into the light. “I have come to turn myself in,” she announced to a stunned Lakin and General Traug.