Nnarndam, Liara-Star, Juline and Telmane were in one tower, discussing travel plans to the Northern Outpost.
Fandri, his fairy and Varl were in Wizard Nnald’s chambers in the other tower, passing time with the eccentric old wizard. Nnald was explaining to them the difference between a wizard and a mage among his Nnanelli people. “A wizard has one or two powers and a mage has three or more. There are five magical powers, although no wizard has ever been known to have all five. Having three powers makes you very strong and you can live indefinitely. My two powers of air and shape-shifting have allowed me to live a long life, but I do fear that age is creeping up on me now. Not like our Grand Mage Nnarndam, who appears as spritely as ever, the lucky imp.”
The wizard gave a resigned sigh.
“Your Wizardship, how long will it take us to cross the desert?” Fandri-La curtsied mid-air.
“Ah, my little magical friend, if I know the elven queen, she will find a way to expedite the long trek north. The biting sand would be bad for her ivory complexion. By the way, I prefer to be called Fitzwinkle as opposed to Your Wizardship.” There was a twinkle of amusement in his cloudy blue eyes as he squinted at the companions.
“Can you come with us, Sir Fitzwinkle? With all the crazy adventures we’ve been having, we sure could use another magic user.” Fandri was not sure whether to be excited or daunted about continuing their journey. He sighed at the thought of his hometown and wished there were some way to return to his beautiful, Emina.
The wizard seemed to read his thoughts and patted the halfling on the shoulder, almost stumbling over in the process. Fandri caught him just in time.
“I’m not as young as I used to be, boy. Here, help an old fellow back to his chair.”
With a bit of shuffling to and fro, the small halfling steered the stooped wizard towards his chair and was almost pulled into it with him.
“Careful there.” The youngster panted.
“I’ll be well lad, but you can see that I wouldn’t last on a long journey. Besides, someone needs to keep the Elven Shield in place. The junior elf over in the west has been struggling while the prince was travelling. It’s fortunate Celdar-Moon is returning now, for the Vergai wait, ready to exploit any weakness in our defences.”
“Now, young people, you should retire to bed, for there will be an early start tomorrow.”