2 July 2012
A gust of wind blows the door
open. All faces in the tavern turn to look at the figure standing in the
doorway while the storm gathers pace outside. It’s a black night and the moon
has decided to stay away tonight.
Slowly
the drenched figure crosses the threshold out of the rain and into the small,
dimly lit, crowded room. The door mysteriously closes behind the stranger,
seemingly of its own accord.
With
everyone still watching, the figure releases a slender hand from beneath their
cloak and raises it above their head. The middle finger and thumb are poised
and ready for 3...2...1...SNAP.
As
a bolt of lightning strikes the figure clicks their fingers and is instantly
dry. Those still watching closely will have noticed the stranger is wearing a
dark purple robe.
Murmurs
are heard as people resume their conversations, deliberately avoiding the
stranger.
Still
hooded the stranger scans the room and fixes their gaze on a doorway at the far
end of the bar. Starting towards the door, the crowd parts to let the stranger
through, reforming in their wake. Only one set of beady eyes is still following
the stranger’s progress at this point. All others know better.
As
the stranger approaches the doorway, it opens to reveal an empty room beyond. A
round, wooden table sits in the center of the small room with a large black
candle on top, creating the only light source. Two chairs have been placed
opposite each other at the table.
Cautiously,
the lone figure enters the room and closes the door behind them, scanning the
walls as they go. The room appears to be empty, but the stranger can sense a
presence nearby.
A
small metallic object hurtles through the air towards the stranger.
‘Shield,’
says the stranger in a deep masculine voice, raising their right hand in front
of them for protection.
The
metallic object bounces off an invisible barrier, millimeters from the
strangers hand and falls to the ground. The stranger, still hooded, looks down
to see a small dagger lying on the floor in front of them.
‘Impressive,’
says a voice from the shadows. ‘I always wanted to test myself against a magician.’
‘I
didn’t ask for a meeting just so you could satisfy your curiosity Duke,’ says
the magician, lowering their hand. There is an edge to their voice.
‘No,
I suppose you didn’t,’ replies Duke stepping out of a shadow at the far end of
the room. ‘Please, sit down,’ he says, gesturing to the chair on his right.
The
magician slowly walks over and sits down, noting that Duke, though small in
stature, has a hidden strength.
‘Do
you have the item I requested?’ asks the magician.
‘Patience…
We’ve only just met. How about a little chat first?’ replies Duke.
‘I
don’t have time for pleasantries. Just give me what I came for and we can both
be on our way.’
‘It
doesn’t work like that, I’m afraid. You see, I have what you want and I’m not
parting with it until you tell me what I want to know.’
‘And
if I don’t? What will you do then? You
can’t kill me. You’ve already tried, remember?’
‘Maybe
not, but I still have some tricks up my sleeve,’ Duke says giving a meaningful
look towards the door. ‘You may be a magician, but I’m a hunter. I never do
anything without being prepared for all… eventualities.’
‘Meaning?’
curiosity getting the better of the magician.
‘Meaning,
I’m not alone.’
‘And
why should that concern me, thief?’
‘Because,
I have someone with me who is immune to all magicians’ powers. I believe you
will have heard of them. I’m sure the subject is familiar to all magicians.’
The
magician feels an inkling of panic begin to rise within them, but pushes it
away. Carefully considering what to do next the magician says, ‘Okay, what is
it you want to know?’
Pleased
with himself, Duke lets a grin loose across his face. ‘Let’s start with your
name,’ he says.
The
magician can hear the triumph in the thief’s voice, but is concentrating on
retrieving the package and escaping without getting into a fight. Not the
easiest thing in the world when you consider there’s someone in the next room
who could potentially be deadly.
‘I
cannot answer that question,’ replies the magician after some consideration.
‘And
why is that? Are you afraid I’m going to tell all your magician buddies about you?’
‘Wouldn’t
you be if you were in my position?’
‘Ah,
I see. So you’re here without their knowledge. That means they don’t know what
you’re up to. Am I close?’ says Duke, a twinkle in his eyes.
‘I
wouldn’t say that at all,’ says the magician calmly.
‘Then
what would you say?’ asks Duke.
‘I
would say… I’m here with the best interests of all magicians at heart,’ says
the magician cautiously.
‘So…
they have no idea what you’re doing, and you’re hoping to keep it that way. Am
I close?’ asks Duke, knowing that he is. No magician in their right mind would
do what this one is doing, especially when they’re expecting a war to break out
at any time.
‘I
think you’ve asked enough questions Duke. Just give me what I came for and we
can both get on with what we were doing.’ The hooded figure rises from their
seat, towering over the seated dwarf.
‘Fine,’
says Duke also rising in a less impressive manner. ‘If you want to play it that
way…’
The
door behind the magician bursts open and a gladiator steps into the room, sword
poised, ready to strike.
‘Brian?’
says the stunned magician. The use of his name stops the gladiator momentarily.
‘Do
I know you?’ he asks, confused as to what to do.
‘Who
cares if he knows you,’ cries Duke, ‘ATTACK!’
‘What
the hell are you doing here?’ demands the magician, ignoring Duke.
‘Who
are you?’ asks Brian, stunned by the magician’s tone.
Behind
the magician, Duke can be seen flailing about trying to attack, but being held
back by an unseen force.
‘It’s
me…’ the magician lowers their hood revealing a soft female face contorted in
rage.
‘Brianna?’
Brian drops his sword. ‘What are you doing here? Mum’s going to kill you when she finds out.’
‘Oh,
and she won’t kill you for moonlighting as a gladiator?’
‘What
is going on here?’ screams Duke still trying to attack Brianna without success.
‘Sorry
Duke, but I’m going to need to sit this one out,’ says Brian turning to his
boss.
‘What?’
A stunned Duke stops his attack and sits back down to get his breath back.
‘I
can’t threaten my sister,’ explains Brian. ‘I hope you understand.’
‘What?’
is all Duke can say.
‘Sorry
sis. If I’d known it was you, I’d never have taken the job.’ Brian gives his
sister an apologetic look. ‘And you might want to get rid of the masculine
voice too. It’s kind of starting to creep me out.’
‘Oh.
I forgot,’ says Brianna caressing her throat with her hand. ‘That’s better,’
she says in her normal voice.
Duke
can be heard mumbling to himself behind the siblings. ‘Sister?’ and ‘Should
have known’ are all the siblings make out before walking out the room and
leaving the dwarf to collect his thoughts.
‘What
are you doing here?’ asks Brian as they sit down at the bar.
‘It’s
kind of personal.’
‘Since
when is anything personal from me, Brianna?’ asks Brian. ‘After all… We are
twins. You know you can tell me anything.’
‘I
know, but…’
‘But
what?’ asks Brian. ‘Just because I wasn’t born with your powers doesn’t mean I
won’t understand what you’re going through.’
‘I
know, but it’s all just so confused and I don’t know what to do anymore.’
‘Well…
Maybe if you talk about it, I might be able to help you,’ says Brian. ‘I know
you’re not meant to talk about your powers and what the magicians are doing,
but can’t you make this one exception?’
Brianna
looks around the tavern for a few minutes as she ponders her brother’s offer.
As her eyes scan the room she notices people quickly looking away from her. Chewing
her bottom lip, she makes her decision.
‘Privacy,’
she whispers while drawing a circle on the bar with her finger.
‘What
did you just do?’ asks Brian. He has noticed that even though the people in the
tavern are still talking, he can’t hear anything.
‘I
cast a privacy spell,’ explains Brianna. ‘It means that we are now in a bubble
where we can speak freely without any danger of being overheard.’
‘Oh,’
says Brian. ‘I didn’t know you could do that.’
‘You’re
not meant to,’ says Brianna. ‘You’re not meant to know anything about what
powers we have. How we can influence things around us. That’s the way it’s been
for thousands of years.’
‘So
what’s going on?’ asks Brian.
‘I’m
in trouble, Brian,’ starts Brianna. ‘I found out that the magician elders have
been keeping a dark secret from everyone. Even from other magicians.’
‘What
kind of secret?’ Brian is enthralled.
‘If
I tell you, you have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone else.’ Brianna
gives her brother a stern look.
‘I
promise.’ Brian crosses his heart with his fingers.
‘Do
you remember when I was about to graduate from university and I almost missed
the ceremony?’ she asks her brother while twirling a strand of her long brown
hair.
‘Yes.
You were gone for ages. No one could find you anywhere.’
‘That’s
because I was hiding in the elders’ chamber waiting for them to leave so I
could sneak out.’
‘What
were you doing in there?’ Brian is mortified.
‘I
was trying to get away from Eric. You remember Eric? Tall, skinny guy with
albino eyes? Anyway, he’d been looking for me all day to ask me to the
graduation dinner. When I saw him waiting for me in the hall I quickly ducked
into the elders’ chamber until he decided to go looking for me.’ Brianna
recounts whilst playing with a peanut on the counter.
‘Then
what happened?’ asks Brian.
‘Well,
he took so long to leave that I ended up stuck there when the elders came for
their morning meeting. I decided to hide in the cupboard and wait until they
finished their meeting and left. I didn’t want to hear what was being said, but
couldn’t help it when they mentioned my name.’
‘Why
were they talking about you?’ gasps Brian. He’s shocked to find out his sister
has even been mentioned by the elders, the magicians government, let alone
talked about.
‘At
first I couldn’t make out what was being said. I knew it was important t
Magician's Secret • Opuss № I