This is not a tale about us normal people.
On the seemingly endless sea,near the ports of the USA and Canada and not far from Greenland, the largest island on earth,stood a lone isle,seemingly tiny and heavily surrounded by trees.The isle was,to people,' quiet in morning, quiet in night '.It just stood there as if it weren't there.That isle looked calm enough to make people say,"Nobody lives there."The men in the boats which scampered past the isle would say, "That’s clearly a no man's land,only birds and beasts could live there…"
But they were terribly wrong.They just didn’t know, just couldn't imagine what could be there…
It was the night of Thursday the 16th of May. A fine day it was.It was a night 12 years ago.
Nobody seemed to be there on that isle; boats passing by would just ignore that and continue their voyage like everyday but nobody actually seemed to notice that in the pitch-black darkness,two tiny bits of yellowish light flickered somewhere on that always lonely-looking isle.Those were nothing but a pair of eyes;yellow,cat-like eyes.
But those eyes did belong to no cat;those belonged to a man.
Yes, there was that man,fully covered in a gray furry cloak with only his eyes exposed which looked full of tension and anger.He strode quickly thru groups of trees, making crunching noises on dry leaves. The moonlight couldn't do much justice to the darkness through those trees which deepened the darkness.
The man continued his stride until he reached something covered in moss and leaves.It was a temple. The temple was made from stone and people on the sea could never see it through those thick trees.
The man in the cloak looked around sharply.He observed that it was safe to go as nobody was there.therefore he entered the temple.
In the temple there were stone walls,carved with bizarre drawings. The floor was smooth and cold and contained a considerable amount of dry leaves.The walls were scratchy and had moss.There were some ancient lamps too,which didn’t work.
"It doesn’t have to work,stupid thing- " muttered the man.Then he muttered something hard to pronounce and snapped his fingers once.
A bright glow of light lit on his palm.The light almost looked like a fire in an orb.The damp darkness disappeared and the whole temple shone in that light. Now the man in the cloak could make out the end of the temple.
At the end of the temple stood a solid and damp stone wall without any carving.In front of the wall there was a pedestal,made of limestone.
Still holding the light in his hand,the man went forward and up on the pedestal.Now he was standing right in front of the wall.The wall was cold and astonishingly smooth.
The man looked closely and found what he was looking for.
On the wall there were four equal pieces of brick,carved fair and square.They looked as though magnetically attached to the wall and they were situated exactly like four points of a square.
But they were not attached magnetically. They were attached magically.
The man tossed the light up,after saying a few words.The light went up and didn’t come down;it was levitating right there,above the man's head.
The man carelessly looked at the brick pieces.Every piece had a drawing carved upon it.The top left brick had a lion drawn upon it.The bottom left one had an ox drawn.The top right one had a pair of eyes drawn upon it and the bottom right one had a pitcher drawn.
The man started to move the bricks using his hand.After some moments he had moved the ox brick on the top left,the pitcher brick to the top right, the lion brick on the bottom right and the pair of eyes brick to the bottom left.
The man stepped back down from the pedestal.Right then something happened,as though it had to happen(It happens almost everyday though).
A line of bright golden light shot from the right end of the ox brick and got attached to the pitcher brick.Similarly, line of bright golden light shot from one brick to another,ultimately making a square with the lines of light as the edges and the bricks as the points.And the wall inside the square had vanished to make a hole wide enough for an elephant to go through.Through the wall a meadow with long grass was visible.
The man heaved a sigh of relief and quickly strode through the square hole out into the meadow.He turned back and saw the hole,still gleaming brightly.On the outside wall of the temple there were similar brick pieces. He swiftly moved the bricks in the previous order and the hole faded away.
The man in the cloak turned frontward again.He was home now.He had crossed the doorway to Scypherburgh,the capital of Esoterico,and this was his home.Though people here mortally hated him but still this was his home.
This way Esoterico was hidden from the people outside Esoterico.
Anyway,though the man was home now, he wasn’t happy at all. He carelessly looked around. Nobody here. Quickly he put off his cloak and threw it aside,finally revealing himself though none was watching.
The man was no human being.He was a Scypher. He was a scypher with silvery sallow skin, beady yellow eyes and white teeth,bright purple shoulder-length hair,a crooked nose,a harsh voice and several lines on his face. He had one scar on his forehead and one on his cheek. He wore a ludicrously looking suit in black and crimson.At the center of the suit there shone a glowing little eyeball, and he didn’t know whose eye it was.His face was filled with anger and hatred.
He had to get the nine relics within that day,but neither he nor his men could get even one of those. Surely the Seven Sorcerers got all of them. Now he has to reach his men as fast as he can and then flee temporarily so that they can plan a way to attack and finish them forever.
He swiftly muttered a few words while he slowly levitated a few feet above the ground. After he had finished chanting his words he sped up in the sky and disappeared in the endless clouds and stars in the night sky.He had to get to Aracounis as fast as possible and no other way was as fast as flight.
At this hour everybody was asleep and the city was remarkably quiet.
However, Aracounis was situated on the west side of Scypherburgh.This rainforest though looked normal while everyone was asleep including the animals and trees. Nothing unusual (to the normal folk like us) was visible in the forest except trees with glowing flowers, glimmering fruits and glittering leaves. The trees, anyway, didn’t share the same color.
But in the morning, Aracounis is almost the busiest place in the whole of Scypherburgh. The clattering and chattering of birds,some of which had sharp teeth similar to dragons,some possessed talons similar to horseshoes. The animals didn’t stay quiet also,if you went there you could notice a winged puma chasing a poor little river rabbit,or a couple of underground raccoons quarreling over their personal issues. They all possess their own language. The trees can talk too and they don't seem to have any intention of staying quiet. They don’t have any language so they learn the languages of Scyphers and animals. Some of them are conceited and idle away giving advice not caring if anybody wants them or not. Some of them are kind and calm,and usually old aged.The sounds from all of them makes the forest literally a busy marketplace.
At this hour, Aracounis was quiet too. Except a pair of birds with color changing tails—
Bird 1:clat clatter clang clee..(Look darling, it’s not my fault..)
Bird 2:cling cling claritti clatt!cladding clod clod zenita clarett claddetta!(No, no,not any excuses! I myself saw you arguing with my sister Zenita!)
At this moment the tree they were sitting on woke up. With a yawn he said in a gruff voice,"You ickle birdies- just interrupted my sound sleep! Blimey,this was the finest sleep I've ever had since January 9th!"
Right then a swishing sound and a whirlwind passed by them. It was a man- that man in that crimson-black suit. He landed in the damp grass and fallen leaves of the forest with a massive thud. The birds flew away, screaming.
The tree opened his mouth to speak, but in a flash the man,after muttering some quick words, waved his hand carelessly at the tree,not even looking at him.
The tree stood still,wordless and senseless.
The man whispered slowly,"I owe a thanks from you,tree–for putting you back to sleep, from which you can never return;never wake up."
The man wiped sweat from his forehead and strode quickly, passing by the sleeping trees and beasts carelessly.
After approximately seven minutes, he stopped and got relieved for the first time that night. His companions were sitting together, a little far from him and probably waiting for him. They didn’t light any fire. That's better, because a fire could show their position to others.
The man strode forward,calling at them,"Hey,yo idiots! Better shake up your bodies, 'cause we gotta go from here right now."
His men quivered a little but said nothing.
"Can't they hear?" thought the man but right then, a strong, old and shaken voice spoke from somewhere, " You're goin' nowhere. "
"Who speaks?" called the man. The leaves of the sleeping trees quivered.
Then suddenly a massive fire lit on a pack of leaves right in front of the men,revealing that the men were actually tied together by a chain of shining green light. Their mouths were shut magically. They're trying to struggle themselves free but that didn’t seem to work so well.
The light of the fire made the surroundings look clear though the surroundings were nothing except lines of trees. The man looked around frantically and in a moment,out of nowhere appeared seven men and women, all dressed in purple-gold suits. They all stood in front of the man. Leading the group was an old man with tidy white hair, crooked yellowish skin,a fat nose and little dreamy-looking eyes. He looked approximately 90 years old. He said,"Welcome here, the wicked warlock Hadeon Memphyss! We welcome you to be captured by us."
Hadeon Memphyss gulped and whispered, "T-the Seven Sorcerers!"
He went two steps backwards.
The old man leading the Seven Sorcerers raised his hand forward and said," We are warning you,Memphyss. We captured your men without any harm or bloodshed. You can either follow your men,or battle us. Come with us without excuses, or prepare to pay dearly. Think before you act, warlock. "
Memphyss didn’t seem to think much. He slowly raised both his hands above his head.
"Good boy. Now slowly come forward, to our captivity. " said the old man.
Memphyss didn’t obey the old man's order. Instead he stepped backwards slowly.
"I said forwards, not backwards!" the old man urged. He didn’t notice that Memphyss was muttering something under his breath though he acted as if he surrendered. In a while he finished his chant and swiftly threw his right arm forward. He raised his thumb, then his pinkie. Right then he raised his index and spun it twice.
A frown appeared on the old man's face,"What's going on?"
Memphyss didn’t answer. Instead he jumped forward and waved his hand in the direction of the old man. His quivering hand missed the target and his hand went in the direction of another Seven Sorcerers member with red curly hair, indigo skin and a nice height. A jet of blinding white light shot at him and before he could protect himself, the light engulfed him completely. He let out moans and screams in pain and he wasn’t visible due to the blinding white light. Gradually the painful screams softened and faded away. Right then the light vanished and the man who was attacked, stumbled and fell down, motionless and rigid. He was dead.
Memphyss was still standing, confronting the remaining six sorcerers. His face looked burning in anger and hatred and looked ready for any challenge.
The Seven Sorcerers were ready for something like this so they didn’t seem much horror-stricken. The old leader of Seven Sorcerers said," Smart of you,pretending to surrender while performing a complicated spine-breaker charm. Very smart of you, Memphyss. You may have turned us into Six Sorcerers from seven, but that doesn’t make you win. You can't outsmart us all."
White light was gleaming through both the eyes of Memphyss. He roared," You can't fool me, stupid old man! I know what you shall do to me– chain me,take me to some secret dungeon and destroy my powers using the Nine Relics! I shall not be powerless! "
The leader of Seven Sorcerers said," You're wrong, wicked warlock. You shall not only be powerless. You're also going to die. If you don't surrender, battle us. We shall avenge our dead friend by destroying you,along with your powers. And your men aren't gonna help you,either. "
Memphyss roared in anger.
A sorcerer with a long beard, ginger skin, and black glasses said," Hadeon Memphyss! You may think yourself smart,but actually what you’re doing is clearly stupidity. You are preparing your own demise. Neither you nor your men or successors can beat the triumphant Seven Sorcerers. In history there were more like you and they were also bested by the Seven Sorcerers; evil was always bested by good."
Memphyss gritted his teeth,"They might be bested, but I'm not going to be. "
He spun his right arm and a magical Buzzsaw appeared. Memphyss barked, " Go get them!"
The buzzsaw seemed to be Memphyss' pet. It shot at the sorcerers swiftly. The sorcerers swiftly muttered something and expanded Their arms arounds. As a result, a glowing blue energy shield round like an orb appeared around them. The buzzsaw tried to slash them but it couldn’t go through the shield. It tried again and again but failed.
Memphyss got angrier and couldn’t understand that he was getting lured into a trap by the six sorcerers.
He tried several spells and counterspells but couldn’t beat the sorcerers. The battle went on.
"You cannot succeed, whatever you do;" the old leader said.
Memphyss spat in anger. Then he started to perform another deadly attack but before he could do so, a strange sensation engulfed him.
A burning pain simmered within his head and his body felt weaker…he tried to hold a tree but his eyes felt hazy, he saw everything foggy and he knelt down,unable to stand.
"What—" he looked up slowly and panted,"What—did—you—do—to—me?"
A young Seven Sorcerers member let out a laugh.
The old leader smiled and said, " Memphyss, you reckless boy. I told you that you cannot best us. I knew your Sorcerer's Weakness— rage. I was your teacher in Magicademia and I certainly knew how to trap you. We aroused your rage and you fell for that. Your own rage weakened you. Now you must pay for your deeds."
Memphyss hung his head down and kept panting. What a big mistake he had made and now he's not going to regain his strength so soon. He probably has lost to the Seven Sorcerers.
"Now," continued the old leader, " You shall see the end of yourself. "
The six sorcerers slowly raised their pairs of hands above their heads, started a chant not shorter than two minutes and then threw their arms forward pointing towards Memphyss.
"Somnusylf-parahl-siempre!" they bellowed.
Massive jets of black-red light shot from their hands but before it could engulf the Dark lord, he, with all his strength, chanted a spell clearly enough to work. Right then some glowing black bats sped out from many parts of his body and they combined together to make a powerful shield glimmering in dark purple. The red light from the sorcerers swiftly engulfed the shield. When the light faded away the shield was gone and destroyed, but Memphyss was well unharmed.
"Hmm, he seems to have his defense, "the old leader said to his companions, " But he can't beat the nine relics in this strength. So we shall take away his powers. Ulysses, keep that cocky warlock busy while we prepare the spell using the relics. It won't take more than five minutes as the materials are all ready. "
Ulysses Armædéone, the old warlock with glasses and long beard came forward, confronting the wicked warlock. Behind him the other sorcerers started to prepare the spell.
Hadeon Memphyss gulped. He has to flee from here fast or else he is done for. But Ulysses doesn’t seem like willing to let him flee. On the other hand Hadeon's strength hasn't returned fully.
Ulysses came closer to him while he desperately tried to conduct the flying spell. But before he could do so, Ulysses spun his right arm around and right then a magical blue spear appeared. It shot straight towards the left side of Memphyss' chest. But in that second Memphyss shot up in the sky. But as he was weak he couldn’t fly too fast. Ulysses quickly conducted the flying spell and shot up in the sky he was at his full strength so he caught hold of the dark lord soon enough. Memphyss tried to flee fast but quickly enough, Ulysses' left arm was tightly around his neck.
"You can't escape me in this strength; besides, five minutes later you shall lose all your powers, which are never to be returned. '' Ulysses said to him calmly.
" Leave me," said Memphyss sharply, desperately trying to struggle himself out of Ulysses' clutch, " You can't outsmart me! I shall escape you and return to you with more might and that time you will not defeat me and my powers. "
Ulysses said," I've heard enough of your bragging,boy. But this is the time to put an end to it. You are helpless now, though you don’t admit it."
Memphyss was sweating at this struggle but couldn’t free himself. On the other hand, three minutes have already passed.
Memphyss roared, " You can't fool me, old git. Besting me is an accomplishment you can only dream of. Is there any sorcerer in the world that can beat me, the best warlock Esoterico has ever seen? Speak up! Is there any?"
"Your poor attempt to distract me is meaningless. There certainly is something which can defeat you and that is your ego. Your ego makes you boast big and right now, you have lost your precious four minutes bragging and I can see you still couldn’t free yourself from my clutches. As a result, a little paralyzer charm can shut you up. Though it works only for a minute, still that's enough. "
Memphyss shuddered and before he could even try to move, Ulysses grabbed his throat tight and some yellowish fog engulfed Memphyss' body. A second later he lay alive but motionless in Ulysses' clutches.
Ulysses landed down holding Memphyss' neck. He put him down on the ground with a thud. He said, " Sir Guillermo Parapetauxaneus, I have brought him safely using the paralyzer charm. You can perform the spell on him now. "
Guillermo Parapetauxaneus, the old leader of the Seven Sorcerers,said," Well done, Ulysses. We also have successfully prepared the required spell. Now you stand aside while we perform the spell on the wicked warlock. "
Memphyss' rigid eyes showed fear and a couple of moments later he sprang up as the effect of the charm faded away.
"No," he shrieked," NO!"
But he was too late to stop the spell. Before he could even turn around, five of the sorcerers who prepared the spell threw their arms forward, pointing towards Memphyss. They bellowed the last word of the spell— "PARAHL-SIEMPRES-PERDEREY-EXOUSIAETAL!!
As a result,A big wave of red-white light shot at Memphyss. Electric sparks were visible in the light and in the arms of the sorcerers. And most notably, the nine relics floated in front of the sorcerers circularly. Within the circle created by the relics, the blinding light shot as fast as lightning towards the terrified dark lord and struck him greatly. As Memphyss got engulfed by the electrifying light, he shouted in agony but the light slowly turned into a gray tornado with Memphyss within it. The tornado spun and spun with electric sparks coming out from it and Memphyss kept shouting and screaming, in agony,despair and also the terrible feeling of failure.
The tornado, after spinning for the umpteenth time, turned into an orb of blinding white light again and as Memphyss' screams weakened, the light finally imploded and faded away. And there lay with his face down the triumphant dark lord Hadeon Memphyss, weak, lost of confidence and sweating all over. The spell was complete. The sorcerers were watching the whole process with great satisfaction. When the process of the spell was finished, Parapetauxaneus said, "There you go. That was your destiny, finally reaching a situation of being weak and helpless. You have now lost all your powers. "
Memphyss weakly sat up. He tried to conduct an easy spell but nothing happened, no light or spark appeared in his hand. He frantically tried to summon his magical Buzzsaw but nothing happened, nothing. He looked at his hands fearfully and wide-eyed. What he was fearing has happened now. He has lost his powers and has become a part of the weak, powerless non-magic community.
His head hung down." No," he whispered continuously, " No…."
"Enough of your drama, boy—" Parapetauxaneus said sharply. Then he quickly chanted something and a chain of green light came out from the end of his right hand. It swiftly shot at Memphyss and wrapped him up.
Memphyss raised his head again and roared frantically, " You may have taken away my powers,wretch—but don't you think even that can stop me. Time will tell you that I shall escape, get back my powers and return so triumphantly and so menacingly that the moment my power returns, you all shall see your downfall! Just wait and watch…"
Guillermo Parapetauxaneus said coolly, " Well,my boy—I have listened enough. It is almost dawn now and I think we gotta reach Tenebriscrypta(Tenebriscrypta was the central prison of Scypherburgh) as fast as possible. We need to quickly hand you and your men over to the Blackies before you are executed tonight. Besides, we have to arrange a funeral in honor of our dead friend Elijah Ramelandoüché. So, I think we better get a move on. "
Two of the sorcerers swiftly grabbed the chain which had fastened the wicked warlock tightly. Parapetauxaneus quickly muttered something hard to pronounce and as a result the chain which held the men of Memphyss got magically attached to Memphyss' chain. Three of the sorcerers including Parapetauxaneus were in front of the captives and three of them were behind them, all holding both the chains which were attached together.
Parapetauxaneus turned back and ordered his partners and the captives, "Move! All of you."
The big group of sorcerers and captives strode quickly through the trees of Aracounis and quickly was out of sight. The beasts,birds and trees were still fast asleep, due to the simple sleeping charm performed on them by Ulysses Armædéone. So they aren’t supposed to wake up before 8 o'clock anyway.
*******
Next day, 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
Guillermo Parapetauxaneus was returning to Magicademia after a final nod and a final bouquet of flowers onto the grave of the departed Seven Sorcerers member Elijah Ramelandoüché. He has got loads of work to do and of course he needs a little rest before going to the execution of Hadeon Memphyss tonight. But as he entered the Carillo street, he saw someone running towards him. It was the Blackie chief. The police in Esoterico are called 'Blackies'.
The Blackie chief looked awestruck and stupefied. He was sweating.
He reached Parapetauxaneus and panted.
"What happened, Coleman?" Parapetauxaneus said with a little frown.
Coleman,the Blackie chief,said, " Sir Guillermo Parapetauxaneus, we are ruined, Sir. Sir, that wicked warlock—"
"Memphyss? "
"Yes sir, he—has—has fled."
"Fled?" Parapetauxaneus' eyebrows raised.
"Yes sir. He's escaped prison, sir. Not only he, four of his associates are gone too,sir. Though the other men of the dark lord are still captive, sir."
Parapetauxaneus wiped sweat off his forehead and said," I predicted that this could happen. Even Hadeon himself had predicted. Smart boy, he is; prison never can lock him down."
"But, sir—what will happen now, sir?"
"Don’t worry, Coleman. We can assure nothing shall happen. As I have told you, his powers are gone. And we have hidden the relics instantly this morning and he can't find them all without his powers. So you can relax now and tighten your security so that no one can flee again. "
Coleman looked relieved and said," Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. "