Chapter VII: The Wizard's Game

They awoke in a dungeon cell, cold, damp, and bewildered. Each of them looked about them, taking in their surroundings, moving their limbs & checking for signs of injury. The memory of what had happened to them gradually returned, and they each felt the loss of the baby so deeply in their minds and in their bodies that it was as if a piece of them had been taken. The thought was jolting to Wyveryn, who'd spent a lifetime believing he had no connection to anyone or anything in the world. To experience such a loss was akin to what he'd experienced upon witnessing the death of his father. To Aeroth, memories of Lux's death were so painful it was if he could still feel the old man dying in his arms. Tic could recall the day he'd seen his father-his hero- turned into a creature of the undead. They said little. But it was Wyveryn who managed to catch a glimpse of the view from his barred window.

"We're in Stormhold, all right." He confirmed. The company let out a collective groan.

"Here to entertain the people at dawn's first light tomorrow." The voice they heard came from outside their cells... from the hallway beyond. Tic and the others furrowed their brows in confusion. But not Aeroth. He knew the person that voice belonged to.

"Okra." He spat. "You traitorous scum. Come step into the light, if you're man enough."

And so he did. Simeon Okra, his black hair slicked to his head and pulled back in a pony tail, his body draped in rich crimson robes, was flanked by several guards on either side. A grin spread wide across his face when he encountered Aeroth.

"You have a pesky way of staying alive, I will give you that much. But I've arranged to fix that."

The paladin reached through his bars. "Come fight me, face to face! You owe me that much! You are responsible for my father's death!"

"And how many deaths was your father responsible for, in the name of Tyr? In the name of the God of Balance? How many deaths did he justify? I killed one, but he killed thousands. And yet you stand there and persecute me, paladin. So quick to judge."

"Let Tyr be your judge, Okra. Not I. You can call it what you want. What you did was murder."

"What I did was heroic. Yvander Lux was tearing this kingdom apart. Surely, in your travels you have learned that the magic he spent his life suppressing and killing was not all evil? What right had he to do this? And in setting a "balance" to the world, he suffocated it instead. What right at your father to play God?"

Aeroth, despite his hatred, had to admit that Okra had a point. And it cut deep into his soul. "You were always smooth with your words. I'll not listen to you."

"Of course you won't, paladin. You were never one for listening. Yet consider this... why do you think Lux was so fond of you? Because he loved you? Or perhaps because you possessed skills he needed? Think about it. Who knew the caverns of Cöthrom better than you? And in keeping you close to his side, he played upon your trust. He got information from you, and never feared that you would turn against him. I was once like you... blissfully ignorant. I loved him. I saved his life. Several times over. But it was not until I opened my eyes to the truth that I could liberate the people from his iron fist.

Of course, none of this will matter to you, now. You could have been useful to us, once, but now, you are simply a threat that needs to be removed. And tomorrow, you will play in the Wizard's Game." And just like that, the Cardinal spun on his heels and was gone.

"I really hate him." Aeroth muttered.

"I don't know why you bother reasoning with him. He's too clever for even you, Aeroth." This, too, was a new voice. But familiar. They looked to the corner cell but could not see the man inside of it.

"Who are you, stranger?"

"You don't recognize the sound of my voice, Aeroth? When last we saw each other, I was being carried off by an army of spiders."

"HIROKO!" The hatred Aeroth felt was overcome with joy & relief. "Brother! Where have you been?"

Hiroko Dragonborn shifted into the light, and the company let out a small gasp. He was thin and frail, and had obviously been beaten. His eyes were weary & haggard, but he grinned just the same.

"How I got here is a long, long story. And frankly, there just isn't enough time."

"They are saying you died. And that you are the son of Tyr!" Aeroth exclaimed. "We saw statues of you being raised in Tradesdale."

"They have been raised here as well. But as you can see, I am not dead. I am perfectly alive... mostly." He sighed. "The people are saying I came back from the dead. That I am the son of the God Tyr. And I am sent to save them from the evil magic of the world. The Liberists are using me as a symbol of freedom. The Causists fear me. Okra & Prince Lysom don't know what to do with me. If they free me, I could raise an army to defeat them. If they kill me themselves, I become a martyr. So they did what anyone would do... they put me in the Wizard's Game."

"You've played in the Wizard's Game?" Wyveryn asked, aghast.

"Sadly, yes."

"How did you survive."

"Luck. A bit of skill, but mostly luck. Though I fear tomorrow, my luck will have run out. Listen to me, all of you. The way the game works... two teams enter the sphere... only one comes out alive. I've no doubt that Okra plans to place us on opposing teams. When the time comes... I beg of you... do not hesitate to win the game."

"But... that will kill you." Aeroth protested.

"I do not matter. And indeed, at this point, I believe I can do more damage dead than alive. The quest you are on is all that matters now. You must save the baby, Lady Brillowyn, and return her to her world. Or all is lost." Aeroth was about to say something else, but Hiroko held up his hand. "No Aeroth. I am tired. Very tired. They have done many things to me I'll never care to remember. I have been through so much and seen so much... and there's more to my story that you'd ever care to know. I am at peace with my decision. If you hesitate... if you do not do what I ask... then you will bring destruction on us all."

************

Marco Magentum awoke in a large comfortable bed with crimson satin sheets. It smelled of Seabuckthorn Berry, a scent he recognized instantly as belonging to Allandra.

"You're awake." She sat calmly at a table nearby, observing him with an unreadable expression on her face.

"How long have I been sleeping?" He asked. Questions, Marco. So many questions. But patience, first. That's what she taught you. Establish where you are and what you are doing here. Act as if you belong. As if you know what is going on. Then the answers will be revealed to you as you go.

"A long while. You almost managed to break my spell. I forgot what a good student you were... Marcus."

The sarcasm she spent saying his stage name was not lost on him. He drew himself up and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Where are the others?"

She shrugged. "Where they belong. In the dungeon. Awaiting their fate. But you, my pet... you have my greatest thanks. For without you, none of this would have come to fruition. You killed the Tyrant Lux... and you were trained under me. And I have been reaping the benefits of your success. All of this... the assassination of Lux... bringing the paladin and the baby right into the palm of my hands... the dawning of a new age. The Age of Redemption. And all because of you, Marcus."

He said nothing.

"Of course, there was the little matter that we could not find you after the fall of Cöthrom. Your behavior was... unpredictable. Very unlike you. Almost as if... you had turned sides."

"Do you believe that I turned sides, Allandra?"

"If I did, you would be sharing a cell with your friends downstairs."

"Again I ask, what is to become of them?"

She flicked her hand through the air. "They are to be pawns in the Wizard's Game. But to more important matters... that of the child."

He opened his mouth to speak, just as the door to the room opened. Marco watched Allandra's body language instantly change as Prince Lysom strode in the room, followed closely by Cardinal Okra. It was as if Lysom was the hare and Okra the snake, but the Cardinal was waiting for his moment to strike. But his heart skipped a beat when he saw Allandra reach into a bassinet that had been sitting by her table and drew the child up into her arms.

Lysom scrunched his nose.

"This is what you've been after me about? A baby girl? She's hideous!"

"Sire," explained Okra with the patience of a seasoned parent, "she is much, much more than a baby girl. She is feyborn. And her destiny is linked with yours."

"So kill her then, if she threatens my throne. I have more important matters to attend to than babysitting."

Marco saw the look that passed between Allandra & Okra. It was full of meaning and warning. And on Allandra's end, there was a moment of longing. Much had happened since Marco had been away. There was a time when Allandra used to look at him like that. What had changed?

Okra drew a knife from his crimson robes. It was then that Marco realized he intended to sacrifice the child, then and there. He had to save Lady Brillowyn... but what could he do? He was in the den of the lion.

He felt them escorting him from the room, and just as the door was closing, he saw Okra lift the knife into the air. A moment later a pain surged through him that felt as though his own heart was being torn from his chest. He stumbled in the hallway, gasping for air. Somehow he felt Allandra's arms around him, pulling him away from the door.

And he knew in that moment that the baby was dead.

*************************

The following morning they were sent to the Wizard's Game. As dawn broke, and they were taken from their cells, they could hear what sounded like a rumble of thunder outside. But soon they realized it was the citizens of Stonehold, come to witness the Wizard's Game. They sat around the arena in a perfect sphere, singing, chanting, selling, shouting, and clapping. Children laughed and played. Their parents pointed to the sphere itself, where the gruesome game would take place. They pointed as if it were some sort of fun, educational toy.

The sphere was a clear globe. And audience member could look inside and see hundred of doors, leading to placed unknown. That was the outer level. And there were at least four levels.

From high atop his perch, the herald sounded his horn and the crowd erupted in cheers.

"Welcome, my friends, to the Wizard's Game. Two teams enter the sphere, their goal is to capture the Wizard's Heart. The team that succeeds survives. The team that does not..."

"DIES!" Screamed the crowd.

"Beneath your seats are your Wizard's goggles. The first level you will be able to see through the sphere. Beyond which, once the teams pass into the next level, the audience will watch them through the goggles. Now, there are rules."

"RULES!"

"Rule number one. There is no rule against killing the opposing team."

"Rule number two. There is no rule against killing members of YOUR team."

"Rules number three. It is a race against the clock. Should neither team reach the Wizard's Heart before the sands run out, both teams perish and the game is forfeit." The Herald sounded the horn and shouted as the crowd roared like a cresting wave. "Let the game... begin!"

*********************

It was confusing at first. The company, minus Marcus, stood staring at the doors, unable to decide which one to open.

"How do we know which one leads us to the next level?" Asked Wyveryn.

"We don't." Tic replied.

"So we just... start opening doors?"

"Yes. But we need a strategy." Aeroth insisted. "If we separate, we cover more ground, but if we band together, there are strength in numbers. And we don't know what lies beyond each door."

"I've heard that prisoners on death row are placed here." Said Jewelynna. "And should they be freed in the game, then they are freed for life. All crimes are pardoned."

"Yeah, well, I couldn't care less about that right now." Wyveryn snapped, as he started opening doors.

"Well, I guess we're spreading out." Muttered Aeroth. In the back of his mind, he wondered how far along Hiroko's team was. And then he turned the first knob.

************

During the course of the first two levels, they opened many doors, fought several beasts and freed a criminal or two. But it was at level three that things took a turn for the worse.. when Tic opened the door to find a band of skeletons. He felt his body freeze and was unable to make a move. Somehow he managed to call for help, and his team came to his defense.

The skeletons fought & Aeroth pushed them back. But it wasn't until they were through the door that Tic caught sight of something that almost caused him to lose the contents of his stomach.

His beloved father, Allen Flick, awaited him. But it was not his father, for this was a creature turned undead... by none other than Simeon Okra. It was the first time Tic had come face to face with his father since the turning.

He wanted to believe this wasn't happening. But somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew the Wiazard's Game was designed for this... it was supposed to bring your worst nightmares to life. You could open a door and there could stand something from your past that you never wanted to face. A spider. A dryder. A troll. A shade.

Or a father.

He held up his hand and told the others to stand back. "This fight is mine."

**************

Wyveryn saw the standoff between father and son. But he kept on opening doors. A panic arose inside of him. What if the other team was already to the last level? Would they reach the Wizard's Heart first? And if so, were these last moments of his life to be spent with these people? Would these be the last things he saw? The last words he spoke? No! He refused to believe it, and opened another door.

*************

Jewelynna was in pain. She hadn't told the others, but since last night, she'd been bleeding. At first she did not understand it. But it made the battles in the Wizard's Game all the more exhausting. She felt herself healing the skeletons, setting them to a neutral state. But Allen Flick was beyond her reach. And Tic was fighting hard.

*************

Aeroth wondered if Wyveryn was beyond saving. He'd sworn an oath to protect his brother, but despite it all Wyveryn refused to act as a unit. Even now, he fought for himself, and not for the good of them all? Was this a personality flaw? Could Aeroth ever really change him? What would Yvander Lux have done?

*************

Aurora saw Tic slay his father. Or rather, the man who once was his father. She knew, more than them all, what it meant for Tic to do such a thing, and she knew he would never be the same again.

*************

They reached the final level simultaneously with the other team. Set upon by a pack of dark wolves, the final level was simply a small, round room--at the center of which was a small glowing globe. Hiroko's team fought the wolves bravely. And once, Hiroko caught Aeroth's eye. What are you waiting for? He seemed to say.

They heard the audience cheering. It would be a fight to the finish. Both teams were torn apart, bloodied, and had faced nightmares they would never wish to relive. Both teams had entered the Wizard's Game as themselves, and one team would leave completely changed. It dawned on Aeroth how Hiroko had been so "lucky" in his numerous winnings. He was a strategist. He no doubt would take these people put into his care and instruct them... train them. So instead of each team member fighting for himself, Hiroko went into each game with his own unit. And Aeroth envied him that, for he was unable to make his own team work together.

Jewelynna & Banger saw Wyveryn draw the arrow. Aeroth turned and it was as if everything went into slow motion.

"No!" He screamed. "I have a plan! We will slay the Wizard's Heart at the same time! Hiroko and I! The game will be a draw! Wyveryn--"

But the half-elf, in a panicked state, let fly the fateful arrow that struck true. Into the Wizard's Heart it went. The look that passed over Hiroko's face was first of surprised, and then of peace. Aeroth heard himself screaming, "No! No! No!" But everything went white and then it was as if the world came to an end.

And in that white blinding moment, all of them... even Marco... felt the dream invade their thoughts.



**********************