Powers

2. The Death of The Great Wizard

Warwick was dying. He knew that when he died, all his hard work would go down with him. He was 999 years old. He was sick of keeping himself alive with his powers. He called together his nine Protectors, each which knew how to use a special power.

"I'm dying," he told them, plain-and-simple. "But sire! We have no magic. We simply know how to use magic," the first Protector, Warin, said worriedly.

"Never fear, Warin," Warwick wheezed. "Go... Go into my lab and bring me the leftover nine dusts."

Warin dashed to Warwick's lab. He returned with the nine dusts. "Take that stone," Warwick coughed, pointing weakly. Warin picked up the stone. "Put... Put the... Put the dusts on it," Warwick managed to get out between fits of coughing and hacking.

When Warin took the dusts and the stone and put them together, a burst of light blinded him for a second. When it settled back down, the stone had nine pictures on it -- a lightning bolt, a bear paw, a raindrop, a snowflake, a piece of candy, a sun, a leaf, a rainbow, and a flame.

"Many years from now... Someone special will come along and find this stone. The Wizard's Stone. Bury it here," Warwick told them. He stopped to catch his breath.

"Bury it here... Yes, here, where I will die. My ashes will become the dirt. You nine shall be everlasting until this Special One digs up the Stone. When they do, you shall be waiting to tell the story. You will teach this person to use the powers, and you will grant The One one wish. Anything The One wants. And by this wish you will tell what kind of wizard The One will be -- careful and good, or selfish and evil. The evil shall be destroyed and the Stone reburied for the next One to come along. Now... I bid you goodbye, dear Protectors. I have trust that you shall carry out what I seek."

The Protectors all knelt.

"Goodbye," were Warwick's last words. I flash of light and a flame of fire appeared, then went out. In its place were ashes. The wind blew them away and settled at a resting spot before a tree.

Warin stood and took the Wizard's Stone to the spot where Warwick's ashes rested. He buried the Stone and went back into a kneeling position. He and the other Protectors stayed that way for a long time.

The fate of the world rested in their hands.