The Wizard

Chapter 11 part 2

At noon, Marlon rang the bell in the center of the square and everyone approached, curious and apprehensive, as this was almost always a sign of alarm.

"Hail, brothers," he began to say. "Our chief and druid have not returned yet, but we have a serious emergency: in less than two days, a large army of Romans will reach us."

"Can't the foreign druid help, Marlon?" asked one of the villagers. "Where is he?"

"He is a traitor, a damn warlock and his bird is a disguised dragon," accused Marlon, agitator. "He bewitched Ailin, the chief's daughter. We need to hunt him down, capture him and gag him. With him imprisoned, we can bargain with the Romans."

"Where is Ailin?" asked one of the men. "I know Ailin very well, Marlon, and I'm not confident in this talk. We all know that she can't be influenced by witchcraft and that you are dying of jealousy of her."

"Well, I say he did," insisted the sub-chief, remembering the recent past. "Ask Aodh, the blacksmith, who was with him. Ailin didn't want to kill the warlock and turned against us, going after him."

"She didn't seem influenced," said Aodh, convinced, "but the foreigner's bird is a disguised dragon and he admitted it."

― ☼ ―

The three stood still, watching the young man leave with the bird on his shoulder. Inside, Marlon rejoiced. He looked at his compatriot, who had a tear in her eye.

"Didn't I tell you he was a warlock?" he insisted. He took the sword and prepared to follow him. "Let's kill him."

"No," Ailin retorted, sad. "He would kill us before we got to five steps."

"Of course he won't." Marlon insisted again, pointing his finger at the sword. "He is unarmed."

Angry, Ailin looked at the sub-chief and extended the wizard's weapon, saying:

"Take it, if you are so sure you can kill him. Take his weapon and use it, but remember that only he will free you from the curse."

Marlon jumped back, scared, and Ailin smiled.

"You know," she said, worried, "If he were really a warlock and powerful as he is, we would all be dead, but he just gave me his sword and left. He wouldn't need an army to kill us, damn it. He left because we rejected him when all he wanted was to help."

"You are bewitched, woman," he said, sour.

Angry, Ailin acted without thinking. Like lightning, she unsheathed Igor's sword and raised it against the fellow citizen, stopping an inch from his neck. A strange sound emanated from the weapon that began to glow, emitting a slight smell of ozone, something they did not know. Terrified, Marlon fell to his knees.

Ailin stood still for a while, thinking. Then, she put the sword back in the scabbard and stuck it in the ground, in front of the sub-chief.

"If I were you, I wouldn't touch it." She turned her back and left the hut. "Deep down, everything he said is true."

Marlon got up slowly, still very scared. He approached the door and, awkwardly, asked:

"Where are you going?"

"To look for him," she answered with contempt in her voice. "Without him, we will be dead unless my father arrives with reinforcements. Igor is right and you are useless."

She finished speaking and continued walking, resolute.

― ☼ ―

"Nothing that Ailin said sounded like bewitched," continued the blacksmith, thoughtful. "She likes the foreigner, that's all, and I think that, if he were really a warlock, we would already be dead as Ailin also said."