The Phantom Man

XXI - The Castle of the Absents

They crossed the portal and arrived at a desert alley in the city's outskirts. The mage looked ahead and came across the Castle of the Absents, Klaus' tenebrous hiding-place. Juan then gazed upon the city, unknown to him. That was Florence, in all its splendor. A birthplace of artists, sculptures, and writers.

He saw the people walking on the streets, the terrific buildings, churches, and houses painted by great masters. He was marveled and, at the same time, perplexed by the crowd, the sound of the carriages, the height of the palaces, and the colorful clothes. The wizard had been secluded in the Dark Forest for too long, isolated from the world.

After taking a few more steps, the sorcerer found himself before the castle's huge gate, painted in dark grey. At the entrance, he could read the name of the place: Castle of the Absents. He remembered the nightmare he had about the conclave's slaughter, when the evil creature said that "the Absents are present". For a moment, the letters shuffled in his mind and he realized that the word Absents was an anagram of the name Basnets. So, that place was the infamous lair of the Evil warlocks!

Fear rose Juan's spine as he imagined how saturated with malign energy those walls must be.

"Now everything adds up inside my head. You use the name Castle of the Absents as a way to hide what you really are: Disowned members of Basnet clan."

"Good job, old wizard. This is one of our secrets. It's a shame that you won't have the chance to tell it to anybody. Hurry up, get in!" Klaus said, pushing Juan.

The gate opened with a strident sound. The mage got in, looking all around, trying to memorize each detail of that ghostly castle. There was a hall with a spiral staircase and, up in the ceiling, there was a dome through which the sunlight barely passed to put the shadows away. Spider webs covered the corners of the room, and Juan saw a lizard climbing up the wall. Candles lit in golden candelabrums attached to the walls enlightened the cold atmosphere. There were other candlesticks on old sideboards placed against the walls.

They heard voices, and a few steps ahead, some warlocks were talking. They entered a dining room, where people were sat drinking red wine. As soon as Klaus and Juan came into the room, all eyes turned toward them. One of the wizards broke the silence and asked Klaus:

"Is this the powerful mage that scared the inquisitors to death? He doesn't look so dangerous to me. He's so old that I can see the shadow of death by his side, with her black hood and scythe," he mocked Juan, and then burst into laughter.

The warlocks surrounded Juan. One of them pushed him; as he fell, he supported his body by putting both hands on the ground. When he was trying to stand up, another wizard put his hands on his shoulders and made him stay on his knees. He scoffed at him.

"So? Where is the man, they say is a powerful wizard, the magic world's all-time legend?"

Juan knew that he could fight against those renegade warlocks instead of letting them subdue him to such humiliation. But he chose to restrain himself and avoid confrontation. If he reacted, he would spoil the plan.

The others laughed, but Klaus was serious. Deep down, he was aware that the old mage still bore a great power. He was unsure about who fought the shadowy creature and won. According to the Doppelgänger, it had been the child. The truth was that he suspected that Juan was hiding something.

Juan ignored the warlock's sarcastic comment. He needed to gather more information about his enemies, and study them in order to help Philip when the time for the confrontation came.

"Bear in mind that the old devil knows everything about the Book of Souls. We will force him to teach us the book's magic and we shall be the world's most powerful wizards," Klaus replied, trying to convince his associates.