A Dance with Darkness and Light: Re-Origination

57: You Make For The Perfect...

Bazuul was quite intrigued by this offer since this would be a rare occasion not many, if any, could say they experienced.

The king interjected the conversation and suggested that his son should have some time to think about it. Meanwhile, he would send a servant to prepare a room for the magician. Rion Ebonwillow agreed and asked the prince to find him once he had made a decision. A moment later, Rion excused himself and left the father-son duo alone in the throne room.

His father, King Varanur III, had talked with Bazuul and asked him about his opinion on the matter. From the start, although still cautious, Bazuul wanted to go and meet this so-called lord of the fourth cycle. The king did not share the same enthusiasm as his son but also felt his son needed to make his own decisions in order to grow. He gave him some rudimentary parental advice, as parents evidently would, no matter the status in society and dismissed him to his chamber.

Eventually, Bazuul decided to visit this old lord of Atlantis. It had been late already when he returned home, by now it was in the middle of the night. Thus, Bazuul chose to go to bed and visit the magician tomorrow morning.

The next day Bazuul woke up early, washed up, ate something, and then visited Rion Ebonwillow. The mage seemed to have awaited the young man as the door to his room was left open. Bazuul greeted his guest and told him of his decision. Rion was clearly happy about the decision the prince had taken and pulled a pinecone out of his sleeve. Although at first sight, it appeared to be a normal pinecone, the purple glow and luster that came from it told another story.

It was a talisman created by the fourth lord of the cycle to teleport both Bazuul and Rion Ebonwillow back to Atlantis, the latter unceremoniously explained.

"Well, then let's go! The day is still young, and the more time we have, the better I suppose, right?" Bazuul said.

Without much preparation, Bazuul decided that they should both activate the talisman right now. Rion naturally obliged. Instantly the view changed from the room they were in, into that of what appeared to be one of many central places of a big city. Both of them stood on a platform, and his view was filled with structures reminiscent of ancient Greece, yet also fundamentally different. Most striking of all was the color scheme used. While the former's building was remembered predominately white, on Atlantis, it seemed, they preferred an exotic play with dark and light brown tones.

Much like Rion Ebonwillow and himself before he assumed, several robed men, some young, others old appeared on the platform before moving on. Rion urged the prince to follow him, and Bazuul did just that.

The former played the tour guide while en route, and Bazuul found out that they were currently in the outer ring and must first go to a particular teleportation hub to reach their specific destination. Obviously, the way to an individual of such status wasn't just out in the open, much like the White House back on Earth didn't entertain an open-door policy for their citizens.

Even if an almost three-decade-old man resided inside the body of a thirteen-year-old prince, the awe and wonder inside of him, was clearly reflected on his face this time. For how many in both his lives have dreamt of such a chance, to glance upon what surrounded him right now. To his left was the city as they walked down the road, the buildings as said before, were much like those in ancient Greece, just several stories high. To his right was the ocean, known as the Endless Tides, which appeared to be connected to the city, as steps rose out of it and into the city. Mesmerized by this sight, the lions that erected at the steps of the stairs every thirty or so meters, were simply the cherry on top. All of them had the same position as the Sphynx; the only difference to their appearance was the proud face of a lion that looked down on the incoming waves.

Eventually, they both reached the transportation hub and entered the fourth lord's mansion. Inside the foyer, a servant welcomed them, which also appeared to be a magician. At this point, Rion Ebonwillow and Bazuul split up and the servant led him through a hall. After a good while, the servant stopped in front of a door and knocked three times. To Bazuul's surprise, the door opened on its own. Bazuul then entered what most likely was the fourth lord's study. Once inside, an ethereal voice rose, but he was unable to make out from where "Please take a seat." Much like the voice, a set table manifested from the void, and a stool moved aside, it turned out the chair waited for Bazuul to take a seat. As he sat down, the fragrance of tea entered his nose, which escaped from the pot on the table.

A moment later, an old, robed man appeared in the seat across the table. Although he didn't look anything like it, he did remind Bazuul of Dumbledore, or maybe Gandalf. Even if it was just the feeling of an elder magician often depicted as in the characters above, he gave off. He actually looked more like a tanned Saruman if Saruman was a bit obese.

"Greetings, young man!" The old magician said with a smile on his face. "I have heard great things about you." He added while the pot moved by itself and poured out the tea into both their cups. Steam rose from the cup, and the fragrance hit Bazuul one more time. So much so now, that he could almost taste its sweetness. The lord of the fourth cycle took a sip and nodded toward him as if to tell him to do the same.

Afterward, both of them had a lengthy conversation. The subjects they discussed were many. For one, the fourth lord wanted to know more about the lines Bazuul once recited. Bazuul, on the other hand, wanted to know more about ether magic, for he thought the set table, the chairs, even the tea, might have been summoned in that fashion.

Eventually, Bazuul had lost track of time and asked the fourth lord for his name since he didn't catch it earlier.

That's when a ripple formed inside the room. It was as if something tore at the fabric of reality, slowly the study disappeared and revealed something else. Bazuul hung mid-air in a dark room filled with people and for what seemed to be computers with holographic touch-displays. After a couple of breaths, his mind recovered from his stupor, and he made out the venerable elder, who stood next to three other magicians. They were in a conversation when Bazuul heard the fourth lord say, "This is an intriguing constitution this welp has there."

At this point, Bazuul was quite aware of the situation, the fact that they knew about his constitution, was only the answer as to why, but couldn't ultimately help him. Enraged, he lashed out, "Hey! What the fuck is this old man?!"

The group of four reacted to his roar and looked toward him. Then a smile crept up the old wrinkled face of the fourth lord, and he said, "Oh, has his Highness finally awoken from his slumber! And with quite the temper if I may add." The other three chuckled when one of them said, "Well, he did crawl out of one of those savages. Therefore, he is also nothing but a beast."

"Quite so, yes!" The fourth lord said in approval before he returned his attention back to Bazuul. "What was it you last mumbled?" He asked while his fingers fiddled with his beard. "Ah, yes, my name, was it?" He added before an eerie giggle escaped him. "My name is Lir-Thuthelus Richat, as you already know, I'm the lord of the fourth cycle..." Bazuul's eyes contracted in shock when he heard that last name while this devious elder paused to create some suspense. "And you, my dear little prince, might make for the perfect slave."

THE END

Thanks to everyone that has been part of this journey!

It has been a pleasure.

The second book will begin releasing by the holiday season.

If you can't wait until then, check out the first book of my other series, Codename: Karma.