Wizards

CHAPTER 9: Duel in the Den

Jovial pressed his earpiece trying to reach the others but all he hears was static.

     "Can anybody copy?"

     Beside him, a young boy, covered in dirt, smelled like crap, pulled his clothes. Jovial grabbed an apple inside his pouch and gave it to him. Again, he called through his earpiece and it was the same.

     A communication blocker, he thought, looking above for an antenna that might have been causing the interference.

     "Going in alone then," he whispered.

     Leaving the wall behind him, diving into the middle of the crowd; head down while scanning the area.

     Where are you? He thought.

     Roof? He looked up and nothing was there.

     He scanned left and right. Not there. . . .

     Touching his earpiece, he called once again . . . static.

     Tired, but still with patience, Jovial leaned on a wall again and waited. The sewer grate opened and the kid who received the apple a while ago pops out.

     "We found him, Jovial," he said.

     "Thank you, Mouse," he said and threw him another apple.

     He blended once again on the crowd and let the noise camouflaged his presence as he slid through every corner in the Lyon Isle, turning into every narrow passage unnoticed, following a hooded figure.

     You're not going anywhere, old man he thought. He kept on walking. This hooded man was going in circles. He wasn't buying anything, wasn't stopping to check items, and wasn't going anywhere.

     The hooded man turned — Jovial grabbed a piece of fabric and covered his head, he looked down but kept on walking. Seconds enough had passed, long enough for an average person to shift focus, Jovial raised his head to check the hooded man. He was standing there, meeting his glare. And then he ran.

     He knew! Jovial thought — he started chasing the man who turned into a narrow pass that was very familiar to Jovial. It was a straight pass to the place they call The Den. He grabbed his wand and points at the sewer grate.

     "Talitirus!"

     The grate shoots up, flipped, and dropped to the same position with Jovial under it.

     He waved his wand and casts "Lux!" A ball of light shot from his wand and followed him around, shedding light to the dark sewage. And as soon as he reached another grate, he cast the same flipping spell and jumped up to The Den.

     The hooded man, not far from Jovial's position, cast a spell — luckily hitting the grate before it drops back to its position and not Jovial.

     "Fix your aim, man!" Jovial yelled. Then he flicked his wand and cast a curse.

     The hooded man moved and his hood fell off his head. He was an old man, bald and looked like a caveman. For an old fella; he moved quickly dodging Jovial's attack, casting a counter curse. That one nearly got him if it weren't for his reliable reflexes. He shot back but the old man deflected the attack, sending it in a different direction.

     "Is that your best shot, boy?"

     "Who are you and why are you following Rei?"

     The old man grinned and sent another bolt of spell to Jovial. The exchange went on until sweat dripped down their faces. Jovial thought the man can play well for his age. To be able to duel with him — the old man was no joke.

     Jovial sent red flares to the sky and threw a fireball spell to the old man to which he countered with a ball of water. They were fencing, sending spells one after another, and deflecting spell after spell.

     The old man levitated a carriage and threw it to Jovial, hitting him and sending him to the ground. It was a direct hit to the head and it made everything spin. Jovial cannot recognize the difference between ground and sky anymore. The numbing pain prevented him to move any further. He tried to get up . . . he can't.

     "You are weak," the old man walked and stared down at Jovial. "This is this generation's warlocks? Disgusting!"

     That's right. . . . What happened? A warlock — a so-called master of dark magic — lying on the ground, defeated by an old man.

     "No last words from you disgraceful warlock," the old man continued.

     Jovial smiled. Killed by an old man, huh. . . . He thought.

     "Ferucio!"

     Blood sprayed all over the walls, ground, and Jovial's face.

     Was he dead? Was that his blood he smells? It's dripping all over his face. He opened his eyes. An angel stared down at his face, she wasn't smiling, she was clearly in between disappointment and worry if there was ever a thing.

     His vision slowly cleared.

     "Morrigan," he said.

     "You look pathetic, Jovial."

     "Thanks."

     Morrigan kneeled beside Jovial and opened his clothes.

     "What are you doing?"

     "Shut up and relax. This is gonna be nasty," she said and pointed her wand to Jovial's chest.

     "Receptos!"

     Jovial bit his lips, containing the painful roar behind his teeth as his ribs made several cracking sounds. It was a sudden relief. Breathing was now as easy and the pain gradually ceased. And with the help of Morrigan's soft hand, Jovial stood. He watched the old man lie on the ground, drowning in his own blood.

     Ignoring the little pain, Jovial and Morrigan went beside the old man.

     "Who's your master?"

     All the old man answered was "My brothers will come for me" and nothing else. Jovial could not understand; was it literal or does it has some kind of meaning to it?

     The old man pointed his fingers straight and laughed.

     "Ha! A brother came! Alas! A —" a green light flashed in front of Jovial and Morrigan as a bolt of green light struck the old man to the heart, suddenly turning him into dust.

     They looked back, readied their wand for another battle. And there, a man in black robes, riding on a broomstick, was hovering in the air far away from them. With a distance like this; it's beyond impossible for a clear shot.

     Dozens of men in black robes appeared one by one, all riding on a broomstick, forming a circle around them. One of them fired a spell. Jovial dodged. It was followed by another, and then another.

     Overwhelmed by the numbers of spells raining on them, Jovial led their escape and slid to the sewage under the Den.

     "Did you saw the tattoo on his arm?" asked Jovial.

     "We'll talk about it when we get back to Guild Tower. For now, let's just focus on getting out alive."

     They grabbed their wands and flicked them.

     "Lux!"

     And the dark sewage was lit.