WIZARD
DUELS
THE BEGINNING
COPYRIGHT 2011 WIZARD DUELS
AN UNWANTED ORDER
Chapter 1
The door slowly creaked open and a bell rang as the shopkeeper turned to see what the interruption was. The hour had just struck five, and the wind was howling outside as the tall dark figure entered the shop and slowly walked toward the counter. The shopkeeper got up from his work bench and approached the mysterious looking figure. "Good day my lord may I be of some assistance to you?” asked the shopkeeper. "Fifen" the tall man said in a low growling voice. "Fifen, I am looking for a man named Fifen". The shopkeeper swallowed harshly and replied "I am he sir". "You are a Wandcrafter, nay?" said the dark looking figure. Fifen, not being able to make out the facial features of the man in the dimly lit room, answered "Yes Sir, grandmaster Wandcrafter to be exact". The tall figure was standing with his right hand clenched into a fist and resting on top of the counter. He slowly opened the rather large hand revealing the hidden objects he was holding and said "Do you know what these are?" Fifen grabbed a nearby lantern and pulled it onto the counter. He now could see the face of the hooded man more clearly. The face was unshaven with hard lines on the brow and deep set eyes that had an evil look to them. He guessed the man’s age to be somewhere in his mid forties. The lanterns light produced a reflection of illuminating color from the tall figures hand. There, plain as one could see, were three gems. One red, one blue, and one green in color. Fifen searched for the words to reply to the question "Yes my lord. I mean I have not seen such gems before but have heard that such gems at one time existed. How, might I ask, have you come into possession of these gems, and to what name do you answer?" Fifen asked. The tall figure reached across the counter and grabbed Fifen by his tunic and pulled him nose to nose starring coldly into Fifens eyes. "Who I am and how I possess these gems is no concern of yours. Now then, grandmaster Wandcrafter, I request you make me a Nature Wand with these gems implanted on it. Now what be your price?" he asked as he released his grip on the shopkeeper. Fifen kept his temper in check although he had thoughts of grabbing his wand and laying a well placed spell on the man."Kind Sir", Fifen said, "I am not sure I can make such a wand as you request. Such a wand has not been seen since the time of Merlin, and then I am not certain that is was but a tale of myth". "What is your price?" the grimly looking man shouted. "My lord, if it could be done at all, a wand of this type would cost upwards of one thousand pounds". "A thousand pounds?" screamed the tall man. "You are a shrewd one Fifen. How long to make the wand?" Fifen feeling a bit on edge replied "A good month at the least my lord." "A month? A month? Surely a grandmaster wand crafter such as yourself could do it faster than that." Fifen shifted his weight "Well, well maybe if..." The shadowy figure broke in "Here is the deal Wandcrafter Fifen, I will give you one month to finish the wand and pay you your wage of one thousand pounds. If you finish the wand before the month is up I will pay you fifteen hundred pounds because I am a generous man. But if it takes longer than a month I will take your life on the principal that you are worthless at your trade." Fifen looked down at the gems again. "You are more than kind my Lord, please leave the gems with me. And how will I inform you when the wand is done?" asked the shopkeeper. The hooded figure dropped the gems on the counter saying "I will contact you Wandcrafter, every week, until I see the wand completed and in my hand. Until you see me next I would suggest you get started at your craft." The tall man turned around, spat on the floor, and slowly headed for the same door that he had entered through. He opened the door, then stopped, and turned to look at Fifen "And oh yes, tell no one of my visit here. Should anyone find out that I have patronized your establishment, I will assume your lips could not keep still, and I would then have to kill you, do you understand?" he asked. Fifen grinned while biting his tongue "Yes my lord, my lips are sealed." At this the dirty looking man slipped outside into the howling wind. Fifen picked the gems up from the counter and carefully examined them. There was no doubt that these gems were enchanted. Just the way they reflected light told they were not simply an average stone. These kinds of gems were told to exist over five hundred years ago but no one Fifen knew had ever seen such gems. It was said that Fifen’s great, great, great grandfather once crafted a wand for Merlin with such enchanted gems on it. This wand was so powerful that only such a wizard as Merlin could wield its power. Whether the story was true, or just folklore handed down from older generations, was not clear. Fifen had never crafted a gemmed wand before, nor had he any idea of how to enchant it. Oh, there was the book of course, on enchantments, but the last chapter in the book entitled “Enchanting Gemmed Wands” was but a mystery even to him. Fifen slipped the gems into a small leather pouch and removed a loose board from the shop floor. He carefully laid the pouch in the hole and hurriedly replaced the floor board looking over his shoulder to make sure no one had seen him hiding the gems. Fifen sat back down pondering what to do next. He knew if he could succeed in making a gemmed wand it would be a miracle in itself. Such a wand in the hands of an evil wizard could be devastating to the Shire, and the stranger certainly looked the part. Fifen pondered telling the Imperial Wizard Guard King about the tall stranger that had entered his shop. After all one thousand pounds was quite a bit of coin to pass up. Lately wizards had been popping up all over the shire. Some good some evil. Narcas, the Imperial Wizard King, had taken control of the Queens Imperial Wizard Guard some twenty years ago. Queen Bess had bestowed this title upon him because of his loyalty to her majesty. The Queen was good to the common folk of the Shire, keeping taxes low and letting a free economy take hold so that what you sowed is what you reaped. All who lived in the Shire were quite happy with this lifestyle. All but a few, who wanted to overthrow the Queen and her Imperial Wizard King, and gain power over the lands for their own personal desires and recognition. Most of these wizards were dealt with swiftly by Narcas and his Guard. But lately there had been more and more of these evil wizards testing the strength of Narcas’s army. This caused many wizard duels within the streets and back alleys of the shire. Narcas had been successful in quelling the revolts so far, but it was getting more difficult as the numbers of his enemies grew. Narcas powers had been compared, by some rather powerful wizards, to be equal to Merlin. Fifen would need to take a two day trip to Binghampton to see his close friend, Narcas, as he knew he would be quite interested in what Fifen had hidden under the shop floor. Fifen had noticed that the wind had calmed down a bit as he walked over and locked the shop door. The clock on the wall chimed as the hour struck five. The rear shop door opened and a young woman’s voice called out lifting the heavy air that still lingered, left behind by the tall hooded figure.
TO BE CONTINUED
