Wizards of Light Volume 2

By Shanil Misra

Iridia was once a peaceful world, cohabited by Elves, Mermen and Dwarfs. Then Man arrived. The original inhabitants soon found that they could not coexist with Man and his many vices. The Elves fled to the forests, the Mermen the oceans and the Dwarfs the mountains. The magical creatures of Iridia, such as the unicorns and griffins, were hunted mercilessly. Dragons, annoyed by Man’s interference in their affairs, retreated to their vast network of caves to slumber. Man discovered magic, engaged in magical experimentation, and arcane magic was formalized. Guilds of wizards were formed and were in high demand in all four kingdoms. Experimentation resulted in hybrid races and black magic, and practitioners of the Dark Arts were banned from all formal guilds. Senior wizards were highly sought after as protectors and advisors to royalty and nobility. All ethical wizards aspired towards guild memberships of the opulent port of Halibar, or the ancient city of Mount Grande.

Two centuries ago, the first Wizard of Light was born, molded with Man’s attributes, but with a special affinity for the primal magical energy of Iridia. He called this cosmic energy the “Flow”, and found he was as attuned to the Flow as much as his other senses were attuned to his surroundings. Five other Wizards of Light were born since, each with primary powers aligned to his color of the Light. “The Six” became elite advisors to the royalty of Iridia. Then an ancient entity came to them in their dreams. It hungered for the Flow. It conveyed to them in their nightmares its primordial desire to devour the energies of the world itself. It needed to feed, and it needed them to prepare the world for its coming. The six split into factions of three. Red, Orange and Yellow chose the dark path and became pawns of their Master. Their leader, Rubeus of the Red, initiated the Great Purge. What followed were years of tyranny as the Elves, Dwarfs and other hybrid races were culled to the verge of extinction. The other faction of Blue, Indigo and Violet simply called the entity the “Evil”. This trio vowed to oppose the oppression of the Triad, before they split up.

Mauve of the Indigo was appointed Protector of Halibar, the last outpost of freedom in the world. Azurean of the Blue raised Viridian of the Green in seclusion in the desert, then sent him for training in Halibar when he was nineteen. He returned to Halibar to help Mauve withstand an attack against the Triad’s army, helped by Limbar the Black, three red dragons, the traitor Albar and his demon. Tyrian of the Violet could not help Mauve as Rubeus had kidnapped Lissandra the elf. The young Viridian, or Vee for short, could not help initially, due to a devious imprisonment by Rubeus. Then he returned on the back of Shandar the magical unicorn, and used his heightened power over the Flow to save Halibar from certain destruction.

What follows are the further adventures of Vee as Halibar recovers from its terrible battle, and the Triad prepares for the coming of their Master: the rise of Evil.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shanil Misra
• Release date: Sep 25, 2017
• ISBN: 9780639905471

Book preview

Wizards of Light

Volume 2: The Rise of Evil

Shanil Misra

Copyright © Shanil Misra

Cover Art © Renaldo Goosen

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means without permission from the author.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

Smashwords First Edition

wizardsoflight.wikia.com

www.shanilmisra.com

ISBN 978-0-6399054-3-3

Table of Contents

1. The Dungeon

2. Halibar Heals

3. The Trial of Albar

4. The Triad Strategizes

5. Dragons!

6. The Arrival of Tyrian

7. The Evil Speaketh

8. Dragon Master

9. Spirits of the Swamp

10. Locating Klem

11. King of Thieves

12. D’lorna Returns

13. The Dur’bar

14. Elixia

15. Visitors from the North

16. Calm before the Storm

17. Demons in our Midst

18. Madness

19. The Evil Cometh

20. Cliffhanger

21. Epilogue

Introduction

Iridia was once a peaceful world, cohabited by Elves, Mermen and Dwarfs. Then Man arrived. The original inhabitants soon found that they could not coexist with Man and his many vices. The Elves fled to the forests, the Mermen the oceans and the Dwarfs the mountains. The magical creatures of Iridia, such as the unicorns and griffins, were hunted mercilessly. Dragons, annoyed by Man’s interference in their affairs, retreated to their vast network of caves to slumber. Man discovered magic, engaged in magical experimentation, and arcane magic was formalized. Guilds of wizards were formed and were in high demand in all four kingdoms. Experimentation resulted in hybrid races and black magic, and practitioners of the Dark Arts were banned from all formal guilds. Senior wizards were highly sought after as protectors and advisors to royalty and nobility. All ethical wizards aspired towards guild memberships of the opulent port of Halibar, or the ancient city of Mount Grande.

Two centuries ago, the first Wizard of Light was born, molded with Man’s attributes, but with a special affinity for the primal magical energy of Iridia. He called this cosmic energy the Flow, and found he was as attuned to the Flow as much as his other senses were attuned to his surroundings. Five other Wizards of Light were born since, each with primary powers aligned to his color of the Light. The Six became elite advisors to the royalty of Iridia. Then an ancient entity came to them in their dreams. It hungered for the Flow. It conveyed to them in their nightmares its primordial desire to devour the energies of the world itself. It needed to feed, and it needed them to prepare the world for its coming. The six split into factions of three. Red, Orange and Yellow chose the dark path and became pawns of their Master. Their leader, Rubeus of the Red, initiated the Great Purge. What followed were years of tyranny as the Elves, Dwarfs and other hybrid races were culled to the verge of extinction. The other faction of Blue, Indigo and Violet simply called the entity the Evil. This trio vowed to oppose the oppression of the Triad, before they split up.

Mauve of the Indigo was appointed Protector of Halibar, the last outpost of freedom in the world. Azurean of the Blue raised Viridian of the Green in seclusion in the desert, then sent him for training in Halibar when he was nineteen. He returned to Halibar to help Mauve withstand an attack against the Triad’s army, helped by Limbar the Black, three red dragons, the traitor Albar and his demon. Tyrian of the Violet could not help Mauve as Rubeus had kidnapped Lissandra the elf. The young Viridian, or Vee for short, could not help initially, due to a devious imprisonment by Rubeus. Then he returned on the back of Shandar the magical unicorn, and used his heightened power over the Flow to save Halibar from certain destruction.

What follows are the further adventures of Vee as Halibar recovers from its terrible battle, and the Triad prepares for the coming of their Master: the rise of Evil.

Synopsis of Book 1: The Coming of the Seventh

As a child was born to a little village of Greater Halibar, Rubeus arrived to steal the child and adopt it as his own. Azurean intercepted, a furious magical battle ensued, and Azurean managed to escape with the child to his concealed magical abode in the Arrakash desert, away from any interference.

The child, named Viridian, grew up under Azurean’s expert magical tutelage, isolated in the abode for years. Azurean taught him all about magic, and how special he was compared to the ordinary men of Iridia. By the time Viridian was ten, he was already an accomplished wizard. He was then introduced to the Arcane and more importantly the Flow, which was only known to the most powerful creatures of Iridia including the dragons and the wizards of Light. He was then told that he was the seventh of the Light.

When Viridian turned sixteen, still in isolation, he was at one with the Flow and a very advanced wizard, due to steady practice with his ‘uncle’ as well as being taught meditative techniques. They invited Mauve, the Protector of Halibar, to visit them. She explained the Prophecy and the Evil to Viridian. They also spoke of the elves, dragons, Limbar the Black, the mermen, the dwarves and Tyrian.

When Viridian turned nineteen, he bid a sorrowful farewell to his master and uncle, and made his journey to Halibar via Roshal. When he reached the court, Mauve announced that he would be her apprentice and a member of the Halibar Guild of wizards. This took the courtiers by surprise and Viridian knew that he would have to prove himself. He was introduced to the senior members of the Guild, and Damar the commander of the military. When Vee (short for Viridian) was introduced to the sisters who ruled the three towns of Halibar, it was the youngest Lyonara who took him by surprise and this would be the beginning of a part-time romantic relationship between them.

Vee began an intensive year of training in Halibar. He trained with Damar and with the Guild. When he bested D’lorn, Rajik and Cedraine in mock battle, it became apparent to them why he had been chosen as Mauve’s apprentice. During his first year of training he had also become good friends with Andobar, leader of the mermen. After the year was almost up, the suspicious Albar decided to have his first meeting with Vee. Vee accompanied him to his tower in the city and Albar spoke to him about the Dark Arts and performed a few experiments. During the final experiment, Albar managed to summon a unicorn which revealed its name, Shandar, to Vee, then turned into light and disappeared before Albar could unsummon him.

Another year of training continued in Halibar. Vee was now familiar with the Arcane and other magical creatures of Iridia from his conversations with Mauve, the senior Guild and the many books of the central library. They spoke at length about dragons and Mauve introduced Vee to the intensive and addictive Flow and travel within.

The members of the Triad – Rubeus of the red, Xanthar of the yellow and Aurora of the orange spectrum of the Light – plotted in Rubeus’s castle atop Mount Grande. They grew tired of years of rebellion and maintaining the Purge, and wanted to commence with the attack on Halibar. They also spoke of summoning the Master with Limbar’s help.

Vee was now twenty years old and began his first mission – a journey to seek Tyrian and possibly enlist the help of the Green dragon. Tyrian found him, but Vee let his aura down and Tyrian had to whisk him off to his treetop abode in the Seclusion, magically protected from everyone and everything. After forgiving his nephew’s impetuousness, he introduced him to Lissandra, the last of the elves. She surprised Vee by telling him that she could take him to the dragon. When they eventually met the green dragon of Ylondir who lived in a hall deep in the Dur’Grande, Vee was completely overwhelmed by the power and beauty of the Flow exuding from the dragon. He convinced the dragon of the coming of the Evil, which accomplished two objectives: the dragon promised to awaken the other dragons to discuss the disturbances in the Void; and the dragon gave Vee a calling stone. When the elf and Vee parted ways, they knew that they had been followed by the Shades of Limbar, but could not do anything about it. The Shades gave Limbar and in turn, Rubeus, vital information.

Vee returned to Halibar with good and bad news. The good news was that Tyrian pledged his allegiance, and that the dragon was contacted. The bad news was that Tyrian confirmed that the Silvaran armies were being mobilized for war, and that Rubeus had enlisted the help of three red dragons. The senior members of the Halibar court discussed strategies of the upcoming war. Azurean pledged that he would come when needed. Halibar went into high alert and prepared intensively for war. Rubeus delayed the attack for three weeks, being the master tactician himself. He also had a devious plan up his sleeve to get rid of Vee before the attack.

Rubeus convinced a great red dragon to take him to Griffin Tower. It was there that the dragon used the stolen Green calling stone to call Vee to the tower, and in doing so revealed the properties of dragon calling stone magic to Rubeus. He then set up an elaborate ruse via a magical fake dragon, and when Vee used Flow Travel for the first time to teleport to the tower, he was imprisoned by Rubeus and could not escape due to powerful enchantments. Soon after, Lissandra was captured by the Shades and something powerful, and Tyrian got the message that he was not to help Mauve or the elf would die.

Eventually the armies of Mount Grande, Silvara and the South were mobilized and journeyed towards Halibar for the attack. Azurean teleported to Halibar to permanently leave his abode, much to the satisfaction of Mauve and the Halibar Guild. While the attacking army rested the first night just after arriving, Rubeus sent the red dragons on a foray to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting Halibar army. With great difficulty they managed to contain them, not without loss, and it set the scene for a difficult war for Halibar.

Early the next day, the battle began. Halibar took up a defensive formation behind the Great Wall of iron. Rubeus marched forward with his army of soldiers, the magicians of Mount Grande and his archer fortresses - not to mention Xanthar, Aurora, Limbar and the three red dragons. While the Triad concentrated on breaching the wall, Rubeus sent his dragons once again for a diversion. While they wreaked havoc on Halibar’s army, the Triad breached the gate with their awesomely powerful combined ‘orb of stars’ spell. It was then that Rubeus ordered everyone to attack. Limbar attacked with undead soldiers and elementals. The archer fortresses proved impenetrable and the dragons continued their rains of fire. Mauve asked for help from the mermen, who used their power over water to curb the dragonfire. Rubeus had already achieved his objectives for the day and called in his army to rest. Amidst reports of great casualties came the news that D’lorn had died. Lyonara had an outburst after learning about Vee’s mission to meet the green dragon. They decided that night to send D’lorna to poison Limbar, but she was captured by Rubeus.

The next day, Albar the traitor was introduced by Rubeus, controlling the demon Shagh’rak. Along with the ferocious demon, Limbar’s animated golems and his skeleton soldiers, the dragons continued their carnage and even the Triad outnumbered their Light counterpart of Mauve and Azurean. When the demon bested Damar in battle, and the Halibar army was reduced to about a fifth, Mauve decided to call a retreat to the original stone wall of Halibar beyond the river. Rubeus told his army to rest the morning out and resume the attack at midday.

Vee awoke in his prison at Griffin Tower and was surprised to find Shandar there. Overcome with emotion, his eyes glowing green, he defeated the enchantments of Rubeus and burst out of the prison. He traveled on Shandar, who phased between solid and light, at great speed to the battle front. He witnessed the Halibar army in its last throes of defeat. He saw a terrible future for Halibar and was overcome with emotion once more. The power of the Green enveloped him in a blinding ball of light and Vee hovered over the river wondering what was happening to him. From within the Flow he managed to target key elements of the attacking army. He defeated the dragons easily. Rubeus targeted the green ball but his fire bolts were absorbed by the Flow. Vee then defeated the demon, rendering Albar unconscious in the process. When Limbar saw this he called off his dark magic. When the Triad saw that they could not defeat Vee’s simultaneous beams of energy directed at them, Rubeus was forced to retreat. This led to great rejoicing in Halibar. Vee was their saviour.

Halibar prepared for the terrible task of mourning their loved ones and healing the physically and emotionally wounded. Shandar was declared a hero and given a room in the palace. Albar was captured and the date of his trial was set.

The world of Iridia would never be the same. The Wizards of Light were complete, like the rainbows that stretched from the mountains to the oceans.

1. The Dungeon

Lissandra’s aura flickered between a pale white and brown as she lay shivering on the cold dungeon floor. Her once green clothes were tattered and torn, soiled brown by weeks of neglect. As her teeth chattered from the biting chill of the damp moldy flagstones, she forced herself to think happy thoughts. She thought far back to her childhood, of the carefree days she had spent in the Silvaran forests playing with her brothers and the animals she loved. This was her only means of clinging on to her gradually declining life force. It was not only the cold, the darkness and the stale air that had drained her willingness to live; it was the spiritless consuming nature of the creature she had to contend with in the dungeon – a creature she had come to know simply as ‘the Beast’.

Recently, it had seemed even to her that she was living on the brink of madness. Her thoughts jumped wildly between her youth centuries ago, to the recent events that had led to her capture. She constantly worried about Tyrian and the animals of the forest that they had protected for such a long time. She worried too about the fate of the world, as she knew they had captured her to get to Tyrian. They had spoken of the Evil and the siege of Halibar just before the capture. It did not take much intelligence to realize that hers was a strategic imprisonment. She hoped that Tyrian had not been foolish enough to play into the hands of Rubeus. There was much more at stake.

Then she winced as she heard the sound. At first, as always, it began as a faint tapping in the far reaches of the dungeon. Then it grew ever louder, echoing in the corridors, sending icicles down her spine. Then, always too soon, the heavy thud of massive boots. Thud! Thud! then a pause, as the abomination limped its way towards her cell. She had grown so accustomed to the routine of its entry that she almost didn’t notice that today something was different. Ever so slightly. The Beast was dragging something along. Something light.

When the thud of its footsteps stopped, she knew it was standing outside the cell. She could hear its heavy breathing and feel the melancholy of its spirit. She heard it fiddling with a bunch of keys with its clumsy fingers, and cursing as it dropped the bunch as usual. After some time it finally found the correct key and slowly turned the key in its rusty lock, then heaved the heavy iron door open. In the bare illumination behind it, she saw its hideous form standing at the open doorway, glaring at her.

It was a massive brute indeed, about twice the size of an ordinary man, and about a third taller. It had thick deformed legs, with thighs the size of tree trunks, and a large hirsute belly that stretched its torn leather tunic to the limit. Its arms were equally hefty and deformed, giving it the size and strength to wield a gigantic club that always hung at its side, attached to a leather belt. Its head was no less hairy than its body, with gaping nostrils, jutting ears and a mouth sparsely populated with yellow misshapen teeth. But this was no ordinary troll. What gave that away, to Lissandra at least, was its red eyes. They were not merely bloodshot, as severe lack of sleep would have suggested, but were a deep and true red. She wondered what kind of diabolical experiment could have created such a fiend.

Every day for the past week the Beast would make its blundering way to the door and struggle to open it. Every day it would stand at the doorway and drool into Lissandra’s food – a slimy viscous drool that had made her stomach churn with disgust every time. She had not eaten since her capture. She was drawing on her last bit of reserves, even though elves had the ability to survive without eating for weeks on end. But this day was different. The Beast held on to something in its left hand. Lissandra could not quite make out what it was; it seemed displeased about something. It stared at its parcel. Or was it a parcel? It deliberated for some time, looking at the parcel, then at Lissandra, over and over. The suspense was beginning to get tiresome. After an eternity of deliberation, which was rather bad news for Lissandra as the creature stank to high heaven, it grunted something with disgust and heaved the parcel into the cell. Its grunt was guttural and toady, and it spat a glob of something foul into the cell as it took one last hateful glare at Lissandra, then slam-locked the door and trudged away. Lissandra heaved a sigh of relief. The parcel was no parcel at all. It was a female wizard.

After Lissandra had recovered from the surprise, she clambered over to the young wizard. She hoisted her up and dragged her gently over to a corner of the cell where she could sit up. The wizard was barely conscious. She peeped at Lissandra out of puffy eyes, struggling to stay awake. She mumbled something incomprehensible, and her head dropped as though she was about to fall unconscious again. Lissandra held on to her, and put her hand to the wizard’s chest. Her life force was weak. So was hers. But elves had an inbred affinity for all life. They knew no other way but to be true to themselves. Lissandra called on the few reserves she had left, and placed both hands on the wizard’s chest and concentrated. Her aura changed from brown to a dull green, then lighter green as she shared her life force with the stranger. After barely a minute, she fell unconscious from the extreme toll the effort had taken on her being. They both slumped into a heap, as a deep sleep overcame them.

Much higher up in the castle, a livid and bitter Rubeus paced around his bedroom, muttering to himself. He had been beating himself up the last few days over the ignominious loss at Halibar. He had blamed himself for the defeat. He thought that he had planned it to perfection, until that pesky boy had returned, amazingly from an impossible imprisonment, to save the day. But save the day in that manner? This bothered Rubeus to the limit. He had not slept since returning from the battlefield. He was beginning to doubt the instructions of the Master. Keep the wizards of Light alive? Why? As a multitude of possibilities crossed his mind, he stopped pacing at last and sat on the edge of his bed. He brooded as he sat hunched, with chin in hands. His eyes glowered red, like coals about to be stoked on an open fire. Then all of a sudden, things became very clear to him. The Master’s instructions, via Limbar, were ambiguous. The Master had spoken in riddles, like that damned Scroll. Perhaps his instructions were to get rid of the protectors of Halibar, rather than Halibar itself.

As the idea grew in his mind, it began to appeal to him more and more. The decades of rebellion from Man had taken its toll on the Triad. The armies had little confidence left, after Vee had demonstrated such awesome power over the Flow. To bring them to the point of siege again would impose too great a penalty not only on himself, but Xanthar and Aurora too. Besides, Halibar’s army was severely depleted already. In a way, Rubeus had achieved a minor victory in that respect. There were so many other ways to ‘clear the way’ when Master was to arrive. He had calling stone power over powerful dragons. He was leader of the Triad, the most feared organization of Iridia. He had Limbar who was getting closer to freeing his Master. He had two key prisoners in his dungeon. He turned his thoughts to the elf. Dare he use the elf to get to Tyrian once more? Why not, he thought to himself. The chances were that the elf-friend would do anything to keep her alive. But how far would Tyrian go? He