Interruption One
Present Day
The Private Meeting Chamber for The Old Council of Wizards Who Fight on Behalf of the Greater Good, a.k.a. the Good Wizard’s Council
Holding a Trial
The Good Wizard sneezed. It was a loud, disruptive sneeze that got the attention of all the other good wizards in the chamber.
To distinguish between the various good wizards present, this Good Wizard always thought of himself as The Good Wizard, while everyone else was simply a good wizard.
Of course, he knew everyone else also thought of themselves as The Good Wizard, but this was his mind and his narration, so he was allowed to be the one and only The.
The Good Wizard sneezed a second time, spraying the papers in front of him with spittle. “I apologize,” he mumbled, voice nasally as he rubbed his nose. “Someone must be considering using my services.” Whether it was true or not, it made him sound important.
“Ah, you set your alerts up as a sneeze?” a good wizard asked. She leaned forward and grinned behind her enormous gray beard. “I prefer a ringing in my ears. Doubles as a way to drown out annoying noises.” Her eyes slid slyly to the leader of their organization.
Their leader was the only one who was not, in fact, a good wizard. Instead, he was the Grand Chancellor of Good Magic, and the only person to hold that title in over three hundred years.
The Grand Chancellor scowled at her. Another way he separated himself from the other wizards was by being the only one present who did not have a beard, so his displeasure was easier to see. “If that’s quite enough side chatter?”
Both good wizards bowed their heads apologetically.
Satisfied, the Grand Chancellor guided everyone’s attention to the small black mass in the center of the arena.
The evil mage was allowed to wear a black cloak for his own comfort.
Not his black cloak of course, in case he’d enchanted it, but one provided by the council.
However, he was not allowed to put the hood up to cover his face, so they had cut it off.
Which technically made it a cape, not a cloak, but semantics aside, it served its purpose.
“The Good Wizard’s Council has gathered today to discuss the crimes of Brutus Arnulf, Formerly Known as the Lord of Grimnight—”
“I am currently the Lord of Grimnight!” Brutus shouted.
The council members sat in stands that were twenty-feet tall, so no one could really blame the mage for shouting. It was the only way he could be heard. Still, the lack of respect in his tone made the Grand Chancellor’s eyes narrow.
“Neither our council nor our counterparts in the Council of Evil can confirm how exactly you earned your title. You claim it was when you cursed the city of Traumstead into the Grimnight Forest, yet our records indicate you are fifty-nine years old. You would have been nine years old at the time the curse was cast.”
“Fine, so I am not the original Lord of Grimnight, but I stole the title fair and square, so I am still the Lord of Grimnight!” The evil mage stomped his foot to emphasize his point.
The Grand Chancellor remained unconvinced. “For the purposes of this trial, we shall refer to you as Brutus, if you don’t mind.”
“I do.”
The Grand Chancellor ignored him. “You are accused of interfering with a defense spell cast by one of our good wizards.”
The Good Wizard straightened. It was his spell the mage had tampered with. For decades, the Kingdom Defense Spell around the Desolated Lands had stood unchallenged—aside from the minor confusion of Prince Frederick and Prince Brendon’s marriage.
“I’m an evil mage,” Brutus replied. “Of course I’d be tempted by an untouchable land protected by a complicated spell. Any evil mage worth their salt would want to conquer those unsullied lands.”
“Interesting that you say that. The Lord of Darkness, Prince of Shadows, Bringer of Terrible Evil, The Great and Powerful Cyril, has known the truth about the Desolated Lands for decades and never raised a finger against them.”
“He’s what? How did he find out? Just this one bloody time can’t I know a secret he doesn’t?” As Brutus raged, he stomped around the little arena, kicking at the air. It would have been an impressive temper tantrum for a toddler.
“We’re more interested in learning how you found out,” the Grand Chancellor stated.
Brutus paused, then straightened to his full height. “Not telling.”
“A shame. If you were willing to give us the name of your accomplice, we might consider leniency.”
Brutus snorted. “You wouldn’t be able to find her anyway. Trust me, I’ve tried. Not even sure she’s still alive.”
“Then it shouldn’t be a problem naming her.”
Brutus raised his bound hands and waggled a finger at the Grand Chancellor. “Nice try, but I’m evil, not a snitch.”
The Grand Chancellor abandoned that line of questioning and focused on the next issue. “You are further accused of using a child to infiltrate the Kingdom of Bane. You are aware, I’m sure, that even evil mages have an age of consent? Children under the age of thirteen cannot consent to evil acts.”
“Unless they are your own flesh and blood, or an orphan. Then it’s up to the guardians to decide.”
The Good Wizard frowned and spoke up, “That only applies to taking an apprentice. Even then, apprentices are only allowed to learn evil practices, they are not allowed to commit evil acts until they are at least thirteen years of age.”
Brutus’ self-righteous hands slowly lowered.
“Didn’t think we would know that rule, did you?” sneered a good wizard on the other side of the stands.
Brutus’ eyes flicked between the gathering of wizards before him. Then he blurted out, “I demand evil representation.”
“Denied,” the Grand Chancellor replied.
“But—”
“Your own council has wiped its hands of you. As it turns out, none of them wish to be associated with a man who would send his son into enemy territory with no magical skills and no way to protect himself.” The Grand Chancellor looked over his half-moon spectacles at Brutus.
“You understand your son could have died, correct?”
The evil mage said nothing.
“Onto the next charge. Finally, you are accused of creating an unregulated pocket dimension within the Grimnight Forest and manipulating the timestream within it.”
“What?” Brutus exclaimed, genuinely stunned by this claim. “I’m not capable of that!” Realizing what he’d confessed, he screwed his lips up in displeasure.
“Who would be?” asked The Good Wizard, though he already suspected the real culprit. He sadly scratched his incoming beard. Seventy years he’d been growing his original beard, only for an evil brat to chop it off to impersonate him!
The evil mage who had just claimed he wasn’t a snitch immediately put all blame on another. “My apprentice! It must be him. His name is Wilde, no surname. Orphan, I think.”
“You believe an apprentice is powerful enough to create a pocket dimension?” the Grand Chancellor drawled.
“Yes! Well, I don’t know about the pocket dimension, but I’ve seen him manipulate time before! Now, if you want to blame someone for Treasure’s death, Wilde is the real culprit. Wilde stopped time, and the next thing I knew, Treasure had been stabbed. Really, it’s all Wilde’s fault he died.”
“Your son Treasure is alive,” the Grand Chancellor said.
Brutus stared at him unspeaking for a long moment. “He is? But he was … that branch went straight through him.”
The evil mage seemed more surprised than relieved to hear that his son had lived. The Good Wizard wondered if that had anything to do with his son also not agreeing with his father’s child-rearing methods. It wasn’t unusual in their line of work for sons to seek revenge against bad fathers.
“He is,” the Grand Chancellor confirmed.
“When the apprentice created his pocket dimension, he interrupted the renewal of the Kingdom Defense Spell. Until it is successfully renewed, all five royal champions remain necessary components for the spell. If Treasure had died, the defense spell would have already fallen, and your plan would have worked at the expense of your own son’s life. ”
“But that’s exactly it! He’s my son! Not Brendon Banes’ son! Treasure doesn’t count for the spell.”
As the one who crafted the spell, The Good Wizard knew its parameters best. He cleared his throat, waited until he had everyone’s attention, and then said, “The moment Brendon Banes acknowledged Treasure as his son and awarded him the title of Prince of Bane, he became a viable component for the spell. Regardless of their blood relationship, he is a royal son of Bane.”
“I … but … they didn’t defeat me! I won that battle! They were my prisoners, so fuck your spell—” he jabbed a finger at The Good Wizard—“it should have fallen!”
“Regardless of your personal opinion,” The Good Wizard sneered, “it still stands.” Though he didn’t know how much longer it would continue to do so with all five champions stuck in a pocket dimension. The council couldn’t see past the dimension’s barrier without taking the risk of stepping inside.
“Dammit, you mean I did that for nothing?”
“Not for nothing,” the Grand Chancellor declared. “You’ve earned a certain amount of notoriety, which I understand evil mages like yourself value. You’ve also earned yourself a lovely stay in an imprisonment crystal.” He reached below his podium and pulled out a pale pink, foot-tall tower crystal.
“No.” Brutus backed away from the Grand Chancellor, but there was nowhere for him to go. Good wizards surrounded him on all sides, trapping him within the arena. “No! I will not be imprisoned in a pink crystal!”
The end of the word ‘crystal’ stretched into a long wail as the evil mage was sucked inside. A few seconds later, a black smear appeared in the center of the crystal and the structure oozed impotent malevolence.
“You will remain in our custody during our investigation,” the Grand Chancellor explained to the crystal.
Then he turned his focus onto the council members themselves. “We need to understand exactly what is going on inside that pocket dimension. Any volunteers?”
Every good wizard remained silent.
Good wizards did not go on quests. They nudged other people to go on quests for them.
The Good Wizard sighed. He would regret this, but his spell was the one about to collapse. “I’ll go.”
Besides, he needed to teach that bratty apprentice a lesson—never touch a wizard’s beard.