The Archimage Wars: Wizard of Abal (14 page)

“
Damn straight, though
breeding isn’t my first objective,” Hydan answered. “You’re pretty
cute; I could show you what I mean if you want! You see, these
saeran bodies aren’t like humans, or your glorzen bodies, for that
matter, this race procreates by…”

“
Touch me with any part of
you and I will sever that appendage!” Myrka growled.

Hydan grinned, “Ouch! Now that’s just
not nice, but it is very Tarvos!”

I wanted to know more about this
Derkaz, “You were saying, about the Derkaz?”

Hydan turned back to me and replied,
“Oh, yes. Well, some mages here, as seems to be inevitable on all
the worlds, eventually messed around with Derkaz Ether. I mean,
once something is discovered, you can’t put the Greld back into the
box, as they say.”

Myrka started to speak, but Hydan held
up a hand. “You can tell us your opinions later, he asked me to
tell this.”

She closed her mouth, but her dark
eyes were squinted down into a scowl.

I then asked, “OK, so what is so bad
about the Derkaz, and what is it?”

“
It is power,” Myrka burst
out.

“
Remember, it’s my turn,
Sweetheart,” Hydan stated.

Myrka scowled again, “I am
not…”

“
I know, it was a joke,
dearest, and calling you ‘dearest’ is another joke.”

“
I do not like jokes,” she
answered.

Hydan put a hand on his chest and with
a shocked face exclaimed, “No, tell me it’s not true!”

“
It is!” she exclaimed,
missing his theatrical sarcasm completely.

Hydan turned back to me with a grin
and spoke conversationally, “She’s right, the Derkaz is a power, an
insidious power.”

Myrka started to speak again, but
Hydan held up a finger, and she stopped, but she said, “I am going
to kill you someday.”

“
Yes,” he answered, “I’m
sure you’ll try, but not right now.” Then he continued speaking to
me, “Derkaz is insidious because once you let it in, it is like a
bad houseguest who won’t leave. It seemed like fun when they first
got there, but now... Anyway, the Derkaz will attach itself and
become a part of you, like some parasite. Getting rid of it is damn
near impossible.”

“
All right, I get that, but
if it is just some kind of power, what’s the problem?”

Myrka exclaimed, “Exactly, there is no
problem!”

I continued, “Is the Derkaz sentient,
does it have some secret plan?”

Hydan shook his head, “No, not that we
can discern. It is just out there, sitting between the stars, a
dark force, a power.”

“
I don’t understand; if
it’s not sentient, then why can’t you use it?” I asked. “People
think nuclear power is evil, but it is just power.”

Hydan thought for a moment and then
said, “Well, a demonstration then… Myrka, do you see the Velcat,
the little furry one, there, on the side of the road
ahead?”

“
I see it,” Myrka answered
dubiously.

“
It might get in our way
going down the road, though it is harmless enough.”

Myrka immediately raised her hand and
muttered some kind of chant, and then a lance of bright light
exited her palm, striking the little Velcat, which exploded in fur,
blood and other bits of creature.

I jumped back, “What the
hell!”

“
It was in our way, he said
so,” Myrka noted, and started walking again.

Hydan gestured to the remains of the
small creature, “The problem is once you start using the Derkaz you
get more and more casual about destruction. It’s not that it is
evil, but it tends to lead a person down the path to evil. It’s
hard to explain.”

“
Why do you think removing
a threat is evil?” Myrka demanded.

Hydan countered with, “Why do you
think the Velcat was a threat?”

“
Because you said the
creature might get in our way.”

“
Yes, like a stone in the
road, something we would have to go around,” Hydan answered, “I did
not say it was a threat.”

“
It should know better than
to get in the way of a Tarvos sorceress,” Myrka stated.

Hydan turned to me and said, “And that
is what using the Derkaz does to you, it makes you arrogant,
destructive, careless, and cold.”

“
Which are all things we
prize on Annwn,” Myrka stated, “We strive to be sure of ourselves,
strong of power, without emotional attachments, and logical, which
is another way of saying what he claimed.”

Hydan spoke softly, “Your race wasn’t
always this way, back before you all embraced the Derkaz
Ether.”

“
No, once we were weak, but
our race is strong now, and our Archimage will be the one who
Ascends to the Silent Mother’s throne!”

“
I certainly hope not,”
Hydan said with a sigh.

“
I should kill you for
that,” Myrka said coldly.

I broke in at this point, “Hey, didn’t
we discuss that you are not to kill Hydan?”

“
You said, “’For now’, is
it time yet?” she asked hopefully.

“
No, and that part about
‘for now’ was a joke.”

She shrugged, “I don’t…”

“
Joke,” I added for her,
“We got it.”

I wanted to know more about Abal, so I
turned back to Hydan, “OK, so some Sivaeral mages started playing
with this power, this Derkaz.”

“
Yes, and once in, the
Derkaz took up residence in their minds; they started doing and
making things… dangerous things. Suddenly the peace which had
existed on this planet for thousands of years was disrupted as
strange new monsters appeared, created by the mages using the
Derkaz power.”

Myrka spoke up with conviction, “Just
as the Silent Mother wanted. The Sivaeral line was growing weak,
but now their mages battled each other, and the strong
prevail!”

Hydan shrugged, “True enough, though
we do not believe the Derkaz was intended by the Silent
Mother.”

“
Well, we do. And now you
have admitted embracing the Derkaz is the way to strength!” she
exclaimed.

“
No, it is a power, but not
one worth the price,” Hydan answered.

Myrka was confused, “But it is the
logical conclusion to your statement.”

“
But not the right one,” he
replied.

I broke in, “Hey, back on
subject.”

Hydan nodded, “One wizard grew
particularly strong using Derkaz, a Second of the Sivaeral line,
Medrod. There was a massive Civil War across most of this planet.
On the one side was Medrod, son of the Archimage, and he took up
the Derkaz Ether. He convinced others to do so as well, and
eventually Sivaeral mage fought Sivaeral mage in a bloody Civil
War. In the end, the Archimage of Abal had to end his son’s
line.”

“
He killed his child?” I
asked.

“
It is the mage way, the
strong survive, even of their own House,” Myrka noted.

I let that go.

Hydan nodded sadly, “Yes, it
happens.”

I pondered this and then said, “So,
with his rebellious descendant out of the way, why haven’t things
gone back to normal?

Hydan shrugged, “Medrod was not the
only mage to embrace the Derkaz, though he was the strongest. What
really made Medrod dangerous was his mate, a Dokkalfar sorceress
named Morgain. I believe she is the one who introduced Medrod to
the Derkaz Ether. Together they created much which is evil, and a
lot of what they created is still out there, including many strange
and evil creatures. When I was here last I had a run in with that
Dokkalfar sorceresses, and she was strong in the Derkaz. She was
the reason I decided to leave Abal.”

“
She was pretty nasty, I
take it?”

“
The worst, she was very
adamant about roasting me on a spit, I believe. It was as good a
reason as any to visit Earth.”

I looked at Hydan, “Yet you came back
to Abal with me anyway?”

“
I couldn't bear to miss
the fun!” he said with a grin.

Myrka was thinking, and then said,
“Why hasn’t the Archimage of this world hunted down these remaining
rivals if they don’t bow to his will? Is he weak?”

Hydan laughed, “No, I would not call
the First Wizard of Abal weak. The problem is there aren’t a lot of
Sivaeral mages left. Many used the Derkaz, and eventually joined
Medrod. During those battles, some of the Sivaeral mages, still
loyal to the Archimage, embraced Derkaz in a misguided attempt to
win battles, which, in the end, brought some of them over to
Medrod’s side.”

“
The Derkaz made them
change allegiance?” I asked.

He nodded, and then continued, “This
is a Civil War, a mage Civil War, and many have died on both sides,
taking out entire lines of Sivaeral mages. Truthfully, there are
few Sivaeral mages left. The Sivaeral Archimage is going to be
quite pleased to find a Hidden Soul Third of the Sivaeral line if
we can find him.”

This caught my attention, I knew I
needed to find my Archimage so I could offer to deliver my
information if he could help me retrieve my memories. I asked Hydan
a question, “What did you mean, ‘If we can find him’?”

“
No one has seen the
Sivaeral Archimage in some time, he is in hiding. His House is
weakened by the loss of so many Sivaeral mages, and therefore, he
could be vulnerable to an attack by another House. I tried to
locate him, but he was well glamoured. I felt no sense of him
anywhere.”

That was going to make finding my
Archimage problematical, but I asked, “So do all the other Houses
know about this civil war on Abal?”

“
I’m sure they do, it has
been going on for hundreds of years. As for the disappearance of
the Archimage here, I already reported that to my House, and
everyone will know, soon enough, but like I said, some of this is
very recent. Abal has become a very dangerous place for any mage of
any House. I assume the Archimage here is taking extreme measures
to stop Abal becoming a place like Earth, where mages from all
Houses come to do battle.”

I thought about that, and then asked,
“What do you mean by ‘extreme measures’?”

Myrka answered instead, “I would guess
he is killing any foreign mages on Abal who were not
invited.”

“
Aren’t you two foreign
mages?”

Hydan laughed.

I scowled at him and said, “Then why
did you come here with me?”

Myrka answered, “I came because of my
oath.”

And Hydan said, “And I came because it
sounded like fun. Besides, you need my help; I couldn’t leave you
to the tender mercies of a Derkaz crazed girl, on a world bent on
killing mages, when you have not yet relearned your wizard
skills.”

Myrka snarled at Hydan, but let it
go.

Hydan gave her a raised brow fin, but
then continued speaking, “Besides, this is the only place where you
can learn about your parents, so here we are.”

“
Do not fear, it was the
logical choice,” Myrka said, and then looked at Hydan, “Which is
rather odd when you consider who it was that made a decision based
on logic.”

We walked for another mile, going down
three switchbacks, and then I said, “Hey, why aren’t we Five Point
traveling instead of walking?”

“
We can’t, or shouldn’t,
not here on Abal,” Hydan explained. “The mage war here has made
certain uses of magic a problem; they attract unwanted attention,
and we could even be hijacked, possibly.”

“
Hijacked?”

“
If there aren’t too many
Stars being used, they could possibly zero in on an active one and
divert our destination. We could end up somewhere other than where
we expected to go. No, we’ll have to walk, or ride, if we want to
get somewhere without an arcane battle. At this stage, I’m not sure
that both sides won’t attack us.”

“
Why is that?” I
asked.

“
First off, as you
mentioned, either side might want to kill us just because we are
foreign mages, assuming they discover we are here. He cocked a
thumb at Myrka, “Then there is the fact she is pretty heavy into
Derkaz power, so the Archimage’s side might take affront while the
other side might not like you or me since we haven’t delved into
the Derkaz.”

“
So what should we do?” I
asked.

“
We don’t tell anyone we
are mages, and this includes hiding our powers,” he gave Myrka a
hard look for a moment, to which she returned a blank
stare.”

“
And then what?” I
prompted.

“
Then, we go for a drink!”
he said exuberantly.

Myrka started to complain, but Hydan
added, “With a friend of mine, who can help us with what we need,
for a price.”

“
And where is this friend?”
I asked.

He pointed out in a general direction,
“In the capital city of Poseidon, out that way, a couple hundred
mectors or so.”

“
Mectors?” I
asked.