Avis Blackthorn: Is Not an Evil Wizard! (22 page)

The high Wizard Tyreko, who came to high
power in 1655 was sent mad by a past misdeed and killed many
Witches. Santi Venart, a training Witch who once knew Tyreko
seduced him using love Magic and found out his true name. She
shared the name “Egbert Richardsward” far and wide. Overnight,
Tyreko reduced in size, shrinking to four feet. He aged fifty years
and resembled a swamp creature. He died shortly after, being set
upon by roaming vagabonds.

Over the years, many myths and legends have
not aided the truth when it comes to true names - some still
believe that one who knows ones true name, has the power to send
another to a place worse than Hell - a kind of purgatory, or
collection centre, that one can store all those whom one knows the
true names of. While this might be possible to someone of
prestigious talent, it’s not likely, or a given whatsoever. True
names were brought forth by Magical Nature, to ensure that no one
got too powerful… if they did, like Tyreko, there was a means to
control them back to safety. This may seem contradictory
explanation, True Names are a complicated Magic, and are not to be
messed with. Thus the phrase “He needs to be Tyreko-ed” comes.

My head was spinning after reading. I scanned
the rest of the book but nothing was as concise as that, but it did
go into information about how true names are found…

How Santi Vernart found Tyreko’s true name
is not known, some say she made him confess to his new love, which
would be plausible owing to her extensive practice in love Magic,
others think she had help from the infamous Council of Indigo - who
have helped end many sent wayward by the effects of black Magic -
but some think there is a book, hidden by ancient Magic, that
records all true names. It’s been referred to under several
different names; Gillet’s Book of Truth, Hallert and Jivaldo’s
Newly Born Names, Wizard Namero and simply; The Book of Names, plus
many others. Although only myth, many profess that this book is
real, many more have seen it - a book by Selibrius Xanderious
details that the book travels between twelve unknown locations,
every twelve years at the end of a quarter. Many agree with
Selibrius, others state that such an item as a Book of True names
is dangerous, especially in the wrong hands and should be
destroyed.

My eyes were drooping. I had done so much
reading, I felt exhausted. It wasn’t just the reading but the fact
that my brain was working overtime thinking of a plan, or a way to
use all this information. On the way back from the Library at some
silly time in the morning, I spotted Robin and a few others
crawling along the corridor floors with toothbrushes. The large
caretaker, with his belly hanging out, was smoking and reading the
newspaper and occasionally barking orders. Robin didn’t spot me, so
I slipped away down an opposite corridor fearing I may be roped
into help.

Sunday night I slept like a baby, moonlight
streamed in through the clock face. It was getting warmer now that
Spring was arriving and I didn’t have to sleep with so many
blankets. I dreamt long, winding dreams - Tina’s mum was in them,
facing Malakai, next to Ernie and Tina, Partington watching on as
they were all pushed off the tower. Then, the passages of the book
began reading back to me…
where the power lies, is in the
sharing of the true name… the power of the Wizard will wane… send
another to a place worse than Hell - a kind of purgatory…
I saw
Tina banging against cage bars, stuck in a tiny prison cell,
screaming, but no sound came out. …
Great power had lay in
knowing a Wizard’s true name and threatening to share it, this in
itself can guarantee their compliance in all you require… whatever
Spell you direct at them will trump theirs…

I woke in a cold sweat, a straight line of
sunshine hit my face. I think, finally I knew exactly what I had to
do…

In class that morning I sat in silence with a
fully formed plan in my head. There was no going back from this
one. From dawn, to the start of lessons, I wrote the whole plan
down in one go, skipping breakfast and putting the final touches to
it as I turned the corner to class. I put one particular page of my
notes in a envelope and wrote Robin’s name on the front. On
another, I addressed it to
Partington
and put in all the
remaining notes from Ernie and Tina.

If I told anyone what my plan was, I knew
instantly what they would say. That’s why I didn’t tell a soul. I
remained calm, knowing that, if I did this correctly, I would free
Tina from her curse. But I was tired, my head felt heavier than a
Hubris’s backside and my eyes felt like they were being bathed in
stinging nettles. What I wanted most of all was to curl up in my
dorm bed - that luxuriously soft, cloud-like mattress. Not the
blanketed wooden floor I was currently on, which was about as soft
as a brick pillow and comforting as a curse laden teddy bear. Robin
also looked tired, he was fast asleep and dribbling on the
desk.

Three days remained and I started panicking.
I was pacing the clock tower, kicking up dust and pouring over the
plan. The more I went over it, the more I saw the gaping holes in
it. For instance, the key - I needed to know what door it unlocked.
There must be thousands of doors in Hailing Hall and it would take
me all year to try it in each lock. I tried to recall what the door
looked like in the vision we’d seen of Ernie, but it could have
been any number of hundreds. They all looked the same.

I knew who would know where the door was…
Ernie of course. I knew this already, but I had been trying to find
the right words to make him help me, but they wouldn’t come. For
some reason, I had a feeling that he would be unwilling, especially
after what he said last time.

“
Vocataste
-Ernest!” there was a loud
whooshing noise then a small pop as Ernie appeared in front of me
in a misty white flash.

“Brrr…” he said, shaking himself. “I still
hate that.”

“Ernie,” I said. “I have three days left to
save her, you have to help me.”

His watery eyes didn’t move. “Depends what
you are planning.”

“I need you, on the last day of April at
midnight, to deliver these letters to Robin Wilson and… Magisteer
Partington.”

He looked at me sharply. “Are you joking with
me?” he said in a small dangerous voice.

“No, I promise. I need you to swear not to
look at them, but deliver them, make sure they get them at that
time.”

He sniffed. “This Robin I can do, but not my
father. He can’t
see
me.”

“He will…” I said, smiling. “Deliver his
second.” He nodded stiffly, but he looked mighty suspicious. “Also,
I just need to know one thing. I need to know what door it was that
this key leads to.”

As his eyes dropped to my key, he let out a
screeching “
OHHH
!”

“What?
What
!?” I cried.

“I should never! EVER!” he wailed. “Have sent
you the key! It was foolish, selfish!” He began wailing and soaring
around the clock tower.

“What do you mean? Ernie, all I need to know
is what door it leads to. Then I can end all this!”

“No, you can’t! You think you can, but you
can’t! I have got others into much trouble, I cannot do it again. I
will not tell you what door that key leads to,” he cried. “Never,
EVER! I have done enough damage for a lifetime!”

“Wouldn’t you like to see your Mother again?”
I said. The self loathing wails, suddenly stopped. Head in hands,
his face looked up through pale white fingers. I jolt of fear
trickled down my spine.

“YOU
DAAARRRREEEEE!
” he flew across
the room at me. His face changed. Now a monstrous, demonic version
of Ernie’s. Eyes bulged, mouth opened black and huge. Terrified, I
screamed and jumped to the floor. He flew round and round above my
head hitting everything he could as chunks of wood and debris
reined down around me.

Until, finally… there was silence.

Dust and wood continued to fall, but Ernie
had gone. His screams reverberated around the broken roof rafters,
leaving the clock tower, my plan and Tina’s freedom, in
shatters.

Sleep did not grace me that night, or indeed
the next day. I spent all night in the Library looking for a
blueprint of the school. In some vein attempt of finding this door.
I wondered about summoning Ernie again to see if he had calmed down
and would tell me yet. But I was still terrified after the last
meeting. I continued to contemplate it as more and more books
returned nothing.

I was so tired and so stressed, that when I
saw dawn rise through the Library windows I wondered if it was a
joke? How did the night disappear so quickly? There simply were not
enough hours in the day or night! Why did we need sleep anyway?
What was the point of it! I was panicking. I ran back to the clock
tower and spoke the summoning Spell again. I would forfeit my
safety just to find out where this door was. But as soon as he
popped into the room, he vanished instantly. Leaving a trail of
white smoke, and a foul smell.

I swallowed and again said the summoning
Spell… again, he vanished.

The third time, he appeared, before I felt a
cold fist connect with my mouth.

BANG!

I hit the floor hard.

The bang on the head seemed to wake me up,
more thoughts entered my throbbing head. What if I could find out
where Tina was attacked by Malakai? That would surely be the area
of the school where the door was? Who was the Magisteer who found
her?

Hmm… I hummed to myself… Tina would know.
Tina would
know
? What if, and this was a long shot, what if
I could tap into her memories and find out the last place she was?
Maybe, and oh this was clever — I could do a revealing Spell on her
clothes, or something she had on her at the time?

I set off for the Healer’s room. I climbed
down from the Clock tower, full of drive, taking the wooden stairs
down five at a time. I took the dusty under passages and squeezed
through the gap in the wall and back into the main school. A few
people were up, coming back from their morning showers and some on
their way to breakfast. I think I needed a shower, but I had no
time for that. I would just have to put up with being whiffy.

I pushed open the doors of the Healer’s room.
Thankfully, no one was around. I slipped inside and closed the
doors. The Healer looked up with her huge pristine smile. I drifted
along to where Tina lay, green light flooding through me. Some of
the green strands were latching onto me and I felt the energy
tingle my skin.

The Healer saw this and frowned. “Are you
looking after yourself?” she said.

“Yes,” I said. In truth, I hadn’t eaten a
proper meal for weeks. I’d had to make another hole in my belt to
stop my trousers from falling down and I’d had so little sleep that
I mistook my toothbrush for a pencil.

She continued to frown, her eyes watching the
green strands. “You have to take care of yourself, to be able to
take care of others,” she glanced at Tina. “Jade doesn’t lie.”

“Who?” I said.

“Jade,” the Healer flicked her eyes to the
pulsing green sun.

I knew what she meant, but how could I just
stop and have a lovely sleep and a hot meal, knowing that Tina
might never wake up? I stayed for an hour, the Healer sat patting
Tina’s head for a while and talking in some funny language.
Whatever she was doing, it had some effect, as Tina’s body seemed
to emit this kind of white fuzzy light.

When she left, I looked around Tina’s bed for
something she might have had with her when she was attacked. All
her possessions were not here though. Not even her clothes.
Partington must taken them.

But wait… she was wearing a ring, I think it
was her channeller. I’d never noticed it much before, but I am sure
Partington had one that looked the same. It was silver and slim,
with black indentations all the way around. I couldn’t make out
what but it looked like names.

When the Healer left the room I took Tina’s
hand. I felt guilty and my heart began racing. I slid the ring off
her finger and lay it on the bed next to her. Glancing around, I
knew I didn’t have long, for the Healer would be back any minute. I
raised my shaking hand over the ring and said the Spell.

My head flew back in the chair. But this
wasn’t right. The vision was surrounded by choking, black smoke. A
laughing voice echoed in my head and I saw Tina fall to the floor,
Malakai’s skeletal frame standing over her. Then his blue glowing
eyes looked at me. Awful choking black smoke filled my lungs and I
woke. I lifted my head and choked my guts up! Oozing black gunge
came out of my mouth and nose. It was like nothing I had ever
tasted. I felt sick and ill. Thick green light began to encircle me
as I coughed and coughed.

After an hour, I was better. The Healer
returned to the commotion and called me an idiot as she put the
ring on the side table. She gave me a bowl of stuff to breath in,
covering my head with a towel.

“Idiot, idiot…” she kept muttering. “What
were you thinking? She’s been cursed, all her possessions are
cursed. What did you think would happen? Do you think people wiser
than you hadn’t thought about performing a revealing Spell on her
possessions?”

I looked up from under the towel, feeling
small… Black goo, not as much as before, was slowly making it’s way
out of my lungs.

“I’m sorry,” I said for the thousandth
time.

As I left, the Healer comfortably content
with all the curse goo having gone, I pushed open the door to
leave. At the same time, Partington was coming in.

“Ahh!” I said, scared.

“Oh Avis,” he said smiling. I felt awkward as
we stood in the doorway together. “What’s that black mark on your
face?” he said.

“Oh, just… erm, not sure.” I said, rubbing at
it as the Healer cleared her throat loudly behind me.