“Nice robes, Xandar,” Mauriel’s voice shattered the quiet concentration in the hall. Xandar looked up, trying to suppress a smile. There was no way of telling in the dark, windowless cellar, but it was morning outside. Mauriel had just walked in, pausing next to his desk, her keen eyes scanning him from head to toe. “Blue really suits you.”
“New robes again?” Erdrik’s voice echoed from the corridor, uncharacteristically amused. “We’re either doing very well, or he’s trying to impress someone!”
“I wonder who…” Blombo rumbled, a laugh bubbling up until he had to clear his throat.
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to appear presentable,” Mauriel proclaimed to the room at large. Then, casting a sly smile in Xandar’s direction, she added, “They’re just jealous.”
As per her daily routine, she flung her bag onto her desk and turned back toward Xandar and Blombo, voicing her customary question, “Did you make tea already?” The question hung in the air as she strolled to the kitchen without awaiting a response.
“Give it a moment before you leap up. You wouldn’t want to seem too eager,” Blombo nudged Xandar as he rose.
Much to Xandar’s relief, they ended up alone in the dim, dusty chamber. Like every morning, he conjured a fireball spell, altering the fire’s location and proportions as he summoned it. The result was a net of floating flames cradling the kettle from beneath, lifting it into the air, where it hovered, the water inside it gradually heating.
“So,” Xandar began casually, preparing for the sentence he had rehearsed countless times in his mind, “Do you have plans for Sunday?”
“It’s the end of the week already? It was so busy I hadn’t even noticed!” Mauriel exclaimed in genuine surprise. She folded her arms, resting her chin on one hand. “I suppose I could spend some time with my mom, or go to the square to see if any interesting acts are taking place. I hear the toad-tamer’s act was so successful; he decided to stay in town for a while. I know, it sounds silly, but people say he got those toads to do some pretty impressive things...”
“So you’ll be going with your friends, then?” Xandar followed up carefully.
For a moment, confusion flickered across Mauriel’s face, making Xandar fear the question was out of place, but then her expression eased with apprehension. “You mean the group I was with when we first met? They’re more like travel companions, to be honest. We meet occasionally when our paths cross, but none of them stays in one town for too long.”
Xandar shifted nervously, his fingers twisting a lock of his hair. The conversation had taken a promising turn, and Mauriel’s last comment was more than he could have hoped for. For weeks, he had been searching for the right moment, crafting words in his mind like a silversmith forging a delicate piece of jewelry, but couldn’t muster the nerve to speak them out loud. Now, it seemed, the stars had aligned, granting him the perfect opening to nervously suggest that they meet. He cleared his throat, recalling Blombo’s advice - don’t look too eager. Just as he was about to speak, a hasty, impatient knock echoed from the cellar’s door above. Mauriel sharply turned her head, her elfin ears perked, while at the same time, a loud creak resounded from the office down the hall as Erdrik abruptly stood up, his chair dragging noisily on the floor.
“Let me handle it,” Mauriel called into the hallway, but he was already making his determined way up the stairs.
“It’s the third time this week alone,” Xandar noted.
“Word of the work we did for the jewelers’ guild got around fast,” Mauriel replied with a grin. “I’d better join him.”
They didn’t have a chance to exchange a word again until late that night. The knock on the door heralded a stream of messengers, representing several lords, a couple of wealthy merchants, and even one lady of the night. Xandar only caught glimpses of Mauriel as she escorted clients out or ushered new ones in, alternating shifts with Erdrik. It was past ten in the evening when they emerged from Erdrik’s office for the final time, long after the last of their visitors had left, chatting excitedly.
“Listen up, people, we’ve got five new projects lined up for next week!” Erdrik’s voice boomed through the room, commanding attention.
Blombo looked up slowly, his saggy hat perched precariously on his head. “Let me guess, more house protection systems?”
“I plan to devise a strategy soon. It’s about time we packaged this solution, making it market-ready without the hassle of repetitive work,” Erdrik said, brushing off Blombo’s remark.
“We’ve essentially crafted most of the spell already. Each project merely requires slight adjustments,” Xandar said.
“Exactly,” Erdrik pointed a finger in Xandar’s direction. “That’s why I plan to break it down into components, craft it into something modular instead of the current lengthy spell. This way, we can adjust and reuse existing parts, streamlining our work and reducing the time needed to complete each order. I’ll need to think about it tomorrow, though my time to tinker will be scarce.”
“Taking a day off, Erdrik?” Mauriel asked, her expression one of mock surprise. “That doesn’t sound like you.”
As always, Erdrik brushed off the teasing. “My family is arriving from DullWater soon, so I’ll be busy preparing the new house for their arrival.”
Xandar and Mauriel spoke in unison:
“You bought a house?”
“You have a family?”
“There’s a limit to how long one can reside at the Barking Toad, eh?” Erdrik chuckled, then, without offering further explanations, bid everyone a good night and left, leaving the room in contemplative silence.
“I can’t imagine what the wife of that dreadful man must be like,” Mauriel said once he was out of earshot. She turned to her desk, arranging scrolls and writing materials, and slipped her leather-bound notebook back into her bag. Behind her, Blombo was wiping his glasses on his robes and stretching in his chair.
“I suppose it doesn’t get darker than this,” the older wizard announced. “Time for me to leave.”
This was Xandar’s moment, his chance to ask Mauriel out before waiting another interminable week. Blombo’s presence was an unplanned inconvenience, but Xandar was resolute. It had to sound casual, with just the right blend of confidence and nonchalance. He had to say it just the right way.
“So, Mauriel-” he began, stopping when the half-elf turned a questioning gaze his way. He gathered himself and opened his mouth to speak when the familiar creak echoed, and a hesitant voice called from above, “Hello?”
Xandar swore under his breath.
“A little late for another client, isn’t it?” Mauriel muttered. She turned and called into the corridor, “Yes?”
The man who entered the cellar’s main hall fit the image of a wizard in all but his weight. Xandar immediately recognized the dark red robes of the university’s faculty, complemented by a stylish scarf. A tall, pointy hat - scarlet like the robes and adorned with a single golden bolt of lightning, the crest of the High Magic University - was perched atop his graying hair. He stopped at the room’s center, as though it were the most natural place for him to be, his mouth slightly ajar as he studied his surroundings.
Mauriel shifted her weight from one foot to the other, folding her arms before her. “Can we assist you?”
The wizard turned a baffled look her way, as if surprised by the presence of other people in the room. “Apologies, I was merely curious to finally witness the establishment we’ve heard so much about,” he finally said, his eyes drifting to the shelves, desks, and the plethora of books before returning to Mauriel. “It’s truly impressive what you’ve built here.”
“Thanks… So, did you-” They all turned in surprise when Blombo interrupted, saying, “Do you need anything from us, or are you just here to admire the interior design?”
Their guest chuckled, completely unfazed. “A bit of both, I suppose. A lot of the guys upstairs are intrigued by the operation you’re running here, though most won’t admit it. But that’s beside the point.” He scratched his head momentarily, as if trying to recall what he was meant to say, then fixed his gaze sharply on the group. “Which one of you is Erdrik Havnar? He’s the one I really should be talking to.”
A confused pause followed, after which he raised his hands in a defensive gesture, adding, “Not that you’re not allowed to hear this, or that you’re not important enough. He’s just the one who signed the contract to rent this place,” he clarified in a hurry.
Mauriel stepped forward. “He just left,” she stated firmly. “But you can explain the matter to me, and I’ll make sure he receives it first thing next week. I’m Mauriel Glorinlass, head of customer relations and consultant.”
The wizard’s expression changed instantly, as if Mauriel had just become visible to him. Xandar knew well the effect of Mauriel’s half-elven charm, an enchantment to which only Erdrik seemed to be immune. But even he thought the wizard’s look seemed a little too enthusiastic.
“Well, I think... No, alright, I suppose we could do that,” he replied after what seemed like considerable internal debate. “Although, would you mind if we talked someplace else?”
Mauriel raised an eyebrow.
“The guys upstairs are throwing a little party, and I’m famished. What about discussing this over dinner? We’ve got some superb elven wine, I should add.”
Xandar clenched his fists, bracing for a snarky remark from Mauriel at the nerve, but there was something oddly disarming about the wizard’s casual, almost confused manner.
“Which kind exactly?” Mauriel asked, her tone teasing. “Last time I checked, there was more than just one ‘elven wine’, just as ‘human wine’ can refer to a wide array of dreadful concoctions.”
“Pi Malma, I believe, if I’m pronouncing it correctly.”
“You managed to get your hands on Pi Malma? I haven't had that in years!” Mauriel exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise.
“So now’s your chance,” the wizard smiled, then, remembering himself, turned to Xandar and Blombo, adding hastily, “You’re invited too, of course.”
“I’ll pass,” Xandar snapped, his jaw tight and his words sharper than he had intended.
“It’s a little late for me, what with the time it would take to get back home,” Blombo added, slowly rising from his chair.
The wizard clearly was not disappointed. “Well then, have a good night, gentlemen,” he said, his attention returning to Mauriel with a warm smile. “Shall we?”
Xandar stormed out of the cellar after their footsteps had faded into the distance and barged into the first tavern he saw, which happened to be The Night Owl. Hunger had been gnawing at him before, but the recent events made him forget all about it. It was rare for Xandar to lose his temper, but that night he felt uncharacteristically furious. Only, he wasn’t sure who was the object of his anger - was it the wizard with his nonchalant charm, who, in what seemed like an afterthought, effortlessly uttered the words Xandar had been wrestling with for weeks? Or was it himself, for all his foolish, shy inhibitions?
When a waiter - a student attempting not to appear as one - offered him a mug of ale, Xandar demanded the whole tankard. Later, when a fellow wizard attempted to strike up a conversation, recognizing Xandar as a former classmate, he hissed that he was busy in response.
There was light in Mr. Hamnik’s workshop when Xandar stumbled to the entrance of the little house, but he was too intoxicated to notice. When the shoemaker stepped into the hallway, blocking Xandar’s way, he nearly stumbled back.
He scrutinized Xandar’s disoriented expression. “Long night, I see.”
“A fitting end for a terrible day, Mr. Hamnik,” Xandar managed to blurt out.
The small-framed man raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. “I thought things were looking up for you, with this new guild you’re spending all your time in.”
Xandar sighed. “Work’s fine, it’s just-”
“Ah, a female-related issue, then.”
Xandar was too tired for explanations, but the shoemaker’s observation seemed to reignite the astounded anger that had been raging within him the entire night. “It’s nothing… Just this stupid… It’s just that… The nerve of that guy! She doesn’t even know him, and he’s old! So he had elven wine, big whoop! I guess I’m just not good at that stuff…”
Mr. Hamnik smiled knowingly. “You just haven’t found the right spell yet.”
The shoemaker’s words plagued Xandar’s thoughts as he tossed and turned in a futile attempt to fall asleep that night. Perhaps Mr. Hamnik was right. The older wizard’s spell managed to get Mauriel’s attention, but that did not mean the game was won. Xandar might not have known much about courting, but he did understand magic, and were the two truly so different?
The sky was colored with the dark gray of predawn, and shreds of chilly mist roamed the deserted streets when Xandar made his way to the University’s gates. Even Mr. Hamnik’s workshop was still dark. Sleep eluded him; the weariness pulled him into short bouts of light slumber, where the events of the previous evening kept replaying in his mind. Simultaneously, his simmering emotions jerked him awake in sharp, painful bursts until he finally surrendered and abandoned his bed. He expected to be the first to arrive at the cellar but found a couple of floating light orbs upon entry, signaling someone else’s presence.
“You look like you just crawled out of a ditch,” Blombo remarked as Xandar shuffled into the main hall. “Rough night?”
Xandar rubbed his eyes. He needed strong, hot tea. “You could say that.”
They migrated to the kitchen, waiting for the water to simmer while a fireball floated around the kettle like an orange moon. Blombo was casting the heating spell this time, dismissing Xandar’s fire-net technique as interesting but favoring the ‘good old way’.
“I figured out why that guy seemed familiar. I took ‘Introduction to Necromancy’ with him,” Xandar was telling Blombo, rushing to add in a defensive tone, “And only because it was a mandatory course. He would either arrive late or teach something entirely different. I heard he once entered the wrong class and didn’t even notice, just started lecturing, thinking it was his class,”
Blombo hummed empathetically.
Xandar furrowed his brow. “And that invitation? Oh, by the way, you can join too,” he said mockingly. “As if it wasn’t clear that he was only interested in Mauriel.”
“You sure didn’t seem thrilled about that,” Blombo chuckled in his phlegmy baritone, that was instantly followed by a sharp voice chiming from above, “What about me? I heard my name mentioned.”
Mauriel appeared at the kitchen entrance soon after, like thunder after a lightning strike, if thunder wore high heels and had pointy ears. “Are you alright, Xandar?” she said, a concerned look on her face.
“Xandar’s not happy with-” Blombo began, but Xandar silenced him with a sharp look.
“We were just discussing that wizard from last night,” Xandar tried to explain, and despite his warning stare, Blombo added, “Xandar doesn't like him,” with a triumphant, wet laugh.
“Lorius? Why not?” Mauriel asked, puzzled. “He actually has some good ideas.”
The heavy door creaked open as Mauriel spoke. As if on cue, they all heard Erdrik’s voice echo from upstairs, demanding, “Who?”
He waited until he reached the kitchen area, compelling Mauriel, who had been blocking the entrance, to squirm inside for space. “Who are we talking about?” Erdrik asked again, “ And what farm animal trampled Xandar?”
It soon turned into a cacophony.
“One of the faculty wizards came by last night with an interesting offer,” Mauriel began to say, only to be interrupted by Xandar hissing, “More like he came by to spy around and flirt with Mauriel.”
“He invited everyone, mind you. It’s just that, unlike you two, I wasn’t afraid of a social gathering!” Mauriel shot back.
“You call that an invitation? Ha! You were invited; we were a sorry afterthought!”
“Is this what this is about? You’re offended that you weren’t properly invited to the wizard party, Xandar?” Mauriel crossed her arms in an exaggerated motion, fortified in her rising irritation.
“I just don’t trust the guy, is all,” Xandar retorted, pouting.
“And we still haven’t heard the mysterious offer,” Blombo added, prompting Erdrik to exclaim, “Someone explain what the hell is going on here in the first place!”
Their heated discussion drowned out the sound of the cellar door opening and the footsteps descending from above. When a wizard donning faculty robes appeared at the kitchen door, uttering, “Am I interrupting something?” they all fell silent, their attention drawn to him in alarm. Lorius smiled in response. “You must be Erdrik,” he said, then scanned the room, adding, “Hello, Mauriel,”
“Yes, I am he,” Erdrik straightened up. “And you must be one of the faculty?”
The wizard extended his hand for a handshake. “Lorius Prozivak.”
“Pleased to meet you, Lorius. What can I help you with?” Erdrik said, his smile returning, albeit thinly.
Lorius cleared his throat. “I’m here to offer you help, as a matter of fact.”
Erdrik cocked his head, folding his arms before him.
“The matter is that some of the faculty members aren’t so comfortable with the number of people arriving at your office - which isn’t inherently a bad thing, of course. It’s wonderful that your group is doing so well. However, it raises concerns about security and privacy.”
Erdrik’s pleasant smile was gone. “The faculty and I signed a contract. I have permission to use this space, extended to me and the people I work with. Nowhere does it forbid me from meeting clients here. I think that the contract is quite self-explanatory, but if you have trouble understanding it, I’ll be more than happy to explain,” Erdrik said, his tone growing icy, implying that happiness was not a guaranteed outcome.
Lorius raised his palms in a defensive gesture. “You’re absolutely right. The contract doesn’t prohibit you from meeting clients here. But having people wandering around the building isn’t ideal, as you can imagine. Hence, I have a suggestion to propose.”
The door to Erdrik’s office creaked open, and Lorius sauntered out, with Erdrik trailing behind him, like a tall, square-faced shadow. They had been locked in there for over an hour, and though Xandar masked it well, his curiosity gnawed at him, eager to uncover the enigmatic offer.
“Alright, we shall talk again shortly,” Erdrik said, lips stretched into a smile that failed to reach his eyes, his tone suggesting that he was eager to conclude the meeting swiftly.
Lorius moved with deliberate slowness, as if delaying the inevitable, his eyes scanning the room all the while before fixating on Mauriel’s now-vacant desk. He turned sharply when Blombo suddenly spoke.
“She’s out on a meeting,” the old wizard grumbled, his eyes squinting behind his thick glasses with an expression that couldn’t have been anything else but gloating.
Xandar couldn’t help but savor the confusion etched on Lorius’s face as he scrambled to offer an excuse. He stared for a moment, mouth slightly agape, before suddenly snapping back to reality. “I was merely admiring the design. Very efficient use of space.”
Lorius wore a different scarf that day, Xandar noted. He placed the quill he had been holding back into the bottle of ink and stretched. Beside him, Blombo was busy cleaning his glasses with the edge of his sleeve. They both looked up when the door to the cellar closed, and Erdrik emerged in the main hall. Both wizards stared at him expectantly.
“He suggests creating a portal to a different place where people can be transported directly from the university’s gates, bypassing the building and avoiding disturbing the students,” Erdrik told them. “However, I find that too risky, which is what I told him. What we’ve agreed on is setting up some sort of a waiting room here in the cellar. People seeking us will have the option to be teleported there from outside.”
“Not a bad idea, actually,” Blombo commented thoughtfully.
“True, but still risky. It all depends on how the spell is built. I instructed him to return with a detailed design, which I will need to approve before any work commences,” Erdrik concluded.
Mauriel returned some hours later. At the time, Xandar was in Erdrik’s office, the two of them engrossed in reviewing and discussing the latest spell crafted by the young wizard.
“The nobles in this town certainly have some interesting ideas,” she announced as she barged into the room.
Erdrik turned an annoyed look her way. “We’re in the middle of something here. If I’m not mistaken, the sign on the door is a red circle with a line through it, isn’t it? It indicates I’m in a meeting and should not be disturbed. There’s a chart above your desk; I suggest you read it.”
Erdrik’s door sign was his most recent innovation, a system designed to convey his current status using colorful circles. Yellow meant that he was away, red told them that he was in a meeting, and green signaled that he was available. He had added a red circle with a white line striking through it shortly after - a clear warning that he was not to be disturbed. Curiously, the chart explaining each color code was hung above Mauriel’s desk alone. So far it did little to deter her.
Mauriel stood her ground, arms folded, prepared for battle. “Well so am I. I’m telling you about my meeting and the new projects we were hired for.” She cast a horrified look at Xandar, seemingly asking, ‘can you believe this?’, and shook her head. “But sure, my important news can wait.”
Xandar suppressed a smile as she stormed out of the room.
When they emerged back into the main hall some half an hour later - Xandar’s scroll filled with scribbled comments, as Erdrik possessed a knack for always finding ways to improve things - Mauriel sat at her desk, writing in her notebook.
“Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something?” she snapped, raising her head sharply when Erdrik approached her.
Erdrik’s square face was turning as red as the circle on his door sign, but just as he opened his mouth to respond, she cut him off, saying, “Oh, relax, Erdrik, I’m joking.”
She rose from her seat and turned to face the room, adopting a theatrical tone as if addressing an audience. “The honorable Lord Pantschtig wants to be able to converse with his precious pet lizards. I warned him that they might not have anything interesting to say, but he remained unconvinced. The meeting could have been much shorter had he not insisted on telling me about all his pets.”
Blombo shook his head, resting it against one large hand. “Some people just have too much time and money on their hands.”
Judging by Erdrik’s less than impressed expression, she might have been talking about stale bread. “Did you ask all the right questions? Does he want to be able to understand what they’re saying, or be able to speak to them in their language? How frequently would this happen? For how long?” he asked in a flat voice.
Mauriel raised her notebook in response, displaying a bullet list that spilled across two pages, scribed in long, elegant letters. “Asked every question I could think of and noted each detail that seemed important,” she retorted, pointing at the text.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Erdrik nodded. “Very well. Let’s continue our discussion in my office, and allow Xandar and Blombo to get back to work.”
“So you’re saying they don’t have the right to hear about the origins of the work they are about to commit to?” Mauriel challenged. “Are they expected to comply without ever asking questions?”
Erdrik rubbed his eyes wearily. “I did not say such things, Mauriel," he began, but before he could continue, Mauriel interrupted him once again.
“Oh, come on, Erdrik, can’t you understand a joke?” she teased, heading towards the office and throwing a mischievous glance at Xandar on her way.
Lorius made two more appearances that afternoon: once while Erdrik and Mauriel were behind the closed door of the office, claiming he had a question and would return later, and the other, later in the evening, managing to catch Erdrik with his office door open and his guard down.
“Do you know which space you want to use for a waiting room? I would need to know its dimensions,” he inquired, addressing the room in general.
“I haven’t had time to consider that yet,” Erdrik called out from inside his office. “I don’t suppose that should prevent you from designing the outline for the spell?”
Lorius, who had been standing at the center of the hall, raised his eyebrows in surprise, looking from Mauriel to the wizards. “No. No, it shouldn’t,” he stammered.
“Was that the question that had to wait for Erdrik? Any one of us could have told you that earlier,” Xandar muttered.
Lorius cocked his head. “Did I say I had a question for Erdrik? I must have forgotten.”
Xandar tightened his grip on the quill in his hand, watching as the wizard approached Mauriel at her desk.
“Have you had tea yet?” he asked, leaning over her desk and lowering his voice.
“Not yet.”
“Oh, come on, you’ve been running around all day; you deserve a little tea break,”Lorius insisted. Xandar overheard Mauriel’s laughter.
“You should pay us a visit at the Truesight Tower. We have the best tea, not to mention the cakes,” Lorius went on.
“Cakes? You mean to say that you have cakes every day up there? How do you all stay in shape?” Mauriel asked, teasing.
“We don’t,” was Lorius’s reply and they both laughed.
Xandar was relieved when he heard Mauriel say, “Perhaps later. I need to finish some work first.”
He tracked Lorius with his eyes as the wizard exited the hall, only then remembering to unclench his fists.
Though the wizard didn’t return to the cellar that day, he continued to plague Xandar’s thoughts. His every glance at Mauriel, each word spoken to her, echoed and replayed in Xandar’s mind, subjected to relentless analysis. It was a new kind of challenge, one Xandar had never faced before. But in the end, it all came down to currents of energy - their movement, the reactions they enticed, and the spells that bound their motions. Xandar might have been in new, unexplored territory, but he understood energy. All he needed now was to craft the right spell.
Xandar could tell by the sound of footsteps descending into the cellar that it was not Mauriel. He was not surprised to see Lorius emerge into the great hall; the wizard had developed a habit of showing up unannounced, always armed with an excuse to linger.
“Lorius, what a delightful surprise to find you here!” Blombo exclaimed theatrically, the remark punctuated by a noise that seemed to meld a chuckle with a throat-clearing cough.
Glancing aside, Xandar discovered the old wizard sporting a mischievous grin.
“She hasn’t arrived yet,” Xandar added without lifting his gaze.
“Oh, I was actually looking for Erdrik,” Lorius replied casually.
The cellar door opened once more, and this time Xandar recognized the hasty click-clack of Mauriel’s heels. “Erdrik won’t be here today. In fact, he’ll be gone for a couple of days, attending to-” he halted abruptly as Mauriel appeared by his desk, grinning like a cat that had stumbled upon an unguarded saucer of cream.
“Did you say Erdrik’s not here?”
Xandar pointed a finger at Mauriel’s shoulder. “What the hell is that?”
Mauriel raised a hand, her fingers gently caressing a sharp-looking lizard perched on her shoulder. “Oh, this little guy? This is Orblazar The Brown. Our friend Lord Pantschtig lent him to us to assist with the spell.”
“He gave you one of his lizards?” Blombo exclaimed, finally tearing his eyes from his work.
“So he did. Along with a basket full of lizard delicacies and an extensive manual on lizard care,” Mauriel said with a weary sigh, “And guess who had the privilege of spending two hours yesterday meeting - or should I say, being introduced - to all the lizards and memorizing their names and charming quirks?”
“I don’t care whether that thing has a personality or not; just keep it as far from me as possible!” Blombo interjected firmly.
“Don’t tell me you’re scared of our cute little friend here,” Mauriel teased, lifting the lizard off of her shoulder and giving it an affectionate stroke. “He’s the descendant of mighty dragons, you know, or at least that’s Lord Pantschtig’s conviction.”
Blombo mumbled something indecipherable in response, waved his hands dismissively, and turned back to his work, fully immersing himself once more.
“So what about our dear Erdrik?” Mauriel turned her attention back to Xandar.
Xandar had been captivated by the lizard in Mauriel’s hands, its miniature eyes holding his gaze. He shook his head, putting a stop to the staring contest. “His family is arriving to join him here, so he’s riding out to meet them. He asked that you handle the waiting room business.”
“Of course,” Mauriel muttered, exasperated.
Lorius, on the other hand, seemed rather pleased. “I’ll be happy to assist if you need,” he chimed in eagerly, “And quite likely, I’ll need your help sorting out some details I need for the spell.”
Mauriel returned his smile. “I suppose I could use some help clearing one of the rooms down the hall. Also, figuring out where to scrounge some chairs…”
“I have some time before my next lecture. We could go explore the labyrinth now, if you wish,” Lorius offered, summoning a white, glowing flame at the palm of his hand. He held it up, casting a sideways glance at the dark corridor sprawling left of Erdrik’s office. Turning back to Mauriel, and flaunting an enticing smile, he said, “Shall we?”
“What a show-off,” Xandar grumbled to Blombo later that day as they huddled in the small kitchen, waiting for the kettle to boil. “As if some basic teleportation spells would impress her.”
Orblazar had been left in Xandar’s care while Mauriel busied herself with the waiting room, prompting Blombo to seek refuge in frequent tea breaks, eager to put as much distance as possible between himself and the lizard.
Blombo shrugged. “He did manage to clear out all that junk from the storage room and brought those nice sofas instead.”
“Sure, but he wouldn’t have been so eager to help if he wasn’t sniffing around Mauriel,” Xandar insisted.
Blombo let out a moist, thundering laugh. “If sniffing around Mauriel means he gets all this work done for us, I say let him sniff!”
“I just don’t trust him,” Xandar said, defeated.
“Who don’t we trust?” Mauriel said, suddenly appearing in the doorway.
Xandar nearly jumped at the sound. Either he was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn’t hear her approaching, or Mauriel managed to creep up on them unnoticed - Xandar wasn’t sure - but he was caught.
“Xandar doesn’t like your new friend,” Blombo chuckled before Xandar had a chance to reply.
He shot the older wizard a fuming glare. “He, uh... I’m just not sure he is really the man for this job,” Xandar said, his thoughts rushing. “He doesn’t seem very focused, and we’re working on something particularly delicate here.”
If Mauriel suspected that he was lying, her look didn’t give that away, and Xandar - pleased with the excuse he had managed to come up with - felt his confidence rising.
“One mistake here, and people might get hurt - sent to gods know which plane, or worse - and that would be the end of our success,” he went on, with renewed enthusiasm.
Mauriel rested her hands on her waist. “I suppose it is, but it’s not any different than any other spell we ever worked on. We’ll just need to test it thoroughly,” she said, adding with a smirk, “Besides, with Erdrik watching over everything Lorius does like a hawk, I doubt there would be room for mistakes.”
Xandar kept pondering their words well into the late hours of the night as he lay in bed, wrestling with sleep. Alberon crawled up to his pillow, purring, and started rubbing his head against Xandar’s. It might have been a mere fabrication, a tale spun at the time to divert Mauriel’s potential suspicions, but it was evolving into an idea in his mind. Accident was the key word. One thing had to go wrong, causing just enough damage to prompt Erdrik to shut down the entire operation. All Lorius needed to do was make a mistake, and Xandar was more than happy to assist him in that.
The opportunity presented itself several days later, when Lorius carelessly left the scroll containing the complete portal spell on Mauriel’s desk. He showed up in the cellar that afternoon appearing as though he had just been teleported there from another world and needed time to adjust - his usual look, more or less. Mauriel had been absent all morning , meeting with Lord Pantschtig, and had only recently returned, making Xandar suspect Lorius somehow knew and had timed his visit.
She brought Orblazar along to the meeting, transporting the little creature in a small basket where it nestled beneath the blankets. Back in the hall, she placed the basket on Xandar’s desk, which, despite Blombo’s objections, had become his temporary abode.
“Hi, Mauriel,” he greeted as he emerged into the room, noticing Xandar and Blombo only a moment later and seeming surprised. “Is Erdrik around?”
“You already know that he’s away,” shot Xandar, his tone sharper than intended.
But Lorius was a difficult man to throw off. “Oh,” he said, scratching his head, on which his sparse gray hair was neatly arranged, “I thought he was supposed to be back already.”
“I believe that would be the day after tomorrow,” Mauriel offered.
Lorius began approaching her desk, moving out of Xandar’s field of view. Xandar pretended not to follow the unfolding events, but his hand froze in mid-air, and he almost held his breath, listening.
“That’s good, I suppose. The spell’s already complete, and we could use tomorrow to test it out,” Xandar heard him say, then adding with an afterthought, “Unless you think Erdrik would like to review it before we start testing?”
There was a pause while Mauriel considered the idea. “I suppose it’s just testing, right?” she said after a while, always one to appreciate a good shortcut. “I mean, we’re not setting it up for all to use yet, so no harm there. And besides, we’ll need to test it anyway, so might as well do it now.”
Xandar felt his limbs go cold, as if a sudden gust of icy wind had swept through the cellar. It was too soon; he wasn’t ready yet. He had spent the past couple of days preparing, contemplating ways to set his plan in motion but his mind remained frustratingly blank. Now, it seemed, his time was slipping away, leaving him with only one night to come up with a solution. But his anxiety soon turned into glee as fortune smiled at him, manifesting in the unexpected form of Blombo.
The older wizard, who appeared to be completely oblivious to the conversation a mere moment ago, suddenly stirred, clearing his throat as he turned towards Mauriel’s desk. “I could take a look, if you’d like, Lorius. Another set of eyes won’t hurt.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Mauriel added, sealing the deal.
Lorius settled beside Blombo’s desk, and both delved into the scroll. Xandar listened intently as Lorius explained the structure and the elements at play, while Blombo meticulously mulled over each detail, prompting the wizard to repeat his explanation multiple times, providing additional information. Xandar’s hand moved frantically, taking diligent notes to keep pace with the torrent of information, ensuring not a single detail slipped through the cracks. But the effort paid off, and his mind was buzzing with ideas even before they concluded.
Lorius’s spell was quite articulate, calling upon several minor spells to perform tasks. It was designed to be modular, reusing common elements needed in various other incantations. If Xandar changed the name of just one of the minor spells, he could implant his own command, but he wasn’t sure how to execute it. He could set up a trigger that responded to a sound, identifying a specific word or name to initiate a different spell at its utterance, or he could-
“Looks good to me,” Blombo loudly summarized, cutting off Xandar’s train of thought.
Lorius thanked him, rising from his seat, and called out, “So, Mauriel, would it be possible to get a test subject or two for tomorrow?”
“I suppose I could stop in a tavern or two on my way home,” Mauriel mused, prompting a perplexed silence.
She broke it with a chuckle. “What?” she said playfully, apparently responding to a bewildered look from Lorius, “Where else can I find test subjects late at night?”
Lorius laughed. “I should keep that in mind for when the university is conducting research,” he said, “Or even better, maybe I could come along and watch you in action?”
Xandar caught himself clenching his fists absentmindedly, hating the older wizard for his easy manner of speech, himself for lacking it, and Erdrik for not being there to break off the chit-chat and drive Lorius away. Later that night, he declined Mauriel’s invitation to join them through clenched teeth. He followed their departure with his eyes, noting how Lorius casually placed one hand on Mauriel’s shoulder, then kept himself busy long enough for Blombo to leave. He was relieved to find that although the older wizard wondered why Xandar lingered, he was content to accept a simplistic excuse.
There was a strange comfort in the silence that settled once the door leading up closed for the final time that evening. Xandar reclined back in his seat and stretched, closing his eyes momentarily and allowing his mind to go still as the world behind his eyelids danced in shadows.
When he opened his eyes again he found Orblazar staring at him intently.
“Don’t worry, my scaly friend. I didn’t forget about your treat,” he assured the lizard, reaching toward the drawer where the coveted jar of worms was safely stashed.
He braced himself for a long night of thorough examination, planning to review his notes - a detailed account of Lorius’s spell as best as he could gather - then search for a loophole that would allow him to meddle with it. However, when he rose to make a cup of tea in preparation, he was delighted to spot a scroll on Mauriel’s desk that didn’t seem like it belonged there.
“Could it be?” he said to himself, approaching her desk carefully, as if afraid to scare the parchment away. A sly smile formed on his face as he unfurled the scroll. “Oh, you did a splendid job indeed, Lorius, if only you weren’t so careless with where you leave your work…”
Erdrik’s office was still vacant the next day, as Mauriel had foreseen. Lorius had already stopped by twice before she arrived in the late morning, carrying a bag of pastries and yawning uncontrollably.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I need some sugar if I’m to wake up today!” she said, extracting a muffin from the brown paper wrapper and breaking off a piece. The rest of the pastries were left on Xandar’s desk.
“Any luck last night?” Blombo asked, and both Mauriel and Xandar immediately turned toward him, eyebrows raised to the sky. “With the test subject, I mean,” Blombo clarified.
Xandar swallowed loudly, his mouth feeling suddenly very dry.
The cellar door creaked open as they spoke. This time, Xandar anticipated Lorius’s arrival and wasn’t disappointed to see the wizard stepping into the hall, grinning at Mauriel as if no one else existed.
She mirrored the smile. “I was just telling them that we didn’t have much success last night.”
It was only a hint of a smile, but it seemed particularly pleased when Lorius said, “I could argue with that.”
“With the test subject!” Mauriel interjected, playfully nudging him.
Xandar held his breath for a moment, counting to ten, then exhaling slowly. Not much longer, he thought.
“Yeah, that part didn’t go so great,” Lorius agreed, “We’ll need to try again tonight.”
“Or you could just test it yourself,” Xandar chimed in. All eyes turned to him, making him shift uncomfortably. “I mean, the spell’s complete, Blombo went over it too, so why not just test it yourself? Unless you think it needs more work, of course…”
Lorius ponderously scratched his head. “I could, I suppose, but-”
“You could always wait to review it with Erdrik, of course. I’m sure he would find numerous opportunities for improvement,” Xandar prodded, knowing he was edging dangerously close to pushing Lorius to the other side - convincing him to wait. But the wizard seemed to take the bait, either missing or ignoring the underlying teasing in Xandar’s words.
“Sure,” he said, turning to Mauriel. “We could even do it now if you’re available.”
It turned into the main event of the day. Xandar tagged along, feigning curiosity about the inner workings of the spell. Even Blombo joined the procession, shuffling behind them, his breath echoing in the hallway. It was Xandar’s first visit to the newly arranged waiting room, and he had to admit he was impressed with what Mauriel and Lorius had made of it.
Lorius’s floating white orb grew in size and levitated to the ceiling, illuminating a fairly large chamber, positioned not too far from Erdrik’s office, yet distant enough not to become an interruption. Xandar could only imagine all manner of dust, dirt, and abandoned junk it might have housed before, but now it looked scrubbed clean. A carpet in shades of blue, white, and gold covered the center of the room, supporting an old yet luxurious-looking sofa and two matching armchairs. On a low table between them stood a vase bursting with colorful, yet unmistakably artificial flowers. A small assortment of thin books, the type people read only when they had nothing better to do, was arranged beside it.
Mauriel led the procession, turning back when they arrived. She caught the expression of awe that Xandar wasn’t careful enough to conceal and smiled. “Impressive, wouldn’t you say?”
“I wouldn’t mind waiting here,” Blombo chimed in from behind them.
“It’s all Lorius’s work, I must admit. I could never have cleared this place out on my own,” Mauriel went on, her beaming smile shifting toward the older wizard. “Not to mention finding all this furniture. Can you believe he assembled it all by himself?”
If Lorius aimed for a humble smile, he wasn’t doing a particularly convincing job. “It was a good opportunity to clear out the old basement and attic,” he shrugged. “Not to mention all the stuff just gathering dust in the university’s various storage rooms. Might as well put it all to good use.”
Xandar cleared his throat. “That’s all well and good, but the real question is, can we get the people gathering outside to emerge here?”
“Yes, of course,” Lorius said hastily, adopting a serious and professional tone. He unfurled the scroll containing the teleportation spell and rummaged in his pockets, producing a small brass key.
“The idea is rather straightforward. We place something at the university’s gates - a plaque, a lever, perhaps even a door. The person who wishes to visit your headquarters will be instructed to use it. Once they do, the spell will locate this object,” he lifted his hand, presenting the key to the assembled party, “and teleport the visitor to the room where this object resides. For our testing purposes, this doorway will be the trigger, and by touching it, I will invoke the spell that locates the key and teleports me into this room from outside of it. Later, I will detach the spell from the door and match it to the object we place outside. It’s quite simple, really.”
“If that’s so simple, why did it take you nearly a week to complete it?” Xandar blurted out before he could stop himself. He wasn’t supposed to show any signs of hostility but could not resist the opportunity.
But Lorius didn’t seem to take offense. “Oh, well, I omitted some details, for simplicity’s sake. Things like calculating the dimensions of the room and any additional object or person inside it, ensuring that the visitor is teleported into a space that isn’t occupied by anyone or anything else, and all that. If you wish, I’ll be happy to discuss the details with you later on.”
Xandar flashed a wide smile. “Of course, of course. I was only kidding. Please go on.”
Lorius cleared his throat. “So as I was saying, the key will act as, well, a key. A means for the spell to discern the correct location to which the visitor should be teleported. It could be any other object, for that matter, so long as it’s unique. The spell won’t look for just any key but for this one in particular.”
Xandar knew exactly what Lorius had meant when he spoke about the key being unique. A series of ancient runes and glyphs had been meticulously carved onto it in a text so small, Xandar wondered if the blacksmith who had crafted it hadn’t been a pixie. It was a clever idea, making the key stand out from any other key and ensuring that the spell would locate it and nothing else, but it was also the downfall of Lorius’s plan. Xandar couldn’t have directly modified Lorius’s spell; that would have been too obvious. Defining a word that would trigger a different spell - one that would wreak havoc on Lorius’s neat design - was tricky as well. It couldn’t have been a simple word someone else might have used by mistake. It had to be something special, and the sequence of runes and symbols on the key, which the teleportation spell described in great detail, was the perfect match.
Xandar had been in high spirits all morning, basking in the smug knowledge that he had outwitted Lorius, but as the necromancy lecturer began reciting the new spell, doubt crept into his thoughts. The plan had seemed foolproof at first, but now Xandar wondered if his own spell, evoked by Lorius’s enchantment, would truly pass unnoticed. What if the older wizard sensed the surge of unfamiliar energy and suspected him? Moreover, what if it didn’t work? What if, instead of failing, making Lorius look like an amateur, and potentially ruining Mauriel’s and Erdrik’s trust in his abilities, it overpowered the disruptions? Xandar could have spent the entire day thinking up more ways his scheme might go wrong, but the events unfurling before his eyes forced him back to reality.
Lorius’s voice seemed to take an unfamiliar edge as he recited the arcane words, leaving Xandar to wonder from which dark sources he drew his power. The shift in energy was profound, unlike anything Xandar had experienced before, and for a moment, he feared that his own spell might be causing the chaos. However, when he risked a cautious peek at the wizard, he found him too focused to be concerned or suspicious. Lorius’s dark eyes gleamed as the spark of energy around them intensified. Even Blombo and Mauriel took a few nervous steps back. Xandar shifted as well, attempting to shield Mauriel in case something went wrong, but the spectacle ended as abruptly as it began.
There was a sound akin to a whisper of wind, and a momentary feeling like the air had been sucked out of the room, but all returned to normal in an instant. All but one thing - Lorius was nowhere to be seen.