Chapter Six
> It seems James had misjudged his own strength—he was even weaker than he’d thought.
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> Gabriel’s silence did not last long, and by the time the old man and his companion had reached the tower, James had an intimate understanding of where the young man’s name had come from. The boy was quite the gab.
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> But he was strong, and he didn’t seem to mind James’ slow but steady pace, filling the time with a million questions. Most James didn’t even begin to understand, or at least that’s what he told himself. They were all about quests, dragons, swords, knights, castles and queens, kings and dangers. So many untold dangers. Either Henrie or Sera could have kept the young man entertained for probably a few years with their infectious enthusiasm and vast knowledge on all things fantasy.
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> James had heard more than his fair share and even remembered most of it. His muscles, not his mind, had been the first to go when old age had struck. He mostly nodded and let out a wizardly grunt every now and then. He wouldn’t have minded a pipe like the famous wizard who dealt with small men boasting giant, hairy feet, but James was not a smoker. He could have filled the pipe with a bubble solution and blown bubbles—that would have been just as effective at occupying his mouth while not slowly killing him.
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> As they reached the tower, which was still lit up like a Christmas tree and could probably be seen for hundreds of miles in any direction, James had learned a fair bit about young Gabriel. The young man was nineteen, which was at odds with both his personality and build. His body looked like that of a thirty-something-year-old bodybuilder, but his bubbly attitude and intense curiosity reminded James of James Jr. The two even shared some physical similarities. Between the blond hair and blues eyes. Gabriel could have been an older brother, or a young uncle to James’ grandnephew.
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> Gabriel truly was a terrible farmer. He had been working on the sorry plot of land James had seen for over seven months, and the young man hadn’t grown even a single weed or dandelion, much less a tomato or cucumber. His parents, on the other hand, were responsible for the beautiful golden waves of corn James had admired on the way into the heart of the Village. They were very successful and had been thrilled to pass their son into James’ care when he had asked them if their son could assist him in some “wizardly” tasks.
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> They had even given Gabriel a well-built wooden cart he was pulling behind him effortlessly, filled to the brim with every foodstuff the Village had to offer. Those people really liked wizards, and James was loved by association.
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> One kind old man with spectacles and a huge grin that filled his small face had slipped a scroll into James’ hand, introducing himself as the author of the Village’s happenings. It was a far cry from his usual paper, but James eagerly thanked the man and was looking forward to kicking up his feet and reading about skinny cows and corn and whatever else excited the Village.
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> Gabriel had six siblings, and they were all dark-haired like his parents and wildly successful farmers. James had met all of them in the square, although there had been far too many new faces for him to retain anything that had happened. He and Gabriel had been almost pushed out of the Village, Burger Master Steele insisting a storm was coming. His wife, who was just as tall and muscular as him, had felt the shift in the wind, and her joints never lied.
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> James had been feeling a little stiffer than normal and knew the woman spoke the truth. A little rain would do this place good, maybe cut down on the dust storms a bit.
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> “Is this the wizard tower?” Gabriel craned his neck, trying to see the top of the tower, which stretched up comically into the clouds far above their heads, the tip hidden from view. Darkness was coming on, and the sky was streaked through with purples and brilliant oranges. A painter would have been able to do it justice, but James just enjoyed the view.
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> “Yes. Home sweet home. Well, it will be soon. That’s where you come in, James Jr.”
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> “I’m Gabriel, High Wizard—”
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> James’ gave the young man a look that made it clear how he felt about that title, but Gabriel was blissfully ignorant and continued.
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> “—Wizard Just James. I know you must have a lot of arcane knowledge crammed in your mind and filling your unfathomable thoughts, but my name isn’t James, yours is.”
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> Oops. Oh well, it wasn’t James’ fault that Gabriel reminded him a little too much of his grandnephew. But sure, he could blame it on his vast stores of wizardly knowledge, filling his brilliant mind, yada yada.
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> “That’s right. Sorry, I am pretty preoccupied. I should warn you, the previous owner, I mean wizard, was a little disorganized. We have quite the task on our hands to make Beacon Tower livable again.”
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> “I’m not afraid of manual labor,” Gabriel said gravely. “I’m very good at it.”
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> “I’m sure you are.” James would have patted the young man on the shoulder, but he was too tall for that. He settled for patting the young man’s bulky arm before opening the door. It squeaked and protested, but James was intent on getting inside out of the impending storm, eating something, and taking a much-deserved nap.
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> The sight of the mess when he opened the door made James yawn, but Gabriel was fascinated, and his perfectly white teeth started clacking once more as he asked a million more questions. What had the previous high honorable wizard used so many cauldrons for? What was the mushroom farm for? Did High Wizard Just James make his own alchemical potions? Could Gabriel be a test subject for future products? He had a robust immune system and would be fine, he was certain.
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> James nodded and simply said, “Could you place the cart of food in the corner over there? Just shove anything in your way to the side, we’ll get to that later. And bring over some of the vegetables and a loaf of bread.”
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> Gabriel complied as James hung up his hat and picked his way over to the kitchen table and the small section he had reclaimed. He found Kat sitting on a barrel, staring at his sketch.
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> “Welcome back, James the Just! I see you have found a young person to aid you in your quest.”
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> “Quest?” Gabriel yelped. James could hear something toppling over, but the young man must have grabbed it in time, because the expected crash didn’t happen. In mere moments Gabriel was squatting next to James on one of the only available patches of floor, not a hair out of place. “Did I hear something about a quest?”
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> “So you can hear the talking cat too?” James asked, taking the food items he had requested from Gabriel’s hands and setting them on the table in front of him. “That’s interesting. Kat is just talking about my plans for the tower. I sketched out some plans to organize things and make the space useable again, and your help would be greatly appreciated.”
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> “I’ve always wanted to go on a quest,” the young man said quietly. “My sisters and brother all say that quests are only for knights and other noble professions like that, but I’ve always dreamed about going on a quest and saving the kingdom. Imagine being honored by the king for doing great deeds…. And you say fixing up this wizard tower is part of a quest? Let’s get started!”
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> The young man stood up abruptly. “I’m at your service, Just James. You just say the word.”
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> James looked around the kitchen. Like he thought, there was no sink or facets. The place didn’t have running water.
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> “Kat, does this place have a well?”
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> “Of course. Just go out the front door and follow the curve of the tower to the left.”
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> “Gabriel, would you mind fetching us a couple buckets of water? I’ll search for a knife and we can eat before we embark on our ‘quest.’”
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> “Will do, High Wizard!” The young man wasted no time in selecting some of the largest cauldrons scattered on the floor by him and gracefully making his way through the various items strewn across the floor. James rolled his eyes. Even this muscular tank of a man could get through the mess with perfect ease. It was one thing for a cat to slip through the odds and ends, but for Gabriel to not have any trouble…
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> “Ugh.”
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> “Is something wrong, James the Just?” Kat asked, studying him with curiosity.
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> “No. Definitely not. Everything is wonderful. Can you point me in the direction of a knife?”
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> Kat leaped off the barrel and started worming her way through the kitchen’s various nooks and crannies. She was still working on dragging the knife back with her teeth when Gabriel swept back into the room, his hair dusted with water. It looked like the storm had started. He brought over the three cauldrons full of well water as though they weighed nothing, setting them at James’ feet.
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> “Will this do?” he asked. Ever since the young man had heard the word “quest,” it was like he’d been electrified. James could feel Gabriel’s excitement coming off of him waves and worried they’d knock him down they were so palpable. Good thing James was already sitting down.
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> “That’ll do. Grab a seat and start washing the vegetables.”
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> The trio soon had an efficient system going. James would hand Gabriel the vegetables, who would wash them quickly and efficiently and then hand them back. James would then slowly and meticulously cut them up, separately them into two piles. One was much bigger than the other—Gabriel was sure to eat three or four times as much as James, who mostly just nibbled at things at this point.
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> While the two men worked on the food, Kat prowled the kitchen and procured two wooden plates, which Gabriel washed.
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> In the end, the two of them enjoyed a chopped salad with sliced bread on the side. It wasn’t fancy, but it was filling, especially for James, who could feel his eyes drooping already.
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> Gabriel, whose energy was apparently endless, asked, “What would you like me to work on now, High Wizard Just James, Culinary Genius?”
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> James snorted. No one had ever complimented his cooking, because that would have required him cooking something in the first place. Which had yet to happen.
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> There was only one more thing to do before James took his daily nap. He’d spotted the sword he’d entered this strange land with by the pile of hay and knew Gabriel would be impossible to placate if he laid eyes on the weapon. He might ask for lessons, or worse, he might be a natural and make James look like an old fool. No, best to get the sword out of the way, especially if Gabriel tackled the tower’s cleanup while James was resting.
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> Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
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> “Kat, could you show Gabriel the upper floors of the tower, just a quick tour so he knows what we’re working with? I just need to, umm, use the bathroom.”
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> “Oh wow, the upper floors? How high up does this tower go? I was studying it from outside, and it seems to go straight into the heavens. Did the previous high wizard ever….” Gabriel’s voice faded as he and the cat both made their way gracefully to the spiral staircase in the middle of the room and started climbing. Twenty-five floors would definitely keep the young man busy for a while. Although this was Gabriel, so maybe James was only looking at a fifteen-minute window. People in the Village had treated Gabriel as though he was a little slow, but if anything the young man had a mind even faster than his whirlwind mouth.
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> “Now, where to hide you, Mr. Sword?” The sword lay there on the floor, and after talking himself into it, James bent down and retrieved the weapon. It was a heavy as before, and he started regretting his decision.
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> James planned on rearranging everything inside the tower, but he didn’t currently have any plans to redo the outside or the surrounding forest and grassy area. If Bel had been here, she would have ignored the interior completely and started manicuring the thick, impenetrable forest until even a queen or president would have been happy to hold a tea party in her manicured paradise, but James was not Bel.
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> Had her garden party already happened? Likely, since he’d been here in the strange world of “En” for almost two days at this point. But he also suspected he was stuck in his parents’ magical book, and where magic was concerned, maybe no time had passed at all. He found himself hoping the party hadn’t happened yet. He… he wanted to go. He knew that now.
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> “A little too late for that,” James said to himself as he opened the back door and was greeted with the hacked-up branches he’d removed to reach Beacon Tower in the first place.
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> “Besides, I’m sure she invited lots of other people, and I would have probably ended up in a corner, sipping on a cup of lemonade and feeling awkward…”
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> There, against the side of the tower and directly to the left of the back door, was a tree stump. A sliver of moonlight danced across it, giving the stump a magical feeling. For some reason it reminded James of one of his father’s favorite stories, which had featured an old wizard and his young ward, who had pulled a sword out of solid stone and become king. Arthur something. Sure, it wouldn’t be a very good hiding place, but the sword was heavy, as were James’ eyes.
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> And it might be entertaining to see the look on Gabriel’s face if he found the sword wedged in a tree stump illuminated by the glowing moon. The young man would probably die of happiness.
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> Convinced, James did his best to aim the sword’s point at the tree stump and pushed against the bark. It was tougher than he thought it would be, and he finally pushed on the hilt with both hands, putting all his body weight into the motion. The sword tip finally punctured the wood and slipped in just enough to keep the sword in place.
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> “Perfect,” James proclaimed, wiping his hands on his silky blue sleeves and throwing his beard over his shoulder to keep in out of the way. He was slightly damp from the rain outside, even though he’d been mostly sheltered by the wild trees growing up to the tower’s stone wall.
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> He was just settling back into the kitchen chair and tucking a fresh scroll into a random kitchen cupboard when Gabriel and Kat returned, Gabriel’s eyes wide with wonder.
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> “This tower is truly a treasure trove of magic,” he announced solemnly, his facial expression at complete odds with his serious voice.
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> “I’m glad you like it. I’m going to take a well-deserved na… meditation, over there, in that chair.” James pointed at a large blue-velvet chair in the library section of the room. “If you want to get a head start on the tower, you can look at my thoughts on the scroll on the table.”
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> Gabriel instantly grabbed the scroll and started studying it like it was a map leading to buried treasure. James, slowly but surely, made his way over to the chair and was promptly snoring.
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> ***
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> James woke up sneezing. Plumes of dust were flying through the air. “I could have sworn I fell asleep indoors.” He half-opened his eyes and gasped. The tower was unrecognizable. The books, which had been scattered and stacked precariously in every direction, were not only neatly on bookshelves, but had been meticulously alphabetized. The shelves themselves, which had been on almost every wall, including the kitchen, were now standing side by side. Even the chair James’ had napped in had been moved, with him in it, and was now on a blue velvet rug, a small table beside him.
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> Gabriel had stacked the cauldrons on wooden racks in the kitchen, cleared off the large, low kitchen table entirely, and was now vigorously sweeping the floor, his strong arms pushing the broom back and forth with such force that James could barely make out the young man’s chiseled jaw in the brown haze.
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> “Ahh, I see you’ve finished meditating,” the young man said with a smile. “After I finish sweeping and mopping the main floor, the quest will be complete.”
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> “You… you…” James wasn’t one to stutter, but this occasion called for it. “You cleaned the entire tower while I was nap… meditating? All twenty-six floors?”
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> “It took me longer than I would have liked, and I apologize for that, but the late high wizard had quite the collection of artifacts, and I didn’t want to damage anything. I hope I haven’t made you upset, High Wizard Just James!”
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> “I definitely wouldn’t use the word ‘upset’ to describe how I’m currently feeling,” he said, thunderstruck. Flabbergasted. Astounded. Shocked. Probably would have used one of those, if it were me.
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> Opening the front door, Gabriel sent the dirt flying, and soon he was plunging a worn mop into a wooden bucket and scrubbing down the wooden floorboards until they gleamed. The tower seemed even brighter now, the magical light seeping from the floor and ceiling even more pronounced.
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> “You’ve done an amazing job. Miraculous even,” James admitted. He glanced over at a neatly folded pile of robes sitting on one of the kitchen chairs. He didn’t even want to know how the young man had cleaned and dried the clothes so quickly without a washer and dryer. Maybe he’d whipped them dry with sheer force. James was still studying the tower with wonder when Gabriel said, “Does this mean you’ll take me on your next quest, High Wizard Just James?”
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> “My next quest?”
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> “I found this scroll on one of the upper floors, number nineteen to be exact! It mentioned you specifically.”
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> “You found time to read while I was, um, focused? On top of cleaning this entire tower?”
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> “I only skimmed, to make sure I was organizing the scrolls and books appropriately,” Gabriel said modestly.
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> “And your parents are upset you’re not growing corn? I know probably eight billion people who would hire you in a heartbeat.” There were about eight billion people currently living on Earth, right? That’s what he remembered. Even infants would love to have Gabriel for their crying, napping, and changing needs. He’d probably teach the babies calculus while he was at it and do their parents’ taxes.
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> “I have always been a little odd,” Gabriel admitted, having the audacity to look shy.
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> “Is that what the kids are calling perfection these days? Fine, fine. What were you saying about a quest?”
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> “I took the liberty of placing it on your table,” Gabriel said. He’d already finished mopping the floor and was now reaching up with a cloth and wiping down the ceiling. The ceiling.
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> James shrugged his shoulders in defeat. He’d finally been bested. He thought he was clean and organized, but he’d never touched his apartment’s ceiling.
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> James looked at the table next to him. Sure enough, a scroll had been neatly laid on the table, just waiting for him to pick it up and read it.
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> “I’ll have a look,” he said. He was opening the scroll when Kat jumped into his lap, purring preemptively.
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> “In case your other hand gets bored,” she offered as an explanation before snuggling into his robes. He couldn’t blame her—they were fabulously comfortable and soft—and started scratching behind her ears, Prince Charles’ favorite spot, as he started to read.
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> The Queen of Life, torn
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> from her flowery throne,
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> has been stolen far away,
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> leaving the world nothing more than dust and clay.
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> Waiting for the hand of the Just
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> to guide the sword without rust
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> and restore the kingdom’s green
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> by defeating the Crimson King.
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> Well, it was short and to the point, even if it rhymed. When he looked up from the scroll he almost bumped into Gabriel, whose blue eyes were staring at him like an eager puppy.
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> “The Crimson King?”
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> “That probably refers to King Lander, the ruler of these lands.”
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> “And the Queen of Life?”
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> “The Green Queen. She’s ruled over the kingdom’s vast gardens for decades. But she went missing several months ago and everyone is suffering. You’ve probably noticed the dead land, calling out to its queen for life and nurturing.”
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> “So things weren’t always so ‘brown’ here?”
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> “No.” Gabriel waited for less than half a second to see if James had another question before he couldn’t contain himself any longer. “Did you not see the reference to you, High Wizard Just James? The hand of the Just will restore the kingdom!”
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> There was no way this silly scroll referred to him in any way. Any honorable and upstanding man or woman could easily fit such a vague title. James was about to say just that, then thought better of it. This Green Queen reminded him of Bel, and against his better judgment, he was curious.
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> James didn’t have time to think about the prophecy scroll, because as soon as he rolled up the paper and set it on the side table, Gabriel was thrusting a second scroll into his now-available hand.
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> “And look at this. I found this while organizing the wooden ladles in the kitchen by size and weight. A second prophecy.”
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> Unlike the first scroll, which was written by an elegant hand in rich blue ink, James instantly recognized this piece of paper and fought back a chuckle, disguising it as a distinguished, wizardly cough.
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> “And what does this one say?” James said, his long, flowing beard hiding his smile.
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> “Read it, High Wizard, and you’ll know.”
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> Written in his own handwriting was the silly riddle James had scribbled down after hiding the sword in the backyard.
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> In the back, not the front,
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> is a sword.
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> A heavy sword, but magical,
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> probably.
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> The person who can pull the sword
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> out of the stump
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> will be very lucky.
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> Because he or she
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> will now have a sword.
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> Whatever those are good for.
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> “Are you alright?” Gabriel asked when James “coughed” again.
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> “Oh, me? Yes, I’m fine.”
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> “High Wizard Just James, I found the very sword mentioned behind the tower.”
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> “And?” James asked, curious as to whether the young man had tried to pull it from the stump.
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> “And…” he looked down at his feet for a moment as though inwardly debating something before straightening. “I would like to try pulling this righteous instrument from the stump.”
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> Excellent. James felt a little bit like an evil villain as he used his walking stick to get up from his velvet napping chair and followed Kat and Gabriel to the back door.
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> Gabriel studied the sword in silence for several long moments, as though paying the weapon homage before taking a deep breath and rolling up his sleeves. Diane would have swooned over such sculpted pieces of marble. Glancing back at James, who gave him an encouraging nod, Gabriel planted his feet firmly in the dirt and placed both hands on the sword’s hilt.
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> In one smooth motion he easily pulled the sword from the stump, stumbling back before regaining his balance. It seems James had misjudged his own strength—he was even weaker than he’d thought.
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> “We have a hero in our midst!” James proclaimed, holding his broom handle in the air in what he hoped was a dramatic, wizardly pose.