Age of Wonders I
by Vampire  julius_elysiak@yahoo.com 



He had a black hat, a long grey cloak, and a silver scarf over which a white
beard hung down below his chest. A few hours earlier, he had stormed out of
the Royal Castle after having an altercation with King Solan. The King was
adamant on leaving his wife Viola.

'No Argus, I'm sick of that whore!' The King had thundered.

Argus Marinum walked swiftly despite his age. The gnarled staff, he had tucked
under his arm. Once, he had reached the end of the street, he looked around to
see if anyone was visible. Satisfied, he muttered something under his breath
and the very next moment, he was gone.

Several miles away, in a huge tower, there was a meeting being conducted.
There was a huge round table around which were eleven armchairs. Elderly men
occupied ten of them. Their eyes were fixated on the large crystal ball, which
was floating just above the surface of the table.

'Where has he gone?' One of them yelled as Argus disappeared from the crystal.

'Patience my friend, he's on his way here.'

A moment later, Argus Marinum appeared on the lone empty chair.

'Well Argus, what do you suggest?'

'There is nothing else we can do. The King has made up his mind and nothing
will change it.' He said resignedly.

'So, Asgard School of Sorcery is gone forever.'

'Not forever,' said Argus. 'According to the agreement, we will reclaim the
school after 500 years. Apart from that the Order of Dyaus can't shift the
school from the kingdom of Skandayu to the kingdom of Marutya.'

'It's not a time for jokes, Argus. None of us will be alive to witness that.'

'I'm not joking. I am merely trying to lift your spirits. So what, if we lost
the ownership of the school? We can build another and this time we'll do it
all on our own.'

'You're right. There is no need to cry over spilt milk. What shall we call
it?'

'Orion School of Sorcery.'

'And where shall it be built?'

'65 miles off the city of Skanda, we've located a dense forest. I've already
recruited a team of Frostlings and Dwarves for clearing and construction
purposes.'

500 years later

The Asgard School of Sorcery was going to revert to the Order of Yaksha at
last. Not that they needed it now. For centuries, there had been rumours that
Black Magic was an integral part of curriculum at the Asgard since the Order
of Dyaus took over. Satanism, Diabolism, Obiism and the darkest of all Tantric
spells were taught to the top students of every year. Since then the school
had been reserved for only the blue-blooded families in the world of sorcery.
As a result, there were never more than 10 students in each year.

When the Order of Yaksha reclaimed the School, they found it unsuitable for
further functioning. The School had become a hotbed for Dark Magic. After a
long discussion, it was decided that the school be disbanded and the building
be destroyed. The students started applying to the other Wizard schools. There
were only four other schools left in the Continent of Atyantika. Orion School
of Sorcery was the best institution followed by The School of Diviners, Magus
Academy of Sorcery and The School of Theurgy. The Order of Yakshas didn't want
the students of Asgard to suffer for the foolishness of the Order of Dyaus. A
decree was passed and all the students were admitted in one school or other.

Orion School of Sorcery was by then the greatest school for young wizards and
witches. And it had a very strenuous admission procedure. Only a handful of
Asgard's students could make it. Alexander Sylvanus was the only fourth year
student at Asgard's who had passed the entrance tests of Orion. He came from
one of the oldest and respected Wizard families. All of the Sylvanus' had been
wizards or witches since forever. There were less than 45 families in the
Continent of Atyantika, who could claim that. 13 years ago, there had been a
lot of rumours that the boy had been bitten by a lamia but being a wizard he
was not mortally wounded.

'A corpse that rises at night to drink the blood of the living' was the
definition of a Vampire or Lamia, according to the Encyclopedia of Sorcery.
They could only be killed by decapitation or by a spear driven through their
heart. The weapon though had to be of silver. They were extremely powerful
creatures with a few magical powers but even the best of wizards had great
difficulty when dealing with an undead since the hexes had little effect on
their treacherous hides.

'Mom, I'm getting late.' yelled Alexander. He was a tall, good-looking kid of
sixteen with long black hair and grey eyes.

'I'm coming, son.' Cynthia Sylvanus was a seventh generation witch. She had
married Lamar Sylvanus at the age of 35 and was now in her early fifties. She
walked into the humongous living room with a rich blue opera cloak hanging
from her shoulders. Even at 53, she was a sight for sore eyes. Standing 5'7,
she was 3 inches shorter than her son and an inch taller than her husband.

She was an attractive lady with high cheekbones and long black hair. She was a
vigorously passionate female and the years had failed to sober her. Apart from
the expensive cloak, she was wearing a sleeveless top and a tight skirt, which
ended a few inches above her knees.

'Mom, why do you have to dress like that?' Asked Alex.

'Because, my son, it is not a sin to flaunt what you've got. Now make haste,
we should be off.'

Ten seconds later, their bodies materialised in a long cobbled street with
shops on both sides.

They entered a medium-sized shop named Luciana's Magic Wands and were greeted
by an old hunch backed witch.

'Cynthia Sylvanus, What a delight!' She squealed in a creepy tone.

'Esther,' acknowledged Cynthia. 'I'm here for my boy. He needs a new wand.'

'Of course, my Lady! Here boy, come here.'

Cynthia sat down on the long comfortable couch, draping a leg over the other.
Her calf muscle looked mammoth as the other knee pushed it aside.

Alex followed Esther into another room, from where she extracted a lot of
boxes. Half an hour later, they emerged into the front room. Esther was
carrying a slick fourteen-inch wand in her hands. Cynthia stood up to inspect
the wand.

'Mahogany,' said Esther. 'Dragon spleen and Unicorn blood.'

'What?' Screamed Cynthia. 'Unicorn blood!'

'My Lady, I know that Unicorn blood is a powerful and dangerous ingredient,
but no other wand worked.'

'But unicorn blood is used in the large staffs of the Dark Wizards.'

'It is also used in the staffs of the Wise Ones.'

'All right, all right! How much do I owe you?'

'Erm... 1,600 nuggets.'

'Are you joking. A normal wand costs less than 500.'

'You're right, my Lady. But this is not an ordinary wand. Half a pint of
Unicorn blood alone costs 700 nuggets.'

Their next stop was Kaman's Bibliotheca.

The bald wizard behind the counter did a double take as he looked at Cynthia,
who smiled seductively. He looked up at the sheepskin on which the names of
the books were written.

The Common Spell Book - IV by Selene Greyhound

Expert's Guide to Potent Potions - I by Athelstan Cepheus

The Encyclopedia of Sorcery by Geraldine Tudor

Expert's Guide to Transmutation - I by Clovis Cygnus

European History of Magic - IV by Nether Cork

Protection against Incubus and Succubus by Odin Libras

Protection against Obiism by Mlueleko Nkala

Protection against Black Arts by Eras Tomah

Beginner's Guide to Tantrik Mantras by Suchitra Kanth

As his mother checked out a few books on Tantrik Sex, Alex sat down on the
long couch. A few seconds later a young girl walked in! She seemed to be of
the same age as Alex. She was tall and beautiful with golden hair and
deep-blue eyes.

She wore a golden cape and had a dark pink wand in her left hand. A satchel
hung over her shoulders, which she lowered to the floor as she handed over a
parchment to another sales-witch.

The first thing he noticed was her arm, which looked rather beefy. She lifted
the bag from the ground and the biceps ballooned to an obscene size. It was
rather intimidating and yet very sensual. Even though the girl was quite
huskily built, the thick, muscular arms gave the impression of a monumental
power like that of an unbridled elephant or a hunting tigress.

For a few minutes, he just sat there looking at the dance of her biceps, but
as she collected her books and handed a few nuggets over for the purchase, he
stood up to speak to her before she went away. He was too late. The girl had
already vanished.

Next day, Alex woke well after the sun had risen. This was the day; he was
supposed to start for his new school.

'Mom, I'm hungry.' He shouted as he walked down the stairs. He was surprised
to see that there were no servants around, when he suddenly realized that they
had been given off, since it was the King's Day.

To his dismay, he noticed that the table had not been set up. He went to his
mom's room and knocked a couple of times before entering. She was still
sleeping under the beautiful, warm blanket.

'Get up, mom. I'm hungry.' He shouted.

Cynthia opened her eyes, sleepily. Pulling her arms outside the blanket, she
stretched lazily. Two large, round peaks swelled from under her skin. Even
though, Alex had seen her large muscles before, but it never ceased to amaze
him.

'Give me a couple of minutes and I'll make something for you.' Washing her
face, she walked into the kitchen with her pink wand. She flicked her wand
casually and the vegetables flew through the air and landed on the table. With
another flick, she cast a spell on the knives so they started cutting the
vegetables.

Alex had never learned any cooking spells at Asgard. His teachers were busy
teaching them dangerous, fatal spells. In any case, it wouldn't have mattered,
since in a year's time he was about to embark on a quest where magic wouldn't
be of much help.

After a few hours he was ready to leave for his new school. Everything, he was
supposed to take with him had been neatly packed. He picked up the large bag
and went outside. Once outside, he slung the bags over the back of a large
black horse.

The horse neighed gleefully as Alex patted his head, 'Nice to see you too,
Cheetah.'

The huge gate of Sylvanus Mansion swung open as another horse strode in. A
good-looking boy of Alex's age came riding in. The horse was of the same shade
of brown as its master's hair.

The boy was also a young wizard and Alex's best friend. He had been a student
of Orion's since he was five. His name was John Swordwick and like Alex, he
belonged to a great Wizard family.

* * * * *

'Hello there Alex. Looks like you are ready and raring to go.' John said as he
trotted in close to me.

'Hello, John! You're all set?'

'Yes, mate! Now let's hurry. It'll take us no less than 8 days to reach
Orion.'

'Tell me again, why can't we just teleport there?' I said just to irritate
John.

'Because Alex, We have a river, a mountain range and a dark forest on our way
and if your teachers were any good at Asgard, you would know that we can't
teleport across these barriers. Besides teleporting over long distances is
something which only 4-5 of the top sorcerers can manage. And even then, they
have to wait a long time to teleport again since it takes a lot out of you. I
can't teleport farther than 2 miles and still that says a lot for a Warlock
who hasn't come of age yet.'

'How about summoning a Pegasus?'

'Come on Alex, haven't you read the rulebook. Students aren't supposed to
summon any magical creatures. I tried it once and faced detention for a
month.'

'But they won't know if we send the creature back before crossing the river.'

'They will,' John said, exasperated. Any magic done in the entire continent is
monitored by the continental charm. Do you think the Order of Yakshas or the
Order of Dyaus are useless councils?'

'All right, John,' I said laughing. 'Let's go. Remind me to tell you about the
most beautiful girl I saw yesterday.'

'Hey Alex, You didn't even tell me that you are going.' Mom said as she
appeared next to me.

'I was about to.'

'Come here and give your mom a hug,' mom said and pulled me into her. I felt
my body being crushed against her muscles. My feet dangled in the air as she
lifted me in her arms. Just before letting go, she kissed me on my lips. I was
shocked as I felt her wet tongue probe inside my mouth.

I felt ashamed as my penis hardened and brushed against her monstrous thighs.
But she didn't seem to mind. After a few seconds, she let go of me and I
almost swooned.

'I'll miss you,' mom said as I hoisted myself on Cheetah's back.

Together, we trotted towards the gate. I was ignoring John's stare as we rode
off.

'What was that all about, Alex?' Davis asked as we galloped about.

'I don't know John.' I finally decided to be honest with John. After all, he
was my best friend. 'For a few days now, I've been noticing that mom has been
acting rather strange. I'm glad, I don't have to spend another day with her.'

'I can't say I'm surprised.'

'What are you talking about?' I asked John, pointedly.

'Nothing, I'm sorry.'

'Look here John. You've already said something, which you shouldn't have and
to be honest, I'm not very happy with it, either. So you might as well, tell
me the complete story.'

'All right, but bear in mind that the only reason I didn't tell you this
before was because I care for you. You are my closest friend.' He looked at me
as he was saying this. I didn't say anything, but kept on staring at him.

'Five years ago,' John began, 'I had overheard my parents discussing about
your Dad. It was around midnight and they were sitting on the terrace
preparing some kind of potion. They didn't know that I was just behind the
door. Mom said something like, 'Alex couldn't have asked for a better father
figure'. And then Dad said, 'Even though Alex is not their real son, still
they still love Alex as if he was their own.'

That is all they said and since then I haven't overheard them talking about
you or your parents.'

'WHAT??? What the hell are you talking about?' It felt as if a dragon had just
stepped on my head. I couldn't believe it! But why would John lie to me. May
be, they were talking about some other Alex. But deep in my heart, I had a
sinking feeling that all of this was true.

Neither of us spoke for some time. Our horses were trotting at a snail's pace.

'Do you know who my real parents are? When did they adopt me?'

'I don't know that! I never discussed it with my parents.'

I didn't know what to do. At first I decided to head back home and confront my
mom. But I decided against it the very next moment. Memory of the incestuous
kiss, which she had planted in my mouth, was still afresh. Everything was
making sense now. I remembered that I had been at Asgard's ever since I was
five and the only time, I was with them was after the Annual Exams were over
and even that vacation lasted for merely 25 days. In the last eleven years, I
had spent only 275 days with my so-called parents. It was no surprise that I
wasn't close to them. Even though, they had never mistreated me but there had
always been a barrier between them and me.

An hour later, we had crossed the borders of Chirayu. For some time, there
seemed to be no trees and no lakes to break the ground in front of us, only
one vast slope going up and down. We were galloping away swiftly now. I had
gotten over the shock now and was feeling a shade better. John kept on trying
to cheer me up.

'Last year at Orion, one of the younger student kept on massaging his head
with oil in the History of Sorcery class. Finally, the teacher got angry and
asked him the reason for doing it. The boy said, the night before I left for
school, I heard my mother tell my father, rub oil on the head if it's not
going in.'

We had a pretty good laugh when a question popped in my head.

'John, how come we are the only ones going to Orion's on this route? We
haven't run into any other student on our way.'

'There are only five wizard students in Chirayu and they are younger than us.
They report to the school ten days before the fourth and fifth year students.
And you would know, that most of the students in our school come from large
towns like Skanda, Lava or Marut etc.'

* * * * *

By next morning they had had covered a long distance, almost three-fourths the
distance between Chirayu and Musafir. They had ridden through out the night,
stopping twice for meals. They reached Musafir as the Sun started throwing the
shortest shadows of the day.

'I am exhausted,' said John, 'I've never ridden from Chirayu to Musafir
without sleeping at least once.'

'The letter we received three days back from the school said that three more
students will join us here. Do you know them?' Asked Alex.

'Yes, all of them are fourth year students now, like us. We can sleep at one
of their places.'

'Umm. I'm not too sure if that's a good idea. I really don't know any of them.
Why don't we rent a room at the inn? We're supposed to meet those three,
tomorrow morning as it is.'

Riding on up a gentle sloping path and passing a few detached houses they drew
up outside the inn. They led their horses under the arch and leaving them
standing in the yard, climbed up the steps. Their baggage was still on the
horses' backs but they didn't worry about it. Horses from Wizard families were
lot smarter than the rest of their breed. It was virtually impossible to steal
a horse or anything on its back if it belonged to a Wizard.

* * * * *

We entered Speedway Inn and to our surprise it was full of people even during
the noontime.

'Good afternoon, young sirs!' The man behind the counter said. 'What can I do
for you?'

'We need a room with two separate beds and stable for two horses.' John said.

'Certainly!' For a few seconds he eyed us suspiciously. Not that he needed to.
If he had asked us who we were, we would have gladly revealed that we were
warlocks. Even though only 1 in 10,000 grew up to be sorcerers, but we were
accepted, revered and feared by lot of other men in the continent.

While John was bargaining for the room, I noticed that a lot of people had
gathered around a table and were shouting and jeering simultaneously.

As I came close, I saw that a man and a woman were sitting on either side of a
small, round table. The man seemed to be in his early thirties while the woman
was older. She must have been close to forties but was very attractive. She
was wearing a green gown that was sleeveless and her arms were long and
sinewy.

It seemed as if they were going to arm wrestle and that was the reason for
such commotion. I didn't want to miss it either. They locked arms and it was
clear that the woman's arm was longer if not thicker than her opponent's.

'Are you ready?' The man asked, bracing himself.

Yes! You may start whenever you want,' she replied in a deep seductive voice.

Gritting his teeth the man pulled with his all his might Unfortunately, her
arm stayed where it was. I saw another woman look at this spectacle
alarmingly. Evidently, this other woman who was standing behind the man was
either his wife or his friend.

The man started grunting but the only result was the woman's arm began to
swell into an egg shaped muscle. The woman was still smiling and even lifted
her mug to sip a bit of ale.

She held him there for several moments, smiling as the man started to sweat
not just with exhaustion but also with humiliation. The man was practically
off his chair after a while trying to pull her arm down with his weight. She
didn't complain, however the round muscle on her arm hardened and swelled even
more and veins puffed and became prominent on her forearm and a single vein
darkened and ran across her bulging bicep.

She jerked her long, black hair backwards and looked at him with pity. I saw
her eyes, which were as dark as her hair. Then, almost at will, she started to
pull his arm down. In a swift, fluid motion, she pressed his arm on the table.

A few men cheered while some other loosened their pouch and took out a few
gold coins, handing them over to the cheering fellows. The woman looked up and
noticed me for the first time. I was sure; I saw a smile on her lips as she
stood up looking at me.

She was a tall lady, towering over most men near the table, including myself.
Even though, she was slender in her sliver girded robe, she looked strong and
as firm as steel.

Collecting the gold coins, which some men had left on the table, she strode
towards the innkeeper. Having paid for her ale, she walked out and I noticed
every man staring at her with lustful eyes as she descended down the steps.

'Who was she?' John asked as he rushed towards me.

'I don't know, but I think that she may be a Witch.'

'Are you sure? Is that why she was able to beat that man?'

'I didn't know that you were watching too. Anyway, I am certain, she used no
sorcery in vanquishing that man. She was just very strong, physically even
though she seems so slender.'

'And her beauty? Was that sorcery too?'

'No! Couldn't you tell? Really John, they ought to teach you a few things at
Orion's.'

I slept fitfully that night. I remembered having recurring dreams of that
woman I saw in the inn. In my dreams, she would challenge me and after beating
me, she would start to kiss me. Now, that wasn't too bad. But in between the
kisses, she would turn into my foster mother. And every time this happened, I
woke up sweating, yet aroused.

'Wake up, Alex! Wake up! If we don't leave in a few minutes, we'll be late.'
John was shaking me as I opened my eyes. Before waking up, I was having a
better dream. I dreamt myself making love to the girl, I had seen earlier
while shopping for my books. 'For Heaven's sake, Alex! Go get ready
immediately.'

'Yawn! All right John. Give me a few moments for bathing and I'll be off.'

'There isn't enough time. All right, this is what we'll do. You go get ready
and I'll be waiting for you downstairs at the patio. The rest of the students
are supposed to meet me there in a few moments. But please, don't take long to
come down.'

'Fine! Just make sure that you ask the innkeeper to have our horses ready.'

'I'll do that. Now hurry!' And with that he left the room.

I hurried downstairs after a refreshing bath and upon reaching the patio,
noticed that John was talking to a boy of our age. A few paces away, two girls
were engaged in their own conversation.

'Hey, you are here at last!' Exclaimed John. 'I want you to meet Astor Wizen.
He is a fellow student at Orion's.'

Astor Wizen was a short and chubby boy of seventeen. He was in his fifth and
final year. We shook hands as the girls walked towards us.

'And this is Xenia Wizen, Astor's sister. She is in the fourth year with us.'
Xenia was completely opposite from her brother. She was 5'7 with a lithe body
and was quite beautiful.

'This is Livia Novak. She is also in her fourth year.'

I stood stupefied as I met her gaze. She was the same girl, I had seen at
Kaman's Bibliotheca where I had gone to buy the schoolbooks. She looked
stunning even then when I had seen her from a distance, but now as I looked at
her, she was simply breath taking. She had tied her lustrous golden hair in a
ponytail and that accentuated her exquisitely chiseled facial features.

She was adorned in a snug fitting top and equally tight fitting riding
breeches that emphasized her voluptuous, husky physique. The fabric of her
sleeveless top subtly punctuated her firm and turgid breasts without revealing
any cleavage.

Unfortunately, she had a green cloak draped over her shoulders and held
steadfast with a golden brooch. Thus, those arms that I had fallen in love
with were concealed.

'Hey, what's wrong?' Asked John and I was suddenly aware that I had been
staring at her for quite a while now.

'Nothing,' I said nonchalantly, 'Let's get going.'

John and Astor were smiling with understanding eyes. Livia was built like a
goddess and undoubtedly related to the nymphs by blood. She was also quite
tall, almost as tall as John and I.

All three of us stared as she walked up to her horse and mounted it with
surprising ease. I noticed that Xenia wasn't too happy as she threw her
brother a piercing look.

The five of us set out, riding at a brisk pace. I held my horse, Cheetah back
so I could look at those glorious arms that were quite visible now as her
cloak fluttered proudly. Her forearms were strong and well veined. I could see
her arm muscles tightening every other moment as she held her horse's leash to
slow down a little to catch up with Astor who was the worst rider amongst us.

After a few paces, it dawned on me that she was deliberately waiting to let
Astor catch up with her because she suspected that I was intentionally
following her. Hence, I decided to abandon my perversive plan and rode fast to
catch up with John who was riding alongside Xenia.

Soon, we were on the foothills of Palayu Hills. I knew that we had to ride a
little farther towards the east to reach the only path across the Hills.
Strangely this path was quite close to the Bargad wood, which was a little
surprising since every man and woman in the kingdom avoided going into the
forest.

Bargad woods were believed to be an accursed place fill with ogres and trolls.
It was also suspected that Elves still inhabited a small part of the forest.
Now elves were held in high regard and were even feared by normal men even
though they had never heard an elf hurting another being without reason. The
forest itself was so big and dense that even if you escaped whatever daemons
it hid, still it would take years to find a way out. No one in recent memory
had ventured into the woods and come back to give a truthful account. And that
was despite the fact that there was a path through the jungle.

Soon, we had reached the path but it was in quite a dilapidated state.

'No one really goes through these parts nowadays.' Informed Astor. 'Only a
bunch of students or an emissary of King crosses over these parts.'

'So what are we waiting over? Let's gallop through while we have daylight.'
Shouted John.

We had just covered a mile, which actually took us a long time due to the
steepness of the road, when the weather took a nasty turn. Till then, it had
been mostly good with a warm breeze but now it was getting colder and humid.
The skies were darkening even though it was a few moments after noon.

'There is a cave three miles from here. Let's keep riding till we reach it,
because it may start raining anytime now.' Informed Astor.

It had gone really dark so all of us took out our wands and muttered, 'Trezda
jism sawalon roshni aarambh.'

The next moment, from the tips of our wands came a faint radiance. I was a
little embarrassed to see that the light emanating from my wand was duller and
dimmer than the rest. It wasn't surprising though. I had been raised to master
the dark arts at Asgard's and illuminating wasn't something which Dark
Warlocks excelled at, even with a wand as effective as mine. And in any case,
new wands took time to show it's real worth, even in the hands of the great
sorcerers.

We had just crossed another mile when John gasped in disdain. 'We've either
lost our way or the path lies ruined.'

'We haven't lost our way, because if you turn around, you'll see that we've
been riding on it,' said Xenia.

Right infront of us was a steep valley. The road seemed to have disappeared
just at the edge of the cliff.

'How is this possible,' muttered Astor, 'we came back home on this path a
month back. And even the younger students take the same path. And they always
have their parents with them. From what I heard, there was a group of
seventeen people, students and their fathers who crossed over the mountains.'

'But, they haven't returned, so how would we get the news? I can't remember a
single traveler from North crossing over to the south in a year. That's why
the King doesn't care for this path's upkeep. I swear, if I run into him, I'll
turn him into a pig.' Said Xenia hotly.

'I don't think that is the cause,' Livia said, for the first time voicing her
opinion. 'Remember, three days ago, there was a fierce thunderstorm in the
town. But the thunder was so great that it couldn't be of a thunderbolt. I
reckon, the rambling sounds we heard that day was of a land slide.'

'Whatever the reason, the real question is how do we get cross the hills?'
said John.

It had started to rain lightly and the wind had picked up. I knew that there
was only one way out of this.

'We have to cross Bargad woods to reach the school in time. Finding an
alternate way through the mountains will take months with all the steep falls
around.' I said.

They all fell silent at this suggestion and it was a while before Astor spoke
again. I felt another drop fall on hand as he spoke. Thankfully, it wasn't
raining, it was just a light drizzle at that time.

Astor started, 'who can teleport the farthest? We need to reach the town and
inform the school. They'll think of a way.'

John and Xenia said that they couldn't go beyond 2 miles and in this case as
we were on top of mountains, it was possible that they couldn't even do a few
paces. Asgard could teleport almost 3 miles away and surprisingly Livia said
that she could teleport close to 5 miles. They all looked at her in awe. But
it wasn't helpful, the town was over 11 miles away and it was impossible to
reach it in time without a horse.

'How far can you teleport?' Asked Astor.

'Close to 7 miles but it's no use on a mountain. On the top of a mountain,
your teleporting skills are reduced by more than half.' I said and instantly
noticed the surprised looks of the others.

After a lot of discussion, we finally decided to cross through Bargad woods.
John and I wee able to convince Astor that Ogres and Elves were no more in the
woods and that it was just a myth nowadays. It was well known that the Elves
had crossed over to the Eastern side of the continent and their numbers
continued to diminish even there.

Rain had picked up as we reached the threshold of Bargad Woods. There was a
small cove at the foothills of the mountain where the forest began, so we
hurried off inside it. It wasn't very deep but was a dry place, nevertheless.

There were a few braches of wood strewn over the ground, evidently from a
cluster of nearby trees, which covered much of the entrance of the recess. We
gathered them and Xenia lit the wood with the help of a Jwala spell.

'What do we do now?' Asked Astor in an irritated tone. He was starting to
annoy me. He had been grumbling all the way till here after we decided to pass
through the woods.

'Shut up, Astor! Stop being a pain in the arse.' John snapped. Even he had had
enough of this snotty bastard.

'What did you say?' Asked Astor in a threatening tone as if he was going to
hex John any minute now. He was clutching his wand fiercely.

'You heard me,' growled John. Infact, I had been rather surprised to see John
behave so courteously to these people. John and I had a reputation of being
arrogant and egotistic in nature. That wasn't completely true but one thing
was for sure. We didn't take kindly to threats.

'Indeed I did! But let me tell you, I don't tolerate disrespect from prigs
like you.'

The girls looked helplessly at each other as John extracted his wand from
under his cloak. Xenia looked at me in an alarmed manner. But I wasn't going
to break it off. I would love to see John hammer some sense into that son of a
bitch. I would have helped John if he was against more than one warlocks and I
was also sure that Astor didn't stand a chance against John Swordwick, whose
lineage was as impressive as mine.

'Apologise now John and I won't hurt you.' Astor said, raising his wand.

'Back off dunderhead before I turn you into a bloody swine.'

'Trezda jism kaaziosa.' Cried Astor and a beam of red light escaped his wand.
It hit John right on his chest causing him to fall. Before Astor could cast
another spell, John yelled, 'Shuzayu Tezaab.'

A jet of silver light hit Astor in the stomach and he was flung a few feet
away. His body hit the walls of the cove before falling down on the ground.

Xenia rushed towards her brother while Livia jumped at John. Livia clasped
John's wand yielding hand before he could hex Astor again. He tried to free
his arm but Livia held him tight. She turned him around forcefully so his back
was towards her. Letting go off John's arm she flung her hands across his
waist and in a shocking proof of strength hoisted John a foot off the ground.
She held him in the air for a moment shaking his body like a rag doll, which
resulted his wand to slip from his grip.

John tried to squirm and writhe as she stopped swaying him but was powerless
against the strength of Livia.

'I'll let you go if you calm down,' said Livia in a composed manner. I didn't
think John had anything else to do but to calm down, as he was powerless in
her grasp, with his legs suspended in the air.

'Fine,' he said, 'put me down.'

Lowering him to the ground, she freed him but watched him gingerly as he
walked towards his wand and pocketed it. Astor had regained his consciousness
and was mad as hell. He knew better than to try and jinx John but spoke
angrily.

'I've had enough of you two,' he raged looking at John and I, 'I don't want to
travel with you any more. I'll still pass through these woods since there is
no other way at the moment but I don't want you to ride with us.'

'Astor, please calm down,' implored Xenia but Astor hardly noticed her.

'We'll go right now,' he continued, 'and I hope I never have to see your face
again till we reach the school, John.

'That's fine with me.' John said calmly.

'Let's go,' Astor said turning towards Xenia and Livia.

Xenia bowed her head and followed her brother as he walked out of the cove.
Livia looked at me for a moment and then gazed angrily at John before storming
out behind the siblings.

[I've also provided two maps for reference]

[Second part of the story will be written pretty soon, that's if the readers
are interested. Hence feedback is required.]