COTN House of Genoe Part 4

4. The Magic in Me.

The duo settle down to eat their third of meals together in this isolated fortress of magic. The battering of the magical wall has dwindled to a few now, and its more serene as they enjoyed the leftover food. Malech is still recovering from his ordeal of gathering the secrets of the scrolls but he is eating and drinking which is a good sign. He is also very talkative as if the scrolls made him that or he is just yearning for companionship. One other odd things about him is that his body is covered with characters and symbols now. Medi asked him on that during their meal.

"Malech, your body is now covered with ......tattoo of some sort....." Malech looked up from his goblet of wine and then stared at this forearms and hands.

"Its ugly, but its part of the magic process of assimilation. The ones you see on my skins served as the last to be absorbed by me and only the skin is left to paste it on. Don't be turned off by it, as I would don the robe to cover all of it." Malech has one is a sleeveless long tunic that reached to his knee, and he is getting up to walked to his son's chamber. He came out dressed in a dark velvet like robe that cover his entire body and it has a hood that can also hide his face beneath.

"This was the robe I prepared for this occasion and I have stored it in my son' chest. He was told to keep it there until I need it. "You seem confused, young warrior. Please allow me to tell you a tale of a young elf of many years ago. His name is Malech."

"Malech was a young apprentice of his father who was an apprentice to his. Malech was the sixth in the line but he was not the favorite as he was not first born. It was his brother, Malent who was the one to take on the role, but events arise that Malent was to go astray. He left not only his lover but also his family to seek the new art; the darker ones. Malech' father was also defeated by the astray son in a battle of spells. The old elf was badly wounded in the fight but his astray son allowed him to live. His words to the father was 'I am no more your son nor your successor. Train the other one and one day we would challenge our skills'. Malech' father did not recover to full strength but he made his second son, Malech to train hard to be his successor. Malech studied under his father for over fifty years of Man's life cycle, and the next truth was revealed.  

'Malech, you are no match for your brother Malent as even I have failed in it. He knows as much as you do and he learned more from others. In order to fight him, you must learned from others too.' That was the last words that Malech heard from his father before he was sent off to pursue his own destiny.

It was also then the Dark Years appeared; you may had known is from the tales told by the fire by older elves. It prelude the War of the Serpents. The Dark Years was a period of unnamed battles of the dark and light arts over everything from wealth to power. Or even in love. Malech was learning from a wizard of Man then; The Great One who taught him many spells to protect himself. There was one spell he could not protect from; love for a lady. One of Man's.

The Great One knew and he banished Malech out from the school. Malech left with a heavy heart and sought our others to teach him. It went on for over ten more Man' years before he learned of the death of the Great One. He rushed back to the old school to see his love in pain and anguish. It brought him three things to his life.

A renewed love with the lady he once loved.

A child born out of that reunion.

The third was a chance encounter with his brother Malent, who is now known as Seti. Malent or Seti as he call himself then raid the school for the old wizard' books of spell. He would had succeeded if not for the magic left by the old wizard to protect his school and family. Seti efforts were thwarted that day, but he pledged chaos and war.

It was the prelude to the Serpents War which ignited ten years later.

During that ten years, I was constantly learning from the Great Ones vault of spells, not only to fight Seti but also to protect my family. Berhan, my son was taught magic at the age of five and thankfully, his mother knew some which was enough to protect him at times.

That was not enough as during the war, Seti killed my lover. She died protecting me from Seti' guards. That was time we turned the war tide against Seti. More wizards and sorcerers came to help in the fight. It was also then I was introduced to two young apprentice; Kiring and Pipa. I trained them to fight with me but more to be companions with Berhan who is without normal friends then. I was also a fool then not to lead my son into his adulthood. He fell for Kiring and that created a new problem. Pipa was also keen on him and they competed for his love.

When I knew, it was too late.

In their fight for him, the two were influenced by Seti. He manipulated them to fight me when all was seen to be lost in the war. We won as you know the war but it was not a full victory; more of a negotiated one. Seti negotiated a peace treaty behind the surrender. He wanted Aleria then and we agreed on the condition we sink the city so that the others would not come there. We also scorched the land around it so that there would be no settlement there.

When we found out of the deception and the source, Seti held us on the treaty or war would erupt again. We compromised but we negotiated an outpost there. An outpost not of army guards but a group of wizards and sorcerer.

Berhan cheated his name into the list and he was soon to be part of it. I tried to stop him, but I could not. He told me, he wanted to do it as he wanted to be there to ensure that this war would never come back. I reluctantly allowed him but soon I was to find out that Kiring also sneaked in. She followed her love into the city. I tried to stop her and that's when the unexpected happened. She trapped me with Pipa, and I was imprisoned since then in the Twilight Tower.

Now you know me as from my past."

Malech was sitting down then when he completed his tale. He picked up the blue bauble and looked into it.

"This is the present now. Both my love and my son died. My apprentice' betrayed me. My brother hates me. Why? All because I know magic. All because I was pushed into this role because of my family history. I am going to end this soon. When I destroy Seti, I would die with him. I would carry all these spells with me. None would learn them again. Now you know what we must do next."

"Well said, Malech. Or shall I addressed you as Master Malech." The voice can be heard from the walls but there is no one seen to speak it.

"Kiring..." Malech hissed out the name in disgust. He grabbed the goblet and threw it against the wall.

"Temper, old man. You were always in hurry. That was what Berhan disliked about you. You wanted him to learn and yet you have no patience with his speed of acquiring the knowledge. That's why he ran to his mother and later to me. Old man, your son distanced not because of me, but of you." The voice revert off the walls and it sounded so pleasant to the ears. "Medi of Genoe, I salute you for been able to stay with this old man. Don't be surprised, young one. Your secrets are safe with me."

It was Medi' turn to lashed out with her spear.

"Yes, I can read mind which is what Pipa and myself are good at. So what are yours, Medi?"

"Come out and faced me, Sorceress." Medi lashed out with her anger as she looked everywhere that the lady could had hidden.

"Not like my House; we are more calm in handling issues. Only those from Genoe are like this; temper, temper, and more temper outburst. Sorry, old man. I seemed to have missed you in my conversation." The voice broke up into laughter. "You know now that Berhan is dead. You caused him to die here. They are good but Seti is better. All they need to do was one mistake and Seti took advantage of it. I gave them a proper sendoff given my situation."

"Kiring, you betray your people and the House. You sided with the enemy and now battle for them. Do you not have any honor in you?" Malech lashed out again at his ex-apprentice. "I taught you well and along with Pipa; both you imprisoned me for years. You held me from saving my son' life. Is that how you repay his love for you?"

"Love? I love him but he only loves Pipa. And his mother. He discarded you and me. So don't tell me about love. I joined Seti to learn from him what you did not teach me. You taught Pipa the spells that matters while I had to sneak in after dark to learn myself." Medi could feel the sneer in the voice of Kiring. "I learned more from Seti. He taught me love and I accepted it. Master Malech, I am Queen Serpents now."

"Queen? You are no more a bitch to him. I know Malent well. He treats women like you the same way he treats the dogs in the house then. He discards or maimed them when he feels like it. That was why my father was reluctant to teach him, but its was the tradition that bind him. Where is your King now? Hiding behind your legs like a dog, or mounting you like one now."

Malech laughed out loud and the walls vibrate from the incessant attacks from outside.

"You are still an apprentice to me, Kiring. I am still the Master. Faced me if you dare." Malech challenged her.

"Always the commander. Master Malech, if I may addressed you that. Once I was your apprentice, but today I am your equal. Do you think Pipa could had captured you without my help. She betrayed me as we agreed that you would be send to me after she held you in prison for a year. She renegade on her words. She kept you there too long. She even imprisoned my guards to guard you. She double crossed me and I had to fight her, but my powers are still limited outside of the city here. You however are very powerful now. You never told us of the spell to siphon those spells. Every time I tried to get there, I could not opened the door. Only you knew the key. I may need to asked you before you die."

"Kiring, you are a pathetic apprentice. That' why you did not know. Match me if you dare. Or do you need your lover to come forth." Malech mocked her with the challenge.

"Dusk today. Meet me at the High Tower Temple. We would let the Gods decide." The walls stopped vibrating and the place was quiet again. Malech fell to his knees clutching his chest.

"Hold me...." he pleaded. Medi ran to his side and held him up. It was then she felt the pull in her body and soul as the sorcerer draws on her strength.

"What are you .....doing?" Medi fell into darkness and then onto the flooring.

"I am sorry, Medi. I need your strength to battle her. Rest here and you would be fine. I have to prepare for my meeting." Malech walked away to his son' chamber.