Bob the Wizard 2 – by enderandrew – narrated by Asclepius - Echoes from the Caverns

[Jack T. Lamplighter 15]

Hello everyone, this is Asclepius, with the conclusion of this great story from enderandrew, entitled
Bob the Wizard

 

Vol IV

The past few months have easily been the most terrifying of my life.

My waking hours are filled with dread. I never know if I am safe. I feel an invisible leash, as if the Obsidian Sorcerer I robbed can track me by it.

I’ve barely spoken to anyone more than is absolutely necessary. I don’t want to draw attention to myself in case spies report my location. I’m leery of everyone. And frankly I don’t really care much about them or how they see me now.

Before I craved their attention and my smattering of fame, even though I earned it as a charlatan. I felt it was my own form of power. But it was a pale imitation of true power. I understand that now. I’ve seen just the smallest sampling. This gem, if I can call it such, radiates far more power than I’ve ever held in my lifetime.

In truth, it speaks to me. It terrifies me to commit the words to paper. I’ve begun to question my sanity. The only reassuring thought is that a sane man wonders what is real and seeks to question it. The insane man is devout in his delusion. I know every answer lies within this gem more than the tome that describes it.

The tome speaks of transformative powers, how the Obsidians used it to shape men into fomorians to serve their will. They experimented in different ways to bend and alter men into different creatures. But it wasn’t just flesh that was shaped. These creatures were imbued with unique abilities and powers. The satyrs never sleep, for example. The Obsidians were quite careful not to give their thralls too much power. They did not want their newly created weapons to be more powerful than the arm that wielded it.

But I have no such reservations. I knew how the gem called out to me. It told me how I could use its powers, all of them. To free myself of my current predicament, I would need to do precisely what I had always dreamed of doing. I’d need to take this shard, this small fragment and consume every ounce of power it contained. I’d need to have true power within myself for the first time ever.

I would shape myself they like they shaped fomorians. I would become a true wizard like the persona I pretended to be. And when I was done, I would no longer run. I would let my pursuers know precisely where to find me. I’d do my best to lay a trap.
I assume after “The Terrifying Cluck” this isn’t what you expected of Bob the Wizard. Chapter 5 is the end of his backstory, but you may see him again in the future.

Vol V

They knew I would be in the barn at night, sleeping away from prying eyes. I had no obvious defences that would alert someone to my presence. I relied entirely on stealth, hiding as I have done this entire time I’ve been on the run.

I had no wards, no traps when they found me. I was quickly surrounded and I offered no resistance, merely an offer. I held the tome aloft in the air as they approached. I warned them if they ever wished to recover their precious shard to wait. With my death they would find nothing. But if they agreed to let me go, I would give them back both the tome and tell them where their shard was.

They seemed unconvinced and I sensed they would still attack, taking their chances that they could capture me alive and torture me for information.

I warned them of the danger I presented. I told them I had letters stored in each city I had visited. If I did not come back to claim them, they would be opened. I detailed the hidden presence of Obsidians among us. I would expose them.

They paused now as I explained that I did not know who I robbed initially, but I have a great fear and respect for their power. I was willing to hand back what was stolen because I realized I was meddling in something far greater than myself.

They did not realize that this entire time I was stalling, I was also mesmerizing them. They continued their slow advance on me, but also fell more into my grasp. What stood before them was not me, but an illusion. I stood hidden behind the Obsidian, cloaked in her shadows. He never saw my dagger slit his throat.

The satyr reacted immediately either to the gleam of my dagger or the spurt of blood. But as he struck, I was no longer there. I had teleported to just outside the barn door. I blasted him back with a fireball, and then closed the barn doors. I barred them securely as it went up in flames. I did not stay to listen to his screams.

I hear the voices so much clearer now. At first I wasn’t aware it was multiple voices, so that is why they confused me. Poor Daedalus is fractured. There were two moons, equals, opposites and star-crossed lovers. Then they became one largely in the destruction of the other. It is in this joining Daedalus should have rejoiced but she truly feels loss. The fragmented pieces are gone, lost on this earth. Part of her love has been torn away, and that is now part of her that is missing. These shards still contain a piece of her, but they have their own confused voices.

Either I have gone completely insane where it would be far easier to shed these last vestiges of sanity and stop worrying, or I alone hear her call and I alone understand. She wants us all to be together, to be as one. We don’t always have to be apart. She knows how to transform us, and transform this land. She can bend one place to another with her rifts. I have given myself fully to her lessons.

I serve her, but she also serves me well.

I am once again a traveling wizard for hire, but I no longer need tricks when her illusions are so much more powerful. I earn my coin, bide my time and await her instructions. Her voices will guide me.
I would test my new found powers on them. Would I be successful? The gem thinks I might. I’m not sure if I should trust it. But I have no better alternatives. One way or another, this waking nightmare will end soon.

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