Wizard Chronicles 3: Orbs of the Gate of Oban
Chapter 1: The Orb of Rhedall
The bell rings beginning the second block classes at Carson Central High School. Students settle in as the lectures begin and the hallways grow silent. Over the last week, things have gotten back to some sense of normalcy since the epic showdown outside of Rovenia. Construction crews are hard at work restoring the landscape and buildings that were damaged in the latest crisis. Sitting in his archaeology class, Willie's mind begins to wonder as the lecture gets going.
"What's this feeling I can't shake?" he ponders paying attention to the lecture. "Something still doesn't feel right."
"Now remember," Lucille Barnes, or Ms. Barnes to her students, emphasizes a point she made in a previous class. She's in her late 40s and her brunette hair shows some signs of graying. She wears jeans and boots along with a button-down brown shirt. "When exploring ruins always make sure nothing gets damaged."
"Well, that's obvious," a female student, Lola Dryson, speaks up. "We wouldn't want to damage anything that could be of importance."
"Especially if it's connected to the history of the country," Ms. Barnes spoke up to everyone turning to a page in her textbook. "Today we'll discuss some of the lesser known ancient sites that our country holds." The class opens their books onto the current chapter. "Can anyone tell me a place you wouldn't expect to find ancient ruins?" Several hands go up in the air. "Yes?"
"I actually found out about some ruins in Salvenburg," a male student, Randall Charleston, answers. "There are several ruins there that can tell people all sorts of stuff about the country's past and present."
"Nice but not what I was expecting. I said anywhere except in the obvious places."
"That's a way too obvious place to look," Willie speaks up getting everyone's attention. "You have to look in places you wouldn't think to look."
"That's spoken like a true archaeologist," Ms. Barnes lights up hearing her student's statement. "You've done some exploring around the country before?"
"You could say that. I do work with a team of archaeologists from around the world searching for and finding many sites of ancient cities." Silence fills the room as everyone turns to him.
"You never mentioned that you have a job."
"There are things about me I do not and will not go into. This, however, was one of my bright spots." The discussion continues as the morning advances.
The Elfhame Palace rumbles in panic as pages rush documents from one part of the building to another section carrying information about various objectives as well as news about what's going on in the world. Phones are going off every few seconds causing mass confusion among the pages as to who gets what document or form. Entering one of the rooms, a page hands Councilwoman Kelsey Masterson an update on an unfolding situation befalling the planet.
"So Javista's been destroyed," the councilwoman reads the report with a worried look on her face. "No indication that it's the same group that devastated Croata several weeks ago. You can go now." The page walks out leaving the young woman deep in thought not noticing Councilman Reginald Vasquez enter her office.
"Any news from what's going on out there?" he asks seeing her check her iPad checking for any news stories regarding Javista.
"Not a damn thing. We're blind to what's going on out there."
"We better check with the facility to see if they've heard anything."
"We better send Osiris over there also just in case they don't know of these developments. They may have saved the country from the last threat, but I'm afraid this new threat is even more serious." The two talk as the midday hours pass into the early afternoon.
The facility comes alive as a group of criminals leave the center in shackles after having their powers removed as punishment for their crimes. Kali and Willie trade jabs in a sparring session in the training room as the facility workers perform maintenance on the machines. Willie is thrown back against a cushion-latent wall after Kali's attack spell.
"You're slower than usual," she mentions seeing him getting to his feet grasping his Loxodon Warhammer. "I know for a fact that you're better than this."
"Sorry babe," Willie shakes off the webs and charges in for an attack. "Just been distracted with this dark energy I've been sensing. You definitely have my attention . . ." a loud buzz from the central computer gets his attention. "We'll continue this in a bit," he grabs a towel and heads for the computer. On screen are Councilman Vasquez and Councilwoman Masterson. "I have to say it's never good if you decide to reach me here."
"Sorry about the sudden call," Councilman Vasquez speaks with concern pulling up a map of the world. "We're wondering if you have seen the news about what happened in Javista in the past few days?"
"Honestly councilman, this is the first I'm hearing of it. I'm well aware of the energy shift in the global grid and have been for over two weeks to say the least. Unfortunately, I know nothing about what's been going on out in the world."
"I guess we can fill you in then," Councilwoman Masterson speaks up. "Sometime last week, Javista was devastated by some unknown force. We just got the reports in this morning because there's barely two percent of the population still alive."
"That's definitely disturbing," Kali walks up overhearing the conversation. "I caught the news this morning that the same thing happened to Croata several weeks ago before we closed off the ether."
"We were seriously hoping you guys maybe had some idea as to what's going on out there," Councilman Vasquez shakes his head in disgust.
"Sorry councilman," Willie raises his hands in defeat. "Send us what you have and we'll see what we can find out."
"That's good. We're sending Osiris to you with everything we have." The screen cuts off as Willie lays his head on the console.
"I wonder if this has any relation to the energy you've been feeling," Kali admits looking through the news feeds looking for any information. "Maybe you should tell the others about this?"
"Not yet," Willie turns around joining Kali at the computer. "I'm not sure there even is a threat. We need to find out what's going on out there and then determine if it's something that can threaten Aceleon." The two wizards browse the internet for information pertaining to the news they heard. "Here's something," he points to an article on a Javista news website. "There isn't really much here . . ." a loud buzz gets their attention as the door to the lab opens. A female enters the room bringing a smile to Willie's face. "Yavena?"
"Nice to see you again," the pair hugs before Yavena reaches behind the door and pulls another female into the room covered in smoke and unconscious. "I pulled her out of the carnage that was Javista."
"Who is she?" Kali looks over his shoulder at the young woman.
"Someone who needs help," Willie responds turning to the workers. "Set the chamber to auto-heal; this is an emergency!"
"Yes sir!" the workers place the young wizard into the chamber turning it on full blast.
"Watch her." The workers nod as Willie turns to Yavena. "What brings you here? I didn't think I'd ever see you again."
"You actually know her?" Kali whispers in his ear confused by the unfolding scene.
"Of course," the young man smacks his forehead, "I haven't introduced you. Kali, this is Yavena Devine and she's my mentor." The two shake hands. "She taught me everything I know about this game before I joined up with Nick and Jesse."
"This is where you get all of your knowledge from. It's nice to meet you."
"Likewise," Yavena nods as they all walk to the central computer.
"I can easily tell that this isn't some random visit."
"Unfortunately, you're right. I was travelling through the charred remains that once used to be Javista last week when I came across that girl over there staggering to her feet. She had looked like she had been through one hell of a fight."
"You have any idea whom she was fighting?"
"Not sure. We won't know the whole story until she recovers enough to talk to us," Yavena turns to Willie staring at the computer. "She did mention your name and she muttered about finding something called the Orb of Rhedall." Willie's freezes slowly turning his head towards his mentor. "You know of it?"
"More than you know," Willie admits rushing for the doors. "I've got to check something out. I'll be back in a few minutes." The door closes behind him leaving the girls dumbfounded.
"That really freaked him out," Kali grabs her coat walking to the door. "I want to find out what this is all about."
"I'm with you on that one," Yavena walks with her as they take to the skies. "It is almost as if something scared him when I said that."
Southeast of Aldertown lies an empty field with abandoned buildings scattering the landscape. Several towers pierce through the landscape that are corroded and falling apart due to the passage of time. In the center of the ruin sits a stone panel with a strange hole large enough for a key to fit into. Landing at the site, Willie approaches the panel only to see that it has been destroyed.
"No, no, no," he whispers looking at the underground passage that has been revealed. "Please let it be here." Kali and Yavena land behind him as he starts down.
"This is the abandoned neighborhood outside of Aldertown," Kali wonders seeing Willie disappear into the darkness of the passage. "Wonder what's out here . . ." a huge gust of wind blows between the girls as a shadow rushes into the passage.
"I don't know what that was," Yavena notices rushing after it, "but we follow it. I sense that we're not the only ones out here."
"I agree," Kali nods rushing after the figure into the darkness.
At the bottom of the stairs sits a large room with ten altar stones. On the top of each altar sits a circular hole large enough for a huge orb to fit into. Behind the altars stands a huge tablet with ten different symbols mounted next to a hollow doorway. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Willie lights a wall-mounted lamp which, in turn, brings every lamp in the room to life. His eyes go wide seeing the room.
"This is not good," he shakes his head standing at the center altar. "It really is gone. We are seriously screwed. I wonder who could've found . . ." a voice rings in the room getting his attention.
"The object that will end this world," the voice familiar to Willie speaks through the poorly lit room cackling with laughter. "We meet again old friend."
"Darius Langston," Willie cracks a smile before turning around to face the voice. "Wondered when your treacherous hide would reemerge. Judging by the symbol on your vest, I figure that you're the one that stole the orb for those fools?"
"Since you put it like that," he chuckles a bit folding his arms. "It was my intention to learn the orb's location so the Illumatros can seize it for themselves. That alone was the reason why I joined your team of archaeologists."
"So you had no intention of learning about how far back our game really goes. You are nothing more than a snake joining a group of thugs intent on destroying everything that we care about and for what?"
"Remaking the multiverse in our own image; that's been our goal since the beginning." Kali and Yavena reach the bottom of the stairs observing the confrontation. Leaning his head, Willie nods at them not taking his eyes off of Darius.
"Don't you remember the rule we set when we found this thing? That thing has more than enough power to blow apart the multiverse ten times over."
"We know that. It won't matter once we get our hands on the other nine orbs," Darius flares his black aura blending in with the darkness. "First, I'll get rid of you like I did with Megumi."
"So you were among those who attacked Javista the other day," Willie flares his blue aura enlaced with golden entrails. "You seriously don't want to go there. In case you didn't know, Megumi is alive and healing right now no thanks to you."
"I know that fool should've taken them all out when we had the chance. At least I can get rid of you." Holding out his hand, dark mana gathers into the shape of a ball.
"I wouldn't do that," Willie points behind him causing Darius to snap around to see two females encased with white and green auras. "Want to know something; one of them is my girlfriend and she told someone else recently that if anyone lays a hand on me . . ."
"My foot is going down your throat," Kali finishes walking into the light. "I will not let anyone lay a finger on him as long as I'm around."
"We'll have to finish this another time," Darius admits disappearing into the darkness. The girls walk into the light of the room.
"At least that wasn't weird in any way," Willie shakes his head turning back to the huge gate-shaped structure behind the altars.
"Mind sharing with the rest of us what the hell that was all about," Kali questions Willie still looking at the structure behind the altars. "Who was that guy and why did he look like he was going to attack?"
"Here's the short version. That guy was one of my former co-workers from a team of archaeologists I work with who, to my surprise, betrayed us. Darius has joined forces with a group that was long thought to not exist until now."
"That explains part of it," Yavena figures seeing him turn towards her and Kali, "but what about this orb?"
"It's an all powerful artifact that predates written history from what we figured out. We would've found out more but the whole city takeover thing last year set back our work. Right now we need to get back to the facility and check on the one that's there."
"Alright," Kali sighs as the three of them walk out of the ruin.
Deep in the mountains outside of Valderia's Peak, dark silhouettes swirl intertwining with the mountains surrounding the resort. Several dark auras dive into the swirling darkness landing in the area known as Beylorn Valley. The area itself is full of undiscovered ruins that remain unknown to the public. Landing at the entrance to a decaying temple, Darius is immediately approached by two individuals wearing similar colored vests with the same symbol as he wears.
"So what did you find out about the gate?" one of them asks eagerly awaiting the report back.
"I didn't get a chance to really examine it," Darius admits rubbing the back of his head with a light chuckle. "My old co-worker Willie Johansson got there before I did and prevented me from doing much of anything." Another male with a muscular build and bald head walks into the conversation. "Sorry Icarius, I was unable to complete the mission."
"I'm not happy with your incompetence," Icarius snarls watching Darius lower his head in respect. "Nevertheless, hearing that name again means that he's already onto us. He'll have to be taken out in order to advance the directive."
"I hate to say it but that won't be an easy thing to do. His powers have grown and he's a mana master now. Based on the power that I felt, he's at least a level three mana master. Plus he also mentioned that he has Megumi in his protection."
"I thought she was taken out when Jonas and Kendall flattened Javista?"
"Obviously she must've survived somehow."
"So the nine remaining seals are still intact," a female voice echoes from inside the largest of the desecrated buildings. Emerging from the darkness, a young female in her mid twenties wearing a black jacket over a green shirt and blue jeans, hovers down to the group of men talking over the events of the evening.
"Madam Tia," Darius drops to a knee as does everyone else. She wears a black shirt with the same colored jeans and heel boots along with the same vest as everyone else. "I regret to inform you that tonight's mission was a total failure."
"Rise Darius," Madam Tia commands. "I'm not furious that the directive has suffered a serious setback. I knew that sooner or later that former cohort of yours would eventually catch on to what's going on. Either way, the seals need to be broken in order for the objective to proceed." She turns to the growing crowd around him. "Phase one of the directive is complete and now it's on to phase two. The seal holders need to be eliminated at any cost." Cheers of approval ring across the growing crowd.
"So what's your command madam?"
"Your orders are to keep up with the excavations here and the rest of the world." She reaches into her purse and pulls out two spheres, one of which has a reddish-white glow while the other is a stone orb. "With these two orbs, the path to ultimate power has been paved before us. Long live the Illumatros!" Cheers rain through the sparse group acknowledging their mission.
Steam pours out of the healing chamber as the young female staggers out quickly finding a seat at the table opposite the main computer. One of the workers examines her to make sure of no further damage to her physically or to her powers.
"Everything seems to be ok," the worker finishes his examination backing away. "Your powers are fine and you are in top shape physically."
"I still can't bring back my friends and my home," the young lady stares into her glass of juice unaware of the lab doors sliding open and Willie, Kali and Yavena walk back into the lab. Willie rushes straight for the main computer. "At least you're still alive."
"Nice to see you again Megumi," Willie smiles not looking up from the screen. Clicking randomly on various links on his Google search engine, he pulls up reports of various excavations from around the world. "This is worse than I thought." Kali and Megumi join him as his eyes go wide.
"That's what my hometown of Destran looked like when the Illumatros flattened it along with the rest of Javista." She observes the screen at all the ancient sites recently discovered. "This is all recent?"
"Over a dozen or so excavations have been started in the last two weeks alone," Kali reads one of the articles on the screen. "This is too coincidental. The timing on this . . ."
"When we closed off the ether here; I know. This group is obviously looking for those other orbs."
"What is the story with these orbs?"
"The short version," Megumi responds turning to the two ladies behind her, "is that the orbs are full of ancient magic and evidence suggests that they are the key behind our powers today. The main orb in the set is the Orb of Rhedall; the most powerful of these orbs."
"Our group of archaeologists consisted of the two of us," Willie speaks up turning around in his chair, "along with that Darius Langston character that we met earlier tonight where we found the orb along with seven others." He turns to Megumi, shocked by the statement. "By the way, the Illumatros have the Orb of Rhedall; Darius confirmed that he was the one that stole it for them."
"I could've figured that would happen given what he did to us two years ago."
"We're going to have to contact the rest of the group immediately and let them know to keep their eyes open for anyone suspicious." The main screen suddenly clicks on revealing Councilman Vasquez and Councilwomen Kelsey Masterson and Nancy Calhoun.
"I figured you would still be busy looking into the news we revealed to you," Councilman Vasquez gnarls seeing the room abuzz with activity at the computer noticing Megumi over Willie's right shoulder. "Who's the new girl?"
"Sorry for the brain lapse. Councilman, this is Megumi Yakuzo. She is one of the few survivors of the attack on Javista. She was rescued by my mentor Yavena Devine who's also here." The girls wave to the three individuals on the screen who acknowledge their presence.
"So what did you find out from the news we provided?"
"More than we wanted to that's for sure. What do you want first: the bad news, worse news, the creepy news, or the make-you-sick news?"
"If you put it like that, then whatever you found out is something we're not going to like," Councilwoman Calhoun shakes her head in disgust. "Just give to us straight."
"Alright, you asked for it. The attacks on Croata and Javista are related. The same group carried out both attacks and there's a motive that you won't believe."
"What is this group calling themselves?"
"They call themselves the Illumatros and this leads me into my next bit of news. They already have a foothold somewhere on Aceleon. After your call, I had to check something out and ran into one of them. They've gotten their hands on a rare artifact called the Orb of Rhedall. Odds are they sacked Croata and Javista looking for similar orbs but I can't confirm one way or the other . . ."
"Wait a second," Councilman Vasquez speaks up interrupting the young mana master. "You're saying that this artifact is that valuable? How come we've never heard of it?"
"The amount of power that orb has can corrupt even the purest of souls. The team I'm a part of understood that; therefore, we used our powers to seal off the orb. This Illumatros group is seeking to access its power for purposes only known to them at this time."
"What would happen if they managed to access the power of the orb?" Councilwoman Masterson ponders checking her iPad for information on what they were being told. "Could this cost wizards across the country their powers?"
"This is about far more than our powers. Our very connection to the Magic world is in extreme danger. That's all I can tell you right now. I suggest that the Code Red Omega remain in effect until further notice."
"We'll talk it over with the Director and get back to you. You think we should warn other wizards?"
"Right now, no. This stays between us and the rest of the council although I plan to fill in the rest of my team and a few select others around the country. I'm sending you the rest of what we found out so far. The last thing we need after a major crisis is another panic. For now we keep this on the down low until more information surfaces."
"You're right about that," another voice gets everyone's attention as a separate screen comes up on the facility's main screen revealing Council Director Salazar. "We can't let news of this get out until we find out more."
"How long have you been listening," Councilman Vasquez snarls at his boss for dropping in on the conversation.
"I have a say in this too. He's right in saying that the Code Red Omega needs to stay in effect until the seriousness of this threat is determined. Security around the world is being heightened due to the recent attacks. Thanks for your input young man." The screen blacks out as the council talks privately. Getting up, Willie reaches for his jacket and deck.
"I guess that's all for tonight," he sighs powering down the main computer preparing to head home. "Yavena, you mind letting Megumi stay with you until we can figure something out more permanent for her?"
"Sure," she smiles signaling for the bewildered young woman to stay with her. "I'm going to be in town for awhile anyway." The duo walk out of the lab leaving Willie sighing over the powered down computer as Kali walks up and gives him a hug from behind.
"How bad is this going to get?" she whispers in his ear as they walk out and take to the skies to get to their neighborhood. "I've never seen you like this."
"To be honest," Willie manages to crack a smile deep in thought. "The danger we're potentially facing this time is off the scales. I don't know what the Illumatros are truly after. If it's anything like it was when I had to run with Silas and Jalen six years ago, there's no telling what's coming our way but I can tell you this: The entire world is on the line this time and if they win, the multiverse itself will be reduced to ashes."