Chapter Twelve
Melissa looked put out, but waved for me to follow her. “How did she know which one was me?” I wondered.
The second we were out of the large doors at the front of the chamber, she started peppering me with questions on how we beat Markovitch. “Hey, Lance how do you cast spells? Can you teach me?” She asked suddenly, in the middle of her questions on Markovitch.
I laughed. “I could teach you, but it’s against school rules, and is too dangerous to go around unsupervised.” I said.
She pouted. “Pleaaase?” She asked.
I shook my head. “Puppy eyes won’t work on me. I’m not teaching you any magic.” I said.
“I’ll call for the guards, and say you are attacking me If you don’t!” She snapped at me.
“Whoa there, what’s going on with you? I can’t teach you magic, and that’s that. Can you please take me to the library?” I asked, startled.
She immediately started screaming and wailing for help. A guard burst into the hallway we were in. “Help! He is trying to kidnap me!” She screamed at him.
“Hey! I’m not trying…” I started but the guard charged me.
I groaned. “I don’t get any rest, do I?” I thought to myself.
I shoved Melissa away with a push of magic, and trapped the guard to the wall with a binding spell. That way, I didn’t damage the kings castle.
“Leave Melissa alone you…” The guard started.
“What in the name of King Cormac is going on here?” The familiar voice of Malek roared.
“Melissa here wanted me to teach her magic, and when I refused, she started wailing for help, saying I was attacking her.” I explained.
“No, He assaulted me!” Melissa wailed, still trapped to the wall next to the guard.
Malek frowned. He turned to me. “Lance, I have only known you for a short while, but I have known Melissa for almost a month. She is a servant from the kingdom Encarta sent here to observe, and study our culture. She is to stay here for four months, before returning to her lands. And, personally, I think she is a complete brat. Definitely not a servant, more like a noble man’s daughter.” He said.
“I’m right here you know!” Melissa snapped.
“Now, put me down this instant! And take this man to jail for assaulting me!” Melissa said.
Malek chuckled. “I’m afraid that even if he did assault you, you are a servant, and have now power or say. And, it is perfectly within a duke’s rights to do what he wishes with a servant.” He said, emphasizing the word duke.
I waved my hand, and Melissa and the guard fell to the floor. The guard nodded at me, and ran out of the room. Melissa just sat on the floor. “Hey, aren’t you going to take me to the library?” I asked.
She nodded, and walked off, with me following. We reached the library, and I went in. It was a magnificent structure, with a glass top to allow light in. There were hundreds of rows of books lining the edges of the building. I walked towards the middle of the library. In the middle, there was a large square hole, with a square staircase going down a few levels. Each level had hundreds of bookshelves on it. I grinned, and went to find a librarian.
“Hey, do you know where I can find the books on magic?” I asked, as a young lady in a blue dress walked past me.
She nodded, and pointed to a wall. I walked over to it, and noticed it had a bunch of subjects on them, and next to them, a floor number. I scanned the words for “Magic” or anything remotely familiar. I found it next to the number “8”. I glanced at the staircase, and sighed. I then began the decent down to the eighth floor.
After square spiral after square spiral, I finally reached floor eight. I looked around me. There must have been hundreds of spell books. I grinned, walked over to the nearest bookshelf, grabbed the first book I saw, and sat down to read.
The book was on casting fireballs, which was nothing new to me, so I put it back. I then moved to the next. Most of the books were useless to me, and I soon emptied the shelf. I moved on to the next one. This shelf had a book with instructions on how to make magical artifacts. I quickly leafed through it, but it was nothing new. As I reached for another book, I heard a sigh.
Immediately, I went into battle mode. I cast a spell of shielding, and a hearing spell. I heard the sound of someone breathing fast, and trying to stay still. Almost like someone was spying on me. I sighed. It didn’t look like I would be able to sit down and read yet.
I stood up, and followed my enhanced hearing to the person’s hiding spot. It was a large bookshelf with books on alchemy. I reached towards where the person should be, and rapped sharply. “Ouch, what was that for you jerk?” came Melissa’s voice.
I sighed. “I told you to stop following me. Get out of here.” I said.
“You can’t tell me what to do!” She cried.
I groaned again. “Malek, please take Melissa out of here.” I called.
Malek strode down the staircase. “How in the world did she get past me? I watched her leave the library.” He said, annoyed.
“I believe she has a invisibility charm. Use nets that detect magic.” I said.
Malek nodded thankfully, and took Melissa. “You haven’t seen the last of me, Lance!” She screamed at me.
I chuckled. “Careful there, you sound like a cheesy witch from a movie.” I said.
She just hissed at me. I glanced around the library one more time, grabbed a few books to pass the time, and went back to the king’s chambers.
Bakar and Cynthia were already there, and servants were setting up tables for us to eat at. King Cormac saw me, and beamed. “Lance! So glad to see you made it. I sincerely apologize for Melissa; she isn’t from this court, and often acts…higher than her position. She is simply here to tour. I apologize…” He said
“It’s ok, forget about it. She should leave me alone now.” I said.
The king grinned. “In that case, let’s have a toast to our two new dukes, and our duchess!” He called out happily.
There was a rush of servants, and we were each supplied a glass of wine. The king raised his glass, and we all did the same. “A toast! To new friends; and new fortunes!” The king called out.
We each tipped the glasses backwards, and began to drink. Suddenly, there was a loud ping, and a long, thin metal roasting spit was halfway into my glass. The glass shattered, spilling all but a mouthful of wine onto the floor.
Silence swept the halls. All heads turned to where the shaft had come from. A boy, no older that sixteen, was standing there, with his hands still in the throwing position.
“How dare you do such a vile thing, you little miscreant! Take him to the dungeons immediately!” The king roared, outraged.
Guards surged forward, and grabbed the boy. They started dragging him away. “Wait.” I said.
The guards paused. “What just happ…” I started, but the ground swam out from under me. Suddenly, the world was spinning, and I felt a powerful spell slam into the side of my head. Everyone’s yelling was tuned out, and a light shade of pink coated the world. I wobbled. The spell was extremely potent, and I could feel it leeching my will away. I growled. This was not how I would be remembered. Beaten by a simple poison. Then, a voice drifted through my head. “Lance, you know what is happening, don’t you.” The voice called.
“You again… My own personal angel, huh?” I asked weakly.
There was quiet laughing. “Not too far from the truth. However, you are correct; someone slipped a potion into your wine. Luckily, that boy stopped most of it from entering. If it had, we would not be having this conversation now. But even so, you don’t have much free will left. I give you the option to have the power to overcome this. But, it comes at a price. Do you accept?” The voice asked.
“Yes, I accept. Give me the power to defeat this!” I said.
Pain slammed into my body. I felt like I had been dropped into a pit of lava. The pink faded back, and shakily, I st
ood up. All of a sudden, everything went black.
Doors; doors everywhere. It was all I could see. After everything went black, doors started to appear all around. I walked over to one, and opened it. Light flooded my eyes, and a long lost memory surfaced.
“Calm down honey, Mama’s here. Now just go to sleep…” A soft voice said.
“Mama?” The baby asked.
“That’s right, dear. Now go back to sleep.”
I opened my eyes. “This place must be my mind! I guess these doors are all vital memories.” I thought to myself.
I walked through the halls of my mind, looking at the light colored, oak doors. As I walked, I slowly started to get colder. The brightly lit doors seemed to emit less and less light. Finally, I reached the end of the hallway. There, a dark door stood, covered with heavy chains. A small peephole was my only way to see in.
With a sense of forbidding, I bend over to look into the peephole. All I saw was pitch black. I sighed. “I guess I can’t…” I thought, but suddenly, the door shook. The chains rattled. I took a step back. There was a loud crack, and the chains all fell off the door. The door blew backwards, into the darkness.
Goosebumps covered my body. I prepared myself for the worst. But, nothing could have prepared me for what stepped out of the door.
A foot, then the other. The legs, hips, torso, arms, neck and slowly, the face. I watched in horrid fascination, as I watched myself step out of the room. My clone looked up at me. The clone’s eyes were swirling pools of orange and red. I shuddered.
“What, were you not warned this would happen?” My clone asked, in a slick, twisted version of my own voice.
“You need not have any fear. I am you, whether you like it or not. In fact, I am the ultimate killing machine, as I am sure you shall find out one day. But, I have been freed, and I wish a challenge. To do that, I believe it is time for two halves to become one. It said.
“Whoa, slow down! What are you talking about?” I asked.
It laughed and waved its hand. A bench formed from dark strands of matter. It waved its hands at it. “Sit down; there is much to show you.” It said.
I hesitantly lowered myself to the bench, wary for tricks. It sat down next to me. “I am who you are. I am the price you paid for power. “Now, it wasn’t much of a price since you would have discovered me anyway. But nonetheless, here I am.”
“I can read your thoughts, and no, I am not evil. I am just made for battle, and have more power than you have.
I would love to explain more, but we do not have the time. Some fool slipped a potion into your drink, and we shall make them pay. Now, will you continue to fight what will happen, and inevitably fall to the potion sapping your willpower, or will you become one with me, and allow yourself the ability to change fate?” It asked.
I didn’t say anything for a minute. Then, I made up my mind. “Fine, we shall be one, but on one condition. You are never in full control of my body, unless I allow you to be. We can speak, and help, but you shall never be in full control.” I said.
It, or should I say I, raised its eyebrows. “So, you figured out how to read my thoughts as well? So be it. I accept your terms. Now, hug me.” I said to myself.
“Hug you? What do…?” I started, but me 2.0 cut me off.
“We become one; quite literally; I hope brains are something you get from me.” It said.
It stepped forward, and we wrapped our arms around each other, or ourselves. I felt it sink into me. It was a strange sensation. It was like sliding along a path of butter.
I felt a presence become more reinforced in my head. “Now, let’s go catch your would- be poisoner.” It said.
“Wait just a moment there.” I said.
“I need a name to call you, or I’ll go crazy.” I said.
It thought for a moment. “Call me Abbadon. It fits me well.” Abbadon said.
I nodded mentally. “Now, I give you full control of my body, to see what you can do. Just a few rules. No hurting anyone, and catch whoever did this to me.” I said.
Abbadon nodded to me. I mentally stepped away from my “steering wheel” And Abbadon took my place. He/I grinned. “It’s game time.”
Abbadon opened his eyes. A smile creased his face. Free at last. Now, to have some fun.
I/He stood up. Everyone looked in our direction. “Lance! You’re ok! What happened?” Cynthia cried.
“Lance! Was there something wrong with the wine?” The king asked, worriedly.
We laughed a cruel and evil sound. “Lance isn’t steering right now, Cynthia. And no, my good king, nothing was wrong with the wine other than the love potion.” We said.