A Wizards Beginning: Part Twelve

It took about an hour to get home. When the three arrived, Tyvek quickly opened the door and ushered in Ramek and Harken. "Now, let's get started. We don't have much time," the green Ruki said and hurried to the middle of the living room. "As you can see, the Porthole is a very large one and will be fairly hard to obtain and shut down."

     Harken nodded. "Do you have the measurements?"

     "I need to do that right now," Tyvek said and snapped his fingers, saying a few words in the Language. A strange contraption appeared in his hand, resembling a tape measure. He carefully measured the perimeter of the Porthole and then reported back to Harken. "Sixty two eon miles."

     Ramek decided not to ask when Harken nodded and said, "And the light years?"

     "Oh, right!" Tyvek exclaimed and started to measure the Porthole slightly differently and on a few different angles. "Four hundred thirty seven and six twentieths light years."

     Harken whistled. "That's a big one..." he said in amazement. Ramek saw him take a Manual out of his pocket. As he opened his Manual, Ramek noticed that it was considerably larger than his own, most likely because of his authority. Ramek saw the Krawk whisper a few words and he turned to Ramek. "Look in your Manual under the heading 'Porthole Closing'. It's been added for good," he smiled. "Quite a rare spell in a book. Anyway, get to it and we'll go over it a few times."

     Ramek nodded and took out his Manual. He flipped through his Table of Contents and eventually found the right page. "Okay, I got it," he said as he made sure he was on the right page.

     "Good," Tyvek said. Ramek noticed he also had his Manual open to a page and he assumed it was the page with the Porthole spell. "Now, Ramek, you'll have to be Reader One because of your power. That's the one that's bolded. Okay, Harken, you'll be Reader Two. One in italics, okay?" Tyvek received a nod from the Krawk and continued. "I'll be the third Reader and I'm going to be the one with the normal print. Now, we'll read it according to this tune." He started to hum a very melodic tune, very pleasing to the ears. "Now, halfway through the spell, this tune will switch to a very faster pace like this-" He hummed a much more faster pace and a bit more darker than the first. "The switch will take place on the ninety eighth line, for your information." Ramek flipped a few pages to find the line and nodded along with Harken. "Okay, let us practice. Ramek, start." He nodded his head to Ramek and gave a reassuring smile.

     Ramek returned a doubtful smile and started, trying to keep to the tune. When he was done, he sighed and waited for his next turn. After a very long stanza from Tyvek, he had to go again. They were nearing the tune switch. Line seventy three. Ramek felt the words come out more sharply than usual, probably because it was only a practice spell. Or because it was too hard and Teehee's Law was starting to take a hold.

     The spell went on for much longer than Ramek expected. He eased into the tune switch and was reassured that the Law wasn't taking any effect on him. After they practiced it for a first time, Tyvek said that they should Practice it once more, just to be sure that nothing would go wrong. After that, they were ready. And Ramek started to get nervous, butterflies fluttering in his stomach and sweat pouring from his forehead.

     "Good job, Ramek," Tyvek said before they were getting ready to do the spell. "Good job."

     Ramek smiled and looked down at his Manual, slightly less nervous. They started the spell and the words rolled of Ramek's tongue. He found it so easy, though it was so difficult. He stared at Harken and Tyvek as they did their parts, studying their technique and how they read it.

     The tune switch came faster than expected. As Tyvek ended his stanza, Ramek paused before reading his part. Tyvek looked at him and nodded him on. Then, Ramek started to read. At first, he sounded choppy but got used to the rhythm and started to fall deeper into it. When he finished, he took a deep sigh as Harken started to read.

     The spell was done after another ten minutes, Ramek having to read another two stanzas. As Tyvek finished up his Verse, he took a deep breath and looked at the Porthole in the middle of the room. The air was silent and Ramek could feel the anticipation as he too waited for something to happen. Then, the spell took its effect.

     The Porthole started to twist and turn in the living room, getting both bigger and smaller. Different sizes took form and Ramek saw buildings inside. Then, he saw rooms and people and then it was gone. A lingering feeling rested in the room, as if the Porthole had never left.

     "Reternia..." Harken said. He looked at Ramek and realized that he had no idea what Reternia was. "The Law of Reternia. It was created for spells that were strong or had a lasting presence. It's not much of a Law, but it's called one simply because it fits under no category. When a strong spell is destroyed, a lasting presence remains. This means, simply, that it feels like the spell was still here. And it has a chance of returning, sometimes with more force than before."

     Ramek didn't like the sound of that. "How much of a chance does it have of coming back?"

     "About forty percent," Tyvek butted into the conversation. "But, that's always depending on the spell and exactly how strong it is. In this case, there is probably a sixty percent chance."

     "Sixty?" Ramek exclaimed. "What exactly happens if it returns?"

     "A Porthole can only be closed once, unless it is closed from the inside. That means someone would have to go inside," Tyvek said and turned to the balcony when he heard a voice.

     "Is it all done?" came the voice of Delor, who Ramek noticed was on the top of the balcony.

     Tyvek nodded and Delor raced down the stairs, followed by Rachel who took a slower pace. Ramek felt Delor put his arms around Ramek, who was taken aback for a moment. "I'm glad you're safe. I was worried," she said as she let go and Ramek waited for Rachel to hug her. After all the hugging was done, Ramek took a seat on the couch. He was exhausted.

     "That took a lot out of me," Ramek said and closed his eyes. "I can't believe I didn't mess that up."

     Harken laughed and Ramek felt the Krawk sit beside him. "You're a great Wizard. You can take it. You took it better than Tyvek and I did. I was falling asleep during the spell and I had to wake Tyvek once when you were reading."

     Ramek smiled and let out a laugh. "Guess I did take it rather well," he said and adjusted himself on the couch.

     Tyvek took a seat on a chair and started to talk to Rachel. Ramek strained his ears to hear, but he couldn't make out many words. Then, as Rachel turned away, he made out one word that Tyvek said. "...dead." Ramek turned away, hoping whatever they were talking about was nothing relating to anyone he knew. The word was taken out of context, anyway.

     For the next few minutes, the room was silent. Ramek, Harken, and Tyvek were resting from saying the spell and Delor and Rachel were staying quiet so the others could rest. Ramek fell asleep quickly and didn't wake up for quite a while. When he did, he saw that moonlight was shimmering through the front windows and both Harken and Tyvek had fallen asleep beside him. He shrugged and went back to sleep until the morning.

     When he woke up in the morning, the two were up and about, walking around with cups of coffee in their hand, trying to perk up for another day. "How are you?" Tyvek asked when he noticed Ramek had woken up and was now sitting on the couch.

     "I'm okay," Ramek grumbled. "Tired, though. Very tired.

     Harken agreed, "Yeah, same here."

     Ramek got up from the couch. "Where'd you get the coffee?"

     "Kitchen," Tyvek replied, taking a sip of his beverage.

          Ramek went in the kitchen to find Rachel and Delor hovering over the counter. Delor saw Ramek come in and greeted him. "We're cooking breakfast," she noted and continued to scramble a bowl of eggs. Ramek nodded and went to the pot of coffee on the table. He got a cup and poured some. He then put the hot liquid to his lips and swallowed greedily. It felt good against his throat. Ramek then returned to the living room, where the Advisor and Counselor were sitting back on the couch. Ramek took a seat next to Harken and sipped more of his coffee.

     He then looked at Tyvek. "What will happen now that this fiasco is over?"

     Tyvek looked at the Draik with concern. "What fiasco?"

     "Me...me being a Wizard. And all the stuff that is happening to me," Ramek said pleadingly. "When will it all be over?"

     Tyvek sighed. "I don't know...I just don't know."

The End

Author's Note: This has been a journey within a journey. I have enjoyed writing this tale and I am sorry that I left it on an unfulfilled note. But, who knows what may come for Ramek? His adventure will continue, no doubt about that. Where exactly he will end up is not in my grasp, but he will not end here. There are many adventures that will soon be unfolded to him and secrets about his life revealed. If you have enjoyed this series as much as I have, please, drop me a note anytime. It would be greatly appreciated. Now, I will take my leave with a final note: May the Powers keep you safe. -Sirius