A Wizards Beginning: Part Eleven

"Can you tell me where we're going?" came the sigh from Ramek, who had been keeping a steady pace with Tyvek.

     "I won't tell you," Tyvek said. "It's my secret. But, I will tell you that it's in Neopia Central. Do you want details or is that good enough to sustain you?"

     Ramek laughed. "Details...please."

     "No can do," Tyvek said, craning his neck to look farther.

     The two walked in silence for a while, Tyvek continuing to search for the house where they were going to meet the Area Advisor. Finally, after another twenty minutes of walking, Tyvek piped up with the words Ramek wanted to hear for the whole trip. "We're here."

     Ramek craned his neck to see where they were going. He saw only a forest full of trees. No houses, no mansions, no sign of life. "Where?" the Yellow Draik asked, still trying to spot the house.

     Tyvek stuck out a green finger to the east. "It's the little brown house over there," he said. "You see it now?"

     Ramek shook his head. "Not really...oh! That? It's a shack!"

     "That's all a Wizard needs to survive," Tyvek smiled and started to run to the shack in the middle of the forest.

     Ramek wasn't as excited. He had expected a Wizard's house to be huge. But, this was far from that. It was a wooden shack with a small window in the front and a faint outline for a door showing. The roof curved into a point and on top a weather vane spun around wildly, even though no wind was present. The lawn was a pile of weeds with the rare plant sticking from the mess. "It looks like...a dump," Ramek said and carefully stepped over holes in the ground and avoided large patches of weeds.

     "You shouldn't ridicule another person's house," the green Ruki said. "Things aren't as small as they appear. Wizardry can do amazing things."

     Ramek chuckled. He couldn't even begin to believe how this shack could be remotely livable. It looked like the shack was smaller than his room. "Well, then..." he said sarcastically. "Hope it's big."

     "From what I've heard, it's luxurious," Tyvek said as he knocked on the door.

     Ramek heard some shuffling from inside the shack. Then, the door popped open to reveal a short green Krawk. He was standing in the doorway, about the same height as Tyvek. The Krawk wore a black top hat and was in a navy suit. "Hello!" he exclaimed and gestured the two inside.

     The Draik shuffled his way into the shack and was taken aback by what he saw. Tyvek was right when he said Wizardry can do amazing things. The house was large with marble floors and a large marble staircase leading to the second level. He saw what seemed like an innumerable amount of doors formed in orderly rows. Harken, the Area Advisor, led them into a room off to the right. Inside where the same marble walls and in the center of the floor were a great number of chairs and tables for guests to sit at. "Sit, sit," he said as he took a seat on a large red chair. He leaned back and looked up, sighing with happiness. He then looked at Ramek and Tyvek, who had taken a seat on a couch opposite the Advisor. "Now, what is your problem?"

     Tyvek talked and Ramek kept quiet, slightly uninterested about the conversation. "Ramek had discovered a Porthole to the Dark Power headquarters in his living room. Obviously, as you should know, Portholes cannot be closed without a Power in presence at the area in question. Ramek, as you should already know, considering how you pushed this, is destined to be a Power. I did a quick calculation in my head and, I'm going to assume, with you at Ramek's side when we say the Verse, there will be enough will power to take the entity of one whole Power. Understand?"

     Harken nodded and sat silent for a moment, looking at Ramek, who started to fidget in his chair because he was uncomfortable. "Okay, then. But you do realize the dangers this could cause if the plan fails, right?"

     The green Ruki gave a quick nod.

     "When do you expect us to do this?" Harken asked. "It's not an easy spell and Ramek will need quite a bit of preparation, despite all his qualities. Just because he has special qualities, doesn't mean he can't mess up. And this spell can destroy the universe as we know it if you calculated wrong."

     Tyvek said, "I know the great dangers that come with performing the spell. Ramek has said he's up to it. And, Harken, you know me. I never let anyone go into things unprepared. I'm...well, you know. A bit crazy about these things because I have experienced the dangers."

     "Ah, yes," Harken said and smiled.

     Ramek looked around in wonder. What dangers did Tyvek face? "Tyvek, did you have personal experience where...well...you were in danger?"

     Tyvek's expression turned grim. "I...I'd rather not talk about it," he said and turned back to Harken. "What about Teeheh's Law? It would interfere, would it not?"

     "Not if we do the Verses carefully," Harken commented. "But, yes, there is a risk of Teeheh's Law getting in the way. I don't understand why the Powers don't just drop that Law. It gets in the way of a lot of spells..."

     "Indeed," Tyvek said and turned to Ramek. "Did you read about Teeheh's Law in the Manual?"

     Ramek shook his head.

     "The Teeheh Law is a Law that was stated by an old professor. It was put in place so that anyone who did not have a certain 'skill level' could not perform the spell. It was a good idea at the time, but as Wizardry changed, the Law became a annoyance and the skill rating system starting to go awry. The Powers have refused to take the Law down, though. It's a very controversial Law that many Wizards are against, though there is the odd one who thinks it's a good idea. The reason that it may interfere in this case is because it may not recognize your skill level and count you as a beginning Wizard," Tyvek said. "But let me assure you - you're not."

     "Oh, okay..." Ramek said and stared forward at Harken. "So would it be that big of a problem? I mean...if I would get in the way, I could step down..."

     "Impossible," the Krawk said. "You're the only one that has the potential to do this."

     Ramek nodded. It dawned on him then just how important he was to the Wizarding World. He had defeated the Dark Power and now he was actually needed to complete a spell. And he was destined to be a Power. That was amazing. A ruler of the Wizarding World. Amazing, actually. "When do we go?"

     Harken laughed and slapped his knee. The laugh echoed throughout the house and eventually faded away. "I thought you had a 'let's go' personality. I guess we can head out now, can we not?"

     Tyvek nodded and got up from his seat on the couch. "When we get to the house, I'll teach you the spell and we can practice a few times. After that, the Verse needs to be done."

     "Okay," Ramek replied while getting up from where he was sitting. He followed Harken and Tyvek out to the main hallway again and the Krawk opened the door, revealing the fresh outside air again. The three of them walked out and Ramek stared back at him. A wooden shack stood there, absolutely no sign that a large mansion rested inside. Wizardry.

     "Where exactly is your house?" Harken asked. At first, Ramek didn't hear him. "Where is your house?" he repeated, a little more loudly this time.

     "Oh..." Ramek said, jerked from his thoughts. "About a half hour walk away."

     "Not bad," Harken smiled and dropped back to pat the Draik on the back. "Good job," he whispered in his ear.

     "Why?"

     "You defeated the Dark Power and set us free from fear," Harken said. "You did a good thing, even if you don't think so now. You helped out tremendously. And I'd fight for you anytime for anything."

     Ramek smiled. "Er...thanks," he muttered. "Can I ask you a question?"

     "What would that be?" Harken said, trying to slow down his pace.

     "What happened to Tyvek?" Ramek asked, hoping that he would answer.

     Harken sighed. "It's a long story... When he was young, he became a Wizard. Very young, actually. He went on his Journey but...something went wrong. He had to perform a spell to move quite a few buildings and...he was with a partner...and he killed the partner. He didn't mean to but...he thinks about it all the time and he blames himself... It's sad, really. I've told him again and again that he shouldn't beat himself up for it but he feels responsible..."

     Ramek looked at Tyvek, who was slightly ahead of him, keeping quite a fast pace. "Wow...that's...that's not good," Ramek commented, barely thinking about what he said.

     "Yeah, I know..."

To be continued...