When Wizards Dream - 10

A mini story by S.E.Estes
Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Final

In an incarnadine land a wizard of tremendous power meditated on conquest. He wasn't content with the one realm he controlled, there would be no satisfaction until all life was under his feet. He gazed into the fires seeking visions that would bring forth his dark ends.

The boy woke in a blanket of ashes with no memory of what had passed, a memory lost until found by a young wizard seeking completion. Relg knew the meaning behind the dream, it was a warning of the approaching darkness, the wizard he must destroy. Fire would meet fire and Relg wondered what would remain when the inferno passed.

"I've seen the wizard's vision," the dreamwatcher said, "a prophecy of war, a promise of darkness to come." "A promise?" Relg asked, "Fate has decreed a thing, you fight destiny now." answered his old professor with no offer of advice. Relg felt very alone, the fate of the living rested on his shoulders and there was none to help bear the burden. The Black Wizards promised an army and their services in the war but told him that he would have to face his nemesis alone. "Remember, everything has weakness," they told him, "and keep in mind that destiny changes by every decision made. Nothing that will be, must be."

final battle

Death reigned in the mountains, fate hung in the balance. The battle had been in the dark one's favor the whole time. He didn't show himself on the battlefield but drove his warped and undead armies from afar. It was Relg's dream that had given him the clue and the dreamwatcher who revealed it to him. The watcher showed the dream images to the old wizard who recognized the land of the red skies where the enemy hid and knew the way to pass into it.

While the battle raged in his land Relg faced his own battle, dark rituals bordering on evil opened the way to the ensanguine land of the one he was fated to face. A perilous search that took three years and brought him close to death many times brought him to the dark one's twisted tower. Fire against fire, the dark one was his match, sword to sword they were equals and Relg's antithesis could shapeshift, too. They fought for a year, they fought for two and in their third year the world was on the brink of destruction. They were fighting with fire and Relg was despairing, it seemed like the battle between them would rage forever and darkness would fill the universe.