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    Wizard of Tar Almonie
    Wizard of Tar Almonie
    Wizard of Tar Almonie
    Ebook147 pages2 hours

    Wizard of Tar Almonie

    By Loretta Stradley

    ()

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    About this ebook

    How hard can it be? Go to the capital, kill the evil queen, become king. The end!
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateJul 1, 2019
    ISBN9781543971705
    Wizard of Tar Almonie

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      Book preview

      Wizard of Tar Almonie - Loretta Stradley

      All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

      Print ISBN: 978-1-54397-169-9

      eBook ISBN: 978-1-54397-170-5

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Chapter Thirteen

      Chapter Fourteen

      Chapter Fifteen

      Chapter Sixteen

      Chapter Seventeen

      Chapter One

      Fernando Baker walked into his cottage so absorbed in the piece of bark he held in his hands that he didn’t see the dark figure in the sitting room when he passed the doorway to the room.

      Fernando, said a deep voice.

      Surprised, Fernando stopped, retraced his steps, and peered into the shadows of the room.

      Archibald, he said, delighted. When did you get here?

      The gargoyle flicked his folded wings, a mannerism Fernando knew meant Archibald was amused. I’ve been here since ten this morning. Where have you been? It’s past two o’clock.

      Fernando grinned and held out the bark for Archibald to inspect.

      I’ve been harvesting herbs and roots in the forest. He held up the piece of bark. This will make a powerful medicine for joint inflammation.

      Archibald looked at his friend and said, I suppose I shall just take this old scroll back to where I found it, then. Whenever he came across something, a book or scroll, Archibald brought it to Fernando, knowing his friend’s curiosity and love for learning. This time, however, he had brought a scroll as an excuse to visit his favorite human.

      Fernando’s gray eyes lit up. Old scroll? he said eagerly. Where did you find it? Is there any writing on it? May I see it?

      Intrigued, Fernando wanted to read the scroll.

      When Fernando reached the age of twelve, Archibald had taken him away, deep into the dark forest, to train him in the ways of magic. Annalee, a healer friend of the gargoyle’s, had told Archibald that Fernando was a wizard, a person of stronger magic than Kaila, the Queen of Tar Almonie, and he would need training. It was only later that Archibald realized how special Fernando really was. An un-child, Fernando had been born in Archibald and Annalee’s world but was part of another world; he could hear and touch the void, the dark un-place between two worlds. Annalee charged Archibald with the task of training Fernando so that the dangerous energy of the void wouldn’t corrupt the young wizard.

      Archibald’s visit now was more than a social call. He needed to convince Fernando to kill the evil queen because the people of her country were suffering from her tyranny. Fernando was the only one who could beat the queen’s magic.

      Fernando placed the bark and his collecting bag on the big oak table near the doorway. He took the scroll from Archibald’s hand, avoiding the black talons. Going to the sunshine streaming through the big window, that looked out into the garden, Fernando unrolled the scroll and held it up to the light. His eyes scanned the ancient writing. He had seen the strange language before, and he started down the hall to his library. Archibald followed, bending down somewhat to get his larger frame through the doorway.

      The library was in Fernando’s sleeping room. His sleeping pallet was squeezed into a corner, while books of various sizes and colors filled the rest of the room. The built-in wooden bookcase overflowed with books, and other books were stacked almost as high as Fernando was tall in every available space. Clothing was also scattered over some of the piles; Fernando tossed a pair of britches to another stack and began searching for a book.

      The gargoyle stayed in the hallway where there was more room. I need to talk to you about something important, said Archibald.

      Fernando didn’t reply. He continued scanning the books. The language on the scroll looked very familiar, but Fernando knew that a long time had passed since he had studied it. The books he had on the script were somewhere in this room. Fernando sneezed a few times from the dust he was raising.

      Fernando! yelled Archibald in frustration. He needed Fernando to listen to him.

      Fernando came to the door, scroll in one hand and an old tome in the other, eyes wide and mouth open. Archibald almost never raised his voice.

      Yes? said Fernando, looking quizzically at his friend.

      We need to talk. Archibald said. He knew this was going to be a challenge. He had to convince Fernando to leave his cottage in the forest and face the real world.

      Do you have anything to drink in this place, Archibald asked, looking down the hall to the dining area.

      Fernando’s eyes lit up. I think I still have a bottle or two of the croak flower wine I made and if I remember correctly, I have some hard bread and tolly berry spread left.

      Archibald followed Fernando to the dining room; while Fernando gathered the food and drink from the larder, Archibald sat on the floor and looked around the familiar room. The chairs were too small for him, but he remembered many times when he and Fernando had shared a meal and conversation. His pupil had many questions, and most conversations ended up as a teaching session.

      Often, they would sit in candlelight, a fire raging in the hearth, while Archibald showed Fernando how to control the magic that surrounded the youngster like a black haze. With patience and over time was Archibald had been able to get the boy to understand the strength of his magical power. And just as often they had sat in the comfortable, shabby sitting room with pictures of plants and animals hung everywhere, small windows to let in the southern sunshine, and piles of books and papers on every surface.

      Fernando came in, carrying a tray with a bottle of the wine and food. He placed the tray on the wooden table, filled a large bowl with wine, and handed it to Archibald. Then Fernando poured a glass of the same wine for himself. Sitting at the table, Fernando watched his friend and mentor drain the bowl then hold it out, asking for more. Fernando became more curious about what Archibald had to say than about the scroll. He’d never seen the gargoyle drink like this.

      Archibald stopped and looked at his friend. He had much to say, and much not to say. The Queen of Tar Almonie has been sending out her people to capture anyone who is a magic user, he said, beginning. She has also ordered that all other creatures of Tar Almonie be exterminated. Villages and tribes of different species are being hunted down and killed.

      Archibald took another long drink of the wine and waited for Fernando to say something. Fernando just sat, mouth open and eyes wide. Why are you telling me this? Fernando finally asked. I have nothing to do with what goes on in Tar Almonie. I am a simple herbalist. Why should I care what that queen does?

      You should care because you are the only one who can stop her.

      What do you mean by that? How can I stop the Queen of Tar Almonie?

      Archibald took another swig of his wine, wiping his mouth off with the back of his hand before placing the drinking bowl on the floor next to him.

      You are the only one who can stop her because you are a wizard. A wizard of the void energy, the same energy the queen carries.

      Fernando stared at him, scroll and book forgotten beside his cup of wine.

      Archibald poured more wine in his bowl and sipped it, lost in thought, a scowl on his face. Fernando looked at his friend with concern and confusion. I don’t understand, Fernando said. What is a wizard?

      According to Annalee you are a wizard, and a wizard is more powerful than any magic user in Tar Almonie, even a witch queen, Archibald answered.

      Archibald sighed. This was going to take some time to explain everything without telling Fernando everything Annalee had told Archibald. You know those tricks you can do? Archibald asked, making things move with a flick of a finger? Levitating people? Turning invisible, which if you remember correctly, scared me senseless when you were younger and I couldn’t find you?

      Fernando laughed. Oh, I remember that. You didn’t know I could turn invisible, and I was so young that I didn’t know I was the only one who could do that. Fernando stopped laughing, seeing the serious look on the gargoyle’s face. Sorry Archibald, I was young and didn’t know any better.

      Well, at least after that I had the sense to ask you pointed questions about what you could do. Much easier on my nerves that way, said Archibald, draining his refilled drinking bowl again and picking up a thick slice of bread with tolly berry spread. The queen, is not from this world, Archibald said.

      Not from this world? What does that mean: not from this world? Fernando asked. What world is she from? Are there more worlds? Can we go see this world? How many worlds are there?

      When he started to ask more questions, Archibald held up his large clawed hand. From what Annalee told me, the queen came to our world through the void. You know what the void is because we talked about it.

      Fernando nodded in agreement. In passing one year, when Fernando had been a child, he had mentioned the noises coming from the dark space to Archibald. Archibald, realizing something was different about his student, had told Fernando to contact this dark space so that Archibald could see it. Archibald had linked to Fernando’s mind, and the youngster had shown his teacher a dark space devoid of light and positive energy. How Fernando had been able to handle such immense energy of such a dark matter was beyond Archibald’s understanding. The dark matter was just too intense for the gargoyle, but even as a child, Fernando had no problem dealing with it.

      The queen’s world is in another dimension, and the void is what separates our dimension from the one she came from, protecting them from each other, Archibald explained. But when she came through the void, some of it attached to her etheric body and was absorbed by her physical body.

      While Archibald spoke, he studied Fernando’s face and almost laughed when he saw question after question flash in expressions across Fernando’s face. He waited for the first question.

      There are other worlds in other dimensions? Fernando asked and left the room, for books Archibald was certain.

      Archibald rumbled with laughter. He knew that talking about the void would get to Fernando’s curiosity. With some gently nudging, Archibald might be able to get Fernando to deal with the queen. The problem with that idea was that Fernando didn’t pay much attention to the outside world. Archibald knew that what happened in the country didn’t concern Fernando. He was only concerned with his little world in the cottage in the woods, his books and

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