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trees. Lucas oved closer to Evant's spot. Another tree was there, without any herbs around it.

*orally you could see the enorous dar eyes of the ents and their branches' constant oving

nurturing the plants, while saller anials would &up on their branches. )hat was weird.

2aising his staff, he ade a gesture with it that created a glyph on the air. )he glyph of

recognition. "2eveal$, he shouted. A caling blue-white light filled the area. *ow the trees seeed

darer in coparison and the air was ind of thicer, but nothing happened. "t didn't wor, that is

ipossible$, he thought.3oething was aiss. %e tried the glyph of worlds. *othing, no other plane of e!istence

was interfering with this one here. Last, he tried the "Lifght of Anubis$, but no unseen eneies of

the underworld were there either.

%e was left to uncover the ystery with his own eyes and ind. %e too a stroll around the

glade, watching, taing ental notes, thining 4

*o life e!isted. 3oething ust have attached the glade and done soething to the ents. %e

began casting wards around the place and protective spells on hiself.

#inally, he got bac to Evant's place. %e tried to suon any anials that could shed a light

to the ystery. 5nfortunately, he was not adept to suoning agics, as are suoners, druids

or shaans. t seeed that wea spells did not have an effect here and he was not e!perience

enough to use stronger ones of that ind.%e finally decided that the trees in the ent's places held the secret. 2aising both hands he

called a raging inferno to Evan't 'ipostor'.

)he fire cracled and burned the tree. 6ieces of it started falling lie stones but not burning.

"Enough7$, a deep voice broe the silence and a strong wind tried to blow the fire away and failed.

Lucas stopped the incantation. %e was now in front of Evant, the ent, a little burned on the

sides and with all his leaves burned, but still seeed fine and healthy.

")han you young wizrd, Lucas is it$, Evant said.

"/es$, he replied.

"*ice call, to burn the curse, even if it scorched e a little. 0ut will get better. )here are

ore pressing atters now$.

"Lucas looed a little, thining that he intended to burn an ipostor, not brea a curse, still

the results were good, aybe better than e!pected. #inally he found the strength to address the ent8

"What happened ancient one$

"A dar agician cae re9uesting all our herbs and plants. We, of course, refused and he

got furious. )hen, he opened a bottle of grey ist. )he anials anaged to flee, but we were

petrified, while a layer of wood grown above the petrification. )hat ept us both hidden and in deep

sleep. see that he got all the herbs he wanted. We have to stop hi. *ow that have awaen, can

feel his presence west of here. #ollow the road of the oas. /ou should reach hi soon if you hurry.

a in no shape to help you, but you have to go 4$.

")han you, oh great-one. will coe bac with the stolen herbs$, he said and too off.

n his ind, Lucas was not sure about this. %e ight be e!perienced, but the curse seeedthe wor of a aster of the craft. While running, he checed his pouches and though of ways to deal

with the eney. #ro tie to tie he stopped for a breath and to collect soe seeds and dirt that

ight be useful later.

3oon he could hear the hoofs of a horse hitting heavily on the stones of the road. )he eney

was near. Lucas too a few inutes to rela!, drin soe water and eat soething to regain his

energy. )he fight would be a hard one. %e also too a few oents to plan his first ove. )he

young wizard was a aster of blue agic, water, illusions and spells that distorted reality or called

ethereal creatures were his speciality.

%e decided to bloc the eney with a few phantass, ghost lie creatures ade of ist and

follow with bolts of ice to subdue hi. With a brief sprint, he reached the dar rider. As the eney

turned to face hi, he hit his staff to the ground calling half a dozen phantass to bloc andencircle the eney.

0efore he could raise his staff again, to cast the first icicle issile, the dar rider waved

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turned and with a wave of his hand, dar agic intercepted and disintegrated the phantass,

nocing Lucas a few steps bac. )he battle was on.

)he dar rider &uped fro his over-loaded horse. *ow, Lucas could see his opponent's

face, or what could be seen behind the hood covering it. %alf of his face was distorted, probably the

cost of an unholy e!perient or suoning. With a cold, deep voice, the rider said8

"Who dares attac 3idaus the :ar$, and then he revealed hiself by reoving his hood

and throwing bac his cloa.%e was wearing the leather garents and boots of a druid, with a deon neclace around his

nec and enchanted rings on his fingers. t seeed to have been a druid at soe tie that turned

into the blac arts, probably a warloc. Warlocs are fierce battle ages, specializing in offensive

agics, blood agic and suoning deons to do their bidding. Lucas, too a oent to

suon all of his courage and shouted8

"/ou are a suoner, one of the deserters of the 'Earthen ;ircle of 6rotectors'. 1ive bac

what you stole and proise you a fair trial$.

"%a ha, a youngling trying to intiate e. :ie for your insolence ", he e!claied and

stretching his right hand towards Lucas he sent a bea of blac light.

0arely on tie, Lucas created a blue circle around hi and stopped the blow.

"1ood refle!es for one so young, and soe sill too you have. 0ut you can't fight againsteons of e!perience. 6ast friends and now slaves, show hi y power.$ With but his coand, the

trees around Lucas tried to iobilize hi, but he avoided the and grabbing an enchanted dagger

fro his pouch he cut the to pieces.

*ow it was his turn. %e sheathed his dagger and grabbed his staff with both hands. )he sy-

blue orb on top of the staff begun to glow. An eerie ist covered the battlefield.

"An eleentary tric at best, child$, said 3edius who disissed the ist with a siple

wave of his hand. (nly to be stricen by a blue lightning.

"*ot if cobined with another$, said Lucas with a sile, beginning to find his lost courage.

":o not re&oice yet, aateur, that only ticled. ;oe forth Erezaiah, y thrall$, his deon

neclace burned with fire and he touched it to release a deonic iasa, a dragon-deon of the

netherworld. t's saurian face was crison red and had two horns that curled to the bac of his head.

)he two etres beast stood lie a huan and carried an enorous sledge haer in his claw-lie

fingers. Also, 3edius ade another gesture and two feral wolves &oined the deon. "%ave fun y

pets.$,. )he creatures ran towards Lucas.

0ut he reained cal and with a 9uic spell, he changed the earth below the beasts into

9uic-sand. )he two wolves were caught in the trap, but the deon only slowed its pace. 3till cal,

he called fourth the illusion of a s9uad of soldiers blocing the way of the beast. )he guards could

weaen it, but illusion spells dissipate easily when stricen. %owever, he new that suoning and

controlling a powerful deon too a lot of power and concentration fro warlocs, he could at

least be able to focus on the deon for a while.

*e!t, he urured an incantation and a dozen archers appeared, again illusions ade real.;oncentrating on the target, Lucas ade the archers release a deadly rain of arrows to the deon. A

fierce fire encircled the deonic beast shielding it fro the attac. t seeed that the warloc was

not an ordinary one, anaging to cast spells that re9uired concentration while controlling its thrall.

Lucas disissed the archers.

%owever, the deon seeed to have slowed even ore and got stuc in the 9uic-sand. )he

warloc would not let his pet lost. 3uoning a crison-blac dagger, he ade a cut on his ar,

letting a little of hid blood to be spill. )he blood agic spell powered up the deon who went into a

blood-frenzy and escaped the 9uicsand.

)he wizard had to thin of soething and 9uite fast. Most of his spells wouldn't wor and he

used the collected ud for the 9uicsand. %e was only left with soe agic dust and the spores he

collected. (n the ean tie, the warloc was powering up the deon who went horn first into thes9uad crushing the first two guardians and engaging the others.

)he battle will soon be over. Lucas cast a freeze spell, but it only slowed the deon for a

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few oents. Enough for the soldiers to ae soe cuts in the beast's hide, without any effect. )he

enorous weapon of the deon seeed to crushed the suoned guardians that were falling one

by one and becoing ist again. )hen, the young wizard reeber reebered his aster and

cast the sae arcane prison as the deon cut through the last of the s9uad. )he prison held. )he

deon was finally stopped and straggled with the bars of violent agic.

3edius would not accept defeat for his pet. A dar aura surrounded hi and he sent it to his

pet deon. )he deon cried in pain and grew larger and darer, his sledgehaer grew spies anda blac aura was now upon it. With a blow, the prison shattered.

*ow Lucas felt helpless. )he dragon-deon was oents fro s9uashing hi. :esperate

as he was, he too all his agical powder and infused the seeds he earlier gathered with arcane

energy. %e threw the at the charging eney. )he deon blined, and stopped at first a few steps

away fro the wizard. t seeed distracted but the spores had no other effect. )hen, the beast raised

his haer for the final blow and Lucas send a violet light of energy to hit his would be iller. )he

arcane bea had no effect. Again, the situation seeed ipossible. )he sledgehaer was seconds

fro hitting its target, when a root sprouted fro the deon's chest and grabbed its hand, stopping

it in id-air. )he root grew and rooted the deon iobilizing hi to the ground.

)he warloc send a ball of fire to burn the plant, that ept its pet fro victory. A blue energy

destroyed the fire as soon as it reached its target.Lucas found his chance and stepped bac, giving hi soe space to cast a banishing spell8

"With the blesses of Araour, banish thee vile creature to the depths of hell$.

)he deon was gone and the warloc e!hausted. %owever, he had a few trinets left. 5sing

his rings, he suoned a crison dagger that flew towards Lucas. With enough tie to spare he

urured a teleportation spell which too hi a few etres fro the warloc and out of the

daggers path.

)he warloc e!hausted fro the agic attacs, reached for his dar dagger. Lucas needed a

few oents to recover but anaged to cast the arcane prison spell to his eney. With a few ore

spells, he disared the eney fro all his ites and fortified the prison. )he fight was over and he

could go bac hoe now.

)he way bac too a long tie, but he rode the blac horse, while 3edius the Warloc was

was following behind in his levitating prison. All the herbs he stole were on the horse and Lucas

was going to tae the bac to their rightful owners.

)he day was nearing to an end, but the forest seeed to be coing alive again. 2eaching

bac at the clearing, Evant greeted hi. %e had already anaged to revive ost of the ents and the

anials were bac. After soe tie, the ents too all the re-plantable herbs and left Lucas with the

rest as a reward. )he Warloc would also stay with the ents, waiting for his trial and punishent.

#or the road hoe, Evant suoned soe beasts to protect the weary wizard in addition to

giving hi soe fruits and nectar to replenish hi.

0ac to Marius' lab, the Arch-wizard was waiting for hi. )he apprentice left the bag of

herbs to the guards and rushed to the tower with only the ent-root. t was a long night, Evant hadsent a essage to Marius. )he Arch-Wizard ept his apprentice until late, over tea and cae, so he

could tell hi everything.

At the end Marius sent his apprentice to a uch-needed sleep. n the following days the

would visit again the prisoner and 9uestion hi.

*ow, the day was over.