Wisdom - Prologue

WISDOM
BOOK ONE OF BLUE MOON RISING TRILOGY

Written by:
Bonnie Watson
Copyright © 2008

PROLOGUE

Sounds of clanking chain echoed within the dungeon. Cloven hooves scraped desperately at the floor, unable to break metal shackles holding it down. White hair bristled along the neck in silent anticipation. An ear turned toward the sound of crackling fire, casting an orange glow along the mane and tail. Several strands tangled around a single ivory horn perched upon the forehead. She waited. A unicorn must always be patient.

Her nostrils flared at the smell of wood burning beneath a nearby cauldron. Besides that, only a few bare tables dotted the dark room. In one corner a shelf displayed a number of multicolored bottles and vials filled with liquids. One such vial had overturned, and a constant drip of purple liquid hit the floor.

The scent of human mingled with burning logs, and she turned her head to a set of winding stairs. It was difficult to see in the darkness, and when the figure finally came into view, his face still hid under a black hood.

“You know me,” the man said. “I saved you from a hunter once, and in return you offered me a favor. Now I come before you to obtain that which was promised.”

He reached up and slid the hood back around his shoulders. Long sideburns grew down his face to a small beard, lightly tinted with grays woven in between brown. It matched the color of his hair, which stuck up in static waves.

The unicorn huffed and shook her mane. She remembered. The dark-eyed alchemist had appeared as if expecting a hunter that day. That was when she had been mere foal, she…and her sister.

Blue eyes watched his every move, even when he had finished ladling the bubbling liquid from the cauldron and placed it before her in a bowl. Her thoughts reached out to him, gentle and sweet, her kind words filled with ages passed. Echoing in and out of his subconscious, the alchemist remained still and allowed his mind to link with hers.

It is not wise for a non magic-user to take power and expect to master it in one evening. You are an alchemist and well-known illusionist. Do you not wish to further your studies? If knowledge is what you desire, then mine is more than enough.

“It’s true. A single one of your kind could answer anything I want to know,” he said in a soft voice. “And yet you still have the ability to withhold any amount of knowledge you wish. With the aid of magic I could learn at a much faster rate, be more accurate with my potion making, and more! Now answer this, can illusion do that?”

He pointed to the bowl. “This is the one favor I ask. Likely, it’ll be the only one I’ll ever see. Grant me this, and I swear to you I will use it in good faith.”

Good faith… The unicorn dipped her head. Greed has little to do with faith.

Slightly red-faced, the alchemist swallowed his impatience and waited while the unicorn began to drink. His heart beat faster. So many years, so many nights mixing and pouring, and now the moment he had been waiting for was finally here, the ability to coax magic from another body into his own. No longer would he be a mere illusionist, but a full-fledged magic-user.

Suddenly, the unicorn’s body flared a bright white, then dimmed as though consumed in darkness. Panic-stricken, the animal reared so quickly that a shackle broke. Her hooves pawed the air, filling it with shrieks and high-pitched squeals. The to-be mage jumped back as the animal tumbled down. It landed hard as the potion spread, coursing through blood vessels, seeping into muscles, poisoning everything it touched until finally reaching the horn. Blue eyes polluted to a lackluster gray, then black. The pupil disappeared, only to be replaced by a flame of crimson that flooded both eyes at once. Its soft coat spoiled and rotted, charring all the way to its cloven hooves. The horn, caught in a whirl of darkness, lost all shimmer as it absorbed the poison in attempt to purify itself. Teeth elongated to fangs. Its whinnies stopped. Foul screeching and growls began. The transformation nearly complete, it began to rise, scraping great welts into the stone floor.

Frightened beyond reason, the alchemist sought the handle of an axe that lay unused in a dusty corner. He raced against time, hoping to strike before it could fully stand. Still dazed, the creature made no attempt to dodge the blow that came hurtling toward its horn.

The blade had been dull for years, but in his haste he had not noticed. When the axe hit, the horn split from forehead to tip. The unicorn thrashed its head up, catching its horn on the man’s clothing and flinging him across the room. He landed on top of a table, which instantly collapsed under his weight. Desperately, he fought to regain his footing and relocate the axe.

The snapping of chain warned the alchemist that another shackle had broken. He looked up. The creature’s horn crackled as though electrified. Fangs flashed in the firelight, tainted crimson from piercing its own lips. Eyes radiated an unnatural light as it slowly turned its head toward the human.

The alchemist made a quick scan of the area and discovered the axe on the opposite side of the room. He glanced between object and creature, and kept a table between himself and the beast at all times.

A bolt of lightning flew from the horn. The alchemist dived under a table to avoid a second. The sound of hoofs scraped over the floor before a horn pierced through the wood, narrowly missing its target. With a toss of its head, the furniture was thrown onto some far shelves. Flasks and bottles crashed to the floor. Potions mixed together and exploded into a whoosh of wind that threw back the man’s robes and caught the mane and tail of the unicorn. Fire started along the back wall, spreading quickly.

As the liquids flooded over the floor, flames followed in its path. Smoke poured into the air, smothering the human as he staggered to where the axe lay. He had just enough time to pick it up when a hoof slammed into his backside. The alchemist found himself skidding on his stomach toward the flames, saved only by an untouched furnishing. Both dizzy and exhausted, he rolled away and swung at the looming shadow hovering above.

Teeth sought the taste of his flesh. He raised the ax again, but the lowered horn caught and held it. The smell of decay huffed with its breath. Fangs flashed in the flickering firelight. A wild kick to the neck sent it rearing. When the horn lowered again, he slammed the blade across it with a thunderous crack! A piece snapped from the tip and clattered to the floor.

It screamed, writhing in agony until its body collapsed in a heap of rotting flesh. A thrashing foot upset the bubbling cauldron, and its contents spilled over the fire, though it was too late to save itself from the quick spreading flames that leapt upon its corpse. In moments it was over, with the cauldron smothering the remaining ashes.

Still shaking, the alchemist sat up and wiped his face. By his side lay the fragment of horn.

“So much for the favor.” He sighed and lifted it. A sharp edge bit into his palm. Blood mingled with still-active magic, and a bolt suddenly flared around his hand, extending to his entire body. Unable to let go, he held it aloft, fighting to contain the power, to understand its sheer essence. Crimson flooded his eyes, then slowly receded, a mere glimmer now and then in the darkness.

“At last!” he rasped, his voice not his own. “The power of knowledge…is mine! Out of this triumph I shall create a new type of magic, one that masters all!” He held the treasure in front of himself. “I give this newfound magic a title—one that all shall come to recognize in time—so shall it be called after its founder of Darkness… Jen’Oyx!”

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Tags:

dark, power, fantasy, magic, unicorn, horn, wizard, illusion, mage and alchemist