| Quite A Surprise |
| Evil Wizard Keenan Series - Four |
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| The Council of Evil Mages sat around the table of dark wood, each one deep in thought. They needed a plan in order to capture Phillip, Lord Elder of the Good Mages, and learn from him how to access the Vault of Taliesin. The vault was rumored to hold powerful magic items and forbidden tomes thought lost to the sands of time, but Master Phillip was the only person who knew how to locate and enter the vault. �I have an idea,� Keenan offered softly, breaking the long silence. Elayne smiled. Trust Keenan to be the first on the council to volunteer for such a mission, she thought. �What is it, my pet?� Elayne asked, brushing his bangs away from his eyes. The young wizard blushed slightly at the open display of affection and replied, �I want to try it first. I�m not sure he�ll fall for it.� It was clear Keenan was asking permission, so Elayne nodded and stated, �See what you can do, sweeting. Try to have the deed accomplished by the end of the day.� �Yes, dear,� Keenan replied. Without another word, he quickly left the room and headed for the suite he shared with Elayne. Entering the room, he quietly shut the door and looked around. �Bartholomew?� he called. �Yes, Keenan?� the rabbit answered, hopping out of a different room. �Can you get into the Crystal Palace?� the wizard asked softly, kneeling in front of his familiar. Bartholomew�s ears went back and he replied, �Probably. The guards wouldn�t bother a small rabbit, if I entered though the garden gate. Why?� Keenan smiled. �You can�t teleport into the Crystal Palace, but you can teleport out of it. If you go in, I can use you as a locus and teleport Phillip here.� �It may be difficult, Keene,� Bartholomew pointed out. �I�d have to get quite close for him to be within range of the spell.� Keenan grinned mischievously. �I don�t think that will be a problem, my friend. Phillip has a soft spot for furry woodland creatures. Just play up your cute-ness.� �Well�alright, Keenan,� Bartholomew replied uncertainly. ** Several hours later, Keenan entered the Great Hall, where Elayne was speaking with Rusty and Ellery. �My plan is in motion, Elayne,� he said quietly. �If all goes well, I�ll be able to teleport Phillip here in a few moments.� �Excellent,� Elayne replied. Keenan nodded and closed his eyes so that he could see more clearly through Bartholomew�s. From his familiar�s point of view, he could see Phillip in the Palace garden, weeding carefully around some snapdragons. Bartholomew carefully crept out of the concealing bushes he�d been hiding in and hopped toward the warlock. Just as Keenan had planned, Phillip saw the rabbit and grinned warmly. �Hello,� he said softly. �Aren�t you a cute little rabbit?� The lord elder knelt down in front of Bartholomew and gently brushed the top of his head, between his ears. Knowing this was his chance, Keenan sent the signal to Bartholomew. Now! he thought firmly. In that instant, Bartholomew looked up into Phillip�s bright blue eyes. The warlock�s eyes grew wide in surprise as he realized that the rabbit was someone�s familiar, but it was already too late. �Oh, dear!� Phillip exclaimed, as he appeared in the center of the Great Hall, right under Ellery�s nose. The warlock scrambled back away from the other man, repeating the phrase several times, until he bumped into Rusty�s legs. �Oh, dear!� he repeated, looking up at the taller man. The other evil mages chuckled at what they thought was a very frightened lord elder. However, Keenan�s eyes narrowed. He was hearing something quite different in the thoughts of the older man. While he only spoke the phrase, �oh dear,� he was thinking a string of expletives. He�s angry, Keenan realized. I have to block him or he�ll do a spell and escape. At the same time he was thinking this, Keenan performed a rapid sequence of counter spells effectively blocking each spell Phillip was preparing to use. When the warlock paused to catch his breath, Keenan was finally able to release one that blocked him completely. Bloody hell, came Phillip�s thoughts. He�s blocking me! Keenan smirked and looked up at Rusty. �You�d better put a blocker on him,� he suggested. �The spell I�ve set won�t last too long.� The conjuror nodded and placed an iron brace on Phillip�s wrist, effectively keeping him from using any spells until it was removed. �Oh, dear,� Phillip mumbled. When I get this off, they�ll be in for it! I�ll start with that wizard and work my way down. Keenan blinked and then turned to Elayne, who was beaming at him. �Wonderful job, darling,� she said softly. �Whatever you did, it worked marvelously.� Keenan nodded. �But it was also quite draining,� he stated. �I think I�ll go and lie down.� �Do that,� Elayne replied sympathetically. �I�ll come later to visit with you. Now that we have Phillip, I won�t need to be up all night pouring over those dusty old tomes in the library.� Keenan nodded. �I�ll be�ready,� he said around a yawn. ** Later that evening, Keenan sat up and rubbed his eyes. He was surprised by how long he�d slept after doing the spell to bring Phillip to the Dark Castle. Must have taken more out of me that I thought, he mused. What the hell are you about? came Phillip�s angry thoughts. Keenan scowled. What do you mean? he thought back. You�re Cygman! I�m Loyalian, Keenan corrected quickly. You�re within the collective, Phillip reasoned. You must be Cygman � at least a little bit. You can�t be evil. No Cygman mages are evil. Keenan sighed. He should have known that, just as he�d been able to hear Phillip�s thoughts, the older man could hear his. That was the way that the Cygman collective consciousness worked. Whatever one Cygman knew, all the other Cygmans in the area knew through a telepathic link they all shared. I�m evil, Keenan argued, but he knew he didn�t sound convincing. The young wizard could feel Phillip becoming frustrated with him. You have to let me go, Keenan. I can�t, Keenan argued. I may be half Cygman, but I�m also half Loyalian and for the moment my loyalties lie with Elayne. She wanted you captured, so I captured you. Fine, Phillip replied. You�ve captured me, but there�s no reason I have to stay captured. You can let me go now. Keenan sighed again. I can�t leave right now. Elayne will be here any minute. After�after she�s asleep, I�ll make sure you can get away. She always fall asleep after we�re together. Keenan, Phillip grumbled. Try to censor your thoughts a little. That was not a visual I needed. Keenan blushed, realizing that he�d sent a visual image of himself with Elayne across the link to Phillip. Sorry, he replied in embarrassment. Whatever, Phillip answered. Just remember to come up and release me after she�s asleep. Okay, Keenan sighed. This day was not ending well after starting out so good. Shaking his head, the young wizard got ready for Elayne to arrive. ** Just as Keenan had predicted, Elayne was sound asleep a few hours later. Although it was quite late, Keenan knew that Rusty would still be awake � guarding their prisoner. He slipped out of the bed and pulled his robe on, then made his way up to the tower. �Hello Rusty,� he greeted the conjuror. The older man smiled. �You�re up late, Keenan. Usually you�re tired after�well�you know�� Keenan shrugged. �I was worried about Master Phillip,� he explained. It wasn�t a lie � not exactly anyway. �He may be having a negative reaction to the blocker.� Still not a lie, the wizard thought silently. The warlock was definitely having a negative reaction to having a blocker on, although not the kind of reaction Rusty would assume he meant. �Want me to take it off him?� Rusty asked cautiously. Keenan nodded. �He can�t tell Elayne about the vault if he�s too sick to answer questions,� the young wizard said softly. As he turned to leave, he saw Rusty open the door to Phillip�s cell. He�d done all he could, the rest was up to Phillip. Keenan paused at the top of the stairs when he heard Rusty�s startled cry. �Dammit,� he cursed, rushing to his friend�s side. Peering into the open cell door, Keenan saw that Phillip had teleported away and nodded. His eyes focused to the darkness and he saw that the vines from one of Rusty�s plants were tangled together in a knot. Apparently, Rusty had tried to use them to hold the warlock, who had teleported out before they could grab him. �Are � are you alright?� Keenan asked softly, his fear of the plants keeping him from checking the conjuror more closely. Rusty sighed. �Elayne�s going to have my hide!� he moaned. Keenan shook his head. �I�ll take the blame, Rusty. You wouldn�t have removed the blocker, if it weren�t for me,� he offered. �I�ll even tell Elayne that I�ll do the research and see if I can get the information she wants.� Rusty shook his head. �You�re something else, Keenan,� he said. �Do what you want, at least Elayne won�t kill you.� Keenan grinned; then sighed. �I�ll break the news to Elayne,� he said, heading back to his quarters. Elayne would not be happy when she learned of the escape, but at least she wouldn�t punish Rusty for the slip-up and Keenan had been able to honor all his loyalties. In spite of what he�d said to Phillip earlier, all the young wizard needed to do was look at his robes and he knew that he wasn�t truly evil anymore. ** Phillip appeared in the center of the Council Chamber cursing and shaking his head. Turning to Shadow, he growled, �He has a familiar!� �Who?� Alaric asked, a scowl coming to his face. �And he�s Cygman,� Phillip went on irritably, ignoring the older mage�s question. Shadow smiled. �It�s good to see you doing so well, Phillip,� the spell-caster said. �We were just deciding how to rescue you.� Phillip shook his head and took a steadying breath. �Keenan Meadows is Cygman,� he stated coldly. �That means he had to have been registered at some point. I want you to find all the information we have on him. I want to know how he came to be among the evil mages.� Without another word, the warlock turned on his heel and stormed out of the room. �Well,� Shadow chirped, shocked by the outburst from the normally even-tempered warlock. �That was interesting.� Turning to Alaric, he added, �I�ll have to try to remember that it�s not a good idea to surprise Phillip.� Alaric nodded sagely. �I�d say it�s not,� he agreed softly. End |
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