Chapter ???

William was roughly dragged down the corridor by his upper arm, still trying to eat the drumstick he had managed to grab from the table before he had been apprehended. He quickly figured out where he was being taken; towards the Wizard Council chambers, of course. They had to climb quite a few flights of stairs as the chambers were located in the upper part of the enormous castle which served as the Magus Academy's campus. Soon they reached a large ornate door, which led into the main chamber that the council sat in for meetings.

The faculty staff promptly turned to the right, pulling William around to another smaller door. One of the wizards snatched what remained of the drumstick from his hands and with a quick word of magic made it disintegrate, before Will was pushed in through the door, into a small antechamber which was connected to the main meeting chamber by a currently closed door. Will was guided over to a chair which was placed in the middle of the room and forced to take a seat on it.

William glanced up at the wizards who had manhandled him, glaring at them for a moment before turning his attention forward, to the person who stood a little way in front of the chair he was seated in. It was a tall man wearing ornate robes, who had a greying beard and a bald head. His hands were clasped in front of him, hidden under the massive sleeves of his robes, which were made of fine blue fabric with details embroidered in golden thread. He was frowning at William.

The council member unclasped his hands to shoo the faculty staff members away with a small wave. They bowed slightly before heading back out the door. Then the older wizard approached William, who stared up at him defiantly.

“Would you care to explain yourself, Mr Fellowes?” the council member, whose name was Galdur, asked Will in a measured tone.

“Where’s Alexavier? I thought it was usually his job to reprimand me,” Will asked brashly.

“He is currently trying to get your sister down from the ceiling,” Galdur said in a completely humourless tone. “Do you understand the gravity of your situation, William?”

Will couldn’t help but snicker slightly and the ironic use of phrasing that the older wizard had uttered. Galdur glared at him, clearly unimpressed.

“Do you know how much trouble you are in, William?” Galdur attempted to rephrase.

“Hrm, I’m not entirely sure, why don’t you spell it out for me?” Will goaded intentionally. This wasn’t the first time he had been seated in this chair with someone chewing him out, though normally it was Alexavier himself who did the honours.

Galdur sighed with exasperation. “You used a dark magic spell. Dark magic is forbidden, especially for-” he suddenly cut himself off, appearing slightly alarmed. Galdur quickly tried to regain his composure and cleared his throat. “It is forbidden, everyone knows this,” he ended his statement as if he hadn’t just changed what he was going to say.

“Oh oh, does this mean you're finally going to kick me out of the Academy?” Will said with eagerness which was only partially faked. “I best go get packing then!” he made a motion as if he was about to get to his feet.

Galdur raised a single hand to indicate that Will should halt his action. “Your punishment will be up to The Grand Magus to decide,” he explained, and Will slouched back against the chair again.

“Then what are you doing here, baldy?” Will asked pointedly.

Galdur made a sound of displeasure. “I am here to question you about the incident and report my findings back to the council once the Grand Magus returns. So, if you would like to stop wasting time, would you care to explain what happened?”

William groaned dramatically. “My sister was being awful, as usual, so I cast a spell on her to get her to shut up. That’s really all there is to it,” he explained, sounding a little exasperated himself.

“You used forbidden magic to settle a petty argument?” Galdur asked incredulously.

“I used forbidden magic to win a petty argument,” Will corrected, smiling in self-satisfaction.

Placing a hand over his face, Galdur closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. “Do you have any idea how irresponsible that is?”

“Yes, I’m aware,” Will confirmed, “but I don’t think you understand how annoying she is.”

Sighing once more, Galdur mumbled something inaudible, before speaking again. “How did you learn that spell?” he asked, ignoring Will’s snarky retorts.

“I read it in a book in the library,” Will explained casually. “Someone had left a tome I had never seen before out on a desk, so I had a glance through it and tried out some of the spells.”

An unreadable expression crossed Galdur’s face. “Hrmph. I see,” he said shortly. “You will wait here while I go and discuss this matter with the council.” And with that he turned, robed fanning out with his sudden movement, and strode out through the door into the main chamber, leaving William alone in the small room.

Will waited for a few moments, before leaping out of the chair and hurrying over to the door to the main chamber. He pressed the side of his head up against the crack between the two doors and listened carefully.

At first, he just heard the council members conversing indistinctly. Then they all fell quiet as the main doors opened.

“How did William learn a dark magic spell?” Will could hear Alexavier’s voice echoing through the council meeting chamber. He sounded less than impressed about the situation. “Who is responsible for this?”

“Grand Magus, I have interrogated William, and he said he learned the spell in a book that was left out on a table in the library,” Will overheard Galdur explaining.

“How could this be allowed to happen?” Alexavier snapped. “You know what he is, what he could be capable of.” Will raised his eyebrows at this, his eyes going wide. What did Alexavier mean by that statement, Will wondered.

“The only people who have access to restricted books are the members of this council, so which one of you was so careless as to leave one of the forbidden tomes lying around in the library?” Alexavier asked, only to be met by a long moment of silence.

“Fine. From now on, I am instructing the librarian to forbid anyone access to the restricted section except for myself. And if this keeps happening, I might have to consider burning those tomes, or at least getting them far enough away so that Will can’t get to them. He shall be confined to quarters for a fortnight, have the golem guard his door,” Alexavier instructed firmly.

William sighed, and he turned so that his back was pressed against the door as he slouched in defeat.

****

“Will, you’ve only just been ungrounded, are you sure it's a good idea to go straight back into breaking the rules again?” Cornelius asked in a concerned tone as they shuffled down the tight passageway in the walls.

“Of course it’s not a good idea Conny, I’m not stupid you know,” Will responded, sounding as unfazed as usual about his friend's anxiety over his actions. “But I need to try and read all the books in the restricted section before I screw up again and Alexavier decides to burn them or take them all away. Got to make the most of them while I still can!”

“Sometimes I wonder if you are in your right mind Will…” Cornelius said softly.

“Don’t be silly Conny, I know what I’m doing. Plus,” Will paused to push open the wall in front of him, “you can turn back now if you really don’t want to come.” He looked up at Cornelius’ face expectantly, gesturing to the opening.

Cornelius let out a sigh. “No, I’ll stay,” he said slightly reluctantly, and Will grinned up at him before stepping through the opening. Behind him Cornelius had to duck and try to squeeze his larger frame through, but he managed to do so successfully.

They were standing in the dark library, among towering shelves of dusty books, some of which had been untouched for possibly hundreds of years. The academy was over nine hundred years old, and these books contained knowledge that was forbidden to anyone but the council members, so it was no wonder the restricted section was in such a state. Any books that showed signs of recent handling were probably the ones William had picked out over his couple of visits.

William walked casually over to a shelf and started looking across the spines of the bound volumes, running his thumb over some of them to remove the dust and better read the faded lettering. Will sensed Cornelius’ large figure come up behind him, looking over his shoulder.

William meticulously looked along the shelf as Cornelius trailed close behind him. Finally, he pulled out one of the volumes and blew the dust off the cover, which created a huge dust cloud that enveloped Will’s head for a moment, sending him into a coughing fit. Will coughed out a few words, and suddenly a gentle localised breeze picked up, scattering the dust away.

After clearing his lungs and throat, William turned to Cornelius and offered him the book. “Here’s one about potions that might interest you, I know you like them since they often don’t need any magic to create.” The two of them had already discovered that Cornelius struggled just as much to perform dark magic as light magic.

Cornelius looked uncertain at first, so William pushed the book into his hands. “Have a read of it, it won’t hurt you! I’m going to see if I can find anything more about Kazamir’s gem,” Will said with a smile, before turning and walking over to another shelf.

They spent several hours sitting together on the floor, pouring over various tomes. Eventually, after another search to find the oldest of the books in the section, William hurried back over to Cornelius, almost vibrating with excitement.

“What did you find, Will?” Cornelius asked as Will struggled to get any words out, clutching the tome so tightly in his hands that his knuckles were going white.

“This one mentions the dark gem!” Will finally managed to gush out with enthusiasm, quickly taking a seat on the floor next to his friend and opening up the book to point at a particular page. “It says it is kept in the academy, though very well hidden.”

Cornelius leaned down a little closer to Will’s head to get a better look at the page. “It does… though that's not much to go off…”

“That’s okay, I’ll just keep looking! And if none of the books say, we’ll just have to search for more secret passageways! But look,” Will pointed to the page again, “it at least has more information on the gem. Apparently a very powerful sorcerer used it to augment his abilities, allowing him to cast high level dark magic spells!”

“Will… why do you want to cast high level dark magic spells so much?” Cornelius asked with concern. “As far as we know, their only purpose is to hurt people…”

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t hurt anyone with them,” Will reassured, waving his hand back and forth dismissively. “In fact, I want to prove to everyone that dark magic doesn’t have to only be used for evil.”

“Do you think they will listen to you?” Cornelius said uncertainly.

“I’ll make them listen! Once I get my hands on the gem, I’ll show them that I’m not as useless as they all think I am!”

****

What the fuck are you staring at, you useless bag of shite?

William’s thoughts were suddenly ripped away from the past and he became aware again of the present. He was standing in front of his full-length mirror, his shirt only partially buttoned up, exposing the purple gemstone that was fused into the centre of his chest. Dark vein-like tendrils radiated out from it across the immediate surrounding skin. Will’s eyes had been locked onto the gem. He quickly glanced away, though didn’t look at his ghostly companion either, as he started buttoning up his shirt, covering the gem up again.

It’s somehow incredible that even with my gem you’re still hopeless, because you refused to actually fucking use it and realise your full potential, Azrael jeered as Will attempted to fix his hair in the mirror, which was desperately trying to form itself into two horn like shapes much like the hair of the spirit which haunted him.

“But it’s not your gem is it, it’s Kazamir’s, right?” Will questioned, still not looking at him, instead wearily examining the bags under his eyes.

He gave it to me, so it’s mine, Azrael stated firmly. Also, I have been living it in for about a thousand years, while he has been fuck knows where, so I think it’s only fair that I get to claim ownership of it.

“Okay fine, whatever makes you happy, I don’t care,” Will muttered, before moving away from the mirror and towards the tower stairs.

So, you were staring into the mirror for a very long time, Will, what were you thinking about? How much of a screw up you are? Azrael continued on with the belittling as Will descended the stairs to the first floor of the tower.

“Since when do you care?” Will scoffed as he made his way over to the front door.

I don’t really, I was just trying to make conversation, the spirit said nonchalantly. Oh wait actually, I think I recognise the look that was on your face! You were thinking about your old wizard friend, weren’t you? What was his name again? Corny?

“Conny. And so what if I was?” Will snipped, reaching out and pulling open the sturdy wooden door set into the thick stone bricks.

It’s been nearly thirty years Will; you have to learn to let it- holy shite! Azrael cut himself off as Will was suddenly hit by a rancid stench that filled the air outside the tower. What in fuck’s name is that? I can smell it through you Will, it’s that bad.

The smell was so terrible that William had to close his eyes for a moment to try and adjust. Then he opened them and stepped out of the tower, looking around with confusion. But it wasn’t long before he spotted Shredder, the giant dog laying on the ground close by, chewing away on something.

“Shredder!” Will called out loudly. “What do you have?” This caused the giant mutt to freeze midbite and look up at Will guiltily. William strode over towards him, trying to fight back the urge to empty his stomach, and could only get within such a distance before the smell was overwhelming.

In between Shredder’s massive paws seemed to be a mess of rotten flesh and guts, with bones poking out of it at odd angles. Blood and viscera were smeared around the dog's muzzle. William spotted what appeared to be a set of antlers, indicating to him that it was a rotten deer carcass which his guard dog had dragged out of the swamp and brought back to the tower to play with.

“Really Shredder?” was all Will could muster, throwing his hands up in the air slightly in dismay.

Well, that’s one way to keep people away from the tower, Azrael pointed out, watching the dog with his fingers pressed against his chin, stroking his dark pointed beard thoughtfully.

“It’s one way to make me lose my breakfast,” Will said, trying to hold back the urge to gag.

You only had tea for breakfast anyway, so no great loss, Azrael said with a sweeping gesture of his hand.

Will scowled at Shredder. “I’m going into the swamp to find ingredients. Shredder, while I am gone, you better put that thing back where you found it, or so help me,” the wizard scolded as firmly as he could muster.

Shredder’s ears pressed back against his head and a whine escaped from his throat. He then got to his feet, and picked up the carcass in his mouth, giving William a hurt look before padding away towards the swamp with it.

Sighing, William took off in the other direction, leaving the tower clearing and walking under the cover of the trees.

Azrael made a noise of disgust as he followed along behind Will. Why can’t you just send the corpse out to get things? he bemoaned dramatically.

“You’re the one always complaining that we never get out much!” Will snapped in irritation as he picked his way around murky puddles between the tree trunks.

I can think of about a hundred other places I would rather be than in this swamp, and the tower is one of them. It’s low on the list, but still above swamp. Azrael explained while examining his claws.

“If I ever find a way to make you more corporeal, it will only be so I can throttle you,” Will grumbled.

Oh, I didn’t know you were into that sort of thing, dear William, Azrael mocked playfully, putting on a look of surprise, before grinning.

“Shut up,” Will growled, and then proceeded to attempt to ignore Azrael as he sped up his walking pace.

Azrael went off on one of his usual rants about why Will should let him take control of his body, and he was still going by the time they made it to their destination. William stepped out of the trees into another clearing where the ground was covered in grass and glowing blue trumpet shaped flowers grew all over the place. It was a beautiful little oasis in the middle of the horrible swamp.

“Why didn’t you build the tower here instead?” Will asked Azrael, completely ignoring what the other had been going on about for the last few minutes.

Are you really that stupid Will? I built the tower on an intersection of aether leylines. It wasn’t even a clearing, I blasted the spot clear with a well-placed meteor, Azrael explained, sounding irritated. You really think I built a tower in the middle of a gods’ forsaken swamp for no reason?

“I apologise for opening my mouth once again,” Will muttered as he started walking through the field. 

As you should, show some remorse for the intelligence I lose every time you speak, Azrael said haughtily.

“You’re a real asshole, you know that?” Will snapped in response as he carefully collected flowers and mushrooms and placed them in his satchel. 

Ah yes, I forgot my title isn’t actually the Dark Lord of Undeath, but instead is, in fact, the Nice Lord of Friendship. My mistake. The spirit's words came out dripping with sarcasm.

Dotted across the clearing were a few unique trees, with brightly coloured bark and leaves. William approached one and gently started harvesting some of the leaves from a low branch.

You know what these are, Will? Azrael asked in the sort of tone a teacher asks their students questions when taking them on a field trip.

“Faerie graves,” Will said, rolling his eyes.

Oh! Maybe you’re not so stupid after all, Azrael remarked with surprise.

“Azrael. We have talked about the trees before. I am collecting the leaves because I know what they are and the magical properties the foliage holds. Are you developing spirit dementia or something?” Will shot back at his companion.

Clearly I was testing you to see if you are developing dementia, Will. You’re the one growing old, not me. We could put a stop to that though, if you wanted to, Azrael suggested glibly. It’s as easy as giving me control. He reached out a clawed hand towards Will.

Shaking his head, William turned away, then took a seat under the shade of the colourful tree. He saw Azrael withdraw his hand and shrug, before taking a seat next to him on the ground. Both of them stared out across the clearing as the glowing flowers swayed in a gentle midday breeze.