Alaith

Khaloran in Khaloran

The Edvan Empire was one of the greatest empires at the time, and to many, it was the greatest. Its military might that used wizards as knights made it a formidable foe, and in a time when war raged all over the world, Edvan was fairly peaceful and was deemed untouchable by foreign invaders. And even more frightening was the Commander of the Edvan army; the High Wizard of Edvan – Aliath Renan who attained this position no younger than seventeen years of age. To many, he was the greatest wizard of all time, whose legendary powers were said to be stronger than the combined might of the entire Edvan army. To others, he was a sham who rose to power because he was best friends with the emperor of the Edvan Empire – Kanath Edvan as soon as he took the throne after the death of the previous emperor. Not many had seen Aliath’s powers and it is believed that many who had did not live to tell tale. Aliath stood proud, however, at the age of twenty-seven, he had achieved a lot more than many could dream of. And yet, there he stood, in an inn that could pass for a royal dining table elsewhere. Before him sat possibly the most beautiful and mysterious woman he had ever seen. But for the first time, the sight of her made him uneasy. He couldn’t put a finger on it, but she smelled like trouble.

“A name would be good. I am…” Aliath started before the mysterious lady interrupted.

“Aliath Renan. I know,” she said, much to Aliath’s pleasure.

“Exactly. You’re someone who knows your onions! I bet you recognised me the second I took off my mask, right?”

“Actually, I overheard your conversation,” she replied as Aliath’s grin visibly turned into disappointment. “Although, I must say I was surprised to see the High Wizard of Edvan in a lowly town like this. My name’s Hela,” she added.

“Hela what?” Aliath asked. It was customary that people would say their full name the first time they were introducing themselves in Edvan.

“Just Hela,” she replied.

“Okay. I can work with that,” Aliath replied. “However, I wouldn’t call this town lowly. The storm might have prevented me from seeing the city as it was, but this inn speaks volumes.”

“It wasn’t always here. Lord Ravaan built this place when the winds started to threaten a few months ago to serve as shelter. The main building is below us,” Hela said.

“He knew about the winds when the capital found out a few days ago?” Who is this Lord Ravaan?”

“I can’t say much about him myself. But he is quite the benevolent man.”

Aliath’s eyes dimmed. He had an idea of what was going on but didn’t want to come to conclusions. “He sounds interesting,” Aliath said, in an attempt to conclude the topic.

“He is. But tell me, are you as powerful as they say you are?” Hela asked, subconsciously slightly closing the distance between them.

“Even more. For someone to see my power and live means that I was holding back,” Aliath gloated.

“Well, at least you’re as arrogant as they say you are.”

“Can’t be disappointing the rumours now, can I?

“Master! You might want to see this?” Bitrus said as he came back with the innkeeper.

The innkeeper was a man in his mid-fifties but looked a tad bit older as both Aliath and Bitrus were a few years short of thirty. He led them to beneath the inn, just as Hela had described. Although Aliath had an idea of what to expect, it did not prepare him for the shock he received. Hela had called it a shelter, but it was like a town below a town – Khaloran below Khaloran!

“Lord Ravaan provided this for us,” the innkeeper said.

Bitrus walked towards Aliath as the innkeeper walked just ahead of them.

“This is creation magic. There a very few wizards who can use it throughout history and even less in recent times,” Bitrus said. “The only person capable of something of this magnitude in all of Edvan is…”

“Me,” Aliath said. “This is mirror magic more specifically. And this confirms my suspicions. This Lord Ravaan is an outsider, and so is Hela.”

“Hela? Who’s that?” Bitrus asked.

“The lady I was speaking with above. They must be linked with the recent information we received.”

“But why will outsiders be helping us? This is contrary to what we received.”

“What if it’s not? Even I could not predict a storm like this before it happens. Unless of course I plan to create one.”

“I’m sorry, but you are no longer welcome,” the innkeeper said, appearing out of nowhere before the two.

“We’ve seen enough. Thank you. We will report this situation to the capital and send resources to help.”

“We need nothing that does not come from our Lord Ravaan. He has already provided us with all we need.”

“I’ll report that too,” Aliath said, as the pair return through the staircase they came.

Aliath searched for Hela as they walked to the exit, but she was nowhere in sight. Bitrus was met with a lot of farewell wishes while many barely acknowledged Aliath’s presence, with the rest ignoring him altogether. As the pair mounted their horses, Bitrus pierced a path through the storm once more, but as they left the inn, it vanished without any trace that it existed.