Tale of the Twin Wizards (cont)

(Continued from part 1)

Anastican's bubble bobbed up and down in the shallow waves of an expansive sea. His shield had become little more than a floating raft, and he admired a school of brightly-colored fish pass beneath him. He seemed to be helpless to adjust his course, but was fortunate to be floating in the general direction of some land on the horizon. Finding himself completely helpless, Anastican made the best of it. He relaxed against the floor of his spherical confines, placing both hands behind his head. He took a deep breath and admired the particularly blue sky, then closed his eyes and began to nod off. He figured he would awaken when he reached the shore.

An unknown amount of time had passed when Anastican felt a small pool of water beneath him. He opened his eyes, then dipped his hand and looked at it curiously.

Splash!

His protective shell burst suddenly and he fell into the water. He flapped his arms in a frantic panic. Anastican had never swam, having preferred to avoid water altogether (or roll over it in his bubble when absolutely necessary). Fearing a watery grave, Anastican flopped and wiggled with all limbs, fighting desperately to keep his head above the surface. The weight of his robe seemed to pull him asunder. Finally, when he grew weak, his feet fell to the sand beneath. He stood on his toes, and his nostrils barely broke the still surface. Relieved, he turned around and saw the beach in the distance. He began to trudge toward it.

The sun glimmered off of the turquoise water as he gradually approached the shore. Over seemingly miles of shallows, his distant destination began to come into focus. The beach had a backdrop of coconut palms and exotic shrubs, and colorful flowering vines offered a bounty of easily accessible fruit. Several natives had gathered on the beach, apparently to welcome him. There were three men and three women, all tan and sparsely dressed in grass attire. He realized he had been transported to a tropical paradise. He looked to the sky and shook his fist in the air thinking of Balthizan's unusually bitter prank. This was definitely no place for a wizard.

A young woman wore a flower in her long dark hair. She walked knee-deep into the surf, took Anastican's hand and escorted him to onto the sandy beach.

"Welcome to Otheria Island. I'm Asrial."

"Anastican."

The natives stood around him in a semi-circle, observing his relatively diminutive figure. Anastican waved, a bit disheveled, then lifted the thick fabric of his robe in both hands and twisted to squeeze some water out of it. The robe had never been wet, so when he squeezed, a reddish-purple dye squirted all over his face and beard. He coughed and winced, shaking his head and spitting the opaque liquid onto the sand. Embarrassed, he wiped his mouth, and smiled an awkward smile.

"Well, it appears I've been marooned."

It was not his worst first impression...yet, they stood like statues around him. They were completely calm and absent, with the tiniest hint of curiosity. His expression turned from silly and apologetic to serious and dignified...as dignified as possible with large swaths of die splattered upon his white beard. He suddenly questioned the appropriateness of his remark. He did not mean any disrespect, and could not tell if he was welcomed or not. They watched him eerily, with lazy vacancy...

"Hm. Tough crowd. Alright, well, nice place you have here. Fruit, sun, monkeys...really, very nice."

They were mysterious and silent, although completely at ease. Anastican approached one of the men, and they both looked at each other with the same confused stare. He backed away and walked over to one of the women, and they also exchanged a look of mutual curiosity, noses almost touching. He looked at Asrial, who was smiling slightly. She wore wooden shoes with tall soles, elevating her a couple inches above the others. She seemed to be savoring the uncomfortable situation...

"So, Ms. Asrial," Anastican muttered, nodding towards the group, "these yours?"

Asrial looked at Anastican with a cheerful willingness to answer, but also painful confusion. She was muzzled by something. After several moments she lifted her head and looked at her companions with restrained concern and uncertainty. Then, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, regained poise, and carefully spoke...

"Would you like me to introduce you to my companions, Anastican?"

It was something Balthizan would say. Anastican squinted and looked at her suspiciously, wondering if she was in on the prank. Her innocent, candid appearance quickly changed to fear as Anastican's relaxed expression grew frustrated. The word drifted softly from his lips...

"Okay..."

Asrial smiled triumphantly. Anastican tried not to shake his head in bewilderment...

"Anastican, this is Ari, Athel, Jed, John, and Jude." She motioned to each as she spoke.

"Thank you, Asrial."

Asrial nodded and smiled. The others retained their pleasant, neutral appearance.

"Well then, you see, I was kind of relocated here as a joke and am trying to get back to Tinsley village..."

Silence...

"Tinsley village in the Darshu Mountians? Anybody?"

Silence..."ah," he thought, "the magic word..."

"Please, can you tell me where Tinsley village is relative to here?"

All six immediately chanted: "8506.53 nautical miles at 47.8 degrees true north."

"Well then, why didn't you just say so?"

They all responded again in unison: "Because you didn't ask."

"Oh, well then, can you tell me how to get to the Darshu Mountains from here?"

Asrial held her hand up to stop the others from responding. She had a look of confidence that softened as she turned to Anastican...

"No." She had a slightly worried expression on her face.

"Why not?"

"Because we require more information."

"Excuse me?"

"You...are...excused." She looked very sorry, as if she couldn't resist the words.

Asrial's look of concern and concentration grew more intense. Anastican stepped closer...

"Who are you? Did Balthizan put you up to this?"

"I am Asrial. Balthizan did not put me up to this."

"Ah ha! But you know Balthizan!"

"No, I do not."

Anastican was growing impatient. This peculiar race had a strange manner of communication. He approached her...

"Do you know someone who can tell me how to get to the Darshu Mountains?

"Yes."

Anastican nodded and looked at her inquisitively, then waited...

Silence...

"Can you tell me who this person is?"

"Yes."

Anastican nodded and approached Asrial. She was nervous...

More silence...he spoke loudly...

"Who can tell me how to get to the Darshu Mountains?"

"Larphus."

"Can you tell me where Larphus is?"

"Yes."

"Can you help me find Larphus?"

"Yes."

"Are you willing to help me find Larphus?"

"Yes."

"Argh! What do I need to do to get you to help me find Larphus?

"Ask."

"Okay then, bring me to Larphus, please!"

"Yes, sir." She smiled and hopped a bit.

"You are infuriating to talk to, do you know that?"

"Yes. I know that you find talking to me infuriating."

"Does that bother you?"

"No." Indeed, she did not seem bothered.

Anastican was not amused, but smiled awkwardly and followed Asrial. The others followed behind Anastican. He didn't know whether he was being joked with or not. He wondered how elaborate Balthizan's prank was, and if these people had been planted to confuse him. If so, their sarcasm was relentless.

They walked along the beach, around rock formations and skipped over shortcuts through the dense jungle of broad leaves and colorful birds. Monkeys swung on branches high in the canopy above. They stepped over large turtles and through the thick vegetation. Not a word was spoken.

Finally, Asrial stopped and looked out into a large bay. She cleared some sand away with her foot and revealed a panel with numbers. She pressed the upper right corner with her toe and the numbers illuminated. Anastican was relieved to see something magical. He had found even his most rudimentary spell completely inert, and was afraid the whole island had been cursed or something...an anti-magic curse. Seeing this was not the case, he wondered if it were only him who had been cursed. The thought made him feel helpless and concerned.

A high voice erupted from the pannel. "Whooo a a a....hot, HOT...just a sec, Asrial..."

Asrial and the others stood still and calmly admired the sun reflecting off the gentle waves.
Anastican looked at the panel curiously. It was black, seemingly of metal with a glossy surface, as smooth as a still pond. The numbers had been invoked from total blackness when she touched the corner. It was unlike any item he had seen, even in the halls of the great magicians. Suddenly, the panel erupted again...

"Alright, have you found it?"

"No. Larphus, you have a visitor."

"Oooo! A VISITOR! Stay right there!"

"Yes, sir."

Anastican knelt and looked at the place where the voice had derived. It was a grate, or mesh. Every young wizard learns to throw his voice as a young boy, even for miles, but this sound was different...distorted by some unknown force impossible to identify. He brought his hand close to the surface and the numbers faded to blackness. He was intensely curious, but distracted to notice that Asrial and the others had arranged themselves on the beach in a semi-circle again, precisely as they had appeared when he arrived. They were all looking towards the middle of the bay.

Anastican squinted to see through the sun's reflection off of the water, wondering what they were looking at. He heard a subtle rumbling through the breeze. He wondered what other strange magical items existed in this foreign place. He still couldn't cast a single spell, even one so simple as viewing the bay from the seagull's eyes which hovered high above.

As he scanned the shimmering sea, he noticed something agitate the water about a half mile out. Bubbling and roiling with steam, he watched a large mass slowly break through the surface. At first it appeared to be a whale, but then it came to a stop a few feet above the water. It was like a small island. Anastican's expression turned to amazement as something slowly rose from the center: first, two long horizontal sticks, then a tripod frame that seemed to be supporting them. When the contraption had risen so that it was sitting on top of the island, a man in an orange suit jumped up beside it, dancing and waving like a lunatic.

His head turned back to the others. They were still and silent, standing patiently as if this was a regular part of their day.

The man walked behind the contraption, bent over, and reached out his hand. He appeared to pull something with great determination. Then, he tugged again, and then a third time, uttering some terse incantation. He appeared to be holding a tail or leash of some kind. He repeated the same action several times, and then began chanting a diverse collection of magic words. As he continued to pull with greater force as his enchantments grew loud and incoherent. After several minutes of this behavior, a puff of smoke billowed into the sky and the island roared with violent thunder. The orange suit jumped up and down, arms in the air. Anastican rolled his eyes.

The horizontal sticks grew short and long again...a rudimentary spell in Anastican's eyes, but much more advanced than a simple puff of smoke. But then, as he looked more closely, he discovered that it was only one long rotating stick with the top of the frame as the pivot point. The stick began spinning very fast, and the man scurried beneath and strapped himself to the frame. The roar from the tiny island was almost as loud as his conversations on the mountain peaks, and the stick spun at so furious a speed he could no longer identify it as a stick at all.

Then, the contraption elevated slowly from the top of the island, hovering about three feet in the air. A mist of water appeared beneath him. Anastican found all this fanfare a bit silly for a bit of levitation. Yet, it was quite unlike anything he had ever seen.

The frame was hovering unsteadily and drifted over the top of the water. Less than a few yards in front of the island, the whole frame began spinning, and then the whole entity began moving in a great circle while gliding from inches to several yards above the water. After about 30 seconds of wild, erratic flight, the sticks finally smashed the water, splashing violently, and the roar bubbled and choked. The top of the contraption floated for a moment and then vanished beneath the water. The orange suit could be seen swimming back toward the island.

Anastican watched with utter confusion, trying to detect some sort of explanation from Asrial and the others. They continued to stand in virtual silence. Only Asrial had responded to all this...nothing but a tiny chuckle as the contraption struck the water.

After a few moments another roar could be heard from the island, and a boat stormed into view trailed by a large white wake. It was moving faster than any marine vessel he had ever seen, although he had only seen the ferries used to traverse Tinsley's single river. The boat glided to the beach in front of Anastican and the man in the orange suit jumped into the ankle-deep water and splashed towards him.

"Greetings, Mate! Name's Larphus."

He reached out and aggressively shook Anastican's hand.

"I'm Anastican."

"Welcome to Otheria, Mr. Anastican. Or, should I say, 'Anastican the White,' heh. That's quite a giddup you got there. I would have arrived a bit sooner, but I had a little trouble with the dual rotors this morning. You might have noticed. Stabalization has always been the trick with anything VTOL...that's Vertical Take Off and Landing. No worries though. Mr. Solocopter is completely waterproof. I'll have one of the girls fish it out for me this afternoon. So, what brings you by? Let me guess. Entertainer overboard from some cruise ship?"

Anastican quickly recovered from his puzzled expression...

"It's quite embarrassing, actually. My brother, Balthizan, transported me here from the Kingdom of Tinsley. He was playing a joke, I think...his Transport spell has always been rusty. He accidently sent me to the bottom of the ocean a few miles in that direction. My invisible force field protected me from the intense pressures of the ocean floor and I quickly bobbed to the surface. I drifted close to your island where my force field mysteriously burst. Then, I waded to the beach where I met Asrial and the others."

He looked at Larphus with a 'matter of fact' expression.

"Heh, cute mate. Well, no time to lose today. Let's get you some dry clothes."

Larphus walked back into the water and pulled the boat adrift. He jumped on top and waved Anastican on-board. Anastican was hesitant...

"Come on, man, never seen a jetski before? Hop on!"

He held his robe and placed a foot on the back, then pushed his staff against the sand to help nudge himself onto the back of the seat. Before he could get his balance the boat roared to life and the force was sudden and intense. It was all Anastican could do to grapple Larphus before being torn behind from the severe accelleration.

"YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAH!!!" yelled Larphus as the vessel screamed out to sea.

Anastican closed his eyes and held tightly around Larphus' waist as the boat slalomed back and forth, then spun in wild circles. Anastican was perplexed, and wondered how such flawed magic could be celebrated as he clug tightly, desperate to prevent himself from slipping off the side and into the deep, watery grave that zipped beneath, only inches from his feet.

Soon, the boat straightened and Anastican could relax, enjoying the fierce but mild wind against his cheeks. It blew his beard and hair back like the tail of a comet and his robe fluttered behind. He admired the scenery of the island and noticed massive rock formations and strange metalic structures that shot high into the sky, each with three blades spinning slowly.

Finally, the vessel entered a bay and the boat approached a long dock. Anastican looked ahead and marveled at the strangest-looking castle he had ever seen. It was tall with perfectly square corners, and held up by what appeared to be long horizontal stones that slightly overlapped one another. The brick chimney was the only recognizable characteristic of this obsurd structure. Anastican was beginning to realize how far he was from home...