Tak

Experiments - Part 3

     It would be five years before he saw Castle Nagra again.

     By some miracle, he wasn't summoned back to Domandropolis once during that time. It was as if the rak King had forgotten he existed. Although that was an attractive idea, Tak didn't doubt that he was very much on Khalkedon's mind as his power continued to grow, to the point where he became one of his most powerful underlings. Once or twice he was sure he could feel eyes on the back of his head, a feeling he remembered from his childhood when Molos Gomm had been watching him in his crystal ball. Fortunately, those feelings came months apart, the rak King just checking up on him, and he could only pray that he wasn't under observation when he made his move against his chosen target.

     His cover was that of an independent wizard seeking employment, and travelling as he explored the possibilities of several small communities. All three of the young raks he had his eye on lived on the outskirts of medium sized towns. They liked their privacy and the safety of isolation but still needed the support of a nearby community as they continued the projects and researches they'd begun while still alive.

     Within just a couple of months, though, he'd firmly eliminated one of them for being too powerful and dangerous, even by rak standards. The town he depended on and into which he sent his terrible servants for supplies was full of tales of malice and cruelty inflicted upon those who aroused his displeasure, and his displeasure was apparently all to easy to arouse. Also, frightful tales were told by those who'd had the courage or the foolishness to creep up close to his castle and peep timidly through the narrow windows. The same could be said of any rak, of course, but the reputation of Bosk Blackheart was twice as bad as either of the other two and Tak crossed him off his list of possible targets without regret. He was nearly desperate, but not yet suicidal.

     That left two others, and Tak might have spent months or years weighing them up against each other if he hadn't had a sudden and amazing stroke of luck. He was in the town of Byspring, part of the domain of the rak King Saggaranta who ruled from the granite city of Graal. While there, he was approached by a gaunt, grey bearded man he'd seen several times before and whom he knew worked for Gannlow, the young rak who'd brought him here. The gaunt man, named Chilgrone, was Gannlow's houseman. He was also a wizard in his own right, as Tak had sensed the first time they'd met, and he'd known that the occupant of the dark and dreary coach had sensed him as well. The mutual recognition of two wizards close enough for the magic stored in their bodies to be perceptible to the other's magic sense.

     At first he'd thought Chilgrone to be Gannlow's apprentice, but from casual conversations in one of the local alehouses he'd since learned that the gaunt wizard had in fact arrived only a couple of decades before. Just passing through, it had at first seemed, but he'd made his way to the rak's mansion and stayed there ever since.

     "He was summoned," the town tanner had declared confidently as Tak downed his third pint of muskin. "Gannlow wanted him, and he sent out his power to bring him in. You heed my words. There's things going on in that house of evil that honest folks like us do well to stay out of. The Gods will judge them for their wicked ways. You mark my words."

     The other townspeople sitting around the table had nodded their sober agreement, but Tak had gotten the impression that, despite their words, they weren't really bothered by the presence of a rak on their very doorstep. Gannlow left them alone, for the most part at least, and they left him alone, and the rak had plenty of gold to pay for the tolerance of his neighbours.

     Now face to face with the rak's companion and housekeeper, Tak found himself being subjected to a close scrutiny by a narrow pair of sharp, grey eyes. Tak waited patiently for Chilgrone to conclude his examination of him, and took the opportunity to study the other man in turn. He was old. So old that he had to be well into the terminal decline of his powers, if indeed he could still practice magic at all. He had the thickest, bushiest grey beard he'd ever seen. A beard that seemed to have sucked most of the strength and vigour of his thin body into itself like some kind of monstrous parasite.