20 - The Failed Magician
| Session 1 | Session 19 | Session 20 | ||
| ◀◀ | ◀ | ▲ | ▶ | ▶▶ |
| Ashira Brolin Frostbite | Ashira Frostbite | Ashira Frostbite |
An Island of Death in an Ocean of Tears
I went digging through the heap of forgotten costumes, dust and glitter sticking to my fingers. Found what I needed—pointy magician’s hat, some oversized robe, and a fake wand.
I needed privacy. Or at least the illusion of it. The dressing room had mirrors ringed with lights, but there was one other soul: a bugbear wearing in a dragon suit, looking like he’d lost a bet with life. He had no shadow. I noticed. I always notice.
Behind a heavy curtain was something quieter. I peeked through, stepped in. Five actors. Crying, sniffling, one just staring at the ceiling. No joy here. I asked for privacy to change—they pointed toward a sleeping alcove. I nodded thanks and slipped inside.
Golmo
That’s when I finally let Golmo out. Poor little architect, all nerves. He blinked up at me from my palm. Said he was afraid that Endelyn was looking for him. I explained we would get him out and gave him the safest spot I could offer: a spot nestled between my horns, beneath the magician’s hat. He said it was perfect. I think he meant it.
Before leaving, I spoke to the sad actors. They told me their truth: perform well, or stay forever. They said Endelyn prefers tragedies—pain, betrayal and death.
The script
I regrouped with the others back in the dressing room. We planned the play. The tragedy went like this:
- A distant island kingdom.
- Zephyr the knight in rainbow armor, in love with Gleam the servant.
- Maeve the jealous princess, poisoned by envy.
- Dhanell, the apothecary with too many bottles.
- Frostbite the jester, comic relief.
- Me, the magician. Naturally.
- And Brolin, the satyr sailor, who loved the bottle more than life.
The princess gets poison from the apothecary to silence her rival. But she fumbles the plot, distracted by the jester, and poisons the prince instead. Dhanell, in grief and guilt, takes his own life. The princess begs the magician—me—to fix it. I do, but raise a zombie instead of a man. The undead prince kills me. The princess ends herself. Brolin? Drowned in wine. Fitting. Everyone dies. Curtains close.
Stagefright arrived and told us the play would start. He didn't like us changing the script.
Act I
The play started well. Maeve’s narration was beautiful. Zephyr and Gleam gave longing glances. But then Frostbite cracked under pressure and walked on stage too early. Chaos. The plan unraveled. Gleam poisoned herself instead of the prince. Not ideal.
Maeve saved the moment with a song and called for an intermission mid-scene. Beautiful. We regrouped.
Act II
Second act: the prince now kills himself. The princess, desperate, turns to the magician. I gave them a show—thunder, trembling ground, dramatic words. And a mistake. I summoned the undead prince instead of a living one. He killed me. The princess took her own life. The jester vanished. The sailor drowned in grief and wine.
Everyone dead. The crowd went wild.
Dhanell had been trying to arrange an eclipse at the end. Not for flair, but because Endelyn fears it. It almost worked. We got the eclipse, and Brolinn darkened the sky. But by the time we pulled it off... Endelyn was already gone.
After the play, we were given permission to roam freely. I didn’t take off the magician’s costume—Golmo was still tucked safely beneath the hat.
The Library
We ended up in a library. Every shelf lined with books, all bound in black. I searched for the invisible paper again, brushing fingertips along empty spaces, but found nothing.
Then—shattering glass. A sudden burst of white mist. Dhanell and Zephyr were caught in it, but they managed to escape without harm. Dhanell called it “Mummy Rot.” Lovely.
Later, we discovered what those books were: prophecies. All of them. I took a closer look. The handwriting… it felt familiar. I checked the old letters I’ve been carrying with me all this time. The match was perfect. Endelyn wrote them. Every last one.
| Session 1 | Session 19 | Session 20 | ||
| ◀◀ | ◀ | ▲ | ▶ | ▶▶ |
| Ashira Brolin Frostbite | Ashira Frostbite | Ashira Frostbite |
Updated on: 06:55
