Heir to the Sundered Crown by Matthew Olney Page A

his hands resting limply on the table’s smooth surface.
    “Luxon of Edioz, son of Garrick Edioz and Drusilla Edioz. You have heard the accusations against you. How do you plead?” Thanos asked his tone grave and threatening.
    Luxon swallowed, his mouth suddenly felt dry. It took all of his courage to stand and say in a clear voice; “Not guilty my masters.”
    Another murmur came from the crowd.
    “Very well,’ Thanos bellowed. ‘Bring in the first witness.”
    A side door creaked open and in walked Accadus, a smirk on his face. Luxon felt his stomach fall; his enemy had him right where he wanted him.
    *
    The trial went on for the better part of the day. Accadus greatly exaggerated the incident and basically branded Luxon and Yepert as the bullies and aggressors. The more he had exaggerated the less scared Luxon became. He knew that all of the masters knew of Accadus’s reputation, they would surely never believe him. The other boys who had been injured in the fray also gave their testimony’s, but due to their stupidity neither one of their stories matched up. In one Luxon had used telekinesis to knock them all to the ground, in the other he had muttered a dark incantation.
    Luxon was glad the boys had not been allowed to see one another until the trial. They hadn’t had a single opportunity to come up with a lie, ironically though, if they had just told the truth then things would have probably been worse.
    Once the boys had given their testimony it was the turn of the defence. Yepert told the truth of what happened, and Master Ri’ges had vouched for them. It hadn’t taken the masters long to pronounce Luxon innocent of the charge of attempted murder.
    Thanos stood and addressed the court. “Now, we come to the charge of committing uncontrolled magic use. We would ask that all non essential mages and onlookers leave the court.”
    After a few minutes the chamber was empty leaving Luxon all alone to face the Masters. To his surprise all of the masters except for Thanos left as well.
    “We have heard some interesting things about you Luxon. Your teacher Master Ri’ges assures us that you are one of the most naturally gifted students he has ever met, that somehow magic comes as naturally to you as eating or drinking.” Thanos spoke.
    “Do you know of Zahnia the Great?” Thanos asked.
    Luxon nodded his head in the affirmative. “Yes master I do. Everyone has...haven’t they?”
    Thanos smiled. The Grandmaster sat casually on the crystal table’s surface his legs just about touching the ground.
    “Zahnia was just a boy, no older than you are now before he entered into legend. You see he lived in a time long before Delfinnia even existed as a Kingdom. In his day darkness ruled the world. He was born with a gift so great that he was able to defy the darkness and eventually defeat it. With his power he was proclaimed a King, and it was he that founded the Golden Empire. Magic can change the world, both for good and for ill.”
    Thanos paused. The grandmaster looked around the room as though he was listening to something. Luxon strained his ears but couldn’t hear a thing. A few moments of uneasy silence passed before Thanos attention once more focused upon the boy before him.
    “What you did to those boys is the reason why the ordinary folk fear our kind.” Thanos held up a hand to stop Luxon’s reply.
    ‘You were lucky none of them we’re killed and that you were smart enough to do what was necessary to stop it.”
    Luxon looked at his hands dumbfounded.
    “B-but Master I couldn’t control it, the magic just happened.” he said miserably tears threatening to fall from his eyes.
    Thanos’s expression softened. The tall wizard walked over to Luxon placing a reassuring hand on the young man’s shoulder.
    “In time you will learn to control it Luxon. What you have is a very rare gift, one that only a few possess. You are quite possibly the first true thaumaturgist to have appeared in this world in