Kire

Kire
By: A.N. James

This is the story of Kire, the Paladin. His parents were educated, affluent people. Their home was within the inner circle of the town. Only those who were wealthy could live there. His father was the Headmaster of the Magic School; his mother was the Royal Translator for the King. She was fluent in well over a fifty languages, including all forms of Elven. Being part Elven, she grew up in an Elven community. Many languages were spoken in her home and community. It seemed to come to her to naturally learn the many different tongues.

As Headmaster of the Magic School, he wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and become a Great Mage like him. Unfortunately, Kire was not exceptionally gifted with magic. His greatest skill was being capable of seeing things before they happened especially when danger was involved. His best friend, Sucram, was exceptionally talented in magic. They were more than just friends - they were more like brothers being friends since they were babies. In fact, their nurses would let them bathe together.

When both boys were old enough they attended the Magic School. Kire knew he would not be following in his father’s footsteps as he did not have the magic talent to become a Great Mage. He encouraged Sucram to study to become the Great Mage he never would become. Sucram had the talent and enjoyed studying at the Magic School. Many times Kire would find Sucram and Kire’s father researching or reading an old text. Sucram’s father was a wealthy merchant. He never knew his mother.

After the boys had already started school, the school board arranged a career day highlighting many different types of careers ranging from farmer to warrior to mage and anything in between. Kire decided then that he wanted to become a Knight for the King. With his talent of sensing dangerous situations before they happened he would be better prepared than anyone else. His father was not happy about his choice but respected it and understood his thought process in making this decision. His friend, Sucram, stayed with becoming a Mage. His ambition was to follow in Kire’s father’s footsteps.

Kire changes his path from that of a Mage to that of a Knight. He would join others in learning about weaponry; riding and taking care of horses; swordplay and war strategies. He felt right at home with the other students and proved to be exceptionally skilled, especially in dueling. His instructors were very pleased with him and felt he would go far. Meanwhile, Sucram continued his studies at the Magic School. With each passing day, he gets closer and closer to the Headmaster of the Magic School. Sucram becomes more of the son the Headmaster wanted. This did not cause a rift between Kire and his father but they started to drift apart as Kire became more embroiled in his training.

About year later, Sucram sneaks into the Magic School because he wants to research something in the restricted area. He discovers an orb locked in a globe of glass. The glass has a protective spell on it but the spell is nothing to Sucram. He is drawn to the orb and feels he must possess it. He easily breaks the spell on the glass and takes the orb forgetting all about the research that had brought him into the restricted area. He rushes home with the orb erasing all evidence of having been in the restricted area. No one will ever know he has ever been there that night.

The orb glows with a brilliant purple light and a center of black. The center looks like a black cloud that is swirling around and takes no shape at all. What Sucram does not know is that the cloud represents the black soul of a dark wizard. The dark wizard, Ralyks Pichart, had been imprisoned in the orb for all his evil deeds. He was to never be released. However, Ralyks could try to control another wizard if that wizard was not aware of what Ralyks was trying to do. Sucram had not been given much experience in the area of dark magic; therefore, he was not prepared to deal with the powerful Ralyks Pichart. Ralyks Pichart now had a wizard to manipulate to do his will.

Over the intervening months the headmaster notices a change in Sucram. One day the headmaster calls Sucram into his office and asks him as a friend and fellow scholar if he stole the missing orb from the library. Sucram lies about it; but the headmaster knows that he is lying. The headmaster prepares a truth serum for Sucram. Ralyks Pichart realizes what the headmaster is trying to do. The next day, Sucram walks into the Headmaster’s office and kills him. Sucram runs off into the woods outside the city. Word of this tragedy reaches Kire and he rushes home to tend to his father’s funeral.

He is told that Sucram killed his father. Kire finds it hard to believe that his friend would do such an evil deed. He is heartbroken for now he has not only lost his father but a life long friend. Sucram must be found so he can explain his actions! As part of his knight training, Kire learned to track and hunt. He goes out to the woods to see if he can find any sign of where Sucram has gone. He is able to track down Sucram. Poor Sucram is a city dweller and scholar not a woodsman. He does nothing to hide his tracks.

 Kire finds Sucram at the edge of a large lake. Sucram seems to be talking to an orb in his hand. Kire thinks that maybe his friend has gone mad - insane. Kire yells at Sucram. Sucram sees Kire and starts to run away. However, being a scholar means he is no match for a trained knight like Kire. Kire easily catches him in a graveyard. He demands an explanation of Sucram’s actions. Sucram faces Kire with the orb in his hand with a blank expression on his face. It appears he has no soul!

Kire grabs a piece of the wrought iron fencing and prepares to attack Sucram. Sucram raises his free hand and there appears to be two people facing Kire. Just then Sucram releases a blast of dark energy knocking Kire flat on his back. As he lands his head hit a rock and just before he goes unconscious he sees black robed hooded figures coming toward him. There is a blast of white light and the robed figures scatter.

Kire awakes in a strange hospital-like place. There is bright light everywhere. Finally, someone realizes Kire is awake and comes over to him. The healer explains that Kire is in the castle where the Order of Light resides. The castle is more like a fortress. They loan Kire a horse so he can return to his home.

 Once home, Kire goes to his father’s grave and kneels down. He swears to his father that he will get to the truth of what happened to Sucram and why he killed Kire’s father. Kire goes to his home to help his mother sort through his father’s belongings. Among his father’s things he finds a vial of truth serum. This had been on the floor by his father’s body. Evidently, his father had planned on using it on Sucram. Another item of interest was his father’s journal. In it he reads of the how Sucram seems to have changed and how his father suspected Sucram of having stolen the dark orb. The last entry states that his father was going to confront Sucram and give him the truth serum. His father planned on helping Sucram get back to his old self. The change in Sucram was leading his father to believe that Sucram was going to the dark side of magic.

Kire goes to the Magic School to look for clues in Sucram’s dorm room. He finds a chest filled with tomes about dark wizards. Most were about one particular dark wizard named Ralyks Pichart. In one of the books, he reads how Ralyks had been imprisoned in the orb. Apparently, his father was one of the wizards who imprisoned him. Ralyks used Sucram to get revenge against Kire’s father. In the same book, he finds his father had once been a member of the Order of Light. They were the ones that imprisoned Ralyks Pichart.

 Kire seeks out his mother to find out more about the Order of Light. She says his father left when they got married. He did not want to endanger her or any child they would have. She tells Kire how to find the Order of Light and gives him his father’s sword. Next day, Kire saddles his horse and leaves to find the Order of Light. He knows he will need their help when facing Sucram again.

A few days later, Kire comes upon the fort of the Order of Light. The next day, he has an audience with the Grand Master, Sebalong. Given who his father was, he allowed him to join the Order. In a very short time Kire was training to become a Paladin.