2.12 Men's Rights: Unravelling

All six members of the party watched this catastrophe unfold in absolute horror and complete silence. They were so overcome with shock that none of them dared to speak for an entire minute. The silence was broken only when Esmeralda started crying, followed by Bertie.

“Is… is he… gone?” Thomas asked the group, fearful of even uttering the one word that loomed large in everyone’s mind.

The children wailed even louder.

Valdek felt his throat go dry and his breath grow heavy as the possible consequences of this incident slowly dawned upon him. Despite his own shock and horror, he tried to be brave and console the young ones, but without much success.

Among them, only Thokk remained cheerful. “Why you all cry and afraid?” he asked the group. “Nothing happen. How can Great Mage die? He obviously sleep.”

This brought some level of comfort to the children. The intensity of their sobbing lessened when they remembered that they were not dealing with a normal man, but the Great Mage Kyros Magnus. Obviously, the Great Mage could not be dead. How could such a thing even be possible? It would be as absurd as believing that the sun would not rise or the stars would go out.

Master Stonebottom gathered his courage and walked over to the prostrate body. He turned it over and placed his finger beneath the nostrils. “He is breathing,” the dwarf said and smiled weakly.

The others also breathed sighs of relief, and there were a few nervous smiles here and there. The children’s crying was reduced to a couple of silent sobs here and there.

“What are we going to do?” Valdek asked the group. “Should we take him back?”

Thomas and Master Stonebottom looked at each other.

“I think… it’s best to stay here,” Thomas said. “How will we explain this to Her Majesty or Lady Magnus?”

Master Stonebottom agreed. “Let’s just finish our job. He might wake up by then. It’s not like we need him to catch the thieves.”

Valdek was not sure about this. “But… shouldn’t we get him some medical attention?”

“We should,” Thomas said nervously. “If he was a normal man, we definitely should. But it’s the Great Mage. I am sure he is fine.”

Master Stonebottom nodded. “I agree. He is fine, Valdek. He will wake up. He has to. Let’s just get on with our work.”

Valdek wanted to argue, but seeing how the older men were set on their course, he reluctantly accepted their decision.

Thomas turned to his daughter. “Esmeralda. Esmeralda, honey, listen to me.”

Esmeralda sniffled and looked up at her father. “Dad,” she said.

“Honey, will you and Bertie take care of the Great Mage while we work?”

“Yes… okay, Dad.”

“Honey, it’s going to be alright. Nothing has happened to the Great Mage. He is just sleeping, okay?”

“Yes, Dad. I get it. We will take care of him.”

“And Bertie, my boy, are you okay with that?”

Bertie wiped the tears on his shirt and purposefully nodded his head.

Thomas then looked at the dark elf. “Young Master Valdek, will you please remain with the kids and take care of them and the Great Mage?”

“I… I will, Thomas. Don’t worry about it. You guys can trust me with this.”

Once their new course of action had been decided, everyone went to work, fulfilling their designated duties. Esmeralda, Bertie, and Valdek sat around the Great Mage, waiting for him to wake up. The little girl employed her time by cleaning the mud off the Great Mage’s face and hair. Thomas, Master Stonebottom, and Thokk continued their task of clearing the blockage.

Half an hour passed with the blockage showing no signs of depleting. Thokk, who had been working tirelessly with his pickaxe, suddenly stopped attacking the barrier. He stood silently for a while, staring at the roof of the tunnel.

“Thomas?” he said.

“Yes?”

“I have question.”

“What is it, Thokk?”

“Is mushroom magic?”

“You mean, the one that the Great Mage ate?”

“Yes.”

Thomas stopped shoveling and thought about it for a few seconds. “I… I am not sure,” he said.

Just then Master Stonebottom was returning from one of his bucket trips.

“Master Stonebottom,” Thomas called out to the dwarf. “Is that damn mushroom of yours magic?”

Master Stonebottom was as ignorant of the finer points of magic and biology as his comrades. “Valdek,” he yelled. “My boy, is that mushroom magic?”

The children were sitting so quietly next to the Great Mage’s supine form that Valdek was drifting off to sleep. Another cry of “VALDEK” quickly woke him up.

“Yes… I am awake, I am here, Master Stonebottom,” the dark elf blurted out.

“Is the mushroom magic, Valdek?”

“Yes… yes, I believe so. That light pattern was definitely due to some kind of magical influence. Why do you ask?”

“Thomas, why do you wanna know if the mushroom is magic?” the dwarf yelled back at the veteran.

“I don’t. Thokk, why did you ask me if it was magic?”

“I think, Thomas,” the orc said. “If mushroom magic, why it not cause problem with magic anomaly?”

“Hmm… yeah, why is that?” Thomas wondered. “Master Stonebottom, what do you think?”

Master Stonebottom once again asked his protégé, “Valdek, my boy, what’s going on?”

“Uhh… I think… I wanted to talk to you guys about this,” Valdek mumbled. “But, you know, you were all so happy with digging that I didn’t want to be a nuisance.”

“What are you talking about, boy?”

“Master Stonebottom, I… I don’t think that there is a magical anomaly in here. My magical talent is very limited, but I didn’t sense anything of the sort. If it was strong enough to interfere with communicators like Her Majesty said, I think the Great Mage would have said something about it after we got down here.”

The dwarf thought about this for a second. “What exactly are you saying, Valdek? Are you saying that Her Majesty lied to us?”

“No, no, of course not. I wouldn’t dare make such an accusation. But she did tell the Great Mage not to use any magic, and sent me down here because I could do some magic.”

“Hmm… I see.” Master Stonebottom pondered this contradiction for a while. “Thomas, what’s your opinion on this?”

“It might be a punishment, Master Stonebottom. Thinking back on everything, we did protest in front of the palace.”

“Do you think these thieves are real?” the dwarf asked his drinking buddy. “For the last two hours or so, we have just been doing manual labour.”

“I—”

“You all wasting time,” Thokk interjected. “Great Mage said to work. He said clear blockage. I follow Great Mage order.”

With that final declaration, Thokk ignored his compatriots, lifted his pickaxe, and struck one more blow against the wall before him. Unlike the last few thousand blows, this one did not bury itself in another layer of mud. It encountered no resistance past the first few inches of dirt. When Thokk pulled his instrument back, a bright beam of yellow light burst forth from the small hole in the barrier.