Jedin pried the Ice Wand form Thainos’ frozen grip. The wand was a straight rod that had the appearance of crystalline metal, and Jedin could feel the power of the wand as soon as he touched it. This wand was different from any that he had ever held; it didn’t simply magnify magic power, but instead it had magic within itself. To Jedin, it seemed that anyone who held this wand could use it to cast powerful spells.

He walked over to a window that had been thawed and looked over the tundra fields surrounding the castle and tried casting a spell using only the power of the wand and none of his own.

“Ebalon.” A huge ball of ice shot from the end of the wand in place of the ball of fire which crashed in the field.

“Well, it is called ‘the Ice Wand,’” said Jedin as he gave the wand to Taren.

“Thank you, Jedin,” said Taren as he took the wand from him and went to the window.

“Ebolon,” said Taren, mispronouncing the spell, and a burst of snow shot from the wand and fell over the castle yard.

“Well that was interesting,” said Jedin. “I’ll have to remember that one.”

Taren gave a chuckle and tried again. This time he produced the beam of ice and drew a line of ice outside the castle wall. Taren gave a nod and a grunt, as if to say that will do, and sheathed the Ice Wand next to his sword.

Taren’s men had taken the entire castle now, and had cleared out or taken prisoner the rest of the rest of the demons. As Jedin looked out the window of the throne room, he could see the soldiers working on cleaning and preparing the castle for human occupation. Jedin wondered how long it would be before the other demons found out that Thainos had fallen, and also where and how Moira had gone.

“Well, I should be off seeing to the affairs of the castle. I will have a room prepared for you,” said Taren.

Jedin and Jerith nodded, then Taren turned and left; Jerith also followed after him. Jedin stayed and went over to where Moira had been. Jedin could feel Moira’s magic and reached out and found what he had already sensed there: the repulsion of a magic barrier had been placed where Moira had been. That will have to be taken care of later, thought Jedin.

He considered the throne room a moment longer before he turned to leave. He walked down the spiraling staircase that wound around the outer wall of the tower, with doors that led to different corridors and rooms. As he passed the occasional arrow slits, he could see that the men of Taren’s army had put the captured demons to repairing the castle walls and gate.

Jedin continued down to the main entrance of the tower. The area was busy with working men moving back and forth with their various tasks, and he continued out the main door.

Outside the tower, the human troops had put to use the smith shops that were in the castle yard, and many of the horses had been put into the stables. Jedin walked around the main tower to find a quiet place to think. However, workers were bustling about all over the castle yard.

He looked up to the top of the tower and raised his hands into the air. “Fellay N’ori!” said Jedin as he rushed up into the air.

The feeling was exhilarating, though he wasn’t actually flying; the spell was for no more than levitation, which it had taken Jedin months to learn to apply to himself. He longed to fly all through the world, but the spell didn’t give him that much control. But it still was a marvelous feeling to rush through the air.

He landed himself on the slightly-domed top of the tower and sat down to look out over the expanse that was called the Ice World. Even with the mild wind up here, it seemed quiet and peaceful. Jedin could see the mountains that they had come through from Dezol. When he turned and looked to the south, he could see some settlements along the coast. Taren’s map had labeled them as ‘Demon Lands,’ but the map had only marked a small area near the gate as ‘Human Coalition Lands.’ He found himself wondering what would become of the demons now that they had lost their demon king. The demons that Jedin had seen seemed to submit to their human captors quite easily, but that was to their own self-interest for the time being.

Jedin was more concerned with Moira. She had seemed to get complete power here all too easily, and exercised an odd power over the demons. He wondered if it had come by The Dark Force. His head was full of questions concerning The Dark Force and Moira’s connection to him. Legends and facts were too hard to separate from the stories that survived since the ancient wars. The Dark Force was said to have ruled physically over the demons, and Moira’s repeated references to him bothered Jedin. After all these years of quiet, could The Dark Force return to a physical form? He asked himself.  Moira, of course, is helping him in some way, but what does she know? What could The Dark Force have told her? All these questions seemed to rush through Jedin’s mind, and it made him sad to think that Moira was held by such a power.

Jedin shook his head in despair. I should be happy that we took Thainos’ Castle, he thought, but all he could think of was Moira. She was out there somewhere, the sister that he had once played games with as a child. The gentle Moira he once knew was now led by the dark and had become arrogant.

The sun was beginning to set now, and Jedin reached and took some of the jerky and crackers that he had packed in a pouch at his belt. He would be glad to have real food, but what he had packed with him would have to do for now.

Jedin looked out and considered the castle and saw where Volerum’s banner had been posted atop the entrance tower to the courtyard. Jedin stood up and jumped as he called out “Fellay N’ori,” and landed himself on the snowy ground below. He then turned and entered the castle tower.

“Sir Mage! Sir Mage!” called a man waving an arm above his head as he made his way through the crowd. Jedin turned to meet him as the man came. “Sir Mage,” repeated the man, “Governor Taren has asked me to show you to your room; he’s been looking for you,” said the man, sounding slightly winded.

“Oh, thank you. Show me the way,” said Jedin.

The man nodded and showed Jedin up the main stairway, and after continuing for some time they turned down a corridor. The halls were dark, and Jedin produced a magic light to illuminate their path. The man that had been guiding Jedin gave a quick jump of surprise then considered the light with amazement and went on. Finally they came to a room that had been marked ‘Mage Quarters.’

“Thank you, again,” said Jedin before turning to enter his room. Once inside, he looked about his room. Jedin’s things had been brought up and sat on a roughly-made table that had one chair beside it. The room had been lit by candles that Jedin put out as he made a magic light that he placed on the table. “No use burning those,” he muttered to himself. He sat on the bed. At least that is soft enough, thought Jedin. He felt tired, having used quite a bit of magic today—more than he ever had—and it had exhausted him.

As he sat relaxing from the day, a knock came at the door. “Enter,” said Jedin, trying to sound awake.

Taren came in. “You disappeared on us for a while. Some of the men say that you flew to the top of the tower,” said Taren in a wondering tone.

Jedin gave a smile. “Well, flew after a fashion,”

“Hmm,” Taren said as he nodded. “I heard you call Moira your sister, and I’ve come to realize that there is much that I do not understand,”

“Moira…” Jedin said as he contemplated everything his sister’s name had come to mean. “I can tell you what I know Taren, but I don’t understand much myself. You see, I am the mage to the Royal Family, and one of Queen Kassadea’s most trusted advisers. I was appointed to this office by my father, the Mage Stoutius, who held the office before me, and I will appoint my successor. Moira and I studied magic together, and were taught by our father, knowing that one of us would follow our father to be the Mage to the Royal Family. Now you must understand that Moira had always been kind and gentle—a warm-hearted sister—but something happened after I was appointed to be the next Mage to the Royal Family. Moira disappeared for several months at that time. Some say that it was over her disappointment at losing the office I had been given, but to me there must be more than that. At any rate, it seems that somehow that is when she allied with The Dark Force. She was only seen again by me just as I found my father dead in his room, and she vanished as I entered. Her magic was present other times both when Queen Kassadea’s parents disappeared, and when the seals on the gates went missing.”

“So that’s when Moira opened the gates and came into this world?” asked Taren.

“Well, some time later. You see, the wand that I carry, the Wand of Inheritance, was linked to the gates somehow, but knowledge of how it worked was lost throughout the centuries. But it seems that Moira relearned it from The Dark Force, and managed to steal the wand from Kassadea at her coronation. Fortunately, after Moira opened the gates, we seized the Wand of Inheritance from her and Kassadea put it in my charge. It seems odd to me, and I don’t comprehend Moira’s motives, or what could entice her to follow The Dark Force. And now all I wonder is, where Moira is and how can she be stopped,” said Jedin mournfully.

“Well her actions indirectly freed my people, but I fear that she may give us a grater war than Thainos ever did,” said Taren with a troubled look on his face. “But thank you, Jedin. I think I understand a bit more than I did before, and if there is anything that can be done for you, let me know.”

“Thank you,” replied Jedin wearily as Taren left the room. Jedin lay back down on the bed thinking, but then drifted into sleep filled with dreams of Moira and a dark presence that was like the one in the wood or his father’s room.