Times of Darkness

A Good Time
The party was good, the band played well, the food tasted superb, the company (especially the girl Zed had his lips on) was fantastic. Richard sure knew how to throw a party. Richard, more commonly known as Prince Zhad, was the son of the ruler of Asargnia. Zed had first met him in his teens; he was a promising wizard, son of the great Zedicus Azúll, the greatest wizard of all time. Zed cared little for his father, and hated being named after him. Zedicus and his son had fallen out after he had tried to forbid his son from joining the Zhad family as court mage.

They had had a heated discussion, and Zedicus had hit his son-who fled the home, never to return. Zedicus hated the Zhad family. He and Richard's father had been friends, just as their sons had been. But, they, too, had fallen out. Zedicus wasn't great at keeping friends. Wise wizards rarely are. Zed, however, was not a wise wizard. He was young, clever, brilliant-a genius!-but not wise. He would become wise, in age. But this was yet to come. Zed turned from his passionate kiss from this lovely concubine as his friend tapped his shoulder. "Come, friend" he said, gravely. "I have news that must be told"

The two left the laughter and conversation of the palace ballroom to the quiet solitude of the balcony. It overlooked the palace gardens, which looked stunning at midnight. They were well tended to, and full of life: creatures, both great and small, dangerous and timid, fast and slow, wise and stupid, ugly and beautiful, magical and not-so-magical, all were making their last sounds as they settled to sleep in their fine home, literally fit for a king. Vines crept meters up the wall, and wrapped round the banistars of the stone railing that Richard took himself to lean upon. His serious face looked so heroic with his back to the night.

"Well friend, what it is that troubles you?" said Zed, quite loudly.

Richard put a finger to his lips: "I think we are in danger. My father has had an attempt on his life!"

Zed gasped in shock. "But the guard-"

Richard interrupted: "A man attacked my father, and said he would kill him if he did not tell him the whereabouts of Zedicus Haranda Azúll"

Zed looked dark at the mention of his father. "So my father is in danger?

Richard shook his head. "My father told him where your father lived, and the attacker proclaimed 'No, the other one!'. My father, always the coward, told him about tonight, but sent his quickest messenger to warn us"

Zed relaxed. "The palace is well guarded. We may sleep easy!"

Richard shook his head quickly. "My father's elite guard failed, and my father knows why! He sent his maid to the kitchen to get some bread. She was gone a full ten minutes, while the attacker broke in and spoke to my father. When she came back in, the man had gone. He asked her what had took so long, and she was so confused. She thought she had only been a minute. And the guard had neither seen or heard of this mysterious intruder"

Zed looked, perplexed. "And? What do you make of it?"

Richard looked him in the eye. "This attacker, intruder, whatever you may wish to call him. He can.....control time".

Zed laughed. "You may be no wizard, but surely you know no spell can control time!"

Richard looked sadly at Zed, disappointed that his friend did not like his idea. "Do you know of any other ways our man could have gone in or out?"

"I know several" claimed Zed, arrogance heavy in his voice. Anyone who disagreed with Zed had better be prepared to be proven wrong. He launched into an explanation of several ways which it could be done: The guards could be taken out and have their memories altered later, or they could have been bribed or blackmailed, or even threatened. Or maybe he killed them and magically disguised his own soldiers as them, and the king was in the enemies hands as they spoke. The nursemaid could be lying so as not to be fired, she could be charmed, she could be stupid. Zed took a full 10 minutes fully exploring every possibility, and then asked his friend (condescendingly, of course) whether or not he had any more theories that Zed could disprove. However, he received no reply.

"Richard? Richard?" His friend was completely immobile, and soundless. He was like...a statue.

Time On Our Hands
The noise of the party had died during Zed's speech, as had the jungle chorus. Everything was completely still, completely silent. The stars didn't twinkle, they were just frozen in the sky.

"Listen to your friend's counsel, boy"

Zed spun to the voice. An elderly man with a hooked nose and high cheek bones, mouth curled in a sneer. He wore deep black robes. In his hand there was a staff. An hourglass garnished the top. It was glowing, the stream of sand froze in falling. He came at Zed, staff raised high over his head. He brought it down hard, but Zed caught it and twisted the staff from his old hands.

Zed knew the staff was the source of the power to control time, so he tossed it over the railing. And then the old man became a blur, snatching the staff before it fell and bringing it down upon Zed's head. It hit him like a thunder bolt. Zed flew across the balcony, through the glass door. He staggered to his feet and threw a ball of flame, but the man blurred past as the flame shot through the doors.

Zed focused on the man, and tried to compact all the moisture in the room and outside into one space, radically dropping the temperature and freezing the spot in a matter of moments. The only problem was, the man wasn't there any more. The staff caught Zed in the back, and he tried to force the man back with a magic pulse, but he blurred out of the way, and the pulse caught the party guests.

For the first time, Zed saw the frozen party. They were all so happy looking, having a great time, oblivious to the fight around them. Some of the guests at the far end of the room looked surprised, as if the people near the doors had froze a split-second before they did.

The Man swung the staff into Zed's stomach, and when he buckled over, caught him in the face with his foot. Zed rolled back and concentrated. The energy from his mind flowed to his fingertips, and he released it like lightning. It arced through the air, straight for the man. He didn't move a muscle as the lightning hit him.

But then it didn't, it went straight through him. Zed froze, confused.

"What?"

Then man laughed a long, hallow laugh.

"One of my many tricks. I'm not really here. I'm last night. You see, I exist, right now, in the same place, but earlier. I'm not here. The lightning can't hit me, because it's only my persona that is here. My existence has gone back in time. I'm not here"

He disappeared. Zed jumped when he heard the voice behind him. "I'm here" he swung the staff into the back of Zed's knees, and he buckled. The man swung at Zed's head, but he grabbed the staff.

"Estructor!" he screamed, and the staff cracked, splintered, and disintegrated. That very second, the party jumped back to life. The music kick-started, the conversation flickered on. Zed rose and caught the man in the face with his elbow. The party gasped. Richard ran through the doors.

Zed grabbed the old man's arm.

"Richard! It's him, look at the staff, he's using it to control time. It's broken now"

The old man started yelling.

"You have to die! If you don't die, it will all fall apart! Reality will become weak, the circle of the black mage will take advantage! You must die! You must die!"

He drew a knife from inside his cloak, and slashed at Zed. The wizard ducked under the knife blow, and prepared a wizard's web, a paralytic hex.

"The world with you in it isn't worth living in" said the man, and he slit his own throat. Blood slid down his neck, and he fell to the floor.

Richard ran to his friend. "What just happened?"

"I don't know. But I know where to go to find out"

Zed ran from the room, Richard at his heels. They walked along a corridor, briskly.

"What are you doing?"

"He said circle of the black mage. I'm going to see them, see what's up"

"Where are they"

"Varrock"