Túrandil the Wizard

Túrandil the Wizard

     I'm here to tell you about a certain wizard named Túrandil (which stands for great friend). For many years Túrandil had been the King's royal counselor and the most powerful wizard in known history (even more powerful than Merlin). He knew all the spells in the known world, could turn anyone into anything. He could move objects and manipulate nature. He looked like your typical wizard; a gray beard, a tall pointed hat, and a robe. But unlike most wizards, he wore green instead of blue or white. Túrandil rode a magic unicorn that he had discovered in the dungeon of a mad wizard. The unicorn's name was Faelvellon. He could run faster than any living horse, jump farther than any deer, climb higher than any mountain goat, and was as smart as a human. I should also mention that Faelvellon could speak.

   
    Túrandil had been in many wars. He had battled dragons, trolls, goblins, sorcerers, sorceresses, wizards gone bad, and many other wicked creatures. It had been a great life. All the fighting he had done had brought on an age of peace. So, he decided he was getting old and it was time for him to retire.

   
    He found a nice cottage hundreds of miles away from the castle and any village or town. His cottage had one bedroom, a small kitchen, a pantry, his library of many hundreds of books (starting at the basics with 'Wizards for Fools' all the way up to advanced, with 'How to Beat Foes and Destroy Enemies, Volumes 1-6'), an observatory, and a laboratory for developing new spells. Outside the cottage he had a pond to swim in, two gardens, a forest, a small pavilion to sit under, and a stable to keep his unicorn in.

    The wizard greatly enjoyed his new, quiet life away from all the responsibilities of helping to run a kingdom. He would get up at sunrise each morning and have his breakfast of poached eggs, toast and bacon while listening to the days news from a local eagle who came each morning. After that he would head out to the stable to feed Faelvellon. For the afternoon Túrandil would eat lunch, ride his unicorn, do lots of reading, and go for a swim. In the evening after supper, Túrandil spent time in his laboratory practicing spells and concocting new potions. Sometimes he would entertain guests from nearby, and old friends on occasion. This went on just fine for fifteen years, but then it began to get old and boring. The wizard found himself longing for adventure.

    His great longing for adventure was soon cured in a bigger way than he could ever have anticipated. One day Túrandil was working in his garden when he heard someone riding quickly towards the cottage. He was greatly surprised to see his closest friend brondirith, from the kingdom: the captain of the Royal Guard! The captain was very tall with broad shoulders, golden hair and a long beard. He was the most renowned of all the King's soldiers, and had been a part of every battle that Túrandil had been in. The two had spent nearly all of their spare time together.

    After a very warm exchange of greetings, Túrandil asked why Brondirith had come hundreds of miles to see him. At this question Brondirith's face became very grim and old looking. Túrandil asked, “What troubles you dear friend?”

    Brondirith replied, “Very grim news. It will take much time to tell you my tale.”

    Túrandil said, “Let us go inside and have food and drink while you speak.”

    When Túrandil had set the table and prepared the herb soup, biscuits, and jam, the two friends sat down. Then Brondirith began his story. “As you know”, he began, “The King's son, was reigning over the Kingdom after his father's death fifteen years ago, when you left. Well, everything went quite nicely for the next twelve years, and then things changed for the worse.”

    “What happened?” Túrandil asked with concern on his face.

    “It so happened”, Brondirith continued, “that small bands of archers and horsed riders, both wearing red clothing, started attacking small villages throughout the Kingdom without warning. When word reached the King of what was going on, he sent a group of three knights and ten hardy archers to find out what these troublemakers were after and put a stop to it.”

    “The group searched for an entire week before coming across the troublemakers. As they were riding near a small village, a loud scream came from one of the houses. When they went to see what it was, they came upon a group of archers and men with swords, ransacking a house. The head knight yelled out to the men to stop, but at the sound of his voice, they started coming to attack him. A battle ensued and the troublemakers were defeated.”

    “Only one survived, and all he would say was, 'I was sent by my master, Lord Baingalad. He is very powerful.' They took him with them back towards the castle, but just as they had nearly reached it, he got free and ran off. He ran into a nearby forest and could not be found.”

    “A month passed after the man had disappeared, and then rumor was brought to the King that a small army of seventy-five soldiers dressed in red was attacking nearby villages and killing many people. This greatly worried the King, so he sent an army of two-hundred men to fight the enemy soldiers. The captain of the King's army expected an easy battle but he was very wrong. The enemy army had strange weapons; curved swords that shot fire, large rounded blades, shields with sharp edges, and long poles with an unnatural (magic) fire on the ends that scorched anyone it touched. Despite the intimidating weapons of the enemy, the King's army wasn't afraid and came on them in full force. This was a grave mistake as they found out quickly that their enemy was extremely powerful. The battle was over in mere minutes, with the King's army almost completely destroyed.”
 

    “When the battle was over, there were only two of the King's soldiers left; one knight and one archer. They both made it back to the castle and reported the awful news the the King who was very distraught about it. He decided to send scouts to find where the enemy soldiers were coming from. It took them a very long time to locate the enemy's castle. One day nearly six months later, the most renowned scout returned with very frightening details. He told the King and his royal advisers that he had heard rumors of soldiers in the east. So, he traveled that way for three-hundred miles before finding anything. What he found was a large valley with many guard towers and an enormous castle right in the middle, the biggest he'd ever seen. He also saw lots of smoke, and worst of all thousands upon thousands of soldiers dressed in red. He said the soldiers weren't all men either. There were trolls, minotaurs, and ogres too!”
 

    “After the King heard this, he said, 'We must prepare for war!'”

    “Soon after, preparations began. Weapons were gathered, food was prepared, armor was made, and strategy was planned. Nearly everything was done and they were planning to leave three days later. But the very next night an odd light began to glow in the east and the faint beat of drums could be heard. Early the next morning someone rode up quickly to the castle and was hurriedly brought before the King. The man told the King that a massive army was coming from the east at great speed, destroying everything in its path. He said they would reach the castle in the next hour! The Kings eyes grew big and he said to me, 'Hurry! There is little time! Prepare to protect the castle!'”
 

    “Horns began blowing wildly as the army was summoned, and the call, 'To Arms! To arms! The enemy approaches!' was heard. Thirty thousand men scrambled to prepare for the attack, putting on armor, grabbing weapons, grabbing shields, and jumping on horses, faster then ever before. Within the hour the soldiers were in their places, the battlements were manned, the catapults were loaded and the drawbridge raised. They were all ready, or so they thought.”
 

    “Over the hill marched the biggest army any of us had ever seen. With well over seventy thousand men and evil creatures dressed in red, and a wizened old man wearing a glimmering robe with a staff, walking in front. They came just out of firing range and stopped, at the old man's command. The old man then spoke in very loud voice that all could hear. 'I am Lord Baingalad! Over many years, I have been building up my forces to help me conquer these lands and become the supreme ruler. I am very powerful and will surely destroy all of you, but if you surrender now, I will spare your lives.'”
 

    “With me being captain of the guard I felt it was my duty to reply, and reply I did. I stepped forward and yelled, 'We will not bow before a madman, who we have never heard of! We will fight for our King!'”

 
    “Lord Baingalad angrily replied, 'You have chosen foolishly!' He then held his staff up and a red glow emitted from it, then a blinding flash came and the battlements were totally destroyed. On came the enemy. It was like the tide of the ocean. They kept coming and coming. We had no chance. They slaughtered everyone but me and five others who are now in hiding. Lord Baingalad and his army captured the castle and imprisoned the King.”

 
    “That was two years ago. Since then, Lord Baingalad has had the castle enlarged and has added many evil things to it. His army has grown in size and he has enslaved all the people of the Kingdom. The four I mentioned and I, who are Naurél, (the wizard who had been trained by Túrandil and was quite powerful), Arthol, (the knight who saved Túrandil's life many times and was the King's best knight), Hanor, (the swordsman who was the best in the Kingdom with a sword), and Míreth, the archer who was the greatest marksman ever born, (It was rumored she could shoot a human hair from one-hundred yards blindfolded), went into hiding. I wished to come to you for help, but I had to wait for a good opportunity to leave, since the land is guarded so tightly. My chance came three weeks ago when there was an eclipse of the moon, which caused extreme darkness throughout the land. Now I ask for your help. Our need is desperate.”
 

    When brondirith had finished his story, Túrandil was sitting in his chair with tears falling down his cheeks. He composed himself and said, “My beloved kingdom is in great distress. I must fight to bring peace again and save the King. This madman will fall by my own hand. We will leave in one week, for you to rest and me to prepare for battle.”
 

    Over the next week, the two friends spent many happy hours talking about old times and planning their strategy for the coming war. When they weren't spending time together, Túrandil was working on re-memorizing his spells and getting his body into better shape, for the war he was about to finish. Túrandil also got out some of his old things from his days as the King's adviser. His sword called “Aglarefnor”(which means glorious flame), which was nearly unbreakable and was also a magic blade, his magic staff that was inlaid with priceless gems, powerful magic potions Túrandil had made, and his best magic book that had spells for battle.
 

    When the week ended the two friends set out for the Kingdom, Túrandil on his unicorn and Brondirith on his white horse. It was close to two hundred miles from the cottage to the Kingdom. So the plan was to ride at full speed during the day until they were within twenty miles of the castle, then ride quietly at night to avoid being seen. It took them twelve days to get that far, and then they went on for three more days until they were near where the others were hiding (which was deep in enemy territory) . Being nearly three miles away it would be almost impossible to make it there without getting caught, but to brondirith's amazement, Túrandil held up his staff and a great darkness covered the moon. The darkness allowed them to reach the hiding place without being detected at all.
 

    The hiding place was in a hidden valley in an old oak tree that was hollowed out some with a tunnel underneath, leading to an underground cellar full of food for times of great distress. The two friends left their horses in the valley and climbed down through the tree tunnel and into the cellar, much to the delight of the four friends hiding there. Tears of joy were had by all and many warm greetings were exchanged. When the pleasantries were done with, it was time for business.
 

     Starting the very next day, the group began planning their attack. It was very hard to come up with a way to fight eighty thousand enemy soldiers, but after much thought, Túrandil came up with an impressive idea that would take him and Naurél to pull off. There was a spell in Túrandil's book, the most powerful spell he had ever heard of. It was to summon the greatest dragon in existence. The dragon was called Agirik and he was ninety feet from head to tail, had impenetrable armor, could speak, and could breath fire. It was said Agirik could be summoned once every one-hundred years, but only in time of great need.

 
    The two wizards began casting the spell together, and suddenly, in the sky above their heads, the clouds began to swirl and turn red. Then, a huge dragon came down and landed next to them! Túrandil and Naurél stood in wonder, staring at the magnificent creature they had called forth from the ends of the earth. Agirik was even more amazing than they had ever imagined. He was red and gold, with razor sharp claws and hundreds of jagged teeth. The dragon looked at Túrandil and said, “Why have you summoned me? What is your plight?” Then Túrandil explained everything to Agirik. The dragon then said, “I will help to bring peace to this Kingdom, but when this task is complete, I must depart.” It was decided that Agirik would fight the main enemy army and Túrandil, Brondirith, Naurél, Arthol, Hanor, Míreth would fight Lord Baingalad at the same time.
 

     Early the next morning the friends set out for the castle, with Agirik flying overhead. Upon reaching sight of the castle gate, Túrandil sent a blast of fire from his staff that destroyed the gate completely. As soon as the gate was blown away, the dragon flew over the wall and began destroying enemy buildings and attacking soldiers. While the dragon was attacking soldiers, the five friends went to the castle to fight Lord Baingalad and whoever or whatever was guarding him. Right inside the courtyard, there were twenty swordsmen with strange curved swords guarding the main castle door. When they saw the five friends enter, they ran with drawn swords to attack. Weapons clashed! The battle was fierce! After the fighting stopped, all five friends rested near their slain enemies, catching their breath. The next step was to reach the throne room, but that would be a hard task, considering that the castle had many elite soldiers inside. Túrandil had a plan. He would cast a temporary invisibility spell on himself, and find Lord Baingalad by himself, while his four friends fought the enemy soldiers.
 

    Túrandil disappeared, and was off for the throne room as his friends began their attack. When he entered the throne room, he was disgusted with what Lord Baingalad had done to it. All the beautiful artwork was marred, and the carved statues were broken in pieces, laying all over the floor. In place of the statues were hideous carved monsters and all sorts of strange weapons hanging on the walls. The walls had all been painted black with many star constellations, which strangely glowed as if they were real.
 

    Lord Baingalad was sitting on the throne. A large minotaur was standing beside him holding a large battle ax. There was also a knight in gold armor with a glowing red sword, standing in front of Lord Baingalad. They both came at Túrandil, who had drawn his sword which glowed with a blue light. Túrandil looked like an old man, but didn't fight like an old man. He was very quick, dodging blows left and right. He blocked a blow from the minotaur and spun behind him while cutting him down. Then in the next minute, a bright flash came from his sword, and he struck the knight, slashing clean through his armor and killing him instantly. Now it was time to face Lord Baingalad. As Túrandil approached him, Lord Baingalad looked towards him and said, “Who are you that you dare come before me! And without invitation!”
 

    Túrandil replied, “My name is Túrandil. I was the King's royal adviser for many years and helped bring peace to these lands. You have disrupted this peace and hold my new King in the dungeon. You have enslaved his people. It is time for you to pay for your reign of terror! I challenge you to a personal battle!”

Lord Baingalad began laughing an evil laugh and said, “I will grant your request, fool of all fools, but you must know, I am the greatest sorcerer the world has ever known!”
 

    Túrandil scoffed, “You are the most insane sorcerer the world has ever known. And you will be destroyed!”
 

    Lord Baingalad stood up from the throne and pulled out a curved sword that glowed red. “The time has come!” he cried. Both men's swords clashed together, sending colored sparks flying all around them. The battle had begun. The swordsmanship of these two was unmatched by any other fighter. Each stroke was matched by the other: Parry! Thrust! Parry! Thrust! Spin! Dodge! To any observer, it would seem like these were young men with unlimited energy, fighting each other. The sword fight continued on through the throne room for quite some time, and after a very hard swipe from Túrandil's blade, Lord Baingalad grabbed his staff and sent a huge blast of energy from it. Túrandil quickly jumped out of the way as the blast came. It blew a gaping hole in the wall that led out to the front of the castle. Lord Baingalad began firing again. Túrandil ran through the hole to avoid getting hit and to keep the castle from being destroyed. Right behind him came the sorcerer, laughing and shouting, “Where have you run to, weakling?”
 

    When he came out, Túrandil was waiting for him with his staff in his hand. He looked at Lord Baingalad and said, “In the battle of blades we are even, but now it is time to compare our skills in magic.”

Túrandil held up his staff and dark clouds quickly formed in the sky. Hail came right for Lord Baingalad's head, but he sent a blast of fire to meet it and it melted on contact.
 

    Túrandil's next attack was to send streaks of lighting right at his foe, but Lord Baingalad caused the ground to come over him, blocking the deadly shock. When Lord Baingalad cast the ground away, he called up a huge tornado, which went directly for Túrandil. In defense, Túrandil summoned a mighty arctic wind to blow the tornado into nothingness.
 

    Now Lord Baingalad was angry and roared, “You have not even tasted my full power!” At that he held his staff up and the clouds cleared and the sky turned red. A loud distant sound resounded from above, and a huge comet came hurtling down towards our hero. Túrandil gave a gasp and quickly began a powerful spell. He planted his staff into the ground, and immediately, a golden light shot up out of it straight into the comet, totally destroying it in a dazzling explosion. Lord Baingalad was exasperated and let out a scream of, “Noooo! Curse your magic! I am not through, yet!” Just as he finished speaking, Túrandil's friends and the King himself showed up to watch the great battle, having taken the castle.
 

    The next thing that happened greatly surprised the evil sorcerer. One of the only red soldiers that remained alive ran up to his master and bowed before him, not daring to look up at him. He then cried, “My Lord the castle has been taken.” Lord Baingalad's jaw dropped and he struck the soldier down with his sword. It was time for him to unleash his full fury and power on his hated rival. Ruling his own land, or ruling the kingdom didn't matter any more. His only desire was to kill Túrandil!
 

    Lord Baingalad picked up his staff and began to wave it in the air. After a few seconds, a green light began to surround him and he grew in height to at least double his normal size. His staff turned into what looked like a flaming ax made of living fire.
 

    Túrandil had never seen the like of it. He knew he needed help to defeat the evil sorcerer. So he called for his unicorn, Faelvellon, who came soon after his master whistled for him. Upon Faelvellon's arrival, Túrandil climbed on him and had him run a good distance from Lord Baingalad.
 

    Túrandil spoke to his unicorn and said, “We must work together and combine our power to take down Lord Baingalad.”
 

    Faelvellon replied, “I will do as you desire my master.”
 

    Túrandil said, “I want you to run towards the sorcerer as fast as you can and I will take care of the rest.” Túrandil pulled out his sword with one hand and held his staff in the other. As his unicorn put his head up, a white light came from his horn and covered his whole body, making him hard to look on. Túrandil's blade glowed with blue fire, and the wizard began glowing the green of his clothing. Then he leaned his head towards Faelvellon's ear and shouted, “Run!” The unicorn began to run. As he was running, Túrandil shouted a spell. Suddenly they were going so fast, everyone who watched could only see a white and green blur flying towards the enemy. Just before they reached him, lightning came from the sword as Túrandil held it up, and then the wizard struck with all his might, cutting Lord Baingalad down where he stood. There was an earth-shattering scream from the evil sorcerer. His body disintegrated, and a whirlwind of red fire and smoke went immediately into the sky.
 

    Túrandil's friends came running to him from where they were watching, cheering and congratulating him on his hard fought victory over Lord Baingalad. The wizard enjoyed all the praise, but was more pleased that his friends and the King were still alive and unhurt. The King had not followed the four to meet Túrandil, so the wizard approached him, bowed down, and said, “Seeing you alive brings me overwhelming joy, my King. When I heard your Kingdom had been overthrown and you had been captured, I knew I must come to your aid.”
 

    The King put his hand on Túrandil's shoulder and declared, “Today you have done the work of an entire army. Most powerful of wizards, I owe you my life.”
 

     As the King finished speaking, Agirik, the dragon, landed beside them and said, “I have completed my task in helping to bring peace to this fair Kingdom. Now I must return to my resting place at the ends of the world for the next one-hundred years, until I'm needed again. Farewell, and may you all and this Kingdom prosper!” With that the dragon flew away and was gone.
 

    Starting the very next day, all the Kings subjects were freed from slavery. Repairs were started on the castle and any remaining enemy soldiers were rounded up and given the option to serve the King or be imprisoned. A group of the few remaining soldiers (about fifty), Túrandil, and his friends searched out Lord Baingalad's castle, killed all the guards and what little remained of his army, and captured the castle. The castle had many interesting things in it, such as a map of the entire region, battle plans for taking the King's castle, hundreds of spell books, many exotic potions, a journal that gave great insight into why Lord Baingalad had become so evil, many notes describing his future plans, and many diagrams for making weapons. Túrandil made the decision to gather as many useful items as possible, and to destroy the evil castle.
 

     After spending three days taking things from the castle, Túrandil and Naurél both stood at the entrance of the dark valley and cast a mighty spell of destruction, which sent fire down from the sky totally demolishing the castle. Not one stone remained. The small army and the five friends returned home with all the amazing things they'd gathered from Lord Baingalad's castle and the good news that no enemy remained.
 

    As for our heroes, they were all honored at a special ceremony that everyone in the entire kingdom attended. There was even a royal holiday set aside for them, that was celebrated each year on the day of the battle. Statues were made and placed inside the castle courtyard to commemorate them. Túrandil re-retired but was given a cottage within the Kingdom to make sure nothing else would disrupt it again, and was a part time adviser to the King. (the other wizard) was given Túrandil's old job as the royal advisor. Brondirith was named general of the royal army, but he requested to remain at his post as captian of the guard. The wizards three other friends were put on the King's council. Soon after, the Kingdom was restored to its former beauty and everything was back to normal. Peace had been restored just as Túrandil had promised.