Some two days later, Zelnard and Jabar were in class when they smelt that familiar, unpleasant smell wafting through the doorway. Two minutes later....Dunstor entered the room, his face a mask of barely-contained rage. As he handed a note to the mages' teacher he glanced at Z and Jabs and smiled riley. Yet ..the instructor for sums was good with numbers but terrible with social interactions, after reading the note, shrugged and left the room.

"To the front gate it seems I must go boys, I have a messenger there waiting for me,” the teacher said before leaving. “Oh Dunstor, will you please watch the boys till I return?”

“Great Mage...Certainly,” Dunstor replied, his voice oily and insincere.

Exchanging uneasy glances Zelnard and Jabar whispered, “do you think he knows?”.

“Tho' I’m sure everyone knows by now, I still have hope," Zelnard sighed, trying to steady his nerves.

Heated Dunstor strode to the front of the class, relishing the control he now had. “Everyone of you have become very good at water magic,” he said, his voice dripping with condescension. “Reliable sources tell me that some of you might even pass your early exams this year and move on to the second level. And let me remind you, I have powers too, and I need to practise them to make sure they’re still working. Now, you, what’s your name?” , he said as he pointed at Jabar.

“Don't be daft, Dunstor, you know his name. You can stop messing about,” Zelnard said, unable to keep quiet.

“Oh, not you, Zelly belly. Uppity little mages will get theirs soon enough. What's the little one next to you called? I think you should stand up, Jabber baby.”

Longingly Jabar looked at Zelnard, fear flickering in his eyes. “Loser knows for sure,” Jabar whispered as he stood up, reluctantly.

“By the way, my specialty is fire, and I need to see if I can still call a flame to do my bidding,” Dunstor continued, a sadistic grin spreading across his face.

“Enough.....you leave him out of this, Dunstor,” Zelnard said forcefully, his fists clenched.

“So strange...leave him out of what, Zelly? To me it’s just practice, after all,” Dunstor sneered. Rolling his wrists and with a flick of his hands, he sent a swirling flame of blue and yellow around the room. Ominously, it circled Jabar like a tornado, the heat so intense that it singed the edges of his hair. Now fully encircled by fire Jabar cried out, his voice full of panic..... “Z!”

Gravely, the flames licked at Jabar’s body like a ravenous beast, the heat unbearable, like a dog’s tongue, flame unwelcomely entering his nose, his ears and slipping into his shoes. Elaborately, Jabar twisted and turned, trying to escape the fiery assault, but there was no end in sight. Removing he laces, Zelnard grabbed his boot and hurled it at Dunstor, aiming for his smug face.

Just then, Dunstor saw the shoe coming and instinctively redirected his attention to it, snapping the flames away from Jabar and towards the incoming shoe. A flash of heat swallowed the boot in midair, reducing it to smoking ash before it could strike the ground.

Barely a moment later, the mage teacher walked back into the room, his eyes scanning the air thick with smoke and tension thou he chose to ignore it or was so typical he didn't understand it saying ,.."some sort of mistake Dunstor.. nobody at the front gate at all.

After a brief pause, Dunstor frowned and said, ““I’m sorry, sir. I’ll go find out what was going on,” Dunstor said, his voice losing its earlier edge as he quickly left the room, the stench of his earlier humiliation still following him.

Rattled, Jabar slumped back into his seat as soon as "Dumbstorm" was gone, his hands trembling as he wiped his face.................................

 “He’s not going to stop, Z.” Zelnard sat down beside him, his anger slowly dissipating. “Small victories, Jabs. Small victories, that’s all we have.”

And though it didn’t feel like much, they both knew that as long as they stuck together, they could handle whatever Dunstor...and the world...threw at them.

What was the message for Jabar? Write it in Thy Quests to continue.

E10 Q6 The Unexpected Journey