THE MAGICAL CHALISE

Screams and yells filled the marketplace as Ralph's carriage ran towards the small boy who sat playing with a coin on the road.

"Leave me... let me go! My baby!!!" The little boy's mother cried in panic.

The crowd understood how scared she was, but they could not let her dive right in front of the running carriage. They only prayed and hoped for a miracle to happen.

But that possibility narrowed down with every passing moment as the carriage shortened the distance between it and the little boy.

By the time Ralph's coachman caught on to people's yells and the loud noises, it was too late for him to slow down the fast-running carriage. He pulled the reigns, but the fast running beast did not slow down as he had expected.

The coachman and the other man's eyes widened in shock as they began screaming for someone to save the child. Ralph, who sat inside the carriage leisurely, heard the yells and shouted over the noise.

"What is going on?"

But he received no response as the coachman's hands literally shook in fright.

The man beside him and many amongst the crowd shut their eyes tightly in an attempt to avoid witnessing the horror.

The gut-wrenching scream of the mother twisted every heart in pain as the carriage ran just a few feet away from the child.

And then a miracle happened.

A man ran, cutting through the crowd. He picked up the child just in time and leapt to the other side of the road. He had a hard landing on his back, and the speed caused his body to roll for some distance.

But he was careful to cover the child's head with his one hand, which took the impact when he fell and his other hand held the child securely close to his chest.

The dust flew in the air, creating thick clouds that made it hard to see clearly.

The carriage screeched to halt as the horse neighed loudly, raising its legs in the air. The coachman and the man beside him seemed like they would faint any moment.

When the clouds of dust finally settled down, people dared to open their eyes to see a young man on the dusty ground. His clothes were matted with dust. The sleeves of his shirt were torn, giving glimpses of the scratches on his tan skin.

The woman finally broke from the restraints and ran to that man.

"My baby!!!"

She cried before that golden brown-haired man who looked up at her first and then pushed himself to sit.

He opened the cacoon he had created with his hands slowly to reveal the crying little boy, unscathed and safe!

Every person in the crowd sighed in relief and smiled in happiness. The boy was safe.

"Mummaaa..." he cried, and as soon as the man loosened his grip on him, he ran to his mother and found comfort in her arms.

The woman cried, not caring about the watching crowd as she hugged her flesh close to her chest tightly and began peppering him with kisses.

"I am sorry... I am sorry... I am sorry..." She kept chanting it in between every kiss as she blamed herself for not paying attention to her child.

When the man turned around and stood up, someone from the crowd recognised him.

"Gerald Livingstone?"

Gerald was furious, to say the least. Not wasting another moment, he marched towards the carriage and standing right beside the coachman, he grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down from the carriage harshly.

People gasped and stepped backwards as soon as the coachman landed on the ground by Gerald's pull. They looked at each other in a dilemma, because they all knew who was the owner of that carriage.

If it was someone else, then the crowd would have beat the shit out of the coachman by now, but who would dare to mess with the Longhurst?

Certainly, Gerald was the only idiot to do that!

"You piece of shit!" Gerald roared and landed a good punch at the coachman's face, tearing his lower lip to bleed.

"Hey... you!"

The other man jumped down and ran for the coachman's aid. But when Gerald landed another punch on the coachman, he screeched to a halt before gulping in nervousness.

When Gerald turned to meet his eyes after hearing him, the man put up a bravado face.

"How dare you hit him?! Do you know whose carriage is this!"

Leaving the coachman to whine on the ground, Gerald went for the other man and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"I do not care who the bloody hell owns this carriage! Would he have compensated for an innocent life if something bad had happened, huh?

Are you two blind or deaf to not hearing or seeing around? Every person here was screaming at you to stop. A child could have been crushed under this freaking carriage because of your stupidity.

How your master would have faced that mother? How he would have taken a penance for the sin of killing her innocent child? Tell me, you fucking tard!"

Every person present in the crowd agreed with what Gerald said, but no one dared to vocally support him in fear of Lord Ralph Longhurst.

Ralph was hearing the commotion happening outside, sitting comfortably in the carriage. He clenched his fists, hearing how a poor roadside scum was confronting his men and was disrespecting him.

But he also knew that he could not step down the carriage, especially between this crowd of peasants. The situation might take a wrong turn if he did that, so he sat patiently inside waiting for all this drama to end.

"You will regret it! I am telling you that. My Lord will teach you a lesson, you beggar. He will- ummmffff!"

The man could not finish his line as a hard blow from Gerald aimed at his guts.

"What will he do huh? Is he inside that carriage, is he?" Gerald was enraged by now.

He pushed the man to the ground and marched towards the carriage with flaring nostrils and reddened eyes. He would teach that rich bastard a lesson today! He had resolved it!

"Get out of the carriage! You bastard! Come out and show me what you can do! Do you think we poor people are weak and powerless?

Let me show you what we can do! Come out, or I will break this bloody ride of yours!" Gerald yelled, moving his hands passionately.

The veins in his neck popped out, changing the direction of the rivulets of sweat running down his face and neck.

"Come on! Show me... let's see who will win. Come on!"

"Gerald! Gerald!!!"

Parting the crowd aside, Isabella and Oscar ran to him.

"Gerald! What the hell are you doing?! Stop it!" Oscar chided him in a stern voice.

"What are you saying? Did not you see what would have happened if I was not that quick to save that boy?! He could have got killed, Oscar!" Gerald gave an incredulous look to his friend as if he had lost his mind and sense of justice.

"I know Gerald! But you have done enough damage now. Let's go!" Oscar held Gerald's hand and tugged at it.

Although Isabella was tempted to support Gerald and even take a couple of blows at those sick men, she knew who was exactly sitting inside the carriage.

Gerald pulled his hand out of Oscar's and thundered. "I am not going to leave it like this. He is answerable to that mother. He must come out and apologise right now!" Gerald declared stubbornly.

He noticed how the previously silent crowd now erupted in hushed whispers.

"Gerald please! We will discuss it later but first let's get out of here!" Isabella tried.

But Gerald was determined and not ready to pay any hid to his friends' arguments.

He was about to drag the man sitting inside the carriage out and make him apologise to that mother but stopped when she called him.

He turned towards her as she carried her boy in her hands.

"Thank you so much for saving my baby! I... I can never repay your favour in this lifetime!! But please... let them go. I do not want anyone's apology. I have got my baby safely that is all that really matters to me. Please let them go!"

She said with teary eyes.

Gerald was in dilemma. He wanted to beat the shit out of that coachman, but then... he decided to let them go.

Ralph's other man helped the coachman to get back on his feet. They both glared in Gerald's way before taking the carriage out of there.

Gerald stared at the running carriage for a long minute before he heard Isabella's unimpressive voice.

"You do not have any idea of who was inside that carriage, do you?" She raised her brow, placing her hands on her hips in an act of intimidation, which did not really work on Gerald.

He only shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"He was Lord Ralph Longhurst, Gerald!"

Gerald blinked twice, making sure that he had heard right. "Ralph Longhurst? You mean the one that lives in that mansion?" He pointed at the mansion sitting on the top of a hill.

"Exactly!"

Gerald did not say another word after that, but he kept glancing at that mansion. He had once dreamed of making a similar one for himself. But when he realised the true face of the world and the bitter truth, that he would then probably need to live alone in that enormous building, the idea did not sound much appealing.

*

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*

In Malvadogar, Reznor was busy with a team of a handful of witches and wizards he had chosen to work with him on that special thing. He was trying to make a weapon, a power that was unmatchable, unbeatable, indestructive and the strongest that this world had ever seen.

That weapon's creation meant a lot to not only Reznor but to every member of malvadogar because, that would give them the recognition, the power, and the authority they all deserved.

Sylvia was his best bet in this creation as her mind was a treasure of immense knowledge of all sorts.

They were in Reznor's place in an underground chamber where no one was allowed to step except this group of seven people. Even Blake was also not part of that group and thus was not allowed to go anywhere near it.

What happened in that underground place remains there, and no word about it was said above.

For years Reznor, Sylvia and the group had tried everything in their power to create their dream, but luck always laughed in their faces in the end.

Today Reznor was quite sure that he had figured it out. The mushrooms he had asked the trio to get were not only for Muffy's snacks. Their juice was an important part of their magical experiment which Reznor of course could not reveal to the trio or anyone else.

The dark place was a wonderland for any witch or wizard. Every magical thing that anybody could think of was present there on the wall-sized shelves and on the long tables.

The seven of them had gathered around the large vessel which was boiling at a very high temperature. The heat made them all sweat profusely, but they all were determined. They had their heads set on what they needed.

Reznor added the last thing they needed for this experiment before they began chanting the spell together. The tips of their magical wands touched each other as they held them above the vessel.

Closing their eyes, they focused on chanting the correct spell. A minor mistake would prove lethal to all of them.

They prayed that after years of numerous failed attempts, today would bring new hope in their lives. As the contents in that vessel boiled, forming bubbles on the top.

The chants turned louder as all seven of them concentrate their powers to become one super force that would take them to their goal.

They could feel it. Yes... they could feel the change in the air. It was working... it was working...!

As their voices grew louder, an explosion was heard and the contents of the vessel erupted in the air. They all watched with wide eyes as that mixture spilt and the energy it release, aimed straight for the large shelf on the nearby wall.

"Aaaaaa"

"Down!"

The space filled with screams as the shelf exploded into thousands of pieces. All the resources they had stored on that shelf burnt and became useless.

Reznor cursed loudly as his chest heaved up and down. The other six members of the group finally looked up at him before straightening up. Some of them were drenched in the weird-smelling liquids while some had scratches on their skin because of the splinters on the shelf and the glass bottles.

Reznor's chest heaved up and down in anger. He flickered his wrist, and his wand made another loud crash.

They did not know what to say or do after that another failure.

"Reznor, you should calm down!" Sylvia was the only one who dared to speak with him in that state.

"Calm down? How can I calm down Sylvia? How can I? You know how I have invested all my life in the creation of this. And after umteenth attempts what I get... failure... another failure laughing at my face!"

He yelled, but she remained unwavering by his outburst.

"We ALL have invested our lives in this Reznor and we ALL are frustrated here. But do we have other choice than just keep trying?"

"We cannot do anything unless we get that magical chalice! The chalice that can summon the five natural entities- wind, light, fire, earth and water!" One of the group members said.

"Reznor, I heard that you already have the two handles of that chalice with you?! Why we are wasting our time creating something that has been already created by the supreme energies?

We can get that chalice and summon those five entities." The other one added.

"But does anyone know where is that magical chalice?"

Reznor was not in the mood of hearing them. So he left the space wordlessly. Sylvia narrowed her eyes at him, trying to figure out something.

One wizard amongst the group sighed. "He is always like this. He thinks he is the only one frustrated here." The man rolled his eyes.

"Sylvia only you can make him understand the futility of these attempts." A witch suggested.

Although Sylvia agreed with them, she had something else on her mind. She could not decide until she confirms her doubt.

Reznor climbed up the stairs to exit the underground space where they were trying their experiment. He reached the ground floor and decided to go to get some fresh air. His head was pounding in pain.

And after summoning his powers for the experiment, he felt drained. Reznor was convinced that one of those stupid fools must not have participated with complete dedication and that was why the experiment failed.

If only he had another choice than relying on those fools!

"Reznor! Reznor!!"

He heard Blake walking his way just before he stepped out of the building.

"What is it Blake?"

"You do not sound well." Blake noticed.

"Yes. Just some headache."

"It did not go well, did it?" Blake asked, referring to the experiment.

Reznor only released a long sigh in return.

"Anyways, you have a letter from the Magic World. It is from your greatest admirers." Blake said sarcastically.

"Of course!" Reznor replied dryly.

He took the letter from Blake and decided to read it outside. Staying inside the building suffocated him.

Reznor walked away from all the houses and the members of Malvadogar and went to one of the favourite places in the world he had created by himself.

Sitting on the edge of the hill, he liked the feel of wind sweeping through his hair and beard. His cloak made fluttering sounds as the wind passed by it.

Reznor tried ignoring that letter for a while until he calmed down. The headache did not ease though. He craved the herbal tea Isabella made for him whenever he got a headache.

That woman had magic in her hands when it came to herbs and medicines!

Reznor's eyes fell on that letter again, and he sighed dejectedly. The black inked stamp of Ministry of Magic on its front kept calling for his attention.

Giving into its call, Reznor finally picked up the letter and opened it. The blank paper might had confused a muggle but not this wizard. He pulled out his wand and moved its tip in a circle.

A white light mixed with yellow glowed slowly rising from the surface of the paper only to form a circle in the air.

The words came out of that circle to stand in front of Reznor like disciplined soldiers.

As Reznor's eyes caught on each word, his anger only rose up. How could he expect anything positive from those bitches who thought they were better than him.

If they had not ganged up against him, then he would have been one of them or might be the President of the Ministry.

With a loud roar, Reznor used his magic to tear that letter into shreds and then burned it down to ashes.

"What is the point in all this anger?" He heard the last voice he wanted to hear at that moment.

Sylvia stood behind him, taking the wind with a confident face.

"Go away Sylvia!"

"Why would I? I want to know what they have to say now." She told adamantly.

Reznor scoffed before plucking a grass blade from his side.

"They have again given us a warning. They think that we are using humans to get our resources. They want us to stop what we are doing.

Even after kicking us out of our own world, they are trying to control us! Ridiculous!"

Sylvia pursed her lips in displease. If there was anything the both of them could agree on it, was their hate for the Ministry of Magic and every person who supported them.

"Forget about them. They cannot do anything! All they can do is bark and not bite!"

Reznor did not reply to that as he kept staring at the sun setting in front of them leaving behind the hues of pink, purple and orange.

"You know where that magical chalice is, don't you?"

A minute later he heard Sylvia ask him which made his shoulders tense a little.

"What are you talking about?" He tried to play the oblivious one.

"Do not play that game with me Reznor! I know you know where that magical chalice is. But what confuses me is if you know where is it and you already have its two hands, why are you wasting all of our time and efforts in these futile experiments?"

Reznor knew that it was useless to argue with her because she had hit the bull's eye.

"Because getting that chalice is not as easy as it was getting those hands. Even if I try, I or any one of us can never get it. Even our magic is useless in that case. Those bastards have kept it under a strong spell." Reznor gritted his teeth in anger.

"There must be some way to get it, Reznor. And I am sure you must have found it by now. Now only you know what is still holding you back."

He stayed silent at that.

"You know how fast the loyalties change these days!" With that said, Sylvia walked away from there.

Reznor cursed under his breath because he knew what she meant by that last sentence.

When the Ministry of magic banned him from using the dark magic for his personal vendetta against the members of the Ministry and to reach the top, he made sure to take a large group with him.

He promised them that they would be able to practice any kind of magic they wished if they followed him and thus, they agreed. And that was how the Malvadogar came into existence away from the Magic World and their irritating rules and regulations.

One of the most alluring promises Reznor had made was to conquer the Magic world again, and this experiment of creating such a great power that could defeat the Magic world was an important part of it.

And after years of failures, his people had begun questioning his leadership. That was why Sylvia warned him.

But none of them knew what was cooking in his smart head.

Reznor moved his wand in the air to create a reddish light, which then converted into a figure. A figure of a trident shaped weapon that had precious and magical stones studded on its horns and on its design.

They all thought, only that chalice had magical powers and getting it meant they could win the Magic World.

But all these years, Reznor had evolved a lot, and he had his ambitions. Who wanted only the Magic world when he could have the entire world for himself?!

And that weapon was going to help him achieve his greatest ambition.

But how was he going to get it?

Well, he had someone's name on his mind if he offered a good price for that herculean task!

*

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*

Bertha was massaging Theodora's feet as the latter lay on her bed leisurely. Theodora wore a sleeveless nightgown which was too revealing in Bertha's opinion while the moonlight fell on her curvy body and exposed smooth skin.

Her nut-brown long hair sprawled on the bed and around her head like the morning rays of the sun. As Bertha massaged her feet with sesame oil, she noticed how silent Theodora was.

It only meant one thing... she was pondering over something.

"My Lady, what has occupied your mind that you are so silent?"

Only Bertha had that privilege of asking Theodora things because she was not only her head maid but was also her childhood friend, who had done so much for Theodora as much as a sister does for each other.

"I am thinking about something Bertha." Theodora replied absentmindedly.

"And may I now what is it?"

Theodora glanced down at Bertha, who smiled at her the way she always did. Her smile had some magic in it. Every time Theodora watched her smile like that, she wondered how could her smile hold such an innocence, purity and soothing feeling.

And that was the reason she envied even her smile!

"Have you ever been in love Bertha?"

Bertha was taken aback by that out of the blue question. Given that they two were childhood friends and practically spent all day with each other, it was expected that Theodora should have known the answer to that question.

But then again... expecting such a personal connection from someone like Theodora was just a waste really.

But naive Bertha did not mind it!

"No My lady! Even if I have liked someone then I would have first told you about it."

"I know!" Theodora agreed.

"But why this sudden interest in love? Have you found the man of your dreams?" Bertha asked in a teasing voice.

Theodora rolled her eyes before smiling. "I wish! I was reading this romantic novel today which said that there is someone for everyone. Do you believe that Bertha?"

Theodora asked, turning to her side to look at the other woman.

Bertha thought about it for a minute before she said, "I do not know if it is true but I like that idea. It gives us hope and a motive to move on in search of that someone."

How could this woman be so wise when she had not gotten the kind of education Theodora had received? That Theodora could never understand!

"Hey, but I know who is that someone for you!" Theodora suddenly exclaimed in excitement.

"You... know?" Bertha blinked dumbfoundedly, as she had no idea what Theodora was talking about.

"Of course! Have you ever noticed how Zerith keeps passing those lovely glances to you? That is sooo romantic, Bertha!! The way he blushes every time I mention your name to him, and the way he cares for you!!!

Awww... I want all of that for me too! When am I going to experience all of that?" Theodora pouted with a sad face.

Bertha could not help but giggle at her mistress and friend.

"You will My Lady! You will! And about Zerith... there is nothing romantic about our relationship." Bertha continued massaging Theodora's feet.

But Theodora had already planned Bertha and Zerith's wedding in her mind.

Sitting up with a bright face, Theodora said, "No but seriously Bertha! You should think about Zerith now that you have attained the age of marriage. Don't you like him?" She tilted her head, impatient to know.

Bertha bit her cheek as she was unsure of how to explain that to Theodora, but she decided to do it anyway.

"Of course, I like him, My Lady! But liking someone does not mean you also love them. Love is the feeling, an emotion, a truth that demands sacrifices. To achieve it, one should be able to put a fight... a war!

And I do not think I am capable of putting that fight. I... I do not have it in me. Zerith is a good man, and I like him as a friend. I do care for him... perhaps more than I should. But I do not think we can cross that faint line of friendship and love between us.

He also knows it, and that must be the reason he also wants to keep our relationship the way it is." Bertha explained as much as she could.

Theodora scoffed. "You are such a coward, Bertha! You are right about that fight thing. Just imagine how thrilling that experience must be. Fighting vehemently for your love against the whole world.

Doesn't it sound heroic? I am soo looking forward to feeling that, live that you know!"

Bertha spent the rest of the time hearing about Theodora's fantasies, although she knew within that none of them were going to be true.

One, because Theodora was not the kind of a person who could deal with such struggle. And the two, finding a man who could hold your hand through every thick and thin was a rare sight these days.

Yet Bertha prayed that Theodora would find someone who would complete her! Because she thought her friend deserved it!