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Moggy was feeling like his old self again. The last few weeks were peaceful, allowing him to recoup after many nights of missed sleep. He managed to cut his beard and brush his fur, getting the knots out. The farming was going great, just the other day he’d managed to get an onion the size of his head. He wasn’t sure if he should keep it as a trophy or turn it into soup. One unsettling thing did occur to him, although he hadn’t had a nightmare in ages, nor had he dreamt at all. You’re supposed to dream every night, he thought to himself, but you tend to forget them if you continue sleeping even just a couple of minutes after it ends. But he could tell he hadn’t dreamt once, his nights were too blank, no odd memories, and he was certain he’d have remembered a dream the other night when he was awoken from deep sleep during a thunderstorm. Oh well, he’d look into it later he thought to himself, at least he was actually well rested for once and no longer abusing caffeine.

Whilst sweeping up the tower and doing a very late spring clean, Moggy found a puddle of rainwater. His brush went through it, swishing, causing little tides like a miniature ocean. He curiously looked at the dripping brush before looking up at the ceiling to see drops of water splashing down. “Well, that’s odd.” he thought to himself. The tower was supposed to be pretty watertight and it’s not like he’d left the sink running or anything and the onsen was below this floor. He walked up the stairs and found the spot above where it was leaking, once again he found more water this time flowing from the wall. He followed the stream with his eyes and was startled to find a small hole in the wall, he looked through it to see an entire outer brick of the tower missing. He ran as quick as he could, swinging the front door of the tower open and running around the perimeter to find where the brick might have gone. It was laying among the grass, with a few bits of shattered cement. He picked it up and inspected it, luckily no damage. He then gazed up at the tower, the hole was rather high up, too high for him to get up via ladder. He knew it was a small gap, and nothing of significant size should manage to get through, but that’s where the demons were tricky. They were shapechangers, more often than not appearing as horned beasts, they could bend their body at will to better suit their nefarious schemes. He wondered if one could turn into a bug and crawl inside, or slither a tentacle through and strangle him in his sleep. For the time being he pushed a cabinet to block the small hole indoors. “That’ll do for now” he thought.

He sat there caressing the brick like it was a pet. He could feel the ancientness of it, the magic deeply intertwined within its atoms and the imprint of the energies of this world having influenced it. He considered a basic levitation spell to place it back, but regretfully that wasn’t enough. The tower was a complex magical artefact. Just plopping the piece back in would still leave it vulnerable. He needed to read up on how the tower functioned before making any rash decisions. He got up, still holding onto the brick as he walked to the library. That’s when he noticed the door to the out of bounds area; wide open. He froze, a chill down his spine. Sensory memories from his dreams coming back to haunt him, he could swear he was smelling smells he’d smelt before. “Bloody hell, I bet it’s him, I bet he’s already sneaked in last night and is buggering the tower up from within”. Thinking back to the demon who had taunted him the most, regardless of how cute this cheeky little grin was. He summoned his wizard staff and lit the end, squinting a few times to try and see into the room. Reluctantly he entered the inner workings of the tower.

“Oi, if you’re in here, I'm gonna blast you up the ass with a thunderbolt” Moggy proclaimed. He furthered through the maze of narrow corridors that appeared too large to fit within the exterior of the tower. The tip of his staff glowing eerily against the wet cobblestone walls gave him some idea of where he was going. He could hear rats running around but held back the temptation to hunt them. Thick moss grew on the floor and along the walls. He entered into a chamber with a sudden drop and a small path leading to the middle where a large array of hexagon shaped crystals grew out of the ceiling. Below the hanging crystals was a round iron table with foreign symbols engraved, each letting out a faint glow. His curiosity got the better of him and he found himself balancing over the small ledge leading to the centre panel. The drop below seems bottomless, almost as it went to the centre of the planet, Moggy swore he could see a spot of light right at the bottom. He stopped looking into the abyss and continued towards the table. He put the brick down and looked over the symbols. They were not the familiar lexicon of magical symbols, rather something much more ancient. The power was immense, the complexity of the spells permeating throughout the tower were beyond anything Moggy could comprehend. As far as he could tell though, things were functioning as intended, nothing had been tampered with. Then next to him the demon was there, his hoof on the brick. He tilted his head cutely and grinned before smashing the brick into Moggy’s head.

As Moggy lay there crumpled on the floor, flowing in and out of consciousness, a memory started flooding into his bleeding head. Some lecture from back in his days in the academy. The story of the creator of the tower, the vanquisher of the demons, one of the greatest ancient wizards to ever exist; Wakefield The Orange.

Originally published in my website

https://www.autumngogogoat.com/webzine/2024/issue-5