Day Twenty-One - The Hearing

SpaceWizards
(Another SpaceWizards Action/Adventure Mystery)

What is The Hearing spell? That’s not a very good question. Of course, it’s a spell that prevents you from hearing. But it’s more than just that, though. It’s a spell that stops you from hearing both externally and internally. That means they can’t hear what anyone is speaking or even thinking. But that’s not the worst thing about it. It individualizes you. It’s hard to be a part of a team when you can’t hear anything. Wizards still have their other abilities to work with like Fire Ball and electrical strings. They just have difficulty with spells. And if you’re not very good with spells that can be a big problem. Angoria has never been good with spells. But she is getting better with them. She's about to get hit by The Hearing spell. This is a story of how she deals with it.

“The Hearing”

A Short Story

Remembered By

Angoria

     A few seconds after Angoria mumbled something small Laser Balls shot out of her eyes. The hundreds of strings that intertwined into a ball got bigger as it got closer to Horrald. But about halfway between herself and Horrald, they disappeared. Why do they keep doing that? What am I doing wrong?

     You’re not doing anything wrong, thought Mairon as he shot two Space Balls at Horrald. You just need to made them longer lasting.

     You can do this, Angoria. I know you can do it, thought Yena as she shot several Laser Strings at Horrald.

     Pacill mumbled something. A few seconds later a giant fist, about twice the size of Horrald, was headed right for him. l know you can do it too. Just relax, concentrate, and do it.

     Angoria closed here eyes and started mumbling for about a minute. Suddenly, Angoria opened her eye, and instantly Laser Balls shot out of them. They admittedly grew to normal size just after they left her eye. And they did get a lot closer to Horrald. But the final results were the same. They had disappeared before they reached him.

     Maybe you should be doing Space Balls and Laser String. That’s what I’m doing. I’m not very good at spells either. Borrele thought as she fired one Space Ball out of one palm while sending several Laser Strings out of the other.

     The SpaceWizards had Horrald surrounded. They were continuously moving all around him as they attacked him. Most of what they threw at him was Space Ball or Laser Strings. But every so often there a few spells too. Horrald easily defended himself against the SpaceWizards attacks. And he did it without any Space Balls or Laser Strings. All he used were spells.

     Horrald kept mumbling the same thing over and over again. Each time he mumbled it a fist sized glowing blue ball shot out of his mouth at one of the SpaceWizards. Usually at the one who just attacked him. But he would mumble something different after being attacked. Then he would go back to his original mumbling. Horrald had to stop his original mumbling every few seconds to mumble a counter-attack. So, he didn’t have much time to mumble his continuous one. But he did every second he could.

     Everyone needs to be careful, thought Mairon as he stepped aside and a glowing blue ball shot past him. Because of protecting himself against us he has left his mind opened. I read it. Horrald is trying to us The Hearing spell against us.

     Angoria started firing Space Balls and Laser Strings at Horrald. And for about fifteen minutes no one thought anything. They just concentrated on their attack against Horrald. Horrald concentrated too. Mostly on defending himself, but he also did it with his blue balls.

     Most of the blue balls were easy to get out of the way of. But finally one of them got through. That one was headed right for Angoria. Before she could do anything about it, Angoria got struck hard. It only pushed her back a little bit. But now he laid on her back and floated in Space. OH, NO. I THINK ANGORIA JUST GOT HIT BY THE HEARING SPELL, Jacci thought loudly. Mairon quickly mumbled something. And a few seconds later all the SpaceWizards disappeared.

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     Suddenly, Angoria sat straight up in her Sleeper after the lights came on in her Sleeping Chamber. “Is anyone there?”

     Angoria slowly scanned her chambers. “I know someone is here. It was my hearing that I lost two months ago, not my eyesight.”

     Mairon stepped into the light. “It’s just me. I wanted to see how you were doing. We haven’t seen you in almost two months. And we were starting to get worried about you.”

     “I can see your mouth move,” said Angoria. “But I can’t hear you.”

     “You need to start reading mouths.” Mairon walked up to Angoria.

     “I can read mouths. If they are close enough for me to do that.”

     “Then you need to learn to read them better. You lost your hearing temporary. But you didn’t lose your eyesight.”

     A few seconds later Mairon continued. “All you need to do is use a spell so that you can read our mouths no matter where we are.

     Angoria started laughing. “You know how I am with spells. Do you really want me doing spells?”

     “I thought you might say something like that. So, I brought you this.” Mairon handed her a Mini Monitor.”

     “What am I supposed to do with this?” Angoria asked as she took the monitor from Mairon.

     “Maybe you can’t read, but you can read. Right?”

     Angoria looked at the monitor then at Mairon in shock. “You want me to use this? That might work around the spaceship. But I can’t use it during battle.”

     A few seconds later Angoria continued. “I’m never going to get my hearing back. It’s best for everyone if I quit being part of this team of SpaceWizards. As soon as this Horrald problem is over, you can take me home.”

     “I’m useless to the team as long as I’m like this. In fact, I’m a danger to them. That’s why I haven’t gone with you after Horrald since this happened.”

     “You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself. We need you back on the team.”

     “No, you don’t. I will just get in the way.”

     A few seconds later Angoria continued. “I don’t even remember why you made a part of this team, to begin with. Oh, I remember. It because you rescued me from being one of the dead. I stayed with you and wouldn’t leave. You only made me part of the team because I kept begging you to do it and you finally did just to shut me up.”

     “That isn’t true, and you know it. We asked you to join us because we needed you. In fact, you were a big part of us stopping Horrald the first time. If you hadn’t been there, we wouldn’t have defeated him.”

     Mairon continued a few seconds later. “We need you back on the team, especially now. That’s why I brought you this monitor. Horrald has taken over four Wizard Worlds in the last two months using The Hearing spell. And we need to stop him before he takes over any more.”

     “Why would he be doing that?” Angoria asked.

     “Because wizards are very easy to kill when they are by themselves, especially beginners. We have all come close to that several times when we were alone. That’s why we need you back on the team. So, that this doesn’t happen to any more Wizard Worlds.”

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     Angoria mumbled something as she spun around in a full circle. As she did it a large hand slapped away at seventy or so electrical strings about half their normal length that the other six SpaceWizards shot at her. After completing her circle, she looked at the Mini Monitor in front of her.

     “You did great,” said Mairon. “But I knew you would. You’ve done it with everything we have thrown at you.”

     “I like the way you slapped away the practice electrical strings,” said Borrele. “But I love it when you knock the practice Fire Balls into each other or clap them together.”

     “I have always been good with the simple spells. It the more complicated ones that I have trouble with.”

     “That’s enough of us attacking you,” said Mairon. “We have attacked you individually, randomly, as a team of two or three, and all together. And you have done fantastic.”

     Mairon continued a few seconds later. “Now let's see how you do with attacking us. And don’t hold anything thing back. We didn’t do it with you.”

     Whether Angoria was speaking or reading what appeared on her monitor because the other SpaceWizards were talking Angoria didn’t take her eyes off of that monitor, until now. Angoria looked up at each one of her fellow SpaceWizards for several seconds each. And she didn’t do them in any particular order or by gender. She did it randomly.

     Angoria suddenly spun around and fired two light red Fire Balls at the three males. One aimed at their heads while the other one was headed for their chest or stomach. She started with mairon because he was the closest. Then Pacill, who was the furthest one in the Practice Chamber. And then at stavon. He was in between the other two, but further to the side too.

     At least one Fire Ball hit each one of them. Mairon got hit in the head by one. Stavon got struck by one in his chest. And Pacill got hit in both his head and stomach. All three were pushed back a little when they exploded. But other that they were okay.

     After the three males, Angoria did the same thing to the three females. Only she did the furthest, Jacci, first. Then the closest one, Borrele, next. And finally, Yena who was in the middle slightly behind Mairon. Angoria also attacked them with Fire Balls to the head, chest or stomach. Jacci got it in the stomach. Borrele got struck in both the head and chest. And Yena got hit in the head.

     Angoria didn’t hesitate for even a second. After the female balls had exploded, Angoria started her next attack. That attack with about ten electrical strings each. And they struck all over their bodies. Only that time she started with the females. First, Borrele, then Yena, and finally Jacci. After the females, it was the males turn. Angoria started with Stavon, then Mairon, and then Pacill. The results were the same as the Fire Balls. It pushed them a little and shook them up a lot.

     Next, Angoria started fire both Fire Balls and electrical strings at the other SpaceWizards. She did randomly. Both on what she fired and who she fired at. After about fifteen minutes of that Mairon said, “Okay, I think that’s enough for today. You have proven yourself to me.”

     “Does that mean you think I’m ready to go into battle with the rest of the team?” Angoria asked.

     “I don’t think you are quite that ready yet,” said Mairon. “But by the next battle, you should be.”

     Just then the alarm sounded, and the Practice Chamber started flashing red. “We must be at the planet Voltose,” said Yena. “And Horrald is already here.”

     Angoria had a big smile on her face. “This is the next battle. Does that mean I’m going too?”

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     Jacci sat behind a Data Monitor in the Communications Chamber. On both sides of her Mairon and Stavon sat behind monitors. Mairon was tapping away on his control panel in front of him. But Jacci and Stavon were mumbling to themselves as they stared at their monitors when Angoria entered.

     “I’m tired of just sitting around doing nothing. And I’m bored with killing you in practice. So, I came here to see if I could find a counter-spell for The Hearing spell. But I see you started without me.”

     All three swiveled around to face Angoria. But it was Stavon who mouthed to her. “We actually started when this happened to you almost three months ago.”

     “When we weren’t battling Horrald or practicing with you, we have all been in here looking for a solution to your problem,” said Mairon. “The only other times we weren’t is if we were in control of our spaceship, eating or sleeping.”

     “So, what have you found out?” Angoria asked.

     “Not much so far,” said Stavon. “But we have only just begun searching every planet that has wizards on them and every Wizard World.”

     “That’s how we have found out about the seven Horrald’s attacks,” said Mairon. “Don’t worry about it. We’re not going to stop looking until we find a counter-spell. Even if it takes us another billion years to do it.”

     “I hope it doesn’t take that long,” said Angoria as she sat down next to Stavon. “How can I help?”

     “You can start with the Wizard World Donvin,” said Jacci. “That’s where I left off.”

     A few seconds later Jacci continued. “I’m going back to looking through my diary. When I haven’t been looking for wizards, I have been searching through my diary. I don’t remember anything like this happening before. But for some reason, I think there was. If so, I will find it.”

     “I’m sure Horrald didn’t create it himself,” said Mairon. “He found it. And wherever he found it, we will too. I just hope there’s a counter-spell to it when we do.”

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     Horrald shot several light blue balls at a group of wizards practicing their wizard in a training stadium where they probably played a game of some kind. There was seating all around it. But no one was in those seats. The group looked up and saw the balls headed for them. Before they could react to it, a large SpaceStorm swooped in and raised them a couple of feet off the grounds. The blue balls exploded when they hit the ground. Once exploded the SpaceStorm placed the group back on the ground.

     Looking in the direction of where the SpaceStorm came from, he saw the four of the SpaceWizards headed his way. The other three were rapidly floating down toward the ground. Horrald raised his palms and fired four Fire Balls at the SpaceWizard headed toward him. Each one took out one of his balls with one of their own. Within seconds there were four explosions.

     The three floating down to the ground landed near the group just targeted by Horrald. “You need to get inside somewhere,” said Yena. “And if you see any more of those blue balls get out of the way of them. They are very dangerous.”

     “Why was he trying to hit us with those balls?” A female human asked.

     “He’s a very evil male,” said Pacill. “And those balls he was firing at you were The Hearing spell. If they hit you, you will lose your hearing.”

     The group looked at each other in shock. Then they looked back at the three Aliens. “Why would he be doing that?” A male asked.

     “It’s because he wants to add you to his army,” said Borrele. “And the best way to do that is to individualize you from everyone else.”

     One of the other males suddenly looked scared. “That’s Horrald up there, isn’t it?” The male looked up at the sky where a fierce battle was going on. So, did his fellow humans. All three of the SpaceWizards did too.

     Fire Balls and electrical strings were flying everyone. All of them were aimed at one individual in the middle of the other four individuals who were constantly on the move around him. Horrald easily blocked the attacks against him. Then he returned the favor by firing a blue ball at whoever he just blocked. The SpaceWizards easily got out of the way of those balls.

     “You must be the SpaceWizards that have teamed up to kill him,” said another female. “We know all about you and Horrald.”

     “Then you know you need to get to safety,” said Pacill. “We can’t join the other SpaceWizards until we know you are safe.”

     The group started heading for underneath the seated area. They only got about halfway there when Yena shouted at them to stop. “Are there any more humans out here in the open?”

     “Yes, there are about two thousand of them at a Missush match that’s going on about a mile from here. We came here to do a little practice before our match later today,” said yet another female.

     Horrald must have stopped this group before he saw the others, thought Borrele. Otherwise, he would have attacked them instead of this group.

     Did everyone hear that up there? Borrele asked.

     Angoria smiled as she continuously fired one Fire Ball after another at Horrald. I don’t know about the others. But I sure did.

     Mairon raced up toward Horrald. But stopped right in front of him. “Did you just hear those thoughts. You might as well leave now. Even if you get past us and give all these humans The Hearing spell, it’s not going to do you any good. We found the counter-spell for it.”

     Horrald stopped his counter-attack against Jacci and Stavon and looked at Mairon. “I don’t believe you.”

     “I can see that on your face,” said Angoria as she joined Mairon. “Do you remember me? You gave me The Hearing spell several months ago. But I just heard you say you didn’t believe Mairon.”

     “We found the spell and the counter-spell in the Faulse Dynasty on the planet of Kaum. Do you believe us now?” Mairon asked. Horrald sharply looked at Mairon. Then at Angoria. A few seconds later he disappeared.

Word Count = 2,812