William Calhoun and the Black Feather. Book I

The next day, during yet another journey to the past, the enrolees witnessed how Northern Dwarves took up arms against Mountain Centaurs, which was the beginning of the Great Feud between them. The ruler of the dwarves Rodrick Bluebeard demanded that the centaurs returned their ancestral lands to them, and the centaurs, headed by Unhalf Fivehooved, in their turn, flatly refused and threatened the Northern Dwarves with war. The dwarves attacked the centaurs, which led to wizards interfering, followed by the truce between the warring parties. During the trip, El, who obviously started to sympathize the dwarves, was saying emotionally that Rodrick Bluebeard “just has to have the lands of his people returned”. He was openly furious with Unhalf Fivehooved:

“Don’t you dare shout at Rodrick, centaur!” he shouted angrily.

“El, he can’t see you or hear you, remember?” William reminded him each time during another surge of emotions.

After the exciting lesson, when the enrolees were leaving the classroom, William and El approached Welbeck at the last moment. He was already going to float into the wall, as he did every time at the end of the lesson.

“Professor Welbeck!” William called out.

He turned around and gave him and El a questioning look.

“Yes, Mister Calhoun?”

“Professor, could you spare us a bit more of your time?”

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

The two friends exchanged looks and El started:

“Professor Welbeck, could you tell us if you only know the history of when you weren’t… well, weren’t…” El stumbled suddenly.

“Dead?” Welbeck asked calmly.

“Well, yes, sir…”

“Not at all!” Welbeck replied, not embarrassed with such a question. “As you can see, I’m still in good health, even if I’m dead!” he smiled again. “Though, I can only peregrine in time to the timeline when I was alive. I can only tell about the rest.” He suddenly gave them a look of distrust. “Why are you interested in this?”

“Sir, we really need your help! Only you can help! We have nobody to turn to!” William said.

“Help?” Welbeck asked, intrigued. “What kind of help?”

The two friends exchanged looks again, then William blurted out:

“We need to know about the County Without Banners!”

Welbeck’s look showed even more distrust now and, seeing that he was hesitating, El hurried to intervene:

“Professor, could you tell us what they are? We are greatly interested in history and we dream of becoming just like you one day!”

“Well, it awaits everyone with no exception, Mister Gibbs,” Welbeck joked gloomily, “however, even though it’s not a part of the enrolee program, if you want…”

“We do!” they blurted out together, making Welbeck even more suspicious.

William hurried to add:

“We just really like your subject, sir, and we’d like to succeed in it even before entering a MUni!”

His words hit the point. Welbeck gave them a satisfied smile and suggested:

“Well, take a seat, young wizards!” he pointed at a sofa not far from his table.

When they were seated, Welbeck started his story slowly.

“During the gloomy medieval times, the Wizard Community witnessed truly dark events, fatal to many of its members.” He slowly floated through the air, paused by the window and stared through it at the long-time lifeless Missing Street. “At that time, wizards, who had been peacefully writing their chronicles, for the first time found themselves under the threat of extinction, brought by Baelzidar…”

The two friends exchanged looks quickly, because they had no idea whom he was talking about and how he was connected with the things that really interested them.

“Is he somehow connected with the County Without Banners, Professor?” El reminded him the goal of his story.

“Connected?” Welbeck asked, his eyes still on the window, as if he was looking at the pages of history itself. “He created the County Without Banners, Mister Gibbs!”

The two friends exchanged glances again, but this time not in bewilderment, but in horror. And Welbeck continued in the same monotonous voice that made the story even more horrifying.

“Early in the Middle Ages, a wizard, who had appeared from the very heart of the deadly swamps and who was calling himself Duke Baelzidar, founded the Cold Court, which was surrounded by gloomy mystery. And the County Without Banners became part of it. Its members were the embodiment of horror and all the fears of wizards, and Baelzidar himself was the very essence of terror. An order was created, which accepted wizards as dark as their Duke. Their goal was to overthrow and to completely destroy the ruling aristocracy of wizards. They named themselves the County Without Banners and with this name they promoted their rights to reign over the ruling elite that consisted of the real wizard aristocracy. You surely remember Tindarius and the way he established his reign over wizards and demits by creating aristocracy! That was what Baelzidar wanted, too. But over the aristocracy itself. Of course, the aristocrats didn’t want to give up their rights for power and a brutal war began. However, the forces were unmatched, and aristocrats were too much for the Dark Counts’ feathers. And then,” Welbeck paused for a moment, “some of the darkest pages of wizard history appeared! The County Without Banners started persecuting common wizards, aiming at killing each one of them, thus forcing the government to surrender voluntarily. In one night the Counts killed several dozen millions of wizards, leaving bodies everywhere, what the hems of their black robes had touched. Under the threat of extinction, many families of wizards were forced to flee from their lands, leaving behind everything they once called home. Time passed, years changed, and Duke Baelzidar continued to mercilessly persecute and kill wizards. In order to hide from the counts, the wizards who managed to escape started living among demits, acting like common demits, not using magic, living and working together with them.

Scared of being discovered and then killed, some wizards renounced magic, betraying their magical abilities,” Welbeck’s look suddenly stared into a great distance and after a while he said sadly: “Many feathers had been destroyed back then. But there were those among the escaped wizards who didn’t want to live the life of common mortals and only hid, but didn’t betray their wizard abilities. And the feathers that had avoided the fate of being destroyed by their owners, lost their magical properties eventually and hardened. And they only symbolized the memory of former skills of their owners, taking their powers with them and turning wizards into demits. Generations of new wizards were born and changed each other, having no clue about their true nature. They were brought up like common children and taught to live without their feathers or magic. Later, that horrible night was named the Feathermages Night. And the wizards who had betrayed their abilities were named feathermages. They were hated by their own brethren. Hated because instead of staying and, united, fighting for their rights, they cowardly fled, renouncing magic. And that, as you know, is the most horrible act any wizard can commit.”

“What happened to Baelzidar, Professor?”

Welbeck was silent for a while, then replied thoughtfully:

“One morning came and he disappeared as mysteriously as he had appeared.”

“And what happened to the County Without Banners?”

“After Baelzidar’s disappearance the County Without Banners fell apart and its membered cowardly scattered around the world, like the night that hides after dawn comes.”

William and El were so interested in Welbeck’s story that at some point they even forgot why they had asked him to tell it in the first place. But when Welbeck had finished his narration, William instantly remembered everything that was bothering him and asked with sudden inspiration:

“Professor, do you know anything about the Bleak Street?”

To their surprise, Welbeck knew about it.

“Since ancient time, that street has been a very dark place, Mister Calhoun!” he, finally, turned away from the window and stared at him. “It became known because once all the members of the County Without Banners lived there. Later, one wizard enchanted that place, making it inaccessible and invisible to everyone! Since then, everyone who had known about that street before, started calling it the Empty Village, because it simply stopped existing, together without those who used to live there.”

“Do you know where it is, Professor?” El asked him, no less inspired.

“No, Mister Gibbs, I don’t!” Welbeck shook his head. “Actually, I’ve already told you many things you don’t really need to know at your age!”

Understanding Welbeck’s hint, the two friends got up, ready to leave.

“Thank you so much, Professor Welbeck!” William said.

“Yes, it was a really interesting story! It’s clear that you know Wizard History like nobody else, sir!” El added, true to his talent of flattering people he was talking to.

“Oh, you’re too kind!” Welbeck seemed embarrassed. “It’s so rare to see enrolees wishing to know more than they need to get their grades!” He floated to the wall behind his table. “Take care, young wizards!” and with that he disappeared in the wall of his house.