Story #135 - Wizard

Wizard

Unden Zel was off to see the wizard.

He had to chuckle at that, though he was the only one who did. Most people didn’t have much room left for laughter, let alone remember the lines from old movies. Sickness and monotony took had taken their toll on most of those he knew, and he could understand why – living in a world where sunlight was a memory and rains had saturated every piece of ground, high and low, tended to undermine one’s sense of happy, carefree enjoyment.

It had only been two years since the rains had come, though to Unden it seemed more on the scale of years. Governments and leading minds had assured people around the globe that everything would “be fine”, and of course many believed them. Why would leading minds, free thinkers and some of the most powerful individuals on the planet lie about such important information?

After the global warming debacle, it shouldn’t have been a surprise.

Politicians wanted power, and scientists were often dedicated to the version of the truth they found most convenient. A few spoke out, of course, but the community was such that were all simply ridiculed until they were put in their place.

All, except for the wizard.

He was no real wizard, though the people in the small town that had sprung up around him insisted on naming him one. Very little that he did was out of the ordinary, but the populace had become so demoralized by the rains and the crushing wetness around them that they were willing to venerate anyone who they believed could save them from their misery.

Unden scratched at one armpit. The moist air was a breeding ground for all manner of on and under skin diseases, and he had developed a number of nasty, molding rashes. A daily cleansing ritual managed to keep most of them at bay, but even he was unable to completely avoid their effects.

In many larger cities, poor neighborhoods had massive death rates as people huddled together for safety and spread diseases among each other, while all the while rain gutters filled and sewers overflowed. A global water crisis came crashing down, but not the one everyone had expected.

Governments fell and nations were torn apart as wet wood ripped and buildings crumbled. Even concrete became pitted and weak from months of pounding rain, and what had once been firm earth was turned into massive, oozing bogs that stretched for miles. The great towns and cities were the hardest hit, and all across the country and around the world citizens sought shelter on high ground, do anything they could to get away from slicing water that came down from the skies.

Rains came in every form imaginable, but never let up. Temperatures plummeted and them rose, finally leveling off as too cold for the young and old and leaving a world where only the strong survived.

The wizard was one such – a man who knew more than most and was willing to use it for the benefit of all those around him. Unden had heard stories of him for years, and knew that if anyone might have a long-term solution, it would be this man.

He sighed and scratched at his armpit again. It was a long climb to the leeward edge of the ragged-edged hill where the wizard had made his home. The villagers had not bothered him as he swept through their town – dressed in his self-made rainslick, he was a black-clad sight that most found frightening. That suited him well; he had no interest in speaking to anyone about his intentions and the fewer that approached them, the better.

The home inhabited by the wizard was the closest thing to an actual living space that Unden had seen in months. Most of the regular citizenry lived in mud and wattle huts – the rain made it impossible to keep them dry and they simply rebuilt them whenever they caved in. Not a few deaths had come from a roof collapsing at an inopportune moment.

Tall and imposing, the building was the only white thing in miles, and its lack of color – lack of grey, really – was enough to convince everyone in town that the man had the ability to perform miracles.

Unden knew the truth – the man was a scientist, and one that had spoken out against the coming of the rains. One that had denied them.

A knock at the door brought a quick response from a small man in filthy coat.

“What?” His voice was clipped and harsh.

“You the wizurd?” Unden hadn’t spoken to another human being in several months.

The smaller man sighed, rubbing a dirty hand over his bald head – a hand dirty with something other than mud, other than grime.

Oil.

“Yeh. What of it?”

Unden shouldered his way into the house, grabbing the wizard and slamming him against one of the walls, and shaking the entire house.

“You can fix this. You’ve been working on something. Tell me.”

The man’s face split in a quick smile, even though he was held struggling against the wall. “I knew one of you would come. One of you would figure it out. Come, come with me. I have need of you. Need of your strength.”

Unden let the man drop and waited as he levered himself up and off the floor, then followed him through the house and into a back room.

Littered with metal parts and whirring electronic gizmos, the wizard’s lair was something out of an old science fiction movie. In its center was a large, spherical metal object larger than his head, one that was pulsing with a soft, verdant glow.


- D