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Page 50<br />
The Magician continued to approach Noel. “I would sway you with argument if time<br />
allowed, good King. For this to work, you must do it before this night is gone, even if I must<br />
force your hand. There is power on this holy eve unlike any other, and I will bend it to my<br />
purpose.”<br />
A puppet on strings, Noel turned to face the crying children, and he realized that his<br />
own sword was out now, drawn, no longer under his control.<br />
Far below Noel’s castle, the villagers knelt together, voices raised now in naked<br />
supplication, calling out for someone to deliver them from this sudden horror, this<br />
unexpected tragedy. They joined hands as they joined voice, and in the sky overhead, a single<br />
star grew brighter, as if in response. Then, somehow, it began to move.<br />
Noel found himself fighting each step across the room, struggling to lower the sword<br />
he watched rise before him, wishing he could shut out the sound of those children watching<br />
him approach. He could only imagine what they saw.<br />
The Magician came in close, speaking low now so that only Noel could hear him<br />
clearly. “And now you see the truth of it. I do not have to ask you or implore you, but I do so<br />
again despite that. Earn this thing, Noel Splitskull. Do this of your own will.” He released<br />
Noel, and for a moment, the king stumbled forward under his own weight.<br />
Noel saw a distorted reflection of himself in the polished, curved wall of the chamber.<br />
He looked older than he ever had, winded and frail, and he saw something that sickened<br />
him, that killed off whatever last bit of good cried out against this course of action. He saw<br />
the tears of a feeble elderly man on his cheeks, and he rejected that sight completely.<br />
Noel straightened up and raised his sword.<br />
Overhead, the star fell fast, and instead of falling straight down, it began to follow an<br />
arc towards Noel’s castle. Before the sword of the king could fall, the star blew straight in<br />
through those closed doors, suddenly breaking the Magician’s hold over everyone.<br />
Noel dropped his sword, all thought of violence gone as a blinding light, brighter than<br />
every lantern in his kingdom combined, suddenly filled the court. Noel saw the Magician<br />
backing away, saw fear on his face for the first time. The light seemed to pull together,<br />
shifting and swirling into a solid thing, then crystalizing into the shape of a tall, thin, elegant<br />
man, the light to the Magician’s darkness, an Agent of Order.
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