The Shield Mouse

Fights between wizards are the most confusing combats of all. For the uninitiated, they look more like a party. Beams of light are flying everywhere, fluids of all kinds, hot and cold, sharing the same space, explosions, summonings, a whole mess. So, it is not weird that, amidst the confusion of color and lights, a wizard might intend to cast a spell, but end up casting another.

And that’s exactly what happened to Glenico.

Glenico was a proud wizard, but, in a moment of confusion and despair, seeing a threatening spell flying towards him, he tried to raise a magical barrier to block it. However, his tongue, already tired of moving from side to side during the casting of so many incantations, ended up getting in the way of his teeth. Somehow, that turned a half formed shield into a little mouse.

And that’s how Glenico died, entering the annals of history as the wizard who tried to defend himself from a deadly spell using a tiny little defenseless mouse. His descendants were so ashamed that they burned his whole research, fearing what else could such a miraculous mind have tried to create.

But let's not dwell on the wizard Glenico, because you can simply get a copy of Pathetic Wizards or 1000 Ways to Die in a Magical Combat and you'll have his entire life described in a much better – and more professional – way than I could ever do.

No. From now on we will focus on the true star of this story: the little mouse summoned by Glenico moments before his death.

You might not know this, but the world is a scary place when you are less than 10 centimeters tall. Whilst some wizards find pleasure in being stepped on, it would mean certain doom for such small beings. Mice are not the most resilient of creatures and often end up as food for the more appropriate wizard familiars, aka cats and owls.

But this mouse was special, for he was half shield. That’s right, he was half magic shield, half mouse, a being that only geniuses and lunatics could dream of. Aside from that, he looked like any other mouse that has silver fur and glows softly.

Nobody noticed him at first. He was standing on top of his dead creator, watching the magic lights being hurled around the room. It was mesmerizing for a being that just came into existing. And, moments later, horrifying. A lighting bolt whisked past his right ear, almost deafening the poor little rodent. Startled, he jumped off the body and had to dodge to save his life, for a golem almost stepped on him, his copper feet thudding as he ran to beat the shit out of another wizard.

As he burst into a desperate run, he finally caught the attention of one wizard. He screamed at the top of his lungs to point out the rodent to the others. And also because he was madly afraid of mice. The fight stopped, both sides still craving violence, but more interested in this little silver mouse.

Seeing all the eyes laid on him, the mouse, who we shall call Silver from now on, stopped. One wizard took the front. He was garbed in purple robes and a pointy hat decorated, both with silver stars.

“This is scandalous”, said one Albus Albinius Albanius, “He tried to defend himself with a mouse?”

“Maybe he tried to summon a group of mice”, one of Glenico’s friends tried.

“To defend oneself with a group of mice?! Preposterous!”

Albus, who always had a knack for the dramatic, jaunted his way towards Silver. He swished his cape back and forth, making the little silver stars glisten.

“This is the most outrageous thing that I have seen in all my years as a Magus. Trying to shield oneself from a deathly blow using a mouse? By the Lady, I think this even constitutes animal abuse!”

The whole room gasped, except for Oponium the Ungasping, who fainted.

“What are the other guilds going to think about us now? And under the watch of a Magus, no less. I can already hear the knights mocking us”, Albus threw his hands to the air, exasperated, “By the Lady, we are done. This is it. The wizards will be outlawed, ostracized, hanged.”

As he talked, his voice took higher and higher pitches.

“Why were we fighting anyway? This is all a ridiculous situation. I can’t deal with it right now.”, Albus slumped in a fainting couch, covering his eyes with his forearm, “Someone, move the bodies out. Fetch that weird necromancer and fix it tiptop.”

“Nobody do anything.”

The deep voice made Albus jump to his feet. Suddenly, he looked a thousand years older – or just about his actual age – and the silver stars in his robe dulled. The speaker was another Magus, Apheena, the great granddaughter of world renowned High Magus Bob, a terrifying figure in the wizard’s guild.

She walked slowly towards the middle of the room, not taking her eyes off the mouse, who remained as still as stone, as if grappled by a spell.

“Don’t you see what I see?”

Silence took the room. Ideas bubbled in everyone’s minds, but none had the courage to try, and probably fail, to guess what Apheena was referring to. It was a high reward, but way higher risk. Answering her wrong might cost someone their wizard's license. That wouldn’t impede someone from being a wizard, but licensed wizards would frown at them. Frown very deep.

Apheena spoke softly, drawing the attention of the whole room:

“What I see is a mouse. A mouse summoned by a wizard who now lies dead.”

The room exploded in chatter. A little smile grew in her lips. This was going to be a great evening.

Albus walked over to her, flailing and jolting his cape to try and make up for his lack of confidence. His face, usually pale white, was red with a mix of anger for having his spotlight stolen and embarrassment for spending so long in his dramatics that he didn’t notice that detail.

“What you say is unreasonable! Ludicrous! What you propose is of the utmost absurdity. Your great grandfather would be ashamed to hear such words coming out of your mouth.”

“And yet, the mouse is there, the corpse is there. Do you need anything else?”

“But… the magic says…”

“Ah, Albus, your old age is affecting your brain. When did magic become something reasonable? Something you should listen to? I say this is the biggest advancement in magic we have seen this century, maybe even this millennia. One that comes from a ridiculous situation, that must be treated as such, but a summoned beast that can outlast his summoner? A great discovery indeed.”

Silver grew more scared by the second. He was able to understand human-speak, but did not grasp the full meaning of the words. He was a great discovery? An advancement? His minuscule heart was about to give out. And what was he to do with the information that he was summoned by the dead man? Was that his father? Shouldn’t his father be a mouse too?

“We need to revive him”, Albus started, trying to regain control, “We need to ask him how he did it.”

“And risk the spell dissipating? No. We will not revive the fool. In fact…”

“Apheena, what do you…?”

Glenico’s body burst into flames. It took seconds for the whole body to be consumed. The ash was swept away by a gust of wind.

“Apheena, what is the meaning of this?! Wizards deserve proper burial. You are out of your mind! What do you think his wife will say when she hears about this? She will be outraged, as should every single one of you.”

A little hand was raised in the middle of the crowd.

“Hm, actually, he wanted to be cremated, so… Though I would have liked to keep his ashes.”

“They are in that jar over there”, Apheena pointed.

Glenico’s wife grabbed the jar and, as promised, it was filled with Glenico’s ashes. Albus felt defeated and returned to the fainting couch.

“His body is gone, so it isn’t a physical connection. That means he, somehow, achieved the greatest feat of all: To create permanent life out of nothing!”

The crowd agreed, fascinated. Some wizards were already wiping out their quills and taking notes. This was unprecedented. It was a huge development in magical theory, something that could change the world forever.

The wizards eyed each other warily. It was the dispute of academia, who would write their names in the growing book of notable wizards. As the bodies were removed from the room, however, the dispute came to an end, for one wizard, a minor one, barely a wizard at all, came up with a revolutionary idea:

“You know what? This would solve the budget deficit. If we could create many beings, then that means a lot of money. We could buy cake again!”

This wizard had a background in accounting, you see. Many of them did, in fact. Something about numbers driving you insane and city accountant to hermit wizard pipeline. So, suffice to say, the room was ecstatic with the idea.

Apheena smiled proudly.

“This is the type of thinking I’m looking for. It is now more crucial than before to discover how Glenico was able to summon this mouse. Our cake-eating habits depend on it. This might be even more profitable than when we discovered how to turn dirt into gold.”

Which, might I note, led to the crash of the gold market, which is now as valuable as, well, dirt.

“If we can sell guild memberships to them, and monthly Top Magic Spells parchments, and those gimmicky wands, we are rich. Filthy rich.”

Albus stood up, a smug smile plastered in his face.

“Just want to point out one thing. How would they pay for such things when they have no money?”

“They would get jobs, of course.”

“As…?”

The buzz in the room died down. What sort of job could mice do?

“Chimney sweepers?”, tried one.

“Cheese samplers?”, tried another.

“Maybe we could create, like, an army of mice, you know? Like, give them little armors and little swords and they would, like, fight little enemies. Maybe, like, bigger animals, like rats or a fox that dresses funny.”

Everyone frowned at Briaja, the Stoner, who left the room ashamed.

“This is a serious conundrum…”, Apheena commented.

“Yes, it is. A stone in your path, if you will. As always, whoever I will be the one to bring you fools a solution. I am of the opinion that the mouse needs to be heard. He has a choice after all. He is a magical being, so bestowed with free will. Maybe he even knows how to create more magical mice.”

“Well, what are you waiting for then?”

“I…”, Albus was a little flustered, “I can’t speak with animals.”

“What?! Albus Albinius Albanius, who carried for centuries the title of Albus the Beast Whisperer, can’t actually speak with animals?”

“I was able to speak with animals, but then that whole… thing.”

“What thing?”

“Ne-never mind that”, Albus’ face was bright red, “Let us focus on the task at hand. Does any wizard present know how to speak with animals?”

A wizard wearing a dress covered in grass and roots gingerly raised her hand.

“Oh, Vega.”, Apheena waved.

“Hiya. I can talk with animals.”

“But can they talk back?”, Apheena joked.

“Well, yes, they can. The other day I met this mouse in the gutter and he wouldn’t stop talking about this little woman that he had captured. Get this: She was shrunk down by a witch. And the mice kidna…”

“Can we focus on this mouse for now, Vega, darling? I’m sure your story is properly delightful, it's just not the moment, okay?”

“Okay.”

Vega’s face grew somber as she concentrated her energy into speaking telephatically with the mouse.

“Hiya, little guy. It’s me. Vega. They want to know how you came into being. And if you want to work. And, hm, do you want a guild membership?”

“What is a guild?”, Silver asked, confused.

“It’s kinda like a cool place to make friends.”

“And you have to pay to make friends?”

Vega frowned and looked at Apheena.

“Why do we pay to be in the guild?”

“Because we offer facilities, support, networking, training and plenty of other useful things for wizards?”

“Oh…”, Vega looked back at the mouse, a little flustered, “It seems it's not about making friends. That explains why I haven’t made many friends. Or any friends at all. But I do like Lady Apheena. She is a good company. A great company. I…”

“Was that man my father?”

Silver pointed with his little paws towards where the body was incinerated.

“He was your creator. Your master…”, her nose twitched at the word, “...as some would say. Apparently he tried to use you to defend himself from a spell. And, how do I put it, you weren’t supposed to still exist. Summoned beasts only last as long as wizards hold concentration. And it's pretty hard to remain concentrated when you are dead, so you shouldn’t be here. This reminds me of that one time…”

“Vega, stop boring the mouse”, Apheena snapped.

“How do you know I’m boring him? Are you reading my thoughts?”

“No, but you have been gesturing non-stop. I would be bored already.”

“Would you be bored by me?”

“No, Vega, darling, but focus on getting the right info, okay?”

Vega sighed and resumed her conversation with Silver.

“Little guy, did you understand our conversation just now?”

“Yes, but… how can I be here still?”

“Hard to know. I was hoping you knew. They will soon grow tired of waiting for an answer and choose a rasher approach. But I won’t let them, okay? I will take you with me.”

“You will be my new master?”

Their noses twitched at the word.

“I would never. We will be friends.”

She winked at him and turned towards Apheena. The Magus was smiling at her, expecting good news. Albus, however, loomed over her shoulder, already anticipating the bad news.

“He doesn’t know how he was created.”

“What about the rest? Did he want a guild membership? Did you ask if he was interested in Top Magic Spells?”

“He didn’t seem interested.”

Albus strode to the middle of the room, beaming.

“It seems, Apheena, your plans are, again, a failure. But I urge you, my kind, to not be let down. We might not be able to make profit out of this, but there is much to be learned. The mouse needs to be seized and studied.”

“I intend to take him as my familiar, Albus”, Vega said.

“As if. Creating permanent life will be the greatest advancement of our time. No one is going to stand in my… in our way. Now those pesky knights will see the value of our guild when they are replaced by more formidable and apt soldiers made by our magic.”

“Albus, I already said…”

“As a Magus, I can disregard any right to property or ownership if it means an advantage to our kind. Besides, he is not your familiar. There is no magical connection between the two of you.”

“I will not allow you to take him.”

“Vega, don’t be this tree-hugging stupid freak, okay?”, Albus straightened his body and proclaimed, “By the powers invested in me by the High Magi, I will take this mouse as property of the wizard’s guild.”

Albus started towards the mouse, but Vega quickly levitated him towards herself.

“Vega…”

“I won’t let you take him!”

Albus sighed and cast a sleep spell on Vega, who fell unconscious. Apheena stepped between the two.

“We are not starting another fight tonight, Albus.”

“Your heritage will not stop me, Apheena.”, he raised his arms, “Step aside.”

Apheena didn’t budge. Albeit his previous words, Albus was hesitant to attack a fellow Magus, especially Apheena. But this was his big chance, a way to restore the wizard’s guild to its former glory. Already regretting his move, he sent a stream of spells towards Apheena.

“Is that all you got?”

As he opened his eyes, he saw a powerful magic barrier standing in front of Apheena. She had her arms crossed, not even a single drop of sweat in her brow. She looked like she didn’t exert any sort of effort to create the barrier.

“You are looking at the wrong caster, Albus.”

Apheena pointed downwards. Albus followed her direction and saw the most bizarre scene: A little silver mouse, his paws outstretched, holding concentration to keep the magical barrier in place.

“I… I…”

Albus Albinius Albanius, in centuries gone known as Albus the Beast Whisperer, fell to his knees.

“Defeated by a mouse!”

That was too devastating of a blow to his ego. His skin started to wrinkle and then crack, all his years suddenly catching up with him. Always falling towards the dramatic, he exploded in a cloud of purple glitter, never to be seen again.

And that was my first hour in this world. I would partake in many adventures in the years to come and… What, did you think I was telling the story of another silver magic mouse? How many of those do you think exist?

Anyway, Vega and I became friends and, although they really wanted it, the other wizards couldn’t experiment on me. Since I was able to cast a spell, I was protected under the wizard’s laws.

What? How was I created? Did you really think I would tell you this easily? No, I just wanted to tell you the tale of the day I was made. If you hear all my stories, I might tell you. For now, off with you. I crave my afternoon nap.