7. Posters of the infamous

As wizard and trainee walked into the kitchen of the shack for some cold refreshments, Thogan recognized a familiar face. But it was not just Olivia whom he identified, it was also the thief standing beside her. Thogan rapidly aimed his wand at the criminal, his wand glowing at the end of it, as if he was ready to burn down everyone in the room to neutralize his target. “Get away from him Oliva!”, he shouted. While analyzing the criminal more, he noticed a poster in his hand. It was a poster of the infamous architect, signed by king Alfred, and on the poster was imprinted: “Melvin, the praying mantis, the architect.” And under the name was a picture-perfect portrait of the mantis. Thogan knew, that he was now the one without allies, and not the thief. Both started to trade magic shots with each other. In the stable, Melvin was still monologuing: “I built some of the greatest statues the world had ever seen, Samuel! I made works of art!” “What did ya make, Neville?”, Samuel asked, as he took another sip of his bottle. “All of king Alfred’s statues, they’re from me!”, Melvin staggered around when he tried to point at himself, “And my name isn’t Neville, it’s much cooler than that!. It’s Melvin! Sorry ´bout them legs by the way.” “All forgiven, dude”, Samuel gently closed his eyes as he looked upwards, “Hey Melvin, could you stand on that red circle other there?” “Sure thing buddy!”, answered Melvin and wobbled over towards it. And when he was there, Samuel pulled a rope next to him and a bird cage fell upon the little mantis, trapping him. The duel between Thogan and the criminal had moved on to the living room. When the wizard finally landed a perfect shot at him, he crashed on to the floor, feet high up in the air. Thogan then attempted to trap the thief with a tendril spell. The green tentacles moved towards the immobilized young man, the disheveled blond hair hiding his scared eyes. He weakly tried to pull himself backwards, while still on the ground. Once the tendrils nearly caught up to him, a loud thumb was heard from the stable behind the house. It was the bird cage. This startled Thogan and gave his enemy the opportunity to seize the moment and shoot a powerful magic beam at him. The wizard crashed to the floor just as the thief did before him. When he handcuffed him with dark magical cuffs, the father entered the house with Melvin in the bird cage and the bird cage on his lap. Simon noticed them first: “Why do you two look so dizzy?” Olivia rolled her eyes and went to Thogan. “I’m sorry powerful wizard”, she apologized, “But we had no choice. The king has terrorized his people for too long. We need to put an end to this.” “Olivia, this man uses dark magic, he is dangerous!”, the wizard shouted while still in pain. The dark magic user stepped forward and kneeled close to the wizard: “My name is Rubin, and I am her son. We have an agreement with the bandits. This evening Aunt Velma will arrive and take you two with her to the king. Without anyone to defend him, she will put an end to this reign of terror and free the people of this kingdom.” “Aunt Velma?!”, Thogan was shocked, “You are working with the bandit witch?! Do you even know who you’re dealing with here, boy?!” Rubin stood up, not seeming interested in dealing with the wizards outrage. “Place them away from the entrance”, he ordered. Rubin forcefully grabbed the wizard’s wand and pocketed it. As Thogan saw Melvin being placed next to him, he looked at the mantis in confusion: “Why do you look so dizzy?”