Drasmyr (Prequel: From the Ashes of Ruin)

by Matthew D. Ryan

Chapter Thirty-Three

  Regecon glanced briefly at the three sheafs of paper Porthion had handed him. He scanned the first few lines then placed the papers on the top of his desk. He walked around the edge of the desk to his chair, then sat down.

  Porthion fidgeted uncomfortably. “May we go now, Guild Master?”

  Regecon shook his head. “No, not quite yet. You and Tenovah are sure of your results.”

  Porthion nodded. Of course they were. They were the next in skill after Morcallenon, and with the head diviner dead, they were the only ones Regecon could turn to concerning the necromantic jar. The short report on his desk summarized their findings.

  Regecon lifted the top sheaf of paper again, and began to read. After several lines, he raised both eyebrows in surprise. “The jar ... undoes the invitation? That is an odd power to have. How does it work?”

  Porthion shuffled his feet and looked around as if expecting to find someone else in the guild master’s chamber who might be able to answer the question. There was no one else present, however, except Tenovah and Tenovah was probably the only mage in the guild more reticent and reclusive than the old librarian. Indeed, Regecon should be thankful he had received the report at all; it had taken the guild nearly an hour to find these men. Finally, Porthion began to speak. “Well, a great number of the sigils on the jar are descriptions of the ritual involved ...”

  “Yes?”

  “The paste itself is the crucial element. When specially prepared, it burns easily and the smoke and fumes it releases will wipe a vampire’s presence from a small, confined area.”

  Regecon scratched his beard. If they could figure out how to work this jar, it might be a great boon indeed. “How does ...?” The implications of what the diviner had just told him crashed into him. His voice trailed off and he felt a sickly sensation in his stomach. “Arcalian knew.”

  Porthion’s face twisted in something close to pain. “That would seem likely.”

  Regecon shook his head. The evidence against Arcalian had been steadily growing over the course of the past week. And despite the fact that he had previously said that Arcalian was somehow involved in dark doings, a small part of himself had held out hope. Like the others, he had wanted to doubt treachery on Arcalian’s part, but this jar left no more room for excuses. The object and its contents were designed to remove the effects of a vampire’s invitation, to allow one to meet with a vampire in a building and place of one’s choosing without giving the vampire any advantage whatsoever. With this magic, Arcalian could meet with the vampire in his own room and not have to worry about the creature sneaking back to destroy him. Once he removed the invitation, the creature would be unable to re-enter the building until he invited it again. Arcalian had met with Lucian, perhaps on more than one occasion. Arcalian was evil.

  Regecon’s eyes lifted up to meet Porthion’s. The wrinkled figure read his face and shivered. “I could not help but come to the same conclusion.” The librarian reddened. “I think we are fortunate that Arcalian is no longer with us. Perhaps it is to my shame, but I find myself praying for his death.”

  Regecon nodded grimly. “He is dead.”

  “Can you be certain?”

  “Lucian can slay men with ease. A guardsman wouldn’t even slow him down and I doubt that Aristoceles would stand much chance either. If by some miracle Arcalian managed to escape Lucian’s clutches, I do not believe he could have gotten far.” Regecon glanced toward the report, then shook his head sadly. “Perhaps it is a twisted justice, but I suspect that Arcalian’s dealings with necromancy sealed his fate.”

  Porthion nodded. “You are probably right.”

  Regecon glanced at the sheaf of paper in his hand one more time. “How does the jar work? An invitation does not seem to be the type of thing that can be revoked. To me it seems like something that once done is over and done with. I’ve never pictured it being tied to magic in any way.”

  “Trying to understand it as the dispelling of a magical spell might be somewhat erroneous. From what Tenovah and I learned, it would be better to regard it as a type of exorcism.”

  “An exorcism?”

  “Yes. As you know, demons and other nefarious spiritual entities have the ability to possess people and inhabit human bodies. The priests of most religions have developed rites and rituals to exorcise such demons and spirits. When the proper chants are performed, a priest can drive a demon out and cleanse a human being’s body.”

  “What does that have to do with the vampire and invitations?”

  “In a way, a vampire who has been invited into a building has been given leave to possess the building. It is not the same as demonic possession since there is no conscious entity being subdued, but it is similar. As I said, the jar and the paste inside allow one to perform a ritual to effectively exorcise a vampire’s presence from a small area.”

  “Would we be able to use this now? Could we exorcise Lucian’s presence from this guild?”

  Porthion shook his head and frowned. “I’m afraid not. The paste has a limited area of effect, perhaps one room could be cleansed at any one time. There are also time constraints as well. The longer one waits to invoke the magic, the more difficult it will be to exorcise the vampire. Lucian has had a grip on this guild for nearly a week now; even if we had enough paste to exorcise every room, I don’t think we would succeed. The ritual seems specifically designed to allow one to meet with a vampire in a place of one’s own choosing, and then take measures to protect oneself as soon as the creature has left. For our needs, it is useless.”