by J B Drake
“I must be off, Matriarch,” she said. “Forgive me.”
“Your Matriarch is asking you to sit, so sit!”
Anise paused, then turned to her Matriarch.
“Ever since my return, I’ve spent every waking moment living for them. Not a day has gone by when I haven’t thanked them for forcing you to come after me. Some days I think about how deep into that madness I’d have sunk by now had they not forced your hand. Only, they never did. They saw me as a monster, too.”
“They wanted you back, Anise,” Naeve replied, “more than anything. It was I who talked them out of it.”
Anise smiled as a single tear ran down her cheek.
“Thank you for saying that, Matriarch,” she said as she opened the door. “It means a lot to me.”
“Anise, wait,” Naeve said as Anise darted out of the door.
“Forgive me, Matriarch,” Anise replied as she shut the door behind her and hurried away.
As she fled, Anise let her feet take her where they wished as she fought back her tears, gritting her teeth with all she had. But the pain in her heart was just too great, and before long the grieving Archmage turned to the wall beside her, her hands balled into fists as they rested upon the wall, and with her head bowed low, she wept silently as the pain tore through her.
Eventually, her tears stopped and, taking a deep breath, Anise raised her head as she let it out slowly, wiping her tears as she did so. Then, she took stock of her surroundings. It was then her eyes fell upon Baern’s door. She stared in silence at the door for a spell.
“Damn you, Mardaley,” she hissed. “Damn you to all the hells!”
Straightening, she marched towards the Magister’s door, barging through it without so much as a knock.
“Forgotten how to knock, have you?” Baern said.
Brooding, Anise stared in silence for a moment before finding her composure.
“Forgive me,” she said, then closed the door behind her.
“You’re alone?”
Turning back to the Magister as he sat ramrod straight in his office chair, Anise nodded, then headed over to the chair nearest his desk.
“Did you not go see Naeve?” Baern asked as Anise sat, a deep frown upon his lips.
Sighing, Anise nodded and straightened in her seat.
“You didn’t tell her?”
Anise shook her head.
Baern’s frown deepened. “Why not?”
Anise shrugged. “No point anymore.”
“Meaning?”
“I asked her about what you and Mardaley said.”
“Ah,” Baern replied before sighing and settling deeper in his seat. He stared in silence at Anise for a spell, then reached beside him for something she couldn’t see.
“What are you…?” Anise began, then fell silent as Baern placed a box upon his desk and rose.
However, it was only when the Magister began taking items out of the box and placing them in his desk drawers that Anise realised his desk was bare. As she carried her eyes about the room, she soon noticed all the adornments upon the walls were also gone.
Smiling, she turned to the Magister as she shook her head.
“What?” Baern asked as he continued placing his belongings back where they belonged.
“Shall I help?”
“No, it’s alright.” Baern shook his head. “It won’t take long.”
Nodding, Anise sighed and left him be, relaxing into her chair as she watched him in silence.
“So, what happens now?” Baern asked.
“Now, I…” Anise began, then paused as she straightened.
“Would you mind, uhm…?” she asked, wagging a finger about her.
“Hrm?” Baern frowned, but soon understood what she meant, and placing the plaque in his hand upon his desk, he called forth a dome of silence about the pair.
“I’m surprised you’re so calm,” Anise said once the dome was in place. “You were about to lose everything.”
“Ah, but I didn’t.” Baern smiled as he to continued return his things to their places.
“Marshalla and Tip,” Anise said, “are they still here?”
“Oh, yes.” Baern nodded. “They’re all waiting for word from me.”
Shaking her head, Anise sighed as a bitter smile parted her lips. “I suppose it was pretty obvious to you all how today would turn out, then, eh?”
Stopping, Baern stared at her, then sighed.
“None of us were sure what your decision would be, Anise.”
“And yet none of you planned for the worst.”
Baern smiled at her. “Mardaley managed to convince Ani not to do anything rash, us not having a void-sphere made that possible. And without a rampaging chronodragon, Naeve won’t be making a move against anyone till she has a void-sphere, and by then you can be sure we’d have found all the answers we’d need, and they’d be long gone from here.”
Anise fought back her smile as she lowered her gaze.
“Precisely.” Baern nodded.
“What did you and the others discuss, then?” Anise asked.
“Well…” Baern sighed as he sat. “They all agreed, eventually, that it didn’t make any sense for the creature to remain in Tip, and there was more to this tale than we know. So we’re going to find out.”
Anise frowned. “Don’t you think you’re overthinking this?”
“What do you mean?”
“I was thinking this through this morning, turning what you said over in my head. In the simplest terms, Tip is possessed by a demon. No matter how powerful this Tien’razul is, he is still just a demon. And demonic possessions are nothing new, neither is their cure.”
Baern smiled. “Maline said something similar.”
At the mention of that name, a wave of shame washed over Anise, but she kept her peace.
“And what did the others think?” she asked.
“Well, Marsha was all for it, but the others didn’t see it as a good idea, and I agree with them.”
Anise frowned. “How’s that not a good idea?”
“Well, firstly, demonic possessions aren’t known to grant you eternal youth.”
“Ah, of course.” Anise nodded. “Tip’s age.”
“Precisely.”
“But this Tien’razul is meant to wield great power. Who’s to say Tip’s youth is not due to him?”
“If it is, what’s to stop Tip from feeling the full effects of his age the moment we complete an exorcism?”
“Ah…”
“There’s more. Demonic possessions have always, without exception, been about the demon and the host battling for control. Yesterday was no battle. That demon only surfaced when Tip’s mind broke, meaning he can only speak when Tip allows him, or is unable to stop him.”
“That’s a stretch, Baern.”
“Is it?”
Anise nodded. “You’re drawing an inference from what may well be simple coincidence.”
Baern smiled at this. “Using my own words against me now?”
Anise smiled. “They’re good words.”
“Then you explain what we saw.”
“There’s nothing to explain. Mere coincidence.”
“Was it?”
Anise nodded.
“Then, why did it stop?”
“Why did what stop?”
“It stopped, Anise. Had it chosen to walk out of Mardaley’s front door I doubt we could’ve stopped it. Yet it chose to lie down upon Mardaley’s sofa. Why?”
“To heal…Tip.” The absurdity of her words burned her lips and it showed.
“Yes.” Magister Meadowview nodded. “I thought the same thing myself. Why in the world does it care? I do believe Tip has some control over it, and Ani agrees.”
“You’re calling her Ani now?”
Grinning, Baern shrugged.
“What does Mardaley think?”
“Well, he thinks there’s too much we don’t know. For all we know, this healing it’s doing is a means of loosening Tip’s control
over it.”
“Good gods!”
“Calm, Anise. Mardaley doesn’t think whatever this healing is will be enough for it to take over Tip’s body, and I agree with him.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because what happened to Tip yesterday came as a result of him remembering past events. If the remembering was this painful, the events themselves would’ve been worse, and he’s still in control. No, chances are good we’re not going to lose Tip. But make no mistake, that thing wants control, and until we learn more about how it’s bound to Tip, all we’re doing is guessing.”
“I suppose an exorcism is out of the question, then.” Anise sighed.
“No.” Baern shook his head. “Nothing is out of the question right now, we just need to know more.”
Anise frowned once more. “You just said an exorcism might age the boy overnight.”
“Yes.” The Magister sighed. “But if there turns out to be no other way to stop this thing, well…”
“And Marsha’s alright with that?”
“Not in the slightest.” Baern grinned. “She was set to bite my head off when I it last night.”
“I see.” Anise smiled.
“But she wasn’t the only one. Care to guess who else?”
Anise’s smile grew. “Maline.”
“No, Ani.”
“Ah, of course.”
“Yes. She made it quite clear no harm was to come to Tip or we risk her wrath.”
“Ha!” Anise exclaimed. “Definitely sounds like her.”
“Yes.” Baern grinned.
“So, what now?”
“Now.” Baern sighed, “we learn more.”
“And how do we do that?”
“By going back to the source, where it all began.”
Anise frowned. “What do you mean, where it all began?”
“This all began with Agril’s experiments, so we start there.”
Anise’s frown deepened. “You mean to go to Fa’aldurn Marsh?”
“No.” Baern shook his head. “There’ll be precious little in there that we can uncover on our own. We’d need a full-scale recovery team, and even then, we’d need quite some time to gather anything of note. No, we’re better off focusing on the towns surrounding it. If we can find someone who was there the day Aldurn became the Marsh, or some notes somewhere on what happened, that might help us see what we cannot.”
“That’s a rather big if, Baern,” Anise replied. “All this happened decades ago, there’s no guarantee anyone from back then is still alive, let alone settled nearby.”
Baern nodded. “I agree, chances aren’t good, but we must try.”
“Who’s going? You?”
Baern shook his head. “I can’t leave without garnering attention. And if Mardaley leaves, people will immediately begin asking after Tip.”
“Ah,” Anise replied, then frowned. “Hold, where is Tip?”
A wry smile parted Baern’s lips. “Still lying on that couch, I expect.”
“You expect…?” Anise said as she cast him a slow sideways glance.
“Mhm.”
“Baern…”
“Yes, Anise?”
“You know you’re quite insufferable when you’re like this, don’t you?”
Baern grinned, but kept his peace.
“Very well,” she sighed, “he’s lying on Mardaley’s couch.”
“I expect so, yes.”
“How long before he’s missed?”
“He won’t be, and we have Marsha to thank for that.”
“Oh?”
Baern nodded. “She and I started some rumours last night.”
“Oh?” Anise smiled. “You’re dabbling in rumours now, are you?”
Baern huffed. “Don’t start, it was hard enough looking myself in the mirror this morning.”
Anise laughed. “So, what rumour did you start?”
“That Tip had a wailing fit at Mardaley’s yesterday, kept talking about Netari Fairshroud and how she was coming to get him.”
Anise frowned a spell, then smiled. “You’re going to say he doesn’t want to leave Mardaley’s for fear of running into Netari.”
Baern nodded. “Yes. It’s weak, I grant you, but given the right…encouragement, it just might work.”
“But why start a rumour? Why not tell Naeve directly? If you convince her that Tip doesn’t want to leave Mardaley’s, nobody will question you.”
A sheepish smile parted the Magister’s lips. “Because we weren’t expecting that I’d still have Naeve’s ear.”
“Ah.”
“Yes.”
Anise fell silent as she stared at Baern’s desk.
“But,” Baern continued, “given that I still do, you’re right. I need only convince Naeve and things should fall into place.”
“So, who is going, then?” Anise asked, staring at him once more. “To Fa’aldurn, I mean.”
“Not Fa’aldurn, just—“
“You know what I mean, Baern.”
Baern smiled.
“Drake and Marsha,” he said.
“Marsha?”
Baern nodded. “She insisted.”
Anise frowned once more. “You’re going to have a damn difficult time keeping the rumour mill silent with Marsha heading off anywhere while Tip’s refusing to leave Mardaley’s home.”
Baern smiled. “Ani said the same thing.”
“And?”
“And, that’s where Marsha’s rumour comes in.”
Anise frowned. “I thought you and she started a rumour about Tip.”
Baern shook his head. “No, I started the rumour about Tip. Marsha started a different one.”
Slowly, Anise grinned. “Oh, this must be a good one.”
Baern too smiled, but his was sheepish. “She started a rumour that she needs some time alone, away from everyone. She’s…uh…saying that…uh…your friendship with her is dead, that you no longer care for her, and that the memories of her killing Netari are haunting her beyond imagining, so…she needs some time away to heal.”
Anise’s grin faded. “I see.”
“Yes. Don’t take it personally, Anise, it’s—”
Anise waved the Magister’s words away. “It needed to be done.”
“Yes.” Baern sighed. “Yes, it did.”
A thought struck Anise. “Baern we have many people in Fa’aldurn, and the surrounding towns. If one of them sees Drake and Marsha wandering about the place and sends word back to the Tower… Given how Naeve feels about Mardaley—”
“Oh, she told you, did she?” Baern grinned.
Anise smiled. “Not in so many words.”
“Heh.”
“But given her feelings about Mardaley, were she to learn Marsha’s in the company of one of his agents while Tip is more or less imprisoned in his home, she’ll know something’s afoot. For sure of it.”
“Hrm,” Baern muttered as he leant into his chair. “You make a good point.”
Anise nodded. “Precisely.”
“We shall have to take that chance,” Baern said at last. “They leave tomorrow evening, as soon as Drake arrives. Maline’s out shopping for provisions as we speak.”
“It’s a dangerous chance to take.”
“I know.” Baern sighed. “For once I find myself wishing Naeve didn’t take necromancy so seriously.”
Anise grinned, but as she moved to speak, an answer presented itself to her, one as simple as it was startling.
“What if I go instead of Drake?”
“You?” Baern exclaimed.
Anise nodded. “You said it yourself, rumour is my friendship with Marsha is dead. What better way to heal a rift than an excursion?”
Baern frowned. “An excursion to Fa’aldurn?”
Anise smiled. “Our necromancers in Kirsk are constantly sending missives on the strange new creatures they see and learn about in Fa’aldurn. Well, I’ve decided to take Marsha with me to learn more about them.”
“Th
at’s…hrm, that just might work.”
Anise nodded once more. “It should.”
Then, Baern shook his head.
“No,” he sighed, “it’s too deep in the human lands. Sending you that far in is a risk we mustn’t take.”
“I…” Anise began, but her words were chased away by icy claws grasping at her insides. Gritting her teeth, she shook her head as she fought the cold within.
“The Crimson Blade’s been gone for over twenty years, Baern,” she said, “and besides, we stuck to the coasts. It’s unlikely anyone will recognise me.”
“But not impossible,” Baern replied, shaking his head.
Anise nodded. “True, but even if that did happen, enough time has passed to allow me shrug their claims off easily enough.”
Baern frowned as he stared at her.
“Allow me do this, Baern. Please.”
Baern’s frown deepened a spell, but soon faded as a faint smile took its place.
“It’s still a better plan than mine,” he said.
Anise grinned. “Thank you.”
“You have have to convince Mardaley, though,” Baern went on. “And after last night…”
Anise sighed. “There is that, yes.” Then, her face lit up. “Does he still like his wines?”
Baern cast a sideways glance at her. “Meaning?”
Anise smiled. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Anise, what are you thinking?”
Anise’s smile grew.
“You’re not going to raid your mother’s wine cellar again are you?”
Anise remained silent.
“The expensive bottles?”
Still, Anise remained silent, her smile now a grin.
“Daniton said—”
“Daniton has his hands full,” Anise interjected, “and by the time he finds out, I shall be far from here.”
It was now Baern’s turn to fall silent.
“Well,” he said at last, “since you’ll be in there, perhaps you could—”
“If I take one, Daniton might forgive me. If I take two, he’ll simply kill me.”
“Ah.”
“Yes.”
Baern sighed and shook his head. “I supposed I should send word to Mardaley.”
Nodding, Anise rose. “And I suppose I’d best go get things ready.”
“I shall come over to the Pens when I’m set to go.”
“Alright,” Anise nodded once more. “I shall wait for you there.”
Then, Baern smiled. “I’m glad you changed your mind.”
