by Terah Edun
“Do you?” Meres asked gently.
Looking down at the knife in his hands, Meres continued, “When I was your age, I thought I understood, but I didn’t. I was proud and foolish and thought I could withstand anything.”
“Sir,” said Barren with strength in his voice, “I understand that I must protect my people. I can’t do that like this. I don’t know if the Shadow Man is still lurking in my mind waiting to take over, watching my movements. I can’t live like that. If you can help, then...then that’s what I want.”
“Well spoken,” said Meres. “The woman holding you at knifepoint has special skills. Skills I won’t get into here. But if anyone can break the spell he has on you and decipher the hold, it’s she.”
Not even bothering to try to move an inch, Barren addressed Vana, “Please, Milady, whatever you can do would help.”
“Very well,” said Vana. She turned to Terris and Ciardis, who stood silently in the background watching the scene unfold. Her eyes were unreadable, but Terris thought she saw regret in them.
Dropping her knife to the ground with a sudden movement, Vana gripped both sides of Barren’s head with steady hands. She swept his legs out from under him with a thrust out foot in the same movement. As he fell, she controlled the fall and they descended to the ground together so she was seated on the ground cross-legged with his head in her lap. Without pausing further, she delved deep into her mage core and proceeded to unlock his mind.
It wasn’t pretty to watch on a physical or a magical level.
With a weird mix of fear and anticipation spreading over her body, Ciardis watched as Barren’s body began to spasm. His head began to jerk back and forth between Vana’s palms soon after that, the shakes extending from his head down his body. Meres rushed over to hold down Barren’s torso, but that didn’t stop his legs and feet from kicking out. Meres cursed; he was going to hurt himself. The older mage called out to Terris and Ciardis, “Grab a leg and press down.”
They hurried over and tried to ride out the spasms. Pain crossed onto Barren’s unconscious face sporadically, and Ciardis could see that although Vana was still sitting upright with her legs crossed, she was just as unconscious. Her mind had gone elsewhere—deep into Barren’s. Ciardis didn’t want to let go of Barren’s leg, but she had the instinctive urge to jump into the mind-meld. She didn’t know why.
“Don’t even think about it,” said Meres from where he was pressing down on Barren’s chest with all of his strength.
“Your magic and your powers are too untested,” he said grimly. “You can—you will—do much more harm than good. Stay here.”
But Ciardis didn’t have a choice. Barren lurched up with one of the most powerful spasms yet and his hand gripped Ciardis’s.
Here we go again, she thought wistfully.
And then she was gone, drowning in the sea of twined magic that was Vana and Barren’s mage cores. Ciardis, unlike Vana, who had trained enough to lock her body down despite an unconscious mind, fell forward in a slump. Her head fell next to Terris’s lap and her body weighing down Barren’s legs.
Looking at her friend thoughtfully, Terris said, “Well, that’s one way to hold him down.”
Meres had some choice curses for that.
Chapter 30
Falling into someone else’s magic was a curious experience. It wasn’t a controlled descent but a fast free-fall along a tunnel of light. She never knew when she would slow down or even if she would. It was exhilarating in that sense. Frightening in many others. This magic was filled with gold—pale and fiery—like the magic a child would want. Ciardis called out for Vana as she looked for the mage in the magic. The answer she got in her mind was very different from the voice she expected.
“Well, little mage,” said the Land Wight with satisfaction, “it has been a while since we met.”
Ciardis gasped and turned around in surprise. She couldn’t see it, but she could feel it.
“Is it really you, Land Wight?” she said. “Your presence is the same but your voice is stronger.”
“I have grown,” it said.
“Where are you? I can’t see you.” she said. “What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here?” it said with gentle amusement. “You’re in my presence—in my mind, Ciardis Weathervane.”
She stared in awe. “I am? But I was heading for a mage, not for you. And besides, I thought only Sebastian had that ability.”
“You were and he does,” said the Land Wight. “But you were heading down the wrong path. To the Shadow Mage.”
“It was filled with light and—”
“Appearances can always deceive, little mage,” the Land Wight said firmly. “You should know this by now,” it chided.
“So you’re aware of the shadowman?” she said. “The mage?”
“He has taken the Ameles Forest into the darkness where I cannot follow,” the Land Wight said.
“How? Why?” she said.
“I cannot answer your second query. But the absence of the Princess Heir has caused pockets to form. Sebastian will fill them in time. I have grown stronger, but I do not yet have the strength to take back all of the land in the Prince Heir’s place.”
“You sound stronger,” she ventured.
“My mind is clearer. I can hear the thoughts of the land and see what must be done.”
“Enough to help us here?” she said.
“My ability to exercise my powers is limited, little mage,” it said thoughtfully, “I only came this time to protect your mind from harm. I cannot interfere in your battle with the Shadow Mage. I am battling forces in the North that are taking too much of my strength.”
“I understand. Can you take me to Vana? I need to help her with Barren’s shadow-plagued mind.”
There was silence for a minute, and then the Land Wight said, “I will release you into their meld now. Be wary, little mage. You are reaching for magic that you have not yet learned to control.”
And suddenly it was gone and Ciardis felt herself drop. In front of her Vana floated, and she looked Ciardis over with an angry sigh. “I should have known you’d pop in. Ciardis, you really have to learn when it’s not good for you to jump into another mage’s magic.”
“Well—”
“If you’re not invited, that’s a sign not to interfere.”
“Yes, but the Land Wight said—”
“Land Wight?” snapped Vana, “Mother light—what Land Wight?”
“The one that was just here.” Calling the vibe she got from Lady Vana right then ‘irritation’ would have been a kindness.
“Child,” Lady Vana said kindly, “I can see why half the court wants you gone. You’re trouble.”
“I didn’t call it here,” Ciardis replied, “I mean, not intentionally.”
She rushed to explain, “The Shadow Mage is aware we’re here.” Wherever here was.
They stood in front of another barrier...which Ciardis was getting heartily tired of. This once glowed with the golden aura of the tunnel she’d been drawn down but black streaks of lightning broke the continuity – moving in waves across the golden barrier.
Nodding at the barrier Vana said “The Shadow Mage can’t hide that his presence has been here – not while we stand so near Barren’s mage core.”
“So is that barrier Barren’s or the Shadow Mage’s?”
“It’s Barren’s magic under the Shadow Mage’s will,” said Vana, “I suspect the Shadow Mage threw it up when he felt me probing Barren’s mind.”
Silence fell as they watched the immobile wall.
“We can’t get through it,” Vana said, raising her hand to push firmly at the wall, “Not in the way that you and Terris did.”
“Are you sure? There’re no cracks at the seams?”
Vana laughed, “The Shadow Mage learned his lesson once. He won’t make the same mistake again.”
Her voice dipping low, “Fortunately he wasn’t aware I was coming.”
Turning to Ciardis she sai
d briskly, “Since you’re here you’re going to help but don’t get in my way. I don’t have time to save you or coddle you.”
Ciardis nodded and Vana grabbed her hand. With a further word she drove her power at the barrier. When the point of her power reached the barrier Ciardis felt Vana command it to meld. It spread like purple ooze along the barrier wall until it covered it from edge to edge with no gold to be seen.
Through the line of power leading back to Vana she began to pull insistently at the barrier with her magic like the suction of the ocean waves breaking against the beach sand and dragging back into the deep water.
As her pull became greater Lady Vana Cloudbreaker stepped forward and raised her hand. As the power was fading from the barrier, she was absorbing it into her body. The barrier began to weaken – buckling under the pressure of her purple seal and its own loss of power.
It began to swirl like water running down a drain and feed into the power line that Vana had conjured. In minutes the barrier had almost cleared and Ciardis heard Vana speak again through labored breaths, “This Shadow Mage is stronger than I thought. But not strong enough to fight me here – not from so far away. I’m going to go behind the barrier and clean up this mess. Here’s what I need you to do – stabilize the drain with your magic. Can you do that?”
She looked at Ciardis waiting on her answer.
She nodded in return and swiftly reached for the line of power.
“Wait,” snapped Vana. She quickly tied off the power feeding into her own core and created a giant withdrawal ball directly in front of her. It looked like the end of a glassmaker’s wand right after the tip was pulled from the hot fire – golden and round with a glowing consistency. The black streaks continuously moving through the power only added to its beauty.
“It will continue to feed from the source until the barrier has completely disintegrated,” said Vana, “Now you can take the feed.”
They transferred it over and Ciardis concentrated on keeping the power flow stable and flowing. It was worrying to watch the black streaks of shadow flowing into the ball but creating a divergent thread wasn’t going to happen now that Vana had gone.
Good luck, she thought as she watched the woman tough as nails crawl through the fissures in the now weakened barrier. At first nothing happened and all around Ciardis the pulse of magic continued and then she felt it – a battle of wills on the other side’s barrier. What was most disconcerting were the waves of magic occasionally pushing through the broken barrier. They would hit her head on like a high wind after a storm and she would have to brace herself against the on-slaught.
“Vana, hurry please,” she said as she watched the walls of the magic began to pulse erratically. Ciardis knew that meant that the battle was affecting Barren. His mage pulse was becoming erratic and his physical pulse was speed up correspondingly. Eventually it would be enough to cause an irregular pulse in a person’s heart and if continued could kill Barren from the inside out.
“I don’t know how much more of this he can take.”
*****
On the other side of the barrier Vana was eyeing a black shadow form with human features and double-edged jagged blades for hands.
“Don’t suppose you can talk, can you?” she asked jovially.
The creature stepped forward, raised its bladed left hand and swiped at her.
“Didn’t think so,” she said as she danced backwards.
It was slow. That was to her advantage. She also didn’t think it was more than an automaton – a creature created for the express purpose to serve its master and complete one task. In this case keep Vana, and other mages, away from the pure-black ball of magic behind it. Spherical and hovering a few inches off the ground it had tendrils of shadow leaking from it and attaching themselves like roots to the surrounding walls of Barren’s mage core. Vana had no doubt that this was the Shadow Mage’s way of exerting control over Barren.
As they continued their dance of swipe and dodge Vana decided it was time to up the ante. The walls of magic around them were pulsing fiercely – a tremor she’d seen in many mages just before they crumbled to the floor with their hearts beating erratically in their chests. Eventually succumbing to heart failure. She didn’t want to die.
And she certainly didn’t want to be trapped in his mage core if he did.
Jumping back with a leap that pushed her into the air, Vana called up a defense blade of magic. It pulsed with the purple color of her core and acted as an extension of her hand.
With a sadistic grin she said at the creature, “You’re not the only one who can grow blades.”
And then she struck, again and again and again, in a fiery sequence that said she’d been playing with it all along. Within a few seconds the creature had been decapitated with both of its arms lying by its side and its head a few feet away. She threw out shields on the limbs to keep its body from re-integrating just in case.
Not many mages could do that. But her talents extended beyond breaking into and deciphering complex mage spells – it also lent itself well to keeping those spells broken.
She walked forward and eyed the pulsing black ball that was currently ensnaring the boy.
“Ingenious,” she muttered softly to herself, “I haven’t seen this level of control outside of the Mind Mages in the North. And it’s self-contained.”
Taking one last look she changed the blade in her hand into a long whip. With almighty heave she wrapped it around the core and proceeded to squeeze it magically with all the power she had. Just when she thought it wouldn’t break it – it burst with a sudden gale force. The Shadow Mage’s power dispersed like a dark cloud in all directions and dissipated in the core.
She heard a startled shout from the other side of the barrier. It hadn’t been a warning or a cry of pain, just surprise, so she ignored it for the moment. Sending out feelers she checked to make sure it wouldn’t adversely affect the boy, but it looked like his core was merely absorbing everything that was left. She disappeared the whip and made sure none of her own magic was leaking before she left. Walking out to the other side of the barrier she saw the girl flat on her back looking dazed.
Smiling in amusement she reached down to give her a hand. Pulling her up as the girl rubbed her head she said, “That was some burst of the bubble aye?”
Ciardis thought back over the moment before – The barrier had disappeared abruptly and she’d been left drawing on the power and stabilizing nothing. Hence the fall.
“You defeated the Shadow Mage,” she said with some reproach.
Vana waved a hand, “I defeated the mage’s creature. Not the person himself.”
“You could have warned me.”
“Lesson number two – always be prepared.”
“What was lesson number one?”
“How to stabilize another mage’s power feed under duress.”
“What ever happened to Barren?”
“He’s around us. It’ll take him a minute or so fully absorb all of the extra magic in his system and reassert himself in his core.”
“You mean all of that magic is his now?”
“Every last drop. Kid’s going to feel like he’s on a high for at least a week.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Ciardis said while rubbing a sore shoulder. Could a shoulder be sore magically? She didn’t know but it certainly felt like it.
They rose up their forms and prepared to leave Barren’s mage core.
When they opened their eyes physically Ciardis groaned and managed to inhale mud. Spluttering she sat up coughing as she tried to dislodge the thick, wet earth from her mouth. With horror she realized that she’d been sitting face first in mud and her body felt like a wildebeest had stomped on it. With one last effort to spit out the dirt from her mouth she glared at Terris, “Why didn’t you catch me?”
“Why did you fall?”
“And why in the seven hells do I feel like a horse has run over me?” Ciardis complained while reaching for an aching
shoulder.
“Mage wounds,” said Vana cheerfully as she sat up.
“Every wound you receive against yourself in a mind mage battle is a wound you feel on your physical self,” Vana continued after Ciardis’s clueless look.
“Every one?” she asked in disbelief.
“As long as you don’t have a proper shielding,” Vana said, “Most advanced mages do, which is why younglings like yourself aren’t allowed to do the kind of magic you just did.”
Ciardis sighed in irritation. She had helped hadn’t she? So what was with the censure?
“You look right as rain,” Ciardis said sourly, “I guess your shielding worked.”
“Didn’t have any,” Vana said with a smirk, “That Shadow Creature couldn’t touch me.”
At that moment a loud groan can from the boy laying at their feet. He opened his eyes and said groggily, “What happened?
“Long story,” Meres said ruefully, “Just know that thanks to Lady Vana and the efforts of Ciardis Weathervane, the Shadow Mage has been removed from your mage core and your conscience.”
“Again,” chimed Ciardis and Terris at identical moments.
As they began to walk back towards the village Ciardis asked, “Terris what in the world is on your hands?”
“Trust me. You don’t want to know.”
Chapter 31
The next few days passed slowly as Julius dispatched bands of roving Panen warriors to search the woods around Ameles for the shadow mage. Each returned with no luck. More bodies began to pile up. This time they weren’t in the small forest clearing of death. They appeared everywhere, like bloody presents that wouldn’t stop coming. One morning Ciardis woke up and stumbled to the baths. Her screams woke up half the village, and half-dressed warriors raced toward the sound of her voice.
She stared at the still water in pain and fury - there was nothing else to do. A griffin—Terris’s griffin—lay floating in the water with dozens of cuts lining its side. Blood spurted from its floating body out into the blue water, the red mixing quickly in the underwater currents and turning the pool red.
