Lightgiver

by Gama Ray Martinez

  She sighed and shook her head so slightly her raven-black hair didn’t even ripple. “Did it occur to you that if this Sharim knew how, he would’ve escaped by now?”

  “No.” Jez banged his fist on her desk. She raised an eyebrow, and he took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. “I’ll admit it’s possible, but if he had gotten out, I think we would know about it. He’s not going to stay hidden for long.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Jezreel, Master Besis has spoken to me about this. He says you’re obsessed.”

  “It’s not that,” Jez said.

  She smiled. “This mortal demon you’re so afraid of, he’s gone. You yourself saw him flee into the abyss. There’s no coming back from that.”

  “You can’t know that for sure. No one has studied the abyss enough to be certain. If anyone would know how to get out, it would be him.” He took a deep breath. “Him and the Lightgivers.”

  “I’m sorry. Even I’ve never summoned a pharim.”

  “But you could if you wanted to.”

  She snorted. “I doubt it. Pharim aren’t like demons. Demons want to leave the abyss. That makes it easier. Without some sort of connection to the pharim, you’d never summon one.”

  He hesitated for a second. “I have one.”

  She gave him a slow nod. “Yes, perhaps you do. Nonetheless, I won’t craft a circle for you. The working is too risky, especially for the summoner.”

  “I think I know how to do it on my own,” he said. “At least I know enough to try. It wouldn’t be as good as a circle you would make, but I could do it.”

  She searched his face, as if trying to find some sign he was bluffing, but he rarely bluffed. He was too bad at it. She must’ve seen something in his expression because she shook her head again.

  “I don’t suppose it will help if I tell you not to.”

  He gave her a small smile but wiped it away when she scowled. Still, he refused to allow his uneasiness to show on his face. “Not unless you’re also going to bind my power.”

  “I could ask the chancellor to expel you for this.”

  Jez kept his voice level. “That wouldn’t stop me from trying. I’d just have to make a circle out of dirt and rocks. I’ve done that before.”

  She was shaking her head before he finished speaking. “No, you’re too strong. If you made the slightest mistake, you could summon something else, equally powerful but with no way to bind it.”

  He snorted. Something like that could only happen with a hopelessly incompetent summoner. While his attempt at a similar working six months ago had failed, those had been special circumstances. That wouldn’t be the case this time, and though he couldn’t be sure he would succeed without help, he was at least relatively certain he could avoid a disaster bad enough to hurt anyone. Relatively sure.

  The knowledge master let out a breath and nodded. She instructed him to leave the room. He nodded and complied. Her office was in the same building as the practice area, so he headed in that direction to wait while Linala gathered whatever information she thought necessary. She’d undoubtedly taken the hidden entrance to her secret library. Technically, he wasn’t supposed to know about it, but he’d had the need to get into the library a few years ago. He’d never told her about that, but he’d always kept that information tucked away in case he needed it.

  After a few minutes, Linala came into the practice area carrying a leather-bound book. She had put on a belt with several leather pouches hanging from it. Since they were between terms, the practice area was empty, and without saying a word, Linala led him to one of the greater summoning circles that had been embedded in the ground. She took a patch of white sand from her belt and started spreading it over the circle. Though the one in the ground had been crafted with exacting precision, it was more the outline of a true circle. Key runes were missing, the ones that would change depending on the manner of creature being summoned.

  Linala flipped through the volume in her hand and drew the missing runes in the sand. After a few minutes, she handed the book to Jez. He flipped through it, but he didn’t recognize the language. Even the diagrams seemed off, though he hadn’t studied summoning enough to know why. A couple of times, she took the book from him and referenced several of the pages. Once, she undid what she’d drawn and marked down different runes. At first, he thought she’d made a mistake, but after examining the page she’d been looking at, Jez realized this circle actually required the erasing of runes. The complexity staggered him. He’d always been strong, but Linala was something else entirely. She was a master at work.

  After a quarter hour, Linala stood and flipped through the book again, pausing briefly several times and checking it against her work. It was orders of magnitude more complex than anything Jez himself could’ve managed, and it would work far better too. Finally, she nodded and looked at him.

  “Are you sure you want to do this? Lightgivers might not be as overtly dangerous as some of the other orders, but that doesn’t mean they’re safe to summon.”

  Jez nodded, but his eyes stayed locked on the circle. He had never imagined anything could be so perfect. Every line was precise, and every angle was sharp and well-defined. He itched to pour his power into it. “You can leave if you want. That way, if something goes wrong, you won’t have a pharim angry at you.”

  “Thank you, but no,” she said without hesitation. “You know what to do?”

  Jez nodded and got into place at the focal point, an area just outside the edge of the circle. He raised his arms and uttered the words needed for this kind of working. The runes, both the ones in the sand and those embedded in the ground, emitted a soft yellow light that brightened as his words grew louder. The circle served as a vessel, but the power feeding it had to be his, and his mind had to supply the direction. He cast out his thoughts, searching for some sign of one of the pharim of knowledge. In some way he didn’t understand, this working reached across miles and worlds to find its target. He could see fog in his mind. Every once in a while, he thought he saw faint images, but they faded after mere moments. He poured more power into the circle and uttered a single word.

  “Lightgiver.”

  The fog in his mind pulsed and thinned, but there was no sign of the figures from before. He tried again, but his power fizzled and writhed within him. Time got away from him as his mind fruitlessly sought out a target. Finally, he opened his eyes and let out a long breath. His arms cracked as he lowered them. The sunlight streaming through the windows said he’d been trying for at least an hour. He looked at Linala and sighed.

  “It didn’t work.”

  “And it should have. Your execution was right. With the amount of power you used, you should’ve had some result. Is this truly important?”

  Jez cocked an eyebrow. “Yes.”

  “Really and truly? This isn’t just some boyish desire for adventure?”

  Jez gave her a level look. “Sharim summoned a high lord of the pharim against his will.”

  “That should be impossible,” she said.

  “I know but he still did it. What’s to stop him from doing one more impossible thing and escaping from the abyss?”

  Linala pursed her lips. “Vinur.”

  Jez blinked. “What?”

  “Some of the journals of the previous masters of knowledge spoke of dealing with a particular Lightgiver. His name was Vinur.” She narrowed her eyes. “That’s not information I share lightly, but I’m well aware of what you’ve accomplished in your time here. I trust you’ll use it wisely.” Her gaze hardened. “And discretely.”

  Jez stared at her for a few seconds before inclining his head. She had just given him something of immeasurable value. With an actual name, he could hone in on a particular pharim rather than searching at random, and his working would be an order of magnitude more effective in calling it. Once again, he closed his eyes and sent his power into the circle. When the air around him hummed with energy, he whispered the name.

  “Vinur.”
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  The name echoed for several long heartbeats, and Jez could hear it in his mind long after it had faded from his ears. The runes brightened until he could see their light even through his closed eyelids. He sensed another presence enter the room, one who had seen more years that he could imagine. As old as creation itself, this being possessed knowledge dating back to the birth of the universe. Linala gasped. Jez opened his eyes.

  The being before him was translucent, but still, Jez could make out some of the details. He, at least Jez thought it was male, had pale yellow skin and no hair. Lights danced just beneath his skin, occasionally forming images and runes that vanished almost before they’d taken shape. The light of the setting sun shone through the transparent figure from the window on the other side of him.

  “You’re...you’re not really here, are you?”

  Vinur shook his head, and Jez thought he heard music in his mind. “No, though I was surprised to receive your summons. It’s been a long time since I’ve been called here.” Though his eyes had no pupils, Jez had the distinct impression he was staring at him. Vinur glanced at Linala who took a step back, and the pharim returned his attention to Jez.

  “You are not the knowledge master of the Carceri Academy. By what right do you summon me?”

  Jez gave Linala a sidelong look. She didn’t know his secret, that once, before being cursed by the mage Dusan, Jez had been the pharim Luntayary. As far as she knew, he was an afur, a descendent of the pharim who rebelled. Jez had never corrected her of her misconception, and he had no wish to do so now. Jez took a step closer to the being. Linala hissed, but he stopped less than an inch outside of the circle.

  “You know who I am?”

  Vinur’s eyes brightened for a second. Then, he nodded. “Ah yes. I see. That does not give you the right to summon, though perhaps it gives you the reason. State your need.”

  Jez stared up at him for a few seconds, unsure of how to respond. “I’m sorry?”

  The pharim waved him off. “You have no need to apologize. What would you have of me?”

  Jez gestured at the pharim’s transparent form. “Why did you come like this?”

  “At the command of the pharim high lords, none may answer a summons save by sending a projection.”

  “All the pharim?” Jez asked.

  “Aside from a few Shadowguards who stand watch over the greatest demons.”

  “Why?”

  Vinur cocked his head at the question. For a second, the runes intensified, but their light returned to a dim glow after a second. “Less than a year ago, a demon in human flesh brought Lord Aniel, along with the rest of the Beastwalkers, into your world against their will. One died at the hands of the summoner.”

  “But Sharim is gone,” Linala said. “He fled into the abyss of his own free will, and even before that, he needed the power of a high lord to achieve his goal.”

  The pharim’s eyes fell on her, but she met his gaze levelly. She wasn’t defiant. She simply didn’t fear him.

  “Which is why the high lords will stay away,” Vinur said.

  “But he can’t do anything to them.”

  There was silence for a few seconds before the pharim spoke. “Unless he returns.”

  “Then, it is possible,” Jez said.

  “Of course, but you already knew that.”

  “He’s not out yet, though.”

  “No.”

  Jez let out a breath of relief. In spite of his statement to Linala, the possibility had worried him. “That’s good to hear. Do you know his plan to get out? How can I stop him?”

  “I cannot say.”

  “What do you mean you can’t say?”

  “Sharim is mortal, and as you said, he went into the abyss of his own choice. He chose that as his retreat and chose to plan a way to get out. I may not interfere.”

  “But you just said the pharim high lords are afraid he’s going to try to kill you.”

  “If he does, then we may act, but he could still choose another path, and we cannot take that choice from him.”

  “But he’s not even really a human. He’s just sort of wearing one.”

  “That’s a fine distinction for you to make.”

  Jez’s eyes flickered to Linala, but she seemed not to have caught the emphasis Vinur had put on the word ‘you’. He cleared his throat and addressed the pharim again.

  “Aren’t you supposed to give people knowledge?”

  “Not knowledge they have not earned.” He turned to Linala. “I have heard of the one you call Jezreel. Sariel and Aniel both trust him, and neither of them are inclined to trust mortals. Consider that when you decide what knowledge to permit him to gain.”

  The pharim spread his wings. The runes of the summoning circle flared to life and then went dark. The sand became blackened dirt, and Jez suddenly felt humbled. Linala’s circle had been exquisite, and he’d been sure he’d powered it correctly. Vinur was just a projection and had nowhere near the power a physically present pharim would. Still, the circle proved no barrier at all to him. His wings glowed brightly, and when the light faded, Vinur was gone.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “You should come with me, Jezreel,” Linala said.

  Jez nodded and fell into step behind her. “Where are we going?”

  They walked out, and she waved her hand in the direction of the central spire. Made of black stone, it looked like some great dark spike rising from the heart of the Academy. “To the lower levels.”

  “You mean where the demon talismans are stored?”

  “Beneath that.”

  Jez stopped. She went a few steps before turning to him. He rushed to catch up and kept his voice low. “I didn’t know there was anything beneath that.”

  She gave him a half smile. “Few people do. I wouldn’t have even told you if Vinur hadn’t made a point of implying I should help. Come on.”

  Jez didn’t say anything as she led him into the central spire. They moved across the large mostly empty room that took up the entire first floor and stopped in front of a heavy oaken door. Linala pulled an iron key out of her robe and inserted it into the lock. She uttered a few words, and the door shimmered blue as her working temporarily disarmed the ward. She twisted the key and shoved the door open, revealing a staircase descending into darkness. Linala lifted her hand and a ball of yellow light appeared above it. A few students had stopped to stare at the rarely opened passage, but Linala glared at them, and they moved on.

  “What’s down there?” Jez asked once they entered the passage.

  “There are beings in this world that are neither demon nor pharim, and some of them know many things that are best kept from common knowledge.”

  “That sounds more like something the dominion of secrets would say.”

  “It’s not the same thing.”

  Jez let out a breath. “Sometimes I can’t tell the difference between it and the dominion of knowledge.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “I’ll explain it to you sometime when I’m not getting ready to reveal our best kept secrets.”

  Slowly, they descended lower, ignoring every door they passed. Every once in a while, Linala would stop to disable another of the wards built to defend this place. Once, they came across a rat that had been burned to a crisp by one of them. Jez had no idea how it had gotten so far down, but this deep under the tower, the wards were deadly. They had left nothing more than a blackened husk.

  After nearly an hour of walking, they reached the bottom of the staircase. A heavy iron door stood in the wall to their left, but Linala put her hand on an area of blank stone in front of them and spoke a few words under her breath. The wall glowed blue, and the light encompassed the master. The stone groaned, and the wall slid open, splitting right down the middle. The area beyond was dark. So dark that blackness seemed to spill out from it. Even Linala’s light barely made a dent.

  “Guard your mind,” she said. “The things down here exist as more thought than flesh.”

  “I al
ways have wards on my mind, Master Linala.”

  She shook her head. “Wards only protect against what comes from the outside. These attacks will come from within.”

  “They can possess me?”

  “Not exactly. It’s difficult to explain.” She pointed to a wisp of darkness spilling into the stairway, like a tentacle reaching out at them. “Run your hand through that.”

  He gaped. “What is it?”

  “A memory shadow. More than that, you won’t be able to understand unless you experience it.”

  Jez took a hesitant step forward. The darkness wafted from the room like smoke curling up from some unseen fire. As soon as he touched it, cold ran up his arm, and he started shaking. He remembered his father, a withered shell of what he had been. Most of his soul had been consumed by the demon Marrowit, leaving his body as little more than a layer of skin over bones. Jez had woken him up, but it had been too late. If he had been there sooner, if he hadn’t been so caught up in the Academy and what Dusan had given him, he could’ve saved his father’s life. It was all his fault.

  A hand seized his wrist and pulled him back. Instantly, the sorrow diminished, but it didn’t vanish entirely. There was too much truth to the memory. Linala met his eyes, and he nodded.

  “I see what you mean.” He shivered. “How did they know to use that particular memory against me?”

  Linala shrugged. “No one knows how they got their knowledge. They crave it though, always desiring to pull it from the memories of their victims.”

  “How did you capture them?”

  “We created a place that would attract them and set powerful wards that would snap into place, but as you can see...” She gestured to slivers of shadow spilling out. “It’s not perfect.”

  Jez nodded. “How do I defend against them?”

  “Remember who you are. The thoughts and feelings they’ll use against you are real, and they may cause you a great deal of pain, but they are yours. They have only as much power as you allow them to. You’ve gone through more than most, so that might give them more to use against you. Just be ready. Keep your mind on the information you’re looking for. If you can keep ahold of yourself long enough, you may be able to draw it from them instead of the other way around, but don’t hesitate to leave if you have to.”