Essence of Chaos

by Marie Andreas

  “He hadn’t mentioned that she was his mother.” She shook her head. “Wait, so you’re telling me that this immortal mother has spent the last thousand years ditching her immortal son?” This was something above and beyond perverse.

  “Near immortal. Although, who knows, he may be immortal after all, he’s been around for at least three thousand years. But if by ditching, you mean hiding from him, then yes, that’s what she’s been doing. She’s been known to have Ghortin called away if he’s at a function she wishes to attend.” He shrugged. “I don’t know what started it; I don’t think they do either. It’s become a great game for Carabella.”

  Storm had begun to slow the horse down and Jenna noted with a start that they were coming upon a small beach. Behind her were low, green hills laden with groves of trees. Ahead lay the most beautiful coastline she’d ever seen.

  “Takes your breath away, doesn’t it? I've always thought this is the most beautiful place in all of Traanafaeren.”

  They were at a low point in the land; cliffs rose less than a mile away in either direction along the coast. The small, rock-lined cove they were at was little more than a break point. Low waves broke on the line of rocks that marched out into the sea. There were louder crashes where the cliffs rose in the distance.

  “Oh, Storm.” She couldn’t think of words that could adequately describe this beauty. It brought home again, but less painfully this time, how far away she was from her own world. Nowhere on Earth could there have been a place that was as beautiful and pure as this cove.

  “I know.” He squeezed her hand, then jumped off the carriage. “Come on, let’s break into Rachael’s basket. I promise you, nothing in the palace can equal her food.”

  He untied the horse, speaking earnestly in its ear before letting it go graze on some nearby grass.

  Storm studied the area for a few seconds before deciding on a perfect spot. He then put out a thick green blanket and began hauling out enormous stacks of food.

  Jenna sat down next to him. “How many people was she planning on feeding?” She was amazed at the amount of meat pies, cheese sandwiches, rolls, fruit, and fresh fruit tarts that the basket held.

  “Two.” He smiled as he handed her a meat pie. “Of course, she knew one of them was me.” He smiled contentedly as he took a huge bite out of his own pie.

  The rest of the lunch was filled with silence as both paid serious homage to Rachael’s culinary expertise. Jenna had to admit that everything was delicious. Even so, she was surprised at how much she ate, and truly amazed at how much Storm managed to put away.

  Finally, Jenna allowed herself to fall back on the blanket with a sigh.

  “This is absolutely wonderful.” She closed her eyes, letting the sun warm her face. “I mean, Ghortin’s place is great, don’t get me wrong. But this is amazing. I’ve never felt so at peace. It’s almost unreal.”

  Storm was silent, but she felt his eyes on her.

  “Tell me about your world?” She must have tensed, because he added softly, “If it won’t upset you, that is.”

  Jenna sat up, looking into those magnificent blue eyes. Eyes that didn’t exist in her world. She smiled slightly. “It’s different. No kelars for one thing. No magic. We’re…” she paused and gave a slight shake of her head, “They’re more technologically advanced. Yet this world has been civilized much longer.” She shrugged. The chances of her ever going home were slim, better to focus on this world.

  “It’s crowded, noisy, and polluted.” She wrapped her arms around her knees, forcing her eyes on the picnic basket.

  Storm reached over and laid his hand on her arm gently. “And you miss it terribly.” It wasn’t a question.

  Jenna nodded, blinking furiously to keep back her tears. This was stupid. She was over it. This was her home now. Somehow, her eyes didn’t agree with her and the tears started to fall. Strong arms were around her in a second. Jenna found herself letting go of all the feelings she’d been blocking since her arrival. After a few minutes she pulled back, peering sheepishly at Storm.

  “I’m sorry. I sure know how to spoil a day, huh?” She rubbed the back of her hand against her tear-stained face.

  Storm smiled and wiped away a few stray tears she’d missed. He paused, looking intently into her eyes for a minute, then shook himself, and pulled back.

  “I’m sure you’ve needed that for a long time.” He gave her hand a quick squeeze. “I’m your friend, Jenna; I’ll always be there for you, no matter what.” He said it with such intensity that Jenna wondered if she’d missed something.

  “Thank you.” She couldn’t figure out where such intensity had come from, so she couldn’t think of anything more profound to say.

  Storm looked at her for a few minutes, then began to pick up their supplies and returned the horse to its rigging. “We’d better start back. Ghortin will have my head if I bring his prize home late for the party.”

  Jenna nodded in agreement and climbed back into the carriage. The horse started down the trail with a single word from Storm.

  “More than likely he’d have both our heads. You’re going, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. And no, I won’t tell you what as.”

  Jenna stuck her tongue out. “Fine, I wasn’t going to ask anyway.”

  They were halfway back to the city when Jenna remembered there were other things she wanted to ask.

  “You never did tell me where you went last night.” This keeping secrets business was getting to her. She was going to have to work on both Storm and Ghortin to break them of that habit.

  Storm looked ready to brush her off again, then nodded in defeat. “We think that someone has been smuggling something into Lithunane—or someones. We’re not sure if it—”

  He froze in mid-sentence as Jenna gasped, clutched her head, and crumpled into his right side. It felt like a hot poker had been rammed through her skull. Her magic was back, and it was flooding her senses.

  “Jenna!” He pulled the horse up as he held her. “What is it? I don’t see anything.”

  She shook her head and sat up straight. “I’m all right now. But—” she paused, finding herself drawn toward a group of low-lying hills they’d passed. They were set a bit away from the road, and Jenna couldn’t tell that much about them, except that they were the source of her pain.

  “Something’s wrong over there. Really wrong. I can’t explain what, but it’s bad.” She shuddered. That brief stab of pain she’d felt was enough to make her run screaming in the other direction. But whatever it was, she had a responsibility to find out—it was caused by magic.

  Storm said nothing as he turned the carriage to cross the grass.

  A small grove of trees lay at the base of the foremost hill. Wordlessly, Jenna nudged Storm’s hand and reins toward them. The mare hesitated as they neared the trees. She came to a complete halt when they were about twenty feet away and refused to budge, even after Storm talked to her.

  He turned to Jenna. “We’ll have to walk in.” He looked closely at Jenna’s face. She was sure she didn’t look much better than the horse. “Are you sure you should go in? Maybe it would be better if you waited here.” He nodded toward the shaking mare. The animal hadn’t bolted, and wouldn’t, but it was only Storm’s way with animals that kept her in place.

  Jenna didn’t answer, but shook her head and slowly got down off the carriage. Her eyes were glued to the grove. Whatever was wrong was magic, horribly twisted magic.

  Storm followed, and Jenna noticed he automatically reached for his sword. His swearing reminded her he wasn’t wearing it. She was grateful that her magic appeared to have come back, but aside from that questionable gift, and Storm’s hunting dagger, they were unarmed.

  Storm unsheathed the dagger and walked past her. Jenna followed, staying a bit behind and off to the left in case he had to fight.

  A stench that could only be accomplished by an unburied corpse hit them as they got past the first line of trees. Overlaying that was a faint
smell of sulfur, barely strong enough to notice.

  Storm shot his arm across Jenna’s path. Slowly, but with determination, Jenna pushed it aside.

  Directly in front of them lay a large gray boulder that had been transformed into a crude altar. Upon it lay the mangled form of a dead court page. Although the boy’s body was torn apart, his tattered sapphire and emerald uniform gave him away. Whoever he was, he’d been taken while on duty.

  Other than the altar, there was no sign of why the boy was killed. But Jenna felt a lingering sense of evil in the area. She pushed her magical senses further, then pulled back with a jolt.

  “That page,” she grabbed Storm’s shoulder. “He’s the one who led me to my room last night. His name was Jesop.” Bile rose in her throat.

  Storm turned with a frown. “How could it be?” He nodded toward the body. “Trust me, that boy, whoever he is, has been dead for days.”

  Jenna pushed forward, ignoring Storm’s protests as she tried to see the boy’s face. She’d been so sure of what she had sensed. The residual aura of the murdered boy was Jesop.

  She got to the other side of the boulder, where his face was turned, and dropped to her knees shaking violently and was sick.

  The face had been ripped away. Whether from the sacrifice itself, or from wild animals afterwards, it wasn’t clear.

  Storm took one glance, then quickly looked away.

  He helped Jenna rise and move away. “I don’t know how that boy could have been the one with you last night; but I trust your abilities. But right now, we can’t prove anything.”

  He turned away, looking in the empty air over the altar as if it could tell him something. “Could you hide the body magically? Just for a few hours.”

  “Hide him? We’ve got to take him back. He’s got to be buried, and his parents told, and—”

  “I know.” Storm cut her off. “But we certainly can’t take him back with Rachael’s horse, it would bolt. Besides, whatever happened, magic was obviously involved. Don’t you think Ghortin should see this?”

  Jenna looked down. It seemed so wrong. As if leaving Jesop here compounded how he’d died. She finally nodded to Storm and silently began to call forth enough of a protection spell to keep the whole grove hidden for at least a day.

  “It’s done.” She rubbed her arms roughly as a chill took her, one that had nothing to do with the weather.

  They walked in silence back to the now calm horse; apparently Jenna’s blocking spell even worked on her.

  Storm went to help her up, but stopped with his hand on her arm. “I don’t understand why you didn’t sense that when we first rode down this way.”

  “I lost my magic after escaping from the sciretts.” She shrugged. “At least we now know it was temporary.”

  They rode back in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

  13

  Back at the palace, Storm told Ghortin and Tor Ranshal about their grim find.

  “Wise choice that you left the poor boy there; I might be able to pick up something that was beyond your ability.” Ghortin paced around the small room they’d been in last night.

  “What bothers me is that you said it was Jesop. I’ve had my people looking for him all afternoon. No one has seen him.” Tor Ranshal rubbed his forehead.

  “I know it sounds strange, but I felt him. It was Jesop,” Jenna said.

  “Couldn’t it be a child who looked like Jesop?” Storm asked as he fingered the hilt of his sword thoughtfully. Arming himself had been his first piece of business upon their return; he wouldn’t let Jenna find Ghortin until he had his sword.

  “No.” Ghortin had stopped pacing and stood near the long window, staring out into the late afternoon. “Whatever was here as Jesop had taken on the real boy’s essence. Down to his psychic feel. Otherwise Jenna wouldn’t have recognized the real Jesop when she came in contact with him.”

  “But I don’t understand. What can make itself into an exact copy of another person?” Jenna’s skin crawled at the thought.

  “Demonspawn. Also called Helikin. It’s been rumored that the higher-level followers of Qhazborh can bring them forth from other realms,” Tor Ranshal finally said.

  “Now, we don’t know for certain.” Ghortin tried to sound like he believed his words, like he desperately wanted to. But his pale face gave him away.

  Tor Ranshal grasped his friend’s shoulder. “What else could it be?”

  Ghortin’s grasp on the windowsill tightened until his white knuckles looked ready to pop.

  “Do you think there are more?” Storm’s face was paler than usual, but his eyes held a grim determination. Jenna knew him well enough to know he wanted to find something out there he could fight.

  Jenna was lost. She hadn’t heard of Helikin or demonspawn. But things were going from bad to worse quickly. Or maybe they’d been this bad since the beginning and she’d failed to notice. For once, Jenna didn’t want to know what was going on.

  Ghortin reached up and patted Storm’s hand. “It’s all right,” Storm said. “I’m fine.” He turned to Jenna, and she was glad to see some color was coming back to his face.

  “I’d like to know more about this feeling you got when you originally sensed the boy.” Ghortin came back and pulled out a chair next to her.

  Jenna looked into those calm dark eyes and relaxed; maybe she had imagined the fear that had been there before. It was a nice thought, and she was going to hang onto it as long as she could. “I don’t know how to best explain it. At first it was like…” she paused, looking for the right words. Nothing seemed to accurately convey that first stab of searing pain. She finally settled for something close. “It was as if someone had shoved a hot poker in my temple. It was just for a second, then it vanished.”

  “Was there anything else, child?” Tor Ranshal’s golden eyes had grown copper with worry.

  She started to shake her head, and then Storm spoke up.

  “Right after you first collapsed; you said you felt something was wrong. Was that separate from the pain?”

  Jenna shuddered as she remembered that brief, but terrifying, wrongness she’d sensed.

  “I’d forgotten about that. No, it wasn’t the same, it was almost worse than the pain. It was as if some extra sense had suddenly been created and was completely wrong. No, not wrong.” She pinned down that horrible sensation. “Nothing. It didn’t feel wrong, it felt like nothing. A horrible, empty, nothing. It was chaotic, but pushed so far into chaos that nothing was left.” She could tell by their faces she was having minor success getting through. “As if you spun a color wheel too fast. Everything becomes nothing.”

  Tor Ranshal nodded in understanding. Jenna didn’t want to think too hard about that awful feeling; she already had enough material for far too many nightmares.

  “We’ll have to get some people out there immediately.” Tor Ranshal said. “I would go, but I must stay here for the preparations for tonight. And it would be best if any who do go were back in time for the celebration. We don’t want whoever is doing this to know we are aware of them.”

  “I agree.” Ghortin rose from his chair. “I’ll take Storm and Sir Edgar. We should definitely be back—”

  “What about me?” Jenna cut him off.

  “Now, my dear.” He patted her on the head. “You don’t have to get in on every disaster, you know. Besides, you have lessons to work on.”

  “Lessons? When some poor child has been murdered?”

  “I know it sounds crass, but life must go on. Your magic will be needed even more than before. Jesop would have—” Ghortin paused and peered at her closely. “Did that boy who took you up last night say or do anything odd?”

  Jenna shook her head. “No, he was just a boy. Well, there was the bath, but I’m sure someone else did that.”

  Now Tor Ranshal looked worried. “Bath? I left no orders for a bath to be drawn for your rooms.”

  Jenna looked at the two old men like they were crazy. “How could a bath be
dangerous? I mean, no one tried to drown me or anything.”

  “Anything can be dangerous, even deadly, in the right hands.” Ghortin’s brow was creased with worry. “Jenna, stand in front of me and close your eyes.” She obeyed without question; the tone of his voice terrified her.

  He gathered in Power, and then a tickling sensation went from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet.

  She held still for as long as she could before she finally had to scratch.

  “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it.” She shivered. “What was that?”

  “You can relax, I’m done.” Ghortin sat back down heavily. “I’m not sure what it was meant to do, but someone cast an intense time-delayed control spell on you. And I think we should assume it was from the bath.” He slammed his hand down on the tabletop. Fury reddened his round face. “Damn them! I couldn’t read what it was; whoever cast it was at least a Master. Once my search spell triggered it, the whole thing disappeared.”

  Tor Ranshal stepped out of the room briefly, and then came back. “I’ve sent my second to go find everyone, especially our more notable guests, who had contact with Jesop recently. I’ll have Adieon and the rest of the palace mages go over them one by one.”

  Jenna sat down hard, not noticing that she was only half on the chair. “Someone poisoned my bath with a spell?”

  “I’m afraid so.” Ghortin looked around the room as if it could give him the answers he sought. “I’m going to have to assign you a guard until I return. And I’ll give our rooms a full sweep before I leave. Which I think we should do with all haste.”

  Jenna was still shaken when she got to their rooms to start her lessons. Dead duplicate pages, baths that were spelled, it was all hitting too close to their scirett encounter. And she hadn’t recovered from that yet. She wandered over to a small desk set off to the side in her bedchamber. She was more than a little surprised to see that Ghortin had left his mysterious gray book lying open on it. She approached carefully, remembering scorched fingers from her previous attempt to look at the book a few months ago in the cottage.