by Rain Oxford
Darwin had told me that most of the books in that time were copied by monks, and that the only education was through the church, so I figured Vitalis must have been a member of the church. After a few minutes, he laid his head on his arm, everything about his body language revealing boredom and discontent.
Time skipped forward to show Vitalis outside on the street, standing next to two other men, in similar outfits, preaching to the crowd of people around him. They were speaking English, but I was paying attention to Vitalis and the crowd. I didn’t know why I was seeing this until Vitalis’s gaze locked on a woman.
My instincts drew my gaze upward, to the second story window of a house. There, a man stood, dressed in all black, with an arrow pointed out the window. It was aimed at the man to Vitalis’s left. When the arrow flew, my first instinct was to stop it, even though I didn’t know the man. I couldn’t. This had all already happened.
Vitalis, however, snatched it out of the air with lightning speed, causing the crowd and the would-be-victim to gasp with shock. None of them looked more shocked and confused than Vitalis himself, though.
Time skipped again, and Vitalis was back in his room. When there was a knock on his door, he answered it and saw the same woman from the street. She had long, dirty gold hair and steel-gray eyes. “You shouldn’t be here,” Vitalis said.
“Why not?” she asked, pushing her way into the room.
He shut the door behind her. “Tis against the rules.”
“Rules mean nothing to me, and it shouldn’t to you, either. I sensed it today. You’re like me. You have a rare ability.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Magic.” She held out her hand and a ball of fire formed above the palm.
Vitalis’s eyes widened with shock and horror. “That is not allowed.”
She smirked. “You don’t care about evil or blasphemy, only the rules.”
“I don’t want to---”
“You don’t want to be punished. You want to be successful and loved. You want to be powerful. I can teach you. You won’t have to listen to anyone ever again.”
He considered it for a moment. “I should not.”
“You will, though. Come with me.”
“I can’t.”
She sighed. “If you change your mind, I will be in the forest at the waterfall at midnight on the full moon.” She started to leave, but he caught her arm.
“Who are you?”
“Rohesia.”
“I am Vitalis.”
“That was not the name you were given by your mother.”
“No, I was given it by the church.”
“Good. In magic, you shouldn’t share your birth name. I look forward to seeing you on the full moon.” She left and he looked conflicted.
Time passed and I saw Vitalis arguing with another monk. The gist of it was that Vitalis had been slacking on his chores and he was feeling underappreciated. He ran away from the church with only his clothes and a torch. He ventured through the forest and eventually came upon a wide river with a waterfall.
Rohesia was sitting cross-legged on a boulder, surrounded by a ring of candles. She held an amulet of some sort. Her entire body and lap was covered in red rose petals. As she stood and the petals fell, she put the amulet on. She was wearing a simple, white, flowing dress. Although I couldn’t read Vitalis’s mind, my instincts told me she wasn’t a malevolent person.
I saw flashes throughout the next few decades. They quickly grew to love each other and would do anything to protect each other. They had a pagan wedding, including a Hand Fasting ritual. During the ceremony, they told each other their true, full names.
She taught him powerful and dark magic, and about the elder gods. Their goal was to open a portal and release the elder gods, but doing so wasn’t easy. They needed specific conditions. Over the years, they developed a huge following and created the cult of Obumbratio.
They obtained a book called the Claviculus, which described how to open the gates. Opening the gates couldn’t be accomplished easily, because it had to be done at a specific place and in a certain time frame, so they sacrificed other people and performed rituals to take their vitality. Thus, they lived for hundreds of years, never aging.
One of their first followers was a young boy they found who was abandoned at the age of five. They took him in, cared for him, taught him magic, and kept him alive with them. He became their right-hand-man, who would gather people for them to steal the vitality from, but who never killed anyone himself.
Their magic grew devastating and their lives were happy.
Then Vitalis and Rohesia were in bed together, about to fall asleep, when she started coughing. Afterwards, she pulled back her hand, and it was covered in blood. “Are you ill?” Vitalis asked, concerned. They had extra life, but that didn’t stop them from getting sick or injured.
“I’ll recover,” she said.
Unfortunately, she never did. As the weeks passed, she got weaker and weaker until she couldn’t get out of bed. Vitalis was desperate to find a cure. Healing potions, however, wouldn’t work on her. Rohesia said it was because of her universal debt. “There is a price for magic, and we will all have to pay it eventually.”
Nevertheless, he became obsessed with obtaining true immortality. It wasn’t until she died that he started studying necromancy.
When Vitalis finally learned where the gate could be opened, he and his followers moved to America. They found an underground cavern, much like the tower under Quintessence. It was the perfect place for the gate.
I watched their preparation for it, which required carefully carving sigils into stone blocks, which they then used to make five pillars. They were round, stone, ten feet high, and two feet in diameter. What they were used for or where they were built, I didn’t know.
In order to open the portal, he had to sacrifice seven people, so he chose his favorite followers, including his right-hand man, Eugene Cecil Greenwood.
* * *
I woke feeling like I got hit by a truck. I was getting familiar with the feeling, unfortunately; it meant I had been in a vision for too long. My magic was depleted and my body was exhausted. I was on my bed and Darwin was sitting in the chair next to me. My ring was in his gloved hand. He handed me a glass of water, which I drained in one gulp.
“I hope you don’t plan on using magic again today,” Darwin said.
“I don’t. I have a lot to tell you.”
“You need to eat first.”
I nodded and tried to get up. Spots formed in my eyes and Darwin pushed me back down before I could pass out.
“Okay, you’re not going anywhere yet,” Darwin said. “I’ll get you some food from the dining room.”
“Coffee. Bring me two gallons of coffee.”
“Tea. I’ll bring you some tea to settle your nerves.”
“I’m not letting you in my room if you don’t have coffee.”
“You’ll drink your damned tea and you’ll love it, or I’ll switch out all the coffee in the school with decaf.” He left for a while. I was almost asleep when Darwin returned with tea and a couple of sandwiches. I ate and drank every bit, but I wasn’t feeling normal yet.
“This guy’s a creep,” I said.
“Yeah. What’s the deal?”
I told him all about it. By the time I was done, I felt halfway alive again.
“I’d heard of the book, the Claviculus,” Darwin said. “Mostly in passing. All copies were destroyed by the church in 930 A.D. I didn’t really know what was in it aside from a lot of magic.”
“Well, I know who we can talk to, to get more information.”
“Who?”
“A man who was there when Vitalis was alive.”
“Again, who?”
“Eugene, his right-hand man.”
* * *
Ten minutes later, we were in the library. I was leaning against a table, trying not to show that my body was still shaky. “Eugene, come out. We know who you a
re and we know you’re part of the Cult of Obumbratio.”
After a moment, he appeared in front of me with his arms crossed. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
My tattoo tingled, which was irritating. “Where is the Claviculus?”
Darwin’s eyes darted around the room. “He’s here?”
I pointed to Eugene, who was standing in front of the gas lamp that opened the secret passageway. Darwin came to stand next to me.
“I don’t know,” Eugene said. “It was taken by the wizard who killed Vitalis.”
“Who killed him?”
“Why should I answer you?”
“You may not be a murderer yourself, but you’ve assisted in it. I know there are people who can punish you for it. I’m more interested in saving the kids than stopping you. How can you claim to be trying to save the kids when you’ve kidnapped people?”
“I was wrong. I would have given my life and soul to Vitalis. I planned to die so that he could open the gates. When Alistair came, he failed to kill Vitalis. That night, I was preparing for the gate to be opened, and I was given a… gift. Then I got a glimpse, an instant of clarity, where I saw beyond the gate. What I saw was so horrifying I knew this world wouldn’t have survived. I couldn’t let the gates open.”
“That’s good,” I said.
“I tried to convince Vitalis to call it off, but he had been preparing for the moment for hundreds of years. I went behind his back to Alistair. I knew Vitalis’s weaknesses. We defeated him. He had already sacrificed the first six followers. I died to stop him.”
“How can I find Alistair?”
“He’s long dead.”
“And you don’t know where he put the Claviculus?”
“No, but his son should.”
“Who’s his son?”
“Logan Hunt.”
* * *
Darwin and I walked to my office as I explained what Eugene told me. Then I wrote Hunt a letter telling him I knew about Vitalis in the basement and called Rocky to deliver it. She wasn’t happy, but I told her lives were at stake. Hunt appeared in my office less than a minute later. Ghost came with him, which told me it was serious enough to get Vincent’s attention.
“Where is the Claviculus?”
“How do you know about that?”
“Darwin and I found the tomb, the grimoire, and the casket. I used a vision to find out who Vitalis is, and then we asked Eugene how Vitalis was defeated. He told me that he betrayed Vitalis and helped Alistair, who happened to have a son named Logan Hunt. I don’t know that many Logan Hunts at this school.”
He sighed and sat on my couch. “Why do you want to know about the Claviculus?”
“Six students tried to summon their familiars and they thought it would be cool to do so in a tomb. Now four of them are in a coma and the last two are in danger.”
“How did they find it?”
“Dumb luck.”
“Six students do not have the power to open the gates.”
“Right. They need seven sacrifices.”
“No, there is only one more sacrifice needed. The first six still count, because to the ancient gods, a hundred years is nothing. It would also require the incantation from the Claviculus. The problem for them is a lack of power. Furthermore, I doubt they would want to open the gates.”
“Then you think it’s a coincidence that they congregated at the tomb, did a spell, and now they’re dropping like flies?”
“No. They do not have the ability to open the gates. They do, however, have the power to raise Vitalis.”
“Excuse me?”
“I take it they were unsuccessful in summoning their familiars?”
“Yeah.”
“Did they come away with anything?”
“A dog-like creature. I suspected him, but I didn’t get any bad vibes from him, so I decided to put it away for now.”
“You should have studied more, Devon. When you summon a being, it could try to fool you into thinking it is something else.”
“The dog isn’t Vitalis. I would have sensed it.”
“If they did resurrect him, he would be too weak in the beginning. He would bide his time, getting stronger. That would make sense if he is feeding off them.”
“To clarify, you mean their energy, or their blood?”
“Their souls.”
“Like Dothra wizards do?”
“Yes. He can become more powerful by feeding on them.”
“So, basically, it’s the same as when he was alive, he’s just doing it slower this time.”
“Yes. The ritual would have to be repeated multiple times.”
“I followed them to the tomb the night Leon fell into a coma. None of them could see or hear me, like they were in a trance. I don’t remember anything else, though. I woke in my room, injured.”
“Then he is making them bring him back.”
“I know your father defeated him, but why did you build a school here?”
“My father defeated him and ordered me to move to this country and guard Vitalis’s tomb.”
“You kinda botched that, eh, mate?” Darwin asked.
“Shut up,” I said. “He’s right, though. You don’t seem to be taking it seriously.”
“I did not believe anyone could find the tomb, let alone raise Vitalis, let alone students.”
“You’re too responsible for---”
“He hates his dad,” Darwin interrupted. “He refuses to believe his dad was right.”
“I had to stay close, but my father never ordered me to stay on this land. He wanted me to live here. Instead, I made it into a school, because helping children was what I wanted to do. I never expected a few students to summon him.”
“What does this have to do with the dog?”
“It is probably a watcher. It is guarding them, keeping them here, and making sure no one stops them from finishing the summoning. He will not hurt them, but he will not let you interfere, either.”
“What happens next?” I asked. “Are the kids going to get worse or are they going to stay in comas?”
“Until he is at full power, he will keep them alive to feed on them. At that point, he will not need them anymore.”
“How long before he’s at full power?”
“I have no idea. It depends on the power, strength, and determination of him and the children.”
“Where is the Claviculus?”
“Why do you want it?”
“To keep it out of their hands.”
“My father tried to burn it, along with Vitalis’s book, but they could not burn. He also failed to burn the body. He said that the Claviculus was under Vitalis’s head. I never opened the tomb.”
“We didn’t get a good look in the casket.”
“He can’t open the gates without it, right?” I asked.
“According to my father, yes.”
“Okay. Darwin and I will go get it. You write down anything you remember about Vitalis, the tomb, or the gates.”
“I just told you everything.”
“Okay, write down the entire story.”
“You’re talking to the headmaster like a client,” Darwin told me.
“I mean no disrespect.”
“I know,” Hunt said. “I am not royalty; I am merely very old. I should go with you to get the book, seeing as how I am responsible for Vitalis.”
“Yeah, not a good idea,” Darwin said.
“If you want your daughter to have respect for herself and you, you need to stay away from the school and let us handle this.” His hatred for his father actually explained a lot of the tension between him and his daughter.
Darwin and I left without giving him a chance to respond. We found the library still empty, so we opened the passageway. As we made our way to the tomb, I had to redirect Darwin’s attention every ten seconds, because he wanted to explore other rooms.
“This is urgent.”
“I know. When we’re done, though, this entire n
etwork of rooms is mine… all mine. I will have my experiments and make a magic-safe room so that I can have my electronics, and---”
“Later.”
When we finally reached the tomb and the torches lit themselves, there was no sign of the black goo. Darwin opened the casket without any hesitation. “Oh, shit. We have a problem.”
The casket was empty.
* * *
Saturday, September 3
I woke to heavy pounding on my door. I recognized it as Remy’s “something is wrong” knock.
“Come in,” I groaned, forcing myself to sit up. “I’m getting too old for all-nighters.” Of course, I had been saying that since I learned that I was a wizard.
Remington entered the room. “Are you going to sleep all damned day?”
“What time is it?”
“Eight-thirty.”
“I got to bed an hour ago.”
She paused, sighed, and sat next to me. “Sorry. I’m not trying to take this out on you. You’re doing your job above and beyond.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Jasmine is in a coma.”
“Damn it. We’re running out of time.” I caught her up on everything, but left out the assistance we got from her father.
When I was done, she groaned. “This isn’t like I thought it would be.”
“Are you planning on quitting?”
She glared at me. “Excuse me? I’ll kick your ass.”
“You’ll have to wait. We need to kill Vitalis before the students die.”
“Sounds good. How do we find him?”
“We’ll go to Dr. Martin.”
“You’re not going to suggest I call my father?”
“Of course not.”
* * *
Ten minutes later, Darwin, Dr. Martin, Remy, and I were in the infirmary. We explained what we knew about Vitalis and the students in comas.
“If we kill Vitalis, it should wake the kids, right?” I asked.
“I have no idea,” Remy said.
“I wouldn’t know,” Dr. Martin said.
“There’s a sixty-three percent chance,” Darwin said.
