Beyond?

by Andur

  I activate my mana sight and search for something strange. Raising the small clock I take a look at it. “So much time and there is still not enough of it.”

  Free City States of Nict, Capital

  Traveller

  I'll do this fast. Returning the place to its natural order should be a piece of cake. This building is reminding me too much of the old times. I'll only be here for as long as necessary. The guards around this place aren't the problem, their minds can be easily swayed.

  The only thing that has to be done is killing this Azir. According to the people whom I talked to he is the force behind Nict's progress.

  Afterwards I'll instruct the current caretaker of my country to stop her ambitions and I am done. It was a big mistake to take a two hundred year long leave. Resting for a while was necessary and the north was the perfect place for that.

  I place my hand on the door to the ballroom and stop. Images of my death flash through my mind and all my senses howl that something isn't right.

  Retreating my hand from the door I step backwards. My prophetic ability isn't without fail, but it kept me alive until today.

  I turn left, but a shiver runs down my spine. Next I attempt to walk back the way I came, but an image of my twisted and broken body appears there. In the end I take the corridor to the right. What's wrong with this place? Normally it's enough to change a single decision in order influence the future and avoid the bad end.

  The corridor leads around the ballroom and I turn my attention to the row of windows to my right. Again I am repelled by a horrible scene in my mind and continue on my way instead.

  Almost at the end of the corridor I am intercepted by a young man in the official robes of the royal family.

  “Look. That's your fault.” He is looking at me accusingly and holds up a piece of metal on a chain. It's a clock and it seems to be almost at the point of melting. The metal is glowing like it came right out of the furnace and the artefact is a little deformed. “Now it's useless. Do you have any idea how long it'll take me to repair it?”

  My forehead develops several wrinkles and I take a closer look at the man's face. “Who are you, Boy?”

  He grins and bows. “Azir.”

  I hesitate for a moment, but my foresight doesn't warn me off this time. Encouraged by the good sign I draw my sword and engage.

  The Emperor's judgement is a fine and powerful weapon. The thin, silver blade flows perfectly through the air and the golden handle may not be decorated with jewellery, but the glowing runes make up for that. It imitates the powers of an Anja and can ignite mana at will. If wielded by an Anja its a perfect addition to their ability of manipulating fire.

  But since it is so powerful at manipulating mana, the weapon is very useful to anyone else too. Just the mere contact with the opponent's skin is enough to deprive them of their mana reserves. The weapon simply takes whatever it can get to store it for later use. The Emperor's Judgement is a very mana hungry device, which has to be wielded with great care.

  I point the tip of the blade dead centre at the man, but a dagger appears in his hand from seemingly nowhere. It's the Emperor's Wish! My son's weapon.

  Our weapons come in contact and sparks fly, but instead of retreating, Azir steps closer and grabs my cloak. “Revered ancestor, please be so kind and retire from your position.”

  This fool! To think that a youngling like him could do anything to someone like me! But he made a mistake by taking me head on! From this position I just have to grab his upper arm and apply a small curse while evading the dagger. As long as the dagger is in contact with my sword the two weapons cancel each other out.

  I reach for Azir, but suddenly he is gone!? Something hits my knee and I realize that he is under me. Trying to get away I start casting a spell and open my senses, something tugs at my magical formation and it falls apart like a house of cards.

  Azir hurls his shoulder with magical enforced muscles into my belly and I am being lifted from my feet.

  The world starts spinning and I cast a defence spell just in time to shield myself from the impact. Dust and debris fills my vision as I tumble through the air. Then I touch the ground and slither several feet. Azir sent me flying right through the corridor's wall and into the ballroom.

  Frightened people retreat from me as I get to my feet and orient myself. Azir is following me calmly with the annealing clock in his left hand. The dagger disappeared again.

  I frown and decide to make this quick. This person can't be underestimated. Raising my hand I cast a vortex ray and combine it with a dimensional shifting spell. All I have to do is to variate the resonance of the shift and my spell is able to penetrate any defence.

  Azir casually raises his hand to intercept my spell with his palm. My spell sheers off upwards and cuts a harmless rift into the ceiling. In the meantime he kept walking and smiles at me without a care in the world.

  No... that's not without care. That's the expression of someone who found something disturbing in his house and wants to get rid of it!

  I raise both hands to conjure my strongest spell. It doesn't matter if I have to take down the entire palace!

  But my magic doesn't form! I try to force it into existence, but only a moment before I am done the magical circle falls apart. It's him! He is a Zait and he destroys my magical formation by deforming the parts which aren't under my conscious control! How? He would have to know me very well, know my habits in spell casting exactly.

  This means that I have only small spells and raw power available to my arsenal. Pointing my palm at him I release my mana in a concentrated burst!

  The shockwave parts in front of Azir and he keeps coming. This is so surreal! He isn't even casting magic and all my spells get countered or deflected.

  I take hold of my sword with both hands and step forward to meet him. The dagger is probably still in his hand, it's just invisible like before. Swing, parry, feint. We exchange a few blows until we lock our weapons with each other. I see my chance and change the angle of my sword. It's much longer than his dagger. All I need to do is to touch him!

  He moves a moment before my muscles follow my commands. My blade cuts empty air and Azir stands within my defence.

  The dagger embeds itself in my left thigh and my legs are swept away from under my feet. I topple forward while the back of my head is being grabbed. My head is pushed and I see the dance floor coming closer at an alarming speed!

  Darkness...

  Something slides into my shoulder and wakes me up! I raise my head from the dent in the dance floor and scream, spurting blood and teeth. My jaw seems to be broken, everything hurts.

  From the corner of my eye I see the Emperor's Judgement nailing my shoulder to the floor. The blade is sucking the mana out of me to fuel itself for future use! “Have to stop it.”

  I try to push myself up, but something... or someone kneels on my back! The blistering clock enters my vision. With the chain it looks like an amulet, but that doesn't concern me right now. Whoever is on top of me placed the hot metal directly under my head and is pressing me down towards it.

  As I have no mana this is a fight of my muscles alone. “Why? How?”

  “Because you crashed my wedding party, you rat! It took me a while to find out that I have to hide my killing intent! Then I had to learn how to fight you without killing dozens of innocents. My girl wouldn't stop bickering if she ever learned that I could've done this better!” Azir's voice hisses angrily into my ear and he doubles his efforts in pressing me down, but the heat of the clock alone repels me.

  Small flames and smoke rise from the wooden ground as it gets charred. “I don't understand! What are you talking about!?”

  “Don't you see it!?” The voice hisses at my ear.

  Then I realize the strong lingering effects of magic within the clock. The strong heat and the emitted light masked it, but now it has cooled enough to see.

  The spell which caught me is strongly imprinted into the artefact. I had lost
the moment I failed to kill him instantly. It's efficient. It's clean. The numbers and the magic, it all adds up! I understand it now!

  “It is beautiful!”

  “You say that every... damn... time!”

  My burning muscles give in and my forehead is pressed against the clock.

  Free City States of Nict, Capital

  Stella

  I slowly approach Azir who is sitting on top of the strange man. The other family members are right behind me. Azir seems to be furious for some reason and I don't get what's going on. I have never seen such an angry expression on his face and it even seems like he is enjoying hurting that poor beggar.

  Everyone said that I should go and talk with him since he is my husband. When I looked to Valda for help, she folded her arms in front of her chest and shook her head. She looked at me with an unwavering expression and said, “As of today I refuse any responsibility for him. The ownership was transferred to you, so learn to keep him under control.” So I have to deal with this situation.

  A few moments ago he excused himself and then this beggar came flying through the wall with Azir following him. The beggar seems to be a strong mage since everyone could feel his power, but somehow Azir intercepted all his spells, no matter what he did.

  “Azir? Love?”

  Azir looks up and his expression turns into a forced smile. “Stella! It's a nice party, isn't it? Please give me just a few more moments. I am busy here.”

  The person under Azir is screaming like a child. All his limbs flail in random directions and smoke is rising from his forehead, where he is being pressed onto the hot metal. Azir doesn't let go, showing no mercy.

  I fight the urge to retch as the smell of burnt flesh reaches my nose. “Love? Who is that?” I point at the crying person under him.

  Azir licks over his lips, thinking of an answer. “Oh, Sugar. That's nobody important.” He shakes his head and fights to keep the man down. “Just Jeremiah Draco, the son of the first Emperor. I guess you could call him your ancestor. The guy whom they are calling the Saviour?”

  Then Azir grins. “Ha! What a joke! Just continue with the party. I have everything under control.”

  78. ~Ignorance.~

  “Our ancestors were wild and ferocious creatures. On their wings they dominated the skies and preyed on lesser beings with their magic. It was a time of hunters and prey.”

  -Old research article.

  Free City States of Nict, Capital

  Stella

  “How does this thing even work?” Azir stabs the sword into the thigh of the bound and gagged beggar. He watches the squirming beggar with interest and pulls the sword out, carefully avoiding to sully himself with blood. Then he casts a healing spell on the beggar. The poor guy had all his mana taken and his magic sealed after Azir caught him.

  Because of the incident we called off the party and decided to deal with the issue at hand. It is hard to understand what's going on, but judging from Azir's behaviour the whole situation is very serious. He insisted on performing a magical ritual on Helen to release her from her blood oath to the Saviour. At first she didn't agree, but he didn't give in until she allowed it. The ritual didn't take long and Helen said that she doesn't feel any different from before. It was still hard for him to persuade her to release herself from a magical promise which was upheld for generations.

  It looks like the Saviour isn't as heroic as we all thought. According to Azir following explanations the Saviour visited the palace in order to kill a lot of people and hinder Nict's technological development.

  We threw him into the palace's jail and took precautions to seal his powers. The last thing we want is the emperor's son going on a rampage in the capital. Right now we have the whole immediate family gathered here. It doesn't happen often that we get to see a living legend, although this so called legend seems to have fallen very deep.

  “Azir? Didn't you say that you want to interrogate this guy who is supposedly our Saviour? Why are you treating him like this? Why isn't he on our side?” I let my eyes wander over the person in ragged clothing. He is tall and his body is in good shape if you don't take his recent treatment into account.

  The man in front of me looks like he is in his forties, but he has to be over a thousand years old. His hair shows the first signs of turning grey and there are a few wrinkles in the corners of his eyes.

  His pupils are shimmering in several colours, exactly like the legend says. One of his horns broke during the fight, but the remaining one bears some resemblance to my family.

  The horrible scar on his forehead didn't disappear despite our healing magic, not even Xander managed to fix it. Now our prisoner has to deal with a permanent scar in the shape of a clock on his forehead.

  “Actually I just wanted to poke him with the sword. I already interrogated him in a previous iteration. There isn't much he can tell me which I don't already know.” Azir pokes the man's thigh and heals him up again.

  I knit my eyebrows. “Previous iteration? Would you finally explain what's going on?”

  “Of course. You see, I repaired this.” He dangles a piece of molten metal on a chain in front of me. “I used it to turn back the time. It took me fifty seven tries to achieve a perfect ending! The clock got destroyed in the process though. I have to rebuild it completely.”

  Then it dawns on me. “What!?” I smack the clock out of his hand. “You promised me that you wouldn't use such dangerous items any more! Show a little more reason! We are parents!”

  Azir points at the moaning beggar on the cell's only chair. “But he hurt you and a lot of people, though I don't really care what happens to strangers. He even hurt your mother. You just don't remember it. I had to use it.” He kicks the guy without holding back.

  Helen sighs and holds me back. “It's alright Stella. Don't be too hard on Azir in this case. Somehow it disturbs me that I had a blood oath to a beggar like this.” She gestures at the prisoner.

  The man stops moaning for a moment and gathers his power wriggle the gag from his mouth. Then he spews a defiant answer at us. “I am Jeremiah Draco and not a beggar! You should all obey my wishes! I am the one who fought for your freedom. I am the one who is upholding the balance to guarantee freedom. How dare you to oppose me!”

  Azir makes a perfect imitation of the man's rambling with his hand. “You ran through the world and played all nations and tribes against each other. Whenever someone got powerful enough to form a nation over a certain size you smashed them! Either by causing a rebellion or killing the leaders outright.”

  The man pulls at his shackles. “The reason for oppression is power! Once a certain group gets too powerful it's bound to restrain the freedom of others. I am ensuring that something like the Empire of Nict can never happen again!”

  Azir points at him. “You were the reason why the Southern Nations were constantly struggling with each other until recently! Of course the violence regularly crossed the borders to other countries. You encouraged the xenophobic behaviour of the nomads and you riled up the northern tribes against Quinn!

  You are a big part of the problem! On top of it you didn't even notice your brother taking over the second continent and creating an almost continent wide war on this one.”

  “What are you talking about? I killed Serenzar years ago.” He looks shocked.

  I step in front of the pitiful excuse of an ancestor. “Apparently not! And from what I heard from Azir you even assisted him in his quest to conquer the world.” Then I continue telling Jeremiah about everything we deduced so far. He listens to me in silence. In the end I close my lecture with a request for Jeremiah. “So it would be good if you tell us where the other artefacts are hidden and what's inside the Emperor's vault.”

  Azir shakes his head. “That's the only thing I never got out of him. I am starting to believe that he doesn't know himself.”

  “How is that possible?” Helen asks with a doubtful voice. “It can't be that he forgot it? It has been a long time, but surely
someone wouldn't forget something as important as that!”

  A grin crawls onto Jeremiah's face. “Memory erasure. I deleted all my memories which could tell me what's inside the vault, so that I would never fall to the temptation of using it myself. The vault will never be unlocked. That's the only thing I've done right in my life.” His expression turns dark and he sets his eyes on Azir. “But your situation is surely grim if you rely on a dark spirit like that to save you.”

  Azir's eyes narrow. “What do you mean?”

  “You may have taken my magic, but not my eyes! I see what you really are, no normal man could've created a spell like this! First the spell with which you scorched the nomads and then time travel! Did you already destroy worlds by using your knowledge so carelessly? From which dimension did a monster like you crawl into our reality? Do they even realize which being they invited into their fam-”

  I kick the beggar without holding back, hitting him perfectly on the temple. Jeremiah tilts over together with his chair and is silent. “Nobody insults my husband, or tries to cause mistrust within the family! I think we've heard enough.”

  Lucas nods, scratching his cheek. He kept silent until now, but finally he decides to speak. “Hm. Hmmm... I think we have enough on him to keep him locked up for a long time. Maybe we'll need him for something later. And he is still the only one who knows his brother. I'll have a longer talk with him once he wakes up.”

  Valda nods and faces Azir with a stern expression. “Still, what he said is valid. Time travel magic sounds like it's too powerful to be played around with. According to my knowledge the theory says that unbelievable magical power is necessary for time travel. Are you sure that nothing went wrong Azir?”

  Azir nods. “The spell works on the principle of influencing time by warping space with a gravitational wave-front. Normally what we perceive as time is created by the existence of mass warping the fabric of space and time. My spell focuses all its energy on inverting that effect. Imagine a flat sheet of cloth being deformed by a weight on it.