There was a price to Seth in the bargain he had struck. It hit Seth like a brick wall, realizing all too well that in order for him to use the power of the gods to perform feats of magic, he was going to have to siphon the spark of life, given by the gods, from the living beings around him, effectively shortening their lifespan or killing them all together. She had made him a murderer. A killer. And worse, he had happily agreed without question.
Sadly Seth knew without even a thought against it that if this was the price he would have to pay to spend the rest of his days at Sara’s side, no matter the consequence, no matter how it wrenched his guts, twisting his insides, he would do it to be with her. It was an immeasurable price to pay. Sacrificing life for an ability to do what? End more life? Save life? He didn’t even know what he could do with the power he was given. But he did know, that in order to use it, he would have to harm those around him.
A man of morals, Seth realized he could pick and choose those he siphoned from, sparing the kind and honorable, taking that which he needed from the greedy and evil of the world. Knowing this in his heart, Seth paid his tab leaving an appreciative tip for the young waitress, and set out on his way to discover precisely how he was to siphon this power from the world of the living around him.
Seth already had a destination in mind, and headed directly toward the city wall at a brisk pace. It was difficult to completely ignore the hundreds or perhaps thousands of tendrils tugging at his mind on his way to the city wall, but the further Seth walked and the longer he was exposed, the more he realized that like with the sounds in a busy marketplace, he could tone out the constant nagging feeling pulling at his mind. It took quite some time to walk the distance from the castle walls all the way to the city walls, but Seth passed the distance and passed the time with little exercises using his new mental abilities.
Before long he could walk long stretches of road without bumping into another person, all with his eyes closed. He also discovered there were several different color variations of auras walking among the public of the castle city, and, to his surprise, before he came to stand at the city gates he had already become able to differentiate between the variations by feel as well as sight.
Finding himself at the gate he simply nodded to the guards and walked straight through into the countryside beyond. The city guards generally were used to keep people out, not keep them in. Seth turned left directly outside the gate, following the giant stone wall around the city and hiding within its shadow. Sighting a small stand of trees surrounded by shrubs and other foliage, he altered his route and made directly for the cover of the trees.
Seth stood below the canopy of a half a dozen young trees, completely hidden from view from the guards patrolling along the top of the city walls. The trees, the bushes, the grass, the soil, everything around him radiated the same rainbow hue of those people who had sworn no loyalty to a god with a barely perceptible difference between people and plant. Seeing this, Seth rationalized that if he was to end life in order to perform magic, he would rather end that of plants, insects or animals if the power they contained was the same as in people. Being that it was the power of the gods who created all living things, Seth determined it would matter little where he siphoned his power from, so long as he had a source.
“Better to start small,” Seth said aloud though only he was there to hear it.
Sitting down and closing his eyes, Seth focused his mind on the aura of the grass beneath him. First he felt the tugging of all the life around him, pulling at his mind. Patiently he waited, focusing and sorting until he had isolated just the grass beneath him, or so he hoped. So far this day Seth had done all he could do to ignore the tugging at his mind from the auras around him. This time however, focusing solely on the aura of the grass at his feet, Seth relaxed mentally. Reaching out with his mind Seth grasped at the aura that was the single focus of his conscious mind, and was immediately reminded of the pure bliss he had felt when Ashton had sent a god’s power through him.
Elation held Seth in thrall as he used his mind to entrap the spark of life given to the grass beneath him by the gods. Feeling the grass’s aura with all his being, Seth tugged at it with his mind and felt its bond with the life it sustained give way. Immediately Seth felt the energy explode into him, rushing through his body, his mind, his soul. It invaded every inch of him, intertwining with his own dark aura. Pure pleasure overtook him and he bathed in the glory of the power of the gods.
Pleasure, however, turned quickly into panic. Seth felt his limbs begin to stiffen, he yearned for the feeling of the sun on his face, and he was unbelievably thirsty, his throat and mouth becoming more parched by the second. Seth realized he had made a vital mistake, one Ashton had warned him of many weeks ago, and he realized too that if he didn’t act fast, it would be too late. The thrill was over as Seth realized he was being attacked from within. focusing consciously inward, he preparing a cell within his mind. Fortunately, he could easily distinguish his own aura from that of his invader, and he worked quickly to separate the two. He grasped at the foreign aura, stripping it from his own, little by little, and imprisoned it in the mental cell he had created for it. With each portion he captured and contained, his body altered. Breathing became easier, then his thirst diminished, and finally as he locked away the last of the plant aura he had consumed, his muscles relaxed and his joints eased, allowing him to move once again. Though safe from immediate danger, Seth could feel the energy brimming within him, struggling, searching for a route to escape. He had already learned one very important lesson; the spark used by the gods to create different kinds of life was infused with that life’s characteristics, and he must be cautious to contain whatever life he consumed lest he be consumed by it. This revelation also decided for Seth his next course of action.
Standing up to stretch after his near life-ending experiment, Seth saw precisely that which he feared would be the cost of his power. All around him, the grass lay destroyed. It had not withered and turned brown to regain life at a later time, but had become nothing but a blanket of gray ash upon the soil around him. Standing and moving about caused the ash to rise up in plumes, only to settle again after a moment at his feet. Seth now knew for certain the cost of his decision, and he knew that eventually the burden of that decision would be laid fully upon his shoulders, but for now it was the only path he saw available to him. He had to continue.
Seth seated himself once again to begin his next self-taught lesson. He already knew what to expect this time, and feeling the life force of the grass within him seeking a way out of the prison he had placed it in, he released it to once again ravage his body from within.
Seth spent several hours releasing and recapturing the aura of the grass inside himself, perfecting the art of not only diffusing it from his own aura, but also entrapping it and containing it. Seth was satisfied with his lesson when he could distinguish his aura from the other instantaneously, and at the same time contain it with ease. By the time Seth was done it took so little effort it was almost second nature. Even more than that, he had discovered a means of mentally storing the energy in a way that he no longer felt the grass’s aura trying to escape. It was within him, trapped, until he sought it out, and when he did seek it out, it was just as he had left it. Feeling satisfied that he could now siphon and contain the power he was meant to use, it was time for his next lesson.
Seth had studied every tome and scroll he could get his hands on about spells and performing magic. He knew well the symbols and incantations used by both the red-robed war mages as well as those used by the healing white robes, but instinctively he knew that his power was different. The power of the other mages was loaned temporarily by the god of their worship at the time of spell casting. Those mages used their prayers to ask for the power, and their symbols and incantations to focus their mind as to what they needed that power to do. Seth did not need to convey his intentions to any god, and as for focusing on purpose, the incantations and symbols were just a me
ans to memorize a specific use of the power. In his own mind, Seth believed he could perform without using such rigorous and tedious methods.
Like he had done before when channeling Ashton’s power, Seth believed he had the ability to bend the power to his will to perform any task, so long as he had sufficient energy stored to complete it. He did not know, however, how much power it would take to complete any given task. That knowledge would come from practice. Practice required time, and time was something both Seth and Sara were running out of.
With Sara in mind, Seth decided upon his first test. Reaching into his coin purse, he pulled out a single silver coin. Holding the coin in the palm of his hand he held it before himself, focusing his gaze on the face of the coin. Imagining the process of the coin’s alteration, Seth focused inward and releasing the aura once belonging to the grass, he channeled it outward towards the coin in his hand.
Pleasure embraced him. The flow of the spark of life through him was exhilarating, a feeling akin to none other he could imagine. As expected the coin in his hand twisted and stretched, sharp edges became round, the images on the coin smoothed and a new image began to take shape. Before his task was complete, however, the pleasure that coursed through him with the magic was gone, leaving his experiment unfinished. He had already exhausted his reserve of power and was not even able to complete this small task.
Although disappointing, this failure opened the door to yet another experiment. Seth needed more power. Focusing on the hundreds of auras around him, he chose three. First he leeched the life from a tree of the very grove he sat in, feeling the life surge into the mental cage he had created for it as he watched the leaves wither and crumble to the ground, adding more ash to the blanket on the soil. The tree’s trunk remained, taking on the gray hue of death common to trees. Next Seth focused his mind on a colony of insects some distance from the protection of his grotto, and beginning one by one, then hundreds at a time, he extinguished thousands of tiny lives, pouring each of their auras into yet another cage of his making. Finally Seth searched his mind again, seeking out the aura of his next victim. Locating and isolating it, he tracked it with his eyes closed, his head turning this way and that as if he could actually see the beast at this distance. The aura was one of the furthest away from him that he could isolate. He knew it to be an animal as it moved quickly darting one way and then another. He did not know what type of animal it could be. Perhaps a rabbit or fox, maybe even a dog of some sort. It was of no consequence what type of animal it was. Seth needed to test the range of his ability.
Reaching out mentally Seth located and grasped at the life supporting the animal. Unsurprisingly it was much more difficult to get a firm hold at this distance. Focusing more intently, Seth threw his conscious at the beast and ripped away its life, sucking it into his own being and locking it away quickly. Sweat had beaded on his forehead, and his limbs trembled from the effort of reaching so far, but even physically shaken as he was, it taught him that he did indeed have limitations.
Seth relaxed for many minutes allowing his heart rate to return to normal and the shaking to go away. Once rested enough to continue, Seth again held out the now blank piece of silver in his palm. Focusing again on the process of creating the finished product he had in mind, he released the trapped life of the tree from within. Again the metal twisted and heaved, this time portions of the face of the coin began to rise and fall to create a new image. Seth focused himself on the tiny details of the coin and watched as they were reproduced from his mind onto its surface. Just before the final detail was scribed into the metal, again his power failed. Without hesitation Seth concentrated hard and unleashed the collected auras of the insects.
The final detail on the face of the coin completed, Seth turned it over and began to smooth the opposite side. This time Seth realized he could feel the power waning as he neared expending the last of it. With this realization, Seth unleashed the aura of the animal he still contained and was amazed by the result. The exhilaration was ten times that of the plants and insects. It infiltrated every pore of his being with pleasure. More amazing than this was the concentration of the power. Seth completed the coin with a single thought, performing more work in an instant with the aura of the animal than all the other work he had carried out with the grass, the tree, and the insects. Not only had he completed the coin, but he had to recapture the remaining power left from the animal’s aura.
Feeling very satisfied, Seth turned the once coin over and over in his hand. He had created a stunning silver charm. It was teardrop shaped with an image of himself on one side and an image of Sara on the other. The craftsmanship was near flawless, even a master silversmith would be hard pressed to recreate the details Seth had imparted into the small piece of silver. More importantly, Seth knew Sara would love it.
Seth felt he had learned enough for the day, enough at least to prove himself to Jud if need be. He had taught himself to locate and track individual auras, and how to siphon them. He had also learned that he should judge the distance carefully else he could possibly overexert himself in the process. On top of that, he had realized that all the knowledge he had gleaned over the past weeks about performing magic was basically useless to him. Most importantly, he had discovered a major flaw in his previously ignorant, but very hopeful, thinking. He could indeed use plants and insects to perform magic. However, since neither plants nor insects required much energy to sustain their lives, they did not provide a practical source for Seth to siphon from. Animals, however, proved different. Most game animals could live for a dozen years or more, and needed a lot of energy to sustain that life. It was a lot of energy that Seth could use.
Before leaving the small grotto Seth delved inward once again to seek out another source of energy. Locating two more nearby animals he leeched every ounce of life from them, locking it away in his mind for further use. Standing up, and dusting the ash from his clothes, Seth headed out from the small grotto feeling that this day had been a success. Stepping free from the cover of the trees and brush Seth was startled to view the actual carnage he had done. Gone was the grass for a dozen yards in all directions from the grotto. A perfect circle of ash surrounded the area, leaving a great deal of evidence as to the destruction he had sown upon the land. Seth had a feeling that this was not to be the worst of his deeds, but he held his head in reverence as he left the devastation behind and headed to the city gate.
Passing through the gate unchecked, Seth made his way back towards the castle. The auras were everywhere, but now it seemed as though they were just another part of life and he did not need to focus in order to tone out their constant calling to him. He arrived at the castle with some daylight yet left, and deciding he had no reason to rush back to the tower, he went out of his way to pass by the Knights of Valdadore’s training area in hopes of catching a glimpse of his brother. His hopes were quickly dashed as the grounds stood empty. Light was fading, so he turned himself in the direction of the tower he called home (at least for now) and walked at a brisk pace.
Seth entered the tower, and climbed the many stories of stairs to his level. He strode across the stone floor, head held high, knowing he had found the answer to his and Sara’s dilemma. Rounding the corner to his room he froze mid-stride, nearly colliding with Jud who was apparently standing guard outside his chamber door. Sara stood silently with Jud, her head hanging low like that of a berated animal. Judilanthaliz too, it seemed, was in an abnormal mood. He was generally a man who was quick to smile, and though his duties were mostly thankless, he performed them without complaint and with a light heart. Such was not the case today.
“Where have you been?” Jud demanded in a tone akin to Seth’s father’s when angry.
“Outside the castle,” Seth replied, deciding honesty, at least to an extent, was his best option.
“Sara apparently has more loyalty to you than she has to myself. She refused to tell me where you were except that you had been blessed but that only after threatening to send he
r to work elsewhere in the castle” Jud said, his frown deepening.
“I am truly sorry Jud,” Seth began. “You should have been the first to know, but I had to test my blessing out, to be sure it was real. I wanted to know for certain before simply stating that which I had not yet confirmed. Sara knew neither where I was, nor what I intended.” Seth lowered his head in shame. He truly respected the old shield, and knew now, in retrospect, that he should have done things differently.
“In that case…,” Jud responded turning to face Sara, “I owe you my apologies, young lady. I should have not questioned you the way I did. It was only my concern for you both that led us to this moment.” Jud stated before turning back to face Seth. “Did you discover what you intended?” he asked.
“Yes. It appears my blessing is indeed candid, but it does not appear that I will become a shield like yourself,” Seth answered, hoping that this revelation would not disappoint the man who had taken him and Sara beneath his wing.
“Well, to be honest, I had little hope of you following the same path that I have, as few ever have. But if it is not to be your path, then with which god have you aligned yourself?” Jud asked, wondering where the boy might be sent for training.
“A god who has little following in these times. A goddess rather,” Seth corrected himself. “I have been blessed by Ishanya.”
“Truly?” Jud asked, a peculiar look on his mangled face. “What exactly does this blessing entail? I have read histories in the past that tell of many blessings bestowed by Ishanya, however, I must warn you that if my recollection is correct, those blessings could not be heavily relied upon.”
Age of the Gods: The Complete, twelve novel, fantasy series (The Blood and Brotherhood Saga) Page 41
