by Rain Oxford
I turned to the wizard. “Luca and I should probably go with them, but I have a really big favor to ask.”
He nodded knowingly. “If you choose to go with them, it is fine with me. What favor do you need?”
“Can I have your coffee?”
Chapter 9
The next morning, Luca was in his bed reading a book, and there was a black jaguar at the foot of my bed, watching me. “Why is there a giant cat in my bed?” I asked. At that point, I recognized her earrings and realized she was the same cat who had come to me several nights previous.
Luca shot me a look like I was insane. “Have you tried telling a two hundred pound cat to get out of your room? Besides, I don’t think she wants to hurt anyone. I just figured you could do with something soft and cuddly in your bed and minded my own business.”
I knew Luca was only there so that I wouldn’t worry about him. When our parents died, he never fought me for being overprotective, although he often complained about me not having enough fun. I was the one who kept us on the right path, while he was the one who made the road bearable.
The hardest part to understand was why it had to be me. There were millions of people on my world. Why did I have to be the one to recover the Book of Names?
I got up, sat at the writing desk, and I grabbed a sheet of paper. The jaguar went to the cracked door and pushed it open enough to get out.
I didn’t want to get involved with the gods, their books, or their names. I didn’t want to be a caster of Syndrial. However, there were two sides to every coin. I could risk my life and Luca’s to help people I didn’t belong with and gods I didn’t believe in. At the same time, if the gods were right that I could stop the Painter and save everyone on Syndrial, then I had to try.
Isis – Goddess of magic, marriage, healing, and protection
Motive: Recover the Book of Names
Actions: Promised to return me home if I got the book
Strengths: A god
Weakness: Bound by her name
Myself – Caster of Syndrial
Motive: Get Luca and myself home alive
Actions: Learn magic, recover the Book of Names
Strengths: Name isn’t in the book
Weakness: Mortal & a novice in magic
Painter – Rogue caster
Motive: Destroy gods with Book of Names
Actions: Takes children, brought me here
Strengths: Possibly god-like powers of paint
Weakness: Possibly mortal
I stopped writing. Isis said the Painter’s motive was to destroy the gods, but she could have been wrong. His actions were not supporting that motive. Either I had my facts wrong, or I was missing something. If he had the book, and the book could destroy the gods, and he wanted to destroy the gods, what was standing in his way? Why take children? Why bring me here?
Although the gods had no motive for lying to me that I knew of, that didn’t mean their information was infallible.
I stood. “We should go get some food.”
“I want pizza,” Luca said.
“I want coffee, so we’re both S.O.L.” Rilryn had given me his coffee, but because we didn’t know how long we would be stuck on Syndrial, I had to make it last. Thus, I gave the can to Luca along with strict orders not to let me have more than one cup a day. I was responsible and disciplined when it came to money, food, or work. Coffee was another story.
The dining hall was somber and the only noise came from eating and moving plates. I understood the cause; with a temple this size, everyone knew each other. Satka had grown up here. It was the equivalent of someone breaking into their home and taking one of their family members. In fact, it was even harder because of their beliefs; they couldn’t prepare his body.
It was disturbing to be back at the temple, as if nothing had happened at all while we were gone. Nobody said anything about the attack on the wall, although the priests knew what happened. As far as the apprentices knew, we had been on some mission by the gods and they weren’t supposed to ask questions.
Katok, Satka’s best friend, intercepted us on the way to get our food. “Did Satka fight the Painter?” he asked.
“He didn’t have anything to fight with,” Luca said.
Katok’s eyes darted around to make sure we were alone before saying, “I know he broke the rules. He used to fight with other boys when we were little, even though it would have gotten him in trouble. I want to know he didn’t make it easy for the Painter.”
“Yes, he fought. He grabbed one of the candles and jabbed it at the Painter’s face. The Painter almost lost an eye.”
Katok brightened. “Thank you.” He ran off. He wasn’t going to tell anyone that his friend broke the rules, but it was enough to comfort him.
Luca and I got our food and I started making a pot of coffee. It wasn’t machine-quality, but it was better than nothing. “That’s not how it happened, is it?”
“Some people want to be lied to. Satka was too shocked by the Painter’s appearance. He didn’t make a sound other than to identify the guy.”
Several apprentices were curious enough to ask what I was doing. I explained and let them smell the coffee grounds. They liked the smell and a few were bold enough to ask if they could try some. I refused, not because I was stingy but because I didn’t know how they would react to caffeine.
“Did the Painter kill him?” I asked as we sat.
“Not in front of me. He just took Satka.”
“So it could be that he has some kind of ritual or sacrifice in mind rather than just eating them. What do you know about that?”
Luca shook his head. “Every other ancient religion involves sacrifices to the gods. Ancient Egyptian gods, however, couldn’t care less.”
“Good morning, Nathan, Luca,” Keeper said before I could start eating.
“If you say so.”
“I just received word that the temple of Osiris was attacked last night. While the priests slept, their belongings were ransacked. We are shorthanded at the moment and we have to be especially vigilant to protect the apprentices. Healer is---”
“Shorthanded?”
“Yes. Warrior and Wanderer were both supposed to be back by now from their trips, but they’re not.”
“That’s weird, isn’t it?”
“They are usually more responsible than that, but we don’t have time to dwell on it. Healer is going to go and we were hoping you would go with him.”
“I wouldn’t be much good on the magic end.”
“You might learn something about the Painter.”
I nodded. “Okay. Is Traveler going to transport us there?”
“Traveler left this morning to see about getting us a few replacement priests.”
“Oh. When do we go?”
“After breakfast, when the bells toll.”
“How long is it going to take?” Luca asked.
“You should be back by this time tomorrow.”
“I’m going to stay. I was getting a lot of good research done before our excursion and I’d like to get back into it,” Luca said, watching me. He was waiting for me to argue.
I considered the facts; the desert wasn’t safe outside the walls, the Painter hadn’t hurt Luca when he had the opportunity, and the chance of the Painter attacking this temple so soon after his last attack was pretty low.
“Okay.”
Luca’s eyes widened. “Who are you and what have you done with my suffocating, overbearing brother.”
“Do you want me to change my mind?”
“No, no. Before you go, however, I need to give you something.”
* * *
Ten minutes later, we were back in our room. I rolled my eyes when Luca pulled a book out from under his pillow. Luca couldn’t hide anything. He handed the book to me. “This was what I was working on. You can’t let anyone else see it.”
“What is it?”
“It should be every spell you will need to pass your trials, plus some.”
I opened the book. It was like a journal, with numerous spells written. It included the domatago words and what they could be shortened to. It even described what to visualize and how the spell could be used in combat. “It’s basically what they teach the apprentices in the ten to twenty years they train here. I wrote it in English so only we can read it. How long do you think it will take you?”
I skimmed through the pages. There were hundreds of spells and some of them were pretty complex. “Anywhere from a week to a month.”
“I’ll get to work on getatago spells.”
“How did you do this?”
“It’s my calling. Satka helped with the translations from their sacred language. He probably would have been killed for helping me. After you master the spell, burn the paper. No one can know you have this.”
“Why?”
“The priests are supposed to be training you, but they take their dear sweet time about it. You don’t want them to know how quickly you could overcome them.”
Even good men would fight to protect their positions of power. Having magic that they didn’t teach me made me a threat to them.
I considered copying all of the spells into my new magic book, but decided not to take it with me in case we were attacked. Instead, I hid it behind the desk, next to our wallet and phones. It wasn’t a great hiding spot, but we didn’t have many options. My ring stayed on me at all times.
“I’ll practice these if I get any privacy while I’m out,” I said, sticking the domatago book in the pocket of my robe.
“Come back safe.”
“Of course. Otherwise, you would eat nothing but junk food and you wouldn’t wash yourself but once a month.”
“You are way too interested in my bathing habits.”
* * *
Half an hour later, I met Healer at the entrance of the temple. He wore his half mask and carried his staff, which had a lion head on it. It made me think of what Keira said about the cats being trustworthy. Healer handed me a strip of cloth that hooked on the inside of the hood of my robe to hide my face. “Are we supposed to be ashamed to show ourselves in public?”
“We are supposed to be faceless to commoners. They cannot hold a grudge against a faceless man.”
“Do they have a reason to hold a grudge against you?”
“The will of the gods is not always easy to understand.”
We walked out into the bright day. Some people bowed to us, while others ran in fear. “Do we need guards?”
“We have magic. There will be no guards until we reach the gates.” We walked slowly, as if we weren’t in a hurry. Right before we got to the steps, a little girl rushed out of one of the fancy houses. People tried to stop her, but she was too quick. She halted right in front of us. “Please help us. My mother is hurt. She can’t go to the temple of Isis without help and my father can’t afford to take her. We’ll pay you when we have the money, but she won’t last much longer. Please take her to Isis.”
“Show us to her,” Healer said.
We entered the house. It was in the richest district, yet it was nowhere near as fancy as the temple. Instead of paintings on the walls, there were canvases of art. We went through the door into an outdoor corridor, and from there through another door, which led to a bedroom. I didn’t pay much attention to anything on the way because the girl was so frantic. A middle-aged woman in the bed moaned miserably.
With light brown hair and sand-colored eyes, she looked nothing like my mother or Sofia, yet I still knew the pain the little girl felt. Luca had been ten when his mother was killed two feet away from us.
A man held the girl out of Healer’s way. I was stopped in my tracks when I saw how pale the woman was. I had only seen a person that pale once. My curse’s first victim.
I pictured her face. I had seen it in my sleep many nights. Her eyes were open, lifeless and staring at me. Her skin was more gray than flesh-colored, making the blood pooling under her appear black. Flashing lights and broken glass was everywhere.
“Nathan!”
Healer’s sharp tone jerked me out of my morbid memories. “What?” I asked. He was now standing at the woman’s side.
“Get out of the way.”
I had backed away from her into the doorway, and the man couldn’t get by me with the cup of water he was trying to get her. “Shit. I’m sorry.” I got out of the way and tried to go outside, needing air.
Healer ordered the man to take his daughter out of the room. “Nathan, come here,” he said. I did, though that was the last thing in the world I wanted to do. “Hold her hand.”
“I don’t think I’m qualified to---”
“Do it!” he shouted. I took her hand. It was clammy and limp. “Tell me when she clenches her fingers.”
He put one hand on her stomach and one on her head. A moment later, there was a soft blue glow emanating from him. When the woman suddenly squeezed my hand, it startled me. “She’s squeezing.”
“Good. Talk to her. I’m terrible at comforting people.”
That seemed like a strange weakness for a healer to have. “Hey,” I said gently to the woman. She opened her eyes and looked at me. “Does it hurt?” she nodded. “How long have you been sick?”
“Almost a month?” she said weakly.
That explained why they didn’t have money. A month off work could set most people back. “Well, I’m very glad that it will finally be over. My mother had carpal tunnel in her hand. She said it was like her hand was being electrocuted every day. It was sometimes so bad that she couldn’t hold a cup. My father kept telling her to get surgery for it, but she was so afraid of being in pain after the surgery that she refused to do it. My little brother and I made a list for her of all the things she could do with two working hands. She read it and cried. We thought we had done wrong, but a week later, she had the surgery. She had a little pain afterwards, especially when she tried to lift anything heavy. But a month later, she was good as new, and she was so happy that she did everything on that list.”
“Am I going to be better after this?” she asked. Her voice sounded stronger.
Healer nodded.
“Let’s make a list real quick,” I said. “What will you be able to do with your daughter?”
“Make her bread. She hates the bread anyone else makes.”
“No one puts as much love into their bread as a mother. My dad, though, he made the best bowl of ice cream.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“That’s okay. What else will you do?”
“Take her to celebrate her tenth birthday next year. It’s her birthday tomorrow and we haven’t seen any sign of magic.”
She sounded so proud of her daughter for not having magic, even though magic was saving her. Syndrial was so strange.
“That’s it,” Healer said. “Rest today and tomorrow, you will wake with most of your strength back.”
I left them alone to talk and waited outside. “Can I learn to do that?” I asked when we left.
“You can learn to heal, but perhaps not as naturally as I do, as it is my power. There cannot be two healers. It also depends on the god that chooses you when you pass your trials. I was chosen by Isis.”
“Is she the main god?”
“No. Until your first night here, I had never seen a god in person before. Only Keeper is allowed inside the pyramid to take care of them and Scribe is allowed to write their orders. None of us understand why you have received special treatment, but we don’t question them.”
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know why I was in the middle of this fight between the Painter and the gods to begin with.
“When we were in there, you looked distressed. Have you lost someone to illness?”
“I’ve lost a lot of people, but not to illness. Maybe if I knew how to heal, I could have saved them.”
“I have lost people as well. We’re not supposed to become deep friends with anyone because our lives are dangerous, but I thought it w
as safe for me to develop such friendships because I could heal them. I was wrong. Some people aren’t brought to me in time, some don’t want to be healed, and some are meant to die. It is harder on me than if I didn’t have the power. I can’t stop thinking how it should have gone differently.”
“I can see how that sucks. I keep going back and forth in my head. If I had been able to control my magic, maybe people wouldn’t have been hurt. But if I learn magic now, I might hurt more people.”
“I can’t tell you what to do. What I can tell you is that I would never give up my power, because if I only saved one person in my entire life, it would be worth it.”
We finally reached the gates and stopped. A horn blasted and the gates slowly opened. As we walked through the opening, I saw the line of stone beneath us, buried in the dirt, and remembered that the wall was probably there to keep out sand monsters, not sand people. “The wall goes underground, doesn’t it?”
“Of course.”
Outside was an armored vehicle. It was roughly thirty feet long, ten feet tall, and ten feet wide, made of steel with rounded sides. Halfway between a train and a drill, it reminded me way too much of a spaceship. On the back was what looked like a fan.
“I was expecting something more… animal.”
He frowned. “We need something that can protect us.”
“What powers it?” I asked as we approached it.
“Sunlight and steam.”
There weren’t any metal tracks. I didn’t see wheels, but the metal siding went all the way to the sand, so I figured they were protected.
“It doesn’t fly or go underground, does it?”
“No.”
As we reached the middle, a section of the metal siding slid into itself. “A pocket door. Damn.”
“What’s wrong?” Healer asked.
“I was really hoping for gull-wing doors.” I stepped up onto the reed-mat floor. The interior was a lot nicer than I had expected. It was designed like a living room with two reading chairs in the corner, a small metal table between them, and a metal bookshelf across from them. A metal cabinet in between two doors on the south wall was filled with water, fruit, and vegetables.
