Blood of Mages (Rift of Chaos Book 3)

by A. J. Martinez

  Auron and Eckxio stood beside her, waiting to hear of any clues regarding the sapphire jewel. It felt as if they had been in the underwater city for hours. They did not plan to stay for very long and Auron continued to remind her of the limited time they had.

  As Serena waited to hear about the sapphire jewel, the king continued to speak about her mother and the time she had visited Mobororo. Serena finally interrupted the king and asked, “What happened to my mother and the jewel?”

  “Ah, well, no one knows,” the king replied as he paced left and right in front of his throne.

  “My father told me that she had disappeared with the sapphire jewel during the middle of war. Do you remember anything?” she asked.

  The king’s eyes shrank and the orb inside his blue body glowed. He stroked his tentacle beard and pondered, nodding his head. “I think your father knew that she was the chosen one,” he answered. “She prophesized it herself. She would always try to make peace with the Laguans but King Sarbock always chose war. Thirty years ago your family had the sapphire jewel and we intended to take it. Just like you, your mother created a plan for both humans and Laguans to share the Sapphire Cosmo Jewel. However, your father decided that peace could not exist between us and one race shall forever claim the jewel and thus war broke out.”

  King Krobpiok gazed up at the jellyfish that moved throughout the space of his dome. His gaze gave the impression that he would cry but Serena knew that no underwater creature could shed a tear. Looking at him she could feel his sadness and regret like waves moving through her after crashing on the sea shore.

  “Thirty years ago, the Maerians and Laguans engaged in war,” the king continued. “The Sapphire Cosmo Jewel was summoned by Oceamus, preventing both armies from colliding. Then she appeared from the sky. She was called by the jewel and its magic caused a snowstorm and froze the land and sea. That woman, Zarviack, she took the jewel and it obeyed her. Both armies bowed to her, and then she disappeared and it rained for two days without stop. I remember it so clearly because I returned to those shores after we withdrew. Since then everyone wondered where she took the jewel and so we never bothered to fight again. We returned home to our normal lives missing the magic of the sapphire jewel. Our people felt as though it was punishment from Oceamus. We never bothered to search for it and it seems like your father did too, or so we thought.”

  “I will find a way,” Serena swore. “Both humans and Laguans will live in peace.”

  “Tell that to your father,” Krobpiok said. “May Oceamus have mercy on his soul, if he ever makes it to the eternal ocean in the afterlife.”

  “I am next on the throne,” Serena replied. “If my father passes away then I will be the one to make the decisions.”

  “Hmmm,” the king stroked his tentacle beard and gazed up at the jellyfish. “Interesting,” he said and nodded. “For the sake of all species, I pray that you take the throne, and again may Oceamus have mercy on your father.”

  “Your majesty, thank you so much for your time. We must go,” Serena said and bowed.

  “Perhaps this is the truth that I dreamt about,” the king added. “The truth that both species can live in peace. The spirit image of Zarviack. She appears in front of me again and fills me with her grace, with her hopes and courage. I wish you well. As long as you are in charge there shall always be peace.” The king then turned to one of his guards and gestured at him. “Get them safely to their glass whales.”

  A tall Laguan escorted Serena and her friends out of the city. They returned the same way from which they came. Serena used her hydromancy to cast a bubble around them. They moved through the water passing by an army of Laguans and warrior merfolks with harpoons and swords at hand. The glass whales waited for them above an underwater plateau. They entered through the mouth of the whale and into the transparent back where they could breathe. They departed the city of Laguans and Serena smiled as she left with all the information she needed.

  “Speak,” Auron demanded. “You know something, don’t you?”

  “Well, now I do,” Serena answered. “Now I know where to find the Sapphire Cosmo Jewel.”

  “Really? But the Laguan king knew nothing of its whereabouts,” Eckxio said.

  “He said enough for me to know exactly where it is,” Serena replied. “The woman that Akielas has gone to see in the frozen ivy forest... is my mother.”

  “What?” Auron and Eckxio said simultaneously.

  “My father told me the same story. About the day the sapphire jewel summoned its true bearer. King Krobpiok said that once her prophecy came true she would leave everything behind and live in the southern forest of the capital city,” Serena recalled. “That is exactly where Akielas was going. Therefore, we now know where to find the Sapphire Cosmo Jewel.”

  Akielas

  It was much colder than before and yet somehow that woman could resist the temperature almost naked. While Akielas shook inside his cloak, she walked around barefoot with a skirt and small top. Only a true ice mage could walk around in such a blizzard and not shiver. It was as if it had no effect on her, as if she could not feel the cold, like it was part of her body temperature.

  Akielas leaned against a wall of ice. They were in an ice canyon that she called her, ‘home.’ Akielas thought it would be too insulting to ask and so he kept silent. He looked at her as she gutted fish with a long walrus tooth that she had sharpened with rocks. She looked old and yet still beautiful with barely any wrinkles on her face. Her skin was still smooth and her body strong and firm, but he could see the age in her eyes. He could see long years of solitude. There was no pain, only tranquility…or so he thought.

  “Is that our food?” he asked trying to kill the silence between them. Ever since she had saved him from that colossal snake she had not spoken much. He had followed her here to this canyon and when his stomach grumbled she promised him food. Akielas had tried to talk to her but many times she would not respond. She must be so shy? he thought.

  “You don’t like fish?” she asked, looking at him over her shoulder, kneeling on the ice with fish blood on her hands.

  “Right now I could eat anything,” he answered. “Before I lost my magic I was able to suppress my hunger using my maju but now I have to keep my energy up with any bit of food I can find.”

  “You lost your magic?” she asked, fixing her blue dreadlocks behind the nape of her neck.

  “Unfortunately, yes. That is why I am here,” Akielas answered, his teeth chattering.

  “I think you have come to the wrong place,” she replied.

  She punched a hole in the ice, reaching for the water below. She wiped the blood off her hands then stood up and hauled the net full of fish onto her back.

  “Follow me, I will take you to a warm place and don’t you dare try any moves on me. Do you understand?” she said solemnly.

  “Do I look threatening to you?” he asked humorously.

  “Just wanted to make that clear,” she replied with a mirthless look on her face.

  Akielas followed her around the ice canyon. The cold wind made him sleepy and his body was weary. His mind began to spin and Zarviack was blurred in his vision. He slipped a few times on the ice but got back up. Looking around the area he wondered why he did not see any trees cloaked in ice like when he first entered the frozen forest. This solitude, this tranquility, this silence, it was solace to him. Like a sanctuary where he could finally find peace other than death…No, not death. I cannot die yet. Not while my son is still at risk and not while the entire world still needs me. As he followed Zarviack he felt uneasy having her here and not hearing her words.

  “So, how can you resist the cold so much?” he asked awkwardly.

  “I am an ice mage,” she answered. “Years of living in the cold and many years of training. My body has built a strong resistance to the temperature.”

  “Are you really the only one in this forest?”

  “Not anymore,” she answered.

  “Who else
is here with you?”

  “You,” she said and giggled.

  “Other than me.”

  “I am all alone here. This is my frozen sanctuary,” she answered.

  “What about the animals back there before the waterfall, why are they frozen?” Akielas asked.

  “It was an accident,” she confessed and paused. She turned around and faced Akielas with a frown. “I did not mean to hurt them. It happened when I first came here.”

  “So does that mean that you created this entire place? You froze this part of the forest?” Akielas asked eagerly.

  “It is difficult to explain but yes, it is my doing. I am responsible,” she said and frowned. “It was an accident. I do not ask to be forgiven by the gods and it is too late now. No more questions. That is all I will say about myself for now.”

  “I am sorry, I was just curious,” Akielas responded.

  “No worries, I understand,” she replied with a smile.

  Soon they arrived at a dead end. It was in the shape of a bowl and right in front, twenty feet up on the rocky wall of the ice canyon there was a cave and fifteen feet above it there was another cave. Despite the fact that it was a dead end, Zarviack kept walking forward with the net of fish on her back. In the center of the canyon there was a spiral ice structure, like a pathway to the heavens. The ice structure seemed to have been made for some purpose but Akielas shoved the thought away, for he was too tired.

  “There is nowhere else to go unless you plan to climb up to that cave up there,” Akielas said.

  “We don’t have to climb. Follow me, I will show you,” she replied and beckoned.

  They stood in front of the rocky wall. Akielas gazed up at the caves above. Zarviack pulled him close then used cryomancy to raise the ice beneath their feet. Akielas was startled and within seconds they were at the level of the first cave. Zarviack grabbed him as he almost fell off and pushed him into the cave.

  “Lay down. You must rest while I cook. It will be an hour until the food is ready,” Zarviack invited.

  Inside the cave there was a firepit made from rocks forming a circle on the ground. There were still embers and smoke rising from the wood. Fish bones were scattered around the firepit. There was animal fur in a pile on the floor which he guessed was her bed. The cave’s walls were craggy but it looked safe enough where no reptiles or rodents would creep in. It was big enough for two or three people and it was only fifteen feet in length. There was wood piled up, in one corner and there were even gemstones scattered by her fur bed along with animal bones.

  “This is where you live?” Akielas asked.

  “Is it not obvious?” she replied and sat by the firepit.

  She blew onto the wood and the fire spread. Akielas sat on the other side of the firepit and warmed his hands. Zarviack grabbed the fish she had carried in the net and shoved a stick through their bodies, placing them on hangers over the fire.

  “How did you lose your magic?” Zarviack asked.

  “An old student of mine struck my head with a metal staff and closed the gates to my maju,” Akielas explained. He made himself comfortable with his cloak and warmth from the fire.

  “Omnithium?” she questioned.

  “How…how did you know?” He was surprised another soul would know of such a rare metal.

  “It is the only metal capable of blocking the flow of maju,” she said. “Whoever possesses it must be a dangerous mage. I am surprised you are still alive.”

  “Yes, so am I,” Akielas agreed and sighed.

  “How did you find me?” Zarviack asked as she turned the fish to cook on the other side.

  “I was told that I could find someone who knew the art of deevinacy in the frozen ivy forest,” he answered. The shivering stopped and he felt more at ease. The cold wind came into the cave. “I am thinking that the person I am looking for must be you.”

  “Deevinacy,” she repeated and leered at Akielas. “Who referred you to me, old man?”

  “Ever hear of the fairy king?” Akielas replied. “Well, he said that you could help me regain my magic with the art of deevinacy. I came here because this is my only hope. If I don’t regain my magic it is all over.”

  “The fairy king?” Zarviack repeated then chuckled. “That old fairy recommended you to me. I am surprised.”

  “So you are the one I am looking for. You practice the art of deevinacy,” Akielas said almost leaning over the fire. “Please, listen to me. I need your help. The world is in danger. I must get my magic back to stop the Specters. They are after the Sapphire Cosmo Jewel and I must find it before they do.”

  “Specters? These people are ghosts?” she questioned.

  “That is their name, but they are just a bunch of masked villains,” he explained and shook his fist. “They want to rid the world of magic. They plan to do so by acquiring all four cosmo jewels.”

  “Ridding the world of magic? That is impossible,” Zarviack stated.

  “Look what they did to me.” Akielas stared at his hands. “I can’t even feel my own maju anymore.”

  “I can’t help you. You must leave,” Zarviack said then stood up and paced to the edge of the cave.

  “Why not?” Akielas asked. “You must help me. I am the only one that can stop them. You have no idea what is happening out there in the world.”

  “It shall stay that way so as long I fulfill my duty to Oceamus,” she responded. “You cannot stay here. Eat and fill your belly. Sleep and regain your strength. Tomorrow at dawn you must leave and never return, otherwise I will kill you.”

  “Please, you must teach me the art of deevinacy. I cannot leave until I regain my magic,” Akielas begged. “This is urgent. If I don’t do something…no…if we don’t do something, then the entire world will be at risk, including Maer Weeyar. I am sure there are people here that you care about. Family and friends. If the Specters succeed then the world will be under their heel. They already have three cosmo jewels. Please, don’t allow them to take the sapphire jewel. If you don’t want to help me then you could at least join me and we could both save the world. Even the princess of Maer Weeyar has joined my alliance. People are putting their differences aside.”

  “You met the princess?” Zarviack interrupted.

  “Yes, of course I have. Her family were once the bearers of the sapphire jewel,” he said. “She understood what was happening. If all four jewels are joined together under the wrong hands then there will be chaos.”

  “Princess,” Zarviack repeated as she stared into the horizon outside.

  Akielas realized how she reacted when he mentioned Princess Serena.

  “What do you know of Princess Serena?” he asked.

  “Fine, I will help you,” Zarviack responded, dodging Akielas’ question. “But I hope you can endure. Every soul that has ever come to me for help had either committed suicide or given up before they ever saw the light. We shall see if you are any different.”

  ********

  He filled his belly with the fish that Zarviack had cooked for him. He tossed the fish bones into the fire, lay back against the wall and sighed with relief. He rested and regained his strength. It felt as though hours had passed when he closed his eyes then opened them again. The sun was setting, almost hiding on the horizon and painted the skies with red and purple gradients. By the entrance of the cave stood Zarviack and Akielas gazed at her figure.

  Not once did he think of Serena in a romantic way. Now he gazed at this woman who was a reflection of Serena and could not resist imagining her body pressing against his. An exotic tan beauty that he guessed was close to his age. He looked at her legs and his eyes followed her round and firm buttocks. She looked over her shoulder he smiled at her and she smirked in return knowing exactly what he was thinking. It had been so long since Akielas had been with a woman he now felt his blood rising looking at this tattooed ice beauty.

  “Sleep well?” she asked.

  “I wish these walls were softer but other than that I have slept much
worse,” Akielas remarked and propped himself up with his sword. “How long was I out?”

  “Long enough for the sun to set,” she said. “By the way, who is Demitra?”

  Akielas paused and thought for a moment, then grimaced at her.

  “It’s no one,” he answered. “No one important.”

  “So unimportant that you said her name in your sleep,” she teased.

  Akielas remained silent then gazed at the horizon and watched the sunset next to her.

  “You are not going to tell me?” she asked.

  “If you tell me what you know about Princess Serena,” Akielas replied. “You dodged my question earlier so how about an answer for an answer.”

  “Let’s do what you came here to do,” she said. “You do not need to know about me and my past.”

  “For now,” Akielas added and grinned.

  Zarviack blushed and looked away. She used cryomancy to raise a pillar of ice from below. She stood on the pillar and beckoned Akielas. He joined her and they both descended to the frozen canyon. She walked to an ice structure that spiraled in the center of the bowl-shaped canyon. She walked up the carved stairs and Akielas followed.

  “I am guessing you crafted this yourself,” he commented.

  “Who else would?” she responded.

  When they reached the summit it was flat and round like a disc, and in the middle there was an amethyst stone the size of a dragon egg. They both sat in a lotus position in the center with the gemstone between them. Akielas shivered from the cold breeze and Zarviack remained still.

  “Look at me,” she commanded. “You came here to practice the art of deevinacy. It won’t be easy. It will be emotionally painful and your own body will try to resist you. Deevinacy means, ‘deep in I see,’ or ‘deep in me I see.’”