Blood of Mages (Rift of Chaos Book 3)

by A. J. Martinez

  “So I am going to look inside myself?” Akielas asked.

  “You are going deep into your soul, your emotions, and we are going to open all the gates and release your maju,” she explained. She closed her eyes tightly for a moment then opened them again. Her pupils had taken the shape of a cross.

  “What happened to your eyes?” he asked.

  “With these eyes I can see the health of your aura,” she explained. “You have gone through great trauma and losses. You have been suppressing many feelings which have caused you to lose control over yourself.”

  “Let’s get to the core of this. I did not come here to talk about my feelings,” Akielas said.

  “You must allow yourself to be vulnerable so that I can see everything that is within,” Zarviack stated. “If you want to open the gates of your maju then you must release your resistance. That means no hiding. Show yourself completely. No more suppression. I must see everything that is within. Looking at your aura I can see holes and rips. Your soul is crying. Your mind and body have weakened. Hopelessness I see in you. If you are willing to be vulnerable then we can get started.”

  Akielas sighed and thought, As if I have a choice.

  “Very well then,” he said in a sad tone.

  “Good, now, remove your cloak, armor and shirt,” she told him.

  “What for?”

  “Please follow my instructions. You must do this in the cold,” she said.

  Akielas did as he was told. He stood up and removed his cloak, unhooked his armor then removed his shirt. He set his belongings aside, sat down and returned his attention to Zarviack.

  “Why are we up here anyway? Is this part of the process? Sitting up here instead of down there in the cave where it is a little warmer,” he complained.

  “I did say it won’t be easy,” Zarviack replied. “I want you to be uncomfortable as well as vulnerable. We sit up here so that you can get your mind off the rest of the world. From up here you can look at the frozen ivy forest and how small everything becomes once you are higher. Up here you have no worries. Up here you will look inside and we will not go back until you have explored your inner realm completely.”

  A cracking sound echoed and startled Akielas. It came from the ice structure on which they sat. The spiraling stairs melted and the ice elevated higher into the sky. Akielas was frightened and with no aeromancy there was no way he would land safely if he fell. He looked carefully over the edge of the ice and realized that he was up to a hundred feet in the sky. He looked back at Zarviack and scowled at the woman.

  “Are you trying to kill me?” he snarled.

  “There is no going back. All the gates must open one by one. If you succeed then we will return back down,” she said.

  “This is insane. The wind can push us and we can fall,” he replied.

  “Then we must hurry,” Zarviack said.

  “You are crazy,” Akielas told her. “If I slip off this ice I will fall and die.”

  “Which is why you must stay still,” she explained solemnly. “This is how I mastered deevinacy and you shall too if you follow my instructions.”

  Akielas tried to dig his fingers into the ice as if it was dirt but they kept sliding. He dared not look down again. He had no choice but to focus.

  “I am all ears,” he said.

  “Good, let’s start with the first gate,” she began. “The first gate is located at the base of the spine. It is commonly blocked by fear and focuses on survival. Its element is earth. Now, tell me, what is your greatest fear?”

  Akielas sat in the lotus position again and straightened his back. He closed his eyes and focused on his greatest fear which he already knew.

  “My apprentices, they plan to rid the world of magic,” he said. “I am afraid that if they succeed it will be all because of me. It will be all my fault. I will be as guilty as they are.”

  “Surrender to it,” she instructed. “In your mind’s eye see it happening. Feel it, see it. Let it be as real as possible in your mind. Imagine what it would be like if they succeed with their plans.”

  Akielas could see it vividly. He had seen it many times in his dreams. He had woken up from nightmares of the Specters flying around Odealeous as dark clouds and the lands below them on fire. As he sat there he shook, not just from the cold but from the horror he felt. In his mind he walked around his home town in Danteh Island of El Nido. He saw Ember hovering in the sky and absorbing everyone’s maju. Their maju visibly trailed through the sky towards Ember inside the same lantern that Ember used to capture Willow’s soul. The people around him fainted. Mages around him faltered and dropped to their knees. He could see her doing the same to all other islands of El Nido. The Specters flew around the city and everyone bowed to them. Fiends patrolled the towns and villages doing as they pleased with them. He looked up at Ember as she floated in the sky, her cape billowing and she said, “No magic, no war and no conflict. We now live in peace, thanks to the Specters. We are your rulers now. You are no longer allowed to use any form of magic without permission. We are your gods now and we shall pass judgment on anyone who goes against us. Let there be peace and darkness upon the world.”

  The people shouted at Ember, “This is not freedom. Give us our magic back. You are no one to take the gift of magic from the people.” But they were powerless against Ember’s army of fiends. There were no kings, only the Specters and Ember as the supreme ruler of Odealeous. Akielas could see her taking over Kazenolumos. He could see Ember murdering the last survivors of the Effeelions and rebuilding the sky city to her liking. She ruled the world from Kazenolumos and looked down upon the world, destroying any town or village who spoke against her.

  “No!” Akielas yelled as he woke up from his vision.

  “Surrender to your fear Akielas,” Zarviack whispered. “You are concerned for your survival as well as others. Surrender your fears and trust that the light will find a way for you. Let your fears melt.”

  Akielas felt that heavy inflamed sensation in his body. The apprehension, the anxiety, the despair. He felt it pulsing in his body and despite the cold it made him sweat. He did as Zarviack instructed and began to let go of his fears. He allowed Ember to melt in his mind. The vision he had of her ruling the world slowly vanished and it felt like a string being pulled from his spine. He remained still for a moment and then he felt it. The release. The relief. He felt it being swept away from deep within.

  “What was that?” he asked

  “That was the releasing of your fear,” Zarviack answered. “That relief that you feel is the result of not needing the sense of survival. You are confident that the light will find a way no matter how difficult it may seem. You have opened the first gate, the earth gate.”

  “Incredible,” he stated and looked at his hands. “It is gone. All worries melted.”

  “You must keep going,” Zarviack urged. “You must continue until all gates are open. The second gate is blocked by guilt and blame. It focuses on pleasure and its element is water.”

  Akielas straightened his back again and brought his hands together.

  “Akielas, what do you feel guilty of?” she asked.

  “My apprentices. Their plan to rid the world of magic was my original idea,” he confessed. “I embedded that idea on to them when they were very young. I thought that the world would be a peaceful place if Prodigus Kollos had never discovered magic. I was wrong and now that I no longer walk on that dark and shallow path my apprentices carried it into their adulthood and brought back the past. They are a reflection of my darker, younger self. It is my fault.”

  “Let’s go back to your past and see your darker self plotting to rid the world of magic,” she instructed. “Go back and see yourself vividly. The same steps you took. The same clothes you wore back then. The way you used to think. The people around you in that time. See it and feel it all as if it were happening now.”

  And he closed his eyes and fell back into the past. He now walked through the cobbled stree
ts of his home town again, Lamento. He was forty years old and his four disciples walked behind him. The people of his town praised him. They all wanted him as their teacher but Akielas had already found his apprentices. Back then he wore a black cape with a white tunic, leather shoes and carried the same sword. His hair was long, tied in a pony tail. He was loved by everyone and they called him the reincarnation of Prodigus Kollos. In front of his people he would put on a façade but at home in his mansion he would teach his disciples that magic was the greatest sin of mankind. That they would use their magic to serve his purpose of ridding the world of magic and be pure human beings once again. Akielas trained his apprentices in the mystic arts. He would make them toil in their training and sometimes beat them when they would not listen, especially Ember who talked back and threw tantrums. He saw the day when he gave Ember a scar across her face. His apprentices loved him but they were also scared of him.

  His wife, Demitra, supported his ideas as well as his best friend Jacob, who was a white mage. He planned to use the light of the two moons to accomplish his plan. However, his research led him to the whereabouts of the fairy king. He thought the fairy king would have an answer as to how to use the moon to strip mankind from their magical abilities. The fairy king took Akielas into the past and showed him what life was like without magic. Food shortages, famine, diseases, poverty and slavery. That was why Prodigus Kollos introduced his people to the mysteries of magic. Prodigus wanted people to have freedom and happiness. Once Akielas understood that, he changed his mind. He abandoned his plans to rid the world of magic and sought a new purpose. Later on, he learned illumancy from the fairy king.

  Years later Ember attacked him unexpectedly with new powers. She killed his wife but Akielas managed to save his son. Ember burned down his mansion and turned his other apprentices against him.

  “It was all my fault,” he whispered.

  “Forgive yourself,” Zarviack said. “You cannot control what they do. Let go of what happened. If you are to make a change in the world you must first forgive yourself. The past does not determine your future. Change now for a better tomorrow. Forgive, forget, let go and move on so that you can see a world filled with light. Let your guilt melt away.”

  Akielas shed tears and as they trickled down his cheeks his shivering stopped and he became still. He was calm and felt his guilt melting away as if washed away by a river. His heart throbbed and he felt…at ease with himself.

  “There it is again,” he said. “That release.”

  “You have opened the second gate,” Zarviack told him. “Very good. Now let’s move on.”

  “Can we take a break?” he asked.

  “No breaks,” she stated. “We will continue until all gates are open. I told you once we start we cannot stop.”

  “Fine then.”

  “Moving on. The third gate is blocked by shame and disappointment. It is located in the heart. It focuses on willpower and its element is fire,” Zarviack said. “What are you most ashamed of?”

  “I could not stop my apprentices when I had the chance,” he confessed. “I had the opportunity to end her but I was a coward. I could not kill my own children.”

  “Go back to that time. Recall exactly what you did. See yourself vividly in that position again,” Zarviack instructed.

  It happened just a few days ago. As soon as he closed his eyes he could see that battle perfectly as if he were there again. At the northern shores of El Nido, Akielas fought against his four apprentices at once. They all came at him with their kaminyte weapons. They did not stand a chance during that time. All four of them released a dark wave and Akielas blocked with a crystal shield he cast using illumancy. Then, using electromancy he was able to paralyze them. They were weak, vulnerable and paralyzed at that moment and he could have finished them but he hesitated. He refused to strike them down. His spell wore off and they escaped. They slipped away from his grasp.

  “I could have ended all of this when I had the chance, and I ruined it,” he admitted.

  “Learn from your mistakes. Accept your task. Take responsibility. Do what must be done. They are no longer your apprentices. Let them go,” Zarviack whispered.

  He surrendered his shame and felt something swelling inside him. His shame melted and he began to feel it again. It was returning. It was that same sensation he got when his maju circulated throughout his body. As the energy flowed within he began to breathe faster.

  “I can feel it flowing again. It’s my maju. It’s here. I can feel it,” he said passionately.

  “Good, good. Let’s continue on to the next gate. One by one,” Zarviack reminded.

  Akielas was excited. Finally his magic was returning. He felt incomplete and useless without it. Not only was he regaining his magic slowly but he healed internally at the same time.

  “The fourth gate is located in the throat. It is blocked by lies and it focuses on truth. Akielas, what lies have you told yourself?” Zarviack asked.

  “I convinced myself that I am a good person. I tried to forget about everything I did in the past and how I treated my apprentices but it all came back to haunt me. I pretended like it never happened even when I encountered Ember again after so many years,” Akielas admitted.

  “Deny it no more. Do not lie about it anymore. Accept that it was who you were. You were a different person back then. Accept your past as truth of what happened so that you can live with integrity and honesty,” Zarviack counseled. “Let go and embrace the truth of who you were, what you did and who you are now.”

  And so he let go and he whispered to himself, I shall lie to myself no more. He focused on the gate of his throat and felt it expanding. His gate opened and so did his mouth.

  Finally, he felt the rush of maju rising from his spine up to his throat. He could feel his own maju again. He could barely control it after days of not using it. His body shook, his mouth foamed, his eyes glowed and he let out a roar.

  Sparks chirped on his fingers, wind circled his body and he shot a blast of fire upwards.

  “I am alive!” he shouted then began to feel weak again.

  His vision blurred and his maju withdrew. His head spun and then he fainted.

  “Akielas!” he heard Zarviack calling him. “You must continue. Wake up! Wake up!”

  But he could not answer. Everything went dark, and he felt as if he were falling into a dark abyss.

  Rey Ling

  He teleported to Caim’s island using the Omnistar. It had been days since he last saw his new friends. The sky city was just as he last remembered it. A mandarak above the city prevented it from falling. Columns and homes within the city had been toppled and Rey could still see debris on the ivory streets. Some Effeelions flew around the city on their clouds and some were unsupported. He had only known the holy place for such a short time. He had seen it being destroyed by fiends and defended it alongside the Effeelions and his friends. However, he was happy that he had seen something of legend that many people in his country still read in books and in scrolls.

  On his back he carried a large bag filled with weapons and swords he had forged for Akielas and his new friends. Every item in the bag was forged of omnithium to fight against the Specters. Rey Ling paced around Caim’s floating island and then remembered that the demigod had been captured. He had been so busy forging steel that he almost forgot what had happened.

  “It’s been about four days. Hopefully Akielas and the others are here,” he said as he gazed at the city. “I can’t wait to show them the new weapons.”

  Rey Ling saw an Effeelion approaching on a nimbus. A female with white hair and tan skin wearing a yellow tunic. Her cloud spun in the air, her trails creating swirls. She orbited Caim’s island then slowly descended and hovered next to Rey.

  “Hello there,” the white haired Effeelion said. “You are…one of Akielas’ friends, right?”

  “The name is Rey Ling,” he responded. “I fought alongside the Effeelions recently. It was Akielas that brought me
here to fight against the Specters.”

  “Ah, yes, the Xaianian,” she remembered cheerfully. “My name is Bardia. I am a sound mage. Hop on my cloud and I will take you to Lord Nehushine.”

  The cloud swelled into a much larger vessel creating space for Rey Ling. It was no ordinary cloud. It had a soft yellow color and Rey was skeptical even seeing the Effeelion sitting on top of it.

  “Are you sure I won’t fall off this thing? Does it have anything against humans?” he asked, paranoid.

  “I would not be inviting you if it did,” Bardia answered and beckoned. “Hurry up now.”

  Rey Ling carefully stepped on the cloud, left foot first and to his surprise it was somehow solid. He applied force on to the cloud with his foot but it would not sink. He then jumped on the nimbus and it was able to carry his weight.

  “Ready?” Bardia asked, crouching on the nimbus.

  Before he could answer the cloud took off, ascending high off the floating island and jetted towards Kazenolumos. Rey was not sure what to grab on to so he held onto Bardia’s small shoulders.

  “Don’t worry, my nimbus cloud won’t let you fall,” she said.

  “It sure does not feel like it,” Rey complained wishing he had his flying board.

  They flew to the third level of Kazenolumos where the council of seven resided. The dome was now rubble, a vestige of their millennia old architecture. As they zoomed into the ruins Rey Ling saw Nehushine on top of the rubble. The cloud orbited the third level then slowly eased into the center and Rey Ling jumped off.

  “Thank you,” he said and bowed.

  “Anytime,” Bardia replied and flew away.

  Rey Ling paced around the debris. It was only a few days ago that he saw a library standing at this altitude. It was once a dome with fascinating machinery and a beautiful painting of the night sky on its ceiling. Rey Ling remembered when he first marveled at the books and scrolls that the council kept in their dome. He remembered the crescent moon platform where all seven council members sat. Now it looked like a shattered dream with hopes of being rebuilt one day.