MageLife

by P. Tempest

  “Tristan, you endangered my vessel. What do you have to say for yourself?”

  “It was an accident.”

  “Is that all you can say? Do you feel that that excuses you from responsibility?”

  “No, that excuses nothing. It was a statement of fact. I didn't intend what happened.”

  “Intent has nothing to do with it. Results are the core of this matter. Intent will not keep you alive in Nelar. Nor does it make amends for the damage you have done to Us.”

  “Damage? What damage?”

  “That is not for you to know. You owe amends.”

  “How am I supposed to pay you anything? You are a god you want for nothing.”

  “Not to me, to my vessel. He is a good man that is fulfilling my sworn word.”

  “He may be a good man but I did nothing to him. He didn't need to.”

  “Need doesn't matter either. You owe him, this might not be a huge debt if you resolve it quickly.”

  “What does he want?”

  “You will have to ask him.”

  I nodded to signal my understanding.

  “There is no sword training tonight. I wish to discuss something with you.”

  I did my best to look attentive and to keep my mouth shut.

  “Your ideas on transport are good, but you are out in the world now. The things you have been taught aren't all true here. There are large gaps in what you should know, that you just haven't been taught at all.”

  “What am I missing? And why didn't I get taught all this?”

  “Why? I'm not able to answer that but I have my suspicions. That won't help you. What you are missing is the shifting details. You can't be taught some of them in the class room. You have to learn them from experience. I know you don't understand sympathy.”

  “I do actually. I just didn't realise I needed to keep it in mind already.”

  “I don't care. I'm going to teach you now anyway. Sympathy is all about the likeness of things. Pieces of what was once one thing have large amounts of sympathy. Connected on a level most. Magical effects can travel between them easily, that is what happened today. Contagion. Effects have to be contained. Materials that you are familiar with reduced the risk of contagion. That's why you have never needed to think about it before. There is no room in this world for a thoughtless mage. You have too much power and the tendency to use it to remain a child.”

  “I'm not a child. I have been through the academy. I passed all my classes.”

  “Back in my day we didn't have an academy, but back then we didn't have all the fancy terms. We beseeched the spirits.”

  “Back in your day? I don't know what you mean by that.”

  “Gods don't just spring into being. We grow from a seed. I had a mortal life before.”

  “There is life beyond death? We don't get taught that.”

  “Why would you? Is it relevant to your duty? Does it have any real impact on your life?”

  “It might. We weren't taught about ghost or reading. What were we taught? It seems there is a huge amount that is missing.”

  “Your entire studies are to make it easy for you to use magic. Most of the non-magical topics get covered when you are beyond that stage. You never reached there. You don't have mage parents. You never served the nobles. You don't have the knowledge to understand most of the later topics.”

  “How does not serving the nobles affect any of that?”

  “You are the first of a new breed of mages. If they give you everything you won't think when you encounter these things. It may save events like today but you will become a rote mage, doing things out of habit and 'we were taught this.”

  “They refuse to teach us just because of this?”

  “Not just because of this, but just think for a moment. You have access to the archives. You can find out anything you want or need to for yourself. You don't need teaching beyond what you know. You need to be able to find knowledge for yourself.”

  “But you are teaching me.”

  “Yes I am teaching you now. Because you seem to have missed the point of your entire education. You spent years locked in the academy. You were taught to question. You were taught to find the answers for yourself. Why is it that once you get released you just accept everything as you find it?”

  “Obedience was taught too.”

  “Obedience has its place, but that doesn't mean your mind should be switched off. You have your reading. Look for answers. Look for questions. There is everything you need all around you. Now, how are you planning on dealing with transport? We have many miles to cover.”

  “I tried to make a flying rock today, you know how that worked out. I don't know how to get there any quicker. Brendon keeps saying how using magic in Nelar is going to be a problem, but he won't say how. Until I know that I'm stuck.”

  “Worry about Nelar when we get there. For now you should think carefully about a method of transport. I have some ideas.”

  “Earth is about all I can use. Water isn't in abundance here and I need something solid to anchor it to.”

  “You don't need anything to anchor it to at all. You can build the architecture. It doesn't need to be attached to anything. Why are you still thinking in elements? I thought they would break you of that.”

  “It’s easier for me to think like that. Its how magic feels to me.”

  “Easier? If you wanted easier you should have chosen another life. Learn to think boy.”

  I do think, I just don't want to make mistakes.

  “Mistakes are inevitable. You won't learn if you don't make mistakes. Fear of failure will limit you faster than anything else.”

  “I don't fear failure. I fear the consequences of failure. People die. Things get destroyed.”

  “Destruction is part of the natural order of things. Fearing it won't help you. While mistakes should be avoided, you will make them. Just accept it as part of your learning.”

  “That's easy for you to say. I have to live with the consequences.”

  “That isn't easy for me. You know nothing about me boy, but what I have told you.”

  “Were you the mage king?” I asked remembering the dream.

  Vesic said nothing. He turned away from me.

  “Think through your options, work it out before you do anything,” he said. “Now get some rest. Brendon will discuss things in the morning. Keep in mind your debt to him.”

  “I will. Good night,” I said laying down on my blanket and closing my eyes.

  (---)

  I dreamt of architecture. Concept forms and enchantments. My reading activated sometime during the night. Filling my head with energy patterns from all around me. The visions of before still lingered, but this area hadn't seen much activity of mortals. The weight of history was absent. I’d never even noticed how heavy it was in Westhaven. I didn't have the eyes to see it before, but my life had inured me to the worst of it. The daily rituals of civilisation left marks. The steps of men and women on their way to work. The little dramas of a bump in the street. The petty aggravations and grievances that build-up of the years, all these leave marks that can be read. That can force themselves into the mind, like a pebble in a shoe. Out here the world was shorn of that context. It was natural in a way I’d never really seen before. It was fresh and new born.

  I sat up and rubbed my eyes. My sleep hadn't been refreshing, I felt as tired as I had the night before, but I did have an idea. An enchantment. If it worked like I thought it would, we would be in Nelar by noon tomorrow.

  I looked in my bag for anything that could be of use. The sword next to it glimmered in the pre-dawn light, cold and uncertain, like ice. Treacherous footing. Maybe I was reading too much into it, but the sword had a weight of expectation to it that sent shivers down my spine.

  I did pack some blanks. Not many they aren't exactly cheap. But in my hunt for things I would need I'd realised that having something to enchant might help win the people of Nelar to the wizard cause. Seven small blank disc
s, I’d even remembered a healing charm that while not being a charm was well enough named. It would heal small wounds and injuries. It might even help with sickness. It was inert right now. Being small its ability to function for extended periods of time was limited. Better for it to be inactive than risk its architecture warping, it was always a risk for enchantments. Prolonged use or misuse, various environmental factors, even improper users could all damage the magical structures while leaving the physical intact and nothing to mark the damage. A large part of a Mage's workload was inspecting enchantments for damages. The sort of thing we do in the course of our normal duties. We go somewhere and while we are there we have a look around for any old degraded enchants. We normally report them and someone gets sent out to refresh them. There are a few occasions where we have to void them. Just to prevent harm.

  I lay the blank discs in my hand, just looking at them. Their dull yet oddly reflective surface shone weakly in the light, somehow showing my face looking back at me. I closed my eyes and felt my way into the dense crystalline structure. Inside was nothingness, all feeling from my body dropped away. I floated without form in the light less void of its magical imprint, a sense of waiting came over me. The disc was waiting for purpose. I gave it purpose. I laid my specially constructed concepts, each one layered, a central core with webs of ideas and thoughts tangled in a complicated shaped like a woven spiders web twisted upon itself into a solid block. Gravity is a function of matter. Turning it to my own guidance was simple, although fine control is a different subject. I wove thread after thread of limitations and controls. The brilliant threads shone in the darkness a building web of light that surrounded me.

  I blinked.

  The day had truly begun whilst I worked in the blackness. The early sun shone down on my back casting shadows the earth. The blanks in my hand were no longer blank, their surface shimmered with glints of coloured light, like worms of lightning crawling over them.

  I looked over to where I had seen Vesic last night, Brendon was in his place staring at the sun. As seemed to be his habit. I should really figure out what it was about the sun that affected Brendon and Vesic, this day/night cycle was strange.

  “Brendon, I owe you thanks for yesterday. Vesic informed me that it cost you something, he wouldn't say what.”

  Brendon didn't turn to face me. He didn't twitch or give an indication that he heard me.

  I stood and walked to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

  He turned then.

  I fell back in shock. His eyes were gone, replaced by blazing orbs of fire, burning in colours not found in nature. Purples and greens mixed with blues and deep ruby reds.

  “What's happened to your eyes?”

  “The dawn has woken Vesic's gift. My eyes are gone and I see with my lord’s true sight.”

  “Is this because of the thing you did yesterday?”

  “Not just that but that may have been the tipping point. This has been coming since I came with you, the constant possession has changed me.”

  “Alright so this is normal for you, okay let’s move on. I've got transport arranged. What are your views on flying?”

  Chapter 36

  The mountains loomed, they filled the sky even from this height, dominating the landscape. The peaks of dark grey stone, sung a song of loneliness and desolation, their white tips glistened like the teeth of a beast biting at the sky.

  We flew, kind of.

  We fell in a controlled way. Flight just doesn't work with earth based stuff. It’s unnatural. A rock will not fly. Birds might live on the earth, in trees, but they are creatures of the air. I don't have wings, I smiled as that thought went through my mind, distracting me briefly from the empty space beneath my feet.

  Nelar was nestled in a valley at the foot of the mountains. The valley curved between the naked bedrock, weaving through to form a pass. A safe road through the foreboding peaks.

  From the air, Nelar was magnificent, its form carved from the same stone as the mountains. A fortress overshadowed the mouth of the valley, blocking the way. The small town surrounding this side of it was once far larger, the neglect and disuse clearly marked the less active part. The spill of crumbling buildings beyond the high wall showed this was once a thriving city, which I’d not heard of even a week ago.

  The thriving was long gone. The broken and over grown roads wound through derelict districts like a dry riverbed in a desert. From this height the people looked like specks of dust, like ants crawling over an anthill. An air of malaise hung over this dying city, choking, suffocating. For miles around the earth looked ill, the trees, what few there were, withered and bent. The land had cracks and pockmarks as if a battle had taken place. It could be the effects of the waves, but it didn't feel right.

  I looked over to Brendon, hovering beside me, his burning eyes locked on the faded remnants of lost glory. His face grey and stricken as if just looking at this place had killed all hope.

  “Do we go down, or do we camp elsewhere?” I found myself asking.

  He gave no sign that he heard me. The roaring winds must have taken the words.

  I ran my fingers over the enchanted disk, commanding it to change directions.

  I fell, the wind cold and stinging on my face. My coat splayed out behind me, tugging me this way and that.

  The earth fast approached, I could feel my speed decreasing, the wind less cold and bitter on my skin.

  I landed ungracefully, my legs unsteady beneath me. The shock as I touched ground sent shivers through my bones.

  I looked around, the area looked less pleasant down here. It hadn't looked good from the air, but down here, the large wall crumbled, the cracks in the mortar visible from almost a mile away. The massive gate house held a solid gate almost a hundred feet high, near the same wide. It sat on the only road into the city from this side. Its gate hung loosely, no sign of men to greet us. The dark grey stone so prevalently in use here was chipped and broken everywhere.

  I took a step forward, to find cobbles underneath the scraggly dead grass. I nearly fell as my heel twisted on one.

  Behind me I heard a thud, I turned my head to find Brendon standing behind me, his strange eyes fixed on the gatehouse. I looked to the gatehouse, deep shadows obscured all but the most obvious details. The city beyond it was a mystery.

  “Do we enter?”

  “We must. You have your task and I have mine. Do your duty mage,” Brendon said, his tone resigned and more than a touch weary. Maybe flying didn’t agree with him.

  I nodded, more to myself than anything. I laid my feet carefully, to avoid the twisted and turned cobbles underfoot. The gate loomed over us casting shade on our path, the chill air brushed over use from the gate. The scents of dust and decay came with it like the breath of death. I kept glancing around for anything, anyone, but there was nothing. The fields near the edge of the city, were empty, nothing grew bar weeds and rocks.

  “How do these people feed themselves? This land is dust.”

  “Where there is a will, there is a way. I'd imagine they trade over the pass.”

  I could feel my brow furrow as I contemplated that. Trade wasn't impossible, but what could they trade, and with whom? There was nothing here. Our neighbours on our border didn't have much contact with the duchies as a whole.

  We were soon stood in the shadows of the gatehouse, the shining sun seemed to be dimmed here, as if hidden behind a cloud but no cloud was there.

  The path took us under the arch and around the hanging gate, its wood rotted and broken. The shadows didn't ease up once past the gates. If anything they grew, casting the decrepit buildings in gloom. The broken windows looked on, hiding darker shadows within.

  I could feel eyes upon me, a creeping sensation like insects crawling up and down my spine. The lifeless street and silent air reminiscent of a tomb. This city was dead and the few remaining inhabitants merely its feeble death throes.

  Up ahead was a large building, far larger than the rest. It looked
important and well maintained in comparison. Its grimy face looked down at me. The windows were intact although barred with black iron. The stone of the construction was a grainy, deep unrelieved grey. Our path took us down the narrow, overgrown streets, small alleys branched off between buildings. The haunted feeling grew as I peered into one, the darkness inside revealed nothing.

  I reached around for my sword, placing my hand on the hilt. Just holding the cool, smooth stone steadied me. I slowed my pace as the path grew less clogged with weeds, the hard cobbles underneath the dust were firm but no less treacherous. The obscuring dust covering the surface leaving them slick.

  Brendon walked beside me, his steps heavy and slow. His every movement was reluctant and resigned. A hesitation then a push as if he forced himself through each step. His face was blank, his burning eyes locked on something distant, something I couldn't see.

  Feelings of wrongness assailed me as we walked. My link shivered, in ways I'd only felt during the wave, but there was nothing to match it. I opened my othersense.

  Pain and fear twisted through the streets, leaving streaks of dark stain. Ribbons of sickly light wove through everything, like pale maggots in a corpse. Marks of death littered the place, a black tarnish on all the stone. This place knew nothing good, and if it did it was long ago.

  I lifted my eyes to our goal. Dismay filled me as I saw the centre of the corruption in this place. It hung over the blocky building like a cloud, tainting all it touched.

  Forward then, looking around for any sign of people. There was debris everywhere, but nothing that looked recent.

  The fortress loomed behind all that was close, inaccessible from here. We would have to go around, through the internal wall and out the other side. Better to just go to the building nearest that might have some hope of leading me to people.

  I still didn't know what I was going to do when I found them, my mission was to annex this city for the wizard's council, to encourage trade, find hands for all the jobs that needed doing. I still had no inkling what those jobs were or why there was a lack of people to do them.