Giles motioned to the woman.
“This is Alma and I’m Giles Dorian.”
Niu shrugged. Melissa wrinkled her nose.
“Is that your greeting?”
Giles flushed.
“Most know I’m your little brother,” he said, “but we don't need that out in the open.”
“We have the same surname.”
“Melissa,” said Giles as he sat down. “I will always thank you for how you helped me when we were children. However, it is not my intention today to simple beg for your forgiveness.”
“Do you want me to do the same?” asked Melissa.
Giles frowned, looking lost for words.
Alma dropped a sealed letter onto the table.
“The letter,” she said in a rich voice, “is from guild master, Kadatz. He demands you cease your study of magic.”
Giles swept the letter off the table.
“Now that you've heard that,” he said, “you can listen to me because that’s not what I’m here to tell you.”
Melissa raised an eyebrow.
“You disagree with the guild master?”
“The guild master has failed us.” Alma gritted her teeth.
Giles nodded.
“Kadatz isn't the in absolute authority. We are part of a faction that opposes him.”
“Kadatz has rivals. Good to know.”
“He had better opposition than us,” said Giles, “until he exiled Mortimer Jossetz, the retired guild master.”
“I wondered what happened to that man.” Melissa frowned. “Why tell me now?”
“Kadaz is a usurper of power in the guild,” said Alma. “We need a way to remove him.”
“Officially, we only delivered the letter,” Giles said, “but unofficially we want to ask you for a favor.”
Melissa leaned forward.
“Continue.”
Alma nodded.
“We would like to ask you to duel Kadatz.”
“But he's the Guild master. I don’t know if I can win.”
“You’ve made a lot of progress in a short time,” said Giles, “I see it as almost impossible he wouldn't accept your challenge to his authority.”
Melissa nodded.
“I wonder...”
“If I told you the guild master won't accept your challenge,” said Giles, “would that make it better?”
“How can I beat him? He’s a veteran mage.”
“You’ve always been talented,” said Giles. “You can do it.”
Melissa took a deep breath. Niu nodded.
Alma glanced Niu.
“Your witness,” she said. “She is also of the so-called mage hand.”
“Yeah,” said Niu, “I'm one of the governor’s mages.”
“Perhaps we can discuss what Melissa must know if she is going to defeat Kadatz.”
“Melissa knows more than I do about magic,” said Niu.
“Intelligence on Kadatz would be useful,” said Melissa.
Giles set his hands on the table.
“We can offer you that much. Kadatz is a full wizard, he has a sacra form, and he wields elemental sprites, similar to some more advanced members of the northern mages.”
“He’s strong, then,” said Melissa.
“Indeed,” said Giles. “He is not the guild master for nothing. He has weaknesses, though. Just like all mages.”
“Such as?” Melissa asked.
“Such as,” Giles said, “his sacra form is particularly strange. It belongs to a demon called Takyron.”
“Takyron?”
“Yes,” said Giles. “he is a wind demon, very light and fast, but extremely fragile. When demons lose battles, they can become scrolls, to preserve their life force and Takyron was one of those.”
“So, are you up to fight a demon?” asked Niu.
“If I am going to defeat him, I may find the battle easier in a sacra form. Do you agree?”
“That's my thought,” said Giles, “so we trick him into taking his sacra form. Given the rules of the duel, you may be able to fight more easily in his sacra form than against his magic.”
Melissa’s iron bane had gotten stronger. She could take a gale-force wind and keep her feet. Maybe she could count on resilience that Kadatz in his sacra form could not.
“I'll give it some thought,” said Melissa. “When I'm ready, I'll tell you.”
“Contact my messenger,” said Giles. “Peter is on our side as well.”
“Peter?”
Giles nodded.
“I'll tell him when I'm ready,” Melissa said.
They ate and talked a little while longer, quickly turning away from Kadatz and the duel to a discussion of what went on in the years they'd been apart. Melissa devoured it all.
Melissa
“You want to duel the guild master,” said Lady Nasibron. “Are you sure you’re ready?”
Melissa glanced at Niu. She took a deep breath that removed weights within her heart.
“I want to send a message to the guild that their time is over. That’s important to me.”
“If you must,” said Lady Nasibron.
“Teacher,” said Melissa, “you've taught us well over the past few months. I can win.” She spoke with more confidence than she felt.
“Kadatz has been training over twenty years,” said the old witch. “Do you understand?”
“Look,” Melissa said, “If I can make him take his sacra form I can beat him. I know his form. I was told of it.”
“Told by who?”
“My brother,” said Melissa.
“Your brother is a magister.”
“True,” said Melissa, she glanced at Niu again, nerves building.
“He's on our side,” said Niu.
“The magister’s guild has been overreaching to stop anyone from practicing magic without their sanction,” said Melissa. “Many of their members don’t want to continue, but Kadatz is stubborn.”
Lady Nasibron tapped her cheek.
“If you defeat Kadatz a better guild master may rise to replace him.”
Melissa nodded.
“Perhaps I should be the one to duel him,” said Lady Nasibron. “We could end the conflict between the city’s factions.”
Melissa shook her head.
“It has to be me,’ she said. “I'm the one they hate the most.”
Kelly sighed.
“True.”
“Melissa,” said Niu, “I’m worried about how you'll beat his sacra form without one of your own.”
“On that, at least,” said Lady Nasibron, “I think I can help. I thought it would take longer for you to get this point but as of now, I think you may be ready to start training with sacra forms.”
“The duel is in two weeks,” said Melissa, “so I have some time.”
“Indeed,” said Lady Nasibron. “That means we may have time to get you acclimated to your sacra form. We will go to the gardens, all of us.” She motioned to the hand practicing in the yard below.
Melissa and Nius exchanged glances and smiled.
Melissa and the rest of the governor’s hand arrived in the city gardens just northeast of the main gate.
The flowers were in bloom, many of kinds that could not grow in the north. Melissa and the rest of the hand spread out, each carrying the scroll given to them by Lady Nasibron. Lady Nasibron stayed in the center with Elaine, watching them from a distance.
She explained the incantations of each scroll to speed their development in mastering their sacra forms. By binding the demon when it emerged, one could gain a shortcut to mastery. Most teachers did not train binding the way she did, but it allowed inexperienced students to channel the demonic power faster and more safely.
Lady Nasibron made the signal over her head, shooting a sprite upward so it's song trilled over the garden. The hand went into the motion, reading their scrolls and beginning to make signs to aid the incantations with the binding tools each had chosen.
Melissa carried
her spear. She spun the weapon like a wheel while chanting. Focusing on the center the wheel, she noticed the motion at the ends of the spear drove the motion in center. Her focus allowed her to see the demon a little, her face hidden by an iron mask, even the eyes. Her demon’s head resembled a helmet, one that concealed the entire demon's essence, a little like the demon they fought at the well.
She could not quite make the demon materialize despite her focus. She kept on spinning the spear and chanting. Eventually, she took a break to rest and breathe. She planted the butt of the spear on the garden path.
Not far away, Hilos rolled his dice on the ground. He chose dice as his binding tool, Melissa thought, because he enjoys games of chance as much as his locks. Hilos chose his tools by preferences from his past life. Melissa and the rest had less experience to draw on but each chose something similar. Melissa had her spear, Suya her swords, and Kelt his oar and scrimshaw craft. Even Niu used a family locket for her binding tool.
Each scroll kept unrolled by suspension between wooden rods, gleaming with the iridescent energy a demon nearly surfacing. They made it close but none of them broke through on the first or second day.
On the third day, Melissa’s hope waned. She and the others still moved and spoke with purpose, investing their sprites into every word and gesture made to call their demons closer to the surface of the scrolls and to the spirit. When the demon emerged, if they could grasp the power, they could take demonic forms while retaining the will to control the entities they became.
Melissa and Hilos exchanged glances, working closely together.
Hilos changed.
He grew longer and taller, his bent back straightened. Melissa’s eyes widened as Hilos became a demon. Long black limbs extended. He picked up the pair of dice and looked at them. A smile split the wide mouth that stretched across the demon’s face.
Melissa retreated instinctively, surprised that Hilos managed the transformation the fastest.
She tried to pick out where the essence of the demon ended and Hilo began but couldn’t see it. He quickly gathered a fine mist around his sacra form.
“A sacra form, well done. Come here, students.” Lady Nasibron motioned the rest of the hand toward Hilos.
They all approached cautiously.
Hilos spoke with the demon's voice.
“I feel more powerful than I have in years.”
“As you should,” said Lady Nasibron, “demons do not age. When you take your sacra form all the years you’ve spent as a mortal return to you and lend additional power to your essences.”
“If that is so,” said Melissa. “Then Deckard Hadrian must have an amazing sacra form.”
“Lord Hadrian does not have a sacra form.”
“Too bad,” said Niu softly.
They gathered around Hilos to watch how he controlled the demon. He maintained the sacra form for a long while as the others worked close by. When they’d retrieved their binding tools before training that morning, Hilos had told Melissa that when he rolled the dice he could focus more on retaining his sacra form based on his emotions. How he feels about the result the dice roll must matter.
“What if you get a double?” Melissa asked. “In fortune-telling, that’s a jinx.”
“I know. Doubles may be my weak point,” Hilos admitted.
“Doubles would render the demon stronger according to the script of his sacra scroll.” Elaine walked over to them. “If they also feel unlucky to you, doubles could make it harder to control your sacra form, Hilos.”
“If only I was not allowed to roll a double,” the old knight murmured.
“Potentially, we can control that.” Melissa tapped her chin.
“Control random die?” said Niu. “How?”
“Dice aren’t completely random,” said Melissa. “If we manipulate them with our sprites, we could-”
Lady Nasibron shook her head.
“That would be more dangerous than you think. Every demon scroll contains a contract. One must have the intention of meeting the demon’s requirements. Cheating the demon is a sure way to anger such an entity and keep it from, surfacing.”
Kelt whistled.
“Typically it is wise not to leave any opening for the demon to gain power from you. However, with random instruments like dice, there are always trade-offs to be made.”
“Chance always plays a part,” said Elaine. “We work to minimize that element.”
“Very good, student,” said Lady Nasibron.
Elaine seemed so distant to Melissa lately, but at least she helped them train. After the night of the attack, she always seemed distracted.
Melissa went back to spinning her spear. The group gradually abandoned clustering around Hilos and went back to their studies. When her sacra form refused to come that day, Melissa began to grow impatient. She continued to spin the spear for an hour after the others left. Eventually, she stopped, exhausted.
She trudged back toward the palace, hoping there would still be food. I need to master the scroll, whatever it takes.
Melissa climbed the hill toward the citadel. Halfway up she encountered Alma, the guild member present at the restaurant when she met with Giles. The guild mage stood in the street, a shawl about her head, calling someone on a rooftop.
“When you see them, be prepared to warn me immediately.”
A voice answered from above, belonging to Peter, the messenger.
“I will do so, guild mage.”
Melissa approach Alma along the street.
“What's going on?” she asked.
Alma glanced at her.
“Melissa Dorian, I suspect you're not used to guild protocols, considering when you left the guild.”
“I was only enrolled for a week before I was expelled for protecting my brother.”
“I’m familiar with the story,” Alma said. “Most of Giles’ friends are now.”
Melissa frowned.
“How embarrassing. May I ask what protocol you’re engaged in?”
Alma motioned to the building where Peter stood on the roof.
“It is protocol to regularly sweep the streets for criminals. Especially after the attack on the palace, the guild’s agreement with the governor had placed us all on high alert.”
“You're out hunting for lawbreakers? I see.”
“Saboteurs could be anywhere,” said Alma, “along with other enemies of the governor.”
“You still patrol, despite the tension between the guild and the governor's palace?”
“Of course,” said Alma. “I must fulfill my role, and the guild must remain useful or we have no argument to keep the governor from moving abandoning our contract.”
“That's surprisingly reasonable,” said Melissa, “What do you think you'll find today?”
“Perhaps nothing. I doubt those raiders will return so soon after the battle at the palace. Though their attack involved few attackers, all were highly skilled mages or warriors.”
Melissa sighed and nodded. She remembered Saben in the feasting hall, fighting alongside the man in the mask called Folt. She disliked the thought that Saben and even the young boy had sided with the attackers. Melissa looked at Alma, a question forming in her mind.
“May I help you two?”
“Help us patrol?” Alma shrugged.
“I am a member of the governor’s hand. I must do what I can to ferret out her enemies.”
“If you like, feel free to assist us. Though I suspect we’ll all be bored this evening.”
“Perhaps true, but better to be bored doing something then simply waiting to recover from today’s training.”
“What were you training?” Alma asked.
“Sacra forms,” Melissa said in a low voice.
Alma’s eyebrows raised.
“Truly?”
Melissa nodded.
“Lady Nasibron thinks if I have a sacra form I’ll perform better in the duel.”
“It’s possible.” Alma’s eyes widened. “Mo
st magisters never take on a sacra form. It seems dangerous for a student mage to try.”
Peter called from above them.
“Nothing to see here.”
“We’ll move on to the next one,” Alma called back. “I'll keep you moving over the rooftops.”
Alma’s sprites raced out and rushed into Peter. The magic enhanced his movements. He leapt from rooftop to rooftop, moving across the city quickly with Melissa and Alma trailing behind. They swept the entire district before afternoon turned to evening.
Melissa, even more tired than before, started toward the palace. When she arrived she found dinner in the feasting hall canceled for another night, still cautious of another attack.
Melissa joined Niu and her brother Tal and went out into the city. They searched for food in the few marketplaces still selling for the day.
Not long after dark, the three of them found seats in a tavern. Fish and vegetables from the fields joined few apples from the orchards on the table between them.
“You know,” Melissa said, “I think that guild mage, Alma, might be all right.”
“She is against the guild master,” said Niu.
Tal shrugged.
“If she helps you, Melissa, then she's doing well by me.”
Niu giggled.
“Of course we can use all the help we can get. We need it.”
Melissa nodded.
“If I don't master my sacra form soon. I could be in trouble.”
“Melissa,” said Niu, “don't put everything on your back.”
Melissa looked at her friend, a question written on her face.
“You’re taking on too much,” said Niu.
Tal nodded.
“Of course you two agree.” Melissa frowned. “But what about the others?”
Niu shook her head.
“Even the most trained among us, Hilos, wouldn't take on the guild master.”
“The guild master,” said Melissa, “isn't my only worry.”
Tal snorted.
“He should be.”
“No,” said Melissa, “I'm more concerned about that man, Saben, who attacked with the others.”
“Those five caused us all a lot of grief,” said Niu
“Yeah,” said Melissa softly. “I think we need to finish them, next time we meet. Kadatz isn't my enemy. He's practice.”
Demon Scroll Page 26
