The Masters’ floors were huge, consisting of a bedroom, a private study, and seating and storage areas. There were only two locked doors out of all the ones I found. I tried to crouch down to look through the keyhole when I heard a shuffling sound. I straightened up and turned around as Master Gerth walked around the corner.
“Second Keeper?” he asked unsure. “Is everything ok?”
“Of course,” I answered shakily.
“Then why are you waiting for me by my study?” he asked confused.
“Ah,” I said my mind racing for a lie. “I was going to ask you if I could check your storage room.”
He studied me for a second. “What would you need from there?”
“Nothing,” I answered quickly. “I just wanted to check the inventory.”
“That seems strange,” he said as he studied me.
“I know it sounds strange,” I said. “But as the new Keeper, I thought it would be best as to know exactly what we have. I have been studying the ritual scrolls and wanted to make sure we had all the necessary supplies should anything come up.”
I’m kind of happy with that lie.
No comment, Cathy said.
Master Gerth chuckled. “Those dusty old things? I can’t remember the last time we had to resort to such Ancient Magic.”
“Better to be sure now, then not have everything when we need it,” I said starting to lose confidence.
Master Gerth laughed and shook his head. “You Keepers, always thinking in the past. If it will help ease your mind, I’ll open it for you.”
“Yes, thank you,” I said.
“You would be better off checking Master Baker’s storage though,” Master Gerth said as he led me down the corridor. “I know those old rituals require some crazy herbs and he controls them all.”
“Yes, but plants can be common and found everywhere,” I said.
“True, I do have the rarer stuff,” Master Gerth said.
We stopped in front of the storage room door and opened it with a wave of his hand.
“I have to get back to my quarters and finish my lecture for tomorrow,” Master Gerth said as he turned to me. “Can I trust you on your own?”
“Of course,” I nodded. “Being a Keeper is a great opportunity for me. I’m not about to ruin it on my first day.”
He chuckled softly. “Very good. Just let me know when you have checked everything so I can lock it back up.”
He turned around and headed for his bedroom and I silently sighed in relief.
We are in.
Either he’s really gullible or you actually have some potential, Cathy said.
Thanks for your vote of confidence. Did you hear everything that was said?
Only your side, Cathy answered. If I listen careful, I can hear your words echo through your mind.
Interesting.
Yeah, so maybe you can STOP SHOUTING YOUR THOUGHTS AT ME, Cathy shouted.
I entered the small storage room and looked around. It wasn’t anything particularly impressive, considering Gerth is the head of Demonology. A bookcase full of dusty old volumes, a couple of unlocked trunks containing old robes and scattered personal effects littered the room.
Along the back wall was a single shelf holding a few items. These were what I was here for: a heart in a jar, large talon-like things and a couple of vials of blood. I looked behind me to make sure Master Gerth wasn’t there before I picked up the blood from the shelf. In poor handwriting on a label was ‘Blood of a Possessed Mage’.
I pocketed it as I left the dusty room. I walked back to the door to Master Gerth bedroom and knocked.
“Yes?” he called out.
“I’m done, thank you Master,” I called back.
“Everything is in order?” he asked.
“A little dusty but good,” I chuckled.
He chuckled as well. “It’s been a long time since anyone has gone in there. Maybe it’s due for a cleaning.”
“I’ve got to go, Master,” I said.
“More jars to count?” he joked.
I laughed. “Yeah, there are a few more things I need to do before tonight.”
“Good luck, Second Keeper,” Master Gerth said as I headed for the stairs.
That was almost too easy. The other stuff is going to be a cake walk.
Good. I can’t wait till I’m out of here, Cathy said.
Yeah, me too.
Chapter 7
The rest of the day went smoothly. I had gathered everything I needed and hid it, along with the scroll, under my bed. I had spent some time studying the spell, before I had hit it. It called for a large amount of magic but I wasn’t powerful enough to do it. I was hoping to weaken Cathy enough so I could force her out of my mind. I had to cut the study session short when Keeper Anderson informed me it was time for the Coming of Age Ceremony.
The Ceremony was short, only two Apprentices today. Their choices were made quickly and efficiently and The Keeper recorded the choices as the oaths were sworn. We were out of the library and back upstairs before I could get bored.
The Keeper was right; it shouldn’t even be considered a ceremony anymore.
He then retired to his bedroom mumbling about ‘the damn stairs’ so I took it as a sign we was done for the evening. I returned to the bedroom to prepare for the ritual.
I hope you know what you are doing, Cathy nagged.
Trust me. I’ve memorized everything.
We demons have a saying, she said. ‘Never trust a human.’
Well, you are going to have to start.
I rolled up the scroll and stood up from the bed. I placed the scroll on the night stand and dropped to my hands and knees to retrieve the items from under the bed. As the ritual described, I lay the goat’s fur out onto the bed ensuring that when I lay down, I would be covering as much as possible. I took the containers of Vlas and Honey and pounded them into a paste with a pestle and mortar. I set the mortar on the floor beside the bed and sat down on the goat’s fur.
I took a deep breath and opened the vial of blood. The metallic, almost rancid smell made me gag but I dunked my finger into it and removed some blood. It felt almost chunky as I put the cap back onto the vial and drew a circle on my forehead with the blood.
Let’s hope that’s a perfect circle.
How hard can it be to draw a circle? She asked.
Hard, when you are drawing on your own forehead.
I wiped my finger off on a spare rag I had grabbed for this occasion. I placed the vial on the nightstand before picking up the mortar and pestle from the ground. Using the pestle, I took a scoop of the mixture and opened my mouth but couldn’t eat the paste. I took another deep breath and steadied myself before forcing myself to ingest the concoction. The mixture was sweet and bitter at the same time and with the stink of the blood, made me feel dizzy. I placed the pestle and mortar back on the ground and tried to get into position on the goat’s fur.
The world went fuzzy as my limbs grew as heavy as rocks. I hoped I was in the proper position.
***
I opened my eyes to the world of my subconscious. The lone tree stood in the middle of the clearing but the whole ‘world’ was now covered over in a thin haze. The haze was probably a side effect of honey/Vlas paste and I walked through it to the tree.
Cathy, still dressed as ‘my wife’ from the other dream, was standing half inside the tree with a bored look on her face. The tree had stopped its normal pulsing movement as the scroll described it would. Under the Deep Sleep, my mind would relax and make it easier to release Cathy.
“Let’s do this quick,” Cathy said in a bored tone.
“And to think, I was just starting to get used to your company,” I said sarcastically.
“Don’t make me break our deal and kill you,” she said.
“Alright, alright,” I said holding up my hands in defeat. “So, the set up I’ve done should be transferring power to me from the world around right now, but it’s going to take some time
because we don’t have other Mages to help me gain power faster. I’m still waiting for the Blood of the Possessed to work.”
“What’s the deal with that stuff anyway?” she asked with an interested look.
“It should hold some of the magical properties of Demons in it,” I explained. “My body will draw on it to counter your magic and weaken you.”
“And the goat’s fur?” she asked.
“I…I’m not sure actually,” I said trying to think. “My guess is that because it is an ancient ritual, goat’s fur was common bedding at the time and that it is just important to be lying down.”
“So why did you use it?” she asked.
“I didn’t want to take any chances,” I replied. “I don’t think we should be doing this with one person but we don’t have any other choice. I haven’t heard of any exorcisms lately. The new rule is: ‘If there is even a trace of a Demon, better safe then sorry.’ I would rather not risk it.”
“Yes, I can see,” she said slowly as she started to show signs of weakening, “how your pathetic life would be important to you.”
“Even when weak you can still insult me,” I said crossing my arms.
“It’s what I do,” she smiled weakly.
“My conscious mind is fighting back, but I don’t feel any stronger,” I said worried. “We have to finish the ritual before you regain your strength.”
“But,” she started but couldn’t finish.
“I have to,” I said. “I don’t need that much power anyhow. As part of our deal, I’m not trying to kill you.”
“No,” she breathed. “Don’t… understand. You... need... proper...” Her eyes closed and this must be the sign I needed to begin.
I forced a large amount of power into my hands. This spell was going to be weird to cast. I needed to create a curse powerful enough to attack the Demon’s soul but not kill it. I was only trying to weaken the soul enough so I could remove it from the tree.
My finger tips grew cold and the palms of my hands grew itchy. I started to move my hands around in circles, creating an orb between my two hands. The orb grew slowly, glowing dark purple as I continued to feed energy into it.
I had only one shot at this, if I hit the tree, I will only weaken or kill my mind and I’ll be trapped in a subconscious coma forever. I had to hit Cathy dead on.
The orb continued to grow but I could feel myself growing tired. It was a weird sensation to feel; being tired and wanting to sleep while in a dream. I had to stay awake though. If I slept here, who knows what would happen to me.
The orb grew to about ten centimetres across and I couldn’t force anymore energy into it. The ritual called for twenty centimetres but this would have to do.
Through the haze and my exhaustion, it was getting difficult to see. I aimed for Cathy and released the orb. It streaked towards her in a flash of purple and hit her squarely in the chest. She shrieked and twisted as her eyes shot open. The usual white light in her eyes grew duller by the second until nothing but blackness remained. Her screaming stopped and the tree released her. The body landed on the ground hard and didn’t move.
I staggered over and fell to my knees in front of her. Slowly her body turned to ash and blew away in a wind that I couldn’t feel. The tree began pulsing again and the gap where Cathy had been filled in, going back to normal. I was alone, kneeling by the tree.
Did I do it right?
It was hard to tell because I don’t know what a successful version of the Exorcism looked like. The fog around the clearing slowly started towards the middle. I got to my feet and welcomed it.
***
I opened my eyes and instantly regretted it. The light coming in from the window was blinding and my head felt like the entire Tower was resting on it. I reached up and grabbed my forehead and felt something sticky. I pulled my hand away and it noticed a dark red ring on my palm.
“Right,” I groaned.
I grabbed for the rag on the floor and knocked my hand against the mortar and pestle. Pushing it aside, I picked up the rag and sat up. I immediately fell right back down onto the pillows so I wiped off my forehead while lying down.
I tried again to sit up and after some straining managed to get myself upright. I needed to clean up quickly before The Keeper entered and found everything. I swung my legs off the bed and pushed myself into a standing position. I stretched my stiff joints and found that it helped slightly. Nothing I did helped ease the pressure in my head.
I grabbed the goat’s fur from the bed, dropped it on the floor and kicked it under the bed to hide it. I picked up the mortar and pestle and placed it with the vial of blood in my end table. The scroll was rolled up and hidden under my pillow. They were good enough hiding spots for now.
Ugh, a female voice groaned in my head. I don’t want to do THAT again.
Wait a second…Cathy?
Yeah? She said.
How is this possible? I thought I had accidentally killed you.
Close enough, she answered. I was trying to warn you. You didn’t have enough power to do it correctly. The most that you were going to achieve was to really weaken me and then my soul was going to bind to something. Because I was already bound to the tree of consciousness, I was just going to end up in your soul.
So why didn’t you say something earlier?
I had to trust you, she answered. If you had got enough power you could have done it correctly. When you started it too soon I tried to stop you.
So now you are inside me?
Yeah, she sighed. I thought that I was still going to be too strong, that our souls would be fighting and we’d end up in a coma. But I have to give you some credit; you are more powerful than I thought. It appears that my soul was able to find a ‘comfortable’ spot and we can both exist at the same time.
This isn’t good. There are going to find out and kill me.
Quit being such a baby, she said. Based on your memories, they don’t care enough about you to notice anything.
My memories? You can read my memories?
A lot more than that! She said excited. I’m still learning everything but I can see what you see. Hear what you hear and feel what you feel. Speaking of which, what is up with our head?
Our?
She sighed. Yes, that is the proper terminology. We exist together as one person. We. Our. That’s the correct term.
No, no, no.
I got up and started pacing around the room. My heart beating a mile a minute.
Stop, she said in a commanding tone. I don’t like this anymore then you but it has happened. The sooner we accept it, the sooner we can get on living. At least you get to be in control, I just have to watch everything.
I sighed and sat down on the bed. You are being pretty calm, considering you got the shorter end of the stick.
Every Demon wants to exist on the Physical Plain, she explained. This isn’t what I had in mind but I still get to experience all the beauty in the world and all the emotions of being human.
I chuckled. Since when did you become a big softy?
I blame your human emotions, she answered. It’s too much too soon. I’m not thinking straight.
Didn’t you say you’ve possessed people before?
Yes, but I was in control, she answered. I could turn off or blank out any emotion I didn’t like. Being in here with you, I have to experience everything ALL AT ONCE.
Any suggestions on how to get you out?
None, she said.
What if…what if we use that ritual for spirit transferring?
I’m all for it, she said, if you have someone in mind that I could possess.
Hmm, no, I guess that won’t work. How about a dead body?
She chuckled. If Demons could possess a corpse, don’t you think you would be bowing to your undead rulers by now?
Good point.
Now, she started, are you going to do something about our head? What is this feeling we’re experiencing?
Pain and I’m trying
to remember the spell to heal it.
Here, she said.
A memory of an old class on healing flashed in my head. Healing spells were learnt early in life and I had to chuckle as I watched old me fail a couple of times before doing it correctly.
Remember it now? She asked.
Yes, thank you. You know, maybe this won’t be so bad. I can be quite forgetful.
If it means you’ll stop moping, I’ll do what I can to help you, she said.
I placed my two fingers on my temple and they grew warm as the pain receded from my head.
Cathy sighed in relief. Much better.
I have to get ready for the day before The Keeper gets upset again.
I could almost feel her searching inside my mind.
Interesting, she said. Yes, we better hurry, judging by the sun we’ll be late for the meeting.
“Hey, Andy, you awake?” The Keeper called from the other side of the door.
“Yeah, just finishing getting ready,” I answered.
“I thought you were going to sleep all morning,” he said annoyed. “Hurry up.”
Time to go.
I’m going to continue to learn more about you, she said. Don’t mind me searching around.
Just be careful in there.
She laughed. Oh, what secrets could you possibly be keeping? The fact that you’ve never had a friend or up until a year ago you were afraid of the dark?
I have legitimate reasons for both.
She continued to laugh. Of course you do.
So does that mean I get to search your memories?
I wouldn’t recommend it, she warned. It’s not pretty. Now go, we’re late.
I jumped up from the bed and raced from my room.
Chapter 8
I quickly sat down beside the Keeper as Master Baker entered the meeting room. Master Larose and Master Gerth were already seated and looking through their notes. It appears that Master Pryce still wasn’t here. Seeing as it is his floor, you would have expected him to be here first.
The Tower Of The Watchful Eye: The Legend Of Kairu Book 1 Page 6
