Wordscapist: The Myth (The Way of the Word Book 1)

by Arpan Panicker

  “What…what are you?” De Vorto sobbed, “Lorna!” There was sheer anguish in those words. Somehow, the little caricature of a man who was De Vorto to me did not seem capable of such intensity. It wrenched me to hear the pain in his voice. In a weird, detached way, I felt empathy for his situation pouring into my mind.

  “Lorna?” Sign’s alien voice could not have contrasted more with the sheer intensity of all that was human about De Vorto. “I am Sign, wordsmith, the scourge of Wordkind. And I begin my hunt with you.” With those words, she let out a battle cry that sounded a lot like my friend the demon’s shriek. From the warped air above the altar, her four cats leapt forth. I was caught in a horrible fascinated paralysis, and all I could do was stare like a horror film aficionado at the events unfolding in front of me.

  “Run, De Vorto!” I whispered, though I knew that there was no point. This was a memory. And I was as helpless as the movie-viewer I had likened myself to. I drew comfort from the knowledge that De Vorto had survived. I tried to find reassurance in that thought, but could not. I saw the beasts stalking De Vorto, creepy in their feline, predatory stealth. He just stood there, staring at the unrecognisable woman he had loved. I saw the anguish on his face slowly morph into ugly rage. “The Lirii!” he almost screamed, “They betrayed me! The scape was to create an elemental that would guard Wordkind, protect it from the ones who misused the gift!”

  “You are delirious, wordsmith. Come hither. One touch should remedy that.” I could see the evil smile in Sign’s mind.

  De Vorto stumbled towards Sign, in some kind of a dazed trance. He was muttering to himself in grief-stricken delirium. “No!” I screamed. It made no difference. The memory progressed as it had transpired.

  Sign reached out to touch De Vorto as he came within her reach. He looked up, his expression clear, all traces of delirium gone. He spoke the termination to the scape, distinctly,

  “Your form encased

  Your actions redundant

  You cannot advance or leave

  Wait elemental

  And stay your pets

  Till my command sets you free”

  I smiled as I recognised the logic and structure of the words. It was my freeze scape! For some vague reason, it felt good to know that he used something so similar. I wondered what he had been muttering before. I was soon distracted by the instant fury I felt flaring up in Sign. But she was frozen, and so were her cats. There was no flamboyant crackling of ice that usually accompanied my scapes, but it was just as effective.

  I saw a fleeting moment of soft emotion on De Vorto’s handsome face as he watched her frozen form. And then it stiffened into cold resolve. He spoke the rest of the scape he had woven, “You shall be blind to Wordkind, elemental. Only their deeds will you see, and those too, only when they harm the Continuum. At all other times, you will flounder in your search, unable to sense the most powerful wordsmith even if he was right in front of you. I have exhausted myself with all that I have wrought today, and it is time to rest…for a long time. I shall come back though. I will come back to see whether you have strayed from the path I have set you. And if you have, beware elemental. I shall terminate you. I shall know no mercy when dealing with you, even if the form you inhabit is someone I loved very much. And yes, if your masters stop by, do tell them that I will hunt them down too. I will come back and I shall hunt every one of those purple-eyed monsters. Until then, they can try and contain Wordkind to the best of their ability. All the cached scapes I leave behind should keep them busy while I’m gone.”

  With those words, he turned around and disappeared, leaving behind an extremely furious woman and four confused hellcats. Once again, the memory ended abruptly. I sensed it continuing on, but I could not follow it any further. The shielding here was much stronger. And it smacked of something extremely disturbing. I could sense something purple about it. The Lirii! I was extremely curious, and wished there was something I could do to unravel this puzzle further. But I did not have the time or luxury to try and weave any more holes. Sign was almost free from my scape. I quickly retreated and returned to my consciousness. Easier said than done, of course. I could feel the vicious intensity of the elemental’s consciousness trying to snare me, trap me inside her until she broke free completely. Yet there was a singular control to everything I was doing now. And strangely, I felt no fear at all. In an instant I was back where I should have been all along.

  I focused hard to shrug off the dizziness that came from an out of body experience. I saw the cats beginning to move, their muscles rippling against the remnants of the scape. Sign was almost through. I had to do something fast. I could not use the same scape again. When the going got this tough, I usually got the pranks going.

  I collected Dew and started weaving a return scape. I retraced my path here, and opened the portal. Just before I stepped into the portal with Dew in my arms, I could not resist a look behind. The three cats were snarling and pulling at each other, their tails tied together with a combination of very effective sailor’s knots. This particular combination needed an anchor for stability. In this case, it was Sign’s neck that provided the anchor, and the elemental was furiously trying to quell her cats into submission before they wrenched her neck off with their desperate attempts at escape.

  I caught her eye for an instant and she snarled at me, for that one instant looking every bit as feline and predatory as her cats. I gave her one of my most charming smiles accompanied by a cute little wave of the hand, and then stepped through the portal, leaving the snarling party to sort out their situation.

  ***

  Perspective is indeed everything. It felt like a horrible eternity, caught in the perverse domain of Sign. I could still feel the salt from the metaphorical ocean burning my lungs with every breath. I had been escaping certain death at the hands of murderous wordsmiths, only to land in Sign’s clutches. And now I was walking right back into the wordsmiths’ trap. Yet having survived Sign, fear was no longer clutching at my throat. I felt calm, nonchalant even. I still obviously had no clue what I was going to do. The situation was still dangerous and potentially lethal. But at least it felt good approaching the problem in a positive frame of mind.

  Not that I had much time to approach the moment. Things had changed in the split second I had been away, but not much. It was a smoking ring of mayhem. Zauberin was on the floor with a podgy man I had seen behind a camera earlier lying squarely on top of her. Silvus must have dived to avoid the smouldering line marking the walls like a waterline left by a wave of molten lava. The cat that had leapt into the sphere was nowhere to be seen, though Sign did let me know that I had destroyed one of her pets. I presumed that had been the pet. With pets like those, her temperament was becoming less surprising.

  Very briefly, I let the pieces fall into place. The two spells had converged as planned in my li’l ball of nothing. There had been a mega explosion that left a burning streak across the walls. Both Silvus and Zauberin looked like they had escaped the destruction mostly unscathed; Silvus with the help of his own alacrity, and Zauberin with some help from a podgy man. The point was that both of them were recovering from their respective dives to the floor. I had a fair idea of what they would try the moment they came back to their senses and feet. There was not much time. I bent down and laid Dew gently on the door that Silvus had flattened during his spectacular entry. It had been softened up a bit by the recent explosion, but was not smouldering like the rest of the place. I breathed a protection spell around her even as I placed her in the most comfortable position possible in such circumstances.

  Now, to business, Silvus and Zauberin business. It was obvious that the main danger lay elsewhere…the purple tinge...the Lirii. I had heard some things about this mysterious race from Dew, but De Vorto would never acknowledge their existence or admit he knew anything about them. I was not surprised. From all that I had learnt, they were clearly a remarkable sore point with the little guy. Actually, the big guy! I did not even begin to unders
tand all that the man had been and had done. But at least, I would not make the mistake of underestimating him anymore. Never again.

  I shot a quick mind probe at the two dazed wordsmiths as they got to their feet. I needed to check a hunch I had before I started off on the insane plan that was beginning to take shape in my head. There was a sudden rush of information and impressions. Silvus was the classic, psychopathic megalomaniac. He would be easy. Zauberin was just plain crazy; a wannabe filled with hate and petty ambitions. Petty or not, disgusting or not, these two were still incredibly dangerous. But the hunch checked out just fine. These two hated each other far more than anything they felt for me or De Vorto. And that’s what I needed.

  Zauberin had been swearing pretty fluently at the man lying prostate on her. He was hastily and awkwardly trying to get off her. Silvus was slowly coming to his feet with the help of his staff (which looked a little worse for the wear after the explosion). I could see shreds of wood veering away from the main line of the staff, much like a discarded piece of driftwood. But it still managed to bear Silvus’s considerable weight and he made it to his feet.

  I could read rage and fear in their faces. They did not understand what had happened. They knew that there had been an intensely destructive explosion here and could not imagine how I had escaped instant vaporisation. They did not know about me ducking out for a swim.

  What’s the plan, Slick? What’s the plan? There was a plan. But I needed some more time. I could feel the thoughts in my head weaving up a scape that defied description. I had no idea where it was going or what it was supposed to accomplish. With hindsight, I would figure it out. I was flying on instinct. And instinct told me that I needed time. Silvus raised his staff, his lips moving in some damned destructive incantation. Zauberin mirrored his efforts, but only with her hands. I raised my hands and thought up two showy but relatively cool flames in my hands. And with the impressive blue-green flames in my hand I shouted, ‘Stop!’

  This time it worked.

  Silvus and Zauberin stopped and stared. The flames were no big deal, but they had noticed that I had not moved my lips. They had figured out that it was a thoughtscape, however illusive and non-threatening it might be. And even the newest rookie on the Guild rolls knew that a thoughtscape would beat a breathscape every single time. The threatening glows on Silvus’s staff and between Zauberin’s hands died out. I had managed to stall them. What next?

  Talk, Slick, talk! I was going to be talking for my life.

  “Wordsmiths, halt!”

  “I’m the Mastersmith, you prat!” Silvus growled.

  He had done something even with that insult; words woven into speech to suck at my very existence. An impressive trick. However I was beyond such petty tricks. I had opened myself up to the chasm within. I felt the energy flooding me. It was a risk, but I needed it all now.

  “Mastersmith, then,” I conceded. I was feeling generous. “And leader of the Free Word,” I added before Zauberin could add her two-bit protest. I saw the frown on that classically beautiful face, but she said nothing. I went on before she could say anything, “What I had in my hands can wipe both of you out in an instant. As you’ve now realised, I weave with my thoughts, and there is nothing you can splutter through that will save your exalted hides before I could tear you apart.”

  “You…!” Silvus started.

  “Not a word, Mastersmith! Not a word! For your own good!” And at this, I made the flame flare a little. It worked. His face went a shade of puce that was interesting and comforting. I like to have my enemies as scared as possible. I do not like killing people, but I love scaring them!

  My hands were beginning to ache and the flames were getting warmer, despite a constant thought to sustain them at body temperature. Something that looked like a flame had to get hot to sustain itself, or it would just end up with a harmless phosphoric glow. I had to make this quick, or my bluster was going to come to a messy end.

  I could easily imagine up a simple death for both of them. There was also a chance of one of them could conjure up something deadly before snuffing it. I might manage to duck or weave my way out, but Dew was lying unconscious, and nothing was worth risking her safety. And did I mention that I don’t kill people? Not even Silvus and Zauberin. In all honesty, at that thought, I was tempted for a moment. Just a moment.

  “Let your egos out for a short walk and consider the thought. I can actually kill you. You might manage to throw something at me before you buy the farm, but buy the farm you will. And probably kick the bucket while you’re at it. The point is that there is way too much risk here to consider. Now I know of your pact with Sign. The good news is that I have sorted things out with her. From now on, she and I will dance alone and you guys can opt out of this ballet. So you do not have to kill me. Understand?” Before either of them could say a word, I went right on, “Actually, that was rhetoric. Don’t bother replying. You can check with Sign the next time she comes down for a visit. While you guys were trying to dig your way out of the spectacular explosion you created, I was away in Sign’s charming world, parlaying with her.”

  Through all the talk, I kept a close watch on the two wordsmiths. I could feel my consciousness reach out in invisible tendrils, feeling their scape-signs, checking if they were up to something. It hit me then that all I had to do was watch their lips. I was the only thoughtsmith around. All the others had to say the words, inaudible or not, to make things happen. And that involved moving their lips. I’d never heard of a ventriloquist wordsmith. Silvus obliged immediately with a demonstration of my theory. His lips quivered a bit and immediately I felt his scape-sign flare. I flexed my fingers and sent a searing flame his way. It came up against a protective aura and spread out rather spectacularly, outlining his shield. He quickly stopped whatever he was doing. Back to stalemate. But he did not know that. I kept my eye on Zauberin through this entire exchange, just in case. Whew! This was tiring.

  “You expect us to believe you, runt!” Silvus roared out, his fury made worse by his failed attempt at whatever he had tried.

  “I do not expect anything, old man,” I gave it back in the same tone, “And you are in no position to be indignant. The last time, I chose to nullify your nasty attacks. This time, I’ll simply reroute them. Let’s see if your shield can stand up to what Zauberin throws out. I might even add a something of my own for flavour.”

  “Did you hear that, Lily? The boy is trying to manipulate us!” Silvus roared. He quickly followed it up with a telepathic probe. I felt the thought fly past, though I could not quite figure out what he had said. Before I could figure a way to stop the mental chitchat, Zauberin chimed in.

  “You dare tell me what to do! Your days of playing god with Wordkind are over, Silvus! I’ll take this kid down, and then I’m coming for you!”

  Whew! That was that, for now. I just had to deal with them one at a time. But how? And then it happened again; that moment of sudden realization, as when I was drowning. Sudden, brilliant insight that made all that I had done before look rather foolish. There was a solution.

  With a focussed thought I went invisible, letting the flames in my hands die out at the same instant. The problem with going invisible, especially when you do it for the first time, is that you don’t know if it’s worked. But I was riding an incredibly high wave of confidence. Intent is equal to thought is equal to words is equal to reality. That was my equation, and with the focus I had right now it was going to be spot on every damn time.

  Chaos tore loose instantly, and I knew I’d got it right. Both Silvus and Zauberin immediately unleashed their trademark bolts. Rather unimaginative, but still deadly. I was already pasted on the floor right next to Dew. I drew a shield over the both of us and lay back to watch the fireworks. The two most powerful wordsmiths in the world were trying their damnedest to wipe each other out.

  Both of them were encased in identical spherical shields, suspended in the air, moving around as they dodged the others bolts and kept throwing a
ttack after attack at the other. Quick darts, bright flashes and a lot of heat and smoke…it was some display! I could hardly see the two forms creating all the mayhem. I reminded myself to focus on keeping the invisibility and shield in place. The last thing I wanted was for all that fury and power to be unleashed at me.

  Almost absent-mindedly, I probed to see if the teleport block was still in place. Bingo! I had hit pay dirt. The teleport block was gone, dissolved, probably struck by one or more of the deflected spells. It was time to leave. There would be a split second before I ported Dew and myself out when I would be exposed and visible, but then I had pushed my luck so much that I could not worry about such miniscule risks. And luckily, it worked just fine. The teleport opened up on the little paradise that De Vorto called home. I even had the satisfaction of seeing the looks on Silvus and Zauberin’s faces as we zoomed out.

  The next moment, it was all over. Peace, quiet and even nice weather. De Vorto’s protection ensured that the trace analysis was disabled, so we should be alright as long we didn’t get out. There was no convenient entry portal anyway, so we couldn’t really get out without teleporting unless De Vorto dropped by.

  I hugged Dew’s still form to myself and closed my eyes. She was ok. I was ok. And we were safe for a while. I’d just wait till she came around; and hold her until she did. Understandably, I was in no hurry.

  CHAPTER 21

  Loose Ends

  I exist

  I am the

  Wordscapist

  Dew

  I came to with a whopping headache and blurry vision. It took a while for things to clear and a while longer before I dared open my eyes. The first thing I saw was Slick’s face. He was right beside me, cradling me in his arms. I raised my head slightly to look around, pushing his hand away as he shushed me and tried to put my head back down. It didn’t take me more than a couple of seconds to recognise the place. We were back in Skye, safe inside De Vorto’s hideaway. The last I remembered, we were in the midst of a very tight situation and a door had crashed in my face. I also had some vague purple memories that felt very scary. How the hell did we get back here?