Empress of Wolves

by J. Aislynn d' Merricksson

  Inspiration struck her. She called out softly for Jahnsen, but the elemental didn't come to her call and Kalla was forced to assume they couldn't hear her. Frustration gnawed at her. After a time, the Healer passed into fitful sleep.

  The soft scraping of the door opening jolted Kalla out of her light doze. She growled as someone entered the room, then squinted her eyes as magelight erupted before her. Malik sin'Solidor entered, followed by his Magister. Aelfin was a thin blade of a man, Kymry, with the darker brown hair and eyes common to his people. He wore no armor, but a sword hung at his waist and Kalla knew the man was well versed in its use.

  She stifled her indignation as Malik silenced her voice. He silently motioned for her to exit the room. Without waiting to see if she would follow, Malik turned and walked out. Aelfin waited, stoic and silent, until she had followed Malik out the door.

  Malik lead her through a series of corridors, finally stopping before a door deep within the Kanlon, this one thick and heavy on its hinges. He turned to face her.

  “When you walk through this door, your powers will be freed. You will face the new Master War Mage in the traditional test to attain maestership in War Magick. The room is well-shielded and you will not be able to communicate with your magister. May Balgeras bless you, Lady Kalla,” Malik said as Aelfin pulled the door open.

  Kalla glared at the older mage before stalking into the room. The Healer resisted the urge to flinch as Aelfin shut the door with a resounding clang of finality behind her.

  The room was brightly lit, a vast circular space devoid of any ornamentation. As the door closed behind her, the invisible chains binding her magick fell free, though true to Malik's word, she was still unable to mind-speak Aleister.

  Her opponent walked through a door on the far side of the room. As it closed behind them a ward rippled along the walls, flaring purple for an instant before disappearing. They wore the black robes of the Kanlon, trimmed in Solidor red. A hood and shroud covered their face.

  Kalla frowned and drew in a deep breath. She could pick up no trace of the War Mage's scent. She put that from her mind as a streak of fire shot towards her. Her opponent had wasted no time in beginning this battle.

  Kalla hastily erected a shield just before the flames engulfed her. They washed harmlessly over her instead and she sent a tentative return fire of her own as her mind raced to recall all that she had learned from Vander. Her effort was almost contemptuously batted aside, and a fresh volley of lightning twined fire was sent towards her.

  Kalla strengthened her shields, tweaking them to repel attacks. Unfortunately, her opponent had the same idea and the ricochet bounced off their shield and back to Kalla. The Healer was already moving and it went past her and dissipated against the warding.

  Kalla sent her magick into the ground and set the earth to trembling. A ragged furrow cut through the rock, heading for the War Mage. As it neared him, it erupted into a geyser of earthen fury. The shrouded Mage strengthened their shields and bulled through the falling stones, sending more fire and lightning her way.

  Kalla frowned, tweaking her shields to absorb and contain energy. Her gamble worked and the energy washed over her, strengthening the shields. Something bright whipped by her head. As it returned to her opponent, she saw that it was a whirling disk, sparking with lightning.

  She snarled as the mage gave a growling laugh, spinning a pair of disks on their fingertips. The laugh sounded masculine. He sent both disks towards her, fire and lightning dancing along the edges. Kalla growled deeply and reached out with her own magick to freeze the disks in mid-air. Immobilized, they folded in upon themselves, resolving into tiny squares small enough to be held in a palm. Artifice weapons then, though she could think of no mage who fought with weapons like these.

  The Healer ignored the disks, except to extend her shields to cover them so that her opponent couldn't easily reclaim them. Kalla tried to dart away from another fireball, but was halted by a flame-laced whirlwind that coalesced around her. She grunted as the fireball hit the shields, the energy absorbed. The whirlwind dissipated, absorbed as the fireball had been.

  Her opponent became more aggressive, bombarding her with a flurry of fireballs, each burning a fierce blue. They slammed into her all at once and overloaded the absorption shield. It crumpled around her, leaving only the innermost layer of shields to bear the next flurry. These too crumpled, leaving the Healer vulnerable.

  Kalla snarled again, her anger building. Ears flat, she used her Alchemy without thinking, to leech the room of all its moisture, rebuilding the air itself to add to it. Gathering it about her, Kalla sent the liquid flood towards the War Mage, encasing him in a watery sphere. She froze it into an icy tomb around him, adding thickening layers to it. He struggled within and cracks began to appear in the ice wall.

  The cracks widened and water poured off of the ice sphere faster than Kalla could keep freezing it. She decided to change tactics. As the ice shattered into slushy fragments, she sent her power into the earth and turned the rock beneath the War Mage's feet to viscous mud. He sank quickly and Kalla waited until he was almost completely submerged before solidifying the rock once more. The War Mage began to laugh, amused rather than mocking. The rock turned to sand and he pulled himself free. Holding out his hands in a gesture of peace, he reached up and slipped the hood back.

  “Vander…? What the hells is going on here? You are the new Master War Mage?” Kalla sputtered.

  “Yes, Dashkele,” Vander replied. He shook his head, freeing the long tail of his mane. Boyish mirth lit his face. “And you passed. You should practice though, to refine those instincts.

  “I don't know what is going on. I passed Lord Hauss' test and Lord Sevrus' for Artifice as well though,” he continued, stooping to pick up the small metal squares. “With these, no less.”

  As he touched them, the squares unfurled, turning back into the spiked disks which he spun on his fingers before closing them again and tucking them away. “The Sin' confirmed my position as Master War Mage, now that Cristos is gone. They are hopeful you can bond more of the magi as you have done with Manny, Justina and I.”

  “I'm not feeling that charitable right now,” Kalla grumbled. “I don't appreciate being bundled off like some errant pariah and I am sorry to think you suffered this treatment before and they would force it on you again.”

  The doors to either side of the room opened to reveal Aelfin and Cara. The magisters recalled their charges. Vander gave Kalla a confident grin as he turned to join Cara. She frowned as she trudged to Aelfin. The Healer's lips thinned, and her ears flattened. She narrowed her eyes at the magister as she walked through the door and the psychic chains settled around her like a pall.

  The Sin' of Cryshal

  Cryshal Kanlon, 10000ft above the Aryth Ocean, Year of the Mythril Serpent, 2014 CE

  Malik gave the enraged Healer a slight enigmatic smile and set off down the corridor. Helpless, and with Aelfin's presence looming behind her, Kalla was forced to follow. They walked for what seemed an eternity, zigzagging through myriad labyrinthine passageways before reaching a massive set of heavy oaken doors.

  Vander was already standing before the doors, guarded by Cara. Justina was nowhere in sight. Malik shared a look with Aelfin and disappeared with a crack of power. After a moment, the great doors creaked open. Cara and Aelfin gently herded them through.

  Kalla shivered at the sight that greeted the pair. The chamber was lit by the soft glow of Artifice lamps. At the far end, the entirety of the 'Sin were gathered on a raised dais, looking like a solemn assembly of grim-faced crows in their billowing black judiciary robes. Vander flinched beside her, his ears drooping. Before the dais stood the four House 'Tem.

  Cara and Aelfin halted the pair before the Tem' and gently, but firmly, urged them to their knees without speaking. Kalla folded her legs beneath her, but didn't take her fierce gaze from Justina's, her anger quite palpable. Justina merely gave them a slight smile just as mysterious as Malik's h
ad been, not at all fazed by the Healer's fury.

  Justina stepped up to the kneeling magi and placed a hand on their heads. Kalla's ears flattened at the touch.

  “Close your eyes. Do not open them until you are instructed to,” the 'Tem said. A growl rumbled in her throat. Her displeasure voiced, Kalla let her eyes slide closed.

  Justina stood silent before them. There came the gentlest of touches against Kalla's mind, a similar presence as that felt when a new mage was assessed for House placement.

  “Fire and fury you have, a strong will to lead. May Balgeras bless you,” Justina said. She lifted her hand and moved away.

  From his scent Kalla could tell it was Farlyn, the Crannogmarchogi 'Tem of Malkador that took Justina's place. He rested a hand on her head.

  “Earth's stability you have, patience and tenacity. May Fen'raal bless you,” Farlyn rumbled. He stepped back and was replaced by Shazmina tem'Wyvaldor, a petite Persiali who smelled of saffron and desert sands.

  “Ocean ebb and flow you have, mercy and compassion your strengths. May Ottric Roi bless you,” she said in her musical voice. Shazmina gave way to the final 'Tem. A whippet thin man originally of the Maracca, Amazu tem'Aerodor smelled of heat-warmed stones and well-worn parchment.

  “Wind's sharpness you have, quick of thought and hungry for knowledge. May Aitaxx bless you.”

  Amazu gave way to another mage. Kalla tensed as she recognised the scent of the Grand Maester himself. He touched her shoulder briefly.

  “Give me your hand,” Jasper sin'Solidor said. She did so and he gently pulled her up, freeing her magick.

  “Rise, Kalla sin'Solidor, Vander sin'Solidor.”

  Kalla's eyes flew open, shocked. Jasper's eyes glittered in amusement as he offered his congratulations.

  She shared a bewildered look with Vander and saw that his robes were now trimmed in the splashes of color marking the 'Sin. Hardly believing it she looked down at her own robes and found them marked thus as well.

  “Congratulations, milady,” Aleister said. She turned and found him being led in by Aelfin, Kasai the hawk perched on his shoulder. The harrier glided to Vander's shoulder and promptly bite his ear by way of congratulations. Kasai made a grumpy noise and hunched down, glaring protectively as the rest of the 'Sin gathered to welcome the pair to their ranks.

  “This was all a test?” Kalla sputtered.

  “Indeed, Lady Kalla. One we have all been through. Just as unexpectedly too, I might add,” Sevrus said with a laugh. “I remember my own initiation. I was stolen away from the Forge one night as I worked late. Ossler had already retired for the evening and I was alone.”

  “I thought you had all gone mad, tricking us into returning, only to arrest us. Not a fair trick at all Master Sevrus, given what Vander had been through when last he was here,” she said in a low voice.

  Sevrus glanced over at the War Mage, where he stood talking with Malik and Justina. “No, I agree, but he weathered it well. I'm not sure who was angrier, him or his magister, when they woke.

  “He tried to find you, you know. Ossler and Aelfin had a hard time containing Vander without harming him until Malik and I got there. You've won a loyal friend.” Sevrus paused a long moment. “And kept us from making a serious mistake. Thank you, Lady Kalla.”

  Kymru, Evalyce, Year of the Mythril Serpent, 2014 CE

  Grosso stirred fitfully in his sleep, brought to full wakefulness by the eerie barking cries of the Reavers surrounding his home. The mage paid little mind to them most of the time. His master had sent several more triths to join Igasi's, and they had taken up residence in the surrounding forest. The noises they made served as a further deterrent to nosy people poking around in the woods.

  Grosso sighed and levered himself up. Sleep was a rare companion these days. He shuffled towards the hearth, flexing the stiff fingers of his right hand as he did so. Irritation creased his features, gone as quickly as it had come, before his thinning face settled into tired lines.

  His nights were haunted by nightmares and the Nagali's displeasure. Al'dhumarna had been enraged to learn that Kalla had obtained another tooth from the dragon goddess and no longer need search for the one James now carried. That anger had been further compounded when Grosso had come upon the slavers camp and set the slaves free instead of slaying them along with their captors. Grosso had prevented the triths from hunting the slaves down, taking the vicious predators elsewhere to slake their insatiable bloodlust after the camp was destroyed.

  The Nagali had set him to making more enchanted equipment, this time to fit the Reavers' needs, not that they needed his help to be deadly. His waking hours were spent carrying out these orders. Slipping a pair of glasses on, he hooked a loupe over one lens and picked up his tools. Hunching over the workbench that covered half of one wall, he began working on the bracer that was his current project.

  Alert! Alert!

  Heh…. I'm so mean.

  This book was never intended to be broken down, so instead I have set it up as a serial, rather than sequels. The entire thing is finished, and the remaining parts should be out in quick succession. Be sure to visit the links provided at the beginning for updates on new works in progress and the status of releases.

  I do hope you enjoyed this brief foray into the realm of De Sikkari.

  By all means, feel free to contact me:

  Twitter: @cala_gobraith

  Mail: belsuutcala@gmail.com, include Sikkari in the title or it might be binned as spam.

  Dear reader,

  Thank you for taking time to read Empress of Wolves. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and much appreciated.