Blackfire [2]

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Typical.8

So typical, thought Rena, banging her book shut in annoyance. 9

The bells beside her featherbed were tinkling, filling the room with a sweet, pure note, although to Rena it seemed like a nightmarish jingling. Grudgingly, she stirred beneath her sheets, groaning and swearing. She was accustomed to summons, even those at impossibly late hours, yet it still got her into irate fits. Her mentor had ever barely disguised his lack of concern for her comforts. She had been reading her favorite book, Secrets of the Magi by Magi Anora, a celebrated magus and her personal idol. Reluctantly she left her warm bed, shivering in the cold outside. She quickly donned a pair of blue robes, ones she had set out for the morning.10

Her room was as unkempt as it could be. Bare and chaotic, it readily complemented her personality, which, according to most people was of a very similar nature. A bookshelf occupied one wall, crammed with large, dusty volumes and scrolls she had indulged herself in. More books were piled on the door. There was little else, save a creaky armchair by the window, which she had largely abandoned because sunlight in the Northlands was a bizarre possibility. 11

She walked over to the basin, splashed some water onto her face and left the room and its homely smell of ancient books. 12

Right outside her door she bumped into Ino, her mentor’s servant, a pink-faced girl with chubby hands and chubbier feet.13

Ino curtsied dutifully, although with as much grace as a tree stump. 14

“Lovely, Ino,” said Rena kindly. 15

“Master Qalix requests you in the dungeons, milady,” said Ino, beaming at her remark. 16

Of all the places. Rena despised the dungeons. Not that she was afraid, just the enclosed space. It made her uncomfortable and she avoided them at best. 17

“Did he say why?” 18

“He did not disclose, milady.”19

Ino led her down the stairs into the entrance halls. The castle was quiet and gloomy and the silence seemed unnerving. Most people were still fast asleep. They came across only a few servants, scrubbing away at portraits and polishing the armor that adorned the grey walls. Rena looked outside the high, frosted windows. The sky was a deep shade of grey, untainted yet by the streaks dawn. 20

So early, thought Rena stifling a yawn. 21

The dungeons were mostly abandoned, except some parts, where boilers were kept that pumped hot water through the walls, keeping the castle warm in the chill. A few alchemists worked here often, pleased by the solitude the dungeons provided, but otherwise few people ever went there. Ino left Rena in front a large, black door, curtsied and hurried off. 22

Rena knocked.23

“Enter,” said a stern voice.24

She did as she was bid, and entered into a large chamber. The air was thick with the smell of herbs and oils and chemicals. The walls were stacked with shelves, crammed with jars and vials and odd-shaped bottles, all filled with multi-colored liquids and strange bits and pieces. Mortars and grinders and peculiar tools of bronze and silver rested on the stone counters.25

Master Qalix took the courtesy to glance at her, his nose buried within a thick book. He was an old man, a busybody by all accounts. His head was laced with wisps of silver hair, and his eyes were deep and intense, hidden behind bushy, white eyebrows. 26

“I hope I did not disturb you,” he said, turning his attention back to his book. 27

“Oh no,” said Rena. I am nocturnal after all.28

“Took you long enough though,” he snapped suddenly. Not unkindly, but in the manner that he usually snapped. He was man who had set standards so impossibly high, that he now complained of everything and anything. For Master Qalix the weather was never fine enough, his pupils never bright enough, his tea never hot enough. Rena pitied him at times. 29

She held her tongue, as she had learned was best. 30

“Apparently some loon got himself a bite,” he continued. Sometimes Rena wondered whether he was talking to Rena or to himself. “Trainee, I suppose … bit too young t’ be fending off whatever lives in that godforsaken forest … but bah! Who listens t’ me?”31

Rena was looking around, peering into a jar of talons and beaks when someone knocked on the door.32

“Enter,” Master Qalix barked.33

The doors opened and two men shuffled inside, clad entirely in black clothes, carrying a makeshift stretcher between them. Upon it lay the palest boy she had ever seen, his skin so white it seemed translucent. He was young, eyes hidden behind shaggy dark hair, lips darkened and crusted with frost. They laid him onto a stone counter in the centre. The boy shivered slightly. The men left almost immediately.34

Another Hawk came in moments later, a high ranking ranger. Rena noticed the silver emblem emblazoned on his shoulders. He was a tall man, hardened by many winters, with a lean, stern face and a scruff of a beard. 35

“Master Qalix,” acknowledged the man, with a slight bow of his head.36

“Ranger,” said Master Qalix, still inside his book. 37

“The boy was found approximately half an hour ago,” said the Ranger. “He seems to have been attacked by something. We just found him lying there, hot as hell – despite the cold as you can imagine. It wasn’t a jinuangi, definitely, since the boy succeeded in the task – the body of a jinuangi was found nearby, even the tusk removed. However, we found another body nearby,” Master Qalix looked up with curiosity. “Something we couldn’t really indentify. We haven’t seen the creature, before, not even the Elders. We’re bringing it here for your inspection, Master.”38

“Could this thing, you mention, have attacked the boy,” said Maser Qalix, beaming with enthusiasm. Have some tact old man, thought Rena, knowing how he loved his mysteries.39

“Uh – yes, it appears so. The boy has punctures along the base of the neck,” said the Ranger. “They match the teeth of the creature.”40

“And the Hawks have no record of such a creature existing in Emoria,” Master Qalix asked. 41

“No, Master,” said the Ranger. “But Emoria has never been completely discovered. Perhaps the creature migrated from further north, even from as far as the Tundras.”42

“I understand bringing the body here, but why the boy? I am no healer, Ranger,” said Master Qalix.43

“We believe it best not to create a fuss about this,” said the Ranger. “The Healers are panicky, so the Elders decided to send the boy here. And they think the creature is unnatural.”44

“Unnatural?” Master Qalix repeated.45

“Not natural – I mean – perhaps, created by magical means,” said the Ranger.46

“I see,” said Master Qalix. “So obviously, then it is best to avoid unnecessary publicity.”47

The Ranger nodded. 48

“Thank you, Ranger,” said Master Qalix. “My pupil and I shall see what we can do, meanwhile, if you bring the body down, place in the adjoining chamber.” The Ranger bowed affirmatively and left. 49

“Rena, please examine the body,” said Master Qalix propping down on his stool again.50

Rena began to work, keeping in mind what the Ranger had just said. She placed a hand over the boy’s forehead and almost retracted it – his skin was burning. She lifted the eyelids and blanched. They were white, entirely white. The pupil seemed to be a shadowy trace of color. Shaking her head, she continued. She tore the shirt off, flinching at the sight of the blood on the body. Along the base of the back of the neck, she noticed four clotted punctures, surely made by an animal’s sharp teeth. 51

“Poison,” she said defiantly and out loud. “Poison,”52

“Definite?” said Master Qalix.53

“Definite,” Rena repeated. “The pupils are almost white, fever, unconsciousness.” 54

“Venom,” said Master Qalix.55

“Sorry?” said Rena, puzzled.56

“Then its venom,” said Master Qalix loudly. “It was injected from a bite – natural poisons are called venom.”57

Rena felt stupid.58

“I – yes, of course, I remember,” she said.59

“Gosh, how timely!” Master Qalix mocked. Rena said nothing but imagined hexing him to make his teeth fall off. 60

“And the whiteness of the pupils also indicated the venom is not natural – it’s magical,” said Master Qalix. “That fits, since the Elders seem to think the creature itself is magical.”61

Rena remembered reading about magical venoms. She gave herself a mental slap – why did she forget? She could not bear listening to the old man’s ranting. 62

 “Fever?” said the Master.63

“Very high,” 64

“The boy should be dead?” said Master Qalix, heaving himself off the stool and bobbing over to the body. “The venom seems to be unimaginably strong, nothing I’ve ever encountered.”65

“Then why isn’t he?” asked Rena.66

“His body is fighting,” said Master Qalix. “The venom still hasn’t breached his heart, it appears. I think he might live … if we can extract the venom out …”67

They set to work. Rena took a clean knife and scooped off the clots, so that a fresh stream of blood began to flow. She pinched the skin around the punctures, easing the flow. Master Qalix began working, hands making subtle movements, eyes closed and lips endlessly murmuring an incantation. The spell was complicated, reaching into the inner veins and filtering the blood. It took discipline, the one thing that Master Qalix – despite all his flaws and quirks – had mastered. 68

Rena fetched vials and collected the viscous, bluish venom. The boy showed signs of life in between, murmuring or groaning. Color returned to his face, though he still looked ashen and bit by bit, his fever toned down. 69

Master Qalix sat down, drained of his energy. Rena swiftly bandaged the wounds. Just then, the door opened and a Hawk poked his head inside. 70

“The creature has been placed in the chamber, Master,” he said.71

“Come Rena, let us get through with this business,” said Master Qalix with a resigned voice. The spell had taken its toll, it would seem. 72

The adjoining chamber was similar to the first one, only emptier, save for a cloaked figure that had been laid onto the counter. It was tall, taller than humans yet it seemed to have the same form. Master Qalix approached it with caution and lifted the hood. She heard him gasp, a sound that unnerved her.73

The skin of the creature was sown together, the stitches almost visible. It was grey and scorched and blistered, as though plunged through fire The eyes were sunken hollows, devoid of sight and the mouth was open in a snarl, fangs glistening with frozen blood, quickly melting in the heat of the dungeon. 74

Unbidden, a memory came flooding back. Something she had read. The Book of Daemons. She remembered it clearly and if in a trance, she recited to herself. 75

The coldest of fires births it. It is the spawn of Valeira herself. Formed from the darkness. A sacrifice to the daemon gods both old and new, unsheathed from skin and tossed in the frozen flame, where it burns for seven days and seven nights, under the moonless and the sunless skies. Blind but guided by the darkness. Wrought with fire. Purged with shadow. It is the darkest of creations. The coldest of fire births it, and the coldest of fire destroys it.76

Rena spoke, at the same time as Master Qalix and their voices raised a single, terrible conclusion.77

“A Wraith.”78

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Lord Burnes had inherited his beautiful mother’s most prominent features: the tapering chin, the piercing green eyes and the copper locks that framed his face. Indeed he was quite dashing, and his eloquence and incisiveness had earned him a favorable reputation. Girls of all ages swooned over him, flaunting with him, though he was betrothed to a noble’s daughter. Rena and Master Qalix sat before him in his lavishly decorated chamber, breaking fast with hot lemoncakes and tea and Master Qalix quickly explained their findings. Lord Burnes listened to the old man with observant eyes, frowning slightly. 82

“The Wraith is a magical creature, my Lord, a human sacrifice to the daemons,” said Master Qalix. “This is not my province, but I will explain what little I know. A Wraith is formed from magic – magical alteration, that is. This is a dark and forbidden magic, a magic that few, if any, can even think of committing themselves to. It consumes the magus till it overpowers it, overwhelms the mind till it takes control and the magus becomes a pawn of the daemon. Decades ago, the Order passed a law penalizing the use of this magic by execution. It is immoral and impure. That is why the presence of a Wraith here, in the Northlands, disturbs me deeply.” 83

“Does this mean that someone in the Northlands is practicing this magic?” said Lord Burnes.84

“Oh no, I think not,” said Master Qalix. “It is plausible, but I know every magus in the Northlands, being as few as they are – we need to get more magicians, mind you – but none of them are seasoned enough to perform such an act, not even I. As for rogues, this magic requires decades of discipline – the one thing rogues lack most. No, this is not an experiment; this had been created by a Master of the arts.”85

“Who?” Lord Burnes asked.86

“I cannot say, my Lord,” said Master Qalix. “We have enemies, enemies of old and enemies to come. There is no telling who could have sent the Wraith.”87

“Someone sent the Wraith here?” said Lord Burnes shocked.88

“Almost definitely,” said Master Qalix. “You see, you must understand the nature of this magic. It revolves around enslavement, torture and control. It captures the essence of the sacrificed body till it has no free will. It is a servant. And a servant does what the master bids.”89

“Why would someone send this - this thing into the Northlands?” said Lord Burnes.90

“To search,” said Master Qalix. “It is my guess, though I believe it is true that it was sent here to search for something. A Wraith is a powerful tool. Our enemy – whoever they maybe will never use a Wraith to spy. They were using it with discretion, with the utmost secrecy. It was sent on a mission our enemy considers very important.”  91

“Is it dead?” said Lord Burnes, sipping on his tea. He looked shaken. 92

“Yes,” said Master Qalix. “Which brings us to another puzzling matter – there is no one in the Northlands I consider skilled enough to kill a Wraith. This creature has powers we cannot imagine, it is impossible to kill it.”93

“Then how did it die?” Lord Burnes asked.94

“For that, we must wait,” said Master Qalix. “The boy is weak and I cannot say when or if he shall return from sleep. I need his word to be sure. The venom of the Wraith is fatal even in the smallest amount. Why it failed to kill a simple trainee, I cannot say. I can guess – but guesses are confusing. I only tell you this, the Lith was killed by a very powerful magic.”95

“Fine,” said Lord Burnes shaking his head. 96

“The pressing matter, my Lord97

 “I – I’m taken aback,” said Lord Burnes. “What – what do we do now?”98

“I must send letters to Ilithnoi,” said Master Qalix. “The Order must be notified – they will deny it, meet my claims with ridicule, because this poses problems they will run away from. You must send letters to His Majesty. He must be notified. Till I get word from the Order I am afraid not much can be done.”99

“Does this mean –” said Lord Burnes.100

“Yes, the Enemy is mustering,” said Master Qalix. 101

Lord Burnes got up and looked outside the window. Clouds were gathering in the sky, dark and drenched in gloom. Snow flakes flirted past the glass, like small stars. Even dawn was dark. Omens, Rena thought. Dark omens. 102

 “I – I feel dark times are ahead,” said Lord Burnes looking at Master Qalix, and for a moment Rena saw not a Lord, tall and proud, but a man of twenty years, scared and anxious. A glance passed between the two men, a long glance that showed a deep bond of solace. Master Qalix was Lord Burnes's godfather, an old friend and right hand of his father before his demise. 103

“So do I, my Lord,” said Master Qalix quietly. 104

Rena agreed. 105

The omens were dark. 106

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