by J E Mueller
“Why didn’t we get these sooner?” Lydia laughed, taking the stone from me looking it over. “This is wonderful.”
“They are hard to make. I know they take a lot of time and magic to create. A simple enchantment doesn’t take too much, but that barrier? Yeah, this is a great gift.” I pulled out a few more to see what we now had. It was only defense, but with my extra speed and Lydia being able to heal, it was the perfect balance we needed.
“I hope she gave some to your cousin,” Lydia said, handing the stone back to me.
“I’ve no doubt she gave some to Lee,” I agreed, putting them away. “Hopefully we don’t ever need to use these.”
“I wonder how she does that extra little enchant-ment?” Lydia thought aloud.
“Divine intervention,” I replied simply. I knew how they were made, but since I had no skill with enchanting it made no difference.
“What do you mean by that?” She glanced my way. “Gods don’t give extra gifts and there’s no reason an angel would aid in making trinkets.
“Not a single reason, eh?” I raised an eyebrow at her. I couldn’t help but smirk. “Minions of the heavens are so pure and good they never intervene.”
“Oh, stop that.” She waved off my comment. “Fine, there can be some chaotic good going on here, but I still don’t see why someone would risk banishment for something other than love. Which is more of a slap on the wrist, anyway.”
“It’s one and the same.” I laughed, trying to help her figure it out. “Who is Lee’s dad?”
“Oh, so the extra enhancement is probably more for his benefit.” Lydia caught on. “I hope that’s not seen as too much dabbling in human life, though.”
I shrugged as we entered the forest. The greenery looked wonderful in the sun. A small breeze let the leaves dance for us as we continued on our way. I felt my muscles relax, the tension from home fading as the forest hid it from view.
“These rules don’t always make sense. I get leaving normal humans out of it. Letting them live a more peaceful life, but the rest is just nonsense,” I commented, thinking about the various things I had learned since I began traveling with Lydia.
“What do you mean?” she asked, confused.
“There’s a lot of deception for team good guy,” I replied and held up a hand before she could comment. “I get it. Some is needed to keep the peace, but some things are really sketchy. Like the whole kid situation. Humans in love with angels are dumped because the angels have other duties to attend to, and the human is stuck raising a kid all on their own. Most aren’t even told their kid is going to have extra gifts. It’s pretty shady.”
Lydia was about to reply but couldn’t seem to think of an appropriate answer.
“Do they answer prayers? Demons answer calls. Can angels, or are they not allowed to but do anyway?” I asked knowingly.
“Okay, so there are some weird sets of rules.” She sighed.
I already knew they did try to answer modest prayers. Yet, since doing so meant directly coming into contact in one way or another, it was usually forbidden.
“At least angels don’t kill and steal souls,” Lydia grumbled.
“I never said they were the bad guys.” I looped my arm through hers. “I just said there are a lot of weird rules. I’m sure the demons also have their own messed up games going on too.”
“You wonder too much.” Lydia leaned her head on my shoulder for a moment. “Overall, we’re still doing the greatest good. Let’s not mess with it too much. We need the angels’ slight meddling to keep the scum at bay.”
“Agreed. I just wish they were allowed to do what they already are doing,” I replied and changed the topic. “I should show you how to use those runes soon.”
“I thought you said you just break them?” Lydia looked at me, confused.
“That’s how you release the magic. To use it you have to reach out for it with your own gifts and say augere. Outloud or mentally is fine. I think it means to double the power or something like that,” I explained.
Lydia stopped walking for a moment and looked around. “Well, it sure got quiet quickly.”
“Is there danger afoot?” I mused, looking around, not seeing anything myself. Her skills were much more honed for finding demons than mine.
“I thought I sensed something but…” Lydia kept looking around for a moment longer. “I guess not. Huh.”
I shrugged and started walking again. “Maybe they didn’t want to actually pop by and dance. We are a pretty good team.”
“The best team at that,” Lydia agreed, catching up.
For the next few hours, Lydia seemed to stay on edge. Here and there she would pause, but nothing would show itself. Instead, she would shrug and we’d continue on. Thankfully, we made it back to the Black Violets without any incident.
“I think I’m going to visit Kegan while you report in,” I said as we approached the building.
“Oh come on,” Lydia pleaded, “I hate reporting in alone.”
“They don’t actually let me come that far with you anyway.” I laughed. “Keep it short and sweet so you can join me faster.”
“I always do.” Lydia sighed loudly. “Until then.” She waved and continued by herself.
Chapter 4
I loved this part of town. Whenever I was alone I’d make sure to walk as slowly as possible and enjoy it while I could. It was always on the quiet side – both on the human and spirit front. It was one of the few places I knew I’d likely be left in peace. One spirit closer to the Black Violets’s home caught my attention, but they didn't acknowledge me, so I left them alone. It was always harder to see spirits. Their appearance was blurry unless I concentrated. Still, something seemed a bit off about this one, so I glanced back and tried to get a decent look at them. They had their hood up, and it looked as if their cloak was from the Violets Order. That didn’t make sense. They were guaranteed entrance into heaven.
I wasn’t about to investigate though, and continued on my way to Kegan’s. It had been much too long since I had had one of her meals. Was it two months now? Maybe three? There wasn’t going to be much to catch her up on either. While Blessed work could be exciting, a good chunk seemed to be traveling and sleeping outside. Good deeds weren’t all glory. Mud and rain made up for too much of this past adventure.
As I entered Kegan’s inn, I noticed it was still fairly empty. Perfect timing! It was always fun catching up with her when she had time to spare and didn’t need to pull herself away to check on guests.
“I see you finally made it back,” she shouted from the far end of the dining area, a stack of dirty plates balanced in one hand and mugs in the other. “Have a seat.”
I listened to her command without hesitation and sat down at the bar. Two others were finishing their meals, talking in soft voices to one another at the opposite end of the dining hall.
Kegan quickly returned. “Where’s your friend?”
“Lydia is reporting in,” I replied simply as she went around the bar across from me.
“Good to hear. Things went well I take it?” Kegan looked me over, and seeing nothing wrong, she nodded.
“Well enough. It got accomplished but we didn’t finish it. Key’s group accidentally beat us to it.” It amused me how often they accidentally ran into things, but I was glad to be done sooner rather than later.
“Good. They still getting grief from the demons?” She leaned in, her voice soft so the others couldn’t hear.
“Not so much anymore, but still more than most,” I replied. “I think it’s settled down a lot in the last year.”
“Hopefully that means they’ve found something else to occupy them,” Kegan commented as she filled a glass for me. “Who knows what extra trouble the demons could be getting into?”
“I’m not sure if that would be a good thing or not, honestly. What else would consume their attention? Probably something worse.” I accepted the water, glad to finally have something refreshing.
“
Once in a while, they do find a huge mess to cause.” Kegan shook her head. “But enough of that. How goes your quest?”
She knew I was looking for someone to instruct me on how to use my own gifts. “I’m finding zero help.”
“Yours is a hard one to track down,” Kegan agreed, pushing her hair back behind her ears before starting to wipe down the already clean counter.
Something about her phrasing caught my attention. “Do you know something about tracking down someone with my gifts?” I asked curiously, and maybe a bit too hopefully.
“I know more than I like,” Kegan replied in an unusually quiet tone. “And there are hardly any of ya to begin with, but that wasn’t always the case.”
This was news. Kegan hadn’t let on before that she knew of anyone with my gifts. Instead, she had asked several questions about it at first. Maybe it was a diversion. She had more secrets than anyone else I knew, and no one could seem to pin them all down.
I couldn’t help but be intrigued. “Okay, so this gift was once more common?”
Kegan laughed. “Hardly a gift, but it goes in and out of popularity.” Her face grew serious.
“What does that mean?” I didn’t like where this was going, but something about her secret knowledge pulled me in. Why had she been keeping this from me?
She mumbled to herself for a moment as she organized some glasses out of my sight. With a nod, she continued on. “Had a friend named Mist. Haven’t seen her in a few years. Had your gift. And I do mean had, I know she’s dead.” Kegan gave me a sharp look. “I know plenty about how it starts, but not a bit on how she got them to cross over. Spirits would flock to her at all hours. It was tiring for her, but she loved it. There was a group that met to solve an issue with the crossing spirits over a few years back. The whole meeting place was found destroyed. Not a body found. Ever since, those with the gift have slowly been killed off. Learning more may not be in your favor.”
Letting her words sink in, I fumbled with the edge of my cloak. It was starting to fray and would need patching soon. Again.
Kegan had been keeping this secret for a while then. She had known how hard I was looking, and yet she waited to tell me anything. I didn’t blame her. If people with my gift were truly winding up dead, it would be in my best interest not to learn more. Determination filled me. Why were they being killed off, and by who? I wasn’t going to back away from this goal so easily. We both knew what I was going to say next, but I knew I needed a firm reason to explain why. I continued to mess with the frayed fibers until an answer came to me.
“I’m going to try and learn anyway,” I finally said. Her words had caused a sinking feeling in my gut, but it would take more than that to stop me. “I can’t ignore this part of me anymore, and if people with my talent are being killed, we need to know why and put an end to it.”
“Can’t do that alone,” Kegan pointed out, but I felt she wasn’t trying to deter me.
“No. I can’t. I don’t know who can help yet, but I’m sure several of the restless spirits would love to lend whatever hand they could. I’ll find out what happened to Mist,” I stated, hoping I could keep the promise my words implied. I couldn’t let that mystery go unsolved any more than I could ignore my magic.
With a nod, Kegan walked away. That wasn’t like her. Something else was up. With a whisper on the winds, I got up and followed.
She led me down into the cellar. It was almost too dark to see, with only a lantern in the distance providing a bit of light. The smell of earth and mildew quickly overtook my senses as we rounded one corner, then another, before going down another set of stairs into an equally dim room.
“What’s down here?” I whispered, confused and surprised by the size of the cellar.
She stopped at a chest and kicked it. “This.”
It was old and looked too heavy to move. Kegan pulled a necklace out from under her worn clothes. Several keys dangled and clanged together as she carefully sorted through them for the one she desired.
“Here ya go,” she said, taking off a single key and holding it out for me.
Unsure about what was going on I hesitantly took it and looked at the chest. Kegan nodded for me to open it and took a step back. My heart beat loudly. I wasn’t sure if I was more nervous by the thought of what I would find or excited. Kneeling down, I took a breath. The key fit easily into the hole but took some jiggling to turn. It creaked loudly as I tried to open the heavy lid.
Once it was open, all I could see was dark cloth. Letting curiosity win out, I carefully moved the cloth and saw under it was a set of daggers. The hilts were a deep evergreen with black runes. The blades themselves were darker than any night I had seen.
They were beautiful.
Carefully, I reached out and touched them and felt a swirl of magic call to me. Surprised, I lurched my hands away for a moment. What was that magic? I reached forward and touched them once more. It felt familiar but oddly distant.
“What are these?” I whispered.
“Mist said I’d know who they were meant for when the time came.” An odd reply, but I didn’t question it.
Sensing there was more, I carefully set the daggers aside and removed the cloth they had been sitting on. Under it were several large tomes. There was very little dust on them, but I could see they were old and worn. Opening the top book, I was surprised it was blank. As was the one under it, and the one under that.
I looked up at Kegan, confused.
“I’ve no magic for this, but I know the words.” She smiled slyly. “Revelabit. Say it to the book, none but the should be dead can read it.”
“Should be dead?” I raised an eyebrow at her, but instead of waiting for an answer that wouldn’t, come I turned my attention to the book that was once at the top of the stack and whispered the word to it. The cover, a deep purple, suddenly sported gold text. The Beginning. Excited by the transition, I opened it and watched the page quickly have words sprawl across the page.
“What is all of this?” I asked.
“Saying close will make the text vanish again. I hear demons can see it, so best keep it safe,” Kegan warned before finally replying, “Mist taught several people how to handle their talents. Those are her old materials. The books explain the blades eventually. Take good care of them. They’re yours now.”
“Truly?” It was hard to believe she’d let such precious things go so easily.
“They’re of no use to me, and Mist would have wanted them used. No good in keeping them for myself,” Kegan explained briefly before moving on, “The box shrinks. Nothing I can do though. All you again. Novis to shrink. Crescat to grow.” With that, she left, having other work to attend to.
Answers were suddenly in my lap. Whispers grew around me, and I was surprised I hadn’t noticed we were being watched. Their voices were still too soft to hear clearly just yet, but I could feel the excitement. Tired souls were ready to move on, but I was only just beginning to learn. There was no knowing when I’d be of any help.
With a deep breath, I collected myself, refilled the box, and closed it. With a whisper, it shrunk, so much I could fit it in my pocket. I wanted to rush back to the Order and lock myself away to read but instead calmed myself. There was much to do before I could read these, but I would spend every free moment doing just that. Once I could avoid a spirit audience that was.
Gleefully, I skipped back up the stairs, feeling better than I had in ages.
Lydia sat at the bar alone looking puzzled when I reappeared. I had almost forgotten I was meeting her.
“Where were you?” she asked. Confusion still lined her features.
“It’s an odd story, I’ll explain later.” My audience of spirits had yet to leave. They were talking loudly in excited tones that I tried to tune out. I was thankful the inn wasn’t also full of human conversation or I wouldn’t be able to hear a thing.
“Okay…” she said slowly. Lydia looked like she wanted to say more but instead decided to change the subject. “T
here are whispers aid is needed in Ashgrove. If you’d like to join, I’m leaving tomorrow.”
“So soon?” I asked, surprised. We had just gotten back. “Where is that, anyway?”
“Near Saltmire,” she replied simply.
I gave her blank stare.
“Ummm, east of the black fields?” she tried, shrugging.
“How far away is this place? I haven’t heard of any of these locations!” I replied, flustered.
Lydia laughed slightly before replying, “It’s maybe a three-week journey north-east.”
“What could possibly be going on so far away that you are needed instead of someone from a closer guild?” It seemed like it would make much more sense to send someone from a more northern location. It’s wasn’t like the Black Violets were the only demon slayers around.
“I’ll explain later,” she replied, nodding towards Kegan, who had just appeared from the kitchen with food.
“So we’ll both just sit here with a list of secrets?” I sighed.
“Pretty much.” She looked just as annoyed as I felt.
Kegan set two pot pies in front of us. “You’re both too quiet. What’s going on?”
“Too much traveling,” Lydia replied with a smile. “I’ll be off again soon. At least I get to have some of your wonderful food first.”
Kegan wasn’t buying the attempt to change the subject. “And where to?”
“Oh come on,” Lydia complained. “You never ask where!”
“I do, just less often.” Kegan nodded for me to eat. “Now, where are they sending you?”
“Ashgrove,” Lydia replied without further complaint and took a large forkful of food.
Kegan looked surprisingly angry. “The blazes are they sending someone so young that far? And for what? They’re never going to solve that mess.”
“What mess? Something ongoing?” I asked, surprised.
“Ha!” Kegan’s anger was something I wasn’t used to seeing. “Ongoing? Neverending is more like it! There are places here just for the Blessed, did you think there were places here that weren’t lost to demons?”