Bloodless

by Roberto Vecchi

  He knew longing. On several occasions, he admitted to himself that he was still entranced by the touch of Lisone’s lips. She was the last woman he knew, the last woman he would ever know. There were nights, fewer now that she was ages removed from his life, that he could still tangibly feel the silky smoothness of her skin and the sweet pressure of her lips against his as they lay in splendid recovery from their night of passion. However, the remnants of that exhilaration paled in its comparison to the overwhelming completeness he felt when consumed by the power of his talent. So, even though he knew longing derived from the absence of mortal contact, he was not altogether prepared for this. And with the looming ceremony, he felt the hopelessness building to levels beyond any he had felt regarding her.

  The Severing. The most horrific consequence any wizard was capable of facing was coming, and by his calculation of all variables contained within this latest equation, it was coming soon. So severe was it in its gravity, so final in its judgement, that it had only been performed on one other occasion. Indeed, it was sure to be something that neither he, nor any of the wizards involved, would ever forget no matter how long their lives would be extended by the magic flowing inside of them.

  No wizard knew where or when the knowledge was acquired because there was simply no written record of it. It had been largely agreed that if it became known to those of evil intent, it would undoubtedly be used to dismantle The University and the foundations of knowledge; therefore, any and all references to The Severing were limited to the experiences of those involved and what was passed down from Grand Wizard to Grand Wizard. However, there was speculation that the knowledge had somehow been gleaned from the encounter with The Unyielding, but its confirmation had never been solidified. As much as he enjoyed pondering the wheres and whens of this knowledge’s birth, neither its genesis nor its means of continuance held any importance to him while he was still locked in his cell confined by the damnable shackles currently around his wrists.

  The shackles were constructed of iron as much as he was able to tell. He did study metal working as a means to strengthen his enchantment spells, but without his talent allowing him to magically see into the nature of the material, he was forced to use only his mindful recollection of metals rendering his examination of them superficially poor. Likewise, he was unable to sense the exact magical spell they had been enchanted with further preventing his understanding. Rather than speculate at infinitum of the possibilities, he gave them one last tug releasing himself into the helpless understanding that regardless of his suppositions, even if he stumbled upon the correct one, he was still helpless to do anything about it.

  "Grand Wizard Intellos," said a small, quiet voice to his right, "I was told to bring you this."

  "Anaria?" he asked, "Is that you?" Again, without his magic he could not sense the identity of those present, so he was forced to ask what would have been an obsolete question only a short time ago.

  "Yes, Grand Wizard. Grand Wizard Esthinor said you needed to eat and wanted me to bring you this plate of food," she said again from the corner of his cell.

  "Thank you, Anaria. But you need not refer to me by that title. I am not the Grand Wizard anymore," he said distantly.

  "That makes me sad," she said as she walked over to where he was shackled setting the plate down.

  "Why is that? I have apparently committed blasphemy against all that we wizards are supposed to hold sacred," he said, almost mumbling the last part of his statemen, finishing with a huff.

  "Because you made me smile when no one else did. I think that no matter what, we should always make people smile," she said looking at him with sad eyes.

  Even though he could not magically sense the distraught nature of her aspect, he had lived quite long enough to see it plainly written on her face. "What is troubling you, my dear?"

  "Nothing. Well, something," she said a little apprehensively. "You see, Grand Wizard, the other Initiates have begun to play tricks on me. They are mean to me. I do not think they like me very much," she said as her eyes began to glisten in what little light there was.

  "I should think you are very likeable, Anaria. In fact, I might almost call you my favorite!" he said drawing her downcast eyes upward until they met his.

  "Really, Grand Wizard!" she said with a small, hopeful grin.

  "Yes, my dear. Can I tell you a story? One that I do not think I have ever told anyone before?" he asked her.

  "You mean, like a secret?” she asked him, her eyes shrinking in their sadness.

  "Sort of a secret I guess," he said.

  "Yes! Please do!" she excitedly added.

  "Very well. Please, come here and sit down." After she excitedly hurried to his side and sat down next to him, he leaned a little closer to her and said, in a quieted voice, "A very long time ago, I was a lot like you. I did not have many friends here at The University."

  She interrupted him, "You did not? But you are Grand Wizard. Surely you must have had more friends than me."

  "As the facts recall it, I did not. But listen closely as I tell you why," he said silencing her and drawing her attention to a sharp focus. "I was given, probably by chance, a job by my Grand Wizard at that time. Remember how I told you about spilling my ink all over myself?”

  “Yes!” she answered, excited that she did remember his story. “They all called you spots!” she added with a broad smile.

  “Well, the Grand Wizard was so upset I interrupted his lecture that he assigned me laundry duty for a month,” he said with an emphasized scowl.

  “For a whole month?” she asked in disbelief. “That is a horrible punishment!”

  “Indeed, it was, little one. But I did such a good job at it that he assigned me more things to do over that year. Before I knew it, he was including me on some of his research even before he asked the Ascendants."

  "Wow! Really?" she said, now fully engrossed in his tale.

  "Yes, really," he said with a smile, "but the other Initiates and Ascendants did not look at me with the same wonder that is in your eyes. In fact, they rather did not like me because of the attention he was giving me. And do you know what they did?" he asked.

  "What did they do?" she asked, her voice reflecting a protective edge.

  "They played pranks on me for years. Some of them even used their magic on me and tried to make me fail my assignments. But you know what?" he asked her.

  "What? Tell me!" she demanded.

  "In the end, after all their jokes, and all their attempts at trying to make me fail, guess what happened?" he asked.

  "What happened?" she asked almost standing up.

  Leaning in even closer to her provoking a similar response from the enraptured little girl, he whispered, "I became Grand Wizard and they did not," he said with a wink and spark in his eye.

  Meeting his, she smiled from ear to ear when he finished his story, "Do you think I will become Grand Wizard one day? I think I will," she said confidently looking at a point in space behind him.

  "I think you just might even be a grander Grand Wizard than myself. Maybe even greater than Darkinian The Great! Anaria The Great!"

  "Do you really think so?" the wonderment in her voice swelled as she looked right at him again.

  "Now, Anaria. It is not nice to use a detection spell when someone does not know you are doing it," he playfully admonished her. Though he could not magically sense it, he did not need to; for he still remembered the same expression on his face years and years ago when he instinctively used his talent to cast spells well beyond his level of progression within the walls of The University.

  "I am sorry, Grand Wizard," she said sheepishly, "It just happens. I am not even aware of it most of the time."

  "Never apologize for using what you have been given, my dear. I did the very same thing when I was your age," he said with a wink.

  "Grand Wizard, Intellos?" her voice growing quiet, "Can I tell you a secret?"

  "I do believe I would like to hear a secret today,"
he answered.

  "But you have to promise that you cannot tell anyone," she instructed him.

  "Of course. I will not tell your secret to anyone," he assured her.

  She reached into one of the pockets in her small robes and produced several small, folded pieces of parchment. She unfolded them one by one, taking time to look for one in particular. When she found it, she handed it over to Intellos who took it.

  "What is this, Anaria?" he asked her while he examined it.

  "I do not know. Well, I do know. It is just sometimes I scribble on these pieces of paper like this. Do you think I should still do it?"

  Taking a deliberate amount of time to examine it he noticed that there was a specific pattern to her scribbles, but he found no further familiarity within them. "Tell me, how do you feel when you are doing it?"

  "I feel like I should be doing it. If that makes sense," she said, her voice trailing off into the beginnings of embarrassment.

  "I should think we ought to spend more time doing what we feel we should be doing," he said with a concerned look of approval.

  "Then you think I should still write like this?" she asked again, clearly looking for a more direct answer.

  Sensing she needed to draw confidence for the obvious authority he still held in her estimation, he answered by looking squarely at her in a very loud and confident voice, "Yes. I believe you should absolutely keep writing like this. I would even encourage you to write even more like this."

  Startling both of them was a cool and smooth voice as it asked, "Continue writing like what?"

  Both the former Grand Wizard's and the young Initiate’s head snapped in response to the interruption to their conversation. "Grand Wizard Esthinor, I did not see you there," said Intellos.

  "Pity what life is like without the connection to your talent," he said mockingly. "Show me."

  Intellos handed back to Anaria the paper she had given him and she then handed it to Esthinor as he walked over to where they were sitting.

  "I was just showing Grand," she stammered as she caught herself before she finished, "I was just showing Intellos some of the scribbles I do when I am alone."

  Esthinor examined it, crumpled it up and tossed it back to Intellos as he said, "Useless are the endeavors not directly linked to the progression of knowledge. You would do well to stop this frivolous scribbling and devote all of your efforts to something more befitting a wizard. If you excel, you might even find yourself in my position one day."

  "Nothing we do from within is frivolous," said Intellos firmly. "Thank you, Anaria, I will keep this with me always," he said as he uncrumpled it and folded it carefully, placing it in his pocket once he was finished.

  "Make note of this moment, Anaria. See where he is and where I am. One path lands you at the pinnacle of esteem and power, and the other at the mercy of those greater, forever bound by the whims of mortality and its failings. I do not think I need to tell you which path you should follow. You may go now. See to your studies," he instructed her.

  "Yes, Grand Wizard Esthinor," she said as she turned to walk out of the cell, but not before looking back to Intellos and offering him a warm smile.

  The Grand Wizard favored deep, blood red robes that he tied around the waste with a series of solid black, widely wound ropes that hung just above the floor. Attached to his twine belt was a small pouch made of the same material as his robes. His hair hung down well below his shoulders and was colored very close to the black of his rope belt. He had grown a very narrow but well-defined black beard that he kept closely trimmed. As he watched the young girl exit the dungeons, the shadows created by the flickering candles in the distance caused Intellos to perceive a silhouette that distorted the Grand Wizard’s features to resemble a briefly hideous outline. However, so very tired was he in his will, and so consumed were his conscious and subconscious minds with the lack of connection to his magic than anything else, he brushed off the momentary vision as a fatigue induced illusion.

  "How do the shackles fit?" asked Esthinor. "I would not want them to cause any discomfort for you beyond what is necessary."

  Ignoring his question, Intellos probed for knowledge, ever the wizard, "I had not known your studies to extend this extensively into enchantments, Esthinor. Nor was I aware of your level of knowledge regarding the link between mortal and talent. To understand it as thoroughly as you obviously do, and then to enchant that knowledge into a material is quite a magical feat indeed. Tell me, how were you able to conceal your studies from the rest of council. I know they would not have condoned or allowed it."

  "Interesting," answered the Grand Wizard as he squatted down. "I would have thought a wizard of your ability would have deduced it correctly. But I can see you are still asleep."

  "Asleep? What do you mean?" asked Intellos.

  "Never you mind about that, my limited friend. You will understand shortly," he said. "Please, if you will, stand. It is time."

  Knowing he could be made to stand and follow with the power Esthinor possessed, and understanding it would probably be a much less enjoyable experience than if he walked with his own feet, he did as he was asked, or rather, politely told. "Really, Esthinor, such an extreme measure as The Severing must be invoked on my account?"

  "No. It does not. But it does need to be invoked on Bengrako's account. I cannot undermine the last official order given by the Champion of Knowledge once it has been signed, unanimously, I might add. Each of the council members signed it quite readily after your display the last time we were all together."

  "I was not exactly given much of a choice," answered Intellos as they began his last steps as a wizard.

  "Come now, my friend. You were given quite a simple choice. Why you were unable to denounce this new revelation of yours in favor for the tried and true supremacy of Knowledge will always escape me. And then, you continued to display your disobedience to your oaths as a wizard by openly attacking The Council once its ruling had been made," he said under a warm chuckle.

  "How was I supposed to deny that which clearly presented itself as greater than knowledge? Do you not think it would have taken nothing but the truth of all truths to do this? Do you not think my dedication over the ages to knowledge should have stood as evidence enough that what I found should have at least been considered?" Intellos argued as he stopped forcing Esthinor to stop and turn to face him.

  "Intellos, no one has put into question your previous dedication to knowledge. We have only placed your current state of mind in question. A question you did well to answer, for all of us, I might add. Tell me, have you ever witnessed one after their mind has left them? Is it not impossible to convince that individual of the folly of their belief in favor of reality? Nay, I should say it is quite impossible to convince a broken mind to see the unbroken reality. Now, let us continue. The others are waiting," said the Grand Wizard as he tried to turn.

  But Intellos reached out and grabbed his arm preventing the turn and focusing their eyes together once again, "Do you not see! That is exactly what I have been trying to say. What if I told you that the lives we are living now, the world we are in, indeed the whole of Avendia that we believe to be healthy and whole is actually in a perpetual and self-propagating state of brokenness? And this man, this savior, this Jesus exists as He Who Will Heal it? This Dragon, the King of All, is not from myth, but instead exists as the extension of the Goodness and Love of this Man. And yet, if this Splendid Man and awesome Dragon were not enough, there is yet another linked to these two. And this other is so encompassing that it can be called only God. The God Who stands above and completes all."

  "Do you not hear yourself, Intellos? Can you not place yourself in the shoes of your brother and look at yourself the way you would look upon them if it was one of them presenting the very same case you are now? Really, Intellos, you have gone quite mad. A mad wizard is tolerable, even one who stands against all that we have found sacred, but one who possesses your unparalleled power bent on undermining the fou
ndational principles we still hold as truth cannot be allowed. And I, for one, will not be the Grand Wizard responsible for the fall of The University," he said as he jerked his arm away and continued to walk.

  Intellos, however, did not move. Instead he stood, fixed in his position and spoke, "How long do you intend on carrying this charade?"

  Esthinor stopped, stood for a moment, and then turned, the candlelight flickering and, once again, creating a sort of ominous silhouette surrounding his facial features. In an innocent voice he replied, "Why Intellos, what charade are you speaking of?"

  "I do not know what you are, but you are clearly not Esthinor," he said.

  "Of course I am Esthinor. Really, Intellos, this is just more proof of your madness; but I will play your little game, for the moment, and indulge your delusional fantasy. If I am not Esthinor, then who am I," he said closing the distance between them slowly.

  "I do not know who or what you are, but I can say what I felt from you the moment before my escape was a direct opposition to what I felt from Jesus and Lacorion," said Intellos.

  At the mention of those two names, Esthinor's eyes slightly squinted as if a predator was looking through his cover seconds before it pounced. "Then you must mean what you feel from me is the truth, for deception is all that is dealt out by them," he said with an air of an arrogance born contempt.

  "No, Esthinor," he mocked the name, "there was certainly no deception contained in them, nor could there be. Such was the completeness of their aspect. In fact, that is what resonated more deeply than anything; objective completeness. It was as if there was nothing more that could be except for them, and anything else was so shallow, trivial even, that its importance apart from them would dissolve into a void from which nothing could return. I am sorry, Esthinor, I see no completeness in you, only lack. And I do not need my power to see that."

  "Well done, young wizard!" Esthinor congratulated him with a slick coat of sarcasm, "I have a mind to keep you as my little play thing, but your use will be greater when set free. You see, Intellos, you will serve as a warning to all those who seek to stand against me. That I, and only I, possessed the power to dismantle the whole of The University of Knowledge and build it from within all the while remaining secret. Though I will not be in the shadows for much longer. You see, little mortal, The Unyielding, while an almost insurmountable foe for you, presented as little more than a nuisance to me. But enough of my indulgence. Now is not that time. It is your time, Intellos. Your time to feel the utter desolation of having everything taken from you and replaced with nothing. Now you will feel what it was like to be me, before I was awakened."