The Ancients

by Adam-Clay Webb

  “The Ionide is still alive, right?” Shade asked, sounding a slightly nervous. “You know Ohm won’t work with us if he doesn’t get what he asked for.”

  “Of course,” Vis answered, sounding slightly insulted.

  “And the Soul Walker? You killed her, right? We can’t have anyone knowing--”

  “She won’t be a problem. I cast a dream upon her. She believes that she killed the Ionide. Besides, she could be useful to us. Killing her would be reckless.”

  “Very well.”

  “I’ll have Ohm retrieve Lukia’s body. Meet us at the cave,” Vis said. Shade nodded, then returned to the scrolls in front of him.

  ***

  Vis appeared unto another of his few associates. He fixed his hat a little as he watched the old man in ragged cloths at work. Ohm’s hair was beyond unkempt, and he was barefooted. There were three Ionides standing around him, each encased in a black glow, struggling to attain even the slightest motion. Ohm laughed. The three were bound with arcane paralysis. Their defeat was certain. Only Amorphous and a few other Ionides could withstand the power of an arcanine, especially one such as this, who Ogal Councillors would be nervous to fight, at least those who knew enough about him.

  “You three will be added to my vast collection!” he declared. “Sealing Art! Primordial Threads!” he commanded, clasping his hands together briskly. A golden glow encased his clasp, and bending rays of blinding yellow light burst forth, wrapping themselves around the frightened Ionides. Vis watched as these threads of light grabbed their victims. The Ionides cried out as golden writings of a language only a few historians even knew existed appeared on the Ionides along where the threads of light bound. Then each Ionide vanished in a bright explosion.

  “More warriors must be in your world than this one by now,” Vis greeted.

  Ohm turned around quickly. “Do you have Amorphous?” he asked right away.

  “Yes.”

  “Good! Good!” Ohm said with a laugh. “And Lukia?”

  “He is in a mountain.”

  “In a mountain?” Ohm sounded puzzled.

  “The Ionide struck him into it,” Vis explained.

  Ohm laughed, his whole body shaking. “The great Lukia, punched into a mountain!” He laughed some more, as if the joke had gotten funnier.

  “Can you retrieve him?” Vis asked, trying to hide his annoyance with Ohm.

  “Ha! You know I can! Take me to the mountain!”

  In just a moment, Vis and Lukia were standing on top of the wrecked mountain. Ohm stooped and touched the ground with his open palms. He closed his eyes in focus, the ground beneath his palms glowing yellowly. Tens of golden threads snaked down into the mountain on Ohm’s command, searching for a body. There couldn’t have been too many bodies in the mountain after all.

  “Gotcha!” he said with a grin after about a minute. He stood up quickly. “I transported him to the cave. He’s dead as can be.”

  “Excellent. Shade awaits us there. Let’s go.”

  ***

  The three arcanines stood in the dark cave, gathered around a large table where two bodies lay. Ohm rested his hand on the Ionide, who was in a deep trance made by many layers of dreams. The dreams Vis had cast upon him were a complex maze his mind would never be able to escape, even given eternity.

  “Ohm, if you cross us--”

  “Relax, boy,” Ohm cut Shade. “You’ve held up your end. I will keep my word.” A yellow glow encased Amorphous, who, at the moment, was armourless. Golden writings appeared all over the Ionide’s body. Strain showed on the old man’s face as this sealing seemed to be more difficult than the others. Finally, in a burst of light, the Ionide disappeared. Ohm uttered a mad laugh, as Vis and Shade had expected. “Hahaha! Yes! A new third most powerful piece to play with!”

  Vis and Shade eyed each other. Their thoughts were aligned.

  “Alright,” the old man breathed, almost like he was nervous. “I’ll begin--”

  “Someone’s here,” Vis alerted them calmly. As Vis spoke, Ohm and Shade indeed felt a sudden presence of mana. Ohm cast his hand over the table with the second body to transport it and them to another place, but before that could be done, someone stepped out of a black cloud.

  “Bastard!” In blasted in a fit, her fists folded tight. She looked down at table, at Lukia’s unmoving body, then glared at Vis, ignoring the other two men. “You just used me and left me!”

  Ohm laughed wildly. “Vis, boy, I didn’t imagine you would--”

  “That’s not what I meant!” In made clear quickly.

  “Is she the woman you should have killed?” Shade asked Vis.

  “You used me to help you kill the Ionide and then you took his body for yourself and disappeared! It’s only fair that I get the chance to study the Ionide’s body as well!” she protested.

  “The Ionide’s body is gone,” Vis said. “Woman, relax.”

  In looked about at the other two men, as if just noticing them.

  “How did you find this place?” Vis asked.

  Ohm roused his mana, but Vis held out a hand toward him. Quite the pacifist he always was.

  “You two…” She glanced from Vis to Ohm, “You are arcanines,” In said, reading their mana levels easily. “Who the hell are you? Where is the Ionide? And why the hell is Lukia’s body in your midst?” she questioned. “I know you are not councillors. They were all killed in the war.”

  The three said nothing.

  “Look, I can kill all of you in the blink of an eye, got that?!” she threatened.

  Ohm laughed again.

  “No one will be killed here,” Vis said. “Ohm, this woman is the Soul Walker, do not take her lightly,” Vis introduced.

  The woman smirked when she saw the look of fright on Ohm’s face.

  Then suddenly, he began laughing again. “My dear, if you challenge me, you won’t be fighting opponents with souls, so your technique will be useless!”

  In’s brows furrowed. She wondered what this old man was talking about.

  “This man is Ohm,” Vis told her. Based on the change on her face, the three men realized that In knew this name.

  “Master of summoning and sealing,” she said in recognition.

  “You better believe it!” Ohm boasted.

  “Enough timewasting,” Shade came in, fully annoyed of this woman. In looked over at him, trying to figure something out about him, anything.

  She knew just by the look in his eyes that he too was strong. He isn’t exactly an arcanine, she thought, but his aura is just as chilling… “Whatever’s going on here, I want in, or I’ll--”

  “Make no mistake, woman,” Shade said. “None of us here is wary of your trifling technique. Be careful not to think you can threaten us.”

  “Trifling technique?! The same Ionide who killed Lukia, I destroyed him within a second!”

  “I like her!” Ohm said. “I think we should keep her. Having a woman around – especially one who can crush peoples’ souls, does sound fun!”

  Shade sighed heavily. “Vis, this is liable to jeopardize our entire project,” he said.

  “What project?” In asked curiously.

  “Woman, you will breathe nothing of this to anyone, understood?” Ohm told her in a tone that hardly came from his mouth. She nodded. “I can see where your power will be of great use to us. Shade is outvoted, so we will make you a part of our project.” The woman smirked, eying the vexed Shade, whose arms were folded and face straight.

  “Let’s sit around the dead man and chat a little,” Ohm said, and drew chairs from under the table. The four sat around Lukia’s body. In pretended not to be uncomfortable about this.

  “Vis, do the honours and tell this woman what we are about,” Ohm said.

  “Divulge only what is absolutely necessary,” Shade said.

  In hissed at him.

  “Very well,” Vis began. “Shade and I have done much research into the science of magic. There are certain techniques that we have stu
died, techniques that are beyond the level of arcane magic.”

  In looked concerned.

  “The problem is, most of these techniques and spells are so far only theoretical, because even as arcanines, our mana is quite limited. We have found a way to create an object that will gather mana into itself over time. This object will eventually house far more mana than any one sorcerer can store. With this amount of mana at our disposal, we will be able to break the current limits of magic, casting spells that to date, only Oga is known to be able to wield.”

  In looked frightened at the thought of this.

  “In the end, we plan to each use this great body of mana in our own way. We each have different goals, but we all have a common problem.”

  “You need more mana,” In said.

  “This object you – we – are making, how long will it take to gather this great amount of mana?”

  “That depends on a number of factors,” Vis answered. “But we know for sure that we will all die long before it gathers its maximum amount of mana. We calculate it will take about 16,000 years before it holds as much mana as can be gathered in a single physical entity.”

  In’s face froze up. “How will we use this mana if we’re all dead?” she rightly asked.

  “That’s where Ohm comes in,” Vis said.

  “Yes,” Ohm said, “I will use a highly advanced sealing technique to bind us all to the object that will gather the mana. The technique will work like the Soul Suspension spell – I trust you know what that is.”

  In nodded. She had heard of such spells, but never imagined sorcerers of her time would be able to use anything like them.

  “So our souls will be frozen in time until the object meets its quota,” Ohm explained.

  “But that won’t be all,” Vis came in. “Our resurrection will only be triggered by someone actually touching the object – that’s the tricky part.”

  “But can’t the person who finds it absorb all the mana for himself?” In asked.

  “Not quite,” Ohm came in. “A seal will be placed on the object that will only respond to my magic.”

  In wondered how these men could do all this – none of this sounded possible to her.

  “The only kind of magic that could forcibly break the seal is magic of the eighth grade,” Vis said.

  “Then we have nothing to worry about,” In said. But Vis and Shade didn’t look very certain about that.

  “Vis is working on making clues to the whereabouts of the object that we will create – clues that should take about 16,000 years to figure out.”

  “How could you begin to predict that?” In marvelled.

  “Have faith in the power of Vis’ mind,” Ohm said. “If the object is found before it fully matures, there is a tiny chance that it could be tampered with. After it reaches its quota, its seal will be fortified and will become unbreakable by all magic except of the eighth grade. And of course, if it is never found, we will eternally wait to be resurrected from the timeless realm,” Ohm said, “so Vis will make it so that it is found within a particular span of time.”

  “How exactly will this item be made?” In asked.

  “We have already gathered most of the materials – zarium, sapphire, diamond, bronze, stardust, and some other niceties. The last serious piece of the puzzle has been something containing far more mana than we four are able to produce altogether. We need a strong burst of mana to commence the creation of this item. You should know, however, that even with Lukia’s mana at our disposal, creating this object will take about 15 years of work. Layers of intricate spells that must be cast within specific intervals of time will have to be used. Everything must be perfect for this to work. There will be no second chance. At least, we sure as hell won’t live to see it.”

  In looked down at Lukia.

  “Yes, he is the object, and yes, he is dead,” Ohm said. “But with my extraction techniques, I can still access his mana.”

  In’s face wrinkled again. This was getting stranger by the sentence.

  Ohm laughed. “You see, when a sorcerer dies, their mana doesn’t disappear – it diffuses slowly – unless instructed to do otherwise. Our creation will pull all of this suspended mana from dead magicians, into itself. Now as for Lukia, he contains so much mana that even left for a decade, it would not be fully diffused. Bringing him here alive would be too risky.”

  “So you mean to tell me that you can access the mana within a dead man?” In asked, incredulous.

  “Ha! Of course! Now, In, having heard a synopsis of our grand plan, can you think of any hiccups we should face?” Before In could begin to think, Ohm made a summoning, “Mana Cube!”

  A curious box-shaped object appeared in his right hand. He stood quickly and pushed his left hand down to touch Lukia’s forehead, ready to begin the extraction of his mana.

  But the next moment would be a real game changer. Lukia’s arm moved quickly from its limp position, grabbing and instantly breaking the old man’s wrist. Lukia’s eyes opened just as suddenly. In, Shade and Vis jumped back from the table quickly, and the place became tense with raised mana. Too petrified even to feel pain, Ohm looked down at Lukia, who was still lying on the table.

  “Here’s one,” Lukia said.

  Chapter 18: The Unreadable Boy

  The four greats watched without further action for moments, eying each other. Ohm clenched his teeth as black mana shrouded his wrist, which Lukia was still gripping firmly. He uttered a stifled groan as Lukia used a silent healing to reverse the damage done. Lukia released him, and Ohm didn’t hesitate to put some distance between himself and the notorious Ogal Leader, who slowly got off the table and stood, looking around at the four.

  “You were dead,” Ohm said, staring at him in puzzle and fear. “So the rumours are true,” the old man said under his breath. For decades, stories went around of Lukia having been killed in several battles, only to somehow return to life. Many had it that he was more than a man, more than a wizard. Some even said that he was the reincarnation of Oga.

  “An intriguing lot you are,” Lukia said. “While I am utterly impressed by your plan, I am not willing to sacrifice myself for it to succeed.”

  “Ohm, In, lower your mana,” Vis told them. After a moment, they relaxed and the air thinned. Lukia’s eyes steadied on Shade for a tense while. Lukia tried to discern the level of Shade’s mana, but he could not relate to what he was sensing. He sensed no mana within this man. What he sensed was something that he could not measure or quantify. As his eyes settled on Shade’s Lukia felt uneasy, like his mana itself was threatened by this man’s very existence.

  “It was you, wasn’t it?” he asked. “Before Amorphous struck me, my mana disappeared. You were the one who did it,” Lukia said, now certain. Lukia had never been wary of a sorcerer, however strong they were, but this man, he was something else, something unknown, and this troubled Lukia. “What exactly are you?” Lukia asked, suddenly rousing his mana, thickening the air and making the place shake. He took two steps towards Shade, who seemed completely unfazed by the massive body of the mana that emanated from Lukia.

  “Another step,” Shade dared calmly. Lukia stood frozen. He roused his mana some more, that Ohm and In had to step back, but the more he incited his mana, the more threatened and vulnerable he felt around this man who had an obscure menace in his eyes.

  After a tense moment, Lukia calmed his mana and turned away from Shade. In glanced at Shade, feeling a new level wonder about him. She had to have wondered what manner of man could make Lukia nervous.

  “You slew the Ionide, my nemesis, I presume,” Lukia said. “I will show my gratitude and spare you all. Besides, we need each other.”

  Shade hissed under his breath.

  “I will provide you with as much mana as you need. Also, as head of the Ogal Council, and ruler of the new world, I have secret resources and information that you will find useful.”

  “And in return, you too will grasp this unlimited power we are forgi
ng,” Ohm deduced.

  “Yes. Quite fair,” Lukia said. Vis, In, Shade and Ohm exchanged glances, but said nothing.

  “How will the Ogal Council react to their leader dabbling in forbidden magic?” Vis asked.

  “This will be kept between the five of us,” Lukia said. “Besides, I am the Ogal Council. I ensured that no other councillor survived the war. The first step in building the new world will be to rebuild the council.”

  “Constitutionally, The Council of Judges will select the other councillors, and even decide whether you keep your title,” Vis said. “Do not believe that winning this war has made the world a one man show.”

  “Or did you have them killed in the war too?” Ohm asked, laughing a little.

  “In any case,” Lukia continued, “I will be the deciding factor in who will make the new council – be assured.”

  “Are you suggesting that we four join the new council?” In asked, sounding fond of the idea.

  “That won’t do,” Vis said. “Lukia, you know well that the councillors’ lives are anything but private. If we are set in such a public position, our lives will be under heavy scrutiny. By law, spies elected by the Council of Judges will watch us and make frequent reports. There is no way as councillors we will be able to work on this project without it coming to light.”

  “How could you know such details about the council?” Lukia asked, sounding more than impressed by Vis’ knowledge.

  “We four will work from the shadows while you spearhead the recovery of the Council,” Vis said. “Our greatest worry has always been the Council. You will ensure that we have whatever resources we need, and you will also make sure that the Council never knows about the existence of this group.”

  Lukia agreed with Vis entirely, but he was grievously annoyed with being told what to do. “I will consider your opinion and make the final decision,” Lukia said.

  “This is our base of operations,” Ohm said.

  “Alright. I need to go now,” Lukia said. “You will see me soon.” He looked about at the four. His eyes settled on Shade for an uneasy moment, then he vanished in a black cloud.