‘Then we need to take her to a place that can control what is unnatural.’ Binks appeared uncomfortable with the idea.
Holly widened her eyes. ‘We can’t go there!’
Binks clenched his fists. ‘We have no choice. We need to take her to the Citadel of the Dark and pray that the priestess will see us.’
* * *
Caelan watched over Malian as the cart finally pulled up to the Citadel of the Dark. He gripped her hand. It felt so small inside his.
This has to work.
Her fever was back, and she was lucid sometimes, and then incoherent a few seconds later as she fell in and out of the throes of the illness that was haunting her. Holly had declared this a magical malady, so they’d headed here to the citadel.
He glanced up at the dark spires and gothic windows. The palace that had once been home to the goblin king was now home to Priestess Harleshi and her dark priests.
It went against Caelan’s instincts to trust dark magic, but the light magic of the elves was not available here, and Malian wouldn’t survive a journey back to Ilsador.
The cart stopped outside the entrance to the palace, and Caelan watched the others jump down out of the cart. He gently lifted Malian into his arms and then climbed out of the cart, carrying her with him.
‘What about the bear?’ Aleck pointed to Tagra.
Before anyone could respond, the bear shifted into the form of a fox, and she left the cart behind as she walked beside Caelan, clearly refusing to leave Malian’s side.
Caelan turned to face the massive doors to the palace. They were made of dark iron and engraved with unrecognisable markings that appeared to be wards written in some ancient language.
He watched Binks approach the door and raise his hand to knock. However, before his hand touched the door, it slowly opened to reveal a man wearing a dark hooded-cloak standing in a massive atrium.
‘We need to—’ Binks was cut off as the dark priest interrupted him.
‘The priestess will see you now.’ His voice was low and hollow, a dark void of words that echoed hauntingly through Caelan’s body.
Caelan watched the man step aside to allow them entry.
Binks stepped in first. Then Caelan followed him with Malian in his arms and Tagra by his side, glancing back to see Aleck and Holly follow them inside before the priest closed the door with an ominous echo of locks being drawn behind them.
‘How does the priestess know we are here?’ Caelan asked as he turned to the priest.
‘Follow me,’ the priest said as he walked past them, ignoring the question.
Caelan shot a warning look at Binks. There was something wrong with this place. He could feel it in his bones.
Binks shrugged before he followed the priest.
Caelan looked down at Malian. She was burning up in his arms.
It’s her only chance.
He moved forward with purpose. Malian’s life was more important than any reservations he had about the kind of magic they practised here. He’d make the dark priestess help her if he had to.
The hall they were walking through was immense in size. He looked up at the ceilings forty feet above them. It was intricately engraved stone and iron that was decorated with symbols, hellish art and gargoyles.
Looking ahead, he studied the hall. Their footsteps echoed on the dark tiles as they followed the hooded priest. There were no defining features in the priest, the hood shadowed his face, and his body was concealed beneath the robe.
Mystery seemed to surround them, and the only warmth here seemed to emanate from Malian’s body.
After they turned a corner, he watched the priest open the double doors ahead of him. These ones were made of goblin gold. It was old and almost grey, tarnished by time and whatever darkness lay await inside.
He tensed his muscles as he followed Binks into the room.
Purple drapes billowed near the open windows. In the centre of the room was a large orb on a podium. It appeared to be clear glass, but there were dark clouds swirling inside it.
Movement at the back of the room caught his eye, and he turned to see a purple-robed figure sitting on an iron throne. Judging by the shape and size of the being, it was female, but it was hard to tell since the cloaked figure was sitting in the shadows.
‘Leave us.’ The voice emanating from the purple-robed figure was unnatural. There was a hint that it was female, but the alien echo of the voice caused a shiver down his spine. Whatever this creature was, it wasn’t natural.
He watched the dark priest leave. Once the doors had closed, the voice echoed again, but this time from behind him: ‘Put her on the altar.’
He spun around to see a swirl of purple smoke behind him before the purple-robed figure materialised, standing beside a dark stone altar.
Narrowing his eyes, he weighed up his options. The creature seemed demonic, but Malian was dying. What choice did he have?
The robed figure pulled down her hood to reveal an elven face. Her skin was tinged blue, and her eyes burned red, but she was more elf than demon. ‘Fear not, Sun Elf, you are not as far from home as you might think.’
Caelan knew this could be dark magic, he knew that the priestesses’ voice was unnatural, but her elven face brought him some assurance. She had been like him once. He carried Malian over to the altar and lay her down on it.
Tagra jumped up onto the altar and sat beside her, her wily fox eyes resting on the priestess.
‘I would not harm her.’ The priestess stared at the fox, and their eyes met for a moment.
Tagra stubbornly flicked her tail in response.
‘You’re an unusual guardian, aren’t you?’ the priestess reached towards Tagra, and the fox growled in response. She pulled back her hand and nodded. ‘Or something else entirely.’
‘Can you help her?’ Caelan asked.
‘No.’ The priestess walked towards the orb in the middle of the room. ‘But I can help you.’
‘Thanks for the offer, but we just want to save Malian.’ Binks narrowed his eyes at the priestess, clearly not trusting her.
The priestess turned to face the gnome. ‘So much distrust, little wizard of the light, and yet you come to my door asking for help?’
‘Your door was already open, Harleshi, and we were driven here by demons not by choice.’ Binks folded his arms.
Harleshi laughed. ‘How right you are, but not in the way you suspect. I didn’t drive you here, nor did I create your demons.’
‘Then why are you helping us?’ Holly asked. ‘You’re not known for your charity.’
Harleshi tilted her head. ‘True. We have a common enemy it seems.’ She waved them all over to the orb. Then she touched the glass. The smoke inside reformed into a hellish landscape, burning cities, scorched earth and decimated landscapes.
‘This is happening right now. It’s coming to every land, to every kingdom, even mine.’
Caelan stared in horror as the smoky image of Ilsador on fire flickered in front of him. ‘What is it?’
‘It’s the end of the world. It’s Ispa dying.’ The priestess turned to look at Malian. ‘It’s the last elemental burning out and leaving this world.’ She turned back to Holly and Binks. ‘I’ll help you because it will help me. There is no death without life. There is no darkness without light. I help you because I need Ispa to survive as much as you do.’
Binks looked over at Malian. ‘It’s her, isn’t it?’
The priestess nodded.
‘What are you saying?’ Caelan asked. He stared at Malian. They all did as she panted on the altar, each breath a gasp of pain.
‘She’s the last elemental mage. If she dies, so does this planet.’
19
APOCALYPSE
Caelan stared at Malian as the cart jerked over the rocky terrain of the Deadlands. She kept falling in and out of consciousness as her fever burned stronger than ever. He frowned. From the elven archives, he knew the myth about the elemental mages, but he was having a ha
rd time accepting that Malian was one.
‘It makes no sense. The elemental mages were immortal legends. They chose to leave this world when the last knight of the mages fell in battle. How can she be dying? How can she be the last one if they never die? He glanced at Binks.
‘In the world of magic, there were seven elemental mages with the power of: Rebirth, Ember, Immersion, Tempest, Escarpment, Casting and Essence. They were the force behind life, fire, water, air, stone, metal and spirit. The theory was that as the elves mastered each element, there was no need for them to exist in physical form, so they became spirit, a myth.’ Binks frowned at Malian.
‘Then how is Malian one, and which one is she?’ Caelan asked.
‘Obviously, the theory is all crap since the elements seem to be trapped in these runes, and for some reason Malian gets their power when she picks one up. Mind you, it wouldn’t be the first time the elves rewrote history to suit their narrative.’ Binks stared off into the distance, studying the withered trees on the horizon. ‘All I know is that her life is connected to Ispa. Breaking the first rune gave her the power over life. She could make life grow around her, but now something is killing her, and Ispa is dying too.’
‘There is another story about the demise of the elemental mages,’ Holly said in a quiet voice.
Binks and Caelan both turned to her.
‘In Malais culture - my culture - the elemental mages were all the same, each able to contain the power of fire or life and so on. They were a race of people with special abilities. Their mortality was connected to Ispa, so if they died, so did the planet, but they weren’t immortal. They were connected, important. Like the elven myth, each one only had one elemental power, but unlike the elven story, there would be a family of fire mages or a family of water mages.’
‘If they were a race, then what happened to them?’ Caelan asked.
‘The story talks of a war between elves and mages, which like all wars, was for power. Magic comes from the elements, and in this story, it literally did. The leader of the elves was a powerful sorcerer by the name of Illizar. He promised to make his people powerful, but he never managed to take any power when he wiped out the elemental mages. They locked it away because he was already too powerful.’
Caelan felt the blood drain out of his face. ‘Illizar was the founder of the Magearium, the elven sect of mages, the leaders of my people. They’re the most powerful wizards in Ispa’
Binks narrowed his eyes.
Holly nodded. ‘It’s also said that he wiped out the humans too. Illizar is known as the destroyer of races by my people. The myth tells that the last elemental mage was imbued with all the powers of the elements and hidden from him, to keep him from taking the power of Ispa. They hid the last of their kind in the human kingdoms, which back then stretched far and wide. But over the centuries, Illizar destroyed every kingdom, looking for the last elemental mage.’
‘But it’s not possible. Illizar died over two thousand years ago, and the humans still exist. Their great war was only fifteen years ago.’ Caelan shook his head. ‘And they’re not wiped out. They come to my village trading sometimes.’
Binks turned to glance at Malian. ‘But their kingdoms are all gone, and fifteen years ago…What if Malian was hidden inside a human kingdom until the day I found her on the day the last kingdom fell?’
‘For two thousand years?’ Caelan raised an eyebrow. ‘And where is Illizar now? If he was looking for the last elemental mage, she’s not hidden anymore, and as far as I know, he’s buried in a tomb in Ilsador.’
Holly stared at Malian. ‘I don’t know the answers, but if she is the last elemental mage, we must protect her until she can protect herself. Ispa will not survive without the power of the elements.’
Caelan glanced at Aleck, who had remained uncharacteristically silent so far. The human-looking werewolf was staring at Malian with wide eyes.
‘What is it?’ Caelan asked him.
‘How long was I in that book for?’ Aleck’s voice trembled a little as he spoke.
Bink’s shrugged. ‘How would we know?’
‘When I came through the portal, the things, the people who summoned me to Ispa were glowing people. They told me that I had to hide a book for them. Then they would send me back to my world. There was a war being waged, so I took the book to the human kingdoms as instructed, and I hid the book in the great library in the kingdom of Arcania. But, afterwards, I was curious, so I read some of the books there…’ Aleck trailed off.
‘You got yourself stuck inside a prison tome, didn’t you?’ Binks asked.
‘Yeah, um one of the books pulled me inside it. I don’t know how long I was in there for, but I didn’t get out until you opened the book.’ Aleck pointed to Caelan.
Caelan frowned. ‘If Malian was inside a similar book for two thousand years, who pulled her out of it fifteen years ago?’
‘My family were the guardians of the elemental mages, which is why we protect their history. But I do not know why they used a shapeshifter from another world or how the last mage resurfaced now.’ She paused as she glanced at Caelan. ‘You bear their mark though, the mark of the guardian.’ She pointed to the mark or Amoria.
The cart jerked sharply left, and they all turned to stare at Tagra as she changed course to avoid a drop into a river of glowing lava.
Binks frowned, but then he widened his eyes at the lava. ‘Stop!’ He pulled on Tagra’s reins, slowing her to a halt.
Looking ahead Caelan stared at the river of lava scorching the ground ahead and burning through everything in its path with thick orange liquid that was seeping up through the cracked earth. The ground was crumbling around them, leaving only islands of untouched ground to travel on to get to their destination.
‘How do we reach the Altar of Souls?’ He stared ahead in horror.
‘We need to go on foot.’ Binks narrowed his eyes.
* * *
Malian cried out as the dark shadows reached for her throat, their claws sharp and glinting in the firelight as she backed closer to the wall of flames behind her.
‘They’re coming!’ she cried as she shot awake. Her eyes watered as she stared at the fiery landscape around her. The smoke was thick in the air, causing her lungs to fight for oxygen, and the heat coming from the rivers of lava around her caused her skin to burn.
She stared up at Caelan’s face, realising that she was cradled in his arms as he carried her across a blackened terrain that was broken up with streams of lava and cracked earth.
He smiled down at her. ‘You’re going to be okay. Just hold on a little bit longer.’
She looked ahead at the dark granite pillars. It looked like a gate of stone with a demonic altar inside it.
She couldn’t shake the fear of the demonic shadows who were haunting her. ‘They’re coming. You have to run.’
‘I’m not going anywhere without you.’ The determination in his eyes was intense and unyielding.
The words calmed her until she peered over his shoulder and saw a dark wall amassing in the distance behind the group. ‘You need to hurry.’ She stared in horror as the darkness drew closer to reveal an army of demons marching towards them.
Caelan glanced back, and then he gasped. ‘Behind us!’ he cried.
Binks spun around and stared at the army for a moment. Then he looked over his shoulder at Caelan. ‘Get her to the altar. We’ll hold them back.’
Malian jolted around in his arms as Caelan started running, leaping over streams of lava to reach the altar ahead.
She watched in horror as the demons descended upon her friends.
When Caelan lay her on the altar, he leaned over her and kissed her gently on the lips. ‘Do what you have to do. Heal,’ he said before he pulled away.
‘I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.’ She peered around in a panic. Is there anything here?’
He looked around, and then frowned. ‘No, just rocks.’
She sat up and scanned around the al
tar until her eyes rested on a rock that had a red glowing sigil on it. ‘Don’t you see it?’ She pointed to the rune. It was like the green one she’d found in the forest. There was light trapped inside it.
He stared at the stone. ‘See what? It’s just a rock.’
She frowned. Unsure whether she was hallucinating or not, she couldn’t ignore the tablet. She was drawn to it. ‘Pass me that rock.’ She pointed to it.
Caelan nodded. Then he scooped it up and handed it to her.
The power from the stone seemed to wash through her. It was warm in her hands, and she could feel with almost certainty that it would change her. She stared at the glowing words around the rune, an intricate design of a language that she didn’t understand, but it was magically becoming clear to her what it said. Like some kind of enchantment, the words were becoming clear, and the meaning even clearer. She ran her fingers over the letters, tracing them until she could understand them.:
When the last mage rises again, the world will be in its final days. After life, will come fire. Through her death, Ispa will be reborn from the embers.
I have to die.
She didn’t know how she knew that, but that was what the rune was telling her. She had to die to stop the demons and save her friends. It was the embers of her life that would save Ispa.
Her fear washed away under the overwhelming clarity that this was her purpose. She’d never been meant to fit into this world. She hadn’t been created to have love or a family. This was her purpose. She wasn’t magical, she was the container for life. Like the runes, she had to break open to release the power of life.
But I had love and a family.
She stared longingly at Caelan, wishing that there had been more time. She stared sadly at Binks as he shot lightning at the demons, holding them back to protect her. Her heart broke a little for Tagra, her fearless companion, who was fighting off demons to keep her safe.
I need to do this now. I need to save them.
She looked at Caelan one last time. ‘I love you. I love you all,’ she said before she broke the stone in half and felt the power of it burn inside her.
Lost Sorcery- Mage of Myths Page 12