Essence of Chaos

by Marie Andreas

  Ghortin caught her frown. “Yes, our friend is a fearsome hunter and fighter, one of the best in the land. However, he is lacking the correct blood for magic. Most of his kind have at least a basic sensitivity, but he has none, it would take something of massive size and Power for him to even feel it. It’s a sore point with the lad.”

  He held his hands in front of him as if he was holding water; he motioned for her to do the same. “Now for your first lesson. I want you to mentally gather a ball of energy in your hands.”

  “A what?” She couldn’t sense any energy around her.

  Ghortin held up a hand as if she were a skittish pony. “Easy, lass. Reach into the part of your mind that knows no bounds. The untamed, the borderless, the irrational.”

  That worked. She relaxed, closed her eyes, and reached out for the absurd; daydreaming was definitely in her skill set. Considering her present unreal situation, it wasn’t all that hard. Chaotic energy pulled at her. Colors and shapes were all around her. Some went completely through her, leaving a strange tingling in their wake. She had just reached out for an interesting lavender tree when an intrusion shattered her new world and she found herself on the ground looking up at Ghortin.

  “That was my fault, I should have warned you.” He bent down to help her up. The concern in Ghortin’s dark eyes scared her more than her fall had.

  “What did you need to warn me about?” It came out more annoyed than she meant it to. “You told me to find the chaos, I was about to control some of the Power when you yanked me back here.” She shook herself off and crawled back onto her stump. Her head was still spinning from her brief voyage.

  “Aye, that I did. And you slipped into that ether like a master.” He shook his head, but whether it was at himself or her, Jenna couldn’t tell. “But a master wouldn’t have cut off all ties with her body so that it stopped breathing and started causing me some serious concerns.”

  “Oh.” She hadn’t noticed that at all. Everything had all been so beautiful. “Next time I’ll pay more attention.”

  “And you will. However, I think we’ll be waiting a bit before your next time. You’ve an awful lot of Power and it’d be safer for all concerned if I teach you how to control it before I teach you how to access it.” His eyes lost focus as something else came to him. He came back with a shake. “So, that being said, I believe I shall first teach you history and magic theory.” He rose and dusted off the seat of his pants. “Things that can take place safely inside.”

  Jenna stayed seated. “I promise I’ll be more careful; I won’t let that happen again.” It had been so beautiful and thrilling there, she had to go back.

  Ghortin frowned, there was a brief flash of serious concern before he schooled his face. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, my dear. But that place can be overwhelming for someone with too much Power and no knowledge of how to contain it. It can be a deadly addiction. And I don’t want you trying to get there without me. Trust me, you wouldn’t want that either.”

  “But,” Jenna bit back her annoyed comment. The irresistible need she’d had for the place was fading. Maybe he was right. “You’re right; I won’t go there on my own.”

  “Excellent choice. Now, shall we?” Ghortin’s smile returned and he held out his arm to lead her back to the library.

  8

  Four months later, Jenna wasn’t feeling so kindly toward Ghortin.

  “It’ll be easy.” Jenna snarled to herself for the hundredth time that day.

  Those words had become her mantra, given to her by Ghortin when he finally got around to teaching her spells instead of history. She’d repeated them to herself, at first to keep her determination up. Now, after four frustrating months, she repeated them to keep herself from committing mageicide.

  The magic she had looked forward to during those dry history lessons had been anything but easy. Granted, four months wasn’t that long, but by now she should be able to do more than simple hiding spells and blocking. She didn’t even get any joy out of trips into that chaotic wonderland that she had fallen into that first day in the tree ring. Once you knew more of how magic worked, you didn’t have to go to the source, so to speak, or at least not often. And the constraints Ghortin put on her when she did go ruined the thrill.

  On the up side, she hadn’t had any more odd reactions to magic. And she was proud of her blocking skills. Within the first three weeks of actual lessons, she was able to consciously block almost all low-level spells. Within two months, she could repel anything a mid-level journeyman mage could throw at her. Ghortin was impressed. Or he seemed to be whenever he happened to be paying attention.

  After watching her like a hawk in the beginning, Ghortin had become distracted these last two months. Fall was well settled now, the days shorter and darker; and he claimed he had too many things to do before winter moved in. But Jenna had a feeling it had more to do with whatever was going on in this world magically, not naturally, that was causing him worry. Things like the ertin attack. Nothing had happened around her since then, but she also hadn’t been further away from the cottage than the line of Bakkera trees. However, Ghortin wouldn’t tell her anything of the goings on outside of their forest. For that matter, neither would Storm.

  Storm usually came for a brief visit every week or so; far too infrequently in Jenna’s opinion. However, whenever she brought up Ghortin’s growing preoccupation, the handsome kelar simply danced around the subject. She wouldn’t have thought a woodsman could be so verbally graceful. He was that way about their growing friendship too. There, but always holding her a bit at a distance.

  And he seemed to have absolutely no interesting information about what was happening in the outside world. Not even an answer for why he always traveled with his sword now.

  Unfortunately, Ghortin was also pushing her unreasonably hard. Unlike in the beginning when he was determined to take her lessons at a snail’s pace, he now seemed to be pushing her to master status within the year. He would show up at breakfast, view her latest attempt, tell her what to do for the day, and then leave her to her own devices to complete the massive projects.

  She knew she was probably far older than prior apprentices, but one would think that mage apprentices of any age shouldn’t be roaming around aimlessly shooting off spells unattended.

  Even Storm was getting worse. He’d been tense the last time he’d come for a visit, barely nodding hello to Jenna before dragging Ghortin off deep into the vortex. Which in and of itself was highly suspect. Storm hated the vortex area—his going into it deliberately would be akin to her voluntarily going in for an unnecessary root canal. Jenna had given up trying to find them after four hours. When they finally did come out, Storm ran for his horse before Jenna could say anything.

  That had been fifteen days ago, and Ghortin didn’t seem surprised that he hadn’t seen his friend since.

  The continuing oddities of her two companions chased themselves around in her head as she absently chewed on a sprig of dying grass. She’d been pacing within the small circle of stumps outside of the cottage for over an hour and had finally had enough. This time Ghortin wasn’t going to be able to hide. Resolutely, she stepped over the shortest stump and marched toward the cottage.

  She wasn’t surprised that the mage wasn’t to be found in the ‘anchored’ portions of the vortex—her room and the library—or in the non-vortex areas like the front room, kitchen, and the spare bedrooms. Ghortin had been spending almost all of his time in the un-anchored portion of the vortex, making it impossible for her to track him down.

  Until now.

  She’d spent the last two weeks building up her allies—the house elementals. Ghortin berated them and Storm ignored them. So Jenna made friends with them.

  At least as close to being friends as one could get with insubstantial fluffs of chaos.

  She stood at the edge of the anchored portion of the vortex and willed herself to relax. Silently, she called her new companions to her. The elementals, by nature
of their being, were all slightly different. But they all responded like bears to honey around directed mental energy. If they felt like it, the person didn’t even have to have mage ability for them to respond.

  A flittering began around the edges of her consciousness and she knew they had arrived. She hadn’t made up her mind yet whether she wanted them to get Ghortin or to take her to him. Immediately sensing her desires however, the elementals made the decision for her and were down the hall in a flash.

  A minute later, Ghortin came barreling down the hall waving his hands. Fortunately he spotted Jenna before he plowed into her.

  “Here now. Clear way. Clear way. Those damn elementals have gone completely around the bend.” The sturdy mage began shoving her back down the hall toward the cottage.

  Jenna sputtered and batted him away, but it was like trying to stop the rush of a grizzly.

  She finally planted her feet against the onslaught. “STOP.” She directed the command at both Ghortin and at her over-zealous helpers. She couldn’t say who was more surprised when his feet froze in place.

  “No, wait. Un-stop.”

  Ghortin’s feet came free a split second before balance became a serious issue.

  “Now where did that come from?” Ghortin looked around as if he doubted his own ears. The elementals vanished like naughty children.

  “I’m sorry.” She bit down her smile and tried to look concerned. His gray hair shooting off in a thousand different directions left him looking more like a giant owl awakened too early than a powerful mage.

  “I didn’t think I could stop you like that. I wanted you to stop you.”

  “Me to stop me?” He shook his head and started patting down his hair. “First my elementals start trying to kill me, now my mere slip of an apprentice uses a command word. One, by the way, that I know I haven’t taught her. What is happening to my neat, orderly world?” He kept glancing around as he spoke, as if watching for any straggling elementals.

  “Sorry about the elementals. I’ve been working with them lately, but they have a mind of their own, so to speak. However, they do respond extremely well to commands they like, don’t they?”

  Ghortin’s brows lowered. “What, pray tell, did you tell them to do? Tickle me to death?”

  “Not in so many words.” Jenna shrugged. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. “I got tired of you and Storm running around with your secrets. You’re either somewhere deep in that vortex hidey-hole or locked in the library with that damn book.” She pointed to the gray book in his hand. She hadn’t seen him without it once in the last two months, even at meals, but he wouldn’t let her even open the cover. “Something big is going on and, again, you are leaving me out of the loop. I’m not a kid.”

  “I guess it’s my fault.” He ran his thick fingers through his hair. “However, I’d rather not discuss this here if you don’t mind. I feel better that those elemental misfits were acting under your orders, but there were still some uneasy moments there that I’d rather not repeat.”

  Jenna lost the rest of his muttering as he briskly moved out of the hall. Once in the cottage proper, Ghortin got her settled in the parlor and then went off to the kitchen.

  He returned a minute later with two large wine glasses.

  “Isn’t that much better?” He handed her one of the glasses, then took over the chair directly across from her.

  “What’s happened now? More ertin?” She fought the shiver that went down her spine. Although her words had been flip, she was still having nightmares about those creatures.

  “Yes. And more, unfortunately. No concentrated attacks like what happened here, but there have been more single sightings of them. No sign of your shadow friend though.” Ghortin frowned and set down his glass. “Plus, we’ve heard of an increase in mindslaves being made. And the bodies of two women were found at the edge of the Markare. Their throats were cut.”

  Jenna choked on the sip of wine she had taken. That her body had partially belonged to a former mindslave increased her disgust of what happened to create more of them. “But why were the women killed? I hate to say this, but why weren’t they made into mindslaves and taken with the others?”

  Ghortin held her gaze for a few minutes before he answered, his dark eyes held pain and concern. Jenna took another long drink.

  “I believe it was because they matched your physical description.”

  All the air left Jenna’s lungs. People were murdered because they looked like her?

  “Why? What’s so important about me? Do they know who did it? Did they—” She couldn’t ask if they had suffered; most likely they had. This world was harsh, and its deaths even harsher. She drained the rest of her glass.

  “I’m afraid that we’re not sure why, but the followers of Qhazborh want you, or the mindslave whose body you now have, back. And badly.”

  That wine was hitting her far harder than it should have. The world was getting fuzzy on the edges. Jenna stared into her empty glass. Finally she looked up. “Wha’ do we do now?”

  “We’ll find out how this is all connected, never you fear. You’re safe here in the forest with me. Moreover, if you’ve been practicing all of your spells correctly, you should be safe against most things outside of the forest as well. Unfortunately, women who look like you haven’t been the only things under attack as of late. Illnesses have been hitting the outlying villages and towns, diseases that the best healers can’t figure out. Eventually they vanish on their own, or the patient dies.” His face was grim, but Jenna wondered why he was starting to lean sideways. “And then there’s the Markare itself.” His eyes drifted down to something only he could see, or something Jenna couldn’t see at any rate.

  And now the room wasn’t just fuzzy, the floor was listing to the left.

  Finally she gave up trying to make it hold still and coughed subtly to get his attention. Ghortin jumped at the sound. “Sorry, lass, I was just thinking. Any rate, the Markare has been faced with odd disappearances. Three within the last two ten-day.”

  “Three people, or three villages? H’can they know anyway? Thought you told me they were nomads.” Jenna wished Ghortin would sit up right—he was giving her a headache.

  “Whole villages, lass. They are nomadic, but still they follow set itineraries, there are only so many habitable places to live out there. These people haven’t been seen. And the Border Watch mages felt them go.”

  “Go? Goh where? How could they just go ‘poof’?” She tried snapping her fingers for emphasis but missed.

  Ghortin rubbed his chin and looked at her closely. At least by leaning forward he wasn’t listing so much. He looked at her, then at her empty glass. After a moment he gave a shrug. “They didn’t go ‘poof’. They vanished. I’m sure there was no poofing involved. Do stop that.”

  Jenna gave a guilty grin. She’d been trying to see if her snapping would work, but her missing had obviously upset him. Taking a deep breath, she tightly held both hands together and nodded for him to go on. That drink might have been called wine, but the buzz she was feeling was too intense for even a full day of wine drinking.

  “Thank you. As I was saying, it was as if they were simply cut out of the essence of reality.”

  Jenna nodded as old movie bits floated around in her wine-fogged head. “Like a million lives screamed out once in terror, then were silenced?” She held her hands so tight white lines formed on her knuckles.

  Ghortin frowned. “I suppose something of that sort. Although a million lives would be far too large; more like a hundred.”

  Jenna lurched to her feet triumphantly, only to collapse back down an instant later. “Ah-ha. I know what your problem is. You’ve got a damn Deathstar in your desert.” She reclaimed her glass for another drink, and then frowned when she realized it was still empty. Sadly, Ghortin didn’t appear to want to give her more. Part of her thought that was probably a good thing.

  “Now, now, dear.” Ghortin stood up. “I know you’re upset, we all are,
but why don’t we give back the nice glass, shall we?” He managed to free the empty glass from her fingers when a loud rap sounded from the door.

  “Eh? What now?” He turned back toward Jenna. “You stay right there, don’t move. Just let me see who’s knocking.”

  Jenna tried to push herself upright when an extremely dandified Storm pushed aside the door the moment Ghortin freed the latch. He was a stunning example of a well-dressed gentleman and clearly was furious about it. Even to Jenna’s blurred vision he looked good enough to eat. Storm’s long dark hair was pulled back and styled with enough curl to hint at affectation, but it didn’t in any way look feminine. A thin copper arch held his hair off his face instead of his usual cloth band. His royal blue velvet tunic and matching hose made his normally bright blue eyes luminescent, while a pristine white shirt and polished black boots finished the ensemble. Jenna thought the nasty grimace on his face did nothing to increase his sex appeal, although, to be honest, it didn’t reduce it either. She couldn’t figure out what he was doing, but it could all be a hallucination at this point, so she might as well enjoy it. Somewhere the back of her mind mentioned she was completely drunk and about to pass out. She told it to shut up and went back to staring at the stunning kelar before her.

  “They did it to me again.” Storm snarled as he stomped into the parlor, boot heels savagely pounding through the thin rugs. He looked ready to kill something. Or someone.