Spirit Mage

by Esther Mitchell

  Paduari grimaced. So far, he much preferred the Bathron, with their rich legends. "They sound very stuffy."

  Telyn's answering laugh was wry. "Perhaps, to someone raised on myths and tales. They do know how to have fun, and there are some humorous tales, told simply for entertainment, but, you see, the Gild have no gods, nothing to base tales around. They began as a Midlands tribe, outcasts, and life in the untamed Midlands was too hard for them to retain the desire for heroic recounting. Every Midlands tribe of the time faced the same perils. Most didn't have heroes, even if they might have had gods, which the Gild never did. An accidental discovery took them from tribe to Empire, and they have no one person who changed it all, alone. There is the Tale of Two Brothers, but that's about the most heroic the Gild get. It's why they have so few legends. Few Gild have ever done anything they consider legendary." She walked to the Eslewile door. "We should be going. Are you ready?"

  Paduari clutched the amulet around his neck, swallowed back his fear, and nodded. Truth was, he was far from ready, but he had little choice in the matter. Telyn was set on going into the Tikesha, and if she was going to make it out alive at all, he had to go with her. Of them both, he was the only one who knew the Saphicarhi. He was the only one who might safely guide her through.

  Giving him a quick smile of reassurance, Telyn pushed against the door, and it swung open. The corridor beyond was filled with a blue glow, and Paduari stopped, staring in awe. The sacred TiKani! All his life, he had dreamed of seeing it, of what it must look like, but no dream came close to the reality before him. He heard the hiss of metal against leather, and yanked his gaze to the right in time to see Telyn drawing her anaqueri.

  "Put your weapon away!" he hissed in alarm. "Bared steel is forbidden here!"

  Telyn glanced at him, and nodded as she re-sheathed the blade. However, her hand rested against the hilt still. "So, what is this?"

  Paduari reached out a hand, and motes of cold, glowing light settled into his palm. "It's called TiKani."

  "Tee-kah-nee?" Telyn rolled the word over her tongue, and he nodded.

  "It means Star Fire. Danakai, the Saphive, brought it here thousands of eniane ago. It has more power than anything in this land, because it is drawn from the stars of Narii."

  "Narii? You mean the Hunter cluster? What's so special about it?"

  Paduari grinned broadly. His turn to tell the story, and it was one he particularly liked to tell. "It is Ya-shalah -- Paradise. The Saphicarhi says the first Lurudani left Ya-shalah while it was still young, bringing with them the nine sacred Seshautai -- the Trees of Truth -- from which all of Eleshau grew. They came in a golden chariot, drawn by the host of the Avarii, and they planted the sacred Seshautai and blessed the ground in the name of Narii and Ya-shalah. Then they carved out the first cities among the mountains. Laurus, Belare, Corsos, and Hadvia. Birth, Innocence, Sorrow, and Death. It was they who built the Venareshe -- the Five Gates -- of Lurudan, too."

  Telyn looked at him sharply. "What five gates?"

  "The Rhionan, Slephian, Pulsar, Takarian, and Bolaris. Mystery, Prophesy, Conquest, Honor, and Love."

  "Where are these gates?"

  "The Rhionan, Slephian, and Bolaris are above us, in Hadvia. Pulsar is atop Mount Fagus, and Takari is hidden behind the waterfall of Ri."

  *****

  Telyn watched the swirling light with trepidation, but her attention remained focused on what Paduari said. He claimed this TiKani was powerful, but she doubted its power compared to the dark Majik the Atarsian Vedics practiced. Chances were better it wasn't any more compatible with their warped concept of Majik than her own Elemental Majik was.

  Which meant the woman Paduari called Sehidhe was after something other than this TiKani -- something Telyn would lay a mercenary's wage was contained on the other side of one of those portals.

  "Three in the Necropolis, one on a mountaintop, one behind a waterfall..." she looked up at Paduari. "What are they for? Where do they go?"

  Paduari shook his head. "I don't know, exactly. Bolaris is rumored to go to Ya-shalah, and the Slephian is the Saphitesh -- the Gate of the Saphiu. I don't know where the rest go."

  Telyn rubbed her forehead in frustration. Without knowing where the portals went, she was left with more questions than answers. "She's not after Ya-shalah, or she'd already have gone. What does she want?" She frowned then. "Sala!"

  The Elemental appeared on her shoulder, her attention fixed raptly on the TiKani.

  Aye, Phoenix?

  "What do you make of all this?"

  Sala's color flickered between yellow and orange for a brief moment. Then, she danced away to spin among the swirling motes of light. The Star Fire's the key. Remember the Firedance, Phoenix. Only the truth survives.

  Telyn frowned. She didn't want to talk about the Firedance. She still had nightmares about the last time she gave the Fire in her blood complete control. "Did you find Jelait?"

  Sala giggled. I never lost him.

  "Is he going to help?"

  The Elemental twinkled a cheery yellow. He already is. He's within the walls this moment.

  Telyn smiled her gratitude. "Any ideas what Sehidhe's here for, yet? Who she is?"

  Paduari started at her question. "What do you mean 'who she is'?"

  Telyn sighed. "I don't have time to explain right now. Sala?"

  "The Dark Star of Targoth seeks vengeance, and power. That is why she has come to its source," Sala spoke aloud for the first time, her voice deeper and her tone flat. Her gaze fixed sightlessly ahead as she floated, unmoving, in the air.

  "What's with her?" Paduari asked in a whisper.

  "She's in contact with Jelait, right now," Telyn replied absently, mulling over Sala's words.

  "The Dark Star of Targoth..." Disbelief plunged like a knife through her, followed by a soul-chilling cold. "Blessed Kishfa, it can't be! Sala, who is the Dark Star?"

  The seed of Brahmad of Targoth.

  "Cetaraktou!" Telyn swore under her breath. "All right, that's enough, Sala."

  Sala flickered out, then sighed heavily before her aura brightened again. Telyn barely noticed as she paced, cursing beneath her breath. She didn't want believe her suspicions since Laconda were true, but there was no mistaking Sala's words.

  "What's the matter?" Paduari's worried voice broke through her thoughts, and Telyn's gaze jerked to his.

  "Your Sehidhe is the daughter of Mad Brahmad of Targoth. That's what's the matter!"

  "Who is Mad Brahmad of Targoth?"

  Telyn rubbed her forehead wearily. She didn't want to deal with this, or to remember. Hadn't her failure been complete enough at the time? Must she continually relive it?

  "Brahmad's a powerful man and a much-feared tyrant, for all his advanced age. He's also dangerously mad. He's an Endland Emperor who founded his dynasty on the Iron Fist of Targoth. There's not an Endland tribe who either doesn't know or fear Brahmad's crest, or what it means. Brahmad was married to a Shelliac Priestess at one time, and there were songs sung of their love, and how she tamed the beast within his soul. But then she died giving birth to his only legitimate child, and Brahmad went mad, laying waste to the six tribes of Arumad, the Masters of the Sheli Temple. Only a very few escaped his wrath, by fleeing into the unforgiving Wastes, from which they dare never return. Brahmad had his child, Reaphia, raised and tutored by Atarsian Vedics in the mountains of Purat."

  Paduari looked puzzled. "What's wrong with that?"

  "Everything!" Telyn snarled. "The Atarsian Vedics practice Karmatra. Soul sacrifice. They gain their power by feeding off the souls of the dead. When you mentioned Sehidhe, an Atarsian word for 'destroyer', had instituted burial rites which only her priests carried out, I wondered if maybe she was a renegade Vedic who'd come here to gain access to a power she couldn't find elsewhere. But now... now I wonder..."

  Paduari stepped back, a wary expression on his face, and Telyn knew her thoughts must show on her face, for him to look so terrified. Still, she couldn't
stop the question plaguing her. She'd been led to the Eleshau, and Paduari's rescue, for a reason. All this time listening to the Salamandars' tales of the Aerai Majin left her to wonder if Paduari was the next link in the chain of Chosen.

  "Have you ever heard of the Aerai Majin?"

  He frowned, as if thinking, then nodded. "There's something in our Saphicarhi of a Majin who possessed the knowledge of a World Majik, yes. What the exact tale is, I don't know."

  "All the peoples of Ravenos have similar tales, of a great Majin who could draw upon the Old Majik. They say he was the origin of all good Majk but, because of a bloody, Majik-driven war, he scattered his artifacts and their Majik throughout the original peoples of this continent, and then disappeared. All but one piece, that is. They say that, in a cavern below death itself, one with blood both foreign and native can find and learn to wield the power of the World Spirit, and pull together the scattered pieces of the Majin's power. Of course, that's only one of many tales about the Aerai Majin."

  Paduari looked confused. "What does this have to do with Sehidhe?"

  Telyn grinned. She hadn't known Paduari long, but he already reminded her of Dariadus' old ceremonial priest. Though more than a lifetime of age separated them, both Master Haphsues and Paduari shared one trait in common -- their oblivious focus in a world other than this one.

  "Nothing. But it has everything to do with where we are now. Remember all those dire fates you predicted for us if we entered the Tikesha? Well, we've been standing in it all this time, and nothing's happened."

  Paduari's eyes widened, and he gazed around as if seeing the room for the first time. "What do you suppose it means?"

  "It means," Telyn spoke slowly and calmly, not wanting to frighten him, "someone here, now, can channel the spiritual energy of this place. Someone can commune with the spirits of your Saphiu, here below the Necropolis."

  He looked at her expectantly. She laughed at his innocent, oblivious assumption it must be her. He had far more faith in her Majikal ability than she did. Still grinning, she shook her head. "Not me. I am born of two houses native to this world. It was the Lurudani who crossed the night sky, into this land."

  Paduari gaped at the woman before him. Her amusement startled him, but her revelation sent a shaft of pure fear through his soul. Was she actually suggesting he was somehow connected to this legend of hers? "Are you saying I..."

  Telyn shrugged. "I've been wondering since we met. Your grandmam was a Border wench, and you are also Lurudani. The Salamandars were most insistent I venture into the Eleshau precisely when I did, and it's far too coincidental the very Rahians I was tracking would have you cornered. I'm not much for coincidences anymore. So, aye, I believe you possess the channeling abilities. That may be to our advantage, since I have a feeling it'll come to a battle of Majik against Reaphia. She uses Majik and Karmatra to gain her strength, and you can channel energy away from her."

  "But... but, we don't know for certain..."

  "I think this is a pretty good indication," Telyn cut him off, gesturing around. "We're in a cavern under a city of death, and you're part of both worlds."

  "I have no training..."

  "More than you think. Unless it's normal for a common Trapper to know so much of your legends and history." The skeptical look on her face told him she doubted it was, and he knew she was right to doubt. It wasn't common for much of anyone to know so much -- especially since the Anieni's arrival. He didn't even understand how he knew what he did -- he never questioned it before. He couldn't speak, only shake his head.

  "I didn't think so. You also trap creatures used in rites of passage from this life to the next. The only thing left for you to figure out is how to wield the power that's drawn to you naturally."

  "That could take forever!" Paduari exclaimed, aghast. She was talking about something one normally trained a lifetime for. Those destined for the priesthood were most often dedicated at birth, or soon after. Their education began even before they could walk or talk.

  "Normally, I'd be forced to agree with you. But you've been training, in one way or another, all your life. You've been learning all sorts of legends and rituals -- everything you could glean from this land, and all the peoples around you. And here, under your people's Necropolis, in a cavern filled with the spirits of your sacred teachers, you can learn in moments what it might take other initiates a lifetime to learn. I'm beginning to see how all of this was orchestrated..."

  "Orchestrated? By whom?" Paduari demanded.

  "By Kishfa, most likely. Maybe even the Aerai Majin. They had to find a way to bring you here, and that's the reason I stumbled across you that evening in the forest. They knew I'd be curious about Reaphia's title, and seek an explanation for her presence here, and they knew you'd never pass up the chance to help your people, or to learn about another people."

  Paduari frowned. He didn't like the way she made it sound. He always believed in the concept of free will, but if what she said was true... "You don't believe we had a choice in this."

  Telyn laughed. "Choices, yes. But choices only delay the inevitable. I could have chosen differently, many times in my life, but eventually, I still would have ended up at Raiador. You could have chosen not to be in the Eleshau that night, or not to go for firewood, or not to come with me. We all have choices, but some outcomes must happen. I learned that at Raiador."

  "Raiador?" Paduari asked, latching onto the unfamiliar name as a distraction from his own troubled thoughts.

  Telyn nodded. "Mount Raiador. It's a Fire Mountain, and the seat of the World Forge. No matter where I went, I somehow always kept going back there, until I learned about my father and his oath to the Salamandars. I made a lot of choices that took me away from my destiny, but at the same time, they all eventually led me straight back to it. You would have ended up here, somehow, someday."

  He sighed. He might not like her logic, but he couldn't dismiss the ring of unvarnished truth in her words. "So, what should I do, then?"

  She pointed through the dancing motes of TiKani, to a throne-like seat carved into the alabaster wall of the cavern. "I would imagine sitting would be a good idea. From there, talk to your wise men, I guess... I can't tell you what you need to do, because I don't know. But I have a feeling you already do, somewhere deep inside of you. Remember all the legends you know. I'm sure the key is in there somewhere."

  He gave her a wary glance. "And what are you going to be doing while I'm at this?"

  Telyn's hand fell to her anaqueri's hilt. "I'm going to see what kind of army Reaphia has gathered."

  Telyn stalked off toward the room of doors, leaving Paduari to stand facing the stone seat and wondering if he might just be losing his mind.

  Telyn said he was a Spirit Majin, someone who could channel the scattered energies of all the world's Majik. How could that be? He was just a simple Trapper. But, what if he was what she said? Could he deny his people the chance to be free of Sehidhe forever, and return to their peaceful lives?

  Drawing a deep breath to fortify his courage, Paduari crossed the Tikesha and gingerly lowered himself onto the alabaster throne, ready to leap away in an instant if need be. He was unsure what reaction he expected from the stone seat. He was surprised to find it warm, as if it lived. Nervously, he gripped the throne's armrests and cleared his throat.

  "I don't know." A flush worked up his neck. His own words sounded foolish as he listened to them echo in the empty Tikesha. "I just don't know what to do."

  A wise man admits his faults.

  The voice seemed to come from within him and all around him, simultaneously. It was serene and ancient and, if he was less nervous, he'd even venture to call it amused. But, regardless, it was a reply, and it melted away some of his trepidation. More confident, Paduari addressed the voice. "Telyn says I'm a Spirit Majin, but I'm not sure. I don't want to make a mistake, but I don't want my people to suffer anymore, either."

  A loyal man places his people over his person, the voice approved.
Paduari, son of Hurat and of Orandi, you must face the demons within to conquer the dangers without. Are you prepared to face your demons?

  Paduari drew another deep breath, summoning his courage, and squared his shoulders. "I am."

  Chapter Five

  Telyn stole through the darkness as one born to it, her night-friendly eyes picking out the paths ahead, leading toward the surface. As she went, she grimly considered her options.

  Paduari, as Spirit's Chosen, had the power to understand the Majik in ways she never would. However, like every other Lurudani, he was more than willing to let someone else run his life for him. He lacked not the ability, which was inborn, but the confidence to make his own path in life. Fortunately, unlike the rest of the Lurudani, Paduari hadn't lost his ability to dream. She was relying on his faith, using the tales she had at her command and those he had stored inside of himself, to prove to him he was one of the Chosen. He didn't have to believe it -- there were still times she had trouble believing in her own destiny -- but he did have to accept it, or they were all doomed.

  In time, his people would come to see him as a powerful Majin. She didn't doubt it for even a moment. Still, it worried Telyn. How would Paduari deal with the power to shape lives? She wanted to believe he would always be as he was now, dedicated to his people but otherwise a clueless dreamer with an insatiable wanderlust. But the ghosts of other pasts left her with cause to worry. He could easily go the way of Seoman, trapped in his own visions and bitterness, or of Pel Brun, who had lost his standing and eventually his life, for using his power to endanger fragile lives. He could become another Sele, who turned into a monster when she discovered she could bend minds with her will. He could even go the way of Reaphia herself. Telyn knew better than most how the grueling tests undergone to become a Majin could warp a mind. She'd seen it happen far too often, and that knowledge once made her fear her own transformation.

  Compassion and valor could easily turn to bitterness and vanity. It took a strong mind, and an even stronger spirit, to overcome the resentment and temptation spiritual tests often fostered. But knowing what she knew didn't make what stood before Paduari any less necessary. If they were going to face Reaphia with any hope of coming out alive, they would need their combined Majik. Without Paduari, she already knew Reaphia would win.