by L. S. Gibson
Ninian paused and gazed from one to the other, before he continued, "Her mother was proud of her family background and often felt belittled that none of her neighbors gave her the respect she felt she was due as a member of the House of Thail, albeit not from the direct line."
"She was a Thail," Jhond murmured.
Remelin looked from one to the other before quickly demanding of Ninian, "Go on."
"Eurebia overheard her parents talking the night before she was to leave. Her mother firmly believed Eurebia had been chosen because of the talent that ran through her family. Her father wasn't happy she was going to the nunnery; he had little use for the gods and goddesses, placing his faith in the power of magistry, but her mother believed she would learn control and patience from the nuns, which would aid in using her power when she finally embraced it. Eurebia shared her parents' belief in the ancient art of magistry, but had never before thought she might have such talent. She felt much better, stronger the next morning when she left for the nunnery."
The way Ninian spoke, it was almost as if he'd been there, his description so detailed it seemed as if Remelin was watching it unfold. She could envision the young woman as she walked through the gate into the nunnery, which had been extended over the now slow-moving river since the waterfall had long since ceased, the walls higher than she had ever seen in her small village. She stood fascinated, looking around the large courtyard. There were people milling about everywhere. Nuns in their flowing gowns of deep blue edged with black piped with gold, the colors of Quiera. Men and women, poor and wealthy, mingled together as they walked through the main doors of the chapel in the center of the courtyard.
Eurebia followed quickly, wanting to see the famous chapel where the worshippers would say their prayers before passing through the sacred door leading down to the shrine inside the mountain. Once there, they could pass their request to the goddess with the blessings of her chosen representative, the mother superior of the order. It was suddenly imperative that Eurebia see the shrine. She had heard about it all her life it seemed and her parents had visited it once when she was much younger. They had described the ornate bridge across the river that the nuns crossed to kneel before the golden image of the goddess. Eurebia had to see that for herself.
The shrine was more effective than Eurebia expected as she stood there in the center of the mountain, the rush of the water over stone in the background as she stared at the image of the goddess. The small golden representation of Quiera shone brightly in the huge torches on either side of the altar. The mother superior stood on the bridge between the altar, with the worshippers kneeling before her, before the goddess. Very effective, yet at the same time Eurebia felt something else, something different, yet just as powerful as the pull of Quiera. She pushed the thought aside as she concentrated on the words of the mother superior and the responses of the worshippers as they cried out for the goddess to hear their prayers, to grant them the boon of a dream.
It was only later that evening as she lay quietly in the small cell she shared with two other novices that she let her mind drift back to her visit to the shrine. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the sensation of power she had experienced as she knelt on the cold stone floor. She wasn't sure what she had felt, but she did know it was nothing to do with the goddess of dreams. This was something deeper, older. She frowned, unsure where that idea had come from. Yet she didn't question it; she simply knew. At that moment, she would've loved to discuss it with her father. She felt certain he would have known, but it was something she could never do. The only way she would see her parents now was if they came to the shrine as worshippers, and Eurebia didn't really expect to ever see them again.
A strange sensation roiled through her, ice creeping along her spine, while heat rushed through her extremities. She shuddered and clamped her lips together to stop a cry escaping, having no wish to awaken the other novices. It wasn't fear she felt. The cry she stifled had been more like fulfillment. At last she'd found what was missing in her life--and it wasn't Quiera.
She couldn't put a name to it, not yet, but she knew it was the answer she'd hadn't even realized she had been searching for. She felt energized, not able to lie in her narrow cot one second longer. She sat up, staring at her sleeping companions, wondering how she could ever have thought she had any association with such as these. They were so empty that even worshipping Quiera couldn't possibly fill them.
Eurebia smiled, throwing her arms wide and then wrapping them around herself, drawing to her the energy she felt. She got up, wrapped the blanket around her body and slipped from the room, never questioning where she was going. She simply walked where her feet led.
The sleeping cells of all the nuns were on the top floor of the nunnery. Eurebia went to the end of the corridor and then down the steps. Onward she walked, never stopping until she reached the bottom, the cellars. She hadn't been down this far before. She knew from the introductory talk the novices had received earlier about the cellars. Everything was stored in three large rooms dug from the mountain not too far from where the shrine was located.
Eurebia stood for a moment, listening, though not with her ears, but with her talent. Her mother had been very vocal about the levels of talent in magistry, explaining that in the days before the Withdrawal, the levels of power had been much greater, but she believed it still remained reasonably strong in her family line. Eurebia had taken her mother's claims with a pinch of salt, but now she knew it was true. Here in the dark bowels of a mountain, she sensed the wealth of power emanating from the very walls. It was calling to her, and she followed.
Eurebia walked along the narrow corridor past the first two rooms and down the short steps leading to the last one. She continued on to the back wall, almost as if a thread was pulling her. She stood in front of a whitewashed portion of solid stone between two sections of wooden shelving full of jars and boxes. She reached out, laid a hand on the wall and gasped at the sensation of insects crawling all over her skin. She shuddered, but didn't break the contact.
::That's it, my child. I knew I was right about you,:: a voice whispered inside her head.
"Oh... I... Who are you?" she queried, confused and excited.
::You would not know my name; I've been trapped here for so long I have been forgotten.::
"Are you a god, like Quiera? How could a god be trapped inside a mountain?"
The sound of harsh laughter cut through her mind like nails on glass. ::She is nothing more than dust under my feet::" the voice replied. ::And no, I am not a god. I am more. I am power. I am chaos. I am life and death!::
"I don't understand," Eurebia murmured, confused and dismayed. "What do you want with me?"
::It is not for you to understand, it is for you to do as I bid. You may call me Master.::
As if to underline his words, a shiver slid through Eurebia bringing great pain with it, and she fell to her knees gasping for breath and unable even to scream. Then instantly warmth washed over her, and the pain vanished, replaced by a feeling of utter euphoria.
Remaining on her knees, Eurebia reached out to touch the wall again. "Master," she murmured, "what do you desire of me?"
Chapter 10
"It was only as Eurebia was writing in her journal early the next morning that she realized her new master never answered her question about how he came be trapped inside the mountain," Ninian explained. "Though he'd seemed happy to give her detailed instructions of what she must do. For a moment she was angry, then she realized he didn't have to tell her anything he didn't wish to. It was frustrating that she didn't know all about him, but then she knew little about the goddess she had worshipped most of her life. At least she was certain that he existed.
"He'd condescended to speak to her; he needed her. She smiled, thinking back to the moment she realized without her help he could do nothing. She was his link to reality. She didn't fully understand, but she was very aware that whatever--whoever--had trapped him had effectively caged his magis
try and stopped his power from effecting the mortal realm. She didn't really believe he was trapped inside the stone of the mountain, but that he was imprisoned somewhere else. In some other kind of reality perhaps?
"No matter the truth of his captivity, Eurebia was essential to him. She would indeed call him master, but she knew in this reality she was the powerful one. She did wonder at the simple thing he wanted her to do. Perhaps calling it simple was misleading. It didn't sound much to ask, and he told her that with her growing understanding and control of her power she would manage it. What he was really asking for was the reversal of what the nuns prayed for, the twisting of their belief in the so-called goddess, Quiera, and the use of it for his own purposes. It didn't help that she didn't understand why.
"She asked, but he wouldn't say, just told her to do as she was told. She was to obey her master, not to question him. To emphasize his point, she was seized with pain yet again. It lasted mere seconds, but it was excruciating. The lesson was clear. His power wasn't as caged as she'd thought, and she wasn't as powerful as she'd told herself. While it was true he couldn't succeed without her, he was the one with the true control.
"The other novices were stirring and as she closed her journal she came to the conclusion she couldn't risk leaving it with her meager belongings in the cell. She thought it over and like a bolt of lightning the answer came. The cellar! It would be the ideal hiding place. She would secret it about her person while she began her master's work that morning and then would find a permanent hiding place for it when she visited the cellar that night."
* * * *
Ninian paused, obviously needing a drink to slake his dry throat. He'd been talking for quite some time.
"I think that answers some of our questions," Jhond commented.
"Except perhaps the main one. Who is this being?"
"I'm still confused," Remelin said. "How can a...disembodied being influence a real person so strongly? Make her do things. Cause her pain?"
Jhond took hold of her hand. "Perhaps we should ask you those questions? Did you feel influenced to try to cast your spells? You mentioned pain before; did you ever feel pain when you failed?"
"Me?" Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open as she finally understood. "You think it's still here. That it's... Oh, Lords. I thought it was me. That when I came here, I--" She stopped, putting her hands over her face.
"You what?" Jhond pressed his voice gentle.
She uncovered her face, her eyes red and moist, but she kept the tears at bay. "In some ways, I felt comfortable here, more at home than I did in my small cottage. I felt stronger when I was in the cellar. I thought this place unlocked something deep inside me, something wonderful. Now it sounds like something awful is using me." She paused, frowning. "But if this thing is so powerful, why did none of my spells work? I never even understood that I should form a power circle first. It doesn't make sense."
"It does if someone managed to place a kind of shield in the cellar."
"A shield?" Remelin asked. "I thought you created a shield to hold the being there?"
"I did, but remember that spell I broke when we arrived?" Jhond asked. "It was a warden spell, not the same kind of shield I created, but the result is similar. If the entity couldn't fully reach you, then it wouldn't be able to influence you to the same extent it did with Eurebia."
"So now what happens? I can't ever come back here, can I? The shield won't let me."
"The shield will keep out everyone except for the three of us," Jhond replied. Remelin's brows knit in confusion, and Jhond explained, "The main purpose was to keep the entity imprisoned. You said nobody but you had been near the ruins for years out of fear, but, just in case, no one else can enter. As you're involved already, I included you in the exception part of the spell."
"Exception? You mean I...we can go out and come back in whenever we want?"
"We still need to destroy the entity," Ninian explained. "It can't be left here to entrap some other poor soul at some point in the future."
"Oh, I see. I hadn't thought of that. I simply assumed I was free and could never enter the nunnery again. Part of me was sad about that and part heartily relieved, though I did wonder what I would do with the rest of my life," Remelin said.
"Don't be concerned, Remi," Jhond said. "When we have solved this problem, we won't simply abandon you to your unhappy fate. You have talent, which must be encouraged and guided."
"You still believe I'm worth helping? That my talent wasn't just enhanced by that thing."
"It definitely influenced you and increased your power, but that wouldn't have been possible without your own basic talent. Both Ninian and I have been aware of it ever since we blocked its influence."
Remelin smiled, her eyes bright and shining, and Jhond couldn't help but notice how much prettier it made her appear. He found himself responding with a smile of his own. The smile faded as he told himself to be careful.
"I can't tell you how wonderful it is that you came to help me, both of you," she said, quickly hugging Ninian, who seemed bemused, and then Jhond, who was surprised to find himself hugging her in return.
"We mustn't let your exuberance distract us from our mission," Ninian said.
"No," Jhond agreed. "We need the full picture before we can plan our next move."
"Yes, of course. Now where did I..." Ninian's eyes narrowed as he thought. "Eurebia gradually caused changes within the nunnery as the sisters came under her influence, and the demands rose for a change in how and for what they would solicit the goddess. The only person who seemed able to withstand her manipulation was Mother Superior Thyria, who refused to believe Eurebia's claim of a divine message from Quiera demanding the people ask her for false and destructive dreams. Thyria stated Quiera would never grant such dreams let alone demand them.
"Eurebia was confounded for a minute, then an idea entered her mind, but she was not sure if it was really her idea. She suggested the mother superior pray to Quiera for understanding, as then surely the goddess would give her a dream. Thyria agreed, though she was obviously doubtful of receiving any such instruction. However, the next morning she told the other nuns she was shown her mistake in a particularly powerful dream from Quiera. It wasn't long before she was giving rousing sermons to the people about the new kind of dreams Quiera was prepared to send, and everything went just as Eurebia expected. At least for the next few months.
"Then somehow--the journal never explains how or why--Mother Superior Thyria began to question yet again why Quiera would behave so differently from the way she'd always been portrayed. She even questioned if the dreams were truly coming from the goddess, which encouraged doubt in some of the other nuns as well. Eurebia realized the mother superior must have had some inner strength of her own and decided that if she couldn't change Thyria's opinion, then the only option left was to remove her.
"Eurebia considered mundane methods such as poison, but she had the idea that perhaps something more specific would provide a better lesson. She asked her master for advice, and the entity provided her with a spell that would prove to any witnesses who it was who truly had the trust of the goddess.
"The next morning during the nuns' early prayers, Eurebia again challenged the mother superior, saying she must accept the truth of Quiera's wishes, but Mother Superior Thyria challenged Eurebia's contention, stating they only had Eurebia's word that these were Quiera's wishes. Thyria attempted to use the advantage of her position to intimidate Eurebia, asking why they should believe her. However, Eurebia wasn't threatened at all by the mother superior; after all she merely passed on the words she received from the goddess in her dreams. She stepped closer to the mother superior telling her it was best not to doubt the words of the goddess.
"Thyria just laughed. Letting the gathered nuns see how angry and frustrated she was, Eurebia raised her arms and called for Quiera to show the mother superior her fault. Thyria turned her back and walked toward the altar. As the other nuns bowed their heads in
prayer, Eurebia clapped her hands together murmuring the spell in the ancient tongue. A flash of bright light shot from Eurebia's fingers and filled the area.
"The nuns cried out, either in shock or awe, all of them falling to their knees when they saw Thyria, lying dead on the altar, her body blackened and shriveled. Eurebia chose that moment to ask the horrified nuns if there could be any doubt of their goddess' demands, any doubt through whom the goddess Quiera spoke?
"The nuns were so sure of the answer to the questions that, despite her relatively short time as a nun, Eurebia was elected as the new mother superior. At the next service, Mother Superior Eurebia's first sermon to the assembled worshippers praised their goddess for her desire to help her people any way she could, reiterating her offer to send whatever kind of dreams were needed.
"And so it began."
Ninian seemed cowed by what he said, which Jhond thought was out of character for the powerful mage. Ninian had been his stalwart support when Jhond was coming to terms with what he was, and it didn't make sense that the writings of this long dead woman should affect him so.
"What began?" Remelin pressed.
"Chaos, death, war, disease," Ninian replied. "Whatever evil you could think up happened over the next century or so."
"Century? Surely Eurebia couldn't have lived that long?" Remelin glanced at Jhond. "Do mages really have such power?"
Jhond felt a chill at her question. He'd never even thought to ask Ninian that and found himself staring at his friend.
"It is possible to extend one's life somewhat if one has the talent to keep illness at bay, and, of course, to avoid accidents." He gave a little smile as he added the last comment.
"So you're saying Eurebia could have lived that long?"
"I said it's possible, but in this case, no. Eurebia lived another thirty years or so. Difficult years for her, according to some of the entries. Killing Thyria may have been the first terrible thing the entity made her do, but it wasn't the last. She was forced to give other demonstrations to reinforce the entity's influence on its followers. There were comments at random periods during her lifetime stating that Eurebia tried to fight back against the entity when it wanted her to do things she found particularly difficult, but always the entity won, always it forced her to do what it wanted.