by S.J. Drew
surprised.
"How could I not? We mages have our own ways of finding out what's going on the world. We know of your battle."
"You're not goin' to interfere or anythin'?" he asked, trying to make his question sound a threat, but not quite succeeding. He felt as though the woman's sharp gaze could see right through him.
"We are bound by the Arcane Covenant not to interfere in the affairs of non-mages."
"I don't think the Covenant covers this sort of thing."
"Nonetheless, it is not in our best interest to interfere. There is much ill will between mages and non-mages, and no doubt the aid I'm going to give you today will not help matters." Her stare became even more intense.
He thought quickly, sure that she was testing him in some fashion. "You think people are goin' to think the Avatars are just mages fightin'."
"Not just fighting, judging by your shopping list. But yes, that's the crux of the matter. Only the Orders and ourselves seem to know what's really going on. The ordinary laypeople have no idea. We shall be unfairly blamed for the actions of you and your counterpart. No doubt your Order will do little to disabuse people of that notion."
"They aren't my Order," he retorted.
"No? You work for them, or they work for you. Either way, you're part of the Order now."
He frowned. "I am not."
She shrugged slightly. "That's between you and the Order. But you have yet to answer my original question. Do you know what will happen if you win this battle?"
"Sure," he lied.
"I doubt you are truly so confident. The Order does not help anyone unless they gain something in return. They also do not give more information than they have to. I suspect that there are consequences to this battle that are more far-reaching than what you can do for the Order in your own lifetime. I suggest you ponder that question, and consult your god directly. The clerics will tell nothing unless it's in their best interest."
"I didn't come here for a lecture. Just give me the stuff," he replied, irritated that this mage seemed to have accurately guessed so much about his situation and some of his private doubts. He was also disturbed, but not surprised, to find out that very few people knew about the Avatars.
The woman broke her stare. "Wait here," she ordered. Then she got up from her chair, locked the shop door, and proceeded to walk around the shop.
Growing increasingly impatient, he waited for nearly forty-five minutes before she returned. She placed five books and a small, flat box on the counter.
"The box holds a scrying dish. It took me some time to find one I think will suit you. Read the books before you do any of the spells, and try to practice them far away from other people. The greater the power put into a spell, the greater the backlash can be. You have great power."
He looked over the books. They were thick with leather covers and titles written in Arcana. "What's this?" he asked, pulling a plain black book. It had no title on the cover.
"The Book of Lunae."
"I didn't ask for this."
"It's a gift. I suggest you read through it. It is the holy text of the Order of Darkness, and something of a history of the Dark One and Its motives, if you can get past the rather epic language and many metaphors."
He stared at the thin mage, trying to guess her motives, but her face was expressionless. In her eyes, though, he thought he saw the faintest hint of concern. "Thanks. I think."
"Should you decide to keep my gift, I suggest you also keep it from the Order."
"Yeah. I'll do that." He gathered the books up in the bag. He did have some money, and his initial thought had been to not pay the mage if he didn't have to. He figured anyone who owed the Order a favor deserved what they got. But now it seemed that she was showing some kindness to him, and he wasn't sure what to do about it. Finally he settled on just being honest. "I wasn't goin' to pay you, but you've been nice to me. I've got money, but not enough for all this I'm sure."
"It seems the Order doesn't have a complete hold on you yet, and I'll take that as a good sign, but I won't take the money. Their generosity, despite your good intentions, always comes with a price. I don't wish to owe them anything else."
"Alright. Well, thanks then."
She nodded. "Watch yourself. Shadows can move when you're not looking."
A little disturbed, he left the shop, turned down a deserted alleyway, and vanished.
Eliora returned to her cottage in plenty of time to change clothes and go to Jomei's cottage before lunch. Instead she dropped her pack in the bedroom and collapsed on the bed. Now that her errands were finished, her thoughts turned back to the destruction of the darkling. She remembered that inhuman, hideous cry of pain and sorrow. Tears stung her eyes, and she dissolved into great heaving sobs at the horror of what she'd done.
She lost all track of time, and so was surprised to hear a timid knock on the door.
"Eliora, are you alright?" came Aidan's voice.
She guessed it must be past midday if he was looking for her. She got up and went into the living room, but didn't open the door. "I'm not feeling well today," she answered.
"So you're not coming to practice?"
"Not today."
"Well, alright. But if you're sick, you really should get some food or something. You need to keep up your strength."
"Thank you."
"Well, I'll see you later. Hope you feel better," he called, then she heard the crunch of snow as he walked away.
She laid down on the couch and commanded the fire to spring to life. It did so, but seemed as depressed as she was. Soon there was another knock on the door.
"Eliora, may I come in?" came the voice of Jomei.
She waved a hand, and the lock turned over. "Enter," she called, sitting up.
He closed the door behind him and re-locked it. Seeing she was still in a dress, he checked to make sure the curtains were firmly drawn and secured. He took a seat in the chair next to her, then noticed her eyes were red and puffy. "Oh, what happened?"
She told him about meeting the Principal of the Academy and of the destruction of the darkling. Then she started to cry again.
"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I had no idea you'd encounter such dangers on such a simple errand."
"I killed someone," she sobbed.
"Not someone. Something. Darklings and iridescents are not human."
"You-you didn't hear it scream. It felt pain."
"All darklings feel is pain, Eliora. All they know is Darkness. All they know is suffering. You were freeing it from torment."
"How-how do you know that?" she sniffled.
"My Order is aware of what these creatures are, and probably knows where they come from. I personally don't know that, but I do know that they are not human. I'm not even sure they have souls."
"It can't be-be Dark if it doesn't have a soul."
"I'm not sure about that. There's much we don't know. You don't know what that creature was planning. Perhaps it meant to harm you, or harm that mage. You possibly saved his life, and possibly your own."
"I still killed something."
"Eliora, you destroyed something that should not be. There's a great difference," the priest countered.
"Then shouldn't I destroy iridescents too?"
"They do no harm. I have no doubt that darkling meant to do someone harm."
She still felt uncertain about the whole ordeal.
"I do wonder why it was following you. I suppose the StormBringer could have just sent it to find you, but it's curious he should pick today of all days. Still, better it found you in Mulago than here."
She remembered the shop proprietor's words and sighed. "It's not fair to Mulago if the ShadowWalker thinks that's where I am."
"No, it's not. But it buys us more time. Hopefully the darkling never got a chance to report back to its master, and your location will remain hidden."
She felt curiously reluctant to me
ntion that she had met the ShadowWalker. Before she could decide what to say, he was asking her another question.
"Did you get some books?"
"Yes. Yes I did. The shopkeeper took all my money, but she gave me books and a scrying dish."
"May the Light One bless her always," he replied. "Thank goodness. I was afraid the mages wouldn't help at all."
"They didn't want to." She paused. "Jomei, do you know what happens if I win?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, the gods have clearly done something with this Avatar battle. Whatever they've done, does it stop here, with me, and with him?"
He shook his head. "I honestly don't know."
"Could you ask the god?"
"I can ask, but I don't know what It'll say. The ways of the gods are hidden, even to the clergy in many cases."
She nodded. "I understand."
There was a long pause.
"If you don't need me anymore, I'm going to take my leave. I'll make sure everyone knows that you're just feeling sick today. No one should ask questions, but you really ought to change, and make sure you keep your new books out of sight."
"There's one other thing, but I'm afraid it'll alarm you."
He sat back down.
"I met the ShadowWalker."
He blinked. "You what?" he stuttered.
"I met the ShadowWalker. In the Public Square as I was heading to the Academy. I think that's why the darkling was following me today. He probably told it to. He was as surprised as I was to actually meet."
"My gods. What did you do?"
"We walked up to each other. He looked into my soul, and I looked into his. We exchanged a few words. Basically he just told me what I told him, which was that I was surprised to meet him, and surprised