The Ossard Series (Books 1-3): The Fall of Ossard, Ossard's Hope, and Ossard's Shadow.

by Colin Taber

  I interrupted, feeling that I finally understood something. “The power I felt last night used my soul as a gateway into this world, didn’t it?”

  “Almost. It used your soul as a gateway out of the celestial, and your body as a gateway into this world.”

  “It felt incredible, so vital and alive.”

  He nodded. “And after you summoned it, drawing in such a great flood, all you did was hold onto it and melt a single cobble!” He shook his head in disbelief. “You could have turned night into day, or called a firestorm!”

  I didn’t know what to say.

  He went on, “You stir such power, and so easily, it’s why so many people are interested in you.”

  “Who?” I asked around another mouthful of porridge.

  “I’m sure Lady Death is curious, as are some of my fellows, and also the Inquisitor. And then,” he paused, “then there was when Mortigi himself came and marked you.” He watched for my reaction.

  I remembered the icy pain, and the feeling of being overwhelmed by an anger so hateful that it had to be divine. It had all come after Lady Death cursed me. Chilled by the memory, I swallowed and whispered, “Yes.”

  He nodded. “Yes!”

  I just looked to him.

  He said, “It’s true, Mortigi himself branded you with his mark!”

  With a hesitant voice, I asked, “And what does that mean?” I then took another mouthful of porridge.

  Thankfully, his animation drained away, his manner becoming more sober. “It means that all his followers will know you, and that their master has a bounty on your head.”

  I choked on my breakfast. “The god of murder wants me dead?”

  “Yes, but don’t fear...”

  “Don’t fear!”

  He shifted, becoming uncomfortable at my distress. “Trust me, you’ll be well protected.”

  I gasped, “Sweet Schoperde, what hope is there?”

  With a firm voice, he said, “There’s always hope, that’s why we search for Pedro and Maria.”

  He was right.

  I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. “Why didn’t he just kill me?”

  “Because, to be honest, this way you suffer more; living each day while wondering if it’s your last.”

  I just stared at him.

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  I was shaking my head. “How can I not worry? I just want my family back!”

  “In all this you’re not alone, others also live with divine marks.”

  “Who?”

  “Anton is marked by many gods, and so too is Lady Death...”

  Such exalted company...

  “...and even me, your loyal Sef.”

  “What?”

  “I’m also marked, but in a lesser way. Regardless, one day my time will come.”

  And then I had a thousand questions and fears for him, but only one found my mouth. “Who?”

  “It’s something we can discuss another time, and I mean it, but for now we need to talk about you.”

  I nodded, but sat in silence, still stunned by his news. After a while, I asked, “Why did Lady Death curse me; because of the light?”

  “It was more because of the power she sensed stirring in you.”

  “Can I really call on that much?”

  He nodded again. “Though it all comes to nothing if you can't do anything with it.”

  He was right.

  “Juvela, the gods have never looked to me in the celestial, or moved to mark me with such a strong curse. If they did, it’d kill me.”

  This was all getting to be too much.

  “Juvela, you're not a witch of the Cabal – I think you’re something else.”

  We sat in an uncomfortable silence, looking to each other. Sef then checked my bowl, chuckling, pleased that I'd nearly finished. “Good eating and sleep will solve your problems in regard to the cost of magic. You're still human and need to take care of yourself.”

  His words reminded me of how tired I felt. “I believe you.”

  “Good.”

  “You know, last night I felt something in my soul weaken and crack. I don’t know what it was, but with it breached, I seemed to be free to draw upon the power that leaked through.”

  “What?” Now Sef looked confused.

  “It was holding my power back, blocking it, but I got so angry and frustrated that I think the barrier somehow broke.”

  “A barrier?”

  “It allowed me to gather power in the celestial, but stopped me from bringing it through. I’m certain it remains, but now it’s damaged. Do you know what it is?”

  He shook his head. “Let me look at you.”

  For a moment his words puzzled me, but then his eyes lost focus; he'd slipped into the celestial. I followed.

  The blue-white of his life-light shone out against the dark of the void. I could sense that he was scrying me, as he looked deep into my soul.

  Without thinking, my soul shifted and threw up a layer of soul-stuff to shield me from his prying. I marvelled as I studied it, realising I could draw it back or add to it to dim the glow of my own life-light. It was a kind of armour, and the more layers I put up, the more my soul dimmed. Of course, that wasn't helping Sef as he tried to examine me, so I pulled my newly discovered defences down.

  I heard his voice, “Juvela?” His perception was back in the real world, so I also returned.

  He looked to me and asked, “How do you feel?”

  “Alright, not so tired.”

  “You've learnt to shield yourself?”

  “Yes, just now. The first movement came as a reflex, but I think I can control it.”

  He nodded.

  I asked, “What did you see?”

  “A couple of things, but firstly look at your hands.”

  I did. The skin had tightened, not yet back to its norm, but well on its way. “That was easy.”

  “Hmmm, don't be fooled. Recovery can sometimes take days, or even seasons. That's if the casting doesn't kill you outright.”

  “I'll just have to be careful.”

  He nodded, but was still largely lost to his thoughts.

  “What’s wrong?”

  After a moment, he said, “Nothing.”

  “Did you see something?”

  He looked me up and down and nodded. “I noticed... I noticed a couple of things.”

  “Like?”

  “Well, some of what I’m going to say will just raise more questions, but maybe we need to discuss them. You should also remember that they're only my opinions. You need to talk to other people; cabalists and the like, and your grandmother too.”

  “Alright, but you're a priest of Kave, so you're celestially capable and know something of all this. I really want to hear what you think. You're the one I trust.”

  “I do know something of this, but you're more powerful than me. In truth, I haven't seen what you are before. You're different.”

  “How?”

  “The song, let's start with the song.”

  “Schoperde’s song of sorrow?”

  “Yes, many Flet women sing the song to help them mourn. You do too, but when you sing it, I can feel the power ripple around you. It's why Anton silenced you on the balcony when Maria and Pedro were stolen away; you’d begun to sing it out of grief, but he thought you were casting.”

  “Casting?”

  “When you sing it, it’s as if Schoperde joins you in song.”

  I shook my head in confusion. “Why would she do that? I believe in her, you know I have my faith, but she doesn’t even have the strength to offer blessings, let alone to sing with me. By all the gods, in Ossard she doesn’t even have priests! Why would she offer me anything?”

  “That's the real question.” He left his stool to kneel in front of me. “Juvela, I think you're to be her priest.”

  I just stared at him, stunned by the idea.

  And at the back of my mind, my grandmother hissed.

  I asked, “H
ow could that be?”

  “Why not? Witchery often passes from mother to daughter, or on to granddaughter, but it doesn't have to. What’s really being passed on is a bloodline’s taste for the celestial, something that attracts strong souls.”

  I didn’t know what to say.

  Sef went on, “Look at Ossard and what’s happening here; the gods are coming, and they’re rallying their servants to their banners. I think you’ve heard some kind of calling and are reacting to it,” he paused, swallowed, and then whispered, “perhaps you’re even an avatar!”

  An avatar – a mortal born god yet to awaken!

  “No!” I gasped, frightened by the very idea. “How could that be? How could that happen when I know so little?”

  He patted my hands. “Maybe that’s the shackle that binds you.”

  “An avatar? It’s too much, I can't be! I'd be more aware of it, wouldn't I?”

  “I don’t know, but I don’t think so. Avatars are always alone and very rare.” He chuckled to release some of the tension. “I’d certainly be worried if more than one was around!”

  “Why, what would that mean?”

  “The end of the world; the divine war at the end of all time.”

  His words reminded me of my grandmother’s tome.

  He got up and off his knees, and went back to his stool.

  I said, “Perhaps you’re right, perhaps my magic is aligned to faith.” I went on, thinking aloud, “I suppose with the suppression of our people's religions such a calling might somehow be delayed.”

  “Our beliefs are here, but weak. The dogma is half-forgotten. Look at Schoperde; there are still a few priests in the wilds of Fletland, but there’s none left here in Ossard. Her last priest here was forced out twenty years ago.”

  “Really? I didn’t know that.”

  “Seig told me. He said Ossard’s Flets don’t talk about her.”

  “Why?”

  “Because someone gave her truth to the Inquisition during their last campaign; it’s what caused the Burnings.”

  I was horrified. “Sweet Schoperde! What happened?”

  “She fled. She got out of the city and headed into the Northcountry, from where she planned to cross to Fletland. It was Iris I think, Iris Grendabanden, or something like that.”

  “I’ve never heard of her, or of what you say, but I can understand people not talking about it if a Flet willingly gave up her name. Such an act would have shamed all of Newbank.”

  He nodded. “From my understanding, a faith like Schoperde has dogma that’s not overly deep. It’s more a matter of accepting your connection to her, and then submitting to it.”

  “Yes, that’s right. Of course, in Fletland they also have traditions of celebrations and observances tied to the seasons and the like, but that’s not something we can do.”

  “No, not while the Church watches.”

  We sat in silence for a moment before I asked, “And if it’s not that, if I’m not a newly discovered servant of the gods,” I snorted in laughter, “or an avatar?”

  “Juvela, we’ve been talking about you.”

  “We?”

  “The Guild, and those who’ve sensed your emerging power. You’re no trickster, and what I’ve said here is not unlike what’s been spoken elsewhere.”

  My jaw dropped. “Sef!”

  “Truly.”

  “This is nonsense! I'm a wife and a mother, not an avatar!”

  “Listen to me, and listen with an open mind. You're not just gifted, or able to draw upon great power, you’re also something different.”

  I shook my head.

  He went on, “I, like most priests, can only draw upon thin streams of magic, anything greater would burn me out. As soon as I draw it into me, I have to manipulate it, and then cast it out. But you can handle it. You let it flood in so much more than anyone I’ve ever seen, and then you can even hold it!”

  “Sef, this is too much!”

  He shook his head. “Listen to me, look at how quickly you learned to defend yourself just now!”

  I held up my hands. “Please, let's leave it!”

  He took a deep breath and nodded.

  “Why don’t you tell me what’s been said, if it’s that important.”

  “There are many faiths in Fletland, more than you can know. Some speak in terms of prophecy, and such things often become tales to be told in taverns, or by the glow of camp fires.”

  “Like what you told me when I was young?”

  “I suppose, but what I'm telling you now is what some people actually believe.”

  “I understand.”

  “Most of them speak of the same sort of thing: They tell of one of our own who’ll rise to lead us to sanctuary, a time and place free of catastrophe.”

  “What! And people think that’s me?”

  He shook his head. “No, this saviour is suppose to be a warrior, but he’s put onto his path by a priest from amongst us; a spirit-guide. This priest helps him awaken to his truth, which is what will trigger his rise. In the end, that saviour becomes our leader, and also the king of our foes.”

  I sat back, astounded that anyone would link such a thing to me. “You don't believe this, do you?”

  “No, prophecy is the talk of fools. The world just doesn't work that way.” He sighed. “Juvela, look at our people; we're dying. Our time in Ossard seems over, and our place in Fletland has never been secure. In another one hundred years, with or without the genocide, our people will be finished. Something as simple as a few bad harvests or a plague will end it.”

  I’d never heard such talk, but knew it held some truth.

  He went on, “Banditry, disease, and the lingering hatred of the genocide; it's all taking its toll. The bitterness is killing us.”

  It was a glum thought. Ossard, even as a Heletian city-state, stood as Unae’s largest Flet community. Its loss would be a terrible blow. If Ossard went, so would an important branch of our people – the branch that gave the rest hope.

  I said, “There aren’t tears enough for our history, let alone any prophesied calamities to come.”

  He grinned. “Don’t worry about it, they’re just stories.” He laughed. “Besides, have you met anyone who’d make a good king?”

  I smiled as I shook my head. It was ludicrous, all of it.

  Sef asked, “How are you feeling?”

  “Better.”

  “Good. Now, if you’re up to it, we should go to the Guild.”

  “To check on things?”

  “Kurgar has sent out a declaration to the Inquisitor and the followers of the new saints; it confirms Newbank as a self-governing district.”

  I laughed.

  He smiled. “Yes, I think we can guess the Inquisitor’s response, but who knows of the new saints?”

  “But no one knows where their leaders are, or who they are?”

  He nodded. “That’s the thing. If an answer comes, I was hoping we might learn something from it.”

  “You’re right.”

  Sef began looking about, suddenly distracted. He got up and walked towards the kitchen’s high window.

  “What is it?”

  “Can't you smell it?

  I stood and joined him. “Fresh smoke.”

  The window rose above us, small and barred. It was made more for ventilation than views, yet through it we could see a sky turning grey and dark.

  Sef fetched a stool and stood on it. “The port burns!” He couldn't see the port itself, just thick plumes rising from its direction. They marked fires that looked to be worse than those of yesterday. “Someone’s torching buildings.”

  I said, “Come, we'll hear more at the Guild.”

  18

  -

  Answers

  -

  Sef insisted on us using the coach for the short trip to the Guild, he wouldn’t say it plainly, but I think he was worried about me mixing in crowds. It made for slow going on the packed streets, but I wasn’t going to argue, not as I c
ame to terms with my newest burden; being cursed by the god of murder.

  As we reached the Cassaro, we could see what remained of the opposite shore after last night’s fires. It spread as a blackened ruin with less than half its buildings still standing. The charred wasteland still smouldered.

  Many of Newbank’s residents had headed to the river to watch the port fires, and to use the last of the morning to share news. Some openly wore the symbols of their true faiths and there were even cabalists amongst them. Strangely, as the port burned in the distance, a sense of liberation reigned over Newbank.

  I looked about at my home district's cramped buildings, standing shoulder to shoulder, and leaning out and above narrow streets with each new floor. Given the chance, fire would devour the place faster than a drunken sailor could jump a tavern wench.

  Nearby, the river’s waters flowed thick with ash. I looked past it to St Marco's Square, a mid-sized market on the opposite shore; as always my eyes were drawn to the tall belltower of the church that lent the area its name. Suddenly, the stone spire burst into flames, consumed by a blinding blue fireball. The deep growl and whump of the explosion caused screams and panic, all of it followed by the rumble of masonry as the bulk of the tower fell into the square.

  “Gods!” whispered Sef.

  “Would that be the Cabal?”

  “I suppose, and what hope is there if even the Cabal is prepared to join the fight so openly?”

  “It’s not too late,” I said, “not yet.”

  Sef just shook his head.

  -

  We were ushered into the Guildhall amidst a chaotic mess of rushing guildsmen and spiritless refugees. In the crowded compound it was obvious, despite the more relaxed air outside, that the situation across the city wasn’t improving.

  They took us straight to Kurgar’s office. Inside he sat flanked by half a dozen guildsmen, as well as Mauricio of the Cabal, and the Kavist priest, Seig. My father was also present, rising from a chair in front of his desk.

  “Welcome,” Kurgar said.

  I offered my father a smile of reassurance.

  Kurgar continued, “Your father has also just arrived, so I’ll share some news, but before that I'm sure we'd all like to know how you fared last night. I’ve heard that you were almost successful?”