Looming Shadow: Journey to Chaos book 2

by Brian Wilkerson

  His left hand glowed with darkness and his left with light. Both of them grabbed BloodDrinker's hilt and a double helix of black and white surged toward Haburt's circle and then faster down the line, connecting it to Zettai's beyond the gate. Then they burst upwards in twin pillars of power.

  By now, the light of the central rune had worked its way to the tower, guided by the lines carved by the mountain itself at Sias' request. When it reached the base, it traveled up, and when it reached the top, the central spire glowed golden-brown. A pulse radiated outward and dissolved the rune as it approached the walls and broke over them like a wave.

  “Winds of Change!” Eric shouted, twirling his staff. “Let them range!” He pointed out the opened gate. “Liberation!”

  A great wind arose and blew out of the gate in a mighty gust that took every last skeleton fragment with it. The mass collided with Zettai’s circle and the fragments dissolved on contact with the pillar of life and death. Each impact released a hiss of steam and a trail of smoke rose to the heavens.

  “...Free...”

  Chapter 12 The Chains of Discipleship

  Tasio winked into existence inside Haburt's yurt. He slipped a fake snake into the professor’s sleeping bag and a couple of gremlins into his crystalline signal receiver. Then he floated over to a collapsible table and arranged his notes and relics in such a way that hinted at the solution of a problem that had been puzzling him.

  “What do you want, Tasio?”

  His choice was sitting at a collapsible desk, translating Dengel’s notes. To his left was the original papyrus in its transparent Wind Vault and to his right was the copied pulp paper.

  “I came to congratulate you on your Chaotic Enlightenment.” The Trickster floated alongside Eric and looked over his shoulder. “Not many can do that with their sanity intact. Now that you understand the foundation of reality, you can absorb it in others, even me if I’m not careful.”

  Eric turned a page. “I want no part of you in my soul.”

  “Why not? We both engage in chaotic heroism. I prevented Nulso from collaring Annala and you freed those poor souls from bondage.”

  Eric tensed for a moment, then continued translating. “I don't have time for this. Unlike you, I have work to do.”

  “Usurping ownership, melding magic styles, the line about 'liberation'...I am so proud!”

  Still with his eyes on the page, Eric replied, “Once again, your approval fills me with shame.”

  “What's so shameful about a trickster's friendship?”

  Eric looked away from the page and met his gaze. “Enforcers tried to kill me on my way here. Enforcers! Poi had to save me. I've have half a mind to think you told him to puppy guard me.”

  Tasio shifted his eyes.

  “You didn't!”

  Tasio's right arm turned into latex and inflated. He grew a third arm and twisted the right one into the shape of an elephant. “Balloon animals!”

  Eric popped the balloon with his crystal. The grey light flashed and nicked a tiny snippet of golden-brown light into itself. Both it and Eric’s eyes flashed the same color, and he thoughtlessly grinned.

  “Not so bad, is it?”

  Eric’s grin shifted into a glare.

  “Fine. Yes, I asked my younger brother to keep an eye on you until you arrived in Ceiha, and it’s a good thing I did. You almost drowned.”

  “I won’t have if you’d leave me alone.”

  Tasio tsk-tsked. “How confident you are now, thanks to me. You’ve only survived this long because I’ve been hovering over your shoulder. If I left you alone, you’d die.”

  “Liar. When you dragged me back to Threa, you said it was because I didn’t need help anymore. When I asked you to return me to Tariatla, you said you couldn’t because I didn’t need you.”

  “That was before you ticked off a greater mage ordercrafter. Only chaos can defeat order, so until you become a chaoscrafter, like Dengel, you will need me to protect you.”

  “What a coincidence! I’m reading about chaoscraft right now.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. Dengel calls it both ‘a Stage of Chaotic Enlightenment’ and ‘Chaotic Starlight’ and could be what he planned to use against the Silver Dragon. If it can work against the patron goddess of bandits, then surely it will work against a divine puppet.”

  “What if you can’t understand it?”

  “I have the author himself haunting me, and it’s not the insufferable soul form either, but a ghost aspect; pure scholarly intellect and teaching mentality.”

  Tasio made puppy-dog eyes. “Would you forgive me if I brought candy and flowers?”

  “Go away!”

  “Gone.” Tasio winked out of existence

  Eric enjoyed his victory for about five seconds. Then it dawned on him that this could have been Tasio’s intention from the start. He couldn’t comprehend this spell at all, and Grey Dengel couldn’t advance his understanding. He considered giving up when Tasio appeared. He marked his place and dropped his head on the desk. Grey Dengel appeared and waited for him to speak.

  “What do you think?”

  “I think, by which I mean you think, that when the enforcers appear again, you should try to steal their essence and become immortal as the first step in courting Annala.”

  Eric sighed. “It can’t be good when my imaginary friend ships me with someone, but I was referring to the Trickster’s Choice.”

  “Very well. There have been many chosen ones of The Trickster across the ages and they are a diverse lot: warriors, kings, thieves, priests, farmers –”

  “Jesters?”

  Grey Dengel was indignant. “If I were as crude as your mentor, I would smack you. Yes, some of them have been jesters.”

  “Were you one of them?”

  Grey Dengel smacked him. “Regardless of their station in their life, they all had one thing in common: a love-hate relationship with The Trickster. In that aspect, you are one of them.”

  Eric stared sourly at the ground. “I have no love for The Trickster.”

  Grey Dengel responded with a pure scholarly tone. There was not a trace of anything else, but Eric still thought it sounded smug.

  “Why? Is not your current station in life due to his help? Was he not your 'bestest friend'? Do you not keep a shrine to him in your home?”

  “That...! Aio is...was...urg...”

  Focusing on Dengel's text was now impossible, so he left the yurt.

  It was mid-morning on the day after he returned from Dengel’s Lair for the second time. He spent the time since bringing documents and other treasures out of the lair for Haburt’s grant research and Basilard’s loot stash. Meanwhile, Haburt followed his true passion of studying the outside of the tower and the rest of the compound. The rest kept busy in other ways.

  Basilard strolled and conversed with Sias, usually with the latter on the former’s arm. They were returning from a “Dengel trap patrol” just as he came out. Tiza was sparring with First Skeleton while their counterparts, Nolien and Second Skeleton, watched and commented. This one was bare handed and they engaged with strikes, sweeps, and evasion.

  At the Dragon's Lair, Basilard drilled her in a Defend-Strike style, but this one was focused on speed; the difference between a bear and a snake. It was a welcome distraction from Dengel's text and especially since Tiza was still wearing that blue dress.

  Sometimes, she dodged a strike by arching her back into a handstand and then pushing herself back to her feet. When something of this nature occurred, Second Skeleton never failed to whisper something that made Nolien blush. He then slapped his thighbone. Lacking vocal cords and facial muscles, it was how he expressed amusement.

  “Who did you make that dress for?”

  “Who indeed? Was it a partner, a prisoner, a princess, or a possession?”

  First Skeleton struck Tiza in the abdomen just as the girl's hands clamped on her lower arm. The latter jumped backwards as the blow connected and pulled First S
keleton off balance. Then she sprang forward to uppercut, but First Skeleton twisted around her back and twisted the arm still holding her own behind it. Tiza winced and the other hand grasped her throat.

  “You...Are...Dead...”

  Tiza jerked about in frustration. “Abyss!”

  “But...Improving...”

  First Skeleton released her and she plopped next to Nolien. They talked martial arts and then she smacked him with her gloved hand.

  “Are you paying attention to me or this dress?”

  “Uh...”

  “Abyss take it, Tenderfoot! This is precisely why I hate this thing! As soon as I look pretty, you forget that I'm your teammate!”

  “Yes, I think you're pretty! You're a pretty girl, so of course I'll get distracted if you dress up, but that doesn't mean I forget you're my teammate!”

  “Then explain Najica!” Nolien tensed and made a fist, but didn't move. “If I weren't wearing this dress, you wouldn't hesitate.” He raised his hand and brought it down quickly on her head, only to slow down and cup her cheek. “T-tenderfoot?”

  “All I can say about Najica is that you in danger is more distracting than you in a dress.”

  Tiza blushed, looked away, and grumbled about him being “a stupid healer.”

  This is too much drama.

  He still wasn't in the mood for Dengel's bragging, so he looked for Haburt and found him in another area of the courtyard. He was taking a break from the house to examine a stocks and pillory set on a stand. Something glowed in his hands with grey and blue light. With his back against Eric, he said, “Mr. Watley, I truly believe I should have hired a different team.”

  “Let me guess. Tasio pretended to be a broken piece of pottery and made a cut that bleeds jelly.”

  “Correct, but....How did you guess that? Never mind, this is not about you or The Trickster. It is about myself.” He finally turned and revealed an incomplete spell diagram hovering in midair. “Because of my weakness, I almost trapped First Skeleton in a Wind Vault.”

  “As long as you don't kidnap Tiza again, I don't care. Are you having fun in your dust?”

  Haburt dismissed the rune and cleared his throat. In the style of Dengel, he shared his findings about the architecture, the defenses, the soul barrier, and, otherwise, the way of life of the inhabitants. It involved a lack of agriculture, trade, and other ways to bring enough food into the castle to feed everyone that presumably lived here. The wild plants outside would not be enough. Eric put the pieces together and grinned sinisterly. Haburt nodded in confirmation.

  “That’s right. The material evidence confirms the skeletons’ story. These people were slaves, and not in a farming/industrial capacity. As far as I can tell, they were for his personal vanity.”

  “I wonder how those apologists will explain this. I can’t wait!”

  “Mr. Watley, I hope you were looking for more than slander when you translated Dengel’s notes. Otherwise, Her Majesty will be disappointed in you.”

  “Oh, Trickster! I forgot!”

  “Forgot what?”

  With a straight face, Eric said, “I’m late for a conference call with Dengel and Tasio. They wanted to get together five minutes ago to discuss eat pudding on a cloud.”

  “Oh. I see.”

  Eric bit his lip as he took his leave of the professor. It was fun telling outrageous lies that people nonetheless believed. He found an unused part of the courtyard for his overdue “all clear” message, sat down, and thought, Kas? Are you there?

  ERRRRRRRIIIIIIICCCCCC!

  The psychic shout shocked Eric out of his sitting posture. He clutched his head as it echoed on his mental plane of existence.

  Oh, thank Ancestor you're alive! I was so worried and...! I hate you! You forgot to call me! You told me you were going somewhere unspeakably dangerous and then I don't hear from you for ten days! Every time I wanted to check, I feared that I'd distract you at a crucial moment and I...I...You have a lot to make up for when you come back!

  Would you forgive me if I brought candy and flowers?

  The echo of this statement was lost on him.

  Don't joke about this!

  I'm sorry I worried you, but it was worth it; trust me.

  Why should I?

  I found something relating to Mana Mutation.

  …Go on.

  Some of the texts I found speak of a “blessing of monstrosity,” which I believe refers to Mana Mutation. The elves see Lady Chaos as their grandmother and so it is reasonable to assume that Mana Mutation would be seen more as “too much of a good thing” instead of a straight-up tragedy as humans do, thus the “blessing.” I'm still researching it, so I don't have all the information, but it looks promising.

  Very well. Depending on what you find, I might go easy on you.

  I am honored by your mercy, Your Majesty.

  Shut up and start reading!

  He returned to Haburt’s yurt and did just that. If he didn’t fulfill his promise, there would be an angry fire demi-goddess waiting for him when he returned home. The only thing worse than that was a despairing fire demi-goddess.

  “…such is the power of the Chaotic Starlight, which my magnificent master, Ariek Valeten, who, in his eternal wisdom, demonstrated before my humble eyes. Then a feat even more amazing was performed before me (and only me). With a wave of his mighty hand, he conjured Energy from the Womb of the Mother of Elves and created a gourmet sample of nourishment. The meat of a pig, wrapped in the finest bread, and soaked in pure honey. All mounted on a stick so one might consume it one-handed and thus keep one hand free for work or pleasure. Truly, it was a dish worthy of kings!”

  This ancient elf knew about corn dogs?

  “No words or gestures or preparations needed; it was child’s play for someone of such heavenly standing as my exclusive mentor. The Trickster pales in comparison and addresses him respectfully, for even he is but a powerless mortal before the light of Ariek Valeten’s divinity.”

  If that were remotely true, then such magic would make quick work of Nulso. Now if only he would get around to explaining the details.

  “This was done by my one-student-only teacher, Ariek Valeten, to encourage me in my studies. In time, I shall achieve Chaotic Enlightenment, perform the Chaotic Starlight, and become as wise and mighty as he. For the present, I am mastering the First Level of Enlightenment – and doing very well – but patience is a key virtue in the First Level. Thus, I am biding my time until the Great Mother takes notice of my worthy self.”

  I.e. I was stumped and too much of a dick to admit it.

  The arrogance was similar, but the tone was less mature and more insecure than the Dengel he knew. This scroll presented an image of Dengel as a pimply, stuttering, and attention-seeking teenager whose only friend was this mystic no one else had heard of. The thought made him chuckle.

  Grey Dengel manifested in the seat across from him. Although his eyes were stern, his face was tinged pink. You are laughing at yourself. When we met, you were my fan, just as I was for him.

  “Touché,” Eric admitted and continued reading.

  “The First Mother has already granted me her blessing of monstrosity, as she has done to the rest of the elfin race, her chosen and favored race, and so am I already closer to her by the nature of my birth than the decaying and flea-bitten humans fouling up the planet.”

  Even back then, he was a specist.

  “It is my great fortune, and no doubt the continued blessing of the Great Mother, that I found such a magnanimous master as Aeirk Valeten. Surely, with his help, I shall gain the highest level of enlightenment, perform the Chaotic Starlight, and see into the heart of the omniverse hanging from the branches of Noitearc. His teaching style has such uniqueness and his training methods have such chaotic thought invested in them that I shall never find another remotely like him (Nor shall he ever find such a worthy and talented student as myself.).”

  Get on with it!

  “Chaotic Enlightenment is
a process and each step brings the disciple closer to chaos itself. This is the greatest power a mage can achieve for chaos is the purest and most potent form of mana; from which all things are born and, in it, all things die. To perform the Chaotic Starlight is to perform the first act of ...Creation itself.”

  Eric jaw dropped. With his eyes just as big around, he asked, “Are you serious?”

  I do not joke about Chaos.

  Eric smirked. “Ironic.”

  Grey Dengel scowled. Impudent.

  After ten pages of bragging, excuses, and the various deeds of Aeirk Valeten, Eric was ready to pull his hair out. He was no closer to confirming whether or not “blessing of monstrosity” was the same thing as “mana mutation.” On the other hand, he learned more about this Chaotic Enlightenment.

  The first level was simply magecraft: the knowledge that you possess, power that can be used to shape the physical world, and the ability to channel that power. The second level was Mana Conversion: the understanding that everything in the world is mana fundamentally, from matter to space to time, and thus that everything could become mana again and transform into something else. The third level was Chaotic Starlight: knowledge and ability to generate chaotic energy within a world fruit. The fourth level was unity with Chaos; in other words, becoming an avatar of Chaos.

  Huh, I’m halfway to full Chaotic Enlightenment without realizing it.

  I wrote the book for the first level and I raised your simple mind to the second level.

  Yet even you can’t help anyone with the third.

  It’s in there somewhere. I doubt I would have learned it without recording it.

  After many more pages, Eric gleaned enough information for a practical spell; Mana Compression. It was a mana bolt technique used by this teenage Dengel as a training exercise for controlling highly concentrated mana. As he read further, he realized the mana barrage was derived from this technique. Instead of releasing the gathered mana as several bolts, it was released as a single bolt of tremendous power. It didn’t seem special, but the text stated that continued use of it was supposed to cause an epiphany in the user about the nature of mana and thus the world as a whole.