by Philip Blood
“Bull shit,” I replied simply. Even for such a desirable woman, I just could not fake my reaction to such a ridiculous notion.
She just smiled slightly and looked at me with those twinkling eyes of mystery.
Something about her expression made me start to doubt myself, and wonder if by some strange chance I should believe her; so I said, “A wizard,” like I was saying, ‘a pink elephant.’
She nodded her perfect head and that movement made her long blonde hair ripple gently in a wave of shining light. Then she added, “Nicholas, you are a wizard, and far up the Tiers. You were once powerful, and have the potential to be powerful once again.”
“And pigs can fly,” I noted with a snort. “Now what is the real story?”
Her eyes practically sparkled as she replied, “You could make a pig fly if this was how you saw a pig in this world.”
I considered her words, and then said, “Could I make a knife appear out of nothing?”
Fiona drew a small dagger from her waist and it elongated into a sword. It was silver, with an extraordinarily beautiful grip which seemed to naturally weave itself out of the cross piece, which was studded with diamonds large enough to buy the town of Amesbury, let alone this tavern.
“You mean like this?” she asked pleasantly, and then added, “You see, Nick, I am a sorceress, which is what we call a female mage. I am a Second Tier sorceress of House Albus.”
She said it like she was saying, ‘I am a Princess of the Universe.’
But this wasn’t the first time I had heard of ‘Seconds’ and ‘Thirds’. So I asked, “What does ‘Second Tier of your House’ mean?”
“The Tiers denote how far you are down the family tree from your First, your Archimage. A Second Tier mage is a direct descendant of an Archimage. A Third is a direct descendant of at least one Second Tier parent, and so on. There is much more to this, but that is the basics of the House Tiers. You are a Third, which is very high in the ranks. There are Fourths, Fifths, Sixths and Sevenths below you, plus all the mundanes. Not only that but the further down the Tiers you go, the more people there are in that Tier. Think of it like a pyramid shape, with the Archimage on top, and you are in the third row of bricks down the Pyramid.”
“What are mundanes?” I asked.
“They are the other people in this room. Everyone is descended from their Archimage, every single person on all ten worlds. It’s just that their power is slight because they are many tiers down from their Archimage. Once the person is below Seventh, we don’t even track their tier anymore because it doesn’t matter. Even so, they still have some mage blood in them, even if it isn’t enough to affect reality through magic.”
I looked around at the happy crowd in the pub, and then scowled at her, “You’re not going to kill these people, are you?”
That made her smile slip for a moment, and her brow furrowed as she spoke in a puzzled tone, “Why, on Earth, would I do that? These people have done me no harm, and are no threat.”
I relaxed a little, and answered, “Because Stewart Hentan killed a group of tourists just so he could have a private chat with me, which I think he meant to be a private fight.”
She shook her head, “He is a Hentan, so I’m not surprised. They are arrogant and think little of the lives of mundanes.”
“But you are different?” I asked bluntly.
“Do you doubt me, Nicholas? I promise you I am not like the Hentans; I don’t even come from their World.”
At her question, I felt like shit for not giving her the benefit of the doubt, but her last statement had been very odd, so I asked, “You mean, the Hentans are from a different social class, or perhaps a different region or country?”
“No, I mean I am not from the Hentan World of Tartarus, nor am I from Earth and neither is Stewart Hentan, or, for that matter, neither are you.”
That stunned me to silence yet again.
At my lack of response, she added, “You are a Sivaeral, so you come from a world named Abal while I am from House Albus, and I come from...”
Hydan's loud voice interrupted Fiona, “Oh crap, I’m gone for ten… er, twenty minutes, and you are already being manipulated by an Albus.”
My new found friend was standing back about two tables, his hands on his hips and a look of disgust on his face. I was stunned that he would speak to Fiona in such a tone.
Fiona looked up in surprise, and then said to me, “I didn’t know you had a wizard companion, a Friare, I see.”
“And I suppose he is from another planet as well?” I said with heavy sarcasm.
“Of course, I’m from Nibiru,” Hydan said with a grin, pointing at his compass Glyph with the index finger of his left hand like that should mean something to me. Then he added, “This Glyph marks my House, and therefore, my planet, not to mention I am a mage.”
I scowled, and though I knew the Glyph on his cheek wasn’t a tattoo, I was feeling belligerent, so I said, “I’ve seen people put tattoos of just about anything on their body, so how do I know you didn’t just ink whatever you wanted on your cheek?” I asked.
Hydan shrugged, “Because Glyphs are imposed by your Archimage so everyone knows you are part of their House. All mages have them as soon as they, or their Archimage, become aware of their House affiliation; they have no choice. They must have one to use their full powers, and we can’t remove them, or change them,” Hydan explained.
“I think you are both nuts, and this is all some hoax! I must be a billionaire with amnesia, and you two are part of the con to get my money!”
Hydan turned to Fiona, “I didn’t know Sivaerals were so imaginative.”
“Oh, yes, they are very good at magic, and therefore very imaginative,” Fiona noted.
Hydan shrugged, “I was on Abal recently, but because of the Civil War I didn’t run into many Sivaeral mages. It’s an odd world now, I had to, ah… go, so I thought I would come take a look at the Battle World.”
“The Battle World?” I asked.
“Earth,” they both replied.
I thought about it, and then decided it was worth asking, “Why is Earth called the Battle World?”
Fiona answered, “We call it that because Earth has been without an Archimage for a few thousand years. There are ten worlds where mages originally dwelt, and each was ruled by their Archimage, but many years ago Earth’s Archimage was killed, and this ended the line of mages on Earth forever, leaving only mundanes.”
Something about this made me angry, I wasn’t even sure why, but a deep and terrible anger welled up in my soul, though the other two didn’t seem to notice.
Fiona continued, “After that, Earth became no-man’s-land, the natural world to do battle in the Ascension Quest, since no Archimage was here to hold reality to their original set of rules.”
I pushed down my anger to a smoldering ember and managed to ask, “What Ascension Quest? Why does every question I ask only bring up more questions?” Some of my annoyance peeked through in my voice.
Fiona reached out and put a calming hand on my wrist, and then said, “Let’s talk about that later, after you understand a few more things.”
I wanted to growl at her, but it was really hard to be annoyed with such an amazing woman.
Hydan grinned, “House Albus likes to keep people in the dark.”
“That’s not fair,” Fiona exclaimed, turning to Hydan.
“Isn’t it?” Hydan replied.
“Well, I suppose you would see it that way, but then again, House Friare doesn’t care much about nearly anything, so they blurt things out that can do others harm.”
“We do nothing of the sort! Now you are just using Albus logic to twist things!” Hydan exclaimed.
I broke in at this point, “Look, you can fight this out another time, what I need to know is how to stop Stewart Hentan from hunting and killing me. Can’t I just explain to this Hentan idiot what actually happened, that is, as soon as I figure out what DID happen? Or maybe I can make restitution
for whatever it was I did to insult the rat bastard?”
Fiona smiled, and Hydan just chuckled, and then he said, “Not much chance of that, Nick.”
“Why not?” I demanded.
“Because he isn’t mad at you, or at least wasn’t when he first started hunting you. He’s just playing the Ascension Quest the Hentan way, by trying to kill their way to the top. Not all houses work this way, but there is no changing the way any House pursues the Quest."
I was getting another headache.
Hydan turned to Fiona and said, “So, do you know why he was left on Earth as a Hidden Soul?”
But Fiona turned her striking amber, eyes on me and said in an accusing tone, “Nicholas, you told him?”
I shrugged, at her kind of hurt look I felt suddenly sheepish.
Hydan smiled, “He didn’t tell me much, just his name, and that he knew nothing if our Worlds.”
She gave me a stern look, “It is very dangerous to tell other mages you are weak, in any way. They might try to end your line, right there and then.”
Hydan snorted, “I would do nothing of the kind!”
“Maybe not you, but other Houses…” Fiona said, trailing off.
Hydan shrugged but didn’t deny it. Then he said, “Regardless, I know, so who is he? I mean, you’re a Second, typically your kind doesn't get involved in trivial pursuits. Why aren’t YOU ending his line?”
“Hey,” I said, not liking the direction of this or the sound of what ‘ending his line’ might mean. So I demanded, “What does that mean?”
“End your line? It means when you die, every mage above an Eighth, the first level above mundanes, who are descended from you… die with you,” Fiona said in a low and serious tone.
I let that one sink in, and understood something Pox had said back in the Egyptian tomb about ‘Worse than death’.
But Fiona continued answering Hydan’s original question, “I’m not after Nick, or his line, because I have been his friend for a long time, and because House Albus does not believe in taking sides. You know we are neutral in the Ascension Quest. Besides, I discovered him, and I feel responsible for revealing him to the Houses.”
At this revelation, Hydan raised one eyebrow. “So he really is a Hidden Soul?”
Fiona nodded, “Well, he was when I found him. As you can see by his Glyph, his House has claimed him now. After some work, I believe I have discovered his true parents, and now know he is a Third.”
“Did you know he wasn’t from your House when you first helped him as a Hidden Soul?” Hydan asked.
Fiona shrugged, “I found him on Earth, so at that time I did not know what House he was from, but we became friends...”
The way she said ‘friends’ made me think there was more to it.
But she kept speaking, “…even before I learned he was from House Sivaeral, and a Third. Now I feel responsible, even though he is from another House.”
Hydan whistled, “A Hidden Soul Third, that’s pretty rare, which means the vultures will be circling!"
I made a sudden decision, and said, “What I didn't tell you, Hydan, is I've lost my memory."
"Nicholas!" Fiona exclaimed.
I shrugged, "He was going to figure it out eventually anyway, at least now we can discuss things openly."
Fiona didn't look happy, which made Hydan chuckle as he said, "The Albus mages hate giving out any information for free."
Fiona gave him a dark look.
Hydan continued, "Well, with amnesia Nick is even more vulnerable. So, how did he lose his memory?”
“A higher Tier mage nailed him with a dark spell, something which affected his memories,” Fiona explained, reluctantly.
“Huh,” Hydan grunted, thinking about what she’d said as he took a long pull from his mug. After swallowing, he said, “That pretty much sucks.”
I had to agree seeing how I was the one missing the memories.
“How did they get to him with a Second as his… guardian?” Hydan asked.
I’m not sure what Hydan had been about to call our relationship before he settled on ‘guardian’.
Fiona looked away and then said, “I’m sorry, Nick, he’s right, it is my fault. Eventually, you left my protection even though you weren’t ready, but I should have stopped you. However, you were very adamant.”
“Why did I want to leave so badly?” I asked.
She bit at her lower lip for a moment, as if contemplating whether she should answer, but finally said, “You had Earth parents, foster parents, who raised you; they were mundanes.”
“And?” I asked.
“When you went to visit them, you discovered that they had been tortured and murdered by someone seeking you, and it had been done by a mage.”
I considered what she said, I knew I should be emotionally affected by their deaths, but frustratingly, I couldn’t remember them. It saddened me to know my lost memories had robbed me of some of the emotional attachments I must have had to my foster parents and others. I WANTED to feel anger and hurt for those who killed my foster parents, but I felt only annoyance and frustration.
“And what did I do then?” I asked.
Fiona hesitated again, and then said, “You went seeking those who murdered your foster parents. I tried to stop you, to tell you that we should do this together after we had more information, and a plan, but you slipped out one night without telling me. You were very angry.”
“Then what happened?” I prompted.
“Eventually, I managed to contact you, but by then things had transpired, things which changed, well, everything.”
I stared into her intense amber eyes, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
She continued after I didn’t say anything, “You never told me if you found the mage or mages who murdered your parents, but you did tell me you… discovered something, some terrible secret. A secret so dark you didn’t dare tell me about it across our spirit bridge.”
“What secret, and from whom did I learn it?” I demanded.
“The truth is I don’t know what you learned. I had hoped you would remember, but back then you told me it was imperative I know about this secret before they got to you.”
“Who are ‘they’?”
She grimaced slightly, and then said solemnly, “You mentioned The Dragon.”
Hydan gave a low whistle of surprise and shock.
“What is this about a dragon? You’re not telling me those are real too?” I asked.
“No, not on Earth,” she answered, “but I wasn’t talking about a creature, I said, THE Dragon.”
“THE Dragon?” I said in puzzlement.
She nodded, “I assume you stole this secret from him. How you found The Dragon, I have no idea; he has been hiding from all the Houses now for a few thousand years.”
I was puzzled by this, but she continued.
“You couldn’t tell me more at the time because a group of hunters found you right then. I couldn’t see who, though I heard things through the bridge. I believe you fought an arcane battle against these mages. I’d taught you how to use some of your powers, and you were getting pretty good, but you weren’t ready for an Arcane battle against superior numbers, not if some of them were Thirds… or higher.”
“What happened then?” I asked.
“You managed to escape, and then found a place and the time to open a Traveling Star. They caught up with you at that point and hit you with sigil, which contained the memory eater spell. I found the place later, and the remnant of the Star you used to escape, but it was too old to track your destination. They hit you with the spell just as you stepped into the circle, which is how you escaped. Unfortunately, you were already under the effect of the memory spell. You arrived at your destination, but your mind was damaged. Fortunately, one of your servants was with you, and he rescued your body, moving it to a hidden location so you could heal.”
“How do you know all this?” I asked softly.
“Pox, your servant, or at least t
he phantom of Pox, eventually told me you were alive. In the years which followed your memory loss, Pox kept your body hidden and protected, though he eventually died defending it. Even then he stayed near you as a ghost, which is what he was when he finally sought me out. He wouldn’t leave your body, or even tell me where you were hidden; he is insanely loyal to your line. After he was slain his ghost came to me, begging for help. He convinced me, and I reached out to a mage I knew, and they made him into a phantom. It was the only way I knew to give him some kind of physical form so he could continue to help protect you. The process of becoming a Phantom is not pretty, so now he is a malformed thing. Eventually, many years later, he came to me again and told me what had happened, though he didn’t know who it was who attacked you. He did tell me there were three mages, each from a different House. I only learned that part recently, when Pox contacted me and told me you had finally awoken from your coma.”
“You’re saying I was in a coma for twenty-four years?” I asked.
Fiona nodded, “Mages don’t age, Nicholas, not like mundanes. Once we reach adulthood we can alter reality around us, and that includes using Self Image to keep your body at any age you desire. When you were hit with the spell your Self Image kept your body young, holding you at the age you chose earlier. Meanwhile, it took your subconscious a long time to unravel the spell enough to break free. I had no idea where you were, and neither did anyone, other than Pox. As long as you were in a coma, he wouldn’t even tell me where to find you. For the first twenty-one years of the twenty-four you were in a coma, I thought you were dead, so I wasn’t even looking for you.”
“So, can you remove the rest of the spell blocking my memory?” I asked.
She replied, “I’ll try, give me a moment. Her beautiful features hardened into a look of concentration. Then she said, "Do you remember anything?"
I shook my head negatively.
Fiona looked apologetic, “I tried, Nick, but it didn't work. I don't think the sigil is still active, so the spell has worn off, but it may already have eaten at your memories. I'm sorry, Nick, but they could be permanently gone. However, the mind is a tricky thing; so those memories may also come back to you at some point. I just don’t know.”