Spellscribed: Provenance

by Kristopher Cruz

  The passage was short, leading into a much more expansive chamber, as the cave led deeper into the side of the mountain the bowl wall was carved out of. The room was nearly forty feet in diameter, almost a perfect circle in fact. Reaching nearly twenty feet high at the center, the room had plenty of space for any number of tasks. There were no stalagmites in the room, which seemed odd to the wizard as he examined his surroundings.

  The main source of illumination in the chamber was a circle of five large black candles on twisted black iron candlesticks, tall enough to reach eye level. The flames of the candles burnt an unnatural green color, an obvious indication of something being amiss even if the rest of the circle wasn’t in the room. The candles stood in a circle in the center of the room, each six feet apart from each other. Drawn across the stone floor of the cave around and under where the candles stood was a pentagram of some kind of black substance. The outer ring of the circle ran under the candles and made a complete ring around the pentagram.

  Joven remained at the entrance to the dark chamber, while Endrance paced around the circle, analyzing it. He pulled out a blank book he had taken with him for the purposes of keeping notes, and took care to sketch out a copy of the circle that lay painted on the floor. Magic wrought using mystic symbols could be very dangerous, especially if accidentally triggered by an unaware victim. Endrance was acutely aware of the slight weight of Gullin perching on his shoulder, and was reminded how much a properly prepared circle could achieve.

  I would not suggest powering this circle. Gullin stated. It had been weeks, and still Endrance had been unable to discern any kind of mood from the bird.

  I wasn’t going to. Does this look like a demonic circle to you?

  Yes.

  Endrance scraped a small amount of the blackened substance for identification, though he was pretty certain that his tests would reveal it was human blood. For some reason it seemed that humans, of all the sentient races, were the most useful resource when it came to the dark arts of demon summoning.

  An ancient council of wizards had tried to find the answer why. Using the best arcane tools they had at their disposal, and even summoning many higher ranking demons they attempted to divine an answer. The most logical solution they could find for all their trouble was that it had to do with the human’s lifespan, or lack thereof.

  A human being lived anywhere from fifty to a hundred years old, but in that amount of time they could accomplish as much if not more than a dwarf, who lived nearly six-hundred years, or even the elves, who lived sometimes over a thousand. Even the industrious gnomes, as few and far between as they were, lived typically two centuries.

  The young mage personally believed that the human spirit’s potential was the key element that gave their bodies the potency and appeal to the forces that would consume them.

  After completing his notes and gathering the evidence he and Gullin could, Endrance pondered the nature of the circle itself. While it was a pentagram, it was possible that the circle was for any number of purposes. They could be used for protecting as well as containing; however the wizard knew that one wouldn’t need that much human blood to form a protection circle. Endrance sniffed the air as he leaned towards the circle. The sharp acrid smell of sulfur was still lingering in the air around the candles. He stepped back, firm in his belief that something had been summoned and captured by the circle. He would have to compare the symbols to what Gullin knew, as well as to the older books the prior Spengur left behind.

  He considered then what should be done with the room. The demon has already been summoned, and the summoner very likely had become aware of the kingdom’s notice of their cave. He waved Joven over, who cautiously approached.

  “Hey Joven.” Endrance started, pointing to one of the candles, “Try and blow it out.” Joven stared at him, “What?” Endrance asked, finding it hard to contain a laugh as the barbarian’s face suddenly went from caution to fright.

  The barbarian frowned at him. “You are the master of magic here… And you want ME to blow out the creepy evil candles?”

  Endrance shrugged. “I thought you were supposed to be my protector?” he nudged his friend, who nearly swatted him over in response.

  “Nuh-uh!” he exclaimed. “YOU blow it out.”

  The young mage couldn’t hold it anymore and broke out laughing. Joven watched him for a second, and then laughed as well. Endrance looked the barbarian straight in the eye when the laughing stopped. “No, seriously.” He said firmly, “Try to blow out the candle.”

  Joven scowled, but took a breath and puffed at the candle. The green flame barely even flickered. He looked puzzled at the candle and took a deeper breath, and blew at the candle with all his might. The flame jumped but once, but came nowhere close to blowing out. Gullin chirped in a way that seemed remarkably like laughter.

  Endrance nodded, gently nudging one of the candlesticks with a finger. “It’s as I thought. The candles are enchanted. You probably would need an enchanted weapon to even scratch them, and I'm certain that now they have been set it would be incredibly difficult to move. They’ve been lit for who knows how long and have barely lost an inch of their foot length, I would guess. These things are some pretty high quality items.”

  He waved Joven back over to him. “Let's get out of here, and get this problem taken care of.”

  Carefully making his way outside, he signaled the soldiers over. With great care he instructed the men to gather two of their best stonemasons, and for them to bring their best tools. The guards left to go up the bowls to retrieve them, and the wizard and his bodyguard settled down to wait. After a few hours of waiting two stonemasons were seen picking their way up the mountain path, laden with the tools of their trade. Carefully whispering into the mason's ears, he sent them into the dark cave.

  Joven, who had waited patiently to hear about Endrance's solution, finally couldn't wait anymore. “Tell me, what kind of help can those mason's give to fix the problem inside? Did you not say that you would need enchantments to bring those candles down?”

  The wizard smiled, waving at the entrance as he talked. “Well it's simple. We’re going to carefully cut weak points into the ceiling of the cave and then collapse it on top of the circle. While it won’t destroy the candles, it will prevent anyone from even entering the cave; much less use the circle which will most likely be invalidated by the thousands of pounds of falling rock.”

  Joven nodded, understanding at last. “So... You can't remove the circle, so you're going to destroy all the stuff around it so no one can get to it?” He smiled approvingly at Endrance's nod. “Good!” he exclaimed. “I like that plan!”

  He heard the sounds of the stonemasons beginning tapping at the walls and ceiling inside the cave. He smiled at Joven. “Well, let’s make sure they get the job done then go home, okay?”

  Joven nodded. “Sure, I suppose. Can we stop somewhere along the way? I hate having to stand guard outside your house all the time.”

  Endrance looked up at his bodyguard. “Well, you could always wait inside. It’s much warmer in there.”

  Joven shook his head. “I probably should. It’s not like you get many visitors unannounced anyways.”

  They watched the stonemasons work for several hours, and when the cave had been collapsed to their satisfaction, returned back to the longhouse. Along the way back Endrance stopped at a shop and purchased the painting equipment he had wanted to get when he set out on his journey there.

  Later that day, Endrance was reclining in his chair and listening to Selene reciting one of Balator's more obscure rituals to bless the crops of not the coming season but three seasons in the future. It was boring, and even Selene didn’t seem into telling it. The door to the longhouse was opened unannounced and a soldier bearing the steel and black iron armor of the king's personal guard strode into the room. Selene fell silent and eyed the guard suspiciously as he approached.

  Anna moved to intercept the man when his pace did not slow when he got clo
se to the Spengur. She stepped directly in front of the guard, halting him. The guard stared dispassionately at the woman. “I am here to deliver the King's summons to the Spengur.” he growled, his voice menacing. The woman didn't as much as flinch as she held her ground.

  “You do not approach the people's Spengur so directly!” she scolded, slightly shaking her head as she chided the King's messenger. “Even the king knows not to threaten the Spengur!”

  The guard snarled his hand flying to the ax over his shoulder as he attempted to make a show of force. Bridget, who had been quietly approaching from the guards left, darted in and grabbed his hand, pulling it past the weapon handle and yanking it behind his head with one motion. The other hand held her slender dagger, whose point was a scant hair over the skin of his now exposed armpit. “I love men in armor with big... axes.” she purred. “They practically offer their vulnerable spots to us when they try to draw their big, unwieldy weapons.”

  The guard flinched, grunting in pain as she pulled down hard on his trapped arm, but did not struggle. She twisted his wrist and he yelped as he felt a bone audibly pop in his hand. “I'm sorry.” he muttered. “I'm Sorry!” he howled as she tickled his underarm with the point of her dagger “I'm sorry for being improper to our most respected Spengur and his Draugnoa!”

  She nodded, slowly releasing his arm as she stepped back from him. The King's Guard rubbed his shoulder as he rotated his arm around working the pain out. A bruise was already forming on his wrist as he inspected it. He exhaled as he brought his attention back to his initial task. “Wise Spengur, the King wants you to come see him immediately.” he bowed. “Please be at the castle as quickly as possible.” He straightened, grimaced as he moved his wrenched arm. He turned and disrespectfully left without another word.

  Endrance looked at the two women who were watching the man leave. “So, is it alright to be manhandling the King's guard like that?”

  Bridget waved the man off as the doors swung closed. “Psh!” She blew wind through her lips as she dismissed the man verbally. “Royal Guards are wimps!” she derided. Anna nodded. “They are almost entirely for show, really. They think they are much more powerful than they really are.” She nodded, as if affirming something in her own head. “The King has no real need for a guard...” she finished, her voice trailing off.

  “Why doesn't he need a guard?” Endrance asked, his curiosity triggered.

  Bridget shrugged. “Why else? The King himself is one of Balator's most feared warriors! He has been fighting-”

  “And winning.” Selene interjected quietly.

  “For nearly twenty years. He is one of the strongest men in Balator, and has foiled several attempts on his life without suffering any harm.” Bridget finished. “He is the prime example of the strongest of our people.” She then mused, “Now that’s a man I wouldn’t mind spending time with.”

  Endrance chose to ignore the comment for the time being, and stood from his chair. He picked up his carry satchel which held his all important spellbook as well as other writing utensils and ritual materials. He had not reached the level of practice with his spells to erase every doubt that he had not perfectly memorized their forms. This consequently was the reason several of the spells he cast before were either inefficient or took much more energy than they should have.

  Endrance had hoped that he would have more time to devote to improving his magical capabilities, but his duties to the people and his continuing education of the kingdom's multitude of laws, customs, and superstitions had been keeping him busy. He didn’t even have time to send off letters to his father and Kaelob, much less spend hours studying the wealth of magical knowledge in his storeroom.

  He had dressed this time in a thin shirt, and had to go back into the bedroom and change clothes. He added on a thicker layer of clothing and an overcoat. The winter air was especially chill this evening, and he did not relish having to walk up the mountain.

  Outside stood the customary standard of a pair of two men standing guard. He glanced at the two of them, noticing that he did not recognize them from any of the guards Joven had personally introduced him to. “You new?” he asked, and one of the guards nodded.

  The young mage smirked. “Well, I suppose since Joven is off duty this afternoon, you are aware you were supposed to actually stop people who charge into my home, right?” another silent nod spurred him on. “Don't want to talk?” he asked. The guard shook his head, and Endrance could see that the man would not be here if he had not been ordered to. “Well, if I understand things right, you will get reassigned if you are unable to perform your duties here, correct?” The guard gulped, but nodded after a brief pause.

  “Good, good.” He said, nodding his head. “Just checking in case your orders changed.”

  The man was beading sweat across his brow trying to stare straight ahead, and flinched when Endrance suddenly turned away from him. Walking a few paces away, he turned back to the men at his front door.

  “I have to go see the king now.” He began. He cast the warmth spell, and the constant swirl of light snow stopped falling on him in its entirety. “I expect you to be more diligent in the future, understand?”

  Endrance chuckled as he left the two with their jaws hanging, but winced when the cold mountain air managed to slice right through his meager warmth spell and into his clothes. His breath came in weak puffs. Being in cold weather and high altitude was almost too much for his weak spell to handle. Fortunately he only had to travel a short distance to the castle.

  Banners hung from the windows and across the double reinforced doors of the castle. Two men stood guard at the front door while two more patrolled around the perimeter. They wore the markings of the King's Guard, and wore steel plate armor and sharp steel weapons that were all in perfect condition and bore the black iron filigree that marked them as the king’s personal retinue. The men stared at the young man whom snow would not fall on, and bore with him a bird with glowing ember like feathers.

  The wizard walked up to the first guard at the door and smiled. “Good evening!” he greeted, waving mildly at the armored man. “I was summoned to meet the king?” he prodded, trying to get the man to react.

  The barbarian shook his head to try to clear it, and nodded affirmatively. “Yes, the king will see you, Spengur. He awaits you in the throne room.” he turned from the young man and signaled for the door to be opened. The large double doors creaked open. Endrance clapped the guard on the shoulder as he passed by. He didn’t see the man shudder as he left.

  Endrance paced steadily into the grand hall and across the floor of polished black marble. His strides weren't slow, but they weren't hurried either. He had arrived in a good time, so he was not concerned he would be late. The king was watching from across the great hall, and so Endrance was more focused on not falling on his face than being early to the summons.

  Endrance studied his king's face as he approached, trying to get an idea of the purpose of his visit. Kalenden leaned back on his throne, almost slouching as he rested his chin on one mailed fist. The king's face never betrayed what went on behind those critical eyes however, leaving the wizard guessing as he knelt before his ruler. “King Kalenden, you called for me?” Endrance spoke out, his head remaining bowed.

  Again, he felt himself becoming anxious. His nerves crawled, and he felt like he was just waiting for a fight to break out. He found his hands were clenched into fists as he remained bowed. Something about this place was driving his senses crazy.

  The king remained silent for several long seconds before grunting and replying. “Rise, Spengur.” he commanded, and the wizard complied. “I have called you here to talk to you in private, young one.” King Kalenden waved his hand at the four guards standing attention at inconspicuous places around the room, and they each took a nearby door and vacated the throne room.

  King Kalenden smiled at him. “Anyways! The great eclipse is coming in a few months, and I need to make sure you know what your duties are for this ev
ent.”

  Endrance nodded. The king continued. “You know that the reason you were brought here was that against my desires, the people of Balator demanded that we have a Spengur.” He grimaced. “I do not think you are necessary, or even useful. Let me make that perfectly clear.”

  Endrance nodded. “I however,” Kalenden continued, “I am a generous ruler, and will provide for my people if they believe they honestly need it. They want you, because they believe that there has been a plague of trouble rising up as this eclipse approaches, and they grab for anything to help them feel safe.” He pointed up at the ceiling of the throne room. “The signs say that the eclipse should be in three months.”

  Across the smooth stone surface was a mural of the stars out in the sky, with the moons out clearly. There were four total, each of varying sizes. The largest was the white moon, which could be seen almost anywhere in the world at night. Second was a green moon, which usually only came out during the months of summer. Third was a blue moon, which showed during winter seasons and during the summer solstice. The last moon was a subject of much debate in the magical community, as it was thought to be nothing but a black disk that traversed the sky only when great suffering was about to happen. Some wizards urged it was a remnant of some great necromancer's work during some mage war over two-thousand years ago. Others believed wholeheartedly it was just a black rock.

  The mural depicted the four moons ordered from largest to smallest left to right in a semicircle arcing away from the throne. It showed over the throne both suns side by side, rendered in brilliant whites and yellows. And the night sky near the moons faded into day over the throne.

  “This is the time where both our suns and all the moons will eclipse at the same time, and won't again for hundreds of years.” Endrance explained. “It is a time greatly tied with prophecy. And the people, as superstitious about magic, still have their stories.”

  The king watched the young man silently. Endrance could tell he would have to explain further, though he was sure the king already knew. “There is a prophecy told about the joining of the moons and suns. This prophecy says that on that night a child will be born to certain conditions who will become the greatest hero of all time, uniting the whole of the good people against the darkness who would destroy it.”