by J Hawk
As they walked down the corridors again, Ion thought he would never tire of admiring them. Mantra swept down the hall ahead of them in a brisk stride, the three others tailing him from behind. They were now in the third storey of the large structure, and they occasionally came across other cloaked masters who bowed at Mantra and smiled or nodded at them as the group of them passed.
The master paused before one of the doorways on the right of the corridor and gave it a gentle push. The door swung open to reveal a large room very much like that of the elder council’s. But they saw a large table like object sitting at the centre of the large empty room. Its surface was completely smooth and polished, and it was raised on one thick large leg that was as wide as a tree trunk. Mantra walked upto the large object and turned to the three of them, who stood there at the doorway.
“This,” he said, placing a hand on the surface of the large table. “is a mystical tablet.”
“This is what Redgarn and the Xeni used to unleash the demon army?” asked Qyro, his eyes drawing wide as he looked at the tablet.
Mantra gave a wave of his hand. “Of course not. This is not the only mystical tablet in existence. There are many of them and the one Redgarn used was different.”
The three of them walked before the large table like object, in front of Mantra.
“What does it do?” asked Ion.
“A mystical tablet,” said Mantra. “is an instrument used to amplify a mystic’s powers, allowing him to perform a certain powerful feat, or a spell as they call them. Spells of a greatly powerful nature, which can’t be handled single handedly by a person, can be performed through a mystical tablet, which enhances the power of the spell and unleashes it. But the extent to which the spell is enhanced depends on the power of the tablet.”
“You mean it amplifies a mystic’s power when he uses it,” summed up Vestra. “and lets him perform powerful spells?”
“Yes.” said Mantra. “There are spells that require a greatly powerful mystical energy. And the energy for it is supplied from the tablet, channelled through the mystic who uses it. But the energy provided for the spell varies from tablet to tablet. And as a result, the power with which the spell is unleashed also varies from tablet to tablet.”
“So the outcome of the spell depends on the tablet on which it’s being performed?” asked Qyro, folding his hands before him.
Mantra nodded. “Yes. In other words, the more powerful the tablet, the more powerful is the spell unleashed through it. Tablets come in differing power ranges. And if a particular tablet is really powerful, so will the spell that is performed through it be.”
He slid his hands behind his back and slowly walked around the tablet. “The mystical tablets were instruments crafted by the earliest mystics who walked this spectrum. During the time of the Nyon, they were well known and used. The brotherhood itself used the spells for certain measures. The mystical tablets were nothing short of gifts to us. And they were sacred, and so were the means in which we used them” A frown creased his brow. “The very thought that the Xeni had violated the sacredness of a tablet by unleashing such dark spells on It.” He heaved a tragic sigh. “It was the very worst that we could have dreamt of. The tablets were meant to be used for good purposes, and for amplifying spells of good, noble nature. Not those borne of the twisted dark arts that the Xeni had performed.”
“How’d the Xeni manage such a thing?” asked Vestra, running her hand over the flawless surface of the tablet. “To channel the spirit of Mezmeron, and create an entire army out of it. And that too, such a powerful army … an army of demons?”
“What you need to understand first,” said Mantra. “is that Redgarn was no ordinary mystic.” a long forgotten darkness seemed to pervade his features as he said it. “He was a very powerful mystic. A very powerful dark mystic. And even among mystics, only very few know the art of performing spells. Not all mystics are well versed with that particular art of the mystic mind. Performing spells requires an indepth study of another segment of these arts. And Redgarn had mastered that. He was the greatest and most revered mystic of the day … and an even more revered spellweaver. And upto this day, in the arts of spellweaving,” He gave a shake of his head. “none can surpass him. And none will.”
“Let’s hope you aren’t talking too soon.” warned Qyro.
“So even when the Xeni want to release the demon army,” asked Vestra. “won’t they need a spell to do it?”
Mantra’s brow sank in another thoughtful frown. “The crystal is a key to a whole other dimension where a giant mass of dark forces, the entire demon army, awaits. If the Xeni want to create a small crevice in the dimension, they might not need the tablet. But through such a small gap, they would not be able to release the entire army.” He gave a shake of his head. “Not even a slight portion of it. They might be release a mere sliver of their army.”
“So to release the entire army…” began Ion.
“Yes,” completed Mantra. “To open the dimension completely, and to set free all of the forces of Mezmeron that lay in slumber behind it, they will require a mystical tablet. And they will also require a good spellcaster to make that spell.”
“But if the Xeni are planning on releasing the entire demon forces,” said Qyro. “And that is their ultimate goal at the end of it all, then wouldn’t they need a good spellweaver for it? To perform the spell where the army’s released?”
“They will.” said Mantra. “And they must be having one as well. It’s true that a stronger spellweaver would avail a better result from the spell. But the Xeni may not hope to perform as powerful a spell as Redgarn did eight thousand years back. A meagre spellweaver would suffice for what they’re trying to accomplish. To set the forces of Mezmeron free.” He looked down upon the tablet.
“The mystical tablets all carry different ranges of powers,” he said. “Some of them are weaker, some stronger. And the stronger the tablet, as I said, the stronger the spell.”
“How strong is this one?” asked Ion, jerking a thumb towards the tablet they were standing around.
Mantra shook his head. “The tablet we are in possession of now is nothing at all. But it suffices for what we require these days … as if we do perform spells like we did back in the day of the great empire. Back in those days, we had possession of the most powerful of them all. The most powerful mystical tablet in existence. It was known as Valicros, and we used it and its grand powers for the noblest of means.” He turned slowly, facing them again. “Sadly, like most good things after the fall of the empire, Valicros too was lost. It was destroyed during the war.”
“Apart from creating demon armies and setting them free, exactly what do these tablets do?” asked Vestra.
Mantra trotted forward and place both hands over the surface of this tablet, gazing at it for a second.
“Mystical tablets can be used to bring to effect an entire host of spells. But usually, such spells are used only in the most extreme circumstances, where they’re required. The creation of the demon army through the power of Mezmeron, and releasing them through the crystal are two such instances. But there are other spells that can be effected for different means. Let me give you a demonstration.”
He raised his hands over the surface of the large tablet, and made a swift wave like motion over it with both arms. With the three of them watching, he continued to make strange wave like movements with both arms over the tablet. As this went on, Ion glanced at the other two, both of whom caught his eye and shrugged, equally perplexed. But before a minute or so passed, Ion could feel the effect of whatever spell Mantra was working on take place. He could feel the other two’s eyes widen as his own did…
The tablet over which Mantra was performing the spell was beginning to glow in a fierce orange. Then, the three of them edged back from the tablet warily: strange, fiery ropes were beginning to form around the tablet. They were the strangest sight Ion had ever seen. They looked like ribbons of flame, forming out of thin air
around the tablet as Mantra waved his hands. They hung there for an instant, swirling and coiling on the spot, before slithering about the rest of the room.
Ion’s heart caught for the meekest moment as he beheld the sheer awe of the sight: it was like watching a group of serpents set on fire swirling about in mid air. Mantra continued to wave his hands, and the glowing tablet seemed to glow brighter slowly. Leaping into the air at a faster speed, the flaming ribbons shot across the room viciously.
For a split second of panic, Ion wanted to turn and bolt out the door before one of the fiery ropes happened to hit him and reduce him to ashes. He knew the other two felt the same impulse as they watched the breathtaking but terrifying sight of the fiery snakes shooting across the room, soon to engulf everything. Then, as if sensing their fears, Mantra stopped waving his hands, letting them come to rest over the tablet. At once, the fiery ropes dangerously spinning about the room stopped and melted back to thin air, leaving not the faintest trace behind that they’d been there.
Qyro was the first one to break the stunned daze that was clutching all the three of the students.
“That was wicked.” he gasped.
Mantra smiled as he walked across the tablet, to where the three of them were standing. “Wicked … but just as dangerous.”
“What was that?” asked Ion.
“That was a particularly favourite spell of mine,” replied Mantra, coming to a stall before the three of them. “It was taught by the masters eight millennia back, and is one of the most dangerous spells to date. It is known as inferno. The spell of the fire serpents.”
“If it’s so dangerous, what do they teach it to you for?” asked Qyro.
“Inferno is a spell meant to be set loose in a particularly tense environment,” answered Mantra. “mainly as a distraction.”
“A distraction that can get you killed.” observed Vestra.
“It indeed is.” said Mantra. “But the point of it is to aid your side when it is clear there’s no other option.” He turned and looked at the tablet. Its surface was slowly cooling, no longer glowing orange as it was when he was performing the spell.
“It’s a tricky spell, and it takes some time when performed manually.” Mantra turned back to the three of them with a frown. “It is important to make sure that the tablet is completely intact and functional before trying a spell. If the tablet is broken or damaged in a way, the spell that you’re trying to achieve can go very wrong: at the merest touch, it could unleash itself in an explosive, uncontrolled rate. For instance, if I had attempted that particular spell on a broken tablet, it wouldn’t have taken me more than a second to trigger it: but in the next few seconds, the air would be swirling with a thousand of those fire serpents trying to rip us all apart and burn the entire place down.”
“That really is a lot of power.” said Vestra.
“Not nearly as much as Valicros, and other tablets that existed during the age of Sirengard.” Mantra said. “The tablets of this day are a mere fragment of them. Valicros would have been a hundredfold the power that can be channelled through this tablet.” He jerked his head to gesture to it.
“Well, they seem like they were a heavy load, though.” said Qyro, looking at the tablet ahead of them. “How did you guys carry these things about over the ages?”
Mantra walked over to the large table, and pressed a spot on the centre of its large surface. When he removed his hand, the bulky table like object had disappeared in a bright flash of light and in its place, sitting on the floor, was a miniature model of it. A version of the same tablet reduced to one tenth its original size scale.
Mantra picked up the small tablet, looking at it for a second.
“The tablets can be compressed, if in need to move about.” he explained, replacing the small scaled version of the tablet back on the floor and turning back to them. “Anyway, that’s enough of boring stuff for a day. Why don’t we show Ion about the rest of the temple?”
With a nod, he headed for the door. With a last look at the miniature version of the tablet at the centre of the room, the three students headed after him.
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