Origin Mage

by John Forrester

  “Speak!” shouted the singer, and her voice was terrible and filled with irresistible magic.

  Her power cut through Caisa and caused her to collapse to the ground, writhing in pain. She covered her ears, hoping to stop the sound of the singer’s voice. How could the woman break through her defenses so easily?

  She lifted her head and studied the demons with narrowed eyes. They were giving Selana an immense power. If the Nameless could somehow discover the secret of commanding it…

  “I told you to speak. Answer the question. What did you do to make them hate you so much?”

  Caisa’s jaw began to tremble. Why was it impossible for her to resist the Starwalker? Finally, after an impossible effort, she gave in. “I did many vile and horrible things on the Origin World.”

  A forgotten memory came to her. Hadn’t she done so out of a belief in a balance beyond the darkness? That was why the Cult of Yavreel hated her and her followers so much. But the insanity of the fight had twisted her mind and corrupted her soul. After she was imprisoned, her sentence was to forever purge the light from her heart. The forced darkness and the loneliness did the rest to erase every good notion and kind feeling she had left. Thousands of years spent utterly alone and left with nothing but angry and bitter memories did that to a person. And now, all she could think of was revenge.

  “From the pained look on your face, I imagine you were worse than cruel.” Selana paused for a moment, contemplating something. “What I wonder is why did they let you live? The priests of Yavreel have never hesitated in killing non-believers.”

  “Oh, I was a believer in Yavreel.” Caisa felt her shoulders tensing. “But I found the light as well, and that was my crime. I believed in the light and the darkness, but my ultimate mistake was remaining on a planet devoted to the darkness.”

  “But there is no sun that shines on the Origin World. How is it you discovered light? The whole world is shades of black and gray.”

  “There is a sun on the Origin World. A black sun. You see, I was a forbidden traveler, like you, a traveler of the stars.” The Nameless remembered the first time she stepped through a portal and witnessed the glory of color and the shimmering light spread across the undulating field of grass. It had taken her breath away.

  She clenched her jaw, angry again. They had taken all that away from her, taken her power and her freedom. And now she would take theirs away from them; she would consume them all. She would so utterly devour their minds, bodies, and souls that nothing would be left.

  “So you were a heretic,” said the singer. “An outcast.”

  Caisa again tried to resist, but the demons only fluttered over and spun around her head, waggling their tiny fingers at her. She ceased her struggle, and continued, “They started the war. I tried to reason with them, at first, but they wouldn’t listen. Their minds were clouded and dark, and mine was filled with light and shadow. I was worse than a heretic. I was legion. So I decided to descend to a place deeper into the darkness than any had gone before. A place of immense pain and suffering.

  “Then later, I ascended to a place of the brightest light, a light so pure it seemed like all the stars in the universe had condensed into one brilliant point. I fought them, we fought them, together with all of my disciples.”

  But in the end it was only her, as the fanatics of Yavreel executed all those who followed her.

  Talis looked at Caisa with eyes filled with amazement and remembrance. His cat, the magical lynx, nuzzled its face against his hands, eager for attention. “I’ve been to that place you describe. I’ve seen the light.”

  The Nameless laughed a mirthless laugh. “Yes, but you’ve never been to that place of darkness. You’re a child of the light. You’ve only glimpsed the shadows that circle the greater darkness. You only know the tiniest fragments of pain. You’ve never experienced the loneliness and emptiness of ten thousand years, and the madness that sinks so deeply into your soul that it makes you scream. You know nothing, boy. Nothing at all.”

  “Knowledge is always the downfall. It leads to weakness.” The singer twirled a finger and summoned a dark, churning cloud that condensed into an inky blackness so utterly complete it was hideous, even to the Nameless. It reminded her of the many long years spent in the darkness of her prison.

  Selana went on, “The more you know, the easier you are to defeat. Simplicity is power. And singular darkness is the strongest force in the universe. It pervades all time and space, and when we channel it, we are filled with the immensity of that strength.”

  In a burst of determination, Caisa struck out at the woman, blinding her in a blast of golden light. She mustered every bit of strength she could find, but still the demons interceded on the singer’s behalf, sucking in the strength of her attack.

  “That’s certainly was bright,” said Selana, “but nowhere nearly strong enough to blind me. You’ll have to conjure something better than that. What does it feel like to be as weak and inept as a child? Enough of this charade, I tire of quibbling with you. Shackle them up and prepare them for transportation to the Origin World—all of them, including the weaklings in their group.”

  Mara appeared suddenly behind the singer, and cinched a dagger around her neck. “We’re not going anywhere with you. Take the she-bitch if you want, but you’ll leave us out of it.”

  “Oh, do you really think so?” said Selana, and gave a strange laugh. “I’ll—”

  The singer’s eyes went wide as Mara sliced across her neck, a line of blood dribbling down to her dress. Her body froze as Mara pulled herself even tighter.

  “Like I said, we’re not going anywhere. Do you really want me to slice off your head? Your ugly demons don’t seem to mind.”

  And indeed the tiny demons floated around indifferently, giving Caisa the occasional evil eye, but ignoring Mara’s assault of the singer.

  “I think my head is quite lovely when it is attached to my body.” Selana managed an uncomfortable half-smile. “It seems I’ll have to scold the high priest for giving me lazy demons.”

  “So do I have your word you will allow us to return to our world?” Mara said, and she was joined by her friends. The lynx turned its eyes to study Caisa.

  Another Starwalker began to move against Mara, but the singer raised a hand to stop him. “No, anything you do against the girl would only kill me, I suspect. She wields an ancient power in those daggers. The magic is crafty and strange. I fear I must acquiesce to the girl’s demand, and allow them to leave.”

  “But I cannot allow it,” Caisa said with a grin. “Though the singer may let you go, I will utterly destroy your friends. Do you want that to happen, girl? You love the boy with an innocence that makes my heart sweet for a moment. But only a moment. It would be a shame to see him dead, wouldn’t it?

  So you see, we will venture together to the Origin World, and I will pretend to be a prisoner of the singer. But pretend is the key word. Any move of violence against me or anyone in my group will cause the girl to cleave that pretty head from your body. The stars would grow faint, and you would slumber forever in the darkness you so love.”

  11. In Search of Relics

  As Mara glanced back and forth between Talis and the Nameless, she knew she had no other choice. She’d never dared oppose Caisa before and now wasn’t any different. With a grim heart, she realized she was just another tool in her arsenal, at least until Mara found a way to defeat her, or until the Nameless was defeated in her quest for revenge.

  “Now, you will dismiss those demons of yours… make them go away.” The Nameless made a shooing gesture as if swatting away flies. “Despite any promises you might make, I can see what a conniving liar you are. I would have you immediately put to death were it not for the wonderful ruse you have constructed for my journey to the Origin World. Or should I say the ruse that the rulers themselves have created, knowing little it would lead to their demise.”

  The singer begrudgingly snapped her fingers and the pixie demons dove toward the sil
ver belt lying on the ground. They entered the gourds with sparks of tiny lightning. Caisa motioned for her high priestess to retrieve the belt. Once secured, she nodded and turned back to Jared.

  “Lead us to where you store the artifacts,” she said, then turned to Selana and the other Starwalkers. “Don’t you get any ideas about playing tricks. Mara will disappear and will be ready to strike you down if need be. We will secure this sanctuary and I won’t hesitate to kill you and your friends if you don’t cooperate.”

  Mara vanished into a world of shadows, delighted to have an excuse to enjoy the freedom of invisibility.

  “Singer, can we expect any more resistance from the others in the sanctuary?” asked Caisa.

  “Of course you will if you just blunder into us like you did just now.” Selana gave an irritated sigh. “You’ll need a ruse. If they believe that I have successfully subdued you, then it should be ok. I have brought the remaining Starwalkers under my control as a result of Jared’s prolonged absence, though many have fled. If you are capable of putting on an air of defeat, then you and your allies should pretend to be my prisoner.”

  “This we can definitely manage, though it pains me to see even the fake look of victory on your face.” The Nameless stared at the singer with disdain. “My elders will act like prisoners of these Starwalkers, who in turn will announce Selana’s victory in subduing me. They’ll parade my elders as evidence. The ruse must be perfect. I will keep Jared and Selana as hostages until you return.”

  Caisa faced Jared. “You will lead us to where you store the relics. I would have us conduct a search for items of use for our journey ahead.”

  Mara smiled to herself, thinking of a plan that might give them an advantage in their search for relics, without allowing the Nameless or her allies to find out. It might actually work.

  After navigating the golden streets and sumptuous, statue-lined hallways of the sanctuary, Jared led them to the entrance of a massive round building near the heart of the structure. The Starwalker flourished his fingers and tendrils of silver light danced in the air and soon entered the door’s lock mechanism. He spoke undecipherable words and the door clicked and opened with a groan.

  Mara came close to Talis, and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Stay behind so I can turn you invisible when the others aren’t looking.”

  Talis nodded, gesturing at Charna in a query. He pretended to study a sculpture outside the building while Caisa and her entourage followed Jared and the singer inside. At last when they were alone, Mara grabbed Talis’ arm and touched Charna, pulling them both into the shadow world of invisibility. She waited, glancing around, and gave a sigh of relief. They’d done it.

  Mara commanded the daggers to muffle their conversation, feeling the power bubble over them. “I had an idea. Can you try to use the Surineda Map while we are invisible? I will tell my daggers to hide the light from the map, if it works.”

  “We can, though I’m doubtful.” Talis swung his backpack around and withdrew the golden map case. “Besides, how will we know if it works?”

  “Good point, let me go and grab Nikulo. He can watch as you open the map.”

  She set out and entered a glorious room filled with countless relics of all kind. They were floating in the air like a school of fish. The room was so dense that Mara made a wake while walking through daggers, swords, shields, hammers, armor, chalices, jewelry boxes, rings, necklaces, precious stones, and thousands of other relics. Even though she was invisible, any careful observer could see where she traveled. It might be a problem, she realized, when they searched the room from within their cloak of invisibility.

  She found Nikulo, and commanded her daggers to allow him to hear. “Hey, chunky buns,” she whispered, and came alongside him.

  He grunted and rubbed his now generous belly, lowering his voice. “Just because I’ve gained a few pounds doesn’t give you the right to comment on my buns, stick girl. You should see all the food my wife serves me. It’s like she’s trying to never let me leave the house.”

  “Still no excuse to not exercise. Come on, you’re needed outside.”

  “Are there heaping plates of pork roast and garlic potatoes outside? I haven’t eaten since this morning. I’m famished.”

  Mara rolled her eyes and tugged on his shirt. He followed, glancing a few times at the others, but they ignored him. Soon they left the room and joined Talis.

  Nikulo looked around. “What was so important that we couldn’t talk inside?”

  “Talis is here with me. We needed you to test something, that is, if you’re not so famished you’ll faint.”

  “In that event, you’ll hold me, I’m sure, and feed me dumplings to restore my strength. What am I supposed to be doing?”

  “Tell us if you see anything. We’re trying to find out if using the Surineda Map under invisibility breaks the barrier.”

  “Why should it? The daggers blocked even magic from penetrating the veil of invisibility.” Nikulo’s eyes lit up. “Ah, so we’ll use the map to find the relics? Just like old times. Maybe this time I’ll actually get something.”

  Mara gestured to Talis, who opened the map case and unfurled the Surineda Map. An explosion of golden light blinded Mara for a second. She wiped the tears and saw Talis staring at the bright map.

  “How can you gaze at it and not look away?” Mara’s vision was still blurry. “I can barely see.”

  “Am I correct in assuming that you’re looking at the map now?” Nikulo said. “If you’d like to know, I can’t see a thing. It’s all completely invisible.”

  “There are so many powerful artifacts inside,” Talis’ voice was soft and filled with awe.

  “The challenge will be to find them. The room is packed.” Nikulo scratched his arm as he glanced at the open door.

  “I can command the map to focus on a closer area,” said Talis. “I’ll lead you to the relics.”

  Mara thought that might work. It would also solve the problem of being discovered while moving through the dense sea of artifacts.

  “The only thing I want to find is food. Can’t you ask the map real quick?”

  “Look in your backpack, silly.” Mara shook her head.

  “I ate it already. All the excitement made me hungry. Don’t you have a bit of buttered bread?”

  “Here, have some of my food if you’re really that hungry.” Talis handed Nikulo some dried meat. “We’ve got a lot of searching to do. The hardest part will be deciding which artifacts are the most valuable and how many we can carry.”

  “Don’t forget, we also have to figure out how to acquire and keep those artifacts without being noticed.” Nikulo headed back into the room and Talis and Mara followed close behind. Charna seemed disinterested in the search, and bounded out toward the gardens, sniffing around for game to hunt.

  “This one,” Talis said, retrieving a plain silver ring. The moment he touched the magical artifact, it entered their shadowy world of invisibility. “I’m asking the map to find the lightest and most powerful ones first. We’ll discover their uses later.”

  “What about a weapon for me?” Nikulo asked, covering his mouth while he spoke. “You both have powerful magical weapons, while I have exactly none.”

  “A hammer, a mace?”

  Mara snickered. “Get him a whip so he can tickle his enemies to death.”

  “That’s so not funny.” Nikulo rolled his eyes. “A magical hammer would suffice, one that thunders and shoots lightning bolts.”

  “You already have that weapon. Your ass thunders and shoots sulfuric bolts every time you pass gas.”

  Nikulo went to swat her, but she dodged, grinning at the advantages invisibility provided.

  “Have you found anything of value?” Caisa asked, approaching Nikulo.

  He coughed, shrugging, and plucked a sapphire floating in the air. “Pretty things, weapons, and I suspect, a lot of junk. Do you have a spell that will allow us to discover the gold from the dross?”

  She studied
the floating objects and frowned. “It’s like looking for the right light when you’re in a room filled with blinding light. Everything here is powerful and magical in some regards, but to find the useful ones and their applications, and to avoid the cursed objects, it is a challenge.”

  Jared came over and nodded his head. “Now you know the situation we’ve faced over the years. Our solution has been to collect everything in storehouses like this one, from our journeys across the many worlds.”

  “It’s incredible,” Caisa said, her eyes glittering as she studied the illuminated gems and jewelry floating around her. “We would need ages to sort through all of it.”

  Mara glanced at Talis, who was studying the Surineda Map. “Have you found something?”

  “A hammer for Nikulo… it’s interesting.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, I asked if it is cursed, and the point on the map changed colors from purple to green, and back again. I’m not sure what it means.”

  “I guess I’ll continue searching,” said Nikulo. “I do need a weapon.”

  “Hmm.” Caisa studied him for a moment. “And you’ll need armor as well. Unfortunately I can’t advise you on which one to choose, one that fits your girth, I suppose.”

  Nikulo nodded and headed off, and whispered to Talis, “Which way is the hammer?”

  “To the left. Here, follow me.”

  Soon they reached the edge of the room where a cluster of old, dull weapons and armor floated about. Talis plucked a medium-sized hammer from where it floated just above the floor. He studied the strange silver symbols etched along the edges set against the black metal. It gave off a faint silver glow.

  “This is yours, at least the map instructed me so.” Talis handed Nikulo the weapon.

  Nikulo looked pleased as he held it and swung it around a few times. “I like the weight and the balance. It’s a fine choice.” He paused a moment, his eyes widening. “There’s some strange, wild power inside. I can’t describe it. Though it makes me a bit wary.”