Hollows of the Nox

by Matthew E Nordin

  Eldritch nodded slowly and turned to Grinley. “I wanted to find you―”

  “Well, I must be off.” Grinley interrupted. “Ben can show you some more tricks if you like.”

  “Do you have a moment?” Eldritch asked as Grinley began to leave. “I need to ask you. The girl from the bookshop in Raikrune, Sayeh. Have you seen her wandering here in Caetheal?”

  Grinley didn’t stop or acknowledge that he heard him.

  Eldritch glanced at Ben. It was unlikely he would know anything about Sayeh or Raikrune unless Grinley told him.

  “She who wanders in your mind does not wander here,” Ben said.

  “What did he say about her?” Eldritch stepped closer to whisper. “I understand your language. Please, tell me.”

  Ben nodded to all the people meandering around them. He motioned for Eldritch to follow.

  “Sayeh, as she is called, has been mentioned in passing but she is a distraction from your teachings,” Ben said once they were farther from the crowd. “You must focus your mind on what is before you. Leave what is past to your memories. Do not try bringing such things with you. Especially through magic. Dark forces corrode the memory and your mind.”

  “I cannot forget her completely. I promised to return for her once I am strong enough to take her from that place. Unfortunately, most of what I had learned was stolen when I arrived.” Eldritch sighed. “You don’t know a way of restoring something that was lost to its owner do you?”

  “That which was learned always remains with you. Hidden in the secret rooms of your mind. Once unlocked, all becomes clear. Paths are found when returning to the source.”

  Ben’s words sounded familiar. Like the voice that called to Eldritch from the dark book.

  He squinted at Ben’s face, checking to see any hints of the fairy or elven races. A simple human face like his own stared back with a puzzled expression. Nothing extraordinary except his speech.

  “There are many things I know, and few who try to understand,” Ben continued. “I do not know where they all come from, only that they are and can be.”

  “Teach me, I want to learn.” Eldritch stepped closer to Ben, eager to take in whatever knowledge he possessed.

  “All flows around, all is here, all will obey when your mind is clear.” Ben tapped Eldritch’s forehead. “Clear yourself of her thoughts.”

  Ben stepped back and muttered the phrase which engulfed his body in fire. He appeared like an ember, glowing brightly and spewing out flames.

  Eldritch tried to repeat the spell. The flames flicked out wildly without control. It surprised him how Ben had such precision with them.

  “How did you do it with such restraint and focus?” Eldritch had to know after both of their spells fizzled away.

  “Breathe.” Ben motioned in and out with his hands from his nose. “All is in your breath. You do not breathe right. The magic must flow as steady as the stream inside of you. Let the energy flow into you and out from you. You become part of the spell, in harmony with the elements. It will bend as you desire. Breathe first and control throughout.”

  Eldritch focused deeper into the spell and on his breathing. His eyes fogged over like panes of glass. His mind looked out from beyond them, reaching into the atmosphere and borrowing the energy he needed for the spell. He would return what he took from the elements when he finished.

  Although not as refined as Ben’s, the flames stayed tight to his body. A sense of wonder filled his chest. True power. Yet he did not feel any heat coming from the fire so there was no telling if it could harm anything.

  He let the flames fall on a nearby plant. They licked around the green leaves, leaving no mark. An illusion.

  The flames flashed around Eldritch as he gritted his teeth. He needed more of the energy in the air. This time he wouldn’t promise to return it. It belonged to him.

  “You must not let the magic cause destruction.” Ben stepped between him and the plant. “It destroys you here.” He tapped the temple on his head. “Do not test me on this, trust me.”

  Eldritch clenched his fist and returned the flames to the place they had been formed. He stared into Ben’s worried eyes. That must be how Ben’s speech became like gibberish to others. He probably dabbled in more destructive conjuring before meeting Grinley. Those dark spells must remain in the hidden rooms of his mind.

  If Eldritch could somehow see into Ben's mind, he could unlock the power holding the elements together, becoming unstoppable. He had read of spells allowing casters to step into the minds of others for information and to control another’s will. But those stories ended in madness, more so than Ben’s poor soul.

  “Can you teach me more of the spells you know?” Eldritch had to keep his own thoughts focused. Ben might have abilities to discern his true motives. “I would like to spend as much time learning today as you will allow. This time, I will listen before I act.”

  For the rest of the day, he would listen. The call to act waited in the pages he feared to open again. With enough time, the fear would pass, and he would understand the knowledge locked inside.

  Chapter Ten

  The black book of the dark fae called to Eldritch as he slept. He began to dream that he pulled it open and stared at it for hours. In his dream, he left his room and descended the tavern steps. Crossing over to the bar, he saw the barkeeper’s face.

  His eyes looked otherworldly, like a deep sea or the night sky when the moon is full. They were enlarged and slanted inward. His other features resembled the long cheekbones of a horse with thin lips.

  Eldritch held the book open, and the barkeep’s face curved down into a fierce glare. The man continued to shake his head as the roots of the cover wrapped around Eldritch’s hands and gripped his fingers, growing into him.

  The book led him out of the tavern and into the night, down alleys and hidden pathways he had not known were there. It took him to a stable with a set of cellar doors behind it. He felt the roots crawling over his arms and pushing through the door.

  He was falling, through the wooden slabs.

  He found himself face to face with one of the thieves who had stolen his belongings, guarding the door.

  The guard turned to call the others, but Eldritch caught him first. Tendrils of dark webs spun from the tips of his fingers and entered into the man. They curled into his veins, turning his skin darker. The man’s face twisted to a horrific expression and he sunk to the ground as if being hoisted down by invisible ropes.

  Eldritch slipped into the other room. He could catch glimpses into the minds of those around the table. All had images of dice, money, and the women they encountered. None showed any sign of knowing he entered.

  Their thoughts swirled in confusion as the candles snuffed out. Some stood to flee. Anyone who came near Eldritch met the same fate as the guard, shadowy tendrils attacking on instinct.

  The leader stumbled in the darkness. His face twitched at every sound. He could not hear Eldritch coming for him.

  “Who’s there?” The leader brandished his sword. The metal scabbard made the blade ring into the room.

  “Show yourself, coward!”

  Eldritch grabbed the end of the sword. The black vines of the book stopped the edge from piercing his skin.

  “Please, no,” the leader cried. “What are you?”

  “I am Eldritch,” his voice resounded with the voice from the book and it shook the room.

  The leader screamed in pain as the vines twisted from the blade to his arm. It did not pierce him like the others but choked him in layers of dark threads. The book fell from Eldritch’s grasp and landed at the leader’s feet. Muffled shrieks filled the room while the tendrils pulled the man into the pages, trapping him within the words.

  The tendrils protruded from Eldritch’s fingers, and the book pulled itself back into his hands. The words swirled into a black mass that encased his vision, an eternal hole into nothing. It said something to him, but it passed through his mind like a distant wave. Lik
e a symphony of moans and influxes of sound. It was that voice. The voice that spoke to him in the bookshop.

  ~ ~ ~

  Eldritch awoke from the dream as a chill ran over him. He cowered under his blanket, wet from sweat. His eyes stung from the light entering his room. Rubbing them made it worse.

  It was not sweat. Blood.

  He tossed off the covers and jumped from his bed. His once stolen cloak fell to the ground beside him. Eldritch shook his head. The voices. That book. It controlled him.

  “It wasn’t me,” he said to himself. “I didn’t do this.”

  He couldn’t let the destruction Ben warned him about happen. Yet, the power surging through his mind made him shiver from the taste of invincibility. He picked up the cloak and pulled it over his shoulders. A book fell from the folds of cloth. His herbal book.

  “At least it brought me what I needed. Perhaps it wasn’t as bad as I dreamed.”

  His bag of items was strung out on the table in his room, splattered with blood. He flipped through his herbal book to gather the ingredients for his sleep patterns and opened the case of spells.

  He chuckled to himself. Once again he possessed the spell that would keep his mind from being taken over. No more illusions or deceptions. The dark book may have controlled him, but that was the last time. He could finally decide for himself if he would follow the voice or not.

  He cast the spell to lock his mind and opened the book of the dark fae, ready to unlock its secrets.

  The more he studied the book, the more its words would shift and change, if one could consider them words. The book itself possessed no life as he once imagined, it was the words that came to life when spoken. Each word having its own will, like a civilization trapped from the real world.

  A myriad of questions filled him. What had locked them there? Was the book an ancient prison? Did the voices want him to release the words? If so, what else would he release with them?

  He needed to find answers and wandered down into the tavern full of people getting ready for the noon show. A rush of anxiety filled Eldritch’s stomach. He had never seen the place so packed.

  His friends were alone at a table near the side of the stage.

  “Suit yourself you crazy conjurer,” Grinley said to Ben and gulped down the drink in front of him. “I told you, there’s nothing strange in these drinks.”

  He stopped and turned to Eldritch as Ben pointed him out.

  “That’s a nice look for you,” Grinley said scooting his chair over to Ben. “Where did you acquire such an enchanted cloak?”

  “I happened upon it in the alley.” Eldritch pulled out a chair across from them and sat with his head down. “It was in a pile of trash. I guess they didn’t want to keep it.”

  “Strange item to toss out.” Grinley pulled his hair back and grinned. “Probably one of those purists. Wasteful lot those are. They believe enchantments should be used on flesh and not items. Of course, Ben might be one of them. Not a lick of magical items on him.”

  “I’ve been meaning to ask you, Grinley, what sorts of spells do you use? You know of many magics, but I have not seen you perform any, save for the disguise spell.”

  “Aye, lad. And that you probably never will.” Grinley winked. “I use the hidden arts. None will see them if I perform them well enough. Besides, you might be disappointed if I told you half of the crowd really wasn’t there. They are suggested in everyone’s minds to make them think we have a full house. I could have an entire imaginative army attack this town and people would run in terror of being overwhelmed.” Grinley paused and slapped his knee. “Course I never would, lad. Don’t look so concerned.”

  Eldritch realized his mouth hung open with the possibility of putting images into someone’s mind. He closed it and smiled.

  “I was hoping to learn some new things for the show.” He looked at Ben who was being unusually quiet.

  “No need for a performance today, lad. You’ll see why in a moment.” Grinley got up and stood on his chair. “Ladies, gentlemen, and all those gathered in between. We have a great show lined up for you. However―” He jumped down and ran up onto the stage. “Due to the special guest who arrived to grace us with their presence, all other acts will be canceled.”

  Eldritch shot him a glare. The abrupt change of schedule couldn’t have come at a worse moment. With his cloak and other spells restored, his performance would have been nothing short of spectacular.

  He scanned the room to see which face did not belong. All looked like the typical patrons from previous nights, except fewer since he had cast a spell to block his mind from Grinley’s illusion.

  An intense presence of energy filled the air. He would have missed her if not for a glimpse in the corner of his eye near the bar. She whispered to the bartender who managed to keep his face out of view with a hood pulled over his head.

  Freckles sparkled around the girl’s nose like glitter falling from her reddish hair. Her hair color was unlike any other red Eldritch had seen. It shifted between hues of yellow, brown, and crimson, like a harvest tree.

  The more Eldritch stared, the less human she appeared. He felt exposed, unworthy of her captivating beauty.

  In one fluid gesture, she bowed and delicately waved for Grinley to continue.

  “Before we get started, I want to make sure everyone is ready for the main event,” he said. “The fae can do things to your mind you would not believe possible until it happens. Let’s get some music playing, shall we?”

  Grinley lifted his hands in the air and began to mimic a violin being played.

  The spell to block his magic must have kept Eldritch from hearing the notes from Grinley’s spell. He could feel the vibrations in the air. The others swayed with the sound.

  Such a performance needed to be fully experienced. Eldritch opened his mind again. The hazy music fluctuated in differing volumes. The stage filled with semi-transparent figures playing unique instruments.

  Eldritch joined the applause when the fae approached the stage. Her feet did not touch the ground as translucent wings carried her above it. She floated up the platform and bowed again.

  Grinley stepped away. The illusionary performers vanished. The fairy stood alone on the stage, captivating the entire tavern.

  Her lips parted, and a pitch beyond anything Eldritch had experienced resounded through the room. The notes flowed in patterns, lulling him into a peaceful state. She sang into his soul. He could have listened to her voice forever.

  The entire performance exploded into a display of lights floating around her. The atmosphere seemed to bend and sway with her melodies. Time matched the perfect harmony as it stopped in that eternal moment.

  It wasn’t until the crowds dispersed and the fairy had gone back toward the bar when Eldritch regained control of his thoughts. Her melodies resonated within him. He gathered the courage to approach her, yet the closer to the bar he walked, the more she slipped from his sight.

  He caught glimpses of her floating in and out of reality. And then, she was gone.

  “Did you see where she went?” Eldritch asked Grinley who followed close behind him. “It’s like she wasn’t here at all, but something inside me feels like she never left.”

  “They will never leave you once they get inside your mind.” Grinley rested a hand on his shoulder. “They fade between worlds. That’s why it’s hard to understand where they are or not. I never know when one is going to be at the tavern. They suddenly show up and then disappear, but do bring a lot of tips to the tavern.”

  “Honestly, I couldn’t focus on anything but her, even with my abilities.”

  “You finally had your first glimpse of true magic, lad. The fae have more secrets than I could ever learn. In fact, no one has been able to get to close to them in quite some time. They stay hidden in their forest, which is why I came here.”

  Eldritch nodded but no longer cared for his conversation. He no longer cared for anything else.

  The otherworldly lure
of the fairy's voice lingered in his heart. It followed him as he wandered upstairs. He had to find her again―to enter the forest somehow. He looked down at the tree on the cover of the book.

  “How am I to find her?” he muttered to it. “If she is too elusive for me not to see her clearly, how is the entrance to the forest ever to be seen?”

  She must have allowed herself to be seen, to let others hear her melody.

  “Am I to follow the song?”

  The roots of the cover stretched themselves from the spine and pages. It extended and retracted as a spider’s legs pumping blood through its limbs. It crawled to Eldritch’s feet and formed more roots that lifted the pages up to him.

  He stooped over it, tapping on the edges.

  “You know, don’t you? You know how to get inside. Of course, you would. You’re from there.”

  The roots peeled through its pages. Words transformed into lines and shapes. The lines connected precisely where they would have been on the map he found in the cellar. A small spot of light illuminated a crossing of lines as if a flame had been held underneath. Smoke trailed steadily from the mark singed into the page.

  A smile crossed Eldritch’s lips, and he whispered “thank you” to the book.

  The fairy’s song resounded in his mind as it too beaconed him to enter the forest. He wouldn’t turn back this time. Too far had he traveled, and he would soon reap the reward for his persistence.

  Chapter Eleven

  Eldritch ran through the stretch of ash trees that rose intermittently between Caetheal and the fairy forest. He no longer needed to take the main road. The cloak helped him travel between one shadow to the next, blending through them without a sound. The closer to the forest, the louder the fairy's song grew in his mind.

  The air around him lifted his body higher as he commanded it to levitate him above the field’s defenses. Fear replaced his determination, and he wavered. The orb of air fell causing him to tip forward. He instinctively flailed his hands out which broke the spell.

  “Rise around me,” he commanded.