The Sorcerer's Abyss (The Sorcerer's Path)

by Brock Deskins

  Ellyssa stared into Captain Jake's face and her blood boiled. She dropped her plate of food, grabbed the wrist of the offending hand, and tore madly at the Source. Ellyssa poured white-hot electrical fire into the man's arm. Other patrons cried out and leapt away in fear as Brad screamed in anguish, helpless to do anything as the smell of burnt flesh and hair filled the room.

  "Witch!" a man cried out and tried to pull the wild-eyed girl off Brad before she killed him. "Let him go!"

  Ellyssa turned and faced the man grabbing at her and saw Sonjay's big, black face twisted in anger, ready to lash her with his whip once again. A scream tore from Ellyssa's throat, drowning out the hoarse wailing of the tortured man now falling from his chair. Outside, passersby stopped and stared at the front of the diner from where those horrible screams emanated.

  The walls exploded outward, blasted the onlookers from their feet, and pelted them with splinters and planks of wood. The entire roof caved in and crashed down with a billowing cloud of dust. Even as the astonished spectators struggled to their feet, a second explosion turned a portion of the roof into splinters and shards of clay tiles and sent them arcing hundreds of feet over the tops of the neighboring buildings.

  Like a demon emerging from the shadowy recesses of the abyss, Ellyssa burst from the cloud of dust, skidded across the loose pieces of wreckage, and sprinted down the street. She made a mindless dash through the city, fueling her body by drawing in the Source and feeding it directly to her muscles. It was something briefly talked about in class, but warned it was a very dangerous practice to use. It was very easy to push oneself so hard the heart gave out and literally burst in the chest.

  Ellyssa did not care and would not even if she were of a mind to form such a rational thought. Her terrified mind put her in full flight with no energy spared for any other kind of thought or reason. She rounded a corner and found her way blocked by a large wagon laden with cargo. With a cry of fury, Ellyssa hurled the Source at the unfortunate conveyance and blasted it to pieces, sending bits of it and its cargo flying in all directions.

  On she ran through the city, out the gates, and up the road to her home. Ellyssa made the ninety-minute walk into a twenty-minute sprint. By the time she reached the safety of the tower, she was certain her heart was going to explode and almost welcomed the freedom it would bring, freedom from the fear, uncertainty, and shame, which defined the majority of her life.

  Ellyssa staggered drunkenly up the stairs, snatched the blanket from the top of her bed, and wedged herself in the small space between her wardrobe and the wall next to it. She collapsed into the corner nook and huddled under her blanket, trembling. This was the worst day of her life since she had been captured. All those horrible memories had come flooding back. The feeling of weakness and helplessness drove her to the brink of insanity. Just before exhaustion pulled her into the numbing folds of unconsciousness, Ellyssa wondered how much more it would take to push her forever over that edge.

  A soft rapping on her door startled her awake. Ellyssa peered over the top of the blanket and saw only blackness through the small window of her room. The rapping sounded again, this time followed by Allister's soft, rumbling voice.

  "Ellyssa, it's me, Allister. May I come in?"

  When Ellyssa did not answer, the old mage slowly pushed open the door and stuck his head inside. He spotted the huddled lump of blanket in the corner. Allister entered the room fully and touched the dimly glowing glass globe on the wall, filling the room with soft, white light.

  "Ah, there you are. Are you all right?" Ellyssa's only response was to bury herself deeper into the blanket and try to meld into the wall by sheer force of will. "A lot of people were hurt today."

  "Did anyone die?" The muffled question came from under the blanket.

  "No, thankfully, although that in itself is a miracle," Allister answered. "The man will lose the arm."

  "No remorse," Ellyssa whispered, almost hypnotically.

  "What was that?"

  Ellyssa pulled the blanket down and looked at the kindly old wizard. "He should not have grabbed me."

  Allister shook his head. "No. No, he should not have, but you must learn to control yourself. I know you hurt, and I know you were scared, but you must conquer the fear and the pain. You have an amazing amount of power within you, and you have yet to tap your full potential. Your studies have been going extremely well, but I fear you are becoming too isolated. It is not good for people to be alone with their own thoughts for too long. The mind has a remarkable ability to confuse and trap us within its ramblings. It is then we do something foolish."

  "No one else wants me around. They all blame me and hate me."

  "That's not true, Ellyssa."

  "Yes it is!" Ellyssa shouted. "I see it every time they look at me. Especially Miranda. She tries to hide it. She's too nice not to try, but it's still there. Especially when Daebian is around. I look at him and I imagine him riding on Azerick's shoulders around the school, but I know it will never happen because of me, and it hurts so much! It's all I can do to lose myself in my studies. It's the only way I can stop thinking about it, to ignore the pain."

  Allister let out a sigh. "Oh, child, you must not ignore it. Pain cannot be ignored. It will only come back, often at the most inopportune time. Like yesterday and today. You must face it, accept it, and move past it. If you do not, then you become a slave to it. Remember what I told you. Be strong for Azerick. It is what he would want, and hiding from the unpleasant is not what a strong person does."

  Ellyssa bobbed her head in understanding. Allister patted her on the knee and left her alone. Ellyssa’s stomach growled angrily, reminding her she had eaten next to nothing all day. She eventually mustered the strength to shed the blanket providing a rather flimsy shield from the world outside her bedroom and quietly snuck downstairs.

  The lower level was empty with the exception of the hideously ugly dog, Lord Crowley, who lay as always in front of the fireplace despite no fire burning on this moderate night. Ellyssa made it to the kitchens uninterrupted and scavenged through the cupboards and pantry for something to eat. Mission accomplished, she began to make her way back upstairs where her bed demanded her undivided attention.

  As Ellyssa passed the open stairwell leading down to Azerick's laboratory, she paused and looked down the stairs. "Hello? Is someone in the lab?"

  When no answer was forthcoming, Ellyssa cautiously crept down the stairs, trailing a nervous hand along the wall as she descended. When she reached the bottom, she found the heavy, steel door firmly shut. Having permission to use the laboratory, it opened with the touch of her hand. Inside, it was dark and felt empty. Touching the magical globe on the wall confirmed it when the orb, along with several others attached all along the walls, flared into a bright light and illuminated the entire chamber.

  Ellyssa took one more look around, letting her eyes pause at the thick tome resting on a tall podium like an orchestra conductor's sheet musicif his stack of music was six inches thick. With a shrug of her shoulders, Ellyssa doused the lights and retired to her room.

  ***

  The seven heads of The Magus Academy convened in the massive, dark, and austere Hall of Judgment. It was a vast chamber with seven cathedral-style pointed arches supporting the granite roof thirty feet overhead. The seven Magus Academy councilors occupied throne-like seats of the same rigid and unyielding stone from atop a long dais ten feet above the hall floor.

  Beyond that, the room was practically bare, bereft of art or furnishings except for a few rows of backless benches. The hall was the central point of all major decision-making for The Academy. Everything from Academy rules to legal inquisitions were debated and decided here. All seven council seats were occupied, each an archmage of The Academy wearing formal robes. Several members of The Academy stood in front of or sat upon the stone benches below as the council members took their seats.

  "Magus Robert Harvey," Headmaster Florent called down to the man standing below, "you have
requested this emergency convening of the council. What is it you feel necessitates our immediate attention?"

  A man in his mid-forties, of average build, and the thin line of a black beard took a step forward from the few others in attendance. "Headmaster, esteemed council members; an associate of mine has sent me word of an event which has occurred in North Haven, and I believe it requires the immediate attention of The Academy."

  "What is this event, Magus?"

  "Several days ago, a young woman believed to be a member of the Orphan's Academy, as the locals call it, used magic in a populated eating establishment resulting in numerous severe injuries, the destruction of the building, and damage to several nearby structures. I feel this so-called school has operated for far too long without being under the auspices of The Academy. I have voiced my opinion before regarding this renegade school of magic and the dangers its teaching of unregulated magic poses."

  Headmaster Florent's lips compressed into a thin line of disapproval. "Yes, you have made your concerns clear in the past. Do we know for certain the wizard belongs to this school?"

  "I do not have that level of detailed information at this time, Headmaster, but if you give me leave to conduct an investigation so we can bring this renegade wizard to heel, I will certainly get it. Then, with that information in hand, I will recommend the unlawful school either falls under the control of The Academy or is permanently shut down."

  "Magus Harvey, may I remind you this school is now being run by two of The Academy's most esteemed archmages and a wizard-level Academy graduate?"

  "I appreciate the fact, and only that fact keeps me from filing a formal petition to have the school shut down immediately. The argument remains that a renegade whose teaching doctrine does not follow Academy guidelines, moral standards, or rigid attendance requirements founded it. This may be the biggest disaster created by one of their poorly trained students of magic thus far, but it is far from an isolated event. If the school does not fall under full Academy oversight, I feel this is just the beginning. We may soon be facing numerous renegades of substantial power with little to no discipline. We must act before another tragedy occurs."

  "Do we know the identity of the mage in question?" Headmaster Florent asked.

  "I do not have that information at this time, but she is described as a young woman of an age between sixteen and twenty years of age. If the council would grant me a writ of inquisition, I am certain I can find out very quickly."

  A fit man in his late forties or early fifties stood up and addressed the council. "Before you go and do something irrevocably stupid, I can tell you who it was."

  "Ambassador Sabaht, you know the identity of the woman?" the Headmaster asked.

  "I do." Devlin, Azerick's former master, turned his eyes toward Magus Harvey. "I too have associates who pass important information to me, and it would seem they do a significantly better job. The mage is Ellyssa Jensen, and she is hardly a woman, but a girl who only recently turned fourteen. She was Sorcerer Azerick's ward and apprentice."

  Magus Harvey sneered. "Well, that certainly explains a great deal. It hardly comes as a surprise a renegade would beget a renegade. This only proves my point of the practices being taught in North Haven is a very real danger to the kingdom and should be stopped immediately. Need I remind the council this was the same man who murdered the former Headmaster?"

  "Headmaster Dondrian was involved in a scheme to overthrow King Jarvin, which goes against the strict laws of Academy neutrality," Devlin pointed out.

  "A fact that only came to light after he killed Dondrian. He also took Academy wizards to End's Run in the support of King Jarvin, thus breaking the law of neutrality himself!" Magus Harvey countered.

  "A law Azerick is not beholden to since he never made it to the level required to take the oaths of an official member of The Academy. It could be argued he acted as his oaths to the King required by his station as the future Duke of North Haven. Magus Allister and Magus Cossington's involvement can be attributed to dealing with the near-disastrous necromantic summoning in the region."

  "You again make my point, Ambassador! Azerick is a runaway from The Academy, after murdering a fellow student, who then continued to practice magic without Academy training or oversight. He then founded a school teaching the lowest members of society in the same manner; a manner resulting in severe injury and loss of property."

  "Enough," Headmaster Florent called down as Devlin was about to make another retort. "Ambassador, you seem to know more about the particulars of what happened. What can you tell us of this event?"

  Devlin shot a final glare at the wizard next to him before he responded. "Ellyssa was taken by slavers nearly a year and a half ago. She was then sold to the Vila of Bakhtaran, a rogue province in Sumara. Vila Mushadan had been recruiting and enslaving spell casters for years. Those he obtained unwillingly were mercilessly tortured as part of their training and breaking. A man in the destroyed establishment grabbed Ms. Jensen, and I believe she suffered an episode of some sort. In a state of panic, she used her magic against what she perceived as a threat. This is not a case of a renegade wizard, but the reaction of a terrified child."

  "Headmaster, this is all irrelevant! If the girl is emotionally unbalanced, then all the more reason to bring her in before she commits even worse crimes."

  "I have heard enough," the Headmaster declared. "Council, what say you in this matter?"

  Magus Dorothy Sorenson, an elder wizard spoke up. "I believe Magus Harvey's points are valid. Regardless of the circumstances, this school is producing mages of respectable power without proper safeguards and oversight. I think we have humored its existence for far too long. It is time to rein it in."

  "I think we should take something of a diplomatic approach," Magus Morgarum, the cherubic alchemy instructor replied. "Let us not forget Sorcerer Azerick was not only married to the Duchess of North Haven's daughter, but was a friend of the King as well. This school of theirs has had a very important impact upon the city, and we do not wish to alienate some very notable people by acting abruptly."

  The other four councilors were evenly split between taking immediate action to either shut the school down or bring it under the direct auspices of The Academy, and simply opening a line of dialog. It came to the Headmaster to break the stalemate.

  "Magus Harvey, I will grant you leave to perform a cursory investigation and to speak with the heads of this Orphan's Academy so we may gauge the curriculum and safeguards they have in place. This is not an inquisition. This is a fact-finding and discourse mission only. Do I make myself clear?"

  "Of course, Headmaster. I have no doubt that when I return I will have no problem convincing the entire council that allowing this sort of unauthorized teaching of magic is a serious danger."

  "I hope you will try to keep an open mind, Magus," Headmaster Florent suggested. "You will take Magus Brown and Parkes with you."

  "Yes, Headmaster."

  The seated assembly stood as the council members shuffled out of the room. Once the senior mages cleared the chamber, Devlin turned to Magus Harvey.

  "Have you ever been tortured, Magus Harvey?" Devlin asked. "Have you ever been made to feel helpless as someone stripped away all your power and dignity?"

  The wizard set his jaw as he replied. "I hardly see the relevance."

  "I spent very little time with the girl, but I like to think I do know her master. If you screw this up, you might just find out."

  ***

  "M-master Allister," Simon stammered, "there are some, ah, um, people here to, ah, see you."

  Allister was sitting in the large living area of the old tower, taking advantage of the solitude to read. Rusty and Colleen were out with the twins on a picnic, which left only Simon, Theresa, Jansen, and Ellyssa. Jansen was out on the drill grounds, Ellyssa was rarely seen and was certainly off practicing somewhere, and Simon and Theresa were practically invisible unless something was needed. Like now.

  Allister set h
is book on the table next to him and stood up. "Show them in if you would, Simon."