Dark Enlightening

by Shawnna Lea

  He pictured the last place he saw each of them in his mind and went toward the closest; Traz. He was actually easy to find with only a few rocks on top him. His head was bleeding a bit, and Whisper felt for a pulse in his neck. The pulse was strong, and he brushed the rocks off him, rolling him onto his back and propping up his feet. Hopefully, he'd wake up. He disliked the thought of carrying him.

  He moved then through the rocks the few yards till he was where he figured Avic went down. The man was a klutz, really. Couldn't keep his feet at the best of times. He dug around, calling for him without much hope. He moved to the remainder of the large stalactite that fell first and climbed up on it, looking around. It was still beautiful despite the destruction. He hopped down, almost blowing out his candle, and retraced Avic's steps. He ended at a large boulder and decided here was the spot. First, he moved some of the bigger rocks, then dug away the smaller pebbles. That's when he touched something soft.

  He paused, wondering if he really wanted to see it. He dealt in death all the time, but this was a friend. He didn't have many of those left. He had seen other friends die, of course, starved or beaten. But that had been long ago. Now, he wasn't so sure he wanted to see Avic's body.

  "Hello? Avic? Whisper?" A loud cough accompanied Traz's questions. "Are you here?" Whisper debated ignoring him, but with a sigh, knew he might need Traz's help with Avic. He jumped up on the large boulder to his left, looking over where he'd left him. Traz sighed in relief, stumbling to his feet and clutching his head. "For a moment, I thought I was alone. Where's Avic?" Whisper didn't bother speaking but jumped back down, hearing Traz stumbling and cursing through the mess.

  He started moving rocks again, uncovering Avic's lower back and part of his leg. Traz got there, almost falling on him, then swore and turned away. Whisper rolled his eyes and continued to move the rocks. A slab from one of the stalactites had broken off and lay across Avic's shoulder. This gave him a bit of hope as it may have protected his head. Or smashed it. One or the other.

  "Whisper." Now that he had started he wasn't going to stop till he knew if Avic were alive or dead. "Whisper! Look!" He looked up in annoyance and followed Traz's pointing finger farther down the wall. It was cracked, a piece of a stalactite having broken through the wall. Whisper stood, looking closer. There was a strange cloud of sorts, and he lifted the candle, letting the small light reflect around the room more. He couldn't say the crack was glowing, but it wasn't dark behind the wall either. It didn't seem to pose an immediate threat, and he bent back down to Avic.

  "Help me lift this."

  "Oh, yes, of course." Together they lifted the slab off him. Whisper sighed inwardly with relief. His head seemed intact. He felt his neck for a pulse. It was there but not very strong. He looked over Avic's body, half buried, and wondered what he should do.

  "I suppose we'll have to carry him." He looked up, hoping Traz would volunteer ,but Traz wasn't there. He looked quickly around, then jumped up to the boulder, looking toward the crack. Traz was there beside it, slowly reaching a hand out. Whisper tried to yell for him to stop, now sensing a hunger emanating from the area, but as usual, when he tried to be loud, nothing came out. Traz's hand went into the strange non-light, and the crack exploded outward.

  It was like the world suddenly lost gravity. Whisper grabbed hold of the boulder, his heart hammering as he felt pulled toward the strange crack. He watched Traz begin to dim and float in toward what he could only assume was the center of some strange magic. Then, he saw Avic floating that way past him. He hesitated. If he let go of the rock to catch his friend, they were both doomed, but if he held the rock, he was alone in a collapsed cavern in the middle of the mountain with who knew what. On the other hand, he might be able to grab hold of the wall and save them both. Traz had already disappeared through the crack.

  Whisper pushed off the boulder and kicked through the air like swimming in the canal. He snatched hold of Avic's hair just as the man touched the strange non-glow. He felt a shiver go through Avic's body, and he snatched at the rough wall. The damp made it difficult to get a grip, and the rough stone ripped at his fingers. He tried to brace himself with his feet, still holding Avic tightly. The pull became stronger, and he held tighter to the wall. His feet slipped, and his claws scraped along the stone loudly. He kicked and scrambled for another handhold. His foot slipped off the wall into the crack. He felt a jolt go through him, an intense heat flare up from his foot. He yowled silently, clutching the wall with all the strength his hand could give, Avic in his other. The fire burnt through him till it reached his eyes. The pain became unbearable, and he clung to one thought shutting everything else out.

  Just hold on.

  When he hit the ground, he groaned, rolling over. His head hummed, and he pressed his palms against his eyes. But his hearing was sharp as ever, and he picked up the sound of footsteps coming through the cavern. He rolled again, feeling Avic, and shook him, hoping he'd wake. The figure emerged from the crack before him, and he flattened himself, hiding the dagger in his fist.

  "None of that, Whisper. It's just me." His vision cleared a little more, and Traz stood there over them. Not that that made it any better. He never really trusted Traz. He walked past them, climbing easily onto a boulder amid the glowing, sparkling light from the discarded lamp. "I have just had an epiphany. Haha! I have more power than I ever thought possible! More power than that fool on capitol hill who looks down on the rest of us wizards! More power than all of them combined!" He turned toward Whisper with a crazed smile. "And they're going to know it! They'll all bow to me." Whisper licked his lips uncertainly.

  "You got knocked in the head good, Traz. You should calm down. Sit a spell. Something just happened, and I don't think--"

  "Shut your mouth." Whisper did so, an unpleasant memory surfacing. A time when he'd been at the mercy of another wizard. Terror raced through him, and he kicked back toward the wall as Traz leaped down in front of him. His fingers were nerveless as Traz took the dagger, feeling the edge with his thumb. He chuckled. "It would be a waste to dispose of you. You're far too rare. And I have no need for a familiar either. I'm powerful enough without you." He stood then, moving over Avic. Whisper couldn't move, he tried to fight through his fear finally thrusting himself forward and over Avic, shielding him from the dagger coming down. Pain shot through him as Traz grabbed his ears, lifting him, the dagger to his throat. All he could do was try to hold his weight off his ears as Traz laughed.

  “Alright, Whisper. I won't kill him. He may be useful yet. But I don't want him bothering me, so if you tell him what's happened here, not only will I kill him, but you'll regret it for a long while." He held him close to his face, his hot breath unpleasantly close. "I'll pluck every hair from you one by one and strangle you with them. Understand? Not one word."

  Whisper's ears hurt terribly, causing a headache that froze all the way down his spine. Then, he was on the ground, watching as the dark swirled around Traz. The wizard laughed and laughed until he was gone, his echo fading to silence. Whisper curled up, rubbing his ears and letting tears fall. No one was here to see, and it hurt enough he gave himself permission. After a while, when the pain had subsided, he crawled to Avic. A slight snore answered him, and he shook his head in wonder. He felt his pulse finding it strong again, but Avic was still unresponsive. He had no choice but to carry him out.

  It was a long haul. Whisper was not weak by any means, but Avic weighed more than he ever had wanted to carry. Stuffing the man through holes and dragging him through low tunnels made him sweat, and his muscles burned. He finally made it to the exit and breathed in the cool night air. It was nearing morning, the stars beginning to fade and the moon already gone. He curled up in the bushes letting sleep sweep over him. Maybe it was all just a nightmare.

  *****

  Whisper quit his story, standing to dust off the dirt from his pants.

  "That's how it happened."

  Avic stared over the rooftops where the sky fell in a thin ye
t steady stream. He knew little about magic, but he did know Traz. At least he had thought he did.

  Chapter 5

  Avic paced unhappily in Traz's room. Whisper's story made sense all the way. But then his stories always did. When they'd gotten back they'd eaten, and Whisper had sent him to bed. It was morning now, and he wasn't sure what to do. He had to do something, but how were they to find Traz? Whisper said he'd magiced off someplace, and how were they to track that?

  He decided two heads were better than one for this problem--even if one of those was Whisper's--and headed downstairs. The house was quiet and cool, aside from the noise of people outside heading out shopping. Whisper wasn't in the kitchen or the sitting room so he peeked in the shop. It too was empty. He sighed going back in the kitchen. Hopefully Whisper would come back. He had made the mistake of asking Whisper what a familiar was which he figured had something to do with Whisper's past considering his reaction. He had refused to say another word the whole meal and had sent him off to bed like he was a child.

  He was almost done eating their leftover noodles when the back door opened, Whisper coming in with a bag of groceries. He had on one of Traz's robes which swept the floor on him. But it looked comfortable.

  “I'm glad you came back. I was wondering if I had burnt my bridge last night." Whisper raised an eyebrow and emptied the bag of fruits and vegetables, bread and eggs. He crunched into an apple sitting down. Avic chewed his lip for a moment deciding now was as good a time as any.

  "So, what are we going to do now?" Whisper tossed the apple core across the kitchen into the open stove and shrugged.

  "Lots of people are evacuating. They figure that goop is going to spread. It probably will."

  "Whisper, we have to stop him."

  "Don't know how you're going to do that when you don't know where he is." He tore the stem off a strawberry, and Avic wondered where he got the money for all this.

  "If he wants the world to bow to him he'll have to send a message somehow. Ransom the city, or the world, or whatever. Someone has to know where he is. I bet the king knows. I bet that's why they were trying to figure something out from me. So they could use it against him!" Whisper blinked at him expressionless.

  "Are you considering turning yourself in again? Because that smells like a rotten plan." He scowled at Whisper, plucking a strawberry stem himself.

  "No. But maybe make a deal or something. We tell them what happened and--"

  "I'm not going anywhere near the courts unless it's to kill someone. You don't want to talk to a corpse. They don't have much to say."

  "But--"

  "They're not going to listen to you anyway. They think they know so much no one else could know anything."

  "We could try!"

  "And fail."

  "Well, we can't just sit here." Whisper stuffed some bread in his mouth, smiling. "No, we can't! It's part our fault this happened. We have to help." Whisper sighed, looking up at the ceiling and tapping his fingers. Avic sat watching and holding his breath. Whisper was working on something. Hopefully it wasn't just a plan to leave the city. Whisper stood, snatching up an apple and pulling on the crisp blue jacket and feathered hat.

  "Stay here. I'll be back tonight." He paused at the door, looking back. "Probably." Avic sighed as the door shut. Of course, he wouldn't clue him in on anything. It was going to be a long day.

  Whisper walked confidently down the street through the crowds. This was a crazy plan. Absolutely stupid. He was going to get himself caught by some arrogant magic user and he'd be miserable again, just a tool to be used and-- He cut his own thought off. It was no good thinking that way. He'd end up making it happen. Instead, he planned out his next move. First, he had to find the perfect specimen. He didn't want anyone too powerful but not too downtrodden either. Someone happy with their life.

  Whisper knew just about every witch and wizard in the city, though none of them knew him. So, he knew which ones he would look in on. He also knew many of them had already seen Avic. He didn't want one of them. That left only a handful in the city, most of which were on the border between lower and middle class.

  All day he wandered around the city, watching wizards’ and witches’ homes and families. Most of them were either busy in their little spell shops selling protection charms or at home helping their families pack. A few didn't have families, but they dealt in shadier magic. He crossed those few off the list. He needed someone with a bit more honor than that. Soon he found himself in the Lower City watching wizards watching the sky leak. Some few were stupid enough to touch the goop, losing fingertips. He crossed those off his list. He hated their curiosity.

  His own eyes were drawn to the falling sky. The goop had completely demolished the building it had fallen on and had begun to create a hole into the earth. He turned away from it all, heading back to his own bridge.

  Even the smugglers were busy today, carting people across the canal instead of goods. Those people probably had to spend their life savings on that ride, and when they got to the other side they would find it was just as bad. The canal got wider at one point, and this was where the assassins generally crossed when they weren't on a mission or had time to prepare for the crossing. He rolled up his pants holding his boots and began to walk. Under the surface about a foot was an old pipe which some industrious assassin had wrapped in rough coverings to make it less slippery. It went all the way across the canal, and there were no soldiers to ask questions or thugs to demand a toll. Only the chance of getting eaten by some of the large fish that liked the area. But that hadn't happened in years.

  It was nearing nightfall when he made his decision, stopping across the street from a small dwelling. They were getting ready to leave the city, packing their few possessions that morning. It was a good choice. The witch was less than successful, a healer, and her small family was happy with that. Whisper looked through the window, watching the three young children make a mess while she and her husband talked and laughed. A happy little family despite the uncertainty of tomorrow. They would be in line to leave all day unless they had spent the coin to secure a priority pass. And those were pricy.

  He waited till it was dark and they were about to go to bed then tapped on the window. The couple looked around, heading toward the door. He tapped again. The man cautiously opened the window and scowled at him.

  "Most people would use a door. Can I help you?" Whisper smiled one of his most charming smiles.

  "I hope SHE can. And I hope I can help you." He leaned on the window sill, putting his chin in his hand calmly. The witch was giving him that curious look. He had to feed her something quick to distract her. "How would you like to earn some gold AND possibly help save the world?"

  The man glanced back at his wife and she came to the window.

  "I'm listening."

  Chapter 6

  The door rattled and opened, admitting a small woman. She had on a deep purple robe and carried a stick. Perhaps a friend of Traz's in which case she wouldn't be happy he was here. Avic jumped up ready for a quick exit before seeing Whisper enter behind her. He sighed in relief.

  "Well, I hope she isn't here under fear for her life." The witch got a confused look then shrugged.

  "No more than anyone I suppose." Whisper slid around her, heading toward the food.

  "She's here to hear your story and take that to the king." He nibbled a roll leaning against the cupboard. "Maybe the king will swap information. She's a lame witch, but maybe she'll do." The witch shifted a bit uncomfortably.

  "Kantro! That isn't a very kind thing to say about someone offering to help!" His friend’s alias slipped off his tongue easily.

  "What? What did I say?" Avic scowled, lowering his voice, knowing it was no good.

  "Even if someone isn't good at their job it's unpolitical to say so!" Whisper had a look that said he thought he was crazy and bit a chunk off the roll. The witch cleared her throat.

  "Um, I think he was just making an observation..." She raised h
er stick which now Avic realized was a cane. "Messed up my knee. It's alright. I get those comments all the time." Avic felt his cheeks burning, and it didn't help when Whisper started sniggering.

  "Won't you sit?" The woman nodded, taking a chair as Avic sent a glare toward Whisper.

  "I am Sylvia Sage. Apprentice healer and witch, second class." Whisper gave a short laugh.

  "Third class. Maybe." Sylvia scowled then sighed.

  "Alright alright, third class! Now, Kantro didn't tell me much but enough I'd like to help. So. What's the story? Who's behind the sky falling other than you?"

  "I... I have nothing to do with it! Well, I mean maybe a little, I guess, but certainly not on purpose! In fact, I was unconscious." She didn't look like she believed him.

  "Uh huh. Alright. We'll start at the beginning, then. Don't leave anything out. It might be important." Avic sighed. A long day followed by a long night. When he finished, Sylvia stared at him long and hard, shaking her head.

  "I just can't believe it. Traz? He has everything! A popular shop, a reputation as a great wizard, high class friends... why would anyone with all this?" She gestured to the shop and home standing up and walking around the table."Want anything more?"

  "Beats me." Whisper tossed yet another apple core into the stove which sizzled in the coals. Avic shrugged.

  "Those are the facts. It's all we know. If I could find Traz I could maybe talk some sense into him. That's why we need someone to ask the king if he's gotten any ransom message or anything."

  "Why don't you just explain this to the king yourself?"

  "Avic didn't enjoy his stint in the dungeon, that's why." Avic scowled at his friend before looking back to the witch.