24: Morningstar Makes a Move

"Is it really that bad to welcome us in such a way?" Liran calmly asked as she followed Grayman through unmarked dark stone corridors.

He paused and stared at her hip pocket, seeing faint traces of soul magic stirring within.

"It is. I don't know how it came to you, but its existence is a great threat to life."

Nothing more was said as they walked to the end doors.

Grayman waved a glowing hand with a flourish to activate the open spell.

They stepped into a great dark stone hall, which rose as high as the eye could see and every bit of surface had silver etched rune patterns.

Liran felt tingles from mild energy interaction. Her blood code was resonating with the room's properties in a pleasant way.

Grayman stopped before the square floor containing a hexagon rune pattern. At strategic corners stood seven gray robed wizards with grayish hair. Some had beards and looked older than Grayman; others appeared youthful as children or young adults. Of course, Liran knew better than to mistake them as such.

"Grandmaster Graylight, thank you for seeing her." Grayman bowed.

Graylight was one of the younger looking men with fierce gray eyes, rough cut short hair, unnaturally smooth pale skin and lean body so his robes hung more loosely to his body than Grayman's. But his aura light was both gentle and powerful: pure white with no other color. It added to his wizened stance and air of ultimate authority.

"She carries the fate of us all in her pocket." Graylight's eyes narrowed at the laze of black misty energy at her hip. "Fiend, you dare gloat at me!"

Liran yelped when Graylight raised a hand and she was yanked about the floor by a powerful force, then tipped upside down so all her inventory was emptied from her pocket.

Grayman caught her when his grandmaster had tossed her aside. The wizards stared at the tiny black pebble perched on the top of the junk pile.

"He used force magic to separate you from it. We can look at it better," he answered her confused expression.

"I see that old goat hasn't changed with his lack of tact." She sighed then perked up with a thought of the ale barrel she had been carrying. "But I do come bearing a gift of Black Pool brew to put a smile on his face."

Grayman bonked her head with a chuckle. They faced Graylight's stand off with the pebble.

The pebble was lifted into the air, making attempts to escape the force barrier containing it. A spell was cast to reveal various glowing red lines of necromantic rune patterns, which circled the object. The closer the rune line was to the pebble, the more it could absorb life.

Grayman stood on a spot within the hexagon pattern. The eight wizards cast an Order Spell to replace the rune array with Divine Bindings. All the red lines were eventually changed to blue except for the one that circled the closest to the pebble.

Graylight glanced at Liran and saw faint traces of the rune line's pattern within her aura's colors. He sighed and clapped his hands.

The wizards released their magic, so the energy faded to hide the rune array. With another spell, the items flew back into her pocket, including the pebble that entered last.

All this activity made Liran slump on the ground with sudden fatigue. It stirred another sigh from Graylight, one filled with weariness.

"Grayman, see that she gets some food and rest then bring her back in the morning."

With a blink of an eye, the wizards were gone so only Grayman and Liran remained. He helped her up and led the way into a corridor.

Liran kept quiet as she followed, her mind still struggling to understand the significance of the moment.

"Fool of a Namtila. Why do you always get yourself in trouble?" Grayman grumbled like a disappointed father. "If Arlyandor saw his daughter's state this sunturn, he'd be chasing both of us around with a paddle and spitting out angry curses."

Liran imagined her father doing his typical silent sigh, nonchalant pick up of his paddle bat to make it glow with offensive magic then ranting about her idiocy as he chased her around fields to teach her a lesson. Her father was renowned as a gentle and composed healer, similar to Rei, but when it came to her he showed different sides. Sometimes they were funny.

"Bwahaha. That's something my old man would do." She laughed so hard her voice rebounded across the walls to stir on brightness; tears welled in her eyes as her body went into a belly fit.

Grayman's expression eased. "Cheeky brat. The only one who could mess up your father's staunch composure was you with your antics."

"It's not as if I asked for trouble." She moped then sighed, "Somehow I stubble upon it anyway. Life of a bard I guess."

"You did have the option to be a mage healer like him."

"You expect me to be a stuffy old mage in a robe?" Liran began acting like a no nonsense doctor chanting a diagnosis.

The old wizard laughed. "Fair enough. Anyway, I'm sure your father is happier that you took after your mother. May the Goddess of Light always keep them within her grace."

"Hey, Grayman, where do you think the dead go once they enter the Ninth Shadows." Liran's expression sobered as she thought of Oliver and her deceased parents.

He observed her expression for sometime before answering, "What is death? If you see death as the end then they don't go anywhere."

Liran's mind was suddenly empowered with energetic thoughts on the matter. It was true, his words. If death truly was the end, then what was the purpose of having them move onto another realm or state of being.

"Oh, you're right." She smiled warmly. "Thanks Grandpa!"

"Bah! How many times do I have to tell you that I'm Grayman?! Sheeze, my disciple sired a headache."

The mood was lighter as they resumed their stroll through the dark stone corridors. But dark thoughts entered Liran's mind again, this time she was thinking about her own child and husband who had passed into the Ninth Shadows as well.

"If death isn't the end, then does Thane still live?" Her voice was soft as a whisper but her words carried a weight that dimmed the corridor's visibility.

Grayman stopped to face her. "Liran, we talked about this. You're not responsible for them."

But Liran shook her head as she struggled to hold back her tears. "I don't understand. Xander and I gave him life: Thane should be following his passions and making us proud. I couldn't save them..."

"Stop it Liran. The Nirve Virus was a power outside your control. It carried the mark of fate not even I could negate. It took all of Ki's wizards to finally defeat it. We did what we could, let it go." He stood upright before her, adding, "You have to let them go."

Liran's eyes were filled with tears. "When Xander went off with his squad to investigate the border insurgency, I felt a bad omen. I should've said something, but I didn't."

"The Alfaren Royal Army is always tasked to do the dangerous missions." Grayman sorrowfully commented. "Even if you asked him to stay, his duty as a soldier demanded his attendance."

She glanced down at her hands and at her pocket. "You said that death isn't the end."

He nodded.

She wiped off her tears and resumed her way forward.

They carried on toward the destination of the dining hall in comfortable silence. But the pebble had been listening and feeding on Liran's darker energies.

One cluster of black mist became solid. It stretched itself to break through the pocket dimension then snapped off like a brittle branch. The piece fell to the ground behind Liran.

It followed in stealth, along corridors past the entrance to a library, where it deviated to enter.

The titles written on spines and seals of books, tomes and scrolls were animated with magic. Some titles flew off to chase the black mist energy as it sped along towering bookshelves.

Title magic gathered to increase the chase with attacks, attempting to defend the library. They followed the black mist's trail to a particular section where the library's defenses were the strongest.

Using the titles' rune energies and library's magic array defenses, the black mist clashed with them to cause a magical implosion. The scrolls and tomes carrying information on defeating the Soulless and The Alchemist were destroyed. The black mist had sacrificed itself to the library's defenses for this purpose.

The place resumed its normal state of calm.