The Binding

After his botched teleportation from the depths of the Farthest North, the night pulled him into another dream. This time it was something still fresh and vivid in his memory.

The full moon was shining brightly, casting a silver glow on the stone table atop a mound of earth. All around it the forest stretched beyond the horizon.+

A perfect place – Katnir thought. – Right between sky and earth.

He had already drawn the matrix in chalk. It was elaborate and covered almost the entire table. It was the best recreation his eidetic memory could recall from his days on the Isles. While intended to mend cracked crystals, he hoped it was enough to put a completely shattered crystal back together and fuse it into his hand. Years of preparations were finally about to bear fruits. He would repair Zaria, regain his full power and be able to teleport back home.

He waved his hand and a few dozen candles scattered across the matrix lit up in unison. The orange glow illuminated Reiny’s disturbed face on the other side of the table.

“Are you sure this will work?” – he asked.

“No. But I hold no better hope than this.”

Katnir spilled the shards of Zaria in the middle of the matrix, each no larger than a mustard seed. They gave away a dim purple glow.

“It’s time.”

He started chanting the incantation. At first, nothing was happening, but as the ritual continued, a gentle wind rose and a wave of purple glow creeped through the chalk, from the center out to the edge. His hands clasping the stone, his focus immaculate, Katnir commanded the crystal to become one again.

The shards floated into the air and started assembling into a full crystal. But as soon as the last fragment connected with the rest, a flash of light blinded Katnir and threw him away. When he ran back to the table, he found the light gone, the matrix distorted and the crystal pulverized into a fine powder.

He let out a throat-tearing scream of anguish.

***

“Do you mind if I ask you something?” – Satine said, closing the laboratory door behind her.

“What is it?” – Liesë replied.

“Why did you ask me to bring the armor and cloak I had on me when we were lost in the forest?”

“Well, Katnir carried you with his bare hands, didn’t he?”

“I think… But what does it matter?”

“I should be able to sample some of his residual aura so we can identify his track in the field.”

“How does that work?”

“It’s very simple” – Liesë collected some of the dust from the clothes to vials. – “Any sort of matter which has recently interacted with magic, which includes being touched by a spellcaster, will have some residual aura imprinted onto it. That aura is unique to any given spellcaster. I am able to quantify it by using some alchemical reagents.”

Having said that, she placed the vials in a wooden rack and brought a small chest packed with labeled bottles. She picked several bottles with some strange liquids inside and put them on the table.

“Each reagent measures different aural characteristics. For example, the nightshade extract will discolor depending on the strength of the spellcaster’s connection to the Spirit Plane. I can then compare it to my color scale and rank it from one to ten. Then I repeat the process for different reagents. I believe we should see some substantial discoloration in Katnir’s case.”

She poured a few drops to the vial and mixed it vigorously, but the fluid remained as pale pink as it was.

“Strange. Could it be that it has gone bad already?”

“Is it not possible for the result to be correct?”

“That would be highly unusual. In fact, that would be the lowest reading I’ve ever seen.“

Liesë spotted the catharite necklace worn by Satine.

“Did you have your necklace on the entire time?”

“Yes, you know I never take it off. I promised mother Mina.”

“That could have distorted the results… Do you mind leaving your clothes here for a while so I can collect more samples?”

“I suppose I can let you have them for the night, but I’ll need them tomorrow.”

“That’s alright, I’ll send them back to you in an hour.”

Intrigued by the unusual result, Liesë took great care to thoroughly sample the leather armor and the cloak, labeling the location of each sample.

What she realized about halfway through was that the samples indicated two distinct aural profiles: one devoid of the spiritual connection, but above-average in other areas, and the other which was quite weak, seemingly diluted across the entire spectrum of her tests.

Now if I only had a control sample…

She noticed the wooden tray left by Satine a few nights ago when Liesë was testing the samples from the ambush site. It wouldn’t have any traces from Katnir, as they hadn’t met him yet at that point. She carefully chipped away some scobs and ran the tests on them. What she got was a perfect match of the diluted profile.

Now that’s interesting.

***

Katnir felt he was laying on a stone surface, his face warmed by the rising sun. When he opened his eyes, he found himself on top of a dolmen, surrounded by a cromlech. The monoliths were heavily eroded and covered in moss.

Even though he wasn’t bound, he found it difficult to get up, as if the weight of his sins was pinning him down to the cold stone. Before him there stood a tall green-eyed witch wearing animal hides and deer antlers on her head. Her face was painted with black markings. She held a staff made of twisted branches.

“Where am I?”

“In the hideout of lord Einhart” – she replied. – “My name is Shinn.”

“I am…”

“Katnir of Vida’nuarudo clan, we know.”

“Wait, how do you know my name?”

“What you’re sitting on is the ancient dolmen built atop the Well of Dreams.”

“I don’t understand…”

“The Well has enhanced your dreams and given you some of your memories back. You’re welcome.”

Katnir was disturbed as he realized the implication, but found no strength to actually be angry about it. In fact, he began to feel overwhelming depression over his past transgressions and failures which had led him here.

“And you saw them too, didn’t you?”

“Yes, after all I’m the Lady of Dreams.”

“I’m beginning to dislike this damn dreamland.”

The witch scowled at him.

“What you like or dislike is irrelevant now. Come, lord Einhart wishes to speak with you.”

“What if I don’t wish to speak with him?”

“Be mindful that I can also compose dreams of your deepest fears.”

“I suppose that is convincing.”

“Wise words.”

She guided him between the monoliths and onto a narrow path hidden among the dense forest. He had to tread carefully so as not to trip on a rock or a root. Between the trees Katnir spotted a handful of tarp tents, and about five people tending to some chores. Among them he recognized the two sorcerers he had fought in the village. The hand of the fiery witch was back in its place, though with a visible scar at the wrist. She gave him a nasty look.

This must be their camp – he thought. – Man, do they look rough.

He walked past, followed by suspicious glances of the grizzled sorcerers of Einhart’s resistance. The forest grew thicker and darker with each step. Ruins littered the woods. More and more ruins. Monoliths buried under lush moss and half-collapsed piles of stones. He even saw a sandstone sculpture of a woman, covered in lichen and so far eroded from the rain, her features were almost smoothed down beyond recognition.

He felt the same way about himself. Once a refined wizard, respected among his peers, said to have been one of the greatest of his generation, even on par with some of the great masters of yore when they were young, now reduced to this wretched husk, not even able to command a blizzard.

Mountains! – he thought. – My ancestors were so powerful they could move mountains with a twist of a finger. Now I fail to even sustain anything grander than a simple telekinesis. Even if I could regain my power by claiming Halandir’s khorii crystals, do I deserve it?

I have already been punished for my hubris… twice. Not only did I fail in my search for Valamira’s crystals, but I have also destroyed one of my own. What condemnation will I invoke if I try to claim those of Halandir?

Consumed by his thoughts, he lost track of time. When his mind resurfaced from that bitter plunge, they had already wandered off far into the forest. Soon, an old oak rose before them. The tree was magnificent, its ancient trunk broad as a castle tower, and just as tall. Its canopy spanned so wide across it could hide an entire village in its shade. Shinn led him to the entrance hidden among its roots, and made an inviting gesture.

“You’re not going inside?” – Katnir asked.

“No. Lord Einhart wants to speak with you alone.”

Katnir descended the mossy steps and entered the cave, igniting his magic light to be able to see in the absolute darkness of it.

At least they let me keep my magic… For what it’s worth.