The Flayed Sorcerer

The village presented a sight of utter devastation. Not one wooden structure survived the inferno. The entire hill was as if scalped. Only the thickest beams and stone chimneys, charred black, stood among the dunes of ash like scattered bones. The wind slowly carried the ash away, dropping it over the forest miles and miles away.

Yet even though Coine was razed to the ground, there were hardly any casualties, as Katnir’s and Sonia’s efforts had slowed the fire enough for the village to be evacuated.

“Anything?” – Satine asked Sonia.

She had a lot of trouble trying to pick up any tracks. The entire site was riddled with residual aura from fireballs. Nothing pointed in any particular direction, and the footprints had long been erased by the wind. At least she found her bow, still in a good condition.

“It doesn’t look good. I can’t find any solid traces. How about your analysis, Liesë?”

Liesë was running her tests in the field, comparing the results against the known profiles in her notes. To be more efficient, she had only taken three reagents with her. Those were enough to differentiate between the recorded spellcasters.

“I’ve got matches for two sorcerers present on the ambush site. So far no sign of Katnir or Einhart.”

“Liesë…?” – Katria asked shyly.

“What is it?”

“I found this beam… it seems frozen through.”

Liesë took a closer look. The wood was covered in frost even though it was summer.

“You’re right. This is strange.”

When Liesë analyzed a part of the beam, it matched Katnir’s profile.

“Where did you find it?”

“In the western part of the village.”

There were more frozen logs there. They also noticed that the fire damage was a lot less extensive, as if the flames were extinguished before they could eat through the wood.

However, no matter how much they tried, they could not catch a trace which would lead them to Katnir or Einhart’s squad. They had scoured the entire site and still came out empty-handed.

“What now?” – Taevine asked.

Satine looked deeply troubled, unable to find an answer.

“Let’s face it, Satine. It’s impossible to find them.”

“He saved Sonia. The least we can do is to find out what happened to him.”

“I think it may be quite clear” – Taevine gestured broadly at the incinerated rubble surrounding them.

Katria put her hand on Satine’s shoulder.

“She’s right. It was one against three, including him.”

With a heavy heart, Satine gave her consent to abandon any further search efforts. By afternoon, they were ready to go back to the abbey.

Maybe I should make my move, in the end – Reiny thought, watching the scene, perched on a high branch.

***

The catacombs were quiet. Eerily quiet. He could hear his own heart beat and, more disturbingly, his own thoughts. Freshly relived, his failures haunted him relentlessly. Even more so did the doubt if it was right to claim another wizard's khorii crystals after his fate had already punished him for such a transgression.

What was it I saw in Valamira's tomb?

He could not tell. Her spectre, a guardian of some sort, or his own conscience materialized? Whatever it was, it had shaken him to the bone.

What if I'm destined for failure? No, I must not say that… And yet… It's because of my mistake that I was banished. And my mistake has destroyed Zaria… Should I abandon my search before I make it any worse? In fact… how can I even make it worse? There's nothing left but to move forward.

As the darkness seemed to be closing in on him, he saw a dim light in the distance. After a few steps he entered a room lit by candles and some rays of sunlight coming in through narrow windows.

The room was filled with books, chests and countless magical artifacts, some apparently worn out or outright broken. In the middle there was a stand holding a sophisticated uniform, red with silver linings and long coattails.

“I see my old uniform has picked your interest” – he heard the same rasping voice as in the village – “I had once worn it with pride as I served the realm.”

When Katnir looked around, he saw a bandaged figure, sitting by the window, motionless, as if it itself was another museum piece. Its face was hidden in the shadows.

“And this is my reward. Twenty years of exile and a bitter struggle for my right to exist. A skinless body that will break apart the moment I release my hold on it. Such is the king’s gratitude. The realm free of monsters, his foes vanquished, he no longer had a need for us spellcasters. It is as the poet of old sang:

With no birds to shoot, to kindling turns the bow of yew

With no hares to chase, the hounds are thrown into a stew.”

Katnir said nothing. His own futile toil made him feel any words of compassion would be meaningless. Instead, he asked:

“Why did you read my memories?”

“I was curious to see if you were as much of a struggler as I am.”

“I'm no rebel.”

“Aren't you?” – Einhart asked with irony. – “Breaking your kin's taboo to gain more power is quite a rebellious act, I would say.”

“Is selfishness your kind of struggle too?”

The bandaged figure stood up, its lidless eyes giving away a dim glow. The skeletal features of its face percolated through the bandages. Only the bare teeth and those fiery red eyes were visible from under the veil. The Flayed Sorcerer did not seem pleased with his answer.

Katnir felt a strange sensation in his arm, as if it had gone numb. Then it twitched on its own and shot upwards, dragging with it the rest of his body. He tried to free himself, but the unknown force overwhelmed the rest of his limbs too.

“What did you do to me? Let me go!”

His arms were twisted behind his back at an unnatural angle, almost pulling them out of the sockets. He screamed with pain. Suddenly, the force relaxed and he fell back to the floor.

“Did you enjoy this small demonstration of hemothurgy?”

Hemothurgy? – Katnir thought. – I should have been able to defend against it easily, and yet I was powerless.

“This has been an instrument of doom against my enemies, and also my lifeline, keeping my blood flowing for the last twenty years. Yet it pales in comparison to the power one could command with the khorii crystals from Halandir’s tomb.”

Katnir felt a surge of anger when he realized Einhart had learnt about the crystals.

“What do you want with them?!”

Whatever flesh was left on Einhart’s face flexed in a grim phantom of a smile. He pulled out the seal of Halandir from his coat and held it out towards Katnir.

“I want to bargain with you, wizard.”