Ch. 7: Divided Companionship

Dazed. Confused. Forgotten memories.

This is what plagued me when the ritual came to an end, and I stood there, shaking and trembling violently. But it filled me with a sense of power. Something I never quite knew before.

I stared ahead blankly before a smirk crossed my face.

Can you hear me, Aven?

I nodded, determination and delight flowing through my veins. “Telepathy, huh? What else can I do?”

The spirit sighed with relief. I feel it will take some time getting used to, on both our parts. But, seeing as you have no trouble with telepathy thus far, I wonder what else we can accomplish.

“I like the sound of that,” I replied, excitement making my voice quiver.

However, Dukalis warned, I must add that if my spell book to which I am bound is not within thirty feet of you, our magic and telepathic bond will be severed, until we come back into contact range again.

“How do you know this?” I asked suspiciously. “I thought you had never done this before.”

I’m the father of magic. I can sense and realize the limits of whoever I’m working with and assisting.

“Seems like a strange excuse,” I muttered, slipping the spell book cautiously into my satchel. “By the way, if I bring this with me back to the main palace where everyone else is, nobody’s going to go insane, right?”

They shouldn’t, He replied, sounding hurt by my judgemental tone. All my spirit’s magic is inside you, so it’s properly contained. A simple book isn’t where you’re supposed to put your extra life force.

“Which is something the gods apparently didn’t get,” I joked. “You would think the beings who created the world would know this, huh?”

Dukalis didn’t reply. I decided not to press him any further, because I could hear footsteps outside, beyond the huge door that shut me in with this socially awkward pseudo-god that was imprisoned inside his diary.

A few knocks came forth, followed by a hail from presumably an aetyr. “Just open the door,” I muttered grumpily.

They complied after a few moments and I found myself face to face with a tall, dark blue female with a black mane. She was shaking worriedly and was clad in dark armor.

Her eyes widened as she stared at me, surprised yet suspicious. “...Are you s-sane? Do you feel anything?” The aetyr stammered.

I raised my paws. “What do you think? Do I look like a rabid aetyr to you?”

She mumbled something in reply, which I could barely catch but sure enough made out: “By the gods, the prince was right.”

____________________________________________

“I see I was right.” Prince Illesior looked smug and triumphant as he gazed proudly upon me, stroking my fluffy mane.

My face glowed red as the dark blue aetyr dipped her head uneasily. “I find this… greatly unnatural, my lord,” She stumbled, raising her lemon-lime eyes back to him. “It doesn’t seem right, that an aetyr would be able to take on this Order so easily.”

“That isn’t for you to assess, Rhoe,” Illesior replied sharply. “Leave us now. Tell the palace chefs to get a banquet ready, then round up the aetyrim who have come here from Gatesborn and send them to the dining hall. Don’t return for us.”

Rhoe looked like she was going to respond indignantly, but after a moment she just nodded and ran off silently.

I turned to the Prince after she left. We were standing in a dark hall. Although it wasn’t in the dungeons where I was taken previously, it definitely wasn’t in the main open space of the lavish living area either.

But then Illesior reached for a random spot in the wall and pressed his dark velvet paw against it, and suddenly bright golden light filled the room.

I slit my eyes uncomfortably against it as the Prince gently guided me through the opening, and we were then standing on a narrow balcony. The opening behind us then clicked shut.

From here, the city of the Capital sprawled out before us, set alight by the steadily setting sun.

After a moment of quiet awe, I slowly turned to the dark aetyr beside me. “...How long did you keep me in that room?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

“From past rising dawn until approaching evening.” He had no sense of apologetic empathy in his face; only a trace of dutifulness hung in his eyes. “And it seems that the magic from the book has safely settled inside you. Where did you put the book?”

“It- it’s in my satchel,” I stammered, placing my paw over it instinctively. “But I could sense that I need to have it within a certain range of me at all times, or something bad could happen.”

Illesior stroked my mane, and I flinched. “I trust that you have good intuition,” He murmured into my ear, leaning closer to me. “I knew I chose well. But, tell me: Has anything unusual happened since you came into contact with the book?”

“I…” I held my words, waiting to see if Dukalis would tell me what to say. But, try as I might, I couldn’t get his attention without speaking audibly.

I sent a silent curse to the gods and replied, “I felt a presence come into me. And I felt a bold, tingly feeling. Something I’ve never felt before.” I lifted my eyes and was a bit startled to find the dark Prince’s sapphire eyes boring into mine, a bit too close for comfort. I caught my breath. “I think the overflowing magic from the book entered me. I’ve become its vessel.”

“I suspected that,” Illesior replied, a deep purr rumbling in his throat. “I only asked because, in times past, every Bookkeeper before you would go on and rave about a ‘blue demon’. They claimed it was giving them terrible visions, and their own magic would go haywire and drive them insane.” Suddenly his voice dropped to a whisper. “I was worried it had happened to you.”

“...A Blue Demon?” I immediately felt Dukalis’ spirit awaken in me, and I sensed his indignant annoyance rising. Then I shook my head quickly and tried to recover my dignity. “You don’t need to worry about me, Illesior. Any spirit dumb enough to try to possess me will have a hard time overcoming my strong will.” I spat out these words before I could think, and both Illesior and Dukalis seemed a little taken aback. I ignored Dukalis and waited dully.

Illesior laughed quietly. “Any spirit would have second thoughts about you, dear Albino.” He ran his paw-tips through my mane and I stiffened, suddenly blushing. “You have quite the fiery spirit, like the great Mages of eons past. You remind me of how the Great Dukalis stood up against the Seven gods, in his quest for knowledge and fame. Foolish, perhaps, but daring and brave.”

I trembled, hugely embarrassed and flattered by the Prince’s words. Meanwhile Dukalis just seemed somewhat annoyed by Illesior’s apparent ignorance, but he relished his compliments all the same.

“There was… something else I wanted to inform you of,” I added as I gently pushed his paw away. “I believe that, since the overflowing magic from the book is inside me, I can channel it, like a pen and paper. I could become a Sorcerer.”

Illesior looked thoughtful, yet dubious. I felt my paws sweat.

“...That seems plausible.” He finally answered shortly. “But I wouldn’t be so keen to try and control it. Many before you have tried the same thing, and look how far they fell.”

“I’ve made it this far,” I replied. “Didn’t you say that at this point in the process, they were already too far gone?”

Illesior nodded with a smirk, impressed by the spirit in my words. “I suppose I did. But don’t push yourself. Your job as of now is to guard the book and keep the magic from infecting others, which you are doing far better than anyone else.” He ruffled my mane again, purring.

We were quiet for a while, and I tried to ignore Illesior’s soft strokes running through my fur. Instead I tried to tune in to Dukalis’ spirit link, and see if we could communicate completely inaudibly. I wanted to know what he thought of my conversation so far, and I figured it was better now, when it had just finished, instead of later, when it was obvious we wouldn’t get a moment together for many hours yet.

Dukalis? Can you hear me?

I got no reply, even though I could feel a restlessness from his spirit. It was like having a faulty connection. I tried again. DUKALIS! I know you can hear me. Why won’t you answer?

No reply. But this time he seemed amused. Anger bubbled up inside me.

“Do you think this is a joke?!” I blurted suddenly, then clapped my paw over my mouth, now horrified.

Illesior immediately stopped stroking my fur and drew me close to his face, suddenly serious. “Are you okay?” He asked after a moment, his eyes glittering with a newfound anxiety. “Perhaps the book is corrupting your mind.”

“I- I’m fine.” I lowered my eyes to the ground, unable to move my head. I quickly tried to find an excuse for my sudden outburst while silently cursing Dukalis. “I’m… just trying to figure out all these emotions. My mind’s playing with me. It has been before we got here this morning.”

Illesior stared at me for a few moments longer, then sighed. “I believe you, Albino. It seems that all this sudden change is affecting you poorly.” But then he pressed his nose to mine. “You’re doing great. You’re stronger than I was when I lost my Father and brothers. Aetyria knows they wish they were as brave and spirited as you.”

My face was beet red, and as he drew his face away, I rubbed my mane to calm myself. Sweat dripped and fell to the ground like a torrent of ocean spray as I tried to gather up what little dignity I had left.

As Illesior pressed his paw to the wall behind us, suddenly he turned to look at me, his sapphire eyes glowing bright teal in the fading sun. “We’re not so different after all, Albino.” He looked almost wistful in a way. “Perhaps the color of our manes isn’t the only thing that separates us.”

Then the wall opened, and we stepped back into the darkness that lay at our feet. The sun vanished for the final time that evening, and as my thoughts were whirling in my head, I followed the Prince down the labyrinth-like hallway, leaving our meeting behind.

___________________________________________________

The banquet hall was a huge, vast room, with the dome above us resembling a cathedral-like structure, and the walls and floors elegantly decorated. The tables were laid out with all kinds of exquisite foods, including goat kabobs, roast Cowerell, fig cakes, fruit platters, fine dark wine, and lush salads.

The room was already packed with aetyrim, many of whom I recognized. I scanned the crowd, trying to see if I could pick out Arius or Strubin, the only two people I really talked to.

I didn’t have much luck, as Illesior quickly guided me with him to where we were presumably sitting. The aetyrim who noticed didn’t seem to bother trying not to make a scene, and soon many of them fell silent and stared, wide-eyed. Like, geez. I was just as surprised as they were, but they didn’t need to act like they just saw the gods descend to put extra berries on their cream pies.

It took me a moment before I realized that he was leading me to sit alongside him, on his left. On his right was an empty seat, possibly for his mother, Queen Omani.

He didn’t pull the seat out for me; instead, he motioned me to pull it out myself, and I sat down, flustered. I could feel the curious stares burning into me, and I stared at my feet anxiously.

Illesior meanwhile was sipping some wine from a crystal goblet, and kept smiling and nodding to the awed aetyrim from around the giant room. He got up and went to go talk to another aetyr, and left me alone at the head of the table.

Eventually I could hear a pit-pat coming up to me, and I glanced up expectantly.

Beside me stood Arius, and he stood there, his mouth gaping.

“AVEN?” Envy gleamed in his eyes as he shook with disbelief. Strubin crept up behind him, the look on his face just as shocked as my brother’s.

“Oh? Hey, guys.” I grinned. “What happened while I was gone? Did you get that palace guard position, Ari?” I poked him gently.

Arius looked like he wanted to ask me furiously how I managed to get stuck with the Crown Prince, but his face brightened when I asked about his job. “I got the position!” The gray aetyr replied happily. “Strubin did as well, but they also said that they were going to have him work as a poison-checker.” Strubin shuffled his paws bashfully, a humble smile crossing his face.

“We get to be on the same shift,” The tall green aetyr added, his golden eyes shimmering. “The gods have been good to us. But, Aven- why ARE you by the Crown Prince’s seat?”

“Oh, right.” I tried to come up with an explanation that didn’t expose too much of what I had discussed with both Dukalis and Illesior. “I guess I never told you guys what exactly they needed me for, huh?” Strubin nodded, and Arius growled impatiently, jealousy trickling through.

“Well, apparently there’s this ‘spell book’ I have to guard. It’s how we’re all given magic. But every Bookkeeper before me- that’s what I am, by the way- was… negatively affected by their own magic. And since I don’t have any magic of my own, I’m so far the first one to be doing well.” I shuffled my paws when I was done, slapping a stupid grin on my face and trying to hide my anxieties about telling them this much.

Strubin looked horrified, while Arius just snorted disdainfully.

“...Are they treating you well, at least?” Strubin finally asked in a low whisper. “That sounds really dangerous.”

I waved my paws. “What do you think? I’ve gotten to privately speak with Illesior three times already, and he personally introduced me to the Queen.” And he seems to be acting a little creepy, I added silently.

Arius scowled, looking pretty envious despite all my hardships. “So what if you got to speak to the Prince? You don’t need to flout it in our faces all the time.”

“But I haven’t!” I replied, taken aback by his spiteful tone. “At least you were born with magic. If I had been as well, I wouldn’t be in this position.”

“Well, it looks like your lack of worth is doing you a lot of favors,” My brother snapped in reply, before whipping around and storming off. Strubin looked worried as he left, and he turned to me, eyes wide.

“It’s okay, Aven,” He murmured. “I’m happy for you, and I’m glad you’re doing fine. I’ll talk to your brother, and see if I can get him to share my own gratitude.”

“No, it’s fine,” I muttered, dropping my gaze to my feet. “He’s been like this since we were little, when… he left.”

Strubin nodded, understanding that I was referencing Abarin.

“I just don’t see why he has to belittle everything I do, though,” I added despondently. “Why does he have to act like he needs all the attention? Why does he have to be so spiteful? It’s not my fault Dad left.”

“I don’t know,” Strubin admitted. “To be fair, I haven’t known you that long myself. But I’m glad for your companionship.”

I looked at him, gratitude glimmering in my eyes. “Thanks.”

He nodded, then turned to walk away, leaving me at the table alone. But was that a tinge of red on his cheek I saw? I couldn’t be sure.

But before I knew it, suddenly I felt someone tap my shoulder. “AH!” I yelped and turned, then relaxed slightly when I realized it was Illesior. Beside him was his mother, Queen Omani, and I dipped my head respectfully, salvaging any dignity I had left.

Illesior smirked and sat down beside me, the Queen taking her place beside him.

Omani stared at me, her expression unreadable as the Prince lifted up his paw to rest it on my head. I flinched and lowered my gaze.

“I see you have taken quite a fancy to that albino, my son,” Omani murmured, giving him a suspicious look. “And I’m starting to think it’s for a different reason than just her lack of magic.”

Illesior turned his head, but he said nothing.

His mother stared at him for a moment longer, then sighed and clapped her paws.

Everyone went silent, and sat down in their respective seats around the huge table.

“Citizens of The Capital and inhabitants of Aetyria!” She said, her voice strong and commandeering. “This morning, you have come from the village of Gatesborn, the town of Aviva, and the city of Rivermouth! From the eastern edge of Aetyria, you have been chosen to serve diligently under my rule, and become the great aetyrim you were always destined to be.” She lifted her crystal goblet, the dark wine pooling in the middle like a river of crimson blood. “And now, before you begin your many fruitful years as heroic warriors, brave guards, skillful sorcerers, and faithful servants, we shall have a feast in both your honor, and the honor of the Seven Lords, who have given us all we have! Let us have a toast! TO THE GODS!”

“TO THE GODS!” The aetyrim cheered and rose, gleefully clashing goblets of wine with one another in a gesture of brotherhood.

“Now you may eat, to your heart’s content!” Omani declared.

They let out a cheer, and that was when the festivities began.

As the aetyrim all around me ate and drank together, sharing words and creating new bonds, I shuffled my paws. I was about to raise a goat kebob to my mouth when suddenly Illesior pulled me to my feet.

“My dear mother, let us not forget our new Bookkeeper!” The Prince added, mischief gleaming in his eyes as my face grew red. “She is the one who will end the creation of the Consumed and keep the lifeblood of Aetyria running free! I declare a toast in her honor as well!”

Many of the aetyrim paused and stared, looking confused at his words. Then they joined in on Illesior’s delight, and rose up a wordless cheer.

“What was that for?” I asked indignantly. “I’ve had enough attention for one day.”

Nobody seemed to hear over the racket, and I grabbed a goat kebob and skittered away before Illesior noticed. Thankfully, he was too caught up in the encore to realize I was gone.

I slithered under the table to hide and have a moment to breathe, realizing how far away my old self was. A few months ago, I would be having the time of my life right now. But with all the new responsibility thrust upon me, alongside the knowledge and power I held, I felt like there was no time to feel wild and free. How ironic, to feel that in the middle of a fancy banquet held in our honor, no less!

_______________________________________________________

I flopped on my bed tiredly, the banquet leaving a sour taste in my mouth.

After the party had ended, I was guided by a sober guard to my new living quarters, a room that consisted of a small study and a soft bed. A window was in there, letting the stars shine in. From my room I could see the courtyard laid out before me, a bittersweet memory of my last days in Gatesborn sparking in my mind. Beyond the courtyard laid the vast expanse of the city, a myriad of beige buildings set alight by lights in the windows.

I laid there for a while, staring up at the ceiling while all motivation left my body. I was about to doze off when I heard a voice that jolted me awake once more.

Well, that was some party.

“Dukalis?” I rolled over and sat up, pulling out the spell book from my satchel. Suddenly the book flew open and a familiar glowing blue face greeted me.

“So you decide to show up now, huh?” I asked scornfully. Dukalis shrugged sheepishly, trying to hide a smirk.

“I did the best I could.” This time he was speaking audibly, not bothering to use our faulty telepathy.

“The best you could?” I growled. “I could tell you were playing with me, boomer. Don’t act like you couldn’t reach me. Whatever happened to your so-called ‘master plan’ or whatever? Unless you suddenly decided that wasn’t important, and you want the prince to think I’ve gone insane?”

“There’s something off about Prince Illesior,” Dukalis replied, a smug grin on his glowing face. “I’ve never seen a Black Mane take so well to a White Mane, not since my days as a Mage. I’m starting to think you’ve smitten him.”

“Smi- WHAT?” My eyes widened. “You can’t be serious. I think you’re just out of touch, old man. There’s no way Prince Illesior likes me. That’s stupid!”

The spirit laughed. “What if you’re the one out of touch?” He asked teasingly. “You’re so used to thinking that everyone hates you that you’re completely oblivious to everything around you. And what about that green aetyr? Is he a friend of yours?”

“Forget about that for now,” I grumbled, my face glowing red. “I need your thoughts on the conversation I had with Illesior earlier. I want to know if I revealed too much to him, about your existence and such.”

“...I don’t think you gave anything away,” Dukalis replied absent-mindedly. “Not anything important, anyways. But I don’t think as of now he’s too keen on the idea of you becoming a sorcerer. Maybe it’s because he thinks you’ll go insane eventually. Or perhaps it’s because he’s taken a particular… interest in you.” He winked as my fur flared indignantly.

“Quit making that joke. It’s gotten old,” I grumbled. “But how am I going to convince him to let me pursue magic further? Do I just have to practice it in secret, and then show him what I learned once it’s sufficient?”

He nodded in agreement.

“By the way,” I added, “How much magic do you supposedly know, anyway? I’d like to know the goals I’m shooting for.”

Dukalis prodded his chin thoughtfully. “I know that, aside from mastering all the base inborn magic that every aetyr will inherit from me, I also managed to learn the magic that Sorcerers can hold. But beyond that, I only scratched the surface of the power of the gods: The fire and blood of Crim, the earthbending of Tane, the thunder of Sol, the vitality and nature’s grip of Vrilore, the agility of Az, and the darkness of Lune. I grasped passion, patience, indignation, healing, grace, and stealth, but never have I come close to understanding the magic of Kno.”

He shook his head sadly. “But after all millenia, I have forgotten the basics of the magic of the gods. So we’ll have to start small.”

I snorted. “Well, obviously. I’m not going to become an all-powerful Sorcerer like you overnight!”

He looked at me fondly. “It wouldn’t surprise me if you did, Aven. You’ve proven yourself worthy so far. In fact, it wouldn’t faze me if you managed to grasp the magic of the gods, after all.”

I shrugged as I pulled off my satchel, rummaging in it. “Debatable, but I won’t argue. I’m too tired for that.” Suddenly I felt my fingertip stroke against cold leather, and I dragged out Abarin’s journal. I had forgotten that I brought it with me from Gatesborn.

“What is that?” Dukalis looked at the journal curiously, and I blushed.

“It’s my father’s journal,” I replied quietly, setting it on a shelf. “I took it with me, to remember him.”

The spirit levitated there silently, the sound of my breathing being the only thing audible.

Finally he nodded and faded back into his spell book, leaving me alone in the dark room. I guess he went to sleep… or whatever spirits do to rest.

I laid on my bed, staring up at the ceiling until my sight faded into darkness.