A time of change

[Hjolnai]

It seemed a fairly normal day on Airlith, and the blue-green sky held not a cloud to foreshadow events to come. Still, on that day, as many others, I was contemplating it as much as my work in architecture. I thought, as I often had, of what Home was, and pondered how an azure sky must have looked to our ancestors, and how strange the greenish tinge must have seemed to those few who survived the Fleeing. Ancient history now, certainly, but I've always been a bit of a dreamer, or at least I had up to that point. In any case, I tend to ramble on. We should get to the events which made that day important.

 

As I sat there, pondering the eternity above, I felt a mental contact from my brother, Tarin.

Ailar.

I sighed and dragged my attention from the sky, and then accepted the contact - while most distance communication is through glass orbs or mirrors, I was close enough to Tarin to use direct mental communication without too much concern over stray thoughts. But I digress, once again.

Tarin. Yes?

I did not hide my irritation very well, but Tarin seemed excited enough not to notice.

Have you heard? We've just made contact with Home!

No, Tarin, I hadn't heard. You're the researcher, I'm just an architect, remember? We don't get told these things the instant they happen.

Certainly he felt the sarcasm and bitterness there, but it was not so surprising, as we had been over this many times. I was always the more brilliant student, the faster learner, while he always worked harder and ended up doing better. A dreamer I remained, and so it was Tarin who impressed the Universities enough to go into magical research. Still, he knew my bitterness was not directed at him.

Yes, Ailar, I remember. I'm sorry I brought it up. You're too hard on yourself. Anyway, this represents a new opportunity for you. Having opened a portal to Home, I'm sure the High Council will soon be calling for volunteers to go through and see the old world again, maybe negotiate with the Burners. Haven't you always dreamed of seeing Home again?

Thankyou for telling me, Tarin, but I don't think I'll be going. No doubt the reality of the Burners would shatter my illusions of what that world was like. Anyway, they'd never let me go, unless there was a settlement there for me to build for.

Oh, come on. You know you want to go, you're just making excuses for not trying because you're afraid of being turned down and disappointed. I'll tell you what, I'll volunteer on the condition they let you go too. Then there won't be any reason to worry.

You know me too well, brother, and I you. I can tell you're almost as eager as I am, so if you get the chance you should go whether I can or not.

 

We finished "speaking" and I turned away, nervous but excited. I had something to aim for, something aligned with my inclinations. Perhaps it was something I could achieve precisely because of the dreams which formerly held me back.

[Hjolnai]

When next Tarin and I spoke, it was through crystal mirrors. To be more precise, I used a piece of polished agate, while Tarin spoke through a formal quartz Council mirror.

 

"Tarin. No mistakes?"

 

"None, Ailar. Is perfection yours?"

 

"For now."

 

A fairly typical greeting among the more-powerful, what with the dangers of misdirected magic.

 

I continued; "So, what news from the Council? Is this about Home?"

 

"It is indeed. The Council is sending me there, and Materials want a replacement. I couldn't get you through the portal, but..."

 

"They're going to test me again for your place?"

 

"Yes. Apparently your career after the test last time is close enough that you won't be too far behind, and they feel you may have matured enough to keep your mind on the job. The- Hold the link a moment."

 

I waited as he (presumably) spoke to someone, and in almost no time he was speaking again.

 

"Materials want you to come now. Teleport to the third Council rune in exactly three minutes. No time for more, pass swiftly."

 

His image faded from the agate before I could give the customary reply. I scrambled hurriedly for the Tome of Runes, sketched the correct one with airborne lines of power, and incanted so hurriedly that I almost spoilt the spell; then, I faded from there and arrived standing on a large copy of the rune. Never had I needed to travel on such short notice, and I was shaking visibly as the attendant bade me to step off the arrival circle. The attendant was a fairly short woman, perhaps twenty years older than me, and apparently with a dislike of the powers who must come through this chamber daily. Seeing my nervousness, her expression softened.

 

"You look frightened. Another one brought in in a hurry for the first time?"

 

Rather than answer, I just gave a brief nod before passing through the door into the circular corridor around the Council hall. To be more precise, the local hall for the High Council, a major part of the political and economic structure of Airlith. I took a moment to catch my breath, and calm my mind after the traumatic trip; teleportation is rarely used, for good reason.

Edited February 4, 2010 by Hjolnai

[Hjolnai]

It was but a moment later that I was ushered into a small side room, with a basic ritual circle carved deep into the stone floor. Three mages stood at the edge, one left, one right and one straight ahead, with myself making a fourth to form a square (it happened that I was South, as that was the direction of the door). This surprised me, for on my test before, there had been only one other mage involved, and we had not started with a ritual.

 

As before, though, I could not tell anything about the testing mages, due to a particularly enveloping robe worn by each of them. Only by their voices would I learn anything of them there. I stood silent and as motionless as I could, staring at the centre of the circle.

 

After a minute or two of silence, the North mage spoke in an aged voice, so cracked that I could again tell nothing.

 

"Good. You have learned patience. Undirected curiosity and impatience are no longer your flaws. Now we must test your memory and initiative. We are summoning a Third demon. What do we do now?"

 

I froze, considering the implications of this statement.

 

"In that case, we must request special permission from the High Council to perform such a normally-illegal ritual, and when our turn comes to speak, in a month or so, we could hope that such permission is received."

 

"You are surprisingly calm in the face of such developments. Good. What if I were to tell you that we already have the Council's agreement?"

 

"Well, sir, I'd need to examine the document involved, check that the Council seal is valid, and also check the Council records of the day of the petition."

 

"Very good. You have the necessary caution now, I see."

 

Now East spoke with the voice of a middle-aged woman, and pointed somewhere to my right and behind me.

 

"North, stop toying with him. South, all the documentation is on that desk."

 

I investigated, and found that everything was in order, as far as I could tell. I turned back, and said as much. North spoke once more.

 

"So, it seems the genius isn't infallible after all. When were you going to check records outside this room? After the ritual? It would be a bit late by then, don't you think?"

 

"Enough, North. You've had your petty triumph, now get back in line."

 

This time it was West who had spoken, and I was surprised that I recognized the voice. It was Kepran, who had been one of many lecturers through my apprentice years. That thought brought back a memory of North, who sounded like the one who had tested me before. It occurred to me that perhaps North had deliberately marked me down last time... but no, I remembered well enough that I had not really been ready for the test, particularly the non-magical portion as this last exchange had been.

 

In any case, I should continue. After a brief exchange, I walked to a nearby records room and rechecked the permission forms. Everything was correct, and it was then that it truly hit me. This ritual was happening, and I was going to be a part of it. A Third demon? No one summons worse than a Seventh before passing the test, and it is very rare that demons need to be summoned at all. This was, though not the most powerful, almost certainly the most dangerous casting that I would ever have taken part in.

 

All too soon, I arrived back in the test chamber, where the testing mages had already cut lines through much of the circle in many patterns; this also surprised me, as cutting the floor is an unusual measure, but the danger of the creature to be summoned made it reasonable. The pattern being cut then was one I recognised, overlapping semicircles touching the main circle at both ends, so I began the cuts to go on the Southern edge of the circle. Despite not starting from an existing semicircle, my precision was close enough that none had to be reshaped and cut again, which meant less released magic to disrupt the ritual. Then the woman who had stood East told me to construct a bell-shape with a rim the size of the circle using the stone of the floor outside the needed ritual area. Realizing that it might be an additional safety measure for the summoning, I went straight to work.

 

I marked a square on each corner of the room, then put runic symbols on each square. Though not my usual task, it was close enough to my work on building rituals that I could make a rudimentary design in my head, and the marks I made were merely a brushing-off of dust. I think that impressed at least one of the testing mages, though I could not tell which one it was. Then I whispered a particular pattern of words to shape the structure. We ended up standing on a raised stone circle, with the ritual circle carved only a pace or two in, as the stone outside there (with the exception of a path to the door, and the floor covered by the desk; my pride drove me to preserve these areas despite the added difficulty) flowed into a huge bell above us. Throughout this, I got a surprise myself, as none of the mages present took much notice of the huge stone forming above them. I was a little daunted by it myself, and I was in control.

 

With preparations complete, each of the instructors handed me a tome, and I was to return in precisely a week. I assume they thought I was exhausted, for the stone bell required a great deal of magical energy, but perhaps my continuous application of building rituals had toughened me against that form of spell. Also, the tomes held the instructions for the ritual I was to return for...

[Hjolnai]

Perhaps I should give a summary of one of the books I was given. A demon is, simply put, a hostile being from another world, usually brought here through magic. In our own way, we would be the most common demons of Airlith if we caused more destruction, and certainly the darker ones among us could be called such. Demons are numbered by their discovery, although many numbers are missing; for example, the Fifth and Sixth demons were found to be the same, so there is no sixth, and no records of the properties of a Twelfth demon exist. The higher numbers have less gaps because our methods of research were improved gradually, although there have been naming conflicts when two types were found by different sages almost simultaneously.

 

Once the book finished with the general theory, which was hardly new to me, it went on with the specifics of the first twenty demon types (which concluded with Twenty-Fourth demons). This included details on summoning Seventh and Twenty-second demons, generally considered to be the most harmless low-range demons, and information on fighting the more dangerous ones. The chapter on Third demons urged extreme caution if one should be encountered, preferably involving overwhelming numbers of powerful mages to avoid loss of life, and also mentioned that they are particularly talented at escaping prison circles and have some minor magic at their command.

 

Having refreshed my memory of the theory, I moved on to the next tome, which turned out to be a box for a scroll rather than a book after all. The scroll held the details of the South part of the summoning ritual for a Third demon. I went over this thoroughly before moving on.

 

It was the third day of my week before I was certain I understood my part in the ritual well enough to minimise the chances of a demon escaping. Of course, there is never absolute certainty with any spell, particularly when hostile magic is involved, but I felt confident that my part would be almost flawless.

 

The third and final text I had received was a treatise on battle-magic, Large Scale Destruction. It was a restricted book, meaning that only a certain number of copies existed, and all were carefully tracked by the libraries responsible for them. Furthermore, to gain access to a copy required a good reason, generally taking the form of a research project (although response times on applications are very good; usually a day or two).

 

I read this quite eagerly; combat magic has always been of some interest to me, and is not an uncommon interest. On the other hand, in my case it was also not impossible that I might end up using it; I could see that the text was a contingency in case the summoning ritual went badly. After reading, I spent a day in a weak-magic space hurling dampened versions of the spells I had learnt at large targets. While I was there, I worked on my non-restricted combat magic repetoir as well, which consisted more of shields and illusions than attacks, as usual. Most of us are taught as self-defense, not aggression, after all.

 

On the last two days of the week I had buildings to construct, which I will not go in to now. Let it suffice to say that I managed, despite the constant drain of maintaining my hold on the stone bell such a distance away.

[Hjolnai]

When it was time to return to the Council hall to continue the ritual, I decided to take a more normal method of transportation. Teleportation may be almost instant, but the risks involved are considerable, and there are many warded chambers filled with mind-torn mages. Usually these injuries are from the first few times, but it is still preferable to travel through the intermediate space unless you almost always use teleportation. Excessive instant travel is also discouraged because it creates magical ripples across the aether... but I should return to my point. I decided to travel by land. More precisely, I rode an arcane construct, or golem.

 

My golem was a fairly basic one, essentially a pair of jointed wooden legs holding a table top on them. My usual preference would be to fly, so I need nothing more substantial for ground travel, but I had expended a substantial amount of energy recently, and the ritual would be equally draining. The golem would not require much of me. I brought it out of the alcove where it had been sitting for months, animated it and stood atop the circle of wood. Using haste magic and an angled magical shield, I was able to travel swiftly without too much trouble from the wind, and the limited magical consciousness of the golem ensured that there would be no collisions. It took about an hour for me to get to the Council hall, and I sent the golem back at its own pace. Most likely it would get home before me, as the ritual was extensive even after the circle had been prepared.

[Hjolnai]

I will not go into detail as to the ritual, the exact nature of the circle or the incantations used in gradually opening a portal, or dragging a demon through it. Such would be against the request of the Council. I will, however, mention that I rarely stumbled in my part, though the Southern chant was by far the simplest; perhaps the ritual had even been modified to place more of the burden on the other casters. It was still a taxing work, though, as I was reciting from memory without having performed the ritual before, and summoning less dangerous demons was far simpler through not having to build as many shields during the casting.

 

As we approached completion of the casting, the portal opened in the North quadrant of the circle, facing toward me. It was as I remembered, a turbulent lake made vertical. A shimmering surface with semi-darkness in its blue depths. Then the Third demon stepped out.

 

A massive shape, perhaps twice my height, standing on two legs with a long tail for balance, with four arm-like limbs, it was far more intimidating than the depictions I had seen in the demonic bestiary. Looking closer, each arm was a mass of spikes, with claws like knives as fingers. High above was an upper jaw, but no lower; hollow fangs for drinking blood, long enough to penetrate the armoured hide of creatures common to the Third's plane of existence. When it ate solid food, one of the arms would be used as a lower jaw. Still, the awe-inspiring appearance and tremendous strength of the demon were not the only threat; it held a crafty intelligence in its brain, located between the shoulders of the upper pair of arms, guarded from blood pressure by bone (I remembered). Though it could not quite match a human mind, it could speak and even deceive if taught our language. Furthermore, as the book had stated, it held some command of magic, and even a small disturbance can potentially, though rarely, destroy even the mightiest of spells, and the demons can apparently see the power itself in action.

 

This particular Third demon seemed little interested in magic; it threw itself against the barrier of the circle (which must have been semitransparent to it, though not invisible as it was to us) with the weight of a falling tower, fanged jaw striking down to collide with a shield before my eyes. I felt an inaudible thump as the first layer of the barrier gave way, but many layers remained, and I just managed to stop myself from stepping backward. Temporarily frustrated at that point of escape, the Third demon turned back to the portal, and attempted to force its way through there, but that avenue was blocked equally. It turned East, and whoever was there (it may not even have been one of those present the first time) failed to stand firm as I had, stepping back almost to the edge of the stone not taken into my bell.

 

The demon's raging assault continued for some time, until it had expended most of its energy... for a while. Finally it turned to me and barked a demand in its harsh language. I glanced at West, who nodded once, and I spoke the words of a translation spell for the Third's language.

 

"Repeat what you said, demon."

 

I managed to avoid any uncertainty in my voice, which could have set it to raging once more.

 

"Why does small thing trap me? I feed soon, feed on you!"

 

Knowing that intimidation was standard in its dangerous society, I tried to give as much of a picture of strength as possible.

 

"Silence, weakling! If any are to feed, it shall be us!"

 

"Small thing thinks it has allies. Small thing stupid, betrayed! Now I feed!"

 

I quickly found that the demon spoke some truth; I now stood inside a small barrier while a path slowly opened between the demon and myself, and panic almost took me. Still, I was not truly faint-hearted, and I had options still available to me.

 

"Come one step closer and I'll destroy you, wretch!"

 

My bluff failed, and the demon struck at the fading wall between us, savagery almost unmatched. Feeling the bitter sting of betrayal, I threw myself into another incantation; I judged I had time for two spells before the demon could force its way through the torn circle. I first called a defense against magic, for I would not be struck down from behind while concentrating on the demon, and as I finished the spell one demonic claw punched a hole in the circle's barrier. Seeing this I knew that I did not have time for a magical strike which could hurt such a large, tough creature, and I wasted another second or so trying to step back. I gambled, then, on the stone bell-shape having been forgotten. I severed its hold against gravity while maintaining its shape, and it slammed down between the demon and myself. Despite the thickness of the stone, I knew it was still a mere delaying tactic, and I set a brief glance to the smaller circle trapping me.

 

The hidden runes blazed into visibility as they had since it was activated, and the "feel" of the magic was almost flawless... but I found a weakness. Anger filled me then, and I tore my magic from the small circle, which left the remaining three-quarters of the power shredded and ineffective. As I broke free, I lashed out with three bolts of lethal energy, formed of will without an incantation; a dangerous act indeed, and one which no combat instructor would accept, but my anger pushed against caution and each bolt sought one of the three casters, East, North and West. I shouted,

 

"Betrayers! You sought to kill me, I will return the favour!"

 

My blood was truly up now, and there was no hint of caution in me, but each of the other casters was no doubt more skilled in combat than I, and my bolts faded into nothingness. With rage, strangely, came pride. I cannot remember what I said next, but my next action I do recall. As I had shredded the small circle, I pulled my magic from the greater, leaving the main part of the power torn and malformed. The task of containing that chaos distracted the other mages, and I was left to control the chaos of my own power.

 

"Endoru kashin!"

 

With those two words I released a compression of a much longer spell, one which many mages keep for emergencies. It drew directly on my magical energies to nullify the power I had drawn from the circle, in equal measure. To expend almost as much in an instant as I had through the entire ritual was potentially fatal, and by all rights I should at least have fallen into unconsciousness. My anger faded at once, all emotions too much effort to sustain, and all I could feel was a cold numbness... but I remained standing. I was too weak to run from the chamber, almost too weak to raise my arms and incant once more. Still I clung to life, to consciousness, and managed to draw up the will to observe what was happening. I had destroyed the magic of my part of the circle immediately, but what I saw now would have stunned me had I not already been near emotional blankness. Starting with my corner of the circle, the bell within it was sliding away, flowing back to the stone's original place in the floor. The chaos of the circle itself was being erased, bit by bit, pushing back from me as it was dispelled. My magical energy was not returning, but instead wiping away all traces of the magics containing the demon!

 

When the dispelling gap in the stone bell was large enough, the Third demon dragged itself from it. The dispelling of the circle sped up as more cause for fear came before me, and I still lacked the willpower to do more than hold my eyes open. I heard a voice behind me, and the demon reared up... and brought its massive claws down upon me. A brief explosion of pain... but not enough pain, strangely. The claws had stopped, digging into my skull but no longer with force behind them. Still, it was enough. The world faded.

[Hjolnai]

I woke gradually, light forcing its way through my eyelids. When I finally sat up it was with a groan, for the stiffness and pain of complete exhaustion was all through me. It took me a moment to realize that my actual injuries were gone, the scars minimal, a little hair missing and no more.

 

When at last I could fully comprehend what my senses told me, I found myself lying on a sheet in the centre of a circle. The walls and floor were of a pale wood, not stone as the summoning chamber. Looking up, the circle had been painted on the ceiling as the floor, and I recognised the sigils and patterns; the circle was one for containing and treating the magically insane. It would try to redirect magic used within to harmlessness, while permitting external magics to be used to heal or subdue the one held within. I sat for a while, trying to work my mind into comprehension, but merely thinking was almost painful. I slept once more.

 

When I awoke a second time, sleep had returned much to me. Still I felt the bone-deep ache which I now attributed to magical exhaustion, but my mind could function at some approximation of its normal capacity. Memory also returned, and I recalled all of the summoning ritual at once. Shock almost sent me back from consciousness once more, but I persisted in exploring my recollection. The other mages had pit me against the Third demon... and I had lashed out at them in retribution. Rationality had certainly not been mine in that event; why had I not fled at the earliest opportunity? I answered my own question;

 

"Rage. So much anger..."

 

Still, I found myself wondering how I yet lived. The demon's claws had been stopped before I fell, perhaps by the voice from behind me before it struck. Past that, why had the three not killed me? Perhaps things were not as clear-cut as I had thought.

 

I sat in thought for a while longer, until I was interrupted by shoes tapping the wooden floor. Looking up, I saw that a healer had entered, this one a man perhaps in his thirties.

 

"You remember what happened?"

 

"Yes. The ritual which was meant to test my ability was a trap. They held me in a secondary circle to pit me against the demon... partially using my own energy. I broke out, then struck at each of them. I tore my portion of the ritual's magic from the primary circle, and tried to directly dispel it. Clearly I did not act rationally; I did not flee, my anger got the better of me. My dispelling was flawed also, as it spread to the primary circle's remnants and struck at the bell-shape used as an additional precaution, which I had dropped to gain time dealing with the demon. I should have died to that, using so much power, but I must have been very lucky. The demon was prevented from killing me by someone entering from behind me, but I lost consciousness due either to the demon's failed attack or magical exhaustion. Presumably the three who performed the ritual with me were also prevented from killing me, unless they were also tricked in the ritual. Is that about right?"

 

"Your memory is vivid and functional, and you recognize failures of judgment. I will take you before the judges of your test."

 

Still weak, I had no more strength to question. The healer quickly disabled the circle holding me and led me into the next room. Three people in the testing robes sat on a bench at the back, while the healer led me to a seat before it. I sat gratefully, then flinched as the centre mage spoke. It was Kepran's voice, and it was not unlikely that he had been West in the ritual as on the preparation day.

 

"So, Ailar, I believe it is time for an explanation and our judgment. The intent of the ritual was not just to judge your skills in performing a part of a combined spell; it was to put you in a combat situation under controlled circumstances. For once, they were not as controlled as we had intended. Your response to the combat situation has yet to be evaluated; we will need to see your perspective before conclusions can be drawn, particularly in light of the unusual results. Your capacity to cope with a new, intimidating ritual was good, however; your magic followed the requirements of the ritual as effectively as could be expected, and mistakes were minimal. Academically, you have made great progress through a better understanding of what it is to truly work at something. Now, would you tell us of how the conclusion of the ritual seemed to you?"

 

"It seemed strange to be going through such a dangerous ritual as a test, and so I was subconsciously suspicious of the motives behind it despite the forms which proved the legality of the ritual. Not suspicious enough to consciously realize it, but it left me open to the words of the Third demon when it said that I had been betrayed, which coloured my experiences in the next moment when I found a secondary circle around me. As this barrier was formed partially of my own magic, I felt all the more betrayed, and acted in the belief that each of the testing mages was as much a threat to me as the demon. When the stone bell delayed it, I turned to attacking the other casters as the more immediate threat, and the ones truly responsible for what I saw as a threat to my life. I think that this was the point where I became too emotional to maintain control."

 

"So, your immediate actions were justified had your conclusions been correct? That makes sense, but we need your perspective on the less rational events afterward to understand what happened. The chaotic situation means that we have no objective picture of what happened next."

 

"Picture, for the moment, the position of having been betrayed and attacked through ritual by three others, which is the position I felt I was in. I felt tremendous anger, and struck back in the swiftest manner I could. Unformed bolts of magic, driven by rage to make them stronger. It was madness, I suppose, to use such methods, but in this position it seemed there was little chance of surviving the betrayal anyway, and I could think only to strike back."

 

"It seems you are not ashamed of the intent behind that attack. Good. In combat such instant judgments are necessary, and even resorting to raw magic when contingencies and stored spells are absent or too slow can be a correct response. This is rare, but... In any case, continue. We cannot truly judge until we know the facts. What happened next to spread chaotic magic all through the room and free the demon?"

 

"Without considering consequences, feeling only anger at my own magic being used against me, I tore all the magic of my own from the circle. This must have unbound the spell and left the remainder free to generate truly-random effects. I may or may not have planned for the chaos to distract the casters away from attacking me, which I expected to happen; had they not just tried to kill me through the Third demon? In any case, what came next made even less sense. Lacking the time to harmlessly redirect the magic I had torn from the circle, I directly dispelled it with Endoru kashin stored from long ago. This spell must have been malformed, as it not only dispelled the intended chaos of my own power, but also spread to the circle and pushed back the magic of the ritual and the power of the stone bell. I do not know why I survived that, but I maintained consciousness long enough to see the demon prevented from killing me."

 

This time, the woman who had been East spoke.

 

"So that explains the chaos which spawned so suddenly, and its gradual disappearance. You are lucky to be alive. I know of few with the capacity to expend so much energy over as short a time as the circle took to vanish. You may not know it, but you even sent that demon home after it was stopped. No wonder your magical burnout has lasted so long, a tenth of a star-cycle. To destroy an hour's worth of magic in a minute..."

 

A star-cycle was as a "year" of Home, though legends tell us that Home's year was perhaps twice the length in days; on the other hand, a day of Airlith lasts twenty-eight hours, and even the length of an hour may not be the same. Much was lost when we crossed over. In any case, I had slept for a very long time; it was surprising that I hadn't been transferred to an asylum to recover.

 

In any case, I should move on. The group judged that I was combat-worthy in reflexes provided that I could build trust in any allies, and my willingness to take a major risk when life seemed forfeit was also judged to be a useful combat trait. I had my doubts over the validity of this ruling, but I did not argue; my own views were less positive. They then sent me to Archmage Kals, who had apparently been the one who prevented the demon from tearing my head off, as he came to investigate the chaotic disturbance.