Chapter 6: Meeting the Mother

  The great shadow enveloped Solen’s sleeping form, seeping into him like smoke through fabric. For a heartbeat, the little rented apartment returned to a semblance of normalcy. Then, a shining, pulsating blood-red gem shard burst forth on his forehead. Fiery fissures, radiating an eldritch glow, spiderwebbed across his body like cracks on a mirror under enormous pressure.

  Midway through, his eyes, now transformed into glowing suns, snapped open. He choked back an initial scream, but as the fiery fissures spread further across his body, the agony became too much. The choked scream morphed into an inhuman roar before abruptly cutting out.

  The energy and heat within him surged, his body radiating an unbearable light that bleached the world to bone-white, an unnatural luminescence that seemed to defy the laws of nature. The air around him warped and twisted, as if space itself was bending around his incandescent form. Light refracted in impossible ways, creating shimmering mirages and phantom afterimages. For a few heartbeats, he was a miniature sun, burning with impossible fury. Then, the contained inferno within him reached critical mass, exploding outwards in a cataclysm that devastated a large part of Guarai.

  In the wake of the cataclysm, sweeping fires engulfed the remnants of the city. At its heart, Solen levitated, still screaming an inaudible scream, tears of blood tracing paths down his cheeks.

  Molten rock started to ooze up his legs before halting. For a moment everything was halted in time in an eerie silence before the molten rock started to backpedal followed by the fires, the explosion and its shockwave.

  The reversal continued till the great shadow was being ejected from Solen’s body which had returned to sleep in his untouched apartment again. The great shadow appeared less opaque and consistent now.

  “You?????????? wo?????????????u??????????ld imp?????????????ris???????????????on m????????????????????e??????????????????, o God???????????????????des???????????s?????????????????” it rasped from an unseen mouth, its voice low and guttural.

  “Hush child. Your tantrums have caused enough of a stir already” the gentle rebuke not missed by the other.

  “Sud???????d??????????enl????????????y y????????????????o?????????u car???????????e ab?????????????out???????????? u???????????????s???????, conv????????????e????????????????nien??????????????t.”

  “Are you judging me now, child? A fleeting glance upon omniscience was all it took to shatter you. How your guide would weep seeing you now.”

  The shadow recoiled as it slowly started to fade into nothingness.

  Solen’s small, rented room returned to its original state as though two obscenely powerful entities hadn’t just had a clash of wills right at its epicentre.

  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

  The early night hadn't helped at all. I felt even more lethargic than before. Dragging myself out of bed was a struggle, but I didn't want to waste a perfectly good morning.

  The first thing on my list was a visit to the local communal bath house. My usual methods of maintaining hygiene were less practical in the middle of civilization. At least oral hygiene was simple enough: a quick internal heat surge—hot enough to melt tin—and I was good to go.

  Outside, the streets buzzed with an unusual early-morning activity. I barely had a moment to get my bearings before two men in the traditional robes of the Mage Council, shadowed by a dozen city guards, accosted me.

  Those women certainly did not look happy, somehow managing to look even more exhausted than me, with my weeks of restless sleep.

  “You there, commoner, halt!” the one on the right commanded, his high-pitched voice dripping with disdain. The emphasis he placed on "commoner" grated on my nerves, reminding me uncomfortably of twins I’d known back home—twins who’d joined the Imperial Mage Council and promptly discarded their past lives and friends like so much unwanted baggage.

  A sudden chill gripped me. Had I been found out? A torrent of questions flooded my mind: How? When? Who could have possibly…?

  “How may I help you, great mage?” I asked, swallowing my dread and forcing a servile tone.

  As I spoke, I noticed the other mage, slightly behind and to his right, staring intently at me. A faint tremor ran through his hands. His scrutiny was only heightening my panic further.

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  “Did you notice anything out of the ordinary recently? Anything… preternatural?” the first mage demanded, his tone suggesting he considered this work to be beneath him.

  Relief washed over me. It wasn't about me. Or so I desperately wanted to believe. But what, then? This wasn't the noble district. While crime wasn't exactly rampant here, it wasn't quite unheard of either, especially as the drought and famine ravaging the region had pushed many of the city's inhabitants into poverty. The city administration never seemed too hurried to stamp it out so what had happened to draw such a response.

  “No, great mage. I don’t recall anything like that.”

  As I spoke, the younger mage subtly placed a hand over his chest, his fingers lightly pressing as if trying to soothe some discomfort. A flush crept up his neck and spread across his face, and he began to slowly back away, his eyes locked on me with an uneasy blend of bewilderment and intense focus. He looked… disturbed. But not at me, it seemed. More like he was struggling with a fleeting memory, something just beyond his reach.

  The elder mage, finally noticing something amiss with his companion, turned towards him. He took his younger charge by the elbow, guiding him a few steps to the side, away from the immediate vicinity of myself and the general flow of foot traffic. They huddled close, their heads nearly touching. I strained to listen, but the morning hubbub of the street—the clang of a blacksmith's hammer in the distance, the calls of vendors preparing their displays, the murmur of passersby—made it difficult to discern anything.

  I caught a low murmur, a name: “...Elkan…” The rest of the sentence was lost to the noise. I saw the younger mage sway, and the other steadied him.

  The older mage’s brow furrowed. He glanced around quickly, then drew his companion even closer, cupping a hand around his mouth as he spoke in a near-silent murmur. I could only catch the faintest whisper, too indistinct to understand.

  His younger charge shook his head, looking troubled. I thought I heard the word “sensory,” but it was difficult to be sure. He rubbed his temples, his face flushed.

  The senior mage straightened, a sigh escaping his lips. He glanced around quickly, then spoke in a near-silent murmur. "...headquarters...send someone..." With a decisive nod, he turned to the guards flanking them, their postures stiffening even further as his tone regained some of its earlier authority.

  “You six,” he addressed the guards closest to me, gesturing vaguely with a flick of his wrist towards the street ahead. “Continue patrolling the thoroughfare. Ask the locals if they've seen anything unusual in the past few days. Focus on any reports of strange occurrences, sudden changes or unusual phenomenon.”

  "The rest of you…" the mage sighed, as if their very presence was a burden. "Come along. We're going back to the castle. And try not to waste any more of my precious time."

  As they turned to leave, Elkan(?) the younger mage, paused, his gaze sweeping back over the street, lingering for a moment too long on me before finally moving on. A flicker of puzzlement or something... else had crossed his features. My earlier relief evaporated, replaced by a cold dread that settled in my stomach.

  The group of guards accompanying the mages moved off, the rhythmic crunch of their boots on the uneven cobblestones faded into the general hubbub of the street. The six remaining guards, however, began to spread out, three heading further down the thoroughfare, two crossing to the opposite side of the street, and one approached me.

  She was a slender little thing and overly cautious. She had a hand on her short sword the entire time I saw her making her way towards me.

  “What is your name citizen and what business brings you to these parts? She asked in an even tone.

  “My name is Solen, and I live here. I rented that flat a few weeks ago,” I replied, pointing to my little home. I was nonplussed by the continued interrogation; I’d thought I was in the clear after the mages and their entourage left.

  “Is there anyone we can ask to corroborate your whereabouts yesterday evening?”

  I felt my mouth dry; I had spent the evening having a meal with the two orphans I had taken under my wing. I couldn’t very well reveal that, as not only would it get them in trouble and potentially caught, but it would also bring me into the crosshairs of the authorities. Any scrutiny on me would be disastrous.

  “No, guard,” I replied, trying to sound casual. “I live alone, so there’s no one to corroborate my story. I finished work, then had an early supper and turned in for the night.” I added helplessly, not liking that I had to lie by omission.

  The guard was clearly unhappy with my response if the rhythmic thrumming of her fingers on her sword’s pommel was anything to go by.

  “What do you do for a living, citizen?” she asked impatiently.

  Before I could answer, the unexpected voice of a certain copper haired woman cut through the air. “Oh, he's this year’s combat instructor for the okuls, Kaila.”

  I had mostly tuned out the early morning commuters of the southern district, since almost all of them were keeping their heads down and trying to avoid this predicament by evading the attention of the guards.

  Usually, at the first hint of a brawl, the streets would fill with onlookers, eager to witness the spectacle but unwilling to get involved. But at the first sign of the politia or patrolling guards they’d scatter having satisfied their morbid curiosity.

  The guard looked over to her acquaintance before slowly taking her hand away from her sword to cradle her head tiredly. “Ceryla, he is well capable of answering for himself”

  “I thought I overheard you were dissatisfied because this young man couldn’t verify his story,” she said, gesturing towards me.

  “Fine, but that still doesn't confirm his last night’s location” she pointed out matter-of-factly.

  Now I felt a slight headache coming on from the aggravation. “Like I said I turned in for the night early. I don't know how I can prove that to you.”

  “Come on Kaila, be reasonable. How do you expect the boy to substantiate his statement? Tell you what if you ignore this, I’ll bake you your favourite pie.”

  “You can't keep bribing me with food whenever you want me to do something for you” she said, but the audible gulp I heard from her had me doubting her words.

  Seeing her hesitate, Ceryla sweetened the deal further “How about I bake you two pies and you can go join your group. We both know this is a waste of time, why not get this farce over and done with as quickly as possible.”

  Kaila hesitated, then sighed. “Fine, it's been a long and exhausting night. Just don’t bring them to the mess. My squad will devour them before I get a bite.” Saying her piece, she hurried off to rejoin her group.

  Seeing her leave for a moment I turned around to give the copper-haired mother, Ceryla a respectful bow. “ I thank you ma'am, for assisting me. I believe you might already know but I am called Solen.”

  Ceryla offered a warm smile, a blush colouring her cheeks as her eyes met mine with a steady, unwavering gaze. “Think nothing of it, young Solen,” she said, her voice softening. “I was glad to help.” She paused for a beat, tilting her head slightly as she held my gaze. “My name is Ceryla, by the way.”

  “You must be little Ceres’s mother. I’ve seen you accompanying her a few times.”

  As her eyes lingered on mine for a beat too long, I felt a cold knot tightening in my stomach. Trust had always been a precarious thing for me, and Ceryla's attention felt... too much, too soon. I shifted uncomfortably, suddenly hyper-aware of the space between us. An intense urge to look away warring with the need to maintain polite eye contact.

  I should have been accustomed to it by now, perhaps even reveling in the attention, but my experiences as a street urchin before meeting my father wouldn't allow that.

  Oblivious to my internal discomfort Ceryla continued talking to me. “I always make it a point to escort my daughter to her okul and back. My work as a cook gives me some leeway when it comes to my timings.”

  That wasn't what I had meant. But sure, I could roll with that. I had purposefully chosen a residence close to where the copper haired family had relocated so I could keep a better lookout for my friend. My intentions may have seemed less than honourable to a third party, but I swore I had the best of intentions.

  With the introductions out of the way, I wanted to satiate my burning curiosity. I pointed towards a different set of guards further down the thoroughfare, who were busy questioning a nervous-looking woman outside a bakery. “What do you suppose that is all about?”

  “They’ve been at it for most of the night” she said with a sigh. “With the mage council involved it must be related to some mystic curio or something similar. It's not like they ever share the details with the general public.”

  While that did make sense, the intensity of this response was troubling, but I kept that detail to myself.

  I gave an exasperated groan “With the way they are going about this, I doubt anyone is willingly going to come forward with any information.”

  Realizing the sun had climbed quite a bit higher and I didn't want to be caught in the morning rush at the bath house I said my goodbyes to Ceryla. She then made me promise to stop by at her place for lunch sometime. While I knew the offer was perfectly innocent, I was worried it would give her the wrong idea.

  Before making my departure, I remembered to compliment her on raising such a determined and talented daughter.

  Seeing her proud and happy smile was my highlight for this forgettable morning.