Raheim: Trickster's Fate

Episode 5: Eli Si Űm

One of the benefits of being a trickster is being able to recognize illusions. The Spottintrall palace exterior showed no sign of tumultuous activity, nor were there any guards posted to protect the institution. But Raheim knew appearances didn't always match reality. His skin tingled and felt cold, similar to a beverage cool to the touch. The chilling sensation almost took center attention, obscuring all other senses. He could have used a warming spell, but he decided the cold would force him to focus and maintain the adrenaline from his last confrontation.

Now wasn't the time to be distracted. In the corner of his eye he noticed a lone lamp pole a short walk from the entrance. No other lights shone. There were no homes for several kilometers as royal palaces usually reserved a large number of acres for security reasons. For Raheim, it meant that civilians wouldn't be harmed if danger were to emerge out of the palace.

Raheim inched closer to the building, away from the lamp pole, taking his time to assess the surroundings for possible minions. Gentle as a feather he grazed the walls on the extremities, intent on determining the exact location of the commotion. His fingers sizzled. Yet, the concentration of magic energy there was not high enough to be the source of the lighting charge that ripped the sky earlier in the afternoon.

He continued back, carefully stepping around pieces of rock and small mounds of rubble that were typically found around concrete terrains. The more he advanced and the more the ground under him withered along with the flora.

A royal palace is meant to be kept pristine, perfect, presentable. The rubble & withering made the place look miserable and abandoned.

It might have been dark, but Raheim could feel the difference. It was like walking in the desert inland. Raheim paused and extended his palms towards the building's wall, pulled his hands back and repeated the gesture until the structure cracked just enough to slide his hand in. When he did so, his whole body contorted and sucked in.

Before he knew it he was back outside, on his knees panting under the single lamp pole. Raheim struggled to breathe as his lungs slowly untwisted along with most of his internal organs. He was a victim of a hex, one that is born from some oral legend. Raheim had no access to such power, nor quite frankly the desire to. He feared he had stepped in a realm that possessed no exit. Evil wasn't on his side despite the bad he had done. That's not how it worked. Nor was Good an ally either, but his options were nonexistent.

Only one choice remained, to atone and enter covenant with Eli Si Űm. If entering a contract with celestial beings were anything like partnering with magic overseers, this should be relatively easy.

Quickly, Raheim recited from memory, "Woe to me, I am not worthy to stand before Thee. Have mercy on my soul and the errors of my ways. I have faulted you and betrayed the laws of nature. Come to my - "

"You amuse me, Ra. That's the best you got?", a deep belly voice interrupted.

Raheim looked around, looked up then closed his eyes. "Eli Si... Um?"

"My name is not a question, but I know what your thoughts are, and they haven't convinced me. Your prayer was incredibly insincere."

"But aren't you supposed to deliver us when we call?"

"I haven't said otherwise, young one. However, I will not be doing your bidding. This is a job. Much like your time in the MMS, you need to make a radical choice and put everything on the line. There is no hope for the wavering spirit, only disaster."

Raheim kept his mouth closed. He went about this haphazardly, and in the presence of a deity, even one that sounded mundane, he had to choose his words more carefully. As if reading his mind, the deity spoke again.

"What you hear is filtered by your natural ears. What you need is fueled by your heart. The need I see is "escape" rather than triumph. My business is not with the cowardly Raheim. Take a stand now or meddle with evil on your own."

"What do I have to do, Eli Si Űm? Please, give me specific instructions."

Eli Si Űm chuckled. "I see you possess some knowledge to require "specific" instructions. Fine! Since you are adamant in having a clear path before walking in faith, I'll show you what must be. Hear me, hear me well. Concentrate on the sound of my voice until you hear a void within. Abandon magic, abandon thought. Concentrate."

Eyes still closed, Raheim did as he was told and began to feel miniscule and weightless. He couldn't ascertain what was happening, but he felt like he was falling from a cliff while simultaneously ascending like a dead man's spirit. He was at the mercy of this deity he barely knew. A god that seemed to not take anything seriously unless it was about faith. Raheim opened his eyes, he vowed to himself years ago that he wouldn't let anyone keep him in the dark anymore.

Eyes opened, the sight all around him made his heart race to his throat. They were in altitude, above the clouds. He couldn't tell if it was still night, and he was not confident enough to look down. Although he was suspended in the air, he felt physically secured by something like a tight belt or an armor.

There it was; Raheim finally noticed the droning of the void, and it was quite familiar. Yet all around him was whole and filling. Was this the effect of God, faith or divine power?

"Remember this as you fall towards your destiny."

"Eli!!!" Raheim's shouts carried on the wind as he plummeted, rediscovering a feeling he had buried with his previous life: needing someone. "I need you, Eli!!!"

Raheim fell, but slowly. He closed his eyes against his thumping heart's wishes. He reclaimed what he felt earlier: the void, security, then wholeness and finally need. When he opened his eyes again, he was inside the palace. The sensations, the assurance and calm he acquired hadn't left. This was spiritual.

Closing his fists to rally up his strength and barge in every room until he found Devra, he felt a cold firm object in his hands. He looked down and saw what appeared to be swords carved in ice that did not melt, one wrapped in each hand.

"Eli, I'm going to make you proud!" Raheim thought.

"It's Eli Si Űm," the god whispered.