The God Files: Orroz's Story

Light Magic

Reality began to rip into Orroz at that moment. His hand lunged at his stomach and felt nothing. With every ounce of strength he had Orroz tilted his head downward to look at his stomach, and saw that it was transparent, intangible. The process was quickening. He could feel himself materialize, bit by bit, into some unknown dimension away from this current reality. Suddenly, his right hand began to glow a soft white light. He averted his eyes from his stomach to his hand. The source of the glow was an ornate gold ring with a mysterious, diamond like crystal socketed in. It was a parting gift from the angels, a little trinket made from the gold found on the streets. And the "diamond" was actually a fragment of the material the White Gates are made of. He had assumed the ring was nothing more than a trinket; it never shown any sign of power before. But now he finally saw what it could do. 

Pieces of Orroz returned to him, until he was whole again. He sighed with relief and saw that the angelic ring's glow died down until it winked out entirely. He knew that its power was gone, spent on keeping him here in this reality. Semalia must've known this day would come, and planned ahead of time. A weary smile crept up on Orroz's face despite everything. He conjured the pen back into his hands (he had dropped it previously) and continued writing...

Another part of my training was the use of Light Magic. This type of magic usually deals with healing, and even mild resurrection. However, precious few know that Light Magic can be used defensively and even offensively.

I could tell that, at first, Semalia was worried. At first I assumed it was because he was teaching me angelic magic, and I was no angel. But now that I look back, I think I know the true reason why he was worried. As well as angel, I had demon blood inside of me, as well as tainted humanity. I might've had too much darkness within me, and it would smother the light inside of me. But he taught me anyway. 

He began by teaching me a basic party trick: conjuring a sphere of light. It was easy enough, and most angels could do it the moment they were born. To demonstrate, Semalia had conjured a white sphere of light.

                  "Light magic comes from one's inner light.. Angels, for example, have no trouble wielding such magic. But for demon's it's near impossible, because they are beings of darkness. As I taught you before, the presence of light and darkness in someone is irrelevant to one's ability to do good or evil. Many have made that misunderstanding and many have paid the price. But they aren't wrong in the fact that light and darkness, good and evil, are closely connected. Light magic thrives on the righteous and goodness of men. Dark magic feeds off of the evil mankind does and the many sins that plague it. So, in essence, the more you do good, the stronger your light magic will become. The more you do evil, the weaker it shall be.

                  "Now, feel within yourself your soul's spark. The light and life that it produces. Once you do that, flick your fingers outward, whilst picturing in your mind a hovering ball of light." I closed my eyes and concentrated. At first, I could feel nothing. I sifted through the darkness my eyes saw and then, I saw it! A tiny light amid the darkness. I focused my vision on it, and it got larger. Or was it closer. Either way, soon enough, I saw my immortal soul.

It was a bright, pulsing thing, as though made of fire. It continually burned away the darkness that was near it, and it casted light so bright I couldn't look at it directly. At that moment I simultaneously felt my body there, by the White Gates, and saw my soul burning away the darkness. I reached out and flicked my fingers, as Semalia told me to. I opened my eyes and began laughing. I actually conjured a sphere of light!

But the more I looked at it, the more I realized it wasn't a ball of light. It flickered and danced to much. In my hand was fire. I turned my gaze to Semalia, who had raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

                  "What you hold in your hand, Orroz, is fire. Heavenly fire," Semalia finally said. "This says much about you and your capacity to perform light magic. Most angels can't summon it until they are at least five centuries old. But you managed to do it on you're first try. And you did as I asked. You conjured a ball of light. Fire just happened to accompanied it."

Semalia also reasoned because of this, simple things like conjuring light would be almost reflexive to me, and indeed they were. I could conjure and use globes of light with ease, as well as do other tricks like radiating light and conjuring regular fire. Semalia explained that while angels don't necessarily do elemental magic, the elements fire and air were a part of them, and subsequently they can call on them as needed.

Light magic, Semalia also told me, can be a formidable defense and offense. He taught me how to raise barriers of fire and light, even lightning, as well as the runes and sigils that activated them. Healing, obviously, was also something Semalia showed me, and even told me of a little spell that could cast an aura of healing over yourself or someone else. The magic healed almost any injury of disease while the caster's attention was elsewhere. Very few angels are said to know this trick. Semalia only learned how by going through some of the oldest angelic scrolls in Creation. Healing is a dying art, Semalia once said. True healing that is. Many races have learned how to use other methods to heal. But that was only physical. Few other magics other than light can heal spiritually as well.

Offensive spells included raining down heavenly fire and lightning, shooting beams of light powerful enough to break even angelic armor, and one of the most powerful spells of all.

                  "This spell was based off of the mighty phoenix, a rare and mystical bird said to be immortal, as that every time it dies, it rises from the ashes as a newborn. The cleansing fires a phoenix use is unique, but can be duplicated in some situations. This spell is one of them. Be warned, however. This spell will unleash a vast amount of that fire onto a target and the surrounding area. Those caught in the flames are purified, in essence. Not just in body, but in soul and mind. They become a clean slate, a new creature. Their memories, their past will have been burned away. And, if you're not careful, the spell can backfire and cleanse you. Lesser versions of the spell have been made, but they need phoenix feathers in order to work. This spell should only be used as a last resort, against the most terrible odds. Nothing else should permit you to use this."       .