The Warlord

Chapter 19: Calthius

I swim through a dark and murky world, my senses dulled to a dangerous low. I only know that a vague, mysterious, final destination awaits me. One that sends my skin tingling at the thought of it. I paddle through the wafting shadows, trying to find light. But gradually, I begin to grow listless and unresponsive, and I float in the endless waves, wanting nothing but eternal rest. Then I feel something whisper to me; something strange and foreign. It beckons me, and begins to pull me towards itself. I can do nothing as I am sucked into the black sea, the water battering my body as I am pulled away from the surface.

A hoarse, gravelly voice whispers in my ear, "Good luck, dear brother."

I wake up with a start, cold sweat lining my sheets. The sun has just climbed over the horizon, and a rosy dawn mist floats around the castle. I am still shaken by my dream as I pull on some clothes. I am the only child of the royal family of Heaven, so what was that voice? It sounded eerily familiar, but also entirely alien. It's just a dream, Calthius. It means nothing. I buckle my sword to my belt, trying to escape the ominous feeling that is haunting me from my sleep. It means nothing.

Once I have dressed I stalk through the castle corridors, savoring the sweet, sweet silence. The servant angels that usually meander in the hallways have not yet risen, so this whole castle belongs to me and only me. I breathe in the clear, pristine quietness of the early morning, and stare out one of the windows in the hallway. However my moment does not go undisturbed.

An acrid, dark aura tingles at my magic, and I almost gag at its touch. It is a faint, black spell, weaving its way out of the castle and towards the Top Order's abode. Carefully, I follow the trail, slipping out of the palace and winding through the fresh grass fields. Dew slushes underneath my boots as I make my way to the towering cliff that houses the Top Order. It is carved from forceful gales, and the russet-colored rock almost glows in the pale sunlight. The dark magic curves through the sky before looping back into the shrouded entrance of the mountainside. The Top Order is definitely up to something.

I cover myself in a shield; strong enough to hide from casual suspicion. But by the time the Top Order really starts to investigate any strange presence from me, I will be long gone. Closing my eyes, I draw up a wealth of power from within me and sharpen it into a very, very fine point. I thread my magic through the air, as if I am trying to sew the wind and clouds together. My magic becomes my eyes, and slowly, delicately, I soar into the air and perch just outside of the entrance.

I hear low, murmuring voices coming from the inside, and the stench of the unnatural magic engulfs me. What are they doing?

"It is unstable, Zarul." a deep, husky tone; undoubtedly from Kassiel, the god of power.

"It will do. We will see what she has been up to." Zarul's soft, whispery voice responds in turn. "Is the insignia complete?"

"Almost. A few more lines of runes and then we will be able to perform the spell." That is Soranel's feminine, gentle, tone. The whole Top Order must be participating in whatever they are doing.

Silence falls on the group, and I strain my ears, but only catch the scratches of chalk against uneven stone, and controlled breaths of someone trying to stabilize their magic. I cannot find out anything if this continues. My heart starts to pound, and fear fills my head, but I slowly peek inside the cave. It only takes a moment before my eyes adjust, and I see through the clouded, dark, billowy aura of the magic they are using.

Kassiel and Malelai, the goddess of peace, wrestle with the control of their magic, holding a God's Eye spell before Zarul. I can barely breathe at the sight of the glowing, unholy magic. God's Eye allows its user to see anywhere in all the three realms, but the cost is one's purity. Hold a God's Eye spell for too long, and the lower realm's clutches will take hold of your mind and body, turning you into a demon. I suppose that the Top Order are the only ones powerful enough to withstand such dire consequences, but I can see the strain the spell has put on Kassiel's and Malelai's bodies. It must be the source of the black magic I followed.

Near them, Malelai's two sisters, Averith and Soranel, are bent over the ground. The faint outline of chalk against black earth grows stronger, and to my horror, I find that they are tracing out a Rebirth Circle. A portal to draw someone or something from the Void; the gap of emptiness and nothingness between the upper and middle realm. Those trapped in a failed portal between the two realms often find themselves in that desolate, lonely place.

I turn my attention back to the God's Eye, and shock courses through me as I see my mother in her chambers, staring out of her window. The Top Order is spying on their queen, and they are planning to bring something here to the upper realm.