Citadel of Shadows

Chapter Three

Alamora

I followed Cassara, winding through the trees. The paths below were more overgrown the further we went from the centre of the Citadel. I ventured out to the darker parts of the forest when I wanted to be alone. People rarely traversed outside, preferring to stay under the protection of the guard. The solitude was blissful.

We found a small clearing, with sunlight piercing the dense canopy. I saw wildflowers, little specks of white and purple and yellow, bright amongst the verdant grass. I had not seen this place before. Not even on my many explorations of the outskirts.

Cassara sat near the middle, not quite in the centre. She patted that spot with a hard palm and I sat, my legs crossed. There was the faint sound of a breeze rustling leaves, of little woodland creatures creeping amongst the dark forest floor.

"Why did you bring me here?"

She smiled coyly and removed her hood, iron-grey tendrils falling around her time-weathered face. I could see how she looked as a young woman when she smiled like that, beautiful and tempting. I tilted my head, curious about what she wanted with me. Her eyes turned from a dark, almost black, brown to a glimmering silver.

"My god gave me a dream about you. Not your past, that is faint and unfocused, but your present. I saw you fight. Tell me, where did you learn how to turn a living thing into a rotting, maggot-eaten mess?"

"I don't know. I just did it."

She leaned back onto her palms, eyes searching my face. I felt bare to her sight, her visions. I could see why she was called the Oracle. Instead of flinching away, I simply stared back.

"I believe you."

"Good, because I was telling the truth."

"I know. He knows."

I brought my knees up to my chest, biting into my bottom lip. I didn't trust this, something in my head was telling me that I shouldn't ask anything more than what she had given me. I did not understand how I had twisted my magic into something gnarled and dark, something capable of such a cruel death. Cassara's eyes darkened and she was herself once more. I steeled myself.

"Why is my past obscured?"

"Akaish can only show me so much. He may be the god of the Sight, but even his gaze has limits."

"You don't know."

I was well-versed in seeing through flowery and 'mysterious' language. I had used it myself, on the patients that asked why they weren't well instantly after being treated with magic. The truth was that it took time and I couldn't focus on one patient over the course of a day without being exhausted. They didn't like that.

"Yes. Not many people see through the fortune-teller bullshit."

She seemed impressed, rather than offended. I had called many a person out on hiding the truth. It had always ended with someone getting defensive and calling me names, but I didn't care. Hiding that you do not know something could be dangerous, it could hurt someone.

"I use the bullshit myself. I can't not see through it."

She chuckled and moved to stand up. I could see shakiness in her movements, and I wanted to help, but a gut feeling told me that she would not appreciate it. She would admit that she didn't know, but being weak was not something she would admit.

"I'll talk with you later. I need to rest."

She left me to my thoughts, my musings.

It was odd how one thing could change your whole view on life. I had never wanted or needed to know about my life before the Citadel, but now I was curious. What could leave such scars? Who would leave such wounds on a child?