Shifting Flames {Book 1 of the Black Mancer Series}

Chapter 5: Silas

ﾟ: *✧・ﾟ:*Dedicated to @Kikididikikikiki for being such a cool supporter! *:・ﾟ✧* : ﾟ

As Jonathan left the room, Silas let out a huff and slumped in his chair. Jonathan was a capable man, and he had earned the trust Silas put in him.

Silas tried to work on some papers for a few minutes, but became restless. There was a prophecy, shared among the most trusted of Gold Mancers, that a Black Mancer would one day come and overcome a powerful evil. No others would be able to defeat it.

It seemed that the day had nearly come, but the evil had not shown itself yet. It's lying in wait, using the element of surprise. That meant they would need to be prepared. Kiara would need everything she could get to overcome this foretold evil.

Silas pushed himself up from his chair, and let out a heavy breath. He needed to get some fresh air. He wrote a note and stuck it on the door, before stepping onto the balcony in his room and flying away.

What could he do? He knew nothing of Black Mancing. The books he asked for might help, but there was still the question of tactics. What was this great evil? How could it only be stopped by a Black Mancer? Did that mean it was more powerful than a Gold Mancer? Or was it merely the abilities granted to a Black Mancer that enabled them to win?

He'd need to go see Daven. He'd know what to do. He had a tactical mind, and a knack for combat. Another of Silas' most trusted friends. While Silas thought more passively of powers, Daven could turn even a Grey Mancer into a deadly weapon using tactics and unique manipulations.

That brought another friend to mind. One that never failed to amaze Silas.

Rossa.

Rossa was a brilliant mind and a powerful Mancer- that was why she was in the High Court. She had declined the position of Headmaster of Inverell Academy because of two reasons. One, she would need to protect the Royal Family. No-one doubted she was the most capable of doing so. Two, she had claimed that there were important experiments she was conducting that couldn't be stopped or interrupted.

Not that anyone would want to.

Rossa had a certain... enthusiasm about her that frightened off most people, and intimidated the rest. Like most mad scientists though, she knew what she talked about, and had the greatest understanding of how Mancing worked. It was a strange compliment however, since not many people are educated in the fundamental workings of Mancing in the first place, but that made her no less brilliant. Or terrifying.

Why were the smart ones always crazy?

Silas' mind briefly thought back to the Black Mancer books he had requested. Should he have brought them with him?

He looked back and noted he couldn't see the Academy anymore, not that he expected to see it anyway. He was travelling quite fast, protected only by an air barrier before him. For a journey that would typically take a week or more by horseback took a few hours for a Gold Mancer. This was only because they had the energy to sustain it, though.

The Citadel came into view, growing from the horizon. Its three spires crested first, then the many lesser towers and turrets, then finally the city itself, sprawling around the Palace like the skirt of a dancer.

He slowed as he neared, knowing that a constant watch was placed on the outskirts of the city. Using Light Mancing, he flashed a signal to the second highest spire, which flashed once in return; a message of receival. Once he had the go-to, Silas sped up to the balcony of the spire, where a Purple Mancer was waiting for him. Silas landed, gave a bow to the man, and entered the tower room.

It was merely a receiving area, filled with chairs, lounges and coffee tables. A few bookshelves sat against the walls, filled with various reading material.

Silas crossed the room, but as he reached the door it burst open, revealing a woman with short black hair, rectangular glasses, a baggy Gold Mancer coat with the sleeves cut off, and a wild glint in her eye. Silas flinched at the sudden appearance, and again when the woman hugged him tightly. He wasn't one for intimacy.

"Hello Rossa." Silas began, looking down at the woman. She only came up to his chin, but given that Silas was a large man, it wasn't too surprising. Rossa didn't answer, and didn't let go either, so he had to manually pry her away and step back.

"It's so good to see you Silas! How have you been? What brings you here without warning? Not very like you- something's off." Rossa spoke at a mile a minute, not allowing Silas to answer. She moved forward again to peer at his face. "You're worried about something!" She gasped dramatically. "The great Silas, concerned?" She tutted and shook her head, moving to a two-seater lounge and patting beside her. "Tell me what's troubling you."


Silas let out the short breath he'd been holding and hesitantly sat. She immediately moved closer, essentially trapping the usually dignified man.

"Rossa, I've come to ask you for help." He stared straight ahead, knowing her eyes would be glowing with excitement at this point. To ask a favour from Rossa was a dangerous thing, especially for him. Silas was skilled among his peers in using his Mancing creatively. Rossa had taken an interest in him ever since he theorised and demonstrated a way to change the colour of a fruit using Life Mancing.

"And...?" Rossa filled the silence that was growing. Silas looked to the Purple Mancer that, thankfully, was facing away.

"Can we go somewhere more private?" Silas said carefully, knowing it would be taken out of context.

"Ooooh!" Rossa said childishly. Silas merely sighed and got up, half dragging Rossa with him.

They made their way upstairs into the larger room, which was Rossa's laboratory. One might expect it to be full of glass bottles, tubes of bubbling chemicals and maybe some sort of horrendous creation. Only one of these things was actually present.

The mostly empty circular room focused on a potted plant, but it also appeared to have some sort of flesh growing on it. Silas didn't want to think about where it came from.

There was a chair before a large desk that held somewhat neatly stacked papers and a single, full pencil pot to one side, a pallet covered in slightly stained blankets and a pillow that had seen better days was on another. There were some shelves with jars that contained samples of plant and animal life, some dirt, water, a single stick, a mirror- which Silas thought strange to be in a jar- and a clump of fur or hair.

"I don't have another chair." Rossa said, glancing out the corner of her eye at Silas. He gave her a withering look- she huffed- and opened up the jar with the stick and jabbed it into the soil of the potted plant. "Only cause I like you," she said as the stick began to grow. As it did, she tilted her head, and the stick, now a small shrub, followed suit. The branches split and split again, coming together at the top to form a chair.

Rossa ripped it out of the pot and used Air Mancing to slice off the shallow roots. "There you are! A nice new chair!"

Silas looked at it. That would've taken an immense amount of energy. He could hear in her voice some of the exuberance had faded. That was quite a commitment she had. Rossa, tired of waiting for a response, or even a reaction, plonked it down and opened up a small drawer in the desk. She pulled out a bag of sweets and began eating them by the handful. "Wan' sum?" She said, offering the bag. "They're really good for-" she swallowed her mouthful. "Getting your energy back."

Silas declined and carefully sat, testing the strength of the thin branches. "You've gotta have more faith in me." Rossa complained, returning the sweets to their place. "I'd never hurt you. Well, I'd never make you hurt." Silas wasn't sure about the difference between the two, but finally found an opportunity to speak as she pulled up her own chair and sat backwards on it, resting her arms on the back.

Where was Jonathan when you needed him? He wouldn't be as daunted by the woman as Silas was.

He would get to the topic at hand faster, too. Silas had wasted a lot of time.

He opened his mouth to speak, then hesitated. How best to put this?

"Spit it out, Silas! The suspense is killing me!"

"The Black Mancer has appeared."

For once, Rossa didn't have anything to say. She stared at him in shock. For a long time.

Silas got up from his rough seat, but she continued to stare into space. It unnerved him, and he almost wished she'd start prattling off about how Soul Mancing used a different kind of energy to connect with other living things.

"Rossa? Say something... please."

She remained motionless.

"Rossa, I'll be taking my leave now, if you don't mind. I am very busy and-"

"Wait!" That had snapped her out of it. "Who are they? What are they like? Where did they come from? Are they noble? No, I would've heard about that. Is it a boy or a girl? Are they smart? Are they brave? Are they skilled? What's their name? Who are their parents and what level are they?"

Silas put up a hand. "You might be able to answer these questions yourself." Rossa frowned, tilting her head slightly. "What I mean to say is, I'm inviting you to tutor the Black Mancer privately."

Rossa's eyes and mouth widened with glee. "I'd be absolutely delighted to!" The fanatic tone in her voice set Silas regretting his choice. But it was done.

"Do you think I should go in disguise?" Rossa said.

"Why would you do that?" It was a strange thing to ask.

"Well, people might recognise me and... never mind. I'm not as much of a celebrity as you are Silas." She smiled faintly and turned back to her desk. There was a hint of sadness in her voice.

Did she want to be a celebrity?

Silas stood around awkwardly for a moment before Rossa spoke over her shoulder. "You can head back, I'll meet you in your office or something."

With the atmosphere dramatically different than when he had arrived, Silas left wondering if he should have said something. But what could he have said? If she wanted to be famous, what for? Her research? It was possible. Her name was already in several books.

Silas mulled over this, only muscle memory carrying him back to his office where he found the books waiting on his desk. The Almanac he recognised, but it was a bigger edition of the one he had seen before. This one seemed to be a more encompassing tome. The Black Mancing and Its Applications was new to him though. He thumbed through it, deciding it was worth a read.

He took them to his private chambers, and lit the fireplace. The orange light mingled with the setting sun, and the golden patterns on his white robes began sparkling and flickering.
Silas got comfortable, used Soul Mancing to communicate with his assistant- who was waiting in their usual place in the kitchens- to bring him some dinner, and stared at the book in his lap. Black Mancing and its Applications, huh? Who wrote this? He opened the cover. Written in collaboration with Samiel Jeslen and Rossa DeJore. Already an example of Rossa's renown.

Silas cast a small light above his head, flicked the first page, and began reading.