Raven Empire

Chapter 17

     Talizar had us leave his office on a massive cliffhanger, Cyrus and Diana staying with Seth and Liliana respectively.

     That was an amusing conversation. Isfet said in my mind. Becoming the toy of the king of the Khansans, congratulations. His mental hisses were more sardonic than congratulatory.

     "What do you mean by toy?" I muttered.

     You're being used.

     "Also, you're late, you said you teach me the day after our conversation. It's been two."

     Our conversation ended on the first hour of yesterday. Therefore, I am not late. Do you wish to learn or not?

     "That's literally the only reason why I put that thing in the bracelet."

     Then let's start.

     "What's first?"

     Fire. Extends your arms, your palms to the sky.

     I complied.

     Close your eyes and imagine spheres of flame in your hands.

     I did so. Sparks of red appeared and caught Seth's glance again. He might have been trying to decipher my intentions and who I was talking to, but I wasn't sure. His thing where only half of his face conveyed emotion was throwing me off.

     You'll get better over time. Isfet promised.

     "Perhaps." I said.

     "Who are you talking to?" Seth asked.

     "Errrrrr...someone..." I semi-lied. I was talking to someone, but Seth would likely end up terrified of me if he found out.

     "Riiiight...you realize that I could teach you instead, right? You literally just had to ask."

      And it was then that I realized that, along with hysterical laughter from my demon pal.

     Idiocy is the greatest tool for a demon like me! He crowed. This is great! And you still owe me for the magic!

     "Are you okay?" Seth asked. No doubt my face had gone either white as snow or red as a tomato. Or a mixture of both.

     "I have made a terrible mistake." I muttered, putting my head down.

     Mistake? What do you mean by mistake? This is by no means a mistake, it's perfect! And Seth can't even teach you.

     "What do you mean?"

     First, just think your thoughts, otherwise Seth will hear you. Second, he taught himself. He has no knowledge of the spells you could be capable of.

     'Can't you just get back to the lessons?' I thought.

     Very well.

     Seth went back to checking on his chain.

     You will practice the creation of fire until you can create an actual flame instead of just sparks.

     'With no advice?'

     All you need to do is use your imagination. I know that that is incredibly cheesy, but you should have a vivid one. Especially when it comes to fire, seeing as you've been close to dragons.

     I sighed. Isfet was correct, but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of being right. 'Alright then.' I thought.

     I felt his presence disappear and I went back to work.

     "Magic?" Sina asked me through the bars.

     "What else is going to make spark come out of my hands?" I asked in return.

     "Fair point. How's it going?"

     "Not the best, but at least something is happening."

     "So what are you trying to learn? Fire or something like that?"

     "Yes. Trying to make fire come out of my palms." I answered her.

     "Just try and keep your hands away from Cyrus and Diana." Seth said, gesturing to his slumbering cellmate.

     "What would they even do?" Sina asked.

     "Never stop looking at your hands. That's what. The way I got them to stop was by semi-threatening them." Seth responded.

     "Semi-threatening is literally just threatening." I pointed out.

     "Okay, maybe." Seth conceded. "But also maybe not. Perspective...?"

     "No, there's not really room for a difference of opinions in threats." Sina replied. "We should all know that. Thanks to the Emperor."

     Seth didn't reply but instead focused his eyes on the rock he was holding like they were laser beams. He always hated that word whenever it was mentioned, but this time he put his hatred into his gaze instead of his hands.

     I wanted to protest because of...past reasons, but decided against it.

     "So...what are our chances of dying during this task?" I asked.

     "High." Seth muttered. "Though I'd prefer a chance to live rather than a guaranteed death by guillotine."

     "Though I hate to admit it, I think the same." Liliana said from the next cell over.

     "What other choice do we have?" Sina asked.

     "Well, we're all gonna die." Seth grumbled.

     "Can't you be the least bit optimistic?" Sina asked.

     "No."

     "So I guess that now we wait until tomorrow to give him our answer. And even if the twins did say no, they've been outvoted." I said.

     "So what do we do for an entire day?" Liliana asked.

     "Sleep." Seth replied. He keeled over and closed his eyes.

     "Well that was sudden." Sina commented. "How long has it been since he last slept?"

     "Probably days." I answered. "Though I wouldn't know."

     "I mean, he's never asleep when we pass out and he's always awake when we are." Liliana piped up from the other cell. "So he probably just doesn't sleep."

     "How do you even know all of that?" Sina asked.

     "I spent some nights digging for bones." She answered, shifting away from a hole in the ground. "And...I found plenty."

     Sina dry heaved, I was tempted to do the same.

     "I've been trying to find a full skeleton, but all I'm finding are—"

     "Stop." I interrupted. "We'd prefer not to vomit."

     "Oh, sure." Liliana conceded.

     "Can we just stop talking about dead bones as well?" Sina asked.

     Liliana fell into mumbling and lay down to go to sleep.