Dawn of Arcane Destiny

Chapter Twenty-One

Drayce found Caelum eating dinner in the kitchen.

“Hey.” He said sitting next to him.

“Hey.” Caelum said, his voice slightly muffled from the food he was chewing.

“Since your eating a delicious looking dinner, I’ll let it slide this once.” Drayce said.

“What slide?” Caelum asked glancing at him.

“Oh, it’s not a big deal.” Drayce said acting nonchalant. “I almost got assassinated.”

Caelum spit out the food he was chewing. “You what?!”

“Yeah, I know, crazy right? If only I had my bodyguard there to help me. That would’ve made things a whole lot easier.” Drayce said.

“Cut it out Drayce. Did you know who it was?” Caelum asked, his food forgotten.

“No.” Drayce tugged his collar down and showed Caelum the long shallow cut on his neck. “I let him go.”

“Why? He should’ve been arrested!” Caelum exclaimed.

“Caelum, he actually just wanted to talk to me, you know after he tried to kill me.” Drayce said. “This guy was off his rocker.”

“Well what was so important he had to sneak into the castle to tell you?” Caelum asked. He seemed to be warring between annoyance that he'd let down his guard (pardon the pun) and concern for Drayce.

“He told me he was an Alchemist and that Alchemists have abilities just like Mystics, just not as powerful. He spouted a bunch of nonsense about how the moons are gods and how Mystics came to be…” Drayce said.

“Wait.” Caelum interrupted. “He knew you were a Mystic and you let him go?”

“Yeah. That wasn’t very smart looking back on it. I guess I pitied him. But he’s an Alchemist. No one’s going to listen to him.” Drayce said.

“Maybe not. But everyone is frantically looking for a reason to blame the royalty right now. They’ll believe anything, even from an Alchemist.” Caelum said “We should do a sweep of the castle and grounds to make sure he left, or better yet, find him and arrest him.” He stood pushing his plate away. “I’ll be right back and then you can tell me in more detail what this Alchemist told you.”

Drayce nodded.

***

A sweep of the castle and the grounds confirmed that Zathrian was indeed gone. Drayce still felt uneasy. Zathrian was stealthy enough he could easily have evaded the guards. What if he could use his powers to conceal himself? There was so much he didn’t know.

And what if what he said was true? Drayce had seen Zathrian’s blood himself. And what he did with his knife…

He could do that.

No, he chided himself. He was not going to put everyone in peril because he thought he could do a fancy knife trick.

He pulled his knife from its sheath and cringed. What was he doing? He closed his eyes and sliced himself across the palm.

He opened his eyes and inspected the blood. It beaded just like Zathrian’s had, it even had the metallic sheen to it.

The door to the sitting room opened and Caelum entered, closing it behind him. “Is your hand alright?”

Drayce quickly closed his hand hiding the self-inflicted cut. “Yes. No problem here.” He cringed. That sounded pathetic.

Caelum frowned. “Let me see.”

Drayce sighed and showed Caelum his bloody palm. He was probably insane for cutting himself. What kind of person cut themselves just to see the blood?

“What the what?” Caelum said his eyes bugging.

“What’s wrong?” Drayce asked pulling his hand close, inspecting it.

“It’s—Your hand—” Caelum’s words failed him. Then Drayce saw what he was freaking out about.

The cut was visibly mending itself. Right before his eyes, the cut was healing, layering skin over skin, the bleeding ceasing. Drayce’s jaw dropped. Speed healing just like Zathrian said.

“Caelum. We have a lot to talk about.”

His friend nodded shock still apparent on his face.

“Was that one of your powers?” Caelum asked

Drayce nodded. “And what’s worse is that the loony guy I just talked to told me about it. Before I even knew that was a thing.”

“That explains why your ankle mended much faster than the doctor expected.” Caelum said. “Did the loon cut your hand?”

“He said his name was Zathrian, and no he didn’t. I did.” Drayce said.

Concern flashed across Caelum’s face. “Why did you cut yourself?”

“Because healing wasn’t the only strange thing that Zathrian told me about.” Drayce cut his hand again, wincing at the pain. He showed Caelum the blood. “Look at the blood. It’s not normal.”

Caelum’s eyes widened. “Is that because you’re a Mystic?”

Drayce nodded.

“Oh Non.” He said raking his hand through his hair. “Drayce, you have to tell me exactly what this man, Zathrian, told you.”

Drayce did, trying to remember as best he could.

“It sounds crazy.” Drayce said. “I’ve never heard any of that before.”

Caelum looked grim. “I have.”

“You have? Where?” Drayce asked.

“It’s archaic, but apparently some Alchemists still believe in it. It’s what the original Kamasians believed in, before we all became heretics.” He shook his head. “My tutor was into studying old religions. Not a good hobby to have for a Kamasian. He was executed for so called ‘treason’.”

“Oh.” Drayce swallowed hard. “Do you think what he said was true?”

Caelum shrugged. “I don’t know, honestly.”

“That wasn’t all.” Drayce said. “He was super vague, but he said there was an eighth god, a fallen god. Apparently, according to Zathrian, he’s imprisoned and he’s going to use me to get free.”

“That’s cheery.” Caelum said

“Yeah. He said that Lillia would know about it. How would she know about it? She’s only been in Kamasia for two years. I’ve been here my whole life and I’ve never heard any of this.” Drayce said.

“Well, let’s ask her tomorrow. I’ll station two guards outside your room. Please alert them if Zathrian comes back.” Caelum said.

Drayce was too tired to protest. He looked down at his hand.

The cut was gone.