Colin Tabor - The Fall of Ossard

I nodded, horrified by the hag’s hands in front of me.

“We’ll get you some breakfast, and then we must go.”

My hands were reaching up for the flesh of my face, but I was already cringing at the wrinkles and folds I knew I’d find there. I whispered, “Go where?”

“Juvela, you need to change and eat. Don’t worry, you’ll get your youth back, and sooner than you think. Please, just do as I say. I’ll answer your questions downstairs.”

I nodded, still stunned. “Thank you, Sef.”

He got up and left me.

I went downstairs to find him stirring a pot of porridge over a freshly lit fire. He looked up and smiled. “It won’t be long.”

“Thank you.” I sat down, grateful to rest my weary bones.

“You’re tired, aren’t you?”

“Exhausted.” It seemed that the casting had taken a lot out of me.

My gaze left him to settle on the cooking fire, where I lost myself in the dance of its flickering flames.

“You really are tired, aren’t you?” His smile became a grin.

I rested my head in my withered hands. “I’m glad you find it so amusing.”

To my surprise, he laughed. “I’m sorry, but I’m as confused as you.”

“You are not!” I snapped, and then took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Sef, but I don’t understand any of this.”

“It’s alright.”

I smiled, grateful he’d chosen to ignore my tone. “Sef, why has it taken so much from me, to produce so little? Last night, I could feel a storm of power brewing in me, but all I magicked was a bucketful of glowing coins and handful of hot coals?”

He tended the oats before pulling up a stool. “Juvela, all power comes at a price. To be honest, I worry for you.”

“Why?”

“A good question, but one I can’t answer.” He shook his head in frustration, though he felt only a trifle of what troubled me.

“Sef, I need your help. Tell me what you can, even guesses, for it’s more than I already have.”

He sighed. “I don’t know where to start, so indulge me.” He gathered his thoughts for a moment, and then said, “I guess your own words are a good starting point.”

I nodded.

“You said that you felt your power brewing?”

“Yes.”

“I could feel it too, as could anybody sensitive to such things. You need to learn more discipline in that regard, so you can hide it, just as those of us who wield the celestial learn to hide our souls.”

“Why?”

“To keep them safe.”

“From what?”

He checked the oats before continuing. “The celestial is another world, but not like ours. It’s where magic comes from, and where spirits, souls, and the very gods dwell. It’s where the spark of life is born to flare, and we in this world, our mortal selves, are merely the smoke of those eternal fires.”

“I think I understand.”

He nodded. “The magic you work, as do I as a priest of Kave, is just us pulling some of that fire through, not just the smoke, but the actual flame. It’s a skill for only the strongest of souls. Simply said; the more power you can pull through, the stronger you must be. Learning and experience will expand your limits, but in the end we all have them.”

“I understand.”

He went on, “I’m surprised at the amount of power you can draw upon, even though you know so little of what to do with it. I suppose in time you’ll learn, but still, what you can gather astounds me.”

“Learn through the Cabal?”

He looked thoughtful for a moment, until the pop and hiss of our breakfast drew his attention. After giving it a stir, he turned back. “I first noticed your soul when I started working for your parents. It’s old and powerful, and always held a complex weave.”

“Am I a Cabalist?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know. Perhaps you need to talk to others…”

I snorted. “Others! Sef, my parents know nothing of this, and I can’t trust anyone else. I can’t rely on my grandmother, as her aid is sporadic, and Kurgar promised to help me with the Cabal, but has done nothing since. If I’ve a powerful soul, then you’d think it might be a priority, the way the city is falling apart, to teach me how to use it!”

He grabbed two bowls and split the steaming brew. He handed one to me, the biggest, and then topped it with some syrup. “Eat up, all of it.”

I took it, but only felt bad again for my tone. “Sorry, Sef.”

“It’s alright.”

We began to eat.

After a short silence, he looked up and said, “What about your grandmother? What’s going on? I saw what happened when we neared the Inquisitor and she tried to use you to confront him. Is she always struggling for control?”

“No!” I was surprised at his choice of words. “I sometimes hear her voice warn me of things, and often it comes accompanied by others. Only once has she tried to force me to do anything, back then in the coach. I think she wants to help me, to awaken my magic, but Inquisitor Anton’s arrival has also awakened her thirst for revenge.”

He gave a grim smile. “We’ll just have to watch her. It would also help if you tried to talk to her.”

“How?”

“In the celestial. You know how to get into that world, to drag your perception across?”

I nodded. “I can do it, but I’m not really conscious of how I do it. It seems more a reflex.”

“That’s good; it took me a full season to master. When you’ve time, you need to go into the celestial and speak with her. She’s bound to you, so I’m sure she’ll not be hard to find. Talk to her and discover her truth. It’s the only way to work out what her part in all this is.”

I sighed as I put down my half empty bowl. “And what will that do to me?” I asked, while spreading my wrinkled fingers, though their colour had already improved.

“All magic has its costs, but shifting your perception between worlds is one of the easiest things to do. When you finish your meal, you’ll be surprised to see how much your skin will renew itself.” He gave a wry smile. “The years will just fall away.”

I raised an eyebrow, not sure if I should believe him, yet I picked up my bowl and got back to eating.

“Juvela, you gathered enough power last night to torch Market Square, but you didn’t release it. It’s a miracle that you didn’t burn yourself out – and I mean that literally. That’s why you look as worn as you do.

“You need coaching, guidance, and improved skills, all those things will help. Most importantly, you need to learn to gather only the power you want for whatever casting you’re trying to complete.”

I interrupted, feeling that I finally understood something. “The power I felt last night used my soul as a gateway into this world, didn’t it?”

“Almost. It used your soul as a gateway out of the celestial, and your body as a gateway into this world.”

“It felt incredible, so vital and alive.”

He nodded. “And after you summoned it, drawing in such a great flood, all you did was hold onto it and melt a single cobble!” He shook his head in disbelief. “You could have turned night into day, or called a firestorm!”

I didn’t know what to say.

He went on, “You stir such power, and so easily, it’s why so many people are interested in you.”

“Who?” I asked around another mouthful of porridge.

“I’m sure Lady Death is curious, as are some of my fellows, and also the Inquisitor. And then,” he paused, “then there was when Mortigi himself came and marked you.” He watched for my reaction.

I remembered the icy pain, and the feeling of being overwhelmed by an anger so hateful that it had to be divine. It had all come after Lady Death cursed me. Chilled by the memory, I swallowed and whispered, “Yes.”