Colin Tabor - The Fall of Ossard

He nodded. “Yes!”

I just looked to him.

He said, “It’s true, Mortigi himself branded you with his mark!”

With a hesitant voice, I asked, “And what does that mean?” I then took another mouthful of porridge.

Thankfully, his animation drained away, his manner becoming more sober. “It means that all his followers will know you, and that their master has a bounty on your head.”

I choked on my breakfast. “The god of murder wants me dead?”

“Yes, but don’t fear…”

“Don’t fear!”

He shifted, becoming uncomfortable at my distress. “Trust me, you’ll be well protected.”

I gasped, “Sweet Schoperde, what hope is there?”

With a firm voice, he said, “There’s always hope, that’s why we search for Pedro and Maria.”

He was right.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. “Why didn’t he just kill me?”

“Because, to be honest, this way you suffer more; living each day while wondering if it’s your last.”

I just stared at him.

“Don’t worry about it.”

I was shaking my head. “How can I not worry? I just want my family back!”

“In all this you’re not alone, others also live with divine marks.”

“Who?”

“Anton is marked by many gods, and so too is Lady Death…”

Such exalted company…

“…and even me, your loyal Sef.”

“What?”

“I’m also marked, but in a lesser way. Regardless, one day my time will come.”

And then I had a thousand questions and fears for him, but only one found my mouth. “Who?”

“It’s something we can discuss another time, and I mean it, but for now we need to talk about you.”

I nodded, but sat in silence, still stunned by his news. After a while, I asked, “Why did Lady Death curse me; because of the light?”

“It was more because of the power she sensed stirring in you.”

“Can I really call on that much?”

He nodded again. “Though it all comes to nothing if you can’t do anything with it.”

He was right.

“Juvela, the gods have never looked to me in the celestial, or moved to mark me with such a strong curse. If they did, it’d kill me.”

This was all getting to be too much.

“Juvela, you’re not a witch of the Cabal – I think you’re something else.”

We sat in an uncomfortable silence, looking to each other. Sef then checked my bowl, chuckling, pleased that I’d nearly finished. “Good eating and sleep will solve your problems in regard to the cost of magic. You’re still human and need to take care of yourself.”

His words reminded me of how tired I felt. “I believe you.”

“Good.”

“You know, last night I felt something in my soul weaken and crack. I don’t know what it was, but with it breached, I seemed to be free to draw upon the power that leaked through.”

“What?” Now Sef looked confused.

“It was holding my power back, blocking it, but I got so angry and frustrated that I think the barrier somehow broke.”

“A barrier?”

“It allowed me to gather power in the celestial, but stopped me from bringing it through. I’m certain it remains, but now it’s damaged. Do you know what it is?”

He shook his head. “Let me look at you.”

For a moment his words puzzled me, but then his eyes lost focus; he’d slipped into the celestial. I followed.

The blue-white of his life-light shone out against the dark of the void. I could sense that he was scrying me, as he looked deep into my soul.

Without thinking, my soul shifted and threw up a layer of soul-stuff to shield me from his prying. I marvelled as I studied it, realising I could draw it back or add to it to dim the glow of my own life-light. It was a kind of armour, and the more layers I put up, the more my soul dimmed. Of course, that wasn’t helping Sef as he tried to examine me, so I pulled my newly discovered defences down.

I heard his voice, “Juvela?” His perception was back in the real world, so I also returned.

He looked to me and asked, “How do you feel?”

“Alright, not so tired.”

“You’ve learnt to shield yourself?”

“Yes, just now. The first movement came as a reflex, but I think I can control it.”

He nodded.

I asked, “What did you see?”

“A couple of things, but firstly look at your hands.”

I did. The skin had tightened, not yet back to its norm, but well on its way. “That was easy.”

“Hmmm, don’t be fooled. Recovery can sometimes take days, or even seasons. That’s if the casting doesn’t kill you outright.”

“I’ll just have to be careful.”

He nodded, but was still largely lost to his thoughts.

“What’s wrong?”

After a moment, he said, “Nothing.”

“Did you see something?”

He looked me up and down and nodded. “I noticed… I noticed a couple of things.”

“Like?”

“Well, some of what I’m going to say will just raise more questions, but maybe we need to discuss them. You should also remember that they’re only my opinions. You need to talk to other people; cabalists and the like, and your grandmother too.”

“Alright, but you’re a priest of Kave, so you’re celestially capable and know something of all this. I really want to hear what you think. You’re the one I trust.”

“I do know something of this, but you’re more powerful than me. In truth, I haven’t seen what you are before. You’re different.”

“How?”

“The song, let’s start with the song.”

“Schoperde’s song of sorrow?”

“Yes, many Flet women sing the song to help them mourn. You do too, but when you sing it, I can feel the power ripple around you. It’s why Anton silenced you on the balcony when Maria and Pedro were stolen away; you’d begun to sing it out of grief, but he thought you were casting.”

“Casting?”

“When you sing it, it’s as if Schoperde joins you in song.”

I shook my head in confusion. “Why would she do that? I believe in her, you know I have my faith, but she doesn’t even have the strength to offer blessings, let alone to sing with me. By all the gods, in Ossard she doesn’t even have priests! Why would she offer me anything?”

“That’s the real question.” He left his stool to kneel in front of me. “Juvela, I think you’re to be her priest.”

I just stared at him, stunned by the idea.

And at the back of my mind, my grandmother hissed.

I asked, “How could that be?”

“Why not? Witchery often passes from mother to daughter, or on to granddaughter, but it doesn’t have to. What’s really being passed on is a bloodline’s taste for the celestial, something that attracts strong souls.”

I didn’t know what to say.

Sef went on, “Look at Ossard and what’s happening here; the gods are coming, and they’re rallying their servants to their banners. I think you’ve heard some kind of calling and are reacting to it,” he paused, swallowed, and then whispered, “perhaps you’re even an avatar!”

An avatar – a mortal born god yet to awaken!

“No!” I gasped, frightened by the very idea. “How could that be? How could that happen when I know so little?”

He patted my hands. “Maybe that’s the shackle that binds you.”

“An avatar? It’s too much, I can’t be! I’d be more aware of it, wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t think so. Avatars are always alone and very rare.” He chuckled to release some of the tension. “I’d certainly be worried if more than one was around!”

“Why, what would that mean?”

“The end of the world; the divine war at the end of all time.”

His words reminded me of my grandmother’s tome.