Mortal Magic: Broken

We traveled the grass fields from Whitespire for two days without seeing the forest we were told to expect. On the road we encountered many people traveling to Whitespire or other places. Among the small talks with them we asked for directions too which they were happy to give in the first place. Many of them seemed intrigued by the fact that a young man like me had silver hair like an elderly man. It was funny that their reaction was to stare wide eyed and ask about it. I told them that my magic caused my hair to turn silver and they were originally black and they gasped in surprise.

Nevertheless we kept on the road and by the end of the second day we saw the big lake we were told about, only it was more of a giant lake than just big. I could have mistaken it for the sea if it weren’t for the map and the mountains on the other side. We fooled around for a while in the lake and then we continued on the road again for the rest of the day until we found ourselves at the forest on our path and decided to stop for the night.

Now on the last day before the blood eclipse we were inside the caves following the map we were given hoping it was an accurate one. Yuto was holding a flame in his hand by my side to illuminate the way and the piece of paper in my hands while Maia was behind us since the passage was too small allow all of us side by side. We walked for at least an hour in the tunnels, taking turn after turn and walking in the darkness with only the light of the fire on Yuto’s hand lighting our way merely a few feet in front of us. It really was depressing not to have the light of the sun with you. This was the darkest place I have been to while conscious and it was making me agitated and sad in a way.

We must have been close to the end of the labyrinth according to the map when I heard a loud noise coming from behind us and footsteps that were too loud to be human. I looked right at Yuto who did the same thing to me and after a moment spoke up. “Take out the flame and stick to the wall”. The moment I said that he followed my order and backed to the wall and I did the same with Maia on the other side of it holding her hand. I could hear her breathing heavily next to me in fear and whatever that thing making those footsteps was coming closer. We could be discovered in the dark if we made noise so I had to make her relax.

My choices were few. If I put my hand on her mouth it would make her that much more afraid, and I couldn’t tell her to not be afraid when I feared what I couldn’t see coming either. There was only one thing I could do to make her breathe slower and make no sound. I turned my head towards hers beside me and grabbed her chin to make her look at me. I imagined her confused look since I couldn’t possibly see it in this pitch-black darkness and with one swift motion I connected my lips to hers. She was surprised at first but she accepted the kiss at the very least as a way to distract herself. I didn’t know if it actually reassured her that I was here to protect her or if it was just the distraction from the beast but she stopped panting and breathed through her nose, waiting for the danger to pass.

I could hear the giant footsteps getting closer and my heart sped up to the point that it was beating as fast as the pounding of the beast’s feet. I put my hands on Maia’s ears to close them and kept looking for the beast with my eyes in the darkness. Soon the footsteps started to halt and then I could hear the sound of heavy breathing as whatever was here slowed down and eventually stopped close to us. It was sniffing the air and scratching the ground with its claws continually. Suddenly I felt the beast’s warm breath on my face that reminded me of blood and death. This thing was a carnivore and if it lived here then it could find us even blind. Its sense of smell would guide it to us and it already had.

It kept sniffing at us and I was ready to create a spear and fire it in the dark when I heard it back up and leave in the direction it came from, only it took its sweet time to do so. We stayed there, immobile like statues for a good five minutes not daring to make the slightest sound as I released Maia’s lips. After we made sure that the beast was far away Yuto lit another fire in his hand and looked at as pale as snow. “What the hell was that thing”? He was asking us about it? He was clearly the older and more knowledgeable of the three of us and he was asking us about that damned thing that almost ate us for dinner. “How are we supposed to know you are the older one so you tell us. You are supposed to know more than us”. We kept our voices quiet while arguing about something that would prove of no use to us.

“I may be older but while traveling with you I have seen things that should not even exist. Like that boar or the lion in Starkhaven. Do you think it’s something similar to them”? Was it a coincidence that big animals the size of myths were turning up like it was nothing? Was it because the world was going out of control? Was it a defense to make the absorption of mana hither? Was it Ea’s way of trying to survive by killing the magi? It couldn’t be right? There was a balance in the world. If that balance was disturbed measures would be taken to preserve it but it wouldn’t be genocide would it? No it had to be something else. There was no mention of such animals before. They were only observed close to us, to me. Was I the reason they existed?

So many questions and no answer. We had no time for something like this though, we had to keep moving. More for our safety than to go to Blackspire we had to keep moving. We dropped the subject and made our way to the exit of the caves that we found relatively fast now. The moment we got out we saw the black castle that was called Blackspire in the middle of the ruins of an ancient city. Torn down houses, streets filled with ruble and wall parts. The very definition of destruction and abandonment was right in front of us, the remains of a once beautiful city. However the black citadel stood tall in the middle like not one day had passed from its creation. It was still whole and the black marble was catching the last rays of the sun on its shiny surface. It was even more beautiful than its counterpart. So dark and yet it seemed like it shone down on the world. In the middle of a moonless night it would be unrecognizable for sure.

We stood there watching the citadel from the distance and basking in its beauty for a while until we heard a loud metallic bang coming from the ruins of the city. We snapped out of our trance and hid behind the first wall we found and waited. Nothing was heard while we waited not even birds or insects crying. It was too quiet for my liking. We let minutes pass until we could at least hear any sound indicating that someone was close by or there was life around us but as we heard nothing we stayed put. It was to our fortune that we did because after what seemed like hours I heard the voice of a man calling to his partner that there was nothing here like always. We heard the footsteps as they left and when we were sure that the men were far enough I looked behind the wall to make sure we were safe.

I could see no one but I had to make sure. I closed my eyes and got back behind the wall and focused on the mana around me. Luckily I had acquired the skill to see by observing the ripples in mana around me and that vision was less limited by walls. I turned my head around searching for guards and sure enough I saw some. The two guards that had likely been close to us when we arrived were making their way further into the ruins. But I could see more than them. I counted at least ten guards close to our position and that was unnerving. We had to move as this place was far too open and exposed. So I turned to the others that were likely looking at me confused. “We need to go somewhere safer. Follow me and don’t make a sound”.

They nodded in agreement and crouched as we were we started moving inside the ruins of the city. I was keeping an eye out for the guards as I lead us with closed eyes further in. We passed many structures and what could pass like buildings as we moved and slowly avoiding the few guards we came across. They were making rounds here guarding the place for the ritual tomorrow and they were making a good job at it. We had to wait for them to move on many times and some of them we were even surrounded by more than one group at the same time.

It took us a very long time to reach the castle area but when we did the guards there were even more. We had two choices. We either turned back to find a place to stay and make a plan, or we get inside the castle and do the same there. We couldn’t sit here forever and do nothing. And I didn’t even know where I had leaded us, it was all the same to me like this, walls were like glass with my mana sight.

I looked behind us and I saw that the guards were preoccupied with another portion of the city so we had a bit of time. I looked back in front and I these guards were simply going back and forth at best. There was a group of two every fifty feet and they were looking doing as good a job as the others, if not better since they didn’t have to move so much. I did however notice that most of them were on the outside of the citadel, inside it was less crowded and we could find a place to hide if we searched enough.

I turned back at Yuto and Maia and saw they were ready to move if need be. “We can go back and find something secure enough to hide easily, but if we can get inside the citadel we can find a better hiding place. And we will gain precious time later”. I never asked them directly but the understood nevertheless. They seemed to be thinking about it but the opportunity was too great to pass out even for them. We decided to move inside but to do so we would have to make sure that the guards did not see a thing. We could slip past them if we were careful and lucky enough but we could also make a diversion and confuse some of them to get inside with less stress on our backs.

I watched as some of the guards stationed in the ruins came closer to the citadel and when they were within range of the ones I targeted from stationed in front of us I fired a projection to the ground to make noise and attract both parties. Soon all four of them were running to the same spot leaving their spots and an opportunity for us to sneak inside the black citadel. I waved for them to follow me and carefully but fast and yet silently we sneaked through the rest of the guards and found ourselves at the black marble walls. I chose this location because there was a door here and the inside was not guarded nor were other people watching from the terraces.

We were inside the walls of the castle now and we needed to find a way to the main corridors. Still not wanting to risk it we found a place where no one would see us if they entered the large open area that was the outer court. I scanned the inside of the castle to find any guards nearby and I found that there were very few, it was like the outside was more important than the inside to keep safe. Or they were doing it on purpose and this was all a trap. Of course I have thought that Lars wanted me to get this close and then kill us all but I was ready in case this happened. He wasn’t going to get me off guard this time and no one would interrupt us like last time.

Our best bet was a gate at the east of the court where the guards seemed to be tired. They were most likely waiting for a change in their shift and this was always the best time to infiltrate a fortress. I moved us to the door and we heard closely as the guards were discussing random things when they said that their replacements were late again. They said they should just let it be and leave here and if there is trouble they will be responsible. They agreed and they left laughing to themselves as we waited for them to turn in some corner. When they did I opened the door and we slipped inside and closed the door behind us.

There was nothing and no one here but we couldn’t stay in a place that is so close to the entrance that is guarded. We needed a place deeper inside the castle that was barely guarded and we could only find that in the upper floors. To get there we would have to climb the stairs and they were nowhere near here as I couldn’t see them yet. We rose to our full height and walked the corridor slowly as I kept my eyes closed to watch out for the guards supposed to be in their post at the door we used among the other ones. We found the stairs easily with not much hiding or changing paths and as we were about to climb them I saw two guards descending above us around corner and I told Yuto and Maia to follow me in the nearest room we could find. We were fast and yet surprisingly quiet even by my standards as we were basically running on our toes.

Yuto was standing at the door with his ear on it listening for them as they strode away but I was still watching them with my mind. They turned the corner we came from and continued until they were too far for me to distinguish the mana ripples they made from everything else. We got out of the room we didn’t even bother checking out and climbed the stairs. There were many floors and I checked above us continually to see if we had reached a point where there were guards, but after two floors we decided it was far enough.

We were on the third floor now and I by now I wanted to open my eyes and see the interior of the citadel but it was too early still, I had to make sure we didn’t run in a guard. I guided us to the middle of the corridor and opened a door that lead to a fairly big room. We got inside and I opened my eyes before I closed the door behind me. I turned around and I saw that the room was even bigger than any of room I saw at Starkhaven. Every wall was black and there were white curtains that allowed you to see through them at the open balcony. The furniture was from a dark color of would that tied perfectly to the walls and whatever decorations resided in the room that weren’t destroyed were colorful. Surprisingly nothing was dusty or seemed to have degraded throughout time; magic was clearly at work here.

I saw that I wasn’t the only one that was in awe of the room we chose. It was impossible for this to be happening in a castle abandoned for hundreds of years and yet it was preserved like not a day had passed without the servants maintaining it. Yuto was looking out the balcony from behind the curtains. I could imagine he was seeing the world below or even better for him his home in his mind, waiting for him to go back. Maia on the other hand was simply admiring every piece of decoration she could get her hands on, not even the broken vases were safe from her curiosity. It was a funny sight to see her bounce from one side of the room to the other examining everything.

It was already night now that I could see light with my eyes open and I realized that tomorrow would decide everything. Tomorrow I had to find my sister in this huge place and I had to take her away from here at all costs. But just in case I couldn’t take her away I at least had to obstruct the blood eclipse so that the ritual can’t take place and that meant staying alive long enough for the eclipse to end. There was nothing else we could do today. We had gotten in the castle undetected and now I knew that Ashe wasn’t in the lower floors. There was a possibility that there was a dungeon here but if there was then it had to be below us and I hadn’t seen any way of getting lower yet. She had to be either here or higher up.

Yuto and I would take turns in keeping watch to make sure we wouldn’t be discovered and let Maia sleep. She protested a bit in her whispering voice but she gave in since she knew she had no idea how to keep watch or what to do. She even tried to make it seem like we wanted to torture ourselves but I could see that she was a bit relieved that she wouldn’t have that duty. Yuto would take first watch and that left me trying to put some hours of sleep inside me even though I was sure that I wouldn’t be able to. But I had to at least rest and prepare for later. My turn would come a few hours before dawn and we would move at first light.