The Nine Bishops

Mika ached everywhere. When she tried to move, she found herself restricted by bandages that had been wrapped around every part of her body. She felt a cooling sensation from whatever remedy had been applied under the wrappings. She looked around, wondering where she was, and how she had ended up in this dimly lit stone room, lying in a warm bed. The room was relatively empty, except for the bed and one candle in the corner. There was no door that she could see, just stone walls.

No way in and no way out. Where am I?

The last thing she remembered was the taste of salt water. She could recall almost everything about her fight with Bishop Frost over the frozen waves, up until her last attack. She’d been outmatched in almost every way when it came to her ice strain. But she’d been saving one thing until that point, which she knew she couldn’t win without. A second strain: Fire, the perfect counter to Bishop Frost’s ice.

Mika had limited herself to ice magic until the final moment, hoping to catch Bishop Frost off-guard. That she possessed a second strain of magic was something she hadn’t told a single person. Keeping it secret throughout the tournament—especially given that all the fights were broadcast—had given her a huge advantage.

Fire magic wasn’t the perfect trump card; in fact, she’d accepted it wouldn’t help her against Lancel. But defeating all of the selected contestants without using her second strain meant she hadn’t revealed her identity.

She’d stuck to an ice magic strategy even with Bishop Frost until she realized her all-out ice attack was only feeding her opponent’s energy. That was when she realized she’d have to risk everything to survive.

Everything after that was a blur, except the strong taste of salt water.

Now Mika was in this strange place, with no idea how much time had passed. For all she knew, it might have been weeks. Too constricted by wrappings to get out of bed, she laid there for a long time, waiting for something to happen.

Eventually, Mika’s eyes started to feel heavy. She fell asleep, but it felt as though just a moment had gone by before she was awakened by someone calling her name.

“Mika … Mika … Mika!”

The voice became clearer after every iteration as she slowly came to consciousness.

“Nik?”

She wasn’t sure it was really him.

“Call me Joker here. We don’t know who is listening.”

“Where am I?” Mika asked, uncertainly.

“We are at Castle Vania.”

Mika gasped. It seemed like only a moment ago she’d been in Monsoon, but now he was saying she was in northern Seemos.

“What happened?”

“I found you drowning in Fog’s End, just off the coast of Monsoon. I tried my best to find you, but when Bishop Frost sent you flying towards the sea it took me a while. When I did, the whole bay seemed to be frozen over, except for where I found you. It was hot as a volcano in the water you fell into. I have been wondering about that ever since we arrived here.”

“How long have we been here?”

“Almost a month now.”

“A month? That’s impossible,” Mika exclaimed. How could she possibly have been out for that long?

“I’m afraid so. I’m just happy you are awake. I was worried that you were never going to return to us from that deep slumber you were in.”

Mika struggled to grapple with what Nik was telling her. The strangest part was that she had no dreams and retained no memory of any of it.

“How did we get here?”

“I brought you here. After all, this is where you belong,” Nik answered. Mika furrowed her brows. What did he mean by that? Her last memories were of fighting Bishop Frost. Had she prevailed?

“And Frost?” she wondered aloud.

“Which one?” Nik replied, which only confused Mika further.

Seeing her puzzled look, Nik smiled. “You are the new Bishop Frost,” he added, matter-of-factly.

Mika struggled to comprehend what he was saying. Evidently, her attack had worked. Her memories of salt water suggested she had melted the ice around her and landed in the water. She was surprised to learn she’d been on the verge of drowning when Nik found her.

Then it all made sense. It wasn’t the fog that lured mages to their death on the sea; it was the water. Bishop Frost had more than likely suffered the same fate. Mika was lucky that Nik had been there to save her, though she did not know how. Bishop Frost had perished, along with all the information Mika longed to know.

A host of questions sprang into her head: Why had Nik taken her to Castle Vania? Was she actually the new Bishop Frost? What was going to come next?

She felt overwhelmed by how much had changed in what felt like a few hours. She was aware of how much she’d missed while trapped in her mind for two days under Jazmine Ado’s magic. She couldn’t begin to imagine how much she had missed in an entire month. She wondered where her friends and guildmates were in all of this.

“So, what happens next?”

“Now, it’s time to introduce you to the rest of my friends,” Nik said, with a sarcastic inflection on the last word. Mika raised her eyebrows questioningly.

“The other Bishops are waiting to meet you. Afterwards you will have to swear your oath to the king. If you are lucky, he will be present when you swear your oath. Then the rest is up to him, I guess. That’s kind of how it goes,” Nik said, shrugging.

He shot Mika a more serious look, one that said be careful.

Nik was right. Mika needed to be careful. She was in enemy territory, and the smallest slip-up might mean her life. If Nik knew who she really was, someone else might as well.

The sheer thought of meeting the other Bishops was enough to make Mika nervous again. Nik and Bishop Frost were the only two Bishops she’d met. While she had a good relationship with Nik, he was the only Bishop she knew of who didn’t follow every evil bidding of the king.

She also wasn’t sure she’d be welcomed as a new Bishop. At present, she felt more like a prisoner, kept in a room with no entry or exit. She knew better than to not be on guard. That would be naïve. Mika hadn’t seen how Nik had entered the room, so she was curious to see how they were both going to exit.

But right now, she was still in pain and didn’t feel like moving. Nik offered help with removing her bandages, which she refused out of embarrassment. Was he the one who applied them? she wondered, as she felt her face growing hot. At least it was dark in the room so Nik couldn’t see her blush.

“Suit yourself,” he responded. “Put that on. I’ll turn around and give you space.”

Mika was holding a fresh set of clothes that looked much like the clothing she’d been wearing to the fight. They were new, but still tailored to her. Nik turned around as promised. Mika was slow to take off the bandages because of her aching muscles. The strange thing was, she found the pain disappearing as she took each one off.

“How is that possible?” Mika whispered to herself.

“The bandages absorb your injuries. You should feel perfectly fine after they are off. It’s a weird sensation, isn’t it?” Nik replied to Mika’s quiet remark.

By the time all the bandages were off, she felt as good as new. The pain was gone. It was as if she had never been hurt. The sensation reminded her of Doc’s magic, but the relief was more complete than when he had healed her. She let Nik know when she was fully dressed.

“Take my hand,” he responded. Mika did as she was told. As she gripped his hand, she watched as all the space around them seemed to bend and distort. The dark room disappeared, as everything around her morphed. The one thing that didn’t change was Nik, who stood still, looking into Mika’s eyes, unfazed by what was happening around them.

“Don’t be afraid,” he said reassuringly.

With those words, her fear subsided. It felt like time stopped as the two stared into each other’s eyes. Before Mika knew it, they were standing in a large white room lined with thrones, ten in all.

Each of the thrones bore one of the Bishops’ emblems, and appeared to be made of the magic that an individual Bishop controlled: A throne made of fire for Bishop Flame. A throne made of some sort of dark matter for Bishop Joker. A throne made of steel for Bishop Steel. A throne of ice for Bishop Frost. A throne of electricity for Bishop Static. A throne of stone for Bishop Mistress. A throne of smoke for Bishop Soot. A throne of pelts for Bishop Wild. A throne composed of a dark cloud for Bishop Tempest. Finally, a solid gold throne reserved for the king. Next to the king’s throne was a smaller, less significant-looking seat.

Only three others were in the room where Mika and Nik appeared: two of the Bishops—Bishop Flame and Bishop Tempest—and a third man who was standing and waiting, as if Nik and Mika were expected.

Bishop Flame was exactly how Mika had imagined him from the books: not much older than herself, with long, spiky, vividly red hair, fierce red eyes and two earrings dangling from his earlobes, shaped like the Bishop’s medallions Mika knew all too well. He was dressed all in black, which made his red features stand out even more. He was more lying than sitting in his chair, looking bored and impatient.

Bishop Tempest also looked exactly as Mika had pictured him. He was an old man who appeared to be on the brink of death, deeply wrinkled, with bushy eyebrows and a long white beard. He was slouched in his chair, fast asleep.

The last person didn’t look like anyone she was expecting. A man of perhaps fifty, he stood slightly hunched over, his hands behind his back. He had short silver hair, yellow eyes that resembled Nik’s, and a clean-shaven face. He was looking stern, as though disappointed with their arrival.

“You are late,” the mysterious man told Nik in an intense voice.

“Yeah. What the hell, man? I’ve been waiting here for, like, ten minutes,” Bishop Flame chimed in.

The silver-haired man ignored Bishop Flame’s response and waited to hear Nik’s explanation.

“I’m sorry, Archbishop, she had just woken up, and I didn’t want to rush her,” Nik replied, bowing his head respectfully.

So this is the Archbishop? Mika had heard only a little about the position from word of mouth.

Mika looked at him more intently. She didn’t know much about him. When she’d sought out information about the Archbishop in the library, she’d found nothing. No histories about former Archbishops or their role seemed to be available. All Mika knew was that the Archbishop served as leader of all the Bishops and as the king’s right hand. Apart from that, everything about the man was a mystery.

“You know the king will be here any moment. Your tardiness will not go unpunished,” the Archbishop said sternly.

Nik bowed again, this time apologetically. “I understand completely, Archbishop. Now may I present to you our newly joined member?”

“Proceed,” the Archbishop commanded.

“I present to you our newest member of the Nine … Bishop Frost!” Nik announced, loudly enough for all to hear.

Bishop Tempest remained fast asleep, but Bishop Flame reacted by falling out of his throne, laughing.

“Did you just say Bishop Frost?” he asked, laughing so hard tears were coming out of his eyes. “You are telling me we replaced our bitch of a Frost, for another one? You can’t be serious. That is too funny,” he said, banging his hands on the floor.

“Bishop Flame, I will not have this kind of behavior in my council room,” the Archbishop barked.

The Flame, wiping the tears from his face, said, “Come on! You have to admit that’s pretty funny!”

“Please show respect to our new member, Bishop Flame. Now is not the time for disrespect, not when the king is about to arrive!” the Archbishop said in a commanding tone.

“I mean, look at this place. Obviously, it’s not such a big deal. No one else is even here! Grandpa over there is sleeping. So why do you have to get on my case?”

“Your concerns are duly noted, but ignored. You will have a seat while I administer the oath,” the Archbishop commanded.

Bishop Flame groaned in annoyance. He got up and sat in his throne of fire. Nik walked towards his own throne and sat down, leaving Mika standing in the middle of the room with the Archbishop.

The Archbishop walked up to Mika, close enough to make her uncomfortable. “Are you Bishop Frost?” the Archbishop asked, as though it was a statement. Mika nodded, having no idea what else to do.

“Then kneel. I will administer the oath of loyalty to our king, so repeat after me,” the Archbishop replied.

Mika didn’t hesitate to do as she was told. The man spoke with authority that brooked no alternatives.

“I swear,” the Archbishop began.

“I swear,” she repeated.

Mika knew she needed to hide her true intentions. What was coming next she would repeat aloud, though her heart objected.

“… to protect and serve the king, even if it costs me my life.”

“To protect and serve the king, even if it costs me my life.”

“Now rise, Bishop Frost, and take your throne. The king approaches,” the Archbishop commanded.

Mika rose slowly and looked around. Bishop Tempest was still fast asleep on his throne. Bishop Flame was focused less on Mika and more on playing with his earrings.

Now that she was face to face with Flame, Mika burned with rage; she wanted to demand to know whether he’d ever found Sam. And why had he killed all those innocent people?

But she knew now was not the time to make a scene. She’d accomplished her quest to become a Bishop and was moments from being in the same room with the king, moments from doing what she had come here for. As far as she knew, the only person who had any idea who she was was Nik. Everyone else seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the former king’s daughter was in their midst.

As Mika walked to her throne of ice, just one throne separating her from Flame, she looked back at Nik, whose throne was opposite hers, next to Tempest. He wore a grim look that worried her. But her thoughts were interrupted by a door appearing out of nowhere.

Like the room she’d recovered in, the council room had no visible entrance. But then a door appeared out of nowhere, along the wall closest to the king’s throne. The Archbishop made his way to the door and stood waiting a few moments.

Mika could hear the king’s footsteps clicking on the floor behind the door, and saw a bright light shining from behind it, through the cracks in the doorframe.

The Archbishop called out, as he opened the door: “All rise for our one and true leader of Seemos, King Ven Fallon.”