The Mad God (On hold)

Prologue

 Ranak inhaled deeply, relishing the smell of the ancient books that surrounded him. The Library always smelt like that, the collection of texts referencing magic was unmatched anywhere in the world, which was why he and his siblings were there. Depending on today’s events, they’d make history and either go down as fools, or be honoured for the rest of their lives. He glanced towards the stack of books that he’d gathered; there had to be a book here that would prove his theory. Their theory. Of course they could experiment with the magic themselves, but that was dangerous. Much too dangerous.

He tenderly pulled out a book bound in red leather; a gentle, faded script covering its surface. He could just about make out the title, ‘Spirituality: The Soul’ and scanned the pages quickly, his heart jumping into his throat as he realised that this book held the key to their research. He struggled not to laugh, how could it be that a discovery of this magnitude had been locked away in a religious text? Had they known the magic behind the soul all along and just kept it for themselves?

He looked up, and saw Luvesi, his elder by a hundred years, staring at him. “You haven’t…” She trailed off after he grinned; her bottomless hazel eyes setting alight with curiosity. “You’ve solved it, haven’t you?”

 “If this is suggesting even half of what I think it might be, then we’ve cracked it; we’ve found the final key to soul magic.” He passed the book to her, another grin splitting his face. The others crowded round her, trying to read the passage that would ensure their names went down through history.

“The Gods are able to transport themselves to and from the realms of the dead, and can appear anywhere they desire, appearing to others in order to relay their will, for their souls are the most powerful; the souls from whence all other souls are derived.” She quoted, awe lathering her voice, she closed the tome tenderly with shaking hands. “By the Gods, this text is old; another century or two and this would be beyond restoration. I can’t begin to think what we would have done if you hadn’t found it when you did.”

“It doesn’t matter. It only matters that we’ve found it, and with it comes the respect we’ve yearned for all these years, for with this we can convince the Council to let us start trials, and then only prestige can follow! With our magical abilities we might even be invited into the Council itself. Think of the possibilities…” Ranak trailed off, wilting under his sister’s hard stare.

“Since when did it become about power, brother? Do you forget what our parents taught us, what they died upholding?” She stood up, and turned for the door, the book still in her hands. “I hope for your sake that you haven’t, Ranak.”  

Ranak looked towards his other siblings, who all looked away. Even Dyndara wouldn’t meet his eyes, calm, forgiving Dyndara. What had happened? How had he let power consume him? He shook his head and looked to his other siblings, who, one by one left him, contempt in their eyes. It wasn’t about power, but about helping, wasn’t it? Cekoti shot him a reassuring smile before he too left, at least his youngest sibling sympathised. Ranak dispelled the thoughts from his head before leaving the library; it had brought out the worst in him.

***

Dynak carefully pushed the cutlery cart down the servants’ corridor, nodding to others as he passed them. The only way to avoid suspicion was to blend in perfectly with the crowd; a recluse would be noticed like a girl on the training field, which was exactly why he’d been preparing for this job for the last couple of months. There was no room for failure. That had been made perfectly clear; today he had to kill the youngest Scholar of Lyum. Cekoti would be alone and vulnerable; all his siblings were out of town and by the time they got back, the poison would be too far advanced to save the poor boy. With their grief, his masters could take over the Council.

Dynak was secretly pleased the way it had all turned out, if this had been any of the other Scholars then his job would have been much more difficult; Ranak was too paranoid, constantly checking himself and his siblings for poison. Lasinn was too clever, too careful; he would watch everything around him, and form a protective bubble around himself everywhere he went making his food untouchable. The girls always travelled together, and watched for each other – no distracting them either. Cekoti, however, he was young, eager to prove himself, and best of all, reckless. Yes, he was the obvious target, and with the particular poison in question: Ackrilkorm, he was all but dead already.

He would have to time it right for if anyone caught him using magic his cover would be blown; no magic user would work as a servant, and unfortunately, in order to use the tree’s leaf, he would have to channel magic into it. Once activated, he would have very little time in order to administer it before it started feasting off his own energy, and not only would that reveal him as a magic user but it would show his true intentions with no means for escape.

He smiled at a comely girl, going by the name Beldra; the knowledge of love. He still hadn’t figured out her intentions for an old name, perhaps she was one of the Order as well, but he doubted that. The Order left scars on a person, visible only to those who knew how to look. She had sought him out here, offering her aid for the demise of Cekoti. It had taken most of his self control not to kill her, and he still doubted the wisdom of that decision, but then, a tool could always be used.

He hoped that she wouldn’t get in the way today, and if she truly wanted to help then she would stay well away and shift the blame onto another servant. That had been made perfectly clear, and it was time to see if she would upkeep her end of the bargain. 

He turned to the left, the reinforced oak doors opening on his approach to reveal a large hall. There was no roof; instead a film of magic glistened in the dying sun, casting an amber glow across the paved floor. He saw Cekoti taking his place, and Dynak hastened his steps towards his target.

He reached into his pocket and fondled the deadly leaf in his hand, scrunching it as much as he could. He reached Cekoti just as the host was preparing his speech; perfect timing for the perfect distraction. No-one would give a servant any heed, not now at least. As soon as every magician’s head was turned, Dynak reached to the source of his magical ability; through the well of power that was his own aura, and channelled this energy into a simple spell. He weaved threads of this energy around the leaf, three strands of fire, one earth and two light to create a sphere that encompassed it. Then, he weaved water into the mix and let the spell go. He could feel the effect of the spell, the energy coursing through the leaf as it left him. He smiled; it was time to kill his old friend.

He edged closer to his target, created a temporary illusion around himself and Cekoti before dropping the leaf into his goblet and waiting for it to dissolve before turning away. Even with his magically constructed face there was a chance that Cekoti would notice his former colleague and best friend. Dynak felt no remorse though, a job was a job. And killing the person he had been told to get close to was just another one. He shrugged, and melded into the crowd, congratulating himself for a job well done, a smirk faintly visible on his face.

 ***

Thank you for taking the time to read my book!  If you liked it vote, comment and follow! New chapter posted every week.

I'm grateful for any feedback you have; what you liked, and what you didn't like so much.

~Cekoti