The Dark God

Chapter 27: Callioneil-The Gift

My fingers twitch nervously against my bedspread. I can't fall asleep, all I can think about is the man who died. His face, pool of blood spreading across the floor. I managed to sleep last night, if only from pure exhaustion but I don't have that tonight. I twist in my bed to stare up at the ceiling, looking past the window to see the stars spread out high above. They glitter brightly, more brightly than they should be in the middle of a city. But I can see them all the same and that comforts me.

There is a faint sound from the side of my room and I roll over to look for its source. A dark shape freezes in its tracks, like it didn't expect this to happen. Neither of us move for a moment until the figure decides that I must still be asleep. It begins to creep around the room once more and I shift to watch it.

"Kai?"

There is a sigh and a small light flickers into being in the center of the room. It raises up to the ceiling, bathing the room in soft light, just enough for me to make out Kai's face.

"What are you doing here?"

He gives me a soft grin. "I was bringing you something. Sera finished the piece she made to protect you."

"Really?" I hesitate. "Why were you sneaking around in the middle of the night? In my bedroom?"

"I wanted to hide it as a surprise?"

I giggle softly, my hair tickling my shoulders at my slight movements. "Why are you so obsessed with scavenger hunts, Kai." He opens his mouth to answer, but I cut him off. "That was a rhetorical question. Can I see it?"

He steps over to me and perched on the edge of the bed. His light moves to rest just to the side and between us, dimming slightly to account for the sudden increase in visibility. Kai pulls a swath of gray out of his pocket. It shouldn't even be able to fit in there! Are his pockets bottomless? He holds the gray thing out to me and I take it carefully, resting it on my lap. It's velvet, my fingers can so easily tell me that. It look seamless, without an opening. But there has to be one. My fingers probe along the edges, searching by feel and not by sight for the gap in the fabric. When I do find it, I quickly slip my fingers inside so I don't lose it.

I touch something cool and hard, made up of different textures. I slide it out of the pouch and onto the coverlet of my bed, where it glints beneath the light. A strip of paper flutters out with it and I pick it up to read.

Hello Callioneil,
My name is Sera. This is the piece I made for you. I promise, it doesn't just look nice. There are protective enchantments in it that were instilled during the forging. I don't even know what some of them are, my magic was driving it. But here are the ones I do know.
1. The clasp is magical. Only you can take it off or put it on.
2. If you wish it, the necklace will sink into your skin. Like a tattoo in the human world, I suppose. All you have to do it tap it once and think of it for it to sink into your skin. You can do the same to make it solid again or you could just unclasp it.
3. If you tap twice on the sunstone, it will transport you to Kai's home. If you tap it twice again, it should return you to where you were. A triple tap will transport you to Kai himself.
4. This has the basic protective enchantments. They will shield you from being harmed by magic and most(if not all) physical damage. You should also be shielded from being tracked(I believe Kai will still know where you are) and you can't be poisoned.
I hope you like it, and I hope that we shall meet someday.
Sera

The paper shrivels in my hand into ash, yet I can still remember every word that was on it. I look up at Kai, alarmed, but he just gives me a soft laugh and explains.

"It's an old way to protect private messages from being read by others. An enchantment is imbued into the paper so that once it's read the paper dissolves but the words are imprinted in the recipient's mind."

I nod and look down at the necklace sitting on my bed. It's made of twisting copper and gold strands, they form a mesh. Crystals and moonstones are littered throughout the mesh, with a single sunstone teardrop at the bottom. The point of it goes up, splitting the mesh in two. I slip the necklace over my head, feeling the clasp form in my hands then disappear when it clicks into place. The necklace settles so the point of the teardrop lies just below my collarbone. I tap it and watch as the necklace melts into my skin like water. Kai picks up the empty pouch and places it on my nightstand before he turns to me once more.

"Why weren't you sleeping, Calli?"

I shrug. "All I can think about is that man, the one who died. I see him whenever I close my eyes."

He frowns. "Would you like me to remove the memory?"

"No. But . . . could you dull it?"

Kai nods and places his pointer finger against my forehead. Two things happen at once. I feel the memory start to fade and I hear him say, "Cysgu." My eyes slide closed as I am pulled into sleep.
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What do you think of those enchantments? What other ones do you think there might be? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.