"Excorizo."
"Good. That's it! Do you feel it- the urge to banish what you touch? Here-" Rayla held out an oval-shaped barberry. Its aperitive aroma of sweet honey and lime made her mouth water. If it were not for the lesson, she would eat it herself.
"Now, do it again."
Rayla watched her student approach cautiously and focus- bright white hands extended. The berry lasted in her hand for only a moment before it disintegrated into nothing. Her stomach growled, jealous. Perhaps they should have used something inedible. Alas, it was too late. The spell had been cast- successfully, nonetheless.
"You did it!" Raya's heart felt full. Today had just turned triumphant, and it was cause for celebration. She wasn't a horrible teacher, after all.
"How did it feel? The mana?" Rayla pointed at Margrave's hands, which no longer glowed but now looked the same as they always did- calloused and scarred- the hands of a mage.
"It felt..." A student named Margrave, a few years younger than Rayla, gripped his palm tightly. "Extraordinary." It had been his first successful attempt at the dispelling spell. Though it was not the first spell learned, it had proved the most difficult for good reason. It was the hardest to master and, to Rayla, the most important. It worked against many things, specifically creatures of their world and the Realm.
"With more practice, I can join you in the field." He imitated the casting motion: eyes closed, palms together, then quickly extended outward.
Rayla chuckled.
"Remember, the monsters my sisters and I protect Vazrandin from are not small nor weak. There are soldiers for that. You will need much more repetition before it is safe to use this in action rather than in practice."
"Like I said, with a bit more practice. I finally understand its feeling." Margrave gave a wide smile. Despite struggling for years with the magic Rayla taught him, he never once gave up. He had confidence. Rayla valued that. If Margrave renounced magic, Rayla might be disappointed but not surprised. Spellcasting wasn't easy.
On the contrary, it was complex. To evoke a spell, the user had to understand and imagine the meaning correctly while having enough skill and mana to cast it. Unlike the sisters, Margrave was born with only a tiny magical aura, which was more than many possessed in all Vazrandin. It was lucky Rayla had sensed it at all. But a person born with abilities- even faint- should be educated on its power as well as its dangers. Practicing spells without the proper degree of mana could permanently expunge the user's casting ability and, at more dangerous degrees- it could kill them.
"Can I practice once more?" Margrave's eyes were hopeful.
"No. We are done today. Best rest."
Just as the druids believed, magic was a balance between life and death. It had to be handled with care. Of course, Rayla remained vigilant, never pushing Margrave to the point he should not be. That was the most important job as a teacher.
"We shall resume tomorrow." Several books lay on the table to be packed. There was Exousia & Mageia, Aras to Aepohdis, Vasileio tou Ruin, and Sfragisei. Rayla began to collect, putting each one into an enchanted satchel. Once there, only she could retrieve it. To anyone else, it was just an empty clothed bag.
"That is the first my eyes have seen of that." Margrave pointed to the book that Rayla now held. Sfragisei. "That is about sealing magic, is it not? Is that not your sister Veronas' magic? Are we to learn that next?"
"No- yes- or perhaps not." Rayla's mind was not made.
"What do you mean?" Margrave chuckled.
"I am not sure." Rayla put it into the bag. "I want to."
"But?" Margrave pulled up a seat. He could sense the invisible weight of an untold story pulling down on each word Rayla spoke. She had more to say, but would she express it openly?
A quietness rang through the library for a moment. Rayla looked up past her student. Hooties sang in their echoes and chimes outside the amber-stained windows. The shadows of running servants and stony-faced soldiers appeared intermittently through the elevated halls beyond their library door. Outside of King Grashit's great, but neither grandiose, keep were the people of Pali.
They strolled heedless of the mishap beyond their tankard, lodgings, and eyes. The capital was their only concern. Thanks to the mages, their sheltered, naive minds knew little of real danger. It lurked only a realm below their feet. The Realm of Ruin. A thin layer of shielded magic was all that protected their world from ruination. The seal, The Sfragi, created to close its door to their world, had cracked before. Three times. Each time, the rift was wider and more unstable. Each time, it was resealed. But time had a taste for repetition. The Sfragi was weakening. The demons knew it.
It would take but an angled nudge to break the seal altogether, exploding into a billion pieces. It would be like opening a door to a raging river of nightmares. All shapes and sizes would break through, spreading here and there, dissolving, devouring, destroying until there was nothing but ruins, bones, and bodiless souls. What would there even be to save if all was already destroyed? The mortal plane would cease to exist. It would be a never-ending realm of chaos and evil, ruled by the demonic gods of destruction. No emperor or mage could possibly stop it alone.
But the country's past echoed with salvation in the form of dragons. Many recent generations had never seen a Dragon Lord, but they had heard of their heroic tales. For millennials, they had warded off the evils that crossed over from the Ruins with the force of ice, water, and fire. No mage compared. No demon stood against the scaled Lords. Their power was unmatched to this day.
But their presence had vanished since the day the Sfragi was created. Their location remained unknown. Some adventures sought them out but failed. Even the Emperor's most extensive library told little of the dragons. No mind knew any more than what was already written- no human mind. It was said the sirens of Alguri once fought beside the Dragon Lords as equals- during the War of Aethans- a battle between the immortal demons of the Realm of Ruin and the Alguri. A 300-day clash in which the casualties tripled the time. The Connex Channel had gone completely red. Mortals had almost lost. The Empire was split, and many kingdoms were destroyed and wiped out completely. Stone and bone turned to dust, leaving piles of debris and shells. The Dragon Lords fought long against the billion demons that attacked. But the Alguri were innovative and created a weapon forged by the dragon's breath, the purest form of magic. Though the sirens turned the tide of war, saving present-day Vazrandin from the chaos of the Ruins, salvation did not come for all. The last of the Alguri were killed, and the weapons were thought to be lost. The Dragon Lords grew scarce, and with each war, fewer arrived with aid.
Then came the seal. With the Sfragi, the dragons were no longer needed.
The few demons that slipped through the cracks were easily defeated by the mages of the land. In a way, Vazrandin was finally in its era of peace. It no longer needed the Dragon Lord's security.
It was no wonder why many questioned whether the dragons even still existed.
This was the nightmare that tortured Rayla's mind. The seal to the Realm of Ruin was breaking. Something sturdier than before would have to be made, or the demons would wreak havoc on them all. Would the Dragon Lords arrive if called on? Would they once again be salvation from the horrors of evil? Could a power rumored to be extinct reappear in the hour of need, or did the safety of the Empires now fall to the mages that remained?
"It's complicated." Rayla sat down next to Margrave.
"Is it?"
It was Rayla's hope that Margrave's power would grow. It had increased very slightly since his studies had begun, and it would take several decades before he would reach where Rayla was now- time she knew they would certainly not have. Karissa argued Rayla's time was better spent teaching herself rather than an apprentice. Whether Karissa admitted it or not, she kept Rayla's warnings in mind. If the Empire's safety depended on their magic alone, they had to stay diligent in their magical practices.
"I believe in being proactive, but Karissa does not see it that way. She reacts to things as they come. Why worry about the unknown? Why dwell on mere possibilities or agonize over the nightmares in the Realm of Ruins? Why teach someone when we ourselves have only discovered half of the spoken and written magic? We are still students ourselves."
"Your understanding of curses and connection with Ruin is unmatched."
"This is true."
For whatever reason, Rayla remained the only mage connected to the Ruins. She could sense them like no other. Karissa was not at fault for the things she could not feel; Rayla was different. If she ignored what was observed, the fault would fall to her.
For this reason, Rayla had taken the book into her possession. She thought that somewhere deep within the words of the great mages, she would find the answer to their problems. Rayla knew teaching Margrave sealing magic would matter little, but the thought gave her peace. Each sister was preparing in their own way. If war was to come Vazrandin would require any and all who could fight. It would matter not if Margrave's spells remained weak. Rayla only hoped that when the time came, she could make him strong enough to survive. If the demons arrived and victory came with the gift of death if Margrave survived, so would their magic. It had to endure.
Rayla laughed. "I would not bat an eye if Karissa came looking for this book herself. It would take her no more than a month to learn it completely, though it has taken me three years, and I am no farther than where I began."
"Why learn something Verona has already mastered? Has something happened?"
Margrave's eyes had not moved from Rayla, who now paused, aware she was treading on waters Karissa had warned her about. If the rumor of the cracking Sfragi spread, there would be hysteria. More than what could be contained. In the case of demonic destruction and mortal genocide, it was best to keep that secret locked in the mind. The neighboring Empire of Fiorian would often send spies across the border, collecting intelligence, searching for leverage, and uncovering frailty. Vazrandin's weakness was Fiorian's strength. If their Empress heard the hearsay, doubt would poison the minds- that the Whiteflower mages were incompetent. No, they would not let a rumor sully their reputation, regardless of its truth. They were the Mages of Redbook. No issue could not be solved nor trial that could not be passed. Whatever the cause of the Sfragi weakening, the sisters would discover it.
"Has something happened between you and your sister, perhaps?" Margrave scratched the stubble that lined his jaw. His lips were pursed, and his eyebrows scrunched. His interest in her troubles was touching, but Karissa was right; Rayla needed to darken her transparency.
"Please. Worry not. These are just ramblings of a taxed mind." She stood. "I should know better than to loosen my tongue on simple worries." Simple though, they were not.
"I know what you need."
"Oh?"
"A worriless night." He bowed from the waist and looked ever so slightly into her eyes. Margrave's hand lay gently against his gold buttoned tunic. "Dare I ask Rayla to join me for the Annual Chromis Festival?"
"Oh." Rayla stood- stunned and speechless. She had forgotten the Chromis festival began tonight. Despite the vibrant chromis flowers that decorated the town, Rayla's recent worries had made her oblivious to the cherry aroma cloud that covered the entire city. "I- uhh..." What could she say that she hadn't already?
The excitement in Margrave's eyes began to fade for only a second.
"You've denied me three times, Rayla Whiteflower. I am determined to get your acceptance at least once."
"Margrave-"
"Please, listen to what I say before you answer." She knew he didn't want to be rejected again. But he was four years younger than her and Rayla's student no less. That is what her sisters continued to tell her. Rayla had meant to accept the first time Margrave had invited her. However, unfortunate timing as it was, Verona had been in the proximity of the discussion at hand and quickly interjected, claiming they were much too busy for festivities. Later, Verona expressed her opinion on the matter. Rayla deserved better. Who? Someone older? Sophisticated? Wiser? She wasn't interested in the city's elder. Though she wasn't interested in anyone at the time.
Rayla saw things differently. His invitation was but a compliment. She had no other offers from escorts nor promises of trysts, ever. When she walked, people watched- quietly, in whispers. They looked toward her steps, expecting to see dissolved rock and diseased dirt. She was like a plague. She studied curses: transmutations, jinxes, evocation, and hexes- dark forms of magic. She even studied Ruinas, the power of the demons. Her connection with the Realm of Ruin marked her. Unlike her sisters, she was more feared than admired.
Margrave, however, treated her in kind. Any judgment or fear, if any, was hidden neatly behind a proud yet playful smile. He was her student and often bragged about it. Margrave respected her. She was not cursed. Behind her fascination with malediction, there was a powerful mage who sought to protect the home she loved, including its people.
"Think of it as your night off from your sisters. Just think- harmonic music, comedic theatre- they will even be meat pie!"
Rayla thought about this. She had, in fact, rejected him three years straight.
"We do have reason to celebrate, I suppose. You've been learning at an impressive rate."
"Yes. That is true," Margrave failed to hide his excitement. His lips could no longer conceal his ever-growing smile.
"As your teacher, I will express my pride by accepting your offer. So, yes, I will go with you."
"Rayla, you have made me the most happy. I, of course, am lucky to have such an amazing teacher and friend." Margrave gently took her hands in his and bowed again. "Then we must make haste. There is little time to prepare. We will meet at the center fountain upon sunset." He began to pack his things, more upbeat than before.
"Yes, that sounds acceptable-" Margrave was out the door before Rayla could finish. She found herself giggling at the situation. For the moment, all worries had disappeared. Perhaps a night in the town, escorted by the friend she cared for, would be medicine to her mind. It mattered not what her sisters believed; Margrave was, first and foremost, her friend of six years. It was time Rayla conveyed that.
~
Current Chapter Word Count: 2,543
Total Word Count: 5,574