Chapter 6: Meeting the Mother

The great shadow moved to envelop the sleeping form of Solen. It quickly merged through his skin and pores. For a heartbeat the little rented apartment had returned to a semblance of normalcy before a shining pulsating blood red gem shard emerged onto his forehead from which glowing pulsing veins spread to cover his entire body like cracks forming on a mirror surface under enormous pressure.

Part way through his eyes which had transformed into glowing suns snapped open. His mouth opened to scream but the inhuman guttural roar his voice had become quickly cut out.

The buildup of energy and heat in his body exploded outwards in a cataclysmic explosion whose shockwave levelled a good portion of Guarai. Beyond that the extreme heat set fire to anything flammable in the vicinity, including the living. At its very epicenter Solen was levitating still screaming his lungs out but his voice had long since dropped to an octave which could not be heard. Not that anyone was alive in the vicinity any longer.

Molten rock started to ooze up his legs before halting. For a moment everything was halted in time in an eerie silence before the molten rock started to backpedal followed by the fires, the explosion and its shockwave.

The reversal continued till the great shadow was being ejected from Solen’s body which had returned to sleep in his untouched apartment again. The great shadow appeared less opaque and consistent now.

“You would imprison me, o Goddess” it rasped from an unseen mouth, its voice low and guttural.

“Hush child. Your tantrums have caused enough of a stir already” the gentle rebuke not missed by the other.

“Suddenly you care about us, convenient.”

“Are you judging me now, child? A fleeting glance upon omniscience was all it took to shatter you. How your guide would weep seeing you now.”

The shadow recoiled as it slowly started to fade into nothingness.

Solen’s small, rented room returned to its original state as though two obscenely powerful entities hadn’t just had a clash of wills right at its epicenter.

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The early night hadn't helped at all. It had somehow made me feel even more lethargic than before. Getting out of bed was a real chore but I didn't want to waste a perfectly good morning all the same.

The first thing on my list for today was visiting the local communal bath house. If I was out in the wild, I would have had more options for managing my hygiene but being in the middle of civilization most of those would have been ill advised.

At least oral hygiene was a cinch just raise my mouth’s temperature to a degree hot enough to melt tin, rinse and I was good to go.

Outside my little apartment I found the streets to be a buzz of activity quite unlike the usual for this time of the day. I barely had a moment to get my bearings before I was accosted by two young men wearing the traditional robes of the Mage council who were being shadowed by half a dozen city guards.

Those women certainly did not look happy, somehow managing to look even more exhausted than me, with my weeks of restless sleep.

“You there commoner, halt” commanded the one on the right in a grating high-pitched tone. The snobby self-absorbed undertones were not missed by me.

I know making snap judgements wasn't fair, but I already didn't like this person. He reminded me a little too much of a pair of twin brothers I had known back home. They had been very eager to distance themselves from their old lives and friends when they had been taken in by the Imperial Mage council. Moving on to bigger and better things as it were by cutting off the old unneeded baggage.

“How may I help you, great mage?” I asked making sure to inject enough servility into my tone to not wound his ego.

“Did you notice anything out of the ordinary last night?” He demanded again in a way which seemed to suggest that he found this work to be beneath him.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“No, great mage. I turned in early for the night, so I did not witness anything out of the ordinary”

He clicked his tongue in disgust before making a curious gesture with his hand while pointing at me. He then departed brushing past me without giving me a second thought. Most of his entourage followed him except one guard who broke away from the main group to come ask me a few more pointed questions.

She was a slender little thing and overly cautious. She had a hand on her short sword the entire time I saw her making her way towards me.

“What is your name citizen and what business brings you to these parts? She asked in an even tone.

“My name is Solen and I live here. I rented out that flat a few weeks ago” I replied while pointing out my little home. I was nonplussed by this impromptu interrogation.

“Is there anyone we can ask to corroborate your story with?”

What’s going on here? Did something egregious occur last night. No that made no sense, this was not the posh district where the nobles lived. While crime wasn't exactly rampant here, it wasn't quite unheard of either. The city administration never seemed too hurried to stamp it out so what had happened to draw such a response.

“I cannot, guard. I do not share my accommodation with anyone. I finished work, then had an early supper at the bazaar and turned in for the night.” I replied helplessly, for once glad that I was being completely honest. Lately I have had to stretch the truth a few too many times for my liking.

The guard was clearly unhappy with my response if the rhythmic thrumming of her fingers on her sword’s pommel was anything to go by.

“What do you do for a living then, citizen?” she asked impatiently.

Before I had the chance to respond to her question we were interrupted by an unexpected source, a certain copper haired woman.

“Oh, he's this year’s combat instructor for the okuls, Kaila.”

I had mostly tuned out the early morning commuters of the southern district, since almost all of them were keeping their heads down and trying to avoid this predicament by evading the attention of the guards.

Usually, the residents would gather around at the first sign of trouble. If say, there was a fisticuff fight or something similar taking place in the streets then crowds of onlookers would gather to spectate but never to intervene. But at the first sign of the politia or patrolling guards they’d scatter having satisfied their baser instincts.

The guard looked over to her acquaintance before slowly taking her hand away from her sword to cradle her head tiredly. “Ceryla, he is well capable of answering for himself”

“I thought I overhead you were dissatisfied because this young man here couldn't verify his account” she said while gesturing towards me.

“Fine, but that still doesn't confirm his last night’s location” she pointed out matter-of-factly.

Now I felt a slight headache coming on from the aggravation. “Like I said I turned in for the night early. I don't know how I can prove that to you.”

“Come on Kaila, be reasonable. How do you expect the boy to substantiate his statement? Tell you what if you ignore this, I’ll bake you your favorite pie.”

“You can't keep bribing me with food whenever you want me to do something for you” she said, but the audible gulp I heard from her had me doubting her statement.

Seeing her hesitate on how to proceed Ceryla sweetened the deal further “How about I bake you two pies instead and you go join up with your superiors instead of harassing poor residents all night long. We both know this is just a waste of time, why not get this farce over and done with as quickly as possible.”

After mulling it over for a bit the guard decided to acquiesce to her request. “Fine, it's been a long and exhausting night anyways. Just don't deliver the pies in the mess or I won't get to see any of them. My squad mates are gluttons.”

Saying her peace, the guard rushed past us to rejoin her group.

Seeing her leave for a moment I turned around to give the copper-haired mother, Ceryla a respectful bow. “ I thank you ma'am, for assisting me. I believe you might already know but I am called Solen.”

Ceryla blushed prettily before replying “Think nothing of it young Solen. I was glad to help. My name is Ceryla by the way.”

“You must be Ceres’s mother. I’ve seen you accompanying her a few times.”

Ceryla was smiling sweetly at me with a dusting of red on her cheeks. I could see the beginnings of an attraction forming in her eyes which made my stomach drop.

Romance for me had always been a very problematic affair. I was not being vain when I said I was physically a very attractive specimen. It was among the few advantages my divine heritage afforded me. I had always been inundated with the attention of the opposite sex in my teen years and beyond, sometimes of the same sex also. But that attention was so hollow and vapid. My admirers never cared to know me any more than the surface level, not unlike a pretty bauble.

I had never forgotten how as a dirty orphan growing up in the streets, starving to death no one had given me the time of the day. No one had bothered answering my freverent prayers for salvation. No one but my father. Only my father had bothered looking beyond my filthy and frail visage.

Look at you sitting on your high horse. You never bothered giving them a chance by trying to get to know them.

I could have coasted through life living parasitically off them, but I had decided early I did not want to dishonor my father's teachings like that. I would become great and memorable to spread his word to the four corners of the world. That I had sworn to myself.

But the consequences of such an outlook meant I only had a very small close-knit group of people who I could rely on. And each I treasured more than gold. None more so than my father and Aniansi, who I'd grown to love.

You coward, you could not face reality, so you hid behind convenient duty.

For a second I thought I had heard someone whispering in my ear. But I couldn't perceive anyone to be near us. This entire morning, I had felt like someone or something was looking over my shoulder, breathing down my neck. It was giving me the chills.

Oblivious to my internal musings Ceryla continued talking to me. “I always make it a point to escort my daughter to her okul and back. My work as a cook gives me some leeway when it comes to my timings.”

That wasn't what I had meant. But sure, I could roll with that. I had purposefully chosen a residence close to where the copper haired family had relocated so I could keep a better lookout for my friend. My intentions may have seemed less than honorable to a third party, but I swore I had the best of intentions.

With the introductions out of the way, I wanted to satiate my burning curiosity. I pointed back towards where the entourage could be seen further down the street interrogating another hapless resident. “What do you suppose that is all about?”

“They’ve been at it for most of the night” she said with a sigh. “With the mage council involved it must be related to some mystic curio or something similar. It's not like they ever share the details with the general public.”

While that did make sense, the scale of this response was troubling, but I kept that detail to myself.

I gave an exasperated groan “With the way they are going about this, I doubt anyone is willingly going to come forward with any information.”

Realizing the sun had climbed quite a bit higher and I didn't want to be caught in the morning rush at the bath house I said my goodbyes to Ceryla. She then made me promise to stop by at her place for lunch sometime. While I knew the offer was perfectly innocent, I was worried it would give her the wrong idea.

Before making my departure, I remembered to compliment her on raising such a determined and talented daughter.

Seeing her proud and happy smile was my highlight for this forgettable morning.