Soulburned: The School of Souls

Chapter 21: Nightmares

"Thale, wake up!"

Thale groggily opened his eyes, revealing the small bare-walled room he'd grown up in.

"Ouch!" He grimaced and clutched at his leg through the blanket.

His leg hurt! What did he do to it?

"Thale, hon! We gotta go!"

"Mom?"

"Thale, get down here!" his mother shouted.

Alarm bells were ringing through the city. Any semblance of grogginess vanished. His stomach filled with dread.

He jumped out of bed, throwing the sparse covers onto the floor. He winced as he placed his right foot on the ground.

What the hell? he thought, looking at the offending limb.

He couldn't remember hurting it, did he twist it playing Sparkball?

Something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Thale!"

Right... the alarms.

He shook his head vigorously, trying to dislodge the fog from his head.

The ringing was loud, and Thale was surprised it hadn't woken him up before his mother had. Thier small house was only a few hundred yards from the nearest Bell Tower, which was convenient since his father was one of the watchmen responsible for ringing it.

Thale crossed the room and headed down the stairs.

His mother was in a panic, throwing anything she could get her hands on into a large burlap sack.

Through the window behind her, Thale saw the stuff of nightmares.

The city was ablaze.

Thale jumped into action, pulling another sack from a cupboard and filling it. Dried food, a blanket, canteens, jars of pickled vegetables. Anything that would fit in the sack, went in. When it was full, he hefted it over his shoulder and followed his mother out into the street.

"We need to get to the watchtower." His mother said, "There's an entrance into the caverns there. We'll be able to move further into the city, behind the second wall."

"Okay!" Thale said.

And then they were running.

A monster raged through the streets, spewing fire from its mouth and crushing homes with its fists. Smaller demons shrieked and screamed as they ravaged and slaughtered any civilians who were unlucky enough to get close. Horror after horror played out before young Thale, each depraved act searing itself into his subconscious.

"We're going to make it, Thale! Just keep running!"

The Watchtower exploded as a fireball from the largest demon collided with it.

Splintered, burning wood rained from the sky as the tower collapsed into itself.

The alarm bells ceased.

"No!" his mother screamed, "NO!"

Thale fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face. The burlap sack he had been carrying fell from his hands, spilling its contents out onto the cobblestones.

"Dad!"

Thale's mother pulled him to his feet.

And again, they ran.

The next entrance into the tunnels was further, but there were fewer fires in that direction. The larger demon hadn't made it to this section of the district yet. The smaller imps, however, were more than making up the difference. They traveled in packs throughout the city, eviscerating anyone they came across with thier curved and twisted short swords.

"The soldiers and Guardian's will clear them out! We just have to get to the tunnels!"

They rounded the final corner, then were stopped dead in thier tracks.

They weren't the only ones trying to make it into the tunnels, a crowd had begun to form outside the tower since the staircase was only wide enough for two or three people to descend at a time.

"Let's go! Move!" A man ahead of them shouted.

"Void!" a woman yelled "Is there another way down?!"

The shrieking of Imps grew louder. Thale's mother began pushing and elbowing away through the crowd, somehow managing to fight to the front of the panicked mob.

"Caverns full!" A watchman bellowed! "Move further into the city!"

The crowd was densely packed in the plaza, pressed up against the Tower. Grouped together like this they were sitting ducks.

"Mom!" Thale shouted over the din, "We can't stay here!"

"I know! I'm thinking!"

A fireball crashed into the second Watchtower, bursting it flames in an instant.

The Soul Eater was here.

Suddenly they were surrounded by the shrieking cries of Imps. Dozens of the small demons darted through the crowd, pulling people to the ground to be mauled.

The Soul-Eater breathed fire into the crowd, filling the air with the smell of burning flesh. The crowd broke and ran, trampling those who had fallen or been pulled down.

The tower fell, plunging Thale and his mother into momentary darkness.

His mother screamed.

When the dust cleared, he found her trapped under a burning beam.

"Thale! Run."

"Mom!"

Thale rushed to his trapped mother and began pulling from his fledgling Eros. He didn't have the tattooed Mark, only the simple birthmark that Mages were born with.

"I'll-I'll change it!"

He tried to convert the heavy wooden beam to water. His undeveloped Eros scratched uselessly at the surface of the wood."

"Thale. Run."

"I- I just need a minute!"

Imps began clambering over the ruined tower. They screeched as they saw Thale and his pinned mother. The sounds penetrated all the way to the core of Thales soul.

"Thale! RUN!"

Thale had run, but now he froze.

He had run through the smoke and rubble of the First District and managed to make it to safety behind the Second Wall, with Imps chasing him the entire way.

He had run, but now stood rooted to the ruined cobblestones. The world swam around him and his leg ignited into pain.

The Soul-Eater laughed as the Imps reached his mother.

No. No! Not again!

The Shrive Blade appeared in his hand, blazing dark with its black flame.

"You can't have her!" Thale scremed.

Thale swept his sword through the pack of Imps, causing them to disappear into puffs of smoke. He tackled the one closest to his mother to the ground and wrapped a hand around its throat.

"I won't let you take her again!"

He raised this sword to strike.

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"Thale." Sylane said, "Please put down the sword."

Thale blinked. He was on the floor of Herclis's room, his rooms, with the Shrive Blade, grasped tightly in one hand, raised above Sylane's head. The curtains that hung around his bed had been cut to ribbons by the Shrive blade.

She lay under him, pinned to the floor. The hand not holding the sword was wrapped around her throat. She'd transfigured her flesh into stone to prevent him from crushing her windpipe. A tendril of her Eros extended through Thale's arm and wrapped around his heart. If he moved, she'd crush his heart.

"Sylane!"

He dropped the sword and threw himself off of her.

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Losing contact with the sword felt like being punched in the diaphragm. The air was driven out of his lungs by the sudden disconnection to his Eros.

Sylane swallowed visibly, then stood and dismissed her Stone Flesh spell. The tendril of Eros faded to nothing.

"Glad to see you're finally awake." She said, straightening her tunic.

"Did I hurt you?" Thale wheezed around the growing lump in his throat.

"No."

Thale tried to stand.

"Wait!"

"Gah!"

His right leg turned to fire as he tried to put weight on it, and he tumbled back to the carpet. He grasped at it reflexively.

Wood?

He looked at it.

There was no clear seam between him and the prosthetic, just a slow gradient transition from warm flesh to cold wood.

He stared at the length of Quick-Wood in shock. It had no articulation, it was just a plank that started above where his knee should have been.

"What... What?"

"You're safe, back in your room," Sylane said. She gingerly picked up the Shirve blade, careful to only touch it with the nearby blanket, and rested it across his lap. "It was just a nightmare."

He took a deep calming breath as his muscles began working correctly again.

"Where is my leg?"

"We had to remove it." She said matter of factly. "Magnus hasn't given me all the details, but he assures me that amputation was the only viable course of action... We saved what we could."

"Magnus..." Thale said, dumbly. "The Horrophant! Void! It had me!"

Thale again tried to claw his way up the side of his bed, using the Shrive Blade as a lever.

"Wait, let me help."

Sylane reached out a hand, and Thale took it. Carefully, she pulled him to a sitting position.

"Place your left foot on the floor and push up. You're heavy."

He numbly shifted his weight to put his remaining foot on the floor and pushed off the ground while Sylane guided him onto the bed.

He lifted the thing that used to be his leg off the ground, then let it fall to the floor with a clunk.

"Fuck, Sylane! What the fuck!?"

"Does it hurt?"

Thale stared at her, mouth agape in disbelief for a moment before he managed to process what she said.

"No. It doesn't. Why doesn't it hurt?"

Sylane let loose a sigh of relief.

"Because it took." She said, "There's always a risk of your Eros rejecting a prosthetic like this. The fact that you're not writhing in agony is a pretty good sign."

"I don't have a leg... and this thing is worse than having nothing! It's a dumb piece of wood!"

"It won't be," Sylane said quickly. "Now that you're awake, we'll be able to fit it to you, and we'll be able to carve in glyphs that'll allow you to infuse it with Eros. You'll be able to use it just like any other leg."

"Infuse it with Eros... I can't infuse anything with Eros, not while I have this thing." he hefted the sword. "Unless you and Marelda finally figured out a way to keep me alive without it."

Thale seethed with pent-up rage.

Sylane swallowed.

"Not yet... The Artificer's been busy with the-"

"Void take that damn woman!" Thale snarled, "She's beyond useless!"

"Well." Marelda said in her raspy tenor, "Would you like me to come back later?"

The old woman had snuck in through the door while Thale was raging. Her thick brown ropes dragged along the carpet, muffling her footsteps. Even if Thale hadn't been distracted, he'd have probably missed her entrance. If Thale hadn't heard the door click as it closed behind her, he'd have sworn she'd just materialized from thin air.

"M-madame A-Artificer!" Thale stammered, "Forgive me, I-"

"Your boss cut off your leg, son. I'd be pissed too."

Thale swallowed and cleared his throat.

"How can I be of service? Why are you here?" He asked.

The ancient woman laughed, then took a seat next to Sylane. She used a cane to support herself as she walked, and it left large divets in the carpet as she moved.

"Service! Void. You're not going to be serving anything with a leg like that. I'm here to help you! I owe Magnus a favor."

Thale reached a hand out towards Sylane, and she helped him to his feet. He balanced awkwardly, as the wooden leg was still slightly longer than his functional leg. He managed a curt bow.

"Void, boy. Sit. You're injured."

"Yes, Madame Artificer." he said, allowing himself to fall back to the bed.

"Sylane, proceed with the usual fitting, but don't add the glyphs."

"Yes, Madame Artificer."

"Sylane, please, how many times do I have to tell you to just call me Marelda." she sighed.

"Yes, Madame Marelda."

Marelda let loose another exasperated sigh but didn't protest.

Sylane moved to the bed beside Thale and began casting transfiguration spells, most of which Thale didn't recognize. Slowely, the plain wooden surface was molded and shifted into a leg-shaped object. After some further refining, Thale realized that it had become a perfect mirror of the leg he had lost. It even bore the small crescent-shaped scar he had earned rock climbing as a child.

"Eros remembers the form of its vessel," Sylane said, "One day, we hope to be able to regrow limbs wholesale, instead of relying on quick-wood copies.

Sylane poured over Thale's leg for several more minutes.

"I'm done, Madame Artificer."

"Excellent," Marelda said. She moved over to Thale's bed, sat down next to him, and grabbed his new Quick-Wood leg.

She began transmuting glyphs and runes into its surface. Thale was a little sad when he saw the faux-scar disappear into one of the newly formed channels. It was more than a little disconcerting to sense Eros coming from someone that had a Wizard's Mark, but Thale supposed that was fairly routine for an Artificer. Thale had to remind himself that the wizened old woman was also a Mage, and buried under those robes would be an Eros tattoo.

"How did you know I was awake?" Thale asked.

"You were shouting in your sleep, boy."

Thale reddened. The dream was already fading to nothing. Sylane rubbed at her neck absentmindedly.

"Now, Thale, you have a problem. You won't be able to operate a normal quick-wood prosthetic without filling it with Eros, and you won't be able to do that, because all of your Eros, and then some, is being absorbed by the Shrive Blade. Luckily for you, I've designed a little workaround."

She pulled a smooth black orb from one of her robe's many pockets. It didn't reflect any light.

"This," Marelda said, "Is one of the Void Coals."

Sylane froze.

"What are you going to do with it?" Thale asked.

"I'm going to transfigure it into your leg."

"You're going to use one of the Coals on his leg!?" Sylane exclaimed. "Wouldn't Sclera be better served with another Shrive Blade?! Or Void-Plate? You could give us more Guardians!"

"Well, yes." Marelda said, "But we have a problem. Without the Eros hammer, I can't make any more Shirve Blades. And since only Guardians can wear the plate... I suddenly have more Coals than I know what to do with... So, we'll make a Shrive Foot."

"A what?" Thale said, dumbfounded.

"I'm still working on the name. To keep it simple, this will pull Eros back from your Shrive Blade. Since this new vessel is fused with your body, you'll be able to use that Eros to power the leg.

Thale blinked.

"This will give me my Eros back?"

"No. The Eros it pulls from the Sword will be consumed in its operation. It's like the Void Plate in that way, except it's powered by the Sword instead of being powered by you."

"So... I'll have a leg."

"You'll have an amazing leg." Marelda nodded.

"What's the catch?"

"Yes, well." The elderly woman shook her head, "It's the same problem as before really, just worse... You're not producing enough Eros to fill the Sword and your body. Now you'll have this leg to fill as well."

"I can't. " Thale said, "I'm producing so little Eros that If I stop touching the sword for even a minute I almost pass out! If it wasn't for Sylane and Magnus's constant infusion, I'd be dead in a matter of hours!"

"And now, it'll be a matter of minutes," Marelda said matter-of-factly. "Or it would be if I hadn't thought of the perfect solution to your shortage of Eros."

Thale stared at the woman.

"You can increase the rate I produce Eros?"

"Heavens no. If I could do that we'd have shaken off the Kovites long ago."

"So... what's your solution?"

"Well... As I see it, you have two options. You can remain a cripple, we'll have to get you a true peg-leg... or you can become my apprentice."

Thale furrowed his brow.

"Your apprentice?"

"Yes. You'd take a Logos Mark, and become the next Artificer. We'll be able to use this Void Coal to convert your Logos into Eros, and while having a constant drain on your Logos will create a whole new host of issues, you'll be able to increase your Logos capacity through Trials, just like any other Wizard."

Sylane looked like she was going to be ill, she hadn't taken her eye off the Coal since Marelda had pulled it out.

"I'll do it," Thale said.

"Good, we'll go see the Archmage once you're on your feet."

She started transmuting the Coal into a flexible strand, then began inlaying it into his new leg.

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"For Void's sake, Marelda! You can't just commandeer one of my Guardians like this!" Magnus shouted.

"He's not one of your Guardians!" Marelda said, "Not in the state he's in! What use could you possibly have for a Guardian that can't cast any spells for fear of death!"

Thale didn't like they there were talking about him like he wasn't even in the room, but he thought it was best to remain silent. He stood by the door, opting to stand despite there being several places to sit. His new prosthetic throbbed uncomfortably beneath him, but he was determined not to show weakness.

The Arcmage's office was small but well-furnished. Magnus and Marelda sat on one end of the Archmage's large wooden desk, while the Archmage himself sat quietly behind it. The Archmage was slowly nursing a glass of a red dark liquid, lost in thought while his subordinate bickered over Thale's fate.

"He's bonded to a Shrive Blade. That makes him a Guardian." Magnus said pointedly, "We cannot afford to remove another Blade from the field. I already have to have one tied up with watching the boy!"

"Marelda shot back. "He can't go an hour without an infusion! He will die, Magnus!"

"And then we'll give the sword to another!"

Thale winced at the causal

"Quiet! Both of you." The Archmage said. "You're giving me a headache." He took a long draught from the glass. "Thale, how are you adjusting to the new leg? You seemed pained."

"I-I'm adjusting well, Lord Archmage."

"You're able to stay on your feet?"

"Yes, sir."

"Marelda tells me it'll take you a few months before you'll really get it underneath you, even if you're able to pull from your Logos... And you're sure you want to go through with this? Taking a Logos Mark is dangerous, even at the best of times... Until very recently, we had a chalice that would purify liquid Logos and carve the Mark instantly, but it's been... lost. We'll need to resort to more ancient, and dangerous, means of Marking you."

"I'm sure, Lord Archmage."

"Even if everything goes perfectly... You'll still need to go through the Trials, just any other Wizard. Marelda's told me that they're doubly dangerous

"Then it's settled. We will begin the ceremony tomorrow. Afterward, you will stay under Magnus's command, but you will also become Marelda's apprentice."

Both Magnus and Marelda balked and began to protest.

The Archmage raised a quieting hand.

"You will not be going back into the field until we have your affliction under control. I won't send someone to certain death, however, I have a task for you. One that will both alleviate the strain on Magnus's Guardians and prepare you for Marelda's tutelage..."

The Archmage poured himself another glass of wine from the decanter resting on his desk.

"And what is that, Lord Archmage?"

"You're going to begin accompanying our Sorcerer to his First Tier Wizard classes."