Chapter Forty Four

Shuka sat before Asheli, who had a new arrow-shaped talisman added among her many trinkets. Her piercing orange eyes still unnerved the young hunter, but not so much now that she knew she wouldn’t be misunderstood. Or at least probably not misunderstood. Really, after so many months being cursed and villainized, Shuka had such little confidence in her ability to talk that she was wondering if the talismans were even going to help. Shuka and Asheli weren’t the only two people in the room though, joining them was Xorvos, Maryam, Melia, and a Gnoll Shuka didn’t recognize. He looked to be in his forties, or maybe fifties, and was wearing much more tribal clothing than most of the gnolls in the Thieves Guild. It was also very obviously clothing of the Ashfire tribe, with lots of reds, oranges, and flame motifs. He seemed to be some sort of spellcaster as well, judging by the large wooden staff he carried. It could have just been a walking stick, but the great multitude of small trinkets, charms, and talisman that hung from it implied otherwise. Shuka half expected one of her talismans to be hanging from it already, everyone else in the room who needed one already had one, and there were three spares laying on Asheli’s desk, but he didn’t reach for one. Another hint towards his magical capabilities; Shuka suspected he had warded himself against the curse, like Visia did.

“I heard you caused quite the commotion during your little shopping trip. I trust there won’t be any complications?”

It was Asheli who’d broken the silence. Shuka answered her.

“I kept my disguise up the whole time, they never saw my actual face.”

“Good, it was a gamble sending you out into the city, but I’m glad it paid off. Now, Melia, how did she do?”

“Well if you asked me that an hour ago I would have said she’s an annoying chatterbox who asks too many questions, has a moral code so restrictive you’d think she was a quanso, and she causes far more trouble than she’s worth.”

Was I really that bad? She did seem like she was getting pretty annoyed with me.

“Since you’re asking me now though, she did pretty good for a rookie. She asks a lot of questions, but they’re usually relevant, and her moral code is actually only almost as bad as a quanso’s, which is a stark improvement. Most importantly though, she’s decisive. Never froze up or hesitated, even when we were being chased. She was even coming up with plans, which is a whole lot more than what most rookies manage when shit goes down.”

Asheli seemed to take that information in for a moment, seemingly pleased with Melia’s assessment.

“Excellent. You will do well here Shuka, I look forward to your future with us.”

“Hey, wait. I’m not planning on joining the Thieves Guild, I just want to go home uncursed. I know I still need to help you with Sandrin as payment, but after that I’m leaving.”

“Of course, I’m not going to force you to join me. But isn’t it a little optimistic thinking everything will go back to normal once your curse is removed?”

I mean, it has to right? Well, convincing Validus might be a bit hard, but if Asheli and maybe even the Grand Priest vouch for me he would have to stop chasing me, right?

Asheli saw Shuka’s contemplation, and let out a sympathetic sigh before continuing.

“Lets get down to business. Sandrin has plans for you, and we don’t know what they are. Our first step should be figuring that out. Trying to learn anything about that snake of a man is anything but easy though. If an illusionist of his calibre doesn’t want to be found, he won’t be.”

“You said you wanted me to help you catch him, but… how? I may have been decently close to him, but that was Ralisdor, not Sandrin. Everything I know about him might be a lie, and I don’t even know what he’s trying to achieve.”

“No, but he went through a not insignificant amount of trouble to curse you, and then spent the last couple of months keeping you alive. You don’t need to find him, he will find you, and when he does, I will be there to kill him a second time.”

The conviction with which she said that made Shuka’s whole body shiver.

“Hold on!” Maryam protested. “You're just using her as bait. And even if you know where he’s going to be, that doesn’t mean you can see him. What’s stopping him from doing all his evil crap right in front of you and just hiding it all with illusions?”

“Archmage or not, his magic can be seen through. If it couldn’t be, we wouldn’t have caused him so many problems three years ago.”

It was at this point that the other Gnoll in the room, the one Shuka didn’t recognize, spoke up.

“That is where I come in. My name is Ralkis, and I am a shaman. I believe I have a spell that could track the archmage, even through his illusions.”

Maryam wasn’t convinced.

“What’s the catch? I find it kind of hard to believe you can just pull a spell strong enough to beat an archmage out of your ass like that.”

“The catch, is that I will need a sample of his magic for it to work. The more powerful the better.”

“Wouldn’t my curse work for that?” Shuka asked. “I mean, if he really is the one who put the curse on me, then it should work, right? Unless he got someone else to apply the curse I suppose.”

“Sadly it wouldn’t work anyway. What I am looking for is Sandrin's mana signature, but that spell is attached to your soul, the very source of your mana. Whatever I get from the curse will be too muddled to be useful.”

Well crap. I was hoping this curse would be useful for one thing at least. What am I supposed to do now, put up posters politely asking him to send a sample of his mana to the Thieves Guild? Wait a second, I do have one thing that might work.

Shuka rummaged through her bag until she found what she was looking for. The illusion stone that Maryam had stolen from Ralisdor.

“Here, this might work. Although I don’t know if he enchanted it himself, or if he just bought it though, so it might be a dud.”

Ralkis took the stone and looked it over for a bit before producing a small brazier the size of a bowl, filled with coal, and placed it on Asheli’s desk. With a flick of his wrist dancing orange flames roared to life in the brazier. A moment later, the shaman threw the illusion stone into the fire. Shuka instinctively reached for the stone to save it from the flames, but the moment the stone landed, the fire tripled in size, causing her to jerk her hand back in surprise. It didn’t just grow bigger though, the fire also changed colour. Where once it was coloured normally, with warm oranges and yellows, now the fire was a deep purple and shimmering silver. The two colours mixed and danced together beautifully, and Shuka found herself almost entranced. The shaman who created the fire however, just gave a worried grumble, before putting his hand directly into the fire and removing the illusion stone from it. The moment the stone left the brazier, the flames returned to their more natural hues.

“Asheli, hand me your anti-scrying charm for a bit.”

Asheli obliged her shaman, removing a small wooden bead carved to look like an eye, from one of her many braids. Ralkis took the bead and threw it into the brazier as well, causing the flames to grow and turn silver and purple just like before. Ralkis retrieved the bead and handed it back to Asheli before he started speaking again.

“That stone has a potent anti-scrying effect on it. I don’t know if it also has whatever other spell is meant to be on it, but it could probably block scrying from anyone but a dedicated scryer.”

Anti-scrying? Why would Ralisdor have that on an illusion stone? If he really is Sandrin, then I can see him having anti-scrying measures, but putting it on the stone seems like an odd choice.

Shuka wasn’t the only one confused, but it was Maryam who came to a conclusion first.

“The anti-scrying enchantment wasn’t for him, it was for us!”

“For us? I guess he would want to keep us hidden from Validus, but that doesn’t explain why he put it on the illusion stone, he could have just given me a normal anti-scrying item and claimed he bought it in Lancrin, or even Rockmarsh.”

“He didn’t want you to know about it. If he made the enchantment then he can get past it if he wants to, but if we learn he’s the one who cursed you, we might not trust anything he’s given us.”

“Didn’t you steal the illusion stone?” Xorvos asked, with clear disapproval.

“Well sure, but it was maybe a bit too, uhh… convenient. At the time I thought it was just lucky, but the illusion stone was just laying there, in plain view, practically begging to be taken. Actually, I think it drew my attention a bit too much; he might have done something to make it extra appealing, to me at least.”

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Was even us breaking off from him a part of a scheme? Was anything we did our own choice?

“Well,” Ralkis started, “if you don’t mind losing the item, I can turn his own spell against him.”

“How?”

It was Maryam who asked. Not in doubt this time, but curiosity, from one spellcaster to another.

“I can create a great fire that burns not wood for fuel, but mana. And it will favor the mana of this spell the most. This hungry flame will seek out its favoured food and flare up in its presence. When one of Sandrin's spells is near, the fire will know. And when Sandrin himself is present, the fire will be drawn to him.”

“That… sounds nice, but does it have to be a fire? That sounds a bit inconvenient.”

“…The fire is a metaphor, the spell is a tattoo that glows when he’s nearby.”

The shaman looked a bit embarrassed at the misunderstanding, and Asheli suppressing a chuckle, wasn’t helping.

“Regardless, now that I have a sample of his magic, I can get started on the spell. It might take me a few days to get everything ready though.”

“You will also be requiring new anti-scrying artifacts.” Asheli mentioned. “I will provide you with some. Do not leave the Thieves Guild on your own until then.”

Shuka could do that, she felt the city was too dangerous for her to explore without a good reason anyway. Although she was a bit surprised, Asheli seemed to imply that she could leave the guild as she wished, after getting the anti-scrying item. Would she really be allowed that much freedom?

“Oh, and one more thing. Mervil and Fredrick will be coming over tomorrow to talk about you, Sandrin, and the curse. I’ll let you know when they arrive.”

By Mervil and Fredrick, she doesn’t mean Grand Priest Mervil and the Archmage of Conjuration Fredrick does she? Shouldn’t she at least use their titles, I mean they are some of the most powerful people in the country. And also, did she say they were coming here? I guess that’s better for me, since I really don’t want to go to any temples right now, but how the hell did she convince the Grand Priest of the Celestial Empire to meet her in the Thieves Guild?

It was a mystery, but one that could wait until tomorrow.

*

Shuka woke up to the sound of a fist knocking on her door. She groggily, and quite reluctantly, got up to see who it was. When she opened the door, she found none other than Lor’gan.

“Wow, you look like shit. Hey, don’t give me that death glare, I’m just telling the truth.”

“What do you want?”

That came out grumpier than she wanted, especially since Lor’gan didn’t have a talisman. There were three spares, and Shuka had one, while Asheli had the other two. One of them was reserved for Mervil, and the other was for her to lend or give to whoever needed it at the time. Shuka… didn’t think Lor’gan was important enough for that.

“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger, I’m here on Asheli’s orders. She told me to give you this.”

He was holding out a round piece of metal in the shape of a closed eye. Shuka stared at it blankly for a second before her sluggish mind realized she was supposed to take it.

This must be that anti-scrying item Asheli said she would get us. Did she have to have it delivered so early though?

Shuka pocketed the eye before looking back to Lor’gan.

“Thanks.”

“You're welcome, though I could do without the sarcasm.”

I wasn’t being sarcastic.

“Besides, you shouldn’t be thanking me yet anyway. I’ve got a favour to ask you.”

“Okay, what is it?”

“Well… Ashal really wants to play with you. Could you entertain her for a bit? Not long, just an hour or two, and I’ll be there too to make sure she doesn’t get too carried away.”

How is an hour or two not long? Whatever, it’s not like I dislike Ashal anyway, a couple of hours playing with her should be fine.

“Sure, I’ll do it.”

“Wait, really? Just like that?”

It sort of annoyed Shuka how genuinely surprised he sounded, but she was starting to get used to that sort of thing.

“Yeah, just give me half an hour to wake up first, and I’ll help you out.”

“Ahh, I see now. Sure, go take your half an hour to ‘wake up.’ I’m sure you won’t spend that time finding somewhere to hide.”

…I guess some things aren’t so easy to fix.

*

Half an hour later Shuka found Ashal in the common room of the Thieves Guild. She wasn’t hard to find, she was complaining loudly about something to Lor’gan, all Shuka had to do was follow the noise.

“But I don’t want magic lessons from Ralkis, I want to learn how to make purple fire from Shuka!”

Magic lessons? From me?

“I’m sorry Ashal, I asked her, but I don’t think she’s coming.”

“I’m here.”

Lor’gan spun around in shock, having obviously not expected her to show up. Ashal however, was ecstatic.

“You came, you came, you came! Hah, take that Lor’gan, she did come!”

“That’s right, I did. Now did you say you wanted me to teach you magic?”

“Yup! You may be mean, stupid, and annoying, but you also know how to make purple fire.”

She cares enough about my fire to ask me to teach her even through the curse? I guess she is serious about learning at least.

“I’m not sure if I would be the best teacher. I can barely cast magic myself, and I can’t make real fire, it’s just an illusion.”

“Stop making excuses and teach me already!”

Ashal wasn’t going to stop until she got what she wanted, so Shuka just let out a sigh and started her lesson.

*

As it turns out, Shuka was as bad at teaching magic as she thought she would be. Which is to say, very bad indeed. It didn’t help that she was teaching a child who didn’t have the best attention span. The only thing that she had in her favour was the fact that Ashal already had a basic understanding of magic. The problem was, it was a basic understanding of shaman magic, not mage magic. There were similarities of course, but it was like teaching a sculptor how to paint. Ashal kept asking what the fire felt like, and Shuka had to explain to her again and again, that it didn’t feel like anything, and that it wasn’t even a fire spell. It didn’t work.

“Your silly nothing-fire is stupid! How am I supposed to get purple fire from nothing?”

“I keep telling you, you're not. Just follow the diagrams and make the spell circle like I showed you, no emotion is needed.”

“Your pictures don’t work, I tried it and nothing happened! And they were boring anyway.”

“You probably just messed up, it usually takes a few tries to get it right the first time. Just keep trying and it will work eventually.”

“No!” Ashal yelled with childish anger. “That’s dumb and you’re dumb! You just don’t want me to learn your spell.”

It was frustrating trying to teach her anything, and Shuka was running out of patience. Ashal ran out first though. She stomped her feet and stormed off, probably to throw a fit somewhere else. Lor’gan, who seemed content to simply watch the travesty of a magic lesson, followed after her.

Why did I even accept? I was never going to be able to teach her anything, I’m barely even better at magic than her. Maryam or Melia would have been much better at this than me, and Melia could probably teach her how to make actual purple fire.

“Oof, that was pretty rough huh?”

Shuka looked around for who spoke and saw Maryam lounging at a table nearby.

“How long have you been watching me for?”

“Oh, for most of your lesson. Ashal doesn’t really know how to control her voice you know, I could hear her from across the room.”

“And you didn’t help me?”

“Nah, why would I? You clearly had it handled.”

Shuka didn’t dignify that with an answer, her face said it all. She got up, walked over to the table Maryam was sitting at, and sat across from her. The failed teacher had a lot she wanted to get off her chest and Maryam was the perfect person to let it all out to.

“Why am I still so bad at magic? Apparently, I had an archmage as a teacher, but a child is almost as good as me.”

“Oh come on, you’re not that bad. Haven't you only been practicing magic for a few years? And the first year or two is always just spent learning the basics, it was like that for me too. Ashal just started learning younger than you, that’s nothing special.”

“Sure, but she can already conjure fire. I don’t even know where I would start to make that happen.”

“Yeah, so what? I don’t know how to make fire either.”

Shuka looked up in surprise. Maryam didn’t know how to make fire? It seemed like such a simple thing to her, and Maryam was so good at magic.

“Don’t give me that look. Of course I don’t know how to make fire, why would I? I’m the daughter of a purple dragon, not a red one. And why would you know either, you’re an illusionist. We all learn the spells we want to learn, and we all want to learn different things.”

“But I’m not even a good illusionist. I only know two spells, and they’re both just variations of each other. I still haven’t even learned how to make sound yet.”

Sound was actually what she had been working on learning since Lancrin. Ralisdor had taught her how, all she needed to do was practice, until she got it right. And that was the problem, she couldn’t get it right.

“Well how much have you been practicing?” Maryam asked.

“Whenever I have some free time and I’m not too stressed.”

“Ah, so every blue moon then.”

Maryam is being snarky right now, but she isn’t wrong. I practiced almost every day back in Rainsburg, but now I’m lucky if I can even practice even once a week.

“So what am I supposed to do then? Tell Validus he can’t chase me Monday to Friday so I can practice my magic? Even if I’m not fighting for my life every day it doesn’t exactly leave me in a good mental state to train.”

“Oh, well that has an easy solution. Just train anyway. Train every day, even if you’re stressed, or tired, or even if you almost died an hour ago. If you treat magic like a hobby then don’t complain when those who care more become better than you. Fire is everything to Ashal, but what are illusions to you?”

Shuka knew the answer, even if she didn’t like it. Though she had started to learn magic because it was fun, lately illusions were a tool she used to keep herself alive. If she wanted to stay alive, then she would have to suffer to sharpen that tool of hers.

Is that really my only option? Sacrificing my own enjoyment in the pursuit of excellence? If magic stops being fun, would I still learn it? I doubt it. I’m not like Maryam, she would give anything for magic, but I barely give my free time. How often do I even think of myself as a mage and not a hunter? But magic just looked so… fun. I don’t need to be an archmage, I don’t even want to be. I just want magic to be fun again.

Shuka felt betrayed. Betrayed by her own hobby, her own sense of enjoyment and fun. It was supposed to improve her mood, not worsen it. She didn’t become an illusionist to lie and trick people, she became an illusionist because the first day Ralisdor arrived in Rainsburg he put on a show with illusions and it was fun. That was what magic was meant to be, at least to her. It wasn’t anymore.

“I think… I might give up on magic.”

“Wait, what?!” Maryam asked, shocked. “Give up? Why?”

“It stopped being magic. Maybe I’ll get back to it when it’s less stressful, but… all it does is save my life, and that’s not why I became a mage.”

Maryam was confused, and worried for her friend. She was trying to inspire her to work harder, not make her give up entirely.

“Look, I’m sorry about what I said, you don’t have to work that hard okay?”

“It’s not the work that’s the problem, it's that the work isn’t fun anymore. I want to get better, but if getting better makes me less happy, then what’s even the point? An unfun hobby isn’t a hobby at all.”

“But magic is fun! I mean, I have fun.”

“No you don’t.” Shuka shot back. “You are terrified of it. Every time you cast a spell you have to control every little thought you have or you might go out of control and hurt someone. Or kill them. You love magic enough to deal with that, but it’s not fun.”

Maryam couldn’t deny it.

“Well, what about other people? Ralisdor was a prick, but he enjoyed using magic didn’t he?”

“But he wasn’t satisfied by it. He was never as good as he wanted to be, and I’m pretty sure that’s true even for Sandrin.”

Maryam was scrambling now. She knew plenty of spellcasters, but the list of people that both of them knew was rather small. Visia? No, her and the word fun were practically mutually exclusive.

“What about, uhh, Melia?”

“Melia? She…”

She is always smiling, isn’t she? And her magic… witch magic. It did look fun.

“Yeah, Melia has fun. Maybe I’ll become a witch then.”