"Run it by me again, how is it supposed to work?" asked Pjotr of a mage standing nearby. He and the rest of the cohort arrived two days ago to attend the ritual. Now that the moment was fast approaching, he found he had nothing to do and was bored.
“There’s one person to direct the others, then there’ll be four mages to corral mana and manage the flow. They will be building the base of the spell and first layer. Then seven priests will…" The mage stopped in her tracks to answer the paladin but was interrupted by a tired voice.
“Will give it a bit of the divine oomph.” Said Helena as she motioned for the other woman to get back to work and he had to suppress a groan. As good as she was, sometimes he just couldn't stand her. Luckily, it seemed that she wasn't in the mood for any shenanigans today.
“And that means?” he asked patiently.
"Who knows? Seriously, we know only what to do and that it should work, not the how of it. It is a spell, mages make the matrix that the priests build upon later. They all practiced relentlessly and seem within tolerance. All we are doing here is following a recipe.
"What we do know is that the formation on the floor acts to target a specific place and channel all the mana. And the locus that will be placed in the middle acts as an anchor for the spell.” Helena explained as she pointed at the room’s center.
“If you need only twelve people, what’s up with everyone else.” Pjotr swept his hand over the group of at least fifty people.
“To provide mana, we don’t know how much will be needed, so we brought everyone we could spare.”
“So, when does it start,” he asked almost impatiently.
“We should be ready in fifteen minutes. I’m just heading to oversee the transport of the loci, care to tag along?” she asked as she turned to leave.
"Sure, why not. Better than standing around being useless." Pjotr sighed and followed her out of the room.
***
Sidy was beginning to feel trepidation. “Come on, Ixa! We are running late as it is!”
“Coming!” yelled the other girl from her room.
They had overslept. If they left right at that moment, they'd be five minutes late and she was still pulling a shirt on. The moment it was done, she grabbed the cloth sack she carried her training suit in and ran out, barely missing Sidy, and through the front door.
"Hurry, up!" she shouted behind her, where her friend was locking up.
“You’re the one we had to wait for," Sid shouted as they took the stairs two at a time.
Thankfully, the streets outside were sparsely populated and if they made haste, it'd take them twenty minutes at a maximum. If there weren't any other delays, that is. Which wasn't the case.
Ixalia ground to a halt at the sight. It was just a man going about his day, anyone else would have just passed over him and found nothing out of place. Ixa did and her stomach did a flip.
"No, not today!" she yelped and turned around, heading off at a sprint. Eyes widened like that of a deer caught in headlights. Panic gripped her and lent speed to her stride.
Sidy could only stare at the scene, uncomprehending. “What? What’s going on?!” She looked at the man as well, not seeing a thing.
Halfway back to their home, she caught up to the other girl. “Ixa?!”
There was a reason for her madness. The man was wearing something Ixalia wasn’t.
This time they were running up the stairs and the lead woman’s feet touched only every third, maybe even fourth, step. She almost didn’t bother with unlocking as she barreled home and into her room.
Sid was hot on her heel but simply couldn’t keep up. She was breathless once she entered and found her friend sitting on the floor, tears in her eyes. Ixa was clutching her backpack to her chest like a mother would a dying child. Her knuckles were white from the force of her grip and she swayed side to side from the terror.
This was the first time since getting it that she was separated from the bag by more than a few steps. It almost broke her.
Sidysvalda was kneeling by her side, hugging her fiercely and stroking her hair in but a second. Her heart wept at the sight just as much as her friend did.
***
Pjotr followed Helena into a brightly lit room, with candles all around. A pair of heavily armored men stood outside and another just inside the door. Four more were posted in the corners.
A priestess knelt and prayed by a brilliant gem in the shape of an irregular egg. It was as tall as his forearm was long, elbow to the tips of straightened fingers. It was such a dark purple it almost seemed black and a dark red spiral circled deep inside of it.
“Is that the locus? What even is that?” he asked in awe.
"That is the arkenstone we will use as a locus, yes. And it is what we have been trying to get for the last month. The king had to give up many of the artifacts Meren has gathered since the outbreak in trade for it." Helena said somberly. It was a treasure so great she feared to even look at it, lest she leaves a smudge on its pristine surface.
“It is time,” she told the priestess, who stood up in response. Four other members of the clergy approached from the center of each wall, wearing black robes and dark hoods, their faces hidden. Despite all the light and bright colors in the room, Pjotr didn't notice them until now, it was as if they materialized out of thin air.
They each carried an elaborately carved wooden panel, each with a sun breaking over the horizon on ones side, the symbol of Olerien, god of hope and future, and a soft velvet pillow on the other. Taking synchronized steps, the monks approached the gem and encased it from the sides, locking the planks into the one the stone sat on. The priestess then retrieved the top from the side and closed the top off, and placed a lock into a hoop, fastening everything together.
Next, the black-clad men took two poles and threaded them through rings at the chest's side. Two per pole, they heaved and the wood bent before the box even left the ground. It boggled the mind how such a small thing could weigh so much.
Priestess at the front, the four paladins from the room in the back, and the two from outside, joined by four more soldiers, before the box, they left the room. Helena and Pjotr were by the sides of the chest as they exited one of the most protected rooms in the castle, save perhaps the royal chambers.
Once they rounded a second corner, the group jerked.
“Hello, children,” a woman’s voice said, immediately followed by a series of ehrm-s, each higher pitched than the last. Eventually, the person spoke again. "Hi!" It sounded like a child, a little girl to be more precise. And yet, as they looked around, weapons drawn, they saw nobody.
"What a shiny little thing you carry!" The voice said with a sing-songy lilt. "Mind if I ease your burdens?" They could almost hear the smile behind the words. "Here... I… COME!” A warble in the last word sent shivers down everyone’s spines.
Before they could react, a wind blew through the middle of the group and Pjotr would have sworn he saw a smudge pass the corner of his vision.
At the end of the hallway, where they just came from, now stood a girl with her back to them. Judging by her height, she couldn't have been older than eleven. Long white hair fell down her shoulders and back in a great wave, bunching on the floor beneath, a good meter or two longer than she was. Apart from the hair, she was naked.
She had a hand outstretched to the side and in her palm, she held the arkenstone. What took four men great effort to carry, didn’t seem to strain her at all.
"Get the locus back!" Helena barked and ran forward. The shout brought Pjotr and the armed soldiers back to their senses and they sprinted after her. The girl, meanwhile, disappeared around the bend.
They chased her through several hallways and always caught only the last of her silvery locks.
The men wearing heavy plate armor soon fell behind, which left the two paladins of Percy’s squad and two soldiers of the Royal Guard, who managed to keep up despite their burden.
Dodging around surprised servants, the group ran through another hallway and into the kitchens. Their quarry was jumping from table to table, over a chair, and onto a chef's head. Interestingly none of it seemed to even notice the additional weight she must have exerted on everything.
She then jumped through an open door and out.
“Fuck! Catch the bitch!” yelled Helena as the group stumbled through the room, knocking over people, furniture, and trays alike.
Pjotr was the first one to reach the door and get into the next hallway. It was a servant’s passage, narrow and conforming to the neighboring rooms, as such it was zigzagging every few meters. At one point he was caught up to by Helena, the two other men nowhere to be seen.
They followed a trail of shed white hair, rounded one corner more, and braked hard. There the girl stood, facing them with the arkenstone held in front of her belly by both hands.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Her face was blank. Literally. And this up close, they couldn't see any reproductive organs at all as well, none whatsoever.
Once they came to a full stop, the apparition tilted its head, the middle of its face, where a nose should have been, parted in a grin, and revealed pointy, razor-sharp teeth.
"Thanks for playing with me, my dear friends." It said in that childish voice, all unsteadiness gone, sing-songy once again. "I fear it is time for me to go, byyeee!" It waved at them and stepped around the corner it stood by.
“Fucking hell!” Helena swore as they sprinted again. But when they rounded the bend as well, they found no one. It was a dead end.
“What the…” began Pjotr but the woman was faster.
“What the fuck!”
The gem was sitting on the floor on a velvet pillow, looking for all the world like it was always there, as if the last fifteen minutes never happened.
“This is going to be a bitch to get back. We can't get the pole bearers through those winding tunnels, we'll have to do it manually or find some other way, maybe a servant's cart or something." Helena mused as she examined the locus for damage. "Stay here with it, envelop it or something, just don't let anyone… anything, take it. You understand?” she ordered.
“Yeah,” the paladin replied, too bewildered to get angry at her for ordering him around. What has just happened?
Helena made her way back to where the chase started, she began sorting people and duties out and once done went to collect the box to place the gem in again.
It was still locked. As if nothing occurred.
***
Consoling Ixalia took Sidy at least twenty minutes. As far as she could remember, it was the first time her friend cried like that since they were just kids. The terrible flood of tears carried with it all the anguish the girl has shut inside herself for the past months.
This was just the final straw that broke the camel's back. A forgotten backpack made the dam collapse and the emotions poured out.
For ten minutes straight Ixa cried into her shoulder and when she, at last, tired herself, Sidy helped her into a chair and went to make her some tea. The next ten minutes were spent trying to get her to calm down.
Never would she imagine her friend felt so terrible all this time. She was sure now. Asha's revelation was indeed a curse. And the Mark of the Divine, a pointed and constant reminder.
They'd miss more than the run, but the devils could take it. This was more important.
When the tears finally ran out, Ixa took a deep breath and gulped down the last bit of leaf juice.
“I’m fine now.” She said, more to herself than anyone else. “Come what may, I have my backpack. Condoms and all.” She threw a foxy look at her caretaker.
Yep, she’s back, Sidy let out a sigh of relief. The worst was over, now to help rebuild what had been torn down. And the first step was to try to make her forget. “Ready to go?” she asked.
"Yeah, let's." Answered the other girl softly, picking herself up and throwing the bag around her shoulders, a death grip on the straps.
They didn't hurry this time around and took their time. Looking at everything they've already seen a dozen times over. There was no rush anymore. They arrived more than an hour late. Everyone else was already exercising, stretching, or warming up.
“And where have you two been?” asked Ingrem in a faux angry tone, but there was no bite to the words and his eyes looked at them with concern, especially at Ixalia’s still slightly red eyes.
“We’ve had a bit of a crisis. It’s been dealt with, don’t worry.” Sidy spoke before the other could.
"Couldn't find my condoms,” Ixa referenced last evening's conversation.
“Ixa! That is totally inappropriate right now.” The girl smacked her friend on the shoulder, but she was smiling, because Ixa seemed to truly be healing.
“They were a bit prickly about it. I managed to put my hands on them in the end, though.”
“Enough already.”
The coach could clearly see that it wasn’t about preservatives at all and that the girl was just trying to hide her pain behind humor. “Well, whatever happened, if you want to talk about it, you know where to find me. If not… you owe me a run.”
They headed inside and noticed Zev, sitting on a bench and waving at them.
Before they could even start, Liman approached them. He wore a military uniform and a belt full of gear. "I'm probably gonna be yelled at at work, but I couldn't leave without saying goodbye to you two. Something came up and my leave was cut short, so I'll have to be heading off. It was really nice meeting you. If you ever need anything, you've got my number."
***
“An hour’s delay. What the actual fuck even was that thing?” Helena was mumbling and muttering to herself as she watched the court mages finalize the setup.
“Xchwatze? Some kind of an omen? A weird aberrant?” Percy supplied by her side.
“The trickster? Maybe. Getting the arkenstone here was a pain in the ass, but other than that and the chase, nothing happened. If it was him, I’d expect something to be broken.”
"We won't figure it out. Not today at least. Let's just focus on what's ahead of us right now. We have the people, the food, the rooms, and the welcoming committee ready. Anything else?" The captain looked over tables laden with meals, mages and priests ready to supply mana, his cohort, and the royal crier. His gaze stopped back at his wife and her bothered expression.
With a hand on her shoulder, she looked around as well. "No, I don't think so. With what happened, I'm glad you talked the king and my uncle out of attending as well. I feel better without them here."
“Sir, my lady, I believe we are ready.” Reported a squat mage. Himmel was to be in charge of the ritual, taking on the central position and managing the personnel.
"Then, by all means, do begin." Said the paladin and Helena nodded along.
Himmel went to his spot in the middle of a smaller circle to the side of the room. Four mages formed a square with him at its center an arm's length away and seven priests a circle encompassing them. Twenty-four people took positions around the circumference of the ballroom with more than fifty waiting to take their place should the need arise.
The priests began a chanted prayer to start things off. In it, they were asking for good fortune and a job successful.
As the song died down, a soft murmur rose from the mages and the clergy soon joined in with their own incantations. The arkenstone in the middle of the room lit up with a crimson glow emanating from the swirl inside. A tendril of mana visible to the eye shot out and connected to a man at the edge of the room. Another tentacle raced out and then the next and the next. Soon all twenty-four mana providers were bound to the locus.
A thin strip of magemetal under the gem began shining. The light spread out, racing along the material until the first shape was formed. From the central group ran another light to touch the now glowing circle.
Their chanting sped up slightly and the tendrils of mana began filling out with a web. The more of the floor filled with mana the denser and more complicated the web became.
Everything went smoothly until the first person fainted, drained of mana, and a tendril snapped. Ritual formations dimmed until he was carried out and someone else took his place. Three more had to be replaced before they finished the first stage.
“This is it, the point of no return.” Said Helena in a low whisper as they all watched in amazement.
The air above the locus began shimmering and crackling until a tiny black dot appeared. A moment later it swelled in size until it was as big as a thumb.
Six more fell to the ground.
***
Liman was already heading for the exit when the door slammed shut in front of his face, almost breaking his nose.
"The fuck?" he swore. Both he and the slam were loud enough that it interrupted all activity inside.
Before more could be said, the floor lit up, first one of the circles denoting a sparring position and from there more and more light raced out along strips of metal embedded in the mosaic of a starry night on the ground.
Ixa ran for her bag, which she left by a bench. She snatched Sidy’s hand and dragged her along. By the time she had it strapped to her back a good fifth of the floor was aglow. Then, with a loud pop a miniature crack appeared.
It looked almost exactly like the golden rend looming above the city. Only it was deep purple with a smaller red line inside. The similarity was eerie, as was the sound that came from within. What sounded like howling was air rushing out of it.
“Everyone, to the walls! Don’t get close to it.” Shouted Ingrem. “Liman, get that door open.”
The soldier sprung into action and tugged at the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. He wasted no time and slammed his shoulder into it. Half the floor was lit up by the time he gave up and drew a gun from a holster.
"Cover your ears!" he yelled over the noise but didn't wait and shot at where the hinges were on the other side of the door. The bullets only ricocheted inside and embedded themself into a stack of mats across the room and into a wall.
“Stop! You’re going to hit us.” Shouted Loui, his forehead sporting small beads of sweat.
"Then what do you propose we do?" the soldier asked as he rammed into the doors again, Peter, Hugo, and one other, who the girls didn't talk with much, joining him.
"Look, it travels along the magemetal, it's some kind of a spell. Maybe we can disrupt it somehow." Ixa began examining the floor, not straying much from the walls or Sidy, who clung to her side. A strange sort of tingling crept up her hand and spread to the rest of her body, the closer to the rip in reality, the worse it was.
She wasn’t the only one feeling it, she could hear several grunts as it became a dull ache. By the time the whole formation was completed, it was a sharp, intense pain.
Ixa sprang up her skinsuit shield and it stopped hurting almost immediately. What is that? She didn’t waste much time thinking about it and warned the other. “Put up the mana barrier, it helps!”
“Oh crap, that’s better,” relief almost physically wafted from Sidy by her side and many others in the room.
One of the people the girls didn’t speak to, began clutching at his chest and fell to his knees and then onto his side, curling into a fetal position.
The young healer began to feel pressure pressing into her shield and as it threatened to break, made a decision. She reformed it as a bubble around her upper half.
As the pain hit her legs, it clicked.
"Foreign mana, it's gods-forsaken differently aspected mana.” Panic slowly crept up on her and she took a deep breath. Not this time, Ixa. You need to get through this. This is it. Get it together and save yourself and Sid.
***
Something wasn’t going as it should be. It was supposed to be already over, but instead more and more people exhausted their reserves and had to be carried away. Only two more were waiting in reserve.
Anxiety spread among the bystanders.
This has to work, this has to work, was all Helena could think, over and over again. Her hand found Percy's and she squeezed tightly.
***
The pain was almost overwhelming, but Ixalia forced it down and made herself think. Several more people had collapsed already.
"Vent, we have to vent!" she shouted as several pieces fell into place. She wasn't sure how many people heard her, and frankly, she didn't care right now. She focused all her attention on her friend.
The girl in front of her was looking ready to faint. She grabbed her hand and shouted to be heard. “Sidy, do you trust me?”
"Of course, whatever you're thinking, just do it. I can't hold the shield much longer." The girl pleaded, almost begging as sweat ran down her face.
“Remember how I taught you how to create a secondary loop, I told you to build a big wave and shove it down a channel. Do you remember?!”
“YES!” They had to shout their throats sore to be heard now.
"Do it now, everything you have, make the biggest wave you can, put in all the mana you can muster," Ixa instructed.
“Got it.” Sidy hissed through clenched teeth and had to repeat herself because she wasn’t heard the first time.
"Shove it the same way you did through the palms, but shove it into mine!" Ixalia yelled as she gripped her hand, interweaving their fingers.
"Won't that hurt you?" her friend asked, probably remembering things from when Ixa spoke to her about mana-poisoning after she had a lecture on it in school.
It was true, but now she lied through her teeth. “Just do it, I’ll be fine.” She clenched her teeth and prepared herself, readying everything for the moment the mana entered her channels.
She wasn't ready, not by a long shot. The pain was excruciating and she bit deeply into her tongue. The girl barely reacted to it in time. She built her own wave and passed it behind Sidy's influx, guiding the rogue mana through a single channel and down into her legs.
She already chose to sacrifice them to save her life when she switched to a mana shield that didn’t cover them, now she made the decision to give up her arm to save Sidy’s.
As soon as she was done she made sure that her friend was bereft of any residual mana, then she ripped the 'infected' channel's connection to her core apart. Not a single drop of the foreign substance could be allowed to reach it. Then she sent all of her magical energies into her legs and collapsed the connection near the waist, tearing channels to shreds left and right.
And not a moment too soon. Just a hair's breadth later, the rift spread from floor to ceiling, and darkness swallowed everyone in the room for a moment.
A minute later, the room was empty. The magemetal dimmed, the door became mundane once more and opened back up. Ambient mana from the world outside flooded inside and mixed with the foreign mana left behind.
A powerful explosion wracked the whole building.