Spirit Speaker

Everything hurt. 

I sat beside the princess, staring up at the sky, the fire crackling in front of us. 

"He's amazing." Anna was saying, dodging and weaving back and forth in her seat. 

"He's a bastard is what he is." I said, rubbing my wrists. 

"How did he use my spell against me? Is he a mage?"

I shook my head. "No, no, he's not a mage, it's just a peculiarity of his people. He's from the Shattered Palace. They were a nation right in the middle of the Empire. Well, more a house than a nation. The whole country was split into diverging bloodlines, all of which descended from a race of mortals that were immune to magic. Their blood has been watered down over the centuries, so instead of being immune to magic, Rowan is a spellbreaker. He can manipulate the weave and redirect any magic thrown at him."

"Are there many spellbreakers?" 

I shook my head. "No, highness. He's the last one."

We watched Rowan as he fed the horses, completely unaffected by the hours he spent beating the hell out of my apprentice and me. 

"May I, princess?" I asked, my hand hovering above her head. 

"Do what?" She asked. 

I smiled, and lowered my hand. Soft, golden light glowed from beneath it. 

After a few moments, I drew my hand away. 

"I'm…not sore anymore." She said. 

I put my finger to my lips. "Shhh. Rowan will force me to run beside the carriage all day tomorrow if he finds out what I just did. The pain's supposed to be part of the training."

She giggled. "You really like him, don't you master?"

"We've been together a long time, Anna, and he's saved my life more times than I can count, he's not my servant. He's my brother, he just refuses to drop the pretence."

"Except for when he's teaching."

"When he's teaching, he's my worst enemy and I will do my utmost to put him in the ground."

"You didn't use any magic though."

"Fairly put him in the ground I mean. It doesn't mean anything if I turn him to ash." I grinned. 

"How did you meet?"

I looked into the fire for a few moments. "Rowan? Will you join us by the fire?" I called. 

He finished fussing with the horses and then sat opposite Anna and me. 

"Yes, sir?"

"Anna asked a question. I feel it would be best if you answered it, but only if you wish to."

I turned to the princess. "Go ahead, highness. Ask the question."

Anna looked into the fire for a bit, the cgabge in atmosphere obviously affecting her. She swallowed and looked up at Rowan, who was watching the princess, an unreadable expression on his face.

He knows what she wants to ask. He knew the moment I called him over. 

"Forgive me, Rowan, for asking, and it is perfectly okay if you don't answer."

Rowan raised his hand. "Ask the question, highness."

She took a breath. "How did you two meet?"

"I was a slave, highness. And Master Lukas rescued me."

*

I watched angrily as the cage rolled its way past me, being pulled by two black bulls.

The bulls didn't anger me. 

Their cargo did. 

Half a dozen people sat, collared and chained, expressions vacant. 

They were defeated. 

Six grim-looking soldiers, mercenaries most likely, gathered around the cage.

A man, dressed opulently, fat, oily, evil, rubbed his hands as he talked with my master. 

"Yes, sir, but I can't in good conscience recommend that route, it's infested with all manner of unsavoury people."

What conscience? 

"Nevertheless, that's the route we'll have to travel." The dwarf said, seemingly unaffected by the suffering in front of him. 

I knew better. Inside, my master was seething. 

"Then don't leave empty-handed, sir. Here, a map of the area, I've marked off places you'll want to avoid in red, see? I'll give it to you for a few coins."

Master Fereth took the map and handed over the coins. 

"A pleasure, Master Mage." The slaver said, his voice slick, smooth. 

"A question before we leave, sir." My master raised his hand, touching the man's arm. "Where are you bound?"

"No problem, sir. Mayor Theris has bought these slaves to work in a quarry on his land."

"Oh, he's opened the quarry then?" Master Fereth asked, feigning interest. 

"Just earlier this year. He's been buying up every slave this side of the Empire! Business has never been better!"

"Thanks for the information, sir." Master Fereth patted the man on his arm. "Come, boy." He barked. 

I ran to his side. I didn't say anything until the slaver had disappeared from view. 

"Scum." The dwarf spat. He looked up at me, his eyes glowing fiercely. "Follow him, Lukas. Set the slaves free. and then wait for me at the quarry."

"What will you do?" 

Master Fereth looked in the distance, and Ilargia glowed a dull red.

He handed me the staff and then set off in the opposite direction. 

"I think I'll pay a visit to Mayor Theris." He said over his shoulder, his voice low, hard, cold. 

I caught up to the carriage quickly. Ilargia warmed in my hand, mirroring my anger. 

The moment the cage came into view I raised the staff high, and watched in satisfaction as six bolts of lightning struck the mercenaries, blasting them from the carriage. 

I wasn't powerful enough to turn them to dust, but I could knock them out. 

The slaver had no idea what hit him. 

I dived past the unconscious mercenaries and slammed Ilargia into the merchant's chest just as he was getting off the carriage to see what was going on. 

He froze, paralyzed. 

I held the staff against him, and then let it go. Ilargia stayed in place. 

"Make him suffer, Ilargia, while I take care of the mercenaries." 

I slammed my fist into the slaver's stomach and drew my dagger. I walked to the first unconscious merc, bent down, and slit his throat. 

I did the same to the rest. I didn't look back as the slaver began to scream. 

Once the last mercenary had been dispatched to the Pale Queen, I walked to the cage. 

The slaves watched me dispassionately. Their wills were broken. My hands shook with fury at the thought of what had been done to them to make them this way. 

I grabbed the chains and summoned spirits to heat them, hotter and hotter, then with my bare hands, I tore them apart.

The metal didn't burn me. The spirits sensed my outrage and did what they could to protect me, from my own anger. 

They buzzed around me in distress, landing on my shoulders, on my head, caressing my cheeks. 

It worked. 

My anger cooled. To cold, icy fury.

I opened the gate to the cage and forced a bright smile on my face. 

"Come, you're safe. You're safe now. No one is going to hurt you again" 

They didn't move. 

Damn. 

I calmed down, forcing myself to let the anger go. "Ilargia. Kill him, and come to me."

There was a sickening crack, and the screaming stopped. 

Within moments the staff hovered beside me. 

- Are these the slaves? He asked. 

I nodded. 

- What will you have me do?

I swallowed. "Heal them Ilargia. Heal them." My tone was quiet, sad.

Ilargia floated to a slave. 

A man, his face heavily bruised. 

The light slowly began to return to his eyes. 

He shuddered as Ilargia rested gently on his shoulder. 

The crystal dimmed, and Ilargia returned to my side. 

- I can't do more than this Lukas. You aren't strong enough. 

"It's enough. You woke one. He'll be able to help the rest." 

I entered the cage and held the man's face. 

"Look at me," I said, firmly, but not unkindly. 

The man's eyes snapped to mine. His weave pulsed irregularly, darkening and lighting at odd intervals. 

"You are free," I said. "Do you understand me?"

I watched as the weave began to glow, slowly at first, but more regularly than it had before. 

"Are these your people?" I asked, pointing to the others. 

The man nodded. "Yes, they're mine." He whispered. 

"Good." 

"Wake up, and then do your best to wake them. I will be back in a moment."

I left the cage and made my way to the slaver's corpse. 

There was no damage that I could see, save from his face, which had twisted into something barely recognisable. The only emotion I could discern from it was horror. Unending horror.

A nasty smile crossed my lips. I bent down and searched his pockets, finding coins and an iron key. 

I returned to the cage and unlocked the collars that were around the slaves' necks. 

The man that Ilargia had healed was standing now.

I handed him the slaver's coins. "Tolas is about nine miles that way," I said, pointing in the direction my master and I were travelling. 

"Take your people there, and head to the mayor. He's a good man. Tell him that Master Fereth has sent you."

The man nodded, taking the coins. His eyes had turned to flint. "Thank you, Master Mage." He said. 

"You're welcome," I said, taking Illargia in my hand, and walking away. 

"Do you know where the quarry is, Ilargia?" I asked 

The staff stilled, and I watched as dozens of lesser spirits appeared around him. They gathered onto the staff and began to bounce up and down. 

Three miles towards the mountain. 

He dropped to the floor. I'll get you there in seconds.

Uncertainly I stepped on the staff. Once I caught my balance, I felt something grab my feet, anchoring them in place. 

Ilargia rose from the ground, and took off into the sky, above the trees on either side of the road. 

- Open your eyes, Lukas. The staff said, laughing.

"I think not, Ilargia." I said, my eyes shut tight.

And then the whooshing of air around me stopped and was replaced by a much worse sound. 

One that chilled me to the core, and made the scars on my chest itch. 

Whips. 

I stepped off of the staff and turned in the direction of the sound. An overseer, dressed in loose, light clothing held a whip high over the head of a crouched, barebacked slave. 

He never had the chance to bring the whip down before he was blown from his feet and launched several feet behind him, landing heavily on his back. 

I dashed over, removed my dagger, and slit his throat before he had the chance to move. 

I knelt beside the slave, who was still crouched over. Gingerly, cautious to avoid the wounds, I touched his shoulder. 

"It's over. The man is dead."

The slave raised his head, his grey eyes hazy with pain. I smiled. "And I'm going to kill the rest of them."

Torches were lit as night fell, casting the whole quarry in an eerie orange glow. The constant sounds of metal on rock, and whip on flesh didn't cease when the sun went down.

I sat on a hill that overlooked the entire operation. I shivered in the cool autumn air and felt sick to my stomach watching as children, children were forced to hew stone and join teams of other slaves as they dragged it to a flat space near the entrance to the pit. 

I was itching to get going. 

- He told you to wait, Lukas.

"I know," I said. "But I don't have to feel good about it."

- Fereth won't be late. He never is. 

I grumbled under my breath and folded my hands under my arms. It was getting colder. 

A few hours passed, and the noise coming from the quarry gradually died down, until I couldn't hear anything anymore. 

"Sounds like they've finished for the night," I muttered. 

The staff didn't respond. I got the sneaking suspicion he was sleeping. 

I shook him. 

The crystal glowed white, then green, then yellow. 

- What?

"I'm not going to be the only one awake here," I said. 

- …wasn't sleeping… 

"Liar." 

A crackle of electricity erupted from the staff, causing my hair to stand on end. 

I tried to press it down, to no avail. 

"Was that entirely necessary?" I hissed. 

- Yes. 

"First chance I get, you're firewood."

- Hush. Do you sense that?

I shut my mouth, the hair on the back of my neck prickling up. 

Magic. Strong magic. 

- Look, behind you. The shadow.

I turned to see a shadow, dark against the blue moonlight fly rapidly down the road. 

Ilargia pulsed white, and the shadow veered in our direction.

"Is that… Master Fereth?"

- It would appear so.  

In less than a minute, I was face to face with my master. 

He bent over, trying to catch his breath. 

"I forgot how hard it was to do that without your focus." He said, breathing heavily. 

He sat down heavily. "Water, lad." He asked. 

I focused and a ball of water appeared in front of his mouth. 

And then it was gone. 

"Thank you, Lukas." He pressed his fingers to his temples, closing his eyes, for a few moments. "Oh, that was hard." 

"What did you do?"

"Ran. The mayor's mansion was further than I thought. If I didn't run like that I wouldn't have made it before sunrise."

"I see that, sir. But how did you run?" 

He lifted his boots to show me six little spirits, pulsing giddily under his boots. "These little guys can move pretty rapidly." 

He held his palm out, and all six spirits floated to it, bouncing up and down happily. Then they glowed a soft pink, and rushed at my master, kissing his face, and hiding in his beard. "Thank you little ones." He said warmly and dismissed them. 

His smile faded when he looked at the quarry. 

"That's it, huh?" He said, his eyes hard. 

I nodded. "Yes."

"And the others?"

"Safe. I gave one all the gold the merchant had and directed him to Tolas. He said he'd get the others to safety."

"And he's trustworthy?"

I nodded. "I saw his weave before giving him the gold. He's a good man."

"And the slaver?"

"Ilargia took care of him."

- I just made him experience all the pain and suffering he had inflicted on others. His heart couldn't handle it.

"Good work, both of you." He raised his hand, and Ilargia flew to it, "but our work's not done yet."

"The mayor?"

"Dead." His response was short. He didn't want to elaborate. 

"Are all those lights down there guards?"

"Some of them are campfires. The slaves sleep in the quarry."

"All the more reason to get this done quickly then." I watched as my teacher studied the quarry. 

He crouched down. "Ilargia, will you drop some water here?" He asked, pointing at the ground in front of him.

The staff glowed a gentle white, and a ball of water, about the size of my fist, fell to the ground. 

"That's enough." The dwarf said, massaging the water into the ground. "Again?" The staff glowed a second time, and another fist-sized ball of water hit the dirt.

This repeated a few more times until my master's hands were slick with mud. He collected a handful of it and began to shape it into a surprisingly detailed figure of a man. 

He stared at it and watched with some satisfaction as the mud dried and hardened. 

"Lukas, come here lad, I'm going to need you for the next part."

I obeyed, crouching beside my master, who gave the figure to me. 

"I want you to focus on that mud man. I want you to study it perfectly. I want you to know every curve, every line, every imperfection. You have five minutes."

"Yes, sir."

I looked at the doll in my hand, committing every detail to memory as best I could. I took the whole five minutes to do it. 

"Alright, lad, that's enough. Now come here."

I turned my head to see Master Fereth put the finishing touches on a complicated magic circle. I'd never seen one so intricate. 

"Life…motion…" I deciphered. 

"Good work, lad, but it'll take you all night to figure this one out." he patted the centre of the circle. Three circles were arranged in a triangle in the middle of the diagram. 

I took my place in the one to the left of my master. 

"Put the doll in the one in front of us, lad." He said, tapping the ground again. 

I did so. 

"Good. Now here comes the hard part. I'm going to put my hand on your shoulder. All you have to do is picture everything you know about that doll over there. I'll take care of the rest."

"You're going to bring it to life?"

He shook his head. "Hush, I need to concentrate. Focus on the doll. Do not let your concentration waver, or I'll bury you up to your neck in the dirt and leave you for three days."

He wasn't joking either. He'd done it before. 

I shut my eyes and focused everything I had on remembering the doll. 

I felt my master put his hand on my shoulder, and a jolt of energy rocked through me, threatening to shake my concentration. 

"Hold it, boy. You're doing good." His voice was strained with effort. 

I doubled my efforts, pushing hard to remember every crack, every grain of sand that made up the doll, and the clearer the image was, the more power jolted into me until I felt like living lightning. 

"Direct it to the circle lad." Master's voice cracked. "Now."

I opened my eyes, slamming both my fists to the ground. 

A loud cracking sound echoed around the valley, bouncing off the quarry walls, and shaking the very earth around me. 

The energy drained into the circle, leaving me feeling dizzy. I watched as a bright blue, luminous liquid travelled through the shallow furrows of the circle, flowing around the master and me, and then completely submerging the doll.

"Now we see if it worked." The dwarf whispered. 

I watched, fascinated as the liquid began to shudder and shift. Spirits began to flock to the the liquid, diving inside, and vanishing beneath the surface. 

"Good…things are going well. Let's see if those little ones will get on with each other."

The liquid began to thrash and ripple, splashing over the sides of the circle, before draining back into it. 

And then it stilled. 

And master sighed. "No good." 

"What were you trying to do sir?"

"Bring it to life,"

I looked at the liquid, still, glowing, pulsing. 

"Sir? Maybe…" I dipped my finger into the luminescent liquid and immediately felt my weave shake and shudder. I felt the liquid invade my senses, and try to take control of my soul. 

I fought back, and the liquid retreated, releasing its hold on my finger. 

I fell backwards. 

And immediately felt a bucket of gravel and small stones get dumped onto my head. 

I coughed, spitting dust from my mouth, and looked into the red, furious face of my master. He held Ilargia over his head, who was glowing a dull red. 

I braced for it, and the dwarf brought the staff heavily down, knocking the wind from me. 

"WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?" He shouted, pulling me up by my collar. 

 I looked over my master's head, and a smile began to creep across my face. I began to laugh. 

"Sir, sir, look." I coughed, spitting out more gravel. 

Master Fereth turned from me, still holding me in the air with one hand. The liquid had vanished, and the doll was standing at attention. It's eyes glowed blue. 

I focused for a moment, and a bucket of water dumped itself on my master's head. Cold water. With solid chunks of ice in it.

 He let me go, spluttering, wiping water from his eyes. 

"You did it, Lukas!" He said, anger forgotten. "Look." He focused, and the little clay doll saluted smartly and began walking in a circle. 

"I don't know what I did, sir."

"I don't either to be entirely honest lad, but whatever you did, it worked."

He focused for another second, and the mud doll began to vibrate violently. It split apart, and more dirt clumped up from the ground, replacing the lost half. 

And it happened again. 

And again. 

And again. 

Master Fereth began to lean heavily on Ilargia, who started glowing brighter and brighter, as more and more little clay men split off from each other, only to split again. 

"Lad, I need you here.' He said, reaching out with his empty hand. 

I dropped to my knees and put his arm around my shoulder propping him up. I then began to send him all the strength I had. 

The clay men split more until a formidable army of little brown dolls completely covered the front of the hill. 

They stopped splitting, and I felt Master Fereth take a deep breath. "Done." he whispered, eyes glittering with power.

Just how powerful is he? 

I examined the army, and a sudden horrified realisation hit me. I knew what my master was going to do. 

No. 

"Master, are you-"

"Hush boy." He said. His tone brooked no argument. "They're slavers. They deserve far worse." 

 He focused again, and his eyes shone a brilliant white, lighting up the clay dolls in front of him 

"Men." He breathed softly. And then he said it. The word I dreaded to hear. The word I knew was coming. "Kill."

And the army of small clay men turned as one and began to run into the quarry. 

Master Fereth turned his head to me and saw the horror on my face at what was being done. 

"Lukas. This is a lesson you have to learn. Light does more than comfort. It doesn't just warm. It doesn't just banish darkness."

The screams began in the distance. He looked at the quarry, his face grim. 

"Light purifies." 

More screams. 

"And what it can't purify, it destroys."

Then silence. 

And the silence was somehow worse. 

I followed behind my master, turning his words over in my head. 

Ilargia flew beside me. 

- You killed the men guarding the cage. He said. 

I nodded. "I know, Ilargia."

- Why is this different?

"I did the killing. I was there to see the light drain from their eyes. I was there to watch their weaves unravel. That was brutal, yes, but it was fair. This…" and I pointed to the quarry. "This is worse. This is murder. This is slaughter. And he's getting innocent spirits to do it. Not even spiritbreakers dare to do this."

Ilargia was silent. 

"I don't expect you to understand, Ilargia." I said, "I don't quite understand it myself." I watched my master's back as he walked resolutely ahead. And I made a decision. 

"Come lad. Let's see if we can help the slaves. They must be quite frightened."

I nodded, and followed him through the gates, past the dead guards, trying desperately not to notice the way their heads faced the wrong direction.

Master Fereth was right. The slaves were scared. The ones that witnessed it, at least. There seemed to have been a tacit agreement among the witnesses not to mention it to the people in the tents. 

I listened as more screams came from the cave. 

"Sir," I said stiffly. "I'll go and check."

Master Fereth turned to me, his face sad, but understanding. 

He knows. 

I turned on my heel and headed towards the screaming. 

It stopped just as I entered the cave. 

All I heard was the snapping and snarling of wolves.

In the cave was a…room, carved out of stone. It was round, and filled with benches set in concentric circles, rising gradually until they hit the walls on all sides. 

In the middle of the room was a pit. 

The pit was littered with dozens of animal corpses. All dead save for the three snarling, snapping, growling beasts. 

And fending them off was a boy, bravely defending the girl standing behind him. 

He was bloodied and torn, his clothing in tatters, his skin ripped with exposed wounds. 

He awkwardly held a sword in his off-hand, the other one dangling uselessly beside him. 

One of the creatures tried to flank him. He didn't see it. 

It leapt. 

And collapsed as it was pulled to the ground, green ivy writhing, constricting, suffocating, crushing.

And I understood what Master Fereth was talking about, but, I looked at the twisted, broken corpses scattered around the room, small piles of dust beside them, just because I understood didn't make it right. 

The boy saw me and smiled. He fell forward, the sword in his hand hitting the ground before him. 

I leapt into the pit, used the vines to push the wolves to the sides, dispelled the ivy, and knelt before the girl, who was weeping bitterly beside the body of her defender. 

"Hold it, girl." I ordered. "Move away. He's still alive."

The girl looked up at me with tear-filled eyes, hope faintly sparking on her face. 

I knelt beside the boy and turned him onto his back. I checked his pulse, which beat weak, but regular. 

I removed my shirt, tore strips of cloth from them, disinfected the strips, and began to bind his wounds. 

"What's your name?" I asked the girl, summoning spirits to clean the wounds before I bandaged them. 

Her eyes widened at the small lights that flocked to the boy's body. 

"Ayenna." She murmured, frightened. "And this is Rowan."

I gritted my teeth. "Hello, Ayenna, you can call me Lukas. I need you to put your finger here, I'm having trouble with this knot."

She did, her light brown hair falling over her face. 

I tied it tightly and then moved onto his arm. It was dislocated from the joint, violently. I saw the bruises on his shoulder. A hand print. 

"This wasn't done by wolves." I said quietly. 

Ayenna shook her head. "No."

"Why?"

"He was winning too much. Some of them were losing money."

I examined the shoulder and winced. "We need to fix this. Now. And I can't do it alone."

I looked at the girl. "Put your hand here, and on the count of three, press down as hard as you can." 

The girl put a shaky hand on the spot I indicated. 

I grabbed the dislocated arm and raised it above the boy's head. "Three. Two. One." 

I pushed hard and felt the arm go back into its socket. 

The boy screamed. The pain woke him up. 

"Rowan, Rowan, easy. You're safe now, the wolves are gone."

The boy raised his head, his eyes misty with pain. 

"Rowan, this man here is a mage. He killed the wolves."

Rowan's eyes snapped to mine. "Thank you, lord."

I shook my head. "No, Rowan, I'm no lord. Just a friend. Come, the guards have been dealt with. Can you walk?"

I grabbed his good arm and pulled him up gently. He staggered, and Ayenna caught him before he fell. 

She ducked under his arm and popped him up. 

"What's your name, Master Mage?" Rowan asked. 

"Lukas." Ayenna answered before I could. "His name is Lukas."