Chapter 4: Confrontation
Morning brought an unpleasant surprise, although not all that unexpected to Aurora. At some point during the night, Larissa had packed up herself and her horse and left. They looked for any signs of struggle, as though they could have slept through such a thing, but only a trail of walking hoofprints led to the road. Obviously, she'd gone willingly.
“Now what?” Marlan said, tugging at her hair. “What do you do when one of your Cluster sneaks off in the night?”
“We let her go,” Aurora said. “And wish her well wherever she ends up. There is nothing else to do.”
“You people and your consciences,” Kesh grumbled, but he gave Aurora's shoulder a squeeze while he did. “I do wish her well. I hope she finds someplace to be happy and at peace again.”
“Easy for you to say, you're not the one that has to explain why I lost one of our Cluster.”
“And neither do you,” Aurora said, a decision suddenly springing to life inside her. Her eyes lit from within. “I'll take care of that. I want to talk to the Circle about exactly why Larissa left. They have some explaining to do. Anyone feel up to riding hard today? I'll feed the horses from my own damn reserves, but I want to get to the Hall. Now.”
So they did. Ansha gave her the day's magic lesson on how to pull stored power from her new focus stone as they raced across the countryside on horses speeded by magic. It was a bumpy and uncomfortable way to teach the technique, and Aurora was distracted by the constant power drain to the horses, but she grasped the technique successfully.
At the pace the magically supported horses maintained, they reached Caissa in the middle of the afternoon. The horses weren't even sweating as they slowed to a walk outside the gates, but Aurora felt nearly exhausted. But she held herself together with grim determination, because she would confront the Circle, and she would do it now. Today. Before one more night could pass without knowing the answer why they taught their supposed mages of Light how to suck life from everything in the world and not even question it.
The Hall of Lights loomed in front of them before Aurora had properly organized what she wanted to say. She had dozens of questions and comments stored up, but every last one of them boiled down to the same thing: why?
And that was precisely what she decided to say when she confronted the Circle. She walked right into the Spectrum Chamber, shocking everyone present, and stood right in front of Elmene, at the center of the horseshoe-shaped table.
“Your Eminence, I have learned that the methods this Circle teaches to mages are irreversibly harmful to all living things near a spellcasting mage of the Circle of Light. Why?”
“I beg your pardon?” Elmene regarded her coolly, her calm demeanor unruffled. “What gives you the right to disrupt this meeting with such a meaningless accusation?”
“Meaningless!?” Aurora shrieked, then clamped down on her fury. Meeplar growled at her feet. “I am a servant of life and the Light. Why did you teach me to suck life from others to serve my own ends?”
“There is no harm done by pulling energy from your surroundings, and if there is, does it matter? You serve the greater good.”
“You mean we serve your good,” Aurora spat, disgusted. “I refuse to bring harm to those I am trying to help. Can't you see how counterproductive that is?”
“I see that you are young, and not sensible enough to do as you are told without question, which is the way of the Circle. Now go, and reflect upon why your accusations are pointless and mean nothing. I will deal with you later.”
The Spectrum Chamber doors blew open then, the heavy wooden doors slamming into the walls. A shining figure stood in the doorway. Aurora gaped, barely recognizing Ansha in the fantastic emerald and dark brown costume. A huge gem gleamed on a chain around her neck, set in a golden sunburst.
“You will not find me as easy to send away,” Ansha said, voice amplified to carry throughout the room with magic. “I am Anshardranelle Megrartha, High Priest of Bel, and my deity has charged me with holding the Circle of Light accountable for its careless and destructive actions. What reparations are you prepared to make for the wanton destruction of my sacred forests?”
Elmene shot to her feet, visibly trembling with sudden rage. “Abomination! How dare you enter these hallowed halls and pollute them with your presence! And you,” she transferred her ire to Aurora, “The snake in our midst, the traitor who has brought this foul perversion into our very heart. How dare you?”
“How dare I what? Bring someone here with the same question I asked? How dare you, Your Eminence, to not answer for your actions? As head of the Circle, you are responsible for us all, remember?”
Aurora moved to stand beside Ansha, feeling very small and grubby next to the priest, but still furious and ready for battle. Or so she thought, until the other mages of the Spectrum ranged themselves behind Elmene and let loose a blast of raw power, as contemptuous as a slap to the face, that bowled Aurora off her feet. Ansha met it without flinching, with only a flare of green shielding. Head ringing, Aurora drew heavily on her link to Meeplar to try and put together a protective shield of her own as the magic started flying.
She probably should have done that in the first place, but how was she to know what would happen? Nobody ever started flinging around the great battle magics indoors, it simply wasn't healthy! Or safe. She had a momentary vision of the roof and heavy marble walls collapsing atop herself and Meeplar, and shuddered. Bad thought.
Aurora finally dragged herself to her feet, fully shielded now, and stood behind Ansha, feeding her power. In her current blasted state, that was all she felt capable of doing.
“Feel the wrath of Bel!” Ansha proclaimed, over the sound of battle. Her next blast of power broke through, actually broke through, the shielding of six of the most powerful mages on the continent, and knocked them all ass over teakettle. “The Circle of Light has proven itself a rogue, outlaw organization, operating outside the laws of Light,” she announced into the sudden quiet. The Spectrum mages began picking themselves up again, but seemed incapable of further attacks. “Bel will watch for you now. Forests are closed to your mages. Any spellcasting in or near a forest or any stand of trees will be met with punitive response. Should you choose to change your ways, approach us in the Temple of Bel and make amends.”
Then, with a regal swirl of her emerald cloak, Ansha turned her back on the Spectrum and left. Aurora and Meeplar hurried after her. That elegant glide covered distance rapidly, and Aurora's head still hurt. She deeply regretted her lack of Meeplar's ability to transport herself in the wink of an eye.
Once out of the Chamber, Ansha slowed to let Aurora catch up. “I think you'd better come with me,” she said, scanning the hall warily. Where were the people that should be responding to a mage-duel right in their midst? “And fast. There must be people coming to see what the disturbance was, and I think we'd better be well gone before they get here.”
“Good idea,” Aurora croaked, rubbing her head. “Ahh, I hurt. Who ever thought they'd do that? But I can run, if need be.”
“Then do so,” Ansha said curtly. “I hear them now.”
Together they pelted through the Hall of Light and out into the courtyard and freedom. Ansha led the way to an unpleasant alley and called a halt.
“Let's see what happened to you,” she said, and put her hands on Aurora's head. Her gem glowed, and Aurora's head tickled. “Ah. . . pure power damage. Not much I can do about this for you, I'm afraid. You must have been completely unshielded.”
“I was,” Aurora nodded, wincing. “Other than the little bit of shielding I always carry. That wasn't equal to the power they flung at you.”
“Consider it a lesson learned, then. Never accost a group of powerful mages without proper shielding in place.”
“Yes, Master,” Aurora said meekly, with a wobbly grin. “So now what? I don't think I have a home to go back to anymore.”
“Certainly you do. You just don't know
where it is yet.” Ansha smiled, then tousled Aurora's hair, already loose from its short braid. “So come with me, at least until you have a different plan.”
“Where are you going? I gather from this,” she reached out and pinched at the rich velvet of Ansha's cloak, “you're more than the simple wanderer you claimed to be.”
“Not really,” Ansha shrugged, then grimaced. “Now that you've mentioned my vestments, though, I see a big problem. I left my pack back there, and I really don't want to go get it. And there's nothing inconspicuous about this outfit. Blast.”
“Nor about mine. Everyone here knows what the uniform of an active Cluster looks like. I wish this were a tale, so we could just make new clothes out of a spell.”
Ansha laughed. “Me too. But real life never works that way. Fine. I kept my coinpurse with me, because I'm not crazy enough to leave that laying around, so why don't you just show me where we can find a marketplace? There's always more common clothing available at one of those.”
Aurora led the way to a marketplace, where they did indeed find less remarkable clothing, and a pack for each of them, and even food for the road. Their funds stopped well short of purchasing a horse, though.
They set out from the city at a time when most people were heading in for the night, with the sun balancing precariously on the horizon. Aurora felt odd, walking out of the gates on foot and wearing the kind of ordinary commoner's clothes she'd arrived in, a simple homespun tunic and loose flaxen trousers. So much for the glory of the Circle. Her uniform, rolled up and shoved unceremoniously in her new pack, seemed to glower malignantly at her through the leather. What a waste of eight years of her life. She'd wanted nothing more than to excel in the Circle once the mage-power took hold of her, and now she'd exiled herself instead. What a mess.
“Tell me about yourself for real,” Aurora said abruptly, hoping to distract herself from her crazed, circling thoughts. “Who are you? Who is your god? And why did Elmene call you abomination?”
“That part is easy. She's a narrow minded fool. People like me are all sacred to the deity Bel, who is neither male nor female, but a blending of both. And so am I. My top half is female, my bottom half is male. Some people think that's enough to label me abomination and cast me out, but really it's a mark of Bel's favor. My deity chooses some people, not many, but a few in every generation, to be physically like himmer, and I'm one of them.”
“Oh. . . my,” Aurora said, blankly. “Both male and female? How is that possible?”
“With Bel's blessing, anything is possible. My parents thought I was a boy until I grew breasts and they knew I was destined to serve Bel.”
“Remarkable,” Aurora said, still feeling stunned. Male lower half? A deity that was both sexes at once? Strange.
“And as for the rest, that's what I do. I serve my deity. I travel about when heesh commands me to, and the rest of the time I stay home and mind the Temple, so to speak. Bel is a forest god, not very well known but ancient and powerful all the same. There are the usual sacred duties for a High Priest to perform, plus running errands, like I mentioned, and training new priests. Not a tremendoulsly exciting lifestyle, which is why I started studying magical history.”
“So that part is real. You really are a historian.”
“Yes, I really am. Magic fascinates me. I like learning all I can about it.”
“And now you're traveling with an unemployed vagabond mage.”
“Yes,” Ansha smiled, “a mage with a conscience, of whom I am very proud. You changed the mindset of a lifetime and moved on in a very brief period, which speaks well for your future.”
“I'm glad you think so. Right now, my future looks rather bleak. What do wandering mages do, anyway?”
“They wander,” replied Ansha, with a mischievous grin. “And so shall you, until you find a new calling.”
That's what I'm afraid of, Aurora thought, then bent down to scratch Meeplar quickly before moving on, one foot ahead of the other, for an unknown future somewhere down the road.
* * * *
look for other titles in this series:
Apprentice
Breaking Traditions, Vol 1
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