Chapter Seven: The First Year

This chapter introduces Ezabit and Mabd. It is also the last chapter where Som is a child.

     Som awoke with a start at the sound of lightning. It was the dead of night, and darkness presided over the eerie storm. The sky shook and bellowed but refused to weep. Sensing something amiss Som carefully got out of bed and crept towards the hall.

     “… Did the matter with Arcial get straightened out?” Sir’s voice gently rung out.

     “Yes,” said an unknown speaker in precise and solemn tone. “Arcial backed down from his campaign after the demon raid in Lalth.”

     “Good…” muttered Sir. “Playing with demons is simply not something to be done.”

     Som found a dark corner of the hallway to hide in. He couldn’t see either of the men on the couch but their voices were clear.

     “What of the Soul Magi?” asked Sir.

     “They are banned from the Mages Guild as of yesterday, forced to practice in shadows.”

     A long stretch of silence seemed to bear down upon the room. The only sound was of Sir gently sipping his tea.

     “The Guild is settling down into an odd period of calm…”

     “Be wary then, it may be the calm before a storm.”

     “I know father.”

     Som’s breathing froze. Sir’s son continued.

     “From the looks of the place you have another student, correct?” A smile could be heard in the stranger’s voice.

     “Yes… his name is Som.” Sir said with pride.

     “Could I meet him?” said the enigma cautiously.

     “Of course. He’s hiding in the shadows of the hallway as we speak.” Sir said happily. “Som, come out here now.”

     Very reluctantly, little Som walked towards the pair. In response the visitor slowly walked over to Som, as though approaching a skittish puppy.

     “Hello, my name is Ezabit. What’s yours?”

     “Somnium. But everyone just calls me Som.”

     “Welcome to the family Som.” And Ezabit gave Som a gentle hug.

     Som hugged back and cried. He seemed to do that a lot lately.

     “Shh… It’s alright. I’m glad to meet you too.”

     Som took his time in returning back to a controlled state of mind. When he finally did he stepped back and took a good look at his brother. Ezabit was tall and gaunt, probably twenty or thirty years old. He had long straight black hair that was tied back in a warrior’s knot. He wore a heavy black overcoat that obscured all but his head. Ezabit was possessed of a kind of grace, one that belonged to a confident soul.

     “Why don’tcha show me some of what you’ve been studying. I’ll show you some of mine.” Ezabit winked.

     Som agreed eagerly, having waited quite a while to show off.

     Som decided to demonstrate his last test. He rushed back and forth to the lab clutching reagents with a smile. Then he sat down and inscribed the pentangle. At each point a representative was placed to “bear witness” as Sir had said; a small caged flame occupied the top right point, a bowl of water balanced it at the bottom left. A plain rock held the top left while the bottom right was left alone because air was already represented. Finally, at the top of the pentangle, Som placed a lock of fairy hair to represent Ether.

     Som began with a rudimentary form of the Second Sight spell. Energy of any element would do to weave the framework so Som drew upon Ether. He pulled out a pre-charged practice wand to manipulate the spell. First Som wound the Ether into a simple circular pane about the size of one of his eyes, and then he connected the ends. The world became strange in one eye. Som closed his other eye to avoid vertigo.

     The room was various shades of grey for the most part. The wooden tables and chair leggings exuded some brownish film but other than that things were… grainy. Then Som turned his eye onto the pentangle. Above each element was a colored representative spirit. Each mimicked the attributes of its elements in one way or another; earth was a stoic cube, water flowed almost aimlessly, fire flickered restlessly, air danced freely and Ether… Ether was different. Ether was a straight silver line that pulsed rhythmically. It seemed stronger somehow than the others. Almost conscious.

     Som drew upon the Ether to tie the elements to one another. It was oddly willing, different than when Som had last used the spell. Sir and Ezabit both sensed the strange look on the boy’s face and drew up their own Second Sights.

     “Som wai-“ Sir was too late.

     Som had finished the font spell. The elemental spirits struggled against their newfound connection to age old foes. It was simply their nature. Fire could not stand to be related to water. If fire was represented by a greater spirit then it would have attempted to destroy the water elemental, but they were well matched. Each fled, attempting to distance themselves from one another. Earth and air reacted similarly. The result was a well of mystic energy pouring forth into the room.

     The Ether spirit did something strange then.

     It took control of the spell’s energy and began to bend it in its own strange ritual. This spell was very foreign to Som. Instead of the straight lines and ties that he was used to, this casting seemed to be composed of vibrating slopes that intertwined and flowed. When the strange three dimensional symbol was finished and energized it transformed into a beautiful and unearthly woman.

     Her hair, lips and eyes were the perfect blue of mountains far in the distance. Her skin was the white of snow. Her long sleeved dress was made of darkly colored ice crystals that chimed gently as she floated gently to the floor.

     “Good eve fellows.” The fairy’s voice slid through the room seductively, echoing in the minds of those who heard. Som stared, his mind transfixed.

     “Good eve Mabd.” Said Ezabit levelly.

     Sir locked eyes with Mabd and began to sing an old chant, his voice beautifully in tune.

     “Go back to your home,
     Where the black sheep roam,

     And the little sprites spittle,
     Freezes while they fettle,

     Their hearths into a memory,
     Of family, in summery,

     Light.”

     “Ugh.” Mabd’s face showed an intense discomfort. Veins all over her body began to turn dark blue.

     “Stop!” screamed Som.

     Sir’s concentration fell through before he could begin the second verse.

     “Som!” Ezabit shouted. “Look away from her, shut your ears! Quickly!”

     It was already too late. Som had fallen for her as surely as rain falls from a cloud.

     “Thank you dearest.” Said Mabd with a gentle smile.

     Ezabit lashed out with a masterful counter spell, one based off of a unique element that Som had never seen. It seemed to arc out from Ezabit’s entirety and form a cracked web between Som and Mabd. As it stretched out it seemed to be actively breaking the bond.

     With a snap, the recoil shot out to both Som and Mabd. Som fell limply to the ground while Mabd physically pulled away. She stopped, her back pressed against the back of the pentangle’s reach.

     “Well now, you two certainly know how to treat a lady.” Said the Queen breathlessly.

     Sir marched towards the fey with cold anger burning in his eyes. “The boy is not yours to take.” he stated with menace.

     “My laws state otherwise.” Said Mabd sweetly.

     “I don’t give a damn about your laws. Leave the boy be or I will put you down.”

     Ezabit had seen Sir this angry only two times before. Both of those times had resulted in vengeance of a level usually associated with dark gods. The raw fury that emanated from him was suffocating. Even the Unseelie Fairy Queen seemed to bear a touch of momentary unease.

     “I have come here because you slew one of my subordinates.” Mabd’s calm lighthearted tone returned, sounding forced.

     “One that you purposely sent to me with a mission that ensured she would die if she failed.”

     “Death may be too light a term.” Mabd beamed. “Nonetheless, she is dead and you are her killer. I demand reparation. Guildmaster, you are hearing this correct?”

     Ezabit bit down and grimly nodded his head.

     “Good. With him as witness we will proceed to negotiations.”

     Sir felt the trap close around his neck.

     “My demands are simple,” chimed the Queen. “I want the boy.”

     “My answer is simple, no.”

     “Then I will take something equivalent-“

     “No.”

     “Do you then refuse to abide by the very laws you signed into being, Sir?” Mabd purred.

     “No.” said Sir a third time, readying his counter. “The laws apply to those who belong to organizations that acknowledge and conform to the laws. I no longer belong to any such organization.”

     Mabd frowned, “That’s odd, I seem to remember hearing whispers through the streets of Garcilia. They told of Sir the Journeyman Wizard of the Mage Guild, and his battle against Eriandal the Cruel.”

     “I lied.” Replied Sir.

     Mabd’s mouth physically dropped open.

     “You what?”

     “I lied.”

     Mabd remained baffled.

     “You do realize what that means, don’t you?” ventured the fairy.

     “Yes, I’m going senile.” Replied Sir seriously.

     Ezabit, who had been fulfilling his job as Observer blinked repeatedly trying to wake himself up.

     “Huh. Well then father- ahem, Sir, you are hereby sentenced to…” Ezabit pondered, “Exile from all organizations that follow the Union Decree on the principal of being too old to think straight. Business is concluded.”

     Mabd took perhaps ten whole seconds to piece out what had just happened.

     “That was… disappointing.” Then she turned her eyes on Ezabit. “It was very revealing though. Good day then.”

     “Not quite Mabd.” Said Sir. “We can’t simply loose you from the prism.”

     “The law requires it!” shouted Mabd, taken aback that he should even consider not freeing her.

     “Well… no actually.” Mused Ezabit. “The Summoner is lying unconscious on the floor right now.”

     All three turned to Som. Sir smiled.

     He was fast asleep.

     “Well then, since we’re here for awhile why don’t we have an unofficial chat?” Said Sir maliciously.

     And thus did Som not learn of the “talk” between Sir, Ezabit and the trapped Mabd.