A/N: Fair warning: This chapter might be a bit scary. I don't know. I think it depends on how much imagination you have and how easily frightened you are. Anyone with an extremely active imagination...well, this is your heads-up.
(8)
In a forest that was all a single tree growing other trunks from its own roots I found an old wingless dragon gnawing at the roots of the center tree – a growth so great it was a mountain in its own right. I know what the humans called him, but he had his own name and I called him by it. In return for the many barrels of mead I had brought with me he told me the story of the beings who once built a city high in the branches of the very tree he gnawed at. They called themselves gods and demanded things from the people they looked down upon while giving nothing in return. Then some sorcerer knights came one day and fought them in the name of the One God. According to the dragon these sorcerers trapped the gods and goddesses in scrolls and took them away but told no one what they had done. They neither boasted of their accomplishment nor did they demand the people to now follow their One God. In their minds they had a purpose and all thought and power was focused to this purpose alone, saying that there would be enough time for pride when they were dead and buried.
Fascinated by the story, I decided to climb the enormous tree and investigate the city atop it. It took me many days and many nights and I became very fatigued. In the end all my work was worth the effort for I discovered a strange and wondrous place in the high branches of the tree where each leaf was of the size and strength to bear a small house. The city glittered in my mind and I was awed by the beauty of it. Yet as soon as my awe and wonder had faded I was struck by a sense of arrogant opulence that seemed to hover about every marble structure and statue despite the degenerate state of this city.
~ Excerpt from Rorek's memoirs.
(O)
Chapter 25 – Fear In Shadow
Lady Eisen was young, probably just under 20, and very pretty. She had fair skin, long platinum blond hair, silvery gray eyes, and a slender frame that hinted of lean muscles. She wore armor of a sleek design with a breastplate, hip guards, boots, gauntlets, and chainmail in-between. Oh there was cloth here and there for decorative purposes, but mostly it was all armor. She was even wearing a winged headdress so she could have been a valkyrie. This close Raven could see that the armor wasn't just a stage thing. It was real, and while it was too shiny to be iron it very likely had iron somewhere in the alloy and that was most likely the reason no Blood Magic could touch her. That had to be far too much iron for anything to get through.
She was currently in what appeared to be a large cellar reading a wad of paper with her face set in a grim expression. Around her Raven could see Sister Fear and about five other cultists dressed similarly, but in gray and without the bronze lining to their outfits. One woman had her hand on the shoulder of an elderly man who was sitting down at the opposite side of the room. His own face was very pale, and his wrists were shackled to the chair. There were a few thugs hanging back and huddled in a group, muttering to each other.
The sorceress waved a hand over the bathroom mirror they were using and the image vanished. "She has not signed the contract yet." she said.
"No one's told them we've escaped, either. They're too relaxed." Raven offered. She looked at Batman. "What's the plan?"
"The old man must be the friend Madam Rouge mentioned." Batman said. "We need to get him out of there first. Can we do it by magic?"
"Easily. There are no barriers in the room." the sorceress answered.
"It will not help." Rorek told them. "The man is only there as a visual example. They will have a dormant curse of some sort bound into his very blood. He will be dead the moment we barge in."
"Is there any way we can save him?" Batman asked.
"Yes. Kill Sister Fear before she can trigger the curse." Malchior answered.
"Unless, of course, someone happens to have a lodestone." Rorek added.
"I do, in fact." Batman answered, producing a polished gray rock that was about the size and shape of an egg.
"Someone's done their homework." Malchior said, looking mildly impressed. Raven decided not to tell him that she'd told Batman about the lodestone thing in one of her e-mails, which Rorek had told her about.
"Not that it did me much good when we were attacked from behind." Batman said. "How, exactly, is this suppose to help, by the way?"
"Well, for a start, it will break any curses cast by Blood Magic upon contact. It is also the reason Sister Fear was unable to place a similar curse on you. I'd say that's very helpful." Malchior told him, taking the stone. "It's strong," he mused. "Good, looks like the old man might live after all. If we can get this in his hand before Sister Fear catches on."
"Could I have been cursed?" the sorceress asked. "I am not carrying any lodestones." she stated.
"No," Malchior began. He held the little stone close to the woman's breastplate and let it go. It flew a few inches through the air and stuck there. "But that armor of yours is only gold plated."
"Of course it is. Gold is an impractical metal. It is only good for looking pretty and stopping the rust. What is your point?" she asked, pulling the little rock off her.
"Iron, M'Lady." Rorek answered. "Blood Magic does not work on iron. It is that power's one weakness." he stated.
"Iron? I have never heard of this. How do you know of it?" the sorceress asked.
"I think that's a discussion that can wait for another time, don't you?" Malchior asked with that edged pleasantness.
"Indeed."
(O)
The sorceress did not give anyone time to react to her sudden appearance. She was in, she had the lodestone up against the older man's bare skin, and then the both of them vanished. After that Raven emerged from the shadows, opened her cloak, and from the darkness within Batman, Rorek, and Malchior leapt forward.
"STOP! They used Blood Magic on Dr. Hindul! They'll kill him!" Lady Eisen cried out desperately, but they didn't have time to explain.
The thugs all lunged for Batman and one of them went after Rorek only to get blasted back. Batman didn't have any issues either. He was used to this and the thugs' combat experience didn't go much further than fists and muscles. Three of the five gray-clad cultists began throwing spellfire of various colors which Raven blocked with her black, white-lined spellfire. One of the others grew in size until he was an enormous man only just small enough not to hit his head on the high ceiling. He brought a fist down on Malchior, as if to squash him, but Malchior caught the fist and used it to throw the man at the three magic-users.
"You could save the good doctor if you stopped them." Sister Fear told Lady Eisen. "Just make sure you don't hurt the one in the white cloak too much."
Lady Eisen stared at Sister Fear. She closed her eyes, the torment of indecision wrecking her features, but when she opened them again her face was set and determined. "No." she said.
"I will kill him. You know that. And then you will die as well. I'm trying to be kind, Lady." Sister Fear told her. And then she was blasted from behind by a shot of spellfire.
"The old man's curse has been broken. Your friend is safe." the masked sorceress said. "Perhaps it is time to show us why these people fear you."
"Impossible." Sister Fear said airily, getting to her feet. "No one can break a curse in the blood."
"That's all you know, Child." the sorceress said. She held her hands out and then brought them together, clapping them loudly. A shot of green lightening sliced through the air towards Sister Fear, who pulled up a spellfire shield to block it. The shield shattered and a blast of green sent Sister Fear flying towards Raven, who immediately switched her attention to the greater threat and caught her up in a net of spellfire.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven wrapped the net around Sister Fear and made it tight as the cultist lost her color. The armored sorceress augmented this trap with a bubble of her own spellfire.
Sister Fear screamed. There were no clear words in that scream, it was more like a modulated yowl of something none of them understood. She shattered all the bindings with a blast of red that threw Raven across the battlefield. Rorek caught her, soaring on his spellfire disk.
Sister Fear rose into the air and threw bolts of something red-black and sickly out over the cellar. They were very much like the first blast of spellfire Raven had seen. They had texture, and that texture was like the insides of something organic and alive. She wasn't aiming for anyone, though. Instead it seemed she had meant to hit the walls and floor – and she had. Everywhere the bolts hit there were…things rising up. Sickly white things with veins of red. Some of them had human forms, some just seemed to have arms, legs, and a head but no real notion of where these things should actually be. One thing was just a mass of arms, another had too many heads, few of them had any actual faces and those that did were horrible. Black holes for eyes, no noses, and gaping toothless maws for mouths.
The hired fists (at least, those who were still conscious) screamed and ran out of the cellar. The remaining cultists just sort of pulled back.
The five heroes pulled together, their backs to one another as the creatures began to surround them. "What is this?" Batman hissed.
"Glang." Rorek answered.
Batman threw a bladed boomerang at one of them, catching it in what appeared to be its head. It stuck there and exploded. Half the creature was missing but the other half was still moving.
"How do we stop them?" Batman asked.
"Start hacking until they stop moving." Malchior answered. He raised a fist and let loose several blasts of spellfire at once. "And don't let them grab you. Daanik, Raven! What did I just say?-!"
Raven's eyes glowed red and the small glang that had grabbed her leg turned black and white just before she ripped it apart. It let out a shriek and disappeared.
They weren't difficult to destroy, but they kept coming! Spellfire was flying, Batman's bombs were going in all directions, and Lady Eisen was suddenly with them wielding a huge claymore in one hand that she was swinging about as though it were no more cumbersome than a dagger. And the other magic-users in the area weren't just standing back. They were throwing spellfire of their own, though they were staying well out of the danger zone and well away from the glang.
"What do I do when they've got hold of me and turned into some sort of cast around my leg?-!" Batman yelled out.
"Kiss your leg goodbye and blast it off!" Malchior shouted.
But Raven flew over to Batman and turned the sickly red-white thing black-white, then broke it apart. "This isn't working!" she shouted, creating a barrier of spellfire around them all to stop the glang.
"No, Raven! That won't work! They'll just cover the barrier! Take it down now!" Rorek shouted. She did so immediately.
Enough of this. Raven thought. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" She hovered above the others and dipped down, down deep into her core where there was still power sleeping dormant within. She woke it up, drew it out, and that shining chaotic nebula of power filled her mind. All the colors of her emotions crackling, lashing out to fill her veins and wake up what was there. She pulled out as much power as she'd used against Rorek, perhaps more. And she let it loose.
Everything lost color. All the glang were ripped to pieces, pieces of furniture went flying through the air at the cultists and continued to fly after them until they'd passed out. A spare speaker threw itself at Sister Fear but she blasted it to pieces. The places where the glang had been emerging were erased like chalk dust and Raven continued to throw boxes and spare equipment at Sister Fear. But Sister Fear continued to blast the projectiles apart. Then Raven flew forward and threw actual spellfire at the woman which she blocked with her own spellfire. Said spellfire was, however, now gray in color.
"How far can you go, Raven?" Sister Fear asked tauntingly. "How much is too much? That's a lot of power, are you slipping? I think you are." She threw a blast of that ugly textured spellfire at Raven, but she pulled up a shield.
Too late Malchior shouted. "NO RAVEN! DODGE IT!"
The blast went through Raven's shield and hit her square in the chest. But it didn't do anything. She looked back at Sister Fear. Stupid, stupid girl. She raised a hand to finish her off but stopped.
Her hand…it was…it was red. The skin was red, and her nails were long, claw-like, and black. What? No! No this couldn't be happening! She'd gone too far! There was too much power, too much! She was using too much! She had to pull back now! She was in control, she could pull it back, she could—
Her hair was white, she felt a second pair of eyes, yellow eyes, and there was a crown of horns on her head. She was looking at Jump City, she was looking at the world. There was fire everywhere, fire and stone. The world was in her hand like some toy globe. So small, so insignificant, and all life was stone, all things burned.
No…
"Daddy's little girl."
It was all gone. Gone. And this time it was her fault. She did this, she destroyed everything. She'd let her power get out of control, she'd used too much, let herself draw up too much for too long and now she had destroyed the world just as her father had tried to do. She knew this would happen, she knew it and yet she still went and dipped into that power, didn't she? Because she'd needed it, because it was there and if she didn't give everything she had to stopping the evil before her then it would be her fault if they failed. She didn't have the luxury of not using it; did not have the right to leave it dormant when there was still something she could do to change a situation. But now? She'd been afraid this might happen for so long. Why didn't she listen to her own fear?-! Now she'd become what she'd hated most and her deepest fear had come true.
She could see them all. Nightwing, Starfire, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Aqualad, Herald, Argent, Melvin, Teether, Timmy, and…and…
Malchior and Rorek, frozen in stone, and they were fighting one another again. But this wasn't just some sibling squabble. They were trying to kill one another…because of her. They'd died fighting and it was all her fault.
"NO!" she screamed.
She saw a face in front of her. One of flesh, but otherwise she couldn't seem to describe it. A hand was held out to her and there was something in it. A small rag doll with button eyes and a stitched smile. Raven's hand went to her belt where she pulled out the thing she'd picked up from the shadows. It was the same rag doll. When she looked back up the figure was gone.
So was everything else.
She opened her eyes, had she been asleep? There was spellfire flying everywhere. The glang were back, though there weren't quite so many. Malchior and Rorek were on either side of her, fending the disgusting things off. The world had regained its color, but her power had not retreated from her body. Raven brought her hand up and found the rag doll was there. She also noticed something else. She was wearing a pair of silvery blue metal rings on each of her middle fingers. They were simple curved bands with no ornamentation and no stones set into the metal. But the color was very strange. Were they cobalt? No, the blue wasn't quite right for cobalt. And anyway, most cobalt didn't stay blue when you processed and polished it. The doll she could understand, but the rings? Where had they come from?
She could wonder about that later. She stood up, still holding the doll. "Just her. Do you promise?" she whispered to it.
The doll's head swung back and forward in her hand.
"Swear it?"
The doll nodded again.
Raven fed her power into the doll. What little color it had faded away.
This time the world didn't go black and white. The lights flickered. When they came back on the glang had simply disappeared. Everyone paused. The lights started to flicker again. And in one brief moment of light Raven thought she saw—
A hand went over her eyes, but she could still sense the flickering. Someone screamed. Rorek shouted for everyone to close their eyes. And then…the lights went out entirely.
The scream that rose up was absolutely terrifying. Raven felt Malchior and Rorek close in on either side of her, their hands groping for her in the absolute black that met her when one of them took their hand from her eyes. Her own hands found them and she pulled them close, keeping her eyes shut as though that might help. The scream kept going, though. And it went on long after human lungs should have run out of air.
"I cannot make a light!" the sorceress called out, shouting to be heard above the scream.
"Good!" Malchior snarled back. "Stop trying you fool!"
Raven wondered if she was scared. She didn't feel scared, she felt numb. Perhaps she was so scared she couldn't feel it. Her arms seemed to feel it well enough, though. She was clutching the twins tightly and she could feel her own body tremble. The wait became agonizing. The scream had ended but the lights had yet to come back on and neither Malchior nor Rorek were letting her go. One of them had his hand in her hair and he was stroking it gently.
Then the lights flickered back on. Raven was still trembling, but she pulled herself together and looked around. There was no sign of Sister Fear. Somehow that was worse than finding a horribly mangled corpse.
"She…she's gone…did she escape?" Lady Eisen asked, sounding just as shaken as Raven felt.
"No. She didn't." Rorek answered. Neither he nor Malchior were willing to let Raven go completely. She almost wished they'd start arguing and snipping at each other again but they weren't. They were just standing on either side of her, one with a hand on her back and the other around her shoulders.
"But…where…?"
"I wouldn't want to know if I were you." said the sorceress. "Those who use such magics do not realize that there are consequences beyond anything the mortal realm offers. Even so…I have never even heard of an instance as…potent as this one."
"You can spare us the details." Batman said. "Are you sure she isn't going to come back?"
"The only thing left of her is the soul. Two guesses as to where it is now." Malchior replied nastily. He was shaking, but relaxed when Raven touched her fingers to the hand around her shoulder. He reached down and took that hand, gripping it tightly in his own. Raven squeezed it and then pulled away, gently untangling herself from the arms wrapped around her.
"What should we do with them?" Raven asked, waving a hand at the cultists.
"Leave that to me." the armored sorceress said. She raised a hand and, in a flash of green, the cultists were gone.
"Come on. Let's go make sure the Doctor is okay." Batman said.
"Are you sure the curse was broken?" Lady Eisen asked desperately, her sword disappearing into some unseen sub-space pocket.
"It was." the sorceress answered, nodding. "Come see for yourself."
(O)
Thor and the others (all save Argent who'd had to be sent back to the tower to wait off the effects of the absinthe) had rounded up the cult's hired hands who were all now being taken off to prison. Two of them – the two who had seen what Thanatos did to the one who managed to catch Belladonna in the arm with a knife – were jabbering to Batman about everything they knew. It wasn't much, unfortunately.
Lady Eisen was having a hard time controlling herself. She'd had to be stopped before giving the perfectly healthy and living Docter a hug that might have changed the healthy part and was now very gently holding him, sobbing, and going on and on in German about how glad she was that he was alright and how sorry she was and everything in-between.
Raven wasn't sure where Malchior was. She assumed he went off somewhere with Thor to help look for any stragglers, but Rorek wasn't leaving her side. She had another shadow too. The strange armored sorceress who'd yet to offer any name didn't seem to have anything better to do than linger somewhere near Raven as though waiting for Rorek to be called off for something. But after some time Malchior returned and now Raven had both of them sticking to her like glue.
"Miss Raven?"
Raven turned to find Lady Eisen talking to her. "Yes?"
"I would like to be a Teen Titan." she said with a grin. She had a very good American accent. One would hardly guess she was native German.
"You'll want to talk to Argent. She's the head of the Titans Europe." Raven said.
"Actually I was intending to go to the Americas. In fact, I am thinking I'll go to Gotham City where the Church of Blood has set up their headquarters somewhere. Apparently my power frightens them so much they came all this way to blackmail me into staying with the band. Batman is going to take care of my living arrangements since there's no T-Tower in Gotham." she said.
"We may be seeing each other again, then." Raven said. "What is your power, anyway?"
"I can manipulate metal." she answered. "Mostly I just use this power to make it fly through the air, but it's amazing just what all you can do when you don't need heat or special tools to bend a lead pipe into any shape you want. Iron is my favorite, though."
"[Really? I would never have guessed.]" Raven said in fluent German, causing Lady Eisen to laugh. 'Eisen' was, in fact, German for 'iron'.
"I also have a developing power to emit electromagnetic pulses. I'm not sure what sort of use I'll be able to put into creating magnets, but somehow I got the feeling that was what the Church of Blood was afraid of. Apparently electromagnetic waves disrupt something." she mused.
"Well, Argent will get you a communicator and I'm sure she can think up something silly and embarrassing for you to do as an initiation." Raven told her. "Welcome aboard."
"Thank you."
When lady Eisen had gone Malchior looked at Raven. "You know German?" he asked.
Raven nodded. "And Latin, and Romanian, Ancient Sumerian, and Sanskrit." she listed.
"Oh…"
"Raven, a word?"
Raven looked 'round at Batman. He had that unnamed sorceress with him, but she nodded, wondering what this was about.
Batman glanced at Malchior and Rorek. "Alone, if you please?"
Malchior crossed his arms over his chest. "Try again."
"I'll be alright. I can take care of myself." she told him gently. She still had a lot of power coursing through her. The moment she got back to the tower she would meditate and pull it all back in. Right now she was stuck with it.
"Oh yes? Why weren't you wearing iron, Raven?" the black dragon growled.
"I was." she came back. "There's iron in these." she said, taping the setting of her gem.
"Not enough." Rorek told her. "Not nearly enough." He turned to Batman. "You ask too much at this time, Sir. There is still much fear. You do no understand what we just faced and you should treasure that ignorance. However, we understood, and the terror clings to us still. We are not leaving Raven alone. It is not a matter of trust but of fear. If you must speak to her alone, wait for the morrow when the fear has faded." he said. "We might, however, be willing stand back and simply not intrude on the conversation."
Batman looked at him for a moment, and then nodded.
They found an empty room. Raven was now wondering just who the sorceress was. She had the unpleasant feeling that she knew but she wasn't going to say. It was one heck of a leap and it begged the question of why on earth she was helping Batman.
But it seemed Batman had something to say to the twins too (or one of them at least) and now was as good a time as any to get it out. "I appreciate your help, don't get me wrong, but I can't say I approve of your methods." This was said directly at Malchior.
"Really? Well I can't say I approve of your choice in magical assistance. Lucky for us the monsters decided to band together against the bigger monster, yes?" Malchior returned, shrugging.
"You know her?" Raven asked him.
"He's a friend of yours?" Batman asked the sorceress.
"I'm afraid we've never met. I never forget a face, and I certainly wouldn't forget a face like that." she answered.
"No, we've never met, but you have one hell of a reputation, My Lady. I don't suppose you could curb my curiosity? I am willing to accept that even you wouldn't want any Blood Magic practitioners around to mess things up, but it occurs to me to wonder why you are working with the Batman here rather than on your own."
"Would you mind informing the rest of us what you are going on about?" Rorek asked.
"You're Morgaine Le Fay." Raven guessed aloud. Even so she was incredibly relieved when the armored sorceress nodded. "Didn't she try to take over the world?" she asked Batman.
"It's a long story." Batman answered.
"And the end result is that I am under a very binding contract. One signed in blood." the sorceress told them.
"I'll give you the shortened version: Quite a few years ago her son, Mordred, destroyed the magic that kept him young but not the part where it kept him alive."
"Meaning he got old but couldn't die. Nice." Malchior snorted.
"Exactly. Just recently Diana – Wonder Woman, that is – produced a means of returning his youth to him. Well, most of it anyway. He may not be a child anymore but he is youthful."
"Ambrosia?" Raven asked.
Batman raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm thinking the Amazons believe that to be one of their better-kept secrets."
"It is." she said, "And the Monks of Azarath are more than willing to help them keep it."
He decided to accept this at face-value. "In return for this, Le Fay and her son both agreed to forego their ambitions and refrain from using their powers for ill." Batman explained. "They have also agreed to assist us when we require it – which was the whole reason for giving Mordred the Ambrosia to begin with. Though after that first issue was dealt with the contract allows her the right to refuse a request."
"As you said: Not even I want any Blood Magic practitioners around." Morgaine Le Fay added.
"Though one of the reasons she agreed to help was for the chance to speak to you about that black book." Batman told Raven.
Le Fay nodded. "I would have preferred to speak to you alone. However, if our audience will agree to remain silent I have no qualms about their staying here." She looked at Batman, who nodded.
Raven looked at the twins, both of whom gave their own nods of ascent. Then she turned to the sorceress. "What's this about?" she asked.
"I am wondering how much you know of the book."
Raven only just managed to avoid glancing at Rorek. "Enough, I think." she answered, raising an eyebrow. "Why are you interested in it? Can you read the language it's written in?"
"No, but I do not need to. There are ways of extracting knowledge from written words whether you know the language or not." the ancient sorceress answered. "It is called The Mortix, and in the time of Camelot it was something like a crown. Owned only by the greatest of wizards and sorcerers down each generation. Merlin was the last to possess it before you. No doubt he hid it away like so many other things so that I would not possess it."
Raven smacked herself in the face, "So that whole thing about 'whoever owns it is the greatest' that's been going around isn't just some stupid rumor gleaned from a twist of Bruce Wayne's words, huh?" she groaned.
"No, it is not. And I am not the only one who still remembers it. There are records, and there are long memories." Le Fay explained.
"And…you want what exactly?" Raven asked.
"Raven, you have the kind of power that I only ever dreamed of." Morgaine told her. "But you do not know how to use it to its greatest potential. If you did, you could have simply waved away Sister Fear's Blood Magic as though it were nothing. This is not your fault, of course. Such knowledge has long since been lost for mages such as you were rare even in the 15th century. But I have such knowledge. I could teach you. I could show you secrets that go beyond molecules and atoms, show you where to find the forgotten worlds carved by dragons, teach you to cast your eyes across the ages, touch the minds of beasts, open your senses to the dimensions where life itself has color and sound, and I could show you how to read The Mortix. All I ask is an hour of time to look through the pages for myself."
Raven stared at her, frowning with suspicion. "You're offering quite a lot for comparatively little in return. What's the catch?"
"Nothing. I would have made this offer whether you had The Mortix or not. Especially after what I saw today. You have great power, Raven. More, I suspect, than you showed earlier. And yet you fear it, do you not? So you do not use it unless you must and you are wise for it. But if you learn to control it, to know it, to maintain your will over it, then you need not fear that it might one day control you. I can give this to you. You need never fear your power again." Morgaine Le Fay explained.
"Why?" Raven demanded flatly and suspiciously. The offer was tempting…way too tempting. She remembered her hallucination during the battle with Sister Fear. It didn't take too much thinking to realize where Sister Fear had very likely gotten her name. It must have been some sort of waking nightmare that paralyzed you with the things you dreaded the most. It hadn't been real. She knew that now. But…
Had Morgaine Le Fay seen it? Or was she simply guessing? Maybe there was no 'simply' about it. Morgaine Le Fay certainly had the experience Batman wanted in his magical assistance.
"Put simply: I'm bored." Le Fay answered. "The blood contract has robbed me of my ambitions. All that occupies my son and I now is existence. Having an apprentice of greater potential than the wispy whelps that are all the modern day seems able to develop would give me a valuable use of the time I now have so much of." Morgaine Le Fay stepped forward and held out her hand to Raven. "Think of how much more you could do if you needn't fear your power, Raven."
Raven's eyes narrowed and she felt Malchior's hand on her shoulder. The two had promised not to butt into the conversation, but she could sense that Malchior really wanted to. He didn't need to, though.
"No." she said. "I don't trust you." Le Fay had not reformed, not like Malchior. She'd been beaten down and was being held there by force. What was more, she wanted Raven to say 'yes' so badly that Raven could feel it. This was some plan. They couldn't trust her. They could only trust her as far as the contract kept her bound.
Malchior squeezed her shoulder and then released it.
"Think about what you're giving up, Raven. You know how old I am, and my magic is even older. I possess knowledge as ancient as the wizard Rorek, author of The Mortix. Who else could possibly provide the knowledge and training you need to truly master your power?"
Raven was suddenly aware of a hushed chatter going on behind her.
"Aal zu tinvaak rek?"
"Nid."
"Ofandun?"
"Nid."
"Ofandun."
"Nid."
"Ofandun!"
"Daanik, Mahkriiod, nid!"
"Hi krii zu…"
"Kos nahlot!"
The two then realized they had everyone's attention.
"[You two are making it very hard for me to keep a straight face. You know that, right?]" Raven admonished in Draconic.
"He started it." Rorek said.
"Guilty." Malchior admitted unapologetically.
"Sorry," Raven said, turning back to Morgaine Le Fay. "But I don't trust you." she finished.
"Think about it." the sorceress said, lowering her hand. "I have all the time in the world, though I can't help but wonder how much time the world has." She turned, created a portal on the wall with a wave of her hand, and walk towards it. "When your need of that power becomes greater than your fear, I'll be waiting." she said with a last look over her shoulder. She disappeared and the portal vanished after her.
"I didn't know that was what she wanted. I thought it was just about the book." Batman admitted when she'd gone.
"Tell me something: As a reformed villain, am I allowed to kill her if she finds some way of betraying us?" Malchior asked.
"Malchior…" Raven sighed. This was turning into a very long night.
"Raven, before we go I'd like to know if you have any idea why the Church of Blood might be after you?" Batman asked.
"What?" Malchior hissed.
"They're what?-!" Rorek gasped.
Thank you, Batman. I wasn't really planning to tell them that part. Raven thought irritably. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "No, I don't." which was partly true. Trigon was gone, what did they want her for? Revenge? No, it didn't seem like it. "Same reason Morgaine Le Fay wanted me?" she asked.
Malchior's hand was on her shoulder again.
"Mmmm…I suggest you be careful from now on. And I'll be sure to keep you posted about anything I find out. I'm not sure how many more of the cultists are in Europe right now but I imagine they'll be headed back to Gotham."
"Are you still going to insist on dealing with this matter yourself?" Malchior demanded, stepping forward and bristling with anger. "The last time the practitioners of Blood Magic cooperated with such organization they did not have the advantages this modern era presents!"
"I'll be taking Lady Eisen with me and I'll keep in contact with the Jump City Titans. But for the time being I have no other leads. I don't know where their headquarters are and there have been no more strange murders as of yet. None that we've found, anyway. What do you suggest I do? Raise an alarm that might leek out into a full-spread panic? If the Teen Titans come to Gotham people are going to wonder why. I will let you know when I have something solid. Satisfied?"
Rorek put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "New world, new rules. I don't think we can get away with barging into people's homes with a dousing rod this time around, do you?" he asked.
Malchior yanked his shoulder away. "I know this world better than you, Rorek. Don't tell me what can and cannot be done!" He turned and stalked towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Rorek demanded.
"To cool my head. A good idea, don't you think? You stay with Raven." Malchior snarled.
Silence rang out when he slammed the door behind him. An imprint of rage and fear was left behind. It took Raven a moment to realize that the two were woven together. Fear causing rage, rage burning hot as a defense against it. And Malchior was fighting it, fighting both emotions. Was now a good time to leave him alone?
Batman spoke first. "Correct me if I'm wrong," he began in a very thoughtful voice, "But isn't Malchior supposed to be a dragon? One that was defeated by the ancient wizard Rorek? Would that be some sort of sibling rivalry, then?"
Rorek sighed. "Like you wouldn't believe. Very perceptive of you, Sir. I had rather hoped you wouldn't catch that."
"So you were both sealed into books." Batman deduced. "Are you a dragon as well, or was that some form of shapeshifting on his part?" he asked.
"I am also a dragon, yes. It is a long story. In short I believed I was human for a long time. I lost my memories, you understand." Rorek explained. "Those of us who call ourselves 'Dovah' have human forms."
"What is the difference between a 'Dovah' and a 'dragon'?" Batman asked.
"The difference between a human and an ape. Cognitive capabilities, abstract conceptualization, self-awareness, and, most importantly of all, a soul." Rorek answered. "We have, in other words, the ability to discern between right and wrong; the ability to perceive that there are such things as right and wrong."
"And Malchior has been released from the book again because…?" Batman looked at Raven.
"He reformed and has promised no more rampaging." she answered. She expected more questioning, but instead Batman just regarded her with a strange look that went on for far longer than was necessary. She just stared back, stilling her emotions so her expression gave nothing.
"Nightwing hasn't told me any of this." Batman said, though she wondered if this was simply as a means of breaking their staring match without a declared loser.
"You don't always tell him everything about your teammates." she pointed out.
He let the matter drop.
"I would appreciate it if you would keep your peace as well so that I might have mine, if you understand me." Rorek said.
"Yes, I understand." Batman nodded. He was good at keeping secrets.
"I'm going after Malchior." Raven announced.
"I don't know if that is such a good idea." Rorek offered.
"He can cool his head when we're back at the tower and there are no innocent bystanders to get shouted at for some offhand comment." Raven stated.
(8)
A/N: Alright, so when I wrote this out I, for some reason, had this idea that the whole Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table deal happened somewhere around the 15th century rather than, as the Wikipedia article tells me (which, of course, MUST be true) the 5th or 6th. So, um…does anyone care that I've changed it up? 'Cause I've also found somewhere it claims they might have taken place sometime during the 10th or 11th century as well. (I AM SO CONFUSED!-!-!) It was for a good cause! If I had the Arthurian legends happen before Rorek and Malchior's lives took place then the hilarious bit of irony where Morgaine Le Fay mentions Rorek would not have happened. (And also she wouldn't have any interest in the Mortix since her own knowledge would be older. So that plot point would kind of die…)
Coming up in the next chapter:
I'll use the old-style method of dropping him from a few thousand feet in the air and telling him to miss the ground.
For anyone who actually needs a translation to Malchior and Rorek's little spat (though I'm pretty sure it was self-explanatory):
Malchior: Can I tell her?
Rorek: No.
Malchior: Please?
Rorek: No.
Malchior: Please.
Rorek: No.
Malchior: Please!
Rorek: Damn it, Malchior, no!
Malchior: You're killing me…
Rorek: Shut up!