Shadows of Schala – Chapter Ten
"Janus..." Gaspar began.
"Yes?"
"How is it you were able to cast Luminaire? That spell is the maximum Lightning spell. A shadow user such as yourself should not be able to cast it."
"I tried something and it worked. Shadow and Lightning are very close, magically, to each other. When Alpha was able to send his feelings and reassurances along the heart thread, and Orion received some level of comfort from it, I realized that the threads could be used for communication. When you gave me 'my' heart thread, I felt nothing. Perhaps it was because it was not doubled, so Orion wasn't thinking of me. I wasn't able to send him any reassurances as everyone else did, though I tried." Magus cast an apologetic look toward Orion.
"Instead, I conducted an experiment. I am able to cast a strong Lightning spell, so I do know the way of shaping magic for that. I have tried to learn Luminaire before and failed -- I suspect for the very reason you mentioned, that I am a Shadow mage, not a Lightning one. I suspected that the desperate plan might need a spell to undo. Lightning, since it is Orion's magic, was the only one that made sense. I suspected that the strongest Lightning magic I know would be insufficient so... I borrowed a spell. Basically, I used the connection to Orion, through the heart thread you handed me, to leech a Luminaire spell from him. I cast it, but it was his spell. I now know what it feels like, but that level of understanding the force of Lightning magic is still beyond me.
Gaspar smiled slightly and shook his head.
"You hold magic stronger than any your mother dreamed of!" he approved before he turned toward Orion.
"Are you all right? Have you recovered enough to stomach more adventure?"
Orion flashed his cockiest grin and gave the guru a thumb's up. "Melchior made me drink something truly nasty-tasting and gave me something to eat. I'm ready for whatever you gurus throw at us next!"
Despite himself, Gaspar grinned.
"Well then, since you are ready, down to serious business." Gaspar turned expectantly toward Melchior.
"I cannot stress to all of you how important it is that you stay close to Magus. In the Shadow Realm, he is your life. Prime could probably survive a few hours there, since he channels Shadow magic, but the rest of you, the ground, the air, the very place itself is poisonous to you. Magus, as a Master Mage of Shadow, emits a magical energy field that even now casting off tiny bits of Shadow."
Melchior looked seriously into each pair of eyes to drive his point home. "Haven't you noticed that your merged spells, especially the destructive ones are more powerful than perhaps they ought to be? That is Magus' Shadow Field. Since Magus is a power of this Realm, in the Shadow Realm, he will actually emit some of our realm's energy instead. It will be weak at first, but the very nature of the Shadow Realm that is so deadly to you, will strengthen him. As Magus becomes stronger, his Field of our reality will grow. You must be aware of this!"
"If you stray too far from Janus, you will die... and nothing I can do, no Chrono Trigger I can make, will bring you back. Do not be surprised if your spells that are not combined with Janus' Shadow spells, are weak or fail entirely at first. Your lives are truly in his hands." Gaspar was as utterly, deadly serious as Melchior.
"What good are we at all then?" Orion asked, "If only Magus can act..."
Alpha drew his sword, "We can still fight. We can protect'eth Magus as we find'eth out who hast Schala and Ariel. If the Realm be so different from ours, the monsters be different too, but Magus willst not face them alone! I will guard him!"
They rounded a bend in the path of shadows they were on and came across him. He was standing in the middle of the path and his aspect was as of death.
"Are you Death?" Magus asked levelly.
The man, he seemed to be a man at any rate, crossed his arms, cupped his chin and tilted his head to one side considering the question.
"Not officially, although I suppose for some of you I could be...I am the Seeker of Darkness, the Dark Prince."
Magus felt a chill, almost of recognition, for that had been his title once.
"Why are you here?" Magus asked.
"To test you, of course. To see if you are worthy... but enough of talk!" The Seeker of Darkness raised his arms in an archaic spell casting motion.
"But, why? What are you testing us for?" Orion asked.
"Not you, stripling, you reek of Good. The Mage only!" He completed his gesture and a black bolt struck Orion in the chest. Orion slumped to the ground as if dead.
"I can detect no life signs!" Prime warned as he raced toward Orion's side.
The one who titled himself the "Dark Prince" rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. He watched as Magus' eyes flicked in surprise to his lethal sword and knew that somehow Magus sensed its soul-killing destructive potential.
"Why, you! If you've killed him!" Elora cried out as she summoned Fire Magic to herself, forgetting the weakness her spell would have in the Realm of Shadow. The Seeker of Darkness declined to get his cloak singed and enclosed her in a polyhedral prison of Ice. As he intended, it stifled her spell and the Fire Magic used up most of the air available to the hot-headed girl. Magus noted that the Seeker's elemental spells seemed to function at full force, even as he noted the peril Elora was now in.
"Elora! There is almost no oxygen in there!" Prime cried as he shot his laser at her Ice prison.
"No, Prime! Don't!" Magus called a fraction too late.
The laser bounced across the facets and struck Elora, trapped within. He face reflected agony as she slumped over injured...or worse.
Alpha leaped up and slashed viciously down across the front plane of Ice breaking the prison. Prime rushed forward and cradled Elora gently in his massive arms, crooning an apology all the while. Alpha made certain that his return leap placed him between Magus and their all too lethal foe.
"So...you are the Light to Magus' Dark..." The Seeker noted.
"I am death to you!" Alpha retorted.
"Ha, ha, ha! Brave words, muckdweller! But your pigsticker couldn't hurt me. Stand aside. I have nothing to do with the Light. I deal only with the Dark!" the Seeker laughed.
"I shall not!" Alpha promised as he brought the Masamune up to guard.
"Alpha, check on Orion, please. You can help him, I cannot -- if he can be helped at all. I will converse with this 'Seeker of Darkness'," Magus directed.
"Converse? Magus art thou mad? He attacked Orion, hurt Elora..." Alpha began in anger.
"Not so. I merely silenced one whose prattling I had no care to hear and protected myself from an attack. Her robot injured her!" the Seeker pointed out coolly.
"I suppose -- it could be viewed that way..." Magus agreed slowly.
"Come, walk with me. I need to clear my nostrils of the stench of goodness," the Seeker invited.
Magus walked, as if in a daze, and followed the one garbed as death into the shadow forest.
"This far and no further," Magus said after a few moments.
"Why?" the Seeker asked.
Magus smiled thinly.
"I know that you know. They depend on me for survival in this realm. If I move too far from them, they will die."
"And...?"
"I do not want them to die yet. Perhaps not at all," Magus mused.
"They are of no consequence. Think of the worlds we could explore, the power we could wield! What need have you of them? They only use you for your power," the Seeker of Darkness offered in a low tone.
"I admit, if not for my power, they never would have saved me, but now, I think there is more to it than that. A few months ago I would have gladly gone with you to seek new realms of power and magic but now..." Magus puzzled.
The Seeker waited quietly.
"...Now, I think there is more to our relationships than simply power. Sure, they need me. But I am beginning to think that I need them too... and not for their power..." Magus realized slowly.
"Cursed ghost!" The Seeker exclaimed. "Caring for another..." he shuddered, "This is your doing..."
The Seeker of Darkness looked up and locked gazes with Magus. Dark eyes glittered within the death-like visage.
"Perhaps... at another time... in another place..." he promised as he faded into shadow.
Magus stared for long moments at the empty space left by the Seeker of Darkness. Finally, he shuddered, almost as if waking, and rejoined the others.
"It is about time that you return'eth!" Alpha chided as Magus approached. "Quickly, you and I must combine our powers to save Orion!"
"Me? I have no power to cure..."
"Idiot! I do! But I need your power of Shadow to make it work here," Alpha explained. "Prime's healing has kept Orion from dying but nothing more. My curing is stronger, but can'st work properly here, in this cursed Realm of Shadow!"
Author's notes:
This is as far as I've gotten in this weak and wimpy work-around chapter. I want to explore just a little how the Shadow Realm affects the various magics of our heroes. I feel almost as if I've built up to this grand finale of a fight, and... just can't write it. I bet it has something to do with who the "big bad" of this story is. So, bear with me a little longer while I complete this awkward chapter. I can promise that Chapter Eleven brings this lumbering story back on course.
Reviews, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome! Please feel free to email me also if you see something awkward that needs to be clarified or fixed. I need all the help I can get!
stargarde (at) stargarde (dot) com