Ch 42: The Pieces Thus far

Errant's study was much like a smaller war room, combined with a library, tossed into a witch's workshop. There were shelves lined with scrolls and books, desks with herbs and crystals, and a table in the middle covered with maps and other writings.

It wasn't a small room per say, but with Astasha, Calder, Talib, the King, and the five other sorcerers, it felt a bit cramped.

Errant closed the door and turned to the group. "I know the fewer who know all of the details the better, so my hope is that between those of us here, we may be able to put some of the puzzle together before the High Council arrives."

“Screw the High Council,” said Talib, making Errant’s brow furrow and a few of the sorcerers gasp. “We need to figure out how to kill the fucking thing.”

The King put a hand on the Captain’s shoulder. “I know you thirst for blood, but we must first determine it’s motives and how it might strike again.”

“Exactly.” Said Errant. “So where do we begin?”

Everyone seemed to turn to Astasha and Calder who were just as clueless as the rest. They had been the ones at the epicenter of all this, so it made sense that they would be the ones looked to for answers, but they had nothing more than what they had already given.

“What exactly do we know so far?” It was the earth sorcerer who spoke.

“Well,” responded Errant. “We have to assume that everything that has happened has been connected, from the Prince’s possession to the dreams, even the bond that these two seem to share. A dark energy it seems is pulling strings to achieve the ultimate goal of the burning of the old world. What that means, however, remains a mystery.”

“It seems to me that that is the mystery we must first solve then.” The water witch’s voice was soft but firm.

“Have we had any luck in locating where this forest is?” Asked Calder.

Helia shook her head. “I spent all night pouring over maps, old and new, but nothing in this kingdom or any others comes close to what you described.”

“Even if we were to find it, it won’t do us much good if we don’t know what we are going up against or why.” Interjected the King. “A battle cannot be won with half the information.”

“What I wanna know is, why would a thing as powerful as that demon retreat and hide in some palace in the middle of a forest no one can fucking find?” Talib’s arms were crossed, his eyes searching each member of the group for answers none had.

Something came to Astasha then, something she had all but forgotten about since her experience in the clearing. “I don’t think it’s the demon that’s there.” Her eyes met Errants as she felt him come to a realization as well.

“What the hell do you mean?” Asked Talib. “What else would it be?”

Energy exchanged between Tasha and the High Sorcerer, a conversation without words as they came to a silent agreement. His eyes didn’t leave hers as he spoke. “There seems to be information that needs to be shared, information that had previously been kept private due to certain circumstances that have since come to pass and are no longer a threat.”

Cal looked from Astasha to Errant. “What information?” She could feel a mild hurt coming from him. There was something she knew that she hadn’t shared with him, and she understood why he felt what he did. There had been so many opportunities for her to tell him about the conversation she had had with the demon, but as she thought about it, she realized the reason she hadn’t was a simple one; they had had so little time together, and each moment had threatened to be their last. She hadn’t wanted to waste what precious minutes they had with each other talking about something so dark and terrifying. She had wanted the memories of those nights to be only beauty and love. But now she knew it must feel like a betrayal.

Before she could explain to him, however, Errant spoke. “The demon talked to Astasha while it was trapped inside her. It had mentioned an accomplice, one we now know to be the Sorceress Cordelia. The information wasn’t shared at the time because we needed to determine who it might be without giving away that we were aware of the culprit.”

Calder’s questioning eyes turned to Astasha and she silently pleaded with him to understand.

Errant continued. “There was something else it had mentioned though, something we weren’t sure of until now.”

“The entity in the castle… its…?” Zephyr was looking to Astasha. She had forgotten he was the only other one to know of the conversation she had had with the demon.

She nodded. “I believe the demon is working for whatever it is that keeps haunting our dreams.”

The room was silent.

“Well that’s just fucking great.” Said Talib breaking the silence. “You’re saying there’s something bigger and badder than the fucking demon we have to worry about now? Something we have absolutely no idea what it could be?”

Errant took a deep breath. “Yes. I believe so.”

Astasha could feel the hurt pouring off of Calder into her. She wanted nothing more than to comfort him, to explain to him why she hadn’t confided this information to him, but now was not the time.

“Whatever it is,” she said pushing aside her guilt. “It believes Calder and I are key to its plan. Perhaps that’s why the demon spared us in the woods. It’s master somehow called on it to stop.”

“I don't claim to know much about this demon, but from what we have seen, it would take an immensely powerful being to control it like that." Said Helia with what seemed to be a look of fear and awe in her eyes.

Terrin was shaking his head. “If that’s true, the High Council needs to know about this immediately. They could be the only ones powerful enough to stop it.”

“By the time they get here in three days it could be too late." Countered Talib. "I say we take the entire King’s army, hunt this thing down, and level the land it lives in."

“And where exactly would that be? Do you have some secret knowledge of where this unknown dead forest is hiding?” Talib spat back.

“No, but I would rather be out there looking for it than sitting here with my thumb up my ass waiting for the High Council while these evil fucks take their time plotting and preparing." Talib was heated, no doubt a response to the fear of facing an enemy he knew nothing about.

Before Terrin could further the debate, however, Norelle spoke the words none of them had wanted to hear. "If the Prince and sorceress Astasha are indeed pivotal to their plan, I do not believe we will have to go looking for this evil. It will only be a matter of time before it comes to fetch what it needs.”

"Then we will be ready for it. It will be over my dead body that that demon touches my son again." Said the King.

Calder finally spoke. “And yet, we are no fucking closer to figuring out how to prepare for that. So far all we’ve determined is that the most powerful and deadly enemy I've ever faced was merely a puppet, used just as it had used me. But to what end and what purpose? We still don't know what it is exactly that this thing wants to see undone, what exactly it is it wishes Tasha and I to unleash our fire upon, or how in the hell we are meant to do that.”

His despair trickled into Astasha, but as much as she tried to counter it with confidence that they would find a way, it didn’t seem to work.

“And this is exactly why we need the High Council. They could know things we don’t.” Said Terrin.

Cal scoffed. “The fact that Tasha and I play a key part in this mess will be all they need to do what it is they do best. Why defeat the enemy with your own weapons when you can simply take away theirs?”

“What are you talking about?” Asked the earth sorcerer.

Astasha knew what he was getting at. And as she glanced around the room, the looks on Helia, Zephyr and Errant’s faces showed that they did as well.

She exhaled sharply, the truth like a stone dropping into her stomach. “What he’s saying is, instead of planning an attack, they will devote all of their energy into breaking the bond between Cal and myself and ensuring that neither of us can possibly burn anything. Hell, if they find out about our past they can even justify it.”

“I told you I would do everything in my power to keep them from performing an extraction—“ Errant tried to reassure her but Astasha now understood Cal’s despair. It was beginning to consume her as well.

“High Sorcerer, we both know that’s the simplest answer, at least that they will see.”

Helia was beside herself. “No. They can’t, not when we don’t understand the implications of your connection. And what if you aren’t the only thing they want? Removing you from the picture doesn’t mean it all just goes away. We know nothing of what their true intentions are. Stripping you of your magic will only hinder our success by taking away a powerful weapon of our own.”

Astasha smiled weakly at her fellow fire witch. “You know they won’t see it that way.”

Errant’s brow was furrowed again. “Then we make them see it another. We have three days until their arrival and no idea if the demon will return or not. It seems the only coarse of action is to take all courses. Not only do we prepare the armies for battle, we secure the castle with all means of protection possible. Meanwhile, we do everything we can to decipher what it is this thing wants to see burn and then find a way to prevent that from happening that doesn’t involve harming either of you.” He nodded toward the couple who stood, hands still clasped, reality closing in around them.

It wasn’t much more to go off of than they had had before their secret meeting, but it was at least a plan. Everyone had agreed and Errant had handed out assignments; Josnen and Talib were to prepare every abled man and woman to either defend the castle or march to war, working closely with Zephyr and the multitude of advisors to create as strategically sound a plan as possible. Terrin would continue the search for the location of the dead woods, while Helia, Norelle, and Errant worked with Calder and Astasha to uncover whatever clues might be hidden in the demon’s puzzle and reoccurring dreams.

There was a buzz of determined energy mingled with a tempered, slow burning fear in the room as everyone spoke in hushed voices to each other. Calder had finally broken away from Astasha to speak with his father and Captain about the palace’s protection, and so she stood in the corner by herself observing the group who had banded together to aide her in the mess she had found herself completely submerged in.

That was when she had made her decision.

These people, none of them owed her this allegiance. It had been her decision that had lead to the unfolding of the events that had brought them here. She knew the High Council would judge her, and all those who had aided her would be punished as such. And should they stand to protect her, they would fall.

There was one piece of information she hadn’t shared with anyone, not even Cal; the voice in the nightmares had beckoned her, told her to seek her answers there, where the stone castle stood amongst the bare trees in the silent forest. That was where the truth was, and she knew anyone who followed her would not return.

And so she knew what she had to do. She would find this place first, and go there alone to face the monster that haunted her, to end the turmoil and suffering of all those who were gathered around her. But she knew she wouldn’t be able to defeat it. She would meet her own end there.