Fortress Al-Mir

Arkk sat on a bench outside the recovery ward of Cliff’s academy. He had run out to get help the moment the woman—Zullie, he had discovered—collapsed. A few students and instructors had come, picked her up, and carried her off to the recovery ward. He should have left while they were busy and not paying attention to him, but two things were keeping him at the academy.

First, he hadn’t accomplished anything he had come here to do. All he had learned was one spell that he couldn’t remember after having heard its long incantation only once. Secondly, well, he felt guilty. That woman had collapsed after having tried to cast his spell. He had no idea why. None of what Vezta instilled in his mind with the [CONSTRUCTED LANGUAGE] gave him any clue as to what had happened to Zullie.

Still, he should have left. He could have come back in the morning. They were planning on spending three days in Cliff, plenty of time to visit again and both look into the matter of books and check up on Zullie.

He should have left.

He knew he should have left the moment he spotted a familiar face walking down the academy corridor. Arkk should only know two other faces in the entire city and this was neither.

The man’s head practically scraped the ceiling of the corridors. His posture, head slightly ahead of the rest of his body and arms straight at his side without swinging as he moved, triggered all kinds of unease in Arkk. The worst was his smile. It looked calm and serene, but the stiffness and the way his lips were parted just enough to see his upper teeth didn’t help Arkk’s disquiet.

He walked right past Arkk, reaching for the door handle with his long arms, but paused the moment he touched the metal. With a faint sniff, he turned his head.

There was a slight, awkward pause as recognition lit up behind those thin round glasses. “Ah. Mister Arkk,” he said in the same tone someone might use when greeting an old friend.

Arkk held in a sigh. “Master Inquisitor Darius Vrox. Right?”

“You remembered.”

“Well, you made an impression, I guess.”

His smile deepened without reaching his eyes for a bare instant before he returned to a placid expression. “Fancy encountering you here. Did you recall something you wished to tell us?”

“No, I…” Arkk trailed off as the Master Inquisitor stepped closer, utterly dwarfing him as he remained in his seat. “I remembered what you said about learning at a magical academy and decided to come to take a look for myself.”

“Enjoying yourself so far?”

“I didn’t really get a chance to look around before the first person I tried to talk to collapsed,” Arkk said with a glance at the closed door.

“I heard an old colleague of mine suffered some sort of magical malady,” Vrox said, looking toward the door. “Now that I’ve found you here, many questions come to mind.”

“As much as I would love to answer them,” Arkk started, sliding to the side on the bench so he could stand without bumping into Vrox. “I was only sticking around to make sure Zullie was alright, but if someone as qualified as you is here—”

“Stay,” Vrox said, taking a step to the side to keep in front of Arkk. “Tell me what you did.”

“Why do you think I did anything?”

“Because you are here,” Vrox said, smile slipping entirely. “And, Mister Arkk, I do not trust you. I do not believe a word you say. From the moment we met, you have done nothing but lie to me.”

“But I didn’t—”

“Another lie.”

Arkk pressed his lips together, glaring. “Then I suppose there is no point in telling you anything, is there? If you aren’t going to believe a word I say, why waste my breath?”

Darius Vrox stared, then smiled his stiff, open-mouthed grin once again. “Well, shall we see how our unfortunate professor is handling herself?” he asked, stepping to the door. Without even waiting for Arkk’s response, he turned the handle and pushed the door open.

Arkk glanced down the corridor. This was his chance to escape. Yet, if he ran away now, he was sure that Vrox would see that as a sign of further guilt. Arkk still wasn’t sure exactly what the inquisitors wanted, but Olatt’an, Vezta, and Ilya all said that having them after him would be irritating at best, but more likely deadly.

Not to mention, he did want to know if Zullie was alright.

With a sigh, feeling again like he should just leave, Arkk followed Vrox into the recovery ward.

Cliff Academy Recovery Ward was a fairly subdued affair. There was a large desk with a larger shelf behind it. Dozens of stoppered glass bottles occupied the spaces, each a different size, shape, and with different colored liquids inside. Between the shelf and the desk, a woman sat wearing white robes almost identical to those worn by Abbess Keena in Langleey. Her clothes covered her entire body except for her face and her hands.

Beyond the desk, several beds were pushed up against the wall. Three of the five were unoccupied. One had a younger man with bloodied bandages wrapped around one arm. Zullie was in the other, asleep and unharmed save for the large bruise that had spread across her chin and cheek on one side of her face.

Another man stood over her bed. He wore a long white cassock with a little black square at the center of his collar. There was no doubt that this man was a member of the Abbey of the Light; the golden thread woven into his cassock formed the same symbols that adorned Abbess Keena’s habit and the church buildings.

“Priest,” Vrox said, stepping up to the foot of the bed.

“Who—” The priest looked up from Zullie. His eyes widened to their maximum and he took a hesitant step back. “M-Ma—”

“Darius Vrox, at your service.”

“Master Inquisitor!”

“Please,” Vrox said with his utterly insincere smile, “call me Darius.” His eyes shifted down to Zullie and his smile disappeared. “What happened to the female?”

“Your Eminence!” the priest shouted, back stiffening. “This is hardly a matter that warrants your attention.”

“I will be the judge of that.”

“Of course, Sir.” The priest glanced downward, frowning at the woman on the bed. “It’s just Zullie. One of our premier spell researchers. Except, she doesn’t know when to stop. She has overloaded her magical channels. Again. A bit of rest and she’ll be back on her feet.”

“This is a frequent occurrence?”

“Oh yes. This happens… once a month at the very least.”

“Once a month?” Arkk said. “It isn’t anything serious?”

The priest jolted, glancing at Arkk as if it were the first time he noticed that anyone else was in the room. With a slight glance to Vrox, who didn’t move in the slightest, the priest nodded his head. “I wouldn’t say it isn’t serious, but it is hardly unusual for Zullie. You’re the one who brought her here? I didn’t realize you were waiting around.”

Arkk sighed. “I should have left. I was worried for nothing.”

Scratching the back of his head, the priest offered a half-hearted shrug. Looking back to the inquisitor, he stiffened and cleared his throat. “I offered a prayer of rejuvenation as well as administered a phial of replenishment. There is no need to concern yourself, Sir.”

“On the contrary, I find myself quite concerned when one of our esteemed oracles begins a Prognosis stating that the stars have begun aligning within Cliff Magical Academy.”

“Inside?” Arkk said, frowning. He grimaced at having accidentally drawn the inquisitor’s attention but pressed his lips together and continued when no one said anything to him. “Don’t you mean above? How are stars aligning inside a mountain?”

Vrox fixed Arkk with a long look. Long enough that Arkk felt himself fidgeting under the taller man’s gaze. “Where is the horror from beyond the stars, Mister Arkk?”

“This again,” Arkk mumbled with a sigh. “I haven’t even seen that monster in… over a week at least,” he said, once again implying one thing without lying. Thinking back to what Vezta had said, he asked, “What does that even mean, beyond the stars?”

“Mister Arkk, I understand that you are a lowly countryside creature ignorant of the ways of the world and, I’m sure, most everything save for farming and what few scraps of magic you might have gleaned from the pages of passers-by.”

Arkk waited for the ‘but’ to follow that extended insult.

It never came.

“The Inquisition of the Light exists to protect the world and all its inhabitants from things beyond,” Vrox continued. “A mine infested by gorgon or a necromancer commanding an army of thousands is mere child’s play compared to what I have personally seen. The things we deal with threaten the very concept of life; the average being we hunt down is unimaginable to the majority of humans. And yet, I believe you, in all your ignorance, would imagine one such being quite well.”

“If you’re talking about Vezta,” Arkk said with a scowl, “then I told you in Langleey. She showed up and helped defend the village. So obviously I can imagine her. But we almost got overwhelmed by a hundred goblins. I would be far more scared of a necromancer with an army. Besides, she helped the village. Saved us, even. An enemy of life itself or whatever wouldn’t have done that. You’re clearly barking up the wrong tree.”

Vrox took a deep breath, staring. His smile snapped back into place. “Possible,” he said, turning away from the bed. “But unlikely given the description we received. And now, I find you at the site of the oracle’s Prognosis. There is a limit to coincidence, Mister Arkk.” He dipped his head. “Please inform any member of the Abbey of the Light should you recall anything of interest regarding your monster. We may be mistaken. Finding the creature and examining it would put our worries to rest. Good day, Mister Arkk.”

Arkk watched the tall man duck through the doorway and turn down the hall.

Now, he decided not to leave. Not yet, anyway. Let the inquisitor get far away before he followed. The last thing Arkk wanted to do was carry on their conversation on the way out. Or worse, walk along in awkward silence. Instead, Arkk turned back to Zullie and the priest.

The priest was breathing hard, half collapsed onto the adjacent bed. His face was flushed and he kept patting his chest.

“Are you alright?” Arkk asked, not wanting to be responsible for a second person fainting in his presence today.

“Oh dear me. I’m…” He pressed his lips together, breathing out. One more breath in and he seemed to calm himself down. “Not every day you run into an inquisitor, is it? Not to speak ill of His Eminence, but I am glad he is gone. Ill omens follow in their wake. I hope he doesn’t return.”

“Ill omens?”

“As he said, inquisitors hunt dangerous creatures and forbidden magics. If an inquisitor is snooping about, one of those things is certainly present.” The priest glanced down at Zullie. “I hope you haven’t been delving into dangerous research. Again,” he mumbled under his breath. “Sorry. Just a bit shook is all. You mentioned that you were from Langleey?”

“You’ve heard of it?” Arkk asked, surprised. He had been telling people he came from Smilesville after the first few people had no idea where Langleey was.

“The abbess in charge is still Keena, correct?” At Arkk’s nod, he smiled. “Keena and I were initiates and, later, acolytes at the same time. Tell her Heller says hello. I haven’t seen her in years.”

“Sure, I’m sure she’d be happy—”

Zullie’s eyes snapped open as she gasped in her bed. The gasp turned into a rickety cough that ended with her leaning over the side of the bed. Arkk thought she was going to be sick for a moment, but she ended up only spitting out a small wad of blood onto the floor.

“Zullie! Please,” Heller said, pinching his nose. “I’ve told you time and time again and now you’re dirtying my ward—”

“Ugh, here again,” Zullie groaned, smacking herself in the face. “Glasses. Where are my glasses, old man?”

“I am not old.”

“You’re twice my age, almost three times,” Zullie said. She patted her hands around the bedside table until her fingers found the square rims of her glasses. She tried to put them on, only to hiss as she jabbed herself right in her bruise. With a finger, she tenderly prodded at it, feeling for the edges of the injury.

“I applied some poultice. You’ll probably be tender for a good week.”

“Great.” Zullie carefully slid the glasses onto her face, taking special care not to bump her cheek. “How long…” She trailed off as she looked around the room. “You!”

“Sorry,” Arkk said with a grimace. “I didn’t know—”

“How did you do that?”

“Uh…”

Against the protests of the priest, Zullie jumped out of her bed, lunging for Arkk. He started to back up, moving out of reach of her grab, only to watch her legs fail her. Arkk stepped forward quickly, managing to catch her before she could crash to the floor again.

“You need rest, Zullie,” Heller said, moving around the bed to help.

“I don’t need rest.” She fought him off, grabbing hold of Arkk by the shoulders and pulling herself far too close for comfort.

What was it with these people and their lack of personal boundaries?

“You!” Zullie said again. “How? I poured everything I had into that and couldn’t manage a spark!”

Arkk shrugged. “You were talking about elements and gestures? Maybe you got the wrong ones.”

“No. Something should have happened.”

“You collapsed.”

She glared.

“Uh… there was a slight flash of light? Nothing too bright. It might have been my imagination, honestly.”

Releasing him, Zullie pinched her chin between her thumb and forefinger. “So, it did work,” she mumbled to herself. “But…”

As the magical researcher began mumbling to herself about various magical theories that Arkk couldn’t make heads or tails of, he started backing away. Slowly at first, but once he got to the door, he picked up his pace. He really should have left a long time ago. There would surely be others around who could point him to a bookstore. Maybe even Hawkwood. Surely a mercenary company made use of spellcasters in their ranks.

Arkk didn’t make it very far before he heard the woman running up from behind. She had barely been able to stand a moment ago and now she was running? Arkk had to give her points for determination if nothing else.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Zullie shouted as she closed the distance.

“Thought you needed your rest,” Arkk said with a wan smile as he turned around.

“What I need is to figure out how you did that spell. Show me again.”

Arkk sighed. “Before you go pass out again, would you mind telling me where I can pick up some books on magic? Both rituals and incantations, please.”

“You want books after showing me that? If I knew where to find a book that could teach me to cast a spell in two words, you think I’d be in this dump? I would be living large as the King’s court sorcerer!”

“Well, I would still like some books. And I have no idea how to teach you that spell. The way I learned it…” Arkk pressed his lips together. “It was unorthodox, to say the least. And some people might be after the person who taught me.”

“The inquisitor?” Zullie asked, violet eyes piercing through her glasses. “I was half-awake throughout all that. Caught part of it, I think.” She stepped back, crossing her arms with a thoughtful expression on her face. “Forbidden magic, huh? Inquisitors don’t roll out of bed for a soul-splitting lich and you’ve got them in a tizzy over a little lightning bolt?”

“I think they’re after the person who taught it,” Arkk repeated.

“Only because they don’t know about the spell. Did you ever demonstrate it for them?”

“No.”

“Don’t. I’ll teach you a proper spell for a lightning bolt if they ever show up asking to know.”

Arkk raised his eyebrows. “You’ll help me? Even if I’ve got these inquisitors buzzing over my shoulder?”

Zullie stared at him, eyes locked on his. “There is nothing I value more than the pursuit of magical advancement. A two-word lightning spell of that caliber… To be honest, it puts every accomplishment under my name to shame.”

“Sorry.”

She shook her head. “It’s wonderful. Fascinating. So, you teach me your spell or bring me to your tutor and I teach you how to better hide from the inquisitors. They are non-too-pleased with me, to be honest. I have experience dealing with them. How does that sound?”

“Well, I…” Arkk trailed off, frowning. “Well, I need to be careful making transactional agreements like that. You might end up getting hired by accident.”

“Hired?”

Arkk shook his head, waving his hand dismissively. He was sure she would be interested in that as well given that the [HEART] was some ancient magical artifact. With her as excited as she was about the lightning spell, he didn’t want to alarm—or excite—her any further.

“My companions and I were only going to be in the city for another few days before we return home. We are planning on coming back sometime soon, but I don’t know about bringing Vezta—”

“How many more days?”

“Two or three.”

“I’ll have my things packed and ready.”

Arkk stared. “Excuse me?”

“I can pay my way for food and sleeping accommodations. Transit too, if necessary.”

“You’re coming with us?”

“Yes,” Zullie said, straight-faced and entirely serious. “Is that a problem?”

“I guess not.” He would double-check with Ilya and Dakka, but he doubted they would mind. And if she was going to help him with the inquisitors, then keeping her happy would be for the best. “I don’t know exactly when we’re going to leave. Stop by the Primrose stayover tomorrow night and we’ll have a better idea.”

“Primrose,” she said, nose wrinkling.

“Is that a problem?”

“No, no. I suppose not.” Nodding to herself, she straightened her back. Arms still crossed, she angled one upward and gestured vaguely with her fingers. “I will be there. Tomorrow evening, before sunset.”

“Great. I’ll let the others know,” Arkk said, backing away once again.

For a long few moments, he thought she might chase after him, but she didn’t. Zullie remained right where she was, tapping her finger against her chin while muttering to herself. Satisfied that he wasn’t about to be tackled, Arkk began the long process of figuring out where to find the exit to the maze of interconnected corridors.

It did remind him of Fortress Al-Mir in that regard, though he had never found himself lost back home. The fortress projected a map into his mind and he could teleport anywhere at will within. The same was not true here.

Eventually, he found someone else wandering the halls who was happy to show him the way out.

When he saw the night sky hanging overhead, Arkk winced.

“The others are going to kill me,” he mumbled.