Heresy

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Heresy - book excerpt

Prologue

The noose was tightening around the city of Karpella. It had been many weeks since the Aramorians had begun their siege. Their lightning advance up northwards from the Uplands of Ara into the Kingdom of Dazscor had been barely checked by the few Dazscorian troops who had decided to stand in their way; it had only been the stout walls of the capital city that had stopped the relentless force. Everyone knew, however, that in reality, the Aramorians had not been stopped by the grandiose defences of Karpella; they had merely been stalled. Every day more and more of King Sarper’s under-trained and barely paid troops had deserted, some slipping over the wall and taking their chances surrendering to the Aramorians, some trying to make the swim across the River Arlen; and some lying low in the dark corners of the city’s slums, waiting for their chance to claim their share of the spoils when the enemy outside eventually overwhelmed the defences.

Few in the city, however, were aware of what Hrex knew. Reports had come in late the night before that the wall to the east of the city’s main gate was unlikely to survive another day of bombardment, that it was close to crumbling. What was more, the reports that had come in on the movements of the Dazscorian relief force had been even less welcome. In short, the Dazscorian army in the north of the country had defected en masse to the Duchy of Aramore. A curt note sent directly from the force’s commanding officer gave no illusion to the fact that Sarper IV, his family, court and the people of Karpella were now on their own.

All those in the court of Sarper IV who had been told this directly, and the many who had subsequently managed to find out through one dishonest, nefarious source or another, knew that this was the end. As soon as the general population found out about the desertion of their only hope for salvation, the only trained body of troops outside the city close enough to offer any assistance, the people’s fear and frustration would doubtless boil over, and they would try to take matters into their own hands. The opinion of the court was that it would be better if the weakened section of wall collapsed before the dire news became common knowledge. At least the Aramorians were likely to offer mercy…

Preparations for the evacuation of the royal family had been moving at a breakneck speed. As Hrex shuffled as quickly as she could through the halls of Karpella Castle, she could see people running in all directions over the teetering pile of books and scrolls that she cradled in her arms. Guards clattered through the echoing marble corridors, servants carrying trunks, bags, and even the odd piece of furniture weaved to and fro through the castle, weighed down by their charges, whilst fraught-looking courtiers shouted panicked orders into the tumult.

Despite all of this activity, all the people that Hrex came across parted to let her through, but this wasn’t any form of deferential nod to her position, far from it. The looks of fear were plain to see as the diminutive Lupine made her way through the corridors, and the whispers that followed her rang louder than the shouts and commotion of evacuation through the castle’s chambers. It had always been thus, ever since Hrex had been brought to Karpella in the first place, but now the whispering had taken on a more panicked edge than usual.

‘She can kill you just by looking at you…’

‘The king has her and her Master working on a trap for the Aramorians.’

‘Rubbish, he’s getting them to place a curse on every scrap of gold in the treasury…’

Hrex ignored the mutterings that followed in her wake. She had learned long ago that most people had no idea about magic, sorcery, witchcraft, whatever they chose to call it. For the majority of the population of the Kingdom of Dazscor, and for those that lived far beyond its borders, magic was something that was to be feared, with those able to wield it classed as outsiders, outsiders that should be treated with caution and respect, but outsiders, nonetheless. However, the looks of fear that Hrex received were nothing compared to the way that people viewed her master. Hrex had seen even the bravest, most aggressive of people turn to quivering bundles of nerves when they found themselves in the presence of the Royal Mage to the Court of Sarper IV. Her master oozed power, but only Hrex dared to think that she knew the extent to which he could wield the arcane forces.

If the people living in this pathetic city knew what my Master was capable of, they’d have all fled long before those Aramorian pretenders showed up at our door…

The chaotic hubbub of the castle began to recede as Hrex turned off the marbled artery of the main building and began to climb a tightly twisting spiral staircase that led up towards the rooms that acted as the quarters and laboratory of the Royal Mage. Though the staircase was completely windowless, Hrex had ascended and descended these stairs so many times that she didn’t need to see what she was doing. She knew each and every one of the smooth stone steps that the soles of her bare leathery feet touched, could feel the familiar grooves worn into them by her claws. She paused at the small landing at the top of the stairs, unconcerned by the fact that the solid stone wall she stood opposite had no visible doorway or other way forward. Shuffling the books and scrolls so that they were balanced in one arm, she drew a quill from within the folds of her robe and traced a symbol in the air, whispering to herself as she did so. As the nib of the quill cut through the air, it left a glowing blue outline, hovering in space, and once the symbol was complete, it drifted silently forward and sank into the stonework opposite. A split second later, the landing was bathed in the light spilling from the room beyond, now visible through the arch that had materialised there.

Entering the Royal Mage’s laboratory, Hrex blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light that poured into the room from the three floor-to-ceiling arched windows that lined one side of the space, windows that Hrex knew were disguised as solid masonry to an outside observer. Shelves stacked to bursting with books, jars and boxes of ingredients, potion bottles, crystals and an array of delicately crafted spindly metal equipment, most of whose uses Hrex was oblivious to, lined almost every inch of available wall space. The only openings, other than the way Hrex had entered the room, were two small wooden doors, one leading to her broom cupboard of a bedroom, the other to her master’s more sumptuous living quarters. The centre of the cavernous room was dominated by an enormous table, over which were strewn all manner of tools, pieces of apparatus, bottles and scraps of parchment. Hunched over a large round metal disc that lay on the tabletop, his face illuminated by the faint green light emanating from the metal, was Hrex’s Master. He straightened up as Hrex entered the room and surveyed the Lupine as she staggered towards him under the weight of her burden.

The Royal Mage to the Court of Sarper IV, Aristotles, was tall and willowy with pale grey skin, which along with his long, sharply pointed ears gave him away as being a Shadow Elf rather than a human. His piercing, ice-blue eyes stared at Hrex from over the bridge of his long nose as she approached. Even from the other side of the room, she felt as if he was looking into her very soul. As she deposited the books and scrolls messily on the table, he stalked over to the pile, a long-fingered hand smoothing back his white-blonde, shoulder-length hair.

‘You got all the volumes, I presume?’ he spoke in a refined drawl, the words oozing into Hrex’s ears in an unpleasant way as if they had a will of their own.

‘Yes, Master, every speck of parchment with any reference to Kulittu.’

‘Good, then we should have everything that we need. I’ve sketched out a pattern for the summoning circle, begin drawing it out. You should know all of the minor sigils and spells that go into it.’

Aristotles dismissed her with a wave of his hand and began to shuffle through the pile of books and papers on the table, one hand rubbing his smooth, sharp jawline as he did so. Hrex moved beyond the work table and pulled back a large thick carpet that covered the floor at the other end of the room. The wooden floor beneath was faintly stained with a multitude of coloured lines that had been drawn in chalk and subsequently erased. In the spot where Aristotles had been working was a large piece of parchment with an intricate diagram of the summoning circle drawn upon it, complete with numerous annotations, testament to the care her master had given to ensure that they would be as safe as possible.

Creatures and entities that had to be summoned using such circles were almost always highly dangerous and devilishly cunning. In her experience, such a creature would begin searching as soon as it was summoned for a way to exploit the slightest crack in a circle’s defence so that it might break free of its bonds and attack those who had dared to summon it. Taking the document, Hrex’s gaze fell upon the metal disc nearby. She could feel the power of the magic that her master had imbued into the metal, magic designed to make the object as resistant to damage as possible, ready to receive whatever power Aristotles asked the summoned entity to imbue it with. Tearing her eyes away, she took a stubby piece of blue chalk from a pocket and began to painstakingly draw out the circle onto the floorboards.

***

After nearly an hour of intense concentration, Hrex’s fingers ached from clutching the chalk, which had stained the fur of her hand blue around the fingers, and her head was beginning to throb from the effort of drawing on and manipulating so much arcane energy. As she straightened up to relieve the tightness in her back, she stepped back to admire her handiwork. The floor space before her was now almost completely covered by the summoning circle, whose broad, thick perimeter shone with the arcane symbols of strength and protection that Hrex had enchanted it with. The interior of the circle was crisscrossed with a myriad of other lines, whose linked arcane symbols did not shine as brightly as those in the perimeter but which were no less potent. She had chalked four large diamonds, one in each quarter of the circle, where Aristotles would place the more powerful and more dangerous magic that would summon whoever, or whatever the circle was intended for.

‘Good, you’ve finished. Let’s not waste any more time.’

Aristotles’ voice sounded directly behind Hrex, making her jump. He had an uncanny knack of moving as silently as a shadow, and she had to stifle the curse that rose in her throat.

‘Here, take this, keep it open on that page and hold it up so I can see it.’

As he moved noiselessly past her, Aristotles handed her one of the large, heavy tomes she had brought up from the library, its pages encrusted in dust, small patches of mildew encroaching at the corners. As she manoeuvred the book in her hands so that the required pages faced her master, she caught sight of the title of the volume embossed in faded gold lettering on the spine.

The Heresy of Kulittu

Aristotles stood with his back to the window and faced the circle on the floor, taking great care not to step within it or disturb the chalked lines. The light that still poured into the room framed the Shadow Elf, casting all of his features into shadow. As Hrex shuffled round the circle, the book clutched awkwardly and uncomfortably in her arms so that Aristotles could see it, she saw him close his eyes in concentration. She felt the fur on the back of her neck begin to prickle up as he began to call on far more powerful magic than she had ever dared to use.

Hrex was mesmerised by what her master was doing, by the ease with which he manipulated arcane forces that could so easily have torn apart a lesser mage. His frosty eyes darted periodically to the pages of the book she was holding, and slowly but surely, the four diamonds she had drawn within the circle began to audibly hum with magical energy. Aristotles paused for a moment, inspecting every last inch of the circle one more time.

‘You may put the book down now, Hrex, but stay close. I may need your assistance to keep the binding magic of the circle in check. Bring the disc with you, I want it close at hand. Watch and learn as much as possible, it will likely be many years before you see something of this ilk again…’

Hrex scuttled back to place the book on the table, snatched up the metal disc and returned to the Elf’s side as he deftly drew the final activating symbol in the air with one of his long index fingers and then flicked it through the air and down into the centre of the circle. As soon as the symbol entered the boundary of the circle, all of the other symbols that had been drawn on the floor began to glow with an intense blue-green light, which vanished instantly as the activating symbol settled into its place in the nexus of arcane energy.

For a moment, nothing happened, but then Hrex became aware of the unnatural stillness in the room. An oppressive silence, as if some unseen person had clamped their hands over her ears. Then the light began to fade from the room as the lines and runes of the circle began to glow brighter and brighter once more until they were the only things illuminating the room. She turned back to look at the windows, which should still have had daylight streaming through them, but they were now lifeless portals looking out on to a black abyss rather than the city beyond. Hrex’s head whipped back to the circle as she became suddenly aware of an intensely powerful presence there, far beyond the power of the magic she and Aristotles had put into the summoning circle.

A humanoid figure now stood in the summoning circle, but it was definitely not Human, Elven, or any other race that Hrex could name. It was immensely tall, well over ten feet in height; its head, shrouded in a deep hood that obscured its face, brushed the ceiling. The long black robe that hung limply from the creature’s shoulders revealed its torso, legs and the tight knot-work of muscle through the centre split. The only other clothing it wore was a black loincloth. Its bare feet did not stand on the floorboards, but instead, the creature hovered about an inch above the floor and the nexus of the summoning circle. What struck Hrex most, however, was the stench of death and decay that rolled in a horrific wave from it, and she flinched back from the sudden sensory onslaught, trying to stop herself from gagging. Summoning all of her willpower, she dragged her eyes back to the creature. Its very being was pockmarked with patches of decay, bone poking through here and there from midst rotting flesh, and in the very centre of its chest was an enormous gaping wound, still stained with fresh blood.

‘Speak quickly, mortal, your defences will last mere minutes, and I shall claim your soul if you summoned me here for nought…’ Its voice rattled like a dying breath from out of the darkness of its hood; a stronger whiff of decay trailed after the words from the unseen mouth.

‘Divine Kulittu, master of death, I bid you welcome.’ Aristotles’ voice was as calm and collected as ever, but out of the corner of her eye, Hrex could see the slight tremor of his hands. ‘I have summoned you here to make a bargain with you, one that I hope you will find favourable.’

Pulling a scroll of parchment from a pocket of his long, velvet jacket, Aristotles tossed it towards Kulittu, a small flurry of magical symbols guiding the scroll on its way. As it passed through the magical barrier, the parchment was briefly engulfed in turquoise flames before it was snatched up with surprising speed by Kulittu’s gnarled, decaying hand. He unfurled the scorched scroll and studied it carefully with his unseen eyes.

A thick heavy silence settled over the room as Aristotles and Hrex waited for Kulittu to finish reading. Hrex found herself holding her breath, not wanting to disturb the oppressive stillness with the sound of her breathing. She knew that her master could have communicated what he wanted from the Dead God verbally, but she too had read the dusty, forbidden tomes on arcane summoning that had been kept under lock and key in the castle library. All of them had stated that when summoning a powerful being from another realm of existence, it was always safest to commit any potential bargain that you wished to strike in writing in the most watertight way possible. Otherwise, a magic-user could find their words twisted by a being hell-bent on gaining the upper hand in the deal.

After several dreadfully silent minutes, Kulittu dipped a dirty, broken fingernail into the blood that stained the wound around his chest and dragged the nail like a quill across the scroll, leaving a crimson trail behind it. He then extended his hand, and the parchment began to float back towards Aristotles on the other side of the circle.

‘I agree to your terms, Aristotles, son of Scortlates, exile and traitor to your people. Make your mark upon the contract, and we can begin.’

Wordlessly, Aristotles plucked the parchment out of the air, which still had turquoise flames clinging to its edges from the return trip through the circle, and pricked his finger with a small knife before adding his own blood to the page. As soon as he had finished leaving his mark, the whole scroll vanished in a burst of turquoise flame, which made the Shadow Elf jump as the fingers of his left hand were singed.

‘Good…’ the word crawled out of the place where Kulittu’s mouth should be. ‘Now give me the object in need of enchantment.’

Aristotles nodded curtly to Hrex, who sent the round silver disc magically floating towards the summoning circle. Unlike the parchment, the magical barrier seemed to be attacking the disc much more forcefully, and the magical flames clung to the surface of the metal and had to be brushed off by Kulittu’s dead hand. He laid the disc in the middle of his enormous palm, his right hand raised in the air above it, and he began to intone a spell in a language that Hrex could not understand. Though she didn’t know their meaning, she could feel the power in the words, which grew louder and louder until there was a continuous echoing wave of sound rolling around the chamber. She clapped her hands over her ears, trying to block out the noise that was beginning to make her feel physically sick.

Eventually, the incantation stopped, and looking up, Hrex could see that the disc was still in the palm of Kulittu’s hand but that now it emitted its own faint blue light. Kulittu’s right hand moved now from above the disc towards his face and was momentarily lost within the blackness of his hood. When it emerged, it was clutching what looked like a mask. He turned his hand to face Aristotles and Hrex, and she could see it was indeed a mask that resembled an emaciated face whose expression was twisted into a horrific visage of pain and suffering.

‘With these two objects, I have upheld my end of the bargain, and you will have what you need to uphold yours.’

This time, instead of magically sending the two objects back to the other side of the summoning circle, Kulittu began to walk slowly towards them. The warding symbols of the barrier flared angrily with blue light as he strode forwards, but it was clear that the magic trying to contain him was no match for the power of the Dead God. As the magic of the summoning circle collapsed, it sent a shockwave through the room that made Hrex and her master stagger back. Before they could react, they were both in Kulittu’s immense shadow. One of the God’s horrid hands snapped out and grabbed Aristotles by the throat and lifted him off the ground so that he was level with the black void of his hood. Instinctively Hrex swiftly sketched two symbols in the air and threw them at Kulittu, but with the barest incline of his head, they were dispelled. Kulittu’s head snapped round to stare down at Hrex. A moment later, she was tossed through the air and was smashed into one of the window arches. Her vision swam drunkenly as she reeled from the blow, but she could still hear Kulittu’s voice speaking across the room.

‘Do not be fooled into thinking that you can contain my power. Many greater than you have attempted to rule me, but none have succeeded. Not even another deity for all her treachery was able to truly kill me! Now, prove to me that you were worth my time and are worthy of my benefaction. Bring me a good harvest so that I may grow stronger and allow you to feast on the scraps. I will know if you fail, and be warned, I will reclaim my investment from you no matter which realm of existence you may be on…’

With that, Kulittu vanished, sending Aristotles crashing to the floor. Within seconds of him leaving, light began to flood back into the room from the windows and the sounds of distant chaos in the castle could faintly be heard again. Hrex clambered unsteadily to her feet and tottered over to where her master was gingerly rising from the floor.

‘I must go and rest, we have much left to do, but I cannot do it in my current state. Wake me in an hour, and we will complete the first piece of the puzzle. Here, keep this safe.’

He pressed the disc into her hands and began to make his way gingerly towards the door leading to his personal chambers. He was still clutching the mask in his hand, and Hrex noticed that it had shrunk in size so that it was now no larger than his palm. She looked down at the object in her own hands and marvelled at what had become of the plain silver disc since Kulittu had touched it. She could feel the enormity of the power pulsing through it and the surface of the metal now swam with images and symbols that she could not comprehend, all of which were encircled by a snake devouring its own tail.