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sparkindarknessWell, damn. This looks like I'm going to be stuck with lots of foreshadowing...
Gah, and I've screwed up the numbering again. {Edit to fix}
We were gathered back in our flat several hours later. Liam was a little irritated that Rick had gathered together his friends as well. To be honest, I wasn’t best pleased with the intrusion either but Rick had practically begged me. Not with a word or even a gesture, but he looked at me and I knew this was important to him.
I guess he doesn’t want his friends alone when there’s a rogue Sorcerer out there. I can’t say I blame him.
I laughed, cold and mirthless, causing heads to turn. It was amazing how afraid everyone was, how afraid I was. I had lived with Sorcery all my life yet it still has the power to invoke terror in me. Perhaps there were some things you could never truly become blasé about. I let my power roil through my mind, examining it, truly looking at the darkness. I shuddered. No, there are some things you can never become casually used to.
The police had questioned us for several hours. So long, in fact, that the sun had nearly set before we could finally go our own way. I think we only got out as soon as we did because of some subtle use of power. They hadn’t been happy with our story, had been really unhappy with some of the goods that had been in the shop (nothing illegal, of course… but not much they could recognise either), really hadn’t been happy with the idea of ram-raiders who avoided the cash register and they had been really spooked by the quiet phone call from the British embassy, which probably raised more suspicion than it helped speed things along. Tomorrow we have the fun and joy of talking to the insurance company. Life is much simpler when you can just threaten everyone with painful death.
Of course, if I’m not satisfied with Liam’s story we could still have time for death threats. Ahrimadan purred softly on my lap. He had amused himself by torturing Animal Services and the SPCA all day.
“Ok Liam,” I purred quietly, finally breaking the silence. Everyone jumped, Mia spilling coffee down her front, she jerked so badly. “Enlighten us.”
He sighed, looked like he was going to make one last ditch effort to clear some people out of the room before thinking better of it. “There is a Sorcerer in America.”
I frowned. “I guessed, but how? I thought I was the only Sorcerer born for over a hundred years? He didn’t feel like a kid. He felt old, he knew what he was doing.”
Liam stared into the depths of his coffee, either looking at the worlds beyond or trying to avoid my eye. Maybe both. “His name is, or at least he called himself, Kyermath.”
I tried to catch his eyes, to see if he was kidding. I remembered reading about Kyermath when I was a child, I’d spent a long time looking into the lives of past Sorcerers. He was supposed to have been destroyed in the 16th century. “Our records say Kyermath is dead. Centuries ago. I didn’t think our record keeping was that inaccurate.”
“Centuries ago?!” Eric gaped. “Wow, I knew you Camaalis guys were good at magic, but wow, that’s pretty impressive.”
We both gave him equally bemused looks. “We didn’t resurrect him,” Liam said, dryly. “And the records are accurate… if you read them correctly. The actual words say we ‘defeated’ Kyermath in 1586.”
“Defeated or not, he is over 400 years old. He should be dead anyway, surely?” Misha put in carefully. When she’s uncertain she always speaks like that, as if she’s delicately placing her words.
“Well… there are ways to extend your lifespan. Camaalis doesn’t exactly frown on them.” I know several relatives have passed their second century. It becomes very awkward explaining their presence to non-magical dignitaries.
“According to the deeper records and the Seer records,” Liam said, shooting me a wary glance. I shrugged, I never really thought they had let me read all of our records when I was a child. “We didn’t actually kill Kyermath but we did contain him.”
“What? I thought you guys fucking hated Sorcerers, why not kill him?” Rick spluttered in outrage on my behalf.
“Kyermath, as Darren has confirmed, was a Necromancer as well. We think he may also have had some daemonic ties. At least, he lead armies of daemons against us. As Darren proves, killing Necromantic Sorcerers is difficult and you have few guarantees. We knew Kyermath had taken great pains to try and preserve his life. We couldn’t guarantee he would remain dead.” Liam said soothingly. “So we imprisoned him. Quite a powerful magical prison, anchored in place at some of the most powerful magical locations we could find.”
“And now there’s a gaolbreak?” Mia grinned at Liam. “So what happened to this powerful magical prison? Someone get him a cake with a file in it?”
Liam grinned back, flirting unconsciously. “Not quite. Trouble was, back in 1586, the clan had access to a lot more territory than we do now. Some of the powerful magical locations we used are now in Concord territory.” His flirtatious smile faded to an angry frown. “The Concord has only allowed us infrequent and brief access to these locations for the last century. In the last 30 years, they haven’t allowed us any access at all. And they’re disputing our land in Eastern Europe, making it hard to work there.”
I winced. “More than just this prison will rely on these locations if they’re really that powerful… They know we have long term spells that need maintenance!” I threw up my hands in exasperation. The Concord had made awkwardness an art.
“We know.” Liam sighed angrily. “It’s playing merry hell with a lot of things. Anyway, the Concord stopped us working and actually started fiddling with the sites themselves.” I groaned and covered my eyes with my hand. “Our thoughts exactly. And now Kyernath is free.”
“Great. So, when’s the cavalry showing up?” Rick asked, putting and arm round me.
“The cavalry?” Liam looked up from his coffee in surprise. “What cavalry?”
“The Camaalis cavalry,” Rick grinned. “Camaalis coming in and kicking this guy’s ass!”
“We aren’t. We’re not allowed.” Liam said grimly. “Kyernath is in the US and the US is Concord territory.” I felt my jaw dropped. I looked at Liam incredulously. He shrugged and sighed again. “We have explained the situation to the Concord and they won’t budge. No Camaalis forces on Concord land. They also criticised our ‘sloppy work, negligence and incompetence’ in allowing the Sorcerer to escape.”
I growled angrily, I could feel my eyes flashing. “And what are the Concord going to do about our negligently released Sorcerer?” I hissed.
“They’re discussing it, apparently. And while they discuss it – which seems to be an excuse to take an opportunity to slag us off repeatedly, Kyernath gets a wonderful opportunity to rebuild his armies to move against Camaalis. He’ll be even stronger than he was in the 16th century.” Liam spat angrily. I sympathised completely, which had to be a first.
“This is your prophecy, isn’t it? This is why you need Darren alive, right?” Rick suddenly said, nearly dropping his coffee. “You want him to take on this fucking bastard!”
Liam casually picked up his cup again. “Correct. Largely.” I gave him a surprised look. He smiled, a little sadly, at me. “Look Darren, whatever else you are, you’re still Camaalis. No matter how much we may hate each other’s guts, when our back’s to the wall you stand with the Clan. I know you do, because I’ve Seen it.” I nodded, grudgingly. “Well, Kyernath’s aim is Camaalis. I’ve Seen that as well, and so have half a dozen other Farseers or various types. Because the Concord is collectively ramming their heads up their arses, he’s going to have months, maybe even years, unmolested to build up a force to take against us.”
He put down his cup, all casual act forgotten and stared at me earnestly. “We’re powerful, Darren, everyone knows that. But when it comes to utter destruction, when it comes to battle, Sorcery is THE most powerful magic, bar none. He has daemons. He has the Undead – and who knows how many others he will recruit while the Concord is sending us nasty letters. We need you. You can match all of his powers like for like. Together we can send him whimpering back to his prison – or to the next world. Without you, Camaalis is going to hurt and hurt badly. I’ve Seen it.”
He picked up his cup again and leaned back. “Well, that’s the story. Crisis, doom and gloom, as ever. Are you still in?”
I nodded. I didn’t even pause to think, there wasn’t really a choice in this. I would add my powers to Camaalis and Kyernath would fall.
Gah, and I've screwed up the numbering again. {Edit to fix}
We were gathered back in our flat several hours later. Liam was a little irritated that Rick had gathered together his friends as well. To be honest, I wasn’t best pleased with the intrusion either but Rick had practically begged me. Not with a word or even a gesture, but he looked at me and I knew this was important to him.
I guess he doesn’t want his friends alone when there’s a rogue Sorcerer out there. I can’t say I blame him.
I laughed, cold and mirthless, causing heads to turn. It was amazing how afraid everyone was, how afraid I was. I had lived with Sorcery all my life yet it still has the power to invoke terror in me. Perhaps there were some things you could never truly become blasé about. I let my power roil through my mind, examining it, truly looking at the darkness. I shuddered. No, there are some things you can never become casually used to.
The police had questioned us for several hours. So long, in fact, that the sun had nearly set before we could finally go our own way. I think we only got out as soon as we did because of some subtle use of power. They hadn’t been happy with our story, had been really unhappy with some of the goods that had been in the shop (nothing illegal, of course… but not much they could recognise either), really hadn’t been happy with the idea of ram-raiders who avoided the cash register and they had been really spooked by the quiet phone call from the British embassy, which probably raised more suspicion than it helped speed things along. Tomorrow we have the fun and joy of talking to the insurance company. Life is much simpler when you can just threaten everyone with painful death.
Of course, if I’m not satisfied with Liam’s story we could still have time for death threats. Ahrimadan purred softly on my lap. He had amused himself by torturing Animal Services and the SPCA all day.
“Ok Liam,” I purred quietly, finally breaking the silence. Everyone jumped, Mia spilling coffee down her front, she jerked so badly. “Enlighten us.”
He sighed, looked like he was going to make one last ditch effort to clear some people out of the room before thinking better of it. “There is a Sorcerer in America.”
I frowned. “I guessed, but how? I thought I was the only Sorcerer born for over a hundred years? He didn’t feel like a kid. He felt old, he knew what he was doing.”
Liam stared into the depths of his coffee, either looking at the worlds beyond or trying to avoid my eye. Maybe both. “His name is, or at least he called himself, Kyermath.”
I tried to catch his eyes, to see if he was kidding. I remembered reading about Kyermath when I was a child, I’d spent a long time looking into the lives of past Sorcerers. He was supposed to have been destroyed in the 16th century. “Our records say Kyermath is dead. Centuries ago. I didn’t think our record keeping was that inaccurate.”
“Centuries ago?!” Eric gaped. “Wow, I knew you Camaalis guys were good at magic, but wow, that’s pretty impressive.”
We both gave him equally bemused looks. “We didn’t resurrect him,” Liam said, dryly. “And the records are accurate… if you read them correctly. The actual words say we ‘defeated’ Kyermath in 1586.”
“Defeated or not, he is over 400 years old. He should be dead anyway, surely?” Misha put in carefully. When she’s uncertain she always speaks like that, as if she’s delicately placing her words.
“Well… there are ways to extend your lifespan. Camaalis doesn’t exactly frown on them.” I know several relatives have passed their second century. It becomes very awkward explaining their presence to non-magical dignitaries.
“According to the deeper records and the Seer records,” Liam said, shooting me a wary glance. I shrugged, I never really thought they had let me read all of our records when I was a child. “We didn’t actually kill Kyermath but we did contain him.”
“What? I thought you guys fucking hated Sorcerers, why not kill him?” Rick spluttered in outrage on my behalf.
“Kyermath, as Darren has confirmed, was a Necromancer as well. We think he may also have had some daemonic ties. At least, he lead armies of daemons against us. As Darren proves, killing Necromantic Sorcerers is difficult and you have few guarantees. We knew Kyermath had taken great pains to try and preserve his life. We couldn’t guarantee he would remain dead.” Liam said soothingly. “So we imprisoned him. Quite a powerful magical prison, anchored in place at some of the most powerful magical locations we could find.”
“And now there’s a gaolbreak?” Mia grinned at Liam. “So what happened to this powerful magical prison? Someone get him a cake with a file in it?”
Liam grinned back, flirting unconsciously. “Not quite. Trouble was, back in 1586, the clan had access to a lot more territory than we do now. Some of the powerful magical locations we used are now in Concord territory.” His flirtatious smile faded to an angry frown. “The Concord has only allowed us infrequent and brief access to these locations for the last century. In the last 30 years, they haven’t allowed us any access at all. And they’re disputing our land in Eastern Europe, making it hard to work there.”
I winced. “More than just this prison will rely on these locations if they’re really that powerful… They know we have long term spells that need maintenance!” I threw up my hands in exasperation. The Concord had made awkwardness an art.
“We know.” Liam sighed angrily. “It’s playing merry hell with a lot of things. Anyway, the Concord stopped us working and actually started fiddling with the sites themselves.” I groaned and covered my eyes with my hand. “Our thoughts exactly. And now Kyernath is free.”
“Great. So, when’s the cavalry showing up?” Rick asked, putting and arm round me.
“The cavalry?” Liam looked up from his coffee in surprise. “What cavalry?”
“The Camaalis cavalry,” Rick grinned. “Camaalis coming in and kicking this guy’s ass!”
“We aren’t. We’re not allowed.” Liam said grimly. “Kyernath is in the US and the US is Concord territory.” I felt my jaw dropped. I looked at Liam incredulously. He shrugged and sighed again. “We have explained the situation to the Concord and they won’t budge. No Camaalis forces on Concord land. They also criticised our ‘sloppy work, negligence and incompetence’ in allowing the Sorcerer to escape.”
I growled angrily, I could feel my eyes flashing. “And what are the Concord going to do about our negligently released Sorcerer?” I hissed.
“They’re discussing it, apparently. And while they discuss it – which seems to be an excuse to take an opportunity to slag us off repeatedly, Kyernath gets a wonderful opportunity to rebuild his armies to move against Camaalis. He’ll be even stronger than he was in the 16th century.” Liam spat angrily. I sympathised completely, which had to be a first.
“This is your prophecy, isn’t it? This is why you need Darren alive, right?” Rick suddenly said, nearly dropping his coffee. “You want him to take on this fucking bastard!”
Liam casually picked up his cup again. “Correct. Largely.” I gave him a surprised look. He smiled, a little sadly, at me. “Look Darren, whatever else you are, you’re still Camaalis. No matter how much we may hate each other’s guts, when our back’s to the wall you stand with the Clan. I know you do, because I’ve Seen it.” I nodded, grudgingly. “Well, Kyernath’s aim is Camaalis. I’ve Seen that as well, and so have half a dozen other Farseers or various types. Because the Concord is collectively ramming their heads up their arses, he’s going to have months, maybe even years, unmolested to build up a force to take against us.”
He put down his cup, all casual act forgotten and stared at me earnestly. “We’re powerful, Darren, everyone knows that. But when it comes to utter destruction, when it comes to battle, Sorcery is THE most powerful magic, bar none. He has daemons. He has the Undead – and who knows how many others he will recruit while the Concord is sending us nasty letters. We need you. You can match all of his powers like for like. Together we can send him whimpering back to his prison – or to the next world. Without you, Camaalis is going to hurt and hurt badly. I’ve Seen it.”
He picked up his cup again and leaned back. “Well, that’s the story. Crisis, doom and gloom, as ever. Are you still in?”
I nodded. I didn’t even pause to think, there wasn’t really a choice in this. I would add my powers to Camaalis and Kyernath would fall.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-15 04:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-16 09:16 pm (UTC)Gah, don't do that! NOOOO!! *sobs* can't I have one little carboard character? Pleasssssse? C'mon, just one pure evil character we can point and jeer at? Noooo, he's developing a personality now! Oh great, soon I'll start EMPATHISING with him, damnit! A dark and dangerous evil antagonist stereotype morphs into an actual character with damn FEELINGS and MOTIVATIONS. And even prequels.
If I'm checked into a mental ward crawling up walls and howling "The Insitigator! The Instigator!" it is ALL your fault :p
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-18 11:45 pm (UTC)wel it's your fault you made him sound so interesting. And everyone wants to know how bad guys become bad guys. You've done it with Darren, but he's a bad good guy...... well sort of. Now here's your chance to have your own dyed-in-the-woll bad guy and not the product of someone who was outcast as a child. Bravo.
Oye, well maybe you can quickly label the bad guy "generic evil dictator #365" you know I'm sure they have a union. That way he won't evolve any more than your average evil henchmen.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-22 12:15 am (UTC)Darren is the nanciest bad guy there's ever been :p
Nah, Dictators get personality - henchmen at the ones who get numbers. And they aren't unionised because the Dictators are even worse than WalMart when it comes to unionisation.