Spellscribed: Ascension (15 page)

"So what now?" she asked. She looked down and noticed that while the water lapped around the sides of her shoes, he stood serenely on the surface as easily as if it were rock.

"We talk. He waits." Endrance replied.

"Talk?"
She asked.

Endrance opened his eyes to look at her. He had finally stabilized his thoughts and cleared his head. She was just as beautiful as he remembered her. After the day she died, he had not seen the body until it was sent back to her family. Seeing her again was a surprise, but not a bad one. A twist of dull pain curled in his chest.

"Yes. We can talk." he said. "You have been here all this time?"

Anna shrugged. "All of the echoes are here, Love. It’s just that in your rigid way of looking at us, we were impressions, nothing more. So when you visualized this place, you did not see us. When you broke the place, we managed to steal away the volition to act freely."

"So that’s why you and the blood tiger are here." Endrance stated. "But that means-"

"Yes." Anna confirmed. "He is here too.
And an ugly little thing."

"Goblin." he answered automatically. "It’s a goblin shaman. First person whose magic I captured when he died."

"We are but echoes, dim patterns of our selves read in the power our bodies released and copied into your mind by the bracer and your power." Anna stated. "I cannot explain how I know these things, since they are things I should not know."

"You’ve been in my head for over a month now." Endrance replied. "You’re bound to learn something interesting."

"It’s sad," Anna said, looking at her reflection in the pool, "I learned something new, but I am only a figment, an imagining and a memory of the original, long dead."

Endrance didn’t know what to say in response, so he said the first thing that came to his mind. "Life cannot be reclaimed, the sands cannot be reversed, the clock unwound. We only have what we make of it. You are a memory, but for now, you can think and choose."

Anna nodded. "I chose to help you. I know that were I live again, I would choose to do it all over again."

"And that is why you were the Draugnoa that everyone else turned to. You were protective, wise and learned." He felt his eyes watering. "I know this is self-serving, but I am glad I had the chance to speak to you and settle some issues I’ve had."

"There’s more than this you need to worry about though, Love." Anna said, gesturing to the tiger with her spear. "You need to do something about all of this."

"You said that I had not provided the echoes with a place to be, and so they fed off of my volition to have a choice?" he asked.

"Indeed." she replied. "We can only present in the way you imagine us."

"And if I take back my volition? What then?" he asked.

Anna shrugged. "I know not. Perhaps we return to the formlessness we had before."

Endrance thought about his options. He couldn’t begin repairs while trying to take control of his emotions, but he couldn’t just take the echoes away from their forms without causing further damage to his structure.

"Then I will begin with him." Endrance turned to the blood tiger.

The tiger paced back and forth in front of the pool, uncertain how to get at the prey beyond it. Already it had circled the silver disk twice. Endrance looked it in the eyes, remembering the day that he had gathered its power.

"I have decided." he said.

The tiger’s motion froze and it sat suddenly, its tail flicking idly. Nothing else seemed to change in the creature. No wave of energy, no change in the light, or even the tiger’s eyes. Endrance walked towards the tiger, his footsteps across the water leaving concentric ripples on the surface.

"You are a guest in my mind, my house." He declared loudly. You are an echo, and will reside here because I allow it. You will never again attempt to usurp control of my body, nor will you assail me again."

With total confidence, Endrance stepped off the pool of water. The tiger lunged forward and Anna jumped in surprise, trying to move to protect the mage. The tiger closed the distance instantly, butting his head against the mage’s hand. Endrance raised his hand to pet the tiger and smiled as the blood red and black beast purred under his palm. The wound in the tiger’s belly had disappeared at some point, forgotten.

He felt some of his strength return, and knew that he had recovered the volition that had been stolen by the blood tiger. No longer self-determining; Endrance had chosen the tiger’s actions for it.

"What a beautiful girl." He observed. "Now, I want you to find someplace out of the way to sit while I fix the rest of my mind, all right?"

The tiger padded away immediately and silently. It leapt effortlessly onto a shelf that had remained upright and draped across it lazily.

"That was..." Anna replied. "I didn’t know that you could do that."

"It’s my mind." Endrance replied. "I am the master of my domain. It is the only place where I am in control."

From one of the side doors in the library a commanding voice rang out. "I don’t think so."

Kalenden stepped out from the area that he had previously imagined as bedrooms. The now dead king looked as menacing and powerful as he had in life. A huge man, clad in black metal armor and carrying the same barbed sword Endrance knew was jammed into a wall in the real world. His hair was blackened and moved on its own, as if it was in a perpetual breeze. The king’s brutish features glared menacingly, more frightening to Endrance than the blood tiger had ever been.

Kalenden paced over to him, easily a foot taller than the mage. "When I broke free, I was able to wrest the most of your volition from you. After all, it was my ‘information’ that enabled you to banish the demon after all."

"You couldn’t have arranged that!" Endrance interjected.

Kalenden walked closer and Anna stepped between the two. "No closer!" she shouted.

He swung his gauntleted fist in a casual backhand. His fist clashed into her shield and knocked her away as if she were a toy. She crashed straight through a bookshelf, landing in a pile of books.

Endrance turned to try to help Anna, but Kalenden thrust out with that hand, catching him by the throat. He lifted the mage into the air effortlessly, grinning as the man grabbed at his wrist uselessly.

"Tsk, tsk." Kalenden said, shaking his head. "You think you’re powerful because you managed to kill my body. You succeeded because I was betrayed."

"You failed." Endrance gasped, struggling to draw breath. "Because you let your ambitions blind you. I only found the flaw in your education before you could kill me."

"A problem I am about to rectify." He said, squeezing his hand. Endrance struggled, but could not release his grip. His face turned deep red and his eyes rolled back in his head.

"Kalenden!
Stop!" Anna cried, shoving books aside. "If he dies, then we all disappear! You’re dead!"

"I’ve already thought of that." Kalenden retorted. Endrance could feel the pressure of his gauntlet slacken. "I will simply destroy his ego and take control of his body. It’s pathetic, but I am sure I can make more of it with enough time." Kalenden laughed. "I might teach the two surviving bitches a lesson first, though!"

He was being strangled by the echo of an enemy that he had killed, his dead wife was arguing for his life and the assailant was going to use his body as his own. The mage was having trouble finding a solution.

Kalenden hauled the mage around, slamming his back into the end of one of the few remaining standing shelves. Stars swam in his eyes and Endrance struggled to stay conscious. He could see the silver lined pool in the center of the library over Kalenden's shoulder. The silver was warping, tarnishing. It was near the breaking point.

Breathe, Endrance.
Gullin’s voice came faintly, barely heard over the sound of blood pounding in his ears.
You must maintain steady breath to remain in your fabrication.

Fabri...cation?

Endrance finally realized what he was doing. He was reacting like it was the real world; but he was inside his mind! Regardless of the analogs to reality, it was no more real than a dream. So what was it he was breathing? Even more so, who was it that was really choking him?

He closed his eyes and repeated that fact to himself over and over. As he reiterated the mantra, Endrance’s face returned to normal and he focused again on the dead king.

"You almost had me there, Kalenden." Endrance said, despite the fact that the king’s crushing grip would have made talking impossible. "You had taken the parts of me that hated me for failing Anna for yourself. No one ever knew how to hurt me quite like I did. For a moment there, I was just about to give you the control you needed."

"Dammit!" the dead king shouted, thrusting the barbed bastard sword through Endrance's head. Blood sprayed across black steel and punctured wood.

Endrance, standing next to the summoner, sighed. "Ehh, that would have left a stain."

Kalenden turned to the mage, and then back to the shelf. There was no decapitated wizard, nor did any blood drip from his sword. He looked back at Endrance and scowled. The silver reflecting pool was unblemished.

"You really did almost have me there." Endrance replied. "I was truly afraid of you."

"You should be!" Kalenden growled, advancing on him.

Endrance took a half-step towards him and grinned. "I used to be. But I've found that everything here is a part of me, including you."

Kalenden swept his arms at him and Endrance ducked out of the way amused. "You were powerful, true. You frightened the hell out of me, true. But you're gone now, and there is nothing left to fear."

"But I'm here, inside your head." Kalenden retorted. "I have a stronger will than you, that much you realized when you tried binding that demon! I can take control of your mind!"

"You had a stronger will than me, Kalenden." Endrance replied. "But you are just an echo in my mind, an impression of who you were. You were strong, confident, and powerful. That made me think you really are those things. That's the only reason you could affect me."

Kalenden howled in rage and leapt at Endrance. Endrance ducked under the man and slapped a hand against the dead king's armor as he passed. The man changed direction midair, rocketing up to slam into the stone of the ceiling near the hole in the roof. The man dropped, and Endrance sidestepped, letting him crash into the floor.

"You see?" Endrance said. "You only have the volition I was letting you have. Stand up."

Kalenden stood up.

"You are a guest in my mind, my house." Endrance repeated. "You will not attempt to usurp control of my mind again. You will not cause me trouble again. You will not assail me again."

Kalenden sneered, but didn't respond.

"Now go find the goblin." Endrance said. "He's the last one I have to deal with."

Kalenden turned and looked around. "I know where he is." Kalenden offered, the malice in his voice all but vanished. "He does not have access to his power, so he is hiding in the darkest places of your mind."

"Either way."
Anna responded, walking back over to Endrance. "He had submitted to your will long ago. There is nothing that needs to be done with him."

Endrance could feel that with the incorporation of his will that had once been taken up by Kalenden's will, his mind felt clearer than it had in days.

"You are right." Endrance replied. "That's all of them then."

"Not quite, dear husband." Anna replied. "You have some left to recover."

Endrance stared at her for a second. "You?" he asked.

"Yes."

"But you said it yourself; you're the weakest of echoes."

"Yes."

"And if I took that bit of will back keeping you in place, then you might vanish."

"Yes."

"I cannot accept that." Endrance whispered. "I already lost you once."

"You already lost me, Love." Anna whispered in return. "I'm barely an echo of what I was. I can hardly remember anything of who I used to be, only the strongest of memories and feelings."

"But-"

"No buts, Love. I may not be able to return, but you will have what memories and skills I leave behind. Use them in honor of my life, my sacrifice."

Endrance hung his head. "I could never say no to you."

"Which part of your will did you think I took over?" Anna replied with a wink.
"The only bit that ever did resist."

"You got me there." he replied, his tone muted despite the jesting nature of their conversation. "I guess I better take that part back too."

"Don't worry." Anna assured him. "I'm not afraid. It has been long past my time for this echo to fade, as will they all, eventually."

Endrance surveyed the other two forms in the library. Kalenden watched the exchange with contempt, but did nothing to interfere and the tiger remained unmoved, but watched him with bright eyes. He knew that their personalities would eventually fade from his mind, but their knowledge and skills could remain behind forever.