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The Black Chapel
© 2013 by Walter Reimer
Part 5.
The next day Trasta found herself at Halvrika’s room. The raccoon had been there since she left the conference the previous morning. According to the servants, she’d been taking her meals in her room but otherwise not moving from a seated position on the floor. When asked, the Adept had merely replied, “I am meditating.”
It was now after dinner, and there had been no sign of her.
The elk doe was about to knock on the door when it opened abruptly and Halvrika almost ran into her. “Oh! There you are,” the Adept said. She was clean and dressed in gray with her dark blue woolen cloak. “I was about to go find you. There’s another storm.”
“How did you know?” Trasta asked. “We just got word from the crew of – “
“A cargo vessel from Port Magta. I sensed their arrival, yes.” Halvrika gave the doe a lopsided grin. “I’ve been ‘fishing,’ for lack of a better word.”
“I see,” Trasta replied. The Order could do amazing things, but sometimes it was hard to explain just what they might be doing. “How far away?”
The raccoon’s eyes half-lidded, reopened. “Maybe two hours.”
“What do you need me to do?”
She looked up at Trasta. Halvrika had a hungry, wanting in her eyes look that fled as quickly as it came but with an impact that almost made Trasta reel backward. “Um, well, a cup of wine and a chicken leg would go down well – I haven’t eaten yet,” and she chuckled half-heartedly. “I need to get ready,” and she brushed past the elk.
“Halvrika!”
The raccoon stopped, her banded tail twitching a bit.
“Are you all right?”
There was a pause.
“No.” Halvrika ran for the door that led up to the tower overlooking the bay, leaving Trasta standing there.
The doe sighed.
Halvrika stepped out onto the stone flags of the tower and immediately studied the skies to the east. A vast smear of gray cloud stretched out across the horizon, mounting up to what to an imaginative eye would be a turreted fortress of weather.
“I see you,” she muttered as she summoned her power and her Sight shifted focus. When she reopened her eyes she Saw the lines of force that underpinned the waking world. She could feel the raw power beneath her feet, and started to analyze what she was Seeing.
The storm before her had more magical structure than the last one, which didn’t surprise her. Whoever was guiding these clouds knew she was there at Engery, and was determined to intimidate her.
Well then, she could intimidate as well. But, she reminded herself, she must be patient; let him expend his power fruitlessly against her defenses, and she could get an opportunity to strike back when he was weak. In this situation, she must be as ruthless a soldier as Trasta was.
Trasta . . . She could sense the doe, there, a glowing knot of life energy among thousands of similar knots. Part of her, an increasingly loud and insistent part, clamored to hold the elk in her arms, to taste her lips again, to . . .
To make love to her.
Halvrika shook her head to clear it. She and Trasta would talk about all this later. Right now, she had things to do that required all of her attention.
The storm drew nearer, the outflowing wind blowing her cloak back behind her and ruffling her facial fur.
In her Sight, she could perceive that electrical charges were building up in various places, matched by corresponding but opposing charges on the cloud-battlements. One concentration, beneath an outlying lighthouse, suddenly glowed brightly.
Lightning jumped from the clouds to the lighthouse, blasting apart a section of the building’s roof. Another concentration beneath another lighthouse started to glow.
With a flick of her paw, she dispelled the gathering bolt.
And another.
And another.
“Really,” she murmured, “is that the best you can do? Watch this.” She tugged at the lines of force, fashioning an opposing wind that stirred the clouds, causing one tower to topple and fade away.
The remaining storm grew darker and the first fat drops of rain started to fall. Halvrika’s eyes glowed silver as her right paw gathered itself into a fist, her left paw raising, palm outward in defense. Her Sight dug into the structure supporting the clouds, seeking for and finding the weak points. It was much like practice combats in the Order, but far more serious.
She wanted to come to grips with her nameless adversary.
There! Her fist jabbed and a skein of lines loosened, tumbling a full quarter of the storm into the westward wind she’d conjured. She Saw with some satisfaction as the clouds drifted back out to sea, but noted that the remainder were being shored up and strengthened. A tight defensive ward formed around the central cloud-keep.
Halvrika was aware that her corporeal form was sweating, her fur under her clothes and woolen cloak starting to grow damp. She persisted in her meticulous sapping operation, deflecting or dispelling bolts of lightning until only the central part of the storm remained.
This was a solid pillar of power in her Sight, tethered to its manipulator by four glowing hawsers. She began carefully sawing away at the cables.
A bright pulse traveled down one. Who art thou, Adept? A voice asked, the question coupled with a direct assault on her own wards.
One tether down, the power seeking new avenues as the fabric of the cloud started to weaken. I am thy enemy, Halvrika replied, her wards holding, thinning out the wash of power until it moved around and past her. That is all I care to tell thee.
She almost fancied that she heard a chuckle. Brave thou art indeed, to face me down thus. Thunder boomed as lightning struck the metal weathervane atop the tower behind her.
Another cable parted, the storm starting to collapse short of the city’s docks. Show thyself, and tell me thy name, Halvrika pressed. She sent a wave of power storming down the conduit she held, and a third cable broke as her opponent moved to defend himself.
Thou shalt know my name soon, child, the being at the other end said. All Shuga shall know it, and fear me. Another stroke of lightning crackled through the air, searing the stone flags near where she stood.
Thou shouldst instead fear me, Enemy. Halvrika gave a push against the cloud-keep as she tugged against the skein of power she still held, and the tower toppled, breaking up in the wind. With the storm dissipating, she threw a bolt of force down the line to her adversary. Show thyself, now, she snarled.
The ward at the other end bulged, rebounded, thinned, crazed . . . and cracked, only for a moment.
But it was enough.
Her senses spread through the gap in his defenses, taking in:
A fortress, girdled by mountains.
A man, still reeling from her onslaught, his black-furred face marked with a pair of bright white stripes. His lips curled in a snarl, and she looked into his eyes.
The eyes were the color of frozen mud, glassy, disinterested.
Her own eyes widened.
She knew that face . . .
The storm was falling apart, and there would be no damage to the port and city of Engery this day. But as she withdrew her Sight she was distracted, and her enemy had one last throw.
Trasta came out onto the tower parapet in time to see Halvrika be struck square in the chest by lightning.
© 2013 by Walter Reimer
Part 5.
The next day Trasta found herself at Halvrika’s room. The raccoon had been there since she left the conference the previous morning. According to the servants, she’d been taking her meals in her room but otherwise not moving from a seated position on the floor. When asked, the Adept had merely replied, “I am meditating.”
It was now after dinner, and there had been no sign of her.
The elk doe was about to knock on the door when it opened abruptly and Halvrika almost ran into her. “Oh! There you are,” the Adept said. She was clean and dressed in gray with her dark blue woolen cloak. “I was about to go find you. There’s another storm.”
“How did you know?” Trasta asked. “We just got word from the crew of – “
“A cargo vessel from Port Magta. I sensed their arrival, yes.” Halvrika gave the doe a lopsided grin. “I’ve been ‘fishing,’ for lack of a better word.”
“I see,” Trasta replied. The Order could do amazing things, but sometimes it was hard to explain just what they might be doing. “How far away?”
The raccoon’s eyes half-lidded, reopened. “Maybe two hours.”
“What do you need me to do?”
She looked up at Trasta. Halvrika had a hungry, wanting in her eyes look that fled as quickly as it came but with an impact that almost made Trasta reel backward. “Um, well, a cup of wine and a chicken leg would go down well – I haven’t eaten yet,” and she chuckled half-heartedly. “I need to get ready,” and she brushed past the elk.
“Halvrika!”
The raccoon stopped, her banded tail twitching a bit.
“Are you all right?”
There was a pause.
“No.” Halvrika ran for the door that led up to the tower overlooking the bay, leaving Trasta standing there.
The doe sighed.
Halvrika stepped out onto the stone flags of the tower and immediately studied the skies to the east. A vast smear of gray cloud stretched out across the horizon, mounting up to what to an imaginative eye would be a turreted fortress of weather.
“I see you,” she muttered as she summoned her power and her Sight shifted focus. When she reopened her eyes she Saw the lines of force that underpinned the waking world. She could feel the raw power beneath her feet, and started to analyze what she was Seeing.
The storm before her had more magical structure than the last one, which didn’t surprise her. Whoever was guiding these clouds knew she was there at Engery, and was determined to intimidate her.
Well then, she could intimidate as well. But, she reminded herself, she must be patient; let him expend his power fruitlessly against her defenses, and she could get an opportunity to strike back when he was weak. In this situation, she must be as ruthless a soldier as Trasta was.
Trasta . . . She could sense the doe, there, a glowing knot of life energy among thousands of similar knots. Part of her, an increasingly loud and insistent part, clamored to hold the elk in her arms, to taste her lips again, to . . .
To make love to her.
Halvrika shook her head to clear it. She and Trasta would talk about all this later. Right now, she had things to do that required all of her attention.
The storm drew nearer, the outflowing wind blowing her cloak back behind her and ruffling her facial fur.
In her Sight, she could perceive that electrical charges were building up in various places, matched by corresponding but opposing charges on the cloud-battlements. One concentration, beneath an outlying lighthouse, suddenly glowed brightly.
Lightning jumped from the clouds to the lighthouse, blasting apart a section of the building’s roof. Another concentration beneath another lighthouse started to glow.
With a flick of her paw, she dispelled the gathering bolt.
And another.
And another.
“Really,” she murmured, “is that the best you can do? Watch this.” She tugged at the lines of force, fashioning an opposing wind that stirred the clouds, causing one tower to topple and fade away.
The remaining storm grew darker and the first fat drops of rain started to fall. Halvrika’s eyes glowed silver as her right paw gathered itself into a fist, her left paw raising, palm outward in defense. Her Sight dug into the structure supporting the clouds, seeking for and finding the weak points. It was much like practice combats in the Order, but far more serious.
She wanted to come to grips with her nameless adversary.
There! Her fist jabbed and a skein of lines loosened, tumbling a full quarter of the storm into the westward wind she’d conjured. She Saw with some satisfaction as the clouds drifted back out to sea, but noted that the remainder were being shored up and strengthened. A tight defensive ward formed around the central cloud-keep.
Halvrika was aware that her corporeal form was sweating, her fur under her clothes and woolen cloak starting to grow damp. She persisted in her meticulous sapping operation, deflecting or dispelling bolts of lightning until only the central part of the storm remained.
This was a solid pillar of power in her Sight, tethered to its manipulator by four glowing hawsers. She began carefully sawing away at the cables.
A bright pulse traveled down one. Who art thou, Adept? A voice asked, the question coupled with a direct assault on her own wards.
One tether down, the power seeking new avenues as the fabric of the cloud started to weaken. I am thy enemy, Halvrika replied, her wards holding, thinning out the wash of power until it moved around and past her. That is all I care to tell thee.
She almost fancied that she heard a chuckle. Brave thou art indeed, to face me down thus. Thunder boomed as lightning struck the metal weathervane atop the tower behind her.
Another cable parted, the storm starting to collapse short of the city’s docks. Show thyself, and tell me thy name, Halvrika pressed. She sent a wave of power storming down the conduit she held, and a third cable broke as her opponent moved to defend himself.
Thou shalt know my name soon, child, the being at the other end said. All Shuga shall know it, and fear me. Another stroke of lightning crackled through the air, searing the stone flags near where she stood.
Thou shouldst instead fear me, Enemy. Halvrika gave a push against the cloud-keep as she tugged against the skein of power she still held, and the tower toppled, breaking up in the wind. With the storm dissipating, she threw a bolt of force down the line to her adversary. Show thyself, now, she snarled.
The ward at the other end bulged, rebounded, thinned, crazed . . . and cracked, only for a moment.
But it was enough.
Her senses spread through the gap in his defenses, taking in:
A fortress, girdled by mountains.
A man, still reeling from her onslaught, his black-furred face marked with a pair of bright white stripes. His lips curled in a snarl, and she looked into his eyes.
The eyes were the color of frozen mud, glassy, disinterested.
Her own eyes widened.
She knew that face . . .
The storm was falling apart, and there would be no damage to the port and city of Engery this day. But as she withdrew her Sight she was distracted, and her enemy had one last throw.
Trasta came out onto the tower parapet in time to see Halvrika be struck square in the chest by lightning.
Category Photography / Fantasy
Species Raccoon
Size 182 x 141px
File Size 3.6 kB
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