Chapter 5

Kindling a Flame

"It should not have been so hard," said Urza. "Kiordan was stronger than Isangrim, but I just didn't expect that much."

"I should not have let my sense of triumph overwhelm my better judgement." Daghild shifted herself into a more comfortable position atop her bed. "After Kiordan, Isangrim almost seemed like he was barely trying."

"Maybe he was."

"I don't think the fake marten wanted to die, Urza." The mole leapt off the bed and stretched her arms. "His plans probably do not involve crawling out of the grave like some monster from a novel."

"That's a pretty good idea." Urza yawned, then continued, "You could write that out."

"Maybe. Maybe not. Too many duties. Council work, being Archivist, having to hide your sorry taIl from prying Southswarder eyes, et cetera. I'm off to work."

"I take it that I'm to head back up North?" asked Urza.

Daghild nodded. "Salamandastron and Lord Eboric await you, as well as Erlend's little pup. Please keep him safe for Southsward."

Urza nodded. "And for you, obviously."

A pathway was opened, and a vixen stepped through. The whole business with Kiordan would have to wait for another night.

There were some places Lorelei would have liked to visit. Aside from the obvious like Redwall Abbey and the mountain fortress of Salamdastron, she had yet to be in the far North, the so-called Lands of Ice and Snow. But there was no place Lorelei would like to revisit. Of course, there were places personally significant to her, like the room she was standing in, but most of her memories were not so exciting.

Her firstborn child was born in the bed she happened to be in. Corrado entered the world screaming, and Lorelei had been sure she would leave it the same way. Fortunately for her, she survived. Lorelei wondered that her survival was just as fortunate for her son.

For Lorelei, the early hours of morning were the best time to start work. Corrado was no longer a squalling child, so her mornings were never disturbed.

There was a knock on the door.

Lorelei quickly rose from the bed and groaned. She was not expecting a visitor - not at this hour. "Enter!" she barked.

"Yes, Your Highness." A gigantic figure shuffled in, bending over the otter-sized doorway.

Lorelei rubbed her eyes, then grimaced as the beast before her was still the same. Wearing a white robe was a wolfess. A wolfess, far from the northern lands where she would expect to see one of their kind. A wolfess in Garlesca of all places. "I'm sorry. Do I know you? And why on earth would the guards let you in?"

"I seemed to have scared them away. They are not accustomed to seeing beasts like me." The wolf dropped down to one knee. "Many apologies, Your Highness. I should not have disturbed you at this hour." Even kneeling down, the wolf was almost at Lorelei's chest's height. Menacing as she was, she seemed to bear no ill will.

"What are you here for, wolf?" asked Lorelei. "Assassins seldom knock on doors. But you've yet to tell me your name."

"Hirsent, Your Majesty," answered the wolfess. "My name is Hirsent. I used to be Isangrim's apprentice before his passing. Your father, the Emperor, asked me to help you with your training in Thaumaturgy."

You're already better at telling the truth than he is. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen seasons, Your Highness."

"How many seasons have you studied Thaumaturgy for?"

"Seven." It was high time that the wolf knew that styles and honorifics get grating over time. "My training could be considered complete."

Lorelei nodded and smiled. "Isangrim never mentioned you," said the otterwife.

Hirsent's tail twitched. "I did not know that," she replied. "Wolves are not supposed to be known in the Southern Realms. I do not have any intention to get myself skinned in Urgan's manner."

"Rest assured that your pelt is under my father's protection. You may rise, Hirsent." The wolfess did as she said, earning her a smile. Not a lot of beasts did.

"May I present to you a gift from your father, Your Highness?" asked Hirsent.

"Yes, you may." Lorelei's whiskers twitched. "Speaking of which, where is my father?"

"Asleep," replied Hirsent. " Just like a log. He took away my exhaustion, and now he is paying the price."

"What are you going to teach me? I have not learnt much from your teacher or my father."

Hirsent smiled. "We're going to start with the theoreticals." She continued, "I doubt anybeast has told you where Thaumaturgy comes from."

Lorelei scoffed. "Father and Isangrim are seldom in expository moods."

"Ah well." The wolfess sighed. "They are not particularly good teachers. May I sit down?"

Lorelei nodded, and Hirsent plopped down onto the bed next to her.

"Have you ever heard of the Dreamscape?" asked the wolfess "Or the World of Dreams."

"No." Lorelei shook her head. "My father never mentioned it."

"The Dreamscape is the crux of all worlds, holding them all together." Hirsent smiled. "Did you know that there are many different worlds?"

"No. My father had never told me that as well."

"He really needs to reveal more about himself." Hirsent took a deep breath. "The world in which we reside is but one of many. There was but one world once, and it thrived. Thaumaturges bent the rules of reality to help those who cannot help themselves. However, disaster struck. We have no way of knowing what happened, but it shattered into pieces innumerable. Only a pawful of worlds survived, and only one retained the memory of Thaumaturgy. Your father was fortunate enough to learn from an inhabitant of that world, and he has become a Conjurer. In turn, he taught Isangrim to be a Sorcerer, and I think you know the rest."

"What about the Dreamscape?"

"The Dreamscape is what binds the Shards of the original world together. It's a parallel world," explained Hirsent. "When you sleep, you descend into the Dreamscape, and what you dream becomes reality, at least until you wake up. Dreams are real, and by tapping into dreams, reality can itself be changed solely because you will it to be so."

"So Bonding and Pathway-making can be done in the real world just because you can do it in a dream?" asked Lorelei. And I thought Corrado was the curious one.

"That's a simplified explanation, but let's go with that. I always tell Isangrim that the first thing a teacher does is tell the truth and lie at the same time."

Lorelei smiled. She liked the wolfess already. "You're not exactly wrong."

"Of course, one can die in the Dreamscape, as Isangrim demonstrated." Hirsent bit back a bitter chuckle. "Dying there means dying here."

"How exactly did he die?"

Hirsent shook her head. "I am not sure. It is likely that he was taken unaware."

"Serves him right then," said Lorelei smugly.

"It isn't wise to speak ill of the dead, Your Highness," said the vixen, the lustre in her voice fading. "It is especially unwise to speak ill of one once close to me."

"I apologise," said Lorelei, quickly taking the hint.

"You didn't mean it. I see." A wan smile reappeared on Hirsent's face. "In any case, you would have to be aware that strenuous activity in the Dreamscape brings about a decrease in sleep quality. It would not be prudent to descend on the eve of some important noble function."

"You have an excellent grasp on vocabulary, young wolf," said Lorelei. "Isangrim must have taught you well."

"You would have your father to thank." Hirsent then reached into her pocket and scrambled out a ring. "This is an Amplifier. It allows for manipulation of Thaumaturgy in the world of the waking. Go on. Put it on a claw. It should fit perfectly."

Lorelei slipped the golden band on her right paw. There was no sudden glow of light, no immediate warmness, no foreign language popping up on the ring.

"I know it is underwhelming. Isangrim told me that your father reacted very much the same way."

"My father used this?"

Hirsent's mouth curled up once more. "A long, long time ago. Before Isangrim's training was even completed." Her smile disappeared with an efficiency that would make Isangrim proud. "Now, he has a much more powerful Amplifier that he may or may not be qualified to wield."

"May or may not?" asked Lorelei, earning a smile in answer.

"Who knows what he's doing behind our backs?"

"Not dying, for one." The crackling of a Pathway could be heard, and from it emerged Lorelei's father, still in his nightclothes and rubbing his eyes.

"I was not expecting you to appear, Your Majesty." Hirsent bowed before Kiordan, who swiftly gestured to her to quit with the formalities.

"Neither did Daghild, apparently," said the emperor. "Anyway, I just went into the Dreamscape to measure her up. And I gotta say...nice."

"Nice?" asked Lorelei. "I don't see why getting yourself almost killed would be 'nice' in any manner."

"You wouldn't understand the thrill!" Kiordan whined like a little pup asking his mother to let him go for a swim. Just like Corrado.

"I don't want to interrupt you," said Lorelei, "But I would just like to remind you that your apprentice just died, Father. It's just not the right time to give yourself a thrill."

"I doubt Isangrim would mind," said Kiordan. Hirsent shot him a glare. "Or maybe he would. Who knows?."

"You could have died in there!" snapped Lorelei. "Just like Isangrim!" Her eyes turned to Hirsent, then back to Kiordan. "And unlike him, more than two beasts have a high opinion of you!"

"Oh, I can assure you that I won't be killed off yet." Kiordan smirked. "My tale continues, and I presume yours does as well. Nox's whim protects me."

"Nox?" asked Lorelei.

Kiordan turned towards the wolfess. "You never told her?"

Hirsent shook her head. "We only talked for minutes. I never reached the metaphysical stuff."

Turning back to Lorelei, Kiordan sighed. "I'd like to start off by saying that what I say is not infallible. I could be very wrong here."

"That's not exactly news to me," interrupted Lorelei.

"Wait, really?" asked Kiordan in his usual over-the-top manner. Seeing that his sarcasm had once again failed to draw any sort of reaction from his daughter, the otter rolled his eyes. "Anyway, this is another one of my closely-guarded secrets, so don't wag your tongue at everybeast, alright?"

"If you would promise to keep as few secrets to yourself as possible."

Kiordan's whiskers twitched at his daughter's statement and exchanged a quick glance at Hirsent. "Done." He grinned. "I'm quite glad that you're stopping to obey me mindlessly. I don't want you to be a mere pushover." He took a deep breath. "Anyway, The truth is that our world is a well-crafted fabrication by some entity that we creatively dubbed Nox."

"A fabrication?" asked Lorelei.

Hirsent put one of her massive paws on the otterwife's shoulder. "Worry not, Your Highness. I was quite confused the first time I heard this as well."

"Some say that this world is based on a play. Others say a song, or a book. It matters not - we are not as real as we would think ourselves to be." Kiordan smirked. "After all, we're just fictional characters, to be savoured by some other entity that we have decided to call Lux."

"Lux." asked Lorelei. It meant 'Light' in Oldspeak. "Why Lux?"

"There is no way for this dark mess of a plot to be illuminated - not without the presence of a very special beast." Kiordan pointed forward, as if he recognised some old acquaintance in front of him. "The Reader."