Shadow Dagger Ch. 04

"After a time, a voice filled their minds. The voice told them that it was the one true God; the God that the world had abandoned. He told them that He was moved by their faith in midst of such adversity. He had decided when he spoke the words of creation that he would not interfere. He gave humanity free will to shape the world as they saw fit. All he asked in return was their love."

"He told them 'It is because of you that I have seen my error. I will give the world one last chance. To each of you I give a part of my essence. With your words will you speak the language of creation and with your hands you will shape the words and bring that which did not exist into being. My children, I give to you a small portion of my power; not to interfere, but to guide, as I should have done.'"

"'But only to you 12 will this power be granted. And through your bloodlines shall it be maintained. Let only a blessed-man and a blessed-woman mate to carry your bloodlines and the power contained within. Any child born of a union between the blessed and non-blessed shall be an abomination in my eyes. They will be cursed by my power and live only half-lives. They will be neither of the blessed or the non-blessed. They will be outcasts.'"

"'My power shall only be preserved in the blood of those who were faithful. I will be watching, always.'"

Ashford paused and wet his throat with a sip of wine. Sophina had a faraway look in her eyes. "So the power of the Magi comes from God," she said, her voice filled with wonder.

Ashford nodded. "It is the power of creation."

"So what happened after the God spoke to them?"

"They returned to the camps. The people instantly knew something happened. For the 12 saw with silver eyes and spoke with silver breath. They spoke only the language of God. Every movement and every word was an act of creation. The camps were chaos for several weeks before the 12 came back to their senses."

"Once they realized what happened, they marched the armies. The warlords were no match for the very first Magi, which in the language of God means 'faithful.' They quickly brought the country to its knees. The ripples of their actions were felt across oceans, across the world! Order was restored. A new era of humanity had begun."

They fell silent and listened to the crackling of the fire. Sophina spoke first. "And the Magi Victus...now I know why they are called abominations. They are the offspring of a Magi and non-Magi parent, aren't they?"

Ashford stared at Jon. Jon swirled the wine around his glass and watched the ripples. So many ripples descending from the Fields of Summer...

"Yes," Ashford replied. "They are abominations of the God's will. They are filled with the same magical energy that the Magi are. But they cannot speak creation and cannot physically alter reality. They can only manipulate the magic within them. That is where their speed and strength comes from. They have fine-tuned this ability over generations to where not even the Magi can duplicate it."

Sophina stared openly at Jon. "What about your Shadow Dagger?"

Jon smiled coldly. He slipped his dagger out. Ashford and Sophina tensed, their eyes riveted on the dagger. Jon flipped the dagger in the air and caught it by the handle. The price we pay for power.

Ashford and Sophina sighed in unison when Jon sheathed the dagger again. Ashford turned his head toward Sophina. "That is our greatest shame; we do not know how the Magi Victus created those...those monstrosities."

"How were the Magi Victus created?" Sophina asked.

"It was a gradual process," Jon cut in. "The offspring were usually seized and burned. However, some determined parents managed to hide their child. Over time, a rather large group of 'abominations' were drawn to each other. They were outcasts; children who were constantly running for their lives. Eventually, they had enough. They wanted justice."

"Justice?" Ashford cut in angrily. "They are nothing more than murderers!"

"Who made us that way?" Jon whispered. "We just wanted to have normal lives. And we found that in the Magi Victus. Soon our goal became one of justice. We noticed that the Magi were rapidly expanding. Power was shifting to those that could remake the world as they saw fit. This was against the God's will. So we took the God's will into our hands."

"And the first Magi Victus war had begun," Ashford said to Sophina. "Do you know what Magi Victus means in the ancient language? It means 'killers of the faithful.'"

"It was the Magi who gave us that name," Jon said to Sophina. "They meant to taunt us with it. Instead, we embraced it. We won the war and reached an agreement with the King and Grand Master. If they would limit each Magi couple to one child, then we would scale back our war."

"It was a deal made by the worst King and Grand Master in our history," Ashford replied angrily. "And it's a deal that is about to be torn up."

Jon nodded. "I don't doubt it. And I don't know what game Sanje is playing. But I intend to find out."

A heavy silence filled the room. Sophina finally broke the silence. "Jon, how is it that you used magic? Is that a secret the Magi Victus have kept hidden?"

Jon shook his head. "No, Ashford is right about us. We are cursed."

"You didn't answer the question," Ashford said.

"And I never will," Jon replied. "I am something of a unique case and that's all I am going to say."

"Damn you!" Ashford spat. He stood up and loomed over Jon. "How is it that you joined the Magi Victus? I thought they had some kind of test! We have tried in the past to plant our own moles in the organization but they always turned up dead."

"Yes, they have tests to determine if you are a half-blood." Jon drained his wine and set his cup down. He looked up at Ashford, who was plainly waiting for him to elaborate. He didn't.

"Well?" Ashford snapped. "How were you not discovered?"

"I passed, obviously," Jon replied lightly.

"How?" Ashford screamed.

"Because I am a half-breed," Jon replied, as though addressing a child.

Ashford roared in frustration and flung his glass across the room. The glass shattered on the wall. He stood over Jon, his cheat heaving. Jon stared back at him quietly. Ashford looked away at the cold death in his eyes and sat back down.

Sophina cleared her throat, trying to break the tension. "So...umm...how is magic performed, exactly?"

Ashford sighed. "Magic is composed of two parts; vocalization and manipulation. First, all Magi must study and learn the ancient language. This isn't as easy as it sounds. Thousands of words have different meanings, depending on the pronunciation. It is a very, very subtle language."

"The first thing we are taught to do is to open ourselves up to the magical energy. Our bloodline is the key that allows us to do this. This takes a long time to master. It is a very tempting power to abuse. We must be disciplined enough or it will rush through our veins like acid. We also cannot be afraid of the power or it will never respond to our commands."

"Once we master the self-discipline needed, we must concentrate on the spell we want to perform. As I said earlier, the language of creation is so subtle that a spell can be accomplished in an infinite number of ways. Every Magi's spells are unique because of the subtle variations in pronunciation and manipulation."

"What is manipulation?" Sophina asked.

"Manipulation is the process of shaping the words to bring it into reality. We do this with intricate finger movements. These finger movements are just as subtle as the spoken language. Basically, we are writing the words we are speaking into the air. We are manipulating reality."

"It sounds...complicated," Sophina said.

"You have no idea," Ashford replied. "The more powerful spells take more words to create and, conversely, take more finger movements to shape. Now once you have enough experience, you can perform the incantations and finger movements of lesser spells in your mind. The harder spells are too complex to visualize mentally."

Sophina frowned. "Was that spell Jon used to kill those two Magi complex?"

Ashford looked troubled. "Yes, very complex. I have never seen that spell. Why do you ask?"

"Well...I am not sure what I am looking for, obviously, but it looked like to me that Jon didn't say anything or move his fingers at all."

Ashford looked at her as though he saw a ghost. He turned and looked at Jon. "Impossible," he breathed. "She's right. You visualized that spell. How?"

Jon glanced at Ashford and then Sophina. "Practice," he said simply.

Ashford hung his head as Sophina roared in laughter. Jon smiled at her. Yes, she is very much like Sarah. How I miss her. Jon didn't know where that thought came from. But his heart felt lighter as he watched Sophina laugh.

Sophina wiped a tear away and asked, "So, what are the Tiers the Magi speak of?"

"Spells are classified into tiers, depending on the complexity of the spell. Also, Magi are grouped into Tiers, which represents the knowledge and power of that Magi. There are 10 Tiers in total. A Magi seeking to rise to another Tier must pass a test. And sometimes Magi are promoted based on accomplishments."

Sophina nodded her head. "That makes sense. It's sort of like a military command structure." She paused and then, sheepishly, asked Ashford, "So can I see a spell?"

Ashford smiled. "Oh, I don't know..."

"Let me show you," a voice said from behind.

Jon sat up fast and pulled his dagger. Sophina spilled her wine as she shot up and pulled her sword.

Standing behind them was Evelyn, her eyes blazing silver. She pointed at Jon.

"Time to die, you bastard!"

The room exploded into shouts and spells of power.