Shadow Dagger Ch. 11

"No! You were the king!" Sophina looked both angry and shocked.

Jon smiled sadly. "I told you I never held that title. Jocelyn brought up the vote on Magi breeding before the vote for king on purpose. She knew I would never agree. Later on that night, Jocelyn came to see me in my jail cell. She had ten Magi restraining me. She feared my power. She told me that she wasn't entirely against me. She said the council decided that they wouldn't go against all of the God's rules, as a show of faith. So they elected my son as king."

"What was his name?" Ashford asked.

Jon closed his eyes. "King Tomar d'Ashald san Ronar."

"I never heard of him," Ashford replied immediately. "The first recorded King of Astuari was King Jonus Lobare."

"He was my grandson," Jon said quietly. "The council changed his name when he was a baby. I never got the chance to really know him later on in life."

"Why not?" Sophina asked.

"Certain events that followed my imprisonment changed my future and the future of Astuari. My son Tomar went along with Jocelyn's plan and they released me. I was to leave Astuari and never come back. Jocelyn knew I would never live with what they had done and she feared my power. I was to be executed if I ever came back."

"And so you just...left?" Sophina looked shocked. Jon smiled a little at how captured she was by his story.

"Such was my intention. I was furious with Jocelyn, with my fellow Magi, and most of all with the God. I wanted to leave and never look back. My son tried to stop me from leaving. He told me he could hide me. He knew that Jocelyn and the council only made him king because they thought they could manipulate him. He said he needed me to help him and that maybe over time he could gather enough power to make everything right. I wasn't interested. I had enough betrayals to last a lifetime. I was...broken."

"What do you mean?" Sophina asked, confused. "What other betrayals did you experience? Why were you broken?"

"That's not important," Jon said firmly. "I just wanted to be left alone. So I was walking out of the gates of the city when happened. I was...summoned." Jon paused as the memories washed over him. He closed his eyes and experienced it all over again.

Distantly, he heard someone calling his name. "Jon? Are you ok? What do you mean you were summoned? Did your son call you back? Was it Jocelyn?"

Jon opened his eyes and shook his head. "No...it was the God." His voice choked on the last word. The memory was too much. It was still so vivid, even after all these years.

Sophina looked very shocked. She had her hand over her mouth and her eyes stared at him in wonder. Ashford, however, had thrown up his hands. "Just when I was starting to buy your story, against my better judgment, you come along and drop this on us! Do you take us for fools, man? Are you seriously expecting us to believe the God spoke to you?"

"Shut up, Ash!" Sophina suddenly screamed, her face ablaze with anger. "I have never seen anyone as stubborn as you! I'm sorry your precious Guild isn't what you thought it was! Get over it!"

Ashford looked shocked at her outburst. He slowly recovered as she continued to berate him. His face was now just as red as hers. "Why should we believe anything this man says? He is a killer, for God's sake! Listening to this babble, I'm starting to think Evelyn had the right idea!"

Sophina's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. "You don't mean that!"

Ashford, to his credit, looked slightly abashed. "Well...no I didn't mean it. But...it can't be true! Or else my life isn't what I thought it was! It can't be true..." Ashford hung his head and stared at his hands.

Sophina and Jon exchanged looks of pity. Jon suddenly knew what was wrong with Ashford. He had lived his life for nearly 200 years believing one thing. Now he was having to confront the fact that his whole life was spent going against the God's wishes. With a pang of guilt, Jon realized he must feel that his life was worthless.

"Ashford," Jon began quietly. Ashford looked up slowly. His face was covered in tears. Sophina put her arm around his shoulders. "I'm sorry for putting you through this and I'm sorry for my anger at you earlier. I was careless; I didn't think about your state of mind when I began to tell you my history. I'm so sorry."

Ashford sniffed and wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. "In all fairness, you did warn me." He tried to smile but his lip quivered and a fresh tear rolled down his cheek. Sophina wiped it away and hugged him. He buried his face into her shoulder.

"I don't know if I should finish it..." Jon said awkwardly.

"Yes," Ashford muttered, his voice muffled by Sophina's shoulder. He lifted up his head and nodded his thanks to Sophina. She smiled at him and squeezed his shoulder. He turned puffy eyes toward Jon. "We need to hear this. I'm sorry for my outburst. Please forgive me."

Jon waved it away. "It's quite alright, believe me. Where was I?"

"The God summoned you," Sophina replied helpfully.

"Right. So I was barely past the gates of Astuari when I fell to my knees, a voice ringing in my ears. I...had never experienced anything like it. I can't explain it. I'm not sure if there was a voice or just a feeling that conveyed words. Whatever it was, I knew it said 'Come to the Fields of Summer.' It wasn't a request. My feet were already walking me in that direction."

"It was a three day walk to the Fields but I remember nothing of it. All I remember is the feeling that the voice left inside of me. It was a consciousness that I couldn't even fathom. The next thing I remember is arriving at the Fields. As soon as I step foot into the Fields, a thick, dense fog surrounded me."

"Just like what happened to the Order!" Sophina said excitedly.

Jon nodded. "I felt...perfect. I don't know how to explain it. All of my worries and concerns were wiped away. I didn't even know what a negative emotion was while standing in the fog. I felt...content and at peace. The God spoke to me then, his voice filling every part of my being. I know that I wept as he spoke to me. I wanted to listen to him forever."

"He blessed me for my unfailing faith and my desire to uphold His wishes. He asked me if I was willing to make any sacrifice in order to save this world from itself. I didn't even hesitate; I agreed right away. He told me that if the Magi were left unchecked that they would quickly destroy this world. He told me...I would have to kill the remaining twenty Magi of my generation."

"No!" Sophina gasped. "He asked you to kill? I don't believe it!"

Jon looked at her sadly. "The God isn't as peaceful as you think, Sophina. He's not against killing when it's done righteously. And to be honest, I knew I should have been revolted by what he asked me to do. But I was so full of anger at my betrayal that I accepted this order without any qualms."

"And that's the sacrifice He asked you to make?" Ashford asked.

"No..." Jon said quietly, absent-mindedly stroking the hilt of his Shadow Dagger. He shook his head. "And so that became my mission. And that...that is the end of my story."

"What?" Sophina and Ashford yelled together.

"Jon," Marcus said warningly.

"The rest doesn't matter," Jon snapped, refusing to meet Marcus' eyes.

"But you left so many things out!" Ashford said angrily. "What more did the God say? How did you become a Magi Victus? What are the Magi Victus? How are you able to pass their test? What is a Shadow Dagger? What happened to your family? Did you kill all those people like the God wanted?"

"Enough!" Jon yelled, his eyes flashing dangerously. Sophina and Ashford instinctively leaned away from him. "You know all you need to know!"

"Finish it, Jon" Marcus said, rising from his chair. Despite his long hair and beard and his ragged clothes, he suddenly looked very dangerous. "You promised."

"Fine!" Jon yelled. He turned his back on the roomIs this what you want Marcus? You want me to open these old wounds again? So be it. "What is it you want to know?"

"What are the Magi Victus?" Ashford asked quickly. "How do you keep fooling them?"

Before Jon could open his mouth, Marcus spoke unexpectedly. "Oh come on, I thought you were smarter than that? You were tested in the Emporium by various instructors, were you not?"

"Yes," Ashford said, looking at Marcus in confusion.

"Would your instructor be able to pass the test he gave you?"

"Of course," Ashford snapped. He looked insulted at the implication that he was stupid. "He set the test didn't he?"

Marcus smiled at Ashford. Ashford looked angrily at Marcus before his eyes widened in shock. His face was pale as he turned to look at Jon. "You?"

"Me," Jon nodded. "I created the test. I am the founder of the Magi Victus, after all."

Ashford looked too stunned to speak. Sophina stared at Jon shrewdly. "That was what the God wanted, wasn't it?" she asked. "That's how he wanted the power of the Magi checked."

"My orders were to thin the numbers of the Magi. The God assured me that I would have a group to help me in the near future. I agreed. After the fog lifted, I was not alone. Marcus was standing next to me."

At this, Sophina and Ashford looked over at Marcus. He turned away and sat back down. "I was summoned, too. As you probably already guessed, the God wanted to make me his Oracle, so that I could help guide Jon into saving the world from destruction."

"Wow," Ashford mumbled. The events of the day seemed too much for him to handle.

"So did you do as the God asked?" Sophina asked Jon.

"I did. I returned to Astuari and began to assassinate my fellow Magi. I felt no remorse at the time. I picked them off one by one until they realized what was happening. Their response was not what I was expecting."

"Why, what did they do?"

Jon gripped his Shadow Dagger tight. "Something I didn't think was possible. Fearing that I would eventually regain power, Jocelyn and the council cast a spell that changed the fabric of reality. I always knew that we had the power of creation but I never guessed we could changed reality."

"What do you mean, change reality?" Ashford asked. His eyes shone with interest.

Jon noted that look and filed it away for later. "I thought magic was simply bringing something into existence. I didn't know we could changewhat already existed They altered the reality that the God created. Their aim, as I later found out, was to ensure that a Magi could never reproduce with a non-Magi. Their spell didn't quite have the effect they wanted."

"So that's how we got the Magi Victus," Ashford breathed. "What power!"

Jon's grip on the Shadow Dagger tightened. "They had no idea they just created the group that the God said would help me on my mission. They created their own enemy. Still, they were happy with the result of the spell. The children born to a Magi and non-Magi parent can't perform magic, even though they have access to it. They thought it would stop me. After all, wouldn't I extinguish magic forever if I killed all the Magi?"

"But that didn't detour you," Sophina said quietly. She looked sadly at Jon.

Jon turned away from her pity. "They didn't know that the God had already ordered me not to kill all the Magi. I was only to limit their numbers. Over time, I gathered all the Magi Victus children and taught them how to harness their power. I taught them the secret of the Shadow Dagger."

Jon saw the light that suddenly gleamed in Ashford's eyes. Jon's grip on his Shadow Dagger was now painful. When he didn't speak for several moments, Ashford said impatiently, "Well? What is the secret?"

Jon looked at Marcus, silently pleading with him not to answer. Marcus must have seen his thoughts on his face because he said, "No, that's important right now."

Ashford looked extremely put-out. He glared angrily at Marcus and Jon before falling into an affronted silence. Jon let out a nervous breath and nodded his thanks to Marcus. He relaxed his grip on the Shadow Dagger.

"So you began the first Magi Victus war, didn't you?" Sophina prompted him.

"Yes. With my growing number of Magi Victus, we easily began to eliminate them. I managed to kill all the Magi of my generation...all save one."

"Jocelyn," Sophina guessed.

Jon nodded wearily. "I forced her to make a treaty. At the time, I thought it was a good idea. She agreed to limit the Magi couples to one child. And in return for her life, she agreed to a lifetime banishment from Astuari.

"So you didn't kill her?" Sophina asked, amazed.

"I couldn't do it," Jon said, his mind far away as he remembered the scene. "She used to be one of my best friends. She was the only person alive that was my link to..." He trailed off, unable to say it aloud.As long as she existed, then there would be another person who remembered Sarah. A part of her would still exist.

"So...since you are still alive, could she be as well?" Sophina asked.

Jon shrugged. "She left 2,500 years ago. I don't think she would be or she would have come back by now."

"And what about your son? What happened to him?"

Jon was careful not to touch his Shadow Dagger. "He died. I would like to leave it there, if you don't mind. He was erased from the histories for the help he gave me. It cost him his life. He left behind a son, whom I never got to know."

Silence filled the room. Sophina had tears brimming in her eyes. Ashford looked down sadly and didn't speak. Jon was stunned to see tears in Marcus' eyes. He turned quickly away from him.

"But after Jocelyn left," Jon continued, breaking the sad silence, " I continued my duty and killed Magi who strayed from our treaty. Eventually, over time, I gave up the power in the Magi Victus to better protect my identity. And I watched it become an assassin's guild rather than what it was suppose to be. I lost faith as more time went on. Why was I still alive? What was my purpose?"

"And now we know," Marcus said, his eyes now dry. "Jon, you conveniently left out the most important part of your conversation with the God."

"I know," Jon sighed. "I just wasn't ready to burden them with that. But I guess we have no choice right?"

"We always have a choice," Marcus said, smiling. "One day you are going to have to believe that."

Jon ignored Marcus and looked at Sophina and Ashford. "I hope you both are ready for what I am about to tell you. Once I tell you, you can never turn back. You are with me until the end. Are you ready?"

Sophina nodded eagerly. Ashford's nod was more subdued. "Yes."

Here we go. "The God told me that one day there would come a person who would either destroy or save the world. This person would be born under the most improbable of circumstances. This person would be a true-born Magi with the humanity that the other true-born lacked. This person can change everything, for good or for bad. I was to await the coming of this person. And now this person is at the mercy of King Reynar."

"Evelyn!" Sophina screamed, standing up in shock.

Jon shook his head. "No...not Evelyn. It's the child she carries in her womb."

***

Chapter 12 - Evelyn meets with Reynar and learns a shocking secret