Heart of a Sorceress

Chapter Three - part two

“Sha’ul is doing well with his student,” Morden said. “Only three years of training and he has already begun the Defiance methods with her.”

The Wise Ones, cloudy figures in white shrouds, stood around their vision ball, watching the scenes pass before them. In one scene, Sha’ul stood before the daughter of Karan in a field, watching her attempt to make herself vanish. She succeeded most of the way, yet a pale shadow of her figure remained visible. When she reappeared, her lovely face was cloaked in frustration.

“Aye. She is not the mouse of a girl she was the day he took her as his student. Perhaps it is because he has taught her more than magery.” The other shrouded figure spoke with a distinctive tone of wistfulness.

“Tsk tsk, Pellean.” Morden did not take his gaze off the vision ball as he chided his fellow Mage. “You’ve been watching the love scenes too?”

“Well, only a moment here and there.”

Morden sighed, watching another passing scene of the young woman wielding her master’s broadsword with both hands. Her strength had increased admirably and she ran through the maneuvers the sorcerer had given her with coordinated grace. In the heat of summer she wore only a jerkin above her breeches, exposing tanned arms lean with long, toned muscles. Her face wore its customary determined expression, her pale blue eyes glinting with the desire for revenge. Yes, Morden mused, she was the one to vanquish the Abusers, and she didn’t even know yet that this was exactly her destiny.

“Pellean, I would have thought you’d burned out desire for pleasure of the flesh. I have found that without the encumbrance of a physical body, I have no such desire.”

“You are far older than I.” The answer came without hesitation. “I was a captain under Solen, who still lives. My memories of warriorhood and loving maidens are still painfully fresh.”

Morden suppressed the wave of compassion that threatened to seize him. In this troubled time, such an emotion had no place. He never completely succeeded. “Try to allow them their privacy, at the very least. It is not long now before she is forced to leave him. In spite of the prophecy, there are no guarantees she will return to him. Give her these last few years to enjoy her master.”

At his words, the scene on the vision ball changed. This one showed violence, bloodshed and greed as Pierran soldiers pillaged a small coastal town in Marea.

“They are making too much progress.” The Mage who spoke this time was Wizen, the eldest of the Council. “This time, there is no stopping them. Their physical power is enhanced by magery as well as the thirst for power. King Dorian is completely under Dogon’s control, unlike his mother who always retained a vein of her own mental strength.”

“Karan ben Solen is receiving reports on the slaughters as we speak,” Morden added, observing the scene of the large, platinum-haired warrior, listening to a messenger, his expression stone-like as he received the report of the Pierran imperialist forces.

“What was begun with Maya’s assassination now continues. If they have their way, Karan’s wife will be found and brought to justice, in spite of her innocence.” Pellean’s voice shivered. He had followed the woman’s clever escape from Pierran injustice and found her to be one of the most blessed, as well as beautiful, humans on the planet.

Morden knew that if it had been in Pellean’s power to save the redheaded beauty himself, he would have. “All right, some questions remain,” he said, cutting the silence that followed their last exchange, “when do we inform Sha’ul about the prophecy and when is he to tell her?”

Pellean sighed. “Is that not already decided as well? Wizen was one of the first Beings to witness the Scrolls. He would know.”

“Aye.” Wizen’s gravelly tone ensued. “In four more years, he will be told and then inform her of her mission.”

“Why four?” Righteous anger infused Pellean’s voice. “How many more must be tortured and die at the hands of the Pierran dogs before they’re stopped once and for all?”

Morden shook his head, remembering his own ignorance long ago. Even the Wise Ones had their weaknesses. “Their crimes must outrage the entire planet. The horrifying reports of their deeds must be heard in the farthest reaches of Weir before such injustices will not be permitted to have birth again in our history.” He fell silent, his gaze fixed on a scene of unspeakable horror portrayed in the vision ball. “Besides, as we all know, Lord Galen made a pact with mankind that He would never interfere directly in human affairs.”

“Well then,” a voice, which had remained silent throughout, now spoke. Azena, the Council’s sole female stepped into the sphere of the vision ball’s light. Her ethereal features glowed, showing that she had once been very beautiful. “My question. I’m given to understand that Sha’ul will not be permitted to accompany her. Why is this so?”

Morden looked at her. “Because of the other sorcerer.”

Azena furrowed her brow. “Elan? Maya’s son?”

“Aye. He is the other Being mentioned in the prophecy. Elan too, has great reason for revenge and will channel his powers effectively.”

“Ah, I see.” Azena nodded her understanding.

Morden, too, nodded. “Sha’ul’s passion for the girl is helping to mold her into a most powerful mage. But just as easily, that same passion could turn to jealousy, which would not permit even the lightest of intimacy with the other male. Sha’ul could destroy everything if he interfered, including the planet.”

“We do not wish to put Sha’ul into stasis,” Wizen interjected, “but we will have to at the slightest sign of interference.”

Azena shook her head. “What we’ve come to,” she said softly, closing her eyes against the horrifying visions passing before them.