Chapter 9: Cobalt

The dream started the same the past few weeks, ever since first manifesting his magic.

He was falling as the ground rushed up towards him. The first night he awoke in a cold sweat when he would have hit the ground. But eventually, over the next evening’s rest, he grew used to the falling sensation and was able to stay asleep throughout the fall.

When he did finally stay in the dream through the impact the world exploded into a black fog. Tangible and opaque, it covered all of his vision and he felt as if he could swim within it. As he breathed the scent would hit him - burnt licorice and charcoal, mixed with wood smoke and burnt meat. It felt…violent.

Vicious. Palpably malevolent. Untamed and filled with rage.

He could feel the same rage at what he had suffered - betrayal by the Magister who had this amazing gem that could awaken his magic at any time. Betrayal of the town of his childhood for running him out of the only home he had known. Betrayal towards his siblings who outed his curse to the town elders.

It was at this point in the dream that he would feel the rage simmer down slightly and instead be replaced with a single thought. Justice. Justice for the wrongs he had suffered. A desire to pay back what was done to him in a justified way. Vengeance to those who did not experience what he had experienced.

Tonight, though, something new happened in the dream. Pale orbs of various colors began to appear around him in the shadowy dark. First a pair of deep, blue orbs. Then pink. Then red. Hues appeared around him - blinking dots in the darkness. As the orbs continued to pierce the darkness, a loud shriek burst through the fog.

>>>---<<<

Cobalt woke up with a start, sitting up as the noise rang in his ears. Glancing at the nearby window only showed darkness. Still night. He slid his feet over the edge of the bed and stood slowly. He reached over to the nearby oil lantern and struck the ignition; the spark catching the wick as the room lit up.

It was empty save for the writing desk, chair, his bag given to him by Liadrin, and himself next to the bed. He lifted the lantern and softly stepped out of the room, going into the main area of the small house.

He stopped as the lantern light illuminated a figure in front of the fireplace. A spectral form of black shadow that hovered just slightly above the floor. It turned. The humanoid shape stared at him with large, pink orbs for eyes.

Cobalt felt a chill run down his spine. A wraith! Well, I’ll be damned. He raised his hand and focused the air in the room to coalesce into his palm; forming a sphere that swirled around and around; a miniature tornado held in his palm.

The form in front of him surged towards him and he let the blast of air loose. The creature shrieked - the same shriek from his dream, disturbingly - as the blast scattered across its body. Didn’t think you could be hurt, eh? Cobalt grinned as he slammed his palms together and extended his fingers into a small cage-shape; interlocking them into a lattice.

The air covering the creature condensed and compressed into a sphere; the wraith squeezed down inside the confining flow until all that was left of it was black spot in space, surrounded by swirling winds - a pair of bright pink dots at the center only visible in brief flickers.

Liadrin’s door slammed open and the beast-cursed came out of her room; a gout of flame held in her hands. She paused once she saw Cobalt, “What’s that?”

Cobalt grinned and gestured as the orb of air floated next to him, “This, Liadrin, is a wraith. I’d bet it’s this Night Stalker that Felicity was scared of.” But why did it come inside the house? The story has it stalking the streets.

Liadrin walked over and glanced between him and the wraith, “Why isn’t it destroyed?”

“No clue. I did the hand gestures from one of The Magister’s books that supposedly destroys these types of things. I willed the magic to destroy it, but…” He held up his hands without channeling his Quintessence to show Liadrin the same motion.

“Maybe I'll try it?”

Cobalt gestured, “Go for it.”

Liadrin’s flaming lash vanished as she shifted her fingers to match the clasped hands gesture. “And then I will the magic to destroy it?” Cobalt nodded. She narrowed her gaze and seemed to focus intently on the hovering sphere of air.

Lines of crimson and blue flames erupted within, the same shrieking noise exploding outwards as the volatile display roiled within the sphere. Cobalt had to focus his will on strengthening the surrounding and containing more air as the flame precipitously consumed it. After several seconds the brightness faded; the black smoke and piercing pink orbs remained.

“What the heck are you?” Cobalt muttered towards the trapped thing. To his surprise the pink orbs suddenly appeared at the edge of the sphere of air as if it heard him. Can you understand me? he thought towards the creature. He heard no response.

Liadrin frowned, “I thought you said a spell - the focused Quintessence stuff - could destroy them.”

Cobalt nodded and put a hand to his chin, pondering out loud. “That’s what the books said. We could try and find someone who is pure…whatever that means. Or, we could go and visit one of the churches in town and see if religious people know anything about them. The power of the various gods is quite different from that of a mage.”

Liadrin nodded, “I’ll go get dressed. Can you…hold that thing?”

Cobalt nodded and gestured as the orb floated above him, “Yeah, no problem. It’s sort of like containing smoke. Negligible Quintessence use for me.” He gestured back and forth as he slung the orb all around his head, chuckling, “Honestly I don’t know what these folks were afraid of. This thing is harmless. Well, to a mage, at least.”

The two magi left the house after switching attire, walking down the dark streets of the town. Liadrin’s limbs glowed softly enough to illuminate the ground under her. Cobalt kept the trapped wraith above his head as they strode through the quiet night. The stars above were on full display - no clouds in sight.

The cold winds of late Fall bit into his skin. Cobalt shivered slightly and wrapped his cloak tighter around him - Liadrin seemed unphased by comparison. A guard approached from the other direction holding a lantern aloft in one hand, his pike in his other hand. He stopped in front of the two. “Halt! What’s your business at this hour?”

Cobalt waved politely, “Trying to find a church! Any clue where we can find one around here?”

The guard approached; pike slightly lowered towards them. Cobalt maintained his calm composure, but jumped slightly as Liadrin grabbed his hand and held it. He glanced sideways at her and saw panic cross her face. Right. That whole melting man thing. He gave her a brief squeeze before walking forward. “We’re the magi that serve Lord Arestil. We caught your Night Stalker.”

The guard stopped in place and looked around before refocusing on Cobalt, “What, a children’s tale? What a crock.”

Cobalt smirked, “Well, it’s true whether you believe it or not. If you just direct us to a church-”

The guard approached and held the lantern forward, “You’re that beast-cursed that came into town on the fancy wagon?” He spit off to the side of the road, “You want a church? Go to the chapel outside of town. No one wants you here.” He pushed past Cobalt and shoulder-checked him, stalking past Liadrin who shrank away to the edge of the path.

Cobalt ran a hand through his hair before turning to Liadrin, “Well, that went better than expected.”

Liadrin was silent for a moment before walking up to him, “This is the first time I’ve been in a town since becoming…like this. Is that how people normally react?”

“Yes. You get used to it. People think that our curse carries an aura that brings misery and destruction.” Cobalt shrugged, “Who knows if that’s true or not? What I do know is that we were given directions. This is a big town, and honestly I’d rather fly than walk.”

Cobalt focused his mind on his and Liadrin’s feet, willing the air to condense under them and carry them aloft. She clutched his arm as the two rocketed up until they were several hundred feet above the town. There were small dots here and there - scattered lanterns - and a few that bobbed through the streets on patrol routes.

The town from above looked to be a giant wagon-wheel with several spokes. They were housed in the center-most part of the town - the inner circle which was where the nobility resided. At the very center was the circular castle of Baron Bradley who ruled the town. Going further out from the center one could find all manner of merchants and craftspeople; and at the outer edges were the houses - constantly spreading in all different directions as the town’s numbers swelled.

Cobalt willed the air to take them south towards the one place where houses did not continue to spread; the farms and fields responsible for much of The Crossroads’ daily sustenance.

A sizable building stood erect amongst the fields at the edge of town. The domed structure with its pillars and arches were a stark contrast to the flat land surrounding it. The two magi alighted on the ground next to the main entrance. As was the traditional style, the pillars were each decorated with various deities and myths from those deities' past.

Cobalt paid no heed to the designs for he put no stock in gods or their stories. What good have they ever done for me? he thought as they passed through the vestibule and entered the center chamber. The circular room split off into three different wings with closed doors. Small alcoves sat along the exterior with statuettes of the various deities.

A large brazier sat at the center; naught but burning embers remained. Cobalt called out, “Hello? Anyone home?”

There were a few moments of silence before one of the doors opened a crack. A Grelk - one of the bipedal Smallkin that resembled enormous hamsters - squinted out from the doorway, “What do you want?”

“We,” Cobalt gestured to him and Liadrin, “Caught a wraith in your town. But we can’t get rid of it.”

The door opened slightly wider as the Grelk shuffled through the opening before closing the entry behind himself. “You are welcome in the house of the gods. What’s this about a wraith?”

Liadrin pointed to the sphere floating above Cobalt’s head, “He caught this thing but we can’t get rid of it.”

The Grelk’s beady eyes went wide and he twisted his whiskers before adjusting his robes and moving in front of Cobalt, “Curious. It looks to be a floating ball of smoke. The texts and scriptures never mentioned the form in detail, but I always thought they would be shaped more definitely.”

Cobalt willed the sphere of air to descend just in front of him, “I thought we could destroy this thing, but neither of us were able to. Perhaps your gods can do something about it.”

“Perhaps. I personally have never had to deal with the living dead before, whether corporeal or not.” He glanced past Cobalt to the confused-looking Liadrin, “That means whether we can touch them or not.” He put a hand to the edge of the sphere of air, and the wraith within seemed to react to this by moving away to the opposite side as far as it could. “Curious.”

Cobalt repeated the same motion when the Grelk pulled his hand back; and the wraith seemed to surge towards his hand only to be stopped by the sphere’s perimeter.

“This is most peculiar. It shrinks from the touch of a holy man, and yet is drawn to one of the cursed.” He looked up, “I can attempt to dispose of this entity, in theory. I must go grab some supplies. Please wait here.” He opened the door across the hall from where he had entered and vanished within. There was the sound of rummaging and a few chants that echoed from that chamber before he emerged.

The robes he was wearing were supplemented by a long, silvery cord that wrapped from one shoulder to his waist, and in his hands he held a bronze bowl filled with water. He approached the brazier and set the bowl on the glowing embers before raising his hands to the ceiling, “Gods above and below / those who control all we know / grant me your power / to cast down this evil that devours.”

He clapped his hands together and a warm gust of air rushed around him. Strange, Cobalt thought in response to the movement. I feel the breeze, but there’s no air I can control…. A golden light grew in-between the Grelk’s hands; bright enough that Cobalt had to squint as Liadrin gasped aloud.

The light surged into the sphere of air containing the wraith. The same loud shriek pierced the air as Cobalt heard in his dreams…but the shadowy form remained within the sphere.

The Grelk stood there with a puzzled look, “That…can’t be right. The…hmm.” He put his head down in thought. Cobalt glanced over at Liadrin who had an awe-struck look on her face.

“That was incredible!” She shouted. “Was that magic?”

The Grelk nodded and looked up, “The magic given to us by the gods. Their chosen may use a fragment of their power to perform miracles in their names.” He pointed at the wraith, “This thing…defied the gods power. That means it is extremely strong-willed.”

He shook his head and sighed, “I am not pious enough to destroy it. I can perhaps contain it in a more permanent vessel; but you will have to go to one of the Great Temples in a larger city. A more holy man than I must purge it from our world.” He clasped his hands in the same finger-lattice that Cobalt and Liadrin had both tried, and once more the golden glow appeared in his grip.

The wraith was surrounded in the golden light before shrinking down in size. After the glow faded, only an orb of dusky smoke remained. The Grelk lowered his hands and grinned, “You can hold the sphere in your hand. No need for that air bubble.”

Cobalt nodded and released the spell, catching the surprisingly heavy orb in his palm. “So we just take this thing to that bigger temple and they destroy it?” He had never been religious and stayed away from those places of worship that seemed to attract the most bigoted of those he had encountered. If the gods can mimic the same magic that I can perform, then they may actually be able to help.

The Grelk nodded, “Indeed. The gods give power to their devotees, but only the most pious could destroy this strong-willed of the living dead.”

“Wait,” Liadrin interrupted, “Can this thing feel? Is it alive?”

The Grelk shook his head, “Not really. It can feel pain, but only as much as an insect would. The living dead are those who come back either in body or spirit due to unfinished business-” he shot a glance to Cobalt, “Normally, a wraith is what is formed when a person dies and at the moment of death they feel a single emotion with every fiber of their being.”

He glanced back to Liadrin, “They can even inhabit living creatures and be a passenger of sorts. When that happens, it is called a living manifestation. Those are the most devious, waiting for the host body to die so that they may take over. Even rarer are the pure manifestations; but they act…strangely. Often, they try to help the person they possess, trying to find their own peace through achieving their host’s peace.”

Cobalt nodded and pocketed the orb, “Good to know. Well, thanks.”

The Grelk nodded and looked between the two, “Beast-cursed. I truly apologize for what you have been afflicted with.”

Cobalt grunted and turned to leave, but paused when Liadrin replied, “Why did the gods curse us?”

“Who can claim to know the will of the gods?” the Grelk replied.

Cobalt looked back, “I know they want us to suffer. No just deity, no good god, would put me through what I’ve been through.”

“I never said the gods were omnipresent, omnipotent, or omniscient. Many assume that they are, but they are not. Your decisions are your own, the gods have no bearing on that.”

Cobalt grabbed Liadrin by the hand and left. She readily came along with him as he lifted them aloft with a spell and sped them back towards their temporary home. They were silent through the rapid flight back, but Cobalt felt some comfort when Liadrin gave his hand a squeeze, as if saying ‘I understand why you’re upset’.

At least I don’t have to be cursed and alone.

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