‘Oh, please don’t close the spell book, I haven’t seen that language in such a long time.’
She jumped and spun around, but the room was empty. Scarlet stood, very slowly, and took a step back. ‘Hello?’ Yeah, it was stupid, but you never know.
‘You can hear me?’
‘AH! Um, yes, I can hear you. Good for both of us that isn’t the creepiest thing in the world or anything.’
‘Well, that’s a turn up for the books. Maybe the spell’s slipping.’
‘Maybe. Who are you, where are you and why do you sound like that big dude from the Labyrinth?’
There was silence for a moment and she decided she was going mad, or had in fact gone mad, and was hearing things. Her head and shoulders drooped, just in time to tense up when the voice returned. It sounded, if anything, even more morose than previously. ‘Maybe you should try being killed and having your ghost broken by a spell and then shut in a room for a few decades. How do you think you’d sound then?’
‘You’re a ghost?’
‘Of a sort.’
‘A really miserable sort.’
‘I’m not miserable, not at all. A little bored, maybe, but nothing more. My voice went when they broke me.’
‘Yeah, you said that a minute ago. Sounds painful.’
‘Excruciating.’
She waited, still staring around the room. He was here somewhere. When he sighed it was though a mountain yawned, like the Earth itself was close to giving it all up and heading off for a nice holiday somewhere.
‘They broke me.’
‘You said that.’
‘Goodness, have you no patience?’
‘Honestly? Not really. The people who broke you are about to start a war in which I reckon lots of people are going to die. I’m sorry if you’re lonely but…’ She trailed off, staring down at her interlaced hands. ‘Sorry. That isn’t fair. What happened?’
She softened her voice and waited.
‘It’s nothing to worry about, I understand. When they killed me, they trapped my ghost. I’d had a good life, I should have dissipated almost immediately, but instead they trapped me and used the Conjuration of Arthemist.’
‘Huh?’
‘It is one of the banned spells, a really most unpleasant little charm. It breaks the links between the person and the spirit world, the world in which us magicians exist, more often than not. I have no power, I cannot feel my magic anymore.’
‘But you’re dead, right?’
A sad sort of chuckle, like quiet waves on a beach at night. ‘Being dead means very little to a powerful magician. It is merely a transition, from one form to another. I would have left this realm and traveled to another. But instead they anchored me here and stole my magic.’
‘So they locked you in here?’
‘They did. Only now you are here too, so I have some company.’
‘I’m not staying. You can read this book, yeah?’
‘I can.’
‘Is there anything in it about getting out of here?’
She laid it flat on the floor and opened the first page. Silence. ‘Anything?’
‘Hang on, I’m reading.’
‘Well aren’t there like, titles or something, something that makes it obvious?’
The ghost sniffed. ‘There may be. Maybe I just like to read.’
‘We don’t have time, bloody hell, didn’t you get that?’
‘Alright, alright.’
Another sniff. ‘Turn the page please.’
They made their steadyish way through the book, the ghost sighing now and then when a particular spell arrived. Scarlet ground her teeth together and worked very hard on remaining patient. She was sitting in a room talking to someone she couldn’t see. There was still a good chance she’d gone mad and was in fact talking to herself.
‘That one should do.’
She jumped and looked over her shoulder. How could she still be surprised there was nothing there?
‘What is it.’
‘It’s a simple cantrip, nothing more.’ He cleared his throat.
‘For the releasing of traps and holds.’
‘That sounds pretty good. Can you do it?’
‘Did you miss the part where I said I had no magic?’
‘Oh, yeah, right, sorry. Can I do it?’
A wind buffeted her cheek and she turned her face, shivering. He was here, she wasn’t doubting that anymore. He could be anywhere. She wrapped her arms around herself and drew her legs in tighter. He was a good guy, surely, if those four had shut him in here. She was getting sick of trusting the wrong people, though.
‘You will have the power, but you cannot read the language yet. Perhaps I should recite it and you repeat after me. I have never done that before, but I see no reason it shouldn’t work.’
She nodded. She had two choices. One was to trust this guy, escape from the room and take her chances with what happened after. The second was to stay here with creepy moany ghost for, like, ever. She nodded more strongly and cleared her throat.
‘Let’s go.’
The words came out soft and low and sounded like the snake from Jungle Book. Did he have a lisp she hadn’t noticed? Maybe the language had a lisp. She checked each word before she said it, practicing it carefully before reciting them out loud. The tingle ran through her that was so normal now she barely noticed it.
But she noticed it this time. It was stronger and caught her in the ends of her fingers until they throbbed. She panted, struggling to draw enough breath. She gasped as the top of her head seemed to lift off, her mind spilling out. She clapped a hand to her hair, surprised to find it still there, and staggered to her feet.
She stared at where she thought the door was, but found nothing. The power faded and she turned slowly. The door was nowhere to be found, but behind her stood a figure. She jumped and stepped back, away from him until her back met the wall. He smiled and the urge to curl up in a ball washed over her.
The man stretched, wiggling his fingers and arching his back. ‘That really was most kind of you.’
‘You lied to me. Dammit, why does everyone do that?’
‘Perhaps because you believe them.’
‘Who are you, really?’
He was short, the same height as her, but wretchedly skinny and long in the face. He had big morose eyes that matched his still-sombre voice and a jet-black moustache. She’d have described him as mouse like, but his eyes were those of a predator. ‘I am who I said I was, although you never asked my name, so I’m not sure how you judge these things. Everything I said was true, except the part about the spell. I must say, I’m disappointed you’ve been learning here and still don’t know to never say a spell until you can read it yourself.’
‘I wasn’t trained here, actually, I…’ That was stupid. She didn’t want him to bad mouth Martin, or even know about him. ‘Why did they put you in here?’
‘Ah, now you ask.’ He strode over to her, pointed leather boots clicking against the stone floor. ‘I disliked the way things were done here. Too soft, too much reliance on living magics and not enough on the dead.’
‘Dead?’
‘Necromancy. The dead carry all the promises they never made, all the dreams they never fulfilled. There is such power in graves, if we would only reach out and take it.’
He was closer now and she smelled him, a sort of damp rot that made her gag. ‘So what now?’
‘Well, ironically enough, we have the same outcome in mind. I wish to kill the four men who no doubt placed you in here. I imagine that would stop their plans fairly quickly. You wish to escape and I can certainly help with that.’
Without waiting he turned from her to where she was sure the door was not and extended his hands. Pale green lightning flashed from his fingertips and struck the wall, which exploded sending shards of wood flying across the room. She threw herself to the ground, hands over her head. When she looked up again, he had disappeared through the shattered door, leaving her alone in the chamber.
She scrambled to her feet, grabbed the spell book and dashed after him. He was running, trailing green sparks after him that hissed where they struck the carpet and sent up wisps of smoke. Who the hell was he?
They emerged into the dining room and the first thing she was saw was the far wall, a crack that ran vertically beside the door where she’d hit it. She winced and fixed her eyes on his back as he charged straight through and out the door. She stayed with him, trying to ignore the stitch that bit into her side and begged her to just sit down and stop all the foolishness.
Down more corridors and they burst into the circular hall where she had fought the three novices. The four were gathered around the far exit, arguing about something. Probably whether Beard guy should have a shave, cause man he needed it. No self-respecting magician would start a war looking like that.
The ghost who actually wasn’t a ghost anymore and who was he anyway, stopped and folded his arms. He was impressively dominating considering he was five foot five and it only took a moment for the four to notice him. Evil Mastermind actually gasped, putting his hand over his mouth. It only lasted a second before he began to chant.
The other three did the same and Scarlet had the wherewithal to throw herself to one side. She should be getting better at falling over by now but she still went down like a dysfunctional sack of potatoes and slammed her elbows into the floor. Tears filled her eyes and she blinked them away.
The pain vanished as a huge ball of fire hurtled across the chamber and slammed into the man who had set her free. Despite him having an aura that said ‘I’m a complete psychopath, do not piss me off’, she felt a pang as he staggered back, flames rearing up to the ceiling. Then she just felt sick and tried to crawl away.
She made it as far as the huge chairs and pulled herself up, peering over the back. The four watched, not one of them relaxed, and she saw why. The ghost was still standing and in the next moment, the flames vanished and he remained untouched. Then he laughed. Had she drunk any water in the last day she might have wet herself. It was a close thing as it was.
‘Gentlemen, my friends.’ Sarcastic didn’t begin to cut it. ‘It is so wonderful to see you all again after so many years.’
Evil mastermind stepped forward. He was the boss. The others probably didn’t think so, but seeing as none of them were manning up, he took the role in her mind.
‘Malient. You’re free.’
‘Indeed, courtesy of a magician you really should have paid a little more attention to.’
He waved a hand toward Scarlet and she ducked behind the chair.
‘Are you aware she carries one of the Books of Telling?’
Scarlet peeked around the side of the chair and saw all four staring at her, wide eyed and frowning. The man they’d called Malient went on.
‘Remarkable, I know, but true. She also has considerable power. After all, I stand before you, when at best I’d hoped for release to my ghostly form. Such a lovely surprise.’
‘We won’t negotiate with you, nor offer you any terms. Either return to the room or we will kill you.’
‘You tried that already. It didn’t stick.’
