Alantris, Chapter 6
#6 of Alantris
It was past twilight when they had finally stopped running. Howl was exhausted, and he didn't mind telling Pursha this. He hadn't done any running before, at least not in length, and his legs were sore and aching from their strenuous trek. He took off his boots and sat himself down on a flat rock.
"I'll get the firewood. You can relax, as you are probably not accustomed to keeping pace with a soldier."
Howl felt a little ashamed, but didn't argue with her. Now that he was sitting down, he wasn't sure if he would be able to get back up.
It didn't take Pursha long to set up a cluster of sticks and set the wood ablaze. It soon spread, and the fire was roaring.
They sat in silence for a little bit. Finally, Pursha spoke up, "I can teach you magic, now, if you wish."
Howl looked at her expectantly and motioned for her to continue.
She drew a breath, "We should probably start with the basics. Do you know about the founding of magic?"
Howl shook his head.
"It started with Fallon Fairclash and Elwin Mortyar. They were brothers, and the closest of friends. They were so close that they were said to hold each other's souls. It was this bond they shared that created the first imprint of magic upon the world, wrought by the hands of ash, Fairclash's aura. Mortyar was said to possess the eyes of ash, the same aura you possess, and he created reflection, or the illusion of reality. Fairclash was the one who brought that illusion into being.
"Fairclash was said to be the martyr of the world, for he was the one who stepped through the portal and eventually ended the endless wars, bringing what he claimed would be eternal peace to the world. He was of course a Demigod, only descended from Unity.
"It was Mortyar who created the Order of the Flame, the seventh reign of orderness in the world, the six previous being the elements of light, shadow, air, earth, water, and electricity. These cosmic elements, along with fire, were the seven components to make up the mortal realm, what we call mortyartis.
"Aldemer lies in separate and distinct plane, with the reflection of reality but not the perceptions to perceive it. Thus, the Gods were machines. Machines who created humanity and perception, without the means to perceive it. It was only Fairclash and Mortyar who were said to understand a little of perception, for Fairclash could only feel through his hands, and Mortyar could only see through his eyes. The bond they shared however, gave them enough to make real the seven elements, and thus the order of Mortyar came into being.
"Those specially chosen, considered "descended" by Fairclash were then anointed into the order. Those chosen would possess the power to manipulate "reality", or what Mortyar and Elwin created as the mortal realm, and this was considered your aldemartis, or your spirit, which is technically machine. It is the aldemartis that gives one the influence of magic. These current generations, this sort of thing happened spontaneously, without prior knowledge, as you can attest. However, they would learn, and once chosen they would pass on their knowledge eventually to the next generation, as you no doubt will in time.
"That is the history of magic as I can best describe it. If you wish to get into the extreme depths you would have to consult with the tomes written by the Aldemer. Now, I think you are ready to begin to learn how to manipulate this magic."
"To manipulate magic, you must have complete contact and awareness of your aldemartis. To get in touch with them, you have to search within yourself and mentally encircle your aura. Once you have occupied your aura, you can shape it with your hands.
" Only Fairclash has the power to manipulate existence. Of material being, you can only control those things which were first created by Fairclash and Mortyar, that being plants. Try closing the flower at your foot. Do it mentally.
Howl focused on the plant and tried to do as Pursha said. He opened his mind and mentally closed the bud. The flower closed with it.
"After you have mastered plants, it is possible to master other complex beings, such as people, however, those things can only be magically manipulated on the final breath of the living, and so it is near impossible. It is also not advised, for one that is done wrongly can send the soul into a state of limbo, between reality, mortyar, and spirit-realm, aldemer. I'm not so knowledgeable about the details, but I hear it is not a place to which you want to be bound.
The flickering of the fire followed her silence. Howl tried to think of a question to ask her, but his mind was unusually uncooperative today.
"Does magic cost anything. I feel more tired and fatigued since using my aura."
Pursha nodded. "All things manipulated cost energy. Manipulating the senses takes the biggest toll on your aldemartis. Mastering the perceptions is a harder magic to master, and it costs the most energy. This is because you are manipulating the senses of the aldemartis, or the spirit."
She held up her hand a spoke a word. Suddenly the flickering of the fire silenced, and so did the crickets and the wind. The totality of the silence unnerved Howl.
"This is my manipulation of your aldemartis. You and I can no longer hear, though technically the sound is still there." She waved her hand, said another phrase in, and the sound returned to Howl.
Pursha grinned when Howl reached up to feel his ears. "What you can do will truly test your aldemartis, for it is undoubtedly much more fatiguing. Try to manipulate our eyes. Focus on yourself and I, and do the same thing you did whilst manipulating the plant. Think of something you want to convey, and say the words, 'realis apertura transcendus'. This is the language called andaris, and translates to 'reality become transcendent'. Your aldemartis will understand the connections with your thoughts, and the phrase will activate the pool of magic that you possess. Thus, your aldemartis will "transcend" reality, and you will manipulate it."
Howl gave a nervous laugh. He didn't feel like he was going to use magic, but another part of him felt strangely like it knew what to do, as if he had done it before. Howl focused his mind on himself and Pursha in that strange familiarity, which Howl realized was the aura, and then focused his attention on the flames in front of him. He tried to imagine the fire turning blue. When he had the connections, he said the phrase. Unfortunately nothing happened, and the flame continued to flicker orange and red.
"It takes some practice to get it down. You have to make sure your aldemartis can understand what you want it to do, otherwise it won't do anything. We'll practice each night until we reach Bastruf, and perhaps you will have it down by then."
Howl nodded. He doubted that he would make much progress by that time, especially since they were in a hurry to get to the city, but he stayed silent.
Pursha leaned into the fire. Their practice session seemed to be at an end. Howl hadn't noticed before, but in the light of the fire, Pursha's ears were glowing a strange red. Symbols and veins traced across the blackness in red lines, like cracks in magma.
"Your ears, they're glowing!" Howl exclaimed.
Pursha gave him a strange look.
"No really. They're etched with symbols that I can't identify."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Pull out a mirror, or ceramic plate, and take a look."
Pursha gave him a dangerous look, one that Howl could tell meant she had chosen to hide this secret, probably many times before. "Forget it. You look tired, we should get some sleep. We still have a long way to go."
Pursha was still ahead of him. Her lithe, feline body was more agile then Howl's stocky frame, and since she was more accustomed to running, it meant that she was constantly looking back to make sure that Howl was still in sight.
They had since left the forest and were now running through flat, open land. It would still be another two or three days of running before they reached Fellarus. Howl wasn't sure what was worse, the strain in his legs or the pain in his head he felt when he woke early in the morning. He had not gotten a fitful sleep.
Howl's mind kept wandering back to the situation from the previous night. Pursha was hiding something from him. Perhaps many things. He didn't even really know why he was travelling with her in the first place. She was a mystery to him.
And yet, he did know some things he didn't think she knew he knew, like that she was Fier's daughter. That more than anything kept Howl from leaving and travelling on his own. He also knew that she was carrying something, something important from what Howl felt, in her leather bag. That something was important, and Howl decided he was going to find out for himself one way or the other just what was in that small parcel Fier passed between them in the memory. If it was from Fier, he felt he had a right to know, as King. Whatever Fier was hiding from him, Howl would find out for himself.
Fier could have just been easily betraying his Kingdom, Howl couldn't help but fathom. For all howl knew, that package could contain secret information that he could use between Bastruf and Chalith. Howl didn't think that was the case however. Fier was a long-time trusted friend of his father. Surely he could not be an enemy.
Pursha glanced back yet again, and Howl, who realized he was slacking behind, groaned and picked up his pace again. Then he noticed that Pursha had stopped just up ahead, and he struggled to reach her, hope for a rest beating along with the rhythm of his pounding heart.
When he caught up to her at the top of the hill and stood panting heavily at her side, she motioned with her hand to the horizon. Just beside the mountains lay Bastruf, a large keep surrounded by rows and rows of rooftops.
"We can probably reach it by tomorrow afternoon, or a little after. We can stop here and get some rest."
Howl was already on the ground. Pursha produced the leftovers from the previous night, apple and cabbage stew followed by a loaf of bread, and handed them to Howl who accepted them graciously.
If he was going to go through with his plan to discover what was in the parcel, he had to do it tonight. He felt guilty as he ate his stew, feeling the betrayal he was already going to impart if he got caught. He tried to eat without gagging on the contents, and ate ravenously.
He also wondered how he would go about opening the parcel without getting caught. Pursha usually stayed up after him to keep watch, and woke him up early in the morning. If she ever slept, Howl never saw her do it. She must have slept once she knew he was alseep. Then woken up when the sun rose, as she was probably used to as a soldier.
Howl would have to fake sleep if he was going to sneak through Pursha's belongings. He had to make sure that she was indeed his ally.
And so as night-time crept ever closer, Howl kept his manner cool with Pursha. They didn't practice magic like they did the last night. The other night they had practiced once more and Howl had failed every time to make an illusion. He did manage to make a flower grow, however.
Instead of practicing magic, which Howl suggested they not do, since he figured any time he tried would be hopeless, and they talked a little bit. Howl got to know more about Pursha, and they spoke a little about Bastruf, where Pursha said she grew up. Howl mentioned his own childhood, and his play with Trillith. He thought again of his friend. Sometimes they would sit beneath the stars just outside the castle walls, where no one was around to see them. The fur around his body was beginning to prickle up and grow warm at a specific memory, and apologized profusely to Pursha. She didn't seem to mind, and actually giggled, which helped Howl to relax more. Reminiscing about his relationship with Trillith put Howl in a sedated mood, and he found his eyes beginning to droop. He forced his eyes open though, and stretched himself to stay awake, speaking more loudly.
Speaking so openly to Pursha helped expand their companionship. As Howl learned more about her, he found that he was growing more close to the white leopard. She even mentioned evenings visiting her father, who she didn't name, but Howl knew, and he learned a little more about Fier that he didn't know before. She mentioned how she rarely got the chance to visit him, as he had a position in Serenitir and she had enlisted as a soldier in Bastruf.
The more Howl and Pursha talked, the more Howl's feelings of guilt grew. If Pursha caught him sneaking through her stuff tonight, Howl imagined that everything they had shared would hit her hard, and they would no longer be allies. Howl imagined she would also leave his company, which he found distressing, as he had grown to like her.
Finally, Howl decided to tell Pursha that he was tired. Pursha nodded and told him she would stay up a little before heading to sleep herself. He had managed to keep the guilt from showing up on his fur and face, and Howl soon found a nice place in the grass which felt rather uncomfortable and laid down, facing Pursha. Now he just had to fake sleep and stay awake for a time until Pursha decided to sleep herself.
Howl closed his eyes and waited. He could hear Pursha shuffling around across from him, but didn't dare open his eyes to see if she was going to sleep.
Twenty minutes had passed before Howl dared to crack open an eye. It was already fully dark, and as he was squinting, he could just make out the form of Pursha's body. She was curled up and facing away from him. She had her backpack right next to her, one hand lain protectively over it.
Howl cursed his luck. He was never going to be able to extract Pursha's hand without her waking up. Her feline reflexes would be alerted as soon as howl approached her. That and she had the advantage of seeing in the dark, so he could not rely on that to conceal him when she awoke.
He may as well just go to sleep, he thought. He got up to switch to a softer pile of grass, when he noticed that Pursha did not move her head. She was fast asleep, her breathing no longer soft.
Howl sat on a rock in front of her and waited. He waited for what felt like an hour until Pursha shifted in her sleep and her hand fell off her bag.
Howl's heartbeat quickened. He made to cover his emotions, practicing the Qumerit style that Branthur had taught him, and held his breath locked in his chest, only allowing a steady stream of air to breathe.
He lifted himself from the rock and stood in a crouch, then walked as silently and carefully as he could toward her. When he was right in front of her, close enough that he could count her whiskers, he reached into the bag and pushed it open.
The bag contained an extra pair of clothing, and Howl found himself sweating as he pushed through the contents. At last he found what he had been searching for, and revealed a small red bundle hidden just in the folds of her extra cloak.
He carefully and silently moved to step away from Pursha, holding the package tight to his chest, and as he was stepping over back to his rock, there was a snap of a branch below Howl's feet.
Howl wheeled around. Pursha's eyes were still closed. He briefly chided himself for nothing thinking to open the parcel while he was beside the bag, and made to open the small red pouch.
He reached inside and produced a small, ceramic bowl. There was something else inside the pouch, and Howl recognized it as a pestle, as was used for grinding up plants and herbs for apothecary purposes. It was a mortar and pestle.
Howl didn't understand. How was a mortar and pestle significant? Why did Fier want Pursha to have it, and why did Howl feel a twinge in his aura when it was passed between them. He looked back over the bowl. There were no markings on it, and neither on the pestle. Eventually he gave up, deciding to put it back as quickly as possible, when it happened. The smooth bowl slid from his grasp, and hit the rock he stood by. Several things happened at once.
The bowl cracked cleanly in half, and Howl whipped around to see Pursha eye's fling open. They grew wider as she took in what had happened.
"How dare you." She pulled out the sword from her hilt and in an instant her sword was at Howl's throat.
The situation could not have been more worse. He was not expecting such a violent reaction from Pursha, though he was not expecting to break whatever it was that the parcel contained.
"You broke my mortar. Do you know how much that is worth?" She was shaking in anger, and her voice was nearly a shout. "Do you realize what you have just done?"
Howl let out a whimper. The sword was piercing through the skin on his throat and it was beginning to draw blood. He held out the parcel to her and thought wildly for an explanation.
"I didn't mean to break it, I swear. I just wanted to know what was in it. I know your father!" he shouted out.
The look on Pursha's face gave away his advantage. She was clearly not expecting this, and she even drew the blade back a little.
"Explain yourself," she demanded.
Howl told her as much as he could of Fier and the vision he saw. When he mentioned Fier's death, her eyes widened, and tears were beginning to form, but she kept her demeanor hard against him. Finally he told her of the parcel and the significance he felt when Fier passed it to her. He finished by telling her of his escape and decision to head to Bastruf.
Pursha kept her sword withdrawn and held out to Howl, though it was no longer at his throat. "You had no right." She said. "How could you?"
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done it, but I had to know what was in that parcel. I had to know if I could truly trust Fier or not."
The sword lowered a little, and and tears were beginning to roll down her face.
Howl spoke once again spoke his apologies and concerns, but Pursha ignored them. "Give them to me," she said angrily.
Howl instinctively put them both shards and the pestle back into the bag and handed them quickly over to her. She took them and shoved them into the bag at her hip, all whilst keeping her eyes on Howl.
"I'm leaving. Don't try to follow me."
And she took off down the hill. She headed south toward the mountains, rather than east toward Bastruf. Howl didn't dare try to follow her. Not just Pursha's anger, but the significance that shook him as the small bowl broke sent a large jolt through his body, one that signaled a bad warning him. Somehow he knew he would not be seeing her again.