CIRCLE OF SHADOWS Part 1: Shadow Chaser

A small fire rages in the dark hearth, the only light source in the dark room. Garet sits hunched in his chair, idly rocking on the back two legs, as he sits thinking.

The flickering light casts ominous shadows across the walls, ghostly images chasing one another on the grey walls.

Tok-Tok!

The knock echoes through the silent room, a harsh intrusion of sound, startling Garet.

Jerking forward he pushes himself out of the chair, eyes wide with fright.

‘Who... who is there?’ voice quivering slightly he moves towards the locked door.

‘Garet, open up!’

Garet breathes loudly through his nose as he recognizes Leigh’s voice and sighing loudly, unlocks the door swiftly.

‘Come in.’

Garet stands aside while holding the door open, allowing Leigh to walk into the room. Poking his head into the corridor outside he glances furtively to both sides before retreating back inside, closing the door soundly behind him.

Walking quickly to the chair he had just vacated he motions Leigh to silence with his finger.

Garet sits down heavily, making small gestures with his hands

as he cast a blocking spell around them.

The air shimmers slightly around them as the spell takes form, turning invisible to the eye as the web folds completely around them.

‘Now we can speak freely my friend.’

‘This seems a bit drastic Garet.’

Leigh frowns down at his friend, waving his hand through the air to indicate the spell.

‘We are caught in a time where drastic measures might not even be enough to save us.’

Garet blinks his eyes rapidly as he utters these words, a slight blush creeping up his neck and fingers twitching agitatedly.

‘Something has really rattled you I see.’

Garet looks at the fire quickly, avoiding Leigh’s inquisitive eyes, before looking back at him and clearing his throat.

‘You would be too dear friend. You would be too.’

‘What are you talking about Garet? Tell me! You are acting very peculiar.’

‘Venere nearly choked me to death!’

Leigh lurches forwards in his chair, mouth agape and eyes wide in astonishment.

‘Wh...what!?’

Garet looks askance at his friend across from him, gets up and walks towards a table against the wall.

‘Tea?’

‘Please.’

Silence hangs thickly in the room as Garet pours the steaming liquid into two silver cups, walks back to his chair and sits down.

Leigh takes the proffered cup, lifting it gingerly to his lips and taking a small sip.

With a loud smack of his lips he sits back into the chair and exclaims happily.

‘Exquisite cup of tea, Garet!’

Garet nods his head in thanks and sips from his own cup as Leigh watches him intently.

‘Now tell me what happened. Every detail!’

Garet sighs heavily, places the cup on the table and leans back in his chair, his eyes glinting sadly as he begins to talk.

‘Simion has been locked away, no one is allowed to see him and he has a continuous guard stationed by his door with orders to block anyone from going in.’

Garet pauses slightly, voice hushed conspiratorially as he leans towards Leigh and whispers, ’With brute force if necessary.’

‘What! That is preposterous! On whose orders?’

‘His Grace himself apparently.’

’No. That cannot be true. It... it goes against all the

prescripts and... and everything our order works by.’

‘None the less my friend, it has been done.’

‘This is an outrage! The council must be made aware of these transgressions.’

‘Hush, Leigh! Do not trample across unknown paths if you value your life.’

Leigh clamps his mouth shut and stares at Garet in amazement.

‘What do you mean by that Garet?’

‘I confronted Venere. Stupidly, I must add, thinking I could change things. That is when he threatened and nearly choked me to death.’

Garet sits back solemnly, reliving the frightful moments in silence.

‘I have never before today witnessed any one person who could move that quickly. Before I could even blink my eyes he had me by the throat. And the immense strength he displayed!’

Galen exhales raggedly and jumps up out of the chair, pacing distressed towards the hearth.

‘This can not be true. It is a gross violation! He must be held accountable.’

Turning around Garet flings his arms into the air exasperated, gesturing wildly as he exclaims loudly.

‘By whom my friend? The council is filled by a bunch of blubbering fools and the other mages worship the ground Venere walks on.’

Leigh sits back and scratches his cheek, deep furrows across his brow as he contemplates all he has heard.

‘We must do something. Anything!’

Shaking his head Garet looks at his friend sadly before turning to look into the fire, a forlorn expression crossing his face.

‘That is the least of my concerns. What bothers me the most is why Simion has been locked up; and what is it that Venere wants to do with that damned book that he has locked up in the tower with him?’

Orange flickers of fire light play across his plump face, jaws clenched tightly and vein pulsing at his temples.

Sighing violently Garet walks back to the table and as he lowers his bulky form into the chair he whispers softly.

‘I fear no good will come of this. Dark days lie ahead and I am afraid it will mean a change to all we hold dear. Our way of life is about to end my friend, and we are powerless to stop the tide.’

Leigh looks at Garet, concern written over his thin drawn face as he clenches his hands together in his lap.

‘We must discover what his plans are.’

Garet looks up; eyes narrowed as he studies his friends’ face in the dimly lighted room.

‘Together we can. But we must proceed with care. And no one can know until we have uncovered the truth!’

Leigh bobs his head in agreement, unclasps his hand and pushes himself up out of his chair. Pausing, his hand on the handle of the door, he turns his head slightly as he says.

‘I will return in the morning. Pray we can accomplish this before any harm befalls us or before it is too late.’

Without a word or waiting for an answer from Garet, Leigh opens the door and steps into the dark corridor outside, closing the door softly behind him as he exits the room.

Garet stares at the closed door, silence hanging ominously in the empty room, and with a sad sigh he gets up and walks towards his bed chamber.

Walking down the silent corridors Leigh runs the discussion through his mind. Disturbing images flash in his mind’s eye; images of widespread death and destruction.

Forcing the horrible images out of his mind he staggers on towards his chambers located on a lower floor of the building. Stumbling down a flight of stairs he heads down another dark corridor, his feet following the well trodden path towards his chambers.

With a wrenching gasp he reaches his chambers, rips open the door and lurches into his dark room. The sudden cold of the room makes him gasp for breath.

Berating himself momentarily for not lighting a fire before he left, he heads off towards his sleeping chamber and with a heavy breath falls unto his bed, pulling thick blanket over his shivering body, teeth chattering loudly as he clenches his eyes shut.

Breaking out into a cold sweat, his body shakes violently as he struggles to block out the images assaulting his senses.

Lurching violently upright he falls back, arms spread wide across the bed; body tight and muscles curled in spasms; jaws clenched against the pain he grunts; swallowing the screams threatening to rip from his throat; anguish written over his haggard features.

With a last shudder he falls silent, breathing raspy in his chest, sweat dripping from his face rapidly staining the sheets. Breathing slowly Leigh relaxes his jaws, gently blowing air through white pinched lips as he relaxes his tight body.

‘That was close.’

His whispers echo ominously through the dark room, relief flooding warmly down his chilled body as he crawls back under the blankets. The shivers racking his body slowly lessen, fading away as quickly as they had come and he snuggles deeper into the plump pillow under his head.

Turning onto his back he stares up at the dark roof, bright eyes following the thin lines of the wooden boards nailed together.

A deep frown furrows his forehead as he follows a thin line

running across the roof, the line forking into two separate lines and the n forking again into four lines and into six.

Leigh draws in a deep breath, groans and shakes his head gently.

‘No, no, no! Not now.’

He moans pleadingly, unable to close his eyes or halt their movement, as they follow the path of the line spreading across the roof.

His body arches wildly: his head pressed against the pillow; his feet braced against the mattress; back bent high in the air. Muscles draw tightly, tendons stark against the skin.

With a wheezing rush of air his body relaxes and falls back to the bed, prone as Leigh stares at the roof, eyes wide open.

Inky blackness spreads across the orbs, dark voids, unblinking. Empty.

* * *

A blinding red flash explodes into Leigh’s’ mind, a torrent of heat and light cascading across his senses. Winds howl and scream through the air, thrashing and flaying his mind as they race past.

Tumbling madly down, spinning and twisting wildly in the storm.

Leigh screams. Mouth stretched wide. Silent.

Calm descends around him as nothingness overwhelms his essence,

a void of blackness.

Pushing to his feet, he looks around him as he stands in the void.

Silence.

A brush of air against his cheek makes him turn around, looking into the darkness for the source of the change.

Leigh looks down at his hands before lifting them up and waving them before his eyes.

His hands burst open, blood and flesh spaying through the black air, spreading like an oily paint across a canvas: glinting, sparkling, fluid.

The smear of colour spreads out in front of Leigh, covering the darkness in an uneven square, rippling in some unknown wind.

A flash of light explodes inside the square: a pulsing flash of light, spreading wider with each booming beat. Shockwaves ripple past Leigh into the darkness.

Silence.

Holding his breath Leigh watches the lighted square intently as dark images flash across it.

Blood. Rivers flowing red. Disease floating on the wind. Dust billowing through the empty villages.

Bodies stacked in heaps, carrion birds tearing at the rotten

flesh. Greedily plucking out vacantly staring eyes, open in absolute horror.

Red columns marching as their flags flap wildly in the scorching winds.

A red cloaked demon sits on a pavilion laughing madly at the spreading madness around him.

Chaos.

A white flame burning brightly in the palm of his outstretched hand.

Silence falls across the scene. Al stands quiet. Frozen landscapes, filled with teeming hordes.

An unknown entity approaches from a distance, a sense of calm and order flowing across the lands before its steady march.

Peace and order restored to stricken lands.

Salvation.

* * *

Darkness descends over Leigh’s senses, enfolding him in silence and nothingness as he falls into an exhausted sleep, his body curled into a tight ball under the heavy blankets.

The distant roll of thunder across the plains the last sound reaching him as consciousness recedes into tattered frays of darkness.