Tales of Midbar: Religious Intolerance

I was expecting more people but, as it was in the theater, it seemed pretty much empty. Minris theater, like most buildings in the town, didn’t have a roof. It was semicircular, cut into the hill side, with concentric circles of seating around a semi-circular stage. It was said to have been built before the Cataclysm. In the summer it was used for shows for tourists. Now, it was hosting Lishrashic’s party. Mum and Dad made comments about how much this must have cost.

Some tables with food and drink had been set up on the stage around a fake mountain. The striking thing was a goat and an eagle flutter perched on top of this.

“They’re held there by magic,” Breeze said.

Of course me and Breeze had to stroke the goat. Flutters aren’t cute like animals. It didn’t really have a face, just a leathery body with a mouth and a number of antennae, and a big pair of wings.

All the local Haprihagfen and Benai Haprihagfen were there, along with a few other people, including Poslit and Rinjac, the owner of the magic shop, who kept giving Breeze strange looks.

“Excuse me,” said Lishrashic, eventually, “could you please take your seats. I’ve arranged a little performance. Not on the mountain kids!”

We left the goat and went and sat on the front row of seats.

“As I think you know,” said Lishrashic, “I’m trapped in Minris by a tether spell. There are probably worse places to be stuck but it’s rather inconvenient.”

“We’ve all had bindings attached to us!” said Breeze, quietly.

“Oh no,” said Ice, who was sitting behind me.

“It seems I’ve got few options left to break the spell,” said Lishrashic.

“Not Old Magic!” shouted Ice.

He hastily left the stage as a woman entered from a door in the back wall. She was naked apart from a mask and splashes of body paint (probably to conceal tattoos), which would have concealed her identity but, as she was a nibeyah and had huge breasts, she had to be Yoldasia. Her breasts swung and bounced so much that I thought they’d fall off. I hope mine don’t get that big.

“Wow!” said Irvis.

“Don’t try anything!” said Ice. “Interrupting a spell can be very dangerous!”

“She’s doing Old Magic and you’re just thinking about her boobs,” said Breeze.

“Genetic programming,” said Cloud.

Yoldasia proceeded to dance round the mountain three times, chanting in a language I didn’t recognise.

“Is she combining Old Magic and associate magic?” asked Mountain.

“I fear that’s probably the case,” said Ice.

Just then, the light dimmed from white to blue as Aleph passed behind Bet. A moment later the sapphires went out, plunging us instantly into a weird sort of black night only with a strange red glow in the sky and a partial red ring around Bet. Eclipses are common but I always think they’re a bit creepy. Eclipses that coincide with sapphire dark are rather more unusual. Then the fake mountain exploded into flames. There was a sickening, terrified bleating from the goat and strange squeals from the flutter. Naturally I was horrified and started crying. I think Breeze and some other kids did too. The next moment, the whole inferno rose into the air and hovered above us for a few seconds and I got the strange feeling that it was thinking. Then it exploded into several balls of fire, one straight at me! It hit but felt weird, not like fire at all. A strange mixture of heat and tingling shot through my body for an instant and then was gone.

“You alright?” asked Ice.

“I think so,” I said, still crying.

“It hasn’t affected my bindings or associates,” said Breeze.

“What the fornication was that?” asked Dad.

“Sorry about that,” said Lishrashic.

“You know Old Magic’s against our religion!” said Mountain.

“And it’s dangerous,” said Ice, “especially if you combine it with associate magic!”

“And you killed the poor goat!” I said.

“I know what I’m doing!” shouted Yoldasia. “That was a summoning spell to bring whoever cast the tether spell here, along with whatever artifacts they used, and confess to it.”

“It will bring disaster!” shouted Ice. “Lishrashic will leave as a corpse!”

“You hit the red-haired Winemaker girl!” shouted Rinjac.

“It hit me,” I said.

“It hit me as well,” said Breeze.

“Don’t you dare say why that worries you!” shouted River at Rinjac.

“You’ve angered Yoho!” shouted Ice at Yoldasia, who was still standing naked on the stage, apart from the mask. “He will send the adulterer and the virgin to steal your fruit and your blood will defile a holy site!”

“You don’t know anything about me!” shouted Yoldasia. “You can’t curse me!”

“It was a prophecy!” shouted Ice.

Mum came over to me and crouched in front of me. By now a lot of people were muttering and grumbling but I think a lot were also fascinated by the argument between the two female magi.

“I have Yoho’s blessing,” said Yoldasia. “You’re darkest secret will be revealed causing all to revile you and causing your greatest fear to come true!”

The word secret struck me. I realized that I didn’t want the Haprihagfen to be reviled, perhaps my mission was to protect the secret.

“Are you alright?” asked Mum.

“You’d better hope and pray that doesn’t happen!” said Ice.

“She killed the goat!” I sobbed.

“My greatest fear,” Ice continued, “isn’t for myself or even the Haprihagfen!”

“What have you done to Eleprin?” asked Mum, marching towards Lishrashic.

“I’m dying!” shouted Lishrashic. I think that got everybody’s attention because everybody stopped arguing and Yoldasia left the stage the way she’d come. “Well it isn’t quite that simple. I’ve very few predestination lines left so I probably won’t live long unless something drastic is done. However, I’m only forty three, I think most you thought I was older than that, and apparently in good health. The Haprihagfen couldn’t break the spell. Following my predestination lines didn’t help, partly because the strongest one leads to somebody who has a ridiculously large number of them,” he looked at me, “but didn’t know me before I came to Minris. This summoning spell was the only remaining option.”

“The Old Magic has trapped you in a disastrous future!” said Ice. “This is a self fulfilling prophecy!”

“We both know the future’s disastrous,” shouted Yoldasia from somewhere back stage. “I’m just making it less so. What are you doing about the Prophesied Ruination?”

“Being careful not to mess up the Mechanism,” shouted Ice. “Some other things I can’t talk about.”

“I can’t see any associates or bindings on her,” said Rainbow, looking at me with a magic detector, “but I can’t detect Old Magic.”

“You’re welcome to stay and have some more food and drink,” said Lishrashic.

“Who did those things hit?” asked Ice. “I might be able to do something to mitigate it.”

“The spell’s started,” shouted Yoldasia’s voice. “It’s dangerous to interfere!”

“It’s dangerous to leave it!” shouted Ice.

“Don’t come running to me when you fornicate things up!” shouted Yoldasia

“I most certainly won’t!” replied Ice.

“Perhaps we should really stay and be sociable,” said Mum as were leaving with most other people.

“He zapped Eleprin with that thing,” said Dad.

“And killed the goat,” I said.

“He is going to die soon,” said Mum. “The poor guy doesn’t have many options.”

“You can go and be sociable if you like,” said Ice. “Actually it might be a good idea for somebody to remain on friendly terms with him so hopefully you’ll find out quickly if there are any developments or if he tries anything else. We don’t need you to cleanse Eleprin.”

Mum stopped and looked back and forth, wondering what to do, “Yoldasia said that interfering could be dangerous.”

“She’s mad,” said Ice. “Old Magic is notorious for driving people mad and she’s been hospitalized for mental problems several times. She’s on her second marriage to a very strange man and her family life is known to be something of a mess.”

“She also has some weird influence,” said Mountain. “In spite of her glaring shortcomings, she’s allowed to work as a healing mage in a mental hospital, that’s how she earns most her money.”