The Sacrificial Boy by: Elsbeth Aislin learns that all choices in life come with consequences

Chapter 13

Plodding through halls of stone, the shadow creature known as Prince Scáit wondered if things could get any worse. All of those century-old plans thwarted by a wisp of a girl, who seemed so powerless at first but now seemed so terrifying.

Still, he would wait to have all the time in the world. Eventually, even the strongest made mistakes. For example, Aislin made her first of what most likely would be many, right after the ceremony.

For centuries, Dubh Caisleáin had been the solid black stone fortress with no way to enter. Now, all sorts of window-like openings have appeared. Some large, some small, all allowing the wind and sun into the black halls of Dubh Caisleáin. In its state now, it would offer little protection from the wind, much less enemies from the outside.

The creature, forced into cat form for the time being, with its head on a window ledge, looked out over the swamp. “Still, it feels good to feel the wind on one's face.”

Growling, the former elemental Prince made his way down several more passageways. This last decision by hers, however, was intolerable.

Aislin stood in front of the tall mirror, studying her reflection. The mirror no longer reflected the half-person who entered Dubh Caisleáin a few days ago. As if a dream, she had somehow matured into the woman she was supposed to be. Full breasts, wide hips, pointing down to a very female mound; she had finally blossomed.

Even with all of the knowledge she now possessed, Aislin still didn’t know if the magic had changed or repaired her body. Although she had some ideas, there were still too many questions left unanswered. However, taking a better look at her reflection once more, the new Sorceress had a feeling that perhaps it had been for her protection after all.

Although if it had been an enchantment, a powerful one at that, with its intent to keep her from harm, it had done quite the opposite. Still, troubled by the existence or non-existence of such an enchantment served no purpose. As the new owner of Dubh Caisleáin, there were too many other things to worry about.

Sighing, Aislin turned to face the shadow creature as it quietly slipped into the room. Since their battle of wills and his binding, Aislin always knew the Prince’s exact location.

“Scáith, do you need something of me?”

Moving into the room, the shadow feline suddenly stopped as his new mistress clothed herself in a long black dress. The outfit itself, although beautiful, did not impress Scáith, but the fabric caught his attention. Spirit silk now adorned the new Sorceress, more protective than steel but light as a breath.

“Why?” The creature growled. “Such a thing is unheard of, how do you expect us to live in Dubh Caisleáin without their help or are we going to move back to that little hovel I found you in?”

As Aislin looked down, Scáith backed up, unable to look into the eyes of the Sorceress.

“Keeping all of the spirits and elementals bound in permanent servitude you mean, no, that was not something I would do.”

“But all of them? The Keep cannot run without their magic.”

Although the Prince had said all of them, that was not true. Besides the Prince, dozens of terrible spirits were bound to the very walls of Dubh Caisleáin. All of them sealed into stone forms; they would be the last defense before the Keep was overrun. Aislin didn’t know if she could use such creatures, but she wasn’t going to just release them back into the world.

“The Keep will be fine, but don’t be too concerned, not all of the elementals returned home. The Salamanders appear quite happy to remain.”

“Of course…lazy brutes, but what about me?” Scáith growled, looking into the eyes on his mistress. “You seem to have forgotten to release me from this so-called permanent servitude.”

Aislin laughed, not surprised that the beast didn’t care about the others, even the ones forced into stone. It only cared for its own release. “You, my dear Prince, are an exception.”

The creature curled up on the floor, annoyed. Every Thaumaturgist he had ever known bound the elementals after a summoning. Unbelievably Aislin had summoned two powerful water spirits from the swamp earlier in the day. Without the use of a circle, she forced her will upon them, asking them to drench the center of the castle with water. Afterward, she simply released them.

With the arrival of a female Gnome who entered the room unannounced, the Prince became even more confused.

“Your Majesty, how are these?” The small woman smiled, displaying to Aislin a small bouquet of summer flowers.

“Lovely, Garnet, do you think the others will mind if we add these to the other decorations?”

Scáith growled in surprise. “Why are you here? Didn’t she free you?”

The Gnome named Garnet gave the shadow creature a look, telling him exactly how she felt about him, and then turned away, setting the flowers in a vase.

“It’s my home, why would I want to leave?”

Smiling, she finished with the flowers before giving a small curtsy. “If there is nothing else your Majesty, I will attend to my other duties.”

The Sorceress smiled warmly. “Thank you, Garnet.”

Watching the Gnome vanish into the walls, Aislin said. “They still insist on calling me, your Majesty. All right, I am heading off to the library unless you need me for anything else.”

As the long days of summer passed, those who continue to dwell inside the black castle of Dubh Caisleáin could usually find Aislin floating high in the air, in the castle’s library.

Connected by dozens of archways with centuries of knowledge covering its high walls, scholars from all over the realm would have been beside themselves if they only knew such a library still existed.

From bronze tables from the earliest city-states to the scrolls from the Sorceress’ time to the books now written; all could be found inside. Even the hundreds of manuscripts of Amar, thought to have been lost during the siege that destroyed the great city-state, had been partially recovered.

To the shadow creature’s disgust, the new Sorceress appeared to be simply doing nothing but reading and creating a garden in the center of the castle.

Liadan never sat still, always meeting with this warlord or that captain. The only things Aislin spoke to were Gnomes and Sylphs, the foolish who choose to remain with the new Sorceress instead of being free. She appeared to be doing nothing; the shadow creature didn’t understand. For one with so much power, not to use it seemed wasteful.

Curling up against the cold floor, of all the things, had taken place since Aislin took control of the Keep, Scáith couldn’t understand why Gorgas remained. The powerful earth elemental, almost as powerful as himself, had been brought forth from the Spirit Realm to create Dubh Caisleáin.

“Why didn’t you leave?” He growled, like all of the other elementals and spirits in the Keep the powerful Gnome bond had been one of the first to be removed.

“Why I like my books.” The Gnome didn’t look up from scanning pages faster than any mortal creature.

“You’ve changed.” The shadow creature said in disgust.

The Gnome laughed. “You haven’t.”

Stepping away, Gorgas called up into the ceiling. “Your Majesty, I believe I have found the quatrains in question.”

From high in the air, Aislin slowly floated downwards to land next to the Gnomish Prince. “Don’t tell me we actually have a copy of the Quoins prophesies?”

“Indeed, look at this one and this one as well.”

“Interesting, that does answer a few questions, I think.”

“How does it answer any questions, Aislin. The human was obviously insane.”

Scáith remembered the old Black Sorceress speaking to her sister about the same shadow prophesies. From what he remembered the words were nothing more than gibberish. Then again, not surprising, many mortals who spent too much time delving into the Spirit Realm lost their minds.

Ignoring the beast, she continued. “Excellent Gorgas, I think we need to look at the writings of both the seers Degaru and Lyria as well.” Aislin stood, tapping a finger to her lips.

“More nonsense,” the shadow creature grumbled. What could studying the writing of two more mad Seers help any?

”Unfortunately, Gorgas, if you could find me the Dánmhara Book of Lies, I need to compare a few things.” Aislin hated the book; bound in human flesh; its contents gave a peek into the darker side of magic.

At that moment, three Sylphs appeared at Aislin’s side. The new Sorceress eyes blazed as she passed the half-asleep creature, before commanding. “Scáith to me.”

The shadow creature jumped up, startled, following Aislin out of the castle.

--0--

Elyria closed her eyes and smiled, enjoying the warmth of the sun, knowing that it would be for the last time. Answering a call from the Lord of their village, Verities of the Red, so-called Guardians of Truth had arrived in the village. Now standing in the hot sun, a dozen of them proselytized the evils of magic. Once they were finished with the ceremony, she would die.

As a young child, she told her mother that she had seen Sprites playing in the rye fields. Elyria could still remember the beating she got at the hands of her mother for saying such a thing, even if it had been true.

Since that incident, Elyria kept such sightings to herself. She gave no indication to anyone that she might possess the Black Curse, as it was called. Instead, Elyria became the perfect child of the village; blending in, not standing out.

Upon receiving the first blooms of womanhood, she felt the first touch of real power, and it appeared to be her last. Elyria and her best friend Heloise had been walking along the road, holding a bucket of milk in their hands. So intent on their discussion, they didn’t hear the horse and rider until it was too late. The Knight didn’t even stop as he rode over her friend.

As Heloise lay all broken, Elyria rushed to her side. Upon touching her friend, the young girl felt a rush of power. Witnesses spoke of a soft white glow covering both girls and that the wounds seemed to close by themselves. Although Heloise still had long months of healing ahead, her friend’s life had been saved, unfortunately, at the cost of her own.

Elyria looked over at her friend’s parents; they didn’t seem to enjoy the ceremony, nor did they join in the screaming and incriminations that the others had done, including her own mother. She didn’t mind if they had objected Heloise might also be joining her. Elyria wouldn’t want that.

Sitting in chains in the center of the town square, people she knew all her life, even some of her cousins had accused her of all sorts of evils to the Guardians. From the death of several infants, harvests, to even a broken plow, it had all been blamed on Elyria.

“At least it’s a beautiful day.” The young girl said to no one in particular but thought it odd that so many Sprites came to watch her last hours. “Perhaps when I die, I'll become a Sylph.”

According to her mother, she wouldn’t be welcomed in the halls of her father, so the idea brought a small amount of happiness.

As two of the red-robed Guardians dragged her to the post sitting in the center of the village, she began to shake. With the chains wrapped around her body, a senior member of the group with long white hair, known as a Justiciar, ordered the villagers to place the bundles of wood around her.

When Heloise’s parents dropped the last stack, Elyria managed to give them a brave smile, but her courage broke when her mother agreed to light the pyre. However, the flames never came.

Scáith had no idea where they were going, unhappy at having Aislin riding him as if he were a horse. At first, he thought they were going back to her grandmother, but Aislin only said it wasn’t time yet. Instead, the two of them flew south.

Once made of up three powerful kingdoms, the lands below them had broken up over the years. Now there were dozens of small baronies, kingdoms, and duchies.

As they continued to pass by small farms and villages, the creature could feel Aislin’s power behind him, moving him along the currents of the air quicker than possible. Suddenly, without saying anything, Aislin slipped off his back. Like a rock, she plummeted to the ground. Growling, the shadow creature banked and followed her down.

To Elyria, the world suddenly exploded. The wood, flames all of it suddenly vanished thrown high into the air, or into the faces of the villagers. As if a great wind picked them up, anyone who stood suddenly found themselves thrown to the ground.

The young girl looked up in wonder at a vision that would be with her for the rest of her life. A beautiful woman with midnight black hair, dressed in a gown of the same color, stood in the circle of destruction.

For a moment, Elyria felt afraid until the beautiful woman looked down at her and gave her a warm smile. Reaching over, Elyria felt the touch of power as the iron chains simply crumbled to dust. Before Elyria could ask the woman who she was, the Justiciar stood up, pulling a long-handled mace from his belt.

“How dare you interfere with the cleansing, who are you?”

Holding the young girl by the hand, Aislin stood up straight, daring the man to approach. Turning other guardians who were drawing weapons, she said. “The wild men of the south called me Bubhbá¡s. The sea warriors call me Crnviatica. Your fathers called me Noir Sorciare.”

Those villagers who were struggling to rise gasped at the name; however, the white-haired Justiciar laughed. “Preposterous, kill her, and the girl.” He commanded.

Suddenly, as if confirming her answer, a massive beast came out of the sky, the force of its wings turning over carts, scattering peoples an animals. It's challenging roar shattered any thoughts of attacking the one who named herself the Black Sorceress as everyone, including the Guardians fled for their lives.