Herald of the Storm

SIX

The chamber was on the north side of the Tower of Magisters, its single window looking out onto the Storway and the Old Stone Road where they both began their long journeys. It was far from the highest room, only at the mid point of the vast citadel, but the view from its window still rivalled that from any other spire in the city of Steelhaven.

At one end of the chamber stood a pitch-blackened chalkboard covered in sigils, ciphers and runes, arranged in a web-like pattern of equations. To any man literate enough to read it would have seemed like a random scrawl, a pretty pattern of outlandish characters that might represent some ancient and forbidden language. To the members of the Caste, those within the Free States who were given licence to practise the arts of magick, it represented the source of their power, the meaning behind the Veil, a way to tap sorceries from the diabolical storms that raged unseen throughout the lands of men.

To Waylian Grimm it was all nonsense.

He had been such a promising student back in his home province of Ankavern. The college he had attended in the town of Groffham had lauded him as their best scholar, heaping praise on him, apparently delighted that his intellect was far in excess of any of his peers. Waylian had even been considered more able than some of his tutors, and it was only natural that he be recommended to the Tower of Magisters for advanced study. His parents had been eager too, even his mother, who had treated Waylian like a helpless infant until he was well into his teenage years. They were only too happy for him to travel the road west to Steelhaven — the promise that their son might one day become a magister clearly outweighing their need to protect him.

Unfortunately, since his arrival, Waylian had found that the vast intellect and excellence at study which had made him so remarkable back in Ankavern seemed quite ordinary amongst his new peers. He was beginning to feel like something of a failure. That was not to say he hadn’t learned much since starting his apprenticeship. Indeed, he had consumed knowledge voraciously.

In the few months since his schooling began he had learned the basics of seven different languages, from the distinct clicks and sighs of the differing Equ’un tribes to the lilting singsong dialects of the Elharim. He had mastered histories both ancient and modern, from the many campaigns of the Kaer’Vahari Dragon Wars to the military strategies of the Sword Kings, and the migratory routes of the early Teutonian tribes. He had studied the origins of the Old Gods and their eventual demise before the rising veneration of Arlor and Vorena. Waylian had become an accomplished theologian with expert knowledge in the pantheons of a dozen polytheistic cultures, from the various Khurtic death cults to the Aeslanti sky gods and their relevant constellations. His knowledge of eastern manners, rituals and customs was second to none, and had he so desired Waylian could easily have become a valuable envoy to the East in the court of King Cael.

All of no use though, if he couldn’t even grasp the basics of magick.

The Magistra stood beside the board, speaking in her rapid monotone. She was the only other person in the room, her focus solely on teaching Waylian the intricacies of the art. She might as well have been speaking in tongues for all he understood.

Waylian had studied the books — one of them was open before him even now, the relevant page taunting him with almost indecipherable language. He had learned all he could by rote: the relevant sigils, gestures, equations, components, incantations, meditations and means of execution; but he simply couldn’t understand any of it.

Of course he had retained some things. He knew that the conjuration of fire required coal dust, soot or some other carbon based ingredient, spread on the skin in the correct manner whilst evoking the requisite incantation. He knew that the weather could be harnessed and manipulated to the magicker’s will through the tapping of simple elemental conduits. He knew that non-sentient creatures could be influenced into carrying out the will of any man who knew the relevant language and the particular words to speak. But when asked to recall any of the details, when he had to remember the specific incantations or the components that went with a particular conjuration, his mind was a blank.

Without this secret knowledge, without being able to put all these things together instinctively, it was impossible for a magister to tap into the storm, to break the Veil and become a true caster.

Waylian’s only consolation was that, for now, he wouldn’t have to. He was only an apprentice, a journeyman, a neophyte, and consequently forbidden to perform magick until he was inducted as a member of the Caste. For now his studies were purely theoretical, and as long as they stayed like that, Waylian would be able to disguise the fact that he was struggling. More than struggling — he was failing, drowning in a sea of knowledge he could neither comprehend nor control.

‘Am I keeping you awake?’

It was the Magistra.

At her words, Waylian suddenly realised he had been staring at the hard wood of his desk, rather than hanging on her every word. She gazed at him, her white hair swept back, pulled tight and severe, her mature features, her piercing blue eyes, glaring with contempt.

‘No, Magistra,’ Waylian replied. He swallowed hard.

Waylian was fearful of his teacher — more fearful of her than he had been of any other human being in his short life. She was his mentor, his tutor, but above all his mistress. Gelredida … the Red Witch as she was called by the other apprentices, though Waylian only ever called her Magistra. She stood tall and erect, though the lines of her face showed an age and experience far beyond mortal years. Waylian had often wondered if she used her magicks to keep herself youthful. Perhaps she was centuries old?

Not that he would ever dare ask.

She was well respected and feared within the Tower, treated with reverence even by the other magisters. Trust his damned luck to end up apprenticed to such a formidable tutor.

It was not just her commanding air and reputation that fuelled Waylian’s fear. It was her aura of power, the self-assurance that emanated from her, as though she could snatch the life from anyone who crossed her — not that she had ever demonstrated such power. Indeed, since Waylian had arrived in Steelhaven he had not seen so much as a minor invocation being uttered. He had learned quickly that magick was a powerful tool, never to be used lightly. Its use came with a price that was paid by every magister, one way or another. This was demonstrated in some of the older magickers who wandered the halls of the Tower — some muttering to themselves in dementia-fuelled rants, others stooped, toothless and horribly scarred, their bodies withered or maimed; by what fell magicks Waylian dare not imagine.

‘I’d hate to think I was talking to myself.’ She gripped the piece of white chalk in her slender hand and motioned to the blackboard. ‘So, just for my edification, remind me what is the basic principle of elemental conjuration.’

Waylian felt panic grip him. He glanced towards the chalkboard for a second, hoping the random scrawl upon it might suddenly offer some kind of answer, but no — it was still utterly meaningless.

Elemental conjuration — now that was a tough one.

Or was it? Was that actually one he knew?

Conjuration referred to summoning — that was easy enough — but was it elemental beings, like giant fire daemons, or was it elemental phenomena, like lightning storms and tidal waves?

He had no idea.

For a second he considered trying to bluff it, perhaps making something up that might sound convincing, but he knew that was stupid. Gelredida accepted nothing tentative, tolerated no guessing. She wanted the answer and she wanted it as it was written in one of her dusty tomes, spoken verbatim and with confidence. A wrong answer would have been just as bad as no answer at all.

Waylian gave a shrug of his shoulders, trying to go for the brave kind of shrug, the one that demonstrates valour and overarching confidence. He knew deep down he just looked pathetic.

‘What a surprise,’ said the Magistra, clearly unsurprised that her student didn’t have a clue. Well, she must have been getting used to it by now. ‘Just in case you choose to remember it next time, the basic principle is harmony. All life is, at its most fundamental, made up of the same elements. Components for elemental conjuration do not determine the results; that is for the magister to decide. A component will simply translate the form to a specific task. Understand?’

Waylian nodded.

‘Somehow I doubt it,’ said the Magistra. ‘But essentially it means even by using water, with enough practice, you could conjure and harness the element of fire to your will. Though why I’m bothering to elucidate is beyond me.’

She closed her eyes. Waylian didn’t know whether she was quelling her anger or merely showing frustration. Either way it made him nervous.

‘From now on, my non-conversant student, we will call you Pultra. I believe you are now familiar with our arrangement, Pultra?’

He nodded despondently.

Waylian was all too familiar with the ‘arrangement’. The Magistra would pick a name, an insulting, demeaning or otherwise unpleasant name, from some foreign and obscure dialect. Until Waylian could identify the origin and meaning of the name, he would continue to be known by it. This in itself might not have been so bad, but until he found the answer to his mistress’s little quandary he was also given the most menial of menial tasks to perform, like clearing the swill after mealtimes and wiping clean every blackboard in the tutorial chambers.

‘Excellent, Pultra. Then I believe you have some studying to do.’

‘Yes, Magistra,’ Waylian replied, closing the book on his desk. He stuffed the book, his quill, ink and some loose parchments into his battered leather satchel and shuffled past the empty rows of desks towards the door. He didn’t dare look at the Magistra; he didn’t want to meet her withering stare.

In the corridor outside, Waylian felt relief wash over him. Without the twin swords of expectation and disappointment dangling over his head, he could breathe again. It was all he could do to stop himself from running to the Grand Library.

The Liber Conflagrantia took up an entire floor of the Tower of Magisters. It truly was the grandest of libraries — the repository of five thousand years of history. It held tomes on cultures and religions long dead and maps and parchments showing borders and boundaries trampled into obscurity under the feet of ancient conquerors and kings.

Whenever Waylian entered its hallowed confines he was struck dumb.

Two Raven Knights, standing like black armoured statues, guarded the doorway to the library, their spears reaching almost to the ceiling. Waylian kept his head bowed as he passed them — though he couldn’t see their eyes within the beaked full-helms he wasn’t going to chance drawing undue attention to himself. The Raven Knights were the guardians of the Tower of Magisters, an order dedicated to the protection of the vast citadel and those housed within it. They had no magickal abilities, but their martial prowess was unrivalled — even by the Knights of the Blood. They lived only for one purpose — to carry out the will of the Crucible of Magisters, and this they did with a fanatical zeal. Even though he knew each one would lay down his life to protect him, Waylian could not help but be fearful of them.

Inside the library, the overwhelming smell of parchment, dust and old wood assailed his nostrils. In one corner stood the huge skeleton of an Aeslanti warrior — over seven feet tall, the bones twice as thick as a man’s, the fangs of its skull as long as Waylian’s middle finger. Even in death the beast was a fearsome thing to behold, a grisly reminder of the courage shown by the armies of the Free States and their king.

The vast chamber was eerily quiet for a room of such size. Two old magisters sat at the far end, silently poring over antiquated codices, but otherwise the place was empty.

Waylian’s heart sank as he began to understand the size of the task ahead of him. The place housed thousands of tomes, and he was charged with finding a single piece of information.

He had never been one to admit defeat; he would just have to begin somewhere and carry on until he found it.

Magistra Gelredida had registered her displeasure this way before. She had always selected the most obscure languages from the least known cultures to test Waylian to the limit. Previously she had called him the ancient Sword King name for cow dung, a word used by the monks of Han-Shar for the ring they inserted through a bull’s nose; then he had borne the Khurtic slave word for goats’ testicles. Pultra sounded Teutonian in origin, but there was no chance it would be that simple. Perhaps it was Golgarthan or from the Ice Holds of Morath further north — though it didn’t sound guttural and savage enough.

‘The Red Witch given you another one of those tedious names to work out, Grimm?’

Waylian almost leapt out of his skin at the whispered question, but when he saw the speaker he let out an audible sigh.

Rembram Thule sat at a small wooden desk, squirrelled away between two extremely large bookshelves. He was smiling, as usual, his dark hair flopping down over his handsome face. He was charismatic, self-assured, attractive — everything Waylian wasn’t.

‘How did you guess, Bram?’ said Waylian in lowered tones, moving to sit in a chair opposite. ‘And stop calling her that out loud. If one of the magisters hears, you’ll be doing menials all through the Feast of Arlor.’

‘Those two old goats are deaf as posts.’ He motioned casually over a line of study desks towards the magisters sitting deep in thought.

‘I’m sure. But she has … ways, you know. I’m sure she hears everything that goes on within these walls. I wouldn’t be surprised if she can hear this conversation.’

‘You sound paranoid, Grimm.’

‘Well wouldn’t you be? I feel cursed; it’s like nothing I ever do is right — nothing I say, no answers I give. I’m sure she’s just waiting to expel me from the Tower, or worse.’

‘What, turn you into a frog?’ Bram smiled slyly.

‘It’s no laughing matter. You don’t know how good you’ve got it.’

‘Oh yeah, I’ve got it easy, apprenticed to a senile old bat. Why do you think I’m here stuck in the library when everyone else is relaxing in the apprentices’ lounge? Because nothing Magister Arfax teaches me is of any bloody use, that’s why. I may as well be tutoring myself.’

Waylian suddenly felt jealous. Bram was an exemplary student, breezing through the theoretical tests of magick all first year students were given, and it seemed he did it all off his own back. Even with the stern ministrations of Magistra Gelredida, Waylian hadn’t even managed to master the basics.

‘Trust me,’ Waylian said. ‘You’ve got it much easier. Besides, you seem to be doing fine. The way I’m going I won’t be here for much longer, anyway.’

‘Don’t give in so easily, Grimm. Trust me, you’ll get it eventually; it’ll be like turning a corner and the whole thing’s just laid out before you. Everything will be clear. I promise: you’ll wonder what all the fuss was about.’

‘I hope so,’ Waylian replied, thinking of life back in a provincial town, a dull life inescapably mapped out. He would make any deal, any pact to avoid returning to it.

‘I know so.’ Bram closed his book and stuffed it into his satchel. He stood up and squeezed Waylian’s shoulder. ‘Anyway, what’sthe name you’ve got this time?’

‘She’s started calling me Pultra.’

‘Sounds nice. Got a bit of an Eastern ring to it, but the morphology’s a bit too archaic. How did she say it?’

‘She said, Pultra.’ Waylian repeated the word as best he could remember, but there were no stresses on any of the syllables.

‘Yeah, that’s no help. What was she teaching you when she decided you needed a new name?’

‘Something about elemental conjuration. I can’t remember exactly what.’

‘Then I suggest you start there.’ And with a wink, Bram walked across the library towards the exit, sandals clicking rhythmically on the wooden floorboards, leaving Waylian alone in that vast repository of knowledge.

He gave a sigh, glancing round the massive library, then began searching for the section on conjuration.

It took him three hours, but eventually Waylian found what he was looking for. It was in a little used tome regarding elemental definitions entitled The Way of the Five Sages. There was a small section on materialising golems from the earth itself, all theoretical and very confusing, but Waylian kind of got the gist. Right at the bottom of the section it explained that if these conjurations were cast incorrectly, the golem would fail, becoming nothing more than globules of earth and tar. These failed abortions were known as pultra.

Waylian wanted to feel happy that he’d managed to discover the answer to his quandary, but somehow it seemed a hollow achievement. Magistra Gelredida was obviously sending him a message loud and clear — he was a failure of the worst kind, lingering around the place like a leprous old dog.

As he watched the moon shining through the grand window of the Liber Conflagrantia, Waylian hoped she would have the grace to put him out of his misery sooner rather than later.