Spacewielders

For the second morning in a row, Azriel woke up to bright beams of sunlight blinding him through the window. Yet again, he had forgot to pull the curtains across. Swearing at his own stupidity, he stretched his whole body, the soft cracking and tension releasing almost causing a moan to slip from his mouth. 

Quickly dressing, he opened the door to his chamber, coming face to face with Sod, who were just about to knock. 

"I guess he wants me at breakfast?" He asked tiredly, passing by the girl and aiming for the staircase further down the hallway. This time, he remembered to wear shoes, which he thanked the Gods for as the stone floor, despite a carpet covering it, practically shimmered with frost. 

Rushing after the boy, Sod took a hold of Azriel's elbow, halting his pacey marsh and turning him against herself. "You're skipping breakfast, the spacewielder is waiting and time is of the essence," she told, an annoyed light escaping the glints of her mask. — Was food the only thing this boy had on his mind? Sod whispered irritatedly in her mind. "This way," she demanded, pointing to a side-passage leading towards another, narrower staircase. 

Entering the dark spiral, the two made their way downwards through shadows and cold, puffs of white smoke drifting behind them. Rustling noises from the other side of the wall notified Azriel that they were passing the main hall, breakfast being eaten in full force by the inhabitants, and the recent cavalcade. A low growl echoed between the stone walls, Sod throwing a quick glance back at Azriel as he pointed to his stomach with an excusing shrug of his shoulders. 

Going even deeper, the stairs leading them down below surface level, the darkness grew ever thicker, no light breaking it apart through the cracks in the outer wall. Azriel shivered slightly, the cold seeping through his wafting cloak. 

After what felt like an eternity of black, the two entered the area of a torch, the beacon of light illuminating a wooden door. Sod knocked heavily. Closely following the sound, the noise of a sliding hatch reverberated throughout the staircase, the door slowly opening before them. 

——————————

Turve sat in a chair, watching the hunchbacked Warden slide over to the door at the sound of the knocking. His head tilted to the side as the hatch slid out of its pocket by itself, acted upon by an external force. He then chuckled slightly as Azriel stumbled backwards at the sight of the damnation in front of him. 

Rising from his chair, he greeted the two with a nod, motioning for them to round the Warden and follow him through another door, which waited, opened, a slight walk away. Past the frame, one could barely differentiate a wall clad with latticed cells, their presence lit up by an aisle of flambeaus. The Warden didn't wait for the newcomers to move, instead it began to drift over the floor, Turve falling in line behind it and the younger ones following suit.

The screeching noise of the Warden's chained, metal ball made Azriel's ears bleed, the sound etching on his soul, tearing pieces out and grinding them through a grater. The hunchback was a creature he had never seen before, yet he had the odd feeling of familiarity with it, something which bothered him alot. — Who wants to be familiar with this abomination? He thought silently, staring at the shifting vertebrae protruding against the draping cloak. And what had it done that had it chained to a metal ball?

The group of four, with the Warden in the tip, passed under the doorframe, stopping for a second before continuing again, a torch now leading the way, levitating under the influence of something invisible, to Azriel's astonishment. 

Passing by the cells, a chill crept down the boy's spine as he noticed the beings locked up in the overcrowded, narrow spaces. Despite the light from the torches, it was hard to see any details besides the bodily features, and he soon managed to spot a couple of demons, dwarfs and what he thought had to be angels, though no wings were in sight. 

Turve and Sod paid no attention to the surrounding crevices as they closely followed the Warden, and Azriel had to quicken his pace to catch up after briefly stopping outside one of them. 

Having cleared the whole chamber, the group stopped at the far end of the room, at what Azriel though to be a solid slab of wall. Yet, the Warden pulled out a keychain, or not pulled, magically pulled, this one object levitating as well. Rassling, the Warden singled out a copper cylinder, which he without ceremonies put into a small hole in the wall, imperceptible to Azriel from the distance he stood. 

The ground shook as a part of the wall sunk into the ground, revealing a long barreled vault behind it. The keychain disappeared into the shadows beneath the Warden's cloak as the being began sliding across the stone floor. Moving together, the trio of humans walked after it, careful to stay inside the sphere of light, the darkness around them causing them to feel a sensation as if it was alive and encroaching upon anyone who dared to traverse the tunnel without light. 

Time passed as they made their way through the shadows, but not before long, the Warden stopped in its tracks, turning towards the right side of the tunnel-wall. Suddenly, a piece of the wall crumbled, but the Warden did not enter, nor did it return, instead, it continued down the tunnel, leaving the humans in pure, raw darkness. 

"This is as far as you will follow, Sod. As you know, the matters of a trial is only for an Advanced Magi or superior to take part in." Turve spoke as he turned around, handing a witchlight to his disciple. "Take this and find your way back. Intermediate Magi Tera will handle your education from this point on. It has been an honor to teach such a talented student. Do me proud." He patted Sod on her shoulder, giving her a soft smile before gently shoving her in the opposite direction of what the Warden went. 

"Thank you, master," Sod voiced, barely audible. Tears fell from beneath her mask as she walked off into the shadows, the witchlight bouncing up and down. 

"Before you accuse me of anything, brat, I don't wish for her to be entangled in the mess we will be leading soon." Turve's voice was rough, as if he was about to start crying too. Turning from his leaving disciple, he bowed slightly and walked into the crumbled piece of the wall. Not daring to be left alone, Azriel was on the man's heels, sinking into the shadows. 

——————————

In a hollowed out cave, a crack in the air could be seen. From it, blue and purple and white specks of energy whirled into existence, dancing across the air before evaporating into the shadows. Beneath the breach, a human sat in silent meditation, barely visible streams of energy traveling from the crevice above down to the sitting figure. The streams twisted and twirled around the body of the man, before slowly being absorbed. 

A gentle aura dressed the empty cavern, the only source of light coming from the apparent portal. The aura was so gentle, that if one were exposed to it, they might immediately fall asleep, induced by the feeling of a fabric covering their sleep deprived souls. But if one looked closer, the aura was more akin to a piece of fabric, which was laid on an open sea and rolling over the waves. It was more like someone was folding something...

All of a sudden, a part of the cavern's wall dissolved into nothingness, two hooded figures walking through the singling dust. The man on the floor opened his eyes, revealing two spheres as dark as night, but in them shone varying lights on varying depths, almost like the sky during a clear, winter night. He rose to his feet, dusting off his neatly ironed pants before going forwards to meet the approaching humans. 

Three shaken hands, pleasantries exchanged and a few nods was all that happened between the three, before the man with the eyes of a night sky placed himself in front of the split. He rose his hands, taking a hold of the two sides of the portal, an oppressive aura suddenly extending from his body, causing the smaller of the two newcomers to stagger, and almost fall to his knees. 

Combating the volatile space, the man and the portal duked it out one on one, seeing whom of them gave up first. Time passed quickly as the two were in a stalemate, before a sudden push from the man caused the portal to widen, and then widen more, and more and even more until a crack large enough to walk through had appeared. 

Stepping aside, catching a quick breath, the man bowed slightly and beckoned for the two onlookers to proceed, which they did, to the smaller one's much hesitation. Stepping past the frame of the portal, they disappeared into the void, being swallowed by the endless abyss behind it. The spacewielder looked around himself, spying through the shadows with the equally endless eyes of his. Seeing no encroacher, he himself stepped through the portal, disappearing into the universe beyond. 

Left in the cavern, the portal let out a whooshing sound before succumbing under the pressure of the void, nothing there to support it anymore. Swirling, it broke down, shattering into a thousand pieces like glass struck by a hammer, the air around it breaking apart as well. The ground beneath shook, cracks spreading across the solid stone like a spider's web. Soon, though, silence reigned, nothing but carnage and splintered rock evidence of anything having happened at all. 

——————————

Meanwhile, Sod had returned to the chamber of cells, meeting with the Magi who were supposed to take up her education, now that Turve had left. She felt hollow, as if a piece of her soul had been torn away. Yet, she didn't understand if it where the hostile, stoic Magi or the exuberant, food loving brat who made her feel like this. All she knew was that she would miss them both, dearly. Especially those rare, unsuspected smiles from that aloof master of her's. 

Following her new master, she climbed up the stairs she went down just this morning, turning back hastily as they walked through the door to the staircase, watching it close, feeling as if a chapter of her life was closing with it. And when she turned around, seeing that her new master had entered the main hall, she felt like a new chapter was beginning, and so she followed, smiling beneath her wooden mask. 

——————————

After leaving the humans at the crumbled segment, the Warden had drifted for a while, suppressing the darkness with the help of the torch. In the wake of an unknown time passing, it exited the tunnel, entering a large, excavated cavern with a deep pit dug out in the centre. 

Coming to a stop at the edge, the Warden and its metal ball stood in silence, waiting. And following that waiting was several cracks in the space around it, tenths of hunchbacks exiting the tunnels of spacefabric to stand around the edge of the pit. 

The first Warden's torch bloomed into a crescendo of flames, the flambeau turning into a miniature sun, set to rest above the pit, illuminating the crowded cave. In unison, all Warden's metal balls began levitating slightly above the ground, before slamming down in synch, shattering the stone beneath. Then it repeated, and repeated, and repeated as a cacophony of booms erupted in the cave, the sound reaching deafening levels.

And beneath the sun of flames, embraced by the harrowing noises, was a woman suspended in the air, slowly rotating for all observers to behold the deeds done to her body. Her spine was split downwards, ribs pried outwards, extended like a pair of wings. Impaled was both of her lungs, as if an artist had crowned its masterpiece. 

Suddenly, at once, the noise ended, silence taking root. The woman kept rotating, but a Warden slowly flew towards her, ceasing right in front. A limb, sickeningly thin, extended from the Warden's cloak, a hand so ghostly pale it disappeared in the light caressing the hanging woman's face. 

A voice so grating, screeching and raspy one wondered if the owner had ever talked before entered the air, attacking the eardrums of everyone present, tearing pieces of and crumbling them. 

"The witch's boy has come off age," it said. Nothing but silence being the answer. 

As if on cue, the sentence being a signal, portals whirled to life behind the Wardens, widening easily, unlike for the human, and swallowing each and every one. 

Abandoned, the light cooled off, nothing left to sustain it. Darkness shrouded the cavern in perpetual shadows, except, at the centre, two emerald eyes shone brightly, a beautiful smile spreading over the vandalised woman's face.