Consequences

Calendis shook his head, encased in his hands as I sat in the chair in front of his desk. Orion and Morrew, the combat teacher of the other group, were also stood in the small office, leaning against the bare walls after the test had came to a sudden end. I hadn’t been given much choice in the matter of coming to the office, with Morrew wanting me to be placed in manacles after what had happened. We had came to Calendis’ office almost immediately, and in that time the victim of whatever had happened was still lying on the floor drooling as he was tended to by healers.

He sighed as he brought his head out of his hands and looked up to me, “What happened exactly?” he said, sounding exhausted.

“I don’t know” I said defensively, looking around the room at the people fixing me with their stares. “He was going to kill me and then… well my spirit did something and… I don’t know.” It was the truth, I really had no idea how it had happened and doubted I would be able to replicate it again if I tried, I supposed that was for the best.

“Gaedon is okay, well not dead at least. He seems to be in catatonic state, as far as I’m aware you don’t possess any abilities that could do that to him.” He paused for a moment, “As far as I’m aware there are only four people in the citadel who do possess such abilities, and none of them were in the training hall”

My face reddened at the situation, “I really don’t know. I heard the whispering and then… Well, I think my spirit killed his” I shrugged my shoulders, “He was going to kill me” I added in a quiet voice.

“Whispering?” Orion spoke up, “I didn’t hear anything” he glanced to Morrew who shook his head as well.

“Did you hear what the whispering was saying?” Calendis asked curiously as he leaned forward.

My eyes darted around the room, not sure that the truth would help my situation much but not knowing what else to say, “It was telling me to kill him” I said at last, sounding resigned as I slumped in my seat. “That’s when I dropped the sword and then…” I added, hoping that would help my case a bit.

Calendis nodded, “And why do you think he was trying to kill you? Fatal wounds were forbidden, and healers were nearby” he asked

“It’s what he said, he said that this time I would stay dead” I said, my heart pounding in my chest. “I think he might have been the one who had tried to kill me, at least one of the times”

“What? Are you seriously buying this Calendis? Why would Gaedon want him dead” Morrew demanded, sounding annoyed by the route of questioning.

Calendis looked up to the imposing adventurer, “He is telling the truth Morrew, and I know for a fact that someone has been trying to kill him. I suggest that you allow me to do my job” he said, quietening the man.

“Honestly Aucus, I’ve never heard of a spirit dying before” he said after a pause. “Until now I didn’t even think it was possible, there is so much we don’t know here so it is possible that the **** of the spirit sent Gaedon into his state. I don’t know if he will ever wake up, he was only bonded to the spirit for a week, perhaps that will help him. I just don’t know” he sighed again as he fidgeted with one of his papers.

“I suppose that I should ask you some questions for the sake of propriety. You will need to answer honestly, I will know if you do otherwise” he said as I muttered my compliance. He nodded his head before beginning the questioning, “Did you mean any harm towards Gaedon?”

“No, well not any more than beating him in the test”

“Were you aware that your spirit could kill his?”

“No!” I protested defiantly

“Do you mean any further harm to anyone in the citadel?”

“No” I said, feeling that it was a lie. Zarin was still in the citadel, and him I meant to kill when the opportunity arose. Calendis narrowed his eyes at my response.

He turned to Orion and Morrew, “He’s telling the truth, are you satisfied now?” he said, lying for me.

Morrew grumbled as he crossed his arms, “No, I’m not. Gaedon was one of my best students, he had real potential. I want you to do a full reading of him and that spirit of his” he almost spat the word as he glowered at me.

“I can’t do a full reading without his consent, you know that” Calendis said, looking at the older adventurer. He simply stared back until Calendis relented, “Aucus, will you consent to a full reading. It will allow me to see your desires and intents, more so than simply my ability to detect the truth. It will also allow me to look more closely at your spirit, often a full reading will show me glimpses of a spirit’s memories.” He said, explaining the procedure. “I should add that a full reading can feel rather invasive, and you will not be able to control what I see”

The idea of someone violating my privacy like that made me uncomfortable, but the alternative was facing whatever punishment Morrew would deal out, with or without permission. His glare told me that he would get his way in the end. “Yes, sure I consent. I really didn’t mean for it to happen” I said.

Calendis nodded his head. “It will take some time to prepare, we can do it tomorrow” he looked back to Morrew, “will that satisfy you?” he said sounding annoyed.

The adventurer grunted and nodded his head. Clearly not completely satisfied with how things had turned out but knowing not to push Calendis too far.

“Very well. Orion, will you escort Aucus back to his rooms. See that he doesn’t have any trouble getting there” he said, giving a warning look to Morrew. “Aucus, I suggest you stay in your rooms until tomorrow when we can get this situation resolved” he added

Orion took me to my rooms; I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I may not have meant to, but it was my fault that Gaedon was how he was. He had tried to kill me, yes, but now he was in a catatonic state, just a drooling husk. That was a terrible fate for anyone, I hoped that he would be able to recover.

I opened the door and stepped inside, the others were already back there and had gone quiet at my entry. Then the strangest thing happened. Sybil laughed. The sound seemed peculiar coming from her who always had a dark demeanour, it seemed to shock everyone else more than my entry had.

“Congratulations Aucus” she said with a little grin on her face as her laughing quietened. She saw everyone staring at her in disbelief, almost horrified that she would congratulate me for what I did. “What?” she said as she looked at them, “We won, didn’t we”

I was amazed that that was what she had taken from our battle. I supposed it was true though, in the end I had been the last one standing, even if the means that I achieved it were less than pleasant.

Korin shook his head at Sybil before he went into a quiet chuckle himself, “Ay, we did I suppose. That we did” he said before turning his gaze to me. “I want to know why ya turned that lad into a vegetable”

I flushed at that, “I didn’t mean to” I said quietly, trying to defend myself. “It just happened; I didn’t do anything.” Seeing the dubious looks on their faces, I proceeded to tell them what I had told Calendis, about the whispering and my spirit acting on its own. By the end they all wore strange expressions, though none of them seemed to doubt my words.

“I think you should avoid situations like that in future. Your spirit is rather strange” Rayall said, getting a few agreements from the others.

“I know, Calendis is doing something he called a full reading on me tomorrow. Hopefully that can tell me a bit more about what happened” I said.

We sat and talked some more that night, sharing a meal together as Korin opened one of the bottles of liquor on the walls. He drank most of it himself, though in the end he shared some of it out. I abstained from drinking that night as I sat and thought about what had happened.

The more I thought, the more I began to think that the whispering had came from my spirit. It had acted on its own to attack my enemy, it had plucked a spirit from the spirit plane to the physical one. I had to know more about it, what if it did something like that to someone who didn’t deserve it. I had to speak to Lilith.

I rose from my seat and walked over to Sara as a plan began to form in my mind. “Can I borrow you for a bit Sara?” I asked her sombrely. “There’s something I want to try but I’m going to need your help”

“Yeah sure” she said as she got up from her sofa. “What is it?”

I glanced towards my room, “Its one of those things that I don’t think everyone should see. Can we go to my room?” I said, getting a nod from her.

Korin gave me a smirk and a wink as he saw me take Sara to my room, but I ignored him. When we were in my room I sat on my bed before telling Sara what I had in mind.

“I get these visions where I go to a place and can speak with a woman there” I said after a pause, “she knows a lot about my spirit, and I think I need to talk to her after what happened today” I told her.

“Okay, and what do you need me for” she asked curiously, taking what I had said in stride.

“Well, I only get the visions when I come close to dying. I had one at the test of divinities when I collapsed, and another at lunch when I was poisoned. I want you to be here to heal me when I need it, to make sure I don’t die” I went quiet, unsure how to tell her what I was planning on doing. “I have an ability where I can slowly drain the life out of someone. I haven’t been able to test it much obviously, but I think I can direct it to myself”

Sara didn’t answer for a moment, “Aucus, that sounds really dangerous. I still have a lot of improvement to do with my healing, wouldn’t it be better to get an expert for this”

I shook my head, “I’d have to explain what I was doing to them, and I don’t trust them. I trust you Sara, please do this for me”

She seemed uncomfortable with the prospect but nodded her head at last, “Okay, I’ll do it. Just go slowly if you can and if I get worried about you then I’m bringing Cleo in here as well” she said

“Okay, I can live with that” I said, giving her a smile. “Are you ready?”

“No” she snorted, “But I suppose I’m as ready as I’m going to get” she said as she placed a hand on my neck, readying her healing for me.

I gave her a smile before channelling my mana and reversing the output of the ability I had read about in the book that sat on my desk. I looked into her eyes as I began to slowly kill myself.