Book 2 Ch 41: Cravings

The gods of the other races may seem to lack the power of the Herald and the other great gods of man, but they are close. They are tangible. Their mysteries are decipherable and their feelings clear…

• Mad Bayne

Solomon approached the balcony on which he saw the Major Arcana speaking and observing their lessers. While there were sometimes stairs to the second level, they only seemed to appear and disappear based on the will of the Major Arcana, and today it seems they’d willed there to be no stairs.

As he approached he drew the attention of several of the lesser arcana who had started to drift away from the postings, and that inevitably created whispers.

When he reached the balcony The Lovers were the first to look at him directly, though he was certain that the others had noticed him. They separated their entwined form to look at him with all four of their eyes, the woman’s hand gently drawing circles on the man’s chest.

“Our favorite Ace turned Page. Do you seek an audience with the Major Arcana?” The male and female forms that made up the Lovers spoke as one, their voices creating an odd affect as they spoke.

He smiled at them. “Nothing so serious as an audience. I was just wondering if I might be able to access the room in which I demonstrated the spell that allowed me to join? I have a desire to practice my spellwork and I am unable to where I’m currently located.”

“Interesting,” responded the Lovers. “The room only allows one to demonstrate basic invocations. Rituals and the like wouldn’t work there.”

“That suits me fine.”

The lovers passed a silent glance to the Magician who gave them a nod in the affirmative. With that they smiled at him and gestured.

One moment he was standing looking up at the balcony, the next he was in the same circular room with five seats arrayed in front of him, though now they were empty. He pondered again at the way in which the meeting place of the Arcana was constructed. From his greater understanding of runes and sigils he knew that they were all sending a portion of their mana and their souls to some place in the astral realm, but where in the astral realm? How was it constructed? How did it function? He imagined it was built largely by The World. Perhaps if he managed to find where his knowledge was hidden then he could ask it.

He looked around, as he had the distinct feeling he was being observed, but saw nothing. He imagined that if they wanted to observe anyone in this space or anywhere else in the halls of the Arcana then they could with ease.

He focused, trying to recall the spells he’d seen the mage auxiliaries he’d been travelling with use. He started with the simplest, pushing mana through the tip of his finger as he drew a circle in the air in front of himself he whispered protect. It felt odd casting in the space, muffled, and he could feel his form become less substantial after the cast. Even with that weirdness though, he felt gratified to see the barrier appear in front of himself. He tried drawing it larger, and using two hands to create separate barriers at once, and finally he simply made a quick small circle with his finger, but imagined it being larger in front of him and was happy to see a full shield. Baru had been drawing it so deliberately to give him a demonstration, not because drawing the barrier was a necessity for the cast. That was good, as drawing such a circle every time he felt he needed to be shielded would be burdensome.

Once he was certain he had that spell down, he moved to the others. He was disappointed to find that his understanding of the fireball spells and the blasts of pure kinetic force was incomplete, but he was happy to find that he’d managed to pick up the spell for the bolt of lightning he’d seen. The hand motion required was complicated, as was the focus of mana, but somehow he’d managed to grasp it even though the other spells were much simpler. After a bit more practice with each of them, he stopped. He flexed his spectral fingers a bit, finding that his form was nearing transparency from all of the mana he’d used.

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He looked around at no one in particular.

“I’d like to return to the main meeting hall if possible. Thank you again for allowing me to use this space.”

He blinked and found himself back in the central meeting hall, interrupting the auctions by the lesser arcana by his appearance and drawing a number of looks.

He ignored them and made his way back to lean next to the Knight of Pentacles.

“They truly seem to favor you,” she said casually as he settled.

“You don’t think they’d grant others the same privilege?”

“Perhaps others at our level… did you manage the practice you needed?”

He nodded, he was quite happy to have an additional defensive and offensive spell in his arsenal. He was sure his homunculi would be grateful too. The simplicity of the barrier spell did raise a question though, one he felt foolish for not considering sooner. Many of the spells required only a simple gesture, the movement of some mana, and a word. He understood the need for grimoires and exchanges for more complicated spells, but could he not have simply figured out these more basic spells on his own? He considered asking the Knight, but decided it may be too egregious an ignorance to admit. Besides, he still had ready access to Union mages who he was sure he could ask without raising any suspicions.

As the meeting came to a close he said his goodbyes to the Knight and after a moment of blackness he found himself back in his tent, overheated, uncomfortable, and sore from leaning over his ritual work. He tore the page from his book and crumpled the paper. He then quietly left his tent and stretched. He gave a nod to the Untoss on watch and threw the paper into the fire, then went to relieve himself, careful not to step too far from camp. Luckily the Untoss had placed markers representing how far one could safely walk.

As he finished and was about to return to his tent he stopped. In the trees less than fifteen feet from him was a massive concentration of mana. It was hidden in the brush, but he could clearly see it. He stepped backward and it moved toward him, some of it becoming visible to his eyes and not just his mana sense as the edges of the firelight danced across it.

It looked like an Untoss, but larger. Its skin was a purple so deep to be almost black. It wore gems and silver that glinted and twinkled as the firelight danced across it. It had the features of both a man and a woman, and emanating from it was a kind of desire he’d never before experienced. He felt compelled to walk into the dark of the woods, to see what it would take from him, what it would consume. He nearly took a step toward it when he heard a whisper in his ear.

“Danger,” said Aristophelese, breaking him from his trance.

He stopped where he was, taking a step back.

“Cooome. I sense the strength of a god in you. Join it with mine so that we can reach new heights of ecstasy.”

Solomon bowed politely.

“I’m afraid I must decline. Thank you very much for the offer though.”

With that he turned and walked quickly, but not too quickly, back to his tent. His body shivering in spite of the heat as if fingertips were gently climbing up his spine.

“Lord, I would not leave your tent again this night,” said one of the Untoss tending the fire. “The gods feel close this night.”

Solomon nodded.

“Thank you for the warning.”

He climbed back into his tent and spent the next hour trying to go through the sigils and runes he’d memorized in order to calm himself down. He wasn’t sure of which of the deities it was that he’d encountered, but he knew that its form and its voice would be branded onto his mind for some time.

When he woke the next morning he found himself wishing for a cold bath and not just so that he could cool off from the building heat. When he left the tent he found that he wasn’t the only one that had been stirred by such a feeling. None of the men seemed comfortable making eye contact with one another and many seemed to be working stains out of their sleeping rolls.

As he was taking it all in an Untoss noticed him.

“It was the One that Craves, my Lord. They must’ve passed very near the camp to have this effect on us. We are lucky it was not the one that hungers or the one that thirsts.”

“Why is that?”

“The one that craves can bring great discomfort, but we will not find ourselves drinking all of our water and eating all of our food when we should not.”

“What would have happened if we were not protected by the offering?”

“A fight to find a satisfaction that can never be reached. A miserable death.”

Solomon frowned.

“Let me know if you need anyone else to carry one of those torches today.”

“I think we have enough arms for it, Lord,” replied the Untoss with a soft smile.