Seth
“Absolutely HOPELESS!” Maximus roared.
Seth gritted his teeth in anticipation of the incoming rant. He had been doing well at memorizing the symbols of the ancient language as the High Priest drilled him for translations. But no matter how many symbols he had correctly translated, every one he got wrong brought down such wrath from Maximus that he may have failed to write his own name.
“DALA! This symbol is DALA! It means ‘fire’, you halfwit!”
“Screw you!” Seth roared in frustration. “I’m doing the best I can, you bastard!”
“You DARE speak to me with such insolence?” Maximus roared.
Heeeeere we go, Seth thought impatiently.
“I am Maximus Hawke, the High Priest of the Grand Temple of Ragos! KING of the gods! I am the holiest man in the world!”
Seth had heard this same rant five different times since he had begun to learn the ancient alphabet the night before. The next morning, he had only memorized one of the twenty scrolls. He felt entitled to some credit, though, especially after hearing that most templars and acolytes could take years to master the language. Cranky from lack of sleep and frustrated with the priest, his judgment didn’t function well enough to prevent him from responding this time.
“Well, I’m the CHAMPION of Ragos, so I guess that makes me holier than YOU!”
The poorly considered remark had clearly enraged the priest. With his mustache bristling with anger, he struck Seth on the right cheek with his staff and sent him sprawling to the ground. Far from reeling, however, Seth spit out a bloody tooth and sneered.
“Is that all you’ve got, you crusty old dragon?”
“You are NOT the Champion of Ragos! How can you champion the cause of someone whose words you don’t understand? You are feeble of mind and body!” Maximus spat before turning to walk away. “I’ll tell Matilda that she made a mistake.”
Seth pushed himself to his feet and yelled, “That’s fine with me! I’d rather be out there fighting the maulans with the other spellwarriors than wasting my time here anyway!”
Maximus grunted, “Fine, go die in battle. That’s the only glory that awaits you.”
That reply pushed Seth to his limit.
“Pyris amul groz!” the spellwarrior roared as he drew his hand back. Upon completing the incantation, he flung hand forward and launched a whirling metal star coated black flame. As it whizzed past
Maximus’ head, the priest gave him a begrudging smile.
“A black flame star. That’s from an appropriated Windlord technique, right? It would seem you have some talent, at least.”
“About time you cleaned the dust out of your eyes, you walking fossil,” Seth barked, but his words had no effect on Maximus.
“You are no priest or templar, boy, and you never will be. But I must give your due as a graduate spellwarrior, at least. Your power is undeniable.”
Seth had calmed down immensely, but he did not expect the praise to last. “Well, like you said. I can’t exactly put it to use for Ragos if I can’t hear his voice.”
“That is not necessarily true,” Maximus said with an exhausted sigh. “Learning the ancient language is the best way to proceed, but any Chaotic who knows it can speak to Ragos in your stead.”
“Well why didn’t you tell me that, you cranky geezer?” Seth snapped. “I could have been on my way already!”
“It would have been a waste if you lacked even a shred of potential!” Maximus roared in response, his bushy mustache jumping furiously. “But I’ve never met anyone who could cast such a complex spell and take a hit from me without losing consciousness. You may never learn the ancient language in time, but you are worthy of being called the Champion of Ragos. I will teach you something else instead, then we will speak to Chaos together.”
***
The top of a thick candle dropped to the ground and landed without a single splash of the melted wax within and Maya and Sam cheered. When Seth’s blackened claws melted into the usual shape of his human fingers, Maximus replaced the rest of the sliced candle on its stand and smiled. “You may take forever to memorize something in ink, but you’ve learned such a powerful spell far more quickly than average. You are talented in battle. That will be your strength.
The Shadow Claw spell, as Maximus had explained it, was a Chaotic spell inspired by Maula herself. As the legend went, Ragos had punished Maula for wrecking the world he and his brother had built by raking at her with his claws. When he did so, his hands had imbibed some of Maula’s toxic blood. Seth had considered that the spell might have come to him so easily simply because he also carried some of Maula’s essence. But he wasn’t about to say anything of the sort when the priest had been treating him so well.
“I think I got the hang of this, Father Maximus,” Seth said as he unconsciously moved his fingers.
“Now let‘s go talk to Ragos already! I‘m not doing much good here!”
“Watch your tongue, you insolent cur!” Maximus snapped. “I will keep my word, but that attitude is not going to fly when I summon Ragos!”
“Calm down, old man!” Seth replied with a bored expression. “We don’t have time to keep fighting. Shouldn’t I save my energy for whatever Ragos wants me to do?”
Maximus growled, but apparently decided to concede the point. “Come to the altar, then. Your friends stay outside.”
Seth glanced at Maya and Sam, both of whom looked disappointed. Seth was starting to resent the High Priest for his refusal to allow non-Chaotics into the temple. He had spent nearly all of his time inside so far and had been separated from his friends most of the time as a result.
“Don’t sweat it,” Seth said to the two of them. “I shouldn’t be gone long. I‘m anxious to get out there and actually do something.”
“We can wait a little longer,” Maya had assured him, but Sam apparently disagreed.
“I can’t miss something like this!” she insisted futilely. “I’ve been your apprentice for almost a day and I haven’t learned anything yet!”
“Be patient,” was all Seth could manage to say. Naturally, the words did not seem to work.
“You can’t keep expecting me to follow you around for nothing, you bastard! I haven’t had so much as an orientation--”
Sam suddenly fell quiet as Maya grabbed her by the shoulder. Seth could sense that she had used some spell to pacify his apprentice, who now wore a docile smile.
“That wasn’t very ethical,” Seth said in spite of himself.
“Would you prefer her yelling?” Maya responded with a smirk.
Seth grinned. “No. Thank you.“ To Sam, he added. “We’ll start your first lesson once we’re on the road.”
“I can’t wait. Thank you,” the apprentice replied in a subdued tone devoid of emphasis.
I’m going to have a tough time explaining that to the Elders later.
“Come along, Sam,” Maya said gently. “I’ll teach you a game that my father used to help me develop my magic.”
With his apprentice mollified once again, Seth followed Maximus back into the temple’s main chamber. When they stopped at the altar, Seth looked up at the statue of Ragos and began to wonder how accurate of a likeness it actually was. He wasn’t left to think long, however, as Maximus had soon placed his palm on Seth’s shoulders and closed his eyes. Seth had watched the priest for a long time when, just as he had begun to wonder when something would happen, his eyes snapped open. Instead of the fierce brown eyes that Seth had come to associate with
Maximus, though, he saw a blinding vortex of fire.
“My claws suit you, Champion.”
Maximus had never explained the process with which they would be speaking to Chaos, so these words had caught him off guard. He could only assume that Chaos was speaking directly through him, which meant that Maximus would not be joining their discussion. Remembering the priest’s dire warnings about avoiding any offense to the god, Seth had racked his brain for the most tactful words he could find.
“Am I speaking to Lord Ragos!”
“I have paid you a compliment! Show your gratitude!”
Seth jumped at the sharp rebuke. “My apologies, my lord. I thank you for your gracious words.”
The face of Ragos/Maximus was smeared with a disdainful glare. “You tremble like a lost bird! I feel your rage, Seth Midas, but it‘s hidden under three layers of fear!”
Seth was starting to feel like he wasn’t truly prepared for what faced him. Realizing that the god had been less than impressed with his meekness, he decided to try being a little bolder.
“I don’t care about that! I’m ready to do whatever it takes to protect everyone.”
Ragos/Maximus sighed. “You must be one of those foolish shadow cultists. My wife and I are two sides of the same coin, you think? In another life, I wouldn’t have given a damn about protecting anyone! Pacil is all I have! We’d despise each other were that not true!”
Everything I say pisses him off! Seth thought despairingly.
“Your fear is a bigger problem than you realize. You fear your power, you fear yourself, and you fear your enemy. Those fears hinder you and if you don‘t overcome them, you will die and leave the job of killing my daughter to Torma‘s chosen mortal. I have no faith in that one, so you had better pull yourself together.”
Seth struggled to remember which of the Gods had originally been named Torma. At some point, some genius had decided to change the names of the Gods by translating their symbols in the ancient language to the mortal tongue. Naturally Ragos, who had been re-dubbed Chaos, rejected the new names. Seth considered asking whether he meant Salica or Crane, but decided that would just risk angering the god further.
Suddenly, Seth thought back to what Ragos had said about fearing his power. He recalled thinking along those lines when he had decided to use the powers of Maula’s curse.
“I don’t plan to give in to any fear,” Seth proclaimed, far more boldly than he felt. “I will use Maula’s power against her.” As he spoke, he began to feel more and more confident. “Because she has taken something important from me and she will pay!”
The deity smiled for the first time. “You might just be right. If you honestly intend to follow through on that, you may just live. You will start by finding the blade of the last man I called my champion. He’s hidden it deep in my snake reserve. You mortals call it Lightning Ridge.”
“No sweat,” Seth said with a smirk. “Choosing a spellwarrior for this may have been one of your better ideas. We practically own those mountains.”
“Then go,” Ragos commanded. “You had better not let the Champion of Intala beat you there or I’ll burn you to cinders!”
“Going!” Seth yelped.
So Seth, along with Maya and Sam, began the long walk to the south that promised to end in an even longer hike. Along the way, Sam had shown all of her inexperience with long walks by pointedly asking if Seth had his wolf companion.
“Of course I do!” Seth replied, a pang of regret rippling his expression. “That’s part of the graduation test!”
“Why don’t you summon it?” she asked.
Seth said as he walked on forlornly. “Don’t you think I’d love to be riding there? If I even touch her, she’ll die!”
“Not necessarily,” Maya said with a smile. “I can use my Death Ward on other living things. It’d only be temporary in that case, but we could ride for a full hour before I’d need to recast the spell.”
Knowing this, Seth was eager to toot his summoning horn once again. When Inkfang arrived, however, she suddenly began to growl. She had been facing her master and was now baring her fangs.
“What’s wrong with her?” Sam asked worriedly.
“I see you don’t get along,” Maya added cheerfully.
“Inkfang!” He blasted the horn once more. “It’s me, damn it!”
The wolf whined and began to sniff the spellwarrior. Seth jumped back as she nearly grazed him with her nose. Maya carefully approached the wolf from behind and drew a symbol into her back with a finger tipped in magic. Inkfang growled, causing Seth to jump reflexively to restrain her. As promised, Seth’s palm was on the neck of the massive beast and she continued to breathe tensely.
“Shh shh! It’s okay, girl. She’s a friend of mine.”
Sam had been appraising the wolf from the moment that Maya had cast her spell. “Will that thing carry all three of us?”
Seth frowned. He was reasonably sure that Inkfang could carry two riders, but he worried that the weight of three would be too much for her.
“Probably not, come to think of it. She’d be so encumbered that it might just be quicker to walk.”
In apparent response, Maya began to rise from the ground. She smiled as her feet dangled over the wolf.
“Don’t worry about me,” the witch said. “I can follow just as quickly by air.”
Seth grinned, thankful that he had brought Maya along. She was saving them so much time with her magic that it was hard not to be in awe of her skills. She's amazing to have around!
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