Flight Mage Seraph

Intruder

The outskirt of Angalas was too empty. Apart from chickens, twittering birds and one leashed dog, there was little sign of life. Seraph heard nothing to indicate that people lived here, not chattering or footsteps nor even slamming doors. He turned to Combustion, but the fire mage seemed just as confused. Nearby, Sara clutched Caleb's hand and looked as if she wanted to hide herself in their carriage and even the soldiers appeared uncertain.

Lieutenant Spears himself was grumbling. "Just my luck," he said. "I can't find anyone to transfer the prisoner to. Why wasn't I informed of this and where those messengers I sent anyway?"

"Maybe they were killed by bandits too," a soldier said.

The lieutenant glared at the flight mage as if it were his fault and stalked away.

"It reminds me of the ghost town we visited," Seraph whispered to Combustion. "How could this area be so empty on the Angels Festival?"

"You may want to ask Caleb," the Furan replied acerbically.

"Wait,” Sara said. “I hear someone.”

Everyone stopped to listen and, sure enough, they heard a scratchy voice. They soon discovered that it belonged to an old woman, who sat ensconced among cushions and wrapped in a heavy blanket. A half-finished bowl of porridge was set in front of her.

"Hello?" she said when they entered her small cottage. "Have you returned, Georgie?"

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

She is blind, Seraph realized, and someone was caring for her. So why was this frail woman left all alone?

"Well!" the lieutenant barked when he’d recovered from his surprise. "Why are you here when everyone else has gone?"

The woman quaked, obviously regretting her cry for help. "I c-can't walk. That's why I'm not on my way to the gathering."

"Gathering? What gathering?"

She looked surprised. "Haven’t you heard? That man Daylight—"

" Great Mage Daylight II," Spear corrected firmly.

"That pretender," she said, "ordered everyone in Angalas to go to the Great Mage's palace. His soldiers were here this morning, rounding up every person they could find. They would've forced me out too if I hadn't insisted that they carry me there and back, but they took my granddaughter," she said as tears filled her eyes, "I've no one to care for me! I don't know when or if my Georgie will return!"

Even 'heartless' Spears seemed shocked by her story. "What were those men thinking?" he muttered. He shook his head and said in a louder voice, "You heard her. We're leaving for the palace."

"But the woman!" Seraph protested.

Before Spears could reply, Sara's hand shot up. "I will help her—and I can look after the animals too."

"You have no one to protect you," Combustion growled. "If anyone is staying behind, it should be one of the soldiers."

"No! She's afraid of soldiers, but I'm not scary at all."

The two seemed ready to launch into an argument, but Spears interrupted them. "All right, all right. Smith, keep a lookout outside this cottage. If you see bandits, defend the woman and child if possible and flee with the girl if it's not. If all goes well, you may follow us to the palace when the granddaughter returns."

With that, the lieutenant strode out.

"Hugh," Combustion said as they began to follow, "I have met the Great Mage. He would never approve of this."

Seraph didn't answer straight away. The past couple of days had brought distressing news, the most disturbing of which was the Academy Massacre. He wondered how many of his teachers and fellow students survived. No doubt the tragedy was partly responsible for the distrust he’d seen in every Eastern town they entered. And if Daylight could force a girl to abandon her grandmother—

"I am trying to keep an open mind," he finally said, "but he doesn’t look like a good Great Mage at all."

---

Seraph had never seen a square this crowded. If he had been in it, he was sure he would have suffocated. Fortunately, there was no room for newcomers and the lieutenant had to wait in one of the lanes leading to the square.

In response to Combustion's request, Spears allowed Seraph to leave the carriage, as long as he remained discreet. "Remember," the lieutenant warned, "if you try to escape or interfere, I will have you shot, and if the Easterners try to rescue you, we will attack them." He roughly pulled down Seraph's hood and reluctantly stepped back.

Now that the flight mage could see more of the square, he was dumbfounded. The throng extended beyond the square and into the surrounding buildings where they crowded the balconies. Western soldier occupied the rooftops and mingled at the fringes of the assembly.

Two groups of civilians had separated themselves. Westerners, with their confident poses and expensive clothes, milled excitedly near the palace. The Easterners stood further away, the weight of subjugation stooping many of their shoulders. Several, Seraph noted, were also wearing fine garments, but from their glum expressions, they might as well have donned rags.

Combustion nudged him. "I saved these from the landslide," he said, handing Seraph a binocular. "You may borrow one and I will use another. Look now; the Great Mage is emerging."

Seraph trained his binocular at the palace entrance. "The tall, balding man with a thick beard?"

He certainly looked intimidating.

"No, no, no. That’s Din, the sound mage. The Great Mage is younger and more handsome. See the one in the middle? He is Daylight II."

The Westerners cheered, throwing their hats into the air, while the Easterners settled into a resentful silence. If Daylight was aware of the contrast, it did not disturb him.

The Great Mage did not strike Seraph as good-looking, but the man was splendidly dressed. His garments were more colourful than those worn by even the flashiest vision mage and the jewellery on his chest and fingers dazzled. Seraph frowned, wondering whether Daylight had raided the Angalas’ treasury to source this finery. More offensive was the man's smirk as he waved to the crowd. Then Seraph noticed the small pulses of light the Great Mage created to emphasize his glittery wear.

"Show-off," Seraph muttered, before realizing that Westerners surrounded him.

"Daylight is actually a good leader," Combustion said with a sigh. "If he could only show less hubris in front of the Easterners, they might have accepted him by now. Poor Truth must feel like tearing her hair out."

"Truth?"

"The sombre lady on Daylight's right. Before you ask, she is not his wife. She’s his closest advisor. If he ever succeeds in moulding Sentralia to his vision, it will be due as much to her as him."

Seraph blinked and looked through the binoculars again. He had overlooked the still, dark-haired woman before, but now he examined her thoroughly. She had a rounded face that was pale, perhaps from a lack of time in the sun, and a comfortably plump body, over which she wore a simple dress of lavender and a necklace of wooden beads. Somehow, she appeared more motherly than imposing. She had this much influence on that vain man?

Eventually, the applause subsided and Daylight began to speak—or at least that's what Seraph thought he did. The flight mage heard nothing.

"Why did he force everyone to come if he talks to the Westerners only?" he asked no one in particular.

Combustion grinned. "Wait."

"PEOPLE OF ANGALAS," Daylight's voice suddenly boomed, "THANK YOU FOR CELEBRATING THE ANGELS FESTIVAL WITH US!"

Those towards the back of the crowd cringed, jumped, yelped or covered their ears, as Seraph did. Even Combustion seemed a little startled.

"Din tends to go overboard with his sound spells," the Furan shouted. "Just wait for him to find his range."

Seraph was inclined to believe that Din was trying to cow the Easterners, but Combustion was right; Din quickly lowered the volume. Daylight, meanwhile, continued as if he’d noticed nothing awry.

"…Our angels do indeed smile upon us today, for they have blessed us with such pleasant weather. Exactly 1000 years ago, the angel Nahum descended from the heavens and onto the mound we now call Angel Hill—and from which Angalas was built. Thanks to him and the angels who sent him, humanity has been able to wield magic over the past millennium and the mages of Sentralia wisely led this country to greatness…"

"Many in Furao disagree with that," Combustion observed. "My homeland achieved prosperity with little or no help from mages."

That made Seraph think of Landis.

"The Sudeni are also well off and they distrust mages," he replied.

Combustion stared at the flight mage and then gave a brief, shy smile before turning back to observe Daylight. Seraph was momentarily stunned.

"…but 498 years ago, Sentralia fell under a wicked influence…"

Seraph almost groaned. Hubris indeed! He wished that the former Great Mage was giving the speech instead; Ocean II was never like this.

"…The ascension of Daylight I was acclaimed throughout the land, for she was wise, able and well-liked. The treacherous dark mage Night, however, coveted her position. With lies and his ill-gifted charm, he turned most of Angalas against its natural leader and drove her westward. He might well have pursued and slain her had her supporters not provided her with protection! And so began Mage War…"

His other words were lost as the Easterners increasingly protested against his lies. One woman began to scream curses against Daylight and those around her and then other sections of the crowd quickly joined her. Fists jabbed into the air. Fruits and stones flew, falling just as often on top of other Easterners as the Westerners. Even Daylight stopped at that point.

"There's going to be a riot," Spears said. "Get in the carriage."

The Westerners counterattacked. Soldiers at the rim began to beat the crowd while those on rooftops drew their arrows, ready to launch them if the situation deteriorated further. At the same time, mages showered the noisiest sections with thunderous sounds, cutting wind and ghosts.

"Did you hear me, mage?"

Seraph's feet would not move. Feeling powerless in the face of such onslaught, he could only jerk his binoculars around, searching for any sign of hope. As he looked towards the palace again, he saw a young woman rushing outside.

"Peony?"

A hand gripped his shoulder. "I said get in!" Spears roared.

Din turned to block her, but she evaded him. Peony grabbed Daylight's arm and began to scream at him. She had barely uttered a few words when Din caught up and pushed her down.

"PEONY!"

Enraged, Seraph broke free of Spears and flew straight towards the palace, heedless of the shouts behind him and the danger before him. A gust of wind blew him downwards, but he recovered quickly his bearings and continued with greater determination. Then came the bird corpses that attacked him from above. He evaded one with practiced ease and swatted the others aside with his recorder.

The mage wasn't prepared for the ghosts though. There were only two of them, but they were two he had hoped not to see again: Swift and Wyvern. The girl avoided looking at her killer, Wyvern. Instead, she fixed her traumatised eyes on Seraph, begging him to flee. Wyvern's face was almost as anguished now as it was during the last battle. It was too much. If he could only find the spirit mage responsible for such abuses, he would make him pay.

Seraph dodged Swift's sword thrust and before either spirit could strike again, he spoke to them. "Stop! If you will do something here, keep the Westerners from harming our fellow Easterners."

To his surprise, they both stopped. Seraph could feel, almost see, tendrils of compulsion circling and entrapping the pair and, with a sickening wrench in his heart, he realized that they came from him himself. As one, they began to fly towards the palace.

And paused again. Now he saw a different set of tendrils engulfing them, slowly displacing his own spell. As they turned to attack him again, he threw more of his own tendrils over them, struggling to regain control. The ghosts writhed under the competing pressures and—

"No."

Seraph raised his hands and allowed his tendrils to dissipate. "I won't force you to act against your will and I did not come to start a battle. All I want is to free my family and stop this riot!"

"Then you must surrender yourself."

Seraph looked down and was startled to find that he had already reached the palace; Truth stood almost directly below him.

She pointed to Perdita. "See? Your sister is fine, despite Din’s behaviour." She paused to glare at the sound mage and continued. "The rest of your family is also well."

"And what about the riot?"

Seraph turned to indicate the crowd and saw, to his surprise, that everyone was still and staring at him. Well, that answered his question. His display must have stunned almost everyone into silence.

"Don't give up now!" Peony shouted. "It doesn’t matter if you have Western magic as well. You could still save us! Kill Daylight and drive the Westerners out!"

"Don't be such an ingrate, Peony." The familiar, dry voice came from the palace entrance. "The Great Mage has been treating our family very well."

Our family? Seraph stiffened. It couldn't be her and she couldn't be on Daylight's side, could she?

"Fine words from a traitor!" Peony replied, "Look at all that has happened because of your betrayal!"

"Even the Academy massacre cannot compare to the wrongs perpetrated by the Eastern forces, Peony. Brian would have known what I'm talking about and Seraph now understands as well." Maeryn stepped into the sunlight and looked up. "Isn't that right, little brother?"

What little remained of his anger disappeared as Maeryn's accusations hit him in the chest. She knew of his wartime activities! And Brian's too? Seraph landed in front of her, but try as he might, he could not look at her.

"You were the one who told me that not everyone I'll fight will be my enemy. I should have remembered that, but I forgot—several times. Though I can't undo my actions, I can sincerely say that I’m sorry because I’ve seen how they affected ordinary Westerners. I…you may not believe me, but Brian said he was sorry too.” It was only then that he found enough courage to look into her eyes. "Do you know why?"

"He was a guard at a prison camp for Westerners, as was I." Maeryn's voice was slightly muffled by anger and grief. "Soon after I arrived, I saw prisoners being maltreated, tortured, even murdered, by Easterners—including Brian. He told me it was necessary, that we gained valuable intelligence that way, but from the way he looked when he was beating the prisoners…it was all about hatred and vengeance."

Seraph still could not imagine how his funny, affectionate brother could have been so cruel, but he couldn't ignore Brian's apology and Maeryn's bitter expression. He nodded sadly.

"I was sickened, Hugh. When I left the army, I swore that I would bring it down before it could corrupt you!" She took a deep breath and sighed. "I failed, but at least you could see where you went wrong. Brian couldn't."

"Liar!" Peony screamed. "Don't listen to her, Seraph. She handed over our family to be used as hostages!"

"Maeryn? Tell me you didn't." But when he saw her steady, remorseless gaze, he knew that she did.

"If I had only you to consider, little brother, I wouldn't have done this, but I can't allow you the remotest chance of destroying the fragile peace that Sentralia now has."

"Din," Daylight suddenly said, "did everyone in the square hear the entire exchange?"

The sound mage smirked. "Yes, Great Mage."

As if on a signal, Truth pulled a band out of a pocket. Not another charm, Seraph thought as she started towards him. He stepped back, but Maeryn grasped his arm and he couldn't bring himself to fling her aside and fly away. Escape, if that were still possible, would keep his family imprisoned. Truth unclasped the band with an ominous click. With throbbing heart and head, he watched her hands move closer and closer to his exposed neck. Cold metal touched his skin and then—

Snap!

The band tightened around his neck firmly, yet without cutting off air or circulation, but Seraph immediately felt faint. Dark spots appeared before his eyes and expanded. He swayed and fell as darkness overwhelmed him.