The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage

WM [0.1] The Patriarch

Thorfinn stood invisible to all senses in the small square before the gatehouse. He was in the inner city, having easily slipped through during the changing of the guards. The square was damaged, and obvious signs of battle were still being repaired. Until he got in, he had assumed the prince was purposefully dragging his heels on fixing the megastructure of a gatehouse, but now that he could see it from the inside, he didn’t think so.

The gatehouse was in absolute disrepair; whatever magical attack they used to destroy the gate must have been immense. Well, that was what he was there to find out. He had to dodge a soldier who nearly walked into him as he looked around for a position to set up his magic. What he was preparing to do was a form of divination that very few starlight mages could accomplish. He could see the truth of past events as if he were there, although he could not hear anything.

He didn’t have a wand, as he had come to pioneer the use of divination crystal prisms. The edges of these prisms were finely carved with the mage’s mana. The unique pattern cut the crystal into a shape that most accurately represented the mage’s ability. Thorfinn’s crystal prisms, of which there were three, were quintuple helices around crystal spikes. Despite the unusual structure, each was one solid piece and immensely more durable than the delicate-looking crystal. If not for the fact they were invisible, they would sparkle with the radiance of his magic.

“Now, let’s see what happened here,” Thorfinn said.

The crystals levitated under the influence of his magic, which directed them to float above the area in a large triangle. As soon as the crystals were in place, he sat down in the lotus position. He, too, began to levitate just high enough off the ground so no one would run into him and break the invisibility illusion he had on himself. His ability to wield so many high-level starlight spells was second to none, making him the foremost illusions expert in Yuhia. Where he lacked was offensive magic, but that did not apply to his purpose today.

All starlight mages could use some aspect of divining, although since there had never been a master of divining, it was seen as a crude magical niche. Thorfinn was better than most, but only when viewing past events. He could not see the future to any degree of certainty beyond an educated guess. The spell he was using now would allow him to replay events within the triangles of his prisms. It was an immensely costly spell, mainly because he had to keep himself invisible while doing it.

He spoke the words of power, and the world around him shifted. Only he would be able to see the world as it rewound. He kept going until he saw a battle between the forces of the Isi and Salstar knights. He was amazed by the destruction before him. Not only was Thyra present, but Loki was also present, and they were both engaged in battle. At this point the gate was already destroyed, so he rewound further.

He nearly lost focus and dropped to the ground when he came to the exact moment the gate was struck. The source of the attack came from outside the triangular area of influence, and moving it was impossible while he was in the middle of the spell. He turned back to what he could make out. Black fire washed down onto the unsuspecting knights, then focused more and more until it could damage the gate.

“Whatever did that is the real threat here,” Thorfinn stated as he noted it in a journal. “Now, what happened after this?”

He fast-forwarded back to the all-out assault on the gate and watched as the Isi main force was split. Half of them escaped, while the other half was split off. They seemed to be protecting someone—a young man Thorfinn assumed was the surviving patriarch. He was surprised at his young age, but his leadership was what he expected from an heir to a prominent family.

“Now I know what the patriarch looks like,” Thorfinn said as he drew his face in the journal.

He continued to watch but sped it up to see how the patriarch got out. He was surprised when two new people joined the battle alongside a chimera familiar. The man was a prominent Isi disciple based on his fighting style, but the woman was unknown. She didn’t even look like a wendigo but some odd wendigo-like being. He noted her more when she nearly carved a man in armor in half. She was breathing maya, so he assumed she was some demon, which would explain the odd appearance.

What happened next didn’t make sense. She was using magic—water magic, to be specific—which is impossible for demons. Her three-headed familiar was also using magical poison clouds, causing the knights to retreat and giving the Isi time to regroup. That was when Loki showed up, and Thorfinn got a good look at what destroyed the gate. As soon as Loki materialized from his portal, the familiar breathed a blast of heat and destruction akin to artillery magic.

“What in the Infernal Planes is this?” Thorfinn said in disbelief. “I need to get a better look.”

Thorfinn immediately froze the image and dropped to the ground. He walked around the still battlefield and sketched the odd three-headed chimera, then the demon woman. He continued the recording but had to stop again when he saw the demon woman and her familiar fighting Thyra and beheading her.

“Damn, I guess she is dead, but who is this?” Thorfinn said as he looked at the frozen form of the demon woman.

He watched the remaining battle and was again surprised when the patriarch was stabbed through the chest by a spike of pure darkness magic. Material Users, like magic casters, were more durable the more powerful they became. Injuries that would have been fatal as a beginner are little more than flesh wounds as a master. One’s magic or material power would keep them alive and repair their bodies. The patriarch didn’t appear to be in that state yet and was minutes from death, if not already dead.

Then, a rakshasa tiger demon entered the battle in a flash, taking the patriarch, the injured demon woman, and the chimera before escaping spectacularly. Thorfinn had to find out where the trio went to see what happened to the patriarch. If he was dead and the rumor of him being alive was just a rumor, the Salstars and the prince would have every right to contest, and it would mean war.

Thorfinn recollected his prism, ending the visions of the past, and slipped back out of the gate with more difficulty than he had to get in since it wasn’t during a guard change. Once he was out, he had to set up the ritual area, inspect their movements in the past, recollect his crystals, move a hundred feet, and do it all over again.

“Even I have a limit to how much mana I have. Don’t tell me they ran out of the city,” Thorfinn said as he set up what felt like his hundredth divining location. “This is going to take hours.” The spell activated, and he finally saw the tiger demon, now disguised as a Wendigo woman, turn into an alley. “Finally!”

He watched them place the patriarch on the ground and found the blood stain there. The demons used what looked like a greater health potion and saved the young man’s life. Thorfinn smiled, seeing that the rumors of the patriarch being alive were true. Now, all he needed was to find him. He examined the dried blood on the ground and knew that wouldn’t be an issue either. With this much blood left behind, he had a member of his team that could find him.