The Eynan 2: Garileon (12 page)

"He'd condescended to speak to her; he needed her. She smiled, thinking back to the moment she realized without her help he could do nothing. She was his link to reality. She didn't fully understand, but she was very aware that whatever--whoever--had trapped him had effectively caged his magistry and stopped his power from effecting the mortal realm. She didn't really believe he was trapped inside the stone of the mountain, but that he was imprisoned somewhere else. In some other kind of reality perhaps?

"No matter the truth of his captivity, Eurebia was essential to him. She would indeed call him master, but she knew in
this
reality she was the powerful one. She did wonder at the simple thing he wanted her to do. Perhaps calling it simple was misleading. It didn't sound much to ask, and he told her that with her growing understanding and control of her power she would manage it. What he was really asking for was the reversal of what the nuns prayed for, the twisting of their belief in the so-called goddess, Quiera, and the use of it for his own purposes. It didn't help that she didn't understand why.

"She asked, but he wouldn't say, just told her to do as she was told. She was to obey her master, not to question him. To emphasize his point, she was seized with pain yet again. It lasted mere seconds, but it was excruciating. The lesson was clear. His power wasn't as caged as she'd thought, and she wasn't as powerful as she'd told herself. While it was true he couldn't succeed without her, he was the one with the true control.

"The other novices were stirring and as she closed her journal she came to the conclusion she couldn't risk leaving it with her meager belongings in the cell. She thought it over and like a bolt of lightning the answer came. The cellar! It would be the ideal hiding place. She would secret it about her person while she began her master's work that morning and then would find a permanent hiding place for it when she visited the cellar that night."

* * * *

Ninian paused, obviously needing a drink to slake his dry throat. He'd been talking for quite some time.

"I think that answers some of our questions," Jhond commented.

"Except perhaps the main one. Who
is
this being?"

"I'm still confused," Remelin said. "How can a...disembodied being influence a real person so strongly? Make her do things. Cause her pain?"

Jhond took hold of her hand. "Perhaps we should ask
you
those questions? Did you feel influenced to try to cast your spells? You mentioned pain before; did you ever feel pain when you failed?"

"Me?" Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open as she finally understood. "You think it's still here. That it's... Oh, Lords. I thought it was me. That when I came here, I--" She stopped, putting her hands over her face.

"You what?" Jhond pressed his voice gentle.

She uncovered her face, her eyes red and moist, but she kept the tears at bay. "In some ways, I felt comfortable here, more at home than I did in my small cottage. I felt stronger when I was in the cellar. I thought this place unlocked something deep inside me, something wonderful. Now it sounds like something awful is using me." She paused, frowning. "But if this thing is so powerful, why did none of my spells work? I never even understood that I should form a power circle first. It doesn't make sense."

"It does if someone managed to place a kind of shield in the cellar."

"A shield?" Remelin asked. "I thought you created a shield to hold the being there?"

"I did, but remember that spell I broke when we arrived?" Jhond asked. "It was a warden spell, not the same kind of shield I created, but the result is similar. If the entity couldn't fully reach you, then it wouldn't be able to influence you to the same extent it did with Eurebia."

"So now what happens? I can't ever come back here, can I? The shield won't let me."

"The shield will keep out everyone except for the three of us," Jhond replied. Remelin's brows knit in confusion, and Jhond explained, "The main purpose was to keep the entity imprisoned. You said nobody but you had been near the ruins for years out of fear, but, just in case, no one else can enter. As you're involved already, I included you in the exception part of the spell."

"Exception? You mean I...we can go out and come back in whenever we want?"

"We still need to destroy the entity," Ninian explained. "It can't be left here to entrap some other poor soul at some point in the future."

"Oh, I see. I hadn't thought of that. I simply assumed I was free and could never enter the nunnery again. Part of me was sad about that and part heartily relieved, though I did wonder what I would do with the rest of my life," Remelin said.

"Don't be concerned, Remi," Jhond said. "When we have solved this problem, we won't simply abandon you to your unhappy fate. You have talent, which must be encouraged and guided."

"You still believe I'm worth helping? That my talent wasn't just enhanced by that thing."

"It definitely influenced you and increased your power, but that wouldn't have been possible without your own basic talent. Both Ninian and I have been aware of it ever since we blocked its influence."

Remelin smiled, her eyes bright and shining, and Jhond couldn't help but notice how much prettier it made her appear. He found himself responding with a smile of his own. The smile faded as he told himself to be careful.

"I can't tell you how wonderful it is that you came to help me, both of you," she said, quickly hugging Ninian, who seemed bemused, and then Jhond, who was surprised to find himself hugging her in return.

"We mustn't let your exuberance distract us from our mission," Ninian said.

"No," Jhond agreed. "We need the full picture before we can plan our next move."

"Yes, of course. Now where did I..." Ninian's eyes narrowed as he thought. "Eurebia gradually caused changes within the nunnery as the sisters came under her influence, and the demands rose for a change in how and for what they would solicit the goddess. The only person who seemed able to withstand her manipulation was Mother Superior Thyria, who refused to believe Eurebia's claim of a divine message from Quiera demanding the people ask her for false and destructive dreams. Thyria stated Quiera would never grant such dreams let alone demand them.

"Eurebia was confounded for a minute, then an idea entered her mind, but she was not sure if it was really
her
idea. She suggested the mother superior pray to Quiera for understanding, as then surely the goddess would give her a dream. Thyria agreed, though she was obviously doubtful of receiving any such instruction. However, the next morning she told the other nuns she was shown her mistake in a particularly powerful dream from Quiera. It wasn't long before she was giving rousing sermons to the people about the new kind of dreams Quiera was prepared to send, and everything went just as Eurebia expected. At least for the next few months.

"Then somehow--the journal never explains how or why--Mother Superior Thyria began to question yet again why Quiera would behave so differently from the way she'd always been portrayed. She even questioned if the dreams were truly coming from the goddess, which encouraged doubt in some of the other nuns as well. Eurebia realized the mother superior must have had some inner strength of her own and decided that if she couldn't change Thyria's opinion, then the only option left was to remove her.

"Eurebia considered mundane methods such as poison, but she had the idea that perhaps something more specific would provide a better lesson. She asked her master for advice, and the entity provided her with a spell that would prove to any witnesses who it was who truly had the trust of the goddess.

"The next morning during the nuns' early prayers, Eurebia again challenged the mother superior, saying she must accept the truth of Quiera's wishes, but Mother Superior Thyria challenged Eurebia's contention, stating they only had Eurebia's word that these were Quiera's wishes. Thyria attempted to use the advantage of her position to intimidate Eurebia, asking why they should believe her. However, Eurebia wasn't threatened at all by the mother superior; after all she merely passed on the words she received from the goddess in her dreams. She stepped closer to the mother superior telling her it was best not to doubt the words of the goddess.

"Thyria just laughed. Letting the gathered nuns see how angry and frustrated she was, Eurebia raised her arms and called for Quiera to show the mother superior her fault. Thyria turned her back and walked toward the altar. As the other nuns bowed their heads in prayer, Eurebia clapped her hands together murmuring the spell in the ancient tongue. A flash of bright light shot from Eurebia's fingers and filled the area.

"The nuns cried out, either in shock or awe, all of them falling to their knees when they saw Thyria, lying dead on the altar, her body blackened and shriveled. Eurebia chose that moment to ask the horrified nuns if there could be any doubt of their goddess' demands, any doubt through whom the goddess Quiera spoke?

"The nuns were so sure of the answer to the questions that, despite her relatively short time as a nun, Eurebia was elected as the new mother superior. At the next service, Mother Superior Eurebia's first sermon to the assembled worshippers praised their goddess for her desire to help her people any way she could, reiterating her offer to send whatever kind of dreams were needed.

"And so it began."

Ninian seemed cowed by what he said, which Jhond thought was out of character for the powerful mage. Ninian had been his stalwart support when Jhond was coming to terms with what he was, and it didn't make sense that the writings of this long dead woman should affect him so.

"What began?" Remelin pressed.

"Chaos, death, war, disease," Ninian replied. "Whatever evil you could think up happened over the next century or so."

"Century? Surely Eurebia couldn't have lived that long?" Remelin glanced at Jhond. "Do mages really have such power?"

Jhond felt a chill at her question. He'd never even thought to ask Ninian that and found himself staring at his friend.

"It is possible to extend one's life somewhat if one has the talent to keep illness at bay, and, of course, to avoid accidents." He gave a little smile as he added the last comment.

"So you're saying Eurebia could have lived that long?"

"I said it's possible, but in this case, no. Eurebia lived another thirty years or so. Difficult years for her, according to some of the entries. Killing Thyria may have been the first terrible thing the entity made her do, but it wasn't the last. She was forced to give other demonstrations to reinforce the entity's influence on its followers. There were comments at random periods during her lifetime stating that Eurebia tried to fight back against the entity when it wanted her to do things she found particularly difficult, but always the entity won, always it forced her to do what it wanted.

"On one such occasion, she tried to commit suicide, but it wouldn't let her. After that, she resorted to hurting herself, a kind of penitence for what she was being made to do. She kept a small knife in her nun's cell and used it on herself."

"On herself?" Remelin asked, horrified.

"Yes, she would cut her arms and legs, as if somehow the pain she caused herself would mitigate what she caused to others. Of course, it never did. It only gave the entity another way to punish her, to show her how little power she actually had. It used to laugh at her, even encourage her to slide the knife deeper into her flesh, licking its metaphorical lips as the blood ran down her skin." Ninian shook his head, as if even talking about it was disturbing.

"The Lords preserve me," Remelin muttered, and Jhond gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"She was alone, and you are not," Jhond told her.

Ninian nodded his agreement before he continued, "Most of the journal is in Eurebia's hand, but there are entries after she died...random, occasional. It's never stated, but I believe they were made by other mother superiors."

"And these other nuns were also in league with the entity?" Jhond asked.

"Some of the comments leave no doubt of that, but others are less clear, even cryptic. One is actually written in code. However, I have to assume they all were either in league with or at least influenced by it." He glanced at Remelin. "One name was familiar--Jennifal, the same as on the bookmark. She made a few rather wild entries about trying to fight without actually saying what she wanted to defeat. Though I'm sure we can guess."

"And then?" Jhond queried.

"The entries become even more sporadic as everything begins to unravel. Crops fail, and families fall apart. Garileon is in decline, the coffers depleted by too many wars. People's faith in the goddess begins to fail, and slowly people stop visiting the shrine. Before long, the once prosperous town slides back into its former reality becoming little more than a large village."

"How can that be with the entity in the center of their mountain?" Remelin asked.

"I've been wondering about that," Ninian said, "and the only reason I can think of is that the time came when there was no one in the nunnery with the talent for the entity to contact or control."

"I've been giving it some thought, too," Jhond commented. "Is it possible that this is the time the warden spell was placed in the cellar?"

Ninian frowned, considering the suggestion.

"I'm thinking of the ten families, the Thails of Garileon."

"Oh Lords, I never even thought of that!"

"Thail? The same family as the lady who founded the nunnery?" Remelin asked, a strange expression on her face.

"Yes, but also the name of a mage family, one of the ten most important mage families from before the time of the Withdrawal," Ninian explained.

"We'll discuss that more fully in a little while," Jhond said. "Finish your story."

"There's not much more to tell. A few years later, a gang of thieves attacked the nunnery and stole the golden statue of Quiera. That was the beginning of the end for the nunnery. Most of the nuns were elderly, and there had been no new novices in five years. When the mother superior died several years later, the remaining few nuns retired into seclusion, and the crumbling nunnery was abandoned. The entity had lost its only possible connection with the outside world into which it wasn't able to escape."