Demoni Vankil - Letter Five
My burdens are substantial, and a heavy ache grows in my chest. The entire camp waits on me as I, without a teacher, learn new languages.
Demoni Vankil is the historical and award-winning work of Höbin Luckyfeller, and the precursor to Chronicles of a Hero.
An ancient puzzle box.
Fourteen letters.
A Council of Whispers.
…and a clerk.
Discover the 700 year old secret millions died to protect.
Paid subscribers can access the entire archive of this series from the beginning, along with other stories and every article I’ve ever written. If you aren’t a paid subscriber, you can access the archive for free with a 7-day trial OR earn a paid membership by joining the referral program!
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LETTER FIVE
My Beloved Ethany,
Oh, how time defies us! I am constantly urged to work harder and faster. But the 230 days since I last held you in my arms have been so long and tedious. I keenly feel my absence in the girl’s lives. I am beginning to forget the sweet scent of your skin on my lips and I count the days until I can hold you once more.
I wear your locket and the girls’ bracelets close to my heart. It keeps me focused on my purpose.
It pains me I missed Saffron’s eleventh birthday. We had plans to go to the spring fair this year and attend her first Father-Daughter dance. Please kiss her and tell her I was thinking of her, that I remembered, even though I could not be there. The cook made a simple cake, and we had a small celebration in camp to her honor, though I think Kutollum look for any reason to get out the ale.
My burdens are substantial, and a heavy ache grows in my chest. The entire camp waits on me as I, without a teacher, learn new languages. Test over and over the magical combinations taken from my journals…but my tests are too slow and meticulous in their tastes. They pressure me. They do not understand. Mixing the disciplines of magic must be exact. Even Hammel and Shiro have become exceedingly bored.
To pass the time, Hammel has carved a beautiful puzzle box from manzanita wood. He then had Renton forge delicate hinges of silver to hide within the twists and curves, corners and layers of the wood. I’ve never seen such skill or beauty.
Charles arrived this morning with devastating news. Ethany, someone murdered Charles's family. Eva and the baby are gone. Curse this blasted war! And curse Mahan!
Such sorrow weighs heavily on Charles, leaving him broken and in need of time to heal. I am concerned for him, as I too have sacrificed for this cause. He will stay with me for a time and assist in the experiments.
I miss you, my sweet. Painfully so.
All my love,
Eamon
230 days?
I briefly glanced through the remaining letters, carefully unfolding them in order and laying them out. There are tremendous gaps. Where are the other letters? What have you done over the last 183 days, Eamon?
Of course, he will not give Ethany all the details—he’s obviously hiding. He’s working on a secret project. If anyone were to come across the letters in transit, it could compromise everything. Maybe even his family’s safety. Is that why there are letters missing? Was it protection or deception?
It left me with a challenge: where do I look for the creator of a prison? I started by looking into Eamon’s first appearance.
It was difficult to locate any reference to a neuvo-kuisa. It wasn’t a commonly used term by anyone. Only amongst royalty and those in a prominent position. This led me on a mini goose chase. Since the records of the crown in Andilain were barren, it forced me to find another option. There would be Evolu records. Normally this would not be the case—Evolu don’t meddle in or concern themselves with the affairs of other races, especially political…but the ruling family wasn’t just human. Lady Älodiä was from a noble Evolu house. That meant the elves had a direct interest in the crown's welfare.
I traveled to Äsä-Illäriu, the Evolu lands, and met with a representative from the Grand Library. Librarian Ainsley welcomed and encouraged my enquiring mind. They gave me a cot in the foyer, food and writing tools to take notes. Gotta love those elves.
He brought me a thick volume called the Book of Three Shadows, a history of events during the stay of the Evolu people on the human continent. Interesting title. I raised my eyebrows, hoping Ainsley would explain, but he only smiled and motioned me to read. I did so…late into the night.
The Evolu account of the war was something I had not read before.
Across the sea, the Nocturi and Evolu had driven Mahan’s Täuku Invocators out of their homelands at great personal loss. Once fortified, the Evolu made an exodus from their homeland through the Prime Gates ‘to join their human brothers’.
To the west of Andilain, the Hero of the Gem attacked Mahan directly with a small army of elite human warriors, called the Nethinim. ‘Men who refused to die,’ along with four thousand Evolu rangers.
‘For we all feared the wrath and scrutiny of the Dark Lord…’
‘…so cunning and intertwined in our societies were his spies that many trusted none.’
It was then that the Hero, through High King Gaston ‘…in the utmost of secrecy gathered the wise and skilled to craft a plan. They would bind the evil that had thrust the lands of light into darkness. So decreed the neuvo-kuisa, the Council of Whispers.’
Ah-hah. And there it is.
In this ‘council of whispers’, a name was presented. ‘…a unique individual, charged with creating a method…’ Unfortunately, there’s only a shred of information concerning him.
‘…he held his head high, not with pride—but confidence. Only when his Queen pledged her protection to his wife and children did he bend a knee. He asked for letters of sanction from each race…then uttered a mägo oath to do all that was required of him…’
Sounds like a good guy.
Next, I petitioned for a letter of recommendation from the grand wizard Morphiophelius to take to the School of Magic. Surely, the greatest collection of magical knowledge on Elämä would have a record of a mägo clerk and experiments involving a magical prison.
Core, from what Morphiophelius told me, would be the logical discipline to engineer a prison or any spell of lasting containment. Traveling to meet with Master Caiden from the Order of Core almost proved a waste of time. Almost. Caiden was curt, arrogant, and unwilling to answer questions directly. He met me at the docks and prohibited my entry onto the school grounds. Morphiophelius's recommendation was the only reason my request to meet was granted. The letter never specified the interview had to be on school property. They’re all warm and fuzzy, those mägo. Gotta love their literal interpretation.
Not.
However, I said ‘almost’ a waste of time because his last statement in our somewhat heated exchange clarified my first hunch. He said:
“The School of Magic has a glorious history, which does not and has never dabbled in the pollution of its practices. We do not mingle disciplines other than a secondary language to support its primary. Those who do may not study at this institution and no longer exist to us…”
That is when I remembered Eamon’s statement about being scowled at by those of his Order. He’d already destroyed his opportunities. Poor guy was destined for obscurity. He was disowned, struck from all the records of the Order, and forgotten.
He was on his own.
Mixing the disciplines? He would have had to study in secret and not expose himself. Brave guy, though. According to the mägo, mixing the disciplines is extremely dangerous, and one should never attempt it. Ever. I think it’s common knowledge among the races.
This thrust me back into the world of myth, legend, and folklore.
I was doing a lot of running around without collecting a lot of information. I took a moment to examine the puzzle box.
Is this the very box Hammel carved?
Probably. I was right about the manzanita.
Where are the other letters?
And why would Ethany keep some and not the rest?
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Paid subscribers can access the entire archive of this series from the beginning, along with other stories and every article I’ve ever written. If you aren’t a paid subscriber, you can access the archive for free with a 7-day trial OR earn a paid membership by joining the referral program!