A Witch’s War

{First 5 chapters only}

Zane Joly

Prologue: Booking It

“Initiate Waer Loka, step forward.”

No one moved. The demon Morderena scanned the gathered initiates, mostly trolls with a few humans. “Waer Loka,” she repeated. The couple dozen or so gathered initiates looked among each other, searching for their missing colleague, but he was nowhere to be found.

“Fine,” said Morderena with a small shrug, “I’ll find him later, and he will pay for this act of disrespect. A shame, he was the most talented one among you.” 

The demon continued on to the rest of the list. One by one, each of the mortals stepped up. Each time, Morderena laid out the conditions of the deal, despite the fact that every initiate was taught those terms by heart. 

The initiates would gain the magical power to create runes, in exchange for service to the Demon Empire. At any time, their power or their life could be taken by one of the five archdemons, or any demon given authority to oversee them.

Every initiate agreed, and Morderena held out a scaly clawed hand for each one. Every initiate took it, and every time, a sequence of three runes of glowing yellow-orange would appear on the demon’s skin and slide down her arm and onto that of the mortal’s. Each rune would sink into the initiate’s skin, and they would hiss or yelp in pain before stumbling back to their place, humming with newfound power.

When the ceremony was complete, Morderena stalked away. She went to the barracks where the initiates slept. Empty, with no sign of the missing troll. She noticed one of the cots was empty, all the belongings next to it taken. The initiate Waer had run away. The demon couldn’t understand why, though. He had been the most talented initiate and would have made a successful acolyte.

A thought occurred to the demon and she hurried to the library. Searching along the shelves, what she had feared became clear. Several of the most important books on runes and demon magic were missing. She growled.

A troll with deep blue skin stood on a small ship. Behind him was the Fourth Hell, an island of black stone covered in imposing structures, including the school of initiation. The troll wore plain clothes, his initiate robes stuffed into his bag alongside five very important books.

Waer anxiously glanced behind him. No winged demons were hurtling through the sky towards him yet, no portals were opening next to him. The ship smoothly made its way through the water, headed to the mainland. The troll wanted to get as far away from the hells as quickly as possible. If he was lucky, the demons wouldn’t care that he was missing. They would care if that the books were missing, but hopefully it would be some time before they noticed those empty spots on the bookshelves.

If he wanted, he could probably sell the tomes for a good price. It wouldn’t be enough to justify the madness of incurring the demons’ wrath, but still. Waer, however, had far more ambitious plans for what to do with the books. He had plans that would change everything.

Chapter 1: The First Meeting

Ez had always believed that one of the perks of being a spy was that she got to satisfy her curiosity. Ez was a curious person. It was just her nature. When two people whispered about something together, and she could pick out them mentioning her name, for the rest of the day she would be guessing about what they’d been saying about her. If she saw a cat walking around, she’d try and figure out if it was a stray or someone’s pet. And when her demon master was going somewhere in the middle of the night, she had to follow him.

Ez had been assigned to Morgandal, the largest city in Primordiala, which about ten years ago had been taken by the Demon Empire from the now extinct Fey Empire. She had been chosen to infiltrate the demon Choyen’s house as a servant. The annoying thing was, he never did anything worth spying on.

So Ez had been thrilled when she had been peering at Choyen through a crack in a door and had spotted him looking suspiciously around before lifting up a hand. Above the hand, a rune of aquamarine light flared. Choyen appeared just as unusual as any demon, with a head that looked like a salamander, legs that belonged to a komodo dragon, and a central body and arms that appeared to be made of stone. But when the rune was cast, he transformed into a troll with violet skin. He looked down at himself and nodded in satisfaction.

Ez knew that the only reason a demon would go anywhere disguised as a mortal was if they were hiding something. If Choyen didn’t want anyone knowing where he was going, it was reason enough for her to find out.

The demon left his manor and walked along dark city streets, and Ez shadowed him, unseen. She held a wand of pale wood in one hand and quietly muttered stealth incantations that made her harder to notice.

Choyen’s path took him to the lower districts of the city, where it was dangerous to be out so late at night. Of course, anyone who tried to start trouble with a disguised demon or a spy war mage with extensive combat training was going to be in for a nasty surprise.

The demon eventually stopped at a small house. It was a tiny, square stone building with no windows. It was a little nicer than some of the hovels around it, but it was still unassuming and blended in. Perfect for a secret meeting.

Choyen knocked on the front door. After a few moments, it was opened. On the other side stood a troll with deep blue skin and short black hair. “Choyen, I take it?” the troll asked.

“Yes,” replied the demon, “Let’s get inside, quickly.” Choyen stepped inside and the troll closed the door behind them.

Ez approached the house. She put her ear to the door and listened. She heard the sound of muffled voices and footsteps, fading. The house wasn’t really large enough for good sneaking, but hopefully the pair was out of sight of the door. Ez bent down to the keyhole and tapped her wand against the lock, muttering an incantation, “Shiladanos arcana kiktel soldemo dras anacra sonadalish.” 

The lock made a click and Ez opened the door wide enough for her to slip inside and silently closed it behind her. There was a small room at the entrance with a door at the other end and an empty doorway on either side. From the left doorway, the spy could hear the sound of conversation. She moved silently and peered around the doorway, revealing a slightly larger room lit by candlelight. Ez muttered another subtlety incantation under her breath so that they wouldn’t see her.

Choyen was back in his demonic form. The troll was a little less than seven feet tall, not unusual for his kind, but the demon still towered over him at seven and a half feet tall. The troll stood next to a small table that had an empty page, inkwell, and quill.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous this information is?” Choyen asked the troll, “If the empire finds out, they will kill you. And what they’ll do to me will be far worse than death.”

“Since when is a demon afraid of a gamble?” the troll asked.

“I am unlike many of my kind,” Choyen replied.

“Which is precisely why I am asking this of you,” the troll said, “You are the only accessible demon who is sufficiently desperate, knows the rune sequence, and might be willing to take such a creative risk.”

Ez tried to figure out what it was that the troll wanted Choyen to tell him. A rune sequence? What rune sequence would Choyen know that would be important enough that the demon empire didn’t want any mortal to see it?

“What guarantee do I have that this little plan of yours will even work?” Choyen asked, “How are you going to translate the runes for a deal into a rune circle? I could just empower you, but without the standard restrictions that typically come with the deal.”

“No,” the troll responded, “The entire point is that mortals have to have the power to wield runes by themselves, without having to be dependent on a demon.”

“Aren’t you dependent on a demon right now?” Choyen asked.

“Yes, but my hope is that other mortal demon-magic wielders won’t have to be,” said the troll, “I’ve already made significant progress. I just haven’t figured out how to do it precisely. So I need the rune sequence.”

“Fine,” said the demon with a shrug. He went to the small table, withdrew the quill from the ink, and wrote down three runes on the paper. Ez couldn’t understand why Choyen was doing this without making a deal. Demons didn’t give away anything for free. This had to be a trap of some kind.

The troll picked up the page and inspected the runes on it, making thoughtful sounds.

Ez moved back slightly and took out a small notebook and pencil she always kept on her person for writing down notes. She leaned back forward and tried to see the runes written on the page the troll held. If those three runes were so important, it wouldn’t hurt to know what they were.

Unfortunately, Ez moved a little too far forward, and even the stealth enchantment she wore couldn’t make her completely unnoticeable. Choyen’s salamander head snapped around and he lifted up a hand. A rune of aquamarine light formed and chains manifested in the air, dashing forward and suddenly wrapping around Ez. She struggled against the magical chains, but was powerless to stop them as they dragged her out of the doorway and into the room.

The troll stared in wide-eyed surprise, and Choyen just tilted his head. “Aren’t you a servant of mine?” he asked.

Ez’s mind raced. Whatever was going on between these two, it didn’t seem like the kind of friendly chat you left witnesses to, meaning she had to find an excuse for them not to kill her. “If you harm me, there will be dire consequences,” she said, “You don’t want to anger my superiors.”

“If you work in his household,” the troll began, pointing at Choyen, “Isn’t he your superior?”

Choyen rolled his eyes. “She’s obviously a spy. Do you work for the Demon Empire?”

“I feel like you have no reason to trust me no matter what I say,” said Ez, “So how about I get a guarantee that I leave here safely, and then I can talk without fear of being murdered.”

“Do you think she’s a demon in disguise?” the troll asked.

Choyen peered closely at Ez before reaching a conclusion. “No,” he said, “I don’t think so. She’s an ordinary human, not even an acolyte. The Demon Empire doesn’t employ many human spies, but they have a few, especially this close to the border. I’m surprised she managed to enter my employ without me knowing she was engaged in espionage, and even more surprised she managed to follow me here without me seeing her.”

“I’m flattered,” said Ez, “So how about you get rid of these chains around me, and we can all get properly introduced to each other?”

“I am not going to give you the opportunity to get promoted from spy to assassin,” said Choyen. 

“Oh, please,” said Ez dismissively, “If I had a way to kill demons instantly, I wouldn’t work as a maid taking secret notes. And trolls are hard to kill quickly. Even if I do manage to take him down, you could light me on hellfire faster than I can blink.”

“Fine,” said the demon, “But if you try to run, I’ll possess you and make you cut open your own throat.” The troll looked displeased at hearing this, but didn’t say anything. Choyen snapped his stone fingers. The chains around Ez dissipated and she slowly stood up, careful to not make any movements that could be perceived as threatening.

“My name is Ketil Sortems,” Ez said, saying one of the dozens of fake names she had constantly prepared. “You are?” she asked the troll.

“Waer Loka,” he said, “If you explain who you’re working for, me and my associate here can agree to let you go.”

Ez looked over at Choyen. His expression didn’t give away whether he would actually show such mercy. In this case, telling the truth might be better than a lie. If they thought she was working with a demon, she’d be a threat. But if she revealed she was working for humans, they might view her as a potential ally. Or possibly as an insignificant mortal of no consequence who could be easily killed.

“I’m an agent of the human nations,”Ez said, “Sent into Morgandal to gather information and potentially sabotage the Demon Empire. If what you’re doing would weaken the demons’ grip on Primordiala, I’m sure my superiors would be happy to offer aid.”

“Well, we do need allies,” said Waer.

“I’m not quite sure I’d say ‘we’,” said Choyen, looking Ez up and down with skepticism, “But while you certainly do, I’m not sure that she’s where you’ll get them from. I’ve tried working with humans before. They’re generally not worth it.”

“Thanks,” Ez said with a hint of venom, “And if there’s even going to be the possibility of an allyship, we need to know what you’re working on. Why is this rune sequence so important?”

“I have a plan to weaken the Demon Empire,” said Waer. Choyen glared at him, but didn’t say anything. “I used to be an initiate, practicing runes so I could become an acolyte. And one of the strict rules for initiates is that we cannot teach each other runes, or even help each other. It seemed like cooperation would be a more effective learning technique, so I broke that rule, and helped a few of the other struggling initiates with their runes. Our demon teacher found out. She possessed the initiates I taught and made them each break their left pinky finger. But when she did it to me, she made me gouge out my own right eye. Eyes take about a week to regenerate. They have lots of complicated nerves, and it’s another few days before they can see like they used to.”

Ez made a soft hiss of pain in sympathy. Trolls could slowly regenerate from any non-lethal wound and had a high pain tolerance, but she was sure no one could live through having to rip their eye out with their own hands and not have nightmares about it.

“The demons were never exactly respectful of the initiates, but that punishment seemed excessive to me,” continued Waer, “The rule about no cooperation, the one I had broken, was important to them for some reason. The same reason they only empower mortals to cast runes if they make a deal that gives the demons absolute control over them. Demons tolerate mortals wielding their magic, so long as they’re loyal servants to the empire. They’re afraid of losing their monopoly on rune magic.”

Ez had always heard of acolytes as cruel enforcers of the demons’ will who could even wield the fiends’ dark magic, practically demons themselves. But perhaps some were just as much pawns as any other mortals, forced into a life of service to monsters. She didn’t even know if all initiate acolytes were volunteers.

“What does all of that have to do with these runes?” Ez asked, gesturing to the page on the table.

“All demon magic depends on runes,” said Waer, “If you know the runes, you can know the magic. These are the three runes used when demons make a deal with initiates and make them acolytes. I believe I can figure out how to translate the deal runes into a rune circle that could empower a mortal to wield demon magic, without making them give over control of their life to the demons. Most importantly, it wouldn’t require a demon’s help. Only demons can make runes manifest or make deals, and empowered acolytes can draw runes in the air. With the right materials, a non-acolyte mortal can draw a rune circle on the floor. Ordinarily, those rune circles don’t pack much of a punch and need to be drawn in demon’s blood, but if I can figure out a way for them to effectively and precisely tap into the same power that demons are able to, it could change everything.”

Ez chewed her lip as she thought. Eventually, she said, “You’re insane.”

The troll smiled. “Possibly, but I’m also closer than you’d think. I’ll show you.”

Waer picked up the page and left the room and Ez followed him. Trying to escape didn’t even occur to the spy, her curiosity’s appetite having been awakened. Not that an escape attempt would have gone well, what with Choyen following closely behind her and carefully watching her every move. Neither Waer nor Choyen were aware of Ez’s ability to wield arcane magic or the wand tucked into her coat, but that still didn’t mean she was any match for a demon.

Waer went to the door at the back of the entrance hall and unlocked it with a key in his pocket. The troll opened the door, which revealed stairs leading down to a basement. Ez followed with caution. As Choyen closed the door to the basement behind them, it became too dark to see.

“I forgot to take a candle,” said Waer, “Choyen, could you provide some light?”

A sigh came from behind Ez. A rune of aquamarine light manifested above the demon’s hand, bathing the room in eerie radiance. The basement was larger than Ez anticipated, almost the size of the entire building above it, but that still wasn’t much. There was a worktable against one wall covered with books and notes. In the middle of the room there was a complex circular design drawn on the floor with chalk. She recognized it as a rune circle.

Waer walked to the rune circle and knelt down. “Note that this is drawn in chalk, not demon’s blood,” he said, “According to the known rules of magic, when I touch this, nothing should happen. But,” He lowered a hand and ran it across the runes. Scarlet light flared up, illuminating the lines of chalk. The troll stood and raised a hand. To Ez’s astonishment, twisting red lightning rose up from the runes and danced in the air. Waer moved his hand to the left and the mass of chaotic magic mirrored the movement, the lightning shifting to occupy the left side of the rune circle more. The troll continued to move the lightning like he was conducting a symphony of demonic power. Ez looked over and saw even Choyen’s salamander eyes were wide. Waer clenched his hand into a fist and the lightning tightened itself into a small sphere. The troll quickly moved his hand to the side and the bolt of power surged across the room before striking a wall, leaving a scorch mark. The red light of the runes sputtered out and the chalk started to smoke.

Waer turned back to his astonished audience. “As you can see,” he said nonchalantly, “I’m not just a madman raving about impossible fantasies. Obviously, this way of doing demon magic isn’t ideal. It only works for small spells for a short time and drawing the chalk takes a lot of time. But I have managed to channel demon magic without a demon’s help. Tapping into demon magic only requires the right runes and the right methodology. I just need to figure out how to imbue that power into a person. I am hoping this,” he lifted up the page with the three demon runes drawn on it, “Will help me accomplish that.”

“You are a type of crazy I have never met before,” breathed Ez.

“You might actually have a chance of not being ripped into pieces and thrown into a lake of hellmagma when you’re found out,” Choyen mused.

“I’ll take both of those as compliments,” replied Waer.

“If you can actually manage to empower mortals with demon magic without requiring demons,” said Ez, “I’m sure the human nations would offer you aid. We could use the demons’ own magic against them. We have arcane magic, but that can take longer to learn, is still experimental, requires an arcane talisman to use effectively, and packs less raw power than demon magic.”

“I remember the days when humans didn’t have magic,” Choyen commented, “Your kind were so much less of a nuisance when you were just the feys’ cannon fodder.”

“Why are you helping him?” Ez asked the demon, gesturing to Waer, “I fail to see how a demon benefits if mortals get free access to demon magic.”

“Then you don’t understand demons very well,” Choyen replied, “I used to be a teacher of initiates, stationed in the Fourth Hell. But I was demoted to a minor administrator in this awful city. The demon hierarchy is a vicious thing, and I lack the cunning and power to advance within it. But if something were to dramatically shift that hierarchy, like a sudden rebellion, well that might open up several opportunities. Besides, I am a strong believer that knowledge is power, and Waer here generates new knowledge like a cat sheds fur in summer.”

It wasn’t exactly the most comforting assurance of loyalty Ez had ever heard, but at least the demon was being honest. Probably. Possibly. Demons weren’t known for either truthfulness or loyalty.

“I’ll tell my superiors about your project,” said Ez to Waer, “And I’ll see if I can get them to lend you some form of assistance.”

“Hold on,” said Choyen, holding up a hand, “I still don’t have any assurance you aren’t a spy working for the Demon Empire.”

“Well, there’s an easy and obvious way to find out,” said Ez. The spy stuck out her hand, “I agree that I am telling the truth when I say that I do not serve the Demon Empire, and you agree that I can leave here alive. Deal?”

“Oh,” said Choyen, “Yes. Deal.” He reached forward and shook her hand. The stony texture of his hand was uncomfortable against Ez’s skin, but she didn’t comment on it. As they shook, an aquamarine rune manifested above their hands before disappearing. Ez felt a shiver of power run through her.

“Pleasure doing business with the two of you,” said Ez, turning and leaving. She walked up the stairs and out the front entrance before carefully sneaking across the city back to the headquarters for human spies in Morgandal. She had a lot to report.

Chapter 2: Orders

Ez headed across the city to a small two-story house. It was larger, but it served a very similar purpose to the home of the troll she’d just met. The spy went to an alley beside the house and doublechecked there wasn’t a soul in sight. She lifted up her wand and muttered, “Arcana chantos arcana othera bentintrey zekdas lamor tayes anacra sotnach anacra.” 

Everything around her blurred and suddenly the spy was standing on a small circular stone platform. She could feel the arcane magic radiating from the stone through her boots as she stepped off the transport stone. The doors to the house were enchanted shut unless she tapped out a complicated sequence and Ez found teleportation more convenient. She was the only human agent in the city talented enough in arcane magic to perform such a spell, but the transport stone was still kept so mages could rapidly transport themselves and others across the continent.

The house was always dark and had few windows, so Ez lifted up her wand and muttered, “Arcana benith lostrei anacra.” A light manifested, illuminating the halls around her. The light followed her as she headed up the stairs and down a hallway before opening the door at the end.

A man with dark curly hair that hung to his shoulders looked up from his desk, covered in papers. He looked at Ez expectantly. Automatically, she responded with the passphrase to confirm she wasn’t a disguised demon. “Violent violet villains with vicious violins,” she said.

“You’re back early,” Dagonet said, “Is there something to report?”

“Yes sir, as a matter of fact, there is,” Ez said, before delivering him a summary of all that she had witnessed earlier that evening.

Dagonet leaned back in his chair, his lips pursed, eyes staring off into space. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Jezibaba,” he said. Ez found her first name awkward to say so she usually abbreviated it.

The spymaster continued, “This is highly concerning news.”

Ez blinked in stunned surprise. “I’m sorry, what?” she asked, “This is great news. This could potentially be an entirely new front to fight the demons on.”

“You wish to fight the demons with their own magic?” Dagonet asked, as if it were an obviously idiotic idea.

“Yes!” said Ez.

“If we help that troll and use demon magic, how are we any different from those demon acolytes?” the man asked, leaning forward again.

“Well,” said Ez, “For one, we’d be saving humanity instead serving immortal dictators that have caused mass slaughter. That seems like a difference to me. Sir.”

“Mind your tone, Jezibaba,” said Dagonet as his eyes narrowed, “Demons are creatures made of rune magic. How could any magic that creates such cruel creatures not be inherently corrupt? I am frankly disturbed you would even consider using it.”

“Sir,” began Ez, closing her eyes and breathing deeply to control her temper, “I am a fully trained and educated war mage. I graduated from the Shard Academy. I am a scholar and practitioner of magic, albeit arcane magic and not demonic. I studied dozens of different theories on the nature of various forms of magic. So while I appreciate your explanation, it isn’t necessary. Magic is an inanimate force with no inherent morality. Demons are selfish, unempathetic creatures because that is their nature. Their magic has no inherently cruel qualities. It does not corrupt its users. And in many ways, it’s far more efficient than arcane magic. We need every advantage in this war.”

“Yes, you have studied theories of magic, you don’t have the authority to conclusively say if it is safe or not,” Dagonet shot back, “And we also don’t want to give our enemies any advantages. You mentioned a demon was conspiring with this troll. I believe that serves as clear evidence that their project is not in humanity’s best interest. For all we know this troll could be working for the Demon Empire, and he was simply manipulating you.”

“I don’t have time to go over every reason that doesn’t make sense,” Ez replied, “Why would they have let me go if they were on the opposite side of the war?”

“It would be just like demons to deceive humans into assisting with a project that would lead to our own destruction,” Dagonet said.

“It was the demon that didn’t want to involve humans!” protested Ez.

“We cannot let this project be finished,” The spymaster said, ignoring the point Ez had just made, “We aren’t equipped to eliminate a demon, but the troll can be dealt with easily enough. Jezibaba, return to the troll and kill him. Then destroy all of his research you can find.”

“What?” Ez asked, “Not aiding him is bad enough, but asking me to kill him for trying to help us is not only immoral but also impractical.”

“That was an order,” said Dagonet, “One more objection from you, and there will be serious repercussions. I can send other agents, but the troll knows and trusts you, so you can best get close to him. Get this done as soon as possible. You are dismissed.”

With her hands balled into fists, Ez stood and nodded. “Yes, sir. I’ll get it done.”

Chapter 3: Nothing Personal

Waer had taken a few candles down into his work room, to provide light as he copied down the three runes Choyen had provided and sketched possible rune circles. The demon had left shortly after the human had, leaving the troll to his work.

The former initiate heard someone coming down the stairs and turned to see the human spy descending from above. “Hello,” he hesitated a moment as he tried to remember her name, “Ketil, right?”

“Wrong, actually, but not because of any fault on your part,” she said, “My real name is Jezibaba Hekaton. A mouthful, I know. Feel free to call me Ez. Ketil Sortems is a fake name. You didn’t think a spy would give their actual name, did you?” Ez reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Well, that makes sense,” Waer said, “But why are you telling me your real name now?”

Ez sighed. “Because this is quite possibly the last conversation the two of us are going to have.”

“And why would that be?” the troll asked, a little nervous about the tone in the human’s voice.

“Well,” the spy said, “I’ve been ordered to kill you.”

Waer sprang up from his desk, knocking the chair he was sitting on over. Ez seemed unperturbed and didn’t move. “You may be pretty smart,” she said, “But you aren’t even close to a match for me in a fight.”

“Why were you ordered to kill me?” Waer asked, moving away from the human.

The spy sighed again, with clear frustration, although Waer got the idea that she wasn’t mad at him. “The short version is, the guy who gives me orders is an idiot. I don’t agree with him, but if I don’t do it, I’ve committed treason against the unified human nations. But also, if I do it, I’ve betrayed my morals. And what you’re working on could save humanity. So wouldn’t I also be betraying humanity if I killed you and destroyed your research? By the way, I’ve been ordered to destroy your research.”

“I’ve always thought the destruction of knowledge is an awful thing, sort of like a form of murder in its own way,” said Waer.

Ez nodded slowly as if the pair of them were having a philosophical discussion. “I mean,” she said, “Let’s be honest, your chances of pulling this idea of yours off is low. They’re much higher than pretty much anybody else’s chances at doing it, but it’s not exactly a certainty. So I’d be committing treason over a guess.”

“I think betraying your ideals is worse than betraying an institution,” Waer said, “I betrayed my empire, but I was loyal to my people.”

“Yes, but with humans our nations are run by our people, not by demons,” Ez answered, “Which complicates the matter.”

“Demons may have the positions of dominant power,” Waer said, “But there are still troll acolytes. I’ve had to deceive and trick other trolls before. I found that the question I always had to ask myself is: ‘do I trust the people weaving the world as it is to do a better job than me, so much so that it’s not even worth my trying’?”

Ez gave a long sigh. She drew a dagger and looked at it for a few seconds. “Fine,” she said, roughly re-sheathing the dagger, “Here’s what’s going to happen: I am going to pretend like I did what I was supposed to and killed you. You are not going to let my superiors learn any different, for both our protection. You’re already hiding from the demons, now you just need to hide from the humans as well. May the primordials’ blessings follow you, Waer. Make this worth it.”

With that, the spy turned and marched up the stairs, leaving the troll staring after her. It was only when she was gone he realized that she was not in fact going to kill him.

“Ez Hekaton,” he quietly said to himself. He wanted to remember the name, because he had the unexplainable feeling that the two would meet again.

Chapter 4: Spies Always Lie

Dagonet was finishing writing a letter just as Ez walked into his room. “It’s done,” was all she said.

The spymaster looked up. “Are you confident that the troll is dead and all his evidence is destroyed?”

“Yes, sir.” Dagonet was half-surprised that she hadn’t added on some comeback or insult. Not that this single instance of proper behavior excused her previous unprofessional conduct.

“You obviously can’t return to the demon you’re working for, as he knows you’re one of our agents,” Dagonet said, “You’ll stay here until you can be reassigned.” He folded up the letter he’d been writing before pouring a bit of hot wax onto it. He removed an enchanted seal from his desk and pressed it into the wax. As he withdrew the seal, the letter vanished. Smaller transport stones on seals were used to teleport letters quickly and without risk of being intercepted by demonic agents.

“Come see me at noon tomorrow,” The spymaster said.

Ez narrowed her eyes slightly but only nodded and said, “Of course, sir.”

The spy turned and left. She went to her room in the headquarters and lay on her bed, analyzing all that had happened throughout the day. Such as how she’d committed treason.

Ez had always been an insomniac so she got up and she paced around her room, twirling her wand around. Occasionally she would point at a point in the air and mutter an incantation, summoning a small ball of flame or a glowing green phantasmal dagger. Eventually, she settled into her bed and waited for sleep to come.

The mage woke up and stared at the ceiling for a few moments as she ran over the events of yesterday to make sure they hadn’t actually been some bizarre dream. Ez wasn’t sure if she was disappointed or excited when she confirmed to herself that it had been reality.

Ez changed her clothes and headed over to one of the house’s few windows. She looked up at the sky and saw that it was about nine in the morning, leaving her with three hours with nothing to do before she met with Dagonet, who had been annoyingly vague as to why he wanted to see her and couldn’t have just given Ez her reassignment yesterday.

So the human agent sat on her bed with her dagger in hand, running her wand along the flat of the blade and muttering enchantments. Enchanting an object was a long and laborious process requiring both skill and power. Ez wasn’t quite capable enough to make permanent enchantments, and had to renew existing ones before they ran out. Her dagger just had a few minor modifications to make it lighter, stronger, and sharper.

When it was finally noon, Ez headed into Dagonet’s office. As soon as she entered, she was concerned. He seemed far too happy. “Jezibaba, glad you’ve arrived,” he said, “There’s something I’d like to discuss with you. I didn’t want to speak of it last night, as I needed to wait for some of the papers to come through.”

“What is it, sir?” Ez asked, her concern growing by the moment.

“As I mentioned before, the demon you were working for now knows you are a human spy. Obviously, this means you can no longer work for him. But it also means that even if you are stationed elsewhere in the city, the two of you could still randomly come across each other and he could recognize you. The demon could capture you and obtain information, endangering our efforts in the city. To avoid this, you’re being reassigned outside Morgandal.”

Ez stared at him for a few seconds. Then she said, “You’ve got to be joking, sir.”

“It’s too much of a risk, Jezibaba,” Dagonet said.

“No, it isn’t,” the spy responded bluntly, “Demons don’t pay that much attention to humans. In fact, they struggle to tell us apart. They’re slightly better with trolls, but pretty bad with all mortals. If I returned to working for Choyen, I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t recognize me. And he certainly wouldn’t if we just passed each other on the street. I doubt he remembers the fake name I gave him. Besides, you can’t afford to lose me. I’m the only true war mage you have.”

“We’re receiving a new one from the Shard Academy soon,” Dagonet responded.

“One with no field experience,” said Ez, “And if they’re straight from the academy, certainly no training as a stealth operative.”

“It’s done, Jezibaba,” said Dagonet, “Your opinions on the matter are irrelevant, so keep them to yourself.”

Ez knew that Dagonet was just coming up with all of this as an excuse to get rid of her because he didn’t like that she’d objected to his orders to kill Waer. But pointing that out wouldn’t get her anything. So instead she said, “Where am I being reassigned to, sir?”

“The oasis fey enclave,” said Dagonet, “We need to do all we can to rally the fey to our side in this war.”

“With all due respect, sir,” which is none, Ez mentally added, “How is that a fitting use of my skills?”

“What exactly you’ll be doing will be explained there,” the spymaster said, “The oasis has a transport stone and a mage there. You’re scheduled to be teleported there an hour from now. Use the available time to get ready. You are dismissed, Jezibaba.”

Ez would be lying if she said she didn’t entertain the thought of slapping Dagonet then and there. Instead, she just turned away and left the room without a word. She went to her room and started packing her things.

Chapter 5: The Oasis

An hour later, Ez was standing on the transport stone with her belongings. She held a bag of clothes and essentials in one hand, her dagger rested at her hip, and her spellbook was tucked into a pocket of her dark green coat. At least, she thought to herself, Dagonet isn’t my boss anymore. That was some small consolation to being reassigned to the middle of nowhere.

Right on schedule, the stone beneath Ez hummed with power and her surroundings blurred. After a couple seconds of being surrounded by swirling chaos, the spy was staggering onto an identical stone platform, many miles from where she’d been moments ago.

Ez had never teleported so far before, and she had to close her eyes to stop the dizziness. She opened them to find herself in much different surroundings. Instead of a dim room of dark paneled wood, she was in a chamber that appeared to be made of sandstone. She looked up to see bright sunlight coming in through high glassless windows. The air was about a dozen degrees warmer than it had been in Morgandal. The light and heat made the transition even more jarring.

“Hello,” said a voice. Standing in front of Ez was a tan man with brown hair that hung past his shoulders. He was dressed in much lighter clothing, more adapted for the heat. “I am Arius Clay, mage for the human nations and ambassador to the oasis fey enclave. It’s a pleasure to meet you. You’re Jezibaba, correct?”

“You can just call me Ez,” she said, stepping off the teleportation platform.

“I assume you’re not well acquainted with the oasis enclave?” Arius asked, in a voice of sympathetic amusement.

“No,” said Ez, “I was reassigned here, ah, rather suddenly.”

“Not surprising,” said Arius, “This place is pretty much a dumping ground for mages who did something that wasn’t deserving of corporal punishment.”

“What?” Ez asked.

The other mage seemed undisturbed by her distress. “Yeah, not an ideal assignment, I know” he said, “What got you put here?”

“I tried to do what was right,” Ez answered.

Arius nodded as if this were a normal and full explanation. “Follow me. I’ll show you around.”

Ez followed Arius out of the small chamber they were in. If she had thought that the room with the transport stone was bright, she was completely unprepared for the sudden burst of light stabbing into her eyes.

The sun gleamed overhead, reflecting off pale sandstone, green leaves, and glittering water. When Ez had heard “Oasis” she had imagined a pool with some huts and trees scattered around it. Instead, it was more like a deep river that widened at a point, bordered by lush plant life and houses, towers, and other structures of sandstone.

But perhaps even more remarkable were the creatures that soared through the air. Ez had never seen the fey up close before, and had assumed they were somewhat like demons. But while many of the fairies were almost as bizarre as demons, their forms fit together much better. No reptilian scales that suddenly turned into fur, or leathery wings connecting to skin of black stone.  

 One of the fey had butterfly wings that resembled the night sky, and left a trail of shadow behind it as it flew through the air. Its skin was a pure black that reflected no light, and its eyes gleamed like stars. 

A wingless fairy darted out from the trees and ran across the lake, creating only the tiniest ripples as it did so. It was a slightly translucent dark blue and its hair flowed behind like a river of its own.

Ez counted about eight of the mystical creatures in total. Many that she could see had wings, but some flew through the air without them or moved around on the ground. “They’re quite beautiful, aren’t they?” Arius asked, “Don’t worry, the awe fades after a while of having to deal with them. They can be quite annoying. Of course, I’d prefer them over the demons any day.”

Arius walked around the oasis, pointing out the elven embassy, the fey towers, the living quarters for the humans, and other important buildings. “This is Kimika’s alchemy lab,” he said, pointing at a small circular building with a chimney.

“What’s alchemy?” Ez asked.

“Oh!” exclaimed Arius, “Sorry, it’s easy to forget that not everyone has a fey talk their ear off about alchemy at least twice a day. Alchemy is a type of fey magic. Some fairies have a knack for altering the way reactions between things work in a specific way that allows them to perform a kind of magical chemistry called alchemy. It’s more work than most fey are willing to go through, but it can have some impressive results.”

“Can humans practice it?” Ez asked, intrigued.

Arius shook his head. “No, it requires fey magic. Elves can do some basic potions, but those without fey blood in our veins like you and I aren’t meant for it, sadly.”

“It was said no mortals could ever have fey magic, before the elves,” said Ez, “It was said that mortals couldn’t wield demon magic before the acolytes. It was said there was no new magic to discover before arcane magic was found. I’ll bet it was said there was nothing new to be found about fey magic before alchemy was discovered.”

The other wizard gave Ez a look somewhere between respect and surprise. “I didn’t take you for a scholar.”

Ez raised a critical eyebrow. “I graduated from the Shard Academy too, you know.”

“Of course,” said Arius hurriedly, “But with the, well, ah, I can’t figure out a way to make this next sentence not sound disrespectful. War mages are typically given a more summarized and military education with less emphasis on magical theory.”

“Eh, you’re not wrong,” Ez said, “I had an aptitude for magic, so some academy officials said they’d give me a free education in the arcane arts, if in exchange I had to serve the army of the unified human nations for at least fifteen years. I was also given training in spying and combat. I wasn’t given the most thorough education in arcane magic, mostly just combat spells, but I’ve got an appetite for knowledge and was stationed in the largest city in the world. Libraries do exist. As do the private, extremely stealable book collections of demons.”

“Excuse me,” a voice said from behind the pair. The two wizards turned to see a figure with pointed ears and golden-yellow skin that almost seemed to glow in the sunlight. His blond hair was long and braided. The irises of his eyes were a slowly swirling lavender color. “Is this the new human representative?” the elf asked.

Arius gave a small bow as he said, “Yes. Allow me to make introductions. Ez, this is Kalus Kaithon, one of the high elf diplomats stationed here. Kalus, this is Jezibaba Hekaton, who goes by Ez, human mage.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” said the high elf, “It gets boring with only this one. I hope you shall stay longer than the others. Your kingdoms are desperate for mages, and recently withdrew most of the ones they had stationed here.”

“I’m happy to serve humanity,” Ez said, even though she’d much rather serve humanity in some other way.

Kalus smiled in a way that wasn’t threatening but that Ez wouldn’t call friendly either. “Well, I have other matters to attend to,” he said, “I look forward to seeing you more in the future, little mage.”

“Sorry,” said Arius when Kalus was out of earshot, “Kalus is a bit strange, but I think you can get along with him well enough.”

“So what is it that I’m actually going to do here?” Ez asked, “Nobody’s quite made that clear.”

“Well,” Arius said, hesitating, “Not much, to be honest. We’re here to maintain a good relationship with the oasis enclave fey. This enclave does provide us with some support in the war, but I’ve been completely unable to convince them to lend any more.”

Ez looked at the other mage in alarm. “So we sit around all day trying to convince fairies to do something they really don’t want to do?” she asked, “Why couldn’t regular diplomats do that?”

“The fey respect magical power and little else,” Arius answered, “To them, sending diplomats without magic is like sending children. They only somewhat listen to the words of mortal magic wielders like you and I. Fairies give elves some degree of respect because they also have fey blood, and the history between their kinds. There are exceptions, but that’s how most fey see it. That’s why being sent to deal with a fey enclave is a way of getting rid of mages who aren’t useful. The human kingdoms have to send someone to maintain good relations, but it doesn’t much matter who, because we’re not going to change the enclave’s mind anyways.”

Ez sighed. Dagonet didn’t even know she’d committed treason, but he’d still sent her here just for talking back and proposing an idea he didn’t like. “How did you end up here, anyways?” she asked.

Arius thought for a moment before saying, “Do you know what a familiar is?”

“It’s an animal that’s bound to a wizard, isn’t it?” Ez asked.

“A creature bound to a magic wielder using demonic runes and arcane enchantment,” said Arius, “I’m not imbued with demon magic, but I managed to acquire some demon’s blood on the black market. I drew a rune with it and bound myself to my pet crow so it would be magically bound to me. It was a minor use of demonic magic, and I thought it harmless and potentially useful. Well, my commanders were not pleased when they found out. I was charged with use of forbidden magic and my familiar was killed. They decided my crime wasn’t bad enough to get me discharged or imprisoned so I was sent here. Many humans have a fear of demon magic and while there’s an obvious reason for that, the fear can get a little irrational at times.”

Ez remembered how Dagonet had reacted when she’d merely proposed an idea that involved using demon magic. “I don’t think I disagree with that,” she said, “I’m sorry about your crow.”

“Thank you,” said Arius. He paused for a moment and looked around. “You’ll be staying in the human embassy. I showed it to you earlier. I think that’s everything of major importance around here. Let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to talk to the fey. They understand they’re not to harm any representatives of other nations. Although, I wouldn’t recommend antagonizing them. I look forward to working with you.”

The wizard walked away, humming lightly. Ez went to the edge of the water and looked down at her reflection. She quietly spoke to herself, swearing a personal oath. “I will not be disposed of. I am not going to let anyone get me out of the way. I’m going to do something. I don’t know what, but I am damn well going to do it.”