The Lightning Mage

12 | The Joint Commission, Part V

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All seven pairs of eyes glared at Cydney with raging fury. Sybil had her hand wrapped around Cydney with a threateningly tight grasp, while Freya had her sword pointed at her neck. Even the horses in front of the carriage seemed ready to kick her in the head somehow.

"W- What?" Cydney stammered, glancing around. "I... I didn't..."

"Don't lie!" Freya yelled. "You're a Blood Magic user like Gazini!"

"That's- That's not true! I've never killed anyone in my life!"

"Really?" Sybil's voice was soft but frightening. "So you're telling me that Gazini figured out a way to bring you to this world without human sacrifices?"

"I... I don't know..." A lump formed in Cydney's throat.

"You don't know? Do you not remember how you got to this world?"

Flashes of repressed memory flooded into Cydney—the grandiose, gothic castle; the bloody floor, and its rancid, metallic smell haunting her to this day; the wrinkles on Gazini's face, made deeper by his chilling, deformed smile; and that boy, grabbing onto her hands...

Tears blurred her vision as Cydney lurched forward and dry-heaved. She hugged her stomach.

"N- No... I didn't kill anyone... I really didn't..."

Sybil released her hold. "Alright, I'll believe you for now," she said, leaning back on her seat. Slowly, the crowd of people towering over Cydney moved away.

Cydney remained in her crouched position, trembling and panting.

"Who... Who is he... exactly?" she croaked.

There was a sigh from Sybil before she began to recount, "Gazini was... a powerful and intelligent wizard. I mentioned before that there are currently three types of magic, elemental magic, vital magic, and enhancer magic. But twenty years ago, Gazini discovered a fourth type of magic: magic that manipulates a... special kind of energy—an energy that separates our world from... a parallel world.

"It was an intriguing discovery for all of us, and we experimented with it for a while. Because of how little we understand it, we decided to call this energy, dark energy, and this magic, dark magic. Soon after, we figured out how to summon objects from this parallel world, so that we can learn more about the unknown. But the thing about dark magic is that, because it involves manipulating a... highly unnatural energy, it requires a toll. A huge sacrifice."

Sybil shifted in her seat, before continuing, "We had to sacrifice rare or expensive items from our world, in order to obtain scraps from the other world. A rare gemstone found only in the underground caves of Ecuador would give us a ball of dirt. To be honest, I didn't mind it; there are lots to learn about a place from just dirt. But Gazini was very... ambitious. For some reason, he really wanted to summon... living organisms. We watched him sacrifice over a hundred birds, but not once did he manage to summon anything more than a feather."

"Rest in peace, birds," Elena said gravely.

"Rest in peace," everyone else repeated.

"We told him to stop," Sybil continued. "We told him that there were too many unnecessary deaths, but he refused to listen. When we learned about his intentions to try this magic on humans, that's when we cut off all ties from him. Magic that sacrifices human lives is not magic we want to pursue."

At this point, Cydney's thrashing heart drowned out everything around her. The more Sybil spoke, the more it sounded like a faraway echo, and the more repressed images appeared in Cydney's mind. The castle, the blood, the werewolves, the swordsman, the castle, Gazini, the scars, the swordsman...