Full Dark

Chapter X: The First Oath

In which consequences are laid out and commandments are given.

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The first thing Tobias became aware of was the crackling of a fire. He opened his eyes to find he had been laid on the caravan's cot, and that someone had swapped out his muddy jerkin for a fresh one. Tobias lifted himself into a sitting position, grunting at the deep pain that had taken root in his bones.

Suppose that's what I get for pushing myself. Feels like I'm made of broken glass.

Peering out the window, Tobias could see that night had fallen, and that Amalia and Columbus were outside, warming themselves by the campfire. Tobias gingerly got to his feet, wincing at his overtaxed muscles, and shuffled out to join them.

Amalia was the first to notice.

"Tobias!" she exclaimed, springing up to assist her brother. Tobias let Amalia shoulder his weight, too exhausted to protest, and she guided him to a seat near the warming flames.

"I'm glad you're up, I was so worried," said Amalia. "You looked pale as death for a bit, but Columbus assured me that's just a side-effect of... what you did."

Amalia's words hit Tobias like a glass of cold water, shocking him from his haze.

There's no way I did that, he thought, trying to make sense of everything. If I was born with that power, I would have known earlier, right? There would have been signs.

"It is normal to struggle with using magic," said Columbus, as if reading Tobias' thoughts. "It is a foreign thing at first, like discovering you have an extra limb." He held out a bowl of piping hot soup. "Amalia saved you a bowl. Hungry?"

Tobias became aware that a vicious hunger had joined forces with the other aches in his body. He nodded, hands trembling as he took the warm bowl. He began to down the food with gusto as the other two looked on.

"Slow down," cautioned Amalia. "It's just carrot and barley, nothing special."

"Drawing power takes its toll on the body," explained Columbus, not taking his eyes off Tobias, who had already finished the bowl. "It leaves one drained and empty, and the longer the periods between use, the more extreme the side-effects. Magic is like a muscle: the more you use it, the stronger your connection, and the less effort it takes to reach past the Curtain and harness what you need."

Columbus rubbed his goatee, his scorn from earlier replaced by something akin to wonder. "In all honesty Tobias, I'm surprised you are even awake. I was wondering if I was going to have to carry you to Dryhill's clinic on my back."

Tobias remembered when Columbus carried Amalia all the way up the cliff, like she weighed no more than a bag of flour.

The man might look slight, but I think Columbus would be capable of that, and more besides.

Tobias set down his bowl and took in a deep breath. "So let's suppose I did some... magic. What does that even mean, and how do I control it?"

"That is a lot of information to cover," said Columbus, "and while I have taken on the mantle of teaching you swordplay, I will not be stepping in as a teacher of the magical arts."

"However," he continued, "I will try to give you the basics, so your curiosity does not get the better of you." He picked up a stick from the pile near the fire, and drew a circle on the muddy ground.

"This is our world. To many of us, this is all there is, and all we will ever consciously experience." He then drew another circle to the right of the previous one, the two circles' boundaries touching at one point. "This is the Afterward, the realm of souls. And sandwiched between it and our world is the Curtain. When living things die, their souls pass through the Curtain into this new realm of existence, and depending on the actions they took in our world, they will go to one of two places."