City of the Dead

Chapter 7

     "Freya, tenet. Focus please." Delphine says tapping my hand with her quill pen. "Start again. The sooner you get this right, the sooner you can rest for the day."

"I'm sorry Delphine." I say turning attention back to my book. "Adcanis duran, sempor...."

I find it nearly impossible to focus on my lessons today, much to Delphine's annoyance. How can I focus? I have far too much on my mind right now. Delphine and her magic, her horrific plan, the fate of her victims, my life, my parents, and my crazy escape plan. Those are not the only thoughts running through my mind at the moment.

A huge question comes to mind. What if I fail? If I fail it won't be a simple slap on the wrist. No doubt I will enrage Delphine and she will either kill me or trap me in this place forever. As for everyone else, she would kill them all to revive her Lord Nox. For the sake of me and everyone else trapped in this hell I need to succeed.

"Freya." The Delphine's impatient tone knocks me out of my thoughts.

"Yes Delphine?" I ask innocently.

She sighs heavily. "It is clear that we won't make much progress today until we put your mind at ease." She says taking and closing the dusty old book that I am pretending to read. As she looks at me, I pray that she does not read my thoughts. If she senses anything my mission could be over before it begins.

"Freya you have questions, and you are due for answers. So, what is it that you wish to ask me?"

I did have a few questions that had been sitting in the back of my mind for some time now. This is a rare opportunity for me. The more I learn about her, the better I can take her down.

"Fine." I say "First question, that spell that you chant, what does it mean?"

"Tanis an itain, itain an mortus, mortus an vitus. Blood for life, life for death, death for magic. Nox offers us power but there is always a cost. I have paid a very high price for the things that I desire." She says looking at the dark marks on her arms.

"Next question. You are very beautiful but did you always look as pale as a ghost."

"Everyone always asks that question. Yes, I was born like this. I can't tell you how or why because I do not know myself. Some of us are just different." She almost looks annoyed. I decide not to press her and move on to my last question.

"Why me?" I ask questioningly. "You could have chosen anyone to be your apprentice but you chose me. Why?"

Delphine's face turns into a thoughtful expression. I wait as she searches for an answer. Its as if she doesn't know why she made the decision herself. Did she truly make the decision or was it Nox. Does he have the power to influence other's minds, is he currently controlling her thoughts? It takes a moment but Delphine finally latches on to an answer.

"I chose you because you remind me of myself when I was your age."

"But I'm nothing like you." I say masking the defensiveness in my tone.

"I know why you think that." She says with a smile. "Two different people from two different worlds living two separate lives. How can we be the same? It is strange that you are so curious yet you never asked me where I'm from."

"Why would I? You are from the city, aren't you?"

"No child, I'm not from the city. I came from a small village just north of the mountains, Falton."

My eyes grow wide with surprise. "I've never heard of that village before."

"No one has." Delphine says as sadness fills her tone. "It's a decaying relic lost to time, to the plague, to horrible war. My journey to Mortus was not an easy one" She tells me. "When my mother died and my father was brutally murdered, I came to this mountain to die.