“Quick thinking, Goral,” complimented Temiker as he knelt beside his brother. “I still do not understand what happened here.”
“I tried to get Malafar to promise that he would not harm anyone while he was here,” Lyra answered weakly as she slumped into her chair. “I am afraid I goaded him too far.”
“Okay, but how were you stopping him from acting?” quizzed Temiker. “He was destroying himself trying to break your spell.”
“Perhaps that would have been best for everyone,” sighed Lyra. “I need to go lie down. Get some mage manacles on him before he wakes up and give Lord Marak my apologies.”
StarWind had to help Lyra out of her chair, but the Star of Sakova gently waved the spymaster away and retreated from the room. Jostin returned with the healing mage and StarWind sent him to fetch the manacles. LifeTender knelt next to Malafar and inspected him.
“He is close to dying,” she said softly. “What happened to him?”
“We are not sure,” answered StarWind. “He was trying to magically attack Lyra and she was using some spell to prevent him. He kept fighting the constraints imposed by Lyra until Goral hit him over the head with a chair.”
LifeTender looked up at the giant and nodded. “You probably saved his life, Goral,” she stated. “His heart is not beating properly. We need to get him to his room. Can you carry him?”
Goral nodded and bent down and scooped the old man up with as much effort as if he was retrieving an empty box off the floor. Temiker watched them leave and shook his head. “I still don’t get it,” he murmured. “Where would Lyra get such knowledge? Is there a Sakovan spell that does what she was doing?”
“Not that I know of,” admitted StarWind. “RavenWing would be the person to ask though. We can go see him after we get the manacles on Malafar if you wish.”
“I do wish,” nodded Temiker as Jostin came racing into the room with the magic-inhibiting bracelets.
StarWind took the manacles and led Temiker to Malafar’s room. LifeTender was still getting Malafar situated and Goral stood quietly in the corner observing. LifeTender did not object to the manacles being put on her patient, but she did appear impatient to be back to task of trying to save him. StarWind got the cuffs on quickly and left the room without comment. Temiker followed her and soon they entered RavenWing’s chamber.
“How is Malafar?” RavenWing asked.
“How the blazes did you find out already?” asked StarWind. “We just left his room.”
“Jostin did not know where to find the manacles,” grinned RavenWing. “Will he live?”
“Perhaps,” StarWind said. “LifeTender is doing what she can, but she said he was close to death. We wanted to ask about the spell Lyra used. Have you ever heard of a spell that can bind another who is trying to cast against you, even to the point of the attacker destroying himself? Is there such a spell?”
RavenWing tugged on his ear as he sorted through the volumes of information in his mind. Slowly he nodded his head. “There is,” he answered.
“Well that clears up the mystery a bit,” StarWind stated. “Someone must have taught it to her.”
“If someone taught her this spell,” RavenWing interjected, “they did it several thousand years ago.” He smiled at StarWind’s reaction before he continued. “There is recorded in our histories a tale about the mage contests of the olden times. The story tells of a practice the Sakovans used to use to select their mage leader. Those brash enough to think they deserved to rule would compete in magical warfare. They would alternately attack and defend themselves. The favored method of defense was the Holding Spell, but only one with enormous power would try to use it. If you were successful, your opponent would die trying to break it. If, however, he managed to break it, you would be left with no time to defend yourself because the spell effected a trance-like state on the caster. The success of the spell depended upon raw energy force. The stronger opponent always won.”
“What happened to the spell?” asked Temiker. “You said it was used thousands of years ago, but you indicate that it is no longer known.”
“Quite true,” validated RavenWing. “The spell lost its allure to the Sakovan people because they started losing a lot of mages in the contests. If a contestant was second best, he died. Then if the leader died, they no longer had their second choice to choose from because he had previously succumbed to the Holding Spell. In short, people stopped using it and teaching it. Remember, we were not a warring nation back then and there was no other use for such a spell.”
“But surely it was written down somewhere,” objected Temiker. “She could have read it perhaps.”
“No,” answered RavenWing. “Many libraries were destroyed during the Omungan invasion. All of them actually. Most of our history had to be rewritten from people’s memories. If that spell were written anywhere, I would know of it. I was the Head Historian before I became the leader, a task I would not mind taking up again.”
“No one has taken the job since you left it,” remarked StarWind. “You seemed to continue keeping the records yourself anyway.”
“Then how did Lyra know the spell?” inquired Temiker doggedly.
“Only Kaltara knows,” smiled RavenWing.
The three mages remained in silence for a long time, each pondering the resurrection of the Holding Spell. “Then Lyra has more raw power than Master Malafar,” StarWind said finally breaking the silence.
“Yes,” agreed Temiker, “and that means that we should be very careful with her training. “We must ensure that she does not harm herself trying to channel such energy.”
“She appears to be handling it quite well,” smiled RavenWing. “The measure of how much more power she has than Malafar can be measured by how long it takes for her to recover. She may be confined to bed for days if they were close in strength.”
“Then I should cancel the strategy meeting and find someone to talk with Lord Marak in her place,” reasoned StarWind. “Is that a task that you could do, RavenWing?”
“Only if the Star requests it,” RavenWing declared. “Do not make her decisions for her just because she is in bed. You need to consult with her first.”
“You are right,” nodded the Sakovan spymaster. “I will speak with her now so that she need not be disturbed anymore today.”
RavenWing stared out the window lost in thought and did not reply to StarWind’s farewell as she left the room with Temiker in tow. She moved leisurely through the corridors and up the stairs, pondering the puzzle of Lyra’s knowledge of the ancient spell. They stopped outside Lyra’s door and StarWind knocked softly. When there was no reply, she knocked harder.
“Open the door,” suggested Temiker. “Let’s make sure that she is all right.”
StarWind nodded and eased the door open. Temiker heard StarWind’s deep gasp and pushed past her into the room. “She’s gone!” he exclaimed.
“I do not like the looks of this,” StarWind stated as she entered the room and checked the corners and even opened the hanging closet in search of the Star.
Temiker spun and raced out of the room, calling to StarWind as he left. “I am going to check with LifeTender. Perhaps she put her in another room.”
StarWind ran after the mage from Alamar and caught up to him before he reached Malafar’s room. Together they opened the door and barged in. LifeTender turned to stare at them as they entered, but they did not see her as their eyes were focused on the bed. They halted abruptly with Temiker bumping into StarWind as the shock of what they were seeing rattled both of them.
“He is dying,” LifeTender frowned. “I cannot get his heart to beat regularly.”
StarWind and Temiker did not respond to LifeTender. Their eyes were fastened on Lyra as she sat on the Malafar’s bed with her hands on his chest.
“You should be resting, Lyra,” Temiker scolded. “Let LifeTender do what she does best and get back to bed.”