Tahlmus and the Sirens: The Next Adventure, Pt. 5

Kanes sat alone in a cool, dark cell. It had been specially made just to contain him. The walls were made of a metal that didn’t allow him to use his magic. When he sat against the wall he lost all sense of it, and if he tried to summon it, the wall burned him. So he usually sat in the middle, as he was now, wondering what to do. The walls kept most of his magic from working. He was still able to sense when Mystic had sent a guard to come get him, and he could look in on Lillianna. Little did he know that Mystic was letting him use those specific spells. The latter being allowed in an attempt to find his twin brother, Tahlmus.

He did that now. Having just spent the last two hours being questioned and tortured by Mystic, Kanes needed to see his sweet Lillianna. Seeing her always made the pain go away. Focusing on her, he was able to see her sitting on a bed that wasn’t theirs. He noticed that she was watching some women he did not know, read his journal. Why were they reading it? Why was she just sitting there? She was supposed to be finding Tahlmus. Frustrated he broke off the spell.

“Oh Lillianna,” he whispered. “What are you doing? Why aren’t you trying to find my brother? He’s the only one who can save me. Only together can we defeat Mystic.” Tears stung his eyes. “I’m counting on you Lillianna,” he whispered, wishing she could hear him, but even without the walls hindering his magic, he had never mastered the spell allowing him to speak to others through thought.

“Tahlmus,” Mystic whispered. The only thing he had ever been able to find out about the other brother was that his name was Tahlmus. It wasn’t a common name. He should have been able to find the boy easily, or at least since taking Kanes, he should have been table to track Tahlmus’ magic, but there was nothing.

He hadn’t been sitting in the main hall very long when he felt Kanes use his magic. It was the magic he always used to look in on Lillianna. Using his own magic, Mystic joined in and was able to be in on the vision. He saw that Lillianna was not alone, but with others he did not recognize. They were reading something. He tried to add more magic to get an exact location on her, but something was blocking him. “That’s weird,” he thought, it had always worked before. “It’s almost time for the treatment,” he whispered to himself, as Kanes ended the spell. “I will have to find her soon; otherwise she will not bring me Tahlmus when she finds him.”

Mystic drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. He had spent a lot of time trying to get the Tyrneaathem twins after he had been informed of their birth. He had never expected Drevain to be able to make it so hard, but he did have the magic. The powerful draconic magic that Mystic had coveted for so long. Just as he had it in his grasp, Drevain had stepped in and ruined it. One of the few with no magic had not only spoiled his plans, but then became the most powerful of mages.

The twins were his chance to change that. If he could harness their power, he’d be able to do so many things, rule over so many people. He started to salivate as he thought about all the power he could have. He’d built a machine that would extract their powers, one at a time. The machine would then combine them and infuse the magic into himself.

“It should have been so easy,” Mystic thought. “Steal the babies, nurture them until their magic came through, and then extract it.” But Drevain had been smart. He’d been able to hide the magical signatures that his sons emitted. Mystic rubbed his forehead as he thought of how severely he had underestimated Drevain’s understanding of the magic he possessed.

It wasn’t until he heard of Drevain’s death, that he’d been able to track Kanes. It had allowed him to set several traps for Kanes, but the kid had always managed to slip through his fingers. That’s what made him a good sea captain, but he’d finally gotten him on the last voyage Kanes had taken. Kanes had now been in his possession for over a month, and he was still no closer to finding his twin brother, Tahlmus. He had used all different methods of torture to get the information out of the boy, but nothing had worked. “I’ll have to take his memories,” he said as he frowned. Mystic didn’t like using memories of others, they were unreliable, and if not handled properly changed without the person’s knowledge.

Mystic snapped his fingers and a servant appeared. “Bring Kanes to me.” The servant bowed and ran off. A few minutes later a couple of guards came in escorting Kanes, who wasn’t making it easy for them to lead him where they wanted him to go. The metal cuffs on his wrists made him unable to use his magic, and even though he wasn’t as strong physically it didn’t stop him from trying to wriggle free.

Once in front of Mystic, the guards shoved Kanes down to his knees. Using his magic, Mystic made sure Kanes could not move from that position; paralyzing all but his arms and head. “Well, this is rather soon,” Kanes said struggling against the magic holding him in place.

Mystic laughed. “Circumstances have changed. Your girlfriend has not yet found your brother, and I really must know his whereabouts. So I need information, and you are going to give it to me.”

Kanes eyes flicked up at Mystic. “How could he know what Lillianna is trying to do?” he wondered.

“My dear Kanes, do you really think you could use any magic within my walls without me knowing?” Kanes swallowed the lump that had developed in his throat. He should have known better. “Every time you look in on your precious Lillianna, I can see her too. Normally I can get her location, but this time I couldn’t.”

“She has probably noticed and put up charms to protect herself. She’s a brilliant talented woman,” Kanes replied.

Mystic laughed again. “I know you might think that, but see I was able to get her to drink one of my elixirs. It controls her feelings, and her actions. When she finds Tahlmus, she will fall madly in love with him and bring him back to me.”

Kanes tried shaking his head. There was no way Lillianna would drink an elixir she was too smart. That’s why he loved her. She always saw through his magic.

“Not only did she not see through it,” Mystic said replying to Kanes thoughts, “but it was so easy to get her to drink it. The downside though, is that the elixir only lasts for a few weeks. Since I can’t get her location, I can’t get the next dose to her, so that means I need to press harder on you.”

Kanes struggled some more against Mystic’s magic. The last round of torture a few hours ago had been so painful he had blacked out. He wasn’t sure if he could handle another round. “Don’t worry, it won’t be painful,” Mystic said as he cast another spell. This spell allowed him to extract copies of Kanes memories. Kanes did what he could to keep Mystic out, but without his magic it wasn’t much of a fight. He had tried a spell, but the cuffs started burning his wrists and he lost concentration. All he could do was hope that the spell his father had mentioned in the journal actually worked, and made all the memories involving Tahlmus unattainable.

Once everything was extracted, Mystic motioned for the guards to take Kanes away. “You won’t find him,” Kanes yelled as they drug him away. “My brother is too smart for you. You’ll never get your hands on him,” the last of Kanes words faded as he got further and further away from the main hall. Mystic just laughed as he took the memories to his pensive, immersing himself in them.

The earliest memory he’d been able to extract was of Kanes at the age of five. He was holding onto his parents’ hands, jumping in every puddle on the cobblestone street within his reach. They were all laughing. Most of the next memories were of his magical training. Mystic could see that Drevain had taught his son quite a bit, but Kanes did not grow in power as he should have. It was as if something was hindering his powers, but they weren’t sure what.

Some of the memories included the dragon Urytemil, whom Mystic had tried so hard to catch. Urytemil also did not know what was suppressing Kanes growth as a mage, though he had ideas he was going to investigate.

Mystic tried to fast forward through the memories. Drevain had moved the family a lot. That became apparent through the memories. It also had to be why it had been so hard for Mystic to find the boys. Kanes, however, had no memories of his twin brother. It was as if Tahlmus didn’t exist.

Then, a memory without sound, almost as if it had been tampered with. It was Drevain and his wife. They had been gravely injured. Kanes was crying. He looked to be about sixteen. Drevain gave a wave of his hand and a journal appeared. He gave it to Kanes. Managing to read Drevain’s lips Mystic was able to tell that Drevain was making his son promise to never reveal what was in that journal.

“That’s it,” Mystic thought. “The answers are in that journal.” He floated through the rest of the memories looking for something dealing with the journal, but there was nothing. All the memories centered around Lillianna and sailing. Mystic started grumbling as he came up the last memory, which was at the last time Kanes had seen Lillianna.

“Lillianna, I’ve been having some unsettling dreams.”

“I’m sure that’s all they are.”

“I can only hope, but listen if I don’t come back you need to find my brother Tahlmus.”

“Wait, What? You’ve never mentioned a brother before.”

Kanes voice got softer, more desperate. “I think Mystic is closing in on me. I won’t be able to escape him this time. If I don’t come home, you must find Tahlmus. Here,” Mystic watched Kanes hand a journal to Lillianna. “read this. It will explain everything.” The rest of what he said was lost on Mystic as background noise took over.

“She has the journal,” he thought as he found himself back in the main hall. His eyes widened as he realized that the journal the other women had been reading was the journal he sought after. “Lillianna is no longer the only one,” he whispered. “I can look for the others. I can…”

“Dad. Dad,” a young voice called out interrupting his thoughts. “Were there any letters today?”

Mystic turned to see his son Solas running towards him. He loved the boy, but the young heir had very little to no magical ability. He hoped the new school in Tevinter would be able to help Solas. A lot of people had been talking about it. The rumor was that it was run by the one who had defeated the Dark Lord of Tevinter. Mystic had known the Dark Lord; not as powerful as Mystic, but the Dark Lord of Tevinter had been powerful in his own right. He had done things Mystic hadn’t be able to bring himself to do. If there was a mage who had defeated the Dark Lord, then that mage would also be powerful, and be a good teacher for his son, Solas.

“I’m sorry, no” Mystic said catching his son who had jumped into his arms. “Maybe tomorrow.”

“I hope so,” Solas replied. “I really want to go to school and make you proud.

“You will son. You will,” Mystic stated as he carried his son to the dining hall for supper.

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Continue on to Part 6.