045 - Sky Beyond Sky

"Eat?" Magnus gawked, looking from Lars to his master. "I can't do . . I can't eat a person!"

"Why not?"

"I can't . . it's wrong! You, you . . that's what monster do! A monster eats people! I'm not a monster!" Magnus breath quickened, dark lines appearing beneath his skin.

"Calm yourself. Sit, lotus position. Magnus! Calm!" Kujata ordered.

Magnus sat back down in the formation, his hands resting on his knees and breathing deeply. Calm . . peace . . Magnus felt his heart still, his pulse returning to normal. He looked at Lars, seeing him laying on the ground as if asleep. Kujata squatted over him for a moment more, shook her head and returned to the window.

"If you cannot eat, then bury. Its the only thing you can do Magnus. He ain't gonna get better, the boy will only waste away, die. If you ate him though . . well, a part of him might live on. His essence." Kujata shrugged her shoulders. "Forget about it. Think about it for a while, let's go over the lessons. Magnus, the first Logos."

Over the course of the month Kujata had been teaching Magnus almost exclusively about the Logos, the five coloured threads that made made up the underlying principles of the universe. She'd long accepted that merely having Magnus remember the information was as much as she could expect. As for his understanding . . .well. Kujata sighed.

"The Logos." Magnus intoned flatly. "White, Vis. Vis is the inner force, running with my blood and bones and gathering in my core, just behind my belly button."

"How is your core now?"

Magnus touched his navel. "The same. I can feel it . . move I think, but it's the same."

"Right, carry on."

"Blue, Animus. The mental energy that, uh, that is between the eyes and Alchemists use it and it can be used to make shape thingys, those forma, formated sideways, uh."

"Formations and sigils."

"Yeah. I saw it call down lightning and make a sword. Can I use Animus big sis? Will I be able to make call lighting from the skies?"

"Sure, sure, why not. Maybe one day. Next Logos, go on."

"And the body thingy? Can I make one of those too? I mean, that was me!"

"Yeah, yeah, that too. It just takes a bit of practice, anyone can do it. I mean, it's only mixing together a living thread with a replicating sigil, you know, easy." Kujata grinned. "Next colour Magnus, focus."

"Uh, yellow, the Mens. Spirit lines that go into the past and future, that connect to the Ether. Um, the Ether is . ."

"The Ether is a spirit realm, a plane of existence that ties together all living things through all time, through all existences." Kujata uncorked a gourd of wine.

"Right. The Ether. Uh, a plane . . ok."

"Next, just go on."

". . . sis?"

"Yeah?"

"If I eat Lars . . does that mean I have to cook him on the grill?"

"For the love of . . come on Magnus!" Kujata flung her wine gourd at Magnus. "Of course not! Bloody hells! You really think I would make you do that?"

"Sorry! I was just making sure! Sorry!"

"Gimme, gimme the gourd back."

"Sure big sis!" Magnus hurried to the window and handed back the half empty gourd.

"Green, elemental," Magnus sat back down in the formation. "The energy from nature that lives in rocks and trees and in . . in big lizards under the swamp, is that right big sis?"

"Close enough. It comes from nature and from elemental creatures. Ok, the most important one. Finish up Magnus, I'm famished."

"Right. Oh, right, Vigour, the Living threads. These are the life lines, the threads of fate. A thingy of the will of life, everyone has a living thread and when they die it is breaks."

"Thats right. Every living thing has a single living thread, the line of fate that connects the to the eternal Logos. Everyone, that is, except us. Beings like you and I, Magnus. Creatures who are tied to the Logos go far beyond the pale."

"So Lars has a thread of Vigour?"

"He does, just the one. Still alive, see? But cause he's been soul scoured, well . . you see, a soul scouring reads into a creature's mind, but not just reads, it fucks em, good and proper. He's got the living thread, but that's it. Your pal is alive and nothing else, not even a shadow of human is in there, just a broken husk."

"And . . and if I eat him? What will happen?"

"Those bits of Lars that are left, his living thread, any potential, anything that ain't smashed to pieces, you'll swallow it up!"

Magnus fell silent looking at Lars. The bell rang twice, Kujata turned away. The sky darkened, Sif curled up and twitched in his sleep. Magnus looked at the boy. For a brief moment . . not even more than a couple of hours. I met him, I knew his name . . he guided me through the swamp and that was it.

Because of me . . he would have been alive. No, the Alchemist would've killed him! The one in the swamp . . he would have died . . this way, if, if . . he could live on . . a part of him . .

For five long hours into the dead of the night Magnus sat and debated with himself, staring at Lars. He formed countless arguments, countless self justifications.

Kujata let him sit and think in peace. She reached under the tall backed chair and pulled up a thick waxy candle, placing it on the window sill. For a moment the whole sky seemed to shake, as if the world had suddenly been caught in a spiders web. Kujata sighed and sent a red thread from her fingertip into the candle. “The things I do for my disciples . .”

By morning there were dark rings beneath Magnus’ eyes, his body slumped forwards. Lars breath grew shallow, his chest rose and fell a little less with every passing minute.

Eat. Consume . . devour . . Magnus licked his lips . . its for the best . . it’s the only thing I can do to help . .