The Court of Souls?

Chapter 42: ~Hearth.~

Witches, in the mythological sense of the term, are female practitioners of magical arts activated by association with supernatural powers. Their male counterpart would be a warlock. There were two fundamental types of witches. Black witches who dedicate themselves to demons, and white witches who worship the gods.

The principal difference between the two is that white witches adhere to some form of religion, often termed paganism. Black witches are bound to the service of a demon and all his host of demonic creatures. Despite the forbidden truths black witches are said to receive, they commonly do very little with the knowledge.

- The Journey to the Afterlife

***Dedessia, the Sea of Souls, Semper Fidelis***

***Shade***

Wow, for a god of Chaos you are quite good at this, Doreen compliments my work while studying the items which I requisitioned from a jeweller. What is it for?

We are in the kitchen. I chose it for doing my work, because it is the room where I am most likely left alone in the evening.

She takes one of the engraving tools and pokes her finger with it. The fine pointy end causes a drop of blood to flow, but that doesn't bother her in the least. You use this one to make a sketch of what you want to write?

Yes, it is just to draft the outlines of what you want to engrave. But I don't need it to cut the beatgold. Gold coating something is much easier than actually making in-lines or fusing the item together, I explain.

I take a look at the oval amulet with the metal frame. The frame encases the thin, marble plates which hold the fine magical circuits. I engraved them into the stone and used the meagre amount of beatgold to have a conductor for the magical energies.

So far I've stacked nine layers of magical circuits on top of each other. And there are still eleven more to go until the item is complete.

You still haven't answered my first question, Doreen reminds me. She puts the tool back to its place and focuses her attention on me.

Revenge, I answer mysteriously and add another layer to the amulet. Normally I wouldn't waste my time on such a meagre craft, but the situation is dire and I need an advantage.

And why shouldn't a god of Chaos know something about magic and artefacts? I ask miffed.

She makes a dismissive gesture and smiles. Just asking. It surprised me. I always imagined someone who personifies Chaos as crazy, Doreen muses.

Oh, please. Chaos is not about being crazy, well, maybe a little. It's about being unpredictable. Like never doing what your opponent might expect you to do, I answer.

Like facing an entire army of immortals alone? And inviting them to dinner right afterwards? she asks.

Yes.

Or like loving a strange girl in a really masochistic relationship? I don't want to pry into the affair between you two, but are you really okay with it? I can't help but wonder at times. You work well together on most days. Unfortunately there are also occasions when you two seem like day and night, Doreen continues.

I stop my work for a moment to think of an answer. Yes. We are like day and night and our relationship is certainly not an easy one. But when I go through all my memories, then I have to say that it's worth it. I would hate to have a woman who has no teeth.

When I am with Elona it is a constant struggle for who comes out on top. I can't imagine it any other way. And when I do something stupid I can be sure that she is powerful enough to pull me out of the fire.

Sounds like you two are made for each other, Doreen expresses with a weak smile. So you are really okay with her latest idea? Setting a trap for our enemies?

I shrug my shoulders. I guess so. The important part is that it doesn't interfere with my own plans. If you want to catch your opponent off guard, then it is good to set as many plans as possible into motion. Even if one or two fail, the rest are bound to succeed.

I add another layer to the amulet. What I am doing is like folding up an electric circuit to make it as small as possible. Of course that goes hand in hand with a lot of problems. I have to take the interferences from the various layers into account. Then there is a heat problem which has to be handled.

Finally there is the point that this is really delicate work. I am trying to make it as small as possible. That's bound to end up in some mistakes. One wrong connection and I can trash the entire circuit, which I did three times so far.

So, you have an idea where they will attack us? Doreen continues the conversation.

That's actually an interesting question. We sent fifteen of our people to the ruins of Parle. They are supposed to bail out if they are attacked. It was a good idea to choose the mine as their supposed target. The mine is easy to defend and our people can set up a big enough teleportation circle without the fear of being spotted.

What was a far bigger problem, was choosing the right people. We actually took a big risk in adding another ten people to our circle. If the plot works, we might get a solid lead on our enemies. But if it fails, they will know that we suspect something. Given that nobody talks.

But we chose mainly my people for the trap. They pose the smallest risk.

So will they attack our city, or the mining operation? It's hard to say without knowing their reasons. We think that Moonray wants to gather minions. He has to crush our faction and pick up the remains. So attacking the mining operation is surely not furthering his goals. He wants survivors which turn to him after a catastrophe. We opened ourselves to an attack, so the city is the only logical target. Given that he falls for the trap, this is a unique chance to break the city.

If he attacks the mining operation, the survivors would simply return to us, so he wouldn't gain what he wants.

I think that they will attack the city. It's even likely that the slavers will show their faces again, I reply.

At last, I add the final layer of the amulet. The only thing I have to do now, is to test it.

That looks really neat. You are a fine artisan. I would have never thought that you have such skill. She let's her eyes wander to survey the room. But I also would have never thought that Elona would turn into a housewife. Before she started remembering most of her previous lives, she never even entered a kitchen. In fact, she kept away from it as far as possible. That's quite a change in her behaviour.

I frown and look around. Elona changed quite a few things since she claimed the place. There are a lot more more dried up plants in here. And there is a pot with a jingling lid on the stove. A green light shines out of the crack and something hisses inside.

Doreen reaches for the lid, but I raise my voice in warning. Aaahh, I wouldn't do that!

Why not? Doreen asks baffled.

Elona is a very competent witch. Many people had to learn the hard way that touching her cooking can be... quite the experience. I wouldn't be surprised if that stuff actually turns you into a frog, I explain.

Doreen raises both hands, palms out, to show that she will not touch anything. The girl could have put up a few warning signs if her art is that dangerous.

I shrug. She used rune magic to ward the room and keep people out. You are just too strong to be affected by the subtle influences of her mind magic.

Doreen's head snaps in my direction. She did what?

Didn't I already explain that she claimed the room? You should have felt the wish to go to the living room instead of the kitchen when you came here? I ask.

Doreen nods and grins wolfishly. So that's why I found Quianna cooking in the servants kitchen instead of here. At that time I thought that she wanted to bond with the lows, but now her strange antics make sense!

I smile wryly. Maybe we should ask her to loosen the claim on this place a little. At least enough to let her sister in.

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