JACKAL AMONG SNAKES-Novel

Durran opened a door, beholding the man waiting on the other side. His name was Traugott. As Elenore said, his skin was darker than most people in Vasquer. Even still, Durran had seen darker men in the Burnt Desert, and his other unusual features drew attention first. His hair was as black as ink, appearing soft and inhuman. It looked more like grafted strands of black silk than hair. And his shadow… it looked solid, almost tangible, and did not move with the light of the room.

Despite that, he had a pleasant and somewhat round face. That, coupled with his ordinary gray robes bearing the insignia of the Order of the Gray Owl, somewhat grounded the Magister Traugott back in the mundane.

With a white-toothed smile, Traugott inquired of Durran, “Hello. Who might you be?”

“Just some help for the princess,” Durran answered, opening the door wider. “Please, come in. We’re happy to have you here, Magister Traugott.”

“The princess? I see,” the Magister said evenly, stepping within the room. “Greetings, Princess Elenore. It’s currently rather nice to make your acquaintance despite the circumstances around us.” His eyes landed on another person in the room, and his expression slowly lost some of its cheer. “And… Magister Vasilisa of Quadreign.”

Magister Vasilisa stood in one corner of the room. She was a tall woman, blonde of hair and blue of eye. She came from the very distant north, part of the noble family of Quadreign—apparently, the majority of their members were renowned spellcasters. Elenore was happy to have this Vasilisa’s presence, but Durran was not.

Elenore, despite her haste in arranging this meeting, had not done so without some precautions. The princess had called in a lot of favors and spent a lot of money to merely have this woman present with them. Durran had complained that having two Magisters was more dangerous than having one, but Elenore had rebutted that at least this Magister was of proven character.

In the end, though Durran was not entirely content about this precaution, he had to admit it was better than nothing. Traugott came as an ally on paper, but he was still an unknown quantity. Indeed, the lack of information she was able to find was alarming. No one seemed to know anything about him. Vasilisa, contrarily, had an upstanding reputation. Traugott had already arranged to meet with her, too, so it wasn’t a disrespectful measure.

“Traugott,” Vasilisa greeted. Though she had been completely unenthusiastic before the meeting, now that it came she was at full attention, playing the part of a diligent escort.

“I’m glad I managed to get in touch with you,” Elenore spoke to Traugott kindly. “I thought I might facilitate your journey here. You intended to spread the word of Gerechtigkeit to your fellow Magisters, didn’t you? But some of my sources say that you had a personal support of Argrave’s cause. Please, have a seat.”

“Well… you’ve saved me some travel.” His face recovered from its change in demeanor quickly, and Traugott smiled as he sat down upon his chair. “I should ask—might I meet His Majesty, the King Argrave?”

Elenore raised a brow at his grandiose address. “His Majesty is absent from Relize at present.”

“Ah,” Traugott nodded. “Such a shame.”

Durran walked to stand behind Elenore, keeping his arms before him as he kept a close eye on the man ahead. Traugott didn’t seem to mind.

“I was rather interested in meeting a man who could write something like this,” Traugott reached into his robes and pulled free a booklet. “So many… proofs, truths, each and all leading back to Gerechtigkeit. His Majesty must have made a formidable study of the situation. With this level of detail… that’s only natural.”

“He was quite diligent,” Elenore nodded simply. “Castro gave you that?” she pressed curiously.

Traugott smiled. “How else would I have gotten it?” He opened the booklet, fingers turning the pages gingerly. “I do wonder how it is the king managed to find all of these leads. I, myself, am quite a scholar, yet all of these things… passed right under my nose,” he said, tone deepening as he said each word deliberately.

Durran tensed, prepared for anything. Would the Magister try something in the heart of enemy territory? So many were aware of and prepared for this visit, Vasilisa foremost among them. Durran looked, but the blonde female Magister seemed unworried.

“Because Gerechtigkeit has been deliberately suppressing things,” Elenore posited.

“Ah…” Traugott exhaled slowly. “Then how, I wonder, has King Argrave managed to find the truth?”

“You must have heard the news,” Elenore said without skipping a beat. “Vasquer has been discovered. She was held by the Bat. Argrave has long been aware of these things.”

“Hmm. It’s a very reasonable, plausible answer,” Traugott nodded.

“My sources tell me you had a personal support of Argrave’s coronation,” Elenore said quickly, hoping to change the direction of the conversation. “I thought you might be amenable to detailed cooperation, considering you volunteered to come to the north to convince your fellow Magisters of Gerechtigkeit’s existence.”

“It’s a good justification,” Traugott nodded with a smile.

“…bluntly put,” she continued, “I wanted to discuss how you might use your sway in the Order of the Gray Owl to recruit some undecided spellcasters in the north and beyond to our cause.”

“Certainly, I did come to offer some help,” Traugott tilted his head. “But I’m only a scholar—a seeker of the unknown. What sway have I?”

Durran felt greatly uneased by the way the man talked. He spoke of how things were ‘plausible’ or ‘good justifications,’ as though he knew some sort of truth and was mocking them to their face.

“I think you and I both know that’s not true,” Elenore shook her head. “Your title alone, your visit alone… they’ll have ramifications: namely, positive results for us. The title of Magister has weight, you know that. Your vocal support for our cause would be immeasurably valuable, I think you know. Right, Vasilisa?”

Though the blonde Magister did give a slight nod, another spoke first.

“I know nothing,” Traugott shook his head. “That is a fundamental truth I long ago accepted. Everyone would be better off if they admitted they know nothing. The past—how are you sure it happened? Because you can recall memories? How do you know they’re yours? What is ‘knowing?’” He grinned again. “Who knows?”

Elenore furrowed her brows, sitting in silence for a few seconds. She seemed just as perplexed as Durran was. Was the man trying to avoid answering them in an elaborate way? Durran could not be sure of his intent.

“If you spend too much time asking those questions, you stagnate,” Elenore said, deciding to engage with what he said.

“And why is stagnating bad?” Traugott answered back. “Ah—I’ve made a mistake. I’ve made an assumption that you meant ‘stagnate’ negatively.” Traugott shook his head. “But going with that assumption I made… how should one live their life? What is bad, what is good? What’s the point of doing or not doing? What’s the point of these questions?”

Elenore stayed silent for a few moments, then answered, “You’ve stumbled onto why people have faith, I should think.”

Traugott chuckled. “Precisely so. These questions… a lot of people go around claiming that they have the answer to it all. They know how we get here, and they know how it’ll all end.” He shook his head. “But the word you used… it’s faith. People don’t know. They cling to assumptions, reasonable or unreasonable, without ever truly knowing.” The Magister leaned back. “Well… I’m not satisfied giving up. I am rather deeply fascinated by the unknown.”

Traugott’s shadow spread throughout the room, entirely enveloping it and shrouding it in darkness in not half a second. Durran didn’t even had time to panic before he stopped being able to see anything. Quickly, he cast a spell of fire, but it, too, was consumed by darkness. What was up, down, and all around ceased to make sense.

“People fear the dark because it’s unknown. Myself, I’ve always wanted to be steeped in it. Rather than leaving it be, nothing entices me more than heading into the lurking shadows and what lies within them.”

Just as quickly as it consumed them so did the darkness release them. When it was over, Vasilisa stood before both of them, holding her hands out towards Traugott with a spell swirling about that ate away the darkness. Durran struggled to stay on his feet—whatever this darkness was, it was not so simple as an absence of light. It consumed the senses—touch, smell, sound. To have them so abruptly returned was jarring.

Durran looked down at Elenore to be sure that she was unharmed. She sat there, the same as ever. But could Durran be sure that nothing had happened to her? Tearing his gaze away and back to the Magister, he knew one thing—this man maddened him.

“But now… I’ve seen something almost… incontrovertible,” Traugott said wondrously, one leg crossed over the other in a casual display. One might not think a Magister had spells prepared in his face. “And all of the information… I thought it came from Castro at first, but that isn’t the case, is it? No… it came from Argrave,” he said, the honorific address dropped. “There are so many places to visit in this little booklet. So many leads to follow, so many other proofs. Or so is claimed… I’ve yet to verify them. The arbiter of the world? Such an unknown quantity… so, let me ask you something. Where is Argrave?”

Elenore didn’t respond to the question immediately. The Magister did not rush her for an answer, staring back with that white-toothed grin of his.

“He’s not in Relize,” Elenore repeated. Durran cast a glance at her, wondering where her boldness came from. “I don’t believe I need to answer someone being so blatantly hostile and insincere, Magister Traugott.”

Traugott laughed. “I see.” His gaze settled on Elenore. “You’re right. I was being insincere. I don’t have any interest in your war. I really only came here to meet Argrave… but he’s not here. Or if he is, I certainly won’t have the luxury of searching for him.” His eyes rested upon Vasilisa.

“Try nothing like that again,” the female Magister said in warning, hands still prepared to cast a spell.

“I don’t plan on it. Conflict is something I mostly prefer to avoid,” he said in disdain. “Really, all I wanted was answers. But if they’re not to be found here, I’ll be moving on once again. There are many places to visit in this booklet. If they’re more than mere guesses… well, I will be most interested in learning more.”

Elenore rose to her feet. “I think it’s time for you to leave.”

Traugott’s shadow danced, and Durran braced for another wave of whatever had come before. Instead, Traugott fell away into his own shadow. Vasilisa lowered her hand once his shadow vanished.

“Is he…?” Durran questioned after silence reigned for a time.

“He’s gone,” Elenore nodded. “Whatever that darkness is, it can’t fool these,” she tapped at her bronze jewelry. “He’s reappeared outside. Vasilisa—please, ensure he leaves.”

The Magister gave a cautious nod, then stepped towards the door. She paused. "Don't forget what you owe my house," she reminded Elenore.

"I won't," Elenore shook her head.

Vasilisa nodded and left, moving after Traugott.

“Imagine if I had been cheap,” Elenore looked to Durran pointedly once the Magister had left.

Durran stared at the shadows in paranoia. “I was wrong, alright?”

“Still… I don’t regret this. It confirmed things. If we have a saboteur, it’s best to confirm his presence as soon as possible.” Elenore shook her head. “If that even describes Traugott. I need to speak to Argrave, find out what the hell just happened.”