Ealisaid Awakens (from “Shattered Dreams”)

“That’s my garden,” she whispered, her voice hoarse from lack of use.

She leaned out, and stared at a dim, littered alley. Opposite her house stood a stout, quarry-stone building and it must have been there for quite some time. The weathered surface looked like the foundation of her parents’ house back in Thionnaig, and her great-grandparents had built that.

Up and down the alley she saw other structures that showed the same marks of wear. The unbearable stench that assaulted her senses made her gag, and she recoiled from the window; a flick of her hand closed it.

“What is going on here?” she shrieked, slamming door after door behind her, as she rushed through her house.

When she reached her laboratory, the tantrum-flung door caused several jars and beakers to jump on their shelves. Ealisaid ignored the ringing sound and headed straight for the small chest that held her talking-crystal. Someone in Phoenix Citadel better explain this prank. Despite being in familiar surroundings, with countless scents filling the air, she saw dust had settled here also. She detected the faint stink of garbage mingling with the familiar aroma of spices and herbs.

A new fit of rage gripped her and without thinking, she cast a spell to thrust open both window and shutters. Wooden frames, glass, and shields tore through the air, ripped free of their hinges.

The flight of the missiles lasted a few heartbeats before they smashed through a window across a street Ealisaid could not remember being there. She heard frightened screams from the house’s inhabitants.

“Masterful illusion!” she hissed, rushed over to her workbench and flung away the lid of the box that shielded the talking-crystal.

In an instant the crystal’s smooth surface illuminated from within. Ealisaid pulled over a stool and sat, staring intently at the crystal.

“Phoenix Citadel,” she said with a quavering voice.

For several heartbeats the crystal’s illumination wavered, then dimmed and finally vanished, leaving a darkness that enveloped the gem’s smooth surface. Ealisaid leaned forward and gazed into the trinket, fear rising. Usually when she contacted her order in the Shadowpeaks, one of her fellow students would immediately be available to fetch a master. Now the space where the other wizard’s face usually appeared remained black.

“Can anyone hear me?” she said, her voice quavering with dread and anticipation.

There was no reply.

“Anyone?” she pleaded, her hands cupping the stone. “Please, talk to me,” Ealisaid whispered as she brought the stone closer to her face. “I need to speak to master…” her voice trailed off. She couldn’t remember the name of the illusion instructor.

She tried again, this time her fear was evident. “Ealisaid Brandagh wishing to speak with the High Master.” Tears ran down her cheeks. “I need to talk to him. I need to talk to High Master Kalaith.” She bowed her head, touching the crystal to her forehead. “Is there anyone? Please, please, hear me.”

“Lady, are you all right?”

At the sound of the voice her head snapped up and she once more gazed into the stone.

It remained as it had been: dark, uncaring.

Ealisaid whirled around to face the window. A young lass, no older than twelve summers, looked at her through the shattered opening, a curious frown creased her freckled face. Behind the girl Ealisaid could see other children gawking at her. She realized there was quite a crowd gathering in the alley behind her house.

Where her garden would have been.

“Lady?”

She glared at the girl. “What kind of jest is this?”

“Jest, madam?” The lass looked confused.

“Oh, this is a good illusion,” Ealisaid snarled, as she jumped to her feet. “Be gone! You are not real!”

The girl-image appeared frightened and confused just as she felt herself. “This is the most lifelike mirage I’ve ever beheld. Now stop this nonsense, at once!”

To support her demand, Ealisaid called on the powers of magic directly, something her instructors had always chided her for, although it bore the most remarkable effects.

The force she summoned tore out of her outstretched fingers, demolished her laboratory’s wall, and blasted into the childlike illusions and through the images of the walls opposite her house, bringing the entire structure down. The effect was all Ealisaid had hoped for, and more. What she hadn’t expected were the tormented screams of children and adults mixed with the bursting and shattering of stones.

“No more games!” she hollered, leaving her house through the newly created exit into the alley. “Damned illusionist pranks! Stop it this instant!”

Despite the rising noise around her, she refused to believe the buildings surrounding her were real. This was a mirage. It had to be. Again, she called forth a destructive wave of force that tore down another building.

The screams of pain and alarm doubled. Somewhere off to her left a horn was bleating, and she heard armored footsteps approaching.

Maybe this was no illusion.