Tamshi's Imp

By Jonathan Fesmire

The sorceress Tamshi just had an epiphany. Her memories are gone and she has been serving an arch-demon bent on destroying the real gods and the world. Further, her imp familiar has vanished in the confusion. How can she stop an entire cult, let alone an ancient demon lord?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jonathan Fesmire
• Release date: Aug 6, 2020
• ISBN: 9781386217756

Book preview

PART 1:

THE CULT OF UNNEYER

1

Hot air coursed through the mystic dome. As the wizards danced, their embroidered robes rippled with each turn. The power and heat grew. Snow fell outside the dome shimmering bounds, weighing down the pine trees, but within it, the snow had vanished. Swirling currents of magic had turned the ground to hard-packed dirt and the snow to intense humidity. Somewhere beyond the pines stood the walls of Dranton, the once-abandoned city that was now the wizards’ home.

In the dome’s center stood Gentriu, their leader and high priest of the re-discovered god, Unneyer. Over forty and in excellent health, Gentriu stood with arms spread apart, shoulders and biceps sporting sharp definition as magical currents rippled from one hand to the other. The bonfire’s flickering light brought out the red in his hair and beard.

Along the circle’s perimeter, Gentriu’s wizards and priests paced counter-sunwise, their exertion building heat under their linen robes. Unneyer’s temple was in the city, but Gentriu and his inner circle cast their most powerful spells in this clearing.

Gentriu’s best energy raising sorceress, a thirty-nine-year-old woman named Tamshi, danced with the other wizards. Soon, she would draw magic from the ground and the air, but now the dance primed her for the task. It made her heart pound hard and her head grow dizzy. She grinned eagerly.

The high priest raised his arms and the twenty followers, now skipping sideways, watched him. The pulsing energy and the scent of burning pine were like a drug, intoxicating Tamshi, making her head throb. Gentry's brilliant robe glowed bright white. Streaks of red flashed across his lower legs.

Tonight, they summoned power for Gentriu to transform and send in a spire to Unneyer. With this magic, the god could call more followers, wizards to strengthen him and others for support.

He’ll do it, Tamshi thought. In time, Unneyer will break from his prison to challenge the false gods.

Tamshi imagined how the vortex of power would rise, suffused with purple, magenta, green, and more colors than she could count, richer than any rainbow, thick as ribbons. Picturing the spell’s culmination made her tremble.

It was nearly the first day of winter. Drasia, the moon, hid its face in darkness. A day I’ll never forget, Tamshi thought. The new moon would not outshine the magic.

Tamshi smiled broadly. When her magic rushed in with the rest, Unneyer himself would know her dedication. Tamshi could shape her power to her own will or share it with others.

Lord and Master Unneyer! Gentriu shouted. God of might and mystery. God of all things! Take this power we gather in your service. Our lives and petty hopes are nothing beside your greatness! Gentriu’s hood slipped back over his chestnut hair and his hands trembled. His chest pumped with each breath. We send you strength, we send you magic, and we send you the power to call the faithful! We await those who hold you in their hearts. Our God, we—

Gentriu's arms dropped. His hands balled up as convulsions seized him. His voice rose in a moan that quickly became a scream. Flames rushed over his cloak. In seconds, the fire vanished and Gentriu stood naked, ashes puffing about his legs.

Though wizards worked naked at times, Tamshi had never seen Gentriu so exposed. She stared at his blocky chest, sculpted muscles, and lean body. Gentriu's eyes glowed a clear, red-rimmed blue as he paced around the fire, regarding each of his followers. When their gazes met, Tamshi shivered. Gentriu waved his hands upward. Power! Raise more power!

Tamshi untied her sash and dropped her robe in time with the others. Underneath, the men wore codpieces, and the women, knee-length skirts. Gentriu alone stood naked. Warm air caressed Tamshi’s thighs and droplets of sweat covered her back and face.

The wavering firelight cast a long shadow behind Gentriu. The earlier words had merely begun the spell and pushed the wizards into a mystical frenzy. Now, Gentriu crooned complex magic phrases in the mother tongue of their modern language. His voice grew loud and harsh like that of a singer who has smoked too deeply from his pipe.

As Gentriu’s chant quickened, so did the spinning dance. Tamshi glanced at some of her companions. A talented young wizard named Jaud added spins to some of his leaps, and Praetha clapped her hands.

Sweat coated Tamshi’s forehead and back as she felt power rise from the earth and into her arms, like water on sunburned skin. She relished the rapid pounding of her heart and the mild strain in her strong legs.

Then Tamshi stopped, stunned. Magic rushed past her toward Gentriu, and the other wizards skipped past her. It’s too early! She thought. I’ve raised too little power! She thrust her arms toward the ground and imagined a flood of ochre energy rushing into her body. Nothing. I feel nothing! This is my purpose here yet I can draw no more magic! Does Unneyer reject me?

No, her affiliation with this god should have no effect on her magic. Though Tamshi kept her eyes open, everything around her became a blur as she tried to sense the surrounding power. Why can’t I draw on it? she thought in panic. Her throat constricted. She sensed the magic, vaguely, but it would not come!

Gentriu shouted one word; the followers stopped, panting and sweaty.

Not yet! Tamshi thought. I haven’t done all I can! If only I could tell him!

Lines of power, magenta tinged with blue, green, and flashes of yellow, streaked from each wizard to the circle’s center. Tamshi had no choice. She joined in the chant and threw her arms forward, willing the little power she had raised to join that of the others. The magic pulsed inside her, nearly ready to send.

A deep ochre glow encased Gentriu like a gigantic egg. Light flashed off his hands, face, and chest. He can still make the magic work, Tamshi thought. He must!

Tamshi screamed as pain flared in her head. She fell to her knees. Rather than join the power of the others, her magic exploded red around her, hot as a desert at midday. The next instant the heat vanished and she shivered with the intense cold. Tamshi blinked rapidly. When she looked up, she saw not the mystic sphere, but falling whiteness.

Avalanche! Her breath caught. The pain of the misspent magic vanished with the cold. Tamshi raised her hands to ward against the heavy snow, but it crashed atop her. Snow ran along her back and shoved her arms down. Her back screamed with pain. What’s happening? Unneyer, please make it stop!

Another thought intruded. Did it bury him, too? The voice was Tamshi’s own yet still seemed that of a stranger, unbidden and intrusive.

It must mean Gentriu! Tamshi thought in horror. The snow came out of nowhere and has surely buried us all.

Tamshi strained to move her arms but found them caught fast. After a moment of disorientation, she realized that her arms had moved, jerking out to either side. A new impression filled her with nausea. She was in two places at once. In one she was trapped in freezing snow. In the other, her arms were stretched to her sides and humid heat covered her.

Her heart throbbed at a more disturbing thought. Gentriu has won! I can't tell Jerlan! I'll never stop Unneyer!

What? Tamshi thought. Someone wishes to stop Unneyer, and she’s speaking in my mind! Surely it’s one of Gentriu’s enemies. But that name, Jerlan, who is that? In her disorientation, the name meant nothing. She sat for long seconds, head throbbing, and imagined a bearded man in his fifties. Then, in her mind, a blue imp flew past.

A memory, she thought, head pounding. In it, she trudged through the thick snow toward Gentriu’s city.

This is it, her past self-thought. Now we must learn all we can about Unneyer. She had come here not to worship, but to study the worshipers. Someone had sent her. Was it Jerlan? Yes, that felt right, someone named Jerlan, because Unneyer was an ancient god—

No. That's wrong. Unneyer's not a god at all! He's an arch-demon! I came here to—

Hands gripped Tamshi's shoulders. She looked up, dazed. Snow... where’s the snow? she whispered. The magic sphere still swirled with energy. Tamshi glanced at the staring wizards and priests. Gentriu’s eyebrows were lowered, his lips an angry black line. The world of the avalanche had vanished. Warmth again covered Tamshi, but she shivered in agitation and fear. Between her breasts ran a line of sweat.

Her gaze snapped up. The woman who held her was Redrawa, Gentriu’s cousin and the high priestess of Unneyer. Frown lines creased Redrawa’s aging face.

The avalanche never happened! It was a vision. I've been in the circle the entire time. Tamshi wiped her forearm across her brow then turned fearfully toward Gentriu. I’m sorry. Her voice shook. Something happened.

Gentriu looked away from her with disdain as Tamshi’s gaze flicked to Redrawa. Like Gentriu, the high priestess seemed strong, body lean, arms solid. Gray streaked her dark brown hair.

What are you doing? Redrawa asked.

I... I had a vision.

Unneyer graced you—

My own... my... Tamshi forced herself to stand then collapsed as her strength fled. The vision had drained what little energy she had left. She trembled when Redrawa touched her side.

Unneyer's name, said Redrawa, you're cold.

I don't feel cold.

You're sick. Wait here.

Tamshi curled up. What else would I do?

Gentriu began a new chant, his voice deep. The other wizards lay down, bellies to the ground, palms pressed against the dirt. At the end of such a casting, the excess energy had to be sent into the earth. Tamshi tried to join them. She, more than the others, needed to ground her power after that horrible backlash. The words escaped her.

Tamshi hung her head, ashamed. I failed them. When she looked up she caught Gentriu glaring at her. Later, she might find herself in great trouble, but now, part of her relished the idea that she had not helped in this spell.

If I was sent here for other reasons... if Unneyer is a demon, then I mustn’t help them! But how will I know?

Redrawa returned in her dark blue robe and tan sandals, Tamshi’s robe draped over one arm, then helped Tamshi stand and dress. Tamshi staggered but managed to don her own sandals. The rough soles of her feet scraped against the leather.

At the circle's northwest end, Redrawa pointed to the ground. She swept her arm up in a rightward curving arc, then straight down. A shimmering doorway opened against the sphere, red sparks flaring and vanishing along its edge. Crimson lines snaked out but mostly the magic stayed within.

Redrawa pulled Tamshi through. Outside the sphere, the high priestess turned and mirrored her previous motion. The mystical portal she had opened sparkled then filled in with magic power.

The women trudged across the snow to the pine forest. After a few minutes, Redrawa held Tamshi’s arm with a bear-like grip and spun her around. What happened back there?

Tamshi stared at Redrawa’s passive face, unable to tell if the priestess felt angry, concerned, or perhaps suspicious. Redrawa’s eyebrows furrowed, yet her gaze widened.

Gentriu will be in a rage over this. Redrawa’s jaw quivered. We’ll surely fight about it later. Why couldn’t you have finished the spell?

"I tried! The magic recoiled. It hit me instead of flowing with the rest. Then, I had a vision. Tamshi noticed that Redrawa was mildly shivering in the cold air, yet Tamshi felt comfortable, as though she stood in a heated chamber. She stared into Redrawa's hard, black eyes. I... I—"

Well?

I feel sick. I wish I knew what happened, but please, Redrawa-

The priestess shoved Tamshi to the snow. Or did I simply fall? Tamshi wondered. I feel so empty. What was that vision?

Redrawa knelt and pressed her hands to Tamshi's forehead. You're freezing. Give me a moment. She gazed toward the ground and began to chant. Detari mendelus do koram hemus—

A spell? Tamshi shrunk back and shivered not from cold, but fear. Redrawa could read minds. Tamshi witnessed it just the day before. A group of townsfolk came to the priestess at her bidding, and she touched them with those long-fingered, deceptively strong hands. The subjects’ faces twisted while they let Redrawa access their minds.

During her vision, Tamshi had sensed—no, heard—a stranger’s thoughts. She expected the same feeling now, under Redrawa’s touch. Yet when the priestess ran her fingers along Tamshi’s head, Tamshi sensed nothing.

Redrawa ended her chant with the words, So be it. Eyes almost glowing with magic, she stared at Tamshi.

I need help, not a violation of my mind. Tamshi clenched her teeth. The spell was cast, and surely now Redrawa would invade her thoughts. Tamshi’s face tingled briefly then Redrawa pulled her hands back. She didn’t read my mind, but she saw something. That spell... it was different from what she cast on the others yesterday.

You've been honest with me. Redrawa tilted her head. "That's good. Unneyer needs believers, true believers, such as us." She put an arm around Tamshi and again began to help the woman stand.

Unneyer needed more than believers, Tamshi knew. He needed powerful wizards. He gets power from his followers too, by the very fact that they serve him. She gazed toward the treetops, trying to recall the Wizards’ Guild to which she belonged.

Her eyes widened in surprise. She remembered only the outside of a white marble building. She tried to recall what it was like within those expansive walls and found she could not. The faces of the master wizards also eluded her. It’s as if that part of my memory was washed away.

She stopped walking and concentrated, but the only memories that came up were of Dranton. I remember only yesterday and today! Tamshi realized in shock. I’ve been here for two weeks. Somehow I know that, but I don’t really remember! Yesterday, Redrawa helped townsfolk and read their minds. Later, she told me that she had checked on their loyalty because to a god, to Unneyer, loyalty is important above all else. I remember nothing before that! No wonder all seems so absurd. Where have my memories gone?

Tamshi, move along, Dear. Redrawa tightened her arm around Tamshi’s shoulders, and they marched on.

Within ten minutes, the women walked through the thinning pine grove and into Dranton proper. The cobbled street seemed to emerge from the dirt before their sandaled feet.

Unneyer is evil. That’s what that voice, which was mine and yet was not, told me. Tamshi shook her head. Another wizard could have sent the voice as a spiritual attack, or the magic backlash might have dug into her mind and preyed on her fears. Was the vision from one of the gods that Unneyer means to defeat, or one of their agents? I can’t trust a vision from Moreri or Lothay. Whatever their nature, they’ll fight a being who means to displace them.

Tamshi swallowed. Maybe I saw my own future. I’m going to die beneath tons of snow. She shoved her fear aside. A friend. Perhaps a friend sent the vision as a warning. Whatever the truth is, I’ll find it. I’ll start with my own past. If I can remember coming here and if I was sent or if I came on my own, then I should understand.

What if I’m wrong to even doubt? Tamshi cringed at a sudden pang of guilt. Unneyer is a god returning to his rightful place. Who am I to question him? Gentriu had explained it best. Unneyer wanted only for people to see the truth and have faith in him. Was that so much to ask of humanity?

Yet there were Moreri, the great mother, and Lothay, the god of the sky and all living things. People had worshiped these gods for thousands of years. Even Rhatlan, Moreri and Lothay’s trickster companion, had his followers. Could all that be wrong?

Tamshi rubbed her forehead, understanding another aspect of her memory loss. She knew facts about the world and even a few about her life but remembered no events. I arrived here in Dranton two weeks ago. I know this yet I remember only the last two days! Saipowen also lives here, and I know that she’s my friend, and used to be my student. Yesterday I awoke and went about my business, but what before that?

Many of Gentriu’s wizards used necromancy and demonology. Using such magic, even once, would get a wizard barred from a legal guild. Where had all these wizards with dark magic come from?

Tamshi and Redrawa walked along the cobbled street, passing the snow topped white and gray buildings. Did she take my memories? Tamshi wondered. She and Gentriu might have done so or even altered my thoughts. If I came as a spy and they wanted my magic, they may have made me think I actually follow Unneyer. A twisting of my original mission to stop an arch-demon.

This is wrong, to question my god. My very god! I follow Unneyer, who else? What have the other gods ever done for us? That's what Gentriu teaches, that Unneyer is the only god who will take action for his followers. Tamshi’s breath quickened. What am I going to do?

Large glowrocks were embedded in building walls at the end of each block. They filled the street with dim light. Many buildings rose up two stories with shops on the bottom and homes on top.

The women came to the front of the temple and ascended the eight snowy steps. Near the top, Tamshi noticed a round indentation on either side of the doors. I don’t remember those. Statues must have been there, and likely of Lothay and Moreri. Yes, I understand. Unneyer’s followers removed them... probably destroyed them.

Redrawa heaved the double doors open and they entered the round temple then passed through an arch into a curving hall. Doors led to the chambers of inner circle wizards. Tamshi opened her door, glanced over the small chamber, and sat on her bed. She immediately realized her mistake. She was lower than Redrawa, in a subservient position.

I’ll take my leave, Redrawa said. Rest. I’ll check on you soon.

Tamshi stood a moment after Redrawa left the room and watched the priestess depart, her walk like the sway of a cobra. Soon, Redrawa turned a corner. Tamshi shut the door, and her fingers lingered on the handle.

She may return and try to read my mind as I sleep. I should set up a ward. Tamshi closed her eyes, trying to remember warding magic, and sighed in relief when a spell came to mind. She chanted a few words and then shook her head angrily. If I cast it and Redrawa does come back, I’ll be in trouble for keeping her out! Damn it. What use is it anyway? The wizards here could break through a ward.

Running her hands down her face, Tamshi sat, her soft mattress sagging under her. She had so many questions but her head swam with sleepiness. In any case, Redrawa could not read her mind without consent. How would she obtain it while Tamshi slept? Tamshi donned her nightshirt and crawled under the rough woolen blanket. All this will pass. I'm so tired. Her heartbeat steadied and she drifted into slumber.

When Tamshi woke, she rubbed her eyes then stood on her mattress and opened the shutters. Gripping the stone bars, she gazed outside. Clouds covered the stars. She twirled her index finger beside her ear and in her mind, saw a shadow falling across a sundial, though her spell was more accurate than that. The spell tapped into the alignment of sun, stars, and moon, even when the clouds obscured the heavens. Just over an hour had passed since she fell asleep. With a sigh, Tamshi settled back in bed.

It surprised her that despite the open