Chapter Text
The book sat open on the ground before Sylvara, filled with studies of the intricate profanities of magic. No priest of the Divines would allow this book to circulate, but even with the law on their side, a girl of fourteen winters had managed to secure a partial copy of On Necromancy . If she was being honest, Sylvara wasn’t sure why she had put so much effort into the scrap. Just getting her hands on it had cost her more than half her monthly stipend to live on as a court mage’s apprentice, more money than most street kids like her saw in their lives. Worst of all, it didn’t even say how to do anything, just a snippet of warning on what kind of body to use. Though this information on how long a soul could persist after death... Picking up a soul gem up off the floor, she felt the weight of the soul inside. White souls tended to leave quickly, driven from a corpse in seconds or even minutes. No wonder the Midnight Union had such a lucrative business on black soul gems. If you were willing...
Shaking her head, she set the gem down and closed the book, picking it up as she rose. Two steps brought her to the shelf as the door opened. “Sylvara? Are you... What book is that?” The man’s voice boomed as Dempsey Brenner, an older breton at least four times Sylvara’s age, he dressed like what every child’s story said a court wizard should, dark flowing robes, unkempt hair, and a staff perpetually at his side. Crossing the room, he snatched the book away from his apprentice and stared at the cover. If he noticed how her back stiffened straight as a Bosmer’s arrow, he didn’t acknowledge it.
“Master, I...” Sylvara tried to speak, only to stagger back as her master’s hand struck her. It never really hurt less.
“Foolish girl! You’re so eager for any scrap of knowledge that you’d sell your own soul for it!” Dempsey roared, stalking towards her. Even her untrained senses could feel the magicka he was drawing to himself. “I thought better of you, child. Clearly, I’ve been too lax.” No more warning or hesitation crossed his features as he lunged at her, one hand wrapping around her throat as the other grasped the left side of her face, igniting itself in flame.
Pain coursed through her. There was nothing else as skin boiled and flesh melted from her face. Instinct threw her hand to the floor, and wrapped her hand in a deathgrip on something round. Desperation channeled magicka into it until it burned her hand. Determination pushed it further, further, until it shattered.
KRAC-OOM!
The soul gem erupted in a blinding flash, shards spraying from it, and the concussive blast sending Sylvara sprawling. Ringing. All she could hear was ringing. The wall was gone. She could get out...
Glancing back, she saw Dempsey’s limp form against the far wall. Good. He couldn’t follow her. She had time to crawl away before the guard got here. She had to get away. Dempsey would look for her. No way he’d forget. She had to get away...