22- A Lesson on Magic.

Quayleigh stared daggers at Mazurka from across the picnic table, the air around her growing tense and defensive.

"Right now, I'm not here as a detective. I'm here as a concerned friend," Mazurka said in hopes of easing the tension. "You should probably call me Yechiel, or Yechi if you're feeling friendly. This case, it's not like anything I've ever seen. There's magic being used, and we can't identify it, let alone detect it. If someone did something to Dylan, he might have seen something, he might be a survivor. Look, I can't turn to the only practitioner I have connections to."

"Because it's Dylan's mother, isn't it?"

"Yes, and I can't face her right now. His brother, Caoimhín's been looking for him too."

"Did you tell him where he is?" She demanded slamming her hand down against the table.

"No! No." He took a breath. "Dylan said he needed time away. I didn't want to say anything to his family until after I spoke to him."

"So, then, Yechiel, what is it that you want from me?"

"Answers. I need someone who knows magic. Someone I can trust."

"Let me guess, I help you and you promise not to turn me in?"

"That was not, actually what I was thinking. I have no interest in turning you in to anyone. I'm just looking for a break in this case. If it makes it easier for you, I can always threaten to force you to register as a practitioner. I just don't think that it's necessary. For whatever reason you keep your practices to yourself, I respect that. And I swear, I'll keep what I know to myself."

Quayleigh stared at the top of the table in thought before covering her left eye and looking at him with her right. The fading sun glinted off her hazel orb as she carefully examined his features. "Give me your word," she stated.

"You have my word. I won't give you up to Magic Enforcement. In return, will you help me?"

"I'll do what I can. I don't know everything about magic, but I've studied everything I've been able to get my hands on," she replied as she lowered her hand. "I may only use one ritual, but as for other magics, that's a different story. As for helping with your case, I'll need more than what you've shown me to be able to give you any credible help."

"What do you need?"

"Pictures; of the bodies and the crime scenes, if possible," she replied, as she began to spin the can in her hands once again.

"I'll do what I can."

"Then focus on any marks on the bodies. It doesn't matter how small," she said as she looked up, and smiled.

Turning around Yechiel spotted Dylan standing out on the balcony, waving towards her.

"We'll be up in a few minutes," she called out to him, and with a nod, he turned around and headed back inside. "Remember, Yechiel, you're here as a friend. Don't take it personally if he remembers nothing."

"You love him, don't you?"

"That, I do. Make no mistake though, I love who he is, not who he appears to be." Standing up, she grabbed her empty can and stepped over the bench of the picnic table. "Well come on then, I'll order a pizza. I'm betting you haven't eaten in a while."

Yechiel smiled, grabbed his can and finished his drink before following her inside.

Opening the door to her apartment, Tau stood from the couch and turned to greet them.

"Dylan, this is Yechiel. He's the detective from the other morning. I explained to him how you have few to no memories of who you are."

"I'm sorry," Dylan said as he hung his head, "I shouldn't have pretended to recognize you."

"It's ok. I'm sorry this has happened to you," Yechiel replied as he closed the door.

"No need to stand in the doorway. Come in and make yourself comfortable. Are you fine with cheese and pepperoni?"

"That sounds terrific, thank you again," he said as he removed his shoes and coat.

"Either of you want anything to drink?"

"Water," Dylan replied as he watched her move into the kitchen.

"Make that two," Yechiel concurred.

Quayleigh filled two glasses with water as the men sat down on the couch. As she carried the glasses over, they engaged in small talk. It was as awkward as expected given the nature of the gathering, but Tau was doing his best to act as human as he could, asking as many questions as he was answering, while attempting to keep the conversation as much in Yechiel's court as possible.

While they spoke, Quayleigh dug the take-out menu out of her junk drawer and then ordered the pizza from the nearest shop that delivered.

"Okay, dinner will be here in about twenty minutes," she relayed to them.

"Really, thanks for letting me stay. It's been a long time since I last had dinner with anyone I didn't work with."

"Well, we still have plenty to discuss, and once the sun starts going down, the mosquitoes are going to get unbearable out there."

"What do you need to discuss?" Dylan asked as Yechiel loosened his tie and leaned back on the couch, obtaining a more comfortable position.

"Magic." Quayleigh smiled as she went over to her bookshelf. "Yechiel is aware of my interest in the subject and had a few questions that, with luck, I might be able to answer." Pulling out three books, she carried them over to the table.

"Is this to do with what happened near the store?"

"Yes," she replied as she sat on the floor and placed the books onto the table. "From the little I know already, there are several possibilities. Narrowing down the options is going to be your task, Yechiel."

"I'll tell you anything I know, but both of you need to keep this quiet. This is an ongoing investigation, and I could lose my badge if anyone found out that I shared this information with you."

"You needn't worry. As it stands, we share a mutually assured destruction, should either of us breath a word of what the other holds in confidence. As you gave me your word, I give you mine."

"And what of you? Are you willing to keep your mouth shut?" Yechiel asked turning to face Dylan.

"I won't say anything," he replied as he looked towards Quayleigh.

"Try to remember that he has just as much to lose as either of us in this. Right now, it's in everyone's best interest if no one knows that he is here. If it's true what you said, and he saw something, or possibly survived an attack by the person or person's committing these murders, then he may still be a target if someone discovers where he is."

"I will let my family know I am ok soon," Dylan said as he picked up his glass of water.

"That would be a good thing to do. Your brother is really starting to worry about you."

"He would have contacted them sooner, but his phone had died, and he didn't know how to charge it. It's quite remarkable what he remembers and what he doesn't," she explained as she opened up the first book and began to turn through the pages. "But his condition can be discussed at a later time. Right now, we need to focus on giving you something to work with."

"I would appreciate anything you could give me at this point."

"Tell me about the crime scenes. Were there any marks at them? Anything that might look like a this?" she asked as she turned the book to face Yechiel, showing him a page filled with a number of strange symbols that might be mistaken for gang marks or tags.

"No, nothing that stood out anyways," he replied as he pulled the phone out his coat pocket and began to search through his photos.

"They wouldn't necessarily be consistent either. There would most likely be a series of them, if this is a part of a larger ritual, but there should be one at every scene. Unless the bodies were moved of course."

"I don't see anything like these anywhere in the photos, but I'll go back and take a look at the scenes tomorrow."

"Let's assume for now that your photos are accurate and there's nothing to find. It still doesn't rule out a ritual because they could have been moved. But if someone is casting a ritual, then they would have to be paying an enormous cost for it. And it has to be something big. Nothing I know of, aside from a summoning, could require this many bodies. Wasn't it sixteen when last we spoke?"

"It's seventeen now, and the most recent, hadn't been moved."

"How do you know?" Dylan asked as Quayleigh opened a second book and began to search through it.

"We have a video."

She froze at those words, asking, "What did it show?"

"Nothing aside from a shadowy figure that appeared to stand still the entire time."

Quayleigh wanted to breathe a sigh of relief but held back. She knew that if it had shown anything important, he probably wouldn't have mentioned it. Moreover, if the figure had been identifiable, he would have reacted the moment he saw Dylan, and this conversation wouldn't be happening. Closing her eyes, she needed to stay on track. She wanted to give Yechiel just enough information to steer him away from Dylan as a possible suspect, and his apparent lack of memories, she hoped for now, would work in their favor.

"Is there any way I can see that video?"

"No, but I can get you copies of the frame-by-frame photos. I'll drop them by tomorrow after work."

"Sounds good. I'll be at work myself, but Dylan will be here."

"Ok, that'll actually work out pretty good. Give us some time to hang out and catch up. I'll bring some beer and food. If that's alright?"

"If you're okay with hanging out in this dump, it's fine by me." She smiled at him. "What do you say Dylan, you wouldn't mind the company, right?"

"Yes, I'll be here waiting," he replied smiling back at her.

"Excellent. In the meantime, can I see those photos on your phone again?"

"Sure." Yechiel opened the files and passed her the phone.

Closing her eye, she examined the photos again, looking for anything that she could use to force him to look in a specific direction, buying as much time as she could to think of something plausible when Yechiel provided her with what she needed.

"You said when you first looked at them, that they looked as if they died in fear. Do you know of any form of magic capable of scaring someone to death?"

Setting down the phone, she bobbed her head side to side a few times as if she was thinking before responding. "There is death magic, but it's impossible to research without clearance from the Magic Enforcement Tribunal. They basically have a monopoly on everything related to the subject and have done their best to keep information about it as secret as possible. You can still read about it in some of the older books, but newer texts won't do much more than mention that it's a thing and that it's completely illegal. What little I've read though, is that the cost is astronomical and straight up killing someone is not only more efficient, but faster and easier to cover up. At least when it comes to individual murders. It might explain the group, but the practitioner couldn't be a lone caster. Rituals powerful enough to take life, would require entire groups of expert practitioners, because the cost would have to be divided. Rituals like that have been used in battles of the past, and you can find mentions of them in some of the history books, although the details are completely glossed over. Aside from that, you're going to have to find someone else to tell you more on the subject."

"When you say there's a cost, what does that mean?" Yechiel asked as she handed him the book she had been looking at.

"Every form of magic requires a cost. For most rituals, it's a sacrifice plus the energy of the practitioner. This ritual," she said pointing to the page in the book, "is for summoning a thunderstorm. It requires a catalyst like a horse or cow to even activate, and it takes a least four practitioners to maintain. Once complete, if they survive, it could be days before they can even move. Things like that are all the same. Using humans instead of something like a horse, would definitely take more, since it's about the volume rather than what's being sacrificed."

"So, a 1400lbs horse, is the equivalent of seven, 200lbs men?"

"Exactly but given that you've already found seventeen bodies, I have no idea what would require a sacrifice like that. I mean unless there's an entire cult trying to raise a volcano or call down a meteor, and it would be an entire cult to maintain a spell for this long."

"Then this could still be ongoing?" Yechiel questioned as he looked up from the book.

"There's no reason to believe otherwise. The other option is that the sacrifices you found were just failed attempts. Magic on this scale is difficult to judge. Even if the attempts failed, five bodies alone should have caused something to happen, even on a smaller scale. But there hasn't been anything. At the very worst we should have seen a tornado or an earthquake."

"That wouldn't make much sense then," Yechiel pondered.

"Not really. I would assume this is ongoing and whomever is responsible is building to something greater. Has anything like this ever happened before?"

"Not that I've ever heard of. At least not in this city. I'll see if my research team can find anything like this anywhere else though."

"If you discover that this has happened before, then it's also possible that this is a multi-generation spell. And that's going to make this even harder for you to stop, because it's going to stop on its own."

"Multi-generation?" Dylan questioned curiously finding the conversation rather interesting.

"Yes. It's a ritual that lingers across time. The set up alone can take years. In this world, there are three main kinds of magic: ritual, sigil, and rune. Rune magic is simple. It requires a few ingredients and a basic ability to draw. The cost is closer to being considered equivalent, but most rune spells are temporary, and minor. Like changing your hair color or finding your lost keys. They're more useful than most spells, but they are precise. You literally get what you pay for, and anyone, even you two, could cast them, making them the starting point for all practitioners.

"Sigil magic is more complex, but also the most common form of magic used. Costs are higher and even amateurs shouldn't carelessly mess with this type of magic. Most sigils use a combination of various runes as their base, and they can be turned into something permanent. Costs can vary, but most are paid overtime. Sadly, this can lead to long-term side effects. Touplanda is a good example. A lot of young women use it to grow out their hair overnight. Using it once or twice is fine. The ingredients are easy to obtain and mix, and the cost is a hangover like feeling in the morning, and a good couple of hours shaving down the rest of your body hair. However, the more times it's used, the increasingly coarse the hair becomes, and eventually it will become unmanageable, looking more like plastic than real hair. Then it breaks off or falls out. And for that, there is no fix. Vastilem, will make you impotent. Abastilem, makes women barren. Alesveque, turns your nails brittle and dark, necrosing the nailbeds until nothing grows on them. Cast that one the wrong way, and your nails can deform horribly, even curling around and growing back into the fingers. But none of these will kill you if you make a mistake.

"Ritual magic is the most difficult. It's complex, and it can be either single use or long-term. The costs are always paid upfront, so there won't be any surprises down the road. Rituals are a combined use of runes, sigils, and circles. They require a vast number of ingredients, varied sacrifices, knowledge, practice, and patience. Even failed rituals will result in something happening, and if one isn't careful enough, this magic, can kill you."

"So, if these murders are a part of some sacrifice for a ritual, then the person or persons responsible have to know what they're doing," Yechiel concluded as he closed up the book he had been holding.

"Precisely. If this is a multi-generational magic, it's a long-term ritual. It has to be sustained overtime, fed, like a child, to be kept active. They can take months or years to fully activate, and they take so many practitioners, the complexity of such a thing, it's breathtaking to even imagine."

"Why would anyone do that?" Dylan wondered as he stared down into his empty glass.

"Yeah, what purpose could a ritual like that accomplish?"

"Prosperity, wealth, maintenance of defensive barriers, good health, beauty, fertility. The Patadime-Chacat family from Cove-Atal, are probably the best-known example of a multi-generational ritual using family. They maintained a fertility ritual for almost a century to ensure every first born was a healthy son. It was only stopped when the monarchies fell, and the MET was established. They outlawed such rituals when it was revealed that the cost was an annual sacrifice of a fowl, and the second child was always stillborn. Still, they somehow maintained their wealth, status, and exceedingly good looks," Quayleigh remarked with a smirk as the phone began to ring. "That would be the pizza. Hope you're both still hungry."