65- Quayleigh’s Mage Book

Tau made his way across the street towards the car where Kyffin was waiting for him.

"I take it from your expression, she isn't pleased," Kyffin remarked as Tau climbed into the passenger seat and closed the door.

"Yes, she is definitely not pleased," Tau replied as he held out his fist and opened his hand revealing a small brass key in his palm. "She told me if I lost this, I wouldn't need a spell to get me back to my body. As promising as that sounds, I believe it was meant to be a threat."

"I concur. You should most certainly take that as a threat," Kyffin said as he started the car and pulled away from the curb.

Tau guided him to the apartment building, and after parking the car, lead him up to the apartment.

"Quayleigh would want me to tell you to make yourself at home."

"Thank you, but it is difficult to imagine anyone of our status living in a place like this."

"This was her home before she welcomed me into it," Tau explained as he made his way over to the closet and opened the door retrieving the wooden chest from the upper shelf as he had been instructed. "Here, take this," he said as he held it out to Kyffin, who promptly took it and set it onto the coffee table.

"This is an interesting collection." Tau heard him say as he knelt down and began to wiggle the bottom trim piece off the side of her dresser.

Once it popped free, he reached into the darkness and pulled out a small wooden box. Made from a light weight, red hued wood, it had been stained, lacquered, and polished to a shine. Embedded on the surface of its lid, was an elaborate mosaic of color-stained wood, that resembled the same blue floral pattern of Quayleigh's eye patch.

"I suspect this is it," Tau said as he stood up and dusted off the top of the box. Pulling the key from his pocket, he set the box down on the table. "Even with her permission, I can't help feel as if this is wrong."

"As it should. A practitioner's book is like a blueprint or schematic of their magic. It's a glimpse into the core of who we are. I had hoped that she would have kept hers with her, and only shown me what I needed to know. I never expected there to be such a disconnection for her. To seal it away like this," Kyffin closed his eyes, appearing almost saddened at the reality of it.

"As she told you, she wrote this during a very difficult time in her life."

"You're aware of what she was referring to?"

"Yes. I lived through it with her and could do nothing to help. I saw the aftermath of a devil's bargain, through the tiny letters on the scraps of paper delivered on the backs of bugs. There is anguish in this box for her, and I fear it may also contain my anger. Of all the emotions I have left to experience, that is the one I fear the most. It has been asked of me if I know what it would take to stop me, and the truth is, I don't," he explained as he set the key into the lock and ran his hand over the surface of the box. "Do me a favor Kyffin; should I ever become unreasonable, go to her and ask her to take you to see the man who was her teacher. I suspect that together the two of you would find a way to contain me."

"Consider it done," Kyffin replied with a nod.

"I thank you for that. Somehow, it makes me feel better," Tau remarked as he turned the key and lifted the lid to reveal a notebook, the cover scratched with black pen, so thick, that its original color was no longer visible. "So, this is what her agony looks like."

"That would be disturbing, even without context," Kyffin commented sitting on the couch next to Tau as he carefully pulled the book from the box.

Setting it on the table, he reached into the box and pulled out the items that had been hidden beneath it. Folded letters and bits of paper, a thin blue ribbon, and several photographs, one of which was a small school photo, 'age 8', written on the back.

"This was her before we met," Tau said as he showed the picture to Kyffin.

"She's pretty, but there is such pain in her eyes. What are the other ones?"

Tau felt a familiar heat radiate through him as he glared at the pictures in his hands. "Tell me Kyffin, when I look at the images of these people, I want to tear them to pieces, and I feel much warmer now than I did a moment before, as if my blood has caught fire. Is this anger?"

"That is hatred, Tauluthet, but anger is often its companion, along with rage. Who are these people that they would make you seethe as you are?"

"Filth made flesh. The woman is Jenavere, her mother, and the man is Ezra Nari. He is the man who killed her and damaged Quayleigh's eye. He tried to take her life as well, but the police showed up in time to stop him. Because of what he did that day, I got to meet her, and Death was able to throw a feast for us for the first time in near a century. He was delicious, despite starting out as garbage. Even the worst sacrifices can be turned into delicacies if seasoned correctly, and Death is a masterful chef."

"I will have to take your word on that."

"My apologies. I imagine that is an unpleasant topic for humans."

"For others perhaps, but for me, it simply raises more questions. That aside, who are the others?"

"Oxana and Tim Kesling. The foster parents she was given to when she was thirteen. Devils by another name. She was merely ignorant of what was happening, but him," Tau paused and closed his eyes.

As Kyffin took the photos from his hand, he clenched it into a fist.

"Breath, Tauluthet, and think of Quayleigh. This is what anger feels like, and your mind is the only way to truly control it. Use the thoughts that make you happy to calm the storm you feel brewing on the inside."

Tau took a deep breath and thought of her until he felt his anger recede.

"Ezra may have been the monster that destroyed her, but Tim was equally a monster of a different variety. He still lives. Locked away for what he did, but the wreckage of what happened was far reaching and robbed her of a better future. She had started to recover from what Ezra had done when she was handed over to that beast. She had found a way to make her ritual work a few months before she ended up with the Keslings. And then I watched as he stole it all away."

"It's understandable that she's locked this away then," Kyffin said as he went to put the pictures back into the box only to stop to read the inscription carved into the bottom. "To you, Blue Rose. This be to keep your magic safe. C. LeKing. It must have been a gift."

"From her teacher," Tau said as Kyffin put the pictures away.

"I would prefer not to pry any further," Kyffin said as he gathered up the papers and ribbon and put them back into the box. "I doubt they are pertinent to what we came for."

Pulling out the small, floral covered notepad he had purchased at the store, while they were speaking to Quayleigh, and a pen from his pocket, he opened her mage book. The first page and inside cover were a mess with mage runes, drawings, and hastily written notes, scrawled in every direction.

"The chaos of her inscriptions is remarkable," he muttered as he turned the page scanning the images and phrases. "To think she was only thirteen when she wrote this. It's hard to believe."

Opening the notepad, he made several notes before pulling out the small blue book he had shown to Tau earlier. Opening it to a page near the middle, and using his fingers, he traced his drawing, comparing it directly to one of Quayleigh's. "Hers are more jagged. They feel raw and untempered, yet beautifully done. There are a few variations, uniquely her own. Fascinating," he stated as he turned the page again, setting his book aside. "This is going to take a while. I'm truly in awe of what she's done here. As crude and unrefined as this is, had she have been trained from childhood, I've no doubt she could have easily rivaled even my skills, if not bested me. At least in theory craft. The infringements and inflections, the way she turns her runes and sigils. Just like the petals of a rose, and the thorns on its stem. Blue Rose is a fitting moniker for her. It's a shame such impeccable talent has gone to waste. Damn the MET."

"I don't understand, I thought you were a member?"

"I am, but not by choice. It's a flawed and vile system that suppresses talent like hers for arbitrary reasons. It benefits the wealthy and privileged and punishes anyone who doesn't fit their preconceived notions of what a true mage should be. I have seen it with my own eyes what they do to break the confidence of anyone who dares to defy their ways of teaching, all while preaching about how they strive to reach new heights and the advancement of magic for the benefit of all.

"Meanwhile, they trounce on those who are capable of thinking outside the box, and actively deter against experimentation and creativity. There are entire communities of unregistered practitioners that have to hide away for fear of what the MET would do to them. All because those ignorant tyrants decided that anyone not capable of existing in the MET under their rules and guidelines is a definitive threat. They label them apostates and terrorist and go to great lengths to route them out so they can stay isolated in their stone towers. All to maintain their hold over what little power they have with spiteful, paper-thin reasoning.

"They would have taken something as profound and beautiful as this and crushed it into the mold of their choosing. If not eradicated it, if they thought it couldn't be controlled. Perhaps it was for the best that she remained free from them. As much as I could imagine her ability to thrive had she have been born to better circumstances, the reality is, without a name, a gift, or the insulation of wealth, she would have wilted and died like any flower severed from its roots. But I digress. This is going to take time for me to decipher and transcribe. Can I ask you to retrieve the final components for the ritual for me while I work?"

"Of course. What do you need?" Tau asked as he watched Kyffin turn another page.

"From what Quayleigh told us at the store, we're going to need an insect of some size. While I'm not adverse to using a cockroach, since it is a good option, a grasshopper would be preferable. Although I'm afraid it may be too late into the season to find one outside. If I knew of a shop nearby, I would send you to purchase a scorpion. I don't suppose you would know of one?"

"I'm sorry but I don't know of any places that would sell that sort of thing. However, I know someone who may be able to help," Tau said as he pulled out his phone. "I'll see what I can do."