Delphi II
Delphi II
Delphi sat enthroned within his ancient threadbare chair of padded leather and savoured the silence; the day had been a difficult one indeed. Long in to the night the people of the mining town had gathered in the long hall of the hetman discussing his bargain with the spirits of the mountain. None blamed the young warlock for the blood debt the village now owed the Kri. They knew that without him they would all have been put to the sword by the approaching war band man, woman and child. Still it was small comfort to a people who must now choose which of their number would soon be sacrificed. Delphi felt both sadness and pride at the eventual outcome, when it was made clear that only human blood would appease the god of the earth and a half dozen of old and lame stepped forward to volunteer. Old Gath had been amongst them he recalled, his legs crushed in a cave-in long years ago and left unable to work the pits he had become a carpenter. Delphi stroked the arm of his beloved chair a fine gift from Gath for the magic he had used to dull the old miners constant pain. He would miss him when he was gone perhaps he should spend some time with him before the coming of the new moon or perhaps it would be best to try and forget him now.
Suddenly the witch was drawn from his musings into wakefulness, the arid scent of smoke reaching his nostrils. Swiftly he glanced to the hearth but as he had though the fire had long since burnt itself out. Reluctantly Delphi drew himself up and moved to the door that opened into the rest of the cabin pushing open. Flame burst forth to greet him blossoming through the air towards his startled face swiftly he hurtled himself backwards, but not swiftly enough and he felt his beard and eyebrows ignite and swiftly burn from his face. He looked through the open doorway to see his home ablaze the weathered log walls blacked with soot and the little furniture he possessed crumbling into charcoal. Panic scrabbled at his heart but it found no purchase there long years of dealing with the powerful and mercurial spirits of creation had taught him that panic served only to invite destruction. With a shuddering breath he clamed himself and began to think swiftly he tore a length of cloth from the robes and soaked it in the dregs of water which remained in the pewter jug by his bed before tying it over his face to block the thick black smoke which had begun to fill the room. The remaining water he poured over his body to stop the flames from catching before hurtling himself through the roaring fires towards the cabins only door.
The warlock stumbled forward through a hell of smoke and heat half blinded by stinging smoke battling against the fire and his rising terror feeling the strength being leached from his limbs by the lack of clean air. He seemed to wander blindly in the oppressive heat for far longer than seemed possible surly he should have reached the far wall by now, once more he felt fear grip his soul and for a second he stood, tears streaming from his closely shut stinging eyes, lost and doomed. Then something changed.
His eyes flickered open once more and Delphi felt as though he saw the world for the first time he felt the heat of the flames about him still but now he felt the surging essence within them, the ebb and flow of raw elemental power. It was an epiphany of the most incredible verity suddenly the chaos of the burning building made sense. It was like seeing the underlying pattern in a painting he had studied all his life but never truly appreciated until now. He felt, no he knew the way the fire would move it was so clear so obvious he felt as though a door had opened within his mind he could see could feel the many strands of fate which flowed into the moment a saw those that branched away from it. It was simplicity itself to follow the fated path of the flames to read their short life to anticipate their nature.
Now Delphi moved through the blaze with unnatural ease taking a halting winding path always the fires raging power failing to touch him as he effortlessly interpreted and predicted its movements. With a sudden side step he evaded the burning timbers that plummeted from the smoke shrouded roof before leaping through a wall of flame to land within a clear space he could not see yet knew with certainty was there. In seconds he reached the door and laid his cloth rapped hand upon the latch and stopped dead. He felt it in the back of his mind the urgency of the moment its pivotal nature. A dozen strands of the intricate web he now perceived joined here bringing him to this moment. The wait of the moment over came his fear and the warlock stood motionless as his home burned about him focusing on the sensation on the innumerable paths of fates web following the likely course seeking the danger. Form a bystanders view point he saw himself throw open the door and hurtle out into the cool night air coughing as it stung his smoke filled lungs his form. “Witch” a voice called from the darkness
Delphi saw himself glance up night blind from the bright flames he could not see the half dozen archers who waited in the darkness sighting on his perfectly silhouetted form. Before he could respond a score of arrows transfixed the man leaving him to slump forward his blood seeping onto the frozen earth.
With a start Delphi drew back from the door horror etched into his face. So the raiders had found another way into the village and sought to avenge their brothers. He backed across the burning floor his mind pushing his new found senses to their limits seeking escape, seeking a chance. He found one a slim almost nonexistent thread in the web of fate spun about the moment one slim chance for survival. Once more he danced across the burning floor now to the north wall built at a slight slant that had always annoyed him until now at that moment Delphi could have kissed the incompetent fool who may well have saved his life.
With but a moment hesitation he stood in the corner between north and east walls and waited muscles tensed for his moment, as all his worldly possessions burned about him, focusing his every sense upon the northern wall. Suddenly the wall, weaker than the others by far crumbled and fell and Delphi leapt through the burning wreckage emerging bloodied but alive in the scarce seconds it took the roof to follow. He lay upon his back in the foliage and listened to the bandits howl with glee at their perceived victory as they moved away. With a quiet sigh he stared up at the night sky and the stars that burned there so brightly so much brighter than ever before exhausted he slipped into unconsciousness and far above the Jupiter bathed in her crimson light smiled down upon him.
