The Nine Bishops

It wasn’t long before Mika made it to the edge of the forest. The sun was already going down, so she would have to make camp soon. She figured reaching Home by way of the Low Road would take between two and three weeks, so she’d have to learn to live in the wilderness for that period.

When Mika was about a mile into the woods, she found a secluded spot off the main trail, out of sight of any fellow travelers but close enough not to lose sight of the path. It was the best strategy she could think of to avoid getting lost.

Fortunately, the weather was mild and Mika wouldn’t have to build a fire, which would only draw unnecessary attention to her location. She was hungry, but she was accustomed to that feeling. She wouldn’t need anything at least until the next day. She had a small paring knife, net, canteen, and wire. She would use them to hunt, fish, gather water, and set up traps when the time came. All of the equipment, but zero experience. It was her first time in the wilderness, so she would have to rely on what she had studied about survival techniques to help her on her journey.

Another alternative, she suddenly realized, was learning to master her magic. If she could control even a sliver of her magic power, it would greatly boost her chance of surviving whatever came her way on the road.

For the time being, Mika decided to rest and call it a night. She made sure to inventory all her things before the sun finally went down. Though Mika had never fallen asleep in the woods, the sound of the critters in the night lulled her into a comfortable sleep.

Mika woke at first light. She had slept remarkably well for sleeping on the ground. But upon getting to her feet, Mika felt her stomach give a terrible growl. She picked up her belongings, threw them in the bag she wore over her shoulder, and set off down the trail. Mika’s first impulse was to find something to eat, but she ignored her body’s urges and continued, hoping she could find food along the way rather than delay her progress any more than necessary.

By the time the sun was directly overhead, Mika was struggling with hunger and weariness. She had overestimated her ability to find the resources she’d need to survive. She had not come across any fresh sources of water, berries, or wildlife in the many hours she’d been walking. She was famished, and dehydrated after emptying her canteen many miles back. She began to regret her decision to take the Low Road. How awful it would be to die in such a pathetic way, with my journey barely begun, Mika thought. If she didn’t find water soon, she knew she would not go much farther.

The sun was beating on the back of Mika’s neck, and she felt the onset of heat exhaustion, evident by her weariness and lack of sweat. Her pace slowed, and finally, too exhausted to continue, she collapsed next to the trail, her back against a large white oak tree, her head spinning.

Biting her fingernails to stave her hunger, Mika blearily berated herself for not realizing how perilous this trip could be just for the lack of resources. She’d always thought it was dangerous because of the wildlife or bandits. She wished she hadn’t been so confident about her own abilities that she’d spurned the opportunity to buy food for the trip, regardless of the high prices in the street markets.

Mika closed her eyes and thought about what happened at the circus. She had no idea how she had suddenly unlocked her magical abilities. Now, she wanted more than anything to figure out the secret of her magic but had no clue where to begin. She went over that day, pondering each detail that led to the unleashing of her magic, and what she was feeling at the exact moment she used it. If I can figure out how to use my magic again now, I’ll be able to survive, she thought.

Mika weakly rummaged through her children’s book on how to use magic. She read through the pages again. She knew there had to be something of worth in the book. When she read over the sentence, “If you think you can…” Mika had something to narrow her focus.

She remembered little of her thoughts at that moment at the circus, but she knew it was a traumatic and numbing experience. All she could recall was thinking about being frozen. Could the mages have frozen from merely such a thought? She hadn’t even wished them harm, as far as she could recall. She had just been furious with herself and that she could not make things right by taking the blame.

Suddenly the answer struck her: She realized that her magic was internal to her thoughts, as the book suggested. Mika was fairly certain her magic strain was ice. Even though Sam told her she was able to use every strain, Mika focused on ice alone. She had no idea what form of ice she used, but figured it would not matter if she could just learn to control her magic.

Mika opened her eyes and drew the empty canteen from her travel bag. She stopped focusing on creating something from nothing. Rather, she focused on herself and her own terrible thirst. She focused her mind on quenching her thirst and the sensation of water. She narrowed her thoughts while staring at her canteen. She thought of nothing other than her thirst, and her throat felt drier than ever.

Oddly, Mika felt her canteen get heavier. She was so convinced that she was going to be able to quench the drought in her mouth that she could practically taste the refreshing water in her mind. After a moment, her canteen felt full. She took her mind off her directed thoughts, feeling she might have accomplished something. Suddenly, she felt an immense jolt through her head, something like a “brain freeze,” but significantly more painful. The pain came as such a shock that Mika lost her grip on the canteen.

The pain was the last thing she’d expected, but her ears didn’t deceive her. As the canteen fell, she heard a heavy thud. It was unmistakably full. Now, when she picked it up again, it was even heavier than before—and cold to the touch.

Mika opened the canteen and flipped it upside-down. Nothing came out. Mika peeked through the mouth of the canteen and realized to her shock that there was in fact water in it. It’s frozen solid! Mika realized.

Mika was thrilled. She’d used her magic and had water. The ice would melt, and she’d have enough for at least the rest of the day. Wanting momentary relief, Mika licked the mouth of the canteen, getting enough drops of precious liquid to satisfy her until the rest melted.

But she was still famished, and now her thoughts turned to food. She’d already thought of a stopgap a while back, but was hesitant to try it. She’d read that the bark of certain trees was edible. The idea was unappealing, but at this point, Mika was too famished to care.

Hesitating for just a moment, Mika ripped a piece of bark from the tree she was leaning on and chewed it. The few bites she swallowed tasted vile, but survival was more important than culinary preferences. She managed to swallow a few more pieces until her gag reflex gave her the signal to stop. After about thirty minutes in the shade of the pine, Mika was finally ready to get moving again.

She continued on for the rest of the day, sipping water as needed and eating more bark when hunger nipped at her energy.

Eventually, Mika ran across wild berry bushes and trees with fruit she’d learned were edible. Then, she was able to apply overnight trapping techniques with the food she’d scavenged. Mika managed to capture a small rabbit.

This was momentous for a variety of reasons. Only a few days ago, she had never had meat. Now she was hunting for meat to survive.

Over the next week, she developed her survival skills. She learned how to more quickly spot edible foods, and perfected her technique for skinning and cooking small animals over a tiny fire. She encountered a few larger animals along the way, including elk and bears, but avoided them because they were dangerous and she had no weapon with which to hunt them.

Mika was coming into her own, her confidence about her ability to fend for herself growing day by day.

She also kept working with her magic, though the only magic skill she was confident about was filling her canteen. She became more proficient at it but continued to suffer the same jolt to the head that made her regret using her magic in the first place. The pain was enough to put her off trying anything else magical until she was confident she had mastered filling her canteen.

After eight days alone, Mika finally came upon the first people she’d seen on her journey. She heard them before she saw them. It was nearing dusk when the sounds of a stringed instrument and a small group of people singing came to Mika’s ears. She approached the group, who were gathered around a cooking fire. Mika proceeded with caution. She walked heel to toe to conceal the sound of crunching leaves and peered from behind a tree to get a closer look at the camp.

There were eight people of various ages in the circle, with one man playing the unfamiliar instrument. Mika looked for any sign of weapons but saw none. Yet she remained wary.

Mika’s uncle had told her it was best to travel with a group if possible. This group did not seem to be dangerous because it included women, children, and elderly. After so many days alone, the group was, Mika admitted to herself, a welcome sight.

After surveying them for a while, she decided it was safe enough to join them. Approaching them now, she made as much noise as possible to avoid surprising them or putting them on their guard. The man with the instrument stopped playing and the group quieted as they all looked toward the sound.

“Who goes there?” the man with the instrument called out. Everyone’s eyes were on Mika.

“A friend,” she responded, as enthusiastically as she could. As they saw Mika come into view, any look of uncertainty disappeared from their faces.

“Are you out here all by yourself?” the man with the instrument asked.

Mika understood his concern. She had heard stories of bandits using girls as bait. She decided to make herself vulnerable to the group to secure their trust.

“Yes, and I have been for the past two weeks. You can look through all of my things and ask me any question you would like, so long as you have a spot open by the fire where I can sit.”

Mika had chosen the right words. The man nodded and said, “No need to show us anything. I do have a few questions, if you don’t mind. You can answer them by the fire,” he said, as he laid down his instrument and waved Mika over. Mika nodded and sat in the open spot next to the man.

“My name is Ed,” the man explained, “and I am the leader of this group.” He lifted his hand to shake Mika’s.

“Mika. It’s a pleasure,” she responded.

“I would introduce everyone in the group to you, but I’d like to get some information from you before I feel comfortable to let you stay.” Mika nodded.

“May I ask why you are traveling alone and how long you have been on the road?”

Mika could feel all eyes on her as she responded, but she kept her eyes fixed on Ed. He was clearly Filth, given the way he dressed and the fact that he was on the Low Road. He was perhaps nearing forty, with a full beard.

“I got separated from my uncle. Bandits attacked us almost two weeks back, in Southie. I have been alone ever since. I had nowhere to call home anymore, so I decided to make my way Home to serve a mage there,” Mika said.

To protect herself, Mika didn’t want to tell Ed the whole truth, but she was careful to make her timeline as close to realistic as possible. “I’ve been on the road for about eight days now,” she finished, honestly.

Ed took a moment to process the information. Mika wondered if he was going to ask about her uncle, but he did not. Instead, he asked, “Have you seen anyone else on the road in the last eight days?”

The question was a test. If she said yes, they might suspect that she was working with bandits. Ed clearly was smarter than he first appeared. He knew that if Mika was working with bandits, she would not remember exactly where and when on the Low Road she had last seen another traveler. Ed, on the other hand, would easily remember anyone they’d met in passing. Ed’s question was designed to discern if she was working with bandits or not. Mika decided the best answer was a truthful one.

“No, and it’s been very hard on my own,” she said, with genuine feeling.

“Aye, we haven’t seen anyone either, until you came along,” Ed said, sounding relieved. “I don’t have any more questions. Sorry for the interrogation. Better to be safe than sorry. We will gladly accept your company.”

Relieved herself, Mika relaxed a bit when she felt the eyes of the entire group slowly go back to what they had been doing. She had a slew of questions herself.

“Can you tell me about your group, if you don’t mind me asking?” Mika asked. She wondered why there were children and elderly on such a perilous trip.

“Yes, that’s fair, after interrogating you,” Ed said with a sheepish smile. “The men in our group are couriers, myself included. Our job is to pass information through letters and word of mouth between the south and east. Since we are Filth, we are a cheaper alternative to our mage counterparts. Generally, we provide services for low-class mages and Filth. Our company is called the Magical Postal Service. Ironic, since there is nothing magical about our group,” Ed explained, chuckling at the last part.

“Why do you travel with what seems to be your family?” Mika asked, noting that the others were now back to talking among themselves and largely ignoring her conversation with Ed.

“Well, it’s difficult to be away from your family so often, so we travel with them. Believe it or not, the mage we serve is not half as bad as the ones you may be accustomed to. He dispenses adequate provisions and compensates us fairly, in our opinion. He knows the trip is not without its dangers, and most Filth have no aspiration of living such a life,” Ed answered.

That made sense to Mika. She had never imagined that there were Filth who lived such a nomadic lifestyle. She’d always assumed that when they served a mage, they’d have a sedentary life. Perhaps there are a lot more Filth like Ed’s group Home, Mika thought.

Knowing now that Ed was a courier, Mika wondered whether he could supply information that might apply to her situation—more specifically, about the Hunters’ contract. She looked for a way to ask about it indirectly.

“You said you pass along letters and news. Any chance you can give me any information on any current events? I have coin if needed,” Mika offered.

“Certainly. No need for coin, though. You’re just a fellow passerby and I don’t consider this a service,” Ed said, waving his hand dismissively.

Ed went on to tell Mika about a random series of events, ranging from politics to sports. She pretended to take an interest, though there was only one event she really wanted to know about. Ed was speaking excitedly about certain recent weddings, which bored her. She was about to thank him for the information when Ed suddenly changed the topic to the one Mika was interested in.

“I apologize if any of the stuff I’ve been telling you about was boring. As a young girl, I am sure you are more interested in rumors. Under normal circumstances, I don’t spread gossip to my clients, but I figure with these recent events, they would make a good campfire story,” Ed said.

He suddenly lowered the tone of his voice, forcing Mika to lean closer to hear what he said.

“Apparently there was a major incident regarding the murder of six mages in Southie,” Ed said grimly. Mika felt her heart speed up. This was exactly what she’d wanted to hear about.

“More interestingly, it was not a Filth’s work, but a mage’s work. The mages were frozen to death, you see. The motives of the perpetrator are unclear, and talk suggests that the mage worked with one of the Filth that worked at the circus. Local authorities dispatched a group of Hunters to detain the culprits, but the search ended inconclusively.”

Mika sighed in relief, but too soon. Ed had more to say.

“Believe it or not, the incident escalated to a higher level and a Bishop got involved,” he continued.

Mika felt her momentary relief being flushed from her body. She’d tensed at the word Bishop. If a Bishop is involved, then Sam and I are in grave danger, Mika thought.

After some thought, Mika asked, “Which Bishop got involved?”

“The Flame,” Ed said, somberly. “This is where the rumor turns into a tragedy. When the Flame got to the scene of the crime wanted answers. Either no one had any or they did not want to give him any. As a result, the Flame thought they were too quiet. He wanted to hear something from them, so he made sure he did. As you may know, the Flame is the Bishop of fire. He used his strain to burn everyone who worked at the circus alive. It was said the screams could be heard all across Southie.”

Mika started to feel nauseous. She couldn’t bear to hear any more of Ed’s story. All she could think about was that she had been responsible for even more pain. First, she had signed her uncle’s death sentence with his branding; now, by her actions at the circus, she had literally killed all the people she knew and cared about.

Mika felt she couldn’t trust herself to get close to anyone anymore. Everyone involved with her was in danger. Even if her uncle had somehow eluded the Hunters, the chances were slim that he would escape a Bishop.

Mika got up, her head spinning. Her first impulse was to run, run as fast as she could. So, without giving her new companions any warning, she grabbed her bag and darted into the darkness of the woods.

“Where are you going?” Ed asked, shocked at Mika’s sudden behavior. There was no answer. Mika was gone.

She ran until she was well beyond sight or hearing of the camp. It was sunset, but there was still enough light to see where she was running. She kept on until she could not feel her feet. The tree branches and thorns snagged at her clothing as she ran. The only thing Mika felt was the pain her in heart.

When she finally stopped, panting so hard she couldn’t seem to catch her breath, Mika ached everywhere. She only wanted to be alone. I’m a curse, she thought. I don’t want to see another person, ever. After what had happened at the circus, it seemed her presence would only bring death and grief.

In the impending darkness, Mika finally felt alone. But she was wrong. A rustling of leaves behind her caught her ears, and when she turned around, she met the eyes of three bearded men. Two wore bandanas over their faces, along with dark undershirts and filthy trousers. One of the men held a massive club.

“Why did you leave your group, girl? You’re making things too easy for us,” the one without the bandana asked, an unfriendly smile on his face. The glimmer of a gold tooth flashed in his rotten mouth. “Normally we don’t get to partake in the spoils until after the robbing is done. Boys, hold her down. I get the first turn this time,” he casually commanded the men flanking him.

The men nodded and moved towards Mika. Mika took a step back. From what she had just heard, their intentions were clear. She wanted to scream, but her voice was too hoarse from running. She was also a long way from the couriers. She realized now what a big mistake she’d made, running off on her own. Ed and his band wouldn’t hear her scream from this distance. She had no idea what to do, and there was no one around to help her.

Or was there?

Mika was astonished to hear a voice call out from somewhere above, in the trees.

“Gentlemen, I’m not sure that is the best idea. She is a mage, after all, and a cute one at that,” a man’s voice resonated from somewhere in the foliage above them.

Mika and the men looked onto the tree, where a young man no older than twenty-five was sitting on a long, thick branch, with one leg extended along the limb and another hanging down comfortably. Garbed in a well-fitted black jacket and white shirt to his slim gray trousers, the man looked like he had no business being on the Low Road, since there wasn’t a smudge on his immaculate attire. Mika could see his yellow eyes piercing through the darkness. He also had some sort of chain dangling from his pocket, at the end of which was a chess piece whose name Mika couldn’t recall.

“That’s a Bishop’s Medallion,” the gold-toothed man said, his tone suddenly shaky.

“We have to get out of here!” one of the others said in a loud whisper, motioning urgently to his allies.

Bishop? And he’s defending me? Mika’s head was reeling.

“Now, now, you boys can’t leave,” the Bishop said as he sat up, letting both of his legs dangle. He pulled an apple out of nowhere and bit into it. “Pretend that I am just a spectator. If you flee, I’ll just kill you,” he said casually, taking another bite.

“The same goes for you,” the Bishop said, looking directly at Mika. “You can defend yourself, right? You are a mage, after all.” He winked.

Something changed in Mika at that comment. She didn’t feel like such a liability anymore. She was an Arcane. She could defend herself. All she’d needed in that moment was to be reminded of that fact. Though it was unclear to Mika whose side this man—this Bishop—was on, especially after hearing Ed’s story, she knew she would have to defend herself regardless.

The man in the tree was not at all what she had expected of a Bishop. The youngest Bishop close to this person’s description was the Flame. But the Flame was supposed to be twenty years old, with red hair. Mika couldn’t remember reading a single thing about this particular Bishop in her book. There was only one Bishop Mika knew nothing about: the one without a single page in her book. He had to be Bishop Joker.