Bedlam by M. T. Miller

Author:M. T. Miller [Miller, M. T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-11-28T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

The elevator ascended toward the third floor. This time, it seemed to move even slower than usual.

The Nameless and Rush stood next to each other, both full of questions. She kept looking around, impatient for the thing to touch up. He had his eyes closed, doing his best to focus on the unseen.

The shock and rage made that task difficult. Try as he might, the course of faith, of magic, eluded the Nameless’ notice. There was power in the pyramid, he couldn’t deny that. The city centered around it, and it was a powerful symbol. However, for the moment, he was blind to the intricacies in which that power flowed and shifted.

Chastity and Emile had to draw from somewhere. He extended his hand, trying to grasp what he couldn’t see. The human being is, in effect, a generator of divine power. Through desires, it creates magic, which beings like the Nameless feed on. In turn, these gods grant their worshippers miracles, reinforcing their faith and keeping the wheel turning. Or so it used to be.

Long ago, the Nameless had used the word ‘sorcery’ to refer to all unnatural phenomena. However, Emile used to differentiate between power granted by divine beings, and magic done in service of one’s own will. The latter, he dismissively called ‘sorcery.’

Few gods still existed, but the Nameless had never seen a godless practitioner of the art. However, from his talks with Emile and the books he’d read, he was able to deduce a number of facts. One, the practice was incredibly difficult, demanding decades of study before any results were achievable. Two, sorcerers who used the magic they themselves generated were, by definition, minor threats. The human being is, on its own, not that mystically potent.

Three, the practice was more or less rooted out by the gods themselves. This made sense for two reasons. The first one was competition. The other was much more interesting, and possibly relevant to the insanity the Nameless had just witnessed: to get around their relative lack of power, sorcerers tended to steal.

So, the Nameless began to summarize, there has to be a wellspring of power somewhere, and it has to be potent enough to make Chastity and Emile as absurdly powerful as they were. But where is it? He tried focusing again. He was certain that the power existed. However, he could still neither see nor touch it.

And even if I could, he thought once the lift started slowing down, who knows if I could use it?

He stepped forward, ignoring the guards’ questions as he neared the entrance to Room Number One. Whatever the answer to this mystery was, for the moment, there were more important matters to resolve. Such as who invited the Church for talks, and why was I not told of it.

“Whoa, hey, Bones!” Rush said as he was about to grab the knob. He stopped and looked her in the eyes.

“You gotta give me something to go on,” she said. “I mean, I’m in it ‘til the end, I just need to know what page we’re on.

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