HDMGF Book 2- Part 16

Jake’s POV

“JAKE!” I was startled awake. I looked around, but no one was there.

“Hello?” I called out, no one answered. “Suma?” I asked, activating our private connection.

“Jake! Thank the dragons, I have been trying over and over again to summon you, but it wasn’t working.” Suma shouted.

“You have?”

“Yes, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I was asleep, or no… I was having one of those vision/dream things again.”

“I am going to try summoning you again.” Suma said.

“Wait!” I shouted and dove off my bed to get some trousers. Luckily, I had fallen asleep too tired to take off my pajama shirt, but I still needed shoes and stuff. I had just enough time to put my hands on my pants and a pair of shoes before disappearing. When I reappeared, I was in an uncomfortable positions, my arms and legs splayed out, each one connected to some separate article of clothing.

“Oh, sorry. I suppose I should have waited a tad longer.” Suma apologized. Well, at least I was already wearing socks, a shirt, and pants. I stood up, collected the strode about clothes, and got dressed.

“It’s fine.” I said.

“So, what was the vision about this time?” A voice from behind me asked. I turned and saw Lieutenant Datahu.

“Oh, lieutenant. I didn’t see you.” I said.

“She was able to secure the memory delve faster than expected, that is why I was trying to summon you.” Suma explained.

“Yes, the major wants you to be battle ready as soon as possible, so he pushed the request through for me.” The lieutenant said.

“Oh good. Please tell him I said thanks.”

“You will be able to tell him yourself. He is going to be present during the delve.”

“He is?” Suma asked.

“He wants to make sure his investment pays off.”

That’s a nice way of putting it.I thought to myself. I may not be the smartest guy around, but even I knew why he wanted to come.

“So, who will be performing the delve? Is it one of the base’s staff members?” Suma asked.

“No, actually I was told it was going to be one of the major’s advisors who specializes in Memory Magic.”

“What about everything you said about proper procedures and following protocol when we first asked you?” I asked.

“The privilege of the highest is that they can glide the farthest.” The lieutenant said. Suma’s feathers ruffled a bit, and her sparkle dimed for a second. I guess she wasn’t happy to hear that for some reason.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her over our private connection.

“I dislike the idea of one of the major’s closest ally’s going through your memories.” She said worried.

“Why?”

“I am concerned about what else they will be looking for while they are inside of our minds.”

“Is there anything we can do?” I asked.

“No, one way or another, someone will have to perform the delve, and they will most likely report what they find to the major for him to do with as he pleases. I dislike the reality of this situation, but we need the delve, so there is nothing we can do.” Suma sounded dejected, but didn’t suggest calling off the delve.

“I can’t say I’m in love with the idea of someone poking around inside my head, but I’m also getting kinda tired of hallucinating someone else’s life.”

“As am I.” She replied.

“Do you two have the ability to communicate without speaking aloud?” Lieutenant Datahu asked, snapping us out of our private conversation.

“Oh… uh, yeah.”

“Should I be insulted, or impressed?” She asked.

“We were discussing our thought about the delve being performed by one of the major’s advisors.” Suma explained.

“Well, I get the feeling you will not have much luck trying to find someone else to do it.” The lieutenant said.

“Meaning…?”

“Meaning he wants inside my head, and he’ll throw his weight around to make sure it happens.” I said.

“I see…”

“You are probably right. The major is a good man, but he did not reach such a high perch by letting opportunities fly past him.” The lieutenant said. The conversation probably would have continued, but the sounds of flapping stopped us. Seconds later, the major, and three others, landed on vines nearby.

The set up for the delve was the same as it was back when I was interviewed after killing the wyvern last year. One Neame to cast the delving spell, one to ask the questions, and one to monitor my well-being. They we only doing me at the moment, instead of doing both Suma and me at the same time. I guess they only had one of those ‘Memory Seekers’ available.

“Sentinel, please lay down.” The major said as a bed of vines formed about at knee height.

“Am I going to be put to sleep? They didn’t do that last time.” I said lying down.

“No, but it will be easier for us this way, and less dangerous.”

“Less dangerous?”

“Well, if you do lose consciousness, you could fall. Also, this situation is rather… unique. Memory delves have never been used in this way before.” He said.

Please don’t fry my brain. I thought to myself.

“Alright, I am ready.” The Neame who had cast the magic circle around me, and who was going to be doing the delve for us, said.

“Yeah, me too.” I said.

“Then… let’s begin.”

Suma’s POV

“Sentinel, I want you to think about the first time you saw this ‘Figure in flame’.” The Neame in charge of guiding Jake through the questions said. The major, Lieutenant Datahu, and myself, were all perched near Jake, watching the delve.

“I was at… that church.” Jake said.

“Church?” The interviewer asked.

“I think it was called a sanctum or something. Suma and I were about to form our bonding ritual thing, and he came out of nowhere and demanded she give me a new name.” Jake explained.

“Ah yes, you mean the Grand Sanctum of Zach-Ahshem. Did he do anything else besides demanding a name?”

“No, after that he left.” Jake said. The interviewer looked over to the other two Neame, they each nodded and he continued the questions.

“And when was your next encounter?”

“A month or two later, I think. He was able to catch me in-between being summoned.”

“Can you explain what you mean?”

“Suma summoned me so that we could name my weapons, but he interrupted it and pulled me somewhere.” Jake said.

“Where? Do you know?”

“It felt like a dream… I was floating in a void, and there was this light. I went to it, and it was him.”

“What did he do this time?” The interviewer asked.

“He… threatened me, and told me we were friends. He really didn’t make any sense that time, or any time.”

“I don’t know one mage in the modern era capable of interrupting a summoning.” The major whispered to the lieutenant.

“That’s probably because none exist anymore, and haven’t in several hundred years.” She answered.

“Did you see the being again after that?” The interviewer asked Jake, not minding the major and Lieutenant’s conversation.

“Yes.”

“When?”

“He interrupted a summons again, but going the other way this time. Suma was sending me back home. We had been exploring a cave during a training exercise for training camp. It was too small for me, so she sent me back.”

“And what did he do this time?”

“He said… I was standing on his head.”

“Do you know what he meant?”

“We never figured it out.” Jake said. The major looked nervous, and interrupted the delve with a question of his own.

“What exactly did he say?” The major sounded upset, concerned even. I thought maybe it had to do with military matters, but the lieutenant looked as confused and surprised by his sudden outburst as the interviewer was.

“Um, I don’t remember exactly. Just that I was standing on his head, and that I had never been closer, and then he suddenly said I was far away.” The major did not look satisfied with Jake’s answer, but he did not ask any follow-ups.

“About how many more times did you meet the figure after that?” The interviewer asked.

“A few more.” Jake said.

“And do any of them stand out to you?”

“Yeah. There was only one time where he actually did anything to me. That’s when all this hallucination stuff started.”

“Okay, let’s go ahead and move to that instance. What can you tell me about what happened?”

“It started off like any of the other ones. He said things that didn’t make any sense, then said I was getting stronger.” Jake said.

“What made this time different then? Did he hurt you somehow?”

“Yeah. He did something, and my head felt like it was going to explode.”

“AHH!” One of the assistants started to scream. She collapsed to the floor and the other two quickly flew over to her. Jake sat up and watched.

“What happened? Are you okay?” The interviewer asked.

“It… it suddenly… it felt like I was watching thousands of memories all playing out at the same time.” The assistant answered weakly.

“Yeah, that’s what it felt like it me the first time too.” Jake said.

“We had theorized that the figure had implanted memories into Jake, and that is what has been causing all of this.” I said.

“Memory Magic being used to forcibly push memories into someone’s mind? I have heard of things like that before, but it fell out of practice over two hundred years ago.” Lieutenant Datahu whispered. The major nodded his head.

“So, does that mean we need to stop?” I asked.

“I can continue.” The assistant, who had gotten back up, answered.

“This is what we came to do.” The major said.

“Alright then…” The interviewer said hesitantly, and looked at his assistant after going back to his perch. “Sentinel, I want you to focus on one of the memories that were placed into you.”

“Which one?” Jake asked.

“You mentioned you had already seen some of them play out. Try focusing on one of those.”

“The first time it happened, I was buying food at the store. I saw a Neame named Ambos, and I thought I was a guy named Zachariah.”

“Ambos…? And Zachariah you said? Can you tell me anything about them?” The interviewer asked surprised. I couldn’t blame him; everyone knows the name Ambos. We live in the country of Ambos after all.

“Um… Ambos likes raisins, and Zachariah was very sarcastic. Beyond that, not much. I know Zachariah killed a lot of Neame in the war, and in some pretty violent ways apparently. I also know he was a familiar to Ambos, just like I am to Suma.”

“Was he a Viking?” The lieutenant asked.

“He may have been. He was the same species at least, but you can’t tell just by looking.” Jake answered.

“No?” The major asked.

“Could you tell what nation a Neame was just by the color of their feathers?” Jake asked, sounding a tad annoyed.

The major looked at the lieutenant for a moment, then answered, “I suppose that is a fair point.”

“But you could tell he was the same species, right?” The lieutenant asked.

“Yes, that I could tell.”

“Anyway Sentinel,” the interviewer interrupted. “A Viking familiar with a master named Ambos. This cannot be a coincidence.”

“It is true.” I said. “I had a suspicion from the beginning, but this does confirm it.”

“I’d really appreciate if y’all started speaking in complete thoughts; thanks.” Jake complained.

“Sentinel, do you not know of Ambos?” The major asked.

“Um, a little. Only what Suma has told me though. He was like some kind of hero mage, who may or may not have slayed the Death Dragon. That Ambos?”

“Yes, most likely.”

“So… we think I have the hero’s familiar’s memories in my head?” Jake asked.

“Sentinel, when someone implants their memories into another person in the way that this ‘Figure of Flame’ did, it doesn’t just put their memories into them.” The lieutenant said.

“What do you mean?” I asked. Memory Magic… has never been my specialty, so I was fairly lost as well.

“There were thousands of memories overlapping one another, and then he actually believed himself to be Zachariah. That isn’t just Memory Magic. This is more like Soul Magic.” The assistant said.

“Sentinel, I think that figure of flame put a piece of himself into you.” The interviewer said.

“But they were Zachariah’s memories?” Jake said, still confused.

The lieutenant nodded her head. “Yes. Which probably means that the figure was Zachariah himself.”