mind. When your mind is at rest, remember the room with the white door and the black door. The black door leads to your Halls of Power.”
He imagined the room, and the entrance appeared in his mind’s eye—the ornate door with strange symbols.
“If something harms you in the Halls of Power, it harms you out here. So protect yourself.”
“Why does the white door feel wrong?”
“It leads to a perversion of our magic. Its arcane pathways run orthogonal to ours.”
“Say what?”
“Stay away from it.”
“So I should enter the other one?” Nicolas looked toward the black door. The skull floated in midair beyond the threshold.
“The black door is the path of the necromancer. But not yet. Tell me what you see.”
“That skull. It’s just inside the door.”
“In, out, up, down…these are concepts that have no meaning in the Halls, and you must embrace this. For a necromancer, a thing can be both friend and foe at the same time. This is an important function of our work.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“The skull is your foe. It will attack you the moment you approach it. But it is also your greatest ally.”
“So do I go in or not?”
“Calm yourself. Lack of focus will cause the Halls to collapse, and you’ll have to start over.”
“So I’ll start over.”
“You haven’t yet entered a true Hall yet, Nicolas. You merely stand on the threshold. If the Halls collapse while you’re inside them, your mind will collapse with them. Do you understand me?”
“Um…sure?”
“Oh for Arin’s sake, boy. The skull will attack you psionically . Certainly you know what that means?”
“I don’t think we have that in Texas.”
“It means that the skull will attack your mind,” Mujahid said. “But your mind and body are intertwined, so an attack against your mind is an attack against your body. You must never forget this. You’ll have to defend yourself.”
“But how?”
“Stay calm.”
“But how do I defend myself?” A bead of sweat formed on his forehead as he realized he would be alone with that thing.
“You must answer that question for yourself.”
“What? How?”
“Each of us brings something different into the Halls, and the opponents we face use our own minds against us.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” What if he failed? What if he was killed because of some stupid mistake?
He shot backwards through the ornate door as if a catapult had launched him. He opened his eyes and stared at Mujahid.
Mujahid swore. “You can try the patience of a rock, boy.”
“I’m sorry,” Nicolas said. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing here.”
“An ever present fact.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Enough with your sorry. Calm your mind.” Mujahid took a deep breath. “Focus on the energy around you. I know you feel it.”
Nicolas adjusted his position on the bed.
“No more than thirty feet below you is my ancestral crypt and—” Mujahid stopped as if he had almost let a secret slip. “Power permeates this place.”
“It’s all around me.”
“Draw it into you.”
“How?”
“Always with the questions,” Mujahid said, and Nicolas’s eyes snapped open.
Mujahid sighed. He placed his hands over his eyes and squeezed, but after a few moments, he patted Nicolas’s shoulder.
“I’m an old man, and it’s late at night. And…it’s been a long time since I’ve had to do this. A very long time, indeed.”
“You don’t look too old.”
“Boy, you have no idea.”
Nicolas squinted.
“The energy around you is what we call necropotency ,” Mujahid said. “Some refer to it as death energy . Think of necropotency like a footprint in the snow. A person walks through the snow and leaves footprints behind, yes?”
“Some deeper than others, yeah.”
“More insightful than you realize.” Mujahid made a sweeping gesture across the floor with his arm. “The world of the living is the snow. As a person passes from life to death, they leave a
He imagined the room, and the entrance appeared in his mind’s eye—the ornate door with strange symbols.
“If something harms you in the Halls of Power, it harms you out here. So protect yourself.”
“Why does the white door feel wrong?”
“It leads to a perversion of our magic. Its arcane pathways run orthogonal to ours.”
“Say what?”
“Stay away from it.”
“So I should enter the other one?” Nicolas looked toward the black door. The skull floated in midair beyond the threshold.
“The black door is the path of the necromancer. But not yet. Tell me what you see.”
“That skull. It’s just inside the door.”
“In, out, up, down…these are concepts that have no meaning in the Halls, and you must embrace this. For a necromancer, a thing can be both friend and foe at the same time. This is an important function of our work.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“The skull is your foe. It will attack you the moment you approach it. But it is also your greatest ally.”
“So do I go in or not?”
“Calm yourself. Lack of focus will cause the Halls to collapse, and you’ll have to start over.”
“So I’ll start over.”
“You haven’t yet entered a true Hall yet, Nicolas. You merely stand on the threshold. If the Halls collapse while you’re inside them, your mind will collapse with them. Do you understand me?”
“Um…sure?”
“Oh for Arin’s sake, boy. The skull will attack you psionically . Certainly you know what that means?”
“I don’t think we have that in Texas.”
“It means that the skull will attack your mind,” Mujahid said. “But your mind and body are intertwined, so an attack against your mind is an attack against your body. You must never forget this. You’ll have to defend yourself.”
“But how?”
“Stay calm.”
“But how do I defend myself?” A bead of sweat formed on his forehead as he realized he would be alone with that thing.
“You must answer that question for yourself.”
“What? How?”
“Each of us brings something different into the Halls, and the opponents we face use our own minds against us.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” What if he failed? What if he was killed because of some stupid mistake?
He shot backwards through the ornate door as if a catapult had launched him. He opened his eyes and stared at Mujahid.
Mujahid swore. “You can try the patience of a rock, boy.”
“I’m sorry,” Nicolas said. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing here.”
“An ever present fact.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Enough with your sorry. Calm your mind.” Mujahid took a deep breath. “Focus on the energy around you. I know you feel it.”
Nicolas adjusted his position on the bed.
“No more than thirty feet below you is my ancestral crypt and—” Mujahid stopped as if he had almost let a secret slip. “Power permeates this place.”
“It’s all around me.”
“Draw it into you.”
“How?”
“Always with the questions,” Mujahid said, and Nicolas’s eyes snapped open.
Mujahid sighed. He placed his hands over his eyes and squeezed, but after a few moments, he patted Nicolas’s shoulder.
“I’m an old man, and it’s late at night. And…it’s been a long time since I’ve had to do this. A very long time, indeed.”
“You don’t look too old.”
“Boy, you have no idea.”
Nicolas squinted.
“The energy around you is what we call necropotency ,” Mujahid said. “Some refer to it as death energy . Think of necropotency like a footprint in the snow. A person walks through the snow and leaves footprints behind, yes?”
“Some deeper than others, yeah.”
“More insightful than you realize.” Mujahid made a sweeping gesture across the floor with his arm. “The world of the living is the snow. As a person passes from life to death, they leave a
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