Mortality: The Story of Mortanius

Chapter Thirty-Nine

It was not until a month later that Mortanius finally made the time to travel to Avernus to visit the Guardian of Dimension. The last time he had been to the city was when the Guardians gathered there for their yearly meeting about a dozen years prior, and it had not changed much in that short time. It was a smaller city than Willendorf, with narrower streets and an older architectural style to the shops and taverns that lined the main streets. Half a millennium before, the city had been founded by an obscure religious sect, the details of which escaped Mortanius at the moment. But one defining feature of the city had survived the intervening centuries, giving it a unique aspect that many other places lacked.

Scattered throughout the city were a number of large temples with steep, slanted black roofs and tall spires topped with gold. The largest such building, located near the center of the city, was simply known as Avernus Cathedral. Even after its original religious purpose faded away, the people of Avernus maintained the building in order to preserve its beautiful architecture and historical significance. It was also, coincidentally, where Azimuth currently made her home.

He hired a carriage to drop him off and walked up to the large front doors, which were already open. They were made of heavy black wood and carved with intricate designs. As he entered, he looked up to see imposing gargoyle creatures looking down from overhead, their stone features worn down from centuries of rain and wind.

The main hall of the temple was brightly lit with huge glowing orbs suspended from the arched ceiling. The walls were lined with expensive wooden paneling, and above the paneling were numerous pieces of art from all over Nosgoth. The artwork was new, but the caretakers of the temple had taken great care to leave as much of the original interior as possible. The main hall was lined with long wooden benches that had once seated worshipers who came to listen to their leaders speak. Now, most of the benches were empty, but a few of Azimuth’s servants and other attendants were sitting around when Mortanius entered.

He looked up and took in his surroundings. So much of the world was young, compared to him, and it was nice to be in a place with a sense of age and history to it.

“Beautiful,” Mortanius said as he looked around.

Azimuth walked up to him, wearing a sleeveless gown of dark blue, with golden bracelets jingling on her wrists. “Why, thank you, Mortanius,” she said with a grin, putting a hand on her hip.

“You are always beautiful,” he replied as she extended her hand for him to kiss. “But in this particular instance, I was referring to the Cathedral.”

She took his arm and led him down the main aisle between the wooden benches. “Do you know the history of Avernus Cathedral?”

“A little of it. The followers of some short-lived religion built this place, although I don’t remember the details.”

“They believed that Nosgoth was created by a supernatural being called Avia, and that someday it would return to the world and make it into a paradise.”

“That sounds appealing,” Mortanius said. “So why did it die out?”

“Well, from what I understand, when the last of the old vampires was killed, the leader of their religion proclaimed that it was a sign that Avia was about to return. But of course, Avia did not return, and after a few decades, the religion lost almost all of its followers. The only reason we know about them at all is because of these grand temples they left behind.”

Some of Azimuth’s attendants were gathered near the front of the main hall, sitting in a half circle and talking animatedly about magic theory. They all stood up respectfully as Mortanius and Azimuth approached. Azimuth introduced Mortanius to them, but as was usually the case, he promptly forgot their names. They all seemed honored to meet him, although they made a point not to ask him anything specific about his powers as the Guardian of Death.

“Lord Mortanius and I are heading down to my laboratory,” Azimuth said. “We’ll likely be there the rest of the day. You’re all free to stay here or return home, as you please.”

“Thank you, Lady Azimuth,” they all replied.

The group broke up and Azimuth led Mortanius away. They walked through a doorway to some office rooms and a wide set of stairs leading down.

“I assumed those were your servants, but they’re actually students, aren’t they?”

“Indeed,” Azimuth replied with a smile. “Noble families are always looking for new ways to flaunt their wealth and privilege, and what better way than to have a Guardian of the Pillars teaching their children about magic?”

“How many students do you teach?”

“Right now I have fourteen, but I’ll be finished with most of them by the end of next year and then I’ll only have five or six.”

“And the nobles pay you to tutor their children?”

“Handsomely.”

Mortanius chuckled. “Well, you’re more patient than I am. I can’t imagine I’d ever be able to tolerate being around a bunch of young people all the time. Not that anyone would want me to teach them about my particular specialty.”

“I think you’d be surprised. I’m sure you could find some willing students if you wanted. Some people might pay a large amount to learn the secrets of the dead.”

Mortanius waved the comment away. “I have no need for money. I live rather simply.”

“So I’ve heard,” Azimuth said, leaning in as if sharing a secret. “You have a nice little estate near the Pillars, is that right? Now that you’ve come to visit me, I’ll just have to make arrangements to come and visit you too.”

“You’re more than welcome. I don’t have visitors very often.”

“None of us do, not really. Not from the other Guardians, at least.” She sighed. “You know, sometimes I feel like the others would prefer not to spend time with each other. We have our yearly get-together and that’s as much contact as they want.”

“I agree. Ariel and Nupraptor act like they can barely stand to be there for even a few hours.”

“They certainly don’t go out of their way to be friendly to the rest of the us, that’s for sure. But for that matter, neither does Moebius. Or Bane. Or Malek either, but at least he has a genuine reason for the way he behaves.”

“If you think Moebius is bad now, you should have seen him when he was young.”

“I have a hard time imaging that Moebius was ever a young man.”

“He was, and me as well, a millennium ago.”

They reached the bottom of the stairs and Azimuth led him through a series of narrow antechambers until they reached a large circular room with a domed ceiling that must once have been beautiful, but now was stained with ages of smoke residue. Traces of the original artwork were barely visible beneath layers of grime.

The center of the room was taken up by a mammoth disc of glistening silver standing upright by a pair of golden support pillars atop a raised circular dais. The floor on the dais was covered in designs and runes drawn in silver paint. As they got closer, Mortanius realized that the paint was actually white, but ground-up diamonds had been mixed into the pigment. Other gemstones were embedded into the golden ring on the very edge of the silver disc, which was polished to a mirror finish.

Azimuth was looking at him. “Are you impressed?” she asked with a smile.

“Very,” he replied after a moment, stepping closer to get a better look. “This must have cost an incredible sum to build.”

“The central disc was the hardest part,” Azimuth said. “It took me years to find someone who could produce one as large as I needed.”

“It’s solid silver?”

“Yes. I tried using a steel disc coated in silver, but it didn’t work. For some reason, silver and gold are far more effective at stabilizing and amplifying magical power.”

“I use gemstones for my enchantments, but I’ve never attempted something as large as this. Where did you get all the silver?”

“The Cathedral had a large number of silver cups and goblets and utensils and things like that. I had them all melted down.”

He looked at her in surprise. “They let you melt down their property?”

“Their property?” Azimuth said, and then let out a soft laugh. She put her hand on Mortanius’s shoulder. “Darling, this is all my property. I own Avernus Cathedral.”

“You own it? How?”

“I purchased it from the city almost a century ago. I thought you knew that.”

“I had no idea.”

“Wealth has it advantages, my dear.”

Mortanius returned his attention to the huge artifact. “Have you given your creation a name?”

“I call it the Dimensionscope,” Azimuth said proudly. “Let me show you how it works.”

Azimuth stepped up onto the dais while Mortanius remained standing several yards away, his arms crossed and eyes focused on her. She stood right in front of the disc, her legs apart as if to brace herself, and took hold of two golden handles attached to the support pillars. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and went still.

Within a few seconds, the silver disc began to ripple and shift through several colors like a rainbow passing over its surface. Azimuth remained completely motionless, her eyes tightly closed. If he watched closely, Mortanius could see thin crackles of magic coursing through the handles and into the ring, and if he stood close to it, the energy would have made his hair stand up like static electricity. But he stood far back and kept his gaze fixed on the central disc, which continued to shift and change as Azimuth focused her magic through it.

The disc seemed to blur and re-focus, like sighting something through a telescope. Colors and a multitude of random shapes swept across the surface, and slowly the faint outline of an image began to form. Mortanius could make out what appeared to be a jagged horizon under a roiling gray sky. Stones or other objects were strewn about, and amidst the rubble, Mortanius thought he could detect small moving shapes, like insects or tiny lizards.

Azimuth held the image for several minutes, long enough for significant details to emerge. But from what Mortanius could make out, the world viewed through Azimuth’s device was a sterile, dead place. Whatever strange sun shined upon that world could not penetrate the thick clouds, and there was no plantlife visible. What Mortanius thought were insects were nothing but fragments of dust and dirt, blown by a constant wind.

Finally, Azimuth grew tired and began to waver side to side, as if intoxicated. The image through the device shimmered and dissipated like smoke and then disappeared, revealing the flawless surface of the silver disc once more. Mortanius hurried over to help Azimuth step off the dais. She seemed unsteady on her feet.

“Do you need a drink of water or anything?”

She shook her head. “No, I just need to rest for a minute. Let’s go over there.”

Mortanius led her to a long couch set against the curved wall. He went to ease her down into the seat, but she let herself fall and grabbed his arm, pulling him down with her. He wound up laying practically on top of her, trying to regain his balance, as she laughed in his ear. She hooked one leg around his waist, tangling them together.

“Oh, Mortanius,” she giggled, wrapping her arm around him.

He pulled himself up enough that they were face to face, an embarrassed smile on his lips. “You did that on purpose,” he said.

“Come now,” she purred, pulling him closer. “Did you really think that I invited you all the way out here just to see a magical demonstration?”

“I thought that was the primary reason, yes. I knew you were flirting with me, but I thought it was just that. Harmless flirting.”

In response, she grabbed his neck and pulled him down to kiss him with an intensity that took him by surprise. When she finally let him pull away, she breathed, “Not so harmless now, is it? However, I’ll admit that your technique needs some work.”

“I guess I’m out of practice,” he admitted, still tasting her on his lips.

“Oh? How long has it been?”

Four centuries, he thought. He hadn’t been with a woman since Ellendra. But instead of saying that, he merely muttered, “A very long time.”

She grinned devilishly. “Well then, perhaps it’s time for you to shake the cobwebs loose. But not here on the couch. My private quarters are just down the hall.” She squirmed out from under him, took his hand, and led him to her bedroom.

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