No Pain for Fiends

[Strazio Rockwell]

Strazio sat silent. Mama Godwin was doing more than simply asking, hell she was pleading with them. Silver tears dripped down the valleys of her aged face and she wiped them away with a handkerchief. Fighting, that was something that Strazio was good at, but consoling a grieving mother? Well boundless rage does little to mend a hurting heart. And so he sat silent, and listened to her touching cries for help. The defender of Darkshire had fully intended on finding Ol’ Peter again, and he had aspirations of burning a hole through the beast’s heart. But now, now the damned werewolf was humanized. It wasn’t a mindless beast, but rather a terrified man met with a terrible fate.

Everything had to be so complicated.

Gamzee was damn near crying himself when he answered her, “We’ll help you! We’ll cure Peter and bring him back to you Mama Godwin, right Strawso?”

“Uhh,” Strazio hesitated and offered a half-hearted smile, “yeah, sure, we’ll get your kid back.”

Mama Godwin reached out and embraced the two, “Ohhh bless your hearts, ah don’t know how ah’ll repay you, but ah’ll put sometin real special together for ya.”

Gamzee left Mama Godwin’s hut carrying a massive smile, and towing along a somber mage. Strazio took the lead this time, keeping them in the direction of Rumford’s house. The sergeant’s house was a simple two-story building crafted from the familiar dark wood and aged stone that constructed the majority of buildings in Darkshire. Rumford’s child was certainly asleep by now so Strazio took great care knocking upon his door. A weary soldier answered and let the two adventurers in and offered them a hot meal. After the two ate Rumford motioned upstairs and said, “We’ve only got one guest room so you’ll have to share, I’m gonna hit the hay. Hunting werewolves all day really wears you down, we’ll talk more in the morning okay?”

“Sure thing.” Strazio replied and gestured for Gamzee to follow him upstairs.

There was little in the way of furniture in the guest room. Really only a bed and a nightstand with several candles. Bare bones. Not that either prime really minded. Strazio was used to sleeping outside and Gamzee was too carefree to worry about lavish furnishings. The troll sat on the edge of the bed and propped his clubs up next to the nightstand and looked at Strazio. “What?” Strazio asked.

“Looks like we’ve got some time to burn, mind teaching me some things about your special voodoo?”

Strazio sighed and responded, “Well first of all, it ain’t ‘voodoo’, secondly you sure you’re prepared for this? The first step is the hardest, and I’m sure you’d rather be well-”

“I’m ready,” Gamzee interrupted, “Whatever it takes to make my chains, I’m ready.”
“You’re awfully eager, well fuck it I suppose, let’s begin. But first we need some salt.”

“Salt?” Gamzee raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, salt.”

Strazio held out his hands and inhaled deeply. As he exhaled slippery ribbons of rainbow omnilium danced between his fingers. He continued to control his breathing as more of the miraculous substance seeped from his flesh. Omnillium, the essence of creation. For several minutes he practiced slow measured breaths as a tennis-ball orb of the stuff formed in his hand. And like clay it was molded and formed into a modest creation. A simple salt shaker filled to the brim with its namesake mineral. Once the still-warm shaker came into existence Strazio set to work forming a ring of salt, large enough for several men to stand in. Inside the ring he scrawled various shapes and symbols out of salt.

“This circle is the very first spell you will learn, because without its guidance -without its brand upon your flesh- you will be unable to cast even the most basic of spells. This circle is known as the ‘Rite of Magistry’ and it will allow you to do what I can do, and so much more. Think of this circle as a doorway to power.”

“Okay... But why salt?”

Ignoring the question Strazio continued his monologue, “All magick stems from three sources. Knowledge, form, and soul. Much like a flame which without oxygen, heat, and fuel is nothing. So too magick is nothing without all three components. For this spell knowledge will simply be these symbols I have crafted for you. Form shall be the salt upon which this incantation is cast.”

Strazio paused and Gamzee asked, “What about the soul?”

“The soul offered shall be your very own.” Strazio responded and laughed, “Don’t worry, you get to keep it. The Rite will just be branded upon it. All you need to do is offer a drop of blood to the circle.”

Gamzee stepped closer to the circle and traced its outline with his eyes. He bit the insides of his grey cheeks and glanced towards the ground. Their was a long moment of silence shared between the two.

“This will let me control that thing ?” Gamzee finally asked.

“No.” Strazio said, “But, it will give you a good start.”

“Alright, I’m game. One more question though, why the salt?”

“Oh that, well you see any material will work but, minerals act as catalysts and often are used to enhance spells. Salt is a very good base for this, nice and neutral so the ritual is as safe as possible.”

“So this is dangerous?” Gamzee asked.

“Not really, but it will hurt more than anything you’ve ever experienced. It won’t last for too long, and the pain is worth the power.” Strazio said. “Now will you go ahead and do it already? I wanna get to bed here soon.”

“Fine, fine.”

The troll bit the pad of his middle finger, edging out a small droplet of purple blood. He held his bleeding hand over the salt circle and waited for the lightshow. Purple drops of rain splattered into the salt. The macabre offering propagated throughout the circle. White salt stained purple. Writhing red wires of magick wormed out from beneath the floorboards and slithered towards Gamzee. Instinctively he pulled away, but the thin cables snagged his wrist and coiled tightly around his arm. Strazio smirked and shook his head, “The more you struggle, the more this will hurt.”

Frightened whimpers escaped Gamzee’s throat as the searing coils bit into his pallid flesh. Every twitch teased forth a vicious response from the arcane ritual. His whole body shuddered and he screamed. This wasn’t right. Something was wrong. Absolution hurt. This hurt. This fucking macabre ritual of blood and salt brought forth a physical pain unlike any other. Hot metal cords ripped into flesh, blood, and bone. Organs were punctured, insides were churned. And yet, in the wake of such devastating destruction the troll-boy was so painfully lucid. A line of fire was torn across the underside of his forearm, stretching from elbow to wrist. Flesh was peeled back, revealing the muscle and sinew beneath. The symbol of magick was branded onto his wrist. After this symbol was formed the magick slowly receded, stitching up wounds as if they had never occurred. Gamzee fell to his knees, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily.

“So, how d’ya feel?” Strazio asked.

“Horrible.”

“Sounds about right.”

Gamzee held up his wrist and traced the still-warm outline of his brand. He looked up at Strazio and asked, “Can I do magick now?”

“Yeah, well. Sorta.” Strazio rubbed the back of his head and continued, “Think of that brand as like a library card. Opens up the door for you to learn magick, but you still have to do the prep work before you can do what I can.”

“Oh.” Gamzee stood upon his shaking legs, “I didn’t think it was going to be that bad. I tried not to scream, but I couldn’t help it.”

“Yeah, it sucks. Sucks a lot. Don’t worry about waking up Rumford or nothing’ most of what you experienced was mental. You didn’t actually scream, at least not out loud.”

“Oh.”

Strazio offered a half-smile. Gamzee was a tough little bastard. Even with all of his hatred and rage Strazio had still passed out when he went through the ritual. In a way he envied the troll’s unyielding resilience. Rage could push a man far, but, short of death, Gamzee just could not be put down. The mage extended his fist and with a moment of hesitation Gamzee returned the gesture by bumping his own fist against Strazio’s. Strazio yawned and sat down upon the hardwood floor. He said, “We really need to get some rest, and I ain’t going to share a bed with you so you can have the bed.”

“Where will you sleep Strawso?”

“The floor, it doesn’t bother me much considering I’ve been sleeping in the wilderness most of my life. Sides after what you just went through, you could use it more than I could.”

Gamzee bit the inside of his cheek and responded, “Are you sure? I really wouldn’t mind if you slept in the bed.”
“Nah go ahead,” Strazio said, “Now hurry up and shut off the light I get cranky if I don’t get my sleep.”