“I need your help. You used to be the Black Mage. You will now teach me.”
“How? How did you bring me back a second time?”
“Do it again and I will just bring you back a third time. You cannot escape me. I need your knowledge.”
The resurrected woman laughed and her eyes went wild, “You simple fool. Where has your mommy gone? If she were here, she might tell you never to do something as foolish as you have just done.”
“You will curb your madness! My mother and I will cross paths again.” Thessa realized the second resurrection might have done something to Sarren’s sanity. She was confused and acted out irrationally.
“What have you done to me?” Sarren repeated, and Thessa began to pity her a bit.
The resurrected woman stumbled back looking down and searching her clothing for something, “Ah, there you are.” She grinned and produced another dagger from beneath her clothing. She looked as though she might use it, so Thessa took a step back until Sarren began to laugh again, “This dagger is the onyx-handled dagger of the Black Mage, useless on you now, I suppose.” She looked around their feet, “Where is that red dagger?”
“You will instruct me. You’re dead. I control you now.”
The resurrected woman stepped closer, “Until I kill you and regain my power. You idiot, you don’t resurrect the former Black Mage.” She grabbed the Black Mage by the throat. “All I have to do is cut your throat.”
“You’ve lost your mind. You just said that dagger would not harm me.”
The Black Mage pushed Thessa away, and she fell forcibly onto the waterlogged floor, one leg slipping in the feted water. Thessa regained her composure, “I am your master now. I can stop you from your nasty intentions.”
“All I have to do is wait. You can’t watch me all the time. I will find a way to kill you.”
“I may have the solution to that,” A woman in white said as she walked in from the entrance. A startled Sarren threw the dagger she held at the woman in full force.
The woman in white screeched like a psychotic bird, and the blade deflected off the sound and fell into the dirty water. She continued to move toward them, “All you have to do is cut off her arms.”
“What did you just say?” Thessa asked.
“She can’t stab you to death or slit your throat without her arms, cut them off.”
“Who in the two hells are you?” Sarren asked.
“I am Fia, the White Mage. I would have thought that obvious because, well, I’m wearing white and I just screamed your dagger away.” She giggled curtly.
“Oh, yes, because all the mages wear clothes of their color.” Sarren sneered.
“Someone doesn’t have a sense of humor.” Fia said. “Pity.”
“There is no need to cut off her arms. I know she can’t kill me. I resurrected her. I am her master now. All this posturing is to frighten me, but I know the truth. She is having a little trouble adapting is all.”
“Cut off her head, then. She doesn’t need it and it will shut her up.” Fia said.
Sarren was appalled, “Removal of the head will permanently kill the resurrected. It’s one sure way to do it.”
“Shut up, Sarren,” Thessa commanded. “She is trying to get to you like you were trying to get to me.”
“That’s not true at all,” Fia said. “I don’t think it is, anyway.”
“I can’t cut off any of her body parts,” Thessa said. “The truth of the matter is that Sarren is dead and I know I have complete control over her. She has to obey me. She can’t kill me.”
“Uh, no, she will try to find a way to kill you and turn back into the Black Mage herself.”
“She can’t. You know nothing of how the Black Mage’s powers work.” Thessa realized she instinctively knew how the powers worked. Cassany must have made it so the new mage would have an advantage, or all the mages have a collective memory.
“Maybe not. But I would love to try it and find out.”
“Try what, cutting off her arms or try out the Black Mage powers?”
“Yes to both.”
“You are evil.” The Black Mage said. “Look at you with your beauty and blonde hair, you even wear white, and you are called the White Mage, but you are a bad person.”
“I don’t see what my color, beauty, or manner of dress has to do with my demeanor. Does your black hair and gaunt appearance make you evil? If you want to keep this woman, Sarren is it? And you want her to train you then you have to do some pretty unspeakable things because she will definitely not hesitate to do whatever she has to do to take your life.”
“I never wanted to be the Black Mage. I should let her kill me.”
“You know, this gives me a great idea. I need your help.” She turned to Sarren, “But first, let me help you. I’ll cut her arms off.”
“Wait, leave her arms intact. what do you need my help with?”
“The Blue Mage is our ally, yours and mine. I need you to help me with rescuing him. I need your magic to do it.” She looked at the man standing next to the throne. ‘I’m sorry, I have to know. Who is that man, and what in the two hells is he supposed to be doing? “He’s just standing there staring.”
“He’s my father, Tovo. Sarren used him and killed him when she was the Black Mage.”
“How did she use him?” Fia asked.
“She used him to trick my mother, and then she killed him.”
“Your mother did?”
“No, Sarren did. It was part of her plan, her strategy, against the Red Mage.” Thessa knew the White Mage was just asking questions to ask them. She already knew who killed Tovo. She just wanted Thessa to say it for some reason.
Fia’s jaw dropped, “And you don’t want to cut off her arms?” She walked over to Sarren and stood behind her. She
