Free The Testing by Jonathan Moeller Page B

didn’t want you to come looking for me.”
    “Wait,” said Rachaelis. Something dark started stirred in her thoughts. “You…said that Arthain had told you that he killed me.”
    “He…did,” said Aramane. “His story would change. Just to torment me, you see.”
    Rachaelis stepped back from him. “I don’t think I’m here by mistake. I think this is still part of the Testing.” 
    “Rachaelis,” said Aramane, his voice full of anguish. “Every day for twelve years I have thought of you, thought of how I failed you. Don’t leave me here in this dark place. Lend me your power, let me into your mind. Help me to escape…”
    “If you really are my father,” said Rachaelis, lifting her hand, “then you won’t mind if I prove it?”
    Silver astralfire lashed from her fingers, washed over her father.
    “Rachaelis!” he screamed, his tone ripping at her heart.
    And then he vanished. In his place stood a long-dead corpse, rotting skin stretched tight over yellowing bones. A red glow flickered in the empty eye sockets, and a horrible sense of malevolent hatred radiated from the thing like heat from an inferno.
    A ghoul, a demon-possessed corpse. Worse, a greater demon, one powerful enough to cast illusions, and to pluck the details of Rachaelis’s father from her mind.
    “It would have been easier, fleshling,” hissed the ghoul, its voice echoing inside her skull, “if you have given me your body voluntarily.” It stalked towards her. “But what you will not give, I shall take.”
    Rachaelis should have felt terror.
    Instead, rage enveloped her. She had visited her father’s beside almost every day for the last twelve years. And this creature, this miserable thing, had stolen his face.
    And even worse, it had made her feel hope that she might speak with her father again.
    Azure fire blasted from her clenched fists and slammed into the ghoul’s chest, throwing it the base of the dais. Blue astralfire could not harm the demon, not really, but it would damage the corpse. The ghoul howled in rage and sat up, its hands moving in the beginnings of a spell. Rachaelis was faster. White astralfire lanced out, stabbed into the ghoul’s chest. It flopped back against the dais with a tearing shriek of agony. 
    “Mercy!” wailed the ghoul, white astralfire crackling through it. “Release me and shall return to the astral realm, to trouble you no more.” 
    “No,” hissed Rachaelis, and threw all her power and all her rage into the spell. The astralfire redoubled, burning like a shaft of molten steel. The ghoul’s body ripped apart as the astralfire rebounded against the demon’s power. The demon’s form itself rose from the shattered bones, writhing in agony, a hooded shape of smoke and red light.
    And then the astralfire tore it to shreds. A final scream echoed inside Rachaelis’s skull, fading to nothingness. 
    She dropped to one knee, panting, fresh sweat pouring down her face. Her head throbbed and spun. She had pushed herself too hard. That was it. She had no power left. 
    Silver light flashed, and Thalia Kalarien appeared next to her.
    She was smiling.
    “You did it!” she said, and she almost bowled Rachaelis over in a sudden hug. “I knew you had it in you. Didn’t I tell you that you could do it? You did it, you did it, you did it!” 
    More silver flashes. Magisters Arthain and Nazim appeared, followed by First Magister Talvin. Nazim was smiling ear to ear, Talvin looked impressed, and even grim Magister Arthain seemed thoughtful, as if reconsidering his opinion of Rachaelis. 
    “I,” said Rachaelis, as Thalia helped her to stand. “I...that was a trial?   Part of the Testing?” 
    “It was,” said Talvin. “To face a greater demon is the final trial of the Testing. Skill with astralfire and telekinesis is well and good, but a demon is the most terrible foe any Adept must face, both in might and guile. The ultimate purpose of our Conclave is to guard the world of men from the