(POV: Bertrand Gustaff Kirzenbaum)
.
.
.
"Ok, so. . ." I looked left and right for a clean spot on the desk that I could lean on. Papers to the left. Papers to the right. Glass jars containing several different brains. Ugh, ok, keep calm.
"F-for now let's sit on the floor, yes?"
She nodded slowly, while her big black eyes were glued to me. She on the carpet in the centre of the room.
I grabbed a couple of candles and, much to my regret at suggesting the floor, I sat while my knees and back cracked non-stop. the girl was looking down as if she had a huge weight on he head that impeded her to rise.
"Mister, is my dad coming back?"
A couple of tears ran down her cheek as she silently wept.
*Sigh.* "Lady, don't you trust your old man?"
She looked at me like a puppy who has been denied a treat and quietly said: ". . .Un"
"Then if he says he is coming back, then he is. Now, he paid me some good coin to teach you, and that is what I'm going to do."
I drew the glyph for air with my fingertip and directed it to the curtains, producing a small gust of wind that opened the curtains, letting that much-needed light in which brightened up this gloomy and dim room.
The girl's eyes opened like marbles and started sparkling, "Mister, Mister what did you do?!"
"Huh? I just opened the curtains."
"No, no. The thing, What you just did with your finger!" She started jumping while she was still sitting down. Is this those mood swings kids have that I've heard so much about?
"Wait, has your old man never done that before."
"Nah-ha. Is that magic?"
Oh dear. We are starting with the basics then. "Magic?! Magic is for street performers and illusionists, you neanderthal! This is thaumaturgy."
She nodded in quick succession while waiting for me to continue.
"Ok, uh. So I guess we have a starting point now." I pointed to a roll of parchment on one of the shelves "Be a good girl and give me that."
She nodded, hopped like a bunny and returned with the object.
"Ok girl now tell-"
"My name is not 'girl', it is Aerin" She said with her lips flattened and her furrowed eyebrows that made leathery lines on her small forehead.
". . .right, Aerin." As soon as I mentioned her name she grinned with all her little teeth in a row
I continued, "If you want to learn about thaumaturgy, you are going to have to learn about the history of the world. You can't learn one without the other" I pointed my index finger at her
"Understood?"
She nodded several times again.
"So, Aerin. First. I need you to answer a couple of questions to know where to start."
"Uhuh."
"What year were you born?"
"According to dad, I was born in 345 AT"
"And what year is it today?"
"Today is 351 AT."
"And what does 'AT' stand for?"
She opened her mouth but didn't say anything just to close it again. It happened like three times until she began stroking her chin and she finally responded: "After the Theosomachia?"
Marvellous! For a girl that young to know that. We are off to a good start "Do you know what the Theosomachia was?"
She moved her head to the sides, slowly, as if she were to be scolded for not knowing "Ok, don't worry. We are off to a good start here."
I took the parchment and unrolled it, revealing a not very detailed map of the Continent of Gondwana.
.
.
(Author's note. this is the map if you are interested:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1TPqw371kkWY-Tqy-hgYBd11n7R64e75d )
.
.
"Many centuries ago, mortalkind came to a realization: We did not need the gods anymore. We had enough of their constant abuse and treatment of mortalkind as if we were dispensable toys. Many heroes banded together back then and led their Armies against the angels and demons the gods sent them."
I took a pause to look at the girl to see if she was still paying attention, and much to my joy, she was still wide-eyed. You are too bright, girl!
"Among them was: 'Martyr Hansald, First of the Liches' and leader of the Undead army; the still living, Vandred 'The Godslayer'; Lord of the forest: Gwyn ap Nudd; . . . and any more. "
I continued "For each god that we fell, millions died of our own. But there was one thing our ancestors couldn't have foresighted: For each god that died, what they controlled would be out of order. When Elingana, God of seas and Water fell, All the other continents but Gondwana were flooded. When Zurong, God of fire died, volcanoes began erupting, enveloping what little was left in a crimson inferno. . .such devastating disasters were already unstoppable as neither mortalkind nor the Gods could have stopped the war by this point. It was at this point that the Gods unleashed their most terrible curse upon us: what we know now as 'The Scourge'."
I looked at her again and asked "Aerin, do you know what zombies are?"
She nodded and was quick to respond "They are a type of undead, spread by a virus that corrupts the soul."
"Ah, such a smart girl, Albert has done well. . . indeed. that is what they are. The scourge, however, was a whole different thing. You see, when a zombie is created it remains a zombie, never changing. Scourge-affected bodies, however. . . are downright monstrosities. At first, they are not unlike zombies, but then, their bodies start forcibly evolving. Those that haunt the cities would break their own bone structure to become more dog-like. Those that hunt in the seas combine their legs into one and start growing fins. Even worse was the origin: Mother; an amalgamation of goo and every living being that has walked this earth."
I caressed the part of the map that had 'No man's land' written over it. "It was then that Hansald, decided to sacrifice himself for the sake of a future. as only a living being can become Scourge-affected. Needless to say, he saved us, but he became a Martyr in the process."
"So how did the war ended, mister?"
"No one knows."
"Huh?"
"What marked the end of the Theosomachia was an event called 'The Collapse'. Funny enough, no one knows how it happened, or who caused it, one theory is that when the last god that controlled Heaven and Hell died, those two merged with the mortal realm, that is why demons and angels live on the same plane of existence as us"
She stared at me expectantly, not losing a gram of interest on her face.
". . ."
"What?"
". . .so how does magic work?"