Griffin’s Lecture

By Andrew Nickerson

The lecture hall of Meade Academy of Magic buzzed with anticipation as students settled behind the room’s many layered desks. As the smells of various cafeteria lunch/drink specials floated all around, merging with the antiquated orders of wood and stone, everyone anxiously awaited the arrival of their special guest: Professor G. Griffin, the highly esteemed master of light and the greatest instructor of combating darkness in history. He was a legend whose experiences were frequently referenced in “What if?” scenarios involving evil mages, monsters, and even demons, making him a prized necessity around the world. Thus, getting a lecture from him anytime was a feat and an honor, and everyone was anxious to get the first glimpse of him when he arrived.

As the clock struck the hour, the sound of thuds echoing in the nearby corridor began rocking the hearts and minds of all present. They stared at each other with a mix of confusion and anticipation—maybe the professor was about to conduct a demonstration? He was known to occasionally do so, and rumors began immediately swirling as to what they’d witness. An exorcism? A purification ritual? Perhaps a binding? No one had any answers, and as the thuds got louder imaginations began going haywire…until the double doors on the lower-right side of the room were flung open by two academy aides, both of which summarily scurried back into the hallway with bowed heads within milliseconds. “Don’t do that,” a potent voice, bearing a great deal of experience and fortitude, commanded. “I’m no deity.”

“Of course, professor,” one of the aides hastily replied.

“Wait for me to clear the doors before closing them,” the voice ordered. “I’ve had enough accidents with those things as is.” This time, the reply was incoherent, but no one could’ve heard it anyway once the voice’s owner entered the room: a massive griffin, its lion coat a pristine gold and its wing/head feathers shinier than the sun. Jaws dropped and eyes went wide as the mighty creature, who had to be at least 10 feet tall and maybe half as much wide, squeezed through the double doors, albeit with some effort, his claws clicking on the tile. Shaking its head, the griffin fluffed out its wings and preened them slightly before wandering over to the desk just in front of the room’s chalkboard, plopping down on its hindquarters before turning to face the students. Its stunning emerald-green gaze swept the room, its lips curling slightly as the doors closed with a soft click. “Thank you for coming today,” the griffin began. “My name is Professor Gull Griffin, but please call me Gull.”

His friendly tone managed to take away a little tension, and the room slowly returned to its original mood. “It’s an honor to meet you, Professor,” a young man in the front row said. 

“Gull, please,” the professor insisted. “I’m not formal.” He smiled, and a few people chuckled. “Now, I suspect you’re all wondering what I’m planning on lecturing about, so I’ll put your concerns to rest: Essence magic.”

The room buzzed heavily over that. Essence magic usage was a craze sweeping through a lot of remote areas, one many professors were extremely nervous about. Oddly, no one could articulate why it was so taboo, leaving students baffled. “P—I mean Gull, do you really know what’s so wrong about the practice?” a woman in the second row asked. “No one seems able to articulate why.”

“Sadly, I do,” Gull answered. “That’s why I’m here, and what I’ll be doing for the next few months: making a circuit of academies to warn them about the evils of this threat.”

“But how evil is it? No bad signs are visible, and the reports from the outer regions all seem lethargic,” a young man in the third row said.

“Well, it’s time to dispel that myth,” Gull told everyone, chuckling slightly. “Sorry, that phrase always sounds silly when I use it.” A few more laughs followed from the audience, but then his face turned deadly serious. “As every student at every magic academy learns their first day, magic itself is neither inherently good nor evil at its base. All it is, at its core, is energy manipulation. The class of magic you practice is determined by the form of energy you tinker with. For example, elemental magic involves manipulating anything having to do with the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water, and so on. For something to be considered evil, or dark magic, requires one of two things: the energy comes from an evil source, such as a demon, or if it’s used for evil purposes, like torture or genocide. Texts make that more complicated than it sounds, but that’s all it really comes down to.”

The crowd buzzed a little, but Gull cleared his throat for quiet. “However, as these academies also mention, there are multiple classes of spells, each more advanced than the previous ones, all of which require advanced time, training, and maturity to master. Thus, the more powerful the spell is, the longer it takes to learn to wield it effectively. Technically, you students could use them right away, but without the necessary wisdom and experience the effects can be catastrophic. For example, about ten years ago a young mage tried to use an inferno tornado spell to stop an ice dragon in the frozen north, but he’d only just graduated a few months prior and thought he could use his favorite master’s spell to silence the beast, thereby proving himself to his superiors. Instead, he lost control almost immediately, wiping out a considerable section of forest and nearly killing an entire fishing village in the process.”

“But did he get the dragon?” the first young man insisted.

“No, the spell killed him before it even touched the animal,” Gull responded. “It took a concerted effort by his comrades to kill the beast, and his story is now an example used by all magic academies of ‘what not to do.’” More buzzing came but then ceased, this time without the need for a gesture. “Anyhow, because of such limitations, many aspiring mages have sought something for the longest time—a short cut, some means to enable beginners to use the epic spells masters are known for wielding. That, young ones, is where Essence comes in.”

“But what is it exactly?” a female student asked.

“It’s a form of magic written in forbidden tomes, many of which we’ve dated as being over 800 years old,” Gull answered. “In these texts, we’ve found the listed spells flood a person’s psyche with a raw form of energy that bypasses most of the barriers in their minds holding them back. As it filters into the very fiber of their being, things like fear, angst, or even naïve thoughts are completely erased and replaced with established words of wisdom, ones that enable mastery of spells normally only controllable by those who’ve practiced/studied for decades. It can even allow complete amateurs to control several powerful spells simultaneously, something only the greatest masters are capable of. This is where the name for this class of spell comes from, because it enables magic mastery by allowing users to tap into the essence of different disciplines.”

“But this sounds amazing!” another young man exclaimed. “What’s so bad about that?”

“That’s what I’m just coming to,” Gull sternly told him. “You see, this sounds nice on its face, but it’s all an elaborate trap…a temptation.” The room’s excitement instantly vanished. “Remember my words on what makes magic evil? Well, the raw energy in this case comes from an evil demon, a deceiver known only as Calo. He lured the first Essence wielders by offering them the short cut they’d sought, saying he could give them what they wanted free of charge—an absolute lie, as those whom he worked with found out too late, even after they recorded his spells for posterity. That raw energy slowly takes over and consumes a person’s psyche, driving them to continue using these kinds of spells all the time. Users become so enraptured with it they stop eating or sleeping, forsake lovers, friends, family, and even slowly turn on each other in their need to prove how great they can be. The urge to keep using this knowledge is also impossible to break without help, since their psyche is slowly overwhelmed and consumed by this corrupting influence, even altering their personality to where they never want to even think about anything else. Point blank, it’s the magical equivalent of a narcotic.”

“My God,” the prior male speaker whimpered.

“I’m not finished,” Gull warned. “Remember, Calo was a deceiver, and one of his lies was that this would enable all users to soon wield every possible advanced spell…given enough time and practice, if you will. However, while this knowledge allows the use of some advanced spells, it never allows the use of the most advanced ones, no matter how hard people practice. They’re always just out of reach, something that causes wielders to press themselves that much harder in trying to attain what they never will. Plus, the spells are never truly as powerful as those learned properly; thus, a master of the same discipline will always be a step ahead of any Essence wielder, regardless of time and practice. And there’s one final bit: when the darkness has consumed enough of a person, they become a living monster, devoid of emotion and filled with hate, capable only of using dark magic no matter what.” 

“That’s so awful,” a woman in the back commented. “Can anything be done to stop it?”

“Yes, but it’s not pleasant,” Gull responded. “A person can be saved, but doing so requires their body be stripped of this evil energy, a purification ritual that’s both difficult and dangerous depending on how long a person has been exposed to it. Since it also involves prying something out of a person they don’t want to give up, the task is exponentially harder, what with the patient trying to kill you the whole time. As the energy is removed, the user’s body is extremely weakened, since this power steals from their life force, like a parasite, attempting to stay in place; many users don’t survive as a result. However, if you’re fortunate enough to survive, you’ll need weeks of extensive healing and regenerative spells to recover, although the exact long-term effects of Essence addiction, as we’re calling it, are still unclear. But one thing we do know for a fact is this: even if you recover, your psyche is so damaged you’ll never wield magic again.”

That got a huge reaction from the crowd. “Why don’t more people know this?” a male student demanded.

“We’re trying as hard as we can, but many out there either don’t want to know or simply don’t care,” Gull explained. “I’ve lectured on this for months now, and we still haven’t managed to locate and destroy all the Essence tomes yet. Also, some magic academies I’ve spoken at have had students go off and try out Essence magic themselves, often claiming ‘it sounded like fun.’ This is why we’re destroying the tomes—preventing impulses from taking over.”

“Is there anything we can do to help?” a female student in the third row inquired.

“Help me spread the word,” Gull answered. “I’m afraid that’s the only option until we can destroy all the tomes and purge this hellish influence from the world. That’s all for me today, everyone. I need to go and speak at another academy shortly, but I expect you to take my words to heart.” The audience nodded and applauded him, whereupon he bowed and headed for the door, squeezing back out before the doors clanged shut behind him. He walked down the hall praying he’d gotten through to them…as well as to the young man in the back, who’d spent much of the warning section rolling his eyes and yawning. Hopefully, he wasn’t going to be the next fool who thought essence magic sounded fun—but sadly, he’d been wrong before.

Andrew Nickerson is originally from Massachusetts, and has long been a fan of sci-fi/fantasy. He started out writing poems/short stories in high school, moved to novellas while earning his BA in History (English minor) at UMASS Lowell and JD at Mass. School of Law, and never looked back. He’s since self-published a novella on Amazon, printed one article apiece on Polygon, Anime Herald, this publication, and Pipeline Artists, just printed a short in Evening Street Review, and will soon have another printed in Ariel Chart. He can be found daily on Twitter, analyzing pop culture characters via Sun Tzu (AndrewNickers19@).