Spirit of Vengeance - 3. Ch 03: The Path of Water

CHAPTER 3: The Path of Water

“You are water mages,” Mistress Gwen said, putting a pause on each word as though to emphasize their importance. “You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t. Not only are you capable of controlling water, you are exemplary at it. The Path of Water is not one for everyone and in truth there are not many who have the aptitude to pass the trials you will endure.” She turned slowly pacing towards the other end of the room. “You are here because you have the potential to increase your powers tenfold if you are initiated into the Rites. But know that every action has a cost and while you grow in one aspect, you will weaken in others. Water Magic is serene yet powerful. It cannot do everything but it is capable of great things.”

She turned and saw me standing there by the open doorway. “Yes, Samuel?”

“My apologies for interrupting Mistress Gwen,” I said with a reverential bow. “But Master Archer requires the presence of all master-level mages in the Arborium at the soonest possible time.”

She nodded before turning back to the fifteen odd trainees before her. “We will stop here today but I expect you to have read the history of the Rites. It is crucial that you are intimately aware of what the Rites are for you will one day undergo them yourselves. Is that clear? You are dismissed.”

I stood aside as everyone exited. I wasn’t waiting for Mistress Gwen though. Despite my relation to my uncle, trainees were not allowed in the Arborium. Only journeymen and masters were ever allowed to enter those halls. I gave a courteous nod towards her as she passed and waited patiently for another person.

“Hey Sam,” Matty said with a wide smile.

“Hey Matty,” I replied with a reply. He came out of his long sleep a few days after his arrival to Malden. He had introduced himself as that instead of the more formal Matthew. It had been more than six months since that day.

“How are the trainings so far?” I asked as we started walking with the others towards the courtyard. The others weren’t really paying attention to us. I did however see one or two looking at me with suspicious eyes.

Our worries about Matthew being ostracized were apparently unfounded. Someone (that is to say Ernie) had begun a rumor that Matty was a very powerful mage to whom The Lady had spoken to as soon as he arrived. It was what had caused his episode when he arrived.

Naturally, some were curious with him, especially when they wanted to know the details of the attack on him. However, as with all things, people eventually lost interest. After a few months, the news of his attack became a thing of the past. And when it became apparent that he was not displaying any extraordinary talent when it came to magic, many lost interest in the rumor about him being a powerful mage also. That didn’t mean they ostracized him though. He had quite a few friends and many acquaintances which to be honest made me feel just a tiny bit jealous.

My attempts to become his friend did not go unnoticed though and it was something that has not been forgotten quite yet. Many seemed to be frowning down upon it. It seemed like some thought I was trying to associate myself with powerful mages as though I was trying to gather power, latching myself to people who were or would be powerful. I didn’t know where these things came from but it sort of… hurt that they would think such things when I never before gave the indication of doing anything like that.

“Strange,” Matty said to my question about his training. “There’s more weapons and combat training than actual time spent studying theory. It’s nothing like any academy I’ve attended before. Granted I’ve only been to one but we spent nearly all the time in classrooms either reading the theory behind spells or practicing them. I never thought I’d be working with combat magic and weapons this early. I’m only thirteen!”

He was actually a year and a half younger than me but he had turned thirteen during his time in Malden. At first, I worried the age difference would prevent us from becoming friends. After all, at fifteen, a year and a half was a long time. However, he didn’t seem to find it strange that someone older would want to be his friend. In fact, he even seemed happy about it.

I shrugged. “Didn’t Flo tell you what would be expected of you if you decided to become one of us?”

“She did,” he said as we passed one of the combat training rooms. It wasn’t so much a room as a cavern. It was made of the same stone everything else was made of in Malden except its walls bore the many scars brought on by years of trainees practicing. “It’s just sometimes it feels overwhelming. It’s like I’m not sure I could ever really bring myself to hurt anyone.”

“Well, I’m sure you could if your life or the life of another was in danger,” I said smoothly. “That is after all what we’re about. We’re here to protect life. Or rather we’re here to protect it from Death.”

“Yeah,” he nodded with a frown as we paused to watch the people training. I knew it was one of the topics that made him uncomfortable – that is to say, being possessed by a Lord of the Dead. I don’t know if he remembered anything. It was something I never really wanted to ask because thinking about it seemed to disturb him. I couldn’t blame him really. After all, the idea that someone or something could take over you without you knowing was unsettling.

Another mage passed us, a journeyman actually. He proceeded to the instructor in the room and delivered what I assumed was the same message I did to Mistress Gwen.

The instructor, a fair and capable mage named Master Leveret, nodded at the journeyman. Master Leveret despite his almost ancient looking age was one of the best combat mages I had ever met. He was actually the one who took under his wing those that would undergo the Rites. He would prepare them for battle as though the Rites would be the fights of their lives (which if rumors were correct could very well be the case). He called the attention of the students who were sparring with magic and then announced that he would have to leave and that the students would be dismissed early.

Matty and I waited with smiles as the trainees rushed out, seemingly eager to get out into the sun. We keeping our eyes out for the people we were there for.

“Is this guy bothering you?” Ernie asked as he finally reached us. His shirt was drenched in sweat from the fighting he was doing with the other students. His smile didn’t show any weariness in the slightest bit though.

Behind him trailed Nathan, like he always did whenever the two of them were together.

“No, but your smell is,” Matty replied, waving a hand in front of his nose.

Ernie’s eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. Mine too for that matter. In the six months Matty was in Malden, he’d never once made a crack like that about anyone despite the fact that Ernie keeps dishing them out every few minutes or so.

“Did you just insinuate something about me?” Ernie said in a mock serious voice. He quickly dropped his bag and reached an arm over Matty. The latter was smaller in stature than Ernie and was quickly overwhelmed as Ernie held him in a headlock. “I think there’s hope for you yet.”

“No!” Matty screeched as the back of his head rubbed against Ernie’s undoubtedly sweaty armpits. “Come on. This is inhumane!”

“So, where do you want to go?” Ernie asked normally as though there wasn’t someone slowly suffocating beneath his smelly armpits.

“I dunno,” I said with a shrug and a half-glance at Matty who was still trying to squirm out of Ernie’s grip to no avail. “I didn’t expect training to be cut short today. I don’t want to go back to the dormitories yet. But I don’t want to go to the Cordenat.” The Cordenat was the place all students and teachers in the Academy ate at. If all classes and trainings were suspended, then the Cordenat was bound to be full.

“I know a good spot outside the city,” Nathan said suddenly. “It’s on a cliff's side, near one of the waterfalls. We could stay there until it’s time to go back.”

“Ernie!” Matty begged, still trying to pry himself loose. Ernie ignored him.

“You’re not going to have us collect samples or something, are you?” Ernie asked with a suspicious eye. We all knew about Nathan’s fascinations with anything involving nature.

“Why would I ask you to do that?” Nathan asked with a confused frown.

“Just checking,” Ernie said with a shrug. Matty’s head bobbed with the movement. “Alright, let’s go.” He started walking out of the room with Matty still hunched over in his arm.

“Although,” Nathan said, looking thoughtful, “there is this fascinating type of moss that grows there which turns blue whenever it gets cold.”

Ernie and I groaned, easily drowning out Matty’s continued protests as we dragged him along with us.

* * * * * * * * * *

Ernie finally released Matty when we were outside the city where no one could hear us. Of course he savoured every moment of it even until we passed the sentries that bordered the city. “Prisoner,” he answered to the quizzical look the journeyman was giving him. “Very, very naughty prisoner.”

Matty looked dishevelled as his hair flared about everywhere. He looked totally put out and kept launching glares as Ernie. “Was that really necessary?” he asked.

“Of course it was,” Ernie replied. “You brought smiles to so many people’s faces today. Did you see that sentry we just passed? They never smile on duty. See how much you brightened their day? You’re making the world better already.”

Matty shook his head disgustedly but I could tell there was a small smile playing on his lips already. It was hard to stay mad at Ernie. Despite being the target of his jokes (and no one was ever spared), you could always tell that he did them only in good fun. Deep down, at the very core of things, Ernie was a loyal and trustworthy friend that anyone would be lucky to have by his side.

“How far away is this place?” I asked Nathan.

“Over there,” he said, pointing high up a cliff overlooking the city.

Ernie paused as he gawked at the place. “Did you not just see me fighting the last hour or so in training? You want me to walk that far after the gruelling tasks Master Leveret asked us to do.”

Nathan stared back at him flatly. “Yes.”

Ernie shrugged. “Okay, just checking.”

It took us about thirty minutes to reach the base of the cliff. It wasn’t a vertical drop from the top but quite close to it, making the task of climbing it looked daunting.

“Last one there gets his head dumped in moss,” Ernie said as he quickly began climbing. Despite his earlier complaints about the training he just came from, it was clear from his movements that he wasn’t at all that tired.

Matty quickly scaled the wall after him, clearly not wanting to have his head dunked into any more disgusting things.

I looked over at Nathan with a questioning look. He simply shrugged back at me and started climbing.

I looked up at the daunting wall before me. A few years ago, the prospect of climbing such a thing would have seemed impossible to me. Yet the time I’ve spent training in the Academy gave me a confidence that was not undeserved.

A lot of water magic was about imbuing oneself, making one’s body stronger through magic. It was widely accepted that most of the human body was made with water and by using that water to fuel magic, the body could be made to do extraordinary things. It could become more flexible, stronger, and harder. With magic, even the most challenging tasks like scaling an almost vertical wall would seem like it was just a walk in the forest.

I started climbing and quickly caught up with Nathan who didn’t appear to be in the slightest hurry. My fingers latched onto the tiniest ledges with a strong grip, my leg muscles were taut with power but not exhaustion. I could sense the tiny particles of water that thinly coated and pierced the wall letting me know which parts were strong and which parts were fragile enough to give way to my weight. In no time and with almost no effort, I’d managed to catch up to Matty and quickly outpaced him with a smirk.

He looked down nervously and relief flooded his face as he saw that Nathan still had quite a bit to go to catch up with us.

Despite my efforts though, Ernie still reached the top before me. Matty came in a few seconds later with a slightly heavier breath.

“No fair,” he breathed out. “You guys have a full year’s training ahead of me.”

“Stop using your size as an excuse,” Ernie smirked as he reached out with an arm as though to trap Matty’s head in it again.

“Oh no you don’t,” the smaller boy said with a step away. “I’m already stained with your sweat from training. I don’t want to add the sweat you got from climbing.”

Nathan climbed over then and looked around with a pleased smile. It was like he was finally home among the trees, the rocks, and the waterfalls.

“So,” Ernie said with a smirk, “ready to get your head dunked in moss?”

Nathan shrugged. “I like moss.”

Ernie shook his head disbelievingly.

I chuckled. “You know better than to threaten him with anything involving nature.” I paused as I finally saw the sight before us. “Wow…”

The others looked curiously at what I was staring at and I could hear their breaths stop as they also saw. We were overlooking the city and I was seeing it for the first time like I never had before.

Malden was not a big city. All things considered, it was a tiny community with its small population and relatively few buildings. There were perhaps only forty or so buildings in the whole city though several of them reached high with their multi-level structures. One large spire, made from dark sea stone curled high into the air. It was the Arborium where The Lady dwelled.

That wasn’t the most fascinating thing about the city though. To me, it has always been the location it could be found.

Malden was not in the plains of the Seven Cities. If anything, it was as far away from them as could be possible. It was situated high into the Dampean Mountains, southeast of where most mage cities were located. It was near the top of the tallest mountain whose many tips disappeared into the clouds. It was surrounded on all sides by high walls, which formed a form of crater with Malden at its heart. The snow-capped peaks were barely visible beneath the clouds. The snow melted as they fell on the side of the mountain forming a series of lakes and waterfalls that acquiesced into a giant lake far west of Malden, which swirled into a funnel downwards through the ground. It was the only way into and out of Malden save for flying though the mountains.

“It’s beautiful,” Matty said. Even Ernie seemed speechless in the face of Malden’s greatness.

“This is my favorite spot,” Nathan said. He was gazing out into the city with eyes that seemed to see and yet be blind at the same time. It was like he was seeing the world entirely different from the way anyone else could. “You can truly appreciate the power of water and nature here. See the waterfalls around us?” he asked rhetorically. “The water from them comes from the snow above us. Air turned into water as the sky meets the earth. It contains the purest kind of water known to us, the most powerful form of fuel that can be used for our magic. It is the same kind of water that sustains The Lady. It gives her the strongest outlet for which her magic can be channelled.”

“How do you know that?” Ernie asked quietly.

Nathan turned to Ernie with piercing eyes and a solemn voice. “I’ve been collecting samples.”

Ernie looked wide-eyed at Nathan and it seemed like the entire world had frozen over in that moment in time.

And then Nathan smirked.

“Oh dear Lady,” Ernie said with a roll of his eyes. “I can’t believe I almost fell for that! For a moment, you sounded like those cuckoo scientists that live in the Northern Kingdoms,” he quickly charged Nathan and held him in a headlock. “Matty has clearly been a bad influence on you.”

“Clearly,” Matty said as the four of us broke out laughing. Even Nathan didn’t seem the slightest bit perturbed with his posture.

The four of us talked about almost anything that came to our minds. The conversations flowed freely between us without inhibition. I was used to the others by then; Ernie with his vibrant personality, Nathan with his quiet reserve, and Matty with his curious demeanour. It was strange really that we ended up being such close friends given how different our personalities were like.

“What do your parents do?” Ernie asked Matty nonchalantly.

“My parents?” Matty asked.

“You know,” Ernie smirked. “The woman who, Lady forbid, brought your accursed presence into the world. The one who pooped you into existence.”

“My mother,” Matty said as he glared daggers at Ernie’s smirk and at Nathan who was heaving with laughter on the ground, “was and is a healer. A very good one if I might add.”

“A healer,” Ernie nodded appreciatively. “If she was such a good healer, why didn’t she do something about your face?”

“What’s wrong with my face?” Matty asked as though he took the comment seriously.

“Nothing is wrong with your face,” I said before Ernie could make another jab at Matty. “It’s perfectly fine.”

“Really?” Ernie asked with a raised eyebrow at me and a knowing look that made me quite uncomfortable. Once he knew that I was uncomfortable long enough, he turned back to Matty with his ever inquisitive smirk. “So what did or does your dad do?”

At this, Matty blushed and I could already see the grin growing on Ernie’s face. “He’s a barber.”

Ernie started rolling around in the grass laughing. “Oh so that’s what happened to your face.”

To his credit, Matty just rolled his eyes and shook his head. “What do your parents do?” he asked in return.

“My parents,” Ernie said proudly, “are mendicants.”

He was answered by unbridled and endless laughs from Matthew and me. Even Nathan was grinning.

“What?” he asked seriously as he stared at each of us. “What’s funny about being mendicants?”

“Are you serious?” I asked. I never knew his parents were mendicants. There was, technically, nothing wrong with mendicants. They were just the sort of people that preferred to live solitary and quiet lives away from others. They spent most of their time contemplating the mysteries of the world. A lot of mage scholars who contributed to the study of magic were actually mendicants.

“I can just imagine it now,” Matty said in between laughs. “When the mages of Malden came for Ernie, his parents must have been like oh sure, take him already, he won’t shut up and it’s driving us insane.” He couldn’t continue anymore on account of his gasps and guffaws as he clutched his stomach tightly.

“I happen to be fully capable of being quiet and contemplative if I wanted to, thank you very much,” Ernie glared.

Again he was answered by laughter. Even Nathan joined in.

“Well what do your parents do?” Ernie asked with a challenging glare towards me.

“My parents are farmers,” I replied smoothly.

“Boring,” Ernie said with a roll of his eyes.

“This from the son of mendicants?” I asked, grinning widely.

“Whatever,” Ernie chuckled and shook his head. He turned to Nathan. “I don’t suppose I have to ask you what your parents do. We all know they’re mages here.”

Nathan nodded affirmatively.

“What do they do exactly?” Matthew asked curiously. “I mean I know some of the adults teach in the Academy but what do the others do? Like your parents, I mean.”

“Mostly work for the Circle,” Nathan said as he plucked a hairy thread of grass next to his crossed legs. “They’re out of the city most of the time, trying to see what our enemies are up to, doing work for The Lady.”

“Do they ever tell you the things they find out?” Ernie asked with interest. “Like what’s happening out there?”

Ernie rolled the thread of grass between his fingers as he thought about it. “Sometimes.”

We watched him with interest to see if he would say anything else. He remained quiet though and I figured he didn’t want to talk about it. Ernie apparently wouldn’t let it rest so easily though. I suppose he wouldn’t have been Ernie if he did.

“Well, spill it,” he said. “We don’t have all day.”

We did, actually, but I was curious to find out as well. I hadn’t heard of any news from the world outside since the day I was brought to Malden. Trainees were not privy to the meetings of journeymen and masters so we were for the most part kept in the dark with nothing to focus on but our training.

“It’s not good,” Nathan said finally after a very long pause. “You know about the ones we call the Undead who live in the East? It’s said their influence is rising in their territories. I heard my father say that their numbers are swelling and we’re losing more and more mages to them. There have been increased reports of journeymen not making it to their charges before the Undead take them.”

A somber silence descended on us then. Matthew looked particularly disturbed with the news. I knew it bothered him all the more because he was nearly one of those lost to the Undead. I never really asked him about what he experienced under the influence of a Lord of the Dead (for they were the only ones powerful enough to do such a thing). It was an uncomfortable topic that was never brought up. But I knew then that it was still not a forgotten topic as his eyes seemed to glaze and the skin around them hardened.

“Why doesn’t The Lady ask for new Trainees to be brought here sooner?” Matthew asked. “I mean she decides who becomes a part of the Circle right? With all her power, couldn’t she know earlier than the Undead when someone should be brought here?”

The world suddenly dimmed around us. We turned our heads and watched as the sun disappeared behind the mountain’s sides. Malden being squashed between many high mountain faces meant that the sun was obscured from us for most of the day. It was far from being night time but the sun disappeared from our view even in the late afternoon.

“I don’t think it would be wise to question The Lady’s judgement,” Ernie said with a disconcerted look around us as though someone listening in the water had caused the sun to hasten and disappear. Ernie could make light a lot of things and would even dare test his humor against masters in the Academy. The Lady though was one topic he never broached with a jab. If rumors were true, she took everything seriously and had no time for nonsense. He knew better than to risk his life over a joke.

“I don’t think anyone knows how The Lady chooses future mages of the Circle,” I said. “I overheard my uncle talking with that guest, Magister Aenhol. I got the impression that even he didn’t know when or how The Lady decides such things. If he doesn’t know, I doubt anyone else does, except maybe Grand Master Assero. But he spends all of his time with The Lady, rarely ever leaving the Arborium for anything.”

Matthew seemed to contemplate on that for awhile. “I guess,” he shrugged. “Just seems to me like we’ll be able to save a lot more lives if we act sooner.”

“Maybe we should start heading back,” Nathan said with an uncomfortable shiver as a cold wind started picking up around us. The departure of the sun seemed to sap the heat from the land around us.

“Sure,” Ernie said as some of his vitality returned to him. Suddenly he perked up and stood quickly. “Hey, take a look at what I learned yesterday.”

He waved his hands in intricate patterns and I felt his magic swirl into the air. Water from the nearby waterfalls separated from its source and converged around him. More and more they continued to build until Ernie held before him a dome of crystalline water large enough to encase his entire body and more.

“Watch,” he said with glee-filled eyes as he shoved the water over the edge of the cliff we climbed and then jumped after it.

“Ernie!” I yelled in a panic as I saw him disappear over the edge. I watched with a pounding heart as Ernie plummeted to the ground far below him with water preceding his way.

The giant orb of water burst when it hit the ground but instead of dispersing formed a splotched shape like some form of bush reaching out to the sky. Ernie plunged into the water which easily slowed his descent. As his feet hit the ground, the water dispersed as though the magic that held them together was released. The water flowed away and Ernie looked up at us completely dry, grinning like a madman.

“Show-off!” I yelled at him. I turned to Nathan and saw that he already had the same massive orb of water floating before him. He gave me an apologetic shrug before plunging down the side of the cliff the same way as Ernie. He landed smoothly and dry also, the water dispersing as though his skin and clothes repelled the water.

“Please don’t tell me you know how to do that too.” I told Matthew.

He snorted. “I’m younger than you and a whole form behind. What makes you think I’d know how to do something like that? Aren’t you at the same level of training as them?”

“Supposed to be,” I said with a frown. “I mean I think I understand the theory behind what they did and I might be able to replicate it. It hasn’t been done in any of our trainings though.”

“Let’s not find out today if you can or cannot do it alright?” Matthew said with a pat on my shoulder. “I don’t think Ernie will appreciate being made to clean up the bloody mess you’d make if you failed.”

I sniffed. “If I knew he’d be the one that would have to clean it up, I’d gladly risk it. Knowing him though, he’d probably leave me for the insects to devour.”

“Well,” Matthew said as he turned around preparing to climb down the mountain the same way we got up. “They better start teaching us these things because I have a feeling Ernie will be rubbing it in for quite some time.”

Moving forward, a new chapter will be posted every Tuesday (rather than the Thursday).
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