Spirit of Vengeance - 7. Ch 07: Intervention

CHAPTER 7: Intervention

Nathan had a habit of being weird so I could hardly believe he was right. That thing, that beast, he described actually existed.

“What else have you not told us?” Ernie asked Nathan. We were seated around a fire, a reprieve from the frigid cold. It was the third day of the Rites and the trainees who went into the caves to become journeymen had returned. Most were taking a rest before we all headed back to Malden.

“Nothing,” Nathan replied and sighed heavily as Ernie just stared at him suspiciously. “Seriously, it was just stories my parents told me. How was I supposed to know one of those things would show up?”

“Your parents told you stories about gigantic, ice-covered, ravaging beasts with sharp teeth that could rip a man’s head off in the blink of an eye?” Ernie asked sarcastically.

Nathan just stared blankly at him.

“You’re serious?” Ernie asked. “You have some sick parents, my friend.”

“They happen to know that I enjoy learning about things in nature,” Nathan said. “That includes plants and animals.”

“Enjoy?” Ernie asked. “Try obsessed.”

“Will you two knock it off already?” I asked as I massaged my forhead with fingers from both hands. “Your bickering is giving me a headache and it’s hard enough to keep my concentration on my magic while my shoulder is aching like this.”

“Stop being a baby,” Ernie said. “The healer said the pain’s just in your mind now. Your shoulders are fine. Your brain’s just a little too slow to register that. What were you two doing out there anyway? You still haven’t answered that question. Master Rumford said you were way beyond the borders he set for camp. You’re lucky that beast roared so loudly, otherwise we wouldn’t have known anything was wrong until you both were encased in your own personal ice tombs.”

“I told you I was checking something,” I replied. I didn’t want to lie to my friends. Technically, I wasn’t lying. I just wasn’t telling them the whole truth. “Something was moving there in the trees and I wanted to figure out what it was.”

“How could you not see that thing from so far away?” Ernie asked. “I mean it was huge. How’d you miss something like that before it was able to pounce on you?”

“It pounced on Lance, not me,” I corrected.

Ernie snorted. “Too bad you didn’t let that thing finish Lance off before killing it.”

“I hope you are jesting, young Ernest,” a voice said from behind us. “I would hate to think you would think so ill of a fellow mage.”

“Master Archer,” Ernest said hastily as he stood up. My uncle seemed to have a nasty habit of sneaking up on Ernest at the worst times. “I was just having some fun. No real harm intended.”

“Of course,” my uncle said before taking a seat around the fire and warming himself. “If you can excuse us boys, I’d like to have a word with my nephew.”

“Yes, Master Archer,” Ernie replied. Nathan stood with him and prepared to leave.

“By the way,” my uncle said, “it seems young Lance is alright, although he might need some help travelling back to Malden.” He then turned towards Ernie and seemed to be asking an unspoken question.

“Of course,” Ernie said. His face was straight but his voice seemed strained. “I’ll be glad to help him on the way back to Malden.”

“I’m sure he will be glad to hear that,” my uncle said. “With the way his stomach was mangled by that thing, he seems to have some problems controlling his bowels. They just seem to come out at any given time without warning and in such magnificent amounts. I’m sure you won’t mind helping him clean it up?”

Ernie’s mouth hung agape. It was like he was trying to say something but no words came out. It was almost like his eyes and fingers were twitching and I tried my best to hold back my laughter but I wasn’t sure how successful I was.

“I am certain Ernie will do a magnificent job,” Nathan said as he tugged on Ernie’s arm. Ernie wouldn’t budge even with Nathan’s pulls. After awhile, he pulled with greater force and seemed to drag Ernie away who could not seem to comprehend what he just heard.

“You’re not serious, are you?” I asked, smiling.

“Unfortunately, no,” he replied. He did not smile or chuckle but you could almost tell beneath his expression that he wanted to. “It would have been an interesting sight to watch Ernest toil over such an ordeal. Speaking of ordeals,” he paused as he looked seriously at me, “it might be silly to ask but are you alright?”

“I’m fine, uncle,” I said, knowing it was time to discuss more serious matters.

“Tell me what happened,” he said. “I want to know everything. Don’t leave anything out.”

I stared intently at him, trying my best to hide my surprise. It was almost like he knew I had left out some details from what I had told Master Rumford. But then again, he could as easily have been stabbing at the dark. Whatever the case was, I decided to be honest with him.

He listened attentively as I relayed everything that occurred (including that smiling thing that approached me). Oddly enough, he did not seem to find it strange in the slightest bit. I was watching his face, waiting for any sign of surprise or recognition but all I saw was apparent curiosity. When I was done telling him everything, he mulled it over for a few minutes before speaking again.

“Well, I am glad to hear you are alright,” he finally said. “You should get ready. We are going to leave soon.”

“Uncle,” I said frowning to him, “do you not find what I told you strange at all? You didn’t even ask me about that thing that drew me into the forest.” I paused. “Do you know what it was?”

He looked at me for a long time, enough to make me feel uncomfortable. Eventually, he sighed. “Yes,” he said, “I do. And I do not like what his intervention means for you. He likes to play his tricks but he only does so upon those who are tested to become journeymen. You are not yet at that point and so coming to you this early can mean many different things, none of which I am sure I will like.”

“Him?” I asked. “That… thing was a person?”

“No,” my uncle replied. “He is what some might call a spirit or a magical essence. Some might even say he is a creature of magic. He is much like The Lady, although nowhere near as powerful. Some consider him an offspring of The Lady. He is one of those powerful enough to manifest himself in the physical world through objects rather than people. He has chosen not to use a human host and instead dwells within these caverns. He was selected by The Lady to test those who will become journeymen. Those who meet his approval and blessing shall return to Malden where they shall meet The Lady for the first time and where they shall be inducted finally as journeymen.” He paused when he realized I wasn’t really listening. “Nephew?”

“An offspring…” I muttered, dumbfounded, “of The Lady?”

“You seem distraught,” my uncle stated the obvious.

Of course I was. The Lady had always been described in near-divine terms for my whole life. She was treated almost like a deity. Although I had never seen her and had no idea what she looked like, I always imagined her to be a beautiful woman – the most beautiful woman in the world, bathed in light, shining her goodness over her people. How in the world was that horrible creature of ice, snow, mud, and wood her child?

“I see you have much to think about,” my uncle said patting my knee, probably having no idea what was really in my thoughts. “Best make sure your things are ready. We will leave here soon and it would be difficult to return for them.”

It was while he walked away that something he said came back to my mind. “Human host?” I said out loud. What did he mean by that?

* * * * * * * * * *

The journey back to Malden seemed far quicker than the journey to the Hoarfrost Caverns. Much to Ernie’s relief, no bowels were disengaged during the trip back but Lance seemed set to ignoring him the whole time. This, in truth, suited Ernie just fine.

The beast that had attacked Lance and I was hidden inside a cart hastily constructed at the site. Instead of ropes, the wood was held together by water, enchanted to freeze into ice and would not melt. The spell would weaken with enough time but it was sufficient for the journey back to Malden. The beast itself was covered by a large piece of cloth to hide it from the prying eyes of curious trainees.

Everyone who took the Rites had passed. Another seventeen trainees would advance to journeymen. They would take on new responsibilities and would perform tasks assigned to them directly by The Lady if needed. What was more important was that once they return to Malden and met the Lady, their magic will be purged and re-written by The Lady herself. Their ability to perform Water Magic would multiply tenfold. Moving entire lakes would take no more effort than lifting a small cart by magic. However, their ability to perform any form of magic other than Water Magic would be severely dampened. It would still be there but in such a tiny fraction that it might as well not exist.

Grand Master Assero was there, waiting at the Arborium’s entrance as he always did when he waited for the return of those who participated in the Rites. He would be the one to lead the journeymen into the Arborium, The Lady’s dwelling place. It is there where they shall see her for the first time. He was flanked by most if not all the Masters in the city that did not accompany us to the caverns. Behind them all loomed the large double doors of the Arborium. Water flowed freely along the walls behind them.

“Welcome home,” he said, smiling. He was aged (even older than Master Leveret, which seemed almost impossible). His white hair gave him the look of someone who had seen more things than his life should have allowed. He was not in any way diminished though. He was as strong as the first time I saw him when I first came to the city. “You have journeyed hard. You have journeyed far. And now, you shall become journeymen where new paths will form before you. Your life as Water Mages begins truly today.” He stopped and turned back into the Arborium. The masters waited a second before turning as well and then following him inside. The future journeymen waited a second more before following. Those of us who were still trainees remained outside along with the journeymen who had accompanied us.

“Doesn’t he ever change what he says?” Ernie asked. Lance had been taken to the infirmary. As such, Ernie was free from having to take care of him. Nathan of course was with him.

“I think its tradition,” Nathan said. “It’s something always said to journeymen when they return.”

“Where did it go?” someone exclaimed loudly. I did not know who he was. I just knew that he was one of the journeymen that were tasked to guard the cart containing the beast. “It’s gone!”

“What do you mean it’s gone?” asked another journeyman whose name I knew to be Jonathan. I only knew him because he was introduced as the most senior journeyman and would be the head of all the journeymen. He looked into the cart and stared as though he could not understand what he was seeing.

Everyone crowded around the cart. All the masters had entered the Arborium. As such, the journeymen were left in charge. However, even their curiosity seemed to outweigh their desire to maintain control. Ernie, Nathan, and I nudged our way through the crowd until we were by the cart as well.

True enough, the beast was no longer there. All that was left was a very wet blanket that was used to cover the creature. It was as if it had melted on the way back.

“This can’t be,” Jonathan said. “I saw the thing. It was dead. And it had flesh.”

“Are you sure it was flesh?” the other journeyman, the one who discovered the disappearance, said. “From the looks of this, it looks like that thing melted. Maybe it was made of ice?”

“Ice,” Jonathan said. “But if it was made of ice, then that could only mean it was being held by magic and that someone was controlling it.”

“But we didn’t sense anyone there,” the unnamed journeyman said. “I checked myself when we heard the attack. No one was anywhere near the creature except Lance and…” he paused and then turned to me. As he did so, everyone turned to me.

“I didn’t do it,” I said. Of course I reacted. The implications of his words were so obvious. “I didn’t make that thing attack Lance. I didn’t even know what that thing was.”

“You were the only one there,” Jonathan said, frowning. “Where did it come from then?”

“Why were you all the way out there anyway?” someone else said. “I mean it’s common knowledge you and Lance hate each other but I never thought you’d go so far.” I wasn’t quite sure if he sounded impressed or disturbed.

“I didn’t do it,” I repeated.

“But if you didn’t,” someone else said. “Then who?”

“Samuel,” someone else said.

“I said I didn’t do it!” I replied angrily. I paused and stared at the last person who spoke who was looking at me with a frown. “Oh, Master Rumford.”

Master Rumford surveyed the group crowded around the cart. His eyes fell on the wet blanket which was in Jonathan’s hand. They only lingered there for a moment before he turned back to me. “Samuel,” he said again. “Your presence is required in the Arborium immediately.”

At this, hushed voices filled the crowd. Trainees were not allowed into the Arborium unless it was to become journeymen. As far as I knew, no Trainee had ever entered there for any other reason.

“But Master Rumford,” Jonathan said. “The beast. It’s gone.”

“I can see that well enough myself, thank you.” There was no condescension in his words. Rather it sounded more like his greatest fears were confirmed. “If I understand things correctly, you think young Samuel here may have conjured or controlled that… beast?” He said it as if he was asking a question but his tone also made it clear he was not expecting answer. “Truly, do you think he, as a trainee, is capable of such magic? You think he could do something like that without having undergone the Rites? Truly? I have more reason to believe it was journeyman than a trainee. Perhaps it was you Jonathan.”

“Master,” Jonathan looked aghast. All the color seemed to drain from his face. “I… I didn’t… I wouldn’t do something like that.”

“I know,” Master Rumford said. “As should each of you. You know it wasn’t Jonathan. You also know it wasn’t Samuel. Yet you speculate as if such things were possible.”

Silence descended on the crowd. Some even looked abashed.

“I expected more of you,” Master Rumford said, his voice dripping with disappointment. “Come Samuel. They wait for us.”

He turned without waiting for me. I didn’t hesitate to follow him but not before giving Ernie and Nathan a glance. Ernie seemed confused about the whole thing and shrugged to me. Nathan just looked plain confused.

It was the first time I had ever been inside the Arborium. The hallway looked even bigger inside than from the outside. The stone walls were made of the same material that comprised most of Malden except they had fluid forms that were probably caused by the water that constantly flowed over them. Small crevices at the top came in evenly distributed patterns from which water flowed and turned according to the shape of the stone beneath it. At first I wondered where at the bottom the light was coming from and then I realized that the light wasn’t coming from anywhere in the pool where the water coalesced.

“The water is glowing!” I exclaimed with surprise.

“Indeed,” Master Rumford said with a nod. He showed no change in emotion from his more serious demeanour when he spoke so I took my eyes away from further admiration of the surroundings.

“Master,” I tested tentatively once we were inside the Arborium.

“Yes?” Master Rumford said without looking at me. His pace was brisk so I had some difficulty keeping up while appearing calm.

“As much as I am honored to be entering the Arborium,” I said and waited to see if he would say something. When he didn’t, I continued, “am I in trouble?”

He chuckled and smiled and I felt some of my worry ebbing away. “Actually,” he said, “yes, you are.”

“I am?” I asked confused. I had assuming chuckling meant no. “But, what did I do wrong?”

“I don’t think it is so much what you did wrong,” my uncle said as his voice drifted towards us. He was waiting for us at the end of a hallway next to a closed door. He was not frowning but I could tell he was disturbed somehow. Perhaps it was my empathy kicking in again. His very neutral and calm look could not fool me. “But I think it is more of what you did right.”

“Uncle,” I said and then corrected myself. “Master Archer, I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

Instead of responding, he flicked a finger and the door behind him moved. It opened up into a majestic room as tall as the hallway. Half the room had the same flowing water as was in the hallway except instead of stone, it looked like they were flowing over glass or crystals. The light from outside could be seen clearly brightening the room. There were several bookshelves containing books and scrolls and other unknown devices. Some of them looked like hilts to old weapons of some sort. In the middle of the room was a large stone table of no particular shape. It sort of just jutted out of the floor and its top polished flat for reading or writing.

I half expected The Lady to be sitting behind it but instead it was Grand Master Assero, looking over scrolls and books sprawled across the table’s surface. “Come in,” he said without looking at me.

I was surprised. I didn’t know what the last step to become a journeyman was but I figured Grand Master Assero would be there to oversee it. Yet, there he was seated calmly on a desk without another soul in sight. Actually, that wasn’t quite right. There was another person in the room, seated to the side on a long hard chair that could sit several people at once. That other man sat, frowning as he peered at me intently as though he was trying to analyze me. Hs gaze made my skin prickle and I suppressed the urge to scratch my neck where I felt the hairs rise on end.

I walked tentatively towards Grand Master Assero after looking at my uncle behind me who merely nodded. Once I was inside the room, my uncle came in but not Master Rumford. He closed the door behind him and stood right in front of the door as though barring it from any attempt at escape.

I stood there uncertain if I was supposed to say anything. The person on the side remained silent, though his gaze remained fixed on me. Grand Master Assero seemed content to ignore me and just read through scrolls. As such, I just stood there waiting for someone to say something.

“The City of Malden is over three hundred years old,” Grand Master Assero finally said after enough minutes to make me sweat had passed. He spoke again without looking at me. “Did you know that?”

I looked uncertainly at my uncle. He nodded to me as though to say he’s asking you.

“No, Master,” I replied. “I did not.”

“Well, it most certainly is,” he said calmly. “Are you familiar with The Great Discovery?”

I nodded. “Yes, master. It was the cataclysmic event that had brought about the existence of magic. It was said that the barriers between this world and another were shattered. Magic and magical creatures poured forth from another realm into our own destroying most of civilization and the human race.”

“A sufficiently detailed description and close enough to the truth,” Grand Master Assero said with a nod of approval. “It’s amazing how most people today do not even think of The Great Discovery, much less the Demon Wars that came immediately after it. The chaos that nearly wiped out all of humanity seems to many as something made simply of fables of courage and strength, tales of hope and despair, stories we can simply opt to believe in or put aside. It’s like it never even happened for many of us. We live with so little to accomplish and aspire for in life that we settle for the accomplishments of day to day activities. Over hundreds of years, we’ve become rural. People are farmers, herders, traders, merchants, nothing more. Certainly there are a few who aspire to do research in the fields of magic but those are few and far apart.”

I remained silent unsure where he was going.

“Do you aspire to become something greater, Samuel Archer?” he asked.

The question caught me off guard. What did he mean? “Of course, Master,” I said. “I want to learn everything I can about Water Magic. I want to be the best I can be in our Circle.”

“To what end?” he asked. When I remained silent, he continued. “What will you do once you’ve learned everything you can from us? What will you do once you have been granted the rank of Master of Water? What will you do with your knowledge? Your power? Will you stay here in Malden to teach the next generation of mages? Will you leave and explore the world, using your skills as you best see fit? What will you do Samuel Archer?”

“I…” I said. “I must confess Grand Master that I have not really thought about it yet.” He remained staring at me as though waiting for me to say something more. “I… I don’t know what I’m going to do in the future.”

“Today,” he said as he continued to stare at me, “your path shall deviate from the norm. The Lady has chosen you to advance in your training. You shall move one form forward and train with the next set of trainees who will take the Rites.”

I was surprised and that was the least of the emotions I was feeling. I was excited, frightened, and perhaps most importantly confused.

“Why?” I asked before I could stop myself.

Grand Master Assero looked at me and raised an eyebrow (or at least what was left of it since his eyebrows had been thinning with age). “It seems you have caught The Lady’s eye with what you had done outside the Hoarfrost Caverns. Understand that such an advancement is rare. It is not something The Lady gives just to anyone. However, I should not truly be surprised. You are after all your uncle’s nephew. Oh yes,” he said at the look on my face, “he was advanced as well and is now one of the most trusted of The Lady’s disciples. There are things he knows that even I do not.”

That was most certainly impressive. The Grand Master was known as The Lady’s First. For my uncle to know things the Grand Master does not would have been a prestigious position. However, when I glanced at my uncle, he did not seem particularly… pleased about the news. I realized then that my gift of empathy was indeed kicking in again and I could almost sense that my uncle was more troubled than anything about what the Grand Master had said.

If Grand Master Assero noticed anything, he didn’t say so. “All your instructors will be notified at once. Your new scheduled shall begin tomorrow. You will not receive additional training for the extra year you would have had to learn. You must take the initiative to learn everything on your own. Just because you were chosen by The Lady does not mean you will be given any special consideration. You are at the same level as every other trainee. You are not better than them. You are still one of them. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Master,” I replied.

“You are, however, going to take on a special instructor,” Grand Master Assero said, “not because of your advancement but because Master Archer has brought to our attention some things that must be… handled.” He then turned towards the other man seated in the room.

The other man stood and I got a better look at him. He wasn’t dressed in typical mage robes. He wore what looked like long, leather hunting vests over leather pants and a dirt dyed linen shirt. Fur covered a substantial portion of his cloths, perhaps from a wolf. His hair was long and rugged as though his face had never met a razor his entire life. It was black as night and there seemed to be something almost… feral about the way he looked at me.

He walked casually towards me while Grand Master Assero and my uncle simply watched. He was much taller than me so he had to look down as he stood right in front of me. “You don’t look like much,” he said.

My mouth sat half-open.

“Samuel,” Grand Master Assero said, “let me introduce Magister Sigmus.”

Another magister? That meant he was an outsider like Magister Aenhol who visited so many years before.

“Tell me boy,” Magister Sigmus said, cutting off whatever else Grand Master Assero was going to say. The much older man did not seem offended by the interruption. “Can you guess what I’m supposed to teach you?”

“Te-teach me?” I asked.

He stared intently at my eyes and I could feel a prickling sensation behind them. It felt like he was trying to gouge them out with magic. And then I realized that the sensation was similar to something I felt before. It was much like the way Magister Edward Aenhol did when he was trying to read my emotions and thoughts back when I first met him. The difference was that Magister Sigmus was more forceful in his approach and it was almost giving me a headache. I tried pushing back the same way I had with Magister Aenhol. The moment I did, it felt like my mind had slammed against a huge wall and I fell to the floor gasping as my mind felt like it was stabbed with a spike.

Magister Sigmus harrumphed. “This,” he said in a way that I could almost hear the sneer in his voice, “this is what I was sent here to teach?”

“We have welcomed you, unreserved,” my uncle suddenly spoke up with anger in his voice. “But I will not have you treating one of our students like this.”

“Would you rather I leave then?” Magister Sigmus asked. “I am here only because Edward asked me and I owe him more than just a favor. I will teach the way I always have. If you are unhappy with my methods, then I can leave.”

“You…” my uncle spat.

“…will stay,” Grand Master Assero interrupted. He then turned to Magister Sigmus. “I do not approve of your methods. But even I acknowledge that some things are necessary. Samuel will take his Rites within a year. He must have his gift of empathy under control by then. We cannot have it proving a weakness for him.”

“Whether his gift becomes a strength or remains a weakness is entirely up to him,” Magister Sigmus said. “Know though that I have trained far better empaths than he whose gifts have brought them their early deaths or were driven mad when they could not distinguish between their own emotions and that of the world. This boy here is not very promising. If there’s nothing else, I will return to my quarters.”

Grand Master Assero nodded and gestured towards his door, which opened on its own.

Magister Sigmus looked down at me again. I stared back at him for a moment before quickly diverting my eyes and bowing my head. He released an almost angry sigh before walking away and muttering seemingly to himself. “I am wasting my time here.”

Once Magister Sigmus had left, my uncle turned to Grand Master Assero. “Grand Master, you can’t have that… thing teach Samuel.”

“He is the only one who can,” Grand Master Assero said with a sad nod. “Stand up, Samuel. It is not fit for a Water Mage to kneel before anyone but the Lady.” He continued as I stood up, “there are not many empaths among mages communities, at least not those skilled enough to teach. For most, their innate gifts are weak that they can do no more than get a feel of what others are feeling. Those gifts are harmless. Samuel’s gift has proven that it is more than just a slight. His empathy is strong and as such it must be put under control.”

“There must be someone else,” my uncle said.

“The only ones we know of to have the same level of gifts he has have sequestered themselves away from mage communities. They live as hermits just so they can feel their own emotions rather than of those around him. Samuel’s gift has not manifested itself completely yet. I suspect even that we’ve only seen a glimpse of it. When it does and if he doesn’t learn to control it, it will drive him mad. Is that what you seek to happen?”

“Of course not,” my uncle replied.

“Then things must be so,” Grand Master Assero said with finality. “I am not pleased with the direction things have turned but we have enough on our plate already to add young Samuel’s gift to the many things we must handle. You know this. The Lady knows this. For now, we must embrace the moment for what it presents to us.

“If there is nothing else, Samuel, I believe it is time you return to your quarters,” he said in a tone that was a clear dismissal. “I imagine the journey to Hoarfrost Caverns would have been quite tiring.”

I nodded to him before turning to the door that had already opened again on its own. My uncle looked like he still had things to say but nonetheless nodded. He stood to the side and followed me out as we walked along the halls of the Arborium. Master Rumford was nowhere in sight.

“Thank you,” I told my uncle as we walked back up. “For trying to reason with Grand Master Assero to find another instructor for me.” I didn’t like what Magister Sigmus did, even though I wasn’t sure what it was. His prying into my mind seemed to have left an ache in it. It was like he had hammered a nail into my head. If that moment was a taste of what was to come, I was sure I wouldn’t like the future as well.

My uncle remained silent. His face was passive as though he was in deep thought.

“You didn’t tell me you were advanced when you were a trainee,” I said in an attempt to have any form of conversation.

His face was stern when he spoke. “Some things are just meant to happen.”

My head was still aching so I wasn’t sure if I was sensing my uncle’s feeling or if I was just imagining it. “Uncle, I get the feeling you are not happy about this. And I don’t mean the empathy training. You seemed displeased that I was chosen to advance.”

We walked a little more before he spoke. “When I was chosen, you can’t imagine how… happy I was to have been selected,” my uncle said. “I had always believed in the ideals of the Circle, the purpose for which we were created. We were here to combat the darkness, to fight the rising evil that threatens to consume our entire world.”

“And yet you’re not pleased I was chosen for a similar path?” I asked.

“Being chosen is not a small thing,” he said quietly. “If your future is anything like mine, you will face such hardships you have never imagined and that’s without this innate gift of yours complicating things. You will do things you never thought you were capable of. The things I’ve had to give up – the things I’ve had to do.” He paused as we finally reached the entrance of the Arborium. It was open but the entrance was empty. It seemed like all the trainees and journeymen had dispersed to spend their time elsewhere. “I wish it wasn’t you.” He placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed.

It was perhaps the greatest form of physical affection he had ever shown me. He never hugged. He was disciplined in many ways, stoic even. That one touch spokes waves of what he felt and I didn’t need empathy to know how he felt.

He wasn’t unhappy that I had been chosen among others. It was more that he was worried for me and my future. It was like he believed I could do great things – he just wished it wasn’t along this path The Lady has apparently chosen for me.

He squeezed my shoulder a second time before turning back into the depths of the Arborium.

NEXT CHAPTER: Ch 08: Empathy
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