by Shanon Chong
Mr Statler smiled. “Well then, let’s begin.”
Chapter 18: Our Trial
“Wow, I didn’t think you two would actually try joining the mission…” Alista said as he approached us. “I mean, Theo seems to have changed.”
I hadn’t really experienced that many physical changes; my body still looked thin and weak. My mage’s robes covered whatever muscle I had built. Rachel looked over at me. For the past three months, we’d trained to make Mr Statler’s idea a reality. Our original sentiments about the simplicity of the tactic had made us cringe as we’d trained, but now I couldn’t really say what we thought about the teacher’s choice.
“Well, is there a test or something?” I asked. “Were you not going to test us if hadn’t reached an expected level?”
“I would’ve given you a harsh wakeup call if you were cocky about your strength.”
“Huh. Okay, then… Well, whose testing us? I mean, you’re a little too strong for us.” Who else would test us? Alista had probably outsourced some help from a few third-years to evaluate us. It didn’t sound absurd, but I didn’t really know Alista too well, so anything could happen.
“Me,” Alista replied. “Who else would want to test you?” Alista chuckled slightly before continuing. “Did you think I’d leave it to a student?”
“I did, actually,” I said honestly. “Well, I mean, I was just considering your strength.”
“Too bad, I guess,” Alista proclaimed, smiling slightly as he wallowed in our pain. “I won’t use my full strength; that would be absurd.”
“Well, as long as we’re thinking with logic here.”
“Sure. I mean, you’ll only be able to join if you can survive fighting me at about the tier-seven level.”
“Well, that means we’re pulling out all stops, right, Theo?” Rachel interjected.
“I guess,” I responded quietly.
Rachel probably didn’t mean to taunt Alista. However, he was left wondering whether Rachel was bluffing or not. He didn’t stop smiling, and his constant grin left us slightly uneasy as we walked to the Battle Dome, where we were to be tested. We had met outside of Mrs Indallias’s office, it being a common rendezvous for external meetings.
Rachel and I remained silent as we walked through the halls to the Battle Dome. Alista walked ahead, not once turning back to face us. When we reached the dome, he began to talk again. He pointed to the centre stage as he spoke.
“I’ll test you on the centre stage.” He sighed. “I used to be an assistant teacher here. Some of my students asked to watch… So, I’m sorry if you get stage fright.”
“I doubt we’ll notice once the fight starts,” I said as Rachel jumped onto the raised platform that would hold our match. “Look. Rachel’s already on the arena.”
“Well, I guess that means you’re ready, then, right?” Alista said. “I’m ready when you are.”
“As am I,” I replied. “How will you fight?” I wondered how to counter his style of battle.
Alista smiled and didn’t say a word as he pulled out a short sword. Rachel held her arm out, and a pillar of flame encapsulated her entire body. A spear formed within her grasp. It had a long, fiery shaft and a short burning blade at the end.
Alista’s grin grew in size, and a pleased sigh exited his mouth as he held his sword more firmly in his hands. A shield appeared on Rachel’s arm, the flames burning brighter as she stood armed and ready before Alista. He waited while I prepared to cast my own magic on Rachel. Neither side moved until Alista broke the silence.
“You can begin whenever.”
“Thanks,” Rachel replied, twisting her entire body and thrusting the spear at Alista’s torso.
Falling backward, Alista blocked Rachel’s next swing with his sword. I quietly stood back, casting support magic while I waited for the signal for us to switch places. The trails of the burning weapons left scorch marks on the ground as Rachel maintained a safe distance from Alista’s short sword.
After a while, Alista set his sights on me. Of course, it was logical to target the person in the back. Alista appeared at my side suddenly as if he’d teleported, and I took several steps backward, trying to maintain the distance she had kept. Alista swung his blade rapidly; Rachel took my place, blocking the next swing with the shield on her arm.
Of course, my situation wasn’t ideal. However, we had already planned for this. I leapt forward, switching positions with Rachel, and dodged the swings that kept coming. Rachel began chanting in the background as I shimmied from side to side, avoiding the sword’s edge. I grabbed Alista’s arm as he swung once again, and I attempted to maintain a grip while Rachel prepared a dangerously powerful spell.
I reinforced myself with whatever magic I knew as I leapt away from the strike zone of the burning pillar of hell that flew down from the sky. Rachel circled around towards me after her magic had landed. Regrouping, we stood at the side of the arena, waiting for any movement within Rachel’s newly dug crater.
“I think you killed him,” I joked, chuckling slightly as I spoke.
“Well, if he’s dead, we’re in some real trouble.” Rachel giggled slightly as she patted me on the back. “Good job, by the way.”
“For what?”
“Holding on for so long.”
“It was a team effort,” I replied amicably. “You did more than me, though.”
“Don’t brush off what you did. You did great,” Rachel said as Alista stepped out of the smoke. “See. He’s still alive.”
“You two are feisty…” Alista groaned. “I didn’t think you’d actually manage to hurt me this badly.” He walked toward us. “I guess you’re good enough for the raid. Anyway, we’ll be having a meeting in ten minutes in one of the first-year classrooms.”
“Thank you,” I replied, leaning against the arena’s barricade. “For the opportunity.”
“You proved yourself; I’ll be setting up the meeting.” Alista slid out of the arena. “Good job on besting me, even if it isn’t much of my strength.” He walked away.
The pillar of fire had disappeared after a second leaving the ground with a slight dip in the centre. However, the melted arena didn’t seem to require any maintenance, as several students hopped onto it after us.
“Alista’s clothes were completely unscathed,” Rachel said after sliding down the side of the circular arena. “Did I not use enough magic?”
“I’m sure he required a lot of energy to defend himself,” I reassured her as we exited the Battle Dome’s circular expanse.
“But in an actual situation, we’d be dead.”
“That’s why we had the simulated fight,” I replied. “We’ll be fine in the actual raid.”
“But-but…” Rachel stammered, searching for an adequate response. I patted her on the back and pulled her into a one-armed hug, “If something were to happen to you, I wouldn’t know what to do.”
“You’re a lot more sentimental than you let on.”
“Shut up.” Rachel scowled. “I’m just worried.”
“We’ll be fine.” I patted her on the head. “See? The meeting room’s right there.” I pulled her through the door and into a classroom packed full of soldiers. I held my breath as we sat down in the centre of the front row. Soldiers surrounded us, packed tightly within the room. Their green tunics and mostly iron shoulder pads melded together to create the uniform for the Arcanan special forces. On their right shoulder were several yellow bars. Mrs Indallias’s right shoulder had four yellow bars and a star in the centre. The uniforms proved to have a positive effect on our psyche as we slid closer together to avoid their bulky figures. The soldiers ranged in height, but many shared similarities in body shape and muscle mass. Their masculine upper bodies reflected thousands of hours of rock climbing and intense training.
Alista walked to the front of the room, accompanied by two other figures, one of whom I recognised as Mrs Indallias. However, the other, I had no recollection of meeting. Rachel, on the other hand, placed he
r face in her palm after seeing him. They stood at the front, quietly discussing their note before they actually began speaking.
Rachel tapped me on the shoulder. Leaning over, she whispered quietly, “Why is my father here?”
“Huh? That’s your father?” I said in a low, hiss-like whisper. I pointed at the frail male figure who stood with Mrs Indallias and Alista. He was only a few inches over five feet, with short brown hair, thin arms, and a build that wasn’t exactly solid. However, the moment he spoke, everything changed.
“Everyone, listen up!” His voice echoed throughout the room, firm and commanding. He paced around fervently, a single sheet of parchment held firmly in his grasp. “Today is the day we uncover more of the Church’s evil deeds. The council is run by different people who are no longer influenced by the coin of man.” As we listened to him speak, there was little else but admiration on our faces.
“Well,” Alista said, interrupting the moment, “the Church is currently influencing the general public with an substance by the name CxHk47. We will be arranged into two squads.” He paused, taking a breath as he looked at the page. “The strike team and the retrieval squad.” He waited for the murmuring to stop. “Before the event, you will receive a piece of paper either with or without a dot. If you have a dot, you will be on the strike team, and if you have a blank slip, you will be working on retrieval.” He read his paper, taking a deep breath after finishing the paragraph.
“The raid will continue for up to nine hours,” said Mr Indallias. “The strike team will attack whatever elders they have within the building. It is common knowledge that they, too, are trained in the magical arts.” He smiled. “We are to occupy their time as we retrieve the evidence. The raid will begin at the beginning of the new day.”
“Um,” Alista interjected nervously, “I’ll give some more details on the mission.” He exhaled and inhaled a breath of fresh air before he spoke. “There’s about a three-hour period before now and midnight, so if any of you require rest, please sleep now. We will surround the Church building ten minutes before the raid commences. There have been reports of a killer within the Church, so please be wary of who you’re fighting.”
“To elaborate on what Alista has said,” Mrs Indallias added, “there is a murderer in their midst named Fabien Meffur. He is famous for mass slaughters of small families. We’ll have a meeting an hour before the Raid begins. Feel free to rest. We will awaken you all slightly before the meeting begins.”
Rachel leaned back, closed her eyes, and tried to sleep in the cramped seating area filled with soldiers of varying sizes. I placed my head against the table like many others were doing, thinking I should probably get some sleep before the raid began. I closed my eyes and joined the world of dreams.
“Where are they?” Anton’s haggard voice cried out, searching for someone. “Who took her?”
“Anton, they’re gone. The Anti-Magic army blazed straight through this town,” Anton’s friend Ryan answered. Anton stood, his fist clenched tightly. “The only other people who could’ve taken your wife are the Church.”
“Someone is dying tonight,” Anton muttered under his breath, and as he slammed the door of the ravaged home he had stood within, the sky turned an unnatural shade of red, and screams resonated through the night. Hours seemed to pass as the night slowly began to glow as the dream came to an end with the sun engulfing my vision.
I lifted my head. Alista was parading about the room, shaking an oddly shaped bell as he smacked those who hadn’t awakened at the first call to attention. I looked at Rachel, who yawned as she rubbed her eyes.
Several slips of paper were distributed quickly as Alista ensured that everyone had received one. Rachel and I placed ours on the table and looked at them together. The small black dots in the centre of the finely cut square pieces of paper indicated our team.
Mrs Indallias stood in a corner, holding a neat sign with “strike team” written on it in thin cursive. She waited until the group had reached an adequate size before she began speaking.
“These two will tag along. They can hold their weight… Think of it as work experience for them.” She explained, gesturing towards Rachel and I.
None of the soldiers complained; many of the members of the strike team had a refined feeling to their energy, and reflected the qualities of well-trained tier-eight magicians.
Mrs Indallias waited for silence before saying, “You are to fend off the elders with all your strength. The retrieval squad will finish up their job as quickly as possible. All you have to do is not die.”
A soldier raised his arm and politely waited to be acknowledged. Mrs Indallias pointed causally at the soldier while she listened intently to his question. “Hypothetically speaking, if an elder were to try to escape but the retrieval squad was getting attacked, what would we do there?”
“Prioritise the lives of our own soldiers. There are plenty of well-trained mercenaries and adventurers who we padded our numbers with that need to get paid,” Mrs Indallias replied with an aggressive undertone. “We will begin our walk to the Eastern District’s plaza in about ten minutes. Be prepared.”
She walked off, leaving us with little to do for. However, when the time had passed, we were already shuffling to the door and organising ourselves for the mission at hand. Our bodies lined the halls, and then we moved as a group to the exit and assembled in the courtyard. Mrs Indallias signalled for us to move, and we slowly made our way through the city streets to the Church on the eastern side of the city.
When we reached our destination, we surrounded the building with the hundreds of personnel that we had mobilised. Two soldiers approached the entrance and knocked at the front door. The rest of us waited until the door opened just slightly, and then the entire fifty members of the strike force flooded into the tent-like Church building.
Soldiers called to each other as more and more evidence was found within the Church. The fourth floor, which Rachel and I hadn’t explored previously, contained the sleeping bodies of about thirty Church elders. Choking was heard as some soldiers went to dispose of the ones sleeping closer to the stairwell.
A single noise was heard after that: the loud cries of the soldiers who had been systematically killing the elders. Standing before us, his back facing us, was a solitary figure. His muscular shoulders held up his white elder’s robes, and in his hands were two ornate knives with rough edges and completely mangled crossguards. Turning, I recognised the person who had slain about four of our team in less than a second, and the once humble-looking man we had deceived on our first visit to the Church: Elder Meffuris.
Rachel held her arm out, waiting for her spear to form within her grasp.
“Name yourself!” a soldier shouted as Meffuris wiped his blades clean on the hems of the fallen.
“Fabien, Fabien Meffur,” he replied quietly as he examined his blade. “For what reason do you disturb my sanctuary,” he asked ominously, pulling the blade towards his body. Rachel’s spear of flame flashed in front of me just as one of Meffur’s blades embedded itself in it.
“Lord Meffuris!” The desperate cries of the other elders echoed around me. “Save us!”
“Silence!” His angered cry reverberated through the room. My head shook as I felt a warm liquid trickle from my ears. Rachel held her palms to my ears as she cast magic to heal me; her quiet chanting contrasted with the Meffur’s loud cry. “How dare you disturb my sanctuary!”
The soldiers held their ears as they breathed to ease the pain. Rachel stood unaffected by the murderer’s loud scream. Meffur held his blades as he looked around with an insatiable rage, and then his bloody robes stained the floors red as he walked from elder to elder, checking their health. Suddenly he was holding a package in his arms. Flipping the woollen package on its head, he emptied the entire sack as all the soldiers looked on. Not a single soul disturbed the mad elder as he fumbled around for a syringe.
The metal casing and the thin metal tube that left it already told me i
t was the work of another nation. Arcana hadn’t invested a single gold coin in alchemic and scientific research. Meffur jabbed himself with the syringe, and we watched the figure’s veins slowly thicken and become visible to the naked eye.
“Kill him!” The order from the most senior officer at the time echoed behind us. Rachel and I held back as ten soldiers ran at the now deranged figure. His widened eyes turned to face us as the soldiers disappeared from existence. Ten corpses hit the floor, and then Meffur turned to look at us directly.
“It’s you two…those northern brats!” He spat on the floor. “I knew you were lying, you weasels!” His veins showed a shade of crimson that didn’t exactly reflect good health. He inhaled and exhaled as more soldiers died around him. Elders of the Church stood up as their dead bodies became reanimated with Meffur’s breathing. The dead Arcanan soldiers rose to their feet as well, and Meffur’s army grew in size. He pulled himself up, his back slouched.
His wide eyes rested on us as he stood. “Now…” he said, breathing heavily. “Die, you lying children!”
Chapter 19: A Fight under the Moonlight
Rachel didn’t waste a second as Meffur leapt at our throats. Though she defended with her spear, our bodies were flung through the Church’s wall, falling from the fourth floor of the one-hundred-metre-tall building; I asked myself if I would live. Rachel grabbed me as she chanted a string of spells under her breath, and the wind slowed as we approached the ground. Her breathing became ragged only seconds after landing. I kept her from falling as she took multiple breaths in quick succession.
Meffur landed several yards ahead of us, brandishing his blades. Rachel held out her spear defensively as she went to summon her shield. I held my arms out, enchanting her with support magic while she recovered. Meffur waited patiently as he watched Rachel arm herself. Then he slid off the elder’s robes that he had worn through the entire fight. Underneath was a black vest holding several different short swords, all equally mangled and destroyed.