by Shanon Chong
Meffur eyed us as he holstered one of his blades. “Loosen up, will you?” He walked toward us, his footsteps not making a single noise as he moved. “Why don’t you loosen up?”
Rachel inhaled as she leapt forward, swinging her spear down at Meffur’s head.
Meffur casually brushed off her attack with his bare hands and thrust his knife directly at her. I held my arms out, casting magic, as Rachel barely blocked the strike. Meffur’s scowl grew bigger the longer he looked at us. Rachel turned to look at me for just a second, but I had already seen the beads of sweat that dripped down her forehead.
“Switch with me!” I shouted as she clenched the spear tighter. “I’ll do the fighting.”
“Don’t worry…” she muttered. “I’ve got this.”
I didn’t know whether she was reassuring herself or me. She approached Meffur, slowly this time, blocking all of his slashes with her shield. Occasionally jabbing, she fought defensively as I tried my best to support her from a distance.
“You know, it's best when your victims fight back,” Meffur stated casually as he fended off Rachel’s attacks with little effort. “It’s funny when your prey flails.” The twisted comment sent a shiver down my spine as I realised our situation… There wasn’t a single adult here to protect us. Mrs Indallias was occupied, Alista was working with the retrieval, Harrold was at the school, and god only knew where my father was.
“You bastard!” Rachel shouted, thrusting the spear forward, attacking Meffur. He cringed slightly as he watched the spearhead miss him entirely.
“The strong write history. If I live past tonight, I’ll be a hero,” Meffur replied, holding the shaft of the spear as he jerked it out of Rachel’s grasp. “Don’t speak like you’ve got strength.”
Rachel held her shield up as Meffur struck her repeatedly with the short sword within his grasp.
Leaping forward, I took Rachel’s place, letting the adrenaline take control of my body. I slapped Meffur’s blade out of his grasp and let Rachel leap away before I grabbed Meffur’s shoulders and threw my knee at his groin. He dropped to the floor, groaning as he clutched between his legs. Rachel held her arms out as she began chanting, and several markings appeared on the floor around Meffur. I quickly fled the firing zone of Rachel’s magic.
“Not so fast, magic girl!” Meffur shouted. Grabbing the back of my robes, he tugged me back into the circle. “If you cast your magic, your little lover here will die, too!”
“Theo!” Rachel shouted desperately. “What do I do?”
“Fire it!”
“But!”
“He’ll take the brunt of the damage!” I shouted, forgetting about my own safety. “I’ll survive! Just do it!”
Rachel stared at me for a moment. Then she released the control on her spell, and the magic circle below us expanded, and a small cross appearing below us. A pillar of flame that I had seen many times, from up close and afar, engulfed me. A searing pain reached my joints and my skin as the clothes I wore resisted the flame’s embrace to the best of their ability. I felt the grip on my robe loosen as I jumped away from the fire. I held my hands to my face as I cast lower healing magic before Rachel got to me.
Rachel knelt by my side as I fell to the floor, writhing in pain. I knew exactly what I had done wrong, and I deeply regretted my decision to try facing Rachel’s flames of purgatory. Holding her hands above my face, she chanted healing magic, and my skin returned to optimal condition as the pain subsided.
“If your wounds had been any worse, you would have been burned for life,” Rachel informed me, tears at her eyes. “Why did you take the risk without a single measure to prevent it!”
“I mean, we got him, right?”
“What if he walks out of the flames, untouched?” Rachel retorted, annoyed at my logic.
“Well, girl, what if?” Meffur marched out of the flames, his clothes slightly charred, grimacing as he approached us. “I’ll give you an A for effort, children, but I’m afraid your deaths are nigh.” He held two blades high above his head. I saw the final movement of his arms swinging downwards, and then I heard a familiar overprotective scream.
“They won’t die yet!”
“Who!” He turned, deflecting the incoming lance with his knives. “Who dares fight me!”
“No one special,” Mrs Indallias muttered, holding her spear-like lance with her rough hands. The metal polearm reflected the moonlight in its platinum surface. She stood elegantly, holding the spear in front of her body. The lance’s head had an additional crossguard attachment by the head.
Rachel and I rushed behind her, using her as our final bastion of hope.
Meffur’s brain chugged for several seconds before he was able to speak. “You should die…” he murmured as he inhaled and exhaled rapidly. He lunged forward, attacking Mrs Indallias. Refraining from magic-use, Rachel’s mother avoided us, parrying Meffur’s attacks instead of killing the villain.
“Hey!” She leered at Meffur as she tried to lure him away from us. “How about we fight under the moonlight.” She parried his attack, and then her spear pushed him toward the well-lit park that surrounded the Church. The three moons shone down on the two combatants as they danced to the tune of their weapons clashing.
“You are worthy!” Meffur’s distorted cry echoed through the night as he stood on par with Mrs Indallias’s strength. Screams from within the Church told us the necromancy that he had used wouldn’t stop even with his current pitiful condition.
“Watch and learn, kids!” Stephanie Indallias grunted loudly to no one in particular. She took a killing stance as she lowered her centre of gravity. Meffur leapt around her… The spearhead appeared at his chest as an emotionless voice chanted its magic. “Restriction X. The winds of the sky and the dirt on the ground will no longer solicit your existence.”
Meffur dropped to the ground, writhing in pain as his body no longer moved. Holding her spear, she pointed the head at Meffur’s forehead. “I hope hell doesn’t want you.”
Instinctively I realised that Meffur would die at that moment. The noises of all battle stopped as he recovered his split strength. His large hands grabbed Mrs Indallias’s spearhead, and he rose to his feet. He breathed heavily as he looked at his mangled hands.
“Death won’t come for me!” he giggled maniacally as the adrenaline pumped through his veins, numbing his pain. Mrs Indallias watched as Meffur leapt at her, swinging his blades wildly, common sense no longer in his mind.
The platinum polearm gleamed in the moonlight as the weapon wielded by Mrs Indallias threw Meffur far above her head, a second passed before the body crashed into the ground leaving him crawling toward the seas of hell.
Silence followed. The dead Meffur didn’t speak a word as his limp body lay completely at ease on the grassy park surface. Mrs Indallias held a single palm up in prayer for those who had died at his hands.
“Adjudicators don’t stand in the face of Vindicators,” she muttered as she looked at the dead mage’s body.
As the sun rose a slow hour afterwards, the retrieval squad wheeled away boxes full of the drugs. Rachel and I stood by the Church, waiting for the mission to reach a close. Our figures cast long shadows over the ground. The raid itself had felt like mere minutes in comparison to the day I’d spent in vigour, straining my body in anticipation of it.
“We need sleep,” Rachel said carefully, leaning on my shoulder.
“Are we allowed to return to our room?” I asked her. She adamantly refused to release me from her hug.
“We have to have them declare the mission over.”
“Dismiss us?” I murmured.
“Yeah.” Rachel closed her eyes and fell asleep.
I frowned as I carried her over to the front of the Church, where every single surviving soldier stood waiting for the final orders.
“For the first time in history, we can safely say that the Church won’t do this anymore,” Daniel declared proudly as he paced the small area he had been given. “W
e have enough evidence to keep their illegal trade in the gutter.” A round of applause arose from within our group as we congratulated ourselves for the job well done. However, the clapping ended abruptly as we, the soldiers and mercenaries realised the losses we had sustained from the battle.
Being only halfway through the year, Rachel and I still had the remainder of it to waste and return to being normal students. However, I doubted the forces of fate would let the two of us experience a painless life without any twists and turns.
“The people affected by the Church’s drug laundering and trade will be relocated to a correctional facility within the Southern District,” Alista said. “The raid also concludes the long-running search for the murderer Fabien Meffur,” he added quickly before Mr Indallias began speaking.
“You’re all dismissed.” Mr Indallias concluded. Then, with a sigh, he said, “Theo, you and Rachel stay for a bit.” He tapped me on the shoulder and pointed around the entire interior plaza. “There are plenty of eateries in which to talk.”
“I have no particular preference,” I replied awkwardly as Rachel’s father held my shoulder reassuringly, “but I need somewhere to sit Rachel down…” I looked at Rachel, who remained slouched over my shoulder in her resting state.
“Well, we’ll try that café over there. Feel free to order anything. I’m happy to pay.”
I walked over to the café and sat Rachel on a chair, positioning her head so that it was leaning against my shoulder. Mr Idallias followed and took a seat next to us. “Waiter, please!”
A waiter walked up. “What would you three like?”
“Flat black coffee,” Daniel replied quickly, with little thought. “You, Theo?’
“Black coffee with two teaspoons of sugar,” I replied. As I watched the waiter walk away to fulfil our order, I said, “What did you want me for?”
“You resemble your father in the strangest ways.” Daniel gave me a satisfied and relieved smile. “The both of you can’t just have a normal conversation.”
“Well, I’d prefer if this was kept prompt… Rachel would appreciate it if I placed her on the bed in the room,” I explained as I sipped on the silently given cup of coffee. “No offence, I mean.”
“No, none taken.” He inhaled. “Well, I wanted to tell you to take care of Rachel.”
“I already do. I prepare breakfast when necessary. I wash the-”
“Emotionally, I mean. You may not necessarily be in the closest relationship…but I’d appreciate it if you cared for her.”
“I-I try my best,” I stuttered, hoping not to offend Mr Indallias.
“She hasn’t had much in terms of friends and love… I’ve been busy working nonstop for the past ten years. I would just really appreciate it if I knew someone was caring for Rachel.”
“I-I’ll support Rachel,” I promised. “I’ll deal with her… You continue to keep the city safe.” I deeply empathised with Rachel’s situation.
“I will! You’ve got a lot ahead of you, young Theo.” He patted me on the back. Standing, he took a large gulp of his coffee. Placing a handful of silver coins on the table, he looked down at me. “Whatever you do, protect her.”
“If anything happens, I will slaughter anyone who stands in my way,” I said, “and if something happens, I’ll tell you. Then I’ll go fix it myself.”
“Nothing wrong with asking for help, Theo… If anything happens and you don’t follow what you vowed…” He paused and smiled at me. “I’ll give you a good smack back into reality.”
“Thanks,” I replied, gratefully accepting his offer.
“I should be thanking you. If you need me, I’ll have Alista patch you through.”
Hefting Rachel over my shoulder, I smiled back at him, waving him goodbye as he left for the office where his duty called him.
I carried Rachel back to our room in the school. It was a weekday, which meant classes. However, I ignored that fact, returning to the room and laying Rachel on the bed. I entered the shower and cleaned myself quickly before returning to my pending slumber. I threw myself onto it and nodded off promptly. I slept like a rock, not shifting in the slightest for anything.
Within my dreams, I saw the events of the night flash past, but nothing stirred me in the slightest. Not a single dream connected me to my father or showed an ancestor’s memories. I didn’t awaken until noon of the next day.
The sun shone through the window, and Rachel murmured incomprehensibly in her sleep as she rolled from side to side.
“Theo.”
“What?” I turned to look at the still-sleeping Rachel. I blinked. It wasn’t normal for Rachel to call for someone, even in her dreams. I looked through my book with the timetable for the week and found Thursday: “Fundamentals first.”
“Hmm?” Rachel yawned as she sat upright, stretching her body. “Morning, Theo.”
“Morning.”
“What time is it?” she asked as she stumbled into the living room, rubbing her eyes. “We have classes today, right?”
“We’re already late for fundamentals…” I replied, holding my book to show her. “If we go now, Mr Rhimmage will kill us.”
“Better late than never,” Rachel retorted, placing my book in my arms. “If we move now, we’ll make it for half the lesson.” She marched out the door.
I sighed, looking at the clock before following her. It didn’t take us long before we found the classroom. Mr Rhimmage was standing outside the door, fuming as he looked from side to side.
I turned to Rachel. Our jaws had dropped to the floor. “He’s actually going to kill us,” I muttered, confounded by the absolute rage reflected on his face.
“Ah, who cares!” Rachel declared, dragging me into the hallway.
Mr Rhimmage’s expression died down when he saw us.
“Good morning!” Rachel bowed slightly as she nonchalantly entered the room.
“Hey, hey, hey, wait a second… You’re a day and a half late to class.” Mr Rhimmage held Rachel back with two fingers. “Anyway, I’m not actually that angry.”
“Really, now?” Rachel said dubiously.
“Well, it would have been nice if you guys had told me you wouldn’t be in class, but I mean, I forgive you,” Mr Rhimmage replied awkwardly. “Anyway, we were just about to start talking about the end-of-year mission.”
“Sorry about yesterday,” I apologised as Rachel and I took a seat in the front row of the classroom.
“It’s all good. We’ll have to test you individually during the exam period.” Mr Rhimmage chuckled. As he paced around the room, he said to the class, “I’ll be going over some of this year’s topics before we continue with the interesting stuff.”
Mr Rhimmage sat on the lectern as he opened his book. He ran his finger down the paper as he read its contents. “Well, everyone except for Theo should have the notes on basic runes and the case study of Georgo Anity.” He held another book in the air. “They have two copies of this book in the Arcanan Library. This has a rough overview of each of your subjects.” He paused and then added, “I think it’s a helpful resource, but that’s just my opinion.”
Bethany, having returned to the room, sat next to Juno, and they both quietly observed the class with slightly arrogant gazes. Feeling them staring into the back of my head, I shivered slightly as I tried to copy Rachel’s tiny notes. I looked around the classroom; I had actually forgotten most of their names except for Vin, Juno, and Bethany. Coincidentally, they all sat at the very back of the room. I hadn’t talked to Vin much during my training period, which had been about six months of nearly zero communication.
Mr Rhimmage frowned as he observed the class; he occasionally looked down at his book and wrote a small side note on our work remotely. I noticed many notes appear suddenly on my page, and I manually fixed every issue I saw.
Clearing his throat, Mr Rhimmage stared at his watch. “Well, you guys seem to be working hard… So, I’ll start talking about the final subject.” He yawned again as he flipped seve
ral pages to find his mark. “Well, we’ll start working on the end-of-year mission.” He sighed as he looked through the summary he had written himself. “Hopefully, you guys have a good memory and actually remembered the course I gave.”
Chapter 20: Tests and Exams
Mr Rhimmage’s lesson did not, in fact, return to the end-of-year mission that he’d mentioned. Instead, he ended up looking at his watch, dumbfounded, while the classes switched. In the end, we left and headed to alchemy, where we were having another practical experiment. The unhappy grumbling was unanimous as we marched down the halls in a large group. The remainder of the week, we had only covered excessive amounts of review for each subject.
Several days before the test, one of our final fundamental magic classes approached, and we still had no idea what to do. I was even more confused than the rest of the class. I hadn’t even learned half of the subjects that would be covered by the test. On that day, Mr Rhimmage arrived with several large paper scrolls in his arms.
“Well…” He sighed as he looked around the room, checking our numbers and taking the roll quickly, “We will have three lessons for this. Your meeting with Mr Anity is scheduled for the fourth lesson. Then you’ll have exams, followed by the field mission in the final two weeks of the school year.” He looked around for any questions; the sea of raised arms didn’t give him a hard choice when it came to questions. He pointed at a familiar student whose name I had forgotten.
“How will this be scheduled over the remaining two months left in the year?” the student asked. Noel! That was his name; how could I have forgotten? Noel’s question mirrored nearly everyone else’s. This led to the eventual dropping of hands when Mr Rhimmage responded.
“Well, I’m pretty sure I just explained, but you’ll have three lessons to work on this. Then you get to meet Mr Anity. Then you’ll have two weeks of exams. That places you in the final two weeks of school.”
“What about the final two weeks?” Noel persisted, causing a slight annoyance within the group of people who still had their arms up. I gave him a dirty eye as he remained standing. He turned to face me and then grinned sheepishly as he sat down.