by Simon Archer
The next spell was easier, a minor variation on a C major scale. Nadeine positioned herself to attack from directly across from me, preparing to strike in my abdomen. I began to hum, and golden light created a shield between Nadeine and me, standing tall from my toes to well above my head. Nadeine’s sword even bent slightly when it crashed into the light.
“I… was not expecting that,” Nadeine said, eyeing the now dull edge of her sword with distaste.
“Sorry.” I scratched the back of my head. “I didn’t know it would do that.”
“It is not your fault. I only wish you had harmed an enemy’s sword instead of my own. I will see if I can get it fixed in this city’s armory on the ‘morrow,” she said. “It is fortunate that the other spell you learned today was for melee combat.”
“Melee?” I asked, knowing I’d heard that term before somewhere, but unable to place it.
“Hand-to-hand combat,” she explained. “No weapons.”
“Oh, okay,” I said, remembering now. I’d participated in a Dungeons and Dragons group at Julliard once, and I thought that I’d heard the word back then. I thought of my friends and how awesome they’d think Eviorah was. Like a real-life tabletop RPG.
Nadeine positioned herself again at the edge of the circle and held up her hands to strike me with her fists. She lunged, and I began to hum a C minor scale with only one subtle variation. Golden light sprang from the ground and encompassed Nadeine’s fists, pressing them down against her sides and preventing her from reaching me.
“Excellent,” she said as she wiped a bead of sweat off her brow. “You are progressing very well. How are you feeling?”
“Good, but still a bit tired,” I said, not bothering to hide the fatigue in my voice. “I don’t think the stina root was quite for me.”
“Alright, then, we should call it a night.” Nadeine flashed me a grin. “And maybe take it easy on the drinking tonight, so you don’t have to deal with this tomorrow?”
“Oh, don’t worry, I will,” I said, grimacing at the memory of the last time I’d drunk the kingdom elves’ strong liquor. It would take some getting used to, that was for sure.
“Soon, we will practice combining these skills in real combat,” Nadeine noted. “That will be the real test of your abilities.”
“What do you mean ‘real combat’?” I asked, excitement stirring up in me at the thought of learning more complicated combat spells than just some shields.
“If you are attacked, you will not know which move your enemy is going to make before he makes it,” she explained. “You must practice anticipating your enemies’ attacks and selecting which spell is necessary to prevent them from succeeding. You will also need to learn to move quickly between the spells.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “That makes sense. I think I can do that.” It sounded like just a matter of combining the different scales like I did when I memorized a complete piece of music for my cello. Well, other than also having to anticipate how some scary elf was going to try to kill me, that was different, but the same basic principles applied.
After drinking some water to refresh ourselves, Nadeine and I left the library and headed to meet up with Bernsten and Marinka at a tavern across the road from the castle. I knew Bernsten was looking forward to a rematch at wazo, but I vowed to limit myself to only one enormous gallon-sized glass of high-alcohol content beer tonight.
When we arrived, Bernsten waved his hands from across the bar to greet us.
“Leo Hayden, sister, come join us in our game,” he bellowed. He was standing at a wazo table and competing against a tired-looking elf who appeared to be losing badly. Marinka stood next to him, looking uncomfortable.
Nadeine and I walked over to join them, and Bernsten draped an arm across each of our shoulders. His speech was slurred and his gait sloppy, so I could tell he was already a bit drunk.
“How much have you had to drink so far tonight, Brother?” Nadeine asked him.
“Not enough,” Bernsten cried, then motioned to the elf at the bar to bring us another round.
“He has consumed three glasses already, I’m afraid,” Marinka interjected, looking at Bernsten with concern. She leaned in close to me, motioned to the elf playing wazo with Bernsten, and whispered, “And I believe that this man is growing angry with his losses.”
Sure enough, the elf picked up a stone and threw it into the table in frustration.
“Do not be a sore loser, dear friend,” Bernsten laughed. “There is no shame in losing a battle well fought.”
“There is in losing all my gold,” the elf spat back, looking even angrier now.
“You bet money?” I asked, staring at Bernsten incredulously.
“Why not?” Bernsten said. “If I am going to win, I may as well get something out of it.”
Nadeine turned to me. “This is… common.”
Apparently, that was the last straw for Bernsten’s opponent because he lunged at Bernsten from across the table, grabbing for the front of his armor.
“Whoa, whoa!” I yelled, jumping between them as Nadeine and Marinka pulled Bernsten back.
The elf, now on our side of the table, clenched his fists and lunged at me, no doubt to remove the obstacle between him and his target. On instinct, I started humming the variation on a C minor scale I had used to stave off Nadeine’s melee attack in the library mere moments before. Just as before, golden light sprang up from the ground, encased itself around the elf’s fists, then knocked him to the ground.
“Okay, okay,” the elf said, scrambling back up and staring at me, his eyes wide and his pupils dilated in fear. “I’m sorry, sir, Your Highness.” He nodded at Bernsten and then Marinka in turn. “I didn’t mean any harm, Sir Mage, sir. I’ll be on my way now.”
“You do that,” Nadeine said, her lip curled upwards in a snarl. The elf scampered off and left us standing alone at the wazo table, a crowd of the bar’s other patrons watching the scene from a careful distance.
“That was amazing, Leo,” Marinka said finally, breaking the silence. At her words, the elves in the bar erupted into applause.
“Yes, well done, Leo. You’ve gotten some real-time practice, now,” Nadeine called over the noise, putting a small hand on my shoulder while she steadied her brother with her other arm. The attention felt nice. I wasn’t used to this.
“You should really watch yourself,” I said as I turned to Bernsten. “Maybe you should stick to just playing for sport until we get back to the royal castle.”
“Ah, now where is the fun in that?” Bernsten asked, grinning at me and slurring his words together. But he winked at me, indicating that he would do as I advised.
We sat down at the table, and the bartender brought us a round of drinks. Nadeine eyed Bernsten’s glass.
“Alright, but I think you are done after this, Brother.”
“I think that wise,” Marinka added.
“Very well, very well.” Bernsten grabbed a mug with one hand while waving the other to silence them.
“I had yet to see your magic until this moment, Leo.” Marinka turned to me and reached across the table to touch her fingers to mine. Her great green eyes were shining. “It was even more brilliant than I was led to believe.”
“Thank you,” I mumbled, returning the brush of her hand. “I… think I’m getting better.”
“Better?” Nadeine interjected with a scoff. “You’ve always been excellent. Far beyond anything that we could have imagined.”
I felt heat flood my cheeks and neck again, and I was suddenly very aware of the fact that both of these women were insanely hot… and staring at me.
Unfortunately for me, Bernsten chose that moment to zonk out across the table in front of us and begin to snore loudly. Nadeine rolled her eyes, and Marinka and I looked at each other and burst out laughing as we finished our drinks.
7
Our stay at that castle was brief, and we resumed our journey once again the next morning after Nadeine selected a new sword from the castle’s arm
ory to replace the one I had broken in our practice, though she seemed a bit unhappy about the process.
“The forges are lacking outside of the royal castle,” Nadeine mused as we packed up our miniature horses, eyeing the weapon with obvious distaste.
“What’s wrong with it?” I asked, a little guilty for having been the one to break her old sword.
“It is… uncomfortable,” she said. “I do not know how to describe it. It just feels as if it belongs to someone else. I was unable to have one custom made as this castle has no forge of its own.”
“That makes sense,” I said, and I meant it. “I had to borrow one of my classmates’ cello once, and it made me really uncomfortable. Like I was using someone else’s body.”
“That is the perfect description of what I am feeling,” Nadeine said as she met my gaze.
“You will be able to have one made for you at the forges in the training grounds,” Bernsten pointed out helpfully.
“The training grounds?” I asked. “What’s that?”
“It is one of the places we plan to stop on our journey through the kingdom,” Marinka explained. “It was once a great temple dedicated to training advanced mages. Now, it is a home for military training camps and strategic planning for the kingdom.”
“We hope that speaking with the older elves there will be useful for your training,” Nadeine said. She looked thoughtful, her brow furrowed. “And yes, you are correct, Bernsten. We would need to stay there for longer if I am to get a custom-made sword, but that could be helpful to Leo. I certainly do not wish to venture into the forest carrying a weapon with which I am uncomfortable.”
“Sounds like a good plan,” I said. “Will we get there tonight?”
“Oh, no, it will be closer to the beginning of next week,” Marinka answered. “The training grounds are midway through our journey through the kingdom. We have some ways to travel before then.”
Bernsten groaned audibly, and we all turned from our packing to face him.
“Is this not fast enough for you, Brother?” Nadeine smirked.
“No, it’s just that my head just hurts,” Bernsten said, cradling his forehead in his hands.
“As well it should,” Nadeine sniffed. “Perhaps you will refrain from such exuberant conduct next time.”
Bernsten only groaned again in response, and as he did, Marinka leaned towards Nadeine and me, lowering her voice so that only we could hear.
“Do you believe he will calm down?”
Nadine only smiled. “There is no chance of that.”
“Well, just so long as there are no more bar fights,” I said, thinking of the previous evening’s events.
“Eh, you have proved yourself adept enough at handling them should they arise.” Nadeine waved a hand in dismissal of my concern.
“Easy for you to say/” I chuckled and shook my head. “You’re not the one that has to stand in front of some punk-ass elf without a sword.” To think I’d ever find myself saying that sentence in serious conversation…
Nadeine scoffed. “You have no need for a sword when you possess magic.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. A sword would be pretty cool, though,” I said though I knew from experience the conversation would go nowhere.
With that, we mounted our miniature horses and rode off to our next destination. Bill seemed pleased to see me, nuzzling before I climbed up on his back. Fortunately, Bernsten perked up a bit mid-morning after he’d eaten a wedge of stina root and napped on his miniature horse for a while. When he woke, he trotted his horse up next to mine and nudged me playfully in the side.
“Good morning, my dear friend,” he said. “How are you on this bright day?”
“It’s almost afternoon, my dude,” I said, returning his nudge with one of my own. “You missed most of the morning.”
“Ah, the price we pay for having fun.” Bernsten’s voice was back to its pre-hangover booming self.
“I suppose.” I laughed and eyed him with some skepticism.
From there, we rode on in silence for a while, sipping water and enjoying the scenery. The buildings were slightly more spread out now, and I saw a few more trees, grass, and other green plants as we moved away from the center of the kingdom.
“Will the city get less dense as we get closer to the forest?” I asked.
“Oh, yes,” Bernsten began to explain. “The city here is still quite concentrated, though less so than it is around the royal castle. Towards the edge of the kingdom, there is much more green to be enjoyed. Many elves who grew up near the royal castle leave the center of the kingdom for some time to enjoy the peace on the edge of the city. They always come back, though. Once you get a taste for the royal life, it is difficult to give up.” Bernsten laughed at that, his voice echoing around us. I thought that he would do well in radio or making podcasts back on Earth.
“Did you ever leave the royal castle?” I asked curiously.
“Oh, no.” He shook his head. “I have too much fun there. In fact, this is my first time outside the center of the kingdom. But my sister did leave for a time.” He leaned forward in his saddle. “Oi! Nadeine! Come speak with our new friend about your time away from the royal castle.”
At this, Nadeine and Marinka both made their way back over to where Bernsten and my miniature horses were trotting. Previously, they had been up ahead of us as my horse was slowed by my extra weight, and Bernsten had been sleeping.
“It was largely uneventful,” Nadeine said when she and Marinka pulled up next to us. “I lived near the edge of the kingdom for a time, working as a laborer. But I missed the thrill of battle and serving my people in the royal palace.” She smiled wistfully as she gazed out over the open road. “Still, it was good for me, I believe, to spend the time away. I think everyone should do so for a time.” She eyed her brother with distaste on this last part.
“Ah, my dear sister, judgmental as always.” Bernsten laughed and grasped her shoulder. “I do not need humbling. My ego is appropriately inflated.” He grinned and winked at me as Nadeine rolled her eyes in an exaggerated expression.
“Have you ever left the royal castle?” I asked, turning to Marinka.
“Oh, no, Leo,” she said in surprise as if the question was utterly foreign to her. “I am a member of the direct royal line. It would not be taken well should I decide to leave the center of the kingdom. No, my place is serving my family… but I am excited to see the rest of my kingdom for the first time on this journey.”
“So, now, I’m curious. Have any of you ever left the kingdom?” I asked. “Like, gone into this forest?”
Their answer was swift and unanimous. They all shook their heads in unison.
“No kingdom elf has left the city’s borders since the Great War,” Bernsten said, his tone solemn for once. “No one other than Viktor, that is.”
“This was the war with the mountain elves?” I thought back to what Dalibor and Magdalina had told me in the last council meeting.
“Yes,” Bernsten said, his voice still grave. “A dark time indeed for our realm.”
“What happened, exactly?” I pressed. “The council wasn’t exactly heavy on the details, and we are going into the forest, after all. Any information at all would be helpful.”
“It is not something we speak of often.” Bernsten looked straight ahead, his eyes narrowing as if he remembered something painful. “Though, of course, we learn of the war and its events as children.”
“When did it happen?” While I didn’t want to cause my friend pain, this felt like an important history that I needed to know. “Is anyone from it still alive?”
“Oh, no, Leo Hayden,” Bernsten said, breaking from his trance and turning on his mount to face me again. “It was very long ago, nearly a century before Viktor took our magic.”
“So, everyone on both sides is dead by now?”
“Oh, yes,” Bernsten began, then paused thoughtfully. “Though I suppose if any mountain elves had survived, they might still live.”
>
“But it is no matter because none survived,” Nadeine interjected for the first time since we’d turned to the subject of the war. This turn of the discussion only made me a combination of confused and curious, though.
“Wait,” I began as I raised a hand to be heard. “Why would they still live if the kingdom elves wouldn’t?”
“Mountain elves had much greater lifespans than us kingdom elves, Leo,” Marinka explained helpfully. “They lived nearly twice as long as we do.”
“But you killed all of them?” I asked. The whole idea of that kind of, well, genocide seemed a bit excessive to me. “Like, every last one?”
“Oh yes,” Nadeine said. “Mountain elves are far too dangerous to be left alive.”
“What was so dangerous about them, though?” It seemed like every answer my friends gave me only engendered bigger questions.
“Mountain elves were not like us, Leo,” Nadeine said, her tone somber. “They were a horrible, bloodthirsty people that sought only to conquer and destroy. They would not settle for the vast territory they already held in their possession and instead tried to take the forest and eventually our own kingdom.” Her expression grew grim. “They wished to dominate over the entire realm, while we only wished to be left alone, to live in peace in our own territory away from the other populations of this realm.”
“So, there’s more than just the kingdom and mountain elves?” I asked, latching on to the last thing she said.
“Yes,” Nadeine continued. Her expression started to soften as she looked over at me. “There are also elves in the forests, where the war was fought. They are largely decentralized and tried not to participate in the war, acting only in self-defense.”
“Will we meet any when we go into the forest?” It was the obvious question, and while I felt like I knew the answer, it was best to get a clear answer.
“Most likely.” Nadeine’s tone was no longer so grave. “But they will be of little consequence to us. The forest elves, like us, prefer to keep to themselves, though perhaps even more so. I do not anticipate them bothering us.”