Apprentice

by Nicholas Hale

  He crashed into the ground hoping that his spell had worked. If not he was done for.

  He lay on his back, waiting. Finally he craned his neck and saw a pile of bones near the wall of the pit.

  "Well done, young one. I seem to have misjudged you based on your fight with my skeletal mages. You appeared almost indiscriminate in your casting back then."

  Lorian was heaving as he stood up. This was the fourth opponent he had faced. And the strongest. It was true what Amadeus had said. Lorian's instincts were to hit hard and fast expending his magical energy as quickly as possible to destroy his opponents. One of his greatest strengths was the speed at which he could cast spells. Especially elemental spells.

  Amadeus floated down into the arena and was inspecting the wreckage of the skeleton collapsed against the pit wall.

  Two floating silver orbs followed and came to rest in the space around Amadeus after he landed.

  The archival orbs that the Azhurai had told him about.

  The silvery surface parted to reveal large, bulging eyes. One of the orbs began floating around the wreckage inspecting everything. Including the deformed portion of the pit wall that Lorian had used for his trap. The second orb came to rest in the space between the two mages. Its eye opened to produce a faint beam of light. It was projecting images into the air. Lorian looked closer and saw himself fighting against the skeletal hordes outside the tower. There were also faint sounds of spellcasting and explosions as he and the godling decimated the hordes. These orbs were far more advanced than any magical implement Lorian had seen. The magical power to control let alone create such orbs had to be astounding. He winced as he saw himself get hit in his legs by one of the skeletal mage's spells.

  "I recall you favored the element fire..."

  It was true. A lot of elemental mages had stronger connections to some of the planes as opposed to others. As such, they chose to specialize. Lorian never felt any difference, but he simply preferred fire spells because they were the best documented and most versatile.

  The extent of Thaugmir's magical abilities might have been lesser than Gawain and Amadeus's, but his knowledge of battle was extensive.

  It was one of the first differences he had noticed between Norvind and the Shadow Spire. Tutelage at the Shadow Spire included more battle training. There was always blood and toil. Norvind was more scholastic. He hadn't seen any dueling rooms. Most of the mages there spent their time in deep thought or study.

  Lorian learned early on in his training at the spire that you could never put all your trust in a single element. There were enemies of all kinds. Some were highly resistant to certain elements, while some could only be brought down by a combination of elemental spells. His knowledge of fire exceeded the other elements, but he was definitely capable of becoming proficient with others.

  "I have no such preferences," replied Lorian

  The orb was now showing the previous fights in this pit. Lorian had defeated three opponents before facing the large primate. He had blown the first opponents apart within a few seconds. He had been preparing himself mentally ever since the Azhurai first told him of the pits. The shackles prevented him from using his magical energy, but they did not stop him from regaining it. He had been going over all his battle spells, and the information that the Azhurai was sharing with him.

  He was surprised that the first opponent was that simple. They seemed like the remains of dwarves. Four of them materialized in the pit when he was first led into it. He had been careless at first, overusing his magical energy to destroy them. They were slow and sluggish, but they seemed durable. It was then that he understood Amadeus's strategy. They were fodder. Only meant to make Lorian use his magical energy. Considering that, he restrained himself, using weaker spells to conserve his energy.

  It had proven the right choice.

  His next opponent was large patchwork wolf the size of a mammoth. Its howl was loud enough to temporarily deafen him. It appeared extremely hideous with blood dripping from its fangs as if it had just fed. But it was another of Amadeus's tactics. This opponent was meant to intimidate him. It was fodder as well, but Lorian was not about to waste his energy simply because his opponent looked fearsome. He hadn't seen this creature in the Azhurai's visions, so he cast a few minor spells against it to gauge its weaknesses, all the while dodging its attacks. It seemed vulnerable to fire, and he left it a smoldering pile of flesh on the ground.

  The orb was now showing his previous fight.

  That had truly been a surprise. Three small creatures no larger than gibbons. They were incredibly agile. The trick with them had been to simply land a strike. They were utterly frustrating and had been the first opponents to actually draw blood. They had sharp fangs and teeth and one of them had latched on to his foot and bit into it, jumping away just in time to avoid a bolt of lightning that Lorian released. He had been getting increasingly agitated at not being able to attack them.

  He had to cast shields to make sure they couldn't physically harm him, and that was slowly sapping away his energy. There were classes of spells that could be combined with elemental spells—seekers, they were called. They would seek out a marked opponent for a sure strike. But the paradox was that they needed to be marked first. These creatures were not stopping long enough for him to place a mark. It took an accident for him to find out their weakness. They had absolutely no resistance to magic at all. Some of the stray fire from a bolt he had loosed at one gibbon accidentally splashed onto another one. It immediately caught fire and rolled on the ground to put it out. He knew what he had to do that very moment. He needed spells that covered a large area. He recalled the river of fire that he had cast against the skeletal hordes earlier. It was one of his most powerful spells, but it would drain him greatly. Even the mildest variant of the spell would require unnecessary waste and would be much more than needed to dispatch of these opponents.

  "I must say I was impressed with this one," said Amadeus. He was watching the events shown by the orb.

  Lorian had finally chosen an unconventional approach. He decided to trust his own agility and physical capability.

  Lots of mages could summon weapons and fashion blades out of magic. But they lacked the skill to use them proficiently, because of which they also needed to accompany it with magic boosting their own physical strength. But the cost was enormous.

  When Thaugmir had seen that Lorian was capable of handling weapons on his own, he had taught him a variant of the spell that would only form the weapon while leaving out the more expensive parts of the spell. Lorian had worked on the spell extensively. He modified it only to fill in only the weaknesses in his own swordplay while relying on his own strengths for the rest. In the end, he had modified it enough to transform himself into a formidable swordsman for a short amount of time.

  He quietly cast the spell and dismissed his shields. The blade he summoned was a magical blade thinner than air. It could cut through almost anything, but it would weaken with successive strikes. Nevertheless, it was sufficient. Seeing his shields down, the creatures moved in for a kill. He struck two of them with a single sweep of the blade, leaving a trail of silver magical residue. Seen in the third person, Lorian felt his heart pound as he admired the efficiency of the strike.

  The gibbons were made to fight mages who did not usually have the kind of agility that warriors did. Amadeus had probably not built them to fight warriors. Two of them fell down to the floor with large gashes on their body where they had been struck. The third was fast enough to see the fate of its friends and change direction in mid-air. He quickly finished off the ones scampering on the ground. They were too wounded to move quickly anymore. He dismissed his blade and dealt with the third one more conventionally. Without the others to provide distraction, the lone gibbon couldn't get close enough. He took his time and aimed a bolt of lightning at the lone opponent.

  He had conserved as much of his strength and energy as he could. And it proved useful. The monstrosity that was his
final opponent would have destroyed him if he had not done so.

  "It's rare to a mage who can handle a weapon that gracefully. A valuable skill to have."

  He might be his captor, and possibly his enemy. But Lorian was more than glad to receive the admiration of a mage such as Amadeus.

  "But your blade is too weak," he continued. "Had you tried using that blade against a stronger opponent, it would barely have left a scratch."

  Before Lorian could speak, Amadeus cast a perfect replica of the blade that Lorian had used. If anything, it looked better formed. He swung it effortlessly at the orb in front of them. Lorian braced himself for the shattering, but it never came. There was a loud clank as the blade connected on the orbs surface. It floated a small distance away bearing a white scratch on its silver surface and moved back to its original position.

  "You know the variant of spell I used?" asked Lorian, betraying his admiration. From what Thaugmir had told him, the variant was very rare.

  "I do now," said Amadeus.

  Lorian could only stand dumbstruck. Amadeus had mastered the spell after seeing it only once.

  "I have very little need of such spells, though," continued Amadeus.

  He pointed both his hands to the ground and raised them. Simultaneously, two black skeletons rose from the ground. These were not the clumsy and weak fare that Lorian had faced outside the tower. Their movements seemed more human than any warriors he had seen. They carried massive warblades on their backs that they drew with one swift motion. One leapt into the air in a somersault, landing a good distance away from the other. Amadeus made to move his fingers and the skeletal warriors rushed to meet each other in combat.

  Lorian watched with his heart racing as the two skeletons dueled. They were not holding back in the least. He had seen paladins and even Rhial Knights duel before, but nothing came close to the grace with which these two fought. Amadeus dismissed them mid combat and they returned to a pile of ash. Had he faced even one of those skeletons in the pit today, he hadn't the faintest idea how he would defeat them. Amadeus noticed the look of incredulity in his face and laughed.

  "Dismiss the thought. It is far too soon for you to face either of them. You have much to learn and many more opponents to defeat before you think of standing against them. I must admit, you have a natural inclination to magic, but that does not necessarily translate to knowledge...or power."

  "So what now?" asked Lorian.

  Amadeus shrugged.

  "You will face stronger opponents in four days' time. In the meantime, I believe you have earned some freedom around my tower."

  "You're setting me free inside your tower?" asked Lorian skeptically. There had to be a catch.

  "Only for four days. And you are only free to move among some of the levels. You will not be able to enter some of the chambers or levels, and I suggest you not waste any effort in trying to. Your time would be better spent preparing for the coming battle. There is a library and a training chamber where you are free to practice."

  "Am I your apprentice then?"

  Amadeus snorted derisively.

  "You have not earned that right yet. This was no test for my minions. Nor was it a test to assess your worthiness of being my apprentice. It was merely necessary that I gauge your true strength before setting you free in my castle. And I can safely say you are of little threat to me. And I also know that if you do nothing to improve your skill in the next four days, you will not survive the coming trials."

  "Just four days?" asked Lorian with a hint of anger.

  "You would be surprised at what you could accomplish in that time. I do not tolerate weakness. Not in my apprentices or my prisoners or any creature—living or dead."

  "Is this some sort of game?" asked Lorian.

  "Call it what you will. My castle has rules."

  "I have no desire to stay here."

  "Yet here you are. Just because you are free to move around the castle does not mean you are free. You are still my prisoner. I have spent enough time here. I need to get back to my work. If you have any questions"—he gestured to the orb floating in front of them—"Orcus will answer them. But be quick about it. He has duties he needs to get back to."

  With that Amadeus walked away. The second orb seemed to have finished its inspection of the pile of bones and followed its master. He was left standing alone in the pit with the orb named Orcus blinking at him.

  Lorian sat back onto the ground to catch his breath. Orcus started floating around him and seemed to trying to observe every inch of his body.

  What was this stupid construct looking at?

  In frustration, Lorian conjured a fireball and let it loose at the floating orb. The orb deftly flew out of its path and stood rigid in the air. In a flash, it released an arc of lightning that struck Lorian on his shoulder. His jaw snapped shut and his back arched as the electricity passed through his entire body. It lasted for less than a second, but it felt much longer.

  "I would advise you not do that again," came a voice. It came from within the orb. At first Lorian thought it was Amadeus, but he knew it was the orb itself.

  "You're alive?" asked Lorian.

  His breath and his heartbeat had both become rapid. The shock was meant as a warning, but it seemed to have released a surge of adrenaline in him.

  "If you could call it that..." said Orcus.

  "I thought you were a magical construct. An archive."

  "My body is that of a magical construct. And I do hold archives within me."

  Lorian thought for a while.

  "You're an essence. Just like his other constructs. I thought you were completely artificial."

  "We are a kind of species known as an oracle. We never forget anything we see in life...or in death."

  "I am unfamiliar with that kind of creature..."

  The surface of the orb parted again to reveal its eye. This time it projected images of a lush green world. It appeared there was an endless continuum of trees. Suddenly, there appeared a floating orb. This one was very different from Orcus. It didn't appear metallic, but had smooth skin. It was just an orb with an eye at the center, but there was life in its movements. Even though it had no other visible organs, Lorian could see emotions on its pale-white skin. There was three of them floating over a herd of a strange lizard like creature—only in appearance but not in size. They appeared to be simply following them and looking at them. The images suddenly disappeared.

  "I would not expect you to be familiar with my kind. We are not of the prime mortal plane. We are too far away from your plane to even be found by those among you capable of planar travel."

  "And how did he capture you?"

  "Everything ends in the void. Essence devoid of life force in any plane ends up there. He found me there."

  "So you are a captive here. Like me."

  "We are his trusted and most loved assistants," said Orcus.

  There appeared to be some pride in its statement. But it felt forced. And loud, as if making it very clear to someone who might be listening. It might not be as full of life as the images it had projected, but it was certainly living and had emotions.

  "Trusted? Loved? He struck you with a blade not moments ago."

  "Er...he does tend to do that once in a while...but I am always given the best care and treatment later. After all, he is the creator. He can put us back together as many times as he wants."

  "How many times have you been...put back together?"

  "Three hundred and twenty one times!" it replied rather fondly.

  "You sound happy about it...?"

  "Happy? No. But glad? Yes! I exist to server the master. If striking me with an ice lance or drowning me in a pool of magma gives him pleasure...then I will gladly suffer!"

  "You've been drowned in a pool of magma?"

  "Twice."

  "And you feel no pain?"

  "Of course I do! Stupid human..." It started mumbling something in a strange tongue under its breath.

  "Wh
y would he do this to you?"

  "How should I know? He is the master. He must have his reasons. After all, he is the creator. I do suspect it was something to do with losing sight of one of his essences...or the time I remembered the wrong inscription for his spell..."

  "If you don't like it, why don't you leave?"

  It began laughing with a screeching metallic noise.

  "Very funny. Next question?"

  "Assistant or not, sounds like you're still a captive."

  "Bah...have it your way. But as the master mentioned...I have duties I need to get back to. So ask your questions quickly and I will answer them if I am able."

  "Your fellow oracle has a name as well?"

  "You mean that dullard of an orb? He is no friend of mine. Useless would be a more fitting name for him, but he is called Auros. He was given life shortly after me. Why the master would need another when I was already there is beyond my understanding...and one such as Auros at that. He has no grace in his flight or his sight."

  Interesting. Away from under Amadeus's immediate watch, its behavior seemed different. It was no longer the silent observer that it was supposed to be. Perhaps it could be useful to him.

  "So... what does he mean by saying I have to prepare?"

  "Just what he meant. There is a library on the floor below this one. Adjoining which is also a practice room where you would be able to summon creatures to fight against. There are three levers you need to pull. It's a simple enough mechanism for a species of even your meager intellect to figure out. If you have any trouble, I can show you how to operate it."

  "Your master Amadeus is human as well..." said Lorian, raising his eyebrow.

  "Er...and the finest specimen of human-kind he is. He stands above all others from your species. And numerous other species that I know of."

  Lorian was beginning to understand why Amadeus had created a second orb. And also why this one had been left to guide him while he had taken Auros with himself. They spoke while they walked.