Then I was unceremoniously blasted through the air by an explosion of fire. My spear went flying from my grip and stuck into the glowing boundary of the barrier nearly twenty yards off the ground. I hit the stony earth like a bag of potatoes and tried to stop the world from spinning.
“Arrogant barbarian. I walk the Path of Wandering Flame. You only killed an Inferno Sculpture.” His foot slammed hard into my ribs and tossed me another dozen yards through the air.
Feng had sculpted a likeness of himself out of fire-natured Qi and hidden it in the steam. It was a clever move. Pain, all the pain I was dulling with my Qi, surged up, and my body locked into a rictus of agony. I forced the cycling to begin again, but the pain lingered. I dropped myself through a portal, appearing a dozen yards above where Gore was stuck in the barrier. My momentum let me pull the spear free and I threw it, putting all the Qi I could manage into the weapon to power its flight toward my enemy. As it flew, I shouted a word in the language of the Fey.
Iridescent flames caught along the head and haft of the spear, looking as if it was a burning rainbow. Feng saw it coming and tried to dodge, throwing up a hardened screen of flame to deflect my throw. It was for naught. Gae Lug was a spear forged by a being very close to a god. Once commanded to slay an enemy, it will pierce any defense and unerringly hit its target. But there was a steep price.
Feng didn’t scream, even with the Fey weapon pinning him to the ground. He sneered at me with bloodstained teeth and glared with eyes that still burned like fire. He spat blood at me.
“Don’t feel too bad. You did kill me. That spear is cursed. The moment I tell it to kill, I am destined to die by it. Let that be a solace to you, as you fade into the Land of Shadows.”
He died sneering.
The moment his spirit departed, the barrier fell, and his body was pulled off the spear and onto the Gate of the Sixth Step. His flesh melted away until only bone remained. As the last drop of blood was pulled into the wood of the gate, the bones locking it shut began to move, and the Gate opened to me.
“I should have known.”
Every Step on my Path got me more and more tangled up in the world and business of the Fey. Why would this step be any different?
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Queen Titania.”
Shui Lan
The Grand Elder was overseeing the Ritual of the First Gate. In the courtyard between the outermost ring of the compound and the second most ring was a massive gate made of shimmering light. Outside it stood two dozen students. Around us were physical representations of every element in nature and every natural force I could think of. There was even a glass bottle full of twisting lighting.
“Tonight, some of you will advance to the First Step and the First Inner Court. The rest of you will be sent back to your families, your training having gone as far as it could.” The Grand Elder’s voice was low and gruff. The age of a Master was almost impossible to know. The Sage might have been a hundred years old or a thousand. But he sounded like a man near the end of his life. “You will each be given a small artifice. Keep it on your person at all times during this test. Anyone who removes it will fail and be expelled from this Sect in disgrace.”
A group of students who had Passed the First Gate last year walked through from the other side and began handing the younger students small tokens, just like the one I was carrying. Oh no, did he set me up?
“The test begins now.” The Grand Elder waved a hand, and my world went white for a moment. The world snapped back, and I was being held up by one of the other maids, a girl who’d only recently been purchased by the Sect. The students were on their knees or on the ground, a few of them weren’t moving at all.
“Are you alright?” the girl whispered. She had green eyes, so I assumed she was Sine’.
“I’m at the end of a double shift.”
The girl nodded sympathetically and let go of my arm. I was able to stand, but not very easily. I tried to circulate my Qi, but when I did I felt a tug toward the token in my robe’s inner pocket next to my heart. It made me feel sick, like I had a parasite stealing the strength and health from my body.
To the thirteenth generation! And the hell of endless stinging gnats! I cursed Master Cu in my head again for putting me in this position. I had come here to learn the secrets of the ritual, but he had made me a participant without my knowledge or consent. If I ever advanced past him on a Path, he would do well to keep his back to a wall.
“Now, fight until you feel your spirit is about to leave your body. Then continue fighting.” The Sage, his eerie white eyes roving over the students, clapped his hands, and the older students began attacking. Noses were quickly bloodied. and I heard at least one bone break inside the first minute. “Now now, if you cannot last until your Qi is exhausted then there is no point.”
“When students fall unconscious, pull them away and give them medicine,” Matron Mei instructed us. “Bandage any open wounds with a poultice of Evergreening Leaves.”
We went to work. I was losing Qi fast, but I had to keep cycling to pull the boys clear of the fighting. One, two, three. The less hardy of the students fell quickly, then there was a surge in the air, like some massive beast pulling in a deep breath. One of the younger students suddenly glowed with energy. Then a clap of thunder blasted back everyone near him as lightning crackled around him for an instant.
“There we are, the first of the new Paths to be discovered this night,” the Sage said, no longer looking dispassionate or bored. “Lightning and thunder. Some wind as well. Jin Xiao, Path of the Shattering Sky.” I stopped and stared. That was it. That was the secret. Exhaust your Qi completely and pull in natural energy which will mix with the Qi that maintains your body. That was the First Step.
“Keep up, Shui Lan,” Mei hissed under her breath.
Two more students were on the ground, and we hauled him to the wall behind us, dripping a medicinal tea into his mouth and binding cuts with sticky green leaves. I was sweating profusely under my robe, and my vision was getting blurry. I think I was beginning to see things as well. For a moment, I thought I saw a rabbit the size of a man. Worse, I felt like I recognized it. Another feeling of being pulled toward the group of students, and another flare of power. This time, the earth shook beneath our feet, and small bits of glass began to form in the sand.
“Gu Mori, Path of the Clear Sands.”
Two more students had the same life-changing surge of power. One created a shearing gust of wind that had sliced deeply into the ground around him in a circle. The other caused frost to form over everything within ten yards.
There were only two students left standing. One painful sounding punch to the stomach later, and there was only one standing. Tong, the student who had been looking at me this morning. He threw a desperate punch at one of the older students. The more experienced fighter stepped aside effortlessly. Another deep breath pulled me slightly forward, and Tong radiated blazing flames. Then those flames sprang forward like an arrow shot from a bow.
Before anyone could react, the arrow of flame bent toward me, as if some invisible hand had altered the path of its flight. I was so tired that I didn’t even feel fear. In that moment of exhaustion and danger, something clicked inside my head. The Sage’s dance, it was a dance that moved things. That was what I’d been missing. I stepped forward, spinning my arms as I turned in a smooth circle. The flames seemed to curve, no longer a straight line. I turned faster, feeling something new and bright fill me from head to toe. The arrow turned with me until I reached the end of the dance and thrust my hand out, pointing at the Gate’s capstone. The flame detonated in a shower of red sparks that rained down onto the group of older students, Tong, and the Sage.
They were all looking at me. The SAGE was looking at me. I felt a hand push on the back of my neck.
“Down, foolish girl!” Mei whispered in my ear. “The head maidservant takes full responsibility for this foolish child, Grand Elder. Please, have mercy on her.”
“Was that-?”
“That Path…”
“A mere servant? How?”
“She did seem different. I’ve seen her watching Master Cu instead of cleaning.” That was Tong.
I started shaking. Everyone would know now. I would be cast out, or killed. They would kill me for stealing their secrets. Tears wet the backs of my hands. Hands that still shimmered with dim white light.
“Tong Su, Path of the Burning Spear,” the Sage said, cutting off the whispering. “Matron Mei, introduce this… unusual girl.”
“Please, show her pity. Her parents sold her to pay their debts to the Sect. She is an ignorant child of farmers.”
“Humble beginnings do not a fool make. Stand, both of you.”
“Merc-” Mei was suddenly flattened to the ground. There was a perfect circle of sand being depressed around her. It lasted for several fast heartbeats, then Mei was no longer being crushed.
“I do not accept backtalk from my servants, Mei. You should know that by now. What. Is. Her. Name?”
“Shui Lan,” I said, hoping to spare the kind woman more pain.
The Sage looked at me with his strange eyes, and I felt something move inside me. It was like I was being pulled in, pulled toward the Sage.
“Shui Lan. Path of the Sublime Moon.”
Not even a cricket broke the silence then.
Suddenly, I wondered if I was having a dream, or a nightmare. Unreality settled over everything. I wasn’t really here, I was sleeping on my pile of straw, dreaming of success that would forever be beyond someone of my station.
Before I could over-breathe myself into unconsciousness, the Sage spoke again. “Seven students have taken the First Step this year. An auspicious beginning. You six may enter the Gate. Mei, take the others back to the outer ring dormitories. Shui Lan, I will speak with you privately.”
I stood where I was, struggling to breathe easily as I waited to be alone with one of the most powerful men in the kingdom. I counted the grains of sand at my feet.
Curse every generation of Cu MacDann’s ancestors! Curse them to the hell of eternal darkness and cold!
I wanted to run. No, I wanted to shrink to a particle of sand and disappear among the thousands of grains at my feet.
“Student Shui Lan. Hand me the token tucked away in your robe.” The Sage held out his hand.
I pulled the tiny thing from my inner pocket, doing my best to wipe the sweat from it first. The Sage looked at it for only a moment before sighing and crushing it as if it were a sugar cube. “You have my condolences, girl. It seems you are deeply in the debt of Cu MacDann. But that is bad news for another day. Welcome to the Path of the Sublime Moon, apprentice. I have much to teach you.” He bowed to me.
It was only a slight incline of his head, but the Sage of the Sublime Moon bowed to ME! I bowed deeply, trying not to start crying from relief and joy.
“The apprentice greets her Master. I wish to learn all you have to teach.”
“That is good. Your first lesson: Do not trust those who traffic with the Fey. They look after their own interests first and always. May I ask a favor, apprentice?”
“Anything you wish, Master.”
“Punch Master Cu in the face when next you see him.”
“Gladly.”
This is Aaron Van Treeck's second published short story, as the first was published in Volume 1 of the Fantastic Schools anthology series. He has a Master of Arts in Political Science and an (imaginary) Ph.D. in fantasy world-building. He's currently working as a number cruncher for whatever business is willing to pay the bills but aspires to be more than just his day job. He is supported by his parents, brother, and many encouraging friends.
The Cunning Man’s Tale
By Christopher G. Nuttall
It is rare, in the world of Schooled in Magic, for a magic-less mundane to enter a magic school, let alone study there. Even the very best of the theoretical magicians—the ones who design spells they could never cast—do their training elsewhere, well away from magical elitists who’d look down on them and magical bullies who’d turn them into frogs. It is simply not possible to be a magician without magic.
But, at Heart’s Eye University, founded by Emily on the remains of the school she liberated in The Sergeant’s Apprentice, magicians and mundanes mix freely. Science and technology and folk wisdom is studied alongside charms, alchemy and all the magical arts. And one young mundane will make a name for himself, if he survives his first weeks in a magical environment without magic ...
(Note—in-universe, this story takes place at roughly the same time as Little Witches.)
A Cunning Man’s Tale
Chapter One
I had barely rested my head on the pillow when I was awakened by a terrific banging.
I jumped awake, half-convinced I’d overslept and my master was furious. Master Pittwater was decent and easy-going, as masters went, but he had every right to be upset if I’d overslept. The apothecary didn’t run itself, as I knew all too well. If Master Pittwater had to work the counter himself, he would be mad. He needed to restock a dozen potions before the rush began ...
My head spun as I sat up. Where was I? It wasn’t my garret above the shop. It wasn’t the bedroom I’d shared with my brothers, back in Beneficence. It was a small room, barren save for an uncomfortable bed, illuminated by a single glowing crystal. My bag lay in the corner, where I’d left it ... I blinked as memory returned. I’d been so tired when I’d finally reached Heart’s Eye that I’d had very little awareness of being shown to a room and collapsing. Master Pittwater had warned me about portal lag, about the body being convinced it was in one time zone while actually being in another, but I hadn’t believed it. Not until now. The clock on the wall insisted it was ten bells, but it felt like the middle of the night.
There was another hard knock on the door. I cursed as I stumbled to my feet and staggered towards the sound. I honestly had no idea who was out there. Master Pittwater had promised he’d make the arrangements and advised me to check in with Master Landis as soon as I arrived, but I couldn’t remember if I actually had. Everything—the portals, the train—was a blur. I wondered, as I turned the doorknob, if I actually was in Heart’s Eye. It was quite possible I’d been in such a state that I’d gone to the wrong place.
“Well,” a feminine voice said, as I opened the door. “It’s about time.”
I blinked in surprise. A girl—young woman, really—was standing on the far side of the door, eyeing me as if I was something particularly unpleasant under her foot. She was striking, in a way that most female magicians are striking, and yet the sneer on her face made it hard to like her. Her eyes narrowed with contempt as she looked me up and down. I looked back at her, noting the long red hair and magical robes. Her skin was unmarked by life, her hands lacking the scars of mine. She looked like a person from another world.
“I trust you have been getting ready to attend upon us?” The girl sounded as though she didn’t believe it. “Or have you been lollygagging around in bed ...?”
She looked past me, as if she expected to discover that I wasn’t alone. I felt my temper flare. I didn’t know who she was, or who she thought I was, but I didn’t like anyone talking to me like that. I was a free citizen of Beneficence, not a serf or a slave or a runaway peasant. I might be an apprentice, but I had rights. They didn’t include having to take such ... disdain ... from someone who was clearly as immature as someone half her age.
I cleared my throat. “Who are you?”
“Lilith,” the girl snapped. “Don’t you know me?”
“No,” I said, in honest bemusement. I was supposed to know her? She wasn’t a customer at the shop—my former shop—and I was fairly sure she didn’t live in Beneficence. Even the snootier magicians at least tried to be polite. Mostly. “Am I supposed to know you?”
Lilith gav
e me a nasty look. “I am” —she paused, clearly rethinking what she was about to say— “I am Master Landis’s apprentice. And I have to take you to the lab.”
She looked me up and down. “And you’re not even appropriately dressed!”
“I only got in last night,” I said. The urge to just slam the door in her face was overwhelming. “You woke me up.”
“That won’t do at all,” Lilith said. “Get dressed in lab robes and meet me there in ten minutes and ...”
“I don’t even know where the lab is,” I said. “I can’t ...”
Lilith scowled. “Get dressed,” she ordered. “I’ll wait outside. Hurry.”
I scowled back as I closed the door, opened my bag and dug through it for the apprenticeship robe. Master Pittwater had given it to me as his farewell present, along with a handful of printed textbooks and tomes. My skin felt grimy as I shucked my trousers and shirt, taking time to change my underwear before pulling the robe over my head. I had been far too long since I’d had a proper shower, let alone a bath. Master Pittwater had been insistent I shower every day, if I lived above the shop. I’d grown used to the luxury.
Gritting my teeth, I dug out the letters of introduction and slipped them into my pocket. Master Pittwater had assured me that everything had been sorted, that Master Landis would give me a fair shot at an apprenticeship. He hadn’t mentioned another apprentice, a girl no less. I wasn’t sure what to make of that. Female apprentices were rare, outside the magical community. And Lilith clearly had a massive chip on her shoulder. If I’d shown that sort of attitude, I would have been in deep trouble.
“You’re not an apprentice,” Lilith said, when I opened the door. “You shouldn’t be wearing those robes.”
Fantastic Schools, Volume 3 Page 30