by Raymond Cain
Tasker scowled at the dean and removed a steel bolt from a loop on his belt. It was cylindrical, blunt on one end and sharp on the other, and about as long as an outstretched hand. He put the blunt end in the opening at the end of the weapon and the water inside grabbed the bolt, retracting back into the barrel like a coiled spring.
Tasker aimed Stingray at a twelve-foot-tall golem standing behind the students. The water inside the barrel expanded, launching the bolt and striking the golem in the arm. It flew straight through the watery limb, striking the wall behind it. Ripples traveled through the golem’s arm and it regarded its limb as though confused, then returned to a neutral stance. It appeared to be unaffected by the attack.
“Well that didn’t do much,” Titus said, chuckling.
“Nor should it,” Tasker replied evenly. “As water golems are largely unaffected by penetrating injuries.” He withdrew another steel bolt, one tipped with aquazite. “But this bolt is quite effective against watery constructions. Upon contact, the crystal tip is enchanted to render nearby liquids into a state of rapid disassociation...”
The students’ eyebrows wrinkled in confusion and Haster cleared his throat again.
“...which means it destroys water,” Tasker reiterated, disapprovingly. There were nods of understanding from the crowd and he shook his head in disgust.
A plump, red-haired girl with a homely face and curly hair pushed her way to the front of the group. She was more amply endowed than any woman Flynn had ever seen, and she wore a fish-scale shirt with a V-neck that accentuated her cleavage. “I like smart guys,” she said, blinking prettily at Tasker.
Tasker shrugged and Flynn wasn’t sure if Tasker was oblivious or disinterested in the girl’s obvious flirting.
“Moving right along. . .” Tasker continued.
A hint of disappointment passed over the girl’s face. She leaned forward, further accentuating her impressive bosom. “I bought this fish scale shirt today. What do you think?”
Tasker gritted his teeth so hard that his jawbones stuck out. “It’s perfect,” he said, eliciting a smile from the girl. “The cleavage takes the emphasis away from your homely face and the trousers are strong enough to withstand the enormous strain your ass is exerting on them.”
The girl’s smile disappeared and her mouth dropped open. She put her fists on her hips and looked as though she was about to lash out, but she halted when two engineers hauled an unusual burden into the chamber.
The men dragged in a water golem that was so badly mangled, it could no longer maintain its shape. Flynn recognized it as the same golem he pummeled against every step in the Sorcery Academy. He didn’t think he’d ever see it again after he lured it into the moat.
One of the engineers had shoulder-length brown hair that was nearly as messy as Tasker’s. He wore a pair of glasses with square aquazite lenses and a white lab coat. One of the golem’s misshapen arms was draped around the man’s shoulders and he turned to Haster. “We have a golem in need of repair.”
“I wonder what happened to it,” Flynn said, innocently.
“It must have malfunctioned,” the engineer replied, directing his answer to Haster. “It fell in the moat surrounding the Sorcery Academy, and the guardian golems under the surface perceived it as a threat. We saw a lot of turmoil in the water but we managed to get the golem out before it was completely destroyed. We brought it here to see if it could get fixed.”
The golem hung limply in the engineers’ grips but when it noticed Flynn, it became frantic. It oozed out of their grasp and reached for Flynn with two misshapen, elongated arms. He jumped back out of its reach, colliding with a pair of students behind him.
The water golem leapt for Flynn, elongating its arms and reaching eagerly for his throat. Tasker fired Stingray while the golem was in mid-air. The crystal-tipped bolt tore through the golem’s torso, obliterating it into thousands of droplets. All the students cheered, except for Flynn, who was soaked in the golem’s remains.
“And that completes the demonstration,” Tasker said. He tossed Stingray over his shoulder and the strap separated into two lengths that poured over his shoulder and under his arm. The two pieces flowed around his ribs and reconnected over his chest. Once Stingray was secured to his back, Tasker stared sternly at Flynn, his jaw clenched in irritation. “I’d like a word with you.”
Chapter Thirteen
Flynn wiped off some of the water from the moist demonstration. His hair was flattened over his face and his tunic was soaked. He felt cold but refused to show it. Titus was laughing at him and he did not want to give the dark-haired bully the satisfaction of seeing him shiver.
“Here,” Tasker said, putting a hand on Flynn’s wet shoulder. “Let me take care of that for you.”
In an instant, every drop of water in Flynn’s hair and clothing turned into steam and floated away. His chestnut brown hair was once again wavy and dry.
A thin male student with blonde hair had a wide-eyed look of amazement after seeing the water evaporate from Flynn’s clothing. “Wow, what’s it like to have him for a brother?”
Flynn made no attempt to hide his eyeroll or leave the sarcastic tone out of his voice. “Oh boy, it’s the best.”
Dean Haster waved the students out of the academy but Tasker pulled Flynn aside. “That golem took quite an interest in you. I presume you have an explanation.”
“Must have been something I said,” Flynn replied, innocently.
“To be honest, I must say I am impressed. Your ability to irritate others is powerful enough to affect golems. Not an easy feat.”
“It's a gift,” Flynn agreed. He was not exactly enjoying the conversation.
“How did you do on the test?”
The conversation just became worse. “Terrible. I did so badly I'm not even sure the Citadel will accept me.”
“No need to worry about that,” Tasker replied, waving Flynn’s concerns away with a sweep of his hand. “The Citadel will take anyone. Even you.”
“Thanks,” Flynn replied with a sigh. It was the kind of reassurance he had come to expect from his brother.
Tasker laid a hand on Flynn’s shoulder. The gesture was meant to be reassuring but it seemed forced. “If it makes you feel any better, I think the Citadel is a great choice for you.”
Flynn brightened. Perhaps his brother was not so bad after all. “Well, I do like combat.”
“More importantly, your lack of mechanical aptitude ruins any hope of success for you at the Engineering Academy. And with your dull intellect, you are at no risk of doing well at the Sorcery Academy either. Any school that promotes the mindless swinging of steel against similarly mindless adversaries is clearly your best option.”
Flynn glared at his brother.
Tasker, apparently realizing he may have said something inappropriate, tried to backtrack. “No offense.”
“No, of course not,” Flynn replied sarcastically. “I mean I was offended at first, but then you said ‘no offense’ and it’s all okay now.”
Tasker shifted uncomfortably and changed the subject. “In any case, I must take my leave. Unfortunately, the next batch of students will soon be here. Hopefully I won’t have to suffer through too many stupid questions.”
Flynn nodded and the two of them parted ways. He hurried to rejoin his classmates as Dean Haster led them out of the school. The next group of students stood in the seagrass, waiting patiently for their chance to tour the academy.
As they neared the new group, Flynn had an epiphany about how to torment his antisocial brother. “Hello, everyone. If you want to have a fun tour, the person you want to talk to in there is Tasker Arcturus. He LOVES it when people ask lots of questions.” He added special emphasis on the word loves to drive his point home.
“Really?” one of the students asked. She was an attractive blonde girl wearing a matching fish scale blouse and skirt. “I heard he’s kind of an a...”
“No, he’s not like that at all,” Flynn said with
as much sincerity as he could muster. “He hides it sometimes, but deep down, the more you talk to him, the more he likes it. You just have to be persistent. Ask him everything you can think of because one thing he always tells me is there’s no such thing as a stupid question.”
“Wow, thanks,” the blonde girl replied, sweetly, and there were nods of appreciation from other members of the group.
“My pleasure,” Flynn replied, and meant it. He chuckled evilly as the group headed off into the academy.
Dean Haster wiped more sweat off his round face and addressed Flynn’s group. “Thank you for touring the Engineering Academy. I hope to see many of you attending here this year. Now, they are expecting you at the Citadel. I trust you can find your own way there. Try not to get killed by anything, or anyone, once you’re inside.”
There was a serious edge to the man’s tone but Flynn shrugged it away. The group dispersed, splitting off into groups that took different routes to the Citadel. Some followed a red cobblestone path and others took a scenic route leading past a grove of trees taller than most of the buildings in Seahaven. The rest headed for the Waterway—not the shortest route, but it was probably the fastest.
Flynn arrived at the Waterway behind the others and he waited as an ice chunk sped toward him on the surface of the canal. He was about to step out onto the ice when he got shoved from behind. His head slammed against the ice and the last thing he heard before he fell in the water was the sound of Titus’ laughter.
* * * * *
“Hey, are you okay?”
Each word pierced like a dagger through Flynn’s thoughts. He opened his eyes and slammed them shut when the lights of Seahaven stabbed into them. He was cold, wet, and his head was pounding. In time, he adjusted to the light and oriented to his surroundings. A girl his age was kneeling over him, looking down at him with concern. Her blonde hair was woven into a complex array of braids and not a single strand was out of place. She wore a blue dress with diagonal slashes of bright red across the torso and hips. Everything about her seemed immaculate. It took him a moment to recall that it was the girl who was tested before him in the Sorcery Academy.
“Your last name is Clutchfeather, right?”
The blonde girl smiled and nodded. “Lycia Clutchfeather, yes. Are you okay?”
Flynn coughed up some foul-tasting water. “What happened?”
“Titus pushed you in,” she said, her eyebrows wrinkled in concern. “And I fished you out. It looks like he gave you quite a few bruises.”
Flynn gingerly touched the bruises on his head from the various falls he suffered that day. “They weren’t all from him,” he said as he struggled back up to his feet. “I have to go.”
“Are you sure you’re okay to walk?”
“Not really,” he replied. “But thanks for helping me. I can walk on my own now.”
“I’ll walk with you,” Lycia said. “We’re headed to the same place anyway.”
Flynn agreed, and the two of them walked together. They soon arrived at the Citadel, a castle constructed from black stone. The fortification had six sides and a tower full of armed guards protected each corner. Armed soldiers patrolled the perimeter and a moat teeming with water golems surrounded the fortress. The only way across the moat was a water bridge flanked by guard towers and armed soldiers. The defenses made the facility look more like a military base than a school.
Flynn fell in love with the place right away.
As Flynn stepped onto the water bridge, his boots sank in slightly. The moat had even more golem guardians than the Sorcery Academy did and they shifted around in there so much that it created a current. He paused a moment, wondering if the bridge ever failed and dropped the people walking on it.
Once all the students reached the other side, the largest man Flynn had ever seen greeted them. Legs wider than most people’s waists supported an even thicker torso, and he stood a head taller than everyone else. He wore scratched and dented armor constructed from the armored plates of a sea creature that Flynn didn’t recognize. He was bald, with dark, piercing eyes that bored into each student as though he could measure their worth merely by looking at them. The bottom half of his face was hidden behind a black beard so thick you couldn’t see his mouth. Three perpendicular scars, starting at his left ear, stretched across his cheek until they disappeared behind his beard. Three similar scars extended across the right side of his neck. A massive greataxe was strapped across his back and a pair of shortswords were sheathed at his hips. Flynn assumed the man was one of the Citadel’s instructors.
A second man in leather armor joined the bald warrior. He had a neatly trimmed goatee and jet-black hair pulled back into a ponytail. His armor was made from the skin of an underground lizard and it was immaculate, as though it was cleaned and oiled only minutes earlier. The man did not seem nearly as powerful as the imposing figure next to him, but he moved in a smooth, flowing manner that somehow made him seem just as deadly. He wore an inkskin swordbelt sporting a pair of thin, jewelled blades. The belt matched a pair of well-oiled inkskin boots that were buckled below the knee.
The huge man crossed his arms and his meaty forearms seemed to double in size. “ALL OF YOU FESTERING PILES OF MERFOLK DUNG, LISTEN UP!” he shouted with a voice so powerful it felt like it could blow people’s hair back. Once he had everyone’s attention, he spoke in a low, resonant tone that could be heard just as clearly a stone’s throw away. “My name is Master Elgin. I’m the senior weapon master at the Citadel, a position equivalent to dean at the other colleges. I teach hand-to-hand combat and weapons training. Next to me is Tanner Warkeep, our most skilled instructor. You’ll not find a better swordsman than this man. Ever. Today, we will be your guides. I expect you all to keep up; stragglers will be thrown in the moat.”
Flynn couldn’t tell if the weapons master was joking. The moat churned from the water golems roiling around within and he shuddered at the thought of someone falling in.
They entered the castle and walked through a grand hall. Plush red carpets covered the floors and glowing crystal discs were mounted in the ceilings. Stuffed merfolk, deep sea sharks, giant squid, and dozens of other fearsome creatures dominated the walls. They were so lifelike that Flynn poked some of them to reassure himself that they weren’t still alive.
The next hall they entered contained stuffed creatures that once inhabited the underground tunnels. There were trolls, ogres, and a giant lizard on the ceiling that looked ready to pounce on those walking below. Flynn was in awe of the fearsome beasts. It would have been terrifying to encounter any of them in the wild.
Four men wearing leather armor approached Tanner and Master Elgin. The six of them huddled at the end of the hall and spoke in hushed tones. Ever curious, Flynn crept closer while pretending to be focused on the stuffed monsters.
The men spoke too quietly for Flynn to overhear, and so he gave up on eavesdropping and checked his compass instead. He subtly opened his pocket and was surprised to find the compass needle pointing at one of the men. He checked it a few times from different locations, and each time the needle was locked on Tanner Warkeep.
Tanner shook Master Elgin’s hand and left with the four armored men at his side. Tanner was the second person the compass pointed at that day, and Flynn wondered what connection he had with Arthur Graymantle. He eagerly wanted to follow Tanner, but there was no way to do that without attracting attention to himself. It pained him to stay behind, but he remained at the Citadel.
Master Elgin addressed the students. “Tanner has been called away on an urgent matter so I will finish guiding the tour on my own. All the creatures you see in these two halls were slain by former students. In the beginning, those students were feeble piles of squid offal much like yourselves. In time, they became powerful warriors. For those of you who complete your training here, you will be able to battle any of these creatures with confidence.”
The next creature on display was a living one. A white snake, as wide as a man and five t
imes as long, slept soundly in a glass terrarium. Its head was buried in its coils and it appeared to be sleeping soundly.
“Curious creature, this one,” Master Elgin began. “It’s a wraithsnake, one of the most magical creatures in the depths. Its venom is poisonous, but not very lethal. It requires three or four bites to kill you—but its toxin causes its victims to hallucinate. People that survive its bite go mad and wander off to their deaths.”
Many of the students took a step back from the dangerous creature.
“Don’t worry,” Master Elgin added, rapping his knuckles on the glass. The snake did not stir. “It’s not aggressive. It’s content to just lay there. It doesn’t even eat. For months we tried feeding it all kinds of animals but it never took a single bite. I’m amazed it’s still alive.”
“Fascinating,” Flynn said, trying to get a glimpse of its eyes. Unfortunately, it kept its head buried in its coils.
“Keep moving, students,” Master Elgin said. “I'm going to show you something we call the ‘Fish Tank.’”
Master Elgin led the group through a series of hallways and he opened a door leading into a large chamber. The aptly-named Fish Tank was a wide column of water that was larger and taller than most buildings. It had no walls and it held its shape magically in much the same way that Tasker’s aquarium did. Sharks and manta rays circled around each other in the tank, and the exterior bulged as they swam near. It contained sand, rock, coral, and plants that served as a simulation of the ocean floor.
“This is where we practice ocean battles,” Master Elgin explained. He held his breath and stepped into the tank. Sharks swam near him and he glared at them, daring them to attack. After none took his challenge, he stepped out onto the dry floor. He and his clothing were dry. The watery sides of the tank rippled in his wake after he stepped through its surface. “Would anyone else like to test the water?”
All the other students either shook their heads no or took a step back. Master Elgin smirked and Flynn guessed the man received the response he expected. Flynn took that as a challenge and he was not the type to back down.