by R. W. Weston
He could not bear to marry, afraid that he would turn out to be like his father. He found that only through the training to become a wizard could he discipline himself enough to re-enter society. To be someone that could do some good. And for that he found that he gave him much more respect.
He was wondering why he was being summoned to the training room at such an odd hour. It had only been three hours since he had left and was about to retire to bed. When he arrived there didn’t seem to be anyone around. He walked into the middle and called out; there was no reply so he tried again. This time he heard a low moan coming from a dark corner of the room.
He walked over and found Germai lying on the ground curled up in a ball, with what appeared to be blood on his face and the ground around him. He ran over to his side, bending down to see better. He was surprised he was able to hear the footsteps behind him with the sound of blood pumping through his ears.
He turned just in enough time to see a ball of fire being released from someone, flying straight at him. At that moment only his reflexes saved him. He quickly called on the water element and formed a shield to protect both Germai and himself. The ball of fire hit the shield with a strong enough force to knock him back. He was afraid that if whoever had done that tried again he wouldn’t be able to stop it.
Germai turned laughing, standing up he helped Roland to his feet. He was still in shock over what had happened. He was now looking at his teacher with a face of confusion, wondering if he had been so badly injured that he had gone crazy. He began to back away from him when another person behind him stopped him. He spun around, fist clenched, ready to take out whoever was there and make a run for it.
"I told you he was ready, did I not?" said Germai, "he does learn quickly and has the reflexes of a cat."
"Yes, he did do well. I give you credit for preparing him so thoroughly that he was able to save himself. Now we must prepare him for his next assignment," said Alrien. "I will notify Wizard Brekon that he is ready to join him. Please help him to gather his items, and let him know what has just happened, he looks as white as a ghost," he said leaving the training room.
"You did very well apprentice, you have made me proud this night. Let’s return to your room and get you taken care of shall we?" he said, taking Roland by the arm and leading him back to his room.
He was still shocked about what had happened. He wondered what would have happened had he not been able to stop the fireball, would he have died. On their way back to his room Germai explained that this was his final test. Now he would be allowed to move up when he was finished with his other training. He only heard bits and pieces of the conversation, as he was still in such a state of shock. To everyone else he was sure he seemed to be a walking zombie.
Chapter 10
Earth and Wind
aving passed all the required tests of the apprentice level for the discipline of water he was taken back to the hall of joining. He was once more introduced to the head of the next discipline. As he was presented before Wizard Brekon the earth master, he wasn’t in such awe of what was going on. He was escorted down the hall of the order of earth, quietly looking at all the murals that had been painted along the walls.
He noticed that they depicted the creation of the world, only in reverse. He didn’t have much time to think about it when they arrived at his new room. He was given the opportunity to rest for the remainder of the day. His room was small like the others he had been in. It was barren of anything decorative; it felt to him as though he was now living in a cave. Walking around the room he found some books over the mantel of the fireplace, dusting them off he found one that interested him and started to read it.
"The Terion Chronicles," he said to himself. He spent the rest of the day lying on the bed and reading, intrigued by the history of the book.
"Good morning apprentice, did you sleep well?" asked Wizard Brekon.
"Yes thank you, it felt good to just be able to relax for a spell."
"This is Patlin Rien; she will be the one to take you through the lessons. I do hope you enjoy what you are going to learn."
Rien was an attractive young lady, the first he had seen since his training started. He had heard of sorceresses, but until now he had never met one, after all his mother was one. She took him outside for his first lesson and put him to work in the gardens. Over the next few weeks of training she taught him about all the different types of vegetation that was around. She showed him how all things shared a common dependency on the elements.
"Take these seeds, each one will produce something different," she said handing him a small bag.
"What do you want me to do with these?" he asked, opening it.
"Take hold of the power, and watch what I do."
They both took hold of the power; he saw that it was rooted at their feet giving a different insight to what was before him. The ground had turned from the green grass and different colors of flowers to a wide variety of colors.
"Each color represents something; the earth is a living thing. Whenever we plant something in it, it will give up something of itself. You can think of it as a mother, nurturing in all it can, giving up its nutrients. Each color gives us an indication of how many nutrients have been taken, that way we can adjust our planting accordingly.
For example the reds show a high level of decrease, the darker the color the more we have to be careful. On the other hand a dark brown shows that there are plenty of nutrients stored up and we can plant again. So take those seeds, find the most fertile place that you can and plant them."
He looked around, most of the ground was a shade of yellow, or light brown. He walked around the garden for a while enjoying the colors as they seemed to dance around. Finally finding a sufficient enough place to plant he set about doing so. Rien watched carefully as he took care to plant each one after the manner in which he had been shown.
"Very well done, now step back a little and watch what I do," she knelt down beside the first seed. Concentrating she placed her hand over it. The ground began to lighten just a little, when she removed her hand he could see the first signs of the seedling coming up through the ground.
"This is the reason for this power; we can help things grow where others have failed."
"So if we have this awesome ability, why don't we produce enough food so that everyone can eat? Wouldn’t that end all the hunger?"
"Those are good intentions, and once you are able to you will probably want to go out and help all those you can. But good intentions do not always mean the best of ideas. Think of the long-term effects of that. First, think about those who depend on their crops for their income, what would happen to them? Second, someone will not always be around to give the people the food they need. So in the end they will be worse off than before. What we try and do is teach and train people how to use the land, so that when we are gone they will be able to continue to survive, hopefully for many more generations."
"That is true, I do see the importance of that," said Roland, a little ashamed.
"If you will always remember this lesson, you will eventually help more people than you could ever imagine."
"Now that you can do that, let's turn our attention to how this element can save your life. You have already mastered the element of fire and know of its great destructive powers. At the same it gives way to new life. That is what we will learn now; there are only two things that can stop fire, earth and water.
When you are faced with someone who wishes to destroy those around you, you can use the earth as a barrier. By calling on it and commanding it to form a wall, watch how this is done. Teran tar shield."
He jumped when the earth began to shake quickly and slide a little under his feet. When he looked up Rien was fully covered by a hard shell of earth. He walked over and touched it; it felt like a stone that had been there forever. He was forced back when the wall began to fall away, Rien stepped away without any problems.
"Take my hand and you try the spell. There
is something more that you will need to know once you are inside."
He took her hand and repeated the spell, aware this time of what was going to happen. The earth under his feet didn’t move this time so he was able to watch the shield form around them. From the inside it didn’t appear like a rock because you could see out. Breathing became a little more difficult from being trapped inside the small space.
"As you can see, once inside you will be protected from the enemy. Being able to see outside is vitally important, you wouldn’t want to have to guess when they are gone. Not only will this protect you from the fire element, but there are many creatures that have been created by the Legion, they in time may try to destroy you as well. You will become aware of these creatures and be able to fight against them. However your best defense against some of them is to hide, within these shields they will not be able to sense your presence.
Now to learn how to remove the shield when you are ready, the spell is said like this Sela Teran Shield. Because you are the one that created it you must be the one to remove it."
He repeated the spell and the walls slowly fell away, he watched as they molded themselves back into the ground, leaving no sign that it had been created. As with the other elements his training lasted over several months, learning as much of the basic principles of control that he could, he felt comfortable with each of the lessons finding the earth a pleasant element to work with.
Through the last few months of his training he had grown to like Rien a little more than he probably should have. Little did he know that she had also developed feelings for him. Something the council did not look upon very highly.
Rien knew what the final test would be, and it worried her that she would not be able to tell him. Although this was one of the easiest of elements to control, the final test on his powers was highly dangerous. She hoped that he would remember all that he had learned.
He had only been in his room a few hours, tired from the day's lessons and chores. After so long on the same schedule he was used to the little sleep that he got, and so instead of going to bed immediately he decided to sit and read for a while.
Rien opened the door to his room quietly; she had a desire to talk with him for the longest time about his final test. She knew that if she got caught the consequences could be severe for her, but at this moment she didn’t care. She had seen many apprentices in the past be mentally destroyed, she stood there for a while just looking at him.
She knew she had fallen in love with him, and that was the main reason she had to let him know about the test. She stood there looking at him laying in bed, still in his clothes with the open book on his chest, the moon coming in the window, shining off his face. She walked over to the side of the bed. Leaning over she kissed him carefully on the cheek, trying not to wake him up.
She sat and waited for about an hour before she walked over to wake him up. She had enjoyed just sitting there and watching him, but what she had to say was too important to wait any longer. She shook him a little, saying his name softly not wanting to startle him awake. He slowly opened his eyes, a little surprised that there was someone so close to him at this time of night.
"I need to talk to you, are you awake?" she asked.
"Rien, is that you? Why are you here? Is there something wrong?" he was more awake now, sitting up on the bed.
"No," she answered, a little ashamed that she had come at all. "There is nothing wrong. I, well I wanted to give you a little warning, you will be taking your final test tomorrow, and I don't want anything to happen to you. There are some people that don’t survive this test."
"Rien, don't worry. I remember everything that you have taught me. I'm sure I'll be fine," he told her, taking her in his arms to comfort her.
She was a bit surprised that he was holding her so close, although she did feel comforted. She was sure that was all he was intending it for. She laid her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. She had never felt like this for anyone before, a desire to be close to him longer.
They sat and held each other until she had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He carefully laid her down on his bed and went over to the small chair by the fire place; he sat there thinking about what would happen in the next few hours. He started to get anxious so he got up and walked out to the garden to let Rien sleep without being bothered. He watched the sun come up over the trees, enjoying the sights of a new day.
The morning was filled with the first of his chores. He was now in the garden's more than inside and it felt good to be out in the sun. Rien joined him after breakfast, helping him to prepare for the last of his studies before he took the test that day. She still worried that he would be harmed, but the memories of falling asleep in his arms gave her a great deal of comfort.
A young boy dressed in a servants attire came to tell him that his presence was requested in the training field at his earliest convenience, which generally meant to come immediately. So he gathered the few tools that he was using, put them away and followed the boy to the training yard. He was not too surprised when he got there to see Rien. As well as a few others who had reached patlin status, all standing in a circle, Wizard Brekon standing in the middle.
The patlins began to separate, opening the circle towards him. As they did a large fire ball came flying at him. Without thinking he called the earth shield around himself, flinching a little when the fire hit the shield and winked itself out. He quickly lowered his shield, casting another spell aimed at Brekon, Teran Divlan, everyone in the circle was surprised when the earth began to crack and separate below their feet breaking the circle.
"Apprentice, where did you learn that?" he demanded, walking over to him, curiosity and amazement on his face. Wanting to find out who had taught him that spell. It was usually taught only to a journey before they left for their quest. It was meant to help them when encountered by a large mountain and time was important.
"I read it in a book, at the time I didn't know what it meant. Even now I was surprised to see what happened, all I know is it had something to do with the earth. I am truly sorry if I have done something wrong, but it came out quicker than I really thought."
"That’s fine. You must always remember to guard your tongue; you never know what will happen when you use magic that you haven’t been taught. Do you understand me?"
"Yes sir, that is a lesson I have heard all too much in the time that I have been here. I promise you it will not happen again."
"Very good, you did very well on your test. I have seen your other work, it’s time for you to move on, I will have it arranged for tomorrow, you will now return to your room for the remainder of the day. I will notify the headmaster of servants that you will not be doing your regular evening chores. I want you to think about what has happened here today."
He went back to his room, confused and still a little shaky over what had happened. That was the second time he had almost been killed during his testing; now he knew what Rien had meant by being careful. He lay down exhausted, partly from the little sleep the night before, and partly from the events that had just happened. He laid there thinking about all he had learned, he only had one more discipline to learn before he could advance.
He took the rest of the day to rest and read the book he had started. That is where he had gotten the spell he used today. Now that he knew a little more and that the book could teach him he anxiously read it, trying to remember everything in it. He was so involved in his book that he didn’t see the door open and someone walk in. He looked up when he caught the smell of perfume in the room.
"Rien, sorry I didn't hear you come in. Have you ever read this book?" he asked, holding it up for her to see.
"The Terion Chronicles, no I haven't had the opportunity to read that one, why?"
"That spell I used today, I got it out of this book, there are many more like it,"
"You might want to consider giving that to Wizard Brekon, he will know more about it. Besides I don't think you should be reading th
at, especially if you start using the spells and don't know what will happen," she said a little nervous with him having the book still. "Look I brought some current wine freshly made; I thought we could celebrate you passing the final test."
They sat drinking and talking for the next few hours, a servant brought food in for him, and seeing her there offered to collect some for her if she desired. It was well past the setting of the sun when she finally decided to return to her own room. They both would have a big day tomorrow when he would leave to go study with the wind guild, she was sad to see him go. The only joy she had came from knowing that she would see him around the castle, but that too was limited as she herself was preparing for her advancement to journey and would be leaving soon.
"Rien, before you go I wanted to ask you something."
"Yes."
"How do you feel about me, I mean are we just good friends?"
She was surprised by the question and was not sure how to answer. Her first thought was to shout NO, she wanted to be more than just good friends with him. "What do you mean are we just good friends?" she asked, trying to hide her true emotions.
He walked over to her, taking her in his arms and kissing her. Her knees felt like jelly, if it had not been for him holding her she would have fallen on the floor. She could not believe that they were kissing, something she had wanted for so long, it was sweet and everything she thought it would be. She stood there shocked when he pulled away, still wanting their lips to be together.
"Sorry, I don't know what came over me, can you forgive me for that?" he asked, turning away from her. He felt ashamed that he had taken advantage of her like that.
He went over to the small sofa, not wanting to look at her, not wanting to see the shame he thought he had caused her. He was surprised when he felt her hands on his back, softly rubbing it.