The Exercise Of Vital Powers

by Ian Gregoire

  “Zalayna has no memory of the attack. She remembers nothing that has happened since she sat down for dinner earlier today.” The rebuttal was very matter-of-fact. “Besides, when she is told the truth there’s little chance of her taking the matter to the Council. No Sanatsai would willingly acknowledge, let alone publicise the fact they had been comprehensively bested by a mere apprentice.”

  “You’re probably right.”

  All of a sudden, Fay became conscious of the nagging urge to look down at Darrian’s groin. Damn Kayden for putting such absurd notions into my head! She purged the thought from her mind as she concentrated on maintaining eye contact with her counterpart. If Darrian did harbour any romantic or sexual inclinations towards her, she would have noticed. And even if she hadn’t, she knew him well enough to be certain he was one of the few members of the Order who wouldn’t be too intimidated to make known his interest.

  “Well, there’s nothing more to be done here,” she said casually. “Shall we get going?”

  “All right. But before we leave, there is one thing about Kayden’s exploits tonight that I can’t help but wonder about.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I had no idea about a network of secret passages inside the old fort, nor underground tunnels beneath it, until you mentioned them as we made our way here. So how could Kayden possibly have known about them?”

  “Simple. She cheated.”

  Evidently, Darrian was taken aback if the look upon his face was anything to go by. “How so?” His tone strengthened the impression that Fay had just given him an answer he hadn’t expected, or even contemplated.

  “The apprentices are assigned into their respective groups a week before the exercise is scheduled to take place. They are afforded that time to devise a plan to complete it successfully. It would have been easy enough for Kayden to abscond from campus for a few hours each night to extensively explore the fort. I’m actually very impressed she discovered the passageways and tunnels. Though there are subtle, tell-tale signs indicating their existence, few people would ever notice.”

  “How can you be certain that’s what Kayden did?”

  Fay smiled knowingly and patted Darrian on the shoulder. “Because it’s what I would have done.”

  She began walking towards the exit, her colleague quickly falling into step beside her.

  “And that’s why you didn’t fail her?” It wasn’t clear if Darrian intended for his words to be a question but they came out sounding like one.

  “No, of course not,” she rebutted. “It’s one thing to know about the passageways and tunnels, it’s another to actually complete the assignment. Kayden couldn’t have anticipated there would be five times more King’s Guard on duty than is normal. She certainly couldn’t have predicted volunteers from the Order among their number. And I know the Jaymidari wards protecting the box were an unexpected surprise to her. Yet, in spite of that, she was still able to overcome these obstacles, and that’s why I won’t deprive her of this victory.” They exited the stables together, side-by-side. “But tonight’s events have made it painfully apparent to me that Kayden has the potential to become a very serious problem—one that I must take care of as soon as possible.”

  “That sounds ominous,” said Darrian. “What exactly are you planning to do about her?”

  Fay contemplated her response for a moment. “I will need to give that some thought. But for now, I shall return to campus. I want to contact the Council, tell them about tonight’s events before they can hear about it from someone else. The problem that is Kayden Jayta can wait until tomorrow.”

  They rounded the corner of the stables to walk along the side of the building where their horses were waiting…or should have been waiting. One horse was conspicuous by its absence. Only a single horse remained tethered in its place—the grey mare belonging to Fay.

  “She stole my horse!” cried Darrian. “Can you believe the nerve of that girl? She took my horse!”

  Fay made a half-hearted effort to stifle her laughter. “I told you she was trouble,” she managed to say as she approached her horse.

  “Why couldn’t she take yours?”

  “I expect she probably tried,” Fay said, stroking the mare’s nose. “But Shadow knows better than to allow anyone but me ride her—don’t you my darling?” The horse whinnied, as if in acknowledgement.

  After untying Shadow, she clambered up into the saddle.

  “I would offer you a ride,” she said, smiling down at Darrian, “but you’re not going my way.”

  “You’re not coming to the rendezvous point?”

  “Like I said, I’m returning to campus right away. I’ll leave the conclusion of the exercise in your capable hands. It’s not far to walk from here, and I doubt Terio and the other Sanatsai have arrived there with the rest of Kayden’s group yet.”

  She urged Shadow into a trot then pulled up almost immediately.

  “One more thing. When you get there, could you please ensure all of tonight’s participants are gathered together before returning to campus. I don’t want anyone being left behind like last night.”

  “Will do!”

  Fay urged her grey mare into a canter this time, leaving Darrian alone to begin the short walk to the designated rendezvous point.

  “I’ll see you back on campus!” she called out into the night.

  Fay had been riding for almost an hour, and finally the Antaris campus loomed into view in the distance, getting ever closer as her grey mare moved onwards at a gentle trot. She would arrive within the next quarter-hour at her current speed, though she was in no real hurry to do so; she still had a lot on her mind.

  Named after the province in the Kingdom of Mirtana—the easternmost realm of the Nine Kingdoms, in which it was located—the sprawling Antaris campus was one of nine campuses run by the Order. Along with the other eight sites dotted around the Nine Kingdoms, it served as the public face of The Order—as much as that was possible. Each location was deliberately situated far enough away from major population centres to minimise contact, though never too far from the small towns and villages of the surrounding countryside.

  The network of campuses was established for the purpose of locating, identifying and taking in those adolescents born imbued with the Zarantar of the Sanatsai—an attribute that always manifested during the early teens. Once found, these individuals were presented with two options: to have their nascent power bound immediately—to prevent its use—so they may resume their lives uninterrupted or alternatively, undertake the ten years apprenticeship required to gain mastery of their Zarantar. Those who failed the training would likewise have their power bound, before being allowed to return to their former lives. But those who were successful were inducted into the Order as fully-fledged Sanatsai, to dedicate the rest of their lives to fulfilling the mission for which the Order was founded: to prevent the misuse and abuse of Zarantar.

  In essence, the nine campuses run by the Order were simultaneously a boarding school, university and military academy, among other things.

  For the past three years Fay had been serving as the administrator of the Antaris campus, overseeing the education and training of over three hundred apprentices. Three years on, her assignment to the post was still the subject of much speculation. Why would the Council waste the talents of one of the most powerful, renowned Sanatsai of the Order? Why turn Fay Annis into a glorified headmistress? This is essentially what had been done, people had argued. Many such voices viewed the awarding of a campus teaching position as the equivalent of being put out to pasture. Their credulity would no doubt be tested if they were to learn the truth: that Fay herself had requested to take on the role. But she had good reasons for doing so. Reasons that had been brought back into sharp focus by the events of that night.

  As she continued her approach to the campus, Fay had spent the best part of the hour-long journey mulling over how to tackle the problem that was Kayden Jayta. The course of action she had settled u
pon basically amounted to passing the problem on to someone else, which didn’t sit well with her. But the truth of the matter was, she only knew one person whom she felt confident could turn the wayward apprentice away from the path she was heading down. He had done so, successfully, once before with someone who had gone well beyond being just the potentially serious problem that Kayden currently was. The moment she arrived back at Antaris Fay intended to contact the Council to set things in motion, right away.

  The campus grounds were illuminated by the muted glow of a network of hanging lanterns containing orbs as Fay entered via the south entrance. She was greeted first by two Sanatsai sentries, then a couple of ground staff on night duty, ready and waiting to help her dismount. As Shadow was led away to be stabled, she made her own way, on foot, towards the administrative building situated close to the north entrance at the other end of the campus. Given the late hour—or more precisely, the early hour—she only encountered one other person walking the grounds. The elderly Zando Morna, fellow Sanatsai and campus instructor, was exiting the mess hall just as she was passing the building. The portly, bearded man flushed upon seeing her, and looked more than a little guilty. He immediately fell into step beside Fay as he began his return journey towards the staff accommodation buildings.

  “Administrator Annis, you’ve returned from the exercise alone?” he asked quickly, no doubt hoping to head off any potential questions about his nocturnal visit to the closed mess hall.

  “Yes, I needed to return early,” replied Fay.

  She was more than happy to ignore the matter of the mess hall; Zando’s late night, after hours snacking, was common knowledge among all the campus staff.

  “One of the apprentices among tonight’s group successfully completed the ‘capture the box’ exercise. It’s fair to say I’m rather eager to pass on the news to the Council.”

  “Well, don’t keep me in suspense,” pleaded Zando, when she failed to identify the individual. “Who was the industrious apprentice?”

  “Kayden Jayta.”

  “Oh!” he exclaimed. “Miss Jayta.” After a brief pause, he added, “I guess I shouldn’t be entirely surprised by the news. Despite the attitude problem, Kayden is certainly a dedicated pupil.”

  “Yes. Kayden is a very gifted young woman,” she agreed, pensively.

  “Of course, it probably helps that the administrator has taken a special interest in her development.” Zando’s tone wasn’t accusatory, but the inflection was enough to convey his awareness that no other apprentice invited the same degree of attention from Fay.

  The mirth in her voice was unintended when she replied, “I’m not sure Kayden would agree with that assessment.”

  “Yes, well, she is rather full of herself, isn’t she?” Zando chuckled at the observation.

  The two Sanatsai shortly parted ways upon nearing the administration building. Zando made known his intention to return to his bed to get two or three hours more sleep in preparation for the morning lessons he would be teaching. He bid farewell to Fay as he departed towards the residential building for the campus’ male staff, leaving her to continue the short walk back to the administration building alone.

  It was a large rectangular building, three storeys tall, its rows of Palladian windows all dark as she approached. Atop the structure, beyond the parapet—though not readily visible from the ground—were generous living quarters with a roof garden intended for use by the serving administrator. The ground floor of the building was given over, almost entirely, to the campus archives: records pertaining to various things such as progress reports, visitor logs, inventories, employment records and details of business transactions. There were also two lobbies within. The main one, which faced the north entrance of the campus, was for receiving visitors from outside the campus. The smaller lobby was used by staff and apprentices alike. The next floor up housed a spacious staff common room, a private library, and several staff offices. The top floor featured a large reception hall for visiting dignitaries, guest quarters for said VIPs, and offices for senior staff members, as well as the administrator’s office.

  Fay entered the building via the south entrance. Unsurprisingly, no one was on reception duty, though the lobby was bathed in the natural light of burning candles within wall-mounted lanterns. Proceeding immediately to the staircase to her left, she began the climb up to her office, making it as far as the first floor landing where she detected bright light coming from beneath the closed double doors of the common room at the far end of the dim central corridor. With a resigned sigh, she decided to quickly investigate.

  She entered the common room without ceremony and was somewhat surprised to find Elsa Renzi lounging on one of the sofas with a hot beverage in one hand, a vellum document in the other, reading. Light seemed to emanate from everywhere and nowhere, though none of the room’s obvious light sources were lit.

  Ah, the wonders of Zarantar Jist, thought Fay.

  The middle-aged woman wasn’t just a history teacher at the campus, she was first and foremost a Jaymidari—as evidenced by her cream and beige attire. It was common practice for women from the Sisterhood to serve as teachers and teaching assistants within the Order’s campuses; Jaymidari had been guides and teachers of Sanatsai even before the founding of the Order.

  Elsa rose up in acknowledgement of the administrator’s entrance, setting down her porcelain cup and document upon the tea table in front of her.

  “Forgive the interruption, Sister,” said Fay, motioning for Elsa to retake her seat. “I didn’t expect anyone to be up and about at this hour.” She ambled sedately to the sofa. “Why are you still here so late?”

  Tucking her grey tinged, brunette hair behind her ears, Elsa sat back down before replying, “I woke a short while ago. And as there’s only a couple of hours until dawn, I thought I may as well get a head start on my preparations for this morning’s lessons.”

  “That’s right, it’s not long until sunrise.” Fay perched on the arm of the sofa. “I’ve been so preoccupied I’d forgotten the time.”

  “Are you only just returning from tonight’s training exercise?” inquired Elsa. “The apprentices usually fail much sooner; yesterday’s group returned before midnight.”

  “Well, things went very differently tonight. One of the apprentices beat the odds to complete the assignment.”

  “That can’t be right!” exclaimed Elsa, appearing genuinely astonished. “I’d always assumed the exercise was devised in such a way as to make it impossible for a level seven apprentice to accomplish.”

  “Well, that’s not entirely correct. The goal was to make it impossible to complete by conventional planning; the idea being to encourage the apprentices to think outside the box, as it were.”

  “So who was the bright spark who thought outside the box?”

  “I’ll give you three guesses.”

  Elsa contemplated briefly. “Of the six apprentices in tonight’s group, Kayden would seem the most obvious candidate. But you don’t look or sound particularly pleased. Perhaps it was one of the others?”

  “No, you’re right, it was Kayden. And I wouldn’t say I was displeased about it.”

  “I’d love to hear how she accomplished the feat.”

  I have several unanswered questions I’d like to ask about that myself, thought Fay. “A story for another day, I think,” she said evasively, before rising to her feet from her perched position on the arm of the sofa. “For now, I really should be going. I was on my way up to my office, I have matters I need to discuss with the Council about tonight’s events.”

  “Oh, yes, of course.” Elsa rose to her feet, also. “Please don’t let me delay you further.” She added, “I guess it will be necessary for the Order to devise a new ‘capture the box’ exercise, now. And, presumably, the rest of the week’s training nights for the remaining two groups of apprentices will have to be postponed.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that,” admitted Fay. “But, yes, you’re right. News of Kay
den’s exploits will spread around the campus pretty quickly in the coming hours. It could give the other apprentices an unfair advantage should they learn how she was able to complete the assignment. Although, truth be told, I don’t believe any other level seven apprentice—either here or at any of the other campuses—would be capable of pulling it off, even then.” She smiled, then said, “Goodnight, Elsa.”

  “Goodnight Fay.”

  With that, she exited the common room to resume climbing the staircase to the top floor. The subsequent walk through the corridors leading to her office was lit by the glow of an illumination orb floating ahead of her, lighting the way.

  Upon entering her office, Fay closed the door silently behind her, then spent a few moments lighting the wall-mounted lanterns in the room, as well as the hanging chandelier. With the warm glow of candles now casting light throughout the office, she extinguished her illumination orb and walked to her desk. She removed her black cloak, placing it over the back of her chair, then proceeded to the west-facing wall where the sole ornamentation was a large rectangular mirror, hung in landscape orientation. Only it wasn’t a mirror…at least, not just a mirror.

  Standing in front of the mirror, Fay casually waved a hand across it. At once, a series of glyphs began to glow red along its frame, while her reflection gradually disappeared as the glass seemingly transmuted into a liquefied screen with swirling lavender mists contained within. The ‘mirror’ served as part of a Zarantar based visual communication system pioneered by the Sisterhood, allowing members of both the Order and the Sisterhood to communicate with each other from various secure locations, across great distances, throughout the Nine Kingdoms—and even further afield.

  Fay stood motionless as a statue, waiting for the call she had sent out to the Council to be answered. The members were based at a location that was three hours ahead of the Antaris campus. It would be morning there already so she should get through to someone pretty quickly. Which proved to be the case. Within just a minute the swirling mists of the mirror dissipated, replaced by the image of a hooded middle-aged man dressed in the garb of a Sanatsai of the Order; the amethyst pendant pinned below his right collarbone marked him as a serving member of the Council. Just behind him and to his left stood a diminutive older woman with long, greying locks. She too possessed an amethyst pendant that hung from a chain around her neck, though her cream and beige clothing was unmistakably that of a Jaymidari. But she wasn’t just any Jaymidari. She was Idelle Silavas, a serving member of the Council, and global head of the Sisterhood Of The Covens.