by Ian Gregoire
“Then it is possible I could be in trouble?” She tried her best to avoid sounding as concerned as she felt.
“Have you done anything to get in trouble for?”
She hesitated. “Possibly.”
“Well, I wouldn’t worry about it,” said Solen, reassuringly. “If you were in trouble I can assure you Master Fay would not be rewarding you with a trip to Temis Rulan. Now, no more questions, you need to go and meet her right away.” He placed a hand on the small of Kayden’s back to gently usher her towards the door.
Before exiting the armoury, Kayden thanked Master Solen for his kind assistance then bade him farewell. He in turn requested that she tell him all about her trip once she returned, so she promised him that she would, further increasing her resolve to thwart whatever plans Fay Annis had for her.
Kayden made her way swiftly to the administration building without further delay. At the reception desk she informed the civilian receptionist on duty that she had arrived to meet the administrator, who was expecting her. The woman, who appeared to be in her mid-forties, must have been a newcomer as Kayden had never seen her before, despite having been sent to the administrator’s office on more occasions than she could remember. If she had to hazard a guess she would say the new receptionist was from the nearby town of Timaris. The Order generally favoured employing locals for most of the non-teaching positions at its campuses; it was good for public relations.
“Oh, you must be Kayden Jayta,” said the receptionist. She was unabashedly affable.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“My, aren’t you a pretty thing!”
Kayden fought off the urge to roll her eyes, the woman was just being amiable, after all.
“Administrator Annis is in the staff common room waiting for you, just go on up.” She gestured toward the staircase.
Kayden left the reception desk to amble up the stairs to the next floor. She made her way through the corridor to the double doors of the staff common room and announced her arrival with three raps, then waited. Moments later, one of the doors swung inwards to reveal a young Jaymidari with a friendly smile. Kayden recognised the woman. It was Sister Alina from the infirmary who sometimes doubled as an assistant instructor, teaching first aid to the level two apprentices.
“Your guest has arrived,” Alina called over her shoulder. “Please come in, Kayden, Master Fay is expecting you.” She stepped aside, gesturing with an outstretched arm for the apprentice to enter.
Strolling into the common room, Kayden saw Fay seated on a couch speaking with Master Isko and the Sister, Elsa Renzi, who were both seated on another couch, opposite Fay, drinking hot beverages from porcelain cups. All three stood up as she approached. She noted that Fay was also armed with sword and twin daggers.
“I’m ready to go when you are, Administrator,” she said, indifferently.
“Very well, Kayden.” Fay turned to address her two colleagues. “Thank you, both, for your time and understanding. As I said, I shouldn’t be gone too long, though it pleases me to be leaving matters here in capable hands.”
It didn’t escape Kayden’s notice that Fay had said, ‘I shouldn’t be gone too long’, not ‘we shouldn’t be gone too long’.
Elsa walked around the tea table embrace the Sanatsai, kissing her on both cheeks. “May your journey be a fruitful one,” she said, cordially, “and please convey my greetings to Idelle when you see her.”
“Thank you, Sister, consider it done.” Fay acknowledged Isko with a nod of her head then turned to address Kayden. “Follow me.”
Kayden fell into step a couple of paces behind Fay, following her as she marched to the double doors set in the east wall of the common room. When the doors were pushed open she saw that the room beyond was a library—not nearly as vast as the dedicated campus library building, but the interior was certainly more attractive. The library was adorned with polished wood panel walls, several rows of book shelving made from similarly burnished wood, and three chandeliers holding illumination orbs, evenly spaced along the ceiling.
“Close the doors behind you,” said Fay as she stepped into the library.
Kayden did as instructed, then followed Fay through a number of aisles separating the consummately arranged shelves until they came to the north wall of the library. There were no shelves lining this wall, just two large tapestries hanging down to the floor. She observed impassively as Fay stood directly in front of the wide space between the two tapestries. A sudden spike of anxiety hit her with the realisation she could sense Zarantar emanating from the wall, right in front of where Fay stood. Kayden hadn’t considered the possibility of the Sanatsai making a move against her while they were both still on campus, but why wouldn’t she? After all, Fay wasn’t just the administrator of Antaris, she had significant influence over the Council, in addition to being a close friend of the founder of the Order. She could practically do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, to whomever she wanted.
Kayden’s anxiety increased further, still, when Fay peered back over her shoulder to cast a strange, appraising look toward her.
“Come, stand beside me, Kayden,” Fay instructed.
Reluctantly, Kayden obeyed, moving forward to stand beside her nemesis, showing neither fear nor overt signs that she was alert to whatever the woman planned to do next. And Kayden most certainly was prepared. If Fay attempted something now, she would respond accordingly.
“Is there anything out of the ordinary about this section of the wall?” Fay asked. “If so, can you tell me what?”
“A Sister has hidden something in or behind the wall,” she said in reply.
Without waiting for confirmation from Fay she waved a hand across the wall; invoking Yuksaydan would reveal whether she was correct or not. And so it did. Instantly, a series of glowing red glyphs began to appear on the wall, forming the shape of a doorway. Once the glyphs faded from view, an actual door materialised in the wood panel wall in front of them.
“Very good,” said Fay in her usual matter-of-fact fashion.
She opened the newly formed door to reveal a landing at the top of a spiral stairwell in a confined space on the other side.
Kayden stared at the stairwell. It was lit by a descending series of illumination orbs contained within wall-mounted lanterns. “What is this?” She hoped she had successfully kept the apprehension from her voice.
“Something you should not really be seeing.” Fay’s voice took on an authoritative edge. “So I will have to insist that you do not speak of anything you see or hear from this point onwards to any of the other apprentices.” She proceeded through the door, onto the landing, to descend the stairs. “Now, follow me.”
“Wait!” Kayden’s exclamation halted Fay at the first step. “Where do these stairs go? I thought we were going to Temis Rulan.”
“We’ll be on our way, soon enough.” Fay resumed her descent, making it obvious there would be no further elaboration.
Kayden did not want to follow Fay down those stairs. Subconsciously, she was urging herself to refuse to do so, but her curiosity had been piqued. The part of herself that had to know everything demanded that she proceed, to find out where exactly the Sanatsai was leading her. There could only be one winner between those two vying instincts. Kayden marched through the door, closing it behind her, then quickly caught up with Fay, falling into step right behind her.
Minutes later, Kayden could only guess at how far below the campus they had descended by the time she and Fay reached the bottom of the stairwell, arriving into a vast underground cavern. As she gawked at the cavernous expanse, she estimated it had to cover up to two thirds of the area covered by the campus above ground. Possibly more. It was brightly lit by a network of orb filled lanterns much like those that lit up the campus grounds at night, except the glow lighting up the cavern was not at all muted like it was above. She could see scores of Sanatsai milling about, in addition to several Jaymidari.
Kayden kept pace with Fay when she sta
rted advancing further into the cavern. “This can’t be...” she began in a disbelieving tone, “this can’t be Temis Rulan, can it?”
Fay stifled a chuckle. “No, of course not; we’re still on campus,” she said. “This place you are seeing now, it serves a few functions, but for our purposes you can consider it a shortcut.” To elaborate the point, she added, “It would take us weeks to travel to Temis Rulan by conventional means, plus the same amount of time to get back here. For obvious reasons, I cannot be away from campus that long.”
Kayden was intrigued by Fay’s revelation. A journey of weeks suggested Temis Rulan was located somewhere in one of the western realms of the Nine Kingdoms; the Kingdom of Yaristana in all likelihood, though Balintana and Jibaltana were both possibilities.
As the pair continued walking, side-by-side, further into the cavern, they were approached by another Sanatsai. He reminded Kayden of a male version of Neryssa, only taller with shorter hair. She wondered if her roommate had an older brother who had already been inducted into the Order. If so, why would she neglect to mention having such an attractive sibling? She looked him up and down: those rugged good looks; the dark hair just begging to have her hands run through it; those sparkling, expressive eyes; those full lips; that body. She could just visualise his strong muscular physique straining beneath the uniform. Oh, the things she could do with him; the things she’d let him do to her…
Kayden mentally berated herself. This was hardly an appropriate time to be distracted, to lose focus. She tore her gaze away from the man to casually cast her gaze around the cavern.
It was impossible not to view her surroundings as akin to a small village swallowed by the earth. There were several buildings dotted throughout the cavern, some of which were obviously barracks. When coupled with the large numbers of Sanatsai present—none of whom Kayden recognised—it quickly dawned on her that there was, essentially, a small army stationed beneath the Antaris campus. That being the case, the other eight campuses must surely have the same, she thought.
“Mirai Santelis,” said Fay in salutation of her counterpart as they both came to a halt. “I trust all the necessary preparations have been made.”
“Yes, Danai Annis.” The Sanatsai addressed Fay in a very formal tone. “Everything is set for your departure.” He glanced at Kayden standing at Fay’s side. “This is the apprentice who will be accompanying you?”
“Correct.”
Addressing Kayden directly, the Sanatsai said, “You are the subject of much speculation, apprentice.”
Kayden wasn’t listening. She was still trying to decide if she’d correctly heard the Sanatsai address Fay by the title ‘Danai’. Surely not! She must have misheard him; it was more or less the highest rank any Sanatsai could attain within the hierarchy of the Order. The only individuals with greater seniority were the thirteen members of the Council. It was inconceivable for somebody of such rank to be serving as a campus administrator, not to mention the fact Fay was clearly too young to have achieved the rank, anyway.
“Kayden! You’re being spoken to.”
Fay’s reproachful voice snapped her out of her ruminations. “What? Oh, I…uh… I was distra...” she rambled. “What was that?”
“What is the matter with you, Kayden,” said Fay, sounding displeased. “Master Dionardo was speaking to you; must you be so discourteous?”
Realising she was staring at Fay, in wide-eyed disbelief, Kayden turned her attention to the male Sanatsai. “I’m afraid I didn’t catch what was said. I wasn’t ignoring you, Master.”
“That’s quite all right. It’s perfectly understandable for you to be a little overawed. No other apprentice has been in your position before,” remarked Dionardo Santelis. “Anyway, I was just wondering what you had done to earn your master’s favour.”
Suppressing a groan, Kayden wished that people would stop suggesting she was in any way favoured by Fay Annis, the ridiculous notion was driving her crazy. “I’m not sure I’m the best person to ask, Master,” she conceded.
“Well, whatever the reason, I assume you’ve been told you cannot speak about what you are seeing right now, or what you will see once you leave here.”
“Kayden won’t be speaking to anyone about this,” interjected Fay.
Though Fay’s words were apparently intended to reassure the other Sanatsai, Kayden couldn’t help but hear a threat directed her way.
Fay resumed walking, prompting Dionardo to fall into step at her right side, while Kayden paced on her left. For the next few minutes the Sanatsai pair made small talk about things of no interest to Kayden, causing her to mentally switch off while idly observing what was happening all around her.
Suddenly, her attention was drawn away from everything else by a sight in the distance, at the furthest reaches of the cavern; it was an object resembling what could only be described as a giant illumination orb. She was staggered by the sheer strength of Zarantar emanating from it, even from such a distance away. Realisation quickly set in; the underground cavern must be a significant depth beneath Antaris campus, otherwise she couldn’t fathom how such a powerful manifestation of Zarantar could ever have escaped her senses.
“What is it, Kayden?”
She broke her reverie to peer at Fay. Once again the woman had that same strange, appraising look on her face that she wore earlier, back in the administration building’s library. “Nothing,” she replied, evasively. “I’m…just surprised to learn that the Order has been able to conceal the existence of this place. And, presumably, all the other campuses have been built above similar caverns?”
Fay neither confirmed nor denied the query. She tore her studious gaze away from Kayden. “Tell me, what do you make of that?” She pointed toward the spherical light source up ahead.
“I don’t know. I have no idea what it is.”
The remainder of their walk to the end of the cavern was completed in silence. Upon arrival, Kayden saw that what had appeared to be spherical from a distance, was in fact flat. Whatever the object was, it was more like the opening of a tunnel; no, more like a hole in the world, filled with swirling mists of varying shades of blue and purple, approximately seven feet high and seven feet wide, situated on a raised stone platform with three steps leading up to it. Nearby there was a group of six Jaymidari whom she assumed were responsible for the creation of the object on the raised platform.
One of the Sisters approached the trio as they stopped at the foot of the steps. “Greetings, administrator,” she said in welcome. “Your destination is set. You may proceed as soon as you are ready.”
“Thank you, Sister.” She turned to face Dionardo, offering her hand. “This is where we part ways, Mirai Santelis.” He gripped her by the forearm. “I hope to not be away for too long, but should anything occur here that I need to know about, don’t hesitate to send a message.”
“As you wish, Danai,” Dionardo affirmed. “Good journey to you both.” He released his grip of Fay’s forearm then stood aside to allow master and apprentice to ascend the three steps.
“Follow me, Kayden,” instructed Fay as she proceeded to climb.
Kayden reluctantly followed the administrator’s lead up onto the raised platform. Still not knowing or understanding what was really going on, she couldn’t shake the feeling of apprehension growing within her. But she followed behind Fay towards the unknown object before halting abruptly in her tracks.
“Wait!”
Fay halted, and peered back over her shoulder to see the uneasy apprentice. “Is there a problem, Kayden?”
“I’m not going another step until you tell me what’s going on,” Kayden said, keeping her voice low. “What is that?” She pointed at the mysterious opening ahead of them.
Turning around to face Kayden directly, Fay replied, “As I alluded to, earlier, we will be taking a shortcut to Temis Rulan. This is a portal opening; it is part of a network of portals created by the Sisterhood, connecting various locations used by the Order throughout the Nine
Kingdoms. When travel between these places by conventional means is not an option—like when time is of the essence, as it is now—the portals allow us to complete those journeys almost instantaneously. Needless to say, this is more knowledge you are not permitted to share with anyone else. Now, come along. Just follow me into the portal, there’s nothing to fear.”
Kayden resented the implication she was afraid of entering the portal, but she restrained her tongue. She watched Fay turn back around and march purposefully into the portal, disappearing from view in the blink of an eye. Though she had no real justification to doubt the veracity of what she’d just been told, Kayden remained incredibly reluctant to enter the portal after Fay. But what choice did she really have? If she tried to remain behind, to explain to the other Sanatsai and the Jaymidari that Fay was planning on killing her, who among them would believe that? And what if they were all in on it? There would be little she could do to prevent them from forcing her through the portal, to wherever her would-be murderer was lying in wait.
But none of these concerns ultimately mattered. Nothing about what was happening that day was making any sense. She still had several unresolved mysteries plaguing her thoughts; unanswered questions that she couldn’t get answers to without entering the portal. So stiffening her resolve, Kayden marched forward into the portal of swirling mists, and her eyes were assailed by a flash of brilliant light.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Questions And Answers
The blinding light subsided as Kayden emerged from the portal shortly after Fay. Her eyes adjusted to take in the sights of their brand new surroundings; they were not in the cavern beneath the Antaris campus any more. But as the portal opening blinked out of existence behind her, it was abundantly clear the tall cylindrical structure they were standing in was not Temis Rulan either. Though she had never been inside a windmill before—had never seen an actual windmill at all, for that matter—Kayden knew the portal had brought them into one, and she very much doubted that the leadership of the Order would be found here.