The Price of Faith

by Rob J. Hayes

  “This… is why… we hunt you,” he said between the most painful breaths he had ever experienced. “You don’t care… where… the magic comes from.”

  The witch said nothing. She just stared at him, silently judging.

  “Do you think… this sort of magic… is harmless? You call… on other beings… more powerful than you… to come… to your aid… to lend you their magic… But you don’t… you don’t care… what they do… through you… You act… as a conduit… for their power… to affect this world. You think… you use that magic… to help others… but through you… those beings… can cause… so much damage.”

  “And how are you any different?” she screamed at him but came no closer. “You Arbiters call on that thrice-damned God of yours for power. How is he any different?”

  “Because he is!” Thanquil screamed back though it hurt more than ever to do so. He heard a muted pounding noise and knew it came from guards trying to get into the room but the magic force holding him in place, crushing him, expanded from the witch in all directions and held the door tight. “I have… never seen… Volmar corrupt a child… take away… a boy’s morals… and leave him… a shell of hated… and pain… I have never… seen Volmar… twist an animal… into a grotesque… and have it… attack its masters… I have never…”

  The witch spoke with a lowered voice but her words carried to him nonetheless and her left foot lifted just slightly, ready to take the final step towards him. “Just because you have never seen a thing does not mean it is not so. How can you know Volmar is this force for good you claim him to be.”

  Thanquil’s fingers closed around the rune and he braced himself for what was to come, sucking in a final breath. “Because I have faith.”

  A profound sadness filled the witch’s eyes and her left leg started forwards. Thanquil snapped the rune in his right hand between thumb and fore fingers and everything changed. A pulse of magic burst forth from the rune but there was no kinetic force involved in the magic, it was purely a neutralising blast, dispelling the magic that held in him place.

  The witch gasped and dropped to her knees as the power pulsing from her was abruptly cut off and Thanquil crashed to the floor in a heap. With no time to waste he pushed himself to his feet and his left hand whipped inside his coat pocket, pulling out the paper thin throwing knife.

  The door to the room burst open and a Dragon Knight, fully armoured and sword drawn, charged in followed by another and another. Thanquil let go of the knife, dropped to his knees and held up his hands in the most submissive manner possible. The first knight charged him and raised his sword to attack.

  “Stop!” the witch shouted. Thanquil couldn’t see her behind the three Dragon Knights but he could hear the tremble in her voice. She slowly walked into view and looked down upon him. “Do not kill him. Prince Naarsk will decide his fate.”

  Thanquil snorted out a laugh. “A wise choice. The…”

  He never finished the sentence as a dragon-bone hilt connected with the side of his head.

  Thanquil

  “Stop fiddling with it,” Kosh said giving Thanquil a friendly shove shoulder to shoulder.

  “Easy for you to say,” Thanquil complained. “It hurts.”

  “So stop poking it.”

  Thanquil gave his swollen nose one last squeeze and winced at the pain before dropping his hands and giving Kosh a shove back. The bigger boy, despite being almost a year younger, didn’t budge an inch. Thanquil had quickly learned that fighting Kosh was akin to head-butting a stone wall; messy, painful and ultimately pointless. He was taller than Thanquil, broader and well-muscled despite his young age, he also seemed to have a natural feel for combat and was as happy facing two or even three foes as most of the initiates were fighting one.

  Despite Thanquil’s name and the stigma that came attached to it Kosh had quickly befriended him and the two had become near inseparable. Just five years into their training and both had already outdistanced those of the same age as themselves; Kosh excelling in combat, even against the older boys, and Thanquil proving himself to be almost on par with some of the recent graduates when it came to blessings and curses.

  Their quick progression through the initiate training did nothing to bolster Thanquil’s popularity amongst the others though. Kosh could get away with the attention due to his good looks, boyish charm and his ability to knock the heads of any who took exception. Thanquil had none of those desirable attributes and the instructors' constant use of the name Arbiter Yellon had given him never let anyone forget that he was a Darkheart and therefore not to be trusted.

  The other initiates would only leave off their taunting and bullying so long as Kosh was around and only then because they were scared of the damage he could, and would, do but Kosh couldn’t be around all the time and Thanquil’s ardent refusal to back down from a fight only served to antagonise the others.

  The constant bullying was in fact why his nose was currently well and truly broken. In an attempt to gain some respect and develop the ability to defend himself Thanquil had of late been taking sparring lessons from Kosh, unfortunately the beatings he received in those lessons were turning out to be worse than those the other initiates could ever hand out. Kosh was nothing if not a harsh tutor but it didn’t matter how many injuries his friend gave him, to Thanquil there was a principal to uphold and that was the real reason he was willing to suffer through the pain.

  Of course there was something even more unfortunate than the broken nose, the two black eyes, the bloody lip, the ringing in his ears, the sore and twisted wrist and the pronounced limp that came from a leg that until recently was feeling very dead; the sun had only risen an hour ago and both he and Kosh had to get back to the initiate dormitory, perform their daily duties of cleaning the communal waste area and then they had a full day of training ahead of them. Kosh made no issue of it, he was built for physical endurance and seemed to have boundless energy, Thanquil was not so silent on the issue, he was beyond tired and that made him grumpy.

  “What training do you think they’ll give us today?” he asked the bigger boy as they walked, or while Kosh walked and Thanquil limped. “Reciting passages from the book of hells from memory while standing on one leg and juggling bees?”

  “I’m hoping for combat training,” Kosh replied and Thanquil saw his friend crack a cheeky grin. “I could use a challenge after this morning.”

  “Wonderful. You continue joking, I’m in real pain here.”

  “Broken nose ain’t real pain,” Kosh said with a snort. “You want to try a dislocated shoulder, now that fucking hurts!”

  Thanquil grit his teeth at his friend’s use of the profanity. It wasn’t that he had any real issue with the word, only Kosh liked to use it a lot. “Well then I hope I’ll never have to experience it.”

  They rushed through the city as fast as Thanquil’s limp would allow. Taking a five minute break to dive beneath the clear blue waters of the Brooklowe canal, it was not the deepest, nor the most empty but it was the cleanest and the wash did them both the world of good, wiping away the exertion sweat from the morning and much of the drying blood on Thanquil’s face. It was not technically legal to swim in the canal but then neither was it legal to arrest an Arbiter or an initiate of the Inquisition and no guard would have the stones to march the boys up to the Inquisition itself to complain of so trivial a matter. So the men on watch grumbled but did nothing and Thanquil and Kosh made sure not to overstay their welcome. By the time they reached the Sarth training compound they were as ready as they would ever be to clean the waste rooms.

  After a gruelling hour and another quick wash they lined up with the other initiates of their group in the meeting yard and waited for the instructors. Thanquil was safe from physical bullying here and not just because Kosh was with him, if the instructors witnessed an attack then all the initiates involved would be punished, including himself.

  As always Jacob was the first to the yard and scowled at the others as they
arrived late. The older boy had taken it upon himself to organise the other initiates and no one was about to stand up to him. He was, in fact, the only one of them who could give Kosh a fair fight and had, on occasion, beaten him. On top of his dominating strength and martial skill Jacob was more than well versed in rune and charm lore and had even mastered some of the most basic of sorceries. He was also noticeably lacking in skill when it came to bestowing blesses and curses and that gave Thanquil cause to grin. A minor victory it may be but Inquisitor Heron herself had spoken to Thanquil during her tour last week and she had said that small victories can defeat even the largest of men.

  “Initiate Jacob,” said Kosh as they arrived.

  “Kosh,” said Jacob with a smirk.

  The two boys, widely accepted as the two most promising of the group’s initiates, faced off against each other standing chest to chest, nose to nose and postured for all they were worth. Kosh, despite being two years Jacob’s junior was taller than the older boy but Jacob was bulkier. Thanquil watched in silence with a half-smile at the foolishness of it all.

  “Darkheart,” Thanquil heard his name said and sighed at the voice.

  Beck was the group’s only girl and also Thanquil’s least favourite person in his entire world. She hated him, that much was clear, and he had never figured out why. It didn’t help that she was passing beautiful with a mesmerising pair of breasts that seemed to grow bigger every day. It also didn’t help that the other boys trailed behind her ready to jump to her every word.

  Thanquil turned with an insult ready on his lips but his treacherous voice died in his throat when he saw her. She was wearing her golden blonde hair down today and it framed her face perfectly, drawing attention to her sapphire blue eyes. Her plain brown tunic, though the same issue as the boys, may have hid her cleavage but it did nothing to hide the fact that it was there. Thanquil couldn’t help but stare and Beck couldn’t help but notice.

  “As close as you’ll ever get to a pair, Darkheart,” she said with a sneer that was obvious from her tone despite the fact that Thanquil’s eyes refused to dislodge themselves from her chest.

  There was a round of laughter and Beck stepped closer, so close her breasts almost brushed his arm. Thanquil felt his heart quick and his cock stir and he tried his best not to let it show. Beck moved her lips close to his ear and whispered.

  “I hope it eats you today.”

  Thanquil swallowed nervously but only once Beck had moved away did her words register to him and he realised he had no idea what she was talking about. Before he could give it any further thought instructor James marched into the yard and shouted for them all to form up.

  The instructors were Arbiters in their own right but those who were too old or infirm to continue hunting down heresy or occasionally those who just couldn’t take the pressure any more. They treated the initiates with a cruel discipline and James was no exception, he was a hard man, tall and thin and all angles. He had great green eyes that goggled at everything and a single missing tooth he liked to suck air through making a whistling noise that set Thanquil’s nerves on a knife edge.

  As the initiates lined up and waited for further instruction instructor James glared at them all with savage scrutiny. Thanquil took his place next to Kosh and the bigger boy winked at him.

  “I hope you’re all prepared,” the instructor said.

  Thanquil glanced at Kosh who sent a nonchalant shrug right back.

  “Beck, you’re first. By my side now.” Instructor James walked away and Beck hurried after him sending a nervous glance back at her group of followers who all simpered in return.

  Thanquil sniffed painfully through his broken nose and approached Jacob. The older boy looked down on him with a neutral smile. Jacob, while not friendly, was not like the others, he didn’t feel the need to bully but neither did he particularly register Thanquil’s existence as a person.

  “Jacob,” Thanquil offered in greeting.

  “Darkheart,” Jacob said with an amused nod.

  Thanquil noticed Beck’s crew of admirers watching curiously and lowered his voice to stop them from overhearing. “What’s happening today? Seems we missed the announcement.”

  Jacob glanced at Kosh behind Thanquil and then back again. “Demon summoning,” he said with a mad grin. “Today we learn the rune to summon and bind one of the beasts.”

  Thanquil felt his stomach lurch, turn over and finally try to cower behind his kidneys. Beck’s final comment made a whole lot of sense now but even without it he’d have been close to terrified. He turned to find Kosh looking equally worried.

  “Starting to wish I’d gotten a full night’s sleep,” Kosh said with a grin that lacked its usual fervour.

  “I’m starting to wish I hadn’t let you break my nose this morning,” Thanquil answered.

  “You let me?”

  “Of course,” Thanquil said quickly. “Otherwise you’d never win.”

  Kosh smiled and shook his head and some of the tension broke but it was a nervous time as they waited for Beck and instructor James to emerge from the training hall. Even her followers were less enthusiastic than normal with their insulting comments and hostile stares. Thanquil almost began to wish that they could summon a demon everyday just to keep the others off his back.

  Then Beck and instructor James emerged. Her head was down and her walk was slow, her legs looked as though they wobbled a little with every step and James’ hand was on her shoulder in such a way that he looked to be both comforting her and guiding her back towards the others. Despite himself Thanquil found he felt sorry for the girl, she who was the worst of his tormentors. He cursed himself for a fool and schooled his features into a harsh frown.

  Instructor James let go of Beck’s shoulder and she struggled on towards her followers without ever raising her eyes. The instructor whistled as he sucked in a breath. “Jacob, you’re next.”

  Jacob glanced towards Beck then looked back at Kosh and grinned and then jogged after the instructor. Kosh shook his head and laughed. “That one is crazy.”

  For once Thanquil couldn’t think of a retort so he kept his mouth shut and watched Jacob jog across the yard and disappear into the training hall. It seemed like an age before he came out again, no longer jogging or full of energy and with a look on his face that mirrored Beck’s. He walked ahead of instructor James and kept his eyes firmly on the ground. Thanquil was about to call out to Jacob when the instructor cut him off.

  “Initiate Darkheart. With me.”

  Thanquil nodded and swallowed down a lump in his throat. Then he realised his legs weren’t moving. It wasn’t a conscious decision to stay rooted to the spot but rather the fact that everything below his waist seemed to be refusing to accept his command. Jacob and Beck were two of the bravest people he knew and for both of them to look so harried.

  Instructor James hadn’t waited to see if Thanquil followed, the man expected and demanded instant obedience. Thanquil needed to move and now or face punishment. He felt a hand on his back and a hefty push later his feet stumbled then remembered how to move; one foot first then the other. Thanquil glanced back and gave Kosh a grateful nod before hurrying after the instructor.

  “I expected more of you, Darkheart,” the instructor said as Thanquil caught up. He had a way of saying Thanquil’s name that made it sound like an insult.

  “I’m not sure what you mean, Arbiter,” Thanquil said.

  Instructor James snorted. “You have already seen a demon, have you not?”

  “I… don’t well remember, Arbiter. I think so.”

  “Then you are the last one I would have expected to hesitate. It seems cowardice runs in your heretic blood.”

  Thanquil tried to bite back his retort, he failed. “Better than the bile that runs through yours.”

  He regretted the words before, during and after they came out of his mouth but sometimes he couldn’t help himself. Instructor James did not take insult well. The Arbiter span around on his heel and back
handed Thanquil across the face. Even had he been as large as Kosh or Jacob the blow would have still felled him and Thanquil couldn’t help but notice the instructor had been whispering a blessing as he struck. It seemed a strange victory that the man felt he needed to augment his strength to hit a boy but it was a victory Thanquil clutched to as the ground rushed up to meet him.

  He hit the ground heavy and felt the air rush out of his lungs, a moment later he was gaping like a fish and praying for a respite. James did not give it him. The old Arbiter aimed two savage kicks at Thanquil’s ribs, flipping him onto his back and then bent down and hauled him up by his collar and shoved him towards the training hall. Thanquil stumbled along, all but blind as he gasped, trying to remind his lungs what air felt like. He did not move fast enough and the instructor gave him another shove towards the door.

  Thanquil thought about apologising to the old Arbiter but decided against it. The apology would ring false and it was unlikely to gain him anything. Instead he let the man push him through the doorway into the great training hall.

  The room was well lit with sunlight streaming in through high windows sending shards of light angling across the hard, wooden floor. A number of training dummies had been moved to the side of the hall and the prayer mats had all been rolled up and stacked by the far end. Thanquil had never seen the room so empty; only a small table with a stack of brittle wooden chips and an inkpot stood in the centre. As Thanquil drew closer he also saw a sheet of parchment no bigger than his hand. Three bold runes were inked onto the parchment, three runes Thanquil did not recognise.

  Instructor James put a heavy hand on Thanquil’s shoulder and turned him around. The old Arbiter stared down at his charge with barely concealed hatred. “I give you five minutes to memorise that rune, Darkheart. I will not show it to you again.”

  Thanquil nodded vigorously then turned and ran the last few steps to the table and bent his back, studying the combination of runes with an intense scrutiny. All too soon the instructor stepped up beside Thanquil and whipped the parchment away, pocketing it out of sight.