Life Beyond the Temple

by Nikolai Joslin

  She sighed and said, “I do. I was eight when I was sent to the Temple to train as a knight. I showed too much interest in the mages, and while I didn’t have the ability to be one, I admired them. Most of us hate you, and so I was sent away because I expressed different views. I haven’t been here in ten years. I barely remember it.” She dropped her hands from my shoulders and said, “Come on, let’s have some dinner.”

  I followed her into a restaurant, and she once again pulled a chair out for me. We ordered, and she took a drink of her soda. “Where do we go first?” she asked after a while.

  “I don’t know,” I admitted.

  “Well, how do we find out?” She didn’t seem fazed by the fact that I didn’t know.

  “I guess we wait. Keep an ear out for important information that could lead us on our way. If this is some great evil, there will be stories about it.”

  She nodded and waited until our waitress had set our food down and left before responding. “Well, we can’t stay here too long. I don’t have tons of money. If we stay here much longer, I’ll need to get a job. Odds are, you won’t be hired, but I’m sure people will have odd jobs for you to do sometimes. Things they don’t want to do themselves.”

  “Do they really hate me that much?”

  She looked down at her napkin and said, “Yeah.”

  “Why?”

  “Fear. You have a power they don’t. You’re different from them, and they don’t understand you.”

  “But they can learn from us! We don’t wish them harm, so why fear us?” This didn’t make sense. I feared things that could hurt me, I feared things that wanted to hurt me, but I didn’t fear what I didn’t understand. I welcomed the unknown. It was part of the reason why I wanted to talk to Ston.

  “Most of us don’t like things that are different. And if you wanted to harm them, they would have a hard time stopping you. I know that a lot of people find mages unpredictable. It’s just the way it is.”

  “That’s horrible,” I whispered.

  “Yes it is.” She sighed, and we ate the rest of the meal in silence while I thought about how strange it was here.

  We were walking back to the hotel when I saw Ston again. I smiled and waved, and Regan fingered her gun while watching him carefully.

  He jogged over to us, a frown on his face. “You said you guys were leaving soon. Where are you going?”

  “We’re not sure yet,” I admitted. I think Regan didn’t like that I was telling him this sort of thing.

  “Well, you said you were on your Proving Journey from the mages, and I just heard about a town a few days from here that is having some troubles. I was thinking that if you could help them out, you could complete your Proving.” He obviously knew less about mages than I knew about dark elves, but that didn’t matter; he still gave us something we could use.

  “What type of troubles?” Regan asked, realizing the same thing I did. Maybe this was what we were waiting for.

  “Animals, a couple fires, and there are rumors of people killing other people and forgetting all about it. Actually, I heard people were doing a lot of strange things and forgetting about it.” Definitely sounded like a necromancer’s work, but why would someone as great and powerful as he had to be, be doing this to a small town where he was bound to be found out? It didn’t make sense.

  I looked over at Regan just as she began to speak to me. “We better check it out, Casey. It could be important.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, if not him, it could be a clue as to where we can find him.”

  “Who are you looking for?” Ston asked, curiosity lighting up his eyes. I wasn’t sure I trusted him, but I don’t think he trusted us either.

  Regan cast me a warning look, as if to say we didn’t trust him enough to talk to him. I agreed. I shouldn’t tell him everything. The Old One had warned me of that. “We’re looking for a powerful mage who went rogue. That’s my Proving. I have to bring him back to the Temple.” No, I wouldn’t be bringing him back; I’d have to kill him if I found him.

  Ston winced as a rock bounced off his back. I looked around him to see two kids laughing and holding a handful of little pebbles. They were farther down the street, obviously not wanting to get too close. I wish I could make them stop, but using magic here would only scare them more.

  “I’m leaving for the town at dawn tomorrow morning. Feel free to join me, but I can’t stay here any longer. I’ve overstayed my welcome.” And with that he turned around and walked away, the two kids parting to give him a wide berth as he left.

  “We’re not joining him.” Regan’s voice was firm, as if she were telling me exactly what would happen.

  “We don’t know where the town is; he never gave us the name of it,” I pointed out.

  “Then we’ll find it on our own,” Regan persisted.

  “Well, I’m going tomorrow. The sooner we start, the sooner it ends. Then you can go back to the Temple, and I can live my life out here. I’d rather join Ston tomorrow than spend a week trying to find the town in trouble now.”

  “What do you mean you’re going tomorrow? You’re not going without me, and I’m not going.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “I think you’re confused, Regan. I’m going tomorrow, and you can come, or you can stay. I don’t mind if I go alone with Ston or if you come along too. I am not waiting here while the town falls farther into disaster and we lose this guy forever. You can either come and do your job or stay here and wait for me to come back, but I will not stay here with you. I will do what I set out to do, and that is to kill this fucker.” Regan just looked at me and blinked a few times like she was shocked I could call someone that. “So, what’s your answer going to be?”

  “I’ll go.” She looked surprised that I had stood up to her like that. Hell, I was too.

  “Alright, then let’s get some sleep so we can meet Ston tomorrow,” I said and started walking back to the hotel.

  She opened the door for me, and I went to the drawer to get changed, but I didn’t have any clothes. I hadn’t been allowed to take anything with me when I left. Regan must have noticed, because she tossed me a pair of basketball shorts and a T-shirt. “We’ll get you some more clothes tomorrow. Just use these tonight.”

  “Thank you,” I said quietly. She laughed, and I frowned. “Why are you laughing?”

  “I think you’re interesting.” She smiled and shook her head.

  I just glared and walked to the bathroom to change. What did she mean by that?

  When I came back into the room, she had taken off her leather jacket and was sitting at the desk again with a pen in her hand. “What are you writing?” I asked as I sat down on my bed.

  “A letter to my mother.” She didn’t look over at me but kept focusing on her writing.

  “Are you close?”

  “No. She was the one who sent me to the Temple. My father sometimes sends me money, and my brothers write often, but my mother never writes or anything. My brothers never talk about her, even when I ask how she is. I still write to her once a month, though. I like to think that she reads them.”

  “Do you want to visit your family while we’re here? This may be your last chance; you’ll have to return to the Temple afterwards.”

  “Maybe.” But she didn’t sound like she meant it.

  “Alright, well… don’t stay up too late. We have an early day tomorrow,” I said as I lay down and pulled the blanket up.

  “Alright.”

  Chapter 4

  I DREAMT that night. I was in a forest, and I heard twigs snapping behind me, but I couldn’t turn to see what it was. It sounded big, huge, and still I couldn’t turn to protect myself. Regan wasn’t with me. I was alone with a big thing, and I couldn’t turn to see it. It finally stopped moving, and I just felt giant gusts of hot air on the back of my neck.

  I slowly made myself turn to look up at whatever it was.

  A wolf. A giant black wolf with red streaks and dark red eyes. A cinderwolf. Some thought they came fro
m volcanoes, others believed from hell itself. It was about a head taller than me, which meant I was looking up to see it.

  It lowered its head and stared me straight in the eye. I wanted to run. I wanted to call for help, but I was frozen where I stood.

  Trust me.

  The deep voice came from the cinderwolf, but it had spoken to me without making a sound. It had thought, and I had heard.

  That was when I felt a hand on my shoulder shake me gently, and I groaned and rolled over. I wasn’t ready to wake up; I wanted to know more about the cinderwolf. “Go away,” I groaned and pulled the blanket over my head.

  Regan pulled away the blanket, and I felt hands slide under me. I felt myself lifted off the bed, and she held me against her chest while she walked. I wasn’t sure where we were going, but I didn’t care. I just let her carry me with one of my hands gripping her shirt. I could feel her strong arms, and I let myself relax into her. She smelled like rain.

  She then lowered my feet to the ground and helped me stand while I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “I could’ve walked,” I mumbled, and she just shrugged.

  “You weren’t getting out of bed. Now take a shower, and we can go get you some clothes.” She was already dressed, and I assumed she had showered too from her slightly damp hair. “There’s shampoo, conditioner, body wash, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a hairbrush in there. I got them this morning for you.” She rubbed the back of her neck and looked away from me.

  “Thanks,” I said, and she walked out, shutting the door behind her.

  I showered and thought about what the dream meant. Could it possibly be my spirit animal? A cinderwolf had never been a spirit animal. The Temple had records of that sort of thing. I would have to send my grandfather a letter when I found out what my spirit animal was so he could add it to the records. A cinderwolf was an omen of fire and destruction. They were not spirit animals. Perhaps it was a warning about the necromancer; perhaps the necromancer would try and get me to trust him.

  I was no closer to an answer when I got out of the shower.

  When I came back out of the bathroom, wearing the clothes I had worn yesterday and my hair pulled up into a loose ponytail, Regan was at that desk again. I saw her fold up the piece of paper and stick it in an envelope. She looked over at me with a small smile. “Ready to go?”

  I nodded, and she grabbed the key from the desk and picked up the small bag she had slung over her back from yesterday. She slid her gun into its holster and walked to the door. She pulled it open and waited until I walked through to leave and lock the door behind her.

  Regan dropped the key off at the desk, and we walked to the other side of town where I saw Ston leaning against a tree. My thoughts drifted to my dream when I looked at him. I wondered if it was a warning about the necromancer trying to get me to trust him. I made the decision to keep what we were doing secret from Ston. Maybe Regan had been right after all.

  “Ready to head out?” Ston asked as we got closer.

  “We actually have to get Casey some new clothes. That’s all she’s got. The stores will be opening in an hour or so, so we thought we’d let you know before you disappear on us,” Regan said.

  “Alright, I can wait. Be quick about it, though. I don’t want to be here forever,” he said. Regan turned, and we walked back to the shops.

  About two hours later we were with Ston again. When we walked up, he was stretched out on the grass with a small smile. “It’s a nice day out, isn’t it?”

  “Very nice, now come on. I want to get there as quickly as possible, so let’s get out of here,” Regan growled.

  “She’s not very thankful, is she?” Ston looked at me with a smile. He was completely different from when I first met him. It would be best not to trust him.

  I just shook my head and waited for him to stand up. “I guess she’s right, though. We better get going.” He stretched his arms above his head and then shoved them in his pockets. He started walking off, and Regan got between him and me. She was always intent on protecting me. That was her job, though, so I guess it was to be expected. I noticed her holster wasn’t snapped closed anymore, and I tried not to smile.

  We were heading toward a forest, and I could see a little path that cut through the trees. “You want to take us through there? Not an actual road?” Regan seemed suspicious.

  “It’s two days if we go this way, a week if we go the ‘safer’ way. Don’t worry,” he said, casting a look over his shoulder at Regan, “I think you can handle yourself, and Casey may not look it, but she’s a pretty powerful mage. I think we’ll be fine. Plus, you’ve got me. I think we can take the big bad wolves that are lurking around.”

  Wolves. Cinderwolves.

  No, we were too far from a volcano for a pack of cinderwolves to be around, but still, it made me uneasy to think about it.

  Regan didn’t say anything else, but I saw her hand twitch every time she heard something.

  We had been walking in the forest all day, stopping for lunch, breaks, water, and all that. We occasionally had some small talk to fill the silence, but most of the time it was Ston leading Regan and me through the forest. Regan and I talked a little bit here and there, but she wasn’t really focused on me. She was too busy analyzing everything.

  It was about two hours until sunset when I saw her reach for her gun at the snap of a twig and grab my shoulder. She pushed me behind her and held her gun up and pointed it into the trees. “Come out where I can see you,” Regan shouted to something over in the trees that I couldn’t see.

  I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart and peered over her shoulder to try and catch a glimpse. Regan tried to push me back, but I just moved to the other side to try again. “Stop doing that, you don’t know what’s over there, you could get hurt,” she growled at me. “Don’t be stupid, Case.”

  I ignored her and bit my lip, trying to think of the spell I needed.

  I closed my eyes and sent out a pulse. It was meant to see the presence of other living animals, a circle with me at the center. I felt Regan’s right in front of me, of course, Ston to the right, and about fifteen feet ahead and a couple feet to our left, was something else. Not a wild animal or anything; it was bigger, but its Life Force was weaker. It was strange. Not even humans had Life Force this low.

  And then it stumbled out from behind the trees.

  It was human, or it used to be at least. Now it was gray and misshapen, hobbling toward us with clouded eyes, its hair falling out in clumps. It was disgusting, and its arms hung limp at its sides while it lurched forward. I think it used to be a young man, no, more of a boy. Maybe thirteen. I didn’t know what it was now.

  Regan stepped back into me, and I could feel her trembling. She couldn’t handle it. Her gun was visibly shaking, and her breathing was rapid. I grabbed her wrist and noticed her racing pulse, and when I yanked her behind me, I saw how wide her eyes were. She was terrified, and that meant I had to step up and save her the way she would save me if she could.

  I stood in front of her, aware of her panic behind me. And then she stepped to the side and yelled as she pulled the trigger four times, each one hitting the creature and knocking him back a step. Her yell sounded strange, filled with utter terror. But the creature didn’t even pause; it just kept lurching toward us.

  “Don’t be stupid,” I said, using the words she had said to me earlier, and I tugged her back behind me where she sank to her knees. I wasn’t going to sit there and try and talk sense to her right now. I had bigger problems. She would stay there for a while, and she was done shooting, so she wasn’t my biggest problem. This thing was.

  I watched it come closer, and I searched my brain for information about what it could be. Its Life Force had been so faint that I doubted it was actually living. A necromancer’s work: give it just enough Life Force to use it as a puppet to do your bidding from somewhere safe. The necromancer could see us, maybe through the dead thing’s eyes, maybe through something else. It didn’t matter how; it j
ust mattered that he could.

  So, if this was dead and a necromancer’s work, like I assumed, the easiest way to kill it would be fire, which was what I was good at.

  I took a deep breath, knowing that magic was a fickle thing, and an unfocused mage wouldn’t be able to control their power. Emotions on the battlefield were dangerous. Emotions for mages at all were dangerous. They took attention away from the task at hand, and that led to magic getting out of control. Fire could be controlled, but if you lost focus, it returned to the way it began. Wild.

  I reached behind me and pulled my leather gloves from my back pocket and slid them over my hands. I snapped the button on the wrist closed on both hands and grinned wickedly at the undead boy moving toward me.

  I held my right hand out in front of my mouth with my palm facing up and took a deep breath, pulling the magic and flame from deep in the center of my Life Force and holding it in the back of my throat until I let the breath out.

  A column of flame shot from my hand and washed over the corpse, who was now only a few feet from me. The breath went on for as long as I could keep it going. And when it faded to a stop, I took another deep breath, but the creature had already crumpled in front of me. The necromancer must have pulled the plug on him.

  I let go of the power that I had been building up within and turned to Regan with a small smile, but she wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at the boy. A tear slid from the corner of her eye, and she covered her mouth with one hand when a sob tore its way out.

  I knelt down beside her. I don’t think I would have been more confused if a chicken walked up to me, stood on its head, and started singing me a love ballad. So far Regan hadn’t shown any vulnerability; I don’t think I’d seen her even look slightly sad. Even when she told me about her mother, she just sounded indifferent. And Regan had not faltered in protecting me. Maybe she had never faced an actual opponent, and she freaked, but that didn’t make sense because she was one of the most promising knights in the Temple. I had heard my grandfather say so himself a few days before I started my Proving.