Life Beyond the Temple

by Nikolai Joslin

  “What did you like to read?” I couldn’t help but smile at the memory. I had been so infuriated by the knight who had taken my chair, and this morning I had woken up in her embrace.

  “History mostly. Not the informational things you seem to like to read but the legends from thousands of years ago. I didn’t care much for facts and all of that. I liked the stories. I read about the great knights and the mages and a couple about the elves.” She had a wistful smile, and I could tell she missed the library.

  “Do you have a favorite?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.

  “What?”

  “A favorite story?”

  She seemed to have to think about it for a moment, and then she smiled a little. “Yes.”

  “Tell it to me?”

  She bit her lip, obviously a little conflicted. “How about I tell you a different one?”

  I wondered why she wouldn’t tell me her favorite, but I brushed away the thought and just said, “Alright, but I do expect to hear your favorite someday.”

  She nodded and smiled back. “Someday,” she agreed.

  “So what story are you going to tell me?” I asked when she didn’t say anything else.

  “This story is about the knight Robb Talins. Well, it’s about his squire actually, Joshua. Talins was the commander of the king’s army. Which king it was varies depending on the version, but what happens is always the same. The king calls Talins into his chambers one night, and Joshua being his squire, accompanies him as he always does.

  “The king tells Talins of a plan to attack a rival nation in the dead of night one month from then. He meant it to be a surprise and hoped that it would cause the rival king to surrender quicker. Talins agreed to the plan and exited the room, dragging Joshua behind him as he left.

  “Talins spent the weeks he had getting his troops ready. Talins was a smart man. He knew what he was doing, but he could not figure out how to hide an entire army from the people. Joshua, like all good squires of the time, was in his every meeting but said nothing and made no sound. He poured drinks and stood behind Talins’s chair and listened.

  “Finally, it was the last week before they had to leave, and Talins was in his tent poring over maps with Joshua watching him. Finally, Joshua spoke. He said, ‘Talk of peace, and they shall talk slowly and quietly. Talk of war, and it will spread like wildfire.’ Talins pondered his squire’s words, and the next day called in his group of advisers. He suggested that, if asked, they should say they were planning a peace treaty. Villagers did not care of peace. It had little effect on their lives, and therefore wouldn’t be a big deal. War would cause panic. If word of peace reached the rival king, he would lower his guard, believing that such an honorable nation would surely want peace.

  “The others agreed to the plan, and a week later they set out, Joshua close behind Talins and awaiting his every command. The plan went off easily, and soon they were camped half a day away from the city where the castle lay. The celebrating started early and ended late with a lot of drinking to be had by all. Most had recovered by morning, but Talins did not. Instead, he went to take a piss in the early morning and tumbled into a ravine. When Joshua went looking for him the next morning, he found Talins dead and panicked.

  “He could not tell anybody. An army cannot fight without a leader, and Talins had been the leader of the entire army. Without Talins, the army would crumble at the gates, and they would lose. Joshua could not allow that to happen.

  “Joshua was a tall boy of fifteen, and Talins had been a small man, so the armor was not too loose on him when he donned it the next morning. Talins did not talk much, and so Joshua did not need to talk. He just pulled himself effortlessly onto Talins’s horse, who knew Joshua well enough not to stop him.

  “Nothing was asked of him until they reached the gate of the city. Joshua had never realized how invisible he had been. Though he had been in every meeting and had been Talins’s shadow, nobody even noticed he was gone. When they reached the gate however, Talins’s second in command rode up to Joshua and asked what they would do next. Joshua deepened his voice to get as close to Talins’s as he could and shouted for his nation as they rode into the city.

  “Before night fell, Joshua was standing before the rival king in his old master’s freshly bloodied armor. The rival king relinquished his land to Joshua’s king, and Joshua handed the documents of his surrender to Talins’s second in command then removed his helmet. ‘Take this back to the king and tell him Sir Talins lost his life in battle. Nobody shall know but you and I, and I shall squire for you as faithfully as I have squired for Sir Talins.’”

  “What happened next?” I asked when Regan fell silent.

  “When they arrived back at their castle, the new commander told the king that Joshua had killed Talins, and he was beheaded. But for one day, he was a knight in command of a victorious army.” She had a sad smile on her face when she finished.

  “That’s sad,” I said, wondering why she had chosen to tell me that one.

  “War is sad. Stories about knights don’t usually show that, though. They speak of glory and princesses who need saving, but war is sad. Mothers lose children and orphans are made. War is bloody and filled with the dead. You win a war by killing more people than the other side. It is sad.”

  “Is your favorite story sad?” I asked quietly.

  She looked over at me and then looked up at the sky with a heavy sigh. “Yes and no. Happy for one and torture for the other.”

  I wondered what story she was thinking of. I hadn’t read many legends or stories like that, but I would like hearing her tell me them. She had this look when she told me that story that reminded me of children at the Temple, lost in the wonder of magic. I wondered if she was happy in the worlds those stories created for her. She seemed like it.

  I didn’t know many stories, but I remembered one I had stuffed under my pillow for when I couldn’t sleep. “Maybe I will tell you my favorite sometime,” I said after a moment of silence.

  IT WAS a while before we stopped for lunch, and by the time we sat down, my feet were aching and I was starting to feel drops of sweat sliding down my back. It was warm out, but I guess that’s what I should’ve expected since it was summer.

  Cinder ran after Ston, who said he was going to go catch birds or rabbits or some form of meat, and Regan sighed. “Let’s look for water and berries or something.”

  I just nodded in agreement and followed Regan in the opposite direction of Ston and Cinder. We found a small stream, which was good because that meant there was running water we could drink, and Regan pulled me over to a bush near it.

  She pulled her shirt up to make a pocket and started dropping little round, bright red berries into her shirt. I couldn’t help but notice her toned abs and the curve of her hips, but she snapped me back to reality when she said, “I used to eat these as a kid. We had a few bushes around the house, and my brothers and I would bring back cups full of them.” Her smile fell when she said that.

  “I’ve never had them. What are they?” I held one between my fingers and looked at it closely.

  “Huckleberries. You’ve never had one?”

  “There aren’t any at the Temple, and I’ve never left it until now.” I tentatively put the small berry into my mouth and bit into it. It was tart, and I wasn’t sure why she had liked them so much as a kid. They weren’t bad—in fact I kind of liked them—but I didn’t think I could eat a lot of them at one time.

  There were some blackberries and raspberries and all sorts of other berries around too. She found these ones she called salmon berries, which I thought was weird because they didn’t taste anything like fish, but she picked the yellow and red ones because I preferred the yellow and she liked the red. By the time we made our way back to where we had left our bags and things, Regan’s shirt was stained with all sorts of colors.

  Ston was there too, and a satisfied looking Cinder, who was lying on the ground drooling. Ston looked over at me with a deep
frown. “He ate three birds, a squirrel, and a raccoon.”

  Regan laughed and said, “Did he leave anything for us?”

  “I got a couple rabbits and a bird. Where did you guys go?”

  Regan dumped the contents of her shirt onto her jacket that she had left there. “Just got something to go with the rest of the meal. There’s also a stream down there that we can drink from afterward. I didn’t have anything to carry water in, so we’ll actually have to go there to drink,” she said as she started sorting all the berries on the inside of her black leather jacket.

  Ston handed me yet another rabbit on a stick, and Regan got one as well while he ate the bird. I thought that made him a pretty good guy, the bird had almost nothing on it, and he took it instead of giving it to one of us.

  We had finished the meat and were working on the berries when Regan said, “How far away are we?”

  “We made pretty good time; we’ll be there late tonight if we don’t stop again. It will be after dark, but we won’t have to camp again tonight if we keep going,” he said as he popped another berry in his mouth.

  “Alright, sounds like a plan, then.” Regan nodded, and we didn’t talk for the rest of lunch.

  We went to the stream and drank our fill and then started on our way again, Regan and I once again in the back.

  “I have enough money for a night or two at an inn, but I’ll have to get a job there so I can have enough money to stay there, or somewhere else, after that. You should probably look for something too, odd jobs.” She looked over at me with a very serious look. “Don’t do anything dangerous, Casey. I’m supposed to protect you. I can’t do that if you’re getting yourself killed.”

  “Alright, alright,” I mumbled. I think she was talking about the Ston thing from earlier, but I also think she just didn’t want me getting chased by bandits or mountain lions or something. It was weird to have someone care for me. My grandfather had a normal daughter, and she was sent back to the mainland, where she eventually had me. A mage. And I was sent to the Temple. My grandfather was the only family I remember, and he was never really there. He didn’t want to show favoritism. If he had been just any mage, it wouldn’t have mattered, but he was the head of the Temple.

  Martun and his sister were the closest thing I had to family. They’d cared for me and worried, but it was different from how Regan cared. Regan was determined to keep me safe in the big bad world; Martun would rather keep me locked away. Regan wanted to help me, and Martun wanted to, for lack of a better word, stop me. His version of keeping me safe was keeping me away from dangerous things in the first place. Regan’s was to shoot whatever looked at me funny. At least she gave me a chance. Then again, what did I expect after the incident with his sister?

  The thought of Martun caused a pang in my chest, and I shoved away the thought and just promised Regan I would try not to get into trouble.

  “I’m serious, Casey. Don’t do anything stupid.” Regan gave me that look.

  I looked down at my feet and said, “Alright. I’ll be careful, I promise.”

  She nodded, and we walked in silence until the sun was setting.

  “Come here,” Regan commanded, and I obeyed her without thinking. She wrapped an arm tightly around my waist, and I noticed her other hand fall to her gun. “Ston! How much farther?” she called out, and we walked a little faster to catch up to him.

  “Maybe an hour. We’ll be there soon, don’t worry,” he answered.

  Cinder fell back and walked on my other side. I was thankful to have him there with me. I knew he wouldn’t let anything get to me. I knew Regan wouldn’t either, but Cinder would know of trouble long before Regan did.

  I didn’t say anything the rest of the way; I just tried not to think of Regan’s hand pulling me close to her. Cinder didn’t seem to ignore it, though. I don’t think he ignored anything when it came to the two of us, and he chattered on about it the entire way.

  When we finally entered the brightly lit large town, or maybe it was a small city—I couldn’t be sure, because I’d never been to either—Regan finally let go of me but kept me within arm’s reach.

  Ston turned to us, ran a hand through his stark white hair, and said, “You can either follow me to a mostly dark-elf inn or go find your own. This is where we part ways, though.”

  Regan looked over at me. I pondered it for a while before slowly saying, “If we stay here for a while, we’re going to need to find somewhere that doesn’t hate mages.”

  Regan sighed but understood. I don’t think she fully trusted dark elves, but she knew that we’d get kicked out from a regular inn after a few days once word started circling around about a mage. Bad for business. “Alright. Take us there, Ston, and then we’ll leave you be.”

  The inn was bigger than I thought it would be, which meant there must be a large amount of dark elves in the area. The people around here probably preferred giving them a bigger inn than having dark elves in any of the “normal” inns.

  Prices were cheap, which was good, but Regan and I got a lot of strange looks from the dark elves in the bar and lobby area. I don’t think they saw many humans walking in. Regan went stiff, and I rested a hand on her shoulder. I stood on my tiptoes so I could reach her ear and whispered, “Don’t worry. They won’t hurt us.”

  Regan slowly relaxed, and I heard the snap of her holster after a little while. “Let’s go upstairs,” she growled and started pushing her way through the crowd of dark elves, who were watching us with wary eyes. Cinder trotted after us, baring his teeth at anyone who got too close.

  She unlocked the door to our room and held it open for me. I walked in and was a little surprised at how nice it was. It had two large beds and a pretty okay bathroom. There was a dresser with a TV and a desk in the corner by a large window with heavy curtains that overlooked the outside world. Regan started unpacking her clothes and dropping them unceremoniously into a drawer. She then walked over to the desk and pulled a pad of paper and a pen from inside.

  “Are you writing to your family?” I asked as I folded my clothes and put them into another drawer. The Temple had always strived for neatness. I guess the knights had it differently, or maybe that was just who Regan was.

  “My family and a girl I knew from a long time ago. She lives in the area. I was wondering if she could help get me a job,” Regan said as she wrote.

  I don’t know why the idea of her writing to some other girl irked me, but it did. Maybe Cinder’s talk was finally getting to me. “What’s her name?”

  “Meghan. We sometimes write, but I haven’t spoken to her in a while. You should get some sleep; I won’t be up long, so I’ll turn the lights off in a couple minutes.”

  I turned to get in bed, and there was Cinder. Taking up the entire damn thing.

  “Get off,” I growled.

  Why? I’m comfy.

  “That’s my bed.”

  Sleep in that one.

  “That’s Regan’s bed.” I was getting irritated now.

  So?

  “She deserves to have her own bed. At least move over. We can share the damn thing if you want.”

  No.

  I didn’t think I could actually force him to move. He was bigger than I was, and I shouldn’t use magic when I don’t need to because it can be draining. “What do you mean no?”

  Before he could answer, I felt hands on my shoulders and heard Regan say, “It’s fine. We’ll just sleep in the other one.”

  I looked over my shoulder to see Regan looking down at me with a soft smile. “I don’t want to take your space like that; really, I can get him to move.”

  “No you can’t, he’s huge. It’s fine, really. You slept next to me last night. I’m sure you can do it one more night.” She chuckled quietly and let go of my shoulders.

  “But—”

  “Case, stop arguing and just go to bed.” She smiled and walked to the desk where she continued writing her letter.

  I glared at Cinder, who just panted back at me.
I had a feeling he was sticking his tongue out at me, but I ignored it and changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top we had bought yesterday morning. I crawled under the sheets and rolled so that I was facing the other bed.

  About ten minutes later, as I dozed off, I heard Regan get up. I heard clothes hit the floor, and I fought the urge to look. Cinder was already fast asleep by the time Regan shut off the lights and darkness enveloped us.

  I felt the bed dip on the other side as she got in and slid under the covers. “Good night, Case,” she whispered.

  I wondered if she said it because she knew I was awake or because she thought I was asleep. Either way, I didn’t respond. Instead, I just let sleep finally take hold.

  I DREAMT again that night.

  There were dead bodies rising from their graves and a green fire was burning down everything in its path. I was running, looking for something I couldn’t remember. I was crying out, but I don’t know what I was saying. I could feel Cinder’s presence beside me, and even he seemed terrified. The scene unfolding in front of us was like a drawing of hell.

  Burned bodies littered the streets, but I barely even registered them. I heard shots from higher up, on top of a building maybe, and from an alley there was a cry of pain that I didn’t recognize, and that made my heart ache. I couldn’t take it. It was falling apart around me. I was failing. This evil was winning and I couldn’t stop it.

  I was racing down the street, looking for that thing I couldn’t remember. I was lost. I felt lost. Empty. I felt like I couldn’t do this anymore. I finally sank to my knees and let out a cry of defeat, loss, pain, agony, and I don’t know what. A cry of horror.

  I finally stopped and looked up to see green flames licking at yet another building, and I raised my hand toward it and used the last of my energy to do something I knew would never work. I tried putting out the flames.