Kindles of War

by Nicol Terra

  Jay patted Erudite on the back. “Don’t let it get to you, not even Lieutenants can fight like you, so I would be proud of yourself for being a cut above the rest.” He said, teleporting away as Rose walked up to Erudite, her face disgruntled.

  “I have to clean the stalls tonight. Or write a twenty-page essay on why I fucked up.” Rose wings were droopy, saddened. Her face was forlorn, forgotten and fragmented. It looks like Jay yelled at her for a good few minutes. Erudite forgot Jay himself could stop time. That is probably why he didn’t report us. Bending or Warping reality was usually a skill that was taboo to use in Maplesworn. Erudite tried to rationalize it. “Or maybe because we can use it, we are more valuable to keep around in the military than in the outside world. Especially now, considering the chance of bloodshed is at all-time highs. ” She thought to herself; then he remembered Bunny. Then she just shrugged. "I give up." She said to herself. "I will never know what Jay thinks of us, and I shouldn't focus on it."

  Tina snorted as her eyes opened. “Wait huh, how did I do? Did I kick your ass?” Tina asked. Even Erudite couldn't help laugh.

  “Fuck it; why not?” Erudite answered.“Let's get you to the nurse's office. You look like you took a beating.” Erudite lied, she wanted her wing checked. It hurt like a bitch, she thought to herself.

  Rose, Erudite and Tina limped their way to the nurse's office east. Erudite and her friends were so tired, that even flying was impossible. Rose, Tina, and Erudite just walked their ways to the nurse's office.

  “Fuck, I lost that badly?” Rose asked

  “Yeah, it was so bad, I don't know what you were thinking of going open guard against Rose.” Erudite retorted. Tina nodded.

  “I didn’t expect fire to hurt that much.” Rose frowned.

  “Yeah, no one ever goes ‘Hey look its fire, that must feel nice!’,” Tina said Erudite gave a quick laugh as she shook her head.

  “To be fair, no one says about light or darkness.” Erudite added.

  “But light and darkness are scary.” Rose retorted back. Erudite rubbed the hole in her wing and turned to Rose.

  “How so?” Erudite asked.

  “Well, it has so much advanced magick going with it,” Rose commented. Tina shook her head. “Plus Light Reflects and Dark controls gravity. Sounds horrible to deal with.”

  “Light Magick and Time Magick go hand in hand. When you master it, you become invincible.” Tina said Erudite nodded.

  “Darkness Magick and Spatial Magick go hand in hand. Although you don’t become invincible, you can kill or defeat anyone with it. If I was serious, I could have sent Tina to another somewhere with my magick. I just split her in half.”

  “Just split me in half? Yeah, tell that to my ribcage. I am still sore.” Tina sighed. Rose and Erudite laughed as they walked inside the nurse's office.

  “How did you rewind time by the way?” Rose inquired.

  “Just carefully,” Tina answered. Erudite rolled her eyes.

  “Yeah, that is a good answer if I say so myself.” Erudite retorted.

  The nurse was a Faerie with big red wings, unlike most Faeries who were slim and beautiful, Nurse Joy was fat and ugly. She was round and had a bulbous face, pimples dotting her cheek to form a smile, and ironically forming a permanent frown. Still, she did her job of being a nurse. If we were split in half, got a laser blasted through your wing or got blasted with flames, she is your gal to fix you up. The nurse’s office smelt like morning dew had one bench for patients, and another for visitors. Joy only had one desk; she preferred to her magick to cure people; she didn't trust metal instruments poking at people to fix him, probably because she was afraid of needles.

  She, however, was occupied with Jerry, pulling out spore after spore from his head as she shook her head.

  “I don’t get paid enough for this crap. I hate this job.” She muttered to herself.

  “You get paid in tens of silver per hour, how is that not enough?” Rose asked. Joy jumped.

  “Well fuck, can you at least knock?”Joy growled. Joy and Jay having similar names and having the same attitude made it hard to tell who was who at times.

  “Nice to see you too, Joy,” Tina said. Joy spat in a bucket as Erudite looked away in disgust.

  “Yeah, yeah. I will see you three after I fix Fungus Man over here.” She said.

  The three sat in a nearby bench as Joy continued to pluck spores from Jerry. Rose sat in the left, Erudite in the middle and Tina in front.

  “Did you read my thesis? Your time stop was…” Tina started, holding herself back a mid-sentence.

  “Yes, I did… go on.” Erudite said. “Spit it out.”

  “It was shit. Even a monkey can break out if it.” Tina said Rose held back a giggle as Erudite smacked Rose’s arm.

  “At least I didn‘t get blasted by an explosion Rosey.” Erudite then turned to Tina. “And you need to shut your stupid little mouth hole. I tried. First time.”

  “First time? Well fine, that is your excuse. Just now that if you try that seriously against me, I will not hesitate to break out of it sooner.” Tina said Erudite face dropped

  “Thanks for the tip.” Erudite sighed. “By the way, work on your Gravity Control.” She retorted, only to make the stinging pain less bad in her own inflated ego.

  “What other magick can stop time?” Rose asked. Erudite put a finger to her lip in thought.

  “Well… Water Magick can supposedly get the surrounding environment to be so cold, time ‘freezes.’ It is a part of Winter Magick, I think.” Erudite said and then let out a shrug. “Bent Effects from Water, Fire, Wind and Earth could have it, I am not sure which though. Bent effects were closer to a lottery then they were concrete.”

  “Oh?” Tina asked.

  “Yeah. Fire Magick can supposedly be so potent for some people. They can even erase you from existence. That is part of Solar Magick, part Ether and Nether” Erudite pointed out. Rose gulped. When someone Bent the basic four elements, from the outside it looked like a random assortment of abilities. Bent Fire like Solar can erase you. Along with other effects, usually Bent Elements were broad, conjoined, 'weaker,' Warp abilities. Warping, like what Erudite did was incredibly specific. "I can create wormholes, slice you through space or teleport. As long as it is space, I can 'control it.'." Erudite did hear that though that Bent Elements have far greater range though, something she struggled to expand with her ability.

  “I am glad to know Eve doesn’t know that.” Rose added.

  Tina went first and got out fluttering and soaring a good few feet in the sky before she fell back to the ground below, her eyes were foggy and her legs stumbling.

  “That felt good! Nothing like good old medicine to fix me up!”

  “What did she give you?” Rose asked innocently, as Tina stumbled slightly.

  “A hell of a lot of Alcohol. I will see you guys at the dorms.” She said stumbling out the nurse office.

  “Didn’t know Vodka helped with magical overuse,” Rose asked.

  “Well, the happier and calmer you are, the more energy and thus magic you have. I think Tina wanted to get fucked up.” Erudite said. Which was probably right, Tina did like a drink.

  Rose was next in and second to leave.

  Erudite went in, holding her wing as she walked to the nurse as Joy looked her in the eye. Looks like she hasn’t fixed Jerry, who was laid out in another makeshift bench.

  “Have a seat.” She said. Erudite sat in the bench. Joy created a bubble of magic as the wing patched the hole. Faerie’s wings were closer to insects, not exactly being feathers or skin. Erudite felt her wing being patched up as she flew up high, her wings fluttering and flapping quickly. “I feel great now! Thanks, Doc.”

  “Before you go.” Joy said seriously. Erudite looked her in the eye for a moment.

  “I should let you know, the next time this happens in that exact spot, it won’t be as easy to fix.” She said with a small smirk. "Spatial Queen." Joy said. Erudite blushed, that was
the first time someone called her by her Epithet. Erudite nodded, as she flew out to the dorms in hurried excitement.

  Illevetar shuffled her feet together, tilting forward and backward constantly. She wore a white dress with a small, black leather bag strapped to her right hand. Ahn slipped out of his room, the dead of night and the moonlight shining upon him. His brown hair was slicked back and wore a black vest. Illevetar giggled, he had an adorable smile. She rolled her eyes, one plus of being alone is that she can now freely flirt with boys.

  “You ready?” Illevetar asked. He nodded shyly in response.

  The two walked to a nearby skyscraper, lighting with various blues and greens. The tower was five thousand meters tall, the tallest building in the neighborhood. The top of the building read “Skytree,” a shopping center with tons of stores. The first floor had hundreds of people rushing inside each store. These people wore clean, silk clothes with jewelry. Many of them wore smiles, and yet many more twitched in nervous optimism. The bottom floor had tons of stores, lined up next to each other. Each store had Argon, Xenon or Krypton store signs, flashing various colors and brands to shoppers. One of these signs, ‘Tired Treads’, had a man flushing a green light inside the symbol, lighting the air inside and flushing the sign with gases. He stopped, switched a button as this sign lit a bright Neon. The first floor had hundreds of people rushing inside each store.

  Illevetar giggled “Even here, Noble Lights work here.”

  Ahn nodded. “I mean, I am wondering if this ‘west’ is genuinely as primitive as our world claims.”

  Illevetar said nothing. She merely tilted her head and pursed her lips together. “Ooh,” She said, rushing to one store. ‘Nile Books.’ The store was one of the few stores with two floors. The first floor was split in half, one of them was aisles lined with small, coin-like disks. Illevetar reached at one of them and grasped it. She fed her gaze to the metallic, soft, fluid disk. She reached for her right side instinctively, her face flushing for a second as she frowned.

  “Aww, I don’t have my Holosphere right now!” She said. She must have left it in her room.

  Ahn shook his head, his brow raised as he let out a small smile. “Didn’t expect you to like Mental’s.”

  She puckered her cheeks, shifting her waist to stare at him. “I mean, a movie in my mind would be rather nice.” She said. Ahn waltzed over to her, picking up his Holosphere, pressing the top and scanning the disk. A hologram popped up from the top, revealing a green check mark. He sighed and shook his head.

  “Glad to know I got my first paycheck.” He said. She looked him in the eyes, looking deep down: Humble, Quiet, Kind and Loving. She smiled, the four traits Illevetar loved to see in a person. She waltzed her eyes over to scan the store. The other half the floor was a large coffee shop. She flared her nose, the strong coffee and the scent of caramel filled the air. She shot a smile at Ahn, nudging her head to the side. He shrugged and followed her. Unlike the other half of the floor made of tile, this part of had wooden pine floor that stretched for tens of feet. The line to the barista was long, ten people ahead of her shuffling nervously or grumpily cursing to themselves, morning drag effecting to where as soon as someone pulled exact coin, they rolled their eyes with impatience.

  “Hey Ahn, tell me, do you drink coffee often?” Illevetar asked.

  “Not so much, I love me a good latte though.” He answered.

  “I used to drink Frappes often at home.” Illevetar puffed.

  He raised a brow. “Aren’t those like, five Bronze back home?”

  “I usually paid with 7 SALT, but yes, they are quite the price.” She giggled, although she never had the issue with money. She was a Princess in a line of royals; she had plenty and plenty of which went to coffee, books, Mentals or schooling.

  “I rarely got coffee; my family was very strict.” He said with a small sigh.

  She raised a brow. “Isn’t your family name Kyung?”

  He nodded.

  “So you are rich too.” She added.

  His eyes drifted to the ground, taking a step forward in the line. His cheeks flushed red, and his eyes squinted in thought.

  “I don’t like thinking about it, to be honest.” He said.

  She tilted her head; now she was curious. “Why not?”

  “I never took pleasure in being born rich.” He said. She paused in response. She looked at her dress, the flowery hemming on her skirt was crafted from hand and made of silk. She lifted the soft material of her left side with her right hand, the silk sinking into her small hand. The texture was something that an average person would take five years working for a similar dress or suit. Her thoughts wandered, was she really that different because she was born rich? Was she lucky and should she be happy because luck blessed her?

  Her mind turned ghost white for a second. “I hope mom and dad are okay.” She whispered. Ahn turned to her, Illevetar head shot up to look at him. Did she say out loud?

  He smiled. “I may be Chisean, but I take no pride in the slaughter of poor or rich Elf.” He said. Her mind continued to wander. The room continued, many of the tables had Human or Faerie, drinking cups of coffee and reading books. Many more continued as nothing happened, yet for Illevetar, she felt the breath taken out of her. She frowned, she had no idea why.

  She shuffled her feet forward and back, her hands tied behind her back, holding on to each other. “What do you mean?”

  He shrugged. “I think the military and state is filled with savages.”

  She blinked once and then stammered a laugh. Her right hand lifted to her mouth, covering it as she tried to stop herself. She looked to see Ahn, his face confused with his eyes dazzled.

  “What is so funny?” He asked as a small blush formed across his cheeks.

  “Oh nothing, I didn’t expect you to be so…different.” She said. She rolled her eyes for a moment; the scent of coffee in the air numbing her senses. When she greeted the cashier, the man blinked twice.

  His eyes drifted to the ground, muttering to himself. He was male, six foot tall and with a black shirt and pants. Ahn walked in front of Illevetar, his massive body towering over her, hiding her. She tried to jump up to see past Ahn but to no avail. She hated being a five foot.

  “May I help you, sir?” The cashier said.

  Ahn sighed. “Ah yes, two large caramel frappes.” He said. Her ears twitched, out of luck or instinct; he picked her favorite flavor.

  She couldn’t see, but the next thing she saw was Ahn take out his Holosphere and slipped it inside a pyramid. The pyramid gave off a deep blue glow and then a green one. Ahn snapped his receipt from the cashier’s hand as he went to go brew drinks, the two being the last in line.

  Illevetar slowly waltzed over to an empty circular table and sat on one seat. Her eyes drifted from side to side, inspecting the room carefully. On second glance, she saw dozens of Humans or Chiseans with Holospheres out, snapping from right to left on the holographic screen, reading news or preparing accounts. She tilted her head, many of these Holospheres were of a single color, red. These Holospheres had the distinct crest was in her room, the Phoenix on a shield.

  “I wonder how powerful Phoenix Feathers is.” Illevetar thought out loud.

  Ahn pulled out a glass piece filled with grass and lit it ablaze with flames. He took a small drag, his eyes motionless and exhaled.

  “I wonder how many guilds inhabit and run the Western or the Northern Expanse.” He said.

  She tilted her head. “The Northern Expanse has very few records.” She said, her voice quivering. “I heard there was Leviathan guarding the ocean nearby. If you try to sail, a large beast will crash and break your ship in two.”

  He nodded, his eyes giving off a small glimmer of light as his smile widened. “Of course, that is what the legends say. The legends back home also said the Western Expanse and the Southern Lands were filled with savages.” He said, exhaling as his eyes turned a light tinge of sympathy. “I guess it is okay to be wrong sometimes.”r />
  She nodded. “Truth is, the savages are from one of the great five powers.” She said, choking at the last three words. Great Powers, the five kingdoms that, as far as she knew, were the most wealthy and the most powerful in the world. History taught her, that the five races, each with their deity to follow, crafted kingdoms over ten thousand years ago and still to this day, these five kingdoms rule the world. She felt a sense of unease that her family took part in this great control of secrecy. She shook her head that was a ridiculous thought. It is not like they knew this place was inhabited. She sighed.

  “Back to guilds, how many are there?” Illevetar inquired.

  “I heard from Yas there is three on this island chain and dozens in the new world. There are no defenders though, strangely.” Ahn said.

  “Are they powerful?” Illevetar asked.

  “Most if not all of them used to be Forwards like me.” He said, his face grimacing.

  “Do you think Xin is under the service of a Forward?”

  The cafe turned quiet. Illevetar blushed, hiding her face under her arms. Ahn heard the order called out but Illevetar was too embarrassed to look up, the cafe turned into quiet mutters among themselves. It slipped, but a mild or moderate problem for herself and her friends was a significant fear in these backs of these people's minds. She felt her heart sink and her skin twitch.

  “Hey,” Ahn said. “I got our drinks.” He said.

  Illevetar shot her eyes upward, Ahn holding two blended frappes for herself and him. She slowly grabbed one and took a sip through the green straw. Ahn motioned his head to the side. She nodded. She wanted to leave anyway, not out of safety or pride, but one of shame.

  The two took an elevator in the back, popping inside the bubble as they warped to the second floor of the coffee shop. Dozens of fresh-cut books lined the shelves, many of them in their aisle ready for purchase. Illevetar couldn’t help look in awe. The ceiling had hanging red chandeliers, dangling from side to side like a pendulum. There were dozens of these white lights illuminating the store floor below. The shelves had digital screens, reading each genre most common on the shelf. She saw every type of book imaginable and couldn’t help giggling, even in a world as advanced as her own, the best way to get entertainment still to this day was to crack open a book. She waltzed over to the ‘History’ section. These books were the most interesting to her even though she learned only Elven history, and even that was rudimentary. She pondered for a moment; she never heard about the history of this island. She ran her fingers across the books, stopped and slid one out. The title was ‘History of Idera and the Central Rim.’ She smirked for a moment, raising her book to Ahn, who walked over to her.