The Journeyman for Zdrell

by David K Bennett

  “I feel likewise, Eril. We will meet again soon.” Silurian waved as first Zeldar, then Dorull and last Eril stepped through the gate. They waved back at him from the other side, then Eril commanded the gate to close and both groups lost sight of one another.

  Chapter 28

  “So, that went well enough,” Zeldar said, once back in Dorull’s main study.

  “Yes, I would agree,” Dorull said. “The experience is strange, in that while we covered a large distance, it felt as though we had simply moved to a different room. I begin to see how the zdrell masters of old could seem to be nearly anywhere at any time.”

  “What happens next?” Eril asked.

  “What indeed?” Dorull replied. “I think our work is just beginning. We now have a way for you to be elsewhere quickly if another charzen presents itself, and there is also the mystery of what happened to the two primary gates. There are in some ways even more questions now than before, but I think the real question is what is most important for you to do, Eril?”

  Before Eril could respond, Dorull continued. ”You are not my student in any way, Eril, but I would propose that, in addition to continuing to study the manual, you need to learn healing magic as well as to train to avoid paralysis in an attack, as I have witnessed twice now.”

  Eril sat, considering, then responded. “I would very much like to learn healing magic, Master. But, I’m not sure how I can be taught to react more rapidly.”

  “That is simplicity itself, Eril. We will simply have to put you under real attack on a frequent and unexpected basis,” Dorull said, grinning evilly.

  As Dorull spoke, the first thing that Eril felt was fear. Intellectually, he knew that he should have no reason to be afraid, yet there it was. The expression on Dorull’s face and the matter of fact way he talked about Eril being attacked terrified him.

  Dorull nodded and spoke, “That. That is exactly what we need you to overcome. I see the fear in you. You, who could with no more than a thought obliterate both of us. Yet you are afraid.”

  “I’m sorry, Master, I just.”

  “No, don’t apologize. I suppose with your background, it makes sense. You were beaten frequently when you were a slave, weren’t you?”

  Eril nodded, unable to speak.

  “It is odd to me that even now, with all the victories you’ve had, you still cringe from the threat of attack. But there you have it. That reflex will get you killed, so best we get it out of you now, before it does.”

  “What do you mean, when you say attack?” Eril asked, a tremor in his voice.

  “Oh, just that. You’ve sparred with the sword quite a bit, yes?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “But, when have you been attacked without warning?”

  Eril thought back for a bit and then remembered. “Well, when I was learning to fly, Master Silurian had people jump out and try and startle me into falling.”

  “But I bet the most they ever did was yell, or maybe shove you a little, right?”

  “Yeah, they weren’t allowed to really hurt me. Just to get me to fall. But I did have to practice flying while people shot arrows at me.”

  “I’m guessing that was not a surprise either. It was an exercise, and you knew when it started and when it ended, right?”

  “Yes, I had to know that didn’t I?”

  “No, here’s what you’re missing, Eril. You are accustomed to knowing beforehand when you will be attacked, or when you’ll have to fight. Sparring, duels, even your fight with Boregond, you knew in advance and prepared for what you would do. You had the initiative. Much of the time, that is not the case with conflict. It erupts, seemingly out of nowhere. And when that happens with you, your initial reaction is to either freeze or cower. That is the reaction of a beaten child. You need to move beyond it.

  “In the military, they routinely take new recruits and place them in circumstances where they never know when they will be under attack in order to condition them to always be ready. I think that is what we will do for you.”

  Eril’s fear was now verging on terror. The malicious glee on Dorull’s face as he described this plan honestly had him rattled.

  “Eril,” Dorull chuckled, “If you could only see your face. You look five years younger and nearly ready to wet yourself.” He shook his head sadly, “Your reaction just proves my point. But why exactly are you afraid? Stop and ask yourself this. Is there anything Zeldar or I could do to hurt you, really hurt you, if you wanted to stop us?”

  Eril examined his feelings and this reaction. The more he thought of it, the more he realized that Dorull was right. He had no reason to fear them. He was the one who had taken down the charzen. All of them were alive because of him, not the other way around.

  Just as Eril was starting to feel more confident, the fear replaced by determination, Dorull suddenly reached across the table and slapped him hard on the face. It was a significant blow and left Eril staggered and confused.

  Before Eril could do more than sit in stunned shock, Dorull got up from his chair across the table, came around and shoved Eril out of his chair onto the floor. Eril invoked his shield amulet just before Dorull kicked him.

  “About time,” he grunted. “I got in two clean shots before you even reacted. If I had used a dagger instead of my hand, I could have just slit your throat. That’s what I’m talking about.”

  Dorull turned away, and Eril started to get to his feet only to have Dorull turn back rapidly and give him another shove. The shield was still active, so Eril was protected when he hit the ground again. Eril got up more slowly this time, suspicious that Dorull might attack again and darting his eyes to see if Zeldar might join in the fray, but then got cautiously back into his chair.

  As Dorull sat, he said, “I admit, that was something of a low blow, but do you see what I mean?”

  Eril nodded slowly, still wary.

  “I have your attention now. So, here is what we do. In this room and in your bedroom, no one will attack you going forward. But anywhere else,” he waved his arm to indicate the whole area, “you will be subject to attack, and not just puny little shoves and slaps like I just gave you, though those will happen too. No, I’ll have the soldiers try to cut and stick you. Zeldar and I will also see how you react to unexpected magical attack.”

  “That’s not fair. How can I be expected to survive if everyone else in the castle is against me?”

  “Fair? Of course it’s not fair. Nothing about combat is fair. Do you think a charzen, or a demon for that matter, will stay their attack just because you aren’t ready? I see you getting mad. Good. Better that than dead.”

  Eril was annoyed. It was bad enough that Dorull had attacked him, his face still stung from the slap, but worse; he knew he was right. He was angry with himself, but also with Dorull.

  “You’d let one of the soldiers run me through?”

  “Yes, I would certainly let them try, and if they succeeded, then it would provide an opportunity for you and Zeldar to practice healing magic.”

  “You really mean that, don’t you?” Eril snarled, indignant. “Well if that’s the way you want to play,” He reached for power and was about to push Dorull back out of his chair with his zdrell when a magic missile impacted into his still invoked shield.

  “Calm down, Eril,” Zeldar said, waving a placating hand. “I knew that would get your attention, but you need to listen to what Master Dorull is saying. My old master fairly tortured me with surprise attacks. He knew I needed the reactions. What he says makes sense. You won’t survive if you aren’t ready to respond instantly to any attack.”

  Eril grumbled, but then let go of the power he was about to unleash.

  Dorull, who had not taken his eyes off him the entire time, nodded slowly. “Better. There’s one more rule we’ll have to add to our little game here. You are not allowed to initiate an attack, and you can only respond with the minimum amount of energy necessary to end whatever attack is coming at you. I can’t have you burning my
soldiers alive or blowing holes in the castle walls.”

  “So, when will this ‘game’ start?” Eril growled. He was still irritated by this turn of events.

  “I think tomorrow morning, after breakfast will be soon enough,” Dorull said. “I think I’ll also have the soldiers try and take you on with planned attacks where several of them attack at once. That will be good for you and for them as well. The soldiers here don’t get enough practice. My guess is this will also give you additional opportunities to practice healing magic as you fix up the soldiers you break.”

  Dorull pointed and said, “Which is hurting more, your face or your hip from when you hit the floor?”

  Eril thought about it and said, “I guess my hip.”

  “Good, then I’m sure you’ll appreciate this spell.”

  The next couple of hours were spent with Eril and Zeldar being instructed in healing magic.

  Chapter 29

  The following day Eril started a new training regimen. After breakfast, he went out to spar with the castle guard. He carried his plain sword and had to fight multiple opponents with a combination of swordsmanship and magic.

  At first, they came at him in groups of three to five. Eril was able to use his zdrell to push them into one another so that it quickly became apparent that the small groups had no real chance against him. On the odd occasion where an attack came close enough for contact, his shield amulet turned it aside. The guard captain determined that they would try different tactics for their next session.

  The exercise did provide both Eril and Zeldar with subjects for the healing magic that Dorull was teaching them. The spells were not terribly complex themselves but required a large amount of power and an intimate understanding of the anatomy being healed.

  Healing cuts was the least difficult as it mostly involved causing severed skin and muscle to rejoin. Simple fractures were similarly straightforward. Eril was immediately more adept than Zeldar because his zdrell sight allowed him to perceive not only the surface of things but what lay beneath as well.

  Fixing shattered bone, joints, or internal organs was complicated, as visualizing how the affected item should look when healed was difficult without knowing what they looked like before they were injured. Eril quickly found that if he had an uninjured soldier stand next to his patient, he could use the hale man as a reference in healing the other.

  Zeldar was very good with simple cuts but growled in frustration as he tried to heal more complex injuries. Eril attempted to help him, but since the older wizard could not perceive things the same way Eril could, his efforts left them both frustrated.

  After the noon meal, Eril spent his time studying the gate manual. The amount of material contained in it was truly astounding and Eril came to a much larger appreciation of just how much knowledge had been lost when the zdrell masters were killed. He hoped that somewhere there were other archives of the sort represented by the manual, as he was becoming more convinced that the work and knowledge of a zdrell master was much greater than he’d ever imagined.

  His studies in the manual made him much more confident in the operation of the gate. Since it retained the energy stored when it wasn’t being used. Eril was easily able to open and close the gate to Salaways by himself. He also discovered that he should be able to close and open the gate from the Salaways side, as long as none of the settings on this side were disturbed.

  The more he studied, the more he wanted to go and find out what happened to the primary gates. He traveled by gate back to Salaways and discussed the matter with Master Silurian. He too was anxious to discover if the primary gates could be repaired and the gate system restored across the continent.

  At the end of his trip to consult with Silurian, Eril was confronted by a very angry Biruell.

  “How could you leave me like that?” the boy demanded.

  “Well, Biruell, you weren’t there when we needed to leave.”

  “But you could have found me. It’s not like this is that big of a castle,” he whined.

  “Biruell, I’m sorry we didn’t talk before, but both Master Dorell and Master Silurian think you are much better off here with the apprentices, rather than causing mischief at Castle Kord.”

  “I don’t cause mischief, much.”

  “Seriously, you’ve been here for three days. Hasn’t it been much more to your liking here?”

  The boy stared at the ground and scuffed his foot. “Yeah. Sort of. But here I’m nobody special. There are lots of guys here, but they’re no soldiers. And they want me to take classes and stuff.”

  “That’s right,” Eril said, crouching down by the boy, “that’s just what you need. That’s why you should be here. You need to learn and find a trade. We can’t give you that back at Castle Kord. They just aren’t set up for apprentices like they are here. Have you made any friends yet?”

  “A few, maybe. I think they mostly want to talk to me because I’ve been around you so much. The apprentices here all know about you and think you’re someone really special. I mean, I know you’re a zdrell wizard and all, but you’re not scary like Dorull or Master Silurian. He’s been nice to me, but he is scary.”

  Eril laughed. “I know, I felt the same way for a long time, but you’ll get used to him. He is very stern-looking, but he is a good man. So, you are going to need to stay here.”

  “But I could go with you . . . “

  “No, Biruell, you need to be safe and learn. I have lots to learn myself, and then I’ll be traveling all over. I’m sorry, but you’re just going to have to get used to it here.”

  Biruell wouldn’t look at Eril. His face was red, and silent tears ran down his cheeks. Eril found himself hugging the boy who hugged back fiercely. “But I don’t want you to go, Eril. It’s not fair.”

  Eril pushed back from the hug gently and held the boy’s thin shoulders. “You know, Biruell, I had a similar conversation with Master Dorull just the other day. It isn’t fair. But sometimes that’s just how things are. I didn’t ask for anyone to make me a zdrell wizard, and I certainly didn’t want to have all the demon masters in the world after me, but that’s just the way it is, and I need to accept it, and so do you.”

  He stood up and looked down at the quietly sobbing boy. “There is one thing I can do for you. Master Dorull has been teaching me some new healing magic. How would you like to have your legs healed like they were before . . . before, you know.”

  “Before that demon wizard tried to kill me?”

  “Yeah, like before that.”

  “You can do that? Really get rid of my limp and everything?”

  “I’m not completely sure I can make them just like they were before, but I can sure try.”

  “Ok, then if you fix my legs, I’ll forgive you for leaving me here.”

  Eril smiled at the boy’s logic. “Alright, we have a deal then. Come over here, and I’ll see what we can do.”

  He had him take off his trousers and then put the boy up on a table with his legs out straight. Eril started first with the nearly healthy leg. He focused on the minor remaining muscle damage and long scars. After several minutes, the leg appeared as if it had never been damaged.

  He stood the boy back up and asked, “How does that leg feel now?”

  “It feels good, but it was mostly okay anyhow. Why did you do it, that’s not the one that makes me limp?”

  “I know, Biruell. It’s the way the magic works. It’s lots easier to heal something if I have something healthy to compare it to. If you’re ready, we can start on the other one, but I’ll warn you, it is probably going to hurt a lot. I’m going to have to make the muscles move around and regrow the way they should be, it’s not simple like what I just did.”

  “That’s okay,” the boy looked up at him, unshed tears making his eyes bright. “I can take it, if it makes my leg better. I’m tough.”

  “Yes, Biruell, yes you are. okay, let’s get started. I may not be able to do it in one go, I’ll try to cause as little pain as I c
an.”

  Once again, he lifted the young boy up onto the table. He focused his vision on both of the legs, comparing the whole to the injured one. He wanted to make sure he knew what he had to shift and modify to get the repair done right the first time.

  Taking a deep breath, he began. Biruell cried out in pain as he set the magic to remove the scarring and various adhesions which had formed in the leg.

  “Please stop,” Biruell whined. “It hurts so bad.”

  “I’m sorry, buddy, I really am, but I have to do this if you want to get rid of that limp.”

  The young boy cried out in greater agony. “Stop, stop, I don’t care about the limp.”

  “Just hang in there, Biruell, we’re almost there,” Eril said as he used the magic to clear the last of the adhesions.

  The boy sobbed but said no more and Eril applied more of the magic to re-growing the muscle fibers. Eril knew from experience with the soldiers that this would feel like his leg was on fire, but he worked as quickly as the boy’s body would allow.

  At some point, Biruell slumped, having lost consciousness. After that, Eril breathed easier as he didn’t have to try and heal while keeping the pain down. There was extensive damage, many times Eril had to re-grow whole strands of muscle from foot to thigh.

  After another hour, he was done. Looking down at the young boy’s legs, they both looked smooth and scar-free as one would expect from a boy that age. Eril was exhausted. This was more strenuous work than he had done with the healing magic before. He was reasonably certain that Dorull would have said he wasn’t ready to do something this complex yet, but Eril was used to exceeding his instructor’s expectations.

  He sat back and rested for a moment. He’d drawn heavily from his power ring during the healing and now used it in conjunction with the Master ring to restore his energy. He knew that this was less than wise, but he made sure to spend time with both rings off, though he’d done so less since beginning work on the gate, and all that came after.

  Feeling refreshed, he gently shook Biruell awake. “Wake up, buddy, how do you feel?”