Exile (6 page)

“Focus!” Piers snapped, gripping the back of Aless’s arm and flipping him over his shoulder, slamming Aless into the ground and blackening his wrist. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Piers yelled, conjuring more fire.

Aless stood up once again. Piers sighed, stepping back and relinquishing his fire skin, sealing Corona fully inside him. “Just stop, Aless,” Piers called out, tightening his restraints until his eye color returned to normal.

Aless sighed, sending his water skin into the ground and following suit, stepping back and huffing for breath. “Good spar,” he offered, offering his hand.

The crowd applauded, beginning to disperse. Piers grabbed Aless’s hand, shaking it roughly. “Corona be damned, it was!” he cursed. “It’s dangerous to fight when you’re so distracted! If you can’t keep a clear head you should have refused!”

“I’m sorry,” Aless apologized, panting.

“Damn it, Aless. You’re going to be scarred for months,” Piers stated, examining the cuts Aless caused. When he compared them to Aless’s burns they were benign.

“I’ll heal. Serac can help next time I pray to him,” he answered, finally feeling the severity of his injuries. Even before Aless had been exiled, Piers had always left painful wounds. The trick to beating him was always dodging, avoiding hits regardless of circumstance. “I should’ve called it off earlier,” Aless admitted, glancing back at Corin and Selena.

Piers sighed, leaning back against one of the training pews. “Do you want me to distract her?” he offered, gesturing toward Selena.

“Why?” Aless asked, turning back toward Piers.

“Look,” he began, “it’s pretty obvious to me you’re not gonna be satisfied until you have some more time with the kid. You say the word, I’ll distract Selena for a few hours. You’ll be free to do what you please.”

“You could do that?” Aless asked.

“Sure,” Piers replied. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed yet, but annoying Lena is a ton of fun. At least for me it is.”

“You do seem to take some pleasure in riling her up,” Aless replied. “If you’re willing, I promise I’ll make the best of my time.”

“I’m sure you will,” Piers answered. “What do you want with Corin, anyways?”

“I think,” Aless replied, “that with raw mana like that, I would like to take him on as my apprentice. I can’t do a worse job than anyone else, and I’d like a fair shot.”

“Works for me,” Piers said, sauntering over to the two training, not bothering to clothe himself. He couldn’t make out what they were saying for a while, until suddenly the bottom of Selena’s dress caught on fire, eliciting an ear-piercing scream.

“Why would you do this, you idiot?” Selena screeched, desperately trying to put out the fire with no success. “You fool! Why would you do this? What made you think this was a good idea? You moron!”

“Aww, but you’re so cute when you’re mad!” Piers yelled, almost matching her volume. “Besides, your legs look far nicer like this!”

There was a bit more shouting, mainly filled with Piers laughing and Selena screaming.

“Corin! You stay out here and practice while I get changed!” she shouted, storming back into the main temple. Piers trailed closely behind, offering obscene comments in response.

Aless laughed. Well, he’d give Piers some credit—it had taken him under a minute to get Selena to storm away from the grounds altogether. If it were anything to go off of, Piers would manage to annoy her for the remainder of the afternoon. He felt a tinge of sympathy for the girl, having been on the receiving end of Piers’s antics many times in the past.

He gave a quick look toward his pile of nicely folded clothing, debating whether or not to redress himself before approaching Corin, who had a small, adorable smile on his face. If he was going to impress Corin, he might as well put his best foot forward. Besides, he was still overheated from his fight earlier, and was already dreading having to wear more than his pants.

He sighed, rolling back his shoulders and approaching Corin’s training area.

Chapter 6

C
ORIN
smiled from his training pew, watching Piers practically chase Master Selena back into the monastery. If he had to choose a guardian he favored the most, aside from Master Selena, it definitely would’ve been Piers. The man was always so friendly, and he always went out of his way to cheer up Master Selena when she got stressed and on edge.

Corin suspected that Master Selena’s feelings extended beyond pure friendship when it came to Piers. She always blushed around him, something Corin never saw her do in any other circumstance. Also, she let him get away with far more teasing than anyone else in the monastery. Corin was more than certain if he even tried half the things Piers got away with, Master Selena would make him run laps.

He placed the bottle back on the pew, attempting to focus on the task Master Selena had given him earlier. Corin respected his master, he really did, but sometimes he wished she were just a little bit less strict. He had caught a few glimpses of the spar between Master Aless and Piers earlier while walking between buildings, and he had been dying to get a closer look.

Piers and Master Aless had looked immensely graceful during their spar, and Corin wondered if Master Selena and Kateline would look the same in a similar situation. Piers’s and Aless’s bright eyes and toned bodies meshed perfectly in combat, and the steam radiating from them was beautiful. It was fire and water—the perfect opposites.

However, when Master Selena had caught him staring she had scolded him heavily, making him knock the bottle off the pew at least ten times before even letting him attempt the new technique! He frowned at this. He knew Master Selena was working in his best interests, but he had never had such a harsh guardian before her. Piers and Kateline had never forbidden him from speaking to another guardian, either.

Corin allowed his mind to flow back to Serac’s guardian. He really was a talented fighter if he was able to take Piers in hand-to-hand combat. It was an impressive feat. Corin had seen a few trainees after a duel with Piers, and they almost always looked near death.

Corin looked up at the sky. When he became stronger, perhaps he’d be granted the pleasure of sparring with one of the guardians, one on one. He sighed, feeling a slight lump in his stomach. The new technique Selena had taught him was brutal; he couldn’t get the hang of it no matter how hard he tried. She claimed it was a basic extraction of air, used to make his gusts stronger, but he couldn’t find it to extract in the first place.

“Why the long face?” Aless’s voice came, startling him out of his thoughts. Instantly Corin snapped back into his training position, pretending he hadn’t been slacking off.

Corin bit his lip. Master Selena had warned him not to talk to Aless, but he really didn’t seem like a bad man. Besides, she wasn’t around, was she? And if Piers was any indication, she’d be gone for a decent amount of time.

Corin turned to Aless and gave a small bow, feeling a blush staining his face. “Master Serac,” he greeted, finally looking up at the Water Guardian.

Nothing he could’ve done would’ve prepared him for the sight.

There stood Master Aless, shirtless, with his marks practically glowing in the sun. His chest and arms looked like they had been carved out of pure stone, he noticed, and his clan marking stood prominently around his heart. A light sheen of sweat covered him, brown, wavy hair sticking to his forehead.

“Aless will be fine, as I told you before,” Aless said, stretching and running a hand through his hair.

“I… I apologize, Aless,” he replied, averting his gaze from the attractive, tall man in front of him. He thought of Master Selena’s words once again—he just couldn’t believe the man standing in front of him was as evil as she said. “Master Selena said I was not to talk to you!” he blurted out, covering his mouth almost instantly after saying it.

Aless raised an eyebrow—a common gesture from him, Corin was beginning to notice. “Did she now?” he asked, locking eyes with Corin.

Corin could feel butterflies filling his stomach. “Y-Yes,” he answered, averting his gaze once again. “I… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t disobey her.”

Aless suddenly grabbed his arm, tugging him back to face him. “Selena isn’t here. I won’t tell if you won’t,” he said.

Corin continued staring at the ground. “What do you need of me, Master Aless?”

Aless smiled at this. Ah, this was his golden chance. “I noticed your mana in the dining hall, today. I merely wanted to get to know you, I promise,” he replied. “Walk with me?”

Corin felt like a blushing girl, but accepted despite that. Why was everyone still so interested in him? And why had Selena only told him about his force today? “Where are we going?” he asked, enjoying the warm feeling on Aless’s arm and the proximity to his muscled chest.

“Nowhere fancy, I promise,” he answered, tugging Corin along. “I’ve been meaning to pray at the Water Temple, I just haven’t had the time to do so.”

Corin’s eyes widened. “Those are very personal, aren’t they? Master Selena never lets me observe her prayers.”

“I see no harm in it. They’re obviously personal, to a certain degree, but I think they’re important to see, particularly for you.”

“Why me?” Corin asked.

“Well, you are being trained by Selena, are you not?” he asked, raising his eyebrow again. “You’re clearly in line to take Zephyr, otherwise she wouldn’t be bothering.”

“I doubt I’ll ever be strong enough to accept any of the spirits,” Corin replied.

“Why’s that?” Aless asked.

“I… I’m really not talented at any of the elemental arts,” he muttered. “I know I have this immense mana, everyone always tells me it, but I can never feel it, and I can’t use it anyways! It may as well not exist!”

“Don’t think that way,” Aless said, placing a soothing hand on his shoulder, stopping in front of the Water Temple. “Listen, you haven’t tried all of the elements, now have you?”

“I’ve been trained by Piers, Kateline, and Master Selena, and I still can barely grasp simple spells.”

“You haven’t been trained by me,” he mentioned.

“I doubt I’d be great at that, either,” Corin replied, looking at the glass door of the Water Temple. “None of the spirits resonate with me like they do with the others. I hear all the other students commenting on their connections to their spirits, but I’ve never felt that.”

Aless suddenly pulled Corin into a hug, rubbing his hand on the smaller man’s back.

Corin blinked, abruptly pulling away. “I’m sorry to trouble you with my worries, Maste—I mean, Aless.”

“It’s no trouble,” Aless replied. “I promise you. We guardians are supposed to help you with these things, you know.”

“Master Selena would punish me if she heard,” Corin said, placing his hands on his hips.

“Well, I’m not Selena, so you don’t have to worry,” he said, patting Corin’s shoulder and finally releasing his arm.

“I still shouldn’t have bothered you on your first day back.”

“I’m returning to all of my duties. My time away doesn’t matter—I’m still a guardian and I want to be seen as one,” Aless explained, approaching the door to the temple and opening it, staring straight at the circular podium in the center. “I apologize, I’m going to take a moment to make my offering.” Aless walked straight to the altar at the far end of the room, grabbing a staff off it and hopping up onto the podium.

Corin followed close behind, shutting the door behind him. Throughout his winters in the Cult of the Elements, a guardian had never welcomed him into his or her temple. The room itself was a relatively small, circular chamber. The floor was a shiny crystal, with a largestone podium in the center. The walls were covered with paintings, depicting memories and worship of Serac over the years.

Aless raised his staff to the roof, taking a moment to calm himself before swinging it around his head. The marks on his torso began glowing as he closed his eyes, allowing his prayers to take control.

Corin stared with wide eyes at the show, watching the room light up with a dark-blue glow. Aless was incredibly graceful, he noted, something that was becoming more and more evident with every step he made. His entire body seemed to be glowing in the light, and Corin saw the burns on his stomach begin to fade away, much to his amazement.

The podium below him lit up with every step, creating the symbol of their cult and lighting up the top of the room. Aless trailed his staff along the pool of water—when had water appeared?—causing rain to spill from the ceiling, drenching him and Aless.

The moisture on Aless’s skin gave it an interesting glow in the blue light, causing the marks to stand out even further. The water on the podium began rising, giving Aless a whole new platform to stand on.

Suddenly a large orb of bright-blue light began forming at the top of the room, in the center of the clan’s symbol. It eventually took a more human appearance, developing curves and a smooth face. Aless crouched down, crossing the staff over his chest and bowing on one knee.

Corin attempted to do the same, but found the sight too enthralling to move.

The spirit leaned over, running its hands over Aless, dancing around the room slightly. Rain continued pouring out of the ceiling, drenching Corin from head to toe. The entire room hummed with an ominous blue light.