Spellscribed: Conviction (40 page)

“What changed?” Valzoa asked.

Her face was passive, but a spark glimmered in her eyes. “I became interested. After centuries, this is a chance to see, firsthand, how much potential the humans have. This one, even half human, has managed to accomplish so much since the day you first saw him two years ago.”

“He’s also gotten stronger.” Valzoa replied. “His aura is an order of magnitude greater than when I first met him.”

“His power is explained by his Mercanian blood.” The matron dismissed. “But the growth he’s shown in using it… I want to see if even I can mold it.”

“Considering who he came from, I think that only you could have a chance to do it.” Valzoa admitted. “Thank you.”

“Thank Jalyin, should you see her again.” The matron said, putting the mask back on. “She’s taken a liking to you.”

“Well, I am quite charming, and I did manage to storm her guild hall and best the matron in single combat, just so I could find her. That must have made a good impression.” Valzoa said, glancing down as Endrance stirred. He looked up and found the matron was gone, leaving behind no trace of her disappearance.

“Huh.” Valzoa said, looking around. “She’s good.”

“Did I miss something?” Endrance groaned, rubbing his forehead as he sat up. His clothes and gear spilled across the floor in front of him, and the mage woodenly grabbed at his bracers before they rolled away.

“No. I just arrived.” Valzoa replied. “What are you doing naked?”

“Don’t ask.” Endrance stated. “It’s embarrassing enough as it is.”

“Oh?”

“Just spent hours getting my ass kicked.” Endrance grumbled, clasping the bracers on and sighing with the familiar contact. He dragged his shirt onto his lap and tried to figure out what angle to pull it on from.

“Assassins tend to win though, and most specifically excel at escaping retribution.” Valzoa advised him. “If you want to learn how to avoid messy demises, I would suggest returning here tomorrow.”

Endrance nodded, pulling on his shirt. He was starting to recover faster, and was able to get dressed and his things assembled in short order. “I will.” He said, standing.

“Are you ready to retire, or are you going to be able to see your tutor?” Valzoa asked, concerned. “You shouldn’t push so hard on your first day.”

Endrance shook his head. “I’m fine.” He protested.

“Are you sure?” The elf asked.

Endrance looked him in the eye, and Valzoa could see the determination in his gaze. “Bring it on.” Endrance said with certainty.

* * *

Their life magic trainer met them in a small garden grove in an otherwise populated area of the city; a small, uneven circle at most twenty feet across filled with grass. Along the northeastern curve, a small branch of a nearby stream flowed, and flowers rimmed the western and southern curves. A few smaller trees rose outside the garden, the largest being only a foot thick and ten feet tall, with white bark and yellowish waxy leaves.

The elf was a beautiful male Suo’hdi, with long flowing brown hair, and blue eyes that gleamed with an inner light. He had fair skin and angular features that seemed universally attractive. Endrance blinked the first few times, staring.

“Is there a problem?” The trainer asked, looking honestly surprised.

“You’re very… pretty.” Endrance stated, confused.

The male nodded, smiling. “Flatterer.” He replied.

“No, I’m sorry. I just… I’ve had that problem my whole life.” Endrance replied.

“Problem?”

“You know, people confusing you for a… girl?” Endrance felt both relieved and awkward talking about a problem they had in common.

The male actually seemed perplexed. “I have had no problems.” He said. “It seems that perhaps Ironsoul has impressed upon you some unnecessary expectations of individual genders.”

Endrance tried to think through it. “Well, Ironsoul’s people tend to have their men doing many of the more dangerous tasks, while our women… you know what? I’ve seen three other cultures now, and the only one that comes close to how Ironsoul does it, is the wolfmen, and even they don’t make as much of a deal of it as Ironsoul does.”

“So you think what about that?” the trainer asked.

Endrance started feeling a little bit childish now, considering why it bothered him. “I guess that I disliked being confused for a girl because my people always thought differently about them than boys. But the more I go elsewhere in the world, I see that it was an impression that remained in Ironsoul. I guess I don’t need to worry about it as much?”

“It seems that you’re capable of learning.” The male replied, gesturing to the clearing floor. A small sapling sprouted directly behind him, forming a seat out of living plants. He sat, nodding to the mage. “Please, have a seat.”

Endrance could not create such a thing, and sat upon the grass.

“I am told I have only nine months to expose you to life magic.” The elven mage stated. “I will do my best, but I warn you that the way we elves learn is different than humans, or Mercanians.”

“I understand… sir?” Endrance said, realizing he’d never even gotten the elf’s name.

“You may call me Fatima.” The elf said plainly. “Or Master Fatima.”

“Thank you, Master Fatima.” Endrance said, bowing his head. “How do the elves learn magic?”

“This is the first lesson, and yet it is also the most critical. For if you cannot learn it, we cannot continue.” Fatima began. “The elves are naturally inclined to varying elements, but not bound to them. This was not always true. We once were bound to an element much more powerfully, until several millennia ago our progenitors, Suo’hdi and Sha’hdi, strove to break free of our bounds.”

“Suo’hdi and Sha’hdi broke not just our connection to the five elements, but also from the nation of elves who refused to change like us. We left, taking our land with us, until we arrived here many centuries ago. We have been free to grow and explore our newfound freedom of magic.”

Endrance raised a hand to get his attention. “Excuse me.” He said. “I have a question.”

“Of course.”

Endrance thought for a moment before he continued. “I have seen that you have elemental power, but then, you also have something that seems entirely different from the classic elements. I have seen the Sha’hdi use shadow magic to a degree that couldn’t be a blend of classical elements.”

“True.” Fatima replied. “The elves aligned to the moons had discovered they could command shadows. The moons have bright and dark phases, and the Sha’hdi have the same nature. Some are born inherently bright, and others inherently dark, but all can play with shadows. The Suo’hdi, and I suspect any other kind of mage, are incapable of interacting with darkness the way they do.”

“So…” Endrance reasoned. “What did the Suo’hdi get?”

Fatima shrugged with one shoulder as he leaned back, the motion seeming incredibly natural. “We have no special connection with light, if that’s what you’re thinking. Instead, our heads are in the clouds, so to speak.”

“What?” Endrance asked, confused.

Fatima gestured up at the suns. “We have a strong connection to the suns. It is more subtle than shadow play, and it isn’t something that can be trained like shadow play can. However, those who do go on a journey of self-exploration will find they can see clearer in dim conditions; reinforce light magic so that it cannot be quenched by darkness, and even draw sustenance from the sun’s rays like plants do. A few of us can even cast our vision into the sky, viewing the world around us from the sun’s perspective.”

“That’s amazing.” Endrance said. “I can see how it’s hard to train, though.”

“And that brings us back to our problem.” Fatima stated. “There is a disparity in our teaching methods.”

“How?” Endrance asked.

“Teaching magic is a very personal thing, isn’t it?” Fatima asked. “Your way of learning it would work for humans, who have no natural magical ability. Since you, by nature, have no magical structure, you can build from the foundation on up.”

“But since the elves are inherently magical, they can’t?” Endrance asked.

“Correct.” Fatima nodded. “We have to explore our foundation, find our limits, and then we begin to learn to improve our connection to the elements of our choice. It’s almost all an internal, personal journey.”

Endrance sighed. “So it would be like trying to explain color to the blind.”

“Quite an adept summation.”

“So what do we do?” Endrance asked. “Do you not have any documentation, written works on life magic?”

“No.” Fatima responded. “Nor do I have the luxury of dying and allowing your Mercanian nature learn from my life experiences.”

Endrance felt a small chill down his back. “I had no intention.” He protested.

Fatima held up a hand to placate him. “Calm yourself.” He said. “I jest. Your abilities as a Mercanian are remembered quite well.”

“So did you fight them?” Endrance asked. “Can you tell me what they were like?”

Fatima shook his head. “I was born during the shattering after their fall, hundreds of years ago. But I have seen the reports, heard the accounts. I can tell you that they were a terrible, malicious people.”

Endrance was silent. He had hoped that there was some kind of redeeming quality to the species that contributed to his existence, but every side of Ironsoul had record of how horrible they were. “What did they do?” he finally asked,

“The Mercanians were similar to we elves in that they were encompassed by a force, but unlike the natural five elements, they were aligned by pure arcane power. They were superior magic users, and they knew it. I have heard my mother speak of the armies of slaves they poured like a waterfall upon our lands.”

Endrance remembered the wolfman’s memories, where he had seen a whole company of men enslaved to march before their Mercanian leader. “They enslaved many of my people.” Endrance observed.

Fatima shook his head. “That’s…not entirely correct.”

“What?”

“They didn’t enslave some or most of your people. They had enslaved them all.” The elf explained. “We’d never seen a free human until the shattering. In fact, some of our elders have said that the Mercanian’s had either brought you from another land to serve, or had created you.”

Endrance blinked, trying to reconcile what he had just heard. “That’s… that sounds pretty crazy, Fatima.” Endrance stated defensively.

Fatima nodded. “Like I said, some of our elders said that. I suspect it was an attempt to assuage their guilt for killing so many of them during the war. The Mercanians never showed any ability with life magic, nor was it any more effective against them than any other element, so I would think that they didn’t have the particular skill set to create life itself, without someone to show them how.”

“That is also pretty horrible.” Endrance observed. “Can an entire race of people be so reprehensible?”

Fatima shrugged. “Morality is a matter of perspective. Many human moralities seem strange to us. Many things we consider morally correct seem alien to you. How was learning about the barbarian culture in Balator?”

“Much the same, I guess.” Endrance said. “At first, I couldn’t understand why they thought it was right to do certain things, or how two warriors could be fighting each other on the battlefield, but survive to share drinks the next night like friends.”

“There you have it.” Fatima said. “Perspective.”

“All right.” Endrance said. “We can talk more about this as time passes, so can I try to learn from you now?”

Fatima smiled gently. “Of course.” He said. “I’ll begin as I would teaching a child about their magic, and see if you can draw any correlations that way.”

“Thank you.” Endrance responded. “Will we be able to talk about the Grandstaff too?”

“In time, yes.” Fatima answered. “Now, when you look deep within yourself, really take the time to, you can feel the spark of life within you. Can you feel it?”

Endrance closed his eyes and concentrated. It was going to be a long several months, but so long as nothing outside of their planned events happened, he would be the safest he had ever been. He put his heart into following his instructor’s teachings and hoped that his companions were doing equally well.

* * *

Endrance returned home that night, having struggled to touch the spark of life for hours. He had been assured that it was no surprise that it hadn’t come to him easily; he had an entire formal education and his half Mercanian nature working against him. He had always considered the arcane education to be something akin to opening the door to understanding magic, and yet it seemed that the door was not entirely open yet.

He came to his bedroom and found the door was open a hair, the latch unengaged. He tensed, not entirely sure who would be in there. He cautiously opened the door, letting it swing up on its own while he peeked past the door frame.

Selene sat on the foot of the bed, chatting with Tanya and Bridget. Endrance checked his initial impulse to walk in immediately. He remained half crouched by the door and listened.

“So you managed to out-shoot an elven archer?” Bridget asked. “Damn.”

“Just in range.” Tanya replied, plopping onto the bed. “They could run circles around me in speed and accuracy. What did you do all day?”