The Callindra Chronicles Book One - First Quest (7 page)

“
The challenge is accepted,
until one of us is dead, whether it be man or weapon. Sakar severs
the life of man or blade with equal contempt.”

Sain hesitated for a moment as if the idea of
risking his sword had not occurred to him. In that moment, Glarian
lashed out with all the force he could muster, striking his
opponent’s sword at the precise spot he had already weakened. The
scimitar Kha’darn exploded into fragments of steel.

Without so much as admitting defeat, Sain
fled into the trees. Glarian picked up the discarded sword hilt and
brought it inside the house with him. Entering through the lean-to
he hung it next to the first clay token of challenge. The first
trophy of many.

He opened the spigot over the bath, gravity
filling the large copper tub that sat next to the fire. The fire
was low, but Callindra had split enough wood to get it going again.
In a few minutes the water was hot and he was soaking comfortably
in it when he heard Callindra return. It looked as though she had
bathed in the cold water of the stream instead of waiting for a hot
bath.

She paused in the doorway to her bedroom,
“Master, I’m sorry. I know I’m weak but I will get stronger. I will
become worthy of your training.”

“
I know you will Disciple. I
won’t allow you to fail.” He said, unable to keep the approval from
his voice. He saw the smile on her face as she turned and knew she
understood. He would not allow her to fail.

Chapter 7

Glarian led the way downstream to a grove of
oak trees that stood evenly spaced about a meadow. The trees were
huge, their limbs spreading to cover several spans. Callindra could
hear the stream still, but knew it was a little way off. She set
the cloth wrapped bundle that contained her lunch and water skin in
the shade next to one of the trees.

“
So what is the training
today?” She asked, hoping for more sparring. Glarian had been
testing her skills lately with what he called the direct method.
Even though she had bruises and cuts covering her arms and legs
from the last couple of days, it was exhilarating.

“
I have completed my
assessment of your strengths and weaknesses and have designed this
training course for you. It will strengthen your arms and shoulders
while at the same time improving your blade control.” He gestured
to logs lashed to the tree trunks, many with wedges of wood behind
them, holding them at odd angles.

“
You must cut through these
logs using this axe.” He handed her an axe with a strangely shaped
handle, “Your methods are your own but with one stipulation. The
bark of the tree underneath must be untouched. Come find me when
you have finished.”

He walked back upstream, leaving Callindra to
survey the work ahead of her. The sun was barely above the horizon
but it was already hot. She stripped to her chest wrap and attacked
the first log with vigor.

Cutting through the first part of the log was
no problem, despite the shock of the axe impacting the solidness of
the wood. She ran into trouble when the log was nearly cut through.
It was so difficult to ensure the last cut did not carry through
into the trunk of the tree that it took more time to sever the last
inch than it had the first ten.

The sun was high in the sky by the time she
had finished just the first two of the eight logs she was assigned
to cut. Callindra took her lunch and headed for the welcoming
chatter of the stream. Her body was soaked with sweat; it would
feel wonderful to cool off in the water before eating.

She was in luck; there was a large pool of
water with a wide flat rock stretching out into it. After carefully
sinking the axe into a large log of driftwood and hanging her sword
high and dry from it she shed the remains of her clothes and leaped
into the water with a gleeful yell.

The water was cold, but it felt wonderful
after sweating under the sun all morning. She dove under and held
onto a large rock; looking back up towards the sky through the
clear water. A strange flash and swirl of light caused her to
quickly surface and when she did she saw a young man standing at
the edge of the stream.

“
Good morrow lass, I
apologize for interrupting your swim.” He was a good enough looking
man, dressed all in rather garish red leather armor with a pair of
steel tipped whips at his belt.

“
Not at all.” Callindra
replied, doing her best to walk unabashedly from the water. In
books she’d read, men and women often bathed together when they
were soldiers, she didn’t want to appear prudish.

“
Perhaps you could help me
out. I’m looking for a powerful mage who lives in the area.” He
said, not seeming at all interested in her nudity.

Callindra walked to where her clothes were
sitting and tugged on her underbreeches, trying not to look
hurried. While she wrapped her chest, she answered him. “I’m
Callindra. I don’t know of any mages around here at all, let alone
powerful ones. I’ve only been in the area for a year and a half
though. Why don’t you join me for a midday meal and tell me about
yourself and what brings you here.”

“
Gladly, I have been walking
for six hours now.” He sat on the rock and watched Callindra set
out bread, apples, cheese and cuts of cold venison. “My name is
Daleus, and I have been teaching myself to use a blend of weapons
and magic now for five years.”

Callindra glanced involuntarily toward the
place she had stashed her sword. “Magic? Why would you try to learn
to use magic?”

“
Magic is power and I need
to become stronger in order to accomplish my goals.” He said, not
noticing the fear and mistrust in her voice, “Now that I have
mastered the whip I seek to challenge a Titled mage. If I can just
find him I know I can take that Title from him but instead of
claiming it as my own I will turn it in to The Order in exchange
for admittance to their school. Then there will be nothing that can
stop me.”

She forced herself to be calm and cut a slice
of cheese with her belt knife. “Why would you need to go to a
school if you have mastered your weapon of choice? If you have the
skill to defeat a mage with a Title what more do you have to
learn?”

Daleus laughed, “This Titled mage is old, it
won’t be a completely fair fight but the fool has recently put up
his Challenge talismans. What I might lack in skill I can make up
for with youth and endurance.” He jumped up, forgetting the food
set out before him.

“
I’ll show you how much I
have learned on my own, imagine what I could do if I had Masters to
learn from!” He unlimbered his whips and began moving through the
steps of what she realized was a Korumn. Halfway through, she could
see something happen to his weapons. She looked closer, there were
tiny glowing threads wrapping around the braided leather, all the
way down to the steel tips. When the threads reached the ends,
bursts of flame exploded from them every time they cracked. By the
end of the Korumn Daleus was surrounded by a roaring wall of
fire.

Callindra was terrified, but fascinated at
the same time. To calm herself, she used the breathing exercises
Glarian had taught her. Something about him seemed so familiar, but
she was positive they had never met before. Her back bumped up
against the driftwood that her sword rested behind, she realized
she had retreated to the protection of her weapon by instinct.

Daleus turned towards her, stepping over the
guttering flames with a smile on his face. “Little rabbit, I
apologize. It was not my intention to frighten you. To be honest I
am a bit nervous about facing a Master and I wanted to at least
show someone what I was capable of before the moment of truth. I
mean no harm to a young girl who has offered me a meal, what threat
could a woodcutter’s daughter be?”

In spite of her fear, his dismissiveness
tweaked Callindra's pride. “I may not be a threat but that is only
because I choose not to be.” She reached behind the tree trunk and
retrieved her baldric, “But I am also no woodcutter’s
daughter.”

He gave her an appraising look, and his eyes
widened slightly. “No wonder I walked straight to this place. I can
tell you don’t know it yet but you have an affinity with the Weave
Callindra.” Daleus said, coiling his whips and sitting next to the
meal she had laid out.

She approached cautiously, “Me? You must be
joking, I’m a sword fighter, not a magician.”

“
You may be both. After all,
I can only command the power through my whips. Without them I’m as
mundane as anyone, but I can still feel it. I can still see it.” He
helped himself to bread, cheese and venison, “It sparks all around
you Callindra. You positively glow with it.”

“
I’ll take your word for it
Daleus.” She edged up to the rock and sat across from him, setting
her scabbarded sword next to her. If he had wanted to harm her he
would probably have done it but magic was dangerous and
unpredictable, he might kill her by accident.

“
You’ve got grit Callindra,
I’ll give you that.” He said with a grin, “Most girls would have
run at the sight of a strange man, never mind my little flame
show.”

She grunted around a mouthful of food and
swallowed before answering, “I’m obviously not like most
girls.”

While they ate, she asked him about the rest
of the world. He spoke of a king she had only read about, lords who
she did not know and his travels across the realm. Although he
seemed young it was clear he had seen many strange and fantastic
things in his travels. Callindra nibbled on an apple core, not
wanting him to stop talking but she knew there were many more logs
to cut before the day was out.

Daleus seemed to have a similar realization,
because he stood and brushed the crumbs off his armor. “I had best
be on my way Callindra. I thank you for the meal and the
conversation. Perhaps we will meet again someday. Train hard.”

“
Good luck finding your mage
Daleus. Thanks for talking with me; I’ve spent over a year with
only that damn old man for company.” She said and grasped his
forearm in a swordsman’s handshake. He returned her clasp and left
without a backward glance.

-

Callindra sighed and buckled her sword on.
The walk back to the trees was short and she was soon cutting
through another log. To her surprise it was much easier to make the
precise final cut without scoring the tree trunk underneath. Even
so, the sun was falling behind the hills before she had
finished.

Her triumph over the task gave her a burst of
energy and she ran back to the house to tell Glarian. When she
approached, she found him hanging something in the lean-to.

“
Master!” She called and he
whirled, his sword seeming to appear in his hand. Without thinking
she had drawn her sword and moved to parry a blow but he stopped
before their blades could touch. She could see he was hanging a
pair of whip handles next to an array of sword hilts none of which
had more than six inches of blade left on them.

“
Sorry Callindra, it has
been an interesting day.” His voice sounded tired. He sheathed his
sword, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the broken
weapons.

“
It’s you! You’re the great
mage he was looking for?” She still held her sword in her clenched
fist. “He came to take your Title but you killed him
instead.”

“
You’re partially right
Apprentice. I am the Titled mage he sought and he came to take that
Title from me. As you can see though, I do not take the lives those
who come to challenge me. I instead kill their weapons and send
them on their way.”

“
Why did you keep this from
me?” Callindra backed away and a gust of wind cut between them,
actually scoring the ground. Her eyes widened in fear and dust
began to whirl about her. The wind tugged at her hair, moved the
scabbard over her shoulder and ruffled her shirt. “What are you
doing this for?”

“
Ssshhhh, quiet now.”
Glarian’s voice was low and the winds calmed themselves. She could
see him through the dust now; he was sitting cross legged on the
ground. “Callindra, control yourself. What you’re doing is
dangerous, the winds are my domain but as with everything else in
my life you seem to turn it on its head.”

She still held her sword, but Callindra
managed to get her breathing under control using the exercise he
had taught her. As with Daleus, she had to believe that if he was
going to harm her he would have done it long before. She sat a few
feet away from him and laid her sword across her knees, mirroring
him.

“
What is your Title then
Master?” She asked, hoping it would help her to better
understand.

“
I am The Master of the
North Wind.” He replied, and Callindra gasped. She had read about
him. Nobody knew his real name; he was a master of Masters, had
fought in countless battles and defeated a multitude of opponents.
Then one day he had simply vanished, taking his Title with him and
leaving the balance of the Compass of the Winds off
kilter.

“
What are you doing out
here? Why did you leave The Order? What is someone like you doing
teaching someone like me?” She was trying to make sense of it all
but the idea that he might not be telling the truth never crossed
her mind.

“
I have been exiled. I had a
… disagreement … with the other Masters about how and when our
power should be used so they attempted to strip me of my Title.
When that failed, they did the only other thing they
could.”