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Chapter 21: Priest's Apprentice

Drayek wasn’t at home when I returned. I felt strangely grateful for his absence as I barrelled through the rickety door, breath heavy and throat screaming for some water. The large bucket we used for retrieving water from the oasis sat in the corner near the hearth. The oasis had been created by the city’s Water Mages and was located just steps away from the goddess’s temple–it was the only clean water in existence in Edrona.

I rushed over to the bucket and, disregarding how filthy my hands were, shoved them into the water with cupped palms. I then brought scoopful after scoopful to my mouth but was careful to not overdo it.

Just before my stomach began to hurt from too much water, I fell to my rear with water dripping off of my chin and just sat on the dusty floor. I still didn’t know how long I’d been gone, but the floors looked like they hadn’t been swept in at least two days, and that was usually one of my chores.

I peered into the hearth and noticed the coals still burned a dim orange, indicating it had been put out not more than an hour ago. Drayek hadn’t been gone long, but who knew when he’d return?

After a moment of respite, I stood and hobbled my way to the wooden cabinet where we stored our food. My stomach growled with excitement at the sight of two strips of dried meat and a hunk of stale bread. The food disappeared in my mouth faster than I wished, but I was so hungry.

Feeling slightly better from the ordeal of my travels, I stalked toward my cot and threw myself onto it. My aching limbs nearly groaned aloud in relief, and I felt the throbbing in my head subside as the food and water began to work their magic.

Before I knew it, I fell asleep.

***

“Rayden?”

I awoke to the soft voice, but it didn’t belong to Drayek.

I rolled over onto my back and blinked bleary eyes toward the door. “Sarina?”

Her tall, slender form slowly blurred into focus. And she looked… different. Granted, I hadn’t seen her since our Marking Ceremonies, which felt like a lifetime ago, but she was very different. She was the same beautiful Sarina, with shiny curls twisted into ropes that fell past her shoulders and dark skin glowing with healthy undertones of pink in her cheeks. But, she was dressed in a way I’d never thought I’d see.

I couldn’t miss the Priest’s clothes she wore even if I tried. The red robes cascaded down her body in elegant waves, and a gaudy ring on her right pointer finger displayed the water droplet insignia.

“Why are you dressed like Priest Kane?”

A tinge of deep red blossomed on her face. “Are you serious, Rayden? That’s all you have to say? We thought you were dead!” She clenched her fists at her sides and averted her eyes from mine. “You’ve been missing for days! Drayek and the other few Hunters that returned said you’d been left behind, and even Drayek started to lose hope for your return.”

“How long have I been gone?” I said.

“Five days.” She met my eyes, brows drawn together in distress. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

She moved to approach but hesitated, avoiding my gaze once again. I couldn’t help but take in her robes once more. She seemed to notice and raised her nose into the air.

“In answer to your question, I’m not dressed exactly like Priest Kane. I am in Priest’s Apprentice robes. I’m training to become a Water Mage like him.”

“So, you’re Sarina Kane.” Her new surname tasted strange in my mouth. “I assume you took his name as his apprentice.”

Sarina nodded. “My Tier 1 Skill is especially extraordinary when it comes to water, and Priest Kane said it could greatly benefit Edrona.”

Well, she was right. Skills with water abilities were highly valued in a place with no fresh water, save for the oasis that all the Water Mages had to work to maintain at all times. But her new apprenticeship didn’t sit right with me for some reason. I guess I had always imagined us working together as Drayek’s apprentices.

“What is your Skill?” I asked her.

She clasped her hands in front of herself and stared at her shuffling feet. “Priest Kane said I shouldn’t share it with just anyone. He says it does well to keep some things private.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Why? Do you think you have enemies in Edrona?”

Save for the annoying few, like Dorian and his cronies, Edrona was not a wealth of evil-doers.

“Besides, Sarina, I’m not just anyone!” I spat, annoyed.

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She eyed me. “I’m sorry, Rayden. My mentor is very particular.”

I scoffed. “I’ll say….”

A long, uncomfortable silence befell us. I rose from the cot and winced at the aching pain still present in my tired body.

“What are you even doing here, Sarina?”

“What do you think?”

She stormed over to me, looking down at my face over her nose, but I noticed that I wasn’t quite as short compared to her as I had been before advancing to Tier 1. And that was a welcome realization.

“I’ve been worried about you, you idiot! While Drayek has to leave for hunts or some other errand, I’ve been watching over the house for him and looking out for you–just in case you somehow survived whatever it is you encountered out there.”

She studied my face with tight lips, and we stood in awkward closeness for much too long. Then, she abruptly closed the gap by throwing her arms around my shoulders and bringing me into a suffocating embrace.

My face squashed against her chin, and her hug squeezed the air out of my lungs, but it wasn’t all bad. I hesitantly brought my arms up and around her waist and embraced her in return. She smelled of honey and a hint of fresh damp soil. It was pleasant.

After more than a few seconds ticked by, I pulled away from the hug and cleared my throat.

“Uh, thanks. For worrying about me.”

She shoved a playful fist on my shoulder and sniffed away the tears brimming her eyes. “Of course, dummy. Both Drayek and I hadn’t given up hope that you were alive out there somewhere.” She grinned teasingly. “At least, we hadn’t lost hope yet.”

“Did they try searching for me?”

Sarina nodded. “Yeah. Drayek led search teams for the first three days you were gone. They scoured that gulch your hunt had gone to and even several miles in the surrounding area for any sign of you.”

“I’m glad he didn’t give up–that you didn’t give up.”

I playfully shoved her, and we laughed with one another as if we were still the trainees we had been before our Marking Ceremonies.

“Do you know when Drayek will be back?”

She glanced over at the door. “Any minute now, actually. But hey…,” she looked me up and down, “is there something different about you? You seem slightly… bigger?”

I rolled my shoulders back and puffed out my chest. “Is it that noticeable?”

She drew in her brows and narrowed her eyes. “Just a little bit. I didn’t notice at first, but… yeah.” Sarina pointed at my biceps, then gestured her arm all over me. “You’re more toned and maybe a little taller. How did that happen so fast? I last saw you just a week ago.”

I opened my mouth to tell her–to tell her everything. I wanted to share the incredible experience and new knowledge I had about the world and myself with someone! But a wariness kindled within me as she stared at me with a tilted head and curious eyes.

My experiences in the cave weren’t exactly believable. The information I’d learned about the goddess alone, and her dastardly plan to steal essence from her people, would not go over well. For one, maybe it wasn’t best to shake the faith of everyone around me. I knew how that felt, and it wasn’t pleasant. And two, I was now a Tier 1 without a Mark. To Edronans, that was impossible.

I remembered Sarina feeling hesitant to tell me about her Tier 1 Skill, and in doing so, she followed Priest Kane’s instructions to keep her abilities private. So, why should I be willing to share everything with her? Besides, she might have told her mentor, the Priest, and I wasn’t sure I wanted him or anyone else to know of my strange origins and new abilities.

“Rayden?” She wrinkled her nose. “Are you going to answer me?”

“Oh, uh, I’ve just been working out.”

Sarina set her jaw and ran her eyes over my body once again. She didn’t believe me. I knew her well enough to see that. But she didn’t press me any further.

“I have to go,” she said. “Drayek will be back from his hunt soon, and Priest Kane wants me to rest well before I return to training tomorrow.”

Sarina pulled me into one more hug, then retreated from the hovel. I followed her outside and watched as she walked down the road leading into town, her form soon growing into a distant speck.

I craned my head up to the sky and noticed begrudgingly that it was evening again. I had slept the entire day away. But hey, I’d needed it. In fact, I felt like I could still sleep another few hours.

I made it back to my cot and nearly slumped onto it with exhaustion, falling asleep almost as quickly as I had before.

***

I could have slept another entire day away but awoke to the sound of the door creaking open once again.

“Sarina?” I grumbled, turning over in my bed and rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

But it wasn’t Sarina.

Drayek froze in the doorway. His red and silver armor clung to his sweaty body, and the leather pouch of supplies he took with him on hunts was slung over his shoulder.

We lingered in our staring match for much too long that, finally, I broke first from his intense eyes.

“So you have returned.” Drayek threw his leather sack on the table with an aggressive thud. “I almost didn’t believe Sarina when I ran into her in town.”

“Yes. I’m alive!” I tried an enthusiastic smile, but he returned the smile with another hot glare.

“I thought you were dead, boy!”

The air grew thick with tension. I rubbed the back of my neck and swallowed.

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?!” Drayek stormed over to me, red tinging his face from anger. “You disobeyed a direct order, Rayden! You went through the other door, and then you were gone.”

He drew his face back from mine and placed a palm on his forehead. “Don’t you ever do that to me again!”

We stood in silence once again, no one offering more to the conversation. I, myself, didn’t know what to say. I understood where Drayek was coming from, but I had been right; the door I went through had been my answer to the test.

“Drayek,” I finally broke the silence, “I have to tell you something.”

His dark eyes flicked up from the floor to meet my gaze. “Are you actually going to tell me what happened? And why you were missing for five days? Most gave up on you–tried to insist on me letting you go, but I couldn’t….”

His voice broke, and then, before I could comprehend what was happening, he wrapped me in a constricting hug. I froze in his embrace. He’d never hugged me before, and though it wasn’t much, the emotion that did penetrate his voice was more than he’d ever shown me.

I was touched. And a little disturbed; I’d never been hugged so much in one day. First Sarina, and now Drayek.

Drayek let go just as quickly as he had grabbed me and cleared his throat. “But yes, Rayden. You should tell me everything.”