With crystallized breath the children gathered in the courtyard shade. Before the sun rose, and before the first meal, they gathered in the morning. As they would do every morning. The young students would enter regimented formations, based on how advanced their classes. The students would receive their schedule, and the day would continue.
Syndra felt restricted. She tugged at her robes, they were too tight. She had recently grown, and in an awkward display she had torn the seams of her flank while working in the kitchen. Until she could receive new ones, she would simply bear with it.
The robes were made loose as to allow for smooth, unrestricted movement. This was little comfort against the pinch of robes too small. They had stood since before dawn, yet the sky had shifted in colour, promising reprieve from cold and boredom. She shifted her weight to her other leg, and tugged at the armholes of her under-shirt.
“…Syndra and Yatta”
She straightened herself and looked forward. Konigen had spoken her name. In a moment of confusion she looked toward the other pupil mentioned, yet he remained stoic and focused. If he was as bored as she, he hid it better. They stood a few more minutes, before her group was dismissed. She followed the vastaya Yatta and a few others. She liked Yatta, but he was too aggressive for Syndra’s liking. He kept prodding beyond when Syndra had had enough. The pupils trudged around the temple to the garden, cautiously she followed, trying to guess which part of the garden she had been assigned to.
Yatta was fine to work with as long as the work itself was physical to keep him preoccupied. He got to work, weeding the fireweed from the shimmerberry bushes. It felt weird tending the garden, she always wondered what the weeds might provide, if they were planted separately. Nevertheless, she tended to the embertree planted in the middle of the lot. Its branches and roots covering the bushes and providing them the climate and nutrients they needed in the mountainous terrain. It was a dangerous plant, that could easily start fires and dry out other plants, if not controlled. Fetched the shears and ladder from the toolshed nearby.
As the sun shifted in the sky Konigen wandered through the garden. He approached them, as Yatta was gathering shimmer-berries. Syndra had crawled into the tree, and wormed her way across the branches with a set of oversized shears. She pruned the various branches, and tossed them into a cast-iron pot, resting on the ground.
“Syndra, walk with me”
Syndra looked down at him, confused. Twisting her body, hanging from her arms. She let go, falling the remaining distance, catching herself against the soft ground. The two of them walked across the temple and descended the steps down the dark-stone cliffside temple. The cool breeze freshened Syndra, felt nice as her clothing had become somewhat clammy. Her feet feeling the heat of the rocks through her sandals.
The pair exited the temple grounds, and scaled the steps down the cliffs in silence. Once fully out of earshot of the temple itself, Konigen spoke.
“I hope you’ve liked your time here.” His eyes were still locked on the steps he took.
Without hesitation she answered.
“It’s better than anywhere I’ve ever lived before. The food is good, the place is safe. I trust the people and they trust me”
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“Sounds like you’re acclimating fine to temple life then?”
Syndra chewed a little on those words and considered for a moment.
“I think so. There’s a lot I don’t like, but balance requires compromise”. She steeled her speech trying to voice her determination. Konigen concealed a smile. She didn’t understand, but at least she knew.
“Good. Because you have a lot to learn, and I think this might be the right place for you.”
They scaled the remaining steps in silence.
He stopped, the edge of the road leading to the harbor in front of them, separated by the carved darkened cliff, and the dirt she had arrived on some months prior.
“You have considerable power and I have deemed it necessary that you should learn to understand and control these, before I can let you leave”.
“Well. I don’t want to leave. This is where I can learn” Syndra beamed back at him.
“Syndra, you need to understand. You must obtain a high level of mastery. You are special, yet your powers chaotic. You must be ready, you may leave, if only to spread teachings. You simply have too much for any one person to control. Especially one as young as you.”
His hand shielded his eyes from the sun as his eyes travelled the path out and towards the village. Konigen went silent, trying to judge her pupil and give her time comprehend the weight of his words. She followed his sight, along the paths. When it seemed like her mind had settled he continued.
“You may not be sovereign of your own destiny. The power you wield intuitively takes masters lifetimes to command. You will be a prisoner in your own skin and this you must accept.”
With the gravity only words can hold, the girl stood. She stared through brushwood, trying to pierce the world that was concealed beyond, while processing this information.
Finally, she looked back upon her master
“I get it. If I can’t control myself, people get hurt.”
“The amount of potential you possess is a load heavy with responsibility. And once you have mastered it, it will be a great tool for future generations of mages. What we can learn from your mastery will grant much wisdom for ages to come. Many will seek to misuse you, for your powers. Which would be detrimental not only to the people of Ionia, but the very land itself.”
Syndra placed at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the temple and lowered her stare once more to the winding path. Never had the outside world felt so far. Run a sudden instinct told her to run as far away as possible, flee the prison. She held firm, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Konigen sat beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. The comfort greater than any she had received from her family. There they sat, looking down the hill towards the freedom neither of them would have. The freedom to decide where their life would take them. There they sat in a young day’s rays. The warmth a comfort against the call of causality.
Looking back up at the temple, she took a deep, ragged breath, and brought herself under control. She stood with squared shoulders. Turning her back to the trail leading downhill, and moved up the winding path to her fate, leaving her master behind. Her decision was made, though the result pain them both.