“Keep your chin up. Back straight. I said straight. Good. Now lift your left foot. Higher than that. Good. Stay balanced thus until I return.” Master Dremos said, and turned to leave Lathan standing in an awkward position, wondering if a joke was being played on him.
“But, Flame Master Dremos! I thought you were going to show me how to fight! Why am I standing on one leg?” Lathan inquired, his cheeks beginning to flush with mild embarrassment at looking silly in front of the important people in Enalla’s retinue.
“Because I told you to and you’re doing what you’re told. Also, it’s good for practicing balance.” Dremos said matter-of-factly. “You’re not ready to fight yet. Basics first. I’ll be back in a moment. Stay like that until I get back.”
Lathan didn’t feel he was particularly struggling with balancing on one foot, in fact, he could probably do it all day. He still wondered how this was supposed to help him, but decided not to defy the Flame Master, and kept his foot raised. His mind wandered a little, and he began to imagine what powers he might be taught to use once Master Dremos had found him worthy of the knowledge. He had heard all the stories. Channelers were immensely powerful beings, and they could do almost anything that you could imagine! Old Corrin had told him a few stories over the years while his horse was getting shoes put on.
Flying through the sky, Setting fires with the mere touch of a finger! Blowing storms away, towards enemy lands! These were things Channelers did!
“Wake up.” The sudden sound of Master Dremos standing inches behind Lathan tore him from his reverie, and he wobbled violently, falling from his precarious balance onto the ground. Looking away in shame, Lathan got back to his feet and raised his foot back up as he had been instructed previously.
“That was a dirty trick… Why did you sneak up on me?” Lathan said sullenly.
“If I am going to train you, I need to know everything about you. From your reaction speeds, to your balance, to your raw strength. That was a test of your reactions, your awareness or perception, and also your balance and how well you recover it if it is lost.” Master Dremos winced, “You… didn’t do well. Your mind was not on the task at hand, and you were unaware of your surroundings. If you want to become successful as a Channeler, some of the most important things you can have are good threat detection, and focus. We will train you in these areas on our journey.”
Lathan frowned, angry for making a fool of himself. He couldn’t lose focus. If he wasn’t good enough, then maybe he wouldn’t ever get to learn how to do proper magic like in the stories! Then they’d just send him back to Crabton Port, saying it was all a mistake and he really wasn’t important after all.
“Now. The first thing we will need to do before we begin training you properly, is to find your focus element. It’s clearly not Fire, or Water. Probably isn’t Earth or Crystal either, I’d guess. So that leaves Wood, Metal, or Air, I suppose.” Master Dremos strode around to face Lathan, and in his hands he held two discs, one was made of a polished wood, the other of iron. He held the small objects out to Lathan, bidding him to take them.
“Take these one by one, and try to use them to draw the power. It should feel almost like a warmth, or a burst of energy pouring through the object into you.”
Lathan remembered the feeling he had felt when he had first touched the necklace he found on the beach, and he pulled the amulet out from under his shirt. As soon as it left contact with the skin of his chest, he felt duller, and a little tired. He put his finger over the red stone and immediately felt better. He had already gotten used to the power it had granted him, and being without it for even a moment was unpleasant.
“I think I’ve been getting the power from this, Flame Master Dremos.” Lathan held the amulet so that the Channeler could see it. The red stone glinted and shone in the sunlight, and Lathan could see that in the bright light it had different colours and striations within it. Purples and pinks banded around the berry red centre of the stone, in a mesmerising pattern. The stone was clear and bright, and if you held it up to the sun, pink and red and purple patterns would be cast from it.
“Let me see that, Lathan. Hmmm. Interesting. Are you pulling through the metal of the chain? Or the gemstone?” Dremos asked.
“I think I’m getting the power from the stone. I’d touched plenty of metal before I found this necklace. Working in Father’s forge, I mean. Then, I found this on the beach, and I just put it on without really thinking about it, and since then… I feel like this was meant for me. I feel…” Lathan grasped for the words.
“Complete?” Dremos said, “The Power feels like a one-ness. You feel it as a connection in the soul, it pours into you and warms you, it fills all the cracks in your being, and it makes you complete. Yes? I’ll bet you even forgot you were wearing that bauble, it feels so natural to you by now.”
Lathan nodded, and put the amulet back under his shirt, and feeling its familiar warmth against his chest, he smiled a little. Master Dremos opened a pouch hanging from his belt, and retrieved a third disc, a cloudy yellow gemstone. He held out the yellow gemstone disc to Lathan, who took it carefully.
The power rushed into Lathan in a torrent. His eyes widened at how strong he felt, but his knees buckled at the intensity of the flow of power into his chest and hand. He felt something akin to seasickness. His head swirled and his stomach churned and he felt its contents threatening to make an appearance. Lathan dropped the gemstone disc with a yelp, falling to the floor, where he remained, clutching his head and groaning.
“Well, that answers that, I suppose. I’m sorry, Lathan, lad. With two chunks of your element to draw from, at your level of inexperience, it was probably too much for you to handle.” Dremos fished the disc from where it had fallen in the grass and placed it back into his pouch. “We will have a bit of a break, until you feel better, and then I will test your speed before we stop for a supper, how’s that sound?”
“That sounds good, Master Dremos. Sorry for falling down…” Lathan said, failing to keep the shame from his voice.
“Nonsense, lad! Nothing to be sorry for! Everyone has limits to how much power they can draw at once without it overwhelming them. Even I do! All we can do is over time increase that limit by our repeated use of it and practice with drawing more, little by little. Eventually we can touch huge amounts of our element without drawing from it instinctively. It can actually be dangerous to us and those around us if we aren’t trained in blocking that instinctive pull.” Master Dremos said, reaching out to squeeze Lathan’s shoulder, “To be honest, lad, it’d be a bit worrying if you didn’t have a limit to how much you can draw from without feeling bad. You’re untrained. If you could draw unlimited power, you’d be dangerous to yourself and to others around you.”
Lathan lay back in the tufts of grass and looked at the clouds overhead, waiting for his head to stop swirling. There was a gentle breeze playing through the trees, and the redgulls were calling in the distance. It was a beautiful day. On days like this he would usually ask to go chop wood, or run errands in the town, if his father would let him. He’d often be told to stay at his place at the bellows, but sometimes there would be less work to do and he’d get to enjoy the sunshine.
Lathan supposed that now he would have even less time alone, as he would have constant training. Then, when his training was done, he’d have to serve the Mystics, or if he was lucky, one of the Gods would take him as a personal guard. Lathan thought that if the Gods were all like Enalla, maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. He flushed, pushing that thought aside, and sat up, looking to Master Dremos.
“I think I can continue with the tests now, Flame Master.” Lathan said.
Dremos shook his head and waved over to the encampment of tents. “Tomorrow, lad. Her Radiance wishes to speak with you and your brother. She has already sent for Ethan. They wait for you.”
“A-as you say, Flame Master. I’ll go right away.” Lathan turned to walk back to the camp, feeling the wind blow his hair and clothes about as the Flame Master ran past him.
_______________________________________________________________
It was cold in the cells, and a damp air had risen up, soaking Balen through to the skin. He shivered, and pulled his thin and threadbare blanket close around his shoulders. The blanket was not long enough to cover him, but he did his best to keep his legs curled up under it.
The other wood Channelers were huddled similarly in their own cages. Their lumpy grey forms shivered in the dark and dank of their prison. Balen could hear their shuddering breaths, their struggling against the cold and the exhaustion.
It had been several days since his “fight” with the foreign witch, and Balen had fought and defeated each of his opponents since that one-sided match. A Metal, two Earth Channelers, and a Water. Though his current circumstances seemed dire, he would not allow himself to be broken. The nights were hard, as without the sunlight, the tiny sliver of wood he had secretly kept would not help him much. He would ache, and shiver, and his stomach would rumble. They had reduced his food portion, and he was so underfed that he could feel the ridges of his ribcage when he hugged himself for warmth.
It was worrying that he was losing so much of his hard-won muscle mass. For years Balen had trained at the Academy, eating large portions and exercising every day in order to build the stocky frame he had become known for. He had been popular with the Mystics, and even carried a few of the Gods in his time. His muscles also had made him popular with the ladies. Numerous beauties of Paliathese had fought for his affections. Balen winced at the memory of his past. It was painful to remember those happier times.
In his mind, flashes of familiar faces haunted him, preventing sleep. The laugh of the barmaid at “The Smoking Censer”, a tavern he used to frequent. The frown of the Master Wood Channeler at the Academy whenever he watched the students training. The disbelieving look that appeared on Max’s face whenever Balen obliged him by showing him his Channeler powers. That kid was always getting himself into scrapes, but Balen had been visiting him often. Max usually begged on the corner near the Academy. He had finally gotten the boy to trust him, and was even thinking about adopting the poor kid, or at least finding somewhere for him to live and an occupation. But that was before.
Balen shook off the memories. They would do him no good here. Dwelling on the past would get him nowhere. He had to think about the present. He needed to try something soon, or he would slowly waste away. Even Wood Channelers had to eat sometimes. The hunger, paired with being trapped in a dark and uncomfortable space, was wearing him down. If he allowed himself to rot in here, he could not forgive himself.
He thought about the guard. The foul-mouthed, and fouler-smelling man had three small wooden buttons at the collar of his shirt. If he could only get hold of one of them, he could draw on enough of the power to break open the cages of the other wood Channelers, and together they could break out of their imprisonment. It would not be easy to escape, but he had to try something.
“Hey,” said Balen, “Are you asleep? I want to speak with you.”
A female voice spoke, “I was trying to, but someone here is noisy. Oh, that’s right, it’s you. Shut your mouth.” Her voice wavered. She was shivering.
“Nobody here is sleeping, boy. It’s too cold, or didn’t you notice?” The deep voice of the male Wood Channeler in the cage beside him rumbled.
“I know, that’s one of the reasons I wanted to speak with you. I think we should try something. I have an idea for how we could escape. We can’t go on like this much longer, we are all becoming weaker by the day.” Balen shifted to face the Male Channeler, whose deeply lined face and practical way of speaking told of his years of experience.
“Oh, I see. He’s an idiot. I’m locked up with an idiot. Great.” The woman said.
“Look, kid, we are in their territory, in the middle of their fortress, surrounded by their men, many of whom are Channelers, presumably all at full power.” The veteran Wood Channeler attempted to spit on the ground at this but didn’t have enough saliva to do so, “The bastard traitors. In any case there’s no way we’d be able to sneak past them all, and we don’t have any wood to fight or run from them with.”
“Yeah, not to mention the little detail that we’re all stuck in these cages. Without wood we’d never get out of here. I like your optimism but you are seriously lacking in sense.” The woman rolled her dark eyes weakly at Balen.
“Didn’t you see the guard? He always wears that same stinking shirt, with the buttons? The wooden buttons? That should be enough to help us out of the cages, and we could probably find more once we got out of the cells.” Balen pointed out, praying to the Gods that the other Channelers would help him with his plan, as he would have no chance of success trying it alone.
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“But how would any of us get one? He doesn’t get close enough to us for any of us to try anything, and even if we could get close to him, he could overpower any of us while we are so weak.” said the woman.
“I have a secret that I will share with you. I have been winning all of my fights recently because I have had this.” Balen showed the other Channelers his secret piece of wood. “It’s not much, but I can use it to fight the guard. If I get his buttons, I will give you each one, if you will join me in attempting to escape.”
“You’re mad.”
“Well, it sounds like a half-baked idea, but it beats out having to fight and die over and over again, and waiting around until we starve to death. Not like I have anything better planned. Alright. You take care of the guard, and I’m with you.” The gruff male said. Balen waited for the other Channeler’s answer. There was a pause of silence before he heard her groan.
“Ughhh. Fine. I’ll help. But you better not get me killed.”
“Thank you. Really, thank you. I’ll do my best not to let either of you down. My name is Balen, by the way. What are yours?”
“I am Wood Master Maddox. Though I suppose my rank doesn’t matter anymore. What about you, you got a name?” He scratched at his straggly beard as he looked to the woman in the other cage.
“I’m Thaida. I was an Acolyte, serving the Ascended Salvaris the Passionate… I’ll be honest, I don’t miss him much.” The woman spoke with a low voice, her full lips pursed with displeasure as the name passed over them.
Maddox let out a low whistle. “Whew, you must really be something to get a job like that. I bet you even had servants of your own, and your own apartments in his palace, right?”
“I’d really rather not talk about it if it’s all the same to you.” Thaida shifted uncomfortably in her cage, and rubbed her arms to try to warm them.
“Try to get some sleep. When the guard comes, I will pretend I have important Mystic secrets that I want to trade. Then when he gets close enough, I’ll rip his buttons off.” Balen placed the precious fragment of wood back under his wrist wrap and made sure that it was tied securely.
The time seemed to stretch on, and Balen was kept awake by his thoughts. The slow trickle of power that still suffused him through his wrist was dulled by the hunger that wracked his body. The sun slowly rose, and Balen again reached his hand out of his cage to dip his hand into the slight warmth of the winter sunlight as it stretched thinly across the floor of the cell.
He sighed as the frail light eased the suffering in his belly marginally. He pulled power through the splinter of wood as the light played over his fingers, and felt himself strengthen as the energy filled him. Drawing his hand back from the sunlight, he waited for the guard to return.
The sound of metal scraping on the stone floor indicated that the guard was returning. The other two Channelers stirred awake, and then were still again, feigning sleep. Balen waited and listened. The guard was bringing trays to the prisoners in the other cells. The coarse raspy voice was laughing harshly at one of the newer prisoners, who was begging for more water. More trays clattering and scraping on the ground. Footsteps shuffled closer. A belch on the other side of the door, and then the creak as it was pulled open.
“Wakey wakey, Pit-dogs! Got your breakfast.” The ugly man bent to put a tray down next to the food slot in the door to Balen’s cage.
“Wait, I have something important I need to say…”
“Oh, yeah? And I’m ‘sposed to care am I?”
“No really, it’s in your best interest to listen to me… I- I know something. The Channeler you work for, Lord Adeon? He will want to know about this. I can’t go on like this anymore… I’ll tell you everything I know if you bring me more food.”
“…How’s bout this. You're gonna tell me everything you know, and I’ll bring the food later. Sound good, pit-dog?”
Balen feigned disappointment, letting his shoulders dip in resignation. He spoke in a weak murmur, “Alright… but please come closer, Sir, I don’t have the energy left to shout.”
“Sir, eh? Hrmph. That’s right. You better know your place. Alright. I’ll come closer. But try anything and I’ll ‘ave you beaten before your fight. Don’t think I won’t.” The guard sneered as he leaned closer to the cage bars.
Balen launched forwards with inhuman speed and accuracy, having pulled enough power for this one attempt to reach the guard’s buttons. His left arm gripped the man’s neck through the cage bars, as his right hand groped at the neckline of the shirt. The man’s face was a picture of horror and surprise as Balen was filled with a sudden, huge burst of power and his fingers clasped the man’s neck tighter. A wet crunch echoed through the cell as he twisted his hand, snapping the man’s spine and ripping into his flesh. The limp body of the guard fell in a crumpled heap against Balen’s cage. Balen wasted no time, tearing the wooden buttons from the man’s shirt, trying not to look into the bulging eyes of the broken man.
The familiar rush of the power greeted him, more power than he had pulled from in days. It was too much. His head swam with the pressure of the power flowing through him.
“Ughhh… I pulled too much too quickly.”
“Never mind that, fool! Throw us the buttons! You’ll have plenty of time to empty your stomach once we are out of here!” said Thaida.
Balen sat up shakily and threw one of the buttons to each of his cell mates, and felt a little less sick once he was himself only in possession of one of the buttons. He patted the corpse of the guard down, and found the man’s keys. One master key for the cages, and a key for each of the cells. Balen freed himself and his companions from their cages and then slipped his button under his wrist wrap.
“You actually did it. I’m impressed, kid. But we still have to get out of the prison, and then escape the fortress altogether. Do you actually have a plan? Or was this as far as your thinking went?” Maddox said whilst cheerfully shovelling parritch into his mouth.
“I was thinking that we stand a bigger chance of escaping with more of us. So, now that we have these,” Balen jingled the keys, “We can free everyone else in the prison. If nothing else, it will make things more difficult for these bastards.”
Balen pushed open the cell door, and stepping outside, saw the familiar corridor with its rows of identical doors. In a moment of inspiration, he passed the keys to Thaida, and went back to their cell to take the metal spoons from where they had been scattered on the floor. He pushed past Maddox, who was standing in the hallway eating a second bowl of parritch, and followed Thaida to the first cell she had opened.
“We’re doing a break out. Come on. No, I know you’re tired, but we will find you some of your element. What are you? Stone? Metal?”
One of the two faces that turned to look at them was familiar to Balen. It was the Metal Channeler he had defeated days before. Balen smiled, glad that the man had been saved. The thought that he was killing other Channelers was uncomfortable, even though it had been for his survival. The Metal Channeler shrank away from him, a flash of unease in his eyes.
“Ah! He’s a Metal, Thaida. It’s okay. I’m not here to hurt you. Sorry, I had to win that fight. You must know, it was just survival… But they brought you back! I’m glad they brought you back. I’m Balen. I have something for you. Here.” Balen held the metal spoon out to the Channeler, and was not kept waiting long before the utensil was ripped from his hands. The Channeler let out a sigh as he stood, gripping the spoon, and then he straightened up to look Balen in the eyes.
“When we get out of here, I want a rematch. Got it, plank?” The sullen-faced man strode out of the cell into the hallway. Maddox came through the door as the other Channeler left, and proffered his dirty spoon to the other Metal Channeler with a smile. She wiped it on the leg of her trousers with a disgusted look on her face and pushed past him to join the other Metal outside.
Balen gingerly collected the wooden cutlery from this room, trying not to touch the wood too much and draw on it, and handed a spoon to each of his companions, who took them eagerly. Thaida seemed to have been filled with vigour, her eyes shining with power and excitement. Maddox just seemed happy that he had eaten all of their breakfasts.
They continued on, finding and freeing three Earth Channelers; one of their number being one of Balen’s previously defeated arena opponents. There were also two Water, and three Fire Channelers. Two of the Channelers they freed were children. Balen shuddered to think whether anyone had been forced to fight with them, but pushed that thought aside.
“Well, there’s thirteen of us, that’s better than three. But we still need to find bits of element for some of us. We’ve not got much water for the Water Channelers, no Earth, and no Fire at all without a way to make it. The Fire Channelers had stone cutlery rather than metal or wood, probably to stop them making a fire with it somehow. So…” Maddox waved a finger in the air, “We have five of us fully powered, two of us only partially so, and six of us not at all. We need to be careful.”
Please help me. Maddox and Balen jumped, surprised by the touch of a God on their mind in such a forsaken place. They exchanged a meaningful glance, and started towards the door at the end of the hallway.
“It must be the one that brought me back. We need to help her! It’s our duty as Channelers.” Balen said, breaking into a run.
“You don’t need to tell me that! Come on.” Maddox replied, a frown growing on his age-creased face. The other Channelers looked confused, but either didn’t have the energy or the curiosity to ask them what they were talking about.
Help. Be careful… The voice was more insistent, but getting weaker. Balen swung open the door. The dark shape of a man pounced on him, gripping him around the arms. It was the vile worm of a Fire Channeler that he had met days before. Balen pulled in a sharp breath as he felt the heat radiating from the man’s fists.
“Hello, Kindling. How lucky that I was visiting Sellene here just as you decided to sneak around. What a naughty little pit dog. We had such hopes for you but now you’ll have to burn. What a shame.” The Fire Channeler gripped Balen tighter, his hands becoming impossibly hot.
The smell of burning flesh began to rise in the air. Balen screamed with the pain, and instinctively pulled on the power through the wooden button he had tucked into his wrist wrap. He felt its warmth, but he knew that unless he got himself free of the Fire Channeler, he would not be long for the world. He pulled back his head, and using the strength imbued in him by the power, he cracked the nose of his opponent with his forehead.
The grip on him loosened a little, but did not let go completely. “Ahhh, you must have found some wood! Very good! More fuel for me to burn! It’s so much more fun this way.” The Fire Channeler cackled, as a slow dribble of blood trailed from his nostrils, over his lips to drip from his chin.
An idea struck Balen, and he acted on it as fast as it came to him. As the Fire Channeler would not release him, he instead got closer to the man, gripping around his waist to lift him up. He was slender for a Channeler, and though Balen was malnourished, he used his superior wrestling skill to lift the Channeler up and throw him at full force at the wall of the dark cell. Crack. The Channelers skull crashed into the stone wall, and the Fire Channeler lay in a crumpled heap on the ground. A sliver of light from the hall illuminated the sly smile frozen on his unconscious face, and Balen shuddered with revulsion.
“The water…” A feeble voice in the dark. The Goddess.
“Your Radiance. Sellene, is it? I will bring you the water, are you thirsty?” Balen spoke into the shadow of the cell, fumbling in the dark until he found a jug of water.
“Not for me… The fire…”
“Oh!” Balen turned and sprinkled some of the water from the jug onto the Fire Channeler’s still burning wristwicks, feeling more than a little foolish. If the Channeler was still empowered, he could have awoken at any moment. He searched the Channeler for something to create a flame with, ripping the man’s belt pouch from his hip. It contained a flint and steel, and a small shell. He threw the flint and steel at Thaida, who was now standing in the doorway of the cell with an odd expression on her face. She plucked both of the objects from the air as they flew to her, and handed them over to one of the Fire Channelers behind her.
Maddox grunted further in the shadow of the cell, trying to pull apart the chain that restrained the Goddess. Manacles encircled her wrists and ankles, and the chains were linked to a steel ring in the wall. She sat limply on the floor, her arms held in a raised position, her hands listlessly hanging above her.
“One of the metals? This is more their thing.” Maddox said, gesturing at the small crowd of Channelers that were trying to peek around Thaida in the doorway. The Channeler that Balen had previously fought in the arena walked into the room and, with a grunt, bent the Goddess’s shackles open. He thought for a moment, and then grabbed a hold of one of the links of the long, thick chain, bending it open and then sliding it free with a clank.
“Could be a good weapon. I’ll take this. Thanks.” He said bluntly.
“This is the Goddess that revived us. I think they have been torturing her. You look weak, Your Radiance. Please, drink some of this water.” Balen offered her the water jug.
“Only a little, give the rest to the Channelers. You all need to drink, and some of you can draw your strength from it. I only need a little.” Sellene said.
Once the water jug was passed to the Water Channelers, who both poured some of the water onto their hair, smiling as it rejuvenated them with power, Balen helped the Goddess to her feet. She tried to take a step but stumbled, wincing from the pain of where the metal had rubbed against her skin. Maddox stepped forward to catch her and lifted her up, holding her to his chest.
“Wood Master Maddox at your service, Your Radiance. It is the honour of the Wood Channelers to carry the Gods. Please forgive this servant for doing so in an uncouth fashion but I have no palanquin here.” Maddox cradled Sellene to him gently, and walked out into the hall where the rest of the Channelers waited.
“It is alright, Maddox. I am grateful to you, and I would only slow you down if I was on my own feet. I can help you with directions and avoiding detection, but you’ll have to carry me.”
Thaida spoke up, “We need to get moving. They will have heard you messing around with those chains, even if they somehow missed the sound of that fight. Which way should we go?”
“They have Channelers on all of the walls here, and will chase you if you try to scale the fortifications. There is a well to the south of this building, and far below, a tunnel. We will have to swim part of the way, but there is a kind of path further in. I- I’ll need help getting there, I can’t swim like this. Maybe one of the Water Channelers?” said Sellene.
The two happily damp Water Channelers nodded their acceptance of this. In the light of the hall it became clear that they were related. They had similar features, a similar build and even moved in unison. They could have been brother and sister. Twins, even.
“Ocalla and Orphus. We will be happy to help you swim. Please, let’s get out of here.” It seemed they spoke together, almost as though they were of one mind but within two bodies. The effect was a little unsettling, but Balen tried not to focus on that. Everyone knew Water Channelers were strange. “Where should we go in order to get to the well, Your Radiance?”
“The sixth door on the left, we go through there. Then I’ll tell you where from there. Be quiet as we move, further up the hall, there are more guards sleeping in a room.”