Friedrich charged towards the earth elemental, his shield raised and his sword drawn back. He expected it to move, but it simply stood still as he thrust his sword. The blade struck the elemental, chipping only a small amount of stone from it. It reverberated vigorously in Friedrich’s hand, making his arm ache.

The swordsman struck wildly at the elemental, but it simply continued to weather the attacks. No matter what Friedrich did, he could only chip off small chunks of stone and, before long, the elemental repaired itself while Grephor stood calmly behind with a perfectly neutral expression upon his face.

A panting Friedrich took a couple of steps backwards and tried to reassess, but before he could do anything, the elemental charged at him and kicked him in the leg. It delivered a punch to him, but he blocked with his enchanted shield. The attack was strong enough to knock Friedrich back and simply dampen the blow. Could this magical being be more powerful than the tunaileans? Surely not.

With a glance to Marina and Teleri, Friedrich reached for the minotaur mask underneath his tunic and placed it upon his face, transforming before the temple. Finally, Grephor’s expression changed as he watched the young man swell up, grow fur and sprout horns from his bovine head.

Friedrich grabbed the earth elemental, lifted it high and broke the creature over his knee, leaving it in two large pieces and many smaller rocks that scattered across the ground. He threw the elemental aside, feeling confident, but there was a growing anger within him that made him want to continue the fight.

“Do not make another move,” said Teleri sternly. “You should not have put on that mask.”

Friedrich’s chest heaved up and down as he held on tightly to his willpower. The minotaur’s soul would not overcome him, not today. He had proven his point and that was enough.

“That was unexpected,” said Grephor coldly. “I did not know that I was dealing with soul magic.”

“We’re very sorry,” said Marina as she bowed her head and then shooting Friedrich a scornful look. “He knows perfectly well that he should not use that mask because it’s too dominating for him to control fully.”

Friedrich snorted and sat on the ground. Even sitting down, he was the same height as Marina and only slightly beneath Teleri.

“Come, young ones,” said Grephor to Marina and Teleri. “Young man, you can wait here until you’re in a more presentable state.”

The mage led Marina and Teleri towards the temple. As they walked, they could see the sprawling sands in the distance and noted a couple of landmarks from their map. Grephor brought them to the top of the stairs and inside the grand building where a couple of other mages were roaming the halls.

He led them through the corridors and back outside into the cloister where a large statue of a stone titan rested in the centre in a meditative pose. Marina wondered if the statue would come to life, but for now, it remained in its seated position atop its plinth.

Throughout the cloister were a dozen other mages, all practicing their spellcasting. A few were old and shifting the earth with ease while the younger ones were conjuring stones and hurling them at each other, while their intended targets were blocking them with earthen shields.

“This is where we train,” said Grephor, looking at Marina. “I thought that you would like to see this as a mage yourself. Perhaps there is something you can learn from observing.”

“This is a wonderful place,” said Marina breathlessly. “Since I started learning magic, I’ve longed for somewhere I can train without fear.”

“Do you know many spells?”

“I know three and my fourth spell is untested,” she said, reaching into her bag. She pulled out her latest spell tome that she had been studying in her spare moments. One that would let her summoning an elemental of her own, a lightning elemental.

“Ah,” said Grephor, raising an eyebrow. “This is a difficult spell to get right. You are welcome to show me what you can do.”

“You wouldn’t mind?”

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“Not at all.”

Teleri and Grephor stepped away, giving Marina enough room to concentrate.

The young Mercian closed her eyes and breathed in deeply before slowly exhaling. She took her staff in two hands and clutched it firmly, drawing it up through the air and then around in a wide arc. She thrust it forward and then slammed the butt of the staff into the stone beneath her feet. Slowly, a spark of lightning emerged from the crystal, hovering in the air before her. Five seconds later, it was twice as large. Ten seconds later, it was the same size as she was. Twenty seconds later, it was double her size.

“Mages!” called Grephor, as he watched the elemental energy grow out of control.

All of the mages in the courtyard rushed over, surrounding the lightning. But before they could intervene, Marina reached forward and grabbed the crackling energy and drew it into the palm of her hand. She was shaking vigorously as she tried to control the elemental force. With a scream, she threw it into the sky and it shot upwards in a lightning bolt before vanishing in the clouds.

The mages all looked very impressed, clapping for her. All except Grephor who had a look of concern on his face.

“Mages, please return as you were. I have something to discuss with young Marina.”

“Should I leave you in peace?” asked Teleri.

“If you would not mind, Miss Alaurian.”

“Very well. I will check to see if Friedrich is less hairy. I will return with him shortly.”

“Thank you, Teleri,” said Marina and the elf gave her a small smile.

As Teleri departed from the cloister, Marina let out a sigh. “I had hoped I could control it better, but the spell is too powerful for me.”

“No,” said Grephor. “It is not that the spell is too powerful for you. It is your innate power that makes it more difficult for you to control. A failed attempt at that spell may have resulted in the spell fizzling out or, in a rare case, some sort of explosion, but you were channelling too much of your magical being into it.”

“I’m sorry,” said Marina, starting to tear up.

“Do not be. It is most impressive, especially as you were able to handle the crisis yourself using another spell. That was Absorb Lightning, was it not?”

“Yes. I haven’t mastered the absorption part yet, but I’ve can do the first part and redirect it as a lightning bolt instead. Sometimes I can dissipate it if it isn’t an overwhelming amount of energy.”

“That is fascinating,” said Grephor quietly, pressing on his chin with his thumb. “You have a remarkable amount of talent. Who was your teacher?”

“My books. I worked with a man named Hansel the Striker in Akatfall briefly, but that was after I taught myself magic.”

“You must stay,” said Grephor suddenly. “If you can spare as little as a week, I would like to study your capabilities, while also teaching you how to control your power more effectively.”

Marina was dumbstruck. “I-I…um…”

“A week is all I ask, but I understand if that is not possible if you and your friends are journeying somewhere important.”

Unsure of what to say, Marina stayed silent as she sifted through her thoughts. On the one hand, it was important to Friedrich to get to the Temple of Valskythe, but on the other, she would be more helpful if she could control the spell correctly. A lightning elemental that could channel magic would be a great boon and another ally in their many battles.

“I will need to consult with my friends before I can commit to an answer,” said Marina at last.

“Commit to what?” asked Friedrich, walking along as a human once more. Teleri was accompanying him into the cloister.

Grephor turned to him. “It is good to see you with less hair,” he chortled. “I have asked Marina to remain here for the next week so that she can further her magical understanding and control. Rest assured that—”

“Fine with me,” shrugged Friedrich. “If it’s what she wants and will help her, that’s great.”

“Agreed,” said Teleri. “We can go take a detour to the town where we can rest so as not to disrupt things further.”

“You’re both truly okay with this?” asked Marina with a big smile. It meant a lot to her that her friends wanted what was best for her, and she did indeed believe this was what was best.

“Yes,” said Friedrich and Teleri in unison.

“Let us be off,” said Teleri.

“So soon?” asked Friedrich.

“We will give Marina as much opportunity as possible to learn if we leave right away.”

Marina ran up to the pair and threw her arms around them. “I’m going to miss you both so much!” she wailed, her eyes welling up with tears.

“It’s only for a week,” said Friedrich, awkwardly patting her on the back.

“I know,” sniffled Marina, “but I’ll feel lost without you.”

“Well, if you don’t want to stay and lear—”

“Alright, alright. Shoo! The pair of you get out of here.” Friedrich laughed while Teleri stared, not fully grasping the joke.

With a hasty farewell to Marina and Grephor, the two departed from the cloister almost as quickly as they had arrived and were outside the temple. As Friedrich and Teleri walked back down the stone staircase and onto the edge of the cliff, they spoke about their intentions.

“What are we supposed to do for a week?” asked Friedrich.

“Five days,” said Teleri. “It will take a day to reach Kar’thay and another day to return. We will have five days.”

“Fine,” snapped Friedrich. “What are we going to do for five days?”

“I do not know, but I am sure that there will be work for us. We cannot spend kupons frivolously as we have not made any money since Namavar’s demise.”

“I was hoping to have some time to relax,” muttered Friedrich.

“Our time to relax must be minimal lest we lower our guard and wind up dead. I must restock magic arrows and buy more potions and poisons, for I have already been bested on this island too many times. It is unacceptable.”

Friedrich knew then and there that this would not be a fun week.