Blair Frosta
“How disappointing,” Mother sighed as the maid worked tirelessly to prepare her for the day, “After four years, I expected more, Blair.”
I stood sheepishly just outside the door to her room, watching as Anna, the maid, moved out of the way as Mother stood and walked over to me. I couldn’t help but notice the same frightened nervousness I felt present on Anna’s face. She was the same girl that had mistakenly insulted Lady Mairead just a few years ago. At the time, I thought my mother would do everything in her power to disgrace her and her family. It turned out she had a different kind of punishment in mind. It made me feel better that she was here. Knowing that someone else was suffering alongside me eased the pain.
A strike to my cheek caused a flash of pain and redness on my face, “Four years, Blair! What have you learned in that time? Tell me what progress you have made!”
I stood there silently, not daring to look up at her. Instead, I just looked over at Anna. Despite her horrified expression, it comforted me to know I wasn’t alone. Mother bent down, obstructing my view and forcing me to look her in the eyes, “Your proficiency with the sword has slacked. Your focus is split between magic and your other responsibilities. I suppose that’s my fault, but I expected more from you. I thought you could do both, but you continue to show me just how much of a failure you can be. A real lord is not a failure,” Mother stood and walked back to her chair, waving Anna to continue her work as she did so, “Your magic lessons will end within the next week. Let Sean know that we unfortunately can no longer support his education in the future. From what Restivus has told me, he’s shown significant progress in his magic, unlike you. If the boy ever wishes for a future in my court, I will definitely consider it. As for your future, training in the guard’s yard will be increased, and we will have to see about getting you a proper teacher as well. Now go. You have things to do.”
I turned quickly on my heel and walked away, but not before giving one final glance to Anna, who said goodbye with a slight wave of her hand. “Suffering together,” I said under my breath as I headed outside.
*One week later*
Hector’s ass slammed onto the ground with a loud thud, kicking up some dust and drawing a few eyes towards our spar. Once again, he failed to keep up a strong guard around his midsection after his first attack, allowing me to hit him with the flat end of my wooden blade and sending him tumbling backwards. “Your back foot is flat and keeps you off balance. You wouldn’t fall over like that if you held yourself stronger and kept your guard up. Your strikes are confident, which is good, but you must never underestimate your opponent,” I said, reaching out a hand to help him up.
“I promise I don’t underestimate you,” Hector responded, “I just forget sometimes.”
“Well then, maybe try keeping your head out of the clouds in the future.”
“They’re not in the clouds,” Morrison called over from the wall he was leaning on with a sneer, “His head’s filled with him doing all sorts of fancy magical spells to impress Lennox with!”
Hector’s ears grew bright red, while Lennox, who was sitting on the ground not far from Morrison, cocked her head sideways in confusion. It was cute, in a way. Seeing the shy Hector and clueless Lennox stare at each other almost made me laugh alongside Morrison. The hot headed ten year old boy opened his mouth to retort, but I put my hand on his shoulder and shook my head. “He’s trying to make you angry, Hector. This could actually be useful training for you. In battle, the enemy will try to get inside your head to make you slip up. C’mon, let’s have another spar.”
“I’m afraid that’s going to have to wait until tomorrow,” A low, gruff voice called from the entrance to the training grounds.
Mr. Restivus’ blue robe was slightly tattered, and his once pitch black beard was now lined with gray hairs. I knew the man was in his late forties, but he looked far younger when I had first met him. It seemed age had caught up to him in the last few years. Cade, who had walked in behind Restivus, however, looked the same as he did when I first met him, but I was sure that if he looked any older he’d be dust on the ground. I handed my training sword over to Hector, who slowly grabbed hold of it and started walking over to Lennox. Morrison barely kept his mocking smile hidden as Hector held his hand out to the girl. Then, he did something strange. He nodded, and his eyes looked down at his feet, but no one else seemed to notice.
“You’re really annoying, old man,” Hector said, taking my attention away from Morrison.
“Shut up and go away.” Restivus sneered, “I have little time to deal with any more idiotic children.”
Hector cocked his head to the side, then quickly swung his right foot directly into Retivus’ knee. The old mage let out a yelp then began hopping on one foot while Hector and Lennox ran away. There was something comforting about the scene. Cade’s barely held back chuckles, Morrison’s explosive laughter, Restivus’ unbridled rage, and the innocent smiles of the two children running away. All of it just felt so normal. It felt like home. My eyes lowered at that thought. Today was the end of that home. The two children waved us goodbye as they ran, which only brought a smile to my face. Hector’s improvement really was impressive considering how young he was, and Lennox was always the happiest girl around. They had really grown on me over the years.
“Hey, Sean! Let’s go already!” Restivus yelled after collecting himself, but still rubbing his knee.
Sean, who had been completely ignoring us the entire time, looked up from the water sculpture he was working on. He had been seated next to Lennox, completely engrossed in crafting what looked to be a horse. The detail on it was incredible, and it stayed completely stable as he lifted his head to look at Restivus. “Can’t I just admire my work for a little bit? Look at this. I made a Lisyfe! You know how hard it is to get the mane to look right?”
“Yes, yes, very impressive. Now, let's go!”
Sean sighed and the Lisyfe quickly turned back into a regular water ball, then moved like a stream into one of the waterskins he carried at his side. The fluidity of the motion made my heart sink. He stood, and I realized he was now almost as tall as Restivus. Restivus' face turned to a glower as my friend walked towards him, and we began our journey out of the city. The walk up the mountain had grown faster over the last four years. I remembered the first few months would sometimes take multiple hours, and always ended with Sean gasping for air by the time we’d reach the top of the mountain. Now, Sean seemed to follow Restivus’ path with extreme precision. Over the years Sean had begun copying the way he moved like a child would do to mock their sibling. The way he walked, the way he moved his arms and legs when performing magic, even down to the way Restivus sat when concentrated on a specific water construct. It was strange how much Sean tried to emulate him.
As I was climbing up a short rockface near the top of the mountain, a loud roar rang through the forest. Below me, on the ground, I heard Cade and Morrison draw their swords at the noise, and above Sean and Restivus were looking in every direction trying to pinpoint the sound.
“What was—“
“Shhh,” Cade cut me off with a finger against his lips.
We all remained perfectly still, and the forest seemed to go quiet except for a heavy thumping noise within the trees and the rattling of Morrison’s sword. I looked down to find the young guard’s hands shaking, his face completely white. Cade set his free hand on Morrison’s shoulder, and his stance slowly became more stable. He gave Cade a hard nod, and the two moved forward from the short cliffside I was hanging onto. The heavy footfalls coming from the forest grew louder, and I low, coarse growls could be heard from within.
“It knows we're here. It’s headed right for us too,” Cade said.
Morrison let out a small grunt, then shifted his longsword into a long point guard. His arms were extended out forward with both hands gripping the hilt. The tip of the sword was pushed forward toward the incoming animal as far as it could go without removing all of his mobility. It was a stance I had seen several times before, but not one I had ever practiced. I trained with a short sword, while both Cade and Morrison specialized in long swords. Unfortunately, both weapons aren’t as useful for an animal attack as a spear or bow. Cade lowered his guard and began tapping his blade against a rock, making a loud clanging noise when he did so, while Morrison took a few steps forward. The slow, heavy steps stopped, and the growling subsided. Morrison didn’t move as silence took over the forest, and Cade switched into a similar stance just behind his companion. I didn’t dare take my eyes off the bushes where the sound had stopped.
Like a flash of lightning, a giant creature rushed out of the bushes and charged Morrison. I barely had a second to take in the sight. It was a giant bear with pure white fur, standing out in the summer greenery, only it was much larger than I remember bears being. As it stood up on its back legs it towered over Morrison, a fairly tall man, and was about three times his size. As it slowly rose above Morrison, I realized how wolf-like the bear creature was. It was like a mix between the two animals, with shaggy fur and ears like a wolf rather than a bear. Long crystal-like fangs hung out of its mouth, with two front canines coming down farther than all the other teeth, and another two from its bottom jaw coming upward above its snout. They were like icicles that would hang off the roofs of houses, but march sharper and much more powerful. Similar crystalized claws stuck out from the animal's ginormous paws, one of which was now swiping straight towards Morrison.
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It felt like I was watching it all in slow motion. As the paw came downwards at him, Morrison remained completely still. It wasn’t until I was sure he was dead that the guard made his move. His back foot launched his body forward, causing the paw to barely miss him and the giant creature to fall forwards with the momentum. The point of Morrison’s sword sank straight into the beast's chest as he thrust forward, causing it to let out a visceral roar, and it was clear that its heart had been pierced when blood began pouring out of its maw. The efficiency of the move was awe inspiring, and it made me realize how far I still had to go with my own training. If it was just me, could I have pulled off such a move against a giant beast like that? My inner self doubt was cut off when the creature roared, revealing it still had some energy left.. It slammed its paw towards Morrison, who was pinned against the creature's chest. Morrison was completely covered by the beast body, and had no way to dodge the attack. Cade ran towards him, but it was a useless effort.
As the paw came toward the young guard, a flash of blue crossed in front of my eyes, and suddenly the paw that was coming straight for Morrison’s back was laying in the dirt. Another roar rang throughout the forest, then the beast slumped and fell forward. Morrison let go of his sword and dodged away from the falling creature where its arm used to be. With a loud thump, the beast fell to the ground, lifeless. Cade finally made it over to his companion, checking him for wounds ,but he seemed fine. In fact, Morrison had a wide, jovial grin on his face, and I swore I could see tears in his eyes. It was then that I finally took a breath, and realized how much my fingers hurt from holding onto the rock wall so long. I looked back up and saw the water from Restivus’ spell quickly return to the waterskin at his side, and then the old man grabbed the bottom of Sean’s jaw and pushed it shut.
“What a lovely distraction,” Restivus said, “But I think we should get moving again. Not a lot of time left, and it is our last day.”
Sean’s voice came out in a hurried yell, “Wait a second, what was that?”
“It’s called a Mathear. They're not supposed to be around right now,” Morrison stood up.
“He means they normally travel even farther north than Dousin during the summer. They prefer the cold, so this one attacking us is pretty strange. Probably thought we were an easy snack when he heard us traveling. I doubt we’ll run into any more of them. They like to be alone,” Cade added as the two of them hurried over to the cliff.
As the two of them climbed up the rock wall, I noticed Morrison’s hand was shaking. I started to call out to him, but stopped myself. It was probably best to just leave him alone.
“Relax kid! You're young and you just took down a beast more than twice your size! And I barely helped! I’d be celebrating if I were you. Plus, it’s our last day. Calls for a drink, don’t you think?” Restivus said, reaching for Morrison to hand him something.
Morrison waved him off, to the old mage’s dismay, “It’s your last day, not mine. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lady Mairead has me watch her kid for the rest of my life.”
Restivus began grumbling to himself as he began leading us up the path again.
“It’s not all bad, is it?” Cade asked the young guard, “The past few years have been all right, and I appreciate the help, especially at my age.”
“Whatever you say old man.”
“Ah, good. We’re here,” Restivus said as the lake came into view.
Once again, the water split in front of us, revealing a path that led straight to the small island in the middle of the lake. Upon arriving in this world, I thought I understood everything about it except for how I got here, but I’d been proven wrong time and time again. Despite having seen Restivus perform this spell over a hundred times, I still could barely comprehend its majesty. The laws of physics that I innately knew were completely broken, and the mage had done it without even breaking a sweat. It didn’t take long for us to reach the island, and Morrison quickly readied himself for a nap while Cade soaked his feet in the water.
“As you both know, Lady Mairead is a rather fickle woman,” Restivus began, “It seems she values the young lord's sword training over his magic. I think it's idiotic if you ask me, but it's not really up to me. Besides, it’s about time I left this frozen hell hole anyways. Now that I’ve got money I have better things to do than teach you brats how to do little tricks.”
“You’re leaving Dousin? Why?” Sean asked.
“You think I was going to babysit you for the rest of your lives? That’s their job!” Restivus gestured to Morrison and Cade, “I’ve gotten everything I came here for. Now then, it’s time to get started. Your final lessons will be separate, seeing as you both use different magic. To decide who goes first, I’m going to let you two duel for it. Think of it as a twelfth birthday gift from me. Now then, get in position and prepare yourselves.”
I felt sluggish walking into my position a few meters in front of Sean. It felt pointless, having us fight, when we all knew who was likely to win. I could feel a pit grow in my stomach as we waited for Restivus to start the match. It was the same feeling I had as Mother berated me for my failures. The same feeling when I had seen Sean perfectly shape water into any image he liked. The same feeling I had as Morrison expertly took down the mathear just earlier today. It was an intimidating feeling, one that made me want to run away in fear, but I failed to flee in time as Restivus yelled out, “Begin!”
I felt my reservations and fears begin washing away as the adrenaline pumped through my body. Sean and I didn’t move a muscle despite the fact that the spar had begun. I expected this. In a sword fight, making the first move could be a deadly mistake. Waiting, reading your opponents movements, and preparing a counter was much wiser. When two swordsmen fought, a battle rarely was longer than three moves. The initial attack, a counter attack, and a possible defensive movement into a final attack. Unless the opponents were completely evenly matched, most sword duels would end up this way. That’s why practicing the movements and forms of the sword so many times was so important. One wrong move, and you were dead, and mistakes were common. That’s also why the sword was so monotonous, and boring. Magic, however, was different. It was dynamic, with hundreds of possible spells you or your opponent could perform. A battle could last for hours if the mages were powerful enough. This meant predicting what your opponent would do was nearly impossible, but predicting where the spell would come from was much easier.
I decided to force Sean to make a move. The world opened up around me as I let the Nex fill my Soul, connecting me to all of the island’s earth and even some of the lake bed. I quickly limited the Nex’s flow, and focused on the small patch of ground I was currently standing on. The less earth I was connected to, the more precise my spells would be. I pressed my right foot hard into the ground, causing it to crumble under the weight of my magic. My Soul pushed through the ground in front of me and launched a boulder my size into the air. Swinging my left leg up and aiming for Sean, I kicked the boulder and sent it hurtling towards him.
Sean’s right arm quickly rose in response, and a wave of water pushed out from the lake and towards the boulder, allowing me to plan my next move. While he was distracted I expanded my connection to the ground under Sean’s feet. I spun and slammed my left leg on the ground with some much force the cracking of the earth shook the entire island. My spell began traveling like a lightning bolt through the ground, straight towards Sean’s left side. A blunt spike of ground launched upwards towards his side, and for a moment, I thought I had done it, but a flash of light blue came across his left and sliced the spike in half before it could reach its destination.
Sean had pushed the boulder away from him and curved the wave so that it would block my other attack, then forced the water to circle around him. A giant tornado made of water began circling around him, blocking him from any possible attack. I watched his hands furiously move around as he tried to keep the spell intact. I started to run at him. Trying to close the distance while he was occupied. In between the circular motions he made to keep the waterspout together, his arm flicked towards me, causing a long blade of water to fly towards me like a scythe. I stopped and planted my hands against the ground. Gripping it so hard that my fingers drove deep into the earth, I pulled upward and the ground responded, erecting a wall to protect me from Sean’s spell. The water blade struck the earthen wall, but only damaged it slightly. Most of Sean’s power was being used to keep the water spout shield up, so his attacks were fairly weak.
The blades of water continued to slam into the rock wall I had created, too fast for me to make it any closer. I tried thinking of a solution, but none came to me. Sean had me pinned, and I had no idea what my next move was. Mother was right after all. I really was disappointing. I sat there for what seemed like an eternity, wallowing in my own self pity. I hoped Sean would grow tired, but I knew he would break down the earthen wall before that would happen. It was then that a tiny wave came back into my mind. I wasn’t alone in all of it,so why should I give up? I still had some time before Sean’s spells would break through my wall, so why not look for more options?
That’s when my head turned upwards, and a crazy idea came to mind. All it would take is a similar spell I had already tried to use on Sean. Taking a step back from the wall, I turned to face it and my opponent behind it. Stomping the ground with my left foot, I created another blunt earthen spike, only this time I did so under my own feet. I launched myself through the air and towards Sean, who’s eyes grew wide as he spotted me. In his panic, the water spout spell began to break, and I saw a chance, but I failed to realize how powerless I made myself. In the air, I had no way to manipulate the ground. I tried reaching for it with my Soul, but with no physical connection, my efforts were useless.
In the few seconds I flew through the air, the match was already over. Sean moved his water spout spell over to where I was landing, catching me in it and preventing me from reaching the ground. With a few swift arm movements, the water twister wrapped around me tighter and tighter, squeezing until I almost couldn’t breath.
“I yield,” I said in a rough voice.
The water around me slowly began flowing back into the lake and gently placed me back on the ground. Sean smiled and walked over to me, offering me a hand to help me up. I took it, and gave him a weary smile back, even though I didn’t want to smile at all.