Calamacy Salaria
I wipe the dirt off my hands as I stand up. Riros and I are standing on a flat patch of ground on a more remote part of the Academy campus. He is standing off to my left and his arms are crossed as he stares at me silently. I can’t really make out his expression all that well, but he definitely seems curious.
I turn my head back to the ground in front of me. Scribbled out on the ground itself I have written the rune set that I had been experimenting with back in the library. I reach into one of the folds of my robe and retrieve the page with the rune set on it. After a quick comparison to make sure its right, I tuck the page back into my robe.
I glance back at up at Riros and give him a grin. He shifts slightly and just waits there. Clasping my hands together I step onto the lower rune and start to channel my mana into the whole set. I’m not sure if the set will work, but there’s nothing in the rune set which would be dangerous to me. At least I think.
As the mana leaves my body and flows outward. The runes begin to glow. At first it’s dim, but as more mana is poured in the start to grow brighter and brighter. Finally when the runes reach a point that the brightness starts to distort the surroundings I feel a click, and the rune set activates. For a second I feel a gut wrenching sensation of being pulled sideways and then everything is muffled before I head a snapping sound. The sound makes me wince and I clutch my sides also as my organs seem to try and rearrange themselves.
“Huh,” I hear Riros say in my head. I wait a few seconds longer to let my insides cool down before opening my eyes. The first thing that I notice is that Riros is no longer off to my left. Instead he is now standing on my right. I take a moment to actually take stock of myself, inspecting my fingers and even my toes to make sure they are all still there.
Once that’s done I look back at Riros and give him another grin this one bigger than the last, as the excitement inside of me grows even more. “It works!” I say to him.
He nods his head and I see a small smile creep onto his face.
“That it does.”
I rub my hands together as I stare at the now dark rune formation. Time to do more testing. I think to myself.
After several more hours of testing the rune sets. I find myself standing back in front of my dorm. By this point the sun has gone down and night has descended. A few faint lights helped guide us back to the dorm itself.
As we arrive I notice that there is still a light burning on the first floor. Sitting at one of the tables absentmindedly reading a book is Dralfey Serac. Next to him is a new face that I haven’t seen before. She has a bowl of fruit in front of her and is picking at it. She is wearing a gray robe and is leaning back in her chair, her white hair is cut short and seems to accentuate her pale skin. She notices us and gives a little wave before setting her chair back down on the ground. She then prods Dralfey Serac.
“Is that her?” I hear her say excitedly. He looks up from his book as both Riros and I step up into the building. He scowls momentarily at her, before nodding his head and standing up himself.
“Welcome back Calamacy-vim. This is Ceorn Cera Draern, she is our new resident here at the dorm.” He says motioning toward the girl.
She has a smile on her face as she gives me another wave. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Calamacy-fe, I’ve heard a lot about you, and when I was informed that you were actually staying at the dorm I had been assigned to, I just had to meet you.”
I could feel her eagerness as she stared at me with her green eyes. I smile at her and give her a nod of my head. “Nice to meet you.” I say.
Her smile grows even wider, and she starts speaking rapidly, “It really is you! That’s such a beautiful red you’re wearing. What’s it like being a Calamacy?”
She stops talking when she finally looks behind me and registers Riros’s presence. I watch as her eyes go wide for a second. In this pause I turn toward Dralfey Serac and ask, “Serac-fa, do we have any extra mattresses or pillows for Riros?”
He looks at Riros for a moment before asking, “Is he going to be sleeping in your room?”
I shake my head, “Last time we came by he mentioned that it would probably not be a good idea for him to go upstairs.”
“Ah,” Serac replies looking thoughtfully around the 1st floor and its open floor plan. “Will he be alright sleeping down here?”
“This will do just fine.” I hear him say into my head. I notice Dralfey Serac’s look of surprise as he hears Riros’s voice also.
“Soooo cooool!” I hear Ceorn Cera exclaim. Both Serac and I turn to look at her as she is looking up excitedly at Riros. “You must be Calamacy-vim’s summon! There are rumors going around about how you speak to everyone telepathically! Now I didn’t think that was possible, because who would want to speak telepathically when its just as easy and takes less effort to just talk to someone, but then you actually did it! Wow! It was so cool! Do it again!”
We watch for a moment as she approaches Riros and starts to pester him with an unending stream of questions. Dralfey Serac turns to me and says, “Pay her no mind. Eventually she will exhaust her curiosity. As far as Riros goes I’ll provide something.”
He then turns to me, a worried look across his face. “Word has spread about your challenge.”
“So you’ve heard?” I say not wanting to see the worry in his eyes.
There is a moment of silence as he continues to look at me, finally he speaks, “What were you thinking? He is one of the best at dueling in the Academy. Not to mention you’ve never been in an official duel before.”
I respond, “It was bound to happen, he has been looking for an excuse ever since I met him, and after what happened at Dralfey Altia’s birthday, I imagine he was just itching for a chance.”
He nods his head, “Be that as it may, Salaria-vim, you do have a plan, right? You’re not just going to stand behind your summon?”
I gave him a small smile, “I do, at the moment I’m still trying to figure out a few details, but it gives me hope that I can win this.”
His worried look continues, “If you need help with some attack magics I can help you.”
My smile fades slightly, “I’m not sure what attack magics can do besides stall for time. I know he has a better grasp of chants and mana manipulation than I do.”
“Then what are you going to do?” He sighs.
“Well,” I say, “for now I’m going to go to sleep.” I look back at Riros as he deals with Ceorn Cera. At least I assume he is, considering how she will fall silent from time to time before bursting out with another round of questions. I feel my own pang of frustration watching them. Several of my own questions come bubbling up into the forefront of my mind. The way he answers his questions is not necessarily helpful either.
Sensing my gaze on him, he looks up at me questioningly. I say out loud, “I’m going to bed.” and turn to head up the stairs. I hear behind me Dralfey Serac and Ceorn Cera say goodnight. I feel Riros’ gaze follow me up the stairs before hearing his voice echo in my mind, “Good night Salaria.”
Everything is murky. As if I’m traveling through a fog. In the distance there is a brightness, the closer I travel to it, the more everything seems to focus. I see snippets of images. In one I am standing on a world off orange hues, a massive sandstorm looming in the east. Before me lies a battalion of soldiers...Battalion?....It’s familiar yet…...not… This battalion is crossing the desert to a location that is important… I cannot remember why… i do know it's important that this battalion does not reach said location, and that’s why I’m here… to stop them.
The image shifts, and i find myself standing in front of them as they travel through a narrow pass. The soldiers are traveling in carriages which are moving forward much too rapidly. They start to open fire… with what?... I feel sharp stings as a multitude of objects start to ricochet off my body. Gritting my teeth I reach into that well of power. The color in my vision starts to fade. I shift, my back foot sinks into the ground as with all my force I launch myself forward.
There is another image. The color is almost gone. I feel myself whirling, jumping, the power in my hands and legs is propelling me forward, slashing and hacking and shooting, it’s all a blur as I am in the middle of the fight. The soldiers fall around me, their attempts to hurt me insignificant. I grin, the exhilaration building. I revel in the Chaos as I travel from vehicle to vehicle. The look in their faces of hope, determination and eventually… fear.
I blink, too soon it is done. The battalion lies in ruins. There is smoke billowing out of many of the carriages. All around is a scene of death and chaos. I pull back my presence and reign in the destruction. The color slowly returns to the world. I grit my teeth as I push back the desire for more. Soon it is restrained, churning once again inside, waiting ever so patiently ‘til i release it again.
A new image appears. I see a man in white walking toward me. He is spotless. Even among biting wind and the rising sands. He looks down at me from where I sit.
“Well done,” he says something else, but something in his gaze distracts me. “it’s time to go now.” I meet his eyes, and they look at me. Not the me that is there, but the me that is watching.
The images start to fade and the murkiness returns, as I feel myself retreating from the brightness. I feel myself start to become enfolded in the darkness. As everything begins to fade I hear two voices speaking, one a familiar deep, yet unstoppable rumble and the other lighter, warmer, a hint of barely restrained mirth contained within.
The lighter one says, “Have you made a decision?”
“Not yet.” The rumble replies.
They discuss more, but the sound fades just as the brightness had, and the darkness enfolds me completely.
I wake to the first rays of light descending upon my face. I blink my eyes at the familiarity, the warmth, there is a sense of peace for several moments as I look up at the worn wood ceiling of my room. The peace is shattered when I remember my dream.
I bolt upright in my bed. My heart starts pounding as I recall the blood, the limbs, the carnage, and the excitement. I shudder. I look down at my hands. The white skin is mostly untouched a few calluses have built up where i hold my quills and the other instruments that I use for summoning. Nothing at all like the scarred tan skin dripping in blood that I had seen earlier. The pounding of my heart continues as I sit there recalling each of the images. They are so real, and vivid that I get lost in them.
At some point I feel Riros’ mind touch onto my own and it probes ever so gently before withdrawing. As it withdraws so do the memories seem to fade. I blink again and look about my room. The familiarity helps calm me down. Taking a deep breath I get out of bed and dress myself for the day. The memories are still there, but they are less sharp, less tangible, less in the forefront of my mind. After changing my clothes, I take another deep breath and head downstairs.
Descending the stairs I find that Dralfey Serac is once again cooking breakfast. He gives me a nod as I reach the floor. I look around and I find Riros sitting on the edge of first floor. One leg is resting on the floor itself, while the other is resting on the last step down to the ground. His back is against the building column.
I walk over to him and take a seat next to him. We sit there in silence for several moments before I feel his voice in my mind once again, “Those memories are not meant for you. They are mine to bear.”
I continue to sit there in silence as several of them come forward again. There is a detachment this time. I look at him, “What did you do?”
He looks at me for a moment, before replying, “Somehow last night you shared in my own dreams, in doing so you experienced them the same way I had. When you woke up this morning, and I sensed this was what happened, I used our bond to dull the memories for you. So you wouldn’t have relive it over and over again.”
Not quite understanding I ask him again, “You did what?”
He sighs, a deep rumbling sign that faintly vibrates the area around us. “The bond we share passes not only memories, but the emotions and senses that go along with this memories. Once i had realised that this is what had happened I used the bond to pass all those emotions and senses that were associated with the memories to me.”
“Huh.” I grunt back at him. We share a few more moments of silence before I ask, “Have you always carried those emotions with you?”
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“Ever since they were created. Time dulls them, but they are still there.”
I look out at the plaza off to our side, with all the dorms surrounding it. I take another breath and ask him another question, “Why did you kill all those people?”
“They were my enemies. Given half a chance they would have done the same to me.”
“But why? Why were they your enemies?”
He shifted so that I could feel his eyes staring at me. I was still looking out at the plaza, and did not wish to meet his gaze just yet.
“Salaria,” he began, “Those people threateded the peace and security of my people and my family. I did what I did to eliminate that threat, same as when you called me here.”
“Wait what?” I send to him as I turn to meet his eyes, “I don’t have any recollections of when you showed up. All I remember is Altia standing over me saying everything is going to be ok.”
He stares at me for several moments, the shifting chaos of his irises seeming to roll in languid waves. I hear his voice in my mind again, it feel restrained, “When I answered your call, you were not where i appeared. I found traces of you elsewhere in the city and made my way there. There were some….individuals that sought to prevent me from reaching you. I eliminated them. Others came due to the disturbance that was created. Altia stopped me from eliminating them too”
I stare at him as I let those words sink in. In my own mind I think, he has already taken lives for my own sake, and he is more than willing to take more. I blink a few times and send another thought toward Riros.
“If you are so concerned with eliminating threats then why are you letting me do this duel? Doesn’t this put me in as much danger as I was in earlier.”
He continues to stare his face remaining passive, unchanging, “It can, the difference this time is that you are conscious and facing said danger upfront, and considering your current level of power you should be able to deal with this challenger without my help.”
“And if I can’t?” I snap at him.
He stares at me for a few more seconds before answering, “You have free time this morning before your classes start, right?”
I nod my head.
“Good, I want you to practice your basic mana shield.”
I blink for a second, before replying, “How do you know about the basic mana shield? And why do you want me to practice it? I thought you weren’t going to help?”
He stands up and steps out onto the stone pathways in between the dorms. “I only said I wouldn’t fight for you, not that I wouldn’t help you. Now let us move to a more open space.”
With that he turned and walked into the open plaza in between all the dorms. I got up and followed him, still curious as to why he wanted to see my mana shield.
“Well?” He asked. He stood in the middle of the plaza his arms crossed observing me.
I focused inward and sought out my mana. I then cleared my mind and willed it out. Forcing it to surround me and condense. No runes were needed for this type of magic. Instead this was all about how well I could manipulate the raw power itself. I pictured a bubble in my mind’s eye, condensing and hardening such that no amount of magic or brute force could make its way through. When I was finished the air around me seemed to shimmer, the mana itself distorting the light.
“Good,” I hear Riros say, “Now do your best to maintain your shield.”
I watched as Riros casually bent over and seemed to pick something up off the ground, I tried to get a better picture, but as soon as he straightened up I heard a loud crack and watched as a single solitary crack seemed to form in my mana shield.
“What was-” I tried to say to Riros, as another cracking sound echoed out. Only about a foot away from the other crack, was another crack in my shield. I could only watch slightly horrified as another crack appeared above the first two. Soon more and more percussive blasts started to ring off my shield as more and more cracks appeared.
Not having time for questions or to even discern what he was doing, I closed my mouth and gritted my teeth, willing even more of my mana to condense into the shield, trying to strengthen it. I struggled like this for the next five minutes, pouring more and more effort into maintaining the shield against this percussive onslaught. Every time I saw a crack appear, I felt it in my head, a constant barrage that threatened to overwhelm and collapse the rigid picture that I had in my mind.
As it was building to a crescendo, I felt something give way. All of a sudden that rigid picture in my mind was shattered. I felt the mana around me disperse as I sank to my knees. Breathing deeply I stopped my fall by supporting myself with my hands. Sweat ran down my face and soaked my clothes. My whole body ached from the constant effort that was required to manipulate the mana.
I felt the ground shake as Riros walked over to me. Turning my head to look up at him, I saw him standing there one hand holding a small pile of pebbles. The other lightly tossing one of the pebbles up, before catching it in his open palm.
“Not bad,” he said, “I didn’t expect you to last that long on your first try.”
I just stare at him for a few moments longer trying to catch my breath. Finally I respond to him by asking, “Were you trying to kill me?”
Tossing another pebble into the air, he replied, “No, I was holding myself back, if one of these pebbles had gotten through, at the most it would have only broken a few bones and maybe punctured your skin an inch or two.”
I shuttered a little at the image that brought to mind, “So how does you attacking me with pebbles and threatening to seriously maim me help me?”
“You wouldn’t have been seriously injured.” He replies, I notice the corners of his mouth twitch upward in a slightly constrained smile. “But to answer your question, this helps by conditioning you to using and maintaining a constant conscious control over your mana. Something that if not constantly pushed can have serious repercussions if you were to step into that duel unprepared.”
At this point I pick myself shakily off the ground. Wiping the sweat off my face I start heading back to the dorm. I continue talking to Riros though, “But the Academy does a pretty good job of making sure we learn how to control our magics, that’s why we take several hands-on classes, rather than just learning the theorems.”
I felt him start to follow me back as he said, “Obviously, but that’s why it’s even more important that we continue to push your limits and test your control.”
I pause to turn back and look at him, “Wait, we are going to continue doing this?”
“But of course, you’ve got roughly a week until the duel. By the time we get to that duel, controlling you magic will be the least of your worries.”
I stare at him a moment longer squinting my eyes slightly before moving back toward the dorm. Once there I notice that Ceorn Cera is standing at the edge of the dorm holding a bowl in her hand. When I get close enough, she offers the bowl to me.
“Thanks?” I say to her.
She nods her head, then takes a moment to draw in a deep breath before launching into her first litany of questions, “That was so COOL! I had just come down the stairs to see what was going on, when I start hearing these cracking sounds, and at first I was worried, but then to my surprise I looked over to where the sound was coming from and there you two were! It was really impressive watching the way your shield managed to hold up against that onslaught from Riros. Riros what were you even doing to create that effect? You weren’t even moving from you spot, yet you put so much pressure on Salaria.”
Once she shifted to Riros, I moved past her and sat down at one of the table under the dorm to eat the offered food. Ceorn Cera continued to talk to Riros for another couple of minutes before Riros finally got her to quiet down. He moved to lean on one of the columns of the building, He looked out at the rest of the plaza seemingly studying it. When I had finished eating he motioned for me to join him once again out on the field.
Riros
I was surprised by Salaria’s recovery rate. After another 3 sessions of flicking rocks at her I got a much better grasp on her basic abilities. Besides a very large mana pool, I was pleasantly surprised to find that she had a quick recovery rate, she seemed to absorb almost 2 and a half times as much mana as most of the other people at her level. She had a decent endurance that helped to keep her standing through each of the sessions. Not to mention her inquisitive mind was good at adapting under pressure.
Even if she does get lost in her own questions sometimes. I chuckle to myself.
My chuckle earns me a frown from Salaria. She stares at me for a moment before turning back to the lesson in front of her. We were once again back in the Apprentice Level Summoner’s Class. I noticed curiously that the Professor from last time was not actually there. Instead another younger looking summoner was currently discussing uncommon pairings and actual rune orientation. I had been listening in the beginning, but most of what they were discussing was fairly familiar to me. While the whole methodology was new, I still didn’t understand why they didn’t consider creating matrices to organize the runes, or even use lines to channel the runes power. However that was a matter for another time.
I was interrupted in my musings by the appearance of an older looking black-haired individual. He stepped into the room interrupting the lecture and motioned for the stand-in professor to come to him. There was a brief discussion before the stand-in returned to his spot in the front and called out to the class.
“Calamacy-vim, the Headmaster would like to have a word with you.” he said. I noticed an immediate spike of emotions start coming from Salaria, the most notable being fear, anxiety, and guilt. She took a second to compose herself before nodding her head.
“Let’s go.” She says to me. We both stand up and she heads down to the older gentleman with the black hair. As we approach he steps outside the classroom holding the door open. Salaria slips by him, but it is a much tighter fit for myself. As I squeeze past him into the hallway outside, my shoulder brushes past him. However instead of making contact and causing him to stumble away like happens most of the time, I feel a brief crackle of energy and my shoulder is actually repulsed. I stare at the man briefly before continuing on. I make a mental note to myself to keep on eye on him. The amount of control and power that it took for that man to even attempt to stop my momentum means that this individual is most likely on one of the higher tiers of this society.
Outside of the classroom, It is fairly quiet. The hallways are completely empty and quiet. Once we’re all outside and the door is closed Salaria turns toward the man and gives a short bow.
“Headmaster-fa.” Salaria says. “What did you wish to speak about?”
The Headmaster stared at Salaria for several moments before he gave out a sigh. “Salaria-vim, I imagine you already have several very good ideas as to what I would like to talk to you about.”
I watched as Salaria hung her head a bit and started to fidget in place. “Right, this is about the duel isn’t it?”
He nodded his head and passed a hand over his weary face. “Why is it that we can’t go 2 weeks around here without you riling up some kind of trouble.”
Ah, I nod to myself, that’s why she feels guilty.
The Headmaster continued, “This time it seems that you’ve put yourself in an even more precarious position.”
Salaria nodded her head, her eyes slightly downcast.
“Normally, I would just give you the normal talking to about actions and consequences, but it seems you really stepped into it this time. I have been asked by several Chancellor’s to the Thrones and even the Phoenix Prior to intercede in this duel and void it.”
Salaria’s eyes widened as she heard the news. Before she could ask a question though, the Headmaster continued.
“However, the Ivy Royalty herself has weighed in also, and informed the rest of the Royalty that she would be rather displeased if anyone were to interfere in simple duel.” He finished.
I watched as Salaria looked crestfallen for a moment before shaking her head and grinding her teeth. Curious I asked a question to the Headmaster.
“As I’m not familiar with the current political situation, why does it matter if the Ivy Royalty is displeased?
The Headmaster turns to me, “Riros is it? Your understanding of our language is quite impressive.”
“I’ve had a long time to learn many languages, learning another is simple. However don’t dodge my question.” I answer watching the shrewd calculating eyes of the Headmaster.
We watch each other for several moments his own eyes attempting to peer past my facade and discern more. “An enigma for sure.” He mutters. “Rarely do we ever see a summon with such intelligence. Never before a humanoid. Hmmm…”
“Headmaster-fa,” Salaria says, “please answer Riros’s question. You’re going off on a tangent again.”
“Indeed,” the Headmaster mutters looking at Salaria before turning back to me, “How familiar are you with the Royalty themselves?”
“They are the rulers are they not?
“Very much so. Each Royalty is a ruler of one of the Thrones of people that were brought into the fold of Eldesaria. Currently there are 5 thrones which make up the Royalties; the Phoenix Throne, the Onyx Throne, The Brass Throne, the Cinder throne, and of course the Ivy Throne. While the Thrones represent the clans, they also represent the Royalty themselves. For the Royalty are only considered the Royalty, because they are the strongest of their throne. The situation starts to become complex when you consider that all the Thrones are considered equals, so the Royalty themselves are considered equals. However as you can see this is about as far from the truth as one can be. As the Royalty themselves have varying degrees of power. Some of the Royalty are considered more powerful than others due to their size and number of ranks that their Throne contains. While some of the Royalty just ARE more powerful than the others. For various reasons the Thrones have aligned themselves into three camps. Let's start with the Ivy Camp. the Ivy Throne, they are one of the most populous of the Thrones and are the Throne that is considered by have the largest majority of upper ranks. Following them is the Brass Throne who are the largest of the Thrones, and whose land Lothelen currently resides in.
“The opposite camp is lead by the Cinder Throne and is the newest Royalty to be folded into Eldesaria. However they are quickly becoming one of the most powerful due to some new branches of magic they are bringing into the fold. The Onyx Throne supports them. The Onyx throne are considered the mid level powerhouse, their current Royalty is a Dolveran, which is surprising considering that generally only a Nelselph reigns as the Royalty.
Lastly we have the neutral camp, which is the Phoenix Throne. They are the smallest Throne out of all of them, but their Prior is considered the most powerful of any Prior or Royalty. Although there is some mystery behind the Phoenix Throne, ever since her ascension, no one has seen the Phoenix Royalty.
“In anycase, “ the Headmaster says pausing to take a deep breath, “all of this matters because the people who asked to have this duel called off are from the Cinder Throne. Normally for duels like this the Royalty never get involved. However since relations between the two camps are currently strained the Ivy Royalty is most likely seeing this attempt to mess with the duel as an afront to her power. Please keep in mind though that I cannot speak for the Ivy Royalty, so I’m not sure exactly what her reasoning is.”
“Is this purely political?” Salaria asks.
The Headmaster looks at her, “It seems to be mostly political, if you’re referring to the fact the Tlassel Klass is her grandson, then I suppose you have a point. Although there is a lack of evidence to corroborate that.”
“Oh?” Salaria asks.
“Others have withdrawn from duels with the Tlassel before, and she had never interfered.” The Headmaster replies.
“So if the duel can’t be canceled, why have you come here in the first place?” I ask.
The Headmaster’s eyes flick back to mine before he addresses Salaria, “I mainly wanted to make sure that you were aware of what was transpiring behind the scenes Calamacy-vim. I did also want to give you a note of warning, to be careful of Tlassel Klass, as he is as well-connected as he is proficient at mage-duels.”
As he delivered that last part of the warning his eyes turned back to me with a deeper meaning behind them. I saw it only briefly before he turned away from the both of us and started walking down the hallway. “Good luck!” He yells waving a hand in farewell.
The two of us stand there watching him both of contemplating everything that he told us. I glance down at Salaria as she stands there chewing slightly on her lower lip, a slight look of consternation on her face.
A smile crosses my own, as I think to myself, This is going to be fun.