Interlude

The days that followed Roden and Errrkkkk’s day of sparring necessitated a break in training as the dojo needed to be recast and Roden couldn’t draw a single iota of magic from the magi-sphere.

Riakon had been bewildered by the aftermath of their fight, but Roden remained tight-lipped and Errrkkkk refused to let out so much as a chirp as to how the fight concluded.

The following days saw Errrkkkk take a more hands on approach to Riakon’s training. Roden even took part in helping prepare Riakon for dealing with ranged attackers.

Since Riakon added his elemental breaths to his offensive repertoire, his missing magic was less apparent, but still greatly affected his ability in close range fights where he previously specialized. Instead Riakon had become an armored tank with limited medium ranged attacks and steady close range damage. The addition of a shield while being able to wield his big hammer certainly helped offset his lack of smiting blows as he took less damage and could trade blows for longer; they all knew it wouldn’t be enough to bring him back to the same level he was before.

Errrkkkk made it a point to pepper Riakon with rapid strikes during their sparring sessions. From Roden’s perspective, it seemed as if Errrkkkk wanted Riakon to be prepared for fighting small groups of fast moving creatures. Which when Roden put some thought to it, made a lot of sense.

There was no question if Riakon could handle blocking big slow attacks. It was going to be the fast and frequent attacks that would give the big Dragonkin trouble.

Roden couldn’t help, but admire Errrkkkk’s methodology in training. He came off as happy-go-lucky at times and always had a determination about him when it came to a challenge, but when it came time to training Errrkkkk was very deliberate.

Riakon, for his part, took on Errrkkkk’s tutelage as seriously as Roden had ever seen him. When Errrkkkk said run, Riakon ran. When Errrkkkk told him to stand there and block the chi blasts he was going to shoot at him Riakon did that too, without complaint.

Much of the three weeks they had while they waited for their meeting with the court mage was spent getting Riakon ready for whatever mission was to come. It was clear that everyone was worried about Riakon’s ability to live up to what the group needed from him.

Even Miriana voiced her concerns in private during one of her and Roden’s nightly games of chess.

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“So how is Riakon’s training going?”

They were in the middle of the game and the question caught Roden off guard.

“Oh umm well, it's pretty good I think. Errrkkkk is really working him over.”

Roden made his move setting up his queen and bishop to secure her pawn only defended by her king.

Miriana frowned at his maneuver, “do you think he will have him ready by the time you boys are going to set out again?”

She defended her pawn with her light squared bishop, which Roden promptly traded off with his own.

“It’s hard to say…Even I don’t know what is coming next.” Roden gave her a look of uncertainty in an attempt to convey his intended message.

“Oh, hmmmm. I suppose that would make that a difficult question to answer.” Her mouth twisted up as if she had eaten something sour.

It was then Roden recognized the expression for what it was, “are you worried about us going off?”

Miriana bit her lip and pouted ever so slightly, “that obvious?”

“No, but it was an easy enough conclusion to arrive at given I think we are all nervous about it, including Riakon.”

A thought bubbled to the surface of Roden’s mind, “ya know, couldn’t Zamira do something about his situation?”

Miriana shook her head, “no, the boy has lost all connection to the divine. He has been cut off from the divine matrix.”

Roden raised an eyebrow, “what the fuck is that?”

Miriana furrowed her brows, “well, essentially every person’s spark has an inherent connection to the magisphere and by extension the gods. For a divine magic user, their magic is filtered through their god and then given to them through a connection based on faith, belief, and commitment. When Riakon broke his oath that connection was severed.”

Roden thought on her words, “wait, but then–”

Miriana halted his statement with a stern look and a finger to her lips.

‘Right right, even the gods can’t know.’

Roden tried a different angle, “does that mean his spark isn’t drawing in magic anymore either?”

Miriana gave him an approving look, “no, he still has the aptitude to be an adventurer so his spark still draws in ambient magic, he just lacks the ability to do anything external with it. He could give up entirely on being a paladin and train to use his magic in other ways, but he’d be limited in how much magic he could divert toward that endeavor and it would take a long time.”

They each played a few more moves, the complexity of the game overtaking their ability to multitask. When Miriana forced a trade of queens Roden rolled his eyes,

“Draw?”

Miriana smiled and offered her hand across the board. “agreed , draw.”

They each moved their kings to opposite colors as was the custom.

“Why do you always play for a draw?”

Miriana smiled, “when you’ve already won the most important game you’ll ever play, it's more fun to play by a different set of rules.”

“Sounds like more melodrama to me.”

Miriana looked at him annoyed, “I was hoping it would sound like motherly advice.”

Roden rubbed his chin in an exaggerated scholarly pose, “I’ll be sure to keep it in mind.”

“You do that, maybe it will come in handy.”

It was Roden’s turn to look annoyed, “ya know, whenever you say shit like that, I lose sleep.”

Miriana snorted and shrugged, “it can’t be helped.”

That night Roden laid in bed for what felt like hours unable to sleep.