“Come, do it again,” Marlin said.
Erik sat on the stool in the training hall and waited for Marlin to prepare the next trial. The prelate was standing off to the side, as he had the past two days, watching. Marlin created twenty replicas of himself and all of them moved, walking around Erik quickly, to confuse him. Erik watched the Marlins pass by for a few moments and then he closed his eyes and fell within himself again. He went deep into his soul and found his power. It was not an emotion, as he had thought when he began this training that gave him the power to discern truth. It was the reason he trained, the fact that he felt others were in danger and counting on him to succeed, that gave him the power he needed. He opened his eyes and all of the false Marlins were gone.
The real Marlin turned to the prelate. “Do you see?” Marlin asked.
“Quite remarkable,” the prelate said. “I have not heard or read of anything of this nature.” The prelate walked forward and nodded to Marlin. “Let us see what he can do with both of us combined.” An instant later there were over one hundred people in the training room. Half of them were in the image of the prelate, and the other half looked like Marlin.
Erik didn’t have to close his eyes this time. He had already tapped into his power, and so he was warmed up and ready to go. He waved his hand and all of the false images vanished. He was again alone with just the real prelate and Marlin looking at him.
“Remarkable,” the prelate said again. “Move on to the last three trials, he is ready.” The prelate began to walk away and then he turned back to face Marlin. “He is more than ready,” the prelate added.
“What are the last three trials?” Erik asked after the prelate left.
“They are designed to help the trainee fuse combat skills with the ability to discern truth,” Marlin replied. “Follow me into the next chamber.”
Erik rose from the stool and walked behind Marlin. The two of them passed through another golden door to stand in a room filled with strange machines. Erik puzzled at them as he stepped into the room. Large, wooden maces dangled from ropes attached to poles. Erik quickly realized that this was a type of gauntlet, an obstacle course for him to cross.
“Stand where you are, and don’t move until I tell you too,” Marlin said. Marlin then walked across the room and pulled a lever on the far wall. The poles began to spin, swinging the wooden maces out. Erik quickly realized that there was no clear path between the contraptions. No matter where he went, he would be hit by the maces. “Now, you must learn to use both your natural eyes, and your spiritual eyes,” Marlin said. “This trial is completed once you reach me and shut the machines off with the lever.”
Erik looked through the blur of twirling weapons to see the lever that Marlin had pulled to start the test. “Do I get a shield or anything?” Erik asked over the whirr of the machines.
“No,” Marlin said.
“Great,” Erik muttered to himself. He suddenly found himself wishing that he was back at Kuldiga Academy dueling with the other apprentices. He slowly inched forward, trying to discern which maces were real. His hair whipped to the side as a mace grazed his head. Erik jumped back with a yelp. This was not a child’s game, he thought. He focused on his power and waved his hand. All of the maces remained. If these weapons were illusions, the magic that made them was much stronger than the magic used in the previous challenge.
Erik focused all of his mental strength on his inner power. He knew that he had to clear out the illusions in order to see the correct path to take. He mentally held onto his reason for training and then loosed his power on the machines in the room. All of them remained. There was no path cut out for him. He didn’t know what to do. He could try to wield his power as he ran through the gauntlet, hoping not to get slammed by one of the swinging weapons, or he could wait for the answer to come to him.
“Come, Erik,” Marlin called out over the din of the machines.
Erik looked to his left, then to his right. He burst into action, running straight into the fray. He unleashed his power with every step, but none of the maces or poles disappeared. He ducked under the heavy sweep of one mace and then sidestepped just in time to dodge another. He jumped straight up, grabbing one of the ropes and swung with it around the pole. He looked ahead and realized that the poles were all placed in such a way that the maces of nearby poles meshed with each other like giant cogs of death. Erik held his breath. He was about to enter the range of a nearby pole.
A mace came soaring at him, but he dropped from the rope just in time to avoid it. He rose to his feet and dashed in a zigzag pattern. He allowed some of the maces to glance off of him, knowing that he couldn’t dodge them all. One of the maces caught his leg and flung him to the floor. He slammed hard onto the wooden planks, but he kept rolling, using the momentum to propel forward through the room.
He flopped to his stomach and used his elbows to crawl forward, just under the reach of some of the maces. Erik heard the things whizzing by his head as the machines twirled above him. He was almost there. He took heart, gathered his courage, and unleashed his power again. Still, none of the maces disappeared. Erik rolled to his back, taking a glancing hit on his shoulder as he did so, and watched the two poles nearest him. He mentally timed their rotation speed. He had to time his move exactly right. He waited for two more cycles before he jumped to his feet.
Up he went. He sprang left, then right, then somersaulted forward. His movements were quick as lightning. The maces spun furiously around him, but none touched him. Finally he was across. He stood next to Marlin, panting heavily.
“Thought you could outsmart me eh?” Erik quipped. Marlin smiled and nodded. Erik reached up and pushed the lever back into place. A clicking sound echoed over the roar of the twirling poles. Erik smiled and turned back to Marlin. “None of the maces are fake. They are all real.”
“Very good,” Marlin replied. “But not good enough.”
Erik looked out to the poles. They were still spinning. Slots opened up in the floor and bamboo poles shot out from below, as though an army of spearmen had come alive under the wooden planks. Erik looked back to Marlin and felt his face flush when he realized his mistake. He used his power and the false Marlin vanished. Erik searched through the blur of spinning weapons and saw another Marlin standing on the side of the room, next to another lever.
Erik started to walk forward, but then he thought better of it. He used his power and again Marlin disappeared. No one was in the room with him. Erik looked up and all around, but no one was there. He unleashed his power a final time and then Marlin came into view. The man was standing in the doorway that they had entered through. Erik realized that Marlin had never left his side.
“Sometimes you must be able to discern when others are leading you into a trap,” Marlin called out. “You must be able to tell the truth from all lies. You let your guard down, and because of this, you believed what your natural eyes showed you. You believed that I had crossed the room, but I never did.”
“I know,” Erik shouted angrily. “I get it. But it’s over now right? I know that you are the real Marlin, so how do I make this contraption stop so I can get back to you?”
“I’m sorry Erik,” Marlin said with a shake of his head. “I told you that this trial would only be successfully completed once you reached me and pulled the lever.”
Erik couldn’t believe it. Somehow he had to find a way back through this mess; that now included the bamboo poles coming out of the floor. This was going to hurt, a lot.
*****
Lady Dimwater stepped through the magical portal and stood in front of the gates of Kuressar. Before she could announce who she was an angry guard shouted a warning to her. She dismissed it and approached the gate. She was not in the mood for games this day.
“Open the gate and tell Lord Hischurn that I have returned, as promised,” Lady Dimwater announced.
“I ain’t gonna open the gate for you, miss puppet of the kingdom. Lord Hischurn gave us orders to turn you away,” the guard shouted back down.
Lady Dimwater looked up at the gatehouse and saw that this guard was not the same she had seen previously when she had Erik along. This man was different. “I will give one warning to you, and then I will open the gates myself,” Dimwater threatened.
The man held his arm up and shouted orders to his men. “Kill the witch!”
“Wrong answer,” Lady Dimwater said under her breath. A hailstorm of arrows flew down at her. She waved her hand and they all turned away from her, carried on magical wind to places far away from her. She muttered an ancient spell and the gates burst open in front of her. Wood and iron split and creaked against the strain of the spell, but there was nothing the guards inside could do to shut the gates again.
Men charged out from the inside with swords. Lady Dimwater shook her head and blew a kiss at them. A gust of wind knocked each soldier to the ground. The men rolled across the dirt. Their armor clanked and fell apart and their swords slid away from them.
A cloud gathered at Dimwater’s feet and lifted her up into the air. Arrows continued to fly at her, but none of them ever got close. She scanned the battlements of the wall and then summoned forth a gale so powerful that all of the archers were swept from the wall. Only the captain remained in place in the gatehouse, but that was what she had intended.
Lady Dimwater floated down beside the hard faced man and smiled slyly. “I am an agent of King Mathias,” she said. “I gave you a proper warning.”
“Do your worst, witch,” the captain hissed. “Not even you can defeat what is inside this castle.”
Lady Dimwater arched an eyebrow. There was something in the man’s tone that unnerved her. She snapped her fingers and all of the wind stopped. Every soldier and archer froze in place, as if turned to stone. She knew the paralysis spell wouldn’t hurt the men, but it would buy her time to interrogate this captain. “Pray tell, captain, what is inside this castle that I should worry about?”
“It’s too late,” the captain said with a grin. “You can’t escape now. Jerutho already knows you are here.”
“Jerutho,” Dimwater repeated the name. Suddenly she realized that the name belonged to a powerful warlock. Jerutho was an associate of Tukai. “All the better,” Lady Dimwater said confidently. “I shall have the pleasure of disposing of two traitors today instead of one.” She winked at the captain and he fell lifeless to the ground.
Lady Dimwater walked to the back of the gatehouse and looked down into the courtyard. Her paralysis spell had affected not only the soldiers and archers, but also chickens, street vendors, and even a bard in the middle of his song. She gathered her cloud again and floated out above the scene.
The castle keep was made of gray granite. Its single tower rose fifty feet into the air, affording a grand view of the valley below to anyone who looked out the top window. Down below her a grand, sweeping staircase led up from the courtyard to the front entrance. The door was made of wood with iron plating for added strength. As she looked down at the door, it opened and out walked a man in black robes.
“Ah, Lady Dimwater,” the man said. “Nice to see you.”
“Take a good look, warlock, for I will be the last thing you see on this plane.”
“Oh, I think not,” the warlock said. “Tukai may have fallen by your hand, but he was not the strongest member of our order. In fact, the others are in play right now. We have had our eyes on you for a long time. You, and Master Lepkin too.”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Enough talk,” Lady Dimwater said. She sent a spiraling tornado of flame down to consume the warlock. The flames roared through the air and engulfed the man, and part of the entrance as well.
Suddenly the flames died out. Smoke rose from the stairs, but the warlock stood tall. “That is a nice trick. I’ll have to use that the next time I attend a feast and the boar is undercooked.”
Lady Dimwater sent a bolt of lightning from her left hand. The magical energy slammed into the warlock and knocked him back into the wall next to the door. “How is that?” Dimwater asked slyly.
“Good,” Jerutho said. “That one actually tickled.” The warlock rose back to his feet and waved his hand. A wave of energy slammed into Lady Dimwater and her cloud. She was flung back into the top of the gatehouse. “Perhaps it is time for you to stop looking down on people,” Jerutho called out. A magical force wrapped around Lady Dimwater and brought her down to the courtyard. “There, that’s better.”
Lady Dimwater dispelled the magic with a snap of her fingers and sent a psionic blast at Jerutho. He held out his left hand, palm facing her, and the spell reversed course and struck her with its force. Lady Dimwater fell to the ground on her back.
“I expected more from the legendary Lady Dimwater,” Jerutho scolded. He clapped his hands twice and all of the soldiers and archers were freed from the paralysis spell. “How will you deal with this?” The soldiers all quickly rearmed themselves and prepared to strike.
The men raced toward her. She clambered to her knees and uttered the words of a charm spell. As she finished the words all of the men within a forty foot radius of her stopped in their tracks and turned on the other soldiers that were still charging. Steel rang against steel. Bloodcurdling screams erupted as some of the soldiers felt the sting of death.
Lady Dimwater stood once again and regained her composure. “I underestimated you, Jerutho,” she said. “But you will not walk away from this battle.”
“No, Lady Dimwater, I won’t. I already know that,” Jerutho said. “I accepted that fact long before you stepped through that magical mirror of yours. But, I promise you that you will not leave this courtyard alive.” Jerutho clapped his hands again and a slew of Blacktongues poured into the courtyard. There were well over two hundred of them. “Blacktongues are immune to charm spells, witch,” Jerutho said.
Lady Dimwater steeled her nerves. She knew that there was likely no way out of this. Still, she kept a few tricks up her sleeve. She clapped her hands and all of the air around her erupted in an invisible fire. The magic flames leapt out, following her outstretched hands and taking down men by the dozens. The souls of the men were ripped from their bodies, adding strength to the invisible magic flames.
Lady Dimwater snapped her fingers and Silverfang appeared at her side. She whispered a command to him and the wolf bounded off, ripping at enemies as he tore through the throng. The wolf and the fire took down three score men before Jerutho could react. Finally the warlock moved to counter the fire spell by summoning forth a torrential downpour from the previously clear skies.
Water fell down in heavy sheets, drenching everything in the courtyard. Lady Dimwater’s dress clung to her skin as she walked toward Jerutho. Her magical fire roared around her, cremating any soldier or Blacktongue that got too close. “Foolish warlock,” she chided. “Water does nothing to the Flame of Souls.”
Jerutho’s face turned red. “You can’t possibly control such a spell! It is beyond your grasp.”
Lady Dimwater flicked her finger at Jerutho and one of the invisible flames licked his face, making the skin burn intensely. “What is your opinion now?” she asked. “Does the spell seem to be beyond my grasp?”
“But, that spell can only be cast by a Shadowfiend!” Jerutho howled as he clutched his face.
“So they tell me,” Lady Dimwater said with a sly smile. She finished Jerutho with another flick of her finger. Then she turned her attention on the rest of the courtyard.
Blacktongues had overtaken all but a handful of the men she had charmed. She worked fast, sending the flames around the charmed men, protecting them from the Blacktongues. The fire grew more intense with each new victim it claimed. Soon it swallowed the rest of the Blacktongues and only the few charmed soldiers remained. The fire extinguished itself, as it had no more fuel to use.
Lady Dimwater slowly sank to her knees, breathing heavily. She called the charmed soldiers over to her. She could hear the clanking of armor coming toward her as the soldiers rushed to obey.
“What can we do, milady?” one of the soldiers asked.
“Carry me back to the front gate, where my magical portal stands. I must flee.”
“Yes My lady,” the soldier said as he hefted her into his thick, muscular arms. The other soldiers formed a protective ring around Dimwater as shouts erupted from inside the castle keep. A howl drowned out the shouting for a moment, and then died down. Lady Dimwater perked up and looked around the man carrying her to see the door. She exhaled only when Silverfang leapt through the doorway. Blood streaked across the animal, some was undoubtedly its own, she knew. The beast bounded up and placed an amulet in her waiting hand.
Lady Dimwater pulled the amulet up and smiled weakly at the sight of Lord Hischurn’s blood on the golden image of a ram. “The traitor is dead,” she said to no one in particular. She waved her hand and Silverfang was dismissed back to his home plane.
An arrow took one of the soldiers in her escort down to the ground. The shaft protruded from the man’s back. A hail of arrows assailed them as archers poured out of the keep. Lady Dimwater was too weak to stop the arrows. She reached up and grabbed the face of the man that carried her.
“I need to get home,” she pleaded. “Don’t stop running, even if you are hit with an arrow.”
“I won’t stop milady,” the man promised. At that instant another man in the escort turned and leapt behind the man carrying Dimwater, taking an arrow in the chest and buying Dimwater a few additional precious seconds.
As they passed through the gateway two more men fell out of the escort. Lady Dimwater felt a sudden jolt and the man carrying her lurched forward a bit. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he had been struck. She thought it was over, but true to his word, the man didn’t stop running. He reached the magical portal and shoved Dimwater inside. He then turned around and spread himself over the portal, ensuring that no arrows could follow Dimwater through it.
The blinding light of the portal passed in seconds and Dimwater found herself lying on the floor of her study. She hoped she would be safe enough to rest and recover. She barely managed to summon Silverfang before darkness clouded her vision and she slipped into unconsciousness.
*****
“Why have you asked to speak with me, Marlin?” the prelate asked.
Marlin regarded his superior with respect. The energy of the man’s aura was intense, almost blinding in fact, as the prelate had just finished meditating in his private chamber. “Forgive me for disturbing you, but I must speak with you about Erik.”
“I heard he actually made it through the gauntlet,” the prelate said evenly.
“Yes, he did. He also made it back through in order to shut off the gauntlet,” Marlin replied.
“Most impressive,” the prelate commented. “I have not seen nor heard of the likes of his power in all my years at the temple.”
“That is why I must speak with you,” Marlin persisted. “We can not allow Erik to take the Exalted Test of Arophim.”
“Good heavens, Marlin, why not?” the prelate demanded. “Do you have any idea what gathers against us right now outside these temple walls? Do you understand that Nagar’s Secret is being sought after by our enemies?”
“With respect,” Marlin began. “The boy is indeed powerful, but he has no control over it. The exalted test will rip him apart.”
“Nonsense,” the prelate countered. “The boy has a pure enough spirit, I’ve seen it. The test will find him worthy of the gift.”
“I must remind you that the test does not simply look inside and find a person pure or impure. It also tests the limits of that person’s natural powers. Erik has a great gift. In time he may learn to control it, but if we rush him into this his power will be unleashed in full. It would be a miracle if the experience only made him mad, but I fear it will tear him apart.”
“Your fears are irrelevant, Marlin,” the prelate replied. “The boy must take the test. There is no other way for him to become the Champion of Truth. You know this, Marlin. Use your head.” The prelate walked forward and poked Marlin in the chest, hard. “I am sorry that you have grown fond of this boy, but he has a destiny of his own. He must be allowed to fulfill it or we will all die.”
“What if he dies?” Marlin asked.
“Then he is not the right one,” the prelate replied soberly. “Men have come before who have failed the exalted test. They were also killed. Why do you think I allow this?” the prelate demanded. Marlin said nothing. “I allow it because small sacrifices must be made in order to save the whole of the kingdom. This boy must take the test. If he has power as great as you say and he dies, then maybe it is just as well that he is not alive when the power of the book is unleashed on us all.”
“He is just a boy,” Marlin replied. “He doesn’t understand the things that are happening.”
“Alright Marlin,” the prelate said quietly. “If you don’t want the boy to pass through the exalted test, find me another candidate. You and I both know that the Champion of Truth must be named in order for us to have any chance of overcoming the forces of darkness that are massing against us. The boy is our best hope right now. He will take the test, even if he doesn’t want to.”
“Forgive me, but I can not allow this to happen,” Marlin said. The prelate turned away for a moment. His energy coursed yellow and orange. Marlin knew the prelate was becoming very angry. Orange was the color of anger. “I gave my word that I would not allow him to be tested unless he chose the test of his own free will,” Marlin explained. “I must act in accordance with temple laws.”
“That was a promise you had no right to give,” the prelate said. The orange energy grew brighter.
“The Ancients commanded us to never subject any to the test unless the candidate willingly chose to go through it and was prepared. I am afraid that Erik will not choose to go through the test, and even if he did choose it there is no way I can prepare him for it in days. His power will consume him.”
“You will do as I tell you to do,” the prelate replied. “The boy will go through the test. That is final. I am willing to accept the risks to him because the risk to us all is much greater. The commandments of the Ancients must bend from time to time.”
“I can not let that stand,” Marlin replied evenly.
“Watch yourself Marlin, I am still Prelate here. I will not tolerate dissent.”
*****
“Is something wrong?” Erik asked Marlin when he entered the training room. Erik could see the tired expression on Marlin’s face. He knew there was something nagging at him.
“Nothing I can’t figure out for myself,” Marlin replied. “Don’t worry about me right now. We have another challenge for you today.”
Erik nodded. He was tired of the challenges. The past week and a half had been more grueling and taxing than any one month he had spent with Master Lepkin at Kuldiga Academy. Erik waited on the stool as a slew of temple guards filtered into the room. Each of them carried rattan swords.
“What is this?” Erik asked.
“There is one last task that you must learn before the test,” Marlin said. “I will explain this one plainly. There are twenty temple guards. All of them are armed with rattan swords. You must select fifteen of them. Once you have made the selection, the fifteen chosen guards will leave the room. The other five will remain in this room with you.”
“What is the catch?” Erik asked.
“Fifteen of them have been instructed to attack you, and the other five have been instructed not to attack you. After you have chosen and dismissed fifteen guards, the five remaining guards will reveal themselves. If the five that remain are the correct guards, the ones who have not been instructed to attack you, then you pass the trial. But if even one of the five remaining guards has been instructed to attack you, you fail that trial.”
“Is that it?” Erik asked. He sensed that there was more.
“If any of the five remaining guards are the wrong guards, they will attack you with their rattan swords. You are not wearing any protective armor, and you have no sword, so this would be a grave mistake on your part. You may defeat the guard in combat only by making him fall to his back or stomach.”
“If one of the remaining guards is the correct guard, may he help defend me?” Erik asked.
“No, but he may give his sword to you.” Marlin walked toward the door and folded his arms. “Remember, if you choose wrong, the guards will attack you with full force. They will stop only once you are on your back. Choose wisely. You may begin when you are ready, and take your time. No guard will attack until after the fifteen have been dismissed.”
Erik sighed. He tried to harness his power and search out the room around him. First he checked to see if all of the guards were real. They were. Then he checked to see if Marlin was really telling the truth and standing by the door. He was. There was no lie in the instructions. There was no trick with the number of soldiers. The trial was as straightforward as Marlin had promised. There was no magic to defeat here. Erik had only to look into the hearts of the guards.
Erik concentrated his mental energy, trying to discern the intent of each guard. He looked in their glazed eyes. He tried to feel their intent with his mind, but nothing worked. He studied all of the guards for more than three hours before he made his first selection. The selected guard bowed his head and rushed out of the room. Erik hoped he hadn’t just made a mistake.
The process continued painfully slowly. It took Erik six hours to select the fifteen guards he wanted to dismiss. Once he had each of them selected five stood before him. He prepared his body for a fight if need be, all the while praying to the Gods that he had chosen right. Rattan swords were made to be non-lethal, but they could easily pound him into oblivion in the hands of these guards, he knew.
One guard fell to his knees, dropping his rattan sword on the ground in front of him. Erik let out a sigh of relief, but it was short lived. The other four suddenly rushed forward, hacking and slashing their rattan swords at him.
“Sword!” Erik shouted as he somersaulted away from the four attacking him. The kneeling guard slid his sword to Erik. Erik jumped to his feet and launched the best defense he could. He never connected with any of the other guards. He was on his back in less than ten seconds, squirming around on the floor. Welts and bruises were already forming where he had been struck by the guards.
“Enough,” Marlin shouted to the guards. They all instantly backed away from the boy and the other fifteen returned to the room. “Erik, I am sorry to do this to you, but there are still two hours left in today’s training session. We will repeat this trial as soon as you can stand.”
Marlin walked over to Erik and located the areas of the boy’s aura that glowed red. The priest hovered his hand over the red spots and sent his own energy, green energy, into the boy’s aura. The green slowly pushed the red away and healed the boy’s hurts. When Erik’s aura had been repaired, Marlin stood up and pulled Erik to his feet.
“How did you do that?” Erik asked.
“It is a healing method that can only be taught to those with the gift of True Sight,” Marlin replied. “Perhaps if you take the test I can teach it to you.” Erik nodded his head. Marlin took the rattan sword away from Erik. “I will need to give this back. Also, you should know that the guards have different assignments based on the trial attempt. In other words, a different five will be friendly to you this round.”
“This is going to be a long night,” Erik muttered softly.