Try as he might, Roland could not prevent them from stumbling down the stairs, causing a large amount of noise as they went. He tried his best to keep his body between Aldric and the ground, or at the very least making sure he did not land on top of the frailer man. When the falling stopped he found himself on his back at the bottom of the stairs. In front of him, Aldric was haphazardly clinging to the railing, his body almost horizontal as his feet remained on the stairs. Next to him, on her stomach propping herself by her elbows, was the girl that caused their sudden collapse.

Her golden eyes were frantic as she tried to right herself. Aldric held on for deal life as he slowly inched his body back upwards along the railing. Roland found righting himself an easy task, pressing off with his feet and rolling backwards till his feet touched the ground, then simply rising. He extended his hand to the girl, who wearily accepted, before going to assist Aldric. As soon as all three had their bearings, they recalled the task at hand and immediately looked at each other apprehensively. The girl was the first to drop her guard as recognition dawned on her face.

“Why are you here?!” she gasped, pointing a finger towards Aldric. She shoved by them and looked down the hall, before grabbing both of their wrists and quickly moving up the stairs.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Aldric demanded, trying in vain to get free from her grip.

“The High Priestess will be livid if she finds you here,” the girl said. “Unless you want to face her, move faster.” Neither of the boys needed to be told twice, picking up their pace. The girl led them up the stairs and down a hall to her room, located at the end. “Quickly, hide!”

Again, they did not need to be told twice. Aldric quickly rolled under the cot, his scrawny frame the only one in the room that could fit. Roland moved frantically, unable to find a spot until the girl opened her wardrobe and motioned for him to enter. He dashed inside and had the door closed behind him. Moments later they heard the door open, followed by an unfamiliar voice asking whether the Saint was alright. In a surprisingly measured tone, she responded that she was fine and that nothing was amiss. The intruder took her word and left. For a few seconds only their racing heartbeats were audible.

“You two can come out now,” she said. Aldric and Roland untangled themselves from their hiding places and joined her in the middle of the room.

“You are the Saint?” Roland asked, wide-eyed.

“My name is Seraphina,” she said, scowling. “The church calls me the Saint, but so far I have not lived up to that title.”

“Fix me,” Aldric said bluntly, shoving his hand toward her.

“What?” she asked, confused. Roland took Aldric’s arm and forced him to lower it.

“Aldric, show some decorum,” he scolded. “You should address the Saint with respect.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Aldric spat back. “She needs to fix me.”

“Did I break you?” Seraphina asked, looking at her hands in shock.

“No,” Roland said, trying to ease her nerves while fighting back against Aldric’s attempt to free himself.

“Yes,” Aldric insisted, presenting his other hand, which Roland promptly grabbed and lowered. “I want my magic back.”

“Aldric, stop it,” Roland grunted, trying to keep the smaller man in check. “Calm down and kindly explain to the Saint what is going on.”

“I don’t care if she’s the queen,” Aldric scoffed. “I want my magic back.”

“You do not care?” Seraphina asked, her tone brimming with hope.

“No!” Aldric said before Seraphina slammed a hand over his mouth.

“Quiet!” she hissed. “Do you want us to get caught? How irresponsible-” Her sentence promptly ended in a yelp of disgust as Aldric licked her hand. “What is wrong with you?”

“I want my magic back,” Aldric repeated, his tone more measured.

“Why would you lick me?” Seraphina asked, disgusted, searching frantically for something to wipe her hand with. Roland let go of Aldric to pull a kerchief from his pocket and offer it to her, which she gratefully accepted.

“Saint, please forgive him,” Roland said, bowing.

“Do not call me that!” Seraphina barked. “My name is Seraphina.”

“Give me back my magic, Seraphina!” Aldric demanded, saying her name with a heavy measure of disdain.

“Aldric, be quiet!” Roland snapped, levelling a finger at him. “Why are you so unbearably insistent?”

“Because it’s all I have!” Aldric yelled, reaching his fever pitch. The room instantly froze. Silence hung over them while Aldric gathered his composure. When he spoke again, his voice was hardly above a whisper. “That power… it’s all I’ve ever had. Please, Seraphina, I need it back.”

“That is not true,” Roland said, putting a hand on Aldric’s shoulder. “You do not need your power to earn the love of your friends and family. They are at your home, waiting for you. That is not nothing.” Aldric looked down, refusing to meet their gazes. The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by Roland’s monosyllabic understanding. “Oh.”

“The Archmage offered to make me his apprentice,” Aldric explained. “If I can’t use my magic, he has no reason to keep me here. I don’t have anywhere else to go. If I’m chased off without my magic...”

“I do not understand,” Seraphina said. “Why do you think I took your magic from you?”

“It was only after you and the High Priestess healed me that I couldn’t use it anymore,” Aldric said, his voice quivering slightly. “I can still feel it, burning in my chest, but it won’t listen to me. It’s like it’s trapped..”

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

“I do not know what I did,” Seraphina said, much to Aldric’s dismay. “The Archmage told me that your kiln was shattered and that I repaired it, but I have never done anything like that before.”

“You all keep saying that!” Aldric shrugged off Roland’s hand and took a step back. “Kilns, lenses, I don’t understand. I’ve never needed anything like that to use my magic.”

“That is not possible,” Roland said, his brow furrowed. “Even I know the fundamentals of magic.”

“You of all people should know how possible it is,” Aldric said. “You faced me, and you felt my power. She took that from me, and now she needs to give it back.”

“She just told you, she does not know what she did,” Roland said. He paused for a moment, letting his words swim around his mind. Then he turned to Seraphina. “How could you not know? You are the Saint.”

“I am not the Saint!” Seraphina barked. Again all three froze, listening for anyone approaching. As soon as they thought they were safe, she continued. “Everyone keeps telling me that. I do not even know what it means! I have studied every single story, every tome, every trace of the former Saints’ lives. They were so incredible, and I am not. I have never even healed someone.”

Roland glanced between Seraphina and Aldric. Both of them put on strong glares, but he could tell how uncertain they were. Neither wanted to fight the other, but they could not see any other choice. Roland knew if he did not mediate the conversation it would get out of hand quickly.

“Both of you, please try to calm down,” he said, lifting up his own hands in surrender. “I am sure none of us mean each other harm. Aldric, the Saint… Seraphina did not intend to seal away your magic, right?” Seraphina nodded. He turned to her. “As for you, you claim to have never healed someone, but Aldric is walking proof of your power.”

“I just made it worse,” Seraphina insisted. “Look at him now!”

“You didn’t make it worse,” Aldric said, his tone softening. “I’m sorry, I should not have gotten so angry at you. What happened during the fight had never happened before. It’s possible that it would’ve killed me if you didn’t help. I’m grateful for that, but… please, Seraphina, I need you to try to give me my magic back.”

“Can you do that?” Roland asked her. She hesitated for a moment, glancing between the two boys. Instead of the usual weary, half-expectant and half-resigned stares that were usually aimed her way, she found their eyes brimming with faith and trust.

“I can try,” she finally said. She sat down cross-legged on the floor, and the other two followed her lead, Aldric sitting directly across from her with Roland at their side. “I have never tried something like this. I do not know if it will work, but I promise I will try my best.”

“Your best is enough,” Roland said, and Aldric nodded in agreement, although his eyes spoke to some disappointment. Seraphina tried to look past that. She reached her hands out, gesturing for Aldric to do the same. He complied and held his hands out for her to take.

“Ow!” she yelped, quickly yanking her hands back from their brief contact.

“What’s wrong?” Aldric and Roland asked in unison.

“It burns!” she said, shaking her hands violently. “What are you?!” She grabbed onto Roland’s arm. “He is not like this! No one else is! What is going on inside of you?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know it would-,” Aldric said, pulling back.

“It is not your fault,” Roland said, quickly taking control before their emotions spiralled out of control again. “Seraphina, what did you feel?”

“There is so much…” she said. “I have not felt anything like it. Magic is calm, it flows like a river, but his, it’s like…”

“An inferno,” Aldric finished, his eyes boring into the ground.

“Exactly,” Seraphina said. “It felt like I was touching steel fresh out of the forge.”

“It was not like this when you healed him before?” Roland asked.

“No, then it was… it was like a spiked rat,” she said. “It scurried all over his body, and it was hard to get close to. Something has changed.”

“It doesn’t hurt anymore,” Aldric said. Seraphina and Roland turned to face him, silently prompting him to continue. “I’ve always felt this heat in my heart, but when I was young something happened. I almost died, but the fire came out. It saved me, but it burned. Ever since then, it’s been burning. Every moment of every day, it burned in my chest. I learned to live with that pain. To use it. I channelled the fire along the paths it seared into my body that night, and my power grew, but I could never stop the pain. Some nights it felt like I would trade anything for it to go away, but now that it’s gone…”

“I understand now,” Seraphina said. Roland nodded. Aldric looked at her, expectantly. “That night you almost died, your magic did not awaken, it broke. Your kiln must have been damaged somehow, and raw magical energy filled your body.”

“The Archmage said your kiln was shattered,” Roland continued. “It probably weakened over all this time, and during our fight, it finally broke. Your body was being torn apart by unfocused mana.”

“I don’t know what that means, Roland,” Aldric said. “Mana, kilns, I don’t understand any of it.”

“I do,” Seraphina said. She stood up and grabbed a book from the shelf by her desk, and handed it to Aldric as she sat back down. Aldric stared down at the tome, unable to meet her gaze. “Open it.” In response, Aldric mumbled something inaudible.

“What did you say?” Roland prompted.

“I don’t know how to read,” Aldric said, averting his eyes even further. Seraphina was dumbfounded. She had no idea how to react to his words. Roland, on the other hand, did not miss a beat. He reached over and took the book, speaking as he moved.

“The Archmage will be able to explain this better than I can, but I can assure you that your magic is not broken, Aldric. He will explain to you how it all works.” This prompted Aldric to meet their eyes once again. “I have seen the spirit that dwells within you,” Roland continued, putting a hand on Aldric’s shoulder. “I have no doubt you will become an incredible sorcerer, and you will not need to do it alone.” He glanced to Seraphina, who nodded her silent agreement. “You will not ever be alone again.”

“What if I can’t learn fast enough?” Aldric asked. “There will be others who want this position. If I can’t compete against them…”

“You still will not be alone,” Roland assured him.

“I have never cared for this room,” Seraphina added.

“You are both mad,” Aldric said, chuckling softly. “We’ve just met. You can not stake your futures and standings on backwater trash. You owe me no allegiance.”

“Perhaps not,” Roland said, rising from his seated position. The other two followed his lead. “But that has not stopped me before. Now come, we should leave before we are caught.”

“I suppose you should,” Seraphina said, more than a little disappointed. “I doubt I will be seeing you again. After I snuck off to see the tournament they have kept me under lock and key.”

“We’ll just break in again,” Aldric said, smiling at her. She smiled back, but her smile quickly turned to a frown.

“I just realised, I never learned your names,” she said.

“Roland Wainwright,” Roland said, bowing slightly. “I hail from the city of Soldeset.”

“I’m Aldric,” Aldric said, with a little less confidence. “I do not have a last name. I lived in the forests of Valexia.”

“I am Seraphina,” she greeted in turn. “Because of my title, I never learned my last name either.”

“We should leave,” Roland said, stepping to the door. “But we will meet again.”

“Surely,” Seraphina said, unconvinced. The two men waved as they left, and she watched them skulk down the hall until they disappeared around the corner. She closed her door, blew out her candles, and collapsed onto her bed. Her boring day had become quite eventful, and now for the first time in her life, she was truly excited about what tomorrow might bring.