From the Gate, he was led inside. The building was as immense inside as out, though it was quiet and only a few people passed by as he walked through. The guard from the gate had led him in, past other guards and through the grounds. The front areas were all paved, mosaics of pictures similar to those that had hung in Sir Finebrook’s manor covered much of the open areas, surrounding fountains whose clear water sparkled. A path between led up into the building. Inside all was marble, the hard boots of the guard sounding loud as they struck against the ground and echoed in the large room. For seeing so few people, Martin had to wonder why everything was built on such a large scale.

The guard brought him to a large desk, and another man, clad in a red uniform, looked up as they approached.

“Sir,” the guard escorting him began, “a newly awakened, brought here by a Gate Keeper.”

The man nodded and inspected Martin, taking him in as he stood there. His eyes lingered on Martin’s clothes which seemed to pass muster and stood up.

“Come with me, Awakened. I will take you in.” He said nothing more but just started walking. Martin hastened to follow, as the man led him through a small door that stood at the end of the large entry hall. Immediately he felt far more comfortable, the roof was lower, the hallways comfortably smaller, though still large enough for three to walk abreast. The floor was wood rather than the marble outside, his footsteps no longer resounding as much. The man said nothing, just proceeding to a wooden door set in the wall. A small brass plate with one word on it adorned the door making the office's purpose clear “Placement. A brass knocker below sat below, which his guide grasped and knocked forcefully, coming to stand at attention as he awaited an answer. Martin wondered if he should also but before he could emulate the man the door was opened, and a short and slight man stepped out. The guide nodded, did an about-turn, and left, leaving Martin standing there, looking down at the man who came barely to his waist.

“So.” the voice was high-pitched, almost a squeak. He walked around Martin, examining the youth who towered over him. He looked at the broad shoulders and muscled arms and seemed a bit surprised. He stroked the long moustache that hung down to below his shoulders and looked at Martin confused.

“Come in, we will talk inside.” The small man walked into the room, his office as could be seen upon entering and sat behind a desk with a few papers neatly stacked on it. “Sit.” He waved vaguely and Martin took a seat on the opposite side of the desk. For a while the man was silent, scribbling on a sheet of paper he had pulled out, occasionally glancing at Martin.

“What are you?” The man looked at him again, clearly puzzled.

“Sir, I am not sure what you mean. I am just a blacksmith from the village at the Covenant of Tears. Though the Magi have taken me in and say I am now a mage.”

The man scribbled some more on his paper, looking at Martin again. “Yes, yes, that is all well and fine. But what is your affiliation, to whom were you awakened? Which of the Powers has claimed you?”

Martin was confused. He had heard the Magi say he was awakened, but more than that he did not understand. He looked at the man confused, wondering what answer he was expecting. The man looked back, waiting, his head lowered but his eyes looking up at Martin.

“Well, Awakened?”

“Sir, I do not know what you mean. I was only awakened yesterday, and the magi have yet to explain anything to me.”

“Typical,” the man snorted, leaning back in his chair, his fingers steepled in front of him. “Send the newly awakened out and expect us to tell them everything. Listen, Awakened, when you were awakened you saw someone, they would have told you who they were, agreed to take responsibility for you and left their mark on you. Normally I would have expected someone like Tith the soldier, Shard the swordsman or Fure the weaponsmaster to lay claim to you. But I detect none of their energy on you. Remember anything like that, Awakened?”

Left a mark on him? Immediately Martin thought of the man, the Hammer and Anvil symbol left on his chest.

“Yes Sir, he called himself Hiphate the Smith.”

The man’s face broke into a huge grin, his smile broad across his entire face. “Hiphate the Smith? None have been awakened to him before. Sure, some are awakened craftspeople but none by Hiphate! It is always an occasion when a power chooses to Awaken its first follower!”

“A new power? Is Hiphate a power? The Magi at the Covenant seemed to know that it would not be one of those they were associated with but that it would be associated with the Sword Mage.”

“Is Hiphate a Power? Yes, and one that we would call a major one though he has never before Awakened anyone. It was astute for the Magi at your covenant to recognize that they were dealing with a new Power and to be able to assess what realm he would be close to. Still, it does leave me in a quandary. Where do I place you? It’s not like there are others of your Power that I can call on to mentor you.”

He got up and started rummaging through the files and papers on the shelves and in the folders around him. Martin could only watch, and when there was another knock the man just stuck his head out shouting, “Wait!” before returning to the files.

“Well, not perfect as they are not of your Power, but theirs should be complimentary to form a team. He wrote something onto a sheet of paper and rang a bell. He relaxed back in his chair. “Thank you, Awakened, for your patience. You cannot believe the histrionics of some who sit there, especially those whose parents are awakened and expect special favours.” He finished speaking as the door opened and the red uniformed man standing there at attention. The paper was handed over and Martin followed his new guide, past two others that were sitting there with guides of their own, waiting. Both glanced at him curiously but said nothing. As he walked away, he heard one of them being taken in and the other one muttering, “Hope this is quicker than the last one.”

***

The room he was led to was smaller than his one in the manor, but just as well furnished. It was one of four coming off from a centre lounge area. One of the other rooms seemed occupied, but the door was closed. He spent time in his room looking around. He was surprised that the contents of his bookshelves and cupboard in the manor seemed to be here, though some new outfits had been added to the clothes. With his new reading skill, he took a better look at the books on the shelves, reading along the spines and saw they covered a wide variety of topics from history to mana, to runes and their uses. Intrigued by that, and the fact that the description for his rune skills said that not everyone had it, he pulled the book out, looking at the cover.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Basic Rune Patterns and Patterning by Prian The Artificer, Awakened of GriIl the Runekeeper. He scanned through it, seeing pages of drawings for various shapes, some on their own, others combined into other shapes or even what looked like sentences. Going back to the front of the book he started to read.

The most fundamental rule that any rune smith must learn is precision. A misplaced line, one too short or too long can all affect the efficacy and efficiency of rune work. This places a great burden on the rune smith. Not only must they be able to craft the item with which they will work, but it is necessary for them to be an artist and a calligrapher and to understand the nature of substances so as to know where a rune will be effective, where to place it to enhance its work, and what will interfere and prevent its proper application.

The purposes of this book are many. For one, it will familiarise you with some of the basic runes and how to pattern them to best work with others. There are many other runes out there for you to discover. Some of your fellow magi or friendly craftspeople will be willing to teach you new ones, for a price, of course, others you will need to discover for yourself.

Another of my aims through this volume is to give an understanding of how these runes work with basic materials. As with the runes, many other materials exist, mundane, magical, alchemical and elemental. Experimentation is key to understanding these interactions, and I will attempt to enlighten as to the best experimental methods, and some basic safety precautions to be taken.

A knock at his door distracted Martin. He got up and opened it, finding three others, a boy and two girls standing at his door, all looking to be near to his age, or so he thought. They were not all human and his heart beat fast and hard at the thought of the non-humans and what expectations they would have of him, and how they would behave!

“Come one out, we seem to be grouped together so we thought we should get to know each other.” One of the girls, far shorter than him was standing there, looking at him. Her hair was cut short, and her face was pretty, though not he felt anything approaching the beauty of Jenny. She was wearing a leather shirt and pants and a pair of daggers, one on either side, was strapped to her belt. The other girl was the image of a fairy princess from one of the bard’s tales. Almost his height, but thin, giving the idea of something feathery about to float off, the image aided by the thin gossamer wings coming from her back. Long blue hair flowed down her back and shoulders, a small face, almost mousey looking and light grey in colour completed the otherworldly look. Next to her stood the other boy of the three of them. He stood taller than any of them, at an estimate Martin thought him to be two and half metres in height, and with the shoulders and muscle to match. What surprised him the most and made him take a step backwards was the wolf-like face, the muzzle showing sharp teeth coming out. He wore clothing like his own but had a sword strapped to his side. A longsword much like he had helped Master John craft for the guards, double-edged with a fuller down the middle to reduce weight. It looked plain, though sturdy.

He stepped out, closing his door behind him. He would be living in close proximity with these four. He did not know for how long, but surely it would be best to be on good terms. So, he smiled and did his best to look friendly and not show his nervousness around the wolf man or at the strangeness of the fairy. He almost betrayed his nervousness when the wolfman grabbed him and pulled him forward, dragging him into the lounge area.

“So, looking good there. Strong for a human though not as strong as us Gwathur.” He laughed as he dragged Martin to a cabinet off to one side, opening it to reveal a row of bottles. “Now just look at this. They have given us or very own liquor cabinet, and I intend to sample them!” His tongue came out, licking his lips and across his incisors that were sticking out. “Come, you will drink with me of course! Us warriors should stick together!”

Marti smiled weakly, “Umm, I am not a warrior but a smith.”

The Gwathur laughed, “We are all warriors, we just fight in different ways. Though my father and the pack would have been most dissatisfied if I had awakened to someone other than Shard the swordsman.” He continued pouring a golden liquid into two glasses, passing one to Martin.

The fairy girl came up behind them, filling a long, fluted glass with a pale purple liquor. The other girl cleared her throat and the Gwathur looked at her, “What for you?”

“They got anything without alcohol there?”

“Spoilsport,” the Gwathur teased, but drew out a bottle of some orange liquid, with pulp floating in it. He poured it into a tumbled and handed it to her.

“To being awakened and chasing back the dark.” The three all drank, and Martin followed suite, though he did not understand the toast that had been given. He knew what being awakened was but could only surmise that the dark must apply to those he saw depicted in the pictures fighting against the humans and others. The alcohol was stronger than he was used and burned as he swallowed.

The four sat down in the comfortable chairs, the fairy taking a cushioned stool which avoided her wings, the Gwathur draping himself over a couch. Martin sat in a wooden chair, he felt comfortable in it and it reminded him of home. The last of them, the other girl, took one of the thickly padded armchairs.

The day wore on and they sat together drinking and eating food they found in another cabinet. The Gwathur introduced himself as Hurnith, a Swordmage from the pridelands of his world. The fairy introduced herself as Gwyneth, though she referred to herself as a Fae born, not liking the term fairy when Martin used it. She declared herself awakened by Timora, the aspect of wind and that her abilities centred around wind magic and manipulation The last of them, the other girl was Kilia, awakened by Delir and said her powers were those of a scout and centred around stealth. At that Hurnith laughed, declaring that everyone knew that the Awakened of Delir were nothing more than thieves. The insult was not lightly taken, Martin and Gwyneth had to step in to prevent a fight from breaking out. The others looked at Martin, waiting for him.

“I am Martin. A smith, awakened of Hiphate.” The others went silent, the room deathly still. Hurnith looked at him, appearing almost shocked.

“You are awakened by Hiphate himself?”

“Yes, though since I am new to all this and don’t know much, I would love to know why everyone keeps acting as of this is such a big deal.”

The three looked at him and then by a silent consent, Gwyneth started speaking.

“Martin, what you need to understand is that there are many worlds, connected by the gate realms, to the realm of the Fae and all are threatened by the dark. Those we call the Powers touch on people, the awakened, and gift them special abilities to fight against the dark. The powers are not all equal. Generally, they are divided into the greater, major, middle, lesser, minor and least. Those touched by the least are not admitted to the academy, their abilities are too low to survive in battle. At each rank of power, the abilities of the awakened are greater than those below, able to draw more of their Power’s aspect into what they do.”

She paused looking at the other two.

“I would guess we have grouped together because all of us are awakened by Powers who are of Major rank, all except you. Hiphate is one of the greater powers. As if that is not rare enough, for few are awakened by the Greater powers, you are the first to be awakened by Hiphate. Lesser smith powers have Awakened serving them, they create many items of power that are used in the battle. Even those Awakened by the Lesser Smith Powers are lauded for the support they give, for the power they lend with their creations. What can we expect of the Awakened Smith of a Greater Power, that is the question all will be asking.”

Martin looked at them, at their faces and felt guilty. He could feel no great power within, nothing of what they expected. “What do people expect? Two days ago, I was merely an ordinary smith, now I find that I am meant to be something great. I am just me, Martin, journeyman blacksmith.” He felt panicked, the weight of expectations falling upon him.

He got up and went to his room, closing his door behind him. He heard the others talking as he left, no doubt about him, but he could not face them or their expectations. Instead, he locked his door and immersed himself in something he would never have expected, the comfort of books.