Scar walked down the rest of the cobbled path to the end of the courtyard, opening another set of double doors. He led the initiates down a corridor that took them to a collection of doors and sculpted decor. Scar stopped at the first door to the left and knocked on its dark and engraved wood.
“Come in!” shouted a muffled voice from the other side of the door.
Scar grabbed the handle of the door and pulled it open, gesturing for the initiates to enter. One by one the recruits trinkled into the class. The class room was wide and filled to the brim with greenery. Vines, exotic plants, and herbs lined the shelves and stone walls of the class. Even the teacher had a flower in her hair.
The tables were formed into a circle with a small cut in between each table, likely for the teacher to move freely throughout the room. Each set of tables had a stone mortar and pestle set neatly on a piece of white cloth, perfectly centered on each wooden table.
“Ah, wonderful! You’re all here. Please take a seat!” The woman said, gesturing at her circle of tables, happily.
“Thank you for being so patient, Gwenneth. I know we are late.” Scar said.
Gwenneth walked along the stone floor towards Scar, almost as if walking on air. She placed her delicate hand on Scar’s steel cuirass. “You’re quite alright, Paragon. Now go, leave them to me.” Gwenneth said with a smile.
Scar bowed his head and left the room, leaving Gwenneth to close the door behind him. Gwenneth then turned to look at her class that sat patiently on the chairs provided to them.
Each initiate sat with their assigned group, but because the tables were only big enough for two chairs to be side by side the groups had to pick tables close enough to one another. Wigyur took a seat next to Akaro leaving Arneth and Iris to begrudgingly sit next to each other.
The teacher slipped past two tables to walk into the center of the circle. All eyes now laid on the beautiful woman.
Gwenneth wore a long and dark green dress with white stripes at the cusp of her wrist and elbows. Her sleeves were loose and long, leaving a stretch of fabric hanging down from her forearm to her waist. She was a beautiful woman, with short red hair tucked behind her ears.
“Hello class! You all must be so tired from training, but do not worry. I have something fun we can do today!” Gwenneth clapped her hands excitedly. “But before I get carried away, I would love to introduce myself. I am Seer Gwenneth, of Landel. Also known as the Green Seer. I will be your teacher and guide, alongside your Paragon.” Gwenneth explained.
The moment after her introduction, Gwenneth wasted no time in hurrying to one of her shelves grabbing a large wooden box. Excitedly she hurried back to the tables with the box in her arms. She went to Akaro's table and lowered the box to reveal a pile of blue glowing stones stacked on one another in the box.
Akaro looked in the box to see the stones. He looked at the seer with a slight tilt to his head. As if wondering what she wanted him to do.
“Take one my friend.” Gwenneth whispered.
Akaro hesitatingly grabbed one of the glowing blue stones. Wigyur waited his turn to grab another, then Iris and finally Arneth.
Gwenneth walked around the room with the box until each and every initiate had one sitting in their hand.
Gwenneth then returned to the middle of the room and placed the box on the floor next to her feet and took one of the stones into her hand.
“In my hand is Ikorum’s most valuable resource. Yet, it has been deemed criminal by the Pact of the Peoples Order. Does anyone know why?” Gwenneth asked, glancing around the circle of students.
The initiates all stared at one another. Hesitation in some, while shyness in others. Until a soft voice spoke up. “My father told me it's outlawed because the stone protects only its holder.”
It was Jacob Crofen, one of Edalia’s team members. Jacob was short and young with a face as smooth as a baby’s bottom. Honestly, it was hard to tell if he was still a teenager or an adult. Jacob’s hair swirled around in a bun to the top of his head, a hairstyle that is popular with the men of Summerview.
“Yes, that is part of the reason it's outlawed!” Gwenneth said, excitedly pointing at Jacob. “Because of the stone’s value, everyone wanted to excavate them. However, not everyone knows the correct way to extract these stones, rendering them useless. For generations, quarries and mines of this stuff went to waste because of greed.” Gwenneth explained.
Gwenneth stepped to one of the tables, placing her stone into the mortar “But then, we found a more efficient way of harnessing the Ward. This single stone could now be used to protect everyone in this room with a simple formula.” Gwenneth took the stone pestle firmly into her hand and slammed it into the blue stone, cracking it.
“And that is what I am here for. To show you how to do it properly, like the Seers. A Warden of the Veiled must be able to properly utilize this knowledge.” Gwenneth placed the pestle next to the student and turned to walk back to the center of the circle.
“Alright everyone. Place your stones in the mortar that I have placed on your tables. Once you do, take the pestle next to it and smash the stone until it becomes nothing but a shiny blue dust.” Gwenneth ordered.
On command, every student grabbed their stones and did what they were told to do. The room was overtaken by the sounds of loud banging. Gwenneth meanwhile, walked around the room to watch the initiates carefully. Helping out wherever she could.
Time flew by as the initiates crushed the stone under their pestles. Some slower than others, Iris crushed her stone rather quickly for a girl her size. Arneth smashed his stone into pure powder, no residue of the stone was left. Akaro smashed his pretty well, stopping a little before Iris finished hers. While Wigyur took the longest to smash his, simply because his pestle kept slipping off the stone’s smooth surface.
Team Valdya did well leaving no graveled bits in their powder. Gwenneth looked into their mortars and was rather surprised how well it was done. Leaving the table with an approving thumbs up.
However, this could not be said for the entirety of the class. Team Astone, Team Gables, and Team Denyar failed quite miserably. Gwenneth was not one to scold her students, she instead believed students learned through trial and error. All while being supported by a guiding hand.
“The stone must be crushed into a fine powder. If chunks and bits are left behind, the powder's effects will not be as potent.” Gwenneth stepped next to Arneth and scooped a handful of his powder from the mortar, showing it off as an example to others. “This is how it must look before it is approved by Seers to be used.” Gwenneth explained.
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“Now for the next step.” Gwenneth said, reaching into her sleeve, pulling out a small amount of red substance held between her fingers. “This is fire salt.”
Gwenneth sprinkled the fire salt into Arneth’s mortar, then mixed the two substances in with her finger. She reached over towards Iris and grabbed her stone pestle along with Arneths. Gwenneth held the two pestles right above the powder, and with one swift motion she lifted one of the pestles and dashed it across the other causing a spark.
The spark instantly lit the powder ablaze, the heat of the blue flame caught Arneth and Iris by surprise causing the both of them to flinch.
“Aha! Isn’t it beautiful!?” Gwenneth said, admiring the beauty of the crackling blue flame that sat perfectly in the mortar. “Now. Fire salt is not necessary to light the flame. However, it is required in cities like the Capital because of its longer lasting effects.” Gwenneth explained while she walked around the table of circles. “Any questions about today's lesson?”
The class was quiet. Hesitantly a hand was thrown into the air. It was Edalia. “Can you tell us about Aberrants?” she asked.
The moment the question rang into everyone’s ears, the class fell into a sort of somberness. Silence ate away at Edalia’s nerves. Gwenneth stared at Edalia for only a moment. She then glanced around at the other students, noticing the complete focus on their faces. This was a subject most of the class was interested in.
“Hmm. What can I say? The Aberrants are the reason we Wardens exist. Any army can fend off the Veiled Ones. But it takes a special kind of warrior to fight off an Aberrant,” Gwenneth’s entire mood shifted. Her tone swelled with seriousness.
“Aberrant’s are cunning, and dangerous. They can be disguised as your banker or even your next door neighbor. Only to wait for the perfect moment to slaughter your families. A pure evil.” Gwenneth said to no one in particular. A thousand yard stare paved across her face with each word she spoke.
The class listened carefully to what she had to say. Not a single word was spoken from the students lips as they all were enamored with what she had to say. The stilled focus of every student was broken when a knock was heard at the door.
“Come in.” Gwenneth said.
Scar opened the door, followed by the sound of clanking armor. He stopped at the entrance to stare at his initiates. He scanned the room until he locked eyes with who he was looking for.
“All of Team Gables. You are hereby dismissed from your training. You are to be sent home immediately, pack your things,” Scar ordered
The leader of Team Gables pushed his chair out from under him in outrage. He stood in place behind his desk and glared at Scar, his emotions getting the better of him. “WHY!?” he yelled out.
Scar calmly stepped to the young man, getting into his face. Scar stood at around the same height as the initiate, yet the young man stood his ground, glaring back at Scar. “Raise your voice at me again and you will learn why they call me Scar,” he said clearly, so he was not misunderstood.
Without taking his eyes off the young man, he pointed at the chair that was tossed to the ground. “Pick. It. Up.” Scar commanded.
The initiate’s cheeks brightened to a light red, and his eyes became wet. It was clear he was overcome with emotion, rage and sadness both. The young man turned and grabbed the chair, propping it back onto its legs.
Scar took a deep breath, breaking his glare on the stupid initiate. He then turned his attention to the other two team members of Team Gables who sat at the table next to him.
“Henrick passed away in the infirmary. You three will be going home.” Scar said, with a much darker tone to his voice. “As for the rest of you. Class is over. Return to your chambers.”
Every initiate did as they were told. Some lingered behind to talk in the courtyard while others hurried back to their chambers.
On the way back to their chambers Arneth broke the silence between Team Valdya. “I can’t believe that kid passed away.” Arneth said.
Wigyur, Iris, and Akaro all stopped in place under the shade of an oak tree. Each of them turned around to look at Arneth.
“And they are kicking out his whole team for it. Only on the second day.” Akaro followed up.
“We should go pay our respects.” Arneth said as if looking for the team to agree. However, not everyone seemed on board. Iris turned around and continued walking.
“You got somewhere better to be?” Arneth shouted out to Iris.
Iris turned back around to stare at Arneth, her bright blue eyes were cold and lacking any emotion. “You know how you can help pay your respects? By graduating.” Iris took several steps towards Arneth, raising her chin up to look him in the eyes.
“I will not go and pretend like I cared for him. I will not weep false tears, and neither should you. Instead you should concentrate on bettering your mastery of Sword and Mind so that you may never have to mourn another soul ever again.” Iris spoke in a cold tone, but it was the only one she knew. The same tone her own father spoke to her when she was a child.
The four fell silent, Arneth was at a loss for words. Up until this point he believed Iris was nothing but a cold hearted Ivorian, but he sees now that he was mistaken.
“Iris. Why did you want to become a Warden?” Wigyur asked, breaking the silence and tension between Iris and Arneth.
Iris turned her attention to Wigyur the moment he asked the question. She opened her mouth but words could not form, her tongue was twisted at the very thought.
“You didn’t volunteer, did you.” Wigyur stated. He didn’t form it as a question because the answer was clear to him.
Iris took a deep breath but couldn’t look Wigyur in the eyes. She instead retreated. She left the three and went back to her chambers leaving them without an answer.
Akaro curiously watched while Iris left. He turned back to Wigyur and furrowed a single brow. “What do you know that we do not?” he asked.
“I know no more than you. However, I, myself, am not a volunteer,” Wigyur paused “I guess you could say I see a bit of myself in her, she seems…lost.”
“You’re a criminal?” Arneth asked.
“That I am,” Wigyur said unashamedly followed with a shrug, “I’ll admit it. I was in a thieves ring operating in the Reaver isles. I was eventually captured in Eldermire, and the High’lord there sentenced me here.”
“Hrm, a light sentence for a thief. If you were Ashkelli your hands would have been fed to the hounds while they were still attached to you,” Arneth explained.
“WHAT!?” Wigyur shouted in utter disbelief. He heard stories of how terrifying the Ashkelli of the Ash Mountains were but- this was extreme.
Arneth let out a thunderous laughter from the bowels of his belly. He laid a hand on Wigyur’s shoulder shaking the skinny man. “I’m kidding you! We don’t actually do that. My goodness you should have seen the look on your face!”
Wigyur’s face shifted from shock to his usual resting face in a split second. With a grunt he pushed Arneth’s large hand off his shoulder, “not funny, Arneth.”
“It was a little bit funny..” Arneth said, wiping a tear from his eye that formed from laughing so much.
Akaro listened intently to the two but he couldn’t help but think about Iris and her reaction to Wigyur’s question earlier. “And you think she too was sentenced here?”
Wigyur turned his attention from Arneth to Akaro “well, seeing as to how she reacted when I asked her, I would say there is a big possibility she was,” Wigyur explained with a slight shrug of his shoulders.
Akaro couldn’t help but feel sad for Iris. He was curious as to what she could have been possibly sentenced for but because of her reaction earlier he knew it was a topic she didn’t want to discuss. Yet it added to the mysterious allure that attracted him to her. He wanted to know more about her and why she acted the way she did.
Wigyur interrupted Akaro who was deep in thought with a question. Akaro blinked several times at Wigyur whose lips were moving, yet he couldn’t quite hear what he said the first time.
“Heeeellloooo? Akaro?” Wigyur said, waving his hand dramatically in front of Akaro’s face.
“Huh? What? Sorry, what did you say?”
“I said, do you want to come and do some sparring with me and Arneth over by the mustering field?” asked Wigyur, “might as well get some training on our down time.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Akaro muttered with a smile.
The three left the courtyard, but little did they know they were being watched the entire time. From the tallest tower of the Citadel.