The journey back to Haven, while not technically quicker, felt so. The air of awkwardness had disappeared between Alina and me. Or at least the awkwardness I had felt disappeared.
There wasn’t much time for discussion, though, as we rode hard with only one small break to sleep, and everyone else seemed far too tired to converse. The silence may have bothered me if I hadn’t been so lost in my thoughts.
What the thoughts were was difficult to say. They twisted around everything I didn’t know about the world, about the Empire, about the Kingdom, and the White Mages. I was beginning to desperately wish for some time in a library to get a relative accounting of this world. A basic course on history for the last hundred or so years would be killer at this point.
On the afternoon of the second day, we came over a hill and finally laid eyes upon Haven.
In the evening light, the city glimmered like a spear point as it stabbed into the sky, and in normal circumstances, the sight would have taken my breath away.
Unfortunately, my thoughts were very simply on getting a bath.
The guards gave no trouble to us, though with Lord Balar and Alina, that wasn’t so much a surprise. The horses were stabled, and we began our trek up through the city. Passing through the evening-shaded streets, I was caught off guard again at the sheer amount of life in the city.
Magic flashed, the scent of sweet and buttery treats, a roasted spicy smell of roasted meat.
It would be hard to tell. I thought that this was in a Kingdom at war.
We continued over the grey, well-kept stone, climbing ever upward through the streets until finally, we arrived at a gate in front of a large castle that almost impossibly seemed to be formed of one smooth stone where no creases could be seen. The castle had three large towers centered around its main construction. The stone gleamed impassively in the from lamps placed about.
At the gate were two guards standing at a representation of attention.
“Lord Balar, Lady Dellar,” one of them called out, “What can I do for you this evening?”
Lord Balar nodded in a seemingly jovial greeting, “We are expected. Can you let us in?”
The guard eyed Lord Balar and Alina carefully for a moment before he shared a look with the other guard, “Yes, of course. Do you need an escort?”
Before Lord Balar could respond, Alina did, “No.”
The guard looked somewhat nervous, but he nodded his head regardless. He went to the gate and tapped it with his gauntleted hand.
The gate shimmered green and then began to raise on its own accord.
We walked forward, though I noticed the guards eyed me somewhat warily as we passed through. We entered through the high-arched entrance and stepped into a great hall, which I had little time to examine as we quickly took a right down another hall. Smooth, seamless stone seemed to stretch on forever, and to my eyes, I could see small engravings abounding the hallway, stories of an unfamiliar world pasted along the walls.
What was fiction and what was true was just another question I had.
Alongside the engravings rested magnificent paintings that seemed to shimmer with color. Some portrayed great battles against massive creatures with several draconic hands. Others portrayed seemingly peaceful meetings between Elves, Dwarves, Humans, and the occasional White Mage.
I had seen artwork before in my first life. I remembered some of it. Yet this art seemed so much more. To have an impossible vibrancy and even a sense of motion that shouldn’t be possible.
We walked through the hallways empty except for the glowing specs of light along the walls, illuminating our path in a warm yellow light.
The silence was getting to me, I would admit. Yet, breaking that silence was beyond my courage.
We walked until we arrived at a door guarded by two more human guards, but these guards had silver half-cloaks draped over their shoulders and gleaming silver armor and looked impossibly alert, given that I guessed they had been standing there for hours on end.
“Lord Balar, Lady Alina,” one of them spoke in a gravelly voice, “What can I do for the both of you this evening?”
Lord Balar inclined his head, “We have just finished a mission from the Council and must report to the King.”
The same guard responded, seemingly impassive as a stone, “The King has little strength to receive something that is not of the utmost importance. I trust that the both of you know this.”
“We do,” Lord Balar said gravely.
The guard's face did not change, but finally, his beard shifted slightly, indicating some expression that I was unable to distinguish, “I hope this is important.”
He pressed his gauntlet against the door, and it flared green. The sound of a lock clicking open echoed in the empty hallway.
We walked in, and I tried to look as inconspicuous as possible.
Inside was a richly appointed room that was obviously a bed chamber. All about were strewn magnificent items of glass, gems, and gold spiraled in ways that looked impossible to my eyes. Every so often, one of them would give off a faint green shimmer, and the air would ripple, and a feeling of warmth hit me, suffusing me with a slight feeling of energy.
In the large center bed with rich green covers rested an elderly man with long silver hair and pointed elvish ears. I had never seen an elf that looked so old, and more than that, I noticed that some of his visible veins looked almost to be made from obsidian.
Lord Balar turned to Alina and me as the door closed and then seemed flummoxed as he realized Alina was also there.
I would have shaken my head in exasperation, but I was too focused on the scent of what I had termed death in the room.
Reaching into my satchel, I pulled out the claw and walked to the bed.
“Anything on how this should be done, Lord Balar?” I asked.
Lord Balar sputtered, looking between Alina and me, “Jamie! I mean, I’m glad you feel so ready to implement the cure, but-“
I really wasn’t in the mood for useless subterfuge beyond what was necessary, “She knows. Let’s get on with it.”
Lord Balar blinked and looked between Alina and me before shaking his head, his beard braids and metal jewelry rustling against his clothes.
“I suppose I’ll have questions later, but this suits our current needs. From what I’ve read, you need to siphon the claw's energy, which will provide the necessary purifying element.
Great. Super informative.
I looked at the claw.
“Sara,” I muttered, “Can I get a hand.”
Draw from claw. Then Heal.
These words weren’t incredibly helpful either, but the feeling passed to me was.
I focused on the claw, searching for the warmth on the edge of my perception. A warmth I had felt from life around me was also in the claw, though this felt far livelier—an almost fury like a roaring river.
Heal.
I pressed my hand against the King’s forehead, and his body glowed, as did the claw. I felt the energy in the claw ebb just as I felt a gaping abyss in the man’s chest fill. Slowly, it filled, and I focused harder, directing the raging river through me.
Unlike any previous healing I had done, this hurt. Like hot oil splashed through my veins.
Yet I knew I had felt worse. This was nothing.
The hole filled slowly yet surely. I filled the hole while I drew fractured edges of what I could together.
After time indeterminate, the hole was filled, and I took a deep, gasping breath. Only then did I realize that I was sweating, as it felt like my entire body was overheating. I stumbled slightly before Alina grasped my shoulder, pulled me into her chest, and steadied me.
I took a deep breath, steadying myself idly, noticing the claw in my hand felt lesser a part of the wild strength contained within expended by my efforts.
Idly, I slipped it into my clothing where I had placed it before. No sense leaving it here. I didn’t think anyone but myself in the city would be able to use it anyway.
I noticed Alina had slipped in front of me as Lord Balar checked over the King.
He felt significantly better to my perception, though that was more of an instinctual feeling. The scent I had smelled had dissipated, leaving only lingering traces.
The King shifted and stirred, and then intelligent dark brown eyes opened, looking upon us with far more alertness than I would have expected from someone pulled from the brink of death.
“Lord Balar, Lady Dellar, and an unknown, to what do I have the pleasure?”
Deep tones inflected like smooth sun-warmed stone echoed through the room.
Lord Balar spoke first, “My King, I’m not sure how much you remember, but you were struck ill. We have managed to cleanse your body of the illness.”
“I see,” The King nodded once thoughtfully, “I admit I do not remember much. My mind is still somewhat foggy of recent events. My mind strayed in my illness, and I do not remember much beyond some odd meetings and news of the Empire’s march in the North.”
Lord Balar nodded thoughtfully, “I am sure the Council can give an accounting of the necessary events to bring you up to speed.”
The King’s surprisingly bright eyes focused upon me, “You, I do not know. I must wonder why you are here in the esteemed company of a Lord and Lady.”
I blinked, surprised at his immediate focus. Hadn’t this man just been dying? Still, I had a story, and I stuck to it.
“My name is Jamie. Lord Balar has taken me as an apprentice; I am here serving as his assistant.”
“Is that so?” The King hummed, looking at me closely, his eyes focusing notably on my face and my hair.
We locked eyes for a long couple of seconds before the King’s eyes crinkled upwards, “Well then. I’m glad to see that Lord Balar has found an apprentice who lives up to his exacting standards. You must consider yourself lucky, young man.”
I nodded, not trusting my voice. The King’s eyes were piercing, seemingly pinning me in place and dissecting everything about me into their base parts to determine my worth.
The King turned to Alina, and his eyes softened, “Lady Dellar, I must thank you for your help once again. It seems that fate would have me eternally in your debt.”
Alina shook her head with a small smile, “It’s nothing, my King. You’ve already done so much for me.”
The King chuckled before he attempted to stand, swaying for a moment as he came to his feet but resolutely stepping forward, clothed in a simple white robe showing a surprisingly muscular chest.
“At the risk of irritating my caretakers, I believe a meal is in order. I find myself with quite the appetite.”
He pressed a small golden bracelet on his wrist, which flashed green. The door clicked open, and we were greeted by two surprised guards who immediately gave half bows as they realized they were greeting their king.”
“King Greymar, we are pleased to see you awake!” the one on the left said.
“And I am pleased to be awake.” King Greymar chuckled, “Would one of you go fetch me some food from the kitchen? Anything simple would be fine. I wouldn’t want to trouble anyone overly much.”
“Yes, my King,” the guard on the left nodded and exited the room hurriedly after a shared look with the guard on the right.”
The King turned back to us, “Now, as many questions as I may have, I am sure they can wait till tomorrow morning for an early meeting. That is unless either of you have something urgent to tell me.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Alina and Lord Balar shared a look before they turned back, and Alina spoke, “Nothing that can’t wait, Lord Greymar. We are glad our treatment worked so well. We will see you tomorrow.”
“Good,” Lord Greymar nodded before sitting somewhat heavily down on his bed, “Now, not to be incredibly rude, I am still quite exhausted. Whatever your treatment was has cleared my actual illness, but I believe my body still needs rest and sustenance. If you will excuse me.”
Lord Balar and Alina bowed slightly, and I followed the incline of their bodies as best I could.
We exited the room, leaving Lord Greymar alone with the other guard.
We walked back through the castle in a heavier silence. I could feel the questions from Lord Balar nipping at me, but frankly, I didn’t have the energy to answer them. Healing people was exhausting even if I wasn’t drawing from my own reserves and instead a dragon claw.
We exited the castle in silence, though I wasn’t really paying attention to anything other than thoughts of a warm bed. My entire body felt sore, as if I had overextended every part of it.
We made our way to Lord Balar’s quarters, where Alina gently shut the door once we had all filed in.
Unable to help myself, I collapsed on a plush chair, which was obviously not meant for someone my height as I was too large for it. My head lolled backward, and I could already feel myself drifting off before the first question came, though thankfully, it was not aimed at me.
“What exactly do you know of Jamie?” Lord Balar said gravely, looking directly at Alina.
Alina fiddled with her sleeve slightly, though her voice was just as calm as Lord Balar’s, “He’s a White Mage.”
She didn’t say anything else as she kept a level stare with Lord Balar.
Lord Balar turned me to eyes widened in surprise, “You told her?”
I shrugged, balancing secrets in my mind, “The dragon brought it up. It wasn’t exactly easy to hide at that point.”
Lord Balar turned back to Alina, “If anyone finds out…”
“I know,” Alina interrupted before blushing seemingly at her interruption, “I’m sorry. I know. I’m not going to tell anyone. I don’t wish to force Jamie into becoming our latest war resource.”
“Right,” Lord Balar stroked his beard for seemingly a lack of anything better to do, “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Lady Dellar, but Jamie’s freedom quite literally depends on your silence.”
Alina’s green eyes narrowed in a burning glare, and her nostrils flared, “I am aware. I wouldn’t do anything to endanger him. That means the both of us will have to do our best to divert King Greymar from asking too many questions.”
Lord Balar cocked his head, and his eyes flicked between the two of us before he shook his head somewhat ruefully.
“I will take you at your word, Lady Dellar; you’ve been true to it as long as I’ve known.”
Alina nodded somewhat stiffly but I felt the tension in the air had eased.
The discussion devolved into the exact plans and details they would share tomorrow. I tried to focus; I really did.
Yet my body had once again reached the limit of its expenditure.
It was maybe my imagination, but I felt that the energy I had expended this time was much more than I had expanded when I healed Jes, the little girl’s mother. It was almost as if a shallow pond had been deepened, and now, as water trickled in, there was more area to fill.
I drifted off.
I awoke to warm sunlight, finding the perfect angle to enter my eyes unpleasantly.
I shifted, attempting to get the light out of my eyes, but was ultimately unsuccessful. I opened my eyes to gaze balefully upon the world I had awoken to.
I was still in the same chair I had sat in, though I had almost rolled off, and the unpleasant light was coming in through an open window, letting a cool breeze rustle my hair. My body felt uncomfortably dirty, so that was the first order of business. I stood up, surveying Lord Balar’s room, which was empty right now.
I shrugged and walked into my room, where I entered the adjacent bathroom. There was a nice porcelain tub with elegant spouts, which, after some experimenting, I managed to turn to hot water. I stripped and sank into the bath, thankfully letting out a groan mixed with a sigh. I gave myself a few moments to enjoy the water, but as I recalled yesterday, a knot of nerves emerged in my chest.
What exactly would King Greymar be asking Alina and Lord Balar? I didn’t know, and the thought alone brought me back from running away from the First City.
I rinsed myself and then used a convenient, somewhat scratchy towel to dry off as I stepped out of the tub. I looked at my clothes with a bit of disgust before hesitantly reaching down to my shirt, lifting it to my nose, and sniffing.
I was surprised at a faint, bright, citrusy smell.
At most, there was something my brain thought of as pine scent but nothing else, which was confusing considering how long I had been wearing them. I had noticed before when I had gotten my clothes that I hadn’t smelled awful even though, by rights, I probably should have.
I felt around my clothes, looking for stains and general wear and tear, only to find nothing. I frowned at the shirt in my hands.
This had to be magic, but I could count it as a small blessing right now.
I put on my clothes, still surprised that they felt almost as if they had been freshly laundered.
Was this Green Magic? I vaguely recalled Lord Balar’s explanation about how ‘many things were possible,’ but for some reason, this just felt weird. Self-cleaning clothes. I wasn’t entirely sure, but I don’t think I had seen that before in my previous life.
I put on my clothes, tying my cloak off last, feeling the comforting weight of fabric settle on my shoulders before I walked out of the bathroom. I walked back into the central area and looked around for any clues to where Lord Balar and Alina had gone before I saw a scrap of paper with writing on it on the table.
‘We have gone to the meeting called by the King. Considering everything, we felt it best to give you as much opportunity for rest as possible. I have confirmed you as my student, so you should have free reign of the academy. We will all talk more later.’
Well, I could read the note, which answered one question that had been niggling at the back of my mind whether I would be able to read. Furthermore, I had some time on my hands. I had fulfilled my end of the bargain with Lord Balar, and he should help me now. Still, I couldn’t very well lie in bed all day.
I had done that too much in my last life.
So, with this knowledge, I could indeed read. There was only one natural thing to do.
_-_
Okay, so maybe the Royal Academy was bigger than I thought.
In all fairness, who knew finding a library in a school would be this hard? Also, it was a massive school.
I found myself wandering the halls of the building like a very lost tourist. Occasionally, I would spot groups of students and the occasional teacher, and a part of me wanted to see if they could provide any guidance. Yet, I couldn’t bring myself to draw any attention.
So, I wandered through the building, lost beyond belief but far too stubborn to ask any questions.
That was how I found myself outside in what looked to be a partially open-air workshop with a massive dome of stone that served as a roof, but the sides were open to the air. Several of what looked to be students were working the furnaces, with some generating fire from their palms into the furnaces while others would pound metal with flashes of green light.
It was mesmerizing.
I noticed that one person was working alone. His furnace was fed by a stack of coal he would occasionally shovel into the furnace. He was a dwarf with a short black beard and closely cropped black locks. His dark skin was covered in sweat as he shoveled coal rapidly into the furnace before he set down the shovel to pull an object from the furnace to hammer it with hard, rhythmic strikes.
Despite myself, I walked in his direction.
I could hear him muttering something under his breath, odd, clunky, sharp words that sounded strange but were understandable to my ears.
“Stone. Ore. Metal. Ring.”
I noticed a flashing green glow in his hands as he muttered, though it didn’t quite look constant. As if the flow was not completely solid.
I stopped on instinct more than anything a couple of steps away.
The fire behind him began to ebb, and he turned slightly. He stumbled over a word, and the green light flared brightly. A sharp crack echoed out, and the object shattered under his hammer.
The dwarf stopped hammering and stopped muttering, staring down at the object. He didn’t look sad, nor really any other emotion. His gaze was empty, as if he was not really seeing anything as he stared down at the metal he had once been working.
He reached out an arm and brushed the metal aside into a bin on the floor beside that I noticed was already filled with scrap.
He didn’t move after that, and I noticed a couple of the other students had glanced at him, then looked away and back to what they were doing.
The dwarf looked up, and his eyes landed on me. His mouth twisted into a frown as he looked at me.
“Need something?” he said in a soft voice.
I didn’t know what to say.
“Do you need a hand?” the words sounded wrong even as I said them.
The dwarf snorted, “I need two,” he meaningfully glanced down at his hands, “Would you look at that? I have two. Any other illuminating questions?”
I suppressed a wince but shook my head quietly. I could see a couple of the other students had turned to look at me with expressions that looked like a cross between sympathy and sorrow.
The dwarf chuckled humorlessly before turning and walking back towards the furnace he had been working, reaching down to lift a metal bar.
I hesitated another moment. Before reluctantly, I turned around and walked away.
I entered back into the building, trying to shake off the interaction, but the dwarf's eyes bothered me. They had been hopeless.
I wandered for a while, trying to put the dwarf out of my mind. I continued my journey through the academy, still vaguely looking for a library.
I wandered for some time before my path was interrupted by a tall, elven man with long blonde hair, a buttoned white shirt, a sleek grey coat, and matching pants. He was carrying a massive stack of books, which he seemed to barely have under control as he made his way down the corridor.
That was before he stumbled over a stone, and the books tumbled everywhere across the floor.
The man sighed, massaging his forehead before bending down to pick up the books.
I wasn’t particularly eager to get my head bitten off again, but the man looked exhausted, and so despite myself, I walked up to him and bent down, picking a couple of books off the ground.
“Thank you, young man,” the elf murmured as he picked up the books with me.
We moved about the hallway collecting the books until we had the entire stack in our arms.
The elf turned to me, “My many thanks. I can take them back.”
Judging by his pale expression, I imagined the man would probably faint if I gave them back.
“I can actually carry them wherever you’re going if that’s okay,” I replied.
The man’s tired expression turned up in a small smile, “I wouldn’t want to impose, but if you’re sure. I could use the hand.”
I shrugged, “I got nowhere else important to be.”
“Then, once again, thank you, young man.”
He turned and led me down the hallway, and I easily followed the books, not straining my body in the slightest. We walked for some distance, making a couple of turns before we came to a pair of elegantly sculpted glass doors that were opened inward, revealing a vast series of shelves filled with books.
Oh great! A library! Or a strange room filled with books, I supposed.
We walked inside, where the man led me to a desk where he sat down his stack of books. I followed his example as he turned to me.
“You have made things a great deal easier for me, young man. What is your name?”
“Jamie,” I replied.
“Jamie,” the man repeated, nodding his head thoughtfully, “Well, Jamie, is there anything I can do for you?”
I nodded, a feeling of excitement trickling through me, “Actually, sir, I was looking for something to read.”
“Well, you are in a library,” the man dryly chuckled, gesturing about him, “And no need for sir. Call me Gerald. I would have stayed in the First City if I wanted to be seen as an authority.”
“Right,” I nodded, “Thanks, Gerald, I was looking for general history.”
Gerald nodded amiably, “I see. Is there a time period you were specifically interested in?”
Everything. I needed something narrower than that, though. Hadn’t Lord Balar mentioned a plague seventy years ago?
“The last hundred years, I think,” I said.
Gerald nodded before he turned, fiddling with the pile of books we had just been carrying before he pulled a particularly thick text loose.
‘This one covers the last hundred years in a decent amount of detail. There are books with more details about specific events, but as far as a general course of history goes, This won’t steer you wrong.”
“Thanks,” I took the book from him and glanced around, locating a couple of tables set off to the side surrounded by somewhat comfortable-looking chairs, “I’ll - go read this-“
Gerald nodded with a small smile, “Then feel free to be about it.”
I nodded dumbly and walked away, settling in a corner of the library on a plush purple chair. I opened the book and began to read.
Sometime later, I realized the natural light the windows had let in had been replaced by the slightly more yellow light of lanterns spaced about the library.
I blinked tired eyes and superstitiously looked around while I rubbed my forehead. That had been… a lot.
A hundred years of history, I supposed, should be a lot, but I wasn’t totally prepared. The first thing of importance that I learned was that there had been thousands of White Mages. Specifically concentrated on the Northern continent. There had been some mentions about White Mages refusing to go to the Eastern continent, but why exactly that was unclear to me, and Sara had not known either.
The Black Blood began in the year 927, which reminded me that I had no idea what the current year was other than the vague mention by Lord Balar of the Black Blood around seventy years ago. It was and wasn’t a plague as far as the history book was concerned. The book had said it wasn’t entirely clear how the plague was transmitted, only that the people infected would become comatose and slowly waste away. As long as it was dealt with quickly by a White Mage, everything seemed fine, but as time went on and the longer a person was sick, the more and more power it took to deal with it.
White Mages would quite literally waste away as they expanded themselves to keep people alive. Then, in the summer of the year 930, the plague suddenly vanished. Even the people currently sick with it had gotten better. At that point, though, it had seemed that all but a few of the White Mages had vanished.
There were also mentions here of Black Mages who wielded something called Black Magic, which I remembered Lord Balar had mentioned. It wasn’t entirely clear what Black Mages did in the book other than having control over spirits that were described as dark shadows and working alongside the White Mages to protect them. These Black Mages had similarly vanished just as the White Mages had.
Memories of my strange dream resurfaced of the White and Black annihilating each other. It gave me pause, but I had continued my reading.
Black Magic and White Magic. It bothered me how little I knew of the Black Mages, yet after some questions and further looking through the stacks of books, I found nothing else about them. Plenty about White Mages, but it was almost like the writers were afraid to talk of the Black mages, and after 930, there was just no mention of them.
It was like an entire people had just vanished.
I knew intellectually that I was a White Mage, but reading this history didn’t push me toward that feeling. What did it matter that I was a White Mage? How many were actually left?
Furthermore, it didn’t feel right that I had yet to hear anything about the Black Mages except the mentions of Black Magic.
The history book also contains the war between the Empire of Gold and the Kingdom of Glass. It had been going for some time, mainly limited to the power base of the Empire of Gold on the Eastern Continent and the Kingdom of Glass on the Western Continent.
I found details about the Kingdom of Glass in another book in my increasing stack. The first White Mage, whose name was unmentioned and referred to as ‘The First,’ had through discussions with the Dwarves, who it was said had emerged from the Mountain's roots, The Elves, who had come from the Sea very literally described as ‘emerging from the waves,’ and the Humans who had come into being from something called the ‘First Fire,’ had created the Kingdom of Glass.
The actual sources here could have been sparser. The stories were told as if their very nature confirmed them. Furthermore, if this was how the Kingdom of Glass originated, where exactly did the Empire of Gold come from?
Unfortunately, this meant further books, and my head was beginning to throb.
I stood up and stretched, flipping the book I had been reading closed. I glanced tiredly at the stack before groaning to myself. I began to put the books back on the appropriate shelves.
I didn’t find Gerald while doing so, and I assumed he must have left.
Stepping out of the library, I realized it must be quite late in the evening as the sky had darkened outside, and the only light outside the windows came from Haven itself. The sight of it tugged at the shaded memories of my past, reminding me of another city full of lights, but there was something about Haven that just felt more lively and more majestic.
Even from here, you could see varying architecture about Haven, which seemed like it should have clashed but came more off like a carefully calculated collage of art.
I walked down the hallway, lost in my thoughts. So lost that I ended up retracing my steps back to the workshop I had been at earlier. I glanced out at the forges to see only one was still alight and the distinct metal clangs of work being done.
The same dwarf from earlier still seemed to be working.
I watched from the window as he worked. It was admirable, in a way, how long he must have been working.
Earlier, I had asked if he needed help because I had seen that the others had been working in pairs. Instinctively, I felt the urge to do what I could to help, even though I knew little about forging. I didn’t really know where that feeling came from, but I felt it once again. I have watched the dwarf work. Something about him just seemed lonely. A feeling I had felt with great depth.
I bit my lip before I turned away.
These thoughts weren’t helpful. I had my own things to worry about.