Chapter 9 - Part 3

[There was something in the pitiful cries of the creature and sounds of pain that ripped through his rage. He looked at it, defenseless, in agony just like Regor, just like the woman in the plaza. Just like Mara. Haiden released Screech and it fell to the ground, unmoving. At once, Haiden's eyes rolled into the back of his head, with his rage qualmed, he collapsed on his bed.]

The next morning Haiden woke up with a head splitting migraine. He rubbed away the sleep from his eyes and thought what an awful nightmare he had. Guilt swelled inside as he dwelled on his dream. Of all the things his mind could come up with, it had invented a scenario so unlikely to him, it made him laugh. He knew for certain he could never hurt someone or something like that, so he paid it no mind. And just like all dreams Haiden has ever had, or at least since he woke up in the Sanctuary, he filed it to the back of his mind never to revisit it.

For good measure, he glazed over the floor and there was nothing there.

Just a fucked up dream. He repeated to himself.

That day was undeniably boring, listening to Master Parvell about the 500 year war was a sentence worse than death to him and Maree while Camila was enthusiastically scribbling down notes. He went on and on about the great siege of Red Keep Palace, and Haiden's mind drifted away.

At lunch the three of them met Tasgal and as usual ate while happily chatting away. All three were glad that Haiden was back to his snappy self. Although, in turn, they had asked Haiden how he felt, they were always met with the same droll response.

"Of course I'm good, why wouldn't I be?"

They all expected him to be at least somewhat sad or melancholic from the previous night. It's not an everyday occurrence to have your deceased friend's spirit ask you to open the veil on the two worlds for him, and then disappear without a trace. But, alas, they decided to not press him on. They liked having him back.

The conversation progressed to the training on Minor spells and Tasgal took a back seat and just enjoy the delicious sweet buns of the Wielder's dining hall.

Haiden had been slacking off as opposed to Maree and Camila, but given past circumstances, he allowed himself this one time pass. As harsh and cold as it might seem it was liberating not having to concern himself with Regor. He was quite glad Regor didn't tag along and this whole ordeal was done and dealt with and can focus on what was important.

"Which ones do you have left, Maree." he asked, knowing that his friend was always a bit behind his classmates. Maree opened the book Master Rwoy gave them and flipped through it whale grunting.

"I still have to work on my Minor Synthesis, Minor Levitate, and Minor Crystallize." he answered sheepishly while ignoring Camila's furious gaze.

"You told me you didn't need to study for Crystallize because you, and I quote, "got it in the bag"'

"I say a lot of things, Cams. You were just so obsessed with going to the library everyday." his reply earned him a smack across his arm.

After Haiden finished laughing he cleared his throat. And started with Crystalize and asking Maree to show him. Haiden had always been more advanced than his fellow students, partially because of Master Rwoy's first week of training, and partially because he had devoured every book he could find on Minor spells the first few weeks while Tasgal was in the infirmary, and partially due to his natural affinity. As long as he could picture it in his mind he should be fine.

He immediately knew what was wrong with Maree's technique and pointed out that his Fios is too all over the place. "Crystallization forms when you arrange pure motes of a substance in a structure like pattern. Think back to the light stones. Same concept applies here, if you don't deliver constant and equal energy, the pattern is disrupted and breaks down the whole formation." he explained.

"I could've told you that." Camilla added.

"But you didn't, did you?" Maree laughed.

"You never asked!" she grunted and pulled her own book to practice.

"Are they always like that?" Tasgal asked with a chuckle.

"You'd think being growing up so rich they'd have more manners." Haiden replied.

"You'd think so." Tasgal agreed.

Luckily for them, Master Parvell gave them the afternoon off to practice on their Minor spells which Maree was grateful for, however, Haiden was sad to see Tasgal leave for his practice. One of the most complex spells was Minor Synthesis as it toyed with the concept of creating new compounds from available materials,that alone was not a hard concept to grasp, but when you take into consideration that every compound and substance has to meet certain criteria for the reaction to happen it adds a lot of variations into the equation. For even seemingly easy compounds you have to synthesize several other substances in order to achieve the final product, which you have to memorize. Even Haiden had difficulty with this one. They were glad Master Rwoy wanted them to Synthesis only basic compounds that required up to two reactions. The easiest and most chosen substance was water where all you needed was oxygen and hydrogen from the air and with a bit of energy they would react to form water. Though the scarcity of hydrogen motes makes it not as efficient as condensate, it wasn't the best option since other colleagues of theirs would definitely go for it. But Haiden had a plan. He would use Minor Decomposition to break apart the water into oxygen and hydrogen he would gather from Minor Condensation and then simply use Minor Synthesis to turn the gases back into water. Haiden was proud of himself for coming up with such a simple and elegant solution.

As the days went by, they fell into the same routing of class, lunch, and train. Haiden's nightmare had fallen completely out of his mind, never giving it a single thought until the day of the trip to the backwoods of the Academy.

That eerily foggy morning came unexpectedly after some time of good weather. Haiden groggily threw a Heat Cloak around himself and waited with Camila and Maree early in the morning at the designated meet up place. The gardens.

The three of them sat on a stone bench between the skeletal remains of the low frosty bushes. Maree had fallen back asleep, drooling on Camila's cloak while she was engrossed in another one of her lewd books of which she seemed to have an endless supply. The Academy's library sure had an odd priority, he thought. Haiden couldn't understand her fascinations with the unrealistic scenarios of such books. He had tried, at Camila's urgings of course, to read one of her favorites. Not only did he find it hard to believe that a high born princess of a far away kingdom would belittle herself for a stable boy that smelled of mron shit, but it saddened him that as a YevA'ah he would never find such books detailing the romances of someone like him. So he would rather focus on something more practical like Wielding books. A slight rustle of bony thin branches grabbed Haiden's attention pulling him away from his thoughts.

A formless blob scuttled through the hibernating bushes making Haiden stand up in surprise.

"Did you see that?" he asked. Camila looked up from her book and shrugged. Haiden's stomach churned. That blob was just too familiar. "It can't be." he said to himself, louder than he would have wanted.

"What can't be, no one?" Bras startled Haiden, forcing him to turn around and face him. His seemingly unremarkable face visibly shows his disgust. His green eyes pinning him down.

"None of your business, Bras. Be a good boy and mind yours as you did these past weeks." Haiden turned back to Camila, which now had closed her book and stood behind him glaring at Bras.

"Let's go, Master Rwoy's waiting." she said waking Maree and dragging him by his arm.

They joined the rest of their colleagues which were chatting among themselves excitedly. Of course, Maliticia was boasting as loud as she could to her cackle on how she had her own orchard of Plumpberries next to her mansion where small awakened ones liked to nestle. Haiden had heard this back in Master Rwoy's class. They were tasked to find and describe an awakened one as an assignment for the field trip.

"Hey Camila, what's an awakened one?" Haiden asked. Between freeing Regor and practicing Minor spells he really had forgotten to research more about it.

Camila was confused. She took a few moments to gather her thoughts and start. "They...uhm... remember how Master Omnelia told us that there is something called ambiental Fios?" She asked and Haiden nodded. "So...uhm..." her brows furrowed trying to remember. "I think she said that there are pockets of Fios that are more concentrated. Plants and animals are sensitive to Fios, and some can even use it to a very limited extent. if they are exposed to these concentrated pockets of raw ambiental Fios they gain consciousness and weird abilities. Or something like that."

"That's amazing." he said thinking of what wondrous creatures he might see.

"Yeah, it truly is amazing when you pay attention in class, other than Mastery Rowy's" she jabbed.

"Yeah, what she said." Maree added mindlessly. He was looking at the corner of an abandoned greenhouse suspiciously, but Master Rwoy cleared his throat to grab everyone's attention and when that was not enough he amplified his voice and said a loud "Quiet." that silenced even Malticia. Master Rwoy with the wave of a hand raised a pile of stone blocks making a platform and stairs. Master Omnelia, and Master Istrek followed him on it.

"I see everyone's eager for today's activities." he said and everyone started mumbling again among each other. He cleared his throat again, but this time it quieted the mass of students."Master Istrek, if you will." The man stepped forward. He was a towering mass of muscle. His leather coat bulged and cracked whenever he moved.

"Good morning," he started. "I'm glad to see eagerness in the soul of youth. Master Rwoy tells me that you all have the makings of great future Wielders. I would love for all of you to achieve your fullest potential among my own, the Ash'en." he motioned towards the greenhouse and from the corner the first Ash'en appeared. Haiden stretched his neck to finally spot Tasgal among the group. His heart raced with anticipation as he smiled.

Could this day get any better, he thought. The Ash'en lined up in a neat line in front of the young Wielders. Haiden coils hear the girls fawning over the tall muscled gods that laid before them. It didn't hurt that each one was more handsome than the other. Once the line was complete and every one had lined up, they thumped their left leg against the ground and clasped their hands at their back in unison. The collective sounds of their movement made for an impressive display.

"They," the man continued. "Are my boys. Cadets that after this year, they will become your personal guard. Your protectors. Their sole purpose is to make sure you live until you hit Master. By no means does that imply they are your personal servants or slaves. They will be your comrades, your companions, your friends. You will need to trust them with your life as they will do so with theirs. Do I make myself clear?" he boomed, eliciting a mumbled acknowledgement from the young Wielders. "Each of you will find themselves a partner for this field trip. Take this rare opportunity to get to know them. If the Creators would have it, both of you would choose each other in the pairing next year." the man finished and allowed Master Rwoy to step forward.