“What’s that?” Ruethwyn asked curiously, intrigued by the vague description of Illisyr society. She didn’t see why they needed the caste system, but it was interesting.
“Shapers. I don’t know why they chose the same name as the caste, but it’s short for Fleshshapers, Ruethwyn,” Master Mara said, his voice soft.
“Fleshshapers? That sounds… creepy. Possibly evil,” Ruethwyn replied, growing worried. “Why would it be so secret, though?”
“You don’t understand, Ruethwyn. Shapers are masters of modifying their bodies, or those of others. They understand their bodies on a level that no one else seems to have managed, and they’ve developed magic which allows them to manipulate it,” Master Mara said, his voice calm and distant. “You know they’re all about self-improvement, but do you understand what that means? Every generation, the Illisyr Shapers make improvements. They alter their members to become stronger and closer to what they view as perfection. Each member of their clans can petition the Shapers to help them grow stronger… and so, with every generation, they grow more powerful.”
A chill ran down Ruethwyn’s spine at the thought, and she reached up to run her finger around her regrown eye for a moment, then took a sip of tea. Eventually, she asked, “Then why is she obviously part demon? I’d think that if they were trying to grow stronger…”
“There are three major clans of the Illisyr that I’ve studied. Demonclaw, Fire Dragon, and Illisyr,” Master Mara said, swirling his tea and smiling slightly. “It should be obvious that the last is the descendants of their royal house. Each of them has their own approach to self-improvement, though. Demonclaw has interbred with demons, largely those with a form close to elves, and use Shapers to pick which traits they wish to keep. I’d say that Essryl is a member of their clan, but she’s too… polite. Demonclaw is the clan which hates other elves the most and would likely have you killed on sight. Fire Dragon uses the blood of fire drakes and dragons to improve themselves and create mantles of power using it for their members. They’re relatively likely to be encountered as mercenaries beyond the Thorned Wood’s borders. They’re the most approachable of known clans, so far as I’m aware. As for clan Illisyr… I don’t know much. They’re mysterious in many ways, and they seem purely dark elves.”
“Huh. I never… well, I had no idea. So you mean she’s powerful, then?” Ruethwyn said, hesitating for a moment before she added, “I actually knew she was strong. She once said that she serves Resvarygrath because he beat her in single combat, but only just.”
“She did what?” Master Mara’s poise vanished again with his exclamation, the blood draining from his face.
“I… I thought you realized…” Ruethwyn said, leaning back in her chair nervously.
“No. I had no idea she was that powerful. Everyone who knows about her has assumed she’s only a modestly powerful foe. If you’re right, though… gods, he’s an archmage, Ruethwyn. He’s a dragon archmage, and I wouldn’t care to throw the entire staff of the academy at him in battle,” Master Mara replied, rubbing his eyes again. “I see what she meant about only the headmaster being worth her time. And she views you as her student.”
Ruethwyn shook her head, scowling slightly. “I don’t know about that. She’d have no compunctions about killing me if I screw up in my rescue attempt from what I can tell.”
“Perhaps so,” Master Mara admitted, then paused and added, “It’s truly too bad, though. She could easily heal you, from what I saw. Perhaps not your mana core and veins, but she could heal your entire body, yet she doesn’t.”
“I suspect that’s just her wanting to see me struggle. She enjoys that far too much, in my opinion,” Ruethwyn replied, considering her vision in both pleasure and annoyance. “My eye almost makes up for her throwing a godsforsaken dragon at me.”
“Speaking of which… we have all the others that we’re waiting on, so we could be together for the next several days,” Master Mara said, laughing softly as he asked, “I’d best make sure she didn’t change their tests. However, I just had to ask, what did you do to make the trees fall in sections like that?”
“Oh, that’s not too complicated. I had to use atavism to summon a nature elemental, and…” Ruethwyn began her explanation, relatively happy to tell the teacher what she’d done.
Madeline was the next person to finish the trials, and the sight of her had startled Ruethwyn. The noblewoman had been spattered with dirt and streaks from grass, and her dress was torn in several places, but she’d made it out a day after Ruethwyn. She’d certainly been unhappy to see that Ruethwyn had beaten her out, but she had been too tired to protest much.
Barthel was the next to complete the test, to Ruethwyn’s surprise, followed by Dana. The latter pair were in better shape than Madeline had been, but both looked quite tired. The morning of the fifth day was the most pleasant surprise for Ruethwyn, though, because Korima and Sella emerged within minutes of one another.
“Stupid wolves,” Sella exclaimed, her trousers spattered with dirt as she scowled.
“Why’re they stupid? I rode one of them!” Korima retorted, grinning broadly at everyone else, the kitsune looking surprisingly upbeat.
“You did what?” Barthel asked, looking startled. “They attacked me on sight!”
“Well, of course they did. They were naturally hostile to everyone, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use mind magic on them,” Korima said, smiling widely as they stared at her. “I tamed one and got it to take me to the exit.”
“I suppose that’s one way to do it. Not one that I believe was intended, but the trials are supposed to test your ingenuity,” Master Mara said, unable to suppress a grin. “I’ve never heard of someone taking that approach on this test. Occasionally to get past other variations where there were hostile monsters guarding an exit, but not on the wolves.”
“I’ve dealt with doras growing up,” Korima explained, shrugging as she referred to the gigantic dogs the kitsune raised. “It just seemed like the best idea.”
“If I knew much mind magic, maybe. I had to fight a lot of them, especially since they converged on me when I cast a detection spell while looking for the exit,” Sella said, then paused, blinking as she looked at Ruethwyn. “Uh, Rue? What happened to you? You’ve got both eyes again! It’s not an illusion, is it?”
“Hey, you’re right! How did that happen, Rue?” Korima asked, her eyes going huge as she looked closely at Ruethwyn. “The skin around it changed, too!”
“We had an… unexpected visitor who interfered with Ruethwyn’s test.” Master Mara spoke quickly, his voice firm but unhappy. “She caused it to become significantly more difficult in the end, and after Ruethwyn passed the test she chose to heal Ruethwyn’s eye.”
“Really? I thought that no one could do anything about it,” Sella exclaimed, her eyes brightening. “What kind of change are you talking about?”
“I’d really rather not talk about it. It was… unpleasant, though,” Ruethwyn replied, keeping her tone level, and paused for a long moment before adding. “The woman was Illisyr, her magic is incredibly unusual, and she’s dangerous.”
“Really? You’re saying the test increase was that bad?” Madeline asked skeptically.
“Ruethwyn isn’t exaggerating. I believe that many students up to those attempting their Trials of Mastery would have difficulty passing the test she underwent,” Master Mara said, frowning. “An unexpected encounter with a dragon is not something I would care to unleash on most students. Ruethwyn had the advantage of having prepared several items which could help against dragons, and that made a difference.”
“You faced a dragon?” Sella exclaimed, and Ruethwyn grimaced as everyone stared at her.
“I said I didn’t want to talk about it. It wasn’t fun. Especially since I had to hit it between the eyes to open the gate to leave the test,” Ruethwyn explained, giving Master Mara an annoyed look, which he ignored. “The problem is that dragons are very mobile, and it kept dodging. I managed in th
e end, but I’m lucky to have succeeded.”
“Ah. I… I suppose that would be difficult,” Madeline replied, looking taken aback.
“In any case, we still have Delvin, Tadrick, and Yalline taking their tests,” Master Mara interrupted, clapping his hands together. “I’d suggest that you get settled in for the wait.”
With a bit of grumbling, the others did so. Ruethwyn didn’t much mind the minimal comfort of the guesthouse dormitory, but Madeline and Barthel were far less forgiving than she was.
Delvin had been beaten out by Yalline the following day, but only by a few hours, and then they were finally waiting on Tadrick. Yalline had profusely thanked Ruethwyn for her advice on taking in reference books, and Ruethwyn fended her off as best she could.
Tadrick was worrying Ruethwyn, though. As time rolled by, he was getting closer and closer to when the test would end, and the discussions of the others turned somewhat pensive. Only Master Mara could check on how he was doing, but the teacher refused to answer any questions.
Finally, though, Tadrick emerged from the hall, panting and obviously tired. Looking at everyone else, he groaned, then spoke.
“Okay, I see I didn’t do that well. How long did I take?” Tadrick asked, looking winded. “I lost track of time in there.”
“Well, in another three hours you would’ve been ejected and failed, Tadrick. You’re fortunate that you did hurry through the last test and were better at it than most of the others,” Master Mara replied, smiling at the young man.
“Crap. That stupid first test… the repulsion runes were nasty. I couldn’t figure out how to cancel them, so I ended up having to destroy them one at a time and kept being thrown into the wall,” Tadrick grumbled in annoyance.
“I just tunneled through the wall, around the door. It took a lot of mana, but I thought it was faster,” Korima volunteered, prompting a giggle from Sella.
“I deciphered them and canceled them one at a time,” Yalline said, looking a bit bashful. “It took a while but wasn’t too bad.”
“Really? The solution seemed obvious to me. After analyzing the runes, I saw they allowed air to pass freely, and the door opening deactivated the runes,” Madeline replied, sniffing derisively. “I simply used air magic to open the door and walked through it.”
As the others discussed their own methods of passing the door, Sella looked at Ruethwyn curiously, hesitating and then asking. “Rue? You were the first one out, weren’t you? How’d you get past the first test?”
“I…” Ruethwyn paused, looking at the others uncomfortably, then shrugged sheepishly. “The runes were drawn in the ink we used in artificing, the type that dissolves instantly in water. Since there was a fountain right there, I just splashed water on the runes.”
“Wait, that worked? I… I spent hours tunneling through the wall!” Korima protested, her eyes wide.
“It is a rather clever solution, and evidence that you don’t need to use magic for every problem,” Master Mara replied, grinning.
Tadrick looked around the room, then announced loudly. “I hate all of you.”
Laughter erupted at that, laughter that even Tadrick joined in on, though his was rueful. At last, Master Mara spoke again. “Even if he was late, all of you passed. Congratulations are in order. Tonight we’ll rest here, then we’ll head back to the city in the morning. Tomorrow we’ll have a celebration for your success. Now come on, we have dinner to make.”
They were just preparing to move out of the room when Tadrick looked at Ruethwyn, then blinked as he asked, “Wait a second, Rue! When did you get another eye?”
Ruethwyn couldn’t help smiling, and she shrugged. “That’s a bit of a story, I’m afraid. Let’s have it over dinner, hm?”
“Alright, that’s fair,” Tadrick agreed.
They all headed out of the Hall of Trials, and Ruethwyn felt a sense of relief and anticipation. The school year was done, or would be after the graduation dinner on the morrow, and it was time to go to the Frostglades. If she could find the help she needed… soon, it would be time to rescue the others.
She was both frightened and filled with anticipation at the thought.
Chapter 22
Ruethwyn let out a soft sigh as she finished folding the last of her dresses and packed it into the paper-lined crate. Her room looked even emptier than it had before, as all her things had been packed into a pair of crates, and her personal chest had been pulled from under the bed.
“All my things but what I’m taking with me,” Ruethwyn corrected herself under her breath. “I need to have some things if I’m going to travel.”
The celebratory dinner with Master Mara was a bit later, since they’d returned that morning, and the next day Ruethwyn was heading north to Waterstone with Korima and Sella. Since they’d be leaving early, she thought it best to have everything prepared to go. That included having her things put into storage since she didn’t want to haul them along with her.
There was a knock at the door and the perpetually severe voice of Mother Ella rang out. “Ms. Sylaris, are you there?”
“Come in, Mother Ella!” Ruethwyn called out.
The door opened to reveal the head of the dormitory, along with a pair of elven workers, a man and woman who looked like they might be related. Mother Ella looked around the room and her eyebrows rose slightly. “Done already, Ms. Sylaris?”
Ruethwyn’s relationship with Mother Ella had improved after the events over midwinter since they’d managed to rescue several of the servants in their efforts to banish the demons. It wasn’t like the older woman was friendly, but she certainly wasn’t as hostile or short with Ruethwyn as she’d been before. It was something of a relief, really.
“That I am. I don’t have many things, to begin with, and I’m taking some of them with me,” Ruethwyn confirmed, picking up the lid to the second crate and starting to try to fit it to the top. It was hard to do with one hand, though, and a moment later, the woman spoke.
“Allow me, ma’am,” the worker said, her voice slightly higher and gentler than Ruethwyn had expected.
“Thank you,” Ruethwyn said, quickly stepping out of the woman’s way.
“I’m glad to hear that. How long are you intending these to remain in storage?” Mother Ella asked, looking at the boxes thoughtfully.
“Hopefully just until the beginning of classes in the fall, but I plan to pay for up to three years of storage up front. I’d rather not have my things confiscated if something goes awry,” Ruethwyn explained, another smile flickering across her face. “I don’t have enough of them as it is. How much will that cost?”
“For students, we store crates like this for two copper per month, so seventy-eight copper pennies each,” Mother Ella replied after a moment, nodding at the laborers as she added, “You also need to pay for the assistance in getting them stored, of course.”
“Definitely. Here, let’s just go with a silver each. That should give me plenty of time to get back and claim them,” Ruethwyn said, opening her belt pouch and finding five silver. She had quite a bit more coin hidden in her pack, but she was trying to keep the amounts in her pouch small enough to not attract pickpockets, though she imagined that was a lost cause. Looking up, she used her thumb to extend a coin toward the man. “Here, for your assistance.”
“Ah, that’s a lot for a few minutes work, miss. I’d expect that for a wagon, not a crate and a half,” the man said dubiously, hesitating as he looked at the coin.
“Perhaps so, but consider a large part of it as payment for being gentle with my things. I have a few fragile items inside, and I’d rather they were left intact,” Ruethwyn replied, still offering the coin.
“Just take it,” Mother Ella said, scowling at him as he continued to hesitate. “Ms. Sylaris is from a small town, she knows how valuable a silver is.”
“Well, I’m much obliged, then. Thank you, Ms. Sylaris,” he said, smiling as he took the coin and slipped it into his belt pouch, flashing a smile. “I’ll be caref
ul with your stuff. My word on it.”
The woman had just finished fastening the lid of the second crate, and she took the coin Ruethwyn offered without argument, grinning as she nodded and spoke. “Agreed! That’s very kind of you.”
“You’re doing things that I can’t do easily. It’s only polite to reward you for your efforts,” Ruethwyn replied, smiling at them in turn. Looking to Mother Ella, she offered the last three coins. “Here you are, Mother Ella.”
“Thank you. That should cover things for nearly four years, though I certainly hope you aren’t planning to be gone that long,” the housekeeper said, her ever-present frown deepening.
“Definitely not,” Ruethwyn said firmly, as if she hadn’t said as much earlier. “I’m planning to go to the Frostglades, then on another trip. I hope to be done by the end of summer.”
“Good,” Mother Ella said, nodding in satisfaction. “Now, I’m going to get back to work while these two move your crates into storage.”
“Thank you again, Mother Ella. It’s very much appreciated,” Ruethwyn told the housekeeper.
Stepping back as Mother Ella left the room, Ruethwyn watched the workers carefully take the first crate downstairs and waited patiently. Soon enough they’d taken the second, then the last one and she sighed, looking around the room that’d been her home for most of the past year. It felt incredibly empty to her, but there wasn’t much she could do about it.
Queen of Ice (Through the Fire Book 2) Page 18
