The Wayfinder's Apprentice (Shadows of the Umbra Book 1)

by K Dezendorf

  The troll guffawed as he lowered his hand. "Ah, new flesh is always fun."

  Granger snickered and shook his head. “Try not to scare her too much, Kenyen. We need all the help we can get.” He went over to the door, glancing back at Rose. “I need to head out. Just follow Kenyen’s instructions, whatever he needs.”

  Rose nodded in answer and Granger exited the building, shutting the door behind him. It was like having an oven door closed on her, the dry heat building up all around her. She turned back to Kenyen and bowed politely. “Happy to be working with you.”

  He laughed and it was a booming laughter that filled the entire building, causing Rose to flinch from the sound. "Let’s see how long that enthusiasm lasts." He laughed some more before releasing a sigh. "All right, let's see here...hm..."

  He reached out and grabbed a hold of her shoulders with both hands. Rose's breath hitched and her body stiffened, panic flashing through her. If he were to squeeze she was certain he could pop her head like a zit. He turned her sideways and Rose found she had zero control. He hummed as he leaned her forward then backwards, looking at her from every angle, before setting her straight.

  "You're a dainty little thing, aren't ya?" he asked, letting her go.

  "I suppose so," Rose said, breathless and squeaky, trying to calm her nerves.

  Another belt of laughter was let loose as he flipped up a part of the counter. “Come on back. We’ll find something for you to do.”

  It was a lot of manual labor on Rose’s part: he didn’t let her partake in the actual blacksmithing. Instead, Kenyen had her disposing of the slag -impurities that were to be tossed out-, bringing in new ingots -ore that had been smelted and was relatively pure- and helping smelt down new ore to make new ingots. He also had her fetch oil to cool down the metal he was working on or water to wash himself off or to scrub things down.

  Rose found herself constantly distracted by Kenyen’s work. It was... there was no other way to say it, mesmerizing. There was a rhythm to it, each strike of his hammer a beat to a breathtaking performance. He didn't so much sing as chant his weird rhymes and the flames... they responded to him in a way far too intelligent, or perhaps, far too passionate for fire. Each time he struck the glowing hot metal, spurts of flame ignited from it, crackling cheers of delight. Embers danced through the air, but rather than fade out, they flickered brilliantly to the ringing of the hammer.

  Met a scared farmer

  With some wolves to fight

  Needed something strong

  And he needed something light

  Made a spear for him

  That was true on sight

  Wouldn’t you know

  He ate wolf that night

  From the coals, pops and crackles could be heard, the fire bright and alive without any help from the bellows, and when she listened closely she realized the snaps and pops were in time with Kenyen’s chanting. She watched on in awe and horror as he paused to run his thumb along the metal, which was still glowing bright orange. Instead of grimacing in pain, he smiled, looking proud. So many questions she wanted to ask, but she dare not interrupt his work for fear of killing the performance.

  There was a grace in the way Kenyen moved despite his overwhelmingly large stature, and beauty when he made the metal move. The otherwise rigid material softened under his touch, opening itself to change. Before she realized it, she watched Kenyen all the way to the finish, and the iron rod had become a fine blade.

  “Put this with the others, on the rack over there,” Kenyen said, handing the sword to her.

  Rose braced herself for the blade to still be very hot, but surprised to find it was only mildly warm. As she held it, she could sense the energy and power that was used to forge it. Carefully, as though handling a living creature, she placed the newly crafted sword on one of the empty racks.

  “No more getting distracted,” he told her, chuckling. “You’re here to work, aren’t ya?”

  “Yes, sorry about that,” she said and hurriedly went back to her chores.

  It was sweltering in the hut and Rose was certain by the end of the day she had sweated buckets and had an inch layer of soot on her skin. Her muscles also felt sore from all the heavy lifting.

  “Not bad today,” Kenyen told her after she finished washing her hands and face in the wash bucket. “You’re puny, but you’re a hard worker.”

  “Thank you, sir,” she answered, taking a drink of water from the cup she’d set aside for herself. Keeping hydrated had probably been the greatest challenge of all.

  “It’s getting late. How about you go fetch us dinner?”

  Rose nodded and headed out of the hut into the fresh, cool, evening air, grateful for the chance to be away from the heat and the scent she could only describe as ‘troll’. Though, to be fair, she probably didn’t smell much better.

  Going inside, she found the eating hall decently packed, with all the tables occupied and most of the chairs taken. She saw a couple of servers hurriedly trying to get food served as quickly as possible.

  When Rose entered the kitchen, she was approached by one of the cooks, a female elf with curled blonde hair. She was carrying a large tray with several bowls of stew packed onto it.

  “Would you be so kind as to take this food to the medical ward?”

  “Uh, where is that?” Rose asked.

  “Outside, right next to the bathing hut,” the other female said, pushing the tray into her hands. “Hurry now. They won’t stay warm forever.”

  “Leave it to me,” Rose said assuredly, exiting the kitchen while taking care not to spill any of the food. She went back outside looking around for the medical ward. She found it on the opposite side of the courtyard from the blacksmith hut, one of two adjoined buildings. Stepping inside, she found herself in a large room filled with beds, several of which were occupied with the sick or injured.

  The only person there Rose somewhat recognized was one of Dimitri’s attendants, Addrick. The large man was currently in the middle of examining a cut on a young woman's shoulder. However, when Rose entered, he turned to look at her curiously.

  “I brought food,” she announced, holding out the tray as a show.

  “Put it on one of the empty beds there,” he said, pointing over to where a few of the beds were vacant. He went back to his examination. Rose did as she was told then quickly left, not wanting to be in the way.

  Once she managed to get herself and Kenyen some food, she returned to the blacksmith’s hut where the two shared their meals. By the time she was finished eating, it was well after dark. She helped Kenyen with the clean up, after which he told her to go clean off and get to bed because she was starting to smell as bad as him. This time, she was able to laugh along with him.

  After Kenyen directed her to where the barracks were, Rose left the hut. It took some wandering, but she found a large room filled with bunk beds, all triple stacked. Most people were asleep, but a few were still awake and talking. The sleeping arrangement was co-ed, and Rose’s heart palpitated at the thought of sleeping unguarded in a room full of strangers. Searching around, Rose found a top bunk close by the exit to take refuge in. It wasn’t nearly as comfortable as her old bed, but more comfortable than sleeping on the ground.

  As much as she wished she could sketch in her journal, it was far too dark in the room and she’d rather not pull out her flashlight. Her head was so full of thoughts that it took her awhile before she finally drifted off.

  Chapter 11

  A noise startled Rose awake, the sound of a door being opened. Panic flooded her brain. Chad’s coming. He’s going to beat me. I need to run and hide. Then she realized she wasn’t in her room. She was still in Dimitri’s castle, in the barracks with everyone else. The person entering the room wasn’t Chad, but one of the castle residents getting to bed late.

  Rose took several deep breaths, rubbing at her churning stomach while she waited for her heart to stop pounding against her ribs. She couldn’t go back to that. Not ever.
She had to make this work. Because if she was sent back, she wouldn’t even have Kyan to help her through the nightmare. A soft, shuddering sob left her and she knew she wasn’t getting back to sleep any time soon.

  Quietly, she got up from her bed and exited the room, taking her bag with her. The halls were still dimly lit with torches which, near as she could tell, never stopped burning. Once outside, Rose sat down against the wall of the castle.

  The sky was full of stars, more numerous, bigger, and brighter than the night sky back on earth. There were also two moons rather than just the one, a large silvery blue moon, and a smaller, rose gold one. As beautiful as the sight was, it wasn’t enough to massage away the pain she felt.

  “Kyan?” she tried, and waited.

  Nothing.

  Rose groaned and buried her head in her hands. She didn’t want to believe it, but Kyan had never been away this long. If he wasn’t answering her calls, then maybe… he was really...

  “Are you well?"

  Rose jumped, then glanced up to see a… Guy? Girl? Honestly, Rose wasn’t sure. They were relatively human looking, with white blonde hair cropped short, and their ears were rounded. Though, their eyes were the color of amber. Certainly handsome and sturdily built enough to be male, yet the face was soft and effeminate.

  At first glance, the person reminded Rose of Lara. Tall and muscular. Though, their muscles appeared built more for speed and agility as opposed to Lara’s brute strength.

  “I was on my way to bed and I noticed you leave,” they explained. “I apologize if I disturbed you.”

  “No,” Rose said quickly, shaking her head. “Just… bad dreams.”

  The person peered at Rose’s face, contemplative. “Did you lose someone?”

  Rose’s throat tightened and she nodded silently in answer.

  They looked at her with somber understanding. “May they live on in memory.” They looked towards one of the buildings, then looked back to Rose. “Are you going to be returning to bed soon?”

  “Uh, probably not for a bit,” Rose admitted.

  “Fancy a bath?” They smiled. “You look like you could use it.”

  I probably smell like I could use it too. “I guess a bath couldn’t hurt,” she said, getting to her feet. “I’m Rose, by the way.” She offered up her hand the way Granger had shown her.

  “Vikhail,” they answered, clapping hands with her.

  The two of them went to the building attached to the medical ward. The bathing area was not what Rose expected. The stone room had a single, large pool of water, large enough fit perhaps twenty people at once, and the water was slowly spinning in a gentle whirlpool.

  Rose glanced away when she noticed Vikhail beginning to strip down, catching sight of abs that one could scrub laundry on.

  Off to the side were tables holding towels as well as rectangular, yellow blocks of what she guessed to be soap. There were also some empty shelves, probably to hold peoples’ belongings while they bathed.

  With a soft sigh, Vikhail sank down into the water until it came up to their shoulders. “Aren’t you getting in?”

  Rose’s cheeks burned, having not known this was a communal bath. She’d never bathed with anyone before. She was having uncomfortable flashbacks of the highschool shower room after gym class.

  “Um, question… are you…” Rose flushed deeper. “Should I call you ‘sir’ or ‘ma’am’?”

  “Neither makes a difference to me,” Vikhail said, shrugging. “I’m just Vikhail. That’s all.”

  Well, if Rose was going to get naked with this person, she was going to think of Vikhail as a girl.

  After grabbing a towel, Rose began the dance of stripping off her clothes whilst also simultaneously trying to keep herself covered. She set her clothes aside and placed the towel near the edge of the pool before easing herself into the water. She anticipated it to be cold, but pleasantly found it was just above lukewarm.

  The pool wasn’t terribly deep, at least not near the edges. She waded in until the water came to her shoulders, then submerged herself. It felt good, and a little weird, like she was skinny dipping rather than bathing. The current was not strong enough to sweep Rose off her feet, but enough to carry her if she let herself float.

  “Is this water magic?” she asked.

  “No, it’s just the water elementals that live here.”

  Rose’s eyes widened, glancing warily around at the water. “You mean there’s something in here with us?”

  Vikhail nodded and then Rose noticed the other’s gaze focused on something behind Rose. Turning around, she saw the water had risen up to shape itself into a towering blob with multiple, tentacle-like appendages. Rose made to back away, but the tentacles reached out and scooped her up, pulling her towards it. A startled yell escaped her as she struggled, but she heard Vikhail call out, “Don’t panic, just relax!”

  Easier said than done, especially when Rose was being sucked into the elemental’s body. She only had time to take in a quick lungful of air before she was enveloped completely. For several moments, Rose fought to stay calm and resist expending precious energy by thrashing around. She tried pushing against whatever was holding her but it was like pushing against soft gelatin.

  Then the oddest thing happened. She heard a warbling noise, not just in her ears but all around her. It was like a song, echoing through her. It was comforting and gentle and benevolent. Just as her lungs were beginning to burn for want of air, she felt herself pushed and she resurfaced from the pool. She gasped a few times as she watched the elemental sink back down into the softly churning waters.

  “I was surprised my first time too,” Vikhail said. “So how was it?”

  “Scary,” Rose said, still panting. “And... beautiful.”

  As she was collecting herself, Rose felt not only refreshed, but oddly revitalized. Her aches and soreness were dulled compared to what they were a minute ago. Looking down at her hands, she was startled. Her palms, which had been covered with sores and blisters from the day, were looking much better.

  “My sores are almost all gone,” Rose commented in wonder.

  “It’s enchanted water,” Vikhail told her. “It helps to soothe minor injuries. Abrasions, bruising, things like that. Since the elementals live here, they sort of… adopt those qualities. So when it was familiarizing itself with you, it was also healing your injuries. Or at least, that’s what I’ve been told.” She approached Rose and the latter was grateful the lighting in the bathing room was fairly dim. “Show me your hands?”

  Rose hesitantly showed Vikhail her hands. The taller woman carefully took them, and Rose watched as a soft, white glow emanated from her fingers. A tingling warmth spread into Rose’s hands and up her arms, faintly echoing through the rest of her body, her muscles twitching and contracting in spasms. Not unpleasant, but definitely strange. When Vikhail pulled away, Rose’s hands were smooth and unmarred.

  “Wow,” she murmured in wonder. Despite having seen it before, it never failed to impress.

  “The water does well enough, but it definitely doesn’t compare to what a life mage can do,” Vikhail told her with a confident smile. “Though I apologize for any discomfort. My life magic and energy magic has a tendency to blend together.”

  “Ah, well, thank you.”

  “Of course. I know it can be rough, being the ‘greenhorn’ around here. Let me know if anyone gives you a hard time. I’ll put them in their place.” She slammed a fist into her open palm for emphasis.

  “Is it that obvious I’m new?” Rose asked, taking a couple steps back while making sure the water still covered her up to the neck.

  “Your reactions with the elemental say as much,” Vikhail said, drifting noticeably closer. “It won’t do that every time you bathe, in case you’re wondering. It just wanted to know you.”

  “That’s definitely a relief.” Though now that Rose could expect it, she wouldn’t mind going through it once more to better appreciate the experience. She took another
couple steps away. “So, how long have you been here for?”

  “Only a few days.” Once more she moved within arm’s reach.

  “Are you… human?” Rose asked hesitantly, glancing at Vikhail’s rounded ears.

  “Me? Oh, no, definitely not,” Vikhail said with a soft shake of her head. “I’m a celestial. Though, I do know of humans. I know Lord Dimitri is one. Why do you ask?”

  Rose remembered what Billy had said, about not telling other people she was human. “I was just curious.” A celestial, she recalled, was a person with Radiant blood. The way Macklass had described them, Radiants and Shades were similar to angels and demons in their dichotomy. However, Rose knew little about them beyond that.

  “I’ve heard interesting things about them,” Vikhail continued. “If given the chance, I’d like to see their world, what it’s like.”

  Even just wading in the pool, Rose could feel the sweat and the grime being pulled away from her skin and leaving her with a tingling feeling all over. She scrubbed at her body, still trying to maintain a comfortable distance. “So what have you been doing since getting here?”

  “Mostly healing,” Vikhail said, sighing as though it were very tiresome. “Don't get me wrong, I’m more than happy to help out. But I definitely prefer throwing punches, and using my healing skill all day leaves me weary.” Was she even aware she was following Rose? “What about you? I don’t sense an aura on you. Are you more of a fighter?”

  More of a rogue, if she were honest. Instead she answered, “I’m planning to study magic once things settle down.” By that point, Rose was pretty certain Vikhail had chased her around the entire circumference of the pool.

  “Ah, I hope you have better luck with that path than I did.” Rose was about to ask what she meant, but had to look away when the other exited the pool. “Shall we return to the barracks together?”

  “Uh, yeah,” Rose said. “Give me a moment.”