Royal Falcon

by Chris Svartbeck

  Thealina took pity on him. “You mustn’t completely take over the falcon. Leave him some space so his instincts and reflexes still work. The falcon will take care of the necessary movements, you just need to steer him.”

  That advice helped him. Jokon quickly learned to fly the falcon. The hardest thing for him now was how fast they were. During his first failed attempt to fly, the landscape raced by beneath his falcon’s eyes so fast, he felt nauseated and withdrew from the falcon’s consciousness, startled.

  But that didn’t stop him. A half a moon later, he was racing against Thealina. Thealina hadn’t been exaggerating. It was a wonderful feeling, flying free above the farmlands and fields, even if it was only a borrowed body.

  Their normal lessons dragged on. Without Master Go there, the adepts weren’t particularly inclined to work with the Blues. Nao was the only one who dutifully conducted his lessons, but he too seemed to lack motivation. Krudion pursued a new hobby. He challenged the Blues, one after the other, to a match. Jokon was summoned, too. He apprehensively followed Krudion into the cavernous arena. Nao acted as the referee from the platform. “A simple match, only using fireballs,” he declared.

  Krudion attacked without warning. Jokon wasn’t able to raise his protective shield fast enough. A searing pain shot through his shoulder when the fireball strafed him. He stumbled and nearly fell. For the next few minutes, all he could do was dodge fireballs or fend them off with a hastily conjured protective shield. He had no opportunity to even consider a counterattack. Again, his foot caught on something as he tried to dodge a fireball. His protective shield clanged like a large kettle. And again. This time, he did fall down. What was wrong with the floor? Then he understood. Krudion wasn’t playing fair. He was enchanting the crystals and making waves undulate beneath his feet. Full of rage, Jokon slammed his fists against the white mass. The crystal shards jabbed his hands like a thousand needles. At the same time, he was filled with power. Without thinking, he warded off Krudion’s next fireball. The energy stored in the crystals flowed into him, almost making him feel drunk. Grinning wildly, Jokon shot up and hurled an entire wall of flame at Krudion. The next moment, everything went dark in the cavern and Nao imperiously declared, “Enough!”.

  Jokon waited, his aching, bleeding hands clutching his mirror, as Nao spoke quietly with Krudion. Krudion left, but not without throwing a very hostile look at Jokon.

  Nao turned toward Jokon. “That was stupid,” he said, his voice devoid of emotion.

  “Why?” Jokon protested. “I was just defending myself! Not only that, I won, too! Anyway, Krudion wasn’t fighting fair...”

  “Lesson one: Never fight fair in the arena,” Nao said and fixed his gaze on Jokon.

  “Lesson two: You gave up an advantage by showing your opponent you can do something he can’t. Krudion has fought more than thirty matches in this arena and has never been able to draw energy from the crystals.

  Lesson three: That is how you make enemies. Without being able to control the crystals, Krudion will never become an adept. You, however, were successful in your very first match. He knows he has to fear you now. You will have to watch your back in the future.”

  With that, Nao turned on his heel and left. Feeling glum, Jokon didn’t follow him for a long while.

  If Krudion had disliked him before, now, he hated him. Suddenly, Kai and Tur seemed to rediscover their interest in him. Krudion took an almost fiendish pleasure in summoning Jokon to the tower. Kai tortured Jokon with her most powerful mirrors. He staggered back to his room, completely exhausted, after every session and focused his powers on his smallest mirror. They were relentless. Before he could recover, he was summoned to the tower again. Kai and Tur took turns. Tur made a sport of trying out all of the mirrors and finding out which encounters Jokon found the most repulsive. It was almost a relief when Nao summoned him. Tur and Kai became more inventive and intensified their evil games. They summoned Tevi to the tower along with Jokon. Then, they both charged their energy from their mirrors and short-circuited them. Tevi and Jokon screamed as they fell to the floor. Several days passed before Jokon regained consciousness. Gavila was standing beside his bed, talking to Marada.

  “This can’t go on any longer. The two of them will be extinguished prematurely if we don’t put a stop to it. You must notify Master Go!”

  Jokon didn’t hear Marada’s response, but she must have done something. Kai and Tur didn’t play that particular little game again.

  Before they had both fully recovered, Krudion summoned Tevi to the arena. Tevi returned, more dead than alive, with several broken bones and severe burns on his arms. Jokon understood. Krudion was too much of a coward to seek revenge directly. He would rather take it out on Jokon’s friend.

  The next day, Master Go returned home. He showed no reaction, nor did he comment, but things returned to normal. Thealina and Gavila enhanced Marada’s herbs with a healing spell and when the monsoon season came, Tevi was almost his old self again. Almost. Jokon knew his friend suffered from terrible nightmares.

  Then, Thealina disappeared. Krudion had summoned her to the tower that evening with a particularly disgusting grin. Thealina didn’t return. Tevi, Isito and Jokon snuck to Gavila’s room. Gavila was still the best scryer among them, but as hard as she tried, she couldn’t find a trace of Thealina. Only a small, brittle signature still reverberated through the tower. Gavila looked up, tired. “Thealina has been turned into a mirror.”

  The young men exchanged a dismayed look. “Who...?” Isito began.

  “Probably Master Go. I am not certain. It must have happened quickly. Without a fight. The tower energies are nearly undisturbed.”

  “Why now?”

  “Perhaps he just needed to quickly recharge his energy. Perhaps he was bored. Perhaps she wasn’t good enough anymore. There are a thousand reasons. He doesn’t need one, anyway. He can do what he wants with us.”

  “But the matches...?” Jokon asked. “There are no rules for those, either. Only the adepts are protected. At least, they are as long as they don’t challenge him.”

  This information was new. Jokon inquired further. “Who protects the Reds?”

  “Looks like you slept through history class!” Tevi responded sharply. “The Crystal Chamber protects them.”

  Oh yeah, the Crystal Chamber. Jokon dimly remembered having heard of it. The assembly of all the sorcerers in the kingdom. Or the place where all the sorcerers in the kingdom met. Or perhaps it was both. Oddly, despite this knowledge, he had always assumed the world of sorcerers was limited to just this house.

  “There are laws to protect the new generation of sorcerers,” Gavila confirmed, “but they only apply to the really good ones. The others are sorted out. That is what houses like Master Go’s are for. To eradicate the weak.”

  “And then?” She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. It must have something to do with challenging the master. They never told us exactly how you ultimately become a sorcerer.”

  ‘Perhaps she wasn’t good enough anymore.’ This information destroyed a friendship. Isito was the first to distance himself from them. Gavila practically became a hermit. Tevi and Jokon treated each other like raw eggs for a while, until they couldn’t stand it anymore and talked it out. Then, they laughed and started studying together again. But a certain amount of cautiousness remained. At the same time, they both tried to store as much energy as they could. Their newfound attraction to the female Greens didn’t help. Their personal mirrors grew. They were already the size of a head. It wasn’t enough. They were still easy targets for Kai and Tur. Jokon remembered the opportunities the arena afforded. The next day, he challenged Miramee.

  *

  “Come on, hit him! Let him have it!” The encouraging calls of the weaponry students rang out across the yard. Ioro grinned, certain he was about to win. He had almost won his bet. A dozen, back-to-back sparring victories. No one else could do that! Mormoto was his eleventh opponent. He parried Mormoto’s atta
ck and tried to feint. Mormoto elegantly evaded him and swung his sword up from below, aiming for his hip. At the last moment, Ioro was able to fend off the attack. He pivoted halfway around and surprised Mormoto with a backhand strike. The blow connected with Mormoto’s upper arm. Victory! Mormoto rubbed his aching arm. He would have a nice bruise to tend to. With open admiration, he grinned and bowed before Ioro and conceded victory to him. The spectators applauded. Sword Master Askander nodded to him graciously.

  “Who is the last challenger?” Ioro was exhausted, but not too tired for a final victory. This competition would earn him a nice little sum.

  Then, Tolioro stepped forward. Ioro’s eyebrows shot up. Damn! His royal, younger brother wanted to fight him! Tolioro had lost every fight against him so far. He probably thought he finally had a chance to win since Ioro was tired after eleven fights. What an idiot! He could beat Tolioro in his sleep!

  His mother’s words rang out in his head. ‘The future king must not lose face.’ Ioro’s thoughts raced. What should he do? Whether Tolioro lost or he were to blatantly allow him to win, the crown prince would lose face in this particular fight, anyway. It was quite the quandary.

  He mechanically readied himself to fight, mechanically bowed to his brother, and mechanically reacted to the first attacks, feints and parries. The other students, who didn’t know whether they should root for their future king or their future commander, played it safe, and rooted for both, equally. Ioro allowed himself to be driven back. A contemptuous grin appeared on Tolioro’s face. Ioro felt the rage welling up inside him. Did he really want to lose to this arrogant weakling? His sudden counterattack surprised Tolioro, causing him to stumble. He just barely caught himself. Now Ioro was driving Tolioro back. Tolioro was drenched in sweat. Strike. Parry. Strike. Parry. Ioro felt his opponent’s defenses growing weaker. He thought of his mother again and retreated. Good Goddess, how was he going to get out of this quandary?

  *

  It was easy, almost too easy. Miramee was completely unaware of the crystals’ properties. Jokon simply waited behind his defenses until she had nearly exhausted her powers with fireballs. Then, a minor counterattack was enough to send Miramee to the floor, defeated. Before he left the arena, Jokon reached into the crystal needles with both hands. He could practically feel the power seeping in through his hands, filling him until he was nearly bursting. His mirror began to melt for a moment. When it recrystallized, it had grown significantly.

  After that fight, Jokon was directly below Gavila and Krudion, the senior Blue, in the pecking order. Tevi, however, had difficulties with the crystals. He simply didn’t understand how to tap into them. Jokon gave him every tip he could; to no avail. Finally, he stole into the cavern and brought several crystals back to his room. It was a hot day. Despite the open windows, the air in the room was still. Jokon loaded a small fireball into the crystals. Tevi reached in. Nothing happened except for an involuntary “Ouch!”. Tevi tried again. No reaction. He simply couldn’t take hold of the energy. Tevi sat, discouraged, before the pile of crystal needles. Jokon didn’t know what to do. The two of them brooded in the dull silence. A falcon screeched outside.

  Jokon’s head shot up. That was a possibility he had never considered before. If he could control the falcon, would it also work with people? Thealina wasn’t here anymore, so he no longer needed to keep his promise. Excited, he told Tevi about the falcon. Tevi listened, his eyes sparkling. There was still a chance for him! Jokon activated a modified summoning spell. He could feel the resistance of Tevi’s consciousness fighting him. It was a completely different sensation than with the falcons. While the falcons only offered him diffuse, easy-to-overcome resistance, Tevi’s mind was a clear, smooth wall. He carefully tried again. The resistance increased. Jokon withdrew his summoning spell a bit.

  Tevi suddenly lowered the wall.

  A slick as an eel, Jokon’s consciousness slipped into his mind.

  The first impression was of an immense vastness. Then, he saw the order. Memories and knowledge were in clean, glass blocks in Tevi’s consciousness. Jokon could read and access them. He curiously stretched out a feeler. An image. A small hut wedged between other dilapidated buildings. Before it sat a worn, middle-aged woman, tiredly stoking a fire. Sensing Tevi’s love for this woman was almost painful. His mother. Jokon’s feeler slipped into the hut. Way back, under the bed, apparently shared by all of the residents, was a treasure, according to Tevi’s memory. He looked into the straw mattress. A small, blue pebble that had been worn smooth by the river. Tevi’s treasure. Jokon withdrew again, ashamed. That was too personal. He waited at a place in Tevi’s thoughts that looked like a huge, high crystal dome. The floor of the dome began to warp and surrounded him like a bubble. Suddenly, Jokon could see through Tevi’s eyes and feel with Tevi’s hands. The crystals were lying there before him. Confident and determined, he reached in with his hands. The familiar pain only lasted a moment, then it was displaced by the overwhelming feeling of energy flowing in. Tevi’s sudden understanding and joy were so overwhelming, Jokon was ejected from his consciousness.

  That was the breakthrough. Tevi worked with the crystals as though he done it his entire life. When the gong summoned them to afternoon lessons, the two exhausted, but happy young men left the room.

  They quickly realized they could share almost all of the subject matter with each other and learn much faster. They also got to know each other very well. Slipping into someone else’s mind meant sharing their memories and feelings. Theirs became more than just a mere friendship. Jokon and Tevi were suddenly as close as identical twins. Of course, the change in the two of them didn’t go unnoticed.

  Krudion was the first to notice. Tevi managed to defeat him without effort in the arena. Nao looked at them with a strange, calculating expression and gave them material to study that only Gavila was able to handle. Jokon and Tevi completed their work with ease.

  Kai and Tur needed a bit longer to understand.

  One evening, Jokon felt Tur’s familiar, detestable summon. Out of habit, his legs carried him toward the tower. He hesitated at the foot of the stairs. It worked! He was actually able to stop! The pull of the mirror grew stronger. Jokon waited another moment until he was certain he could resist the mirror. Then, he walked up the tower stairs with new confidence. Apparently, Tur hadn’t noticed. Kai was standing next to him, already holding the spellbinding mirror in position. As usual, she wove her enchanting spell and turned around to face Tur. Jokon quickly checked if he was able to move. Good, the enchanting spell was too weak to hold him. At first, he just stood still. Let the two of them feel safe.

  “Which mirror should we try out today, Per or Tas?”

  “I used Per yesterday. So, it’s your turn with Tas today.”

  Kai took the misshapen soul mirror in both hands and concentrated. Jokon was all too familiar with the mirror. All of Tas’ desperate rage burned within it, his disappointment, his rebelliousness. The mirror felt like bubbling, boiling mud. The searing wave was already rolling toward him. He quickly raised his hands and wove a defense. Yes! He could stop it! A glass wall held the dark, smoldering mass at bay. Everything remained pleasantly cool around him.

  Kai jerked back. “By the warty tits of Granata! What is that? I can’t get through to him!”

  Tur reacted with the speed of a cobra. His mirror hammered against Jokon’s defenses so hard shards flew. Cracks appeared in the glassy wall. Thin tendrils of mud seeped in and spread out in a greasy pool. Jokon tried to retreat to the entrance, but every time he moved his foot, his defenses yielded faster. Sweat was dripping into his eyes. His head was hammering, and his pulse was racing. He couldn’t withstand the dual attack much longer.

  Then, he felt something on his chest. Cool, calming power was flowing into his body through his mirror. Tevi’s power. Somehow, Tevi had sensed his distress and made contact. Jokon was filled with renewed courage. Now it was two against two. The odds had changed. A new, smooth, seamless protective shiel
d rose behind the cracked, half-shattered wall. Tur hammered at the shield from the outside, making it ring like a bell, and Kai’s wave of mud had now completely washed over the dome of the shield, but Jokon was safe. They couldn’t hurt him anymore. He waited. The assault slowly abated. His vision returned. Tur was standing at the table; his face white as ash and his mirror lying on the floor before him. Kai was practically glued to the back wall, clutching the Tas soul mirror against her chest with a horrified expression on her face. Neither of them uttered a word.

  “Are you quite finished?” Jokon asked. “I have other things to do today.” He turned around and left the room.

  Kai and Tur never summoned him or Tevi again. During lessons, they eyed each other as warily as a spitting cobra does a mongoose.

  Jokon and Tevi decided to tell Gavila. Jokon demonstrated his abilities by calling a falcon into Gavila’s room, then flying him to explore the nearby marketplace in Toolinemeeka. Jokon could count the pumpkins Marada was having loaded onto the shopping cart. Gavila demanded more concrete proof. Traverto, the silversmith, was working on a piece for Gavila. Jokon flew the falcon to the silversmith’s window. A chain with a stylized pendant lay on a velvet cloth. He could easily make out the design. The Celestial Mountains!

  That convinced Gavila. She readily learned the new technique. It proved unnecessary to guide Gavila’s mind or use crystals; she already had enough experience with them and learned very quickly. Gavila returned, tired and drained, but extremely happy after her first flight with a falcon. Of course, she had flown her falcon to the mountains; where else? The falcon was so exhausted, it remained sitting on Gavila’s bed, unmoving. She stroked its feathers, laughed and cried, and fed it little strips of raw meat.