by NAK Baldron
"Are you ready to join the Amethyst Nation?" he asked Shaya. "To train your mind and become the sorcerer you were meant to be?"
"No!" Shaya snapped. "We're here for Ren," she pointed in his direction. "I'm not—"
"But you are—"
"Silence," Akio commanded, as he pulled his dagger an inch out of their sheaths. "This is Kaito-Tanken Shaya, and you'll show her the respect she deserves."
The sorcerer raised his hands. "As you wish," he turned to Ren and touched his shoulder. "Are you ready to join us and begin you training?"
"Yes!" Ren bellowed with pride.
"Climb up and take your place."
Ren's feet felt weighed down like when they became stuck in snow drifts, but he climbed each stair. One, two, three, four, five, and six. He was atop the platform and the young woman came to greet him, and with a gentle push, guided him to where he'd stand to be examined.
Welcome, Henry Balton. Ren heard in his mind. You've begun your Sorcerer's Trial.
CHAPTER EIGHT
REN STAGGERED, AND TOOK A SMALL STEP to catch his balance. How do you know my name?
We are the examiners. A chorus of voices filled Ren's mind, and despite looking right at the examiners upon stage, he saw nothing. His vision shifted from the present moment to that of the eternal presence of mind.
Out of the black void came an island of light, overflowing with a lush garden which climbed the stone walls, floating above a vast ocean.
Floating.
Ren was floating above Fencura, or rather his consciousness was. He could see, but he lacked a corporal body. Instead he existed as pure thought.
What's happening? The experience had silenced his mind.
Your trial. The chorus of voices answered.
Ren felt himself being pulled out of the sky toward a stone tower—in the center of a city he didn't recognize—which stood fifty feet above all other structures. The top of the tower was a pristine lawn of rainbow grass. Ren couldn't see his own body but felt himself firmly standing in the center of the grass which danced in the wind currents.
Yet, Ren felt no wind.
The grass reflected the source-light, splintering it into a constantly shifting spectrum of colors. As the grass swayed in the wind, the colors shifted from violet to indigo—another shift and blue became green—shift again and yellow turned orange—one last shift into a blood red.
It's so beautiful.
Would you like to see more?
Ren's vision went black, then returned with him standing inside a perfect sphere. A set of amethyst lanterns floated in the center of the sphere, and around the lanterns floated the five examiners. Each wore a colored robe with their hoods pulled back—white, green, red, blue, and purple.
Where's black?
The young woman from the stage wore the green robe. "The Onyx Nation doesn't submit pupils, and there will be no further discussion of them here."
"Where am I?" Ren asked.
"You're standing upon the platform in the center of the stone courtyard on Shinzo," The man in red robes said. He looked to be in his early thirties. The right side of his hair was shaved down to the scalp and his ear was pierced with several different metal rings along the cartilage. A golden coin sat in the center of his earlobe which had been stretched to accommodate it. "But I think you meant to ask what you were seeing."
Ren nodded his head eager for the answer, but too shocked to answer. The examiners were floating above in the center of the sphere, and no matter how many steps he took, he remained on the outside edge, walking in a circle around them.
"This is your trial room," An ancient man said, wearing the purple robes, clearly the leader. "Every candidate produces their own vision of the perfect room. This is yours. Your idealized room."
Ren swallowed. At the same time he realized the room wasn't real, meaning his body wasn't real. The vision was no different than when he'd been floating above Fencura or standing in the rainbow grass with no body. This was all in his mind.
"It's easier to start with a physical representation before moving beyond." The woman's face showed no lines of age, but her voice reverberated in a manner that only an older person can. The white of her robes was nearly blinding with how pristinely it reflected the light of the lanterns.
"What am I supposed to do?"
"That's for you to decide," an older man in blue said. "This is your trial."
"I don't know if I can summon orbs of magic like the twins."
"Magic may have caused the orbs," the young woman in green said. "But the orbs themselves weren't magic. They were energy. As you're from the Pearl Nation, I'm sure you understand this."
"I guess."
Ren understood energy and remembered what Brandon had told him about the different elements present inside all magically gifted people and objects. Was he onto the truth? Did he know something the Amethyst Nation was hiding from the rest of Fencura?
"You'll keep the secrets too," the ancient man in purple spoke with a tone of finality. "Brandon was rejected for that precise reason. We saw potential in him, but your nation has lost its way. You care more for progress than proper existence."
"We view knowledge as the highest virtue, and the pursuit of truth as the most honorable occupation."
"Truth, is not found via knowledge, but through wisdom," the woman in white countered.
Ren realized the implications of her wearing white. Overwhelmed by his visions and the experience of existing without physical substance had slowed his mind. The woman wore white for the Pearl Nation, meaning she was one of the twelve, and over 300 years old.
"Three-hundred and twenty-three, to be precise, but it's neither here nor there." She gave Ren a warm smile, and his anxiety faded as he realized he was safe.
"How, though?"
"Not for you to know," the older man in blue floated directly overhead, and Ren saw his left arm was tattooed, the robe slid up as he shifted his seated position.
"Fine!" Ren took a deep breath. It didn't make sense, but his anger had flared up suddenly. "Sorry. How do I move forward?"
"That's for you to decide," the man in Red said.
Ren's neck hurt from looking up at them, but when he focused on the pain it went away. A phantom pain? Regardless he found it annoying to stare up at the center of the sphere. He laid down on the ground and the curve was just enough to cause his head and feet to be elevated slightly higher than his torso.
The ancient looking man laughed. "Good. See, he's learning already."
"Wisdom is accepting that which you cannot change," the woman in white chimed in.
"I just didn't want to stare up anymore."
From Ren's perspective the examiners floated in midair in front of him. He didn't feel like he was laying on the ground, more like he was leaning against a wall. The new perspective allowed him to relax and notice the examiners were slowly shifting their fingers into different geometric shapes. Each in unison with the group, but each appeared to have a different shape after each shift—though he couldn't see the back two examiners because of the lanterns.
Square, circle, square, triangle, diamond, circle, triangle, square.
Ren tried to match the symbol of the examiner directly in front of him with his own hands. Nothing. The examiner to the right. The examiner to the left. Nothing.
Ren held the form of a circle, and when they rotated, he remade the circle rather than shift.
The examiners were all sent to the outside of the sphere in an instant, and Ren took their place in the center. He held the circle shape with the fingers of his hands, keeping it thumbs up, half a foot in front of his chest.
"Very good!" The young woman in green applauded him.
"Did I pass?"
"Pass what?" the ancient man asked.
"The exam, obviously."
"You've been told," the man in red said. "This is a trial. The exam is happening on the stage as we speak."
CHAPTER NINE
SHAYA AND AKIO WAT
CHED REN'S EXAMINATION from the front of the crowd and, thanks to Akio's reputation, everyone kept an arm's length away. Throughout the square, people shoved into one another in an attempt to get closer to the stage. The guards struggled to keep the crowd docile enough to enjoy the spectacle of the exam without turning into a mob.
The sorcerers garbed in black robes behind the square of guards continued to appraise those looking to join the ranks of the Amethyst Sorcerers, but all were rejected. Shaya suspected they knew they stood no chance before stepping forward to be pre-screened.
"Step forward," an old man commanded on stage, and Ren took two steps forward toward the examiners.
Ren held his hands out in front of himself at waist level, palms up.
"Channel your magic," the young woman who'd spoke to the crowd said.
Ren's palms clenched into fists, then opened to reveal two orange orbs the size of her head, spinning in rapid succession, like a whirlpool. The crowd fell silent. Never before had they seen orange magic.
Murmurs spread throughout the crowd as the orbs above Ren's palms grew larger. Soon they were the size of kantoo melons, and still the orbs continued to grow.
The examiners turned to one another to discuss what was happening on stage.
"You miss," a young sorcerer pointed to Shaya. "You'll be examined next."
"Oh, no," Shaya waved him away. "I'm not here to test."
"Yes, you are," the sorcerer stepped passed the guard's outstretched hand to grab Shaya's arm.
Akio's dagger touched the bottom of the sorcerer's chin. "She said no."
The guards nearest Akio drew their swords, but upon realizing who they were standing off against took three steps away. None of the guards were paid enough to face off with Akio and his infamous death circle.
"Stop!" cried the young woman on stage. She stood at the edge of the stage, blocking Shaya's view of Ren, though his orange orbs where bright enough to cast an aura around the woman.
Akio stood with his dagger against the man's throat, pressing the steel with just enough pressure to show he meant business. A tiny red droplet of blood beaded on the tip of his dagger.
"I command you to stop this at once!" The woman's voice echoed off the stone walls.
The entire crowd stopped watching Ren and moved to get a better look at Akio and the young woman on stage. Ren's orbs continued to grow larger and reached the size of a small child.
"Tell your man to step back," Akio said.
"This one is ready to be examined," the sorcerer leaned back to avoid his Adam's apple being cut on Akio's dagger and pointed to Shaya.
"What's the meaning of this then?" the young woman asked.
"I don't want to be examined," Shaya said. "I am Kaito-Tanken Shaya, and this is my first-sworn, Akio. You are going to call your men off, and we are going to leave this place."
Akio twirled his second dagger in his left hand to show he wasn't worried, but ready to attack with Shaya's command.
"That's not going to happen." The young woman stepped off the platform and approached Akio, "Lower your dagger, fool."
Instead, Akio raised his spare dagger to her throat.
"No!" Shaya called out.
It was death and worse to attack an Amethyst Sorcerer, Shaya had been willing to allow Akio to bluff but, apparently, he wasn't. Either he forgot himself in a fit of rage or, worse, choose to ignore the fact that sorcerers were untouchable.
"I don't want to be examined. I have no desire to join the Amethyst Nation."
"That's not up to you to decide," the woman pushed Akio's dagger away from her own throat. Then pushed away his other dagger from the young man's throat. "As decreed by Fencura law, we have the right to examine anyone we choose, and take on any pupil we see fit."
"I'll never swear fealty to you."
"We didn't ask you to, Kaito-Tanken Shaya," the woman held her hand out for Shaya to take.
Akio looked to Shaya, desperate for the command to attack, but she couldn't give it. She was all that was left of clan Kaito and she couldn't afford to throw it away here. If that meant she would submit to an examination, then that's what she would do.
"Sheath your daggers."
It was the first time Shaya had ever commanded him to stand down in the face of a threat.
Akio hesitated, twirled his daggers twice, then sheathed them in unison. He stood at attention with his shoulders straight waiting for his Thief Lord's next command.
Shaya took the young woman's hand and allowed herself to be led up on stage for all of Shinzo to see. No doubt men were already on their way to tell the other thief lords what was happening.
Kaito-Tanken Shaya was to become a sorcerer.
CHAPTER TEN
WHAT FELT LIKE HOURS TO REN passed with him floating in the center of the sphere.
"What do you want from me?"
"Nothing," they said in unison.
"How do I pass then?" Ren rubbed his face with both hands. The stress of the trial was wearing him down. "Is that it? Am I supposed to admit defeat? Is this a test of my endurance?"
"This is your trial," they answered.
For what felt like hours, they answered each of his questions in unison with cryptic replies that left Ren less informed than before asking the question. He remembered a phrase he'd learned since coming to Shinzo, Death before dishonor.
So many were counting on him. All of Pearl Nation, even those who didn't know it or care to admit it like Johnathan. Removing the stigma of the Pearl Nation would ensure Ren's place in the history books forever. He'd always be the orphan who redeemed them, rather than the orphan with no prospects. Then there was Shaya, and her need to rebuild clan Kaito. For some reason she placed her trust in him, and he in her. She and Akio were the first true friends he'd ever had, and he realized just what death before dishonor meant.
"I'm ready," Ren declared and shift his hands from circle to square.
The sorcerers were floating above Ren, rotating in around the Amethyst lanterns, while he laid against the hard metal of the sphere.
"Ready for what?"
"Ready to begin."
"Welcome, Henry Balton!"
Blackness filled Ren's vision, and then he opened his eyes to find himself in a brightly lit room. Slowly, his eyes adjusted, and he realized the room was in fact inside the emperor's palace because guards stood watch at around the room, and the tapestries along the walls were more ornate than any others he'd seen on Shinzo. Like the stone murals in the Noble's Quarter, these tapestries showed wonderful oceanic scenes: whales, dolphins, octopi, and many other forms of sea life. Hanging from the far north wall was a giant sea turtle which stretched twenty feet from floor to ceiling. Undoubtedly enchanted, because the ocean moved around the turtle as it swam above the colorful stones Capt. Kaito pointed out on their way to Shinzo.
"That's Ao," a woman placed a hand on Ren's shoulder, and nearly made him jump. "Apologies. I didn't mean to startle you."
"Who are you?"
"I'm Hekima the emperor's advisor. He asked that I look after you and the other pupils who pass."
Realizing Ren was present the twins stopped staring at the artwork and joined him and Hekima.
"Amazing, no?" Adaku asked.
"Yes," Ren said. "Or did you mean the trial?"
Abaze laughed, "Both."
Two guards clicked their heels as they allowed three servants to enter carrying platters. The first held three pitchers and two stacks of silver cups. Wine, water, and dark ale for them to choose from. The second platter was nearly overflowing with broiled fish, fresh oysters, and buttered prawns. The third platter carried their plates and utensils, along with dessert—a pudding of red, white, and black.
"Please enjoy," Hekima said. "I'll return shortly to discuss the next steps."
The servants left with her, leaving Ren alone with the twins—them and ten guards, that is.
For several minutes the three of them ate in silence, stopping only long enough to offer each other g
iant grins of joy. Ren was ravaged, and it appeared the twins were too. None of them remembered their manners, instead tearing into the food as fast as possible. Ren couldn't remember feeling this hungry before, not even on the mornings after missing dinner, back at the orphanage.
"Must be a side effect of the trial," Abaze said between mouthfuls.
"Yeah," Ren swallowed his second helping of pudding. A wonder blend of cheery, vanilla, and chocolate. "Where do you think the sphere was?"
"What sphere?" Adaku asked.
"From your trial," Ren said, but realized they both didn't understand what he was talking about. "When you were on stage, did you not go somewhere else?"
"Oh yes," Abaze said. "I was back on the grass plains outside my father's city, but it was odd because I didn't see the city. Only a sea of grass."
"I was floating in the clouds," Adaku said, "But it didn't make sense, because I saw the source-light disappear beyond the horizon, and then return. I don't understand. How could I have been gone for a whole day?"
"When I was in the sphere, I couldn't tell exactly how much time passed, but it felt like hours."
"What are you two talking about?" Abaze asked. "I was only on the plains long enough for the sorcerers to question me. No more than five minutes."
"That's the craziest part," Ren said. "I watched you two on stage, and you were only there for less than five minutes. You took your places, stepped forward summoned spheres of magic. They danced around you, and then sorcerers led you off stage."
"We have no memory of the stage," Adaku said.
"We remember being called forward," Abaze said. "And then we were in here. You were brought in less than ten minutes after us."
The metal of a guard's boots clicked against the stone hallway, and two men led a sorcerer Ren hadn't seen before, along with...
"Shaya!" Ren hopped to his feet, sending his empty plate sliding across the stone floor with a loud wobbly sound like a drum roll.
"She can't hear you," the sorcerer said.
Ren recognized her voice as the ancient woman in white from his trial. She lowered Shaya onto a cushion next to Ren.
