As the flames in the ring dwindled, the mage on the edge of the pit threw a red bottle at Flare’s prone body. “Get up. It’s bad enough that this is your fourth defeat of the day, but you need to at least learn to carry your own potions.” Flare’s hand reached feebly for the bottle and pulled it toward her burnt lips.
“Damn,” Ethan muttered. “These people are intense. This is their training program? Maybe I need to go back and apologize to the warrior trainer.”
“This is disgusting,” Emma said, her gaze on Flare’s broken body. “I just don’t understand why civilized people would do this.”
The burly mage on the edge of the pit overheard Emma’s comment, turning and eyeing her with disdain. “We aren’t training a bunch of support casters here that can stand at the rear. Fire mages are good for one thing, killing stuff. It might not be pretty to watch, but it’s necessary. The first time these men and women see combat shouldn’t be in a real fight.” He turned to look at Flare, her skin repairing itself rapidly as she drank the health potion. “There aren’t any do-overs in a real battle.”
Emma lapsed into silence at the mage’s gruff response. Riley also had trouble arguing with the man’s logic. Passion and aggression weren’t pretty emotions, but they served a purpose. Just like the numbing cold of her dark mana, they allowed a person to ignore their own fear and hesitation. The fire mage had essentially made the same argument as Riley’s parents. Sometimes it was necessary to be aggressive.
As her wounds closed, Flare pushed herself to a standing position with a grunt. Her robe had been damaged, long charred slits now dotting the red fabric. With a glare at the mage on the lip of the pit, she grabbed the edge of the ring and yanked herself up and out of the hole.
The fire mage trainer glanced at her dismissively. “I think you’ve had enough for today. Go rest. We’ll start again tomorrow.”
Flare grunted in acknowledgement and started to move back into the interior of the camp. “Wait, Flare,” Riley called. The mage turned, and her tattooed eyes glared at Riley. Then recognition slowly entered them.
“The dark archer,” she said softly. “So, I guess you’ve decided to take me up on my offer?” she asked.
“Something like that,” Riley replied with a slight grin. “We were wondering if we could talk to you for a few minutes.”
Flare shrugged. “I guess so. There’s nothing left for me to do today. I’ll show you to my tent, and we can talk.” She promptly led them back through the camp until they stopped in front of a small structure near the edge of the wall. As she held up the tent flap, the group entered the tight enclosure.
The fire mage dropped to the floor, crossing her legs under her and eyeing them suspiciously. “So, what is it you want? I wasn’t really expecting you to come here.”
“We have some questions about the undead that we saw your group purchasing,” Riley replied, sitting down on the floor across from Flare. “Why does the fire guild need to purchase undead slaves?”
Flare eyed Riley carefully. “Are you interested as a representative of the Twilight Throne or for some other reason?” she asked.
Riley hesitated, not certain how much she wanted to disclose. Her party members all held their tongues, deferring to her judgment. “There are some children in the city who have grown sick,” Riley began, deciding to level with Flare. She would just have to be cautious about mentioning the cultists.
“The first to catch the illness were runners for the library that were delivering books to a man named Vindictus. Those books all relate to the use of Dark mana, and we think that there may be some connection between the sickness and the undead that the fire guild is purchasing.”
Flare chewed on her bottom lip in thought. “Vindictus is a guild Prefect. As you probably noticed, I’m not exactly a ranking member of the guild, so I have no idea what they’re doing with the undead.” She hesitated for a moment, before continuing. “But people talk, and I might be able to find some information for you.”
Her gaze hardened and focused on Riley. “I’ll need something in return before I help you, though.”
“What do you want?” Ethan asked gruffly, shifting awkwardly in his mail as he sat on the floor of the tent.
“I want out of this guild,” Flare said shortly. “I heard what the instructor told you about training us for combat. He’s right… in a way. The fire guild does act as a sort of police force for the city and as its frontline soldiers in the event of war. That’s why I joined – to defend Vaerwald.”
She shook her head slowly. “I also understand that some training is necessary, but the reality is that the dueling and squabbling never stops. These people don’t fight in the pits to protect the city; they do it because they like it.” She paused, her eyes glazing over as she recalled the last duel. “You saw that other mage in the pit. He wanted to hurt me.”
Flare held Riley’s gaze. “I didn’t join this guild to purchase slaves and torture other people. I want out. I want to move to another guild. I want to do something meaningful.”
“That sounds nice,” Emma replied. “But how are we supposed to do that? You know that changing guilds isn’t as easy as snapping your fingers, especially after you’ve already joined one.”
Riley looked at Emma in confusion. She would have to add that tidbit of information to the growing list of things she didn’t understand about this mage city. “You can’t just change guilds?” Riley asked. “That seems like it should be easy.”
Emma rolled her eyes. “The guilds accept new recruits without much fanfare. However, these institutions have been in the city for a long time. If you follow the lore, they’ve actually been here for hundreds of years. There are all kinds of tensions and grudges built up between them. Once you join a guild, the others won’t welcome you with open arms.”
“I know this,” Flare said, glaring at Emma. “Yet those are my terms. If you can at least set up a meeting with another guild, then I’ll investigate why the fire guild is purchasing the slaves.”
Riley didn’t see that they had much choice. Flare was likely their best bet to find more information on the fire guild mages. They didn’t exactly seem like the friendliest group of people, and she doubted her questions would be well received by the higher-ranked mages. She was at least implicitly accusing them of creating a magical plague.
“Fine,” Riley said, cutting off Emma before she could make another snarky comment to Flare. “What guild do you want to join?”
A look of relief washed over Flare’s face before she could control her expression. “I want to join the earth guild. They seem to value the defense of others more than this group.”
Riley nodded and glanced at the others. “Then I guess we need to go talk to some earth mages. You guys okay with that?”
“Fine with me,” Ethan said nonchalantly. “I’ve never been to the earth guild before.”
Lucas nodded his head in agreement, and Emma just looked away – which Riley decided was the closest thing she was going to get to acquiescence from the light mage. Riley turned back to Flare. “So be it. We will get you that meeting, and when we get back, you better have some information on the undead.”
“Agreed,” Flare replied, holding out her arm.
Riley shook her hand, noting the woman’s firm grip and the determination in her eyes. She didn’t doubt that Flare would keep her word. Riley just hoped she could keep her own promise.
Chapter 13 - Resolute
The group was walking down the windswept streets of level eleven. As crazy as the organization of Vaerwald was, at least all of the mage guilds were located on a single level. In front of the group loomed a mountainous structure which stood out in stark contrast to the orderly houses that sat in neat rows along the interior of the disc. The cliff face appeared to have sprung up from the disk itself, possibly a product of magic or an original rock formation that the earth mages had repurposed when the city was formed.
As she looked up at the miniature mountain, Riley’
s hood fell back slightly and a faint drizzle splattered against her face. She wiped the droplets away with one hand before turning to her teammates. “Okay, so this is the earth guild?”
“How’d you guess?” Ethan asked with a sarcastic grin. “Was it the mountain in the middle of a floating city?”
The warrior’s smile was infectious, and Riley couldn’t help but chuckle. “Fair enough. At least it’s a more fitting place for a group of earth mages than the crude camp that the fire mages live in,” she replied. “How do we get inside?”
“Over here!” Lucas called out, having circled the structure. He gestured at a spot against the cliff face animatedly.
The group hurried over and found a rather plain-looking door built into the side of the stone wall. “This is a bit anti-climactic,” Lucas said. “I’ll be honest. I was expecting something more grand and imposing.” He glanced at the others. “Have any of you been inside this guild?” They all shook their heads in response.
“I guess we’ll just have to see what happens,” Riley said. She noticed a metal knocker had been affixed to the door. Reaching forward, she gave it a swing. She didn’t expect the gong-like sound that immediately emanated from the door, and she jumped slightly – earning her a bemused expression from Emma.
Nearly a minute passed with no response, and Riley was about to try the knocker again. As she lifted a hand toward the door, it creaked open slowly, and a young man appeared in the entrance. His head was completely shaved, and he wore a green monastic robe. He observed the group carefully before speaking. “Hello, how can I help you?”
“We’re here to speak with one of the earth guild Masters,” Riley said. She hoped that was the right way to pose the request. From what she had gathered from speaking with her group and the other mages, each guild seemed to be run by multiple Master-ranked mages with a set of lower-ranked officers called Prefects.
The man’s eyebrows rose slightly. “May I ask what business you have with the Masters?”
“It’s a private matter,” Riley said, hoping this would be a good enough answer to get them in the door. Now that she was actually standing in front of the earth guild, she realized that she didn’t know anyone here by name and that this was a complete shot in the dark. Not for the first time, she missed Jason’s careful planning. It was easier to play AO when all she needed to do was shoot things.
The man contemplated Riley’s response for a moment before pulling the door open and gesturing for them to enter. Tunnels had been carved into the mountain – smooth polished walls surrounding them on either side. Green globes of energy floated along the ceiling of the passageways, casting them in a weak emerald light that reflected off the walls.
“Only one of the Masters is present at the moment,” the mage said. “She is currently working at the well. Also, please remember to pay the toll.” He gestured at another obelisk near the entrance and Lucas and Emma sighed in unison. Then the man turned to walk down one of the branching tunnels leading away from the main entrance.
“If you don’t mind,” Riley began hesitantly. “Could you show us where the well is? We’ve never been here before.”
After the fire guild, Riley was expecting an angry retort. Instead, the man simply nodded his head, waited patiently for Emma and Lucas to pay the mana toll, and then changed direction, choosing one of the other side passages. The group followed him through a winding series of tunnels in near silence. The earth mage padded softly in front of them, his feet making barely a whisper on the rock. In contrast, their movements echoed loudly off the stone. For some reason, the earth guild had a library-like feel to it, and Riley cringed at the noise they were making.
The tunnel intersected with larger rooms where groups of green-robed men and women sat cross-legged on the floor. Riley assumed that they were meditating – their eyes were closed, and their chests rose and fell rhythmically. Meanwhile, others had turned the cavern walls into impromptu chalkboards and were drawing arcane symbols and figures on the stone while they whispered to each other quietly. Her teammates eyed the earth mages with incredulous expressions, a bit taken aback after their exposure to the fire guild encampment.
The tunnel eventually dead-ended into an ornate wooden door. Their green-robed guide gestured at the doorway. “The Master is inside.” He bowed his head slightly before moving back down the tunnel. After taking only a few steps, the mage paused, and a small smile curled his lips. “I suggest that you tread carefully. Vivian may not be in the best mood today.”
Fantastic, Riley thought glumly. That should make asking a favor of someone we don’t know even easier!
Riley opened the door and stepped into the small room on the other side. She found herself in a roughly circular room, the walls carved at sharp angles that formed an octagon. A slender young woman stood near the far wall, drawing diagrams on it with a piece of chalk. Riley could see that nearly every square inch of the entire room had been filled with complicated figures and symbols. She noticed a few images that resembled the discs that made up the mage city.
What captured her attention, however, was the stone column sitting in the center of the room. Riley’s eyes widened as she saw the pillar. It was almost identical to the well they had discovered underneath the keep in the Twilight Throne, except this one gave off a strong emerald glow.
There are more of these wells? Riley wondered.
The young woman muttered under her breath as she wiped away a group of figures with her sleeve, “With a current power conversion ratio of 96.783%, we would need 3,456 magi…” She lapsed into silence for a moment, staring at a column of numbers beside her diagram.
Riley cleared her throat, and the woman whirled. “Who are you?” she asked bluntly.
It took Riley a moment to form an answer. The woman before her was beautiful. Her hair was a rich brown that glowed in the green light of the room and her naturally olive complexion gave her an otherworldly appearance. Yet it was the green waves of energy cascading from Vivian’s body that made it difficult to speak. Riley felt like the gravity in the room had increased tremendously, and she struggled to stay on her feet.
“We came to speak with one of the earth Masters,” Riley finally managed to croak, as her legs buckled. It felt like she couldn’t breathe and stars began to appear in the corner of her vision.
Vivian’s eyes widened slightly as she saw that the group was slowly sinking to their knees. “Ahh, my apologies.” She waved her hands and the green aura of energy surrounding her diminished. The oppressive sensation quickly disappeared.
“What was that?” Riley asked as she caught her breath. Her teammates hadn’t fared much better, especially Ethan, who was carrying much more gear than the rest of them. He glared at the earth mage openly from where he knelt on the floor.
The woman raised a single eyebrow. “I was working on the city’s gravitational containment fields before you interrupted me. You’re lucky the group of you aren’t a puddle of flesh staining my floor right now.”
“Gravitational containment fields?” Riley echoed dumbly. She expected she was about to learn another possibly terrifying bit of information about the mage city.
“Yes,” Vivian responded curtly. Her manner was no-nonsense and clinical despite her flawless appearance. “Though I suppose you wouldn’t know what we do for the city. Not many do or care to understand it. Have you ever wondered how the discs stay afloat?”
“Uhh…” Riley began.
“Of course you haven’t. It’s just a magic city after all.” Vivian’s otherwise impassive tone took on a note of sarcasm and irritation, and she pressed a hand to her temple. “Earth magic includes the ability to manipulate an object’s mass. In short, this grants us the ability to manipulate gravity. It takes an incredible amount of energy to do so and is beyond most mages’ abilities – at least alone. Hence, the well,” Vivian said, gesturing at the stone column in front of her.
“Most of the guilds seem to forget that the floating discs are our most importan
t line of defense. Honestly, who could successfully attack a floating city? Yet they barely give us enough energy to keep the structure in the air.” Vivian glanced at the well, her serene face cracking slightly in frustration.
The earth mage looked back up at Riley, her brow furrowing. “But I suppose that’s all beside the point. Why are you here?”
Riley glanced at her group for support, but they all looked away quickly. Apparently, they had no interest in requesting a favor from the beautiful woman who could squash them like a bug. “We came on behalf of a friend with a request,” Riley began tentatively.
Vivian sighed, leaning against the wall of the small room. “Of course. What would you ask of me?”
“One of the fire guild mages wants to join the earth guild. We offered to speak with an earth guild Master to see if you would be willing to accept her into your guild,” Riley said, trying to put a good spin on it.
Vivian eyed her skeptically. “You just volunteered for this task? I suspect that’s unlikely. However, let’s put aside whatever your own motivations are. Why should I accept a hot-headed fire mage into my guild? Do you even know what it takes to cultivate earth magic affinity?”
Riley gave a mental sigh. Of course she didn’t. She decided to just own up to her own ignorance of the matter. “I don’t.”
“Our affinity cultivates peace,” the woman explained. She noted their confused expressions. “I see you don’t understand. That’s not unusual. I am not describing the peace between nations or freedom from conflict. What I mean is that we seek inner peace.”
Riley was still confused. That seemed like a nebulous concept to her. From what she had observed, a person’s actions influenced their affinity. What type of behavior would translate to inner peace?
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