Peter of the Wind (War of Contractia)

by Dixon, TJ

  “Not like they can hear me.”

  “You never know what they can hear.”

  “What are lovers?” I ask confused.

  “You don’t need to know that, but it’s what the academy would deem an unhealthy relationship.” Rin tells me sternly.

  “There’s nothing unhealthy about it!” Rin’s mother protests.

  “Whether or not there is, the fact remains that they consider it so, and we’ll be in bad trouble if they think we are.”

  “Fine, I’ll leave the matter alone, but I still think he’d make a good husband in the future.”

  “He’s just a little brat!”

  “Every man starts as a boy. Anyway for now feed him.” She says handing Rin the food.

  “Why me?”

  “You have to take responsibility for your actions. You were the one worrying that you got him hurt and that he might not forgive you. Anyway I have work to do with the Tree Ent wood.”

  “You got it?” I ask surprised.

  “Yes, you weakened it enough that we were able to finish it off. We didn’t want to waste your work. Don’t worry though, the bounty is all yours.”

  “Wasn’t Rin meant to get half?” I ask vaguely remembering that was the agreement.

  “I didn’t do anything. Not anything good anyway.”

  “Without you I wouldn’t have been able to find it, and you finished it off.”

  “That was mostly mother.” Rin says looking depressed.

  “Even so, a deal is a deal. Half of the bounty is yours.” I say firmly. “Did you pick it up?”

  “It’s over there.” Rin says pointing beside me and I see it on the bedside table.

  “Take half.”

  “For now let’s focus on feeding you.”

  “If you give me the dish and the spoon…” I start to say but Rin cuts me off firmly herself this time.

  “No. I’m feeding you. No protests accepted.” And so she does feed me. It is sweet and warming, and I feel much better for eating it. It feels really weird to be fed like this though.

  “You said it was yesterday, so doesn’t that mean we’re missing lessons?”

  “Yes, but it can’t be helped.” Rin answers and I can’t argue.

  I rest all day and with healing ointments and potions I am fine by the night. Rin finally agrees to take her share of the reward and leaves for the academy. I sleep well and have breakfast here for the first time. It is meat, but I don’t ask what the meat is from.

  In class Hermes asks me the moment I sit down. “So, where were you both yesterday?”

  “I was in bed healing from Tree Ent poison.”

  “You were attacked by a Tree Ent?”

  “No we lured it there and attacked it. It was a bit more dangerous than I expected though.”

  “You’re saying you beat a Tree Ent?” A disbelieving voice behind me asks.

  “No, Rin finished it off.” I say turning and facing a black skinned girl with matching black hair, and brown eyes.

  “Don’t talk rubbish! There’s no way either of you would stand a chance against a Tree Ent. Your little trick in the arena wouldn’t beat that sort of foe. I bet you were just skipping lessons.”

  “Melinda! The bounty was claimed by Rin so there is evidence that he speaks true.” Lady Gracewell calls out. The whole class except for us and Hermes gasp as they hear this. “The academy takes skipping lessons very seriously so it was investigated. Now quiet, I am about to start the lesson.”

  Having listened to my previous requests to let me concentrate on the lesson it is lunch time before Hermes asks us about it. Neither of us feels like talking about it though, and after a while she gets the idea and stops asking.

  The afternoon lesson is on flying so passes quickly and takes my mind off the other day. After class we meet for our usual extra training and focus on teamwork rather than any of the elements. It soon becomes obvious that this is a weak point and I curse myself for not realising sooner. Perhaps a life could have been saved if we had practised this sooner. At the end of the training Rin very much out of character asks Hermes to walk back with her as she has something to talk about. Perhaps Rin wants to tell her about the other day.

  I lie under the stars and talk to them for a long time before eventually falling to sleep, but I am relieved to hear the stars again and sleep well. Sleeping under a roof at a time when I had so much to discuss with them made me restless, and only now that it is relieved do I realise how much so.

  As the days pass we fall back into our routine. Training is going well with all of us making good progress, and working much better as a team. Working well as a trio won’t help when we have to work as pairs, so we make sure that we can work well in any combination. It is soon our day off again and to my surprise Hermes is at Rin’s home.

  “Hello.” She says sounding a little shy. It seems weird for someone who talks so much to be so reserved.

  “Hello.” I answer wondering why she is here.

  “I look forward to working with you on the job as well.” She says. I suppose it is the only reason she would be here, and it should make the job easier if there are three of us, and I suppose it will serve as training too. I am a bit annoyed at Rin for not telling me though.

  “Me too.” I say a little awkwardly. Then Rin ports in.

  “You’re both early.” She says. “Well I suppose you know now that Hermes will be working with us. After that last job we can afford a second escort, and I figured it would be safer. Today’s job is to hunt a mole-dragon and any other creatures we find in the Swamp of Dreams. Mostly we want the skin, undamaged of course, but we also want to capture some dream bugs alive if we can. Their droppings can be used in a new potion my mother thought up. Anything else we find, the corpse is enough.”

  Rin ports us there and the first thing that strikes me is the smell. It’s enough to send you to the land of eternal sleep, and forget dreaming! The second thing is the mist makes it very difficult to see. I can only see a few feet in front of me. Not ideal for fighting. The land itself is a thick mud that makes it hard to move.

  “Can I blow the mist and this awful smell away?” I ask.

  “No, you’ll scare the wildlife away if you do that.” Rin answers.

  “So how do we find what we’re looking for?”

  “We don’t. It finds us. Human flesh, especially young human flesh, is its favourite meal. As the youngest it should go after you. For now let’s just wander randomly and see what else we can find.” Rin says and I feel so reassured knowing that it wants to eat me. I really can’t think of anything that would make me more comfortable!

  “What’s that sound?” I ask as a buzzing sound approaches us. Before Rin can answer I sense something sharp whizzing towards Hermes and put up a wind barrier. “Enemy.” I strike it with a slice of wind cutting the creature in half.

  Rin picks it up and sighs. “I said we needed it alive.”

  “It’s a dream bug?” I ask surprised.

  “Yes. Next time capture it alive please.” Rin says and shows me the corpse before putting it in her bag.

  I feel the vibrations in the air before I sense them in the ground. Then Hermes says, “There’s a mole dragon below us.” For an earth user her senses aren’t as sharp as they should be but now is not the time to worry about it. I lift us off the ground with flight magic and moments later the earth below us hardens and then shattered it is thrown into the air. A quick wind shield prevents any hitting us but I can’t see the dragon. And seriously, if a Tree Ent is a problem, why are we taking on a dragon?!

  “Caught it.” Hermes says and I look at her in shock. She is holding small metal cage and inside is a mole like creature about the size of my hand.

  “That’s the dragon!?” I say in pure shock as I slowly lower us to the ground and release the flight magic.

  “No. It’s just a mole drake. I thought it was a mole dragon, but I was wrong.” Hermes says. “The mole dragon is slightly larger, and much more powerful.
But don’t get a mole-dragon mixed up with an actual dragon. Fighting a real dragon would be suicide.”

  “So how did something so small do so much damage to the ground?” I ask.

  “With magic of course.” Hermes answers.

  “How did you capture it?” I ask.

  “I ported it into the cage. The cage suppresses magic. It will die in a few minutes with no source of magic to keep it alive. We only need its skin though, so that’s fine.”

  “How did you make the cage?”

  “She didn’t. My mother made it.” Rin says proudly to which Hermes nods. “It’s really difficult alchemy. Make one mistake and it won’t hold.”

  “It will hold won’t it?” Hermes asks nervously looking at the snarling mole-drake as it attempts to break the bars.

  “Of course.” Rin says, but I am glad it isn’t me holding it and Hermes clearly wishes it wasn’t her either. We wait for it to die and then it goes into Rin’s bag.

  “Where did you have that before? You weren’t carrying it when we arrived.” I ask frowning at the cage. Then in front of my eyes it fades until I can’t see it.

  “I was, but it was invisible. You can only see it if it’s filled, and for a little while after.” Hermes says.

  “Don’t drop it then or we’ll never find it.” I say.

  “I can sense it using earth magic, but I’d prefer not to have to. It would be a pain to find and get back in this swamp. Most likely it would sink really deep.”

  “Let’s continue looking.” Rin says and so we trudge further into the swamp.

  Just in time I sense an attack from behind and lift us off the ground again. This creature is a huge scaly long thing, with huge jaws that were about to close on Hermes. I slice it in half with air and it twitches a bit before going still. It goes in the bag too.

  The next attack is another dream bug, which I hold still with a strong wind whilst Hermes forms a clear stone box around it. The box has holes for air that are too small for it to escape from. We end up with three of them by midday but are all exhausted so Rin ports us back. Rin’s mother prepares lunch from the large scaly creature’s meat and we rest a while before porting back. Hermes ports us this time because we don’t want Rin to use too much magic.

  We soon have two more dream bugs but no mole dragon. The rest of the afternoon passes by without any luck and even the usually talkative Hermes is silent and depressed. It is starting to get dark when I notice something in the air. The wind screams danger at me. Of course I can’t see a thing due to the fog but whatever it is the air itself is shaking in terror.

  “Be ready to port back the second I give the word.” I say sharply and prepare my magic. Rin grabs my hand and with her other hand Hermes’ hand. She nods slightly and I know she is ready. I use my wind magic to clear the fog and smell, which disappear instantly. In front of us floats something terrible. It must be the size of a mountain but the shape of a ball. A ball with twisting tentacles each larger than the tallest tree I have ever seen. I say just one word as a tentacle races towards us. “Now.”

  Back in the safety of Rin’s home, each of us shaking in shock, Hermes voices what we are all thinking. “What the hell was that thing?”

  “No idea.” I answer.

  “Not a clue. But whatever it was I don’t want to go back to find out.” Rin answers. Her mother walks into the room and seeing our state frowns.

  “What happened?” She asks and we all look at each other. It is Rin who answers.

  “We encountered a monster I would never have imagined, even in my worst nightmare. It makes dragons seem easy.”

  “I don’t know what it was but if it’s that bad then don’t go back there.”

  “I wasn’t planning to.” Rin says with a shaky laugh, but then looks down. “We didn’t get the mole-dragon.”

  “Don’t worry. The dream bugs are very helpful. I already have the potion brewing.”

  “What does it do?” I ask, curious and wanting a distraction.

  “It changes your hair colour.” She answers proudly.

  “Oh, that’s good.” Underwhelmed I try to sound interested, but she obviously catches on.

  “Sure you can dye your hair but there are times you may have a need for a quick change of appearance. For example you can’t ask the town guard to not look for you for ten minutes whilst you dye your hair.” She says and I guess that would be useful. “It is also much easier to remove when you are finished.” I nod politely.

  Rin laughs. “It’s generally better not to ask what things are going to be used for. All too often it’s something silly.”

  Rin’s mother looks at her aghast. “Rin! Nothing I make is silly. It all has a perfectly valid use.”

  Rin grins at me and laughs. Then trying to change the subject she says, “Well, let’s head back.”

  “Wait.” Her mother says sounding serious now.

  “Yes?” Rin asks sounding unsure.

  “Have you paid Hermes yet?”

  “Oh.” Rin says and gives her mother a dark look. “Not yet but I was going to. No need to bring that up right now.”

  Surprised I ask. “So it’s you not your mother who is employing Hermes?”

  “That’s why I didn’t want to bring that up now.” Rin groans.

  “I didn’t know it was a secret.” Her mother says sounding surprised.

  “It’s not exactly a secret, but…” Rin says embarrassed.

  Thinking about it a moment I say. “So how much are you paying Hermes?”

  “Half my pay.” Rin says looking down.

  “The pay’s quite reasonable so why don’t we just split it three ways between us? We could still all easily live off that.” I say. Rin’s mother makes a hasty retreat but Rin glares at her as she does so.

  “I knew you’d say something like that. That’s why I didn’t tell you. The fact of the matter is that you do most of the work. I’m much stronger than when we first met of course but neither me nor Hermes have the same strength that you do. Hopefully we’ll catch up, but every time I get a bit stronger you seem to get even stronger and the gap widens. It’s not just power. I think in terms of pure magical energy I have more than you, but the way you use it and how quickly you react in combat is incredible.”

  “So if you were much stronger than me, would you want me to give away half of my earnings whilst you kept all of yours?”

  “That’s different.”

  “It’s not.” I say firmly. We look each other in the eye for a few moments neither budging when Hermes interrupts and falls under Rin’s glare.

  “I get what you’re both saying but I think that Peter is right. We’re all in this together with the same amount of risk, and spend the same amount of time.” Then Rin’s mother walks back in.

  “Enough arguing. I’ll pay you each the full amount so from now on Hermes, you work for me not my daughter.” She then puts a small bag of coins in each of our hands.

  “But mother…”

  “Enough Rin!” Her mother shouts and this is the first time she has sounded really angry. Under her gaze Rin just looks down and nods. “Both of you please go whilst I talk to my daughter.” She actually sounds scary, which I would never have imagined before. I take Hermes’ hand and port us both back. We part ways both feeling awkward and not wanting to talk.

  “Cheating on your girlfriend?” Kelliet says with a nasty laugh. “I’ll tell Rin on you.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about but if you pester Rin I’ll definitely find a way to repay you.” I say looking her in the eye.

  “Oh, so scared!” She says, whilst clearly not, and ports away with a laugh. I lie on the ground outside my tent and watch the small clouds in a mostly clear sky. Finally it is dark and the stars are out. They sound louder than normal. I am comforted that they seem closer now that I need them again.

  What was that monster? Why was Rin so insistent on taking the burden herself? If I was stronger she wouldn’t have felt the need to have Hermes t
here. But it was nice having the three of us explore and fight together. Perhaps somewhere less smelly next time though!

  The next day there is a surprise test to be taken in groups of three. Perfect! Naturally we form a group immediately. The test is to get past an obstacle course within three minutes. Mastery of each element is essential. The fastest group if under a minute will be promoted, and the worst group will be demoted if a group in the below class meets promotion criteria. The test is taken inside a darkness sphere that prevents anyone else seeing into it until they are inside.

  We wait for our turn talking about silly little things, still a little awkward from yesterday but trying to ignore it. We don’t talk tactics as we won’t know until we are in there, but both Hermes and Rin make it clear I am the leader and they’ll do what I tell them to. The first group take about half an hour and emerge depressed and exhausted, having failed the test ten times over. The second group emerge cheerfully after three minutes, having just about passed. It is lunchtime and we still haven’t had our turn. Some groups like the first took the test ten times without success whilst others passed but none have done so in less than two minutes so far.

  We eat lunch together nervous about what awaits us. It doesn’t taste good. Well it probably tastes the same as normal, except for our nerves. This is a chance to get an instant promotion. Too good to ignore. The test won’t be easy or our classmates would have had an easier time. Finally lunch is over and we wait for our turn again.

  “Rin, Hermes and Peter please enter the sphere.” Lady Gracewell says with her head poking out of the sphere as a group exit dejectedly after ten failed attempts. Inside we can see perfectly. There is a stone spherical wall that I assume we must get past. Presumably three other similar obstacles await us inside. “You just need to ALL get to the centre. Use whatever methods you like except for porting. You may begin.”

  “Rin freeze it.” I say calmly. “Hermes burn it.” The frozen wall shatters instantly under flame and lightning attacks. Inside is an ice wall that makes me laugh as it shatters from the same attack. Inside that is a flame wall that surges towards us. I drain it of air and it disappears leaving currents of fierce air and lightning. “Hermes, create a tunnel of earth. Now run through!” We pass the test in less than a quarter of a minute.