Thad remained quiet and dived into himself looking for any sign of the Vathari language inside his own mind much the same way he would look for a memory that evaded him. He could see traces of it lingering around like flashes of a dream that lingered after waking. He was forced from his contemplations when the farmer returned carrying a small cloth bag. “I have brought what you requested my lady.” The farmer said with his head bowed and arms outstretched presenting the bag to Bahia.
“Thank you… I am sure they are of the finest… Quality.” Thad said slowly in Vathari.
Bahia quietly giggled a faintly cute sound that sent shivers down Thad’s spin. It was eerie as if hearing a dog talk, it just didn’t belong. “You would make such a fine pet.” She said giving him one of her longing stares, as if he were sort of prize she wanted to display. “Here, try one of these. They are beyond compare to your surface grown fruit.” Bahia said tossing him one of the fruits from the bag.
The fruit was dark purple and felt slightly off as if it were a plum with hair on it. Closing his eyes Thad took a timid bite from the offered fruit. Juice spilled down his chin as the sweet tangy flavor washed over his tongue. It was delicious and true to Bahia’s words he could think of nothing he had eaten before that had tasted so good. The look on his face must have gave his thoughts away as Bahia let out a humph of triumph. Everything was the same with her, a contest to be won, a battle to be fought. There seemed to be nothing she took pleasure in just for the sake of it. Thad wasn’t sure if he should envy or pity her. The way she seemed to view the world had its merits but it seemed cold to him lacking true connections with others around her.
Thad continued to nibble on another one of the fruits as Bahia led him through the streets of the Xi’han. The city was laid out like many of the others he had seen. The resident district was at the outlying parts of the city, the closer you move in the nicer the buildings became, and then there was the market with small stalls staggered around and large buildings with displays showing their wares. At the center there was no castle but a series of large and imposing buildings. Bahia led him to one of the massive buildings, one that was shaped like a massive pillar. Two huge doors loomed in front of him, looking as if they had been made for giants. Bahia placed her hand on a small circle on one of the doors and it swung in without effort on her part. Slightly amazed at the wonders around him Thad watched silently as he followed his caretaker into the large building.
Inside the building reminded him of the Royal Academy, though it had far more decoration and magic about. The magic was so thick Thad could feel his skin tingling as he followed closely behind Bahia as she led him to a large spiraling staircase. They walked up countless steps, far more than Thad would have ever guessed could have been inside the tower. “How far are we going?”
“You wanted to see Sae-Thae the Paramount of the mages, which means we have to make the trip to the top of the tower.” Bahia said, her voice showing her annoyance at his question. Thad continued to follow Bahia though he remained quiet until they reached a rather normal looking door at the top of the staircase. With everything else Thad had seen he had expected something grand awaiting him at the end. A door that talked, or maybe one that was made of a mystical metal that gleamed in the darkness, but instead he was greeted by plain wood that almost seemed out of place in a wizard’s tower.
CHAPTER V
Thad and Bahia were escorted into a small waiting room, by what Thad believed to be a young apprentice mage; though Thad was honestly having trouble telling the difference in the ages of the Vathari. He had not seen anyone who looked extremely young nor old; all the Vathari he had seen looked to be the same age. The question nagged at him but one look at Bahia and he knew that his asking any question right now would not be well received. Bahia looked far more uneasy than he had ever seen her before. Seeing her in such a state, Thad’s mind began to worry. She always seemed fearless and in control so whatever must be awaiting them left her out of sorts.
When Sae-Thae entered the room wearing a long colorful robe, the tension in Thad’s body and mind melted away. Standing before him wasn’t an enemy but someone he was more than willing to call a friend. Sae-Thae walked straight over to Thad and bowed to him. “It is good to finally met you in the flesh Thaddeus Torren.” Before Thad could return the greeting Sae-Thae turned to Bahia. “Mistress of the night, you have done your job, you are dismissed.”
Thad was amazed at the dismissive tone Sae-Thae used on Bahia and he readied himself for her sharp retort, hoping that it didn’t lead to a fight. He didn’t know if he considered Bahia a friend but he knew he didn’t want to see either of the two in the room come to injury. To his surprise Bahia bowed to the mage and dismissed herself without a word. As the door shut behind the Vathari priestess, Thad felt slightly saddened at the parting, he would miss her to some degree but other more important things now loomed ahead of him.
Sae-Thae took a seat across from Thad and smiled brightly, a look that seemed out of place on the face of a Vathari. “I am glad you decided to visit Thaddeus. I wish I had been looking for you but I must admit that I honestly didn’t believe you would ever come in search of me. Did you happen to bring your pet with you?”
“Please call me Thad. Thaddeus seems to be too formal between friends,” Thad said retuning the Vathari’s smile. “My pet, do you mean the dwarf or Avalanche? The dwarf is still back at his home and Avalanche wandered off before we reached Xi’han she didn’t seem to keen on entering your village. It saddens me but she doesn’t seem to look at the Vathari kindly.”
Sae-Thae laughed and shook his head. “Thad it is then. Honestly I didn’t expect the Heartstone creature would come with you. She is animalistic in nature so she would sense the open confrontational air that my people give off. That aside might I inquire as to why you have decided to visit, though I am sure I know the answer.”
“I wish to learn,” Thad replied shrugging his shoulders. ”The dwarves while excellent hosts couldn’t truly teach me magecraft, I was hoping you could.”
“Yes the dwarves are subtle in everything they do. I believe we can help you, after the Fae Wars we hosted many human who lived among us for protection for a time. Thanks to that we have the ability to help you in all your areas of magecraft and not just in darkness though that is our strongest area.”
“You have Vathari who can use elements other than darkness?” Thad asked slightly confused.
“Yes, and that brings me to a very important point.” Sae-Thae said, his face looking slightly worried. “We expect you to mate with our females while you are visiting.” Sae-Thae said, then quickly held out his hand forestalling any remark Thad might have made. “A full blooded Vathari cannot use anything other than magic containing the darkness element that is true. To help strengthen our ability to use magic in the past we required visiting mages to mate with our women. That is the only requirement though a few of our warriors may request a sparring match with you considering that news of your powers in battle have reached all the notable warriors within Xi’han. As for the women you can chose your own if you wish but I will also be selecting some with high potential to send your way.” Sae-Thae paused for a moment and looked Thad directly in the eyes. “If you do this I will help you in your study of magic, with your pilgrimage, and I will tell you everything I know of the Brotherhood.”
Thad sat quietly for a time considering everything Sae-Thae had said. He should have known that knowledge came with a price, and for prices it was one that wasn’t too steep. “I will agree to your terms, but if possible I would like Bahia to be among those chosen for me.” If he had to bed Vathari women he might as well continue with one he already knew.
“A maiden of the night, you are an odd one.” Sae-Thae said amazement lingering at the edges of his voice. “I cannot guarantee that but I will send a missive to her Paramount requesting such a bonding. Unlike most females the Priestess have a bit more power in refusing such a request but few would. It is seen as an honor to ca
rry the offspring of a child of Moriudonius.”
“What or who is a child of Moriudonius? I have been called that numerous times and I’m starting to feel left out.” Thad said slightly frustrated.
Sae-Thae folded his hands in his lap and crossed his legs. “That is a long story and what used to be the major reason for mages to go on their pilgrimage. For most,it is one of our biggest taboo’s to tell a child of Moriudonius anything about the meaning of the name, but as luck would have it I am one of the few who have the pleasure of not being bound by such a taboo.” Sae-Thae said causing Thad to lean forward in anticipation.
“It started long ago when only the twin beings we would call gods roamed the land, Humanius and Belaroan. Though twins created by the eternal god they were completely different. Belaroan was a peaceful creature who simply enjoyed watching the world around him, content with simply watching the grass grow, as the saying goes. Humanius on the other hand was restless and quickly grew bored, so he created humans in his own image, so that he would have servants to command and obey his every whim. After a time he showed his creation to his sister who took a great interest in them and condemned her brother for using them as slaves.”
“Over time the humans grew tired of Humanius iron grip on their lives and rebelled. The leader of the rebellion Albairas, sought the aid of Belaroan, who created a land where any human who wanted to be free could live. The story goes that Albairas and Belaroan fell in love and had nine children. Humanius, who saw humans as below them, was outraged that his sister would dare mix her blood with theirs, and started destroying humans in an attempt to wipe them off the face of the land. Against Belaroan’s blessing Albairas rode out to fight Humanius and was slain on the battlefield. Belaroan knew that her brother would not stop until every last creature carrying human blood was slain including her children. To protect them she gave the eight oldest control over a single element and the gift of eternal life. The last child, Moriudonius she pulled aside and gave him control over a portion of all eight elements, but she refused him eternal life and sent him out to watch over the rest of his kind. Her other children were told to scatter and protect the balance of the world as well as to watch over their brother and his children that would come after him. Crying as she watched her children leave Belaroan went to face her brother who she dragged down to the center of the abyss to hold prisoner until the end of days.” With his story finished Sae-Thae let out a heavy sigh. “That is the story of our world. Humans were the first and in a sense the father to all other races. Each of the new eight gods created Creatures but as they only had control over one element their creations were rooted in that element.”
Thad was amazed at the story. If it were true then all the races with the exception of the humans had a god watching over them. “Why haven’t I heard this before, not even the Brotherhood could erase every trace of such a story from the minds of men.”
Sae-Thae let out a short laugh. “You are right the Brotherhood had nothing to do with keeping this a secret, it has been kept a secret since Moriudonius entered the world of humans. He didn’t want everyone to treat him as a god so he named himself a mage. At his request his brothers and sisters also kept his secret only revealing it to those of his lineage who made the trip to their children’s homeland. The humans didn’t know there were gods because the gods didn’t want them to. You must also keep this secret, one day the gods may wish to reveal themselves to the humans but until that time it is our job to obey their wishes.”
It was a lot for Thad to take in, but he had no reason to doubt Sae-Thae’s word. “Then the pilgrimage is about learning the truth?” Thad asked in subdued tones.
“Yes and no. Mages used to travel to us and the other god children not just to learn the truth but in hopes of receiving the other god’s blessings. As you know, while all mages can call upon the different elements not all of them can use them well. It has to do with who they are, and how they think. The mages would normally seek out the gods that most reflected their own talents, but sometimes they would seek out the others as well. My own people even seek out our god’s blessing though it is done on the twenty year after birth, and I will tell you not all of them receive such a blessing.”
“From what I see you all look like you are barely over the age of twenty.” Thad said jokingly.
“Yes I can see why you might think that. Believe it or not we live for about the same length as a human but we do not age the same. Shortly after we reach adulthood we stop aging. As we grow older we tend to sleep more and then one day we no longer rise from our beds.”
“So what should I do first?” Thad asked unsure of himself.
“First we need to test you, follow me.” Sae-Thae said as he stood and walked out of the room. Thad quickly followed behind Sae-Thae who led him down the steps to the floor below and into a large room. As soon as he stepped into the room it was as if everything around him had gone cold, as his the flow of magical energy was cut off. In the center of the room sat a series of eight globes sitting on a long table. “The test is simple each one of the globes contains energy of a particular element. You simply need to place your hand on the globe and try to draw in magic. How much magical energy is collected tells us your strength with that element.”
As Thad thought over the test he found it ingenious. The magic was completely isolated and he was forced to only draw on one of them at a time, making it much easier to measure his ability with that particular element. Walking over to the first orb Thad placed his hand on it and focused his mind trying his hardest to pull in the magic. The globe started to glow as its insides were filled with a dark swirling mist. The second one was much harder and only the faintest swirling of white could be seen inside. Thad continued on to each globe until he was finished, while the test had seemed easy, it left him somewhat mentally drained, as the all too familiar feelings of fatigue started to set in.
Sae-Thae clapped his hands his face betraying his elation as Thad slumped down into the nearest chair. “Excellent most of the time students have to take a short breather after only two or three of the globes. You’re very strong in the earth, light, dark, and energy elements. Not too bad in the fire and nature either though you seem to be lacking in wind and water. Honestly it is very rare even during the mage’s best days you would have ranked among the top. Even though wind and water are your weakest elements I will still rank you in the third tier class for their use.”
“What?” Thad asked slightly confused.
“Right you don’t know about the different ratings. Had you been born a couple thousand years ago you would have taken this same test in the tower of mages and they would have ranked you in a tier of one to ten in each element. Water and wind you would have been tier three which is not bad, the largest majority of mages only reached tier six on their best elements. Fire, you would have been ranked at tier five, nature tier six which is like I said the common ranking for most mages. Light, and energy, would have been a tier eight, enough alone to get you some recognition among your peers. Then you add in a tier nine in dark and tier ten in earth, you would have been destined for the high council in your own due time. Honestly you are a very rare find.” Sae-Thae said, his face still beaming.
“You talk of the tower of mages back before the Fae War. I would like to know more about them, and how they worked.” Thad said gasping as breath flowed only with a forced effort into his tired chest.
“Yes, I thought you would. As a young student I took much interest into human mages, as I was one of the few still born with the ability to wield more than one element. They were an odd group if I must say so myself. They controlled everything magical in nature and when a mage went rogue, they dealt with it harshly. The mages were focused on peace and helping out those weaker than themselves, and were against being used as a simple tool for war. When a mage reached maturity, much as you have, they would be tested and given their robes. On the chest of their robes for any elements of tiers five through seven, they were given an orb tha
t glowed brightly to represent their skills. For tiers eight and nine they were given a glowing star in the color of the element, and for any tier ten skills their robes would be outlined in that color. If you like I could have a similar robe made for you?”
Thad thought about his offer. Robes were always what the mages in storybooks wore, but he preferred to fight with a sword as well and long robes tended to get in the way of his footwork. “It’s a generous offer but I much prefer fighting leathers over something that could get tangled on the battlefield.”
Sae-Thae slapped Thad on the back while laughing. “You would have never made it back in magic’s heyday my friend, but here you will fit in just fine. I think I can come up with something that will match your style and still remind you of the mages of old.”
CHAPTER VI
Over the next score of days Thad fell into a routine. He would wake up and would spend his morning hours training with Sae-Thae. He learned a lot from the Vathari mage, things he could have never found out tinkering on his own. The two spent countless hours reading through the books of mages long past and how they worked their spells. Thad was amazed at the sheer number of spell books left behind. Sae-Thae had told him at one time all mages were required to write down everything about their magic so that it could be passed down to future generations. The Vathari often requested copies of such books from the mages council in trade for various items that were hard to acquire on the surface. At night Vathari women were brought to him, twice Bahia had been the one summoned. At first he was unsure of the situation but it quickly grew commonplace and lately he gave it little thought
“I think I would like to start my own school of magic when I return to Farlan. If the queen won’t agree to it I know her daughter will once she takes the throne. And to start I will need copies of some of these books, as well as make some of my own.” Thad said watching Sae-Thae for any hints to his thoughts on the subject.
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