“She’s pretty terrible at Chel’kan, heh, but she’s a fierce goalie for the command hak’ii team,” Etyne added.
“Of course she is! All she has to do is scream at anyone skating near her with the puck and they drop from fright,” Antuni chuckled.
Antuni and Alise insisted that Drienna enjoy a drink with Etyne and Serythe and let them clear up the dishes. “Really, Mrs. V, it’s the least we can do after that incredible meal!” He was rewarded with a warm smile and a heartfelt thanks.
She sat quietly in the worn but still comfortable chair and listened as her son and Serythe debated the merits of Toliesto’s A History of Sariadne. The conversation itself did not intrigue her, but she loved watching the intensity behind her son’s convictions and dimly wondered if she had been wrong about this young woman who sparked a side of Etyne she had not seen for a long while.
-:- -:- -:-
“Stay with me tonight, why do you want to be alone in your quarters?” Serythe asked when the carriage parked at the Citadel’s gate.
“I haven’t seen my best friend all day and I still need to give her her gift,” Etyne replied, saddened that they skipped winter solstice breakfast this year.
Serythe crossed her arms. “When do I get to meet this best friend of yours?”
“Uh, she has a game next week if you’d like to join me in watching how absolutely terrifying she is?” He suggested, unsure he wanted the two to interact. The two women were complete opposites in ways of personality and interests and feared they would clash just as Serythe and Antuni had.
Serythe sighed at the thought of watching a sporting event, compounded with her annoyance that he was rejecting her for the night. “Fine.”
Etyne was unsure of her sudden irritability and exited the carriage.
“Antuni wanted me to tell you he says ‘hey’ and to stop being a stranger,” Etyne told Brisethi when she opened her door.
“Well whenever he stops going out to sea he can come visit me,” Brisethi shut her door behind him after he let himself in. She shivered slightly from the burst of cold air that had followed him in from the hall. “Did you just get in? It’s an hour past curfew, how did the guards not turn you in?” she asked.
Etyne sat on her bed and placed her gift on her pillow. “It’s the weirdest thing, ‘Sethi, I possess this anomaly that allows me to turn incorporeal and quickly travel great distances in a manner of seconds.”
Brisethi glared at his sarcasm.
“I can’t help it Serythe was reluctant to let me leave the carriage,” he jested with a grin.
“I’m never riding in a carriage again, thanks for that,” she snidely remarked and handed him his festively wrapped gift, complete with curled ribbons.
“Not at all what you think happened,” Etyne’s grin vanished. “How was your day? I came by this morning to wake you for holiday breakfast but you were already gone.”
“Oh, I never came back to my room from last night and then as usual, got into an argument with Joss this afternoon and came home early this evening,” she somberly replied. She left out the details about Joss forgetting to put any effort in for her for Winter Solstice, so much as cook her breakfast as a gift. He figured that the amazing copulation they had the night before should have been a thoughtful enough gift.
“Why didn’t you just come to my mother’s? Everyone wanted to see you, ‘Sethi.”
She shrugged and rubbed at her teary eyes not wanting to discuss her rotten Winter Solstice.
“I really wish you two would just put this out of its misery,” Etyne sighed at her distress of a broken relationship.
“I really wish you would stay out of it,” she muttered, instantly regretting snapping at him.
“Should I leave you be?” he stood to make his way to the door.
“No,” she quickly replied in a cracked voice. “I’m sorry, I’m irritable. Please, open your gift,” she smiled to him.
He sat back down on her bed and unraveled the neatly wrapped gift. Three ancient coins fell into his lap along with the protective cloth that surrounded them. He stared in wonder, speechless. “‘Sethi, you didn’t,” he finally managed to say. He picked up one of the coins and examined it closely. It was worn, but he could still recognize the cog shape imprinted in the coin. He held the ancient Kiaran coins gingerly, as though they might crumble in his hand. They were the Kiaran coins from the time they still lived on Sariadne with the Resarians. Dated over three thousand years ago he was barely able to translate the ancient text. He cautiously re-wrapped the cloth around his precious gift and stared at Brisethi. “These are replicas, right?”
Brisethi shook her head. “Why would I ever buy you fake crap? They’re real. I bought them from the antique st-”
“I know where you got them,” he cut her off, “and I wish you hadn’t spent this much on them - for me,” he said, pulling the cloth aside again to examine them.
“Trust me, I spent more on Joss,” she muttered. “I don’t really spend much on myself so I saved up frakshins for the people I care about.”
Etyne looked up at her longingly and brought her in to hug her tightly. “I love them, ‘Sethi. Thank you.”
“That’s right you do!” she grinned happily, her previous annoyance disappearing as she broke from their friendly embrace. She then started to open her gift from him. The smile on her face widened even larger at seeing the fragile book in her lap. “Etyne!” she gasped. “Where did you even find this?” In her hands, she held an original print of a surviving Resarian tome on dragons, also dated from thousands of years ago. Their original ink paintings still visible thanks to the protective mystics of bookkeepers.
“The bookstore, where else?” he smiled as she wrapped her arms around him once more.
Brisethi looked at her pocketwatch. “Eh, I have to get going. My father’s on leave for the holidays which means he’s downtown drinking his sorrows away at the tavern. Someone has to ensure he gets home since my mother will most likely get lost.”
“What sorrows? He has a wonderful family,” Etyne questioned her.
Brisethi shrugged a bit. “My mother is sometimes a bit off, very jealous and paranoid, often times drives him to drink. I might have helped fuel his drinking as a rebel teenage child. Or he’s just your typical drunken sailor. Would you like to sneak out with me to hoist him into a carriage?”
“Sure,” Etyne replied and reached for his coat.
-:- -:- -:-
“This sport is barbaric, I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Serythe whined among the loud and drunken crowd at the city’s outdoor ice arena.
Etyne nudged her. “Nah, it’s fun and takes a tremendous amount of skill.”
“They start fighting every fifteen minutes, how is that skillful?” she asked just as a fourth fight of the game broke out on the ice.
The crowd was on their feet when one of the Citadel’s rival team members pushed their goalie, Sen Asel, into the divider wall as she was retrieving the puck.
Etyne cheered her on when she began landing fists on the opponent. Her masked helmet was ripped from her head while the rival member was pushed down to the ice until the referees finally parted them. Only one more fight occurred in the remaining period.
The referee blew the whistle to end the final period. The Citadel Storm had defeated the Brigade Bears two to zero.
Most of the teams left the ice while others stayed out to greet their family or fans. Brisethi heard her name shouted and skated, with ha’kii stick in her gloved hand, toward the voice.
Etyne could barely make out Brisethi’s facial features through the thick wires of her goalie mask until she finally removed her helmet. Her face was flush while her burgundy hair fell in sweaty, messy waves on her shoulders and chest. She smiled at approaching her classmate.
“Etyne! I thought you were going out tonight,” she excitedly greeted him. Her ice skates had her standing as tall as him while her padded gear made her seem thicker than him.
; “I am out, with Serythe. I wanted you to finally meet her,” he beamed, leaning against the short wall that divided the audience from the ice.
Serythe peeked out from behind Etyne and stood beside him. Hesitantly, he began the introduction he’d been putting off for months. “Sethi, this is Serythe.”
Brisethi wiped a drop of blood from her nose with her sleeve, removed her gloves, then held a clammy hand out to Serythe. “I’ve heard so much about you!”
Serythe’s face was one of disgust at the bloody, sweaty, woman before her. Reluctantly, she allowed her fingertips to take Brisethi’s hand in greeting. “I...so have I,” was all she could muster.
Etyne stared blankly at both women until speaking once more. “Well that went as awkward as I knew it would - Hey, ‘Sethi, want to get drinks with us at Mammoth Tavern?”
“Shit yes! Let me go wash up, I’ll meet you there,” Brisethi excitedly skated away.
At the tavern, Serythe sat across from Etyne in a cozy booth, sipping at her fruity beverage.
“Does this mean I won’t be expecting you to watch my chel’kan games?” Etyne asked before gulping down his first ale.
Serythe shook her head. “Sorry, no. I find competitive sports to be mundane. However, if you pick up a musical instrument, I will watch you perform in a symphony.”
“Oh, I love symphonies!” Brisethi chimed in and took a seat next to Etyne. She no longer lingered of sweat, but a hint of blossoms scented the air at her presence. “I went to see the university band perform at the amphitheatre just a month ago with a classmate of mine.”
“Really? Which university was it?” Serythe asked.
“Which classmate?” Etyne curiously asked.
Brisethi placed her order of ale to the waitress before answering. “Oh, I don’t remember the university name, but the composer was Mr. Valinsen-”
“Yes! He’s our music professor at Malvikai University,” Serythe excitedly replied.
“Who did you see this with?” Etyne continued to quietly interrogate.
“What songs did they play, do you remember?” Serythe asked, disregarding Etyne.
“I only remember the one, it was so beautiful, the piano melodies with the violin in the background,” she closed her eyes at recalling the lovely tune. “A Divine Ascension was the name.”
“Ah, yes, that is a very complex masterpiece,” Serythe replied, finding an unexpected gratification in the conversation with Etyne’s acquaintance.
“Do you play an instrument?” Brisethi asked, rather than answering Etyne.
Serythe nodded while taking a sip of her sweet beverage. She glanced up to study Brisethi now that she was cleaned up with her hair brushed. When she noticed the woman was as fit as Etyne, she wondered when she had time to read the fantasy novels she loved so much. “I play the violin, the flute, and the piano,” she replied. “What do you play?”
“Oh, I don’t play anything, sadly. Someday I’d like to learn the piano, though!” Brisethi replied, stretching her arms above her head to relieve her sore muscles from the intense sport. “Hey, what do you get when you drop a piano on an army base?”
“Um,” Serythe pursed her lips in thought. “I’ve heard this one!”
“Oh, no,” Etyne placed his forehead in his hands.
Brisethi paid the waitress and took a gulp of her ale before answering. “A flat major.”
Serythe’s laugh was infectious while Etyne sighed loudly.
Brisethi took another drink of her ale before turning to Etyne. “I’m sorry, you were asking me something?”
Etyne met Brisethi’s eyes for a moment. “I, it’s just, you never go out with the other classmates,” he stammered. “I was wondering who you went to the performance with.”
“Brisethi, what do you get when you drop a piano down a mine shaft?” Serythe asked.
“A flat minor!” she shouted to Serythe then returned her glance to Etyne. “Avacyn, the ensign. She’s also the captain of my team.”
Serythe’s high-pitched laugh drowned out Brisethi’s giggle.
“Ensign Avacyn Spire? She hates everyone, I’m surprised she tolerates even you,” Etyne chuckled lightly.
“Uh, when you’re the reason your team is undefeated, of course she opened up to me. A little more than I expected if you know what I mean,” she said with a wink then finished her ale.
“Spirits, ‘Sethi, you know better!” Etyne lectured.
Chapter III
“I understand that this is short notice but the Veteran’s Assisted Living Home is looking for a volunteer or two for tomorrow; specifically a destructive spirit,” announced Lt. Commander Olsine to the class before dismissing them. She let her eyes fall on Second Lieutenant Brisethi Sen Asel until she met the gaze.
“Oh, um, hunting down rodents, Ma’am?” Brisethi asked in return. The rest of the students tried to stifle their laughter.
Lt. Commander Olsine dismissed the class and asked Brisethi to meet her at the podium to discuss what she had been tasked with. She had already planned her day off to reunite with Joss but didn’t dream of ever telling her instructor superior. Joss would just have to understand. “Sen Asel, have you ever been to the Home or know what it even is?” Brisethi was reminded of her mother when she was trying to get Brisethi to do anything remotely domestic that didn’t involve fire.
“I haven’t been there, but I do know it’s where our military veterans who have no family are placed when they reach age eight hundred,” she replied.
“And you understand why they are placed there at that age?” Olsine asked again.
“So that they don’t lose control of their mystics and destroy the city.”
“Correct.” Olsine’s voice softened as she continued, “Mystisomnia will happen to all of us, but most of us have family that can, take care of us. The caretakers of the VAL Home aren’t commissioned to actually sever their spirit, only to alleviate their mystics. Under Resarian law, it is the Dominion personnel that shall be tasked to send a waning spirit to the Sea of Renewal.”
She stood a little straighter, “And it must always be someone different, someone in officer training so as to prepare them for difficult decisions in the future or for your own loved ones. It is also the respectable tradition to the veteran that the newest generation sends them on their way so wear your full dress uniform with decorative rapier,” she said pointedly.
“But why me, Ma’am? Spire, Chartes, they’re both fire mystics as well-”
“They can’t deflect projectiles the way you can, Sen Asel. I’ve seen you block pucks for your team. The VAL Home is depending on you to deflect the ice shards that this particular veteran can summon,” Olsine continued. “Here is the map to the Home. The caretakers would appreciate it if you were there before fourteenth hour; they can’t shield themselves from the spirit any longer than that,” Olsine concluded, handing the map to Brisethi.
Brisethi shivered and watched her instructor exit the class. She hunched over the podium when light-headedness suddenly washed over her. She had heard stories in grade school about returning spirits to the Sea of Renewal but had never witnessed such an act, let alone performed it. The elder, more powerful family members were always the ones to sever the spirits. I don’t want to do this, she thought as her hands trembled, creating creases in the map. I can’t do it.
“What was that about?”
Etyne’s voice startled Brisethi when she walked out of class. “Geez! I didn’t think you would wait for me,” she said, shading her eyes with her hand from the sun.
“Get changed, time for physical training, ‘Sethi,” he replied, energetic to go a few bouts with her.
Fighting Etyne would relieve some of her anxiety, temporarily.
The clock in her room tolled the eighth hour, waking Brisethi from her restless sleep. Anxiety had kept her up for most of the night. Ordinarily, she would have asked Etyne to come along, but his was not a destructive spirit, and she didn’t want him to witness her carrying out that part
icular task.
The carriage ride took almost an hour to the foothills where those close to Mysticism were kept a safe distance away from the main population. It just had to be a cold, snowy day, she thought to herself as she eyed the dreary stone mansion. She paid the rider and straightened her uniform beneath her wool coat, making sure her few medals were still in order. Halfway up the cobblestone path, one of the caretakers greeted her.
“Thank the spirits you’ve arrived,” she told Brisethi. The relief was apparent on the middling aged woman’s face. “Did they tell you how to do this?”
Brisethi shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I was only told what I would be doing, not how to,” she replied.
“That’s because there isn’t an actual instruction; the spirit usually knows what to do,” replied the caretaker as she helped Brisethi to remove her coat. “In all six hundred and eighty years of my life, I’ve witnessed twenty spirits become severed from a young person such as yourself, who had no idea what they were doing. You’ll be fine.”
Another caretaker greeted her and guided her through the corridors to the room that the longing spirit resided in. If possible, the walls were even thicker than those of the Citadel, and all of the rooms were brightly lit.
Brisethi couldn’t resist the urge to stop and mingle with those aging Resarians who smiled and waved at her. They wanted to share war stories with her, thank her for taking up arms to protect her millennia, and ask if she knew the commanding officers they once served. The Resarian elders were rarely visited, and they all knew why she was there. She listened as they whispered among themselves that they had said their goodbyes to the woman whose spirit was ready to leave its vessel. The few dozen men and women of this home had lived over eight-hundred years on Falajen and knew that they were nearing their end when submitting themselves. It pained Brisethi’s heart to know that she, too, would find her fate here if she failed to achieve her life’s ambition. Sariadne emperors had a similar fate, of a different place.
Spirits of Falajen Page 21
