by Peri Akman
“That is wonderful news. I am Yven. I am a grayshade,” Yven said quickly.
Kole nodded. “We know the concept, don’t worry.”
Yven smiled. “Excellent. Are you all right? Your apprentice seems… tense.”
Kole looked at Quinn, and then back. “He just learned about how demons can extend negative influence to stop casting. You shifting emotions willy-nilly like that made him trigger-happy.”
Quinn smiled awkwardly, but mostly just bared his teeth.
Yven frowned. “Oh dear. My apologies. I will try to lessen it, but you must understand, we are very strongly emotional here. I am unable to completely turn it off.”
Their voice was so… soothing.
“Sorry. I had a… weird morning,” Quinn said awkwardly.
Yven smiled. “That is understandable.”
The shift in his emotions lessened, ever so slightly.
“Yven, I’m Kole of Estane, and this is Quinn of Haldon. Is there a lift or something? I don’t think I can walk up these stairs,” Kole asked, rather relaxed, comparatively speaking.
Yven thought momentarily. “I believe I can find something, but that would involve me making the trip back up. Would you be all right with waiting, Kole?”
Kole nodded, and Yven turned away, and disappeared up the stairs.
“She was trusting,” Quinn observed.
“They. They’re trusting.” Kole corrected abruptly.
Quinn blinked. “Pardon?”
“They said it themselves, they’re a grayshade,” Kole said.
“I… have no idea what that means.” Quinn admitted.
Kole groaned. “I hate your school. So much. Grayshades are a part of the Prismatic religion…sorta. Warlocks who don’t agree with being a man or a woman will take on the identity of a grayshade. The exact mixes and nuances of it are often different and personal, but that’s the gist of it. Han-Yue was one, you remember them?”
Quinn nodded. “How… how do you know if you’re a grayshade?” he asked, curious.
“Beats me, never really felt like anything but a lady, but that’s a personal matter. Others aren’t so sure about that type of thing. So it’s a thing that you either just know, or you find out. Not really a checklist for it.” Kole explained.
“Okay… is that why they said it outright like that?” Quinn asked.
“Naw. I think they were testing our reaction. Some people are annoyingly obtuse about that sort of thing. Lots of grayshades stick to Temples where they’ll be accepted, so chances are we’ll be meeting a lot of them here,” Kole explained, sitting down on one of the rocks.
“Oh whoah, there we go,” she groaned.
The shift in emotions returned.
“That’s me. I’m getting empath powers. Oh this is going to be so annoying,” Kole sighed.
Quinn smirked. “What’s more annoying is that you’ll be losing your healing powers soon. And we’re fighting demons.”
“Oh yeah. This is gonna be fun, I can tell,” Kole said brightly.
“Are you sure this was a good idea for us?” Quinn asked. “We don’t seem particularly competent.”
“You’d be surprised. We’re actually more competent than you think.” Kole said.
Quinn snorted and shook his head. “I don’t believe you. I nearly got killed by a single demon, and we’re gonna be fighting the amped-up ones, right?”
“Well those are probably dead by now. But yes. Nearly got killed. Sennta was completely taken down. See the difference?” Kole lightly tapped her head with her walking stick.
Quinn furrowed his brow. “I sort of assumed Sennta got jumped by like… a bunch of demons.”
“He might have. Or he could have been taken down by one. Being a warlock doesn’t make you automatically better equipped to deal with demons. He doesn’t really cast or invoke much, so he probably had an easier time with the demon’s presence… but what was he going to do? How was he going to fight it off?” Kole leaned over, and gestured vaguely.
Kole was right. The thing that made Sennta excellent at diagnosing the sick… was not at all remotely helpful in fighting off any type of creature.
“And he hated fighting more than me,” Quinn pointed out, sighing in agreement.
Kole gave a laugh. “Face it kid, by virtue of summoning anything you want, you just accidentally became a top player. Warlocks aren’t these super powerful untouchable beings. We’re a lot more mundane once you come up close. Way too specialized.”
The conversation petered out, until a solid black mass was seen in the sky. The two stared at it, partially suspicious, partially hopeful it was something useful, until it lowered down to the ground, with two individuals on it.
A warlock and an apprentice. Quinn had been expecting Yven to return to greet them, but that was not the case.
The warlock was young, easily. Mid twenties at best. She was covered in freckles, and wore robes similar to Yven's, but a bit less robey and a bit more… pants-like. She had a natural smirk to her.
The apprentice seemed to be also rather young. Eleven, maybe? They were chubby, and seemed to have done their hair in many elaborate braids and beads. Their tattoo seemed to be two vertical glowing black lines going down from the forehead to the jawline, intersecting with each eye. They were also rather still, with an incredibly neutral face.
Kole gave a sharp intake of breath when she saw them. She went over to Quinn, and gripped his shoulder, and tightened.
“You’re here to help with the demons?” the warlock asked, rolling up her sleeve to reveal the sigil on her wrist.
Kole didn’t respond initially, but she slowly raised her arm to reveal the sigil on her eye.
The warlock squinted. “Is… is it on your eye?”
Oh right, she was covered in blood. Probably made it hard to see.
Kole nodded slowly.
“Cosime,” the warlock said. The apprentice bounded off the energy disk and went towards Kole. They extended their hand and Kole reluctantly took it.
A flash of light, and Kole was completely blood free.
Quinn jumped.
The warlock smirked. “Impressive, yeah? This is Cosime. They’re the first true healer in a decade.”
Kole’s eyes flickered.
“I’m Dale of Javier.” She grinned and extended her hand to Kole. “You folks are?”
Kole said nothing. She even took a step back.
Dale frowned. “Sorry, you mute? Shoot, I’m sorry. I could have sworn Yven said… ah… never mind.”
She turned to Quinn. “Hey there!” she said, slightly condescending in her tone. “You folks are?”
Quinn looked at Kole in confusion, but decided to talk just the same. “I’m Quinn… of Haldon. This is Kole… of Estane. Hi.”
Dale smiled. “Excellent. I can generate energy, as you probably noticed by our entrance. What can you lot do?”
“Uh… I’m… a summoner?” Quinn said, as if unsure of his own skills. “She’s a mimicker.”
Dale nodded. “Cool. All right, why don’t I take you guys up?”
She jerked her head, and Cosime got back on the disc without saying another word.
Quinn went to the disc and lightly tapped it with his foot. It seemed sturdy. A bit like the hard air Asim had generated.
He stepped on it and balanced himself. It was fine. He turned to Kole, who was not particularly moving.
“Hey, you wanna walk up the stairs instead?” Quinn asked.
Kole slowly stepped on the disc.
“All right folks, buckle in tight,” Dale said cheerfully, and as she raised her hands, the disc began to rise.
Quinn felt himself sink ever so slightly. It wasn’t entirely like Asim’s hardened air. Quinn looked down and his feet were enshrouded with the energy. Weird.
He gave a quick wave to Cosime, but Cosime didn’t reply. They looked straight on ahead. Like he wasn’t even there.
Maybe they had some sort of… talking anxiety? He didn’t really k
now what a ‘true’ healer meant, but if it meant they could just soak up injuries, or something, it… sounded valid, right? Quinn nodded to himself.
He felt perceptive and smart.
Now if only he could figure out what was getting Kole strung-up.
As the disc rose, Quinn looked on in awe. The temple was even bigger than he had realized. He had only seen one side of the temple. As he got higher, he saw the depth, the towers and walls expertly crafted into the mountain.
He could see people in the towers, and most notable was the flat rooftop which hosted an enormous garden. Dozens of people were on the roof, with one even looking like they were using magic to control the plant growth.
“Are they all warlocks?” Quinn asked, curious.
He expected Kole to respond, but instead it was Dale.
“Hah! No, of course not! Half are just magic positive. You know, can’t cast anything, basically useless, but demons and monsters still wanna chomp on them?” Dale explained.
They gently lowered onto the garden roof.
Most were wearing robes that practically glittered under the sun, but the occasional individual was wearing work pants and covered in scuffs and dirt. Many of those who were in the robes seemed to have similar hair styles; it was a bit hard to tell them all apart. Quinn wondered if it was the same when the warlocks had gone to the academy. Everyone wearing the same cloak.
They touched the ground, and a very large man greeted them. Quinn felt himself shrink in his presence. Dale gave a salute, and left, Cosime in tow.
“Greetings. I am Uleyn,” the man said, bowing slightly. “I am the er… self-proclaimed battle expert of this temple. So most fighting and requests will be going through me. I can get you supplied and saddled up, whatever you need.”
Kole took a deep breath. “Okay, first request: I want to be placed as far away from that warlock as possible.”
Uleyn blinked in surprised. “Uh… very well.”
“Second of all, I specialize in mimicry. So the further away I am from the… thirteen unique empathic abilities, over the course of forty or so empaths, the happier I will be. Preferably with as few stairs as possible,” Kole snapped.
She whipped around to yell at one of the gardeners. “And for the love of whatever god you worship, would you PLEASE get over your emotional problems? It’s called aromanticism. Look it up!” She turned back to Uleyn, clapping her hands together. “Do you see my problem?”
Uleyn gave an awkward boisterous laugh. He wrung his hands as he looked in the direction in which Dale and Cosime had just left. “There are small cabins and cottages scattered in the fields leading up to the temple. They have been deserted due to the demons, but they should serve your purpose.”
Quinn gave a bit of a snort. He had thought there would be more questioning involved, but Uleyn just took it in stride. Awkward sporadic stride, but stride all the same.
Kole nodded. “Good.” She turned to Quinn. “What do you prefer?”
“I was kind of hoping to explore the temple,” Quinn admitted.
“You can stay here if you want,” Kole said neutrally.
“But you’d prefer to not be alone, right?” Quinn asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Obviously, but as long as I make daily trips or you make daily trips I’ll have your powers and be fine. You have a right to learn about the temple and the people in here,” Kole said slowly.
“Then I’ll stay with you. Besides, if the demons attack at night someone needs to be the bait.” Quinn replied.
Kole gave a bit of a chuckle. “There you have it, then.”
Uleyn nodded. “I’ll set that up. For now, can you tolerate your… overstimulation… for the sake of seeing our infected?”
Kole narrowed her eyes. “Infected?”
“Yes. You will see what I mean if you follow, although I do apologize, there will be stairs.” Uleyn turned and began to leave.
Quinn mouthed the word “infected” questioningly towards Kole, but she just sort of shrugged. She had just as little clue as he.
Well, that was mildly terrifying. Since when could demons infect people? Did this have to do with that guard?
Oh gods. It could.
The two followed Uleyn, somewhat worried about what they were about to encounter.
Chapter Fifteen
The Temple had many stairs indeed. They were wider and flatter, however. It was more like a jagged slope. If it bothered Kole, she didn’t complain as much.
When not on stairs, they traversed hallways; some narrow and claustrophobic, others wide with many exits and entrances. The oddest part, however, was how… quiet… it was.
Quinn had never realized how noisy the Academy was, how noisy Shorne was, until right now. There were these large gorgeous halls, with intricate symbols lovingly carved into every brick, and not even walking feet made noise. Maybe it was in their shoes. Maybe all of the folks here just wore really soft shoes.
He wanted to take heavy steps, test his theory, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. It would be like he was shattering glass or something.
For a stone-carved temple, it was the most beautifully and brightly lit building he had ever been in.
Hey. Hey Quinn.
Quinn jumped.
So apparently one of the empaths here’s a telepath. Cool, right?
Quinn shot an angry glance at Kole. She made a face that implied she was grinning rather cheekily underneath her recently cleaned bandages.
She seemed so terribly proud of herself.
I am not proud of myself, Quinn.
Quinn rolled his eyes. So it worked both ways, unlike Teacher Brandie’s telepathy (or maybe she also had mind reading powers as well). Excellent.
Yeah. Which is why I’m curious. Does this bother you? I can stop. It’s just since I have it, I might as well put it to use. But if it makes you feel skeevy we can just wait. I saw your face, you had no issue with Dale.
Good points. Did he feel weirded out by it? Not particularly. Was there anything in his brain that was particularly private?
…no. Why have secrets? He was a boring teenager from a boring city-state with such a boring life that not even warlocks wanted him. He was pretty good about this.
And plus he would probably get to learn about warlock drama, that was a bonus.
Notice anything weird about Cosime?
Weird? Well she seemed to be mute like Sennta—
Wrong. They were dominated.
Dominated?
Dominated. Dale was exerting complete control over Cosime. They’re a trophy, not an apprentice. It’s disgusting. She took Cosime because they were basically a prodigy, not because they had any chemistry or related skills. Dale can generate disks of energy. Pushing, lifting, all that stuff. Cosime is a true healer. Fancy way of saying that in a decade or so Cosime will be able to do whatever they want with the human body. It’s actually a completely different skill mired by semantics and superiority complexes. Point is, I bet you Dale only picked Cosime because she wanted the feather in her metaphorical hat.
Quinn nearly stopped in his steps. That was why she looked so dead? Dull? Distant?
What good could that possibly do?
It means Cosime will learn expert habits. They’re a mini-adult. A mini-adult with terrible and untrained skills, but that’s just a matter of training. Training that Dale will be sure to exact in a precise and unquestionable manner.
By the gods. No wonder Kole had gotten angry. That was terrible! Quinn felt his stomach sink. Dale had seemed so nice that he hadn’t even…
Wow, he was an idiot. He had been so proud of trying to figure out why Cosime hadn’t talked to him, but he had just applied a previous answer to a new problem. How stupid of him.
Not an idiot. You’ve been training to be a warlock for only a couple of weeks. But if you ever want a reason why I hate the tattoo system so much—that’s why.
Quinn hurried up. He felt sick. Kole did not contact him mentally again, and Quinn wa
s thankful for it.
Uleyn led them to a room in a corner of the castle. While there were not many people in the stone building in general, this part was positively deserted.
“They were infected when they went outside. Before you agree, you need to know what you are risking.”
Uleyn knocked gingerly on the door. He was a big man, yet not only did he walk as softly as the rest of them, but even his knocks were gentle.
“Tsalir, we’re coming in now, is that okay?” Uleyn said.
When there was no answer, he opened the door.
The room was large, and was mostly taken up by a large bed with a veil draped over it. In the center was the person Quinn could only assume was Tsalir.
Tsalir was easily the most attractive person Quinn had ever met, and it was a very odd thought to consciously think. Especially since the moment it passed Quinn’s mind, Kole stifled a laugh and clapped her hand around where her mouth most likely was.
Jerk.
Tsalir was muscular, which was obvious since instead of the robes they wore some sort of midriff top. They had incredibly long thick black hair tied neatly in a braid, and most striking were their dull blue eyes. They were almost unnerving, but not like Cosime’s. They weren’t lifeless, just extremely pale. The only ‘flaw’ Quinn could find on their body was a jagged scar across their nose, and Quinn didn’t really think it was a flaw. In fact, it just seemed to lend even more credence to them being incredibly attractive.
“Oh lovely. More of them magey folk to poke and prod me out?” Tsalir groaned, rolling over and sitting up. “I hope this one lets me leave the room.”
“Sorry, Tsalir. They’re here to fight off the infestation. Not to heal,” Uleyn confessed, his voice heavy.
Not to heal? If that true healer couldn’t do anything, what did that even imply about what was wrong with them?
Tsalir sighed and took off their shirt without much thought, and turned around, exposing their back
Kole gave a yelp of shock, and Quinn was quick to follow.
Tsalir’s skin was dark already, but on their back was an unmistakeable splotch of cracked pure blackness.
“We tried to heal it, but it just spread,” Uleyn said mournfully. “The bandagers touched it, and they all had their hands turned black. It eventually faded after a while, but Tally here was the first victim, and hasn’t healed.”
