by R. W. Weston
"Very well, thank you for asking."
"I have heard very good reports about your work and studies, for that I commend you," he said, "how is the study of the elements coming?"
"The time is consuming, but I feel that I am getting stronger each day, it is now easier to see what is going on around me while I am still in the void."
"Very good, I am pleased to know that you are learning quickly, I have a few questions about the boy who came with you, Tylon. How well do you know him?"
"Very well I would say. We grew up in the same town and have been best friends for as long as I can remember, why?"
"For now don’t concern yourself with that, you may return to your studies." With that he returned to the paperwork that was on his desk. A minute later the same servant that brought him, came back in. He took that as his queue to stand up and leave.
"Can I ask you one question before I leave?"
"Yes," he replied without looking up from his work.
"He's not in any trouble is he?"
"No, we have some plans for him, now please go."
When they got back to the library he had a hard time concentrating on what he was reading. All the possible things that they could do to Ty would float through his imagination. He was especially worried since he had been unable to see him much since his training began.
"Son, what seems to be worrying your mind," asked Telm, coming in with some tea and sweet rolls.
"I just had a visit with Wizard Petron, he was asking after my friend Ty."
"Ah yes, the young man who came here with you. Good boy he is, works hard, I'm sure he has caught the eye of the guild I imagine."
"What do you mean the eye of the guild, is that some disease?"
"No, the grolians, they are the guild; you have seen them have you not?"
He thought back to when they were traveling here, when he met the grolian with Maglin; if he remembered right he was bound to Maglin as his personal protector.
"Yeah, I have met one, just before I got here. What would they want with Ty though?"
"He will probably be tested himself to see if he has the inborn ability to become one, if so he will be asked to join and one day will be bound to a wizard himself."
They sat and ate their sweet rolls talking a little more. Any question that he could think of Telm always had an answer. They had become close over the last few months; Telm was like a grandfather to him, as with all the younger wizards. Roland found him to be a fountain of knowledge, more so than what many of the books could tell him.
The lessons on magic were all basic, learning to take control of the element while being focused on reality. He was taught that if a wizard looses himself in the magic his enemies will be able to destroy him if the magic doesn’t first.
It took a great deal of discipline for him to overcome the sensation of taking hold of the power. Each time it grew easier until he could not differentiate the differences between the two planes.
His studies continued for the next few months. His next course was on the history of the elf realm, not much was known about them due to the fact that they did not associate with the humans except for business deals, and very few diplomatic occasions.
The elves for the most part were very peaceful, they had a longer life span and so where able to take things slower in life and learn from their past. Mostly due to the fact, that the most ancient of the elves could still remember the wars that split the humans apart. The elf realm itself was split up into different societies, based on locality and trade, most being skilled artisans of some fashion.
"The elves were ruled by King Perrmini, who lived in the Forest Castle. Not many humans have seen this place because of the dangerous journey through the elf kingdoms and the dangers that lie in the forest," said Telm, "I myself have only been there once, many cycles back. Back then there was not the contention and separation as there is now, there was open and good trade between all the races. But we as humans always have to be in charge, it’s our aggressive nature they say."
"Telm, throughout all this reading, I have read of Trolls, Seekers, Goblins, and other races. How come nobody has a history on them?"
"Oh we did, like I said many generations ago, we all lived in peace. The elves were the first to leave. The humans and trolls were both fierce fighters and we lost the trolls history when it was stolen, parts were found later, but had been burned to bad to keep. The others never really kept a history, which is unfortunate; we could have learned something from them I'm sure."
Chapter 8
The Guild
y was wondering why he was asked to the summoning chamber. He had not broken any rules of the house as far as he knew. His relationship with Morlela had not been in any violation of the rules, they were still just close friends and they had done nothing to change that. The closer he got to the large doors the more nervous he became. They stood open and he could see quite a few people inside already.
As the servant led him through the doorway he heard his name called out in a formal announcement. As if on cue the room fell silent as everybody looked at him. Something he hadn’t noticed before was the large table that sat in the middle of the room. It was covered with papers of every size and color.
"Tylon der Loran. You have been summoned here by the wizards’ council," said the hall crier.
Now he felt extremely uncomfortable, the silence lasted only but a minute but it felt like an eternity. The crowd of people around the table returned to whatever business they were doing, leaving him standing alone. Although everyone in the room was engrossed with the papers on the table he felt as though someone or something was watching him. He looked around the room only to find nothing.
A few moments had passed and he was growing anxious to know what the summons was about. That’s when he caught a small movement out of the corner of his eye, but in the same instant it was gone. He knew he had seen something moving so he concentrated on the location of the movement.
He almost jumped when his eyes focused on the large group of people standing next to the wall, each one blending into whatever they were standing by. He saw who appeared to be the leader of the group walking slowly towards the group around the table, pulling a small knife out of a sheath on his waste.
"Wizard!" he shouted as he ran at the man. In the instant that he was about to collide with him, he stepped aside and Ty fell on his face. When he turned to look up he witnessed the man solidify as if out of thin air. The others, who had been standing on the far side of the room, now came forward each one taking their proper shape and coloring.
"Very well done young man," said the man he tried to knock down, extending his hand to help him back up.
"Who are you," he asked, still in shock over what had just happened.
"I am Rynel, Master of the Grolian Guild; Protector of all Wizards. It is I who sent for you this day," he said, "these are my fellow protectors," pointing to those now standing around him.
"What do you want with me?"
"I have been given reports that you can see a grolian, I needed to make sure myself. We are the sworn protectors of the wizards; if you are able to see us then you too are blessed with the potential to become one of us. We have asked you here to test this information on your abilities. We wanted to see what you would do in a dangerous circumstance."
"So this was all a test, you wouldn't have hurt anyone?"
"That's right, and now that I know you can see us. I am prepared to offer you a place amongst our ranks."
"What would I have to do if I did decide to join you?" he asked, curious of this new idea.
"You would be trained how to blend in with your surroundings, how to move quieter then a breeze, swifter than a gale. You would also be trained in the art of war, the use of all types of weapons, and most importantly how to protect the wizard you are sworn to."
"If I become one of you will I be able to be involved with other people, to have friends outside the guild?"
"Yes, but we d
on't like it. You see we like to remain invisible, only being seen when we want to or need to. When you get involved with someone outside the guild, you put yourself and them in a higher state of danger. If you or they are found by the protectors of the Legion, the night friends then they will not hesitate to kill either of you."
"Can I have a few days to think about this before I give you my final decision?"
"By all means, please think carefully about this, it is a life altering opportunity with many benefits."
He returned to his room to think about what was going on. Deep inside he felt like he needed to join the grolians, but he was not sure he was willing to give up the friendship with Morlela. He decided he would have to tell her, and let her help him make that decision. After everything she had done to help him feel comfortable since he arrived.
It took him three days to make the decision to join the guild, Morlela, had been disappointed when he first told her, but after the third day she was fine with the idea. She had agreed to still be his friend, with that she was willing to take all the risks that came with it. Over the last cycle and a half since they first came she had fallen in love with him and was hoping to be joined to him one day. That seemed even more difficult now, but she was willing to wait as long as needed.
"Master Rynel, I have made my decision to join the Grolian Guild."
"Very good," he answered, "this here is Master Lemno, he is our best trainer; he will be overseeing all your training. You will be moved to a new wing in the castle, like I told you before we like our privacy, especially while we are training."
The grolian wing of the castle was located in what appeared to be an old dungeon. The windows were very small; most of them still had the bars on them. Too get into the wing you had to know where the secret panel doors were located.
Because they were the protectors of the wizards, they had built secret corridors behind all the walls with access doors into all the wizard's personal rooms and studies. He also saw tunnels leading to all the servants’ quarters, as well as the major rooms. This way they could keep an eye on anyone that was in the castle without being noticed.
The lowest level of the castle is where the grolian council met. It was a large open room with a large circle lying in the middle of the floor with various weapons in it. Along the outside were smaller circles, each with a symbol of some sort.
"This is where your training will take place; the large circle is where your first lessons will be. We created that to help with concentration. This is your working circle. Once you have mastered the large circle you will be given a chance to advance around the perimeter. Each circle signifies a different discipline. When you reach the smallest circle you will be a trained protector, at that time you will be bound to a journey before they leave the house."
His new room on the lower floors was nicely furnished. The bed was a little larger than his previous one the room was also furnished with a small desk, and a wardrobe that contained all new clothes. His new clothes were made of tanned leather, with what appeared to be a tint of green to them. He was surprised; when he picked them up and they changed colors, blending into the new surroundings.
Training as a grolian was not at all like he had expected. Their code was based not only on the protection of the wizard, but also covered the weak and innocent. When deeds of mistrust and wrongful accusations were presented a wizard was often called to settle the dispute, because of the dangers this presented the grolian would need to be even more vigilant.
Before he was taken to the training grounds he was given one last opportunity to leave. Once someone was trained as a grolian, his or her life is forever changed. Being tied to a wizard had both positive and negative effects on someone.
"When someone is bound to a wizard their life span increases, as does the wizards. But in the event of the wizard's death the grolians life ends swiftly, usually by their own hand," said Lemno.
Ty thought about this for only a brief moment, after seeing all that he could learn, he was anxious to be a member and to serve and protect those around him. He took to the lessons quickly. Having grown up in the lumber yards, he was more muscular than many of the others, but with his youth he was still very agile.
He was not the only one that had been recruited at that time. There seemed to be at least twenty or so, mostly males. With his large stature he quickly rose to the top of all the new trainees. He quickly learned the art of swordplay from Master Elnan der Venin, Master Swordsman. He attributed most of his skill to that of swinging the axe for most of his life. A sword wasn’t much different and it felt natural in his hands.
Growing up his father taught him that the best way to handle an axe was to treat it not as a tool, but as an appendage. The nature of the axe was to chop through wood. That's what it was designed for and so if you let it do the work, then you could do twice as much. Like chopping down a tree it didn’t take a great deal of force. Knowing where and how to hit the tree to inflict the greatest amount of damage was the key to a good lumberjack.
The circle of concentration was developed to help a grolian center himself on a wizard. When someone is caught in the middle of a battle, there are many things that can distract. A grolian needs to know how to focus on the two most important things, saving the wizard and himself. When someone was in the circle they were given some sort of task to accomplish. Whether it was something involving the mind or something physical the protector must be able to remain completely focused.
Throughout the training each individual would be given different tasks to accomplish, each one centered on the individual. At these times the mental stress was the worst. Seeing what you perceived to be your worst fear happening and you being helpless, wanting to do something about it and not being able to often times led to irrational decisions and those are what got people killed.
"Ty can you come to my living quarters after today's training?" asked Lemno, "I have some things I need to talk to you about."
The rest of that day Ty wondered if he was doing anything wrong. He had been put in charge of all the new trainees that had entered since he was admitted. As far as he could tell they were all doing well, learning the art of focus as he had tried to instruct. He was not prepared for what lay in store for him.
"Ty, I know that you have learned very quickly, you have also shown great leadership skills. What I need to know is if you are now willing to take it to the next step. There is a practice that we only teach the most advanced of the guild. It usually takes many cycles for someone to achieve what you have in so short of a time," he told him, "what I want to teach you is called the art of sword balance, it may sound funny, but when someone learns and masters this skill, they in turn become one of the most dangerous people around."
"That would be a great honor for me," said Ty kneeling on one knee, as a sign of respect.
He quickly picked up this training learning how to use your enemy as a weapon against themselves and those around him, without putting yourself or those you are trying to protect in harm. These lessons took a few months to achieve but when he finished, he was awarded the rank of Master Swordsman, and with that came a special sword. His sword was made from the strongest of metals, but had the weight of a feather, blessed by a wizard to protect its owner and his purposes.
Chapter 9
Fire and Water
pprentice Roland, you have been summoned to meet with your mentor Maglin, please follow me," the servant told him.
He looked over at the new item he was given, they called it a time keeper, by some means it measured out the hours of the day. From what he could tell only an hour had passed since he had laid down, yet it only seemed like five minutes.
He had not seen Maglin now for several months. He had asked about him a few times, always getting the same answer. He was out looking for new apprentices. But now it seemed that he had returned and wanted a meeting with him. "How nice of him to call on me at this hour," he thought to himself.
Maglin was sitting in f
ront of the fireplace reading a book when he got there; he coughed a little to announce himself.
"Please come in," said Maglin, "please have a seat. You are looking well. I understand that you have progressed considerably since I was here last that’s good. How have you been feeling lately?"
"I'm alright, why do you ask?"
"I just came from your village; I visited with your father for a while. He is also doing well I might add. He requested that I check up on you to see how you are doing."
"Thank you that’s good to hear."
"There is also some other things that I wanted to talk to you about. I understand you are nearly done with the studies of knowledge and ready to move on to actual magic."
"Yes that's right I know most of the histories of the realms, as well as how to work between the two planes. They have me scheduled to start the lessons on controlling the power and learning the steps to manipulate it to do as I need it to do. I believe it will begin the middle of next week, are you going to stay around to watch?"
"Yes, I will still be here. Before that happens I want to tell you some things, things that you will not learn from any books. Has anyone told you of the Legion yet?"
"No, who are they?"
"They are our enemies. They use magic for dark and evil purposes. Their leader is Maglon don Princter, he is my brother,” he stated solemnly. “They follow the way of the Dark Lord Morirte. They believe that the great creator gave them the power to control the elements and therefore should be revered as gods. Plainly they are out to destroy all that is good in the world and to rule over everyone with dark power.
"We of the Order, also have our secrets. Many centuries ago we created a series of floating islands, the Mystical Islands. We have placed a sacred artifact there, the Crown of Probability. It is protected by many powerful wizards; it has been gone so long that many do not know where the hidden islands are located. Only those who answer its call are presumed to have found their way.
The last known leader on this island was a wizard by the name of Milliardo lon Brenkle. Let me warn you now, the stronger you get, especially when you advance to a journey the Legion will try all they can to get you to join with them. This is your fair warning for that, always be cautious."
