by Guy Antibes
CHAPTER SEVEN
~
THE TIME FOR THE FINAL TEST FINALLY ARRIVED for Shiro. He had succeeded in not antagonizing Roniki any more than his mere existence in the Advanced Affinity class did. Boreko told him that he had learned all that the Guild had to offer apprentices, including how to restrict the sapping of life energy when tapping into the nexus and how to borrow power from other sorcerers. Any further instruction would come after the Final Test, which could come at any time.
Shiro doubted that he fit into the Guild’s plans. Boreko confirmed those suspicions. In fact his fellow sorcerers had virtually ostracized Shiro’s mentor. They had spent the last week strategizing about eventualities and both were prepared for the worst possible outcome: banishment for both of them.
A knock appeared at Shiro’s door. Two men, faces hooded in red robes, thrust out a white robe for testing. Shiro took it and the men withdrew for a few moments permitting him to dress in private.
Shiro removed his black apprentice robe and pulled on the shirt, pants and farm boots he initially brought with him. He put a knife on his belt and stuffed food and money everywhere he thought it wouldn’t show. If it were his lot to be banished, Shiro refused to go unprepared. If he passed, the clothes and supplies would merely be put back into his wardrobe.
Shiro walked out into the hallway and, with both men flanking him, they made their way to the testing room. They descended stone steps leading down to the testing chamber in a basement level that Boreko had told him about. Apprentices were not allowed below ground. Shiro could feel why. The humming of a nexus vibrated beneath his feet. He let it top up his power.
Torchlight painted the dark, windowless room in flickering yellow lights. Surely they could have spelled light globes, but it would reduce the intimidation that was surely part of the test.
Shiro stood in the center facing the arc of a low table. All of the seven men seated before him wore hooded yellow robes. All were masters in the Guild. The two red-robed escorts stood in front of the only door leading out.
Master Yushidon in the center began. “Show me how to destroy a letter.” He offered a parchment page to Shiro.
Shiro placed it on the stone floor and muttered the right spell with the right gesture, incinerating the parchment with a flash of light and sparks.
The next five men requested similar demonstrations of proficiency including Tishima asking him to repeat his little storm trick. The last man, Roniki, sat back with his arms folded. Shiro’s heart beat more quickly as he prepared for the worst.
“Reconstitute the burnt page,” the figure requested. Tishima sat up from his place at the table and complained that it was an unfair question.
“Do you withdraw the question?” Yushidon said. By the blasé delivery of the inquiry, Shiro realized that whatever plan Roniki hatched Master Yushidon might be in on it.
His heart sank, as Roniki defiantly said, “No.”
Immediately Shiro realized that a trap had been sprung. He didn’t know what rule he could possibly have violated. He was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t. He gestured and muttered the words that brought back a page floating in front of him. He let the page levitate towards Roniki. He could see the man flinch as the letter came closer.
The man snatched it from the air and read the page. “This man has violated our laws of confidentiality. Our rule is once a sorcerer destroys a document, it is never, ever to be brought back. To do so would violate our pledge to the bureaucracy, the emperor and our patrons. We have no choice. Shiro of Koriaki has forfeited his right to a place with us.” Roniki’s voice was the embodiment of disdain mixed with triumph.
Shiro glanced at Tishima, who sat back with his arms folded, face impassive.
“Remove your robe,” Master Yushidon said. Other’s moved to protest, but the master waved away their complaints.
Shiro complied, revealing his old clothes, ready to face banishment.
“Wearing clothes under your robes. This stinks of Boreko’s involvement.” Shiro could feel Roniki’s sneer. “He will join you in your banishment.”
The men in red left the room, returning moments later escorting Boreko to the center of the room.
“I am sorry Boreko. Did you warn the apprentice to be prepared for failure?” Master Yushidon’s face was red with rage.
Boreko only nodded.
“You will accompany him. I am grateful for your service to the Guild. May your death be quick and painless.” The Master waved his hands and recited a spell. The council immediately disappeared from Shiro’s sight.
~
“You’re just too smart for our own good,” Boreko said with resignation looking over the flat horizon. The sun began peeking over a faraway ridge, giving little warmth to the cold air. The flat landscape was sloshed with the same dull light brown color, bleached of contrast and devoid of any vegetation.
“Any idea where we are?” Shiro began to pull out his supplies. Boreko took his robe off revealing traveling clothes of his own. In a few minutes, they looked at two piles of supplies at each other’s feet. Yushidon expected them both to die. Shiro would delight in proving the guildmaster wrong. Boreko had been removed with little more than token thanks. Shiro couldn’t believe the dispassionate way he had been banished. Tishima had never given him an encouraging word other than his test. What else could the old weapons master do?
“No way to tell. It all looks the same for a hundred miles. Teleporting is something not taught to apprentices and not all sorcerers can do it. I never really learned how to do it well, since I always needed the help of two or three sorcerers for me to generate the power to do so. I think these are the Barren Lands of the South Isle. They aren’t just barren of sustenance, but little Affinity exists here. Never had a knack for directions.” Boreko said wringing his hands.
“You’re in luck. I do have a knack for directions. Move away from me.” Shiro waited for Boreko to walk ten paces away. He closed his eyes and said a battle spell that was useful in locating a ruler’s enemy in time of war. Turning his head halfway to his left, he pointed. “There is the closest concentration of human life. It looks like we’re headed south.”
The two re-distributed their provisions and hiked off towards the south. Before long, Boreko started to limp. “New shoes from Remi?” Shiro asked. “They’ll break in before we’re through. Make sure you don’t get blisters.”
Boreko just gave Shiro a dirty look. They trudged on. Needing all the strength they could muster, Shiro didn’t use any more magic for navigation. The sun beat down on the pair and at midday, he cut the hem of Boreko’s robe to provide wrappings for both of their heads.
As they walked throughout the day, they occasionally passed human bones littering the land. There were few plants and none of them looked edible. Culling. Shiro thought there was a good reason for culling crops and animals, but never human beings. As he walked his anger grew at the Guild for their arrogant callousness. He was not one to be culled—especially for political reasons. Then he paused, letting Boreko walk ahead. Is that what I did with my family? Did I inadvertently cull them? The thought chilled Shiro.
They stopped at night by an outcropping of rocks. A number of bleached skeletons littered the area. Shiro stopped his thoughts to consider the placement of the skeletons. Why did they all die here? He began poking a soft sandy spot with his knife.
“What are you doing?” Boreko said.
“Making sure we are the exception rather than the rule, my friend.” After a few more pokes, a four-foot snake slithered up from the sand to be skewered by Shiro. He grabbed the creature behind the head as it twisted and coiled and then cut its head off. “Dinner.”
Boreko made a gagging sound. “I can’t eat that.”
Shiro smiled as he began to skin the snake. “Suit yourself. That only means more for me. We’re not eating it raw, by the way. I’m sure between the two of us, we know a good spell for heating rocks.”
Shiro walked around the cropping and
found a properly shaped stone. He used a destruction spell to create a bowl out of the rock. His lightning trick provided the water. He drank from the stone bowl and let the miniature storm fill the bowl again for Boreko. Later, the pair had actually eaten their fill. Boreko rose unsteadily and walked around the outcrop to his friend.
“Here is your water ration. Drink all of it. There must not be much moisture in the air for this took more out of me than I thought. I won’t have any trouble sleeping tonight.”
Boreko walked over to the sandy patch. Shiro grabbed him by the arm. “No. There may be other creatures in the sand. We sleep on harder ground.” He found a flat spot and began picking rocks from the surface. “Sleep on your robe and you’ll be fine.”
~~~
CHAPTER EIGHT
~
TWO WEEKS LATER, BOREKO COLLAPSED into the arms of a shepherd as the pair stumbled in, gaunt and tattered, from the Barren Lands. Through puffed eyes, Shiro could barely make out the village of stuccoed mud huts and meager gray-green vegetation. The lanes were filled with debris blown in from the lands they had just emerged. Shiro saw men, women and children dressed in dusty black. They had reached their goal.
A man brought a jug of water.
“Thank you.” Shiro croaked as his energy had been magically used up keeping Boreko alive. He gave in to oblivion now that he no longer needed to keep driving to survive.
~
He woke, seeing the smiling, now clean-shaven face of Boreko above him.
“Welcome to the land of the living. We didn’t know if you had enough life left in you to recharge your power.” His mentor looked worried as well as younger without his wispy beard.
“I wouldn’t say my energy level is high, but I’m greatly recovered. There must be some power running close to this village. How are you, my friend? You lost your brush.” Shiro felt his own stubbled face.
“I just needed some food, water, rest and a new look to celebrate our survival.” Boreko smiled, patting his clean-shaven skin. He actually looked rather fit, having lost so much weight on the trek.
“Survival. I wasn’t sure we’d make it, but I’m glad we did.” Shiro raised his hand and Boreko grabbed it. “Are imperial notes good here?”
“Yes, but at a steep discount. We have enough funds to get us back to the Guild, although I’m sure we’d not be welcome there.” Boreko let go of Shiro’s hand and went to the end of the bed. “Remember my advice to you at the Guild about not getting involved in a political fight?”
Shiro nodded as he pushed himself to a sitting position, sipping from a cup of water.
“I think it’s time to fight back. I’ve spent my whole career in the Guild cowering to exist. They never trusted me enough to be a court sorcerer and I’m not ready to forgive the masters for what they did to you. You shouldn’t have been culled and I shouldn’t have joined you. Not that your company went unappreciated.” Boreko gave Shiro a half smile.
“So what do you propose we do?”
“Go into competition.” Boreko folded his arms with a defiant look.
“That won’t work. You’ve let your anger twist your mind, a bit. As you recently taught me, the bureaucracy has a strict compact with the Guild. We haven’t the ability or the resources. I think of the Guild as a farm. They have the best land. They have a contract to deliver the best they produce. Everybody thinks the price is fair. If the produce isn’t right, the Guild will replace it without further charge, even if the customer throws the produce away. I don’t see how we could compete with no farm, no seeds, and no labor except for the two of us. I’m of a mind to head back to Koriaki and become a farmer again. But then, perhaps the Guild might have ways to eventually find us.
Boreko put his hand to his chin and thought for a few seconds. “Let’s assume they can. We’ll have to do something. What do you suggest? If we can’t compete, we can go into hiding until we develop a better strategy—something that we’ve never attempted.”
“Right we can both leave the Guild and not practice again.” Shiro said.
“We could fight back, but you are the only one that has superior power. In any event, the bureaucracy is everywhere on Roppon. No one in all of the Ropponi islands would wish to help us, even if we did try to disappear, the bureaucracy would end our attempt from the outside and the other sorcerers from the inside. Besides, the common people wouldn’t risk supporting us. They like things the way they are. If the bureaucracy oppressed Roppon, it might be a different story, but most people don’t mind the way things are.”
“Unless you have talent.” Shiro had to admit he had learned his lesson about letting his anger get the best of him.
Boreko shrugged. “Maybe we could just leave. Maybe we could make our way to Besseti.”
“I’m afraid we’d always be different. I’ve not liked being different at the Guild. Anyway, we have to find a way to shield ourselves from being discovered while we travelled,” Shiro said.
“Easy enough. Just dampen your power. Let it flow back into the ground. It’s not much different from shielding your power from others.”
Shiro cocked his eyebrow. “They didn’t teach us that. If you let your power out, you won’t have enough to defend yourself.”
Boreko sighed. “You are probably right. In any case, we need to know more before we can re-enter into the world. I know just the man who can teach us,” Boreko said.
~
Spires and pagodas dominated the ancient skyline of Sekkoro, as Shiro and Boreko rode through the city gate. The old city spilled over from its prominent position guarding a large bay to the river delta below. Stone seawalls lined the lower town and created the base for docks jutting out into the bay. The myriad spikes of masts created the illusion of reeds on a shoreline.
The upper city held the private library of one of the few retired sorcerers that Boreko knew. After wandering in the old twisting streets, they finally reached Ashiyo’s house. Shiro looked up at a soaring tower capped by a golden spire as Boreko pounded on the man-door at the side of set of high double doors, large enough for two carriages to pass.
“Who knocks?” a man said from a peephole.
“Tell your master that Boreko from the Guild awaits his audience.”
They didn’t have to wait long before the large gates opened and a man with lanky white hair flowing down his shoulders stood waiting for them to pass through.
“Boreko,” he said with outstretched arms. The two men hugged. “It’s been five years at least. What brings you to my home? I haven’t heard of a ship arriving from Boriako.”
“Let us talk inside. This is my friend, Shiro.” All three men bowed and then entered Ashiyo’s house.
The room was built in, what Ashiyo claimed, was typical Sekkoro fashion. Large open windows let in the sea breezes. In terraces that jutted out from every window, massive shutters were folded back ready to close and protect the interiors from angry autumn storms. The walls were stucco inside and thick enough to retain the coolness in the summer and heat in the winter. The architecture was much different from what Shiro had been used to far to the north.
Ashiyo’s main room sported walls painted a light orange. Koriaki dwellings all used whitewash on the plaster walls in the village. Here, decorative mosaics of sea creatures created with embedded seashells broke up the flat surfaces on Ashiyo’s interior walls.
After they all held cups of wine and were seated and sipping comfortably in his sitting room, Boreko recounted every detail of their journey.
“I wouldn’t have believed it, if anyone else told me this story. Something is wrong with the Guild to allow this. Yushidon was always a bit of a puffed up charlatan, but this—how can I help?”
Shiro moved up to the edge of his cushion. “We need to learn defensive spells to protect us from Guild retribution.”
Boreko interrupted, “The Guild Council, especially Roniki and Yushidon might have to be removed in order to be certain of our safety.” Why did Boreko say that? They hadn’t a
greed to do that.
Ashiyo sputtered. “You can’t be serious. One can’t just walk in and take over. There are protocols and procedures.”
Everywhere there were protocols and procedures. The bureaucracy insinuated its tentacles everywhere. “Which is why we are here,” Shiro said. “We don’t want to destroy the Guild, just disappear. Boreko tells me that you have the most complete library outside of the Guild.”
“It exceeds the scope of the Guild, I assure you,” Ashiyo said. “Show me something that shows me you are a sorcerer.”
“Lightning storm.” Boreko pointed to a large bowl of fruit on a high shallow table next to the wall across the room.
Shiro walked over to the bowl emptied it and showed Ashiyo his miniature storm.
From across the room, Ashiyo said, “Marvelous. No one taught you this?”
“I followed the instructions, I just put more into the spell.”
“I can feel your strength, even from over here. I believe you. Boreko? Shiro? My library and even I am at your disposal.”
~
“You said Ashiyo had a better library than at the Guild?” Shiro scratched his head as he closed another book.
“I heard it many times,” Boreko said. He gave Shiro a worried look.
“Ashiyo has perhaps twenty or thirty books on spells. I’ve read them all in my studies.” Shiro heard footsteps outside the library. “What’s going on?”
Ashiyo stepped inside the door. “I have a visitor.” Master Yushidon poked his head inside the library.
Shiro felt his stomach flip. He looked at Boreko and clamped his lips.
“I told you I wasn’t good at politics. Now you know why. I trusted Ashiyo.” Boreko looked at his host.
“I couldn’t say it better, my friend. I couldn’t have entered retirement without the cooperation of the Guild,” Ashiyo said.
“You lied about your library.” Shiro glared at Ashiyo and then at Yushidon.
Ashiyo waved his hand smiling. “I do have a more extensive library, it’s just not all magic and spells. If you will come with me.” He walked back into the corridor.
