“It’s the first badge Venators get after an extraordinary act of heroism,” Xavier explained.
“Brilliant, well done guys,” he said, grinning to see them so happy. It didn’t look like Jed heard him, however, as he was busy waving at a table full of giggling girls.
“I’m famous,” Jed chuckled, “they love me.”
“I suppose you haven’t heard about Brooke either?” Elijah asked, after finishing off his cup of Mavla.
“What happened?” he replied, fear running up his spine. Surely she’s okay, everyone would be freaking out if she wasn’t.
“Her and Arantay,” said Jed, pieces of cereal hanging around his mouth. “Their mission went centaur sausage-shaped and they had to call in reinforcements.”
“Oi, I’m the one who told you lot,” Xavier cried. “I should be the one to tell the story. And you learned the centaur sausage-shaped expression from me too.”
“Brooke and Arantay thought they were dealing with a single rabid werewolf,” Zeke said. “Now they’ve got to stop a war between vampires and werewolves in London. That’s it, not much of a story.”
“Pipe down, you truculent twit.” Xavier shook his head in disbelief. “You didn’t even mention the Dark-Venators, you should’ve let me tell Evan.”
“Wait, what? Dark-Venators?” He asked, fear shooting through his veins.
“Indeed,” Xavier said, “those repugnant rascals have been enchanting the werewolves into madness, trying to incite a Moonlight War in London. Tyrell, one of Brooke’s reinforcements, informed the mission monitor, Pegwi. Then Pegwi, he’s a Hobgoblin, told Byron Binoshe. I then overheard Byron talking to Domnican and Adara about it all, then I-“
“Told absolutely everyone.” Zeke finished for him.
“Well, that was quite the story you told,” said Jed. “I really needed to know the whole chain of gossip.”
“Are you being sarcastic?” said Xavier. “You corpulent cow.”
“What an insult,” Jed snorted.
“Indeed, the verisimilitude of my verbosity is unparalleled.” Xavier sniffed imperiously. “It’s not m fault the rest of you are intellectually malnourished.”
“Poor Brooke,” said Elijah. “Her mission was supposed to be a standard job for a first-timer, now it’s turned into one of the most important missions this past year.”
“If I know Brooke,” said Emillia, “she’s probably excited that it turned into a high-profile quest.”
“I just hope she’ll be okay.” Elijah’s was biting his bottom lip in distress.
“She will be,” Evan said resolutely. “She’s turned into a fantastic Venator.”
Evan tried be as confident as he’d spoken. After the ordeal he’d been through, he wished with all his heart that Brooke made it back as soon and as safe as possible.
“Besides,” said Jed. “That Arantay dude went with her, and he’s practically invincible or something. I just hope my first mission is a little different. Hopefully, my assignment will be saving an island full of beautiful women from demons. All the women will greatly reward me for saving them.”
“Keep dreaming,” Joelle snorted.
“I’ll be happy with any type of mission next time,” said Emillia. “As long as my companions aren’t Sintian or Bane again.”
“Why would they even do something like that?” Elijah shook his head. “Evan could’ve died.”
“Sounds just like the Bane I know,” Joelle muttered darkly.
“Someone should really teach them a lesson,” Jed said, a muscle in his jaw twitching.
“Vanderain said they’d be punished.” Evan shrugged. He was furious Bane and Sintian had pulled such a stunt, but the revelation of Kalkavan had dulled his anger.
“Good,” Jed grumbled. “I hope they get exiled from Veneseron.”
“Oh, their punishment won’t be as severe as banishment,” said Elijah. “But they crossed the line. Missions are dangerous enough as it is.”
“It was kind of exciting, though.” Evan grinned suddenly. “Not being left behind, but my mission as a whole. Now the danger is over, I can fully appreciate how weird and wonderful the worlds and their inhabitants were, in a crazy sort of way.”
“Even the inhabitants that wanted to eat you?” Xavier asked.
“Well, now I’ve escaped them, sure.” Evan chuckled.
“I feel the same way,” said Jed. “I haven’t even told you about the painted monster we fought. But yeah, the brute only seems cool now I’m back in Veneseron.”
“I actually only returned a few hours before you,” he said. “Where I was promptly beaten by Nova in a duel.”
“The Yurod girl? Like me?” Zeke asked, referring to the fact he and Nova were both members of the same alien species.”
“Oh, I didn’t know you were a girl,” Xavier teased Zeke as Evan nodded.
“Wait, she beat you?” said Jed. “But she’s a girl.”
“Excuse me,” Joelle replied, “I could beat you in a duel too, Jed.”
“I bet you fifteen Scion shillings you wouldn’t,” Jed said.
“Yeah, Nova beat me,” Evan continued. “But I blame exhaustion from my mission. That’s totally the only reason she won,” he joked.
“I’m not surprised,” Elijah spoke up. “Nova’s as good with blades as Joelle is with a bow.”
Jed arched an eyebrow. “I’m starting to think you’re lying about that. You didn’t use your bow at all in the painted realm.”
“That’s because I didn’t have it with me, troll-brain.” Joelle scoffed.
As Evan ate his cereal he noticed Venators around the room were also staring and talking about him. Unlike his friends, though, the murmurs didn’t sound as positive.
“I’m guessing Taretta explained to everyone that the Sangel’s were behind it?” he asked nervously.
“Yeah,” said Joelle. “But only to alleviate people’s fears about being captured themselves.”
“Don’t worry, Evan,” said Elijah. “I’m sure no one thinks you’re involved. Just because you and Cera… you know.”
Evan merely nodded, yet he knew Elijah was underestimating some Venators feelings. There was already enough suspicion about him because of Kurrlan’s demon invasion.
He’d decided now. He’d been mulling it over all night, but now he knew he was ready. There was nothing he could do about Kalkavan for the time being. But there was something he could do to get some closure.
“I’m going too see her,” he announced. “I need to talk to her. Maybe I can get some answers, maybe not.”
“Who?” Jed asked, although by his ominous tone Evan suspected he knew who Evan was talking about already.
“Cera.”
*
Evan’s first day back to training after his mission started well enough. In his summoning lesson, they were working on enchanted runes. He knew Krism sticks were used to summon up creatures, but today Ishimara explained how they can also help create runes too.
“This is a trap rune.” Ishimara pointed to the symbol she’d just drawn, which looked like two circles with spikes attached to the outside. “This particular rune is basically the same as the magic spell, Iksnare, but delayed. Most of the runes are delayed forms of a Venator’s usual spell. I’ll show you. Will someone please summon an Enerlyte.”
Xavier and Jed both got out their Krism sticks, but a determined Sabine got there first, throwing herself to the ground and scribbling madly. Moments later, Sabine’s symbol glowed gold and an Enerlyte materialised, resembling a miniature stick man made out of blue magical energy.
“Command him to walk onto the rune, please,” said Ishimara.
Sabine did so and the Enerlyte skipped over to the rune joyfully. The moment his tiny feet touched the rune, the symbol flashed red and the Enerlyte froze, one leg in the air, mid-skip.
The rune did indeed work just like the Iksnare spell, causing instant paralysis.
“Now,” said Ishimara, “I would instruct you on how to d
estroy a rune someone has set against you, but after Master Elorian’s endless complaints, only he and the other Curse Breaking Masters are allowed to do that. Hopefully he’ll teach you soon, if Elorian ever stops talking about himself, that is.”
A smattering of laughter broke out amongst the Venators. Evan guessed it wasn’t just the trainee’s who thought Master Elorian was a little boastful.
His next lesson was Air element, where Mistress Glydel taught them the spell, Shimmeri. Shimmeri made the air ripple around your opponent, causing immense dizziness. Evan and Jed had great fun throughout the lesson, repeatedly falling down dizzy on the padded ground. Xavier and Zeke, however, both ended up vomiting.
As Evan travelled between training rooms, he quickly gathered that the Fortress was afire with gossip concerning Cera and her father. Meanwhile, Jed, Joelle and Elijah were being lauded as heroes. Jed in particular was loving the attention, especially from female Venators.
“Yes, yes, it was quite an ordeal,” Evan overheard him speaking to a group of High-Realmers. “But I just knew I had to save those kidnapped girls, or die trying.”
“Oh, you’re so brave,” Nena Rou exclaimed.
“I know,” Jed nodded. “I just really care about women, you know.”
Sabine scoffed. “I bet it was Joelle who saved the day.”
“Oi,” Jed said, “it was your cousin I saved. You owe me one.”
“One what?” Sabine replied, hands on hips.
“One written letter, explaining how awesome I am, and how I’m so much smarter than you.”
Sabine just sighed and walked away.
“I should at least get a thank you,” Jed called after her.
Word around the castles was that Cera had been transported from the infirmary and taken the dungeons below Castle-Coterie. But Evan would have to act quickly if he wanted to see her. Gossip also said that she and Battlebeard would be taken to the capital of Del-O-Reth soon, never to return.
After his Archives lesson, he waited before everyone else had departed before speaking to Gettelung.
“Uh, excuse me, sir.”
“Yes, Evan,” Gettelung looked up from his desk with a smile.
“I want to see Cera. Today, I didn’t know who to ask. I know she’s been temporarily placed in the dungeons.”
The smile vanished as Gettelung took to tapping his pen nervously on his desk.
“Are- are you sure Mr Umbra? That might be unwise.”
“I’m sure,” he replied. “I was just going to walk down there, but I’m guessing her cell is guarded and they might not let me through.”
“Indeed.” Gettelung removed his spectacles and began fiddling with the lenses. “Well, she is guarded, and if all you want to do is talk to her. Then I think it would be okay.”
Gettelung pulled a piece of paper toward him and scribbled down a note.
“Here, my written permission should get you past the guards. But you will not be allowed in her cell with her, and you can go after your last training session today. Understood?”
Evan nodded as he thanked Gettelung for the note, tucking it into his pocket.
“I must warn you Evan. Cera will not be the same girl you knew.”
“I know,” Evan said quietly.
He was relieved he had permission to see her, unfortunately his last training session was with Master Magoris. He walked quickly to the Extended Sorcery chamber, making sure he wouldn’t be late. Magoris would love another reason to punish him.
Fortunately, Magoris still hadn’t bothered to leave his bed chamber as Evan arrived and sat between Jed and Emillia.
“I still think this is a bad idea,” Jed said to him quietly.
Evan knew Jed was talking about his decision to visit Cera. He also had the impression that Jed and Emi had been discussing it before he arrived.
“It’s like when a family member is on their death bed,” Emi said miserably. “Some people don’t want their last memory of a loved one to be like that. They want to remember them as they were.”
“I know,” he replied. “You’re both right. But I also know that I’ll regret it forever if I don’t see her again. It’s just something I have to do.”
Jed looked like he was about to argue, but then nodded sadly. “I think I get it. Just… don’t do anything stupid, okay?”
“Of course not,” he said. “What do you think I’m gonna’ do? Try and break her out.”
“Or try and kill her,” Jed shrugged. “She basically handed you to Kurrlan on a platter, after all.”
Before Evan could reply, Magoris made an appearance. He glowered at them all as he shuffled in and sat down heavily at his desk.
“Right,” he said gruffly, “Today your training will be returning to exploder spells, otherwise known as Rykta. As you might already know, if you actually listen in my class. I loathe the fact that we have to name spells, especially when many of them have been named using words from orcish or gnomish languages. But I suppose you Realmers these days need the spell names to help you remember how to do them. Gods, you’re pathetic.”
He and Jed shared a grin at the shocked expression on Sabine Silcorn’s face. Most of the class had gotten used to Magoris’s rudeness by now, except her.
As a Novice, Evan’s old Master of Extended Sorcery had taught them the basics of Rykta, but the majority of magic needed to be revisited and took more than a couple of lessons to learn.
Magoris leered at them over his desk, reminding him of a bloated beetle. “Now, I’ll need a volunteer to help me with a physical demonstration. Anyone?”
Not one Venator raised their hand.
But Evan suspected Magoris knew this would happen, as he wasted no time turning toward him.
“Ah, Evan. Thank you for volunteering.”
“But he didn’t,” Xavier called out.
“Hush,” Magoris snapped. “Speak only when you’re spoken too. Come here Evan.”
Reluctantly, Evan left his seat and walked to the front of the class.
“Hello, dear boy,” Magoris beamed at him. He was even uglier when he forged a smile. “Now Evan, do you by chance have any money on you?”
Evan knew this wasn’t going anywhere good, so he decided to lie.
“No, Master, nothing.”
“Really,” Magoris said in false shock. “Well then, you won’t mind if I ask you to turn out your pockets then?”
Evan had a feeling he wouldn’t get away with it. He sighed and pulled out the handful of money in his left pocket. He had four Merchant marks and two Prince pounds. The marks were triangular coins crafted out of green metal, whilst the pounds were purple coins in a pentagon shape.
“Ah, that’ll do nicely, place them on my desk. Now.”
Evan dropped the handful of coins before Magoris, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Each Venator had a monthly allowance to spend in the city. It wasn’t a huge amount, but it was enough for Venators to buy themselves a few meals or drinks at an inn or restaurant, with money left over to buy clothing, gadgets or anything they fancied. He knew Elijah spent several Scion shillings every month, buying the monster fossils he collected.
The six coins were all Evan had left of his monthly allowance, and there was still two weeks left.
“Sir, please-” Evan began, but Magoris ignored him as he raised a splayed hand above him.
“Now, Mid-Realmers, watch and learn.”
Magoris’s face scrunched in concentration and a white orb bloomed in his palm briefly, before shooting down and striking the six coins. There was a small, but violent explosion, causing a bang like a gunshot and a flash of light. Once the light had dissipated, Evan saw that his coins had been blown into fragments.
“Aha,” Magoris whooped. “Do you see my talent. I conjured a Rykta spell strong enough to break metal, but small enough to be contained. You trainee’s can only one day hope to achieve that.” The Master turned to him. “Thank you very much Evan, you’ve been a great help.” Mago
ris grinned at him maliciously.
Evan felt his hands trembling with anger, but also humiliation. Magoris’s petty act was made a thousand times worse by the fact it was in front of the whole class.
“Sit back down,” Magoris barked. “Now, all of you, for the rest of the session, you will write down what you witnessed here. Try to describe how I performed the exploder spell so magnificently.”
As Evan took his seat, the looks on his friend’s faces mirrored how he felt. Jed had gone pale with rage, and Zeke’s arms looked even bigger than usual as he tensed them.
“This isn’t right,” Emi whispered. “I know the other Masters wouldn’t let him get away with doing things like that. We should tell them.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, bending down and beginning to write, trying to drive his roiling emotions away.
Evan left as soon as the session ended, telling his friends he’d meet them in the Oval later. He tried to shake off his anger as he walked through the Fortress. He wanted to have his emotions under control when he met Cera.
He’d never been to the dungeons before, but he knew they were underneath the caverns where his fire element training took place. Evan headed for the ground floor of Coterie-Castle, taking his usual route to the cave system.
After he passed the statue, he turned left however, heading deeper than ever before.
He remembered learning that the underground system beneath the castle had been used as a smuggling den by a coterie of bandits in Veneseron’s early days, which was how the castle got his name. Evan followed the man-made path though, knowing he’d get lost in the endless caves. It was easy enough, a set of stone steps curled downward, and torches of blue flame led the way. As the steps ended he heard the murmurs of speech, and knew he’d arrived.
Evan entered out into a brightly lit cavern, where a cluster of guards sat playing cards. At the end of the cavern was a corridor hewn out of rock, and Evan could see iron doors engraved into the corridor walls on either side and knew they were the prison cells.
There were five guards, all orcs, who were surprised by his appearance.
Moonlight War- Act II (The Realmers Book 3) Page 25
