Copyright
Published by
Dreamspinner Press
5032 Capital Circle SW
Ste 2, PMB# 279
Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886
USA
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Exile
Copyright © 2013 by Lola Lebellier
Cover Art by Shobana Appavu
[email protected]
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Ste 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA.
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/
ISBN: 978-1-62380-277-6
Digital ISBN: 978-1-62380-278-3
Printed in the United States of America
First Edition
February 2013
Dedication
Dedicated to Rebecca
for all the inspiration
she’s given me over the years.
Chapter 1
CHAOS, fire, water, earth, and air had warred since the beginning of time, spreading terror throughout the land of Nier. Eventually, five mages used their inner power—their mana—andmanaged to trap the spirits inside their bodies in order to limit the spirits’ destructive powers.
However, if any of the vessels were killed, the spirit would be free again, and the damage one spiritwould do was worse than what any army could.Those five most powerful mages had a terrible burden to carry.Being a vessel becamea highly honored position, as the vessel gave up a lifetimeto host the spirit.
Housing the spirits had a dire consequence—over time, the spirit would cause its vessel to lose control and force themage to carry out the spirit’s whims. When this occurred, the mages trapped themselves inside deep wells. The clan built ornate temples over the wells to honor the vessels’ sacrifices—eventually dubbing the magesthe “guardians” of their elementsand molding the clan around them.
According to clan lore, a thousand years before the monastery was so separated from the rest of society, a girl fell in love with one of the destined guardians and created a set of powerful restraints to better confine the spirits and allow the guardian to live a normal life. From then on the guardians became the rightful leaders of the Cult of the Elements.
The Cult of the Elementslay ever since in a neutral area between Far South and Central, andevery nation agrees the monastery isn’t to be tampered with.
ALESS smiled, carving the three thousand six hundred fifty-third line in the wall of his small shack. It had been ten long, grueling years, but finally he could put the entire mess behind him. Finally, he’d be allowed to return to his clan and the monastery to take his rightful place as the Guardian of Serac, one of the five leaders of the Cult of the Elements.
He ran his hand across the smooth silver collar surrounding his throat. It always amazed him to think that this tiny piece of metal managed to hold the water spirit at bay.He couldn’t help but feel slightly nervous about returning to his clan, particularly after the events that had caused his exile. The details were still extremely foggy in his mind. After the incident—followed by a week spent confined within the well under his temple—he hadn’t been given any opportunity to discover what had actually happened that evening. Even before his sentencing, he had been placed under temporary arrest.All Aless could remember was waking up within a thick marsh, surrounded by dead bodies and destroyed temples.
Hearing a loud knock at the door, Aless almost jumped. He had known they were going to send an escort for him, but he hadn’t expected him to arrive so early. Aless’s sense of time had been questionable since he began his exile, though, so he knew he couldn’t really count on it. Without the clan’s bells to alert him of curfew or meal times, he had stopped using any sort of routine. He peered out of his window, the sight obscured slightly by a ragged curtain, to confirm it was daytime.
Aless took a deep breath, walking over to the door to open it. The man on the other sidewas familiar, but Aless couldn’t help but feel as if he was looking at a complete stranger. The man was tall, over a full head above Aless, and composed of thick, bulky muscle. He had long, red hair pulled into a tight ponytail as well as bright green eyes. His skin was covered by thick, red lines contrasting against his tanned flesh, likely from the stress of housing a spirit. Aless had blue marks from Serac, and he almost felt self-conscious in the presence of the stranger. His dark-brown skin and bright-blue marks never quite looked right to him, and he had never been particularly muscular, no matter how much he trained. Compared to him, the other man looked almost like a god.
Aless stared. “Piers?”
Piers laughed, placing a hand on Aless’s shoulder, pulling him into a close hug. “Who else? It’s been a while, dear friend!”
“By the spirits, you’ve gotten huge!” Aless declared, stepping back.
“Well, you were gone for ten winters,” Piers commented.“Did you shrink by any chance? I don’t remember you being this small.”
Aless snorted. “Not all of us can grow grotesquely large.”
“Hey now! Did exiling you rid you of all your social skills?” Piers asked, looking into Aless’s small shack.
Aless looked away, flushing lightly. “It’s not as if I had anyone to talk to.”
“What, Serac not giving you any good conversation?” Piers asked.
Aless frowned. “I’d rather sit in silence.”
“I guess. You could’ve gone to a nearby village,” Piers countered.
“And risk being kidnapped by a militia?” Aless asked. “One time was enough for me, thank you. It’s not as if anyone in Central speaks Common anyways.”
Piers frowned. “Do you mind if I step inside for a few minutes before we head out? I think I should bring you up to date before we return.”
Aless sighed, gesturing for Piers to enter his small shack. Piers came in, looking around the room. Aless blushed again, walking over and sitting down at the small table. He had done his best to ensure the shack was as inconspicuous as possible, lest any slavers decide to wander the area, and it meant the quality of the building was sacrificed. The shack lacked any personal touches, and Aless had made sure he had multiple hiding spots available should militia show up.
Piers sat down, bumping his knees against the table. He moved a hand to the wall, feeling the lines carved into it. “You really had a lot of time here, didn’t you?”
“Yeah,” Aless replied, looking between Piers and the wall. “We can return soon, can’t we?”
“Yeah, but…. Look, I shouldn’t really tell you what I’m going to, but I think you deserve to know. How much of the incident do you remember?”
“Not much,” Aless confessed. “I went to sleep frustrated with Master Petra and woke up in a bloody marsh.”
“Cyril declared it forbidden to discuss the incident in detail, but you really deserve to know,” Piers said.
“Since when has Cyril had the authority to do that?” Aless asked. “It seems rather unreasonable. I’m sure Master Alvah would have vetoed that.”
“Old Master Alvah is dead.”
“What? When did this happen?” Aless asked.
“You really don’t remember, do you?” Piers asked. “You killed him, Aless.”
“W-what?” Aless asked.
“When your restraints failed, you went on a rampage. You killed Master Alvah, Master Petra—”
“I don’t regret killing old Master Petra. Nier is better off without him,” Aless replied.
“That’s not the point,” Piers replied, sighing. “You also killedCorona’s old guardian.”
Aless’s eyes widened. “By Serac, Piers, I’m sorry….”
Piers frowned, looking again at the wall. “It wasn’t as bad as you think. I was close enough to capture Corona before he had a chance to light the whole place on fire. We gave old Master Corona a nice burial when everything settled.”
“I was upset enough when my master died, and to see me do it of all—”
“No, Aless, just stop,” he replied, more sternly than Aless expected from his friend. “I put it behind me already. There’s been plenty to do in your absence. Look, I don’t like being serious with you, but things have really been shitty since you left, okay?”
“I… expected that,” Aless replied, looking away from Piers. “So… you’re Master Corona now, aren’t you?”
“Yup. It’s been that way since you left.” Piers said.
“Congratulations,” Aless said. “I knew you’d make it.”
“Of course I would,” Piers agreed. “At least I didn’t take my spirit before I was ready.”
“I had no choice.”
“I know,” Piers replied.
Aless sighed. The old keeper of Serac, the spirit of water, had been very ill around the time Aless and Piers joined the monastery. He had taken Aless on as an apprentice immediately, and Aless had been gifted with Serac only seven winters after he began training. It had been considered necessary at the time as his master had been quite ill, but most apprentices would spend around twenty winters training to take a spirit. Aless had been underprepared for the task.
“So… you said I killedold Master Petra? Who took his place?” he asked, trying to remember some of the old earth apprentices. There wasn’t much integration between the elements, particularly while training for guardianship, but he had encountered a few of them after his promotion. Old Master Petra, guardian of earth, had been a disgusting old man, Aless recalled, and he was constantly surrounding himself with younger and younger apprentices. There were plenty of faces in Aless’s mind, but almost no names to match them.
“Well,” Piers began, leaning back in his chair, “we weren’t as lucky with Petra as we were with Corona. None of his apprentices were near, and you also killed a lot of them during your rampage, so he was left to run free for a bit.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Aless commented.
“It wasn’t,” Piers confirmed, “but believe me, the girl who managed to catch him is gorgeous. She wasn’t even in training to become a guardian, but she managed to subdue Petra all by herself.”
Aless smiled. “Sounds like someone has an infatuation.”
Piers laughed. “I already had Kateline. You really should take a crack at her when you come back, she’s definitely worth it.”
“Has it been that long?” Aless asked, leaning onto the table. He had almost forgotten how much he missed talking to Piers. “You should know by nowher spread legs wouldn’t interest me.”
“Point taken,” Piers replied, “but either way, that’s Master Petra. She’s pretty smart too—she actually was in training to become a scribe, so she’s been leading the research project.”
Aless raised an eyebrow. “Really now? What are we researching these days anyways? Just restoring old texts?”
“Ah, well, same stuff they’ve always done, I’m sure. To be honest I have no idea—I haven’t been in the library.” Piers answered.
Aless looked at Piers curiously, sighing. “Neither have I. Can you even read Common?”
“Kateline made me learn before I stopped sleeping with her,” Piers replied. “Anyways, I really should fill you in on the other guardian.”
“That’d be Alvah’s vessel, right?” Aless asked. “I can’t believe I killed Master Alvah. I can only imagine what sort of damage the spirit of chaos managed to do.”
“Cyril’s smart enough not to let that happen, so he let Zephyr out and trapped Alvah. We’re pretty lucky you didn’t decide to off both of them, because—”
“I didn’t want to kill anyone,” Aless interrupted.
“I didn’t say you wanted to,” Piers replied, “but either way, Cyril is housing Alvah, and Master Alvah’s apprentice managed to capture Zephyr before he could do much damage.”
“Ah… she was the child wasn’t she? Isn’t she a bit young to be a guardian? How did her body even accept Zephyr?”
“Yeah,” Piers confirmed, smiling. “Selena. She’s really strong; she’d been training since birth…. Honestly, we didn’t have many suitable candidates left, and she really is the best person for the job.”
“So she is Alvah’s guardian?” Aless asked.
“Uh… no. Not really,” he sighed. “This is where it gets complicated. She’s kept Zephyr and Cyril’s kept Alvah.”
“Why?”
“It’s really not as bad as you’d think,” Piers replied. “Well, no, that’s a lie. Lena is fine dealing with wind—as I said, she’s a really good spell caster—but Cyril’s completely useless at harnessing chaos.”
“So… why don’t they switch?”
Piers shrugged. “That’s between her and Cyril. I know Cyril’s offered, but Lena’s been refusing since the start,” he explained. “Okay, also, yeah, this is important enough to mention—Selena hates you. A lot.”
“What? I’ve never even met her!” he declared, eyes widening.
Piers sighed. “Look, I’m not even saying it’s your fault…. But she was only ten winters old when you went feral. She kinda thinks of you as this big bad demon. Can’t say I blame her, either—”
“You’re supposed to be my closest friend,” Aless interrupted, “and yet you’re defending her irrational hatred. This is great. Exactly what I wanted to return to.”
“You’ve been gone for ten winters,” Piers replied. “I am friends with the other guardians. Besides, you got off easy, considering the damage you did. I had to fight the others to get you such a short sentence.”
“Ten winters is a long time to spend alone,” Aless defended himself. “Especially for something that wasn’t my fault.”
Piers sighed, standing up. “Look, I’m not taking sides. Just keep this in mind, okay? I really wanted to tell you,” he explained. “Also—you’re not supposed to know any of this, so don’t tell anyone I said anything.”
Aless took a final look around his cabin. “Before we go,” he began, “I just want to know… how did my restraints fail?”
Piers walked toward the door. “They fell off. I doubt it’ll happen again, so don’t worry.”
“Never,” Aless assured him, grabbing a coat off his makeshift cot and walking toward the door. “And… I really am allowed back from exile now?”
“Hmm,” Piers began, leaning against the doorframe, “did you go out and slaughter any small villages during your time out here?”
“I’ve been good. I’m disappointed you have so little faith in me.”
“Well, you are the legendary exile,” Piers answered. “Seriously, if I hear one more student ask me for stories about you, I’m going to kill them.”
Aless blinked. “They’re really asking about me?”
“We did some recruiting while you were gone. Students of Serac have been creaming themselves thinking about your return,” he explained.
“Wow,” Aless answered.
Piers chuckled. “It’ll make taking advantage of the apprentices easy, at least,” he commented, grinning.
“It was difficult?” Aless asked, returning Piers’s grin.
“Well, when you’re as good looking as me, it isn’t,” Piers teased, “but I figured you’d want to know you’d have the extra help.”
Aless rolled his eyes, looking between Piers and his cabin. He almost could
n’t believe the significance in the moment. Finally, his crimes were forgiven. Finally, he would not be stuck inside this tiny cabin. Finally, he could return to the only place he had ever seen as home. He could return to his friends, to his duties, to his temple….
“So,” Piers began, “you have anything left to ask me before we go? We kinda wasted a lot of time, and I think Cyril will get suspicious if I take any longer to return.”
“I was ready before I left,” Aless said. “Please, if there’s nothing else, let us be off.”
Chapter 2
THE walk back to the clan’s monastery was rather short, spanning only around fifteen minutes. It was amazing to Aless when he realized it—he had felt so disconnected from the clan during his time in exile, as was their intention, but he really was only separated by a small forest. He could’ve destroyed it years ago and forced himself back into the clan, a fact that Serac had never stopped saying.
“You know, it wouldn’t really matter if you just destroyed a few trees,”the spirit teased.
“Would you shut up for just today? I have other things to bother myself with.”
Piers stopped in his path, casting a worried glance at Aless. “Serac giving you trouble?” he asked, placing a hand on Aless’s shoulder.
Aless raised an eyebrow. “Yes, actually. How could you tell?”
“Your eyes flashed bright blue; didn’t you feel that?” Piers asked, staring.
“I guess not. Does that happen to you as well?”
“Sort of. They flash according to your spirit’s color, so mine flash red. It’s pretty creepy to watch—your pupils disappear altogether,” he answered, beginning to walk again. “It happens with any sort of intense emotion, if you know what I mean.”
“You’re disgusting.”
“I am,” he answered, not losing his grin, “but in all seriousness, if you get really angry, happy, upset, anything, really, your eyes flash. The same goes for when you talk to your spirit, or use its powers for a bit…. Old Master Serac never told you that?”
“No,” Aless replied. “So it means we’re communicating with our spirits?”
Exile Page 1
