Moirai

Over the next few days, Loni and I grew more comfortable around Mayran, and it seemed as though the feeling was mutual. Conversation was less awkward and, despite my initial wariness around him, I soon realised that for some reason he only had my best interests at heart.

However, what he thought my best interests are and what I thought they were contrasted just a bit. Mayran started training lessons every morning before we moved on after revealing that Kasanda had given him two swords to use.

“We’ll kill each other!” I cried when he first pulled them out of a bag three days after we had left Nerome.

He tutted. “Of course we won’t! They weigh and move like swords, but when they touch us they’ll feel like little more than rope.”

I stared at him, confused. “Mayran, those are swords! Sharp, hard swords! Did I mention sharp?”

He chuckled this time. “Want a bet?”

Without any warning, he drew one of the swords from its sheath and swung it towards my arm. I didn’t have time to do anything more than flinch…only to feel nothing. It was, as he had said, like being hit with a piece of stiff rope.

“What are they made out of?” I asked in wonder, gazing at the sword Mayran handed me.

“Normal metal.” He answered. “But Kasanda placed barriers around them so they don’t hurt the users; you and I. They will, however, hurt anyone or anything else.” To prove his point, he promptly left a large gash in the side of a tree trunk.

My awe quickly turned to disapproval. “There’s magic guarding these?”

He sighed as though expecting a comment like that. “Yes, there is, Alnya. Aren’t you glad there is? Would you rather we cut each other to pieces?”

“No.” I mumbled, annoyed that, yet again, magic was doing something good. Why couldn’t things just remain simple? Magic was scary and wrong. That was all I had believed.

“Right then.” He said in a getting-down-to-business voice, before taking a stance. “Copy me as best you can. I know you’ve got practically no experience fighting with swords, so I’ll go really easy on you at first. Your style won’t be the same as mine, which is a good thing. Just try and do what comes natural.”

What comes natural? I almost laughed. I’d never touched a blade in my life, except for knives in the kitchen. I was going to make an utter fool of myself. At least only Loni was the audience.

He instructed me on how to take a stance and be light on my feet. That part I found fairly easy. It was when he demonstrated a few attacks that things got tricky. My own swings of the sword felt awkward and stiff. He would block my every move, whereas I could hardly ever block his. After about half an hour, I got so frustrated that I threw the sort down in the dirt.

“This is stupid!” I cried. “Why would Indina engage me in a sword fight, anyway? She could probably just use her aura to kill me in a second!”

I expected Mayran to frown and tell me I was being childish, but he didn’t. He, too, put his sword down and spoke to me gently. “Indina wouldn’t be satisfied with killing you quickly and that is why you have a chance. She’ll want to test you, to play around with you. That’s why you’ve got to be good enough to last against her. It will surprise her and give you the advantage of that surprise. Besides, you might need sword skills before you meet her. This journey won’t be danger-free. And soon, we will work on your magic, as well.”

I looked down and away from his face – so earnest that I could almost agree with him – and said, “That doesn’t give me a load of confidence. And I’m not going to use my...my aura again, I already told you that.”

“I know you did.” He agreed. “But I can also see that you can see that using your aura can have many benefits. That’s why I keep pointing out the wonderful things we auraics can do. Yes, of course, you may have to use your aura against someone one day. Maybe even one day soon. But both Kasanda and I know that you would never abuse your powers. You would always use them for what’s right.”

I bit my lip. It sounded so logical, so right…but Kasanda’s unintentional warning about auraics dying due to overexerting their auras rang in my ears once again, and the unbidden image of a dead magic-user’s body floating out at sea swam in my mind’s eye. I blinked fast, trying to get rid of it.

“Don’t push me into something I don’t want to do.” I told him, hugging my shoulders. It was strange; I never usually felt so insecure. But now things were changing. My whole life was changing. I didn’t know what would happen tomorrow and that thought scared me, while at the same time also filling me with a nervous excitement. I didn’t know which one to listen to.

“I won’t.” he said softly, but his tone was strange; it sounded like he was very certain that he wouldn’t…but there was something else there, something he knew or suspected.

We didn’t practice any more that morning, heading off. Mayran told me we were roughly five day’s ride from Okanto, where he said we could restock our supplies and possibly find out if Indina had made any moves from her castle since finding out that I was no longer in the outer-world.

While riding and when we would stop at night, Mayran expressed a lot of curiosity about our lives in the outer-world, wanting to know about simple things such as the technology and daily routine. In return, I asked both him and Loni endless questions about Renenta’s past and present. Loni mentioned never seeing Mayran around Nerome before, either as a child or during brief visits back since becoming the Inventrix. The reason for that was because he stayed in Kasanda’s cottage a lot, reading books on history and magic, and if he ever went out it was to shop in the northern part of the city where Loni had never been before. It sounded like he just avoided people and many times I wanted to ask why, but held back, afraid that he wouldn’t like me prying in.

Slowly, day by day, I managed to get a bit better with the sword. ‘A bit’ being the key phrase. Mayran’s constantly kept telling me to relax every time the sword was in my hand and I tried to obey. It was difficult because even though I knew I couldn’t hurt him, there was still an automatic hesitation. He was extremely patient, but I could see a mild frustration in his eyes each day, even when we weren’t training, as though he was expecting something from me that just wasn’t happening. I longed to ask him what it was. Loni suggested that it was because he thought he wasn’t teaching me right, but I didn’t agree.

“He knows he’s teaching me well. I can do things once after he shows me; I just can’t do them again.” I told her one afternoon, while Mayran had opted to collect kindling. We had resorted to camping the last few nights, as Mayran warned us about the dangers of staying with strangers; anyone could be a spy for Indina. Collecting wood was difficult now, as the forest-like areas we had been riding through had made way for steadily drying grassland with very few trees. Mayran told me that Okanto was in the middle of a small desert, so I knew that in a day or two the vegetation would grow even less. “What do you honestly think of him?”

She frowned, considering the question. “I don’t really know. He seems to care, which is the main thing, and he clearly enjoys teaching. He’s got a good sense of humour…but sometimes he gets this look in his eyes. Like…”

I finished her sentence. “Like he’s reliving some painful memories. I know. I’ve seen it, too.”

“Maybe you should ask him.”

“Me? Why me?”

“Because he seems to be more comfortable talking to you.” She said.

That didn’t make sense to me. “You’re the one that’s from Renenta, not me.”

She completely ignored the statement. “Trust me. He far prefers taking to you. The Hero of the Prophecy.” The way she said it was strange, slightly sarcastic and slightly trying to make a point…only, I didn’t get the point.

“What on Earth are you going on about?”

She rolled her eyes. “Alnya! I have seen the way you glance at him out of the corner of your eyes when we ride, and how you hang on his every word even when he brings up your aura!”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

She chuckled. “Sure, Alnya.”

I felt my face grow warm and dropped the subject, pushing it to the darkest depths of my mind.

On the morning of the eighth day since leaving Nerome, we topped a hill to find the last of the grass replaced by golden sand, rippling outwards towards the azure horizon. The dune-filled border between sand and sky created a beautiful contrast and for several minutes we all stared, transfixed. In the distance the hazy outline of a city seemed to rise straight up out of the sand, its buildings coloured dusky red and tan. Okanto. I had the odd feeling that there was something off about the city. No, I decided, it just had different styled buildings to Nerome.

I looked behind me to contrast the two sceneries…and felt my heart jump up to my mouth.

“Mayran!” I hissed, yanking on his sleeve.

“What is it?”

He turned and saw what had frightened me. “We have to ride. Now!”

We urged our horses onwards at a breakneck speed, cantering down the other side of the hill before launching into as much of a gallop as they could manage on the slippery sand, towards the distant smudge on the horizon that was Okanto.

“What are they?” Loni yelled over the wind.

“Erkings, from the looks of them.” Mayran answered back. I glanced behind again and yelped as I realised how close they had gotten in seconds.

The name seemed to fit somehow. A group of small creatures the size of human children were chasing after us at an incredible speed, now only a few hundred metres away. There seemed to be about ten of them. From what I could see, they were dark purple with thorns like those found on rose bushes sticking out of every part of their body. Their heads, in fact, were just two giant thorns back-to-back. I couldn’t see their eyes or mouths, but I suspected they must have both to see us and screech the way they were.

Fear clouded my thoughts as I watched the Erkings grow closer and closer.

“We won’t be able to outrun them!” I cried to Mayran, who seemed to have the same thought because he replied, “I know. We’ll have to stop and fight! They’re small so I should be able to overpower them, but be careful! Those spines are incredibly sharp! Alnya, stay out of the way and guard Loni! You’re not ready for a battle yet.”

All these instructions came so fast that it took me a few seconds to process them. I understood his warning for me and was more than slightly relieved that he didn’t use this confrontation as a test. However, he did hand me the sword I had been using as a precaution once we stopped the horses and dismounted.

His calm and controlled motions gave the illusion of a lack of fear, but I could tell that he was just as worried as us, hiding his concern behind a steely determined mask. I told Loni to get behind me.

The Erkings were upon us in seconds. Mayran leapt forth and slashing down two at once before they could react; they dissolved in a puff of green smoke. I watched, awestruck at the way he handled the sword. I realised he had been severely toning down his skill while practicing with me; he was incredible.

From what I could tell, the thorns acted as shields and were hard as metal, often deflecting many of Mayran’s attacks. I watched nervously, hoping he didn’t get on the wrong end of one of the spikes.

An Erking crept past him towards Loni and I. I lifted my sword, trying to remember all of Mayran’s instructions. The Erking launched itself at us. Loni stifled a scream as I slashed downwards. My blade clanged harmlessly off its large nose horn, which then was thrust into my leg.

I cried out as pain flared throughout my whole body and dropped to the ground as that leg gave way. The Erking shrieked in triumph and was about to slam its nose into my head before it vanished into green mist and Mayran stood in its place.

“You alright?” he asked quickly as another one came at him from the side. I dimly realised that there were only five left.

“Sort of.” I answered, indicating the leg. He nodded tersely.

I looked at him and saw that he was growing tired from the excessive dodging. He had a large cut on his own arm; his sword arm, which was also slowing him down. I then looked towards the remaining Erkings.

We’re outnumbered, I thought hopelessly. The Erkings’ size aided them well, as they ducked and weaved around Mayran, staying just out of reach before darting in for an attack. Mayran couldn’t kill them all. Even as I watched I saw one of them knock is sword out of his hand. Twenty different feelings rushed through me; fear, anxiety, guilt…Everything slowed down and dulled, even the pain in my leg. Go away, I thought silently to the Erkings. Just go away!

There was a strange, warm wrenching feeling just below my ribs and, suddenly, they did. Vanished. Out of thin air. Gone, leaving only green mist behind.

I had used my aura again, and I didn’t even have the strength to be annoyed. Exhaustion and pain fell over me like a blanket, dragging me towards unconsciousness faster than I thought possible. I barely felt it when I fell sideways and my head hit the sand. Loni’s face appeared above me, her expression concerned. Mayran’s joined it, but his was more fuzzy.

I tried to remain conscious, but the relief of oblivion was too tempting to resist. I closed my eyes…