Chapter 17

The evening and the entire following day was spent in bed, as Raiel tried to nurse himself back to health and get over his pain as swiftly as possible. On the last day before classes began for Raiel, Eryna came by in the late afternoon, even bringing a pair of delicious, chocolate covered cream puffs, that Raiel had requested, promising to pay for both of them. She tried to decline his offer, saying she was perfectly capable of paying for it, and he, in turn, politely, but firmly insisted, until she finally gave in and let him treat her.

Her face lit up as she tasted the first bite, Raiel glancing sideways at her, pretending not to look, but secretly eager to see what she thought of his new favorite dessert. Not that he’d had a dessert item before, but either way, they were amazing. The sounds of contentment she produced while she ate the pastry was enough to tell Raiel exactly what she thought of it, and she told him, that she would get the next round, and that it would be tomorrow. He gratefully accepted, smiling, despite the pain he knew he was about to feel, as she healed his arm.

The forced mending, like yesterday, proved extremely painful, albeit not as much as yesterday. He endured it for a good hour and a half, which felt like five times that, until she took her hands off his arm and announced the end of the treatment for today.

“Thank you for doing this for me, Eryna.” Raiel told her sincerely, emerging from the haze of agony, that he had not even noticed he was in. He tried to get up and out of the bed, a meek attempt at that, and the gentle push of Eryna’s hand was all it took for him to flop back down.

She smiled. “You shouldn’t get up. There are classes tomorrow, and you don’t want to show up for your first day with even less energy than you have now, do you?” she asked him with a stern, raised finger. “And don’t mention it, by the way. I wanted some practice, anyway, and Nurse Sakano has that infusion ban in place for me, still. So, I guess you could say, that this mess you’ve gotten yourself into is just what I need.” she laughed jokingly, winking at Raiel. He chuckled, mostly because of the joy he felt at actually understanding a joke within the first two minutes after it’s been told.

Tali sat quietly in her office, sipping her favorite sweet tea from her favorite tea cup. She sat in her swivel chair, looking out of the window on the beautiful day, sounds from the martial training grounds below flowing up and into the room. On the desk behind her was a pastry from her favorite bakery.

She liked her office because, if she wanted something in there, it would be. All she had to do was command it. Be it a pastry or the lord from the next county over, it would be there at her word.

She put her legs, which had been crossed on her seat, down, her feet touching the floor. She whirled the swivel chair around, going for a few spins before she came to a rest, facing her desk and the man in front of her. The man was hooded and fidgeting nervously with the pommel of a dagger strapped to his thigh. When she came around to gaze at him, his hand jerked away from the dagger, as if it had suddenly become a thousand degrees hotter, and he glanced at her, terrified, afraid she might have taken offence at his actions. Her face, however, remained passive as she regarded him, hands folded on the desk.

“Now, why don’t you sit down and tell me the news, that you ran here so quickly to deliver?” she suggested with a smile and a wave of her hand. “It is important, I take it.”

“Ah, yes!” The man hurried forward and grabbed the back of the chair, tripping over the leg as he pulled it out, only managing not to land face first on the floor because he instead fell down into the seat, ass first. He froze, sweat trickling down his forehead and onto the tip of his nose, before dripping onto his superior’s clean wooden floor. He wanted to wince but didn’t dare.

Slowly, he lifted his head, half expecting the spear that rested against the wall to have teleported into Battle Chief Tali Avalise’s hand and be pointed at his eyeball. To his painfully obvious relief, she sat motionless, having had seemingly no reaction to the clamor. The man couldn’t believe how lucky he was, that she wasn’t angry. He’d been the Battle Chief’s subordinate for a number of years now, and although he hadn’t actually ever been a victim of her wrath himself, he’d heard terrible stories.

A raised eyebrow from the lady was all it took to pull him from his stupor, and he hurried to begin his report. “Ma’am! It concerns the boy you had us keep an eye on. That is… you said not to interfere with his life, no matter what happened…” he said with hesitation, eyes darting around.

“Correct. I did say not to interfere.” she agreed with a nod.

“Well… ma’am, something did happen, earlier today. I came as quickly as I could. We agreed that it was worth telling you.” he said. “As you ordered, we have not infiltrated the campus grounds, but instead set up a scouting perimeter outside. The boy has been frequenting a spot surrounding forest, where he eats, reads, and meditates.”

“He meditates?” Tali asked with concealed interest.

“Aye, ma’am, he does.” the hooded man confirmed with a sharp nod.

Tali considered this for a brief moment, eyes on her folded hands. Was he searching for the flow? If he truly was of talent, he could be expected to make conscious contact with the substance within the next couple of months, given he had actually survived through childhood because of it. Perhaps, she had been right about him, after all. She looked back up.

“And he eats, you say. What might it be?” she asked, puzzled.

“Aye, ma’am. He eats a lot. He eats pastries, ma’am.” the hooded man answered, wondering why the hell he had decided to mention that. How idiotic! If only he could show the same calm to Battle Chielf Tali, as he did with his other superiors. Standing in front of her, his nerves rattled him, and everything seemed to go to shit.

Battle Chief Tali raised an eyebrow pointedly, as if asking why that had any relevance to the matter at hand. The spy, who could only cringe and mentally kick himself, didn’t know how to excuse his own stupidity.

“It really is a lot, ma’am…” he mumbled apologetically.

Tali regarded the man for a second. “Moving on.” she said off-handedly with a wave of her hand.

The hooded spy happily jumped at the opportunity and continued. “He did his usual routine for a while, before he suddenly got up, took his backpack, and left abruptly in the opposite direction of the College. We had to scramble into hiding to not be seen, as he passed by.” the man explained animatedly, eager to prove himself worthy after his numerous blunders. “We don’t know how he knew, but several minutes later, a group of slavers with a procession of what looked like freshly captured slaves, likely from a nearby village, came into view.”

“Did you free them? Mysteriously losing an entire village is bad, both for the economy and morale.” Tali asked with a hard gaze.

“Didn’t have to, ma’am.” he clarified.

“No?”

“No. After stalking them for a few minutes, the boy climbed a tree and continued following them. We observed from the ground. Shortly after, he dropped from the branches, slaughtering three of them before they could do a thing about it.” he said. “Then he ran. We thought he was fleeing, but it was only what appeared to be a tactical retreat, since he eventually turned back around, and did the same thing again, if you can believe it, ma’am!”

“I can indeed.” Tali said without a smile.

The spy hesitated. “The slavers took hostages and threatened to kill them if he didn’t walk away, and the boy almost did. It was clear.”

“And?”

“A captive cracked the skull of one hostage-taker, ma’am, and that set it all off. It was a bloodbath, ma’am. That kid is not normal. We mistakenly thought he’d stabbed his previous five kills with a small dagger, but it wasn’t a dagger.” he clarified. “It was his hands… With his bare hands, he pierced deep into the torsos of grown men, making them scream like little girls, when their lungs weren’t immediately destroyed. Ah, erh, nothing against women, ma’am!” he hurried to add with a nervous smile.

“Yeah, yeah. Just go on.” Tali answered, rolling her eyes with an annoyed huff.

“Right, heh.” the spy grinned. “So, a muscled slaver plows his way through the crowd towards the boy, who had his back turned. He smacks him right in the back of the head. I thought the kid was done and dead, but he gets up and they duke it out. Now, I had had my suspicions until then, but during this fight I became sure. That kid is definitely infusing! I bet he’s the bastard of a noble, right Battle Chief?” he asked keenly.

Tali smiled a warm smile at the man. “You’re so very right.” Then her smile faltered slightly. “Was he… recognized?” she asked.

“Ah, no, ma’am. He had wrapped his shirt around his face, ma’am. There’s no way anyone knew.” he assured her.

She breathed a sigh of relief. “And the fight – how did it end?” she asked.

“Well, the other guy knew a few tricks, as well, so the boy ended up with a broken wrist, but he did win, in the end, though. After that, he left the scene quickly, avoiding speaking with the captives. I came here as quickly as I could, so I don’t know where he went then, but the other guys followed him.” the man explained.

“Good, good. That will be all. Well done.” She said with a nod in her subordinate’s direction. The spy stood at careful attention, greeting his Mistress before backing away until he reached the door, upon which he practically turned and ran. Tali sighed and leaned back in her chair.

Back when she was still climbing through the military ranks, she’d needed to be tough and merciless in order to be taken seriously. Her frame was nothing impressive, and most of her talents lay in infusion, in any case, and that led to countless incidents, where arrogant men had underestimated her. She had been forced to build a frightening reputation, and now it stuck with her. It wasn’t a lie, that she quite enjoyed the power such an image brought, but at times, it was just bothersome to have people struggle to utter the simplest of sentences in her presence. She didn’t regret her past actions, but maybe she should have held back a little bit. With time, that ruthlessness had become more and more of a reflection of her real self. Now, the act and the truth were as good as the same thing. People change, as they say.

She stood and walked to her open window, leaning against the frame, stretching her back. She didn’t like sitting still, even if she did like the office. She always got so restless, when she didn’t move around for a while. As she stretched, she thought about her plans for the boy.

She hoped he had signed up for combat lessons. That would provide the best opportunity to be discovered for what he likely was: A prodigy. If that could happen without her intervention, then all the better. Sighart had warned her against sticking her nose where he didn’t deem it welcome, but when push came to shove, she’d do what she felt to be necessary, even if it meant waking a sleeping dragon.

For now, she would give the boy time to find the right path by his own will. It would also work in her favor, if the boy didn’t suspect her hand to be directing events more than he probably already did.

Battle Chief Tali yawned, taking her tea cup from the table, and seeing it empty, she went to make another batch of the sweet brew.

On the first day of classes, Raiel got up even earlier than he usually did, accidentally waking Yaeth in the process. His roommate somehow managed to emit a growl akin to that of territorial predator as he glared at Raiel through heavy eyelids. Raiel hurried to put on his clothes, careful not to move his injured arm more than he had to. Eryna had given him a sling that went over his neck and supported his arm, so he didn’t have to hold it up himself. It made it much easier to keep his arm at rest, an almost forget just how badly the injury actually was.

He went to the shared bathrooms on his floor and washed his face and body, grumbling about having to strip down just as he’d put all his clothes on. Not only did he have to adhere to their cleanly nonsense, but he couldn’t even walk to the baths naked without people screaming for him to put on clothes. Didn’t they realize where he was going? Things in a civilized society could be so damned bothersome.

Despite having done it a couple of times already, Raiel checked his face for any obvious cuts or marks from the battle a few days back. The last thing he wanted was for people to ask too many questions, that he didn’t want to answer. What he saw however, caught his attention for another reason.

On his upper lip and chin, dark stubble had begun to sprout from his skin. It wasn’t really anything to talk about, compared to some of the truly magnificent structures of facial hair that a few men bore, but it was something he’d never had before. It wasn’t long by any means. In fact, the strands of hair were only about as long as they were wide, as well as few and far between.

Brushing his palm against the stubble, the hairs felt coarse and stragely alien on his body. But maybe that was to be expected when they first appeared. He had noticed that no one his age seemed to have much facial hair, but he had never really given it any thought. Maybe it was his time now.

In the shower, the hot water worked wonders on his aching body, relaxing his muscles and loosening the tensions along his back. He got dressed again quickly and took the stairs out this time, instead of climbing down the tree.

To his dismay, Raiel found the door to the canteen closed and locked, and he had to wait for almost half an hour before they came and let him in. Inside he had to wait even longer for breakfast to be ready,giving his nerves plenty of time to get to him, making his stomach hurt from the anxiety of starting his new classes. He couldn’t manage more than half a plate of otherwise mouthwatering stew, and he did so in strained silence, eyes downcast.

As soon as he was done eating, he felt the urge to just get out of there and go somewhere with no humans, but resisted the temptation, knowing that doing such a thing would only make it even more awkward, when he arrived late to his first class.

He glanced around with hesitation, wondering if any of the similarly early few were to attend the same classes as him. Almost everyone there looked like they were ready to pass out face first into their bowls of stew, so he guessed they were only up at this hour because they had something to do. His first class was woodcraft, which also happened to be the one he looked forward to the most, and thus the one he was most nervous about, as well.

When the time finally came, Raiel hurried to return his plate and utensils to the kitchen staff for cleaning and set off towards the forest with a pounding heart and tumbling stomach. The class was to be held in the fringe of the forest, close to the trail that led to the road to the city, where Raiel had first encountered Clavic and the Huntley twins.

He was the first to arrive, but soon about twenty other people showed up in short succession, some chatting among each other, but most opting to quietly sit by themselves. Raiel suspected that they, like him, were new students, who didn’t know a lot of people yet.

Being in the familiar green landscape, with the chirping of birds and the fresh breeze through the trees, Raiel felt calmer than he had been all morning. Now, that he was here and all that was left, was to wait, a glob of worry oozed out of him and everything suddenly seemed a bit less intimidating and overwhelming.

The rustling of leaves drew the eyes of everyone to a toppled tree, as a middle-aged man stepped through the foliage and onto the mossy, horizontal trunk. The man looked slightly surprised, as if he had not quite expected to see them. All his clothes were either brown or green or a mix of the two, and his figure seemed to almost blend into the background, becoming one with the vegetation. His hair was long enough to reach his chest, and he wore a solid pair of boots, that looked like they could withstand any terrain. He had three knives of varying sizes on his belt, as well as a simple bow slung over his shoulder with matching arrows in a quiver, also on his waist. He scanned the crowd in front of him, expressionless, without saying a word.

“So, you’re them, eh?” he commented absentmindedly, mostly to himself, as he took in their faces. “Then I suppose now is as good a time to begin as any.”

No one said anything, as he stood there on the fallen tree trunk.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” he exclaimed, clapping and waving his hands at the forest floor. “Sit down, so we can introduce ourselves!”