The Red Glaive

Glaive training shifted in focus. They still had their morning jogs, but now during lecture the Glaive Tarda now focused on the gods. He had spent the first couple days telling them in painstaking detail everything that Niko had surmised that day. During their training during the afternoon shifted. Instead of sparring with each other over the length of three hours, they practiced on horse back for the first half, but for the later half Glaive Overseer Rector had them all pair up and spar barehanded.

All the apprentices complained. “How will this be of any use to us?” a little lord’s son whined from Telfer’s group and Aeria questioned it herself. When they were glaives they would be able to call forth a sword from thin air they would never be barehanded. If, for whatever reason, they did end up barehanded against a Night Devil, they’d be good as dead.

“It’s not about the fight for this one.” Overseer Rector said, “It’s about finding people who know who to move together and against each other.” Then he wandered off to his perch above the grounds to be able to observe all the apprentices.

Niko paired off with Caius first, but before Aeria could even find a partner of her own, Caius had already knocked Niko to the ground. Aeria returned and stood in his place. Niko slunk off to find another opponent.

“What do you know about a fist fight?” Caius teased.

“Whatever you father taught me on the road.” Aeria answered with a smile. Reimar taught them very little, he always emphasized the sword. They only other fights she knew were with Videl Ney when she was a child.

“Have at it then.” Caius said before coming at her. Aeria saw the hit as it was coming, the wide swing of his arm telegraphed it for her. Just like his swordplay, Caius used all his force in every single blow. Aeria had learned to read his movements and how to respond.

Aeria raised her arm and caught the blow with her arm. Barehanded, she felt the full force of his strength. There were no broken bones but it sure felt like it. Aeria stepped back, but Caius was already charging forward. She would gain no ground if she retreated every time. Instead she stood firm and when she saw Caius’ arm reel back again, she ducked instead of blocking. The force of the swing hitting empty air made Caius stumble forward slightly and Aeria put her arms together and pushed against his chest.

Caius stumbled back and only caught his footing just before falling. There was only shock in those green of eyes of his. “Alright.” he said blinking. “Alright then.” and they went at it again.

Aeria didn’t win a single round, but she managed to either evade or bounce back his blows. Caius never changed his strategy so it was easy, most times. Aeria only stopped when Caius managed to land a blow on her face.

They all switched partners after that but Aeria took a break. The blow had left her light headed, but they continued with the new regime all week.

On the last day of the week Glaive Tarda took the apprentices down to the caverns under the Ivory Bastion. “This subterranean system of caves was built during the age of the 15th Exdonum king by his personal Red Glaive-“

“How many glaives? It must’ve been a lot working together over several years to get something like this done!” Niko asked quickly. He was the only one who was enjoying this lecture on the move. Glaive Tarda walked as slowly as he spoke.

“If I remember correctly. . .” the old man paused. “Just one. Built as a kind of safe house to counter act the threat of Aestus dragon fire. The walls of the Ivory Bastion are white because of the fire of the Aestus dragons reacted to the stone of the castle turning it white. That was the very first Aestus war which started - ”

Aeria tuned him out after that. Instead she focused on the immense maze like caverns they now walked through. The walls reached high above her and far to either side. A small army was capable of marching through its carved out hallways. She couldn’t possibly image how just one glaive was responsible for creating such a complex system.

Lux Aeterna was powered from the Scar, but none of the light producing bulbs had been installed in these deep dark caverns. They were guided by Tarda’s torch which the apprentices flocked to like moths. No one wanted to get lost in the maze.

Tarda continued on in the darkness following a path only he could see. The cavern suddenly shrank in size before opening up again into a large cavern. This one was hollowed out into an arena and well lit with torches that lined the walls. At its center stood a circular stone structure around which a group of sages prayed.

“The Chamber of Endeavors.” Glaive Tarda said. “I believe the sages have communed with all the gods, the chamber is ready.”

They went in five at a time. The apprentices that entered took days within and never returned to the barracks. They only indicator that a group was done was when of the sages came to fetch the next group. In the barracks, the once lively atmosphere grew still. Everyone was wondering what would come within the chamber. Would the Colossus appear or the Goddess? The Leviathan or the Avian? Or, maybe, none at all. It filled everyone with dread.

“I read the Colossus likes to appear the most.” Niko said as they walked back to the barracks for the weekend. “The most timid of the gods to appear is the Beast; there are times when the Beast doesn’t appear for years at a time. The Avian is the second least common.”

“You spend too much time in the library.” Caius said with a groan.

“I have to do something instead of going you on your exploits.” Niko said.

“You’re still going to seedy taverns?” Aeria asked. Every week end she would leave the boys she had grown so fond of to go to the sisters like she had promised Reimar. The apprentices where to stay on the training grounds, but Aeria found out that none of the apprentices followed this rule. They all ventured out into the crown city and did as they pleased before returning back to the barracks for the night.

Niko had told her of his first few trips with Caius before giving up and staying on the grounds to read from the Glaive library. Caius continued on his search for both alcohol and women, none of which were in short supply for a man like Caius. He would challenge other drunk men in arm wrestling matches - which he nearly always won - used the prize money to buy his own drinks. Women came easy after that, and Caius hardly returned before the wee hours of the morning.

“You should come with me Ariel.” Caius offered.

“I have to go with my sister.” Aeria replied like she did every week. “And I don’t think I’d want to if I didn’t.” Aeria laughed. Caius had a habit of leaving either her or Niko once he attracted a woman.

“To each his own.” Caius said.

They went their separate ways. Aeria went to the shrine again, but couldn’t find Elyon again. Instead she went to the vial chamber where sisters sat in deep focus making eques flasks.

Without Olia hounding her, Aeria was a able to produce a small shard. Her hand shone with a warm light as the shard twisted and turned. Aeria glanced around at the other sisters, their eyes were shut in a deep meditative state. Elyon had told her that if they break focus the flask will fall in shatter.

Aeria watched her shard. Its sides reflected back the light she produced. She watched it as it spun, the more she saw it, the more its edges seemed to contort and bend. Each spin and twirl sent a small pulse back into her hands. Aeria shut her eyes and focused on the feeling. Each pulse coming back to her like a small heartbeat until it grew in strength. The time between pulses increased too, until all she felt was a strong surge coming from her hands.

Her hands trembled and she grew weary before the surge began to slow and the steady pulse returned. Aeria opened her eyes, around her most of the sisters had vanished and the windows were pitch black outside, but in her hands a small eques flask floated between her hands. Aeria withdrew her light and the flask began to fall.

Small pale hands caught it before it could shatter. Elyon clutched the flask in her hands with a smile. “It’s a little oblong, but it’ll work.” she said.

“How long have I been here?” Aeria asked. It must’ve been very late at night. The sun was still up when she arrived.

“About four hours,” Elyon said turning the eques flask in her hand. “Maybe longer.”

“But it didn’t feel that long.” Aeria said.

“It happens sometimes, the better you get the less time it takes, but this,” she raised the flask to eye level, “is your chief responsibly now. I want one every weekend you’re here.”

Aeria nodded. It was strange getting direction from someone so close to her age. Elyon placed Aeria’s flask in a chest filled with all flasks made that day. They would be taken to the sages to be filled.

“We can now move on to improving your healing capacity.” Elyon said and walked out of the room with Aeria close behind her. “From what I remember, you told me you could heal bruises and shallow cuts am I right?”

Elyon took Aeria back into the sanitarium where Elyon began to explain the structure. “This is the only part of the shrine that is open to the public. There are five halls, four you see here. One you already know, the Hall of the Fading for those who do not have much time left on this earth. The one next to it its the Hall of the Withering for those with incurable illnesses. They are with us for the remainder of their lives and we make them as comfortable as possible. They all move on into the Hall of the Fading eventually. Next is the Hall of the Ailing for those who need time to recover. Most ending getting better and leaving, some move on the the Hall of the Declining.” Elyon then pointed to the farthest right hall. “That is the infirmary. It is for those who only need a quick visit. We will start there.” Elyon dug through the linens at the central station and pulled out a white dress for Aeria.

“And the fifth hall?” Aeria asked before taking the dress from Elyon.

“That is the Hall of the Infectious. It is locked away and sealed with magic to keep disease from spreading. You wont go there till you’re more experienced.”

Aeria changed from her brown robes into the white dress that all the healers wore in the sanitarium. Her hair, now just past her shoulders, was put up in a braid. Elyon instructed her to just watch for the meantime.

The moved up and down the hall, room to room. The first room they went into was a man who broke his nose in a tavern fight. There was dried blood on his shirt and in his mouth and his left eye was swollen. Elyon healed his nose first. Her hand rested just above the man’s face as he laid flat on on the bed. His good eye was shut, and his face had the most serene expression. Aeria wondered what it felt like to get healed.

When she found Fable as a young foal, he was malnourished and wild. Even as Aeria approached him, he tired to kick and bite her. As soon as she began to heal him, however, he became calm and relaxed in her arms. It must’ve been the same for this man.

Elyon moved quickly, it took less than a minute for her to heal the man’s nose and only a few seconds for her to heal the swollen eye. Elyon was a fast healer just as Aeria hoped to be.

“Do you have any other pain?” Elyon asked the man who seemed just as surprised as Aeria. He then showed her a nasty bruise on his side where he had been kicked. Elyon healed that too.

In a matter of minutes, the man was all healed up and ready to leave. After his departure, Elyon and Aeria cleaned the room before moving on.

That day, they did over fifteen rooms. The worst took over an hour and it was to heal a man’s femur after his horse fell on him. Aeria only helped when Elyon asked her. Aeria healed a woman’s skin lesion, though it took her a few minutes. By the end of the night Aeria was tired even though Elyon was the one doing most of the healing.

“Tomorrow, I’ll give you a section and I’ll have them send people whose injuries you can handle.” Elyon said. She didn’t seem tired at all. “You’ll see yourself improve in time.”

When the next day came, Elyon did as she promised. Aeria took healed all they sent her, though she took longer than she wanted. Near the end of the day, when Aeria was unspeakably tired, a man with a contracted fingers began to scream at her for taking to long. Aeria healed him all the same.

When she was done, Aeria rested in the central station. Elyon came back a while later from the Hall of the Withering. She didn’t say a word and her face was serious.

“Did something happen?” Aeria asked watching as Elyon’s brows furrowed together.

“A man came looking for me.” Elyon said. “The other sisters seemed to know who he was, but I’ve never seen him before.” Aeria watched her. Her pale green eyes stared forward as if to remember all the people she had come in contact with. “The other sisters don’t talk to me much so they didn’t tell me. . .”

Aeria had seen how the other sisters treated Elyon. They had come to the shrine in later age like Aeria, Elyon was brought as a baby and her skill developed into one of the best through her time there. It seemed that the other sisters to resented Elyon’s status at the shrine.

“But. . “ Elyon continued. “When I went to see him he told me I wasn’t me.” Elyon turned to face Aeria. “I told him I was the only Elyon at the shrine but he insisted there had to be someone else. I told him there was no one else before I healed his jousting injuries.” Aeria’s heart raced. “It’s strange because when he told me what this other Elyon looked like he described you.”

Valor

She should’ve known that he wouldn’t quit so quickly. That he’d try to find her here despite her telling him repeatedly she wasn’t a sister. Her mouth was dry and she couldn’t find any words. The thought of seeing Valor outside of the Oasis made her uneasy. The Oasis was magic, it was beautiful, and it was safe. She couldn’t have him anywhere else in her life.

“Aeria, it’s alright, you’re safe here.” Elyon said and clutched reassuringly onto Aeria’s arm. Aeria looked back at her. “I know our initial arrangement was for you to stay here on the weekends, but you could stay here indefinitely if you wanted.” Aeria blinked, perplexed. “Don’t think I don’t notice those bruises you come in here with sometimes.”

Laughter was Aeria’s most immediate reaction but she resisted, doing so would raise more questions in Elyon that Aeria couldn’t answer. Elyon couldn’t know that Aeria was secretly a Glaive apprentice and that the bruises came from her training. She couldn’t know of the powerful glamour her sister had helped her cast. The best Aeria could do was look away from Elyon so that she wouldn’t give herself away.

“Just something to think about.” Elyon said at Aeria’s contained silence.

Aeria left the shrine not long after and returned to the barracks. She changed from her dress into the training fatigues and slipped her pendant over her head. Aeria felt a veil of magic lay on her skin as the glamour came on.

Most in of the barracks were asleep and they were dreadfully empty now. More than half had been taken to the chamber.

Niko was one of the few still awake. He sat on the edge of his bed with his citole. The pulled the strings softly and filled the room with a soothing tone. He wasn’t playing anything, just a note here and there. To this day, Aeria had yet to hear him play anything remotely sounding of a tune.

“He’s still not back?” Aeria said motioning to the empty bunk in their corner.

“He usually doesn’t come till morning.” Niko said setting down his citole. His eyes looked weary.

“Long day at the library?” Aeria said.

“You bet!” He said and proceeded to tell her of the book he read. On this night he told her of Ancient Aestus and its princess who disguised herself as a dancer and presented herself to the King of Durus. He became entranced with her but when she approached him she stabbed him with sword of her dance. Durus fell into disarray after the king’s death and the Aestus princess was never seen again.

Caius arrived early in the morning when everyone was dead asleep. He had arrived so clumsily that he awoke Aeria. Stumbling, he fell onto his bed and fell asleep instantly.

It wasn’t long after when Glaive Rector arrived. He looked over the remaining apprentices and said “You two.” he pointed at two apprentices who shared a bunk. “And you three, in the back.” He pointed at them in their corner. “The chamber is ready for you.”