Quill

365. A Nest of Snakes

Glunday saw the continuation of Martel practising his fire ray spell. The boredom nearly drove him to turn his spell on Moira instead, but he restrained himself; at least he was spared detention or insults from her harsh tongue, as she busied herself with the other acolytes, still practising their wall of flames.

His work in the apothecary passed without any visit from Mistress Rana; as she did not give him any new list of ingredients to memorise, that meant he would be practising the f...

364. The Illusion of Choice

The offer made by the Silver Serpent left a disquietude in Martel. On the surface of it, the proposition seemed ludicrous. He had no knowledge of these people nor the Western Isles. He could not place his life and future in their hands. Setting aside the question of whether he could trust them – which he was disinclined towards – Martel had no way of imagining what his life might be. Furthermore, it seemed a terribly drastic step to abandon everything he had ever known and journey to a pl...

363. Silver-forked Tongue

Two lessons of training his fire ray proved exactly as dull as it had been last fiveday, but Martel endured. He could not tell whether the power and intensity of the spell actually increased; if it did, it happened too incrementally for him to feel the difference. As for the wall, it did not care to comment. But Martel knew that complaining about the exercise only risked detention, which would undoubtedly be worse. So, he gritted his teeth until it was done and he could leave the Circle of Fi...

362. Snake Scratches

Solday saw the return of a past activity. With his work done in the apothecary and the workshops, Martel made his way to the library in the afternoon. Under his arm, he carried a small stack of parchment, each of them inscribed with a rune, the result of all his work in Master Fenrick's latest class.

Although he arrived just as the bell rang, Eleanor already waited for him by the table on one of the upper floors of the library. Like him, she had her notes from class along with extra par...

361. Sweet Knowledge

Brewing potions late in the evening in Julia's room meant that Martel got to bed late, but fortunately, next day was Manday. Rather than exhausting lessons in the Circle of Fire or the gymnasium, Martel could take it easy; especially as his morning chore in the apothecary was replaced by afternoon work in the laboratory instead. It gave him time to go to the library and read up on the latest list of herbs given him by Mistress Rana; when he was done, as always, he looked forward to learning t...

360. Fingers in the Ground

Training his fire ray spell felt weird to Martel. It simply consisted of him blasting a flame against the stone wall, but he had to avoid pouring his spellpower into it, or he would drain himself dry within minutes. So he was trying to strengthen the effect without actually using his strength. It was an odd equilibrium to strike, but if nothing else, it helped him get a better sense of when casting or strengthening a spell began to drain him, as opposed to the simpler magics such as the fire ...

359. Familiar Weight

When Reynard entered the gymnasium on Malday morning, Martel immediately noticed a small difference. Usually, their teacher arrived carrying staves for each of the acolytes to practice with. This time, he came empty-handed. "Time for you to try something new," the old warrior growled. "Follow me."

All the students did so as Reynard turned around and left the arena again. He only walked a short distance down the corridor before opening a door to step inside. Martel knew which room this w...

358. Tentative Thoughts on Tutoring

Changing role from teacher last night to student this morning, Martel entered the Circle of Fire. Just the reminder of Moira in this place made him swear never to treat Sparrow or anyone else under his tutelage, should it happen to others, the way that the Mistress of Fire treated him.

She entered and distributed the blindfolds they used to train their ability to sense heat, except she only carried three. None for Martel. "You children know what to do, and Stars know you need the practi...

357. Teaching the Bird

His morning chores at the workshop and apothecary done, Martel found a message waiting for him in the entrance hall. At this point, receiving these brief missives never boded well, regardless of the sender.

Master Martel,

We should talk tonight.

I'll be at our usual haunt

Once sixth bell has rung.

Your friend in bright garb

The Keeper, presumably, whose name Martel had no knowledge of. Not that he needed it. He h...

356. Blissful

Happy to leave all entanglements with the Nine Lords behind, Martel went to his classes on Manday in good cheer. Learning runes, complex elemental magic, and alchemy was more than he ever imagined when he first set out from Engby, yet still it felt exactly like the life of a mage as he had envisioned on his journey to the Lyceum. The fact that he did well learning the runes, probably better than anyone else in the class, only improved his mood.

"By now you should be able to create some ...

355. A Trail of Webs

During the lessons in the Circle of Fire, the acolytes continued to train their ability to sense heat and use it to land spells. Martel felt fairly confident that he had honed this skill to its limit; even with the blindfold on, he could accurately tell where everyone else in the room stood, sometimes even predicting their movements. He only missed if they proved faster than him, dodging or flinging a fire bolt his way that disturbed his aim.

So while Martel did not feel like he learned...

354. Secrets of the Trade

Martel did his combat lessons as usual, trying not to think about Ruby, which meant that he ended up doing exactly that. He disliked that despite her actions, her duplicitous nature, he still thought about their time together at the first masquerade in the Pearl, dancing and laughing; back when her smile had only held charm in his eyes, unlike now, where he assumed it meant another ploy.

Such as this latest scheme with the artefact trader. Ruby's help came at a cost, he was sure; the on...

353. The Archean Connection

While the masquerade had not exactly been a night of leisure and pleasure, nor had Martel's fears of fighting or fleeing come true. He felt pessimistic about the odds of actually solving this crime or finding the relic, but in the end, this was not his headache either. He had done what he could; in Martel's mind, he had fulfilled the terms of his agreement with the Friar. Let the old monk and his jester worry.

Focusing on his own matters, Martel went to his Pelday lessons in the Circle ...

352. Practically Minded

Martel stared at Ruby. The unexpected encounter left him flatfooted, and no doubt guilt was written all over his face; he could only hope his mask hid it, just how Ruby's concealed her expression from him.

He dared not speak, afraid that she would recognise his voice. Could he get away with simply leaving, or had she seen him walk out of Lady Pearl's chambers?

Wordlessly, Ruby approached him. There was nothing hostile in her movements, no sign of an attack, so Martel did not react...

351. Birds of a Feather

Looking at The River Pearl, Martel thought about his last visit to the tavern. He and Regnar, two wizards, standing on one side with Lady Pearl and her armed brigands on the other, a small boy's life caught in between. The encounter had ended without bloodshed, but plenty of bad blood. Martel suddenly remembered the supposed curse cast by Regnar on the place; while the hedge mage himself had dismissed it as a bit of theatrics, Martel still felt uncomfortable at the thought of such magic. More...

350. Spells and Offers to Counter

In the Hall of Elements, Martel stood with his eyes closed, reminiscent of the Circle of Fire. However, the exercise served the opposite purpose; he had to focus hard to avoid using his ability to sense heat. Each time he reached out with his magic into the surrounding darkness, the temptation was there; he had done it so often, it came so naturally to him. Yet it would ruin what he tried to accomplish; focusing on heat would keep him from noticing anything else. Whatever magic that Master Al...

349. Blind Windfall

The next day, Martel was still unsure whether to agree to the Keeper's plan. Masked or not, it seemed foolhardy for him to enter The River Pearl, given how he had fallen out with Lady Pearl over the wandering troupe. If discovered, it would surely cause a disturbance, to put it mildly. He might have to fight for his life to escape, and he doubted the Keeper would be much use in a brawl.

On the other hand, Martel was a battlemage. He did not fear this tavern lady or her thugs. And if Lad...

348. The Usual Suspect

Labouring to make ink in the workshops gave Martel the chance to question Master Jerome as the latter stopped by the small laboratory to check on his progress. As the artificer was about to leave, satisfied with Martel's performance, the acolyte quickly spoke up. "Master Jerome, I've a question about enchantment."

"Again? I seem to recall that's happened before. You know, you'll get lessons soon enough." His eyes twinkled.

"This might fall outside the lessons," Martel explained. "...

347. Knowledge is Bliss

Manday offered an opportunity to learn more about the nature of relics from the Lyceum's human granary of knowledge; though Martel figured it best to wait until the lesson in Tyrian runes had ended before he approached Master Fenrick. Asking questions outside the topic of the class just meant that his teacher would give a curt reply in order to actually begin the lesson. Thus, Martel concentrated on the task at hand. With a piece of charcoal, he drew the rune of warning, following the example...

346. Tricky Courage

While his hands did the monotonous work of preparing ingredients in the apothecary, Martel's mind considered his trip to the temple yesterday. It had been fascinating for several reasons, though few of them had anything to do with the theft. The acolyte was deeply curious about the relic, its history, and what kind of power it possessed to leave such a lingering presence. He also wondered at the enchantments done by the Archeans; it seemed predicated on using writing, similar to Tyrian runes,...

345. Need a Hand

As soon as he had finished supper, Martel left for the Temple of Saint Laurentius. His reasoning was the same as before; arriving early could not hurt. And it might take a while to locate the shrine, just as yesterday.

Walking across Morcaster on a pleasant spring eve, Martel considered one thing he might do to alleviate his own fears about any kind of betrayal. After all, both the Friar and the Keeper seemed the types to take oaths seriously.

***

The Temple of Saint Laurent...

344. Keeping Up Appearances

Fighting with the blindfold on was sufficient challenge on its own, and Martel did his best to focus on the training rather than be distracted by his thoughts regarding the meeting with the Friar. Yet as soon as he left the Circle of Fire after his morning lesson, his mind went over the matter again.

This proved mostly futile, as he knew too little to even speculate. Any of the Nine Lords, other than the Friar presumably, might have their own reasons for stealing the relic. And without ...

343. Brotherly Business

Martel spent Solday morning wondering whether he was making a mistake. Given his previous involvement with the Sisters of the Sun, walking into their compound might be considered the height of naivety. Yet the Friar had promised him free leave again, and he had made good on that promise last time. Besides, you needed bait for a trap; the letter had contained nothing of the sort. Just a vague appeal to Martel's decency, so to say. Which seemed very unlike one of the Nine Lords and made the aco...

342. Curb Your Reaction

About a fiveday passed without incident. With nothing happening of particular note, Martel stayed mostly at the Lyceum, attending to his schoolwork. He paid a visit to Julia, providing her with a few coins and some pilfered food, but otherwise he remained a dutiful student with no concerns other than school.

As Manday came around, his favourite of the fiveday, Martel went to the Hall of Elements as usual. He had spent some evenings practising his elemental bolt spell, getting the final ...

341. The Burdens of Gifts

On Glunday, they continued practising their fights with blindfolds. This time, Moira harshly reproached any who found the exercise amusing and threatened further detentions to anyone who did not take their training seriously. This quickly put a sombre mood over the acolytes, and Martel focused to the best of his ability. Even if his schedule felt less busy these days, he had no desire to waste an evening in the Circle of Fire being bombarded with spells from his teacher.

In the evening,...

340. Incendiary Knowledge

Thoughts about his mother's letter still flittered in and out of Martel's head the next day, especially since his first lesson in combat magic required little work by his mind. He realised that he was in danger of doing the same as before; delay writing a reply to avoid bearing bad news until he had completely forgotten about it, which would surely prompt another guilt-inducing letter from his mother. Even if Martel was unsure how to best proceed, he probably needed to handle this today inste...

339. Blind Fighting

As Moira entered the Circle of Fire on Pelday morning, Martel reflected on how much he preferred being the teacher rather than the student at times. Especially for this class and its rather spiteful instructor. Martel had almost learned to make peace with that, given his progression in fire magic, but even that seemed gone lately. His flame wall spell was as good as it would be, at least while purely practising under controlled conditions; Martel did not expect to improve that unless he got t...

338. Enchanted Talk

After breakfast, Martel drifted towards the workshops for his regular shift helping Master Jerome. The artificer greeted him jovially as usual. "Your usual spot awaits you," he told Martel with a gesture towards the small laboratory for making ink.

About to continue on his way, a thought occurred to the acolyte, and he turned towards the artificer. "Master Jerome, you enchant objects, right?"

"Indeed, I do. I believe you've asked me that before. Why, do you have a need for hot sto...

337. North, South, in Between

Besides his typical relief to have the hardest part of the fiveday done, Martel enjoyed this Manday more than usual. No concerns about Julia, no descents into the sewers waiting, no fears for his friends – just learning new and exciting forms of magic, whether Asterian, Tyrian, or Sindhian with his favourite teachers. For a moment, Martel wistfully imagined if every day of his life could be like Manday.

Staring at the parchment while in Master Fenrick's class, Martel imagined the rune...

336. Theatrics in the Tavern

The two bells before he could leave felt like some of the longest that Martel had yet to suffer through. He was restless both hours working in the apothecary, and he could only put the least amount of necessary effort into his spells during his lesson in fire magic. If Moira berated him for this, he barely noticed; he was used to her barbs by now, and his fears about the current situation overrode any indignation he might otherwise have felt.

While Martel did not know the boy particular...