CHAPTER 26

I awoke groggily to Lolth shaking me awake, “Saemus?” I blinked, the red light glaring in my eyes painful to try and focus past.

Red light! “Training!” I barked and launched myself out of bed. I found Lolth staring at me with wide eyes and open mouth as I yanked my boots on, both of them suspiciously tight. “What’s wrong?”

“You’ve grown almost a foot over night!” She cast her gaze up me from my feet to my head, “You’re almost as tall as I am now. What happened?”

Uh… “Growth spurt?” I shrugged and tugged my physical training shirt over my head then turned toward the door and paused, “What will you do?”

“I’ll go and get the ladies so that we can help you with your training.” She stared at me still and blinked to herself before closing her eyes. “They aren’t going to recognize you.”

“I’ll meet you at the pit then!” I smiled and stepped closer to her, grabbing her hand to bring to my lips. “See you soon.”

It was awkward at first, running in boots that barely fit and my limbs were longer too. My stride was so much larger now, and as I loped through the halls and cross sections I found that I had made the trek to the pit much faster than I had the day before.

I tied my weapon belt around my waist and ensured I was as prepared as I could be, finally deciding to just take my boots off rather than risk hurting myself. I waited in the sandy area for more than twenty minutes, wondering if anyone was going to show up before Lira sprinted in, huffing.

“Thane was supposed to come in today, but his arm is still healing and will take my turn tomorrow morning.” She pushed all the air from her mouth, then gave me a proper look over, “What the hells is going on with you?”

She squinted at me, “Are you wearing children’s clothes?”

“I had a growth spurt, ma’am.” She shook her head at me as if she didn’t believe me. The shirt came up to my navel and my half trousers were almost obscene.

Rather than talk any longer, she pulled out a wooden short sword and a thick, wooden knife, closing the distance between us before I could even think to defend myself.

My body moved on its own, stepping backward and snapping my right foot forward toward her left hip. My left hand grazed my shuna’s hilt as she stabbed the sword forward between my arm and ribs and wrapped her arm around me with a roar, tossing me over her shoulder. She gave no quarter as she rained down blow after blow, adding in kicks to keep me moving or writhing in pain.

“Get your distance!” She snarled at me after ten minutes of beating me black and blue. “Create space and keep your distance if you have no weapon available to you. Make it work!”

Her sword slashed down toward my shoulder once more as I grasped the top of my hand axe shuna, closing my eyes tightly and willing the weapon’s ability to happen.

“Ah!” I opened my eyes as the sword connected with the thicker part of my shoulder painfully. I grabbed the sword and shoved both my feet up into her stomach and heaved her over my head as hard as I could.

She sailed through the air, flipping with her feet toward the ground and landing on one foot in a kneeling position as she growled, “You little shit, you have magic weapons?”

Both my shuna were in my hands now and I moved forward on her with both ready. Once she could see again, I attacked and she defended as perfectly as she had attacked me before. Where Byron’s defense was full of opportunities for himself to counter and attack again, Lira’s was impenetrable.

Her sword crashed into my weapons as her knife wove in and out, stopping me any time I thought I might be able to strip her larger weapon from her by trapping it with my axe.

She frowned as my attackers continued and flowed around each other, then grinned as she kicked me savagely in the face with her left foot.

Metallic ooze dribbled into my mouth from my nose. I grimaced, tears welling in my eyes on their own.

She frowned down at me, “Why aren’t you using your weapons to their full potential?”

I shook head as I climbed to my feet and tried to get over the pain in my nose. She just rolled her eyes and reached out and pulled it straight out and a soft pop made the tears fall from my yes. “Sorry, I forget that you’re so young. Answer me: why aren’t you using the cores in your shuna?”

“I don’t want to hurt you, or your weapons.” She raised her eyebrows at that last bit, but chuckled and nodded.

“That’s fair, I suppose, given that Master Aldren broke one of Thane’s arms for attacking you and breaking your weapons that he’d had made for himself when he was younger.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Don’t use the lethal, or dangerous one then, okay? But you should still use them. You’re outmatched, Saemus, seriously outmatched. You need every advantage that you can afford yourself or make, do you understand?”

I nodded and she smiled, “I’m done taking my frustration out on you. Let’s go over some knife work and then we can call it, okay?” She looked over my shoulder and scowled before calling out, “Sorry, but we have this place scheduled for training already, you’ll need to wait.”

I turned around and saw all four Unseelie girls wave at me, Coventry shyly staring but offering a small one. Lolth called in return, “We can wait, thank you!”

Grumbling, Lira motioned me forward and put her short sword away before bringing her knife up to run me through a series of drills that were familiar thanks Frix and his book. I was able to use this time to ask for pointers and specifics, the insight that much more valuable in conjunction that the book alone. It would make sense that doing something was that much more important than just reading about it.

Finished with her lesson, Lira offered to walk me out of the pit because of the Unseelie “harpies” that watched from the rafters. “You can never truly trust them. Or the Seelie. Us Middling’s have to stick together.”

I blinked at her in surprise, “You’re a Middling?”

She nodded, “And I’m damn proud of it, too.” She grabbed my arm and started to pull me to the exit.

“Oh, that’s okay.” I smiled, “I can manage it on my own, thank you. They seem harmless enough.” I looked over my shoulder to find that Bruth was warming up by slapping away a glass knife that Coventry stabbed toward her stomach.

“Harmless.” Lira scoffed and just continued to pull, but finally let go when we got to the exit itself. “Be safe, Saemus, and Thane will likely be here before you tomorrow, so don’t feel bad if he gives you a bit of gaff over it, alright?”

“Yes, Lira, thank you for your lesson.” I bowed my head respectfully and she rolled her eyes and walked away. I waited until she was gone from sight before returning to the pit to find that the girls weren’t alone.

“Greetings, Lord and Lady Colier.” I bowed as my father and mother had drilled into my head when in the presence of the high nobility. There was less of a chance for us to ever interface with them, but they came for the Cindry wood at times and better to be humble than dead.

“Young Cadet Thorn.” Gronan Colier grumbled back, his chin for ward and head high. “We came to speak to you, though we must be brief.”

I stayed quiet carefully, listening so that I knew what was going on instead of running off at the mouth. My parents’ lives and safety hung in the balance.

“We mean to go to your family and bring them to speed on the situation as it is and the request you have made of our favor for them.” His wife spoke and I realized that I had yet to find out what her name was. If she didn’t say it, I would ask her daughter. “As such, though you would be tied to the Seelie through force, your family would be able to become Unseelie. This is unknown water you tread, child. Especially for one so young.”

She genuinely looked concerned for my well being and it gave me pause, but I shook my head and managed to speak in a respectful tone, “I appreciate your caution and advise, but I can see no path forward other than the one before me. My only concern at present outside my own improvement and the wellbeing of my friends, is the survival and safety of my family, which would be taken care of with your patronage. You have my gratitude.”

Gronan grunted and laid a hand on his wife’s shoulder, “Big words from a formerly small boy. You grew entirely too fast, what happened?”

I thought for a moment, wondering what I should say and finally opted to allow, “I don’t know, but I suspect the strength of my magic is changing my body to suit its needs.”

He laughed, “See that they at least refit you with proper gear so that you aren’t a danger to your own modesty, boy.” There was a glint of mirth in his gaze as he stared me in the eyes and my cheeks burned brightly. He squeezed his wife’s shoulder once and sighed, “Come, Na’randya, there is much we need to do and the king needs his advisers.”

I bowed again respectfully and they swished past me to give Coventry some kind words and her mother gave her a hug before they left the pit and disappeared into the darkness that was the tunnel entrance.

“That was interesting.” Bruth smiled nervously before turning her gaze on me. “I heard what you did—we all have.”

I froze, looking to Coventry and Lolth for clarity, but Bruth stepped closer and pulled me into a tight hug, muttering, “Thank you.”

I stayed awkwardly still and stared at the two girls a moment longer as Bruth let go, and patted my shoulder, “I’ll help you learn how to fight without weapons.”

Nori joined her and smiled, “I’m not good at fighting, but I like to do weird things with my magic, so if I can help you and keep my brother off your back, I will.”

I nodded and turned back to Coventry and Lolth, “Coventry, how are you?”

She stared at me uncertainly for a second before sighing, “Uncertain on whether to praise you for your knife handling or to be appalled. But you’ll have my help with getting yourself shipshape before your duel.”

Lolth just grinned at me as she was want to do and winked as I sighed and nodded, “Then let’s get to fighting.”

No one moved for a moment and that was my mistake, both Lolth and Coventry racing forward to swipe at me with the weapons they pulled from their belts. I grunted and willed the axe to flash a heartbeat before I rolled to my right. “Hold on! I have something I need to do before I start fighting with all of you!”

Lolth and Coventry had collided and ended up in a heap on the ground, grunting and punching each other as the effects of the ability wore off. Finally Bruth snorted, “What is it?”

“I need to go get some training equipment.” I smiled at their confusion and pulled the map from my “pocket” and nodded to them. “I’ll be back as soon as I can be.”

They shrugged and turned to each other, Lolth watched me for a moment before she decided to stand and begin her fight anew with Coventry.

**

It didn’t take long before I found the special armory with the help of one of the many grey elf keepers walking the grounds. It was near the headmaster’s office and tucked away in an alcove that if I hadn’t been told exactly where it was, I would have missed it and never seen it.

I knocked on the door six times before it opened and a wiry grey elf man stared out at me, “What?”

“My name is Saemus Thorn, I was told I could come here and check out some training equipment?” I watched him as he stared at me for a moment, then ducked his head back into the doorway and used his left hand to trace something before coming back and tilting his head inward.

“Name’s Morn, if you need something specific, just ask.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the side of the door frame, watching me closely.

I wasted no time, knowing I could just come back later. “I wondered if you had any weighted armor and bracelets or anything like that? Something I could use to weigh myself down while I fight?”

He frowned at me, “That’s a bit advanced for someone in the first year, but I suppose there should be some vests and rings here somewhere.”

He turned to a small booklet on the table beside his post and flipped the page a few times before his finger traced down it and tapped, “Here.” He glanced up and gripped the air, closed his eyes and pulled.

Objects flung themselves through the air and stopped right in front of us then thudded onto the ground and he did the same thing again. This time a set of new clothes flung themselves toward us.

He opened his eyes with a sigh and pointed to his right. “Change into these over there, and be sure to return the clothes you’ve outgrown so that you can be properly outfitted. Boots too, cadet. Looking nasty is unsat, tracking?”

I was confused, but he raised an eyebrow and growled making me yelp, “Yes sir!”

He jerked a thumb to his right and I scurried away while he took a quill and began to scratch something on his book. The clothes fit better, a bit looser than I would have liked, but it was better than being too small.

I hurried back, having thrown the clothes into the Hollow Flower. When I returned and found him, he had arrayed the items out in front of him in a way that looked like a body. He pointed and grunted, “Put these on in this order.”

I nodded and did as he instructed, first I buckled a pair of thin, black anklets onto my ankles just above the bones, then a belt around my waist that connected to thin black braces that wrapped around the middle of my upper legs. After than, I pulled a set of bands up around my upper arms, then the pair of bangles onto my wrists and finally the vest.

Though they were a little heavier than what I was used to, I found myself disappointed that it wasn’t more.

“Now, all you have to is say the command word and feed them a bit of mana and you’ll be weighed down.” He stared at me until I was staring back at him. “Speak.”

Oh, “Yes, sir!”

“The command word for this set of gear is, ‘Frolantear.’”

I blinked, the word meaning something to me in my head, but I couldn’t place it. “Fronlantear?” Magic siphoned from the center of my being and the items clicked, growing steadily heavier until it was difficult to even stand. “Uhm. Is there a way to lighten them slightly?”

“Less magic, which is why they usually wait until second year before allowing you nasty creatures in here.” The man scoffed and stared at me. “Say the command word again and it will go back to weighing what it did before. Sign your name here.”

I muttered the word and the flow of magic stopped, the items lightening quickly. I signed where he pointed to on the page of the book and he closed it. “Good, now get out.”

I nodded and said, “Yes sir! Thank you, sir!”

He grunted and opened the door for me.

Frix, can you modify the amount of magic that you send this stuff so that I can at least move? To ensure that he heard me, I said, “Fronlantear.”

This time, a trickle worked its way from the core of my being into the items on my body and they grew heavier but only fractionally. It would be enough to make training more beneficial, I thought and began to jog back to the pit for my lessons with the girls, hoping that my obvious self-imposed handicap would elicit some sort of pity.

It did not.