Soul Fires

Author’s Note: Sorry this one took so long. Situations at home have not been very conducive to writing. I will be continuing this story and my other piece, so I humbly beg your patience.

Perry’s heart pounded as he climbed the stairs. His admission may have reassured Taan, but his own thoughts weren’t as easily stilled. Other apprentices passed them on the stairs, making further conversation impossible for the moment. As they approached the common area, Taan touched his shoulder.

“I’ll see you at breakfast, then?”

“Hopefully. If not, I think Maeth will make me regret it for the next month.”

“We can’t have that happening.” Taan’s expression held a spark of amusement. “I’ll stop by in the morning.” His fingers slid down Perry’s arm and he headed towards his room.

“See you then,” Perry replied, and retreated behind the safety of the polished door. For a moment, he stood just inside his room, his forehead resting on the cool wood.

What’s happening? How is he doing this to me?

In the four years that he had been at the Collegium, no one had heard about that endless caravan back from Seprikas. He had known Taan for barely a day and somehow that private pain had been shared without a second thought.

Perry pushed away from the door, and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror on his dresser. A faint flush still colored his face. Turning away from the revealing reflection, he struggled out of his shirt, tossing it into a corner.

“Mallia pleko xekano” Copper hair fell out of its restraining braid. Perry pulled a towel from a drawer and walked back through the common area to the shared bathroom. Someone else was already occupying one of the showers, and the steam was starting to ease some of his tension. He stepped behind one of the other curtains, and stepped out of his pants, hanging them with his towel on a hook out of the water’s path.

The water pounded the last of his tension away. Copper darkened to mahogany as he worked out the remaining tangles. Satisfied, he turned off the spray and gently squeezed the water from his hair.

“Mallia pleko.” His hair twined into the intricate braid as he dried off and wrapped the towel around his waist for the short walk to his room. He didn’t notice when the curtain of the other shower slid open and sapphire blue watched him leave.

* * * * * * *

Back in his room, Perry sank into the comfort of his bed. The newness had ebbed slightly, and giving Taan the full tour of the Collegium had left him pleasantly tired, making the descent into sleep a short one. In his dreams, he walked through long dark corridors, unlocking door after door in a fruitless search. Still, with every door opened, the dark corridor seemed infinitesimally brighter. As the corridor became clearer, he tried to make sense of his surroundings. Even as he explored, the walls started to fade and warp, folding outward and merging with the landscape. He found himself in the clearing behind the apprentice quarters.

* * * * * * *

“Perry?” The voice was soft and close, filtering through the layers of sleep.

“Hmmm?” Perry turned towards the voice, slowly focussing on its source. Taan smiled down at him.

“Time for us to get breakfast, unless you want to face class on an empty stomach – or Maeth’s retaliation come lunchtime.”

Perry sat up, running a hand across sleep-fogged eyes. “Right. Just a sec.” He extracted himself from the bed and grabbed the first outfit that was handy. “Let’s go.”

Unlike most of his classmates, Perry actually looked forward to the change in classes. The new routine and the new subject matters kept his mind moving forward instead of dwelling on the past. Today, though, his mind kept travelling the same circle. He collected his breakfast and sat down at a remote table. Taan joined him, taking a seat directly across from him.

“So, can you tell me anything about the teachers here?”

Perry looked up from his meal. “Depends. Who’ve you got?”

Taan slid a piece of paper with a barely legible list of classes on it across the table. Perry examined it, nodding periodically as he recognized names and courses.

“The most you’re going to have to worry about with this schedule is that they’ll know if you’re slacking here.” Perry said, indicating two of the early classes.

Taan raised an eyebrow. “Voice of experience?”

“You might say that,” Perry smiled. “Looks like I’ll be seeing you this afternoon.” He pointed at the last entry.

Taan reclaimed his schedule. “Well, I’ve got to get over to the library for this first class. I’ll see you at lunch, though, right?”

“Probably. Depends on whether Energy Healing goes overtime or not.”

“I’ll see you at last class if it does.”

Perry finished eating, and headed over to his first class. He wasn’t fond of combat, but with the recent events in Kedwyr, every Collegium was making sure that its students were well-prepared. His instructor looked as though he would be just as likely to defend himself with a blade.

“Right, you lot. This term, we’ll be working on Basic Energy Combat. What that means is that we’ll be studying ways for you to deal with opponents, should you be attacked.” The man paced back and forth in front of the small group like a wildcat. “We will start with deflection. You are to visualize a simple disk of Spirit energy.”

Half a dozen students concentrated, creating varying sizes of disks.

“Good. You and you, a little larger. The object is going to be to use that disk to block something coming at you.” The instructor hefted a small bag in one hand. Perry watched as he took out a number of sling stones and began looking from one student to the next.

Without warning, a nut-sized missle was flying at him. Perry jerked his hand up to intercept it, but he misjudged the arc, and took the impact on his forearm.

“Not a bad try, Peredur.” Another stone flew at another student. There was a muffled thud as it hit the target squarely in the chest. “You’re supposed to block it, Castan.”

Stone after stone flew, as students improved by practice. By the end of the session, the slow learners could be recognized by the number of bruises they had received. The instructor had been careful not to injure anyone too badly, but it was certain that everyone was leaving with the lesson learned.

It’s a good thing this is earlier than Energy Healing. This class is likely to get rough quickly if the newsrunners are correct.

A fresh wind was blowing as Perry crossed the sword-field to the Infirmary. Keryan was a natural instructor for this class, but he insisted on teaching out of his office. Presumably, it was because he was the head Healer at the Collegium, but it was widely whispered that it was a simple expression of power.

“Welcome to Energy Healing,” the white-haired Healer announced as the last students filed in. His liquid accent marked him as coming from one of the southern kingdoms, but he had been at the Collegium for so long that no-one could place exactly which one.

“I see that some of you have come directly from Basic Combat. We will not be working on living subjects for a few weeks yet, so you will have to bear your instructor’s critique for the normal amount of time.” There were a few groans from the back of the room. Keryan smiled. “Now, now. The early lessons are the most important, so it is best that you are given reason to remember them.”

The Healer crossed the room to a large cabinet. “Today, we will be working on sensing deviations from normal.” He removed a tray containing a number of crudely sculpted clay figures. “I apologize that my artwork is not up to the normal quality of my people. Speed was more at issue than permanence.

“Each of these figures was built upon a twig. Some of them had the twig broken before they dried. Our first exercise will be to learn to recognize that break beneath the surface. Each of you take a figure from the tray. We will pass the tray until everyone has three figures to examine. Do not examine your figures until everyone has selected.”

Keryan handed the tray to Perry, and it circulated around the room. After everyone had selected their third figure, he carefully selected two of his own.

“Very well. There were enough ‘injured’ figures that each of you should have at least one. I want you to extend a Spirit field through the clay and the twig inside it. Look for differences between the figures and try to separate the broken ones from the intact ones.”

Perry gathered energy, feeling a slight vibration as he ran his fingers over the surfaces of the clay shells. From the expressions on his classmates faces, they were feeling the same thing. Slowly, he began to detect changes under his fingers.

There! This one has a break in the twig.

Perry set one of his figures aside and began to examine the second one. Keryan started walking around the classroom, offering advice where needed.

Looks like... No. This one’s solid.

The second figure was set apart from the first, and the third soon joined it. Once most of the other students had finished, Keryan returned to the front of the room and began pouring water from a pitcher into a deep tray.

“I see that all of you have examined at least two of your figures. Please take one that you think contains a broken twig and bring it to the front.”

Perry picked up the figure he had sensed to contain the broken twig. As he reached the front, Keryan took the figure from him and submerged it in the tray. The clay softened and flaked away, revealing a snapped twig.

“We use the water tray to avoid accidental breakage as the clay is removed. Next?”

All of the students filed up and watched as their decisions were tested. As each figure disintegrated, its owner received either a nod or a glare from the Healer. Those glared at went back to their seats and began examining their two remaining figures.

Keryan removed the now-cloudy tray and wiped his hands on a towel. “The same technique can be used to examine the human body for breakage. I want you all to take a moment and examine one of your own limbs. I trust that Basic Combat did not result in any broken bones? This will give you a sense of what a normal bone is like under the surface.”

For the remainder of the session, Keryan directed the students in the basic interpretation of energy scanning. By the time they were dismissed, Perry felt ready to go back to his room for a nap instead of going to the kitchens for lunch. A voice across the field tipped the balance back towards the kitchens.

“Perry!”

Perry veered towards the kitchens. His exhaustion must have been visible, because Taan’s cheerful expression quickly became one of concern.

“Bright Lady! What kind of course load do you have, Perry?”

Perry mustered a smile. “One session of Basic Combat, then a double session with Keryan for Energy Healing. I’ll be all right.”

Taan did not look convinced. “You look ready to fall over. Let’s get some lunch and sit down for a bit.”

Perry followed the young Fire-path into the dining area. Maeth had anticipated the drains of the first day of classes with a hearty stew and warm, crusty bread, served with a gruff reminder that “the brain needs feedin’ with more’n books.”

Perry and Taan made their way to an empty table. The stew went a long way towards replenishing Perry’s reserves, and he soon felt as though he could make it to his next class.

“Don’t tell me this is going to be a habit, is it?” Taan asked.

“No, no it won’t. As a matter of fact, it’s likely to get a lot better over the next few days. I have Advanced Meditative Technique next session, which will help me replenish more easily once I get the hang of it.”

Taan nodded. “My morning is rather light as far as that goes. I guess they want to get the introductory material over with.”

“Bored stiff, right?”

“Close. I remembered what you said about those two teachers and tried not to phase out on them. Intro to Spirit Energy wasn’t too different to the first Fire-path classes I took.”

Perry paused, a spoon poised above the dregs of his stew. “Now that you mention it, I can see that. There’s the heat factor, of course, but other than that...”

“In the early phases, yes. But eventually, that’s not an issue.” Taan gestured. “Peerkajia kreeo.” The blue flame that Perry had seen him with before appeared above his palm. He extended his hand over the table. “Go ahead, see for yourself.”

Perry hesitated briefly before reaching out with a tentative finger. There was no heat radiating from the flame. Taan shifted, and the flame brushed against his skin. He flinched instinctively, but even under direct contact, he couldn’t feel a change in temperature.

“Don’t try that with a first-year’s flame,” Taan smiled. “This is one of those things that the intructors at Zoermian couldn’t quite deal with.”

Perry poked at the flame again, letting it wrap around his finger. “It’s – it’s got a different feel to it, but I can feel the energy just like one of the spheres I normally work with.” He smiled back at the Fire-path.

A chime sounded above the hum of conversation. Taan dismissed the flame and pushed back from the table.

“If that means what I think it does, we need to get going. I’ll be seeing you in – Intro to Tandem, I guess.”

Perry nodded. “Right. That should make up for all the foundational classes you’ll be going through. It’s a good thing I’ve got Advanced Meditative next.”

“I’ll take that as advice,” Taan laughed. “See you then.”

Perry headed out of the dining area, and walked around the low building to the library. Several other students were straggling in along the same path, looking as if they would rather be anywhere else.

Before lunch, I felt the same way. If any of them are in Intro to Tandem, they’re going to be glad they made it to this class.

The classrooms for Meditative Tech were in the closed-off study rooms in the back of the library. As Perry entered the room assigned to the advanced class, he was surprised to see a standard half-circular arrangement of chairs.

Not exactly the most restful setup.

He took a seat near the center of the arc. The buzz of conversation increased as the rest of the class assembled, mostly centering on how ready everyone was for class to be over. The noise suddenly cut off as the instructor entered the room.

“Welcome to Advanced Meditiative Technique,” she announced. “In addition to refining the practices taught in the Intermediate level classes for maximum efficiency, we will also be working with regaining energy in less-than-ideal circumstances as well as introducing new techniques to use when the more basic methods are unavailable. I will warn you that these methods often require a certain expenditure of energy, and so should not be put off to the last minute.”

Most of the class looked interested at this point. Despite the perennial jokes, Meditative Technique was far more than a “nap after lunch.” All aspects of elemental work used energy, and allowances had to be made for recovery. Every first-year student was given graphic descriptions of what happens when the limits are ignored.

“The first thing we’re going to work on is dealing with adverse surroundings. You’ve noticed that I have not arranged the classroom in standard fashion. At your current skill levels, this should be only a minor obstacle to achieving a basic recovery state. Please begin.”

Perry settled himself more comfortably in the carved wooden chair. Gradually, he purged the physical distractions from his mind: the hard edges of the chair, the sounds of his classmates fidgiting, the scent of old incense and older parchments. The last things to leave his thoughts were the lingering image of sapphire eyes, and the remembered taste of Taan’s lips.

Author’s Note: Bit of a cliffie here, but I’ll tell you right now that the next chapter is going to deal with that Introduction to Tandem class that Perry and Taan are both in. For the next few days, though, I’m going back into psycho mode to write up the next chapter of “Conquest.” Also, I’ve got a bunny in the brain to try to turn this story into a doujin (I hope I got the term right – corrections appreciated). See you on the other side!