Sorcerer's Trial Read online

He dropped back to his knees to check on her, and before he could look up to ask another question, the sorcerer was gone.

  "It took you at least ten minutes to come out of it," Adaku placed a hand on Ren's shoulder.

  "It looks worse than it is," Abaze said. "You looked worse than she does, and you came out of it okay."

  Ren knew they spoke the truth, but it didn't make it any easier to watch her suffering. He held her hand in his and waited while she made her way back—wrapping up her own trial.

  * * *

  "GET A SORCERER NOW!" Ren yelled at one of the guards, who pointed his sword at Ren's chest. "Look at her, you bastard!"

  Thirty minutes had passed with Shaya's skin slowly turning blue. Ren had pointed it out ten minutes in, but the twins had brushed it off as him being overly protective as they continued eating everything in sight. after twenty minutes, her skin had a faint hue of the sky, and they joined him in asking the guards for help. They hadn't moved or acknowledged them. The three of them had been forced to yell for Hekima to return, but their throats had grown horse from yelling.

  Now Shaya's skin was closer that of ocean waters in Shinzo's bays.

  Ren took a step back from the guard, and he sheathed his sword.

  Where's Akio?

  From the courtyard he heard a loud thundering applause. "Is it over?" Ren asked.

  "I think so," the twins answered together.

  "It's done," Ren pointed to the hall behind the guard. "Now go get one of the sorcerers."

  The guards face remained unchanged, showing no sign of recognition that Ren had even spoken—as it had the whole time, a true face of stone.

  "He's not going to respond," Hekima said.

  Ren turned on the spot, to find she had entered from the hallway behind him.

  "These are palace guards, they have no emotion, no feelings, no desires, no thoughts, other than those I or the Emperor command.

  "Draw swords."

  Every guard drew their swords in unison.

  "Step forward."

  They each took one step forward.

  "Retake your positions."

  They stepped back and sheathed their swords, in one motion.

  "See," Hekima said. "These are the finest guards in all of Fencura. Now, what is your problem?"

  "Look at her!" Ren yelled.

  Shaya's skin had darkened more and began to look like that of the deep oceans.

  "Ah, yes," Hekima said. "Kaito-Tanken Shaya. Looks like she's going to die."

  "What?" Abaze asked. "Why?"

  "Not every pupil survives the examination," Hekima said. "It's no major loss. The Emperor will be pleased to hear there is one less Thief Lord."

  She spat next to Shaya, and Ren saw the reflection of wet saliva on the stone floor.

  Hekima looked to the platters and said, "I'll have more food sent."

  With that she left them to watch Shaya die before their eyes.

  "Send a sorcerer!" Ren called after her.

  "There's nothing to be done," Hekima called back without turning around, and then disappeared down the hall behind a hanging curtain.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  REN'S STOMACH TURNED SOUR as he watched Shaya's skin darken into a deeper shade of blue, while his own flushed.

  If she dies, I'll see to it they pay.

  A weak promise. What could he mange on his own? Regardless he meant every word and knew he'd find a way—any way—to avenge her death. Shaya was his first true friend, and he realized he'd rather die than lose her.

  "It's a known risk we all took," Abaze said from over Ren's shoulder.

  Ren spun round on the stone floor to face him, "Fuck you!" He rose to his feet, and found Abaze stood a head taller than him, and his shoulders were nearly twice as wide. Abaze reached at his waist, but found his dagger was gone. The guards had insured they were all unarmed, not that Ren had been carrying any weapons.

  "Goat fucker!" Abaze cried out as he threw a wide hook at Ren's head.

  Ren leaned back just far enough for the blow to graze his eyebrow and avoid major injury. Abaze may have been young, but his body was that of a full-grown man and a skilled warrior used to fighting. Ren was outmatched, and he knew it. His only hope was magic—regardless of the consequences. Either it was magic or a broken bone—or worse.

  Instinct took over the last time Ren faced danger, and his magic protected him without conscious control, but he needed to channel his energy and focus. Knowing himself capable of magic gave him confidence, but it did nothing toward instructing him on how to channel it.

  Another blow whizzed past his head, and a third caught his shoulder knocking Ren to the stone floor. A sudden tingle of numbness shot out of his right elbow up to his shoulder. It had been foolish to stop his fall with his arm, but instincts weren't easily overcome.

  Ren tried to use his right arm to push himself up, but it gave out, and he caught a boot to the ribs from Abaze.

  "Stop. Please, stop!" Adaku pleaded with her brother, but Abaze wasn't listening.

  Instead he kept kicking Ren's ribs.

  On the fourth kick, Ren used the momentum and his left arm to push himself up into a crouched position. The next kick caught his cheek, but it was better than having the same ribs kicked again. Ren couldn't be sure, but it felt like one was already cracked. Abaze's sixty extra pounds of pure muscle meant his kicks felt like a battering ram.

  The next blow was a front kick. Starting from Abaze's hip straight into Ren's face where heel caught forehead. Ren was knocked to the ground. Ren felt his head bounce off the stone floor, a bright orange light flashed before his eyes, and then blackness.

  * * *

  Ren was back inside the void, and the familiar state of nothingness—being conscious without sensory sensations. Weightless wasn't exactly correct since he didn't have a body in which to feel. Nor was he cold. Instead, Ren was his pure form. What he suspected the priests and monks referred to, when they spoke of a soul. He'd become his soul.

  "Shaya!"

  He needed to find her—nothing was more important. She was suffering and probably dying. He needed to save her, but where to look? How to locate her? There wasn't a direction he could go—he wasn't sure he could go anywhere.

  "Shaya!

  "Kaito-Tanken Shaya, your humble servant Ren Balton calls to you!"

  Still nothing. He could hear his voice, but he didn't feel it emerged from his gut, or through his throat. In fact, he wasn't breathing at all, which gave him the sensation of his skin itching, though he had no skin.

  A sudden flash of a vision struck Ren. He was lying on a stone floor being kicked by a broad man who could have snapped him in half if so inclined. His twin sister—only apparent because of their shared face—stood behind him pulling his arm to keep him away. He attempted to shake her off his arm in the way you shake off a child who's trying to stay connected to your foot. In the end, you allow the child to have their way, just as the massive man allowed his sister—half his size—to pull him away from Ren.

  The void returned.

  "Shaya!"

  This time his call was answered with a whisper of "swear" though he couldn't know who spoke. The faintest pinpoint of light shown in the void, and it expanded into a sea of light.

  Then Ren found himself in a stone square. After a few moments he recognized the Bloody Square.

  "Shaya?"

  He found her in the center of five sorcerer's—each wearing a different colored robe.

  "Death before dishonor," Shaya spoke with a calm finality of a person who knows they'll die and is ready. "That is my choice."

  "If you will but swear to—" The old woman in white was cut off.

  "Never. I am Kaito-Tanken Shaya, and I can take no other oaths. An honorable death is the only option."

  The sorcerers switched positions with Shaya, and she stood a foot in front of Ren while they discussed amongst themselves.

  "Shaya," Ren whispered.

  She turned, fists up ready to fight
, but lowered them the moment she saw Ren and embraced him in a hug.

  "You're in danger—"

  "I know," she gave him a comforting pat on the back. "It's as it should be."

  "Kaito-Tanken Shaya," the sorcerers spoke in unison, with one voice. "You're granted admittance to the Amethyst Nation, provided you swear not to speak of what you learn with anyone outside our Nation."

  She stood frozen like a statue for several breaths.

  "I swear upon my honor to never reveal what I learn."

  A sudden force, like the wind of an ice storm, pushed Ren back. His being slipped through the stone walls of the Bloody Square, and he found himself back in the void.

  "Shaya!"

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  SHAYA TURNED BACK TO REN, but he was gone. She heard him calling for her, yet there was no sound—it felt like a thin fishing line pulling on her ear, egging her outside the Bloody Square.

  She turned back to the sorcerer's circle, "Where did he go?"

  "Unsure," the sorcerers answered as one. "There're many places, even unplaces."

  "We're done here?" She asked. "I've passed my trial, and won't face death?"

  "Agreed."

  Not wasting another moment, she took the west gate, but instead of stepping onto the street, she found a wall of white light blocking her path.

  "Ren?"

  The faintest whisper, "Shaya."

  She took a deep breath—though her lungs didn't fill—and stepped into the light only to find herself in the void again. Her eyes were burning in the light, but in the void they turned cold like an ocean wave during the rainy season.

  "Ren!"

  "Shaya!" Ren answered, and this time the voice was strong and clear.

  Shaya spun in all directions but couldn't spot him. After a minute of calling to one another and spinning in every direction imaginable, she stopped.

  Searching is pointless.

  Resolved, she centered her mind and allowed the sea of calm to wash over her. If she'd had a face, it would have shown a chiseled, unwavering expression of indifference. A moment later her consciousness became a blue orb which swelled to twice her normal size. She'd become a beacon of light in the utter darkness of the void.

  "Is that you?" Ren asked.

  "Yes. Come toward my light."

  Moments passed.

  Waiting hurt Shaya's gut like food poisoning: first knots, then wrenches, eventually she puked more light—her orb expanded further, and she began to feel thin.

  It was worth it, because her orb touched the outer shell of Ren's consciousness, and he too erupted into a ball of light, an orange sphere-Small by comparison, but bright enough to overpower the blue hue around him-and flood the space with his own orange glow.

  "Together now," she said. "Focus on Shinzo."

  "Right, we're inside the emperor's court."

  Ren envisioned the space and willed the image to Shaya. She could see the guards and tapestries on the wall. Her own body lay on the ground in Ren's arms, an odd experience to see herself from an outside perspective. In that moment Shaya realized why it was so easy to scare others into following her commands. Not many women wore the fine lines of battle on their forearms with pride, nor pulled off a blood red sash with poise. But even lying there unconscious, she looked every bit the role of Kaito-Tanken. Her father would be proud.

  "Now!" they cried in unison.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  THE WEIGHT OF REN'S BODY pressed into the stone floor as he held Shaya in his arms. It felt unnatural after being in the void for so long, and it dawned on Ren why sorcerers were usually so thin. He had never considered himself fat by any means, but the thought of losing weight didn't seem like a bad idea now.

  Shaya shifted in his arms to give him a strong hug, and Ren was pulled out of his drifting thoughts to the growing fact she was laying in his lap hugging him. She'd been his only friend in need of help as she lay dying, but now she was a woman and his body knew it. Goosebumps lingered on Ren's skin from the chill of the void, but as she lay in lap, his skin began to feel like it was on fire—and all while his pants tightened.

  Ren pushed himself away from Shaya, "I'm glad," he swallowed hard, "you're back. I was so worried. Your skin was a dark blue."

  Her skin quickly regained its natural wheat complexion, though a faint blue hue was still visible. "Look at yourself." She glanced down at his lap as she pushed herself up.

  Ren did and found his own arms were the faint blue of sea ice, just under the water's surface. He kept staring at his arms longer than needed to avoid looking back up at Shaya. His chest was on fire, and he could hear his own heartbeat pumping vigorously.

  Shaya placed her hand on his arm where he was looking, "Thank you. You've shown courage and brought honor to clan Kaito. I'm proud to count you amongst us."

  "Thank you." Ren knew nothing else to say, he was preoccupied with keeping his mind cleared of thoughts of Shaya in sexually provocative situations. A real chore for a sixteen-year-old boy. He reminded himself of Akio and envisioned daggers being plunged into his eye sockets. It worked wonders on his self-control.

  Shaya held out her hands for Ren to take, and when he did, she pushed her feet to his and used the leverage to pull both of them to a standing position. Ren found himself face to face with Shaya, so close he felt her breath against his skin.

  "Congratulations," Abaze clapped Ren on the back.

  Ren forced himself to turn and face Abaze, though it meant leaving the most intimate moment he'd ever have with Shaya. "What?" Ren's mind was still foggy from desire.

  Shaya left the two of them alone to talk, while she introduced herself to Adaku.

  "For saving her. She must mean a lot to you; or else you wouldn't risk your life."

  "She's Kaito-Tanken Shaya. I'd die for her if needed," Ren realized he meant it as the words came out—not just honorable words to be said in polite company.

  "Good," Abaze kept his eyes on Shaya. "She's your clan leader?"

  "Yes."

  Abaze extended his arm, "I'm sorry about before. Adaku is gifted with the healing touch. I hope you're not too badly hurt." There was no sincerity in his voice.

  Ren shook his arm in forgiveness, "I'm fine."

  In the moment's excitement, he'd forgotten about his injuries. He didn't feel any pain at all. Adaku was a gifted healer and must have loads of experience healing Abaze's victims. He was an arrogant man, quick to temper, but Ren didn't sense a cruel intent.

  "She's a beautiful woman. I'm glad to hear you're not involved."

  Wrong. He was cruel.

  "Do you know if there's anyone else?" Abaze asked.

  Ren considered lying. Shaya and Adaku were a few feet away laughing with one another. Shaya's laugh was infectious, lacking any self-consciousness about it.

  "Not that I know of."

  "Excellent," Abaze slapped Ren on the shoulder. "Excuse me." He walked over to the girls, leaving Ren alone.

  After another round of laughter amongst the three of them, Adaku excused herself and came to Ren.

  "How are you feeling?" she asked.

  "Better. Thank you for healing me."

  She bowed her head slightly, "You're welcome, but I'm sorry for my brother's actions. He's going to be king one day, and it makes him impulsive."

  Ren didn't know how best to respond, so he smiled like an idiot.

  "She's beautiful," Adaku continued. "I can see why you would risk your life for hers."

  "Oh, no," Ren waved his hands. "She's my clan leader."

  Am I that obvious?

  Adaku flashed a flirtatious smile and stepped closer to Ren. Close enough he could smell her—spring and new grass.

  Is that lavender?

  Before Ren could make an ass of himself, the guards clicked their heels, and Ren looked over to see a young boy, no doubt from the Ruby Nation. The two gold disks in his ears, shaved sides of his head with a long braid left on top, and his copper skin where all telltale signs. Ren saw the t
attoos on his hands as he walked closer to them, the customary tribal design between in the web of thumb and index finger, a Ruby Nation custom.

  Glad for the interruption, Ren excused himself from Adaku to greet their newest member. He wanted to believe she found him as attractive as he found her, but her brother had been obvious in his aim to conquest, and feared that was their way, not a reliable sign of attraction. Back home it was easy, women only touched men they were interested in. Often subtle, or "accidental" touches to save face if rejected—which rarely happened—but women made their interest known first. Everyone knew men were hot blooded.

  "My name's Ren," he extended his hand, but before they could shake a loud ruckus in the hall interrupted them.

  A clattering of steel echoed off the stone in the hallway. Though he couldn't see past the curtains, Ren recognized Akio's voice.

  "Step aside in the name of clan Kaito, or die where you stand!"

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  "I KAITO-TANKEN SHAYA COMMAND you to step aside for my first sworn," she stood before the hidden hallway prepared to fight. Her sword had been taken, but she was still deadly in hand to hand combat.

  "You heard her," Akio said from behind the curtains in the hall.

  Shaya pressed forward, but two guards stopped her with their own swords, creating a steel wall between her and the hall. She struck the left guard with an open palm against his visor and dodged the sword from the right.

  Sliding back to regain her stance, she saw the left guard crumpled on the floor, while the right circled with his sword pointed at her chest.

  "Shaya?" Akio called from the hall, and the sound of steel against steel echoed off the stone walls of the hall.

  "Enough!" The guards sheathed their swords creating a thunder of muffled steel and Shaya turned to find Hekima had strolled into the room. "Let Akio pass!"

  Akio ran past the curtains to Shaya and kneeled before her to beg forgiveness.

  "There's nothing to forgive," Shaya gestured for him to stand. "I'm fine. In fact, I was in good hands," she gestured to Ren. "He kept me safe after the examination."

  "The emperor doesn't desire a conflict with the clans," Hekima said. "I apologize for the misunderstanding, but I couldn't allow the crowd to pass unchecked, or we'd have chaos."