Alaith

Friends? (2)

"I knew you were up to no good. There is no way you can justify that answer. I don't even want to hear it," Hela Berated. But even more than Aliath's ridiculous riddle, Aliath's accomplished smirk vexed her.

"What makes you think I intend to justify my answer? It is what I say it is," Aliath goaded.

“Ah, yes. Of course. How could I forget? If there's anything true about the rumour, it is your unparalleled arrogance,” Hela retorted.

“There’s no need to be mad about it. With all due respect…”

“Nothing comes before or after the words ‘with all due respect’, but utter and complete disrespect,” Hela interjected.

“No way. Once you say ‘with all due respect’, it’s alright. Isn’t that right, Bitrus?”

“Of course, Master,” Bitrus replied.

“That is not how it…” Hela paused. “It applies to only you, doesn’t it?” Hela sighed.

“You learn fast, my lady. Perhaps you’re as smart as you claim,” Aliath teased.

Hela smiled. “You’re not as bad as I thought either,” she said.

“As are you,” Aliath replied.

“I’ll take my leave now. Aliath. Hero,” Hela bowed as she left the two.

As she left the two, Hela couldn’t get a bugging feeling out of her head. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she felt troubled by something. Her two meetings with Aliath had felt the same way… there was something about him, but not in the way they expected. Should she be worried, she thought. Well, only time would tell.

Aliath watched as Hela got farther and farther from them. The stern look on his face contrasted with his earlier mood. A focus so sharp, that the air around him was still for fear of being split in two. Yet, Aliath could feel the pressure of Bitrus’s gaze. “What is it, Bitrus?” he asked.

“Nothing, Master,” Bitrus replied through his teeth.

“You do not approve?”

“I do not mean to question your methods, but why do we need to go through such a roundabout method. Since she’s a suspect, we could apprehend her. With my magic, we could…”

“We wouldn’t get anything out her. Not even if I tried.”

“She’s powerful, but I do not believe she can withstand my magic, much less yours.”

“She’d burst before I can get anything from her. With you, we’d be misled. We need to be smart.”

“You see something I don’t, don’t you Master?”

“Let’s see how long it lasts, then you’ll understand,” Aliath said.

“As you wish, Master,” Bitrus bowed.

For a while, there was silence. Only for a while, for the life of Aliath is plagued with problems.

Boom!

An explosion was heard to the East of their position.

Boom!

Another explosion in the same place.

Aliath and Bitrus stared at each other wearingly. “What instructions did you give Eric before we left?” Aliath asked Bitrus.

“To stand in for us,” Bitrus replied wearingly.

“Did you specifically tell him not to train the new recruits?”

“I might have forgotten to include that part.”

“Great,” Aliath sighed.

***

The training area for the new recruits into the Edvan Empire was surrounded by mountains. Whether these mountains came to be before or after the training area was erected had been far forgotten, and either chance was possible in Edvan. However, what was left of the towering mountains that served as a training area as well for the new recruits was a barely small hill that could not keep out the rays of the sun by the time Aliath and Bitrus got there. Before them laid the demoralised recruits on the ground, with a brazen figure towering above them with his hands firmly on his waist. Surprisingly, another recruit was still on her feet not too far from him.

“Eric!” Bitrus beckoned upon him before more damage could be done.

Eric turned towards them, reaching at least 7ft in height. He wore a grey tunic on brown pants and brown leather boots, and his large muscles stretched them to their limits. Yet, his most distinctive feature was his broad smile, which was only eclipsed by the gust of wind that emanated from the rapid swinging of his arms as he waved towards Aliath and Bitrus.

“Master. Master’s Master,” Eric bowed as the two walked towards him.

“I have told you countless times. Call me High Wizard, or just call me Aliath,” Aliath frowned.

“As you wish, Master’s Master,” Eric grinned, followed by a hearty laughter.

“He doesn’t listen, does he?” Aliath sighed.

“You returned earlier than I thought. When I heard of your return, I figured you would go straight to the meeting, so I thought I would show the new recruits the ropes. And I’ve found quite a special one,” he said.

Aliath and Bitrus stared at the only soldier that was still on her feet. Her clothes were burned in many places, evidence of Eric’s fire magic. “State your name,” Bitrus said.

“Elena, sir!” she replied with more energy than she appeared to have.

Bitrus stared at her for a while, examining her magic circuits rather than her physical appearance.

“You have promise, as do a lot of you,” he said as he stared at the others as well. “I look forward to seeing your development,” Bitrus added.

“Thank you, sir!” Elena replied.

“Bitrus, please fix this before we receive a complaint. And Eric, train within the boundary next time, not in an open area like this,” Aliath said.

“I wanted to, but there was a woman there. A guest of the king. So I didn’t want to intrude. Hela was her name I presume,” Eric said, much to the surprise of Aliath and Bitrus.

***

In a cave not too far from the capital, Hela walked to meet Arwoth. Although the day was still at its peak, the cave was completely dark save for the lights from candles that lit up a part. As Hela walked deeper, the lights got brighter until she could clearly make out Arwoth’s image.

“Are you sure you weren’t followed?” he asked.

“Do you derive pleasure from looking down on others?” Hela snapped. “No, I wasn’t followed,” she replied a lot calmer this time.

“Then why do you stink of tracer magic?” Arwoth asked.

“What?” Hela exclaimed, as she finally perceived it as well. She rolled up her sleeves instantly to find a crest on her wrist. “I’ve been played,” she said.

“You’ve compromised this place. How did you not realise that you had been tagged?”

“A word spell trap it would seem.”

“You fell for a word spell? Are you losing focus, Hela? Should I assign someone to assist you?”

That won’t be necessary. It won’t happen again. Alehandro Ernesto Delavive. What an interesting spell. It would seem that our target is more cunning than we expected,” Hela grinned. As she clenched her fist, the magic crest on her hands faded.