Triberias: Mark of the Called

The Apprentice

IV

An Apprentice in A Breaking City.

EASTERN SKY CITY.

420AA, after the Great Ascension.

"Humans are weak." The man said even as he walked across the expanse of his wide sanctuary office. "They are brash, rebellious and forgetful!" The man who had spoken those words was Havillah's mentor.

He was an elderly man with a balding head, halfway full of thin greying hair and white pasty skin that was stretched upon a narrow and yet angular face. With his prominent chin and dark hostile eyes framed upon a wide round forehead, the man had glowered down at her even as he pranced around his office quarters in his gold but mostly dark purple robes in a manner that resembled that of a peacock that was high on heat.

The garment of his robes like all others in the city was heavy. The fabric was shiny and silky even without the golden embroidery that marked the mandarin collar, floor length hems and the edge of the kimono sleeves. His unique purple fabric being so glossy that it reflected the very light that had been refracted a million times over by the glowing crystals that were quite abundant not just in that room, but in the whole Sanctuary as well. For that was the nature of the Triban robes, reflecting not just one's fortitude but his glory and his virtue as well.

Purple spoke of royalty. The raiment of kings and the council of elders, but where it should have made him seem illustrious, the colour had had a totally different effect despite the heat of the crimson hues imbued within it. For the darker colour made him look like a wraith, what with his gaunt form and his dark eyes that seemed to suck out the life out of every thing. The multitude of the crow's feet clawing upon his eyes and pulling at his thinned lips did not help either. For that, together with the deep furrows that now marked his round forehead into a perpetual scowl were also a product of his fervent glaring rather than his age that was also advanced and quite apparent.

"But my lord, aren't we also human?" the words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. At that, Havillah's mentor had stopped pacing and swiveled around, turning those dark eyes to glare at her for her perceived insolence at uttering those unforgivable words.

"Apologies master." she quickly rectified but it was already too late. The damaged had been incurred and the man was now out for her blood even as he stalked her, gliding around her as though his feet were padding on air and not the crystalline floors that were glittering beneath them unaware of the c*****e that was yet to befall them.

"Don't you ever compare us to that scum Havillah!" The elder roared, his mouth frothing with so much anger even as his dark eyes continued to shoot icicles at her. He raged as he waged a war of words that she bet, were truly meant to convince himself and not dissuade her of the truth that she had just finished speaking. "We are the Great!" the Great elder orated. "The chosen bloodline! The servants of the Great and Eternal Light and you must never tarnish our names by comparing us or even thinking of associating is with that scum!" he seethed.

"Yes...ma... ma master." Havillah could only manage to stutter as she bowed her head low underneath the heavy weight of the elder's terrifying gaze, enshrouding her silver eyes and the tears that had now stained her light caramel skin behind a thick curtain of long black hair.

Silence reigned between them but the elder continued to regard her, his apprentice, with a dark look in his eyes.

Havillah was practically twenty and yet, she trembled. Her body shaken up with so much fear that it rattled the bones that even now remained concealed beneath the red and gold Triban cowl that were so characteristic of her cohort. She could barely lift up her head in fear and she continued to do so, too afraid to raise it or to say anything that would farther serve to agitate the idiosyncrasies of this ill tempered man.

As it was, this had been a regular occurrence and once again, het impetuous behaviour and thoughtless speaking had landed her in a heap of big trouble. Hadn't her mother already warned her so? Against het rash behaviour and thoughtless speaking? Yet she had always managed to say something that served to further infuriate the good elder. An Elder of the Great, an Appriser and the Keeper of the sacred tomes of the Sanctuary, but there was no way that she could have helped herself. For dhe had always been very curious about the human world, just like that time when her curiousity had landed her in trouble for the very first time at the very age of six. Now, landing in trouble was a daily occurrence for Havillah and especially when she was continually losing the battle of controling her tongue in the presence of the elder.

"Now, where was I?" the elder finally said and she looked up to face him in surprise. The elder, noticing het strange staring smirked at her , even as he shot her with a wide smile that was anything but reassuring, and being predatory as it was, it chilled her all the way to her still rattling bones.

Why am I so scared? She questioned herself. Probably because she knew the kind of power that this man wielded. The power to make her miserable.

"Humans are weak, brash and rebellious-" she gulped, swallowing her fear as she dragged out the words, grateful that she had at least paid attention to some of that.

"Ah, yes." The elder perked up with that same cynical smile that had once curled up his lips and the girl went silent. To the untrained eye it would seem that the good elder was glad that his mentee had finally gotten his lessons right, but that was not the case here. The girl already knew that this particular smile meant that he was cooking up something. Something so diabolical that his sadistic mind could only smile at it. "Since you seem to be so quick to forget that which you are," the elder paused to watch her as she squirmed beneath his gaze before continuing, "I will help you remember!"

And there it is, my death sentence! Havillah whimpered and the great elder's smile grew darker. He was probably pleased with himself at the effect that he had knowingly illicited from her. Slowly and watching her for further signs of the terror that had initially shown on her face, the master lifted up his hands to reveal his skeletal fingers that had been concealed beneath the wide lengths of his purple kimono sleeves.

He flicked his hands flamboyantly in a subtle show of power and the air between them crackled before revealing the suspended Sanctuary scroll that had just appeared before him.

Back then, when Havillah had been younger, this act would have illicited a gasp even as she stared at her mentor with two shining orbs of wondrous silver eyes, her fear temporarily forgotten in a single moment awe, having witnessed a real life summoning, but not now. Back then she had just heard of summonings and was yet to actually witness it. He had done it several times and everytime, he had effectively managed to turn himself from being her tormentor into being the sole recipient of her pure unbridled awe, but never again! Havillah had finally learnt her lesson.

"Summoning. It is the art of calling things that are not as if they are. You can use your mouth or your mind and a hand gesture as a conduit of some sort." The elder and her mentor so graciously supplied and it took all of Havillah's effort not to openly scorn him. How many times could one use the same trick on one person? Was it another way of calling her stupid? To take advantage of her glowing emotions at the thought of being able to attempt the same feat was merciless, but Havillah guessed it did not matter to him anyway for he went on like he always had always done every other time just to scorn her.

"However, it requires a certain amount of... certitude, which you are yet to master despite your age." He landed the crashing blow, hitting below the belt like he had always done every single time. "You simply cannot do it!" he finished with a burst of ugly laughter but this time there was no smile to drop, no bubble to pop or the downtrodden expression that usually appeared on her face.

"You know what to do?" he asked, his lips still smirking as he brought the same Sanctuary scroll a bit closer to hrt. The younger Havillah would have stared at the scroll and then back at him, but this time she shook her head yes even though he was yet to explain his intentions to her. "Of course you do not." he muttered rather darkly the sudden change to his emotions being so fast and too erratic that even she could not process it. "You are as incompetent as they get!" my her sneered hoping to get another rise out of her. When she did not respond in the way that he expected, he decided to go on and elaborate.

"This is a neolithic scroll." of course Havillah knew that but he said it with a leer just to mock her. "And you..." he trailed off just as a Sanctuary assistant burst into his chambers shouting out his name.

"Rufus! What is the meaning of this? Can't you see that I am in the middle of something?" Elder Lionel turned to glare at his offending assistant and Havillah breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Many apologies my lord, but... " the sanctuary assistant looked at her uncomfortablly but the great Elder waved him off. "the North Eastern floor!" the portly assistant who was a balding man albeit without a greying head finished off. He was a short man with an extended gut and a porcine nature that had him sweating quite profusely both on his face and under his blue and golden garbs. Every once in a while, the man would pant, heaving as he wiped away his forehead all to Havillah's amusement though, she would not dare to show it right now.

"Say no more." The elder cautioned as he turned to glare at her, his still straight faced apprentice. "Is the council then meeting?" Rufus nodded. "Fine, I'll be right there." He added with a flourish before turning to address her his only apprentice. "You will read that scroll and make short notes.You are also not to leave this room until I order you to do so. Am I clear?" the girl mentally rolled het eyes as she wondered how much different this was from what she normally did everyday and yet, it was different in some way. For today shr would finally lay het hands on the old scrolls and begin her research on the ways of ancients.

"Yes master." she responded anyway, eyeing the huge scroll that was now in her hands with a fake disheartened look in her eyes that she knew would please him.

"The paper and the ink are in the usual place." he had added, pointing to the huge desk made of ivory that was decorated with golden leaves and vines all over. One that was situated at the very end of the same room. "You will also find the extra quilts there and Havillah..." he hesitated for a moment.

"Yes master." Havillah turned back to face him and found that his dark eyes were now regarding her with a look so cynical and a smile so diabolical that it sent wisps of chilly fingers down her already weary spine.

"No Virtue. Understood?" He smiled and she swallowed. What did I ever do to this man? That is except for asking questions and thinking objectively. Oh, and failing miserably at the first virtue? Well, it can't be helped. She thought as she looked back at him.

"Yes master." she finally forced herself to say and the appeared satisfied.

"Great." With that, he flicked his hand and disappeared in a swish of gold and purple satin.

Elder Lionel reappeared a few moments later in the large domed room with extremely high ceilings that housed the meeting of the council of the Elders. They were the Keepers of the Sanctuary and the custodians of the ways of the Great.

Like the rest of the Sanctuary, this room had been carved out of gold, with crystal lighting fixtures that seemed to be aglow with an ethereal light burning from within them. These glass chandeliers with their multiple crystals hung down from a gold and ivory caisson and below them was a crystal floor which glimmered with the same never ending that was shed by the great crystal.

The furniture was all made of gold with yellow chairs that were cushioned with cloud essence and covered in a lustrous white silk. Ivory pillars hang around on every corner, gilded with the same vine like design that marked the Triban robes and the rest of the furniture and at the centre of it all, lay a massive centre piece. A huge oval table that was made up of a glowing crystal supported upon golden stands that seemed to be erupting from translucent and crystalline floor. There were no windows and as the elder looked around, more elders continued to appear. Some taking their designated places on the seats around the oval table while the rest of them chose to stand around and wait for the others to appear.

There were thirteen seats in all. Six on each side of the oval table and a single one at the head of the table where a crystal bowl stood before it.

"Shall we begin?" the man at the head of the table, the Chamberlain said as he took his seat. At his voice, the rest of the congregation gathered and took their seats around the oval table.

"Why does this keep on happening?" a female elder with fair skin and a head of golden hair grumbled. Like all the rest, her eyes were like jewels in the form of glittering azure orbs.

"I believe it must have something to do with the inner Sanctum and the reason that until now, it continues to remain closed." the middle aged looking Chamberlain replied.

Unlike the Elders, his was a different look albeit not so different from the rest as his robes still remained purple. However, the shade of his purple garbs was lighter, glossier with the golden embroidery on the hems of his fabric seeming to be shimmering and somewhat more elaborate than that of the rest of the other robes. The vines on his fabric were also quite different in that they also made into a pattern that strayed away from edges and the hems, sending forth tendrils that bore shoots with flowers that were yet to bloom. This was a pattern that was not found on any of the robes of the persons found within that chamber. Not in the Sanctuary, nor in the entire city for that matter. There was speculation that it existed within the other three scaffolds, but who knew, no one could tell for sure for they had not heard any word from them. Not a single communication in the last four hundred years.

The Chamberlain's eyes were also blue like the other elder's, but not sapphires. They were like blue gems that looked upon the congregation wearily, but more tired was the heavy expression that has marked his face. A face that was pale, surrounded by dark hair that had several streaks of greying hair embedded within it.

"But why now? Has it not remained closed for the last four hundred years?" another elder voiced and the Chamberlain turned to look at him tiredly.

"Yes, and ever since that time the floors have been slowly wearing out, this the need to find a solution."

"We need to find a solution, it's true." the Elder Lionel voiced. "But isn't it also true that the process is now accelerated? Surely you all have to agree." The Chamberlain nodded as the Elder turned to the rest of the council. "Do you all believe me now?" he regarded each of his colleagues with his dark eyes.

"Surely Elder Lionel, you do not

mean to say that the Great have become impure and the city is now purging us?" another female elder countered. This one had silver eyes and matching silver hair that was framing a heart shaped face. The woman was the youngest in the group, but that did not mean that she was not capable. In fact, she was so adept at wielding her Virtues that she had mean named the Chief of the First Virtue in this generation.

"What other explanation is there? You have seen the scales. Every passing year the new-borns are fading faster than before. Virtue is not as strong as it used to be and the number of those that carry only one Virtue is now higher than anytime in this city's history."

"Come on! There has to be another explanation." she bravely countered.

"We have to be objective Elder Tamaar. I know that you are thinking of your daughter too, but the city has to always come first when it comes to these things."

"Are you accusing me of being subjective? What is a city without its people?" she turned to Elder Lionel who just shrugged his shoulders as he gave the other Elders a meaningful look. "What is the meaning of that?" Tamaar seethed. "Are you trying to disregard my counsel?"

"Elder Lionel is right." another elder voiced . "Ever since the time of the last ancients, there has been no one known to wield the third Virtue and because of this,the balance between the powers has been disturbed. We need to do something in order to restore that balance otherwise the city will destroy us itself." The Elder remarked.

"Even so!" the female elder protested in disbelief and the male Elder looked away.

"Elder Tamaar, it is not a matter of what we think. This is happening wether we like it or not and because of that, we have to come up with something that we can do to fix it."

"Lionel! Are you even listening to yourself? You want us to start exiling our own people just because they lack one Virtue? Those are not the teachings of the Great Ancients nor is it the way of our Great and Eternal Light."

"Tamaar, the way of the Light is to strive to achieve all those three Virtues and these people have failed in that regard. They are not qualified to be called Great and their blood must have been tainted. If you still doubt me you can go and check the scales yourself. They are the ones that never lie!"

"I say we put it to a vote." The Chamberlain finally said as he eyed the two feuding elders tiredly. The Elder Tamaar huffed as the Elder Lionel smirked a small knowing smile.Things were finally going his way and not even the Chief of the First Virtue could stop them.

One by one each elder scribbled a piece of voting paper before dropping the lots into the mists of decision bowl. Tamaar eyed them angrily, but even she wrote on her own paper and dropped it in the crystalline bowl standing before the Chamberlain. The Chamberlain covered the bowl with the crystal lid and the papers floated within a thin white mist before finally settling. A decision had been made. Elder Lionel smirked and the Elder Tamar glared back at him.

"One day this decision will come back to bite you, I assure you of this."she threatened. "You will regret the day that you casted those lots!" with that she flicked her hand and disappeared in a own swirl of gold and purple.

Slowly, the Chamberlain rose and the rest of the council rose to their feet. He locked gazes with the rest of the remaining eleven elders and sighed. "I guess, that will be all for today. The decision has been made and," he paused with a look of displeasure marring his face. "... and it will be implemented forthwith." The elders all nodded, each showing their acquiescence before turning to leave for their chambers or whatever it was that they had been doing before they had been summoned there.