Aether’s Apprentices: Chapter 8

Gregory groaned when someone knocked on the door. Jenn and Yukiko muttered as they were woken up, as well. “Awake,” Gregory called.

“You have an hour before you need to be back to the hall,” Dia called to them. “Breakfast should be ready when you make it downstairs.”

All three of them got out of bed, letting their aether clear their minds and refresh their bodies. Blinking as the cobwebs of fatigue fled, they dressed and got ready for the day.

“You hurt them before the game was called for the break,” Gregory said.

“We did,” Yukiko agreed. “They hurt themselves twice over, though.”

“Not changing their scouting until late in the day, and then using half their forces to attack us,” Jenn nodded.

“They were smart enough to pull back and dig in,” Gregory said, “not that you were in any position to chase them. The harassment from the light cavalry kept them running and gave you a solid idea of what they had left at that point.”

“Need to make sure we have snacks with us again,” Jenn said. “Should we bring an extra?”

“It wouldn’t hurt,” Yukiko replied. “Even if Farin and Mavic bring something today, we can share the extra among us. How was she doing, Greg?”

“Mavic? She was fading fast at the end of the night. I’m pretty sure she’s body path, which is odd with her water magic, but she probably focused on it to help her survive,” Gregory said as they finished dressing. “She was kind of rough to start with, but she admitted that was because of how she was being treated and the rumors. She mellowed out by the end of the day.”

“Good. More people who see us as we are will help break those rumors faster than trying to fight them,” Yukiko smiled as she opened the door to the room. “Let’s go eat.”

~*~*~

Breakfast was mostly quiet as they ate as quickly as they could. Zenim had packed their snacks for them and had made the extra just in case. Gin walked with them to tactics class, as his own class still had an ongoing game.

“Who is teaching physical conditioning in your absence?” Yukiko asked Gin.

“Inda,” Gin replied. “I should be back there today, though, even if I am a little sleepy.”

“Game ending soon?” Gregory asked.

“It should end in the first two hours. They’ve been playing since the first day back, but it is three-on-one now.”

“We might finish ours today,” Jenn said. “Well, they will. I’m the one sitting out.”

“Including Farin was a good idea,” Gin said. “Making an ally is always good.”

“And he’s a good person,” Clover said.

“He has been a vast improvement over Chucky,” Ling nodded.

“I had a couple of ideas,” Gregory said, changing the topic, “regarding the games, sir.”

“Go ahead,” Gin said.

“The players who are sitting out should be removed from the room. Jenn should be completely blank if she gets dragged in, like any new commander would be when they go to the battlefield.”

“Agreed. I believe Egil already plans for that.”

“The coordinators should be from opposing teams, not their own team.”

“Why?” Gin asked.

“A team that works together might be able to arrange signals that the instructor wouldn’t see or understand to pass along more information than should be passed. It’ll help distance things more, adding another layer of security.”

“Yes, that was also discussed,” Gin smiled. “I’m glad you saw it.”

“Ah,” Gregory deflated a little. “I should have known that you or Egil would see the potential troubles, sir.”

“We have. The goal now is to get you ready for the end game,” Gin said with a smile. “Egil will explain the tournament… possibly tomorrow. It requires all preliminary games to be done. There are only three others besides mine to have run this long. Well them, and yours, but you started a day later.”

“The tournament will start after the solstice, won’t it?” Jenn asked.

“Correct,” Gin said.

The sun wasn’t even hinting at rising when they got to the tactics building.

“Good luck,” Gin said as he climbed the stairs to the third floor.

“Thank you, sir,” they said, heading to their own class.

~*~*~

Farin came into the room a few minutes later. Though he looked a little groggy, he moved with confidence. He looked at them for a few seconds, then greeted them with, “Good morning.”

“Body path,” Yukiko said. “Good morning, Farin. We won’t be making any bold plays for a few turns, at least. We should have you rest a bit longer and see if you can shake off the fatigue.”

“Hmm… I do feel a little foggy,” Farin nodded. “I will task my men with following your commands. They’ll lose a little morale, but not enough to hurt, and they’ll still have a clear leader.”

“Understood,” Ben said from behind Farin. “You will be out of command of your men until you tell me and a new turn begins.”

“Thank you, sir,” Farin said. He went over to the far side of the room and rested against the corner, using the walls to keep him upright.

When the fourth bell began to chime Ben nodded. “The appointed time to begin.”

“I’ll start,” Clover said. “I move across the river. I know it’s clear for at least a turn, so I can cross without stressing my army. The hounds will keep the screen ahead of me, with orders to retreat if they encounter anything more than a scout.” She moved her pieces. “That’s all I can do this turn.”

“It’s fine,” Yukiko said, all too aware of Clover’s fingers fumbling her pieces a little. “We’re planning on staying back for this turn. We have the money to upgrade our heavy cavalry to elites, and that will take three turns. I’ll give the men a small bonus for their good work, which will help offset any loss of morale as Farin is…” She paused when Farin snored in the corner. “As Farin is recovering his aether.”

Gregory made his notes. “Okay. We should be good, then.”

“Interesting,” Ben said. “Cautious. I expected you to be aggressive at this moment.”

“No,” Ling said, shaking her head. “They’ve had time to be prepared for us. They’ll be expending resources, expecting us to be upon them this turn or next.” She went to motion at the board to illustrate her point, but her hand slapped a few pieces, scattering them. “Sorry,” she said as she picked them up and reset them.

“I understand,” Ben said. “Not many would think that way. They would’ve just smelled blood and rushed forward.”

“And into traps,” Yukiko said. “We hold and wait for our upgrade, and then we’ll advance.”

“I’ll go wait for Mavic,” Gregory said.

Gregory slipped into the hall. It was a tedious wait, but after about ten minutes, Mavic stepped out of her classroom.

“Morning,” Gregory said.

“Morning,” Mavic replied dully. “Are you ready?”

“I am, but you don’t look like you are,” Gregory said.

“Body path,” Mavic said. “Not mind, like them. They think they can catch you unprepared.”

“I’m sure they do,” Gregory chuckled. “Why don’t you start this time?”

“Okay,” Mavic said, then smiled. “No movement.”

“Shocking,” Gregory snorted. “Okay, here’s the movements from our side.” Gregory showed her on the map.

“But… oh, they aren’t going forward right now,” Mavic snickered. “Okay. Well, nothing left to discuss for this turn.”

“Did you sleep okay?” Gregory asked.

“As good as I expected to with the short time we had,” Mavic said before her stomach grumbled.

“Missed breakfast?”

“Yes.”

Gregory pulled out a piece of jerky. “Have a piece. I had breakfast.”

Mavic took it, popping it into her mouth immediately. “Thanks,” she said around the meat.

“Let’s just hang out for a second,” Gregory said. “No need for them to know you had a bite.”

“Thanks,” Mavic said, chewing slower. “You look more rested.”

“Body path refreshes your body, but mind refreshes your mind,” Gregory said. “Like them.”

“I might have made a mistake taking body,” Mavic mumbled around her food, then swallowed.

“In the long run, it’ll help you survive,” Gregory said, “but the tournament is probably going to strain you.”

“Yeah,” Mavic sighed. “Thanks again.”

“See you in a bit,” Gregory grinned.

“They aren’t going to know what to think,” Mavic snickered as she turned away. “This will be funny.”

~*~*~

Gregory stood in the hall, waiting. Mavic had been slower and slower coming out each turn, but he knew why— the Han clan was panicking. When he heard raised voices, muffled by a door, he was sure he knew where they were coming from.

“Guess I still have a bit of time,” Gregory said, leaning against the wall.

The farthest door opened and a group of apprentices came out, followed by a stern-looking older woman. Gregory pulled foresight up and waited as the group got closer to him. With a quick movement, he sidestepped just as Jason’s fist shot out. Instead of hitting Gregory, he hit the wall.

“Stop!” Ella barked with iron in her tone.

Jason glared at Gregory. “Can’t keep foresight up all the time.”

“You’re right,” Gregory said evenly. “Nice to see Jenn being kind and not breaking your head open like a melon earned us some goodwill. Next time, maybe she won’t be kind, since you obviously aren’t going to be.”

Ella pushed her way to the front of the group, glaring at Jason. “Argon, move. The rest of you, keep going.” She was obviously upset.

Jason’s lip twitched. “Of course, Instructor Voulaz.”

More doors opened and other instructors, including Paul, poked their heads out. With the Eternal Flame moving away, doors shut again. Paul said something to his class, then stepped into the hall, closing the door behind him.

“Pettit, what happened?” Paul asked.

“Argon tried to break my face,” Gregory said. “I stepped aside.”

“At the same time the punch was thrown,” Ella said. “You expected trouble?”

“With them? Always.”

“With good reason,” Paul snorted. “The Eternal Flame has lost to him and his wives every time they have fought. Some would back off and reevaluate, but they just keep charging forward.”

“I think he’s upset that Jenn brained him,” Gregory said. “Normally, he’s calmer than that. Or…”

“He was testing how cautious you are,” Paul said, then looked at the dent in the wall where Jason’s fist had connected. “Possibly both.”

“Agreed,” Gregory exhaled. “Sorry to disturb your group, sir, ma’am.”

“They are petulant children,” Ella snorted. “Even the previous clanless are now swaggering like the world owes them.”

“I’d wondered how that had happened,” Paul said. “They accepted them?”

“Second day,” Ella shrugged.

“Hmm…” Paul said. “Thank you for stopping the fight. I need to get back to the room.”

“How is their game going?” Ella asked.

“The report will be given later today, I’m sure.”

“Like mine,” Ella yawned. “I’m going to rack out until this evening. Good day.”

“Good day,” Paul said as Ella left. “Gregory, we’ll be out in a moment. They’re still debating the best course of action.”

“Won’t matter,” Gregory shrugged. “Next turn ends the game, unless they have a major surprise.”

“We will see,” Paul said as he headed back to the Han classroom.

~*~*~

Gregory was proven right two turns later.

Mavic looked at her notes and shook her head. “Might as well get them so we can call it done.”

“Sure,” Gregory smiled. “It was good to work with you.”

“Thanks,” Mavic sighed. “They’re going to ream me, though.”

“They would be wrong to do so,” Gregory said, “but we know they’ll look to lay the blame away from themselves.” He dug out some jerky. “Delay it a moment?”

Mavic gladly took the offering. “Sure.”

When the jerky was gone, they both retrieved their instructors and laid out the battle. Paul and Ben went over the stats and modifiers before nodding.

“Looks like we can return to our respective classes and end the game,” Ben said. “Your students are a treasure, Erichson.”

“I wish I could say the same, but the last few turns have been nothing but arguments and recriminations. They’ll seek to blame Mavic.”

“Yes they will, and I will pull apart all their faults,” Ben said with a gleam in his eyes. “Mavic, give me your notes.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, handing the folder over.

“Pettit?” Paul asked, holding out his hand.

Gregory handed over his notes. “Thank you for your understanding, sir,” he told Ben.

“If I had twenty of your friends, I could rest easily for the next few decades knowing that the borders would be safe,” Ben said before he motioned Mavic over to him. “Let’s go break the news.”

“Let’s go explain the finish to them,” Paul said, striding away.