Week 4: The wall - Part 2

During the night Helvia was turning around and making noises, which kept Lu awake for some time.

“Helvia, are you awake?” Lu whispered.

The soldier sat up on the floor, rubbing her eyes. “Yes, I am sorry. I have... Dreams.”

“Are you sure you don’t want the bed?”

“No, don’t worry. I will be fine.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Helvia.”

“Yes?”

“What will you do when we get to the university?”

“Whatever they tell me, my mission is just to get there.”

“...I thought you cared.”

“And you told me to fuck off.”

“No I didn’t! And you said that caring for me was against your better judgement.”

“I am sorry it came out that way.”

Lu stretched their hand over the bed, to touch Helvia’s shoulder in the darkness. “I am sorry I shouted at you. I was really frustrated with the book and I was too mean for no reason.”

“It is fine, I noticed. I just... Didn’t want to push you any further. And wanted to keep our relationship... Professional. If that is the right word for it.”

“What do you mean?”

Helvia reached to hold Lu’s hand. “I used to be in charge of people like you. Young, passionate, smart, capable... To be honest they were also very disciplined and well behaved so you could learn a thing or two.”

They both giggled, the Lu asked. “What happened to them?”

“...”

“Oh shit I am sorry.”

“And I just called you smart.”

“Well, it is late, my head is not very sharp right now.”

“Is it ever?”

“Whore.”

“Brat.”

They remained silent, enjoying each other’s company. “What I wanted to say...” Helvia continued. “Is that when I was asked to escort a criminal I was expecting something different. Then you showed up and... I see why the Highmage wanted to give you a second chance, you are not a bad kid, I am rooting for you.”

Lu stood out from her bed and went to grab one of her boots, taking from under the sole four imperial seals and handing them to Helvia.

“What is this?” She asked.

“On the first town we slept, you asked me to give some coins to the major and I tried, but he rejected. Instead of leaving them on the table like I said I did, I hid them and kept them for myself.”

Helvia looked at the coins and then at Lu. “I don’t know if I should feel mad that you lied to me or proud that you confessed.”

“I just couldn’t keep it a secret. I know you are supposed to be my jailer, but I like you, and I want you to know I am better than this.” Lu found themselves wiping their eyes. “I am not a thief anymore, I will become a mage and resurrect my family the right way.”

Helvia stood up and reached forwards, embracing Lu. “So is that what it was all about?”

Lu nodded.

“I feel that way too sometimes.” Helvia handed Lu the four coins back. “Once we get to island, if I get to stay, you can use that money to invite me to some drinks. As friends.”

“Deal.”

The two of them fell asleep almost immediately after that.

*****

The following morning Helvia woke up early, equipped herself with her full armour and tied a war pick and a sword to her hip. From the chest containing her all weapons she also grabbed a metal disk with a rod through the middle covered in leather, just large enough for Helvia to hold it with one hand. The metal circle on its inner side was full of engravings made in gold and had four square holes, about the right size to fit faith crystals, but they were empty. She tied this strange artifact to her hip as well and left to meet with the captain and the rest of the imperial guards.

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About an hour later Lu, Aregoma and Tessa, whom Aregoma had convinced to travel with them the rest of the way, gathered with the rest of the travellers to have breakfast in the dining hall. There was about thirty people total and including Lu only eight of them seemed to be armed in any capacity. In time, one of the guards came in and notified the present that they would depart in fifteen minutes so Lu and the two mages rushed to get the wagon ready, waking up the mules who did not seem specially thrilled to be working so early. The three chests and Helvia’s belongings were already there.

They loaded their own backpacks and drove to the beginning of the narrow pass between the mountains, where the stone had been cut to leave space for barely four horses standing side by side. It seemed to go on with perfectly straight walls for miles on end and Lu thought it looked way too perfectly cut to have been done by hand. They arrived fourth in the queue with two other wagons behind them, most of the other carts were packed to the brim with crates and other cargo. There were also about a dozen of people on horses and the rest were simply walking. The formation was led by Captain Grenna and four other soldiers riding horses as well. On the back of the queue defending the rear there were four soldiers, including Helvia.

“Blessed morning y’all” Shouted the captain. “It will be seven hours of non-stop travel through the mountains. The weather has been nice to us and we do not expect any delays. May Shimuri bring us a safe journey.”

“Blessed be his name” said all the present in unison.

The captain advanced and the rest followed. The convoy traversed the carved path without any issues, there was no possibility of getting lost or deviating. Aregoma began to reminisce about her passages through this section, which apparently was one of the few ways of crossing the wall and since it was the closest to the Dragon Isle it was very common for acolytes to be constantly travelling through here. Once you become a Highmage and are free to pursue your own endeavors it was normal for most people to simply leave once to the mainland and return only in very rare occasions, for certifying a new grade or for special events. Those who decided to stay would seldom leave. Archmages had other means of transportation and for the most part of would travel with their own small armies of servants.

“What about the highmages that leaves the island?” Lu asked. “How do they learn new spells and things like that?”

“Well it is tradition that while you study in the academy you write down spells that you know or want to learn in the future” Aregoma replied. “Or spells that you think will be useful, or some recommended by your tutor, in what is called a Spellbook. It is like a Mage’s curriculum and toolbox. Usually by the time you become a Highmage and chose to leave you have around twenty to thirty spells in your Spellbook that you can actually cast and around ten to fifteen that you can’t yet. That is usually enough for any mage to spend their life mastering... But there are a lot of mages that just want to learn every spell of a certain path and have hundreds and hundreds them in lots of thick books that they have to carry around all the time. That is not practical unless you have a walking library, sort of a magical book with endless pages to write.”

Lu immediately thought of Nauzet and his shiny book. “Would I also have to write all those spells down?”

“You don’t have to have a Spellbook, but is useful.” Aregoma added. “The thing is, once you become a Highmage you have your license and you usually are specialized on some kind of work: Advisor, Agromage, Warmage, Arcanosmith... Or you can just go, there are plenty of rich nobles who pay good money just to have a mage around in their courts.” She laughed. “You spend your time doing your work, mastering whichever spells you have chosen, doing other hobbies... And if you ever feel like it you can go back to the academy and get certified for fourth grade spells, and eventually fifth and become an Archmage if things go right.”

“Halt!” A voice shouted from the front. It was one of the guards. In front of them there was a massive boulder fully blocking the path.

The travellers started to murmur anxiously. “I have a bad feeling about this.” Said the captain. “Do we have any matter mage that can open a path?”

The gnome Lu had seen last night walked forwards from one of the carts behind them and took some time inspecting the rock, using what to Lu seemed like a first level spell to create a kind-of ladder on the boulder to climb over it and have a good look of the surrounding area.

“Oh how I miss Jake right now.” Aregoma whispered while watching the gnome work.

“He would make a whole show off this.” Tessa shook her head. “I can imagine him asking the people to cheer for him while he starts warming up... ugh, I get mad just thing about it.”

Aregoma giggled. “Aw don’t bet like that, he is just has some theatrical inclinations.” She turned to Lu, who was waiting for some clarification. “He is a... Friend of ours on the island who specializes in rock and stone magic, and he is one of the most talented mages I know. He would be a Highmage already if he had better attitude.”

“Only a friend then?” Tessa asked, hitting Aregoma with her elbow. “Does he know?”

“Well of course he knows it was his idea. If he can make up his mind I would be more than happy to be something else.”

A scream pierced their ears. It was the gnome mage. With an arrow on her shoulder.

Chaos ensued as five more arrows where shot form the above the walls of the artificial canyon, figures masked with brown cloth where shooting down, aiming at the mages. Two guards managed to get in the way of the arrows fired towards the gnome and deflected them with their shields. Four arrows shot towards Aregoma, Tessa and Lu but were deflected last moment by a bubble of light that enveloped the group for a split second. It was Tessa’s spell, which she had casted almost reflexively while covering her face and turning away in a panic.

“Good reflexes.” Aregoma patted the orc on the back before turning to Lu. “We need to stay together, Tessa will cover us!.” The three of them jumped down and the necromancer pointed her staff towards one of the archers. The crown of flowers she always wore withered as the skull at the end became engulfed in crimson light. “tiʂimiwigisi”

Lu watched as a bolt of red energy shot from the eyes of the skull towards the archer. In a matter of seconds the hood they were wearing broke apart and turned to dust and their skin started to become black and blue, blisters and pustules popping all over their face. There was a scream of pain and the remaining archers shouted something. From the top of the wall a dozen ropes fell and just as many bandits in dark hoods rappelled down five metres to the floor in an instant. One of them rushed past Lu, towards the mages. Lu Lunged towards the bandit, tackling him to the ground. They rolled next to Aregoma and jumped to their feet, unsheathing their blade.

“Group up!” Shouted Aregoma, after disabling another of the archers. “To the front of the caravan.” Civilians started to gather around Tessa who was still using her bubble spell to deflect the arrows while a few of the bodyguards defended the oncoming bandits. Aregoma and Lu crossed gazes and nodded at each other. Aregoma stayed with the group, moving forwards. Lu went back.