A Shadow in the Mist

“When a Warden first bonds with their Relic, his spiritual connection to it is very weak. This weak connection requires him to speak aloud the name of the skill he wants to use every time he wishes to enact it. Only by going through severe training, in combat or through intense meditation can this bond be strengthened, allowing the Warden to start using their skills by thought alone.”

-from Training a Warden by Sir Lindren Beige, 455 AB

Cain- Friday, August 16th, 564 AB

I walked through the town with Aranea. It was early morning, but we didn’t have much to do until the fall term started. More and more students were arriving, but we still had two weeks until our training would officially start. Aranea’s fingers laced through mine as we moved past carriages and horses in the cobbled street. We could have ridden, but sometimes it was nice to just stretch our legs.

She carried a basket in her other arm with willow boughs she’d bought in the market. I’d need to kill more imps soon to sell their monster cores, but we were forbidden from going hunting on our own. I could get Enoch to go into the Mist with me and hunt down some Mist djinn.

We arrived at Rineer’s farmstead and Aranea gave me a quick kiss before heading inside with the other woman. I rolled my shoulders, stretching in preparation for my next day of agony. Enoch and I started running and the metal balls started flying. One hit my knee and I fell and limped back to the start, slowly building up speed as I shook off the pain.

We kept going, the whistling iron balls barraging us and knocking us over. I reached out for my skills with my mind, every time trying to turn incorporeal, but I just couldn’t do it. I knew I shouldn’t be disappointed; it had only been a week. But I still was, every time. Again and again I ran the course, failing to even complete it five times out of six. Enoch and I were bruised and bloody again at the end of the three hours, without either of us getting a success.

“Keep at it,” Rineer said to us. “Remember, don’t focus on dodging, focus on that connection to your Relic.”

“I don’t…” I gasped. “Even know what I’m supposed to be feeling.”

“You will in time,” he said. “Sleep with your Relic under your pillow, meditate with it in your hands. Let it be as inseparable from you as your hand is from your arm.”

We stepped into the practice ring and I set Achlys down on the wooden crate. I ran my fingers over its broken blade, focusing on what I felt might be what Rineer was describing. I let my fingers drift off it as I stepped away and entered the ring weaponless. Rineer stood in the center as Enoch and I circled him, armed only with our shields. Enoch carried a much larger round shield than I did, but it was still useless against his father’s speed.

Rineer attacked, I jumped over a swing of his spear. My hand was always extended out towards my dagger as I tried to will it to come to me. I got hit in the chest and rolled through the grass. I spun to my feet, blocking a downward thrust with my shield and sprang to my feet. I ducked the next strike, reaching out my hand again. Rineer moved between, attacking me and Enoch with no loss of momentum or fluidity, using the rebound from one strike to move into another.

He would sometimes hit the same place three times in a row, driving the point home into the sensitive bruise. He would always make sure to have hit us in every part of our body before the duel was done. So we would ache all over, with bruises where no conventional enemy would normally strike. I kept reaching out for my Relic. I wanted to close my eyes to better focus, but doing so would land me on my back with a ringing skull.

It wasn’t just the pain that distracted me, it was the fear. I knew rationally that Rineer wasn’t going to kill me, but I had to fight down the urge to freeze whenever his spear came flying towards my face. I cursed myself inwardly for the fear, trying to suppress it, but I couldn’t. That fear was knotted up inside me so tight I couldn’t unpack it.

Only through fear can you have courage, Enoch’s words came echoing back to me in my mind and suddenly, in the middle of the fight, I remembered something my mother said. The memory was more of a dream than reality in my mind, but I could recall sitting in a field of flowers with her, the white capped mountains before us.

“Fear isn’t something to be ashamed of Cain,” she’d said stroking my hair. “It was given to us by the Voice to keep us alive. Listen to that fear, let it keep you alive but don’t let it choose your actions for you.”

Rineer’s spear hit me in the side of the head and I went down on the ground. I rolled to the side, but the spear was still swinging down at my head. I raised my hand up to block my eyes closing as I waited for it to hit my face. Nothing happened and I looked up to see Rineer smiling.

“Why didn’t you hit me?” I asked.

“Look at your Relic,” he said.

I turned my head in the grass and looked at the crate. Achlys wasn’t there anymore; it was stuck in the dirt ten feet from the crate.

“You did it,” Rineer said. “You may not have pulled it all the way to you, but you managed to connect with it. Take the rest of the day off, meditate on that feeling you just had, don’t lose it. I’ll practice here with Enoch for the rest of the two hours, and we’ll see you tomorrow.”

I stood up and picked up Achlys, sheathing it on my left arm. I walked past the house where Aranea was sitting out front. She stood up and hurried over to me when she saw me.

“Is something wrong?” she asked me worriedly.

“No,” I said, smiling. “I finally did it, I managed to pull my Relic to me.”

That’s great!” she said moving forward to hug me before stepping back. “You need a bath.”

I laughed at her expression and pulled her close for a quick kiss. She shrieked, but laughed as I pulled away.

“I’ll see you back home,” I said.

“That’s the first time I think I’ve heard you call it that,” Aranea said.

“Call it what?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.

“Home,” Aranea said.

“Well…I guess it hasn’t quite felt like it was ours before, it was just someplace we were given,” I said scratching the back of my head. “But it does feel…like it's finally ours now. I can’t explain it.”

“You don’t have to,” Aranea said. “I get it.”

Aranea

I returned to our apartment and found Cain sitting in the common room at the table. He slid his Relic across the table and closed his eyes, holding out his hand. It slowly slid back across the table into his hand, and he slid it back. I closed the door softly and watched as he did it over and over. He’d taken a shower and was wearing his good clothes. Tomorrow was the sabbath and we’d join the rest of the academy for mass.

I sat down and watched as he kept sliding it across the table and summoning it back to his hand, again and again. Every time he did I watched as it slid a little bit faster back into his hand. Finally, he opened his eyes and noticed me.

“You’re getting really good at that,” I said smiling. “I knew you could do it.”

“It’s like I found a missing piece of myself,” Cain said. “Like I had another arm that was asleep my whole life and only now is it waking up.”

I felt a bit of irrational jealousy all of a sudden. There was something in Cain’s voice that spoke of a connection that I would never experience and could never fill. I pushed aside the feeling; it was his Relic not a person.

“Are you going into the Mist anytime soon?” I asked.

“I wasn’t planning on it yet, why do you need something?” Cain asked.

I pulled out the basket I had with me. It was filled with all the Wards I’d created. “I need you to hang these up so they start collecting ether.”

Cain took and examined the wards. “You made all these?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said proudly. “I’m getting better and better, but I want to test them and see which designs worked better.”

“I think I could get Enoch to come with me,” Cain said. “I need a partner before they’ll allow us to go into the Mist and hunt djinn.”

“So you’ll go?” I asked hopefully.

Cain smiled at me. “Yes, I’ll go.” He promised me.

I pulled out a white shirt with its edges embroidered in golden thread. “Lydia helped me make this for you. It isn’t armor but it's enchanted to regulate temperature and will keep you warm while you’re in the Mist, and stop you from overheating in battle.”

He took the shirt, running his fingers over the fabric. “Aranea! This is silk!” he protested.

“It cost most of our money,” I admitted. “But I wanted to give you a gift before our training started.”

“Thank you,” he said, standing up and kneeling beside me pulling me close.

I rested my head on his shoulder, embracing him back. “Stay safe,” I whispered in his ear, and his arms grew just a bit tighter around me.