The Hidden Realm

Chapter 21 – AGHENUM

THREE days’ rest was over. Eleand filled his lungs with air when he went out to his room. The day of his fight with Fariyah finally came.

He calmed himself. At least at this moment, he could wield the basics of the Protexerium. But still, he needed to prepare himself for the worse outcome. Fariyah’s magic was out of his league. Another wrong move, then he would be in the afterlife.

“It’s a good thing that you recovered at last.”

Eleand looked in the direction of the voice. He composed himself when he recognized the priestess.

Her face was void of expression. The usual cold appearance. But this time, she was not wearing her combat suit. She wore a turquoise gown with a white fur coat on her back. Her gray hair softly flowed down with a braid circling her head.

Better. He breathed loosely. It seemed she wasn’t planning to go on a fight.

“It’s nice to see you, High Priestess.”

“We’ll try to practice your water magic, the Aghenum. If you can learn the basics, then you can easily wield the water and ice.”

“All right. I will try.” The idea made him excited. But he didn’t show it to the priestess. He would never give her the benefit of torturing him again.

“I’m going to teach you first the ancient symbols you need to familiarize yourself with water wielding. Let’s go to the library.” She snapped her fingers, and they emerged beside the massive bookshelf.

“I will give you only five days to master the symbols used to wield water magic, and then I’ll test your ability in another battle.”

She clicked her fingers twice, and three thick books emerged. They looked old, and he couldn’t think how he could be able to study those books in just five days. He was not superhuman. Five days was really absurd to learn Aghenum. Was this another kind of a sick joke? Fariyah was very inconsiderate.

“Thanks,” he mumbled through his silent protest. He held the books levitating in the air.

However, Eleand looked at the positive way. He thought this was way better, thinking he would not die yet in the next five days. But he had to rush things to be well-equipped for his battle with the priestess. He would do everything by the book, and he promised to learn everything he could handle.

“You’re lucky. I’ll be away these days. I need to meet the High Priestess of Aderawiel. Since we’ll not attend the council meeting in Argia.”

Eleand sensed something was bothering her. Even her face remained empty. Perhaps, the descendant of the Goddess of Winter had weakness after all. He must find it out. Maybe that vulnerability would be his at his advantage.

“I’ll see you in five days, High Priestess,” he grinned. It would be a great relief if she were absent from the temple. He would move freely without thinking she might harm him anytime.

Fariyah remained silent and disappeared without saying a word. While he gawked to the books in his hands.

ELEAND wasted no time in five days learning the basics of Aghenum. He was thankful to Enkille for teaching him the ancient faerie alphabet that he didn’t find it hard to understand the context of the books. However, the number of symbols he should memorize was overwhelming. His mind almost collapsed for information overload.

He took breaks when needed. When his mind was fully saturated, he would take a nap. But not for long. He had to push himself past his limit. Sleepless nights were a minimal price to pay.

On the fifth day, he was already familiar with the symbols needed for water wielding. This time, he would do a practical experiment to see if he succeeded.

He hurriedly gets a glass of water and puts it on the dining table. He was overwhelmed by excitement.

Eleand carefully drew one symbol to control the amount of water in the glass. He used a spot of black ink on a white cloth. He would look at the instructions from the basic book of Aghenum, careful not to make any mistake.

He was sure that nothing would go wrong. It was a magic circle with two perpendicular lines inside and another small circle in the middle. His rune magic must work.

He chanted the basic incantations, but nothing happened to the water. He repeated the process with no changes. He only ended up disappointed since the water from the glass remained as is. Even at his incantations, it remained motionless. It was supposed to swirl inside the glass.  Eleand only looked stupid, staring at it.

He was frustrated, and his excitement was slowly fading. Everything seemed easy now that he somehow mastered the basic spells. How come the magic would not work? Maybe he did something wrong to nullify the magic of Aghenum.

Damn. He clenched his fist. He followed everything by the book. He was even sure that he executed each thing without any error, the spells and symbols. What could be the problem?

He tried making different magic symbols, thinking it would work. There was no room for errors. But he was more disappointed when the results were the same.

Nothing happened.

No! He briskly tapped the table, almost losing his temper.

Eleand cleared his mind and calmed himself. He should not let his emotions ran over him. The faeries would not let him study this magic if he could not do it. It would be another weakness. There must be a way to control the water.

He got up and went to the terrace to get some fresh icy breeze. He could see a group of Dimraes practicing their ice magic in synchronization. They were like dancing in the snow while carving weapons on air. The magic circles were glowing in their hands.

He looked at his hand and repeatedly asked himself why he could not do it. Maybe this had something to do with him being a human. He knew that mortals could not wield strong magic, but he believed in Enkille that somehow, he could summon the four elements. Maybe she only said those words for him to be optimistic.

He was running out of time. The next day, it would be his match with Fariyah. But even a small glass of water was difficult to control. Enkille was not there to help him.

Eleand could not sleep at night, thinking that something was wrong with his spells even he knew he did it right. Until he dozed off, feeling his failure.

The water seemed impossible for him to manipulate. Maybe he should prepare himself for his sure death. He would just pray hard that some higher being would listen.