Call of Ring(Compleled)

38 New Books

Blake was thankful that he had found sleep more easily the second time he laid down for the night. His sleep was uneventful. In fact, he didn’t even remember dreams of any kind. Blake stirred in his bed, and even though his eyes remained shut, he could sense that daylight was pouring into his room. Blake rubbed his eyes in an attempt to force them into functioning as they should. A blurred image obstructed his doorway, but as he blinked again, it became clear that his beautiful friend Sadie was standing in the doorway of his room. He wondered how long she had been standing there waiting for him to wake.

“It’s about time you woke up,” Sadie said teasing him as if the day had nearly passed.

“How long have you been there?” Blake asked in a groggy voice.

“A while. I was enjoying watching you sleep. But I also wanted to make sure that I was the first thing you saw when you woke up!” she said with the flirtatious declaration.

“Well, you managed to accomplish what you set out to do. I must confess, it’s a pleasant thing to behold the sigh of you upon my first waking moments,” Blake admitted out loud.

“Aww… thank you, Blake!” Sadie replied.

“How was the rest of your shift?” Blake asked as he sat up.

“Uneventful,” she reported.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Blake replied.

“Well, I suppose I should leave you to get dressed, although I’d prefer to stay,” she said begging his permission with her mischievous smile.

Blake yet again froze at the moment, but heard himself say out loud, “I’ll be out in a moment.”

Sadie left the room with an air of disappointment about her. When Blake emerged from his room, he found that Natan was also exiting his room at the same time.

“Good Morning Blake,” said Natan. “I will prepare some tea for us.”

But as they both entered the common area, they realized that Sadie had already brought life to the fire with a teapot already at a boil. She poured all three a cup of tea.

“Have you heard of Aesar, patriarch of the Dwarfs?” inquired Sadie looking at Natan.

“Yes, I have,” responded Natan unsure of why she had asked the question.

“Last night during my security watch, I was attacked by two dwarfs. I presume they were sent by Aesar himself. I’m trying to figure out what type of mission they were on by coming to the Calvin School of Magic.”

Sadie let the words sit in the room, but neither Natan nor Blake responded.

“Well aren’t you boys talkative this morning,” Sadie said breaking the silence and seeming annoyed.

“I don’t believe I can contribute any knowledge to your suspicions, but surely you don’t believe Aesar was coming after you? It must have been a strategy undisclosed to somehow undermine the school. I have heard that he is working closely with King Adelai of the Midori Empire. Maybe they are jealous that they do not have the influence of their own school of arts-focused on training up mages?”

Natan’s words seemed a bit hollow as if he was trying to deflect from sharing a more profound truth that he knew.

“I’m not sure I agree with your theory, but thank you for helping me imagine what could be,” Sadie replied with contemplation.

“I’m just glad you are safe,” replied Blake pretending that he was just now hearing about the attack for the first time. He wondered how he could manage the secrets they both were now trying to keep from the other. 

“Thank you, Blake. We should head out for the morning meal,” Sadie said standing to her feet.

The two men showed their agreement by standing up along with her. The three of them left their dorm house and made their way through the patio an onto one of the paths that led to the dining hall.

“I wonder what adventure awaits us today,” Blake said trying to make their collective mood more playful.

“Probably more training of some sort,” retorted Natan.

After the morning meal of assorted bread and cheeses along with more coca leaf tea, the group of three exited the dining hall and made their way back into the center of the patio. Mage Zenith was waiting near the flagpole for all the students to gather. Thirteen were left including Blake, Sadie, and Natan.

I will meet you all at the field in a few moments time. We will begin with a run similar to the one we had yesterday. After the run is completed, I will be with you for more instructions. The Grand Master headed out into the direction of his office, while the rest of them made their way to the field.

About an hour later, the run was completed, and sure enough, Mage Zenith had suddenly appeared by the water fountain. He waited as the students took turns refreshing themselves with water. When they all had finished their turns of refreshments.

“I’m pairing you up for hand to hand combat once again, just as we did in yesterday’s exercise. But there will be one major difference between yesterday and today’s fights. Today’s fight will be unsupervised, and there are no rules.”

The words of declaration by Mage Zenith sent a silent hush through the small group of students. The Grand Master paused for dramatic effect and appeared to make eye contact with each specific student before continuing to speak.

“My advice to you…make sure you win your fight…at any cost!”

He then began pairing up the students until there remained only three left. Sadie, Natan, and Blake stood waiting to see how he would complete the pairings given that there were three of them remaining.

“The three of you will be coming with me,” he said to the surprise of all of them.

He then said in a loud voice, “BEGIN!”

As the three followed him to the edge of the field, they could hear that fighting had commenced fiercely behind them. Blake turned slightly to peer over his shoulder. The sight that met his eyes was not a pretty one. Blood was being shed, and at least five students would die in the next moments of fighting. Nonetheless, he turned his attention to where Mage Zenith might be leading them next.

Blake was surprised to find a small path at the edge of the field. He wondered whether Natan had ever seen the path before. He was pretty confident that Sadie hadn’t seen it. The path disappeared into a thicket of woods. The three students walked in silence, following the Grand Master. It was cooler in the forest. Although the sun was hot on this day void of clouds, it could not penetrate well the thicket of trees that surrounded them. After a few minutes of walking, Blake noticed an opening in the distance. At the edge of the opening was a large two-story building. A moment later, they were at the door. Mage Zenith opened the door. The main floor was a large empty room, but in the center was a staircase.

Without taking time to explore the main floor, Mage Zenith began climbing the stairs with the students following his lead. The scene that met them at the top of the stairs was in sharp contrast to the empty first floor. The second floor’s outer walls were covered from floor to ceiling in shelves. On the shelves were what Blake presumed to be thousands of books. In the center of the room to his left was a large carpet, the dried skin of some animal. To their right was another area also covered with a similar carpet. Mage Zenith extended both his arms outward in pride and said one word: “Welcome!”