The Order of Elysia

Chapter 12- Trouble

Two deaths in just two days were a lot for Lilly to process, especially since she hadn’t even fully come to terms with the two corpses she had discovered during the trial, even though she still did not know if the second had been an illusion or a real body. She shivered.

Warden Thorndale had killed a Disciple without even flinching and even though the man had seemed to have regained his senses by the time the Warden snapped his neck, no one had said a word against him, not even Monella. The cracking sound still echoed in Lilly’s mind and she shivered at the sheer cold-bloodedness, perhaps even heartlessness, of the Warden.

Her hope of receiving a glyph of her own had been somewhat dampened by the events and the deaths and their disturbing circumstances had clearly left their mark on the mood of the other Disciples as well. The new Disciples hadn’t had much interaction with the rest of the Order yet, except at the Festival of Lightbinding and even though there were still over sixty of them in total, the heaviness in the air was undeniable.

Warden Neachtain, who was as charming as ever, got straight into beginning their lesson, just as she had done several times before, but not without spitting some unnecessarily rude comments at them, whilst explaining, that manifestations were initiated by actions, skills or talents and sometimes even by the emotions of the holder.

She instructed the Disciples to begin a meditation, one in which they were to focus entirely on the Veil that surrounded them. Through steady breathing, they were to release every earthly thought, freeing themselves from distraction in order to sink into the vast emptiness of the Veil. Once they found it, they were to speak to it, build a relationship with it, reveal themselves and show who they were deep within, show their talents, their skills and their emotions. But the Warden never explained how exactly that communication was supposed to look like.

Lilly had already tried countless times to reach the state of trance the Warden spoke of, but not even the intoxicating incense or the dimmed lighting helped her free her mind from its ever-buzzing thoughts. The meditation was meant to open oneself to the Veil and invite it to peer into their soul.

Though meditation wasn’t strictly necessary for the manifestation of glyphs, it was said to strengthen the bond between the Veil and the mortal spirit- like two cats cautiously circling and sniffing one another before curling up together in peace.

Lilly closed her eyes and took deep, even breaths. She tried to focus on the darkness and on her breathing, but her thoughts refused to be tamed, darting wildly through her mind. Every time she painstakingly managed to push one thought aside, another forced its way to the forefront. Why was this so difficult?

A startled cry rang through the classroom. Lilly’s eyes flew open and the others’ heads snapped toward the source of the outburst as well. Kael Norwyth had leapt to his feet, clutching his mouth, a pained gurgling sound escaping from between his fingers. Warden Neachtain didn’t hesitate and strode quickly over to Kael to inspect him. He looked as if he’d swallowed something, his face twisted in panic, clearly struggling to breathe.

"Remove your hand from your mouth or you’re going to suffocate!”, the Warden barked. But Kael only widened his eyes in panic, clearly beyond reason, gasping for air.

With a swift, practiced motion and seemingly no patience to repeat herself, Warden Neachtain grabbed his wrist and yanked his hand away from his face. Lilly recoiled, as Kael’s lips and tongue had turned a deep shade of blue. Warden Neachtain, to Lilly’s confusion, let out a satisfied grin. Did she really find that funny?

"Congratulations, Norwyth.”, she said coolly. "You now officially bear a mage's glyph. Elysia must truly be watching over you, letting you slip from the Chamber of Gods first, only to bless you with an arcane glyph right away.”

Kael stared at her, confused, as if he had no idea what she was talking about. Warden Neachtain turned back to her desk, retrieved a mirror and held it up to Kael’s face. His mouth, already gaping in bewilderment, dropped even further open. Slowly, Kael extended his bluish tongue to examine it in the mirror.

There, shining like a pearl, was a silver symbol in the shape of a snowflake, glowing faintly on the surface of his tongue. Kael had succeeded in receiving a glyph and it had manifested directly into his mouth- in front of everyone. Whatever power it held, it clearly had something to do with snow or ice and as the glyph had taken its form, his mouth had grown steadily colder, to the point that he instinctively tried to muffle the sensation.

In the weeks that followed, more and more Disciples began developing new glyphs, some during classes, some in their private time and the excitement and motivation among the students steadily grew again, pushing the unfortunate deaths of their comrades aside. Most of the Disciples received glyphs that were useful to the White Hands, Steelbounds, or Chroniclers, whilst so far, only one other Disciple besides Kael had been granted a mage glyph.

A part of Lilly also hoped to claim a glyph of her own soon, though she wasn’t surprised that nothing had happened yet, after all, she had neither managed to enter a proper meditative trance, nor had she properly prayed to the gods since she had become a Disciple. But when Raven excitedly showed them a small symbol in the shape of an axe with a blade wreathed in flames on her fore-arm one morning, Lilly was genuinely happy for her and Raven looked as excited as Lilly had ever seen her.

"I knew it.”, Raven exclaimed enthusiastically.

"I thought you didn’t have a preference when it came to your main path.”, Lilly teased her with a laugh.

Raven rolled her eyes, but not without a wide grin on her lips. "I didn’t want to jinx it, but now that the cat’s out of the bag, yes, I want to join the Steelbounds. They’re among the finest warriors in the Realm and I’m absolutely thrilled about this new companion here.”, Raven nodded toward her forearm, where the delicate lines of the glyph shimmered.

"Do you think it can set my weapon on fire?”, she asked dreamily.

"That’s rich coming from you, aren’t you the one who always knows everything?” Lilly giggled, then added, "But yes, it could.”

Raven blushed slightly but didn’t let it show in her demeanor. Instead, she admitted, "I know a lot about the Order, but not so much about glyphs.”

"So how do you know so much about the Order, anyway?”, Lilly probed her.

Raven shrugged, as she often did when she wanted to appear casual and responded: "I used to know a guy who was part of the Order. He told me a lot about it.”

***

Lilly’s skills with the shortbow had improved significantly, especially since she had been putting in extra effort, occasionally even taking additional solo-sessions on the weekends to hone her abilities. She hadn’t wanted to give Thorndale any reason to tear her down and to her relief, he usually paid her little attention during training. Much to her annoyance, however, she noticed that Rurik received particularly detailed instructions from him, how to handle his crossbow for maximum reloading efficiency and optimal accuracy. More accuracy for shooting at her again.

Raven and Alaric had hardly left her side during the training sessions with him and Lilly was grateful for their support. On this late summer morning, however, the Warden announced that in addition to shooting practice, they would begin their first tracking exercises.

The morning air was brisk as the Disciples gathered at the long pier leading to the sparse docked ships in the harbour. It was their first time leaving the Isle since arriving and it was an exhilarating prospect for all three of them.

They stood in restless rows, some with eyes bright and eager, others pale with nerves, until Warden Thorndale’s shadow fell across them, heavy and commanding, his presence alone enough to silence their murmurs. He arrived in full travel gear, with a dark cloak slung over his shoulder, light boots on his feet and a rune-covered longbow across his back.

With him stood three other Wardens, each stern and unreadable, their cloaks marking rank as clearly as their weapons did. Together the four carved the sea of initiates into order, splitting them without argument into smaller units. Fifteen to sixteen Disciples were in each group, four groups all together and when Thorndale called Lilly’s name into his own, her stomach sank like stone. She would rather have been anywhere else, under anyone else’s authority, but she reluctantly complied.

When they were all divided, Thorndale stepped forward, his boots striking the ground with finality, his gaze sweeping over them like the edge of a blade. “This is not a trip for pleasure,” he growled, his voice low and rough, carrying across the open ground. “You are here to learn. You will speak only when addressed and you will obey without hesitation, because disobedience in the field gets people killed.”

They arrived at a dense coastal pine-woodland after an hour-long ship drive, which was shrouded in fog. The coast of the mainland lay wild and untamed compared to the neatly kept Temple Isle. Warden Thorndale ordered them in low tones and instructed them how to read broken twigs, bent grasses and to move without sound.

They had been walking and reading paths, for nearly an hour, slipping silently through tangled roots and underbrush when Thorndale raised his hand for them to stop, then he seemed to be listening to something until he finally whispered: "Stay here. I’ll scout ahead alone. No one moves until I return." Then, he vanished into the trees like smoke. They waited and two minutes passed, then five more.

Lilly's legs were restless, her eyes fixed on the trail leading deeper into the woods. A strange set of tracks led off the main path, deep and unlike anything they'd seen so far. She perked up her ears and then she heard something... voices? It sounded like two people talking to each other. She leaned slightly in the direction from which she barely heard the faint murmuring, as if those few centimeters would make a difference, but the wind carried away the sounds.

"We’re supposed to stay.”, Raven whispered in Lilly’s direction.

"I know.”, she muttered, but she was already moving.

"Lilly!”

She just had to move a tiny bit closer, not far, then she would hear everything. Just a little more. She took a small step closer and then another, until she could almost make out what was being said, but before she knew it, she had already crept several meters into the forest, crouched between the pines and listening.

A short moment later, Thorndale’s voice cracked like a whip right in front of her: "Back into formation. Now.", clearly displeased, if not angry at her disobedience. She didn’t apologize or explain; she just rose, brushed off her knees and returned to the group without giving the Warden the chance to lecture her, but he did anyway.

“I can’t believe I have to babysit you off all people.”, he condescendingly spat at Lilly and she realised that she had probably been assigned to his group so she wouldn't run for it. After all, she was not there voluntarily.

They continued with the pathseeking lessons for about another hour or two, until they entered an area of the forest that was eerily silent. The Disciples were tense and alert, as no one ever knew what lurked within the woods. Suddenly, a low growl rumbled from the shadows ahead. Thorndale’s eyes narrowed as a beast with matted black fur and razor-sharp teeth dripping with saliva, appeared behind the trees. It walked on two legs and had claws as large as shovels, its glowing eyes were round and yellow and Lilly instantly knew it was a Gorefang, even though she had only seen a single one in her life, one in captivity- as an attraction at a travelling fare. The Gorefang was a malicious creature that lived in the forests of Drosven and Tyr and preferred to feast on the entrails of its victims, but it usually hunted at night. Lilly shuddered at its grim appearance and threatening demeanour.

"Form a defensive circle!”, Thorndale commanded. "No one moves from their position until I give the signal. Do not engage unless directly threatened!”

The Disciples scrambled into position, hearts pounding; they had practiced this formation already, but none of them had needed to use it in a real fight so far. The creature was greatly outnumbered, but the Disciples didn’t carry weapons and the Gorefang was huge, over 3,5 meters tall. Suddenly, a whimper cut through the air, as a young Disciple, trapped behind a thicket, stumbled and fell, panicked, helpless and vulnerable.

"Hold your ground!”, Thorndale barked, his voice rigid with authority. "No exceptions!”

Lilly’s breath caught, as she saw the beast’s snarling muzzle close in on the fallen Disciple, sniffing it with its nostrils. The monster was only a meter away from the Disciple, ready to devour her. Only three more steps until the Gorefang would reach her, two, one… Ignoring the order, Lilly broke formation and dashed forward.

"Ayrelle! Stop!”, Thorndale’s voice thundered after her.

She reached the Disciple just in time, shoving her to the side as the beast lunged. The creature’s glowing green eyes locked onto Lilly with a predatory intensity that made her heart pound painfully in her chest, its massive claws scraping the earth as it approached, teeth bared and dripping. Frozen for a moment by the sheer terror of the beast’s ferocity, Lilly barely had time to react before it lunged at her, the air crackling with the raw menace of its attack. Just as its claws were about to rend her flesh, the imposing figure of Warden Thorndale burst from the group, his movements fluid and merciless as he intercepted the beast with a single, practiced strike, sending the monster crashing lifelessly to the ground without a hint of struggle.

Lilly, still trembling from the close call, couldn’t help but watch the Warden stand over the fallen creature, wiping the blade of his dagger clean with a casual efficiency that suggested it was nothing more than a routine task for him. Why had he wasted so much time drilling formations and endangering the Disciples, when it was so effortless for him to dispatch a Gorefang? The question gnawed at her mind as she glanced nervously at the other Disciples, most of whom seemed shaken but silently grateful.

Lilly stood still, her chest heaving and her eyes fierce as she faced Thorndale, whose voice was low: "Your recklessness could have cost us. Orders exist for a reason.”

"I have broken the order, because I would rather carry your anger than the weight of another death.”, she said loudly, her voice unwavering.

A stunned silence followed and the other Disciples exchanged looks of shock and respect. None of them had challenged Thorndale before and no one would have figured that it would be Lilly who dared to do so. The Warden’s expression hardened: "This is insubordination.”, he spat. "You will learn respect, or you will face consequences.”

"Respect? I was helping someone who almost got devoured by a Gorefang, because our Warden wasn’t.”, Lilly countered, very well knowing that she had probably overstepped a boundary.

“Do you really think your judgment outweighs mine?”, he asked, his voice now dangerously quiet and Lilly was sure that it was not a good sign. "The situation was under control; I saw this encounter as an opportunity to test if you could apply what Warden Volker has taught you about formations in training. Your little maneuver was premature.”, he said, as he pulled out a little red booklet and a pen. He wrote something onto one of the pages, ripped it out of the booklet and handed the parchment to Lilly without further comment.

FORMAL CITATION

Disciple: Melody Ayrelle

Offense: Repeated disobedience of commands during sanctioned off-island field operation.

Details: Left position during security hold. Broke stealth protocol. Ignored order during attack. Disrespected Warden

Filed by: Warden Aurin Thorndale

Severity: Level I - First offense. Repeat offense risks of expulsion or execution

Lilly folded the citation and tucked it into her belt without talking back to the Warden this time. f**k, a citation. She tried not to let her distress show, maybe she would have gotten away with disobeying his commands, if she hadn’t acted so sassy towards him or maybe, it wouldn’t have mattered and he had just waited to punish her after he couldn’t at the Festival of Lightbinding. Anyways, a citation was bad news.