A Curse of Anger and Lightning

Chapter 3: Ran`ji

I watched as Eoaila stormed off, in a hurry as always. Making sure to enjoy a lingering stare – my eyes on that fabulous roll of her hips, her bouncing backside.

I tried to hold back a chuckle, how she amounted to the rank of Lieutenant on Han’lan’s watchful gaze was beyond me. She was always late, always had a snarky retort to her superiors, never listened to assignments and always, to our Quan’dar’s exasperation, took projection field trips in the mortal continent.

As younglings, she drove our mentors to the brink of madness with all her troublemaking.

Alas, she was so talented that even with all her shortcomings, she made a remarkable Lieutenant.

Her skill with the power of Equilibrium was unmatched– except by maybe Han’lan and our eldest Quan’dar.

She was a calculated and fierce fighter, wielded a spear so long and sharp it could chop off the legs of 10 grown adults in one swipe. A very unique choice for a weapon, it was perfect for her combat style: She was agile and acrobatic, jumping and flipping about as if the breath of Frei’il carried her. She used the length of her weapon to catapult herself in the air and deliver devastating blows. It made her a very difficult target to hit and an even more frustrating opponent.

Our sparring had only ever resulted in me being dominated to the ground over and over again.

The only thing I mastered Eoaila in was the art of camouflage, then again, I wouldn't be much of an Eium'darsha if it was not the case.

So I took pride in being able to elude and escape her, much to her frustration. She was becoming sharper with training, but she was easily distracted and thus, lost track of me more often than none. It became my guilty pleasure to tease and taunt her this way. She is my guilty pleasure.

I took a stroll around the Fountain tower, I was on watch and nothing interesting ever happened when I was on watch. Being captain of this faction did come with perks afterall.

I looked up to see the power sphere shifting to a white and blue hue.

That late huh? I wonder what they wanted with Eoaila. I usually had eyes and ears reporting to me from all over Feol’daria, but what went on in the council was a secret to everyone, it’s where higher ranked Ei’ilnam received their assignments, delegating to others afterwards.

This would be the first time Eoaila was summoned there herself. I couldn’t help but think she was in some kind of trouble, again. Han’lan would usually take the beating for her after her troublemaking and punish her harshly for bringing shame on herself.

I remember she once forced Eoaila to walk from the outer rim back to the Galleim Headquarters by binding her wings with a tightening spell. I had secretly followed them using my camouflage and had accompanied her on her trek. She waddled back stubbornly on foot and never complained once. It took 3 days, she never stopped, never complained, never hesitated– only walked.

I watched her from afar for those three days –admiring her silently from my hidden viewpoint. I knew then, she was stronger than all of us.

As younglings, we were never seen without each other. From the moment our bearers brought our small bodies to the fountain for the first time and were blessed with the First Bath, we were side by side.

For Ei’ilnam did not have parents, we only had Solum. We were born from a selected bearer, from a planned creation program, set in place to keep the numbers of the Dari well balanced.

We were built from said bearers, similar to lifeless and empty shells, until we were brought to the source of the Fountain Feol’ilnam and given our First Bath, where our souls would spill from its center and bestow us with life.

The Council has always said that our life comes from Solum and that He speaks and blesses all Feol’darians through the Fountain. Thus, we were allowed to enter the source of the Fountain at its core only once in our lives and it was to receive our souls.

After that, it was off to the Mina’dar, that would tend to our needs and care for us like parents, until we were ready to start learning and training.

Then the Eium’dar would take over in our endless academic lessons of history, language, politics, persuasion, languages, engineering, mathematics, science and architecture. They would lecture us through countless sphere rotations, telling tales of the great war of separation, the great fallen generals and the greed of the gods that almost destroyed the mortal continent of Remeria.

Such exhausting content.

Eoaila and I would often skip lessons to spar and fool around, but unfortunately I could disappear quickly and she could not, so she was always caught and punished whilst I escaped, unscathed.

Luckily, the Galleim’dar, who were responsible for our combat, military tactics and survival skills training, would always manage to make things more interesting, like abandoning us in the outer rim forest of Nalam during an energy storm, to make our way back ourselves.

Thrilling.

Once our minds were full and our bodies strong, the Quan’dar would step in to provide us with our final lesson to become a fully fledged Ei’ilnam : wielding Equilibrium.

From then on, they would make us go through trial after trial, filtering amongst the younglings’ talents to assign them to a Dar, based on our proficiency in the different classes.

That is when my Eoaila and I were separated, for I was of the Eium and she of the Galleim. I was of wind and water, creating illusions, tracking and cloaking spells, my mind was sharp and quick, making me excel in subterfuge and deception.

Eoaïla…She was of stone, she was of fire, she was of lightning.

She could use body enhancement and mitigation spells, summoning spells, displacement spells, projection spells, elemental spells… She was a genius and the greatest wielder seen in seven thousand years since the passing of our great general during the war of separation.

Her array of talents joined with her combat abilities along with her forthright, rational and confident personality made her a glorious addition to Han’lan’s army. Even if she drove the Colonel completely mad.

The large crystal double doors of the Fountain tower opened, I stretched my neck to see Sani walking out, shoulders tightened up, a small crease between her brows, contrasting with her youthful round face. She glanced at me and immediately walked towards me, bowing in respect at my rank.

‘’Sani, is everything alright? I thought you were only escorting the Lieutenant to her assigned bath chamber, what took so long?’’

‘’Yes sire, I did as you ordered, the Lady Lieutenant has already departed for the council, however an incident took place at the bath and I decided it was best to take it upon myself to dress, comb and prepare her to avert… any additional onlookers’’

I raised a brow and tilted my head to the side ‘’An incident you say?’’

She kneeled and bowed even lower. She spoke rapidly : ‘’Forgive me Captain Ran’ji, it was my fault, I had not paid attention in the records, had I seen beforehand that Bei’lin was in the bath chamber I assigned I would’ve changed it immediately, by my fault they got into an altercation, Milady Eoaila was hurt in the process, but Lady Bei’lin almost drowned! I could have sworn that bath was empty. Thus I offered myself as a temporary maidservant to redeem myself. Punish me as you see fit, I am unworthy of the Dar of Eium’’

‘’An altercation, what kind of… drowned?’’ I grabbed her under the armpits and lifted her up to look at her. ‘’Morsanth, calm down and tell me everything you saw and heard.’’

After managing to get every single detail of the incident from Sani, I sent her off to the library to write it off in the records as just a simple conversation and double check if Bei’lin had indeed been assigned that bath prior.

She promised not to utter a single word regarding this altercation. Eoaila did not need more heat on her today and I was in a position to bend the truth. Somehow, she had won over Morsanth, who did not want to see her get in trouble either.

“I admire Milady Lieutenant greatly” she had said, awestruck. She does have that effect on people– except Bei'lin of course.

Eoaila and Bei’lin never got along, but to go as far as almost drowning a comrade of your Dar is something only Eoaila would dare to do, but if word of this ever got out, she would be instantly demoted.

Rivarly was natural between rising and prominent Ei'ilnam, diplomacy here, service and wagers there, all the tricks were allowed. But Galleim was the only Dar that got so physical. They were all too straightforward to play the waiting game and always ended up in some duel of honour. A bunch of goons.

Exasperated by my comrade, I looked up at the sky and stars, it lit up in the most beautiful way at this hour, like a blanket of a million lanterns over a sheet of navy blue, no mortal had ever laid eyes upon such a sight, for it was the privilege of Feol’darians to exist among the light of the stars.

Wishing for a better view. I deployed my wings, flew up a few meters and grabbed hold of the tower mansard. I flipped over it in a somersault and continued my ascension.

When I reached the peak I sat down and took in the view with a deep breath of cold cosmic air. Feol’daria was the grandest of places, I would give my life to protect it, to defend it.

Reminiscing on our growth and past only made my devotion stronger. I too, would perfect myself in the arts of Equilibrium and maybe someday, I would catch up to Eoaila. Maybe in a couple thousand years, if she doesn’t drown me first. I chuckled again, crossing my arms. That brat.