The Conflict of Magics

Path Cyre

On the morning of his birthday, he did not have a nightmare about his sister. He opened his eyes and was surprised at how calm he felt instead of the usual tightness around his chest every other morning.

I am a full-grown today.

He checked the clock next to his bed: 8:14AM. The next train to the mother headquarters of the Warrs in the Cytran Town in the Rhylands was scheduled to depart in an hour. He jumped out of bed and immediately dressed in his favourite grey shirt with white jacket, jeans and shoes. He had already packed his clothes the night before so he just grabbed it and went out the door. The sounds of his footsteps were clear and loud as he rushed down the stairs. Before he headed out, away from his home, he needed to say goodbye at the very least to his mother. It did not matter if she never wholeheartedly supported him in his decision to join the Warrs, but he somewhat understood because it reminded her too much of her daughter and she was convinced that it was the reason why she died. Still, Niles thought her reasoning was well with good intention but father was more of a mystery. He remembered that morning clear as day when he snapped at Maia the reason of her being a girl so she could not join the Warrs but when Niles wanted to join, father’s reasoning gradually became that he needed his son to take over the farm once he had passed on.

He walked to the kitchen door and opened it slowly. Sure enough, there were his parents sitting on the table but instead of the usual sight of mother preparing breakfast and father drinking his cup, both were staring at him the moment he opened the door, as if they had been expecting him to show up since the night before.

“Happy birthday, Niles.” Mother’s voice broke the silence, and Niles was uncomfortably aware that she was close to crying.

“Thank you, mother. I just want to say goodbye before…”

His father stood up before he could finish his sentence and walked over to him. When Niles was a child, he had always thought his father was the largest man he had ever seen but on the day of his adulthood, he realised how small his father was compared to him. As the old man stared up to his son, he took Niles’ hand and pressed a bag of coin into it.

“Make this family proud.” Was all he said before he gave a hug around Niles. His once strong arms seemed to struggle around Niles and after letting go, he disappeared from the kitchen. Niles was speechless for a moment, the last time his father hugged him was on the day of Maia’s funeral and the money in his hand consisted of twenty gold coins. He had never held this much money in his hand before. “It’s for your travel to the homeland, we want you to take the Refter, at least you’ll be able to reach before the afternoon.” Mother said with a proud and sad smile. Niles could only stare at his mother, he wasn’t stunned at the amount of money in his hand but what they represented.

“Mother, do you finally approve of me joining the Warrs?” He asked. Villia Farthern’s eyes remained fixed on her son and her hand was on his arm. “No, son.” She replied.

“Then why did you give me this much money?”

Villia silently walked over to a chair and sat down, she beckoned for her son to sit down too to which he did opposite of her. “Your father may not have shown it to you the way he should but he does love you.” Niles wanted to say something but was urged to be silent by his mother. “Your sister’s death… shook all of us but he took it to the hardest. Every night he tells me that he only wished for another chance to apologize to her for saying what he said that morning and to tell her the real reason why he did not want her to join the Warrs, the same reason why we don’t want you to join.”

“What is the real reason, mother?” She shook her head, tear began to stream down her eyes. “It’s not for me to say, one day your father will tell you the real reason but not today, son.” Niles stood up from his chair and moved to his mother’s side where he wrapped his arms around her shoulder. “We know that even if we did tell you, it still wouldn’t stop from going. You have too much of your sister in you, once you decide on something, nothing will stop you. That’s why we wanted to at least make your journey easier.” She was sobbing then, and all the sounds and voices of the outside world seemed to halt in unison to allow Niles to fully take in her words. Niles himself was silent, he wanted to comfort her desperately but her words penetrated him so silence and he could only continue to hold her.

“We won’t stop you from joining, but promise me you will take care of yourself and come back when you can.” She begged her son who responded silently by hugging her tighter. He felt his own eyes began to wet.

“I will make you proud, mother, both you and father and one day I will protect you from them.” He said and at the last word, Villia shook her head. “No, Niles. Please, stop your obsession with the sorcerers. They are not going to betray us.”

“You don’t understand, mother.” Niles replied. “I understand well enough that it can be the only reason why you want to join the Warrs. You’ve convinced yourself that sorcerers are abominations and should be eradicated. Just stop, Niles. They will not turn against the empire.” She then shook her head again, “It does not matter anymore and I have no wish to discuss on something that will not raise a different outcome. Just go, son. The Refter will open in a while.” Her words were final and the sobs that followed only beckoned Niles to go. He planted his lips on Villia’s head and said to her, “One day I hope you will understand why I have to go, but please remember that I will always love you and father and I will come back to you both.” With that, he stood up and proceeded to the front door. He did hope to see his father standing before the door, waiting to give him a hug just like his mother did but his hopes were wrought in fantasy. He opened the door and walked out.

Niles had always looked forward to the day he would finally leave his childhood home and took his steps into adulthood but as he stood outside, he only felt a small wrench in his heart which voiced for him to just go back in, and accompany his parents until the day they stand before Calliath but he told himself it was natural for him to feel this way and he continued walking with a final look at the house that his father built for them. The house that became the only home he had known.

The castle that the governors reside in was constructed on the flat peak of Frajian’s Hill at the center of the city overlooking it and to move up towards the castle would require a carriage ride which in the past took at least an hour due to the treacherous steep sides until the construction of stone roads which reduced the time to an hour. Normally, if one wants to be transported without exerting himself, they would usually ride horses or carriages drawn by horses but Niles once heard rumours of a new development in the Efversian Circle which would allow a person to control a solid mesh of metal with four wheels on each side. Since he was young, Niles had grown used to the thin air around Ryse. The shortness of breath that had once plagued him had become a thing of the past.

Niles was sitting in carriage with three others on the way up: a lone man dressed in a clean tunic (a sign of lowborn) with a small scar on the left side of his neck sat beside him with his eyes fixed on outside the carriage, there was a small gap between the man and Niles and his body language made it clear that he was not to be disturbed. Sitting opposite Niles was an attractive woman with tinges of green on the tips of her hair with green eyes. She was wearing a purple pin-up blouse with matching skirt that reached slightly above her knees, she was talking to a little girl beside her who had the same hair feature but they were auburn, and her eyes were blue instead. Niles guessed that the woman hailed from the southern nation of Vularia. He had never personally met or even seen a Vularian but he recalled mother’s words of their natural colour-tinged hair. She was probably from the capital but he also knew that she could come from the poorest province but would still be far richer than half of the population in the empire. The girl was visibly scared of something because she kept fidgeting in the carriage and the woman, who Niles already guessed was her mother stroke the girl’s hair with her hand and whispered comforting words but there was no effect, she kept on fidgeting.

“Is she alright?” Niles asked the woman who at first studied Niles with surprise.

“Oh, she’s afraid of heights ahn unfortunately for hehr, the Refter is on top of a montain.” Her voice was heavily accented with the drawl of Vularia. Niles had to absorb and analyse what she said, but he understood it eventually. The back wheel of the carriage soon hit upon a sizable stone and the entire carriage rocked up. The girl let out a small scream and wedged herself closer to the woman who wrapped her arms around the girl. “Fellarn mi, nehrish forn.” The woman whispered to the shaking girl.

After the girl stopped, the woman gave Niles an apologetic look, at that moment Niles could not deny that she was beautiful. “I ahm truly sorree if we are dishturbing your ride, and to you too.” She turned her attention to the man beside Niles but he remained oblivious to the commotion inside the carriage. The girl clung to the woman with her head hidden within the material of her blouse. Niles waved his hand in response then had a thought, he reached into his pocket and produced a small pebble. He then leaned slightly towards the girl.

“Hi.” He said softly with affection. “My name is Niles, what’s your name?”

The girl slowly looked at Niles with her large and slightly bloodshot eyes. She did not say anything and only looked to the woman for assurance. The woman, grateful that someone was attempting to aid her nudged the girl to reply.

“Celia…” The girl replied with a minute voice. “Celia. That’s such a gorgeous name, do you know that in the Rhylandien dialect ‘Celia’ means fearless?” He smiled wide for her, something he rarely did, even for Veron. Celia shook her head, but for the moment she was not shivering. Encouraged, Niles continued talking.

“I never understood why they had to put a portal that can transport anything to anywhere in the world in an instant but yet we have to take a carriage up a mountain. Don’t you think so too?”

“Y..Yes… I hat it so much.” Celia replied with the same heavy accent in a little voice that made the woman raise her eyebrows in surprise.

“What is that in your hand?” She pointed to the pebble in Niles’ hand.

“This?” He said as he palmed it, even the man whose attention laid naught in the carriage finally turned his head to the conversation and Niles noticed that he was sweating.

Strange, the weather is cold today. Maybe he was involved in some activity before coming here.

“This pebble is a natural mineral found only in the Newlands.” He explained as he held it over Celia who raised her palm before Niles dropped it. “It has the ability to read your mind.”

Her eyes grew wide with surprise. “No, you ahre lying!” She then said with a hint of glee, and Niles noticed the woman was eyeing him with appreciation. Outside the carriage, Niles felt themselves elevating further away from the ground towards the peak. With a feigned face of disappointment, he slowly withdrew his pebble. “Well, if you think I’m lying, then I don’t need to show you-“

“Noh, noh! I still want to see!” Celia squealed, her face lighting up with a curious excitement only a child can replicate. Niles couldn’t help but smile widely, so he took the pebble and gestured for Celia to show him her hand. After which, he gently took her left hand and opened up her palm facing upwards, the carriage was getting bumpier but it did not affect Celia as she continued staring at both Niles and her palm with an expectation. He placed the smooth and white pebble on her palm and gently closed her fingers around it, making a fist.

“Now, this pebble cannot tell you exactly what you’re thinking, you must picture something specific in your head, like the shape of an animal or a person’s face. Do you have a favourite animal?”

She nodded with a vigour and seemed to opened her mouth to say it but was halted by Niles. “No! don’t say it, have it in your mind, only in your mind. Do you understand?” She nodded and thought hard until her face squinted.

“Tell me what you were thinking?” Niles asked.

“My Baba.” In that moment, Niles could not help but notice at how the woman’s smile dropped slightly at that mention, and he wondered what had happened.

“I see, then I’m sure you really made sure to have his face in your head?” to which she nodded again.

“Then slowly open your fingers.” He said softly and with a little excitement. Celia pried her fingers opened and she gasped with astonishment. The smooth pebble had morphed into the shape of a man’s face. He was slightly rounded, his eyebrows were thick and bushy, wrinkles ran along his forehead, and his hair was fringed slightly above his eyes. The stone was still white but Niles guessed that just like his daughter, his hair would have been a different colour. She held the pebble close to her chest and showed it excitedly to the woman. “It’s baba! It’s baba! Che nohe regua, Amelia?” she shouted to the woman named Amelia who tried to maintain her smile. “Dlean, dlean Celia. I know it’s baba.” Her voice sounded pained with disappointment.

“Can I keep this?” Celia asked Niles though felt that there was only one proper answer to her question. He had no use for Breat stone and Ondra would have been glad to know that his gift was used to cheer a frightened little girl. “Of course but promise me you will take good care of it. This stone is very precious and rare.” He replied to the girl who then kept it in her small purse with utmost care.

“I cahnnot tell you how much I appreciate what you have dahn for her. My name is Amelia by the way” Amelia said, she then held out her gloved hand to which Niles shook. “Niles Farthern.” He replied.

She took out a bag of coins from her purse and Niles knew just by the sound of the coins jiggling inside that it was worth a lot of value, just then he noticed the man staring hungrily at the purse. “I wishe I have mor to repay you for your kindness baht please accept this.” Niles was slightly stunned, he wanted to calm the girl because she reminded him of himself when he was a small boy but in front of him, Amelia was offering him more money than what his parents gave him because of it.

“No, no. I cannot accept this money. It is not right for me to take it.” Amelia’s eyebrows raised in surprise at that. “Eh? You are the first to refuse money here.” “You have given money to others this freely before?”

“Noht freely, noh. They helped me of course. Some carried my things for me, some walked my sister and myself to our cottage.”

She then placed a hand on her chest, seemingly deep in thought. “I wahs born into great wealth baht I admit that sometimes I feel tired of the money. I would rather let others have my money, even if it’s just a little. There is noh meaning in having so much… oh what is the word, when you have a lot of money?”

“Wealth?”

“Meraio! ‘wealth’!” She let out a satisfied gasp which attracted a small scorn from the quiet man. “Too much wealth does tend to make me feel bored, yes we have good food and we never hav to worry about the next ten years but there is little excitement in it.”

All the while, Niles listened to Amelia with a curious ear. His family was by no means suffering from poverty and never had to worry about obtaining just enough food to survive the next few months but the way she was talking about her inherited wealth seemed… ungrateful. All his life he was surrounded by people who had little to no chance of surviving the next year, families had sold off their most precious belongings even their own children just to get enough money to live. Here was a woman from a far wealthier nation who was speaking about wealth as if it was a nuisance. Niles understood that she did not mean any malice, maybe she just wasn’t raised experiencing hardship.

He tried to change the subject, “Would I be intruding if I ask where you intend to go?”

“Oh no, not at all. We are going to the capital to see my husband.”

Niles had no intention of wooing her but he could not help but feel slightly disappointed upon hearing that.

“I mean no offence, but I would not have imagined you to be married, you look much younger than those of marriage.” To his surprise, Amelia laughed and he could not help but admit she sounded lovely when she did. “Thank you very much for the kind words. I was married when I was only 14 years old to my husband. He is a good and kind husband but sometimes it can be bohring with so many ball nights, the lahvish dinners. Where do you intend to go?”

“To the Rhylands, I intent to join the Warrs.”

“Marvellous! It is good to join the defense of one’s own country, though I pray our armies would never collide, the Vularian army would definitely have more advantages.”

Typical Vularians.

“So is she your daughter?” He asked, trying to change the subject and gesturing towards Celia.

“Oh noh, she is my sister! In ahcordance to Vularian customs of which I am fairly sure is the same for your monarchy, noble daughters are to be wed to their chosen husbands when they reach the age of 14. Celia is to be engaged soon and I have decided to bring her for a tour of the southern neighbouring kingdom. My goodness, I have never thought your empire could be so beautiful! First we went to the Cracked Province, not as beautiful as the other provinces but it was full of history from the time when the Lacrains and the Iarians separated, like the lightning scar in Hytown! Then we used the Refter to cross the ocean to the Island of Sebia Qa, oh I have never seen su….”

Just then, Niles heard the cries of the driver and the frantic neighing of the horses pulling the carriage. The next thing he knew, he felt the carriage jumped up and his own head hitting against the roof of the carriage. Both Amelia and Celia screamed at the sudden physics with the man grunting. For a moment, Niles felt the air in the carriage being sucked out and the people floated for half a second, out of the corner of his eyes he saw the sky outside began to shift position from the top to the bottom. It was then he realised that the carriage was turning over. Soon a breaking crash erupted and Niles fell onto the roof. He felt something in his left arm break but there was no pain.

A long time seemed to pass as Niles just laid where he was, the inside of the carriage which was once prim with the oiled wood panels and clear windows was cluttered by the window shards and dust from the outside. He felt another person’s body slumping against his back, his biggest fear was for Celia and for a fleeting moment he thought she was dead. After a great effort, he wheezed out, “Is, is everybody okay?”

There was a silence that lingered for a moment before a voice called out, “Yes, we are okay.” It was Amelia, and he deduced that by the near calmness of her voice, it meant Celia was alright too.

“What happened?” Celia’s scared voice asked.

“I don’t know, I think the carriage turned over.”

“I just want to go home, I hate this place.” Celia then began to cry, her sobbing bristled the atmosphere of the carriage. Niles slowly began to wiggle his body, “I will try to get out first, then I will help you to get out so please remain still for a moment, do you understand?”

“Yes, we anhderstand.” Amelia replied.

Niles’ neck was pressed against the roof of the carriage, his body pressing down uncomfortably on it. he tried to push his body to the side with his hands and that was when he felt a sharp pain exploding from the center of his left arm. He gave a short cry which panicked Amelia. “Ahre you alright?” Her voice squeaked.

“Yes, yes. I am fine.” In truth, he wasn’t. The pain that was hidden in his arm had broken out and was spreading throughout his arm, stinging every time he tried to move his arm. Niles then began to shift his way to the broken window with more care. He used his unharmed right hand to push his body out. The air outside was colder than before, it must mean that they were only a bit further to the peak. He pushed himself up from the ground, thanking Caliath that his legs were not injured and turned back to the overturned carriage.

“Amelia, Celia. Grab my hand” He called out as he knelt over the carriage with his hand in. Without delay, Amelia urged Celia to Niles as the latter wiggled her body loose and desperately grabbed Niles’ hand. He pulled the young sobbing girl without much trouble and when he did, she cried again.

“Shh, it’s okay, you’re safe now.” Niles comforted her with his good hand around her. She reciprocated with a tight hug. “I need to help Amelia, is it okay if you let me go?”

“Noh, noh! I don’t want to let you go!” She cried out, holding onto him tighter.

“Why not?”

“I will fall off the mountain!” She replied. Niles understood then, her fear of heights was accentuated by the sudden crashing of the carriage.

“Hey you’re not going to fall off, I promise. Just sit down, stay where you are and keep looking at me and you will be safe.” Niles calmly replied while patting her head.

“Really?” She asked through the sobs. He felt her grips beginning to weaken. “Yes, really. I need to go help Amelia, don’t you want me to help her?”

It was then that Celia finally released her grip. “I do, please help her.” She said. Niles stood up and before he could turn to the carriage, he knelt down and there was Amelia.

“Is she okay?” She asked as Niles saw her scrambled to crawl out of the carriage. “Yes she is. Is your foot stuck?” He asked. Amelia nodded, “Yes, I think there’s something pressing on my feet, and it is rahther heavy.”

He grabbed Amelia’s hands and began to pull. Immediately, he felt the pain in his left arm screaming at him and he thought for the moment his arm would be split in two. He did not care about his arm, he wanted to save her and with a strength that he conjured with his own willpower he heaved Amelia until he felt the grip that was pulling her in the carriage gave up. Both him and Amelia crashed onto the ground outside, panting.

“Are you okay?” He asked after the two of them calmed down.

“Yes, thanhk you. Is Celia safe?” Amelia replied, her face was perspiring to the point that the white powder that she used for makeup had begun to mix in with the sweat. The two then sat up.

“Yes, she’s right there.” Niles said, pointing behind him but Amelia only reacted with a confused look as she looked behind him. “Where? I don’t see her.”

Niles felt his heart leapt to his throat as he turned frantically and ran to the edge of the cliff. From here, Niles position was as high as the smaller mountains and he could see the outlines of buildings, its people almost as small as ants. The air around him was much thinner than below. The cold winds blew lightly against his face as he edged his neck down at the mountainside. He prayed fervently that he was wrong about what he had thought had happened to Celia.

“Niles? Where is Celia?” Amelia asked, her voice was trembling and high pitched. Niles felt that she understood why he was so quiet. I don’t see her, if she fell her body would be somewhere down there. Please, please let my thoughts be wrong. “Niles! Where is she?” Amelia then shrilled, her eyes was wider than possible.

Before Niles could reply, another voice emerged from behind them, near the carriage. “Don’t move.” The voice said. It was stony with a clear sense of hatred. Both Niles and Amelia turned at the same time with lightning speed and before them was the silent man accompanying them in the carriage. Amelia shrieked. “He was the one who grabbed me in the carriage!” She said as she pointed at him. His already worn-out tunic was ripped across his abdomen, revealing a severely malnourished and meatless body hidden underneath. His dirty long hair covered above his eyebrows and his eyes were fixed on the two. Standing in total fear and sobbing was Celia. She was held against the man by her hair being gripped so tightly that her scalp raised and a knife was placed across her neck.

Niles was terrified. He had gotten used to people trying to hurt or even kill him over the years but faced with a situation that involved a hostage was something completely alien to him, he wanted to run towards the man and wrestle the knife away but a voice inside of him told him that such recklessness would only panic the man and force him to kill the girl. Amelia was even more frantic and shouted words that Niles could not understand. She too wanted to run towards them but was restrained by Niles.

“Do something! Save her!” She screamed at Niles. By then, her voice had turned hoarse but she did not care, as if it was the only thing keeping Celia alive.

“Please, don’t hurt her.” Niles said to the man. He could not think of what else to say.

“You people…” The man snarled and tightened his grip on Celia’s hair, and she screamed in pain. “You are so fortunate to be born into such great wealth, a dream that people would kill to get. Never having to worry your children wasting away from hunger and sickness, and yet you dare say that money is not important to you.” Every word he said was laden with more vile anger.

“You crazy mahn! If it is money you want, you can take my purse, just let my sister go!” What happened next sent a chill down Niles’ spine.

The man suddenly laughed but there was pain in it. “So typical of you people. Willing to throw money at problems and thinking it will solve everything. Tell me, what use do I have of money? My son is dead, the alchemists refused to save him because we were poor-“ By then he was choked with tears. “I begged, borrowed and stole money but by then, it was too late. Be quiet!” The man shouted at Celia who had cried louder. Both Niles and Amelia could only stand and listen.

“My son was everything to me, he was the last piece of memory I had of my wife and now I have nothing. I wanted to go to the top of Frajian’s and jumped down from the cliff but hearing how you flaunt your wealth and your insulting manner” Before he could finish his sentence, a figure from behind the carriage tackled the man, bringing him down to the ground. It was then Niles’ senses came back. He ran to Celia and with a swift movement, grabbed her from below her armpits and carried her on his back. He quickly ducked back to Amelia and put her down. The sisters immediately embraced each other.

“Celia, Celia! Vora fu neia!” Amelia whispered to which Celia only responded by her cries. Ensured that the two of them would be safe, Niles moved back to the two struggling individuals. Niles saw that the one who tackled the man to the ground was the carriage driver whose head was bleeding rather profusely. The man was initially lying on his back struggling to keep the knife from being taken by the driver. Without warning, the man grabbed a pile of dirt and flung it to the driver’s opened eyes. A cloud of brown dust covered the two of them as the driver grunted in pain before being stabbed at the side of his chest. His cry was short but sharp as his grip weakened considerably, allowing the man to push him off. He would have undoubtedly killed the driver had Niles not responded fast. The moment Niles saw the man lifting the knife he sprinted towards them both and with a swing of his right foot, kicked the man squarely in the face, knocking him back. Niles leaped on top of the man but in an almost instinctive manner, the man swung his knife randomly and sliced Niles across his shin. He screamed in pain as he collapsed beside the man who by then had regained his composure. He stood up and Niles ignored the pain and leaped towards the man. The latter was confused for a moment and swung his knife again in a panic, Niles dodged his knife and throttle his fist to the man’s face with all his remaining strength. He heard an ugly crack as the man tumbled but did not fall. There was fear in the man’s eyes but as fast as it came, his eyes turned to blind rage as he bellowed in an inhuman voice and rushed towards Niles. He braced himself for the attack, the pains in his arm and shin biting back at him. For that moment he assumed that he was going to die right here on the Path Cyre at the hands of a crazed man without ever accomplishing his goals of joining the Warrs and inevitably join the fight against the sorcerers when it happened. Just then, as if Calliath had blessed Niles with immense luck, the man froze in his path with a stunned look. His eyes widened and his mouth was halfway opened and before he could do anything, a loud crack erupted and ice began to form around his body, engulfing him as fast as lightning. Soon, the entirety of his body saved for his head was frozen in ice and he collapsed to the ground. Niles watched all these unfold and he knew immediately what had happened. Soon after, three men came rushing down from the opposite direction they were initially heading to. One of them held his left wrist against the man. He was wearing a clean white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and dark blue pants. His comrades wore the same except their sleeves were neatly buttoned below their elbows. On his wrist he wore a bracelet which glowed bright blue near the palm. Niles knew who they were, they were the Warrs and they had saved them all.