A New Companion

Azor kept us busy, but after a month, he put us solely through the magical creature fights and mock gem exercises, both of which, despite trying very hard, I was still mediocre at. While we all had managed to master casting magic without having to shout something like an idiot, I was still only acting randomly for the mock gems. In every mock battle, I would have a hard time getting an angle to launch a javelin (even if most of them hit their target) and ended up just being a distraction most of the time. The creatures became harder to beat. Some launched rocks that followed us around, some rapidly threw tiny pebbles, some spewed fire, some shot beams of red light that burnt with intense heat through the protection spell when we were touched, and the more scary ones summoned lightning. Azor soon wouldn't let us use the mock gems in the mock battles either. To give us an incentive, Azor made a sort of ranking system. It counted who defeated the most creatures, who got hit the least, and who hit the creatures the most. The precise data would be displayed on a scroll, which he then put away for safekeeping. To this day, I have no idea how he managed to create such a system, but Qassot thinks he just got Dringochs to watch everything very closely. I disagree - it even records what happens in thick mist and the Dringochs always sleep when it's foggy. 

Riselus always defeated the most creatures. He was so strong and heavy with his huge claws and shell, he could hide in a hole, flip over and smash anything. Qassot always found new ways to hit everything - I once saw her throw a lump of dirt at a creature before slapping it with a fish - so she always got the most hits. Dracoa was slim, agile and was extremely hard to hit. Azor would put us in weekly battles against each other (I think he called them "scrimmages"); two creatures versus the other two, and she somehow dodged my precisely aimed javelin from three gyts away two times in a row.

I was initially frustrated at not placing first in any of the categories, but Azor pointed out that I almost always placed second in every single category. I soon stopped caring about the ranking system and just enjoyed the training. I finally had friends, and they weren't going anywhere. I could do cool things with magic during the orb training. Even though I hadn't slept a full night since I left Qade Valley, I was enjoying myself.

I only wished that I could take them and this training back to the forest to show Aavern.

-

Azor woke me up one night. His face was solemn and resolved. I yawned and looked groggily up at him.

"Good morning," I said, then turned over and went back to sleep.

"We need to talk," Azor said. His voice was deathly serious. All weariness dropped from my body. Something was wrong. I got up and wiggled my way out of the bush I slept in.

"What's wrong?"

Azor knelt down and looked me in the eyes. I was briefly taken aback. He had never done this before. His dark eyes were piercing and intense, peering into my mind.

"You've been depressed," Azor finally said. "What happened?"

I paused.

"Don't think I haven't noticed," Azor continued. "You seem happy enough during the day when you train, but every night it disappears. You toss and turn and lie awake for most of the night."

I didn't know what to say. "But I'm not sad. I like it here!"

"Something's missing," Azor said. "There's a hole in you."

I sighed. "Why are you bringing this up?"

"In this world, power comes from magic. You can only use magic if you can concentrate. Concentration is easily broken by negative emotions."

"Oh."

"You cannot properly wield the gems unless you get rid of those emotions."

"And here I was thinking you cared about me."

"I do. That's why I'm sending you to Qade Valley to bring your brother here."

-

A week of swimming later, I washed up on one of the beaches bordering Qade Valley. Excitement filled me and spilled out in bursts of energy and happiness. Azor wanted to train Aavern. He might have wanted to replace me (I was rather useless at most of the training, after all), but it didn't matter. Pure ecstasy flowed through me. I grinned widely as I dashed to the bush where we lived.

I tripped over a root and rolled into the bush.

Aavern snapped up.

"Cyil!" There was pure surprise in his voice, and a joyous expression flashed across his face. "You're back!"

I bowled him over.

It was several minutes before we managed to regain our composure.

"So," Aavern said breathlessly, "What happened?"

"Azor's training us to use the gems!" I said happily. "And he wants you to come train with us!"

"Really?" Aavern's face lit up. "But why?"

I giggled uncontrollably. "I was doing so well that when he heard that you taught me he wanted you to train as well!"

Aavern laughed, then threw a leaf at me.

"No, really. Why did he send you back?"

I shook the leaf off and managed to calm down. "It… was like that time when you just suddenly disappeared."

Aavern nodded sadly. He remembered. We had an argument, where he kept messing everything up and I got mad at him for it. It was the first time I got angry. I woke up the next morning to find him gone. I had frantically looked for him, only to find him back at the bush three days later. The brief solemn moment disappeared quickly. "I'm coming along, then!"

He didn't even hesitate.

"What about being an informant?"

"It's boring."

I smiled.

"So how do we get there?"

"We can swim through the sea."

"Uh-"

"Or we can fly to the Raik Mountains."

"Yeah. Let's do that."

We walked to the top of the ledge to take off. A portal materialized right in front of me. A cold wind flowed out of it, forming unintelligible words as it blew past us. I recoiled slightly and almost rolled back down the ledge. Where did it come from? Aavern looked at it curiously. He looked at me and gestured for me to make a decision. A voice in the back of my head told me to jump in, so I did, with Aavern close behind. As we passed through, the ghostly wind's words became clear. Your potential is great. Go forth and succeed.

We suddenly were in breathable, hallucinating blackness, looking at a ghostly toroid with the entire continent in it, with a dim sign of a landmass to the north, gently spinning and warping, expanding endlessly.

"This is surreal," Aavern said.

"I think this is the fourth dimension."

"The what?"

"The place Qassot uses to move quickly across great distances."

"Who?"

"Nevermind."

We went inwards and shot over the toroid effortlessly, looking for one of the others. We didn't know our way around, since we had rarely flown high enough to view the continent from top-down, but we eventually got the hang of it. I suddenly saw a blue shape just south of the Raik Mountains. It was Qassot. I pointed her out to Aavern.

"Look, she's jumping into the fourth dimension as well."

Aavern blinked, wondering how she was doing it. Before he could ask, she made the jump and saw us. Her jaw dropped.

"What!? Cyil? How did you get here?"

"I dunno," I replied.

Aavern said, "Hi! I'm Aavern."

"Hi Aavern, I'm Qassot." She turned to give me an angry look. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN FOR THE LAST WEEK!?"

I blinked. "Azor didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"He sent me back to get Aavern to train with us. He's my brother, by the way."

Qassot looked at Aavern. Aavern smiled and waved a wing, causing him to start spinning out of control in the frictionless void. "I thought you ditched us."

"Why would I ever do that? You're the first real friends I had after Aavern!"

"You could have woken us up and told us."

I winced. I should have done that. "Sorry. It was the middle of the night and I didn't want to wake anyone."

Qassot rolled her eyes. "You forgot, didn't you?"

I nodded. Aavern bowled into me, causing me to start spinning uncontrollably.

Qassot scratched her chin. "Now we need to find everyone else and tell them."

"That's a good idea," Aavern said. 

The next few days were hectic. Qassot figured out how to bring us back to the real world with her (we just needed to be extremely close to her when she did it), but we kept coming into the real world just a few minutes after the others moved on. We eventually caught up with Riselus. Aavern saw him because of an unusual tree species that didn't belong in that part of the forest. Qassot and I would never have seen such a small detail. 

We dropped with a loud thunk with the intention of surprising him, but he just opened an eye to scrutinize us before climbing out of the hole. Riselus said that after Qassot jumped into the fourth dimension, he and Dracoa agreed to meet at the mountain ridge where they were at midday. It was late morning.

"Sorry about leaving without telling you," I said. "Azor wanted me to-"

"Doesn't matter," Riselus grunted grumpily, "At least you didn't ditch us."

"After you left," Qassot said, "Azor said Kovo disappeared or something. Then we noticed you were gone. We refused to train without you there-"

I ducked my head shyly.

"-and Azor let us try and find you. We've been doing that for the last week."

Soon, Dracoa came flying up. She looked mildly annoyed.

"Where have you been?" she asked. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you put us through?"

I quickly explained again. She didn't seem to be angry at me (well, angrier than normal, anyway). In fact, Qassot and Riselus didn't either. They were just happy to have me back.

"We'll ask Azor once we get back," Dracoa said.

"Azor?" asked Aavern. He looked surprised that we had found him.

"He's that one wizard guy," Qassot said.

"Thanks."

"Don't tell me you're just like Cyil," Dracoa groaned. "One of him is already enough."

"Nope!" Aavern said cheerfully, "You'll be pleased to know that I'm the responsible one of us two."

"How much more responsible?"

Aavern thought for a moment. "Not that much."

Dracoa groaned.

Over the next few days, we tried to figure out how we were supposed to get back in the shortest time possible. Qassot wanted us to visit the fourth dimension with her. 

"But we don't know how." I said.

Qassot looked strangely at us, "I found you in the fourth dimension."

"That wasn't us," Aavern said, "A portal appeared when we were about to take off."

"Where was this portal?" Dracoa asked.

"In Qade Valley, on this big rock ledge that everyone likes to take off and fly from," I explained.

"Another thing to ask Azor about," Dracoa sighed.

"Well, I can probably take you along with me," Qassot said. "Try hanging on and I'll make the jump."

We all held on to some part of her.

"This is crowded," Qassot said.

"You think?" Dracoa said from somewhere to my right.

"Are you sure this will work?" Aavern asked.

"Not at all," Qassot said.

She said something like "hang on", but I couldn't make it out. All noise faded away and we were irresistibly drawn upwards. Vision warped and colors blended together into bright streaks that didn't change no matter where I looked. Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. I realized my eyes were squeezed shut and opened them. We were back in the fourth dimension.

"Oh, hey," Qassot said, "It worked."

"Wait, if things that are touching you get transported with you," I said, "Then what if you're standing on the ground?"

"I guess it doesn't work like that," Qassot said.

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Can we go back to Azor's castle now?" I asked.

-

We landed behind Azor with a thunk and an "ow". He just kept walking and didn't notice.

"My gosh, this again!?!?" said Qassot, agitated.

Azor popped up from around the corner.

"What again?"

"Nevermind," Qassot mumbled.

"What's this about you sending Cyil off to get his brother?" Risleus immediately asked.

"I have a feeling we will need him," Azor said with a significant look at me. "I sent Cyil because that was most fitting."

"You didn't tell us," Riselus said.

Azor smiled. "How else would I see if the creatures on whom the fate of this continent rests can work together?"

"Uh, I don't know," Dracoa said, "Have us fight together or something?"

"It was a test!?" Riselus roared at the same time.

"Why would you do that?" Qassot asked.

"Only when a friendship is tested is it revealed whether it was real or not."

Qassot shook her head. "That makes no sense. There were about a billion ways you could have done that better."

"I just got here and even I know that these four haven't been friends long enough to survive that kind of test!" Aavern said. "It's also kind of Cyil's fault."

"What did I do?" I asked in dismay.

"You went along with it," Dracoa growled.

"How was I supposed to know that this was a test?"

We argued until Azor grumpily agreed that maybe the test wasn't his best idea.