Chapter 10

I walked through the halls of the Temple of Z'kyd'qa once again, making my way to the Holy Forge.

Even before I entered the room I noticed that it was much quieter than normal. Instead of the usual cacophony of striking hammers and quenching steel, only a single hammer could be heard. This wasn't too strange, Karrac had less than a dozen Mythsmiths, and that was more than enough for the few jobs in the city that needed their special skills. 

Making my way past cold forges and empty basins, I found Father hammering a sheet of steel into the rough shape of a new gauntlet.

I nearly spoke up before I noticed the look of intense concentration on his face as if the metal would explode if he was off by a millimeter. Father was never one to slack on his work, but it was clear this next set was something special.

'Maybe one of the high commanders requested it?' I wondered as I watched him work. 'It looks close to High Commander Lyksu's size.'

"I suppose I lost track of time?" Father asked, not looking away from the metal.

"Just a bit," I said as I walked over to the vat of ichor, sitting on the warm stone edge. "Dinner will probably be ready by the time we get back."

He nodded as he continued working. A few more minutes passed before Father finally finished, setting the gauntlet into a quenching vat.

"How was the interview?" he asked, wiping sweat from his brow.

I shrugged. "More…intense than I thought…but I managed." I sighed. "They're making me go through some kind of special training before I can become an official paladin."

Father's normally neutral face scrunched up. "They're putting you through disciplinary training?"

"You know about it?"

He nodded. "I saw it once when my master brought me on a trip to The Holy City."

My eyes widened. "Do…you think I'll have to go there for training?"

"Most likely."

"That's…huh…" I knew that being a paladin would take me all over the empire, but I had thought that my training would at least be done within Karrac. 'And going to The Holy City... to Deqabes…'

"EEP!?" I squeak as Father roughly grabbed my shoulder, snapping me out of my thoughts. I realized that he was looking me over, his eyes slowly widening as he seemed to notice something. "Wh-what is it?"

"...They threatened to strip your aura?" he asked, sounding more shocked than I had ever heard before.

"You can tell? How?" I asked, curious.

"The process is very invasive. Even if they didn't follow through in performing it there will be traces of aura remaining in the target's body."

"What?" I closed my eyes and turned my focus inward. As I did, I began to sense tiny wisps of something foreign mixed in with my aura. "How did I not notice that…" Annoyed, I concentrated my aura on the wisps, flushing them out. I breathed a sigh of relief as I felt the chilling sensation that had followed me home disappear. I could still feel it a bit, but now it felt more like the uncomfortable sensation of remembering a past injury instead of that lingering cold. "That's better. Thank you."

"It's alright." His face relaxed for a moment before creasing in concern again. "What did you say to them?"

"What? I didn't-"

"Xara," Father said firmly. "Aura stripping isn't something they do for minor transgressions. If they were this close to subjecting you to it, it means you said something…important."

"I…" I looked away and clutched my arms. "I…Commander Laqbeka had overheard me tell someone that I thought the punishment for mages was too extreme."

"...I see," Father said slowly.

"..." My eyes wander around the forge, my mouth opening and closing as I try and fail to find the right words. Eventually, I look at Father. His expression lacks any of the anger or disappointment that I had been expecting. He was as calm and stoic as ever. I wasn't sure if that was good or not.

After a moment Father sat beside me and let out a soft sigh.

"I've seen magic before."

"During the war?"

He shook his head. "I saw it there too, but I meant when I was young." He looked off into space as if his recollection made images appear before him. "It was…otherworldly, seeing someone control the world around them. To bend the laws of the world with not but their will. In the war, I learned how deadly magic could be, but as a boy, I saw it used to save lives."

"Really? But I thought…they said that magic corrupts, turns you inhumane."

Father shook his head. "It's more complicated than that. Magic does corrupt the soul and body, and it is the duty of The Temples to eliminated that corruption. But like they say, magic is a temptation, and there are few temptations greater than that of desperation. To a man lost in the desert, the ability to conjure water from the air is a divine blessing, regardless of what it may do to your soul."

"I…I see." It was certainly a perspective that I hadn't considered. The Temples and the academy had always made it seem like magic could only be used for violent ends, or greedily chasing unnatural goals. Father's example certainly felt like the latter, the Temples' speakers would likely say that it's better to die with a pure soul than to give in to the corruption.

"It was the execution that put these thoughts in your head?"

"Probably."

He hummed understandingly. "Then undergo their training, and these feelings will pass."

"You think so? I mean, I've never been the most…faithful of the trainees."

"Perhaps, and that will make things difficult, but where faith is lacking determination and kindness will make up for it." Father glanced behind us. "After all, I find it hard to believe someone who could sense the divine essence within the ichor could be lacking in a connection to the gods."

"I suppose." I let my fingers dip into the black liquid and reached out with my aura. Immediately I trembled as I felt the energy contained within the ichor. Within that divine substance was something ancient, powerful, and incomprehensible. I could feel a bizarre blend of emotions coming from it; sorrows, anger, and fears, but above all I felt kindness and hope. It had been strange when Father told me it took him years to be able to sense this when to me it had always been second nature. Even now, while the sensation was more overwhelming than comforting, the familiar presence of the gods helped to calm me down and steady my thoughts.

I pulled my hand out of the ichor, sighing as I felt the divine energy leaving me. Father put his hand on my shoulder.

"Better?" he asked, a soft smile contrasting with the hard lines of his face.

I smiled. "Better." I stood up. "Now come on, the coqcughsua stew might be getting cold."

Father's smile vanished as his eyes widened slightly. "Yes. we should hurry."

I followed Father out of the Temple, chuckling at the urgency in his movements.

~~~

"Mother? We're back!" I called out as we entered the house.

"Perfect timing you two. We just finished setting the table."

"We?" Father asked. I too was confused. We took off our shoes and went to the dining room. I saw Father pause as he turned the corner.

"Hard work cycle Gammiz?"

I felt my blood run cold at the sound of his voice, but quickly composed myself before entering the room. Commander Laqbeka was sat at the foot of the dining room table, wearing plain but well-made tunic instead of his armor. The dark wood table was set for four. Mother poured a serving of stew into bowls for each of us before sitting down.

"Hello, commander," Father said, sitting at the head of the table as I sat opposite Mother. "To what do we owe the honor of your visit?"

"Well, your wife offered a meal at the sermon, I figured it would be rude to not follow through on that before leaving the city."

"Oh? You're leaving?" I asked.

"As I said, I'm on a mission, and that mission will only be completed when I return to Deqabes." He glanced at me. "Your training will also take place at The Holy City. You should consider joining me."

"What?!" Mother nearly jumped from her chair. "You want her to leave? And so soon?"

The commander raised his hand placatingly. "She does not have to, I simply offered since we are technically headed the same way. Her training officially does not need to start for a few months at least."

Mother visibly relaxed. "I see. Sorry for my outburst."

The commander smiled. "No apology needed. She's your daughter, it's understandable to be worried." He rubbed his hands together. "But more talking can wait. Let's eat."

The four of us offered up a quick prayer of thanks before we started eating. As expected, Mother's cooking was delicious. The meat was tender, the tubers soaked up the gravy wonderfully, and the coqcughsua had mellowed out to give the dish a sweet yet savory taste. If not for the presence of Father and the commander I would likely have inhaled my whole plate by now.

"When do you leave?" Mother asked.

"My team and I will be taking the next train to Deqabes, so tomorrow morning." He turned to me. "Again, you don't have to, but the decision is yours. Would you like to join me?"

"I…" I paused to stop myself from shuddering. "Thank you for the offer, but I'd like to wait. Spend time with my family without having to worry about classes and all that."

He nodded. "I understand."

"Besides, you have that mission, right? I would hate to get in your way."

The commander smiled, sending a shiver down my spine. "I doubt you would, but thank you for your concern."

I nodded, pushing my discomfort to the back of my mind as I tried to focus on my meal. I then realized that I had apparently finished my plate without noticing.

'I guess I'm not as stressed as I thought,' I chuckled to myself as I reached for a second helping.