Chapter Text
Aren looked out the window at the landscape passing by. This was his first time on a train and, more importantly, his first time leaving his hometown of Celle. The steam train was rather nice, with simple wood in a steel frame and plenty of room for the passengers. It even had some mild cushioning on the seats, making the long ride significantly more comfortable than it should have been.
The view outside was quite similar to Aren’s home, with occasional gentle hills, mountains off in the distance, and the river Dreivoudig tying it all together. He knew how far he was from Celle, most of the way to Tussenstad already, but he felt much less homesick while looking at the view. He had almost stopped worrying about his mission when he noticed his reflection in the glass and gently recoiled. He quickly stopped looking out the window.
Soon after, Aren’s worries had come back in full force. The train would reach Tussenstad within the hour. The problem didn’t arise from where he was going; he had even heard Tussenstad was still quite a nice place to be, despite recent events. He might even get some time to sightsee while there. Instead, his worries stemmed partly from his mission, that of infiltrating the Academy.
The Tussenstad Academy of Magic, founded 5 years prior, was Valleienland’s first, and currently only, school of what some called ‘the Art’. He let out a quiet scoff at that, since only the Tainted themselves used that name for it. It was really a trap, designed by the Tainted to lure curious souls into their corrupting hands. They only managed to get it founded after years of slowly influencing the council to decriminalize their witchcraft. Aren couldn’t even dream of what dark things occurred in a school run by people so far from the Path. After what happened with his admissions, though, he was starting to doubt what he had been taught about them, since if it was all true, then he might already be too far gone to be saved.
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One week earlier
The trees here certainly are beautiful this time of year, Aren thought, staring at how the sun shone through the golden leaves.
He finished admiring the trees and kept walking down the well-maintained dirt path. His morning walk had lasted a little longer than it usually did, since it was close to midday when he got back. The trees began to grow sparse, slowly being replaced by the small homes and cottages that made up the town of Celle. He still had a small bit to walk – his home was near the town center, after all – but the scenery was far less enjoyable than the rest of the walk’s had been.
There was a small group of people having a whispered discussion near the bakery. Aren had seen them around before, though he couldn’t recall their names. As he walked, he got close enough to hear snippets of their conversation.
One of them – who he was pretty sure was the baker – was whispering, “-that recruiter just got to town.”
“Those types are bad omens.”
“The worst part isn’t even them being here, they’re going to try and take one of our children to that academy.”
Aren started to shiver when he was out of earshot from their discussion. An Academy recruiter had arrived in town. They weren’t wrong, that was certainly a bad omen. He would need to ask his father about that when he got back home. He quickened his pace, though he made sure it was not too fast of a pace, since that could cause worry.
As he walked, he noticed that there were far fewer people outside than what was normal. If one of the Tainted was here, why would anyone want to be outside more than they had to be? When he was starting to near the town center, however, he saw someone he didn’t recognize, who was standing in front of the old apothecary’s home.
She was of average height, with shoulder-length wavy black hair. She had a simple shirt and trousers on, which should have felt odd, but for her, it felt strangely normal. She had a pair of spectacles on, with strangely pearlescent lenses in the frame. There was something strange about her though, something in the air around her. It felt so familiar, as if he had seen something just like it, earlier today.
As Aren pondered that, his eyes drifted to the building behind her. It belonged to the apothecary, an old man who knew how to make remedies, but he was out of town currently, out looking for ingredients. There was a simple banner near the entryway of the home however, with a vivid purple eye marked on its white cloth.
He suddenly paled, since he recognized that as the mark of the Academy, which likely meant that the strange woman was the recruiter. More than that, she was likely one of the Tainted, or at least a servant of them. Maybe that was the cause of the strangeness about her, Aren thought, though it reminded him of something positive, so that couldn’t be the case. He moved to look at her again, then started since she had walked up to him when he wasn’t paying attention. She was looking at him with an intrigued expression on her face.
“So, what’s your name?”
She asked the question kindly, so he figured he should answer honestly, right? For some reason, he didn’t want to. He didn’t think witches could do anything with a person’s name, so it should be safe to answer. He still felt some apprehension at answering, but that was probably just from having to talk to a witch.
“I’m Aren Ernst, what’s yours?”
“The name is Marissa. Now, if you don’t mind me asking, why are you still outside when almost everyone else is staying inside?”
That feels like a strange question, but it should be fine to answer, right?
“I often take walks in the morning, since they help clear my head, and I’m just on my way home from one of them.”
“I see. So did you come this way because you aren’t afraid of me, or because you don’t know who I am?”
The real answer was because he didn’t know where she was staying, but his father’s lessons entered his brain unbidden in response. Don’t show fear, you must be brave in the face of one of those monsters.
“I suppose I came this way because I wasn’t afraid. Why are you asking?”
“If you think about it, I was sent here to ask questions. I’m supposed to be determining if this town has any good candidates for the academy, but you are the only person I have met so far.”
“So, how many people are you hoping to recruit from here?”
“This is the Academy’s first year of accepting students from this far outside Tussenstad, so we are only allowed to admit one student from each town we visit. I haven’t met many in the town so far, but you certainly seem to show quite a bit of promise. If you are willing, I would love to do a quick admissions test to see if you could be a student at the Academy.”
A very obvious net. So then why is it still so tempting? He shouldn’t be wanting this. Aren needed to get out of this conversation quickly. He could probably just claim he needed to get home, which wouldn’t even really be a lie. His father was probably worried about him, given that there was a witch in town. A witch whom Aren was having a somewhat pleasant chat with, nonetheless.
“Sorry, but I do need to get home to help my father with a few things.”
“A shame. If you have some time later, I will gladly test you then. I will be here for a few days, and I honestly think you would qualify, so please come by if you can.”
Aren quickly hurried off, but he couldn’t get her offer out of his head. He wasn’t sure why he wanted to accept, but he felt sound of mind, so it likely wasn’t from a spell. It must just be that I don’t want anyone else in town to be corrupted and seduced by their witchcraft.
That had to be it.
He was still thinking about it by the time he made it back to his family’s home. It was of similar size to the other homes in Celle, if you ignored the second story. That was the main sign that this was the mayor’s home, since it didn’t particularly stand out in other ways. Aren opened the door and stepped inside, not fully prepared for his father to be standing there.
Nicolaas Ernst was a tall, imposing man. He stood nearly a foot taller than Aren, with his brown hair cut very short. His clothes were finer than Aren had seen worn on anyone else, even Marissa, who was from Tussenstad. He had a stern glare directed at Aren, the type of his that the whole town knew to avoid. It meant that Aren would have some explaining to do.
“You’re late.”
He didn’t say it as a question, but it still demanded an explanation.
“I went out a bit farther than I normally do. The leaves are very nice this time of year.”
That should work. That was true, but it wasn’t the full reason for his late arrival. Aren didn’t know what his father would do if he knew the rest of it. His father could be very overprotective, so he definitely didn’t want to find out.
“Did you hear that one of the Tainted is here? That witch is certainly here to steal away and corrupt the children of our village. The capital was never going to be enough for them.”
“I heard about that on my way into town, so I took a different route than normal to avoid her.”
That last bit was a lie, but it was needed so that his father wouldn’t get worried.
“Good instincts. I’m going to meet with a few other townsfolk tonight to discuss what we are doing about this situation.”
That meant the few witch hunters in town would be arguing on what to do with Marissa. Aren might need to make sure they didn’t decide to do anything drastic.
“If an ambassador like her gets injured during a visit like this, then Tussenstad will likely send investigators to discern what happened, so I would recommend considering carefully.”
“Well, what else can we do? I’m not going to lose someone to that Academy without putting up a fight! I’m not going to risk someone’s soul on hoping they don’t find anyone to take.”
An idea jumped to Aren’s mind. He had been considering it ever since learning that the Academy could only admit one person from their town. It would be risky, but he was fine with that, since it would only hurt him. It was a way he could do something with his life and even save others from corruption.
“They can only take one person from the town, right?”
“That is what they have told me.”
“Why don’t you send me?”
“Out of the question. I don’t want to risk you either.”
“It’s the most logical option though. I’m better trained than anyone else they could take, I know how to avoid corruption, and I could even send reports back to you about what is happening there. Even if I do get corrupted by my time there, you would still get useful information out of it.”
Show no fear or meekness. He would be more likely to agree if Aren was bold.
“You have been tempted before.”
A flash of grief entered Aren’s mind. It would be better if he didn’t dwell on that.
“You trained me to avoid it happening again. That’s much more training than any of the other candidates in the town have.”
He was quiet.
“I can do this. Trust me.”
He looked away, then softly replied.
“Fine. Go speak with the witch. However, if they don’t admit you, I won’t let them take anyone else. Do you understand.”
“It’s a deal. I will make you proud, father.”
He looked sorrowful. Aren had never seen that expression on his father before. He walked out of his home, taking the reverse of the path he used to get there. It wasn’t too long before he saw that familiar banner again. Marissa had apparently pulled a chair out of the commandeered home so she could sit while waiting outside. She noticed him and smiled. He smiled back in turn, though he wasn’t very used to that.
“You’re back quicker than I expected.”
“My father didn’t need as much help as he thought, so I had time to think through your offer.”
“Given that you came back at all, I can likely guess what your answer is.”
“I will take your test.”
Marissa looked happy at that response. She opened the door and gestured for him to follow her in. The apothecary’s home was mostly the same as the last time he was here. It had a section in the front with shelves that usually stored many herbs. There were two rooms in the back: one for sleeping and one for more involved procedures. The largest differences from before were the supplies, unlit candle, and tome that were resting on one of the tables. Two chairs were on opposite sides of the table.
Marissa walked over to that table, sitting down in the far chair, near where the tome was. She looked through the tome, checking the labels on various pouches against the text. While this was happening, Aren sat down in the other chair and watched. She carefully took out a single root and leaf from two pouches, placing them into a stone bowl. When she picked up a stone object and started grinding the plants, he realized that the bowl was a mortar. Marissa carefully ground the herbs into a fine powder, then poured it onto a glass plate. She looked at Aren, and he realized that it was time.
“For this test, you will need to try and cast a simple spell. Take a handful of this powder in your left hand, then hold your right hand near the candles wick.”
Aren did as he was asked. He felt a strange feeling from the powder in his hand. It was similar to the aura around Marissa, but this one was calling out to him.
“You will need to siphon energy from the world around you through the powder to cast this spell. Use the powder as a conduit for energy and let your body guide that power to where it needs to go, that being the wick.”
He tried to pull the energy out of the powder, but it wasn’t responding. He kept trying, but it still wouldn’t budge. He could still feel that strange feeling from it, but it wouldn’t react to anything he tried. Marissa seemed to notice his failings, so she offered more advice.
“Don’t force it. You need to stop thinking and let the energy in. It will move on its own if you let it, all you need to do is guide it.”
Aren tried to stop thinking, focusing on the feeling from the powder. It felt so familiar, with understanding just within his grasp. He reached out for it, and a revelation came to him. Sunlight shining through golden leaves. The beauty and wonder Aren had always felt through nature. That was what magic was.
Aren stopped thinking. The energy flowed from the powder and into her arm. It was warmth, it was light, it was everything. She guided it. The warmth flowed through her chest, traveling from her left arm to her right. It reached her hand, dancing at her fingertips. She instructed it on where to go, then released it. It followed her guidance, streaming into the wick. It swirled there, building up, until-
The candle suddenly lit. Aren blinked, his thoughts coming into focus again. He had done it.
“You figured that out quicker than most do.”
Marissa was looking at him with a proud expression.
“Those results are definitely good enough for you to qualify. It’s still up to you if you want to accept though. You won’t need to pay for much while you are there. Room and board will be covered by the Academy, as well as any books or resources you need for classes, but you will still need to pay for anything outside of your academics.”
“I would love to accept.”
“Excellent! You should pack your things soon. You will either need clothes or the money to buy some in Tussenstad. You can also bring along some personal belongings and supplies you are worried the Academy won’t supply if you so wish. A train should be arriving in one week’s time, so make sure you are packed and ready by then. Here is a ticket and map of Tussenstad for then. Once you get to the Academy, just find the office of admissions, since they can tell you where your dorm is. I will be in town for the next couple of days, so if you have any questions, just ask.”
Aren tried to tell himself that he only accepted so that no one else would have to risk being corrupted. He almost started believing it, until he remembered how incredible casting that spell had felt. He needed to feel that again. Couldn’t he be a little selfish just this once? No, my soul is already at risk from what has already happened. Aren couldn’t possibly risk doing any more witchcraft.
He stepped outside, feeling far too many emotions to ask any questions.
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During the week after that, Aren had packed several changes of clothes, though he would probably still need to buy a few more in the city. He had also been given a silver dagger and wooden stake by his father, so he could defend himself if needed. Those lay hidden at the bottom of his bag, along with the one personal belonging he brought. It was a simple wooden chessboard, carved for him by his mother when he was just a baby. It was the only thing he had from her, since she had left when he was still too young to remember her face.
Aren was still worried about going to the Academy, but when he looked out the window and saw the gentle rain outside, he thought it all might end up being alright.
He could do this.