The Angaran Chronicles: The Ritual

Chapter 5: Pain Beyond Pain

Alathis shook himself from his reverie and looked down at the sword held at his side. It was made from Amartisian oak, one of the most durable, most expensive woods on the continent.

Most training weapons were made out of less quality trees, but he'd been gifted it they'd claimed out of respect and to make up for his real sword being taken from him.

But Alathis knew, he was given it out of pity.

Pity for he went through.

Pity for what he'd done.

He'd been living and learning in that coven for three years when it'd happened. It was during their nightly stroll, through the maze-like, white-walled corridors of the coven. They both carried their swords sheathed at their hips.

Alathis and Silette walked side by side. Nerves seemed to play through every inch of Alathis' being; his heart fluttered as it always did when near her.

They were silent but it wasn't awkward, they could be like this for hours. Alathis looked sidelong at Silette. The beautiful young girl's long brunette hair pulled into a high ponytail. Like most natives of Amartis, especially humans her skin tanned a nice brown. Slightly browner freckles littered across her high cheeks.

Silette caught him looking, causing Alathis to snap his attention aside.

And she smiled.

He smiled back.

'How was your day, Alathis?'

'Good, good,' he said. Alathis was a year older than her so they never had classes together. 'I bet Torvion at sparring today, disarmed him after ten seconds. Won all my five matches, too.'

Silette's smile split into a grin, causing Alathis to flinch.

'Nice,' she said. Torvion, a dwarf neophyte, was Alathis' rival. 'At this rate, you'll be the best swordsman in the coven, Alathis.'

Alathis felt his face flush. 'Th-thanks. H-how was yours?'

Silette pursed her lips and shrugged. 'I too did well at the sword. Won three of my five matches. Also managed to kill my history class and my psychology class, too.'

Alathis smiled. She was truly a studious neophyte, far more than Alathis. She excelled in almost every subject over him, all except Art, Psychology and Tactics which were Alathis' favourites. But even in those, he was barely ahead of her.

'I'm not surprised, Silette, you should be in my year. No, you should be two years ahead.'

Silette stopped, and Alathis met her gaze with his. Her eyes reminded him of the crystallised green which glittered throughout the waves of the sea off the Isstarrsian coast. The thought of that sea caused him to remember the red sea a sea which didn't hold that same glittering green, but an unnatural orangeish hue which defied nature. The red sea was cordoned off from the rest of the ocean by a vast mountain range that swept for fifteen miles to meet the land in the north and south.

The Valandrian scientists said the red sea was created when a meteorite hit the continent, billions of years ago. An extinction level event for the creatures living on the world before humans and even the elves and dwarves emerged from the oceans as primitive creatures. Alathis had never liked the red sea. It wasn't that its depth was beyond measure, there was also a feeling which put him off. He'd swum there on several occasions, and each time he'd done it with the greatest hesitancy. Everyone else seemed fine with it, though.

'I don't know about that,' she said, knocking Alathis from his thoughts. 'That'd mean going through the Ritual early, and I don't think I'd be ready.'