Faculty of Fire (23 page)
Authors: Alex Kosh
“Right then, let’s introduce ourselves,” the burly guy suggested, flopping down into a chair in the middle of the hall.
I looked around, but I didn’t see any other furniture. We would obviously have to sit on the floor ... hmm ... I’d seen something like that somewhere before ...
Pretty much the same thoughts (apart from the last one, that is) obviously occurred to the others, and a couple of seconds later we were all sitting on the floor, examining our teacher curiously. And he was examining us.
He looked like a bear, he had a week’s stubble on his cheeks and long hair as black as tar ... in fact, the last thing he looked like was a typical member of the Academy’s elite.
His face expressed a single thought very clearly, “Now who have I been stuck with?” And I suppose our faces expressed pretty much the same thought too ...
“Right then, my name is Craftsman Tyrel, and I’m your teacher for meditation techniques. Do any of have even the very slightest experience that bears even a distant resemblance to meditation?”
Chas and I raised our hands rather hesitantly.
I looked round and was surprised to see that the vampiress and the brothers had raised their hands too, and far more confidently than us.
“Excellent,” said Tyrel, and I thought he sounded surprised. “Then you can take turns to introduce yourselves. Tell me your name, your age, where you studied meditation and for how long.
We glanced at each other. Chas shrugged, accepting that he would have to go first.
“Chas, forty-eight. Studied in the School of Arts for eight years. Studied meditation techniques for the last four years.”
Four years? And I thought he’d only been studying them for a year. With me.
“Alice,” the vampiress introduced herself. “Family School of Arts, ten years.”
Tyrel nodded, with a slight frown on his face. He clearly wasn’t overjoyed by the vampiress’s presence either. But what had she done to make them all dislike her? She was a very nice girl, as a matter of fact. Stop. What was that she said? Ten years. As far as I recalled, vampires studied almost from the day they were born ... she couldn’t be only ten years old, surely? No, that couldn’t be right. But that meant she hadn’t studied the Art since she was a little child. And that was strange ... but then, she wasn’t completely a vampire, she was from the Day Clan. And that brought up another question – why had she allowed me to pin her arms down back in my room? Never mind, skip it, it was my turn now ...
“Zach, twenty,” I introduced myself cheerfully. “Studied in a School of Arts, five years, studied meditation techniques ... for one year.”
Although, to be quite honest, I wouldn’t say I actually studied them. I just sat there with the others, thinking my own thoughts, sometimes even sleeping ... but I don’t think I actually snored.
“Neville, sixty-three. Studied in the Borderland School of Arts, thirty years. Meditation techniques, twenty years.”
And how about that! Thirty years, that made him almost a Master! He was one of those people Chas told me about. It couldn’t have been easy for him to pass all the tests ...
“Naive, twenty-three. Studied in the School of Arts for seven years, studied meditation techniques ...” – he suddenly blushed bright red – “... for one month.”
“That’s pretty good too,” Tyrel said encouragingly. “In any case, here you’ll have to learn a completely different way of controlling energy. Since you all have at least some knowledge of the Art, I can put that in a way you will all understand. Broadly speaking, in the Art you become a vessel in which energy is accumulated, and after it has been accumulated, you can use it at any moment. In this case the most important factor is the capacity of your vessel and the width of the channel through which it is filled. In the Craft, or ‘direct magic’ (that is the direct control of mags) you don’t become a vessel, but a kind of pipe. You draw energy into yourself, transform it and release it immediately. You can’t hold the energy inside yourself. Any questions?”
Alice raised her hand.
“So the most important feature of our pipe, so to speak, would be the diameter?”
“Correct,” Tyrel agreed. “But keep in mind that this is only an image that we use to make things easier to understand, there aren’t actually any pipes or vessels.”
“And to continue speaking figuratively, in simple terms, we’ve been used to working with vessels, but now we have to knock the bottoms out of our vessels to turn them into pipes?” Chas asked.
Tyrel laughed.
“Speaking figuratively, yes. The number of mags that you can allow to pass through you at once, that is, the number that you can put into a single spell – that is essentially the most important limitation on your power. Oh, and there’s also the time it takes you to recuperate after creating a spell.”
“That’s all clear,” said Chas, nodding. “And how are we going to break the bottoms out of our vessels?”
“Oh!” said Tyrel, raising one finger in the air. “Every faculty uses its own exercises for that, and in our case it’s the candle exercise.”
“Let me guess, we have to light them?” Chas suggested,
Tyrel nodded and clicked his fingers. Five small candles appeared about twenty feet away from us.
“Light them,” the Craftsman told us.
I glanced at my friends in amazement, but they were just as bewildered as I was. Tyrel must have forgotten to explain something to us. Like, for instance, how we were supposed to do it!
“All right, said the Craftsman,” settling down more comfortably in his armchair. “First, make sure you’re sitting comfortably. Then close your eyes and imagine the energy from all around you passing through you.”
I did exactly as I had been told, but I didn’t feel anything, which wasn’t really all that surprising.
“Now open your eyes, reach out one hand towards the candle, imagine the energy passing through you, concentrating on the tip of your finger and flowing towards the candle in a thin beam.
I did that too. I didn’t see any beam, and the candle refused to light, too.
“Don’t despair if it doesn’t work for you right away. The average time it takes for the breakthrough is a week to a month of intensive training in the Meditation Hall.”
“Intensive training?” Naive asked in a startled voice.
“Intensive training, how many hours a day is that?” Chas enquired.
“Four hours in the morning and four in the evening.”
We all gasped out loud in dismay. Eight hours a day just sitting there, playing the fool? But of course, we were all wrong. Until we lit those dragon’s candles, we’d never even get close to the real Craft. All we could do would be listen to tedious lectures and sit on the floor, meditating.
“Stop that sighing,” Tyrel said in a sterner voice. “You’re incredibly lucky, as it happens. There was a time when anyone studying at the Academy spent years sitting in these halls! But you get everything handed to you on a plate.”
“How do you mean?” asked Neville.
“There’s a good reason why the Academy is completely sealed off for these three months. While the Academy’s sealed, a high concentration of energy builds up inside, so your training will move along much more rapidly. In ordinary life in the outside world, there’s much less of this energy, and learning to control it is far more difficult than in here. So you should really be delighted ...”
“We are,” we all replied in chorus, without really understanding a thing.
“And apart from that, the more time you spend in this hall, the better your chances are of not getting thrown out of the Academy,” the Craftsman chuckled.
“Thrown out?” Chas repeated like an echo.
“Yes, thrown out,” said Tyrel. “Did you think that all the pupils who get in become Craftsmen?”
We all nodded together.
“In your dreams. Out of an intake of two hundred pupils, it’s a good result if half of them become genuine Craftsmen.”
“What about the others?” I asked, astonished.
I’d always thought that no one got thrown out of the Academy. Chas had always said that once you were in, you were in for the duration. I’d never heard anyone in the city mention this before, and I’d never met anyone who’d been expelled from the Academy. Maybe that was because, you know ... they left feet first? Accidents, so to speak?
“The others fail to complete their studies, and they’re sent off to serve in the remote garrisons. They need every man they can get there, especially men who can control energy at least a little bit.”
Well, how about that? And I was pretty sure this was the kind of posting that you couldn’t refuse!
“Listen, Zach ...” Chas whispered to me.
“Stop talking,” Tyrel barked. “Talking during meditation practise is not allowed, apart from discussing important questions directly with me.”
We obediently clammed up.
So, what was it he said? Relax, imagine the energy around you, then open your eyes and reach out your hand ...
One of the candles suddenly lit up.
Tyrel blinked in surprise and even allowed himself a little smile.
“Not bad, not bad at all. Maybe we’ll make something of you yet.”
ACT TWO
Linking
Duels are not forbidden within the Academy. Indeed, they are welcomed. The only condition is that a Monitoring Party must be present. A Monitoring Party consists of the appropriate number of senior pupils or Craftsmen. The number and elemental affiliation of the members of a Monitoring Party corresponds to the number and elemental affiliation of the duellists. It is the Monitoring Party’s mandatory duty to prevent a duel ending in fatality. If one of the duellists is killed, despite the efforts of the Monitoring Party, then the entire blame lies with the Monitoring Party. The use of an EDD (energy duel dome) is also mandatory, and the dome is maintained by the Monitoring Party. For a duel between Craftsmen, the Monitoring Party must include a Higher Craftsman. Duels are an integral part of the educational process, and are assessed on a par with the compulsory sparring sessions stipulated in the curriculum.
An extract from “Current Rules Concerning Duels Within the Academy”, which always hangs above the door of the dining hall.
Betting on duels is forbidden!
A phrase that it is mandatory for the Monitoring Party to declaim before the start of every duel.
Place your bets. No stakes accepted after the first fireball.
A phrase repeated just as frequently (in a whisper) among the audience at a duel.
Scene 0
This Assembly of Craftsmen was different from all the others, primarily because it was entirely and exclusively devoted to the new generation of Craftsmen. This was the Assembly that discussed the educational program and other organisational matters concerning the new pupils. Every thirty-three years the educational program underwent fundamental change, since knowledge, after all, did not stand still; sometimes it transformed the old familiar ideas, and sometimes it clarified and complicated them. And in addition to that, after the first week of instruction, certain conclusions were drawn and certain forecasts of the future were made.
The huge assembly hall was exactly the same shape as all the other halls in the Academy. One side of it ran along the wall of the tower, so it was curved, and there were two straight walls that came together to form a right angle. This was the optimal shape for the halls, making it possible to locate anything from three to several dozen halls on a single level. A series of curved platforms gradually rose higher until they almost reached the ceiling at the curved wall. This allowed everyone present at the assembly to observe what was happening “behind the lectern” or, to put it more simply, on the miniature stage. Today the assembly hall was absolutely packed. It had not originally been intended for such a large crowd, but during the centuries since the Academy was founded, the number of members from each faculty had increased considerably. The main reason for this boom in numbers was the desire of every new graduating class of Craftsmen to have its own representatives on the Assembly. Certainly, the older members of the Assembly of Craftsmen had far greater rights, and exercised far greater influence, both in this hall and outside it. But the younger generations of Craftsmen were less hidebound, more active, and in certain respects they surpassed the older generation. The younger generation was especially good at scheming and plotting ...
“Master Craftsmen, I declare our session devoted to the new intake of pupils open.”
The rules of procedure required every session of the Assembly to start in this way. But today the usual procedure was interrupted in a most brazen fashion.
A young Craftsman jumped to his feet in one of the upper rows.
“Before the beginning of the main program of business, I would like to make a brief, but extremely important, announcement! I have come into possession of very serious information!”
“Remember what happened to the last one who tried that,” someone muttered in the top row.
The Chairman of the Assembly, an aging, gray-haired Craftsman who represented the older generation and had held this honourable position for more than a hundred years, tapped on the table with his little wooden mallet.
“Young man, have patience, please!”
“But the announcement really is very important!” said the young Craftsmen, trying to insist.
“One more word, and you will be making your important announcement in the corridor,” the chairman warned him quietly, and after that the assembly resumed its usual order.
“Well then, let us begin with an announcement that is
truly
...” – the chairman emphasized that word – “... important. I call on the esteemed Master Revel Piret.”
A rather stout, bald Craftsman in the second row stood up and strolled casually across to the lectern. On his way there he glanced round the entire hall with his dark-brown eyes, as if he were trying to see into the soul of everyone who was there. Many people there felt rather uncomfortable, to say the least, when the gaze of this apparently genial fat man fell on them. And that was hardly surprising, since Master Revel was the head of the Academy’s security service. He was a man of immense influence, which was not limited to the Academy, or even to the golden city of Lita. Many believed that he knew a great deal, if not absolutely everything, about every individual of even the slightest importance on the entire continent.
“Good day to you, esteemed colleagues,” Master revel said in a very gentle voice. “Let us dispense with any long preambles. I shall not beat about the bush. If you recall the announcement I made at the last assembly, when I referred to certain remarks made by my colleagues in the Tabernacle Caliphate, then this information will come as no surprise to you. So, the news I have for you is not very cheerful: the Academy has been infiltrated by a spy from the Tabernacle Inquisition.”
There was a sudden hubbub in the hall.
“Are you sure about this?”
“How could he have got in here?”
“No one can get through our multi-level security system!”
“Order, gentlemen,” said the chairman, banging on the table with his little mallet.
Master Revel nodded gratefully.
“Nobody has penetrated your perfect defence systems. The spy has infiltrated the Academy in the guise of a pupil.”
“Impossible!” someone shouted from the hall. “We checked every single pupil, and more than that ... we raked through the personal files of all their relatives to the tenth degree!”
Naturally, the shout came only from the upper rows, where the youngest Craftsmen were sitting. The others waited patiently for their turn.
“One more outburst from the hall, and the culprit will be expelled from the assembly,” the chairman said, still in the same quiet voice, and he slammed his mallet down so hard that the poor table gave a resentful creak and sagged under the blow – the Craftsman was getting on, but he was still strong.
Finally there was silence.
“It’s all right,” Master Revel said with a warm smile. “Let the boys have their fun, let them shout ... Who was it? Natan, Rick, Jerry, Darek? Have I missed anyone?”
After that there was relative order in the hall until the very end of the session. Master Revel was the kind of man no one was ashamed to be afraid of.
“I shall be glad to answer the last question. Tabernacle has personnel resources that are a match for our own, and they are way ahead of us in researching the techniques of hypnosis. Forty years ago we identified one of the Emperor’s closest advisers who had been hypnotised by their specialists. Do you think it was easy to identify him? How long did it take? Three years! And even now we still don’t know when he was processed, and exactly what he was programmed to do. And a lot of time has gone by since then, they must have made even more progress.”
A Craftsman sitting in the front row raised his hand for permission to speak.
“We recognise Master Litok,” said the chairman. “For those of you who do not know, Master Litok has been researching hypnosis for thirty years. Throughout that time he has maintained contact with vampires and studied their methods of hypnosis.”
“Thank you, Master Conor,” said the Craftsman, getting up off his seat. “Master Revel, we may not have been able to work out what exactly that agent was programmed to do, but we did identify him, after all. And now, with the use of the appropriate means and sufficient time, we can identify any hypnotised agent.”
“And what if he was hypnotised a long time ago?” Master Revel enquired.
“Yes,” agreed Master Litok. “The more time that has elapsed since the subject was processed, the less obvious the traces become. But in theory, with a longer period of investigation we can always discover traces of processing, even the very oldest.”
“Pardon me, but a longer period of investigation ... how long would that be?” Master Revel enquired, evidently knowing the answer in advance.
Master Litok looked slightly embarrassed.
“Well, in theory ... a few weeks should suffice ...”
“Very funny,” Master Revel chuckled. “And how do you intend to manage that?”
“We bring in every pupil and ...”
Master Litok was definitely embarrassed.
“Yes, that’s just it,” said Master Revel, shaking his head. “It’s not all that simple. We can’t afford to alert the spy. First of all, that could alert our friends in Tabernacle, and if their mole realises that he’s been spotted, he could easily do something stupid ... and we don’t want any unnecessary casualties. Innocent bystanders could be hurt, as well as the spy himself – don’t forget it’s highly probable we will be able to break down the hypnosis. No, we have to work quietly – that’s the first thing, and we have to seize the moment – that’s the second.”
In the meantime Master Litok had resumed his seat.
“Seize the moment?” the chairman enquired.
“Precisely so,” said Master Revel, raising his index finger. “We can make use of this agent to misinform our colleagues in Tabernacle.”
“Meaning?” The chairman himself had apparently forgotten about the rules of procedure.
“As you know, they created their Magical Order as a counterweight to our Academy. And now they have finally come within reach of our ‘secrets’! Surely we can take advantage of this to hand them a couple of ‘secrets’ that will give them a real headache?”
“And what do you propose?” came a voice from the front row, where the most highly respected Craftsmen sat.
“I propose showing them an Academy that is training a new generation of warriors. We shall alter our program of instruction and place greater emphasis on full-contact duelling.”
“But full-contact duelling usually only starts in the third year, even the second-year students aren’t ready for that kind of stress!” someone objected from the hall.
Everyone, including the chairman, had completely forgotten the rules of procedure now.
“Right! And we can exploit that fact! Any specialist on hypnosis will tell you that intense psychological stress and physical trauma often cause the hypnosis to break down. The text books may say that really high-quality hypnosis is impossible to break down. I don’t know what Master Litok would have to say about that, but I will say this: it’s not the hypnosis that’s too strong, it’s the stress and trauma that are inadequate!” And Master Revel gave a chilly smile.
“And are you prepared you subject all the pupils to stress indiscriminately?” the chairman enquired.
Master Revel’s gaze turned steely.
“If necessary, I’ll subject the entire Academy to stress. The kind of stress that no one will find amusing.”
The entire hall fell silent in amazement.
“All right, let’s suppose we change the program,” the chairman said after a pause. “But will these ordinary duels be sufficiently stressful to break down the hypnosis?”
“Possibly not,” Master Revel said with a shrug. “But don’t forget that they will be full-contact duels! Do I need to remind you how many injuries the third-year students suffer in those? And those are the third-year students! The Monitoring Party is on its toes, trying to prevent any injuries at all! Now imagine what will happen if first-year students are involved in duels like that, with a Monitoring Party that consists of, say, one Craftsmen, whose only responsibility is to prevent fatalities ... as far as that is possible, of course.”
“But not a single pupil will survive to the end of the year,” the chairman protested in horror.
“Ah, but they will,” Master Revel laughed. “I’ve already made an arrangement with the druids, they have agreed to provide us with their very best healers for these three months. And their healers can put a dead man back on his feet, given in a few hours.”
“Wonderful!” a voice from the hall called out. “First we let vampires into the Academy, and now druids ... what next? Are we going to hire trolls to work as waiters in the dining hall?”
“If we need to, we’ll bring in trolls as well,” laughed Master Revel. “But let us return to the subject of duels. Perhaps full-contact duels will fail to break down the hypnosis, but they could certainly make the spy nervous and cause him to act rashly. And we shall select the most suspicious individuals for treatment that will make their lives really hard.”