Tales of Lerathian: The Puppet (Chapter Three Excerpt)

Time for another dose of Tales of Lerathian: The Puppet! This time you're getting a taste of the third chapter. Things didn't go perfectly when Jân, Elle, and Nika entered the Elvas capital of Marmaírein, but now that three weeks have passed perhaps we'll find the siblings in a happier place. This excerpt chronicles one of the field classes Elle takes with her peers. We meet her first friends, and Elle learns a very important piece of information. As usual, no editing has been done. Please disregard at this time any errors or typos you may come across.

The weather had warmed up considerably over the past three weeks. Winter finally released its grasp, and the residents of Marmaírein were reveling in the newfound warm spring weather. The residents were just as lively as they were during the festival. That meant both good things and bad things for Elle. Following Cynion’s suggestion, she and Nika made trips into the city every day. There was always a guard or soldier escorting them. They were stiff and unfriendly compared to Tondel, Calor, Uralad, and Tithran whom Elle had been disappointed to learn had been sent away from the city the day after their arrival. The Elvas Elle and Nika were being protected from were either too wrapped up in their own activities to notice them or else they were so upset that the mixed-bloods had ruined their day that a couple more attacks had taken place.

Elle hated that the cruel words and attempts of murder were events she and her sister had become accustomed to experiencing. It only made it sadder when she realized that barely anything had changed. The Elvas were no more willing to have them in the city than they had been before. If anything, it had apparently become a game to see who could break through the guards to attack Elle and Nika without getting caught. Jân, Hydantion, and Trayfel kept telling her to be patient. Elle doubted they would be so easy-going about the whole thing if they were the ones being persecuted.

However, not everything was awful. Her magic was improved far beyond what she ever thought possible. She and Trayfel were getting along better ever since Hydantion revealed he would be the one teaching her and Nika, but there was always that something hidden behind his smiling face that made it impossible to fully trust him. Nonetheless, he was amazing teacher. She could hold her ground against Nika. It was a miracle to her.

“Where did Elle go?”

“Oh, look, she’s found another five-clove.”

“Of course she did.”

Then there were those two. Elle sat up from her hunched over position on the ground where she had been carefully working on pulling up the roots of the five-clove plant her class was gathering without breaking them. Two girls, one with silver hair and one with auburn, walked over. They were dressed in the same light yellow outfit that was her age’s class uniform that they wore whenever they had their field classes. The girls uniform was nothing more than a simple tunic and brown leggings, but Elle loved them. She was no different than the others around her with it on.

“You’re going to make us look bad you know.” the silver-haired girl said.

“Why don’t you stop trying to show us up, yeah?” the other one said placing her hands on her hips.

“Maybe if you stopped admiring how dashing Saramir looks in his uniform and helped me instead, you would have nothing to worry about.”

If she had said that to anyone else in the class, Elle would have had quite the situation on her hands. The truth of it was that Jenwyn and Silveren were the first people besides her siblings whom she could call friends. They were the lone two in the entire class of sixty who accepted her and treated her kindly right off the bat. A couple others were curious about Elle, but for the most part everyone else ignored her.

Elle wasn’t surprised it was Jenwyn and Silveren in particular who befriended her. Jenwyn was Hydantion’s daughter after all. Silveren was her best friend, and shared much of her same opinions. The two stuck close by on every field class Elle intended, and were frequent visitors to the Center. Jenwyn had grown especially protective of her. Elle had to constantly remark at the similarities between father and daughter.

“I don’t think you’ve looked at him properly enough. Once you have, it’s so hard to ever look away again.” Silveren swooned.

She stared dreamily at the most popular male in their class. Tall and copper-haired with a scattering of freckles across his pale skin, the muscular and handsome Saramir ravished in the vast amount of attention he got from the girls. He only looked at Elle with a blank expression on his face whenever their eyes met, so in her book he was decent.

“Stop that,” Jenwyn gently slapped Silveren’s shoulder, “He’ll notice if you do that. You’ll just become another doe-eyed admirer of his. Ignore him, and that will make you all the more desirable.”

Elle laughed, returning to her work on the roots.

“If that was true, he’d be all over me by now.”

“That’s because you’re too exotic. You’re your own kind of pretty so he doesn’t know how to approach you.”

“Right. That’s one way of putting the fact that I’m half-Talmor into words.”

“Come one now, I mean it.” Jenwyn said defensively, “I wish I could look more like you, or at least have your eyes. Everyone here having the same color is so boring.”

“Too true.” Silveren agreed.

“Thank you for the compliment, but do you think you could help with what we’re actually supposed to be doing? These roots are being stubborn.” Elle requested.

The roots of the five-clove went deep. The stretching roots were the only way to distinguish the healing plant from the otherwise identical framework weed. Elle and Jenwyn dug down into the earth while Silveren used a steady glow of white magic to keep the roots from breaking while they worked. The plant was removed from the ground in no time, and Elle allowed Jenwyn to place it in her collection pouch since hers was already stuffed full.

“There’s really no need for us to collect any more, is there? We’ve already gotten double what we need.” Silveren said

“Double, huh?”

A deeper, rascally voice chimed in. One of the other males in the class, along with the two others in his group, had come by without their notice. Elle frowned at them. She had no idea what their names were, but knew they were part of the collection of students who had protested to the council Elle joining the class on outings. A couple of them gave her trouble on each trip. Elle had hoped that since their class was spaced out in the woods surrounded Marmaírein today that she could avoid any incidents. The two boys and girl in front of her clearly wanted the opposite.

“We’ve had some trouble finding five-cloves,” the boy continued in his condescending sarcastic manner, “Since you’ve got double, why not help us out?”

“Go do your own work. You’re not freeloading off our effort.” Jenwyn replied forcefully.

She commandeered every ounce of natural authority her father had, but the boy wasn’t dissuaded.

“That’s not very nice, is it? We’re all Elvas. There’s enough fighting going on with the Dowarks and Vilders. No need for you to be so confrontational.”

“Besides, how are we supposed to find anything if you’re digging it all up?” the other boy added.

“I’m serious. Go away. Find your share yourself, or mooch off someone else. We’re not giving you anything.” Jenwyn refused.

“How about you, Elle? You’re not mean like your friend over here. You’ll share with us, won’t you?”

Elle protested the boy wrapping his arm around her shoulder, but his grip was firm and he pulled her harder back against him each time she tried to get away. She glared at him angrily.

“Fine. I’ll give you half. Just let go of me.” she told him indignantly.

“As you wish, my lady.”

He released her, and bowed. His two friends sniggered. Elle quickly grabbed some of her five-cloves and shoved them in the boy’s hands. With another fake bow, he and the others began to leave. Elle’s cheeks burned as she turned away from them. She barely had when her back was pelted with the five-cloves she had just given away. They didn’t hurt her, the dirt still on the roots rolled down her tunic uncomfortably.

“We didn’t even need your stupid plants in the first place!” the boy called back nastily as he and his friends ran off towards the rest of the class.

“They are absolutely horrible!” Jenwyn fumed.

“Are you alright, Elle?” Silveren asked.

“I’m fine,” Elle replied as she picked up the plants and placed them into her bag again, “It’s hardly the worst I’ve been through.”

“This isn’t right. Where’s the guard who is supposed to be stopping stuff like this from happening?” Jenwyn stamped her foot.

“I think he’s over there talking to the teacher. Oh, speaking of the teacher, look. It seems like we’re supposed to be gathering over there. Silveren noticed.

She pointed to where the rest of the students were moving towards the teacher who was waving his arms toward him. Elle brushed the dirt off of her as she followed Jenwyn and Silveren to the collecting of the rest of the class. It was only as they reached the edge of the crowd that the three girls realized something was going on. The teacher clapped his hands for silence, and addressed them all.

“I want there to be no panic at this announcement. Some of the students have reported seeing Dowark tracks while collecting their assignment.”

The teacher had to pause as a murmur of surprise and alarm rippled through the students. They quieted down instantly as he clapped his hands again.

“I highly suspect this is nothing more than a misreading of tracking signs, but myself and Deliol here are going to do a quick investigation where the tracks were reported. In broad daylight, nothing is going to attack you as long as you stay in the group. No one is allowed to wander. Understood?”

All the students nodded. Elle watched quietly as the teacher and the guard who was supposed to never take his eyes off her wandered deeper into the woods and out of sight. A buzz of heightened anticipation emerged from the class. Everyone separated and spread out despite the order to stay together. Elle, Jenwyn, and Silveren picked a nice spot to stand in a patch of sunlight shining through the branches.

“You don’t really think there are Dowarks nearby, do you?” Elle asked curiously.

“No. Not at all. It takes a huge number of them to even get close to the city.” Silveren said with a shake of her head.

“But wouldn’t a small group be able to slip past without being noticed?”

“It is possible I suppose, but incredibly unlikely. Dowarks turn to dust in sunlight, don’t they? There’s not enough holes or shade for them to hide under in the Elvas land. That’s why they’ve never been able to move past the border even though they’ve been fighting for centuries to do just that.” Jenwyn explained.

“I’m sure the ‘sighting’ is just some of these immature children over here who thought it would be funny to get everyone so riled up and to delay class.” Silveren added.

“You would think th―”

Elle’s sentence was cut short as a loud cry of pain escaped her lips. Her body twitched violently as she fell to the ground. Her mind raced as she struggled to cope with the horrible sensation of all her skin burning. No matter how hard she tried her lungs wouldn’t take in any more air. And yet, when she saw out of the corner of her eye a blue spark akin to lightning racing towards her instinct and true panic caused her arms to raise and pull together the energy to create a shield to send the attack screaming off in a thousand directions before fading into the air. Her reward was a doubling of the pain crippling her body.

Her vision swarmed black as Jenwyn and Silveren leapt forward launching their own attacks at whoever hurt her. Bright flashes of all colors danced in her swaying world, and the grass underneath her began to look like a very nice cushion to fall onto. Then the flashes stopped as suddenly as they started. A hand was placed on her shoulder that was meant to steady her, but it only made Elle’s shoulder burn even more. She could hardly pay attention as the taller figures of the teacher and Deliol appeared in her sight demanding to know what was going on. Elle heard nothing of Jenwyn’s explanation at how someone how cowardly attacked her.

She protested against the teacher as he drew close. Her vision went truly white. It was only after the pain steadily subsided and her lungs began working properly again that Elle realized she was being healed with magic. The person keeping her from collapsing to the ground was Silveren. Elle wasn’t sure how long she sat there being helped with everyone else simply staring and watching, but when the teacher finished he stood up and turned away from her.

“Alright, this mess is done with. Whoever lied about the tracks will be in big trouble if such a lie is made again. Dowarks are not something one jokes about. Because of this prank, we’ll be skipping lunch and heading to the Healers building to practice making our salves from the five-cloves.” he announced to the reaction of a load groan from the students.

“Hold on a minute!” Jenwyn said furiously.

“What is it?” the teacher asked impatiently.

“That’s all you’re going to say? Elle was attacked!”

“Yes, and I healed her. She’ll be fine so there’s no need to make such a ruckus about it.”

Jenwyn stamped her foot again.

“Someone still attacked her! Do something about it!” she demanded.

“Do not raise your voice at me and act like an ill-mannered child,” the teacher started with a deep frown on his face, “You are not your father. You command no authority in this class or over me. I will not tolerate your disrespect. You, Silveren, and the mixed-blood will join the rest of your classmates in our activity without further outbursts unless you wish to invoke the wrath and punishment of the Instructor’s Council. Understood?”

“Her name is Elle.”

“Am I understood?” the teacher repeated forcefully.

“Jenwyn, it’s fine. Don’t go getting yourself in trouble.” Elle told her quietly as Silveren helped her to stand up.

“Understood.”

As the teacher nodded at her submission before turning away and beginning to lead the class out of the woods, Jenwyn made sure to stick her tongue out at him.

“You are still very much like a child.” Elle laughed weakly as she stumbled over to her friends as they slowly followed the group.

“Don’t make light of this! I cannot believe he, or the guard for that matter, is letting those jerks get away with hurting you. I might not have any authority yet, but you can be sure I’ll tell my father about this when class is over.” Jenwyn huffed.

“You can’t tell him.”

“And why not?”

“The city is already angry enough at Nika and me. Your father has said it doesn’t matter if it’s man, woman, or child who tries to hurt us. He’ll put them in a cell regardless. If you tell and he makes a big deal about punishing whoever attacked me, the rest of the class is only going to have more reason to hate and hurt me.”

“You think letting them get away with it is going to help you then?”

“Kill your enemies with kindness, right?”

“No! You deal with your enemies by going at them mercilessly until they learn not to mess with you!”

Elle laughed again. It hurt to do so, but she saw Jenwyn’s pouting face and couldn’t help herself.

“I think the attack has made her go a bit loopy.” Silveren teased.

“She was loopy to begin with.”

“And somehow you still like me.”

“I’m starting to question my judgment on the matter.”

Elle smiled. She, Jenwyn, and Silveren continued to talk, joke, and tease while they followed the class out of the woods and back into the city. The pain remaining in Elle’s body lessened to a dull ache, but it was the stiffness in her muscles and the occasional uncontrollable twitches that made it hard to move that was her main issues. She was actually glad lunch was being skipped. Elle was sure her wincing abdomen wouldn’t be able to keep any food down. Entering the Healers building with is subtle spicy scent of the miscellaneous herbs and plants grown and stored within also help to alleviate her discomfort.

The workers in the building led the class upstairs to a large room where all manner of neatly maintained flora kept in clay boxed lined the walls of tall windows. The rest of the room was composed of tables and chairs where groups such as theirs could meet to practice the art of making goo, as Elle liked to call it. She paid no attention to the teacher as he drawled on about how they would be using the five-cloves they had collected to improve the healing salves they had made the previous week. Jenwyn collected their bowl while Silveren and Elle quickly grabbed a table in one of the few spots in the room that offered shade from the sun glaring in through the windows. The sun was nice outside, but inside it was stuffy, humid, and definitely on the unpleasant side of things.

“Did it settle nicely?” Silveren asked eagerly.

Jenwyn placed the bowl on the table, and carefully took off the leather cover covering the contents. The three girls peered at the substance inside to inspect the work.

“It’s supposed to be a clear-white color with no smell and have the consistency of pudding.” Silveren read from the notes she pulled out of her bag.

“Well, it’s clear-white in color,” Jenwyn started, “But I’m not smelling it or touching it. I hate goopy things like this.”

Silveren hesitated as well so Elle bent over to give the salve a good smell. Satisfied that there was no smell, she stuck her finger into the mixture.

“It has been done well. We can continue on with whatever directions the teacher is blabbering on about over there.”

“We need to pound the roots into power, and mix that in. Then we contain the salve inside the leaves and leave them in the sunlight for a few hours so that the healing properties of the leaves can absorb into it.” Silveren read.

“See, we don’t even need that nasty teacher. All we need is Silveren and her notes.” Jenwyn reasoned

“And Elle’s willingness to do all the dirty work we hate doing.” Silveren added.

“Once you spend most of your life having to make everything you need to survive, you stop being squeamish about things like this.” Elle explained with a shrug.

“I think it’s pretty amazing that you know how to do so many things. If you put me in the wilderness alone I would have no idea how to take care of myself.” Jenwyn said.

“It’s truly an experience, being self-sufficient that is. I never realized how different my life really was from everyone until I came here. I don’t know what to do with all my free time.”

“We’ll have to take you out of the Center more to show you all the things there are to experience in the city.” Jenwyn offered.

“The festival is coming up as well. I heard things didn’t go so nicely for you on the Celebration of Birth, but this time we’ll take you around and make sure you have a great time. Marmaírein really does have the best celebrations.” Silveren said.

“The city is having another festival already?” Elle asked in surprise, “This is the first I’ve heard of it. You guys really like having parties, don’t you?”

“That is true, but normally we don’t have them so close together. This celebration is special because it’s the night of the Blessed Moon.” Jenwyn clarified.

“Blessed Moon? What is a Blessed Moon?”

“It’s an event that happens about twice a year or occasionally only once. A Blessed Moon is the second full moon that appears within the span of one month. It’s so bright it almost blocks out the stars entirely, and legend says it is the night where wielders can use their magic with more accuracy and power. That’s where there’s a massive tournament that goes on all day. Anyone can join, but only the best fighters ever manage to make it to the final rounds.” Silveren replied.

“The winner of the fight gets to participate alongside the council in the main ceremony.” Jenwyn added.

“What happens during the ceremony?”

“It happens a couple hours after the sun set when the moon is halfway through its ascent to its apex,” Jenwyn continued, “The council gathers up the best of what has been crafted and harvested so far in the year, and offers it up to Delmar as a symbol of our faith and dedication to his role of our god and source of life.”

“Forgive me if this sounds insulting, but that’s strange to me. I’ve never heard of anyone offering sacrifices to the god of the world before. It’s not like Delmar swoops down and picks up what you’re offering, right? So it’s doesn’t seem like there’s much point to the whole thing.” Elle said.

“That’s why I said it’s symbolism. It hasn’t always been the way it is now though.”

“What do you mean?” Elle asked curiously.

“Delmar actually did used to come down and take what was offered,” Silveren revealed, “Back in the days of peace. Then the chaos started to break out, and the ceremony was halted for some time. However, ever since then Delmar has never shown himself to the Elvas again. We forgot to show him our gratitude. Now it’s taking centuries to earn back his confidence in us.”

“I had no idea…” Elle said quietly.

She thought over theirs words as Jenwyn and Silveren hurriedly grabbed the equipment needed to do the work they were supposed to be doing from under the table. The teacher had taken to walking about the different tables to inspect how each group was coming along. It hurt Elle to grind the roots with the force need to turn them into power so she took over preparing the leaves. She waited until the teacher passed by and was at the other side of the room before she spoke the thought that came to her mind.

“I’m not sure if that is how it is though.”

“What do you mean?” Jenwyn asked.

“About how you said Delmar hasn’t appeared. I don’t think it’s because the ceremony was stopped. You said he hasn’t come since the peace broke. That’s when the races began splitting apart, right?”

“Correct.”

“That was also when the Elvas began reverting back to their way of pride, right? Like how it was before the Mahon were made?”

Jenwyn and Silveren glanced at each other diffidently.

“I don’t mean to say anything bad about you two. You have been nothing but wonderful to me. However, can you honestly look at how Nika and I have been treated and tell me that the Elvas are the perfect and humble followers they make the race out to be? Why would any god want to accept a people so short-sighted, prideful, and bent on destroying what doesn’t meet their harsh expectations? I think it’s more like that than the council not offering enough gems and food.”

Elle stared at her friends earnestly. Jenwyn and Silveren didn’t appear angry, but they only gave slight nods before keeping their silence and continuing their work. She sighed softly. Her hands continued to twitch as she picked up another leaf.