The Third Red 1: The Enemy Within
Chapter Ten Power

“You can’t do this!” the girl shouted. “He was taken as a child!”

“It matters not when they were taken!” Taro retorted. “All traitor survivors must die!”

“Then we are no better than the Demorians!” the girl declared.

Many gasped at her words. Eric, meanwhile, stood in awe as he looked at her. Her long red hair that she wore in the same style as his mother’s, hung straight down along her back, simple but nonetheless attractive. Aside from that though she looked nothing like Margery, Eric’s mother had a broad physique while this girl was incredibly thin. Her plain brown dress marked her as a commoner, though Eric felt it did nothing to diminish her beauty.

“How dare you!” Taro snapped before pointing at the girl. “Arrest her!”

Two of the Volk guards stepped down the steps towards the redhead who made no move to run. Her golden eyes stared in defiance.

“Stop!” Chosan yelled. “Are you mad, Taro?”

“You heard what she said, such words deserve punishment!” Taro’s face was twisted with anger as he spoke. “The Demorians are an evil people that need to be eradicated!”

“Perhaps, but I agree with the girl!” Chosan said. “This is not right! A person taken prisoner as a child should be granted pardon!”

“It’s that sort of cowardice that allowed Corgo to return!” Taro roared. “I will not show weakness like you did! Take the girl!”

The pair of his men continued over to the girl who had a look of fear on her face but still didn’t run. Taro then looked back down at the prisoner and raised the axe to carry out the punishment. Eric gritted his teeth, what was he going to do? He didn’t know.

“Taro!” a strong female voice sounded, and Eric felt a familiar rush of sorcery. He looked ahead and saw the crowd part to let someone pass. Queen Razana made her way towards the Blood Chapel, four of her royal guards behind her.

Taro hid his fury and lowered the axe before bowing. “My Queen! I did not expect to see you here!”

“Oh, I wouldn’t have come if I didn’t have to. A vision of the future demanded my intervention. I saw you execute that man.” She pointed to Onro. “But when you did, a riot broke out! There would be more deaths that followed. I command you to release him!”

“But-

“Now!”

Razana struck the street with her cane. Like yesterday, the gems throughout her dress glowed and surrounded her in a powerful aura.

“That’s an order from your Queen, Lord Volk!”

Taro was silent for a moment. Eric was pleased to see he looked frightened as well as disappointed. “F-fine. The traitor survivor- I mean…taken child can go home. But it’s not as though it will do him much good seeing as his mind has been broken.”

“I can fix that,” the queen said before she looked to the red headed girl being held by the Volk men. “Also, release her.”

The Volk guards did as they were told. The girl took a deep breath in relief.

The queen turned her gaze back to Onro and walked up to him. She put her hand on his head. “Metala Woota Heala!” Mind be healed.

Onro’s eyes widened, he began to breathe rapidly. Razana’s elderly face twisted as though she were looking at something awful. For several moments neither of them moved, then the queen took her hand off Onro’s head, holding something that looked like a dark mist. She let it go and it vanished into thin air while Onro collapsed.

“Onro!” his mother called out running to his side.

The queen took a deep breath and turned to the other woman.

“I took the memories of fighting for the Demorians out. They drove him into shock even though he was possessed. When he awakes, he won’t remember anything since he was taken. But he’ll be able to speak and move normally again soon.”

“Oh, thank you so much your highness! You’ve given me my son back!” the woman said, bowing before turning to the red headed young sorceress. “And thank you to you as well young sorceress.”

“Oh, not at all,” the girl said with a curtsy. “I was happy to help.”

The mother then turned to Chosan. “Mi lord. Thank you for speaking up as well.”

Chosan gave her a sheepish smile. “Oh I didn’t do anything.”

“Not true… you did buy some time for the queen to arrive Lord Chosan,” Lilar said.

“Hmph!” Taro Volk huffed. “Well, the punishments are carried out for today. Let us all return home.”

He and his attendants stormed off, heading to their castle on the south side. The queen likewise began moving in the opposite direction, north to her palace.

“Will you need any help taking your son home? It will be a while before he wakes up,” Chosan said.

“Thank you. You are very kind, Lord Chosan.” The mother said. “I’d be honored to join your household if you have room for new servants.”

Chosan considered her for a moment then nodded. “Very well. We could always use another set of hands. Rikal, Dikal!”

The bear boys came up to Chosan.

“If you would, please escort her and her son to Soyagone. They can both work as servants.”

“Yes Lord Chosan!” the bear boys said together then glared at each other.

At least they didn’t start a scuffle and went on to their task. Rikal slung Onro over his shoulder. Even though they were young, thanks to having bear bodies they were strong for their age. The twins began the walk to Soyagone with Onro’s mother.

Chosan looked back at the redhead. “It was brave of you to stand up for him like that, Karia.”

From the way he way he said her name, it seemed to Eric that they’d met before. Karia, a beautiful name, Eric thought. She was also a beautiful girl. Her hair reminded him of a bright fire, and her eyes the sun.

“I just did what I knew was right, Lord Yagaro.”

“Eric, come here.” Chosan beckoned with a wave of his fingers.

Eric took a few steps forward, looking at the girl named Karia.

“This is Karia Calamen. Her mother is an old acquaintance of mine,” Chosan said. “Karia, my nephew Eric.”

Karia curtsied again. “Hello. Wait, I saw you last night!”

Eric looked at her with confusion then recalled last night. The party! The orange hair, the eyes like the sun.

“You were the dancing girl that blew a kiss at me!” he exclaimed.

“Yes,” she said, her cheeks turning a bit pink. “That was… um… part of the dance. We always blow kisses at boys watching us at some point.”

Eric felt his cheeks heat up as he managed a smile, his heart beating a bit faster. This was the first girl he’d met within the city walls of Sortar. His mother’s prediction came back into his head, I would bet a hundred crowns you marry the first girl you meet in the walls of Sortar.

“Well, it seems something finally made you happy, at least a little!” Chosan remarked as he noticed Eric chuckle.

Eric twanged in embarrassment. Karia looked at him.

“I’ve heard of your loss and what they’re saying about your mother. That she’s a traitor for not taking her life… “

Her words tore deeper into the hole in Eric’s heart. For a moment he felt a spark of anger, but it faded at her next words.

“But I think they are wrong. No one should have to take their own life, there has to be a better way.”

Eric’s anger was replaced with gratitude. “I never really thought of it that way.”

“Well, we should be getting home before something else troubling happens,” Chosan said.

“Nice meeting you, Karia.” Eric extended his hand to shake.

She smiled and took it. “You as well Lord Eric. By any chance are you going to Castle Scholar?”

Eric nodded. “Aye. I’m going there tomorrow.”

“Then perhaps I will see you there!”

So, she would be there as well. That was a nice thought. Eric and the others went over to where their horses were tied in the chapel stables and mounted up before heading in the direction of the Safe Path. They had almost reached it when Lorala came back through screaming.

“Lord Chosan! Vikal! She ran off! Myra’s gone!”

Everyone froze in shock for a moment.

“What?” Vikal exclaimed.

“Oh, how terrible!” Bragar screamed.

“What happened?” Orvalor asked. “What could have provoked this?”

Lorala took a deep breath. “She said she had no problem watching the punishment and wanted to go back. I told her no, that she didn’t want to see something so bloody. I tried to discipline her and remind her of her place then she blinded me with an illusion! By the time I broke it she was gone.”

“Oh no!” Vikal said. “We have to replace her!”

“Wait, she wanted to come back here?” Orvalor noted. “So why didn’t she?”

“She doesn’t know the city very well!” Vikal said. “She’s only been here a few times!”

Orvalor scoffed. “You are too protective of her, son. Now she’s in who knows what part of Sortar!”

“Oh, what do we do? What do we do?” Vikal asked worriedly. “My poor little girl! She could be taken by Dishonored and-!”

“Vikal, calm down!” Omulus put a hand on his half-brother’s shoulders. “We’ll replace her!”

Orvalor nodded. “This is no time to lose our heads! We need to split up!”

They did so, Orvalor lead Chosan, Lilar Bragar and Lorala north. Vikal, Omulus and one of the archers they’d brought with them headed toward the Safe Path to look for Myra there. Eric, Omaron, and the remaining two archers headed south into the market sector on their horses. Since he wasn’t familiar with the city, Eric followed the archers lead. They asked people they passed if they’d seen a little girl with black pigtails and a silver flower ornament in her hair. For a while no one did until finally-

“Yes, I did! She went that way on a pony not long ago.” said the citizen they asked.

He pointed down a street named Smith. The entire street was filled with blacksmith shops for arms and armor as well as lesser needs like nails.

“Oh boy, my aunt won’t like this,” Omaron said next to Eric.

The heir, Lend Hand, and archers went down that direction. Shortly after, they saw Myra’s pony tied to a post nearby. The shop directly in front of the pony was Shining Arms and Armor, it had a sign with a helmet on it. Eric walked over to it and opened the door. Sure enough, Myra was inside speaking to the arms dealer.

“No! My weapons are for strong lads, not weakling girls! Go back to Sewing Street!”

“Sir! I only wish to learn how to wield a weapon!” Myra begged. “I’d be happy to give a few silver swords if you merely show me a few-”

“I would not teach you for a hundred crowns!” the seller snapped. “You girls belong beneath us! We own you! Now get out of my shop!”

He noticed Eric, his look of fury vanished and was quickly replaced with a smile.

“Ah, a boy! Good! I’ll be happy to sell to you!”

“Actually, I’m here for her!” Eric pointed to Myra, whose eyes were tearing up.

“Oh good, get your sister out my shop!”

“She’s not my sister!” Eric snapped. “But I don’t like what you said to her. You realize she is a noble right? You cannot own her!”

One of the archers accompanying them stepped forward, his hand going to his dagger. “I believe something like that calls for punishment. Would you like me to cut off his hand on Lady Myra’s behalf, Lord Eric?”

Eric felt a chill go down his spine. As a Lord, or at least heir to a Lordship he had high authority. But he had to be careful not to abuse that authority.

The sword seller shivered. “Please have mercy young Lord! Sortar needs all the hands to pound metal it can get!”

Eric glared at him. Though he had a point. “Eh, just slap him.”

“As you wish,” the leader archer said as he walked up and landed a sharp strike on the Smith’s face.

“If I hear you say that to her, or any other girl for that matter, you will not get off so easy,” Eric told him. “Come on, Myra.”

He gently put a hand on the young girl’s shoulder and lead her out of the shop. Omaron meanwhile, frowned at his cousin.

“Myra, you know you’re not supposed to handle weapons, apart from daggers or staffs! Aunt Lorala will be mad when she hears about this.”

Myra’s head fell. Eric felt his heart fill with a pain other than the loss he’d already experienced. He pulled her closer gently, she sniffled and hugged him to his surprise. Slowly, he returned the hug and stroked his cousin’s hair.

“All I want is to learn to be a knight like my father, uncle and grandfather.”

“And I wish I could have sorcery like the rest of you!” Omaron snapped. “But I can’t. I’m just the son of the non-sorcerer bastard! I’ll probably be just as if not more useless than you!”

Eric wasn’t an expert on family dynamics… though he could see how someone without sorcery would feel less useful. He’d been that way when Corgo came out. He could never hope to match Rubara or Margery… yet.

“No one’s useless,” Eric said to his cousin. “Unless they do nothing at all.”

That’s what I was, and I don’t want to be that again. He thought.

They walked over to their mounts, but as they climbed on, figures suddenly blocked all four roads around them. People in tattered clothing with broken sword hilt symbols carved into their foreheads. They were surrounded by Dishonored!

“All right, nobles! Give us all your coin and we won’t hurt you!” one of them said, brandishing a crude club.

“Ah Panarus! Lord Eric run!” The lead archer shouted. “We’ll hold them off!”

Both archers dropped their bows and drew the short swords at their hips, the Dishonored being too close for them to shoot with arrows. The criminals came at them! The archers tried to hold the crude weapons off, but it was clear they were hopelessly outnumbered. Omaron seized the opportunity and ran, sending his horse off into a gallop. Eric hesitated, but did the same and followed on Snowshine, urging the horse forward.

He felt a tinge of shame in running away rather than standing his ground, like he should have against Corgo. But he knew it was the most logical thing to do. He had no weapons. He’d left his new sword and dagger in his tower at Soyagone. Though he had magic, which could be stronger than any blade, none of them but Omaron had armor on, and that was just a mere gambeson. Running was the best option. He pulled Snowshine’s reins and directed her after Omaron’s brown stallion as best he could. The Lend Hand was making his way to the nearest entrance to the Safe Path. As they rode with all haste, more Dishonored appeared from all over the Market Sector.

“Open the gate! Dishonored attack!” Omaron shouted as he got close.

“Wait!”

Eric looked back over his shoulder. Myra was far behind them! Her pony’s little legs couldn’t carry her as fast! A few Dishonored blocked her path after them! She was trapped … alone. The archers were both down further back. Eric pulled the reins, bringing Snowshine to a halt.

“Lord Eric!” Omaron called. “Come on! We have to get out of here!”

Eric ignored him. He had to help Myra! Turning Snowshine around, he rode in the direction of the girl and her pony, knocking down some of the Dishonored in his path as he went.

Myra came up to Eric on her pony, looking back over her shoulder in fear. More of them were coming!

“It’ll be alright!” Eric tried to sound confident to calm her.

He got off the horse and pointed both hands at the incoming Dishonored.

“Stop!” he shouted. “Fyra!”

He expected flames to appear in his grasp. But… nothing happened.

“Oh Panarus!” Eric exclaimed as he remembered he’d suppressed his sorcery to avoid being possessed by Clauwing.

There was a scream behind him. Eric wheeled around and saw a Dishonored grab hold of Myra and pull her off her pony.

“Let her go!” Eric yelled, trying to rush at the man, forgetting he had no weapon or sorcery.

He was grabbed by two of the Dishonored and held in place with a dagger at his throat. He froze.

“Where is your sorcery?” one of them asked. “No matter. Makes things easier for us. Take his gold sack!”

As he struggled to break free, Eric felt hands groping around his waist. They took the sack that Chosan gave him when they were in the tunnels beneath Soyagone. The Dishonored dumped the contents with glee.

“Look! We got a bunch of silver and some gold here!”

The leader scoffed. “We could probably get even more if we ransom him! Take him to the nearest underground entrance! We’ll hide with the goblins for a while!”

“No!” Myra shouted, not in fear so much as anger.

And she stomped on the foot of the man holding her!

“Ow!” He yelled in pain and jumped around on one foot, releasing Myra.

The girl then kicked him in the stomach. To Eric’s surprise she struck with enough force to send him off his feet. Eric’s mouth fell open at the sight.

“Let him go!” Myra shouted, her entire body glowing blue as she spoke an incantation. “Grito kodu suprere velos e muscon!”

She then charged at them with tremendous speed and took hold of one of the Dishonored with even more strength than should have been possible for a girl her age and size. She pulled the first man off Eric and lifted him up before tossing him to the ground then leapt at the second and punched him in the face, Eric heard the man’s nose break.

Eric was unable to suppress a smirk as he watched the Myra’s impressive feats with her power, which was unmistakably Greater Body. The inherited power commonly used by Soron Knights like her father and grandfather. Greater Body allowed the wielder to use their sorcery to increase speed and strength. This made the use of weaponry or even hand to hand combat devastating. Watching his cousin confirmed everything his mother had told him, that women could fight.

“Thanks Myra!” Eric told her before exclaiming, “Look out!”

Four Dishonored took Myra this time and another two grabbed Eric once again. They pulled Myra off her feet and used both hands to restrain each of her limbs. She struggled, but even her Greater Body wasn’t enough to break free of all of them.

The leader held his bloody nose and growled. “You dare hurt a man, little girl? I’ll make you pay for this! Let’s get them down under!”

Eric flinched, looks like they were going be held for ransom after all.

“I think not!” said a voice.

It was a goblin. A very big goblin with chalky white skin and small patches of spiky green hair on his head and one green whisker below his chin. He wore tattered and stained clothing with ripped off sleeves, showing a pair of heavily muscled arms. On the shoulders of those arms were a pair of spiked pauldrons.

Scratching the whisker at his chin, the goblin looked around, “I not count well. There two of you,” he pointed to Eric and Myra. “And one, two, three… hmm… what after that? Well, I see many more! That I know!”

He assumed an on-guard stance with his weapon. It was a long-handled axe like the one Lilar carried. But while his weapon had only an axe head, this one had axe blade on one side, a smashing hammer on the back, and a sharp spear point on top, a poleaxe. For a moment Eric was afraid the goblin would use it to behead or impale him. But that was not the case.

“Worse odds, more fun!”

The goblin ran with thundering steps and impaled the Dishonored leader with the spear head of his axe. All that weren’t holding Eric or Myra came at him. The goblin swung with the axe blade of his large and intimidating weapon, cutting off heads or hacking into chests. Eric gritted his teeth at the sight. One of the Dishonored holding Eric loosened his grip at the sight of his comrades falling, Eric seized the opportunity to pull himself free and disarmed his other captor of the club he held. He then rushed to free Myra from the four men restraining her. Eric swung the club, hitting a man holding one of the girl’s legs. The remaining three let her go. Eric waged a fighting retreat, backing up while also swinging his club. It was a crude weapon, lacking the speed and grace of a sword, but it was effective enough.

He managed to bash another Dishonored in the shoulder and block a counterattack from the second. But the third struck at Eric’s exposed hand, Eric dropped the club and cried out in pain before being knocked to the ground. His attacker, a massive man nearly as muscular as the goblin bore down on him. He raised the club, Eric thought for certain it was over until a beam of blue light hit the man in the back. The Dishonored fell forward facedown and Eric saw Myra was up again and holding a handful of sorcery. She looked at the man she’d just killed with her eyes wide open.

Eric took several breathes and got to his feet, wincing to the pain in his hand as the goblin approached them, a pile of bodies around him.

“Thank you… I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t shown up,” Eric spoke through the pain.

“I know. You die,” the goblin said. Eric hoped he meant to say he knew that without him they would have died, and that he didn’t plan on hurting them himself. To his relief the goblin lowered his weapon. Eric breathed in relief then groaned as he clutched his hand.

“Eric! You’re hurt!” Myra said. “Here let me help!”

She ran sorcery over his hand and the pain soon retreated.

“Thanks,” Eric said.

The sound of hooves hitting the ground at high speed filled Eric’s ears. He looked and saw Omaron had returned with Chosan and the others.

“Myra!” Vikal called as he rode up to his daughter. “Are you alright?”

The girl nodded then let out a sob, she was alright, but the experience was still hard on her. “Father!”

She ran over and hugged him. Vikal stroked his daughter’s hair and turned to Omaron with a look of disappointment. “You abandoned your cousins when they were surrounded by Dishonored!”

“I’m sorry, Uncle Vikal. There were just so many, I thought it was best to retreat!”

“You do not abandon your liege lord when they are in danger!” Vikal snapped. “You protect them no matter what the odds!”

“I wouldn’t have been any help!” Omaron protested. “I’m not a sorcerer like my cousins!”

“Sorcerer or not you have been trained to fight!” Omulus said. “Grow some steel in your heart my son! Sorcerers are our superiors, but sometimes one knight can make all the difference for them!”

“At least she had Lord Eric to protect her,” Lorala said, looking at Eric who shook his head.

“I didn’t protect her as much as she did me. She took two Dishonored off me!”

“You what?” Lorala exclaimed, turning to her daughter angrily. “You fought them? You could have been killed! What have I told you about fighting? You will never win!”

“But I did!” Myra insisted. “I took two of the Dishonored and threw them!”

“It’s true!” Eric told Lorala. “She even saved me. Tossed two of em off!”

“You stay out of this Lord Eric!” Lorala snapped before turning back to her daughter. “You may have been able to overpower this scum but that was only because they were not sorcerers, or they had their sorcery suppressed. If they were able to use Greater Body, they would have crushed you with ease! You must never fight! Stay behind the men and let them protect you!”

Myra looked down.

“Who is the goblin?” Chosan asked looking at the pale creature. The knight’s hands fell on their weapons at the sight.

“I Dargin,” the goblin said. “Of Clan Saru!”

“He saved us,” Eric told them. “We’d both be down in the tunnels if not for him.”

“Oh, mighty good! Thank you!” Chosan said as he took the sack from his side and emptied out the gold out of it. “Here take all of this! Please.”

Dargin grinned. “Like gold but love battle more.”

Chosan chuckled nervously. “Well, thank you. I owe you my nephew and young second cousin’s lives.”

The goblin pocketed the gold before nodding and walking off. Eric regathered the money the Dishonored had dumped from his sack. Then, with Myra found, the Yagaro’s could finally make their way back to Soyagone. Once safely inside their castle walls, they put their horses in the stables, Chosan sent a party out to retrieve the bodies of the two fallen archers so they could bury them. They had lunch, then Rubara came along, walking with her usual earthshaking steps up to Eric as he came into the middle courtyard.

“Little one!” she called to him. “How went your trip into the city?”

Eric told her. When his dragon grandmother heard about him being attacked, she growled. “First your mother is called a traitor now this! Perhaps I ought to accompany you when you go in the next time.”

“Some of those streets aren’t quite big enough for you,” Chosan reminded her. “People won’t be happy if they saw our dragon going around stomping down people’s houses.”

“Your dragon?” Rubara repeated and snarled slightly. “You do not own me like the rest of the animals you keep in cages around here Chosan! I stay here for Eric.”

Chosan shivered. “Uh- sorry Rubara. A slip of the tongue.”

Rubara huffed smoke at him. “You assured me you would do your best to take to care of him while he was under your watch. But today it seemed you were incapable of doing so. A stranger helped to protect him while you and your knights were in another part of the city.”

“It was a spot of troubling luck,” Chosan told her. “That does not usually happen in Sortar. You shouldn’t worry about it, Rubara.”

“I do worry, though. I fear the little one will be unable to rely on you in dangerous situations like what occurred today.”

Chosan sighed. “You are likely right. I’m not at all a fighter. Two good men gave their lives to protect Eric today.”

As Eric thought of the two archers, his heart ached again. He knew it was their responsibility to protect him as soldiers of his house. But he in turn had to be able to protect them as well.

“If only I’d had my sorcery, I could have saved them!” Eric said. “I feel so useless! When am I going to begin training? You promised the queen you were going to have me learn more sorcery so I could be ready when the war comes.!”

“If you wish, right now.” Chosan said.

Eric suddenly grinned. “Good, I want power! Then I won’t be so useless!”

The thought of mastering every power a sorcerer could possess ran through his head. He would be able to cast sorcery from his eyes, strike harder with a sword and run faster with Greater Body, or shapeshift and grow wings.

“Orvalor and Vikal can teach you to use Greater Body and Sight Sorcery,” Chosan decided.

“That’s right,” Vikal said. “Boys would you please fetch the Heir’s Heirlooms?”

“Yes father!” Rikal and Dikal said together before growling at each other.

“I’ll get them!”

“No, I will!”

They both ran off to get the Heirlooms.

Orvalor removed his helmet. Eric could see he looked puzzled. “Why do we need those Lord Chosan? He-

Chosan pointed a finger at the old captain and said something in Soron.

“Conaca mentales!”

Eric didn’t know what it meant.

“I see. If you think it best,” Orvalor said.

Chosan nodded. Eric didn’t know what he’d told the old captain with an illusion but didn’t bother asking. He was going to learn more sorcery, and he was going to remember it all. On Dragoran he’d not been very interested in combative sorcery training. But now he would devote himself to it.

The two Soron Knights lead Eric and Omaron to the jousting grounds where they’d held the tournament last night. They showed Eric into the storeroom which housed a variety of weapons and armor for sparring.

“In time we will give you your own armor and shield, but for now use these,” Orvalor said.

This caused Eric to remember something. “Oh, I have a shield already!”

“You do?” Orvalor asked.

Eric nodded. “Aye, I made it on Dragoran. Though it still needs a handle and my… my mother said we could enchant it.” He looked down.

“We can do that alright,” Orvalor nodded. “Where is it?”

“In my room.”

“Well, you can give it to me after we train, I’ll have Alvan and Arvis fix it up by tomorrow.”

Eric nodded, the memory of making the shield with Margery filled him. He sniffled for a moment then shook his head. His mother wouldn’t want him to keep mourning her, she’d want him to get stronger so he could fulfill his destiny and defeat Corgo so no one else would have to lose their loved ones. He took a deep breath and steeled himself.

Orvalor gestured to the suits. “Now, let’s get you outfitted.”

Eric changed into a set of leather armor consisting of a shirt, leggings, gloves and helmet. It matched those of some of the Yagaro soldiers. Leather was light so it wouldn’t hinder Eric’s movement and offered at least some protection from weaponry. Not as much as a suit of plate or mail, but Eric wasn’t strong enough for those. At least not yet.

When Eric emerged, he saw Rikal and Dikal had joined them. Rikal held a wooden box which he walked up with and presented to Eric.

“For you, Eric.”

Eric set the sword and shield he’d brought with him down on the ground for a moment. He opened the box and saw an assortment of items. Two rings and armbands, a silver necklace, and a headband with a rectangular gold headpiece.

“These are the Heir’s Heirlooms,” Orvalor told Eric. “They are enchanted pieces of armor that will allow you to wield all the other sorcerer powers.”

Eric looked at each item and saw the symbols of the inherited powers on them. The necklace held spirit magic by the ghost symbol engraved on it. One ring contained shapeshifting, evident by a human torso engraved on it. The other ring bore a shining head, the illusion symbol. The headpiece had an eye etched into it with a sapphire in the center. One armband showed a fist, that had to be Greater Body. The other armband, the last heirloom, had a tree at the top with not one but six gemstones on the sides. Nature sorcery had so many elements, one gem wasn’t able to hold them all. Each went into its own gem. Looking closely Eric saw a flame sparking within the ruby, water swirling within the sapphire, a leafed vine in the emerald, sparkling electricity in the yellow diamond, a tornado circulating through the common white diamond, and what looked like an ordinary small stone for earth.

“Spirit, Greater Body, Sight, Nature, Illusion, Shapeshifting,” Eric pointed to each piece as he spoke. Then he noticed one power was missing. “No beast.”

Orvalor nodded. “Beast sorcery is determined by the year and month a sorcerer is born. We can’t have a set enchanted item for that, nor can we give someone any other beast besides that of the month they were born in. Fortunately, House Yagaro has managed to assemble a large collection of enchanted items in the Soron Seclu with almost every beast a sorcerer can have.”

Eric shrugged. “Well, I don’t need one. I am a natural born beast and nature sorcerer.”

He put on all the items except for the nature armband. Eric looked at it and wondered what he could do with the item since he already possessed that power.

“You can give that to someone else as you choose,” Orvalor told him. “Now, which power would you like to start with?”

Eric thought for a moment then looked at the Spirit Amulet now around his neck. Spirit magic enabled one to summon the ghosts of their ancestors from Spirakus for a time. He could see his mother again!

“Spirit.”

“You wish to see your mother, don’t you?”

Eric nodded as his heart filled with anticipation at the thought of his mother showing up in front of him. Maybe his father Derair as well, the father he had never known who’d died trapping Corgo inside Margery.

For a few minutes, Orvalor explained that Eric needed to draw on the energy stored within the object, channeling it through his body. Most of them were meant to have their energy channeled out through the hand like nature or illusion magic. Others such as shapeshifting needed to be channeled inward to be used on the caster themselves. He would also have to learn the incantations for many of them.

Finally, the time came for Eric to attempt to use spirit sorcery to summon his mother.

“Picture her. Now say bifo mi mokaree fa spirakas.”

Eric did so. He pictured the brown hair that she’d passed on to him. Her brown eyes, kind smile, strong muscular arms that he’d seen on no other woman so far. Then his heart hurt at the picture in his head. He winced as he grasped the necklace with the ghost shape, drawing on the energy within it.

“Bifo mi mokaree fa Spirakas.” Bring my mother from Spirakas.

Nothing happened.

Orvalor sighed. “You are still very much engrieved. You can only summon a spirit from Spirakus when you are at peace with yourself.”

Eric looked down, then a horrible possibility occurred to him. “Maybe she’s not in Spirakus. Maybe she went to-”

A chill ran down his spine as the word Panarus hung on his tongue. Had his mother been punished for choosing to live when by doing so she could cause the deaths of hundreds of innocents? Had she gone to the place where damned souls were turned into monsters like Corgo? That was too horrible to think. She’d been a loving, strong woman who’d cared greatly about others.

“I can’t be sure,” Orvalor said. “We’ll try that power again once you are more at peace with yourself. For now, let us move on to Greater Body.”

Eric looked at the armband with the fist symbol on it, which he’d put on the wrist of his sword arm. He focused, this was the first time he’d drawn magic from another source. He tried to draw it out from the gem.

“No! No!” Orvalor said as green energy came out in response to Eric’s mentally drawing it. “You’re pulling out the enchantment! Don’t look at it, hold your arm out of direct sight. Can you feel the energy resonating against your arm?”

Eric nodded. From the moment he’d put on the heirlooms he could feel new energies brushing against him slightly. He stretched out his sword arm and closed his eyes.

“Think about how it feels so you can recognize each power,” Orvalor guided.

Eric directed all his focus to feeling the weight of the training sword in his hand, the contraction of his muscles, and the faint energy pulsating on his skin from. Each enchanted object felt different. The Spirit necklace made Eric feel cold around his neck, the illusion ring gave him a fuzzy feeling on his finger, and the Greater Body seemed to be pushing against him wrist.

“Now say the incantation, grito kodu suprere velos! It means grant me superior speed.”

“Grito kodu suprere velos!” Eric mimicked.

He drew the pushing energy into his arm from the gem on the armband. He then swung his training sword so fast it appeared as a blur.

Orvalor watched him as he performed several swings before coming over.

“You need to move your feet as you strike.”

He showed Eric a series of cuts and slashes with one hand while also keeping his shield up. Eric did his best to mimic them, though the captain had to give him guidance on improving his technique.

“Good!” Orvalor said once Eric had performed the full series well enough. “Having a shield is common-place for a warrior under House Yagaro as we follow the way of the Protector.”

Eric nodded. Then a question occurred to him as he looked at the sword in one hand and shield in the other. “How do I cast spells if both hands are full?”

“Well, you could use only a finger. But that results in much weaker spells for most powers. The best thing to do would be to keep your weapon in its sheath and use your right hand to cast spells until an opponent gets close. Though with sight sorcery, you can channel sorcery through your eyes. Now let us work on running with Greater Body. Rikal, if you would demonstrate.”

The blue clad Lend Hand stepped out in front of Eric. His legs glowed blue like his sister Myra’s had, then he spoke the incantation as well.

“Grito kodu suprere velos!”

And Rikal did have superior speed! He ran perhaps as fast as a horse, a shining horse that left a trail of light behind it. He ran from one end of the tourney grounds to the other in less than ten seconds.

Following Orvalor’s instructions, Eric drew the energy from the armband up into his sword arm, down through his stomach and into his legs then spoke the incantation again.

“Grito kodu suprere velos!”

He then sprinted, feeling the air push against him as he moved across the jousting field after Rikal. He got closer, closer-

Bam! He rammed into the Lend Hand. Both boys fell to the ground.

“Sorry!” Eric said as he got to his feet. “By the Patrons I moved fast!”

“Yes!” Rikal grunted as he too struggled to get up. “Very fast! Much too fast! That sort of speed shouldn’t be possible!”

They tried again several times, Eric overtook both Rikal and Dikal each time but crashed into the castle wall at the other end. When he looked over his shoulder the twins hadn’t even made it halfway down the fence. When Eric’s first sorcery core was used up, Orvalor decided it would be best to move onto sight sorcery. Vikal taught Eric to use this power as it was one, he’d been born with.

“As you are likely aware, sight sorcery allows a sorcerer to channel magic through their eyes. This gives them an advantage over other sorcerers who can only produce magic from their hands. It’s also useful for sorcerer warriors that prefer using shields. If both hands are holding something it can be hard to cast spells,” The younger knight said.

Eric nodded, understanding.

“There are several things you can use sight sorcery for. It will allow you to see in the dark, sorcery within another life form, the future, or through objects. Any of these things require you to perform a different incantation.”

Vikal closed his eyes. “Viset Soron!” He opened them, and Eric saw Vikal’s eyes were a very bright blue. Much brighter than Eric’s own, these would have been bright enough to shine in the dark. In place of the pupil there was an open green circle.

“Now you try. Focus on the sorcery in your head, channel it into your eyes, and say the incantation!”

“Viset Soron. Arrgh!”

Eric’s eyes stung as he channeled sorcery into them. He looked around and saw the sorcery within the bodies of those around him. He could still make out the faces just barely as the light energy seemed to radiate from them like colored fog. Orvalor glowed green, Vikal and Rikal blue, Dikal orange, and Omaron being a non-sorcerer was gray.

“Are you alright?” Orvalor asked, noticing Eric’s pained exclaim.

“My eyes sting!” Eric grunted. “Does this happen for all sight sorcerers?”

“Sometimes. There are cases of constantly using sight sorcery or damaging the eyes,” Vikal said.

“Perhaps we better stop,” Orvalor said.

“No! I still need to learn all the sight sorcery incantations!” Eric choked out. “Whatever this is, I’m not going to let it stop me!”

“Fine. I can tell you the rest of them,” Vikal said.

The other captain recited the rest of the incantations to Eric and had him repeat them several times. Eric committed each one to memory.

“I believe that tis enough for now. The powers seem to be having unusual effects for you. I better tell Lord Chosan of this.”

“No, we need to train more!” Eric protested.

“Training that brings pain is not a good sort of training. We’ll do it later,” Orvalor said. “You would do well to study incantations from books, I think. Besides, I need to have someone get started on your shield.”

They walked back to the main courtyard in the middle of the castle. This time, Eric led Orvalor up the stairs of the Heir’s tower. Once inside he retrieved the incomplete wooden shield covered in dragon scales and gave it to the knight.

“I’ll have this taken to Alvan. Should be ready tomorrow.”

Eric nodded in thanks as the knight left. He then looked at the new items that the servants had left in his tower. He now had scrolls, a feather quill and ink to write with, as well as canvases and bottles of paints. Eric sat down at the desk, picked up the quill and wrote down the incantations he’d learned for Greater Body and Sight Sorcery while they were still fresh in his mind. He couldn’t allow himself to forget them. He needed to take his training more seriously from now on, he couldn’t just depend on Rubara to protect him.

After he finished, something flickered in his head. An image of Corgo. Eric clenched a fist. Seething, he took another piece of parchment, tracing the bat demon’s image onto it. When he was done, Eric picked up one of his mother’s daggers and held it over the picture of his enemy as he held it to the wall.

“One day, I will destroy you for what you did to my parents.”

He drove the weapon into the drawing’s heart, pinning it to the wall. Still glaring and breathing angrily, Eric got up and took a walk around the castle. He descended to the floor below and walked its halls, passing through the armory, and then into the hall with bedrooms. As he continued, he heard someone arguing.

“Why must you continue trying to be something you are not meant to be?” a familiar woman asked.

“Because I want to be a Maiden of Mayhem!” an even more familiar young girl’s voice stated.

Eric stopped at the bedroom door through which the voices were coming from.

“How often must I tell you?!” Lorala shouted from within. “You will only get hurt if you partake in battle! If you want to be hurt, perhaps I should speak to the Suffering Sisters about having you join them. You can take the pain away from others and into yourself. That’s a noble cause.”

Myra didn’t reply.

“No? Well, not another word of it then! Any more of this nonsense about learning to fight and you will go to the sisters!”

Footsteps approached the door from within, Eric scurried around a corner to hide. Lorala emerged from the room and walked in the other direction without noticing him. Eric was about to continue through the castle when he heard a sniffle from the room Lorala had been in. He looked inside and saw Myra there, crying onto her pillow.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” Eric asked, walking up to the girl’s bed.

She looked up with teary eyes as he sat down next to her.

“My mother wants me to stop trying to learn to fight!” Myra said. “She says I’m too weak to do it! That I’ll be killed or… worse.”

“Worse?” Eric asked. “What could be worse?”

Then he remembered what happened to prisoners of the Demorians. Men were forced to fight against their comrades and women… they were treated as playthings and made to suffer through something terrible. The Demorians would breed them, force them to bear their children and would sometimes sacrifice the newborn to the demons they worshipped. Eric shivered just thinking about it.

“I don’t know,” she said.

Slowly Eric put an arm around the girl to comfort her. She was his cousin, and after she’d saved him today, he truly considered her a friend and wanted to be there for her. After a moments consideration he said, “You’re not weak. You saved my life today. It took four of those men to pin you down.”

“Only because they didn’t have Greater Body. I wouldn’t have stood a chance if they’d had that. They would be too strong, mother says so.”

“My… my mother taught me that strength isn’t everything. What makes a great warrior is training and skill. That can overcome physical strength. She taught me to wield a sword and… and claimed to have defeated many strong warriors.”

Talking about his mother was difficult.

“Is it true? Did she?” Myra asked.

“I don’t know,” Eric said truthfully. “I never watched her battle any warriors since we were living on Dragoran. But she was a challenge for me. I know for certain women, or girls can be strong if they put enough effort in.”

Like I should have. Eric thought. He’d done what his mother asked of him, but if he’d done more of his own accord things might be different now.

He paused in thought before looking at her and putting both hands on her shoulders. “Do you want to be strong?”

She nodded. “Yes. I want to be more than just a healer or supporter. I want to be able to fight alongside my family! But they won’t teach me to use a weapon!”

“Well, I will,” Eric told her. “I’ll teach you what I can.”

“Really?” Myra asked, her facing lighting up.

“I’m not a master swordsman, and I still need to learn more of Greater Body and other forms of sorcery,” Eric confided as he looked at the armband with the fist on it. “But I’ll share with you what I can. Who knows, maybe you’ll be a stronger fighter than me someday.”

“Thank you!” she screamed in delight before sitting up and wrapping her arms around him. “But what if my mother replaces out?”

“We can do it in secret,” Eric said. “Your mother doesn’t need to know.”

“When can we do it?” she asked.

“Now if you want,” Eric said.

“But you just finished training with my grandfather. Aren’t you tired?”

Eric shook his head. “Wasn’t long enough if you ask me. I must train a lot if I’m going to stand a chance against Corgo someday.”

Eric went back up to his tower and retrieved the wooden longswords Chosan purchased for him in Sortar. Myra followed him, Eric handed her one of the swords and they walked back down the stairs of the tower, hearing some indistinct conversations from the guards as they neared the bottom.

“Oh no!” Myra said. “If they see me with a sword they’ll try and stop us from training! Corpala unviset!”

Her head suddenly vanished as she spoke the incantation Eric didn’t know, as did her hands holding the training sword. But her dress and silver flower hairpiece remained.

“What the?” Eric exclaimed.

“I’m invisible” Myra told him. “At least somewhat.”

“Somewhat?” Eric repeated. “Looks good to me. I can’t see you except for the clothes and sword.”

“Could you carry these for me?” Myra asked handing him the sword and her flower hairpiece.

“Uh… sure but what are you…” Eric stopped midsentence as the girl’s dress was suddenly pulled up.

“I need to take everything off or they’ll see me and suspect,” Myra said as she handed him her clothes.

Eric was relieved he couldn’t see her. He folded the dress and put the hairpiece inside it, making it look like a simple cloth. He carried it and the training swords awkwardly as he walked alongside an invisible naked girl. The guards noticed him and nodded as he walked by.

“Sir.”

Eric smiled at them. It seemed they didn’t suspect anything as he walked by, faintly hearing Myra walk beside him. A tinge of guilt entered Eric, one of the first things he was doing was fooling them. Not really a great start thought to being a good Lord, he thought as he passed the stables on the north wall.

“Mmm. Those horses still look good.” A hungry voice said.

Eric ignored Clauwing and continued forward, going across the bridge to Rubara’s island. His dragon grandmother looked up as he approached.

“Back already little one?” she asked. “How did your sorcery lesson go?”

“I think I would have liked to learn a little more. Now I’m giving a lesson,” Eric said as he held out Myra’s clothes. He felt something pull on them and let go.

Rubara looked at the clothing unfolding itself in midair.

“What in the great caverns?”

“It’s alright!” Eric told her. “It’s just Myra!”

“I’m going to change behind your dragon,” Myra said as she circled around Rubara. “Don’t you dare peek!” her voice rang in Eric’s direction this time.

“Don’t worry I won’t!” Eric called after her before turning around. “Even if there’s naught to see!”

The girl emerged a few minutes later with her clothes on and her body visible again. Eric handed her one of the training swords. She took it and held it off to the side.

“Don’t hold it like that,” Eric told her. “You’re not protecting yourself when you hold it like that. Hold it high, near your shoulder.”

He showed her his usual stance, the blade out in front of him. She copied him as he ran through the strikes.

Then she finally asked, “Can we fight now?”

Eric had to hold back a lot. Her strikes were so slow and had such little power behind them that he could easily block them. He managed to poke her with his sword many times, by that time she sighed and dropped her sword.

“Maybe my mother is right,” Myra said. “Maybe girls aren’t meant to wield swords. I can barely lift that thing. I’m pathetic.”

Eric put a hand on her shoulder again. “You’re still young. You can get strong enough to wield a sword… but only if you stick with it. I still had trouble taking on my mother in our last duel.” He paused and looked at the training sword. “Though maybe we should try something lighter next time.”

“Eric!” Chosan’s voice called from the castle. “Supper!”