Ruveneska, Chapter 10: Crucial Training by Darro

Shuren was awestruck. He stared blankly at the Zelze in front of him. “This is Zelzor’s Mountain?”

“We call it, Aela-Doria,” she answered.

Shuren searched his memory for past events. He remembered fighting the black coated men, and they were losing. Shuren was struck at the thought of his friends. “What of my friends?”

“They are fine, but first, you must see Zelzor after being properly healed,” she said.

“Couldn’t you do that in my sleep?”

“No, to use healing magic, the patient must be conscious, so it will not take more energy than necessary. Because you are awake, you are aware, and you can be more focused on being healed.”

“How does that help?” wondered Shuren.

“Anything can be done if you set your mind to it, that is how magic is used,” she said. “Now sit still and concentrate of being healed.”

Shuren nodded in agreement to her command. He focused all of his thoughts to feeling better. The nurse muttered a few words and a crossed her hands. A white orb of light emitted from her palms and she gently soothed Shuren’s wounds. He felt an occasional sting, but continued to focus and astonishingly, it was over within the minute. He jumped out of the comfortable mattress and onto the cold marble ground; he felt rejuvenated. It was clear that he was no longer injured.

“You recover fast Ruven. Get dressed properly,” she said pointing to a pile of lain out clothes, “it would be a disgrace to see Lord Zelzor dressed as you are.” She left the room as her white hair flowed behind her.

Shuren stripped himself and wore the new set of clothes he had been given. It was very light. The torso was larger than him, but smooth. Though it was very thin, it felt durable. His pants were very similar; thin and comfortable. Shuren walked to the edge of the room where the door was shut. Before leaving, he took one last glance around and wondered where his items were. He left, assuming the girl had them.

He opened the door, revealing a long refined hallway that branched into others. The entire place seemed to be made of marble. The ceiling was arched high above Shuren’s head. The walls were smooth. The path was spacious. At the end of the hallway opened into a huge room.

The Zelze approached him and gestured him to follow. They walked straight. “My name is Niance,” she said.

“Nice to meet you, and thank you for treating me,” Shuren said. She smiled in return.

They reached the end of the hallway that dispensed into a gigantic oval room. Shuren gasped. The ceiling above was stories high. The east side of the room was not concealed, but held up with giant pillars. Dragons flew in and out of the room between these pillars. The rest of the room webbed into other hallways. On the floor was an image of a dial.

Niance led Shuren north into a relatively big hallway; bigger than the others. The hallway was short as their walk was. They approached two steel open doors. Inside was another room, but it was smaller. It was plain, except a desk with a chair, a bed, open windows, and book cases.

On the chair was an elderly Zelze. He had long white silky hair and wrinkles of wisdom. He had piercing teal eyes. He looked up as Niance and Shuren walked in. Niance kneeled and signaled Shuren to do so also.

“Lord Zelzor, Ruven Shuren is here,” she said.

“Thank you Niance, you may leave,” he said nicely. Niance left and shut the doors. Zelzor turned and looked at Shuren. “Shuren, it is great to finally meet you.”

“You also,” Shuren said standing up. “Exactly what is going on?” Shuren asked.

Zelzor smiled again, as if he expected the question. “Tell me Shuren, what happened to you and your group upon coming here?”

Shuren explained what happened, mainly about the attack. It was a few minutes until he was finished.

“It appears they know that you are a threat. However, I sent Athar to help when we saw the dark clouds,” Zelzor said back.

“Who were those people that attacked us?” Shuren asked.

Zelzor sat up in his chair. “They are elite Ingle warriors. Their organization is called Mawbryn, created by Garland himself. They are extremely dangerous.”

“How many are there?” Shuren asked, recalling all the ones he had encountered.

“I do not know the exact number, but I reckon thirteen, as it is a popular number to Ingles.”

Shuren had a frustrated look on his face. After a few moments he said, “How powerful is Garland exactly?”

“That I do not know. Compared to a Mawbryn he is stronger than them tenfold.”

Shuren clenched his fist. Tenfold stronger! “I could not even defeat a Mawbryn, how am I supposed to defeat Garland?”

Zelzor smirked. “You have yet to use your Ruven power. With it you could defeat a Mawbryn with a single punch. But to achieve it, you must endure harsh training.”

Shuren stared for a moment. Zelzor was the only one who knew how much power Shuren had, and he was the only one who was able to help him harness it. “Will you help me please? I wish to be able to protect others. I wish to become a full Ruven.”

A bright smile appeared on Zelzor’s face. “Of course, you are the only one able to save us all.”

There was a long pause. Suddenly, Shuren said, “Can I see my friends?”

“Ah, I almost forgot,” he said snapping his fingers, “Catalina, please come in, I request a favor of you.”

A beautiful Gippy woman walked into the room. She had long silver hair that flowed behind her to reveal a gentle face. Her eyes were blue. She wore a white silk robe over her slender body. Shuren was shocked. He gaped at her. She was familiar to him somehow. Suddenly, it struck him: the dream! She had been the girl she was dreaming of in Hogony before he met Karoline. He had forgotten her when he met Karoline. He thought she was merely made up in his mind. All of his feelings for the girl returned him.

She walked up to Zelzor and kneeled. She asked, “What is it my Lord?”

“Please escort Shuren to his friends. Shuren, come back tomorrow to begin your training,” he said.

They nodded and then Catalina approached Shuren. Shuren timidly drew back a bit. She looked at him strangely and signaled for him to follow. “Follow me this way, Sir Ruven.”

Shuren hesitantly followed. He was led out of the room and back into the gigantic room. Shuren followed her into another long hallway. They were silent, until she stopped.

“What’s wrong?” Shuren asked.

She stepped closer to Shuren. “I never imagined you to be so handsome.” She said moving closer.

Shuren’s face began to feel hot. His heart pounded at his chest, about to burst through. “What do you mean?”

“I am thrilled to finally meet you,” she said, moving even closer. Her chest was now brushing against his. Her face was inches away from his. Her hand grabbed a hold of his.

Shuren did nothing to repel. He was paralyzed of shock. Suddenly, her head tilted towards him. Shuren found himself moving closer also. He felt her breathe blowing against his.

Suddenly, Catalina turned her head before their lips were able to meet. Shuren nearly stumbled over her. He turned around to see Karoline walking towards them. Shuren was shaken to her. He wondered if she saw them.

“Karoline, where is everyone?” Shuren asked trying to cover what had just happened.

Karoline had a bitter face. Her face suddenly changed when she said, “They are back at the room. I came to get you, but I see she reached you first.”

Shuren was shocked to hear Karoline speak with envy. He walked toward the room from which she came. He shook off his emotions. He passed Catalina and Karoline and continued forward. He left those two alone as he approached the door.

Inside he saw a fair sized room with a number of chairs. There was a long table filled with food and candles in the center. In the chairs that surrounded the table were Linkouz, Wresta, Strata, Zeal, Nina, Rollan, Ajek and Rojan. They were eating. On a wooden desk were Shuren’s items. The first to notice Shuren was Rojan.

“Sir Ruven!” he teased. “I see you’re awake.”

Shuren nodded. She said, “Are you guys alright?”

Linkouz turned to him and said, “Are we alright? You’re the one who passed out for two days!” He laughed before biting into his meat.

“Sit down Shuren, eat,” said Strata.

Shuren smiled and sat down. He grabbed a plate of food and feasted. The food was delicious and flavorful. He savored it as if it was Lloyd’s cooking. Shuren noticed that Lloyd was not present. He swallowed his food and asked, “Where is Lloyd at?”

Rollan said, “He is somewhere with Athar, the Zelze who saved us. It turns out that Athar is an archer.”

Shuren said, “Oh he is. Can someone show me where he is?” Shuren finished his plate of food quickly.

“I’ll take you,” Karoline said. Shuren had not even notice that she entered the room. He looked around, but found Catalina nowhere. Shuren was hesitant to follow Karoline. The thought of her seeing him and Catalina made him timid. “Had she seen us?” wondered Shuren.

Shuren followed her outside and back into the hallway. Before he was earshot, he heard Zeal call out, “Come back with Lloyd so we can discuss what to do!”

Shuren was now alone with Karoline. He still felt uneasy with her. There was an uncomfortable silence. Desperate to break it, Shuren asked, “Did you eat?”

“Yes, it was Lloyd who cooked it. That’s why it tasted so delicious.” Shuren nodded. Then suddenly, she asked, “How did her lips taste?”

Shuren was petrified that she asked. He searched his minds for an answer, but nothing left his mouth. He did nothing but look down.

Karoline had a smug glare on her face. Even with a negative face she was beautiful. She resumed walking forward as Shuren followed behind slowly; keeping distance from her.

She led Shuren into another hallway that came to a flight of stairs. They descended down the stairs for a few minutes until they came to another large marble room. They walked forward until they were outside of the mountain on a bridge that mounted alongside the mountain. Karoline walked on a bridge that went downward. They continued until they reached a flat ground on the side of the mountain. There were Zelzes that spared, Dragons that flew above, and Lloyd and Athar.

Shuren walked to them. Karoline turned and walked back. Shuren felt guilty of her leaving. Shuren walked up to Lloyd. “Hey Lloyd there you are.”

“Shuren, you’re awake!” exclaimed Lloyd. “This is Athar, the one who saved us,” Lloyd introduced.

Shuren greeted him and thanked him.

“Shuren, Athar is a great archer! He rides his Dragon and uses archery from the skies! Athar can please you show him?” Lloyd asked.

“Of course I will for Sir Ruven,” Athar said. Shuren learned to accept this name for everyone in Aela-Doria will call him it, and he was not going to argue with the entire mountain.

“Suxar, argeta mero!” Athar said.

Lloyd turned to Shuren and said, “Suxar is his Dragon, and argeta mero means ‘I Ride’.”

Suddenly, a beautiful sapphire colored Dragon swoop down and landed before them. It was big enough for three people to ride. It had spikes that ran down its long neck and ended at its back. On its back was a brown saddle with a strap that wrapped around its battle. The beginning of its tale is where spikes started again. Its wings were three times as long as its own height. Its arms dangled underneath the wings with giant claws on each of its five fingers. It roared in the air, and then blew smoke from its nostrils.

“It’s amazing!” Shuren exclaimed. He drew closer as Suxar let Shuren pet it. He felt its rough scales.

“Yes he is. I have been with him since he was a hatchling. Dragons are really smart, smarter than us actually,” Athar said.

“Can it talk?” Shuren asked, still petting him.

“No, but it can understand our words. I can communicate to it but I don’t understand how. I do not even have to say anything and he knows what I want. Same for me also it’s a very mysterious thing we have with our Dragons,” Athar said. Athar walked towards him, equipped with his bow and a quiver. He leapt onto Suxar and patted it on the head.

Suddenly, it darted off of the ground and shot into the air with immense speed. It circled in the air and did a loop. It turned around and swooped down. It stopped in mid air. Athar pulled out an arrow and stretched his bow string back. He shot the arrow and hit a target directly. Shuren was amazed. They flew with such harmony!

“Watch this Sir Ruven!” Athar called out. He pulled back another arrow. He shot it and at the same time, Suxar let out a ball of flame that lit the arrow. Through the air the arrow flew on fire. It soared and lit hit another target as it extinguished.

“That’s amazing!” Shuren said as Suxar flew down. Lloyd nodded.

“Thank you Sir Ruven,” Athar said.

Shuren then remembered he had to meet back with the group. “Lloyd, we must go meet up with the group. They said we need to discuss something.”

“Okay, we must go Master Athar,” Lloyd said.

They departed and walked back into the mountain. They continued the way Shuren had come from. Before long, they were back at the room where everyone was waiting. Shuren felt his stomach quiver as he saw Karoline.

“Now everyone is here, we will discuss what to do next,” Rollan said as they sat down.

“Shuren please tell us what you discussed with Lord Zelzor,” Nina insisted.

“Um . . . Okay,” Shuren began, “Well basically he is going to teach me how to harness my power to the fullest. He told me that those Ingles we fought were called the Mawbryn and that Garland is at least ten times stronger.” Shuren looked around expecting everyone to be shocked, but they were not. They seemed to expect it.

Lloyd stood up. He glanced at everyone and said, “I will be training under Master Athar.”

Shuren looked at the Grundells in the room and said, “Well if there really is going to be a war, we are going to need a lot more help.”

“Then we will gather more troops,” said Ajek looking at Rojan. “We can go back to the Rebellion and gather the rest of the Ingles here.” Rojan nodded.

Karoline stood up from the wall she was leaning on and said, “I will go with you.”

Shuren felt a sudden burst of sorrow. “That will take months!” Shuren looked at the Ingles’ minds as they were made up “Karoline, why do you have to go? Shouldn’t Ajek and Rojan be enough?” Shuren said without thinking.

Karoline shot a glare at him. She felt as if he didn’t have the right to talk to her. “I will help my people,” she said cruelly.

“Well we will gather the rest of the Grundells for war,” said Zeal, referring to the other Grundells.

Strata looked at Wresta who seemed to be puzzled. Then Wresta asked, “Rollan, what will you be doing?”

Rollan was quiet for a moment. He looked as the whole room turned their attention to him. “I have business of my own to take care of. So it is decided, we will all depart for a while to do what we must for the war.”

Everyone in the room, nodded, and Shuren reluctantly did also.

“When we will this happen?” asked Strata.

“As soon as possible,” Karoline said.

“In two days we will depart,” said Linkouz sourly.

“I will ask Lord Zelzor if any Zelzes can accompany us on our journey,” said Rojan, “it will make our long journey less.”

“So I guess that means only Lloyd and I are staying at the mountain . . .” Shuren said gloomily.

Everyone nodded. Zeal stood up and said, “I will not unpack a lot.” He laughed bitterly.

Soon, the meeting was over, and it was well past sunset. Everyone had their own room, including Shuren. Each one of them had their own assistant to show them their rooms; Shuren had Catalina.

Shuren’s room was near the top of the mountain. It took quite a hike to reach so high. They were alone, but said nothing to each other. The silence was awkward. Shuren soon reached his room.

Inside was a stylish bed made of cotton. It was the first time Shuren had ever lain in cotton, but it was comfortable. In the room, his items were already unpacked and stored in closets. His scimitar was hung on the wall. On the walls were bookcases filled with books. Shuren was delighted to see so many. There was only one giant window, big enough for a Dragon to stick its head through. Outside the window was a flat surface that acted as a balcony. In the center of his room was a pool of water for bathing. The water was always warm as if it were enchanted.

As soon as he reached his room he jumped onto his bed and lay down comfortably. The cotton was able to support his weight as he jumped down onto it. He was exhausted from hiking so high up the mountain. He was sweaty and tired. For a moment he was afraid that Catalina was going to approach him, but she did not. She said goodbye and left Shuren alone.

Shuren stripped himself and dipped his body into the warm pool of water. He relaxed for a while and then began to scrub himself. Once he was clean he dried himself and put on a new pair of clothes.

He grabbed a fresh book from the bookcase and began reading. After an hour of reading, there was a knock at his door. Shuren told the person to enter. It was a Zelze with a tray of food; dinner.

Shuren hadn’t realized how hungry he was. He thanked her gracefully and ate. Halfway through his meal was another knock, this time, it was Karoline. Shuren was shocked to see her at his room. He wiped his mouth with a rag and told her to sit down.

“Would you like dinner?” Shuren asked.

She shook her head. She said nothing as she walked around the room. “This is quite a fancy room.”

Shuren nodded as he finished his meal. He got up and walked out onto the balcony. “Come out here Karoline,” Shuren called. Moments later, she stepped out of the window and looked at the view before her.

They were miles high in the air. Mountains surrounded Aela-Doria and past that was the Esanci River. To their far right was a huge waterfall that fell into a lake. The air was fresh and the waterfall was a pleasant sound.

The stars seemed bigger than usual that night. They were so high up the view was magnificent. The half moon shone abnormally bright. Shuren and Karoline had a perfect view of Oryk.

“It’s beautiful . . .” Karoline gaped.

“Yeah,” Shuren said. He looked at her as the moon lit half of her face and the other concealed in shadows. He stared at her until she looked back. Shuren suddenly stopped breathing; they were locked in a gaze. His mind was confused. “Get closer!” one side of his mind raged. “No, don’t!” the other screamed. His body was acting on its own. He was leaning toward her.

Karoline inhaled deeply. Shuren was inches away from her. Before he got any closer, she stopped him. Her two fingers were placed on his lips, ceasing him to move any further. “Shuren, don’t. I can’t . . .” she sighed. She turned around as her hair whipped Shuren’s face. She walked out of the room without another word.

Shuren was left bewildered. “Stupid Shuren!” he screamed at himself. He cursed and kicked the marble wall. He walked back inside and threw himself the bed. Frustrated, he fell asleep scowling himself.

Shuren woke up the next day fully rested. He was glad to have slept on a comfortable surface for once. He immediately sunk his body into the pool that was still warm.

Soon after he was dressed, he found his way to Zelzor’s room with his scimitar. He lifted his hand to knock, but before he could it opened. Zelzor stood before him smiling.

“Master Zelzor, I am here. So when we do begin my training?” Shuren asked bowing.

“We begin now,” he said as he walked out of his room.

Shuren followed him as he was led out of the mountain. They walked a series of bridges until they reached a flat surface next to the waterfall. It was a pleasant place to relax.

Zelzor walked to Shuren and asked him, “I assume the Gippies did not teach you any magic, or did Rollan?”

Shuren tried to recall a time when Rollan taught Shuren magic, but he didn’t. “No, no one did . . . “

“Then we will start by teaching you magic,” Zelzor said as he picked up a stone. “Magic is simply using your own energy to complete tasks. Your energy is like an invisible force than you can control. They can seep through any part of your body.” Suddenly, the stone began to float in mid air. “You see I am using my energy to lift the rock.”

“That’s amazing. Is it as simple as it looks?” Shuren asked, picking up a random stone.

“Try for yourself. Gather your energy to the palm of your hand and release it under the rock,” instructed Zelzor.

Shuren focused his inner energy to the palm of his hand. He released it under the rock as it vibrated in mid air. “I did it!” Shuren exclaimed. It stayed in mid air for only a moment, and then it plumped back into Shuren’s palm. Shuren felt a sudden tiredness.

Zelzor dropped the rock. Shuren stared at Zelzor to see what he was going to do.

“I see you yet to have control of your energy,” Zelzor said. He turned to the huge waterfall before them. He pointed his finger at it and said, “Once you are in control, you will be able to do small things such as this.” Suddenly, the flow of water stopped. The waterfall was halted in mid air. As each second pasted by, more and more water gathered up but did not fall.

Shuren was lost of words. Zelzor flicked his finger and the water descended and made a giant splash in the lake. The waterfall then began to flow again.

“Master, I noticed that you didn’t say any words for that spell,” Shuren began.

“That, Shuren, was not a spell. It was magic, but not a spell. To cast a spell you must focus your energy in a certain way, and speak the words appropriate,” Zelzor said. He levitated the rock to his palm again and said, “For instance. If I gather the energy to my palm, and use it as heat, and then say Ferina.” The rock melted in his very hand and turned to molten rock.

“Wow, I want to learn that,” Shuren said.

Zelzor said nothing back. He gathered more energy and said, “Aniref.” The molten rock suddenly hardened as steam rose from it. It became a solid rock again.

“I have another question. What language were you speaking when you did that spell?” Shuren asked.

“This language was of the Gippies,” Zelzor said.

It seemed familiar to him, but he was not sure. Shuren asked, “To do those spells, I am going to have learn different languages aren’t I?”

Zelzor nodded. “Each race has a different spell system. The Gippies usually use elemental spells to accomplish feats like melting and freezing. The Grundells normally use spells to enhance physical strength. The Ingles use dark magic such as summoning Sleepwalkers. The Zelzes are opposite and use white magic.”

Shuren took in the lesson he had just learned. He would have to practice different languages in order to boost his magical ability. Suddenly, he asked, “Master, what language Is Ruveneska under?”

Zelzor seemed taken back by this question. He paused for a moment before saying, “The Holy Language. It is an ancient language that consists of the most powerful spells ever cast. We will not get into discussion about that. As of now, focus on converting your energy into different things.”

“That is the Gippy magic system right?” Shuren asked picking up another rock.

Zelzor nodded. Shuren muttered the words that Zelzor used to melt the rock but nothing happened. He had to focus more.

While Shuren was training, Zelzor said, “In your room, I placed books of each language. I want you to study each one of them. For now, work on the Gippy language and we will change from there.”

Shuren nodded as he tried to melt the rock. He gathered every particle of energy and forced it into the rock as hot as he could. There was a small sizzle as a speck of smoke rose from the rock and then it did nothing else. Shuren swore and tried again.

The rest of the day was spent on melting a rock, which seemed to be pretty foolish to him; but he did not complain. By the end of the day, Shuren’s hand was burned from heated energy. He was so exhausted from using his energy that a Shuren had to be taken to his room by a Dragon and a Zelze.

When Shuren entered his room, he noticed that the water in his pool was replaced with fresh new water. He bathed and ate the tray of food that was recently brought to him. When he was finished, he walked to his bed where he found a stack of books, each one was a translator. He moaned; for once he was not eager to read. Reluctantly, he opened the book for the Gippy language.

In the middle of studying, there was a knock at his door. He opened it to find Lloyd.

“Lloyd, come in,” Shuren invited. Lloyd came in and looked around his room. “Do you know anything about the Grundell language?” Shuren asked solemnly.

Lloyd blinked at Shuren for a moment and said, “Yes of course, why do you ask?”

Shuren answered, “Master is making me study four languages so I can learn magic.”

“Oh, I can help you on that,” he said back.

Gracefully, Shuren said, “Great, I’ll become a full Ruven yet.”

Lloyd laughed. “Shuren, we must go see everyone before they head off.”

“I thought they were leaving tomorrow,” Shuren said blankly.

“Tomorrow morning, unless you want to wake up at dawn,” he said.

Shuren was shocked. He hadn’t anyone from the group the entire day. It was spent of training. “Let’s go.”

Shuren and Lloyd reached the main room in the mountain where everyone was. They all greeted each other. Shuren saw Karoline who seemed to be avoiding him. Shuren walked up to her and said, “Karoline, I’m sorry for what I did.”

She looked at him as if she was clueless. “No grudges.”

Shuren was relieved that Karoline didn’t detest him. “So you’re leaving tomorrow at dawn.”

“Yes, but I will be back, and with great numbers,” she said smiling.

“Don’t forget to train, by the time you get back I’ll be a lot stronger,” Shuren teased.

She giggled, “Don’t worry; my absence won’t be that long.”

Shuren went to the rest and said their goodbyes. Nina and Zeal were nearly in tears. Linkouz and Wresta gave tight bare hugs and Strata just gave them a handshake. Shuren spotted Rollan staring off into the distance. He walked up to him and asked, “So where are you going Rollan?”

“There is something I must do far away,” Rollan said entering another glare into the distance.

“I would like to know,” Shuren said.

“As of now, it is better if it remains secret,” Rollan said smiling.

Shuren glanced around. Everyone was about to leave, but not forever. They will come back and with help. “It’s for the war,” he thought to himself.

It was nighttime. Shuren said his final goodbyes before they went back to their rooms. Shuren struggled to fight away tears, but they came. He walked back to his room half sobbing.

The next morning, Shuren woke up to the sun gleaming in his face. He nearly came began to cry when he remembered that he was only left with Lloyd.

There was a knock at the door. Shuren answered it; it was Catalina. Shuren was timid to face her.

“Lord Zelzor wishes to train the same spot today,” Shuren informed.

Shuren thanked her, and then asked, “Hey Catalina, are there any other Gippies in Aela-Doria?”

She shook her head.

Shuren stared at her. His feelings for her did not change. She was still the girl from his dreams. Before he did anything, the thought of Karoline struck him. She eyed him with a grin. Shuren was apprehensive of her. She drew closer to him. Shuren was frozen. His mind was screaming, “Run away!” but his feet were frozen.

“It must be hard, training under such a powerful being such as Lord Zelzor,” she said nearing him.

“Uh . . . Yea it is. It’s just I am unfamiliar with so many languages,” Shuren said hesitantly.

She looked at him weirdly. Then she said, “Well I can tutor you in the Gippy language.”

Shuren was staggered. He needed a tutor, but Catalina? He needed to learn from a person more than a book, but what was Catalina up to? Before he knew it he said, “Sure that would be great.”

She smiled charmingly. She lifted her hand and placed it against his cheek. She kissed her fingers and placed her fingers on his cheek before departing. Shuren was left standing at his door astounded.

* * *

Shuren focused more on controlling his energy more than converting it. He was able to levitate a rock for a minute now. He continued to train with Zelzor for most of the day. After, he would relax in his room and study, usually falling asleep in the book.

The lessons with Catalina weren’t as horrible as he had expected. He spent most of her time teaching than she did seducing. She did occasionally flirt with Shuren and he found it hard to get on task. The lessons usually lasted an hour. She was far more powerful than he anticipated. He was surprised that she was able to lift all of the water in his pool and place it all back with every drop. After she demonstrated that, she showed him that heating the water was the same as heating a rock.

After a week with Zelzor, Shuren was able to melt the rock and freeze it back. Shuren was able to freeze and boil water. While training under the element of wind, Shuren was struck with a question.

“Master, can you use magic to kill an animal? Not like casting Ferina but using a killing spell.”

“Ah, I was waiting for that question,” Zelzor began. “These spells are not under any classification. They are just simple spells. Each race has developed them; many different ones come from different races.”

“Oh, I understand,” Shuren said. He barley understood what he was doing when was blowing the trees that grew on the mountain.

Without another word, he gathered his energy and blew it out at a nearby tree. The branches lunged back and forth from the gust. He was not nearly as powerful as Zelzor, but Zelzor said otherwise.

Zelzor was able to blow a boulder off of the mountain and levitate it back without breaking a sweat. Levitating the boulder was more than enough to make him collapse.

“When you are using your energy, you are wasting it. When you blow out, you are blowing out more energy with little power. But when I do it, I use less energy but with more power,” Zelzor informed. “Focus more on power.”

“Okay master,” Shuren said back. He took a deep breath. Shuren concentrated on using his energy more effectively. He inhaled while gathering energy. He muttered, “Dinwoa,” and blew out at the boulder before him. It jolted off of the cliff and into a free fall.

Zelzor smiled. “Try to catch it now,” he said quickly.

Shuren summoned the remainder of his energy and threw it at the boulder. An invisible force halted the boulder from falling. With all of his strength, he pulled the rock upward with his invisible force. Gradually, it got higher until it plumped at the edge of the cliff. Shuren fell to the ground out of exhaustion.

“Excellent job Shuren,” Zelzor congratulated. “You can rest for the remainder of today.” Soon after, Shuren was flown back to his room by Suxar and Athar. He relaxed in his pool and then fell asleep reading the Grundell language book Zelzor assigned.

A month had passed since they arrive at the mountain. Shuren’s build was now more muscular. His energy capacity seemed to increase also. He was able to stop the waterfall by then. Every day he would train with Zelzor until he was dismissed. After that he went to his room to relax and study.

The routine did not change. Shuren had been in Aela-Doria for more than two months. After the Gippy magic training was over after the first month, Shuren began to train on Grundell magic at the sparring grounds where he first saw Athar and Suxar. There Shuren worked on both physical magic and swordsmanship. He often battled with Lloyd who gave him a few lessons on archery.

Shuren did not see much of Lloyd the entire month. Whenever Shuren had free time Lloyd was busy. He was sure it was not training because Athar was not with Lloyd. What was he doing? It bothered Shuren for some time. When he did have free time, he always seemed paranoid with something.

Shuren was just about to go see Zelzor before he was stopped by Niance.

“Shuren,” Niance began, “Lord Zelzor said that he cannot train with you today. He said that he was busy with some things.”

“That is strange,” Shuren said with a grin. He was sure that it would have been a good reason for canceling. “Okay, thank you Niance.”

She bowed and walked away.

Shuren walked down to Lloyd’s room. It was locked, meaning he was not present.

“He is with Lord Zelzor,” said Athar from behind.

Shuren turned around and saw Athar was armed. “Why are you not with Lloyd?”

“Today you are my student,” he said handing him a bow.

That day, Shuren trained with Athar from the skies. He was a far greater archer than Lorica. Shuren even learned spells to enhance the arrow. He was able to make the arrow invisible and shift directions without losing speed.

Riding on Suxar was remarkable. It was hard to hold onto him, but he soared through the air with ease. Shuren did more flying than he did training with Athar. After three months of training with Zelzor, flying on Suxar seemed to make up for all of the harsh training.

Shuren was training with Zelzor at the sparring grounds. It was deserted. The sounds of metal clashing were absent, making Shuren’s senses feel naked.

A thought suddenly struck Shuren. They had been training for three months and he has yet done any Ruven training. “Master, we have been training for a while now, but I haven’t done any Ruven training.”

Zelzor paused. As if he expected it, he said, “But you have Shuren.”

“I have?”

“Yes you have. This entire time I was training you in the art of magic. Your skills have dramatically sharpened since when you arrive here,” Zelzor explained.

Shuren knew he was correct. His skills had increased greatly, but it did not seem to reflect on being a Ruven. “But master, all you’ve done is made me a powerful wizard.”

“Ah, but a Ruven is a powerful wizard. The Ruven is the spell castor of Ruveneska. The Ruven is a spell castor, a wizard.”

“But what does that have to do with using Ruveneska?” Shuren asked irritated.

“To cast Ruveneska you must have total control of your energy, and you must have to be able to convert your energy perfectly. I cannot stress how important your skills have to be perfect. You must use the spell one hundred percent correctly. If you accidentally convert your energy wrong just by a grain, something disastrous will happen,” Zelzor explained seriously.

Shuren looked at Zelzor for a moment, “Is it really that difficult?”

“Yes it is. I was forced to use it correctly. I was put under crucial circumstances so I had to use it,” he said.

Shuren was wide eyed. Zelzor seemed dead serious about Ruveneska. It was far more than he anticipated.

Suddenly, there was a loud Dragon roar. Shuren and Zelzor looked up to see a Zelze flying on a fierce black Dragon toward them. The Zelze was named Blayger who rode the female Dragon, Naran. Blayger landed before them abruptly, he jolted towards them.

“What is it Blayger?” Zelzor asked worried.

“My Lord an army approaches!” he said,

Shuren felt a sudden hope that it was Karoline and the others. He hadn’t seen them in so long, he was hopeful of their return. “Who is it?”

“It is Garland!” Blayger shrieked.

Terror struck Shuren’s inners. He began to tremble. Fear was shown across Zelzor’s face. “Explain to me what you saw,” Zelzor said.

“I was scouting with Naran until she spotted a large group a people. We hide behind a mountain and since she has better vision, she saw an army. Ingles, Trolls, Sleepwalkers Oughalds,” -Oughalds were monstrous creatures, the same size of Trolls but three times as dangerous. They were very intelligent and were rare to find in large pacts - “a whole lot of them!”

“How far away are they?” Shuren asked still trembling.

“Naran thinks about a day’s march. They had already passed the Esanci River.”

“How did they find our location?” Shuren asked.

“When you were attacked by the Mawbryn, they clearly saw which direction Athar and Suxar flew from,” Zelzor evaluated.

Shuren was horrified. “An army was approaching! We must fight!” “We must fight them!”

“I was afraid this might happen,” Zelzor frowned. “Blayger, go announce this to everyone! We must gather up everyone and fight! Tell everyone to prepare to for battle!”

Blayger nodded and flew away on Naran. Zelzor turned to Shuren and said, “Shuren, I have trained you well. I expect you to battle amongst us.”

Shuren smiled with pride, “I would not have it any other way.”

“Go prepare yourself for battle, they are a day’s march away, that’s a day to prepare!” ordered Zelzor.

Shuren ran back to his room to treat himself. He enchanted the pool of water how Catalina instructed and dipped him in. He felt a sudden sense of rejuvenation. Any strain or pain he had before was now gone; he felt wonderful. He jumped out of the pool and put on his underclothing. On his wall he noticed a battle outfit on display for him. He put it on quickly. It was magnificent armor. The tunic was as light as his normal shirt, but withstood a stab from a sword. His leggings were the same.

Shuren grabbed his scimitar and other weapons and then ran to the center room where the Zelzes gathered. Aela-Doria seemed to be calm. Zelzes reported to their appropriate area of the mountain and marched down to the field. Others flew Dragons above and stayed airborne.

Shuren ran to Zelzor who was already equipped and ready to battle. He was outside flying on a blazing red Dragon. Shuren took another glance at it. He realized it was the same Dragon who attacked Shuren before he met Karoline! He did not mention this. “The Demon Dragon, only ride able by Lord Zelzor himself,” he thought. It seemed content as Zelzor rode it.

“Hey, look over here Shuren!” Shuren heard someone called out.

Shuren turned to see Lloyd ready for battle.

“Are you ready Shuren? This is where your training pays off.” Lloyd said staring down the mountain as the Zelzes flew to the ground.

Shuren looked down also. He sighed and comprehended what was about to happen. “Lloyd, this is it. We’ve been training for three and a half months for this moment; the war.”

“Shuren,” said Zelzor from his right.

“Yes master?” Shuren replied to Zelzor. Lloyd looked at him also.

“Lloyd, fly with Athar and help him lead his army. Attack from the skies,” Zelzor instructed. He turned to Shuren and said, “Shuren, find a Zelze and lead your army to battle.”

Shuren was dumbfounded. “My army . . .?” Shuren questioned.

Zelzor pointed across the field to a large number of Zelzes flying, awaiting his command. That was Shuren’s army.