Chapter 2

TRIBERIAS,

Eastern Wind,

2413 AA, (After the Great Ascension).

13 years later,

'Half turn in darkness, hearts lost in deepened murkiness. In foggy gloominess the land depart, the sceptre stolen from them that rule. The devouring kindles. The welkin and apple by scarlet are blighted."

The verse had forever baffled her. She could tell what the first section meant, but the last phrases were still a mystery. It bothered her though, as this was not the only verse to ever speak of the ascension. The oracles of the last Great King were many and it always made her wonder if the man had also been a Great or just an oracle of some sort.

Yes, a sin had been committed and as a result, the world below was now shrouded in turmoil. A dark curtain had descended. The penalty for their rebellion and the crime of having shed the anointed blood. That was what the word scarlet meant. After that, the words just got muddled and no one under the Appriser's wing could find the key to this great mystery.

None whatsoever and yet, she still thought about it long after everyone had given up. The scrolls had all been sealed away. The research halted to give room for more fruitful studies. However, she still pursued it though it seemed that she lacked enough sense to abide by the Appriser's directive.

Why could she not let it go? Why was she still holding on to this facet of the past? The questions had been asked a million times and yet, no matter how hard she tried to explain it, no one seemed to get it. No one seemed to understand her single mindedness, or the urge within her that refused to leave the mystery unsolved.

For one the direction of the new studies was totally unnecessary. Ridiculous even when compared to premise of unearthing the secrets that were buried within these ancient tomes. The truth was, it felt like some was missing. Something important and however how much she tried to let go of it, it felt like a tragedy waiting to happen.

"Humans are weak!" her thoughts were violently pushed aside as the man began the introductory oration to their weekly appraising sessions. His voice sounded agitated as usual as he paced the length of the entire room, walking to and fro across the wide expanse of his wider than usual sanctuary office. "Humans are brash, rebellious and forgetful!" she groaned as he articulated each word with a set of cold glimmering eyes directed at her.

He was an elderly man of almost a hundred and thirty, with a balding head that was halfway full of thin greying hair and white pasty skin that was stretched upon a narrow and yet angular face. With his prominent chin and a glimmering set of red hostile eyes that were framed upon a wide and round forehead, the man glowered down at her as he pranced over from one end of the office to the other, where she was now deliberating silently.

'Havillah!" he threatened again and she found herself trembling within the depths of her green and gold Triban robes.

'Havillah!" he reiterated, lifting a bony hand from within the confines of his purple robes that were of the same material as hers and she took a trembling step backwards, praying that this situation was not going to get muddier.

Who was she kidding? She scolded herself for the wishful thinking. The good elder would certainly make her pay. He was that vengeful and for some other reason, she also happened to be the least liked among the Appriser's apprentices in the entire Sanctuary.

'Havillah,"

'Yes, my lord" she quickly remembered her place and bowed, acknowledging his rank over hers that was just but that of a little fledgling.

Slowly, his hand dropped back into his cowl, a heavy floor length cloak that was made up by a shiny silky fabric  with golden embroidery woven into the mandarin collar, the floor length hems and the edges of the wide kimono sleeves. Though their robes were both Triban, his fabric was uniquely purple and so glossy that it reflected the very light that had been refracted a million times over by the glowing crystals that were abundant not just in this room, but in the entire Sanctuary as well.

For that was the nature of the Triban robes, reflecting not just one's fortitude but one's Glory and Virtue as well.

Purple spoke of royalty. It was the raiment of kings and the council of elders, but where it should have made him appear illustrious, the colour had a totally different effect despite having the warmth of the crimson hues that had been imbued within it.

With his pale skin and the perpetual scowl that had permanently marked his forehead, the darker shade of purple made him appear cold. Wraith-like even, with his gaunt form, the glimmering set of carnelian eyes that seemed to suck the life out of everything and the multitude of crow's feet that even now clawed upon his eyes and pulled at his thinned lips. All these were a product of his fervent glaring rather than his age that was also quite advanced and very apparent.

"But my lord, aren't we also human?" the words tumbled out of her mouth long before she could prevent them and at this, his eyes glowed red as a sign danger.

"Apologies master." she quickly rectified but it was already too late. The damaged had been incurred and the man was now out for her blood even as he stalked her, gliding about her as though his feet were padding on nothing but air and not the crystalline floors that were glittering beneath them unaware of the carnage that was soon to befall them.

"Apologies." She bowed again and again and again but her master was not to be so easily placated.

"Do not ever compare us to that scum!" he roared. His mouth was now frothing in anger even as his once carnelian eyes, now turned rubies, continued to pierce icicles through her. "We are the Great!" The Great Elder began his war of words that were truly meant to convince himself and not to dissuade his apprentice of the truth that she had just spoken.

"The chosen bloodline!" he orated. 'The servants of the Great Light. The Eternal Light! and you must never tarnish our name by comparing us to that scum!"

"Yes.... master." She could only manage a whisper as she lowered her head in the wake of the elder's lingering gaze. The pressure upon her had also increased substantially and her glimmering silver eyes were now wallowing in twin pools of unshed tears even as she tried hard not to whimper. To succumb to the pressure that the Elder was now exerting upon her through his Virtue.

Physically, he was not harming her. No, not yet, but commanding his presence was one of the worst ways through which he could punish her. That and the look of disdain in his eyes that still made her tremble even after being under his wing for a full four years now.

She was practically thirteen years old now, barely a year into her cohort and still, she could not get used to that look. The look of pure hatred that was palpable enough to instil a certain fear within her. A fear that rattled the bones that even now remained concealed beneath the green and gold of her Triban cowl that was so characteristic of her cohort.

As such Havillah could barely manage to lift her head and so, she continued to remain bowed down, too afraid to look into his eyes or say anything that would further serve to agitate the idiosyncrasies of this ill tempered man.

Yes, she was very much aware of his ill temper and yet, her impetuous behaviour and thoughtless speaking always managed to land her into a huge heap of trouble.

How many times had my mother warned her? How many times had she been tasked to keep her mouth shut. To get grip on her loose tongue and yet, somehow, she always managed to slip up and say the very words that she knew well would serve to infuriate the good elder.

He was such an important man and yet, something inside her had always failed to take this in account.  However, it was mostly never intentional. As an ambivert, she could very well keep her thoughts to herself, but certain times, under a lot of emotional pressure, she found that she could not help it but let the extrovert within herself steal the show. It did not help that she had always been curious about the human world and this time, just like that other time when she had first been taken in under his wing, her curiosity had once again landed her in a huge heap of trouble.

Now, landing in trouble seemed like a daily occurrence for Havillah and especially when she was continually losing the battle of controlling her tongue in the elder's presence. She had been marked as a result and he spared no effort in showing her what he actually thought of her and her researching efforts.

"Where was I?" the elder finally accorded her reprieve and  Havillah looked up at him with a look of relieved surprise.

Stupid! She scolded herself the moment she noticed the smirk that was playing on his lips. As if he would let her of that easily? She shivered under his small smile that was anything but reassuring.

"Humans are weak, brash and rebellious-" she gulped in, attempting to swallow down her fear as she dragged out the words, grateful that she had at least paid attention to that part.

"Ah, yes." he perked up as she went silent.

To the untrained eye it would seem that the good elder was rather happy that his mentee had finally gotten his lessons right, but that was not the case here. Havillah knew what this smile meant and sadly for her, it meant that he was cooking up something diabolical that only a sadistic mind could come up with it.

"Since you seem to be so quick to forget that which you are," the Appriser paused to watch her as she squirmed beneath his gaze before continuing, "I will help you remember!"

And finally, there it was. Her death sentence! Before she could help herself, Havillah had let out a whimper and the elder's smile grew darker. Pleased with himself at the reaction that he had knowingly elicited from her.

Havillah had always fought to remain strong but everyone had their limits. In her case, she was exhausted both physically and emotionally and was suffering mental stress. What more, the anxiety of not what this old man had in store for her was making her feel jittery and that was not working for her as well.

Slowly and still watching her for further signs of the terror that he had so masterfully created, the elder lifted his hands to reveal his skeletal fingers that had until then been concealed beneath the wide length of his purple kimono sleeves. He flicked his bony hands in a flamboyant show of power and the air between them rippled like a liquid membrane that popped out a Sanctuary scroll that had just been summoned.

His technique was so flawless that terrified or not, Havillah could not help but marvel at the Modus. Even at his level not many could perform it so flawlessly or so she had heard and read about in the scrolls. And to witness it. To be able to behold it first hand- Havillah shuddered at the elder's conniving. Somehow, he had managed to change himself from being her tormentor into being the sole recipient of her pure unbridled awe and the thought that was utterly terrifying.

"Summoning. The  Modus of calling stored things on location. You can use your words or a preformed hand gesture as a conduit for the flow of Virtue and of course, a preformed connection with the item is also required for the weaker summoners." The elder so graciously supplied.  "However, it requires a certain amount of... certitude. Certitude and experience that you are certainly lacking and are yet to master despite your advanced age."

Her advanced age? Havillah bristled. How many twelve year olds let alone adults in higher cohorts could perform such a fear? She gaped at the elder.

"...Therefore, I must say, you simply cannot do it!" He landed the crashing blow, hitting below the belt like he normally did, before finishing off with a bout of ugly laughter that was aimed at the downtrodden expression appearing on her face.

"You know what to do?" he continued, his lips still smirking as he brought the sti levitating Sanctuary scroll a little bit closer to her. What did he expect her to say? She was not a mind reader, so there was no way that she could have any idea as to what he had in store for her. Still, she nodded anyway. There was the possibility that this time she would end up lucky, but the chances of that happening… well, either way, she could still hold on to hope as bleak as all things around her now appeared.

"Of course you do not know." he muttered rather darkly, the sudden change in his emotions being so fast and too erratic that even she could not process it. "You are as incompetent as they get!" What had she done now? He sneered, probably hoping to get another rise out of her but his time, Havillah had vowed, she would not allow him the satisfaction of seeing her frazzled.

"This is a Neolithic scroll." he decided to go on and explain it anyway. "And you..." he trailed off as a Sanctuary assistant burst into his chambers heaving out all his names and titles.

'sir... Elder Lionel... My Lord!"

"Rufus! What is the meaning of this? Can't you see that I am in the middle of something?" He glare at his offending assistant and the girl breathed out a sigh. Relieved, if only for a moment, to have his attention diverted from her and to something else.

"Many apologies my lord, but..." The sanctuary assistant looked at the apprentice warily but the Elder urged him on, forcing him to continue." The North Eastern floor!" the portly assistant who was a balding man albeit without a greying head heaved out.

"Say no more." The Appriser cautioned before turning away from the shorter man with an extended gut and a porcine nature that had him sweating quite profusely on both his hands and on his face. On the armpits of his blue and golden garbs there were sweat mark as well and every once in a while, he would pant, heaving out forced breaths as he wiped away at his forehead all to her amusement though she would never dare to show it in front of her mentor. Who knew what kind of retaliation he would come up with seeing that his mind was never short on ways in which to torment her.

"Is the council then meeting?"

'Affirmative my lord." the assistant bowed as he nodded.

"Fine then, I'll be right there." He added with a flourish before turning back to address her. "You will read that scroll and make short notes. You are also not to leave this room until I order you to do so. Am I clear?"

Havillah mentally rolled her eyes at this even as she wondered how much different this was from what she normally did every other day. So much for not knowing. She mused rather sourly.

"Yes master." she responded anyway as she eyed the huge scroll that was now in her hands with a fake disheartened look that she knew would very well please him.

"The paper and the ink are in the usual place." he had added as he pointed at the huge desk in the corner made up of ivory and decorated with golden leaves and vines all over. "You will also find the extra quilts there and Havillah..." he hesitated for a moment.

"Yes master." she turned back to face him and found that his dark eyes were now regarding her with a look that was so cold that it sent wisps of chilly fingers down her already weary spine.

"No Virtue." He scowled and she swallowed. What had she ever done to this man? That is, except for asking too many questions and thinking quite objectively at that. Oh, and failing miserably at the first virtue? Well, it couldn't be helped. She thought as she looked back at her mentor and nodded.

"Yes master." she forced herself to bow and say.

With that, he appeared somewhat satisfied, but one could not tell with him. Therefore she remained bowing just in case and was rewarded with a flick his hand and his disappearance in a swish of gold and purple satin leaving her behind to revel in her punishment.