The Crimson Vow (Short Story) (2016)

“You know,” Sennia said very matter-of-factly, “that’s gonna get you in trouble one day.” Ida shrugged, slightly amused.

“Yeah, probably,” he retorted, waving his finger in a spiral motion. It was clear by the array of colors that he was using his Thauma, or Thaumaturgy. He lay on his back in the grass, Sennia next to him, sitting up. She huffed at his insolence as usual, and he chuckled to himself, knowing he was annoying her. Though it wasn’t strictly forbidden, it was frowned upon to use Thauma outside of practice or actual use, because it came at the cost of one’s own life force. More than one innocent and stupid soul had wound up dead because of Thauma misuse. Sennia stood and brushed herself off, smoothing the folds of her shirt back in place and tucking a loose strand of blond hair behind her ear, making sure her braid was still near. Ida stood up too, groaning as he stretched.

“Will you ever be proper?” she asked haughtily. He smiled his ragged, boyish smile and shrugged.

“Will you ever be loose?” He retorted. She rolled her eyes.

“You know I’m proper because the Guardians prefer it.” Sennia’s clear shyness overtook her, and she twiddled her fingers slightly. Ida took his turn to roll his eyes. He fell into step beside her as they began walking back to Norian, the town they both lived in, Capital of Naverene.

Ida’s face changed slightly, a small frown creasing his brow. “You know, Senn, I’ve never once doubted your ability to be a Guardian, but when you’re with me, there’s no reason to be so uptight.” He playfully punched her in the arm, and for a moment, it looked as if she was going to listen.

“Hey there, guys.” They both looked up into the blissful gaze of one of the Town’s Guardians. He was older, old enough to have his stripes displayed openly on his armor. He was the Gate Guardian, and he went by the name of Crux.

Sennia immediately straightened up, nerves clearly showing on her face.

“Good morning, Mister Crux.” He smiled, running his fingers through his grayed hair. His face was full of wrinkles, yet his eyes were alert and without a trace of weariness.

“Good morning to you as well, Sennia Celer and Ida Yerren. It’s a pleasure to see you two running around on a fine day like this.” He stood in a guarded pose, his powerful sword sitting on his back. Ida reached out, and through his Thauma he could feel its radiating power. He had done this on far more than one occasion. Yo him, it was a reminder of what Sennia and he strove for.

“You as well, Master Crux.” Ida bowed his head in respect, and Guardian Crux laughed lightly, gesturing into town.

“Get going kids, you know the Festival starts soon, I wouldn’t want you to miss it.” He winked, and they smiled as they walked in, excitement coursing through them. The festival happened every season, it was an open display of strength between the Guardian Fledgling, and it altered their rankings depending on their overall score. It was huge for them, and the town of Norian offered support in the way of food and dance and an audience, so they had people cheering them on. It wasn’t mandatory, but almost everyone went anyway, Ida and Sennia no exception to the fact.

“Come on, I want some of your mom’s pie before we watch the event!” Ida shouted, running ahead and dodging past the citizens of Norian to get to Sennia’s Bakery. Sennia sighed before picking up her pace, moving from side to side to politely avoid the people hurrying about town on whatever business they needed to attend to.

“Ida, Wait!” She shouted, breaking through the crowd and finally coming to the small side-street that housed her mother’s bakery. It was bright through the alleyway, the sun shining through the morning clouds. It was early in the morning still, breakfast having just finished, Sennia and Ida had awoken early to get ready for the festival and still have time to go for a walk.

They entered the Celer’s Bakery with vigor, the smells wafting from within causing the kid’s mouths to water expectantly.

“We’re home, mom!” Ida shouted happily, marching into the kitchen from the small waiting room. Though Ida wasn’t technically Sennia’s brother, they were as close as siblings could be, Sennia’s mother accepted him as her own five years before, when Ida’s mother died unexpectedly from disease. He’d been living with Sennia and her mother ever since.

“Ahh,” Mary-Ann cooed, “I’ve been expecting you two! Come here, I made something for you guys.” Sennia’s face lit up, and she looked at Ida joyfully. His face lit up with his trademarked goofy smile, his brown hair sticking to his face with sweat. His eyes were something close to gold, but a darker, golden brown was how Sennia always described it. It was a stark contrast to Sennia’s blond hair and common brown eyes. Together they were opposite, Sennia realized.

They entered the kitchen and took in the sight. Mary-Ann Celer looked like a slightly taller, older Sennia, blond hair and brown eyes to boot with crow’s feet and worry lines, along with creases from constantly smiling. Mary-Ann loved to smile, for any reason that life had given her whether it be music or even just everyday baking, she would smile for it. She was loved throughout the town of Norian, and her delicious baking was mostly to do with it.

“Hey you,” Sennia’s mother said to her daughter as she entered the kitchen, kissing her on the top of the head. Her hands were covered in baking flour, and her face was smudged with various dough smudges.

“What did you make this time?” Ida asked excitedly, peering around the bags of cooking material that littered the countertop. “Fritters? Doughnuts? A new type of cake?” Ida stopped mid-sentence and took a huge sniff, his face lighting up. “You made lemon-pastries!” Mary-Ann smiled, grabbing a plate of lemon-pastries off the counter and handing it to Ida, before handing a separate plate to Sennia. Sennia accepted it gratefully, biting into the delicious delicacy with reverence while Ida began wolfing it down, his favorite dessert in his hands.

“Woah, slow it down champion.” Mary-Ann laughed, hugging Ida, momentarily stopping his feast. She pointed to an entire tray of them, and Ida’s mouth hung open. “I made plenty.” Sennia watched as a fire began to grow in Ida’s eyes, and they all took the moment to laugh at the drool clearly coming out of his mouth.

They ate their breakfast in peace, nobody entering the shop on account of the festival. Once they finished and cleaned everything off, Mary-Ann told them to head to the festival, and save some good seats.

“I’ll be with you guys in just a little bit, just need to close up the shop.” Sennia and Ida eagerly headed out, following the throng of citizens towards the town field, where the festival always took place.

Hundreds of stands surrounded the massive field. The smells of various foods filled the nose of the two children as they ran about, gazing upon the stands of magnificent jewelry, the vicious weaponry from the town smith, and the delicate gowns and suits from the clothing master as well. Every festival there were new lineups, new weapons for Ida to gaze at, and new bracelets for Sennia to dream of. Though the fighting was both the children’s favorite part of the event, the rest of it wasn’t bad either.

“Come on Ida, we’re gonna be late!” Sennia urged, grabbing Ida by the hand and dragging him to the closest available seats around the field. The fighting arena itself had a stone wall around it four feet high to keep everyone out of the way of danger, but it didn’t stop most of Norian’s children from sitting on top of the wall, the best seat in the house. Ida and Sennia perched on their stone seats and waited for the first event to start. Sennia was impatient, fidgeting with her hands while Ida calmly took in the scenery around him, the beautiful grass and gorgeous trees of Autumn always welcomed Ida’s attention, while Sennia was more of a fan of winter herself.

Ida saw Sennia fiddling with her thumbs again, and brought up conversation to distract her.

“I think Alister’s got this one in the bag,” Ida proclaimed proudly, looking at the roster sitting on a large wooden board erected on the opposing end of the wall. Alister was one of ten names on the board. Sennia snorted. “Absolutely not!” She exclaimed, crossing her arms defiantly. “Gilda’s won almost every festival since she entered the Academos!” Ida shrugged, stubborn in his opinion.

“Nah, I know Alister’s been training hard. You saw him in the forest that one day, remember? I think he’s gonna win this one for sure.” The kids looked at each other and laughed, seeing their argument as one of many, but it always fell back to laughter and understanding.

“Alright, citizens of Norian!” an announcer suddenly boomed out from the crowd, his voice thaumaturgically magnified to sound a hundred times louder than the actual voice of the old man that always announced the events. He feebly walked over to the announcing stands, under the board of names. He cleared his throat and began. He had everyone’s rapt attention. “Today is the Autumn Festival, and with every Festival, the main event!” Hundreds of people around the ring cheered, shouting their favorite fighter currently, and good luck to all parties, and to get on with the show already. The announcer quieted them before continuing. “Now, the first fight will be between Fledgling Jocko, Ranked twentieth in the Academos, and Marx Gastov, ranked nineteenth. Fledgling Jocko will be the offender, Marx Gastov defender.”

Sennia and Ida were focused on what the announcer was saying, and decoded it pretty easily. Fledgling and Marx were ranked within the Academos, the only difference between them was that Marxs didn’t have four-man units yet, and that was all. Marx Gastov being the ‘defender’ only meant he was defending his rank, while Fledgling Jocko was trying to get it. Ida figured It would be an interesting fight indeed.

“Now, knights, enter the field!” From the crowd the two named came out, Sennia surveyed the two knights. Jack was young and mischievous-looking, perhaps eighteen or nineteen, while Gastov looked older, maybe twenty-five, Sennia deduced. Ida was more focused on the armory of the fighters.

“Look at that one!” He pointed to Gastov, “he’s got a claymore! That’s unusual for a Marx. He must wish to be a Hexas.” Sennia agreed. A Hexas was the most usual of Academos graduates, they specialized in neither Thauma nor healing, but combat. It was the most common as not everyone had Thauma at their disposal. Sennia shot a jealous look at Ida, who was blessed with it.

Before they realized it the bell rang, and the match began. Fledgling Jocko drew his sword, a strange, curved blade of an origin neither of the kids knew. He ran forward, Marx Gastov standing his ground, his claymore in a heavy guard above his head. Jocko rounded him, casting forward a lash of golden light before rolling forward, landing to the side of him and slicing upward with his arming blade.

To everyone’s surprise, Gastov pivoted on his heel and dodged the slash, bringing his overhand down onto the guard of Jocko, who could barely repel the attack through Gastov’s shear strength.

Jocko managed to parry the blade up and roll out of the attack, using his small size to control the fight the best he could, but the difference in strength was far too great to even the odds of combat between them.

Ida began observing the fight and trying to guess what was going to happen.

“I think Jocko’s gonna turn to Thauma. But he’s gonna lose.” He muttered to Sennia, who disagreed.

“No, Gastov’s going to push for sure.” Ida rolled his eyes and lifted his fist. She returned the fist-bump and they watched as Gastov pushed with his overwhelming strength, eventually overpowering Jocko and earning him the victory and keeping his title.

And the festival continued, fight after fight, four in total until the real match, the one both Sennia and Ida had been waiting for, began.

“And now for the final round, to determine graduation from the Academos!” The crowd roared, having grown significantly in number since the first fight. “The number one Ranked Fledgling, Gilda!” Gilda stepped out of the crowd, wielding her daggers close to her sides, her armor slim and scarce. Her fighting style was unique and she needed to be light for it. The announcer continued. “And the offending champion, Alister!” Alister made quick work of the crowd, with his slim build he parted through them with ease, hopping the stone wall and taking his position opposing Gilda. They smiled at each other like old friends, and Sennia figured they probably were.

The air grew tense, and as they readied themselves--Gilda with her knives and Alister with his legendary hand-to-hand combat--the crowd grew silent in anticipation. Sennia and Ida almost fell off the wall as they leaned forward, their idols in front of them.

Gilda made the first move, dashing with incredible speed as her Thauma took hold, her feet blazing across the space.

Alister was ready, his Thauma surrounded his legs and feet, a translucent green mist solidifying around his appendages while as he threw his punch.

Though to the untrained eye, it would look like he threw his punch way too early, bound to miss Gilda by a mile. However, her speed doubled at the last second and she made the rest of the distance up almost instantly. Alister’s timed attack nearly struck Gilda, but her elbow slid under his punch in the last second, pushing it out of her way as her free hand attacked precisely with her knife. It grazed his leather briefly before he lithely dodged, sliding under her attack, grasping her arm and bending it behind her.

Gilda swore, jumping up with amazing agility as she landed behind him, his arm now pinned behind him in a quick counter. He released his hand and spun back, his Thauma covered arm projecting a sudden spike. Gilda seemed to expect the move, she projected a ward deftly, intercepting the spike easily as she countered with a quick jab. A cut appeared on the brow of Alister, blood dripping into his eye as he disengaged and caught his breath, forming another spell at the tip of his tongue, gathering his Thauma with haste as Gilda followed him.

In a sudden turn of events, Alister lunged at Gilda with his hand extended, before slamming them together in a quick motion. Earth suddenly cocooned Gilda, the earth jutting from the ground and around her in a sarcophagus-like nature. Alister shouted his spell, releasing the Thauma.

“Earth Coffin!” he moved his hands from the palms together to his fingers making an arch. “Iron maiden!” Suddenly spikes exploded through the earth coffin, and the crowd gasped at the sudden violent move. Alister made one final motion. He closed his hands together and sank them down. “Burial.” he muttered, almost silently. The pierced coffin slowly sank into the ground, disappearing completely from view.

The crowd was silent for a moment before they exploded in cheer, calling Alister’s name before the chant began. The announcer cut in.

“A stunning victory indeed for Alister Lyons! Unbelievable performance indeed!” Alister fell to his knees, his last spell draining him of his Thauma. It was an amazing performance, and Sennia was stunned at the turn of events. Ida was hollering the loudest. He turned to Sennia with a smirk on his face.

“I told you so! He wasn’t just messing around in the woods that day!” He was jumping up and down the wall, pumping his fist.

Alister looked up for a moment, smiling broadly before he made a quick motion with his hand. The earth split, leaving a hole in the earth that he approached, reaching his hand within.

He pulled out a stunned and dirt-covered Gilda. Sennia took a closer look, knowing she should be filled with holes.

She was amazed at what she saw. The spikes had only grazed her on all sides, leaving dozens of small and relatively harmless cuts on her body, but nothing piercing her flesh. The two Guardians smiled at each other and let out a laugh amongst the hype of the audience, and the deafening cheer at the display of his new spell.

They shook hands, and began departing from the field. Gilda picked up her fallen knife before they began walking right towards Sennia and Ida.

“Look, Sennia!”

“I know, I know!” She hopped on the wall quickly, taking as close of a look as she could before they were gone again, and before they knew it, they were in front of them. Sennia’s breath caught, and Ida almost fell off the wall.

“Alister!”

“Gilda!” The kids shouted, excitement coursing through their veins. The champions stopped and looked at the kids, and Gilda’s face broke into a bright smile as she wandered over to them. The crowd near the kids went berserk, shouting with joy as the two most popular students at the Academos neared.

“Did you enjoy the show?” Alister asked, smirking slightly. Ida was left speechless as he looked at his hero. He nodded eagerly.

“What is it you two wish to be when you grow older?” GIlda asked, leaning against the fence and looking at Sennia. She had to fight to find her words, but she blurted out “A Guardian, like you!” before she felt her cheeks burn from the embarrassment. That wasn’t very proper. Gilda laughed, grasping her shoulder gently, the dirt still covering her.

“Then become one.” She leaned in close, whispering in her ear to cancel out the sound of the crowd. “All you need is determination, and the will to do so.”

Before Sennia could respond, she was gone, taking Alister with her.