The Assassin's Tale (Isle of Dreams) (7 page)

‘I’d love to
know what sort of behaviour can be classed as “undesirable” from someone
training to be an assassin,’ interjected Mistral in an amused tone.

‘I agree, the
parchment didn’t specify what this “behaviour” would have to consist of. 
I assume you’d have to be a really big troublemaker to actually be thrown out
of the Valley –’

They reached
the second floor and glimpsed a long wooden corridor with lots of doors leading
off it before going on to climb another set of stairs up to the third floor.

‘The dorms,’
whispered Phantasm grimly, catching Mistral’s curious glance at the rows of
doors.  ‘Your charmless cell awaits your inspection after Registration.’

Mistral nodded
and smiled privately at the twins’ obvious liking for luxury.  She didn’t
care what her room was like.  She’d been more than happy sleeping on a
forest floor wrapped in a wolf skin so a room with a bed in it was perfectly
acceptable to her.  

They reached
the third floor.  The sound of Grendel’s laborious breathing after the
climb up two flights of stairs filled the tense silence.  Mistral wrinkled
her nose at the strong smell of his body odour and hoped that the entry test
wouldn’t involve her being close to him. 

Leo Sphinx
stood waiting for them outside a heavy wooden door bound with thick bands of
iron.  Once all the apprentices had gathered he opened the door and stood
back, gesturing for them to enter.  Mistral followed the twins through the
doorway into the strangest room she had ever seen.  The room was roughly
the same shape and size as the Main Hall but the entire floor was thickly
padded with some kind of soft matting.  There were no windows and the only
source of light came from rows of torches blazing brightly on the bare stone
walls.  At one end of the room a large circular target was positioned,
obviously for archery practise.  A huge mirror hung at the opposite end,
so large that it filled the wall completely.  Mistral stared at it in
amazement.  She had never seen a mirror so big.  It reflected her
amazed expression back at her mockingly and she quickly composed her features
into something that made her look less ridiculous.

Golden gazed
haughtily into the vast looking glass, checking her flawless reflection before
giving a satisfied toss of her hair.  Phantom caught Mistral’s eye and
suppressed a grin.

Leo Sphinx
strode to the centre of the Training Room followed by the same three
heavily-built Training Lieutenants that had accompanied him in The Cloak and
Dagger the previous evening.  Whilst he stood conversing quietly with them
Mistral and the other apprentices lined up against the long wall facing the
open door and waited apprehensively for him to finish his conversation. 
Mistral cast an appraising glance along the line of apprentices.  Now that
she had seen the Training Room she had a pretty good idea what Leo Sphinx had
in mind and was gauging her chances against the others.

Cain and the
half-drow she didn’t know were both slightly built, as were the twins and
Golden.  Mistral didn’t think they would cause her too much of a
problem.  Grendel was obviously an insurmountable opponent whilst Brutus
and Xerxes had elf blood and were taller and more muscular, which would pose
more of a problem.  Saul was taller than her too.  Mistral hoped she
didn’t have to face him.  She quite liked him and didn’t want to ruin a
new friendship by beating him up on their first day together as apprentices …
and that just left Columbine.  Mistral eyed the ugly apprentice and began
to plan a strategy.  Although shorter than Mistral, she was stocky with
solid limbs that spoke of hidden strength.  Sensing her scrutiny,
Columbine looked up and caught Mistral’s calculating stare.  At once her face
twisted into an ugly snarl, baring the tell-tale greenish teeth that revealed
her blood-line.

‘Ouch!’
breathed Phantom.  ‘I wonder what you’ve done to deserve that!’

‘Hmm, let’s
find out shall we?’ 

Mistral threw
a quick look at their Training Captain.  Seeing that he was still engaged
in a serious looking conversation with his Lieutenants she seized her
opportunity.  Fixing her gaze firmly on the air around the wiry black hair
of Columbine’s head she forced her mind to empty of all thoughts.  The
nervous whisperings of the other apprentices slipped away.  Mistral was no
longer aware of the strange, soft floor beneath her boots or the rough feel of
the stone wall at her back.  Her world had narrowed to exist of nothing
more than the next breath she drew.  Three breaths became five then seven
and suddenly she was rewarded by the shimmering mist of Columbine’s aura.

A putrid green
fog swirled in the air above Columbine’s head.  Flecks of bright copper
flashed past, startlingly bright.  At the outer edge Mistral could see tongues
of scarlet flickering like fire, angry and raw.  She had seen
enough.  Blinking to break the image, Mistral immediately dropped her gaze
while she thought about what she’d seen. 

‘Do share,’
murmured Phantom, his green eyes glittering.

‘Columbine’s
aura.’

Phantom gave
her an irritated look, ‘Yes, I guessed as much by the vacant look on your
face.  And?’

‘Well,’
whispered Mistral, trying not to move her lips as she spoke, ‘loads of green,
that’s envy or greed ... and it can be jealousy – ’

‘Ah.’  Phantom
sighed.  ‘That would explain her aggression towards you.  She’s
jealously protecting Golden from anyone she sees as a threat.’

‘She’s welcome
to her.’  Mistral muttered back.  ‘Then I saw copper, that’s
tenacity, so she’s a stubborn – ’

‘And?’ 
Phantom cut across her in a terse whisper before Mistral could utter the
swearword.

‘Scarlet. 
That’s hatred.’

‘That’s a bad
mix,’ Phantom whispered and gave her a worried look.  ‘You know what’s
going to happen here today don’t you?’

Mistral nodded
and let her gaze rest on Columbine again, ‘At least I’m prepared if I get her.’

‘There is only
one requirement for each successful entrant –’

Leo Sphinx’s
cold voice ended their murmured conversation.  Mistral looked over at
their Training Captain, now stood with hands on hips in the centre of the huge
floor. 

‘– and that is
the merciless desire to succeed in the face of adversity.’

Mistral felt
the twins tense beside her.  It was as they had suspected.  Leo was
going to get them all to brawl.  Mistral wasn’t too worried; she’d grown
up fighting with the other children in Nevelte who had instinctively disliked
her for being different.

‘When your
name is called, step to the centre of the room.  You will face one another
in a bout of length determined by myself.  We begin with,’ Leo held up the
sheet of parchment they had all signed in the Main Hall and scanned it
briefly.  ‘Phantom and … Cain.’

Phantom sprang
lightly to his feet and moved swiftly to the centre of the floor, greeting Cain
with a polite nod of his head.

‘Brother,’
Mistral heard Cain murmur back.

‘Begin!’ 
Leo’s voice rang out across the Training Room.

It was a fair
match; Phantom and Cain were both light and agile, moving with swiftness and
grace that would have made a dancer jealous.  They did each other little
damage, both trying to secure a firm hold and take the other to the floor to
finish the round.  Before too long Leo called time on their bout and they
took their positions against the wall with sighs of relief.

‘Grendel and …
Xerxes.’

Mistral exhaled
with relief that she didn’t have to face the might of Grendel then wondered
darkly how coincidental it was that Xerxes had been the outspoken one during
Registration and now he was facing Grendel.

The bout
didn’t last long with Grendel effectively flinging Xerxes to the floor every
time he came within his reach.  Xerxes limped back to his position against
the wall with obvious chagrin at the end of the bout.  Mistral guessed
he’d reached the same conclusion as her – that he’d just been made an example
of by their Training Captain. 

Golden was
matched against Phantasm who was far too gentlemanly to fight with her and
submitted easily. 

‘Not good
enough!’  Leo bellowed.  ‘You allowed her to do that!  Face one
another again and put some intention into it!’

Phantasm
smiled politely at Golden; the half-nymph gave him a smug smile and they faced
each other in the centre of the floor once more.  The moment Leo called
for them to begin Phantasm swiftly stepped forward and wrapped one hand around
Golden’s waist and the other around her shoulders, tilting her backwards and
lifting her in one motion.  He held her in the air for a moment then
dropped her onto the padded floor.  She shrieked angrily and sprang to her
feet, her face no longer beautiful, but furious.

‘Enough!’ 
Leo shouted just as Golden curved her fingers into talons and prepared to fly
at Phantasm’s face.

Golden tossed
her hair and stalked back over to take her place beside a glowering
Columbine.  Phantasm resumed his seat next to his brother, breathing
heavily.   

Mistral leaned
forward slightly and murmured out of the side of her mouth, ‘Nice move!’

‘She blew a
kiss in my ear!’  Phantasm hissed.  ‘It was disgusting!’

Phantom
snorted and quickly turned it into a cough, ducking his head down to avoid
Leo’s icy glare. 

‘Mistral and
... Columbine!’

Mistral leapt
to her feet and strode to the centre of the floor, meeting Columbine’s
hate-filled look unflinchingly. 

‘Begin!’

Mistral tensed,
reading Columbine’s intention more easily than if she’d spoken aloud. 
With a snarl Columbine threw herself at Mistral, trying to wind her with the
force of the impact.  Mistral quickly stepped to the side and grabbed her
arm.  She yanked it up sharply, slamming her other hand into the side of
her head at the same time to flip Columbine through the air as easily as though
she were a toy.  Columbine crashed down onto the floor with a grunt of
pain and lay there, winded. 

‘Enough,’
called Leo almost lazily when Columbine staggered to her feet.

Without
casting Columbine a second glance, Mistral turned and walked back to take her
seat next to Phantom. 

‘Nice
work!’  Saul leaned across Brutus to congratulate her.

Mistral nodded
but kept her head down to avoid the piercing gaze she could feel boring into
her from Leo Sphinx.

‘Just w
here
were you raised?’  Phantom demanded in an awed whisper.  ‘I’ve never
seen anyone do that!’

Mistral shook
her head slightly and was saved from having to reply by Leo calling out again.

‘Brutus and
... Konrad.’

The last two
bouts passed without too much event.  Brutus’ bout with Konrad, the
half-drow, was short.  Brutus was taller and stronger than his opponent
and won the bout easily.  The final match was between Saul and Bali. 
Both were of similar builds and were well-matched but Bali displayed more
experience and gradually took the upper-hand.     

‘That will
do,’ said Leo curtly, dismissing Saul and Bali who sank gratefully back against
the far wall, both out of breath.  ‘Before we continue with Registration
there is one final test which you will be pleased to know will require little
or no effort on your part.  You may remain where you are.’

He turned
swiftly and left the room, leaving them under the watchful gaze of his three
Training Lieutenants.

The
apprentices sat in heavy silence, broken only by Golden’s exaggerated sighs of
boredom until the door suddenly opened and Leo walked back into the room. 
He did not speak but stepped aside to allow the figure behind him to enter.

Mistral found
herself staring into a pair of milky eyes set in a paper-white face, so frail
looking that it seemed impossible for the mouth to open and speak without the
rupturing the fragile skin. 

‘The Divinus!’
 Phantasm gasped.

‘Is he
blind?’  Mistral whispered, staring at the strange opaque eyes.

‘Only in the
literal sense,’ murmured Phantasm.  ‘He’s a Seer.’

Mistral felt a
shiver run down her spine.  The Divinus had the power to read the private
thoughts of anyone in the room ...  she looked at the shrivelled figure
with renewed respect.  Black robes hung from his shrunken frame like a
death shroud, rustling faintly when he moved.  He seemed to float into the
Training Room rather than walk but despite his fragile appearance the Divinus
radiated an undeniable sense of power.  He paused in the centre of the
room and opened his hands out in a benevolent gesture.

‘Welcome
apprentices of the Ri,’ the Divinus began in a high, sighing voice that
reminded Mistral of a light breeze moving through leaves.  ‘Now begins the
first year of your new life.  The Ri will equip you with skills to be
hunters and fighters, able to survive almost anywhere – but you must learn for
yourselves the true meaning of what it is to be a Ri warrior.’  he paused
and his milky eyes roved over the gathered apprentices, as though looking at
each one in turn.  ‘Remember that respect can only ever be earned, never
bought.’

He finished
speaking and drifted slowly towards them, moving along the line of apprentices
with a benign expression on his face, nodding to himself as he passed each one
in turn.

‘I think they
may all go, Master Sphinx,’ he turned towards Leo and said in his high
voice.  ‘Except for these three.’ he indicated towards Mistral and the
twins with a wave of his skeletal hand.

Leo nodded
curtly and opened the door, signalling for the other apprentices to file past
him and out into the corridor.

The Training
Lieutenants were last to leave, closing the door with an echoing bang behind
them, leaving Mistral and the twins alone in the huge, empty room with the
Divinus.