Mark of the Fool

Under the midnight air, Alex Roth stood on the balcony of the villa. He looked over the courtyard with a dreamy smile, taking in the sounds, sights and scents of the Generasian countryside under moonlight.

Fireflies glowing in the distance.

Crickets chirping.

A warm wind.

Toraka’s golems patrolling the courtyard.

All were comforting. No more frigid Irtyshenan nights, huddled by a fire with the hidden church stalking him, Birger and Bjorgrund. Just the comfort of home.

The sound of a door creeping open behind him caught his attention.

Theresa emerged into the moonlight, clad in her nightgown with her hair still damp from her bath. His face lit up.

‘By the Traveller, I missed you,’ he thought as the huntress closed the door behind her, slipping up beside him.

She pressed her body against him, and their lips met.

They did not part for a long time.

She pulled away, breathing deeply. “By the Traveller, I’ve wanted to do that for months.”

“We kissed after we killed the First Apostle, and yes, I’m keeping track.” He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer.

“And, we haven't made up for lost time yet.” She nuzzled into his shoulder. “There’s been a lot of lost kisses and moments that we’ve missed. We have a lot to make up for.”

“Well, we’re together again. We can make up for lost time.” Alex smiled. “We’ve got all the time in the world.”

“Not quite yet,” Theresa reminded him. “There’s darkness ahead of us.”

“And we’ll face it together. All of us, but—most of all—us…together,” he said.

“Like when we left Alric,” she agreed. “You and me. Together. Looking out for each other, and for Selina and Brutus.”

“Ya,” he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “I love you, Theresa. I want you to always remember that. And I want you to know…” Alex gestured to the night. “I’m going to make sure we can experience all of this together, forever. The Ravener won’t stop us.”

“No, Alex. We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.” She kissed him again.

“You’re right,” he agreed. “We’ll make sure.” He cupped her chin and looked into her eyes. “I missed you,” he whispered, softly kissing her forehead, her eyelids, and moving down to her neck, before stopping. “We should probably go inside before your parents see us.”

She chuckled. “You’re willing to face the Ravener but not my mother and father?”

Alex looked at her completely seriously. “Yes. I’d rather pick fights I might be able to win.”

She laughed then, and all was perfect.

###

Nostalgia.

Appearing in the school’s practice stadium under the early morning sun, a wave of nostalgia washed over Alex. His companions materialised seconds later: Claygon, the Lus, Najyah, Theresa, Selina, Brutus, Khalik, Isolde and Thundar were all there.

Selina gasped, squinting at the sudden daylight, and a smile spreading from her lips to her eyes, took over her face. “It's so good to be here on campus.”

“Yeah, it sure is,” Alex agreed.

Looking around the stadium brought back a host of memories: first and second year students were practising combat spells using stone dummies, third years were studying in the stands, the flash of magic, crackle of fire, and the impact of force…all took him back to countless days spent here.

Long mornings where he, Khalik and Thundar jogged around the track, starting their days. That’s where he’d learned that there was a proper and efficient way to jog, something he’d never thought about before, something he’d never cared about, before coming to Generasi. The Mark of the Fool had helped him with running properly, it was one of the very first uses he’d found for it and he'd come so far since then.

Students around the practice began whispering. Alex heard Claygon’s name mentioned repeatedly; then his cabalmates’, then Theresa’s and Brutus,’ then his.

Upper years paused what they were doing, openly staring.

“Alex is back,” a pudgy battle-mage said.

“Alex Roth is back,” whispered a skinny young man who Alex had never met before.

“Wow, look at him!” a bespectacled blonde murmured, looking appreciative.

Alex heard mention of the Games of Roal, mana vampires, golems and Thameland from upper year students.

Younger ones exchanged puzzled glances, “Isn’t Alex Roth the one who can teleport around like nothing? Doesn’t he make golems?” One of them asked the others he was practising with. “Yes, and that’s what I want to do too!” the first year answered.

“Well,” Mrs. Lu said. “You're certainly well-known.”

Alex chuckled. “You know what's funny? I walked through this campus yesterday without anyone saying a single word about me.” He looked up at Claygon. “I guess I'm a lot less noticeable when I don't have this guy beside me.”

“He does leave an impression,” Thundar said.

“That he does,” Isolde agreed.

“Indeed,” Khalik came forward with a broad smile on his face. “If he had been with us when we first came here, Alex, I think things would have gone quite differently.”

“What do you mean?” Alex asked.

The prince’s eyes twinkled. “Do you recall certain actions by certain members of a certain brotherhood? Remember when the Ursa-Lupine Brotherhood tried to recruit us?”

“That’s right! I do remember that!” Alex slapped his palm with his fist. “They were all wearing the same emerald green shirts. That's how we met that Roderick guy and then we had that spell-joust.“

“And you thoroughly agitated your opponent who I believe was two steps away from imploding!” the prince laughed. “And we both beat them in their challenges to us!”

“I wish I'd been there for that,” Thundar said. “Sounds like fun.”

“Yeah, it sure was!” Alex and the prince shared a high five. His smile faded. “Is it just me or does that feel like a lifetime ago?”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Khalik’s smile disappeared. “It does feel that way.”

“When was this?” Mr. Lu asked.

“In our first year…almost three years ago,” the prince said.

“A lifetime, you say,” Mr. Lu sighed deeply. “Three years doesn't seem very long to me, but then again, perspectives change when you get older.”

“Well, I certainly feel older,” Isolde admitted. “Three years ago, my greatest concerns were my marks. Now…”

“-they still are.” Thundar grinned.

Isolde didn't take the minotaur’s bait. There were no protests, no threats. Just a look of exhaustion.

“Six months ago…I would have had to admit that you were correct, if you had said as much then,” the young noblewoman said. “Grades are still important, but I am on the threshold of graduating. I have been spending a lot of my evenings researching how to destroy a kingdom-ending menace. Thoughts about my future often fill my mind, and—I have always recognised that studying comes rather easily to me. Burying my face in a book, processing its contents, using the information to perform a spell, or write a proper exam or paper, those are things I have always found fulfilling.”

She sighed. “Yet, here I am wondering how much these things truly matter in the big scheme of things. A while back, my grandfather warned me about this very thing.”

“I remember you saying that,” Thundar said. “Something about…today's marks not mattering to you ten years from now. Or something like that.”

“Precisely,” Isolde said. “As time goes on, I find his words become even truer to me. Grades are easy, but in the end, the world is a much larger and more difficult place.”

“Well, you seem like a smart young woman to me,” Mr. Lu said, clearing his throat. “I'm sure you'll do very well doing…great…magic…stuff. You all will.”

“No doubt,” Alex agreed, grinning at his cabal. “Khalik, Thundar, and Isolde are some of the smartest, bravest, most powerful, and truest friends anyone could have. They're all going to go on to change the world, if that’s what they want. Maybe even if they don't want to. Once you're powerful enough, the world changes just because you took a breath that day. And, truthfully, I think I'll be changing the world a bit myself.”

Isolde rolled her eyes. “False modesty is unbecoming, Roth.”

“There you go, coldly calling me by my last name again…” He paused. “Actually…Isolde would you mind if we talked later? As a matter of fact, it’d be great if we could all talk. Our cabal, I mean. There's some stuff I need to talk over with you.”

“As leader, I can spare you my ear for a bit,” Thundar grinned. “Anyway, if we keep yapping like this, someone's gonna pack us up, and it's probably gonna be your sister. So, let’s see some of those spells of yours, Selina!”

Selina, who’d clearly been losing patience with their conversation—had her arms crossed and her eyes had glazed over—immediately brightened. “And I want to see your new spells too, Alex!”

“Let's head over to that dummy, over there then,” her brother said.

The group made their way to one of the closest dummies, stopping about a dozen feet away.

Everyone watched Selina expectantly.

“Take it away,” Alex encouraged her.

“Okay,” she said. “So the first spell I’ll show you is Blazing Hands.”

“I've heard of that,” Alex said. “It's a first-tier fire spell, right? A combat spell?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “It's really cool…well, actually…the opposite of cool. But you know what I mean. Stop smirking!”

Alex smirked proudly. “My sense of humour’s rubbing off on you.”

“Ugh,” she rolled her eyes, turning toward the dummy.

She scrunched her face in concentration—lips flat and brow furrowed—as she raised her hands, pointing at the practise dummy while muttering an incantation.

Alex carefully listened to the words of the spell.

‘Good pronunciation,’ he thought. ‘Precise use of syllables. She’s been practising and it shows: she definitely seems comfortable with this one.’

Just as his thought ended, Selina's hands began glowing. Bright orange sparks flew from her fingertips, exploding, forming a cone of roaring flame that engulfed the mannequin, then faded away.

She turned around, all smiles.

“Wow! That was awesome!” Alex said. “You cast that spell like you've been doing it for years. How much have you been practising?”

“A lot,” she nodded. “I've been practising different spells, and learning all the magic theory my tutor brought me. I've also been doing the mana manipulationstuff you told me about. I'm not…super good at it. But, I’m pretty good. It’s kinda boring, but at the same time, it's alright, I suppose.”

“Well, not everyone has to like mana manipulation as much as I do,” Alex said. “But, as long as you keep doing it: it's going to help you a lot.”

“I know: my tutor said my mana pool is already bigger than it should be, for someone my age,” she said proudly. “I'm glad, since it lets me practise longer, and fire magic is so much fun, I could practise all day. …sometimes it feels as easy as breathing. No, that's not right.” She paused, frowning. “It is like breathing, you know how you feel uncomfortable when you hold your breath for too long? Then you feel this big relief when you take a breath again?”

“I know how that feels,” Theresa said. “I had to get good at holding my breath for long periods of time from hunting in the woods.”

“It's like that!” Selina said. “In its own way, casting a fire spell feels just like that, ” She smiled up at Khalik. “Can you tell your mother how I’m doing and thank her for me again?”

“I certainly will. She’ll be pleased to hear of your progress,” the prince smiled.

She smiled back. “Oh, and I also learned this spell!”

Taking out her knife, she spoke another incantation.

The dagger began glowing the colour of a sour cherry, and burst into flame.

“This one’s called Sunfire Metal,” she said. “It heats any piece of metal that I'm holding, and lights it on fire. People can use it as a weapon, or use it to do stuff like start campfires.”

“That's cool.” Alex watched the blaze. “Your fire affinity is really something, your spells have a lot of oomph to them.”

“Yeah, I can really feel the fire magic,” she said. “Just watch this…” She raised her hand, making a pinching motion beside the flaming dagger, then pulled back like she was ripping a dangling thread from a piece of cloth. The flames around the knife decreased as a line of glowing heat began following her finger before snapping back to the dagger.

Alex’s jaw dropped. “How did you do that?”

“Remember how I wanted to make cold from fire?” she asked. “I can sort of…use manipulation to move the spell…a bit? It's hard to describe.”

“That’s something! I can't do that!” Alex shook his head in admiration. “That was amazing, Selina!”

She blushed, beaming with pride at the same time. “I can hardly wait to see what I’ll be able to do in a few years if I keep practising it. Do you think you could do it too?”

Alex frowned. “Maaaaybe? It's not something that comes naturally to me, that's for sure. You're basically using mana manipulation to alter spells in a way that’s not natural for most wizards. I can do some similar stuff with forceball, but it took a lot of modification. I think what you’re doing comes from your own unique talent, Selina.”

“Your fire affinity is extraordinary. I wonder if you’ll become as powerful as your brother?” Khalik said. “But, we won’t know that for awhile yet since you’re just at the beginning of your journey. Alex is talented, but on top of that, his new Mark allows him to jump the line, as it were, and gives him an even greater edge since certain things that were limiting him are now gone, if you get my meaning.” He glanced around the stadium, making sure there were no curious ears within earshot. “He can do even more ‘line jumping now. But, we all can do things that others cannot: a powerful demon has more raw power, but it does not have the versatility of even a lesser wizard.”

“That makes sense,” Selina said. “I can't wait to learn more and see what I can really do.”

“I'll be watching you every step of the way,” Alex said. “So, are you ready for a preview of a third-tier fire spell?”

“Oh, yes! I'd love that!” she cried. “Show me!”

Alex turned to the mannequin, then paused. “We, uh, might want to step back a bit.”

Family and wizards stepped further away from the dummy, giving it plenty of distance. Alex raised a hand, pointing it in the direction of the stone target.

With the twitch of a finger and a slight movement of his tongue, he completed a magic circuit, and launched a fireball at the dummy. It exploded, bursting into flames.

“Holy—By the Sapphire Sea!” Khalik cried. “That was quick!”

“By the elements,” Isolde whispered. “That was incredibly fast.”

“Well, that's fair,” Thundar laughed sarcastically. “You go from being one of the slowest spellcasters among us, to the fastest.”

“Again!” Selina shouted.

Alex launched another fireball.

Gouts of flame exploded.

He launched two more for good measure, both exploded so fast, it seemed like they’d been cast by two mages in rapid succession.

All around, students were craning their necks, watching the escalating display.

“Not bad, eh?” Alex flexed his fingers, smiling. “I learned a few new tricks while I was away, just like you did, Selina.”

“You have to teach me how to do that!” she cried.

“In time. It’ll take a lot of practice and skill, and you have to know magic circuits and languages really well.”

“Could you teach us that skill?” Khalik asked. “I am quick with my incantations, but I have not seen such fast spellcasting since Professor Ram.”

“Yeah,” Alex said. “Which reminds me, I have to talk to him at some point. As for teaching you? Definitely, and I know you’re all willing to learn: so I plan on teaching you and the Heroes. You probably won't pick it up as fast as I would—since the Mark gives me that advantage, as you said—but the skill will help you a lot. We can talk about it when we meet up later. Speaking of which…” He paused, looking up at the position of the sun.

“I have to go see Professor Jules later. “We need to talk to Hobb about something, and at the same time? I'll see about getting you back into your classes, Selina.”

She smiled. “Awesome. I can't wait to show my teacher what I've been doing with moving heat.”

Alex nodded.

Once again, something tweaked in his brain.

Yet, he still couldn't put his finger on it.

Not yet at least.