The First Mage

Once again, we were standing on the stage in front of the temple, addressing the people who had gathered for our announcement. While a sizable amount of eyes were on us, however, there were far fewer people than the day before, and the main square was not filled to the brim this time. I thought it wouldn’t make much of a difference whether you talked to hundreds of people or thousands, but I did feel a little more relaxed today.

I was standing at the podium, with our entire group on one side of the stage and Eissen and his men on the other side, kneeling, shackled at hands and feet. A constant murmur could be heard from the citizens from the moment these four had left the temple behind us, wondering what happened, and they hadn’t stopped until I started talking.

“Citizens of Alarna! Thank you for coming! Last night, shortly before midnight, these four men entered the temple, attacked two guards, and attempted to assassinate everyone on this stage.”

At this, the murmurs started again, and they grew much louder than before. Violent human-on-human attacks were not an everyday occurrence, and the perpetrators being guards presumably made the incident even more interesting. I wonder if people who didn’t come here today will feel like they missed out.

“As evident by our presence, their attack has failed. However, even though none of us were harmed, unfortunately, a young guard died at their hands, and another was injured critically.”

Or as critically as you can injure a Fighter... I thought. When we checked on him, shortly before coming here, he had already regained consciousness and was sitting upright on his bed. Though he was still weak, presumably from the blood loss. It really was remarkable how quickly Fighters regenerated.

“The leader of the attack was the preliminary captain of the guard, Eissen Caroul, who has readily declared that this was an attempt to stop us from leading this town into the future, and they have shown no signs of remorse for their actions.”

We had tried questioning all four of them, but except for Eissen they had all been tight-lipped. Even now, faced with hundreds of angry eyes on them, all they did was stare straight ahead. The only time any of them had shown any emotions so far had been the mild surprise on Eissen’s face when I told him I would kill him right then and there.

Stoicism seemed relatively common among Fighters, so maybe this behavior was to be expected, but another theory of mine was that this was the backup plan. If we were to execute them for what they had done, we would be acting against our ideals that I had announced to the town, and this could potentially hurt our reputation. This might be an alternative explanation for why Eissen was surprised last night. If we had killed them quietly, maybe nobody would’ve ever heard more than a rumor about this attack, which wouldn’t be in his best interest. With how he had acted, I could absolutely picture him thinking that, in case their attack failed, they might be able to sacrifice themselves like this, and at least help their king that way. Even if our goal had not been to move away from executing every wrongdoer, I wouldn’t have risked playing into their hands, however. At least not with a cool head...

“It saddens me that guards, whose job it is to protect the people, would try to actively hurt them. And while a part of me feels sympathy for them, for having done what they thought was right, it is indisputable that their actions have caused pain and suffering! For this, they must be held accountable!”

When I had told the others about my plan for offenses like this, they had been surprised. In Alarna there really were only two kinds of punishments. A few days in prison or death. This was quite efficient for two reasons. For one, you didn’t have to take care of prisoners for long periods of time, which saved resources. The other was that, naturally, nobody wants to die, especially not for something trivial, and this would keep the citizens in line for the most part. From my viewpoint, it seemed ridiculous to execute someone for stealing a few times, however, and if I had anything to say, we would do away with that. How would be punish murderers though?

An eye for and eye was an option, but not only were we positioning ourselves as the moral choice here, I had also always figured that the death penalty was too easy. Granted, most people don’t want to die, but at least that would be the end of it. I wanted to try an alternative that was new to this world.

“These four men are guilty of attempted manslaughter in five cases and manslaughter in one! As they refused to tell us who was responsible for the death of the guard Marly Kalen, they will all be punished the same way! They are hereby sentenced to five years in prison!”

At this, I was greeted with a lot of surprised faces, and it seemed like nobody was quite sure what to think about this punishment. On one hand, they were allowed to keep living, but on the other, they would stay locked up for years of their lives. A prison time that was unheard of in this town, where the average life span was below seventy. And that was if you weren’t killed by a beast before your time came. Not to mention that the prison cells were anything but comfortable here. Having been in one myself for just a day, I honestly thought that, given a long enough sentence, I would choose death over prison if I could.

“After they have served their time, they will be judged once more, to determine whether they are still a danger to the people, and if they aren’t, they will be allowed to return, to once more use the gifts granted to them by the gods to serve this town! We shall not throw away human lives out of a need for revenge! Nor the Callings they were given!”

Oh the irony...

I was a little worried about the people’s reactions, because if you were used to the idea of criminals getting executed, this punishment could potentially be seen as lax, but I was hoping that they would understand how unpleasant these years in prison would be for criminals, and that losing four valuable Fighters for good would be a blow to this town.

After thinking it over for a moment, the people decided. A few of them started applauding, which quickly spread through the masses, until it looked like everyone was agreeing with this decision. At least on the surface. It remained to be seen whether all of them, and those who weren’t in attendance, actually did agree.

As the people slowly calmed down again, I continued. “Naturally, we will need a new captain going forward, and we believe we have found the perfect candidate. Grym Vance!” I announced, and Grym came up from beside the stage, where he had waited. “Effective immediately, he will be in command of the guards of Alarna, and he will ensure not a single one of these new beasts will make it to this town without us noticing!”

Cheering... more cheering... cheering dies down slowly... and the grand finale.

“Finally, I would like to make a very special announcement! Starting next week, the temple will be accepting applications for specific Callings! Going forward, youths who are to get their ritual will be able to choose between the common Callings, and no new candidates will be forced into specific jobs any longer! Maybe it’s always been your dream to become a Handiworker? Then you will become one! Or maybe you want to protect the town and your fellow citizens, in which case we guarantee that you will be able to become a Fighter! There will be a few limits to this process, but for those who don’t have a Calling yet, and who do not want to rely on chance, you will have a choice for the first time! By the grace of the gods!”

As expected and hoped, the crowd went wild after this last point on my list. Whether you would be receiving your Calling soon, or knew someone who would, such as a family member, these news essentially made everything I said before unimportant. It had taken a bit of arguing to convince Lilana to agree to do special rituals, but she had said herself that the gods would only give the Callings they wanted to give, regardless of what we were doing, so there could be nothing wrong about this. We would just need to stay away from anything cool or interesting, as unfortunate as that was. It would give our reputation an enormous boost though.

“In the next couple of days, we will erect a board here in the main square, where we will post news and updates in written form from now on, about this and other topics, so be sure to check it out to learn more! That’s it for today, thank you!”

With this, I finally turned towards the stairs, to leave the stage, with the rest of our group following after me. Meanwhile, Grym and two guards got the prisoners to their feet and prepared to escort them to their new home. I hadn’t looked at them much during my speech, but as we walked past them, I could now see the defeated expressions on their faces. At least on three of them. Eissen was the only one who was still staring straight ahead, not moving a muscle, even as he was taken away.

I just hope this was all from him...

On our way back to the temple, a familiar voice suddenly greeted us from behind. “Lilly! Tomar!”

I had barely turned around when Riala tackled me into a hug. “Whoa! Hey, Ria,” I said with a chuckle. “How was the night home?”

“Sis is annoying... she forced me to do my chores without magic...” she said with a pout.

“Oh no... that’s terrible! Well... want to do a calling sign ritual?”

“Yes, please!!”

Since I couldn’t see her sister anywhere, Riala had presumably come alone, and most likely without Zara’s knowledge. Maybe she wouldn’t like that Riala kept being around us, but at this point she had to realize she couldn’t really do much about that.

We resumed walking, when another voice came from behind.

“Lilly, may I have a moment?”

Hm, I don’t know that voice.

A few meters behind us stood a burly, middle-aged guard, with a slightly irritated expression on his face.

“What can I do for you?”

“My name is Zale Kalen.”

“You are Marly’s father... my heartfelt condolences.”

“Thank you, but I haven’t come here for condolences. I want you to give Eissen over to me.”

Damn it... I was worried about this... Even if the people accepted my ruling, those who were directly affected by what had happened might be less inclined to.

“You want to kill him?” I asked.

“He is responsible for Marly’s death, that’s how it should be!”

“Believe me, I understand how you feel, but—”

I was about to spout nonsense about the “gods’ will” again, but I thought better of it. This man wouldn’t care about that at this moment.

“It has been deemed more beneficial for the town if they get to live.” I said instead.

“But I—!”

“You want revenge. For them to truly pay for what they did. I know. Would you do me a favor? Give them a little time. Visit them in a month, and see how their new ‘life’ is treating them. How much they get to enjoy themselves for what they did. If you believe that they deserve a way out at that point, I will consider alternatives. Can you do that for me?”

Zale didn’t look happy. If you want revenge, you want it as soon as possible, not somewhere down the line. However, one month wasn’t that much time, and he must’ve figured he can wait that long, seeing how he nodded reluctantly. “I will wait a month... Thank you, Lilly...” he said, saluted us, and then left.

In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t that long, but it would give him a chance to cool down, to grief, and to come to terms with what had happened. With some luck, he would come to see that rotting in a cell for years was a fair punishment, and if not, I would be able to come up with some alternatives by then. A fantasy world of swords and sorcery... kind of... and I’m still postponing deadlines.

***

As the crowd started to disperse, two shadows disappeared into an alley, leading away from the main square.

“They... can give people Callings of their choosing...?” one of them said to the other. “Do you think that’s actually possible?”

“She would be pretty stupid to promise that and not deliver...”

“You were wrong then. They really must’ve been sent by the gods. How else would they change what Calling someone gets?”

“I don’t know, but this whole thing still seems weird. Why would the gods not introduce their messengers themselves? That would’ve been a surefire way to have the people recognize them. And Lilly even said they were hunted by guards and agents, why would the gods not help them?”

“What about last month? Shae appeared and helped the boy and that little girl flee town.”

“Hm. Maybe.”

“So, what now? Eissen is done for.”

“We’ll keep monitoring them, what else? I have to say though, I am curious about that new ritual... Find me some candidates.”

“Roger, boss.”