Over the years, Blake Caffre developed a personal rule: Never question his Master's requests. If pressed, he might modify it to: Don't question his Master's requests aloud. Now, in the bustling Marketplace of Divinity's Reach, he was getting his chance to do just that. Blake loved training under his Master. But hated the task given to him intensely. Most of all, at the moment, he hated the stifling heat of the summer sun and packed bodies of the crowds.
The sizzling summer heat that blanketed Divinity's Reach came in three terrible flavors: dry, humid, and unbearable. Luckily for Blake, the season had come with a dry heat, his preference if given a choice among the three. The prevailing winds of the city caressed the sweat-slicked skin of the crowd in ever so subtle wafts between the tall towers of stone and steel that reached for the Gods in every direction the eye could glance. Blake had no means of escaping the heat, not until he could collect his Master's order and pushed his way out of the mass of bodies to the city's upper crust dwellings where the noble who had taken him in awaited his return. People from all over had been bringing their wares to sell since before Blake's time, though he had learned another city called Lion's Arch had been the center of trade before the founding of Kryta's new capital, and Blake knew if Lion's Arch had been just as crowded that there would have been people just like him, suffering in the heat of summer. But then, Lion's Arch had been a port city. In the reminder of such a thought, a sudden wave of envy enveloped the young ward with the longing for unimpeded breezes to cool his soaked brow.
An hour's time passed before Blake could collect the package that had come for his Master, from some place across the country that he was unfamiliar with. The merchant took his coin and in return surrendered the rather heavy, cloth-wrapped and rope-bound parcel. Unsuspecting of the package's weight, Blake gave a grunt as the mass of the package took hold of him.
"Don't drop it, boy," The merchant chuckled in amusement. Blake only gave a faux look of amusement in return before turning about to push his way through the mass of bodies. The lean muscles of his arms strained as he pushed aside the last of the wandering potential market benefactors, and soon the rough worn stone gave way to the polished, less-used paths of the Noble's court.
Passing the elegantly crafted gates of the district, Blake paused to regain his stamina. Knowing his Master wanted the parcel brought as quickly as possible only hastened the regeneration of his initiative to deliver the package. But his arms were going numb from the sheer weight of the wrapped load. His eyes traveled towards the higher portions of the elevated district houses where he and his Master lived, row after row like layers of an onion his teacher would murmur in passing during their walks about the district in need of fresh air. Recalling his wandering thoughts, Blake pushed forward with a slight grimace of strain. He could hear the chatter of familiar voices as he made his way further up. Though the niggling feeling in the back of his mind told him to ignore the familiarity of the voices, Blake couldn't help himself and-pausing to catch a glimpse of the voices' owners-stood with his mouth agape at who stood outside the front of his Master's house. As he gathered himself together quick as he could, Blake hurried into the home from the back entry and, setting the heavy burden onto the nearest table made quick work of securing the back entrance before rushing off to locate his Master.
"Master Avalon," Blake called hoarsely, out of breath from carrying such a harsh load across the city in a hurry. Making to call out once more, the courier paused in inhale at the sound of his Master's voice along with the previous visitor's he had spotted only moments before.
"It's been too long, Thackery." One of the visitors, a handsome man that looked to be the same age as his master spoke in a confident voice. Evander Olson, Blake knew him, former member of the legendary guild 'Destiny's Edge', chosen personally by the protector of Kryta, the captain of the Divinity's Edge Seraph, and Champion of Her Majesty Queen Jennah, Logan Thackeray, wore his Seraph armor proudly, the shining metal seemed to glow with magics infused so deeply Blake was unsure if even the best crafting masters in all of Divinity's Reach could salvage the enchantments if the armor were destroyed. If such a thing were even possible. Evan's renown came in murmurs of being the only man alive to match Captain Thackeray's skill with a blade. But no duel between the two men had ever been witnessed so the murmurs remained only rumor and speculation. The blonde man stood only taller than his companion and only slightly such than Blake's Master who greeted the other man with a wide grin.
"Thackery? The last time you called me that, Ron and Raf were on way back with a horde of ghosts following after them." Blake's Master, Thackery Avalon chuckled then. A handsome man just stepping into the prime of his life though gifted beyond measure with magics and too experienced in battle far beyond the assumption of his elders. Unlike Evander, Thackery wore handsomely decorated clothes that told of his status among the citizens of Divinity's Reach though no such article of clothing was required. He had earned his rank among the people as had Evander if Blake's memory served him correctly. But the Seraph's companion, he was new, to Blake at least, and watching on continued to listen as the two men carried on in hushed voices.
"Huh, really Evan this is a bit much. On such short notice. I already have a ward under my care- what will he do? As you just said, his talents lie with the blade not the spell or mind. I can teach him nothing." Thackery murmured in clear confused tone, Blake not needing to see his Master's face to know the sound of the emotion. He had been studying under his master for five years and knew each of the man's emotions and expressions by heart.
"I'm at the end of my line, old friend. There's trouble brewing amongst the ranks. A-" Evan moved closer to Thackery then, Blake straining to make out the whispered words though he couldn't quite comprehend them.
"You haven't really given me a choice then, have you? I suppose if he plans to join the ranks of the Seraph one day the spells of a Guardian could do him some good." Thackery murmured with a sour look that confused Blake. The expression his Master wore then, he had never seen before. Was something that troubling ahead?
"Thank you, Tak." Evander smiled wearily. Motioning for his companion, a boy whose bangs covered his face for the most part stepped forward, raising his head as to properly greet Thackery and Evander with the all due respect.
"Caleb Kenne, Master Avalon has agreed to take you on as his second ward. You will learn the art of protection and become a Guardian beneath his tutelage. When he thinks you are ready, then, and only then may you join the ranks of the Seraph." Evander spoke with an air of authority then, so different was his tone from that which he spoke to Blake's Master that Blake all but winced at the change.
"Thank you, Master Avalon." Spoke Caleb in a quiet voice. He bowed slightly towards Thackery and then turned to bow to Evander as well. "I hope to be as light a burden as possible."
"Dwayna help me." Thackery chuckled then, slapping Caleb on the back with a great laugh. The younger boy's eyes widened at the informality of the action and stumbled forward at the sheer force of Thackery's jovial gesture. "Relax. My ward could use someone his own age to interact with anyway. He's a bit of a bookworm. All theory and no application. Shame, he's got the makings of a great Elementalist one day."
"An Elementalist? Really now- shouldn't Ron be the one to instruct him then?" Evander grinned, Thackery narrowing his eyes a moment in jest before returning the look. "Mesmer I may be, my friend. But spells and application are what I do best. Dear Ronald? He's more theory than bang these days anyway."
"Don't let him hear you say that, Tak. You know there's a temper beneath all that neutrality." Evander warned with a smug look that even Thackery gave a slight chill of worry over.
"Ah, well- it was all in good fun." Blake's Master smiled. Evander took a moment to return the gesture before glancing towards the door of his friend's home. "I should be going. Leaving the Seraph for too long isn't the best idea. Logan is only one man after all."
"Of course," Thackery returned with a frown then. "Don't stay away too long. We'd all like to see more of you around, old friend."
"Life of a Guardian, Tak. Life of a Guardian." Evander laughed, grasping his friend's shoulder in a moment of affection, Thackery returning the gesture as the two looked the other in the eye before Evander departed for his station among the Seraph.
The Seraph, Divinity Reach's military and the Queen's personal guard all rolled into one well armed, trained, and renown force of Kryta were no trifling matter. To want to join the ranks of those illustrious soldiers was a noble and worthy dream.
"You can stop hiding now, Blake." Called his Master with an amused smile. Both Thackery and Caleb watched as Blake, still damp from lugging the package for his Master, appear from behind the turn of a hallway where he had been listening. With a coy flash of a smile, the young man only nervously gave a bow a moment later. First to Master Avalon, second to Caleb.
"You can stop that, Blake. Evan's gone back to his post or where ever it is Seraph go to report. Caleb was it? Meet my ward, Blake Caffre." Thackery motioned towards Blake with a half smile. "He would have put on proper attire and a semi-presentable state had I known your Master was going to pay a visit, or that he was in town. But I have work to attend to. Blake will assist you in settling in." Thackery turned towards Blake then, raising a brow in question as the younger boy's eyes widened a little.
"It arrived on time, Master Avalon. I placed it in the pantry before-" Blake began his explanation, Thackery cutting him off with a sigh and wave of his hand.
"Did you remove the enchantments to ease your return?" Thackery asked, knowing the answer already by the strained look of his ward. A grin of amusement returning as Blake's cheeks pinkened then at the realization of such a simple and beginner's mistake. Of course, all Masters of spell and mind enchanted their parcels to prevent or burden thieves. It was a basic enchantment all those gifted with magic learned when under instruction.
"Well, lugging that thing back here is punishment enough. Show our new guest to his quarters and go bathe. I don't want to smell sweaty, forgetful boy at the dinner table." Blake's Master teased with a grin before vanishing behind his ward into the panty to claim his parcel.
His attention turning from his eccentric Master to the boy standing at the threshold of the home, Blake took a few deep breaths before calling upon the social lessons Thackery had done his best to instill upon his pupil. Lessons that had, as of yet, to take root.
"The guest rooms are upstairs. I can show you a few of them if you'd like to take your pick of them." Blake murmured, gesturing towards the staircase that twisted upwards into the upper levels of the house. "They're all sort of small. No need for a lot of space when you're always on the go."
"Any room is fine. Thank you." Caleb replied in a calm, almost timid voice that both confused and started Blake. And Thackery said it was impossible for another living soul to be more timid and awkward than he was. "If-" The new arrival began softly, "I can find a room on my own. If you're needed elsewhere."
Or perhaps Blake Caffre, Elementalist in training, really was the most awkward living soul in all of Kryta. At Caleb's words Blake only stared in return before shaking his head. "No." He paused to consider his phrasing, a lesson Thackery had drilled into him over the years. "I'll show you around. A bath can wait a while longer."
Climbing the staircase upwards, Blake made note that Caleb said nothing the entire tour of the upper level. Remembering his Master's lessons once more, the ward began to speak without much thought as to what he was saying.
"I heard you're going to be learning Guardian magics. That's pretty cool. Read a few books on it myself. Though, my skills are better suited to the elements." Blake talked on, on about the different sort of magics that Thackery had studied, the many, many, many books, scrolls, and artifacts that littered the home. It was well known what the basic sorts of abilities those who could bend the minds of the living, turn the will of the dead, call upon nature, or even channel the essence of the old gods.
"I guess." Caleb murmured, his eyes on the floor the entire tour, and only when Blake stopped in front of the room next to his own did the new arrival lookup. "Is this the first room?"
"It's your room if you want. Thinking Master Avalon wants you near one of us just in case." Blake explained with a small frown. The look of confusion Caleb gave in return on caused Blake's frown to deepen.
"In case of what?" Asked Caleb with a frown of his own. Blake gave a nervous sort of sound then, one that only made Caleb seem to worry.
"Well, when you get around as much as Master Avalon and I do- you tend to make a few, enemies. But don't worry about it, really. There aren't many foolish enough to attack Avalon manner." The look Caleb gave Blake then only made the Master of the house's ward squirm with nervous energy.
"Thanks for showing me around." Caleb offered before entering the guest room to acquaint himself with his new dwellings. Leaving Blake to watch the new ward of the house walk away, the tired pupil sighed. It only took Blake a moment however to remember his day before Evander and Caleb had arrived. He'd brought with him an enchanted parcel and now that Caleb had a room to claim for his own, Blake found no harm in finding out just what was worth enchanting so heavily. Making his way down the stairs, Blake paused at the feel of magic in the air, the atmosphere of the home growing so thick with it the lower Blake traveled the more the young pupil could feel his stomach begin to squirm with excitement. Thackery Avalon was stronger, stronger than most gave him credit for. His master, for the most part a charming fool in the eyes of the greater councils who sought to keep the rigid structure of those with magical talents. Still, he'd gone to Master Avalon and asked to be trained in the ways of the elements. Blake had asked for help in controlling his powers and, after years of hard work, that was exactly what he'd gotten.
Entering the pantry slowly, careful as to not distract the blonde man crackling with mystic energies Blake paused a few feet from his Master to observe the man at work. He could see the ancient symbols of glyphs and runes dancing in various colors about the parcel, Thackery one by one unlocking them, removing them, undoing them with an suggestion of ease that betrayed the level of difficulty. Blake knew the level of concentration it took to remove a simple ward, breaking a weak enchantment. But the sorts he saw binding the parcel, protecting it from all sorts of danger or destruction? Well, he wasn't sure he'd ever be talented enough to remove them as quickly as his Master did. It took Thackery a few minutes to remove them all, a light sheen of sweat covering his brow as he took a step back to admire his work. Yes, the package was quite bare of magical protection. Though it still hummed with a faint, ancient sort of magic that caused both Blake and Thackery's eyes to ignite with wonder and wet their lips in anticipation.
Thackery's eyes flickered towards his pupil's face a moment, a grin of excitement forming quickly as he made quick work of the rope and cloth concealing the package. Beneath the several layer of cloth and rope, more cloth and more rope, and finally more cloth and rope lay hidden a single tome. The runes scrawled across the top of the tome causing Thackery to pause, his face draining of color all at once as he began to murmur to himself.
Blake took a moment to read the runes along the front of the book, while not as well trained to read ancient texts as his Master, he managed to piece together the title of the tome with a bit of trouble.
"Master, is that Canthanian?" The look Blake received startled him. A mixture of pride, wonder, and acknowledgement filled Thackery's face before he spoke, softly, quickly, as if afraid someone would hear otherwise.
"Can you see the title Blake? Tell me you can see it too, what does it say. Read it Blake." The blonde man's eyes danced with a rare flame of excitement mixed with something Blake had never seen. Was that...fear? He shook such thoughts from his mind in a single motion before he let his fall upon the runes about the tome's cover once more. The characters were silver, faded, though the tome itself seemed to be enchanted as well, far more so than the parcel and with a level of warding that it made Blake's skin crawl. Such magic was powerful, highly rare, and...dangerous.
"M-Master Avalon-" Blake murmured, his eyes wide in half fear at the sight of the tome now that he fully comprehended what was before them. Thackery only wet his lips before grinning. Blake could tell his Master was excited, the look on his face, and even the tone of his voice made it perfectly clear that tome would lead them on their next outing, or 'adventure' as Thackery called them.
"Can you see it, Blake?" Thackery asked once more, his grin fading slightly as his eyes narrowed. Blake knew it was a test then, his heart racing as he forced his attention from the older man before him and back to the faintly glowing tome that lay in the bundle of cloth and rope. He could see the runes, the characters in silver as plain as day, and it was only then that it clicked. He could see them. He could see the runes. Only those with strong magic, powerful potential could see through wards that lasted hundreds of years. See through magics so strong they lasted long after the death of the caster. It frightened him. He could see the runes and that only meant his training was far from over.
"Blake." Thackery all but hissed then, impatient for an answer from his pupil. His grin all but gone now as his blonde brow narrowed further in annoyance.
"Apologies Master. Y-yes. I can see the runes." Blake managed in a half whimper of a voice. His answer causing Thackery to laugh in a mad sort of way the younger boy had only heard once before.
"Read it, Blake. Tell me the title of this tome." Thackery all but commanded, his grin returning in full force as he watched the boy before him pale as he had in realization of what was before them. Licking his lips, Blake let his eyes read over the runes one by one and in a heartbeat's time later spoke the title of the tome that only caused the book before them to glow dangerously.
"Knights of the Silver Maiden."