Chapter 3:

His katana clattered to the ground at his feet. Hands on his knees, Beras stood, gasping for breath. Annel stood over him, her blade pointed at his throat.

"Come on," she cried. "I was expecting you to last at least five seconds this time!" With a flourish of her sword, she sheathed it neatly.

Beras plopped to the floor, sitting with his legs crossed. "You're one of the best swordsmen within the Blades!" he complained. "And anyway, you're exaggerating about the time."

Annel flipped her hair back. "You're right. It was shorter than that. And for the record, I'm using my left hand and moving much slower than I normally do." She looked him up and down, eyes squinted. "You know," she said, softer now. "You might at least get by against weaker enemies. You don't look like someone they'd want to fight. That is, until you actually started fighting."

He rolled his eyes and sighed. He had never disliked his appearance per se, however it often mislead people to think he was some sort of strong warrior with nerves of steel. Then they got to know him and usually began to respect him less.

Beras looked around at his surroundings. It was late at night, and the nearby runestone glowed a soft green. It gave the area an eerie feel, and cast ominous shadows across the other pillars. Legend had it that by manipulating the stone, one could bind magic armor to themselves for a short period of time.

Beras stood and picked up his weapon. Annel raised her eyebrows. He tried to swing it at her, but it flew out of his hands and lodged itself in the dirt by the runestone. They had snuck out in the night in order to give him some training, seeing how the captains had outright banned him from practicing with any kind of weapon.

"Okay," said Annel. "No more katana for you. Let's try something lighter." She reached into the large sack of equipment she had brought until she pulled out a short sword. It was made of steel, and wasn't used by the blades, so Beras wondered where she had found it.

After swinging it around a bit, he discovered that she was right, and it was easier using a lighter weapon. It still felt awkward though, and he wasn't a fan of it.

"You know," Beras said. "It might prove useful if I could find a magic teacher. I mean, we know I'm miserable with weapons, so maybe I'm good at magic."

Annel looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "Alright," she said. "Don't tell anyone because Nords aren't supposed to like magic, but I once learned how to cast a simple ice spell."

Beras looked at her, wide eyed and excited. "Show me!" he pleaded.

She held out her hand, and tiny snowflakes and frosty wind started swirling around it. She swung her hand around, and a burst of cold wind flew out. Beras looked amazed, but Annel looked disappointed.

"What's wrong?" he said. "That was amazing!"

Slapping her palm to her face, Annel groaned. "No, it wasn't! I did it wrong! There's supposed to be a jet of frost!"

Beras fidgeted uncomfortably. "Oh," he mumbled. "So you can't teach me?"

She looked at him, her head cocked to one side. "Well, I can teach you how to channel magicka, which you need to know to use any given spell, but I clearly can't remember how to do this stupid ice blast thing, so I can't teach it to you."

Anned stepped towards Beras and put her hands on his shoulders, just by the neck on either side. He looked rather uncomfortable, and shuffled his feet a little. "Um," he said. "What are you-"

"Shut up, I'm trying to concentrate."

A few minutes passed before she spoke again. "Okay, I think I've done a pretty accurate scan of your magicka system."

"I don't mean to interrupt," Beras said. "But, what is magicka?"

Annel looked dumbfounded. "By the divines, Beras! Are you that stupid!?" She composed herself, and then explained. "Magicka is the source of mystical energy that is required to cast any given spell. It's like your spiritual energy. Sort of." She cleared her throat. "Anyway, you seem to have a pretty average amount, meaning you might not be terrible."

Beras gave a grim smile. "Well that's a first," he said.

Annel rolled her eyes. "Saying that isn't going to help with anything. Anyway, try concentrating on your fingertips, but make your fingers longer than they really are. That should help you work it out."

He looked at her, utterly lost. "My fingertips but longer than- what? You aren't making sense!"

"Sorry, sorry, I'm bad at explaining things." Annel took a deep breath. "Imagine that your fingers are longer than they actually are. Extend them into the air, but not too far. Now concentrate on the bit of extra finger you created, and it should help you channel magicka to them."

Beras did as she asked. "I don't feel anything," he said.

"You aren't supposed to," Annel replied. "At least, not with such small amounts of magicka. But the only times you'd really feel it would be if you're casting some sort of grand master archmage type spell."

He looked down at his hands. Could he really be a mage? He certainly didn't look the part, and his family had never had a history of magic users. But if he couldn't fight with weapons, then how else would he get by? It had to be the path for him.

Annel looked at the sky, which was beginning to turn a bit blue. "We should probably get back to the temple before anyone realizes we're gone. We'll circle around close to the wall so the lookouts won't notice us."

"Won't the giant doors opening alert them?" Beras pointed out.

Annel looked at him, her eyes half closed in a scrutinizing look. "Beras. I've lived here all my life," she explained. "I know at which point it starts making noise, and I think you'll be able to fit through the gap."

He was in fact. It was a tight squeeze, but the two of them were able to slip in and make it back to the barracks without being seen.

Lying in bed, Beras looked at his outstretched arm, turning around his hand. Oh the power he might someday wield. It would certainly be a nice step up from being the useless horse boy. He had never really thought of himself as the type to use magic, but now it was all he could think of. He'd have to decide what school to learn.

There was destruction, of course, like the spell that Annel showed him. Controlling fire, frost, and lightning would be incredible, and could easily turn the tide of a battle. However, he wanted to avoid anything that could go horribly wrong and hurt someone.

Conjuration could also help a good deal. He'd be able to summon up weapons at a moment's notice. Actually, come to think of it, it would probably be best if he steered away from weapons. There were also daedra to summon, but he didn't feel comfortable consorting with them.

What were the others? Illusion, restoration, and what else? Alteration, was it? Restoration sounded pretty promising, seeing how he could assist his friends in combat. He didn't know all that much about the other schools though, besides their names. He would have to look into them as well.

Things were finally opening up to him. Beras smiled and rolled on his side, pulling his blankets closer to his body. The only problem now was finding someone who could possibly be able to teach him how to cast spells.

Now wasn't the time to think about that though. He needed to get rest so he didn't sleep in again.