Chapter 2: Swords and Scorcery

The next day, Tehnerick woke slowly, and lately. After making a small spot of breakfast for himself, he went down into the potions room, there to find a cheerful Caenrayas fully-dressed, looking at his potions. " Hi there! " he said, " had breakfast? " Tehnerick nodded. " Then you might want to come and look at this potion. " Tehnerick came over and the old man gestured to a bubbling green potion; air flowed in slow lumps around the lid-top of the vial. " This, " he announced. " Was that potion yesterday. " " But it's gone green! "

" So is the way of scorcery. " said Caenrayas mysteriously. Tehnerick laughed. " Today, " said the wizard, " you will be learning first of swordplay, and then of magic; and then of combining the two. We start in a quarter-of-an-hour. " Tehnerick went upstairs to get his clothes on, and the old wizard turned back to his potions. A quarter-of-an-hour later, Tehnerick came back downstairs, sword sheathed by his side, to find Caenrayas at the front of the shop, working on something behind the counter.

The wizard looked up at Tehnerick. " I see you have brought your sword with you. " " Yes. " " Let us go outside, " said Caenrayas, " into the back-court; there's more room for the both of us and our swords. " After going out into the back-court by the wizard's back-door, both people drew their swords. " Now, as you shoul remember, Tehnerick, " said the old man, " never let your opponent get too close; a meter apart is fine for swords, or more for bows, but less than a meter is personal distance - as in, the person is most likely to stick you with a dagger or throttle you at that point. Now let us spar. "

Both of them stood a meter apart from the center of the back-court, which was cobbled, and extremely hard. Around them, alder trees swayed languidly, before their lines ended in a steep rock wall. Then, with only so much as a " Go! " the wizard flew at Tehnerick, pulling his sword back to blow. Tehnerick pushed his own blade forward, catching the wizard's own one with accuracy, and throwing both of them off-balance. " Good, good! " said Caenrayas, and threw his sword forward again. Tehnerick pulled his sword up to his chest, and the two blades clanged together. Quickly, with no hesitation, the apprentice advanced on his master, before thrusting his own blade forwards, towards the wizard.

Caenrayas smiled, and spun his own blade round quickly, before pulling it onto Tehnerick's sword, and thus sending the weapon spinning into the tree-line. " I- " started Tehnerick, but the wizard said, " Let us continue to fight; use your inititve to defeat me. " Tehnerick, without thinking, raised his hand, and a perfectly-round beam of white light blasted out, hitting the wizard's sword, and sending it skittering across the forecourt of the garden, before coming to a rest a meter or two from Tehnerick's.

" Stop, Stop! " said the wizard, and collected his sword, before chuckling, and saying " Oh! Oh! " Then, he showed Tehnerick his blade. In the center of the white iron, was a perfectly circular hole, etched on the edges by spiderish lines of white. " Ha! Ha! " " Oh, " said Tehnerick, taken aback by this, " I thought you'd be angry. " " Tehnerick, " said Caenrayas, " there is no need for anger and hate when magic can solve most. " And with those strange words, he put his hand over the hole on the sword and whispered something under his breath. There was a blowish noise, and the metal melted into the hole, erasing the white lines. " See, " said the wizard, " no need for anger. "

Then, gripping his sword properly, and waiting for Tehnerick to fetch his sword, he said, " Should we have another try? " Caenrayas won twice, once with magic, the other with his sword-skills. Tehnerick, himself won three times, using magic all of the times to summon his sword back, and sometimes to throw the old wizard off balance. By the time they had finished, the sun had risen to its highest point in the sky, and the twosome went indoors. After their lunches, both of them had gone back out into the back-court, to pratice Tehnerick's skill in magic. All the wizard said when they got outside was, " Throw everything at me, " Tehnerick knew this just meant " start shooting spells and suchlike at me" and began. He started with an easy, non-deadly spell, that only consisted to come within three meters of the wizard before it was beaten away by the staff.

This time, Tehnerick reacted quickly, and shot a stronger, more powerful spell towards the wizard. Again it was batted away like an annoying fly. Tehnerick spun round and shot another spell over at the wizard. This time, he was more successful, and the wizard stumbled backwards, before being hit again and again by other spells. After regaining his balance, the wizard sat down on the stone court, and began to sing.

Over stone and scramble, The old wizards walked; For time had come, For them to discover, What secrets lay deep, Beneath the earth. For days they toiled, Searching for the gem. The years passed by, And still they fought, For this knowledge; The gem of Tyboron. One man found it, Deep under ground, Passages of stone, Whence light naught came, Within the mountains. The gem came back, To the Acrenmage; Lord of the order.

Times passed by, The gem held safe, Inside the castle. The Acrenmage died, And Tyboron was passed, Back to its tunnels. The trolls discovered it, Whence through their caves. And began to guard it, Should mortals try them. The caves vanished, To all human mind, While the trolls, Still guard it bind.

" What was that? " said Tehnerick, when Caenrayas had stopped singing. "Trolls? guarding the founding wizard-gem? " (Tehnerick had heard other stories about Tyboron before). " Yes, " said the old wizard. " It has passed my mind of many wants - wants to receive it, and bring power back to Gaernas. Though the journey lying behead of one intending to go to that foul place is that of a merit nearly as bad as the trolls. " " But surely you would be able to make this journey, " said Tehnerick, " I would be able to help..." " Well... " said the wizard slowly, " the kingdoms darken as we speak; other things, Tehnerick, are rising, to the north - the skeletons of the mountains. And the mass of Gaerthurion. Yes! Tyboron must be received from the troll-caves - Tehnerick, we must leave by haste next morning! Pack whatever you deem fit for our journey, and saddle both horses! For tomorrow! I shall be in my potions-room if you need me. Pack both swords! "

Caenrayas stood up, his cloak swaying in the late-afternoon breeze, and hurried off, into the brewing-shop. " Trolls! " exclaimed Tehnerick, and followed him in.

Reviews

[Fantasy]

Thank you, Professor Xeronian. Looking back over it has revealed the mistakes, and I will fix the ending.

[Professor Xeronian]

What? The end there was confusing, probably because it was a bit rushed. You need a transition between pieces of the story like that. Also there are some spelling/grammar issues...