Mark of the Fool

Chapter 76: The Path Alone

Selina had barely spoken a word for days.

Now, at the breakfast table, she, Theresa and Alex ate with a heavy silence over them. Even Brutuseating nearbyseemed to be in a poor mood; his ears and heads drooped low.

The little girl ate her porridge slowly, as though she were in a haze. Her eyespuffy and redbarely looked up from her spoon. Selina hadnt been sleeping well, waking often and crying softly in her bed, though she tried to remain quiet. It was happening almost every night now.

Theresa often heard her distress and would try to calm her by talking gently and comforting her enough to fall back to sleep.

Alex glanced at the little clay constructions they had set on the windowsill.

The last one Selina had madea clay version of a snowman she had shaped after theyd come home from her mana testsat at the end of the row. She had done it quietly and quickly, and hadnt touched clay since, even when Alex had tried to coax her into working together.

He was going a little crazy with worry.

Fire. Of all damned things, whyd it have to be fire, he cursed their luck.

There was a sick sort of shared experience between them now. Against all odds, hed received a Hero's Mark: a rare thing that hed never wanted. And now, it turned out that she had an affinity for fire magic: a rare thing that shednever wanted.

Siblings with gifts neither of them had ever asked for.

According to Mr. Powell, her fire affinity was very strong too; he had said as much to Alex when theyd discussed what it all meant for Selina after her mana test.

He shook his head: that was a question that still had to be answered.

So, whatre you learning in school today, Selina? he asked, forcing as much cheer into his voice as he could.

Her eyes didnt budge from the table.

Selina? he pushed.

Multiplying, she said. Her mouth barely moved and her voice was a low whisper. Her tone made it clear she didnt want to talk.

He and Theresa exchanged a glance.

That sounds fun, he continued.

She didnt respond.

Would you like-

Im done now, she said, sliding her bowl away.

Alex looked down at the porridge bowl. A good part of it still contained food.

You should, uh, finish, Selina, he said.

Im done.

No goods going to come of starving yourself, finish your porridge, he insisted.

I said Im done. A sullen stubbornness had entered her voice.

Selina, youre not leaving this table until you finish, he said. He remembered his mother and father saying that to them when they didnt want to eat their vegetables. Well just sit here and wait for you, and youre going to be late for school and so will Theresa and me, and you wont be very happy about that, will you?

Her face turned red, then she angrily lifted the spoon and started to shove the rest of the porridge into her little mouth.

Theresa gasped. Selina, slow down! Youll burn yoursel- She caught herself, her eyes went wide.

Selina didnt break pace until it was all gone.

Clatter.

Done, she said sharply, then pushed her chair away from the table. She paused, and glared at the bowl and then at Theresa. Maybe it should burn me.

She stomped into their shared room while the young man and woman could only stare after her.

Dismayed, he realized he had no idea what to do.

He was her brother.

He wasnt her parent. He had no experience to draw from to help her.

And their parents nor Theresas were around to help sooth her.

He feltvulnerable in a way he hadnt since theyd arrived in Generasi. If only he had an older person to talk to. In Alric, one could go to the priests if they needed help with problems of the mind, spirit, or heart.

But even that wasnt an option anymore thanks to his Mark.

Todays class will be a new challenge for all of you, Baelin said. Today you will each be entering The Barrens alone.

Alexs breath caught. Theresa, Khalik and Isolde all froze.

Thundar only nodded his readiness, thumbing his mace.

Svenia and Hogarth sputtered in their seats and the class murmured to each other. Eyvinder looked like he might actively protest.

Baelin held up a hand.

This might make some of you nervous: particularly if you are auditing this course to aid and protect those youve accompanied, but this is a vital step. With our first test, we determined which class members have the basic skills to apply the strategies and tactics taught in this course. We also tested your ability to work as a team. The second outing was to allow you practice with capturing foes, as opposed to killing them, to deal with foes with a terrain advantage, and to learn how to operate in a team with non wizards. However, you will not always be in a combat situation with the luxury of companions. Sometimes, they or you will be attacked when alone, surprised, and in enemy terrain. Today, you will have an opportunity to adapt to such circumstances.

Alex glanced at Theresa, his nerves rising. After what was happening with Selina, the last thing he wanted was to be alone, travelling on foot through The Barrens.

Then there was The Mark to consider. Until now, hed been using tactics, evasion, terrain and trickery to disrupt his opponents, and then setting up others to deliver the final blow. The only times that hed ever finished off opponents himself were when hed burned the worker spider swarm, and when hed smashed the inside of the bonedrinkers skull.

For a fleeting moment, he thought about asking to be excused.

He shook away the thought.

That would only serve to deny him an opportunity to practice with Baelin there as a safety net. Sooner or later a time would come when hed have to finish an opponent by himself, and if he was frozen in indecision with The Mark all too ready to intrude, then what would he do?

He tried to shake away his thoughts and distractions. Acknowledge them and let them go. Unfortunately, they were very insistent on sticking around today.

Today, the part of The Barrens well be going to will be the crevices toward the southern reach. This is one of the hottest parts of The Barrens. Keep that in mind as you manage your resources.

Baelin snapped his fingers, materializing small wooden orbsone for each student and their companions auditing the coursein mid-air. These will be your goal for todays lesson. You will each receive a map. That map will have a number on it: each of you must find the orb that has the number which corresponds to your map.

He waved a hand; a number of maps shimmered into the air above the group and gently floated down into laps or waiting hands.

Alex blinked at his: the number 11 was scrawled at the top in neat script. The map itself displayed a massive network of crevices covering a vast area: a veritable maze with more than enough room for everyone present to hunt for their targets without crossing paths. Two sections of the crevices were circled.

Because of the heat, there are not many monsters in this region. Even the rather abundant muupkaras avoid this place. The most common threats you will experience are bright-spitterstheir prey, and the occasional small earth elemental. You should be able to handle or avoid most of these. If you encounter somethingunexpected that you cannot handlebright-spitters can grow very largecall for me through the spells I cast upon you. I will watch from above, but I will not interfere unless it is clear that you cannot turn the situation to your advantage.

Alex looked down at the symbol of Baelins magic: the same one that hed cast on them during the test.

Do note that this experience will be taking things to the next level. Do not rely simply on the magics automatic ability to bring you to my side if you are in danger. It will call you to me if you are greatly injured, but an instantly fatal blow, is well he let the statement hang, unfinished. Oh, and-

He held up one finger.

-until you each find your orbs, you are not permitted to aid one another: even should you encounter each other during your search. After each of you has found your goal, and should you then encounter a classmate, you will be permitted to band together to help each other reach an extraction point.

Nua-Oge raised her hand. Since well be on our own, may I cast a spell on Grimloch before we go? Just to protect him from the excessive heat: his people and mine cannot tolerate it well.

Hrm, Baelin paused. Normally, I prefer that no spells be cast until you are at the assigned task. But you are right, both of your peoples would have far more difficulty with this than others in the class. Very well, you may armour him in the Shield of Darkwater, but you may engage in no other preparations. Steel yourselves and get ready.

After the now very familiar feel of Baelins teleportation, Alex materialized at the bottom of a crevice, all alone. The crevice rose high over him, with the walls ending perhaps thirty feet above. The path he stood on at the bottom was fairly narrow, perhaps only fifteen feet wide, with rocks and shattered stones scattered among the dust.

The heat hit him like a blacksmiths forge fire.

Hed only been standing in The Barrens for a heartbeat and sweat had already sprung up on his skin. He reached into his bag, quickly drawing out some of the potions hed made in Professor Jules class.

There was a Potion of Sense Enhancement, two Potions of Body Enhancementone for strength and one for stamina, and The Potion of Running Enhancement hed made during the lab where the student had poisoned himself. Alex hadnt seen the young man since, and wondered what had happened to him.

He then removed the final potion from his bag and turned it, the sunlight catching on the glass and rust-coloured substance within. It was his Potion of Heat and Fire Tolerance. It was a less potent version, and would only last a couple of hours, but that should be more than enough time to finish what he had to do.

Alone.

Crumble.

Alex whirled around, his eyes searching the walls of the crevice. The stone was sun-baked and craggy, and would provide plenty of hiding places for smaller monsters.

The hair on the back of his neck began to rise.

He felt nakeda mere bakers assistant about to head into danger, with only a few potions and some utility spells to help him. And it was during a time when his sister was going through something awful and he didnt know how to help her. Now, he was supposed to keep himself safe as well.

He steeled his nerves like Baelin had advised, acknowledging that dangers could lie ahead of him on the path of wizardry, no matter where that road took him. This was necessary.

Think. Adapt.

But what if some monster comes out too fast for Baelin to help you? his treacherous mind asked. What if-

Quiet, he told himself. Not going to help right now.

He popped the cork on the Potion of Heat Resistance and chugged it back, making a face. It tasted likewell, like a bunch of strange herbs and alchemical substances, but the magic that coursed through him felt good. Immediately, his body underwent a cooling sensation as if the sun had slipped behind a cloud.

The heat was still there and he felt it, but it didnt bother him.

He conjured his forceball and hung his bag over it to conserve his energy then looked at the map. Frowning, he realized hed already encountered his first hurdle. While the map indicated his extraction point and where he would find the orb, it didnt indicate exactly where hed been teleported to for his starting point, and the crevice he was in didnt provide any landmarks to use to figure it out.

He looked to the wall and rotated his shoulder.

Alright, lets go.

Concentrating, he conjured forcedisk and approached the craggy wall, slowly beginning to scale it. Aside from doing pullups on a horizontal steel hanging ladder setup at the universitys gymnasium, Alex was definitely a novice when it came to climbing. Luckily, he was much stronger now, so he took it slowlyallowing The Mark to correct his form as he ascendedand kept both forceball and forcedisk close at hand.

Neither were strong enough to bear his full weight yet, but with his improvements to them, they were now strong enough to support some of his weight as he scaled the crevice wall. He could feel his muscles tense as he pulled his way closer to his objective.

When he reached the top, he grabbed the edge and hauled himself up, exhaling in relief. A little more than two months ago, he wouldnt have been able to even begin trying to scale the crevice wall. Now, hed accomplished it with his own body strength and two spells. Normally, hed be jumping for joy, but today, he really wasnt in the mood to celebrate, his mind was more on his little sister.

Looking around, he spotted the distant crevices, noting two shapes flying through the sky: likely Rayne and Najyah. He also saw other outlines standing near the crevices, but he couldnt tell who they were from his distance. He glanced up toward the cloudsthere floated the horned silhouette of Baelin, gazing down on all of them like some sort of god.

Gods

Alexs teeth clenched.

Had it been Uldar whod granted Selina her manathe very thing that had killed their family? Was that it? Or was it some sort of sick, random chance? Was it the same chance that had seen him get The Mark? Or had that been Uldars doing?

Shit, he muttered to himself.

At least he could make the best of The Mark; it wasnt the very thing that had traumatized them four years ago. but for Selina, not only did she get this awful gift, but she was only ten years old. How was she supposed to cope with this?

Damn you, he cursed at no one in particular.

He shook his head again, trying to use his meditation techniques to acknowledge how angry he was and let it pass, but it was challenging.

Focusing his attention on the map, and noting the layout of the crevices, he found his location.

Good. He tapped the map.

Where he needed to go wasnt that far, and he could get there even faster if he went overland instead of going along the bottom of the crevice.

Shouts suddenly reached him from a distance.

He looked up to see Najyah and Raynes silhouettes flying down into the crevices. Other forms were scrambling down into them as well.

What was going on?

He glanced up at the sky again and his eyes went wide.

Scores of long, sinewy forms were launching into the air from a far distant crevicethey looked like snakes with birds wings. Bright flashes of fire and light gushed in front of them.

They must be the bright-spitters the chancellor had mentioned.

Some of them surged into the sky toward Baelin, while the others swept over the crevices at frightening speed.

Oh, hell, Alex said, running back to his crevice.