Kyjus' Dwarven bodyguards had showed up as they had every morning since he had arrived on Desmonia. On this particular morning however Syrus was in tow and he looked a little gloomy.
"What's wrong", Kyjus said to Syrus, looking toward Baldor and Rallos who confirmed his suspicions that something was indeed amiss.
"Nothing young master nothing at all," Syrus said with a masking smile.
"Syrus, I have known you well over a month now and let me say you're a terrible liar. I can tell when something is awry now out with it," Kyjus countered deciding to let Syrus' young master comment alone.
"Well, I suppose you will find out soon enough and you certainly did not here this from me but I have heard the Magus was ordered to restructure your spec to fire. You were having such a great time with the frost spells you had been practicing I know, but well I think I will let the Magus fill you in on the rest if you don't mind Kyjus", Syrus finished. Kyjus could hear the disappointment in his voice, but he vowed not to let this decision deter him thereby showing any disappointment to Syrus. He assured Syrus that it would all work out in the end.
He was however, very curious as to why the change was coming as it had only been three or so week since he had started his spell casting within the frost line of mage spells and to say he was a master at any of the Frost Spells would have been an overstatement of monumental proportions.
He was however becoming somewhat adept at Frost Sphere, Frost Bolt and Frost Meteor. He had gotten Ice Shards to work on several occasions, but it was not consistent. As far as the rest of the spells go, he had not gotten many of them to work much at all and he had not even tried Avalanche which was the most powerful of the frost spells.
So, to say that he was somewhat less than thrilled at his progress would have been accurate, but he had not thought himself doing poorly enough to warrant a change. In fact, his teacher had said that he believed he was taking great strides at becoming a Mage. He was even successful at making a pet on one occasion to which Magus was extremely thrilled.
Kyjus was however, very quick to point out his pet was not subordinate to his will, and it was only three feet tall, not very intimidating were his exact words to the Magus.
The Magus ever the encourager was quick to point out that most students are not advanced enough to even make a pet conjuration attempt in the first month of training let alone the first week. However, when one does show enough potential to attempt the spell, the pet usually ends up as nothing more than a puddle of mud.
Kyjus smiled at that, perhaps he was doing a decent enough job he had thought to himself. But then why did the Magus want to see him about his choice of specializations if his progress was admirable in Frost.
The rest of the trip to the training facility had both Syrus and Kyjus in deep contemplation of the recent developments. Kyjus managed a few brief smiles Syrus' way and the dwarves of course were their normal stoic selves.
They rounded the final bin to the spell rooms and summoning chambers. The Magus was in the outer foyer awaiting Kyjus' arrival. This cannot be good Kyjus thought to himself, never before had the Magus been waiting, typically half of the morning had evaporated before he would even see the Magus.
Quickly Kyjus gained his composure and continued onward. Syrus followed but the dwarves about faced and headed toward the guard position within the inner doors of the library. Here they would wait until it was time for Kyjus to return to his room.
"Good Morning Kyjus", his gangly instructor said with a slight smile.
"Good Morning to you Magus, shall we get started," Kyjus responded. His intent was to proceed as if he knew nothing of the current situation.
Syrus tried hard to contain his smile knowing full well the game the Kyjus was playing. When he felt he could contain himself no longer he turned his head but in order to not arouse suspicion he began coughing.
It was a fake cough of course but the more he played at it the scratchier his throat become and before long he was coughing for real.
He turned around to see they were both looking at him.
"You going to be alright," the Magus asked of him.
"I will be fine I just had a tickle in my throat" he responded.
Kyjus pulled out his staff and Syrus could hear him mumble something. Turning toward him Kyjus now had a glass of ice-cold water in his hands, most definitely conjured Syrus thought to himself. It appeared to have taken very little effort for the young lad to complete the spell.
Syrus smiled at the thought of it all.
"For those tickles in your throats this is the remedy," Kyjus said as he reached the glass of water forward in his direction.
As he reached for the glass Kyjus winked at him apparently, he was all too aware of what Syrus was up too. A very smart lad indeed he thought to himself.
Then they both glanced around back toward the Magus.
"Well shall we get started then," Kyjus said for a second time.
"Actually, Kyjus I have a bit of news for you. I am not sure how you are going to feel about this but let me assure you it was the council's decision and I for one feel it is for the betterment of the mission." The Magus paused and when no questions were forthcoming, he continued.
"The council has decided on the Chosen's first quest and for that I am afraid the frost spec will not benefit the mission," the Magus then peered towards Syrus and noted an estranged look and a definite raising of the eyebrows.
The Magus was fairly certain that Kyjus would offer little objection to the change in plans but the real issue with all of this would lay with Syrus. He would know of the dangers provided in this phase of the operation and he would not readily agree with sending the Chosen into such a dangerous situation so early. However, if he would stop and think about the plan he would most likely come to the same conclusion as the council and that is although the plan was risky the benefits to be gained would far outweigh the risk.
The only problem is that Syrus and Kyjus were developing quite the bond and Syrus might not make it into that particular rationale of thinking.
The Magus had paused to long in his contemplation of Syrus so Kyjus prodded, "so what then is to be our starting mission then, Magus Sheplin, sir."
The question brought him from his thought. "Oh, my dear boy I do apologize, off in my own little world I'm afraid. Now where was I, oh yes new mission," the Magus said somewhat exclamatory and with right index finger pointing skyward.
"Well, I will not lie to you Kyjus your first mission will be grave indeed, it will be no easy task but with the proper training I believe that the Chosen will succeed. At any rate your first mission will be to subdue and un-enlist the cooperation of the Mylokar from Mylok."
Kyjus could not even respond as Syrus was already quick to comment.
"Are you people daft? Has the council gone completely mad? You can't send a newbie mage, a nearly trained wizard and a warrior into the harsh regions of Mylok. That is just begging for their deaths it is. It's an outrage and I won't stand for it, I will be talking to Czelak about this," Syrus said somewhat fuming.
"That is Council Leader Czelak and you will show her proper respect," Magus Sheplin corrected and none too happy he was for having to do it.
"I can assure you that this was not a decision that was reached easily or quickly by the council. A significant amount of thought went into this decision prior to it being made but the council is very pleased with the progress the Chosen have made in such a short time. They are therefore very confident that all will be ready when called upon in three weeks' time," even as he said it the Magus had wished he could put the words back in his mouth.
"Three weeks, you can't bloody be serious Martimus. The boy only has three weeks to learn the intricacies of the fire line of spells enough so that he can use them and keep himself and his colleagues safe from the likes of the Yeti they will encounter." Syrus was red with anger as it almost seethed within him. This in his opinion was an apparent suicide mission.
"Excuse me gentleman, first question I have is what am I up against here. I mean what is a yeti and why is this Mylok place so bad," Kyjus asked somewhat concerned but he had deduced that this was definitely information he had a right to know.
"Very well young sir I will tell you what I can of the Mylokar," the Magus said gaining some of his composure.
"The Mylokar or Ice Yeti as they are more often called, are a fierce race. Each Yeti stands about eight to ten feet tall and weigh in at about twelve-hundred pounds. Mylok is a barren wasteland of snow and mountains with only very few scattered inhabited communities," the Magus paused to evaluate Kyjus.
He was somewhat stunned he could tell but at least he hadn't bolted for the door yet and that was a positive thing.
"The Ice Yeti's are nomadic and tribal so detecting them before it's too late has always been a challenge. The quickest, albeit least preferred method, has always been tracking from close proximity. This as you can imagine could sometimes have its drawbacks."
"Yeah, like death," Syrus mumbled to himself.
The Magus gave Syrus a stern look to which Syrus simply shrugged and looked away.
The Magus continued, "the entire region is roughly the size of the continental United States from your world although I dare say its inhabitants are a far cry meaner."
Again, Syrus mumbled something but the only word that the Magus heard was understatement.
This time the Magus ignored him and continued. "The council believes that the Dylonian's will use there passed successful relationships with these monolithic behemoths and coerce them into doing their dirty work for them. The council has sent two emissaries to the frozen tundra but neither of the emissaries or their eleven-armed escorts have been seen or heard since."
"Oh, there's a surprise," Syrus said condescendingly.
The Magus was about to issue a verbal barrage of non-pleasantries at the old Mage, but Kyjus beat him too it.
"Syrus I understand you think this is a bad idea but this is the council's decision and I am thinking you are not suggesting we disobey the council are you," Kyjus asked.
Syrus kind of hemmed and hauled around not really sure how to answer.
"I will take that as you are not wanting to rebel. Now since we are not rebelling then I must be ready for this encounter and Magus Sheplin has just revealed that we have only three weeks to prepare, and your outburst are not really helping. Perhaps you can go talk to Council Leader Czelak and plead your case or perhaps bring up a better option but until they notify us differently, I think it's a great idea that I learn any information and magic that may help the chosen in our quest. Don't you agree," Kyjus posed it as a question, but it was highly rhetorical.
Syrus at that point knew he was beaten, his only hope and a slim one at that, was to get Kyjus scared enough that perhaps the council would change plans or maybe just not send him. Seeing that Kyjus was not about to relinquish from the council's requests he walked over to the nearest chair and placed his head upon his hands. He suddenly felt so very old, perhaps too old for this questing foolishness he thought to himself.
"So, I get it professor, they are big, dumb, ugly and very mean. Tea and cookies are probably out of the question," Kyjus said with a slight giggle.
The Magus looked at him quizzically.
"Nevermind," Kyjus responded.
"So, I am guessing that since they are in a region of ice and used to cold that any frost spells will do little damage hence the councils request to have my spec changed to fire," Kyjus asked even though he was fairly confident of the answer.
The Magus nodded confirming Kyjus' suspicions.
"Well, honestly that is a relief," Kyjus responded
The Magus looked at him curiously and Syrus stopped his sulking to see exactly what the young boy had meant by that last statement.
"Well, I was worried they were not happy with my progress so they were seeing if a change of venue would help," Kyjus said with obvious relief in his voice.
"Non-sense Kyjus, the council as am I, are thrilled with your progress and the Fire line of spells are actually harder to cast so that logic would not make much sense. I can say that your success gave the council confidence in your ability to handle fire spells and that was in fact what helped lead them to suggesting this new daring course of action. Well, that and the fact that Kelsee and Skarnum were already trained in their arts upon their arrival. In all honesty they are expecting you to help with this new quest, but they are expecting the other two too handle most of the more serious combat," the Magus said hoping to deflate some of the anxiety the boy was feeling.
It was obvious from the boys reaction that it worked but perhaps a bit too well, as he may have taken the boys feelings directly to deflated which was not his intent, so he quickly added, "That is not too say you are not important to this mission. The council firmly believes in you and your abilities, and they also believe them to be necessary for the success of this mission otherwise you would not be going."
With that last statement Kyjus perked up just a bit and managed a slight smile.
"Well, what are we waiting for he said, let's get to work on learning the line of fire spells I will need", Kyjus said eagerly.
"Very well my boy lets head into the Room of Awakening, and I can give you the spells needed, and the reagents involved," with that they moved down the hallway and arrived at their destination.
The Magus went over seven spells he would be learning and the components necessary to cast said spells. It seemed similar to that of frost but with a few subtle changes. "The first two spells that you will be learning will be Flame Shield and Flaming Arrows," he said as he went over to gather components from the table on the middle far wall.
"The Flame Shield spell is a purely defensive spell in which the caster or a target very near the caster will be enveloped by a shield of flames. These flames will not burn the caster but may burn anyone getting to close. For those unfortunate souls getting in melee range, well they could suffer massive burns if they are not very resistant to fire, if you gather my meaning," the Magus said with a very large smile etched upon his face.
"I am guessing the results of this shield against the yetis would be devastating," Kyjus said with a snicker.
"You learn quick my boy," the Magus piped in.
"The components utilized for this spell are a silver stud coated with fire water and coal dust. To cast this spell, you will hold the components in your non staff hand and holding the staff pointing it at your target you will need to say the words liesma vairogs," the Magus said as he handed him a large box of silver studs, a large jug of fire water (which was a specialized flammable oil), and a container of black almost soot looking type of dust.
Kyjus had guessed that it was the coal dust the Magus had mentioned earlier.
"You have the spell and the components now you may go to the red door, which is our fire chamber. Practice this spell I will be with you in a few hours to test your progress. And by testing, I mean I will be casting frost spells upon you to see how well you have done," the Magus said with a smile as he turned to walk away.
"Uh sir two questions," Kyjus said as he cleared his throat.
The Magus paused and turned so he was facing his student.
"Well, the first is you said I would learn two spells today," Kyjus paused a second for the answer and when none was forthcoming he asked his second question.
"And second, well you said you should never cast spells that differ from the chamber for which you are currently residing, yet you said you will be casting frost spells on me in the fire chamber, is that safe,' Kyjus questioned.
"Excellent questions my boy and the answers for both are related," the Magus said to Kyjus, who was now obviously confused.
"Well with your aptitude for spells I have no doubt we will get to the second spell today so yes we will get to the Flaming Arrows spell at some point later," the Magus said in response to his first question.
Before the Magus could continue Kelsee and her entourage discretely entered the room, the Magus held up a finger indicating that he would be with her in a minute and then continued to address Kyjus.
"As an additional response to your first question and a more direct response to your second, I would not be too concerned about getting to your second spell so much that you overlook the first; because as you have so astutely surmised not being in the frost chamber while casting my frost spells will leave their power unabsorbed by the chamber. It would be a shame if your shield spell was not adequate to absorb the spells would it not," the Magus said finishing his explanation and turning to discuss matters with the Elven Princess
Kyjus' gulp told him that the boy had unequivocally understood his point.
Kyjus vowed that he would not fail in his attempt to master the Flame Shield spell as the consequences were less than appetizing.