At a part in the border between South and Central Capricorn stood a castle painted in red, from its houses to its towers. Surprisingly, no flags or emblems of any sort were flown around — not on the pillars, the doors, and the walls. The only thing that differentiated its mages from others was their red robes, which they all wore, from the first of them to the last of them.
A young woman went from one place to the other, until she encountered one of the mages, who appeared to be of a higher rank.
"Sir Liam," she said to him, "the Lord requests your presence."
The knight looked confused at first, and then finding his voice, he asked. "Where is he?"
"In his keep," the girl said and left afterwards.
Sir Liam turned and went in the direction of the keep. The door was opened so he entered to meet a short man seating behind a desk. The man was also dressed in bright red clothes, and had fiercely red beards that gave him a fearsome and ageless face. His eyes, hair, and even the ring on his finger were all red.
"A-Archmage Gunparch," said the knight that entered, offering a full bow in reverence and fear.
"I'll go to Noya in four months, and as you know, the grandmasters and masters have gone already," Archmage Gunparch said. He looked emptily at his door as he spoke, not even sparing the knight a single look.
"Yes my Lord, they have."
"You knights will leave in a week, but you, Liam, will stay behind."
"As you wish."
"You will guide the rest of the novices through the mountains, and that is still three month away."
"Very much honored my Lord," said Sir Liam.
"In that case, you may leave now and prepare yourself for the journey."
"Yes my Lord."
"One last thing."
"My lord?"
"My students' safety lies in your hands. No harm should befall them during the journey."
"No, not on my watch."
"That's good," said the archmage before dismissing the knight.
The class concluded and Ashviel left the room with his newfound friend, Allit. The young man was a talkative all right, but Ashviel could not reject his friendship offer.
"Hurry," he said, "I need to meet the rest."
"Of course," said Allit, and the two headed in the direction of Kael and Kyra.
Kyra was the only one in the Capricorn uniform that day, as novices were permitted to put on casual clothes for not more than four days in a week.
"You know, you should put one the uniform too sometime," she said to Kael, "you look sort of better in it, a tad handsomer than usual."
"Really?" said he, making a poor effort to prevent a flush from creeping up his face. "Thanks."
They had only crossed a threshold into a training field when a hard hand landed on Kyra's shoulder, causing the two of them to turn back.
Standing before them was a tall young man with long black hair. She had always sensed trouble from him, through his reputation, and had formed a sharp dislike for him. Behind him were three other novices that do not look much different, standing as bodyguards and with malevolent expressions.
"I'm Mishino," said he, revealing his unsightly set of teeth. "And you must be?"
"Kyra," she said, taking her face back as he brought his closer.
He put out his lips, as if he was trying to kiss her, and Kael frowned at the gesture. Kyra took a step back, but Mishino was gallingly persistent.
"Oh my darling Kyra," said he, and began running his fingers down her shoulders in a revolting fashion.
Kael could have no more. "Get your hands off her!" he cried.
Almost as soon as he spoke, a punch from one of Mishino's minders landed on his face. Another stood between them, puffing out his chest as if to cause Kael to cower.
Kyra was not going to let the opportunity go to waste. She held Mishino by the collar, tightening the grip and forcing him to be on the defensive. He frowned, but before he could make a single movement, she crashed her knee into his crotch, making him let out an ugly squawk. In the same breath, she brought down his face to the very knee, causing him to keel back with a bleeding nose.
Unsurprisingly, his bodyguards rushed at her, throwing heavy fists in quick succession. Kael had also recovered from the blow, and without more ado, he plunged himself into the scuffle, assaying to protect Kyra.
Ashviel and Allit got to the scene at about that same moment, and seeing the development, they both ran to extricate their comrades. Ashviel got a dagger wound in the process, and while Allit and Kael suffered no injury, except of course the first punch, Kyra got her face scratched by Mishino's long nails.
"Halt!" the voice of a Capricorn master sounded through the field. The order of a master was to be obeyed whatever the circumstance may be, and the fighters, understanding this, stopped at once.
The master came closer to them, but Mishino was quick to speak before he could. "It was a friendly contest that got a little out of hand," he said.
"I see," said the master, "and had I sensed the minutest amount of Rek from any of you, you'd have been in serious trouble."
"Of course master," said another of Mishino's men. "We were only sparring."
The master looked around the group, from novice to novice, and then shrugged his shoulders. "Just go to your homes," he said and left them.
Mishino also turned with his men, and gnashing his teeth in a maniacal sort of way, he wrote a note in a sheet of paper and threw it at them. "Come if you dare!" he said and went away.
Ashviel picked up the piece of paper and opened it to reveal Mishino's terrible handwriting. 'Meet at Rendell's place, an hour after midnight, I dare you!' the rowdy novice had scribbled.
"A bully through and through, such is Mishino and his dogs," Allit said when the fight had fully subsided.
"Not for much longer," snarled Kael, snatching the paper from Ashviel.
"You don't mean you'll respond to his invitation, do you?" Allit asked.
"Of course, we will," said Kyra with such determination that seemed close to resembling Ashviel's thirst for revenge.
"No no, that's insane," protested Allit. "Mishino is dangerously foolish."
"He's right," stated Ashviel. "We shouldn't waste time on his likes."
"Maybe he is," said Kael, "but we'll waste more time in the future if we don't do this."
"Please, do not go," Allit pressed, and Ashviel began to feel his persuasion weird.
"At any rate," he said, "we should get home first."
"Okay, but whatever you do, do not meet Mishino."
"We'll try not to," Ashviel said.
Certainly, he did little to prevent anymore encounter with the pest. Facing Mishino could set them in danger, then again, not facing him now only means he would strive to make their life at Capricorn miserable, and that was a long way from what Ashviel wants.
"Well, what do we do?" he said when they got to the house.
"I say we fight," Kael said while holding his bruised jaw.
"That doesn't sound too good," Ashviel said. "We don't even know where Rendell's place is."
"I know," asserted Kyra. "It is a spot behind a restaurant at Cliff close. Quite a number of small battles take place there."
Ashviel thought hard. The fight would be dangerous, no doubt. It had only been two weeks at Capricorn, and a clash was the last thing he wanted. There was also the case of Allit. While the
talkative novice was clearly not the brave type, his incessant protests confounded Ashviel.
"Fine, we'll go," he said.
Unceremoniously, he had become the leader of the team, and his two friends always respect his opinions.
"We should get armed, it won't be a fiesta."
"No problem," said Kyra. "We have about four hours before midnight."
"That should be enough."
They all reached into their space pouches, frantically searching for armors and weapons. They had not been using it regularly, largely because their focus was more on Master Vauxall's books than the rest of his gifts.
Ashviel brought out a long red cloak that resembled something Master Vauxall would wear when he was with Lord Blue Beard. Clipped to it was note –Enchanted Robe.
Kael and Kyra also found similar robes in their space pouches, along with several swords and armor pieces, which they belted on before cloaking themselves red robes similar to Ashviel's.
"We should get there earlier," said Kyra, and the three left the house.
As they walked under the cover of darkness to Rendell's place, Ashviel thought about their promise to Master Vauxall — not to die. To fight a duel was to put his life in danger, to risk casting Master Vauxall's plane –whatever they were- in the threat of failure. Yet he knew that to fight Mishino was to live at Capricorn, and to live at Capricorn was required by Master Vauxall.
With a last sigh, he concluded to end the fight as soon as possible.