The Ring of Raphael #2

Here's the next bit of Rhea's adventures at the Academy. I hope you enjoy, and please let me know what you think! :)

---

#1

---

Any lack of confidence that normally plagued Rhea vanished whenever she was invisible. It was freeing, liberating, invigorating. She moved through the stone halls of the Academy with vigor and excitement, dodging and swerving past students and masters. The more perceptive among them surely noticed a glimpse of her aura passing down the hallways, but most were too occupied with their own agendas to notice her.

As it was evening, the students would soon be retiring to their chambers, while the masters would be attending to their own duties. The most senior among them would already be in the audience chamber, a grand rotunda at the center of the first level of the Academy. Rhea was drawing close, and she slipped inside just as a master closed the door as the dispensation was beginning.

The chamber was impressive, and Rhea had only been inside a few times before, at the initiation ceremonies that inducted her into the Academy as a sorceress-in-training. It was a round room with a balcony above, with a broad aisle down the middle leading to a raised dais. Grandmaster Antheia sat in the center of the dais, sternly observing the proceedings. She was especially quiet for a master, but whenever she did speak, she carried the authority of the Academy's most esteemed scholar. Three masters sat on either side of her, and Theseus was seated at her right. The balcony seats were empty, but the rows along the floor level were half full of masters in attendance.

I should be sitting openly with them, Rhea thought.

The riders stood in the aisle, in front of the dais. There were four of them, all men, strong and broad and hairy. The leader introduced himself as Parthalan, a vassal of Lord Brennan. Antheia greeted them, and invited them to state the cause for their visitation.

"Two weeks ago, a band of Temanites began a series of raids against some of our villages," Parthalan said. "This is nothing out of the ordinary, but it became apparent very quickly that they were not normal raiders. I saw them with my own eyes - they moved like mortals but they fought like demons, all with a wild, unnatural glow in their eyes. They spoke with otherworldly voices, and they rode giant wolves in place of horses."

A murmur trembled through the crowd, but Antheia raised her hand and the chamber fell silent again.

"They could be killed, but the task was close to impossible. It didn't matter if we stabbed them, burned them, or cut off their limbs. Crushing the skull was the only thing that stopped them. The thing is, they didn't seem to care for plunder. All they did was kill, burn, destroy, then move on. After weeks of destruction, they finally just left for the plains of Ikaria."

A quick panic went through Rhea. Ikaria, her homeland, where her father and his little farm waited.

"What proof do you have to support this account?" a master called Delos asked, sitting on the left side of Antheia. Rhea had had few encounters with Delos, but he always struck her as terse and arrogant.

"Those of us who survived gathered after they left to assess our situation, to bury our dead and burn theirs," Parthalan said. "Among the destruction, we found this."

Parthalan reached into his cloak and pulled out a glowing green shard. It was like a piece of glass a foot long, but it shone like a star. Delos leaned back into his chair. Theseus's eyes widened.

"Whatever this is, it isn't of this world, and I'd swear to the gods it's what is giving them their fury," Parthalan said. "We've sent warning along to the Ikarians as well, but there's little hope they'll have better luck than we did. We came here for your assistance, to request counsel on the nature of this object."

"But that isn't all you want," Antheia said.

"Humbly, my lady, we ask for your aid on the battlefield," Parthalan said. "Those Temanites, or whatever they were, almost annihilated us. The same fate surely waits for the Ikarians, and any other folk they dare to attack."

Suddenly, Rhea lost her focus, and she felt the spell waver. For the briefest of instances, she became visible to the world again, but she quickly regained her composure and slipped back into invisibility. All she could think of was her father in Ikaria, and the band of Temanite warriors heading his way. If they did such damage to the mighty mountain tribes of Lord Brennan, what could they do to the gentle folk of Ikaria? What might they do to her father?

When she looked back towards the masters, she saw Theseus curiously looking her way. Had he noticed her? Surely not, not here at the back of the chamber. Rhea tried to return her focus to the discussion. Antheia was speaking, saying something about the duty of the masters laying in counsel, not warfare.

"Leave this artifact with us," Antheia said. "Let us examine it and determine its origin. We will send word to the nations of what you have told us, to ensure that all are adequately prepared. When its origin is known, we will be better able to determine a course of action."

Would they really not help?

"That's outrageous," shouted one of the riders standing near Parthalan. "What good is this Academy if it will not send aid? This is a crisis."

Parthalan hit the man across the side of his head and muttered something in their language.

"Please, my lords," Theseus said. He looked over to Antheia before continuing, who paused at first and then nodded her head. "I will personally select a delegation to send back to your homelands with you, and I will travel to Ikaria to join with the warning you've sent. The path there from your mountains is through the Furain Marshes, correct? If I leave at dawn, I will arrive in Ikaria ahead of these Temanites. It would do me well to see them in action, as a part of this investigation. I assure you, we will do everything we can to help."

Parthalan nodded his head.

"If the Grandmaster approves, of course," Theseus added.

"I accept your judgment, and this proposal," Antheia said. She sounded annoyed at Theseus's intrusion into the proceedings, but Rhea knew that she was allowing Theseus the berth provided by his long tenure at the Academy. Rhea was grateful, and excitement flooded her along with the panic she felt. Maybe he'll choose me to accompany him, she thought. A chance to do something real, outside of classes and lessons.

As the dispensation ended, Rhea slipped close to the door, ready to dart through as soon as it was opened. She vaguely listened to Antheia's words, and finally a master opened the door as everybody began to file out. Rhea darted ahead, into the now empty hallways, and stepped into a side passage to wait for the masters to file out.

Finally, the senior masters entered the hallway. Once they had all dispersed, she would return to the student chambers.

“You might have tricked some of the other masters who were busy listening to the petition, but I had a feeling you’d try to sneak in,” Theseus said as he walked by the side passage. He stopped, and turned to look in her direction. “Besides, I can recognize your aura. You were cloaked in invisibility, but you might as well have been shouting into my ear.”

“But you didn’t say anything,” Rhea said. She release the spell, and materialized back into the physical world.

“Would you have preferred I interrupted the dispensation to chastise you with an audience?” Theseus asked sarcastically.

“Well, no, but-“

"How much of it did you see?"

"All of it, pretty much."

Theseus sighed and shook his head.

"I've been lenient with you," he said. "Rules are, at their best, suggestions, but you'll learn that most around here do have good intentions behind them, whether you see that or not.

"I can go with you," Rhea said. "To Ikaria. I know it well. I grew up there. I could help."

"Rhea," Theseus said softly. "This is exactly why inexperienced students are not permitted to view dispensations."

"If there's a threat to Ikaria, then that's where I need to be."

"Your place is in your studies, until you've proven that you possess the discipline to be given greater responsibilities. Go to bed, Rhea. I have much to do to prepare for tomorrow, and it will be your curfew soon."

"Yes, master," Rhea said, and she turned back to the main hallway, walking down to the stairway that would lead up to the students' chambers. There had to be something she could do to convince Theseus otherwise. There had to be some way for her to help protect her people.