The smell of airports made Calin sick to his stomach. The great masses of people so blind to all that was around them produced a smell of ignorance that was almost unbearable. It almost made him want to play a cruel trick on them all and open their eyes to the flow of prime all around them but that thought passed almost as quickly as it formed. He'd seen the results of that first hand when a former Arrow had done just that. The poor sleeper went as insane as could be and wound up killing himself. No, he couldn't do that. Even if it might be a little entertaining. He had more important business to attend to today. After his conversation with the elders of his temple, he had been given access to anything he needed to improve his skills. Now he had to prepare his mind and body for the abuse he was about to put it through, but first he had to make it through the airport.
Traveling under his assumed identity Alexzander Anderson, the trip had been booked and paid for by the temple as it always had. Calin took no chances though. He suppressed his true aura and replaced it with that of a mundane sleeper, blending in with the cattle around him. The plane was bound for New York city. Hell of a place to find a centuries old order of the awakened, but hiding out in the open was sometimes the best way. So far everything was progressing smoothly and Calin was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Years of travel had made him nervous and he always expected the worst. He avoided it whenever possible, and if the situation in Austin hadn't been so terrible he wouldn't be traveling now. After being informed of the growing Banisher problem outside the city by Coyote Joe, and given his two recent encounters with powerful forces, he was even more paranoid. Scanning his fellow first class passengers he tried to spot any indication of trouble, but came up empty. After an uneventful flight and landing he let himself relax.
The car that was sent to pick him up was plain and boring enough to not ever be noticed or put out of place, again, hiding in plain sight. Pulling up to the multistory office building Calin prepared himself. He hadn't been here in 8 years. Ever since the death of his old master. The Arrow had use of him out in the field and it was because they knew his reluctance to return that they allowed him to return when he requested it. The building was full of mages. Some known to him as fellow agents, some front line soldiers, and others still that he didn't know or recognize. Stepping into the lobby elevator he inserted his key and punched in his personal code for the sub basement. The actual temple lay 3 stories under the facade of the office building. Recreated exactly as it had stood before through painstaking memory. The doors opened and he was greeted by one of the adepts. “Agent Calin, the trainers are expecting you. This way please.” The hallways wound around, past the library and the shooting range, into the weight room and the dojo and the obstacle course. “The prodigal son returns eh, Mikhal?” a voice boomed from behind. Calin spun, just in time to see the roundhouse kick coming straight for his head. With lethal precision Calin deflected the leg to the side and executed a sweep taking the would be assailant to the ground. “Yup I'm back Bakka. And you're just as slow as ever.” Calin joked. Pulling the man up to his feet Calin embraced his former friend, one of the few people he had ever called a friend. “What are you doing here Bakka?” Calin ask. “Shouldn't you be out killing something, somewhere.” “I was. The elders decided to call me back in, until I saw you I didn't know why. I've been assigned to assist you in your training, they felt that having someone you were familiar with would help you. I don't know what kind of shit you've gotten yourself into, but whatever it is they're placing great importance on it.” “Well, my friend, I can't tell you what I've been up to but I can tell you that I'm ready to start whenever you are just don't be surprised when I resume kicking your ass just like last time.” “Then what are we waiting for? Meet me in the dojo in half an hour and we'll see how rusty you've gotten.”
It was good to see his old friend again. Calin had not seen him since the interment of their former master. Bakka like himself was a bit of a loner and a hard person to understand. A Thyrsus, he shared the same ability to shape and restore life, but unlike others of his path, he didn't follow the typical “combat medic” role they filled. Instead Bakka had a taste for inflicting pain, and his ability to heal made him one of the most effective questioners the Arrow had. He would torture a subject to near death and if he did not have the answers he needed, he would refresh them and start all over again. Few ever lasted long against him, most looking vainly around for someway to kill themselves. You would never know it though to look at the man. He was always so happy around people and always acting the fool, the terrifying part though is that was the exact way he was in the questioning room. Laughing as he inflicted terrible wounds. Most of the other mages stayed away from him, but Calin had seen other sides of him having grown up in the same orphanage and the two had stayed friends throughout their awakenings and assignments.
Calin studied his quarters. His things already delivered to his room he took a few minutes to look around the room. Not the same room he had left years ago, that was where the adepts stayed and he wouldn't be back there again. Scenes depicting the supernal realms hung on the wall, looking at the one depicting the Aether with the flying angles and terrible fire they wielded reminded Calin of just why he was there, changing quickly he set off to his friend.
“So, Mikhal. What do we start with? Maybe some light sparring to get you back into it?” “That's fine to start but I'm going to need more. Much more. Bakka, how many times have you competed in the Games?” The blood seemed to drain from Bakka's face as he suddenly realized what his friend had in mind. “You can't be serious. You want me to help you train for the Games in only 6 weeks? It can't be done.” “4 weeks actually, I'll need time to study some in the library as well.” “Well, you never did make things easy on me. I'll do what I can Mikhal but damn if you aren't stretching yourself and me thin.” “It's what must be done my friend. All that must be done in the service of the Arrow shall be done.” “You don't need to quote the master to me, I was there when he told us remember? Alright, well let's get this started.” Glancing down at Calin's right hand Bakka remarked “you forget the rules of the dojo? No jewelry allowed.” Calin himself made a glance at the ring he had created several weeks earlier he hadn't taken it off since and had even forgot about wearing it. “Well, we're going to make an exception for this, it doesn't come off for any reason. Don't worry, it won't hurt ya.” The sparring went on for hours. For a while Calin felt like it was old times, the worry and frustrations of his current situation seemed to go away, he wasn't sure why they had done it, but the council had made a good decision binging Bakka back in for him to train with.
After the sparring and a quick refresh they were off to the other parts of the facility. Particularly the track and obstacle course. Jumping hurdles and just sprinting around a track had never been Calin's idea of fun and true to that nature he was one of the least athletic Arrows there were. He intended to change that. Where Bakka had a hard time matching Calin in the sparring ring, he more than made up for it here. He could run circles around Calin and he knew it. This was going to be more difficult. But as difficult as the track was going to be, the military inspired obstacle course was that much harder. Designed to push a body to it's limits there was climbing, jumping, sliding, crawling, and a hundred more ways to screw up your body. Once through this torture device was enough to put any Arrow down. Being the lover of torture he was though Bakka thought it would be interesting to see what happened if Calin ran it twice, the result: halfway through he collapsed and had to be carried out of the course by a couple of adepts to a couple of roars of laughter from Bakka.
The next morning Calin awoke to the most soreness he had felt since his early days of training. “The end is worth the pain.” he kept telling himself “The arrow must fly straight”. Settling into a meditative state Calin prepared himself for the day to come. The day started off much as the last began with more running, jumping and sparring. Today Bakka had set up a decathlon for Calin and himself to take part in. Though it was only the second day Calin could already feel himself gaining more muscle control than he already had and he wondered just what he would be able to do once he finished. They always ended with the obstacle course, one run through this time though as he had no desire to be carried off again, much to the chagrin of his old friend.
The next morning Calin awoke to the most soreness he had felt since his early days of training. “The end is worth the pain.” he kept telling himself “The arrow must fly straight”. Settling into a meditative state Calin prepared himself for the day to come. The day started off much as the last began with more running, jumping and sparring. Today Bakka had set up a decathlon for Calin and himself to take part in. Though it was only the second day Calin could already feel himself gaining more muscle control than he already had and he wondered just what he would be able to do once he finished. They always ended with the obstacle course, one run through this time though as he had no desire to be carried off again, much to the chagrin of his old friend.
That routine carried on for the next couple of weeks and Calin could feel himself becoming stronger, he could now almost best his friend on the track and could easily out throw him in the javelin. The training continued save for one morning. As Calin sat in his room meditating on the day to come a loud knock pushed him out of the state. An adept wearing the robes of a messenger stood in the door and pronounced that the council was waiting. A summons that Calin had been expecting but was nonetheless surprised by. His last report had been hasty at best and they would no doubt want a more detailed recollection of the events he had witnessed.
Calin entered the room, a massive room created by use of Space to fit an impossible huge room in an area it couldn't possibly exist. Roman columns extended from floor to ceiling. The room its self was a perfect circle. At one end curving along the back wall was a dais with 8 seats with 8 silent shadowed figures. In the exact center of the room was a single spot of light and a chair, one would be safe in saying that it was the most uncomfortable chair in existence. Calin stood next to it waiting on instructions.
“Agent Calin. Please sit”
“Your reports from Austin trouble us. We need more details on what is going on.”
“We hear nothing from you for months, then all of a sudden you are requesting our aid and to return”
“You ask for access to the library for further arcane training when it is clear to us that you are already dabbling in some of the riskier aspects already. Your ring is proof of that”
“You mentioned a mage of horrible power. Tell us more and how you know of his power”
The voices seemed to be coming from everywhere all at once, a very disorienting feeling if you had never felt it before. However, this was not Calin's first trip to these chambers.
“Honored Elders. My message to you was in true. Things are most dire in Austin. First it seems that the mage you sent me to find and replace has vanished and left nothing but a black mark against our order. Second, things have only gotten worse since my last contact with you. After I made contact I was talked to by a local Guardian who informed me of the large amount of Banishers located outside the town and that the local Guardians were involved in a shadow war with these Banishers. Much to my dismay but not my surprise he ask me to keep out of it. Something I have little intent to do for the long term but for now it will serve to keep the peace and help my situation. I have news on the Austin consillium from this Guardian. According to him they have all left, but he has agreed to help me locate them again if they are indeed still around. As for the mage of terrible power, I'm afraid that I have no real solid news on him, other than I have seen first hand that his knowledge of Death is higher than I have personally seen before and according to the journal that was recovered from his underground dwelling it seems he is a master of Prime as well. I wish I could hand you said journal but several weeks ago myself and another were attacked and incapacitated as he took the book back. I do have copies of his notes for you to look through. As far as I can tell he is looking to try and join the realms of Stygia and the Aether together. The results of that joining could be nothing but catastrophic, this along with the appearance of a denizen of the Aether is what prompted my request for a return. The aetherial himself is responsible for the death of several supernaturals including a local Mastigos by the name of Walker Lee. It is my belief the two are linked, though just how I can not say. It could be that the aetherial was sent here to stop the mage and is simply killing anyone it thinks might be involved, or if he truly is a master of the Aether as well, it's possible the mage summoned the angel here to serve as a protector. Either way things look grim for Austin.”
“Most grim we would say.”
“Honored Elders. My message to you was in true. Things are most dire in Austin. First it seems that the mage you sent me to find and replace has vanished and left nothing but a black mark against our order. Second, things have only gotten worse since my last contact with you. After I made contact I was talked to by a local Guardian who informed me of the large amount of Banishers located outside the town and that the local Guardians were involved in a shadow war with these Banishers. Much to my dismay but not my surprise he ask me to keep out of it. Something I have little intent to do for the long term but for now it will serve to keep the peace and help my situation. I have news on the Austin consillium from this Guardian. According to him they have all left, but he has agreed to help me locate them again if they are indeed still around. As for the mage of terrible power, I'm afraid that I have no real solid news on him, other than I have seen first hand that his knowledge of Death is higher than I have personally seen before and according to the journal that was recovered from his underground dwelling it seems he is a master of Prime as well. I wish I could hand you said journal but several weeks ago myself and another were attacked and incapacitated as he took the book back. I do have copies of his notes for you to look through. As far as I can tell he is looking to try and join the realms of Stygia and the Aether together. The results of that joining could be nothing but catastrophic, this along with the appearance of a denizen of the Aether is what prompted my request for a return. The aetherial himself is responsible for the death of several supernaturals including a local Mastigos by the name of Walker Lee. It is my belief the two are linked, though just how I can not say. It could be that the aetherial was sent here to stop the mage and is simply killing anyone it thinks might be involved, or if he truly is a master of the Aether as well, it's possible the mage summoned the angel here to serve as a protector. Either way things look grim for Austin.”
“Most grim we would say.”
“You said you were attacked, yet you do not have any major wounds”
“Yes tell us how you were attacked and how he got the book without the need to harm you”
“Well, as I said. He incapacitated me and the other supernatural I was with. I had no control over my actions it was like he simply drained all the will from me.”
“Most upsetting”
“Did you not even try to fight him?”
“Agent Calin are you telling this council that you simply handed this book back to him?”
“Most disturbing if you did”
“I am truly sorry Elders. I simply had no control over myself. I have never had my will broken, I have scores upon scores of examples in my records with only a small amount of black marks against me. This isn't a total failure. I have word from another supernatural in the area that there may be another pursuing the book. If we can pit those two powers against each other instead of us then we can wait till the victor is weakened from the fight and swoop in for the kill.”
“A dangerous plan”
“One does not stick their hand in a bear trap to lure in another prey”
“You risk much Calin.”
“Past performance allows you only so much slack with us. Pray your plan works”
“We will speak no more on this”
“Contact us again after you know more on the location of the consillium.”
“Work with the Guardian only as long as necessary. Their kind likes to position themselves higher than they actually are”
“Return to your training and prepare yourself for what is to come”
“LET THE ARROW ALWAYS FLY STRAIGHT AND DESTROY WHAT IT WAS AIMED AT”
“Most upsetting”
“Did you not even try to fight him?”
“Agent Calin are you telling this council that you simply handed this book back to him?”
“Most disturbing if you did”
“I am truly sorry Elders. I simply had no control over myself. I have never had my will broken, I have scores upon scores of examples in my records with only a small amount of black marks against me. This isn't a total failure. I have word from another supernatural in the area that there may be another pursuing the book. If we can pit those two powers against each other instead of us then we can wait till the victor is weakened from the fight and swoop in for the kill.”
“A dangerous plan”
“One does not stick their hand in a bear trap to lure in another prey”
“You risk much Calin.”
“Past performance allows you only so much slack with us. Pray your plan works”
“We will speak no more on this”
“Contact us again after you know more on the location of the consillium.”
“Work with the Guardian only as long as necessary. Their kind likes to position themselves higher than they actually are”
“Return to your training and prepare yourself for what is to come”
“LET THE ARROW ALWAYS FLY STRAIGHT AND DESTROY WHAT IT WAS AIMED AT”
With that the lights around the dais went completely black and Calin could make out nothing, he was tempted to try and influence the light around him and make it brighter, but the more realistic side of him knew that would be a sure death sentence.
Calin followed the adept back to his room. Like he expected, Bakka was standing outside waiting on him. “You didn't show for practice this morning, figured they got ahold of ya. By the look on your face they musta reamed you a good one. I'll let ya sleep it off tonight, but tomorrow we begin even harder.” “Actually Bakka” Calin said, “I think I'm going to start my time in the libraries and then continue my training with you. I'd still like to spar with you in the mornings but I'll need my meditation and quiet for the time being. We'll start again with the physical training when I am through.” “Sure my friend. I'll meet you in the dojo in the morning.”
Calin followed the adept back to his room. Like he expected, Bakka was standing outside waiting on him. “You didn't show for practice this morning, figured they got ahold of ya. By the look on your face they musta reamed you a good one. I'll let ya sleep it off tonight, but tomorrow we begin even harder.” “Actually Bakka” Calin said, “I think I'm going to start my time in the libraries and then continue my training with you. I'd still like to spar with you in the mornings but I'll need my meditation and quiet for the time being. We'll start again with the physical training when I am through.” “Sure my friend. I'll meet you in the dojo in the morning.”
The night was hardly restful for Calin. Dreams of the aetherial and the man with the mask of death haunted him. He awoke but was still weary. His sparring with Bakka reflected that, he was landing blows that Calin would have blocked the day before and Calin called the session before it's regular time. Making his way to the library he stood in awe of the size of it. As an adept he was only given the information that he needed and the rotes were prepared and given to them individually. The doors opened with a hiss as the pressurized, heat, and humidity controlled room opened to him. He felt almost like a kid in a candy store. So many rotes, so much power. They were organized by path and he found the Obrimos section and began deciding what he needed to learn. Time would only allow him to learn one or maybe two if he was quick so he must choose quickly. If only he had more time he could gain power unseen. But that was the danger and to be tempted by power was the thing all mages sought to resist. Laying out 3 scrolls in front of him he would try for the first two at least and maybe the third minor one if he could. Thus began his new routine. For the next two and a half weeks he spent hour after hour in the library discussing the finer points of the rotes with the master of the archives. Calin could feel a deeper connection with the Aether being formed and he was much stronger because of it.
It had been four and a half weeks since his journey back to the temple. Calin had pushed his mind and body to the limit but there was more to come. Rejoining his friend, who apparently had taken to whipping up on adepts, he renewed his physical training. Knowing his time was getting close Bakka pushed even harder than he had before. Seven days and nights came and passed before Calin could blink. His training at an end he was due to fly back in the morning. After running the obstacle course one last time Calin said goodnight to his friend and started walking back to his room, only to be distracted by the library. He paused, thinking this would be the last time in who knows when that he would see this place and that he should take one last look around. Walking around the library gave him the sense of peace his soul needed and gave him the energy to look forward to tomorrow and the continuing of his assignment. Meeting the task ahead with renewed vigor he set back to his room, what he found there would stop him dead.
“Bakka? What the hell are you doing in my room? Digging through my stuff?” “You know too much my friend and there are people who need to know it too. I was hoping to find it on my own to spare you what I will do to you but it seems you're as good at keeping secrets as ever.” Stunned Calin never even saw the punch come at him. When he awoke his was still in his room but strapped to a chair with Bakka standing over him with his tools in hand. He knew what was coming next he just hoped he had the strength to hold up to it.
“Now, out of the respect for our friendship I'm going to allow you something I've never allowed before. Tell me what you know and I'll spare you all the pain you are about to endure.”
“I can't do that and you know it! Bakka! Dammit, who is making you do this?” A sharp slap hit as soon as the question was out of his mouth.
“Hush. I ask the questions here not you. Fine if you aren't going to tell me what I want willingly I guess I'll have to start. You know, I thought I might find this hard when they ask me to torture a friend, but I still find it as enjoyable as ever. What should we start with hunh? Smashing the toes was always a good one, let's do that.” Picking up a small ball peen hammer he swung back and impacted Calin's first toe. The pain was tremendous. Unlike nothing he had ever felt before. “Now what say you? Feeling a bit more talkative?”
“You've lost it my friend. Somewhere you crossed the line and joined the other side. But I forgive you, and I make an oath to you, that I will find the one who turned you and destroy their essence.”
“You've lost it my friend. Somewhere you crossed the line and joined the other side. But I forgive you, and I make an oath to you, that I will find the one who turned you and destroy their essence.”
“Wrong answer friend.” Bakka said with a grin. Then the hammer struck again and the pain shot through Calin again. “Come on, don't make me have to heal you after just two blows. I know you were always weak and not able to take pain, but come on, be a little tougher than this. Tell me what I want to know and I'll stop. Just a little bit of information and you can be done. Out of respect for our friendship I'll even heal you after I'm done. What say you?”
“Bakka, I'm going to give you one more chance to stop. I can not take much more of this and you are going to leave me no cho..
“Wrong answer!” The hammer struck before he could finish the words. The pain made Calin blackout for a second. “Come on Mikhal you can do better than that. Here let me help.” Calin sat up with a shock as the healing took effect. “Now that you're back to health, let's see if we can hurt something else. How bout that pretty face of yours. You know, I never told anyone but I was always a little jealous of you. You always grabbed the girls, you were Masters favorite, and as evidenced now, the council's favorite too.” Grabbing a razor off the bedside table he began toward Calin's face. Watching his movements Calin decided he could wait no longer he summoned up his connection with the Aether and began making the new hand gestures he had learned, why he had left his hands unrestricted he didn't know but Bakka would pay for that mistake. Bakka kept coming and as Calin finished the gestures to telekineticly open the leather straps, Bakka caught him and sliced his left cheek. His hand freed, Calin wasted no time undoing the other straps as Bakka recovered from the glancing blow he had been given. Summoning all his strength Calin released his nimbus and a great white heavenly light shone in the room along with a chorus of angels singing. The effect was enough to throw Bakka off his game for the split second he needed. “You heard it too hunh Bakka, The cries of Heaven call for your punishment.” Calin jumped in and began a flurry of lethal blows to his former friend. Just as he was about to strike the final blow, the temple guards rushed the room. It seems they had sensed the large release of magic and come to investigate. Calin spent the rest of the night explaining what had happened and he watched as they carried the broken husk of his friend out of his room, still babbling about the angels. Calin was afraid for him, afraid that his own torture had yet to begin and they wouldn't stop until they found out the answers, answers that Calin himself would likely never know but not for lack of trying. Resting as best he could he knew he would need it for his trip back tomorrow.
“Wrong answer!” The hammer struck before he could finish the words. The pain made Calin blackout for a second. “Come on Mikhal you can do better than that. Here let me help.” Calin sat up with a shock as the healing took effect. “Now that you're back to health, let's see if we can hurt something else. How bout that pretty face of yours. You know, I never told anyone but I was always a little jealous of you. You always grabbed the girls, you were Masters favorite, and as evidenced now, the council's favorite too.” Grabbing a razor off the bedside table he began toward Calin's face. Watching his movements Calin decided he could wait no longer he summoned up his connection with the Aether and began making the new hand gestures he had learned, why he had left his hands unrestricted he didn't know but Bakka would pay for that mistake. Bakka kept coming and as Calin finished the gestures to telekineticly open the leather straps, Bakka caught him and sliced his left cheek. His hand freed, Calin wasted no time undoing the other straps as Bakka recovered from the glancing blow he had been given. Summoning all his strength Calin released his nimbus and a great white heavenly light shone in the room along with a chorus of angels singing. The effect was enough to throw Bakka off his game for the split second he needed. “You heard it too hunh Bakka, The cries of Heaven call for your punishment.” Calin jumped in and began a flurry of lethal blows to his former friend. Just as he was about to strike the final blow, the temple guards rushed the room. It seems they had sensed the large release of magic and come to investigate. Calin spent the rest of the night explaining what had happened and he watched as they carried the broken husk of his friend out of his room, still babbling about the angels. Calin was afraid for him, afraid that his own torture had yet to begin and they wouldn't stop until they found out the answers, answers that Calin himself would likely never know but not for lack of trying. Resting as best he could he knew he would need it for his trip back tomorrow.
Morning came early. He had one more thing to do before he left. Knowing the difficulty Calin had saved this trip for last. Winding his way to the back of the temple he came to the mausoleum. Opening the doors he passed row upon row of great Arrows till he came to the one he had called father. Calin knelt, honoring his former master then saying a little prayer he began to weep, and told the tale of the night before to the marker before him. His father would have been so ashamed to know of Bakka's behavior but he told it anyway. Finishing his story, Calin rose without a second look back as the doors closed behind him he felt a small chill in his spine and knew that his father was still with him.
Leaving the temple and going back up to the surface, the world had carried on as it always had since his departure. He walked through the glass doors of the office building, hailed a cab and wondered what was waiting for him on the other end of that plane ride.