Chapter 2.
Phinehas sat in his bed staring at them. At first he was so surprised he was speechless, but that didn't last long.
"You have a lot of nerve, don't you? I am already a great mage, for my years, and certainly don't need the help of six men who are in the habit of breaking into people's houses at night. I honestly don't know what you could teach me." Mer frowned at these words, as did Breth, but he saw Ratadan grin and nod, and was pretty sure he'd heard a low chuckle come from the darkness where Ren was. Phinehas decided to continue. "I understand that you are great mages, more powerful than me, due to your dedication to one Way each. However, I don't tend to get along with great mages for the most part. They tend to be annoying, selfish, arrogant, and petty. You have to understand that I know nothing about you, and so have no way of deciding whether or not I even want to study under you. I know nothing of your skills, or whether..."
Ren had had enough. The dark figure had jumped up onto the end of Phinehas' bed and crouched there, staring at him. All of a sudden one of the robed arms shot out and black, vinelike growth emerged from it. The vine kept coming, slowly winding it's way around Phinehas' body until it had completely covered him. Then it began to contract. It squeezed his body tighter and tighter until he couldn't even breathe. The pain was unimaginable. Even the slightest touch was agony for Phinehas, but this vine pressing into his body all over was unbearable. He clenched his teeth, the pain almost literally driving him mad. All of a sudden, he couldn?t bear it anymore, and he screamed. It was not the shrill, piercing scream of a girl in pain. No, it was the scream of pure, animal rage. Purple fire erupted from his body, knocking Ren, who was not expecting retaliation and had taken his defences down, back towards his friends where he was caught by the towering Terren. Phinehas collapsed back onto his bed, the vine having turned to ash at the intensity of the purple flames.
Mer walked up to him then, and stood over him looking down. "You would like to be able to control that, wouldn't you? I can feel the disgust you have for your own undisciplined magic. We can give you that discipline."
Phinehas lay there, thinking over the possibility. There is something about these men. Something different from the other mages I?ve known. Who would miss me if I went with them? Cyl, perhaps, but he wouldn't think of it for long. What do I stand to lose? My life? No, if they wanted to kill me, they could have done it in my sleep. Well, why not then?
"All right. I'll go with you. Only on the condition that I can leave at any time I wish, should I find your teaching not to my liking." Without even waiting for a reply, which never came anyway, he got up and got dressed. They all waited till he was ready, and when he was, they all turned and left, Phinehas following behind.
When they had all left the building, they paused. Ratadan turned back towards the building and raised both hands to his head, putting his fingers on his temples. After a few seconds he turned and smiled, and nodded that he was ready to go. Phinehas didn't know what he'd done, but he knew that he'd removed the simple warding spell and replaced it with something larger, more powerful. Phinehas could almost see it, like a thin spider-web of magic all over the house.
They began to walk through the streets, led by Ren. It seemed rather strange to Phinehas that seven men dressed in almost identical robes could walk through the Hydlaa completely undetected, but he didn't have much time to consider it, as Ren set a swift pace and it was all he could do to keep up. He had no idea where they were going, but Ren obviously did, and never once did he pause to get his bearings. Eventually they came to a door in the wall, which Phinehas wasn't even aware existed. It was unlocked, and they all slipped through quietly. Little did Phinehas know this was the last he was to be in Hydlaa for two years.
Once outside, they set off again, but this time at a slightly slower pace. No one in particular seemed to be leading, so they obviously all knew where they were going. All, that is, except Phinehas. He did his best to keep up, desperate not to seem feeble in the eyes of the men he was travelling with. After they were a fair ways away from the walls of Hydlaa, the men began talking to each other. Ren and Mer walked together, discussing something that Phinehas couldn't hear. Breth, Terren, and Llesef were talking together as well. They were obviously discussing magic, but to Phinehas' surprise he had no idea of what they were talking about. The concepts they were speaking of were entirely outside his knowledge.
After a few minutes of listening to the others, Phinehas blocked them out and went down into his own mind to think, as was his habit. He was trying to figure out what had gone on this night, trying to comprehend it. It was all so sudden that it almost had no meaning, as if it was a dream. Eventually he decided to let it go, and think about things that were easier to understand, namely, the magic that had been used that night, what he had already seen. He was already wondering how he could duplicate it, trying to figure out how it had been caused, and what forces were behind it.
"That's simple enough, really." Phinehas started. He hadn't even realized that Ratadan was next to him until the other had spoken. "The warding spell I placed on your house was a simple one, but effective. Unlike yours, which was really a waste of energy, this spell doesn't need to seek out someone else and alert them, it simply makes the intruder forget why they were there in the first place. It's really quite effective. A thief walks up to your house, forgets why he's there, feels foolish, and leaves. He's not likely to tell anyone after doing something like that, and so the spell remains undetected. Quite brilliant, really. One of my own creation. And don't look at me like that, your thoughts are as easy to read as if you'd been speaking out loud."
By the time the Azure Crystal began to brighten again, they had reached a set of massive doors set in rock. Although he didn't know where he was at first, it didn't take Phinehas long to realize that this was, indeed the Stone Labyrinths. First of all, the description of them that trickled back to the taverns of Hydlaa was actually quite descriptive. Secondly, he had been in them before, albeit in a different location. He had no doubt that these were indeed the dreaded corridors of the fabled Labyrinths.
While Phinehas stood there, staring up at the doors, he overheard the others discussing the best way to get in. All of a sudden Terren broke away from the group and strode up to within a few feet of the doors and stopped. He rolled up the sleeves of his robe and planted one foot behind him. Then he slowly brought his hands up to his chest, palms facing towards the door and paused, gathering himself. All of a sudden his hands flew forward, and a ball of fire appeared, hurtling towards the doors. It hit them with such force that they were torn off their hinges and thrown backwards into the tunnel behind. Then Terren slowly straightened up, and turned back to them, grinning.
"Well, that solved that problem. Shall we?"
They had headed straight along one of the corridors, once again all of them seeming to know instinctively which way to go. All of a sudden they stopped. So suddenly, in fact, that Phinehas almost bumped into Llesef, who was walking right in front of him. He looked up just in time to see Breth step toward a wall that seemed to be made of solid rock. There was only one small plant with a single leaf growing from a crack in the wall. Breth smiled, and raised his hand toward the plant. He caressed it, as a father would the face of his child, and began whispering to it. After a few seconds he stepped back and lifted his other hand to the plant. With both hands cupped a few inches from the leaf, he closed his eyes and began to hum. Phinehas watched in astonishment as the plant grew before his eyes. The plant did not grow large, but the roots began to grow into the crack in the rock. Slowly, it spread, forcing the rock to open a few more inches. Then the roots began to work in earnest, straining at the rock, forcing the crack open farther and farther, until it was a small fissure. Phinehas watched, fascinated, as, in the course of a few minutes, the plant had pushed the rock far enough aside to allow a man to enter the crack. Then Breth lowered his hands and opened his eyes. He smiled at the plant, as if proud of what it had accomplished. From under his robes Breth pulled something that looked suspiciously like a pruning knife. He began to cut the roots away, bit by bit, throwing them out into the larger cavern, until there was only the small plant left again.
Phinehas, stunned by all that had happened, was even more shocked as Breth, followed by the others, stepped into the crack and disappeared.
