12 Training Grounds

No matter how much Arawn complained that Corwal was crazy, the next evening they still left the city for the training grounds. In the morning, Corwal had left to take care of something, and then returned a few hours later, saying he'd made an appointment with the person they wanted.

Eliot nodded eagerly, so Arawn guessed that it was something they did often. He had no idea about it, but there wasn't a good moment to ask since Corwal instantly ushered them out of the house and into the familiar carriage.

"Won't this be suspicious?" Arawn asked, thinking about the guards still searching for them. There was no doubt that the warden wouldn't just let him disappear into oblivion without a word; monsters had to be put down or locked up, not allowed to roam free.

"Not at all," Corwal said, leaning against the plush seat, his eyes closed. "Nobles go to the training grounds all the time. And you can be sure no check ups are gonna be done there."

"Why?"

This time it was Eliot who answered. The kid was sitting by Corwal, bouncing up and down on his seat with excitement. "Because it's far from the city and nobody would go there unless they want to risk their life. Only mages go to the training grounds."

This made little to no sense for Arawn. As he tried to puzzle it out, Corwal noticed his face scrunched up in confusion and chose to save him.

"Long ago, training grounds were all within cities, but then, in Atrenan, one mage suddenly shifted in a black demon in a bout of anger. He killed all his instructors and then went to slaughter half the town. Only a dozen best fighters were able to subdue it in the end."

"Demon?" Arawn asked with interest. "Was it someone like me?"

Eliot shot him a look questioning if he was crazy, while Corwal chuckled. "No. It was a real demon. Four-legged, graceful as a cat. It had thick black skin immune to magic and most weapons. Its claws and teeth were like blades. Whenever one appears, death is certain to follow."

There was such sadness on his face that Arawn had a feeling that he wasn't telling a legend, but something he'd experienced himself. "You've seen one?" he asked in a soft voice.

For a moment, Corwal stared past him, his eyes unseeing, but then nodded. "We were having a friendly match when Trell's face twisted in anger. He shouted, and I thought he was ready to rush me, but his face rippled. The shout turned into a scream, and I heard his bones crack and realign themselves as he fell on his knees. His limbs elongated, short fur covered his body, and his face morphed into something between a feline and a canine.

"When he finally stood up, there was nothing human in his eyes anymore. I called to him, but it was the same as calling stone. He rushed at me, and the next moment I was on the ground, a beast the size of a small horse holding me down." He smiled wanly and touched his chest. "I still have the scar from that time."

He fell silent then. Both Arawn and Eliot didn't dare to utter a word, staring at him mesmerized. It was a tale neither of them had heard before.

Corwal took a look at them and guessed what they were thinking. "There's nothing much else to tell. Guards rushed the beast. It was immune to magic, so they used swords and spears. They weren't too effective either, but they did hurt the creature, so it shifted its attention to the new enemies. I survived while many brave guards lost their lives in the line of duty, and my friend turned demon was put down."

"How did it happen?" Arawn asked quietly. He didn't understand how a normal person could suddenly turn into a monster. Wasn't it that a person was either born as one or not? And all such creatures were locked up so the world outside was the place it was supposed to be?

"Who knows," Corwal said, shrugging. There was tiredness in his voice. "Some say it's a curse while others that it's a sign of a black soul. I've heard it even being called retribution from heaven for a person's sins."

"Nonsense!" Eliot shouted out while grabbing onto Corwal's shoulder. With absolute certainty in his voice and shining eyes, he said, "Your friend couldn't have been evil! It must be some kind of sickness! An accident!"

"Maybe," Corwal said with a smile and tousled Eliot's hair. "Nobody really knows. It's a mystery that has plagued our country for centuries. Others have the demon showings too, but even if put together, they're not even half of what we see. And they're becoming more and more common."

They reached their destination and alighted from the carriage. Arawn looked around and was surprised by the vastness of the land. As far as he looked in any direction, there was only grass and small hills; no walls blocked his eyesight.

A few meters away from them, there were nine large pillars separating a field into four large rectangles. Instead of grass, the ground was dirt, and two of the four had extra things. In one, there were four torches burning. They weren't large, but still visible in the afternoon light. Two of them were on one side of the rectangle, while the other two on the opposing end.

A similar thing was done with another rectangle. In the front and back of it, there was a ditch filled with water.

Corwal instantly made his way to the benches surrounding the training grounds. He sat down on one and motioned for his companions to do the same.

"First, I'd like to know what you know about the ether," he told Arawn. "I can't teach you anything if I don't know your level."

Arawn frowned, not liking where the conversation was going. "I already know too much," he said, looking down. "My magic, or ether as you call it, it's too powerful. It's already a danger to everyone around me, but if I came to be able to use it as I wished…" He shuddered. "It's too dangerous."

"Look at me," Corwal ordered, and Arawn forced himself to raise his eyes.

Before him, a ball of light floated. He blanched off, ready to jump back, but Corwal pulled it back. The ball floated above his palm with splayed fingers, then Corwal made a grasping motion, closing his fingers, and the light vanished. There was not even a trace of it left.

"You didn't use it!" Arawn shouted out, stunned.

The reason he was so afraid of magic within him was that he could never let go of it. The moment he took in even a little bit of it, he had to release it or risk being burst apart by its wild energy.

Corwal raised both his hands, and they both filled with light. It flowed along his arms, coiled around his neck, then rose to his head and rested on it like a crown. Moments later, it vanished again, leaving no sign of having ever existed.

"That's why children should be taught instead of being thrown into prisons," Corwal said with a shake of his head. "Ether is not a creature onto itself. It has no consciousness, just like wind or fire."

"But it fights against me! It does things," Arawn said, not believing him one bit.

The roll of the eyes he received was almost insulting. "It wasn't ether, but you yourself. Your instinctual part." When Arawn's eyes grew wide in horror, he swiftly added more. "If I were to push you off the bench now, would you think about catching yourself or just do it? Your mind would only react when you were already on the ground, hands raised to catch you.

"And ether is just another hand. When you're terrified, you'll use it without thought, just trying to survive. Those with the ability to use the ether will always draw on it in their most desperate, even without any training."

He glanced at Eliot at that moment. "That's why young mages are the most dangerous. When startled, they can unleash incredible power which they cannot control and hurt everyone, enemy and friend alike."

The boy flushed, then jumped to his feet. "I'm going to train!"

He rushed to the field with torches and stopped before one. His brow creased with concentration, and a handful of fire separated from the torch. It went to the boy's palm, but the flame was flickering, about to go out.

"Don't forget to juggle them!" Corwal shouted to him. When the boy glowered at him, he laughed at turned back to Arawn. "Now let's see what we can do about you."

"Nothing. I'm fine," Arawn said. Although Corwal's words made sense, he didn't want to risk people's lives to test it.

"Nonsense. Don't you want to be able to control your powers? To no longer be at their mercy?" he asked. "What if next time you could send a gust of wind to push back people threatening you instead of being forced to kill all those in your vicinity? Wouldn't that be a nice change?"

It sounded like a dream too good to be true. If things could be solved this easily, why would he have needed to be locked away since he could remember himself? There was no sense in that.

Yet he couldn't prevent a little spark of hope igniting in his heart. If he could learn to control the magic, wouldn't he be able to roam the lands freely? See the whole world?

'You're a monster, an abomination,' a voice inside him whispered, reminding him of his true nature. A night sky flashed through his eyes, but it was gone before he could lower his gaze to the ground.

"Something's wrong?" Corwal asked, standing up. "You've suddenly went pale. Well, I think so? You're so white I can barely tell."

"It's fine," Arawn murmured with his head lowered.

He closed his eyes and calmed his breathing. There was no denying that he was a monster, but that didn't mean that he should not try to prevent any future massacres. If he could learn to control the magic within himself, he could ensure that his burden didn't grow any heavier.

Every person that he didn't kill was a stain that didn't come to mar his soul. Even though it was already pitch black, everything could be stained more.

"Teach me," he said suddenly, full of fervent energy. "I don't want to hurt anyone again."

Corwal nodded and led him into the middle of the empty field beside them. For his first exercise, he was ordered to show how he called ether. Arawn refused, not wishing to kill him nor Eliot, and Corwal rolled his eyes again.

"Don't underestimate me. I might not have been able to do anything in the onyx cell, but we're outside now. Call the ether, materialize it in your hands, then just let it go. If anythinggoes wrong, I'll scatter it myself. "

Arawn didn't believe it until Corwal showed how he stole the ether from Eliot, who squealed in surprise then turned to them with annoyance. He gave Arawn a dark look, then turned around and returned to his practice with the flames.

Doubt still lingered in Arawn's heart, but Corwal swore for the thousandth time that nothing bad would happen, he gave in. Without another word, he dropped down his walls and allowed the ether to enter him. It flooded his limbs, washing over him like a tsunami.

His body shook from the energy coursing through his veins. There was so much of it that he felt like he could tear the whole world apart.

As the ecstasy of absolute power numbed his mind, he heard a voice from miles away. It could've been shouting, but he only heard an echo of a single word "STOP!"