The Windcaster [Fantasy/Adventure | Featured | Complete ]

Chapter 25: The Truth of Hume

Ki met them at nightfall. She was examining the four golden loops atop her Caster's staff, her long fingers running along the length of the metal and then prodding at the light blue tips. Her long dark hair fell like silk past her shoulders. She looked up as the three approached; her face was devoid of expression as per usual.

"When did you get that staff?" Tia blurted out, before any salutation was given. Ki looked taken aback.

"I, uh..." She spun the staff along its base, eyeing it. "It was a present from Master Mami when I passed my Level five exams."

"So you are a Quaestor?"

She shook her head.

"Master Mami does not wish me to enrol into the king's Casters, even though I have the prerequisites." She hesitated. "Having said that, I feel I may just enrol myself once I am proficient enough as a Level five. I wish to serve my country."

Her confession reminded Tia of how firm Master Anu had stood when Tia professed her wish to apply for Quaestor once she'd passed Level four. She wondered what the reason was behind both the Masters' decisions to advise against their trainees from entering the elite group. It wasn't as though they were to use the Wind in battle. The only difference Tia could see was that they would wear the same type of medallion and answered directly to the king. Their tasks focused more on Singing and Hearing, passing messages from city to city and Hearing from the nature for natural disasters and weather forecasting. She couldn't see what was so undesirable about the post.

"It is a very pretty staff," she said, not without envy, her eyes shining. Ki shrugged, tucking it close to her side.

Without another word, the trainee swept on her heels and the three raced to follow; her long strides equalled that of Enlil's and Tia half-jogged to keep up. Even at this hour, when the temperature chilled slightly and the air felt easier to breathe, there were still many slaves filling the paved streets. In the partial darkness, the smoke stains on the grey buildings were less discernible and Tia could imagine the thick smoke pumping steadily from the chimneys of the factories were in fact part of the clouds overhead.

The slaves parted ways for the Hume Caster trainee, nodding their heads respectfully before going on their way. Enlil ducked his head, averting their gazes.

Ki led them down a little side-path that went unnoticed to many passers-by, next to the smoke-stained temple of a city hall. There stood a one-storey wooden hut stretching from one end of the back garden to the other. Candle lights flickered inside the windows, which had curtains drawn across them and Tia could make out people's shadows flitting behind. She felt her stomach tightening. This place made her feel uneasy. It smelled of... illness. Tinctures, antiseptics and medicines. It reminded her of the horrid draughts that Master Anu had procured from the local apothecary when she fell ill. The liquid would burn her throat and make her gag and her eyes water.

Master Mami's trainee opened the thin, wooden door, gesturing for them to follow. She closed it quietly and swept the curtains around them, filing them into the foyer. A little gasp escaped from Tia's lips.

Rows upon rows of knitted bamboo mats were laid out along both sides of the rectangular building. Lying on those bamboo mats, wrapped in dressing, were injured slaves. Some of them were sleeping, some of them groaning in pain, others half-conscious. They were being attended to by healers, dressed in their white overalls and face masks. The slaves looked clean and tidy, their wounds neatly bandaged. There were at least fifty slaves lying with injuries. Tia had never seen anything like it.

"What happened to them?"

Ki rolled her eyes. "We are a city of workers and crafters, woodworkers, blacksmiths, carpenters, miners, diggers – you name it. All of these are heavy, physical, dangerous manual jobs. Naturally, there are injuries."