Element Wielder

Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

The sun had just begun to rise when a hard punch to his arm woke him.

“More sleep,” he whined, pulling the sheets over his head. After last night’s festivities he’d only managed to sneak in three, maybe four hours of sleep.

“Sleep is going to have to wait,” said Lao, his voice much more excited than Falcon expected it to be.

“What’s with you?” asked Falcon, still hiding under his sheets.

“We’ve been summoned for our first mission. We are to report to the painted sphere immediately.”

Falcon peeked from under his sheet. “What? Really?”

This was certainly news. Usually graduates would have to wait at least a month before they were assigned a mission. Falcon wasn’t about to complain. This was good. He hated waiting.

The walk to Zoen’s office was a long one, but in their excitement Falcon and Lao traversed it in minutes. Aya and Sheridan were already there when they arrived. Falcon and Lao stood at attention, chests up and heads high, awaiting their orders.

Without bothering to look up, Grandmaster Zoen scribbled away on a large parchment that lay across his desk.

Since only full-fledged Rohads were allowed access to the painted sphere, this was Falcon’s first time seeing it. Its name was well earned. The large, circular room had countless paintings of beautiful natural landscapes adorning the walls. One was of a desert oasis, a few were of lush green gardens, some were of the cold ice plains, and a number of them were of celestial bodies unknown to him. A lone desk filled with dozens of open and unopened scrolls atop it sat at the center of the room. Falcon figured one of the paintings was new. The strong scent of paint and charcoal lingered in the air.

“Good morning, Rohads,” welcomed the grandmaster in his usual calm voice.

“Good morning, sir,” answered the four graduates.

“At ease, there is no need for such formalities.”

Falcon relaxed his muscles.

“I have summoned the four of you because I have a task that needs completion.” Zoen reached under his desk and pulled out four scrolls. He handed one to each of them.

“These contain the details of your mission.” The four Rohads looked over their scrolls as the Grandmaster continued briefing them. “Two days ago we received a protection request from a small farming village north of here, Asturia. A request like this is highly unusual, as we don’t usually deploy teams smaller than ten Rohads. Asturia has fallen on hard times; they barely had enough to pay for one rookie Rohad.”

“So why are we all here?” said Lao, a second before Falcon could ask that same question.

“I’m glad you asked. I’m not one to send a single Rohad on any mission. There is strength in numbers. So I opted to send the four of you free of charge. You will be there for two weeks.” He frowned. “It was the only amount of time I was able to convince the Rohad council to approve, and even that was a struggle. The council has always been more about money than protection. If only….” The grandmaster lowered his voice and Falcon wondered if he was talking to them or to himself. “Forgive me, where was I?”

“You were briefing us on the mission, sir?” answered Sheridan.

Zoen looked up. “Oh yes. The leaders of Asturia claim to have been repeatedly attacked by the Suteckh Empire. This seems highly unlikely. There have been no reports of such attacks by any other capital cities or villages, and such action by them would lead to a full-scale war. Moreover, there is no foreseeable reason for such a large and powerful empire to attack such a strategically insignificant village. It is much more likely that a band of raiders have been attacking the village. This is where you four come in. You are to find out who is attacking the village. Once you identify the problem, put an end to it. Any questions?”