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Janus walked across the small wooden bridge in the woods, heading back home. The sun was low on the horizon and the clouds below were afire. The warm yellow caress of the last rays of the sun fell upon the branches and trunks of the mixed woods along the path. Janus stopped, and leaned against an old evergreen's trunk. The sun warmed his back, and he rested there for a moment. His "quiet moments," as he called them, were important; they were practice for him to attempt to blank his mind, a necessary skill to open the way to magic. Also, they gave him an opportunity to relax and shed the burdens his mind carried. Janus stood up straight, and continued walking down the path. Rising up from stone, tinted a wild gold in the setting sun, the spires and domes of Tasia stood tall. The streetways were fairly busy with people, on their evening business. Many were returning to their homes for the evening meal, coming down from the royal Court. The nobles were easy to spot, as they wore the vestments of their class, flowing green robes with bright yellow trim and gold accents. The lesser nobles' robes were lighter shades of green with less trim. A few scribes paraded down the steps amongst them, their bright red robes constrasting strongly. The path ended as Janus stepped onto the worn stonework of Tasia's city proper. The ground was one uniform sea of stone tiling. Janus headed towards the lower plaza, where he lived. Many homes in the lower plaza were plain in stonework, but comfortingly simple. Closer to the upper plaza, home to the nobles in Tasia's court, many homes became more ornate, with wrought metal and stonework. The lower plaza was simple, but not bland. It was home. Walking down the tiled walkway, stones magically stained a light brown to mark the path, Janus passed by the homes of his neighbours. Some were outside, enjoying the sunset, and waved to him. Others were inside, enjoying the evening meal. The breeze carried the delicious smells of the foods to Janus's nose. Every variety of sweetroot vegetable the island's fields produced, the sweet aroma of leafy plants grown from botanical heritage seeds harvested from the land below hundreds of years ago, the rich flavour of the meats kept in storage from the periodical game hunts undertaken on the surface. Janus's stomach complained, as he hadn't eaten since midday's meal, before he had snuck into the Library. From the lower plaza, Janus couldn't see the Library, but the shadow from the spire behind it was long and draped itself over the tiling all the way to the forest. "Janus! Janus! You're home!" Janus's attention was drawn away from the Library by a familiar voice. Charging down the path was Janus's younger sister, Elix. The girl had been waiting on the step of a simple stone house with a small herb garden while dinner was being prepared. When her favorite sibling had come around the corner, she was ready. Giving Janus mere moments to react, she lunged forward and gave him a mighty hug, her small arms wrapping completely around his torso. The suddeness surprised the boy, and the wind was knocked out of him. Wheezing, he tried to regain his breath. Elix let go, and took a step back. She looked down at the ground and rolled a pebble around on the pavement with her toe. "Elix," Janus gasped, "don't surprise people when you tackle them, okay?" "Sorry." The girl continued looking at the ground, brown hair falling around her face and shadowing it. A young lady leaned out the door of the house as she passed by inside. "Janus, Elix. Mealtime!" "Okay!" Elix turned and dashed to the door. She turned, and looked at Janus, who was still trying to catch his breath, then scampered inside the door and into the kitchen. Janus cleared his throat, and walked to the door and the waiting meal beyond. Janus emerged from under the bath water, taking a big breath. Droplets ran down his face, and he pushed his hair back and out of his eyes. This was Janus's favorite part of the day, evening bath. Treading through the warm water, Janus felt the smooth stones of the baths under his feet. The stones were always smooth and safe to walk on, being older than anyone in Tasia could remember. Though the baths were rarely closed, magical wards kept it free of plant and bacteria growth, and it was magically cleaned constantly. Daily, the water was super-heated to sterilize the whole system. As Janus was making his way to the mosaic-tiled lip of the tub, a yellow glow danced past him and submerged itself, continuing on its merry way. One of Janus's daily rituals was a trip to the baths after evening mealtime. It wasn't until well after sundown that the baths became crowded, especially from families who had children needing to be bathed, and so, Janus often enjoyed the baths free of distractions. It allowed him time to think. A pair of glowlights, red and green, wobbled around through the air, veering erratically in all directions. Off a ways to Janus's left, a bright purple light shone from beneath the surface, giving the surrounding stones a pinkish hue. One orange light passed directly over Janus's head, casting ripples of orange and yellow across his submerged body. Janus chuckled. I know how to make those now. How simple it'd be to fly one of my own around here. The baths' glowlights were a permanent magical aura, set up for entertainment. Anyone could control them, but if left to their own, the lights would move about randomly. In the expanse of the room, which was larger than Janus's house, well over fifty lights of various shades wobbled and bounced and drifted around. Janus looked around. In the glow of the lights, he couldn't see anyone else in the baths. Cautiously, he reached out beyond and took control of a fast-moving blue light that was doing a circuit of the bath anyway, and used it to probe every corner of the room. Empty. He took a deep breath, and ducked underwater. Opening his eyes in the magically-clean pure water, he could see a distorted wavy version of the tiled floor. A pink glowlight hopped along the floor. Janus surfaced, and slicked his hair back to keep the water off his face. He looked around again to make sure no one had arrived. Closing his eyes, the boy concentrated. It was much easier to do in the baths, as water felt like a much more natural contact to skin than cloth. Take a deep breath and relax. Free your mind. Leave your body and reach beyond. Janus felt a greater awareness flow around him. No longer was he contained within his own body; he was bigger, higher, and elsewhere. A sickening feeling of formlessness swept over him, but he was prepared for it. The first few times, the feeling had been frightening, but the teaching tome had told him to expect this and to disregard it, as it was a sign that one was on the right track. The boy grew, farther away from the baths, which now seemed so small. Farther away, through shining lights, into the vast darkness of the space between worlds. He felt a wild energy grow nearer. The chaotic Estra. Draw the wisp to you, and feel it move to your hands. Through unreal hands, Janus reached out and touched Estra's edge, just enough to catch small filaments of light on his fingers. Dancing and flickering, the strands clung to his fingers, and he withdrew from the edge of the wildly-changing plane. The strands flowed down his arms, and into his core of being. Returning to his physical body, the boy felt his hands warm. A blue light began to form in front of him. Perfect. The glow began to intensify as Janus focused on containing the energy in increasingly smaller and smaller circles. A visible spin began to develop as the energy became more and more focused. The spin attenuated into a set of strands, each on a different axis. The strands began joining together into larger bands, when suddenly Janus heard a noise coming from the hallway. Waving his hands frantically in front of him, Janus dissipated the glow, and the blue light faded away. The boy looked about apprehensively. The baths were still empty. He strained his ears, and could hear bare feet against the floor. Rounding the corner, a towel around his waist, was a blond-haired boy a full head taller than Janus, and wider across the shoulders. His short-trimmed hair capped an impish face. His expression changed darkly when he saw the lone occupant of the baths. Janus's face paled. "Torin!" Torin stepped forward across the tiles, towards the edge of the baths. Janus backed away from the edge, the water flowing around his bare midriff. Torin stepped over the rim, into the tub. The towel wrapped around his waist stained dark. "I just finished getting yelled at by Cade," he said. Torin advanced on Janus, violent strides forcing the water aside. The towel stained higher and higher, climbing Torin's thighs. Droplets of water ran down the back of Janus's hair, falling over his shoulders. "F-for?" Janus attempted to feign ignorance and innocence. "You've been lying about me." Janus backed into the wall, the sudden impact knocking the wind out of him. Torin bore down on him. "No, I didn't!" "Oh, but you did. However, you're not the only one." "What?" "I told Cade I'd been looking to beat you up." Torin had now closed the gap between adversary and victim, standing an arm's length away. The towel was completely stained wet. "I'd rather deal with you myself than let Cade lecture you." Janus shrunk against the wall. A glow bounced between the two, without notice. A grim look fell over his face, and he reached out to grab Janus's shoulder. Fear lending additional speed to his agility, Janus slid away from the grip and dove into the water, clearing Torin's reach in a flurry of legs looking for water to push. Janus managed to swim faster than Torin could grab, and kicked his way through the water. He surfaced, looking for the bully. Torin was nowhere to be seen. A sudden shadow in front of Janus burst out of the water. Torin rose up out of the shadow and grabbed Janus by the neck, pushing him decisively against the wall. How can I get away? I can't use magic. I can't trust Torin to keep a secret. "Nice try. If you could use magic, maybe you'd have been able to get away." Janus's eyes widened, as his adversary raised a fist behind him. The grip on Janus's neck tightened, interfering with the boy's breathing. Suddenly, a throng of voices echoed down the hallway leading into the baths. Torin released his grip, and Janus coughed. "I'm not done yet. I'll get you back for this one, liar." Torin walked away, the end of his towel rippling in his wake. Janus rubbed his neck. |
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Spirits of Blue and all characters contained within are © 2002, Simon Knowles. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. Email me if you want to reproduce this somewhere for any reason. It's mine, mine, all mine! |