The Stone Sorceress

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Eros, the best blade in the academy, with dark hair brushed back atop a soft-skinned brow, glanced with eyes of hazel, that betrayed the sagacity of his youth and gentleness of his soul, at his instructor, Echo Pan, who now walked towards he and the others.

The charismatic chevalier was much liked and respected in the military school of Hyperion because of his precociousness, his fortitude and leadership. It was all wrapped up in an athletic build - well-cut - a firm jaw, and high cheekbones. If you were to ask him how he perceived himself, one would get a very timid, almost shy and underwhelming reply. He was afterall, a naturally unconfident person. But the view from the interior was very much different to the exterior. People looked up to him.

"I trust you understand the severity of the situation," Pan said slightly out of breath from the brisk pace with which he'd walked towards the lower vestibule of the barracks.

"Sir," Sabriel interjected before Pan could get started, "Must we be paired with them?" The young woman was a gunslinger, who'd made her reputation by mixing it up with the worst the kingdom had to offer. Late night drinking, gambling in the foulest taverns to be found. The white knight, that is to say Eros, often asked her why she sought out such company; she replied that she was comfortable in such environs and people, it was in the pristine, almost bourgeois academy that she felt out of place.

"They're unpredictable - reckless."

"It's been decided," Pan said, whose face revealed that he harboured reservations of his own.

Sabriel exhaled sharply, crossed her arms, and looked away in the sultry manner that became her so well.

Sabriel's uneasiness was rooted in the fact that for her final exam, the very same that determined whether or not she would go on to graduate, she was paired with Eros and Thanatos. Eros was a remarkable cadet, but his Achilles heel was his best friend - Thanatos. The pair were inseparable, and in their style and approach - symmetrical. Thanatos was every bit the swordsman Eros was, some would argue - better. He didn't suffer from shyness or timidity, no, he was bold and enterprising. He had an abundance of confidence focused within an iron wrist. He was a touch taller than Eros, a shade darker, slightly more handsome. The two men lived only for each other, and so it was that Eros would often be led by the character of Thanatos. That is what worried Sabriel because that man thought he could best an army - on his own.

"I have the authority to stop the mission if you act out of place." Echo Pan concentrated upon Thanatos, then Eros. "Fall in line, follow orders."

Thanatos smiled but said nothing.

The squad then followed the other cadets to the stables, saddled their horses, and rode out beyond the city limits. Columns of cavalry galloped for the horizon where an outpost had gone silent. Several leagues passed before Eros turned to look at Thanatos beside him. His friend had fallen silent. Typhon and Sabriel rode together in front. The former had the misfortune to be born the wrong colour, or at least, that's what the natives thought. He was an immigrant and a mage. The prejudice he'd suffered served only to galvanize his will, harden him, and somehow, this strengthened his mana pool. He suffered but he would not let others suffer. He was recruited into the military school, like the others from a young age, but he was cherry picked by Lord Erebos, the highest ranking mage in the kingdom, who had the ear of the king.

The squad surveyed the outskirts of town before Echo Pan led them down the narrow streets. It was a typical village out on the tremendous plain that stretched out from the castle's walls in all directions. The plain was bisected by a river on the northern side, but nevertheless on it ran, to the horizon and beyond. Only the mountains in the far distance terminated it.