The Quests of Fable

Ch. 7: The Mage Trial

The day of Fable's trial, she went down to the library to have breakfast with Dejy and Pendleton.

The two mages were already tucked away into the back corner with three plates of pancakes and syrup, two of which were already half-eaten. Fable sat down with Slight and started on the third plate. Slight hadn't taken any of the food she'd offered him, so Pendleton had concurred that Slight didn't need to eat. Besides, he didn't have a mouth. Even if he wanted to eat something, none of them were sure if he could.

"Soooo, it's your mage trial today," said Dejy. "Are you nervous? You don't really need to be worried about much. You're pretty powerful, and you've been studying really hard."

Fable finished her bite of pancakes before she replied, "I suppose I'm not too nervous, but it's more of stress over something I've wanted to do for years now. I just don't know what I'm gonna do if I fail."

"Try again, probably," Pendleton noted. "You don't strike me as the type to know when to quit."

"Gonna take that as a compliment. Anyways, I was gonna leave Slight in my room for the trial. I don't wanna bring him with me, since I'm still not sure what he does or if he can be injured. Plus, if I really need him, I've got that new spell to bring him right to me."

"That's true," Dejy agreed. "Hey, what if we watch him during the trial? That way he can still see what's going on, but he's not directly involved unless you need him to be."

"Sounds good to me," Fable said. She turned to her familiar. "Hey, Slight, how'd you like to hang out with Dejy and Pendleton while I do my mage trial?"

Slight tapped his nub hands on the table and gave Fable a happy look.

"That's a yes, then. Slight will go with you two, and I'll go to the trial after breakfast."

Once they were all finished their pancakes, Fable went to the arena to prepare for her mage trial. Dejy, Pendleton, and Slight would be there later, up in the stands to watch.

She was ushered into a room behind the arena entrance by Castor, the headmaster resembling a parrot. Inside, Tothic explained to her what she would have to do, then told her to wait until she heard her name to enter the arena. Then, he left to go up to the announcer's box.

Fable was given half an hour to get ready for her trial, during which she flipped through the spells in her own book to make sure she remembered them. She also tied her hair up in a tight bun and used bobby-pins to keep it in place.

Then, finally, the trial was about to begin.

Fable heard Tothic's voice resonating through the arena, as if he was twenty feet tall. She assumed that he used a spell to amplify his voice.

"Good day, friends and enemies! Today we are here to witness the mage trial and entrance exam of Fable Ennocamy."

Fable entered the arena. It was full of mist to preserve the secrecy of the trial, but Fable thought it was reminiscent of a royal coliseum, albeit much smaller. The shape and general idea were the same, though.

"Mage Fable, are you prepared to begin your mage trial?"

Fable nodded solemnly. "I am ready."

"Good. Your trial is to defeat the Raksabast. Begin!"

The mists filling the arena cleared, and standing in the center was a demon that Fable knew to be a Raksabast, both from Tothic's introduction and from An Unofficial History of Magicks and How to Use Them. Raksabasts were fierce quadrupedal demons that produced a molten liquid from their mouth instead of saliva, and they had jagged serrated claws. They were larger than horses, and had small eyes but large ears. The one in front of Fable had short coal-black fur that was burned off in many places, most likely due to its molten spit.

The Raksabast growled at Fable, and she had to think fast when it spit a glob of molten lava at her. She rolled to one side to dodge it, and managed to evade the blast but hit a column that had risen straight out of the arena floor.

Looking around her, Fable could see a dozen columns and walls rising as the coliseum cracked and groaned. Ducking behind one as the Raksabast started to stalk towards her, she called up the spell for freezing things.

Fable shot the ice spell off at the Raksabast, hitting its tongue as it opened its mouth to spit more lava at her. It choked and stumbled backwards, spitting out water that quickly turned to steam. Fable stayed behind her column and tried to think. What hurt a Raksabast, other than ice?

There was a growling sound from behind her, and Fable instinctively darted behind another column. It was a good thing she did, because moments later the column had been reduced to rubble by the claws of the Raksabast.

Think. Think. Think. What hurts a lava demon? Ice. No. Ice wasn't enough. Water? Worth a shot.

Fable cast her second spell, the one to summon water. The Raksabast looked up at the perfect moment to get an impromptu shower as a few gallons of water cascaded down its face. It roared indignantly, shaking the steam off of its head. The water and ice weren't enough to keep it down, but maybe Fable could use it to buy herself some time.

She cast her ice spell again, aiming for the creature's eye, but she felt the magic heat up and instantly knew that it had gone wild. Instead of ice that crackled against the monster's eye, it was stone. Not what she intended, but its weight was enough to send the Raksabast tumbling over.

Fable hopped up onto a shorter wall and ran along it until she found a column she could go onto that was higher up. She jumped from column to column until she was in a position where she could jump on top of the incapacitated Raksabast. Just hitting it with ice or water wasn't enough, though. She had to use something sturdier.

Pulling her hunting knife out of the sheath at her hip, she prepared to cast her ice spell a third time. Not on the Raksabast, but on her knife. She felt it freeze in her hands, and she cast the spell on her boots, too, just so her feet wouldn't burn up when she executed her incredibly stupid plan.

Fable jumped.

She landed on top of the beast, her frozen boots steaming and making the Raksabast roar again. Drawing her arm back, she plunged the frozen blade into where the creature's neck and shoulder met. With an unholy shriek, the Raksabast shuddered and fell to the ground, dead.

For a beat, there was no sound. Then, the arena erupted into a tumultuous cheer. Tothic's voice cut through the roar of the crowd, although it was hard to hear over all of the other voices.

"Friends and enemies, Fable Ennocamy has passed her mage trial with flying colors! An excellent performance, completely unexpected strategy-"

After the trial, Fable met up with Dejy, Pendleton, and Slight outside the arena. Her clothes were burned and torn, so she was on her way to her room to go change.

"Fable, that was amazing! How's you learn to make stone? I don't remember if either of us taught you that." Dejy hurried to keep up with a much-taller Pendleton and a fast-walking Fable.

"Keep a secret?" Fable said. "I actually don't have a spell for that. It was an ice spell that went wild."

"Wild?" Pendleton asked. "Well, it seemed like it worked out anyways to me."

"It definitely did," agreed Fable. They arrived at her room, and she asked them to wait outside so she could change before lunch.

On the way down to the cafeteria, they were stopped by Tothic and Flannigan, who was basically hiding behind him. Tothic asked to have a word with Fable, and the two pulled her into a room to the side.

"Firstly, I wanted to congratulate you on passing the mage trial," began Tothic. Flannigan nodded in agreement.

"Secondly, I'd like to ask if you ever considered pursuing elemental magic, specifically. We have quite an advanced knowledge of the elements, and a few among our number could offer private lessons, if you so desire."

Fable thought for a moment. "That is an enticing offer, but I'm afraid I have to say no. Adventurers need to be versatile, with spells for as many situations as possible, and I can't do that as an elemental."

Tothic nodded. "I understand. In that case, I commend you on your good work, and wish you luck on your goals."

"Thank you."

And with that, Fable headed back out to go to lunch.