He'd startled me with his question, so I took a moment to formulate what I wanted to say carefully. "Yes, Master. I can't help but wonder why all of this is happening now. Why couldn't this have begun when I was at least a little older, or more capable of handling whatever comes our way?" I shook my head and averted my gaze.
Bernar raised his hand to the master, as if stopping him from answering that statement. "Little brother, I know you better than anyone," he began, surprising me to hear his voice.
"Within the cave, there is only one way in, and one way out. Many things in life have many different ways of being achieved, but when it comes to challenges or difficult times, it is much like that cave; one way in, and one way out. Sometimes, the only way out is through," he said, his voice laced with a severity I'd rarely seen in him.
"The Master and I have both seen our fair share of difficult times, many of which neither of us would like to relive. You are just now facing your own challenges, and we will be here to help guide you through those times and become much stronger, as painful as those experiences may be," he concluded, lightly flicking my brand new scar and making me wince.
"I know you're trying to help, but it still hurts, asshole," I sucked air through my teeth. "Of course it does, shit-bird. It's a reminder that you will, eventually, learn through pain and hard times to push through anything that comes your way," Bernar said playfully.
The Master observed the two of us and smiled lightly. "You two remind me of a story from a long time ago," he chuckled. Both Bernar and I stared at him with utter confusion when we heard his light tone of voice.
He almost sounded a hundred years younger just then, I thought as I looked to Bernar to see if he'd heard it, too.
His shrugged response either feigned ignorance or he genuinely didn't know the answer either.
"It was a long time ago, before even my predecessor became the master of Codrean. Would you like to hear it?" he asked us. "Of course, Master," I nodded.
"A long time ago, there were twins named Taegin and Ardrin. They had a close relationship with each other, just like I see in you two," he gestured to us. "Both of them were inducted into the Synners at a very young age, but Ardrin was more unruly than his sibling. So unruly, in fact, that the master at the time had a hard time keeping him under control," he continued as we listened attentively.
"On the day they would turn fourteen, Taegin wanted to surprise his brother, even while knowing his brother hated them. It wasn't much; nothing more than a few stolen cakes from the pantry and mugs of ale. Not everything went as planned, however, as Ardrin was nowhere to be found. Taegin, worrying about his surprise being ruined, went out to search for his brother," he continued, nearly losing himself in thought for a moment.
"He eventually found his brother being beaten down by a handful of his seniors. Ardrin cast a flame cloak in self-defense, but lost control of it and ended up accidentally killing his attackers, leaving no remains behind," his tone dropped as I felt myself blink a few times in surprise.
"Well, that got dark," Bernar chimed in. "Well, it was an unfortunate accident, for sure. Ardrin feared what their master would do to him if the accident were reported, so he decided to leave of his own accord. Taegin, of course, tried to stop him, but nothing seemed to work as Ardrin left anyway. Taegin searched for him for years, but his brother left no trace behind anywhere he went," the Master shook his head.
"How does this relate to Bernar and I? I don't suppose Ardrin was ever found, was he?" I asked, genuinely confused. "Heh, all I'm saying is that you two should never let go of the bond you have. However, to answer your question, he wasn't, at least not to my knowledge. It's been long enough now that he might have died of old age for all I know," he shrugged.
"Ah, fair enough. But how do you know this story?" I asked, not bothering to hide my suspicion. "Oh, I knew them quite well, actually," he said, sitting back in his chair.
"His brother told me the story countless times. He wanted redemption for not escaping the fortress and going after his brother when it happened, but found none as he took his own life about six months later," he continued. "I'm sorry to hear that," I said solemnly.
How old is he anyway? That must have been well over a hundred years ago if we've never heard about it. No, wait, maybe he's intentionally leaving something out, I furrowed my brow as I tried to piece it together.
The Master looked at me curiously, as if he knew what I was thinking. "You thought I was Taegin, didn't you?" he asked, catching me off guard. After a moment of trying to find words to say, I decided that a single nod would suffice. "Sorry to disappoint you, but he's been dead for a long time now," he shook his head.
I had nothing left to say; no words of empathy or condolences as my theory came crashing to the ground.
"Either way, I thank you for coming to me with your findings. I won't keep you any longer; it's getting late, and you've had quite the eventful day," he said with a smile, gently placing his palms down on the table. "If you find any more information regarding who invaded the study, come to either Bernar or me directly. Is that understood?" he asked. "Yes, Master," I replied with a nod. I winced as I struggled to rise from my seat, but Bernar came to my aid.
"I think it best if you check in with Garett tomorrow, Thoma," the Master said, noting my struggle. "I'll have him tending to you these next few days, and I'm sure he'd love to hear about how you got that scar," he grinned wryly. I nodded again and walked out of the room. Just before I left, I looked back to thank him for the story, but he was staring distantly at the out-of-place book on the shelf across the room.
The following day, after lunch, the dull clang of training swords could be heard clashing throughout the training yard. I had just finished Garett's healing session, who was very happy to hear about my fight the previous day, and decided to follow the sounds to their point of origin.
"Ouch! That hurts," Edryd shouted, rubbing his shoulder. "Oh, calm down, you wuss," Bernar chuckled. "It could have been much worse," I said while walking into the training yard. "I know, but the asshole did it on purpose!" Ed pointed a finger at my brother, who merely shrugged. "I'm glad to see you're alright. Bernar told me about your fight with the ochelons. How the fuck did you manage to kill not one, but two of them?" Ed raised an eyebrow.
"Honestly, I'm not sure either," I chuckled nervously. "I'm just surprised you're already back to training," he regarded me curiously. "You can thank Master Garett for that. His healing skills are certainly top-notch," I shrugged. "A shame this asshole couldn't heal you," Ed chuckled, then quickly flinched as Bernar smacked up upside the head.
"Hey!" Ed shouted, trying to land a return blow on my brother, hitting nothing but air. "You missed. Is your shoulder really still that bad?" I asked with a tinge of guilt. "Not really, but your brother keeps testing it like it was never damaged in the first place. He even went so far as to challenge me to an arm wrestling match," Ed sighed. "Did you win?" I asked my brother sarcastically.
"I was just testing it to make sure it wasn't still fucked, but duh," he shrugged. "There are better ways to test that," I chuckled and shook my head. "Like what?" Edryd asked.
I could've sworn I saw my brother's eyes twinkle like a star in the night sky for a brief moment as I rolled my shoulder to warm it up a little.
"You, versus Bernar and I," I said maliciously.