Fort Mabali

Tilaya stared at the high priest. “Raliz? What are you doing here?”

Calum looked to his companion. “You know him, Tilaya?”

“I do. He’s the one I said we could learn from. Though…” she turned to Raliz. “I thought you were still in the capital.”

“I was sent to this place to build and maintain a fort. The High Priestess and the King have both seen increasing reports of goblins and demons in the outer rim of the northern region.”

“So why not build a fort on the border?”

He shook his head. “It’s too dangerous on the border. Our enemies are already past the border, so building one there wouldn’t help anyway. Why don’t you all come with me? I have much to show you.” Raliz turned and started down the hill, not waiting for the others to follow.

Calum swept his gaze over his three friends for confirmation. Everyone except for Kia readily agreed to follow. She, on the other hand, looked a bit nervous. “Kia, what’s the matter?”

Erik laughed. “Have you forgotten she’s a demon? Of course she’s going to be wary about following a high priest!”

“Just because she has the same eye color as half-demons doesn’t mean she is one, you know. There are other species that have magenta eyes, you know.” Calum glared at Erik.

“She’s not a mountain elf, I can tell you that.”

“She could be–”

A dagger landed in front of Calum’s feet, and another landed inches away from Erik’s, the tips firmly in the ground. The two men nearly jumped back.

“It doesn’t matter what I am!” Kia had her fists clenched. “The reason I’m nervous is because something seems off about that priest.”

“Off?” Calum scratched his head. “What about him seemed off to you?”

“I don’t know, it just feels like he’s going to do something bad.”

“Alright,” Calum put his hand on Kia’s shoulder. “We’ll be careful.” He faced the fort and set off down the hill, the others following close behind. The high priest was already halfway down the hill.

It took a few minutes for everyone to reach the fort. Raliz waited for them in front of the gate. The walls of the fort were made of solid steel and stood around seventy feet high. Once they were close, he threw out his arms in a large gesture. “Welcome heroes, to Fort Mabali.”

Behind him, the gate opened, revealing a large courtyard on the other side. A few soldiers crossed swords for practice near a well that was placed in the center of the courtyard. On the other side, another metal gate led to the inside of the fort.

Raliz led the party into the courtyard. There were soldiers walking, sitting, and talking on both sides of them. All of them bore the royal crest–a raven standing on a branch with its wings outstretched in a victorious pose.

The gate on the other side of the courtyard opened before they got to it, allowing for a smooth entrance.

Inside, a red carpet covered the stone floor. Armor statues lined all three halls. Light struggled to light the inside of the fort, thanks to the dark blue steel walls. The high priest ushered Calum and his friends into the hall in front of them. The only door in the hallway was located at the end.

On the other side of the door was a vast room lit by torches. Training dummies and targets lined one wall, and on the other side of the room, a giant gate separated the room from whatever was beyond it.

“This is our training room,” Raliz announced, gesturing to the space in front of them. “It’s mostly used by the soldiers, but occasionally I use it to train others in divine magic.”

“What kind of divine magic can you teach us?” Calum asked.

“Why, I’m glad you asked. There are several spells that would be useful in your journey. Healing spells, area attack spells, defensive spells. And I can teach you a spell that only high priests and the High Priestess know. Unfortunately, Tilaya cannot learn it, since she is not the High Priestess.”

“What spell?”

“Judgment.”

“Is that like Divine Smite?”

Raliz wagged his finger. “Not in the slightest. While Divine Smite is an offensive spell, Judgment is considered a defensive one. What it does is protect every goodhearted individual in its range and vanquish all evildoers.”

Kia admired the training room, noting the wear and tear of the dummies. “How does it decide who is good and who is bad?”

“By peering into their hearts, of course. If their hearts are pure, it will protect them. If they desire evil and destruction, they will not be spared.” The high priest looked directly at Erik. “You may go train with our captain, if you desire. He’s currently sparring with another soldier.”

Erik dipped his head. “I’m pretty sure it’ll end up being me training him, but I’ll give it a try.” He closed the door behind him and disappeared.

“And you,” he turned to Kia. “Sorry, but I do not have an assassin here to help you train, and we will be needing the whole room for our training, so you can do whatever you want in the meantime. I’ll have a soldier bring you once the training is over.”

“Can I watch the training?”

“No. While you would be unable to use the spells if you learned how to use them, it is still something you should not be here for. That, and you might get injured if you’re too close.”

“Okay.” She took her leave without another word. She paused at the door to look back at Calum before heading out.

“Now that it’s just the three of us, we can begin our training.”

Tilaya blinked. “Right now?”

“Yes, is there a problem?”

“No, it’s just that I thought you would show us around first.”

“We can do that afterward,” Calum assured. “I’m curious about these spells.”

Raliz took them to the center of the room and faced them toward the targets and dummies. “The first thing I will be teaching you is called Divine Cannon. It is an offensive spell that will vanquish all enemies in its path.”

“You really like that word, don’t you?” Tilaya smiled.

“What word?”

“Vanquish.”

“Oh. Anyway, it is a rather simple spell to learn, but it takes a lot of mana.”